Hi, good morning to you, Jay. Well, you're absolute
right about that. On one side of the building right
here, we have so many members of the media and that's
why we had to move to this side. You mentioned it bei
kind of like a circus. It because there's so many
people here who are really intensely involved in th
process and curious as well, even people who have been
walking along, wondering when will things happen today.
So let's talk about what we can expect for today. The
former president is expected to leave his home in New
Jersey and travel here to Washington DC for his initial
court appearance. And during that initial court
appearance right in this building behind me, it's
anticipated that he will be arraigned. An arraignment
is where someone enters a plea of guilty or not guilty.
And once that process is all said and done, once it's
under way, it could be pretty quick, but it's all abou
the build up and what happens in the hours and even the
days ahead of this. Remember, this has been a much
shorter process here because the indictment was
released on Tuesday and there was just a one day period
between today for the initial court appearance. And s
officials had to be very cautious about all of the
security measures that are being taken. So between last
night and this morning, we have seen barriers erected
all the way around the building. We got a heads up
about that being a possibility yesterday, when the
Department of Homeland Security Agents came and told us
that that would be the case. And now we see the
barriers all the way around the building. And of course,
this will be a effort between many different
organizations, local and federal agencies. So for
example, the local police department here in Washington
DC, the Metropolitan Police Department, they could be
involved here kind of all hands on deck situation. But
then you have those federal agencies, I mentioned t
Department of Homeland Security we have us Capitol
Police, we have secret service, we have us marshals,
that is what's on the tape of the barrier saying no one
beyond this point. And also keep in mind about where we
are. This particular courthouse is right in between the
White House, which is a few blocks in that direction
and about a block and a half in this direction is the
US Capitol. So this is an area that is very used to
these security procedures and protocol, but they can't
take anything for granted because the reason why we're
here today is because of January 6th. So of course,
there is heightened security because a high profile
figure will be coming here possibly to be arraigned
today. Yes, security was definitely top of mind there
and it was also the case in Miami where we were and
also in New York City for the classified documents ca
and also the hush money case, a lot of legal woes
surrounding the president. And when we were there in
both of those locations, you saw a lot of impassioned
responses from both trump supporters and trump critics.
What are you hearing from them as we prepare for this
arraignment in Washington DC It is very interesting
because now we're hearing from trump officials who are
saying that this was his first amendment right to speak
up on January 6th. So that is an argument that is now
emerging. You're hearing attorn start to echo that,
but then you're also hearing people say that he was not
supposed to do. That is one thing, but it's all about
the actions that were taken after that allegedly. And
some of these people who are now becoming critical or
people who have been in his inner circle, for example,
the former Attorney general of the United States, Bill
Barr, he spoke about this very issue last night. We
want for you to take a listen to that. At first, I
wasn't sure, but I have come to believe that he knew
well that he had lost the election. And now what, wha
I think is important is the government has assumed the
burden of proving that the government in their
indictment takes the position that he had actual
knowledge that he had lost the election and the
election wasn't stolen through fraud. And they're gonna
have to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. All right.
So the former president is expected to be here sometime
before this 4 p.m. court appearance in Miami, he showed
up earlier. So that's what's expected for today. Of
course, you can also expect a lot of traffic
implications in this area. Alex and James political
correspondent, Adra Burnett outside the courthouse in
DC. Thank you so much.