this is "nightline." >> tonight, landmark trial. the case against harvey weinstein. from the court of public opinion to the court of law. the former film mogul now before a judge and jury facing criminal charges of rape and sexual assault. inside the courtroom drama and his defense strategy. >> you're currently defending what many would regard as the most hated man in america. >> what does justice look like? >> are you going to trial, mr. weinstein? >> in the "me tohe ar preshar winning juggling campaigning and that impeachment trial. now taking on tough questions from undecided voters. >> do you believe in reparations? >> getting candid with the

candidate. >> senator, you see it as a crime to cross the border? >> i -- let me just step back here. and the fight song of support. moving one teacher to tears. ♪ >> but first the "nightline 5." number one in just 60 second

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good evening. thanks so much for joining us. i'm linsey davis. today the landmark criminal case against harvey weinstein is finally under way with chilling opening statements. the defense revealing emails and text messages they hope will sway the jury. here's abc's amy robach. >> mr. weinstein, how are you feeling today? >> reporter: the downward fall of movie mogul harvey weinstein has been a very long and very public saga. for both him and the more than 80 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. >> i thought no meant no. >> literally i will never be the same. >> reporter: today is the day both weinstein and his alleged victims have been anticipated. opening arguments in his criminal trial. weinstein is facing five felony charges which include rape and sexual assault. >> there are two counts which accuse him of being a sexual predator. those are the counts that could

put him behind bars for life. >> reporter: weinstein has denied all the allegations, saying any sexual relations were consensual. in november i sat down with donna rotunno, a member of weinstein's defense team. >> you're currently defending what many would regard the most hated man in america. why are you defending him? >> number one, harvey has a right to defense. i am not the moral police on harvey weinstein. but that's not my job. and frankly, it's not the jury's job either. the jury's job is to determine whether harvey weinstein committed a crime that will put him in prison for the rest of his life. >> reporter: for many in the "me too" movement, including some of weinstein's accusers like rose mcgowan, this trial is a watershed moment. >> the trial means so much to so many, but it will mean the most to the brave women testifying and to all of us silence-breakers. >> reporter: despite weinstein's dozens of accusers, the trial will focus upon allegations of

only two women, mimi haleyi, who says weinstein forced himself on her in 2006 when she was working as a production assistant. >> women has a right to say no, and no is a no regardless of the circumstances. >> reporter: and an unidentified woman who alleges weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2013. during today's opening statements, prosecutor megan hast recounted to the jury in detail the stories of six women who will testify as witnesses in weinstein's trial. >> it was graphic. it was intense. it was moving. we're going to see some very uncomfortable moments as we go forward. >> reporter: hast referred to weinstein as a sexual predator and rapist who overpowered women, making them feel nervous, upset, in some cases unable to fight back, laying there motionless, like a dead fish. during the defense's opening statement one of weinstein's attorneys argued that the prosecution's allegations were untrue. >> damon torones told jurors the

prosecution's arguments were a preview to a movie we're not going to see. >> reporter: the defense says they had friendly emails these women engaged in after the alleged assaults including i love you, i always do, but i hate feeling like a booty call. >> dozens of loving emails. >> reporter: he believes they could raise doubt. >> there's direct communications between harvey and the women, always friendly, sometimes romantic, that would lead any reasonable person to think that the claims are untree. >> there are plenty of experts out there who say it's fairly well documented that a lot of times when women are assaulted, will communicate with the person they accuse because they're trying to normalize something traumatic that happened to them, and that this isn't unexpected behavior. >> there are some doctors that will say that. we will discredit the fact that

there is no research to prove that. >> reporter: in a statement to abc news, mimi haleyi's attorney gloria allred says once the jury understands the context of the minimal communications by my client, mimi, they will understand why they were sent and that communication after an assault does not mean that no assault took place. >> we've seen time and time again where sexual assault victims maintain some relationship with the perpetrator and it's not unusual. >> reporter: to make this point in court prosecutors will call upon forensic psychiatrist barbara ziv. >> this expert will provide context for the prosecution. it helps explain why the accusers did certain things and didn't do certain things based on her experience and expertise dealing with sexual assault victims. >> reporter: during the course of the trial, which is expected to last several weeks, the prosecution and defense will present their arguments to a jury made up of seven men and five women. >> inevitably you're going to think that the prosecution wants

more women, but that's not necessarily true. women may judge women more harshly. >> reporter: because much of the evidence in the case is a he said/she said, the prosecution will call upon four prior bad acts witnesses to show that weinstein allegedly demonstrated patterns in his behavior. >> it's difficult because you don't have a smoking gun, you don't have dna, you don't have fingerprints, you don't have video, all the things that we go to court with every day. it's really going to be based on these women who are going to testify against him. >> reporter: prior to bad acts witnesses were also called by the prosecution during the second cosby trial. >> bill cosby was not convicted in his first case, when no other women were allowed to testify. he was convicted in his second trial when additional witnesses were permitted. >> reporter: the strategy of weinstein's legal team, which includes rotunno, will be to undermine the credibility of these witnesses, among them actress annabella schiarra.

>> she says he shoved her onto the bed, locked her arms over her head, and raped her while she kicked and screamed. >> annabella has told so many different stories. her first line of conversation about this was nothing ever happened with harvey. then it evolved and the story kept changing. >> she says the chances of charging weinstein publicly would change her life permanently, and she wasn't prepared to face that because of all the scrutiny. there was real intimidation going on. >> did they feel intimidated or were they more concerned about what could potentially happen to them, and were they willing to play a game that they then decided they weren't willing to play? >> reporter: in a statement her lawyer gloria allred said, annabella is very courageous, she will testify under oath, when she does the jury will understand what she alleges weinstein did to her. many of the dozen women who allege crimes against weinstein are unable to bring their criminal cases to court because they are beyond the statute of

limitations, signed ndas, or are otherwise ineligible. >> the m.o. is eerily similar in all of these cases. you have windows in a bathrobe with the promise of a career boost, or he's asking for a massage. >> going to a hotel room and having someone ask you if you'll give them a massage is not rape. it's not sexual assault. and it's really not even sexual harassment. people have a right to make a pass, and you have a right to say, no, thank you. >> even if you're in a position of power? >> but you're not in a position of power when someone wants something from you. >> it doesn't mean you want to nest give harvey weinstein a massage or see his naked body. >> there's many things that lead up to that point. and those are the things that people don't want to say when they come forward and make these claims. >> when someone in a position of power over someone else's career makes the pass with the explicit or implicit promise of career benefits, that is the very definition of sexual harassment. >> there are people who say, here you have a woman defending

harvey weinstein, have you been accused of being a traitor to your own gender? >> i don't believe i am. i think in many ways i would hope that i could help women. what happens in these circumstances where women don't want to take certain responsibilities for their actions, we infant lies ourselves. you have to know when you make certain choices there's a risk when you make those choices. >> a lot of people would say what you just said is victim blaming. >> and that's absolutely not true. if you don't want to be a victim, don't go to the hotel room. if you don't want to be a victim, don't sign the nda. go onto fifth avenue, take a megaphone, talk about what you want to talk about. >> blaming victims who take a settlement to someone for not going out and talking about it is absurd. >> do you ever worry that maybe you'll be on the wrong side of history on this one? >> no. i don't. and i think what i worry about is the outcome for him. i don't worry about the outcome for me.

>> reporter: as for weinstein, the charges in this case are not the only criminal charges he is facing. on january 6th, in california, prosecutors announced new charges against weinstein for raping a woman in a los angeles hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulting a second woman the following night. one of those women is expected to testify in the new york case. now the question remains, will the fallen hollywood power broker also lose his freedom? >> are you going to jail, mr. weinstein? >> reporter: his alleged victims await an answer. for "nightline," i'm amy robach in new york. >> our thanks to amy. next, undecided voters and presidential hopeful amy klobuchar. everything is on the table. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) once-weekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like james lower their blood sugar. a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it.

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♪ now to the "nightline" special series "around the table" where real voters break bread and break down important issues that matter to them with presidential hopefuls. tonight senator amy klobuchar is in the hot seat. here's "nightline" coanchor byron pitts. >> reporter: welcome to "around the table" where undecided voters get to ask their questions. tonight we're meeting with amy klobuchar. dinner at the copper door restaurant in new hampshire. a state where a successful primary result will be critical to her candidacy. >> i heard you say you can use federal ability to pay school teachers, how would you do that? >> do you believe in reparati reparations? >> reporter: abc news has chosen three undecided voters to bring their questions to the table.

lizzy, retired health care worker, who lives here in new hampshire. two massachusetts voters, leann, a teacher, and neil, independent voter who has supported republicans in the past. >> the one thing that has been said about you, that you're difficult to work for. >> reporter: they will engage in a frank conversation with the senator as they will decide who will get their vote. >> in this moment where there's so much talk about impeachment, as undecided voters, do you guys care about that? >> i do. >> i absolutely do. >> i think that the present occupant of the white house has eviscerated how many people feel about themselves. i am concerned about that, i'm concerned bill, and i want to pose a question to you, senator. how people govern and how we treat each other is huge for me, and i'm concerned about my next leader. so my question to you is, how are you going to govern, and how are you going to pick people? you have a wonderful bipartisan

ability to pass bills. but you -- what i'm concerned about, the one thing that has been said about you, that you're difficult to work for. >> yeah. >> what about your staff? if february there was an article in the "new york times," and i do want you to speak to that. >> sure, no, i'm glad you raised it. so first of all, i love my staff. there's a bunch of them out there somewhere. >> i know. >> and one of the reasons we're so successful, it's not me, it's them. and i am tough on people, and you can always be better. and i push on people. and as a result, a few of them didn't like me. but -- let me finish -- but 70 of them wrote a letter with their names. >> i read that. >> where all different people, the schedulers, the people that were my assistants, the chiefs of staff, saying they had a really good experience in our office. so you always have that happen. but for me the key is having high standards for myself, my staff, and our country. >> you know, your father

emigrated from india. >> he did. >> wow. >> and you don't believe it should be a crime to cross the border. >> i don't. i know that's a radical position per se. but like i don't -- american history is predicated on like -- i think about like ellis island, and it's like, if you didn't look sick you were allowed in. >> absolutely, preach. >> if you're sick, they send you back because you're sick, otherwise you're welcome, you're in america now. that's how we got to where we are. worked pretty well for a couple hundred years. why is it becoming so much more difficult now? >> senator, you see it as a crime to cross the border? >> i -- let me just step back here. i greatly want to actually expand immigration. i want to have a path to citizenship for the 12 million people that are here. so anyway, my argument would be that we need comprehensive immigration reform. there are really smart things you can do. but not if all you're trying to do is use immigrants as political pawns. >> my kind of tough follow-up

question here, and i'm sorry -- >> no, it's fine. >> is that we're in new hampshire right now. it's a very, very white state. there are not many people of color here. this is a swing state. it can go for donald trump. in a state that's this white, how do you -- if people are scared because they're being fed fear by people in power, how do you convince people they shouldn't be scared if there's no people of color to interact with around them? >> everywhere they go there are immigrants that are working in this area. i mean, there are. >> for sure. >> much more than 10 years ago, 20 years ago. i think more and more americans is a we travel the country see immigrants as part of our economy. i actually make an economic case that regardless of if people have immigrants in their area or not, they understand they need workers for the jobs. >> if you see it as a pressing need where we do need these workers in the midwest -- >> we need them everywhere. >> yeah, i know. then why shouldn't we establish an ellis island type system? where if you want to come here -- >> but you can do it much more smartly if you do it expanding

legal immigration. >> okay. >> i'm a black woman in america, right? i have not had the opportunity or fortunate to have the opportunity to benefit from generational wealth. do you believe in reparations? >> yes, i'm on the bill to set up this commission -- >> you said yes? >> i believe in this bill which is to set up the commission to figure out how we can do this. if there has to be a way to help people that have been so hurt from the discrimination of the past. it may not be individual checks. it may be that we are investing in areas that have been perpetually impoverished because of this. what this bill is, it looks at what would be the best way to work on this. and that is what i think we need to do. >> reporter: the conversation turns to klobuchar's uphill battle in the ever-tightening democratic field. >> i'm not someone that has come from a big state that's run for president before, but neither

did bill clinton or jimmy carter. it is a crowded field. i look at it as the glass half full, and that is that i'm ahead of 18 people that have been or were in the field and continue to make the bars, to make the debate stage, and other things. so that's what i'm doing. and i just think that someone -- we already got the loudest voice in the room, and that guy's in the white house. i don't think that's what people want. i think they're tired of the noise and the nonsense on the extremes. they want to find someone who actually wants to get things done and have their back and tell the truth. so it's on me in these next three, four months to get that out there to people, which is why we're here today. i wish every meal was like this. >> our thanks to g moving everyone to tears. new tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid. can it one up spaghetti night? it sure can. really?

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finally tonight, the teaching lesson that left one teacher speechless. walking into the surprise of her life, emily marshall, first

grade teacher with central elementary school in moore, oklahoma, fighting breast cancer for the eighth time. her students and colleagues with a fight song just for her. ♪ my fight song >> showing her just how much she means to them. fight on, emily. and this reminder, "abc news live" launches monday night, february 3rd. i'll see you then in primetime. we think it's a

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