already on the line and gwinnett county is full of those folks who may have been looking to support nikki haley, for example, or things like that. what impact will the trial have there? i spoke with the gop chairman and he told me, of course, the key is turnout. we heard that before and that's why they're focusing heavily on what people are thinking around this. >> it is great for you to bring us what people are thinking. thank you so much, blayne alexander, for that insight. on sunday, msnbc films presents "battleground georgia" 9:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. that does it for us today. see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. for now, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. good morning. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern and 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin this morning with breaking news in the presidential race. just hours ago, president biden

challenged former president donald trump to join him for two presidential debates with new terms. take a listen. >> donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020. since then he hasn't shown up for a debate.acting like he wano debate me again. well, make my day, pal, i'll do it twice. pick the date. i hear you're free on wednesdays. >> joining us, monica alba and vaughn hillyard and amna nawaz, an msnbc contributor. so, monica, the president just accepted an offer. what is he now proposing? >> reporter: we understand that former president trump has also committed to this date as well. we're learning june 27th will likely be when this debate takes place between former president trump and president biden in atlanta. it will be hosted by cnn, which just announced the terms have been agreed to in terms of, again, date and location by both

campaigns. there is still a lot of open questions about some of the other components to a debate like this, which is taking place far earlier than other general election matchups that we have seen in past cycles. this did all start this morning with the biden campaign sending a letter to the commission on presidential debates, telling them essentially we're not participating in your format. we aren't going to be engaging in those fall debates. instead, we're proposing two debates to be directly negotiated between the campaigns, and between relevant news networks to take place in late june and in september, with a vice presidential debate between those two in late july. so we'll see if that holds in terms of the calendar perspectives. but this is going to be different than what we have seen in terms of most recently four years ago in these general election debate matchups because they're asking at least the biden team is saying they would like for this to be in a tv studio, without a large audience

and with a commitment, which is something that has been done in the past, to controlling the microphone of the candidate who is not supposed to be talking. so, they're putting forth all of this to say they really want to do this their own way, and the former president has said for some time he was willing to debate the president anytime. the president said, sure, let's do it. he did poke at that wednesday line specifically in that video, referring to the former president's ongoing criminal trial and we know that wednesday, a day like today, exactly, is a day where the biden re-election effort feels they can drive their own message more directly because the court proceedings are ongoing. jose? >> vaughn, so you've been covering trump closely. what is he and his team saying? >> reporter: right, i just got off the phone with the trump adviser who confirmed in fact they are going to go forward with the debate in atlanta and as monica said, without a crowd. these were terms that donald

trump did not necessarily exactly want to agree to. but for months now he said he would debate joe biden anytime, anywhere, anyplace. of course donald trump in a social media post this morning said he wanted a stadium full crowd there to par take in the first debate, but by the terms that are being requested by president biden, that this have -- there be no crowd for this one on one matchup, the trump campaign is confirming and is agreeing to those terms in order to make this happen on june 27th. i want to let you hear from donald trump, just earlier this morning on the radio with hugh hewitt. take a listen. >> president biden just issued you a debate challenge for june and september with the veeps talking in july. do you accept? >> oh, absolutely. i really think he has to debate, he might as well get it over with. probably should do it early so he can, you know, he's not going to get any better.

every day. >> but june and september is great. >> every day is a down factor for him. >> for donald trump here, i think there is one other benefit to this, but as well for joe biden, it is the fact this will be a one on one matchup. by forgoing debating with the commission, where there has been historically a threshold that would allow a third party candidate, like robert kennedy jr. to debate, by forgoing the commission and going forward with this debate on june 27th, both men, whose campaigns both fear the siphoning votes away from their candidates in favor of kennedy, both of them are now going to have a one on one matchup without having to give the platform to kennedy. >> and, vaughn, so, the little poke that the president gave trump on i hear you're free on wednesdays, how did trump react to that? >> reporter: this is not going to be on a wednesday here and for donald trump's sake here, he's partaking in two fund-raisers today, in lexington and cincinnati and looking at

the reality that a trial could be potentially ending by next week here. so, the calendar for him in june could very well be wide open politically and, of course, june 27th now the first debate, much earlier than the american public is accustomed to and before both the democratic and republican national conventions. >> and so, amna, it is interesting, there is one thing both the president and the former president agree on is that they don't want to deal with the commission on presidential debates. what is your reaction to this? >> i'm a firm believer in the idea that debates can be good for democracy when conducted well and when both candidates actually participate based on the guidelines that they agree to. we have seen debates go off the rails between these two candidates in the past. i think it is going to be interesting to see how this is structured, what terms they do eventually agree to, agree to the debate -- to the date, not much more beyond that, and these are terms that would definitely benefit president biden, very controlled environment, no live audience, candidates' mics being cut off, we know mr. trump has a

more freewheeling style and we have seen that in debates in the past. both campaigns clearly think that they have something to gain from being pitted one on one against each other. and that is to continue to draw a contrast between the other candidate. the trump campaign believes that mr. biden has declined since the last election, they believe that those kinds of contrasts will become clear in a debate, that he will appear weak or tired or older or frail. the biden campaign believes that with a focus on policy and issues, they will show just how dangerous they believe mr. trump is for this country and for democracy. >> and both are in some very real way guaranteeing that rfk jr., who right now would not qualify for a debate, but who knows where his poll numbers could become june, july or august, that that is not going to be a threat for either of these two candidates. >> i mean, the timing of this needs to be underscored, to have a debate this early, particularly for a general election cycle that is so long for our modern campaigns this year, people are going to really get a look at what these

candidates are all about in a way that many people haven't been focusing on in terms of the details before. rfk jr., we know, pulled votes certainly from mr. biden, but also from mr. trump. it makes sense they don't necessarily want him on the stage. and speaking as someone who has had the privilege of being a moderator in a primary presidential debate before, i think a lot depends on the questions, a lot depends on the format, and this will be a chance for people to get the information they need, so they can cast an informed ballot before early voting starts, we should note, in september. >> now that we're seeing, monica, both president biden and trump are reacting in real time to invitations, here is my formal, not a joke, formal invitation, president biden, mr. trump, let's have a debate here on msnbc at this time or whatever time of your choosing or wherever you wish, here is a formal invitation to the two of them to have a debate on this air. but, monica, the timing of what

they have already accepted, who is that to benefit of? >> reporter: yeah, i echo that, let's do it, why not? i think what is really interesting about these dates and amna just touched on it, when it comes to early voting, we do have to remember that starts in september. so in many ways, even if we look at the calendar and think there is months until the november election, the biden campaign has been looking at this from a different perspective and because the dnc is taking place in august, they know that then they're essentially going to have a sprint to try to convince voters ahead of those key early voting dates, so they feel like september is an important target to have the second debate, which could be more consequential as the cycle goes on and they feel that october is too late because so many people will already be casting ballots when it comes to early voting. when we're talking about the june date, the one that is locked in for now, as we understand it, i think what the biden team would say is that they have been trying for weeks and months to make this about

the contrast with donald trump and they have always said in conversations i've had that when they feel they can make that message more effectively with voters, not just in battleground states, but all over, that that is what will resonate, but they have warned that they were worried that at certain points in the last few months, it was maybe too early, not enough people were totally tuned in, that they were going to say, wait, i'm going to just see what's going to develop here and i'm not ready yet to totally dive in. that is shifting now. that is notable. they're saying actually people are paying more attention, they're waking up, they're feeling these very real issues that are likely going to dictate how they're going to make up their mind in november or before that. and that is why they want to be sure that they take advantage of that, but they set up the contrast early, they would argue, and they do feel, amna was talking about this as well, they're going to be coming off the president is going to be coming from some really key foreign trips that he's going to be taking in early june and they want to be able to have that split screen of what the president is doing in real time,

meeting with allies, meeting with world leaders, and they say they feel they'll be able to really set up a contrast there with what former president trump has promised to do on the world stage if he should return to office. >> and so, vaughn, the president's proposal includes holding a vice presidential debate in july after the rnc convention. trump hasn't announced the vice president yet. how is his team seeing this part of the proposal? >> right, for -- number one, just two days ago that donald trump suggested that vps don't always necessarily help your campaign, a nod to that mike pence who would probably disagree with if you go back to 2016, but he still currently has a lengthy list of vice presidential candidates who he's going to pick. he said he's not going to make that selection until closer to the middle of july when the republican national convention is. but for him, donald trump thinks he has his best messenger, but as part of this calculus, of course, he's going to be looking at who he believes can go toe to toe best with vice president

kamala harris. for him, the optics and the stage and the messaging is going to be key here. that is where you have seen these other individuals that he could very well choose not only go down to mar-a-lago for a fund-raiser two weekends ago, but some of them in the courthouse over the last 48 hours, doug burgum and jd vance, in cincinnati, jd vance's hometown, where they're holding a fund-raiser for him today. you're going to be looking over the next two months likely at these republican vp contenders trying to show him their chops, the abilities to go on the airwaves and go out and defend him and for him having that vp debate will be key. in a social media post here this morning, donald trump's words were, let's get ready to rumble and i'm sure that he's looking for a vp candidate who is ready to get into the ring with him. >> monica alba, thank you very much. vaughn hillyard and amna nawaz, if you would, stay with us. if i could, before we go to a break, i'm going to once again

clarify that network, telemundo network, the spanish language network did host a primary debate in the last season for both republicans and democrats. so, the invitation could be to telemundo, in espanol, and telemundo could have access here on msnbc and nbc. the invitation is out there. up next, a second day of michael cohen's cross examination gets under way tomorrow in donald trump's criminal trial. we're going to break down what this tense exchange with the defense was all about. plus, just blocks from trump's courtroom, senator bob menendez is facing his own trial. the jury selection stands in his corruption case. and overnight, the massive weapons package that the biden administration is reportedly about to send to israel. we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. es you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc.

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payments to adult film actress stormy daniels to protect his former boss. after cross examination, trump's legal team worked to paint cohen as a disgruntled ex-employee bent on revenge and profiting on his hatred of trump. vaughn hillyard back with us, and sue craig, investigative reporter at "the new york times," both were inside the courthouse yesterday. and here with me in washington, glen kirschner, former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. so, vaughn, how do those in trump's circle think yesterday's testimony in cross went? >> reporter: look, i mean, donald trump i think is his own spokesman. and when you look at what donald trump's words leaving the courthouse were it is one of frustration around the totality of the facts that this trial continues in this fashion. but i think again if we're going through the same line of if trump is his own best spokesman, you're looking at a man who is slouched down, leaning back in his chair throughout the entirety of the day, with his

eyes closed, 80%, 90% of the time. sue and i were b

attention throughout yesterday's proceedings at donald trump and his posture and if you looked at him in comparison to his two attorneys, who defense attorneys who were both upright, sitting forward and, of course, todd blanche during his cross examination who over the course of the afternoon was questioning michael cohen about his efforts to make money off bashing donald trump, by selling books and podcasts and tiktok, also questioning him on whether he had flipped on donald trump, working with investigators just in order to try to get a shorter prison sentence, a lot of this came down to a witness that so

many in trump world frankly know. individuals who even worked with him back on the 2016 campaign, and nobody in trump orbit is naive or ignorant to much of his testimony when he talks about loyalty and the efforts to protect donald trump. so many in the orbit still play that role here today. yet michael cohen was a part of an alleged scheme that led him to prison, and ultimately he suggests should lead donald trump to prison. that is a clear distinction between those who operate around donald trump and the work that michael cohen did. for donald trump, this is a moment here where he's looking forward to this trial coming to a close, and hoping that he at the least bit can get a hung jury and move on from these criminal proceedings that have kept him in the courthouse. >> just as the cross examination actually started, blanche, the attorney for trump, used cohen's language against him, first asking him if he called him a

crying little something or other, cohen responded, quote, sounds like something i would say. the judge then held a side bar and asked blanche, quote, why are you making this about yourself? blanche said he had a right to show cohen's bias, but the judge warned him, quote, don't make it about yourself. what is the strategy here and is that kind of a good way to start cross? >> jose, it is a poor way to start. most criminal litigators, prosecutors and defense attorneys will tell you we follow a rule of primacy, recency. start strong, end strong. this was one of the weakest starts i can imagine for somebody who is cross-examining the most consequential witness in the case. for the defense attorney, todd blanche, to stand up and open with, you called me a name on tiktok, it kind of shows the defense attorney to be thin-skinned, to be petty, and when a judge shuts you down, on your very first cross examination question, it sends a signal to the jury that this

doesn't seem to be the best approach to cross-examiing a guy like michael cohen. >> a guy like michael cohen, who has a lot of vulnerabilities and a lot of ways that the defense could bring up the many times he has lied, that he went to prison for, and so many other things. and then you focus on the attorney and not on the defendant. what could -- what could possibly be the logic of not even mentioning the defendant? mentioning yourself as an attorney? >> i don't know. perhaps wanting to portray michael cohen as someone who is biased and antagonistic to everybody who is now on the trump team and including defense attorneys. it doesn't make sense. i would have thought he would have opened with now wait a minute, you made statements and books on podcasts and media interviews saying you want my client in prison, and you will say anything including telling this jury lies to get him there,

won't you? that's how you open. that's not objectionable. that's perfect cross examination and, jose, at that point, michael cohen's answer doesn't even matter. as the attorney, you're telling the jury what's important. let him say yes, let him say no, and then move on and hit him again. >> interesting. talk about what this jury has been learning, hearing about, boy, they have been hearing testimony about silk pajamas and boxers and what perfumes and colognes, but legally, this case is all going to boil down to documents, right? how effective has the document presentation been so far? >> it is going to be about documents and about criminal intent. the documents are really important, though. there is 34 documents that are in question that the government is saying have been falsified. and a number of witnesses have spoken to them and they're

famously -- there is invoices and checks and general ledger entries, but we have seen those checks that donald trump signed at the white house that were paid to michael cohen allegedly for legal fees and that's what's in question now because that was the money that michael cohen and others have said went to pay the hush money. but, you know, for all the -- all the drama that has gone on, it is going to come down to those 34 documents, and then did donald trump -- they don't have to say that he personally falsified them, or that he explicitly told someone, they just have to come down to the idea that he caused the intentional falsification of documents, he caused employees to do it. that's why michael cohen's testimony on some of the meetings is really important. and it is going to be important that jurors believe him because he's got a number of key meetings where he spoke to donald trump about the hush money payment. we also heard the recording, but michael cohen's testimony does become very important when we get down to the intent that was

there about the falsification of the documents. and then to get it to the fraud, you know, we also got the election conspiracy, but those documents are so important in this case. >> glen, the defense not committing to calling any witnesses. it could present its case as early as this week. how do you see the pace going and what do you think are the key elements that need to be dealt with by the prosecution and the defense? >> this case will get to the jury quicker than expected. what i will tell you is the ordinary course of business is at the beginning of the trial, the defense will announce we're going to call ten witnesses, 20, 50 witnesses and when push comes to shove, they call maybe a few, maybe none at all. and that is because they have -- the prosecution has the burden of proof. the defense has no burden of proof. it never shifts to the defense. they can stand there, they don't have to make opening statements or closing arguments and they don't have to present any witnesses and when they don't present witnesses, i can tell you you'll probably hear the defense attorneys stand up in closing argument, say, ladies

and gentlemen, you already know why we didn't present any witnesses, we didn't need to. because the government failed to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, so why would we bother you with witnesses. now, that can come across as sounding strong, or it can come across as an admission that we didn't really have any witnesses who were going to exonerate donald trump. but i do think this case could be in the hands of the jury as early as monday or tuesday of next week. >> and the jury, so far, with all of the different elements that have been presented to it, is going to have a tough time really focusing in on what exactly they're supposed to be judging. what is it that they're -- this is the judge's responsibility at the end of this. >> the judge gives them the instructions of law. that helps channel their factual determinations. what do they have to find to conclude donald trump did or did not commit these offenses for

which he's indicted. but, i think they brought their common sense into the jury box because think about it, donald trump is the beneficiary of this entire criminal scheme and he was caught red-handed, writing reimbursement checks. you apply common sense to what we have been hearing unfold in that courtroom, and i think donald trump has got trouble coming. >> vaughn hillyard, sue craig and glen kirschner, thank you, appreciate it. up next, live to israel for the new signs the israeli military is intensifying its operations in rafah. what we just learned about the man accused of causing a deadly bus crash while under the influence as he faced the judge in florida. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. la u'yore watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ee crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements.

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hour, the prime minister robert fico was shot and is in a life threatening state in what the government called an assassination attempt. fico was greeting members of the public when he was shot, apparently four shots rung out. photos from news agencies show a man apparently being detained. no update on the condition of the prime minister at this hour. now to the biden administration, reportedly preparing a new billion dollar arms transfer to israel, according to the associated press, citing congressional aides. it would be the first shipment since the administration put a hold on the transfer of some arms earlier this month over israel's campaign in rafah.

meanwhile, recent movements by israeli forces in rafah indicate they could soon expand their operations there according to two u.s. officials. this comes after president biden warned against the full scale military operation in that city. joining us now, nbc's raf sanchez from tel aviv. also with us, retired four star general barry mccaffrey and amna nawaz back with us. so, raf, prime minister netanyahu spoke with cnbc this morning. what did he have to say? >> reporter: so, jose, the prime minister addressed this pretty fundamental disagreement between the united states and israel over rafah. as you mentioned, president biden made clear the u.s. opposes an all-out israeli attack on that city where more than a million palestinian civilians are shelter, and the president feels strongly enough about that, that he has so far withheld one shipment of heavy weaponry including those 2,000

pound bomb which scaled large scale civilian casualties in other parts of gaza. and the prime minister was asked by our colleagues at cnbc how much does american opposition to an invasion of rafah weigh into your thinking. take a listen to what he said. >> i've known him for over 40 years, and, you know, it has been a friendship. that is often laced with disagreements. president biden said it openly, i say it openly. but it hasn't blocked the friendship. at the end, you know, i have to do -- i'm the prime minister of israel. i have to take care of the one and only jewish state and i hope to do it as far as we can, with agreements, but sometimes we have to do even when there is disagreements. we have to do what we have to do to ensure the survival of the state of israel. >> so, the prime minister there saying he hears that american opposition, he factors it in, but ultimately according to him he says israel has no choice but to push ahead into the city of rafah, where it says four

remaining hamas battalions are hiding. the white house also has been pushing israel, jose, to provide a political plan for the future of gaza. what we're seeing right now is the israeli military playing whac-a-mole inside of gaza. they fight, they clear an area, they move on, and then hamas often pops back up in that area and the israeli military goes back and the u.s. is saying that pattern will continue unless there is a plan to secure the peace. now, the prime minister has not given any detail seven months into this war about what that plan would look like. but he did say today that part of the reason for that is that any palestinian who is identified as being part of a post-hamas administration in gaza would have a target on their back. he also said that there are covert talks going on right now to try to set up some kind of post-hamas administration. we'll see whether that's enough to satisfy the white house. >> raf sanchez in tel aviv, thank you very much. general, talk to us about rafah, its importance for israel and

what is it that they feel they need to do there. there are more than a million refugees, more than a million people who have no other place to go. >> well, look, the larger issue clearly is a catastrophic situation for palestinian civilians throughout gaza. perhaps 60% of the infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged. there have been considerable losses among civilian life, and the other enduring reality of the struggle, as you know, jose, is that the israelis have proclaimed and are determined to never, again, allow hamas to govern in rafah. it appears that several hundred thousand palestinians have left rafah, and it is likely that the 30 most senior political leaders of rafah -- of gaza are underground. and the israelis are determined to get their hostages back.

i don't think they're going get them back unless they continue the operation. it is a troubled weeks ahead of us. i think this war is grinding to a halt because of the sheer misery on all sides. >> as that misery increases, is there any possibility that the fighting can decrease? >> well you know what strikes me is sort of obvious, why would we expect israel or hamas to come up with a political solution to terminate the fighting? why isn't this a united nations or a pan arab solution or an egyptian and saudi solution? the israelis are hardly going to deal with hamas leadership that conducted that 7 october demented cruel strike that murdered hundreds of israeli civilians. so, this has to come from outside. fortunately, our secretary of state tony blinken has been brilliant and unrelenting in trying to find some peaceful

outcome. >> amna, we talk about hundreds of thousands or millions of people, it really sometimes boils down to just one, you know, a family, a man, woman, a child. you've been reporting and concerned about everything, but including a little girl julia. >> she's 3 1/2 years old, among those million people you mentioned who are sheltering in rafah, she and her family are there, her older sister as well. julia has been diagnosed with a very rare neurological condition called ahc. and all you need to know about it is that it causes seizures. >> this is her. >> this is her. paralytic fits that can seize up the body, cause her to shut down and paralyze certain parts of her body. that was her before the war. this is her now. she suffered so many of these seizures over the past several months, her family has been on the move, they're running out of food and water and her medication that most of her body has become seized by these paralytic fits. what i wanted to bring up her story is because she's actually cleared for medical evacuation. her parents have not been.

there is a number of people both in the u.s. and abroad who are working to try to evacuate her to get her that clearance, but these are people who are stuck in the middle, jose. they are absolutely stuck in the middle of both hamas militant force that continues to wage war against the israeli state and has called for its destruction, and an israeli force determined to root out every last element of hamas. they say there is targeting the last four battalions in rafah. but as we follow the news and see whether or not israel continues with this operation, it is families like julia's caught in the middle. >> hopefully somehow some help can get to them. thank you, general barry mccaffrey and amna nawaz. before we wrap up, again, you know, my unlimited admiration for you, but just recently you and your team at pbs news hour were awarded the peabody award for precisely coverage of the israel-hamas war. geoff bennett, you and this extraordinary team that make up the news hour. i want to say how important it is that we all recognize when

work is done with love, passion and compassion and it is recognized, i just wanted to say thanks. >> jose, thank you so much for that. i would be remiss if i didn't mention laila malan alan on the ground who led the reporting but it is a team effort as you know. >> thank you very much. we're going live to one county in michigan where turnout will be critical. donald trump's criminal trial had an impact on voters there. plus an msnbc exclusive. what is behind the drop in u.s. border crossings? i'll give you a hint. the government of mexico is behind some of this. we'll talk about that next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. nt you're watching "jose diaz-balart report os"n msnbc. (vo) if you have graves' disease... ...and blurry vision, you need clear answers. people with graves' could also get thyroid eye disease, or t-e-d, which may need a different doctor. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space?

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41 past the hour. new today, nbc news is taking a closer look at how the presidential race is shaping up in key areas across the country. nbc's shaquille brewster spoke with moderate republicans in kent county, michigan. shaq, good morning. what did you learn? >> reporter: hi there, jose. well, look, the trial is something that folks say they're definitely aware of, but most people are saying that it is not going to be a deciding factor in the way that the economy or abortion would be. look, we come back to kent county time and time again because this is a county that was a republican stronghold, but that donald trump won by just three points in 2016, and then joe biden flipped, earning eight points in 2020. so, yesterday i went to a swing dance lesson, it took place, it brings together people from all across the swing county, yes,

probably being a bit too literal, listen to what they said the impact the trial is having on how they're viewing the election. you're considering voting for him again? >> we'll have to see what happens, this outcome right now. >> reporter: does the trial impact whether or not you support him? >> yeah, he could be in jail, you know? >> no. others things he does impacts how i feel about him, but this, no. i can understand him wanting to hush it up. but everybody in politics is wanting to hush something up. >> i don't think it affects our world leadership or how we look to the world, all right? there is not a leader that has been a leader that hasn't had, you know, stuff, right? i mean, it is personal. >> reporter: and while some did say that they would at least pause at the idea of a guilty verdict, they landed back on the concept that it is not their major focus. and i will say it is not just republican voters you're hearing

this from, i spoke to organizer of a group that targets low turnout black and latino areas. she told me she talks to voters from across the ideological spectrum and she told me that as she is engaging with voters already, registering them, talking to them about the voting laws that have changed in the state of michigan, she said not once has a conversation about donald trump's trial come up organically, jose. >> shaquille brewster, thank you very much. up next, it is day three of new jersey senator bob menendez's federal bribery trial. we'll be live outside the courthouse, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc from washington, d.c. e azdi-balart reports" on msnbc from washington, d.c more than jt my armpits stink. that's why i use secret whole body deodorant... everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant.

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business men and the governments of qatar and egypt. he has pleaded not guilty. nbc's ken dilanian is outside the federal courthouse in lower manhattan. ken, do we have an update? >> reporter: we do, jose. after two and a half days and a long slog of jury selection, the jury has said he expects a final jury within half hour or so. and that opening statements will begin after lunch, around 2:00 p.m. we expect those opening statements to take around three hours. just to set the table here, this is one of most serious sets of corruption allegations against a u.s. senator in recent history. senator menendez is accused of conspiracy to commit extortion, bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, and as you said, he's accused of trying to aid the government of egypt and qatar and including providing sensitive information to egypt for money. so, very, very serious allegations against a man who once chaired the powerful foreign relations committee. he expresses his innocence, he's

charged along with his wife, who is not on trial today, because she has an unspecified illness. she had surgery. her trial will take place later. one of the things that opening statements may tell us is to what extent if at all senator menendez is going to try to blame his wife here for some of the conduct because a lot of the evidence in this case, jose, came from her phone, her text messages, according to the indictment, she was involved in seeking benefits including a mercedes for her use, and some of this cash and the gold bars that were found in their home, and also arranging for him to take official action. and court papers suggest he may argue he wasn't completely in the loop and didn't think anything illegal was going on. he's also on trial with two co-defendants who are accused of bribing him. a third co-defendant in this case has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the senator. jose? >> ken dilanian in new york, thank you so very much. there are new details this morning after eight people were killed in and others were injured when a bus carrying 44 farm workers was hit by a truck.

the suspect appeared in court this morning, charged with manslaughter. mexican president says the workers killed were all from mexico living legally in the u.s. with a visa. the oldest victim was 31 years old. he had two daughters. people workday in and day out for the betterment of our economy. joining us from ocala near the crash site is sam brock. what is the very latest here? >> reporter: so brian howard is the name of the suspect. he was arraigned about an hour and a half, two hours ago. the eight charges of dui manslaughter. he will not be receiving bond. there was an argument that there is no example in his 20 or so previous convictions on his record of not following instruction, but the judge did deny bond. i will say we are getting all kinds of information this morning from the arrest warrant we just received.

it does spell out, we mentioned the dui aspect of the charge, that mr. howard had consumed medical medical oil from a friend on a medical marijuana card and also had taken klonopin and two other drugs that treat anything from anxiety disorder to lowering blood pressure to muscle pain. he had all of those in his system and that was between 11:30 and 12:00 midnight. and then five or six hours later, he was on the road and according to police moved into the middle lane heading the opposite direction of the bus, side swiped it and caused it to crash. and his eyes were blood shot and watery, his speech was thick and slurred. they administered a series of tests in the hospital to figure out whether or not he could walk straight or keep a straight gazed. he failed in both. and eight people killed, all

coming from various parts of mexico, here legally on h2a visas. they were just trying to get a living to help their loved ones back home. none of their family members are actually here, they are all back in mexico. it has been difficulty for the mexico consulate to try to have communication with family members not just based on language barriers but also just trying to get a hold of them to figure out who was affected. yesterday they talked about the types of people involved in the fatal accident. take a listen. >> one of the worst experiences. they are not criminals nor illegal immigrants. they are working, hard working. we lost very good people. >> reporter: latest that we have from the hospital about an hour ago is that seven people are still in critical condition, three are in serious but stable condition. the expectation is that that

eight person death toll could rise. >> sam brock, thank you very much. and more breaking news on the presidential debates. both president biden and former president trump accepted another invitation. let's go to monica alba with the latest. will it be in english or he is span yol? >> reporter: sounds like it will be in english. in the last couple hours we've seen all these different developments and we can tell you that former president trump and president biden have both committed to a debate hosted by abc news on september 10. we don't know the location or more details beyond that, but this is what the biden team put forward earlier today saying late june and september would be our targets. we now know that both of those dates and at least who is going to host them have been agreed to. we'll still wait to see what other details come together.

but we also saw from former president trump's team that he is trying to propose that there be additional one-on-one debates. he is asking for a debate to be added to the schedule both in july and in august for their part the biden team hasn't responded it that particular procedure. so it is unclear. but we know in terms of what they laid out where this day began, they wanted these two debates and seems that they are getting a commitment on both of them and now some of the other details can be worked out. but again, this completely ignores and bypasses the traditional economics commission on presidential debates that typically host these general election match-ups later in the cycle, more in the october time frame right before the november election. but because of early voting and is this a general election that really started much earlier than those that have come in the past, biden and the trump teams both are agreeing and saying that they want to be able to debate each other in tv studio

with gist a moderator present. there won't be any audience involved. which is also a departure from past cycles. >> and this would not be in addition then to the presidential commission debates. this is in lieu of or instead of. and this also kind of guarantees that someone like rfk jr. who right now wouldn't qualify as far as polling for a presidential debates commission debate would be eliminated from possibly debating regardless of where his numbers are in september or any other time. >> reporter: that's right. and the biden team was asked about that earlier in terms of responding to is that part of the calculation here, is that concern that the biden re-election effort has. and in terms of that, their response was we don't believe robert f. kennedy jr. would be

considered a viable today to qualify in the fall. but if they him the commission debate, we'll never find out because they won't proceed with those. in addition to these two debates, it sounds like there would be a a debate between kamala harris and whomever former president trump chooses to be his running mate this time. for his part mr. trump has said that he will likely announce who he picks to be his vice presidential candidate at the convention for the republican nomination which is sometime in july. so that would kind of leave that person with a more limited window to prepare for that debate if it does take place in late july. so we're still waiting to see if that is something that both campaigns have committed to and accepted at this point. >> monica alba, thank you very much. and i once again ask both campaigns to recognize the importance of the latino community and there is a very big platform that they could

debate translating into spanish on telemundo. now to the number of people crossing the southern border has dropped in recent months and has a lot do with the mexican government. julia ainsley helped break this story and she's with us. so what exactly is going on. and this is a vast and drastic cut in the number of people coming into the u.s. >> that's right. this is typically the time of year where we see a seasonal uptick. we were both down at the border this time last year because that is usually the surge of the year. the weather is getting better. but we're not seeing that this year. and i was able to get the mexico interdiction numbers that have nearly tripled the past year in large part because of the conversations the biden administration has been saying with the mexico administration asking them to step up interdictions, agreeing this is a shared strategy.

but this is data that mexico doesn't readily share. because in mexico as you know, immigration is such a different issue. >> it is not in their interests. >> it is not in their political interests. but in this case the biden administration is at least saying we may actually be accomplishing something here that trump wasn't able to do because we're treating mexico like a sovereign equal. >> so a lot to talk about here. if you look at the river between guatemala and mexico, the numbers of people ready, willing and able to come through are always going to be there. the number going through the darien gap has been increasing hundreds of thousands of people. is this now mexico doing the united states dirty work for what reason now when the numbers are still there? the people are still there. >> that is what immigration advocates are saying. they are taking them from the north and busing them to the south which keeps them being

able to apply on the cvp-1 app. so yes, immigration advocates are condemning this, the biden administration says this is the work of negotiations. >> trump did this. >> he didn't get the same interdiction numbers but did he get mexico to agree -- >> put national guard on the border. >> so a lot to look at. but basically mexico has become such crucial part of immigration to the united states no matter who is in the white house. mexico is a key part of this. and the other thing i'm hearing, over 270,000 interdictions in a month. >> and it was about 100,000 last year. >> and that is so much higher than what we're seeing here. if mexico doesn't get the funding or they decide to stop, the u.s. border will look vastly different. >> great piece of reporting. thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. you can reach me on social

media. and watch clips from our show on youtube, nbc.com/jdb. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks it up right now. right now on andrea mitchell reports, joe biden and donald trump are ready to throw out the old rules for presidential