keith. keith davidson is arguing that the truthfulness of the statement in which stormy daniel's denied the affair or the interlude or whatever you wanna call it how would you characterize, how would you categorize the truthfulness of the statement the prosecution asks and keith davidson says, well and extremely strict reading of this denial would technically be true. so all of all of you folks out there who get frustrated by lawyerly statements that don't actually deny deny something of although those of us not used to reading lawyer statements might actually say, oh look, he apologized or oh look, he denied it. davidson is saying with an extremely fine reading, i'd have to go back and look at this, figure out how it was actually true elie honig is trying to thread a really thin needle here and i'm interested to see what comes next. what davidson is doing is walking the jury through the payment structure to stormy daniel's, and that's really important to the charges here. people need to und

it's been keith davidson on the stand, right? but the focus keeps coming back again and again and again to michael cohen a thousand times. he's been name checked in this trial. a lot of what we heard hasn't been flattering, but is that actually part of the state's strategy here? >> here's the thing, cooperating witnesses or people like michael cohen who is cooperating witness-esque, they always have problems. in the grand scheme of things, witnesses like michael cohen and keith davidson aren't all that bad in the spectrum of cooperating witnesses. these are often people who are hardened criminals who may be brought into court in shackles and prison gear. you don't have that with michael cohen or keith davidson, but the people know that these are problematic witnesses because they seem seedy. michael cohen seems impulsive, rude, and possibly even somebody who makes bad decisions all on his own. the people know this, so they're getting out in front of it. they're doing the right thing, what you should always do with cooperators, wh

that's in another writing by keith davidson. he said the da says how do you square that in terms of truthfulness. he says no one would say they had a relationship. it was just a one night stand. to be fair, mr. davidson said i know this is a technical definition, it did strike me as a clinton-ish definition, but that, in many ways, was doing on direct examination what cross was doing, which is, yes, this is not -- this is not exactly david kendall, the president's council at the top of the bar. we're dealing with people engaged in this kind of work. >> the reason we're dealing with this is because donald trump slept with people he hired. >> they were going -- stormy wanted to somehow tell her story. she wanted to go on jimmy kimmel, but she wanted to not break the agreement that she had brokered with donald trump because she was facing penalties if she did. so we saw her, and she's just being cute, but she gets on jimmy kimmel. "the wall street journal" and one of the reporters that broke that story is now working at the new yor

why is it keith davidson did not trust michael cohen.en was not telling him the truth, and then michael cohen will take the stand as the key witness for the prosecution here. right now though, of course, they're homing in on combing through many of those emails that were exchanged days leading up to the november 2016 election, ana. >> thank you. so tristan, what do you think the prosecution is trying to accomplish with davidson's testimony? >> i think the key there is to show that it's the purpose of all of this. i think that's what they're really leading up toward here. why were they doing this? and the delay is a tell. it gives us a hint as to exactly what team trump was going after here. they were trying to delay the payment until after the election because after that it wasn't really relevant, win or lose. the whole point was to keep this out of the public eye before the election. if he lost the election, we don't know what he would have done next. he might have just decided he wasn't going to run for anything, we don't know. if he w

but it adds validity to michael cohen's claim about calling keith schiller and keith schiller passes to donald trump. if you watch the way todd blanche is fighting this, this is like it's the last fight of this case, that he has got to win this one. that's the way he believes at this point, keeping this photograph away from the jury. he doesn't want the jury to see this photograph. >> we'll find out most likely at 2:15 when they come back from lunch. lawrence o'donnell, thank you so much. your legal eye in all of these aspects is great. we'll hear more on his analysis from the trial today. tune in to "the last word" tonight at 10:00 p.m. on msnbc. >>> joining us now is former federal prosecutor and former sdny criminal division deputy chief, christie greenberg. she previously worked with donald trump's defense attorney, todd blanche. she is a good analyst as to how he's handling this cause and has been in the overflow room all morning. talk to us about that and the two october phone calls that are so much in dispute. >> so one thing i would say is this morning felt really slow. there

keith schiller? you know, what was the breakdown of how much how long you talk to donald trump and did he talk or help pardon me? what was the breakdown of how long keith schiller talk to michael cohen and did michael cohen? talk to donald trump? did you hand the phone over to trump well, that's what they're trying to testify to. >> the problem that that's a michael cohen appears to be trying to testify to their fault. things could have happened at the same time. i imagine that's where the de is going to go but how much? can you do on such a way the matter in one minute and 32 seconds? it's possible it's not impossible. but what's obvious? is that michael cohen was at least to me michael cohen was caught flat-footed by this. so apparently by that it appears that the da never even let's discuss this with him until now. i thought the de was presenting a masterful strategy. i had spoken previously is about 95% of the tastes have been corroborated. they put so many exhibits in evidence, so they could enh

now, keith davidson initially says no. then later, a meal beauvais says, do you recall saying that mr. cohen i won't be the lisbeth least bit surprised if he comes out and says, as you know what stormy daniel's she wanted this money more than you could ever imagine? i remember hearing her on the phone saying, you, ethene keith davidson, you better settle this god story because if he loses this election and he is going to lose, if he loses this election, we lose all f-ing leverage. this case is worth zero. do you recall saying that to mr. cohen this time davidson says, i okay. >> so this is the sleeves factor and it is through the roof. in this case. and part of it is atmospheric. they want to just turn off the jury. the defense wants the jury to just think who knows, this is a bunch of people who lie and threaten each other and paige other off. but it also goes to an important prong of the defense if the defense believes this is a shakedown, and i'm not talking about the legal elements of extortion just in the normal use o

would you not have keith schiller. >> it was keith schiller who went on the golf course and said -- >> why would he not be on the witness list, because he's still so loyal? >> he's the one that went up and said mr. trump would like to meet you. >> i think they don't need his testimony. i keep coming back to the documents. this is a documents case. they have corroboration directly from stormy daniels of the one night stand that occurred. trump has consistently denied. that explains why they were paying her. now we have corroboration from michael cohen of why they were paying her. now they need how the documents are falsified, which they got in part in fact previous week from the bookkeepers and accountant. >> by the way, the jury is on a break as we said, they asked how much longer they think they're going to take with michael cohen, the rest of the day, probably into tomorrow, so we're not going to get a cross-examination today. when we get into the defense's argument when they lay out their case, who do you think they're going to call? >> there's speculation about whether they're g

keith davidson arranged a meeting in california in keith davidson's office. question, can you tell us the substance of what ms. mcdougal said about the nature of her interactions with mr. trump during this meeting? answer i can summarize it. that's fine. ms. mcdougal alleges that she had had a romantic affair with donald trump for some years prior. question, when you say romantic, does that include sexual? answer that's what she expressed. that was the blockbuster story. that was for sale to the national enquirer. can google was a playboy magazine model who in 1998 was playmate of the year. karen mcdougal has said in interviews she was in love with donald trump and did not want her story about donald trump to be made public, keith davidson was able to use that story as leverage to use the national enquirer to pay his client, karen mcdougal, $150,000, to work for the national enquirer or its parent company by occasionally maybe writing articles for them the prosecution alleges this was a classic example of the so-called catch and kill scheme the jury has alrea

as you probably know, keith keith davidson, the lawyer testified that he texted then national enquirer editor dylan howard, and i'm quoting now, what have we done this on election night back in 2016, and howard responded, oh, my god here are two men who were involved in this alleged cover up commenting on making history. what does that say to you it says a lot about the ethics of the 2016 campaign it also might explain why the national enquirer did not want to play a role in the stormy daniels catch and kill so as a certain point pecker and his lieutenants realized that they were engaged in something they shouldn't be doing i wonder though what effect this will all have on the american public's perception of donald trump? >> are they learning anything about the former president that they didn't already know? >> it's a good question. what do you think i think they already know this about donald trump? >> i don't think this affects them either way the sorted details just a reminder of the world in which he operated. and it's a world that he brought to the oval office politically, however

keith davidson is terrible. michael cohen is terrible, but the pressure in the process secretion is going to ask at the end of the case, is who benefited from all this? who is who is the person who is above it all of the fine details, but who set this process in motion? the argument that prosecution is going to make is that it was donald trump he was he set it in motion and he was the beneficiary and all these sleeves fact, all these sleazy people were just doing what trump will also is the argument that all these sleazy people are living in the petri dish that donald trump has built. >> well, that's i think the real risk. and i'm curious what the lawyers on this panel thank but i think that is the real risk for the defense with what the jury here says, the jury here, that there's gradations of this or there's the jury hold. donald trump accountable for everything they're going to hear about michael cohen, about david pecker, about keith davidson, that this was what was taking place. michael cohen referred donal

and keith schiller's reply in the text, which we did not learn until this cross-examination, keith's reply was call me, so the next thing that happens with those phones is that michael cohen calls him within the minute that keith schiller says call me, and keith schiller's call me is about the phone harassment that michael cohen has been suffering from a 14-year-old. and so michael cohen's testimony became that the call was actually about two things. he quickly said something to keith schiller about the 14-year-old, and then spoke to donald trump about it's time to make the deal with stormy daniels. the trouble is that phone call is 1:36. now, it is possible to conduct both of those pieces of business in that amount of time for sure, especially in the way we have heard how donald trump can speak in situations like this, on the discussion that michael cohen did take with donald trump. this phone call, and what that allowed -- what that allowed todd blanche to do is that dramatic moment that every cross examining lawyer wants in the criminal defense practice, that was a lie. he boomed.

keith davidson, i do. bove, and you represented some clients who helped get paid against charlie sheen. >> i represented clients. and who you extracted pay from? we asserted there were valid settlements executed. bove,ec in 2010 you represented woman named dawn holland, right? >> davidson, yes. bove, and dawn holland leaked information about the treatment of lindsay lohan, correct? davidson, it was reported that's what she did. bove, you helped ms. holland get paid, didn't you? this is when the prosecutor says objection, the court says overruled. david, i helped ms. holland get paid yes. the implication of all this keith davidson is a seedy lawyer in the world of extortion and trump is actually the victim here like charlie sheen and lindsay lohan. it is a weird strategy. after all nobody is disputing this case is about alleged hush money payments meant to cover up trump's m affairs. and painting davidson as an extortionist doesn't fundamentally change that. now, trump's lawyers did try to cast doubt today

cohen says part of it was the 14 year-old, but i know that keith was with mr. trump at the time and there was more than potentially just this. that's what i recall based upon the documents, i reviewed, it goes on i mean, blend says five minutes ago i asked you if you remembered harassing phone calls and you said no and then i refresh your recollection. it's totally fair if you don't remember, but now your testimony is that you are testifying truthfully on tuesday to a one-minute and 36 second phone call and you had enough time in that one minute and 36 seconds to update mr. schiller about all the problems you were having with those harassing phone calls and also update president trump on the status of the stormy daniels situation. i'll stop here, but went on to say that it might have been just a few words of president trump like moving forward, stormy daniels. is that okay? from set agreed might have been just that, but cohen says, based upon the records that i was able to review in light of everything that was going on, i believe i also i believe i also spoke

>> with interests to keith? yes. to us for the story. yeah what do you think it was that it was after donald trump was the republican nominee that they came back they wanted to squash story you're saying they wanted to protect donald trump i'm assuming so, yeah. >> but they offer which we didn't discuss yet or haven't discussed was they had offered me a big contract for work from modeling and fitness and things like that might my life has always been health and fitness, so they said they were going to have you be a column as you would write, columns about health and fitness, correct? >> they said i'd write columns. i would get one call, one article per month then okay. magazine, one article per month and star magazine for two years. and then four columns per month on rater online for two years on top of that to magazine covers. and their reasoning was like, you've been a successful model fitness, et cetera we want to help you continue and we actually want to re-brand you and you, you're older now, so we want to jump start into a new care

it turns out that keith davidson is an expert in that kind of thing. defense lawyers today peppered davidson with questions about previous pay for dirt arrangements. here is trump attorney emil bove. you have represented some clients who you help to get paid by charlie sheen, right? davidson. i have represented several clients who have claims against charlie sheen. emil bove. who you extracted sums of money from charlie sheen on behalf of, correct? davidson smiles. there was no extraction. emil bove. you took steps to cause charlie sheen to pay, correct? davidson. we asserted there was activity committed and settlements that were executed. then a little later, this happened. emil bove, "in 2010, you presented a woman named dawn holland, right?" davidson, "yes." emil bove, and "and dawn holland leaked information about lindsay lohan at a rehab facility." davidson drinks water, pauses, and respond, "that is reported that is what she did." >> emil bove, "you helped ms. holland get paid for what i said, didn't you?" davidson says, "i helped ms. holland get

there is no reasonable doubt left that keith davidson, about keith davidson, negotiating that deal on behalf of stormy daniels with michael cohen. that's the essence of his testimony . that is why he is a witness, but, when your life goes so far off course that you find yourself negotiating hush money payments for adult film stars of presidential candidates so that you can help hide the truth about that candidate from voters, for a fee of $10,000 that you earn from that transaction, it might not be the only unseemly thing you've been involved with in your life. so, on cross-examination, to trump's the light, sure, donald trump's other criminal defense lawyer tried to expose keith davidson's role in trying to arrange hush money payments, in one case, allegedly for as much as $2 million, for other famous men, including hulk hogan and charlie sheen. keith davidson was also involved in trafficking information about the treatment of lindsay lohan in a rehab facility. this testimony, from this person , who has the lead his law career, took place in a building filled with honorable lawyers w

you can say keith davidson is a terrible person. you can say "national enquirer" is a tabeloid, so what. if these people, good people or bad, got together and did a scheme to cover up because of this election, they did it. they're all saying they did it. >> keith davidson throughout, david pecker. >> part of it too is these defense lawyers have an uphill battle. michael cohen might be the crappiest witness ever, but donald trump is a pretty crappy defendant too. >> first, do we really think michael cohen is going to be a bad wince. he has done this show a dozen times. michael cohen is a practices communicator. he was donald trump's go-to communicator. he's done podcasts, interviews, he has his own podcast. michael cohen is not going to be a bad witness. it's such a ridiculous argument. >> he'll be able to communicate in ways the jury will find relatable and be able to absorb, but he has a fleet of louis vuitton baggage. >> that all relates to donald trump. >> again, it opens the door for impeaching his credibility. my point is, dona

that is how long the phone call was with keith schiller that night. and what michael cohen argued today is that he simultaneous easley talked about the okay for the hush money deal and these prank calls that he was getting from a 14-year-old, i mean, is the dory really going to find that credible that in 96 seconds they had both of those conversations i think it could be that the jury will hold that against michael cohen is not being truthful, but it's not going to change where i said this case is about documents that speak for themselves. >> the weisselberg document is more powerful for the jury to look at to prove that donald trump lied. who's by the way the one who's indicted, not michael cohn whether michael us about holding lanny, that's right. >> but you also mentioned der the other night that michael cohen has been over 100 hours with prosecutors, not just this office would this district attorney, but in general, in the new york and new york did these prank calls ever come up in those conversations that this is what he was worried about that ni

he was doing this on his own. >> but keith davidson did not testify that today keith davidson testified that michael cohen made clear in every chance he got that he was working for donald trump and and he was doing things on his horse. that's his strain. i'm not to saving the polls saying the boss told me to do i'm not done yet. >> he also testified that michael cohen, it was very clear was acting on trump's behalf that michael cohen would not be able to act with his own authority, that he was acting on donald trump's authority that was given. let me jeff, i want to read part of the gag order ruling where the judge addresses trump's claim that that reposts of his comments or retweets or not violations, which is an argument trump has made ad infinitum for years now, the judge said, quote, it is counterintuitive, indeed absurd to read the expanded order to not prescribe statements that defendant intentionally selected and published to maximize exposure. this is not to say that a reposts will always be deemed a statement of the poster as context is directly relevant. however, here under th

keith davidson.ow they're not only losing control of it, they're losing control of their contact with stormy daniels. >> things were spiraling out of control, and that's why there was this feverish pace, and this all happened on the heels of "access hollywood," and you can see how the prosecutors have set this up very well. because we all know the story already, as he's testifying to it, we have all heard it from a number of different witnesses. we've heard it from the perspective of stormy daniels, her lawyer, mr. pecker, the banker, and all of these pieces fit together, and they have done a good job of waiting to do this. >> what did you understand about ms. daniels' story that would end up in the daily mail? that's what we were told and that's what i relayed to mr. trump. >> you see now in some ways how fortunate, whatever you want to call it for donald trump, that he did not text, that he did not send e-mails. >> now they have call logs. >> but they only have one tape, right. >> exactly. you have

, both sides took turns questioning a former attorney for the adult film star stormy daniels named keith davidson. davidson helped facilitate the deal to sell daniel story of affair with trump and said he understood that suppressing it would quote, help trump's campaign. trump's defense team, i'll ever tried to paint davidson as an unethical lawyer who works with unsavory characters at portrayed the deal as more of a shakedown. today's testimony isn't just over yet. you can catch me later today two hours in situation room 6:00 p.m. eastern. don't forget to watch erin burnett outfront 7:00 p.m. eastern until then. thanks very much for watching. our special coverage continues right now on plead with jake tapper cnn breaking news and welcome to the lean. >> i'm jake tapper, the criminal hush money cover-up trial. a former president donald trump is well underway right now in manhattan on the stand, right now is a man named douglas doubts he works for the manhattan district attorney's office, but as opposed to previous days that we're focused on bank records today. we are knee deep in shady d

you talked to keith schiller about what we went through. he was talking about the fact that he was being harassed by a 14-year-old. he was talking to keith schiller about this harassment, obtained this individual's phone number. cohen says, i'm not certain that is accurate. blanche goes on, you were certain it was accurate on tuesday when you were under oath and testifying. cohen, based upon the records that are reviewed and in light of everything going on, i believe i spoke to mr. trump about the stormy daniels party. blanche, we are not asking for your belief. this jury does not want to hear what you think happened. so this is all an effort by the prosecution, guys, to refute that very testimony, that very cross-examination from todd blanche that he believes he won. that was a winning moment for the defense. they want to refute that moment by bringing this c-span employee in to testify tomorrow morning. >> so there's news, yasmin, on what's going to happen. steinglass has said that's just wrong about, you know, not having witnesses ready.

keith davidson who arranged hush money payments is back on the stand. he is testifying about a payment he negotiated on behalf of adult film actress stormy daniels, which is at the heart of this case. now, trump denies the women's claims in all of the charges against him. davidson's testimony follows nearly 45 minute hearing on four more alleged violations of the gag order, imposed on him by the judge. earlier this week, trump was held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for nine violations of the order banning him from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case. with us now to talk more about this, msnbc national correspondent yasmin vossoughian, outside the courthouse, in manhattan, jeffrey sluman, timothy heefy and christie greenburg. so, yasmin, take us into the courtroom, what is happening right now? >> yeah, let's take a step back and i'll go forward, jose, for a moment, as we talk quickly about the gag order hearing that happened earlier today. there were four potential violations made, it seemed as if judge juan

and with every bit of dirt that keith davidson revealed about himself and every bit of dirt that was thrown at him by donald trump's lawyer, what really mattered in that room is that the oldest person in the room, sitting under a crown of blonde hair at the defense table, lived his life in such a way that his future was in the hands of keith davidson in october, 2016, when he was asking the people of the united states of america to make him the next president. i was sitting in the front row of the reporter section of the courtroom, which is actually the third row of spectator seats. the first row is reserved for circuit sevis agents. -- for secret service agents. the second row is for the family and then there is the third row, where in the afternoon there was nothing, nothing between me and the back of donald trump's head. the same seat was occupied last week by the writer, jonathan alter, who wrote at some length for the washington monthly about his day of contemplation staring at, quote, the back of his head. the meticulously coiffed souffle. what you see under the hair in that co

i called keith schiller because i want to talk to the boss. if that was so urgent in his mind why is he obsessing about a 14-year-old boy who was allegedly prank calling him and contacting keith schiller saying, i got to talk to you you about this weird phone number that shows up. it's not i got to talk to the boss or something really urgent and calling keith schiller and talking the boss. and then after that conversation is over, she'll same new chiller. oh, by the way, there's this phone number is not it seems like the 14 year-old boy is the reason he's calling what they're asked. >> i mean, you just basically made the defense's case for the memories are not perfect. that is exactly what they're saying to michael cohen that your memory is not perfect and you don't remember exactly that you haven't spoke to donald trump on this phone call? i mean, his most devastating line after the text of the 14 year-old was i believe i spoke with mr. he didn't even double down on it after he was pressed on it. and so that is exactly there entire case here

it was keith.necheles, am i correct you said to in touch that when you first met donald trump it was actually on the golf course and he came to talk to me and when you first met donald trump it was actually on the golf course? yes. daniels, yes. do you recall saying that to "in touch" magazine? daniels, yes. and he asked for my number and i gave to it him. daniels, yes. in 2011, you said it was trump, not keith shiller who asked for your number. daniels, i didn't specify, and they were standing together. necheles, you said the first time i met him was on the golf course. he kept looking at me, and he asked for my number. daniels, it was always president trump and now there's a note and the clerk is reading back a question, but the reporters can't hear it because it's off the mic. daniels goes on to say they tried to get me not to mention other people when they asked me. keith was standing there he was always next to president trump. necheles, the reporter didn't want you to mention keith? daniels,

i called keith schiller cell phone. he was donald trump's right-hand man.er put me on with trump or put me on speaker clinton. remember and i basically said to trump, okay, stormy daniels situation is resolved on cross-examination. now, donald trump's lawyers got up and they confront to michael kohler with a series of texts. and if we look at the timeline, we can see that basically lead up to that 8:02 call all and then after the 8:02 called, and what they reveal does that you, michael cohen were texting with keith schiller leading up to that 8:02 pm call about something totally different about this 14 year-old who was harassing you a text and then you had the call at 8:02 and then right after the call, cohen sent the phone number of the 14-year-old, the key chillers, so they argued what you were really doing was talking to keith schiller about the 14-year-old, not donald trump, about the stormy daniels payment. now, to the photograph prosecutors want to show this photograph which is pulled off of c-span, showing that at 7:57, five minutes before this call,

keith davidson, i do.ve represented some clients who you helped get paid by charlie sheen, right? i've represented several clients who had claims against charlie sheen and who you extracted sums of money from charlie sheen on behalf of, correct? there was no extraction you took steps to cause mr. xin to pay, correct we asserted that there was tortious activity committed and valid settlements that were executed. so some of this that emil bove is doing here in the courtroom before the jury, it's subtle and it suggestive to the jurors, but it is something that he may try and argue later on that the defense team might try and argue later on whenever they have all of this evidence into the record, there's another really brief exchange, just so you can see how there's wordplay going on here between the defense council and keith davidson about what he was doing and what kind of a person he was bove asked him. i remember i'm asking what you remember. all right. can younswer davidson in answer to what beauvais i'm

but you get into the meat of this today as we started to do with keith davidson who was the man who was an attorney for stormy daniels and karen mcdougal and it quickly rolls into this discussion of hulk hogan and all of this stuff. so it is a really remarkable moment to just take exactly what is happening here. we can go into the legal establishment, what they were trying to lay down here today as well. >> john: in terms of keith davidson who you said was the attorney for stormy daniels and karen mcdougal, he is the one that negotiated the deal with michael cohen to pay stormy daniels, negotiated with david parker for the deal for karen mcdougal, he did not seem to be particularly effective witness for the prosecution today. >> yeah. what we watched happen today initially was the prosecution laying down text messages between michael cohen and keith davidson practically sealing the steel working on this agreement they were putting together for stormy daniels. then all of this back and forth over whether or not she would appear first on hannity which she did not do end with jimmy kimmel

donald trump, allen weisselberg, keith schiller. call donald trump, but they could have called keith schiller and they could've called allen weisselberg. what is the decision on the prosecution side when they are thinking okay, we have the picture of schiller, we have the phone records, why don't we call to say did you walk stormy daniels to the hotel room? did you take a phone call from michael cohen and hand the phone to donald trump? i imagine on the phone call thing schiller could have a pretty easy i don't remember, but what is the prosecutor's calculation? are they just going to hope that the defense calls schiller? what is the calculation? >> if you have a witness like schiller day >> former nypd, longtime personal bodyguard to donald trump, as loyal as they get. >> yes and let's say there are substantial issues beyond this case that they would be aware of. so here is the issue. one, they may have in fact spoken to his lawyer and said we want to speak to him and we won't necessarily put them in the grand jury. you don't have

because i needed to speak to mister trump and i knew that keith, keith schiller was with him. question. why did you need to speak with mister trump? answer. to discuss the stormy daniels matter and the resolution of it. and did you have an understanding about whether during that conversation resolved that, you are moving forward to fund the deal? answer, yes. that was then under direct examination. today todd blanche revealed some text by michael cohen about an hour before his call to keith schiller's phone. those were to and from a phone number that had been making harassing phone calls to michael cohen and the person sending the text eventually apologized to michael cohen and claimed to be 14 years old. today, question. do you recall at 7:48 texting keith schiller about this 14- year-old, do you recall that? answer. i don't recall. question. do you recall texting keith schiller at 7:48, who can i speak to regarding harassing calls to myself and office, the dope forgot to block his call on one of them, you don't recall that? answer, it sounds right, yes sir. question. you rec

keith davidson was trump's first lawyer. it was in his role as karen mcdougal's first lawyer that he texted the editor of the national enquirer, dylan howard, "i have a blockbuster trump story." the prosecutor, who has possession of those text messages, asked the witness to read the text that he sent to dylan howard. "i had a blockbuster trump story. what did you mean by that? sort of an entrie or teaser to dylan to let him know that i had, perhaps, an opportunity for him. and what was the, generally's eking, and certainly without revealing client confidences, what was the opportunity about which you were contacting him? regarding the interaction between karen mcdougal and donald trump. what did mr. howard say, if anything, in response? talk first thing. i will get you more than anyone for it. you know why. what do you understand that to mean? that he would call me in the morning. what did you understand the rest of the text to mean? that, i don't know if i had a clear understanding at that time, but i knew that dylan's boss

keith? your attorney, was going to go to ami which is the parent company which owns national enquirer and other magazines he said ami i didn't know what am i was to be honest, he said ami we have this company that they'll probably want to hear your story so and what was the thought of selling the story in your mind to get my truth out there i wasn't looking for money clearly, but when he said it's worth many millions, i'm like that was something it was hard to pass up. >> sure. of course did keyed have a meeting with me? did you have a meeting with him? >> we had a meeting with ami. >> you told them your story. we tell them the story. they actually didn't think is very credible, even though off the record, they said dylan, dylan believes your story, but clearly when they came back, they said it wasn't believable. >> i might julen bleep being dylan howard, and he's with ami so they had like a 12 hour window to i know i'm probably skipping around. >> i'm sorry. they had a 12 hour window to acc

>> part of it was the 14-year- old, but i know that keith was with mr. trump at the time and there is more than potentially just this. that's what i recall based upon the documents that i reviewed. >> that's not what you testified to on tuesday. you said you had a recollection of a phone call on october 2430:02 where you called mr. schiller and he gave the phone to president trump and you told president trump about the up dates, that you are moving forward with the funding, and he said, okay, go. that was a lie, you did not talk to president trump on that night, you talked to keith schiller about what what we just went through. you can admit it. >> no, sir, i can't. i'm not certain that is accurate. >> you were certain it was accurate on tuesday when you are under oath in testifying, you were certain it was accurate you had a phone call to president trump, but now you are saying you are not certain it was accurate? >> based on the records i was able to review, in light of everything going on, i believe i also spoke to president trump and told him everyth

the prosecution to introduce today earlier, trump's attorneys were cross-examining keith davidson, the attorney for those women. they spent most of the morning trying to attack his credibility and suggests that he was trying to extort trump new details from a key witness. the ex-attorney of an adult film star and playboy model, who brokered hush money deals at the center of former president donald trump's criminal case. >> getting ready to spend another day in the courthouse, which is bogus trial keith davidson, back on the stand on day ten of trump's trial, cross-examined by trump's attorney, who attempted to discredit davidson by painting him as a shady lawyer. >> meanwhile, prosecutors tried to show how davidson's arrangement with a tabloid and trump's ex lawyer, michael cohen, to kill, to bombshell stories about trump's alleged affairs directly impacted the 2016 election. trump denied hi is both affairs in his testimony, davidson recalled texting national enquirer editor dylan howard on election night in 2016 as a results came in in favor of trump davidson said he texts howard, wha

trump and i knew that keith keith schiller was with him. why did he need to speak to mr. trump at that point to discuss stormy daniels why. did you call him to discuss stormy daniel's today at a minimum he called schiller in order to discuss the 14-year-old within 30 seconds of the phone call ending he then michael cohen texts schiller, the phone number for the 14 year-old the phone call was about the 14-year-old at a minimum, right? >> i mean, there was clear there was an immediate follow-up on that topic so to answer the question, why did you call schiller? >> answer because of her 14-year-old? and may be also stormy daniels, but that's not there and i agree with what jerry's and yet this phone call is so crucial because there's the call mike coco and i said trump approved the payment. right? it's essential. it's essential call. and that doesn't take a lot of time to do it. maybe as i said, if there's a lot of back-and-forth, but none of this was known until today. you're watching the jury when all this was laid out. did this look like an a-ha moment to any of them? abs

and calling keith schiller and talking the boss. and then after that conversation is over she'll say new chiller. oh, by the way, there's his phone number is not it seems like the 14 year-old boy is the reason he's calling what they're asking. >> i mean, you just basically made the defense's case for that. memories are not perfect. that is exactly what they're saying to michael cohen that your memory is not perfect and you don't remember we're exactly that you even spoke to donald trump on this phone goal. i mean, his most devastating line after the texts the 14 year-old was i believe i spoke with mr. trump. he didn't even double down on it after he was pressed on it. and so that is exactly their entire case here that they've been saying michael cohen, how can you not remember this? but then you remember this phone call with donald trump the best? >> florida cross-examination was todd blanche has follow-up, which was the jury is not interested in what you believe she got objective, doesn't matter those that's the kind of comment tha

these are calls between michael cohen and keith davidson.avidson testified that these calls were recorded surreptitiously by michael cohen. i'll read you a little bit from the transcript, and bear with me because it can be hard to follow. here's what it is. michael cohen, saying would you write a book, break away from the entire trump, we'll call it the doctrine. would you go completely rogue, it's not just me that's being affected. it's my entirely family. it's that nobody is thinking about michael. i wasn't going to play penny wise. i'm saying to myself, what about me, and i can't tell you how many times he said we did it, and everyone said it was the right move. what about me and i can't even tell you how many times. that's a repeat, sorry. steinglass asks keith davidson, who did you understand he to be a reference to in that michael cohen call. davidson said mr. trump. steinglass said about what. davidson, stormy daniels settlement. all right. let's try to figure out what's going on here. back with us, adam pollock and catherine christia

. >> reporter: on the stand today, stormy daniels a former attorney keith davidson who negotiated $130,000 payment from cohen to pay stormy daniels forr story before the election. >> and you have sex? >> yes. >> reporter: the night trump won, writing, what have we done? howard replied, oh, my god. asked to clarify the text, davidson told the attorney there is an understanding their activity might have assisted trump's campaign. trump has denied any wrongdoing and details about the payment, so today, the prosecution played an audio recording, in which rafah until davidson hates the fact we did it. davidson testified that was a reference to the payment for daniels. trump lawyers meanwhile tried to paint davidson is a serial extortionist of celebrities. citing alleged deals related to lindsay lohan, charlie sheen, and hulk hogan. and that he did the same with trump. >> they are doing a good job at showing sort of this cd, dirty underbelly of this world that keith davidson peddles in, by all accounts, this is what this man does for a living. it is bread-and-butter. >> reporter: and today, trum

keith davidson had a reasonable explanation. he had a client who was chomping at the bit to exploit some of the notoriety she was getting, and at the same time she took seriously the fact that the agreement she had had liquidated damages clause that meant if he/she reach the confidentiality part of the agreement, she could have to pay $1 million for each violation. he was trying to titrate between a client who wanted to be in the public eye, and mitigating risk for her. that is how we chose to do it. from that standpoint, the obnoxiousness of keith davidson trying to be like, this is what i did and it was too cute by half and i did it. it's more sympathetic in the eye, and whether the jury will take that, i'm not sure. i think the prosecution is doing an overall good job situating this story, and the seeming of some of the people involved. they do not have to like these folks. they just have to believe they are telling the truth about the ultimate, allege bad guy, the former president of the united states. >> we have to take a b

keith davidson. a pretty key player in this affair. a lawyer who never got money directly from donald trump it represented stormy daniels and karen mcdougal and negotiated is for both women to withhold their stories. infidelity with trump ahead of the election. in court, davidson walked through -- walked the jury through the text and related the excuses that michael cohen gave when the payoff to stormy daniels failed to materialize., quote,, he stated computer systems are all -- so many fireballs. the secret service is in here. davidson and his client did eventually after a fair amount of follow-up get that $130,000 directly, as you might recall, out of michael cohen's pocket and cohen city was reimbursed for the expense by the then president of these united states. joining your two people who were at the courthouse today. a lot to get to today. let's start right ended on keith davidson. who is an important witness. tell us who davidson is and what he was going through? >> he's the lawyer for stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. prosecut

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i mean, keith trump took keith schiller from no nowhere and basically put them in the white house. so i think their relationship would be i don't know if that would factor in for the prosecution, by a witness like madeline lester hout, who still likes trump, but it's not hostile, is the best you can get. you. she's not going to be hostile to you as the prosecutor, but she's not throwing her boss under the bus. keith schiller, i think would it be a hostel? i'm sure that's exactly the calculation you cannot take a risk of putting someone on the stand who you think is a dyed in the wool loyalist of the defendant. and i don't think that'll the west house was at that level. one other important point, kaitlan ask the jury is gonna be wondering, where's keith schiller? all of these questions, where's keith schiller? where's karen mcdougal? those are bad for the prosecution because the prosecution is the one that has the burden of proving there case beyond a reasonable doubt. very common defense tactic, stand up and closing ago, whereas keith schiller, folks don't you think you should have

keith schiller, i think would be a hostel. i'm sure that's exactly the you cannot take a risk of putting someone on the stand who you think is a dyed in the wool loyalist of the defendant. and i don't think that'll illustrate how it was house was at that level. one other important point, kaitlan asieh, the jury is gonna be wondering, where's keith schiller? all of these questions, where's keith schiller? where's karen mcdougal? those are bad for the prosecution because the prosecution is the one that has the burden of proving there case beyond a reasonable doubt. very common defense tactic, stand up and closing ago, whereas keith schiller, folks don't you think he should or heard from him? they didn't call him. i'm not saying it's fatal here. i don't think there's anyone who so obviously missing. it's going to cost them the case. but all those missing witnesses are not great for prosecution. i'll enter number. thank you so much. it's great to have you get rest. are back with us in a moment as we dive into more for testimony fr