prosecutors. you hear them attacking the daughter of the judge, judge merchan. these are specific attacks most people do not know the names. >> we do, though. >> having the republican speaker of the house there yesterday it's a revolving door of trump loyalty. back in 2015 it was michael cohen by donald trump's side, can it was mike johnson who was questioning whether donald trump had morality to be president of the united states. fast forward eight years it's michael cohen on the stand testifying against donald trump, mike johnson outside as part of his cohort defending him from the american public. >> i'm eager to see if kristi nome and the ghost shows up tomorrow. we'll be talking to you soon. that is it for our show this evening. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. i think it's important that we have debates. i think we should have more than two, but i've accepted the two.

but i feel that the large venue is just -- it's a very exciting night, and when you don't have that, it takes a lot of -- it takes a lot of energy out. >> that's donald trump pushing for a crowd at the presidential debates, which is not currently part of the terms he agreed to yesterday. we'll go through all the debate drama in just a moment. also ahead we'll bring in expert legal analysis on the former president's criminal trial in new york as his former fixer, michael cohen, is expected to return to the stand later this morning. plus, the latest out of china on russian president vladimir putin's state visit to beijing, which comes amid his arm's escalating offensive in north eastern ukraine. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this

thursday, may 16th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin today with some major, major news on the 2024 campaign. after uncertainty about whether the two leading candidates would ever debate each other this year, president joe biden and his gop challenger, donald trump, have agreed to meet face-to-face. following months of trump challenging him saying he'll debate him any time, anyplace, biden put the ball back in his opponent's court yesterday with this video. >> donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020 and since then he hadn't shown up for debate. now he's acting hike lee wants to debate me again. well, make my day, pal. i'll even do it twice. let's pick the dates, donald. i hear you're free on wednesdays. >> and that last line about wednesdays is a reference to the one-weekday when court is not in session for trump's ongoing criminal trial.

trump quickly responded to that video posting on social media he was ready and willing to debate adding, quote, let's get ready to rumble. over the course of the next few hours both candidates announced they had accepted two invitations to debate. the first on cnn on june 27th and again on abc news on september 10th. i will bring my own transportation, trump told a fox news reporter, to which biden responded i'll bring my plane, too. i plan on keeping it for another four years, a reference there to air force one. the rules of this debate will differ from past election cycles. the candidates agreed to bypass the commission on presidential debates, which it organized these face-offs every four years since 1988. biden also requested these guidelines, which trump begrudgingly accepted. first, that there be no audience in the room.

second, that no third party candidates be allowed to participate and that includes robert f. kennedy jr. and also only a select group of news outlets can host and that a candidate's microphone be shutoff if they go over their speaking time. that's by design according to "the new york times" which reports that the biden campaign want today start a general election early and have voters get more time than usual to make their ballot decisions. mr. biden's advisers have long believed the dawning realization of a trump/biden rematch will be a bomb for the president's drooping approval ratings. in past election cycles the first debate typically wasn't held until the fall when early voting had already begun in some states, but by having a second and final debate take place in early september, "the times" writes it, quote, gives biden a

freer hand focusing on turning out early voters without having to prepare for a high stakes event on live television. meanwhile, the president's campaign trolled trump on social media yesterday after the debate announcement. it posted this t-shirt, which reads simply, free on wednesdays, under a clip of biden challenging trump to the debates on a day when the former president's trial is on rest. the biden campaign is indeed selling the shirts on its website. joining us now politics reporter for semafor, shelby talcott. there's been a lot of speculation whether there'd be debates at all. there's talks of democrats, a little leery president biden giving trump they say a potentially convicted felon a platform. there's been some republicans to say despite trump's bravado they

weren't sure he wanted today debate either. so take us behind the scenes. >> i'll be the first one to say i was also skeptical these debates were going to happen. there were some very informal talks over the past few weeks between both campaigns, but really this came about because the biden campaign recognized that donald trump, "a," was not letting this go, and "b," that there could be a benefit. remember, you know, in the 2020 election donald trump really set the bar extremely low for joe biden when it kwame to these debates. and biden, as he oftentimes does in big moments, surpassed these low expectations. and so that's one of the factors with this. the other factor, of course, as "the new york times" reported is that the biden campaign truly believes that right now when you look at the polls, the reason that the polls are the way that they are is because voters are just not tuned in, and they haven't fully realized this is a

matchup against donald trump. and so they want donald trump to be front and center, in front of the press with joe biden standing next to them so voters can fully understand that this is the two options that they have. >> yeah, a senior biden advisor telling me late yesterday this was a moment to bring trump back into voters living rooms and remind them, hey, is this really what you want? both candidates decide to bypass the commission on presidential debates. trump has been long critical of them, although in recent weeks said he would work with them if needed. but tell us how this happened, these two men don't agree on much, but they agreed on this. >> they both came to this agreement largely because of that early voting argument. the commission set these debates after early voting has already started and both campaigns said this is an outdated practice that needs to be updated. we've told you this again and again, and yet these debates are still too late in the

presidential cycle. so that -- it really came down to that, and there were other reasons as well. one of the reasons was that large audience that the biden campaign argued that it had turned into a sort of spectacle. but the main reason was the debate dates. and so that's why we're going to see that really early june debate coming up next month. >> and briefly, shelby, these dates are agreed to, but there are still things to work out. we shouldn't bank on this just yet. what are some of the last obstacles to be agreed to? >> well, of course donald trump seems to have agreed as of now to do it in studio, no audience debate. but as you heard him say, that's what he wants. and so i think one of the questions there is does he continue to agree to do that? there's also the question of a third debate. donald trump wants a third debate. he said fox news has agreed to host it. joe biden has made it clear that he only wants to do two debates. does there end up being problems over that? so there are certainly hurdles, but hopefully we'll get to see

both of them on stage. >> the biden campaign pretty ifsistent last night there'll just be two and also a vice presidential debate in july with harris. thanks for starting us off this morning. shelby talcott, we appreciate it as always. president biden also slammed -- biden took the opportunity to sell his record to listeners. take a listen. >> where trump was -- you know, his threats that he posted in 2020 are greater today, the guy is sort of lost his mooring. he seems like the guy who just doesn't know what the hell he's doing anymore. and he probably is the guy, who just if you read "the times" article he's talking about being a dictator day one and be a return to violence of the maga

republican extremism, and there's so much at stake, democracy, freedom and the dmae all on the line. >> biden making a real push this week for african american voters. still ahead what israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is saying about moving ahead with military operations in rafah despite growing frustrations at that prospect from the white house. plus, what we're learning about an assassination attempt on slovakia's prime minister. we'll bring you a new update on his condition this morning. those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. k on sports and weather when we come right back

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despite growing operation from leaders including president biden. yesterday the european union's top diplomat urged israel to end its military operation in rafah immediately saying if the idf continues its mission, trld, quote, put a heavy strain on the eu's relationship with israel. prime minister benjamin netanyahu, however, remains. in an interview with cnbc yesterday netanyahu said the rafah operation is necessary to protect his nation. >> yes, we do have a disagreement on gaza, rather on rafah. but we have to do what we have to do, and, you know, sometimes you have to -- you just have to do what is required to ensure your survival and your future. we cannot continue into the future by having hamas retake gaza. doing what we have to do and i hope we can see eye to eye with the united states.

we're talking to them, but ultimately we do what we have to do to prevent such savageries from being repeated again and again. >> initially the united states has docked a floating pier onshore of gaza to help with humanitarian aid deliveries. officials made the announcement overnight saying no u.s. troops entered the enclave. the temporary pier was assemblied in israel a few weeks go but the pentagon waited to move it due to weather and security concerns. officials say that they believe the pier can provide significantly more aid than airdrops. meanwhile, a world leader is in stable but serious condition this morning after a brazen assassination attempt in broad daylight. nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons has the latest on what's being called a politically motivated

ambish. >> reporter: a tense europe shaken again, gunshots and a possible glimpse of the shooter, then slovakia's prime minister staggers to his car, hit in the stomach, his security bundling him inside. i heard three shots, this woman says, and then he fell next to the barrier. airlift today the hospital, moments after the attack police handcuffing a man. the country's president says a suspect has been arrested. i am shocked, she says. it's an attack on our democracy. the attack coming after a spate of political uh-uh sasination attempts. in 2022 japan's former prime minister shinzo abe was struck dead in the street. a year later an assassin's gun jammed and in january a south korean opposition leader was stabbed in the neck. last month ukraine claimed it foiled a russian attempt to assassination president zelenskyy. but slovakia's pro-russian prime

minister had run for re-election opposed to military aid to ukraine only to u-turn months later. his politics divisive, thousands protests in the streets over plans to bring the state further under government control. >> that was nbc's keir simmons reporting, a very important story. we, of course, will keep you posted. next up, though, we'll turn to sports with the latest playoff action in the nhl and nba as the boston celtics punch their ticket to the eastern conference finals again. those highlights plus a check on the weather forecast when we come right back. when we come right back. oh, yeah, man. take it from your inner child. what you really need in life is some freakin' torque. what?

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you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley pleased with their progress. they've got to be happy to see some of the great from those young guys. but the celtics mission accomplished for the second round. >> the boston celtics have punched their ticket to the

eastern conference finals for the sixth time in eight years. >> the boston celtics known by some as america's team knocked out the cleveland cavaliers with a lopsided 113-98 victory in game five last night. it was close for a while, though. jason tatum led the way scoring a team high 25 and just one shy of a triple-double. the celtics are now set to make their third consecutive appearance in the eastern conference finals, and they await the winner of the second round series between the new york knicks and the indiana pacers. the knicks lead that series three games to two. game six is tomorrow night ipindianapolis. out west, oklahoma city the dallas mavericks last night pushed the thunder to the brink of elimination. a 31-point triple-double posted by luka doncic helped the mavs to a 104-91 win.

game six back in dallas saturday night. but it was not all good news for dallas sports fans last night as the stars missed an opportunity to closeout the california avalanche at home in game five of the second round of it stanley cup playoff series. as the defenseman scored a pair of goals in a 5-3 victory that keeps colorado's post-season alive. the stars do still lead the series three games to two, but game six back in denver tomorrow night. we turn now to major league baseball and we'll begin in baltimore. the orioles trailing the toronto blue jays by one run in the bottom of the ninth. baltimore has got a guy on first. >> high to right field. springer at the wall. springer waiting. good-bye, walk off home run! game over. >> rutschman got just enough of

that one to walk off the orioles with that 3-2 win. baltimore so many young stars. they now have gone get this 105 consecutive regular season series that's now just two years without being swept. that continues. meanwhile in minnesota i'm sad to report aaron judge had a big play for the plate for the yankees going four for four with three doubles and this massive 67 foot solo home run. judge's is tied with mike trout for the longest. that keeps them a half game ahead of the o's. they're 6.5 out, just one game over 500. meanwhile, golf's second major of the-year tees off in just a

couple hours from now at the valhalla golf club in louisville, kentucky. fresh off his win brooks koepka will open his pga tour championship title defense just after 8:30 a.m. eastern. koepka will shoot to outplay scottie scheffler as well as rory mcllroy who's coming off back-to-back pga tour wins. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist michelle grossman for the forecast. michelle, how's it looking out there? >> let's start in louisville, starting off with a little fog for the golfers and fans but we're going to see mostly suppy skies. unfortunately showers return tonight and see a pretty wet forecast before thatsnipe returns on sunday. speak of showers, look at showers from portions of of the midwest to parts of the ohio valley into the southern states. we're looking at a southern soaker once again. concerned about continued flooding and concern for flash flooding as well. it's going to be damp in new england, too, with temperatures,

the area of low pressure spinning off the coast going to bring some showers to the forecast there. hot in the southeast and southwest looking at some rain there, and most of the west looking sunny and warm. this is what radar looks like this morning, those southern storms, we have heavy tape falling. that's where you see those darker colors. also seeing the lightening in the texas panhandle, and we're going to see that rain falling. because it's a slow moving system as a result 17 million people impacted by a flood watch waco, lud kn into jackson, mipts. we're also concerned about the streams rising and we're going to see 6 inches in spots, especially the darker colors where the heaviest rain is expected to fall. and we could see higher amounts in some spots as well. concerned about a severe weather threat. on top of that we're looking at 18 million people at risk for

really large hail. the chance for tornados and looking at winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. >> keeping an eye on that. michelle grossman, thank you as always. still ahead here russian president vladimir putin has arrived in china for a two-day summit. we'll talk about what relations between moscow and beijing could mean for the war in ukraine and the rest of europe. we'll be right back with that. and the cleaning power of dawn. watch it make soap scum here... disappear... and sprays can leave grime like that ultra foamy melts it on contact. magic. new ultra foamy magic eraser.

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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 thursday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. chinese leader xi jinping welcomed russian president vladimir putin to beijing as he began a two-day state visit while moscow presses forward with a new offensive in ukraine. this is putin's first international trip since the start of his unprecedented fifth presidential term where he ran effectively unopposed. he was sworn in a few weeks ago. the u.s. is watching this meeting closely as relations between the west and both countries remain deeply strained after russia faced hundreds of sanctions from western allies because of it's unprovoked war and because the kremlin has continually looked to china for an economic lifeline amid those sanctions. but putin claims that russia/china relations are, quote, not directed against anyone, adding that our cooperation enworld affairs today is one of the main stabilizing factors in the

international arena. and on the eve of the visit putin told chinese state media that he was prepared to negotiate over the conflict in ukraine, saying, quote, we're open to a dialogue on ukraine but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict including ours. joining us now from estonia, editor at the insider, our friend michael weiss. good to see you this morning. let's start with this alliance. china has not provided aid but continues to be an economic lifeline. talk about how important that is, and please put it into context of russia's advances having some real success at the battlefield at the moment. >> actually one of it big problems ukraine has been facing is that the things they shoot

down, russian kit missiles, et cetera almost invariably the guts are electronic equipment including microprocessors manufactured in the west including by american companies such as texas instruments that have a lot of devices. how are these devices getting to russia given the stringent sanctions and export controls? well, what's happening is western companies are selling these dual use electronic pieces of equipment to third-party vendors. invariably we find that those third party vendors are based in china and hong kong. so china is actually helping its norm s economic potential. it's helping russia evade sanctions and keeping its war machine chugging along nicely. there's little evidence to suggest beijing is providing lethal military equipment, but when you're engaged in a military campaign of this scale, of this nature, it's not just about sourcing shells and ammunition and tanks. it's also about creating the concominstance that goes into

military hardware. so china's been quite helpful to putin in that respect. >> you've been hearing this morning from europe, but it's an conindependent on edge after the assassination attempt of the slovakian prime minister yesterday. tell us the latest about what we know. but more than that, who is this man, and why does it matter so much? >> yes, so robert is a popular leader in europe. he's likened to viktor orban, the increasingly authoritarian leader in hungary, pro-kremlin sympathies. had been a member of the soviet union but part of the union that liberated czechoslovakia prior to the czech republic from slovakia. he's seen as notoriously corrupt including by other western leaders many assembled here in estonia for the security conference which i'm attending.

his politics are rather strange, too, because he started out on the political left. he's moved increasingly to the right, some would say the far-right. his sympathies with moscow are complicated, though. one american state department expert actually here in town and known him for many, many years and in slovakia and met with him because he's made a lot of noises about not wanting to help ukraine, he put an end to slovakia's military disbursements or supplies to ukraine, and yet he has allowed a slovakian private enterprise to sell military hardware to ukraine, so he seems to be walking this edge of orban of telegraphing his open affiliation or allegiance to the east while still trying to stay in good with the european union which helped subsidize the slovakian state. we don't know much about this assassination attempt.

the slovakian security services are playing it close to the chest. i think all the information that's been released is it's a 71-year-old poet who is the suspect who shocked him. assassination of western leaders in europe in the 21st century is an incredibly forbidding state of affairs, and this comes amidst the context of the broader security on the coptinant including russian intelligence's increasingly bold and reckless operations to try and conduct sabotage operations across europe and not even with trained russian operatives anymore what they're doing is they're farming this out via social media to riffraff, to hired thugs from everywhere from the u.k. to recently in poland. the polish security services arrested a ukrainian national who had been contacted by a

russian intelligence program to blow up an intelligence service destined for ukrained. >> definitely a fraught moment also as russia makes advances towards kharkiv. we appreciate the insight as always live for us from estonia, editor at "the insider" michael weiss, thank you. we'll speak to you again soon. next up here, though, we'll go live to cnbc for an early look what's driving the markets after yesterday's record closing on wall street. plus, netflix scores a deal with the nfl to stream games on christmas day. we'll dig into what that might mean for the future of live sports when we come right back. sports when we come right back

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there's no obligation, and you'll receive a free beneficiary planner just for calling. time now for business, and for that let's bring in cnbc's silvia amaro who joins us live from london. silvia, good morning. so stock futures are up slightly this morning after a lighter than expected inflation reading propelled the major averages

yesterday to record highs. tell us all about it, please. >> that's true. so at this stage futures do suggest it'll be a positive start to the trading session on wall street today, and this is after we saw all the major indices posting fresh record highs during wednesday's session. and so that included the s&p, the dow, and the nasdaq. now, what's motivated this positive momentum was softer than expected inflation print. basically the latest numbers suggested that inflation is in the month of april, and that has propped up u.s. equities, but let's see what will happen today. no doubt one of the main events for markets today is comments from fed officials. we're going to hear from a lot of them. let's see how that might shape up during the trading session on wall street. >> so for a long time in the sports world christmas day was about the nba. the nfl has now pushed in on that holiday, and there's news

now netflix will stream its first nfl games on december 25th. tell us more about the future here for broadcast. >> that's right. so perhaps is it a bit too early to talk about christmas, maybe not for nfl plans. this is after it was confirmed netflix will be showing two games on christmas day, and they will also have a matchup in 2025 and 2026. it's worth noting, though, that the games will continue to be available on broadcast tv in local team markets as well as on the nfl plus app. having said that, it just proves netflix is pushing further into live sporting events. so this is an important one also when you think about the future for netflix. and no doubt some nfl fans out there will be interested in watching these games on christmas day. >> yeah, the nfl remains by far the biggest property in television. cnbc's silvia amaro live from london, thank you as always.

we'll talk to you again tomorrow. next up here donald trump offers up what he says should be the guidelines for the presidential debates. we'll play for you his comments and those rules likely not going to occur. we'll be back with those. kelyotg to occur we'll be back with those can neuriva support your brain health? mary, janet, hey!! (thinking: eddie, no frasier, frank... frank?) fred! how are you?! fred... fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. join the neuriva brain health challenge.

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wooooo! donald trump discussed the presidential debates yesterday on the hugh hewitt show. the former president questioned whether president biden would actually debate him and then tried to offer up his own guidelines for the contest. >> i wonder whether or not he shows up because, you know, he actually challenged me to golf, so i'm a very good golfer. he can't hit a ball 50 yards. he said i'll give him three, but he knows he'll never play. i hope not because i really think if he has to debate, he might as well get it over with. probably should do it early so that he can -- you know, he's not going to get any better. he's sort of accepted it, but

let's see if he shows up. it's all misinformation, disinformation. oh, sure i'd love to debate, i want to debate, i want to debate, and then you can't make a deal with the guy. let's see if he shows up to a debate, but i've accepted i'll go anywhere, anytime, anyplace, and we'll see what it is, you know. >> i think they have to go at least two hours. you think the president can stand up for two hours. >> i think we should go two hours. i think we should go two. he wants to sit down -- he wants to do things like he wants to sit down. i think a debate should be standing up. don't you agree with that? i've accepted the two debates. i've recommended they should have more. i hate to use this group that does the debates because they cheated. they turned the sound off during one of my debates, and they go out of their way to help the democrat, but that's okay, doesn't matter. ultimately you're still up there with one person, so they can do whatever they want to do, but i

think there should be more than two debates. and i've accepted the two, 100%. but i think there should be more than two, and i think they should be in large venues. it's just more exciting. >> joining us now former republican congressman of florida. he is an nbc news and msnbc political contributor. good to see you. the biden camp has said that's not going to happen, they want to be in the studio, no audience. unclear if the man will be sitting or standing. and we should note that in 2020 president biden got the best of trump in those debates. so despite trump's bluster now, so give us your sense here. are you surprised these debates are coming together? and how important are they? >> well, jonathan, certainly president biden needs these debates. i mean right now you look at a lot of the polling, and he's the underdog. so they really needed to do something to scramble this race, to project some strengthen. and really donald trump is in a position where he had to kind of

accept whatever the biden campaign put out there since he kept saying anyplace, anywhere, we heard it there again. so this is going to be an opportunity for joe biden to scramble this race early, to jolt the race a little bit to project some strength, and you hear donald trump he's setting very high expectations for himself and very low expectations for joe biden. we know strategically that's a mistake because a lot of what people end up thinking about these debates is based on expectation. so right now it seems like president biden has very low expectations and probably a lot to gain from these debates as long as his performance is adequate. >> yeah, republicans keep setting expectations so very low for president biden. he cleared them during both his state of the unions, for instance. let's talk about the timing here, june. that is very early for a presidential debate. i think to your point it's important because in part the biden campaign wants to shake-up the race. part of that is to simply remind voters who haven't been paying attention just who donald trump

is. do you think that strategy is going to work? >> yeah, i think that's necessary, jonathan. i mean donald trump right now is benefitting from that, you know, effect that a lot of former presidents have whereas their president, become more distant, people tend to remember them more fondly and diminish their flaws. the biden campaign desperately needs to put a spotlight on everything about donald trump including his divisiveness, including all the controversy and chaos that surrounds him. a debate is a good setting for that because trump is loathe to follow rules. he can be rude. he can interrupt a lot, and of course the voters who will decide this race, right, the swing rotors in swing states all across the country, they are sensitive to that. they probably will tune in, so this is a big opportunity, a needed opportunity for the biden campaign to try to close a small gap that separates him in a lot of these swing states from

donald trump. >> and lastly, congressman, and briefly polls suggest that third party candidates namely robert f. kennedy jr. at least at the moment look like they're going to play a pretty outsized role in the election yet they will not be part of these debates. do you think that's appropriate? >> i think that's a mistake, jonathan. clearly there's a market in this country for a third alternative. a lot of people don't like donald trump or joe biden. so i think as -- going to be hosting the debate should do as much as they can to allow kennedy to debate, to at least have that third voice. i know kennedy has his own set of controversies and quirks, but there are a lot of americans out there who are saying choice for us? i think those americans deserve to hear what the third option looks like this time around. >> at least for now, though, the third option not involved in the debates. there will be two presidential

debates, one vice presidential debate, and earlier than usual this year. terrific analysis from former republican congressman curbelo of florida. thank you for joining us this morning. hours from now, donald trump's defense team will continue its cross-examination of michael cohen in the ex-president's criminal hush money trial. we'll break down what to expect from today's testimony. coming up on "morning joe," senator mitt romney goes after his gop colleagues for flocking to the courthouse to support donald trump. nbc's stephanie ruhle will join the conversation on the heels of her sit-down interview with the utah republican. also ahead, america has a loneliness problem, and a republican governor and democratic senator want to fix it. we'll dig into what's driving the growing epidemic and their plan to curb it. "morning joe" just a few moments away. ...yeesh. but who has the time to clean?

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resumes after being off yesterday. today could very well be the trial's last day of testimony, as the defense continues its cross-examination of former trump lawyer and fixer michael cohen. an nbc news source with direct knowledge of what to expect says the cross-examination will focus on cohen's past lies, including some under oath, in an attempt to discredit his testimony. cohen is the prosecutor's final witness, and they're expected to rest their case after the defense is finished. trump's team said earlier this week it may not call any witnesses. trump's attorney todd blanche told the judge he was unsure if the former president would testify in his own defense. trump has said previously he wants to testify, but there's real skepticism about that. blanche started his cross-examination of cohen tuesday, where he focused on the lawyer's motives for working with prosecutors. quote, "i was looking for a reduction in the home confinement portion, not just in this, but in the work i was

doing," cohen said. "i did want to be released, yes." trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. if found guilty, he could face prison or probation. he, of course, denied all charges. joining us now, legal analyst charles coleman. charles, good to see you this morning. let's start with what we should expect from this cross-examination. it did begin on tuesday. it was fairly contentious. what should we look for today? >> well, the truth is, jonathan, i'm not quite sure. todd blanche has been all over the place. i do expect that there are going to be a myriad attacks on michael cohen's out of court statements and some of the things he's said under oath in court testifying, to congress and also the trial that left him go to jail. ultimately, those are the things the defense will try to zro in on to damage cohen's believability to the jury. >> cohen has done well so far?

>> he's been composed, hasn't gotten into a space that's been overly combative. he's defended himself. for someone who seems to go all over the place, he's stuck to the script and done well on the stand. >> let's assess how the prosecution has faired to this point. this might be their last witness. there have been some talk of maybe having an expert come on one last time. we're not clear if that'll happen or not. in your estimation, first, do they need at witness, or have they done a good job proving the case? >> they've done a good job. i don't know if i would have ended on cohen. i would have stacked the order differently. the end of the day, the case you have is dependent on the facts you're working with. the issue the prosecution may have is this is a legal theory that is a little complicated. hush money, hush payments, those are not illegal. ndas are not illegal. explaining to the jury exactly what donald trump is being tried for may ultimately be a problem for the prosecution.

but given what they have, i think they've done a solid job. >> let's talk about the defense's strategy. todd blanche has not committed to calling witnesses. what do you make of that? >> he is not going to try to give the prosecution any sense of who may come to the stand so they can prepare even more than they already have. he doesn't want to show his hand earlier than he has to. i also suspect that because of his client and how difficult his client is, he's getting a lot of pressure internally to try to put donald trump on the stand. he is also working with his client and trying to convince his client, this is a bad idea. he's not going to give the court anything more than what they absolutely need, particularly because he doesn't want to give the prosecution additional advantages. at the same time, i believe that he's trying to tell his client, "you do not need to take the stand, even though it is your decision to do. you'd be snatching an acquittal from the jaws of a potential

mistrial." >> sounds like you -- we shouldn't rule out the possibility of a witness or two for the defense, but let's talk about the former president being on the stand. we know he has, shall we say, a challenging relationship with the truth. he'd be real open to perjury perhaps. your assessment is he'd do more harm than good to his own cause? >> absolutely. at this point, the prosecution laid out the case, and there is the potential you might end up with a juror who doesn't buy it beyond a reasonable doubt. that gives them an opening for a mistrial with a hung jury. if donald trump takes the stand, he significantly decreases the opportunity for that to take place. i think it would be a terrible idea and something that could potentially tip the scales really decisively in the favor of the prosecution. >> if things wrap up today with the witnesses, court off tomorrow, closing arguments next week, could we have a verdict in a week's time? >> he could. it could take longer. a quicker verdict speaks

favorably to the prosecution. the longer we go, that should be an indication to most people observing that this could end up in a mistrial in favor of donald trump. >> let's take a step back as a final note. this, of course, is just one of the four criminal cases facing donald trump. is it your estimation, and we're waiting to hear from the supreme court, is this the only trial between now and the election? >> i've said this is likely the most ever we're going to see around donald trump facing accountability in a criminal court of law. at least before november. depending on what happens in the fate of the federal trials. certainly as it pertains to anything taking place before november, i think this is it. >> msnbc legal analyst charles coleman, thank you for being with us here on set. we appreciate it. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts