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and karen mcdougal seemingly did not want to go the route -- she didn't want attention. in fact, abc would require her if she had signed that deal to come out and tell her story and it is just not what she wanted. and that's why the ami deal was attractive to her. >> i'm going to get in trouble because i'm supposed to let you go, but i have to ask quickly what is good about being in the overflow room, there is an angle on seeing the defendant in court, or seeing the lawyers or anything that happens between them, there are three cameras set up as i understand to feed the overflow room. one is on the witness, one is on the defense table and one is on the prosecution table, so you have a view of donald trump that, for example, ari melber would not have being in the courtroom. really quickly, your observations on donald trump today. >> sleeping. again. they have tried a number of different devices, yeah, sleeping for a lot of it. i would say they tried a number of different devices to keep trump awake, partially in response or what appears to be in response to collective pre

so 150 grand is a precedent set by karen mcdougal. and that davidson is saying that dylan howard, who who works with national enquirer, says, you should try to get as much as you can up to $150,000. dylan as sort of a peacemaker, brought me back into the fold. keith davidson explains, but then cohen says he wasn't paying. it's just one more snafu so i think one of the things that's going on here, paula, and please correct me whatever errors i've made is the deal has gone through with karen mcdougal. she's being paid $150,000 by american media incorporated. they think donald trump is going to pay back. he doesn't. and david pecker's like, okay, well, that's on me. i'll take the hit, maybe even advised by his lawyers is don't be reimbursed right now. the jury is seeing an email from davidson to cohen with wiring instructions. so at some point cohen is being given. here's where you wire the money. michael cohen. and at this point, they're trying to rush her cohen to pay or at least team trump to pay because david pecker doesn't want to g

will be that of karen mcdougal. >> well, that's impressive. i'm so glad you said paulo, because you're tightening his grip because the prosecutor just ask david, quote, do you know somebody named karen mcdougal obviously that is going to be the second story here. and this one is going ally fcinating. because they just laid out the mechanics of how these agreements worked and how for the first time they bought a story. we do now know karen mcdougal, who store. they also bought and you're saying yes, i do. as they are now getting into this story this is incredibly significant fill in this moment just given karen mcdougal story, was bad, david was worried when they bought that story, that they were violating campaign finance rules? >> yes. actually did research to make sure that they weren't are trying to make sure that they were on the right right side of the wall, which i imagine you're probably going to be hearing about that process because corporations can't spend 100 and over $100,000 from them as to what they can actually spend on that. and

he was supposed to pay karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay 125,000 dollars for the life story of karen mcdougal. for whatever the reason may be, he elected not to pay it. davidecho was very angry because there was other money he that was expended on his behalf. david never got paid back for that either. >> so davidpecker has done this in other cases? >> in other circumstances, yes. not all of them had to do with women. host: that was michael cohen from 2019. help put that into context here and how that testimony might play into what you were just talking about. guest: at that testimony, it's five years ago now but it was very dramatic at the time because he had copies of the canceled checks so you could see the checks with trump's signature on it. that was quite dramatic. it was paid in monthly installments over one year. that was to be reimbursed for the things he passed along to stormy daniels for karen mcdougal. the mcdougall case was a little more complicated because it went through the national enquirer. there was

the story of karen mcdougall, who claims to have had a year-long affair with trump, which he denies. when he learned mcdougall was trying to sell her story in june 2016, pecker said he immediately called cohen. he said he and cohen were already talking a couple times a week, but after pecker brought up mcdougall, their calls became a lot more frequent. michael was very agitated, he told the jury. it looked like he was getting a lot of pressure. he kept on calling, and each time, he seemed more anxious. pecker said he assumed trump was asking cohen, did we hear anything yet? he told trump to buy the rights to mcguy dal's story, trump's response, i don't buy stories. when you do anything like this, i always gets out. ultimately, pecker's company paid karen mcdougall $150,000 for the rights of her stories, but never published it. pecker's testimony resumes thursday. trump today complaining he's stuck in court while president biden is out on the campaign trail. >> they're keeping me in a courtroom, that's freezing, by the way, he's out campaigning and i'm here in a courtroom sitting here

he was supposed to pay karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay 125,000 dollars for the life story of karen mcdougal. for whatever the reason may be, he elected not to pay it. davidecho was very angry because there was other money he that was expended on his behalf. david never got paid back for that either. >> so davidpecker has done this in other cases? >> in other circumstances, yes. not all of them had to do with women. host: that was michael cohen from 2019. help put that into context here and how that testimony might play into what you were just talking about. guest: at that testimony, it's five years ago now but it was very dramatic at the time because he had copies of the canceled checks so you could see the checks with trump's signature on it. that was quite dramatic. it was paid in monthly installments over one year. that was to be reimbursed for the things he passed along to stormy daniels for karen mcdougal. the mcdougall case was a little more complicated because it went through the national enquirer. there was

story not to help donald trump, but to help karen mcdougal. defense attorney emil bove. and you were very clear on cross-examination that ms. mcdougal did not want to publish that story, right? that is correct. bove, she wanted to promote her name and brand, correct? yes. she, karen mcdougal was illegitimate celebrity at that time, right? pecker, let me say this. did she meet the celebrity category at that time? no. there were reportedly audible chuckles in the courtroom after that happened. it was not what you would call a highlight moment for the defense. in fact, to be honest from my perspective almost none of it so far has seen all that great for donald trump. maybe you don't need a compelling narrative when the job is to get jurors to believe in reasonable doubt or maybe this is what is happening when you work with an impossible client and do a better job. what does a competent defense strategy look like in this trial? is it turns out, joining me now is andrew wiseman, and anna bello, a pleasure to have you both onset. first of all, i am

the present very cognizant of something going with karen mcdougal. and now you're getting the dynamics. we talked a lot when david pecker testifying about the foundational elements of what they were setting up. the prosecution. this is very much along those lines as well. didn't gotten to stormy daniels yet, but the jury is hearing how this all works and getting a very inside look into as opposed to competing dynamics between two different news organizations. and also the very clear desire stated by davidson that mcdougal not want her story to be public, wanting to go through ami, including some pretty exorbitant michelle offers on the table to try and ensure that the story did not ever see the light of day. it also shows how much negotiating happened back-and-forth, and how the urgency changed is we've got closer to there are convention. >> and as we'll learn with stormy daniels, the election and paula keith davidson is going to be a juicy witness before that, there were some witnesses who would not be described it in that way i love a good archives

one was karen mcdougal. you had her first and her last name, her email, i think there was a phone number there. it was actually put up on a screen for the court to see, and then the other information was stephanie clifford, but it didn't say stephanie clifford, all it said was "stormy," and then it had a cell phone number. it is interesting, because i think part of the reason rona graff was brought in to testify was to establish potentially for the defense that the relationship between donald trump and stormy daniels could have been about stormy daniels wanting to become a contestant on "the celebrity apprentice," that she wanted something from him. because she came to trump tower in 2007, she has written about it in her book called "full disclosure," they had a meeting, and the allegation that was left for the defense by the jury is that she was there angling to get a slot or a celebrity spot on that show, "celebrity apprentice." >> interesting. kristy, you had taught blanche to explain somewhat awkwardly t

mcdougal was paid $150,000. steinglass, is that true, mr. pecker, was that your purpose in locking up the karen mcdougal story, to influence the election? pecker, yes. and the fact that pecker agreed to not publish a story about a playboy model's year-long alleged affair with a presidential candidate is only further proof this is not just about doing good business because pecker admitted such a story would have been, quote, "national enquirer" gold. the prosecution asked, at the time you entered into the agreement, you had zero intention of publication even if it would have helped the bottom line. you killed it because it would have hurt president trump. to which pecker answered, correct. and before the court wrapped for the week, the jury heard from two other witnesses, first was trump's longtime assistant and gate keeper, rhona graff, for a brief line of questioning authenticating both karen mcdougal and stormy daniels' contact information were in trump's computer. during cross-examination, she did admit to hearing conversations about dani

and i actually didn't know how to take that. >> reporter: the defense argued that mcdougal's $150,000 deal with a mri, which previously owned the "national enquirer," was legitimate. she was paid and featured broadly throughout the publications. but under questioning from prosecutors, pecker said that was meant to disguise the actual purpose, which was to acquire her lifetime rights to her story so it is not published. pecker also acknowledged hiring an election law attorney to review mcdougal's contract. >> the best moment for the prosecution is david pecker saying that he sought legal advice on behalf of his company. that if he continued to do this kind of payment, that it was going to be a campaign violation. that is absolute gold for the prosecution. >> margaret: and robert costa joins us now. bob, it's hard to believe that it is news, it used to be expected, that two candidates trying to persuade voters would come out and debate to defend their policy positions. but now, this was news today that they are considering it. will it happen? >> reporter: president biden went on the how

time executive assistant taking the graff also testified she entered contact information for karen mcdougal, a former "playboy" model who claims she had a year-long affair with trump. that she typed in two addresses, a cellphone number and an email address. >> she was hired by the trump organization in 1987. >> reporter: becoming a familiar face to tv audiences on "the apprentice" as the ever president outside his office. and today's personal assistant walking with a cane entered the man hat encourtroom passing her old boss. trump dropping his head when her name was called. her testimony was brief. all the years of record keeping, packing a punch. she kept trump's calendar and contacts and she entered information for porn star stormy daniels including her mobile phone number. and there was nor. of she testified she had a vague recollection of seeing daniels in trump tower in the reception area on the 26th floor. trump denies he had an affair with daniels. but prosecutors say she was p $130,000 to keep quiet before the election and trump falsified business records to cover it up. she also ha

david pecker said what they were talking about was karen mcdougal.ld trump asked how she is. and david pecker said she's fine. she's quiet. >> yeah. talk about the david pecker/trump relationship. because when i was in court, i got the sense he reveres him. today he said he still considers him a friend. >> a friend and mentor. >> and mentor. >> and there's these interactions i keep watching in court as david pecker sort of exits through this trap door in the middle of the courtroom, he goes past where donald trump is sitting, and there's been some interactions where they have acknowledged each other and smiled together. it was a very close friendship, and it was a friendship -- >> and symbiotic. >> favors both ways. something i'm sort of really interested in here, and i was hoping we would get to today. at that dinner as has been reported there were discussions at the dinner at the white house about facilitating, helping to facilitate david pecker with deals with the saudis. >> pardon? >> he went on to fly to riyadh, and there were discussions about

karen mcdougal and david . they are on the list as well as the man who was the editor in chief of the national enquirer at the time of that catch and kill scheme . dillon howard. now the hush money at the center of monday's trial is not the hush money the national enquirer paid karen mcdougal to kill her story. the hush money at the center of monday's trial is the money paid to stephanie clifford. you probably know better but the stage name stormy daniels. but the contours of these cases are very very similar. daniels like mcdougal was ready to go public with her story. and was paid to stay silent. what's more both of these payments the money for karen mcdougal and stormy daniels those payments were made in the lead up to the 2016 election. and that could be key here. because one of the things one of the essential things that district attorney alvin bragg will have to prove in the case is why donald trump did what he did. why he arrange those payments to stormy daniels. having karen mcdougal and david in dillon

there is a chance that karen mcdougal could take the stand here.o you have been watching all of this, katie, what are your thoughts? at this point. to go i am of course always looking at the political side of all of this. there was an interesting poll that came out yesterday saying even if trump were convicted in the specific case, 62% of people say it would not affect their vote. 15% of people say that it would encourage them to vote for him if he were to be convicted. than about 20% of people that say invite and encourage them not to vote for him. so while we are all watching this the american people are paying attention to this very specific case. a lot of people have argued that president trump is going to be able on the campaign trail as he has to say i am a victim of this but i think the broader argument as he could say democrats are using the justice system to go after their political opponents by all of the analysis we have heard by our excellent legal analyst so far in this case, they don't yet have evidence trump knew about these payments

he was on the hook completely for mcdougall's payments completely. so the jury will be back in about an hour or so to hear more of the redirect of david pecker before we get witness number two who potentially could be karen mcdougal herself. back to you. >> sandra: does a great set up, eric. at lunch break until 2:15 p.m. that is confirmed out of the courtroom a moment to go. the former president did depart and did not say anything as he departed the courtroom. they are estimating they need about half an hour more for the redirect or some of the details coming out right now. bovee says there will be a recross and also todd blanche, john, just ask for the judge to compel the prosecution to provide them with the name of the next witness. this has become a thing that they are not letting them know that, john. >> john: you know, it's only fair for the defense to know who they are about to bring up on stand so they can prepare themselves. let's bring in fox news sunday anchor and chief legal correspondent, you have a unique perspective because you were in

who it a love affair with karen mcdougal.michael cohen who did this personally. >> he department benefit at all. i'm trying to pick up on the common sense thing. >> let me just say a cohen point right now, both sides the defense has take a call of calling him cohen instead of the first name and trying to dirty him up in a sort of opportunity toir way. even the prosecution has put in a few things about he's a challenging kind of client for that bank guy. pecker thinks he exaggerates. so the jury, i'm sure, is very curious to see this guy. and i think the da's main task, they have laid the tracks well, but they know that cohen is coming. their main task is between hicks, between pecker, and then the paperwork is to corroborate every single hole so at the end of the day, they can get up and say, look, michael cohen, first of all, you can believe him for these reasons, but even if you don't, every single piece. but i bet back in the jury room, there's a lot of questioning of who is this cohen guy going to turn out to be. >> do yo

karen mcdougal story. and when you look at the charges jeong documents here for trump, there are some hints about where this goes next david pecker ends up paying her, but at some point, he decides to not get reimbursed from trump wod and i'm curis as to why that happened. so ts is the opening salvo, but there's more to come. >> so again, you're not going to find the crime a to z found in any one paragraphf testimony, prosecutors have to build a case here. i think two things jump out at mfrom the transcriptone,his is a full nine alarm fire in trump wld & in the national enquirer in pecker'environment, they are i mean, they're pulling each other out of meetings. borderline panicking. the other thing is that a establishes a really important chain of communication because this is one of the rare instances. there's a few were david pecker has direct contact with donald trump. most of its with michael cohen. and the weakness that arthur just pointed out is, well, how do you know that michael cohen was truly act

having karen mcdougal and david and dylan howard on the witness stand explaining the karen mcdougal hush money case, explaining why the national enquirer was catching and killing stories that could be bad for donald trump in the lead up to the presidential election, well, that could really help illustrate trump's intent in a very similar case, the stormy daniels case. 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, as she negotiated her payment to stay quiet. i am sure mr. davidson has plenty to say about what he believes motivated the silencing of his two clients' stories. if you recall, the reason d.a. bragg has to prove the why here is because the way he structured the charges against trump here is not just one singular crime. bragg has charged trump with a misdemeanor, the falsifying of business records, but bragg elevated that charge to a felony by alleging trump falsified those business records in service of commit

the kind of agreement that mcdougal entered into. pecker to admit ami engaged in hundreds of thousands of source agreements that had those. he got pecker to admit ami paid for stories they chose not to run. here is where i think things got the most damaging. pecker gave us a snapshot that trump was not the first rodeo on catch and kill. he talked about arnold schwarzenegger. during his run for governor, they had an arrangement. schwarzenegger would affiliate himself with two magazines pecker was in the acquire of acquiring. in exchange for that continued association of being an editor at large for those two magazines, david pecker agreed he would bring to schwarzenegger in advance stories negative about him that he would help to bury and indeed he admitted he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars doing so. at one point, he admitted he transported schwarzenegger's -- let's call him the baby mama, the woman with whom he had an affair and then had a child outside of marriage. pecker agreed to move this woman to hawaii so she wouldn't b

the payments were made to karen mcdougal in 2016. testifying this morning that michael said he had not been reimbursed for the payment to stormy daniels. and those payments to: in $135,000 that cohen paid did not start until after trump was president. earlier in effect bragg is trying to charge trump for seven that artie happened in the past. without a time machine, how do you do that? >> the reason it should not happen, john, it is just a bedrock matter of constitutional law in this country that you are supposed to be indicted on the charge that the jury is going to consider. that seems it should be straightforward enough but what happened here is brad gets the jury in new york to indict 34 counts that occur in 2017. all of this stuff about pecker and cohen and what they did in 2015 and 2016, none of that is in the indictment. what is in the indictment are 34 charges of falsifying business records that happened between february and december of 2017. coterminous with the indictment bragg puts out what he calls it the "statement of fa

between karen mcdougal and stormy daniels. he talks about not wanting to get involved in stormy daniels. he says, i am not purchasing this tour i am not going to be involved with a porn star. as i've suddenly this is a line. he's going to draw it. i am not a bank and he says about michael cohen. michael cohen was really upset. he said that the boss would be furious at me, that i should go forward with purchasing it. he was also in other parts of his testimony, he was worried about the legal implications t lawyers, he consulted campaign finance experts he has seemed to be spooked by 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 u

pecker told the jury he told trump that mcdougal's story should be taken off the market. he said that trump told him he doesn't buy stories because trump told him they always get out. pecker then pushed trump so trump said he would talk to michael cohen. there was no direct order from trump to pecker to buy the story and no demand the shut mcdougal up to help protect trump's campaign. pecker said in a later phone call he told him it was mcdougal who did not want her story to come out and signed the contract to restart her career to let her write articles and appear in pecker's other publications and how ami, america media incorporated did just that. they published help tip coll amends and exercise columns and put her on the cover of men's journal to try to chip away at the prosecution theory that the $150 thousand was only a hush money payment. in this way pecker is showing to the jury that there was actually a payment and that mcdougal actually performed legitimate services for the company and it was not only -- had nothing to do with any type of hush money payment as we

mcdougal, it really comes down to why it happened. and unless the prosecution team can tie this to a motivation to circumvent federal election laws. the felonies out the window, and then the cases out there windows. so i really think at this point, they should just continue the way they are. and i again, really don't think that will be hearing from the president from the witness stand, at least you represented former president in 2022, criminal tax fraud trial. is that from second impeachment trial can you just talk a little bit about what he's like to work with on a case i can tell you. >> i think jim would probably agree with me, you know, i had no political agenda. i represent criminal defendants. that's what i do, but i found the former president to be very easy to get along with. he was a client that really didn't give us any trouble but all 0s intelligent. he listens, he sees the big picture. >> so i had no issues at all dealing with them. >> we had some run-ins and we had some great times, but i really viewed it the way i treat

trump denies having an affair with mcdougal. pecker testified about how trump sought to block stories that could hurt his campaign. with us now to talk more about this, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard outside the courthouse in lower manhattan, glen kirschner, former federal prosecutor and host of the justice matters podcast, kimberly atkins store, boston globe columnist and co-host of the sisters in-law podcast, and danny cevallos, criminal defense attorney. glen, kimberly and danny are msnbc contributors. vaughn, what has been going on right now inside that courtroom? >> reporter: right, jose, there have been multiple efforts by the defense team in front of this jury during its cross examination of david pecker, the long time publisher of "national enquirer," who is the crucial witness to the prosecution as they build out their case of alleging this conspiracy between the likes of donald trump with michael cohen and the "national enquirer" to suppress the stories of individuals like stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. and

karen mcdougal, and david pecker. they are on the ligs as well as the man the editor-in-chief at the national enquirer at the time thaf otcatch and kill scheme, dylan howard. it's not the hush money the national enquirer paid karen mcdougalen to kill her story. the hushll money at the center monday's trial is the money paid to adult film star stephanie clifford, when you probably knou better by the stage name stormy daniels. but the contour of these cases are very, very similar. daniels like mcdougal was ready to goga public with her story a was paid to stay silent. what's moreo both of these payments, the money for karen mcdougal and stormy daniels, those payments were made in the lead-upen to the 2016 election, and that could be key here. because one of the things -- one of the central things that district attorney alvin bragg will have toal prove in his cai why donald trump did what me did, why did he arrange those payments to stormy daniels? having karen mcdougal and dylan and explaining why the national enquirer

whether they were watching karen mcdougal.was very very concerned about it. >> so i said a moment ago, and andrew weissmann points this out. the 24 million was regarding stormy daniels, not karen mcdougal, but this was george conway telling, you know, this network that he was at a dinner where he heard donald trump talking about this. could he end up testifying? i mean, is this an opening for the d.a. to call george conway? >> you know, i don't think so. what i would say is it's consistent with, you know, that he's reacting to this, but it's not really corroborative of exactly what david pecker is saying because, you know, david pecker has a direct conversation with donald trump, and as vaughn correctly said, it's important for both what it is, and it's also important because as the piece that vaughn has alluded to, which is donald trump then saying he doesn't know anything about it, you can be sure the d.a. is going to play that so that you have that sort of, you know, there's nothing better for mental to prove mens rea, the

he said he told trump to buy the rights to mcdougal's story. trump's response, "i don't buy stories. anytime you do anything like this, it always gets out." ultimately, pecker's company paid karen mcdougal $150,000 for the rights to her story, but never published it, all to protect trump. pecker's testimony resumes thursday. trump today complaining he's stuck in court, while president biden is out on the campaign trail. >> they're keeping me in a courtroom that's freezing, by the way. he's out campaigning, and i'm here in a courtroom, sitting here, giving -- sitting up as straight as i can all day long, because, you know what? it's a very unfair situation. >> reporter: before today's testimony, prosecutors accused trump of repeatedly violating the judge's gag order, attacking witnesses, even potential jurors. and they said it's posing a very real threat to the trial. the defense insisted trump is complying but the judge interjected "you're losing credibi credibility." no immediate ruling from the judge but prosecutors said, david, it's almost a

trump saying, "i want to thank you for handling the mcdougal situation." then asking, "how's our girl?" pecker replying, "she's quiet. things are going fine." months later, trump invited pecker to the white house and asked again, "how's karen doing?" pecker recalled responding, "she's doing well. she's quiet." and he described a phone call where top white house officials hope hicks and sarah huckabee sanders encouraged him to keep paying mcdougal. >> mr. trump, do you still like pecker? >> reporter: and then there was stormy daniels, the porn star at the heart of this case. trump charged with falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment so voters wouldn't learn of their alleged affair. in the final weeks of the campaign, pecker said he told trump's fixer michael cohen daniels was shopping her story. he says cohen told him to buy it, but pecker refused, telling cohen, "i am not going to get involved with a porn star.

there's no people surrounding karen mcdougal? yes, there's no question for exclusivity when you're a weekly publication and you need to hold someone from speaking to another media organization for a week's time, you're going to put them under some type of exclusivity. it could be a couple 100 dollars, it could be several thousands of dollars. i mean, we operated no differently. i mean, we were bold about the fact that we practice checkbook journalism and certainly there were individuals who called the enquirer tip line specifically because they were looking for money, but television shows would pay for video. they would pay still pay for somebody's scrapbook are still photos. it would justify sum payments, but they weren't as direct as the national enquirer and in terms of what it's become i mean, it is a shadow of its former self in terms of readership and in terms of do you think that they, do you think it will continue i mean, that's that is so hard to say. i feel a great deal of sadness over the way pecker came forward and ju

karen mcdougal is a playboy. i'm ready for him to say, okay, this is what night -- i need your help with. he said, they made a decision to pay her under $150,000 and the story will never see the light of day. i am sitting there going, and what world would we not run that story? what is actually going on? what am i a part of year? it was a moment where i was like, this will end my career. >> 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 u

saying ms mcdougal alleged she had a romantic affair with donald trump. >> and that mcdougal express that the relationship was does indeed sexual in nature. we are covering all aspects of this as keith davidson, a reminder, he was the attorney who facilitated the payments to karen mcdougal in stormy daniels is now on the witness stand. we are told that trump has been passing notes to his attorneys as all of this is happening, and we have judge grosso. judge because her back with us as judge, you had been inside this courtroom everyday listening to this this testimony from these witnesses as the prosecutors have been bringing them forward, often the defense has been complaining they don't know fareed advance who these witnesses are going to be. they've a general idea i wonder what you make of the significance of what keith davidson is testifying now about karen mcdougal and what she was alleging about her affair with donald trump well, here's the thing to do. the strict rules or the court. and the fact that we actually have a former president as a defendant. >> i can't just go inside

they're going from their sabotaging karen mcdougal. they talked about, but door man who would made allegations which were proven to be false about a child, but trump's father was false. now, you're on stormy daniels, where are we in the testimony of david pecker? we're almost at the end because he is also talking about that trump tower meeting was what prosecutors have called the thank-you meeting where he talks to he goes and he sees trump. >> trump. thanks, tim taking care of this? he also invites him to the inauguration. david pecker said he didn't go, and then there's one more meeting that prosecutors have flagged. so this is what i expect david pecker will be asked about when in return soon for after lunch, was that it was in the spring or summer of 2017 after trump has been president, he invites david pecker to the white house, keep i'm sorry. i keep davidson. i'm dylan howard goes along with him and it was the thank you dinner. and he thinks him then trump thinks david pecker for everything he's done for the campaign. so that is

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 expected to hold another hearing, norah, that will review

he understood the reach of the national mcdougal .e surprised to see in a supermarket sneaking a look at an article inside a magazine with a really sensational cover. the same goes for that program that he was on, the apprentice. i am sure you are a week where viewer, just like me. >> i was aware of it. >> the point is that paved the way for president donald because a lot of people watched nothing for more than a decade. it shows a serviceable businessman who is deaf with a heart of gold. none of those things are true, but that was on the show. in 2016, people like me and my guess, like you, who were not weekly viewers of the apprentice, did not know how much that would do to ease his entry into politics. >> j, we have had all these details. they are big fish. no disrespect to any of the other fish. all our fish are special, mike. >> my mother said that about her children as well. >> is this an accurate story? it is a heckuva way to go down. i am just curious, what -- would you write, would you write and i will -- a novel this year --

and stormy daniels is that karen mcdougal hasn't been really out there in the news. she says they had a year long relationship that they exchanged. i love you's and i don't care who you are. that's never going to be funny to hear. no, no. >> it's humiliating for sure. >> obviously, we don't know how closely she is following this, but trump did complain on his way into court today, stephanie, about having to be there instead of being with melania trump for her birthday. here's what he said this morning. >> i want to start by wishing my life were you happy birthday? >> i should be with her, but i'm the courthouse for rnc. >> so far. >> i'll be going there this evening absolutely. >> case furnishes out with this horrible unconstitutional okay now, you also posted a two-minute video on social media for her birthday, highlighting her time as first lady, and that is what really stood out to you today's stephanie, how come you know, i rolled my eyes when he did that, it was it was so beyond inappropriate, but yet so donald trump that on the way into a trial where they are t

that's largely about karen mcdougal.ng reference to stormy daniels in the story, but that is, that is a story that was published in the aftermath of access hollywood right before the election that was really back here, mcdougal now, the prosecutor is getting back into the notion of stormy daniels, and that is why so much of david pecker's testimony is about mcdougal or the doorman because that's what ami was involved with. i actually the stormy daniels thing, as we know, pecker said he wanted no part of that. is magazine is at walmart and that will look so good or what have you. and then this is on michael cohen and donald trump dissolve. and so they want to i guess the prosecutors now, if you look here, pecker says of daniel, sorry, that he wasn't going to print it or buy it or be associated with they wanted him to reassess sir that this issue, stormy daniels, which is what all the paperwork in this case is about those payments. that squarely in donald trump's lap via michael cohen were standing by to get more informati

karen mcdougal . he wanted to say, even if this is a misdemeanor or falsification of business records, the next crime does not exist. it is not an election crime because this is about protecting melania, not to influence an election. david pecker said melania was not even mentioned. this was all about helpingselection. finally, wanted to make this case about michael cohen, who has some problems because he was convicted of felonies, including lying, but he was lying for president donald . but here, you have david providing cooperation for what michael cohen is going to testify to. it is one thing to say you are a liar. it is another thing to say you are a liar, but everyone seems to cooperate your story. >> i got that hogan's hero analogy with the sergeant. one of the central themes of david testimony was the arrangement he made with president donald to have the parent company of the national mcdougal pay playboy model karen mcdougal $150,000 for her story, alleging she had a 10 month long affair with

and mcdougal and. the former attorney for stormy daniels and karen mcdougal is on the witness stand in manhattan. he's been on the stand for much of today. keith davidson negotiated the alleged hush money agreements for both women back in 2016. and while his tone on 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 melania, another text from howard a few days later. i really can't say yet, sorry. davidson reply. the prosecution asked him if he said that because he didn't know or because he wasn't ready to discuss the details yet. he said it was because i was not prepared to discuss the details at that point. a few weeks later, dylan tells davidson, quote, get me a price on mcdougal. all in. consulting gig programs as a fitness

keith davidson represented both karen mcdougal and stormy daniels. he explained to the jury how he sought deals with the national enquirer for both both of his clients. he told the jury how the release of the trump access hollywood tape suddenly drove up interest in daniel story. >> i just guessing them, it's like a magnet. >> the jury was shown texts that davidson sent to former national enquirer editor, dylan howard about both daniels and mcdougal of mcdougal gold davidson texted, i have a blockbuster trump story. howard responded, talk first thing i will get you more than anyone for it. you know why davidson and we're in conversation with abc news about sharing her story. he testified put mcdougal did not want to tell her story and prefer the deal with the national shall enquirer, which would have kept her story from the public at one point, while davidson and howard were negotiating, davidson wrote throwing an ambassadorship for me. i'm thinking isle of man. >> he said that text was a joke about trump's presidential run. >> that somehow, if karen

that a former "playboy" model karen mcdougal, who claimed to have had a ten month long affair with trump2006, which he denies. >> after we had been intimate, he tried to pin me, and i actually didn't know how to take that. >> reporter: four days before the 2016 election, "the wall street journal" reported that american media, which owned the "enquirer" at the time that had paid mcdougal $150,000 for the rights to her story, which was never published. in the gag order here, the prosecution argued trump should be held in contempt for all of his scathing commentary about this case. trump lawyer todd blanche said his client has been careful with his words. to that, the judge said, that's%

yes, karen mcdougal is a big part of this.n large part because the conduct she alleges false outside of the statute of limitations but this is going to be a big part of the story that's shows there is a whole range of conduct that this particular candidate and those around him were invested in keeping from everyone else. >> andrew, it is karen mcdougal who, in january after the election, they decide, you know what, we don't have to hold her to the nondisclosure anymore because we after the election, which is such a key element in incentives here. >> what the state needs to make sure the jury does not sort of go off on is that this was just a schema with respect to melania trump. that is the john edwards defense. they need to say this isn't just some personal thing, this is about the campaign. the fact of what he does afterwards. apparently, david is going to say into that and 17, he meets with donald trump, who thanks him for helping him win the campaign and win the election. >> that is all in the opening statement today. >> t

when i talked first about the agreement with karen mcdougal and ami. on cross, there is an attempt to say, well, lawyers negotiated this, even in the opening, this was blessed by lawyers. to give the jury the impression that lawyers said this is okay so donald trump must've thought it was okay. by the way, an objection that got sustained because you can't make that argument. he has no advice of counsel or presence of counsel. >> ruled out in pretrial motions. >>. now you have this agreement. the agreement, the word campaign doesn't show up once, right ? this agreement with karen mcdougal is for promotional opportunities, for her to be on the cover of the magazine, for her to go straight articles. and, he never on redirect, it was so effective from the state because they are like campaign doesn't come up anywhere. when you talked to your attorney, ami general counsel, you never mentioned michael cohen, you never mentioned the campaign, you never mentioned you were trying to help once the election. there's not but, this looks like a standard agreement fo

and karen mcdougal story. so then trump's lawyer saying confronting with him some notes that an fbi agent had taken after an interview, david pecker gave to them. and in those fbi notes the notes say the david pecker didn't recall any gratitude from donald trump's, so he was challenging on on that asking him about that david pecker says i know what i remember. this is going back to 2018. i didn't recall back from what i'm saying here is that during the fbi investigation, i know what i said yesterday happens, so i can't reconcile what the fbi interview was. if someone made a mistake or not beauvais says, so you can't reconcile because what you said yesterday is inconsistent with what's in this report, correct? pecker says yes, but i wouldn't be responsible for this report, but they said i understand. so you're suggesting that the fbi made a mistake here. pecker said, i know what the truth is. i'm not i can't state what the woods here why this was written, this way. i know exactly what was sent to me so interest

so starting with karen mcdougal could, because i think this is actually fundamentally different. we were just talking about from stormy daniels. this was longer term, this was something that trump i mean, he's still denies actually the karen mcdougal relationship. what are you expecting from her? >> this one's more complicated. she has not been antagonistic about donald trump. she still speaks with him with some affection she described in her interview with anderson cooper, she described that they were in love. it was a very an actual relationship and that she ended it because she felt very bad about it being an affair. she's a religious woman and i think it's gonna be very different for him to see her in that courtroom versus stormy daniels or that was a more surface level? bowl, a fair it was a transactional. >> they were talking about a roll on celebrity apprentice for stormy daniels. it was not an emotional affair where he talked about having a child and karen mcdougal in her account, i think it's much more emotional thing than the stormy daniels that's really fascinating. i