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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> good evening, welcome to our viewers around the world and on pbs joining us. the indictment has been served. donald trump is in court, the first time the former president has faced criminal charges. you are looking at life pictures of the 15th floor of the criminal courthouse. the indictment has been read to the former president. he's just plead not guilty to the arges he is facing. donald trump in the courtroom. the doorway just to the right of

the police officer. thus speculation is he might say something as he comes out of court. we will stay on these pictures and brg you an reaction. we are expecting the district attorney to set out the indictment in full. donald trump is due to get back to mar-a-lago. we will have our eyes on the force, which is at standby. we have top panel for you tonight. with us is brian lanser, former communications director for the trump transition team. mary and, democratic strategist. -- is also outside the courthouse with instant reaction to that. also, we will hear from the federal estate attorney for palm beach county, who is with us

standing by. we will stay with these pictures and bring in our correspondent outside the courthouse. set the scene for the viewers. the former president still in the custody of the da. he's not free to go, he's been fingerprinted, there is a rap sheet. beyond the reasonable accommodations the das office has made for him, he's being treated like any other ordinary person. >> that is right. when he came here to the district attorney's office, he waved briefly to the crowd. that marked his formal arrest, voluntary surrender. there were a few accommodations that were made. his legal team arguing a mugshot continued to be taken because he's one of the most famous faces on earth, that he did not have to be handcuffed because he

was escorted by federal agents. we saw him escorted by u.s. marshals, as well. he's on the 15th floor of the building. his arraignment is underway. we saw the district attorney alvin bragg going into the courtroom. it is not uncommon, even though his prosecutors will be trying the case, for such a high-profile case for the district attorney to make a personal appearance. saw him in the front row on the prosecution side to oversee for himself the proceedings. the media were able to get a few photographs. a few still photographs of the hearing. he looked toward the cameras, but remained expressionless. so very much now waiting to see

he has plead not guilty to those 34 counts, felony charges of falsifying business records. willing to see if he will address the cameras. or if he will wait until he gets back to mar-a-lago. >> we will bring you the natural sound if and when we see donald trump. t's bring in a state attorney in palm beach in florida. you knew what alvin bragg will be going through at this moment in time. surreal for a prosecutor to be in front of the former president reading his miranda rights. you have the right to remain silent. how is alvin bragg going to deal with tha >> good to be with you. something you don't expect when you run for this office that you will indict a former president. no one is above the law. when it comes to new york city, alvin bragg is the district attorney.

the people are the boss. and he just has to sho one is above the law and he follows the law and evidence and not politics and he will be fine. it is a heavy moment. but i think it will pass. i expect donald trump to be indicted in atlanta and by the federal government when it comes to the mar-a-lago documents and possibly january 6. it might be an unprecedented time. that preset and will occur soon to -- that precedent was set soon. >> the beginning process when he was taken into custody, his attorneys would not be with him. >> they could be nearby. the secret service will be him, what no other defendant has. his attorneys could be nearby when he single printed. he's not getting a mugshot. he is not being led in handcuffs. he's being treated differently in those ways. there are some differences between him and everyone else who goes to the process.

it will be a pretty quick process, he will plead not guilty and get to be released on his own recognizance with no monetary bail. he will go home and prepare for the trial back at mar-a-lago. >> of course he always has his advisors around him, the former president. at that moment when you are charged, when you go into the custody of the district attorney's office, you are on your own. there is loneliness to that. >> he has secret service with him. one thing that is different with everyone else. he will not really be alone like everyone else. he will have people around him who will be protective of him. and his lawyers will not be far away. it is not just a lonely soul being drafted in by his own, someone who has to get a free lawyer from the state because he cannot afford it. he's being given special treatment because of who he is,

but ultimately he's realizing there is accountability when you commit crimes. and we will see what the indictment says any minute now. >> let's bring in brian lanser. i don't know what you made of his demeanor we just saw the first court pictures. j tacopina sitting on his left. brought in as the new lead defense attorney. what did you make of his demeanor as he went into court this afternoon? >> the former president just does not look happy. he looks actually quite pissed. that is where we are today. a presidentwe will hear his sper tonight. i don't want to be the advisors in the car on the way back to the airport because the president looks very angry. >> he's become familiar with the legal system in new york. that is his background. being a plaintiff in a civil

trial is different to being a suspect in a criminal court. when your liberty is at stake. >> he has avoided criminal lines his entire life. to be down here this particular moment running for president again, hitting that criminal livewire, is truly specked tackler -- spectacular to see. people are going to make the case, some will make it strongly. that the da sort of stretching a lot to try to find a felony. but i think the other guests are right, you still have to deal with fulton county, florida, the federal investigation going into the documents. this is a long fight this president has. he has the ability to fight back, he has the resources, he's different than the average citizen by the fact he has those resourceavailable. and you are going to see a very emboldened president fight back aggressively. >> we don't know yet what the charges are. he does because he's been read the indictment before he

appeared in court. the judge asking whether he needed to read the indictment again. there is a lot we need to know about the felony charges he might be facing. >> felonies are felonies. the road doesn't get any easier for donald trump. more people getting into words against hor president. facing more than other venues, as well. politically, i believe it will be for the republicans one day from today. the nation will be wrapped up on super tuesday, i expect donald trump to be the nominee. while it helps in the primary, it hurts in the general election. the best thing about today, little toe happy about, for anybody, it is a reminder that the rule of law applies to everybody. every citizen in the u.s. is treated the same. even as a candidate, he can run for office, continue to

campaign, and even with an indictment, conviction, and incarceration, he can still serve. plenty of politicians across this country historically have been -- faced charges, incarceration, indictment, all of that. from sparrow agnew to a lot of state and local officials. james michael mccarley was t mayor of boston and sitting in prison at one point during his term. this is more normal and usual than people think, but it's not a great day for the country but for the fact donald trump is being held to account like everyone in this country. >> talk about the things that will have to be agreed in court. he will have been read the indictment. the judge may go through point by point. he's entered a not guilty plea. what other things -- with respect to the gag order, what other things might the judge -- such enormous interest in the case. what other things those the

judge have to set out in court? >> i don't think the judge will impose a gag order yet. i think he will admonish trump to stay away from using inflammatory rhetoric that can put prosecutors or the judge in harm's way. i think he will be warned. if he continues with his rhetoric could face a gag order. if he violates tt, he can get up to 30 days in jail for contempt. he needs to beeally careful. otherwise, it can be a quick hearing. he will not get monetary bail. he will be released on his own recognizance. he can thank george soros for that because they passed a reform bill that allows him to go without any bond. and he will await trial in mar-a-lago. >> just on the way into the court, we were expecting him to say something. do you sense his lawyers have said he's got to be careful? he has been speaking on his website truth social saying he

wants the case moved to staten island, where there are more republicans. but do you think he is being warned of that? >> definitely, but they cannot control their client. when you represent donald trump, you know he rules, youan tell him anything he will not listen. they want him to stay quiet because they don't want him to address -- upset the judge, but they don't want him to make more admissions to make him harder to defend in trial. he's already made damaging comments that will be used against him, and i'm sure the lawyers don't want to make more. >> this is the difficulty dealing with donald trump, you make a plan, but he goes straight through it. >> that is true. those lawyers will earn their pay, assuming they collect it. it will be very busy. >> you are referring to the fact he doesn't always pay his lawyers. >> he has avoided jail time, everybody said bob moeller was

amica's last boy scout who would get donald trump, and he produced nothing. this is not something new for the president. he's seen the stakes before. it is higher stakes. when you have been fighting your whole life, it is an extension of your everyday life. >> you are very much involved in his first campaign. where do you think it leaves the politics around donald trump. he could be charged in three different jurisdictions on four charges. what does it do to the campaign long-term. >> marianne is also right, i think the challenge will be the for him. you are creating a lot of scenarios that we need the game out and look at the chessboard and see what happens. everybody saying this is the weakest case against the president. the manhattan d.a.'s case. if he defeats it before the election, you have a tremendous amount behind his back defeating

these criminal charges. there are too many variables to know, or he can delay prosecution until after the election. a lot of questions need to be answered. we have to be patient for it. what we are learning with trump, the well-established process, aos is still going to exist. >> the picture you are seeing on the screen is the 15th floor of the manhattan courtroom. dold trump in court alongside his lawyers. we understand he's pleaded not guilty. we have seen some images of donald trump at the front bench waiting for the judge to make the announcements he needs to make and deal with the bail. let's bring -- outside the courtroom. there is a process after this. we will hear from alvin bragg

who will put on record what the indictment is and his version of events before donald trump gets to do that at mar-a-lago. >> the timing of that is no coincidence. he asked the judge to at least allow him to formally notify the public donald trump had been indicted. he's been going by the book on this. not speaking before donald trump has been arraigned in court. we got a glimpse into his thinking. when he wrote to republicans who attacked him. he talked about how itas a lawful process, that the citizens of new york, the grand jury did tir civic duty and found enough evidence to proceed. and he hit back at what he called the unlawful critical interference of congress. i expect to hear similar lines from alvin bragg it will beis chance to defend

himself, hit back at the narrative that it is not any way to influence the upcoming election. the line we have her time again, that nobody is above the law, that after the investigation, they found critical evidence to move forward. >> dave, talk about the information we might get in the indictment when we see it. typically a minimum of information of what the crime is. conduct, state of mind. what else would you need to see in the indictment to convince you alvin bragg has a case? >> i expect the speaking indictment. where you get more detail. i expect multiple conspiracy counts. when you see conspiracy accountsyou detail the conspiracy, discussion, agreement, the acts that lead to

the charge i think you get more than you would normally. i want to see this is beyond the stormy daniels hush money payment, may be a goes into the financial parts of the company. if it is just about stormy daniels, the state is piggybacking on a federal campaigninance law. that would make it uncharted territory. or is it something greater at work? that is what i will be looking for. >> when you talk about the conspiracy count, people looking to what the former fixer said in e fact he was originally charged, and he was charged he said he was working at the direction of co-conspirator one. but that is a federal case. this is a state case. a goes beyond alvin bragg's jurisdiction.

>> alvin bragg can prosecute under state law. state -- state law says you cannot falsify business records. what takes it to a felony is if the misdemeanor leads to another crime. what crime itld be is what i'm looking for. campaign finance violations? that is where he gets into the gray area where state prosecutors can charge under a federal campaign finance violation, or if there is something else at play. when michael cohen was charged at the federal level, it was not by some liberal democratic prosecutor, it was the trump departnt of justice that named donald trump himself individual number one on unindicted co-conspirator. >> there are no cameras in this courtroom, jusstill cameras taking pictures of the former president would you have liked to see cameras in the courtroom? >> yes, but the spectacle, as well. donald trump is going to adjudicate the case in the

courtroom of public opinion just as much as he's going to be in the courtroom he was sitting in today. he has been ry effective since 2015, conviing people of something different than what they say or hear. he will do the same here. i will not be totally surprised if he says nothing or just a little as he leaves court, but he was giving a speech going back to mar-a-lago to define the entire debate. that is why think it is incumbent on the district attorney to communicate clearly in to everyone in plain english what the charges are, what donald trump is facing. it is as much of a fight over communications and the truth of the matter as it is anything else area so far, donald trump has been able to win that debate and kick the can down the road at the same time. >> you point to something that is -- it is not normal to indict a former president, but neither is the reaction.

with politicians in this scenario, you might see some trepidation, contrition, some fear about what is likely to play out. maybe he does feel some of that. but you sense he approaches it in a very different way. he will never come off attack mode. >> no. that is exactly right. what iee today that is different, he has always been different from other politicians. buthis is someone who seems to be in the biggest fight he's faced so far in his life. when you've got these other cases, they only get more difficult and challenging. in the risk is even greater. he's trying to fight, i think like a caged animal. we expect the speech to be blistering. he's clearly going to lay down the markers and take his presidential campaign on the

road across the country with a message he will deliver tonight and try and galvanize not only his supporters, but every other republican to say it is not just about me, it is about you. i'm standing up for all of us read you need to fight with me. he's expertly compromised every other republican who has announced or considering getting into the presidential race. one or two their support of him. it is impossible for them to get out of that box no matter what happens to him. why would you trust them anymore than you trust him. he's been very masterful, but i expect the speech to be completely on fire. >> the draft script is apparently already being circulated. you can probably guess the way he will approach it. i'm sure the lawyers are going through it with a fine tooth comb. i wonder what you make of the fact he hired todd blanche it

yesterday, 24 urs behind the case. what does it tell you? >> he's gearing up for war. when you bring someone like him at the end, who has had successes like he has, the expectation you are making the team sharper. that is what you bring them in. he's gearing up for a war with the manhattan d.a.. a public opinion war every cable network and most broadcast channels will tune into nearly every day. >> while we areatching these pictures from the manhattan courtroom, that is just outside the courtroom, waiting f donald trump to emerge, we should probably set out for people watching the timings of what we will get. we will not have a trial this spring, are we? >> i don't think so. that would be ridiculously fast for something like this. a year from now if we are lucky. these angstan be delayed because the defendant has a

right to a fair trial. generally if they want a delay, they will get it. i expect them to file motions challenging the entire indictment on various grounds under the law. i don't think he will succeed. it will challenge under the statute of limitations. i don't think he wins.

narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. know bdo.