under trump this kind of government will perish from the earth. >> in a surprise move the biden campaign sent a surrogate of its own to lower manhattan yesterday. two-time academy award winner robert de niro. we'll have more of the actor's warnings about the dangers of a possible second donald trump presidency. and of course we'll go through what happened inside the courtroom as well. during closing arguments in the former president's criminal hush money trial as we are now just hours away from the start of jury deliberations. plus we'll go through new reporting on the deadly israeli air strike in rafah and the biden administration's response to the tragedy. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, may 29th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we have a big show this morning. and in just hours donald trump's fate will be in the hands of a juror. both the defense and prosecution delivered their closing arguments yesterday in the former president's hush money criminal tile, wrapping up last night around 8:00 p.m. in a new york city courtroom. judge juan merchan will give the jury its instructions at 10:00 eastern this morning. that's expected to last about an hour. after that deliberations will begin. the judge said the jury will deliberate until about 4:30 this afternoon and schedules for thursday and friday will depend on the jury's progress. as for the closing arguments, the defense was first up yesterday. donald trump's lead attorney todd blanche addressed the jury for a total of 2 hours, 57 minutes. blanche spent most of his time focusing on former trump attorney and fixer michael cohen, who testified during the trial trump was at the center of a hush money payment to adult film actor stormy daniels and then the subsequent effort to cover it up. blanche painted cohen as a serial liar who could not be trusted, doubling down by calling the former fixer the gloat, which stands for greatest liar of all-time. before breaking for lunch the judge admonished blanche for suggesting to the jury that they would send trump to prison if they convicted him, calling blanche's comment outrageous. after the break the judge granted a request from prosecutors to instruct jurors to disregard blanche's remark while assuring them a guilty verdict would not necessarily mean some sort of prison sentence. blanche ended his closing argument with a list of ten reasons why the jury should have reasonable doubt with cohen at the center. meanwhile, the prosecution took nearly five hours to deliver its closing arguments yesterday. veteran assistant district attorney joshua steinglass took his time re-establishing facts, going over each witness testimony and exhibit in detail, recapping the totality of the state's case. he focused heavily on two main exhibits calling the evidence the smoking guns of the case. first, with notes allegedly hand written by allan weisselberg, which lays out the plan to reimburse michael cohen. that bank statement was allegedly brought to donald trump himself to review. the second smoking gun is a page of hand written notes from trump's former corporate controller jeffrey mcconnie. mcconnie testified that he wrote the notes during a meeting between himself and weisselberg about the reimbursement payments. steinglass also worked to reframe the defense's charge that prosecutor's case is hanging solely on cohen's testimony. he claimed the case did not rely on cohen, rather that they used him as more of a tour guide. he defended cohen against the defense's descriptions of him as a liar pointing out that lying was not necessary -- or i should say lying was very much necessary in his role as trump's fixer. quote, keep something s else in mind when the defense goes on and on about how michael cohen is immoral or he's a liar, he's a thief. mr. blanche actually said this is not the type of witness you want. the defendant chose michael cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on mr. trump's behalf. mr. trump chose mr. cohen for the same qualities that his attorneys now urge you to reject his testimony. joining us now nbc news legal analyst catherine christian. she is a former assistant district attorney in manhattan. catherine, thank you so much for joining us this morning. first let's start with the closing arguments. give us your evaluation of each. >> well, of each i think the defense did what they had to do, they worked with what they had. and all they really have is michael cohen is a liar. that's really all they had. they had to keep stressing that over and over and over again because there is no narrative. there's been criticism of the defense argument and there is no narrative because they didn't have any other narrative other than don't believe michael cohen, and the records aren't false because michael cohen isn't a lawyer, and when you pay a lawyer they're all legal expenses. so that's what they had. and in terms of a defense argument and generally this is most defense arguments, you're hoping obviously for an acquittal, but the next best thing is a hung jury. for the prosecution they work with what they have, which was a lot, a mountain of evidence. and the tour guide was not just michael cohen, it was also david pecker who i still think is really that most important witness because he was the lead off witness the national enquirer had who talked about when the conspiracy started, which was august 2015, two months after donald trump announced. and he along with being the eyes and ears of the campaign was the eyes and ears of the jury for this conspiracy, and the lead prosecutor said that $130,000 pay off to stormy daniels really was the heart of the conspiracy, and it might have been the reason why donald trump was elected because of the conspiracy to win the election by unlawful wins. the prosecutor was wrong but the jury is not going to vote guilty or not guilty by the length of summations. it was long because i think there was a weak break for the jury and the prosecution wanted them to remember all the mountains of evidence they had heard. during that week they wanted to make sure their memories were really refreshed. >> catherine, i understand it's impossible to get in the hands of a jury, but in a case like this and from what you would draw from your own experiences and as you've been observing the evidence and the presentations throughout, first of all, how long do you anticipate a jury will need to deliberate in a case like this? is there any way to tell? >> if it's a quick verdict, and quick meaning less than a couple of hours, that really means they didn't deliberate much. we're talking about 34 counts here. yes, they're all the same charge, falsifying business records, but there are 34 counts you would hope that count by count they discussed it. so i would think, you know, many of us were betting by friday, but really it's like reading tea leaves. the only prediction i will make is i don't see this being an acquittal. i don't see 12 jurors after listening to this mountain of evidence, all 12 of them saying not guilty. that's my only prediction. the evidence points toward a guilty verdict, but you never know. that one person might say no. two people might say no, but there really is a mountain of evidence that kraubts michael cohen. in addition, it points towards the guilt and that was proven by the prosecution with their evidence. >> all right, nbc news legal analyst catherine christian, thank you for starting us off this morning. we'll have much, much more on the trump trial as it goes to the jury. talk about all morning long here on msnbc. next up here on "way too early," the democratic national committee rolls out a plan to ensure president biden is on the ballot in every state this november. plus, strong storms caused widespread damage across the dallas-fort worth region, and texas wasn't the only state to be hit with severe weather. we'll take a look 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biden off the state's general election ballot this november. a statement yesterday by dnc chair jamie harrison reads in part this way. democrats will land this plane on our own, adding through a virtual roll call we will ensure republicans can't chip away at our democracy with incompetence or partisan tricks and that ohioans can exercise their right to vote with a presidential candidate of their choice. the dnc's rules and bylaws committee is expected to hold a vote next week on a resolution to allow for this virtual roll call. meanwhile, far right house republican bob good may pay the price for a lapse in loyalty to donald trump. the former president has endorsed good's challenger and named maguire he's a virginia state senator in next month's primary. it comes despite good appearing at trump's hush money trial less than two weeks ago to push the former president's false claims about the case. >> this is crooked sham trial to try to hurt the nominee who's going to be the president of the united states whether or not they like it or whether or not they want that to happen. president trump is going to be re-elected. this gag order episures he cannot defend himself fairly. ware here to have his back, defend him, and tell the truth about this travesty of justice, this political persecution, this election interference. >> none of that is true, but good has been a devoted supporter of trump, frequently calling him the greatest president of my lifetime. but last year good endorsed ron desantis in the republican presidential primary. at the time good said the florida governor was more of a true conservative than trump and had a lot less baggage. in a long social media post yesterday trump wrote that good had turned his back on our incredible movement and that his repeat, quote, loving endorsement was too late. meanwhile, another devastating storm hit texas yesterday after a deadly weekend of tornados slammed various parts of the united states leaving a trail of destruction. nbc news correspondent maggie vespa has the latest. >> reporter: texas in the bulls eye again with flash floods stunning drivers in dallas and lightening potentially setting a suburban church and multiple homes on fire say authorities. heavy rain and winds mangling metal buildings, and authorities say killing one person. hail piercing the roof of this wal-mart. and at dfw incredible video of nearly 80 mile per hour gusts appearing to push a plane from its gate. american airlines saying there were no injuries, and its maintenance team is conducting thorough inspections. hundreds of flights canceled, more than 1 million texas customers without power. all of it capping a harrowing holiday weekend with more than 60 tornados reported across 14 states including kentucky where clara rice's worst nightmare repeated itself. this is not the first tornado you've been through. >> no, ma'am. >> reporter: the mother and grandmother became famous back in 2021 when a tornado destroyed her home and sent her bathtub flying, her two baby grandsons inside clutching her bible. >> i had no clue at all where these babies was. >> miraculously the boys were found alive and rice rebuilt. sunday her home was obliterated again. authorities say memorial day weekend storms killed five people in kentucky, close to two dozen nationwide. with more than 1,000 tornados reported, 2024 is now the second busiest start to a year ever recorded. rice's family this time taking cover in a neighbor's storm shelter. will you rebuild here again? >> yes, ma'am. if you can afford a tornado shelter any way at all, get you one and use it. just use it. god's put it there. >> really terrifying images there. nbc's maggie vespa with that report. we'll have much more on the forecast, and we'll see if there are more storms coming when we check in with meteorologist angie lassman in just a minute. and also ahead we'll have the highlights from the conference finals in both the nba and nhl playoffs plus a look at caitlin clark's best game as a pro by far. all of that when we come right back. all of that when we come right back himself again. but even though time has passed, his risk of a second attack hasn't. mike is still living in the red. with a very high risk of another heart attack or stroke. he doesn't know with his risk factors his ldl-c (bad cholesterol) is still too high - the recommended level is below 55. are you living in the red? get in the know. learn how to get a free ldl-c test at attackheartdisease.com. hi. i use febreze fade defy plug. and i use this. febreze has a microchip to control scent release so it smells first-day fresh for 50 days. 50 days!? and its refill reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness. ♪ (man) mm, hey, honey. means i'll never miss a day of freshness. looks like my to-do list grew. 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(man) no health questions. -physical exam? -don't need one. it's colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if you're not in the best health. options start at $9.95 a month, 35 cents a day. once insured, your rate will never increase. a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. as long as you pay your premiums, it's yours to keep. call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. there's no obligation, and you'll receive a free beneficiary planner just for calling. edwards another screen, a two. big time shot. >> anthony edwards put the t wolves up by five with that clutch jumper in the final minute of regulation a lead minnesota would not relinquish on their way to the first win of the western conference. edwards finished with a game high 29. he added 25, and the timberwolves avoid elimination with that 105-100 road victory over the dallas mavericks. the series still 3-1 dallas. the series shifts back to minneapolis for game five tomorrow night. to the wnba court in indianapolis now and indiana fever caitlin clark turned in her most complete game yet as a pro dishing out six assists and also grabbing five rebounds, chipped in three steals, three blocks to go along with her season high 30 points against the league's only other one win team. clark's effort not quite enough. the fever fell to the los angeles sparks 88-82. you do get a sense she's finding her footing there in the pros. stoothe stanley cup playoffs now and third straight overtime game in the eastern conference finals. the new york goalie turned away 30 shots in regulation but could not stop the power play goal leader in over time. stam rinehart the star of this league scored his 55th in the combined regular season playoffs about a minute into the extra period. florida panthers win 3-2 at home last night to tie up that series two games apiece. it's been a very good series so far. game five tomorrow night at madison square garden. tonight the edmonton oilers will host game four of the western finals. dallas leads that series 2-1. we turn to major league baseball and historic performance on the mound. padres receiver jeremiah estrada has set the record adding another five last night to complete a 4-0 shutout of the miami marlins and extend his streak to 13 in a row. he's a reliever but still pure dominance. all 13 strikeouts in that streak have been sweet. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman. a few minutes ago we played a package of severe devastation in texas. are we in store for that today? >> we unfortunately are. the threat is little lower when it comes to tornados. we're watching basically two kinds of systems. this one in the north west and north east to canada points south. that's going to be cooler conditions and rainy conditions, but it's this system we'll watch. today it's the northern plains stretching into the southern plaps. basically the severe storms aren't expected to erupt until later this afternoon and into the evening hours, so we'll have to watch for that, but notice the impacts. wind gusts over 60 miles per hour. that's what we're most concerned about. but large hail on the table, too, and tornadoes risk like i mentioned on the lower end but still not zero. as we look ahead to tomorrow, that severe weather shifts to the south including a good chunk of parts of oklahoma, kansas, texas especially some of those really hard hit areas over the past couple of weeks. so we will once again be watching for all of those same kind of threats. tornadoes threat is lower but it's not zero. so kind of a rinse and repeat of what we're dealing with today. big picture look what's going on in the north east or midwest tornado risk on tap through friday. we'll see some of these showers in parts of the north east and you might need an umbrella and it'll be brief, maybe a couple of gusty winds out there, but that's about it. the temperatures will get your attention. detroit ends up in the upper 60s, chicago as well. these temperatures are on the cooler side of things, jonathan, for this time of year. >> angie, thank you so mup. we'll be watching for those storms. next up here we'll take a look at what hollywood star robert de niro had to say outside donald trump's criminal hush money trial yesterday in a surprise guerilla-style appearance. we'll be right back with that. u appearance we'll be right back with that. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. i thought i was sleeping ok... but i was waking up so tired. then i tried new zzzquil sleep nasal strips. their four—point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better. and we both sleep better. and stay married. centrum! it's scientifically formulated to help you take charge of your health. centrum gives every body a healthy foundation. supporting your - oops - energy, immunity and metabolism. and yours too! you did it! plus try centrum silver, now clinically proven to support memory in older adults. welcome back to "way too early." it's a couple minutes before 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this wednesday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. after weeks of watching republican members of congress support donald trump at that lower manhattan courthouse where his hush money trial is being held, the biden campaign sent its own high profile surrogate to the proceedings yesterday. the actor robert de niro. the two-time oscar winner and new york cit