Welcome to prime time week, and i am alex wagner. Lets get right to the weeks top stories. He is tall, lean, and blond, with dazzling white teeth, and he looks ever so much like robert redford. He dates slinky fashion models, belongs to the most elegant clubs, and at only 30 years of age, estimates that he is worth more than 200 million. That is how the New York Times described donald trump in 1976. If you asked donald trump then and now, hed say his most valuable asset was his brand. And for decades, the name trump has been synonymous with wealth. Trump promoted himself to the world as a business genius, want to be rich . Be like trump. You walk down the street sometimes, and people will touch you just for the good luck. Ive never figured that out of never really understood it. But its something thats been happening. And i took great offense that. And now i guess not to get at considered a compliment. I dont know what it is. But perhaps theyre going into a deal, or theyre going up to Atlantic City. Or they went someplace and they just want to have a little luck. But the myth of trump has always been riddled with inconsistencies. In 1987, trump came out with what will become the cornerstone of his business franchise, the art of the deal. Years later, trumps ghost writer who actually wrote the book, told the new yorker that he felt like he had put lipstick on a pig. In reality, trumps businesses have failed, over and over again. He bought an airline, it tanked. He bought a football team, the league folded. And still, donald trump managed to sell the public this idea that he was the monopoly man. Trumps gotta new deal. Whats his game . Trump has a new game my new game is trump, the game. Trump, the game, where you deal for everything youve ever wanted to own. Because its not what you win or lose, its whether you win. Trump, the game, from i think youll like it. Trump even lost money on casinos, not in them, on them. As an owner. In the early 90s, three different Trump Casinos in Atlantic City filed for bankruptcy. You have to be astoundingly bad business to not make money as a casino owner. But still, donald trump convinced the public heat was the epitome of success. Ive mastered the art of the deal. Ive turned the name trump into the highest quality brand. And as the master, i want to pass along my knowledge to somebody else. Im looking for, the apprentice. Everywhere you looked, trump was on tv, reminding you how rich he was, how profitable his businesses were, how lucky you were to be associated with him. Its great to be here, on saturday night live. But, ill be completely honest, its even better for saturday night live, that im here. [laughter] trump stuck his name on everything from golf courses and departments, to vodka and stakes. There is even a trump urine test, because why not. If trump was involved, it was good business. Even if it was a year and test. So that was the story that launched trumps political career. And ultimately, the story that one in the white house. But again, the myth did not always match up with reality. In 2016, trump was forced to pay 25 million to settle a lawsuit, claiming that the university he stuck his name on was defrauding students, vaguely. In 2019, new york dissolved trumps charity, and find him 2 million, because as it turns out, trump had been using it as a charity for donald trump. But still, if you asked the man himself, the trump name remained sterling. Probably my most valuable asset, i think youve got to include it on your statement, and thats the brand. I mean, i became president because of the brand. Okay, i became president. I think its the hottest ran in the world. That was trumps Video Deposition from His Civil Fraud Trial in new york city. The case where today, the myth of donald trump came to an end. Today, a new york judge, Justice Arthur engoron, ordered trump to pay a colossal penalty, which with interest, will exceed 400 and 50 million. Justice engoron also barred mr. Trump from serving in any Leadership Roles in any new york company, including the one that bears his name, the Trump Organization, for three years. Now, the reason this penalty is so massive, it is because the fraud was too. As Justice Engoron put it in his ruling today, the frauds found here leap off of the page, and shocked the conscience. New York Attorney general Letitia James investigated trump and his businesses for years. And what she found was that trump had been fraudulently inflating his net worth by billions of dollars for decades. And i dont just mean in the press and on tv ads for trump year and tests. But in Financial Statements and loan applications. And that meant not only was trump tricking the public into thinking he was wildly successful, he was tricking banks and insurance companies, into giving him loans and rates that he didnt actually qualify for. He cheated. He is a cheat. And making sure that no one cheats, that the world of new York Business plays by the rules, is central to judge engorons decision today. This court is not constituted to judge morality, it is constituted to find facts and apply the law. And this particular case, in applying the law to the facts, the court intends to protect the integrity of the financial marketplace, and thus, the public as a whole. That protection includes penalty for past wrongs, and insurance against future ones. So in addition to freezing the trumps out of their Family Business for three years, the judge is keeping an independent monitor on a watch, and he is appointing an independent director of compliance, at the Trump Organization. And iran explained that without all of this, the cheating might never. Defendants refusal to admit error, and indeed to continue at, constrains this court to conclude that they will engage in a going forward, unless judicially restraint. As Donald Trump Tells it, people used to touch him for luck when he was walking down the street. Today, it seems like he might be all out of it. Joining me now to discuss todays ruling are my good friends and colleagues, the hardest bookings in america, Rachel Maddow and lawrence odonnell. Guys, thank you so much for being here on this momentous day. I am honored to have you on this program. Rachel, we havent heard from you today, lawrence, we havent heard from you today. Rachel, i will just let you get the first were here but, what was your reaction to it feels like a day of reckoning for donald trump . It is a day of reckoning, almost literally, for sure. And it is also one of a number of really Important Court proceedings that are going to have really important consequences for him. And, i feel like once i read as much as i could of the ruling, a lot of it is, dense but a lot of it just makes sense. Once you understand exactly what he is ordering, once we saw his changes explanation of what happened, we saw trumps reaction to it, i kind of sat back and i realized, my biggest take away from this is that we need to protect the rule of law. That, this is a candidate who is promising to basically dismantle the american system of government. He has been raging against the judiciary, and judges and juries and lawyers, and plaintiffs, and the whole system that is starting to hold him to account. He wants to get back into power, he is fully saying, it because he essentially wants to dismantle the whole thing. And for all of the institutions that have failed against what donald trump is offering, as an antidemocratic small d democratic, essentially authoritarian candidate, the institution that has been the least, that has stood up the best again his assault is the Judicial Branch of government, is the rule of law. And we need to protect, we we need to protect judge engoron, we need to protect Letitia James. We need to protect e. Jean carroll, we need to protect her lawyers, we need to protect the jurors, we need to protect fani willis. And we should talk about that, because that is happening right now. But, we need to protect jack smith, we need to protect judge cannon and judge chutkan. We need to protect the people who are manning the barricades, on this one branch of government that is doing its job, despite what has been a really, really i think pointed assault from trump and his supporters, that is about to get way more intense. Yeah, lawrence, rachael made such an Essential Point about the branch of government that is Holding Democracy aloft. I wonder what you thought of the ruling . First of all, on your trip down from memory lane, i thought i had nothing to learn. Then came, i learned tonight, about the trump year and test. I am sorry. I my as you mentioned three times. You know trump urine and. Yeah, i have no idea he was that interested in urine well. Yeah. Ill say it. Okay, good. So i just needed to. Leave that right there. I know there are people in the audience who were still processing urine that and i want to help them with it and move on to this but so, i have spent my entire life professional life, in and out of courtrooms, following cases very closely. Some cases, every single day in the courtroom. And there are some cases that are predictable. And so when you get to verdict, it doesnt feel quite so momentous, or like something has changed, because it was the only logical verdict. This Trump Verdict today was the most predictable Trump Verdict we will ever have. Because there was no jury. Jury still contain suspense. No jury, one fact finder, the judge. He made it very clear, because he is a rational human being, as the proceeding was going on, that all of this was outrageous. That Donald Trumps conduct in the room was outrageous, everything about it was outrageous. And so, he returns to this verdict, that we could have kind of guest the number within 10 million, because it was the number that kept being set. And yet, and yet, it truly is, and it landed with me, as something truly momentous. That here is this former president , current president ial candidate, on his way to the nomination. And he is now very clearly on his way to what could be functional bankruptcy for him. Because, the lawsuits that i think people have left too far into the back of mind, might actually be the most expensive things he is facing, which are the lawsuits by Police Officers in washington d. C. , for what happened to them on january 6th. We saw with the Defamation Verdict was against Rudy Giuliani in washington d. C. , over 100 million dollars. Donald trump could get hit with a verdict like this, against an individual Police Officer in washington d. C. So, he could be facing over A Billion Dollars in these kinds of must pay penalties. Civil trials. Yes. Which raises this other, deep threat to the possibility of a another trump presidency. Which is, how will he, how will he pay these things . And the answer is, Jared Kushner knows a guy. And the guy is in saudi arabia, and how many billion do you need . Yeah i mean, that raises a really important question rachel which is, it is not good for democracy. And raise this point, it is not good for democracy and transparency and rule of law, for donald trump to face a really steep bill. Not because he shouldnt have to face it, but because as lawrence said, this leads you down inevitably the rabbit hole of which country is going to pay this tab, affectedly. Yeah. I mean, when i was reading that part of judge engorons ruling today, about how one of the restrictions here is that the Trump Organization cant get loans from any bank that is registered in new york. Things, when you cover financial trials and any trials that end up, for example, in just because there is a Financial Institution involved. The shorthand that you do when covering these things is oh yeah, all Financial Institutions are registered to do business in new york. New york is the Financial Capital of the world. And so, that is why they have jurisdiction over everything financial. But what lawrence says is exactly right. Yeah you know, it was a mysterious russian bank that funded Marine Le Pen in her pseudofascist run at the french presidency. And its, inexplicably, its saudi arabia that has given Two Billion Dollars to Jared Kushner for his Great Service in public life. Which he now says he is not going to return to. So i mean, the financial penalties here have incredible potential consequences, in terms of the types of entanglements that trump will have absolutely no problem dragging into the white house with him, if he is reelected. Against trump. And i have to ask you, we are going to continue this conversation, im going to say preemptively, before anybody thinks im going to let you ay guys go. But lawrence, you bring up the civil cases, and i wonder, there is a huge Question Mark hanging over whether or not these federal criminal trials actually see the light of day this year, before the election. If the American Public only is able to hold donald trump accountable in a civil fashion a la e. Jean carroll, a la Letitia James, over ethe First Responders and a Police Officer at january 6th, is that sufficient . Is that enough . First of all, i ffdont thin that is going to be enthe outcome, for a couple of reasons. The first reason being, i dont trump is going ou to win the presidency. Therefor, with that belief, i dont particularly care when the trials happens, the federal trials. Everyone is worried about federal trials before election, because they are afraid if you dont get those federal trials done before the election, then donald trump becomes president , and he kills them. Well under that theory, he kills them anyway, because they would be on appeal. If he was convicted, they would be on appeal. But i dont believe he is going to be president , i believe youre gonna see every one of these cases go all of the way to their conclusions. And he will bear whatever criminal burden he whas to bea as a convicted defendant in those cases. Its worth noting, none of them involve cta mandatory minimum sentence. So, the highest likelihood, which is i know dissatisfaction to a lot of people, but it is a version of hell for trump, would t be home confinement. Imagine spending the summer in florida, that emwould be for him. E a fair point, my friend. And what if that, t,the pool floods the server f room again . Primetime weekend continues ahead with my colleague chris hayes. Fireworks from fani willis, as the georgia prosecutor fights back against trumps lawyers. Thats next. Lawyers. Thats next. 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 . 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. I know what its like to perform through pain. If youre like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine, Nurtec Odt May help. Its the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. Treat and prevent, all in one. Dont take if allergic to nurtec. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. Relief is possible. Talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. We are expecting some explosive moments in the criminal trials of donald trump. Today in atlanta was quite a day. There was drama, there was yelling, and none of involved trump. He wasnt even there. The center of all this fire and fury, the person being scrutinized on the stand by multiple lawyers, was the woman who is prosecuting donald trump, Fulton CountyDistrict Attorney fani willis. I object to youve been intrusive into peoples personal lives, you are confused, you think i am on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020, i am not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. So my question was, you have i object to you getting any personal records of mine. What was that . How do we get here . Well, of all of the criminal cases facing donald trump, the Election Racketeering case in Fulton County georgia seemed, in many ways, the most damning. I mean, that was the one where trump plotted to steal the states electoral votes in 2020. And crucially in this case, there was trump on tape, literally telling the states top election official to find him exactly the number of votes he need to win. There were four coconspirators in that scheme, who pled guilty, and started cooperating with prosecutors. And now, the case is in complete jeopardy, over allegations of misconduct by willis, the dea who brought the case. And that was the subject of todays hearings. Lawyers for the defendants say, well he accepted favors, and carried on an affair with a lawyer named nathan seen testifying there, who she then b