was ruite brittle way it was finished, michael? heay it was finished, michael? he was quite brittle in the way he'd - way it was finished, michael? he was quite brittle in the way he'd done i quite brittle in the way he'd done it and he announced, he was so lovey—dovey with the green party and the next minute he got a shot for christmas with a hole in it because he got stabbed in the back! laughter. i was a labour party voter all my days and i hope this will be, i will always vote for the labour party because i believe that they work for the working man. flan because i believe that they work for the working man.— the working man. can i come in there, the working man. can i come in there. what— the working man. can i come in there, what you _ the working man. can i come in there, what you said _ the working man. can i come in there, what you said about i the working man. can i come in there, what you said about the | there, what you said about the health— there, what you said about the health service? in scotland have the best performi

he liked michael. he admired him. and he liked having this is a neighbor. but this now felt different until that conversation, brant hadn't realized how devoted michael was to trump, and he help but wonder whether that devotion would be returned. what would trump of michael? what if michael were to the oval office and he went in not walking, but wheeling himself in his chair, would trump take imperfect hand and shake it? what do you make of afterward? like he mocked other people he fell from a tree. winters don't fall. trees. losers fall from. it was easier for to imagine what trump would think of him. i'm the ideal white guy. veteran. i would fit the american dream for him. so what interesting about that interaction in terms of our conversation was this was the first time they crossed over into the they might have been having privately, but never between them. they went there and then they pulled back. and that is really an interesting thing to me that they didn't keep going. they pulled back and and i thought about that so much since because i think, i thi

and david pecker said he just didn't remember if he was told by michael cohen if he knew. but it ties michaels cohen, saying the boss is going to love this, that communicated there was an awareness but donald trump. but it's really crucial they connect donald trump to this. >> were you able to see donald trump and his reaction to any of this? >> i was. i was in the overflow room so i had a good view of him. a lot of the morning, he looked very frustrated. sort of a grimace and scowl on his face. he did not look happy but a lot of it, not a lot of facial expressions at times. very steady, but not happy. >> always so interesting to talk to you. thank you so much. coming up, david pecker on the stand. more about him sharing how he used his media might to help donald trump. we'll speak to a former executive who worked with him at ami, the publisher of the national enquirer. what he can tell us about the relationship between trump and david pecker. the relationship between trump and david pecker (smelling) ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪tell me why♪ because it stinks. ♪have you tri

things like, he was just protecting his family. michael cohen really is out for revenge. wants to see mr. trump in an orange jumpsuit. he's written about it, he's making money off it. stormy daniels for her part, yes, there may have been some communications but there's never been any allegation there was any sexual assault. she also is trying to extort him. and ndas, everybody does ndas. rich people do ndas. this was not any type of an effort to corrupt the election. and even to influence the election, there's nothing wrong with it, that's what democracy is all about. >> jill, it is a conspiracy case and i'm glad you brought up the case, it's not a hush money case. it's also a group of people who got together and committed crimes for someone else. in the case of the watergate burglars, in the case of even the attorney general of the united states, they committed the crimes and went to prison, but they did it for nixon. they didn't have any personal gain. in this case, donald trump is the only one who gained from this conspiracy. it's difficult for me to understand what th

he is completely likable as a witness and also michael cohen. he is not punching back in the same way. he has so many deliverables for this prosecution. >> susanne, on that note about him not being michael cohen, david pecker is someone who talked about idolizing and respecting donald trump to this day. he was someone when they were sitting around, it wasn't just these cases and what we are talking about, he was also writing stories and putting them in the national enquirer about trump's rivals. he seems to be a much better witness than michael cohen who has already been and gone to jail for lying. talk a little bit about that. >> i think it is important that people know that david pecker is a principle here. he was talking to donald trump and another principle . michael cohen is a lawyer that was going out and executing what donald trump wanted. donna trump's lawyers i think will make michael cohen out to be a rope actor but what you saw with david pecker was a principle ahead of the national enquirer talking to his friend donald trump about pla

he lied about that. hence the reason why you should not believe michael cohen. u and i will talk to you again, given this, you cannot make a serious decision about president trump relying on the words of michael cohen. he moves on to stephanie clifforded, also known as stormy daniels. he talks about donald trump needing stormy daniels in 2006, how they talked about the apprentice at the time and the possibility of her becoming a contestant on the apprentice. stormy daniels dined off of that story for years now, writing a book, doing a documentary as well. and then he says, and i quote, i'm going to say something else about her testimony, and this is important. it does not matter. her testimony while salacious does not matter, and then he goes on to talk about the catch does not matter. then he talks about the catch and kill scheme. he reminds the jury the president hasn't been charged. he says catch and kill to purchase the rights is not against the law. he says i quote i encourage you to listen over the next couple of days when you hear mr. pecker testify. catch

number one, he has some baggage, but he doesn't have the baggage of a michael cohen. two, he's going to lay the foundation of this pre-existing relationship and this catch and kill arrangement. and that's going to match up to a lot of documents that the state is going to introduce. number three, he was a friend of donald trump's. so his testimony may be more credible for that reason. he may be testifying about something we're not anticipating, and it might be about a direct conversation with donald trump, because, remember, that there were these entries in business records can be shown from the records with the state, with the people need to show is donald trump's involvement and his intent. someone like david pecker may have a lot of information about that. and, finally, the reason that david pecker may be the most important witness is that he's first. he's the first one out of the gate, which means the prosecution is comfortable with him, they trust him, and they want to create an impression, a first impression on this jury. who did they call? who did they choose ou

it's not just that he's in the room with trump having conversations with him. there's also michael cohen in that network and others in the political fear from trump's campaign at the time. and then he's underlining the motivation. he says over and over again on the stand today to that jury, that he wanted to protect the campaign and donald trump from embarrassment from these stories coming out. >> so he's putting those pieces together. >> they're going to work as building blocks as the trial goes on where other witnesses will illuminate different aspects. >> he also had a very important point that he made on the stand that it was donald trump himself and pecker witness this, who would review invoices and sign his checks when they were brought to him by an assistant, another building block. >> we're very likely to be hearing about that again, with other witnesses was pick will be hearing more and more about that. ankush khardori a former federal prosecutor, i want to read a key exchange from today prosecutors asked pecker this and i'm quoting now, prior to the august 2015 meeting, h

keith davidson is talking about how he knows michael cohen. g about knowing stormy daniels. he is talking about karen mcdougal and non-disclosure agreements. explain the significance. >> reporter: keith davidson has not been a public figure. it's not like he has come out and done tv interviews or talked about his representation of stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. that's why for the prosecution, he could be key here as linking these pieces together. he was the one in 2016 who was negotiating the selling of karen mcdougal and stormy daniels' story. he will be able to provide some veracity to the expected testimony of michael cohen and their exchanges and how ultimately the negotiations of their sales went down. right now, the prosecution for the jury is simply setting up, how did you become aware of karen mcdougal? he is saying he knew her for 25 years. he got connected to her via a friend of his. then started representing her in the summer of 2016. that is where the retainer was set up. he was beginning to personally advise and provide counsel

he's repentant. i don't see any repentance from michael avenatti, did you? t describe him as overly contrite, if you're asking for my observation, but through the legal process, he did on record in court say that he was contrite and go through that process and others not do that. he's made an effort to say that in public. >> well, that happens in court. when my parents were about to discipline me, i was suddenly very contrite. but i don't think he feels it. even in the way he spoke with you, he's -- and oh, here's one thing i do think went too far. yes, he should be punished because nike, kimberly clark, the poor clients like the paraplegic he defrauded. i don't think he should have been put in a cell with a drug lord. that strikes me as the kind of thing that someone might do as an extra little bit of punishment. >> it's a footnote to it but yeah, he was put in the isolation facility they used for el chapo who was in there for a string of murders. i'm not issuing a judgment here, nick ackerman disagreed, but others have written about that and said it seemed

he is e-mailing michael cohen. he's saying, where is the money? ese reasons why he can't. i don't your wire transfer information. keith davidson had sent it yesterday. he said we're having technical problems. i can't get it to you. he was doing everything he could not to come up with the money and his client is calling him constantly. he's getting calls for stormy daniels, her representative, where is the money? and then at one point, there's another call the that happens. and michael cohen says, fine, i'm going to do it myself. my boss is in five states. i just can't deal with all of this. i can't reach them. i'm going to do it myself. >> what kind of witness is keith davidson? >> i thought he was a strong witness. he is limited, which we'll talk about in a minute. but his demeanor was great. he's somewhat limited in his contact. he's dealing with michael cohen. he's not dealing with donald trump. which is a difference between what we saw with pecker when with we had two principals speaking to each other we had conversations between pecker and don

and he personally signed checks for payments to michael cohen for each of these nine months. in total, a grand jury found there were 34 documents with this critical false statement. why did donald trump repeatedly make these false statements? the evidence will show he did so to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election. donald trump, executives of the publishing company american media inc., mr. cohen and others agreed in 2015 to a catch and kill scheme, a scheme to buy and suppress negative information to help mr. trump's chance of winning the election. as part of this scheme, donald trump and others made three payments to people who claim to have negative information about mr. trump. to make these payments, they set up shell companies and they made yet more false statements including for example ami business records. one in three people -- one of three people they paid to keep quiet was a woman named stormy daniels. less than two weeks before the presidential election michael cohen wired 100 $30,000 to stormy daniels lawyer. that payment was to hide damaging information f

and actually there start lead witness seemed to help the president by saying he denied knowledge of reimbursement to michaelen in that he did this for other celebrities and he did this for trump going back to decades so your left on friday wondering what is the intelligent design here toward conviction and one thing that would help if you would just tell us what's the crime. >> they haven't gotten to that part yet sort of looking at what he said he walked out one of his first words was this should not be happening it should have never happened he said he's been sitting there for eight days he launched into the happenings with the economy which is quite clearly still watching as he sits in the courtroom oil prices up he said the economy filing apart his words but he sits there day after day and you just heard president biden has agreed to debate in an interview with howard stern today a bit of a shocker because the indication was that he would not debate the president then extended an invitation as soon as next week let's do this we are ready willing and able he suggested next week in michigan he then launch

i have a lot of these columns before he broke with trump. every juncture michael cohen would say i have come to the lord, i am a new man. you know, very few people would believe him. but he has a skill set. he is willing to go to whatever powerful interest there is that could work to his advantage. and there are buyers for that. the buyer is brad. he is just going to put them on the stand. but i think the cross-examination will turn into dawning of the human torch. if i was a criminal defense attorney, this guy is just entirely combustible. >> sandra: stay tuned for the coming minutes because just a moment ago we saw the former president and his legal team reenter the court after that break. things are set to resume in 2 minutes. let's bring in fox news contributor form u.s. can tourney andy mccarthy, jump on end of conversation. >> to jonathan's point, luca bronte had a skill set too. i don't know that it was -- i don't know it was that much different. i think it is important to recognize that this case began in my old office. this case actually, the michael cohe

and it'd be fair michael cohen did concede that he misrepresented the facts he lied before congress on trump's behalf. we should note any served prison time in part because of that perjury. do you see the posts going after michael cohen? on his violating the gag order and do you think that gang order is fair i'll start in reverse here and i think the gag order is fair and it should be sort of not just for trump, although it's not an issue for the prosecution, but it should be across the board. >> that case should be tried within the four corners of 100 centre street, not in the street, but in that building. and that's what needs to be done. so yes, i believe it's fair. & is it crossing the line? i believe it is. it is crossing the line because we know how donald trump uses this to manipulate people. and even if it's not his intention, it's definitely recklessly dangerous because it exposes people to the reaction to those who really consume. when he says and then react to it the vary. sometimes violent or aggressive, or agitating way it just unhealthy for the jury especially the jury, w

trump was reimbursing michael cohen. he added that the prosecutors have put a sinister spin on this as if it is a crime but the jurors will learn that it is not. trump amped up the drama. he emphasized that mr. trump denies her claim saying daniels agreement to not spread false claims about trump is not illegal. it was mr. trump himself after the proceedings, giving some comments in new york city. here he is from yesterday. [video clip] >> they take this payment and call it a legal expense. this is what i got indicted on. they should be in georgia -- i should be in georgia now. i should be in florida. i should be in a lot of different places campaigning and i am sitting here. it is very unfair. the judge is conflicted. it is very unfair what is going on. i should be allowed to campaign. whoever heard of this. to be indicted for that? people in the courts cannot believe it. this is the case. we did something wrong. why didn't the district bring it to look at it? why did not other agencies and law enforcement groups look at i

he wanted he says that at one michael cohen, this has to be paid in cash, doesn't mean at one point he's talking about this needing to be done in cat. that's on a tape that michael kight, we're gonna here soon in this trial, michael cohen secretly recorded donald trump a shady move, by the way, i asked, i'd for defense lawyers in the green room with me today. >> i said, have you ever even thought about absolutely something that threatens your marriage? >> are you going to leave it up to michael cohen? >> well, but every detail without checking, like being an overlord, that's what common sense rational person would do. but the tape that we're talking about here that michael collins it makes up donald trump actually suggests donald trump is like just get it done. he's not in the weeds. in fact, at one point, michael cohen says none and i got it. alan and i are going to handle you don't worry about it. we're going to pay him. you don't worry about the how and the how is the crime. so when that tape comes up, that's gonna be a problem for the prosecutor. i also think the part of the thing ab

he clearly, according to his testimony, he has a banking relationship with michael cohen, he was assigned to cohen's account because quote, cohen was known to be challenging mr. fair. apparently it was good with difficult clients but he insisted cohen is not difficult, but we haven't gotten to really why he is on the stand. we don't know if this is gonna be about payments to stormy daniels or cohen's home equity line. it's unclear, but stay tuned because we continue to get these lives updates from inside the court bit of a mystery late on a friday afternoon, paula reid. thank you so much i've or sanchez in new york and i'm wolf blitzer here in washington. much more of our specialty what coverage of the trial is coming up and i'll be back in two hours in the situation room 6:00 p.m. eastern. but the lead with jake tapper starts right now cnn's breaking news welcome to the lead on jake tapper, right now, right this minute. i knew witness in donald trump's hush money cover up trial. the prosecution just called it's third witness. his name is gary pharaoh. gary pharaoh is a banker who worked

he was famously described as individual one. and michael cohen attested in federal court that in the commission of the crimes he was pleading guilty to, o he acted coordination with and at the direction of individual one, aka donald trump. and michael cohen had receipts to back this up, literal receipts. when he was called to testify before congress, you may remember he brought with him c copies of thet checks that wer given to him to reimburse him for making the illegal payment. checks signed in some cases by donald j. trump. many of them signed while trump was in the white house. and it was w -- it was all an amazing spectacle, right? i mean, other presidents maybe stooped someone or made get involved in a campaign finance scandal, f but illegal hush mon payments to not one, but two alleged t mistresses with reimbursement checks for one of the illegal payments signed in the white house. i mean, eh. a, gross. b, not your typical presidential scandal. we're already in unprecedented territory here. butce that's not actually the mt important

pecker says in the testimony, he mentioned to me, he said i spoke to michael michael cohen. he said he told me about that time. he told me about that. he said he he told me about karen. he said to me, what do you think this is pecker saying that trump asked him, what do you think about karen mcdougal pecker goes on to say, i believe you should buy it. i believe you trump's should by the karen mcdougal story, trump said to me, look, everything he says, i don't by stories and he said that anytime you do anything like this, it all always gets out. pecker says, i still believe we should take the story off the market. trump says, let me think about it and i'll have michael cohen call you in a few days in this, we do have a graphic of later in the testimony, pecker talks about how he was speaking to michael cohen. this is josh steinglass, the prosecutor. how would you describe michael cohen's tone during those calls about carroll? for mcdougal? pecker says michael was very agitated. it looked like he was getting a lot of pressure to get the answer, like right away steinglass asked

here to michael, he's the one where the computer on seeing the company, the, i mean people who are part of the voice of the i don't have the most of the shania publicly and for the little kind of you salma last for the move when i would show seemed wrong just don't move out because the application and engagement equals the trail. when so many find themselves will support. we choose to look so common ground the the, the, [000:00:00;00] the, the video of thank you. so this is julia most goes by points of some of the because it was supposed to, this is not, i mean is can, which in us was right on the symbol of the, the voice of your luxury is just your point for you. what this measurements deformed your feet, thomas post, get a name, a speech pathologist, and mostly which is the most clear is clearly see the story and i'm going to do something with i also checked me know? 6 cool. it just yes. yes. i mean, yeah. 70 bradley labeled, we'll talk soon, choose your phone or your store for, for the personal level of perfect for people or the last 4 of you are familiar with some of these, but cert

he said, who did you understand we to be referring to? pecker said michaelen always told me he was not part of the campaign, so i only assume but he was talking to mr. trump that all going to be enough and starting to tell this story for a jury will joining me now, senior political correspondent for the wall street journal, molly ball former january 6 committee, investigative counsel, market get childress and former trump attorney tim parlatore now, tim, i start with you here. think about i always think about trial in terms of a jigsaw puzzle of sorts. what do i need from each particular witness to make this story cell to a jury to persuade them talking about david pecker. you think about this as a puzzle of sorts. what is the prosecution need to share and prove? well, pecker's in the center gets talking about a catch and kill as a bit of a pattern that it had a connection to the actual campaign. but we don't know the last two pieces yet whether trump game gave direct are not just intimations, innuendos it also was he aware there was a cook the books sort of

right out and saying he's trying to win the election. >> you must follow your heart of this issue, but remember, you must also win elections. we must win. we have to win. >> michaele is saying it. i should probably watch these clips before i host the show. but i guess we shouldn't be surprised. the right to life you can compromise on, but the right to an election? well, that's trump's "precious baby." now we come back, alex garland will be joining me on the show. don't go away. [cheers and applause] hello, ghostbusters. it's doug. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. we got a bit of a situation. [ metal groans] sure, i can hold. ♪ liberty liberty liberty liberty ♪ hello, ghostbusters. it's doug. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. we got a bit of a situation. [ metal groans] sure, i can hold. ♪ liberty liberty liberty liberty ♪ dad, don't forget about my new cleats. sweetie, i can't make it to dick's this week. have you heard of dicks.com? have i heard of dicks.com? girl: let's go! let's go! have i heard of dicks.com? (screaming) whoa. don't overthink it. let's go shopping. a

he will not stop with michael cohen. he will make people involved in this trial he will make them pay for being involved in it. >> there is, everything in our system is designed to protect donald trump's rights. he is innocent until proven guilty. and, donald trump seems hellbent on perverting a system that is set to protect him. and there are a lot of things here. there are benefits, and the system is designed to ensure that the defendants have a lot of rights. it is designed, they often say, to ensure that it is better than 10 guilty people go free than that one innocent person be convicted. there are a lot of rights designed to protect the defendant. yet as you say, donald trump is attacking that system that has all of these benefits for him. and it will tell you, their job is to preserve and protect the constitution and to make sure the system works because it has to work with the defenders and work against people who are innocent. we will see where donald trump falls. and i also think a big part of what he is trying

we all know michael cohen, the fixer, the attorney. he will be a key witness. they will tell the jury you're going to hear from michael cohen. and one thing that the prosecutors are going to do is they're going to have to as we say, pull the staying, they're gonna have to say look, folks, you've heard, you will hear that he's pled guilty to perjury and other crimes, but the prosecution will argue now he's come clean. now you can bank on him. we also expect the prosecution to look forward to who it's other key witnesses will be to introduce those to the jury, including david, who we expect to be the first witness today, just to be clear, i'm pointing out here karen mcdougal, who is somebody who was allegedly paid $150,000 by david. but she hurricanes was not a criminal charge foundation. it's about stormy daniels payment. that's an issue here. exactly. right. and the evidence that mcdougal will be introduced by the prosecutors to show that this is a pattern. one more key theme we'll hear from the prosecutors. they will say that everything you hear of importance f

he was famously described as individual one. andvi michael cohen attested in federal court he acted in coordination with and at the direction of individual-1,aka, donald trump. and michaelnd cohad00 receipts back this up, literal receipts. when he was called today testify before congress yous may rememr he brought with him copies of the checks given to him to reimburse him for making the illegal payment, checks signed inen some cases by donald j. trump, many of them signed while trump was in the white house. and it wasp all an amazing spectacle, right? other presidents maybe get involved in a campaign finance scandal, but illegal hush money payments to not one but two mistresses for reimbursement checks signed in the white house, "a," gross. "b," not your typical scandal. we're already in unprecedented territory here. that'sde not the most important point. the michael cohen federal case revelations, michaelca cohen, pleading guilty, coming clean saying what happened, that left in itsed wake not just a slimy trail of, yuck, don't let the kids

>> he is able to give michael cohen's nonpublic story at the time, when he had the post motivation to finger at donald trump, michael cohen signed a complete privilege waiver so he didn't release anything privileged and said this is the information that when the southern district of new york was investigating this case, they interviewed michael cohen, then they interviewed bob costello and they had michael cohen sign a privilege waiver and then based on the information that bob costello gave them, that is why the u.s. attorney's office decided not to bring this case because they knew they couldn't rely on the word of michael cohen. so even though -- >> well i have to jump in on this -- >> the determination is admissible, but the information is. >> and i would jump in, whether or not cohen waived that for the purposes of his cooperation with the government and i think most lawyers would say going out and talking about a former client and describing his mental anguish or potential alleged suicidal ideation is beyond the pail. and then two, it is a complex set of reasons why the sdny did

he has ami and michael cohen. and here again today as a witness, he really doesn't have much of a choice, but i also one of the reasons that trump was so contentious, their water reasons, but one of the reasons he was so contentious and struggled so much, particularly the white house press pool, because he was used to the david. of the world. he was used to people who would suppress stories that were difficult, amplify ones that were great, right? the were his friends and would carry water for him. he was used to that sort of celebrity journalism. and i think that is one of the many reasons that he was often so frustrated with the white house press pool that does not operate that way. >> and what do you think the prosecutor is doing is they're trying to establish how long have you known trump, what kind of relationship did you have with him? what is their intent? putting that out before getting to what did you hear trump say about suppressing negative stories? clearly he had he had a friendship. this was a trump al

and then, michael cohen was told he was going to be charged with federal crimes. and then, michael cohen struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors with the u.s. attorney's office in the southern district of new york. he pled guilty to campaign finance violations and other charges. he admitted that he had arranged this payment to ms. daniels and to another woman who said she had a nine month long affair with trump. he said he arranged these payments, he coordinated to make sure these women would get paid. to stay quiet about their allegations of infidelity. in order to help trump's presidential campaign. now, when michael cohen pled guilty, president trump responded by calling him a rat. that's nice. when michael cohen pled guilty, he admitted that he hadn't paid out this hush money of his own accord out of the goodness of his heart. he admitted in court filings, he swore in person, in federal court he had been directed to make these payments by his boss, by donald trump. he effectively said you know, yes, i commit third-degree crime. i committed it in cahoots wit

we have the third witness back on the stand, he is michael cohen's i on the stand, he is michael cohen'sitness trying to outline the prosecution narrative that this was all about cover—up to hide the fact they had this catch and kill scheme where a tabloid newspaper was eyes and ears so donald trump's campaign. we have moved into the nitty—gritty of the documents. he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. what we have is gary pharaoh on the stand he will outline how this hush money payment to stormy daniels played out in terms of michael cohen setting up a she“ terms of michael cohen setting up a shell company, and llc to then transfer that money to stormy daniels's lawyer. that will be the kind of bulk of the morning. we will see donald trump's lawyers cross—examine him and remember donald trump will keep trying to distance himself from any of these records of the payment itself, saying he had nothing to do with it. this lays the groundwork for michael cohen's testimony?— this lays the groundwork for michael cohen's testimony? absolutely. what we heard from _ cohen's

he has baggage, michael cohen. but he is -- he was the fixer for donald trump. he's going to testify to that. he was loyal to donald trump. and he's the only one who can talk about this because he's the one who made the playoffs. >> his baggage is he went to prison for donald trump. so his baggage actually, what baggage? he's not been wrong. he said donald trump wouldn't leave office. he's not wrong about that. what baggage he has, he has because he was doing crimes for donald trump. it seems to me kind of hard to impeach him on that. catherine christian, always a pleasure. we will see you on monday. >>> coming up, a major announcement from two leading election deniers. what to expect from trump and speaker mike johnson's first public event together since the maga disciple was elected speaker. stay with us. when enamel is gone, you cannot get it back. but you can repair it with pronamel repair. it penetrates deep into the tooth to actively repair acid weakened enamel. i recommend pronamel repair. with new pronamel repair mouthwash you can enhance that repair bey

what he said about michael cohen was that he wanted his nose in everything. mpaign lawyer, but he was acting like the campaign lwyer, so that will be consistent with donald trump's claim that michael cohen was this rogue actor, trump didn't know what he was doing. >> i want to read a little bit, if i can, andrew, about what lisa rubin is observing about the cross-examination. it's coming very fast and furious, a bunch of questions, like one after the other after the other. pecker's partnership with trump, ami source agreements with the nda's totally typical. ami chooses not to run stories even though it bought them. pecker's relationship with trump was not unusual. why is he doing this? >> on cross-examination you're allowed to what's called lead the witness. you kind of just want to get a yes or no answer and not get an explanation because you can get hurt by an explanation, so you're trying to keep it very tight on cross-examination. on the substance. we're just at the beginning of cross. we have to wait to see what the full scope is. you know, comparing wha

he was a lawyer, and you rely on your lawyers, but michael cohen was a convicted liar. he was a lawyer for many people,

he was helpful to a certain extent. the defense, not as bad as michael cohen, he is someone who is not adversarial but could help not just the prosecution, but -- >> and that is why trump felt optimistic. >> right. >> there was one thing david said that was significant and one stood out when we was sitting outside listening when we were watching the school across the screen, he testifies that at first trump's focus on negative stories which we pointed out, had been about his wife, his daughter, how he was be perceived in his family. but then he said after the campaign started it shifted and it was what the impact would be on the election. and black and white the motive right there. how significant is that one lying. >> i think it is very significant because people thought that this case was going to rest on the credibility of michael cohen and stormy daniels lab their own issues. really what david perker provided was this overall context that this was about the campaign. this was all about helping the campaign and he said over and over again during his t

hi, he had to falsify the repayment to michael cohen. so all of this again, this is building to the core of their cases, to the allegation that he falsified these business records to cover up the hush money payment. now, prosecutors are showing an email about the paperwork for a wire payment to the doorman. now, this i'd be really curious to see what it says who. is, on it because this would also speak to how many people were in the loop about this, this hush money payment. >> i mean, why would the trump team object to paperwork? let this big show that's why i want to know. i want to know what's on it because we can only see this updates right now. but i want to know who else is on this and what else does it does it show it must be something that they believe is not favorable to their client yeah i have my mic. i'm blissfully not a lawyer, but i'm assuming either names or or some type of contact information would be the biggest. yes. >> i want to jump off paul's point because i think his welcome this all play out. >> why this is not the s

trump and he was asking michael cohen, did you hear anything yet? he also testified that trump called him directly about the mcdougal story, saying, quote, i spoke to michael and he told me about karen and trump said to me, what do you think? he said that he told trump to purchase the story. the former editor will resume his testimony. he paid mcdougal $150,000 for the rights to her story and silence. trump was supposed to repay him. he was not doing this as charity. he was the pass-through, if you will. trump did what he always does. he stiffed him on the bill, which is why michael cohen was the one forced to pay stormy daniels out of his own pocket. and msnbc legal correspondent has been watching from inside the courtroom. andrew rice, he just profiled todd blanche in a cover story. good to have you both here. topline impressions from today? >> my topline impression is that he had a whole lot to say. he was asked how often he communicated with trump and said after trump became a candidate, conversations increased. he would expect a candidate would

right out and saying he's trying to win the election. >> you must follow your heart of this issue, but remember, you must also win elections. we must win. we have to win. >> michael saying it. i should probably watch these clips before i host the show. but i guess we shouldn't be surprised. the right to life you can compromise on, but the right to an election? well, that's trump's "precious baby." now we come back, alex garland will be joining me on the show. don't go away. [cheers and applause] camilla tried the new scent of gain relax flings and it changed everything. (♪♪) hey dave, don't knock it 'til you smell it. new gain relax flings. ♪ hit me with your best shot ♪ bacon. bacon. bacon. introducing applebee's new whole lotta bacon burger. just $9.99 for a limited time. ♪ fire away ♪ —applebee's now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. (♪♪) hey lexus, show alternate routes. technology that's ready for the road ahead. the lexus nx. popcorners... heard they're the cats meow. of course, it's because they're popped, not fried. knock yourself out. (man whistles) bro, i said dress like a cop busting a speakeasy. i thought you told me it was a sleep easy! and tha

and has trump said -- we know he goes bad on michael cohen yesterday. about david they've been friends and allies for decades. >> it was interesting because at trial you start with their most important witness and end with your strongest typically. this gave us a witness of where this is going and it was telling from the opening statement from the prosecution that they wanted to link this directly to the election. the whole groundwork leading up to david was trump ended this catch and kill for the campaign. it was to attack political opponents. it was for david -- and this is clearly where it's going. david was asked how we operated and orchestrated the catch and kill schemes. over $10,000 that editors had to ask him if they could spend that kind of money on sources and try to get stories. he will narrate the entirety of the relationship between trump and him and the national enquirer and that's why it makes them important. >> the prosecution is hoping he will be that narrator, neal? >> absolutely. i think the aim of the prosecution and its chronologica

spoke to michael cohen directly. he may be able to shed light on the pressure michael cohen felt and what michael cohen was being instructed to do is they kind of been trying to say, well, michael cohen was acting on his in his own accord. >> yeah, that's a great point because remember, davidson is the one who receives the money from that shell company and we heard earlier from mr. pharaoh just how urgent mr. cohen seemed in this entire matter, how quickly he was trying to move things along and how swiftly that movie money moved to that account and then back out to mr. davidson so davidson's testimony here about what was happening with mr. cohen with that money at this critical time, shortly after the access hollywood tape, days before the election. this is really going to set the stage for the prosecution's case. >> we also talk about nda's so much these non-disclosure agreements and todd blanche, when they were talking about them previously, the david pecker kinda tried to make it seem commonplace. we talked about eff

yes, he's the elephant in the room, but we're going to prove this case not because of michael cohen. and the second thing is i think there'll be able to prove it up with other width this is with text messages, with emails, with audios that are not relying upon him. so he doesn't down the center rack, so i think they strategically wanted to pivot such that it's not all about michael collins when he is ravaged, which he will be in his perjurer, you lied to congress, you lied here. they're gonna be like so what about email? what about the texas that's right. what about the audit? what about everything else? that's why we're not relying upon which it's gonna be fascinating, which, what else they do bring to your point. and michael cohen, when i've talked to me, he says they do have all that other information that he views himself in a sense as additive, not not the only way that you would get to this conclusion they do, but i'm sorry. >> i was just going to say that the the linchpin in this case are the payments to michael cohen as an attorney. and those clips we just had a trump's press

cohen and what he believed michael cohen was doing. and also not to mention the relationship he had with donald trump and direct conversations he had with trump about what they were doing in the 2016 campaign. >> i think david pecker is a far more important witness that many people appreciate. not only because he can speak as you just noted to the formation of the conspiracy that the d.a.'s office wants the jury to buy into, but because at multiple points in time, he talked to trump directly including with respect to whether it was worth it to buy karen mcdougle's story at a point in time that enquirer ceo and chief content officer, dylan howard, had already flown to california to interview mcdougle about her story. decided essentially that she was credible after which point trump calls pecker and said what do you think we should do. i also thought that it was a fascinating introduction to the world of tabloid journalism. it was like pecker was emptying the contents of his head about the lexicon and standard practices tabloid journalist

he's a legal adviser to michael cohen. here as well. >>> i want to start with the breaking news out of the middle east. overnight, iran carried out an hour long airborne attack inside israel marching more than 300 missiles and drones. 99% of the incoming fire was intercepted. thanks to the iron dome and defense systems funded by the united states and a coordinated effort. only a few of the missiles launched actually entered israel causing minor damage at an israeli air base. a young girl was injured biochip fell, but no reports of other casualties. iran says it was in retaliation for the israeli strike on a building in damascus syria that killed several commanders earlier this month. now, despite being adversaries for more than 40 years, this marks the first time iran launched a direct attack on israel from inside their own territory. and for that reason, it is unprecedented. it's important to remember that. iran also made clear last night, through a statement issued by the u.n. mission that they were done. stating quote,

the former banker for michael cohen at first republic. and he is articulating the extent to which there is urgency on michael cohen's part to open up these two accounts. there is the one account particularly in october 26 in which he drew off of michael cohen's own line of credit through his home equity in order to put $131,000 into this new bank account through first republic. at that point in time, the $131,000 was then transferred from michael cohen, from that new account, to an attorney who is representing stormy daniels. it had been indicated, the allegation is, stormy daniels, just two weeks out from the election, was prepared to take her story elsewhere, for alleged affair with donald trump. but then as october began to close, with that message communicated to michael cohen, he turned up the intensity of which he sought to make sure that she was effectively paid, knowing that the "national enquirer" was not going to pay her. and that's when he drew off his own home equity line of credit to put money into this new account set up by gary fa

it was very odd that he said that today, michael cohn, it was an attorney he submitted in an invoice and they put the payment to him on the books. when he said they i think he was referring to the trump organization so he could distance himself like he knew nothing about this the problem with donald trump doing that is and this is in the indictment and the de i said this in their opening statement, donald trump signed the checks to michael cohen and allegedly they came out of the donald j. trump account. so the whole press conference was a bit of a i think a pr disaster because it's going to hurt him in court. eventually, the jury and he came out, he does that eight minutes. jeremy talking, of course, in the courtroom what else did to you? i sat two. i know you mentioned that he was passing notes to his attorneys at time that he was engaged you know, what what moore's interactions? blake with his team and with the jury. >> yeah. it's interesting because when his attorney, todd blanche went to speak trump's demeanor, it's shifted he turned his chair, he faced he faced him, which made

cohen will never flip and then they used it to compare tweets later after michael cohen was cooperating with prosecutors and he said something, the tweet was essentially if you're looking for a skilled lawyer, don't hire them at higher michael cohen, those are the only time i saw trump really laugh, by the way, it was at his own words, but he also had to sit there as they read the transcript of the access hollywood tape, not all of it, but much of it that's what a lot of this trial is going to be. >> you know what i noticed speaking of that is wanting to trump's not there >> this >> case for all we talk, we will talk about the legal theories with trump's attorney, who's coming on in a moment, but personally for him, it also has an impact because it's certainly did when the story was coming out. and we were learning all the details of this. >> there's no question and he's been saying to people privately referencing his wife in connection with this trial about it this is i'm paraphrasing, but that it's not pleasant she was very unhappy when they were in the white house. she made hey, that very clear through a nu

he didn't flip in the way that michael cohen has flipped. he's giving testimony that is not helpful to trump and that is helpful to the prosecution, but he hasn't said something that is really in its incriminating donald trump, but it's not incriminating the way that michael cohen's. >> i just wonder if if donald trump would tell his attorney to temper the cross-examination because of who they're dealing with and what david pecker might know, but it depends what they want to get out. what i think they may do is not cross-examine him in a hostile way and say, you were just a businessman you were doing what you thought was good for the enquirer? and maybe helping your friend, you didn't think you were committing a crime, did you? and i think that is often more effective than beating someone up and saying you're a liar, you're i mean that i think is probably the most, most effective way to deal with them. and the thing about pecker though, is this whole deal has been a nightmare for him. >> i mean, he was as a lot more successful businessman in