>> trump ordered him to pay daniels $130,000 saying just do it. in response nike has changed their slogan to yay, sneakers. >> michael cohen, donald trump's former attorney, just testified under oath. >> today was the straight up funniest day in court. >> this is where todd blanche is kind of getting to cohen a little bit. >> michael cohen's testimony so far this week on monday and tuesday has been nothing short of a complete disaster for donald trump. >> we are living through this together, and the good news is people taking in the actual facts and discussing it as a country. we will see what the jury decides when they decide it. keep it locked right here on msnbc. dramatic moments yesterday in donald trump's hush money

trial with wiz former fixer and attorney michael cohen grilled by the former president's defense team about a phone call from eight years ago. we're going to bring you expert legal analysis on that testimony and what to expect next in the trial. also ahead we'll explain why president biden's interview with special counsel robert hur is back in the headlines months after the special counsel decide against seeking charges against the former president. and bring you the latest out of gaza amid growing dire humanitarian concerns. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this friday, may 17th. we made it to friday. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we have a jam-packed show this morning. and we will begin with donald

trump's criminal hush money trial, which is nearing the finish line and could potentially wrap up as early as next week. the prosecution's star witness, michael cohen, is set to return to the stand on monday after trump's legal team tried yesterday to hammer away at his credibility. court's in recess today, no actions, so the former president can attend his son barron's high school graduation this morning and then head to a fund-raiser. todd blanche said cohen's questioning will likely wrap up on monday. didn't quite finish yesterday. the prosecution has said it does not plan to call any additional witnesses and the defense says it may not call any either. that means closing arguments in this case could begin as early as tuesday, clearing the way for the jury to begin deliberating on trump's fate by the end of next week. so michael cohen with former trump lawyer faced a second day

of cross-examination yesterday and testified that he spoke directly to former president trump on the phone about the payments made to stormy daniels. one of the most consequential moments yesterday came when trump's lawyer, todd blanche, looked to discredit that story. cohen testified that he contacted trump through his bodyguard, a man named keith schiller, on october 24, 2016, about those hush money payments. blanche pressed cohen about phone records that show he texted schiller that day asking how to handle a teenager who was prank calling him. cohen responded saying he did not remember that message. blanche than said this. do you recall texting keith schiller at 7:48 p.m. to say who can i speak to regarding harassing calls to myself and office? the dope forgot to block his call on one of them. you don't recall that?

cohen then responded sounds right, yes. blanche then noted a return text to cohen where schiller simply says, call me. blanche then pointed out cohen called schiller immediately after that for a conversation that only lasted a minute and a half. blanche accused cohen of lying, suggesting he did not speak to trump during that call about stormy daniels as he had testified. cohen, however, insisted that both topics were covered despite the short length of that phone call in question. the defense also attempted to paint cohen as having a vendetta against trump. listen to a portion of his podcast that was played in court. >> i truly [ bleep ] hope that this man ends up in prison. it won't bring back the year that i losto the damage done to my family, but revenge is a dish best served cold, and i better believe i want this man to go down and rot inside for what he

did to me and my family. >> there's no question that michael cohen hates donald trump, and stuff like that has been problematic for the prosecution. but let's get more informed legal analysis than what i just gave you by bringing in msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. danny, thank you so much for being here again. let's talk about michael cohen and how he did yesterday because there were some -- some sharp differences of opinion in terms of whether he helped or hurt the prosecution. >> i feel like i'm in the minority. i know that moment you just described, the phone call to keith schiller. a lot of folks have described that as a major moment for the defense. i didn't really see it that way because it was a phone call from eight years ago. i expect the prosecution has their -- has lined up with their redirect they're going to get back up and maybe ask a few questions to try and clear that up, but i don't know they even need to because, look, it's just memory loss after eight years. could he have talked about stormy daniels for a minute and a half, maybe, maybe not.

but i didn't think it was quite as devastating as others do. again, i think i'm in the minoritywrite, but to me this is cooperating with corroborating witness. these are usually hardened criminals. michael cohen was not that. he was going to be flaky on some issues, he was going to equivocate. he was going to have difficulty keeping his story straight on some level. so, yes, i think it was good for the defense they elicited that, but at the same time this is what happens to corroborating witnesses, people like cohen who have credibility issues. >> let's go through the time line here. court's off today, back mondays. cohen will finish the cross-examination and the prosecution will get a redirect. is that right? >> yes, exactly. the prosecution gets to get up and as long as it's limited to what's addressed on cross they can cleanup. i expect they will especially over the weekend they can look at the headlines and they say it

looks like people thought we got zinged so let's get back up there and give cohen a chance to explain it. they can't talk to him over the weekend, but they can make a plan for maybe a short redirect. or the other option is say, look, none of this laid a glove on the real prosecution. the real cool thing is to stand up and say we're fine, no closing questions. >> and then there's closing arguments and the jury gets it. >> don't forget there's a charging conference with where the lawyers hash out what the jury instructions are going to be. those can last longer than you might expect. my last trial lasted an entire day in the charging conference, but it varies depending on the judge. so, yes, your time line's about right, and once the jury gets the case, who knows? although generally speaking people tend to think jurors deliberate longer than they actually do. >> and lastly, there's no chance trump takes the stand, right? >> look, i've been jokingly taking the underdog bet donald trump might take the stand for no other reason i would be the only one who said it, i would be

a legend if he did take the stand. realistically, statistically, he's highly unlikely to take the stand. even his bravado saying he would take the stand, that's pretty common in white collar criminal defendants. as the trial approaches they're fully confident about testifying, and as that day arrive as lot of them say you know what, i'm good. >> we'll have complete coverage of the trial all morning here on msnbc and speak to you, i'm sure, again next week. msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, thank you as always. so outside the courthouse yesterday new yorkers and tourists alike have been standing in line for hours and sometimes days hoping for a chance to see the trial first-hand. the general public is allowed to watch the proceedings, but not everybody makes it inside. there are roughly a half dozen seats or so reserved in the main courtroom, and about 30 others are allowed to go into an overflow room down the hall where proceedings are shown on a

closed-circuit tv. it's free to get in, but some people are paying a hefty price a good spot in line. according to "the new york times" the woman 12th in line yesterday morning was selling her spot for $450. behind her was a lawyer who paid hundreds of dollars for line sitters so she and her friends could get into the overflow room. members of the media also standing in line early to get inside. a case not shown on television. still ahead here, president biden asserts executive privilege over audio recordings that were made during his classified documents. plus a house oversight hearing devolves into complete chaos with lawmakers going after each other. it won't surprise you to learn who one of those lawmakers was. those stories and a check on sports and your weekend weather forecast when we come right back. end weather forecast when we come right back it's a beautiful... ...day to fly.

wooooo!

her uncle's unhappy. i'm sensing an underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we tried to get him under a new plan. but they they unexpectedly unraveled their “price lock” guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the “un-carrier”. you sing about “price lock” on those commercials. “the price lock, the price lock...” so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for.

welcome back. as we turn to some of the morning other top headlines president biden is asserting executive prevolog in his refusal to release the audio recordings of his interview with special counsel robert hur. white house counsel is telling leaders oof the house oversight and judiciary committees, that means congressmen james comer and jim jordan about that letter released yesterday citing a recommendation from attorney general garland while citing transcripts have already been released and accused them of want to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan purposes. but chairman comer said they wanted to make sure the transcripts are accurate saying it may explain hur's copclusion biden should not be prosecuted because of mental acuity and poor memory. >> we believe that there are

some more -- there's more to the story. we would like to know if it was joe biden answering those questions in the transcript, or was his lawyer answering those questions for him? and with what i've seen in the -- in the transcribed interviews that we've done, we've released all the transcripts like we said we would. a lot of times there's a lawyer whispering in and answering the questions for the various family members. so i think that the american people deserve the truth, and i don't think what we're asking for is unreasonable. >> house minority leader hakeem jeffries withheld judgment on biden's decision to invoke privilege saying he needed to examine the legal grounds first. >> well, i've got to take a look at the legal case for executive privilege. i do generally believe that transparency is in the best interest of everyone, and i think the biden administration has been really transparent in a

variety of different ways throughout their term. but in terms of this specific instance, you know, i'm going to reserve comment until i get an understanding. >> we should note nbc news is part of a lawsuit to force the biden administration to release the audio of the hur interview under the freedom of information act. nbc news and other news organizations believe the audio is public record, that the white house has no grounds to with hold it, and its release would be in the public's interest. we will keep you updated. meanwhile, the house oversight and judiciary committee also voted yesterday to hold merrick garland in contempt of congress last night amid the fight over those audiotapes. the two committee votes fell along party lines with oversight's vote happening later in the evening. as many republican members were in new york city during the day for former president trump's hush money trial -- we'll have more on that later on -- both committees will now send the reports to the full house for a

vote. house speaker mike johnson has not said when this matter involving the attorney general could be resolved. and another congressional story. as things got heated last night, as house oversight committee members debated holding garland in contempt, the chaos erupted with republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. >> i'd like to know if any of the democrats on this committee are employing judge merchan's daughter. >> please tell me what that has to do with merrick garland. >> oh, godman, that's right, he's advising. >> do you know what we're here for? well, you the one talking about -- >> i think your fake eyelashes are messing up -- >> no, ain't nothing. >> regain order of your

committee. >> and i would like to move to take down ms. greene's words. that is absolutely unacceptable. how dare you attack the principle appearance of another person. >> are your feelings hurt. >> oh, girl, baby girl. >> oh, really. >> don't even play. >> baby girl? >> we're going to move and we're going to take your words down. >> i second that motion. >> that was aoc there. not a surprise that marjorie taylor greene would be at the middle of this. eventually greene said she would strike her words but she would not apologize. still ahead we'll turn to sports with a really good night of playoff action against the nhl and nba as the timberwolves force a game 7 with a shocking win. and the new york rangers with a come back as they punch their ticket to the eastern conference finals. we'll bring you those highlights and a check on the forecast when

we come right back. the forecasn we come right back - so this is pickleball? - pickle! ah, these guys are intense. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? (man) mm, hey, honey.

looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy! (man) give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. they don't ask about your health? (man) no health questions. -physical exam? -don't need one. it's colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states, even if you're not in the best health. options start at $9.95 a month, 35 cents a day. once insured, your rate will never increase. a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. as long as you pay your premiums, it's yours to keep.

call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. there's no obligation, and you'll receive a free beneficiary planner just for calling. this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. enjoy the go with charmin.

swing, swing, open shot. daniels up to 18. edwards on the steal. edwards, oh, what a move to the rack! >> there will be a game 7 between the minnesota timberwolves and the denver nuggets. anthony edwards led the t wolves out of their mid-series slump scoring 27 in a 115-70 just blow out victory over the nuggets last night. minnesota's 54-point win marks the nba's largest margin of victory in a playoff game since all the way back in 2015. a weird series, a lot of blow outs. the conference match up will be decided sunday in denver. t-wolves, nuggets sunday game 7. over in the eastern conference the new york knicks will try to put away the pacers tonight on the road in game 6. and in indiana a victory would send the series back to msg for

game 7 on sunday. so far the home team has won every game in this round. so we may indeed get that game 7. but last night fans at msg were celebrating and celebrating a playoff victory in the nhl as the new york rangers secured a trip to the conference finals with a win over the hurricanes. hurricanes were up all game and chris crider's third period hat trick they were down 2-1. they win 5-3 and avoid a game 7. the rangers now awade the winner of the series between the boston bruins and florida panthers. the panthersvise a 3-2 lead heading into tonight for game 6. and j.t. miller scored the goal ahead of the canucks. vancouver now leads that series 3-2. we turn now to wnba and caitlin

clark had, let's say it, a pretty home debut with the indiana fever last night. held just 9 points the fever got blown out 102-66 by the liberty. this follows clark -- marks the first time since january 2021 which was clark's freshman season in iowa. let's be clear though these are early struggles and her team not very good not yet. she will be fine. to golf now. round 2 of the pga championship tees off in just a couple hours at the valhalla country club. xander schauffele tops the eleader board at minus 9 to tie the record at a major championship. he currently holds a three-stroke lead over a trio of americans tied for second followed by rory mcllroy and six other golfers at minus 5. masters champion scottie scheffler hold out for an eagle

to start his day but finished minus 4 in a six-way tie for 12th and that includes defending pga champ brooks koepka. tiger woods, meanwhile, bogeyed the final day to end his day at 1 over par. time now for the weather, and let's bring in our friend meteorologist michelle grossman. michelle, we finally made it to friday. there were real doubts there for a while. what's the weather forecast look like for the weekend? i know. when we were together last weekend it felt so long ago but we made it. in the south so, so soggy. we have showers and storms really a slow moving system bringing soaking rains. also talking about louisville today we're looking at the chance for showers and storms, and that's going to be the same story for the preakness tomorrow in baltimore. for today we're looking at the chance for flooding throughout the south mainly along the central gulf coast states, record highs in the southeast. sunshine returns in new england

and sunny and warm in the southwest through central plains. a little snow and rain in the inner mountain west. this is what it looks like right now on radar the yellow, reds and oranges showing where the heavy rain is falling. right now mainly through alabama, the panhandle and florida and going to see showers and that's going to bring the chance for flooding. as a result we have 16 million people under flood watches that includes waco, lake charles, over to panama city. we're expecting 2 to 5 inches in most spots and we could see locally 6, 7 inches of rain and we're 300% to 800% above normal in terms of rainfall in some of these spots so we're going to see some runoff as we go throughout this friday. a chance for severe storms, 7 million people at risk. we're looking at the risk for some hail, not too large, about an inch, wind gusting up to 60 miles per hour. new orleans, montgomery, mobile, could see a chance for strong storms as we go throughout the afternoon.

tomorrow we're going to shift that a little further to the east. we're talking about the aerolineas into the southeast, so albany, georgia, columbia, wilmington, savannah, jacksonville small storms. pretty much the same as today small hail, damaging winds, heavy downpours and a chance of a tornado or two. the preakness tomorrow at 4:30 that track is going to be a little wet because we're looking at a canc for showers. temperatures only in the 60s. so if you're lucky enough to get out there looking at the chance for showers and storms. unfortunately, umbrellas not allowed out there. >> certainly dryer to watch it at home on nbc. michelle grossman, thank you so much. have a good weekend. coming up here with his criminal hush money trial on recess today, donald trump is heading to minnesota for a fund-raiser tonight. we'll look at his return to the campaign trail when we come right back. to the campaign trail when we come righbat ck [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets.

but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful. (psst! psst!) ahhh! with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spray flonase sensimist daily for non-drowsy

long lasting relief in a scent free, gentle mist. flonase all good. also, try our allergy headache and nighttime pills. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

welcome back to "way too early." it is coming up on 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this friday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. donald trump will attend a republican party dinner in the state of minnesota tonight after vowing never to return there if he lost the state to joe biden in 2020, which of course he did. in an interview with a local twin city news station yesterday trump expressed confidence he can flip minnesota red in november and then denied making those comments four years ago.

>> what we've done for minnesota -- i lose minnesota, i'm never coming back. i'm never coming back. i never said i'd never come back. i never even thought of that. i thought i won in 2020. we thought we had a really good shot in minnesota. we have great friendships up there. we've done a lot for industry. >> we just played the clip where you said the thing you then said you didn't say. i mean, donald trump, ladies and gentlemen. joining us now national politics reporter for bloomberg, stephanie lai. let's talk minnesota for a minute. it's true the biden campaign won minnesota in 2020, let's be clear on that, but it was fairly narrow and the trump campaign made a real push there. there's some similar demographics to the states like michigan and wisconsin where trump and biden run neck and neck. even though minnesota has been going blue now for many cycles,

it stands to reason the trump campaign will at least make a play. but behind the scenes do they really think minnesota's in play? and do the biden campaign, do they worry it could be? >> certainly. well, what we're seeing right now is that this is the first time that former president donald trump is headed to minnesota, and what's really notable about this is that minnesota is not necessarily one of those key battleground states that we think of that will determine the outcome of the general election, but what i scooped for bloomberg news earlier this month is that trump's top advisers believe he has the ability to flip blue states like minnesota and virginia. they said this at a retreat in palm beach earlier in may, and it's quite significant because their internal pollings show him virtually tied in minnesota. and so if he is able to make a play for these states, this could end up diverting money the biden campaign would otherwise spend in a key battleground state like pennsylvania or wisconsin, these states that

really might have a better chance of determining the outcome of the election. >> so let's talk for a minute about other states that could be in play. it seems the republicans you just mentioned minnesota and vurm virginia are the two they think even if they can't win, they can make the democrats spend there. on the other side the democrats feel like they can win north carolina. for them it's maybe florida the state where they maybe can't wip but make republicans sweat a little bit. tell us more into their thinking. >> yeah, well florida has been an interesting state, and it's very clear the biden campaign has made a big push in the area especially making sure they reach out to hispanic and black voters. and spent some time with the dnc earlier this cycle during the primary to see some of the groundwork that they've been doing, so they are definitely very interested in trying to win over florida, but their mentality has always been that the vote is never guaranteed, and they have to put in the groundwork early onto get voters to back them in november and

lastly, let's talk a bit about the week's big news, which was of course the president and the former president have agreed to a pair of debates. the biden team feels pretty good about the groundwork they've established that trump's not going to benefit from having an audience, that he's going to have to deal with a setup where his mic could be cut off at any time if he's interrupting. take us behind the scenes in the two camps. how do they each feel about going into these debates? >> look, well, the democrats have definitely setup a favorable condition for president biden they contend without a live audience, which trump is known to capitalize off of, and with the ability to mute mics with the candidates time up, this may limit trump's ability to command the stage.

and certainly this can help president biden have a more favorable debate, which in turn would, you know, show he's exceeding expectations. and when like what we saw with the "state of the union" address a cogent delivery enabled him to have a polling bump for weeks following. and so taken to this extreme, should president biden overperform in the debates early on in, say, june this could change the narrative of the general election. >> all right, big moments ahead to be sure. and i think that it's telling that they want that first debate in june, indeed, to try to rattle the status quo in the polls right now. national politics reporter for bloomberg, stephanie lai, thank you. we appreciate your reporting this morning. still ahead here, we'll take an early look what's driving wall street after the dow briefly topped 40,000 yesterday, the very first time it's ever done that. plus wal-mart beats revenue expectations and reports major

growth in e-commerce. we'll dig into what led to those higher profits when "way too early" returns. higher profits when "way too early" returns it's a beautiful... ...day to fly. wooooo! oh, yeah, man. take it from your inner child. what you really need in life is some freakin' torque. what? the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover. i thought i was sleeping ok... but i was waking up so tired. then i tried new zzzquil sleep nasal strips. their four—point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better.

and we both sleep better. and stay married. i'm jonathan lawson, here to tell you about life insurance and we both sleep better. through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program.

options start at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate-lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling, so call now for free information.

time now for business and for that let's bring in cnbc's silvia amaro who joins us live from london. good morning, silvia. good to see you. so dow futures starting flat this morning after the blue chip average briefly went over the 40,000 mark for the very first time. that happened yesterday. what should we expect from wall street today? >> that's right. at this stage futures do suggest it could be a slow start to the trading session on wall street today. and that is after we saw the dow hitting that 40,000 level mark, which is happening basically for the first time ever. so an important threshold there that the dow crossed over yesterday. however, let's see how the equity session will fare today. it's likely to be more quiet

compared to yesterday's session simply because no corporate results are expected today. investors will be looking, however, at some economic indicators. but all in all what we saw yesterday happening with the dow actually suggests the recent momentum around a.i. and better than expected corporate results have contributed and boosted u.s. equities, but let's see what will happen for the rest of the year because there's still quite a lot of uncertainty about how many rate cuts we're actually going to get from the federal reserve. >> how many and when. let's hit a couple other headlines here. some businesses from mcdonald's to home depot are struggling to attract shoppers right now, but wal-mart continues to grow, consumers drawn to low prices it would seem. tell us more about this. >> exactly. so we heard from wal-mart yesterday. they actually beat expectations with their latest results. in essence their performance on e-commerce as well as the fact they have been attracting more

high income earnings has actually contributed to their recent performance. and actually if you look at their share price reaction, we saw wal-mart shares hitting an all-time high yesterday and actually ended the session up by about 7%, so investors clearly enjoying what they heard from wal-mart. having said that, the cfo when speaking to cnbc, he did make the comment that for instance when you look at their grocery business, one of the reasons it's contributing to that performance is the fact people are still finding it very expensive to eat out, and therefore they're choosing to cook at home. >> and facebook's parent company, meta, was hit yesterday with a major investigation from the european union. tell us what prompted that. >> so this is quite significant. the european commission, that's the executive arm of the eu, they decided to open a formal

investigation looking at instagram as well as facebook for what they call and i'll quote here, may stipument behavioral addictions in children as well as create so-called rabbit hole effects. this investigation is actually coming at a time when we're seeing widespread concerns really across the european continent about the use of social media among young people but also overall the use of smart phones. now, meta has responded and said that they want to create a safe and age-appropriate experiences online and they have been creating the tools to do so over the last 50 years. let's see how this will unfold. it's just the start of this formal investigation. however, the eu said it will be treating this as a matter of priority. >> yeah, and they should. certainly an important story the impact of social media shapes each and every one of us. we'll certainly be following this. cnbc's silvia amaro live from london, thank you as always. next up here on "way too early," a group of republican

lawmakers show their support for donald trump sitting behind him in court yesterday during his hush money trial. we'll dig into how this plays into the presidential election as trump, of course, has not yet picked a running mate. we'll be right back with that. . we'll be right back with that. smile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur.

sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. there's only one sotyktu, so ask for it by name. so clearly you. sotyktu.

and they're all coming? so clearly you. those who are still with us, yes. grandpa! what's this? your wings. light 'em up! gentlemen, it's a beautiful... ...day to fly.

welcome back. donald trump was flanked in court yesterday by his largest group of allies yet. there were about 20 people in his entourage, many of them house republicans. you can see a few there in the back who joined him despite the fact that the lower chamber, i.e., their job was in session. in fact, house republicans were at risk of cedeing control of the floor because of those 11 lawmakers who were in new york instead of the capitol. they showed their loyalty to trump outside the courthouse holding a news conference with they repeated many of the former

president's false claims. we've seen this for a few days now. frump has a way of getting around the gag order. he doesn't violate it, just has his republican colleagues do it for him. host of the fast politics podcast molly jonfast. she's also an msnbc political analyst. i mean, let me just set you up here to talk about this display of sycophants. and we also had matt gaetz quoting what donald trump said to the proud boys in that debate, stand back, standby in his -- in a tweet where he basically said -- look, there it is. standing back and standing by, mr. president, says matt gates as he's standing behind mr. trump outside the trial. >> you know, all of that was incredible. and i want to say if you look at nancy pelosi, i want to harken back to when the house was normal -- nancy pelosi would never have let that happen because it puts the entire house majority, the one or two-seat

majority depending how you count it in jeopardy. watching this was such a display yet yesterday was freedom caucus day at the trump trial, and that was the freedom caucus crew. we had the speaker of the house this week. i mean it just is -- what it does -- and again, we don't know but the downstream consequences of this, right, i mean democrats could run on this. house democrats could say why is the speaker of the house at donald trump's criminal trial? why is the freedom caucus at donald trump's criminal trial? what does this do for the american people? what are -- you know, are they doing their jobs? >> right, the same can be said for say doug bergman of north dakota. how is he doing the business of north dakota by appearing on center street in manhattan? but he is there because it's part of the veep stakes. donald trump clearly in no rush to get this done and he's demanding displays of loyalty whether it's in the courthouse or elsewhere.

you've written about it for "vanity fair." tell us where this stands. >> donald trump has lucked into this situation where he has all these people who want to be vice president, all of them completely craven, having no interest in doing anything but trying to appeal to him. and so since they're trying to appeal to him, and since they're hoping to audition for the veepstakes, he is able to use them just like he's using these republicans to get around the gag order, which is pretty craven. he's also using these vice presidential hopeful as support when he's in court. so he has -- and i mean i think it's pretty interesting he's had only one family member, eric, but he's managed to get much of the republican party there. >> eric has gone several times, actually. let's talk about the other main political event this week which was the agreement. i got new reporting out this morning about how the biden team really spent a lot of time

looking at the conditions of the debate. they were spooked by that cnn town hall trump did exactly a year ago with a crowd rallied to the side. also we don't want this to turn into a spectacle. we want it to become as much as it can be a substantive exchange of ideas. how important do those debates bloom and does does it tell you we start ipjune? >> you did good reporting on this earlier in the week, too, and i think biden world -- the presidential debate council has really messed up. and biden world said they were done with them because they were not enforcing the rules. they were not cutting the mics. they were not doing what needs to happen with donald trump, and donald trump is not a normal presidential candidate. you cannot have normal presidential in there. so i do think that's smart. look, they're smart to do it in june. they have to get the american people to pay attention. >> yeah. >> i think that is why they're doing it in june, and then they have one in september. i also think, like, obviously,

biden is not running against someone who is a normal candidate. norms in this way, like, debate committees, aren't necessarily -- i mean, i think this is -- i think they're doing the right thing by just pushing along, having it with cnn and abc, and just doing it as soon as possible. i think they should do three. >> the biden camp's case has been once americans pay attention and realize, this is your choice, biden or trump, they'll choose biden. having a debate this early forces americans to pay attention. you pull trump into their living rooms. molly jong-fast, thank you, as always. we'll talk soon. up next on "way too early," the leaders of russia and china are putting on a united front in beijing today as they deepen their partnership. richard haass joins us to break down their new era of cooperation and what it could mean for the rest of the world. that's next. then, coming up on "morning joe," we'll bring you the key takeaways from michael cohen's testimony yesterday in donald trump's hush money trial, as defense attorneys press cohen on

his credibility and details about his personal life. also ahead, democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut will join us live in studio. "morning joe" a few short moments away. oh, yeah, man. take it from your inner child. what you really need in life is some freakin' torque. what? the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover. 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 hey! asthma's got you going through it?

grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask an asthma specialist if nucala is right for you. if you have heart disease and struggle with ldl-c... even with statins and a healthy diet...tigue. listen to your heart. talk to your doctor about repatha. repatha plus a statin lowers ldl-c (bad cholesterol) by 63%, and drops the risk of having a heart attack. do not take repatha if you are allergic to it. repatha can cause serious allergic reactions. signs include trouble breathing or swallowing or swelling of the face. most common side effects include runny nose, sore throat, common cold symptoms, flu or flu-like symptoms, back pain, high blood sugar, and redness, pain, or bruising at the injection site. talk to your doctor about repatha.

welcome back. as we turn to news from overseas, israel will send more troops into rafah despite the growing and persistent international concern about a full-on ground invasion of the southern gaza city. israel defense minister made the announcement yesterday, saying the military operation will indeed continue. until now, troops have conducted just limited attacks in eastern rafah. the idf also seized the gaza side of the rafah border crossing earlier this month. that area remains closed, leaving hundreds of aid trucks piling up in egypt as the humanitarian condition gets worse. diplomats and palestinian officials say that move has created a dangerous environment for the humanitarian workers themselves, as well. meanwhile, russian president vladimir putin and chinese leader xi jinping have reaffirmed their no limits

partnership while meeting in china in a brazen show of unity. on thursday, the two men signed a joint statement deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership as there is rising tensions with the west. this is as putin is waging a war with ukraine. china notably has not criticized the invasion and proposed a broadly worded peace plan in 2023, calling for a cease-fire and direct talks between moscow and kyiv. even though beijing continues to supply key components needed by moscow for weapons production. not lethal aid but stuff that helps their military and their invasion. joining us now, president emeritus of the council on foreign relations, richard haass. author of the weekly newsletter "home and away," available on substack. the newest issue comes out later this morning. we'll look for that. richard, good to see you. let's start with beijing.

putin and xi, a display of friendship, military and strategic ties, as well. how do you view the partnership? >> everyone hoping the no-limits agreement you eluded to on the eve of russia's invasion of ukraine, people were hoping maybe it wasn't that real. guess what? it is. it's really disappointing. if anything, the chinese are doubling down, jonathan. russians, we know, have nowhere else to go, but the chinese embrace, literally. the two had a public embrace, which is rare for xi jinping. the bromance is in full flower. this just basically shows the chinese are ignoring what the united states is saying. the other thing you mentioned that is worrisome, the idea that they're giving them the machines, the tooling. they may not be giving them bombs and the rest, but they're giving them the ability to make drones and other types of equipment. china has moved closer to a real partner of russia and the war in

ukraine and more broadly. yeah, it is a real disappointment. >> one more quick beat on russia. when you speak to u.s. officials, how concerned are they about the new russian offensive? how far can they go? >> ukraine itself isn't threatened. they'll have trouble taking kharkiv, the second largest city, but momentum is shifting. one is because of the four months in gap for aid from the united states. also, the ability to access arms from places like north korea and iran for russia. let's move to the middle east. you were just in israel last week. give us your sense of what's your take of the events of the last few days? the rafah operation nears. the new pier is being built in gaza, which would help with the humanitarian aid even as the crossing remains closed. dissension also in israel. >> two things in addition to the

aid issue. one, the israelis are going into rafah bigger than people wanted, and they're essentially pushing back against international opinion. you know, there is the extraordinary public breach in the israeli war cabinet. gallant, defense minister, has publicly taken on the prime minister. i mean, frontally. he said, what you're doing is going to fail. where is the plan for after? i am not, he said, going to order israeli troops to occupy gaza. you now have bibi netanyahu, who is a political survivor, but on a tight rope between, on one hand, his defense minister and several military men in the cabinet saying, the plan you have is bound to fail, and the right-wing extremists who bibi is in bed with politically, and how he is going to navigate this is anybody's guess. >> it's on full display it's failing. the idf has to go back to northern gaza because areas they thought they routed hamas, now, they're reconstituting. >> 100%. you can defeat hamas on monday, but if you don't have a

substitute government, someone providing security, thousands of hamas fighters will survive and seep back into the population and take over society. the absence of a serious, viable plan for what comes after rafah is the major, glaring weakness in israeli strategy. >> national security adviser jake sullivan heading to israel in the coming days. israel said we won't go into rafah while he is in the region, but after that, all bets are off. richard haass, thank you. we'll talk to you again later on "morning joe." thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" with us on this friday morning and all week long. "morning joe" starts right now. you referred to president trump as a boring cartoon misogynist, didn't you? sounds like something i would say. a chinese-dusted cartoon villain? that also sounds like something i said. >> you referred to president donald trump as dictator d-bag, department you? cohen says, sounds like something i said. >> damn! trump is jus