People over the years. Im not the only one. And wasnt very good in a lot of ways in terms of his representation. And also the things he got in trouble for were things that had nothing to do with me. He got in trouble, he went to jail. This had nothing to do with me. When are they going to look at all the lies in the last trial. He got caught lying to them in the last trial. He got caught lying, pure lying. And when are they going to look at that . Donald trump may have violated the gag order in his Hush Money Trial by ranting about Michael Cohen yesterday who is expected to testify at some point. Well get expert legal analysis on that and yesterdays Opening Statements. Plus, well go through the newly unsealed transcripts in the classified documents case, which show a former white house staffer tried to warn the former president about the legal issues he could face. And well have the latest from capitol hill on foreign aid funding passed by the house as well as threats to Mike Johnsons speakership from members of his own party. All right, good morning. Welcome to Way Too Early on this tuesday, april 23rd. Im sam stein. Im in for jonathan lemire. In just hours Donald TrumpsHush Money Criminal Trial will resume in a New York City courtroom. It follows a busy day yesterday after both sides delivered their Opening Statements and the prosecutions first witness was called for questioning. In their opening remarks the prosecution and defense painted two very different pictures of the former president. Prosecutors describe him as having been involved in years of sordid business dealings. They called him a coconspirator in a plot to cover up sex scandals in a socalled catch and kill plan in the 2016 president ial election. And they said trumps actions amount to Criminal Conspiracy and cover up by scheming with his thenlawyer Michael Cohen and david pecker, whos a publisher at the National Enquirer at the time. The defense depicted trump as a dignified former president and family man, but above they all depicted him as innocent. They stressed no crime was committed. The prosecution then called its first witness, david pecker. A former chairman and ceo of American Media incorporated, explained his publications had practiced, quote, checkbook journalism where they paid thousands of dollars for stories. The publications would also purchase stories to prevent them from being published by other outlets and then bury them. He also testified trump met with him after the 2016 election to thank him for being the campaigns, quote, eyes and ears, scooping up information that could prove harmful to trump and reporting it back to Michael Cohen. Pecker is expected to resume his testimony later this morning. Before the testimony resumes judge merchan will hold a hearing to decide whether hes in violation of a gag order. That order prohibits trum frump attacking witnesses, jurors and other people involved in the case. Prosecutors say trump has violated the gag order ten times. They want him held in contemp and fined 1,000 for each violation. Judge merchans options range from a stern warning to a modest fine to a short stint in jail. But trump did not appear to be too concerned about that yesterday. He went on a rant to reporters about the credibility of Michael Cohen, then he later spoke on a radio show making false claims about the jury. That jury was picked so fast. 95 democrats. The area is all mostly all democrat. You think of it as a, just a purely democrat area. Its a very unfair situation. All right. Joining us now to unpack this all msnbc justice and Legal Affairs analyst anthony coley. He was the top spokesman at the Department Of Justice under merrick garland. First of all, what a pleasure it is to have you in studio. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it. What do you see as being the options for judge merchan here with trump . What we saw yesterday, sam stein, from the prosecution i think was an effort to dispel this notion this case was about Hush Money Payments or book errors. This case was a Criminal Conspiracy to keep valuable information out of the hands of voters in an effort to cover it up. And the prosecution for their part, matthew, one of his super powers is able to explain complex legal matters in ways people can understand it. As for this direct question about judge merchan, i would say that this gag order what we know about gag orders i think the Justice Department right now the Justice System right now is under a tremendous stress test, if you will. And to pass the stress test, what judge merchan, what everyone, all the judges need to do is treat donald trump just like they would every other criminal defendant. And so one of the options you laid them out well. Financial penalties, stern talking to, or incarceration. I dont know know that the first step that judge merchan is going to do is to incarcerate donald trump, but i do think what we should see here is both a stern talking to and what neil katyal offered last night is perhaps the judge should rule that he has donald trump has violated these gag orders and sus spend that sentence until he violates it again. So it puts the onus, the burden on donald trump. And neil katyal suggested specifically youre going to go to jail and put that as a sort of warning what could happen potentially. Opening statements yesterday. What did you make of prosecutions decision to start with david pecker but also its opening remarks . Yeah, so david pecker in particular, this is a guy who many people dont realize in the summer of 2015 he and donald trump and Michael Cohen got together at trump tower to hatch this scheme. This is a broad Criminal Conspiracy that the that donald trump and others took to keep this information out of the hands of voters. And so its not just bookkeeping. It is not just Hush Money Payments. So i think it made a lot of sense for the prosecution to lead off with this. Many people suggest that Michael Cohen is going to be the lead witness. I actually think it may be david pecker because he was present at this meeting, and hes a central character throughout. And he doesnt have the baggage Michael Cohen has. I want to quickly touch on the baggage issue because these witnesses regardless of what they testify, they do come with some baggage. Obviously David Pecker Associated would the National Enquirer not necessarily the most reputable journest. Michael cohen has admitted he has misled in prior testimony. What are the risks the prosecution runs with starting with people who have these aassociations . Listen, i think im not a lawyer but prosecutors tell me in an ideal world all of the witnesses could be nuns or librarians. Thats nut the world in which not in this trial. Not at all, right . One of the things, what they have in this trial is firsthand evidence from people. Theyve got a series of canceled checks from donald trump many of which were written made out while he was sitting in the oval office. Theres Audio Recording that were going to see, firsthand information. Donald trumps voice. So the prosecution has a lot of things on its side. Anthony, stay with me for the next story. Concerns another legal case against donald trump. Newly unsealed transcripts reveal that a high level Trump White House staffer warned him that he could be indicted if he didnt return the classified documents that he took with him when leaving office. Yesterday nearly 400 pages of investigative documents were partially unsealed by judge aileen cannon. Among them fbi interviews with someone known only as person 16 who, quote, had free access to trump and the oval office was and was regularly briefed on National Security matters. This person told agents as President Trump never issued a Standing Order to declassify all documents as he now claims to have done. And the first time person 16 even heard of such an order was in 2022 after the documents had already been seized from trumps florida home. Person 16 also told the fbi that they met with trump multiple times after he left the white house. And in November Of 2021 warned him, quote, whatever you have, give everything back, dont give them a noble reason to indict you because they will. Trump allegedly gave person 16 the impression he would return the documents, which he did not, before their conversation was interrupted by, quote, a Maralago Club member and a much younger woman who wanted a picture with trump. Anthony, are you person 16 . I am not. I had to get that out of the way. All right, what do you make of the newly unsealed transcripts . Is this going to hurt trumps argument the documents he took awere personal . Ill start by saying the government typically wins 99 , 95 of these cases. Its because of firsthand testimony from person 16. This is the last thing that as Defense Counsel you want to see, but it also provides some insight in why what their legal strategy is. Theyre not trying to win this case in the courtroom. Theyre trying to prevent it from even starting because this evidence from person 16, from from the security footage, from the text message, it is so clear, it is so overwhelming. Donald trump has such an Uphill Battle in the courtroom, thats why e he doesnt want this case to start. Msnbc justice and Legal Affairs analyst anthony coley, thank you so much. Still ahead colleges and universities across the country are struggling to contain propalestinian protests on campus. Well show you what some democratic lawmakers had to say during a visit to Columbia University yesterday. Plus President Biden is heading to Florida Today. Well have a preview of that trip and how he plans to put the spotlight on abortion rights. Those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. A check on sports and weather when we come right back shingles. The rash can feel like an intense burning sensation, and last for weeks. Shingles could make it hard to be there for your loved ones. Over 50 . The virus that causes shingles is likely already inside you. Dont wait. Ask your doctor about shingles. [stomach growling] its nothing. Sounds like something. When you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion upset stomach, diarrhea pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. With the freestyle libre 3 system know your glucose levels. No fingersticks needed. All with the worlds smallest and thinnest sensor. 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When people are fed, futures are nourished. Join the movement to end hunger and together we can open Endless Possibilities for people to thrive. Visit feedingamerica. Org actnow after calling for the social media app tiktok to be banned while president , donald trump has reversed his position on the matter. In a truth social post yesterday trump wrote in part, quote, just so everyone knows, especially young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning tiktok. He is the one pushing it to close and doing it to help his friends over at facebook become richer and more dominant. Over the weekend the house passed a bipartisan measure that would force tiktoks Parent Company to divest from the Chinese Government within a year or face removal from the u. S. App store. President joe biden has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Back in 2020 trump himself accused tiktok of spying on its american users and even issued an Executive Order to ban the app, which was later blocked in federal court. Turning now to Columbia University, which is offering hybrid classes allowing students to attend remotely until the end of the semester. That is in light of recent protests over the war in gaza that has led to an increase in antisemitic incidents. Last week more than 100 heme were arrested after occupying a space on campus for more than 30 hours. The universitys president said tensions had been, quote, exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with columbia. The president is now facing criticism for her handling of the situation. Several lawmakers say shes not doing enough to protect jewish students. Some have even called for her resignation. Meanwhile, the propalestinian Student Protesters argue the universitys decision to call the police encroaches on their right to free speech. Even Faculty Members joined in on the protest yesterday. Several democratic lawmakers also visited columbias campus in support of its jewish students. They know and you know deep down if this was any minority group, this wouldnt be happening. It wouldnt have gotten this far, but because its jews, we fall into this weird category. Oh, were not protected. Thats why antisemitism is on the rise. Thats what the failures were in committee with those president s, and thats the failure thats happening here today. Were also seeing demonstrations at other College Campuses across the country. Dozens of people were arrested at propalestinian protests at New York University and at Yale University in connecticut. At yale Police Arrested at least 60 people yesterday including 47 students. Officers were called to Nyu Last Night after the school said that protesters breached barricades and behaved in a quote, disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing manner. The University Said it warned the crown to leave before police arrived. President biden also commented on the protests yesterday saying he condemns antisemitic incidents but also, quote, condemns those who dont understand whats going on with the palestinians. Still ahead well have the highlights from a thrilling night in the nba playoffs with two games decided in the final seconds. Plus the manager of the New York Yankees got tossed from yesterdays game because of a fan. It truly did happen. Well show you what happened next on Way Too Early. Next on Way Too Early. Ahhh with its diamond weave texture, Charmin Ultra Strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. Enjoy the go with charmin. Times may change, but somethings remain timeless. Ive been using Dove Beauty Bar more than 25 years. Dove is 1 4 moisturizing cream. I feel silky smooth. man mm, hey, honey. I feel silky smooth. Looks like my todo list grew. Paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get Life Insurance, hm. 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