nbc's alice barr reports from the federal courthouse in washington, d.c. >> reporter: in a year that will be packed with political and legal significance, there's a new date to watch. march 4, 2024, the day before super tuesday. now the trial date for the washington, d.c.-based federal election interference case against former president trump. the trump legal system insisting that's far too soon for a fair trial noting the millions of pages of discovery. trump attorney john lauro saying he won't be able to provide adequate representation and that, quote, mr. trump is not above the law, but he is not below the law. the former president on social media slamming the mid-campaign timing. the defense asked to push the trial to april 2026, after the presidential election. but u.s. district judge tanya chutkan flatly rejected that noting, quote, setting a trial does not depend and should not defend on a defendant's personal and professional obligations. the judge and legal analyst emphasizing the trump team is already familiar with the evidence. >> most of this information, these witnesses

alice barr, nbc news. >>> apple's earnings have dropped for the third quarter in a row. experts expect the tech giant to still have a strong end of the year. apple posted the third quarter earnings reports today. sales are down a little, over 2% from this time last year. the summer months are normally slow for the sale of apple products. the fourth quarter when the new iphone comes out and holiday shopping kicks into greer is expected to be a big earner for the company. the stock still up 51% in 2023. >>> over all the corporate earnings reports released today did not fill investors with confidence. both the s&p 500 and nasdaq slipped, finishing the day in the red. the dow able to stay in the green, though not by much, adding only about 70 points. >>> still ahead, you have to pay a toll fine from a bay area bridge or highway. the help that is available for you. >>> fighting cancer with all he's got after seeing his family hit hard by the relentless disease. the 90-year-old man who is battling in more ways than one in tonight's bay area proud. >>> i'm chief meteorologist j

here's nbc's alice barr. >> reporter: hope for lower prices on ten widely-used prescription drugs, now up for price negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and medicare for the first time, under the inflation reduction act. it's a center piece of the biden administration's efforts to drive down medication costs for seniors. >> i promise you, i'm going to have your back, and i'll never stop fighting for you on this oish >> re . >> reporter: these prescriptions can cost hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars over the course of a year tan's and it'so much for so many people. >> at times i've had to ration my drugs because they're too expensive. no american should have to live this way >> reporter: they're used to treat everything from blood clots to blood cancer, diabetes. the prices are set to take effect in 2026 and this is the first round. >> it will become 20 drug and different drugs year after year. >> reporter: merck and johnson & johnson have sued to derail the effort, calling it unconstitutional many republican lawmakers opposed move arguing that a price control will disc

alice barr watched the debate in milwaukee. >> reporter: tonight, the kickoff to the 2024 republicanefuls looking for a breakthrough. the republican rivals unified in slamming president biden's economic agenda. >> we cannot succeed as a country if you are working hard and cannot afford a cars, groceries or a home. >> reporter: they turned on each other for several moments. >> now is not time for on-the-job training. >> do you want a super pac puppet or a patriot that speaks the truth? >> reporter: the candidates taking on pressing issues from ukraine to abortion. >> we cannot let states like california, new york, and illinois, have abortions on demand. >> i'm a pro-life governor of a very pro-life state. i'm on the record and stand behind we should not have a federal abortion band. >> i'm unapologetically pro-life. not because the republican party tells me to be. having said that, we need to stop demonizing this issue. >> reporter: the front-runner, former president trump skipping the debate. the rivals pressed on the legal troubles. >> someone has got to stop normalizing this conduc

alice barr has the story >> reporter: in a year that will be packed with political and legal significance, there's a new date to watch. march 4, 2024, the day before super tuesday. now the trial date for the washington, d.c.-based federal election interference case against former president trump the trump legal team insisting that's far too soon for a fair trial, noting the millions of pages of discovery trump attorney john lauro saying he won't be able to provide adequate representation and adding that mr. trump is not above the law, but he is not below the law. the former president slamming the mid campaign timing. the defense had asked to push the trial to april 2026, after the presidential election. but ou.s. district judge tandya chutkan rejected that. the judge and legal analyst emphasizing the trump team is already familiar with the evidence >> most of this information, these witnesses, they already know about there was a january 6 select committee hearings they knew about that >> reporter: in a separate case, the former president and his 18 co-defendants are now set to make their

inflation reduction act and a move president biden praised as a victory for the american people alice barr has more. >> reporter: hope for lower prices on ten widely-use prescription drugs under the inflation reduction act. it's a center piece of the biden administration's efforts to drive down medication costs for seniors. >> i promise you, i'm going to have your back, and ill never stop fighting for you on this issue. >> reporter: those ten drugs account for more than $50 billion or 20% of total medicare part d spending over the past year >> these precipiwewere so expen. no one in america should have to live this way. >> reporter: the drugs are used to treat everything from blood clots to blood cancer, diabetes, arthritis and heart failure. the negotiated prices are set to take effect in 2026. and this is only the first round of medications >> these ten drugs will soon become 20 drugs and different drugs year after year. >> reporter: drug g makersmaker including merck have appealed it, calling it unconstitutional. others argue that a price control will discourage investment in life-savin

in washington, alice barr, nbc news. >> dozens of maui's hardest hit residents arrived in the bay area, and hope you can help them find a forever home. greater good charities and ameri flight joined forces to bring 80 dogs and cats, ghost, banana and angelica are at the tri-city, in fremont. we spoke to a woman who jumped at the chance to help. >> that's something we have always enjoyed was maui, especially lahaina. i'm trying to help out in a way that i can rescue a puppy. >> you can help clear the shelters, that's part of our campaign this month. berkeley, humane, marin animal rescue foundation, east bay scca, and the friends of the alameda animal shelter have also received dogs and cats from maui. >>> and you know, this whole time we have been doing the clearing the shelters this week, so it works out perfectly that we have all of these animals coming in as well. >> we have pup events happening this weekend. cynthia is here. timing for the rain. are we going to continue to see the sprinkles or is it going away? >> we're starting to die down on that activity. it's mostly through the

nbc's alice barr is at the white house with the details. >> reporter: today hope for lower prices on ten widely used prescription drugs now up for price negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and medicare for the first time under the inflation reduction act. it is a center piece of the biden administration's efforts to drive down medication costs for seniors. >> i promise you i'm going to have your back and i'll never stop fighting for you on this issue. >> reporter: the administration says the ten drugs account for more than $50 billion or 20% of total medicare part d spending over the past years. >> these prescriptions cost hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars over the course of a year. and it's just too much for many people. >> at times i had to forego or ration some of my drugs because they were so expensive. no one in america should have to live this way. >> reporter: the drugs are used to treat everything from blood clots to blood cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and heart failure. the negotiated prices are set to take effect in 2026 and this is only the first round of

alice barr has more. >> reporter: former president trump standing before a federal judge for a 27-minute appearance now etched in history. the former president entering his own not-guilty plea to four felony counts on charges he conspired to defraud the government he once led and sought to overturn an election he had lost, sitting in the front row, roughly 15 feet away, special counsel jack smith, who led the investigation and accused the former president of spreading lies about a stolen election that culminated in the deadly january 6 capitol attack. before returning home to new jersey, mr. trump was defiant. >> when you lack atook at what' happening, this is a persecution after political opponent this was neff suver supposed to happen in america. >> this is the first time that the first amendment has been criminalized >> reporter: the indictment spells out that former president trump had a right to speak, and even to lie, about the election results. but the charges are centered on his alleged actions, including a scheme involving fake electors outside the courthouse, tempers flaring an

nbc's alice barr has the latest. >> reporter: the trump legal team responding to the special counsel's to limit what the president can say publicly about evidence in the case involving his efforts to overturn the 2020 election mr. trump's lawyers arguing that amounts tos to censor-ofship, sn cite his post saying "if you come after me, i'm coming after you. the former president over the weekend also slamming special counsel jack smith >> this guy's a maniac they gave plme a maniac. >> reporter: as well at judge and former vice president mike pence. mr. pence has sharpened his rhetoric against his former boss >> president trump asked me to put him over the constitution that day >> reporter: and could become a star witness >> i have no plans to testify. but people can be confident, we'll obey the law >> reporter: the trump team arguing he and his vice president merely disagreed over whether pence could unilaterally move to reverse the election, something constitutional scholars say is not allowed. >> what president trump did not do is direct vice president pence to do anything he asked hi

nbc's alice barr has the latest from washington. >> reporter: as donald trump grapples with becoming a three-time indicted former president, the world is reacting to the latest historic charges accusing mr. trump of conspiring to overturn an election he had lost ultimately culminating in the january 6th capitol attack. >> it was fueled by lies, lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the u.s. government. >> the federal indictment charges the former president with conspiracy to defraud the united states, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding as congress certified the election results and be conspiracy sentences against the right to vote and have that vote counted. the indictment alleges that former president trump spread lies that he had actually won the election but that, quote, these claims were false and be the defendant knew that they were false. former president trump adamantly denies wrongdoing in a new fundraising push saying, quote, biden's weaponized department of justice is trying to jail me for life as an innocent man. his legal team form

nbc's alice barr tracking it all from capitol hill. >> reporter: the 2024 presidential front-runners today staking out their positions in opposite ends of a divided country. president biden beginning a western swing in arizona, designating a new national monument near the grand canyon to protect against uranium mining. >> i signed the largest climate bill in the history not only of the united states but literally in the history of the world. >> reporter: the president citing his environmental record in a battleground state that's suffering blistering record-setting heat. an appeal to young voters countering the president's low approval ratings amid controversies involving his son, hunter biden, and lingering questions about his age. >> i would prefer someone younger than the two candidates who are in the top right now. >> reporter: former president trump speaking to voters in new hampshire, making both his political pitch and his own legal defense. >> there is more enthusiasm today than we ever had in 2016 and 2020. and the reason is because these people are so corrupt and they're so

here's nbc's alice barr from capitol hill. >> reporter: one day after sitting at the defense table in federal court pleading not guilty to charges he broke the law in trying to overturn the 2020 election, former president trump going on offense, writing on truth social, quote, my political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, while fund-raising to make up for millions in legal costs. as the trump legal team forms its strategy, one of his attorneys arguing the former president was right to try to delay the vote certification on january 6th. >> let's just pause the voting and allow the state legislatures to take one last look and make a determination as to the -- as to whether or not the elections were handled fairly. that's constitutional law. >> it is a flat-out admission that they did what exactly the u.s. code and the indictment says is a crime. >> reporter: on the campaign trail, former vice president and now candidate mike pence stepping up his rebukes of the republican front-runner. >> it wasn't just that he asked for a pause. the president specifically asked me a

nbc's alice barr has the latest from milwaukee where she's been speaking with candidates before they take center stage. >> reporter: a showdown today in milwaukee where eight republican presidential hopefuls are set to square off, looking for a breakout moment. entrepreneur vivek ramaswamy will be center stage alongside florida governor ron desantis. you've aligns with former president trump, how does that leave a lane for yourself? >> i'm aligning myself with america's first agenda and i want to take that to the next level. >> reporter: north dakota governor saying he will make the stage in crutches after suffering a high-grade achilles tendon tear during pickup basketball yesterday. arkansas governor asa hutchinson putting his outspoken criticism of former president trump to the test, despite poll numbers showing it's turning many voters off. do you think it's working for you? or against you? >> i think it's important to the voters that we take it head-on and say, this is the truth. donald trump can't lead us to victory. >> reporter: the former president and front-runner choosing t