Good morning. It's Saturday, March the 2nd. I'm Ali Velshi. In another universe, I would be telling you right now about how we are just two days away from the start of the momentous first criminal trial against a former president.

Instead, that trial seems like it may not

happen this year, and if the former president returns to the White House, it may not happen at all.

Major new developments this week have cast doubt on whether we'll see trials anytime soon

in three of the four criminal cases against Donald Trump. Throughout his life, the now twice impeached four times indicted ex-president has been known

as a litigious man who used every possible legal tactic to his advantage.

And it may be working again.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it will take up Trump's

appeal regarding his claims of absolute immunity,

a motion filed in an effort to quash some of the criminal charges against him.

That's a claim that has little precedent in American history. Many legal experts have thrown

cold water on the idea, and more importantly, all the lower court judges who have heard the case

so far have shot down Trump's far-fetched argument

that the president is above the law. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for

April 22nd, 51 days from now. For some perspective on that timing, consider this. In April of

1974, Richard Nixon was presented with a

subpoena to turn over some of his tape recordings to the special prosecutor investigating Watergate.

In May of that year, Nixon challenged that subpoena in district court over executive privilege

grounds, and he lost. An appeal was filed directly to the Supreme Court,

asking it to give the final word on the matter. On May 31st, the Supreme Court agreed to take

that case, bypassing the Court of Appeals entirely. And on July 24th, the Supreme Court

issued a unanimous decision against Nixon,

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