attorney general letitia james has accused trump of inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and made deals. in a partial summary judgment decision back in september, judge arthur engoron ruled that donald trump, his core business is, and his adult sons who run them were all liable for fraudulent asset valuation. while awaiting closing arguments and the verdict, trump on friday appealed to the limited gag orders put in place by judge engoron which prevent trump from making comments about the court staff after an appellate court ruled to keep those gag orders in place just the day before. joining me now for more, joyce vance, former u.s. attorney in alabama, professor at the university of alabama school of law, msnbc legal analyst, and a co-host of the hashtag sisters in law podcast. her greatest role for me is keeping me on track when it comes to all things legal. joyce, thanks for joining us this morning. let's start with that new york civil fraud trial. trump appealing that gag order on friday after losing a petition on thursday with the appellate court to g

is no merit to the case, and it is important to note, guys, that the new york attorney general letitia jame not the courtroom, and she is usually when the former president is, and she did tweet out after he made those remarks, that donald trump engage 234d years of fraud, and enriched himself and his family, and we have proven the massive scale of his fraud no matter how much he lies, the facts don't. as i said, this case is wrapping up with trump taking stand monday and we will wait to see if he has anything more to say when he leaves courtroom before the breaks, but guys, he has to be careful what he says to the cameras, because that gag order which he has violated twice which says that he cannot speak ill of anyone on the judge's staff is still in effect. >> thank you, brynn gingras. sara? >>> did donald trump's political rivals do enough in last night's debate to put a dent in the dominating lead over them, and is there enough time for any real change or chance for that to happen before the iowa caucus which is by the way in 39 days. today, while trump is in court, two of his rivals are

did not take the stand, and it was a dark day in the courtroom, he is also in the courtroom, and letitia jamess not expected to attend court today, and that what we are getting today before the court begins. the former president is expected to take the stand in his own defense and be the last witness for the defense monday, but today, he is a spectator, and a defendant in this case of course, and he wants to listen to testimony of an nyu professor of accounting to back up the defense's claim that trump never, you know, overinflated his, didn't break any accounting rules when it comes to the statement of conditions, and a core claim by attorney general that they inflated the value of assets to get better loans and interest ratesb and this witness is expected to say that there is never ever any intent to do so and that is one of the outstanding claims made in this courtroom. the president has to be careful with what he says outside of the courthouse, and we did not hear about the gag order, because it is remaining in effect, and he cannot speak ill of anybody of the judge's staff which he has vi

in the courtroom i could not do it today was our last day out site of making closing arguments, letitia jamescase has of concoconclude, and deutsch bank said that president and his company did nothing wrong and exper witnesses saying there was nothing wrong. and unfortunately we were dead on arrival we found fraud before we walked into the door, american people need to remember that, we spent 3 months taxpayer dollars for what i don't know, i show so letitia james could get outside and do press conferences every day, very expensive show. larry: alina habba thank you so much. >> thank you. larry: switching gears. great charles payne will come back on. and i'll vamp for 20 seconds kelse and kela take care of this, a very clever stuff, a huge day for stock market, dow jones 512. look at here is charles. we want to sell some of his book. very important. the author of new book, unbreakic inveable investors on shelves now, we have a coffee cup. >> i always bring swag. >> welcome. talk about stock market boom, k kudlow trust doing well. >> you will be at all-time high soon. this is -- first market d

to after more than 40 witnesses and 40 days of bombshell testimony, new york attorney general letitia jamesagainst former president donald trump, and his namesake company, has now entered into his final stage. on wednesday, testimony came to a close with a.g. james's office colin its final rebuttal witness, who happens to be an accounting professor, and then resting its case. the trial is now set to take a month long break, with judge arthur engoron expected to announce findings after -- january 11th. then, the fate of trump's real estate empire will rest entirely in the hands of the judge. remember, there is no jury, meaning as judge engoron, and judge engoron alone, who will determine the future of the disgraced ex president. even with a month off in the new york civil case, this is hardly a holiday break. trump's team has stayed very, very busy. on friday, the fmer president's lawyers to -- against him. that request came just 24 hours after an appeals court and -- which bars trump from commenting about the judges staff publicly. you may remember, the initial gag order came just days into

new york attorney general letitia james is shouing trump d seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. what's going on here? i thought there was all this talk that he was going to be there and charge in there and lay out his case, and not so much. >> reporter: pretty clear reversal here from the former president. in all caps, in classic trump fashion, posting today on the eve of his scheduled testimony that, "i will not be testifying on monday." his lawyer saying he's already testified once. he has no reason to speak to a judge who imposed an unconstitutional gag order, he calls it, in the case. now, look, that's not what we heard from trump's attorney a few days ago. on thursday, another one of his lawyers told reporters that, look, despite being advised by counsel not to testify again because of that gag order, trump was adamant he wanted to take the stand for a second time. take a listen to her explanation of why. >> he still wants to take the stand even though my advice is at this point you should never take the stand with a gag order. but he is so firmly against what is

but you know new york state attorney general letitia james is seeking to enter $50 million in damages ban mr. trump and the trump organization from doing any business in the state. trump's experts backfired and helped her case. >> donald trump can distract from reality, he can continue to call me names but as the judge said today it is truth. and the truth is on our side. >> the trial is in the 11th week, court is set to resume tomorrow there is no jury in the case, the judge will eventually rule on it even damages and already found him liable, he has to decide the damage in this case that's what it's really about the $2,050,000,000 that letitia james wants to stop the trump organization. that will get checked out on appeal. my prediction knowing nothing about the law. check the markets, the dow is up 15, the nasdaq is down 30 points, not much movement. still ahead kevin mccarthy says trump's campaign should not be about revenge it should be about rebuilding america, this charles hurt think that's good advice, i will ask him, exercise a not be the key to living longer it may be aging

after more than 40 witnesses and 44 days of bombshell testimony new york attorney general letitia james's 250 million dollar civil trial against former president donald trump and his namesake company has now entered into its final stage. on wednesday, testimony came to a close with his office calling the final rebuttal witness who happened to be in a county professor, and then resting its case. it is set to take a month long break after the judge issues findings after both sides present their closing arguments on january 11th. then, the fate of trump's real estate empire will rest entirely in the hands of the judge. remember, there's no jury. meaning it is the judge alone who will determine the future of the disgraced ex president. but even with a month off in the new york civil case, this is hardly a holiday break. trump's legal team is saying very, very busy. on friday, former president's lawyers asked the states highest court to rule on the gag der issue against him. that request came just 24 hours after an appeals court once again upheld the order, which watch trump commentate about t

letitia james put out a statement saying some of trump's own witnesses supported her, letitia james'e. donald trump could be cross-examined on whether he, one, agreed with those concerns expressed by his own witnesses, which would kind of be an admission against donald trump's interest, or, two, disagreed with some of his own witnesses including expert witnesses which would undercut the credibility and relight of his own witnesses. he would be in a bit of a trick bag. the second part of why i think it's a smart decision, remember, his organization, the trump organization was criminally convicted of a 15-year-long criminal spree as was allen weisselberg. donald trump could be questioned about the relationship between his valuations, his assessments, his statements of financial condition and that 15-year criminal scheme to defraud. and anything he said p under oath while being cross-examined, could be packaged up, provided to district attorney alvin bragg, and could be used to investigate any further criminal exposure trump might have in relation to the criminal scheme to defraud. >> y

letitia james's case concluded.w we had deutsche bank saying that the president and his company did nothing wrong. we had expert witnesses, leading accounting expert saying there was absolutely nothing wrong with what they did. that their complaint lacked merit. unfortunately we were dead upon arrival, larry. he found fraud before he walked in the door. the american people need to remember that we have spent three months of taxpayer dollars. for what i don't know. i don't know. it was a show letitia james could get outside to do press conferences every day. it was a very expensive show. larry: thank you very much. ace trump lawyer, thank you for coming back on stage. >> thank you. larry: we'll switch stage. alina goes off and great charles payne come on. i will vamp for 20 seconds while kelly and akila take care of that. huge day for the dow jones, closing at all sometime high. closing 5000 points and 30 cents. here is charles. we want to sell some of his book, very important, author of the new book, "unbreakable in

but first, we turn some important statements by the new york attorney general letitia james.e is also speaking about hate crimes. we're gonna show you that, new comments tonight. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ adding vraylar to an antidepressant... is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms... ...better than an antidepressant alone. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, as these may be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain, and high cholesterol may occur. movement dysfunction and restlessness are common side effects. stomach and sleep issues, dizziness, increased appetite, and fatigue are also common. side effects may not appear for several weeks. i didn't have to change my treatment. i just gave it a lift. ask a

new york attorney general letitia james responded overnight to mr. trump's decision. she said her team has already proven that trump committed years of financial fraud. she said, quote, no matter how he tries to distract from reality, the facts don't buy. the fraud trial was expected to pick back up today. but last night, the court said it will resume tomorrow instead. and the case could soon be in the judge's hands. as the prosecution does not have a rebuttal, the defense would likely rest, clearing the way for closing argument. frances? >> bree, thank you. >>> now to a courtroom in our nation's capital where rudy giuliani is set to appear for the first day of his defamation trial. a jury will decide how much the former new york city marios ruby freeman and shaye moss, two georgia election workers that he accused of manipulating ballots to keep former president donald trump out of office back in 2020. now according to the lawsuit that was filed by the mother and daughter, they have faced a torrent of death threatsand attacks that at times forced them to vacate their

you have letitia james participating in that. it is confusing what he's saying. she said that her office has proven the former president committed a massive scale of fraud. she seems to recognize there's a need to point out the fraud is not in dispute. there's something else the judge is deciding. >> nothing involving donald trump follows the standard play book. what you're seeing is a prosecutor speaking out that they don't typically. again, this is not a typical defendant. now, a prior court. this court found there is fraud. what they're deciding on in the case is what the damages will be. what the trump organization will have to pay on account of the fraud. so, again, another person with her. she's sort of correct. they found fraud. now the extent needs to be worked out. >> so trump set to take the stand next week. we anticipate fireworks? >> i think so. you know, you never know, boris, what's going to happen when someone gets in the court. eric trump was not a bad witness for his case. the former president might not be a bad witness if he sticks to what his l

new york attorney general letitia james said her office had proven he had years of fraud and unjustlynriched himself. du trump, and his sons and company, inflated the value to get better loans and insurance terms. he testified once and his attorneys advised him not to do it again. hear litman explains why. >> most dangerously, he would face cross-examination, which is rules permit a probing yes or no set of answers. that could put him in hot water to tell the truth or commit perjury. this is a case he realizes he is going to lose. >> trump vehemently denies the charges the case has raised. secondly, the presidential front-runner has been taking heat for suggesting he would use a second term to exert executive power in unprecedented ways. and for his recent comments on whether he would be a dictator. but trump is trying to reframe the narrative that he would be a threat to democracy, using familiar accusations that it's all a hoax. >> reporter: well, donald trump speaking at an event last night, doubled down on comments he made with fox news earlier in the week. he essentially said he

the rest is honey, just icing on the cake for letitia james. the other thing is this.d over again. there's no grandstanding there. there's no audience. the only person that gets a benefit is donald trump. justice engoron has made it clear. >> can i build off something katie said. judge engoron has decided to take a different tack. he was much tighter about applying the rules of evidence than he is now, largely because i think he's decided where he's going with his ruling. he doesn't want the exclusion of evidence to be another base for trump's appeal. he's letting the witnesses go on for much longer stretches on topics not related to the questions before them, which is what we wouldn't recognize as traditional behavior. it's stunning to me how much rope he's given them. but if you give trump enough rope, he eventually hangs himself. this gag order refers to two incidents, one the infamous town hall, where he said my followers hang on every word, and they used that as proof that he needed to be restrained. they quote from an affirmation from a court staff, where he reco

turned that into a campaign event, and when the judge was right there and the attorney general letitia james in the courtroom, and the judge even turned to his attorneys and said, you need the rein in your client, and so we will see if there is any new explanation of the allegations in the case. this case is about him inflating the property values to get better loan rates, and the last time he said that he did rely on the bank statements and accountants. >> and so, a big week on the way there, kara. >> indeed. happening right now, the victims of the 2021 oxford high school shooting in michigan are getting a chance to address their killer for the first time in court. lis listen. >> in my family, we can't say that we miss hannah even though we feel it in every atom of our body, because we love her too much, and the words are too hard, because if we say it out loud to each other, we have to face the fact that we miss her forever. it is not an instance to wait for her to come back, but it is the rest of our lifetime without her. >> all right. soon a judge will decide the fate of the teenage shoo

new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doinginess in the state. against his attorney's advice, he will give the final word in his defense in a high-stakes trial that could alter his real estate empire. >> still ahead -- >> even though my advice at this point, you should never take the stand with a gag order. he is firmly against what is happening in this court. >> despite his own attorney's advice not to testify, former president donald trump is preparing to take the stand in the high-stakes civil fraud trial against him and his real estate company. >> i think the case is really important for him and i think that's partly why he wants to testify. based on the evidence, based on his own history of testifying, he is not going to save the case by testifying. >> reporter: this will be the first time he is questioned by his own attorney. the last time trump testified in a case he was questioned by the new york attorney general's office. this time it will be his lawyers asking the questions and giving him, the former president, an opp

new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. he's accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties. trump's attorney told reporters that she tried to dissuade the former president from testifying again while he is under a gag order, but she claims trump insists on testifying. cnn's zachary cohen joining us now. zach, set the stage for what we might expect tomorrow. >> reporter: yeah, fred. trump's own lawyer suggesting we could hear more of the same from the former president who has gone out of his way to attack the judge, the attorney general, and the case itself in new york surrounding his business and his business dealings. last time he took the stand, we also heard trump defend his properties and his brand, suggesting for example that his mar-a-lago resort in florida was worth a billion dollars but it's important to remember the judge in this cay has also ruled that trump and his codefendants including his kids are liable in this case, so it raises the question, why is trump so adamant abo

to note here is donald trump in this statement did not actually bring up the attorney general, letitia james, or the judge in the case. he instead linked this to the other cases that he is facing and said he was actually a victim of joe biden, which there is no indication that biden's justice department has anything to do with this case. but as we have discussed time and time again, this is his way of campaigning, of going out there saying this is political. and this is also his way of trying to change the messaging about democracy and put it on joe biden, saying he's out for a political opponent. >> right. which as you just noted and i'll note again, there is no evidence that joe biden has anything to do with this case. and obviously the president's alleged law breaking has much more to do with it than anything else. kristen holmes, thanks so much. coming up next, former congresswoman liz cheney. what you have not heard her asked about her interactions with donald trump and the people who surround him and the people who have enabled him. my conversation with her, next. the power goes out an

trump is defiant, he has been trashing the state attorney general, letitia james, after every court session. rudy is doing the same. he is given to access, that is for sure. you know, i wrote a column about him in october 9th, 2019, were i advised him to stay away from trump, tuesday away from freeman and parnas, and instead he returned to the ukraine the next day, he doubles down, as you said earlier. if you told him he made a bad hire, he would give that person a raise and a promotion. if you want him not to do something, you tell him the opposite. >> river psychology would have worked. maybe telling him go ahead and defame them, that would've made him stop? talk to me. here's what i'm asking, though. walk me through that psychology. what is it, what is at the court for him? is it that he is trying to emulate the courthouse conversation to trump, as you say, or is it something about it, is it an ego that says you can't tell me what to do? i will do whatever i want? is that where it's coming from? is it something else? what? >> you alluded to it earlier, no one knows the law as well as he

in response to trump's comments, new york attorney general, letitia james, tweeted that they have already proven a massive fraud that trump has committed. this case, as you say, will continue with trump being on the stand next week as the final witness in their defense. for us, breonna? >> kara scannell, live outside of the courthouse for. thank you for that report. let's talk more about this with cnn legal analyst norm eisen. >>> norm, starting with this expert testimony that you heard there, what is your analysis of how much weight this will have? >> well, and we know experts are, sometimes, available for hire. mr. bartov is a academic who works in this field. there has been substantial testimony that the financial statements are fraudulent. to attempt to justify them defies the witnesses who have testified that they are fraudulent, the exports for the state, the judges own finding where he had already granted partial summary judgment of fraud. and, if i may say so, common sense. how can you say that an apartment that is a little more than 10,000 square feet is 30,000 square feet? i don

remember, letitia james is seeking $250 million and seeking to put this business out of business for good. i think this goes to his lawyer's argument you should not do that, that's not a good thing for the taxpayers of people of new york more broadly. i think we'll have donald trump try to lend support to the no victim, that the banks making loans were happy to make the loans. they didn't rely heavy on the numbers the trump organization submitted not only did they make the loans willingly, they got repaid and so trump will argue there are no victims here and they shouldn't be held accountable for the outstanding counts. >> we saw trump on the stand before, he was a witness for the state and during that time there were fireworks, back and forth between the judge and trump. how much do you think we'll see this time? >> we will see fireworks, i feel safe predicting that. know that the order here, the procedure is going to be reversed. because this time his own lawyers, his defense lawyers are putting him on the stand. meaning, the first thing we're going to see is direct examination, tr

new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doinginess in the state. trump's attorney told reporters that she tried to dissuade the former president from testifying again, but she says trump insists on testifying. cnn's zach cohen is joining us right now. zach, what can we expect if trump does indeed take the stand tomorrow? >> i think trump's own lawyers making clear we can expect to hear the same from trump, what we heard from him inside and outside the courtroom. this trial specifically, this trial has been very personal for trump. it is clear because it is in the state of new york, it deals -- the civil case involving his business, and also involves his children and his family and himself, obviously. we have seen trump attack the judge, the ag, you know, and court staff. take a listen to why trump's lawyer says he wants to take the stand, despite the advice of his own counsel. >> he still wants to take the stand even though my advice is at this point you should never take the stand with a gag order, but he is so firmly against wh

with all that, i would like to begin with a discuss about how donald trump's bankers blew up the letitia james, case against the former president. that is right. couple deutsche bank folks, who have been lending millions of dollars to trump and the trump organization, down through the years, absolutely destroyed the stupid left wing new york socialist attack on mr. trump. brilliant jonathan will be here later. but, in not legal terms, number of deutsche bank employees, the story, they told new york judge, they made millions of dollars from mr. trump's businesses and saw no fraud in the loans they approved, they told the judge that trump repaid his loans with interest, there was never a concern that trump defrauded the bank and unveiled a parade of e-mails going back years where bankers praise for the trumps and their businesses. bankers story goes back to 2011. that is 12 years ago, regarding renovation of the dural golf club near miami that was a success story. bankers testified that mr. trump paid off his loans, paying off the loans ahead of schedule. the co-ceo of deutsche bank testified th

not that i have -- aim an absolute critic of letitia james, the attorney general of new york state. i think she's very opportunistic, very ambitious. she killed andrew cuomo because she wanted to run for governor. she announced her candidacy the day after andrew cuomo resigned from the governorship. i think that going after trump on this basis, a landlord inflating values and so forth, this does not belong in a case of this nature. this should have been negotiated, arbitrated. they could have paid more taxes if he had to. >> he probably shoulders some of the blame of that. he probably could have worked out a deal if he were of that mind-set. but of course he doesn't think there's anything wrong with anything that he's done. >> well, i do, and i think it's unfortunate, and i think we've normalized impeachments. we've normalized criminal cases against former presidents. i think that toxic politics is where the united states is right now. people better be clear-headed about what's going to happen in november of next year. joe biden may be boring, but he certainly is a positive alternat

new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. cnn's zachary cohen joining us now. zach, what more do we know about this sudden change of heart? >> reporter: yeah, fred. clearly a reversal here from donald trump, who had seemed adamant he wanted to take the stand for a second time in this new york civil trial. now as you mentioned posting on truth social just moments ago he will not be testifying, in all caps he says, will not be testifying on monday. he goes on to continue to attack the prosecutors and the judge in this case. calling it election interference, witch hunt, some familiar terms, familiar attacks we have seen from trump, fought only in this case but in others. i want to play the sound from trump's lawyer, lena habba from the other day when she said that lawyers had advised trump not to take the stand again, but he was adamant about doing so anyway. listen to what she said to reporters just a few days ago. >> he still wants to take the stand, even though my advice is at this point, you should nev

rogue prosecutors from alvin bragg to letitia james in new york to fani willis in georgia have triedgain and again to interfere with the democratic process by forcing major presidential candidate into court, rather than bringing their cases after the election. they are trying to influence it by dragging the former president into court before it begins. each court appearance turned into a frmd circus in 2023 with intent to tarnish the reputation of a presidential candidate and handicap his ability to campaign. the amazing thing is, though the media covered trump's every move from the home to the airport, to the interstate to the back streets to the courthouse, then, when he finally decides to speak out, when they finally get what they're waiting for, this is how the coverage proceeded. >> the former president himself is making remarks tonight from his home in florida. it is just getting started. so far he is just giving his normal list of grievances. we don't consider that necessarily newsworthy and there is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things.

letitia james in new york city she's not the only civil investigation going on weathers for criminaltions let's take a look at the timeline it is filled with civil lawsuits going on. as you take a look at the timeline you can see the eeg carol defamation suit. >> this is related to the apprentice, what were trying to get to, and the universe there is the big ones. in the middle you have date after date after smaller civil courses things as well, as we were putting this together it is amazed to understand what can happen when when you go back to jack smith the reason were talking about the timeline he's asked the supreme court to weigh in on donald trump's defense team in the belief that they have immunity the supreme court has taken that up and he wants that trial to start on march 4 which is one day before super tuesday if the supreme court rules in his favor that could happen. if it doesn't gets delayed even further. >> this gives a federal appellate court to go straight from the district court to the supreme court in order to preserve this trial date before super tuesday, anything

. >> new york attorney general letitia james writing on x, donald trump engaged in years of financialraud and enriched himself and his family. we have already proven the massive kale is of his fraud. no matter how much he lies. the facts don't. the judge has already found trump libel for fraud in this civil case. the trial will determine what penalties he will face, if any. but the former president predicts the outcome won't be in his favor. >> this attorney general, who is crazed. she is a lunatic. took sits here because she knows that she has the judge no, matter all the evidence that judge is going to rule in her favor. >> an accounting expert testified for the defense today saying the attorney general's complaint has no merit. he will return to the stand tomorrow. the defense expecting to wrap after trump testifies monday. bret? >> bret: c.b., thank you. the colorado supreme court is weighing arguments heard wednesday over whether former president trump is qualified to be on that state's ballot. at issue is whether opponents can use language in the 14th amendment to label the form

interested parties, that's former president trump and his lawyers, the new york attorney general, letitia james and her team, and judge engoron himself as represented by the court system, the four judges in the appellate division in new york who heard this motion decided not only were they going to vacate the interim stay, but they were going to deny trump's motion for a longer term stay while his lawsuit against judge engoron for having imposed the gag order in the first place, which he continues to insist is unconstitutional, remains pending. for the duration of the trial, donald trump and his lawyers will remain subject to this gag order because the pending appeal or petition will not be resolved in time for the trial to end. it will end on january 11th with closing arguments. >> you know, dave, donald trump is a thug. i mean, that is just clear. he's been a thug from the time he ran for office, getting his crowds to attack protesters inside of the actual, you know, events. and he's now unleashed these attacks on people who aren't even connected to the case, just married at someone he's mad

here in new york after 44 long days, testimony ended today in new york state attorney general letitia james civil fraud trial against donald trump, his family and his business. closing arguments in that case are set for january 11th, charging judge arthur engoron, who has already ruled trump committed persistent fraud in his business dealings, is then expected to make a final decision on penalties. despite being on the receiving end of a nonstop stream of verbal of use from trump, judge engoron said at the start of court today, quote, in a strange way, i'm going to miss this trial. it has been an experience, and quote. that's putting it mildly. also making legal news today, defendant rudolph giuliani today. federal jury in the civil defamation suit filed against giuliani heard more getting testimony about the threats received by the two atlanta -- workers who were singled out by giuliani and donald trump and their lies about the 2020 election results in georgia. one message sent to one of the two women ruby freeman, read, quote, we are coming for you on your family. miss ruby, the safest pl

a number of revelations at this that indicated some of the things that letitia james focused were thingssses value assets of any type beyond real estate. yes he's not going to change his mind, the judge. where does this go? what is next? >> yeah, this has been a curious trial for that very reason, neil. how often before trial do you have a judge basically announce the decision but say let's have a trial anyways? so what the judge is focusing on here is what the remedy is. legal speak for whether there will be an award of damages, whether mr. trump will have to pay a fine, whether his business license could be suspended. figuring out what the punishment will be for the fraud this judge was found was committed. for all appearances shows no likelihood of changing his opinion on that. >> neil: amazing. tom, as are you. thanks, tom. tom dupree. meantime following the fallout from the devastating tornadoes in tennessee. nicole valdez has more. nicole? >> neil, davidson county officials pulling a 2-year-old boy from the three dead behind me. the devastate across the volunteer state very real. w

ruling came a day after testimonyrapped in the 2 1/2 month trial in new york attorney general letitia jamessuit. closing arguments are scheduled for january 11th in the case which threatens trump's real estate empire. engoron says he hopes to have a verdict by the end of january. judge engoron first issued the gag order in october after the former president made disparaging remarks against his law clerk. it was expanded to council after trump's lawyers continued attacks on her. trump has been fined twice for a total of $15,000 for violating the gag order. former trump chief of staff mark meadows is going to be back in court arguing again. this is his second tempt tattoo get his case moved. back in september a district court judge ruled he did not meet the legal burden proving the case should be removed from fulton county. this time meadows' legal team is going to make the case before a three-judge panel. meadows is invoking the 220-year-old federal removal statute which allows federal officials charged wh state crimes to transfer them to federal court if the alleged criminal behavior were c

appeal of the gag order placed on him in the civil fraud trial brought by new york attorney general letitia james, for judge panel unanimously ruling against him, writing, quote, the gravity of potential harm's small given the gag order is narrow, limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the courts staff, and quote. are you tired of all the winning it? joining us is joyce vance, former united states attorney and professor of the university of alabama law school. an msnbc legal analyst and co-host of podcast sisters in law. tim o'brien joins us as well, senior executive editor for bloomberg nation. the art of being donald. he's a host of bloomberg podcast crash course. also an msnbc political analyst. joyce, let me start with you. and rudy giuliani in this case. i have to say, there are a lot of people eager to hear rudy giuliani on the stand today because she such an interesting character. donald trump was supposed to testify on monday in his case but he decided not to. rudy giuliani was was to decide in his case, he decided not to neither of these guys lawyers can seem to control them

large that he went and spoke the words and gave his true account of the trump organization to letitia james and took it to her. at the same time he was not going to allow himself to be played anymore by what he says is a corrupt prosecution and a corrupt judge. so for donald trump, he feels like he's done what he has to do. >> he can fundraise off of it whatever he decides ultimately. give us to speed, renato on what's happening with rudy giuliani. his trial is about damages, of course. in his case a federal jury will decide how much. as we said, the jury selection has and ended. they're about to start the trial. what will they be looking at to make that decision? >> ultimately the defense here is really that at this point, almost non-existent, there's no question these women have suffered. they'll be determining, whether you're dealing with harms that are not out of pocket. it's easy if someone has been harmed, spent x number of dollars. those are the easy sorts of damages to calculated when you're looking at a receipt. it's a hard thing for a juror who is weighing these costs that you can

they are setting up for an appeal does letitia james making those speeches on the steps of the courthouseese things on tape of saying i'm going after donald trump, does that play a role legally in an appeal? >> it depends on what they appeal. certainly it shows bias. it shows political bias. it shows motive on the part of the state that raises questions of fundamental fairness, notions of justice. these kinds of issues, which i'm sure will be discussed on appeal. alicia james as you said campaigned on going after trump. actively tweeting about it. attending the trial. putting aside all her duties to sit in the front row and smile at everyone sitting there. like i said before. >> you have been there. >> a.g.s are very busy. means on the taxpayers dime. shirk everything else she has to do for the state of new york to sit there and be in the shot and do press conferences with case of donald trump. >> brian: trump says personal and politics. you have been to the court a lot. great to see you. >> thanks, brian. >> coming up straight ahead. illegal immigrant arrested in the murder of a 16-year-

the same reason why trump and his attacks on new york state attorney general, letitia, james and manhattanrney alvin bragg, rod and fulton county district attorney, fani willis, have just a little more fight than some of the things he says about everyone else. giuliani's appeal to white nationalism has now become quite costly. let's bring back david henderson and matthew doubt. david, i want to start. give me a reaction to this verdict, 100 and $48 million is a very, very costly verdict. >> it's a costly verdict, charles, and to be, honest this isn't just a win, this is one of the biggest winds i've ever heard of. when we're picking, juries one of the questions we always have to ask, is who here did not award money for the harm that i cannot show your receipt for. i cannot show you over a seat for pain. i cannot show you a receipt for suffering. people always raise their hands and say, look, if you can show me a, receipt i can give you money for it. not only did they give money, here they give 100 and $48 million. that is an epic victory. the only thing you have to acknowledge, and this go

new york attorney general letitia james brushed off trump's decision not to testify again saying, nouch he tries to distract from reality, the facts don't lie. >>> let's bring in our legal analyst, criminal defense feern danny cevallos and former manhattan district attorney katherine christian. we saw his son eric was supposed to take the stand and backed out as well. what do you make of it? >> when you're on trial, particularly the defense, you line up all your witnesses, travel them out there, put them in the hotel. but as the case goes on, it's a bit of improv. you may decide, do we get this evidence in? do we really ned this? >> the major balancing test and risk with a witness like trump is, is the risk of putting him on the stand outweighed bithe benefit? they may have, his defense team, arrived at this point and said we had really good testimony from the deutsche bank executives. maybe we like what we heard from our nyu tax expert, we don't need to put our client on the stand. i bet they let out a sigh of relief. i always thought putting trump on the stand at the end was not a

today the court is hearing from an accounting expert who described new york attorney general's letitia james' claims of fraud as meritless, saying, quote, my main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever for any accounting fraud. this is trump's first appearance since an appellate court reinstated a gag order barring him from talking about the court staff on social media. while the clerks are off limits, trump didn't waste time renewing his attacks on the judge arthur. >> a case that is absolutely 100%, there's not a judge in the country that wouldn't have given us a total victory, but there's not a judge in the country that would have even taken this case. this is a witch hunt, and a very corrupt trial. the attorney general sits here because she knows that she has a judge that no matter all the evidence, that judge is going to rule in her favor. >> joining us now is msnbc anchor, yasmin vossoughian. so tell us, what's the latest from the courtroom? >> reporter: a lot has been going on today. earlier this morning, a lot of people were asking me why the former president is here. and i

the defense and letitia james breaks their arguments of the new york civil fraud trial. the judge can announce penalties soon thereafter. on january 12th, in florida, the special counsel must disclose which expert witnesses they plan on using in trial. by the way, this is an election year, starting january 1st. on january 15th, the first in the nation iowa kolkata's they're gonna kick off the election season. on january 16th, one day later, the second case brought by the writer, e. jean carroll, against the ex president, it's gonna go to trial. finally, on january the 23rd, voters in new hampshire will cast their ballots in the states primary. that's just january. this calendar isn't set in stone. things could shift or get added. for example, if the supreme court of the united states takes up trump's appeal regarding his disqualification from the colorado ballot, his attorneys are gonna need to make time to file even more briefs than that case. you can expect to hear a lot more about that in the days ahead. a lot of people are looking for more clarity on that particular

. >> new york attorney general letitia james responding to the change in plans in a statement sayingve already proven that he committed years of financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family, adding, trump cannot distract from reality in the trial. while the trial now set to resume on tuesday with the cross-examination of defense accounting expert eli bartov. once his testimony concludes, it's expected the defense will rest. the attorney general's office plans to present a brief rebuttal case which could finish the same day. closing arguments are scheduled for january 11th and a written decision in the case could come from the judge in late january. alison kosik, abc news new york. meantime president biden will be hosting ukrainian president vladimir zelensky at the white house on tuesday. congress is in a bitter debate over providing ukraine as well as israel with billions in additional military aid. the white house says aid is a prime 8-80 and has urged congress to act swiftly. but senate republican eyes are increasingly skeptical over spending towards ukraine, sayin

state attorney general letitia james and manhattan district attorney alvin bragg and fulton county districtthen some of the things he says about anybody else. and giuliani's appeals to white nationalism has now become quite costly. let's bring back david henderson and matthew dowd. david, i want to start. just give me your reaction to this verdict. $148 million is a very, very costly verdict. >> it's a costly verdict, charles. and to be honest, this isn't just a win. this is one of the biggest winds i've ever heard of. when we are picking juries, one of the questions we always have to ask is, who here could not award money for a harem that i cannot show you our sheet for? i cannot show you a receipt for pain. i cannot show you a receipt for suffering. and people always raise their hands and say, look. you catch uninterested, by can't give you any money for it. not only they gave money here, they gave $148 million. that is an epic victory. the only thing you have to acknowledge, though, is, and this goes to your point about nationalism. it does not make up for what these two when it went thr

and so the new york attorney general, letitia james, to answer your question, jose, she's right.this case have been nonexistent, and it's definitely helped her case. >> we're entering without the former president's testimony scheduled for today, where does it head next? >> so we're going to end up having closing arguments. again, no jury, just a judge. it's a bench trial, and then we're also going to have the chance to have each side submit more arguments in terms of why if you're the new york attorney general, why justice engoron should find on your side for the remaining six counts of their original complaint, and then the justice will issue his ruling later on. there's actually a schedule that's been set forth to be able to have these dates met. a lot of the fire works are now pretty much done and over with, and we're just going to wait and see what justice engoron decides to do. >> katie phang. nice seeing you always. >>> and returning to our top story this hour, a brand new nbc news des moines register media com poll gives donald trump a commanding lead over his republican r

with respect to the fani willis, with respect to letitia james, with respect to alvin bragg, some of things are not necessarily going to fall in line. several actions may -- have something else to do and funny will sit at the state level. certainly, when you talking about jack smith, you're talking about these federal offenses, and this indictment, those are gonna be almost all but done away with if, for whatever reason, the supreme court were to decide that donald trump hadimmunity. because of his actions connecting to his responsibilities as president. >> so, interestingly, the demoatppoint justices on the colorado supreme court ted the decision by conservativesupreme court justice gorsuch. when he was a federal judge in the state. gorsuch then ruled a naturalized citizen should be kept off the presidential ballot because he didn't meet constitutional requirements, charles. is it possible the colorado justices were kind of angling for approval from the conservative justices in their 213 page decision? can the supreme court act on this case without seeming partisan? >> well, i think

new york attorney general letitia james plans to present a brief rebuttal case after bartov's testimony on this week, the 2024 race. abc news will cover the fallout from the fiery gop debate and trump, who is currently leading the polls. and the battle in congress over israel, ukraine and our border policy. tsay. plus, liz cheney appears in a sunday morning exclusive. you can watch the full interview on this week at eight this morning right here on abc seven. well, still ahead, something remarkable is happening with the redwood trees burned by the wildfires. the recovery underway showing environmental resilience. we'll explain. and we'll take you to a live look atop our roof camera looking at the bay bridge. traffic moving along nicely this morning. and you can appreciate those nice pretty green lights atop the ferry building getting into the holiday spirit. time now is 536. lisa will have your forecast in just a few minutes ...thanks to dupixent. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve