get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," former president trump showered with cheers from delegates during an emotional unscheduled appearance on the first night of the republican national convention after he narrowly survived

saturday's assassination attempt. the fbi has failed to find t gu. scrutiny intensifies on the failure that allowed him to be so close. in milwaukee, 39-year-old j.d. vance of ohio, outlining his role in the campaign to come on fox news. >> donald trump can't be everywhere. you have to be a person he can trust, he can rely on to actually advance the agenda. that's the most important job. president biden back on the trail today in battleground nevada, after an exclusive interview with lester holt, pushing back on calls from members of his own party to exit the race. >> who do you listen to on deeply personal issues like the decision whether to stay in the race or not? >> me. ♪♪

good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington with special coverage of the 2024 republican national convention. the party's presidential ticket is set with donald trump officially nominated as the party's candidate, and in the opening session ohio's first-term senator j.d. vance unveiled as his running mate. in primetime, the surprise appearance of donald trump, igniting a tumultuous response from the delegates. his first public appearance since saturday's assassination attempt. donald trump striding through the hall to roaring applause. the investigation into saturday's deadly shooting continuing. as nbc news reports, local police alerted the secret service to a suspicious person before the rally. local officers pursued the would-be assassin on foot,

shot -- spotting him. so much going on. one of big things is nikki haley, now a speaker. it's a notable sign of unity in contrast to 2016. >> she wasn't invited. she was going against donald trump. she was continuing in the primary. she was warned that she would be excommunicated from the maga movement. she was not a part of it any longer. she burned her bridges into this party. she had no future within the republican party if she continued to run against donald trump. she did, even when she was dropped out of the race, she was still garnering a decent amount of support within the republican party, proving there are a number of registered republicans who are not comfortable with

donald trump. that's a protest vote when you vote for somebody not in the race any longer. after saturday, andrea, it seeps -- it seems emotions have chand. they want to project unity. they want to be a party that is standing together in the face of that assassination attempt. nikki hey and marco rubio and ron desantis will speak. >> her support could be imrtant. i know you will have more on that and on the j.d. vance choice. an interesting choice as well. thank you fothat. for more, let's bring in vaughn hillyard in milwaukee. vaughn, what does j.d. van bring? there's ohio, there's yoh, that contrast. in many ways even though he was

a different j.d. vance in 2016, but now he out-magas the lead maga. >> reporter: it would be prudent to view him through the 2020 to 2024 vance. he is a purified maga. he is effective in his explanation of how a second trump administration could look. he was talking about how the federal government could be run before he was even elected to the u.s. senate. for j.d. vance, he also is going to be a key outlier. he said it would be important go and hash things out with president trump behind closed doors. i think when you look at a policy level, take the way that he views the russian aggression of ukraine. he has over the last months been a vocal advocate for questioning

whether the u.s. should be continuing to send aid to ukraine and has been very explicit that in order to get a peace deal in place, it could very well include ukraine having to cede some of its territory to russia. we know from viktor orban's meetings with donald trump, he said believes the way to end the war would be for the u.s. to end funding of what was taking place in ukraine. i think it's important not only on a domestic policy but foreign policy level for donald trump to have an ally in somebody who cannot only within the united states but overseas effectively communicate and be on par with the message that donald trump wants to hold from 2025 over the course of a four-year administration. >> vaughn, mitch mcconnell called out j.d. vance for

opposing the supplemental. he was an outlier within the senate caucus and not well liked because he went up against the leadership. it tells you so much. this is now donald trump's republican party. so different. so different from in the past what we covered. >> this has been donald trump's republican party for going on many years. the second donald trump got the nomination, it turned into donald trump's party. e voters had clearly said they like donald trump's policies, whatever they may be in whatever moment it is. they trust donald trump more than they tru republicans. we have seen that in eleion after election after election. vaughn, i know you were in the room. you tried to fin mitch mcconnell but that was quite a moment. handing over the kentucky delegate to the rnc, nominating donald trump. you couldn't hear him t boos were so loud.

>> reporter: right. these are not just the maga supporters around the country. these are the most active members. they are the delegates. they are elected officials. when mitch mcconnell was booed, it was notable. he quickly left along with the former secretary, his wife, out of the arena. i think that is telling about j.d. vance in the pull he were to have if he were to get into the vice presidential role if they have ape senate and house majority, they will be able to deck tate along with speaker johnson the agenda in a different way in which the 2017 -- the way paul ryan was operating, he had disagreements over what policies should be enacted with the republican majority. i think that's the contrast you could see this go around with j.d. vance very much of the maga wing of the republican party on capitol hill being the one

effectively being the messenger and liaison with the donald trump white house. >> in any other year, paul ryan, if things had been different, paul ryan would be a big deal. wisconsin is his state. the former running mate, nowhere to be seen. vaughn hillyard, thank you. we look forward to your reporting. he with me now is former republican national committee communications director doug high. you have former mike pence chief of star mark short with you in milwaukee. you want to start there? >> mark, we knew -- we know who the vp pick is. we were speculating yesterday. you worked with the last vp. the lingering question i have is, after what happened to mike pence, the way he left office under the chants of hang him, ones that donald trump didn't seem to mind, why would anyone want to be his running mate? >> that's a great question. i'm not sure i can answer that. i think you get a chance to serve the united states of

america in a role that important, it's incredibly honoring. i think we want to have people with good moral character. i think at the same time, i'm not sure donald trump -- we are talking about j.d. vance as the successor. i'm not convinced donald trump wants a successor. think we will see what happens. >> he is -- the pick is a man who is 39 years owed. the only person outside of somebodyith the last name donald trump that appears that he cou take on the mantle of maga. you don't think that this is donald trump signaling that after this next term, if he wins, that there's going to be a new generation? >> i don't think he wantso have a successor. i don't think he wants a new generation. i think we are not appreciating enough how much there's been a marriage between populists and conservatism and supporting the republican party.

last night was that. it comes on the heels of a platform walking away from life and traditional marriage, a platform that embraces fully protectionism. you have speaks on the podium last night directly blaming nato for putin' invasion of ukraine. you have speakers denouncing the national right to work and calling our job creators corporate pigs. that's a stark and dramatic shift that i don't think we are fully appreciating the extent to which this was a convention that was repudiaing conservatism. maybe there will be more opportunities for unity. that was not last night. >> that's a good point. it's what vaughn was talng about regarding mitch mcconnell. this i no longer the republican party that mitch monnell has grown up in. this is fully the donald trump republican party. >> exactly. on abortion rights, in fact, j.d. vance is far more restrictive on abortion ghts,

favoring a total ban. i want to ask doug abo that. he is against the position on ukraine aid and against the party's positio on abortion as dified by donald trump to try to broaden the base here. he appeals to the mag base. is he going to hurt attempts to reach out to independent voters, to the nikki haley voters? >> there are two ways donald trump could go. he could have gone for an expand the pie choice in a nikki haley, glenn youngkin. the pick wasn't a surprise. j.d. vance w looked at one of the most likely people. given donald trump's name, that's not surprising to anybody. i think whatt means is also, donald trump feels he is i a very comfortable position. if you look at the polling we have seen over the past few weeks, the debate performance of prident biden, the interview last night of president biden,

he feels he doesn't need to expand the pie. in virginia, donald trump is leading where he shouldn't be. we are seeing that kind of expansion happen because of the concerns that voters overwhelmingly have the top of the ticket on the democratic side. vice presidents don't typically move needles. the large needle, that's about the top of the ticket. >> indeed. i want to play for you a ption of savannah guthrie's interview with eric trump about the impact that the attempt has had. we shouldn't forget, donald trump and the human response and the response not just of the delegates but the whole emotional appearance of him with the bandage. t's watch. >> two days ago i was on the couch with my children watching my father almost get assassinated on national tv. i couldn't believe what i was seeing. you see blood. you see somebody on the ground. you don't know if they were hit

multiple time you pray to god he standsup. it gives a different perspective life and the whole political narrative ang the media and among people and politics. it's got to get toned down. >> that is point coming from eric trump. >> i welcome that. i think it's goingo be interesting to see how j. vance and donald trump respond to this when they give speeches. >> the speech last night, marjorie taylor greene hardly toned down. they told us they were editing the speeches, they didn't have too much to edit. you had some wild speeches last night. ron johnson. >> i don't think that surprised anybody. ron johnson said, i read the wrong speech. given politics is more like "veep" than "house of cards," i believe ron johnson. if we want the tone to be changed, it's incumbent on all of us. donald trump lds that way. >> doug and mark, thanks to both of you.

katy, you have a big interview at 3:00, eric trump. >> that's right. i think not only talking about the emotional moment and why he believes this is a turning point, what y might expect from his father on thuray, but i'm curious to find out if this changes anything, not just in the way he speaks out politics, but in the substance of his policies. we will ask eric about that. >> we will be watching that. back to you in a second. in 90 seconds, the president's answer to lester holt's questions. this is msnbc. this is msnbc. use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easiereartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

president biden is campaigning in battleground nevada today, working to win over black and latino voters amid polls showing he is lagging behind from donald trump in nevada, a state he won before. in an interview with lester holt last night, mr. biden defending his record, dismissing calls from some democrats for him to step aside. with growing calls to tamp down heated rhetoric on both sides after donald trump was nearly killed, lester asked the president about his call to donors, calling on democrats to put mr. trump in the bull's eye. >> it was a mistake -- i didn't

say crosshairs, i said bull's eye. focus on his policies, focus on the number of lies he told in the debate. there's a range of things that -- look, i'm not the guy at said i want to be a dictator on day one. i'm not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election. >> joining us now, jeff mason, and the biden campaign may have pulled down their ads. but on the use of violent rhetoric, the president is pointing t finger back at donald trump saying that's the context. what he said doesn't compare to what donald trump has said in the past. >> i think that's right.

he said last night, essentially, stop asking me if i'm going to drop out of the race. don't accuse me of creating a negative political environment when looking at the type of rhetoric that's been coming out of former president trump's mouth for a long, long time. i think you saw a sense of frustration from president biden and a list of examples. he talked about the attack on january 6. he talked about president trump making fun of paul pelosi after he was attacked. he wanted to press his case that this is an issue not -- certainly not related to his one comment about a bull's eye but more broadly about rhetoric that's coming from the other side. >> katy? >> on the subject of whether donald trump -- excuse me, president biden should drop out, there's a lot of chatter behind the scenes. democratic lawmakers are nervous

about him. donors are nervous about him. i speak to a lot of voters, and they say they are nervous about him. president biden is adamant that he is not going to step aside. listen to that moment from the interview with lester. >> do you feel like you have weathered the storm on this issue of whether you should be on the ticket or not? >> look, 14 million people vote voted for me to be the nominee. okay? i listen to them. i've been doing this a long time. the idea that i'm the old guy -- i am. i'm old. but i'm only three years older than trump. number two, my mental acuity has been pretty damn good. i got more done than any president has in a ng, long time in 3 1/2 years. >> this hasn' bn confirmed by nbc news. two people are telling "the new york times" thatcongressman adam schiff, running for senate

in california, told donors at a private meeting on saturdayha democrats will lose the senate and the chance toake the house back if president biden doesn't drop out othe race. are you expecting there to b another batch of democrats who come out publicly to say h should step aside? >> i think there will still be a push by some democts to try to convince the president to step aside or to make their concerns publicly known. we knowrom reporting that's emerged today thathe dnc seems to be moving ahead with a plan to try to wrap up the official nomination of president biden a the democratic nominee. that seems to he set off a lot of democrats who are very uneasy about his path to the presidency. i think one of the other things that's making democrats extremely nervous, adam schiff's comments is a big one, but the campaign has polling showing the esident is down in key battleground states.

the biden's argument has been that polling hasn't changed substantially since the debate. it didn't seemo have the effect and democratsre overreacting. i think the problem is, polls show the president losing, even before the debate. part of their tnking and scheduling the debate early was to try to change the dynamics of a stagnant race. it seems to have had the posite affect. it didn't reenergize the president's campaign or change the die nam ukdynamics. i think there will be a push to try t get the president to step ase, whether for harris or another nominee. as far as wean tell, in the interview last night with lester holt and his public mments,le president seems dug in. i think there will be a push. it remains to be seen whether the president is open to the arguments at this point. >> he has drawn the line. the line is he has to be told he

has no path to the presidency. >> exactly that. in terms of sources, one source told me, there will be another attempt this week, as early as today or tomorrow, to try to dissuade the president from running by some party leaders. they know the time is running out. the official nomination before the convention is expected next week. >> that's right. i think what i'm hearing is that the matter is still very much unresolved in the minds of many senators and members of congress. i think that you have seen a lot of folks who have not stated on the record what they think on this. i think people are still examining the data. they are weighing their deep loyalty to president biden and their deep love and appreciation for hip and all that he has accomplished. but they are looking at the fact that holding the senate is

extremely important. taking back the pa jurorty in the house is important. what is the right thing for the democratic party as a whole? i think that matter is still very much under consideration. >> chuck schumer followed up on hakeem jeffries. he went late after the news conference and gave him blunt advice. chuck schumer followed up. that meeting getting overshadowed by the assassination attempt at 6:00, around that time saturday night. that was critical, reflecting the senator's view. that must have been a tough -- you know these relationships. that must have been tough for schumer, so close to joe biden from the senate. the president's out in nevada, running from behind. you spent so much time there when you worked for harry reid. >> that's right. nevada is a state that looks like the rest of the country.

it's extremely diverse. it's also got big rural populations. some of the dynamics at play in the country at large are at play in nevada right now. you see very strong strength for the former president trump with whit working class voters in rural areas. you are potentially seeing signs of slippage among non-white voters as you see in many sets of data nationally. nevada is always close. nevada democrats run a machine like nobody else. there's nobody i have more faith in to pull this out than the team out there in nevada. we will see. it will be close. it will be down to the wire. >> still called the harry reid machine. that's no accident. that's an accurate description. thanks to all of you. katy? snapshot, the latest on the fbi investigation into saturday's assassination

attempt. an andrea's conversation with "the new york times" photographer who caught this image from that day, the bullet going by his head. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. or exer. i couldn't even enjoy playin with my kids. i leaked too. i just assumed it was normal. then we learned about bulkamid. an fda approvenon-drug solution for our condition. it really works, and it lasts for years. it's been the best thing we've done for our filies. call 800-983-0000 to arrange an appointment with an expert physician to determine if bulkamid is right for you. results and experiences may vary.

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there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title. still more questions today about how a gunman could get within a few hundred feet of former president donald trump, close enough and high enough to have a clear rifle shot. nbc news is learning the people in the area tried to flag local police about thomas matthew crooks. they noticed him pacing and behaing strangely. they alerted police who told the secret service they were looking for a suspicious person in the area. in an interview with abc news, the head of the secret service explained why there were no agents on the rooftop that

crooks shot from. >> should that roof have been secured? >> that building has a sloped roof. so there's a safety factor that uld be considered there that we wouldn't want somebody up o a sloped roof. the decision was made to secure the buding from inside. >> joining us now is tom winter. at sound bite right there, that answer is getng a lot of attention. >> it is getting a lot of attention from a lotf people that are up on roofs and in tactical enforcement as an answer that doesn't make a lot of sense to them. instead of speculating, i do have some new reporting. some notes of an interview our colleague stephanie gosk did with the butler township manager. it's where this rally occurred. tom knights is the township

manager. he told nbc news that butler township police officers -- what i'm reading from are not exact quotes. it's a summary of stephanie's interview. butler township police officers were not responsible for securing the rooftop. when they heard there was a suspicious personn the roof, four officerspparently responded to the building. they couldn't see the roof did the top. one officeras boosted up, basically helpe up by other officers that were there. the officer saw crooks, turned and pointed his rifle at him. crooks and pointed his rifle at the officer. the officer was unable to respond, pull out his gun, because he was hanging on with two hands. this is all according to the township manager. then he fell to the ground, the police officer, roughly eight feet to the ground. he says the officers immediately radios the security channel that would have included the secret

service as well that there was a gunman on the roof. the township manager doesn't know how much time elapses between the radio transmission and crooks opening fire on trump. knights was not aware of any way to access the roof from the outside or inside of the building. again, more questions. if i may alerthe control room to something, an entirely different case but one important to our audience, a verdict has been reached in the trial against robert meneez. a verdict has been reached according to a courtroom spokesperson. i got that email as was reading that to you. i thought that would be important information to bring you. we don't know what that verdict is. >> no doubt about that. it's going to take time for the courthouse to assemble back in that space in order for the jury to read the verdict. tom, i have to say, it's been quite a bit of time that the jury has been deliberating. senator menendez said he

believes the amount of time is indicative of the case being more complicated than the government acted as if it was. >> i hear what you are saying. i think we expected the jury to get the case friday morning. it wasn't until after lunch because of the way they wanted to do lunch with the alternate jurors. in reality, we have had one day, three hours and three hours this morning. so a day and six hos. it was 18 counts, complicated public corruption case, it's been a while, to your point. but i don't know if it's been overly -- >> all that much time. >> exactly. >> theadine menendez trial has en put on hold indefinitely. whys that? >> i saw that flash ross. i was preparing to speak with you and on e phone. i haven't dug into that. i don't wt to speculate. i know you would appreciate that. >> and then st, tom, bring us up to speed on the counts and substance of the case and what we are waiting for with the

jury. >> we are waiting --n totality, 16 counts that involve the senator. most sit around a bribery scheme. various counts assocted or attached to that. in addition, there's a foreign agents registration agent violations as well as obstruction ofjustice. that's specific to the senator. he has been tri alongside two new rsey businessmen who were allegey part of the bribery scheme. >> tom, andrea here. nadine menendez has been treated for breast cancer. that could be one of the reasons why is scheduling. we don't know. she's in treatment. that treatment is always very hard to predict or in any case that has affected scheduling. the fact they were getting separate trials and that a lot of this testimony involved his defense trying to blame her for things and then the prosecution saying that she did not have

soul custody of some of the evidence. it was partly his. there's been a lot of conflict there. there are reasons to have separate trials here. has the court indicated how long after a note from the jury that they have reached a verdict? >> it's my experience in federal court in lower manhattan, which is where i was supposed to be today prior to what happened on saturday occurring with the former president, that this would not be too long of a time here. we usually get a heads up from the court there's been a note or in this particular case that there's a verdict. that co co comes to the reportet cover the court. they will bring in the jury. it shouldn't be too long from now. typically, five to ten minutes, perhaps less. they bring the jury in. the judge will say, i understand the jury has reached a verdict.

then from there, the jury foreperson will read offhe actual verdict itself. there's been several questions that have been filed whether they have to be unanimous on certain not guilty counts. there was a question that was received yesterday afternoon if memory is correct on counts i believe 11 and 12. that was kind of giving us a sense -- i was talking about it with our colleague who has broken so much of the inside the investigation into senator menendez, this particular investigation and the previous one that ended up in a mistrial, that we felt like today would probably be the day, if the jury was going in chronological order, and obviously at 12:36 easter time, that does appear to be the case. >> my recollection of the judge's response was that if they had reached a unanimous verdict on the underlie charge, that those charges could also --

they could decide on a guilty verdict on those. we should recallhat there was the previous acquittal. then after that acquittal, he met nadine. i bieve it was in an ihop, one of the cins. they ended up -- the courtship. she had a lot o contacts in the region, contacts with some of the same egyptian figures who played in an earlier case. she was intricately involved in this. they had broken up for a while. then after a car accident she had been in in south america, that he went down. that's when the mercedes was supplied and other alleged evidence of bribery here. i want to flag also for our control room that in the previous hour, his colleague, senator cory booker, was interviewed by jose about the

case. this is obviously a huge problem for the democratic caucus. katy? >> i was just going to mention we got a note from adam reese in the courtroom for us. all parties are gathering for the reading of the verdict. robert menendez is seated with his hands on his legs bracing for the verdict. there's obviously a political component to this, a very big political component. he has been defiantdefiant, refo step do. a number of his colleagues called him to do so. senator fetterman saying the allegations are too distracting. he needs to step aside during this trial. he refused to do so. if there's a guilty verdict, what does it mean for a prison sentence? what does it mean for his seat? if it does become an open seat, who might the governor of new jersey, who is a democrat, choose to replace robert menendez with? there had been talk and

speculation at some point that it would be governor phil murphy's wife. i don't know if you have heard more about this. this will have political impact on washington if he is found to be guilty. >> sure. she ran in the primary and lost. so she was trying to run for his seat as well. his son, of course, is a member of congress. it's so complicated. so sad for the family. the party was criticized for the fact this trial has proceeded and chuck schumer and the others have held that unless he is convicted, even under indictment, that he would not have to give up his seat and step down. of course, the comparison is what has happened in the republican party. joyce vance is joining us -- >> it's interesting. >> i want to bring in joyce vance, a former prosecutor. katy tur and i are both wondering, what are the legal ramifications here.

i think the political ramifications are he would have to step down immediately on conviction. >> well, you know, i think that that's likely. that would be consistent with prior practice. the reality is that some defendants want to push and say there's the prospect of an appeal. they want to make sure all the is are dotted and ts are crossed. the charges are very serious. it covers a number of different incidents. this is what prosecutors would charterize as a pay to play case. someone uses their elected office to make money, telling people if they want anything done to help them, favors, legislatn, insight, that they have to pay for it. it's the worst kind of public corruption federal prosecutors deal with. a very serious series of charges brought here. >> ali vitali is on capitol hill. who else has been calling for him to step down, especially if he is convicted?

>> reporter: i imagine those calls are only going to grow louder. we have heard from new jersey senator fetterman -- rather, pennsylvania senator fetterman about the new jersey senator. in the immediate aftermath of the allegations coming forward. now, of course, we are watching menendez wait for this verdict. that's going to have reverberations here on capitol hill. other democrats were find with him just relinquishing the chairmanship of the senate foreign relations committee. you imagine if this verdict finds him guilty, those calls among democrats are only going to be amplified. we also know that there's the political ramifications here. the fact that menendez is in cycle running for re-election, not doing so as a democrat but doing so as an interest, just an example in the ways he has been defiant saying that these charges are false. he will defend against them. by doing so, continuing to try to run for his seat, not doing

so again within that democratic party apparatus, but running as an independent and having to defend politically and in court on these charges. >> what's so interesting is that before donald trump came along and refused to step aside or refused to back down after the indictments, the practice within congress was that -- menendez aside, was that if you were indicted, you would step aside, even if you tried not to. chris collins, the representative who was accused of insider trading, there was a big indictment. there was video of him at the rose garden on the phone. they used that to show that this was when he was making the phone calls. this is proof that he was relaying that insider information. he was adamant he wasn't going to step aside. then when he decided to plead guilty, that's when he resigned his seat in office. >> katy, do you remember that chris collins was the first

member of congress to endorse donald trump? they intercepted that call. they had the record. he was doing it from the south lawn, from the rose garden. >> it was an amazing photo to have that photographic evidence of what happened there. i know it's a tangent, but it does suggest there is history here in congress to be accused of pretty serious crimes and people at first trying not to resign their seat and then being forced to do so. cory booker, the junior senator from new jersey, who notably did not call for senator menendez to step aside, was on with our colleague jose diaz-balart. i will ask the control room if we have the sound. otherwise, i can read -- we don't have the sound. he said, his heart aches over

this. he did call on him to resign. i'm sorry. there was a delay there. this is a person i served with for ten years. things he is accused of i have not seen in my working with him. he has been before a jury of his peers. i'm watching it closely. when the verdict comes out, we will know whether he is guilty. it's a sad and sobering day for new jerseyan to see their senior senator under this kind of criminal indictment. we are still waiting for the verdict. the jury and the parties involved with gathering inside the courtroom. i want to bring in steve kornacki. you have covered new jersey politics. help us understand the significance. >> look at bob menendez. new jersey has had a reputation with an outsized presence of political corruption. 40 years ago a senator from new jersey was convicted in the

abscam investigation. robert toracelli had to abandon his campaign at the last minute. he barely avoided a federal indictment on corruption charges. was reprimanded by the u.s. senate. six years ago, bob menendez faced a federal corruption trial. got a hung jury. managed to run for re-election in 2018 in new jersey. amidst that, when so much of the politics was defined by donald trump, new jersey was so committed to voting against donald trump, that menendez, despite the legal problems, being indicted, having a hung jury, was able to win re-election, somewhat easily. then here it is, another indictment, another trial. we will see how it ends up for bob menendez. there's the long history in new jersey. there's menendez himself. within the new jersey, he comes from a particular part of the state that is even more notorious for political corruption. hudson county, right across the

hudson river from new york city. hoboken, jersey city, union city where bob menendez is from. i covered new jersey back when menendez was on his way up the political ladder. a key part of his bgraphy in those days, to combat the idea that this was just another hudson county democrat, somebody o was part of a corrupt machine politics, a key part of menendez's political biography es back to th early 1980s when he was in union city, new jersey, his hometown. his ally, the mayor of the town, bill musto,ame under federal investigation and was charged. mendez ended up being a federal witness against him. the story that menendez's folks told to political benefit was that menendez -- it was an act of courage to go up against the mayor, the political powers that be in hudson county. menendez had to wr a

bulletproof vest when he went in to testify. this was going up against the most powerful forces in hudson county, one of the most politically potent parts of new jersey. as bob menendez climbed the politica ladder inew jersey, making it to the state legislature, then to congress, then to the united states senate, he faced questions about coming from hudson county he also had a very prominent le in the hudson county democric organization, a big political machine. there were questions about, i this guy on the level? he wou always point to that example of going up against his mentor of testifying for the federal government against him as proof that he was on the right side of things. of course, they say, there was the indictment a decade ago. this case now. a lot of folks in new jersey when they talk about -- let's see what the verdict ends up being here. if this ends up being a guilty verdict, if he ends up being found guilty, how could that

happen? something people talk about, especially with united states senators, a lot of the folks who do make it to the u.s. senate are independently wealthy. they come there with -- a lot of them spend their personal resources on campaigns to get them there. bob mmenendez, did not fit that profile. he had one of the lowest net worths of any u.s. senator. he had taken the seat, the senate seat from new jersey from a very wealthy member, john corzine. spent more than $100 million on political campaigns to get to the senate. not making a menendez specific point but a point made about members of congress and senators when they don't have that kind of money is that sometimes maybe they look around, they see their colleagues with that kind of money, and it maybe feeds a little bit -- it creates a little itch to get their own. that's where there's an opening sometimes for corruption.

>> steve, i want to make a point also about part of his defense, which was that as a cuban american, as an expatriate coming from a family that had escaped from dictatorship in cuba, that they kept all that cash in the house because they needed the cash. they never trusted the system because they were afraid of losing everything, as during the revolution. i want to close a loop here. new jersey, as bad as its reputation, and offset by bruce and other wonderful things, including most of my producers are from new jersey, the fact is that new york has its corruption. katy, you and i were talking about chris you and i were talk about chris collins before. chris collins after serving time and the brazenness of his, you know, proven corruption because he pleaded guilty after they had him dead to rights. he was pardoned by donald trump, by president donald trump.

so he's said he was going to devote the rest of his life to service. but new york has its share, more than its share as we saw recently on the house side from long island. those who have been charged and eventually run out of town. but let's talk, joyce vance, about the charges here because the charges and the evidence, it was the evidence that was supposed to be so compelling, you know, the cash that was hidden and the gold bars, the mercedes, all that other stuff. that's what they thought was going to be so compelling to a jury. we don't know which way they're going, though. joyce? >> that's flashy evidence for prosecutors to be able to display to a jury. and i've heard numerous variations of defenses designed to convince juries that there are legitimate reasons that defendants keep large amounts of cash at home. they don't usually work. jurors apply their common sense and their personal experience.

and they usually understand what they're seeing. andrea, this is not a jury, by the way, that has shown any signs of struggling to reach a verdict. we haven't seen lots of questions or the need to come back and to tell the judge that their deliberations aren't progressing. so they've told the judge they have a verdict. there's every reason to believe that they do have one. and there are multiple counts here. menendez was indicted last september. this indictment was superseded twice to add charges and defendants. so now what we have is a jury who can pick and choose from among those options. they may convict on some counts and not others -- >> joyce, tom winter i think may have a verdict here. tom? >> i'm going to explain this. we actually had a test. i was giving everybody a heads-up that they were just testing the way that they get the message to us. so i think just a little bit of a mix-up in communications. i'll let you go back to joyce. i do want to update people, as of several minutes ago from our colleague adam reese the judge

and jury were still not in the courtroom yet, still in the process of gathering family members for some of the defendants were there. the senator as you mentioned earlier, andrea, is in fact in the courtroom. he was described as having his hands on his legs, leaning forward, but at this point we don't have an indication yet that the jury and the judge are in. once they're in this will not take too much longer. but our colleagues are understandably just testing our systems and i think that's where we had a little bit of a communication. so i'll let you get back to joyce. >> again, 12 1/2 hours the jury deliberated over three days. it felt like longer because it was a three-day deliberation, but as tom pointed out there were some delays in getting the trial to the jury and then this verdict has come out pretty early today. so 12 1/2 hours total. andrea, before you go back to joyce for some more legal analysis what i wanted to jump in and remind everybody, when you're talking about democratic lawmakers in the state of new

york coming into some trouble, republican lawmakers as well, i was going to mention shelly silver of the new york state legislature. big power broker in new york. legendary figure within the democratic party. he was convicted of corruption, had to step aside. charlie rangel, of course, convicted of 11 of 13 ethics counts. so there is as you mentioned just quite a deep history in the -- if not just new york the tri-state area. >> and we should talk also, katy, about the power of robert menendez as the foreign relations chairman. he was not some ranking member. he was the chairman of the foreign relations committee. so governments all over the world wanted access to him. and that's why it was just imperative according to all of the people in the senate. i used to cover the senate. to have him step down and be replaced as chair. and they thought that would be enough to take the sting out of it. and ceremony is it was. tom winter with the verdict.

>> yes, andrea, on count 1, conspiracy to commit bribery, the senior senator from new jersey, senator robert menendez, guilty. that's count 1 on conspiracy to commit bribery. senator robert menendez guilty. wael hana, a businessman charged alongside the senator also guilty on count 1. fred dabies, a new jersey developer also implicated in the conspiracy to commit bribery is also found guilty. skount 2, conspiracy to commit wi rober mendez ez the senator guilty. wael hana also guilty. fred dabies also guilty. count 3, this is a count only the senator is facing conspiracy to commit extortion under color of an official right. we're about to get that verdict put in. there are some complications on who's released on bond and who's

not. on the first two counts they're both released on bond. now count 3, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, robert menendez guilty on that count. count 4 conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice senator robert menendez guilty on that count. fred daibes also charged on that count also guilty. count 5 bribery actions to benefit wael hana in egypt. this is more specific to the egyptian conduct in this case. senator robert menendez, count 5, guilty. count 6 bribery. actions to benefit wael hana and egypt. this all goes back to the bribery scheme that we've been talking about over the past several months of coverage in this case and what joyce skrans was referring to. count 6 only pertains to the two new jersey businessmen, wael hana and fred dabies. both have been found guilty on that count. both will be released on bond on that count. the next count is 7 which is

wire fraud actions to benefit wael hana and egypt. this count does include the senator. he has now been found guilty on that count. senator robert menendez guilty of honest services wire fraud. wael hana charged on this count as well and fred daibes also both found guilty. we'll move on to count 8 extortion under color of official right, actions to benefit wael hana and egypt. this count only pertains to senator robert menendez. we're just about to get that to us. count 7, all three defendants will be released on bond. here's count 8 now. again, extortion under color of official right and actions benefiting wael hana and egypt. this is a count that only involves senator robert menendez. and he has been found guilty of that as well. we're on count 8 of an 18-count indictment. and so far the senator's been found guilty on all counts that pertain to him. we're about to get count 9 now, which is honest services wire fraud. that's actions to benefit jose uribe and uribe's associates.

this count involves senator robert menendez and he here too is guilty on that according to the jury. wael hana who's charged alongside him has been found guilty on that count. count 10, extortion under color of official right, actions to benefit jose uribe and uribe's associates. senator robert menendez is the only person charged under count 10. he's been found guilty under downtown 10. count 11 bribery, actions to benefit fred daibes, the new jersey developer, and the government of qatar. this only pertains to senator robert menendez. he's been found guilty on that count as well. count 12. now, this only pertains to fred daibes, the new jersey developer, bribery actions to benefit fred daibes and qatar. he's been found guilty on that count. so again, to recap, we're through 12 counts of an 18-count indictment and so far all of the charges against senator robert menendez the jury has found him guilty of that conduct. count 13 is what we're on now.

honest services wire fraud. actions to benefit fred daibes and qatar. senator robert menendez guilty. the person charged alongside of him on this particular count fred dabies, the new jersey developer, also found guilty. count 14 extortion under color of official right actions to benefit fred daibes and qatar. thon count this only pertains to senator robert menendez. we're about to get that verdict read to us. and only just several more counts to go. here it is, senator robert menendez guilty on that as well. count 15, conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent. this is a big one because of the alleged conduct involving senator robert menendez. and he has been found guilty here as well. wael hana also charged here has been found guilty according to our colleague adam reese in court. count 16, a public official acting as a foreign agent. this is an allegation that a united states senator has been acting as a foreign agent of

another country. senator robert menendez is the only person charged under count 16. guilty again. count 17, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice. it only pertains to senator robert menendez. he has been found guilty. count 18, obstruction of justice, senator robert menendez found guilty again. according to our colleague adam reese in court all counts pertaining to the senator of new jersey senator robert menendez are guilty. guilty across the board for menendez. guilty across the board for all of the individuals that have been charged in this case. the judge now telling the jury foreperson to be seated. they're going to ask for the jury verdict sheet, which is what i've effectively been reading from here. we've been filling it in electronically and reading it to you. and then i'm sure they will poll the jury, which you'll remember from all of our recent trial coverage means the judge will ask each individual juror if in fact this is their verdict. but it is obviously unanimous according to adam reese who's viewing this -- these

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