todd blanche, former federal prosecutor and considered top white-collar defense attorney. n in lower manhattan expected to move on as we get closer to the arraignment. back to you. >> todd: thank you, bring in fox news contributor joe concha. i said six hours from now, it does appear trump will delay that, it could be 1:00. once he gets there, no tv, only photo. as media guy, what is your reaction to that? >> joe: we will not get full o.j. we got yesterday. they did not want cameras whatsoever. going against a radical da, of course, that request will be rejected. i wonder if alvin bragg is to win this case or embarrass the president in this situation. alvin bragg wins here either way. if he loses, he is the guy who tried to take down trump and gets a gold star for it. if he wins, stock up on the sticker tape in new york. >> ashley: i have to disagree, i feel like trump comes out on top, everyone is talking about him. and in that sense, though, what did you make of todd blanche, him bringing him on the team? >> joe: this guy can get cases dismissed. trump's numbers have gone

the other thing to know about todd blanches. his style is completely opposite of what you see from a lot of trump players. he's not blustery. he's not aggressive, thoughtful. he's a tactician, so there's going to be a real change on the legal team. big tv attorney will not see him speaking on tv, i will predict good we'll see if that prediction plays out. motions to dismiss them because that is something other. trump attorneys have said. they expect to happen pretty quickly after this. how quickly do you expect that? how does the judge see those? so that's the next big phase. usually a judge will set the deadline at the arraignment for when motions or do but usually a judge will set that deadline for a couple of months out, because what you need first is called discovery, meaning the prosecutor has to turn over all their evidence to the defense. you need some time to go through that. and just sort of formulate your motions now. if trump's team is eager, they can file those motions as early as they want, but usually you'll be tod

todd blanch stood up and spoke and said, the people just talked for ten minutes. we haven't seen discovery. he talk about michael cohen speaking on the steps of the courthouse every time he meets with prosecutor he is announces all the charges. he said that donald trump has responded forcefully, yes, he has, but he's upset, frustrated. he believes this is an injustice. the judge responded by saying we're taking this rhetoric be the language that former president trump is using seriously. blanch responded, there is free speech the investigator who worked on the first case, called the so-called zombie case, wrote a book, and he speaks publicly cohen continued to be on every news show. and mr. trump is running for election and we just received a copy of the indictment minutes ago, and he said this is really an injustice >> adam, it's katie tur. thank you so much for all the color inside the courtroom i really do feel like you brought me in there. in terms of the indictment, i know the defense says it has it. any word on how the press is going get it it was unsealed a

personality wise, todd blanche is soft spoken. he is not a podium pounder, right?meone who will stand there and wag a finger in the jury's face. he is uh, he is deliberate. he's careful. he's thoughtful not to say joe tacopina is not those things but demeanor wise. and so you won't see todd blanche. i don't think on tv. let's put it back. quit his job. yes at a big firm case he had to quit. he couldn't just say this on ice for a while. i don't know. i don't know if this is temporary or where i've quit my job for mr trump. and so how does that work out? well it didn't work out well for me, but it might work out for this lawyer and hard hard to know. but what happens to you is you get sucked into the moment and then your ego. you get this little bit of an ego infection. you're like, okay, i'm going to be defending the former president, united states, the first president in history to be indicted, and if i can exonerate him, or somehow make this go away from him. i think it's a big deal, and i think, he said, i think it's intoxicating. he literally said this was an op

personality wise, todd blanche is soft spoken. he is not a podium pounder, right? someone who will stand there and wag a finger in the jury's face. he is uh, he is deliberate. he's careful. he's thoughtful not to say joe tacopina is not those things but demeanor wise. and so you won't see todd blanche. i don't think on tv. let's put it that way. he quit his job. yes at a big firm case he had to quit. he couldn't just say this on ice for a while. i don't know . i don't know if this is temporary or where i've quit my job for mr trump. and so how does that work out? well, it didn't work out well for me, but it might work out for this lawyer is hard to know. but what happens to you? is you get sucked into the moment and then your ego. you get this little bit of an ego infection. you're like, okay, i'm going to be defending the former president. united states, the first president in history to be indicted, and if i can exonerate him, or somehow make this go away from him. i think it's a big deal, and i literally said, i think it's intoxicating, literally said this was a

todd blanch, what he was successful at with paul manafort in those cases was essentially pushing the questions of the legal basis for them, right. so both of these men ended up doing time, but he was successful, todd blanch, in mitigating those circumstances to a great deal and basically on legal arguments and that i think is where you are going to see him pushing here when we get to the motions which can be drawn out. but the question of whether or not this should be dismissed i would expect is going to be a very forceful argument he's going to make here as you look at this team. he is now clearly in the number one spot now that this is an extraordinarily serious situation. but in terms of real quick, gillian, to 2024, a lot between now and then that is going to transpire. so this is really just chapter one here in this story that will be quite fascinating to watch over the next several months. >> john: on the idea of a motion to dismiss, any defense attorney worth their salt always has a motion to dismiss at a hearing like this. i expect it's not something the judge would grant and

you know, todd blanche, actually, and you've worked with him. previously he was just added, what does it say to you that he was added to the legal team yesterday, taking this seriously , maybe belatedly, but he's definitely taking it seriously. todd blanche. is an experienced prosecutor. he knows his way around this area. we're sitting right now. he and i were colleagues together at the southern district of new york two buildings down that way, along with alvin bragg. let's note the current d a. he knows his way around the courtroom, and he's i think, perhaps a needed contrast with what we've seen so far from donald trump's team in that todd blanche is not a bombastic he is not going to pound the podium. he is focused his careful he's really soft spoken, if anythingand so perhaps this will bring some balance and some little more substance to trump's legal team, which is pretty unusual for trump to pick us up. good tasting lawyers represented people in trump's orbit as well. paul manafort as an example of that. when it comes to all of this, you k

what do you make of the hiring of todd blanche? we know joe tacopina has been hired to represent him and another woman also on the team. why add somebody at this point? >> it makes sense. we talked a lot about the witnesses because that is sort of the information that we have in front of us. so a lot of talk about stormy daniels and michael cohen and other people that might feature in this. at the end of the day, it's a documents case, a business records case. a documents case. we're talking now about a new lawyer on the trump team that has a lot of experience in how white collar defense cases work. those tend to be document intensive cases. he's got a lot of experience in that. it seems to me that this is a case that you probably want to do your best to try to win without it ever going to trial. they have i think immense reasons legally to try to get this case dismissed, whether it's on the statute of limitations grounds, on the question whether bragg has the jurisdiction to incorporate a federal campaign finance charge in to his

this is todd blanch and joe tacopina. i am not sure if we have a camera there. >> we can see it. >> i am trying. hold on one moment. . we are trying to listen in. joe tacopina, attorney for former president trump, is speaking to a gaggle of reporters, trying to get our microphone there. >> it's not a good day. it's not a bad day. i don't expect -- i don't expect this to happen. in this country, you don't expect this to happen to somebody who was the president of the united states. and on the one hand, on the one hand, there is not really any surprises. i know there was a lot of talk over the past several weeks, the past several days about what is in this indictment and what's going to be there that we don't know. there must be something besides what we have been talking about for the past four, five years. there wasn't. there was nothing. the indictment itself is boilerplate. it doesn't allege any federal crime, any state crime violated. it doesn't allege what the false statement is. and it's really disappointing. it's sa

. >> i understand boris epshteyn is also represented by todd blanche was part of -- >> part of how todd blanche was brought into the legal team is because he is friendly with boris epshteyn and representing him. >> boris also goes back to the russia investigation which is where we first met him, in connection with the russia investigation. also under scrutiny. not accused of anything officially, wasn't facing any charges but he was in that orbit, people investigating were looking at. >> i want to bring in her senior investigative correspondent catherine herridge was been talking to her sources. >> heading into the arraignment this week one of the trump attorneys representing the former president and the classified documents case, he told cbs news the legal team anticipated there may be what they described as a fatal flaw in the charges that may be brought today. they were focused on what we heard rikki talk about and others, this intent to defraud. he made the point to cbs news, intent of fraud must show more than just intent to deceive, it must also show there isn't tend to deny an ind

he'll be doing that tomorrow in a manhattan court, todd blanche will be the new lead counsel in the manhattan district attorney case. in years past, mr blanches represented trump campaign manager paul manafort, as well as igor fruman, a former rudy giuliani associate here to discuss cnn legal analyst jennifer rogers, a former federal prosecutor and lecturer at columbia university school law, also with us charlie savage , national security and legal reporter for the new york times. jennifer this new hire comes amid criticism that a current trump attorney, joe tacopina, has a conflict of interest because as a legal pundit, he previously speculated that trump's affair with stormy daniels likely happened. do you think that this move with mr blanche is related to that? i don't think so, jake because joe tacopina says he didn't actually get any confidential information from stormy daniels, in which case there wouldn't really be a conflict here. it may be that the former president is unhappy with the fact that those comments pencil tacopina were made and we had all those side by side tv segments abo

that new attorney is todd blanche. we know this because he left his legal firm to go and represent trump. he is reported to be a top attorney. formidable he has a stellar reputation among other attorneys that you've spoken with, but it's notable because the attorney you've been here and talk about this on television has been joe tacopina. as of yesterday. he was the one on television. but there has been some infighting in the legal team and even another trump attorney because he does have several of them right now, given the number of investigations facing him, tim parla tory was on cnn with you on friday when i asked pretty straightforward question whether tacopina was the right attorney to take this case to trial. he hedged a bit and noted, of course, susan necklace the other attorney who is on this case, but now they've added time, blanche. to that legal team. we are told joe tacopina does still remain on the team, and we'll be there tomorrow. um but i do think it does give you an indication, jake that they are taki

todd blanche of veteran of the criminal defense bar and a former federal prosecutor to his legal team yesterday. we expect him to be in court today and to be by donald trump's side now todd blanche is someone who has represented people in trump's circle before he's represented. paul manafort, trump's former campaign adviser , in a case against the manhattan district attorney's office, someone who is familiar to trump's orbit in in that sense. um, and of course, trump also is represented by susan necklace. she's a veteran criminal defense lawyer in new york, who practices a lot in this courthouse, and she represented the trump organization entities when they went on trial this past fall for the tax fraud charges. those entities were convicted. but you know, we're expecting this to really pick up around here as we get closer to the former president's arrival is expected to depart trump tower this afternoon and then come here to begin this historic moment. kate and karen as i mentioned the judges decided against any live broadcast of the court proceedings. what was his reasoning? um ther

we understand his new lead counsel, todd blanche. now some say blanche was hired to sideline joke. tacopina who in recent years had said that this was a terrible case for trump and trump. it was bad right and now is defending him, tacopina said, though i will be the lead trial lawyer when the bell rings. so what do you think this says about the trump team, so i think the addition of todd blanche is interesting because he also represented mr manafort when evans brought charges against mr manafort and that case resulted in ultimately in a dismissal for double jeopardy reasons. and so that was successful legally. i think trump is looking at that because he has several legal arguments he's going to make here like the statute of limitations has run or that if it's falsifying a business record based on a federal felony, and that's the bump up that we've been talking about for a week. you know that's the charge. we think that that might be charged. there are some that argue that that legal has legal issues that are have not been tested. i think trump is looking to todd blanche to be the o

todd blanche is the new attorney . he was a longtime federal prosecutor.we were colleagues together at the southern district of new york and exceptional prosecutor. he was in charge of the violent crime and gangs unit here in manhattan . he then went up to white plains, where he was in charge of the whole office there, which does every kind of crime this is the kind of lawyer that you hire. if you are taking it very, very seriously. i also should note caitlin todd blanche and alvin bragg, the manhattan d a. r contemporaries at the southern district of new york. we all all three of us were there at the same time. i was a year or so ahead of those guys. but they started essentially within six months or a year of one another. so they know one another. very very well. that does not mean alvin bragg is going to do any favors. for todd blanche. we have a way of running into one another, and we all play it straight. but it's going to mean he's somebody who has some sort of inherent credibility. so i think it's a move that you make if you're getting ready to fight

his defense team, todd blanche. this is specifically for the manhattan district attorney's probe into these hush money payments. what is you know him? well, so tell me what you know about him and what it means, potentially for joe tacopina and someone else who had been leading this defense. blanche is really an outstanding lawyer. he's the real deal. i worked with him at the federal prosecutor's office, the southern district of new york. we overlap for about six years. he was in charge of the violent crime and gangs unit and then he moved up to be one of the leaders of our white plains unit, where he would have handled everything, including financial crimes. corporate crimes like we have here, i should add one other person who was there with us at the same time was alvin. brad, the d a. so they know each other, too. so let's keep that in mind. what does this mean for joe tacopina? i'm not sure. but usually in a case like this. you only want one quarterback at a time in football, and i think the same would go here fo

this new attorney todd blanch is going to join tacapino and other lawyers to be what they are callingional fire power to the trump legal team. he is the guy who successfully got paul manafort's case dismissed in the same courthouse. now they are saying from this report that you were talking about the michael its cough. the reason he is saying they were pumped up to a class e felony. still a felony even though it's the lowest level of felonies here in new york. they are saying because bragg says that trump was intending to conceal another underlying crime we will learn what that is when they become unsealed: >> steve: he did get the paul manafort case dismissed that was after he was actually found guilty in federal court. many successfully hey, you can't have double jeopardy in the united states of america. they go yep, you are right cope in mind alvin bragg when he was running for d.a. here in new york city in manhattan he campaigned on i'm going after donald trump. you know what? looks like he is trying to deliver on that campaign promise. >> this is politics he ran and before taking

hiring todd blanche, a former assistant u.s. attorney here in the southern district of new york to join his team with joe tacopina and susan necklace. it's tough to see. we have buses blocking our view. you can probably see better than me looking at the live cameras of the president's motorcade coming from la guardia here to trump tower. i'll ask you, neil, what are you seeing right now? >> he is heading south on fdr drive on the east side of manhattan. what i find remarkable, nate, as i look at this, that entire pathway going on the f.d.r. and heading south if you follow it to the end, the traffic is cleared for him. so again, we are watching as he moves south and eventually take a right to go in to midtown. again, where you are. but it is a reminder that you're dealing with a former president of the united states. the better part of valor was to clear the traffic just as we are told they're intending on doing in lower manhattan. this goes down with the a rainment tomorrow. thanks, nate. the president expects to make this a qui

that's what i would not expect >> he has a new lawyer we may see todd blanche today? >> absolutely. arraignment is going to be quick, i would expect. there may be arguments about bail conditions. at an arraignment, the judge wants to make sure the defendant has had an opportunity to read and understand the charges, that's why there might be a delay. if this is not unsealed until the defendant is in the courtroom, you could imagine taking a pause so his defense lawyers and he can read everything the second is an issue of bail he will be released. the judge may say something about what he can and cannot do. for instance, attacking the wife of the dc.a. or trying to incit violence, including the d.a., the staff, anybody else. you don't want somebody who is a defendant out on bail doing that there is a very good legal team in place, and a new member as of yesterday. >> andrea? >> picking up on that point, chuck, let's talk about whether it's likely that judge merchan would impose a gag order we have seen in the past this exact thing happen with previous trump allies in the federal court

todd blanche. he represented paul manafort, someone who yo prosecuted.l us, if anything, about the trump defense? >> well, a lawyer representing paul manafort in the state case, where the state brought charge after paul manafort, was pardoned that, pardon only works at the federal level, to see if there could be stat charges. any was successful in arguing that it would violat the state double jeopard rules. so you can understand why he is being added. i hav to say that the main lawyer, susan nicholas, who was a very key player in the trum organization trials, is a very experienced and very wel respected defense lawyer between those two, you actuall have a very good team. it is not the usual suspects that we have seen in other circumstances. and i know that they both have very good reputations with the da' office and a good workin relationship, which is the way it should be. and very often is. in the so-called white collar cases, where prosecutor and defense lawyers get along. just one quick thing about the delay. it is really importan for people to under

joe tacopina, todd blanche and susan necklace there speaking, we kind of got the tail end of what wasng on there. but i can tell you that we're trying to get into the mind of what was going through president trump's mind former president trump's mind during today's court hearing, he said earlier that the president is frustrated and upset. about having to go through this set outside and there's not a good day. i don't expect this to happen in this country. you don't expect this to happen to somebody who was the president of the united states that was from todd blanche, new lead attorney on president trump trump's team trying to give us some insight into the president's mindset shortly after he is a parent in court this morning as you look alive pictures of the ex president's motorcade heading to the airport right now to make his journey back to florida questions there from the reporters at the end, we're about the things that former president trump has posted truth social. these are things attacking day alvin bragg as well, even the judge in this case, one merchant and saying that this

i wonder what you make of the fact he hired todd blanche it yesterday, 24 urs behind the case.t does it tell you? >> he's gearing up for war. when you bring someone like him at the end, who has had successes like he has, the expectation you are making the team sharper. that is what you bring them in. he's gearing up for a war with the manhattan d.a.. a public opinion war every cable network and most broadcast channels will tune into nearly every day. >> while we areatching these pictures from the manhattan courtroom, that is just outside the courtroom, waiting f donald trump to emerge, we should probably set out for people watching the timings of what we will get. we will not have a trial this spring, are we? >> i don't think so. that would be ridiculously fast for something like this. a year from now if we are lucky. these angstan be delayed because the defendant has a right to a fair trial. generally if they want a delay, they will get it. i expect them to file motions challenging the entire indictment on various grounds under the law. i don't think he will succeed. it will c

trying to try to cut you losses and make a deal and the like >> well, one of the problems with todd blanchently has all the power o every trump lawyer previously. here's a guy who is coming fro manhattan's oldest law firm, and he is now representing a client who since this gu joined the team has attacked again the district attorney' wife, district attorney, and the judge. and dan horowitz, so, we saw absolutely no change in donald trump's behavior with th addition of a lawyer, you woul presume would only join a case like this after getting promise from donald trump. that he will stop attacking th district attorney's wife >> yeah. i mean i think that is a excellent point, florence, but i also want to pick up and wen indra neal were saying you have got to consummate professionals who specialize i representing the taipei, executives who are in the same kind of trouble that donal trump is in. these are both lawyers who are not afraid to speak their mind bluntly with their clients, an they will tell their clients you cannot do this if you want to succeed in the courtroom, because as andrew ordea

as you mentioned, they actually added a new member to their team in the 11th hour here, lawyer todd blanche, who, according to a biography from the firm that he just left in order to join trump's team in a bio removed from the website says he has represented clients who have faced grand jury subpoenas, criminal charges, regulatory inquiries and actions and internal investigations. he spent nine years as a prosecutor in the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of new york. so, clearly a power player they're adding as they go into what is expected to be an intense legal battle here, jose. >> well, we mentioned no cameras in the courtroom so we know there will be some still photographs that are allowed before the hearing talk to us about what the rules are for today's arraignment and what did the judge weigh in setting those rules? >> it is all about maintaining a fair trial for the defendant, whether the defendant is the former president of the united states or someone far less -- far less -- it is all about maintaining decorum in the courtroom. the general rule is you don't get c

appeared on television frequently on the former president's behalf as well as susan challes and todd blancher just added to the trump team within the last 24 hours. he has pleaded not guilty, by the way, not surprisingly, eamon. >> that is correct there are also some political aides in the room. i saw boris epshteyn and also jason miller, political aides to the former president with him as he walked into the courtroom so some familiar faces and then at least one new face here on the president's legal team as he expands his team that's going to be defending this case and potentially we'll see about any others that might come to fruition and what he wants to do with legal teams in those cases as well. but the president clearly burning through some hourly billing fees here with his legal team you can see why they are sending out that email solicitation for fund-raising. >> and of course we're showing this on your screen as well, that trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. any sense, and i ask this realizing the entire situation, eamon is unprecedented a

todd blanche, very experienced, white collar defense attorney is being added to the team. some people have asked what that means for joe tacopina because he has been the most forward facing member of the defense team says he's still on the team. he expects to be the lead attorney during tomorrow's hearing. some other people suggested that will be bland will be the lead attorney . but look that the other attorney on this susan necklace she is the one who's been signing all the things that have been going to the judges, so we'll see who is the quote unquote lead attorney tomorrow, anderson, but it's not surprising that it's adding to his legal team. as these legal threats continue to mount thanks very much. our team tonight is cnn chief correspondent kaylin collins and senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor elie honig, cnn political commentators david urban and van jones and cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst john miller. katelyn polantz start with you. what's your sense of how the former president is thinking about this? he didn't really spend th

he's kind of ramped up his legal team and adding a federal prosecutor to the defense team named todd blanch and worked as a federal prosecutor in new york. >> real quick, john, looks fairly quiet outside of trump tower there. reporter: many, many more reporters here than just about anybody. not many protesters at all. >> john carl, thank you very much. report>>> the national weather e warning in is a level four out of five for life threatening tornadoes yet again striking some of the areas still reeling from the deadly tornadoes in the last several dais. more than 08 confirmed -- 80 confirms tornadod across 14 states and 32 people killed and awful images tonight and this tornado spinning across the road in harper laneowa. little rock -- harper, iowa. little rock neighborhood devastated we ef3 tornado and winds up to 65 miles an hour and ginning service connected standing by in the -- ginger is standerring by in the storm sentedder on the timing of the storm. >> tonight millions bracing for a new tornado outbreak after more than 80 confirmed twisters in the last 72 hours. >> tornado is right

. >> reporter: and ahead of a possible trial, trump has now added a new lawyer to his ranks, todd blanche defense lawyer who once represented former trump campaign manager paul manafort and a rudy giuliani associate. norah. >> robert costa, thank you very much. >>> the unprecedented nature of the trump indictment has the nypd, one of the world's largest police departments, out in full force. cbs's jeff pegues reports federal and state law enforcement are also on hand. >> reporter: with the former president's arrival here in new york, the city is on high alert tonight. trump tower, the 58-story building in the heart of one of the world's most famous avenues, is all but surrounded by security barricades, swamped by police and secret service. police tell us there are no specific or credible threats, but they are prepared for violence. there are about 35,000 police officers in uniform in the city right now, ready to deploy if there are problems. >> there may be some rabble rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow.agis clear an. ntrol yourselves >> reporter: investigato from the fbi,

well, it's interesting anderson because the new attorney, todd blanche, is billing himself as the new lead counsel, which, of course is the is what joe tacopina has been telling us. he is, but if you look at kind of the merry go around of lawyers around trump, you know you start with joe tacopina, lead counsel in this case, at least until today. uh but there's interesting history and conflict here. so that takes us to another key trump friend and supporter, former new york police commissioner bernard kerik. who actually was defended by tacopina when he was indicted on tax evasion and other federal charges. he ended up suing tacopina. claiming that tacopina went behind his back and met with federal prosecutors five times and gave information on him to them without disclosing it. he also went to the bar association, but also he did time, right? yeah, he did. he ended up pleading guilty and did four years to bring that complaint against tacopina commissioner kerik hired a lawyer. 10 parla tour. now, as you probably all know, from watching this show, tim parla tour is a current trump lawy

he could also defend the former president on tv, but todd blanche brings a lot of experience and white collar cases. it's unclear right now who is going to be the quote unquote lead attorney tells me he expects to be the lead other people suggesting todd blanche will be the lead. but look, i think a lot of that, just behind the scenes jockeying and ultimately, there's plenty of room to defend the president not only in court today but also in the court of public opinion. so much. we're going to learn and said that courtroom especially it's good to see paula. thank you, john. okay. donald trump, not only the first former president ever to be arraigned, he is also the first former president ever to be arraigned who is running to be president again. so the new cnn poll finds that 60% of voters approve of the decision to indict trump, but a majority also says that the indictment is political cnn political director david chalian is with us now. so great to see you here. so what we're going to see today legal proceeding. campaign opportunity or both. both there's no doubt about that , john. a

added to his legal team, that we learned he added to his legal team is on his left, our right, todd blanch, a former u.s., assistant u.s. attorney from the southern district of new york with experience in white collar defense. the three of them, obviously, representing the former president here at arraignment that has now been going on for more than 30 minutes. cheryl: lydia, i just want to kind of bring in -- we're getting some more information now, again, as we are waiting to see if president trump is going to the walk out of that court where he walked in, he will walk out, is he going to speak. i want to reiterate what we know right now, and that is these 34 felony counts. and, again, no mug hot, no handcuffs. that was the, obviously, negotiated by his lawyer, joe tacopina, as well as fingerprinting. thank you for that information as well, lydia. we're also seeing, our colleagues at "the wall street journal" are reporting that basically -- because the indictment has been unsealed, to be clear, everybody. the indictment has been unsealed. but basically the prosecutors in this indictment,

. >> reporter: i have a possible trial, trump has now added a new lawyer to his ranks, todd blanche,an criminal defense lawyer who once were presented former trump campaign manager paul manafort and a rudy giuliani associate. >> norah: robert costa, thank you very much. the unprecedented nature of the trump indictment has the nypd, one of the world's largest police departments come out in fu for. cbs's reports sit as onigh alert tonight. trump tower, the 58 story building the heart of one of th. cates, swamped by police and secret service. police tell us there are no specific or credible threats but they are prepared for violence. 35,000 police officers in uniform in this city right now ready to deploy if there are problems. >> there may be some rabble-rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow. our message is clear and simple. control yourselves. >> reporter: investors from the fbi nypd and secret service are going through social media for any possible plots similar to the january 6th attack. they are seeing calls for violence start to government officials including manhatta

meanwhile, trump is expanding his legal team hiring todd blanche, a former federal prosecutor and white collar defense attorney. and it appears d. a alvin bragg also believes that there won't be a gag order in this case. bragged, though, is planning a news conference after the arraignment later today, andrew thank you will bring you live coverage of today's events streaming on abc news live and the abc news app. just days after a deadly tornado outbreak 65 million americans from texas to the midwest are on alert for more severe weather today. the outbreak over the weekend was the biggest in three years. arkansas is among the areas that could get hit again. tornadoes have already killed 63 people in the u. s. this year, there was one bright spot amid the scattered debris in arkansas woman was reunited with a family heirloom. a picture was posted online in a relative recognized it we'll check today's forecast in just a few moments of fierce political battle has erupted in tennessee after last week's deadly school shooting in nashville. parents and students have been protesting they are de

todd blanche, who specializes in white collar crime, a new york grand juries. historic indictment against mr trump is the first ever against a former u. s president illegally. the fact that he's a former president doesn't have any relevance where we i'm not talking about something he did while he was president. u c. berkeley law professor dan farber says this will be different with the judge and both legal teams facing some big challenges. the fact that he's so high profile, uh, makes things difficult in some ways, former trump associate michael cohen has said mr trump's secretly repaid him for giving $130,000 in hush money to adult film star stormy daniels after she threatened to go public with an affair. mr trump denied the affair during the 2016 presidential campaign. i think the biggest issue is going to be uh, probably about intent. uh did he intend to falsify documents? did he intend to mislead farmer says one big challenge will be selecting jurors are going to have to work hard to find jurors who are unbiased. some trump loyalists, including congresswoma

todd blanche, previously represented paul manafort trump insider who has, you know went to prison for federal charges, he managed to keep it from becoming and echoed state charge and susan necklace worked on that tax fraud case in which trump cfo went off to jail. just some of the faces. there may be many, many more as this case moves forward over what could be a very long time. alison tom. thank you very much. let's bring back my panel now. joey let's talk. we'll all of us. let's talk about these two attorneys who are on the trump team, and they are night and day appears so. todd black, who's from this white shoe law firm procedures law firm and then there's joe tacopina, who's more of a i guess street fighter cable news fixture and today we just saw it in stark relief first, todd blanche came out and was talking to the press. and then joe tacopina kind of jumped in like , let me handle this. so here was that moment. there's nothing else to say. except the district attorney. this this this office has existed for decades and decades and you have you can find one. if you'd like. you wi

but he talked to you about this new attorney, todd blanche, that was just added to the legal team forhis probe specifically yesterday. what does it mean for joe tacopina, the other attorney that we've seen publicly talking about this case? there was a lot of questions from your interview with tim harlot or the other attorney about whether tacopina has a conflict. it's of interest here and i asked has tacopina been sidelined, he said. he said. joe is a great lawyer. he's got a trial coming up in two weeks, and it needs to focus on that. and he is representing former president trump in this battery and defamation trial, brought by the former magazine columnist eugene carroll has been winding through the courts for years and is now actually coming to a head. that will be a civil trial just down the street in about two weeks time. so he says that that is really the focus of tacopina. he was brought in to represent trump in that case. just in the past several months. so that is now also coming to a head. you kind of have both of these major cases colliding and i think it speaks also to the

, who is a top todd blanch, who is a top criminal defence lawyer., being told the suggestion that, at least, is that blanch is a more courtroom presence, while tacopina will perhaps take the pubuc tacopina will perhaps take the public approach of giving reaction after this hearing . and reaction after this hearing. and in addition to that, we've been told that the former president will plead not guilty, according to his legal quote, very unquote . so clearly that message is already being delivered. but just to update you that the in this particular case, judge one mccutcheon has said no phones, no digital , mccutcheon has said no phones, no digital, no cameras in the court, although reporters will be allowed to gather in the hallway outside before that arraignment begins. hallway outside before that arraignment begins . so clearly arraignment begins. so clearly that's going to , i think, the that's going to, i think, the place to be. and again, security , because the former president will have his secret service security detail with him as well. so

trump hired former new york press -- federal prosecutor todd blanche, and dutch who represented paul manafort for his unprecedented court appearance tuesday. estate judge is affected to unseal the indictment charging mr. trump of multiple business fraud violations related to a hush-money payments in 2016 to adult film star stormy daniels, one of former president's supporters in congress is often scott -- is austin scott. he was on abc last night. >> i think it is all about a booking photo for president trump. they want to embarrass him. create problems for him in the republican party in the next election. . that is what i believe the issue is here. i think once he goes to court the president's lawyers were very quickly prove these charges should have never been brought. the democratic party will have what they wanted, a booking photo of donald trump. that will be embarrassing for him. you know, that is what all of this is about. even a significant portion of democrats believe this is about politics, not about the law. >> right now former president trump appears to be the top contende

as we know, there is a new member of the legal team — todd blanche.we refer to as a white shoe leather law firm which specialises in these kind of white—collar crimes, no doubt trying to beef up his legal team ahead of what will be tomorrow's arrangement. that is the process where donald trump will show up at the courthouse. he will have the charges read out to him because we don't know what exactly he has been charged with. we do know that it does relate to hush money that was paid to the former adult film star stormy daniels. before that, he will have to arrive a little bit early and he will have his rights read to him. he will be fingerprinted. we don't know whether they will be mugshots. we have also heard in the last half hour or so that cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom but photographers will be allowed to take a few pictures before it starts and this is the moment where donald trump is able to enter a plea. up trump is able to enter a plea. up until now he has denied all of the allegations. we don't know yet what the exact charges ar

todd blanche successfully defend a former trump campaign chairman paul manafort joined trumps criminal defense team yesterday. he successfully defended man a fort from fraud indictment. meanwhile, trump is accusing alvin bragg of illegally leaking details about his leaking to the press. alvin bragg should do the honorable thing and indict him so. and stepped up security at trump tower and lower manhattan courthouse to prepare for today's indictment, ashley, todd. >> todd: 321 thank you very much. new york county sheriff who previously served as the county's d.a. richard, great to have you here. hornbrook did a good job setting the table for us. do you anticipate surprises today? >> well there's a lot of rumors there is only one felony. but very quick proceeding to read them of his rights, and people answering they are ready for trial and the defense will weigh what we call former indictment. so not every trial will be read. the judge will do 1-2-5 this and that. how do you plead? and then a plea of not guilty. it will be a circus. i don't think we seen anything like this since o.j. sim

president has now just hired somebody to head up a new person to head up his legal team, apparently, todd blanchted white collar criminal, i don't know if you have any other info you could share with us about him. >> he's a great pick for president trump. he works for one of the oldest and top firms in america, former prosecutor, and represented paul manafort and did an excellent job there. he is a great pick by president trump. >> gillian: you mentioned -- so it sounds like he's maybe the right guy for the job. do you know any indication why the president decides to add to the leadership now? it seems kind of late. >> well, i mean, i think before you were trying to fend off an indictment. this manhattan d.a., soros' backed d.a. decided to move forward with a political prosecution against president trump. remember, the prior manhattan d.a. declined these charges, the manhattan u.s. attorney's office declined the charges, the federal election commission declined the charges, even alvin bragg when he worked for the new york attorney general's office pushed the prior d.a. to decline the charges and

and when those three defense attorneys came out, including the newest member of the team, todd blanche, who spoke first as you saw when he came out and he was speaking there with reporters. excuse me, jake. obviously we're sitting right outside the courthouse. it's a little bit loud over here. blanche came out and he was arguing that he believed it was boilerplate language in this indictment that nothing really surprised him. but the conversation quickly turned into questions to those attorneys to the four presidents, social media posts about this case, which we know they spent time on with the judge there in the room behind closed doors because trump is posted in recent days about the judge himself claiming in all caps, letters that he hates him criticizing, of course of how he presided over alan weiss dahlberg case that was the chief financial officer for the trump organization. he is also obviously gone after the district attorney in this case, alvin bragg, calling him an animal, calling him a racist attacking him at length. and also there was the question about that post that trump

trump has bolstered legal team hiring former federal prosecutor and top white collar crime attorney todd blanch. he successfully defended paul manafort trump's former campaign manager getting state charges dropped in a case he argued was politically motivated. tomorrow morning the former president is expected to leave trump tower at 11:00 a.m. and arrive at the manhattan criminal courthouse. sources say he will be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken no. handcuffs. he will then be walked to a courtroom on the 15th floor for his 2:15 arraignment. trump will be read his charges. presumably plead not guilty and be released on his own recognizance. arriving back in florida to deliver a "primetime" speech at 8:15 indictment geared towards him and political persecution. he recognizes the moment. really scary moment for the country. >> a new poll finds 50% of the americans approve of the indictment. 76 % of americans saying politics played a role in the decision to indict the former president. >> ahead of tomorrow's arraignment the nypd commissioner is urging new yorkers to take public transportat

now swiftly beefing up the legal team he tapped a new former federal prosecutor as lead counsel todd blanchlead his lawyers on this new york case we know that's new because that lawyer actually recently left his firm e-mailing colleagues. he decided to "represent trump in the recently charged da case" while news of that recent charging famously broke on thursday so the e-mail sounds like it was written since then trump's lawyers are also asking the judge to bar cameras from the courtroom tomorrow now that does continue the usual practice in new york it also serves as reminder that while donald trump claims to welcome any and all publicity and his team tried to do their version of publicity during the day today, the claim that they welcome all publicity as a posture is false mr. trump prizes the images he can control and he thinks show him in control while tomorrow the idea, the prospect of one photographer capturing one possible image of him in this process under the legal and literal custody of others following rules did he not set in court, that's an image he is trying to prevent. so, aga

you then quickly hired todd blanche who is a very prominent white-collar attorney.d in and who >> what i think it was surprise to the trump team in the former president. it was a thought that the grand jury was at a take this pause and then the indictment was announced. again, we will see what is inside. but the interesting thing about this is a potential gag order in the constitutionality of that. and whether a judge can order them of us sitting candidate who is running for president. to talk about this case. and how that will play out i think that is the reason that additional attorney was tired and a fresh mma grounds. let me just pull back, this is historic because it is the first time a form of sitting presidents has been charged. but also if you look at donald trump as a person -- he for four decades has been under investigation one way or another is a businessman in all kinds of fronts pages of new york tabloids him he has -- he has been characterized as teflon don for many years in new york. this is the first and he's going to be standing in this courtroom.

yesterday, we learned that attorney todd blanch, who is a former federal prosecutor and considered ahite collar attorney will be part of the legal team. so, we are now just counting down the hours, waiting for that motorcade to arrive. >> ainsley: he successfully got paul manafort's case dismissed. many are wondering if that's why trump brought him on the team. >> steve: laura, is he not going to be put in a jail cell and no it handcuffs and no mugshot is there is a possibility that could change? because i read that the judge is going to go through pre-trial stuff first before he decides whether or not to do it or was that already decided by mr. bragg, the d.a.? >> you know, we have been hearing so much back and forth in the last few hours since overnight about the mugshot. about how these proceedings are going go. some of the timelines have changed but we did simply have to wait. we have to wait until everything unfolds and we will be here to watch it all. >> steve: all right. laura, thank you very much. great reporting through the night. >> ainsley: the reason for handcuffs they sa

. >> ainsley: his new attorney todd blanch said during the hearing that trump is absolutely frustrated and upset and believes there is a great injustice happening. alvin bragg was asked why are you bringing up this case now if the -- and asked if the timing was political? he says his office now has additional evidence that his predecessor did not have. but we're looking through this and can't find a second crime. it's not listed. it doesn't specify an underlying crime. >> steve: right. exactly. nobody is saying that it didn't happen. filing of false business records which is a misdemeanor which, you know, first offense you don't wind up generally with prison time. ainsley, to your point, there has got to be a second crime. it is not listed. >> ainsley: in order to be a felony. >> steve: i will tell you what, you should read the indictment because it is interesting. it is -- it's interesting. it is very blunt, makes it very clear and they do a timeline. they have got the documents that show that the president of the united states donald trump the paper trail leads to the white house. wh

cakewalk >> rebecca, one of those advisers who trump a seemingly listening to is his newest lawyer todd blanchew just added to his legal team politico is reporting that i his resignation email to the firm, he said that he could no take donald trump on as client while remaining a cadwallader. this is new york city's oldest and many consider one of the most elitist - elite law form in new york city what does that tell you abou the weight, the price of takin on donald trump as a client? this guy once represented paul manafort and he did have t leave his firm when he did that >> it's huge i mean, you know, there ar certain ways in which lawyer have fled donald trump in a wa they don't flee other popula clients. and that's because he is not only in some ways polarizing it's not only that he ca create a situation which other clients are going to be upse and angry -- it's also because he's a difficult client just asked carroll was sayin before, it's remarkable that he's agreed to these conditions let's hope that he actuall abides by them when you're a lawyer, that's extremely problematic becaus you ca

news, and the second one is that another lawyer has been hired to be on team trump his name is todd blanchfrom his firm to take this job, but he's a former assistant u.s. attorney in the southern district in manhattan he also represented paul manafort does it surprise you at all at this point that he's, first of all, hiring another white collar attorney but also that trump is expanding his team given the stakes here? >> it doesn't surprise me. you have to have attorneys who can devote the amount of time that's necessary to take on a case that is likely looks like to go to extensive pretrial motions and then trial itself, and you want somebody who knows their way around the courtrooms in new york. so i think those are two aspects. there's also, it seems that donald trump, hetends to think well, if i'm not doing so well, the answer is to just hire another attorney and that's not always the best thing to do. you want to have somebody who has some rapport and who understands what the investigation entails leading up to the indictment, but of course it is his right to hire any or as many attorn

attorney todd blanche announced yesterday he's joined former president trump's criminal defense teamining the team was, quote, "an opportunity he could not pass up." an opportunity to what, also go to prison? [ laughter ] yeah, i mean, who wouldn't want to join the illustrious ranks of michael cohen and the guy who didn't know four seasons was a hotel? [ laughter ] new york mayor eric adams warned yesterday that the city is prepared for former president trump's arraignment and said, quote, "while there may be some rabble rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple -- control yourselves." my question is, where was that leadership before santa-con? [ laughter ] kellen curry, an afghanistan war veteran and former executive at j.p. morgan, announced this week that he will challenge new york congressman george santos in the republican primary sounds impressive. do we have a photo of curry? george [ light laughter ] disney ceo bob iger criticized florida governor ron desantis yesterday for his decision to strip the company of its special self-governi