Hey, this is Chris Hayes. Well, it's been a truly historic week as a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former president Donald Trump. I'm assuming you know that by the time you hear this. Well, MSNBC legal analysts and veteran prosecutors Andrew Weissman and Mary McCourt are back with their insights based on their 50-plus years of collective experience building some of the most complex criminal cases in U.S. history.

This podcast is a special inside look at how prosecutors from Alvin Bragg to Fannie Willis to Jack Smith build their toughest cases. Please join me in listening to

prosecuting Donald Trump the first indictment with Andrew Weissman and Mary McCord. And if you like

when you hear, please subscribe to their feed for future episodes. This is Andrew Weissman. I'm here

with Mary McCord.

Good to be back again. The plot continues.

So one thing, Mary, that I thought it would be useful to discuss is really trying to make sure that people understand what's about to happen now in terms of the Manhattan case.

There will be an arraignment, by all accounts, next week,

absent the former president deciding not to self-surrender and having to be extradited.

Although, note to self, when I was thinking about if he doesn't agree to self-surrender,

he's supposed to be in New York next month for, of all things, a civil case where he is accused of rape.

And that is supposed to happen at the end of April.

And so he needs to appear for that.

So he can be arrested then if he doesn't self-surrender.

And if he doesn't appear for that, a default can be entered against him in a case where the allegations are quite serious. So there's a lot of reasons for him

to actually just show up now. So one of the things that people should be aware of, though, is that, well, everyone's been waiting for the rule of law to be imposed and to see this, the day of reckoning where he is actually subject to criminal charges.

But there's going to be a long time, as you and I both know, from having tried a ton of cases

in a variety of different jurisdictions that you don't just indict somebody and there's a trial

the next day, that the defendant is entitled to so many procedures. And I think people

don't really understand as prosecutors that that's sort of embedded in us, that that's sort of what we expect and know, which is that a prosecutor is advocating for the government, but they also have a lot of obligations to fulfill their obligations as part of the due process clause of the Constitution.

So discovery is turned over, all sorts of search warrant material is turned over,

and then the defendant's entitled to make all sorts of motions for more discovery,

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