The possibility of issuing himself a pardon. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this friday, september 15th. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. And well begin this morning with Tens Of Thousands of United Auto Workers hitting the picket lines. The union officially went on strike against detroits big three auto makers at midnight. Nearly 13,000 members walked out of three plants in missouri, ohio, and in michigan. The strike is against general motors, ford, and stellantis. The union and the companies failed to reach a deal on a new collective Bargaining Agreement before the current contract expired at the stroke of 12 00. Tonight for the first time in our history we will strike all three of the big three at once. We are using a new strategy, the stand up strike. We will call on select facilities, locals, or units to stand up and go on strike. This strategy will keep the companies guessing. It will give our National Negotiators maximum leverage and flexibility in bargaining. And if we need to go all out, we will. Everything is on the table. The union is demanding a 40 pay raise over the next four years, noting that the Compensation Packages for the big threes Chief Executives have increased about that much amid near record earnings. The auto makers are condemning the strike. Overnight gm released a statement stating that before the walkout began it offered, quote, Historic Wage Increases and an unprecedented economic package. Ford says the unions latest Counter Proposal shows little movements from their original demands, adding their requests would hurt the companies and give a boost to nonunion rivals such as tesla and toyota. Well have much more on this story as the morning goes on. We turn now to the growing reaction today following the federal grand jury indictment of President Joe Bidens son, hunter, on three felony gun charges. Setting the stage for a possible Criminal Trial during the 2024 campaign. Two counts are tied to hunter biden, allegedly completing a form indicating that he was not using Illegal Drugs when he purchased a Colt Resolver back in october 2018. The third count suggested he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic. Two of the counts carry a maximum Prison Sentence of two years while the third has a maximum of five years. We should note its rare to see someone serve that kind of time for a charge like this. Each count also carries a maximum fine of 250,000. The historic indictment against the son of a sitting president comes after a plea deal fell apart earlier this year and after House Republicans launched an Impeachment Inquiry seeking bank records and other documents from the president and his son. The cases being overseen by special counsel david weiss who also headed the original investigation. Lets recall weiss is a Trump Appointee who was kept on as u. S. Attorney for delaware because of the sensitive and unique nature of this particular investigation. Attorney general Merrick Garland named weiss as a special counsel in august just as those negotiations over the tax and gun charges collapsed. Lead counsel for hunter biden, lawyer abbe lowell issued a statement. The recent ruling by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court. The white house referred requests for comment to the Justice Department as well as Hunter Bidens legal team. Joining us now msnbc justice and Legal Affairs analyst, he was most recently top spokesman at the doj under attorney general Merrick Garland. Anthony, thanks for being with us this morning. We really appreciate it. So lets get your reaction as to the charges coming yesterday in this indictment, the possibility of a trial. Jonathan, it really shouldnt have come to this. Hunter biden is a first time nonviolent offender. He doesnt have any prior criminal history. This matter, quite frankly, should have been resolved with a Plea Agreement in july. That, of course, fell apart. It shouldnt have, and theres a lot of reasonings i think theres a lot of blame really to go around on both seeds as to why that fell apart. But im not really surprised since that agreement fell apart, im not surprised the Justice Department filed these charges. Are you surprised at all by the timing of it . As we just noted the plea deal fell a month or so back. Certainly the republicans have kicked up their own investigations since then. A lot of Public Pressure On David Weiss To Act on this. I think it was simply a question about statute and Time Running Out on these kind of charges. Okay. So lets talk a little bit about the actual charges themselves. You said like youre surprised. You dont think that if someone else was in the situation whose last name was not perhaps biden would not face these charges. Whats your read on additional charges that could come. Certainly the special counsel leaves speculation whether its about lobbying or taxes or some other matter. This was the question raised by the court, that the judge raised in Delaware In July that there could be additional charges. I think it is more likely that we see tax charges. Im not so sure about these far related charges that some have speculated on. I havent seen any reporting that suggests any of those type of charges are imminent. Its certainly possible. We should also underscore here despite republicans rhetoric about Hunter BidensBusiness Dealings and President Biden, none of these charges have anything to do with that. Theres certainly been no evidence whatsoever. Thats been the case presented at this point, anyway. Anthony, lastly lets assume this goes to trial. What do you think a sort of timeline we could be looking at. Walk us through the next couple of months or year or two . Im not kwipsed it is going to trial. I suspect Hunter Bidens new attorney, abbe lowell pretty noted and respected against washington circles, i suspect he has conversations with prosecutors to resume plea negotiations, that he will. I think the risk here is for republicans, jonathan. What people what they dont always realize is that addiction is real, and there are millions and millions of americans across this country who face addiction and are familiar with the pains of addiction. And theres i think a great risk that republicans overplay their hand, not really appreciating the fact that hunter biden is a man who struggled with addictions. And i think they could see themselves in hunter biden in a sense. Yeah, certainly some close to the president believe thats the case and those who sympathize also see a fatherss love for his son. Anthony coley, thank you so much. Certain well be talking to you again soon. Before we go to break, we now turn to an nbc news exclusive sit down interview. Former President Donald Trump told Meet The Press that he was given the option of issuing a selfpardon before leaving the white house. Trump claims he denined to do so. Mr. President , if you were reelected, would you pardon yourself . I could have pardoned myself. You know what . I was given an option to pardon myself. I could have pardoned myself when i left. I had a couple of attorneys that said you can do it for you want. I had some people that said it would look bad if you do it, because i think it would look terrible. I said heres the story, these people are thugs, horrible people, fascists, marxists, sick people. Theyve been after me from the day i came down the escalator with melania, and i did a great job as president. People will acknowledge great economy, great job, great this, great that, rebuild the Military Space everything. I could go on forever. Let me just tell you, i said the last thing id ever do was give myself a pardon. I could have given myself a pardon. The last day i could have had a pardon done that would have saved me all of these lawyers and all these fake charges, these biden indictments theyre all biden indictments politically. They indicted they want to arrest their political opponents. Only third world countries do that, a Banana Republic itself. I never said this to anybody. I was given the option i could have dup a pardon of myself. You know what i said, i had no interest in even thinking about it. I never even wanted to think about it, and i could have done it. And all these questions youre asking me about the fake judges, you wouldnt be asking me because its a very powerful, a very powerful thing for a president. I was told by some people that these are sick lunatics that im dealing with. I said i didnt give myself a pardon. Even if you were reelected in this moment . I think its very likely. I didnt do anything wrong. You mean because i challenged an election they want to put me in jail . We should note the same interview to sit down with Kristen Welker has been extemded to President Biden. For more of this interview, be sure to watch the entire this sunday on Meet The Press. This sunday of course kristens first. Congrats to her. Still ahead former President Trump wont have to go to trial in Fulton County, georgia, next month. Well get to new ruling from the judge there and potential timing of that Election Interference Case. Plus in a profanity laced tirade House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy goes off on gop critics threatening to oust him. Those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. Sports and weather when we come right back businesses need 5g solutions today. Thats why they choose tmobile for business. Mlb partners with tmobile to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. 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That decision was announced yesterday by a judge as he ruled in favor of two defendants who would separate their trials from the larger group. Kenneth chesebro and sidney powell, both attorneys, had requested speedy trials. And Superior Court judge scott mcafee rule they would be tried together next month. Fulton County District attorney fani willis wanted to try all 19 defendants simultaneously also next month, but the judge rejected that request citing the strain of such a large trial on the Fulton County courthouse as one of the concerns. Quote, the Fulton County courthouse doesnt contain a courtroom large enough to handle the support staff, court personnel, and the states Prosecutorial Team is what the judge wrote. The d. A. s team had wrote due to the nature of the rico case trying a single defendant would take as much time as trying all 19. Judge mcafee noted there may be other codefendants who were granted separate trials from the larger group. Turning to this now, as the war in ukraine rages on, a senior ukrainian official tells nbc news president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is indeed planning to attend the United NationsGeneral Assembly next week. Another source familiar with the plan says zelenskyy is expected to meet with President Biden at the white house next thursday. Zelenskyy will also meet with a group of lawmakers on capitol hill during his trip. The visit comes as the real question is whether House Republicans will continue to authorize funding. Turning to this story, there is no evidence ufos that have been reported have actually come from planets far, far away. So that determination, perhaps a disappointment, was made by a panel of scientists commissioned by nasa to study the hundreds of unknown objects reported by everyone from Conspiracy Theorists to military personnel. The Washington Post puts it this way. Some objects that once befuddled experts have now been identified as spy drones deployed by china or mere optical illusions. Only a small handful of studied sightings remain truly unexplained, officials have said. The report also stresses the need for more serious study of ufos. Nasa administrator bill nelson said they want to, quote, shift the conversation from sensationallism to science. We, of course, will keep you posted. Still ahead well turn to sports. Thursday night football off to a sluggish start but finish strong. Well bring you those highlights. And top headlines from Major League Baseball. Thats all straight ahead. Major league baseball. Thats all straight ahead. I ju. I was hesitant to get the hearing aids because of my short hair. But nobody even sees them. Our nearly invisible hearing aids are just one reason weve been the brand leader for over 75 years. When i finally could hear for the first time, i could hear everything. 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