the former president's word. >> brian: he famously went to karen macdougall and a door man and he said the story. i'll write it up. here's your money and i'm going to kill it. he spikes it. how does that help the prosecution? how does it hurt the defense? >> just some context on that is that this does happen in the media world. can you buy writes to a story and then choose not to publish it. some people may not like it but there is nothing inherently illegal. the prosecution wants to bring this in though to say well, he and trump had some kind of agreement that he was going to help them out with the election. so he going to pay off macdougall and this speaks to the same pattern here with michael cohen and therefore, what happened with stormy daniels is in effect an illegal contribution to himself. it is still a stretch no matter how you look at it but that's this whole case. >> lawrence: kerri, i'm curious. is the argument for the defense the statute that bragg is bringing before the court is not really congruent with this case or is the argument that, yeah, he did it but it's not ille

. >> brian: karen macdougall? >> ainsley: talk about the women.t man if he has made this mistake wants the world to know about this? it had nothing to do with the elections it was just because i was ashamed of this. or maybe he says i guess he is going to remain he says he didn't do it. >> well, that's exactly what todd blanche told the jury yesterday in his opening statement for the defense saying that the nda certainly is legal. that the former president was attempting to protect his brand, protect his family. >> ainsley: his family and wife. >> his reputation that certainly is the defense' view. the president we heard him say look, he had accountants and lawyers they told him what to do. he was president at the time. he was in the oval office dealing with those issues that it is not what prosecutors say, that according to the former president. >> brian: he kept on saying objections. any time he said ndas are not illegal. then the other side colangelo would object. and the judge would just let him go, i guess. and they keep saying it over and ov

do to buy playmate karen macdougall story that she had a 10 month affair with trump. and revealed he and trump swapped favors for years that could hurt trump long before he ran for president and did he that with other politicians, too. pecker said he bought stories to kill damaging stories about arnold schwarzenegger, tiger woods and quashed an affair that rahm emanuel had. prosecutors tried show there was a conspiracy between pecker, michael cohen, trump's fixers and the former president to silence macdougall for political reasons, not out of embarrassment over the alleged affair. and as a way of thanking him for handling karen macdougall, trump invited pecker and several infirer editors to the white house for dinner at a point during those meetings at the white house he said that the president then asked how our girl, karen macdougall was doing in reference, he thought, to the deal when they had made. is it also turns out he was able to squash a story or tried to about marla maple's the former president's second wife as far as back 1988. none of this according to pe

as a way of thanking him for handling karen macdougall.ecker testified trump invited him to the white house for dinner. when asked about the trial, president biden responded, quote: i haven't had a chance to watch the court proceedings because i've been campaigning. i'm going to head back into the courtroom in about an hour and a half from now. and, guys, i fully expect today's testimony to go as follows. i think cross-examination is going to focus right out of the gate at 9:30 on the politicians that david pecker quashed stories for. and then, because juries are human, they know the weekend is upon us. don't be surprised if cross-examination ends early. don't expect 8 hours of cross-examination. i think the defense is going to want to force the prosecution to put on a witness as we head into the weekend, so that that witness for those last couple of hours is the last thing that they have going into the weekend. the jury is thinking my god, why are they dragging this out? you have to keep in mind i have impaneled juries, mock juries. the t

tenia la intencion de influenciar laverdad, senor peq el proposito de cancelar la historia de karen macdougallnciar la de la eleccion? >> pregunto el fiscal. >> si, respon eleccion pre presidencial de 2016. >> ¿es verdad, senor pequer, que el proposito de cancelar la historia de karen mcdougall era influenciar la eleccion? >> pregunto el fiscal. >> si, respondio respondio pecker. >> dentro de la sala, el expresidente se sentaba muy r relajado a veces cerraba los ojos varios noticia. >> la proxima semana no habra juicio lunes y y miercoles. >> asi que termino el testimonio de pecker y despues siguio rona graff, quien fuera asistente por muchos anos de donald trump de donald trump en la torre trump. >> por cierto, que ella admitio que en su agenda tenia los telefonos de karen mcdougall y de stormy daniels de esta ultima dice haberla visto trump, que penso que ella estaba audi audicionando para the apprentice y sabia que se trataba de una artista o de una actriz de peliculas para adultos gracias, bien, ahi estan los detalles, rogelio. >> muchas gracias. >> ¿que el presidente biden dijo por primer

karen macdougall, a lot of that took place before he was president.ability that donald trump envisions for himself in a presidency. >> speaking of that court in lower manhattan, we just showed former president trump arriving at the courthouse. just a few moments from now we will get david pecker back on the stand. he's under cross examination from donald trump's defense team. what kind of a witness has he been? he's been pretty explicit laying out how his system worked, how he would buy stories to protect donald trump through the years. what have you heard and what can the defense do to him today to undercut what happened earlier in the week. >> they're trying to show, the defense, that this is what david pecker did not just for donald trump, but for other people. there were a lot of names bandied about that he and donald trump have had a very long relationship that began before the presidential campaign and he did these things for donald trump before then. so they're trying to implant -- all you need is one juror, because that will be a hung jury if

going to talk about the payment of $130,000 made to stormy daniels and the $150,000 paid to karen macdougallt michael cohen and stormy daniels and how they had an ax to grind. they'll say this was legal fees. this was an attorney that worked for donald trump for a very long time and donald trump didn't know what michael cohen was doing with stormy daniels and karen macdougall in arranging these payments. and then onto that first witness we are learning is david pecker, who sat above ami for almost two decades and helped arrange those payments to karen macdougall. they'll talk about the white house meeting in 2017 when david pecker visited donald trump as he was the president of the united states. it is going to be a jam-packed day but a short day, as court will recess at 12:30 this afternoon. >> chuck rosenberg, the conference in the judge's chamber around juror number nine, isn't that something that all of us have to really be concerned about? can they keep this jury together even though nine is still seated there? there's always this overwhelming cloud of whether you can keep this jury tog

while evidence of payments to former playboy model karen macdougall will be allowed. cher chan ruled michael cannot be used as evidence of president trump's guilt. cohen is trump's former lawyer. his credibility will be central to this trial. trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. manhattan d.a. alvin bragg will have to prove trump did that to conceal, aid, or commit another crime. a crime bragg didn't specify in the indictment. today, prospective jurors heard a summary of the cases. many will eventually answer questions from lawyers on both sides about their background and ability to fairly serve as jurors. each one will be a manhattan resident. a borough where former president trump received only 12% of the vote for president in 2020. >> it's a scam. it's a political witch-hunt. it continues, continues forever. >> this trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, which takes us into june. and, remember, former president donald trump will have to be here in person every single day of the trial. it will take precedent over

for purchasing the lifetime rights to former playboy model karen macdougall's story about an allegedr with trump who said again tonight this trial is politically motivated. >> we sit here day after day after day, which is their plan because they think they might be able to eke out an election. >> today pecker wrapped up his testimony, telling the court, quote: i have been truthful to the best of my recollection. former president trump's lawyers exposed inconsistencies with pecker's testimony about whether or not trump thanked him for suppressing stories. pecker says he now believes he violated federal election law while suppressing macdougall's story. trump's long-time executive ronna graph also took the stand today describing the former president as a formal and respectable boss for 34 years. maintained contacts including those of mcdo you go and adult film actress stormy daniels. graph vaguely testified she remembered see daniels at the trump tower before the election. court is not in session on monday, so the trial will resume on tuesday of next week. but, before that, former pres

former american media ceo and president david pecker testified he paid former playboy model karen macdougall0,000 for the lifetime rights to her story about an alleged affair with former president donald trump. when asked why he paid that money, pecker said, quote: we didn't want this story to embarrass mr. trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign. pecker clarified those concerns came from himself and trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. not trump, who says this trial is politically motivated. >> today was breath-taking in this room. you saw what went on. it was breath-taking. and amazing testimony. this is a trial that should have never happened. this is a case that should have never been filed. >> pecker eventually backed out of a reimbursement deal with cohen for the rights to macdougall's story over legal concerns. then, after pecker refused to pay adult film actress stormy daniels for her story cohen paid daniels $130,000. when pecker later asked trump about paying cohen back at cohen's request he said the former president had no idea what pecker was talking about. during today's mornin

>> pecker testified he and cohen identified and suppressed stories from former playboy model karen macdougall and a false story from a trump tower door man. today judge juan merchan reserved his decision about whether or not trump violated the court's gag order by sharing articles online about witnesses in the case. >> names mentioned in the article. and i end up in violation of a gag order. i think it's a disgrace. it's totally unconstitutional. >> trump's lawyer todd blanche claimed the former president's post represented responses from his attacks from opponents. after failing to provide an example, merchan scolded him saying, quote, mr. blanche, you are losing all credibility with the court. >> bret, in the conversation away from the jury today, prosecutor joshua stein glass revealed the crime that manhattan d.a. alvin bragg did not include in his indictment of former president donald trump it's new york law section 17 part 152 in what we can take from it is that trump is accused of falsifying business records to aid a conspiracy to win the 2016 presidential election. bret? >> bret: nate

david pecker, the former publisher of the national inquirer he says he paid playboy playmate karen macdougall for her silence. lawyers for trump say prosecutors have it wrong. >> we believe the facts are absolutely on our side that they're absolutely exxonner racism of the president. and as long as the jury focuses on the facts and see through all the media conch and sensationalism and the facts at issue in this case we believe we have a winning case they file these type of cases all the time. difference with this it involves the former president and what bragg says is election interference. the opening arguments in morning back to you in the studio. >> brian: all right, eric, thank you so much. bring in former acting u.s. attorney general matt whitaker. matt, the president saying the payments were to michael cohen or does he say the payments were to michael cohen to keep this to keep stormy daniels quiet because it was embarrassing to him personally as opposed to it's hurting his election chances? >> yeah. that's a really good point, brian. what i know is that first of all, you know, michael

but the next witness after david pecker is expected to be karen macdougall the former playboy playmate adding that she had an affair with trump that went on to 10 months. the allegations she was paid not to reveal it paid by the national inquirer part of that catch and kill scheme not to harm president trump in 2016. testimony resuming this morning after that gag order hearing. back to you. >> brian: is he testifying because he got subpoenaed. he might have some type of deal with the feds. i don't know if david pecker is in trouble. he cut some kind of deem. we will see what happens today. stop at 2:00 because of passover and they don't do anything except gag order until 11:00. >> will: david pecker runs the risk of boring the your. overarching theme. complicated case and better get to the facts quick. i would have expected michael cohen but they start with david pecker of the national inquirer. see how its resonating with people. lawrence is there he has been talking to diners. it's a confusing case to the point, lawrence, i don't know how this is going to land with a jury much less t

i'm talking about karen macdougall.about the choices of some of these witnesses and what the judge is allowing into this case. >> >> the judge is allowing everything. because, let's be very clear, the prosecution has failed to put on any evidence, harris, of indicting president trump of a crime. but any admissible evidence. this is nothing more than to basically try to dirty him up. the prosecution is hiding michael cohen. they basically want to delay his testimony. michael cohen, if there's any evidence against trump it's in the hands of michael cohen. but he has no credibility. he is a liar, is he a convicted felon. so far we have zero evidence in this trial and the whole intended purpose, harris, was to hurt president trump's election chances have failed. all you have to do is look at the recent polling, trump is doing quite well in the polls. >> harris: well, real quickly, and, you know, ari, the politics of this are at play. you dirty up an ex-president, it's just not anybody, he's running, again, against the guy w

former playboy playmate karen macdougall also part of this case. she, too claimed an affair.d she was paid 150,000 by the national inquirer as part of the catch and kill to keep that story quiet. the charge is usually misdemeanors. there have v. been cases like this before on the filing false instruments. but the manhattan d.a. alvin bragg, the indictment has been bumped up to felonies. because he has roped in election violations and, perhaps, tax issues. the former president has slammed this case. here is one of his attorneys on it, will sharp. >> i have faith get the best possible jury. important to note that this case is being brought at the height of election season makes the process of picking a jury even more difficult here is the 42-page jury questionnaire asks if the prospective jurors could be fair to the former president, what they believe about the case, what they know about it, if they can put all that aside. it also asks if they are members of some political groups like antifa or members of the proud boys and also includes questions about what networks they watch

also, former playboy playmate karen macdougall alleged her pay off part of this claim.claimed an affair with the former president. he has denied that she was paid 150 grand by the national inquirer to try to keep her story under wraps. the charges are using misdemeanors but manhattan district attorney alvin bragg bumped up those counts to felonies. he roped in the elections violations and also raised tax issues. as you know the former president has harshly slammed the case. here is one of his attorneys will scharf. >> one of the craziest things about this case is the fact that what we're dealing with here are misdemeanor offenses that threw this weird legal al chemical process alvin bragg has attempted to convert into felony offenses. i believe the truth is on president trump's side. there is nothing that any of these witnesses or anything the new york d.a. can do to change that basic fact. >> eric: jury selection should take two weeks. the trial itself six to eight weeks. to get on the jury you get that summons. you have to be a resident of manhattan, speak english. no

and then he ended up at least with respect to karen macdougall, he bought the rights to that story, which is a playboy playmate that said she had an affair with donald trump. bought the rights to and it squashed the story. which again is a common practice. they may not like it or think it's think. it is not illegal. we are in a court of law. there needs to be elements proved to support that. >> sounds like incestuous relationship between "the washington post" and the biden white house. >> ainsley: exactly. >> i was sitting there thinking it sounds like an article in national inquirer. >> ainsley: there was a story that was suppressed and the "new york post" was the only one reporting it and suppressed by other media outlets right before the election about joe biden. >> brian: the laptop. >> ainsley: exactly. when you are sitting in that courtroom, do you think any of the jurors are saying oh, now because of that, he is guilty. >> i think they just might be confused of why are we hearing all of these testimony from david pecker about this relationship with donald trump. now, the prosecutio

including the story of former playboy playmate karen macdougall who says she had a 10 month long affairith the former president. this, as prosecutors could pile on more contempt of court charges against trump for his continued attacks, especially on the expected star witness, his former lawyer, michael cohen. you know, the former president here at court and elsewhere has continued to brand cohen as a liar. and prosecutors have said his attacks violate judge merchan's gag order. in response, cohen tells fox news, quote: despite not being the gagged defendant, out of respect for judge merchan and the prosecutors, i will cease posting anything about donald on my x, formerly twitter account or on the mea culpa podcast until after my trial testimony. we expect co-ton testify here, perhaps, in the next week-to-week and a half. but today it will be mr. pecker's chance and we will find out if the judge cites the former president for contempt of court. if he does, he could face $1,000 per infraction. he is racking up now 11 examples so, that could be 11 grand if in deed the judge finds he is go

salacious stories from 2016 which have really kind of fallen out of the news cycle, stormy daniels, karen macdougall a presidential historian yesterday. i said what is the precedent for this, and he said, nothing. >> eventually a jury will be empanelled and the trial will proceed and evidence will be produced on both sides, prosecution and defense. this will be the ultimate event for a candidate that is the defendant to stand up and constantly portray himself in public that the jury is fixed, the justice system is corrupt, the judge is stupid. this would be the ultimate opportunity for such a defendant, mr. trump, to take the stand and tell his story. but if you were his lawyer, would you ever let him take the stand? >> no. we're talking about what's good legally. it's not a close call. in fairness to him, i'll say in general in these kind of cases the burden of proof is on the prosecution. they have to prove every element of the crime. if one juror has a reasonable doubt, that's supposed to be enough to stop a conviction to have a hung jury or a mistrial. that's why in general lawyers don't advise

then you also saw stormy daniels and karen macdougall.about how the women who hold donald trump accountable tend to trigger him the most, make him the most upset, unhinged. it's going to be interesting to see how donald trump plays this politically. he calls this election interference, because of course he's a candidate for president and this is interfering in his election. at the same time, the narratives that are going to come out of this trial, it will be interesting to see how the public responds to this. i think this trial will get more attention than some of the other trials. the details are salacious. the information is easy to understand. it's unclear to me whether that will help or hurt donald trump, because it will definitely put on full display his personal behavior. i wonder, especially with a lot of the election and races you've been covering and the way our politics have gone, i think we can expect donald trump to make this quite a campaign event for himself. >> absolutely. in fact, he was in central pennsylvania this weeken