keith davidson, yes. >> we're going to lay it on thick. that is one of the text messages. we're doing to lay it on thick for her to execute this deal. you've been a part of campaigns, i've covered a number of them, and if anybody covering these campaigns or the public at large should become familiar with the details, right, the legality aside, just politically here, of the lengths to which somebody is going through in order to tamp down or cover up a story, it is laid out in the form of those text messages. that we were not all privy to in 2016. these don't come into light until well into donald trump's presidency. so when you ask about the stakes here and joking about an ambassadorship, real or not, i think for us, i was talking with producer dan who i was on the road with back in 2016 as we were going through all of this and if we have known in real time the lengths to which donald trump and perhaps even mike pence knew the lengths to which donald trump was going to suppress the salacious stories about

the election. >> they are looking, the jurors, at a screen showing these text messages between keith davidsonoward. one of them is davidson's first text to howard about mcdougal. he says, i have a blockbuster trump story which referred to karen mcdougal's story. howard said, talk first thing. i will get you more than anyone for it. you know why. you know why. why would he say, you know why? >> hard to say without his context. i would imagine, it may have to do with what he believe ez could have secured financially for the story. >> here's is more from the court, from our reporters. both of the above text mention sajs are dated 6/7 sln 16. davidson says he understood at that time that ami had implicitly endorsed donald trump and that pecker and trump had both a friendship and a former business relationship. >> yeah. understanding number one the timing of it. you are talking about the summer of 2016 right before the -- as things are progressing in terms of the election. also, the fact that it's donald trump and he is a presidential candidate at this time, you are able to get a considerable amou

in this case, keith davidson, by contrast, did not. he said, basically, i received immunity by virtue of my grand jury testimony, but didn't seek it. to your point, i think the point still holds, keith davidson is not a witness with an ax to grind, but is also the case that he did receive some limited forms of immunity for testifying before the grand jury. >> it brings me in a throughline to karen mcdougal which is this, that looking back on her interview with anderson cooper, she seems absolutely -- and, yes, jeremy is right, she was going to get something out of this, right? her main goal was to further her career, which had stalled. she wanted to be a model. she wanted to have television appearances, or whatever. but she was not somebody who came across to me in the interview that i saw as someone who had negative feelings toward donald trump, she talked pretty openly about the fact that she loved him, she talked about the fact that she believed he loved her, and i wonder if it is helpful to the prosecution to establish these are no

so keith davidson is the lawyer. he's trying to get money for stormy daniels and one of the things that's interesting is he keeps telling he doesn't he has doubts in michael cohen's integrity. i think it's fair so breaking news at one point, they're trying to get this money and david pecker and dylan howard and all the fine folks from the national enquirer, tabloid kingdom are not going to pay it because they've already paid it to karen mcdougal. >> they thought they were going to get repaid. they were not repaid. they're like, okay, michael cohen, you're on your own here and what's interesting is cohen towels. here comes donald trump so we'll just listen in and then we'll pick up the conversation on the backside here. >> okay. thank you very much. this gag order is not only can you it's totally constitution i'm the republican candidate for president indicted states i received this honore in record time. nobody's ever gotten faster it's never that nobody's ever got the numbers that we got and i'm sitting in a courtho

and this is keith davidson. now, he's an attorney who represented both karen mcdougal and stormy daniels. and the reason he's really important is here is because in negotiating the deals, the hush money deals with mcdougal and stormy daniels michael cohen dealt with keith davidson. he was not dealing on the mechanics and the logistics of it with mcdaniel mcdougal and stormy daniels. so right now we're in the middle of keith davidson testifying about the negotiations that were happening between him on behalf of these clients and donald trump's camp and with other outlets now, who's next? i suspect keith davidson is going to take the rest of the day or close to the rest of the day with his testimony and cross exam, we don't know. prosecutors have been plant playing it really close to the vest. it feels like they are setting the stage for stormy daniels to take the stand at some point soon, of course, later in the trial, we're looking for at karen mcdougal. prosecutors may call home six could take the stand, and of

he said keith davidson says, yes, who sent the first text in this chain keith davidson. it's for me. and what did you say? >> trump is eft you wrote the whole word out f's in the text. >> he says, i did. what prompted you to say that trump was after the access hollywood tape? how to deal and howard respond, dylan howard over ami the national enquirer, he responded with waved the white flag. it's over people exclamation point. and how did you interpret that? i think he was second in my opinion he asks based on the access hollywood tape, answer yes. >> it was very well. let me get caitlin, who has been covering this very thoroughly. what did you make of this exchange? >> yeah. not only is this highlighting the nexus between the campaign and all of the folks dealing with the hush money stories, the catch and kill plans. >> but this access hollywood moment and the reactions to it, it is the central moment in the 2016 campaign for trump, where it becomes clear he has an issue potentially with female voters, and then it's the catalyst for the series of things that come after t

because keith davidson was just asked by the prosecution whether he ever believed that michael cohen ctually executing and paying these funds. the ultimate source of the funds to which davidson responded never. so this is where we will now get from keith davidson an understanding of what went into ultimately how they resurrected this deal and come october 27th whether donald trump was explicitly involved and what those conversations from his end looked like in order to ultimately pay daniels that $130,000 and silence her story from getting publicly out there before the 2016 election. >> really important context there. about what happened at the supreme court in new york state just now. donald trump's team was trying to get merchan recused, to get the case stayed, because they believe that merchan should have recused himself. that he was acting allegedly in excess of the supreme court's jurisdiction and restricting donald trump's ability to file motions in these proceedings and include rulings and submissions in the public record. again, supreme court denying this and the trial will pr

and karen and polo were now learning that keith davidson is confirming relationships that he had with, stormy daniels is publicist at the time, and with dylan howard, who was the editor in chief of the national enquirer. and he says, he rarely negotiated the sale of stories to the tabloids, which was and he's also looking at the jury as he is answering these questions, making that direct connection as these getting the question with prosecutors and looking at the jury as he's answering. >> well, the fact that he rarely negotiated the sale of stories to tabloids, again, suggests that what was happening here was unique. he said he usually dealt with ndas more straightforward, non-disclosure agreements that's nothing wrong with that. if you want to pay someone to keep quiet about something that has occurred, no crime there, but he's helping the prosecution set up the idea that what the national enquirer did specifically with karen mcdougal and what michael cohen eventually did with stormy daniels was out of the ordinary and the immunity comment there that he is saying he didn't seek out

keith davidson negotiated the alleged hush money agreements for both women back in 2016. the stand today is not exactly colorful, the evidence jurors are seeing, specifically the text messages between davidson and dylan howard, those text messages are colorful. did he cheat on melania, howard asked davidson in a june 2016 text message, referring to karen mcdougal. do you know if the affair was during his marriage to

. >> reporter: the focus then turned to keith davidson, an attorney who represented stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. both claimed they had sex with trump, which he denied. davidson first described bringing mcdougal's tail, which called a blockbuster story to the "national enquirer" an warned he would bring it elsewhere if they didn't quickly pay her. davidson also quit nomex as it was the "access hollywood" table where trump was caught saying he could grab a woman by their private areas that had a "tremendous influence on interest in stormy daniels' story." davidson believed he had reached a deal with trump's attorney michael cohen in early october of 2016, but says it took longer than expected to finalize. when the prosecution asked why, davidson said, "i thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election." now, the gag order does not prevent donald trump from speaking to the press, as you've seen, but it does prevent him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors, or other people connected to this criminal case. now on thursday, the judge is exp

today prosecutors calling daniels' former lawyer, keith davidson, who helped broker the deal. he testified daniels' story had been floating around the internet for years, but trump's team made no effort to buy it until the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, after the "access hollywood" tape became public, trump boasting about groping women. >> when you're a star they let you do it. you can do anything. >> reporter: before >> reporter: davidson testifying, "before access hollywood tape, there was very little, if any, interest." but after, “that interest reached a crescendo.” davidson found himself negotiating directly with michael cohen. the two men struck a deal. daniels would get $130,000 for her story. davidson testified, "it was my understanding that mr. trump was the beneficiary of this contract." but the payment kept getting delayed. davidson saying cohen told him, “what do you expect me to do? my guy is in five states a day. i'm doing everything i can.” but davidson was convinced they were “trying to kick the can down the road until after the election." ultimately cohen t

the prosecution calling keith davidson, the lawyer who represented daniels and karen mcdougal two women who say they had sex with mr. trump, which he denied. mr. trump is charged with a low-level felony, falsifying business documents over his reimbursements to cohen, who allegedly made the hush money payments. davidson testifying that after the release of that damaging "access hollywood" tape, interest in what daniels had to say reached a crescendo. but davidson only testified about dealings with cohen, not offering evidence of mr. trump's knowledge of the plans. >> and laura, meantime, this flare-up over the gag order is not over yet? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, lester. prosecutors continue to say that mr. trump violates the gag order and is seeking more fines. the judge plans to hold a hearing on all of this on thursday morning. lester? >> all right, laura, thank you. >>> in a new interview, mr. trump provides more insights into what a second term would look like. here is gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, former president trump is revealing more of his second term agenda, inc

the key witness was former attorney first keith davidson. he was on the other side of cohen in these transactions. that is a sketch of him you see, but keith davidson is not a household name. we have always tried to talk to everyone we can. if you happen to watch the news back in the day when all of this first came out, keith davidson was someone we spoke to here on the beat. >> the affairs happened in 2006. michael: and i first contacted each other about the matter into thousand 11. at a minimum, they knew about me and about stormy and into thousand 11 and 13 and 14, they knew about it into thousand 15, they knew about it when from declared he was a candidate. >> i was looking at that, you see him recounting how long this had all been going on. the d.a. put davidson on today, that is long before we have heard from michael cohen. it may be because davidson does not have the kind of credibility issues that: house. the bad news for trump was a davidson is still confirming the same key details that we know cohen confirms because we heard what c

dylan howard from the national enquirer and keith davidson, lawyerfor karen national enquirer and keith how does it link to donald trump? _ national enquirer. how does it link to donald trump? that's _ national enquirer. how does it link to donald trump? that's the - national enquirer. how does it link| to donald trump? that's the thing. there's an old expression in american law by a very famous evidence professor and it is a brick is not a wall. so the entire story, the entire narrative is a wall. but each piece of evidence consists of a brick so that you build up bricks and you make a wall. this is just a piece of the puzzle. a piece of the puzzle that makes this entire story for the ultimately they are going to call michael cohen. michael cohen is going to tie all of this together. 0kay. caroline, without a banker today, a public television archivist showing his previous statements from donald trump, without a man who recalls depositions. are the public paying attention to this? doesn't matter in the jury a public opinion out there and is it making a difference to the campaign? chris

so we heard from cohen's bakker this morning know your hearing from keith davidson about these deals coming together but no one has connected president trump to being a part of these deals are aware of these deals on any of the medications about the deals which means it involves to make a coherent disorder of be the linchpin for this whole thing. i was a different interview of him and say he's been a proven liar, there are courts have called him that and he's going to be the guy eventually they will take a stand to try to link these deals altogether. >> martha: shannon, thank you very much. go back there as news breaks from the courthouse this afternoon waiting for publicly and a couple of hours so -- -- on the other side of this when he leaves but let's go live not to columbia university were refined correspondent alexis mcadams was a situation there very well. she's been there live over the last several days. huh >> so the schools seeing the students broke in to the building will now be expelled. the group of protesters with their faces covered filming and they smashed the windows.

, to keith davidson to dylan howard on the night of the election, when keith davidson sent messages sayingg the election results and thinking to myself what have i done? dylan howard. >> thank you, lachlan cartwright, always so insightful. i look forward to talking to you more in the future. thanks for joining me this evening. >>> coming up, i owe mitt romney an apology. that is next after a quick break. ck break. my grandfather's run meyer the hatter for over 75 years now. he's got so many life experiences that he can share. finding the exact date on ancestry that our family business was founded, was special to share with my grandfather. you don't get that moment every day. we're here with chris counahan of our local leaffilter. so chris, tell us how leaffilter is different from every other gutter protection on the market. with leaffilters, patented filter technology, there are no gaps, no openings, no place for debris to get in at all. and we install leaffilter on your existing gutters. it's a permanent solution. you'll never have to climb a ladder to clean out your gutters again. that's

keith davidson testifying. he was the lawyer who arranged the payments and the banker finishing his testimony about how quickly michael cohen acted to create that llc to sort of make this pretense of a company to send that money to stormy daniels. >> so as we have to remind everyone, paying hush money isn't a crime. what donald trump is charged with is falsifying business records that disguised these hush money payments. he did that 34 times koorm to alvin bragg. that's a misdemeanor, but gets bumped up to a felony if the purpose of these false business records was to try to commit another crime. alvin bragg says those other crimes were state and federal campaign violations. and also new york tax laws. what does that mean? it means alvin bragg has to prove that this was all about the campaign. and that's what this witness helped do today. so mr. davidson was the lawyer for both stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. he testified that all of this was about the campaign. it wasn't contrary to what trump wants the jur

keith? davidson's testimony? he of course is the lawyer who represented both stormy daniels and karen mcdougal, aaron, i think he's been the best so far. he walked into that courtroom. he was very confident he got on that's danny answered the questions and he was very detailed about it and he was funny, he made jokes. you mentioned one of the jokes that he made the isle of man and i definitely think think the jury was listening to him. he was extremely credible and he gave a lot of details about both the stormy daniel's case and about the karen mcdougal, k. and he turned towards the jury. i mean, he's he's a lawyer. he knew what he was doing. i mean, not that others didn't, but he was very purposeful in his take the question and really presented to them absolutely. >> all right. so ryan, there was another moment that stood out to me, michael cohen's banker was testifying, completing his testimony, the prosecution is going document by document, how michael cohen set up a new corporation and what was the purpose fo

to that end also on the potential witness list is keith davidson. davidson was the attorney for both karen mcdougal as she negotiated her payment from the national enquirer, and he was the attorney for stormy daniels. and i am sure mr. david has plenty to say what he believes motivateed the silngsing of his two clients stories. now, if you recall the reason d.a. bragg has to move the why here is because the way he structured the charges against trump is not just one singular crime. bragg has charged trump with a mitts demeanor, the falsifying of business records. but bragg has elevated that charge to a felony by alleging that trump falsified those business records in service of committing another large crime. now, d.a. bragg has not yet revealed what that second larger crime is, but it is likely something like tax fraud or a state or federal election crime because stormy daniels story wasn't just killed on some random odate. it wasn't killed while donald trump was a businessman or while he was hosting "the apprentice." it was killed days after the "

the jury as to some of the meetings and the conversations that were going on with people like keith davidsonnd the fixer. close to dylan howe, very close to the person i worked for, involved with stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. he can provide a lot of details about that. >> what is your understanding of the part that is alleged to be criminal? what do you know now? i'm not suggesting you knew at the time. but what do you know now about how the money flowed and trump directing it? >> it is obvious now that there was this agreement. this scheme to influence the election which dates back to that meeting at trump tower. and as a result of that, there were these hush money payoffs. the first one that i was witness to was, in 2015, he contacted our tip line and he said he had a story about donald trump, a love child. we mounted an operation to try to stand that story up. and before we could really get too far into the reporting moves, we had conducted a polygraph on dino, on the door man, which he passed. having that that, he was passing to what he heard a rumor and we had photos in hand of the

getting that done and getting that payment, which then bank documents showed in court what to keith davidsonorney for both karen mcdougal and stormy daniels has been on the stand the last couple of hours seeing text back and forth at ami, the company that owned the "national enquirer" essentially negotiating under karen mcdougal 'a story back and forth via texts getting back into detail and amounts of what she wanted in exchange for the story. be interesting think karen mcdougal as we know was not part of the alvin bragg indictment. before this trial start of the judge did rule she would be allowed to testify but with boundaries on what she would say in court. so while her case, her deal was not part of the indictment, obviously the prosecution wants to paint there were ongoing conversations to kill stories that could negatively impact president trump in the campaign. we understand davidson will be back on the stand after this lunchtime break. seems like there are a lot more questions to come and certainly will be more interesting on cross-examination. sandra? >> sandra: that is a lot thankf

the other name you see there, keith davidson, you may remember was stormy daniels' lawyer at one point. let's start with the tabloid chief pecker, he's one of the chief people that cohen's team says will corroborate michael cohen's damning story against trump. you need corroboration and different witnesses and all of that, in fact, just last night cohen adviser lanny davis was previewing that testimony right here. >> what other witness or witnesses do you think would most clearly corroborate your testimony. >> i will answer your question axe cording to public reports because i was in the room with michael for almost two years while prosecutors were preparing. >> i know. >> i can tell you there is another major crime that michael was forced to plead guilty to, and he was not involved with the national enquirer someone named david pecker, that he met with trump met with david peck tore do a cash and kill scheme where "the national enquirer" would pay anyone coming with bad information on donald trump before the election. >> that is lanny davis who advises michael cohen. and he's telling

cohen made payments to stormy daniels after trump stalled so long that cohen became afraid that keith davidson daniels's lawyer and stormy daniels would either sell their story somewhere else or tell it somewhere else or both. therefore gary farro has a number of email exchanges and communications with michael cohen that buttress his story about the payments to daniels. he also can testify to the fact that somebody at first republic flagged the transaction as suspicious and contacted the treasury department. "the wall street journal" reported that in 2018. to this day we don't know who at first republic was the person to lift up the phone and call the treasury department. perhaps gary farro can shed some light on that. >> do things seem to be moving faster than expected? >> i think the jury selection itself was faster than people expected, but certainly david pecker spent several days on the stand and there may be other witnesses who similarly have extended testimony. on one hand, yes. on the other hand, no. we're only three witnesses in, and tomorrow marking the beginning of the third week of

wire transfer had begun and that wire transfer was that very $131,000 going to the attorney, keith davidson, who was representing stormy daniels. so what the district attorney's office is currently doing for this jury is showing the urgency in which michael cohen and the bank were moving to get this money to him. there is a direct quote from michael farro in which he says he was a challenging client because of his desire to get things done so quickly and in numerous emails that are being brought before this jury, bank -- members of that bank including farro speak regularly about the need to urgently complete not only the transfer and setting up of this account, the transferring of the money and the initiation of this wire transfer, all of this is being laid out before the jury right now. >> so, danny, this, you know, picture that the defense attorney is trying to paint with farro on the stand of michael cohen being a challenging client and the urgency in which he was always making his requests with the bank, he said 90% of the time it was an urgent matter, yes. what do you think the defense

this is keith davidson. and this is keith davidson tying the timing of access is hollywood to the hush money paymentouts. >> you cannot talk about the set is thement without talking about the "access hollywood" tape and really that was the catalyst. >> and is what was happening, like take me back. stormy essentially doesn't get paid she's getting upset is. >> there was a lengthy contract that was signed and executed. there was a funding deadline and the funding dead line was missed. so the contract was cancelled. there was no deal and it was shortly after that contract was missed that the "access hollywood" tape aired, and it was almost immediately after the "access hollywood" tape aired the settlement came back on and then there was a second agreement that was signed and reexkutsed. >> i don't know that trump made any lengthy contracts as president. but with the keeping quiet, there was a lengthy contract that was signed and executed. and a funding deadline. at least in her view an airtight business deal th

the text message -- keith davidson to dylan howard the night of the election where he says what have we done? i was in a pub in manhattan watching the results in thinking, what have i done? dylan howard will play a key role on the stand. >> thank you, lachlan cartwright, always insightful and interesting. i look forward to talking to you more this evening. >>> christine noel him killed her dog and i owe an apology. (♪♪) try dietary supplements from voltaren, for healthy joints. >>> there are few things that we in the country agree upon nowadays, but love of dogs is about as close as you get. that's probably why was a scandal in 2012 when we learned mitt romney had once strapped is dog to the roof of his car for a 12 hour drive. of course, he was widely ridiculed and as a secretary at the time to the obama campaign, i admit i was critical myself. i still would not defend strapping a dog to the roof of a car, i feel i owe the senator a bit of an apology. i am sorry, senator romney. that is no longer the worst dog related political scandal in american history. governor kristi noem of so

. >> keith davidson is. >> as the attorney general is it maric. >> johnson. >> in the last name is garlandrt justices are there. >> 400. >> ask you voted for them and i care about of the justices. >> we don't vote for justices. >> a seven. >> twelve? >> ten? >> lower. >> nine one name of justice. >> [ bleep ]. >> a judge and... >> judy? >> you are an idiot! you want brought to? >> amy... >> a schumer? >> tell me about the bill of rights. >> oh, my god. cut the cameras spammer and. >> camera! cut! >> who was president after jimmy carter. >> abraham lincoln one it's the one that came before obama. >> that was bush. >> same difference. >> raegan. >> it was not exciting this. >> name is state that borders florida when tennessee's right there. >> mississippi. >> georgia. >> virginia. >> south carolina. >> sweet home... who in alabama! you and where those guys are so blue! >> what major event happened on july 4th? >> george washington on a boat. >> the side of the declaration of independence. >> what happened on january 6th through and i don't know what happened on genuine sixth. >> january 6? i

they got in the text were howard is telling keith davidson who is mcdougall's attorney how the dinner11th 2017 pecker met with mcdougall at a restaurant in new york called il postino. they said that he spoke with davidson and it will be a good idea to have a lunch with mcdougall. he did and then i talked about the articles that mcdougall was preparing with ghostwriters because she thought she was going to be a writer. she was upset because howard changed the ghostwriters because they did not work well with karen. they also discussed beauty products and karen said she was not pleased because the air articles were taking a while and she didn't have media training to be anchored for radar which is another property that the "national enquirer" has. they said the purpose of the meeting was to be compliant with the agreement here and he wanted karen to remain with our family, so to say, he did not want her speaking to the press after "the wall street journal" article, he wanted to see how comfortable she was. though color from inside the courtroom there as to what exactly is being said by d

. >> both of the payoffs were negotiated by celebrity lawyer keith davidson. he said he has already turned over 1500 pages of evidence to investigators and could also testify. as could dylan howard the former editor-in-chief from the national enquirer and more importantly his boss. that would be david packer on the right of the screen. they act as his eyes and ears for the story. they paid mcdougal a six-figure sum to the rights of her story so they could quietly bury it. a so-called catch and kill tactic. there is also trump hicks former aide that participated in phone calls around the time of the payoff. she could testify along with several other trump organization and white house officials. the star witness maybe is one time fixer, michael cohen. is of it he pleaded guilty and served jail time for what he did in this case. he said he set up the operation using his own money. he is champing at the bit to testify as he told jen psaki last month. >> he should be worried about me. he should be worried about the prosecutors and documentary evidence and all of th

now, mcdougall, i spoke to her lawyer back in 2019 with keith davidson, who told us this. >> the affairsnd i first contacted each other about the matter in 2011. at a minimum, they knew about me and about stormy at a minimum in 2011. they knew about it when president donald declared that he was a candidate for president. >> they knew about this the whole time and the money only gave through at the end. >> the point there, according to the lawyer and the da, the money came because they cared about the campaign and nothing else and that is why this was not just tabloid business but campaign tabloid collusion, if you will. the campaign also highlights a text that davidson, who you just saw, sent to one of the top editors at the enquirer , something that could be ripped out of a novel. do we have a novelist around? looking at the fact that having bury this story that helped president donald just like a plant -- they saw he actually won and said, quote, what have we done? we are joined by presidential story michael and acclaimed american novelist, james, who right -- wrote "bright lights, big

. >> i want to show you keith davidson describing these interactions with david pecker . >> she believed they were not fulfilling the terms of the deal and she was upset and we scheduled a meeting with ami, who we met with -- they met with david pecker, who is an incredible man. there were even further promises that were made to her at that meeting, so the situation became worse, not better, and that was really a great source of frustration for everyone involved on our side. >> what we know now, what david pecker allegedly admitted to when prosecutors were talking with michael cohen to protect the president, there was a phrase he used at that luncheon. what was that? >> he said thank you. thank you very much. i wanted to thank you. i respect you, karen. i wanted you to look in the eye and have a face-to-face meeting. i want to thank you very much for your loyalty. >> thank you for your loyalty. they could not come up with another way? >> look, they have a problem with the defense. there is no way you can argue there was no sort of catch and kill agreement. it is just too documented. you

keith davidson was the former attorney for both karen mcdougal and stormy daniels. and a key player in the alleged conspiracy as a source for former national enquirer editor in chief dylan howard. >>> walmart will close all of its health care clinics nationwide because of rising costs and challenges with reimbursements. two sources told cnbc all 51 clinic locations across five states will close over the next 45 to 90 days. it comes after they announced it planned to open 22 more locations this year, and even more in 2025. guess not. >>> and eight prominent u.s. regional newspapers are suing openai and microsoft for copyright infringement. they allege openai and microsoft used articles without permission to train chatgbt and co-pilot. it's a similar argument to the one "the new york times" made in its suit against both companies back in december. john, back to you, sir. >> a lot riding on that for the media industry. >>> coming up, here's another look at today's mystery chart. the stock just hit an all-time high, and one of the closest rivals just went public last we

. >> keith davidson, a los angeles based lawyer who represented adult film aches at the stormy danielsnd former ploy boy model macdougall concerning alleged affairs with former president donald trump who received support in court today from his son eric and texas attorney general ken paxton. >> this is a trial that is nonsense. it should have never been brought. that's showing loud and clear. you have a judge who is totally conflicted. totally, absolutely conflicted. >> davidson said of the deal suppressing daniel's story, quote: the interest reached a crescendo. crescendo. after the release of the access hollywood tape leading up to the 2016 election. davidson called the sale of macdougall's story to american media frustrating and that he hated dealing with cohen. prior to davidson, two witnesses testified about the collection and accuracy of clips showing trump's deposition in the e. jean carroll case and various political events where trump disparaged his accusers. before that cohen's former banker gary farro testified cohen did not tell him of his affiliation with trump while urgen

evidence that on election night, as news outlets got closer to calm the election for donald trump, keith davidsonwho was the lawyer for both stormy daniels and karen mcdougal texted dylan howard at "the national enquirer" and he said "what have we done?" >>> meeting of the discussion me tonight, adam klotz field, who was in the courtroom, in the courthouse today and who will be there every day for us for the trial. he is a follow at justice security. also during this, former fbi general counsel, andrew weissman. and melissa murray, they are both nyu law professors and msnbc legal analysts and co- authors of the new york times best-selling book "the trump indictments, the historic charging documents with commentary." adam, you are our eyes and ears in there. you are getting the juror experience of taking the picture of it all. what do you think the jurors went on with today? >> they came home with a lot of information because this was an alert jury. they were wrapped in attention w both in the prosecution and th defense statements. and, they came home with this bombshell quote that ended your intr

they'll use him to show that's how keith davidson, stormy daniels' lawyer, got the $130,000 payment that cohen made on trump's behalf, and then through that repayment scheme that the prosecutors are going to get to, then covered up how cohen was being repaid, paid him some extra money for tax purposes and the like. the one thing that is really interest about gary farrow shows someone at first republic bank flagged the wire transfer as suspicious activity to the treasury department. we don't know who did it. the bank is now defunct. it f it turns out to be gary farro, it will be way more important. >> you wrote the 12 rules. they're telling a story. we now understand we had david pecker pays off the first two potential bombshell stories to get rid of them. then he says i'm not paying anymore. i'm not giving any more money but michael cohen is saying you have to pay this third one because now we have this "access hollywood" problem. he's like nope, so michael has to figure out a way to do it himself. he sets up an llc and not true things and then he pays. is that a smart way to do that and

keith davidson is on the stand right now. he represented both stormy daniels and karen mcdougal.ight now he answering questions from prosecutors about the stormy daniels deal. he said interest in a deal reached a crescendo after release of the axis hollywood tape. michael cohen stepped into american media shoes after the initial deal fell apart. he believes cohen was trying to avoid making the payment. davidson directly negotiated the 150,000 deal for mcdougal's story. he said if american media bought it it would benefit the trump campaign. davidson testified about collection and act a sip of various clips showing the trump deposition in the e. jean carroll case and various speeches he addressed allegations against him. michael cohen's former banker gary pharaoh wrapped his testimony. he said pharaoh never spoke about trump setting up account to wire daniels 130,000. judge her chon ordered trump to remove nine posts online that say lighted the court's gag order. all but one has been taken down. the next one is still up. trump commented on a post from storm any daniel's former law

now mcdougall, who you see on the screen, i spoke to her lawyer back in 2019, keith davidson, who toldthe affairs happened in 2006. michael cohen and i first contacted each other about the matter in 2011. so at a minimum they knew about me and about stormy at a minimum in 2011. they knew about it in 2012, '13, '14. they knew about it in 2015. they knew about it when he was a candidate. >> they knew about it the whole way and the money only comes through at the end. the point there and the money came because they cared about the campaign and nothing else and that's why this was not just tabloid business, it was campaign tabloid collusion if you will. the da highlights a text that davidson, who you just saw, sent to one of the top editors at the enquirer something that could be ripped out of a novel. wonder if we have a novelest around looking at having buried the stories it helped donald trump just like they planned but they saw that he actually won and said, quote, what have we done? we're joined now by presidential historian michael beshloch and james mcnary who wrote "bright lights b

also david pecker, the former ceo of american media and keith davidson, former attorney for both women. on the defense side, donald trump himself. all this happening because right now the trial is on track to start monday after three attempts in three days to delay it, all summarily rejected by the way. the latest attempt so last minute and so chaotic arguments were heard in the court basement in a room our lisa rubin describes as more like a beatup underresourced teacher's lounge than a courtroom. >>> a new poll puts data behind trump's increasing desperation to put off the trial. look at these numbers, 64% of registered voters say the charges are either very or somewhat serious, including 40% of republicans and more than two-thirds of independents, and if he's convicted of a felony by election day, 24% of republicans and 13% of current trump voters say they would not vote for him. nbc's garrett haake is following all of this from washington. joyce vance is a former u.s. attorney, law professor at the university of alabama, and an msnbc legal analyst. jim messina was white house deput

. >> keith davidson, what have we done? >> to dylan howard on election night, what have we done. that was a telling text message. >> but it's chilling, right? you think about the time, we sit here in 2024 at the culmination of this -- the prosecutorial phase, and this is what we're left with. it's just so for boding for him to text that and say what have we done? but there's a "we" there. dylan howard is not going to be testifying in this case, but had his hands just as dirty, too. that next morning after that text message, i was sitting in an editorial conference, that was the morning after we learned that donald trump had won, i had colleagues coming to my in tears saying what have we done? and dylan howard told staffers, it's not as bad as you think. now, we didn't know what had been going on in the background, and i'm disappointed to learn, as you just mentioned that dylan howard won't be in court because of this condition we learned about yesterday. i hope he's okay, but he would have been able to back up what david pecker is saying and what michael cohen will potentially al

that michael cohen aided by some folks at american media which owns the national inquiry and keith davidson represented two women, stormy daniels and karen mcdougal negotiated and executed a set of settlements designed to keep their respective affairs with donald trump buried in the leadup to the election. what people don't know is what came after it and what really has been charged here, which is the cover-up. how did they then paper over those repayments of the settlement with stormy daniels when trump was in the white house. michael cohen is going to be the tour guide to this, but he's not the whole landscape, and he's not even the main show. and i think that's what he's trying to illustrate is that there's lots of evidence here in the form of documents and also in the form of other people who were part of this journey along the way. it takes a lot of people to ensure that a current president, for example, signs nine checks. back to michael cohen, when he's in the white house, he's not exactly opening a drawer, taking out his personal check and writing a check for $9,000 to michael cohen

they've talked about keith davidson, stormy daniels' attorney at the time. >> hope hicks. >> hope hicks sounds like a lot if you are the jury to be trying to understand, to wrap your head around, who did what, who was in which position? >> yeah. >> do you think doing a good job, is this how you would approach it? >> look, they're setting the stage, and with respect to weisselberg, talk about somebody -- this man has given up his whole life in service to trump, right? there is apparently reporting evidence that there are notations that weisselberg made doing the math in terms of how to repay cohen, you know, this $130,000 as vaughn noted. they actually ended up paying him more than double, plus a $60,000 bonus, i believe it was, so that he could comply with the tax laws because they knew that he would -- the tax authorities would be taking 50% of that. this goes to another really interesting point. the state has put forth three different theories for that secondary crime. we've been talking about the election law violation, election interference but one of them is also tax fraud, and it'

what he had just done for karen mcdougal and didn't want to do it again, i are represented are keith davidson. he's going to be a key witness in his trial. he's the one who negotiated the ndas with mcdougal and with stormy and the timeline is professor kim knows is crucial in any prosecution in august of 2016, keith david rohde will say this is public, that he had a meeting with dylan howard who unfortunately is not a key witness, has been brought up quite a lot. two, abbey, he discussed with karen mcdougal, haven't are on the cover of magazines, writing articles about intellectual topics the luncheon was a joke. it was to kill the case what happened was on our set october 7 access hollywood. after that tape came out, michael cohen and donald trump were you know what? i hope i don't know i was wrong. here's what happened. next. next three weeks. i hope i don't get kicked off the shelf. it's okay. it's three weeks. >> there was a fervent effort to kill stormy daniels fervent. >> the story, the story in october 27, nda was signed, money was transferred. >> you asked what changed it? the access

michael cohen, keith davidson hope hicks from the campaign to underline that point. and then finally, wolfe the falx themselves who were presenting these stories and trying to have their story told catch and kill. they will be testifying very likely as well. >> lot going on indeed, caitlin pullbacks. thank you very much. i want to get more on donald trump's response today, the president biden saying he'd be happy to debate trump before the 2024 election? trump daring biden to debate them outside the courthouse that de, let's get some analysis joining us now cnn political commentators, s. e. cupp and jamal simmons and sc, who do you think would have board gain from a debate? would it be trump or biden? definitely donald trump. >> and he knows that i think he's banking on the fact that he will look more robust, more energetic and he is not held to standards by his own voters like standards like telling the truth, knowing stuff, having policies that he's going to explain, they don't care about any of that. >> so he'll win with his crowd no matter what. he knows. biden's

let's talk about it now apart, federal prosecutor jean rossi here presented keith davidson, who actually negotiated the ndas with karen mcdougal and also stormy daniels, former trump attorney tim parlatore, and cnn legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, elliot williams, four republicans who your congressional advisor, reno shaw, and law enforcement reporter for the washington post devlin barrett. he's the also the author of the coauthor of the trump trials newsletter. so i want to begin with this idea of of gary farro because his testimony in many respects was why i think that people may not have anticipated they were thinking about michael cohen and stormy daniels are thinking about, of course, david pecker, maybe karen mcdougal talk to you about the decision to have this person testified, what was the weight of it well, number one, it was a friday and they did not know. i agree. i mean, that it it would not have been in the interest of the prosecutors to call a big splashy witness who they would've had an hour of testimony and then had to cut off and resume on tuesday, not even mond

cohen to bring to the meeting, the consultants accomplish of the 130,000 where that cohen made to keith davidsono keep stormy daniels quiet, you will see in this trial allen weisselberg's handwriting down the side of a bank statement laying out every one of the steps i just described, showing how they converted the $130,000 payoff amount to the 420 grand cohen would get paid back as a grossed out way to describe it and not as reimbursement but income. they took notes about it every step of the way and the prosecution has the notes. then, here's the kicker. prosecutor colangelo, cohen and allen weisselberg then met with trump who approved the payment on the stormy daniels payment and a few other expenses. you will see evidence at trial that trump was a frugal businessman. he believed in pinching pennies. he believed in watching every dollar. he believed in negotiating every bill. it's over all the books he has written any run the organization with total control. you will hear testimony about his relentless focus on the bottom line. when it came time to pay michael cohen back to the catch and kill