Hutchinson, one of the few republican candidates who has been critical of trumps legal problems despite the fact the former president seems to be gaining, not losing political strength with each and every indictment. Were keeping also a close eye on the Security Situation surrounding the courthouse as a mix of federal and city Law Enforcement blanket the area ahead of trumps rapidly approaching arrival. Were also learning new details about the latest indictment that appears to rely on testimony from high level Trump Administration officials including former Attorney General bill barr and of course former Vice President mike pence. So lets start the hour with nbcs Aaron Gilchrist outside the court, Peter Alexander and kristen welker, the cohosts of weekend today, former fbi general counsel, andrew weissmann, kristy greenberg, and former u. S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg on set with us. So aaron, kick us off from outside the courthouse. Whats the atmosphere out there as we get closer to President Trumps arrival . Reporter you know, its sort of a tale of two cities. Were right off the national mall. You can see the capitol dome behind me. Tourists are moving about. Traffic is moving. You swing around to the actual courthouse and things are different. You see an increased Law Enforcement presence. These barriers, these metal fences have gone up all around the courthouse. That happened late last night. Completely encircling the courthouse. You may be able to see a plow truck here as well, just on this side of the street, there are several of these trucks lined up along with d. C. Police cruisers. Part of the Security Presence set up in anticipation of the former president s arrival. Its atypical for this area to see this sort of a Law Enforcement presence, but as you know, d. C. Is a city that has more than a dozen different Law Enforcement agencies that operate here, and they all work in tandem when theres a high profile person or high profile event happening here in the city. At this point, as we understand it, access to the courthouse has been limited to one entrance and only to people who have business here. There is still other business happening inside the courthouse, but we can show you video from a little while ago, the presence of demonstrators has been growing here as well over the last hour or so, both people who are supporters of former President Trump and people who are carrying signs that say things like lock him up, people who want to see that be the outcome to the trial that likely will happen here in d. C. And in other places, and we have watched those numbers grow throughout the afternoon here. You can anticipate that as the former president makes his way into this area, we believe hell go into the garage entrance. We likely wont see him come into any main doors here, and then will be arraigned and fingerprinted. At this point, though, it is fairly quiet here. People are still moving about as tourists do, but the Law Enforcement presence is one that is growing as well. Things that we see and as you might imagine, a lot of things we dont see. So kristen, as trump makes his way to the courthouse, hes been posting on social media, including this, writing that a fourth indictment, so that would require another one, would insure his election. That hes being arrested for you, his supporters. Kristen, you covered the trump white house. What do you make of that tone and that message . Sound familiar . It sure does. That is classic trump rhetoric. And hes also speaking to what we have seen, the reality of this situation, that with each new indictment, his poll numbers have continued to go up. In fact, according to a recent poll, 71 of gop voters dont think that he broke any law. His lead now 37 points over his nearest rival, ron desantis. Just think about that. That is a staggering number. What have we seen from his gop rivals . Well, look, some of them are making their entire campaigns about trump. You have Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, who youre going to be talking to, will hurd, who have sharpened their attacks against the former president. Notably, we saw his former Vice President , mike pence, really change his tone. Yesterday saying that anyone who violates the constitution should not be in the oval office. Thats really some of the strongest rhetoric we have seen from the former Vice President. And of course, he is mentioned frequently in this indictment, which lays out in great detail the ways in which former President Trump tried to force his number two to change the results of the election, something that mr. Pence has said repeatedly as recently as just yesterday he was not prepared to do. He wasnt going to break the law. I think the key question becomes what does this mean for the gop primary . Practically speaking, we have just seen mr. Trump expand his lead over his rivals. And you have candidates like ron desantis, nikki haley, tim scott, walking a very fine line. Really keeping their sights on the doj, not criticizing mr. Trump. Will that change as we get closer to the debate, which is now less than three weeks away . Well have to see. How do they reclaim the spotlight here, because right now, its solely focused on mr. Trump, which speaks to that truth social post you read there. Exactly, and peter, the former president is also using these indictments to make a string of political attacks every day against President Biden, Attorney General garland, certainly the Special Counsel jack smith, also Letitia James now in his latest ad, who is pursuing that separate civil case against him in new york state. So how does how do all of they handle this, the prosecutors trying to just ignore it as much as they can, but this is very much a part of his strategy . No doubt, not so much a political strategy as it is a legal one. What happens inside the courtroom at the end of the day will be what affects his legal future. Everything he says publicly affected his numbers as it regards his polling. Step back as we watch the president now preparing to leave newark, about 199 miles as the crow flies from Newark Airport to dca, to Washington National where hes expected to arrive a short time from now. Not as president but as a criminal defendant, and this as we look around the scene that you have now seen, is a familiar one but its no less extraordinary at this point. The third indictment for President Biden. This one, though, taking place in a federal courthouse, a u. S. District courthouse that is really at the steps of the u. S. Capitol. Just a series of blocks away. The base of that monument to american democracy that the former president is accused of trying to subvert. We have been talking about the Security Situation here. You have the secret service, the Capitol Police that say they are prepared, there have been a series of different calls. You also have the d. C. Police and the federal protective services, they were handing out stickers to those reporters and others who were here right now that if they see anything to share that information and make sure this remains a peaceful place. Inside, when the president arrives, as we noted, hes going to go through a Back Entrance in his vehicle. Its unlikely well see him at any point. When he was at the last indictment that took place in florida, that one in and out. Not in the courtroom, but in and out of the building, under two hours. Here its expected to be perhaps less than that, when he comes before the magistrate judge. The judge is thought the judge who is going to be overseeing this case itself. Thats a woman by the name of tanya chucken. Shes significant to all of this as well. She is a jamaican born Obama Appointee who was nominated back in 2014. She has some history not just with january 6th and those events that surrounded the attack on the capitol, but also with the former president. Its actually in this very courthouse where more than 1,000 of the criminal defendants accused of storming the capitol have had their proceedings, have given their pleas, have in some cases been found guilty. More than 700 found guilty. 560plus serving sentences that are as long as 18 years. The attorney, her experience with the former president dates back to november of 2011, when then former President Trump was pursuing his executive privilege claim, trying to keep away white house records from the House Committee investigating january 6th. It was this very judge, known for her toughness, and for her tough talk as well, said president s are not kings. And the plaintiff is not president. So she will not today but in the near future come facetoface again with former President Trump. Peter, let me just ask you because were watching Donald Trumps plane take off and make its way here. What are you hearing, if anything, about the possibility of whether he may have some comments . He certainly has been active, at least three times i think if im counting correctly, since we have gone on the air that hes posted on truth social. Will he have something to say for the cameras . Reporter well, its unclear if hell say anything do the cameras. There is a traveling pool, as we describe it, a small group of reporters and photographers with him onboard the plane as its taking off en route to washington, d. C. Its most likely if he does say anything, it would happen on the tarmac, perhaps at dca when hes leaving town. I doubt well hear from him when he first gets here. Frankly to your point, we may not hear from the former president inside the courtroom. The courtroom 22 here, on the second floor, when he stands before the magistrate. Even when there is the expected not guilty plea in the indictment, the arraignment that took place, when the president surrendered in florida in the not too distant past, it was his attorney who spoke on his behalf. He didnt mutter a word in that hearing. Its possible we dont hear from the president outside the courtroom or inside either. Lets talk about the case that could be facing donald trump when it goes to trial. Obviously, this is ten minutes maybe today inside that courtroom for the arraignment. I want to read to you something from the New York Times on the defense that trump believes he won the election. And heres what that story says. If you repeat something enough, he has told confidantes over time, people will believe it. By and large, this trait has served him well, helping him bluster and bluff his way through bankruptcies and then to the white house. And through crises once he was there. Personal scandals, two impeachments and a Special Counsels investigation when he was in office. But now, hes being held to account in a way that he never has before. If youre on his legal team, maybe youre on the plane with him right now, what are the conversations youre having with him as hes going into the courthouse, but also in general, about how this time may well be very different . Well, its not an easy thing to be one of Donald Trumps lawyers because it doesnt seem as though he really listens to his lawyers. He talks a lot. He says a lot on truth social. Makes a lot of comments that really have inconsistent defenses throughout, and his words will be used against him, you can be sure that every Public Statement he makes. Every truth social post, the prosecutors are logging those for inconsistencies. So i would imagine the first thing his lawyers tell him and that he routinely disregards is to stop talking. But i also think they need to tell him this is serious. This indictment, these charges about conspiring with others to overturn the results of the president ial election are incredibly serious. And that he needs to in turn take them seriously and be more disciplined in his messaging and really listen to his attorneys. But again, based on past experience, its not clear he will heed that advice. And chuck, it does seem like the legal argument thats likely to be his defense is this First Amendment argument, which we have heard from john, who is going to be there, it appears, with him today in this courtroom and perhaps representing him moving forward in this case. Is that his best and only argument, or what other defenses are there . Well, that First Amendment defense is a political defense. Its not a Legal Defense. It wont succeed in court. It has no merit. Heres why. Speech thats designed to commit a fraud, speech designed to commit a crime, is not First Amendment protected. Nor could it be. If i asked you, your colleagues, i asked you to destroy documents in response to a grand jury subpoena, that speech is not protected First Amendment speech. So lets put that aside. There are other defenses. There are in perfect defenses one of them might be advice of counsel, that mr. Trump believed he won the election because some people told him so. And believed that he could convince states to submit alternate slates of electors because some people told him so. The problem is a lot of people told him the other thing. And the people who told him he could do these other things, these illegal things, to try to steal back the election, theyre largely unindicted coconspirators. They were breaking the law too. They were breaking the law too. One of the prerequisites of asserting advice of counsel defense is not only that you tell your lawyer everything and anything candidly, but when you rely on the advice you receive, you rely on it in good faith. Thats going to be a big Stumbling Block for mr. Trump. Andrew, another issue has come up in another case, the maralago case, which is Conflict Of Interest of the Defense Lawyers because we know that walt nautas lawyer used to work for tav allaires, who fired him and hired someone else. Theres a multiplicity of people involved in this, and some of these people could be witnessed and then be crossexamined by their former attorney. We know that jack smith has made an appeal to judge cannon to try to resolve this. Is this something that could, first of all, delay that case further . And is this a legitimate question about some of these Trump Lawyers who have been working among a number of these potential defendants and witnesses . This kind of motion does come up from time to time. Its because somebody who is a defendant awaiting trial, theyre entitled under the Sixth Amendment to the constitution to a right of conflictfree counsel. And when your counsel has represented somebody who is going to be a witness against your current client, but this is a former client, you have a problem because that lawyer cannot crossexamine they cant use obviously anything they learn from their prior client. And they also cant crossexamine and denigrate a prior client. There is a solution to that, which is to make sure that walt nauta understands theres limitations and that another lawyer comes in to do the crossexamination of that witness. That is very often what happens. Here, remember that walt nauta has two counsel. He has a local counsel and he has a nonlocal counsel, so there is the ability to have the exact same team on the case. It could, if he does bring in another conflictfree lawyer, it could delay the case, if that happens. But again, this procedure is not that uncommon, and it is done to make sure that the defendant has conflictfree Sixth Amendment counsel defending him in a criminal case. Kristen welker, in addition to his legal team, who is in his inner circle these days . His wife Melania Trump is not traveling with him, as she has not previously for these indictments. We have not seen his daughter ivanka trump, who was a Senior Adviser inside the white house. Her husband, jared, also served inside the white house. Who is close around donald trump . What do we know about who is talking to him, who has his ear right now, in addition to his legal team, as he navigates this very complex and very serious set of legal problems . Its such an interesting question. We know the people who were public facing, steve chong, for example, his spokesperson, jason miller, but then of course, there are some of those who served with him in his administration, with whom he still talks. Now, those are people who, for example, are not necessarily the public facing people, but people who were with him during the 2016 campaign, for example. Who are still on the phone with him, still advising him. And so he still has this close circle of trusted people around him. The question is, of those, who are the people who can really say to him, heres the truth of the matter, i want to give you the hard facts about, for example, the fact that were potentially bracing for a third indictment before they had this indictment coming down the line. Thats still a big question mark. I think that is going to be the question moving forward as he gets deeper and deeper into this campaign. As we have been talking about, look, with each passing months, youre going to start seeing these court cases and court dates dovetail with key dates on the campaign trail. And thats