Miami. This case contains 40 of the 88 Felony Counts against trump including willful retention of National Defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Hes pleaded not guilty. The former president defended his actions last night during an interview with newsmax. I took them very legally and i wasnt hiding them. We had boxes on the front of a lot of those boxes had clothing and were moving out, unfortunately, were moving out of the white house. With us to talk more about this, nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent, ken dilanian outside the courthouse in fort pierce, chuck rosenberg, former u. S. Attorney and senior fbi official, and rebecca roife, former manhattan district attorney. What has been happening so far at the hearing where youre at . Reporter good morning, jose. Our colleagues inside the courtroom tell us that arguments are under way before judge Aileen Cannon. Shes hearing two of mr. Trumps seven motions to dismiss this case today. And she began by asking them to argue to make their arguments on the contention that the law at issue here, the Espionage Act, an issue for most of these counts, is unconstitutionally vague. Thats their contention, it didnt put donald trump on notice that he wasnt allowed to take classified documents home, and so therefore this case should be thrown out. As our legal experts will tell you, the Espionage Act is a 1917 law that has been used for years to prosecute people who improperly handle classified materials, who took it home, who disseminated it. Most recently jack teixeira, the massachusetts airman who pleaded guilty under that law, to taking home classified documents and leaking them. This challenge has been tried before and failed. And nonetheless mr. Trump is trying here again. The other argument hes going to make today is that the president ial records act, the civil law governing the retention of president ial records, should moot this prosecute, essentially, because what they argue is that all the documents that mr. Trump deemed were personal and took home were his to take. And that therefore they cannot be he cannot be prosecuted for taking classified documents. Special counsel jack smith said both of these arguments are absurd and in particular the president ial record act has nothing to do with the criminal laws governing Classified Information. Once mr. Trump left office, he wasnt entitled to keep these documents, let alone in an insecure location at maralago and let alone to allegedly obstruct justice and order compatriots to destroy evidence. So, most experts dont think these arguments have much of a chance. Judge Aileen Cannon has devoted the entire day to hearing them. We will await her ruling in these matters. Rebecca, what do you make of the motions at the center of todays hearing . I think the most important of his motions is the one that has to do with the president ial records act. And i think thats true for three reasons. First of all, it is just so bold. The idea that a former president could take boxes and boxes of classified documents legally and just do whatever he wants with them is an extreme argument. And secondly, and relatedly, it also has a lot of political implications. For him, it allows him to claim he did nothing wrong, his favorite thing always. Rather than just say this was a mistake, or i didnt intend this, he says what i did was absolutely right. And for the other, you know, for democrats who are challenging his campaign, this is one of his claims, in which he is suggesting he is indeed above the law. And finally, i think it is important because there are implications for the immunity question, which the judge will decide later on and that is whether she should stay the case. Because part of his claim here is that when he was president , he made these documents personal. And that would at least support a claim if the judge agrees with him that perhaps on some outer perimeter this was part of his official acts and therefore he deserved immunity. Chuck, how unusual is it to have a hearing on these types of motions. Everything regarding this case is unusual, but this type of motion, how unusual is it . Yeah, so, first off, jose, youre right, everything about this case has been unusual, but lets talk about the more typical case. Atypical case. There is absolutely no reason why a judge, a good experienced thoughtful federal judge anywhere in the country would have to hold a hearing, let alone a day long hearing, to consider two relatively easy motions. In my practice as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of virginia, i imagine every judge sitting there would have disposed of these motions on the papers quickly and without a hearing. And by the way, if that Sounds Luke A criticism of judge cannon, let me explain that a little bit. She is a relatively new federal judge, i imagine she hasnt had much experience with the president ial records act or the Classified Information procedures act, and certainly not with the claims by a former president that hes entitled to absolute immunity. We are all better in our tenth year or 20th year, jose, than we are in our first year or in our second year, regardless of what it is that we do. I dont mean to suggest judge cannon is biassed in favor of mr. Trump. I do mean to suggest that i dont think shes very good at her job just yet and that she has a lot to learn and that a better judge would have handled this quickly and efficiently. And, chuck, so, part of the Trump Argument is around the president ial records act, because, you know, he says he was allowed to designate white house records as personal. What exactly does that law say and remembering that that law was created post nixon, during the nixon era. Right. So, at the highest level, jose, records that are generated because youre the president or around your presidency or to support your term as president do not belong to you, they belong to the American People and the National Archives is the designated caretaker. But beyond that i think rebecca is exactly right. This is this is an important argument. I dont know that necessarily it is a winning argument for mr. Trump, i think it is a losing argument, but at the very least, jose, Classified Information cant be personal. Under any circumstance. If it is classified, it belongs to the United States government, regardless of the president ial records act. And the notion that mr. Trump can take Classified Information home, let alone store it in an insecure manner, and designate it as personal property is absurd. On its face, period, the end. Rebecca, what could the outcome of todays hearing mean for trumps codefendants, who are there today as well . Yes, there are a lot of implications that would matter for them as well. I mean, you know, in terms of the fact that he is talking precisely about whether or not he is entitled to do it, and these other codefendants were charged with helping him engage in this activity, if he wins on this claim, which i agree with chuck, it is extremely unlikely he will, but if he does, well, then, theyre helping him do something essentially i suppose legal. And then there will be implications for them as well. So, ken, you were talking about when the judge could rule today. Is there any sense of when we could get a decision on these motions or the other ones trump filed in this case . Reporter she doesnt really have a history of ruling from the bench on these kinds of matters. So we expect shell take us under advisement and issue a Written Ruling at a later time. To chucks point, holding a day long hearing today, which suggests shell hold other day long hearings on the other motions to dismiss, all of this delays the eventual day that this case will go to trial. And it is really in question whether this case gets to trial before the november election. Ken dilanian, chuck rosenberg, thank you very much. Up next, could a former Treasury Secretary save tiktok here in the u. S. . We have new developments about what is being done to keep americans on the app. Plus, were live in the Dominican Republic, on the border with haiti, where haitians are trying to flee the violence in that country. And later, what Vice President harris is set to do today that is believed to be a first for any american president or Vice President. Were back in 60 seconds. Youre watching jose diazbalart reports on msnbc. Os yoreu watching jose diazbalart reports on msnbc. The seat is leather. Alan, we get it. You love your bike. We do, too. Thats why were americas numberone motorcycle insurer. But do you have to wedge it into everything . What . I dont do that. This reminds me of my bike. The wolf was about the size of my new motorcycle. Have you seen it, by the way . Happy birthday, grandma really . Look how the brushstrokes follow the line of the gas tank. Hey hey brought my plusone. Jamie . [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little Puppy Diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. Ten past the hour. Today a major bill that could place a national ban on one of the worlds most popular Social Media Platforms Heads to the senate after passing the house yesterday. The bill would require tiktok to be sold by its Chinese Parent Company or be removed from u. S. Devices within six months. It comes as nbc news data shows over 1 in 5 voters use tiktok every day and under 35 that number is over 4 in 10. Joining us now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent Julie Tsirkin and cnbc senior markets correspondent dominic chu. Julie, what does the path forward look like for this bill . Reporter that is an excellent question. Especially because Senate Majority leader schumer sounded very tepid when the house passed this bill overwhelmingly yesterday. He said that they will evaluate the bill, he will talk to his Committee Chairs, and see what they think about it. I should note, though, one of the Committee Chairs that is relevant to this is senator maria cantwell. There are some reports including our own nbc reporting that notes one of her former staffers now works for tiktok as a lobbyist. So there is a lot of pressure not only on democratic side, but also the republican side, and this is also an issue, jose that seems to translate Transcend Party lines rather and more so has to do with the age of lawmakers. Younger progressives rallying with tiktok influencers, with creators, saying that this should not be a ban on the app. Although they are concerned about some National Security risks here. So the long and short of it, jose, is that the senate process is not going to be anywhere as fast as the house was. And, dom, cnbc reporting former Treasury Secretary mnuchin is putting together a group to buy tiktok . Thats right. The former Treasury Secretary and the Trump Administration made the statement for the record on cnbc earlier this morning. Mnuchin said he thinks the legislation should pass and that tiktok should be sold off from Chinese Parent Company bytedance, adding it is a great business, and he is putting together an Investor Group to try to buy the platform. Now, hes making the case for the hypothetical takeover on the grounds that there is a fairness element here as well. Telling cnbc, quote, this should be owned by u. S. Businesses. Theres no way that the chinese would ever let a u. S. Company own Something Like this in china. Now, the mechanics of any potential deal are still unclear, pretty murky. It is not like tiktok or Parent Company bytedance are going to be very forward or transparent or even engaged at all with any group that it views as being hostile and trying to buy its assets. During the last time bytedance raised money from investors back in 2023, it did so at a valuation of roughly 220 billion. Thats for all of bytedance. Tiktok is just a portion, a fraction of that business, so it would probably fetch a fraction as a stand alone company. Now, the public criticism of tiktok and the offer of a potential deal to buy it is interesting given that mnuchin was a member of the Trump Administration. The Treasury Secretary himself then. Because trump now has publicly criticized that legislation that would in essence force that sale of tiktok in the. S. And do we know where mnuchins money would be coming from . So that is still unclear. I mentioned the estimates are still pretty murky right now. Mnuchin also said that he does not yet have he didnt lay out at least any parties that could assess how much it is worth, nor did he offer specifics on who other potential investors could be or what the valuation would be. But his private Investment Firm liberty street capital, it has been active on the deal front, most recently, jose, it rushed in with a 1 billion investment into embattled Regional Bank new York Community bancorp. Well keep an eye on whether or not there are more investors that step up as part of this group, jose. And julie, you have new reporting about senator bob menendez . Reporter i do, jose. The embattled senator who faced many charges in his multiple Court Battles is now apparent eyeing an independent run for senate, according to two sources. This is for several reasons. First being he would only have until march 25th and he would need a thousand signatures to get on the ballot as a democrat in new jersey, a field that is already pretty crowded with congressman Andy Kim Running and the first lady of new jersey, tammy murphy. Instead running as independent would give him a longer runway until june 4th, im told. He would only need 800 signatures. Sources tell us he started making calls about his record to allies about statistics, about his long career, here in the senate. And he will start to collect petitions as well to start that signature gathering process. One thing that is interesting here, just to point out here, one of the reasons potentially that menendez could be doing this, why would he be trying to stay on the ballot, well, it is because those legal bills, they are costly, and certainly one of the ways that he can fundraise more is if he stays as a candidate on the ballot, he has Name Recognition that way, he can still raise some funds from allies. We have seen this happen in the case of former President Trump who spent more than 27 million of Campaign Funds on legal bills. This is something notable, something were watching. And breaking here first on nbc news. And julie, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech on the pathway to peace in the middle east . Reporter condemnation of Prime Minister netanyahu, this is so notable because hes the highest ranking jewish elected official, hes also the first jewish majority leader, he had a very long, very close relationship with israel, even visiting the country in the mere days after the october 7th attack. I want you to take a listen at what he said on the floor here. As a lifelong supporter of israel, it has become clear to me that Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of israel after october 7th. Israel has the right to choose its own leaders. And we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that israelis are given a choice, there needs to be a fresh debate about the future of israel after october 7th. In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election. Reporter you hear him calling for an election change, Regime Change there in israel. Mcconnell who is the Top Republican in the senate, moments ago, jose, responding to schumer saying in part, quote, it is grotesque and hypocritical for american who complain about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of israel. Developing situation here in capitol hill. Julie tsirkin and dominic chu, thank you both so very much. Still ahead, were keeping our eyes on a federal courthouse in florida where trumps attorneys are trying to get case against him thrown out. Were bring you any developments as soon as we get them. As the violence escalates in haiti, Gabe Gutierrez is standing by over the border in the Dominican Republic. What are you seeing now . Reporter hey there, jose. The u. N. Is trying to get more humanitarian aid into haiti. Were here on the Dominican Republic, across from haitis border. A live report on the ground and ill show you the overwhelming need here after a break. Ill shg need here after a break. 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