0:00

Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's.

0:03

Wake up and bagelize. Get your taste

0:05

buds ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel sandwiches.

0:07

Now just $3, only on the app.

0:10

Choose from a delicious steak, egg, and cheese bagel,

0:12

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel, or sausage, egg, and

0:14

cheese bagel. Just $3 when you order

0:16

ahead on the app. Hurry and seize

0:19

this breakfast steal before it's gone. Offer

0:21

valid one time daily March 11th through April

0:23

7th, 2024, participating McDonald's. Must opt

0:25

into rewards. Tonight,

0:28

Jack Smith blasts jury instructions from

0:31

the judge in the classified documents

0:33

case and threatens to appeal if

0:35

she rules against him. What's next

0:37

for the special counsel? Then

0:40

new reporting on how Trump's

0:42

social media company was saved

0:44

by a Russian-American under criminal

0:47

investigation. Plus, the Iowa

0:49

LSU game shatters the record for

0:51

the most watched women's basketball game.

0:53

We'll talk all about the ladies

0:55

of March Madness as the 11th

0:57

hour gets underway on this Wednesday

0:59

night. Good

1:05

evening once again. I'm Stephanie Ruhl and we are now

1:07

216 days away from the election. Special

1:11

counsel Jack Smith has basically had

1:13

it with Judge Aileen Cannon and

1:15

the way she has handled Donald

1:17

Trump's classified documents case. Now Smith

1:20

is taking action to protect his

1:22

prosecution. In a new

1:24

filing, Smith said Judge Cannon's legal

1:26

premise was quote wrong and called

1:28

Trump's claim about the Presidential Records

1:30

Act a fundamentally flawed premise. That

1:33

is the idea that Donald Trump

1:35

should not be charged because he

1:37

had declared the documents in question

1:40

personal under the Presidential Records Act.

1:42

Smith calls that pure fiction. He

1:45

also pointed out that it has been nearly

1:47

six weeks since Trump moved to have the

1:49

case thrown out based on that defense. He

1:51

wants the judge to get on with it

1:53

and make a ruling ASAP. Smith

1:56

has signaled he will appeal if he loses

1:59

and of course. Trump. Would likely

2:01

do the same as he loses.

2:03

Also, tonight is News in the

2:05

Money case. Judge Marshawn has denied

2:07

Trump's attempt to delay that trial

2:09

until the Supreme Court rules on

2:11

the Presidential immunity case. Jury selection

2:13

in that case will begin at

2:16

right around the corner April fifteenth,

2:18

That. Is twelve days away. Mark.

2:20

Your calendar and unless you're smarter without of

2:23

our lead off panel. So. Fantastic one

2:25

tonight! Lisa Ruben or Msnbc Legal

2:27

Analysts who has truly been working

2:29

twenty four hours a day over

2:31

the last two weeks. Cap and

2:33

Christian joins Us former Assistant District

2:35

Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney's

2:37

Office she is now and Msnbc

2:39

Legal Analysts and Mark Leibovich Jones

2:41

has a staff writer for The

2:43

Atlantic. Of your Catherine.

2:46

It is so clear that Yeah

2:48

Smith has absolutely had it. It

2:50

seems like he is trying to

2:52

just protect. His case. Here he sees.

2:54

It is in danger and right now

2:56

highly unlikely we'll go to trial before

2:58

this election. What do you think of

3:00

Smith? Smooth and could backfire on it's?

3:02

it's a good. Move because he has

3:05

face reality those long as as cases

3:07

with this judge it will probably never

3:09

go to trial is definitely not going

3:11

to trial before election day. So this

3:13

was. It's. Also easy because

3:15

Jack Smith will probably never have

3:17

to appear before the starts again.

3:20

It's sort of unheard of for

3:22

a lawyer particular prosecutor to in

3:24

writing accuse a judge of basically

3:27

not knowing the loss and being

3:29

fundamentally flawed and reliable premises. He's

3:31

probably correct because everyone who has

3:33

reviewed you know the willful retention.

3:36

Of National Defense information which thirty two

3:38

counts that for Donald Trump is towards

3:40

with. Everyone. Any legal

3:42

scholar, any legal practice and will tell

3:44

you the President for rec defects has

3:47

absolutely nothing to do with it. It

3:49

is not a defense that as a

3:51

civil law it is about the presidential

3:53

records being part of the public and

3:55

when the President leaves office they should

3:57

be sent to the national Archives Will

3:59

for. And to the National Center for Mason.

4:02

Is. A crime. And certainly

4:04

the presidential rec a sec lot

4:06

of the fence to Obstruction of

4:08

Justice for trying to delete security

4:10

footage which also Donald Trump is

4:12

accused of tea break. Down for

4:15

us please. That's exactly what the situation

4:17

is with Judge Cannons jury selection instructions

4:19

and why Smith is just so fired

4:21

up about four for sell stuff. We

4:23

don't have a trial date yet and

4:26

yet she ordered them to put in

4:28

propose jury instruction. Usually it's author and

4:30

I both. Now when you do proposed

4:32

jury instructions and a trial, you're very

4:34

close to your trial date and the

4:37

jury instructions couple all sorts of issues

4:39

in the case and over the reason

4:41

to do this because she would like

4:43

to put. This issue off not have

4:45

to decide on the loss and make

4:47

it something that the jury can decide.

4:50

But of course if this becomes an

4:52

issue for the jury and the jury

4:54

is already seated by the time she

4:56

gives this instruction, the federal government has

4:58

no avenue to appeals and that's why

5:00

just with a so angry his essentially

5:02

saying you can't hold this issue over

5:04

our heads and leave us in the

5:06

positions where the jury is seated and

5:08

panels, there is no opportunity for us

5:10

to contest it one centuries in their

5:13

seats. Get. It over with now

5:15

if we're gonna appeal with like to do it

5:17

now Just and our friend Andrew Weissmann. Think.

5:19

That is An appeal on this thing

5:21

gets to the eleventh circuit's It's been

5:23

a reverse Canon and cylinder sounds from

5:26

this case I don't know should be

5:28

bounced from the case, but. I do

5:30

believe they will reverse her because she

5:32

is clearly wrong on this issue. A

5:34

sister instructed they've already reverse her twice

5:37

now The bouncing Bursar. And condemned which

5:39

is why we say bouncing from the case

5:41

they might go back to back. And

5:43

say we reverse do twice This

5:45

is repeated. You clearly cannot be

5:48

fair and impartial. To. The

5:50

government you have to be feared and parts

5:52

of the both sides and it could be

5:54

argued we made the T is has her

5:56

finger on the scale in favor of the

5:58

defendant this case Donald Trump for. finger, possibly

6:00

her fist, maybe her whole arm,

6:03

a left foot as well, possibly.

6:05

Okay, Mark, most people out there have

6:07

lives to live. They do not understand

6:09

the legal ins and outs of all

6:11

of this. They don't have Lisa Rubin

6:13

on speed dial like we luckily do.

6:16

How many Americans do you think are

6:18

watching all of these trials

6:20

and basically just rooting for their

6:22

side, regardless of the evidence? That's

6:27

a great question. I think probably those

6:29

who are paying attention to these, I

6:31

think that is a predominating sort of

6:33

view people are looking at. I think

6:35

they're looking at it probably through an

6:37

election context, through a political context. It's

6:39

kind of a sad state of affairs, but it's also

6:41

just such a noise thing at

6:44

this point. There are so many cases,

6:46

there are so many complexities. I mean, a lot

6:48

of this stuff is pretty urgent to begin with

6:50

and hard for people to follow. I

6:52

think the basic contours of this are

6:55

the broad Trump strategy, no matter

6:57

what the case is, it's just a lay.

6:59

It seems like certainly with Judge Cannon, he

7:01

has a willing partner here. You're

7:04

right. Some of the hedging

7:06

steps that she was doing to sort of

7:09

rule on two sort of different circumstances was

7:12

just designed to drag this out. It

7:15

seemed completely unworkable and obviously I'm not a

7:17

lawyer, but it certainly didn't seem to make

7:20

any sense on that front. Yeah,

7:22

I mean, I think at this point, it's just

7:24

sort of people watching the clock and it's just

7:26

another dimension folded into the wrinkles of the election

7:28

season. Lisa, I learned

7:30

a new term today that I have

7:32

to ask you about in Jack Smith's

7:34

filing, right? He refers to seeking a

7:37

writ of magnumness. I just love the

7:39

way that sounds, but it seems to

7:41

me it basically means that a higher

7:43

court gets to tell the judge, do

7:46

your job. Is that right? And

7:49

it's referred to as an extraordinary form

7:51

of relief in the federal rules of

7:53

appellate procedure because it's not an ordinary

7:55

appeal. You ask for a writ of

7:57

mandamus when you can't get an appeal.

8:00

to be heard midway through a case. It's

8:02

the only way that you can get an

8:04

appellate court to say to a trial judge,

8:06

you must do this midway through a case

8:09

where the issue being appealed isn't ordinarily one

8:11

that gets appealed until the end of the

8:13

case. And that's why Jack Smith is saying,

8:15

I will seek a writ of mandamus where

8:18

the 11th Circuit tells you exactly what to

8:20

do because otherwise, I couldn't appeal this at

8:22

any point in the case. It's clearly a

8:24

new word for me. I can't even pronounce

8:27

it. Just last month, Judge

8:29

Cannon seemed skeptical of Donald Trump's

8:32

claim that he declared the documents

8:34

in question personal under the Presidential

8:36

Records Act. Is there

8:38

any good reason for Trump's

8:41

motion to dismiss to still be

8:43

sitting on her desk? No, there

8:45

isn't. And there are other motions that are also

8:47

sitting on her desk. That's also another reason. A

8:49

lot of paper on that desk. That's also another

8:51

reason why the government, Jack Smith has sort of

8:53

had it with her. And

8:56

also the government has investigated that claim

8:58

that he designated these documents

9:00

as personal and found it to be a

9:02

pure fiction. They interviewed White House officials who

9:04

worked for him and said it never happened.

9:08

Mark, there is absolutely no way.

9:11

Judge Aileen Cannon is completely

9:13

unaware of these other Trump trials

9:15

going along, along with the other threats

9:17

and the rhetoric. How might

9:19

that affect how she's handling her case?

9:22

And what's amazing, she seems to be the only

9:24

judge in America that he doesn't go after. Yeah,

9:29

it's a shocking coincidence, isn't it? I

9:31

mean, it is bizarre. I mean, I

9:33

think what is bizarre is that she

9:35

clearly has to have some level of

9:37

self-awareness here, if not shame, about how

9:40

this looks for her. I mean, like

9:42

look, obviously, she isn't Trump appointed judge.

9:46

Maybe she feels some pressure that way. But

9:48

I mean, she's a serious judge. I

9:50

mean, she went to law school and

9:52

everything. I mean, she has to have

9:55

an idea. I think at this point,

9:57

it's like, at least from the outside, it looks like she's just

9:59

weighing over her head. And is trying

10:01

to sort of hope that this kind of gets lost

10:03

in the noise and that no one notices. And really

10:05

she's sort of taking shelter in the

10:07

larger blur of cases going on. And by the

10:09

way, I didn't want to get out of this

10:11

segment without being able to say, writ of mandamus

10:13

like everybody else. So I just want to feel

10:15

included here. It's like, I want that

10:18

to be my new nickname. Lisa, what

10:20

do you think about this? It should be. I

10:23

think Aileen Cannon, to Mark's point, is somewhat

10:25

over her head. At the same time, I

10:27

am as baffled as many people are that

10:30

we got to this point. Aileen Cannon came

10:32

to this job with real credentials. Are

10:35

you really baffled? Like, give me a break. No,

10:37

I am sort of baffled. And I'll tell you

10:39

why. Aileen Cannon was a federal prosecutor before she

10:41

took this job. She held that job for a

10:43

number of years. She also went to reputable law

10:45

schools, worked at a very reputable law firm. I

10:47

will confess, it's the one I came from right

10:49

before I came to MSNBC. She's

10:51

not a person who is a joke

10:54

in terms of on paper. The fact

10:56

that she is, to Katherine's point, now

10:58

drowning in paper either bespeaks sort of

11:00

incompetence and a level of anxiety and

11:03

distrust in herself or a thumb

11:05

or an elbow on the scale as

11:07

you posit it. What's really difficult about

11:10

this, though, is when we talk about

11:12

Aileen Cannon recusing herself, there is no

11:14

basis for recusal that plainly says delaying

11:16

so much so that the government can't

11:18

get a trial is a basis for

11:20

recusal. There are all sorts of recusal

11:22

standards about, for example, financial interest. But

11:25

the only sort of recusal standard

11:27

that this fits into is being

11:29

overly prejudiced against one party or

11:31

the other. It's very hard to

11:33

characterize delay as prejudice, particularly when

11:36

there's nothing to appeal. When you don't make

11:38

a decision. Oh, maybe she's drowning in paper

11:40

because she's swimming in a backstroke at Mar-a-Lago

11:42

on the weekends. I mean, she has clearly

11:44

shown extraordinary deference to Donald Trump from day

11:47

one. She has. She has

11:49

shown deference to facts that even Donald

11:51

Trump doesn't allege. You know, when we

11:53

talk about the Presidential Records Act, Donald

11:55

Trump has never flatly said, I designated

11:57

these records as personal. He said, I

11:59

could have. And by taking them that

12:01

in and of itself was a designation

12:03

But note that even his lawyers don't

12:05

say that there was a designation by

12:07

him of all of these classified materials

12:10

and national defense documents as Personal

12:12

to him the fact that she would then

12:14

have jury instructions on that and let that

12:16

issue Go to a jury without

12:19

either being right on the law or having

12:21

any such evidence in front of her is

12:23

really mind-boggling All right. Let's move on to

12:25

the hush money trial because judge Mershawn Just

12:29

expanded the gag order yesterday

12:31

and then today

12:33

Donald Trump is reposting articles

12:36

attacking Mershawn's daughter again

12:39

How is this not a violation of the

12:41

gag order? Like I would think in any

12:43

other situation That person

12:46

would be in serious trouble and

12:48

Lisa and I were just discussing this if it is not

12:50

a violation It's as close as you can get

12:52

to being a violation No, he's

12:54

not the one who's saying these negative

12:56

things about the daughter But

12:59

he posting someone else's article. So

13:01

yeah, he reposted. There's a

13:03

photo of his daughter and

13:06

Potatoes and yeah, so it's the order

13:09

itself says you can't make or direct

13:11

others to make statements And so semantics

13:13

are like so many of our lifeblood

13:16

stuff as lawyers, right? We parse words

13:18

for a living Donald Trump is sitting

13:20

there figuring out how he can exploit

13:23

any minor Loophole and then doing just

13:25

exactly that and that is pernicious and

13:28

Crappy. Yes, he's playing danger

13:32

Then what right? He's poking the bear. He's

13:34

poking the where what could Mershawn do because

13:36

he's still the judge presiding over this trial

13:38

Yeah, and he wants to show that he's

13:40

impartial and he's right I just want to

13:42

point something else out tonight that happened this

13:44

evening our colleague Tom winter at NBC News

13:46

is reporting that in Lancaster New York and

13:49

man has had charges filed against him for

13:51

calling in terroristic threats to two people

13:53

Who have also been big actors in

13:55

these cases against Donald Trump one Letitia

13:57

James the New York Attorney General the

13:59

other other judge Arthur and Goran who

14:01

presided over Tish James's civil fraud trial. The

14:04

consequences of Donald Trump's threats

14:07

are real. They are livid. There are

14:09

things like this man in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,

14:11

now being held in custody for these

14:13

kinds of threats. There are consequences when

14:15

Donald Trump does these things. And the

14:17

more that his lawyers and he say,

14:19

this is all just part of pointing

14:21

out that Judge Rashawn is a biased

14:23

actor here. We have evidence

14:25

to the contrary. It exists tonight. Damn.

14:29

All right, Mark, let's talk about DA

14:31

Alvin Bragg because he called out Donald

14:34

Trump because Trump

14:36

is requesting a delay because

14:39

of all the publicity around it. Here's

14:42

the thing. Alvin Bragg is not

14:44

wrong here. There is all this

14:46

publicity because Donald Trump has created

14:49

all of this publicity. Donald Trump

14:51

has made it this giant, ridiculous

14:53

show. So is there any

14:55

possibility that Trump will be successful in

14:58

getting the delay he wants? I

15:01

mean, I'd be totally shocked. I mean, not

15:04

only is he creating this, but actually

15:06

just the fact that this ridiculous notion

15:08

is kind of adding to the absurdity

15:10

of the whole thing. I

15:13

think Bragg called it, you know, called it

15:15

out for what it is, which is ridiculous.

15:17

I can't imagine, you know, Trump will have

15:19

any success, you know, getting any, getting anywhere

15:22

with this. But again, it's sort of part

15:24

of the same kind of, you know, just

15:27

ridiculous sort of cycle of arguments

15:29

that just becomes, you know,

15:32

what he hopes will become an ongoing delay

15:34

that will delay the trial. But it doesn't look like it's going to work.

15:37

I have to ask you, Lisa, about

15:40

the guy, the business in LA who

15:42

posted Donald Trump's bond in the civil

15:44

fraud case. Though there

15:46

was an issue with the way they did their

15:49

paperwork. So we didn't even go through, right? That

15:51

will get fixed. Tell us about this guy, who

15:53

he is and why he do this. John

15:56

Hankey is an 80 year old billionaire in Los

15:58

Angeles who made his money. in the

16:00

auto industry. He is the so-called king of

16:02

subprime auto loans. He is 128, I believe

16:05

on Forbes' 2023 billionaires list, but he's

16:08

not a particularly well-known person and he's

16:10

particularly not a well-known entity where it

16:12

comes to surety bonds. In fact, when

16:14

the Trump organization told the judge here

16:17

that they didn't think they were going

16:19

to be able to get a bond,

16:21

they listed in a footnote the names

16:23

of almost 30 companies that

16:26

they consulted. Knight Specialty Insurance

16:28

Company was not among them.

16:30

So while he has lots of capital,

16:32

he's also a large shareholder in Access

16:35

Bank, which has loaned $225 million to

16:38

Donald Trump, he is not a

16:40

person who has, at least from what we understand

16:43

so far, a ton of experience in surety bonds.

16:45

He is a person who apparently reached out to

16:47

Donald Trump in the campaign and said, we want

16:49

to help. He says this was a business decision.

16:51

I'll let you, Steph, and our viewers be the

16:53

judge of that. Well, there you go. All right.

16:55

Before you go, Catherine, I want you to explain

16:58

one thing to us why

17:00

this bond is so

17:02

important because by contrast, Alex

17:04

Jones has not paid out

17:07

one single dollar of the hundreds

17:09

of millions he owes to the

17:11

Sandy Hook family. In his case,

17:14

he never posted a bond. That's

17:17

why it's so important to ensure

17:19

that if Donald Trump

17:21

loses his appeal, that the money

17:23

will be paid, the disgorgement that

17:25

was ordered by Judge Ingoren and

17:27

that the attorney general is just

17:29

waiting to enforce the judgment if

17:32

she wins the appeal. So she wins the appeal

17:34

and immediately that money gets to be drawn down?

17:37

Yeah, I'm going to say immediately, but

17:39

soon thereafter. The mechanism kicks off.

17:41

Yes. We'll see what

17:43

happens on the Alex Jones side. Mark, thank

17:45

you, Catherine, Lisa. Thank you both for starting

17:47

us off. When we come back, the

17:50

Trump media bailout. It turns

17:52

out the company that was

17:54

rescued, that his company, True Social,

17:57

was rescued by, guess who, a Russian

17:59

American? He just happened to be under

18:01

criminal investigation a couple of years ago. We're going

18:03

to get into that new reporting and later Ruby

18:06

red, Nebraska might

18:08

not be a battleground state, but if Donald

18:10

Trump has his way, he could end up

18:12

shaking up the presidential map in his favor.

18:15

You might not be thinking about Nebraska. We're

18:17

going to tell you why you need to

18:19

11th hour, just getting underway on a Wednesday

18:21

night. Time

18:26

for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake

18:29

up and bagelize. Get your taste

18:31

buds ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel

18:33

sandwiches. Now just $3 only

18:35

on the app. Choose from a delicious steak,

18:37

egg, and cheese bagel, bacon, egg, and cheese bagel,

18:39

or sausage, egg, and cheese bagel. Just

18:42

$3 when you order ahead on the app,

18:44

hurry and seize this breakfast steal before it's

18:46

gone. Offer valid one time daily March 11th

18:48

through April 7th, 2024. Participate in

18:50

McDonald's must opt into rewards. Hey

18:54

parents, green light is here to take one

18:56

big thing off your to-do list. Teaching your

18:58

kids about money with a green

19:00

light debit card and money app of their

19:02

own kids and teens learn to earn, save,

19:04

and invest. You can send

19:06

money instantly set flexible controls and get

19:09

real time notifications of your kids' money

19:11

activity, set up chores and put allowance

19:13

on autopilot to reward them for their hard work,

19:16

then learn about the world of money together.

19:19

Get one month free when you sign

19:21

up at greenlight.com slash podcast. You're

19:28

going to want to lean in and pay

19:30

attention to this one. Despite a very crazy

19:32

week in the markets, Donald Trump's media company

19:35

is still worth billions of

19:37

dollars. It is a pretty remarkable

19:39

turnaround when you consider where little

19:42

truth social was just two years

19:44

ago. According to a new

19:46

report, the company needed emergency loans, just

19:48

to keep the lights on and guess

19:50

who saved them? A

19:52

Russian American businessman who at the

19:55

time happened to be under criminal

19:57

investigation. Our friend Hugo Lowell,

19:59

the author. of that remarkable reporting joins

20:01

us now. He's a political investigations reporter

20:03

for The Guardian and NBC News correspondent,

20:05

Vaughn Hilliard, who covers Donald Trump on

20:08

the campaign trail is with us here

20:10

in New York. Hugo,

20:12

this is some story laid out for

20:14

us. What'd you learn? Yeah,

20:18

so it's important to understand the background for

20:20

the story because it can get complicated. In

20:23

essence, in 2021 and 2022, Trump

20:26

Media received $8 million in

20:28

loans from what was

20:31

ostensibly called the kind of the ES Family Trust

20:33

and it appeared to be this trust of loaning

20:35

money in exchange for

20:37

convertible notes. I, you know, they would

20:40

gain a share of

20:42

the post merger company, which as it

20:44

turned out would be quite valuable. But

20:46

ES Family Trust, as we found

20:48

out, was something of a shell entity and

20:51

it was actually being accessed and controlled

20:53

by a guy called Anton Postonikov, a

20:55

Russian American businessman who kind of, as

20:58

you point out, was the

21:00

subject of a federal criminal investigation led

21:03

by the FBI and the DHS that

21:05

encompassed with an insider trading angle into

21:07

the very same Trump Media deal and

21:09

a money laundering element. And

21:12

Michael Schwartzman, the prime

21:14

architect of this, just

21:16

pleaded guilty today in federal district court. So

21:20

here we go, Vaughn, a shell

21:22

company with a Russian American wealthy

21:25

businessman who was under a criminal

21:27

investigation at the time. You

21:29

not knowing any background on this

21:32

story, does it surprise you

21:34

in any way that when they needed emergency

21:36

funding, it wasn't J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs

21:38

coming to his aid? It's a

21:40

great reporting by Hugo and one line

21:42

in his piece there articulates that Donald

21:44

Trump does not necessarily know about the

21:46

arrangement himself. And this is for

21:48

Donald Trump. He has so many

21:51

entities at this point, so many loans,

21:53

so much need for cash. He frankly

21:55

doesn't have an understanding of where all

21:57

the money is coming from. where

22:00

loans like this are coming from. And so no, it

22:02

does not surprise me. And when you look at true

22:04

social, you look at the fact that Trump

22:07

media lost $53 million last

22:09

year, you just go a scroll through true

22:11

social and you see the advertisements that are

22:14

on this year, right? You've got MyPillow, you've

22:16

got Trump 2024 bubble head

22:18

being sold. You have the likes of

22:20

a dating app to quote, find international

22:22

singles with conservative values on dream singles.

22:24

These are the types of ads, so

22:26

they're not like bringing in, you know,

22:28

high market companies. I'm not sure that MyPillow

22:30

guy is actually paying for those ads because he

22:33

still has back rent he hasn't covered. Hugo,

22:35

tell us more about this

22:37

Russian American businessman because he's

22:39

actually still under investigation. Walk

22:41

us through exactly who he,

22:43

more of who he is and what he's under that,

22:45

what he's under investigation for. Yeah. So

22:49

Anton Postonikov, this Russian American, Joe

22:51

National is a businessman. He lives

22:54

in Florida. We believe he

22:56

has a property on Fisher Island. You know, he

22:58

likes the high life. It turns out he is

23:00

the nephew of a guy

23:03

called Alexander Smirnov, who for

23:06

some time was the first deputy

23:08

justice minister in Russia for the

23:10

Kremlin. He's a Putin ally in

23:12

that respect and is now the

23:14

director of FSUE Rosma Port in

23:16

Russia. And the Russian connections don't

23:18

kind of just end there. We

23:20

looked at the creation papers for the

23:22

trust and we now understand

23:25

that ES stands for Elena Sharnava. We

23:27

don't know the connection from Elena Sharnava

23:29

to Anton Postonikov, but we know based

23:31

on a copy of her passport that

23:33

she lives in Moscow and has also

23:35

had an address in St. Petersburg. And

23:38

the settler of the trust is also

23:40

Russian. He's a guy called Konstantin Kritonikov,

23:42

who is a lawyer based in St.

23:44

Petersburg, Russia, also worked for the Russian

23:47

federal government. And so there are Russian

23:49

tentacles extending all the way throughout this

23:51

trust and the money that ultimately gets

23:53

funneled to Trump Media and therefore Truth

23:55

Social. I think when we step back

23:57

and look at all this. One

24:00

thing that is most concerning is not so

24:02

much the Russian element, but also the fact

24:04

that Anton Pasternikov is the

24:06

co-owner of this bank in Dominica. It's

24:08

called Paxson Bank. It's a small bank

24:10

that basically does a lot of financial

24:12

services for the porn industry. But

24:15

Paxson Bank does not have

24:17

a license to make loans in the

24:19

U.S. And so the concern we identified

24:21

in the story is that it

24:24

is potentially the case that Pasternikov

24:26

facilitated a loan to Trump

24:28

Media, not through Paxson Bank,

24:31

because it couldn't, but through the show entity

24:33

he controlled. And I think that's a question

24:35

for investigators and federal regulators to see if

24:37

that was all above board. OK,

24:40

here's my head scratcher, Vaughn. On

24:42

many levels, you would think that Donald

24:45

Trump now having a

24:47

multi-billion dollar publicly traded

24:49

company under the ticker,

24:51

DJT, that's currently valued

24:54

at billions and billions

24:56

of dollars. This would

24:58

be his dream of dreams,

25:00

perfect for his businessman titan

25:02

image. Yet it seems in

25:05

the last week and a half, I think

25:07

he had one post about it that said

25:09

it was a really good company. You would

25:11

think that he would be pounding his chest,

25:13

talking about it. His campaign would be, what's

25:15

it like on the trail? Because from

25:17

where I sit, far away,

25:19

seems conspicuously quiet. For

25:21

a man who boasts and frankly does not

25:23

have much humility and claims to be the

25:26

smartest guy around, this is something that he

25:28

doesn't really often boast much about. He could.

25:30

He could. Sometimes he says

25:32

on stage, hey, does everybody have a true

25:34

social? But for Donald Trump, who likes to

25:36

go to war with other companies, look, it's

25:39

not like he's banned his campaign staff from

25:41

Twitter. That is still their

25:43

main portal in which they engage

25:45

with not only supporters, but other

25:47

political allies, with reporters. On true

25:49

social, there's about nine million accounts.

25:52

We don't know exactly what those nine million

25:54

accounts are, but compare that to Telegram, more

25:56

than a hundred million. You

25:58

have Instagram. You have Facebook. Four hundred

26:00

million users still on Twitter. There is an

26:02

acknowledgement that you know when we're talking about

26:04

power. It's that and frankly, the power is

26:06

not with the and be true social apps.

26:08

That is not where the power lies in.

26:10

Donald Trump is very well aware which thirty.

26:13

One of the reasons why this

26:15

company is currently the most sorted

26:17

Spats Fact is a special purpose

26:19

acquisition company. That's the kind of

26:21

company that that trees Social as

26:23

as been acquired by. The.

26:25

Shortest One: Essentially, there is a

26:28

huge amount of investors out there.

26:30

Bet is that the stock price

26:32

is going to nosedive. walking. Tell

26:34

us about that. He will. Look

26:38

I think Job Born raised a good point

26:40

which is the underlying business fundamentals of

26:42

Truth Social on all great you know the

26:45

only thing that is keeping any value

26:47

in this company is the fact that Trump

26:49

exclusively person to search for the moment

26:51

that some please The moment he tweets and

26:53

I think his campaign is well aware

26:55

of businesses know the reason why he has

26:58

not returned to Twitter despite having no

27:00

there's discussions of people I get on mosque

27:02

is because the moment of that the

27:04

value of True Social were tagged because as

27:06

a low use base says no. Other

27:08

revenue stream apart from the fact that

27:10

may be a it says some sort

27:12

of rob deal with rumble about video

27:14

platform and but the underlying fundamentals are

27:16

garbage and dinners stuff you've covered Love

27:18

financial services were for a long time

27:20

and your this is very open to

27:22

anyone and I think this is the

27:24

problem that to social is facing and

27:26

the truth the problem that your social

27:28

were always face. That was one tabby

27:30

up to this which is there is

27:32

a hard floor think it's ten dollars

27:35

per share that it can't fall below.

27:37

so if you're. Gonna short the stock got

27:39

make sure you do it before I'd start. First

27:41

the time. Garbage. Is

27:43

sitting at Tennessee. see the Von.

27:45

Thank you so much we come

27:47

back. Some pushing for a winner.

27:49

Take all our pond. This is

27:52

the most important story they probably

27:54

haven't heard about health. possible rule

27:56

change in Nebraska. A lesson could

27:58

end up making it's. harder for

28:00

President Biden to win in November. You don't want

28:03

to miss this story. The 11th hour, we'll

28:05

be back in two. This

28:13

story really matters. Donald Trump and

28:15

his allies are mounting a pressure

28:17

campaign in the state of Nebraska

28:19

that could alter the entire election.

28:22

The former president and governor, Jim

28:24

Pillen, are now calling on the

28:26

state legislature to change how it

28:29

doles out electoral college votes. As

28:31

a reminder, Nebraska is one of

28:33

only two states that awards electoral

28:35

votes this way, and this move

28:38

would almost certainly benefit Donald

28:40

J. Trump. And we

28:42

just found out moments ago,

28:44

Nebraska legislatures have blocked the

28:46

electoral college vote

28:49

change for now. Back

28:51

with us tonight, Juanita Toliver, MSNBC political

28:53

analyst and host of the What a

28:55

Day podcast, and Mark McKinnon is here,

28:57

former advisor to both George W. Bush

28:59

and John McCain. He was also among

29:01

the co-hosts of the circus on Showtime.

29:04

Mark, this is the kind of thing

29:06

that seems tiny. People don't notice, it's

29:08

not their state. But if it went

29:10

through, right, this block could be temporary

29:12

because Trump and his allies are pushing

29:14

for it. It could have a huge

29:16

impact on the outcome of the entire

29:18

election in November. One

29:22

more question. Nobody doubts

29:24

that this race will be very

29:27

close. And this is a situation

29:29

in which a single electoral vote

29:32

could change the outcome of the

29:35

election. And what Nevada

29:37

is doing is doing what 48 other states,

29:40

what they're trying to do is do what 48 other

29:42

states do, which is to award whoever

29:44

wins the state all the electoral

29:46

votes. Right now, Nevada and Maine,

29:48

I believe, are the two remaining

29:50

states who award electoral votes by

29:52

whoever wins the congressional district.

29:54

And of course, there's one blue dot

29:57

in Nevada, which is reliably Democratic and

29:59

Democrat. Democrats have counted on that. But

30:01

the difference between Donald Trump 2016 and Donald Trump 2024

30:04

is he never expected to

30:07

be president in 2016. He

30:09

thought it was a way to get attention. He was going to get a

30:12

bunch of press and then go endorse Chris Christie. And

30:14

then next thing he knew he was president. So he

30:16

stumbled into it, but he's not stumbling this time. I'm

30:19

not saying that he knows the electoral map, but

30:22

he's got people who do. And they understand how

30:24

close this election could be. And

30:26

that it's really important to take advantage of all

30:28

of those. So they are they're doubling down in

30:30

Nevada right now. And they're going to do all

30:32

they can to get that single electoral vote, because

30:35

there's certainly a scenario on which one electoral vote

30:37

could swing this election. Just I'm

30:39

going to correct you quickly. I know you mean it,

30:41

Nebraska, not Nevada. Juanita, this still

30:43

did not gain any

30:45

traction until far right activists

30:48

started an aggressive pressure campaign

30:50

against the government. Is

30:53

this just another example of who really

30:55

is in charge of the GOP right

30:57

now? Trump sends out the

30:59

hounds and they go for whoever is in charge.

31:03

It's not only a question of who's in charge

31:05

of the GOP right now. I think that's explicitly

31:07

clear that it's controlled by the extremist parts

31:09

of that party. But it's

31:11

also about how Republicans are so ready

31:13

to change a system

31:15

of how a president is selected

31:17

months before an election. They're intentionally

31:20

trying to interfere with the election

31:22

in a preemptive way. And that

31:24

is something that's clearly out of

31:26

Trump's playbook. Right. Like

31:28

he's already making these claims about the integrity

31:31

of the election, but it's him and Republicans

31:33

who are also trying to change those rules.

31:36

And that's something that should give everyone

31:38

alarm and concern. I think I'm so

31:40

grateful to hear that latest reporting out of

31:42

Nebraska that it was rejected in the latest

31:45

vote. And I also appreciated hearing that the

31:47

author of the bill said that they don't

31:49

have the votes to overcome a filibuster if

31:52

it did go back onto consideration.

31:54

So that's something that's reassuring right now. But

31:56

like you said, this isn't a done deal.

31:58

We know Trump and Republicans. are going to

32:01

keep pushing. And if this election turns out

32:03

to be, what, a 269-269 split, that

32:07

is disastrous, because then it would go to

32:09

the House, which Republicans control, to be decided.

32:11

And that's something that should concern all of

32:13

the voters in this nation. Mark,

32:16

let's stick with alarming and the far

32:18

right, because we learned today that that

32:20

man who rammed into a barricade outside

32:22

the FBI Atlanta office is

32:25

a hardcore Trump supporter allegedly

32:27

linked to QAnon, which

32:29

is the epicenter of the craziest

32:31

of conspiracy theories. What do you make of

32:33

that? Well,

32:36

Stephanie, it's more evidence, not

32:39

that we needed any, that

32:42

the far right is picking up the

32:44

signals that they have

32:46

gotten for a long time from MAGA

32:49

land and from Trump. And

32:52

the way they interpret that language and

32:54

those signals from Trump land is manifest

32:56

itself in this kind of violence. So

33:02

the great fear that I have, and a lot of

33:04

other people do, is that this

33:07

may be one isolated incident, but there are

33:09

more and more of them all the time.

33:11

And that's the sort of

33:13

thing that led to January 6. Then it's the

33:15

sort of thing that if accumulated, could

33:18

lead to another situation just like

33:21

that in the next election. So

33:23

it's just,

33:26

one is a point and two is a

33:28

pattern and three is a problem. How

33:31

about this problem that some are

33:33

getting strategic? Juanita, NBC identified

33:37

seven candidates who are running for office

33:39

this year who were either at

33:41

the Capitol on January 6 or

33:44

attended the rally beforehand. How

33:46

concerning is that? They're not just breaking the

33:48

law. Some are looking

33:50

to become lawmakers. Right.

33:54

It's the same thing that we saw in

33:56

2022 when those same type of profiles of

33:58

candidates were running for secretaries. state positions,

34:00

running for congressional seats. It's the same

34:02

thing that's going to keep happening because

34:05

not only have they drunk the Trump

34:07

Kool-Aid and they're fully on board with

34:09

that MAGA movement, but they fully intend

34:11

to continue to inflict harm at multiple

34:13

levels of government. And that is the

34:16

concern here. And I appreciate the conversation

34:18

around the impact, the enduring impact of

34:20

Trump's election lives because that's not just

34:22

going to stop with these candidates. That's

34:25

going to continue with the threats that

34:27

we've seen in passing the election workers,

34:29

the threats and bomb threats called into polling

34:31

places across the country in every election since

34:33

2020. And so that's where this

34:36

concern is going to continue. And it's

34:38

likely to only going to increase and

34:40

get worse as we get closer to

34:42

November. And so I'm looking

34:44

honestly to Congress, to federal officials,

34:46

to election workers and secretaries of state

34:49

across the country for what protections they're

34:51

putting in place to make sure this

34:53

election can happen free and fair and

34:55

without threats to the people and the

34:57

volunteers working out the polls. Mark,

34:59

it's alarming that these kind of people are

35:02

running for office, but it's a losing strategy

35:04

for the GOP. I'm thinking the state of

35:06

Maryland, the state of Pennsylvania, where far right

35:08

people ran for governors and you know what

35:11

they currently are? Unemployed. Well,

35:16

yeah, Steph, except in Trump

35:19

world now, election denial is the

35:21

price of admission. You must be

35:23

willing to say that the election

35:25

was stolen. And

35:29

if not, not only are you not

35:31

a, you know, you're not

35:33

a card carrying member of MAGA, but

35:36

increasingly you have to be an election denier

35:38

in order to even run for office. But

35:40

as you said, it's a short term gain

35:42

in primaries and with MAGA

35:45

supporters, but long term it's

35:47

got consequences as it should. All

35:50

right, then. Mark, Juanita, thank you both for being

35:52

here tonight. When we come back, the

35:55

segment I'm most excited about this

35:57

evening, a history making night for

35:59

women's basketball. viewership shattered records

36:01

with more than 12 million

36:04

people tuning in. What

36:06

this explosion in popularity

36:08

means for women's sports

36:11

and all sports. Lee

36:13

Levitvala continues. Time

36:16

for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. Wake

36:19

up and bagelize. Get your taste buds

36:21

ready for McDonald's breakfast bagel sandwiches. Now

36:23

just three dollars only on the app.

36:26

Choose from a delicious steak and cheese bagel.

36:28

Bacon egg and cheese bagel or sausage egg

36:30

and cheese bagel. Just three dollars when

36:32

you order ahead on the app. Hurry and

36:34

seize this breakfast steal before it's gone. Offer

36:37

valid one time daily March 11th through

36:39

April 7th 2024 participating McDonald's. Must opt

36:41

into rewards. When

36:43

it comes to teaching kids and teens about money,

36:46

practice makes perfect. That's where

36:48

green light comes in. With a debit

36:50

card and money app of their own,

36:52

kids learn to earn, save, spend wisely

36:55

and invest. Parents send instant money transfers,

36:57

create custom chores and automate allowance while

36:59

kids track their spending, set savings goals

37:02

and practice money skills they can use

37:04

today and for life. Get

37:06

one month free when you sign up at greenlight.com. Monday

37:27

nights rematch between Iowa Star

37:29

point guard, Kaitlyn Clark and LSU's phenomenal

37:39

forward Angel Reese made history

37:41

as the most watched women's

37:43

college basketball game ever with

37:45

12.3 million viewers. Here to

37:47

talk about this amazing moment

37:50

in women's sports are two

37:52

amazing women in the world

37:54

of sports. Former WNBA star

37:56

Lachina Robinson as she is

37:58

a TV host. and

38:00

women's basketball analyst and co-founder at

38:03

Rising Media Stars, and Jamel Hill,

38:05

contributing writer to the Atlantic and

38:07

host of the Must Listen podcast,

38:09

Jamel Hill is Unbothered. LaGina,

38:12

you had a post today that was

38:14

just so extraordinary. I wanna share it

38:16

with our audience where you wrote, "'For

38:19

every former women's basketball player "'that had to

38:21

play in an empty gym, "'and

38:24

you went to college before the digital

38:26

era, "'so you might get one TV

38:28

game, "'and your mom wrote into the

38:30

newspaper "'every time they didn't print the

38:32

women's scores. "'12.3 million is for you.

38:37

"'You matter then, and you still

38:40

do.'" How does this moment

38:42

feel right now? This

38:46

moment feels incredible for

38:49

a lot of people. When you think about

38:51

it, title nine is 52 years old, so

38:53

women have been playing sport at

38:55

the collegiate level, and there

38:58

have been more opportunities for women to play sports for

39:00

the last 52 years, but we

39:02

still not had equity in other areas,

39:04

especially when it comes to media

39:07

coverage, when it comes to dollars

39:09

from sponsors, all the things that

39:11

allow sport for women to truly

39:13

grow or that they needed to have

39:15

to help the sport for women really

39:17

grow, they didn't have. And what

39:19

we're seeing right now is really the perfect

39:21

storm. First of all, we're watching a generation

39:24

play basketball that's never been without the WNBA.

39:26

So with a professional women's basketball

39:29

league with 144 of the

39:31

best players of the world, the Kaitlyn Clark's,

39:33

the Angel Reese's are now looking up to

39:35

the Asia Wilsons of the world, and we've

39:37

had the Lisa Leslie's that have

39:39

even gone before then. So you have a

39:41

generation that has had something to aspire to,

39:44

and they've also had their phones where

39:46

they could pick it up and Google

39:48

and watch highlights and really learn the

39:50

game electronically. And that's a

39:52

big part of the growth that we're seeing. Yes,

39:55

we love what these players do

39:57

between the lines, in particular this generation and

39:59

college now. playing basketball at a high

40:01

level, as well as the WNBA. We're also

40:03

learning more about them as people, their personalities,

40:05

what they're like off of the court. There

40:08

used to be a time where women's basketball,

40:10

women's sports had to wait for the media

40:12

to come to them. Now they

40:14

are their own media. They're owning their own

40:16

brands. We're learning more about them and they're

40:18

connecting with a more general audience because

40:21

we're learning about them off the court.

40:23

So it's a perfect form of a lot

40:25

of things. Finally, many of these major brands

40:27

are putting dollars in. I had heard a

40:29

number maybe two years ago that less than

40:32

1% of all sports sponsorships

40:34

were going to women. That's ridiculous. How

40:36

do you expect women's sports to grow

40:38

and have reach when there's just such

40:40

a shortage of investment? The question is

40:43

always, what comes first, the chicken

40:45

or the egg? And some people would say, oh,

40:47

we're waiting for women's sports to do big numbers

40:49

so we can invest. What's happened finally,

40:51

we've invested now. We've invested up front

40:53

and we're seeing the fruits of that

40:55

in a night like the other night

40:57

having 12 million viewers. I mean,

40:59

peaking at 16, they

41:02

say that no one watches women's sports. I

41:04

can't tell. Not anymore. What

41:06

is it about these young women,

41:09

Jamel, that over 12 million

41:11

people on Monday night and recently are

41:13

simply saying, I got to watch this.

41:16

What is it about this class and

41:18

this group of women? Well,

41:21

I think there's just a major storyline

41:23

to follow. I mean, this is a

41:25

repeat. This is a repeat matchup. The

41:28

grudge match being finally settled between LSU

41:31

and of course Iowa. The thing that

41:34

the women are allowed to do and in

41:36

a weird way, it feels

41:39

bizarre to praise it for this because

41:41

given that the fact that the men's players, they can

41:43

be wanted done, meaning that they can just spend a

41:45

year outside of

41:47

high school or in college or G league

41:49

or some other professional league and then they

41:52

can go on to the NBA. Because the

41:54

men are leaving men's college basketball so much

41:56

faster, I think narratives and storylines and you

41:58

don't get a chance to really follow

42:00

the players the same way that you used to, maybe 15,

42:02

20 years ago, the women have

42:04

all those things going for them. So

42:06

people have watched a Caitlin Clark

42:08

mature into a generational player. They've

42:11

watched Angel Reese mature into one

42:13

of the most dynamite beings

42:15

in women's college basketball. And so

42:17

all across the entire tournament, whether we

42:20

be talking about these two teams or

42:22

South Carolina, which is undefeated, you're able

42:24

to see stars that you have been

42:26

able to learn, stars you've been able

42:28

to watch. And this is all add

42:30

to that growth that LaChina was hinting

42:32

at. And with these two in particular,

42:34

look, with any form of sports, you

42:36

need drama and you need entertainment. So

42:38

you have the drama of Caitlin Clark

42:40

trying to submit herself as one of

42:42

the greatest ever by pursuing

42:44

a champion, by putting out the

42:47

defending national champions. You have that drama

42:49

going, you had a

42:51

lot of elements, juicy elements in this

42:54

game that made it must watch TV.

42:56

Now, if somebody who started covering sports

42:58

professionally in 1997, that

43:00

was around the time that the WNBA started

43:02

to see where the game is now, not

43:04

just at the professional level, but even at

43:06

the college level. I mean, this is the

43:09

most athletic, the most skilled that

43:11

this lead has ever been

43:13

both at the college and professional level. And to

43:15

just see it maturing and

43:17

the women as LaChina noted in

43:19

her wonderful Twitter post to see

43:21

the Lynette Wooders and the Cheryl

43:23

Millers knowing and the Nancy Lieberman

43:25

knowing what they gave to the game early

43:28

on when no one cared and to finally

43:30

see it become the product that it is.

43:32

And oh, by the way, this is just

43:34

the beginning and not really the beginning, this

43:36

is just an ongoing process because this sport

43:39

has been trending upward for a while to

43:41

see this finally taking root for women to

43:43

be able to say, look, 12.3 million viewers,

43:47

all those excuses, they go out the

43:49

window now and it's wonderful to see this

43:51

sport get its due. Well, ladies,

43:53

I hope this is just the beginning of

43:55

our conversation. There is so much more I

43:58

want to cover. Sadly, We are out

44:00

of time. Thank you both for being here.

44:02

This is a great story to tell. Please

44:05

come back soon. And on that

44:07

note, I wish you at home a very

44:09

good night. But don't go to bed just yet. You

44:12

can actually catch me tonight on Late

44:14

Night with Seth Meyers over on NBC.

44:17

So from all of our colleagues across the networks

44:19

of NBC News, thanks for staying up late. I'll

44:22

see you in about 30 minutes over

44:25

on NBC and here tomorrow. Good night.

44:46

Time for a quick break to talk about McDone's.

44:49

Wake up and bagelize. Get

44:51

your taste buds ready for McDonald's breakfast

44:53

bagel sandwiches. Now just $3 only on

44:55

the app. Choose from a delicious

44:57

steak, egg and cheese bagel, bacon, egg and cheese

44:59

bagel or sausage, egg and cheese bagel. Just

45:02

$3 when you order ahead on the app.

45:04

Hurry and seize this breakfast steal before it's

45:06

gone. Offer valid one time daily

45:08

March 11th through April 7th, 2024 at participating

45:10

McDonald's. Must hop into rewards.