Found guilty of 34 Felony Counts of his hush Money Case back in may. The case had been seen as the only criminal case against trump with the potential to cross the proverbial Finish Line before the election. As of today, we know that will not happen. Trump will be sentenced on November 26th three weeks after the election. Here is how the judge explained his reasoning. This matter is one that stands alone in a unique place in this nation stahistly. We are now in a place and time fraught with complexities. The imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance however unwarranted that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching president ial election in which the defendant is a candidate. Judge merchan offered a little more detail saying the integrity of our judicial system demands a system that is entirely on the jury. Free from distraction or distortion. The members of this jury served diligently and their verdict must be determined in a manner not diluted by the upcoming president ial election. That is Judge Merchan saying a Sentencing Hearing which would involve statements from the Prosecution And Defense and the defendant himself, all of that would be problematic. Even if unintentionally so in the middle of a president ial election. The circus of the political environment might track from the serious work. So it is delayed three weeks after election day. That is nearly the opposite approach of a judge in another one of trumps criminal trials in a decision rendered yesterday. The judge overseeing trumps dc federal Election Interference case, Judge Tanya Chutkan took the reverse position. This is Judge Chutkan responding to trumps lawyers an their assertion that the election is a sensitive time for court business. Lets just discuss what the sensitive time is. I understand there is an election and i said before and i said again, that the electoral process and the timing of the election and what needs to happen before or shouldnt happen before the election is not relevant here. This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule. Her approach is literally the opposite of Judge Merchan. In the course of the past 24 hours, we have gotten two very different judges in two different historic criminal trials taking two remarkably different positions on the intersection of politics. And the law. All of which raises big questions about how the court should be treating trump in the approach to this election and how all of this will affect the american Justice System in the short term and long term. We will get some Expert Help unpacking those questions in just a second. But first, it is worth hearing what Donald Trump himself had to say today about Judge Merchan delaying his sentencing. A judge that merchan said was to avoid any appearance that they seek to affect the approaching president ial election. Before we begin, big News Today. Is the Manhattan Da Witch hunt against me has been postponed because everyone realizes that there was no case because i did nothing wrong. Its a witch hunt. It is an attack by my political opponents in washington dc. And Cam Rad Kamala Harris and radical left opponents for purposes of Election Interference. All that was. Reporter joining me now, duncan Levan And Christy greenburg. Formerfederal prosecutor. It is great to see you guys. It has been far too long. Can you take me inside the mind of Judge Merchan to the degree you are able to professionally and sort of explain to those of us who dont understand the Back And Forth. What a Sentencing Hearing is . Sure. And why does merchan think those proceedings could inadvertently intersect with the political proceedings of the November Election . Well, so, the Sentencing Proceeding is the opportunity for the prosecution to make basically oral arguments. And for the defendant to get to talk. Throughout this whole trial, he had the right to testify but he didnt. This is his moment to talk. And he gets to make a statement to the court and express remorse or not. And i dont think he will. But he is allowed to. Something tells me. So he is allowed to talk and the judge will pronounce sentence oralling. It is being done formally. There are a lot of swirling things going on for Judge Merchan and a lot of people have been saying this is a huge win for trump. But i think it is anything but. If he loses the election, this makes it far more likely that he is going to get some kind of sentence with confinement on it. I know i have been talking the whole summer off stage about the fact that i think that is going to happen but this makes it much more likely. Judge merchan is in a difficult position. To put him even under House Arrest in the final stages of the election. If he loses the election, it makes it much more likely to do that. But there are also other issues going on right now. And, mr. Trump has a 33010 motion. We will, just to clarify what you are saying here, you think merchan is ready to hand down a sentence with some kind of confinement in Home Confinement or a Jail Cell or some kind of sentencing that is severe enough that is actually the reason he doesnt want to hand down the sentence before the November Election . It is hard to tell. And nobody knows. But im willing to, im not willing to put money on it. You are saying it on national television. The odds of it are going way up. Because once the election is over, it makes it much easier for the judge to do it. And i think this is the case. Assuming that Trump Hasnt won the election. Assuming Trump Havent won the election. If he does, it will very likely get up to the Supreme Court. But if he loses the election, the prosecution is going to be asking for some kind of incarceration, Home Confinement. Split sentence with probation. I will be surprised if they dont. And this just makes it way easier for the judge to impose that kindover a sentence on him if it takes place after the election. The Das Office didnt fight to make a case at this hearing should not be postponed. And Judge Merchan sort of called them out about that. You are like, more than called. Can you talk a little bit about the relationship between the prosecution and the judge and how this decision was made . Yeah. So generally speaking, a judge is not going to keep a sentencing date. Both sides say they want moved. So trump says we want the delay, shocker, but the manhattan Das Office said we take no conditions. You take positions on these kinds of things. Trumps reasoning here it makes sense. And then, people didnt really elaborate on the reasons why it wouldnt make sense. So he is saying you are. It is basically a cosign. Im not surprised he made this decision. Im more in the Judge Chutkan camp that the election should not matter but again, i think if the manhattan Das Office had opposed the request from trump, merchan would have kept it. Because remember, Judge Merchan knew about the decision. He knew about the election date. He knows they made this motion. And even after trump made that motion to set aside the verdict, based on inmumty, he kept the schedule for them and told the party you better be ready. Only now that both sides seem to be saying move it does he change his mind. It is so High Stakes for everyone involved. Right . And you have to think that if you are the judge Out On A Limb here having to make a huge call. Not just for this case, but american history, and you are getting Death Threats and your daughter is getting Death Threats and you are the subject of national ire on the right, like, you would assume you need the Das Office to back you up in terms of expediting this. You could see he was clearly upset that the Das Office was putting this all on him. The amount of resources they have spent on this case. This is their case, they should be pushing for jail time and they may say look, dont impose the jail time until after the election. Thats fine with us, but go ahead with the sentencing. Thats on them. They are basically dumping it on the judge and putting it all on him. You can see it in his tone. He was clearly upset with that. Yesterday, chutkan is like what election . Doesnt matter. This court does not see politics. And merchan literally naming the election as a factor in delaying this sentencing here. Yeah. Look. I think Judge Merchan is saying the quiet part out loud. You see often that prosecutors at every stage, whether choosing to make investigative decisions, choosing to charge certain individuals. Even in sentencing. They are not living in a vacuum. Politics are out there. So the question is how much do you really let that affect your Decision Making . And Judge Chutkan i think again is correct in saying it really shouldnt have an impact. You just, the case is the case, you are defending. Your candidacy is your day job. Thats the right way to do it. But again, i think Judge Merchan kind of recognizing here that i agree with duncan. I think they will eke a Jail Sentence. Michael cohen who is not as culpable went to jail for three years for the same thing. So i think the judge is likely to impose it. And then, you know, given the gravity of that. They know they cant do that before the election. You really think 41 days, less now. 41 days before the election, you will have both sides either blaming the judge or the prosecution. The left is not threatening the lies of those involved in the case. It would only increase if Judge Merchan handed down a Jail Sentence for Donald Trump. Absolutely. One side is clearly unhinged people doing scary things. On the other hand, if trump were to win, i could see people second guessing well you allowed him to be a martyr. You made him a victim of political persecution. Was this necessary for jail for something other prosecutors may not have brought . I think both sides are blaming. One is scary, one is not. Do they really want to deal with that . I think that was at least a factor in the decision to go along with the request. You mentioned there are other outstanding business and the timing is really interesting. So i will put this in the most elementary terms possible. The Sentencing Hearing has been delayed until November 26th. Trumps lawyers are trying to throw out the decision entirely. Based on the immunity decision from the Supreme Court. Right . They are saying forget this conviction. This conviction was based on evidence that would have been inadmissible based on the Supreme Courts ruling right . And Merchan Today said we are going to delay that, the resolution of that business until november 12th. Is that right . Yeah. This is part of the rational for kicking the sentencing out. The grounds for it is the jury heard official acts they shouldnt have heard. The Supreme Court said no, they Cant Convict based on that. And Judge Merchan needs to decide, was that called Harmless Error or not. If he says it is Harmless Error, the conviction stands. If this made a significant difference. But for that information, he wouldnt have been convicted. Thats a problem and it could be a basis to set aside the Jury Verdict. Mr. Trumps lawyers say you are supposed to land down the decision on that september 16th. We wouldnt even have time to defend that. This is politics in this courtroom. Because in any other case, the judge would say i dont care. I will sentence you and appeal it after the sentence. Theres politics in both courtrooms. He wants to give a little more air to set aside the Jury Verdict and the sentencing to give a little room to mr. Trumps lawyers to appeal it so they couldnt complain. On one hand, its a win for trumps lawyers because they get more time to prepare. On the other hand, politically, trump is still convicted of these crimes. The evidence should never have been admitted. He is still a guy convicted of 34 Felony Counts up until election day. Right. And that is to, i can see where they dont have to deal the sentencing. He doesnt get to say this is me being a victim. Being politically persecuted. I dont know. I just feel this is just an extraordinary moment. My heart goes out to all the people forced into such difficult High Stakes, life threatening positions they have to make. Not just for themselves. The hardest part of the job is sentencing somebody. It is hard in every case. Theres all sorts of Collateral Consequences to it. We do a lot of that in this country. It has to be the hardest job that the judge can do. And this has to be the hardest case for the hardest job for the hardest anything. My heart goes out to him. This is a very difficult decision to make and he is trying to be as fair as possible. I know november 12th, November 26 seem a long ways away but they are not. And what an extraordinary next three months we have ahead of us. Duncan and kristi, thank you so much for your time and analysis. Really appreciate it. We have more to get to. We learned former republican Vice President Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris. That is the world we live in. First, all summer long, we heard about a president ial candidate showing signs of slippage. And cognitive fluctuations. Should those conversations continue into the fall . But this time centering on the republican president ial nominee . Thats next. Republican president ial nominee . Thats next. We always had dogs, theyre like my best buddies. Yep, had them my whole life. Cmon bo so we got him and he is a, an absolute joy. Daddys puppy. Once we got on the Farmers Dog he just attacks it, its incredible. Theyre so tuned into you and they have such, such personality. Being without a dog, i dont know, cant imagine it. [laughter] only purples Gel Flex Grid passes the raw egg test. No other mattress cradles your body and simultaneously supports your spine. Cant imagine it. Memory foam doesnt come close. Get your best sleep guaranteed. Save up to 1,000 during our labor day sale. Visit purple. Com or a store near you. The moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. Soulmates. Soulmate [giggles] why do you need me . [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to tmobile 5g home internet. And now his attention is spent elsewhere. But im thinking of her the whole time. Thats so much worse. Why is that thing in bed with you . This is where it gets the best signal from the Cell Tower ive tried everywhere else in the house theres always a new excuse. Well if we got xfinity you wouldnt have to mess around with the connection. Therapys tough, huh . Mmm. Its like a lot about me. [laughs] a Home Router should never be a home wrecker. Oo this is a good book title. More than half of this election year, president bidens rhetorical performance was a focus of analysis. Could he make a well reasoned argument . But not nearly as much attention was paid to the skills of the other guy. Between january and june of this year, nearly 10 times as many articles focused on just Bidens Age or mental acuity as focused on just trumps. President biden is of course now out of the president ial race. In the week since that happened, you should know that Donald Trump has not been landing his points or making a well reasoned argument or displaying a Firm Grasp of facts or history or reality. This is trump about a week ago trying to make a point about Electric Cars. I think. They want the put like immediately all Electric Cars but we dont have enough electricity to supply ourselves now. You go out to california, which was destroyed by kamala. Destroyed. She destroyed the city of san francisco. And i own a big building there. It is no, i shouldnt talk about this. But thats okay. I dont give a dam because thats what im doing. I sell and get the hell out of there. I dont know. I lost billions of dollars, you know . Somebody said what do you think you lost. They said you think you will do it again . Thats the least of it. Nobody they always say, i dont know if you know. Lincoln was horribly treated. Jefferson was pretty horribly. Andrew jackson say they was the worst of all. That he was treated worse than any other president. And i said do that study again because i think there is nobody close to trump. It takes some amount of rhetorical skill to connect Electric Cars to lincoln assassination. This is Trump Today revealing just how much he misses running against president biden, or something. But who looks Crooked Joe, Sleepy Joe, who looks Crooked Joe . Who likes Sleepy Joe . Now he has plenty of time to sleep. Somebody said he looked great on a bathing suit. And he goes to the beach with a thing that is built, you know, it is built for children to lift up. Its aluminum. And he Cant Lift it. He Cant Lift his feet out of the sand. And then he is dead cold knocked out sleeping. He still manages to sound off. To me, the number one thing i get spoken to by the people is crime. They cant believe it. They cant walk out of their apartmenting and buy a loaf of bread without getting mugged or rapped or shot. Getting rapped when you buy a loaf of bread . Is that a problem . Is the bread wrapped or are you rapped . Fbi statistics show historic declines in violent crime. Now trump has never had a particularly solid grasp of the facts but wow has his association from reality gotten extreme. You take a look at bacon in these products. Some people dont eat bacon anymore. We are going to get the Energy Prices down. When we get energy down, you know, this was caused by their horrible energy wind. So wind is ruining bacon. But energy is the future. What youre going to need . We got to be at the top of it. This is the republican nominee for president. Who may or may not believe he is still running against joe biden. A man whose feet are buried in the sand at the beach somewhere and who has also destroyed Breakfast F