The plan thaet can do that other than the pope. The pope. Republican congressman troy nells of texas with a totally normal comparison for the former president , the pope. A recap of what happened yesterday in Donald TrumpsCriminal Hush Money Trial in just a moment. Plus, trumps comments about Birth Control that he quickly had to walk back. Also ahead a former Senior Adviser to President Obama lays out an alarming Supreme Court scenario for democrats if donald trump were to win in november. Well play for you that warning. Thats another one, elizabeth. Well get to that. So good morning. Welcome to morning joe. Its wednesday, may 22nd. Were in washington. The table is going what are we talking about today . With us we have u. S. Special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay, elizabeth b. Miller and Deputy Managing Editor for politics at politico, sam stein is with us. Well start with Donald Trumps criminal trial where testimony in the former president s hush money trial has officially finished. The defense only called two witnesses. And yesterday, rested their case. Former President Trump did not testify in his own defense, despite telling the press multiple times that he wanted to. Do you plan to testify in your trial in new york . Yeah, i would testify absolutely. Its a scam. Its a scam. President trump, are you going to testify . Yes. Will the gag order top you from testifying . No, it wont stop me from testifying. The gag order is not for testifying. Do you plan to testify in court . Probably so. I would like to. I mean, i think so. I mean, the story of his life. Who shocked me . Nobody is shocked. This is a guy that said, of course, im going to testify. Im going to testify. You knew he wasnt going to testify for a couple reasons. One, hes just a walking perjury machine. Seriously, you got a new Ice Cream Machine that you say makes ice cream really quickly . Creamy, by ninja. Well, hes a ninja perjury machine, right . You stand in front of it for ill never look at the creamy the same way. And it creates instant perjury. So we all knew he was lying. And it is a lie all along. He knew he wasnt going to testify. Again, i wonder who is stupid enough to believe him . Right . I wonder i wonder why his voters that keep going back to this guy when because its not just about its about everything. Oh, you know what, ive got to plan for abortion that everybodys going to love. And im going to talk about it. And then he comes back on states rights. And then he goes, ive got a plan for healthcare. Its two weeks away. Of course those two weeks turn into two more weeks. He has no plan for healthcare because he has no plan for anything positive for america. Yesterday, well get to this in a second, what about contraceptions . Oh, ive got a plan for that. Youre going to love it. Its a smart plan. Were going to take it back to the states. And then again, you know, well take it back to the states which means that Clarence Thomas was right. First they were coming for abortion. Then they were going for contraception and Marriage Equality and keep going on. Thats what he believes in his heart. And then he gets back for a guy that really doesnt believe anything that is one thing he believes. That states should be able to take away womens right to get contraceptives, to have abortions, whatever. Then he goes back to his campaign, that was really stupid, donald. Youre really dumb, donald. You need to change your opinion, donald. Youre an idiot, donald. Thats what theyre say to him. Im surprise that i had talk to him that way. They do, i guess. Then he changes his mind. Oh, wait. No wait. Those are democrats that are no, theyre not democrats. Just like the democrat saying that he was going to testify when the whole world knew he was lying about testifying because he would perjure himself on the stand and is afraid of what he would have to admit about this Tawdry Encounter With A Porn Star and a payoff through michael cohen. Okay. So when asked thats what i have to say, mika. Thank you. Thank you, very much. Thank you, joe. Right Out Of The Box hes awake. I was worried when i talked to him on the phone that he was sleepy. He already had he had his ice cream. Okay. You done good. You know what it is, mika, its so funny, i called Elizabeth Yesterday as well. Huh oh. Its not just me. Its everybody in the times Washington Bureau, when theyre tired, they drink rudys drip coffee. Oh, which you drink black . No, i dont drink black. Okay. Has anyone tried the coffee yet . Rudy says its really good. No. Im interested. Nobody has tried the coffee. Im interested. No. Sam. Im interested. Its the Hair Dye Sweat mixed in that gives it a special flavor. You have to report it out. Then you put it in the ninja and wow, its fluffy. So when asked why yummy. What do you think is in the mug . Oh my god. This is not real, is it . It is. Thats the problem. Yeah, unfortunately. This is our world, 2024. Can you sell . Center. Okay, when asked why he didnt take the stand, because the defense has rested in Donald TrumpsCriminal Hush Money Trial, the former president refused to answer. Why did you decide against testifying in your case . Did you not want to take the stand . Wow. So the trial is now on break for the Memorial Day Holiday. And will resume next tuesday, may 28th, for closing arguments. Judge juan merchan has confirmed there will be court next wednesday, making that the first possible day for jury deliberations. Lets bring in former u. S. Attorney and msnbc contributor chuck rosenberg. Chuck, your thoughts on Donald Trumps inability or refusal to participate in this probably his team got him to not testify because i dont think they would have liked that. And just what about this Big Gap Now And Then what happens scheduling wise for this trial where we might be waiting for a verdict. Whats the timeline . Yeah. Well, let me start with the first thing first, mika, if i may. Good morning. Good morning. Its actually a smart decision by mr. Trump, so dont often use the words smart decision and mr. Trump in the same sentence. But it would be rare for a defendant in a criminal case to testify. Of the 50 or so criminal cases i prosecuted, i probably saw that happen two or three times. And it never, never went well for the defendant when he or she took the stand. And so, putting mr. Trumps noise aside, putting the braggadocious aside, it actually was a smart, strategic decision for him not to testify. Prosecutors were ready. I think he would have been shredded. And so i think resting without calling mr. Trump was a good legal decision. What happens now . Well, right now both side are working with the judge to fashion Jury Instructions. That will be the judges legal road map for the jury when they begin their deliberations. Jurors are the judges of the facts. But the judge supplies the law to the jury to help guide their deliberations. And then next week, both sides will have the opportunity to argue, to close, to sum up the trial. And after that, mika, the case goes to the jury and we await their verdict. Chuck, why do these Jury Instructions matter so much to both sides . Yeah. You know, its a great question. Theres not an obvious answer unless youre a lawyer and you sat through this thing. By the way, sitting through this thing can be painful. I hated this part of trial. Once the defense rested, i felt like i was done, but i wasnt. So here is an example. And just an example, but imagine that the government wants to prove that mr. Trump caused the entry of false records. They want to prove that the ledgers and the documents were false and that mr. Trump caused them to be false. So, a discussion perhaps only a lawyer could love. What does it mean to cause something . So, im holding a mug of water in front of me right now. If you wanted me to cause me to drop this, you could knock it out of my hand. You would be directly causing me to drop this. You could get joe to knock it out of my hand. You would be using a proxy to get me to drop this. You could sneak up behind is this and scare me and maybe i would drop it, so you werent directly causing me to drop it but you were indirectly causing me to drop it. And so, the government wants a broad definition of cause, not just that he made those entries directly himself, but he caused someone else to do it. On the other hand, the defense would want a very narrow definition of cause. Liability for defense from their perspective ought to be narrow. There the prosecution, ought to be broader. Getting the judge to give the right definition of cause. You knock this out of my hand, got someone else to knock this out of my hand, scared me and dropped it helps the prosecution. A narrow definition of causality could help the defense. And and please, please, mika i just want to remind everybody, please, nobody knocked that out of chucks hand. There actually is rudy coffee inside of it. It burns through table tops. And your lower intestines like sulfuric acid. Lets keep that right there. There it is. Made with some special ingredients that, well, lets just say are banned in 47 states. Chuck, i want to talk about this time that you said you hated. As an attorney, where youre just sitting and waiting. I would watch older lawyers. I wasnt like especially going to the courtroom, i had a very narrowly defined specialty at the law firm where i worked and that was windows. They thought i cleaned windows very well. Thats what i did most of the day. But i watch actually the seasoned attorneys and they would sit and be waiting for the jury. And they hated it. And they hated it because you never knew what was going to happen, right . Thats right. You know what, 90 of the time its right. But you know what, you lose some you should never win and you win some you should never lose. So thats when i hear people on tv trying to predict how a jury is going to come back, despite what where they are, whether in new york or northwest florida. Nobody knows because they really do they take their job seriously. And once they get behind those doors, it just takes on its own life, doesnt it . Oh, absolutely, joe. I can say with confidence that i felt my case went in well. I introduced the evidence i wanted to introduce. I obtained the answers from our witnesses that i wanted to obtain. But it would be crazy, foolish for me to tell you that i knew what a jury was going to do. And i think the reason i hated that part so much is that maybe as prosecutors were a bit of Control Freaks. And this is the thing we absolutely cannot control. Once the case is submitted to the jury, its theirs and theirs alone. And all you can do is sit and wait. So i will never tell you that i know what a jury is going to do. I will tell you that i think the governments case here went in well. Well enough to sustain a conviction. Whether or not that happens, i have absolutely no idea. Can i ask a question . Okay. Elizabeth, go for it. Chuck, so what is the ive heard repeatedly how good the governments case is. What would you guess would be the if trump is acquitted, why would the jury do that . What evidence would they hang that acquittal on . Yeah, elizabeth, in order to equit they also have to be unanimous. An acquittal or conviction requires a 120 verdict. Anything in between would be a mistrial, hung jury. To answer your question, in my experience when a jury acquits, right, and so thats a unanimous verdict, its typically, not always, but typically because they have some question about whether the government met its burden of proof. Thats significant burden. Its proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I will add this, i think its really important, can this jury acquit . Absolutely. Will this jury acquit . I have no idea. But an acquittal is never a vote by a jury that someone is innocent. They are not asked that question. It is guilty or not guilty. And so, often when theres an acquittal, the press immediately touts it as a finding of innocence. That is not the finding. But it would typically, elizabeth, be predicated on a belief by unanimous jury that the government failed to meet its burden of proof. All right. Former u. S. Attorney chuck rosenberg, thank you so much for your analysis this morning. Of course, well see you again soon. Though hes not testifying, donald trump is still talking a lot. Yesterday he unleashed a new line of attack against judge juan merchan upon leaving the courthouse. The former president accused the judge of hating him and having bias against him because of where the judge comes from. The judge hates donald trump. Just take a look. Take a look at him. Take a look at where he comes from. He cant stand donald trump. Hes doing everything in his power. Sam, whats he talking about . I mean, this is typical trump, right . This is the same exact or version of the line he did back in the 2016 campaign where he said the judge against him in the Trump University case was biased because he was from mexico. He wasnt as explicit in this case. That was pretty clear. Where he comes from could be and i think deliberately phrased to be interpreted however the viewer wants. But i think we all know what the implication was. And you know, all of this is sort of surreal. That statement in its own right would have been a shock to the system six, seven years ago. And it was. I remember how we felt when it first happened. But its become sort of normalized because weve been so inundated with trump. And i think on the macro scale, too, we just had a 15minute conversation about a potential the presumptive gop nominee might have a guilty verdict in a Hush Money Payment for a porn star. I think sometimes we dont really step back and say to ourselves that what were living through is a very tense, tumultuous and frankly surreal life. And i think the thing thats almost more interesting than all of that is the degree to which if you talk to democrats, theyll admit as much, the degree to which its not breaking through. And by that i mean right. The polls dont move. Trumps base doesnt move. We have lawmakers who are willingly going to the theres an acceptance happening. Theres acceptance to it and its become baked into our political psyche at this point. Joe . Well, i mean, elizabeth, its it says its far more than just concerning or nerve racking. This is just open, blatant racism thats now been sort of mainstreamed into american political life. This did shock people back in 2016 when he was talking about the judge from mexico. But here is a guy now that says take a look at him. Look at him. See where hes from. And i will tell you, this is what separates donald trump for myself, from me or for most americans. I look at him and go, Madison Avenue . Upper east side . Thats what i see when i see him. Im dead serious. Donald trump speaks in code because he wants people to see the judge as another. Everybody is another unless their immigrant parents were from scotland and germany. And so, you have people ill just go back to it. What did john meachum call it, the clubhouse the Clubhouse Set that are totally fine with. The grill. The grill. Yeah. The mens club grill at Country Clubs that are perfectly fine voting for a guy who talks about vermin, a nazi term, who also uses sort of the fascist slogan of go back to where you came from for sitting members of the congress that dont happen to be white. And then, yesterday, just take a look at him. Just say, seriously . Like what is this, 1933 . It is it still needs to be shocking to us today. But, you know, here is trump has also said we need more people coming from norway and the Scan Da Knave Yan countries. The population has become use to it. Can you imagine if another politician had said Something Like that . We would be talking about it for days. With trump, its just were used to it. Its discounted. And hes bringing up a whole new set of generation. I was trying to think of the right word, category, of politicians who do speak this way. And you see them in congress. And again, the reaction theres so much of it, joe, that right. Its hard to keep track. And again, you know, without going into the origins of fascism and cults, thats exactly how it starts when theres chaos, theres a fire hose of this type of information and its too much to keep up with. And overall communities and different whether its the media or voters or political organizations become desensitized. Yeah. And you know and the voters i wont say they become desensitized because thats giving them far, far too much leniency. Whats the word . The fact is well, i mean, theyre voting for a racist. Theyre it is an active choice to vote for someone who said in december of and i know this because i was a lifelong republican who on this show in early december of 2015, when he was talking about Muslim Registry said i would never vote for a man like that in my life, regardless of if it were my father or a woman if it was my mother, i would never. Right . Thats an active choice to say im going to vote for him even though hes supporting muslim registries. Im going to vote for him even though hes using the old fascist line, go back to where you came from. Im going to vote for him, these Men Grill Enablers are saying, when he says, just take a look at him. Look at where hes from. This isnt a passive choice. This isnt a, oh, im so dumb. They cant even hear what hes saying. No. This is them hearing that hes a racist, hearing that he a racist. These are racist terms. They would have been used by everybody in both parties. I kept going back to that iowa congressman keen who got kicked out of the caucus for saying far less in 2015. By other republicans. By the republicans. This is no trump derangment syndrome because republicans and democrats, predonald trump in 2016 would have considered any of these statements disqualifying. Now it is an active, active decision by members of the Republican Party