Speaker 1: We have now learned that Donald Trump's first criminal trial. We don't know if there will
be more than one. We will see. Trump's first criminal trial has been set for March of 2024,
and this is going to be taking place right in the middle of the 2024 presidential election,
right when the Republican electorate may be choosing or close to choosing their nominee for
2024. And this could be absolute and total chaos. This Republican primary is already going to be,
I believe, the most insane I will have ever covered with Ron DeSantis announcing tonight that
he is entering the race. Trump already massively triggered by that news. I believe that this is
going to be a completely bonkers primary. It could become even crazier by what we learned from CNN
yesterday. A New York judge has set a trial date of March 25, 2024, for the criminal case against
former President Donald Trump, potentially setting up a media spectacle in the middle of
the Republican primary. Yeah, I think it's more than just the potential to create a spectacle.
The trial date was set during a brief hearing Tuesday in which the judge read Trump an order
on what he can and cannot say publicly about the case. I'm sure Trump is going to abide by that,
right? Trump appeared remotely via video feed so the judge could communicate with him in open
court. Remember that Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony counts. We talked about that.
We covered it live during the hearing. Trump could be seen speaking and gesturing to his attorney,
Todd Blanch, sitting next to him. But audio was not audible. At times, he sat back with
his arms crossed. The former president only spoke to confirm he had a copy of the protective order.
Yes, I do, he said. Trump's attorneys said that the former president remains concerned that the
order infringes on his First Amendment rights. Quote, He understands he has to comply with the
order, and if he doesn't do so, he's violating your order. Mershon reiterated, That's the judge,
that there is not a gag order in place. Trump can publicly defend himself against the allegations,
saying It is certainly not my intention to impede Trump's ability to campaign for president. He's
free to defend himself. He's free to campaign. He is free to do just about anything that does
not violate the specific terms of the protective order and said if he does violate that order,
he could end up being sanctioned. This is going to be completely bonkers. The next hearing is
January four. So the timeline is as follows. Defense motions are do a couple of days before
the end of August. Prosecutors must respond by the 10th of October. The next hearing is January 4th,
2024, which might be the first court date of 2024. January 4th. No, that's a Thursday.
And then this is all going to move forward to trial reportedly in March. Now, there
is one motion filed by Trump's lawyers which could completely upend this. Trump's lawyer,
this is from the same CNN article. Trump's lawyers have filed a motion to move the criminal case to
federal court, arguing that these crimes are tied to Trump's duties as president.
The defense request to move the case to federal court doesn't pause the state court schedule. A
hearing in federal court is scheduled for next month. So this there are so many ifs, ands and
buts about when and how this is actually going to go forward. If it does get moved to federal court,
it's going to be a completely different situation that then we will have to potentially have a new
schedule from the ground up. If this schedule remains, this could end up all leading to a
trial of former President Donald Trump, a criminal trial on 34 felony counts. As mathematically Trump
is locking up the Republican nomination, or maybe not. The question is, if Trump does get arrested
again sometime between July and September by Fannie Willison, maybe there will be more charges
coming from the Mar a Lago documents fiasco on and on. This may this may destroy Trump's
chances even beforehand. But imagine that things stay as they look right now. Trump with an easy
lead over Ron DeSantis. But Ron DeSantis stays in, maybe even wins a couple of primaries. Maybe
DeSantis wins the Florida Republican primary in a couple others in March, march into April, when
this trial may be happening. The guy who is on trial for 34 criminal counts could at that exact
same time be securing the Republican nomination. What will that be like? I don't know. Completely
unprecedented. And at this point, we will wait and see whether the trial is moved to federal court.