good morning, 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart we begin with breaking news from georgia where the judge overseeing the election interference case against former president trump and his co-defendants says district attorney fani willis can remain on the case however willis and her office or special prosecutor nathan wade need to step aside for the case to continue. the judge said he did not find a

conflict of interest but did find an appearance of inproprietary as a result of their relationship. as the judge wrote, quote, whether this case ends in convictions, acquittals or something in between, the result should be one that instills confidence in the process. he went on to say any distractions that detract from these goals if remedial under law should be proportionately addressed. more to talk to us about this is blayne alexander, the first to report on the decision. katy phang, tomorrow hallerman, senior reporter for the journal of constitution, and joyce vance former u.s. attorney, who is now the co-host of the sisters in law podcast. blayne you were the first one to break this and give us the

details of the decision. what are some of the main points in this 23-point ruling? >> well, i think the judge's tone stands out to me. you laid out the construction of this ruling which is that fani willis and her office can stay on the case but nathan wade has to go. in saying that, it's important to note that the judge doesn't hesitate to take fani willis to task. pointing out that she made some dels decisions that one would call questionable along the way and really calls that out. i want to point you to one page that stood out to me, page 9 where basically he said this finding is by no means an i said indication that the court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the da's testimony. so it's important that he points back to that two hour testimony that all of us watched

from fani willis where she got on the stand, called the motion to dismiss said it was filled with lies. but the question now is, what's going to happen going forward? i reached out to the da's office a number of times to see if they're going to comment on this. but in speaking with people following this closely, as one person told me, it seems like a simple solution. it's 9:45, if i were in fani willis' seat nathan wade would be gone by 10:30 and move and put this entire thing behind us. even though the legal part is buttoned up, there are ways this has bled over, there's a state senate committee looking into this and is planning to subpoena fani willis in the weeks to come. so even the shadow is cast over this case still for some time to come. >> joyce, what stood out to you most from the judge's decision today? >> well, i think to the point blayne was making.

the real impact of this decision is a win for the da's office. fani willis' office gets to continue with this case. her entire office won't be recused. but in retrospect. i think we can see that willis could have addressed this easily early on. the judge is concerned less with her relationship with wade and more in how she handled it. particularly he seems to have been left with a lingering belief they weren't completely forthcoming when they testified. so had willis filed a response with the court a couple of days after the defense filed its motion, acknowledged the relationship, said there was nothing improper under georgia law, i think this would have all ended there. instead, donald trump has certainly benefitted from the delay in this case, now willis will have to separate with wade, something she could have done on the first or second day following this situation coming to light. and it's a lot messier than it

was. but in essence she told the judge she's ready to go to trial in 30 days. >> this case essentially ground to a halt for two and a half months. where do things go from here? >> at this point we're waiting to see if anyone plans to appeal this decision. the da's office could do that, although we don't necessarily expect them to and the defendants who joined in together on this motion could also seek to appeal this. president trump's at than team has been very vocal and active on this. and we'll be watching closely to see if they appeal. da willis has a decision to make. we are expecting her to let nathan wade go. but should she take the unexpected step and decide she wants to recuse her office then the prosecuting office of georgia will step in. but now it's mostly silence and we're waiting to hear back. >> joyce, your thoughts on who

and how could we see appeal on this? the lead defense counsel for trump in this case said we will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case. what are those possible appeals? >> right. so to tamar's point the defendants could appeal this but they have to get a certificate of appealability from judge mcafee first. i noticed something interesting. earlier judge mcafee dismissed six counts we talked about that. and in that order he said he would give fani willis a certificate of appealability if she wanted to take an appeal. well, he didn't include that language on this decision on the disqualification issue. he may be willing to grant an certificate of appealability.

but it's interesting he handled the matters differently. it would have to be in place by the 25th. they have ten days to get that squared away so we'll know quickly whether there will be an appeal. >> i've been lucky i've been able to hear you and watch you on msnbc all morning and have the opportunity to chat with you about the decision. who do you see as the winner and losers here? >> the immediate losers are the defense. it was their burden to prove there was a conflict of interest. and judge mcafee dispensed with that at the beginning saying there is no conflict of interest for, quote, bad choices. the winner i would say is going to be da fani willis. but let's not pretend or fool ourselves to think there isn't going to be some consequence to this prosecution. not only have you spoke about the delay baked in because of the side show but the removal of nathan wade, whether you like it or not, materially impacts this

case and the prosecution because he's been through it from ground zero. he helped build this prosecution, led the investigation. put this investigation through a special purpose grand jury. took it to a grand jury and got the indictment returned on 19 co-defendants. so i've said before, there is institutional and historical knowledge that goes away with nathan wade. all of that being said, though, there are skilled, incredibly competent, special prosecutors that remain on this case and they can continue to help fani willis with this case. >> just some of the details that we're going through on page 15, the judge finds that, quote, the record made at the evidentiary hearing establishes the district attorney's prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety and impropriety. >> an excellent question because those of us, including joyce vance, say the law is a conflict

of interest. there's an argument from the defense that an appearance of impropriety is the legal standard. mcafee did a hybrid decision no conflict but an appearance of impropriety, however he gave a cure. let's fix this, fani willis and the way you fix it, you either remove yourself and your office or nathan wade withdraws from being a special prosecutor. >> there are ways you hear the judge at one point there's an odor of mon dasty that maintains. and this is the same judge who is obviously in front of the -- in charge of the donald trump plus 14. do you see some change or some impact of this on the judge? >> we always have to talk about the practical implications of any decision in any case.

and in this particular case. you have a judge telling the lead prosecutor there's a, quote, odor, which is something is rotten in the state of denmark. stinks about what's happening here. remember judge mcafee is the common denominator from day one assigned to the case. he's the judge in front of that -- that da fani willis is going to have to appear in front of us. as lawyers, our credibility is on the line when we try to make representations. so he didn't call her out directly he said she had bad judgment and there were questions raised about the truthfulness of the timing of that personal relationship. but fani willis has to take a step here and say he called me out on my witness testimony, the way i appeared on the stand i maybe need to recalibrate a little bit and figure out how best to approach the prosecution. >> if willis removes nathan wade

does she pick someone else to replace him? wouldn't that be a decision under extreme scrutiny? i'm thinking any one of you could help me with that question. >> yeah, i'll jump in, she likely would need to choose a replacement. and to katy's point, this is really the person who brings the most knowledge. he has been on it. he led this through the special purpose grand jury. that means he was in the room for the testimony. he led the questioning. so yes, the question does then remains who comes on, picks this case up, and tries to fill the shoes and what does that look like? this is something that came out in the evidentiary hearings. she asked two other people to take on this role, both said no, including the former governor of georgia who said i don't want to live my life with a body guard.

we saw the da's personal life trotted out in an open courtroom and on live tv for all to see. so you have to wonder who would want to raise their hand and step in a case like this, especially having watched what transpired the last two and a half months. >> just again about the issues that the judge brings up, for example, the da's he calls it unorthodox decision to make on the record comments, author intent about publishing a book about the grand jury investigation, her speech about the martin luther king jr. day. but it was still legally improper he says. >> the judge on page 20 said she didn't cross the line but it was

still improper for the comments made by da fani willis in public. one thing that hasn't been talked about at all on the same page quote a time may have arrived from the state mentioning the case. but that is not the motion presently before the court. >> what does that mean? >> he's inviting the defense to make a motion to gag the state from making comments outside the courtroom. why is that important? think about how much is done by the defense in this case, including donald trump talking about this case. a lot of times the court of public opinion, a potential jury pool is affected by what they hear about the case. if you gag fani willis and her office from making statements it's going to be one sided. it's not like the judge said i'm going to gag everybody it may be time for the state to be gagged he said. i want to emphasize one thing, jose. there's discussion about if fani willis and nathan wade had owned up to this earlier on this never would have happened.

i have to disagree. you have to remember who brought the motion, a gop operative in michael roman his bread and butter is maligning reputations. if they had admitted to this, this hearing would have happened anyway because they would have made sure the exposure happened. they wanted to say the entire thing was a political prosecution driven by benefit. what's important is the judge found there was no improper financial benefit to begin the prosecution and indictment regardless of a personal relationship that didn't color the relationship to do that. >> which was the basis for the investigation to begin with. >> yes. i think this would have happened anyway because that's the style of what's going on with the gop these days. however the end of the day the proper ruling was made and now we have to see how many more challenges are made to fani willis in this. >> blayne you've been following this for months do you think

this blemishes the case in any way? >> this is something that could come back to haunt the da in her re-election battle this fall. she has two different challengers, one to her left and one to her right. as blayne mentioned at the top of the show. the state senate, controlled by republicans here, has gotten involved. they plan to get her to come in and testify. and this is something that donald trump will continue to hammer her on on the campaign trail going forward. looking ahead to this case, this is something that people have commented this could impact a jury moving forward as they get to the jury selection of that phase whenever it may be. it's hard to avoid the news here in fulton county or anywhere in the country. so it might be hard to take away whatever impressions people might have gotten over the last two months here. >> thank you all so very much. we'll have much more on the breaks story. but next the response from

trump's team and we'll go into the politics of this decision. how the trump campaign will move forward with this. we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. o diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. breathing claritin clear is like... (♪♪) is he? confidently walking 8 long haired dogs and living as if he doesn't have allergies? yeah. fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms, like nasal congestion. he hits his mark —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano.

you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ 16 past the hour. we are back with our breaking news, a fulton county judge overseeing the case against former president trump and the 16 co-defendants should not be disqualified from the case. joining us is dasha burns in west palm beach, florida and back with us katy fang. what's the reaction from the trump team today. >> i'm refreshing truth social every moment i get because we're wondering when we'll hear from the former president. we haven't heard from him yet but we are hearing from the lead

defense attorney in the full ton county case, quote, respecting the court's decision we believe the court did not afford significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of willis and wade. goes on to mention the church speech that willis gave, calling that inappropriate and saying they will continue to fight this case which should never have been brought in the first case. while this does not give the trump team everything they wanted, it does not remove fani willis. it does not dismiss this case. what it does, jose, is open the door for a tactic that they have found successful in the past which is to sow doubt, confusion, muddy the waters when it comes to these cases. and there's some strong language in this ruling admonishing fani willis of using phrasing saying

the potential untruthfulness here, questioning her judgment saying she had poor judgment in this case. that's a tactic that even outside of the courtroom, perhaps more importantly for former president trump in the court of public opinion they will use to say hey, look, this is weaponization. this isn't a legitimate case. despite the fact there was no actual misconduct found, only the appearance of it. but that is enough for the messaging, for the optics and the pr operation of the trump team to take that and to use it on the campaign trail, jose. >> this optics in pr aspect of it. the trial probably not going to take place until after the election. so how much of a priority is this case for the trump team's optics? >> well, one thing that i hear from operatives, advisers all the time. while legally it's not ideal to have so many cases, so many

charges filed against him in all of these different courts, politically they actually believe it's better that there are more cases instead of one case that everyone can follow along with every single detail. because again what it helps to do is muddy the waters, is keep people just a little bit confused, which case are we talking about? what did he do here? what are they accusing him of there? that is helpful to neutralize and disperse the information in a way they can then use to flip the script which they've been doing on the campaign trail and social media and tv to say, hey, this is president biden trying to imprison his political moments. this is the pr, the messaging, this is not the legal or practical reality necessarily. but it's something that tactically is very useful to have, not just this case. now they can use -- pull out all of this harsh language from the judge here.

they have now multiple places where they can pull from and say, hey, this is a problematic case. >> so katy, the judge says either fani willis and her team go or nathan wade goes, right? that's what the decision is here. how does the da's office react to this and then like timing? you expect her to say something or no? >> so there's no deadline in this order, which is interesting. you don't say you have to make this decision. we expect nathan wade to withdraw. he was appointed by fani willis that was the crux of the problem. he was appointed by her. he can voluntarily withdraw. he can get off the case. but if you're fani willis you drown out the white noise because there's a lot of it right now. and you have to, i think, decide -- i suggested maybe you break down the case into buckets that are more quickly and easily triable.

you then push for a status conference so the judge sets the case for trial. that's what's needed to happen in the case. the judge noted that fani willis has been pushing for a trial which helped decide there was no actual conflict of interest in this case. if you were getting a financial benefit in your relationship wouldn't you want to drag it out. >> wade, by the hour, money, that's the -- >> yeah. that you're sharing with willis, your girlfriend. so if i'm fani willis i say i've been opposing receive reps earlier trying to be done by the defense. let's group the defendants in a way that's easier to get to trial because you want to get to trial as soon as possible but you want to make sure your team is in place to do so. the rest is go to happen no matter what. i'm sure the georgia bar referrals have been done. they've already referred wade and willis to the bar for ethics violations. all of that proceeds in due course but nothing to do with the facts of this case. >> say it does go to the bar.

in georgia or any other state. what's the process there? let's say -- i'm not saying that x lawyer or da is disbarred. then that would mean what for someone who has a case? >> so it means that if in the end the georgia state bar disbars fani willis she can no longer continue as a lawyer, it's not just a prosecutor she can't be a lawyer period in the state of georgia. that's a process that takes time. in the meantime it's not like she's not going to do her job and try the case. if i'm willis i'm refocus everybody's attention. she said i'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. they're the defendants. you respond in writing only, i would not speak anymore in public if i'm fani willis. you say we respect this decision we'll make a decision, but in

the meantime we go back to business, our business is prosecuting cases not having to defend on evidentiary hearings. that's what you do when the district attorney. >> no time probably best she do this quickly -- >> like today. >> you were talking about, you know, since it's trump plus 14 to put them in different buckets. how would that be done? >> well, the -- the state of georgia rico stands alone. it can be a stand alone crime. a couple of days ago, the judge dismissed six counts in the indictment, three which dealt with trump. fani willis can seek reindictment on those charges if she z chooses to do so. >> one of those was the phone call. >> yes. that survives because the rico count survives and the overt act.

it was count 1 with hundreds of overt acts. that all survived in the indictment, the indictment wasn't dismissed. footnote, the defense sought dismissal of the entire indictment. so the judge said no dismissal. so she can take these counts and try to group them together in a way that makes sense. but it's a big story prosecuting reo. you want to show this was this huge web of lies and fraud that wasn't just in georgia but multiple states with a fake elector scheme and attempts to defraud the american voters of their lawful vote. and in order to to that sometimes it makes sense to do it together but you can take one defendant at a time and try them for that rico and bring in the other evidence and it's all admissible. >> we'll talk about what rico manes and -- what rico means.

we have a lot more to talk about going ahead. we'll speak with a law professor who knows the judge. plus tracking developments in several of trump's other cases, where they stand ahead. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. takes you off course. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief and helped leave bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc tried to slow me down... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc caused damage rinvoq came through by visibly repairing my colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief... lasting steroid-free remission... ...and the chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check, check, and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections,

including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq and learn how abbvie can help you save. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. feeling claritin clear is like... ♪♪ is she? playing with the confidence of a pro and getting all up in that grass as if she doesn't have allergies? yeah.

28 past the hour. following breaking news out of georgia. the judge overseeing trump's interference case ruled the case can move forward with one condition, fani willis must step down or remove nathan wade from the case. with us now anthony michael cris, an assistant professor of law. i know you know judge mcafee what are your thought oshow he handled the ruling. >> this is a way to give the da a win and keep the status quo in place. but also acknowledge that there is a significant degree of messiness here that requires some kind of corrective action. so what he's done is given the da an out to acknowledge there's some recommendty that needs to

be had here which is going to be i think removing nathan wade from the case. but the da has the duty and responsibility of bringing all the cases here in fulton county and representing all the people of fulton county without evidence of a conflict of interest he wasn't going to up end that process. >> why did the judge let willis choose which one resigns from the case? >> that's a good question. under georgia's constitution, the georgia constitution creates an office called a constitutional officer in the da. so the da has a special place in the constitutional system in georgia. i think what that means, though, is barring some real prejudice against the defendant, there's some question about the extent to which a remedy can be fashion today remove a da. i think what judge mcafee is doing is giving her the option, how she wants to exercise her powers of her office and determine whether or not she

thinks it's appropriate to remove herself from the case in its entirety or if she wants to take this much more narrow measure and -- to ensure the process is clear of any taint from the public's mind and ultimately what we've seen judge mcafee do throughout the process is be methodical, thorough and thoughtful. in his ruling today he showed the entire debacle of the last few weeks with the allegations and the evidentiary hearing we had, so much could taint the way the people view the fairness of the criminal justice system and the fairness with which prosecutors act within that criminal justice system and we need to restore the confidence of the public in the process. >> you posted you don't think georgia court of appeals will take up the decision if it's appealed now. why? >> there's two important dynamics that americans should understand. the first is that appellate

courts don't look at facts overagain. so whatever the finder of facts determined happened, they won't disturb. so when applying the lower standard of appearance of impropriety or conflict he said there's an easy way to remedy this. i don't think the georgia court of appeals will want to take that up given how thorough this opinion is and there's a narrow way in which judge mcafee thinks this can all be remedied and go away. ultimately it is true that the defendants will likely want to appeal this and they will have a second -- a chance later, i think, post trial to appeal this if there are convictions. but my instinct is given how methodical, thorough and detailed this analysis was today, the georgia court of appeals won't step in because there's no need to. >> thank you forring with be us this morning. appreciate it.

still ahead how trump plans to use the decision and the court dates to his advantage. why trump's first criminal trial set to begin in just other a week could be delayed. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." re watchin diaz-balart reports. go with tais on tails on tails? try lobster lover's dream with two lobster tails and lobster & shrimp linguini. it's one of ten next-level lobster creations. but lobsterfest won't last, so hurry in. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. las vegas grand prix choose t-mobile for business for 5g solutions. because t-mobile is helping power operations and experiences for hundreds of thousands of fans with reliable 5g connectivity. now's the time to accelerate your business. with nurtec odt i can treat and prevent my migraine attacks all in one.

don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion and stomach pain. talk to your doctor about nurtec today.

35 past the hour as we continue our coverage of the breaking developments out of

fulton county, georgia first reported by nbc news. this morning the judge presiding over trump's election interference case ruled da fani willis must remove herself or special prosecutor nathan wade from the case. it comes as a blow from trump's legal team that wanted to see fani willis removed all together. and there are other cases still hanging over the president. back with us katy phang and joyce vance. right now we're waiting from a decision from new york about the hush money trial. what do you think the judge is weighing today? >> yeah so this was a little bit of a bombshell yesterday when we learned that the trump team was asking, at a minimum, for a delay. they wanted to dismiss the prosecution really. claiming that the district attorney's office had violated its discovery obligations. but that's not really what happened here.

instead trump's lawyers sent a subpoena to the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan this case is being prosecuted by the state but trump's lawyers wanted information from the federal prosecutors. and the federal prosecutors were slow turning that over but ultimately they turned over tens of thousands of pages of documents starting at the beginning of this month there are still more to come. so trump's lawyers went to the judge and said we're entitled to more time. due process requires that we have the opportunity to look through this. they want three months. >> the da's office was surprised by this dump of documents as well. they told the judge they asked federal prosecutors for at least some of it about a year ago and hadn't received this volume of documents so they agreed there should be a 30 day setback so everyone can look at this new information before this case goes to trial. that decision is entirely in the judge's hands now. >> and meanwhile in the

classified documents case yesterday here in florida, there was news by that judge's decisions. >> yes. so judge cannon denied one of trump's two motions that were presented for oral argument yesterday. she did it within two hours of concluing the hearing which leads many of us to believe she had an idea where she was going to go with it. this is the one about unconstitutional vagueness about the espionage act that donald trump is charged with. it makes no sense. she denied the motion to dismiss without prejudice meaning she's going to tackle it later in the case. but she use flowery words that don't make sense because espionage act is a statute. there's not a lot of interpretation. there are a number of cases that have decided the act. i believe she punted the

decision because she didn't want to make the decision now. we haven't heard on the motion to dismiss based on the presidential records act, which as we know forces and requires all presidents as they exit the oval office to turn over their documents. they're not personal. and the government said to judge cannon they are not trump's personal records. up next the political impact of today's decision. will trump's legal issues hurt him with the general election? you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. get 6x longer-lasting freshness, plus odor protection. try for under $5!

my mental health was much better. but i struggled with uncontrollable movements called td, tardive dyskinesia. td can be caused by some mental health meds. and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. i felt like my movements were in the spotlight. #1-prescribed ingrezza is the only td treatment for adults that's always one pill, once daily. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on most mental health meds. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have thoughts of suicide. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including angioedema, potential heart rhythm problems, and abnormal movements. report fevers, stiff muscles, or problems thinking as these may be life threatening.

sleepiness is the most common side effect. it's nice. people focus more on me. ask your doctor about #1 prescribed, once-daily ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ with nurtec odt, i can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt. [street noise] [car door shuts] [paparazzi taking pictures] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. ned, ned, who are you wearing? he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. ned? otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing otezla for nearly a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it.

serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. with clearer skin movie night, is a groovy night (♪♪) live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. that can be analyzed by ai in real time. ♪ so researchers can identify which areas are at risk. and help life underwater flourish. ♪ everywhere but the seat. the seat is leather. alan, we get it. you love your bike. we do, too.

that's why we're america's number-one motorcycle insurer. but do you have to wedge it into everything? what? i don't do that. this reminds me of my bike. the wolf was about the size of my new motorcycle. have you seen it, by the way? happy birthday, grandma! really? look how the brushstrokes follow the line of the gas tank. -hey! -hey! brought my plus-one. jamie? las vegas grand prix choose t-mobile for business for 5g solutions. because t-mobile is helping power operations and experiences for hundreds of thousands of fans with reliable 5g connectivity. now's the time to accelerate your business. ♪3, 4♪ with reliable ♪g connectivity. ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪

43 past the hour. there could be political implications to the judge's decision in former president trump's election interference case that either da fani willis and her team or special prosecutor nathan wade must step aside for the case to continue. the campaign is quote engineering to make lemonades out of lemons as a full docket of court appearances are about to swamp his calendar. joining us is john brian, lonnie chen, and donna edwards. so congresswoman first i want to get your reaction to what we

heard out of georgia this morning. >> you know, i think as the judge described, it showed a tremendous lack of judgment by fani willis but the reality is, it isn't going to impact i think the case going forward. and no doubt nathan wade is going to be discharged and things are going to proceed in georgia. it's a state case. it has tremendous impact and implications for donald trump. and i think this is just an early bump in the road. >> brendan, do you see this as an early bump in the road or for the trump campaign is this something they're going to use to focus away from some of the underlying serious issues that this case and others show? >> yeah, the reporting from nbc news is that the trump campaign is going to try to muddy the waters here. they are going to try to confuse people and make all of these things run together. which has been a successful

strategy to this point. we have had a number of court appearances by donald trump over the last year. and he is still cruised to the primary victory and has polls showing leading joe biden. once we get to actual court cases where they are discussing the substance of the matter i think the things could be dramatically different that's why the pace matters a bit. all the hearings and motions they're confusing around legal analysts but once we get to the heart of the matter and the january 6th cases are the ones that matter, i think. the mar-a-lago and documents people have baked that in. stomy daniels people have baked that in. but reliving january 6th events that could be powerful. >> but the election interference in georgia trying to find 11,000 votes and fake electors i think is just as important. but lonnie, the primary is over. we're in the general.

the recent polling shows when voters were asked who they would vote for if trump is convicted biden pulls ahead. could all of this hurt him in the general? >> well, now we're just really talking about a question of timing. and really if the former president is able to run out the clock, his legal team is able to run out the clock, then that is the strategy they're going to pursue. already you see what they've been trying to do is obview skate and create as much noise around this all to make it seem like this is all stuff happening in the background, it's not that significant. and really, the most impactful case, i think brendan is right, is going to be the case in the district of columbia with respect to what happened on january 6th. but a lot of this i think is going to be perceived by the public as noise. and the idea that there will be a real impact will hinge indeed on the question of whether there

is a decision, a disposition in any of these cases and that's looking increasingly unlikely given the court calendar and everything that's got to happen between now and then. >> do you think that all of this activity, whether he is found guilty or not guilty in any of the cases, do you think this could have an impact on ballot -- on down ballot races for republicans? >> i think it could. the impact is going to be what the biden campaign does and what democrats do. i think nikki haley learned the hard way if you hope people watch this, and become disappointed you're wrong. i think that is a risky bet to sit back and hope that people come to the right conclusions. i think they need to press their advantage here, to talk about what potential chaos -- what

possible criminal we have here that could be president and cast a shadow over this. and anything that impacts the top of the ticket has consequences on who controls congress and what agenda these people are going to be able to implement. >> what advice would you have for the biden campaign on how to handle this? what to say and not say about these kinds of issues? >> you know, look, i think it's important for the biden campaign, as they have been, and president biden, really pointing out the dangers to democracy, the challenges of having a president in place who is under criminal investigation and perhaps conviction. and all of those things are fair game. here's where i think the trump campaign has a real problem. is every day, just like yesterday, the headlines for donald trump were all about legal cases even if he wants to focus on issues. the headline for the biden

campaign was vice president harris visits an abortion clinic. so the challenge for the biden campaign is going to be keeping issues front and center because they're a huge contrast with the former president but also point to those elements of these court cases around democracy, election interference, and chaos that actually could be a danger and a threat to us, should donald trump be elected. i think they can do both of those things. >> and lonnie on the other side, you know, you would think that it would be incumbent on republicans to kind of talk about what donna was saying, the issues front and center. but in what i think with respect to former president trump. he has always used the courtroom as a platform. the degree to which he is going to use that as a platform to talk about some of these issues that are relevant to the campaign, as donna notes, that's

going to be interesting to see how he does that. because that's been their strategy all along. he gives these remarks every time he shows up for court. some of them may be relevant to the case. more often than not, they are not. he started talking about illegal immigration one time. the point is that i think republicans and i think the former president have an advantage with certain independent constituencies when it comes to the economy and immigration. the question is the degree to which the trump campaign and other republicans focus on those issues as opposed to talking about legal issues which i don't think advantages anyone. >> thank you so much for being with us this morning. up next, an update on another breaking story. the war between israel and hamas. moments ago, president biden responded to schumer's call for new elections in israel.

you are watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a. (tony) yes, problem. you need verizon. trade-in that old thing and get a new iphone 15 pro with tons of storage. so you can take all the pics! so many selfies. a preposterous amount of pano! that means panoramic. and as many portraits of me as your heart desires. (woman) how about none? (boy) none. (man) yea none feels right. (vo) trade-in any iphone in any condition and get a new iphone 15 pro and an ipad and apple watch se all on us. only on verizon. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch? does he need to go to puppy school? get his little puppy diploma? how much have i been spending on this little guy? when your questions about life turn into questions about money... there's erica. the virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. only from bank of america.

[ tense music ] one aleve works all day so i can keep working my magic. just one aleve. 12 hours of uninterrupted pain relief. aleve. who do you take it for? and for fast topical pain relief, try alevex. you know that thing your family does? yeah, that thing. someone made it a thing, way back in the day. but where did it come from? and how did it get all the way to you? curious? ancestry can help you find out. because that thing has a story, and it's still being written. what are you waiting for, a sale? well, lucky you. kayak. no way. why would i use kayak to compare hundreds of travel sites at once? kayak. i like to do things myself. i do my own searching. it isn't efficient.

use kayak. i can't trust anything else to do the job right. aaaaaaaahhhh! kayak. search one and done. there's nothing better than a subway series footlong. except when you add an all new footlong sidekick. like the philly with a new $2 footlong churro. sometimes the sidekick is the main event. you would say that. every epic footlong deserves the perfect sidekick. life doesn't stop for a cold. honey... honey... dayquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu symptom relief with a honey-licious taste. dayquil honey, the honey-licious, daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, power through your day, medicine.

my name is oluseyi coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, and some of my favorite moments throughout my life are watching sports with my dad. now, i work at comcast as part of the team that created our ai highlights technology, which uses ai to detect the major plays in a sports game. giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport.

56 past the hour. moments ago, president biden addressed chuck schumer's comments calling for new elections in israel. take a listen. >> senator schumer contacted my staff, my senior staff, before he was going to make that speech. i'm not going to elaborate on the speech. he made a good speech.

i think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him but by many americans. >> a ship carrying more than 200 tons of aid arrived off the coast of gaza. the ship, organized by world central kitchen, is carrying flour, rice and protein. according to the u.n., there's a risk of famine in gaza. joining us from jerusalem is raf sanchez. great seeing you. as the situation grows more dire, we are getting new information about prime minister netanyahu's plans for rafah. >> reporter: that's right. the israeli cabinet has held meetings over the day. out of those meetings have come two important announcements. the first, prime minister benjamin netanyahu approved israeli military plans for an attack on the city of rafah. rafah, which we talked so much about, the southern most city if gaza, where more than a million palestinian civilians are

sheltering. the u.n. warned an attack there has the potential to be a major large-scale disaster in terms of civilian casualties and the disruption of humanitarian aid flowing in from egypt. this would have two phases. the first, israel's military ordering those civilians to leave rafah, to head further north to areas of safety. then the second phase would be that attack itself. the u.s. has said it will oppose any israeli assault on rafah without what it calls a credible plan to get those civilians out of harm's way. we just heard from secretary of state blinken a few minutes ago. he says the u.s. has not seen israel's plan for an attack on rafah, is not able to judge at this stage whether that plan is credible or not. the other important announcement that has come out of the cabinet meetings is that israel's government has been updated on a counterproposal given by hamas

during these cease-fire negotiations. the israeli government is saying, this counterproposal is, quote, unrealistic, which is something it has said about previous hamas offers. but something is different this time, despite dismissing hamas' demands as unrealistic, israel says it is immediately sending negotiators to qatar to continue the talks. that is not something we have seen in the past. israel previously dismissing hamas' offers, saying it won't send negotiators to the table until they get serious. now the negotiaors are heading to the table. we will see if this leads to a pathway to a deal. secretary blinken speaking a few minutes ago said, there is a sense of possibility and also a sense of emergency about getting to a cease-fire deal right now. get the hostages out, get the humanitarian aid in and pause the fighting in gaza for at least six weeks. >> raf, as we continue to count down since the massacre on the

7th of october, we still have more than 100 hostages of which we know very little. >> reporter: of which we know very little. there are around 134 hostages being held by hamas according to the israeli government. officially, around 34 of those hostages have been confirmed dead. remember, hamas seized the bodies of hostages as bargaining chips. not as valuable as live hostages, but bargaining chips. those are part of the negotiations. >> raf sanchez in jerusalem for us this morning. thank you so much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on social media. you can watch clips from the show on youtube. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," as first reported by nbc news today, in a sharply