bags, right? and just that little line tells me a lot about how carefully president obama cultivated his personal image. he was relying on one of our most myth ol jiezed former presidents to think about how he was being perceived. an example of, you know, understanding politicians by the words they omit is in mike pence's memoir, so help me god. he's recounting the events of january 6th, presenting himself as sort of this heroic figure who stood up for democracy, and we do owe a debt for that, but there's one moment when he's recounting president trump's video message to his supporters telling them finally to leave the capitol, and pence quote it is, and he quotes trump saying, you know, i know you're hurting, but we have to go home. we have to have peace. but in the middle of that quote, there's an ellipsis, and i was wondering like what did pence skip, you know, what did he

omit? so i go back to the video, and i see that in the middle of that phrase, he had said, you know, we won in a landslide, everyone knows it. the election was stolen, you know, so even when he's recounting a moment when his own life was in danger and when president trump wasn't helping him out, he is still covering for the boss. so that to me was very revelatory. >> the new book is entitled "the washington book: how to read politics and politicians" with, and it's on sale now. "new york times" opinion columnist carlos lozada. that does it for us this morning, have a great weekend, everybody. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. right now on "ana cabrera reports," donald trump in a courthouse in florida, high stakes hearing this hour in the classified documents case. what we're learning about the time line for a trial.

plus, closing arguments today in the bid to disqualify the d.a. in the georgia election case. could that entire prosecution now be in jeopardy? also ahead, intense security in moscow around the funeral for russian opposition leader alexei navalny, what the crowd was chanting in defiance. and later, extreme weather, parts of california preparing for up to 10 feet of snow while in texas the largest wildfire in state history now engulfs over a million acres. ♪♪ >> happy friday, thanks for being here. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin with the breaking news from florida where donald trump is attending a critical hearing in his case involving classified documents found at mar-a-lago, a hearing that could determine whether this trial will start in may or get delayed pushing it potentially closer to the

election. let's bring in msnbc's yasmin vossoughian outside the courthouse there in fort pierce. also with us, msnbc legal correspondent, lisa rubin and former federal prosecutor kristy greenberg. this hearing just about to get going. what's happening now and what do we expect to learn today? >> the former president entering the building behind me just about 30 minutes or so with his motorcade, ana. you mentioned this is really just about the data, the trial, i'm dealing with some motions as well filed specifically by the former president's attorneys along with the juror questionnaire. let's talk about the date first. right now we're looking at may 20th. aileen cannon has indicated that's going to get pushed back. the proposed date so far by jack smith specifically was july 8th, by donald trump's attorneys was august 12th. quite frankly they said they want this thing to happen after the election. there was some overlapse when it comes to the juror questionnaires. we want to focus on the date that may come out of this hearing today.

and whether or not there's going to be any collaboration between judge aileen cannon and the other judges in the other cases and trials in which the former president is facing. we know there's collaboration between judge juanmarchand, he had a collaboration with judge chutkan in choosing that date. the d.c. trial is pushed back because of the immunity decision by the supreme court to hear that case on april 22nd or to hear the issue of immunity on april 22nd. so the question is whether or not aileen cannon is going to be speaking with other judges, a, and b, whether or not she's going to say, hey, listen, we have to wait for this decision to come from the supreme court before we can declare a date and postpone this thing indefinitely. either way, this date will be pushed from may 20th, but hopefully we'll get an answer on that later on today. >> yasmin, thank you. please don't go far, and bring us up your dates as we learn more. lisa, let's talk about the start date.

may 20th was the original date. and now trump's team proposing this august 12th date. >> i would take that august 12th date with a grain of salt. if you read their subsubmission they say it's inconsistent with the constitution. they say that trump should not be tried both because he has this pending immunity defense, but also because of existing department of justice policy on taking particular teps within the resistant of an election. they also ait would ber fear with his sixth amendment right to be present at the trial while the campaign is going on. that presumes that he has to be present on the campaign trail. there are lots of criminal defendants, as kristy knows well from her experience as a prosecutor who have jobs or other obligations they must miss for trial. this is an invitation to aileen

cannon from the trump defendants here. do not schedule this at all, but if you must, choose april 12th -- >> august 12th. >> excuse me, august 12th, that august 12th date is chosen strategically. they are also be ensuring that if she picks that up, tanya chutkan will never get to try the case before her, before the election because there won't be enough time after the supreme court decides with an august 12th date for both cases to be tried before the election. >> kristy, judge cannon is a trump appointee, and he is more likely to have a more favorable jury pool in florida versus in washington, d.c., with the election interference case, right? do you think part of the p strategy would b would be to th this august 12th date and maybe get this trial underway first to officially kick those other trials to later? >> i don't think trump has any expectation that this trial will happen before the election. he put out a date there.

i think the only reason that there are dates is, as lisa said, just to make sure that if, in fact, the supreme court rules and there can be a trial in the d.c. case, that the calendar is clogged. it's interesting because walt nauta actually is unavailable on that august 12th date. he's available in september, but they didn't say all three of us could be going forward on september date. why? because then maybe judge chutkan could go in with an august date and get ahead of the calendar. this is all very strategic, but it's kind of a wink wink nod nod, sure, we'll have a trial date because you've asked us to propose a schedule, but there's no intention. everything in that filing said we reserve the right to make all kinds of objections, you know, that could delay this, so the delay tactic strategy will still be fully on display in this case. >> lisa, just how much is the supreme court looming over this case? >> oh, it's absolutely looming over this case, they filed a motion to dismiss the indictment

on presidential immunity grounds on february 22nd. and so even though trump has many motions to dismiss, mft, there are six others, the fact that he says he's immune from prosecution, they will maintain that that means he's not only immune from liability at the end of a trial, but he how old never have to go through a trial in the first place. they will try to convince judge cannon today, notwithstanding the fact that they complied with her order and they proposed a schedule, that no trial date at all is appropriate unless and until we hear from the supreme court that the case can move forward. >> we are getting a look at least at some of the proposed questions for the jurors who could be selected in this mar-a-lago classified documents case. trump's legal team wants to ask some of the jurors to list politicians that they have negative opinions of and to rank their primary source of media consumption. prosecutors want to ask, do you believe the election was stolen and for their thoughts on the department of justice and the

fbi, both jack smith's team and trump's team don't see eye to eye on all of these questions, are these standard questions to ask a juror? >> so there are a lot of standard questions, but the ones that stood out that you would not expect to see, there were a number of questions proposed by the special counsel's office that trump objected to, about what have you heard about trump's statements about this investigation. what have you heard about his statements of jack smith, how has that affected your opinion of this case going forward. getting towards all of these public statements that could be poisoning the jury pool, they're trying to really understand if these jurors have been infected by his statements. on the flip side you have questions from trump saying who did you vote for in the 2020 presidential election. that is not a question you would see on a jury questionnaire. it is inappropriate. there are questions about have you attended rallies? what are your civic affiliations, people you admire,

people you don't admire, those are all fair game. some of these questions are very unique to this case. >> how difficult could it be to seat a fair and impartial jury? >> it is less difficult than one might think. i think back to the e. jean carroll trials where in the first of the trials there was a juror who when asked about his media consumption said he had a fairly heavy diet of a podcaster named tim poole considered to be on the far right and certainly maga affiliated. nonetheless, that juror was part of the unanimous jury verdict in that first e. jean carroll trial, and so i think that people despite their media consumption or who they voted for can be fair. i think some of the other questions, though, are also legitimate because they're meant to test the depth of feeling. it's not important who you voted for, but, for example, if you've been a fundraiser for someone or you've loyally attended rallies, that may suggest an intensity of feeling that goes above and beyond a person's capacity to be

neutral and fair when they hear all the evidence. >> also this week, judge cannon ruled against donald trump's request to see more classiied filings in this case saying it was not standard practice in similar cases and it would not hurt his defense. does that surprise you? >> i think she had to rule that way. if she did not rule that way, this would be an issue for appeal, so even when she did rule in the special counsel's favor, she also said i don't really agree with your take on the law. it's not as strict, i have some discretion here. even then i engaged in a rigorous analysis and i came out on your side. still took kind of a pot shot at jack smith even when she ruled in his favor. >> we're looking at these live pictures in force pierce, florida, just now. you can see a lot of trump supporters gathered outside the courthouse. your thoughts about that, lisa? >> you know, certainly much more of a presence of trump supporters than we've seen at some of these new york cases. i have been at each of the trials, the three so far civil

trials that have occurred in new york. we haven't seen a presence like this. that is meant to bolster the former president and show some support for him. it should have no impact whatsoever on a judge that is fair and neutral. certainly there may be a difficulty with that with jurors, for example, but if and when this case were to go to trial, i would expect judge cannon to take some of the steps that have been taken in other cases about either ano, ma'am mizing the jury, providing for their transportation to and from the courthouse so that displays like this stay out of their frame of mind while they are asked to consider the evidence. >> we're going to stay on top of all the developments from this hearing today in florida. everyone please stay close. you're also coming back to talk about another trump case we are following this morning. we are at the courthouse in georgia for closing arguments today on the bid to disqualify the district attorney in trump's election interference case there. russians risking for a final

good-bye to alexei navalny. also, four days now until super tuesday, what nikki haley just told our own kristen welker about whether or not this will be her last stand. and an olive branch at the border from president biden to donald trump. will he take it? you're watching "ana cabrera reports," we're back in just one minute. ...can delight them all. protect yourself against rsv... ...with pfizer's abrysvo a vaccine to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. it's not for everyone and may not protect all who receive it. don't get abrysvo if you've had an allergic... ...reaction to its ingredients. a weakened immune system may decrease your response. most common side effects are tiredness, headache, injection-site pain and muscle pain. ask about pfizer's abrysvo®. because every breath matters. ♪ students... students of any age, from anywhere. students in a new kind of classroom. ♪

using our technology to power different ways of learning. ♪ harnessing ai to plant new beginnings. ♪ so when minds grow, opportunities follow. alexei navalny laid to rest this morning in moscow drawing a defiant crowd of over a thousand chanting we are not afraid. don't be afraid as the hearse carrying navalny's body arrived at the moscow church a few hours ago, and there was heavy security for this funeral, and in person taking an immense risk after the kremlin warning against unauthorized illegal gatherings. thousands more followed the solemn procession online

including navalny's widow, who is not physically there today because of the threats of arrest that he herself is facing from the kremlin. nbc's matt bodner has been monitoring it all for us, and is joining us in london, and also with us former supreme allied commander of nato, retired general wesley clark. matt, what's your reaction to the thousands it appears taking to the treats just weeks before elections there and in spite of these warnings from the kremlin? >> well, thank you, ana, i would say it's are very interesting what we're seeing in russia today bordering even on incredible when you consider what these people are facing, what they're risking. when you look at some of the footage we see today, about a thousand people is what we're hearing from the navalny camp and it looks about that. it's just incredible to consider that every single person in that shot essentially has every reason not to be there. if they get picked up by the police sometime today at best they're facing a substantial fine, they can of course be released.

this opens up a legal pathway to the russian government charging them ultimately with 15 years in prison. we've seen over the past two years, russian authorities, they've kind of for a long time now had these theoretical maximums at their disposal. we've seen he's tools used more liberally against peaceful demonstrators, ordinary people. one thing russians can do to protest by law is single person pickets. we've even seen that infringed on a had lot in the past two years. we're get ago good look at where russia is at right now. the police for the most part appear to have allowed the procession to take part today. it is finished now, navalny has been buried. there are still crowds. we've only see a report of one arrest in moscow from an opposition outlet, and we've seen reports from other russian media around the country suggesting small scale arrests, but nothing like we've seen in the past. that is interesting. at the same time, though, it was also an interesting look at the state of the opposition in russia right now.

>> yeah, i'm curious about that specifically, and i just want to let our viewers know what they're looking at here is at the burial site of navalny where you can still see people gathered there. what does the opposition to putin look like now, matt, given the sudden death of navalny in the russian prison colony, a death his widow and other supporters have described as murder, but russian officials are holding it was natural causes? >> correct, so i think today in various aspects we got a good look at what's left of the russian opposition, within russia, let's look at who attended the funeral kind of in navalny's circle, the parents of another opposition leader, one of his close associates who's also in prison. his parents were there. we saw prominent opposition mayor, a former mayor from another city also showing up. so the remnants within russia of the opposition showed up today. we got a glimpse of what's still on the ground, we saw navalny's organization putting out a live

stream coverage the entire time. there is this real sense they are trying to turn this into a moment to build momentum. i think you can feel that. >> general, this comes dwens the backdrop of the war in ukraine. today the kremlin is criticizing he's comments from defense secretary lloyd austin during his testimony on capitol hill yesterday. listen. >> quite frankly, if ukraine falls, i really believe that nato will be in a fight with russia. >> the kremlin calling these comments extremely irresponsible general, how do you see it? what happens if ukraine falls? >> well, i think if ukraine falls that the russians will move on to other countries, moldova's already under threat. putin's considering whether he's going to respond to a request from transnistria to be

protected from moldova and ukraine and this would put another action in place, conflict in eastern europe, and then he's going to go after the baltic states, latvia, estonia, lithuania, and poland, and he's -- they've been very clear that this is the plan. so this kremlin attack on lloyd austin is just -- it's just a typical propaganda ploy by somebody trying to create controversy, what secretary austin said is our best forecast of kremlin plans, and there will be action against nato. so it's absolutely critical that the united states provide assistance to ukraine and stop this aggression in ukraine before it expands to inflame the rest of europe. >> the billions of dollars in additional ukraine aid are lingering out there right now, just hanging as the lawmakers on capitol hill continue to wrestle over that legislation.

general, this week french president macron raised the possibility of sending mott just aid to ukraine but actually putting boots on the ground, nato boots on the ground to fight against russia in ukraine. putin then saying in a speech before parliament that they risked provoking a nuclear war if that happened. do you take putin at his word? >> first of all, i think this issue that president macron brought up, it's a very crays you -- courageous statement on his part. this has been behind the scenes discussed. everyone understands that if you want to stop aggression in europe by putin, you've got to stop it in ukraine, and if we can't get the assistance to ukraine that they can fight it themselves, perhaps there is a requirement to put nato troops in there, and that's what macron is expressing. now, putin is using his nuclear threats because so far they've worked. they have intimidated our government, and they've led to

these red lines that have delayed assistance again and again and again. look, we had the chance, ana, to have finished this war against ukraine in the summer of 2021 and early in 2022 if we had promptly provided them the equipment they asked for. the artillery, the aircraft, the other material. instead we dillied and we dallied and we delayed on this to such an extent that we gave the russians a chance to recover, to build those defenses that blocked the counteroffensive last september, and so now we're in a different position. 2024 is going to be a very difficult time for ukraine, and i think president macron was right to make had suggestion and i hope the nations are seriously considering it and won't be intimidated and bullied by mr. putin with his nuclear threat. >> the u.s. has already dismissed or tamped down this suggestion from the french president about putting troops on the ground there in ukraine.

obviously the risk of escalation is something that is a big consideration there. general wesley clark, thank you very much for the conversation. it's good to see you. >> thank you, ana. turning to israel's war in hamas or on ha ma, i should say and the new fallout after israeli forces reportedly killed dozens of palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid and crowding around that aid as it arrived in gaza yesterday. the white house privately expressing grave concern the deadly incident could stall cease fire talks, after president biden said a deal was close. nbc's raf sanchez is in tel aviv for us. raf, there are still a lot of questions about exactly what happened, what do we know? >> reporter: so ana, we know that this starred in the predawn darkness yesterday morning, hundreds of palestinians gathering on a coastal road in gaza city, and they were waiting for aid trucks to come in, hoping to get a bag of flour, hoping to get some food. multiple palestinian witnesses

tell nbc news that israeli forces began shooting before those trucks arrived and later continued shooting when the trucks were on the scene as that crowd of people, as you can' many that israeli military drone footage, surged around the trucks. mow, the hamas-run health ministry says more than 100 people were killed, 700 injured. we know that hospitals in northern gaza were flooded with gunshot victims. israel's military is telling a different story. they are saying many of the dead were killed in a stampede in that chaos you're seeing on your screen there around the trucks. they are then saying their forces fired a limited mufrm number of bullets at a specific group. >> biden had previously said he was hopeful for a hostage and cease fire deal by monday. is that still possible?

>> reporter: it's not looking likely, ana. i spoke to an israeli official earlier, they tell me the talks are basically stalled. that was the case before this violence on thursday. we know, we've heard from the president directly, he feels that what happened yesterday in gaza city only maing these negotiations more difficult. if there is any optimism to be had here, it is that the last set of cease fire negotiations also took place among pretty intense bloodshed in gaza, and they were able to reach a deal. this is a much larger agreement. it's a much more complicated one, and there are real concerns about whether the two sides can get together and get it done. >> do keep us up to date, thank you so much. next here on "ana cabrera report, a dramatic split screen and an offer trump can't refuse? what president biden offered his likely november opponent while they were both at the border. plus, a new interview with

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welcome back. with just four days to go until super tuesday, the only candidate standing in the way of donald trump's primary dominance insists that she isn't going anywhere. nikki haley set to hold two rallies today, as she tries to pull off an upset on tuesday. it's immigration that's taking center stage in the race for the white house, trump and biden with dueling visits to the southern border yesterday both trying to convince the nation that they're the best man to handle this issue. nbc's kristen welker joins us with a look at the race. kristen. >> good day to you, with just days until super tuesday, nikki haley's path to the nomination is getting more narrow by the day, but her donors are largely standing by her, and haley says she has the resources to keep going. brushing aside calls for her to drop out so the general election

can begin. >> overnight, former u.n. ambassador nikki haley making her case in battleground virginia, which votes on super tuesday, when 15 states and one u.s. territory hold primaries. >> we have a country to save so that's the focus. >> reporter: despite no clear path to beating former president trump and losing the first five contests, haley insisting she's in this race to stay. >> do you see super tuesday as your last stand? >> we're looking at it as we're hoping for a good competitive showing. that's always been the case in every step, can we continue to stay competitive? >> what do you say to republicans and even some democrats who say the longer you stay in this race you're helping president biden? >> if i get out of the race today it would be the longest yen election in history. >> for his part, the republican front runner, former president trump is increasingly pivoting to a possible rematch with

president biden with the two men locked in a close race nationwide. a new poll showing mr. trump narrowly leading the president in seven key swing states, most of which mr. biden won in 2020, some falling within the poll's margin of error. >> i have the highest poll numbers i've ever had. >> reporter: looming over the race, the former president's legal problems, the supreme court deciding this week it will hear arguments over mr. trump's claim he's immune from criminal prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, and today a federal judge in florida will hear arguments for when to start the trial over mr. trump's handling of classified documents. now, i asked haley if she thought trump's court cases should go to trial before the election, haley told me she thinks they how old all be dealt with before november. back to you. >> thanks, and joining us now, former republican congressman of pennsylvania charlie dent and former democratic congressman of new york, joe crowley.

good to see you guys. what would a victory for nikki haley even look like on super tuesday? >> well, i think what nikki haley is trying to do is demonstrate that she has a substantial number of republicans supporting her. what she's also demonstrating is there is a significant number of republicans who are not going to vote for donald trump under any circumstances, and that ought to be a real alarm to the trump campaign. he needs over 90% of republicans to win the general election. i don't see him getting those numbers. this is trump's vulnerability, and haley also knows that something could happen to donald trump. he could be a convicted felon by the time we reach the general election, and she's hoping maybe there's some reason why trump would be forced out of this race and that she could be there to pick up the pieces. that might be part of her thinking as well, but she's giving a lot of republicans like me an opportunity to express their displeasure with trump by supporting her. >> congressman crowley, you

heard kristen ask haley about this idea that the longer she stays in the race the more she helps president biden, she called that ridiculous, but is there some truth to this idea? >> i think haley's right, i think it is absurd, you know, haley's clearly not with joe biden under any circumstances. she's trying to give republicans an alternative. i don't see how that helps joe biden. i'm sure donald trump would love her to go away, of course he would. i think it's a crazy statement to suggest this is helping biden. she's trying to help create a movement within the republican party for disaffected republicans. >> congressman crowley, what do you think? oh, we are having issues with his audio unfortunately. we're still trying to get your audio worked out congressman crowley, so don't go away, audio, let's work on that, and in the meantime, i'll just continue our conversation -- >> sorry. >> oh, we got you now. >> yeah, sorry about that. >> start from the beginning. >> yeah, i think the old adage

is we always like to see the other side fighting each other. in this case i don't think she's helping biden very much. i think this is kind of a separate fight that's going on. it's something to be said at the same time, i think there's a lot of room out there right now. >> congressman crow lee, what is your reaction to president biden inviting trump to work together on the border? >> well, i think it's pretty brilliant actually, you know, it's clear that trump actually caused the negotiations to break down. there was legislation that was passed in the senate. it was bipartisan. it was led by republicans in the senate. it was the most conservative bill. you probably won't see a more conservative bill moving forward. it only gets worse from here. regardless of who becomes president, so it's kind of acknowleding by the president that it's trump who broke down those negotiations in the first place and the lack of legislation is because of trump.

>> congressman dent, yesterday was trump was once again trying to link immigration and crime and there are, of course, individual cases he can point to, but the facts really don't back up a lot of his rhetoric. nbc news did a review of available 2024 crime data, which shows overall crime levels actually dropping in cities that have received the most migrants. does it worry you that trump is, again, relying on xenophobia to energize his base. >> he always relies on xenophobia to mobilize his base, although crime levels are very high, it's also true that, you know, many of our non-citizens commit crime at a lower rate than citizens do. >> right, at a lower rate. >> that's true, but that said, crime in these major cities is still a very major problem, even if the numbers are slightly better than one year ago. let's be honest about this immigration debate. joe biden has a real vulnerability because his administration has minimized this problem for too long, and then now that they've taken

action, i think many people think it's too late. republicans on the other hand cynically scuttled their own compromise, i should say donald trump backed by many republicans, scuttled their own compromise. biden's vulnerability is still a bill vulnerability on the border but maybe a little less so now because republicans have been so cynical and have demonstrate that had they don't really want to act on this, they want the issue, not a solution at the moment. >> former congressman charlie dent and joe crowley, i'm glad we got the audio worked out. next on "ana cabrera reports," a big day in georgia, the closing arguments just hours from now on the motion to disqualify fulton county d.a. fani willis from prosecuting donald trump. plus, the new reporting of text messaging showing how this move to disqualify her developed. veloped. intense. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled.

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what do i see in peter dixon? i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us. i'm peter dixon and i we are keeping on eyes on fort pierce, florida, where right now former president

donald trump is there in court for a hearing in his classified documents case. supporters outside there waving their trump flags. now, what's important here is the judge could push back that may trial date, so we'll be watching closely for any scheduling changes, and we'll bring you any updates from the courtroom as we get them. we're going to turn out to another courtroom this time in georgia where we could have a decision soon on whether fulton county district attorney fani willis will stay in charge of the georgia case against former president trump and the closing arguments are set to get underway in just a couple of hours on the motion to dismiss willis over the allegations that she had an inappropriate relationship with her special prosecutor in this case, nathan wade. let's bring in msnbc's katie phang outside that court in atlanta, and lisa rubin and kristy greenberg are back with us. katie, closing arguments today, what can we expect? >> reporter: yeah, so it ended up being a mini trial within a trial that hasn't even been scheduled yet here in fulton county. the evidentiary hearing, the

evidence was closed earlier week when terrence bradley the former divorce attorney for nathan wade took the stage for the second time. they came to court to convince judge mcafee their side is right. as a reminder in georgia the law says in order to disqualify a prosecutor there has to be a conflict of interest. each side will get the chance today to explain to the court why the evidence or perhaps the lack of evidence supports the idea that disqualification should occur in this case, but as of right now, we don't expect to have any witnesses testify. although the issue of nathan wade's cell phone records may end up being perhaps a reopening of the evidence if the judge believes that he needs to hear from the gentleman, the private investigator who did the affidavit for those cell phone records. >> okay. it is a rainy day there in atlanta. thanks for the reporting on what we can expect. lisa, there are new text messages just obtained by "the

atlanta journal-constitution" as well as "the new york times" that really kind of show us how this whole motion and effort to dismiss willis developed. what can you tell us? >> you know, i was not aware that there was new reporting this morning. i can tell you based on what i understand of the text messages to begin with, one of the things that terrence bradley never adequately answered is why he did this in the first place. why did he communicate with ashley merchant who's micro man's lawyer as she was trying to develop information about the relationship between willis and wade when he was on the stand both last week and again this week. he never really explained himself. katie has referred to him somewhat jokingly as a yenta, he clearly was a person who enjoyed that gossip, but as a person who had been nathan wade's former divorce attorney, and his law partners. left that law firm acrimoniously

after being accused of sexual assault of an employee. it's not clear whether he was telling the truth then or now. both cannot be true. he was extraordinarily evasive on the stand about why he even engaged with ashleigh merchant in the first place. >> the then versus now, what are in those text messages? >> reporter: 413 text messages between terrence bradley and the defense attorney. up until only about two weeks ago, so terrence bradley in those text messages calling merchant his friend and disparaging wade and willis and purportedly providing all of this damaging information. however, when the moment of truth came in court under oath, terrence bradley said that it was just mere speculation on his part. the idea that he was sharing idle gossip about wade and willis. the judge in this case because he is the fact finder, ana, has to determine the credibility of

terrence bradley as well as all of the witnesses including fani willis and nathan wade. and so that will be a written order from judge mcafee. do not expect him to rule from the bench today. he will issue a written order, but very quickly because this case, although it's still proceeding in terms of hearings, et cetera, still doesn't have a trial date, and we need to know who's going to be the prosecutor. >> kristy, just how damning are these text messages, and will fani willis stay on the case? >> i think the detection messages are very definitive. when he said on the stand, well, i'm speculating, he's actually very clear in the messages. did the relationship begin before fani willis hired nathan wade? he said absolutely, and then he gave a date as to when, he gave specific information. >> he said it was even before willis became the d.a. of fulton county dating back to the 2020, the year 2020. >> and he was in a position to know. he was nathan wade's lawyer and law partner, so it's not clear

he was hearing this speculating from other people. he was right there in the office, and there were also very specific exchanges between ashleigh merchant and terrence bradley on the stand where information that he had been communicing to her, very detailed, very specific, now all of a sudden he can't remember anything. i think the judge is likely to say he was not credible on the stand. the phone records are damning, there have been references in trump's filings to them. there are text messages and there are calls that show that fani willis and nathan wade were communicating prior to her hiring him in 2021 at all hours of the night, midnight, 4:00 a.m. text messages, you know, just based on the frequency of those communications and the timing of those communications, strongly suggests here that they had a

relationship before she hired him, and that raises the question of perjury, and again, i don't think there's been any evidence that she financially profited from hiring nathan wade, and that would have been the thing that would have disqualified her. but if they perjured themselves on the stand, it's hard to see how they can stay on the case. >> we'll see where this goes, guys, got to leave it there for right now. we'll be watching obviously this closing argument, arguments from all the different lawyers involved here get underway at about 1:00 eastern and we'll be bringing those to our viewers because there are cameras in the courtroom for this. thank you so much, katie phang, lisa rubin, and kristy greenberg. up next on "ana cabrera reports," shut down a verdict. when we could be staring again over the cliff of another shutdown crisis. plus, we are live from capitol hill with more news on who's in the mix to take on mitch mcconnell's mantle as gop gnat leader. ntle as gop gnat leader with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement.

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it's good we're not shutting down, and now let's finish the job of funding the government so we don't have to do this again. >> that was senate majority leader chuck schumer reacting moments a of the senate voted to send a short-term spending bill to president biden, but there are short-term deals and then there are very short-term deals. this new plan extends the first funding deadline by just one week until next friday. and joining us now from capitol hill is nbc's ryan nobles. what is in this short-term deal, and is there any movement on fully funding the government? >> reporter: there's actually quite a bit of movement in that regard, ana. in fact, lawmakers feel confident that they'll have a bill out this weekend that will work to fund at least half the government to meet that first deadline that you pointed to that was extended to a week from today on march 8th, funding departments like the food and drug administration, the transportation department and others. it's that second deadline, that march 22nd deadline where things

could get a little bit more complicated. that's where the second half of the government must be funded, and it's the more complicated departments that we're talking about here, the department of defense, department of homeland security, state department and others. there is optimism, though, that they're going to be able to come to an agreement before the 22nd as well. they've already agreed to a top line number, the overall amount of spending that republicans and democrats feel comfortable with. it's filling out how that money will be allocated underneath that number that is still a bit of a rub, and then of course there is also the possibility that conservative republicans in the house may do something to try to pressure speaker johnson to back out of this deal before it all takes place. but at this point, there is optimistic that -- there is optimism we won't see a shutdown in the near future. >> fingers crossed. that sounds good. and the jockeying to replace mitch mcconnell as republican leader is the heating up there. what can you tell me about the three men named john? >> reporter: john cornyn from texas who already jumped into the race for the senate

republican leader. john barrasso from wyoming who is number three in the pecking order. and john thune of south dakota, the republican whip, and second in line to the top position. the other two johns, barroso and thune, have yet to specifically state their intentions, but there is the belief that they will eventually get in. and while these three johns are fighting it out, there is also the possibility that another name may jump into the race, rick scott, has put out a press release, saying he's going to make an announcement about a campaign. he didn't say specifically what campaign that would be next week. you'll remember rick scott of florida challenged mitch mcconnell for leadership last year and did not succeed. so, there is a lot of jockeying that will take place before this is all settled. >> ryan nobles from capitol hill, thank you. and now to the fight over ivf access in alabama. the state's house and senate have now both passed bills to protect ivf after that ruling from alabama's supreme court caused massive confusion over

whether the procedure was still legal. the bills would ensure that no action, suit or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo could be brought against anyone receiving or providing ivf services. the legislature is on track for a full vote to pass this measure on wednesday and it can then go to the governor's desk. the democrats and reproductive rights advocates say it is still flawed, it doesn't do enough to address the issue at the center of the ruling. and that is whether embryos are considered children under alabama law. next on "ana cabrera reports," inside the devastation from the largest wildfire in texas history that's burned the landmass bigger than rhode island. the latest on the efforts to contain it as wind and heat this weekend creates new threats. hes weekend creates new threats. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... in real time.

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right now, blizzard conditions out west, heavy snow

burying california's sierra nevada mountains. forecasters say this area could get a huge, huge dump, 10 feet of snow, with extreme avalanche danger. yosemite national park is asking all visitors to leave by noon today, as officials urge the public to stay off the roads. and snow is expected through sunday. meantime, in texas, crews are racing to respond to what has become the largest wildfire in state history. officials say the smokehouse creek fire has now killed at least two people and burned more than a million acres. nbc's morgan chesky joins us from the fire zone in canadian, texas. this time yesterday we saw snow and wind there, what kinds of conditions are firefighters facing today? >> reporter: yeah, ana, good morning. a lot can happen in 24 hours. the sun is back out today. temperatures are on the rise. and winds also expected to pick back up. that is a serious cause of concern here. here in canadian, you can smell

that lingering smoke here that just goes to show the amount of loss this community has seen. this home behind me, one of dozens here, that burned in just minutes from these fast-moving flames and that's why authorities are urging everyone today as these conditions worsen that this fire fight is far from over. this morning, a fiery nightmare sweeping through texas where smoke-filled skies and flame-torched prairies are rewriting history in the state's panhandle. the smokehouse creek fire swelling to more than a million acres, scorching an area large enough to stretch from new york to philadelphia. from above, the devastation even more jarring. many homes now smoldering piles of rubble and huge swaths of farm land left charred and blackened. smokehouse creek, the biggest of four active fires in the state's vast panhandle, where many just had minutes to evacuate. people didn't have time to grab

anything? >> no. people lost everything. >> reporter: paul blankenship now facing unthinkable loss. his mother joyce killed after flames swallowed her home. >> i wasn't able to get in to her. >> reporter: another woman killed after authorities say a fast-moving fire overtook her truck. outside canadian, texas, at the family run mendota ranch, the owner did his best to save what he can. the view from his helicopter, grim, the majority of his 26,000 acre spread scorched. >> i flew my helicopter for eight hours yesterday, and never saw a green grass. >> reporter: abraham joined other ranchers fighting the flames from the air. >> we're going to be running out of water here pretty soon. >> reporter: but drops of water could only do so much to slow an ocean of flames. >> we just lost a million acres. all my neighbor's gone. >> reporter: in fridge, texas, a surreal scene of fire and ice, with snow blanketing scorched ruins. and snow also an issue farther

north. parts of the sierra nevadas about to be hit with up to 5 to 10 feet. blizzards already clogging roads and causing accidents as the country continues to cope with the wild late winter weather. and we know that later today, texas governor greg abbott will be in the texas panhandle, sharing how the state plans to help these communities pick up these charred pieces. in the meantime, more than 100 firefighters expected to arrive here in this state today, a very welcome sight. that came from president biden over the last 24 hours. ana? >> morgan chesky, thank you. stay safe. and that does it for us this hour. thank you for being here. i'll be back at noon eastern today, filling in for andrea mitchell. until then, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. good