chris pollone from nbc news.he latest charges come as the latest steps ahead with the first republican debate later this month trump's closest rival, florida governor ron desantis told cnbc he wants to bolster the u.s. military to tackle china. >> china, if they are overtaking us economically, that will change the world it will change the daily lives of american families if the chinese are dominating the world. i think this decade is the decisive decade. i don't think it is just economic, but primarily economic you are covering it. you are seeing less interest in china marginally now because a lot of companies understand there are risks associated with investing in china given the geopo geopolitical issues o sissues >> i'm getting too much into the weeds in china with the property sector, but do you think they would take military action against taiwan as a former naval officer, i ask that what is the response economically to your point, they do manufacture most of our pharmaceuticals and mineral are for electric

brought against the former president this year and saddles him with 13 new counts >> we go to chris pollone in washington good morning, take us through the charges and the defendants in this lengthy indictment >> reporter: we originally thought that voting on these indictments could take place by that fulton county grand jury today, but instead, d.a. fani willis held a marathon session yesterday that lasted late into the night and culminated in this 98-page indictment among those charged, 19 people, former president donald trump, along with his personal attorney, rudy giuliani and his former chief of staff mark meadows, also charged some attorneys who devised legal theories the indictment says would help the former president overturn the state's election results. willis launched the two-year investigation shortly after audio leaked from a phone call between the former president and former secretary of state in which he appeared to be pressuring officials to help him overturn the election. >> the indictment alleges that rather than abide by georgia's legal process for election challenges the

for more on this we go to nbc's chris pollone in washington. chris, good morning. willis, as we know, has previously suggested she will make charging decisions in this case by mid-august here we are now, so what should we expect out of fulton county >> reporter: jessica, good morning. two people have confirmed to nbc news that they've been called to that fulton county, georgia, grand jury to testify this week, journalist george chiti as well as republican former lieutenant governor geoff duncan say they will testify tomorrow. that clarifies the timeline willis is working on she has been investigating pressure former president trump and his allies put on state and local officials to overturn the 2020 election results in the weeks and months after election day. experts say willis could use a state organized crime law to charge more than a dozen people in the case. the former president maintained his innocence while campaigning in iowa over the weekend. >> is there any chance you take a plea deal in georgia >> we did nothing wrong. we don't take plea deals, it's a wis

for more on this we go to chris pollone in washington. good morning so it's been a day to absorb the indictment what's been the reaction from the political world on all of this >> reporter: yeah, jess car, good morning former president donald trump and his allies continue to attack the georgia prosecutor who brought these charges against him. mr. trump, along with 18 others are charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election in georgia. he posted yesterday he'll hold a news conference next week where he'll prove fraud in that election similar claims have been repeatedly tee bunked in the past and georgia's republican governor posted online quickly that the 2020 election was not stolen and we've now heard from trump's attorney rudy giuliani he helped pioneer the use of racketeering laws to prosecute the mafia in new york during the 1980s. now he's being prosecuted under the same type of law giuliani calls the charges the next chapter in a book of lies >> interesting twist we know 19 of the defendants, one of them has been pushing for a c

investigation by fulton county district attorney fani willis >> to break this down we go to nbc's chris pollone in washington take us through the charges and defendants in this lengthy indictment >> reporter: we originally thought that that fulton county grand jury would vote on these indictments today. but instead, d.a. fani willis held a marathon session that went late into the night, culminating in that 98-page indictment among the 19 people charged, former president donald trump along with his personal attorney, rudy giuliani and former chief of staff mark meadows also charged some attorneys who tdevised lega theories to overturn the election results willis launched the investigation shortly after audio leaked from a 2021 phone call in which mr. trump appeared to be pressuring state officials to hope h to help him overturn the election >> the indictment alleges that rather than abide by georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn georgia's presidential election results >> reporter: now of course it's important to

this all goes back to alleged interference in the 2020 election for much more on this we go to chris pollone in washington. willis has already suggested she would make the charging decisions in this case by mid august here we are. what should we expect out of fulton county? >> reporter: two people have confirmed to nbc news that they've been called to that fulton county, georgia hearing this week. george cheedy and jeff duncan say they'll testify tomorrow that information clarifies the timeline fulton county d. oofd.a. fan willis is working on experts say willis could use a state organized crime law to charge more than a dozen people in the case. the former president maintained his innocence while campaigning in iowa over the weekend >> we don't take plea deals, because i did nothing wrong. it's called election interference >> reporter: fortif the grand j did hand up an indictment against former president trump it would be the fourth criminal indictment he faces. he's currently the frontrunner for the gop nomination jess >> all right, chris, thank you >>> overseas now ukraine, at least seven

we go to chris pollone in washington explain the decision by these judges on this vital issue >> reporter: yeah, frances, good morning. the bottom line on this is exactly what you just said the widely-used abortion drug mifepristone will remain on store shelves in the states where it is legal for now. and ultimately, the supreme court will have to get involved to decide whether it can remain on shelves all together. in april, a texas judge overruled the approval of the mifepristone, agreeing with anti-abortion groups who contend the fda did not properly assess the drug's safety. the supreme court quickly issued a stay on that order, allowing the drug to remain on the market now a panel of judges upheld parts of the texas judge's ruling the department of justice said it would appeal the latest ruling and added the department strongly disagrees with the fifth circuit's decisions decisn the court's next term begins in october. >> a highly-charged topic to come to take on. thank you so much. >>> the georgia district attorney prosecuting former president donald trump for alleged election inter