actions to potentially do things that they knew, consciousness of guilt might have been illegal, but that's what they needed to at least keep the campaign on life support. we do know the election was close. 10,000 votes in michigan, 44,000 in pennsylvania, that's out of over 100 million nationwide. razor thin in three states, and also losing the electoral college. the voters then didn't know about the hush money scheme. there are no do overs in presidential campaigns, but what this trial is bringing to the jury is the intense political motivation for what prosecutors say was a crime that went well-beyond politics as usual. that does it for me. keep it locked right here on msnbc. my predecessor wants to cut social security and medicare. he said there's a lot of reason you can do it in terms of

cutting. not on my watch. he brags about getting roe v. wade overturned. mcconnell and i are going to keep fighting to restore roe v. wade as the law of the land again. my predecessor labels our country of revenge and retribution. i believe we're a nation of hope and opportunity for everybody. we're a country of honesty, decency, faith, fairness. that's the future we're building together. >> that's president joe biden last night drawing a slew of clear contrasts between himself and donald trump. it comes amid new polling that shows a substantial bump for the president if his predecessor is convicted in the ongoing hush money case. and speaking of that trial, the former president is turning it into a de facto campaign event with a whole bunch of his allies in court with him yesterday. we'll show you who was there and recap the second day of testimony from his former fixer,

michael cohen. plus, we'll go through the latest effort from the biden administration to persuade the israeli government against a wider military operation in southern gaza. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, may 15th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we have a very busy show ahead. we'll begin on the legal front. donald trump's criminal hush money trial resumes tomorrow after prosecutors wrapped up their questioning of michael cohen yesterday. and the defense began to unleash a tense round of cross-examination. trying to teardown the prosecution's key witness, cohen was on stand, the former trump attorney turned foe is the only witness to directly tie trump to a falsifying business record scheme as part of a hush money

payment plan to keep adult film actress stormy daniels from going public during the 2016 presidential campaign about her alleged sexual encounter with trump. cohen testified that he fronted the money to pay daniels through a shell company and that trump assured him he would be paid back. the prosecution began the day going over cohen's past legal troubles including his conviction and imprisonment for perjury as well as his legal disbarment. cohen described his loyalty to the former president as being knee-deep into the cult of donald trump. saying he initially believed his former boss would protect him and therefore stayed in the trump camp as long as he did. cohen said this. to keep the loyalty and to do the things that he asked me to do, i violated my moral compass, and i suffered the penalty as has my family. but the defense tried to paint

cohen as a serial liar, telling jurors that he simply cannot be trusted. "the new york times" put it this way. mr. cohen was repeatedly attacked by mr. trump's attorney, todd blanche, who suggested he was being evasive on the stand, had selective amnesia, and was a jilted former employee profiting off of his hatred of the former president. blanche insinuated that cohen began to change his story as he sought a path out of federal prison and began meeting with federal prosecutors. at many points cohen said he could not recall conversations or events like his attorneys telling him to stop talk about the case publicly. blanche often grew visibly annoyed and raised his voice at cohen yesterday. the defense attorney bounced him on topics but did not once address any of cohen's testimony during the direct examination by prosecutors. the defense will continue

questioning cohen tomorrow with his customary court on recess today. prosecutors indicated yesterday they'll rest their case after cohen finishes his testimony. the defense team said it could not commit to calling any witnesses. it's unclear if trump himself will testify. joining us now nbc news legal analyst catherine christian. she's a former assistant district attorney right there in manhattan. catherine, thanks for starting us off this morning. so the defense team will continue its questioning of michael cohen tomorrow. but in your judgment how is he doing so far under cross-examination? did the defense score any points yesterday? >> well, the only points if you call it points is michael cohen on direct examination was a very mellow polite yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. answered every question, you know, yes or no. on his cross there was a lot of it sounds like something i could say, i don't recall.

so he wasn't as, you know, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. i think he said yes, sir once. what todd blanche, trump's attorney is trying to do i think "the times" said it right. he's guided by hatred, he's a jilted former employee. but he's more than a former employee, which does explain his hatred. and it's okay that michael cohen hates donald trump. the jury just has to believe that just because he hates him, that doesn't mean he's lying now. because michael cohen thought that the trump family was part of his family. he thought that, you know, donald trump was -- he was someone that donald -- that he viewed as more than a mentor. he basically idolized donald trump. so when donald trump basically threw him away, that really caused a lot of pain. and then it turned into hostility and hatred in michael cohen. i think on the direct examination the one -- and i thought it was a very perfect

direct examination by the prosecutor. i would have leaned more into the hostility that michael cohen had against donald trump. but the -- the cross i didn't think as of yet because it's not over yet really dented michael cohen. now, he did not plan to go into the testimony on direct was. you don't really do that as a defense attorney unless the testimony conflicts with prior testimony or prior statements. then you're going to say you made a prior inconsistent statement. >> yeah, you anticipated my question there, whether you agreed with blanche's strategy. you say that is indeed the norm. prosecutors said that cohen will likely be their final witness. there had been some suggestion there might be one or two more. if the defense doesn't call any witnesses and they conclude their cross of cohen tomorrow, what happens next? what sort of time line are we looking at? >> then friday is off because of

donald trump's son graduation so summations -- assuming that the testimony is over on thursday including if the prosecutors want to do redirect, then summation should be on monday. and in state court in new york there's the prosecutor goes last. so the defense will start off and then the prosecutor and then the judge will instruct the jury on the law, and then they will start deliberating. >> so a real chance then deliberations could be next week. the verdict anytime after that. starting us off this morning, nbc news legal analyst catherine christian. catherine, thank you again. meanwhile republican senator tommy tuberville said he accompanied donald trump to court this week to lower manhattan to, quote, overcome the gag order that's been imposed on the former president. in the interview he gave news max yesterday the alabama lawmaker discussed his decision to speak outside the courthouse on monday where among other things he called into question the citizenship of the jurors

serving on the case. >> mental anguish is trying to be pushed on a republican candidate that's all this is. he's been here a month. he's been a here a month. i'm disappointed looking at the supposedly american conservatives in that courtroom. >> this judge has pretty much got everybody hog tied i would call from president trump on down, anybody on his side. hopefully we have more and more senators and congressmen go up every day and represent him and be able to go out and overcome this gag order. that's one of the reasons we went is be able to speak our piece for president trump. >> yesterday more of his allies showed up who were willing to help him get around his gag order. moopg them house speaker mike johnson who repeated many of trump's false claims about the cases against him. the man who is second in line to the presidency also criticized michael cohen's testimony and attacked the judge's daughter

all on behalf of the former president. and as you can see there a few of trump's potential running mates were there as well wearing matching suits and red ties, helping trump turn the trial into what is now essentially a campaign event. doug bergman and vivek ramaswamy among them. so former republican congressman liz cheney mocked johnson for the events at the trial. she posted on social media i have to admit i'm surprised speaker johnson wants to be in the i cheated on my wife porn star club. i guess he's not that concerned teaching morality to our young people after all. jamie raskin of maryland also called out the speaker telling the daily beast this. "i don't find anything unusual about a fundamentalest theocrat, attending legal proceedings and adjudicated sexual assail want and cook up hush money payments

he made to a porn star to conceal his adulterous affair. do you." making reference to telling fox about his world view shortly after being elected speaker. >> someone asked me in the media it's curious, what does mike johnson think about any issue under the sun. i said, well, go pick up a bible off your shelf and read it. that's my world view, that's what i believe. still ahead here after withholding weapons last week, the biden administration is now moving forward with a $1 billion arms deal for israel. we'll bring you that reporting. plus even more warning signs for the trump campaign as nikki haley tones to rack up primary votes despite dropping out of the gop race more than two months ago. those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. sports and weather when we come right back

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welcome back as we turn to some of the morning's other top headlines now, the white house is expected to send more than a billion dollars in additional arms and ammunition to israel. the wall street germ was the first to report that the biden administration notified congress that it was moving forward with this new weapons deal yesterday. according to congressional aides the package includes tank ammunition, tactical vehicles, and mortar rounds. it's not part of the foreign aid package that congress passed last month. it's not known exactly yet when this aid will be sent to israel. now, the move comes less than a week after the president paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs over concerns about israel's planned invasion of rafah. the white house still believes a full-scale attack there would worsen the already dire humanitarian crisis. this is different set of ammunition. meanwhile, national security advisor jake sullivan is set to travel to israel and saudi

arabia this upcoming weekend. this as the white house indeed continues to push israel to have them not invade rafah, warning the move could have greater implications including ruining the chances of striking a peace deal. a senior u.s. official tells axios that the biden administration and israel have reached an understanding that any sort of operation in rafah will not be expanded before sullivan's visit. meanwhile, secretary of state antony blinken was in kyiv yesterday for an unannounced visit meant to reassure ukraine that the u.s. remains committed to helping them fend off russia's ongoing assault. blinken met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and discussed the importance of u.s. security assistance. congress approved the aid package that set aside $60 billion for ukraine. blinken later gave a speech at a ukrainian university about the future of the country. >> the coming weeks and months

will demand a great deal of ukrainians who have already sacrificed so much, but i have come to ukraine with a message. you are not alone. the united states has been by your side from day one. we are with you today. and we will stay by your side until ukraine's security, its saufb sovereignty, its ability to choose its own path is guaranteed. >> and then later blinken made a surprise appearance at a bar in kyiv, jumping in on the band on stage again voicing the need for freedom in ukraine. still ahead we'll turn to sports and the latest playoff action in the nhl and nba. we'll show you which team took the series lead last night. plus caitlin clark makes her debut with the indiana fever. we'll bring you those highlights

and a check on the forecast when we come right back. and a check on the forecast when we come right back so this is pickleball? it's basically tennis for babies, but for adults. it should be called wiffle tennis. pickle! yeah, aw! whoo! ♪♪ these guys are intense. we got nothing to worry about. 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. that's a pretty good burn, right? got him. good game. thanks for coming to our clinic, first one's free.

a little bit of a hold. touch pass, oh, brunson! are you kidding? jalen brunson. >> knicks star jalen brunson reached the 40-point mark for the fifth time this post-season finishing with 44 as new york electrified the crowd as it rebounded from its blow out loss with a blow out win 121-91 over the indiana pacers. game six friday in indianapolis would send the knicks to the eastern conference finals for the first time since the year 2000. home team won every game so far that series. out west in denver nuggets big man nikola jokic he scored 40 to

lead denver to 112-97 win for the edge in their second round series. remember they were down the series 2-0. now up 3-2. and denver will try to closeout the t-wolves on the road in game six tomorrow night. meanwhile, eight wnba teams tipped off their regular seasons last night including in connecticut where the sun hosted caitlin clark in her official regular season debut with the indiana fever. clark had a slow start going scoreless in the fourth quarter before finally getting on the board midway through the second. clark would finish the team high 20 but also turn the ball over ten times. some nerves there. she didn't play great, she will soon enough. fever did lose, though, 92-71. we turn now to playoff hockey and the boston bruins avoided elimination on the road last night with a 2 win run over

the florida panthers. they'll try again to wrap things up on friday in boston. to edmonton now, the oilers got even against vancouver winning 3-2 after scoring the game winner with 40 seconds left. the crowd going wild as you can see. game five tomorrow night. 2-2 there. a massive home run hit by los angeles dodgers superstar shohei ohtani onto the right field porch at oracle park in san francisco. look at this thing. 446 feet. that solo shot broke a scoreless tie with the giants in the fourth inning. and ohtani having another mvp-type season. he finished just a triple shy of the cycle. dodgers crush the giants 10-2. and one more story for you. tom brady now says he redplets

that three-hour roast that was on netflix earlier this month. in an appearance on the pivot podcast that aired yesterday brady lamented the impact some of the jokes had on his family, namely his kids. >> i loved when the jokes were about me. i thought they were so fun. i didn't like the way it affected my kids. so it's the hardest part about the bittersweet aspect of when you do something you think is one way and all of a sudden you realize i wouldn't do that again because of the way it affected actually the people i care about the most in the world. >> probably should have seen that coming, tom. time now for the weather. let's bring in meteorologist angie lassman with the forecast. how's it looking out there? >> a little soggy across parts of the east. we've got storms we're tracking for florida today, the plains and let's start in florida where there's a flood watch here across central florida through 11:00 a.m. we have the chance for more

strong storms through the afternoon hours. notice this big batch of rain working across the north east, new york to boston and going to see a couple of soggy days for the next 48 hours. notice all the spots we've seen with strong storms today. parts of the carolinas and the plains no surprise there we'll likely see those stronger winds upwards of 70, maybe 75 miles an hour be the biggest threat but we can't rule out hail and tornados, too. notice we're kind of in and out of this soggy pattern. it doesn't look like we're going to see any strong storms in that area. but where we will see concerning conditions over the next couple of days is parts of the plains. here's what we've received in rainfall since sunday. and more on the way. this is going to be problematic for folks in this area here as we get through at least tomorrow and likely into friday, too. we'll have 2 to 3 inches per hour rainfall rates. that's going to cause some problems on those already ach saturated grounds where we could see upwards of 1, maybe 3 inches

for widespread areas, but notice up to 7 inches of rain expected in the gulf coast region. that's going to be something we'll watch well into the weekend with flooding concerns. >> we'll check back with you into that tomorrow. next up here we're going to dig into new polling that suggests the coverage of donald trump's criminal hush money trial might in fact be shifting some american's perceptions of the former president and his conduct. those new numbers are next on "way too early." w numbers are n "way too early." inner child. what you really need in life is some freakin' torque. what? the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover.

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welcome back to "way too early." it's just before 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this wednesday morning. hard to believe it's only wednesday. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. so exactly one month into donald trump's criminal trial, new polling finds that for the first time the majority of americans believe the former president is guilty. in the latest yahoo news yougov poll 52% of adults say trump did indeed falsify business records to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star. that's up 4 points from last month and up 7 points from when the charges were filed a year ago. if convicted 51% would approve of trump serving prison time while 36% would be against putting him behind bars. as for the political implications, the poll shows that trump and president joe biden are tied at 45% in this year's election among registered

voters. but when asked who they would support if trump is convicted in this case, biden takes a 7-point lead, 46-39. interesting. now, president biden did not mince words last night when he criticized trump for his actions concerning the bipartisan border package that senate republicans killed earlier this year. the package which was negotiated for weeks by a trio of two democrats and, yes, one republican was killed on trump's orders so that he could run on issue in the general election. biden called out that move among other things last night. >> my bipartisan bill has majority support in the house and senate. but i was told that other guy, that loser -- i think he's having trouble. trump called republicans to

block that senate bill, got on the phone and said it'd be a win for biden or loser for him. so you have to make sure you don't allow it to get to a vote. but he's wrong. republicans in congress must act. this is the right thing to do, and america needs it done. >> joining us now former white house director of communications to president obama, our friend jennifer palmieri. she and claire mccaskill are co-hosts of the msnbc podcast how to win 2024. let's start with those poll numbers there, which do show a bit of a shift among the electorate if donald trump is convicted. so that's been such a struggle for all of us here is to try to determine whether this trial is really breaking through. it certainly is being cover said extensively in new york and d.c. but is it having any sort of impact with voters across the country? give us your reaction to this poll and whether you think this is going to make a difference

come november. let's remember a verdict may come as soon as next week or the week after, five-plus months ahead of voters going to the polls. >> i know. how sad is it we're both sort of stunned people -- something actually matters, something moves the election. but i saw there was polling when the trial started that showed that i think 60% of americans thought the charges were serious, that 70% of them said they had been paying some kind of attention to it. so i guess it shouldn't be surprised that a trial -- that a trial that's happening in the public eye that's gaining a lot of attention involving recognized states are going to matter in the race but given how solid trump's support is, it's still surprising. but it's 51% of people think that -- that you had 51% as a number there about trump, about what would happen if trump was

convicted, and also that biden's number jumps by 7 points. that means trump supporters are concerned, right? if you're at 51%, that means trump supporters themselves are saying that something is too much with him. so it is -- that is -- and like you said this could all happen in a week, so we could be getting ready for something that actually impacts. >> there's an outside chance it'll happen ipdecember but the one in new york the only one going to occur between now and november. we just played a video of last night, pretty harsh attacks on his predecessor for killing the border bill and other issues. do you think those are going to resonate with voters? and put your answer, if you will, against the backdrop of the battleground state polls from a few days ago that, frankly, were pretty tough for the president particularly in the sun belt. >> the -- i think that, you

know, another president or another candidate might not be able to pull off calling donald trump a loser. it's something that naturally comes to biden to speak very plainly. you saw him yesterday, too, when he did an event on tariffs from china and reporters say and these kind of rhetorics come naturally from biden. he's able to directly conflict with trump like on the border bill that he did last night. and particularly in areas where biden currently has vulnerabilities, it's so hard for biden to break through. and if he can break through by directly confronting trump like on the border and saying that's also vulnerability for biden to say -- trump is the one that stopped it, that's like a double whammy.

it's a good hit and it'll actually break through because you're taking trump on directly. but with all of these things thinking great moment in earned media, how is it going to break through because it's so hard to get through the clutter? so biden team has to have all these moments add up to -- to content they can use in digital ads and television ads. and they're very deft at doing that. it's may. we have six more months to get through the election, but they're clearly in the moment they need to do that kind of paid media that will actually break through. >> as you say it's never bip harder to break through including our siloed media landscape. terrific analysis as alwaysed. jennifer, thank you so much for joining us this morning. next up here we'll go live to cnbc for an early look what's driving the day on wall street ahead of today's key inflation report. plus, google announces a new artificial intelligence feature. where it puts the company in the

race to stay on the cutting edge of a.i. technology we'll get into that on a cloudy, rainy, dreary day here in new york city. we'll be right back. day here i city we'll be right back. it's a beautiful... ...day to fly. wooooo!

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flonase all good. also, try our allergy headache and nighttime pills. major airlines are suing to block a rule that would require them to disclose all their fees saying it would confuse customers by overloading them with information. the new rule would save customers an estimated $500 million a year. so i think i speak for everyone when i say, go ahead, confuse us. we'll figure it out. >> here here. time now for business let's bring in cnbc's charlotte reed who joins us live from london. good morning, charlotte. investors are looking aed to key inflation data due out in a few hours. what are economists expecting? >> absolutely, john, good morning. stocks closed higher yesterday after initial negative reaction to the producer price index for april that came in hotter than

expected with the march reading being revised lower on the fear a little bit of the picture around inflation. as you were saying all eyes today will be on consumer price index to be released a little bit later. and finally we're reaching the end of earnings season with cisco systems reporting just after the bell today. >> we'll be keeping an eye on that all day long. google used its annual to showcase its a.i. >> announce understood uh-uhditions to its a.i. series gemini at its conference yesterday. google says it's its lightest and provide users more thorough answers to questions even ones submitted through videos. google says we'll rollout new features in search functions and other google services. this announcement comes after

open a.i. announced its new a.i. model, chatgpt. >> let's talk about this now. so one of the world's most influential fill philanthropists, melinda gates announced she's stepping down from the organization she started with her husband. what prompted this move? >> in her statement on her page she said it's not a kiz she came to lightly, that she's immensely proud of the foundation she and bill built together and the work its doing to address inequities around the world. the decision to leave the foundation she cofounded comes just three years after her sprz from the microsoft cofounder bill gates. as part of the agreement melinda gates will maintain $12.5 billion she plans to put towards the ongoing work she's been focusing on in recent years for

women and families. in his own statement bill gates thanked mulinda and said he remained fully committed to the foundation's work. the foundation will now be renamed the gates foundation. >> cnbc's charlotte reed, live from london, thank you as always. the white house is slamming china with a new set of tariffs. congresswoman debbie dingell of michigan will join us next with a look at what it means for american workers. we'll be right back with that. k. (knock on the door) are you using all the old spice? oops. ♪ (old spice mnemonic) ♪

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welcome back. president joe biden has announced a new sweeping package of tariffs against china in an effort to protect american industries that are being hurt by beijing. biden says the tariffs which include 100% increase rate on electric vehicles will ensure that u.s. workers are put first and that the ev market is not dominated by china. after the announcement biden was asked about former president trump's comments regarding his actions. take a listen.

>> mr. president, trump said today china is eating our lurch. what do you say in response? >> we've been feeding them a long time. >> the president saying there he's been feeding them a long time. joining us now democratic congressman debbie dingell of michigan. congresswoman, good to see you this morning. let's talk about these new tariffs. i spoke to some senior white house aides yesterday who feel very good about this initiative, saying even some republicans were praising it. trump if he were to take office again threatening extraordinary response. how do you think it'll hurt specifically a state like michigan, the heart of the automotive industry? >> i was obviously very happy.

the fact of the matter is this is both an economic security issue and a national security issue. chinese company government is subsidize their product. we're not playing on a local playing field. they do not have the same kind of labor standards, health standards, environmental standards, occupational safety standards that we do, and this is going to help ensure that we are playing on a level playing field. i think people didn't understand what we had done to our supply chain until covid and the pandemic when we were not making gloves or masks or gowns here. and the chinese government subsidizes a lot of its products and doesn't pay its workers enough money. we need to be competing in a global marketplace that has a level playing field, and this was an important announcement. >> so that's obviously economic impact, and we see polls, congresswoman, that show that the president is still not getting much in the way of credit for how he has turned

things around after the pandemic and that for fueling an economy that by most metrics pretty good. so with roughly six months to go until election day, how do you see the president's economic arguments? what more does he need to be saying? >> you know what, it's got to be one of the number one issue we're talking about. people are hurting and we need to acknowledge they are hurting. they can't afford to buy a house, represent, they can't afford represent. students are worried about their student loans. and if you're talking to kids graduating they're having a harder time finding a job. talk to them turkey. talk to them about what he's done. i'm actually going in those union halls. right now we've got a problem in the union halls. they don't know what joe biden has done, and you've got to remind them donald trump doesn't care whether they have a pension, whether they get health care, and quite frankly whether they get a pay raise. quite frankly we've got a lot of

work to do. this year nobody's ignoring me like they did in 2015 and 2016 when they said, hey, guys, donald trump could win and they thought i was crazy and we're putting a plan together, execute, where, i'm working with my house colleagues to make sure we're getting out there. people don't know what happened to the bipartisan bill, or the infrastructure bill. we've got to get in those union halls, get with the young people and get with the african american men and make the comparison. >> certainly the biden campaign keenly aware and some polls show the president slightly down and expect a lot of attention there and in the months ahead. which means we'll be talking to you quite next, we will go over some possible warning signs for the other side for donald trump's presidential campaign after nikki haley who, of course, dropped out of the race months ago, continues to draw a chunk of votes, including in last night's primaries.

we will get into that. coming up on "morning joe," we bring you the key takeaways of day two of michael cohen's testimony and trump's criminal hush money trial. plus, intelligence chairman committee mark warner of virginia will be a guest ahead of a hearing today on the foreign threats to this year's upcoming elections. "morning joe" is a few moments away. ents away ean. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. enjoy the go with charmin.

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welcome back. we turn back to politics now. m.d. and nebraska and west virginia held primaries last night and a large percentage of republican voters continue to cast their ballots for nikki haley, despite the fact she dropped out of the gop race more than two months ago. according to the nbc news decision desk, haley pulled in 20% of the vote in maryland's primary and in nebraska she won about 18% of that party's vote. there were several other notable races last night. west virginia's term limited republican governor jim justice won the senate gop primary. he is heavily favored to win the general election there. that would, of course, flip the

seat currently being held by retiring democratic senator joe manchin. in west virginia's first congressional district district carol miller won over evans a 2016 reutter who was sentenced to three months in prison for his role in the election. in that state, former police officer harry dunn who defended the capital january 6th lost. joining us to talk about the results last night and other police station headlines is national politician reporter from the hill is julia manchester. let's start with the maryland senate race and larry hogan and who he will face and a state that is awfully blue these days

but polls suggest we have a tight battle ahead. >> good morning, jonathan. this was certainly an interesting race to watch because those of us that live in the washington, d.c. media market have been seeing ads for weeks from congressman david trone and is one of the co-founders of total wine. he poured $62 million of his own money into that race but what we learned last night is cash only means so much because we saw that angela brooks from prince george's county outside of washington, d.c., she won that democratic senate primary. now she had the backing of maryland governor wes moore, as well as congressman jamie rask, et cetera. she had the backing of a lot of major maryland congressional figures and she went on to beat david trone. he was warning in the run-up to this primary that if brooks were to win it would be a tougher

race against hogan. that being said, though, i think this will come down to a nail-biter in what is considered a blue state. we are already seeing democrats really seek to paint hogan as ultra conservative but we know he is a rare anti-trump and speaking out against trump. this is interesting to watch which direction hogan chooses to go to in terms of getting the republican base in maryland and also winning over moderator independent voters. hogan won also a statewide race in maryland so he has done this before. >> yeah. a fiercely contested battle for the senate control. if democrats lose maryland, they would be in big trouble. let's talk about other results last night, including nikki haley's ongoing impact with republican voters. she continues to put up pretty impressive numbers for a campaign that has been suspended for months. talk to us about trump's efforts to win those voters back, but

also what is president biden's team looking to doing the same? >> yeah. you know, i had one source describe this to me as nikki haley's zombie campaign and still see her getting a sizeable percentage and getting 20% to 25% in these races in maryland and pennsylvania and arizona. for donald trump, look. he told a local news station in pennsylvania last week that, essentially, look. this is a small portion of the primary electorate and that a lot of these primary voters are not actually republicans, they are moderates and interests and that could be true but they tell me voters are coming back from rural areas of these states to vote for nikki haley. so there is a portion of the electorate, of the conservative electorate that is still coming out for, you know, the former

u.n. ambassador. the question i get from a lot of republicans who are sort of unsure what to make of this, is this a protest vote against donald trump or a vote for nikki haley, the candidate? that could be a big impact going into the general election in terms of whether these voters vote for biden or trump. democrats and democrats sort of say, look. a lot of these voters, particularly the conservative ones, once they see the choice after the convention of biden and trump set in stone, the choice to go to biden is rather slim. but when they are voting when the primaries are open biden could see an opening. >> some speculation in the media that haley could be one of trump's vp picks, the gop front-runner say that is not happening. polls this week were not great for the president. his team are saying we don't believe them and we see momentum and they we are doing better. democrats you speak to, do they

share that sentiment? >> look. they say it's way too early at this point. just to wrap it up, you know, kind of tie it to what we were talking about at the beginning of the segment with angela brooks. a lot of democrats last night that i was texting with democrats online were essentially saying maryland's primary race shows us that you can't believe the polls. angela brooks was trailing trone at some points during that primary so they are pointing to that right now. we are less than six months out and i think we will see more movement as we get closer to november. >> those same polls suggest that some of those senate candidates running ahead of president biden in those states and see if that lasts between now and november. good stuff, as always, from julia manchester. thank you, julia. thanks to all of you getting up "way too early" for us on wednesday morning. >> cohen continued