dreading that is new york times reporter kim barker. she is one of the authors of the article. prosecutor became the first to try trump kim, welcome but it is a long and extremely article. let us talk about bragg's -- but found each accusation had a flaw. after he was elected, bragg was encouraged to go after trump over allegations he exaggerated is that worth and financial statements, which led him to the discovery of the hush money payment stormy daniels. why was that payment the linchpin in bragg's decision to file charges against rob? what made this stronger than the net worth case? >> it depends on who you asked but from alvin bragg with the people we talked to, it is the fact this case has such a simple and clear narrative. it is easy to explain to a jury. they have got a great tour guide in michael cohen who made the initial payment. the charges relate to falsifying business records. all the checks and receipts that were basically called legal bills. that is what the charge is about. i think that bragg felt it was easier to sell this to a jury than a net worth case. >> m

kim barker and michael rothschild. and when we come back, a abortion ban established in the year 1864. it is now making a comeback 160 years later. state of arizona putting an abortion ban back in place that could criminalize every abortion procedure in the state of arizona. a law made possible thanks in no small part to the work of donald trump. >>> plus, we're learning a whole lot more about jared kushner's investment firm and his clients and almost all of them with made up of foreign investors that he met and dealt with while working in his father in law's white house and doing it all out in the open. the reporter who has been covering this story will be our guest. >>> and later in the broadcast, wee talk with one of the former military officials out today with a warner to the united states supreme court about donald trump's claims of presidential immunity. the former secretary of the army on the potential national security threat that is the ex-president. all of those stories and more when "deadline: white house" c

kim barker, "how alvin bragg hitched his fate to trump."yard at the courthouse. what's happening right now as it comes to the inside the courtroom preparation for jury selection to begin? >> reporter: we're not at jury selection yet. there's a name that has been currently discussed over the last ten minutes inside the courtroom between prosecutors, donald trump's defense attorney todd blanche. that name we will continue to come back to is david pecker, the former ceo of american media, which is the parent company of the "national enquirer." what the back and forth was over was over the prosecution's questions about potential evidence they could bring before a jury. in that evidence, it ties directly back to david pecker. in the august 2015 meeting at trump tower between michael cohen, david pecker and donald trump over the potential plan to not only have catch-and-kill stories to help benefit donald trump and his political campaign, but also they were pointing to evidence that the prosecution wanted to present tied to negative stories about