have spoken. they delivered us a clear victory. >> we were not surprised by the election. we were not surprised by the results. we are not surprised georgia is at the center of the universe and flipping this country. a number of us have done the work and build the base that made it possible. >> watch "battle ground georgia" sunday at 9:00 eastern on msnbc did if you are in the chicago area, i might see you in person. i will be at the chicago humanities festival tomorrow with my friend and colleague, jen. i will be at tech sermon hall at 3:00 for a conversation about the responsibilities of citizenship and social justice. go to chicago humanities.org for tickets. see you tomorrow. " the 11th hour" starts right now. >> former president trump's new york hush money trial is on today -- is off today as the

former president attends his younger son's high school graduation. >> for moment it looks like house republicans would lose control of the floor because so many republicans have going -- have been going to see donald trump's trial. >> president trump is unjustly not allowed to speak. >> the judicial system has been westernized. >> this is a scam, a sham, a show. >> that courtroom is depressing. >> one of the most depressing places a better my life. michael cohen is the prosecution's star witness. >> he's the only one that testified the former president has advanced knowledge of the plan to pay off daniels. >> is there any sense that you can believe anything michael cohen says? >> the defense will finish cross tomorrow.

good evening, once again bid we are now 172 days away from the election. it was a pivotal week in former presidents new york criminal trial. star witness and ekstrom fixer, michael cohen, took the stand and faced heated cross examination were trump steen questioned a key part of his testimony. meanwhile, trump's positive oil republicans trashed the case on his behalf in front of cameras outside the courthouse. trump himself had the day off of trial, to attend his youngest son's high school graduation. it's time for the nightcap and it's a great one. we have the editor in chief of the world's greatest magazine, vanity fair, andrew weissman joins us, now an nyu law professor and msnbc legal analyst, nancy giles, emmy- winning contributor to cbs news sunday morning and one of our favorites, and one of my

favorites at this network, michael steele, former chairman other public and national committee, former lieutenant governor of maryland, cohost of "the weekend" right here on msnbc. welcome. andrew, you know we are going to you first. your assessment of this week in court and the fact that you're not wearing a red tie is disappointing. >> i'm not a mini me and i'm not seeking vice presidency. yeah. actually, on that, good point and segue. that and the denigration of the rule of law, which is them standing out there repeating the donald trump rule of law is for other people rhetoric is exactly what connects this to samuel alito and the flag outside. >> you were jumping ahead. >> exactly. >> give us your sense of this week in court. mike you want to do court? okay. >> liberates.

>> how do you think things went? >> it's interesting. todd blanche finally had a good day, but it's also michael cohen. before he went on, is there anyone here who said that would go well? it was not going to because he has committed so many different crimes, and there are so many different ways to cross him. putting it in perspective, i have never done a trial where there isn't something where the defense says about one of your cooperators, they are lying. you know what this was? he made a mistake and that's it. of course, the defense is going to say, it's a lie, but it was obviously a mistake because there were six other calls they have not touched with the president of united states and that's much more important. a mistake is a good thing for the defense. they want to capitalize on it

and say it exemplifies the whole case and we will see what the jury thinks. >> how do you think todd blanche did? he painted michael cohen as a sleazy liar and hustler but here's the thing. donald trump hired him to be a liar and a bully and a hustler. >> that's probably one of the most fascinating aspects of the approach. the guy you are trying to paint in a certain way was the guy that donald trump himself wanted . michael cohen was the guy that, you know, he wanted to be his right cone. >> he was disbarred. >> you wanted him to be the lawyer who would go and fix things for him, so that would entail everything. todd would say, well what about this, donald trump wanted me to do that, that's why he hired me. i was fascinated going into this week with this idea that somehow, the defense is going

to have that moment, that gotcha moment and i'm thinking, at the end of the day, the guy in front of you went to jail for the guy on trial right now. everything that michael cohen did , he did at the instruction of donald trump. michael cohen is not cutting a check for hundred $30,000 without talking to his wife first. the reality is, where michael cohen ended up was this space that donald trump put him in long before they landed in that courtroom. >> he had to refinance his house. he didn't have that money lying around. >> what lawyer asked that way? >> remember, michael cohen worshiped donald trump at the time. >> and works for him for many years and learned his playbook. it's interesting. trump is such a master at projecting the bad things he

does on other people but in this case, it's actually playing out. >> i was in an acting class, okay, i know what it's like to be around occult and be a little work should be towards somebody. i feel for michael cohen. he has shown a lot of bravery. he said he lied and paid the price, his family was threatened , and now he's trying to do well. when he was in, when he was donald trump's can ciliary, he was really in and now that he's out, he's really out. >> can we talk about this red tie brigade? who made their way to new york city, some currently elected officials, many auditioning to be his vp, and they stood outside that courthouse, what does that say about what we

might be looking at? >> it's just a reminder of what the trump circus looks like and i feel we had some quiet, but now, this trial is reminding everyone that with trump comes spectacle and performance and that is what we will be signing up for if he is elected again. >> and lawlessness. >> any of these people that voted for them, any of their constituents in their home states, are they asking, who paid for her? where is she staying? if i had a friend on trial in another city i would be taking the day off of work if i wanted to go. they are not doing their jobs in d.c. >> folks don't care. that's why they are there. the bigger prize is donald trump looks at them.

donald trump looks at them again and that is kind of their insistence. why are they in new york? for criminal defendants, in another city. >> they are not doing their jobs. is it true? are there constituents cool with that? >> every last one of them. >> he was getting attacked by jim jordan's of the world, i know what we are doing. i used to be you. this is how it ends. this is how it ends. don't fool yourselves. i know what you were doing. i used to be you. >> very self-aware. when you get caught, that is what happens and he got caught. >> really? allen weisselberg wouldn't say

that. >> that's a different kind of loyalty. that's a very specific kind of loyalty that transcends anything. >> is that loyalty that he is saying i am at the end of my life, i want my family taken care of forever. >> it's the scene from "the godfather." >> i know you're anxious to talk about samuel alito. if you haven't seen, the new york times of the photo, in front of his house, and upside down american flag was hanging, some january 6 participants did it. he's now saying, my wife did it, it wasn't me. what is your take on this? a lot of people think this is crazy, and how could he possibly preside over anything that has to do with election interference and donald trump community? >> one, the coverage story of "my wife did it" and it was in

response to a neighbor? >> how, thank god they had a photo because otherwise this wouldn't be true so they had to have, is the flag not in front of his house? it was up for a number of days and he didn't see it? it's the most absurd story ever. let's go to substance. that is the through line between trump, the red tie brigade, justice alito saying the immunity argument, we can't trust the criminal justice system, because even though i'm

a supreme court justice and former u.s. attorney, we can't trust the justice department, the president should be able to roam the earth without criminal liability? he is in the tank. >> it ties to the dobbs leak, declarants thomas, what is your take? >> they shouldn't blame their spouses. i would get off the train there. i'm done with this story. >> there is no more here, for me. >> it's appalling and it's another example of how the supreme court also feels they should have new rules, there should be no conflicts of interest, i should get it big suv from whoever. it's baffling. >> that's a man's move. >> if you are chief justice roberts, say he's upset, can he

do anything? what does that do? >> a lot, in terms of the nine. he could signal that hearing. there were a lot of things, if you're the chief justice and you see what's happening, it could be institutional concern. leaving that partisanship aside, i've got a huge problem. if you care about the legacy of his court.

>> i think the recovery for roberts court will be very difficult. largely because of everything we talked about, and the stuff that is yet to come. there is june 30th deadlines coming up and big cases are going to fall, and then there is next year, after a presidential election. it's an untenable position and i agree with you. what i know about this justice, i've spent time with him in space, he's very much and institutionalist. he's honored by the service he's been asked to provide, and he is broken a bit by what is around him. he doesn't know how to fix it. >> we can't even discuss the supreme court without laying blame at the devilish mitch mcconnell and how he maneuvered and manipulated, i'm sorry.

>> i'm going to take a small exception. >> you didn't like devilish? >> i'll take it. >> at the end of the day, you did nothing. republicans have been telegraphing for 10 or 15 years. i know. we talked about in 2010. it wasn't just about obama care. it was state legislative races, why congressional races were important. >> >> we will take a quick break. biden and trump are no

strangers to voters. so will the debate rematch really move the needle? later, talking sports. i don't know but anything that happened on any field on this planet. palate from a graduations beach given by a guy who kicks field goals for a living. have a great night. simparica trio is the first chew with triple protection. whoa fleas! and ticks! (♪♪) intestinal worms! whoa! heartworm disease! no problem with simparica trio! this drug class has been associated with neurologic adverse reactions including seizures. use with caution in dogs with a history of these disorders. for winning protection— go with simparica trio.

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biden supposedly, and donald trump will meet face-to-face for the first time in almost four years. candidates agreed to two debates with abc and cnn and the first is in just a month. both are saying, i got him. do you believe donald trump will show up? >> i agree 100%, i don't think donald trump will debate at all. there is no incentive for him to do it from his perspective because he already thinks the selection will be rigged against him, so why bother? he doesn't want to talk about policy. but, to the biden team, i give kudos and props. everybody. he went full in.

>> from the press corps to the public class, everybody was going, what? it became the conversation and the biden team owned it. the trump team owned it, to, but i thought it was a good move for the president to go, i'm ready. i've got wednesdays off. it was the perfect tweet of trump to respond and what i heard the birds chatter about was, the team was upset because trump took the bait right out of the gate and said, absolutely, let's do this and they were like, you know, no audience. they are cutting off your microphone so when you look at the rules, that's the slide out the side door. >> i believe that trump jumped in and said yes, i'll do it, because for trump, he changed the media narrative and created

a new story that didn't involve us talking about trump. he was suddenly candidate trump again and could he be victorious? that's big. he doesn't have to address whether or not he's in that debate because he will find that exit strategy. >> he did shift the strategy from the criminal case to that. he's a coward. if he said he would and doesn't he will look more foolish. >> i would help, there would be because i wanted the biden people to put them in the front row of the audience, just like trump but all is women in the audience to distract hillary clinton. i think that they should hammer things like that when it comes to trump. after those young men were

found innocent, still wanted the death penalty. i'm not saying it's not reprehensible but do you think that will change someone's vote? >> it helps me. it helps my mental state. >> the black men that might -- >> they are coming for you, next. >> they will show up for debate. is it an opportunity for joe biden to dispel the idea that yes, they are both old, but joe is weak and feeble? if these guys are standing shoulder to shoulder, it's an opportunity for president biden. >> he is the sitting president. they're both presidents, usually you don't have that in a debate. i do think it's a big opportunity for him, the first

one is in june so it's before the convention and it gets his voice out there in a format that he has proven to be pretty good at. i think he can remind people of basic facts. democrats are here to protect your remaining abortion rights. this is, there's a lot of misunderstanding that still persists in our culture about who is responsible for what, i think democrats have been running well on issues around reproductive rights, for example. the economy under biden has not been in the trash fire and he needs remind people of that. not the convention, but the actual debate. >> last i checked he tried to do something on immigration. i

want to share something that senator mitt romney said. watch this. >> i think president biden made an enormous error. he should have fought like crazy to keep this prosecution from going forward and it was win win for donald trump. i would've immediately pardoned him. >> that is principled, decent, voice of reason republican mitt romney. what are we looking at? >> i'm not the political person. >> but you know the rule of law. >> exactly. i love that we are talking about that. this is the friday before we hear monday whether you will take the stand and what i'm hearing is he won't debate or take the stand.

i'm just going to spin. the president of the united states, the current president of the united states has completely, the right way of dealing with it. we can deal if we think the department of justice acted properly or sufficiently and one thing that you have to have is democracy has to be defended. you don't want the president saying this is the prosecutor and this is a you don't which is what donald trump was doing. >> you have to weigh in. you know this man. >> and admired him greatly and was disappointed in that because history has told us how presidents fair when they pardon a former president. that is one of the reasons why mr. ford did not have a first term and so the reality is, the country does not look as kindly on that as we pretend to think we do. i think that if particularly given the character and nature of this particular criminal

defendant, that if joe biden had pardoned him, that there would have really, been a vote to this idea of the rule of law that at no point in time under any circumstance whatsoever or any particular fact pattern, that was the worst possible signal to send from any sitting president. >> i want to talk about the worst possible thing we saw in washington this week. it was a hearing that took place last night. >> >> do you know what we are here for? >> you are the one, order.

>> why don't you debate me? >> you don't have enough intelligence. >> what is going on? >> i don't know what motivates her. marjorie taylor green. >> i guess it's those things. even with those goals in mind, it is so degrading to the institution and to adulthood and any sense of respect that we

would want to accord elected leaders. >> it's not even that smart of aramark. >> let's go there, why don't we? why doesn't marjorie taylor green do her job? >> she's not there to do that job. >> our her constituents cool with this? you really think so? >> no democrat is going to win in the district and there's no republican that >> she knows she's safe. lauren bogart is a whole other storyth >> you don't live in her district. we will leave it there. when we come back, harrison butker rarely misses on-field but fell flat on stage this weekend. how his comments on working women, pride month, and

abortion are getting him torched by even nuns, when we continue. [sfx] water lapping.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [sfx] water splashing. ♪ ♪ [sfx] ambient / laughing. ♪ ♪

you knew we had a talk about this. harrison butker, a name no one knew five days ago, everyone is talking about now. this guy gave the commencement speech at a small catholic college and is being -- facing major backlash. i'm just going to play one of

his controversial takes in case you haven't heard it yet. >> i think it's you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. how many of you are sitting here now, about to cross the stage, thinking about all the promotions and titles you're going to get in your career? i would venture to guess the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you'll bring into this world. >> he said pride month was a deadly sin, and took us wing at taylor swift, her fans went bananas, she is the girlfriend of travis kelce, star of the team, but his comments were so offensive that they even pushed the nfl to distance themselves from him, and my favorite, a group of nuns who sponsor the college delivered a full takedown of this guy. i need our nightcap to weigh in. let's start with the most beautiful irony of this.

this kicker, if you don't know that position, he kicks the field and goes back to the sideline, is in this his mother is an esteemed physicist and yet , he said the role in the world is to be the wind beneath the wings of our husbands. >> i tried to put myself in the position of one of these students, this is a big moment to inspire your audience. i would just be baffled, sitting there. if you even agree with him, it is so weird. >> the majority of the country does not like that. >> as a single woman who didn't

have kids, i think lots of nurturing aspects go with other kinds of work. the second thing is, the nfl came out against it and this is the quote. the nfl is steadfast in their commitment to inclusion which makes the league stronger, but not for colin kaepernick. this is way more offensive. i would love to give a graduation speech at a male university and say, i think after careful discussion with any woman you may want to impregnate, you should get vasectomies. why are guys talking about women and their bodies? shut up paid >> i will give you the reverse. is there an argument to be made that maybe he should say this, maybe us telling him to "shut up and dribble," maybe he should get to voice his opinion. what do you think?

>> i don't think, i'm sorry. if you're not a football fan, you should understand. >> you try to kick a ball 50 yards. >> i may not be able to but i've got superstar female soccer players who can. >> that's a time, but for the moment, i get the excitement. my problem was the pew or pasteurization of catholic doctrine which was so off the rails. it is evidence of fractures in the catholic church between very hard-line tradition. as an augustan seminarian, i'm great regard for the mass, i

understand the 21st century. this is the pope for all of us. doesn't this give a speech to catholics who have a branding issue? >> it's so much more of a thoughtful analysis then this speech merits, it's amazing. >> monday, he is showing up with a red tie. >> my second point is, and this is where i think that societally, we sort and -- we have sort of gone off the rails. this was given at a private catholic college, not the general public consumption. media has pushed it out, but

this was different from colin kaepernick for that reason. he made his protest on the job, at work. at a game. this was in a private setting at a catholic university to a speech to a group of catholics. he got a standing ovation. that notwithstanding, the context in which the speech is given and the protest is made matters and it matters to the nfl which is why they can take the position they are taking. it's not like oh, we don't agree, they are distancing because this doesn't come in their bounds, it doesn't touch their purview. this was public -- not a public, this was a private setting. now it is public, and we are all digesting publicly, but he had an opportunity to share his views to an audience that well- received it, and it's no

different than when, you know, you would go and give a speech at a private institution and share your views that you would otherwise not share on your job. >> i can't do that because i stay in my house and cook and clean. >> is the most important thing a woman can do. >> and you put the flag upside down. >> what's your take? >> we get to judge it. if someone hadn't shared the video. >> i understand. i had no problem with colin kaepernick doing what he did. i think some of the reactions are

not in the right context of how he gave the situation. >> he isn't speaking for the nfl. i don't care if he was in the privacy of his own home and wrote a tract that said what he is saying because it's gross. >> these are his views. someone else whose views were out for the whole world to me, a bunch of comedians, ripping apart tom brady. tom brady participated in and was subject of an executive producer of a roast where a group of comedians let him up, set him on fire and at that time, he seemed to like it. he has now said he deeply regrets it, because it was terrible and hurtful to his children. >> do you know what a roast is?

it's me on a rotisserie. did you not know that? >> those comedians one after his family. he didn't go to bed comedian and complain. the only time he did was when they went after the owner of the patriots. what is your take? >> everyone is playing their part in this drama. netflix wanted a live roast and they got tom brady to do it and he knows what a roast is and the comedians came and they came. they did their job, and now everyone will watch the next live roast on netflix if they can book someone and then of

course he's going to say he regret it because giselle got mad at him as she should and it's a natural cycle of entertainment. >> cause and effect. >> deeply jaded and accurate. >> jason kelce had to say that on his podcast. >> i don't get why people do that. >> yeah, my family is ruined, it is so funny. >> my family is ruined, it is so funny. what do you think? >> i love a roast. they are some of the best ways in which you get to have the ability to check your own self because in that moment, you are now the subject of everybody's ire and derision and hopefully,

in a comedic funny way. >> but it's not just you, all the people in your world, your spouse, your children. it's one thing if your public person, you can't help that people will talk about you but when you choose to participate in something that could then humiliate you and your children, that's different. >> if you are going after the children and the spouse specifically, typically if you are executive producing your own show? you can come after me all day long. we are not playing that because i have to go home. >> the only issue. >> you get to bob kraft and that is why giselle got mad. they called me all this stuff, and you stopped the show because they were supposed to say something about bob kraft? it's the way it is and there

you are. >> everyone is staying but when we return, we are back with the mvps of the week. who had the biggest week? don't miss this.

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thank you for watching. ari melber is up next. also this weekend catch the turning point. this weekend is all about the battleground state of georgia. tune in at 9:00 pm eastern right here on msnbc. on that note, i wish you a very good night from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late. i will see you at the end of monday. just walked in like you normally would.