good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. any minute two key witnesses expected to show up at a manhattan courthouse where anticipation is incredibly high. will a grand jury decide to indictment former president donald trump. his defenders in congress are launching an all-out war on the d.a., threatening to drag him in front of congress all for a decision he hasn't even made, at least not yet. two big banks rescued in the nick of time. the stock market loves it. is it a good thing for you and your money long term? alex murdaugh's surviving son for the first time defending himself as a hit-and-run cold case in south carolina receives renewed attention. what the mother of the teenager who died is now saying.

right now we're watching the manhattan d.a.'s office where we believe a grand jury will hear today from robert costello, a former legal adviser to michael cohen, and heightening the interest today, he's potentially the final act before a decision is made about whether to issue an indictment against donald trump. costello was called in at the request of trump's attorneys, leading many to believe his testimony will be aimed at undermining cohen's credibility. cohen himself is also there, he says, as a rebuttal witness. i want to bring in nbc's garrett haake outside the d.a.'s office. legal analyst glenn kirschner joins us as well. garrett, what have you seen or heard today, if anything, of the comings and goings? what's the very latest? >> reporter: chris, we're all operating on the same scraps of information. no signs of costello or cohen yet. that shouldn't be a surprise. the grand jury typically meets

in the afternoon. we would expect to potentially see them sometime here in the next hour or two. what we have seen is an enhanced police presence downtown as law enforcement has been getting ready, following the same information we are, for the possibility that an indictment could be handed up this week and we could be in vastly uncharted territory with criminal charges against a former president. they don't know either. we understand there's a planning call happening today with law enforcement as they try to figure out what kind of posture they need to take down here at the courthouse and potentially to deal with protests here or other parts of the city. you mentioned costello's mission, the presumption of his mission today, to undermine the credibility of michael cohen. that seems to be where all the evidence is pointing right now. he was handpicked by donald trump's attorneys to come and testify here. he does have that relationship with michael cohen. we know cohen has been largely the prosecution's star witness. he testified for five hours just last week.

he's made defending his own credibility his mission when he's not at the courthouse, doing so on television and other interviews every chance he gets. i think the decision is grand jury is going to be forced to make in the not-too-distant future will depend on whether or not they believe michael cohen is telling the truth. the testimony from both men today could be pivotal. >> thank you so much for that, garrett. glenn, trump says costello is going to vindicate him. if that's a real possibility, why would the d.a. even bring him in? >> first of all, a grand jury investigation is a quest for the truth. so when i was in the grand jury, i would always welcome defense witnesses. in fact, i would seek them out. that gave me the opportunity, chris, to preview their testimony for trial and, frankly, work to debunk it if it wasn't honest, truthful testimony. the reality is this will not impact the grand jury's decision

i predict regardless of what costello has to offer. let's face it, the grand jury is a proceeding run by the prosecutors. there's no defense attorney in there, there's no judge in there. prosecuors can usually get to the result they're looking for. let me hasten to add, we're generally looking for a result that is consistent with the evidence that's been presented to the grand jury. i actually think this is a miscalculation by team trump, sending a surrogate in on behalf of donald trump, in essence, trying to undermine the credibility of the chief witness, one of the main witnesses, michael cohen. it will not succeed, but it will give the prosecution a preview of what costello might say at trial. >> so why would you do that? if everybody knows that's a possibility, that you're essentially showing your hand, why do it? >> here's why. i suspect they're sending

costello in there so he can report back to team trump. they're going to want to know, what were all of the questions posed by the prosecutor, what were all of the questions posed by the grand jurors. this is the grand jury's investigation. in my experience grand jurors are very engaged. they're permitted to ask questions of the witness, and they generally do. that will give team trump a little bit of a peek inside the d.a.'s investigation, at least in as much as what was being discussed in the grand jury. >> do you have cohen standing by because you're concerned that without him you won't have a response? why make sure that cohen is there? >> because whatever it is that costello offers, if they want to present michael cohen's testimony to clarify, to set the record straight, to, in essence, rebut or meet any accusations

that costello may make to the grand jury about cohen's credibility or conduct, i would do the same thing. chris, the grand jury investigation is a prosecutor's blueprint for trial. i want every witness that i can get a subpoena on to come in, to lay out their testimony so that i now know what my trial presentation would look like. i would do the same thing. i would have michael cohen on standby to rebut anything that costello tells the grand jury. >> take us inside the room. a grand jury isn't necessarily the same as a jury would be at trial. what extent are prosecutors watching the jury reaction, how much attention they pay to certain parts of the case, and ultimately is alvin bragg making this decision or is it the grand jury? >> that's a great question. technically it is the grand jury's decision.

we've all heard the phrase that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if he or she wants to. that's not my experience. my experience is grand jurors who are drawn from the community in which the crime occurred take very seriously their obligation. it's a sworn obligation to assess the evidence and decide whether to indict or not based only on the evidence they've seen presented. most prosecutors play it straight. they present the evidence. the grand jurors have an opportunity to ask the prosecutors questions before the prosecutor steps out. i've been out in that hallway many a time, chris, anxiously awaiting the grand jury's action. once they hand that sheet out, we learn whether there has been an indictment or a no bill. generally speaking, if prosecutors have gone to these lengths including inviting the target of the investigation to

testify which alvin bragg did do, and, of course, donald trump declined to testify, ordinarily we would expect to see the grand jury hand out an indictment. >> let me bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard who is at mar-a-lago, as he has been. what's the sense there, the mood? any word from team trump today, vaughn? >> reporter: team trump has largely been donald trump himself over the last 72 hours on social media, he has continued to knock alvin bragg here, the lead prosecutors in the manhattan district attorney's office. this is a situation for donald trump where he knows based off of past litigious efforts, past investigative inquiries, the fbi raid into mar-a-lago over the national security documents, in which he's seen his poll numbers among his base really not move away from where they were before these several different

instances. for donald trump this is yet again an opportunity to try to frame this to his political advantage here. for donald trump, holding up michael cohen as somebody who is not a credible source. much of what we're hearing from donald trump is similar to what we expect his defense counsel, if charges are brought against him, to hold up, that michael cohen was found guilty of lying to congressional investigators, somebody who was not to be believed. of course, there are a lot of layers to the conversation around michael cohen's credibility here, but donald trump and his defense team are certain to try to make the case that the star witness here is not to be believed. of course, this speaks to the amount of corroborating evidence that frankly, chris, we may not be wholly aware of the extent to which that exists. >> glenn, to be fair, is there a prosecutor and a grand jury who has put someone who has a record like michael cohen does on the

stand, who is not experienced in it, i heard chuck rosenberg, our colleague this morning saying, if you want to know about a library, ask a librarian, if you want to know about crimes, ask a criminal. it's what we do. we're used to dealing with people who may have credibility problems. >> chris, when you're trying to prove what went on inside a conspiracy, what do you do? you call one of the co-con spiriters if you can. or if they have already pleaded guilty to their own conduct, like michael cohen did, and that person is available to come in and testify, there's a close parallel between what we're seeing play out here and mob cases where we would put the consigliere, the mob boss' right-hand person, the legal adviser in the grand jury to testify about what we did together with and for the benefit of the mob boss. make no mistake about it, donald

trump and michael cohen were partners in this courtroom, the hush money payoff. michael cohen is the one you'll want to put on the stand and you'll want to corroborate him with receipts like the reimbursement checks that donald trump wrote to make michael cohen whole for the $130,000 hush money payment that michael cohen paid out of his own pocket. >> glenn kirschner, vaughn hillyard, thank you so much. as we keep a close eye on the court house, former cia director john brennan will join me to discuss in our next hour. today in moscow, fanfare including a military band and a red kafrpt greeting china's leader xi jinping as he arrived for a three-day visit with vladimir putin, a man xi once described as his best friend. the show of solidarity comes at a critical time for both leaders

with xi fresh off securing an unprecedented third term in power, attempting to rebrand china as a peacemaker on the world stage, and the isolated russian leader looking for a boost just days after the international criminal court issued his arrest warrant for war crimes in ukraine. nbc's josh lederman has been following it all from south korea. talk about where the relationship between beijing and moscow stands right now. >> reporter: the stakes are high. this is the first trip abroad from president xi since, as you mentioned, he was reelected to that historic third term. by all signs so far, chris, this has been a love-fest from the red carpet reception from the airport to a statement that the chinese leader put out in russian media upon his arrival in the country saying in part that political trust between the two sides has deepened. he talks about practical

cooperation continuing to expand, international cooperation between moscow and beijing being effective, and friendship between generations has taken root in people's heart. he referred to president putin as his dear friend during a joint news conference he had a little while ago. he predicted confidently that president putin will be re-elected for another term. president putin praising china saying its system is more effective than other nations. also saying russia is closely studying china's peace proposal for ukraine, despite the fact that president xi has not discussed that proposal at all with president zelenskyy of ukraine who he still has not spoken with. the chinese have not even really described this as a war or described russia as having invaded its neighbor. the context here, chris, is this is coming as both of these countries are increasingly

isolated and in need of this partnership from each other, a partnership they have described as an alliance with no end. the russians clearly standing increasingly alone on the world stage, needing support from china, not only in terms of buying their oil and other products, but also the diplomatic support. the chinese also needing that alliance as they are trying to stand up more assertively to the u.s., accusing the u.s. of trying to constrain china, of trying to suppress its growth. chien la, russia, looking to other allies on the for instance of the international community like iran, north korea, syria and others as they try to build that coalition of nations they say are standing up to aggression from the united states, chris. >> josh lederman, thank you for that. a massive deal has saved yet another bank from total collapse. what the move means for the banking industry and everyone

who has money in those banks. a critical water rights fight before the supreme court with major implications for nearly 200,000 people. growing interest in the death of a former classmate. alex murdaugh's surviving son. the details of an exclusive statement from buster murdaugh. that's ahead. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. watching reports" only on msnbc that an? no. he's making real-time money moves with merrill. so no matter what the market's doing, he's ready. and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. somewhere out there is that one-in-a-million. your money never stops working for you with merrill, someone who thinks with their hands. who can shape raw materials into something meaningful. and who wants to serve in their own way. if you're out there. if you're looking for more. we're looking too. we're calling on a new generation of builders

for navy's next-gen submarines. ooh, we're firing up the chewy app. can't say no to these prices! hmm, clumping litter? resounding yes! salmon paté? love that for me! essentials? check! ooh, we have enough to splurge on catnip toys! we did it, i feel so accomplished. pet me, please! okay that's enough. now back to me time. luv you! great prices. happy pets. chewy. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools make complex trading less complicated custom scans help you find new trading opportunities while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market [♪♪] if you have diabetes,l helps you plan your trades it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein

to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. subway keeps upping their game with the subway series. an all-star menu of delicious subs. there's the philly, the monster, the boss. if i hadn't seen it in person, i wouldn't have believed it. eating is believing steph. the subway series. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet. i screwed up. the subway series. mhm. i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by

with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck.

in just the last 24 hours, a deal was struck to save a second failing bank, this time signature bank gets the late save with new york community bank agreeing to buy a big chunk of signature's assets. it follows news that ubs stepped in to buy its struggling rival, credit suisse. first republic bank suffered a credit downgrade. the latest save amplifying calls for action from senator elizabeth warren who sits on the bank and finance committees. >> i want to see an independent

investigation. the fed doesn't just get to investigate itself. i want to see us make a change in the laws, roll back the rollbacks to put tougher regulations in place. these bank ceos, we've got to align them so that there are clawbacks, they're giving up on these big salaries and don't get to go into banking again if they explode a bank. >> nbc business and data reporter brian cheung joins me now. you've got new york bank, signature bank. if i've got money in one of those banks, what happens now? >> signature was the one that went under and failed about two weekends ago. all the customers of signature bank as of today will now be customer of flagstar bank. it's a subsidiary of new york community bank corp. basically just different names, but you're now essentially a flagstar customer. this is interesting because the fdic, the government stepped in and said this is a bank that

failed two days after svb went under and said we're going to take ownership of the this company. it's important to note that the fdic didn't sell all of the assets of signature bank. they didn't like the loan book or crypto businesses that were involved -- >> when you say loan book, if i've got a mortgage there? >> it's going to be different. there are some loans they took on, some they didn't. it's going to depend on whether or not it's a business or morgan book. for the most part, the consumer facing products will be part of flagstar bank. >> signature is the third largest failure in u.s. history. depositors became nervous due to the high amount of uninsured deposits as well as exposure to crypto and other lending. is that what we've seen with the first two banks unique, or is there concern there's another shoe to drop?

>> what happened at silicone valley bank is the reason for what happened at signature. when you think about what happened at silicon valley bank, they were all essentially accounts larger than the $250,000 fdic insurance. so after people watched the news on the svb collapse, they said, if i have more than $250,000 in any bank, i'm going to start to move my money. signature bank is among those who have a high proportion of accounts and clients who have more than that amount in there. they started to move their money, started to pull the money out. if enough people pull enough money fast enough, that's a bank run and sends the bank under. that's what happens with signature. there were issues at first republic, a downgrade over the weekend. prior to that we did see 11 of the larger banks, their competitors put in $30 billion of deposits into the bank. maybe that stopped the bleeding. we'll have to see. >> if people are watching and say i've got my money at one of the big banks and i know they're

pretty solid. why should i worry about the other stuff? what does this tell us about the economy? what is the big picture? >> the big picture is, this is still a financial story. inflation, the federal reserve are issues that are not necessarily unrelated but can be partitioned from what happened which is there are a massive earthquake in the banking industry where silicon and signature went under, and now you see money shifting around. it's moving from the big banks to the smaller banks. i'm not going to get into the nuances. when all that money is shifting at that rapid pace, there's a lot of concern that some of those banks as the money is flowing around might not make it out of that. it depends where it settles. >> how do i know if my bank is one of them? >> as a customer, all you need to know is that $250,000 insurance is going to cover you. most households have less than that. even in the worst-case scenario, your bank completely blows up, that fdic insurance will cover you up to $250,000.

again, it's unsettling. remember that insurance is there even in the worst-case scenario. >> brian cheung, we've been seeing a lot of you. thank you for coming in again. another win in the battle to lower the cost of insulin for the millions of americans who need it every day. california governor gavin newsom announced a contract with sive ka rx to start making its own insulin as early as next year. it will cover three different forms of insulin and is to be interchangeable. once approved by the fda, the cost will be no more than $30 per ten milliliter vile, no more than $55 for pre filled pen cartridges. a house republican retreat is under way in orlando, but with a major twist. and ron desantis commenting for the first time on a possible

trump indictment. we've got all of that next. we've got all of that next hey, heading on a family trip? nah, sorry son prices are crazy, we're gonna have to skip it this year. (son deflating fully to the ground.) awh, well use priceline they have package deals no one else has. five pools? (son reinflating slowly.) water slide? (son reinflates fully.) we can do it! (fully inflated - squeaks as arms wave.) ♪ go to your happy price ♪ ♪ priceline. ♪ so it's decided, we'll park even deeper into parking spaces so people think they're open. surprise. [ laughs ] [ horn honks, muffled talking ] -can't hear you, jerry. -sorry. uh, yeah, can we get a system where when someone's bike is in the shop, then we could borrow someone else's? -no! -no! or you can get a quote with america's number-one motorcycle insurer and maybe save some money while you're at it. all in favor of that. [ horn honking ] there's a lot of buttons and knobs in here.

(cecily) it's probably gonna take us a while to move this sign. (vo) all in favor of that. time to get moving, because this offer won't last. switch to verizon and get welcome unlimited for just $25 a line. (seth) i love that it's guaranteed for 3 years. (cecily) yeah, get an awesome network and save money doing it. (seth) not bad. (cecily) you get to keep your phone. more savings. (vo) switch and get welcome unlimited for $25 a line. guaranteed for 3 years. (cecily) hey, that could catch on. (vo) yup! don't wait. switch to verizon today. the first time your sales reached 100k with godaddy was also the first time your profits left you speechless. at the counter or on the go, save 20% with the lowest transaction fees and keep more of what you make. start saving today at godaddy.com not flossing well? then add the whoa! of listerine to your routine. new science shows it gets in between teeth to destroy 5x more plaque above the gumline than floss. for a cleaner, healthier mouth. listerine. feel the whoa!

♪ ♪ [ cat purrs ] listerine. [ phone vibrates ] introducing astepro allergy. steroid-free allergy relief that starts working in 30 minutes, while other allergy sprays take hours. now with astepro fast allergy relief, [ spray, spray ] you can astepro and go.

something of a political stunner out of florida where

governor ron desantis came out swinging against the manhattan d.a. it's the latest in a long list of republicans defending his potential 2024 opponent, donald trump, as he faces a possible indictment. >> if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, that's an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office, and i think that's fundamentally wrong. i have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some soros d.a. we're not going to be involved in it in any way. i'm fighting for floridians and i'm fighting back against biden. that's what i do every single day. >> it all comes as nbc news obtained this letter from house republican leaders, demanding

the d.a. testify on capitol hill and warning that indicting trump would amount to what they described as an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority. i want to bring in nbc capitol hill correspondent ali vitali from florida, jonathan lemire is an msnbc political analyst and host of "way too early." matthew dowd is msnbc's senior political analyst. jonathan, what's the calculation here? ron desantis saying he doesn't have time to diss alvin bragg. >> some democrats blew up my phone after the governor's comments thinking it was rich, perhaps, that ron desantis was accusing others of using the tools of government for political purposes. polls suggest at the moment

trump and desantis far ahead of the rest republican peeled. there had been an intention pressure campaign by trump aides to get desantis to say something about bragg and to criticize bragg and to come to trump's defense. over the last couple days after trump's truth social post saturday morning predicting his arrest, we heard from scores of republicans coming to the former president's defense, rallying the base behind him. some in trump's world believe he's going to set campaign financial records raising money and see a bump in the polls because of this potential indictment. so many republicans were backing him, but desantis was silent, noticeably so, until today. certainly, if trump world heartened, he did attack bragg. he didn't use trump's name, and the second, a comment he made further on when he said he, himself, knew nothing he knew about hush money payments to porn stars which got a laugh in the room and perceived in trump

world as a dig to the former president. >> matthew, was he being vague or being incredibly specific and sly? >> can you say he's all those things, all of the above? i think he's being vague. by being vague he's being sly in the course of this. what i'm amazed with as i watch this unfold by both donald trump and now desantis, as jonathan lemire said, the two leading candidates by far in the republican nomination, is there's zero appeal or decision that they want to talk to any swing voters that might actually determine a general election in 2024 against joe biden. and every time they say george soros, it reminds me of that fisher-price game that's designed for toddlers called "see it and say," were you point it at the cow and you pull the

string and it says moo. you point it at anything and you pull the string and it's george soros. that's what they just respond with in the course of this. ron desantis is trying to engage trump but not offend trump voters. that's going to be a difficult line. this looks to be the first indictment of many for donald trump. he's going to have a hard time walking that line in the course of this as he leads up to possibly declaring for president. >> ali, we also have the breaking news about house republicans deciding they're going to go after alvin bragg. what are they doing, and who is going to be behind it? >> reporter: even as desantis is making that pretty backhanded defense of trump without using trump's name, here in orlando it's much more of a clear defense of the former president, especially as you have speaker

mccarthy yesterday promising me and other reporters that there would be some kind of investigatory action from his house majority. and now today you see some of the top chairmen on capitol hill from the oversight, administration and judiciary committees, issuing a letter to bragg that they want him to come testify before them. that's important because it's not a subpoena, at least not yet. it is the first ask we've seen from them to to try to start this conversation, an active counterpunch to what we're seeing out of the manhattan d.a.'s office. it echoes, frankly, in action, what they have been saying in rhetoric. for instance, here is jim jordan and top republican leader tom emmer speaking about their view of it. >> first they went after president trump on russia, then it was a phone call with zelenskyy, then they wanted his tax returns, then they go after his business records, then they

go after his children. now it's some misdemeanor alleged book keeping error. if this is not going after your political opponents and using government to do so, i don't know what is. >> republicans, democrats and others should be outraged that people will actually use our justice system against their political adversaries. that's not what this country is based on. it's wrong, and i disagree with it. >> reporter: chris, you're watching this familiar theme happening from those who would want to defend trump staying away from the substance and instead pivoting and trying to politicize it. that is of course what's likely going to happen once the investigations likely start to reach congress themselves. this is the opening salvo, the first letter we're seeing, action matching rhetoric, as we'll track this as congress begins to mobilize in its response. this is the first phase of it, setting those gears in motion. >> just setting the gears in motion now, matthew.

have you been surprised at all how quickly the party, at least a lot of the party has fallen into line behind donald trump? >> no, i'm not surprised at all in this. we've watched it over and over and over again. if the past is any predict tore of what's going to happen now regards donald trump is that they line up behind him no matter what. i thought this was a moment where, if they were smart and wanted to have some success in a general election, they could move past donald trump and say it's time to move on. the idea, the ludicrous idea that was just mentioned by congressman jordan who says, oh, this is just an alleged misdemeanor, a book keeping error, without mentioning the fact that it was $130,000 hush payment to a porn staff, an alleged book keeping error, this doesn't surprise me. what's surprising is how few republicans -- i didn't expect

the majority, but how few republicans have stood up and said in this moment, come on guys and gals, it's time to move past this guy. >> jonathan, you guys have a great article in politico that talks about how an indictment could in two ways helping trump and hurting the party. quote, it couldn't be better. can you expand on that? >> there's a growing consensus this will help trump. as evidence, the voices rallying to his defense in recent day, elevating him above the field. of course, he'll do this without any evidence. he'll attack the merits of the case, claim it's a witch hunt and biased against him. we do know from legal analysts who have concerns about this particular case in the manhattan d.a.'s office, for trump it's a gift because he can use it as a cudgel in other investigations

facing him later from the georgia district attorney in fulton county, from the mar-a-lago documents and, of course, for january 6th. that could be a win and could rally the base around him. that said, while this in the short term may help trump secure the gop nomination, it's hard to see in any way that any indictment for any case is going to help trump or any candidate in a general election. already we know how much of the swing voters he hemorrhaged in 2020 that he lost from four years prior. this will add to that. that's where it's difficult to see. it may help him grab the nomination. seems unlikely to help him grab the white house. >> jonathan lemire, matthew dowd, ali vitali, appreciate it. we want to go back to new york. we've been waiting to see when there could possibly be grand jury activity, but we have michael cohen's former legal adviser, robert costello, we're told is in that van arriving

there in manhattan. i want to bring in former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst glenn kirschner. let me tell you a couple things that jonathan dienst is reporting. he's expected to testify that michael cohen is a liar, a convicted perjurer. obviously they're trying to say that there's some sort of revenge at play here. two other points that these folks close to costello make is in a meeting february 2019 with kosz tell low, cohen blames trump for his difficulties and wants trump to pay, soond he has been embellishing his allegations. talk to me about that and how it could play into this grand jury.

>> chris, first of all, none of that is breaking news. we've known for a very long time that michael cohen lied, including in front of congress, arguably to assist donald trump. we know michael cohen committed this crime with donald trump at his direction and for his benefit. so, you know, let me tell you why i think that robert costello's appearance before the grand jury is a miscalculation, a tactical blunder by team trump. whatever costello is going to talk into the grand jury and say, one, is very unlikely to impact the grand jury's decision about whether to charge donald trump for his crimes or like, but really more importantly, because he is previewing whatever damaging information he might have for the prosecutors, he is giving the prosecutors every opportunity to meet the force of it now and to prepare for it at trial. because if he had spilled the

beans on the witness stand at trial for the first time and it was information the prosecutors did not know, that can do some real damage to the prospects of a conviction at trial. so i really think that the d.a.'s office wins this tactical round by letting costello walk in and spill the beans in something that i would call a premature way. >> let me ask you about something else that this source close to costello told our jonathan dienst, and that is that he told costello -- meaning cohen told costello that he was suicidal after 2018 trouble surfaced and even spoke of wanting to jump from the rooftop of the regency. he allegedly said this in front of other attorneys separately as well to jerry falwell and his wife. they say this goes to motive and state of mind. would it?

>> it will probably be relevant evidence that a trial jury might hear. let's think about this. if we put ourselves in michael cohen's shoes for a moment, and we paid $130,000 out of our own pocket to benefit our boss, not to benefit michael cohen, and michael cohen is the only one who has been convicted, in prison and had to suffer what were pretty horrific conditions of confinement. nobody wants to be confined. you know what? he stood up, he took responsibility for his crime and i think, if you -- if you put yourself in his shoes, he was probably pretty darn upset that the person who really benefited from the crime that he committed at trump's direction has never been held accountable. is he supposed to feel good about that? >> one more point from our exclusive reporting again from jonathan dienst, our partner at wnbc is this: cohen felt it was

important to keep the matter secret from melania trump to protect her and trump's marriage. cohen wanted to keep it from his own wife because cohen was taking out a loan to front the money. would any of that be relevant to the charges we believe they're looking at here? >> i predict all of that will make an appearance at trial when trump's defense team cross examines michael cohen robustly. look at the timing of this payment and look at how many years earlier donald trump allegedly had this affair or encounter with stormy daniels. is anybody really going to believe this was about hiding it from melania instead of hiding it from the american people and sort of depriving us of the full value of our vote because this was deeply damaging information to candidate trump? i like the prosecution's argument in that regard better

than the defense argument. >> glenn kirschner, always good to see you. thank you forgetting back in front of the camera quickly with that breaking news. the intersection of clean water and justice both at stake with the supreme court now deciding the navajo nation's long-fought battle for running water. we've got those details next. ost ♪ ♪ it's our turn now we'll make it up again. ♪ ♪ we'll build freelance teams with more agility. ♪ ♪ the old way of working is deader than me. ♪ ♪ we'll scale up, and we'll scale down ♪ ♪ before you're six feet underground. ♪ ♪ yes, this is how, this is how we work now. ♪ (vo) if you've had thyroid eye disease for years and your eyes feel like they're getting kicked in the backside, ♪ before you're six feet underground. ♪ it's not too late for another treatment option. to learn more visit treatted.com.

that's treatt-e-d.com. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ hey, man. nice pace! clearly, you're a safe driver. you could save hundreds for safe driving with liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! [sfx: limu squawks] whoo! we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ooh, we're firing up the chewy app. can't say no to these prices! hmm, clumping litter? resounding yes! salmon paté?

love that for me! essentials? check! ooh, we have enough to splurge on catnip toys! we did it, i feel so accomplished. pet me, please! okay that's enough. now back to me time. luv you! great prices. happy pets. chewy. you need to deliver new apps fast using the services you want in the clouds of your choice. with flexible multi-cloud services that enable digital innovation and enterprise control, vmware helps you innovate and grow.

inner voice: (kombucha brewer): when i started my new kombucha business... ... i thought there would be a lot more kombucha... ...and a lot less business. inner voice (graphic designer): as a new small business owner... ...i've learned that trying to be the “cool” boss... ...is a lot harder when you're actually the “stressed” boss. inner voice (furniture maker): i know everything about my new furniture business. well, everything except... ...the whole “business” part. not anymore. with quickbooks, you can confidently manage your business. new business? no problem.

yeah. success starts with intuit quickbooks. we've got breaking news from just moments ago. president biden announcing on twitter he's vetoed his first bill. there you see him signing it. that bill would have blocked a labor department rule. here is why the rule is important. it would have allowed certain retirement plans to weigh environmental, social or governance factors when making investments, not just decide based on how much money they might return. again, an historic moment in this presidency, his first veto. meantime, the supreme court today is hearing a case that has

huge implications for the largest native american reservation. the justices being asked whether the navajo nation can pursue a claim over water rights. the tribe claims the federal government must provide them water, saying one out of every three households across their 16 million acre reservation lacks running water. nbc justice and intel correspondent ken dilanian joins me now. ken, do we have any sense from oral arguments earlier today how the justices are leaning on this case? >> reporter: it was hard to tell, chris. the court appears closely divided. the three liberal justices seem sympathetic and so did conservative justice neil gorsuch. others appeared more skeptical. amy coney barrett asked tough questions on both sides. this case could have a profound impact, not only on the largest native american reservation, but on millions of people across the

west who are facing an historic water crisis. the navajo nation sued the federal government 20 years ago now, seeking more access to water from the colorado river and other sources. nearly one in three navajos is without running water. they argue, among other things, the united states is in breach of an 1868 treaty which came after u.s. troops forcibly relocated the majority of navajo men, women and children from arizona to new mexico in a brutal and violent military campaign. in 2021 a san francisco appeals court handed them the victory but the biden administration appealed as did nevada, arizona and colorado. they want rights to the colorado river that flows along the navajo reservation's border. the decision in favor of the tribe would be hugely disruptive to their efforts to figure out how to distribute what is adminishing water source in an persistent drought.

the united states made a treaty promise and the courts should enforce it. >> we have been following the situation with the colorado river. you're seeing how far the tentacles reach. thank you so much. the results of a gallup poll show the majority of iraqis feel negative emotions like pain, stress and worry on a daily basis 20 years after the start of the war. there is hope. they believe their living standards are getting better in 2022 and for the first time in years, the nation didn't lead the world in negative experiences. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in baghdad with the latest on the ground. richard? >> reporter: it's hard to believe this is what baghdad looks like today. people are back on the streets. this is the old book market, and for many years, people didn't just not come here. they didn't go out of their homes at all. there were so many car bombings,

kidnapping, such an intense insurgency that people were afraid. now, the city is much much safer, the entire country is much safer and people are starting to embrace their country, embrace a new life. people have told me, they're optimistic. now, this hasn't been an easy journey for iraqis. when the u.s. invaded 20 years ago this weekend, iraqis were initially very happy. they were happy to be rid of saddam hussein, not everybody, but the vast majority, happy to be able to express themselves. happy to be able to pursue new lives, new dreams, but quickly, iraqis realized it was not going to be easy and tensions that had been building up between the different religious communities here. started exploding out at a civil war broke out, a civil wars that was devastating. a civil war that american troops caused inadvertently and found themselves in the middle of.

now that civil war is over. american troops have gone. there is no american military presence here, just some troops that mostly guard the u.s. embassy, but you don't see troops around. you just see iraqis around. people here are hopeful that they can start a new page, but they have -- do have bitter memories about all that has happened to them. they don't look back fondly about the civil war, and they do blame the united states for putting them in that situation. so many iraqis have mixed feelings. they're still happy saddam is gone, and they are deeply upset that they had to go through that terrible civil war period where tens of thousands of people, perhaps more than a hundred thousand people were killed, often execution style, but now, they're back out, there are tourists coming here. i ran into an american tour group on this street just the other day, and people are hopeful that maybe now finally this country can find its way.

there are also political problems here because when the u.s. troops left, they opened the door to iran, and iran has a tremendous amount of influence in this country. there's a lot of corruption here, so things aren't perfect, but people are out on the street, enjoying themselves and feel safe. >> yeah, more of the extraordinary reporting of richard engel. thank you so much for that, richard. buster murdaugh now denying what he calls the vicious rumors tying him to the death of his high school classmate. that nbc news exclusive report is ahead. e. that nbc news exclusive report is ahead ha-ha! it was me the whole time. -whoo-hoo! -[ laughs ] well done, ma'am. what...did i do exactly? with snapshot from progressive, you get a personalized discount for doing exactly what you're already doing -- being a safe driver. congratulations. this is a bowling trophy. yeah, it's the biggest one they had. okay, thanks. mm-hmm. oh. have a good one.

(vo) with verizon, you can now get a private 5g network. so you can do more than connect your business, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on.

come on mario! our big adventure begins now. [ chuckles ] i got this. no problem. [ grunting ] that is a cruel twist of fate. you are gonna help me find my brother, luigi. there's a human. do you know him? do you think i know every human being with a mustache wearing an identical outfit with a letter of his first name on it? because i don't. [ screaming ] to the biggest fight of our lives. let's-a go. [ ominous music playing ] whoa! [ chuckles ]

today there's new attention being focused on the death of buster murdaugh's former classmate steven smith who died in an alleged hit-and-run in 2015. now, for the first time, murdaugh is denying any involvement to nbc news as smith's mother fights to reopen the case. catie beck has details. >> reporter: for nearly eight years, sandy smith has been pushing for answers in the death of her son stephen. the 19-year-old was found dead in 2015 in what state investigators originally called a hit-and-run. on a rural road in hampton county, south carolina. >> as a mother, there's questions that i need to ask, and there's questions i need answers to. >> smith believes the initial

findings may have been wrong. and that someone murdered her son and staged it to look like an accident. it's a case that's never been solved. but as authorities looked into the murders of maggie and paul murdaugh, they say information came to light, prompting them to reopen smith's investigation. smith's death has also received renewed attention from a recent netflix docuseries about the murdaugh murders and other cases with potential ties to the once prominent family. in multiple interviews, locals discussed rumors of an alleged relationship between stephen and buster murdaugh. >> there are so many rumors swirling around that buster and stephen were intimate together. being gay in the murdaugh family would have been looked down upon. >> reporter: buster murdaugh has never been charged with any crime in the case, and for the first time this morning, he's denying any involvement. telling nbc news exclusively in a statement, i've tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors

about my involvement in stephen smith's tragic death that continue to be published in the media as i grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother, i love them so much and miss them terribly. buster murdaugh who took the stand in his father's trial saying the baseless rumors are false. i unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the smith family. sandy smith says she doesn't know who's responsible for her son's death. >> but i want to know why you did it, and i want to know who you are. >> reporter: she wants stephens body's exhumed and an independent autopsy performed. >> when it comes to an exhumation, there are pitfalls you have to look out for, namely preparation of the remains. >> reporter: despite the potential hurdles, sandy smith says she remains