just this week, new york attorney general, laetitia james, hit trump where it hurts him the most. james filed a sweeping lawsuit of hitting trump, the trump organization, and three of his adult children, in engaging in widespread fraud of years of false financial statements related to the family's business dealings. watch. >> claiming you have money you do not have does not amount to the heart of the deal. it is the heart of the steel. there cannot be different rules, for different people in this country, or the state. this former presidents are no different. >> attorney general james is asking trump to put his money where his mouth is to the tune of $250 million, to be exact. she is also seeking to permanently barred donald trump jr., eric trump, and ivanka trump, from running a business in the state again. they want to prohibit the trump business from entering real estate deals for five years. that would be a move that would, effectively, shutter trump's business empire in his home state, right here, in new york. in response to the scathing accusations, in classic trump tantrum

new york, i mean, laetitia james is not a new york city, but she is certainly the state ag.e almost two path, that this is perhaps where the walls begin to really close close in on him. >> one does wonder how a man -- i talk about this with chris hayes, how he is managing these parallel investigations and fundraising off of all of it with a sick draw at the same time. >> this one, though, will be somewhat harder to fund-raise. i mean, he can say it's political, she ran, letitia james, in her campaign said i'm going to go after donald trump. she did, and that was a mistake. and i think she admitted. but this is less obviously political. it's not the fbi in the department of justice. it's not anything he did as president. it's what he has done recently. not years and years ago. not when we are running. but in the last decade to essentially sheet banks. and, and, and the degree, the brazenness of his exaggerations. we are talking about it before we started. but 6 to 10 times their actual value. -- there were $7 million a. pete or mar-a-lago, it's worth whatever he said it was,

. >> laetitia james accuse the ex president of staggering fraud, filing a civil lawsuit against him and his children for $350 million. trump's attorney denied any wrongdoing but this alleged fraud has been hiding in plain sight for years. accusations of shady business tactics have dogged trump since well before -- more than 30 years ago, 1991, spy magazine punched an exposÉ of trump's financial scheming, including, get this, publicly inflating the value of his properties. so today's revelations do not really come as a surprise to anyone. new york tierney generals office just had the time, resources, well with all, in determination, not to mention subpoena power to spend three years pouring over documents, interviewing more than 60 witnesses, to try and prove what much of the country basically already felt to be true. >> over the course of our investigation, we found that mr. trump, his children, the trump organization, created and used more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations on a statement of financial condition over that ten-year period. >> now typically, when trump is accu

it was carried out while laetitia james predecessors, but the very same office.while criminal charges did not materialize then, it could now. it could now ny that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. i gotta go, ah. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. ♪ ♪ away suitcases are designed with 360-degree spinner wheels. ♪ ♪ so you can go with the flow. ♪ ♪ our internet isn't ideal... my dad made the brilliant move to get us t-mobile home internet. oh... but everybody's online during the day so we lose speeds. we've become... ...nocturnal. well... i'm up. c'mon kids. this. sucks. well if you just switch maybe you don't have to be vampires. whoa... okay, yikes. oh sorry, i wasn't thinking. we don't really use the v word. that's kind of insensitive. we prefer day-adjacent. i'll go man-pire. it is been a rough day on the legal front for donald trump, because in another blow, tonight, there's breaking news on the investigation into the classified documents that come stash of his retirement home in mar-a-lago. a fede

it was a political, this was the outcome, of the political quest by laetitia james. that is not deniable. that is not an opinion. that is based on her own words. she campaigned on vote for me, and i will bail donald trump. she declared, before she was elected, that trump was guilty of the crime of money laundering, on her first day in office she said, quote, we are going to definitely sue him. first day in office, we will be a pain in the ass, he will know my name personally. two things can be true at once. yes, this is a strong complaint, yes, this is the result of a political quest by an attorney general to say this. >> i think you are right in that. sometimes, i often watcher interviews, and i say, why is she saying that? just coming off as a political person. if you don't have the evidence, why would you do that? but you said, two things can be true. it can be political act, but, if the evidence is there, does that matter? >> it doesn't cancel about, the dawn. if you run for office, and fund-raise, donate to me, and i will nail that guy? let me put it to this way

true at the same time, that this is a political -- this is the outcome of a political quest by laetitia james. that is not nybo, that is not an opinion, that is based on her own words. she campaigned on vote for me, and i will now donald trump. she declared before she was elected that trump was guilty of the crime of money laundering. on our very first day in office, she said, quote, we will definitely sue him, first an office. will be a real pain in the s, she will know my pain personally. two things can be true at once. yes, this was a strong complaint. yes, this was a result of a political quest -- >> i think you are right in that, because sometimes i often watch her interviews. i saw her on the view and ask, why is she saying that? she's coming off as a political person. when you have the evidence, then why would you do that? as you said, two things can be true. it could be a political act, but if the evidence is there, is that matter? it does >> not cancel it out. if you run for office and fund-raise, fund-raise relate to me and i will know that guy. -- i'll put it through this way would

and that was before laetitia james announced her lawsuit.the guy, but he has done nothing to gain support among independents and republican message on abortion is not going to help him. with us for more is, juanita tolliver a veteran political strategist for the progressive candidates and causes, and susan del percio, them is nbc political analyst and veteran political strategist. susan del percio, you've worked with republicans for years. the latest polling was before it exchanges lawsuits. independents at this point are getting sicker and sicker of donald trump's name in the headlines, because none of it is good news. >> none of it is good news. and that is actually hurting on the republicans running in 2022. donald trump may be worried about 2024. but right now, you have the senate and the house up in just under 50 days. and you touched on such an important point, stephanie, it's those independents. it's the independents that left donald trump in 2020, went to joe biden, and we saw the democrats take the sweep. right now, the issues that

nonetheless, you write for time magazine when it comes to this suit filed by laetitia james that thismay finally nail the former president. you and i have spoken a lot about this over the last couple of days since this news broke. and this has been incredibly thematic of where you have said the entire time, which is they have, as you write in time magazine, a preponderance, it seems, of evidence. and that is why this could feasibly be open and shut, and now the former president finally talk more about it's made landfall in eastern canada, over half of million people have large power. mostly in the provinces of nova scotia and prince edward island. canadian authorities, they are already claiming that fiona could be one of the strongest storms to ever hit the country. and then we have tropical storm in, continuing to move north towards florida, where it could make landfall by mid week or so. governor ron desantis, declaring state of emergency for 24 counties on friday, and urging residents to prepare for him back. we want to bring in pete nbc meteors meteorologist, bill -- let start wit

by laetitia james, versus what has to be established by prosecutor.gal development today. this is with eric herschmann, a lawyer for the president, interest, lead saw his testimony before the january 6th. he was one who told john eastman to get a good f and criminal attorney. he has a baseball bat of justice behind him. there is some wrangling now about his testimony, before a ground journey, doocy that it's investigating january 6th. trump lawyers, looking to limit a testimony. lawrence for former president donald trump, engaging in a behind the scenes legal struggle to limit the scope of the federal grand jury investigation into the role he played, and seeking to overturn the 2020 election. essentially, they're trying to assert some sort of privilege here, so that this individual, mr. herschmann, cannot give testimony before that grand jury. what do you think about their chances here? >> it's really well, it's about as close as they can come, and they're in a d.c. federal court, and ultimately, they are going to be rolling up to a d.c. court of appe

>> any move to do that, you are going to see laetitia james in court instantly, hollering fraudulent't do that. and his children, he's a man who has exposed his children. whatever you might think of michael flynn, the general that obama warned trump not to hire, when federal charges came out of there was a charge between flynn and his son, flynn stood up for his son. i don't expect donald trump stand up for his own children if push comes to shove. >> let's talk about those children. because bill barr talked about that earlier today. i want you to watch this. >> i'm not even sure she has a good case against trump himself. but what ultimately persuades me that this is a political hit job is that she grossly overreaches when she tries to drag the children into this. yes they had roles in the business, but this was his personal financial statement. >> children. are we talking about barron who's 16. we're talking about 44, 40, and 38. for years, ivanka was a key executive in the company. she's the one who negotiated the trump hotel in washington. don junior and eric, they ran the company

because in a civil case, that is what laetitia james brought it only requires a preponderance of evidence not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. a preponderance of evidence. and her 220 page complaint shows that trump was directing many of these fraudulent activities. and it is important to remember that fraud is always in everywhere around. >> so given that. i want to ask you about a different type of fraud or a different type of fleece. and you have trump allies launching a new super pac. maga ink. it'll be them new fundraising for the midterms. trump might try to use funds from that pack to play legal bills like the other pack that he had. save america? >> well. the laws money -- so we can so full of loopholes. yes he can divert a great deal of this money to his personal needs. and if he wants to fight laetitia james effort to apply a corporate death penalty to the trump organization. he's going to need to spend a lot of money upfront. because of the long history of not paying his lawyers. and any competent lawyer is going to demand huge money upfront. but all of this is just another sc

and is it that laetitia james is cleaning claiming a lot of money? you think it's gonna be more than the two 5000 dollars. who defrauded people of new york. is it the referral to the irs? or is it the referral to the southern district of new york? >> it's both. and let's see if the southern district of new york picks up the case. let's not forget, they had a dozen sealed indictments, based on my statement for the benefit of individual number one, who we all know is donald j trump. so, they ended up getting rid of those silver linings. we don't have a strong enough case. let's see if the southern district of new york, who is no longer under his control, will pick up the mantle. irs, it is an open and shut case. numbers don't lie, people do. and donald is one of the biggest liars that you'll ever make or meet. so, in the indictment i say, this letitia james writes, the baseline is 250 million. she is not going below that. the amount is substantially greater, and again, i said on many many shows i believe that number to be somewhere between 7:50 and one

new york attorney laetitia james offered an investigation into the energy provider saying quote, puertoghtly concerned about the failures of law. she goes on to say that i'm climb for an federal investigation into the matt critical upgrades. the system improvements set puerto ricans are never again left in the dark. i want to bring in carmen ghislaine cruz. she's the former mayor of san juan puerto rico. i believe you are in puerto rico right now, vladimir. thank you for joining us. i want to start with asking, how do you think elected officials have handled the crisis on the island following hurricane fiona? >> simone, one of the things i tell the students when i talk about them about process management is that prices are about people. and of course, people favor in the current government say they haven't. but i'm here in the southern port of puerto rico what you are looking at the sanitary waters and pipes that grow and broke. this is water with human extremists that is now is smelling terrible. it is clean the second time this week. you can see over here how high and for the electric

the documents, to january 6th, congress, so many things -- we are going to hear, perhaps, from laetitia jamesthe new york state attorney general, about her investigation into some of the business practices. we are looking for to hearing that. he has so many issues on the plate right now that he has a battery of lawyers, ever-changing, of course, cast of characters, some of them leave out of their own exposure or have been paid or what have you. and it is all consuming. it is the war that he is waging right now. >> it's like peter's reading my mind, joyce white vance. new york attorney general tish james. she is holding, tomorrow morning, what is being described as a major news conference. last week, the new york times reported that james could potentially sue trump -- obviously, we don't know what is coming tomorrow. but given what peter just laid out -- given what i have shared, how worried should trump be tonight about tish james to morrow? >> james rebuffed a settlement offer from the trump folks that would have resolve the case -- that didn't happen. and she is reported to be investigatin

were you surprised by how much new york, laetitia james found?ou having sort of threw a lot of this found surprising? >> this is hard for me to admit that there is a lot that i found surprising. a lot of things that i've been looking for that i had never found or thought to look for she has the power to subpoena people, but there was interesting things you found about the way he valued real estate in new york, where he valued his own apartment complex. a part when he lived in a new york. the way they dealt with insurers, banks, appraisers. to me, the most amazing thing was the degree in which he was accused of lying to the people who work for him. to the accountant, so the appraisers who were representing him to the world. i think that is gonna be one of the hardest things to overcome. he lied even to those who were speaking to the world about him the blanks knew who they were dealing with. on that way was it over floyd or was it knowingly going through this? >> there's two piece to that answer and it was not just banks. we are talking with the s

could it actually help laetitia james's case? >> i think it could.al government has discovered that trump did not turn over the documentation that they asked of him when he left the white house. they threw their investigation discovered that he and his lawyers and himself in tandem we're actively miss leading the federal government about what they had. this is also been an issue, as i mentioned earlier, in her investigation. she had repeatedly going to court to ask judges to force the trumps to turn over documents. as you know, trump sued me for libel when i was at the new york times. over the course of that case, we engaged in a long series of discovery motions with his team. they were loath -- when we eventually got his banking records and his tax records. he gave us a tax return early on that was so heavily redacted it looked like across for puzzle. the only discernible income in those tax returns at that point was milan's modeling income. we didn't care about that. we really have to keep battling him to get records turned over. there is a long, d

we saw that for instance with laetitia james the new york attorney general bring a case where donald trump asserted the fifth amendment. that can be used against him. if he had done exactly what you would said just in a criminal case and said you know what, i don't have any burden. it's the government's burden to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt and i don't have to do anything. that is totally right, he can assert the fifth amendment and it can't be used against him. course view was to claim that these were planted, there needs to be some evidence even in a criminal case. but because this is a civil case, like judge dearie in the very first hearing that he held, you can't eat your cake and still have it remain. so if you don't want to say anything, if you don't want to assert anything about these documents, that's fine but there are consequences because the judgment -- government has put in prima fashion evidence. so i don't need any more proof and if you are not going to speak up, i'm just going to rule and what is here. and the final piece which is just an example of how t

and i think of all of it, that laetitia james stuff might be the stuff that most greatly concerns and disturbs him. >> well, it was, until the appeals court rules tonight. and then, and then, he's sitting down there, trying to figure out which is worse, losing all my money, or being convicted of federal crimes. which the federal appeals court is really paving the way for now. they are making it very clear that there is just going to be no more roadblocks between donald trump and what will ultimately be merrick garland's decision to indict him or not over those documents at his home. >> and betting on trump appointed judges was not the right bet, as we found out. >> see the 11th circuit ruling. >> all right lawrence, all be watching. >> thank you, alex. well, the two worst nights of donald trump so far are election night 2020, and tonight. on election night, when fox called the election for joe biden, he knew then he was going to lose access to the white house and to air force one. and that's all the presidency was to him. but tonight, donald trump is staring at the possibility of losi

attorney general, laetitia james lawsuit against trump, is children, and his businesses, allegedly, forp's legal issues, they haven't really stuck. i've started with you, jonathan. business one feel different? >> i think they will get some money out of trump. she wants $250 million, he said he was ten times as rich as he is, and in the areas of these deals. he hates this. he had a bad week. not just because he lost in the 11th circuit on the documents case, not just because of the special master but, really knocked it down, his choice for a special master. they told the whole world that he is a fraud, based on which he is. they have to get 250 million out of him, unfortunately, he will still have a few hundred million left over. there are many other civil cases, that involve some of the capitol police officers, on january 6th, and they could, really, recover some serious damages. by the time the deals are done on this, it will be a few years down the road. he is going to be a lot less rich than he is right now. maybe down to his last hundred million dollars. >> molly, one of the most bi

laetitia james with a lawsuit that former trump lawyer, michael cohen, says could and trump's businesses. and he should know. he's the one who blew the whistle that got this whole investigation going. i will talk to michael cohen himself this morning. plus, senator tim kaine is here to talk about the highest stakes midterms in memory. the danger of this -- vladimir putin and more. also, it's banned book week. we will have a special edition of the banned book club today, with someone who works squarely at the rights of human rights democracy, and literature, velshi starts now. good morning i'm ali velshi, and it is saturday the 24th. it is day 213 of russia's brutal and barbaric war on ukraine which, remember, putin planned would take all of three days would capture the capital. something that never happened. if you need more proof on just how brutal and barbaric this war, is take a look at this front page headline out of msnbc news.com this morning. russian troops raped and tortured children in ukraine, against the backdrop of the un general assembly, a new report about the independent n

that's according to manhattan da alvin bragg, who along with states ag laetitia james, have charged withmoney to build a wall on the southern border. we're now learning the doj seems to be looking at even more here. the new york times now reporting that trump's own postelection fundraising has come under scrutiny by the justice department. with a federal grand jury putting that subpoenas to learn more about the former presidents safe america packed. this may not be all that surprising, given what we saw during the january six hearings. flick back in a small portion of them. >> the claims that the election was stolen were so successful, president trump and his allies raise $250 million. nearly 100 million dollars in the first week after the election. on november 9th, 2020, president trump created a separate entity called save america packed. most of the money raised went to this new pack, not to election related litigation. the site committee discovered that it made several million dollars of contributions to pro trump organizations, including one billion dollars to trump chief of staff m

which includes exposing donald trump's exaggerations and lies, and the latest allegations from laetitia jamessay that, in part, he stated the value of mar-a-lago was ten times what the actual worth, was in the exaggerated evaluation of his of the state and is also building on park avenue, new york, and you live into this with the first comment and the trump organization and his family are charged with partaking in the alleged fraud, and so help us understand why it seems so many people can get caught up in the schemes, does it seem to be a part of a bigger trend? >> look, he told us this himself in his first autobiography, the art of the deal, but he said that he believes in truthful hyperbole and at the truthful part is suspected sale east. as idea is that it's okay to exaggerate, it's okay to say that a building is 76 stories, or 66 stories, what have you, because it's part of selling the public on this idea of grandeur, of exceptionalism, and that has been his trademark throughout business. at some point, it may come up to -- but the fence that they will say in this case, it's a not harm a

for donald trump you are talking about a mounting number of investigations, you have laetitia james, the attorney general lawsuit, the civil litigation that is now pending to go before a state judge here in new york. you also have this upcoming public hearing by the january 6th select committee on capitol hill. you have the department of justice investigation to overturn the 2020 election. you have the county district in georgia investigating efforts to overturn georgia's electoral result in 2020, and for donald trump, yes, despite all of this, including the classified documents case at mar-a-lago, he is telling his supporters that essentially he is the political martyr here pushing aside the suggestion that he had done anything wrong. when you are looking at polling here. you are looking at competitive midterm races, we are 45 days away, donald trump is sticking himself in the middle of each of these races despite the investigation. take a listen to him last night. push them to the side. >> all of this torment, persecution, and oppression is not happening because anything we have do

heard these charges, in the referral of this case of the department of justice and the iris, and laetitia james a civil suit, how much of what you heard was the work that you had done back in you won the pulitzer prize? >> well the allegations were circling familiar to us. we -- as you, sad we've done 18 months of work. that work didn't look at some of the current stuff that she's looking at, but the storyline was certainly familiar. what we found when we were doing our work on that piece that ran in 2018, we found that the family had repeatedly engaged in this asset inflation where they had assets, but it was to their advantage in cases to either inflate the assets, or make them look like they were worth less money in order for financial -- for their own personal gain. that is now a threat that's carried through to her investigation. what is really, and i've had a lot of time now to read her complaints, what is just breathtaking about it is not just the number of examples, the documentation that they have, and the cooperating witnesses. in this case, it's mostly banks and insurance companies.