Is a special edition of The Lead.
As we see
Donald Trump leaving the Miami courthouse
where he just entered a not guilty
plea to all 37 counts in the indictment.
He is, of course,
the first former president
to become a criminal defendant
in a federal prosecution
in the great history
of the United States.
And Dana Bash,
one of the things that I think
we need to keep in mind
as we watch this
motorcade leave the courtroom
is that in all likelihood,
this is just the second
of four indictments
we will see Donald Trump facing.
The next two, we expect will be
for his efforts
to overturn the 2020 election.
One specific prosecution in Georgia
that we expect.
And the other
also from special counsel
Jack Smith about his role in January six.
Yeah, I mean,
we'll see
how the January six
part of the special
counsel's investigation plays out.
But when it comes to Georgia,
she's made clear it's going to happen
this summer.
She's already
sent alerts to law enforcement.
She did so, I believe, last month.
And so that was an indicator
that that is we're going to maybe see
at least round three
of this kind of thing.
But just watching this imagery
and listening to Caitlyn plants
talk about what it was like
in that courtroom,
again, to talk about
the former president's demeanor,
to have the
reality clearly set in like it
did in New York.
But there's no question
that this
feels different,
has to feel different to him.
This is a federal case.
This is a federal case that has
despite his,
you know, bombast
about how it's just politics,
a federal case
that has some really,
really serious charges against him.
And he knows it.
Yeah.
And Jamie can go
one of the things we've heard
is from
Republicans and not a ton of them,
but enough
talking about how serious
these charges are, possibly most
strikingly from Trump's own
former attorney general,
Bill Barr,
saying that
even if half
the charges in the indictment are true,
Trump is toast. Right.
But as we've seen with with Republicans,
we've seen, as you pointed out
earlier today,
Republicans who may have
a military background
seem to take this more seriously.
On the other hand,
we have
Nikki Haley said today
she would be inclined to pardon Trump.
We've had other Republicans,
I believe it was Mitch McConnell,
who said basically
he didn't want to comment on it at all.
So, by and large,
Marco Rubio
who is
the ranking member
of the Intelligence Committee,
was was dismissing it.
By and large, Republicans are still
standing with Donald Trump, at least
publicly, as well as fundraising.
I just want to come back to a point.
Can I just interrupt for one second?
Because people are probably watching
what we're wondering,
what we're watching,
which is
this is the Varsity Cafe in Miami.
You can see there is a group
of presumably Trump supporters.
It's a favorite famous
Cuban restaurant in Miami.
You see a group of
Trump supporters
presumably waiting for him and he may be
going in there.
And when that happens,
we will bring it to you. But please go.
Go ahead, Jamie,
with what you were saying.
My first job was in Miami.
I spent a lot of time, and that's a must.
It is a must go to
for Republicans on the campaign trail.
I know that we have said this every day,
but the question
we have to keep asking is why he did it.
To Dana's point, a federal indictment.
This is different.
Trump brought this day on himself.
He could have stopped it at any time
by simply giving back to duck
and just to
bring these two conversations together.
What we are watching Trump do right now
is cloak himself
in the politics of it all.
Surround himself
with his supporters,
with his acolytes,
with people who love him.
We are going to
probably go into a more quiet period
on the legal front for a little bit here
And in the meantime,
Trump is going to fill that time
with this,
and he's going to try
to obscure the facts of the case
that are in the indictment,
obscure the reality of the consequences
that he could face
with just more of the same
chance of a witch hunt,
so on and so forth.
And this is obviously
a very intentional moment
that he's trying to create here,
just to say that his support
we have been having a discussion
about whether or not
Republicans with titles
in front of their names
are changing their view.
But he's trying to say here
that his support really is not waning
among his supporters.
All right.
Let's listen in.
As the president shows up in an
hour.
Okay.
So we're
going to actually going to keep talking.
So John King,
the Cuban restaurant, a big hub for
the Cuban-American community
in in in Miami.
Randi Kaye is actually in the Eye Cafe
right now.
Randi, what are you seeing
I am at her side Cuban
restaurant in Little Havana.
And there is such a crowd here.
The motorcade has just arrived
from federal court in Miami.
And this was, of course,
an unannounced visit,
not an official visit.
Let's listen to that.
And so that is our crowd.
That is crowd cheering.
You hear me? Over them?
There is
just dozens of people here,
all with their phones,
all waiting for
a glimpse of the former president.
This is a very very popular
restaurant in a few weeks of
the year of 1971.
This is
a place where
almost every presidential candidate comes
or the last few decades just to
reach the Cuban vote.
These people are very excited
to be talking to some of them off
camera about the fact
that he may be making a stop here today
and they are in full support of him.
They don't buy the indictment
they don't believe it
and they just think he's he's
a great businessman and a strong man
and that is why they are supporting him.
But the scene here,
the entire road is closed off
There are dozens of police
and Secret Service
and a lot of very,
very passionate supporters.
We are waiting for the president
to be former president, to be inside,
to greet some of the people here
who have been waiting.
Now, it's just like 4 hours
And John King,
one of the things, obviously,
that Donald Trump
and his supporters are trying to do here
and it's obviously
preposterous is compare himself
And the fact that he is being
that he has been arrested
and indicted now in two different locales
and it may happen in other places,
trying to compare himself
to the political persecution
faced by Cuban-American Cubans,
by the communist government of Cuba.
It is absolutely a preposterous
suggestion in comparison.
But they are attempting
to make a giant case. Yes, he is.
This is a witch hunt
by a partizan justice department
by his opponent in the next
election is likely
a part of the next election.
That is the Trump argument.
It's also an effort, Jake, to show
I'm fine, I'm good.
I'm out campaigning I'm with you.
You know, they're coming after me.
When they're done with me,
they're coming after you.
That's the whole persecution
theme he makes.
But, you know,
food for everyone and food for
food for everyone.
Class.
He says they're up.
So this is this is this is the visual
he wants. I just left the courthouse.
I'm good.
I'm going to campaign,
I think, critically.
He's going to get on his plane from here.
He's going to a fundraiser
tonight in New Jersey,
and then he's going to speak.
I think what he says
tonight will be more important
for the pictures
we are seeing right here.
But again, this is Trump.
So there is you can see Walt, not
his codefendant, is there?
Not not.
They see him.
He's the guy
behind the guy with the Miami hat.
He's Trump's body guy.
He's in with a maroon tie
towards the left of your screen.
That's Walt, not a Trump's codefendant.
Also accused of obstruction
of justice and the various charges.
Remember, it is a 37 count indictment
and Donald Trump
has been charged with 37 charges.
Not a charged with,
I believe, six of those charges.
Ali.
Joe and again as we watch
Donald Trump attempt to turn his arrest
and indictment
into some sort of campaign commercial,
we need to remember that
the reason we are watching
this is because Donald Trump is accused
of breaking some very serious
national security laws
and then obstructing
and refusing to cooperate with the FBI,
whatever this spectacle is
that's unfolding before us.
Let's remember what this case is about.
Let's remember what
this indictment charges against.
Donald Trump is charged
with a series of federal felonies
for mishandling
the most sensitive government documents
that we have
and for obstruction of justice,
along with what Nada,
who is charged with intentionally
setting up lies
to the grand jury, to the FBI.
Anyway, you look at this
and again, despite
whatever may be going on
in that restaurant,
this case isn't going to be settled
legally in a cafe
it's going to be settled in the court
based on the facts in law,
the folks in the control room.
I don't need to see any more of that.
This he's trying to turn this
and he's trying to turn it
into a spectacle, into a campaign
ad that's enough of that.
We've seen it already.