Name: Demolition of Liberty Street Apartments in Durham
Uploaded: 2022-11-15T15:26:00-0500
Duration: 1419552
Description: The demolition is part of the city's plan to revitalize Durham and improve affordable housing alternatives in or near downtown. The new Elizabeth Street Apartments will replace the distressed HUD-assisted housing and will break ground in 2023.

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The demolition is part of the city's plan to revitalize Durham and improve affordable housing alternatives in or near downtown. The new Elizabeth Street Apartments will replace the distressed HUD-assisted housing and will break ground in 2023.

today, one of our residents. And so I promise uh Mr Lindsay that we will move him up in our program because he has to depart quickly so I'm going to get started, make a few comments and then we'll have comments from him. I assure you. My comments will be a lot shorter this week uh this time around because of this wonderful weather we have I want to let you get out and enjoy so All right, so this is this is the moment where I introduce myself again. Hello to everyone. My name is Anthony Snell. I am the director of real estate development for the housing authority. Welcome again. I had a number of you with me a few weeks ago when we talked about that we would be gathering again and then you probably didn't think it would be this soon and in this wonderful weather but surprised we're here a couple of weeks ago we met over J. J. Henderson to talk about the completion of the rehabilitation of the 177 units. And today we are here to talk about this wonderful milestone. We're here to talk and introduce and talk about the start of redevelopment at 5 19 East Main and Liberty as you can see in the background and here that is phase one demolition. This is where the Elizabeth Elizabeth Street apartments will go. They are removing uh eight buildings which will accommodate the 70 to 2 new units that are being built and there will be a family development. So um again we are very appreciative of you being here um there, I don't know if we have any uh city official city council members with us. If you are present, please stand. If not, I would like to recognize our border commissioners that are here, the D. H. A. Border commissions. Would you please stand? And then one other special recognition, I am going to ask all of the D. H. A. Staff that's present to please stand hope. Hope, stay, stay just one minute. I think it's very important to recognize our colleagues and to let you know this is the front line. This is the front line that shows up every day to make people's dreams come true. They show up every day to make people's lives better and I want to commend them and thank them for their tireless effort to get us to this day where we are seeing this wonderful milestone. So thank you because I did promise you I'm going to be short, we're gonna move on in our program and we're gonna move down to us special acknowledgement. And uh what I did say earlier, we will have one of our residents here at Liberty to come forward. Mr lindsey, Mr lindsey. How long have you been a resident here at Liberty? Okay. Yeah, when the kids moved on, so they grew up and they graduate from high school there. So there's no more babies around here. So it's just seniors and myself and a few other residents around here. So I think the transition is gonna be great and I'm excited and I hope that all the residents are excited about this program that's happening. Um So we'll have to wait to see what's gonna happen. Um I'm very sure it's gonna be good. Whatever turns out to be it's going to be special. So I thank y'all. Um and sometimes I think in the future maybe we can get the homeless on board as well. Um Maybe they can come up something with the homeless, I'm not sure, but there will be a great expense along with the development of Elizabeth Street and D. H. A. Um so it's been a long time coming, but it's about to happen right now and I thank y'all let me share this experience with y'all, y'all have a blessed day, Thank you. That's right. Thank you Mr Lindsay, at this moment we will um hear from mr scott the ceo of D. H. A. I have a much longer speech, I'm just kidding. Uh so, good afternoon and thank you all for participating. Um I have in my notes Anthony for the employees to stand, we we never coordinate with these things, but oh no, I definitely will because of one of the things that I wanted to make sure we did for this event was make sure all of our employees would have an invitation to be here. Um And I want to thank the women and men of D. H. A. Who come to work every single day in an effort to make our community is a great place to live and I'll talk a little bit about the challenges that they have in a few. And also I wanted to talk about our residents. So Mr Lindsay is on his way to work, that's why he had to go so quickly. Um he said I'm already late. I said okay well we'll get you there. Um but you know, our families of D. H. A. Come from a whole variety of backgrounds and experiences from victims of domestic violence to to just everyday people who are trying to live their lives. Single parents, families of all types and those families have the same hopes and dreams that all of us have, they want a good quality house to live in, they want a great neighborhood to be in, they want to place it safe. And that's really the impetus for why we are approaching this work the way we are The liberal streets, apartments represents the first phase of our demolition and rebuilding of housing. Now a few weeks ago we were here for the announcement of the $40 million dollars choice neighborhoods grant and then a few weeks later we were at J. J. Henderson celebrating the complete renovation of that building. But this is the first step in tearing down and rebuilding that we've taken and that's why we wanted to make sure we had a moment to recognize this. Uh we didn't know it would be quite so cool with you know literally or the backdrop of demolition going on. Um And because of the weather unfortunately won't be able to let anybody go out and do any damage. So maybe maybe at the next phase we'll get you on a backhoe or something and let you tear up some stuff. Um But we're using this model to reduce our dependence on Congress. Historically, housing authorities going back to the to the initial formation of public housing. We were well funded by Congress More recently in the last 2 3 decades. We haven't been It's been to the extent of about $70 billion dollars that we are behind in funding that we should get nationally. Those are Hudson numbers. We know however from the work that we've been doing over the last few years that that number is significantly higher. Our strategy under D. D. M. P. is to bring a variety of incomes all in one place so that we can diversify the needs of the financial needs that we have in these developments so that we're not just relying on an average of $238 a month of rent but we have a whole variety of incomes of rent that come in. That one creates stability in our day to day operations and then to it gives us stability for those long term capital needs that we have which has been at the heart of so many of the issues that we face in our public housing. And I'll just give you a quick example. So we had a study done on all of our public housing. It's called the Physical needs Assessment. The work that needs to be done in our public housing over the next five years is about $48 million. We we are projected to get over the next five years, about $20 million. So that just makes the problem get worse and worse and worse. This approach that we're taking is a way for us to make a difference and how we are able to house our families and manage our families and we create a great socio economic environment at the same time. So here are the key elements for us the D. D. M. P. D. H. A. S. Downtown and neighborhood plan which is all the sites that we have in the surrounding areas. 447 total units 214 are on this site. J. J. Henderson. 177. So that takes care of the big chunk of that. 447 only thing left is the Force Hill Heights community D. D. M. P. is going to focus on turning that 447 units on 60 acres of land into over 2500 units of housing plus commercial and retail space. That's what we're doing with this D. D. M. P. Plan and that's just the first piece. We're going to do more work with our other public housing communities as well. So here the great things about the D. D. M. P. One, all residents who currently live here in good standing We'll have a chance to come back to the new units that we build to. The rents of our residents will still be based on 30% of their income. They're not gonna go up. That's one of the things that a lot of people say well why would you do this? And then people's rent they're gonna be the same. Three residents that live in the units currently have a first right of refusal meaning that they don't have to worry about. Will I be able to come back? Yes you'll be able to come back to the units that we build and order units that we create in other places For. We're gonna keep the same 447 units that are here For all the downtown areas. So they all may not be on this very site but now they're gonna be moved outside of the downtown area. So for example we talked about J. J. Henderson that's a renovation. All 177 units are gonna be there but right next door We're building another 80 unit development. Right so that's one of the places where we're putting some units that we might move say from here or from the towers there. We moved 20 units already to the Willow Street departments. We're gonna put some units at the new construction that's happening directly across the street from our office 3 30 300 East Main Street. And you know that construction is happening across the street. We're gonna have some units over there too. Even though we don't own those sites were still gonna be able to put units there. So it's a strategy that allows us to move some of our units around create these greater socio economic environments. But yet everybody gets to stay in downtown. We're not moving people out, which was something that I remember one of the criticisms we've got said, why don't you move them out where the land is cheaper? You can build it, we can build it for less less expense. And I said, well why would we do that to the families that have been here all these years? Downtown is coming something really exciting and dynamic and we're gonna go, let's move all the public housing residents out. We're not doing that. This is a home for our residents. It has been for 50 years. We're gonna continue to make it that way and we're building housing that's gonna allow them to continue to be a part of this vital downtown long into the future. So as I mentioned a few weeks ago, we celebrated J. J. And then we celebrated the $40 million dollar choice neighborhoods. Grant. And today we're celebrating the demolition of this first phase. This is the beginning of that total transformation of this site that has 214 units to 555 units on this site plus commercial and retail space on on the Main Street side. This is the first for door. Um and that you have a community that's welcoming for all income ranges from public housing to market rate. There will be market rate housing here as well. And guess what? There's gonna be no difference between the market rate housing units and the units that are gonna be occupied by former public housing residents. It's all gonna be the same. It's in creating a community that is welcoming for all that includes amenities such as play areas and computer centers and things of that nature green space. All of that is the center of what we intend to continue to create as a way for dorm to move forward. In short it's a community that we all want to live in. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Mr scott. Um Yes, one other thing I want to mention to you um as far as your next time to come visit us here. Uh It may be a little cooler. Uh we are hoping that we will invite you back at the end of january. Maybe the beginning of february where we actually break ground and start construction here. So this is clearing clearing the space for that new construction to start. Um at this point I would like to this spring what you owe um Commerce. Yes, Okay, so we man so many things that happened and they have to remind me of everything that that is happening. So um, as mr scott indicated um the in shortly thereafter, once we start the construction on Elizabeth Street we will have the financial closing for commerce. And in this area, if you look primarily in this area, this area will be demolished because we will have the Commerce Street apartments which will have two phases that would include a family phase and a seniors phase. And that will be actually the first phase of the choice neighborhood development Elizabeth Street is considered non choice commerce. It will be actually the first phase of the choice neighborhood. Um so I won't confuse you and won't confuse myself anymore with all of the phases. I think I would now like to ask mr Jonathan far to come forward for a Wall Street residential. Thank you. So, um I'm gonna make it short. Snell gave me a script and told me to stick to the script. So that's what I plan on doing. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Jonathan Farrar. I'm senior construction manager for laurel street responsible for demolition and new construction efforts in the Durham market like many of you. I'm a damn native and I had the pleasure of watching damn grow over the years. I'm even more thrilled to represent laurel Street here today for this project here. It's close to home for me and so I grew up in this area and I had friends and folks and all around here, so it really touches me, you know, right here in my heart to be able to work on this project and work closely with the city and Durham housing. So I really appreciate that opportunity. So, it's been an exciting time working with Laurel Street as we lead activities or mentioned J. J. Henderson. So we're also working on that in 5 19. So we've been working throughout the city here to help transform the Durham community. So we're excited to be partners with Durham Housing Authority in the city. We're equally excited about the start of demolition at 5 19 East Main Street and Liberty Street apartments here. So uh demolition we all mentioned being phases And what you see here today is part of Phase one, including the first eight buildings which were demolished here and were scheduled to finish that up at the end of the month. The eight buildings will be replaced by two new buildings that will be on this corner here on the corner of Elizabeth and Liberty and the two new buildings will total 72 new apartments and so were scheduled to complete those in the first phase of that in 2024. So these new apartments will be affordable to households from 30% median income Up to 80% of the media income in 2023 demolition and new development will continue the future phases of the master plan to redevelop 5 19 East Main Street as well as Liberty Street apartments. So today we in enthusiastically mark the beginning of a multi year, multi phased redevelopment that will transform this site this space into a modern, efficient ergonomic and nurturing environment to call home. So affordable downtown living with Lowell Street would like to say thank you to Mayor Mr scott, the city of Durham. Durham Housing Authority for trusting us with important chapter in Durham's history. So thank you. We look forward to working with you continued success on the project and God bless Mr scott. I think that concludes the special acknowledgements. Uh if you would like to do, I just want to say one thing. We had the mayor on the agenda, but she could not make it today. We talked last night and she apologized for not being here, but don't take it as a slight, but she definitely wanted to be here today. So that's the last piece. Okay. All right. You know, I would like to offer our chairman if he wants to make a comment before. I don't want to put you on the spot and I apologize if I do Anthony, I promise to be short too. Okay, now this is an exciting day for me. I joined the board in 2000 and I guess it was 14. and uh I'm amazed at what's happened in this period of time. I mean I'll just say this to start out with and I thought about it sitting here and you were talking about the mix of income When Anthony came to interview here. I picked him up at the airport and we talked about our vision for public housing on the way into town and he said two things that resonated me. He said, one is when I drive down the street in a community I won't do not want public housing to look any different from market rate apartments in the same community. Second, the second thing is I want to I want to make sure that we have in every uh if we get this job we move into the changes that we want to make, that we'll have mixed income in all those houses and mixed use and that's what we're doing and I'm excited about it and I think it just couldn't be a better time to be in public housing in Durham and I'm glad that I at least to be a part of thank you. Okay, that concludes our remarks. And at this moment I'm gonna ask the board and mr scott to step over here quickly for this wonderful photo op and we will have the opportunity for members of the press for interviews For select individuals. Yeah, okay. Staff do not go. Oh, that's it. Yeah. Watch out about this. Okay. Right. I don't know. Hey, snap. Yeah. What's next? What? Hey, chris chris everybody, Okay? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. She wants to grab him, too, so well together. Actually, they are in the car.

Sean Braswell

Demolition of Liberty Street Apartments in Durham 

The demolition of Liberty Street Apartments on Main Street in Durham is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

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Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner, we're going to see a nice day for it today as some high thin cloud cover, temperatures will be warm, but our humidity stays on the low side. And that means if you're planning to have lunch outside today, it looks lovely for that temperature in the triangle around 78 degrees, some high thin clouds, but it stays nice and dry and our humidity remains low. So we get the green light for lunch outside today for sure. High temperatures this afternoon definitely warm, much warmer than normal. 86 in Raleigh, 85 in Durham and 90 in Fayetteville hit 89 officially yesterday in Raleigh Durham and in Fayetteville. And that ended up at least at RDU as the hottest day that we've seen so far this year. So it'll be a couple degrees cooler than that today. You can see the thunderstorm icons there. We are likely to have some scattered storms but not until the evening, starting at around eight or nine o'clock this evening. Some scattered storms from the triangle area southward. Our normal high is 73. We're looking at temperatures well above that all the way through Saturday, but it does look like we may have some cooler temperatures by Sunday into Monday. Our pollen counts are very high for trees but not pine pollen. That yellow pine pollen that's so messy has really started to taper off now. But mulberry oak ash and maple are still very high out there. This is a look at our pollen counts. We tend to see the tree pollen really tapering off at the end of April but some grass pollen tends to linger into May. Here's a look at the big picture. We have a cold front that's dropping across our area rain free, but eventually it lifts northward as a warm front and that's when we'll have potential for some scattered storms, we'll pause it there at five o'clock. And as that front lists northward notice around eight or nine o'clock, we have a line of storms that develops. We'll have some heavy rain with this, some blustery conditions and a lot of us will end up seeing that potential for storms. We'll likely have, as I mentioned, some windy conditions but not severe criteria. Likely that's 58 mile per hour winds or stronger. It's not likely to be that strong. We added some rain to the forecast for Wednesday initially looked like it would be mostly cloudy, but the models have really jumped on board with some showers. This is a look at lunchtime. So some rain in our western counties and it's out of here by around four or five o'clock in the afternoon. So a quick shower, but we give it a 30% chance. And Futurecast even shows a tiny shower lingering. Say after dinner time, temperatures, as I mentioned are going to be warm but cooler on Sunday and Monday, we'll see a front that comes through and slides southward during the day's Sunday. Saturday looks like a small chance of a thunderstorm late in the day, but Sunday looks like it could be a bit wetter.

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Hey there. Good afternoon. I'm Noah Klein. Welcome to this afternoon's runs for Tuesday, April 16th 2024. Let's get going here with the Carolina pick three. That first pick three number is four. Second number nine. Third number is four and our pick three fireball number is seven. Joining me for this afternoon's drawing is our auditor from mcconnell and Jones L LP. Now let's move to the Carolina pick four. That first pick four. Number is four. Second number is zero. Third number is 0/4 number three. And our pick for a fireball number is six. The North Carolina Education lottery has contributed over $10 billion education. Thank you for your support. Get your winning numbers each day at 3 p.m. and again at 11:22 p.m. right here on your exclusive station for the North Carolina Education Lottery.

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Good evening. I'm Gay. Her, welcome to tonight's joining with this tax day Monday, April 15th, 2024. Well, let's get started today tonight with our Carolina pick three. Our first week numbers is six. Our second number is nine and the third number is seven and our pick three. Fireball number is nine. Joining me for tonight's show is our auditor from mcconnell and Jones L LP. Now let's move to the Carolina pick four. Good luck. Everyone who's that first one and pick four number. It's a six. Our second number is nine. Third number is five and our fourth number tonight here it comes, it is a four and our pick for fireball number is eight. We turn now to the Carolina Cash Drive. If no one wins the top prize tonight, tomorrow's top prize is estimated at $130,000. Good luck. Everyone who's that first win in cash five number. It's 40. Our second number is seven. Third number. Tonight is 15. Our fourth number is 22 and the final number in our cash drive this evening is a nine. The North Carolina Education lottery has contributed over $10 billion to education. Get your winning numbers right here every night in your exclusive station for the North Carolina Education lottery. Thanks for playing. Good night.

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Good evening, America. I'm Michelle Isles. Tonight. We've got another life changing jackpot for you in an estimated amount of $66.5 million. Get your tickets out. We'll start things off tonight with the number seven right after that America. We have 56. Let's congratulate the lucky 30 of Nashua New Hampshire who won $1 million. Your next number up tonight is 61 that's followed by 16 and we'll round it out tonight with 41 now for your winning powerball number. Good luck everyone. It is 23 and your power play multiplier is three. Let's take another look at those winning numbers. Remember there are multiple ways to win. We'll see you back here Wednesday night. Good night, everyone. It's time to play America's favorite jackpot game this.

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Watch former President Trump arrive at court for his hush money trial.

<p>ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, IF IT'S IN THE AFFIRMATIVE, WILL GIVE YOU A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF HOW THIS PARTICULAR JUROR VOTES. THE MERE FACT THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP, OR LIKE DONALD TRUMP, WILL NOT DISQUALIFY PEOPLE FROM THE JURY. THE TEST IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN, GIVEN WHAT YOU KNOW OR THINK ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR DEFENDANT, CAN YOU SET THOSE IDEAS ASIDE AND JUDGE THIS CASE FAIRLY ON THE FACTS AND THE EVIDENCE. THE CHALLENGE HERE IS JUST REALISM. THIS IS SOMEONE THAT IS SO DIVISIVE IN THIS COUNTRY AND WE'RE IN A COUNTY THAT VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN, HOW DO YOU SUSS THROUGH THAT. I ACTUALLY THINK NORMALLY PEOPLE TRY TO GET OFF JURY DUTY. I THINK SOMETHING THEY NEED TO GUARD FOR HERE IS THE STEALTH JUROR, SOMEONE WHO WILL APPEAR PLAIN, NEUTRAL, BUT WANTS TO GET ON THE JURY, MAYBE BECAUSE THEY HAVE AN AGENDA OR SIMPLY THEY KNOW THIS IS A PART OF HISTORY AND THEY WANT TO BE PART OF HISTORY. &gt;&gt; AND THAT CAN CUT BOTH WAYS, STEALTH JUROR. IT ONLY TAKES ONE JUROR TO SIDE WITH THE FORMER PRESIDENT AND YOU HAVE A HUNG JURY. YOU NEED A UNANIMOUS JURY TO GET A CONVICTION IN THIS CASE. &gt;&gt; EXACTLY RIGHT. IT'S OFTEN SAID IT ONLY TAKES ONE TO HANG A JURY, BUT REALITY IS, IF JURORS DELIBERATE, AND YOU ONLY HAVE ONE OR TWO IN THE ROOM, THEY USUALLY GET HARANGUED INTO CHANGING THEIR VOTE. JUST ONE JUROR CAN HANG THE ENTIRE CASE. AND BY THE WAY, SOME F THE TRADITIONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT JURY SELECTION ARE FLIPPED ON THEIR HEAD. A DEFENSE ATTORNEY LIKE ME, IF SOMEONE COMES IN AND HAS A CONNECTION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OR AN AFFINITY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, YOU WANT THEM OFF THAT JURY. MAYBE IN A CASE LIKE THIS, THAT'S EXACTLY WHO DONALD TRUMP WANTS ON THE JURY, GIVEN VOTING PATTERNS AND OTHER THINGS BEHIND OUR AREA, THIS IS A UNIQUE JURY SELECTION, AND LAWYERS ARE INVOLVED IN JURY SELECTION IN NEW YORK, WHICH IS UNUSUAL. IN FEDERAL COURT, FOR EXAMPLE, I DON'T SAY A WORD UNTIL I'M SPOKEN TO BY THE JUDGE. THEY HAVE ONE ON ONE ACCESS TO QUESTION THE JURORS. &gt;&gt; WHICH IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH SIDES TO SEE THE FACTS AND SEE THE JURY POOL. &gt;&gt; LET ME TURN BACK TO LAURA JARRETT. WE ARE AWAITING THE FORMER PRESIDENT TO WALK INTO THE COURTROOM. JUST THE SPECTER, HE'S REQUIRED TO BE THERE EVERY DAY. HE HAS INDICATED THAT HE WANTS TO TESTIFY. IF HE DOES, HIS LAWYERS CAN'T STOP HIM FROM DOING SO. HOW DO YOU EXPECT THAT TO PLAY OUT DAY BY DAY? &gt;&gt; Reporter: THE TRICK OF IT IS, SAVANNAH, HE'S BEEN IN THIS COURTROOM BEFORE. HE'S BEEN HERE OBVIOUSLY FOR HIS ARRAIGNMENT AND PRETRIAL HEARINGS. THIS IS DIFFERENT. HIS APPEARANCE IS NOT VOLUNTARY, HE'S REQUIRED TO BE HERE UNLESS HE GETS SPECIAL DISPENSATION FROM THE JUDGE, AND THE JUDGE HAS MADE IT CLEAR, HE EXPECTS HIM TO BE HERE EVERY SINGLE DAY, WHICH IN THE MIDDLE OF A REELECTION CAMPAIGN IS ALSO JUST EXTRAORDINARY AND UNPRECEDENTED IF YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT. IT WILLBE INTERESTING TO SEE WHO'S DRIVING THIS. YOU TALK ABOUT HIM SAYING HE WANTS TO TESTIFY. THAT OBVIOUSLY POSES EXTREME RISK FOR HIM ACROSS EXAMINATION. OBVIOUSLY HE WOULD BE IN THE WITNESS CHAIR THERE UNDER OATH AND WOULD HAVE TO TESTIFY TRUTHFULLY IN FRONT OF THIS JURY AS THEY ASSESS HIS CREDIBILITY, AND WE HAVE SEEN HIM TESTIFY BEFORE, JUST RECENTLY IN HIS CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL, HE INSISTED UPON TESTIFYING IN THAT CASE. AND WE KNOW HOW THAT ONE TURNED OUT. IT MAY BE THE CASE HE DOESN'T TESTIFY, IN WHICH CASE THE PROSECUTION CAN'T COMMENT IN FRONT OF THE JURY. HE HAS A RIGHT NOT TO TESTIFY LIKE ANY OTHER DEFENDANT. THROUGHOUT THE TRIAL, WE SEE THE POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN WHAT DONALD TRUMP THE CANDIDATE NEEDS TO DO AND WHAT HIS LAWYERS THINK IS IN THE BEST INTEREST FOR HIM. &gt;&gt; WE ALSO HAVE "MEET THE PRESS" MODERATOR, KRISTEN WELK WITH US. THERE'S PROBABLY NO QUESTION HE'LL TESTIFY ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS, THOUGH THERE IS A PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN THE CASE. WHAT IS THE TRUMP STRATEGY AS THIS CASE UNFOLDS? HE'S OFF THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AND IN A COURTROOM. HOW DOES HE INTEND TO BALANCE THOSE THINGS? &gt;&gt; IT'S A GREAT QUESTION. WE HAVE SEEN IT PLAY OUT THROUGHOUT HIS PREVIOUS COURT CASES IN WHICH HE HAS MADE USE OF THE CAMERAS OUTSIDE THE COURTROOM. TOLD BY VISER CLOSE TO DONALD TRUMP, HE AND HIS TEAM WILL MAKE USE OF EVERY AVENUE TO THE MEDIA POSSIBLE. NO SURPRISE THERE. HE'S A FORMER REALITY TV STAR, AFTER ALL. HE KNOWS HOW TO DO THIS. SAVANNAH, HE HAS BEEN VERY CLEAR HE PLANS TO BE OUT ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AS MUCH AS HE CAN AFTER COURT. COURT'S NOT GOING TO BE IN SESSION ON WEDNESDAY. EXPECT HIM TO BE OUT ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AS WELL. HE'S CLOSE TO NEARBY PENNSYLVANIA. BIG BATTLEGROUND STATES. EXPECT TO SEE PRESIDENT BIDEN IN PENNSYLVANIA, BY THE WAY, THIS WEEK. HE HAS THREE SEPARATE STOPS IN PENNSYLVANIA. OING TO TRY TO COUNTER PROGRAM THIS. DON'T EXPECT HIM TO TALK ABOUT THE COURT CASE. HE'S GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE ECONOMY, ABORTION, OTHER ISSUES THAT HE THINKS WILL RESONATE. WE JUST GOT NEW POLLING NATIONALLY SHOWING THAT THIS RACE IS AS TIGHT AS A TICK. ALL OF THIS COULD POTENTIALLY RESONATE WITH MODERATES, INDEPENDENTS IN THE CRITICAL BATTLEGROUND STATES. SAVANNAH. &gt;&gt; WE CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR EYES ON THOSE DOORS. WE EXPECT FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP TO WALK IN AS HIS CRIMINAL TRIAL, AN UNPRECEDENTED MOMENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY, A CRIMINAL TRIAL FOR A FORMER PRESIDENT BEGINS ANY MINUTE NOW WITH JURY SELECTION. I WANT TO TURN TO DANNY CEVALLOS, ONE OF THE LAWYERS ON OUR PANEL THIS MORNING. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CASE. THERE ARE FOUR CASES, CRIMINAL CASES PENDING AGAINST THE FORMER PRESIDENT. THIS IS THE NEW YORK CASE. THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF ANALYSIS OF THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE VARIOUS CASES. THIS IS THE WEAKEST LEGALLY. WHY IS THAT? &gt;&gt; IT'S PROBABLY THE MOST DEFENSIBLE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. NUMBER ONE, THE ORIGINAL THEORY OF THE CASE IS THAT TRUMP FALSIFIED BUSINESS RECORDS AND ADDITIONALLY BECAUSE HE WAS DOING THAT TO CONCEAL ANOTHER CRIME, IT'S ELEVATED TO A FELONY IN NEW YORK. THE OTHER CRIME IT IS A FEDERAL CAMPAIGN VIOLATION, WHICH REALLY IS AN UNUSUAL PLACE. IT'S A NOVEL THEORY. NST NEVER REALLY BEEN TESTED IN NEW YORK COURTS. FALSIFICATION OF BUSINESS RECORDS HAS BEEN TESTED. A CRIME THAT IS PROSECUTED. THE PROSECUTION MUST PROVE NOT ONLY THAT THE BUSINESS RECORDS WERE FALSIFIED BUT ADDITIONALLY THAT IT WAS IN CONCEALMENT OF A CRIME. THE DEFENSE THERE COULD SIMPLY BE IT WASN'T FOR CAMPAIGN PURPOSES. IT WAS TO REDUCE THE EMBARRASSMENT THAT I WOULD HAVE WITH MELANIA. OR YOU MIGHT SEE A DEFENSE OF I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. THOSE ARE OTHER PEOPLE, MICHAEL COHEN ACTED ON HIS OWN. THAT'S WHY I SUSPECT YOU SEE WITNESSES, HOPE HICKS, PEOPLE AROUND HIM AND MAYBE HEARD HIM TALK ABOUT THINGS. MICHAEL COHEN HAS CREDIBILITY ISSUES. BUT I HAVE TO SAY, THAT'S A CLASSIC THING THAT ALL COOPERATING WITNESSES HAVE. IF HE'S INTRODUCING DOCUMENTS, THE PROSECUTION WILL SAY THE DOCUMENTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. &gt;&gt; MICHAEL COHEN IS THE FORMER LAWYER, THE PERSON WHO EXECUTED THESE PAYMENTS AND LATER WAS REIMBURSED. HE HAS PLEADED GUILTY. AND WHEN YOUCOOPERATING WITNESS LIKE THAT, THEY HAVE CREDIBILITY PROBLEMS. THE PROSECUTORS WILL HAVE TO SHORE HIM UP WITH CORROBORATING EVIDENCE. &gt;&gt; THEY ARE. THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TRY TO USE SOME DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE. THERE'S ONE RECORDING WE KNOW ABOUT. NOT ABOUT STORMY DANIELS, THE PORN STAR INVOLVED IN THESE HUSH MONEY PAYMENTS. THERE'S ANOTHER ONE, THE FORMER PRESIDENT IS ON TAPE DISCUSSING HOW THE REIMBURSEMENT SCHEMES WILL WORK. PROSECUTORS WANT TO BRING IN ALL OF THAT TO FLESH OUT THE STORY. THEY WANT TO SHOW A PATTERN OF SUPPRESSING A BUNCH OF STORIES LEADING UP TO THE ELECTION, ALL IN SERVICE OF TRYING TO KEEP WHAT THEY SAY, PROSECUTORS SAY WAS DAMAGING INFORMATION FROM THE VOTERS. AS DANNY LAID OUT, THE DEFENSE IS GOING TO CONTINUALLY SAY THIS WASN'T ABOUT KEEPING INFORMATION FROM THE VOTERS BECAUSE THE VOTERS WOULD HAVE NEVER SEEN HOW I WAS DOCUMENTING ON MY BOOKS AND RECORDS. THIS WAS ABOUT A PERSONAL ISSUE, EMBARRASSMENT, KEEPING THE ISSUE FROM HIS WIFE, SAVANNAH. &gt;&gt; AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW THE PUBLIC WILL REACT, HOW THIS WILL PLAY POLITICALLY. OF ALL THE FACTS THAT ARE PENDING, THIS IS CERTAINLY THE STEAMIEST. THIS IS THE MIEST SETTLE OF FACTS. &gt;&gt; IT'S A SET OF FACTS THAT WAS KNOWN BEFORE THE PRESIDEWAS ELECTED IN 2016. IT WAS IN THE PUBLIC EYE PRIOR TO ELECTION DAY. &gt;&gt; A PORN STAR WHO HE ACKNOWLEDGES HAVING AN CONSENSUAL AFFAIR WITH. &gt;&gt; DENIES WRONG DOING. THE POLITICS IS INTERESTING BECAUSE THE TIMING PIECE, SAVANNAH. YOU BROUGHT UP THE IDEA THAT THIS IS PERCEIVED TO BE POTENTIALLY THE WEAKNESS CASE FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE. THOSE CLOSE TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT SEE A POLITICAL ADVANTAGE IN THIS CASE COMING UP FIRST AND NOT THE FEDERAL ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE AND NOT THE CASE INVOLVING THE MISHANDLING, ALLEGEDLY OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS HERE. THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE ONE WE'RE SITTING HERE TALKING ABOUT, IN THE PUBLIC EYE, THEY SEE THIS AS POTENTIALLY USEFUL BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT IT IS KNOWN INFORMATION, IT IS HAPPENING IN NEW YORK CITY, WHERE THE FORMER PRESIDENT HAS AND CAN SAY, LOOK, IT'S MANHATTAN, THERE ARE A BUNCH OF DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO BE OUT TO GET ME. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE NAMES COMING UP. YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN FOR FLASHING BACK TO 2016. THAT IS THE VIBE. HOPE HICKS, WHO WE HAVEN'T SEEN FOR OR HEARD FROM IN YEARS. &gt;&gt; STORMY DANIELS WILL TESTIFY, KAREN McDOUGAL, ANOTHER WOMAN CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN PAID OFF. SHE MAY BE A POTENTIAL WITNESS. &gt;&gt; THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER" FOLKS INVOLVED IN THE CATCH AND KILL SCHEME, YOU SEE THE LIST OF POTENTIAL WITNESSES. WE ARE EXPECTING TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT POSSIBLY AS EARLY AS TODAY, THESE WERE ALL NAMES WE WERE HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT, WHO ARE COMING BACK AND RELIVING, AS YOU PUT IT, SOME OF THE STEAMY DETAILS OF WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED HERE. &gt;&gt; DANNY, ONE OF THE ISSUES, AND WE ONLY HAVE A COUPLE OF SECONDS LEFT, IS TIMING. THE FORMER PRESIDENT CAN SAY, LOOK, THIS WAS A PERSONAL MATTER, I USED PERSONAL FUNDS, THESE ARE MY BUSINESS RECORDS, NO ONE IS RELYING ON THEM. THEN WHY DID YOU DO IT IN THE WANING DAYS OF THE 2016 ELECTION. THIS STORY HAD BEEN OUT THERE FOR MUCH LONGER THAN THAT. &gt;&gt; EXACTLY RIGHT. THE TIMING IS PROBABLY THE PROSECUTION'S BEST PIECE OF EVIDENCE. HAD IT HAPPENED A YEAR OR TWO MORE, THERE'S NO CASE. THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO TIME IN THE TIMING, TO GO AGAINST THE DEFENSE SAYING THIS IS A PERSONAL PAYMENT. &gt;&gt; DANNY CEVALLOS, HALLIE, AND KRISTEN WELKER, WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE OUR COVERAGE ON THE STREAMING NETWORK, NBC NEWS NOW, NBC.COM. WE'LL WRAP UP ON "NIGHTLY NEWS", AND WE'LL BE THE EYES AND EARS INSIDE THAT COURTHOUSE. MOST OF YOU WILL NOW RETURN TO MORE OF THE "TODAY" SHOW. I'M SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, THANKS FOR WATCHING. SELECTION SET TO BEGIN AT THE FIRST EVER CRIMINAL TRIAL OF A FORMERING AS WE SPEAK? &gt;&gt; I THINK THAT'S UP TO THE WAR CABINET AND PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU TO DECIDE, WE CERTAINLY WOULDN'T GET AHEAD OF ANY DECISIONS THEY MIGHT MAKE. THE PRESIDENT IN HIS CONVERSATION WITH PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU LAUDED THE AMAZING SUCCESS THEY HAD IN SHOOTING DOWN THE DRONES FIRED AT THEM. IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE ACHIEVEMENT. AND HE URGED NETANYAHU TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF THAT GREAT SUCCESS, WHAT THAT MEANT, THE MESSAGE IT SENT, ABOUT ISRAEL'S MILITARY SUPERIORITY AND THAT IRAN FAILED IN THAT WHEY TRIED TO DO. &gt;&gt; BEING BLUNT AS POSSIBLE, ESSENTIALLY WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS SAYING TO ISRAEL IS, AS BEEN REPORTED, TAKE THE WIN, IN THE TO RETALIATE? IS THAT THE U.S.'S POSITION, ISRAEL, DON'T RETALIATE? &gt;&gt; AGAIN, THE PRESIDENT MADE IT CLEAR TO PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU THAT THERE WAS MUCH TO -- MUCH TO BE PROUD OF THE OTHER NIGHT IN TERMS OF THE MILITARY SUCCESS. THE PRESIDENT HAS ALSO BEEN VERY CLEAR, IN MULTIPLE VENUES, THAT WE DO NOT SEEK A WAR WITH IRAN, WE DON'T WANT TO SEE A WIDER WAR IN THE REGION. &gt;&gt; WELL, AS WE ALL KNOW, THIS STRIKE FROM IRAN WAS IN RETALIATION FOR A STRIKE THAT ISRAEL TOOK AGAINST IRANIAN FORCES IN SYRIA THAT KILLED SEVEN IRGC OFFICERS. THE ISRAELIS GAVE NO HEADS UP TO ITS ALLY, THE U.S., WAS THAT NEEDLESSLY PROVOCATIVE? DO YOU THINK THAT ISRAEL BEARS SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ESCALATING THIS, AND GETTING US TO THIS POINT? &gt;&gt; WELL, LOOK, LET'S BE CLEAR HERE, IRAN HAS BEEN FUNDING, RESOURCING IRAN HAS BEEN FUNDING GROUPS GROUPS LIKE HAMAS, LIKE HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, THE HEZBOLLAH, THE HOUTHIS DOWN IN YEMEN, ALSO OF HOUTHIS IN YEMEN. WHICH, ALSO, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ALL OF WHICH ALSO, WITH THE HAMAS, AT LEAST PROXY GROUPS, INCLUDING THOSE IN EXCEPTION OF HAMAS, THESE PROXY IRAQ AND SYRIA, ALSO GROUPS, INCLUDING THOSE IN IRAQ PARTICIPATED IN TH AND SYRIA, ALSO PARTICIPATED IN E STRIKE THESE STRIKES AGAINST ISRAEL ON AGAINST ISRAEL ON ISRAEL ISRAELI SOIL.I SOIL, IRAN IS THE ONE WHO WAS PROVIDING THE MEANS AND TH IRAN IS THE ONE WHO'S PROVIDING E RESOURCES THROUGH WH THE MEANS AND THE RESOURCES ICH THESE GROUPS THROUGH WHICH THESE GROUPS AND AND THEIR OWN MILITARY WAS ABLE THEIR OWN MILITARY WAS ABLE TO TO CONDUCT THIS UNPREC CONDUCT THIS UNPRECEDENTED EDENTED ATTACK ON ISRAEL. &gt;&gt; ATTACK ON ISRAEL. GIVEN THAT, &gt;&gt; SO GIVEN THAT, AND GIVEN WHAT AND GIVEN W THE WHITE HOUSE IS SIGNALING THE WHITE HOUSE IS SIGNALING ABOUT IT ABOUT ITS MESSAGING TO THE S MESSAGING TO THE ISRAELIS, I JUST WANT TO GO BACK ISRAELIS, I JUST WANT TO GO BACK TO THE POINT HERE, IS THE WHITE HOUSE SAYI TO THE POINT HERE.NG, IN, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN TH IS THE WHITE HOUSE SAYING, YOU E LINES, ESSENTIALLY TO ISRAEL, KNOW, BETWEEN THE LINES, DON'T RETALIATE NOW? I MEAN, THE IRANIANS H ESSENTIALLY, TO ISRAEL, DON'T AVE RETALIATE NOW? CLAIMED THAT THEY HAVE THE IRANIANS HAVE CLAIMED THAT CONCLUDED THEIR RE THEY HAVE CONCLUDED THEIR SPONSE TO THE SYRIA ATTACK RESPONSE TO THE SYRIA ATTACK., SO IS IT THE U.S. SO IS IT THE U.S. POSITION THAT POSITION IF ISRAEL SITS TIGHT, THIS COULD THAT IF ISRAEL SITS TIGHT, THIS CAN END RIGHT NOW? END RIGHT NOW?&gt;&gt; WE WANT TO SEE DEESCALATION, CLEARLY, IN THE REGION, AND EVERYTHING &gt;&gt; WE WANT TO SEE DEESCALATION CLEARLY IN THE REGION, AND EVERYTHING THE PRESIDENT HAS DONE SINCE OCTOBER 7th HAS BEEN th HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO KEEP THIS FROM BECOMING A DESIGNED TO KEEP THIS FROM WIDER WAR, SAVANNAH, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE GOING TO KEEP LATCHED UP WITH ISRAELI COUNTERPARTS AND MAKE IT CLEAR AGAIN TO THE ISR BECOMING A WIDER WAR, SF SAVANNAH, THAT'S WHY WE'RE GOINGAELIS WE'LL DO WH TO KEEP LATCHED UP WITH THE AT WE HAVE TO DO TO DEFEND THEM AND HEL ISRAELI COUNTERPARTS.P THEM IN THEI THAT'S WHY WE WILL KEEP UP WITH R SELF-DEFENSE BUT WE OUR ISRAELI COUNTER PARTS AND MAKE IT CLEAR WE WILL DO WHAT WEDON'T WANT HAVE TO DO TO DEFEND THEM, HELP THEM IN THEIR SELF-DEFENSE, BUT TO SEE A WIDER WAR, WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR A WAR WITH IRAN. &gt;&gt; ON THE OTHER HAND, IF ISRAEL DOES NOT WE DON'T WANT TO SEE A WIDER WAR. WE CERTAINLY ARE NOT LOOKING FOR A WAR WITH IRAN. &gt;&gt; ON THE OTHER HAND, IF ISRAEL DOES NOT RETALIATE, SOME SAY IF THE U.S. DOESN'T RESPOND DIRECTLY, THEN IRAN WILL SIMPLY POND DIRECTLY, THEN IRAN WILL SIMPLY BE EMBOLDENED, YOU'RE GETTING I BE EMBOLDEN.T FROM BOT HERE YOU'RE GETTING IT FROM BOTH SIDES.H SENATOR JOHN FETTERMAN SAYS HE SIDES. SENATOR JOHN FETTERMAN DISAGREES WITH THE PRESIDENT, SEEMING TO RULE OUT DISAGREES WITH THE PRESIDENT TO ANY U.S RULE OUT ANY U.S. RESPONSE . RESPONSE AGAINST AGAINST IRAN.IRAN, AND DA AND CONGRESSMAN DARENSHAW N CRENSHAW, WHEN YOU DIMINISH THE RETURNS, THE ENEMY FEELS EMBOLDENED TO SAID WHEN YOU DIMINISH STRIKE. &gt;&gt; WHAT WE SAID THE OTHER NIGHT, DETERRENCE, THE ENEMY FEELS IS THAT IRAN IS NO EMBOLDENED TO STRIKE.T MILITARILY SUPERI &gt;&gt; I THINK WHAT WE SHOWED THE OTHER NIGHT IN CONCERT WITH OR, THAT I PARTNERS AND OF COURSE THE RAN IS NOT TEN FEET TALL, AND THAT WE WIL ISRAELIS IS THAT IRAN IS NOT MILITARILY SUPERIOR, THAT IRAN L AC IS NOT 10 FEET TALL AND THAT WE WILL ACT -- THAT ISRAEL IS NOT ALONE. IS NOT ALONE, WE WE WILL ACT WITH THEM ON THEIR WILL ACT WITH THEM IN T SELF-DEFENSE. SELF-DEFENSE. I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN LOOK AT THE INCREDIBLE MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS THE OTHER NIGHT, AND COME I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN LOOK AT AWAY WITH THE INCREDIBLE MILITARY ANY OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS THE OTHER NIGHT ANDIDEA THAT THE UNITED STATES, THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN IS NOT COME AWAY WITH ANY OTHER IDEA GOING TO S THAT THE UNITED STATES, THAT TAND BY OUR GO PRESIDENT BIDEN IS NOT GOING TO OD FRIEND AND ALLY ISRAEL AS THEY STAND BY OUR GOOD FRIEND AND DEFEND THE ALLY ISRAEL AS THEY DEFEND THEMSELVES.MSELVES. &gt;&gt; WE WILL BE HA &gt;&gt; WE WILL BE HAVING A MUCH VING A MUCH DIFFER DIFFERENT CONVERSATION HAD WE CONVERSATION HAD WE NOT HAD THAT INCREDIBLE, AS YOU MENTIONED, ABILI NOT HAD THAT INCREDIBLE, AS YOU TY TO REPE MENTIONED, ABILITY TO REPEL 99% L 99% OF THESE OF THESE MISSILES AND DRONES MISSILES AND DRONES THAT WERE COMING TOWARD ISRAEL, THAT WERE COMING TOWARD ISRAEL. DOES NETANYAHU'S ACTIONS IN THE REGION MAK DOES NETANYAHU'S ACTIONS IN THE E THE U.S. REGION MAKE THE U.S. NERVOUS? NERVOUS? &gt;&gt; I THINK WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT TENSIONS &gt;&gt; I THINK WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT TENSIONS RISING ALL RISING ALL THROUGHOUT THE REGION, SAVANNAH, THROUGHOUT THE REGION, SAVANNAH. AND, AGAIN AND, AGAIN, EVERYTHING THAT THE , EVERYTHING THAT TH PRESIDENT HAS BEEN DOING AND E PRESIDENT HAS BEEN DOING, AND ADDING RESOURCES</p>

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>> ACROSS AMERICA WITH MEGA JACKPOTS, IT'S MEGA MILLIONS. WHAT'S UP AMERICA? I'M JOHN CODE IS FRIDAY. APRIL 12TH AND TONIGHT'S MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT IS AN ESTIMATED ANNUITIZED 125 MILLION DOLLARS TO WIN THAT JACKPOT. YOU MUST MATCH THESE 5 WHITE. PLUS THAT GOLD MEGA BALL. NOW, LET'S SEE IF I CAN MAKE YOU A MILLIONAIRE TONIGHT. FIRST WINNING NUMBER TONIGHT IS 18 FOLLOWED BY 14. UP NEXT, WE HAVE 12. THAT'S FOLLOWED BY ONE OF YOUR FINAL WHITE BALL NUMBER FOR THIS FRIDAY EVENING IS 66 NOW FOR THE MEGA BALL NUMBER. THAT IS 16 AGAIN TONIGHT WHEN THE NUMBERS ARE

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