prevents up to me. the court could have done that this is one of those times i feel at the judge could have done more per there's no reason to do this in my view. it really works against due process and a fair trial. you want the parties to be prepared. here you got the district attorney sam going to unilaterally withhold because i think there's a violation here. works with jurors will get to we think witnesses who we don't know starting tomorrow potentially opening arguments. check with the jury seated includes multiple lawyers politico said trumps legal team might see a silver lining and haven'have employers on the jury are not emotional thinkers this whole trial consultant said profession requires them to do analysis and emotional thinkers can more easily swayed by the side that goes first, the side that shows a good story to the +-plus-minus-sign? works to plus for knesset lawyers on the jury and here's why. prosecutors notoriously do not
>> certainly does. i mean, mike allen and jim vandehei wrote this this morning in "politico." "he denied the loudest, most threatening gop personalities, dug deep into government intelligence, and shifted his position on the most vital foreign policy legislation in years. why it matters? it is hard to overstate the importance of johnson's road to kyiv political conversion. he not only shifted his own position on funding and arming ukraine but defied a majority of his party to do it." >> wow. >> let's bring in columnist and associate editor for "the washington post," david ignatius. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. david, if you will, give us your thoughts on what we saw this weekend. >> joe, i thought it was a tremendously emotional affirmation of the ability of the united states, despite all of our political divisions and difficulties, to get to the
we've heard the opening statements from the defence, we are now heading into hearing from the first witness into hearing from the first witness in donald trump's trial in new york, a crucial moment in the trial. let's speak to ankush khardori, in washington — a senior staff writer and columnist for politico magazine and a former federal prosecutor. thanks very much for coming on the programme. thanks very much for coming on the programme-— programme. thanks for having me. we've heard _ programme. thanks for having me. we've heard the _ programme. thanks for having me. we've heard the opening _ programme. thanks for having me. we've heard the opening from - programme. thanks for having me. we've heard the opening from both sides, what have you made of it? i thought it was a fairly conventional opening from both sides, not much of a surprise to those of us who've been following this closely. the prosecution has framed this as an election interference case, an effort by trump to bury a story that could have influenced the 2016 election, and the defence is basically saying, "look, this case is all about the prosecution's key witness, michael cohen, a serial liar and convicted felon," and trump is like lawyers got up and said it keys the key witness who is a liar,
real time that the criminal court is nothing like the court of public opinion join me now to discuss this is a daily commons and host of the show that dean of the dollar show. a democratic strategist for the obama campaign as well as sirius xm hose. and former federal prosecutor and legal affairs,'s politico. this is a former present who reportedly used to receive a folder full of positive news about himself and press clippings may be up to twice a day. how do you think this reality is setting in for opinions of the jurors in their regular process of a criminal court trial getting underway? >> reporter: it is really shaking him up, ayman. not only with him nodding but he cannot say anything back to these people are donald trump who has known to be a bully and try to appear the strongmen in every situation and instance,
fundraisers and saying, if you like me, i will cut your taxes and threatening to get social security and medicare and raise taxes on middle-class families and giving businesses 1. 5 trillion-dollar windfalls so they can continue to cheat and not pay the fair share. this is what guides the campaign. this has been a strategy all along. the issues have to double down and talk to american voters about the people impacting their lives every day and that is what the president and the vice president on the campaign trail are trying to do across the communities and donald trump is in this campaign for himself. i think american people can see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears exactly where donald trump is, what he is saying and who he cares about in contrast. and what he is saying talking to american voters directly. >> there is information from politico saying the trump campaign will deploy election workers to monitor pulsates. i wonder if you read that as a
is going to do that. that cost him his job quickly think the american people are smart enough to know that it is not the democrat's fault but maga's felt and ultimately, i think he knows how to work his way to holding on. >> i think the speaker will be fine honestly. >> you do? >> i do. >> politico had a piece that speaks to that and said, democrats have signaled they will help save him, as in speaker johnson, if there is a recommend him on the bipartisan rescue mission that many predicted would have doomed mccarthy if republicans had not successfully voted him out on the first try, uncharted speaker territory. mike johnson did do the right thing on this. i'm waiting to see if this is just a moment or if this is true movement. he did go down to mar-a-lago not a week and a half ago and stood with donald trump who is
a lot of these men were influenced by abortion and by about what they saw happening to women and they chose to jump ship but have the last four years been palatable for them? i'm curious to see if biden can hold on to that crucial little sliver and win reelection. >> let's bring in our columnist for politico, jonathan martin. his latest piece is entitled "trump the front runner." not so fast. explain what you are seeing right now. >> i think that trump's political wisdom got a little out of hand. i think it was overcompensation for people who are trump fans but want to seem like they get it and they are in touch with real america and perhaps they weren't in 2016. this assumption that he is a sure thing doesn't fully factor
commitment to ukraine. >> mr. secretary, you noted in an interview with politico that nato has air defense systems ready for ukraine. can you talk more about that, what that looks like and how will be put into place given the vote yesterday and the house and the seemingly important movement toward shoring up ukraine as we get ready for a potential summer offensive by russia? >> all nato defense ministers met on friday together with president volodymyr zelenskyy and there is an urgent need for more defense. and ministers agreed. therefore, allies are stepping up the operation of different types of air defense systems to ukraine. germany has already decided on
should be passionate trying to be fair and balanced. and i think you will see the exact opposite when david pekker testifies about what the scheme was. >> i'm struck by the fact that we were being prepared for the fact that jury selection will take two weeks. you had michael cohen saying it would take three weeks. here has only taken a week. the pace of the trial. i think we are all worried about the sanctity of this jury, given what we are talking about with donald trump. especially with what we have seen from right wing media figures. you have this from politico thursday. prosecutors saying trump has violated his gag order seven more times. the previously asked the judge to hold the former president and contempt. it seems the stakes have gotten higher. they are told people with real lives and real families who are acting in the service of the country and in the service of the state. we have a preview this week of how the tactics can be used to