Appear before a judge, a Magistrate Judge, to be formally charged for the third time in less than four months, as chris said, and msnbc news has learned three of the officers injured in january 6th will be trying to attend the hearing, although just a handful of members of the public are going to be allowed inside, and just 11 members are reserved for the press. You can see the camera shaking because were all moving in real time here, trying to give you as much access to see whats happening, but even before he appears in court, trump has been fighting these charges on social media. Hes been raising money off of it, his Fundraising Committee has fired off at least eight solicitations for donations since this indictment was handed up on tuesday. He also posted a message to his supporters saying its a great honor to be arrested because im being arrested for you. Now, technically, hes not going to be arrested. Hes going to go in and surrender to authorities, but lets discuss whats happening with msnbcs yasmin vossoughian, tom winter, andrew weissmann, and former member of Robert Muellers special investigation into russian interference in 2016, and also joining us is tim hafey, former lead investigator for the january 6th select committee. Lets go to yasmin and get the lay of the land. Whats happening outside the courthouse right now . Reporter a real moment, if you think about it. A former president of the United States, usually landing at Andrews Air Force base, taking marine one. Instead, landing at Reagan National, taking that tenminute drive to the courthouse where hell be arraigned here at the courthouse behind me. Security is in place as we have been talking about all day. Inside, the u. S. Marshals in charge of security. Secret service navigating his travels from the airport to the courthouse, along with his entry into the courthouse, which we believe hell enter on c street into the garage and take a private elevator right up to that courtroom in which hell then be arraigned. We have park police along with metro police as well outside of the courthouse. We have seen a gaggle of protesters here and there. I would say two dozen, three dozen at the most. The presence increasing as we kind of march towards the 4 00 p. M. Hour in which the former president will in fact be arraigned. As were watching his motorcade leaving Reagan National, making that short drive to the courthouse here, arriving here really within the next ten minutes or so. So tom, lets talk a little bit about inside that courthouse. First of all, as andrea mentioned, there are only 11 seats for the press. Msnbc is fortunate, Garrett Haake is one of them. I believe theres also an Overflow Room. The difference is my understanding, correct me if im wrong, tom, theyre going to be able to have Electronic Devices in there. So in real time, as theyre watching the proceedings on television, essentially, well be able to get some idea of whats happening inside that courtroom. Give us a sense, big picture, of how everything is going to unfold from the minute trump walks into that courthouse. Thats right, chris, and to be clear, the Overflow Room, we will be able to get those notes from our team inside of there, including ken dilanian and daniel barnes. Ken, our Chief Justice correspondent, who has covered this so closely, and well get those to our email and relay them right away. As far as the process for the former president , its like anybody else in this country who is charged with a federal crime. The idea here is to have a first appearance in the judicial system to notify somebody that they have in fact been indicted. Either on a complaint or an indictment. Then from there, to advise them of their rights. To advise them they have a right to an attorney. Do they have an attorney . Does an attorney need to be appointed . I understand that kind of sounds kind of silly given the amount of attention brought to this case and this specific indictment, but it is a part of the judicial process. The president will be advised of his rights. Then from there, there will be an opportunity to read in the indictment that is typically waived. So sometimes the judge says, would you like to have the charges read back to you or the indictment read back to you . Usually thats waived. Most Defense Attorneys and defendants dont want to get into all of that or hear all of that. And from there they can move to whats called a rule ten hearing, an arraignment. Thats the opportunity where the former president or his Legal Counsel will be asked whether or not hes guilty or not guilty of the charges against him, and as we well know from trumps social media posts and everything hes said about this investigation, the incidents leading up to the january 6th and beyond, hell most certainly plead not guilty. And after that, its kind of over. Sometimes judges will ask questions as it pertains to bail. We dont expect there to be any bail package in this case. In florida in the maralago classified documents case, he was released on his own recognizance. Theres no financial instrument, nothing to keep him here. Federal prosecutors said hes not a flight risk. As were seeing from these images we have been watching since the former president landed at Reagan National airport and on his way here, hes under Secret Service protection. The u. S. Government in some way always knows where donald trump is, so i dont think thats of particular concern as far as the court system is concerned. So thats what may come up. Then from there, the trial process starts. Hell be able to leave the courthouse, be able to head back, presumably, To Bedminster where hes been staying, and hell be able to go back to his life. Then the defense on these extraordinary and historic charges for him begins in earnest. And tom, we have been watching as you have been talking. The president s motorcade leaving the airport. This is a pool camera crew, so one Network Camera inside one of those suvs that you saw at the airport. They flew here with him. Theyre getting into the they have got a camera obviously in the front seat looking through the windshield. Looks like the gw parkway, hes going to be taking this highway to one of the bridges Crossing Over into the city and hell be blocks away. Andrew, this is a city that has witnessed every harrowing moment from the january 6th attack, the Trump Team Plans to argue that they cant get a fair trial here. So we have talked about the voir dire, the jury being selected, the judge. What are your thoughts as he heads towards his arraignment where none of that will take place today. But in moving towards trial here, that will be the defense arguments. Well, let me just quickly add a couple things to what tom said with respect to what to expect. These are things that could happen. There may be standard conditions of release that are read to the former president with respect to who he can contact, locations he can go to and not go to, and there are standard rules in d. C. With respect to things you can say that could prejudice a potential juror. So ill be listening for whether the magistrate does that. The other thing that can happen is that is Standard Practice in the d. C. U. S. Attorneys office, in other words, in that courthouse for the government to turn over discovery at the time of arraignment. So i wouldnt be surprised to hear something from the government about the status of discovery. We did hear Something Like that in the maralago case. And then finally, we should be listening to whether the magistrate advises the parties as to the date on which the assigned judge in the case, judge chutkan, wants the parties to appear in front of her. I wouldnt be surprised if thats a relatively short date. Thats a way for the court, the assigned judge, to notify people when she wants to see them. So donald trump should be arriving at that courthouse in a matter of minutes. Were learning more about the courtroom where this arraignment will take place. We learned it is very small. Four rows of pews which is one of the reasons there are so few members of the media that are allowed in. Yes, our Garrett Haake was selected by lottery to be one of the 11 journalists to be able to participate inside the courtroom in observing and taking notes that will eventually be working their way out to us. Outside the courtroom, we have seen all those big overhead shots of the media that actually started lining up last night in preparation for this historic day. And aaron gilchrist, nbc news correspondent, is outside the courthouse. And is joining us now, again, aaron we know theres a ton of security. Can you describe whats happening where you are . Big shift in the Security Posture in the last couple minutes here. Well point out that you can see d. C. Police have now shut down third street here that runs alongside the courthouse. I dont know if we can point down the street toward the back of the courthouse. Were starting to see more officers and vehicles move to that area as well. The former president has left Reagan National airport, only about ten minutes away from where we are at the courthouse. The interstate that connects virginia, that part of northern virginia, to d. C. Here runs along this street, under the street if you will, and then i expect that the former president will come off the highway there and swing around to the back side of the courthouse and go into the parking garage. We wont be able to see him. As we watched the d. C. Police posture change, we also noted there are these trucks, these plows set up along the street as additional security measures, not something thats atypical here in the district of columbia as theyre used to having highprofile people move around the city, used to having to set up barricades in different instances to protect facilities from any eventuality. Its worth noting that even as the numbers have grown out here, both the Law Enforcement presence, local and federal, we have also seen people, the number of people coming to see grow as well. A lot of them tourists, some who have come directly to be a part of this day. Several supporters with signs and flags. Also a lot of people who have been carrying signs that say things like lock him up. Those who dont support the former president. We had people with megaphones making statements. Were just a block off the national mall, and i think we can sort of swing around and show you the crowd thats formed on this corner. A lot of these people obviously are media, but some of them are folks hoping to get a glimpse of the former president as he comes into this area. Ill note that the federal protective service, which is the federal Law Enforcement agency that protects federal buildings is now closing off the barricades in this area, pushing us out of the way here. This is the sidewalk that we had been using to access the doors, the only door thats still open this afternoon to get inside the courthouse for people who have business here and members of the media who have been going in for the arraignment hearing today. This is now being closed off. As we noted, the former president s Arraignment Set to happen in about 45 minutes or so and the Security Lockdown is intensifying here. Back to you. Were about five minutes out, we expect, given the drive time for donald trump to arrive there at the courthouse where youre seeing aaron gilchrist. Were also getting new information from the pool that was traveling with former President Trump about who is with him. They include elena hobba, the general counsel and spokesperson for save america pac. Shes someone you have probably seen, a spokesperson on many of the cable and morning programs. But also a number of Talk Campaign advisers are with him. Jason miller, steven chung, his political and legal adviser, boris epshteyn. Were also learning that in addition to john lauro, someone you probably have seen repeatedly speaking on behalf of donald trump as his lawyer, todd blanch will be in the courtroom as well. That courtroom, tim, is very close. Really just blocks away from where the insurrection happened. How important do you think it is that the trial take place in washington, d. C. , even though the charges dont involve directly the insurrection, dont involve incitement . It is what for many people is represented in this indictment. What do you make of the symbolism of this and the moment were seeing right now . Look, i dont know that its symbolism, but its sort of standard prosecutorial practice to bring a case in the jurisdiction in which the charged events occur. Thats why the maralago case is charged in florida. And this case is charged in washington. It does happen to be a building just literally steps away from where some of the worst violence occurred, the pcircle, the initial breach point where the proud boys pushed through bicycle racks, concussing officer edwards and streaming up to the capitol, is literally right across the street and a block away from the entrance to the courthouse where your correspondent was just standing. Theres no doubt the symbolism resonates, but jack smith isnt thinking about any of that. Hes thinking about proving his case in the jurisdiction in which it occurred, getting 12 people in the box who are going to adjudicate these facts. Its fact that matter more than where it is or who the jurors are or anything. And i think jack smith seems as if from the things in the indictment, hes confident he has those facts. And as we see the Motorcade Making that turn there coming from the highway to the back of the courthouse where theyll go in underground, you were so much a part of the january 6th Committee Hearings which was really a road map for a lot thats in this indictment, even though they didnt charge all of the things recommended. There was one incitement specifically that they did not charge on, but three out of the four came at least largely from a lot of the witnesses and they were all republicans and all members of his inner circle or those who had been participating in the government. Yeah, exactly right. When i read the indictment, it sounded a lot like vice chair cheneys Opening Statement in our first hearing back in june of last year. She outlined this was an intentional multipart plan that was designed to disrupt the joint session and thats precisely what jack smith has charged. Each of the prongs that she outlined are described in the indictment. So i do feel as if the committees work was sort of a foundation, provided a lot of evidence to the public and ultimately was turned over to the Special Counsel, that i think well see play out in this trial. Andrew, trumps allies have really at least started to make their defense being the former president is being indicted for political free speech. There was no crime. At what point do you believe the former president s free speech crossed the line from being constitutionally protected to being in furtherance of a crime . Great question. The indictment actually previews that by saying there would have been nothing wrong with his simply speaking about whether he won or lost, and even saying something that was false to the american public. This is the line, when you either take action in furtherance of something you know to be false or cause other people to, so the different schemes are wanting the Department Of Justice to falsely say that there was fraud in the election, when you go to the states and you threaten criminal prosecution of the secretary of state of georgia, to change the votes, when you lie to the Vice President of the United States about his powers and say that hes being too honest when he doesnt exceed to your wishes to violate the constitution. All of that is crossing the line. Simply speaking doesnt mean that its protected and not criminal any more than if you were to order the murder of somebody as a mob boss. So this is one where i think the people who are sort of going down the First Amendment road, that is just the wrong attack. It may be something that works in a court of public opinion. Its not anything i think well even hear in court thats going to have any traction whatsoever at any level, whether were talking about the district judge, the circuit, or the supreme court. Of course, what is happening here in washington, d. C. Is also a waiting game for donald trump and his lawyers because were waiting to see what will happen in Fulton County, georgia, where fanna willis said just a couple days ago when the indictment came down that she hadnt seen it, that she and jack smith were not coordinating. Now for the first time, sheicize she has had a chance to look at this indictment. She said just a couple days ago when she was asked about it, she didnt think jack smith would even be able to recognize her or vice versa, but now she says it will not impact any of the charges or her Charging Decisions in georgia. Heres what she had to say, her first comments. Theres some people who say there are already now three indictments against the former president. They argue that even if there were crimes committed here in Fulton County, a fourth indictment isnt worth all the work that would come with it. To people who say that, what would you say . That i took an oath, and that the oath requires i follow the law, that if someone broke the law in Fulton County, georgia, that i have a duty to prosecute. Thats exactly what i plan to do. And just as a reminder, fani willis has said that she expects to