WEEKEND THAT MAY HAVE SAVED THE MOVIE SEASON AFTER DISAPPOINTMENTS. >>> LET'S DIVE INTO THE NEWS. A DATE HAS BEEN SET FOR THE FIRST FEDERAL TRIAL OF A FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ON FRIDAY, JUDGE AILEEN CANNON ANNOUNCED THAT DONALD TRUMP WILL BE DUE IN COURT ON MAY 20th, 2024, TO FACE 37 COUNTS RELATED TO HIS ALLEGED MISHANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS. YOU'LL RECALL THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAD ASKED FOR THE TRIAL TO BE HELD IN EARLY DECEMBER OF THIS YEAR, WHILE TRUMP'S TEAM REQUESTED IT BE POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER THE ENTIRETY OF THE 2024 ELECTION. SO HERE, JUDGE CANNON APPEARS TO SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE, WRITING IN PART THIS, THE COURT REJECTS DEFENDANT'S REQUEST TO WITHHOLD SETTING A SCHEDULE NOW. NEVERTHELESS, THE GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSED SCHEDULE IS ATYPICALLY ACCELERATED AND INCONSISTENT WITH ENSURING A FAIR TRIAL. AND NEWS ON THE DOCUMENTS CASE COMES AS TRUMP AWAITS OTHER POSSIBLE CHARGES FOR HIS ALLEGED EFFORTS TO INTERFERE IN THE 2020 ELECTION RESULTS. IN A SERIES OF POSTS ON TRUTH SOCIAL LAST NIGHT, THE FORMER PRESIDENT RAILED AGAINST WHAT HE FALSELY CLAIMS IS INTERFERENCE FOR THE 2024 RACE. ONE MESSAGE READ IN PART THIS, "DO THEY UNDERSTAND THE DAMAGE BEING DONE TO AMERICA? IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. WE MUST STOP THESE MONSTERS FROM FURTHER DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY." TRUMP ALSO SHARED THIS OMINOUS POST WHICH READ, "NOTHING CAN STOP WHAT IS COMING. NOTHING." IF THERE WAS ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE MEANING BEHIND THAT MESSAGE, THE USER WHO INITIALLY POSTED IT LATER RE-TRUTHED HIMSELF, THIS TIME WITH A QANON SLOGAN AS A HASHTAG, DIRECTED AT THE SO-CALLED LEADER OF THE FAR-RIGHT GROUP. OF COURSE, SOME OF THIS LANGUAGE, AS WE HEARD ALSO IN THE RADIO INTERVIEW AT THE VERY TOP, SAM, COMES WITH THE OMINOUS WARNINGS SURROUNDING JANUARY 6th. WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY. DOESN'T SEEM DONALD TRUMP IS BEING PARTICULARLY SUBTLE HERE. >> NO, I MEAN, IT'S THE SAME NOTES OVER AND OVER AGAIN, SAME STUFF WE HEARD PRIOR TO JANUARY 6th. REALLY OMINOUS. ENOUGH OF IT IS VAGUE THAT HE CAN GET AWAY BY SAYING HE NEVER ACTUALLY INCITED WHAT'S TO COME. BUT, YOU KNOW, THE TRIAL DATE COMBINED WITH THE LIKELY FACT HE WILL BE THE NOMINEE MEANS THAT SOMETIME IN THE SPRING OF 2024, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A TINDERBOX OF A POLITICAL SITUATION, WHICH IS TRUMP IS COMING OUT OF THE PRIMARY VICTORIOUS, THIS TRIAL BEGINS, MAYBE ONE OF SEVERAL ON THE HORIZON, AND THIS TYPE OF MESSAGING IS ONLY GOING TO BE AMPLIFIED, RIGHT? HE'S GOING TO SAY THIS IS WHY -- YOU'RE DOING THIS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ELECTION. YOU'RE TRYING TO DIMINISH MY STANDING. THIS IS THE ONLY THING YOU HAVE GOING FOR YOU. THEN WE'LL SEE WHERE THAT GOES. YOU KNOW, LOOK, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE HEARING ON THE HILL OR WHAT YOU'RE HEARING FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, BUT I HAVE TO IMAGINE THAT THEY READ THESE THINGS, THEY SEE THESE THINGS. INTERNALLY, HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT IF YOU ARE SITTING THERE AND YOU'RE MERRICK GARLAND OR ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED IN THESE PROSECUTIONS? >> WELL, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" HAD AN INTERESTING DIVE OVER THE WEEKEND ABOUT THE BUDGET THAT JACK SMITH HAS SET. IT'S AROUND $25 MILLION A YEAR, FUNNELED JUST TO TRUMP PROSECUTIONS. AMONGST THE POOL OF MONEY, $1.9 MILLION, I BELIEVE IT IS, IS GOING TO SECURITY FOR MERRICK GARLAND AND SECRET SERVICE DETAIL BECAUSE OF THE LEVEL OF THREATS. IT'S CLEAR THAT THE FORMER PRESIDENT HASN'T CHANGED HIS BEHAVIOR IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, RILING UP HIS SUPPORTERS IN WAYS THAT CAN ULTIMATELY END IN, AS WE ALL SAY, REALLY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS. BUT, YOU KNOW, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN HERE, THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN IS REALLY IN AN UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION RIGHT FOU. HAS THERE BEEN A CANDIDATE SIMULTANEOUSLY TOGGLING MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS? >> IT'S A RHETORICAL QUESTION. >> YEAH. WHILE ALSO, YOU KNOW, CAMPAIGNING TO BE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES? AND RAISING RECORD AMOUNTS OF MONEY THAT ARE, IN THE SAME VEIN, GOING TO THE LEGAL BILLS? >> WE SHOULD NOTE, SUSAN, TRUMP SAID LAST WEEK HE RECEIVED A TARGET LETTER AS PART OF THE JANUARY 6th ELECTION INTERFERENCE INVESTIGATION. THERE'S SOME THOUGHT THAT AN INDICTMENT COULD COME AS EARLY AS AT SOME POINT THIS WEEK. THAT'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER MOMENT WHERE WE ALREADY KNOW -- TALK ABOUT THE TRIAL DATE SET THERE IN MAY. TO SAM'S POINT, IT IS PROBABLY COMING OUT OF THE PRIMARIES AT THIS MOMENT. HE'LL BE THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE. IT'S IN THE WINDOW BETWEEN THE PRIMARIES AND THE CONVENTIONS, BETWEEN WHEN THE GENERAL ELECTION RAMPS UP. WE MAY HAVE THE REPUBLICAN STANDARD BEARER FLYING FROM COURTROOM TO COURTROOM BECAUSE THERE IS A NEW YORK TRIAL DATE, TOO. WE'VE NEVER BEEN HERE. >> THERE IS THE LEGAL ISSUES. THE POLITICAL ISSUES, SEEMING TO BE, SO FAR, HELPFUL VERSUS HURTFUL TO HIM. THERE'S THE LOGISTICS, TOO. MULTIPLE TRIALS WILL BE GOING ON. SOME REQUIRE HIS ATTENDANCE. THE JUDGES HAVE TO COORDINATE SO THEY DON'T HAVE MORE THAN ONE AT A TIME REQUIRING HIS PRESENCE, NOT TO MENTION THE PRIMARIES IN THE CAMPAIGN. TO SAY WE'VE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE IS TO UNDERSTATE THE ENORMITY. I MEAN, THERE'S ALMOST A COMIC ASPECT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CALENDAR FOR NEXT YEAR. >> I MEAN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT MAY, FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THIS IS KIND OF THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO, RIGHT? YOU HAVE HIM HAVING TO GO TO COURT, AND DEFENDANTS ARE GOING TO LIKE THAT. REPUBLICANS SEEING ALL THAT INFORMATION COMING OUT, TO SEE HIM FLYING AROUND THE COUNTRY GOING TO THE VENUES, TALKING TO JUDGES, MAYBE PLEADING THE FIFTH BECAUSE IT'S HARD TO SEE HOW HIS LAWYERS ALLOW HIM OR WANT HIM TO TALK IN THESE MOMENTS. THAT IS GOING TO BE TOO LATE TO CHANGE ANYTHING. THAT MAN, IF HE IS THE NOMINEE AT THAT POINT, HE WILL BE THE NOMINEE IN NOVEMBER. IT IS HARD TO SEE HOW THE REPUBLICANS GET OUT OF THIS ONE. YOU KNOW, I TALKED TO SOME FOLKS OVER THIS WEEKEND. THEY SAID, "WELL, YOU KNOW, WE COULD, IF THINGS GO REALLY BAD, WE COULD TRY TO FLIP IT AND GET A NEW PERSON," LIKE THEY HAD AN IDEA OF IN 2016 AFTER THE "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" TAPES CAME OUT. THAT IS NOT GOING TO WORK. I DON'T SEE, ESPECIALLY AS WE HAVE THE BARELY VEILED THREATS WORKING OUT, AND IF THE REPUBLICANS HAVE THE GALL TO DO IT AT THIS POINT. >> THERE'S NO SIGN SHOWING THE REPUBLICANS WANT TO DO THIS. THIS IS THE DIRECTION THAT THIS TRUMP-DEFINED REPUBLICAN PARTY IS HEADING, AND NOT UNHAPPILY. >> YEAH, TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS. IT MAY HELP HIM THIS YEAR IN THE PRIMARIES. COULD BE DIFFERENT IN THE GENERAL ELECTION. THE WHITE
