minute about the alleged , you f someone has not been called because they're unavailable or for whatever reason, if you can take that into account in your deliberations they don't have mr. weisselberg to corroborate mr. cohen's story of what happened. and it's interesting, ana, in this case that the $130,000 was as a result of cohen getting a loan on his own, which he lied to his wife about. so there's a lot to work with here. >> okay. >> it has nothing to do with president trump being the defendant. if joe blow was the defendant i'd feel the same way. >> i hope you'll come back so we can continue this conversation after we see more -- >> i'd love to, thanks for having me. >> thank you so much, william brennan. appreciate you. >> thank you, ana. right now on ana cabrera up next on "ana cabrera reports, make my day, pal. reports," while the eyes of the world have been focused on it is breaking news this tensions in the middle east, secretary blinken is on the ground in ukraine trying to dispel any doubts about u.s. morning, president biden support. support. challenging donald trump to two debates, but this time won't be like 2020. what he's proposing and trump's response. plus, michael cohen's

contentious cross examination, how the former fixer turned star witness is upending donald trump's hush money trial, and when this whole thing may drew draw to a close. and then the other big trial in new york city, senator bob menendez is arriving this morning for another day of jury selection. we'll have the latest on his criminal trial. good morning, it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york, and lots of news this morning. let's begin with the breaking news in the race for the white house. president biden announcing a short time ago he will not participate in the three traditional debates organized by the nonpartisan debate commission, instead challenging donald trump to two non-traditional matchups with this video. >> donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020. since then he hasn't shown up for a debate. now he's acting like he wants to debate me again. make my day, pal.

i'll even do it twice. so let's pick the dates, donald. i hear you're free on wednesdays. >> and just moments ago trump seeming to accept writing on truth social, just tell me when, i'll be there. let's get right to nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli, nbc senior national political reporter jonathan allen, democratic strategist, basil smikle and msnbc political analyst and republican strategist susan del percio. what exactly is president biden proposing? >> reporter: ana, let the debate over debates begin. the presidential commission on debates has been hosting these affairs since the 1980s, but in a letter to the commission this morning, the biden campaign is outlining three reasons why they won't be participating in their events. the first has to do with the timing. there is early voting more than ever before, and the biden campaign thinks the debate needs to happen far sooner than the mid-september debate that the commission had initially proposed. the biden campaign said they're willing to debate as soon as late june.

the second has to do with the format of the debate itself. the biden campaign arguing that these debates had become spekt spectacles over the year. they think this should be no audience, simply the two candidates face to face hosted by news organizations, not an independent commission, and then the last issue that the biden campaign laid out has to do with the format itself, the biden campaign from their experience four years ago debating then president trump felt like the commission did not enforce its own rules about covid protocols, but also the format of the debate itself, and so now let's hear from michael tyler of the biden campaign laying out what the challenge is going forward. >> it should be joe biden and donald trump talking it out on the issues that the american people care about, and so that's what we're hoping to achieve with this proposal. >> reporter: two interesting things about this as well. one, we know that there is at least one major third-party candidate in the race, rfk jr. the commission has criteria by we're still going for that nice catch. we're still going for that perfect pizza. and with higher stroke risk from afib not caused by a heart valve problem,... ...we're going for a better treatment than warfarin. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk.

which rfk jr. could qualify, and has less major bleeding. over 97% of eliquis patients did not experience a stroke. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily... ...or take longer for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor about eliquis. it's hard to explain what this feels like. ♪♪ moving piles of earth, just by moving a lever. ♪♪ towing up to 4,000 lbs with a machine that weighs less than half that. cutting grass, clearing the way, and perfecting every inch of your land. ♪♪ we could keep trying to put it into words. ♪♪ but nothing compares to experiencing it for yourself. ♪♪ you just have to get in the seat. learn more at johndeere.com/getintheseat (vo) if you have graves' disease, your eye symptoms could mean something more. you just have to get in the seat. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease, which should be treated by a different doctor. see an expert. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com setting up a format outside of welcome back. overnight, new reports of russia gaining momentum in ukraine, the commission means that rfk with the ukrainian army jr. would not be participating. announcing they have withdrawn some of their forces from the don't forget the vice presidential debate as well. crucial northeastern city of the biden campaign in this kharkiv. letter saying vice president now, this move comes on the kamala harris would be willing heels of secretary of state to debate whomever donald trump blinken's visit to ukraine to chooses as his running mate as reaffirm u.s. support. he just announced an additional $2 billion in aid to ukraine. soon as late july. >> thank you for bringing that this as we learn ukrainian reporting. trump responded saying biden is president volodymyr zelenskyy is the worst debater ever and he added this, i am ready and canceling all of his upcoming willing to debate crooked joe at foreign trips, taking the the two proposed times in june advancing russian military and september. seriously. nbc's matt bradley is joining us i would strongly recommend more than two debates and for now. matt, what does russia's latest excitement purposes a very large offensive signal about the state of this war? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, it venue, although biden is supposedly afraid of crowds. really just shows fundamentally that russia is capable of that's only because he doesn't launching such an offensive and get them. just tell me when, i'll be that wasn't necessarily a there. this is uncharted territory settled question. it is capable of claiming new here. how would this work? ground from the ukrainians and crucially it shows that ukraine it. >> i think the two sides just is no longer nearly as dominant agree to where they want to debate. donald trump had basically laid as it once was in the eastern out his challenge to biden part of ukraine. this isn't the first time that earlier, said anytime, anywhere. the russians have clocked a battlefield victory since they biden is now saying, great, invaded ukraine, more than two

let's do it. right here, right now or in june years ago. but this rare victory comes as and september. ukraine has been feeling the i think the other important pinch from a lack of western thing -- so first of all, one important thing is it looks like military support. these russian advances have been this is actually going to happen quite modest like a lot we have for the first time in this cycle, you know, i think it's pretty clear that these two are seen over the past two years, very few major russian advances. going to have to debate each we're talk about a few villages other. >> but don't they have to agree on the moderator, agree on the here. according to western analysts, ukraine's losses outside of rules? the biden campaign has put out kharkiv have stabilized in the quite a few rules that seem like past 24 to 48 hours, but still, maybe trump wouldn't go along with. russia is starting to have >> there are a ton of obstacles ukraine exactly right where here, but after trump said moscow wants them. ukraine is now being pushed back anytime, any place, i think it's hard to come back from that and and the country is losing say, no, not that time, not that support, political and financial, from the west. place, not under those rules. i think we are going to see at least two debates between these even though the money still appears to be flowing. the same military analysts, the candidates. institute for the study of war, i think the other important they say they believe that thing, and this is something russia has been trying to set up a buffer zone along ukraine's mike alluded to, these two border with russia, putting the candidates are basically saying ukrainians back from their we no want bobby jr. border in the east. they also said that ukraine's battlefield losses are directly [ laughter ] tied to the delays in american >> they want nothing to do with him on a debate stage, and they arms shipments that were held up in congress by republicans for want the ability to diminish him all of those months.

to make voters forget about him and this is seeing ukrainians or think that he is smaller and rationing their use of not a factor, and by agreeing to artillery, crucial when they're fighting off the russians. a debate with each other one on the russians rely on artillery, one, which both of them would that's how this battle, this war like, they may be able to try to is being fought. so now that the money appears to effectuate that. on the other hand, they risk a be on the way, and the u.s. backlash if they exclude secretary of state antony somebody that a lot of voters blinken in kyiv today, he told his ukrainian counterpart the want. >> let's zoom in on a few of the terms the biden campaign laid out. u.s. would provide ukraine with these debates should be one on an additional $2 billion in one, the moderators should be selected by the broadcast foreign military foreignfinanci. organizations out of their regular personnel. time limits for answers. that would allow them to purchase weapons immediately. alternate turns to speak. but ukraine impressed the world by fighting off the russians two microphones only active when years ago, but that may be about it's the candidates' terms to to change in russia's favor. speak. >> i'm not as optimistic as ana? >> matt bradley, thank you. jonathan is. turning to the middle east, i've also heard former president where u.s. officials tell nbc trump say he's going to testify news israel could expand at his trial, so i don't know so operations in rafah soon. much that he won't come up with this move would be in direct enough excuses or at least agree opposition to the biden to debate under normal administration's multiple warnings against a full scale operation in the southern gaza city, where more than a million circumstances, not special circumstances. donald trump has shown that he palestinians have sought refuge. won't follow the rules. moments ago, israeli prime

the biden campaign -- i think minister netanyahu spoke about this disagreement with the white the issue of having an audience house here on cnbc. will be very sticky as trump mentioned in his post this >> can you win this fight morning, he wants a big arena, without american support? but the thing that's going to >> well, the answer is yes. get him is that mic switch. we value american support, we i don't know if he is going to want american support, i'll do be able to stay to a mic switch everything that i can to get and no audience. american support, but not at the >> basil, do you think trump would agree to have his mic expense of our survival and our turned off at some point? >> i mean, not only would it be security. we have to stand alone, and difficult for him to deal with a against the saveages we have to win, we don't have a choice. mic turnoff, he can't even stay >> netanyahu also said he at his podium if you remember expects the rafah operation to him following hillary clinton last a matter of weeks, not around debate stage. months. next here on "ana cabrera when you look at "the new york reports," how donald trump's new york trial is impacting voters times" reporting on this, they talk about biden being the in one key battleground state. institutionalist. that's one of the big issues and what it means for november. r here, someone who is so used to sort of form and tradition and promotes that in many respects, is doing something so incredibly unconventional. you're dealing with an

unconventional pponent in a really amazing time in our history when he's actually on trial. i'll just add this other point. i think the timing is really important here. in addition to this news is news that inflation seems to be easing a little bit in this most recent period. if you can actually do a little bit more to pick the time and place that you're debating, you might be able to catch it at a good point in our economy, number one, and at a time when you can perhaps take advantage of donald trump just coming off of one trial because we're uncertain as to whether -- when the next trial is going to start, so you can kind of capture that. >> trump has also been arguing that the debate should be held earlier than the proposed debates by the presidential debate commission. take a look at this also, the biden campaign trying to seize this moment, this announcement today saying they're selling free on wednesday t-shirts. so when you talk about timing, basil, what is the calculus in terms of the timing of this move to say, hey, this is what we

want to do. we want to debate, and here are the things we're going to propose. >> joe biden alluded to it in the video, he said he's off on wednesdays. again, the fact that you have his opponent, and it's not like there's a primary left to be judged here. i mean, yes, but technically we know who these -- who the nominees will be, so for him to say, you know, yes, you'll be free on wednesdays is alluing to the fact this he's on trial. that the main opponent is on trial, just to be clear about that so that, you know, he, joe biden can say your heels are back, right? we have you in a vulnerable position. >> it seems like it's also an opportunity for biden to get the attention on him. >> and also it's biden's way of just tweaking trump. i mean, that's what -- the way biden's been campaigning -- not the campaign, but the president himself, has been to go after little jabs at trump, which must annoy the blank out of him.

but i think that -- and it probably worked. >> there's that t-shirt we mentioned. free on wednesdays. >> so i think actually it was -- compare that to trump's response, one is angry and mean, and one's just kind of poking a little fun, and i think that in itself tells you exactly where the campaigns are going to be going. >> jonathan, the biden campaign is also laying out a proposal for a vice presidential debate saying it should be in late july right after the republican national convention with the same basic parameters. donald trump has said he didn't want to announce a vp contender until the rnc. take a listen. >> a lot of people are in play, and i'm really a believer that you do it during the convention. you know, you really do it during the convention. i'm also, unfortunately, a believer that historically vps i don't think ever have helped. i think they can hurt a little bit, but they haven't helped. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... in real time. (jen) so we partner with verizon. their solution for us? a private 5g network. (ella) we now get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. our customers get what they want, >> so a few things we can go when they want it. (jen) now we're even smarter and ready for what's next. (vo) achieve enterprise intelligence. it's your vision, it's your verizon. [ doorbell rings ] you must be isaac. come on in. [ sighs ] here's my pride and joy. [ romantic music plays ] ♪♪ beautiful stair renovation, sir. and they're covered with your home and auto bundle with progressive, so you get round-the-clock protection. so, is gabby coming down? oh, she said she'll meet you at the prom. we're back with more breaking news. an update on the race for the through there. white house. according to fox news, former

one, you can fact check on whether they've helped or hurt president trump has accepted president biden's invitation for for us, whether it's typical a debate on cnn on june 27th, that this announcement happens at the national convention. and then i guess the other question is would it be enough saying i'll be there, and that he's looking forward to being in time for a vice president contender to prepare for a beautiful atlanta. let's go to nbc's blayne debate right after this alexander joining us in georgia, where she's been talking to announcement? >> yeah, so first of all, voters in that key battleground there's been a range of dates that vice presidential picks state about the 2024 race. what are you hearing from these have been selected. however, the tradition recently voters about their plans for election day, blayne? has been toward the convention. it's not usually at the >> reporter: well, ana, we're just outside of atlanta, we're convention. it used to be in the old days they basically got picked at the in gwinnett county, a suburb of convention by the convention metro atlanta. i want to set the scene for you delegates. but since presidents have been and let you know why we are able to pick their own ticket here. this, of course, is one of our seven deciders counties, a key mates, it comes a little earlier. trump's basically right, around county to watch in the key the convention. battleground state of georgia. this is a fast-growing area, the i think there is a disadvantage for the republican vice presidential pick in having a most diverse county in the state of georgia. debate right after they're and it is a place where picked. they would immediately have to according to the county gop go into debate prep. chairman, this has the largest this might make him pick someone republican voting bloc of any sooner if he was going to county in the state of georgia. schedule a debate. so, certainly a place they're typically these candidates will be in debate prep for a couple watching very closely, but it is also has gone blue in the past of weeks or most of a couple of two presidential elections.

weeks. that is definitely biden seeking you can see why a shift either an advantage there, both from the perspective of trying to get way could really make a big trump to announce somebody difference here. and it is with that backdrop that we sat down and talked to earlier and from having a vice five different voters and people presidential candidate who might involved in the republican party not be prepared to go up against here to find out, one, if kamala harris. obviously the biden campaign they're paying attention to this somewhat worried about the vice trial and how it is impacting presidential pick. trump is also right about this. them and, two, how a potential it's not clear that there's any conviction could change their support of the former president. huge advantage in a vice take a look. presidential pick or disadvantage in a vice >> it is actually making people presidential pick. >> if it happened before the more angry. president's convention, the they know that this is a guy democratic convention and there that he's a billionaire and he was something that happened in that vp debate, that could kind doesn't need to run for president, but he's doing it for of throw a wrench into the celebration, if you will, of a us. he has a heart of gold in my opinion. >> i think people just like a convention. >> and it may get donald trump to pick someone he may not like bully in school, you know, who but someone he's better at debating. >> that's assuming he expects like the bully? those terms. you know? you avoid that bully and you do just because joe biden says i want to have a vice presidential anything you can to help debate in july after the everybody but the bully. convention, i mean, if i'm the other side, no matter who says and i think right now they see that there is a bully, which is that, i'm like let's see what's our government. good for me. >> i'll and just say it's smart you put him in jail, his numbers for the campaign to do this, will go up again. right? donald trump can't campaign in >> reporter: for those two

the conventional way because people that you heard from and he's on trial. the three others we spoke to, he's not raising money the way he's supposed to. any sort of trump trial right so all of this pushes donald now, it is not really causing trump into a position, if you their support to waver. could say this, of discomfort the question is what impact will with respect to the campaign it have on those people who are because he's not -- he can't do already on the line and gwinnett what you would normally do at county is full of those folks this time of the year. so the advantage really is for who may have been looking to support nikki haley, for the biden campaign. example, or things like that. they're in a position of what impact will the trial have strength here. >> basil, that brings up one there? i spoke with the gop chairman other point. and he told me, of course, the donald trump does have some experience with having his mic cut off. key is turnout. we heard that before and that's which is he's been sitting in why they're focusing heavily on court wanting very badly to what people are thinking around this. >> it is great for you to bring respond to everything. us what people are thinking. >> that's right. >> his mic cut off. thank you so much, blayne it will be interesting to see if he's able to do that in a debate. he's definitely had his mouth shut over the course of the last alexander, for that insight. several weeks. >> we'll let that be the mic on sunday, msnbc films presents "battleground georgia" 9:00 p.m. drop for this conversation. thank you so much, jonathan eastern here on msnbc. allen, basil smikle, and susan that does it for us today. see you back here tomorrow, same del percio. and turning now from the campaign trail to the courtroom time, same place. for now, i'm ana cabrera where the already tense cross examination of michael cohen reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. will resume tomorrow, so just how much is trump involved in good morning. his own legal strategy? i'll talk to a former trump org attorney. plus, how this historic

trial is being received by gop it is 11:00 a.m. eastern and voters in one key battleground 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin this morning with state, does a conviction, if it breaking news in the happens, matter to them? presidential race. just hours ago, presi and what's happening in another trial that you may have missed involving democratic senator bob menendez. we're back in 90 seconds. menendz we're back in 90 seconds hi guys! bill, you look great! now that i have inspire, i'm free from struggling with the mask and the hose. inspire? inspire is a sleep apnea treatment that works inside my body with a click of this button. where are you going? i'm going to get inspire. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com.

power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools, and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. and now to the latest in donald trump's criminal hush money trial, the cross examination of michael cohen set to resume this time tomorrow

after a heated and contentious day in court yesterday, trump's attorneys attempting to frame cohen as a liar, a witness pursuing revenge against a former mentor, and attempting to use his own words against him. cohen's continued testimony tomorrow setting the stage for a dramatic and likely earlier than expected conclusion of this trial. let's bring in two people who have been in the courtroom this week, nbc's vaughn hillyard, and law fair legal fellow and courts correspondent, anna bower, and paul henderson, veteran prosecutor and trial attorney. vaughn, we get to see the transcript transcripts. we are here reading out the google doc in realtime. we miss a lot, we don't hear, we don't see what's happening with our own eyes and ears. so take us inside what that was like yesterday during cross examination and walk us through what we learned. >> when you're there and able to see this up close, i was actually seated next to anna for a while in one of the pews and you realize these are humans.

michael cohen is a human, right? and humans have a lot of different personalities and oftentimes we've seen a combative michael cohen. you see the tiktok michael cohen. yesterday you saw a michael cohen who was very dispassionate, regretful, solemn, and that's what the jury saw, and during the cross examination todd blanche, donald trump's attorney repeatedly was was asking him, you know, about the money he made off of his books. he asked him about the t-shirt that he had worn that had donald trump behind bars. he asked him whether he was cooperating with the district attorney's office just to get a shorter prison sentence stemming from the federal charges that he faced, and each step of the way he essentially acknowledged all of this, and the issue for the defense team was that just a few hours earlier in the morning when he was answering the prosecution's questions, he said out loud to the jury, yes, i lied. i was a bully, and yes, i am now trying to make money on books because i'm trying to support my family after i lost my job through trump. >> anna, what stood out to you when it came to how michael

cohen handles himself and todd blanche's approach? >> well, i think that michael cohen handled himself very well on cross examination. this was one of the big questions going into yesterday was how would michael cohen perform on cross after having a pretty successful direct from the prosecution. i think that he was someone who, as vaughn mentioned, was being very honest about, you know, the comments that he's made in the past and even comments that he was making that were very positive about donald trump, he said, yes, well, at the time i was -- i had tremendous respect for the man. i did believe those things to be true at the time. >> although, i will say reading the transcript, it seemed like he was a little cagey about answering some questions directly, like whether he -- >> that's exactly -- >> -- told a lie. >> that's what i was going to say, there were other times, however, in which he was being a little bit weasely about answering some things. he at one point when he was

talking about an interview that he did with special counsel mueller back in 2018, he said something to the effect of, oh, i gave him inaccurate statements. i didn't lie, and it took a few questions for blanche to really get him to say, okay, yes, i will say that i did, in fact, lie. but keep in mind, the prosecution had kind of primed the jurors on direct to the idea that michael cohen is someone who has admitted that he has lied before, that he has had false statement charges before. so i don't think that it's necessarily something that is terrible for the case that michael cohen's sitting there saying, yes, i did lie, but there were just a few of those moments that he kind of, you know, wasn't quite being fully candid. however, todd blanche's cross examination overall struck me as very disorganized. it did not have a good flow. it was very hard to follow. >> right. >> even for someone like me who

has been there every single day. i've been covering this trial for months now. >> you've been living and breathing the case. >> exactly. and it was very hard to follow. it was not a very successful cross examination, and so we'll see what happens on thursday when the cross examination resumes, maybe he'll come back around and pick it back up, but it overall was not a very successful cross. >> let me ask you about that, paul, this approach. blanche seemed to bounce all over the place. at times it was hard to follow. at one point cohen himself said i'm sorry, i'm confused by your questions. paul, what's blanche trying to do here? do you think it was effective? >> i don't think it was effective, and in watching him just from a trial perspective, it wasn't effective because he could have been and should have been more focused and had a clearer agenda. that was missed throughout the entirety of the questioning back and forth. i mean, even from the very beginning, i thought he took a

big -- this is blanche, took a big body blow by trying to make the questions more personal about him, and then having that objection sustained in front of the jury, that's not a great way to start, but then following up from that, what he missed was the opportunity to make it clear with a question that what he was trying to get at was that cohen would say anything about anyone as long as it would hurt trump because he wanted trump in jail, and that point got missed. he just moved on to the next question. as we were talking about before, the questions were all over the place. they didn't follow a specific time line. they didn't follow a specific incident. they were just a -- >> is that strategic? is that to throw cohen off his game perhaps? >> it was strategic. it just didn't work. i think he was trying to show that michael cohen lies and that he dislikes trump. but guess what? we already knew that before he took the stand. the prosecution had already laid out so much of that, these are things we already know, and we missed the opportunity, we still

haven't seen it. we don't know what the defense is trying to present in their cross examination, but their plan to refute the facts, invoices, payments, and knowledge about donald trump. this has all been focused on michael cohen being bombastic, being disliked, telling lies, not being honest and truthful and not the facts of the case that the prosecution has already laid a foundation from, and that is the missed opportunity from this cross examination. so i have big expectations about what's going to happen tomorrow, but i don't think it was effective for the defense. i think it was distracting for the defense, and it was not a very good job from a trial perspective in terms of how it was rolled out with michael cohen for this jury. >> and given michael cohen is the prosecution's last witness we're told, paul, how do you think they've done in proving their case? have they proven it beyond a reasonable doubt? >> i think they've proven it as well as they could with the facts that they have. what particularly stands out to me is that they have

corroborative evidence beyond michael cohen. so michael cohen is important, but he's not the singular linchpin for what they have to prove. i think you're going to see from the prosecution when they get back up on redirect, they're going to have to make some key points again for the jury and that's going to be a reminder to them that all the bad things you're hearing about michael cohen, just remember this, trump chose him. trump paid him. trump employed him for over ten years to act as his agent and to do things that he did no legal work for what he god paid for and that trump knew or actively participated in making and submitting the false statements, and i think that's going to bring it full circle with that remainder on redirect with michael cohen, and that does make a pretty strong case for the prosecution. i'm waiting for the omission of the defense perspective about their interpretation of the facts that have been presented in this case already. that's really what i'm looking for. >> quickly, if you will, vaughn and anna, your observations of

the jury? have they given any outward signs of what they're thinking? >> yeah, i -- it's hard to tell. you can't exactly see inside the minds of the jurors just based on their facial expressions. i will say from observing them throughout this trial, they've been very attentive. they've been taking notes, actually many notes, but yesterday was actually one of the first days that i saw an expression from the jurors that seemed to really suggest maybe something about what they're thinking. >> what's that? >> or at least two of them. at one moment when todd blanche started his cross examination and he asked michael cohen about statements that cohen had made about blanche on tiktok -- >> about trump's lawyer, not about trump, but about the lawyer. >> yes, about the lawyer, he started off on that note. he kind of asked this question dripping with venom. you know, did you say this about me on tiktok, and it was an insult that i will not repeat

here but was very funny and the jurors, i think, or at least two of them kind of grinned to themselves at this very moment, and, vaughn, i don't know if you read something else out of that. >> we were looking at the exact same two jurors, and without knowing exactly what they were thinking, it was very much of a this is getting real right now. >> this was right after cohen was asked if he referred to todd blanche as a crying little beep, and he basically said that sounds like something i would say. hard for jurors not to react to that. thank you both so much for your observations and insight and reporting from the courtroom. thank you, paul henderson, also for joining us. later i'll talk to a lawyer that represented the ex-president during his impeachment trial. what he makes of the defense's strategy so far. the other high profile trial just getting started and just down the street from trump's, where jury selection stands in the bribery trial against democratic senator bob menendez. .

but he is an “i can solve this in 4 different ways” person. you need clem. clem needs benefits. work with principal so we can help you with a plan that's right for him. you know what i'm saying? let our expertise round out yours. it's payback time. all these years, you've worked hard. you fixed it. you looked after it. you know what i'm saying? maybe it's time for your home to start taking care of you? we've invested in our home, we've worked on it, we had a whole lot of equity just sitting there, you paid down the mortgage, invested in your home. i guess, you could say, your home owes you. if you're 62 or older and own your home, learn how you can access a portion of your home equity to give you cash.

a reverse mortgage can put more money in your pocket by eliminating your monthly mortgage payments, paying off higher interest credit cards, and covering medical costs. look, aag can show you how a reverse mortgage loan uses your built-up home equity to give you tax-free cash for almost anything you might need. just eliminating the mortgage payment freed up a lot of cash for us. i get to go do what i want when i want. aag customers talked about the counseling they got along the way so they know how a reverse mortgage works, and how their home could help pay them back when they need it the most. i have no more worries anymore the fact that we're still in this home, means so much. it's done everything for us that we hope it would do for us. call now to receive your free no-obligation info kit. the kit shows you how to get you the cash you need using your home's equity with a reverse mortgage. find out how your home can start taking care of you.

the worry every single month to make that payment was gone. our customers' homes are taking care of them. maybe, your home could do the same for you. call aag, the country's #1 reverse mortgage lender, and get your free info kit. call this number

welcome back. right now new jersey senator bob menendez is back in a new york city courtroom for the third day of his federal bribery trial, and today jury selection is now underway to find the 12 jurors who will decide if menendez is guilty of taking bribes in exchange for favors to foreign governments. the once powerful former chair of the senate foreign relations committee was indicted last year along with his wife and three new jersey businessmen, and more than a year after the fbi found more than $480,000 in cash, gold bars as well in his home. nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian joins us outside the courthouse. ken, jury selection started monday. where do we stand this morning? >> reporter: good morning, ana. the judge said he believes we'll be done with jury selection by the end of the morning. he's been going through that pain staking process of whittling down a group of 150

citizens to find 12 jurors willing to sit for what could be a six to seven-week trial and people who say they can be unbiased. just to reset here, this is one of the most consequential political corruption cases against a u.s. senator in american history. senator menendez is not only accused of conspiracy to commit bribery, fraud, extortion, he's accused of selling his office to benefit two foreign governments including the government of egypt where he's accused of providing them sensitive nonpublic information. the strength of the evidence is why you've seen for democrats calling for him to resign. now he gets his day in court. one of the most important things that happened yesterday is the judge ruled against him on a key point in his defense. where his lawyers wanted to call a psychiatrist who has treated him and is going to testify that the reason he kept massive amounts of cash and gold bars at his home is because of his family's history of having property confiscated by the government of cuba. the judge said no thathanks, we

not having that testimony. when we see opening statements later in the day, we're going to get a clue as to whether senator menendez is going to use as part of his defense the excuse that he was not really in the loop with everything that was happening and whether he's going to throw his wife, nadine menendez under the bus. she is not on trial. she is suffering from an unspecified medical ailment. his lawyers suggested he may try to blame her. a lot of the evidence came from her phone and text messages. that's one of the big things we're watching today, ana. >> ken dilanian, thank you so much. keep us posted, of course. and joining us now is trial attorney, kelly hyman. they still haven't seated a single juror. why do you think that is? we're on day three, and is this unusual? >> no, it's a process where the judge asks them questions, and it's important to remember that they need to be fair and impartial. if someone's already made up their mind and can't listen to the facts and the evidence, then they can be excused. now, also, the plaintiff's counsel and defense counsel can strike someone.

they have strikes that they could do so they could potentially do that today. >> it seemed jury selection moved more quickly in donald trump's trial than it is here, and yet, we're hearing this judge say he anticipates potentially opening statements as soon as mid-morning. that they'll be able to seat a jury by then. does that seem like that could be realistic? >> yes. get the 12 people and the 6 alternates, and then the state will open up with their arguments and bring their case as well. and then the defense will bring their arguments as well. and as pointed out, the defense's key thing that they're going to do is show that he did not have intent. and intent is key in these type of cases, right? did he had the intent to conspire with these other people, and did he have knowledge of it? also one of the defenses is that he didn't know what was going on, that it had to do with his wife. this is a salacious story, right? he's been indicted. what that means is that a juror

based on the facts and evidence presented believed that he should be charged with serious crimes. you're innocent in the court of law until you're proven guilty. >> you're right, that indictment came from a grand jury that indicted him, people who were already his peers. but the gold bars, the cash, the mercedes, just how damning is the evidence? >> that's pretty strong evidence, but we haven't heard his side of the story, and what's going to be key is is he going to take the witness stand? now, ultimately, the attorney can advise him and say we don't think you should take the witness stand. we think you should take the witness stand, but potentially it's going to be up to him. he's going to make that determination, if he wants to sit and tell his side of the story, it appears that he might do that. >> it comes as we're all focused on this other high profile trial happening across the street, that of donald trump. does that have any impact on the menendez case at all other than it maybe getting less attention

than it would otherwise? >> it shouldn't, right? you go in, the jury selection should be the same. they should be fair and impartial, and based on the facts and the evidence, but it's interesting that the senator has come out and said that this is a witch hunt, that i'm innocent until proven guilty, and something that we have heard in the trump trial as well, that this is a witch hunt, that this is politically motivated. we'll have hill, a house committee is holding a hearing on the deadly bridge collapse in baltimore. the transportation and infrastructure committee focusing on the federal response to the collapse of the francis scott key bridge seven weeks ago, and it comes shortly after federal investigators released a preliminary ntsb report on tuesday revealing that 947 foot dali suffered multiple power losses in the minutes before it

struck the bridge, leaving the ship without the propulsion needed to steer away. the largest remaining steel span was partially removed on monday with demolition crews using explosive charges. next here on "ana cabrera reports," i'll talk to a former trump org attorney who represented the former president during one of his impeachment trials. does he think donald trump should testify? plus, how a delay in the aid to ukraine has impacted the battlefield, as secretary blinken visits the war-torn country with a message for the world. ar-torn country with a message for the world.

>> tech: does your windshield have a crack? trust safelite. this customer had auto glass damage, but he was busy working from home... ...so he scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks. we came to his house... then we got to work. we replaced his windshield... ...and installed new wipers to protect his new glass. >> customer: looks great. thank you. >> tech: my pleasure. >> vo: we come to you for free. schedule now for free mobile service at safelite.com. ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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. it's time to get away and cache in, at cache creek casino resort, to rock and to roll. to go all out or... go all in. with four stars and rising stars, northern california's premier casino resort is the perfect place... ...to do as much -or as little- as you want. make your get away now and cache in at cache creek casino resort.

we have an update now on our top story this morning, president biden challenging former president trump to two debates, trump saying he was ready and willing. well, now president biden says he has accepted an invitation from cnn to debate on june 27th, saying, quote, over to you, donald. let's go back to nbc's mike memoli now. this isn't a done deal, right?

because president biden says he's got a time and a place, but that doesn't do it. >> reporter: well, ana, things are happening pretty fast, aren't they? the biden campaign was out with this letter this morning proposing these two debates just after 8:00 a.m. and here we are just before 11:00, and the campaign has already accepted their first debate, june 27th hosted by cnn. we'll wait to hear what the trump campaign says. obviously there's a long way to go before this happens. i started the hour by talking about the debate over the debates. it's never going to be as simple as simply i'll see you at the time and date of your choosing, so we're going to watch the campaigns, both of them to try and use this moment for maximum political leverage. we've seen the biden campaign advertising, putting out shirts that say free on wednesdays. that's an allusion to donald trump's trial schedule, and the only day he's been allowed to be outside of the courthouse rather than at his own hush money trial. we saw the biden campaign put out a text message to his support, in the last hour trying to raise money off the idea of

doing these debates saying that in the president's words, he wants to ask the former president about things like his support for a nationwide abortion ban. we're going to see this continue, and we'll wait to hear the next volley from the trump side. >> we'll bring our viewers those updates if they come in in the next 20 minutes. thank you, mike memoli. and turning to donald trump's criminal hush money trial where by all appearances, we are hurdling towards the end. yesterday trump's lead attorney todd blanche didn't have an answer to the question everyone is asking, will donald trump take the stand? during a side bar with the judge, blanche said i don't know yet. now, this is one question about a defense strategy that's raised eyebrows from some legal experts, especially when it came to the cross examination of the prosecution's star witness, michael cohen. and joining us now, william brennan, former attorney for the trump organization who represented trump during his second impeachment trial. william, thank you so much for taking the time. blanche isn't ruling out trump

testifying. is there a scenario where you actually see this happening? >> good morning, ana, and thanks for having me. you know, i've been trying criminal cases for about 35 years around this country, and i can tell you regardless of whom the defendant is, it is the absolute last decision that is made in a trial. prosecution puts its case on. the defense will then argue at the conclusion of the prosecution's case that it should be dismissed, and it doesn't even meet a prima fascia, a very low burden. most of those motions are denied. then if the defense -- and the defense has no obligation, ana, they can sit there and do the cross word puzzle during this trial. but if the defense decides to call any witnesses, say they called one or ten witnesses, at the end of that trail of witnesses, it would be the decision-making time for the defendant, and my prediction is that in this particular case, the defendant will not testify. >> if he did, though, how would

you prepare him? what types of questions would you expect prosecutors to ask on cross examination? >> well, the problem with president trump in the defendant's chair is he's had a very high profile life before he was president. he was a mogul, a business mogul. he was in the media, he had the reality shows. he had "the apprentice." his private life was the subject of headlines and magazines. then he was the most powerful man in the world for four years and made a lot of public statements, so there's so much that could dovetail into this case that would provide fodder for cross examination that most likely the benefits of any testimony would be outweighed by exposure you'd have on cross. but aside from that, that's just a general statement on having a former president as a criminal defendant, aside from that -- >> not any criminal -- not any

former president either as a criminal defendant. donald trump is a unique person when it comes to his communications and his life. >> that's true, but anybody who's spent their life in the public arena and then became president, you know, there's only a handful of people that have ever done that, present a unique scenario for the defense. but put that aside. in this case, i don't think he needs to testify. you know, they've got to tie this case into another crime. they failed to really specify what the other crime is. cohen said a few times, well, i know that this was done, if it was done, i know that this was done to help the campaign. i mean, does cohen have the ring of truth? i mean, the man is a convicted perjurer. he's lied repeatedly to congress, to the internal revenue service, to the american people, to judges. you know, so he is a polluted

source -- >> that is true. >> i think mr. blanche will finish with him tomorrow i predict. >> there is the corroborating evidence when it comes to the documents, when it comes to other witnesses who have testified that have also pointed to what was happening during the campaign when the access hollywood tape dropped and how this particular story from stormy daniels could have impacted the campaign, and so there's other evidence other than cohen's testimony, but i wonder what you think of how the defense has handled this case. former federal prosecutor and senior writer for "politico" writes this, trump's lawyers are pursuing a flawed and risky strategy. why? most likely it's not them, but him. trump is the client and he gets the final word on major decisions. so far as i can tell, this team has managed to stay on trump's good side by indulging -- perhaps necessarily -- his worst traits and instincts. it may be their downfall. from your experience working with trump, william, is this a fair analysis? >> yeah, i don't agree with that

analysis at all. i had the experience in the second impeachment of representing the president, of course with other lawyers, we were a team, and then i spent eight weeks in this very courtroom in 15a with judge merchan, and most of that prosecution team representing the trump payroll corporation, president trump was an easy guy to get along with. he'll push, but he listens to lawyers. these lawyers, susan necheles whom i've worked with, mr. blanche who by reputation is a tremendous lawyer. these lawyers are doing a great job. and back to your point for a