that says national enquirer? that's the same publication that said elvis was alive and living in curacao. but he was asked about the tactics of negative stories about him being planted in the national enquirer to help trump during the republican primaries. and he said, i know people i ran against for president in 2016 that use mainstream publication yes. to print stuff like that. that wasn't true yes. but marco marco rubio has the backbone of a squeegee, like, i don't understand why he is afraid to stand up for himself. stand up for the people he ran with, like literally they sabotage you in your learning about it. now you're learning how it was done, but he still afraid to call it so ted cruz was probably the worst example. yeah, you know, and and taking on ted cruz, taking on his father, taking on his wife, taking on crews personally, and now there's no distance between ted cruz and donald trump book. >> they all knew marco rubio, ted cruz all knew about these stories in real time and no new who was planting th

from judge merchan to present evidence at this trial about donald trump's relationship with the national enquirer and how he worked with -- basically in coordination with enquirer during the 2016 campaign to boost his campaign. what is your sense of why this is important to the prosecution's case, and what is your sense of how important this evidence is toward potentially winning this case? >> i thought it was really significant. it's hard to say in this what is going to be the most significant thing because it's going to depend on the testimony, but i thought this was significant because we're not now just going to learn that ami had in a very narrow fact here, the stormy daniels payment, the karen richardson payment and the offered payment to the doorman. we're going to learn that donald trump and david pecker went back years and could be beyond the election in 2016, that they had an agreement where david pecker would do the catch and kill for stories with donald trump, stories that would never appear, ones we heard a lot about, but also that he was somehow involved in stories that involved mar

the national enquirer is tabloid trash. but it's run by his good friend, david who has endorsed trump. he uses this to smear everybody and anybody. >> the national enquirer has become a hit piece he uses to smear anybody and everybody. eight years ago, the transactional relationship between donald trump and the national enquirer was so obvious, that ted cruz was just talking about on the campaign trail. now today was the second day of witness testimony and the first criminal trial of a former president, donald trump rate and the focus of the testimony was the very same thing ted cruz highlighted in ways the national enquirer helped donald trump during the 2016 campaign. former ceo of the inquirer, david testified his story would run negative stories about opponents whenever they started to do well, stories like bumbling surgeon left sponge inpatient's brain. i cannot right after a poll that showed ben carson leading trump for the first time. ben carson denies that allegation about the sponge by the way. then there were shoc

trump was using the national enquirer to smear his opponents and to undermine their candidacies. and the enquirer was more than willing to oblige. in court today this is how mr. pecker described that process. pecker, michael cohen would call me and say we would like you to run a negative article on let's say for argument sake, on ted cruz. that was the nature of our story and we'd embellish it from there. prosecutor steinglass, you would michael cohen would call you and say we would like you to run a negativewe story is that correc? >> pecker, yes. >> steinglass, who did you understand we to be referring to? pecker, michaelfe cohen told mee was not part of the campaign so i always assumed mr. trump. when he said we i always assumed he and mr. trump. david pecker and the national enquirer were by his own admission publishing the 2016 at the behest of donald trump at the direction of his lawyer. and then there was what mr. pecker was doinghe behinds the scenes to help trump's campaign. today they asked mr.picker about two negative stories about trump, stories the national enquirer p

and so you ran it in the national enquirer, right? yes. and because that was quick and efficient and cost-effective, you would have done that whether or not you had discussed it with president trump, correct? >> yes. >> wolf very interesting testimony, indeed. thanks for bringing that to our attention. i'm glad you're going through that whole transcript now. very important indeed, let's get to him, alice this and what's going on? i'm lead counsel for special counsel, robert mueller's investigation of donald trump, andrew weisman is joining us. he's now coauthored a brand-new book entitled the trump indictments. the historic charging documents with commentary and thank you so much for joining us once again, that transcript that we just heard some excerpts from gave us a window how the defense was trying to undercut the david pecker's testimony. do you think they were effective well, i think that i don't fault the defense lawyer for pursuing that line of questioning to say what you say was this agreement was kind of snow so in winter because

i've always said, why didn't the "national enquirer" get the pulitzer prize?idn't the "national enquirer" get the pulitzer prize for breaking the big news that ted cruz's dad killed jfk? i mean, that really was a -- you have to admit that's a scoop. look, world exclusive investigation. it's not even like somebody on another continent also has that, just the enquirer. no, that of course came after the "national enquirer"'s big scoop that hillary clinton had been caught on camera having gay romp at seedy motel. seedy romp caught on camera at this hotel. that was right around the same time they reported on hillary clinton's secret hitman. hillary hitman. they broke the news that hillary clinton was hooked on narcotics. they broke the news of donald trump getting revenge on hillary and his evil puppets. it says muslim obama, weird kane, meaning tim kane. mob connections. shady deals. gay double life. boy, that really does sound like pulitzer material. that was right around the time they broke the 10 deadly secrets of hillary clinton every american must know. jail

it is a nothing burger compared to the "national enquirer." i started with that mcdoug alex change comes toward the end of the day because that is when pecker in his calm, and everyone described him as credible and calm and likeable. kind of person a jury -- a juror would find as likeable and affable. he's describing being on the phone with trump and trup doesn't say i'm not going to buy the story because i didn't do it. i'm not going to buy it because when you do it, it gets out anyway. and just the intimacy with trump and the cash and kill. and he's embarrassed of catch and kill. he's proud of checkbook journalism. that is stunning. >> and some things rang true going back to the apprentice years. they had a relationship and it really flourished during the apprenticeship, it was popular and he could put trump on the cover and they would leaktories about the contestants. >> and the ratings. >> and donald trump back then, you talk to anybody at nbc, that guy was obsessed with the ratings of the apprentice and he was leaking stories to the natio

the mcdougall case was a little more complicated because it went through the national enquirer. there was this accusation that the national wire was paying for her life story under this catch and kill strategy and never published anything about her life story. the newspaper executives denied that happened. they say they were going to make payments for fitness columns she would write. the thing about the stormy daniels payment is that cohen set up a company that he transferred the money through as an intermediary company because he was worried about his own wife finding out about these payments and having a probm with that. it was quite a detailed story and i'm sure we will hear all of those details again and maybe have trump's lawyers taking apart that inconsistencies or flaws they see in the narrative. he will be arguing that he didn't know this large chunk of money was going to stormy daniels and cohen will testify that he knew. host: all of this will play out in the coming weeks and that meant courtroom. go to usa today for coverage. thanks for the preview this morning. guest:

which publishes the national enquirer. he had a very cozy symbiotic relationship with donald trump and steinglass has been examining packer for the prosecution, talking specifically, not just about the previous catch and kill deals fuels that they had where the national enquirer would, by a story damaging to trump so that they would spike it, hide it from the public. they did that with a doorman's story from trump tower that apparently was just not based in reality, they paid $30,000 for it. it wasn't true. doesn't even we don't need to go into the details of that. the second story that apparently these individuals at the national enquirer thought was likely to be true, had to do with donald trump's alleged long-term relationship with 1998 playmate of the year, karen mcdougal. they paid her $150,000 for a column she was going to write for a magazine that was part of the ami em empire not specifically the national enquirer and they, and they were just going to have a ghostwriter write it and they ended up not publishing tha

mark landsman directed the documentary scandalous, the untold story of the national enquirer for cnn films. i think the enquirer did a very good job of hering the lines of fact and fiction. i think they were very instrumental in this dissolution of fact-based journalism in american culture and american media blurring the lines with salacious headlines and stories. but it's not been all wrong in 2070 enquirer did break the true story about john edwards, then democratic presidential hopeful of having an affair and fathering a child with a former campaign staffer. a point trump made when he defended the papers credibility years later, this was a magazine that frankly, in many respects should be very respected. they got o j, they got edwards and it should be noted that senator marco rubio was another one of those who was seen as a trump rival. >> he was another one of those targeted by the enquirer back in 2016, he was actually asked about that today. he basically blew it off saying that isn't that the same publication that said elvis was alive right

the mcdougall case was a little more complicated because it went through the national enquirer. there was this accusation that the national wire was paying for her life story under this catch and kill strategy and never published anything about her life story. the newspaper executives denied that happened. they say they were going to make payments for fitness columns she would write. the thing about the stormy daniels payment is that cohen set up a company that he transferred the money through as an intermediary company because he was worried about his own wife finding out about these payments and having a problem with that. it was quite a detailed story and i'm sure we will hear all of those details again and maybe have trump's lawyers taking apart that inconsistencies or flaws they see in the narrative. he will be arguing that he didn't know this large chunk of money was going to stormy daniels and cohen will testify that he knew. host: all of this will play out in the coming weeks and that meant courtroom. go to usa today for coverage. >> with parliamentary leaders from france

it is people who consume the national enquirer. david says that he attended donald trump's campaign announcement in june 2015. we all of course remember donald trump going descending the down the golden escalator and his comments about immigrants that's that's a subtle but important detail because that will stick into jury's mind and when the argument is made as karen was saying before, the reason they did this was to help his campaign. well, guess you're standing there when trump announced his campaign, david, donald trump watching as he testifies about being invited by michael cohen to a ten and event at trump tower when trump announced he was running for president. and so just a little bit of kahler, donald trump is watching the witness, perhaps not surprisingly, given the fact that he is testifying in the trial of donald trump, kaitlan collins, back to you in new york yeah, jake, it's fascinating what prosecutor seem to be doing is really kind of weaving all of these people. michael cohen, hope hicks into was david is laying th

see david pecker, the man who ran the national enquirer back on the stand. >> this will be the meat of the cross-examination after pecker testified in vivid detail how he buried bad stories about donald trump in vivid detail about how trump would keep asking about the playboy playmate with whom he allegedly had an affair and in vivid detail, a conversation that trump had about stormy daniels with david pecker. >> now, remember, trump is charged with falsifying business documents to hide hush money payments to daniels today, we expect that offense to question pecker's memory and also suggests that there was nothing unusual about the catch and kill arrangement he had with trump. we can also see the next witness today. will it be stormy daniels herself and really any moment now, trump could be found in contempt for violating the gag order. let's get right to cnn's kaitlan, poland's for the latest on what we will see this morning. kayla well, john, we don't know who the next witness will be, but we have more testimony from david pecker first, there will be more questioning of him from dona

national enquirer, at least thus far. david the first witness, testimony to that, not an accident. if trump and the national enquirer, trump and emi were in a criminal conspiracy is prosecutors allege, all we need to know about trump, most of what we will learn is about ami. >> that made begin with reporting from my beat which is outside the building. [ laughter ] among the people, who i will now call the people and not the protesters, because they were not protesting. i counted two. three trump supporters i will call them. you could not hear a word from them. they kept everything at a conversational tone. from where chris is, you could not hear what they were saying to each other. the only person you could hear was a loudmouth guy who was fairly close to them yelling at them about bill clinton balancing the budget. [ laughter ] that was it. that's what the people had to say out there in the street. >> it's new york, and he might've been doing that since 1992. >> in the courtroom, it's the first time we have heard the def

also the question, did that part help the national enquirer at all? that's a really important point here. he says, no, that didn't help. now many might be wondering, well why on earth would there be a payment to dress tried to unilaterally? >> health. donald trump. well, it's not just the catch-and-kill. it's the continued relationship. if somebody is getting ready to be the president of the united states and they believe that they might be or might have a chance at doing so. think about the fodder you have in the future. there is an every incentive for somebody who's publishing a magazine to have that access point. and so although it might appear to be unilaterally, oakley only up and donald trump after 2015, it would actually a nerve the benefit of ultimately of the enquirer and just because casey, i know you're really curious to know what dino sajudin looks like just because we talking about them so much the doorman. >> here's a photograph of dino sajudin the jury right now with viewing this agreement between ami and dino sajudin, areas on the bott

joining us as well as barry levine, former executive editor of the national enquirer. barry, i'm wondering, you know, david pecker, obviously, well, you worked with the enquirer for a long time. you had some involvement with that doorman's story. how do you what do you make of him as a witness? >> well, listen, i was there anderson for 17 years. i was actually the first editorial higher for david pecker back in 1999 it's certainly troubling to be to be watching this unfold in thinking back to the great years of breaking so many great stories, john edwards let's tiger woods, jesse jackson's paternity of a child. i was i left the enquirer after the doorman's story two months before the karen mcdougal story, before they got involved with that and the last trump's story that i did work on was the doorman's story. and i mean david pecker was absolutely right had that story turned out to be true, and he published it, it would have been a mega sale. it might have sold millions of copies. >> did you know that he was going to kill it if it turned out, regardless of what it turne

and i'll talk to a former "national enquirer" editor speaking out about the deal with trump. back in 90 seconds. l with trump. back in 90 seconds is some freakin' torque. what? the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover. let's get the rest of these plants in. organic soil from miracle-gro has grown me the best garden i have ever had. good soil, and you get good results. this soil will blow you away. it's the martha stewart of soil. if you spit blood when you brush, it could be the start of a domino effect. new parodontax active gum repair breath freshener. clinically proven to help reverse the four signs of early gum disease. a new toothpaste from parodontax, the gum experts. when migraine strikes, you're faced with a choice. accept the trade offs of treating? or push through the pain and symptoms? with ubrelvy, there's another option. one dose quickly stops migraine in its tracks. treat it anytime, anywhere without worrying where you are or if it's too late. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. allergic reactions to ubrelvy can happen. most common side e

we have talked about the national enquirer.ath of access hollywood. we cannot get over the fact the first thing the jury heard today was a transcript, not the tape of the access hollywood. i will tell you sitting there that you would think that the most powerful way to convey that language would have been hearing donald trump's own voice saying those words. yet, it was still startling as you are sitting in this but still official courtroom, to have the prosecutor get up and say those words. to use that language. >> they were edited the way we do them for tv? >> reporter: not edited. in full -- i was going to sample something else but not allowed to predict the impact was exactly as it was intended. we do not speak, we don't do that, it is just jim talk kind of stuff. two, to have it be done in the context of the bigger picture of the story that was being told by the prosecution made sense. it was another example of how donald trump in his massage any and grossness, he was so desperate to hide that and try to do damage control t

a story about the national enquirer, at least thus far. david being the first witness, i think, is both testimony to that and not an accident and that if trump and "the national enquirer" were in a criminal conspiracy, as prosecutors allege, we all know, almost all we need to know about trump, most of what we are going to learn is about the national enquirer and ami. >> let me start with my bead, which is outside the building. among the people, who i will now call the people and not the protesters because they weren't protesting. i counted three, maybe i am overcooking, sorry trump supporters, i will call them. you couldn't hear a word from them. they kept everything at a very conversational tone. for more, chris says you couldn't hear what they were saying to each other. the only person you could hear was a loudmouth guy who was fairly close to them yelling at them about bill clinton balancing the budget. that was it. that is what the people had to say out there in the street. >> it is new york, he might have been doing that since 1992. t

say what you will about the national enquirer, the reach of this publication?art in every airport, and that was being weapon iced to help get donald trump elected and that is what alvin bragg is talking about in this indictment. i think that is what people pass over when we talk about falsified business records. fundamentally, this was an agreement to influence the election and it worked. >> again, it's important, when you work for campaigns, earned media, as they say, magazine covers on a grocery store shelf, that is gold to people. the visuals of what they are seeing. we learned of the judge will allow the national enquirer covers to be admissible in court. we showed a few, including the one about hillary clinton dying. are there some you think are important for people to see or are there some that you think would particularly make the point? >> it's the pattern. look for what this publication was publishing when i first joined in 2014, when it was tom cruise , that mix of celebrity content , and it's a look at how this publication then became, as a said, a p

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first with stormy daniels and later with karen mcdougal who herself was paid by the national enquirer using david pecker to set the stage. we have scratched the surface with his beginning testimony that will continue tomorrow. host: tell us about what we heard from the defense in the opening arguments. reporter: the defense's role today in their opening statement was to sow doubt through the prosecution's case because the burden of proof is on the prosecution. and todd blanche, donald trump's lawyer was mocking several elements of their case saying there is nothing illegal about influencing an election, it is called democracy, he said. he also said the catch and skill -- catch and kill scheme, nothing wrong with that either. he put distance between trump and falsifying records. saying he was so far up in the organization that he did not have his hand in the details. another key piece we will see is in trying to say that the prosecution's case is built on unreliable witnesses. for michael cohen, they painted him as someone that has a vendetta against donald trump wanting to see him in

and we now have seen this both with respect to the testimony today from the "national enquirer," but we also saw it with respect to fox news and dominion, that sort of fundamental principle of how the fourth estate works is really undermined and it shows that donald trump, for all of his alleging fake news, this trial is showing that he is actually adground zero of fake news and was using that to get elected. >> and andrew and chuck, stand by for a second. i want to get back to vaughn on the latest of the testimony from the google documentary, the document that we're all following. vaughn. >> reporter: right, andrea. let's be clear here. for years we have talked about david pecker and his role in this. and yet we have not heard from him publicly discuss that august 5th, 2015 meeting with michael cohen and donald trump. we have not had him on the record, and the question is, would there come a day that david pecker would testify? and as we speak, that is what is currently happening. and michael -- david pecker, i want to read a couple specific quotes here. because he is explaining tha

he's on the campaign trail is still running for president not the national enquirer. >> sorry. i don't talk about these tabloids and tabloid trash is full allies. i'm here to talk about helping people. >> what was your response when you heard that? you got mad, you got you cried. >> i mean, it's just sad >> because he's denying your love cracked. so he's still he's still in the relationship? >> yeah. you're still in the relation? yes >> edwards campaign staffers all saw the articles and many of them knew or at least suspected the rumors, had married what's remarkable is no one inside the campaign blew the whistle at this point john's political machine kept going full throttle even as barry levine and the enquirer, we're getting ever closer to blowing it all up subsequently, we were able to develop the source. now closer to real hunter who says that not only is the affair true, but she's pregnant now with john's child and their freaking out. >> so when did you find out you were pregnant >> july 2007. >> how do you tell john the news that he's about to have a kid with your >> he

magazines such as the national enquirer. saying he'd quote run or publish positive stories about mr. trump and published negative stories about his opponents on quote& if he heard of women's selling stories about mr. trump who he called an eligible bachelor, although he was married, pecker said that he would notify michael cohen and he'd have the stories. in other magazines. pecker also testified, quote, in a presidential campaign, i was the person that thought that there would be a lot of women who would come out to try to sell their stories because mr. trump was well-known, is the most eligible bachelor and dated the most beautiful women, unquote. >> pecker also said, have you heard of women selling stories he'd notified cohen he'd had the stories killed. >> he said, i think it was a mutual benefit. it would help his campaign and it would also help me unquote the tactic discussed in that meeting. it's called catch and kill by somebody by the rights to a story. and instead of running it kill it. it's not illegal. it's not i

donald trump would give the "national enquirer" information.rms of being able to get views, and compare that to in turn donald trump would have negative stories about him relaying back to him, and effectively squashed. and when donald trump announced his run for the presidency, that trump tower meeting was in the words of donald trump's attorney, or not exactly in the words, but as sort of an agreement that this is just a continuation, but as a politician, and for donald trump and the relationships that he has had, he has built a sense of loyalty around him here, and of course we see that to this very day, that he continues to instill those who remain close to him are those who don't cross him. but are those that do essentially whatever it takes to be on his side, apologies here as we have a new individual who just got out here, guys, beating pans. i'll throw it back to you. >> new york city. >> welcome to new york. >> i was in front of the supreme court all morning, and let me tell you, there were a few of those there too. we're used to that.

and coming your way in our next half hour, a closer look at the national enquirer. i'm going to speak of how it brought david pecker and michael coe into the witness stand. >>> a stunning number of tornadoes that touched down in the u.s. this weekend. i'm jonathan lawson, here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. options start at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a g

took aim at the prosecution's key witness today, david parker, one once the publisher of the "national enquirer" and a longtime friend of trump. >> nice guy appeared to purchase on suppress negative stories to catch and kill, as it's called, was not unusual. pecker himself had testified that there were similar alleged arrangements with arnold schwarzenegger, tiger woods, and mark wahlberg. but pecker was later pushed by prosecutors on whether there was a difference with trump. did you suppress stories to help a presidential candidate yes, trump said's between you once had. one those involved former "playboy" model karen mcdougal who allegedly had a ten month affair with trump, which trump denied. >> after we had been intimate, he tried to pay me. 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

that really was just the national enquirer are doing with the national enquirer does yeah. >> jim, i mean, we haven't gone what you're reaction to what we've been witnessing thus far, right? >> i think it's all about dirty up the national enquirer. right. and the industry in general, this they call it a checkbook journalism. >> i think yesterday, they use the word standard operating procedure procedure, time and time again. the gym we should notice this right here on the side of the screen just to keep giving our audiences excerpts, beauvais confirms with pecker that other outlets covered malpractice claims against ben carson and may of 2015, it sounds as though what you can see some of the headlines there on screen there. ted cruz for shamed by porn star bungling surgeon ben carson left sponge and patient's brain first of all, take all of these headlines with a great assault as we do with the national enquirer. but it sounds like what the defense is trying to do is say, hey, wait a minute. so all of this stuff that was kinda floating out there anyway and politics, it's part of celeb

but we knew that we had we wake up to the national enquirer interview. was with abc news and what i found out is that john edwards had brokered a deal to sit down with abc news i worked at abc news at this time. >> and when edwards agreed to a sit down, it was a huge deal. everyone in the newsroom tuned in to watch our colleague, bob woodruff hold edwards feet to the fire. he'd have to tell the truth now, he was on national tv but then this happen. >> let me ask you the question. did you have an affair with ms hunter in 200062 years ago? i made a very serious mistake mistake that i am responsible for is this a fair completely over? >> oh, yes, it's been over all up for a long path edwards, ever the skilled trial attorney was being very slippery with the truth here. >> but what came out next was an unbelievable outright lie and that picture is absolutely, you and you are holding that baby. >> the picture in the tabloid? yes. i have no idea what that picture is. but you've seen that picture, right? i did say an ad. i cannot make any sense out of it. i don'

the ways in which the national enquirer helped donald trump in the 2016 campaign. david the former ceo of the enquirer testified that his tabloid would run negative stories about each of donald trump's primary opponents when ever they started to do well in the polls against trump. stories like bungling surgeon ben carson left sponge in patient's brain. that came after a poll showing ben carson leading trump for the first time. and there was shocking claims, ted cruz caught cheating with five secret mistresses. that came out after polls showed ted cruz ahead of donald trump. what is going down here wasn't even subtle. trump was using the national enquirer to smear his opponents and undermine their candidacies and the enquirer was more than willing to oblige. in court, this is how mr. described that process. michael cohen would call me and say we would like you to run a negative article on ted cruz. he would send me information about ted cruz or ben carson or marco rubio. that was the basis of our story and we would embellish it from there. steinglass said you would s

you hear a lot about the national enquirer buying stories.n that they do that, maybe not in so much detail but david has paid a fine already to the federal election commission, because he paid the money to karen at google, was a violation of laws about corporations interfering in an election. and in this case, the lawyer for the da said today, and i will quote here, said, there was a deal struck between ami and the defendant to put their thumbs on the scale, to control the flow of information that would read reach of the electorate, and that is what we are going to hear, that is why he is pushing for all of us to get in, to really set the table for exactly what donald trump and david packard were doing. it was not just a few payments, it was a larger scheme. >> suzanne craig, pulitzer prize-winning is to get a reporter at "the new york times." susan, i know you've had a long day, thank you for being here. i really appreciate it. we will be right back. back. ir you can do at home. just once a month. nucala targets and reduces eosinophils and h

_ national enquirer. how does it link to donald trump? that's _ national enquirer.amous 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? christian, i think the general public— christian, i think the general public is _ christian, i think the general public is paying attention to what's going _ public is paying attention to what's going on — public is paying attention to what's going on. certainly it will be making _ going on. ce

david ceo of the national enquirer, also had immunity with prosecutors. he was also spilling the beans. so knowing that background when nbc got this potential witness list today for trump's hush money trial, these names jumped out at me, karen mcdougal and david and the man who is editor and chief of the national enquirer at the time of that catch and kill scheme, dylan howard. this 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 stormy daniels. at the contour of these cases they 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 payments, the money for karen mcdougal and money for stormy daniels, were payments in the lead up to the 2016 election and that could be key here because one of the central things that district alvin bragg will have to prove in this case is why donald trump did what he did, why he arranged those payments to stormy daniels. having karen mcdougal and d

that's the way the national enquirer worked and how it worked for years.ances where the killed negative stories about arnold schwarzenegger when he was running for governor. they did it for tiger woods to get a good interview with tiger woods. they buried a story about him. it's been going on a long time and the world trump lived in for years. the new york tabloids. it was a long-term relationship. you can see that david says we will formalize this. doing it informally and now we will formalize it and i will do it to benefit your campaign because i want the access and power and the stories that i will get out of that. i think my publication and he personally will benefit if you rise so i will find stories of will hurt you and make sure nobody else sees them. >> neal, trump's lawyers are denying there was any relationship between donald trump and stephanie clifford, a.k.a. stormy daniels. how did they do that without donald trump taking the stand? >> very hard. the prosecution has to prove that to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. the prosecution bears the

national enquirer shielded trump from playboy model's affair allegation. it was what is known in the cal bloid world as a catch and kill scheme. trump had an affair with karen mcdougal. when trump ran for president, mcdougalor tried to sell that story to the press. sohe the national enquirer boug the story from mcdougal, and then they killed it. this is no longer just the stuff of allegation. in 2018 the national enquirer's parent company entered into a non pros cushion agreement with prosecutors in new york. the tabloid admitted the whole scheme in exchange for immunity from prosecution. around the time that was happening, "the wall street journal" had another scoop. david a pecker, the ceo of the national ckenquirer, also had a immunity deal with prosecutors. he was also spilling the beans. so knowing all of that background, when nbc got this potential witness list today for trump's hush money trial, these names jumped out at me. 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

former "national enquirer" publisher david pecker was back on the stand where he said he worked withmp and his longtime fixer michael cohen to heighten negative stories about him during the 2016 campaign. the prosecution claims it was all a part of a conspiracy to influence the election. before today's testimony, there was a tense hearing over whether trump repeatedly violated a gag order by attacking witnesses and jurors on social media. prosecutors urged the judge to find trump thousands of dollars and hold him in contempt, while the former president complained that his right to free speech was being taken a away. cbs's robert costa was inside the courthouse and starts us off tonight. >> reporter: former president trump aired his frustration with being in court today. >> that's a very unfair situation. >> reporter: after listening to former "national enquirer" publisher david pecker, a man he has known for over three decades, explain the strategy he testified they agreed upon ahead of the 2016 election. the paper would bury any negative news about trump, while promoting fake storie

jurors listening intently today as the former publisher of "the national enquirer" testified about the confidential arrangement made with trump in 2015 to help his presidential campaign. publishing flattering stories about trump and hit jobs on his opponents. agreeing to be trump's quote eyes and ears for potentially damaging stories. one of them involving a former playboy model. her story was bought and never printed. abc's senior investigative reporter aaron katersky at the courthouse again tonight. >> reporter: today, as donald trump listened intently, the former publisher of "the national enquirer," for the first time, laying out the extraordinary relationship between candidate trump and the sordid supermarket tabloid, describing what he called the confidential arrangement he made with trump and trump's former fixer, michael cohen, to protect trump during the 2016 campaign. david pecker grinning widely as he pointed out trump in the courtroom, the former president smirking back. the two men had been friends for years. but pecker told the jury their relationship changed in 2015, aft

the national enquirer national -- have a limit of $10,000. these went well over that. in the case of karen mcdougal, they had a contract with her and that was according to david pecker solely to keep her story off the market but she did in signing that get other things with the agreement. she got, you know, she would have a column, she would get on the cover of a magazine. david pecker said that was all window dressing for the payment to keep her quiet but donald trump's lawyers will say that contract was actually legitimate and payment for services. that will come down to what the crime is. what was that payment, wasn't legal or not? >> you have the hush money case in new york and then you have before the supreme court the argument over presidential immunity. it's easy to talk about those in silos, but you say they are connected. >> they are connected because they are asking the courts, juries, and the country, is donald trump above the law. in the hush money case, you have a person who repeatedly attack potential wishes is that he is under a gag order. unlike any oth

their guide prosecution witness david pecker, former "national enquirer" publisher. pecker describing made-up stories published to damage trump opponents. he testified about a payment to a new york doorman for a salacious but untrue story about mr. trump and described a key meeting in which he says he pledged to be donald trump's eyes and ears, ready to alert to negative stories that could appear about him during the 2016 presidential campaign. the prosecution hoping to prove it all leads to paying off a porn star and an illegal scheme to disguise the transaction through altered business records. once again tonight, here is laura jarrett. >> reporter: tonight, mr. trump's long-time friend david pecker, the former publisher of the "national enquirer" offering the jury a rare glimpse into the underworld of tabloid tactics, as the state seeks to prove the former president doctored his internal business records to cover up the payoff of an adult film actress just days before the 2016 election. >> mr. trump, what do you think of david pecker? >> reporter: pecker describin

at the heart of the argument is the national enquirer tabloid magazine.lachlan cartwright was in the room for many key meetings. first, the story so far... not the slogan of a government health campaign, concerned about the spread of germs, but, it's alleged, the scheme this of an american tabloid concerned about the spread of negative stories on donald trump. during donald trump's first run at the white house, the national enquirer paid large sums of money to buy stories and then bury them, while running negative stories about his opponents, it is claimed. it has all been laid bare in the trump trial in new york. the donald had been accused of nodding off during thejury selection process, but he would have been wide awake for the testimony of the enquirer�*s publisher, david pecker. trump's formerfriend, who has been granted immunity to testify against him. it was an agreement among friends, mr pecker told the court, including trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen, and his cohort of catch—and—killers. the first example given concerned dino sajudin, a fo

to do with the national enquirer story. and frankly, i hope it's not true because it's pretty bad so ted cruz got one thing wrong in the extended version of those comments, which was he implied it was roger stone who was acting as the emissary would david pecker and donald trump, obviously as we now know oh, and we'll hear from him on the witness stand. >> it was michael cohen who is doing all of this. >> but what ted cruz got closer to than really anyone did at that time was that relationship between the two of them and it then it was not a known entity, a known quantity like it is now, like we saw the details come being out and you saw donald trump also doing other interviews about the claim that ted cruz is father was involved with lee harvey oswald trump would go on tv and say, well, the national enquirer has gotten other things right you know, pointed john edwards and he'd say, well, they haven't denied it, you know, even though there were these strenuous denials from marco rubio ted cruz, and it's just remarkable also

about ted cruz, go write one and the national enquirer would go fabricate one, right? do you think trump even -- does he have the access to be able to have an arrangement like at fox news? he communicates directly with sean hannity. >> yes, he does with individual hosts, not as the network as a whole. murdoch who runs fox is in australia a lot of the year. he's not wired in, he doesn't want to be, but he wants to keep the business humming and this is all about business. this is entirely about a financial relationship. they believe they had a fiduciary -- they believe this is the responsibility they have with the shareholders to keep the pro-trump propaganda going to keep the viewers watching. then what you'll see on the air on fox when they interview voters, the voters are saying the exact same thing jesse water is saying. >> from a legal perspective this seems like terra incognito. i was struck last week when jurors, multiple jurors were saying i'm worried about my safety, and judge merchan said i'm directing the press apply common sense and retrain from writing about

former "national enquirer" publisher david pecker is back on the witness stand being questioned by trump attorney boefy. prosecutors wrapped up their questioning yesterday by asking about the tabloid purchasing the story of karen mcdougal, another woman who claims to have an affair with trump. 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 t

warmer "national enquirer" publisher david pecker. >> he's been very nice. i mean, david has been very nice. he's a nice guy. >> reporter: trump has known to be 21 for decades and oscars allege the pair along with former trump lawyer michael cohen engage in a conspiracy to suppress negative stories about trump as he ran for president in 2016. pecker told jurors just after the "access hollywood" tapes surface just late wow weeks before the election. >> just start kissing them. >> reporter: discussions of what to do with stormy daniels heated up. the adult form star was according to pecker shot him a story of her alleged affair wit. pecker testified he did not have the money so it told cohen to buy and burying the story. of the story gets out the boss is going to be very angry with you. >> the d.a.s case really rises and falls with david pecker's testimony because he is the linchpin behind the sort of conspiratorial theme to influence the election. >> reporter: pecker also testified about an agreement with former "playboy" model karen mcdougal, who says she ha

to do with the national enquirer story. and frankly, i hope it's not true because it's pretty bad so ted cruz got one thing wrong in the extended version of those comments, which was he implied it was roger stone who is acting as the emissary. >> would david pecker and donald trump, obviously as we now know we'll hear from him on the witness stand. it was michael cohen who is doing all of this but but what ted cruz got closer to than really anyone did at that time was that relationship between the two of them and then it was not a known entity, a known quantity like it is now, like we saw the details coming out. and you saw donald trump also doing other interviews about the claim that ted cruz is father was involved with lee harvey oswald trump would go on tv and say, well, the national enquirer has gotten other things, right? you know, would point to john edwards& he'd say, well, they haven't denied it, you know, even though there were these strenuous denials from marco rubio and ted cruz. and it's just remarkable also giv