But i feel that the large venue is just its a very exciting night, and when you dont have that, it takes a lot of it takes a lot of energy out. Thats donald trump pushing for a crowd at the president ial debates, which is not currently part of the terms he agreed to yesterday. Well go through all the debate drama in just a moment. Also ahead well bring in expert legal analysis on the former president s criminal trial in new york as his former fixer, Michael Cohen, is expected to return to the stand later this morning. Plus, the latest out of china on russian president Vladimir Putins state visit to beijing, which comes amid his arms escalating offensive in North Eastern ukraine. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this thursday, may 16th. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. And well begin today with some major, major news on the 2024 campaign. After uncertainty about whether the two leading candidates would ever debate each other this year, President Joe Biden and his gop challenger, donald trump, have agreed to meet facetoface. Following months of trump challenging him saying hell debate him any time, anyplace, biden put the ball back in his opponents court yesterday with this video. Donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020 and since then he hadnt shown up for debate. Now hes acting hike lee wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. Ill even do it twice. Lets pick the dates, donald. I hear youre free on wednesdays. And that last line about wednesdays is a reference to the oneweekday when court is not in session for trumps ongoing criminal trial. Trump quickly responded to that Video Posting on social media he was ready and willing to debate adding, quote, lets get ready to rumble. Over the course of the next few hours both candidates announced they had accepted two invitations to debate. The first on cnn on june 27th and again on abc news on september 10th. I will bring my own transportation, trump told a fox news reporter, to which biden responded ill bring my plane, too. I plan on keeping it for another four years, a reference there to air force one. The rules of this debate will differ from past election cycles. The candidates agreed to bypass the commission on president ial debates, which it organized these faceoffs every four years since 1988. Biden also requested these guidelines, which trump begrudgingly accepted. First, that there be no audience in the room. Second, that no Third Party Candidates be allowed to participate and that includes robert f. Kennedy jr. And also only a select group of news outlets can host and that a candidates microphone be shutoff if they go over their speaking time. Thats by design according to the New York Times which reports that the Biden Campaign want today start a general election early and have voters get more time than usual to make their ballot decisions. Mr. Bidens advisers have long believed the Dawning Realization Of A TrumpBiden Rematch will be a bomb for the president s drooping approval ratings. In past election cycles the first debate typically wasnt held until the fall when early voting had already begun in some states, but by having a second and final debate take place in early september, the times writes it, quote, gives Biden A Freer hand focusing on turning out early voters without having to prepare for a high stakes event on live television. Meanwhile, the president s Campaign Trolled Trump On Social Media yesterday after the debate announcement. It posted this tshirt, which reads simply, free on wednesdays, under a clip of biden challenging trump to the debates on a day when the former president s trial is on rest. The Biden Campaign is indeed selling the shirts on its website. Joining us now politics reporter for semafor, shelby talcott. Theres been a lot of speculation whether thered be debates at all. Theres talks of democrats, a little leery President Biden giving trump they say a potentially convicted felon a platform. Theres been some republicans to say despite trumps bravado they werent sure he wanted today debate either. So take us behind the scenes. Ill be the first one to say i was also skeptical these debates were going to happen. There were some very informal talks over the past few weeks between both campaigns, but really this came about because the Biden Campaign recognized that donald trump, a, was not letting this go, and b, that there could be a benefit. Remember, you know, in the 2020 election donald trump really set the bar extremely low for joe biden when it kwame to these debates. And biden, as he oftentimes does in big moments, surpassed these low expectations. And so thats one of the factors with this. The other factor, of course, as the New York Times reported is that the Biden Campaign truly believes that right now when you look at the polls, the reason that the polls are the way that they are is because voters are just not tuned in, and they havent fully realized this is a matchup against donald trump. And so they want donald trump to be front and center, in front of the press with Joe Biden Standing next to them so voters can fully understand that this is the two options that they have. Yeah, a senior biden advisor telling me late yesterday this was a moment to bring trump back into voters living rooms and remind them, hey, is this really what you want . Both candidates decide to bypass the commission on president ial debates. Trump has been long critical of them, although in recent weeks said he would work with them if needed. But tell us how this happened, these two men dont agree on much, but they agreed on this. They both came to this agreement largely because of that early voting argument. The Commission Set these debates after early voting has already started and both campaigns said this is an outdated practice that needs to be updated. Weve told you this again and again, and yet these debates are still too late in the president ial cycle. So that it really came down to that, and there were other reasons as well. One of the reasons was that large audience that the Biden Campaign argued that it had turned into a sort of spectacle. But the main reason was the debate dates. And so thats why were going to see that really early june debate coming up next month. And briefly, shelby, these dates are agreed to, but there are still things to work out. We shouldnt bank on this just yet. What are some of the last obstacles to be agreed to . Well, of course donald trump seems to have agreed as of now to do it in studio, no audience debate. But as you heard him say, thats what he wants. And so i think one of the questions there is does he continue to agree to do that . Theres also the question of a third debate. Donald trump wants a third debate. He said fox news has agreed to host it. Joe biden has made it clear that he only wants to do two debates. Does there end up being problems over that . So there are certainly hurdles, but hopefully well get to see both of them on stage. The Biden Campaign pretty ifsistent last night therell just be two and also a Vice President ial debate in july with harris. Thanks for starting us off this morning. Shelby talcott, we appreciate it as always. President biden also slammed biden took the opportunity to sell his record to listeners. Take a listen. Where trump was you know, his threats that he posted in 2020 are greater today, the guy is sort of lost his mooring. He seems like the guy who just doesnt know what the hell hes doing anymore. And he probably is the guy, who just if you read the times article hes talking about being a dictator day one and be a return to violence of the maga republican extremism, and theres so much at stake, democracy, freedom and the dmae all on the line. Biden making a real push this week for African American voters. Still ahead what israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is saying about moving ahead with Military Operations in rafah despite growing frustrations at that prospect from the white house. Plus, what were learning about an Assassination Attempt on slovakias Prime Minister. Well bring you a new update on his condition this morning. Those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. K on sports and weather when we come right back psst psst ahhh with flonase, allergies dont have to be scary. Spraying Flonase Daily gives you long lasting nondrowsy relief. Flonase all good. Also, try our Allergy Headache and nighttime pills. Ah, these bills are crazy. She has no idea shes sitting on a goldmine. Well she doesnt know that if she owns a Life Insurance policy of 100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. Even a term policy. Even a term policy . Even a term policy find out if youre sitting on a goldmine. Call Coventry Direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect. Com. So this is pickleball . Pickle ah, these guys are intense. With e trade from Morgan Stanley, were ready for whatever gets served up. Dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. Or college, since you like to get schooled. Thats a pretty good burn, right . I dont want you to move. Im gonna miss you so much. You realize well have Internet Waiting for us at the new place, right . Oh, we know. We just like making a scene. Transferring your services has never been easier. Get connected on the day of your move with the xfinity app. Can i sleep over at your new place . Can katie sleep over tonight . Sure, honey this generation is so dramatic move with xfinity. Welcome back as we turn more to news overseas. 600,000 people have now fled rafah, the Southern Gaza city where israel is planning to launch a fullscale attack. Despite growing operation from leaders including President Biden. Yesterday the European Unions top diplomat urged israel to end its Military Operation in rafah immediately saying if the idf continues its mission, trld, quote, put a heavy strain on the eus relationship with israel. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, remains. In an interview with Cnbc Yesterday Netanyahu said the Rafah Operation is necessary to protect his nation. Yes, we do have a disagreement on gaza, rather on rafah. But we have to do what we have to do, and, you know, sometimes you have to you just have to do what is required to ensure your survival and your future. We cannot continue into the future by having hamas retake gaza. Doing what we have to do and i hope we can see eye to eye with the United States. Were talking to them, but ultimately we do what we have to do to prevent such savageries from being repeated again and again. Initially the United States has docked a floating pier onshore of gaza to help with humanitarian aid deliveries. Officials made the announcement overnight saying no u. S. Troops entered the enclave. The Temporary Pier was assemblied in israel a few weeks go but the pentagon waited to move it due to weather and security concerns. Officials say that they believe the pier can provide significantly more aid than airdrops. Meanwhile, a world leader is in stable but serious condition this morning after a brazen Assassination Attempt in broad daylight. Nbc news chief International Correspondent keir simmons has the latest on whats being called a politically motivated ambish. Reporter a tense europe shaken again, gunshots and a possible glimpse of the shooter, then slovakias Prime Minister staggers to his car, hit in the stomach, his Security Bundling him inside. I heard three shots, this woman says, and then he fell next to the barrier. Airlift today the hospital, moments after the attack Police Handcuffing a man. The countrys president says a suspect has been arrested. I am shocked, she says. Its an attack on our democracy. The attack coming after a spate of political uhuh sasination attempts. In 2022 japans former Prime Minister shinzo abe was struck dead in the street. A year later an assassins gun jammed and in january a south korean Opposition Leader was stabbed in the neck. Last month ukraine claimed it foiled a russian attempt to assassination president zelenskyy. But slovakias prorussian Prime Minister had run for reelection opposed to military aid to ukraine only to uturn months later. His politics divisive, Thousands Protests in the streets over plans to bring the state further under government control. That was nbcs keir simmons reporting, a very important story. We, of course, will keep you posted. Next up, though, well turn to sports with the latest Playoff Action in the nhl and nba as the Boston Celtics punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals again. Those highlights plus a check on the Weather Forecast when we come right back. When we come right back. 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. man mm, hey, honey. Looks like my todo list grew. Paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get Life Insurance, hm. I have a few minutes. I can do that now. Oh, that fast . Remember that Colonial Penn ad . I called and i got information. They sent the simple form i need to apply. All i do is fill it out and send it back. Well, that sounds too easy man give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. They dont ask about your health . man no health questions. Physical exam . Dont need one. Its Colonial Penn guaranteed acceptance whole Life Insurance. If youre between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if youre not in the best health. Options start at 9. 95 a month, 35 cents a day. Once insured, your rate will never increase. A Lifetime Rate Lock guarantees it. Keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. As long as you pay your premiums, its yours to keep. Call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. Theres no obligation, and youll receive a free Beneficiary Planner just for calling. 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. Power e trades awardwinning trading app makes trading easier. With its customizable options chain, easytouse tools, and Paper Trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. E trade from Morgan Stanley pleased with their progress. Theyve got to be happy to see some of the great from those young guys. But the celtics Mission Accomplished for the second round. The Boston Celtics have punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth time in eight years. The Boston Celtics known by some as Americas Team knocked out the Cleveland Cavaliers with a lopsided 11398 victory in game five last night. It was close for a while, though. Jason tatum led the way scoring a team high 25 and just one shy of a tripledouble. The celtics are now set to make their third consecutive appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, and they await the winner of the second round series between the New York Knicks and the indiana pacers. The knicks lead that series three games to two. Game six is tomorrow night ipindianapolis. Out west, Oklahoma City the Dallas Mavericks last night pushed the thunder to the brink of elimination. A 31point tripledouble posted by luka doncic helped the mavs to a 10491 win. Game six back in dallas saturday night. But it was not all good news for dallas sports fans last night as the stars missed an opportunity to closeout the California Avalanche at home in game five of the second round of it stanley cup playoff series. As the defenseman scored a pair of goals in a 53 victory that keeps colorados postseason alive. The stars do still lead the series three games to two, but game six back in denver tomorrow night. We turn now to Major League Baseball and well begin in baltimore. The orioles trailing the Toronto Blue Jays by one run in the bottom of the ninth. Baltimore has got a guy on first. High to right field. Springer at the wall. Springer waiting. Goodbye, Walk Off Home Run game over. Rutschman got just enough of that one to walk off the orioles with that 32 win. Baltimore so many young stars. They now have gone get this 105 consecutive regular Season Series thats now just two years without being swept. That continues. Meanwhile in minnesota im sad to report aaron judge had a big play for the plate for the yankees going four for four with three doubles and this massive 67 foot solo home run. Judges is tied with mike trout for the longest. That keeps them a half game ahead of the os. Theyre 6. 5 out, just one game over 500. Meanwhile, golfs second major of theyear tees off in just a couple hours from now at the Valhalla Golf Club in louisville, kentucky. Fresh off his win Brooks Koepka will open his pga tour championship title defense just after 8 30 a. M. Eastern. Koepka will shoot to outplay Scottie Scheffler as well as rory mcllroy whos coming off backtoback pga tour wins. Time now for the weather and lets go to meteorologist Michelle Grossman for the forecast. Michelle, hows it looking out there . Lets start in louisville, starting off with a little fog for the golfers and fans but were going to see mostly suppy skies. Unfortunately showers return tonight and see a pretty wet forecast before thatsnipe returns on sunday. Speak of showers, look at showers from portions of of the midwest to parts of the ohio valley into the southern states. Were looking at a Southern Soaker once again. Concerned about continued flooding and concern for Flash Flooding as well. Its going to be damp in new england, too, with temperatures, the area of low pressure spinning off the coast going to bring some showers to the forecast there. Hot in the southeast and southwest looking at some rain there, and most of the west looking sunny and warm. This is what radar looks like this morning, those southern storms, we have heavy tape falling. Thats where you see those darker colors. Also seeing the lightening in the texas panhandle, and were going to see that rain falling. Because its a slow moving system as a result 17 Million People impacted by a flood watch waco, lud kn into jackson, mipts. Were also concerned about the streams rising and were going to see 6 inches in spots, especially the darker colors where the heaviest rain is expected to fall. And we could see higher amounts in some spots as well. Concerned about a Severe Weather threat. On top of that were looking at 18 Million People at risk for really large hail. The chance for tornados and looking at Winds Gusting up to 60 miles per hour. Keeping an eye on that. Michelle grossman, thank you as always. Still ahead here russian president Vladimir Putin has arrived in china for a twoday summit. Well talk about what relations between moscow and beijing could mean for the war in ukraine and the rest of europe. Well be right back with that. And the Cleaning Power of dawn. Watch it make soap scum here. 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Here on the east coast, 2 30 out west on this thursday morning. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for being with us. Chinese leader xi jinping welcomed russian president Vladimir Putin to beijing as he began a twoday state visit while Moscow Presses forward with a new offensive in ukraine. This is putins First International trip since the start of his unprecedented fifth president ial term where he ran effectively unopposed. He was sworn in a few weeks ago. The u. S. Is watching this meeting closely as relations between the west and both countries remain deeply strained after russia faced hundreds of sanctions from western allies because of its unprovoked war and because the kremlin has continually looked to china for an economic lifeline amid those sanctions. But putin claims that russia china relations are, quote, not directed against anyone, adding that our Cooperation Enworld Affairs Today is one of the main stabilizing factors in the international arena. And on the eve of the visit putin told Chinese State media that he was prepared to negotiate over the conflict in ukraine, saying, quote, were open to a dialogue on ukraine but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict including ours. Joining us now from estonia, editor at the insider, our friend michael weiss. Good to see you this morning. Lets start with this alliance. China has not provided aid but continues to be an economic lifeline. Talk about how important that is, and please put it into context of russias advances having some real success at the battlefield at the moment. Actually one of it Big Problems Ukraine has been facing is that the things they shoot down, russian kit missiles, et cetera almost invariably the guts are electronic equipment including microprocessors manufactured in the west including by American Companies such as Texas Instruments that have a lot of devices. How are these devices getting to russia given the stringent sanctions and export controls . Well, whats happening is western companies are selling these dual use electronic pieces of equipment to thirdparty vendors. Invariably we find that those Third Party Vendors are based in china and hong kong. So china is actually helping its Norm S Economic potential. Its helping russia evade sanctions and keeping its War Machine Chugging along nicely. Theres little evidence to suggest beijing is providing lethal military equipment, but when youre engaged in a Military Campaign of this scale, of this nature, its not just about Sourcing Shells and ammunition and tanks. Its also about creating the concominstance that goes into Military Hardware. So chinas been quite helpful to putin in that respect. Youve been hearing this morning from europe, but its an conindependent on edge after the Assassination Attempt of the slovakian Prime Minister yesterday. Tell us the latest about what we know. But more than that, who is this man, and why does it matter so much . Yes, so robert is a popular leader in europe. Hes likened to viktor orban, the increasingly authoritarian leader in hungary, prokremlin sympathies. Had been a member of the soviet union but part of the union that liberated czechoslovakia prior to the Czech Republic from slovakia. Hes seen as notoriously corrupt including by other western leaders many assembled here in estonia for the Security Conference which im attending. His politics are rather strange, too, because he started out on the political left. Hes moved increasingly to the right, some would say the farright. His sympathies with moscow are complicated, though. One American State Department expert actually here in town and known him for many, many years and in slovakia and met with him because hes made a lot of noises about not wanting to help ukraine, he put an end to slovakias Military Disbursements or supplies to ukraine, and yet he has allowed a Slovakian Private Enterprise to sell Military Hardware to ukraine, so he seems to be walking this edge of orban of telegraphing his open affiliation or allegiance to the east while still trying to stay in good with the European Union which helped subsidize the slovakian state. We dont know much about this Assassination Attempt. The Slovakian Security Services are playing it close to the chest. I think all the information thats been released is its a 71yearold poet who is the suspect who shocked him. Assassination of western leaders in europe in the 21st century is an incredibly forbidding state of affairs, and this comes amidst the context of the broader security on the coptinant including russian intelligences increasingly bold and reckless operations to try and conduct Sabotage Operations across europe and not even with trained russian operatives anymore what theyre doing is theyre farming this out via social media to riffraff, to hired thugs from everywhere from the u. K. To recently in poland. The polish Security Services arrested a Ukrainian National who had been contacted by a russian Intelligence Program to blow up an Intelligence Service destined for ukrained. Definitely a fraught moment also as russia makes advances towards kharkiv. We appreciate the insight as always live for us from estonia, editor at the insider michael weiss, thank you. Well speak to you again soon. Next up here, though, well go live to cnbc for an early look whats driving the markets after yesterdays Record Closing on wall street. Plus, netflix scores a deal with the nfl to stream games on Christmas Day. Well dig into what that might mean for the future of live sports when we come right back. Sports when we come right back 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. man mm, hey, honey. And we both sleep better. Looks like my todo list grew. Paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get Life Insurance, hm. I have a few minutes. I can do that now. Oh, that fast . Remember that Colonial Penn ad . I called and i got information. They sent the simple form i need to apply. All i do is fill it out and send it back. Well, that sounds too easy man give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. They dont ask about your health . man no health questions. Physical exam . Dont need one. Its Colonial Penn guaranteed acceptance whole Life Insurance. If youre between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if youre not in the best health. Options start at 9. 95 a month, 35 cents a day. Once insured, your rate will never increase. A Lifetime Rate Lock guarantees it. Keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. As long as you pay your premiums, its yours to keep. Call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. Theres no obligation, and youll receive a free Beneficiary Planner just for calling. Time now for business, and for that lets bring in cnbcs silvia amaro who joins us live from london. Silvia, good morning. So stock futures are up slightly this morning after a lighter than expected Inflation Reading propelled the major averages yesterday to record highs. Tell us all about it, please. Thats true. So at this Stage Futures do suggest itll be a positive start to the Trading Session on wall street today, and this is after we saw all the major indices posting fresh record highs during wednesdays session. And so that included the s p, the dow, and the nasdaq. Now, whats motivated this positive momentum was softer than expected inflation print. Basically the latest numbers suggested that inflation is in the month of april, and that has propped up u. S. Equities, but lets see what will happen today. No doubt one of the main events for markets today is comments from fed officials. Were going to hear from a lot of them. Lets see how that might shape up during the Trading Session on wall street. So for a long time in the sports world Christmas Day was about the nba. The nfl has now pushed in on that holiday, and theres news now netflix will stream its first nfl games on december 25th. Tell us more about the future here for broadcast. Thats right. So perhaps is it a bit too early to talk about christmas, maybe not for nfl plans. This is after it was confirmed netflix will be showing two games on Christmas Day, and they will also have a matchup in 2025 and 2026. Its worth noting, though, that the games will continue to be available on broadcast tv in local team markets as well as on the nfl plus app. Having said that, it just proves netflix is pushing further into live sporting events. So this is an important one also when you think about the future for netflix. And no doubt some nfl fans out there will be interested in watching these games on Christmas Day. Yeah, the nfl remains by far the biggest property in television. Cnbcs silvia amaro live from london, thank you as always. Well talk to you again tomorrow. Next up here donald trump offers up what he says should be the guidelines for the president ial debates. Well play for you his comments and those rules likely not going to occur. Well be back with those. Kelyotg to occur well be back with those can neuriva support your brain health . Mary, janet, hey thinking eddie, no frasier, frank. Frank . fred how are you . fred. Fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. Join the Neuriva Brain Health challenge. 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. Its a beautiful. S. Day to fly. W. Wooooo donald trump discussed the president ial debates yesterday on the hugh hewitt show. The former president questioned whether President Biden would actually debate him and then tried to offer up his own guidelines for the contest. I wonder whether or not he shows up because, you know, he actually challenged me to golf, so im a very good golfer. He cant hit a ball 50 yards. He said ill give him three, but he knows hell never play. I hope not because i really think if he has to debate, he might as well get it over with. Probably should do it early so that he can you know, hes not going to get any better. Hes sort of accepted it, but lets see if he shows up. Its all misinformation, disinformation. Oh, sure id love to debate, i want to debate, i want to debate, and then you cant make a deal with the guy. Lets see if he shows up to a debate, but ive accepted ill go anywhere, anytime, anyplace, and well see what it is, you know. I think they have to go at least two hours. You think the president can stand up for two hours. I think we should go two hours. I think we should go two. He wants to sit down he wants to do things like he wants to sit down. I think a debate should be standing up. Dont you agree with that . Ive accepted the two debates. Ive recommended they should have more. I hate to use this group that does the debates because they cheated. They turned the sound off during one of my debates, and they go out of their way to help the democrat, but thats okay, doesnt matter. Ultimately youre still up there with one person, so they can do whatever they want to do, but i think there should be more than two debates. And ive accepted the two, 100 . But i think there should be more than two, and i think they should be in large venues. Its just more exciting. Joining us now former republican congressman of florida. He is an nbc news and msnbc political contributor. Good to see you. The biden camp has said thats not going to happen, they want to be in the studio, no audience. Unclear if the man will be sitting or standing. And we should note that in 2020 President Biden got the best of trump in those debates. So despite trumps bluster now, so give us your sense here. Are you surprised these debates are coming together . And how important are they . Well, jonathan, certainly President Biden needs these debates. I mean right now you look at a lot of the polling, and hes the underdog. So they really needed to do something to scramble this race, to project some strengthen. And really donald trump is in a position where he had to kind of accept whatever the Biden Campaign put out there since he kept saying anyplace, anywhere, we heard it there again. So this is going to be an opportunity for joe biden to scramble this race early, to jolt the race a little bit to project some strength, and you hear donald trump hes setting very High Expectations for himself and very low expectations for joe biden. We know strategically thats a mistake because a lot of what people end up thinking about these debates is based on expectation. So right now it seems like President Biden has very low expectations and probably a lot to gain from these debates as long as his performance is adequate. Yeah, republicans keep Setting Expectations so very low for President Biden. He cleared them during both his state of the unions, for instance. Lets talk about the timing here, june. That is very early for a president ial debate. I think to your point its important because in part the Biden Campaign wants to shakeup the race. Part of that is to simply remind voters who havent been paying attention just who donald trump is. Do you think that strategy is going to work . Yeah, i think thats necessary, jonathan. I mean donald trump right now is benefitting from that, you know, effect that a lot of former president s have whereas their president , become more distant, people tend to remember them more fondly and diminish their flaws. The Biden Campaign desperately needs to put a spotlight on everything about donald trump including his divisiveness, including all the controversy and chaos that surrounds him. A debate is a good setting for that because trump is loathe to follow rules. He can be rude. He can interrupt a lot, and of course the voters who will decide this race, right, the swing rotors in swing states all across the country, they are sensitive to that. They probably will tune in, so this is a big opportunity, a needed opportunity for the Biden Campaign to try to close a small gap that separates him in a lot of these swing states from donald trump. And lastly, congressman, and briefly polls suggest that Third Party Candidates namely robert f. Kennedy jr. At least at the moment look like theyre going to play a pretty outsized role in the election yet they will not be part of these debates. Do you think thats appropriate . I think thats a mistake, jonathan. Clearly theres a market in this country for a third alternative. A lot of people dont like donald trump or joe biden. So i think as going to be hosting the debate should do as much as they can to allow kennedy to debate, to at least have that third voice. I know kennedy has his own set of controversies and quirks, but there are a lot of americans out there who are saying choice for us . I think those americans deserve to hear what the third option looks like this time around. At least for now, though, the third option not involved in the debates. There will be two president ial debates, one Vice President ial debate, and earlier than usual this year. Terrific analysis from former republican Congressman Curbelo of florida. Thank you for joining us this morning. Hours from now, Donald Trumps defense team will continue its crossexamination of Michael Cohen in the expresident s Criminal Hush Money Trial. Well break down what to expect from todays testimony. Coming up on morning joe, senator mitt romney goes after his gop colleagues for flocking to the courthouse to support donald trump. Nbcs Stephanie Ruhle will join the conversation on the heels of her sitdown interview with the utah republican. Also ahead, america has a loneliness problem, and a republican governor and democratic senator want to fix it. Well dig into whats driving the growing epidemic and their plan to curb it. Morning joe just a few moments away. Yeesh. But who has the time to clean . Thats why i love my swiffer wetjet. Its a quick and easy way to get my floors clean. Wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. Look at that swiffer wetjet. So this is pickleball . Pickle ah, these guys are intense. With e trade from Morgan Stanley, were ready for whatever gets served up. Dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. Or college, since you like to get schooled. Thats a pretty good burn, right . Oh, yeah, man. 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An nbc news source with direct knowledge of what to expect says the crossexamination will focus on cohens past lies, including some under oath, in an attempt to discredit his testimony. Cohen is the prosecutors final witness, and theyre expected to rest their case after the defense is finished. Trumps team said earlier this week it may not call any witnesses. Trumps attorney todd blanche told the judge he was unsure if the former president would testify in his own defense. Trump has said previously he wants to testify, but theres real skepticism about that. Blanche started his crossexamination of cohen tuesday, where he focused on the lawyers motives for working with prosecutors. Quote, i was looking for a reduction in the home confinement portion, not just in this, but in the work i was doing, cohen said. I did want to be released, yes. Trump faces 34 Felony Counts of falsifying business records. If found guilty, he could face prison or probation. He, of course, denied all charges. Joining us now, legal analyst charles coleman. Charles, good to see you this morning. Lets start with what we should expect from this crossexamination. It did begin on tuesday. It was fairly contentious. What should we look for today . Well, the truth is, jonathan, im not quite sure. Todd blanche has been all over the place. I do expect that there are going to be a myriad attacks on Michael Cohens out of Court Statements and some of the things hes said under oath in court testifying, to congress and also the trial that left him go to jail. Ultimately, those are the things the defense will try to zro in on to damage cohens believability to the jury. Cohen has done well so far . Hes been composed, hasnt gotten into a space thats been overly combative. Hes defended himself. For someone who seems to go all over the place, hes stuck to the script and done well on the stand. Lets assess how the prosecution has faired to this point. This might be their last witness. There have been some talk of maybe having an expert come on one last time. Were not clear if thatll happen or not. In your estimation, first, do they need at witness, or have they done a good job proving the case . Theyve done a good job. I dont know if i would have ended on cohen. I would have stacked the order differently. The end of the day, the case you have is dependent on the facts youre working with. The issue the prosecution may have is this is a legal theory that is a little complicated. Hush money, hush payments, those are not illegal. Ndas are not illegal. Explaining to the jury exactly what donald trump is being tried for may ultimately be a problem for the prosecution. But given what they have, i think theyve done a solid job. Lets talk about the defenses strategy. Todd blanche has not committed to calling witnesses. What do you make of that . He is not going to try to give the prosecution any sense of who may come to the stand so they can prepare even more than they already have. He doesnt want to show his hand earlier than he has to. I also suspect that because of his client and how difficult his client is, hes getting a lot of pressure internally to try to put donald trump on the stand. He is also working with his client and trying to convince his client, this is a bad idea. Hes not going to give the court anything more than what they absolutely need, particularly because he doesnt want to give the prosecution additional advantages. At the same time, i believe that hes trying to tell his client, you do not need to take the stand, even though it is your decision to do. Youd be snatching an acquittal from the jaws of a potential mistrial. Sounds like you we shouldnt rule out the possibility of a witness or two for the defense, but lets talk about the former president being on the stand. We know he has, shall we say, a challenging relationship with the truth. Hed be real open to perjury perhaps. Your assessment is hed do more harm than good to his own cause . Absolutely. At this point, the prosecution laid out the case, and there is the potential you might end up with a juror who doesnt buy it beyond a reasonable doubt. That gives them an opening for a mistrial with a hung jury. If donald trump takes the stand, he significantly decreases the opportunity for that to take place. I think it would be a terrible idea and something that could potentially tip the scales really decisively in the favor of the prosecution. If things wrap up today with the witnesses, court off tomorrow, Closing Arguments next week, could we have a verdict in a weeks time . He could. It could take longer. A quicker verdict speaks favorably to the prosecution. The longer we go, that should be an indication to most people observing that this could end up in a mistrial in favor of donald trump. Lets take a step back as a final note. This, of course, is just one of the four criminal cases facing donald trump. Is it your estimation, and were waiting to hear from the supreme court, is this the only trial between now and the election . Ive said this is likely the most ever were going to see around donald trump facing accountability in a criminal court of law. At least before november. Depending on what happens in the fate of the federal trials. Certainly as it pertains to anything taking place before november, i think this is it. Msnbc legal analyst charles coleman, thank you for being with us here on set. We appreciate it. Thanks to all of you for getting up Way Too Early with us on this thursday morning. Morning joe starts