>> you hear a lot about the national inquirer storying.ready to the federal election commission because he paid them money to karen mcduogal. it was a violation of laws about corporations interfering in this case. josh steinglass said today and i quote here. there was a deal struck between ama and the defendant to put their thumbs on the scale to reach the flow of information. to really set the table for exactly what donald trump and david were doing. it was a larger scheme. >> suzanne craig. i know it has been a long day. thank you so much for being here. we'll be right back. stay with us. ight back. stay with us. because liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. that's great. i know, right? i've been telling everyone. baby: liberty. did you hear that? ty just said her first word. can you say “mama”? baby: liberty. can you say “auntie”? baby: liberty. how many people did you tell? only pay for what you need. jingle: ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ baby: ♪ liberty. ♪ my mental health was better. but uncontrollable mov

she's not somebody that you'd put on the cover of the national inquirer.en i was told about this in august of 16, there's no mention of i just hired this fitness columnist and we're going to move magazines. i'm going to be instructed to get those columns going after they told the "wall street journal" that we now need to produce these columns. that's when i get the ghost rider in. and that's when we actually have to stop running the column. so there's no suggestion. we have paid karen mcdougal because she's going to be the cover star and giving you the best. >> there's a contractual suggestion that that's what it is. that was one of the things that was so effective on reredirect, which is that pecker, who was oddly credible. he's a scoundrel, but they put the fear of god in him he was an affable scoundrel giving it all up. he made it very clear. this would have been for the reasons andrew says, a valuable article for the inquirer to run in its own rights, but they weren't going to do it because they had one reason reasons. that was the most effective part

trump, that part, did that part help the national inquirer at a all? how was that going to boost sales at the national enquirer? no. that didn't help. steinglass, that part doesn't have a mutual benefit, the purpose of that component was to benefit the campaign. am i understanding you right? that is right. the focus on how all of this benefited the trump campaign is important. the prosecution central argument this n this case, the reason they were able to charge donald trump with a felony is because they say trump's hush money scheme was all about trying to cover up his criminal activity related to the 2016 election. prosecutors today revealed that they are planning to rely on section 17, 152. the new york criminal code. which prohibits any two or more persons from conspiring to promote or prevent the election of any public office. it is important to know it was not just about trump the man. it was about helping trump the candidate win the election. gentlemen, thank you for joining me here. i'm definitely out of my league when i'm talking about codes, c

and how that works when you're sitting at the national inquirer is a lot of stories come into the nationaluirer where somebody like stormy daniels wants a payment for their story. normally the national inquirer will buy it and run it. a lot of people know this term now, a catch and kill. he was in the middle of some of those payments, either in the case of one of them that made the payment and other ones was going back and forth with the trump organization. he's already paid a fine in this case regarding the karen mcdougal payment. he's cooperating, right? >> he's going to be one of the government witnesses. i think when you look at a lot of people talk about this case and they talk about michael cohen being the star witness, all of these people that are there are going to have -- they're corroborating witnesses. there's either going to be documents or there's going to be other people backing up michael cohen's, you know, version of events. >> do you think trump will take the stand in his own defense and who else might we see on the defense witness list? >> he's on the defense witness list

the former publisher of the national inquirer, who was part of a scheme prosecutors say called catch and kill. abc's senior investigative correspondent aaron katersky leading us off from the courthouse again tonight. >> reporter: donald trump walking into the manhattan courtroom where today for the first time in history a jury heard testimony in a criminal case against a former american president. >> it's a very, very sad day in america. i can tell you that. >> reporter: with trump slouching in his seat and sometimes closing his eyes, prosecutor matthew colangelo began his opening statement charging trump "orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election." taking notes, as the prosecutor laid out his case, accusing trump of falsifying business records to disguise a $130,000 hush payment to porn star stormy daniels days before the election, so voters wouldn't find out about her claim of an affair. at the time, trump was under pressure. news had just broken of the "access hollywood" tape. trump caught on camera bragging about groping women. the prosecutor today

it's the national inquirer.you know, one thing we used to contend with all the time when i was at the doj. people would ocome to bill barr and say to him i want to prosecute this person and this person. typically fan favorites of the right. bill barr would always ask two very simple questions. what is the crime and what is the evidence? just because something feels dirty doesn't make it illegal. and people need to keep that in mind in this case. >> brian: karen macdougall will be on the stand today we expect david pecker wraps up. they only have 11 to 2. she was in the overflow room which he told me even better to being in court because you can see the whole thing. thanks, kerri. coming up saturday night 7:00 i will be in las vegas at technically henderson, nevada, that will be the 27th. the history liberty and laughs tour, also co-sponsored by fox nation. so, you are able to get specials, if you go, go to brian kilmeade.com, next month after that in indianapolis. hope to see everybody in person. it's a lot of f

the former publisher of the national inquirer taking the stand for a third day in trump's hush money trial. while in d.c., the strupreme cot heard arguments in the former president's immunity claims. >>> a court overturning harvey weinstein's rape conviction. >>> usc now canceling commencement. concerns columbia could do the same as students across the country remain steadfast in their demands for a cease-fire in gaza. >>> meanwhile, a first-of-its kind tourist fee, a live report int from venice. >>> and shooting his shot. the story of one kentucky rifleman with his sights on gold at the paris olympics. it is friday, april 26th. "early today" starts right now. and good morning to you, i'm richard lui. testimony will continue in just a few hours in the hush money trial of donald trump. on his third day on the stand, former national inquirer publisher david pecker told the jury he refused to catch and kill a story from stormy daniels about her relationship with mr. trump, because he had already paid tens of thousands of dollars to kill other stories for trump who was a long-time friend

the ex-national inquirer publisher, d publisher david pecker testified he worked with michael cohen to bury stories that could have damaged the 2016 trump campaign and to embellish negative stories about mr. trump's political rivals. pecker testified the arrangements stem from a 2015 trump tower meeting with cohen and the former president. the case centers on allegations that mr. trump colluded to illegally influence the 2016 election and falsify business records to cover up an alleged affair, all accusations he denies. >> what's going on is a disgrace. >> reporter: the day started with a contentious hearing over whether mr. trump violated the judge's gag order, barring him from publicly attacking witnesses and jurors, something prosecutors say he's done repeatedly, citing his comments about cohen right outside the courtroom. >> he got caught lying. pure lying. >> reporter: the trump legal team arguing the former president is defending himself as a presidential candidate, not a criminal defend ant. a prosecutor rejected that, saying throwing maga into a post doesn't make it political,

the former publisher of the national inquirer. the state believes that he was central to an effort to kill negative stories about mr. trump. pecker had not gotten to his relationship with trump before the day wrapped up yesterday. so he will be back on the stand today. but, before the jury comes in, there will be a hearing to possibly hold mr. trump in contempt of court. prosecutors accuse the former president of violating a gag order ten times. now, if mr. trump is found in contempt, the judge must decide on a punishment. and that could range from a warning to a fine to a short stay in jail. frances? >> brie jackson, thank you. >>> the senate could finally send a foreign aid package to president biden's desk today. over the weekend, the house passed a series of bills that include $60 billion for ukraine, as well as $26 billion that would go to israel's military and humanitarian aid for gaza. senate majority leader chuck schumer has said that the first senate vote would happen today. this package also includes the bill that could

the former publisher of the national inquire

david pecker, the former publisher of the national inquirer, who the state says was central to an effortegative stories about mr. trump. nbc's laura jarret is following the trial. >> reporter: prosecutors painting a stark portrait of former president in their opening statements during his hush money trial. a case mr. trump has argued is designed to derail his campaign. >> this is done as election interference. everybody knows it. >> reporter: prosecutors said it is mr. trump who is guilty of election interference by paying off an adult film star to silence her before the 2016 election, telling the jury, this case is about a criminal conspiracy to bury a story that could have cost him the presidency. and then lying in his business records over and over again to cover it all up. the alleged scheme stretches back to 2015. a meeting at trump tower between mr. trump, his former fixer michael cohen and david pecker, the long-time publisher of the national inquirer. this is where prosecutors say they hatched a plot to buy and bury any damnindamning stories.. the lead prosecutor read mr. trump's

outlawed while running the national inquirer he worked with trump and michael cohen to both suppress negative stories about the then presidential candidate and to flit negative and presumably baseless stories about trump's political opponents point quote, michael cohen called me and said we would like you to run a article on the let's say, for argument sake, ted cruz point then we he would send me information about ted cruz or carson or marco rubio point that was the basis and then we would embellish it from there. of on further questioning, clarified, quote, michael cohen was a part of the campaign. that he is talking about himself and mr. trump took it sound like believed he was acting in the correction of donald trump when he published stories like this about texas senator ted cruz who challenged trump in the 2016 primary, having extramarital affairs with multiple women, five secret mistresses, actually, or the story, remember this one? this one got a little bit of attention for which admitted to making up, linking cruises father to the john f. kennedy assassination. remember that

david pecker, the former publisher of the national inquirer, who prosecutors say was part of a scheme called catch and kill, buying unflattering stories about trump and making sure they were never published before the election. aaron katersky outside the courthouse. >>> the near disaster at jfk airport. authorities say air traffic control clearing four planes to cross in front of a passenger jet as it was about to take off. the pilot aborting takeoff. you'll hear calls to the ptower >>> columbia university increasing security. pro palestinian demonstrators rallying against the israel-hamas war. the school switching to remote classes. and tonight, protests spreading to campuses across the u.s. >>> in los angeles, the break-in at the home of the mayor, karen bass. the mayor was home when the intruder broke in and got to the second floor. they say the mayor was hiding in a safe room. >>> tonight, ukraine's president zelenskyy thanking the u.s. and thanking house speaker mike johnson, after the house passed, democrats and republicans, a massive aid package for ukraine. angering some repub

the corporate media pretends they are nothing like the national inquirer.ve evidence proving otherwise. plus, an update from the ground at the anti-israel mob central. don't go away. ♪ ♪ imagine a future where plastic is not wasted... but instead remade over and over... into the things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet cleaner. to help us get there, america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars to create innovative products and new recycling technologies for sustainable change. because when you push for smarter solutions, big things can happen. ( ♪ ) my back got injured very bad. i was off work for about a year. i heard about relief factor from my wife. i took it every day, three times a day, for three weeks. look at her and i said, "the pain is gone." and she said, i'm glad it helped. i said, "no, you don't understand. it's gone." you, too, can feel better every day with relief factor, a daily supplement that fights pain naturally. call or go online now for our 3-week quickstart, just $19.95. i will bless those who

these stories and the jury saw this compelling evidence i mentioned between davidson and top national inquirer editor. this is a repeat into a process that even at the high levels of campaigns you don't always see because it is secretive. a lawyer tipping up the inquirer about the former playmate as a blockbuster trump story. the tabloid editor responds i will get you more money than anyone. you know why. now if it was years ago and you got your hands on that sort of text message, you might not know why. they apparently did. now the rest of us do, the national inquirer had this unusual deal of catching and killing stories. they did it for more people than just trump, but those other people are not on trial in this new york courtroom. now when asked what that meant, the lawyer response he knew the national inquirer's publisher and trump were friends and had a business relationship. we are going from that old text to this testimony today against trump. he went on to say they wanted to close deal quickly, that abc was interested in the mcdougal story. i know there is a lot going on, but abc is th

trump friend and former national inquirer punisher david pecker. pecker, prosecutors expect.l later today outline for the jury what they say was the illegal scheme to suede the 2016 presidential election for the president by burying negative stories about trump trump's lawyer said those nondisclosure agreements were legal. and he thought he was paying his lawyer, michael cohen for legal services. >> this is a case where you pay a lawyer. he's a lawyer. and they call it a legal expense. that's the exact term they use, legal expense in the books. >> well blanch blasted cohen calling him a criminal obsessed with trump who wants to see his former boss in prison. prosecutors say cohen paid stormy daniels $130,000 to buy her silence about her alleged affair with trump. trump reimbursing cohen by paying him back. cohen responded to blanch's attacks by telling fox news, quoted: the facts will come out at the time of trial that contradicts todd blanche's mischaracterizations of me. but the next witness after david pecker is expected to be karen macdougall the former playboy playmate w

. >> former publisher of the national inquirer david pecker will reportedly be the first one to take the witness stand this morning or today, some time today. >> will: we have team conch, matt whitaker is standing by but we will begin with eric shawn outside the new york state supreme court. good morning, eric. >> good morning, guys, well, today it kicks off. the people of the state of new york vs. donald j. trump. prosecutors will finally completely reveal their hand and the defense will push back against that in trial that will start in about three and a half hours or so from now. manhattan district attorney alvin bragg's team will begin their opening statements and arguments by laying out their evidence behind the allegations that the former president tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. doing that by paying off stormy daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair. 34 counts involve filing false business records. those checks from trump, to his lawyer, michael cohen that the former president says were legal expenses but prosecutors say were actually his reimb

i've always said, why didn't the national inquirer get the pulitzer prize?n't the national inquirer get the pulitzer prize for breaking the big news that ted cruz's dad killed jfk? i mean, you have to admit, that's a scoop. and look, world exclusive investigation. it's not even like somebody on another continent had that, just the inquirer. that of course came right after the inquirer's big scoop that hillary clinton had been caught, on camera, having romp at a seedy motel. cd-rom conned caught on camera at this motel that was around the same time they reported on hillary clinton's secret hitman. hillary hitman. they also broke the news that hillary clinton was hooked on narcotics. she's on drugs, and, they broke the news of donald trump getting revenge on hillary and her evil puppets. it says, muslim obama, little bloomberg, weird cane, meaning tim kane. mob connections, shady billion- dollar deals. boy, that really does sound like pulitzer material. is also right around the time they broke the big news of hillary clinton's 10 deadly secret that every ameri

since when has the national inquirer looked at as a bastion of integrity.ne minute robots are stealing my luggage. the next minute you have another story about aliens who are amongst us. the third might be of a celebrity. and now we are saying the national inquirer tilted the election because of a story in there about donald trump? >> charlie: they did successfully break the john edwards baby scandal. >> brian: every other one. >> ainsley: let's bring in lawrence having breakfast with our friends from battleground, pennsylvania. hey, lawrence. >> lawrence: good morning, family. obviously we are here in pennsylvania because it is a swing state. when you look at the set-up of the map right now and polling. it's a dead heat for the former president donald trump as well as the current president joe biden. we're here because we want to go to the issues, what matters to them. do they care about all of this nonsense that are happening with the court, the% ciewtion of donald trump? do they care about what's happening on the college campus, all this anti- -- >> ains

attorney got david pecker to admit that throughout the course of his long career at ami, the national inquireraught and killed stories for politicians all the time. and, based upon the new york d.a.'s definition that there's no statute of limitation on anything involving campaign -- what they call campaign violation, i guess the new york d.a., laura, is going to have to go after every single politician that david pecker caught and killed a story of. >> laura: yeah, as we said, todd, where's the crime? thanks so much. >> todd: no idea. >> laura: another embarrassing day in court for alvin bragg as the manhattan d.a., again fails to prove a state business fraud statute actually somehow can involve a federal campaign law violation. and, whether this doesn't get traction, this theory, the media reverts to blabbing about anything but the state law at issue. >> a really damning scheme in which the national inquirer was in cahoots with trump. >> what other conversations did david pecker have with donald trump that bear on his knowledge and intent? >> that's catch and kill, except not by a publisher,

david pecker is back, the former ceo of the company that owned the national inquirer. he spear headed the catch and kill scheme designed to suppress stories that made donald trump look wad. he agreed to act as the eyes and ears of the 2016 trump presidential campaign. and then there's michael cohen, whose payments to stormy daniels were allegedly concealed as legal expenses 34 different times. constituting 34 felony counts. the district attorney sees him as a tour guide to the entire case. and then there's hope hix, a trump aid who cohen says was involved in negotiating the hush money payments. so that's the prosecution's list. on the defense side, at least two potential witnesses showing up there today is the ex-president himself. trump has often said he's willing to testify anywhere rksz any time in any of the cases he's faced over the years. whether he actually testifies remains to be seen. but whether or not the ex-president takes the stand, he's desperate to prevent this trial from ever starting. on wednesday, he was handed his third legal defeat this week alone.

. >> the first witness has been named publisher of the national inquirer david pecker will be on the stand today. >> ainsley: eric shawn is outside of the new york state supreme court, hey, eric. >> hey, ainsley, hi, guys, good morning. we will hear the case against donald trump today. and we will hear the case for him. as opening arguments begin in historic and sensational trial. manhattan district attorney alvin bragg has brought these charges. he says the former president tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential race. by paying off stormy daniels to hide their alleged affair and part of a plan that paid off playboy playmate karen macdougall to hide their alleged affair, too. also american voters would l. not find out about the sex scandals. >> 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. these are felony crimes in new york state. no matter who you are. we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct. >> prosecutors say the so-called catch and kill scheme by the national inquirer was intended intendoppress karen mcmacdougals story. pecker, the former head of amer

we learned that david pecker, the former publisher of the national inquirer, he and donald trump had a mutually beneficial relationship. i thought that was interesting. donald trump apparently sold him the most magazines. it was in his benefit to put him on. when he heard donald trump was running for president, he saw an opportunity to help him but also help himself. so he said he would be his eyes and ears on the ground and if bad stories came his way, he would let trump know. and then he ended up at least with respect to karen macdougall, he bought the rights to that story, which is a playboy playmate that said she had an affair with donald trump. bought the rights to and it squashed the story. which again is a common practice. they may not like it or think it's think. it is not illegal. we are in a court of law. there needs to be elements proved to support that. >> sounds like incestuous relationship between "the washington post" and the biden white house. >> ainsley: exactly. >> i was sitting there thinking it sounds like an article in national inquirer. >> ainsley: there was a s

paid money for silence; the publisher who participated in this scheme should also appear there. national inquirer and killed it, that is, it did not give this story a go, it would never have been published, but here again everything is legal. 30 thousand dollars and the story will never be published, it's not that unusual for the media to provide services politicians, you yourself... well, to those who do not closely follow american politics or do not fully understand how certain electoral mechanisms work, everything that is happening may even seem funny, they say, it’s all a show, so what ’s wrong with trump paid some porn actress some money, even if there is a suspended sentence, most likely it ’s okay, because the american election machine really works, the model is set up. so that you can run for president even in a prison cell, they will also give you guards from the secret service, then you can calmly move to the white house and pardon yourself, but there is an interesting point here, firstly, this case is being considered not at the federal, at the district level, that is, even trump, if h

trump continuing examination of national inquirer publisher david pecker. andy mccarthy standing by with his analysis there he is. >> brian: president biden is in the big city that's the nickname. is cl columbia university on the schedule? do you think he will go by like the speaker did? we didn't see it. >> lawrence: "fox & friends" begins right now and remember mornings are better with friends. >> ainsley: this is a fox news alert. we are following several big stories this morning. we are awaiting remarks from secretary of state blinken in beijing, fresh off his meeting with the chinese president xi. we are monitoring it and bring all of that to you live. >> brian: plus, more anti-israel protests expected today as president biden makes a stop in new york city. >> lawrence: down the road president trump's new york criminal trial resumes just hours from now. trump's defense team will continue cross-examination of david pecker. >> c.b. cotton joins us live coming up and eric shawn is live from the new york supreme court. eric, good morning. >> eric: good mor

different when the defense got a chance to finally cross-examine the former publisher of the national inquirercker. they tried to get him to poke holes the prosecution narrative saying essentially the catch and kill scheme was good business for pecker and he cooperated with prosecutors because he was in the middle of a media acquisition deal and did not want that to be impacted. pecker hit back. he said he had been truthful the entire time and understood the catch and kill scheme to be in service of donald trump's campaign. the defense struggled to put a hole in the prosecution narrative. >> briefly, what will you be watching in a week to come? >> after president biden said he would be happy to debate donald trump, donald trump defiantly left the courtroom man said he would debate him anytime anywhere including here, next week, denied, or you been at the white house -- tonight, or even at the white house. we will see if the two have a debate. as far as the legal trial, we are waiting to see more former trump insiders take the stand. michael cohen, others, and how the defense will hinder that.

we are expecting to hear more testimony from david pecker, the former publisher of the national inquirer. > anti-war protests continue to rock college campuses across the country. 93 protesters were arrested in southern california after they refused police commands to disperse. several faculty members at u.t. austin say they will not teach today because of the school's quote, militarized response to a school event. a letter to university leadership condemned police violence against student protesters. a u.t. spokesperson declined to comment. and house speaker mike johnson was booed by students when he visited columbia university. >> i'm here today, joining my colleagues, and calling on president shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos. >> johnson made the remarks after meeting with jewish students who say the protests are making them feel unsafe on campus. >>> hamas in gaza has released ha via video of an american-israeli hostage, hersh goldberg was abducted on october 7 and seriously injured. his parents are urging a cease-fire deal with hamas. what have we

former president donald trump again taking the stand today, starting with the publisher of the national inquire, david .... bradley blackburn has the latest >reporter>yeah. president donald trump called his criminal trial rigged as he headed into a new york courtroom friday. but still seemed pleased with the testimony so far. >>>>yesterday went very well. in this courthouse. right? it was sure. be over. the case is over. you heard what we said >reporter>trump's lawyers are continuing their cross examination of former national enquirer publisher david ... during his days long testimony, ... explained how he and trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, worked together to catch and kill negative stories about trump in an effort to prevent alleged affairs from becoming scandals during his 2016 presidential campaign. >>>>case is really rises and falls with david peckers testimony because he is the linchpin behind. their theory of this sort of conspiratorial. scheme. to influence the election. >reporter>trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. he's accused of funneling so called hush

david pecker, the former publisher of the national inquirer, who prosecutors say was part of a scheme

wanted to silence, it was as if they bought this story from him, the publication was called the national inquirerd it, that is, it did not give progress to this story, it would never have been published, but here again everything is legal. $30,000 and the story will never be published, it's not it’s such an unusual thing for the media to provide services to politicians. well, to someone who doesn’t closely follow american politics or doesn’t fully understand how certain electoral mechanisms work, everything that’s happening may even seem funny, they say, it’s all a show, so what’s the big deal? the fact that trump paid some porn actress some money, even if there is a suspended sentence, is most likely nothing to worry about, because the american election machine is truly a model. designed in such a way that it extends into presidents can even sleep in a prison cell, they will also give you security guards from the secret service, then you can calmly move to the white house and pardon... yourself, but there is an interesting point here, firstly, this case is not being considered at the federal lev

ability to talk about other issues that he has had such as bringing in the publisher from the national inquirerations against him. so they are going to try their best to make him look bad and with a new yorkjury best to make him look bad and with a new york jury that probably does not start out liking him to start with, that may be enough to get him convicted. may be enough to get him convicted-— may be enough to get him convicted. ~ . ., . convicted. what about defence? have ou convicted. what about defence? have you heard _ convicted. what about defence? have you heard their— convicted. what about defence? have you heard their strategy, l have you heard their strategy, chipping away at key witnesses, will that be effective? it depends. again, it is a new yorkjury which makes it difficult since in general in new york he is not well like to so we do not know how the people the jury feel about him. we know at least some of them are not fans, to put it mildly. so that is going to affect what happens with the jury. and then you have michael cohen and he has a history of committing perjury on the s

the first witness we had was david becker was from the national inquirer, long—term brand of donald trumpeen involved in effectively what is called catherine hill operations paying people in negative stories about donald trump and then not publishing the story. he started to give evidence and will be back tomorrow to give more. will see some fireworks i think during the trial, not least from donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen who in many ways is the prosecution's star witness but himself a convicted felon. someone that donald trump has been going after time and time again in the last year or so. thank you very much for getting us across that, our washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue. earlier i spoke to neama rahmani — a former us federal prosecutor. he told me more about the severity of the case for mr trump. hush money payment by itself is not illegal, but neither is having an extra marital affair per what the prosecution is trying to do is prove that this was not to cover up another crime. in this case in campaign—finance election or finance fraud. under new york law, these

before 2016 the national inquirer never before endorsed a presidential candidate.n 2016. when they did those covers, they were doing something very different with donald trump than they have ever done with any politician before. something that was in the face of every person who ever walked up to the little conveyer belt thing at the supermarket checkout line anywhere in america, any time during the duration of the alleged conspiracy, which was the duration of the 2016 campaign. whether or not you ever picked up the magazine, let alone open it past the cover, this propaganda, which is the product of this allegedly illegal campaign scheme was in the face of likely, if not, tens of billions of americans, perhaps more than had 100 million americans. how many of us go to a grocery store? was it a first time ever arrangement with trump in their opening state was a criminal scheme to protect the 2016 presidential election. and a criminal scheme hatched just a few weeks after he announced his candidacy for president. a criminal scheme, which ultimately landed him in crimi

is back in court in new york — with first witness david pecker — the former publisher of the national inquirerg to determine if mr trump violated a gag order, which bans the former president from verbally attacking the jury and witnesses. our north america correspondent nada tawfik is there. sophie, david pecker took the stand and described a long—standing mutually beneficial relationship with donald trump. he said in the lead up to the 2016 election that michael cohen, donald trump's former lawyer, and mr trump himself asked for a meeting with the national enquirer, and they asked him how he could help donald trump campaign. mr pecker said he agreed to publish negative stories about mr trump's opponents, and crucially, to kill any negative stories about mr trump himself. his testimony will be important to prosecutors case as they try to establish there was a criminal conspiracy on donald trump's part to influence the election. donald trump's lawyers have said this is how newspapers work and nothing about this was illegal. donald trump has been sitting silently in court, but he has been fuming

i actually, i had not heard of it before, but have you heard a lot of what the national inquire? yeah, this is the, this, the magazine that, uh, you know, about, uh, housewives, new hampshire. we're having our sex with space. aliens, you know, uh, this has been their, their, their, their money maker. uh so you know, so i'm not surprised that goes this far, but i love it. it'd be fair to be fair. i mean, trump is a guy is running for president is he's got a checkered past. he's a big business man, he's glamorous, you know, he's been on page to the comes, know countless times. page 6 in your post, i mean countless times so. so from, from the point of view, a lot of people are kind of comes, are coming out of the, what work with stories to tell. and they want to be, you know, they want to be paid off. you know, whether it's the know this, the, the building inspector or who claims that from the slip or something or bry bore the playboy center falls, who claims that she slip with trump, etc. everybody is got a reason. everybody's got a, got a, a, a motive to, to, to pick him up from m

the former publisher of the national inquirer david pecker was describing a scheme known as "catch andr north america correspondent gary 0'donoghue is there. tell us, gary, what else happened in court? , . ., . tell us, gary, what else happened in court? ., . ., . court? dramatic day of evidence here, court? dramatic day of evidence here. reeta- — court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as _ court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as you _ court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as you say, - court? dramatic day of evidence here, reeta. as you say, david | here, reeta. as you say, david pecker, former publisher of the national enquirer, celebrity gossip magazine, detailing effectively an arrangement between himself and donald trump just before the 2016 general election to stop those negative stories about donald trump getting into the press, promote positive ones about donald trump, andindeed positive ones about donald trump, and indeed circulate speculative and negative stories about some of his opponents, he suggested, for example, that hillary clinton had six months t

one is that he was in a speeds with david pecker of national inquirer and michael cohen and catch unemployment reigns leading and unflattering stories about trump and bury them and that went on from 2015 through the election into 2017. what that ignores is that as you just pointed out, every one of the 34 counts and this is like one misdemeanor transaction that bragg parsed into 34 felony counts. but every one of them occurred between february and december of 2017. liz: what andrew just said, tom, what's your take on this? it sounds more and more like the jury will have a lot of reasonable doubt, and they could possibly toss this out. >> a lot of evidence is s leep-inducing on the part of the jurors and the trump defense team needs to keep the jury's eye on the ball to make sure the jury looks at this evidence and renders impartial and fair verdict and that's what they're doing today and tomorrow is t rying to find jurors that can put whatever political biases they might have aside, focus on evidence and render a fair and impartial verdict in this historic case. liz: so what tom just said, now

trump, that part, did that part help the national inquirer at all? how is that going to boost sales at the national enquirer? that part doesn't have a mutual benefit, it was to benefit the campaign, and my understanding you right? that is right. prosecution central argument in this case, the reason they were able to charge donald trump with a felony is because they say trumps hush money scheme was all about trying to cover up criminal activity related to the 2016 election. prosecutors plan to rely on section 17-152 new york criminal code which prohibits two or more persons from conspiring to promote or prevent the election of any person by unlawful means. it is important with national enquirer and subsequent hush money payments wasn't just about helping trump the man, it was about helping trump, the candidate, win the election. joining me now, duncan levin, former attorney for eastern district of new york and jeremy solano, former assistant da in the manhattan da trial division. gentlemen, thank you for joining me here. i am definitely out of my leag

yesterday to wrap up the week with more testimony and we mentioned from trump friend and former national inquirer publisher david pecker. pecker is alleged to trust worthy bought former play mate karen mcdougle story and the intent never to publish and practice called catch and kill. lawyer with the former president and whether or not trump faced him with suppressing story and he may have violated federal election law and suppressing ms. pecker said i've been truthful to the best of my recollection. trump's long time executive assistant took the stand yesterday, that's her right there. said her boss of about 30 years was fair and respectful. graph said she haggly remembers seeing stormy daniels in trump tower before the 2016 election and daniels claims she had an affair with donald trump. meanwhile the former president and current president taking shots on the campaign trail and president biden made use yesterday announcing he's willing to debate his opponent here and he is with howard stern. >> i don't know if you're going to debate your opponent. >> i am somewhere, i don't know when. i'm happy

publisher of the national enquirer started to detail the catch and kill scheme in which the national inquirer president when he was running for president in 2016 and killed that so it doesn't see the light of day, that is key to the prosecution's case against the former president, the catch and kill scheme involving the former playboy playmate who says she had an affair with donald trump of the national enquirer paid $150,000 to hide that information. he also described in august 2015 meeting in trump tower in which he said mister trump, michael cohen and himself came to this conclusion to have this arrangement. between them the catch and kill agent to help donald trump in his run for the presidency in 2016. prosecutors say as alleged in this. edward: president biden is on the campaign trail. missouri's attorney general blasting the kansas city mayor for opening a petition to migrants, here to explain next. ♪ (woman 1 vo) i have inherited the best traditions. (woman 2 vo) i have a great boss... it's me. (man 1 vo) i have people, people i can count on. (man 2 vo) i have time to give (grandma vo

so, pecker is the former publisher of the national inquirer and testified about using so-called checkbookformer president trump ahead of the 2016 election. now, he is expected to tell the jury about conversations he allegedly had with trump about hush money payments that were allegedly made to cover up negative stories about him. the trial wrapped up earlier than expected on monday after a juror had an emergency dentist appointment. the court is expected to wrap up at 2:00 p.m. today. carley? >> carley: brooke singman live for us. thank you for keeping it all straight for us. bring in tomi lahren to talk more about this. tomi, about this gag order, donald trump is not allowed to talk about any of the witnesses. and that would include michael cohen who is at this point a public figure and who is on a media tour bashing donald trump. how is that fair? >> it's not fair. and he is also a known liar, michael cohen is so i think all of this -- i mean it's so comical. i know we talked about how this is going to be such a circus and new yorkers are getting so tired of the circus involved in this.

also expected in court is former playboy model karen mcdougal, who from the national inquirer, in thegedly received another 150 from trump . the publisher, david pecker, is also among the witnesses, but most of all, to settle scores with former boss dreams of trump lawyer michael cowen, with whom. due to trump’s age, he is 77, the punishment, if any, will be rather conditional, but even in the worst case scenario, that is, behind bars, he, as a former president of the united states, is still entitled to protection from the secret service, and he can also be elected in america, even from the camera. this trial will not have significant political consequences, although many are counting on it; people are looking at it as a reality show. you can at least combine all four different cases into one. it's bad that trump will be in court 3 days a week and will not be able to campaign, but this has been going on for over a year and his ratings have never decreased due to prosecution. it’s not a fact that trump will even attend his youngest son’s graduation; as for the political situation, opti

david pecker the x publisher of the national inquirer.tried to illegally influence a 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public. covering up a large hush payments to adult film star stormy daniels or as they put it "it was election fraud, pure and simple." lawyers countering that none of this was a crime in the case should never have been brought. it is an attempt to kneecap is campaign.president ------------- -------------------------------- ------------------------- nine defending himself was dismissed. >> to keep me up like campaign trail. i should be in georgia now. i should be in florida now. i should be in a lot of different places right now campaigning. i'm sitting here. this will go on for a long time. it is very unfair. it is a case that nobody wanted to bring including alvin bragg. it was just in the last -- this is never happened before. the state tries to insert itself in federal elections. nobody is ever seen. >> dana: in that case is overflowing. some of the media c

the former publisher of the national inquirer testified he found out from his editor-in-chief that daniels was trying to sell a story that she had a sexual relationship and it would cost $120,000 to kill it. tiki said he told michael cole one about the story which he called very damaging. he said he was not going to pay daniel saint's company already purchased two other negative stories for trump totaling almost $200,000. he said i'm not purchasing this story i will not be involved with the porn star. he said the boss would be furious. trump denies having an affair with daniels. >> mcdougall alleged having nearly a year long relationship with trump which he denied. perker said he would not have entered this if it didn't benefit the campaign. he said he didn't want the story to the bears are hurt the campaign cleared trump's attorney uses saab cross-examining perker to show how the mutually beneficial relationship between he and trump went back almost to dixoxn needs to extract two decades. he said he gave a heads up of the negative stories. he asked if it was sop for media to work with pol

i mean he's going to be hearing the testimony of the national inquire. you will have a lot to get him angry. and you won the second term that it could be more dangerous than the first. why do you think that is? >> i thought the first term was dangerous. if he didn't have a few people around him at that time, it would have been more dangerous, and it was plenty dangerous. this time he's going to have only 100% around him. i think he is determined to be a dictator not just on day one, but day two and all the way through his term. and i think as i said, you know, who i think actually has more credibility than trump when they go into this trial that trump lies all the time. i see michael cohen for all the missteps and a man who is telling the truth. i think you are going to see trump really, really struggle during this period and it is not the only time he will be on trial. right in the middle of this campaign, he is going to spend a month or more in court and then there are three more cases behind that. i really don't think at this moment, i don't believe h

on friday, former national inquirer publisher david pecker wrapped up his testimony. wow.king to establish how his tabloids stood to profit off the stories it bought. earlier in the week, pecker testified about catch and kill agreements linked to trump's 2016 presidential campaign. but before his testimony ended, pecker revealed details about a conference call trump set up between the tabloid publisher an two of trump's white house aides, sarah huckabee sanders and hope hicks. the call took place soon after former playboy model karen mcdougal gave an interview to cnn in march of 2018. on the call, pecker told the two ladies he planned to extend an agreement with mcdougal that would keep her from speaking more widely with the alledged affair with the former president. pecker said sanders and hicks, quote, thought it was a good idea. joining us now, former litigator and msn-bc legal correspondent lisa ruben. >> you know, lisa, it's interesting, the argument that the defense was making really fell flat when they suggested that pecker was doing this for profit. all of this for

same with the national inquirer. >> we have owl of our little details.brought you and the historian here. our big fish. okay? we know disrespect to any of the others. all our fish are special. >> my mother said that about her children as well. >> this is a heck of a story. and a heck of a way to go down. would you write a novel this way? would it be too farfetched? >> several people have pointed out to me that trump has appeared in my novels. something i'm embarrassed about. michael reminded us of how he apprenticed himself to the media. with this show of his. the apprentice. and pecker testified that during the long run of that show, when he became more familiar to the american public, he would repeatedly call pecker to promote or demote the contestants on the show. to sell his own agenda that week. it seems almost extraordinary and linear that was a important part of his rise. the apprentice. >> we know well. >> it would be unbelievable. >> and the chief character is too cartoonish and inane. >> indeed. >> i think this would not pass muster in a work o

we know michael cohen will be called, stormy daniels, david becker to talk about the national inquirerd what trump knew about why the payment was structured in such an unusual way. that's really the crux of this case, why was stormy daniels paid off in this very unusual way through michael cohen in this elaborate scheme? why did that happen? were they trying to avoid legal scrutiny? if the d.a. can amass a lot of evidence on that front, it will make their case much stronger. if, however, michael cohen is their principal evidence, that will be a conspicuous weakness in the case. that's something i'm really looking at. >> ankush khandori, thank you for being with us. >>> coming up, the biggest issues for this campaign when "the 11th hour" continues. >>> i think that the government shouldn't intrude in some of these matters. i'm not for abortion, but i think it's not the place of the states to punish women for deciding to have an abortion. >> the decision whether to have an abortion or not have an abortion should be left to every single individual human, like to me something like this isn