justice mershon did something very successful, which is he signaled in advance. no prison time, no conditions. i'm not going to impose on the presidency this burden you think that made a difference with? i think it made a big difference. the supreme court said in their brief ruling, quote, the burden that sentencing will impose on the president elect's responsibility is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court's stated intent to impose a sentence of unconditional discharge in light of the trial court stated intent, justice mershon wisely told the world, told the defense and told the supreme court effectively what his plan was, that it would not impose a burden. and i think that carried the day. carried the day to your point, it got to otherwise conservative votes. chief justice roberts and justice barrett barrett, being a trump appointee who voted for the rule of law, who voted to let the sentencing go forward if anyone wanted the supreme court, i think mershon comes out the winner. he gets his sentencing to go forward. the rule of law wins the day. >

and i think judge mershon saw that. but i think it is important that that that josh josh steinglass said what he said. so the public will know. and i'm so glad that judge mashon allowed. he didn't allow video, but he allowed audio so people can hear that this jury verdict stands, which is important. but all of what donald trump has done, not just on this case. remember, he attacked judge chutkan on the federal interference case on his civil fraud case. he attacked judge engoron and his law clerk. so he has throughout this whole process of his four indictments, you know, has shown disdain for the criminal justice system, the judicial system and the rule of law. and judge mershon did something very important in that decision. he also basically held out the lawyers for their behavior, which, quite frankly, could subject them to discipline by the disciplinary authorities in new york. now, both of them, i understand, are going to be the second and the third command in the department of justice if they're confirmed. yeah, but

that won't change how mershon sentences. >> mershon left himself a tiny bit of wiggle room. right.he didn't say, i promise i will sentence you. he said, i intend to sentence you, but i think it would take an awfully lot to push mershon from sentencing to unconditional discharge to lashing out with a sentence. >> gorsuch, kavanaugh, roberts. alito. yeah. they were willing to stop this. where? what's the make that argument? >> their argument would be, as a purely procedural matter. trump was still in the process of appealing based on immunity. right. we got the immunity ruling six months ago. and if you look at it a certain way, procedurally, while you're appealing on immunity as a defendant, you're entitled to a complete stay, meaning no trial, no sentencing, no nothing but the majority. and again, amy coney barrett and john roberts joined with the liberals, said, but if there's no harm, there's no harm. and that's really what carried the day here. >> so this news and then right after that, it came down to the effort to keep the special counsel's report away from public view. also t

what judge mershon is singing about his sentencing. >>> later, we are sharing the biggest stories you will not want to miss as we kick off the new year. our nightcap continues after this. after this. ♪ ♪ with so much great entertainment out there... wouldn't it be easier if you could find what you want, all in one place? my favorites. get xfinity streamsaver with netflix, apple tv+, and peacock included, for only $15 a month. >>> today judge juan merchan denied donald trump to have his hush money case dismissed. he ordered him to appear virtually or in person for sentencing on january 10th. he also said he will not put trump in jail. donald trump's team said it is a violation of presidential immunity and said there should be no sentencing. let's turn to melissa murray of nyu law school. donald trump might not be going to jail but this is not the outcome he wanted. does any of this surprise you? >> i'm not really surprised by any of this. it was always going to be an uphill battle for former future president trump to have this trial entirely vacated. judge marchand was always pretty fi

judge juan mershon explained his remarks, saying it was the only lawful sentence he couldn't producempose without encroaching on donald trump's role as president. he wished the president godspeed in his second term. the sentencing hearing marks the culmination of a historic criminal trial, the first one ever brought against a sitting or former president. because it was a state case with a verdict, donald trump could not get it stopped like the other cases against him. trump says he plans to appeal. he spoke in court and repeated his claims that the case was politically motivated. in the end, enough voters did not feel it was disqualifying, and he will be sworn in as president on january 20. caitriona: let's talk about some of the issues raised by today's developments. we are joined by a former u.s. prosecutor. thanks for being with us on bbc news. this unconditional discharge, many people have not heard of that before. how often is it handed down of a sentencing hearing? >> it is very uncommon, but this is not an ordinary case. an unconditional discharge means there was no substantiv

judge mershon has on the same day that the papers were filed he has heard from the d.a.nd trump asked if he could issue a quick decision, and he did. so now he is going to the new york state court to get appellate review, that is his right, to seek review and see if they will stop the sentencing from going forward. i wouldn't be surprised if he does not get relief from the new york courts that we will see this going to the supreme court. >> all in a matter of days before 9:00 a.m. on friday. again, an unprecedented move trying to take an issue like this to the supreme court. >> also remember that what judge mershon has also signaled is that he will not be sentencing a defendant to jail. usually a defendant would be like, great, sentence me. but it also allows donald trump to appeal. the weight appeals work is that you appeal after your sentence. so judge mershon pointed out that he will have all of his appellate rights to challenge anything and everything with respect to the underlying trial and he can try to vindicate himself. instead what he wants is to never have that

i, i don't know what else judge mershon, justice mershon could have done under the circumstances. i think he handled it with admirable restraint. and one thing is clear to me that if he hadn't entered that order on january the third, that within it indicated that he was going to give the unconditional release, and if he hung out that he was uncertain about the disposition. i'm not sure that the supreme court of the united states last evening would have chosen to punt this case. that might have been five four the other way, if, in fact, they thought that president elect trump was subject to jail time. so, yeah, it's a slap on the wrist, there's no question. but at least from the people's standpoint and from justice marchand's standpoint, they tied a ribbon around the case. >> and misty, while trump is in office, his attorneys are expected to just, you know, exhaust every legal avenue trying to continue fighting the conviction, even though there isn't a penalty here. how do you think that's going to go? where do they focus their efforts ultimately? does this go to the supreme court

justice system, the jury system was really at stake here with the sentencing, according to judge mershon, according to the prosecutor, that's why they wanted to proceed. what about the court's reputation? you know, one of the arguments here was that donald trump has damaged the judicial, the reputation of the judiciary. but the court system, by talking about witch hunts so much. and what about the reputation of the supreme court as this continuest few years. is that, rightly or wrongly, courts and judges and even specifically the supreme court, look increasingly like just another political body. we talk about who appointed the judge, which president appointed the judge as if that was a d or an r next to their name. that wasn't always the case. you know, the supreme court until not that long ago, had republican appointed justices who were fairly liberal and democratic appointed justices who were fairly conservative or at least were iconoclastic about their views and weren't necessarily as predictable as today. so you have to wonder, and i don't know, i don't want to put any, you know, put

mershon says that once the courtroom door is closed, the trial was no different from any other in the courthouse. i was in that courthouse. i got to tell you what was so extraordinary, aside from the fact that it was the former president of the united states, there is that he was being treated and in a courtroom unlike any other, not like any other defendant. when the rule of law and the criminal prosecution and the weight of your name after a jurisdiction versus is in front of you. >> yeah. and, laura, i guess when this is all said and done and you were just saying and we've all been saying we expect there not to be a, a sentence of jail time or anything like that for the president elect. but take us through the next steps. he'll be able to appeal the conviction. that process continues on even while he's president. >> oh, yes, he wants it to continue on. he does not want this title of convicted felon. he does not believe that this case should have been resurrected. according to the laws and the on the books. but remember, ever since this case even started, he said he was convicted an

but that's not because judge mershon thinks that this case is unworthy or unserious.n fact, to the contrary, if you look at what judge merchan says in that opinion and has said throughout this case, he sees this as a very serious case and a very valid charge, aggravated by the fact that, you know, thinking back that donald trump repeatedly violated the gag order and made other public comments that clearly are under the judge's skin. so i think when that moment comes today and it comes in every sentencing, when the judge pronounces sentence, i think he will say something like, i'm sentencing you to unconditional discharge. but that's largely because of your status as president elect and the fact that you're going to become president not ten days from now. but i also think the judge will deliver a tongue lashing of sorts. >> he also, of course, has to honor that. a jury was convened, impaneled and made this decision. it wasn't him on the bench alone. he has to honor that process in our american court system. paula, speaking of our court system, the supreme judicial nine

judge mershon said. there were 32 other trials going on at the same time. this was like similar to all of those. but there is a very real populating of the department of justice with criminal defense attorneys who they didn't quit when he threatened juan merchan. they didn't walk away from the case when he circulated a picture of a bat held against the head of alvin bragg. and there are instances of tragic and dear friend of this program. mr. salas had an assassin show up at her home and murder her son. there have been threats levied against judges appointed by democratic and republican presidents. and all of it is ghastly and ghoulish and horrific sign of a growing amount of people who tolerate and traffic in threats of and acts of political violence. but to see all these people go into positions of extraordinary power, i mean, to be the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, and the fbi director, and to have not only agreed with trump's imagery and dissemination of images of violence, but to have not walked away from someone who tolerates politica

we come on the air with some big breaking news, judge mershon, the judge overseeing the trump hush money case has ordered donald trump to appear for sentencing on january 10th, that is just 10 days before he is set to be inaugurated, the judge saying that regardless of his status as a future president the wheels of justice must keep turning, the judge saying the defendant has been found guilty on 34 felony counts, the significance of the fact that the verdict was handed down by a unanimous jury of defendants peers after trial cannot possibly be overstated, the sanctity of the jury verdict is a principal in our nations prudence. and that is where we start today with top former official at the department of justice and msnbc legal analyst, andrew weissmann, and at the table, msnbc political analyst, juanita tolliver. i'm still reading through this ruling, i know you are as well, what stood out to you? >> well, i think that our viewers should understand that donald trump had made a motion saying that because of presidential temporary immunity, when he will serve as president, that that mean

. >> i know judge mershon, i am glad he did this but i am also disappointed but it seems, um, performativeu are still convicted. you must come to sentencing but i am not going to sent in due. >> okay. true. [ laughter ] true, but here is the beauty. that is why i keep saying those two words. still convicted. no matter whether that, the sentencing, this is the part everyone needs to understand. that is the afterthought, that is the after action. you know? it is way after or very close to when the jury says you are guilty. that is the moment in any criminal case is when the jury of your peers says you did it and you are guilty for it. when the judge comes back and goes, okay, they found you guilty, you are guilty. i've got a range of things i do to you. all the judge is saying, okay, i will acknowledge the fact you are now coming in in a week's time as the new president of the united states. you are still convicted. i may not find you, i may not give you jail time, but you will not be able to erase what that jury did. that, by the judge saying that, it is an important piece. everybody don't

judge mershon said. there were 32 other trials going on at the same time.s was like similar to all of those. but there is a very real populating of the department of justice with criminal defense attorneys who they didn't quit when he threatened law enforcement. they didn't walk away from the case when he circulated a picture of a bat held against the head of alvin bragg. and there are instances of tragic and dear friend of this program. mr. salas had an assassin show up at her home and murder her son. there have been threats levied against judges appointed by democratic and republican presidents. and all of it is ghastly and ghoulish and horrific sign of a growing amount of people who tolerate and traffic in threats of and acts of political violence. but to see all these people go into positions of extraordinary power, i mean, to be the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, the fbi director, and to have not only agreed with trump's imagery and dissemination of images of violence, but to have not walked away from someone who tolerates political vio

judge quan mershon rejected the desire and move to delay sentencing further so does that mean it's going to happen on friday? >> that is the first. we should expect a flurry of filings this week in new york state courts. yesterday afternoon donald trump filed the first of his promised two appeals in the new york state system. one is a direct appeal basically refusing to get rid of both the indictment and the verdict, but the second is was called article 78. that's when a litigant sues somebody who is a government actor, a judge, a town mayor for example saying that person interfered with my constitutional rights and therefore they should be stopped from continuing doing what they're doing. and that appeal trump asked for an immediate halt to further trial proceedings. the only thing left to do is sentence them. count on something happening today. we don't know what time that might happen if at all, but between now and friday at 9:30 we expect a lot of action. >> we've had a flurry of developments and we will watch for more. thank you all. >>> coming up, the new trump era and the move tha

not one iota if mershone actually granted it as opposed to opposing it. now, in other news today, another former trump attorney, rudy giuliani, was found in contempt of court for a second time for continuing to defame two georgia election workers as he drags his feet on turning over the assets as the court has ordered. like you, rudy has had his life and career badly damaged by his association with trump. but unlike you, he has shown no signs of coming to his senses. what are your thoughts about that? well, rudy very much thinks he's donald. he thinks that he's above the law. he's the great, you know, former mayor of new york who took us through nine over 11, america's mayor at one point in time. he doesn't believe that the law applies to him. he made incredibly defamatory, hurtful and life altering statements about two election workers improperly, and a jury made a determination on the damages. he doesn't believe he needs to turn over anything. he lies to the court, he says about this joe dimaggio signed jersey. i have no idea. but yet there it is. as an

and i think judge mershon quite properly said no. >> the president elect could still ask an appeals courtsentencing. a delay would likely mean the case will not be closed until trump's second term ends. the judge has already signaled that trump is not likely to face any jail time. >> whether you receive several inches of snow, a half inch of sleet or a quarter inch of ice, travel will be perilous. >> next, at five, a dire and deadly storm takes aim at the eastern u.s, pummeling several states with historic levels of snow. how long that intense winter weather is expected to last? but first, a live look outside over san francisco. meteorologist rosemary oroczo will have the compl e bay dave's been very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't change. it's back. but only for a limited time. high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five ye

that sentence of unconditional discharge, locked down in judge mershon, knew exactly what he was doingd it. and donald trump, by the way, knew exactly what he was saying. and he said it. and by the way, speaking legally, this stuff, it's ridiculous. but he clearly knows what he's doing because he's going to become our 47th president. you know, notwithstanding, you know, one trial, you know, one catastrophe after another. but this is the way trump handles things. so it was totally to be expected. >> charles, just thinking of the times that we have all been on this table with different indictments being published and some speaking indictments and some not so speaking indictments of all of these. when you look back at this, what do you take away? >> i'm struck in this moment, thinking about this as an epilog to a very, very long journey with respect to this historic process of donald trump being indicted at the state level, being found liable in civil trials, being convicted of a felony, having multiple federal indictments levied against him. and on today, as we sit here, it feels like he

it wasn't mershone. >> it was a jury, a jury, just of regular people who convicted the former presidentd. >> and that is not something that simply gets undone. i think you're right to kind of recognize the moment, as well as being one in which for half the nation is reflected. in november, they found this moment inconsequential to their support for donald trump. they found the legitimate, credible allegations of january 6th to be inconsequential to their support of donald trump. and what does it say also, then, about other leaders, republican leaders mike johnson today calling it a sham for supreme court justices who suggested in their their efforts yesterday to obstruct this, to say maybe the former president doesn't need to face accountability. >> it's in these dark chapters where we really expose kind of the cultural rot within not just republican leaders, but in some sense among the american people who support the president. >> that's not to say these are these american people are bad, but they find all of these matters, all of this criminality to be inconsequential to their support

judge mershon made a point to emphasize the impact of the office of the presidency on his decision. for that election, knowing that he is a first time offender, so to speak, would he have faced a very different kind of punishment? >> 100%. i think he could have easily been looking at what we would call a split sentence, something like 30 days jail and three years probation at a minimum probation. he was convicted of 34 separate felony counts. and i was in the courtroom every day. i think there was abundant evidence. having said that, i think judge merchan did the right thing here. he threaded the needle. unconditional discharge was the only possible sentence that would survive the type of challenge that went to the supreme court. as a matter of fact, it was cited in the brief supreme court decision not to stay the sentencing. the fact that the judge telegraphed there would be an unconditional discharge. so on the one hand, and i also disagree with the narrative that there's no consequence here. i think it's a severe consequence to be a convicted felon for anyone, including a preside

. >> let's dig into that a little bit, because judge mershon talked about the fact that there are certainprotections afforded the president of the united states, but that the person that was convicted was not president donald trump. it was citizen donald trump. yet he said this is the only sentence that was sort of allowable by law. what did he mean by that? and what do you think of that? >> so i think i mean, again, i am not judge merchan, but it seemed that what he was saying is that we have to take into account that this individual who has been convicted and is now sentenced is in a week going to be taking the oath of office as the president of the united states again. so this was a conviction based on pre-presidential conduct before his first term in office, but it is actually going to have some impact on the fact that he is going to be president again. so any sentence that would be levied would have to be done in light of the fact that he is going to have substantial duties as president, and the sentence cannot impinge on that in any way, hence the unconditional discharge. so he has

mershon noted that this was the only lawful sentence that he could impose. the assistant district attorney, joshua steinglass, denounced trump's unrelenting and unsubstantiated attacks on prosecutors, the judge, their families, witnesses, jurors, and other trial participants. >> far from expressing any kind of remorse for his criminal conduct, the defendant has purposefully bred disdain for our judicial institutions and the rule of law. and he's done this to serve his own ends and to encourage others to reject the jury verdict that he finds so distasteful. >> joining us now is the democratic senator, adam schiff of california. he's a former chairman of the house intelligence committee. he served on the january 6th committee. he was also the lead impeachment manager for the first impeachment trial of donald trump. but he's doing double duty for us tonight, not just in those roles, but as a senator from california. so, senator, i do want to start with you on on what's going on in california, what you've seen. i don't live in california, and i've got dozens of

there's only a few dead enders like judge mershon here in new york, who's announced he's going to sentencemp for the so-called hush money case this friday. no jail time. he says he just wants to get one last whack at the bad boy before he's sworn in. the resistance will regroup eventually, and they'll definitely throw more than a snowball. but this presidency is about to start with a bang, so get ready and happy new year! former house speaker kevin mccarthy joins me now. should kamala harris have called in sick today? >> you know what i say a lot of bad things about kamala harris, but i'm going to say something different today. i respect what she did today. and she stood there. she said it, you know, it was tough and she was professional about it. >> so joe biden, you probably saw this behind closed doors. he's just losing it with reporters. >> yeah. he it's a sign when mentally the anger goes quick. the cussing. and look, i told you about it early on and they would attack me at the white house. kevin's lying about it. everybody would go off and. and now schumer is trying to backpedal. the

do you think if mershon had not sort of foretold what his sentence would be, that the court would still rule this way? >> that's a great question. they might have, but there were two different arguments trump was making, which is a legal one. i have other arguments to make and a practical one, which is, well, i you know, i might go to jail. and that's problematic for me to be president. and, you know, frankly, he's he's right on that, i think on that practical point, they were saying, look, the court has already said that you're not going to jail. so that practical argument doesn't make sense to the extent you still have a legal one, then have at it make your legal arguments. but your legal arguments are not triggered until you're sentenced. and the supreme court, more than anything else in the world, likes to punt and give parties opportunities to raise legal arguments in the future. so again, as a straight up, the state versus john doe issue, this was absolutely the right call. >> molly, the politics though are are what they are. and this is going to mean that when he that conviction

. >> i would give judge mershone an a for the way he's handled this. plus if he had only, i think, allowed some cameras in the courtroom because i think because he behaved in such an appropriate, judicious and evenhanded manner, the public should have seen that. >> interesting. >> yeah. yeah. >> and even today, there are a lot of restrictions on cameras in the courts in new york. so it is difficult, although some parts of a trial can be televised. but today, the sentencing, there should have been cameras in there. we should have seen in real time how measure he was and what the district attorney had to say about what this meant to the rule of law and how donald trump continued to undermine that. and frankly, they should have seen what trump had to say, too, because he once again had the same grievances. the public should have heard him say it again. >> can we just take a step back? like you and i have been on air together now for however many years, particularly for the last few years. with these legal, we call them trump legal segments. you know, trum

that is what folks saw when judge mershon sentenced the president elect in his hush money case.nce being the operative word here. that is because trump received what's called an unconditional discharge for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. again, no jail time, no probation. the only thing that really sticks is the title of convicted felon. so you can fully understand why this is rather nuts. each of the felony counts trump was convicted of is punishable by up to four years in prison, and fines of up to $5,000 for each count. again, donald trump has 34. so i'm going to let you do the math and ask yourself, who else could walk out of that courtroom unscathed? trump, slap on the wrist shines a bright light on the inequities of our justice system. and according to the macarthur justice center, more than 70% of the us jail population that is roughly 536,000 people are in pretrial detention, meaning that they have not even been convicted of a crime, just charged, unable to afford bail. yet trump. he's going to get the white house. he won't have to serve any jail time. i

but in terms of imposing the sentence of unconditional discharge, which mershone did today, that's a sentence that carries no penalty associated with it whatsoever. no fine, no jail time, not even community service or probation. judge merchan said that, look, the situation presented a number of aggravating factors, including the willfulness of donald trump's conduct and its seriousness, as well as his lack of remorse and his deliberate endangerment of the judge, the prosecutors and their families. but still, he said, the most important factor of all were the constitutional protections that are that a president is entitled to. and given that while he said very clearly that's not a mitigating factor, ordinary citizens in this country made the decision to return trump to office, and therefore, he had to take that into account that in the best interest of our country and the presidency, honoring those protections and not having a potential sentence hang over donald trump's future was important. he has now made that sentence and that conviction final with that unconditional discharge, lea

it's been a while, but you might remember a guy named juan mershon. he's the manhattan judge overseeing donald trump's trial in new york, featuring dozens of bizarre paperwork charges from a supposed crime with no victims. but after the supreme court ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution for official actions, trump asked merchan to dismiss the case altogether. naturally, the liberal manhattan judge said no. not only is he keeping the guilty verdict intact, merchan also announced that he will be sentencing trump on january 10th, less than two weeks before the inauguration, though he did make it clear that trump is not facing any jail time. in an exclusive interview with fox news digital, trump called merchan, quote, the most conflicted judge in the history of jurisprudence and said the judge is clearly working on behalf of the democrats since their other witch hunts have failed. here now with reaction are fox news legal analyst gregg jarrett and former harvard law professor alan dershowitz. gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us both.

instead, mershon absolutely minimized that. >> okay, so he appears virtually via i'll call it zoom.i don't even know what it's what it is for the court system. when you get sentenced, you have an option to say something, right? >> you just hit on what the biggest point is going to be to watch for tomorrow. any defendant at sentencing absolutely has a right to speak. almost always they do. so trump might say, i have nothing to say, your honor, or he might give us a rant. i mean, i would bet on that because, look, he's got nothing to lose. he knows he's getting sentenced to nothing. so so watch that speaks before the sentencing and goes off on the judge, which he does and did tonight. >> that won't change how merchan sentences. >> merchan left himself a tiny bit of wiggle room. right? he didn't say, i promise i will sentence you, he said, i intend to sentence you, but i think it would take an awful lot to push merchan from sentencing you to unconditional discharge, to lashing out with a sentence. >> gorsuch, kavanaugh, roberts. alito. yeah. they were willing to stop this. where? what'

the sentence was handed down by new york judge one mershon and comes less thanwo weeks before th psident-elect is set to take the oh of office as the 47th president of tnited states. the uontional discharge sentence means the president-elect will remain a convicted felon but faced no jail time for the 34 counts he was found guilty of b a jury in may. on truth social president t says he plans to appeal calling it a despicable charade that has no merit. the statement reads in pt the real jury, the amerin people, have spoken by reelecting me with a overwhelming mandate i one of the most consequenti elections in history. as the american people have seen, this cas h no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts,o law here called a highly conflicted judge, a a star wis wh i a disbarred disgraced surreal perjurer and criminal election interference. >> today the labor department released the jobs numbers for december. showing a growth of two under 56,000 jobs in the final month of 2024, up from 212,000 in november. the use also registered a december an atomic rate of 4.1%, a slight drop from the 4.2 the pr

now, john trump has made it very clear that he doesn't respect this judge, saying mershon was working really hard to try and embarrass him. marchand's ruling, however, proving that no one, even the president, is above the law, at least in this case, kyra. >> look, donald trump on one hand, there's no punishment for this. he got convicted by a duly sworn jury after a criminal trial that looked like any other criminal trial in so many ways. i was in that courtroom for some of that trial, donald trump was compelled to be there. he had to sit at the at the defense table. he had to listen to the witnesses against him, all like a regular criminal defendant. but despite the fact that there is no actual punishment, what this does, as you heard from aaron, in the words of the judge, is it cements his status as a convicted felon, not just a convicted felon, but the only convicted felon to serve as president of the united states. of course, the other trials for what many of trump's critics would argue are much more serious allegations and the classified documents case in the january 6th case, th

judge mershon is determined to honor that verdict. >> so, lisa, separate topic here. u.s.rt. but yesterday, a federal appeals court ruled the justice department can in fact release that report about president donald trump and the election interference and the documents case as well. so is this report going to see the light of the day? >> it is so at the very worst, merrick garland has to wait three more days. that's because judge cannon's original order said that her stay essentially expire three days after the court of appeals had its say. and then the court of appeals last night said something else. they said, look, if you don't like that, if you don't like the fact that we're sort of leaving in place her order for another three days, you can pose a direct appeal of that order if you want to do something sooner. and sure enough, we've seen that notice of appeal filed by the justice department. so one way or another, by sunday, merrick garland has the right to do that. unless, of course, donald trump goes to the supreme court in the interim. so i think this story is far f