In 2024, bottom line . At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be Donald Trumping and im excited to get back to low inflation, low unemployment, and more enthusiasm. Senator, yes or no, will you accept the Election Results of 2024 no matter who wins . That is my statement. Senator tim scott of south carolina, who is considered to be a strong contender to be Donald Trumps running mate, dodges a question about accepting the results of about the november election. Well have more on that important exchange in just a moment. Well also goat you caught up on Donald TrumpsHush Money Trial, which resumes later this morning in new york. It comes after some emotional testimony on friday from the former president s longtime aide hope hicks. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this monday, may 6th. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day and week with us, and well begin this morning with some new developments from the middle east. Nbc news and the Associated Press report that cia director bill burns may now travel to israel to hold more talks about a potential ceasefire in an effort to free hostages from the gaza strip. Over the weekend israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said israel was not prepared to end the war permit nemtly, saying the move would leave hamas in in power in the enclave. In the meantime Hundreds Of Thousands of civilians have been told to evacuate rafah as israel appears poised to launch a new operation there. A timetable has not yet been announced. The United States has warned israel again of going into rafah because there are about a million palestinians there we ooh el have much more on the story out of the middle east later in our show and all morning long. Meanwhile, back here stateside, donald trump is expected to be back in a new york city courtroom in just hours for the start of week four in his Hush Money Trial. It follows a revealing week of testimony capped off on friday by trumps former confidante and longtime aide hope hicks, hoping to illustrate the Inner Workings of the former president s operations and how the alleged Hush Money Payments came about. Hicks admitted to feeling nervous as she took the stand, but she helped tie together the points the prosecutor was trying to make, mainly that trump was upset about the accusations that he had affairs and he would pay to cover them up. Hicks testified very little about the payments themselves, but did say that the 2016 campaign was in crisis when the access Hollywood Tape went public that october that caused the campaign to scramble to prevent any additional damage. She described trump as something of a micromanager saying he was, quote, very involved in the medial strategy for the campaign. Hicks also testified that trump told her about a conversation he had with his then Attorney Michael Cohen after the New York Times reported that cohen claimed credit for paying the Hush Money To Adult Film ActressStormy Daniels without trumps knowledge. Hicks testified that trump seemed to affirm that cohen had told him the same. But when asked whether this seemed in line with the cohen she knew, hicks said this. I did not know michael to be an especially charitable or selfless person. Hes the kind of person who seeks credit. Before wrapping up her testimony on friday, hicks began to cry as the defense started to ask her about her early years working for trump on real estate at the trump organization. Shes expected to return to the stand today. Meanwhile over the weekend former President Trump compared the Biden Administration to the gestapo, which was the see Secret Police Force of nazi germany. Trump was complaining about his multiple legal issues and attacking prosecutors in the case according to the audio on ny news. Trump can be heard in part saying this. These people are running a gestapo administration, and its the only thing they have. And its the only way theyre going to win, but that doesnt bother me. Biden responded, writing, instead of echoing the appalling rhetoric of fascists, lunching with neonazis, and Fanning DebunkedConspiracy Theories that have cost Brave Police Officers their lives, President Biden is bringing the American People together around our shared democratic values. Meanwhile in an interview on Meet The Press yesterday, tim scott, widely considering to be on trumps short list for cp, refused to answer whether he would accept the 2024 Election Results no matter the outcome. Heres that exchange. Senator, will you commit to accepting the 2024 Election Results, bottom line . At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be president donald trump, and im excited to get back to low inflation, low unemployment, and higher enthusiasm. Yes or no, will you accept the Election Results of 2024 no matter who wins . That is my statement. But is just yes or no, will you accept the Election Results of 2024 . I look forward to President Trump being the 2024 president. You can ask the question senator, yes or no . Just answer. The American People will make the decision i dont hear you committing to the Election Results. Will you commit to accepting the Election Results . This is why so many people believe nbc is an extension of the democratic party. At the end of the day, i know the American Peoples voices will be heard and donald trump will be our next president , its that simple. As you know, the hallmark of our democracy is the acceptance of a peaceful transfer of power. Yes or no, will you agree to the Election Results no matter who wins, yes or no . Look, im not going to answer your hypothetical question when, in fact, i believe the American People are speaking today o on the results of the national election. In the next six months if we finding ourselves in a position where we get greater prosperity, im looking forward to that. Joining me on set is shelby talcott. Great to see you. This is extraordinary stuff, but yet it feels like dogma, part of the rhetoric for the Republican Party in the year of 2024 to not accept that donald trump lost in 2020, and it seems like to not accept that he could lose fairly this time around. I think this is going to be something we hear from other potential Vice President candidates, because the really big thing, you talk to Donald Trumps aides and they all had different ideas of what will make up a good Vice President ial pick. For donald trump, the big thing is loyalty. And so it seems natural that were going to see people like tim scott, but also other Vice President ial picks come out and not even entertain the possibility that donald trump could lose, right, because donald trump is focused on two things. Hes focused on his League Montreals and focused on winning the election and he certainly does not want a Vice President ial pick going out and talking about even the concept he could lose the 2024 election. Thats one thing to approve your loyalty to trump, but that is so dangerous. Know how it supported him last time around, leading to violence not far from the capitol. Also at the retreat, trumps audio, he was talking about his other potential vp picks. Give us the exten of what you know about that race. It doesnt indicate who hes thinking of. Hes not in any hurry. While the event will come up in july and while it seems about a Month Beforehands you would announce it, hes in trial. So i dont think hes expected to announce his vp pick. Those i hear are j. D. Advance, marco rubio who lives in florida. The question is does donald trump want to deal with those potential hurdles . I think kristi noem has fallen off of the list for various reasons, but, of course, for the for the dog incident, but those are some of the names were hearing. And doug burgum. Hes one. But theyve noted while doug burgum is great and he does a lot for them and is a yes man, does whatever they need for the campaign, some people are not convinced that hes ultimately going to be picked. Burgum is also rich, which appeals to trump who needs money for his campaign. It seems like trumps not shy about making the incendiary remarks like that, but it also seems like a window into the pressure hes feeling about these trials. We see donald trump constantly talk about these trials publicly. The fact that hes talking about them privately indicates that his Public Comments are not a show. Hes genuinely focused and concerned and obsessed with the legal problems he faces publicly and privately. Thanks for starting us off this morning. Good stuff as always. Next up here, as we just mentioned, south dakota governor christie gnome is Still Standing by her actions when it comes to a troubling story included in her new memoir, one about killing her puppy. Well bring you the latest events and how it played. Plus the Hush Money Trial and how donald trump is not allowed to testify while under a gag order. Those stories and the mornings other top headlines and a check on weather and sports when we come right back. Ther and sports come right back. Hi, im greg. I live in bloomington, illinois. Im not an actor. Im just a regular person. Some people say, why should i take prevagen . I dont have a problem with my memory. Memory loss is, is not something that occurs overnight. I started noticing subtle lapses in memory. I want people to know that prevagen has worked for me. Its helped my memory. Its helped my cognitive qualities. Give it a try. I want it to help you just like it has helped me. Prevagen. At stores everywhere without a prescription. Oh, yeah, man. Take it from your inner child. What you really need in life is some freakin torque. What . The dodge hornet r t. The totally torquedout crossover. Anthony this making you uncomfortable . Good. When youve got Type 2 Diabetes like me, you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack or worse death. Even when meeting your a1c goal. Discomfort can help you act. Im not trying to scare you. Im empowering you. To get real with your health care provider. Talk to them about lowering your risk of stroke, heart attack or death. aaron i own a lot of businesses. So my tech and my network need to keep up. Thank you verizon business. kevin now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. aaron so whatevers next. Were cooking with fire. vo switch to the partner businesses rely on. And theyre all coming . Those who are still with us, yes. Grandpa whats this . Your wings. Light em up gentlemen, its a beautiful. Day to fly. Welcome back as we turn to some of the mornings other top headlines including this one. South dakota governor christie gnome still defending her killing her puppy cricket. She admits she shot dead in a gravel pit. You talk multiple times about it. In fact, at the end of the book, you say the very first thing you would do if you got to the white house that was different from joe biden is you would make sure joe bidens was no longer on the grounds, commander, say hello to cricket. Are you doing this to try to look tough . Do you still think you have a shot at being vp . Well, number one, joe bidens dog has attack 24d see correct service. How many people is enough people to be attacked and dangerously hurt before you make a decision on a dog . Well, hes not living at the white house anymore. Thats something the president should be heldable to. Youre saying he should be shot . What is the number . I would say republicans criticizing me . These are the same republicans kro who criticized me during coy individual, when i made decisions to protect my state. The governors efforts to clean this up has only made things worse. She suggested she met with north korea leader kim jongun during her time as a member of the Armed Services committee. Certainly made some changes and looked at this passage and ive met with many, many World Leaders. Ive traveled around the world. As soon as it was brought to my attention, we went forward and made edits. Im glad this book is being released in a couple of days and there will be edits and people will have an updated version. So you did not meet with kim jongun is what youre saying. I met with many World Leaders. I talk extensively in my book serving time in congress, my service as governor, before governor, some of my travels. Im not going to talk about my meetings with World Leaders. Im not going to do that. This anecdote should not have been in the book. As soon as it was brought to my attention. We made an adjustment. The book is being released tuesday. Were doing aulg we can to make sure the changes are made. Im going to make sure that the things in the background and stories of my life, but also what i think that needs to be identified in politics was broken today. Right. But you never went to north korea. I talk about the fact that i yes, i have. I went there. You went to North Carolina . I went to the dmz. There are details in this book that talk about going to the dmz and specifics that im willing to share. There are some specifics im not willing to share with you. I traveled the world and visited with World Leaders some of o that is referenced in the book. And some of it whelp it was brought to my attention we made the changes and when the book is released, well do all we can to make sure its corrected. The dmz is not quite in north korea. But thats not all. She was set to visit with president emmanuel macron, but the meeting was canceled. He said no plans were made to meet with him. Noem is blaming her Ghostwriter Editor for the errors. Still ahead, well turn to the Playoff Action including whether the reigning stanley cup champions las Vegas Golden Knights were able to survive a game seven against the surging dallas stars. Those highlights and a check on the forecast when we come right back. Check on the forecast when we come right back well done, viv. You got the presents, the balloons and the raptor cake. Now, how about something to put a smile on your face . Aspen dental provides complete, Affordable Care with dentists and labs in one place plus free exams and xrays for new patients without insurance. 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The best a man can get is gillettelabs. Now radek. Backhand, he scores. Radek knock say. It would be the gamewinning goal. It eliminates last years stanley cup champion. The stars also got a goal from 20yearold Wyatt Johnson and goalie Jake Oettinger had 21 saves. The stars will now play the Colorado Avalanche in game one of that series tomorrow night in texas. Meanwhile the New York Rangers have a onegame lead in their second round series with the carolina hurricanes. Mika zibanejad had two goals at Madison Square garden. It was new yorks first game in a week after they swept the washington capitals. The rangers defeated the hurricanes, 43, and have now won seven straight games including the end of the regular season. Game two tomorrow night at msg. The nba playoffs have advanced the second round following yesterdays win against the cleveland kav laers and the yoernt magic. Cleveland was down by as much as 18 in the first half. They came out strong led by their stargardt, donovan mitchell. This was the first Playoff Series Win for the cavs since 2019 and their first time to advance to the second round without a guy named lebron james in 30 years. Cleveland now heads to boston for game one of that series tomorrow night. Celtics expected to still be without kristaps porzingis. We move to be able and a big day out west. L. A. Dodgers superstar shohei ohtani. The 12 to shohei ohtani. To center field. Harris turns and watches this ball flight. Comes home to ohtani. Smashes a drive. Shohei ohtani. A twohomer game for ohtani. That second blast was 464 feet, which is the second longest by any player this season. Ohtani went 44 against the braves and is now tied with three other players in the major league in home runs. They completed a sweep of the atlanta braves, potentially the other top team. Time now for the weather. Lets go to michelle grossman. How is it looking out there . Were looking for Severe Weather once again in the plains. We could see giant golfballsized hail. Tornadoes could happen this evening into the overnight hours with damaging winds, gusting over 80 miles an hour. Thats hurricaneforce winds. Were looking for heavy rain too. We have a Flash Flood Risk where you see the blue. Were going to watch that very closely. This is why. Were looking at a chance of heavy rain in some spots and the chance for flooding conditions. As we go throughout tuesday, the scare threat does not end. Tomorrow, tuesday, and also wednesday. Damaging hail. Winds gusting up to 06 miles per hour. A few tornados are possible especially from paducah, columbus, and were looking through ohio state valley, and st. Louis, with a severe risk for Severe Weather also. Back to you. Thank you as always. Still ahead here, with six months to go until the general election, were going to dig into new 2024 polling that shows President Joe Biden leading donald trump among likely voters. More on that when Way Too Early comes right back. Well be back in just a second. Well be back in just a second she thinks her flaky gray patches are all people see. Otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. Allison over here otezla can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. With no routine blood tests required. Doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. Otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. Dont use otezla if youre allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can happen. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. [announcer] with clearer skin girls day out is a good day out. Live in the moment. 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Welcome back to Way Too Early. Its precisely 5 30 on the east coast, 2 30 on the west coast. I welcome back to Way Too Early. Im jonathan lemire. Joe biden is leading donald trump in the 2024 general election. Biden up is four point, 49 to 45 . From the second, biden holds a fivepoint lead among registered voters who say they definitely plan to vote within november. To help us break down these numbers and make sense of the campaign, White House Correspondent for political and coauthor of the playbook, our friend, eugene daniels. Lets start with the polls. Were six months out. There are real questions about polling. I do think these reflect a trend line. There was one outlier that showed President Trump ahead. But Joe Biden Has squeaked ahead. People were really scared on the democratic side for months. Were were seeing polls in Battle Ground states, you were seeing Trump Trouncing Biden in some of them. But what the campaign will say, what they will tell you is its calming down. People realize its trump and biden. Those are the people that are going to be the nominees, and it is not helpful, they believe, and a lot of republicans would agree, donald trump himself, that trump is continuously in court over and over and over again, and thats going to continue to happen. So the chaos of the trump years becomes a little bit more obvious. When its him, theres not a lot of people on stage talking about the heir apparent. Thats over. Its starting to change. Who knows what happens with the economy, on these college campuses, and so President Biden also has to deal with his kind of cooling chaos. We may have an escalation of the war in gaza as well. I think youre right. Once people start hearing donald trump again, theyre like, ah, we dont want to hear that. And, of course, hes sitting in trials. Its not just won in National Polls but in battleground states. Trump has some slight leads. Whats the Biden Campaign doing . One, getting a lot of money. The president is having a west coast swing, hell be in vegas and calli. Theyll be sending out lot of teams. Thattyre building up a lot of huge operations in the battleground states. You have trump and his group saying minnesota will be in play. No one has seen that. That would mean we would have a remaking of the electoral map we havent seen in this country in a very, very long time. What we know from covering the campaign and the white house is they believe this kind of slow and steady wins the race and to ignore the shiny things happening. Theyre going to have a significant financial advantage. Lets talk about some of those battleground sides each state thinks they can flip. Minnesota has been close. He has not been in virginia. The biden team, well, theyve got their eyes squarely on North Carolina. I think thats the state they lost last time and they can flip. Tell us why, and are there any os . One of the things, democrats always do this with North Carolina. They always think theyre fining to bet very loose lucy with the football. I think, one, cooper has been a good surrogate for them. He would basically go out and do whatever they want. Hes a kind of popular governor in that state, and they feel like the demographics are changing for them. You have them changing time and talking about florida. The Vice President has been there quite a bit. Thats one where theyre more likely trying to get the Trump Campaign and republicans to spend money. Could not agree more about florida. I think North Carolina, they also have potentially toxic gubernatorial candidates. Obama won once and no other dem crass has won it. We shall see. White house correspondent for political, eugene daniels. Thank you, my friend. Next up, we eat take a look at whats driving the markets after stocks soared on monday and why Warren Buffett bailed out one of his biggest investments. Well explain when we come right back. Investments. 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This mothers day, she can see the traits she inherited, the places where they started, and the people she shares them with. Best of all, its on sale for mothers day. Get it now, before she has to remind you. Time now for business. For that we bring in Arabile Gumede from london. Good to see you again. Stocks ticked up after the major averages ended the week in the green. What should we expect today . Good morning. The market has certainly moved along to trying to finding exactly where Interest Rates are going to go. That would be the key tricks to how they perform on a daytoday basis. It moved higher quite significantly. Along 2 of gains particularly for the nasdaq change. The peak of First Quarter earnings may have passed, but were still looking at it. While apple showed a significant falloff in sales, projections are for the Sales Forecast will look better than the market had initially anticipated. That did move markets higher when it comes to some of the tech shares. Apple as well as the likes of tesla have been a laggard. It will be interesting to see how the market performs on the become back of last week. You have disney set to report its earnings. So, too, uber later on this week. So the u. S. Labor market shows signs of cooling with last months lower than expected growth. What should we take from this about the state of the economy and the feds fight against inflation . Yeah, i mean, this was really important, right . It was a significant one to kind of look out for, particularly having come out on friday. It was one of the key reasons why the market managed to move higher. What happened is we saw the number, say, 175,000. That mean 1 75,000 jobs were added to the u. S. Economy in the month of april, which was much less than the market had initially anticipated. The market was looking for around 215 at leasting having come down from 315 the month before. So usually youve had strong pieces of data. Fed chair Jerome Powell earlier in the week had made note hes ready to make a move if the data, when it comes to labor, is weaker than the market anticipated. But at the same time, in the same release, also went on to say if youre going to decide to cut Interest Rates, however, that you would have to look at more than just one piece of data. It will be interesting the Interest Rate expectations now are for there to be two cuts in Interest Rates later this year. When it begins is the key question. Lastly, arabile, briefly give us the takeaways from Berkshire Hacts awares Shareholder Meeting over the weekend after the passing of his alltime friend, of course, and the man in charge of his investment ideas, charlie munger, that was really significant to look out for. Warren buffett himself made aid of that. He said another is likely to take over. That was a significant takeaway from the agm. The other part is Berkshire Hathaway has cut out 13 of its stake in apple. That was a significant portion to look out for. A little worried about where apple goes from here but trusting the process. Also divesting completely from paramount. That company is at the helm for a possible takeover from sony. And that was sold off at a loss. That was the main three items. Arabile gumede live from london. Thank you as always. Still ahead, cia director William Burns is likely to travel to israel for more ceasefire and hostage negotiations. Well discuss his high stakes meeting with Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and whether a deal can be reached. Thats next on Way Too Early. Thats next on Way Too Early. R child. Get in. Listen, what you really need in life is some freakin torque. What . Horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. What happened to my inner child craving love and acceptance . How about you love and accept this . Pppppowershot when can i drive . You already are the dodge hornet r t. The totally torquedout crossover. Her uncles unhappy. Im sensing an underlying issue. Its tmobile. It started when we tried to get him under a new plan. But they they unexpectedly unraveled their price lock guarantee. Which has made him, a bit. Unruly. You called yourself the uncarrier. You sing about price lock on those commercials. the price lock, the price lock. so, if you could change the price, change the name its not a lock, i know a lock. So how can we undo the damage . We could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. Their connection is unreal. And we could all unexperience this whole session. Okay, thats uncalled for. Welcome back as we now turn to fastmoving incidents in the middle east. Theyre moving for plans inside rafah. Civilians are being told to evacuate. An israeli spokesman said around 100,000 people have been told to move into an expanded area outside of rafah. No timetable for that evacuation has given. This comes as cia director Bill Burns May Travel to israel to talk more about ceasefire and hostage negotiations. This is something Benjamin Netanyahu has been consistently reluctant to accept. Joining us, retired cia director marc. Give our viewers a sense of what may have changed. A couple of weeks ago it seemed like a deal may have been on the horizon. If they go in, whats it going to look like . You saw over the last several hours there are reports of them dropping leaflets urging about 100,000 palestinians to leave. My sources on the ground say it will take two weeks to evacuate some of these palestinians to these areas, but, you know, Military Action could be imminent, and, in fact, it was reported that they have, in fact, informed the United States action will commence at some point soon. This is a tale of several nights ago. Friday night i really thought there would be an agreement. This is the agreement that was and then wasnt. How this fell apart, there will be some forensics on this, whether its the deaths of four Israeli Soldiers from an indirect fire attack. What if theyre not alive. The global reaction, certainly the u. S. s reaction will change. Theyve said, do not go all in. But theyve signaled support whether its limited, really targeted. Just on the hamas leaders, we can live with that. But if its an all out assault in a city of a Million People well see if they even wait for the evacuations, thats going to further the humanitarian crisis and inflame the region throughout the world. Thats right. So much was riding on these hostage talks actually succeeding, the ceasefire talks making headway. Lets not forget cia director bill burns is still working on this. He was in cairo, doha, and back to israel today. The question is what happens if israel goes through . Israel has given us some assurances, but, according to the administration, not enough. What if theres a catastrophe . Really tough times for the administration right now. And could trigger a response in the region elsewhere and expand the war. Lets conclude with the hostage deal. What makes it so i know bill burns is considered one of the stars in this administration. A seen your aide told me over the weekend, if anyone can do it, its him. It hasnt happened yet. There have been a number of close calls. Give us a sense as to what are the challenges to get this done including from the israeli side . So, you know, it looks like at some point hamas was going to agree to the demand of the first stage, which is is reeling does not have to say they will stop the war. That was a movement on hamass part. Of course, israel has moved as well with a number of less hostages. Ultimately the leader is holed up in a tunnel in rafah. Will he agree to this whatsoever . I go this . I go to the adage, many of us who worked on this for decades, used to say, the u. S. May want a deal, but we cant want it more than the two parties. It looks like thats where we are right now. I think that is accurate and sober analysis there. Well, of course, have developments all morning long from the middle east. Retired cia officer marc polymeropoulos, thank you for being in this morning. We appreciate it. Up next on Way Too Early, the judge overseeing Donald TrumpsHush Money Trial is set to consider four additional fines against the former president for repeatedly violating his gag order. Then, coming up on morning joe, indeed, hours from now, Donald Trumps criminal trial is set to resume after hope hicks delivered some dramatic testimony on the stand to close out last week. Well go live outside the courthouse on what to expect. Plus, former Homeland Security secretary and current trustee of columbia university, jeh johnson will join us live in studio to talk about the recent College Protests that have gripped the nation. Morning joe a few short minutes away. Heres to Getting Better with age. Heres to beating these two every thursday. Help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need. Without the stuff you dont. So, heres to now. Boost. I thought i was sleeping ok. But i was waking up so tired. Then i tried new zzzquil sleep nasal strips. Their four point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. So, i breathe better. And we both sleep better. And stay married. We want to turn back to Donald Trumps criminal Hush Money Trial. On friday, judge merchan cleared up a lie trump was spreading outside the courtroom. Early last week, trump told reporters the gag order currently in place prevented him from testifying. The judge clarified that was simply not true. Saying trump has the absolute right to testify. At the same time, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to nbc news that trump paid his 9,000 contempt fine thursday for the nine initial violations of the gag order. The judge is expected to issue a decision on four more Gag Order Violations sometime later this week. Joining us now, legal analyst danny cevallos. Danny, good to see you. Lets start, though, with hope hicks. We mentioned earlier in the show, she closed out testimony on friday. Closed out the week in an appearance that got emotional. She takes the stand again in a couple hours. Give us your main takeaways on friday. Who did she help more, the prosecution or defense . Probably the prosecution, though they never would have called her if they didnt think she was helpful to their case. Number one, she doesnt have the credibility issues as some of the other prosecution witnesses, whether it be Keith Davidson or, of course, Michael Cohen. Number two, she points out that the Trump Campaign, including her, were very concerned about these allegations of women, about having romantic interludes with donald trump, and how they might affect the campaign. She describes the scene of chaos within the campaign with this concern about what to do about these stories. Finally, i thought this was significant, she apparently donald trump admitted to her that he was aware that Michael Cohen had paid Stormy Daniels. Now, a qualification there, you dont know exactly when donald trump acquired that knowledge. It was after Michael Cohen gave a statement to the times, so it is well into the presidency itself and after the election. A bit of a mixed bag even on that point. Overall, some generally good testimony for the prosecution. Hope hicks goes back to the stand today. Where do we think the day will lead us . Heres the thing with hope hicks, i just briefly want to talk about the defense. The defense did score some points with hope hicks. She was a mixed bag. There was a lot of reporting that hope hicks devastated donald trump. I dont agree. I think there were a couple important points that hope hicks gave the defense. Number one, there were things she didnt testify about. I think people like me were thinking hope hicks was next to donald trump for literally years, very close to him. I thought there would be more bombshells. There werent really the bombshells. Number two, she painted Michael Cohen as kind of this bumbling, wannabemr. Fixit, and suggesting going rogue is the thing that Michael Cohen might do and make these payments without any authority. I promise you, the word rogue will appear somewhere in the defenses closing argument. Finally, youve got this testimony about Michael Cohen and all of like, more reliability placed on Michael Cohen. Its the kind of thing the defense absolutely loves. Right. Lets talk about the Gag Order Violations that we opened this segment with. We dont know precisely what day the judge will make a decision, but give us your thoughts about the initial violations, why they came about. Have they succeeded in restraining trump . What might we see from the judge in his next decision . In a sense, the judge maxed out the monetary fine against donald trump because he gave the statutory maximum of 1,000 per violation and complained at the time that it wasnt enough for someone as wellheeled as donald trump. In a way, hes sort of giving a signal hed be willing to accelerate the process. All contempt violations, all kinds of punishments related to this kind of Gag Order Violation must be incremental. You start out with fines. Even the people in the beginning werent looking for incarceration. But the judge suggested at the end of this continuum could be incarceration. I dont think hes there yet. But if we continue with this rolling, once a week Gag Order Violation hearing, then, yes, i think at the end of this ladder is possible incarceration. Make no mistake about it, no judge wants to try and jail a former president. It would be an administrative nightmare. Both sides are playing a kind of very silly game of chicken in terms of seeing who dares to put donald trump in jail. Lastly, danny, and briefly, just give us a quick sense of what else youll be looking for out of the courtroom today. We dont really know the list of who is going to appear, but there are notable witnesses. Of course, the marquee witness is Michael Cohen. Might we see Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal . I think, yes, Stormy Daniels. Stormy daniels and Karen Mcdougal, their evidence really isnt as compelling as some of the other evidence which locks in the transactions. Look for the witnesses that you maybe havent heard their names before. Theyre the ones that often have some of the most compelling, if maybe sometimes dry, evidence and information. We, of course, will have complete analysis throughout the morning and live reporting from outside the new york city courtroom. Msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, thank you, as always. Thanks to all of you for getting up Way Too Early with us on this monday morning. Morning joe starts right now. Well, its the first show of spring, so well start tonight with puppy murder. In a new book, south dakota governor kristi noem revealed she once shot a dog that was untrainable. Thats insane. If a dog is untrainable, you dont shoot it. You give it to President Biden. Maga insiders are saying that kristi noem, seen here wearing the hair of that dog, now