Lifestyle. Also ahead, the starstudded event with an obama cameo. How a state dinner for kenya became a showcase for the allies who President Biden is keeping close during the heat of the campaign season. Plus, they were bitter rivals, but is donald trump warming to the thought of nikki haley on his team . Also could he be reading too much into her comment that she would vote for him. And the Memorial Day Rush is on. What you need to know if youre planning to skip town for the weekend. Our nbc News Reporters are following all of the latest developments. We begin with nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian on that hearing for hunter biden. Just got a slew of rulings from the judge about what can and cannot be referenced at trial. What can you tell us as this wraps up . Reporter thats right, chris. The hearing does appear to be over now, and the judge worked through a series of motions by the prosecution and the defense to admit or deny certain evidence. This is a way of hashing this stuff out so that it doesnt have to be argued in front of the jury. For example, shes going to allow the prosecution to cite from Hunter Bidens memoir. Shes going to exclude the defense from arguing that from pointing out that this case was never prosecuted by Delaware State Authorities in 2015 when he bought the gun and exclude them from arguing that the prosecution was somehow defective or in any way grounded in russian disinformation or malicious intent. On this question of the laptop, the infamous hunter biden laptop, theres a chart summarizing 18 pages of evidence that will be admissible. Hunter bidens defense is going to be allowed to challenge the authenticity. That is something shes reserving for trial. In terms of the defense, they have managed to exclude any reference to the other pending Criminal Case against hunter biden in california, those tax evasion charges, also his Child Support dispute in arkansas and the fact that he was discharged from the navy after testing positive for cocaine. So those are some of the rulings the judge that has made, and Jury Selection in this trial begins june 3rd, chris. Ken dilanian, thank you. Lets go to the white house now and the state dinner that had a Surprise Guest and were not talking about Country Music star brad paisley. Allie raffa is reporting from d. C. Former president obama, he was reportedly going to a reception but he showed up at the dinner. Obviously hes somebody that the president is going to be leaning a lot on as he runs for reelection. Reporter thats right, chris, and several allies of the Biden Campaign among those in attendance at this 500 guest, starstudded state dinner last night. You saw music and movie stars, the clintons, and as you mentioned, former president obama whose father was born in kenya at that event. Obama meeting with the president of kenya at the white house and having a reception with him but not staying for the full state dinner. The state visit is particularly significant, chris, because its the first visit by the leader of an african country since 2008, and of course a lot has changed since then. Were seeing russia and china have much more of an influence in africa. China investing billions and billions of dollars there. And it comes as the United States tries to strengthen its ties, not just to kenya, but all african nations, another topics discussed between President Biden and rudo was the fact that kenya volunteered its military to go to haiti to stabilize peace there amid the ongoing threat of Gang Violence in that country, and we know thats an effort that the u. S. Is largely funding but President Biden, no doubt, understanding how big of an undertaking this is for kenya. We know a foundation was certainly laid during this trip, a foundation that the white house wants to build on. And we heard the president earlier this week try to fulfill a promise that he made to visit africa last year. He said that he will visit africa in february after he says hes reelected, chris. Allie raffa, thank you for that. Donald trump meantime is responding to nikki haleys comment that shell be voting for them in november. Nbcs dasha burns is following this story for us. What exactly did trump say . Reporter this was an interview with news 12 last night after his rally in the bronx. I want you to take a listen to what he said and well talk on the other side. Well, i think shes going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, same thoughts, i appreciated what she said. You know, we had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty, but shes a very capable person, and im sure shes going to be on our team in some form. Reporter now, what being on our team in some form means is not entirely clear. He has already said on truth social that shes not a contender for vp. Heres the thing, chris. Nikki haley consistently has been winning 15 to 20 of votes in primaries months after dropping out of the race. So that means those voters, they knew that she was not a candidate anymore. She wanted to send a message by voting for her, and that is a warning sign to former President Trump, can he win back those voters. Those are republicans in a lot of cases that voted for her, like in pennsylvania, where thats a closed primary. You can only vote in the republican primary if you are a registered republican, and in critical swing counties like erie county, she won 20 there. And so theres going to be a battle for the haley voters. The Biden Campaign has doubled their spending in pennsylvania in places like erie to reach those voters. This might be a bit of an olive branch from former President Trump to haley. They had a brutal rivalry until the primaries, but he does need her and her voters to come around. Chris. Dasha burns, thank you. If youre headed out for the holiday weekend, youve got a little company. Roughly 44 million people. Nbcs Antonia Hylton is live for us alongside the new jersey turnpike. Shes at a rest stop in saw caucus, i wonder if you have been talking to travellers. And what theyre telling you. Reporter this is where people stop to get their better bottles, take the kids to the restroom, and already the turnpike is backed up. If youre in the office, thinking youre going to hit the road at 5 00, understand its a little rough out here. Youre going to want to have a plan, where am i going to stop, where might i need to get food as i travel. About 44 million americans are doing the same thing. The vast majority, choosing to drive to locations like new york, orlando is going to be popular. Southern california, las vegas, travelers are looking for Entertainment Centers and for theme parks right now. If thats you, pack a little extra patience frankly. Take a listen to some of the travelers here in new jersey who are on the road. Im about to go to my brothers house in boston and visit him for a couple of days. And to just go out and have some fun with him. What are you seeing on the roadways. Busy travel weekend. A lot of traffic. Theres a lot of traffic, yes. Reporter and you should know that gas prices are at about an average of 3. 61. Thats about 0. 07 higher than last year, so also make sure youre prepared for the costs associated with this very busy Memorial Day Weekend, and its the same, frankly, if youre heading to the airport. Were looking at extremely crowded airports, unlike anything seen since 2005, chris. Thats about 20 years ago. So that means were looking at a major Summer Travel rebound right now. Antonia hylton, thank you. What goes into crafting a Closing Argument for the history books. With Donald TrumpsHush Money Trial nearing its conclusion, well get insight from the litigator who stared down bill cosby to deliver a highly praised closing. Ing. So this is pickleball . Pickle ah, these guys are intense. With e trade from morgan stanley, were ready for whatever gets served up. Dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. Or college, since you like to get schooled. Thats a pretty good burn, right . vo you were diagnosed with Thyroid Eye Disease a long time ago. And year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. But even after all this time your Thyroid Eye Disease could still change. Restoration is still possible. Learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at tedhelp. Com. Oh no. Running low . With chewy, always keep their bowl full. Save 35 on your first autoship order. Get the food they love. Delivered again and again. [thud] sometimes your work shirt needs to be for more than just work. Like when it needs to be a big, soft shoulder to cry on. Which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. Downy. Breathe life into your laundry. Fulton county d. A. Fani willis is appealing a decision to throw out some of the charges against donald trump and his codefendants in the Georgia Election case. In march, you might remember the judge scott mcafee ruled that six of the 41 could wants in the 41 counts lacked detail, the one probably most familiar is from trumps now infamous phone call with georgia Secretary Of State asking him to find 11,580 votes. The pressure is on to finish the most important argument of their lives and this this case gets turned over to the jury. Someone who knows the pressure well is kristen gibbons, whose fiery Closing Argument in the Bill Cosby Trial earned her widespread praise. Its good to see you again. In channelling your own experience, how intensive are the preparations, final preparations that are going on. What are lawyers doing right now . Yeah, so, you know, when you look at a trial as if the Closing Argument is the grand finale and your only opportunity to weave the evidence into a compelling narrative that truly aims to leave the jury with that lasting impression, you fully understand how important a Closing Argument is, and how important it is to really prepare for it. So, you know, what i think the prosecutors and the Defense Attorneys are really doing right now is theyre putting together all of their evidence. Theyre coming up with the most compelling and captivating clear narrative that truly is going to tie all of the evidence together, and kind of stitch it into that compelling story thats supported by the evidence. I think one of the things they really need to focus on, too, chris, is to outline pillars of credibility, particularly in this case, you have cohen, and you have so many different varying narratives so they really do need to focus on those pillars of credibility. So court adjourned last tuesday, and of course closings in many cases would have happened on wednesday or thursday. But the holiday weekend, other promises that were made about having court be dark. Do you think having a week to prepare is a benefit or can you over think a Closing Argument given too much time . You can absolutely over think it, chris, youre so right. I think that when you have that much time, it is so easy to over think it, but i think it is important in this case to remember, you know, this case has been going on for weeks. So, yeah, you have the opportunity to over think it, but this has so much evidence and so many Documentary Evidence as well. Not just testimonial evidence. So the week is probably, in this particular case, because it is so complex, i think it is going to be useful for both attorneys to have that much time. You have talked about how in the cosby case you wrote out your Closing Argument word for word, and you were, you thought, Super Mechanical until you saw bill cosby laugh, and then you saw red. You threw out the script. You went from an analytical closing to an emotional one. When do you think that works and is there a lesson in that for trumps prosecutors . You know, when youre trying a case of this magnitude, and keep in mind, this is historic. For the cosby trial, for example, myself, that was a celebrity. I had never tried a celebrity before. And so when youre dealing with that type of pressure, you want to get it right. You do not want to create appellate issues. In the minds of the attorneys, thats whats really kind of being challenged. Thats the impairment that they have, the obstacle they have in terms of being the best lawyer that they can you know, but i think in this particular case, its complex. They have to be super an lit an clear, focused, particularly the prosecutors, they need to lay out the elements of the crime, lay out the elements but then also show how each piece of evidence they elicited showed that evidence. From here, you know, prosecutors have to show that trump caused the false entries to be made in the business records. They have to highlight all of the evidence. They have to highlight the invoices. They have to highlight the testimony. They have to show that reimbursement of the 420,000 which was the double up to cover taxes. Then they have to show that trump did so, created those false entries with the intelligent to defraud. Then they have to go through those compelling pieces of evidence. Go through hope hicks testimony where trump made very clear he wanted to quash Stormy Daniels story before the election, and then they have to show was trumps intent was to commit or conceal another crime, and then theyre going to highlight that particular everyday. So it is so important to make sure that the prosecutor stay clear, stay focused, show that their case is not simply just resting on michael cohen. And show that they have so much corroborative evidence to support their case and they need to highlight that they have proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt. You know, this jury is highly educated. It includes two lawyers, a lot of professionals. How much does the makeup of the jury impact how that Closing Argument is shaped . I think that is the most important thing. You know, as a lawyer, when i craft my Closing Arguments, i take into account every single juror. You know, when you pick a jury, youre going to get the jury statements that outlines what they do, where they live, and so youre able to make some assumptions about that particular jury. You know if they have kids, and if so, how many. You know their age, and so all of those factors will go into it. For example, when i would be giving any Closing Argument, particularly the one in cosby, i would look at specific jurors. Its interesting, chris, its not just the demographics that dictate the Closing Arguments, i make sure throughout the entirety of the trial that i look at and am mindful and conscious of the jurys demeanor during specific portions so when, for example, in cosby, when one of the young ladies who was a prior witness was testifying, i saw, you know, one of the jurors kind of emote in a very sad way almost giving me the thought that that particular juror was being empathetic to that person. When i was talking about that particular witnesss testimony, i made sure to zero in on that juror because i know that juror emoted in a certain way. The makeup of the jury is important, not just because of the their demographics but because of their entire demeanor throughout the trial. Kristen gibbons fedden, thank you. The Oscar Winning actor lending his voice to a Biden Campaign ad that depicts donald trump as totally unhinged, how it plays into a bigger strategy before next months big debate. 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