>> juju: this is an island. tonight, from strangers. >> he has worked his entire career. to avoid a day like today. >> juju: the first american president ever charged with a crime. >> this opens the door to pursue charges against presidents and that is a big deal. and fingerprinted before cleat pleading not guilty to 34 felonies in an alleged catch and kill scheme. with the district attorney said about why he is bringing the charges now. >> we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct. >> juju: as the former president response at mar-a-lago after his historic day in court. >> is fake case was brought only

to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election. >> juju: so what is next for donald trump? >> announcer: "nightline" we will beright back. ♪ ♪ this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. hurry up dad! you've been in there forever! i'm trying! this cheap stuff is too thin! i told you not to get the other toilet paper. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! woooo! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. what's everybody waiting for? this? ok hon, we know you're clean. we all go, why not enjoy the go with charmin.

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felony counts has altered american history. tonight, the 2024 republican hopefuls responding to the charges against him, surrounded by his supporters and on his home turf. a far different scene from what the worldwatch play out earlier. >> i never thought anything like this could happen in america. i never thought it could happen. >> juju: former president donald j. trump outrage and defined. >> the only crime that i have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. >> juju: his demeanor, a stark contrast from what cameras captured ours before in a manhattan courthouse. when he became the first president in the history of the red states to be indicted on criminal charges. those charges unsealed for the first time today as it drops to turn himself in. >> we have seen nothing like this before. it has largely been unspoken agreement that presidents and prosectors alike would not go

after presidents or former president's. this now opens the door to pursue charges against presidents whether it be passed, sitting, or future. and that is a big deal. >> juju: trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying bsiness records, allergy to cover up the catch and kill scheme to suppress negative stories in order to help his chances of getting i like that in 2016. >> in order to commit the scheme, what does indictment says is former president trump falsified a lot of business records. these were hush money payments and they were reported as legal fees to former trumper fixes and attorney michael cohen when in fact they were not legal fees. these were reimbursements for hush money payments. so that is essentially the scheme that the indictment describes and it connects those charges to conspiracy to interfere with an election which is a state crime and it also references both tax offenses and

federal campaign finance violations although the documents we saw today don't really develop those theories. >> juju: he pleaded not guilty to all the charges. >> has worked his entire career to avoid a day like today. but here he is and i am sure he is completely, completely amazed and despondent that he is in this moment. >> juju: the statement of facts laying out three specific instances of alleged criminal conduct which prosecutors is a also violated state and federal election laws. on one level, this seems like a straightforward and pretty clearly a strong case. there were 34 felony counts of falsification of business records and it seems clear that the former president trump falsified various types of business records. what i think history here is that those cases, those crimes are being charged as felonies because they were committed according to the d.a. in furtherance of other crimes. >> juju: prosecutors alleged trip orchestrated a criminal scheme with his former lawyer and fixer michael cohen and his

friend, former national enquirer publisher david pecker to pay out hush money to at least three people including adult actress stormy daniels. daniels, whose real name is stephanie clifford, alleged in a 60 minutes interview that she had had an affair with trip in 2006, just months after his wife melania had given birth to their son baron and an affair he denies. >> did he mention his wife or child at all in this? >> i asked and he brushed it aside and said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't worry about that. we have separate rooms and stuff. >> juju: it was a payment trip initially said she knew nothing about. >> did you know about the payment to stormy daniels. >> no. >> juju: but, wendy later testified that -- but colin later testified that he made the payment at trump's direction to silence her before the election. >> this is not revenge. this is about accountability. he needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds.

>> juju: enjoy it 2018, trump's former power player were -- power player broke his silence to abc news months after the fbi raided his home and office is using a trove of documents. including that payment to stormy daniels. >> he directed me to make the payments. he directed me to become involved in these matters. i give loyalty to someone who truly does not deserve loyalty. >> was trying to hide what you were doing, correct? >> correct. >> and he knew it was wrong? >> of course. >> juju: , wynn was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a number of financial crimes. a month and campaign -- campaign finance charges related to the payment. prosecutors also alleged that the inquiry paid off a trump tower doorman who was trying to sell a story about trump father in a child out of wedlock,, the story to play later concluded was not true. that doorman spoke to abc in 2018. >> did you believe they were paying you to pursue the story or to kill the story?

>> initially i thought -- the i figured they wanted to report the story. that is what i thought. but now as i look back on things, it made sense to me more so that they were trying to quiet me down. >> juju: prosecutors also alleged that into the 2016, just months before the election, pecker informed trump that a woman in approach the enquirer said she once had an affair with trumpet make -- doodles -- mcdougal sharing details. >> that he used protection? -- did he ever used protection? >> no. no he did not. paying her for her story but never published it. if convicted the 2,024 presidential hopeful could face time behind bars. >> these felonies in theory have a maximum permission of up to

four years in prison. there will be questions about whether his sentence run consecutively right when after another or concurrently. all of the same time. i think that we are in the realm of speculation here. >> these are felonies no matter who you are. we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct. >> juju: the case was part by at district attorney alvin bragg. >> under new york state law it is a felony to falsified business records with the intent to defraud and in 10 to conceal another crime. that is exactly what this case is about. 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. >> juju: is a democrat was elected to the d.a.'s office in november 2021. highlighting his track record of holding trump his business and his family accountable. >> in doing this for 24 years.

i don't bring cases prior to investigation. now having done so, the case has been brought. >> juju: many republicans quick to slam the charges and the process. even gop senator mitt romney, the only republican senator to vote to convict struck twice saying i believe that new york prosecutor has stretched to reach a fairly criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. >> there will be people who will continue to support the former president regardless of what comes out. there will be those who think it is time to move on and have a more forward-looking vision for the republican party. >> this looks like donald trump's accusations of it which had coming home, coming to fruition but does that actually play out when it comes time to vote? that has yet to be determined. >> juju: he returned for a surreal 24 hours. trump left mar-a-lago on monday

afternoon flying to laguardia airport about his own plane. today, his motorcade risking him downtown to new york supreme court. outside, political theater. hundreds of supporters and protesters gathered. but inside, beyond the glare of cameras, trump surrendered. he was arrested, booked, and process. his fingerprints were taken. but no mugshot. abc news -- abc news producer olivia rubin was inside the courtroom. >> he was not a saying much. actually one point where the judge had to ask him to speak up because he was speaking so quietly and by the time the former president was leaving that courtroom, it was completely silent. and he exit without saying anything. >> juju: trump spent 57 minutes in the courtroom. he immediately flew back to florida where supporters were waiting for him. the former president's next potential court appearance is slated for early december. >> it sounds like they were

talking about a possible trial day. we could be looking at within a year or an actual trial in manhattan. you would imagine potential would be interested in the possible for testifying in his own defense. >> juju: one of numerous potential criminal charges the former president is facing with multiple other infestations looming. >> i think it is possible that there will be a man breaking phenomenon here that allows them to move more swiftly. >> juju: the president addressing some of those investigations and trying to flip the script for his benefit. >> with all of this being said, and with a very dark cloud over our beloved country, i have no doubt nevertheless that we will make america great again. [cheers and applause] thank you very much. >> juju: and for more on president trump's response to that, abc's rachel scott is at

mar-a-lago. rachel? >> rachel: with an edge within hours of the president learning the president learning he was facing charges, he boarded a flight and landed in florida to sound like a campaign style event. taking his time working the room waving to supporters taking the stage to chants of usa, usa. two people who were not in the room tonight, ivana trump and his wife melania trump. we did spot several other presidents' children including erik trump, donald trump jr. and tiffany trump. he was no time going after the manhattan district attorney insisting that he has been out to get him since the very beginning. rushed brushing of all the charges as police -- purely political and insisting they need to be dropped immediately. this is a very early grades into how the former president will be handling this on the campaign trail in 2024, georgia. >> juju: thank you. up next, from his legal path forward to the campaign trail. dan abrams and jonathan karl joined me to break down what is next for donald trump. still disrupts my skin.

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♪ ♪ tran19. >> juju: i'm joined by jonathan karl as well as chi legal analyst dan abrams who have cover donald trump for years. you were following the story. dan carroll will start with you. trump is facing 34 felony charges and his supporters are saying it is a witchhunt. alvin bragg is saying he brought his kids because there's no information. how strong is this case? >> dan: he said the new information. i'm sure he does have new information. he had a grand jury. of course it is going to be new information. there are two separate questions. one his prosecutorial discretion.

should he have brought the case it at all? another is how strong is the case that he has brought? focusing on the second question, of how strong is the case that he has brought, actually, he has let out a case about the various documents that checks and the invoices. that seem to have been fraudulent. okay. but that does not are some of the very difficult legal questions that have to be answered. exactly what crime is he saying escalated this from a misdemeanor to a felony? there are potential statute of limitations issues as well. so the trump team is going to be able to make a number of legal arguments before we even get to the facts. >> juju: how does it rise to a felony? jon, you have been watching. in turn for years. you have been on the phone all day with your sources. what is the feeling of trump world tonight. >> jonathan: the court two parts. of this. watching him today. watching him go into the courtroom and looking the credible still photographs in the table. surrounded by his lawyers the

two police officers standing behind him. trump seemed as profoundly unhappy as i have ever seen him the scowl. you know, are reporting from olivia rubin who was in the courtroom talking about how he was speaking so softly that people cannot hear him speak. the church actually has seemed to repeat something. he seemed unhappy but you talked to trump's team for coming, they seem absolutely defined for sure. but also convinced that this helps them politically. they are raising money off it. is either a full spectrum of the republican party coming out and criticizing the prosecutor effectively defending donald trump. >> juju: it is fascinating to see in a hushed courtroom. so clearly, then, the environment lays out at the pattern of catch and kill. and it lays out the role of the publisher of the national enquirer, david pecker. how important is his role in laying out in this case? >> dan: he is obviously critical witness here.

why? in part because michael cohen is such a problematic witness. so you need someone else who can come forward and verify much of what the prosecution is alleging. they would say we have also got documents. we have tape recordings, et cetera. the david pecker becomes the critical issue not necessarily on the falsified business records. he becomes the critical factor in explaining the lie and the "why" is what alvin bragg says is the felony even though he has not been specific about exactly which felony it is. he has made it clear that that brought issue is what has led us to at this point. >> juju: to protect the campaign? >> jonathan: it says something about the case that when it was more credible witness is the publisher of the national enquirer. >> dan: and he has his own set of problems including to inquirer had to pay a fine. and one who told you this is an easy case it is not know the

case. >> juju: and everyone talks about how the other cases that arein line for a potential indictment which could come down the pike. i think you told me, john, as early as bring, how do those play out in team from the? >> jonathan: these are more serious charges. the obstruction of justice, the coach about a play in the classified documents case. the january 6 cases both the federal case and the one in georgia. each of these are more serious crimes and more serious punishments. so i think that ultimately, they are going to have to worry about those more than they have to worry about,. >> juju: and how does that play out with image versus in the courtroom? >> jonathan: he is going to be fighting this campaign against on the legal ground while he is also campaign for president. >> dan: and he is going to use, by the way, the fact that the weakest case was brought first to his advantage. so now any other case that is brought he can just say, you say? this just another example of them coming after me. >> jonathan: and it is all political. you have a democratic prosecutor in georgia.

you have a democratic prosecutor in manhattan. >> juju: and how does this play out against the political calendar of 2024. >> jonathan: it is incredible. the d.a. is asking for a trial in january. anti-trump team is an we want to do it in the spring. you are in the middle of the campaign. you have the iowa caucuses. the new hampshire primary. by spring, you have super tuesday. router could extend into into the summer. you have a republican convention in july. you can be in the middle of a trial while donald trump goes into -- >> dan: i don't think so. the defense has a lot of control over the time. not to control. and i think that the trump team will try and push this and push this if they can and to even after the election because it is a great campaign issue but they don't want t to do with -- >> byron: i love how both of you are shaking their heads. absolutely uncharted territory. think about so much for joining us and giving us your insights is always. jon karl, dan abrams. thank you. anand we will be right back with our final thoughts.

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♪ ♪ >> juju: and that is "nightline" for tonight. we will have much more on the follow from former president trump arraignment on "good morning america." and on abcnews.com and our digital channel. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu and we will see you back here same time tomor tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.