get on the internet. that might be a relief. maybe i don't want to be on the internet. all right. >> stop, roger. stop, roger. >> dana: here's trace. he's in for shep. >> breaking news and three huge court hearings right now. first, chicago, actor turned accused liar jussie smollett facing a judge. cops say his claim was a hate crime was a hoax. to maryland. a coast guard lieutenant in court accused of plotting assassin attacks all in the name of white power. the d.c. and the long-time trump associate roger stone order before a judge. the same judge he posted about online in a controversial message he quickly deleted. and breaking just moments ago. the republican in north carolina's controversial congressional race says the contest was undermined and that there should be a new election. i'm trace gallagher in for shep. the news starts now.

we begin with breaking news. jussie smollett in court after he's accused of staging a hate crime against himself. last month, smollett claimed two masked men beat him up, put a noose around his neck and yelled homo phobic slurs. the police superintendent says the detectives have the checks smollett used to pay them. >> the empire actor, jussie smollett, took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. i'm left hanging my head and asking why. why would anyone, especially an

african american man, use a symbolism of a noose to make false accusations. >> trace: detectives say smollett decided to fake the attack after he sent a phony letter to himself and it didn't get any attention. fox entertainment and 20th century fox putting out a statement. it reads --. >> trace: mike tobin has been covering the story for us. he's live in chicago. mike? >> trace, things are moving right now. looks like we may see an appearance of smollett's family. we know it involved the state making a request to detain jussie smollett. they said he -- there was probable cause to detain him further. if he comes walking down here, we know that was not honored.

smollett appeared in court waking a black vest and black clothing. the same thing that we saw in his mug shot. so a little movement right now. we might see them. while we're waiting for that, i'll tell you about the details of how they turned this case. they tracked down the two brothers that police say with the cooperation of the local community, tips. that led them to the grain any security video. detectives say it was data from ride sharing that they tracked down and led them to the brothers. the brothers were picked up at o'hare airport and took to area central where the brothers were questioned. they were held for two days. the 47th hour, the brothers started talking. >> after speaking with these two people of interest, she said that something smelled fishy, she did not think that they were the offenders as were reported.

she worked with us very closely to get to the point where she came to me and said, you really need to talk to these guys. >> now, we know the fbi got involved in this to check out that threatening letter that was mailed to the studios where "empire" is shot. the letter was covered with white powder and had racist language. the wide power was tylenol. police say smollett mailed it to himself. because of that, the fbi has gotten involved but they have not tipped their hand as to any action they're taking, trace. >> trace: mike, what sort of prison time is jussie smollett facing here? >> this is a class four felony. the maximum penalty would be three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. it's complicated by the fact that smollett pleaded no contest in los angeles to driving while

intoxicated, driving without a license and providing his brother's name when asked of police. providing false information to police. that is going to complicate things. your legal experts, particularly those that work the criminal courts building here in cook county say he's not violent, he doesn't really have an expensive past. unless he makes things worse for himself, he will get off with probation. >> trace: the judge just posted his bond at $100,000. mike, let us know when smollett leaves court. mike tobin live. kate is here, a former defense attorney that specializes in criminal law. you might have heard mike tobin talk about what he could be facing. what is jussie smollett facing jail time-wise for false accusations? >> sure. right now we know of the one charge that he's facing, which is providing a false police

report. there's additional investigations that are going on. for that charge, the maximum is three years of prison time. with the controversy being nationally covered at this point, he could face jail time. and then there's an fbi investigation into the additional crimes that could be additional jail time on top of that. it's hard to say. this type of criminal is not something that you'd be incarcerated for but that's the maximum. >> trace: a $100,000 bail is. that high or low or right for this case? >> i think i -- you posed a portion of that. so it's what we expected. we didn't expect him to be held before trial. he will post that bail to appear at all of his hearings. i'm not surprised. sounds typical. >> you're a defense attorney. so you look at this case and think i have to defend this guy. a lot of evidence against him. his attorneys said you only heard half the case.

we have more evidence. what would you do? how would you defend jussie smollett in this case? >> you have to put up some sort of defense. we're going off the reports and what the police say the evidence is. smollett's attorney say they have additional information. we don't know what that is president maybe they guys told half the story. the problem for mr. smollett at this point is, not only these guys, but everything else we know about the case that has been confirmed. at some point, no matter how good of a defense attorney you are, it's mitigating the punishment. >> and we have the check to the brothers. we have video of them buying the wrote, the hat. detailing the statements by the brothers, told them that jesse actually choreographed it and told them what to buy and what to do. that's damning if you're jussie smollett's team. >> it is. damning information. walls seem to be closing in.

we have to hold open the possibility there's information that we don't know and not just run with what the reports have been. it doesn't look good. >> let's go to the letter, a week before the attack. it had white powder in it we know it's tylenol now. it has a picture of someone in a noose attacking jussie smollett. now investigators saying he sent that to himself. that's a federal crime. >> right. that's why that other investigation is still open with the fbi. that can really complicate things for him, make this worse. he's got an uphill battle here if there's a defense, i don't know exactly how that will play out. >> trace: you could set of jussie smollett as an example. if for some reason where he gets out -- we're going to give him probation in chicago, if feds might say we're going after this on the letter. >> it's two different jurisdictions. the cases are related by

different jurisdictions, different people making the decisions. >> the big give-away, if you look back, jussie smollett last weekend said it was devastating to him that the perpetrators are men that he knows. jussie smollett, it appears from his statements, was willing to let these guys go down if it was going to save him. that has got to play into this in some capacity. >> all of the planning will play it in it the premeditation, the concealing. that's aggravating factors for sure. >> trace: we're watching the screen here. you saw mike tobin earlier what is happening at the courthouse in chicago. we're waiting for jussie smollett to actually come out of the courtroom. we mentioned a short time ago that his bail has been posted at $100,000. as katie said, he only posts 10% of that. so he will post $10,000 or his people will and he will clearly be able to walk out of the courtroom. when he does, we'll have our

cameras there and mike tobin ready and waiting in case he says something. that's highly unlikely. i'm sure he's attorneys say don't answer a word. is he going to say anything coming out of the courtroom? >> i would advise him not to make any statements as my client. you never know when there's publicity involved. sometimes they think they can mitigate the damage. we'll see. >> kind of take it one step further here. when jussie smollett gets out, they'll set the court date. then you have all of this speculation what happens next. what happens to him with his show, "empire," which is on the fox network, parent company owned by fox news channel or the higher ups. you know what i'm saying. but the whole problem here is that this thing is not going away. jussie smollett is going to have problems going forward for a long time. does the fact that he was arrested years ago for making a

false statement to police, does that play into this? >> it could. if you have a connection for a false statement or crime of dishonesty, that can be used against you. so it's not that his punishment will be worse, but that crime can be brought up in something this a court hearing. yes, and it show that he has a pattern of this behavior. any crime of dishonesty is something that follows you the rest of your life. >> trace: a great story in the chicago tribune talking about the manpower on this. they put 24 detectives and talked about the murder rate in chicago. solving a murder rate in chicago is rare. 17% is the solve rate for murders. 24 detectives on the jussie smollett thing. what about the cost? the costs associated with the letter. when the letter came. they had the hazmat teams come and take care of the letter. what about these costs? will they hit him with these costs? >> they can. that can be part of his

punishment, the restitution to the agencies that expended these efforts and resources in running this very full-fledged investigation. they did a great job. i think they took his claim seriously and now that did cost a lot of money in time and resources. >> trace: so what you're seeing with the microphones is the court of public opinion. what is happening and let us know if this is something that we need to listen to. this is lisa lanier. let's listen to this. >> currently resides in an apartment in chicago. the people expect the evidence to show tuesday, january 27, 2019, defendant smollett received a written letter at a facility on the southwest side of chicago where "empire" is felled. the letter had threats toward smollett and had a white powdery

substance. the letter saided smollett jussie, you will die black f and the world maga was written on the envelope where the returned a dress is located, this powerry substance is crushed ibuprofen tablets. the drawing had a stick figure which appears to have a rope around the neck and a gun pointed towards hit. law enforcement was contacted and the letter was turned over to the fbi, which is conducting forensic analysis of the letter. in january of 2019 and at all times relevant here to, defendant smollett was close friends with an individual by the name of abul ossendaro who is 25 years old. during the course of this friendship, defendant smollett and abul socialized together, exercised together as well as

worked on the fox television series "empire." with them that working relationship, abul was a stand in for kuy who is a love interest on the "empire" tv show. additionally text messes between smollett and abul revealed that abul was a source of designer drugs for defendant smollett. specifically since the spring of 2018 and on several occasions, the defendant smollett requested abul to provide him with molly, a street name for ecstasy. text messages generated by defendant smollett to abul specifically starting on the morning of january 25, 2019 revealed defendants smollett asking abul when he would leave on his trip to nigeria. this trip was scheduled to take place on the evening of january 29 of 2019 and had been planned by abul and his brother, ola

ossendaro. after abul confirmed the date and time, smollett texted abul saying might need your help on the low. you around to meet up to take face to face? the two made arrangements to meet at the studios that afternoon where defendant smollett drove abul home to his apartment in the lake view neighborhood. during the ride, smollett indicated his displeasure that the "empire"'s studio handling of the racist and letter that he received three day prior. smollett stated that he wanted to stage an attack where abel would appear to batter him. defendant smollett suggested that his older brother assist him with the attack. defendant smollett had met ola on several occasions. additionally, ola had appeared

as an extra on "empire" tv show. abul and ola are dark skinned black males born in the united states with nigerian descent. ola, who was living with abul, was sum minuted to defendant smollett's vehicle. once inside, smollett asked him if he could trust him. when abul said he would, he detailed the plans of the attack to the brothers. smollett wanted them to appear to attack him on the evening of january 28, 2019 near his apartment building. defendant smollett said he wanted to catch their attention by calling him an "empire" f, "empire" n. defendant smollett detailed that he wanted abul to attack him but not hurt him too badly and to give him a chance to appear to

fight back. defendant smollett included that he wanted ola to place a rope around his neck, pour gasoline on him and yell "this is maga country." prior to the brothers getting out of smollett's car, smollett provided able with a $100 bill to get rope, gasoline, ski mask, gloves and the red baseball cap which resembled the ones that say "make america great again." the meeting between smollett and the brothers is corroborated by cellular phone data. on the late morning of sunday, january 27, 2019, smollett drove his vehicle back to the lakeview neighborhood to pick up the brothers and show them the scene where he wanted to stage attacks to take place. smollett drove the brothers to the corner of new street and north waters street in chicago

where the staged attack was to take place. this was just outside of smollett's apartment building. further details were provided by smollett, which included that the staged attack was to take place near the stairs on the southwest corner of new and north water street at 10:00 p.m. the following night. smollett instructed the brothers not to bring their cell phones with them. smollett directed the brothers attention towards a surveillance camera on the corner which he believed would capture the incident. there was a change in the plan that bleach would be used instead of gasoline during the simulated attack. smollett drove the brothers home and provided them with a $3, 500 personal check made payable to abul which was back dated to january 23, 2019. on the morning of january 28, 2019, the date of the planned attack, the brothers purchased the clothing items at a local

beauty supply store and the rope at a nearby hardware store using the $100 bill that smollett had given them. these purchases were corrobor e corroborated by video and a receipt. abul deposited smollett's check that day. later that evening, the plan changed and the time of the attack had to be pushed backed because smollett's flight had been delayed by four hours. smollett's plane landed. at 12:49 a.m., there's a phone call between smollett and abul which lasted three minutes. during this call, smollett told abel the attack would take place at 2:00 a.m. at the location. minutes later, ola order an uber ride share to his home to leave for the crime scene.

cell phone records and uber records confirmed the call and the uber ride. the brothers then took the uber to the 1400 block of north wells where they exited the uber and flagged down a taxi, which took them to within three blocks of the scene at 1:22 a.m. the taxi's in-car video captures the brothers flagging the cab and riding in the back seat. from approximately 1:22 a.m. until 2:03 a.m., video evidence showed the brother on foot in an area bordered by lake shore drive to the east, columbus drive to the west, illinois to the north and chicago river to the south. video evidence also showed that smollett return back to his apartment from the airport at approximately 1:30 a.m. at 1:45 a.m., smollett left his building to walk to a nearby subway restaurant at illinois. at 2:00 a.m., the brothers were

at the intersection of new street and north waters street. defendant small let did not arrive at the preset time. the brothers proceed add quarter black north and waited near a bench until smollett arrived. cameras captured the brothers waiting at this location just prior to the staged attack. during smollett's interview on "good morning america" which aired february 14, he identified the people shown in the still of that video as his attackers. also during that interview, smollett indicated he was positive they were the attackers. the two men in the video are in fact the brothers. it was at this time that the defendants staged the attack of smollett just how smollett instructed them. while the staged attack was occurring, a witness who is an employee of nbc news chicago had

just parked and exited her vehicle around the corn ever of the staged attack. this witness indicated she heard nothing despite smollett said that they were yelling racial and homophobic slurs at him. the staged attack lasted 45 seconds and outside the view of the desired nearby camera that smollett pointed out to the brothers approximately 15 hours earlier. approximately one minute later, video evidence showed the brothers run from the location southbound towards the chicago river and westbound towards columbus drive. video evidence captures the brothers entering a taxi at the hyatt regency hotel across the river at 2:10 a.m. video evidence then showed at 2:25 a.m., the brothers exited the taxi on the 3600 block of north marshfield avenue and

walked northbound. this was only a few blocks from the brother's lakeview apartment, which was also the original uber pickup location to the staged crime scene. video shows the brothers walking from where they were dropped off towards their home. two minutes after the brothers exited the taxi at 2:27 a.m., defendant smollett's manager called police to report the incident. at approximately 2:42 a.m., chicago police arrived at smollett's apartment. chicago police owned that smollett had a rape draped around his neck. this was captured on police body-worn camera. seconds later, smollett asked the police to shut off their cameras. smollett then made a police report where he claimed he was a victim of an attack and the defender struck him using racial and homophobic slurs. smollett said the offenders placed the rope around his neck,

poured a liquid chemical on him and told him this is maga country. defendant smollett reported nor the first time three days prior on january 26, 2019, he received a phone call from an unidentified phone number in which an unidentified male caller stated hey, you little f before ending the call. smollett also told police that the incident happened near a camera which he stated should have captured the attack. this is the same camera that smollett pointed out to the brothers in preparation of this staged attack. smollett told the police that the initial and primary attacker now known to be abul ossendaro was wearing a ski mask that covered his entire face. the brothers are dark skinned male black. during the good morning america interview, smollett stated "and it feels like if i had it is a i was a muslim or a mexican or

someone black, i feel like the doubters would have supported me more, a lot more." these statements by smollett further misled the police and the public to believe his attackers were white. on january 29, 2019 at 7:45 p.m., just less than 18 hours following the reported attack, defendants smollett placed a phone call to abul and the duration of the call was five seconds. two minutes later, abul called back to smollett and that call lasted 1:34. the brothers boarded their flight to nigeria and left the country. at 10:46 a.m., the defendants smollett called abul who was in istanbul turkey and the duration of that call lasted 8:48. for the next two weeks, chicago police department investigated this matter as a hate crime. the chicago police were able to

identify the brothers there's an extensive investigation using video, pot police videos, in-car taxi camera videos, ride share records, credit card records, bank records and a store receipt. on february 13 of 2019, the brothers returned from nigeria and landed at the chicago o'hare international airport and detained by u.s. customs. members of the chicago police department placed them into custody. that same evening, the chicago police executed a search warrant upon the brothers' resident where they recovered evidence that linked abul to the "empire" tv show. the police had already determined that ola was affiliated with the show. following their arrest and through consultation with their attorneys, the brothers agreed to cooperate in the investigation. as more evidence such as texts, phone records, social media

records, bank records, surveillance video and the receipt from the purchase of the rope was obtained by investigators, this shifted from a hate crime to disorderly conduct. the cook county attorney's office approved charges yesterday at 6:10 p.m. at 5:00 a.m., defendant smollett was placed into custody at the police head quarters. >> that really was something. i've covered -- there, by the way, is jussie smollett. we're going to zoom in there to see jussie smollett as he's being led out of court. we're waiting for the defense to come and speak at the same microphones. that was something that i have never seen in all of the court cases i've covered. this is a bond hairing. let me know if jussie smollett is saying anything or we need to listen in. this was a bond hearing.

the state attorney came out and literally laid this case out from start to finish, every single detail. the smallest details including that the phony attack lasted 45 seconds. i want to bring back in katie. i don't know if you have seen anything like that, katie, but they laid out the entire case in 17 minutes. >> a lot of that is because the media has covered this so extensively. the state attorney's office wanted to make it clear what their case is, why they have gone after him and why it has come from him being a victim of a hate crime to being a criminal suspect. they did a great job. >> trace: and i get it. but she talked about exactly where the location of this attack was supposed to be. she talked about him saying don't bring your cell phones knowing they could be tracked. talked about 45 seconds.

the length of the attack. every detail was laid out. does that put the prosecution in a bind down the road because they have to live up to that narrative? >> it does commit the prosecution to this is their ed, this is what their witnesses are growing to say. can the defense discredit that, can the defense come up with ways to say that they're false. it does give them a heavier burden. that made that decision because of the media coverage. >> we haven't seen jussie smollett leave the building right now. just to reiterate for those that just joined us, his bond as you can see was set at $100,000 and as katie reminded us, he has to pay 10% of that. he will post his $10,000 and walk free. the prosecution, state attorney clearly came out, cook county and laid out the case. the question now is it incumbent on defense attorneys to lay out their part of the case. i would ask you, katie, because this is kind of the court of public opinion and we are in

fact in this very public trial, a very public figure who has done something that crosses political and social in every other line, does this defense come out right now and say, hey, here's some of our side of the story without giving much away. >> that's the choice that they have to make. it wouldn't be -- >> trace: would it be your choice? >> no, it wouldn't be. if you want to proclaim your innocence, that's one thing. say this is not the full story. the truth will come out. i maintain any innocence and we'll see what happens. that would be sufficient. >> trace: for clarity, that wasn't jussie smollett. that was his twin brother. so again, it's our understanding that jussie smollett has not left the courtroom. does the process have to go forward? is he posting bond right now? what is the timeline here? the tick tok for jussie smollett before he's allowed to leave the court? >> that depends on the local rules there. he will have to post bond and that will happen quickly. a new date will be set for his next hearing and the case moves

forward. right now he's maintained his innocence. there's no deals on the table, there's no idea that he's going to plead guilty to anything. traditionally that moves towards a trial. >> trace: i want to bring in jonathan hunt. he's been covering the hollywood angle on this there. there's the question of jussie smollett trying to keep himself out of jail. will he save his career? that's a big question. >> a very big question, trace. we've been reaching out to fox tv. they're the ones that air the show at "empire." you mentioned the statement earlier. they said that considering their options, going to be very interesting when they get back now from listening to this and as you say, we have the entire case laid out. so there's a lot of pressure on those that make that show and put it on air now. they said they're going to consider the options. we'll see tnt network has this

show called drop the mic. jussie smollett had reported an episode of that. they pulled that. the consequences for his career already seem to be playing out here. he said -- this police said he was doing this because he wasn't happy with how much money he was getting. looks like at the moment he will get less in the future. >> trace: have you seen a state attorney lay out the case? >> no. that was extraordinary watching it with you and katie. it was bit by bit, minute by minute. it appears to me from that is the brothers have laid out the entire story for them. that's not them saying we believe. that's them saying this is what happened. >> trace: it's a very good point. jonathan points out they don't have video of the attack. when she said it was 45 seconds, you can piece it together, well, there's this video of the brothers walking down the street, there's this video of them running away. to get it to 45 seconds, that

has to be their testimony and how do they know that? >> well, they're just using their memory and giving their best version of events. >> trace: why would she said 45 seconds? 45 seconds is precise. so 45 seconds, you know, the attacker said it was somewhere between 45 seconds and 1 1/2 minutes. to come out and say 45 seconds is precision, the goal of the prosecutors here. they're saying look, we have this from soup to nuts. we know exactly what happened from start to finish from when these guys walked down that street, from when this letter was send to them to when the two nigerian brothers, two american brothers, came back from nigeria and spoke to the police. >> yeah. i don't know why they committed to that line of detail. they seemed to have some reason for it. they have different evidence based on the uber app or the ride share app. a didn't time stamp they're using. we don't know what they have. there could be other evidence

that they have that commits them to that time frame. >> trace, from what i heard in that press conference, it appears the only security camera of many in that area that wasn't working was the one that smollett wanted the attack to be caught on. from what i could make, they shade we saw this on this security camera walking around this corner at this point. we saw them running away on another security camera. that i can piece it together. they have time stamps on video showing them getting to the location, leaving the location. that gives them a lot of detail as well. >> trace: a good point. jussie smollett, we saw his twin brother. he's not yet emerged from the courthouse. he does have to post a $10,000 bond. $100,000 bail is what they said. $10,000 gets him out and then they'll give us word about court dates what is next for jussie smollett, how does he start the ball rolling for his defense at this point in time? >> that's going to be between

him and his attorneys. nothing will be pushed to the media. at his next hearing he will enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. could be discussions about plea deals. they made it clear he maintains his innocence and things move forward to a trial. >> trace: i went back and i checked and i found very few instances of people making false reports in high profile cases actually going to jail. you talk about the run-away bride, a bunch of cases. they never saw the inside of a jail house. you wonder how possible is it that jussie -- you're a prosecutor. ten years. he could face -- how possible is it that he's going to do to jail or prison for this? >> right now he's facing one charge. a lot of other charges out there. conspiracy charges, the federal offenses with the mail fraud situation. so i don't know. theoretically, those are the

laws on the books. he could go to jail. does a prosecutor want to send a message this is not acceptable? he should spend time behind bars, this is not something that does end up in jail. but he has more to justifying the police false reports. he has the federal charges for mail fraud. >> you can see these pictures of -- this is the family leaving the court. we have not heard word about jussie leaving himself. this is the family leaving the courthouse. you can see the scrum of reporters. around. this is standard operating procedure. that would be his between brother. let's listen in for a second. >> anything you want to see to the city of chicago?

>> trace: yeah, you can see them yelling at the brothers. jonathan told me the brother was actually in the black coat as they were leaving in that scrum. >> i believe that that was jussie in the black court, his brother in the camel coat. i believe it was that way around. as you say, they're twins. >> trace: they are twins. they're both wearing beards. >> right. >> trace: we're unclear. waiting for producers. that would be past the scrum where you saw the cook county state attorney where she gave her detailed statement. it's on top of the stairs. so they pushed down. the next question would be with the defense attorney or anyone from the defense side of this go up to those cameras, to the microphone setup and give a statement of any type to try to counter, to at least give jussie

smollett some benefit of the doubt as it were. katie? >> right. that is the big question. i personally don't think it's necessary. i don't think it's going to help him. maybe in the court of public opinion. for this serious criminal case, it's not necessary. they can just make a blanket statement that he maintains his innocence and that the rest of the information will be seen as the case progresses. i think that's good enough. i think that would be in his best interest. >> trace: that's the way you'd play it? >> absolutely. >> trace: you watch this scrum now. they're making their way back up the stairs. i'm -- is mike tobin there? he is in place. so i want to -- mike tobin getting in place. it would be fascinating to get his perspective. he was inside the court as we saw earlier. you saw the family go in and come out. he was not outside. he may have gone out and watched

that news conference given by lisa ranier. mike tobin, give me an idea of why do you believe or was there any word that the state attorney was going to come out and give that type of a news conference and do we expect to hear from the defense and did you hear anything from jussie smollett as he left the courthouse? >> well, we saw jussie smollett's family go out. they looked stone-faced. not interested in speaking at all. we saw them go up and go down. they looked to be rattled. i don't think they have encountered like the crush of running media that we just saw as they left the criminal courts building here in cook county. so i'm unaware to tell you what was said in the big crush. i couldn't get out there. what i heard from inside the courthouse here, we didn't get any comments at all. we were expecting a comment from the state's attorney? yes. we were expecting a detailed

timeline of the entire investigation, no, we were not. in my career, i don't think i've seen a state's attorney come out and lay out the entire case the way they have. as far as hearing from the defense, the defense made a couple statements. they have a crisis manager on hand. at this point, i would doubt there's much that will benefit the defense. so i could be wrong with this one. we see no indications from the defense that they will make a statement. i'd be surprised if they did right now, trace. >> trace: can you take us forward, mike? if you can't see this on the left side of the screen, the white van that we believe jussie smollett and his brother got into and are driving possibly back toward the area of chicago that he is from. can you take us forward? what is the next step going forward in this case? >> he does have another court appearance march 12. pardon me for the lack of

information. he will have another appearance and will have to answer for the charges at that point. other than that, i think the ball really goes into the court of the people that produce "empire." what do they want to do with this? they said they're considering their options. they have to make decisions about how they move forward. they still have a character in the show. shooting was underway. they still have to make decisions. i imagine what we see with jussie smollett turning himself in early on before the cameras were in place, looks like he's made a decision to lay low for a while, trace. >> trace: lastly, mike, any color from the court? do we know what his demeanor was? do we know what happened in court? were there any statements that were made that we should know about that you might know about? ed. >> well there were some statements made in the court. they came from the judge. i'm hustling through my notes

here. the judge said this was a terribly offensive thing that he did. i can't find the wording right now. waking up some of the evil in the history of this nation to draw those images back into this offense. so he did get a scolding from the judge. the state's attorney's office did make an effort to hold him without bond saying there was -- there was reason to doubt it. that was rather quickly. people -- the defense mentioning that smollett has been in the chicagoland area for five years mentioning the charitable work, the bond said at $100,000 and 10% at $10,000 and that's something that jussie smolletts aable to post with the idea that he's not a flight risk right now, trace >> trace: thanks, mike tobin.

jonathan hunt, the question becomes his career with "empire" at least looks to be in great jeopardy. >> has to be in jeopardy, this is part of our company, 20th century fox. you would think that yes, that career must be in jeopardy. they've said they're weighing their options. those options have narrowed quickly. >> trace: i'm not sure if you were channelling the defense attorney but they decided to take your advice and not say anything. get out of this and move forward. they have a lot of information. they know the entire -- you talk about lay, let's do discovery. they don't need it. they need the entire case in front of them. they need to get to work. >> they made a good decision to leave it alone. nothing that they can say to overcome that at this point. >> trace: thank you. there's jussie smollett. he's just posted bond. the bail was set at $100,000.

he and his twin brother have now left the courthouse in chicago and they apparently are moving somewhere towards streeterville. more breaking news ahead on a jam packed thursday. next, the fate of a former campaign adviser, roger stone. r. because with expedia, i saved when i added a hotel to our flight. ♪ so even when she outgrows her costume, we'll never outgrow the memory of our adventure together. unlock savings when you add select hotels to your existing trip. only when you book with expedia. make us better people.istening has the power to change us, with audible, you get more. two audible originals- exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. plus a credit good for any audiobook and exclusive fitness and wellness programs. all with our commitment free guarantee and always ad free.

the most inspiring minds. the most compelling stories. the best place to listen. download audible and start your free trial today.

this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today.

>> trace: and breaking news. the president's long-time friend

and adviser roger stone apologizing in court to a federal judge over a picture he posted on instagram showing her face next to what appear to be cross hairs. james amy jackson is hearing stone's criminal case stemming from the special counsel investigation. the chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge reporting live in washington outside the courthouse. catherine? >> thank you, trace. right now we're on a 15-minute break. we expect judge jackson to be back on the bench and expect a ruling at that time. this is a a crisis of roger stone's own making and began with the instagram posts of the judge with what appears to be across hairs or target in the background. he has since taken that down. throughout the afternoon, he's taken the stand and answered questions from his lawyers, the prosecutors and the judge. he admitted the instagram posting violated the court's

order. the order said he shouldn't engage in activity threatening to individuals involved in the case. he offered a heart-felt apology to the judge. he indicated that he's under emotional distress, he's being treated for it. his consulting business has dried up and so has his savings. he said that's no excuse for what he did and what he called a total lack of judge, a stupid lapse of judgment. right now we've had arguments about whether the gag order, a partial gag order should be modified. the prosecutors want to see it extended so that stone cannot talk publicly in the future about the case. his legal team wants to preserve that right to the future. if we get an update, we'll bring that to you as soon as we get it, trace. >> trace: katherine a lot of moving parts with the special counsel case. where do we stand with that now? >> i mean, there's been a lot of

developments in the last 24 hours, trace. we have confirmation now that the president's former person attorney, michael cohen, will be on capitol hill with hearings tuesday and wednesday and thursday before house and senate committee meetings. wednesday will be a public hearing in front of the house oversight committee. that will focus on issues that have arisen from the case in the southern direct of new york. so that is the hush money payments, campaign finance violations. that's not the russia issues. they will be asked and answered behind closed doors. we have scheduling dates for paul manafort. those are in march. a lot of expectation the mueller investigation is winding down and that report could be delivered in days or weeks but not later, trace. >> trace: catherine herridge live. thank you. up next, the coast guard officer accused of being a domestic

terrorist. we're covering his case from the courthouse to the pentagon next.

♪ the first-of-its-kind lexus ux and ux f sport, with the latest safety system standard, best-in-class turn radius and best-in-class mpg. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

>> trace: breaking news. prosecutors say a coast guard lieutenant is a domestic terrorist that was dreaming killing every person on the earth. they had a hit list with democratic lawmakers including nancy pelosi and chuck schumer from new york as well as television abe doors from cnn and msnbc. christopher hasson in court today. this stockpile of weapons was found in court this week. he's a suspected white nationalist. prosecutors say he regularly read the manifesto of the norwegian mass murderers anders brevik that he wrote before he killed 77 people in 2011.

we have team fox coverage. jennifer griffin reporting live from the pentagon. first, gillian turner reporting live outside the courthouse in maryland. gillian? >> i'm here in greenbelt, maryland. just under two hours ago, christopher hasson's hearing came to an end. charles day presided over the hearing. he found that hasson does constitute and imminent danger to the community. the judge caveated that with the onus is on the government, the prosecution, to prove hasson's intentions. the evidence presented today would not constitute enough of a threat to keep the suspect in detention. u.s. attorney robert heard weighed in. here's what he said. >> the sheer number and force of the weapons recovered from mr. hasson's redense in this case, coupled with the

disturbing nature of his writings appear to reflect the significant threat to the community and particularly given the position of trust that he had with the united states government. >> during the hearing, hasson's public defender insisted he denies all of the charms brought before him today including a legal possession of weapons and drugs. on friday, investigators recovered 15 different weapons and 1,000 rounds of ammunition in his apartment in silver spring, maryland and large countities of prescription drugs. tramadol. a hit list shows that he was planning to kill dozens of democratic lawmakers and journalists. it included nancy pelosi and chuck schumer and elizabeth warren and kirsten gillibrand. alexandria ocasio-cortez anddon lemon of cnn and many others.

the prosecution has 14 days to put together their case to prove his intention. they say they were to commit and act of domestic terrorism. >> trace: gillian turner live in maryland. team fox coverage continues. jennifer griffin reporting live from the pentagon. jen? >> trace, i just spoke to one of his colleagues that worked with him at u.s. coast guard headquarters. adam stoltzburg. he sat around the concerner about 50 paces from hasson at the head corners. he said there were no sign that he was a domestic terrorist at work. he was a little more serious, different smile or joke. kept a clean desk. he rode a harley-davidson so work. he was clean shaven. he lived in a cramped basement

apartment. >> really scary to know that you've been around someone accused of such. pretty scary. >> another neighbor who is hispanic told reporters she didn't like the way that hasson looked at her and her parents as though they didn't belong in the neighborhood. >> trace: how long was hasson in the military? >> he was in the military for 30 years and a self-described white supremacist. he worked at the coast guard for three years. i'm told he was arrested last friday and handcuffed in the coast guard headquarters, which is near the army national guard. >> jennifer griffin, live for us at the pentagon. thank you. very busy news day. again, we're waiting for any

word on what happens next with jussie smollett. we will keep you up to speed on facebook watch at the top of the hour. i'm trace gallagher for shep. "your world" with neil cavuto starts now. >> so many court cases, little time. we're live in washington with the former trump adviser roger stone is still inside. he's apologized about comments and photos about judge amy jam son. he's apologize. she could slap more conditions on his relief or harsher restrictions on his ability to talk to the media. when that comes down, we'll take you there. meantime, there's this.