. >> harris: they'll take a break and you saw ashley merchant. you saw her pushing for a break saying, i have this pile of invoices i want to go through next for extra questions. finally the judge said, we'll take a recess break here. this is a trial that is about fani willis and her lover nathan wade, who is still on the stand. a lot of movement today and dualing willing cases that is just one involving former president donald trump. one in new york and that one we are watching in georgia. in atlanta, nathan wade took the stand and we assume he'll be back on the stand after this recess, he was outlining his relationship with fani willis, as much as he would. there was a lot he did not answer and a lot he said he couldn't answer because he did not answer and spent time whether a receipt was a credit card record. and the hush money case wrapped up a short time ago and jury selection set for next month after judge denied trump's motion to drop that case. we have a court date for that, trial date, which is march 25th. more on that in a moment, forme

. >> you knew that ashley merchant represented a defendant in this case when you were text messaging with her, correct? >> yes, i did. yes. >> and you knew that the reason she was asking you questions about mr. wade was because she was trying to show when the relationship began, correct? >> no, that's not. 100% correct. >> look at the beginning of the text message. >> yes, but what messages were before this message? before she said that? >> i can't answer that question because i don't know them. all i have is what's in front of you. and it says that she says do you think it started before she hired me. so you knew as the counsel for a defendant in this case, that miss merchant was asking you specifically about the knowledge that you had regarding the timing of the relationship between wade and miss willis. correct? >> i mean, based on this, yes. i see what -- >> and in response to that, you answered directly on your own what you now claim to be speculation, right? >> that's correct. >> so i ask you one more time before i move to the next part of this. why would you speculate when she

then into the part, phil, where ashley merchant was talking about this in court.accurate, upon information and belief willis and wade met while both were serving as magistrate judges and began relationship at that time. bradley wrote back and said no, municipal court. but you can't put where they met because not many people know that. he was on the stand, phil, saying i can't recall, i can't recall, i can't recall. it's right here in green and black and white. >> great to be with you, john. this shows really a different picture of a person who is actively assisting ashleigh merchant in her effort to investigate the facts and circumstances regarding this issue on behalf of her client. almost a collegial type conversation as i say it. contrast to what we saw on the witness stand and these texts are recent, they go through january and i think even february of this year. something recently has changed but it's obvious that mr. bradley didn't want to be there, he didn't want to be having to provide this testimony. these text messages, many of which were used in court t

they have been subpoenaed by ashley merchant, the attorney for michael roman, the trump codefendant who launched the motion that set this into play. willis is saying a hearing on thursday would be nothing but a circus. there's no need to have herself, wade and her staff testify. and separately, wade has filed his own motion to quash a subpoena, basically saying that ashley merchant trying to get his bank records, personal and professional bank records is nothing but a fishing expedition. all of this is pointing towards thursday. remember, this for the past month has been the focus of the trump case here in georgia. what really has upended this entire thing with a number of defendants, including donald trump himself signing on and saying fani willis should be disqualified. we'll get a good sense today and certainly on thursday, which direction scot mcafee is leaning in terms of how this will play out. >> nbc's blayne alexander, thank you. >>> and let's go to nbc's courtney kube at the pentagon. what more do we know about his condition right now? >> we don't know exactly what condition he

romantic getaways allegations first made by trump co-defendant michael roman and his attorney ashley merchant in an effort to get willis removed as prosecutor. a move that would throw the entire georgia case against mr. trump into question. >> you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020 i'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> reporter: at issue, who paid for vacations the two took together. wade and willis both testified they split costs evenly, or she reimbursed him >> you never wrote him a check? >> ma'am, i don't have checks. >> reporter: when pressed for evidence, willis said she used cash >> for many, many years, i have kept money in my house. i don't need anything from a man a man is not a plan. a man is a companion and so, there was tension always in our relationship, which is why i would give him his money back i don't need anybody to foot my bills >> reporter: both wade and willis have acknowledged a personal relationship. the question, when it began, before or after she hired him on the trump case in november

when ashley merchant first filed her motion showing all of this double dealing that was occurring, irted chronicling it on twitter or x. and it is remarkable that it's okay to malign black people by making claims when you haven't followed the rules. we have one black attorney, mr. wade, who claims that he doesn't need to go through a divorce proceeding. he can independently decide when his marriage has ended. you have a -- the senior d.a., the d.a. herself, she is able to declare that the requirements for disclosure, she can reinterpret those and it's always great to hear the d.a. say that she prefers grey goose to wine. what these people are doing is they are showing that their mediocrities regardless of race. >> how this person got to be the district of attorney, i will never know. how her father is able to represent in public that his peculiar behavior is something that only blacks do. again, if david duke had said something like this is some peculiar thing that blacks do, we would all understand. i ask you and i announced on twitter today, this morning, i have seen enough. these

. >> but you knew that ashley merchant represented a defendant in this case when you were text messaging with her, correct? >> yes, i did. yes. >> and you knew that the reason she was asking you questions about mr. wade was because she was trying to show when the relationship began, correct? >> no, that's not 100% correct. >> look at the beginning of the text message. yes. what messages were before this message? before she sent that? >> i can't answer that question. because i don't have them. all i have is what is in front of you. that she says do you think it started before she hired me. so you knew as the counsel for a defendant in this case that mr. merchant was asking you specifically about the knowledge that you had regarding the timing of the relationship between wade and mrs. willis, correct? >> i mean based on this, yes. i see what that is. >> in response to that, you answered directly on your own what you now claim to be speculation, right? >> that's correct. >> so i ask you one more time before i move to the next part of this. why would you speculate when she was asking you a d

desperately to try to keep its case together and the woman there that you see on the top right is ashley merchant. she is one -- a lawyer for one of the defendants in this huge case that fani willis brought. andy mccarthy, you are listening as well. all the objections about the witnesses to me -- i'm not a lawyer -- they seem a little over the top coming from the d.a.'s side of the room. what do you think? >> well, i think they're not only over the top, dana, i think they are strategically potentially disastrous. i think any good litigator, particularly i've seen this again and again in the defense context, if you have bad information, the best thing to do is get it out in one or two questions and try to move on. but if you do it by death of a thousand cuts, then when the admission finally inevitably comes, it is just much more damaging and dramatic than it might otherwise be. i think it's untoward for the state to be fighting so hard to withhold information, personal information about the district attorney when what matters is justice in the case. but just simply strategically the way they are g

allegations first made by trump codefendant michael roman and his attorney, ashley merchant, in an effortis removed as prosecutor. r. a move that would throw the entire georgia case against mr. trump into question. >> you think i'm on trial, these people are on trial for trying to steal an trelection i 2020. i'm not on file no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> reporter: at issue, who paid for vacations the two took together. wait and willis both testified they split costs evenly, or she reimbursed him. >> you never wrote him a check? >> i don't have checks. >> reporter: when pressed for evidence, willis said she used cash. >> for many, many years i have kept money in my house. i don't need anything from a. man a man is not a plan. a. man is a companion. so there was tension always in our relationship, which is why i would give him his money back. i don't need anybody to foot my bills. ot >> reporter: both wade and willis has acknowledged a personal relationship, the question, when it began? before or after she hired him on the trump case in november sh of 2021? today a longti

but ashley merchant, the attorney for michael roman who brought the challenge against fani willis saidce willis and wade were not forthright about the relationship in the first instance, there is no reason to believe that they are telling the truth now. if indeed they did not tell the truth in this sworn affidavit to the court, what are the implications? >> well, their position in this case has become untenable if this is proven to be true. indeed, both of these attorneys could be looking at serious repercussions for filing a false statement of this kind. this was not some aside, this was the core of their argument. what they were flagging in the papers and raising with the court because the relationship started in 2022, there is less of a conflict of interest or other ethical problems associated with the relationship. if they misrepresented that date, then not only is their position as prosecutors in the case thrown into question, but their position as counsel, as attorneys is thrown into question with courts. they could be referred to the bar for other possible action. >> john: i wan

when roman's attorney, a woman named ashley merchant, accused willis of not wanting to turn over records, willis reminded her and the world watching that she was not the one charged with a crime. >> i object to you getting records. you've been intrusive into people's personal live. you're confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. earlier wade took the stand and testified to his time line of relationship with willis and how the pair split the costs of trip and dates. before that, a former friend of willis who also worked at the d.a.'s office, testified willis and wade started dating back in 2019, which disputes the time line they had given. when pressed it was revealed that she had a falling out with willis after she was forced out of the d.a.'s office in 2022. willis is expected back on the stand beginning right about 9:00 a.m., and we'll have live coverage of that later on "morning joe." but that's not all for the legal developments because there's a judge in new yo

and trump's attorney grilled terence bradley about a text exchange bradley had with ashley merchant,e asked if wade and willis had been involved before she became d.a., and he replied, text back, absolutely. he also acknowledged that at some point wade told him he was dating willis before 2022. what do you think? >> yeah. i think that's very damning evidence because, you know, it goes to the old were you telling the truth then or are you telling the truth now? if it's even more than that. she sent a motion if to exclude the prosecutors from this case to this witness, and he didn't object to it, say that anything was inaccurate in the contents of the filing and, in fact, at the time he was representing someone else in the same case. and so i think it's pretty obvious this judge knows what the truth is and what these, that these witnesses were all a suggesting something that is actually not true and that this relationship does date back to 2021 and before he was hired to be the special prosecutor for the trump and the other 18 co-defendants. elizabeth: okay. let's get your reaction to

ashley merchant wants to know more about the cash. craig gillan is talking about the contradiction of what robin yearti said. where do you expect the questioning to go? >> it's two main buckets, what the friend said about the relationship, she observed them hugging and kissing and said willis told me herself they were in this relationship a long time and the cash. the two big topics that they will lean on. >> sandra: kerri kupec urbahn, thanks for sticking with us. quite a few unexpected moments, john. >> john: yeah, nathan wade clearly was on the hot seat. answering a lot of questions that he never thought that he would have to answer. this idea saying he never had an affair during his marriage, but then he backdated of when his marriage ended. the divorce came through in 2022. he said it was 2015 when he and his wife decided there were irreconcilable differences but for the good of the children, they were going to stay together. >> heard that a couple times. great to be with you. set your dvr, never miss "america reports." i'm sandr

because he was either, as i said yesterday, lying and/or speculating when he communicated with ashley merchant on the stand yesterday because he was deeply discomforted by having to testify essentially against his former law partner and even more troublingly his former client, nathan wade. so i think it was a wash. the question is where does that leave the defense in establishing a conflict of interest. i don't think they're any further along in showing that there was a conflict. on the other hand, if judge scott mcafee finds that bradley is a liar, is that enough for him to create enough doubt that he wants to see things like the phone records that trump's lawyers have offered to provide to him? >> danny, what's your assessment of where we are right now? >> building on what lisa said, i think judge mcafee really has two choices here. he can conclude, if he does conclude -- and my sense is he didn't find terrence bradley credible -- let's say that's what he concludes. he might conclude, well, he didn't say anything and therefore, there's no additional facts that bolster the defense's case here

you know, the judge here, you know, the defense attorney that we were just talking out there, ashley merchant. i mean, what was it like in that moment when fani willis comes in and says no, no to her team, you know, i know you're fighting the subpoena, right now. i'm actually going to testify oh, my gosh, kaitlan. >> you couldn't make this up. i mean, hollywood couldn't make this up any, any better than it was today. there was silent the courtroom, everybody it was there was confusion. i think everybody was kind of confused on is she really going to do this? and she certainly did. she came in that courtroom with one goal and that was i think to stand up for herself. i think you've heard over these past seven weeks, the silence we've all been wondering what's what is she going to say? how is she going to defend herself? and she sure did that today she made it clear that the allegations against her or not true and she really yeah. i mean, it was less of a cross-examination than it was the da just telling us. and the court where she stands. >> well, i just thought it was remarkable. >> her team

sadow: you knew that ashley merchant represented a defendant in this case when you were text messaging with her, correct? mr. bradley: yes, i did. mr. sadow: and you knew the reason she was asking you questions about mr. wade was because she was trying to show when the relationship began, correct? mr. bradley: no, that is not correct. mr. sadow: that is not the beginning of the text message. mr. bradley: what messages were before this before she said that? mr. sadow: i can't answer that question because i do not have them. i only have what is in front of you. she says, do you think it started before she hired me? you knew as counsel for defendant in this case that ms. merchant was asking you specifically about the knowledge that you had regarding the timing of the relationship between wade and ms. willis, correct? mr. bradley: based on this, yes. mr. sadow: and in response to that, you answered directly on your own what you now claim to be speculation? mr. bradley: that is correct. mr. sadow: i ask you one more time, why would you speculate when she was asking you a direct question abo

when roman's attorney ashley merchant accused willis of not wanting to turn over records, willis remindede is not the one charged with a crime. >> i object to you get in records. you've been intrusive into peoples personal lives. you are confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> earlier, mr. way took the stand and testified to the timeline of his relationship with, willis and how the pair split the cost of trips and their dates with willis, he said, willis paid in cash. she can from that later. a former friend of d.a. willis who also worked inside the d.a.'s office, her name is robert your team, testified that will listen wades began dating in 2019, disputing the timeline the couple had given. one process, it was revealed that they had a falling out with willis after she was forced out of the d.a.'s office in 2022. okay. with all that, said let's bring in former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst, joyce vance, former assistant tierney for the district of columb

ex-wife, they would have made different arrangements than the ones we have all seen attached to ashley merchant's motion papers. >> katie phang, let's get back to the big picture here which is donald trump and his co-defendants in this fulton county case. talk me through the timeline -- tomorrow we're going to have, we heard, maybe three or four witnesses on the stand. what happens after that? and how could that then determine the timeline of the fulton county case? >> reporter: yeah. so the defense attorney for michael roman indicating to the court that once fani willis is off the stand, that she intends on calling at least two more witnesses. after that happens, the state has indicated that it has at least three witnesses that one of which would include fani willis' father who's going to appear via zoom. judge mac afee indicated there's going to be further litigation over the admissibility of records that have to do with delta. if there's any arguments, i'm not sure if we're going to see them tomorrow. we may roll into tuesday of next week. if you can believe it, on this evidentiary hearing, be

roman >> warnings out to ashley merchant, john merchant roman yes >> mr. schafer >> morning, >> honored break guillen and anthony way shape or papers, president and mr. floyd air mccullough on behalf of >> then we also have ms latham morning, your honor, willing to probably over his late from she waves the president >> and did we get that, mr. mecole also as well for mr. floyd just, making sure. okay. thank you mr. floyd is here. okay. i see mr. floyd is present as well >> all right >> my, parents see. anyone. rolling and behalf of the defendants office anyone, else president. >> who believes they may need to be on the record or address any issue coming up in the proceeding seeing, none >> i'm here. date banks witness but i also represent the candle so all right. thank you, mr. banks >> i want you over for terrence bradley law under subpoena. >> we'll be waiting in the hall. >> all right. and circuit we have you spell your name for the record? >> thank bim. all last name? cho pra all right >> in terms of just a little housekeeping and terms of presenting t

when roman's attorney, ashley merchant, accused willis of not wanting to turn over records, willis reminded her that she is not the one charged with a crime. >> i object to you getting records. you've been intrusive into people's personal lives. you're confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. >> earlier, mr. wade took the stand and testified to the timeline of his relationship with willis and how the pair split the costs of trips and their dates with willis, he said, paying in cash. she confirmed that later. before that, a former friend of d.a. willis, who also worked inside the d.a.'s office, she testified that willis and wade began dating in 2019, disputing the timeline the couple had given. when pressed, it was revealed that she had a falling outwith willis after she was forced out of the d.a.'s office in 2022. >> mm-hmm. >> okay. with all that said, let's bring in former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst joyce vance. former u.s. attorney for the district of co