freedom has never been guaranteed. every generation has to earn it, fight for it, defend it in battle between autocracy and democracy, between the greed of a few and the rights of many. it matters. our democracy is more than just a system of government.

it's the very soul of america. >> that's president joe biden marking memorial day at arlington national cemetery with a somber message about freedom and democracy. we'll have much more of his speech in just a moment. meanwhile, donald trump marked the holiday with angry posts on social media lashing out at the judges in his legal cases. the day comes as his hush money trial resumes today in new york with closing arguments. we'll bring you a preview of what to expect. plus, the latest fallout from israel's air strike that led to deaths of dozens of displaced palestinians in rafah. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this tuesday, may 28th. happy birthday. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day

with us. in just hours closing arguments are scheduled to begin in donald trump's hush many criminal trial in a new york city courtroom with the case resuming after a long memorial daybreak. the defense will go first with trump attorney todd blanche expected to spend several hours on his summation argument. his goal -- explain why the government has not met its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that trump not only falsified business records but also had an intent to defraud that included, quote, an the intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof. the prosecution will follow blanche likely reminding jurors that they can trust the financial paperwork they've seen and the witnesses that they've heard from. the arguments could take up most of the day, and testimony from former trump attorney and fixer michael cohen is expected to be heavily featured by both sides.

once finished, there will be no rebuttals. judge juan merchan will then give the jury its instructions, which is expected to last about an hour. that will likely happen tomorrow morning if court's in session. wednesdays as you'll recall have been an off day throughout the trial. after the jury charge is complete, the feat of the former president will then be in the hands of the jury as they begin deliberations. ahead of today's proceedings, former president trump spent most of the memorial holiday yesterday lashing out on his social media platform, claiming the court has been weaponized against him, and launching preemptive attacks against judge merchan as well as manhattan d.a. alvin bragg. joining us now msnbc legal contributor and the host of msnbc' the katie phang show, katie phang. katie, good morning. thank you for starting us off today. >> sure.

>> it is a big day. so let's get your -- let's start with your expectations on what we're going to hear from both sides in the closing arguments. >> so in new york, as you know, defense goes first, which is unusual. because in many jurisdictions we have what's called the sandwich. the prosecution goes, then the defense, and then the prosecution. in the defense in new york the defense goes first and the prosecution goes last, which is great because if you're a prosecutor you can listen to the defense's closing and maybe pivot a little bit if you didn't anticipate it. knowing the prosecution i think they're going to anticipate the arguments. in the defense's case as you noted the burden is always going to be on the prosecution to prove something beyond and to exclusion of beyond a reasonable doubt. because the documents that have been admitted into evidence, they don't help you if you're the defense. on the flip side if you're the prosecution, you can note that you can believe the witnesses but you can lean more into the value of the documentary evidence. the accounts statement, that michael cohen bank account that

was opened solely for the purpose to wire money to keith davidson, the lawyer for stormy daniels, the prosecution has really nailed home for the jury why that is so important. and the defense took no time during cross-examination to really address that. i think the biggest kind of open question is how much does either side lean into the absence of allen weisselberg. no one ever called him as a witness. my humble opinion is that the defense actually looks bad they didn't call allen weisselberg. why? because they actually put on a case. they had no obligation to do anything, but they put on a paralegal and put in a very bad witness involved costello, i think the jury is asking what happened to allen weisselberg and why didn't he come onto corroborate trump's side of the story? >> we should note the prosecution will go last. if you have to identify a couple of key points the prosecution

has to make what would they be? >> it would be the documents speak for themselves, that the actual account statements, the e-mails, the text messages, things like that as you'll recall, jonathan, bob costello had those really damning e-mails by between him and his law partner, for example, where he said we've got to get michael cohen on the right page but we can't make it look like we're acting on the instructions of rudy giuliani and donald trump. it's so long ago, it's not like these things are made up now they'd be able to help the prosecution. there's this reliability that comes from things that were created at the time like those bank account statements that actually lends itself to the prosecution saying i'm going to hit home on these particular issues. >> we're on the precipice of a truly remarkable moment where a former president of the united states is going to be judged by a jury of his peers. before we get there, the judge does have his jury instructions. for those not legal experts what does that mean and why is it so

important? >> when you go to the jury trial, the jurors are the finders of fact. they're going to look at the witness and say credible, not credible, tell the truth or not. it's the judge who provides the law because as you note a lot of jurors aren't lawyers. but as you know we've got two lawyers on the jury right now. how much say do the lawyers have on the jury? of course it's a completely black box experience when you're sitting on a jury. it's confidential. the only time we may know what's going on is if a note gets passed to the judge. if these 12 jurors, and you know what's interesting, we never had to lean into an alternate. we had 12 jurors and "sticks" alternates when they go into a jury room only the 12 go in, none of the six alternates. they're going to be listening to the jury instructions that judge merchan reads to them because the law is going to be explained to them when he reads them the jury instructions. >> a significant day and of course we'll have coverage all day long here on msnbc. msnbc contributor katie phang,

thank you very much and we'll be following your analysis throughout the week. meanwhile, president biden as his rival for the presidency prepares for court, the current president spent memorial day at arlington national cemetery yesterday where he laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, a symbolic grave for all the american service members whose remains were never found or identified. president biden gave remarks on the importance of democracy and honoring america's fallen heroes. he even touched on his own personal tragedy, discussing his grief over the loss of his son, beau. take a listen. >> our democracy is more than just a system of government, it's the very soul of america. it's how we've been able to constantly adapt through the centuries. it's why we've always emerged from every challenge stronger than when we went in, and it's how we come together as one nation united. and just as our fallen heroes have kept the ultimate faith of

our country and our democracy, we must keep faith with tem. i know how hard it can be to reopen that black hole in the middle of your chest, bringing you back to the exact moment you got that phone call, heard that knock on the door, or held the hand when the last breath was taken. i know it hurts. the hurt is still real, still raw. this week marks nine years since i lost my son beau. our losses are not the same. he didn't perish in the battlefield. he was a cancer victim from the consequence of being in the army in iraq for years next to a burn pit. living and working like too many beside that toxic burn pit. and as it is for so many of you, the pain of his loss is with me every day as it is with you. still sharp, still clear, but so

is the pride i feel in his service as if i can still hear him saying it's my duty, dad, it's my duty. duty, that was the code my son lived by and the creed all of you live by. >> meanwhile, former president trump, the presumptive gop nominee, marked memorial day a bit differently by blasting the various legal proceedings against him on his fledgling social media site. in a memorial day morning post trump wrote in part this. "happy memorial day to all including the human scum that is working so hard to destroy our once great country and to the radical left trump hating federal judge in new york." the rambling post references his defamation suit loss to writer e. jean carroll who accused him of sexual assault. trump continues to deny those claims. he also called out the judge in his new york city civil fraud trial saying the new york city wacko judge who fined me almost

over $5 million under appeal for doing nothing wrong. the post did not mention america's fallen heroes or the true meaning of the holiday. still ahead here on "way too early," republican senator tim scott gives yet another vague answer when asked whether he'll certify the 2024 election results. plus a former member of the trump administration says he'll be voting for joe biden this november. 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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there were two guys. [car unlocking and door opening] both guys drove to work. neither guy wore their seat belt. one guy got a ticket. one guy didn't. both guys drove home from work. one guy wore his seat belt. one guy didn't. sfx: [tires screeching, crashing sounds, sirens] one guy made it home. one guy didn't. welcome back. former president trump says that he will deport students who participate in pro-palestinian protests where he to be elected this fall. according to "the washington post" trump made this promise in a private meeting with donors back on may 14th after a supporter complained about the protesters. trump pledged to throw these

pro-palestinian demonstrators out of the country, calling them part of a radical revolution that he vowed to defeat. trump also reportedly praised the nypd for clearing columbia university's campus. meanwhile, republican senator tim scott was asked again on sunday about accepting the results of the 2024 presidential election. you'll recall that earlier this month the possible vp pick for trump dodged the question several times during an appearance on "meet the press." this time he was less evasive. >> a lot of republicans have been refusing to commit to accepting the election results in 2024. you haven't done so yet, so let me ask you it this way. you will be a sitting united states senator in january of 2025. will you vote to certify the election no matter who wins? >> well, certainly we expect a fair and honest election, and as

a result of that expectation we will certify the election and certify president donald trump as the 47th president. >> more rulickilousness. meanwhile former trump communications director anthony scaramucci says he's willing to work with president biden in order to keep donald trump out of the white house. in a new interview with the london times scaramucci said in part this, i'm going to vote for biden, i'm going to advocate for biden, i'm going to raise money for biden. i've given money to the campaign and i'll work for biden. i'm a patriot first, partisan second. he told the paper he believes about 40 disenchanted members of the trump administration including former vice president mike pence but excluding the generals will eventually volunteer to help the binden came pain or at least to publicly denounce trump. scaramucci also said he believes the biden campaign has been reluctant to approach former trump officials for fear of

upsetting the progressive left. things are changing and now it's, quote, all hands on deck. >> next up we'll turn to sports with highlights from the boston celtics' sweep of the indiana pacers. they'll be advancing to the nba finals. plus we'll remember a legend on and off the court, nba hall of famer bill walker who died yesterday at the age of 71. we'll be right back with that. f1 we'll be right back with that. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley power e*trade's easy to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans can help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley

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the cels rallied from a fourth quarter deficit to defeat the indiana pacers. jalen brown led all scores with 29 points last night, jason tatum added 26. boston beats 105-102. the celtics have now won seven straight playoffs improving to 6-0 on the road as they advance for the second time in three years. boston will play for its 18th title in franchise history against either the dallas mavericks or minnesota timberwolves. those teams meet tonight in dallas for game 4. the mavs can sweep a contest of their own heading into the conference they're up three games, go celtics. but we do have some sad news to report this morning out of the basketball world. hall of famer and broadcaster bill walton has died. standing at 7 feet tall he was a two time champion at ucla and three time national player of the year. drafted number one overall by

the portland trail blazers in 1974 his career was disrupted by chronic foot injuries but included two titles one year apart. one while he was mvp with portland and other as sixth man of the year for the boston celtics. inducted into the hall of fame in 1983 walton overcame a stutter to go onto a illustrious and beloved career as an nba broadcaster. he won an emmy and eventually named one of the top 50 sportscasters of all-time by the american sportscasters association. as "the new york times" put it, walton brought an idyo syncratic style to his commentary which combined his over the top enthusiasm for basketball with weird flights of fancy and music and science lessons. he was so he could speak for an entire game without letting his partner speak. walton is survived by his wife

and four sons. he was 71 years old. our thoughts to his family. >> we turn now to the playoff action in the nhl. in edmonton the dallas stars have skated away with an advantage in the finals. jason complete said his hat trick midway through the third period. stars were down early and come back to beat edmonton. game four tomorrow night in alberta. an early exit what might be a farewell swing of the french open for champion rafael nadalch he nadal lost in the opening round of the tournament for the first time in this career. falling in four sets. after the defeat nadal said there was a big percentage this was his last french open but he still plans to return to compete in the olympics later this summer. finally, one highlight to show you out of major league baseball. this one from the stands in

oracle park twrsh san francisco, where a fan snagged a foul ball while holding a baby. the one-handed catch preceded the giants' 8-4 win over the phillies. that's a great grab. time now for the weather, and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. angie, yesterday in the north east those storms that rolled through were something else. how's it looking today? >> we of course no surprise more storms in the forecast this time for the middle of the country. it was quite active over the weekend and folks getting back to work might have some travel trouble in a few spots. thunderstorm watches and couple of warnings prompted for parts of oklahoma and texas, so we'll watch those through the morning hours. big picture look most of that rainout of the picture, but still a couple of showers lingering for new england and parts of the southeast. as the day goes on, it's the middle of the country we'll watch for the strongest of the storms. we do have afternoon storms

centered across parts of the great lakes. for tomorrow we'll see some of these start to pop up in parts of the plains and of course parts of the south, we'll see some heavy rain to be expected for that region. here's the severe weather threat today san angelo, austin, where we'll have the greatest concern to see some those storms the wind gusts but also have potential for large hail over 2 inches and the threat for tornado is low but isn't zero. so we'll still be watching for that. the winds, though, they could get up to hurricane force. dallas, waco, as far south as laredo included in that area. on top of that as if that wasn't enough we also have the chance to see some heavy rain leaving us with a flash flood risk today. this is for parts of this afternoon. notice waco, some of the same spots we'll see that slow moving storm system work through, we'll see the greatest chance for flash flooding and heaviest amounts of rain, up to 5 inches in spots spots through the day.

>> best of luck to folks there. angie lassman, thank you as alwaysism. next up here we'll bring you the latest reaction to israel's air strike that hit a tent camp in rafah that was housing displaced palestinians. we're right back in just a moment. d palestinians we're right back in just a moment (man) mm, hey, honey. looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast?

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welcome back to "way too early." it is just before 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this tuesday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. we turn to news overseas now, and israel is facing widespread

international condemnation for striking a tent camp that was housing displaced palestinians in rafah. according to the gaza health ministry at least 45 people were killed in the weekend's air strike. this was the deadliest incident in the southern gaza city since israel began its offensive there earlier this month. the idf had claimed that two hamas militants were killed in the attack and that many measures were taken beforehand to minimize harm to civilians. but now prime minister benjamin netanyahu is calling the strike a, quote, tragic incident hooch me made that comment while addressing parliament yesterday saying that tlm there will be an investigation. meanwhile, two u.s. officials tells axios the biden administration is looking into whether this strike violates the president's so-called red line. earlier this month biden threatened to sus spend the delivery of some weapons if

israel entered population centers in rafah. meanwhile, a member of egypt's security forces was killed in a shootout with the israeli military. it happened yesterday near the rafah border crossing between egypt and gaza. both egypt and israel say the incident is under investigation but provided no details as to what led to the shooting. nbc news has not been able to independently verify the situation on the ground, but certainly, though, one that could lead to tensions to go even higher there in the region. joining us now former democratic congresswoman jane harmon. she's chair of the bipartisan congressional commission on national defense strategy. thank you, congresswoman, for being with us. this rafah strike some of the images that have circulated in the media and online the last couple of days truly horrific, women and children killed. international reaction has been -- has been fierce. do you think this will cross

president biden's red line and change u.s. posture towards israel? >> well, i think the key thing is changing israel's actions rather than talking about red lines and posture. bibi netanyahu has been criticized for not having a day after plan. i don't think he has a day of plan, and i don't think he has a day before plan. i mean having explosives next to inflammable tents is a recipe for killing a lot of people. and maybe two hamas fighters were killed. i think that's good news in the sense that israel's goal of eliminating hamas in gaza is a worthy goal, but i don't think that gets closer to the goal. so what happens now? several things i would suggest. one is that the u.s. works harder at a regional response that could hopefully change israeli policy.

there are many countries in the region that want to contain iran. let's remember iran is still a maligned actor in the region with proxy groups all over and is the source of original hamas training and funding, so let's think about that. let's also think about other ways in which inside israel, israel could be constrained, maybe withholding aid but that puts biden in a political box. i get that. but maybe just calling on the israeli people to do their best. i'm not talking about regime change, but i am talking trying to make sure that the israeli people understand what's happening inside israel. and another point i would make is that israel recently has mothballs. imagine this, patriot missiles, old-style patriot missiles, which should immediately be sent to the fight in ukraine, the u.s. should insist on that. the good news is spain apparently has stepped up to provide 12 more patriot systems to ukraine.

that's 11 more than the u.s. has provided at this point, and ukraine is going to lose its big cities unless it has air cover. and final comment, next week biden is going to normandy to celebrate the anniversary of d-day. that was a heroic action by western allies led by the u.s. but including allies to save the west from the nazis. let's remember this. how did it succeed? through brave men who arrived on ships and climbed cliffs, but also there was air cover. and if ukraine doesn't get the air cover it needs now, ukraine won't have the success that d-day had. and biden will be in france, a country that has condemned what israel just did, and celebrating our past. but hopefully there'll be better news in israel by next week. >> white house officialvise previewed that president biden while overseas at normandy will

make a speech linking the fight in ukraine to similar sacrifices made in world war ii. let's spend a moment more on where things stand in ukraine in your assessment. and russia as you mentioned really pounding cities particularly around kharkiv of late. how concerned are you this is about to -- we're approaching a real tipping point in that conference? >> i'm extremely concerned about it and the ukrainians are extremely concerned. zelenskyy is begging -- begging for seven patriot batteries. there are 100 or reported at least a 100 throughout europe and various countries that don't want to give them up because they're worried about their own defense. excuse me, it's going to get a lot rougher if ukraine doesn't have air cover, can't hold its cities, russia marches further into ukraine, russia's conventional stocks are replenished let's understand this by iran, same maligned actors in the middle east and north korea. and china is -- is buying

russian oil, so its economy is back on a war footing. this is an extremely dangerous time, and it's still summer, so the tanks aren't going to get stuck in the mud again. and a huge shopping area was blown up over the weekend, 40-plus people killed. and ukraine needs air cover yesterday. talk about that. israel needs a better strategy yesterday and ukraine needs air cover, and there are some things the united states can definitely help with, and allowing these patriots to be sent into ukraine right now and allowing ukrainians to hit targets in russia that are hitting them makes all the sense in the world. so let's have at least one good news story and let's just hope that there is a way to change israel's direction here and get to a strategy involving the neighborhood, which will be more effective. just one more thing. it was the neighborhood -- remember the biden said take the win. it was a coalition including some european countries and us that defeated this onslaught of

iranian missiles and drones headed to israel just a month ago. >> we appreciate the analysis. former democratic congressman jane harman, thank you. and we'll have more on the middle east later on in "morning joe." next up here we'll go live to cnbc for an early look what's driving wall street. plus the box office sees its worst memorial day weekend in nearly three decades. we'll dig into what caused the low turnout and what it could mean for the movie industry when we come right back. could mean for the movie industry when we come right back

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time now for business, and for that let's bring in cnbc's carolyn roth who joins us live from london. good morning, carolyn. so stock futures are up this morning as investors look ahead to some important inflation data. what should we expect today? >> today we're going to, you know, keep our eyes fixed on nvidia, of course, because shares are rising premarket. why? because of the blowout numbers

that we saw from the chip maker last week, and shares really at an all-time high. also keep an eye on apple because that stock is also higher premarket after the tech giant posted a rebound in china last month with iphone shipments rising 52%. but as you pointed out before, all eyes on the inflation numbers that are out at the back end of this week. the pce precipitate, can which is the fed's preferred inflation gauge. at the start of trade today we should see the fed bouncing back from weakness. remember last week the dow saw the first down week and the nasdaq still clinging on those record highs. >> so major retailers are stepping up discounts heading into the summer months. tell us a little bit about that. >> look, inflation has come way down from its peaks. we're currently at 3.4%. however, many consumers out there, they're still feeling the pinch specifically when it comes to basic necessities like rent or car insurance.

so what some of the big retailers in the u.s. are doing, what i'm talking about the likes of target or wal-mart, they want to entice the shoppers to come back to the stores and spend even more, and that's why they're rolling out these pretty aggressive discounts specifically on groceries. the discounts could be as large as 45% to 50% on top of what they're already offering in terms of the price cuts. and one analyst was quoted in reports saying that this is the first big price war after the pandemic when it comes to groceries. >> and the summer box office continues its slow start this year with a somewhat disappointing memorial day weekend. tell us about it. >> it was really disappointing, someone even called it catastrophic. why? because the numbers showing that the movie furiosa came out on top with $32 million domestically, the film about a dystopian future edging out sony's "the garfield" movie.

i want to put it into perspective here furiosa the number one grossing box office film grossing and 30 years casper back in 1945. obviously now the pressure is rising on hollywood to deliver a blockbuster year but it's going to be really hard to top oppenheimer. back to you. >> we contributed to the garfield total yesterday. wouldn't say it was great, but the kids enjoyed. thank you. next up here eric trump is facing backlash over social media posts he made over memorial day weekend. we'll show you his comments and why one former republican congressman is now comparing him to an infamous traitor. "way too early" will be right back with that. traitor "way too early" will be right back with that but even though time has passed, his risk of a second attack hasn't. mike is still living in the red. with a very high risk of another heart attack or stroke. he doesn't know with his risk factors

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donald trump's son, eric trump, is facing backlash this morning after some recent social media posts.

after one user posted a photo of the trump family with the caption "the family that gave up everything to save america thank you," eric trump reposted it writing, and we will do it again. that was met with a pret significant negative response including former gop adam kinzinger in illinois who replied this way, your family has sacrificed nothing. your name will become synonymous with benedict arnold, and how dare you tweet this this weekend. you don't know the first thing about service, you child. it comes after eric trump posted a memorial day promotion for the trump store on instagram that read we are honoring the brave men and women this weekend. after being criticized for that advertisement, eric deleted the post but the trump website is still very much promoting the sale. joining us now reporter for the new washington news outlet "notice," evan, good to see you

this morning. the social media campaign its footprint grows larger. you've got new reporting about how tiktok and people are using tiktok to watch not just the campaign but the trump trial. tell us about it. >> yeah, i wanted to explore this unprecedented election and what's going on this time. things are so different than usual, right? and a lot of people who are watching politics these days are not watching you for the these or you for the news, they're watching these for the news and the apps that are on these. i called up one of the top reporters on tiktok. their name is vi. they have a million followers. they follow a lot of topics in the news including politics topics, and they told me the trump trial isn't breaking through with viewers on that platferral. today is the day of the closing arguments. we'll all be talking about the trial here in the main stream

media for probably the next week and a half if not more until the verdict comes in. vi said to me the challenge for tiktok is that viewers on that platform are just not feeling the trial is really approaching like any of their lives. they feel like if they support trump, trump will just sort of, you know, be fine, this is travesty of justice. if they don't like trump, they don't believe he's going to be punished away and they don't really care. just to see how some of these things are actually playing in audiences that we maybe don't think about that much but are very important to the election. voters don't pay attention as much. >> the biden campaign has made clear they don't think people outside this court are following this trial at all. they don't anticipate it's going to move the needle that much. still a conviction. this year in particular with tiktok, et cetera, we're in

uncharted territory. how would you assess how the two campaigns are using these new mediums to try to reach voters particularly young voters who they're both courting? >> i'll say they're both on tiktok, which is a change we expected at the beginning of the cycle because both candidates have at times been critical of it. the biden campaign has been a huge effort on social media. they've done a lot of work to try and build up support with young people on social media. trump obviously a native social media user, his looking at as things go forward to figure out how much impact this has had. the attention paid this time -- and you and i covered a lot of elections before and seen this stuff before -- but the attention paid to this this time, versus traditional outlets and interviews, is absolutely off the scale. i mean, it feels like people who are running these campaigns feel like a huge amount of what might happen in november will be what happens on social media. they are paying a lot of

attention on how to do it and what is going on on it. >> with a fragmented media cycle, it is harder for a campaign to break through with the message. evan mcmorris santora, thank you for joining us and we'll see you soon. joe biden has been silent on donald trump's hush money trial, but that could change once a verdict is reached. what we're learning about the president's comment is next. that's my new reporting. on "morning joe," a panel of legal analysts is standing by with what we can expect to hear when the trump trial's closing arguments begin in just a few hours. plus, the former president faces a hostile reception at the libertarian convention. what it could mean for the gop nominee as he looks to expand his pace and cut off threats from third-party candidates. also ahead, tony award-winning actor bd wong will be live in studio with a look at his broadway show, "what became of us."

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welcome back. president biden has, so far, stayed quiet when it comes to

donald trump's criminal hush money trial, but that will change once a verdict is reached. four people familiar with internal deliberations tell me, from my reporting at "politico," that the president intends to initially address the verdict in a white house setting, not a campaign one, to show his statement isn't political. if the jury convicts trump, biden's team will then argue that the result shows that trump is ill suited for office and it demonstrates the extremes to which the former president would go to win again. his team is also preparing for a barrage of republican and trump attacks if the former president's acquitted or if there is a hung jury. joining us now, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker. thank you so much for joining us. as noted, the president's first response, and the timing of this is still fluid. the verdict could be a week or more away. it'll be to talk about the legal system, it works, and we have to have faith in it, no matter what the verdict may be. then a second beat, if there is a conviction, he'll incorporate it into his campaign rhetoric.

but they don't think this will be a major issue. it'll pale in comparison to inflation, abortion, and the rest. what's your take? >> yeah, look, i think they feel like they have to finally address it. as you know and have reported, they have avoided doing so up until now to not let donald trump make the argument that this prosecution is, in some way, you know, ordered by president biden. of course it wasn't. this is a state prosecution. doesn't have anything to do with the federal government, and there is no evidence whatsoever that the president had anything to do with it. but they know the president had been talking about it all along, it would have looked like he had been orchestrating it. there is a feeling that once the verdict happens, how can the president of the united states not address it in some ways? a pretty big moment in the history of the country torks to have a former president convicted in court, if that's what happens. it'll look political. he can do it in a white house setting, try to make it as sober

minded as possible, but it'll be cast in the partisan lens because, of course, the two of them are running against each other. there is no way around that. i think there are a lot of democrats who feel like, fine, let's talk about it because, in fact, it is the elephant in the room, to have a convicted felon as the nominated opponent of the president of the united states is, in fact, an important issue for the country to consider. >> if there is a guilty verdict, officials tell me the biden campaign criminal account might use the phrase, convicted felon donald trump to needle him. president biden and his team will continue not to speak about the active, ongoing investigation. three other trials that haven't yet happened. peter, let's take a step back. we are on the precipice of history, closing arguments today. the jury could get the case as soon as tomorrow or thursday. a verdict could happen at any time after that. you've covered the presidency for a long time. it is remarkable that we're here. >> yeah, i think we kind of have forgotten how extraordinary this really is, right? 240 years or whatever, we've

never had a president on trial, much less a president being, you know, adjudicated by a jury via criminal felon. we'll see if that's what happens. it might not. you're right to point out that if the alternative happens, a hung jury or acquittal, that'll fuel the former president's argument that this is all political, a witch hunt, he is being persecuted, it is unfair. it'll validate his political argument to his base. it'll say, see, it's all a bunch of nonsense. that's, of course, something a lot of democrats are afraid of. that's why they weren't sure about this prosecution of all four of them going forward because they considered it to be the weakest of the cases. but we'll see. it is an extraordinary moment to have this happen. a moment where a lot of people say it's the rule of law, in which it shows that in the united states, even a former president, even the most powerful person in our system, can be held accountable if, in fact, he has committed crimes. >> a moment for the history

books certainly. peter, what do you think? is going to be a moment, no matter the outcome, that's going to change the trajectory of this race? >> well, it's an interesting question. we've been talking a lot about that here at my house the last few days. i think, you know, there is a sense, of course, if he is found guilty, it will, of course, allow the current president, president biden and the democrats, to use that phrase, convicted felon, and they'll use it over and over again. that probably won't affect a lot, if not most of the trump voters. they've already factored this into their thinking. they know he's been indicted on four different criminal cases. they've already known and decided what they think about stormy daniels and falsifying business records. however, it doesn't have to be that many people to change minds. there are polls that suggest that there are some republican voters for whom this might be enough to say, okay, well, i can't go that far. i'm in favor of trump but not a convicted felon. doesn't have to be that many in pennsylvania, wisconsin to change things. if it's an acquittal or hung

jury, that, i think, will have, you know, electrifying effect for former president trump, in the sense that him being able to discredit all of the cases against him by saying, "see, this is all just politics." doesn't mean it is. that'll be an argument that will resonate with the people who want to believe that, which, of course is his base and the people already voting for him. >> he'll use it as a cudgel. it's the thin slice of independents, the swing voters, will it impact them. we'll see. we've never been here before, and we'll all find out together. chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker, thank you. we'll talk on "morning joe." thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this tuesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. because freedom has never been guaranteed. every generation has to earn it. fight for it. defend it in battle between autocracy and democracy. between the greed of a few and the rights