its closing arguments in donald trump s civil fraud trial after a dramatic scene in which the former president himself addressed the court. the judge had only allowed trump to speak on the condition that he focus on the facts but the president quickly veered into other territory claiming he is an innocent man being persecuted d the judge telling defense counsel please control your client. th former president has already been found liable for inflating properties to get loan deals. the judge will attempt to issue his ruling by the end of the month. yasmin vossoughian is reporting for us outside the courtroom in new york. vaughn hillyard is urbandale, iowa, also with us, renato, former federal prosecutor. somebody might argue at least in terms of drama donald trump s a tough act to follow. reporter: yeah, i think that person would likely win that argument. nonetheless, i think lee tee james has a lot in store. she is not likely to offer closing arguments to other attorneys.
bid for president last night seemed to skewer both the chances of desantis and nikki haley going forward, although he doesn t name haley specifically, and all of it was caught on a hot mic. listen. she s going to get smoked and you and i both know it. she s not up to this. she s still 20 in behind trump in new hampsre right. and still going to carry it. yes. i talked to desantis called me petrified. nbc s dasha burns is on the ground in west des moines, and david rucker, senior writer for the dispatch, i wonder if that last person say out loud to chris christie frankly what a lot of people are thinking that desantis will probably need to exit the race if he does poorly