Now in America Today in 2024 women have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers had because of donald trump. Trump bragged how proud he was to get rid of roe v. Wade. He took credit for it. He said there has to be punishment for women exercising reproductive freedom. That was President Biden calling out Donald Trump On Reproductive Rights in his home state. Well have much more from the president s speech straight ahead. Meanwhile, the former president spent his day in a new york courtroom. Well get expert legal analysis on yesterdays testimony in the Hush Money Trial and the gag order against trump. And well bring you reaction from lawmakers on capitol hill after the Senate Passed a package of foreign aid bills. All right, all right, good morning and welcome to Way Too Early. On this wednesday, april 24th. I am sam stein in for jonathan lemire. Testimony in Donald TrumpsHush Money Criminal Trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow after several Key Developments in court yesterday. First judge juan merchan held a hearing at the start of the proceedings to determine if the former president had violated his gag order. Prosecutors argued that trump had done so at least ten times and asked the judge to fine him for 1,000 for each violation. Trumps defense team argued their client has not violated the order but was merely reposting opinions of others on social media and was, quote, being careful about complying with the order. But the judge expressed frustration with the argument telling trumps attorney todd blanche, he was, quote, losing all credibility with the court. Later outside the courtroom, trump told reporters that any violation of the gag order and articles he posts to social media is unintentional. Somebody writes an article, if i read every one of these articles ill read some of it and look at the headlines. And the headline is the case is a sham. But i cant read the whole thing. Its like reading a novel. And somebodys name is hitched in the article and i end up in violation of the gag order. A gag order which to me is totally unconstitutional. Im not allowed to talk but people can talk about me. They can lie, but im not allowed to say anything. I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered me to have a gag order. A classic legal argument that they do not equal endorsements. Meanwhile judge merchan did not issue an order on the matter. Laura jarrett has that part of the story. Reporter tonight mr. Trumps long time friend, david pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer offering the jury a rare glimpse into the underworld of Tabloid Tactics as the state seeks to prove the former president doctored his internal Business Records to cover up the pay off of an adult film actres just days before the 2016 election. Mr. Trump, what do you think of david pecker . Reporter pecker describing a meeting at trump tower in 2015 with mr. Trump and Michael Cohen. Mr. Pecker asaid he agreed to serve as the eyes and ears for rumors that could hurt plump. Atsdsing, what i would do is publish positive stories about mr. Trump and publish negative stories about his opponents. Ection exposing a series of headlines about then Candidate Trump and derogatory comments making baseless claims about his opponents including ted cruz. Pecker admitted today and also testifying his company paid a doorman 30,000 for a completely untrue story about mr. Trump fathering a child with his housekeeper so the doorman couldnt take the story else where, trying to save mr. Trump and the campaign the potential embarrassment. That was nbcs Laura Jarrett with that report. And joining us now is former assistant District Attorney in manhattan catherine christian, and also an nbc legal analyst. Thank you for joining us. Lets just get your reaction to the david pecker testimony on the witness stand yesterday. How does it help the prosecution . Its very helpful, and its not over yet. We havent really even gotten to karen mcdougal, the playboy model who ami, American Media company, which david Peckers Company paid 150,000 to. So he is central to the prosecutions case, their theory theres this conspiracy with donald trump and david pecker and Michael Cohen to suppress negative information about donald trump in order to help him and influence the 2016 election. That initial meeting after donald trump annoyance his candidacy in june of 2025 was in trump tower, and thats where this scheme was hatched. And david pecker was there. So that he was the leadoff witness makes sense. Michael cohen is still a main witness, but you can arguably say that david pecker is also the main witness if not the main witness in the prosecutions case with donald trump along with the documents and other witnesses who will be testifying. All right, so youre the defense now. Youve seen this testimony and know mores to come. Whats your way of unpacking what david pecker says and poking holes in it, frankly . Well, its not so much poking holes. Its hard to, i think, for the defense to challenge his credibility. David pecker is who he is. He has no problems saying that he was engaged in checkbook journalism, and, yes, he was publishing some outrageous stories, you know, and negative stories and untrue stories. So thats what he did in charge of the company that was the Parent Company of the National Enquirer. What you want to do is plant reasonable doubt in jurors mind and distance donald trump away from pecker and cohen. Its going to be hard because pecker did testify hes known donald trump for years, and he knew him to be detailed oriented and almost a micromanager. Thats hard to distance someone. If youre a micromanager and youre detail oriented, its hard to say you are hands off. So you can expect them to do that. You can also expect them to try with mr. Pecker to talk about other stories, negative stories and falsehoods that were published not at the behest of donald trump but had nothing to do with donald trump. He was in charge of the company for years. Yeah, i was just going to say the simplest way to do it is say, look, youre willing to publish lies, you admitted as much. What makes it any clearer youre not lying right now about donald trump . Lets turn to the judge. The judge did not issue a ruling yesterday on whether donald trump violated the gag order, but he did say that trumps attorney, todd blanche, was losing all credibility after attorney blanche said trump was being very careful trying to comply with the gag order. I guess two questions. One is why did judge merchan not issue a gag order yesterday in your estimation . And whats your reaction to his rebuke of todd blanche . Well, one, not having credibility is another way of saying youre not telling the truth. And as a lawyer you never want to hear that from a judge particularly at the beginning of trial because that will stay in the judges head, and that will be throughout the trial that the judge thinks you have no credibility. Why he didnt issue the ruling im perplexed because this has been going on for over a week. This was a long date from last week. The judge put this on so you would expect the ruling was going to happen today. The only thing i can think is the judge has a Written Decision and that he was adding onto it after what happened at the hearing yesterday. But if it doesnt happen today, meaning the judges ruling, i dont understand why. Its just giving donald trump more time to keep violating the order. All right. Nbc news legal analyst catherine christian, i really do appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us this early in the morning. Before we go to break, President Biden and donald trump both easily won their primaries in the battleground state of pennsylvania last night. Biden won about 89 of democratic primary voters while 83 of republican primary voters went for donald trump. Its worth noting that more than 155,000 Republican Voters did cast a ballot for nikki haley, who if you might recall dropped out of the race back in march. Now, back in 2020 biden won the state by about 80,500 votes. When it comes to the Senate Democratic incumbent bob casey will face republican challenger David Mccormick in the fall. It will be a high stakes contest that is expected to cost, get this, hundreds of millions of dollars and could help decide control of that chamber next year. Still ahead the latest from Columbia University in the heated propalestinian protests on campus. What the school is saying about the deadline to move encampment tents. Plus President Biden goes to florida and denounces the states sixweek abortion ban thats set to go into effect next week. Well show you what he had to say in the sunshine state. Those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. Sports and weather when we come right back can neuriva support your brain health . Mary, janet, hey thinking eddie, no frasier, frank. Frank . fred how are you . fred. Fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. Join the Neuriva Brain Health challenge. psst psst ahhh with flonase, allergies dont have to be scary. Spray Flonase Sensimist daily for nondrowsy long lasting relief in a scent free, gentle mist. Flonase all good. Also, try our Allergy Headache and nighttime pills. Ah, these bills are crazy. She has no idea shes sitting on a goldmine. Well she doesnt know that if she owns a Life Insurance policy of 100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. Even a term policy. Even a term policy . Even a term policy find out if youre sitting on a goldmine. Call Coventry Direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect. Com. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. But what if we told you its possible that comcast Business Mobile can save you up to 75 a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers . You can get two unlimited lines for just 30 each a month. All on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. For a limited time, ask how to save up to 830 off an eligible 5g phone when you switch to comcast Business Mobile. Dont wait call, click or visit an xfinity store today. Columbia University Says that propalestinian protesters have agreed to dismantle part of their encampments on campus. A University Spokesperson made the announcement earlier this morning saying the students will remove a significant number of tents. They will also ensure those not affiliated with the school will leave, and that they will take steps to prohibit any discriminatory language. The tents have been up for about a week. This comes just hours after the schools president set a midnight deadline for Student Protesters to reach an agreement with faculty and administrators. Officials say those conversations will continue for the next 48 hours. These protests have spurred demonstrations at other College Campuses across the country. University of minnesota, university of michigan, m. I. T. And berkeley have all seen similar encamp lts. Meanwhile, the fbi says it is working with universities to warn them of antisemitic threats. Director Christopher Wray spoke about the protests on campus in an interview with nbcs lester holt. Take a listen. Demonstrations themselves are not something we the fbi get involved in, but when violence ensues, thats what we get concerned, when we have threats of violence. So we have seen even before october 7th we saw a significant increase especially in antisemitic threats and antisemitic violence. Now, are you actively monitoring these protests . We dont monitor protests, but we do Share Intelligence about specific threats of violence. Speaker eemeritus nancy pelosi is calling for Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu to step down while condemning how hes prosecuted the israelhamas war. When he recognize israels right to protect itself, you reject the policy and the practice of netanyahu, terrible. What could be worse than what he has done in response . First of all, the exposure, his intelligence person should resign, he should resign. Hes ultimately responsible for i dont know whether hes afraid of peace, incapable of peace or just doesnt want peace, but he has been an obstacle to the twostate solution. I emphasize the word solution. Some remarkable words there from pelosi. Meanwhile, disgraced former congressman George Santos his long shot bid to win back the seat in the house has ended. Santos announced earlier this year he would challenge sitting new york congressman but his Campaign Came to a Screeching Halt after it was reported he did not raise a single dime in the First Quarter of the year. You kind of need money to run for office. The former new york representative was expelled from congress yesterday after an Ethics Committee investigation, numerous allegations, and allegations of fraud against him. Santos announced he would drop out in a lengthy social media post saying he did not want to potentially split the republican vote, but he hinted this may not be his final run for office. Quote, the future holds countless possibilities, and i am ready, willing, and able to step up to the plate and go fight for my country at any time. Still ahead well turn to sports and last nights Playoff Action in the nba and the Nhl Plus Another Career Mark for dodger superstar shohei ohtani. Those stories and a check on the forecast when Way Too Early returns. Forecast when Way Too Early returns. At i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. I had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. I discovered prevagen. I started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. 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Watch out for those mavs. But really watch out for these wolves in minnesota. The twolves ran away with a 10593 victory in a twonothing series lead over the suns, the aging suns. Game three is friday in phoenix. We are passing the torch from k. D. To ant. And in the Eastern Conference another big first half from tamian willard last night, but that could not sustain the milwaukee bucks. Theyre still missing their two time mvp giannis. And scored 37 for indiana and the pacers beat the bucks 125108. The bucks need to play my boy andre jackson. Series moves to indianapolis for game three on friday. Now to the stanley cup and for hockey, something im a little less interested in but were going to do it anyway. Well start with the first round action up on the ice in vancouver. National predators took