reciting the sma, one of the most important prayers in judaism. thanks so much to all of you for joining us. joining us. "ac 360" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, tonight new york's attorney general rests her case against the former president and his two adult sons. ivanka trump, who was initially a defendant, today on the stand, she largely distanced herself from detailed knowledge from her father's financial statements and valuations that went into them. on multiple other occasions, she said, i do not recall when asked about financing for several properties, including the former trump hotel in washington. as "the washington post" reported at the time, she oversaw bidding for the property as well as agreement for the general services administration for use of the landmark property. -- quote, she fully anticipates her daughter growing up in the business and being out there years down the road negotiating the renewal. the family sold the hotel last year. >> at the end of the day, this case is about fraudulent statements of financial condition that she benefitted from. she was enriched. and clearly you cannot distance yourself from that fact. >> the defense gets its chance starting monday. so, there's a lot to get to, starting with cnn's kara scannell, who was inside the courtroom all day, is now outside in lower manhattan. what stood out from her testimony today? >> reporter: one thing, anderson, was her demeanor. she was very controlled and she was very composed. she answered the questions, although not always to the satisfaction of the attorney general's office. but their main focus today were the loans she was involved in, and that was the golf course, known as doral in florida, as well as the old post office building that she helped negotiate to get the lease. they asked a lot of questions about that, showing documents indicates she was involved in the loans, that she knew her father's financial statements were provided. her testimony was she was involved at a high level and she introduced the relationship to deutsche bank to the trump organization. but she said when it came to the nitty-gritty details, she didn't recall them. like her brothers, don jr. and eric trump, who testified last week, distancing themselves from the financial statements. she said she had no involvement in them. she didn't know what went into the values on the statements. she didn't approve them. she didn't review them. consistently like her brother saying they did not have any involvement in them. you mentioned the old post office building. they had received the financial statements as part of the bidding process for that. and she was asked about a letter, an email, that the gsa had sent saying that they were flagging that donald trump's financial statements did not comply with county rules in all respects. so, she was asked about a meeting she attended with her father in washington, d.c. when they were pitching this project and asked specifically, did these financial statement irregularities come up during the meeting? and she testified she had no recollection of that, saying that during the meeting she was focused more on her vision for the project. her testimony lasted all day long. and then the new york attorney general's office rested their case. >> when does the defense start presenting the case? >> donald trump's team will begin presenting their case on monday. they have signalled they might call donald trump jr., possibly eric trump back to the stand. they also said they're going to call a number of experts, and they're going to call bankers. that was one element of the cross-examination of ivanka that came out today. they were able to get her on record saying that deutsche bank was happy with the loans. they're going to call bankers to say these financial statements were not important in their decision to give hundreds in millions of dollars of loans to the trump organization over many years. >> syracuse university of law school visiting lecturer and author of several books on donald trump, including "the big cheat: how donald trump enriched his family." assistant district attorney -- do you think ivanka's testimony was positive/negative for the case? >> i think it was slightly positive for the attorney general's case. i don't think -- i don't want to overstate it. but it's a white collar case. you're not going to have these giant dramatic moments in a trial. it's usually about papers and numbers and things like that. and you have these little elements of the crime that you build through the witnesses. and what ivanka provided today, the small nugget of knowledge that she provided today, was that the banks did rely on these p financial statements. and that is important for one of the elements of the crimes or the charges, i should say, which is that it was material. >> they're going to -- the trump team is going to argue, when they make their defense, apparently, that the financie ye years didn't care about the statements. >> the remaining six charges have additional elements. it had to be intentional. it had to be material. there had to be reliance on these statements. and it seems that that was the information that the attorney general was able to get from ivanka, by showing that they said it was important to them that his net worth -- at one point they wanted him to be able to have $3 billion, that that was the amount of money they wanted him to have or his net worth to be. she negotiated it down to 2.5 billion. and at one point, one of the banks, the branches -- the commercial part of the bank didn't want to give the loan. ivanka, what she did was she introduced them to the private wealth section of the bank. these things did matter. if they're going to be able to call people from the bank to say, no, it didn't, that changes it. but for today, that element, that little bit was given to the attorney general from ivanka's testimony. >> and david, i know you expected ivanka trump to minimize her role during testimony. can you remind viewers how involved she was in the trump organization? because before he became an adviser to her father at the white house. >> the testimony today showed actually she's more involved than even i realized. because she, in fact, negotiated, as karen said, his net worth down from a $3 billion guarantee to 2.5 billion. she signed off on emails and wrote emails to people that show her involvement. and she didn't refute any of the documents. she simply said, i don't recall, so many times that i think we may should be worried she may forget her childrens' birthdays. i think the most revealing thing she said was that donald trump, minority to pump up his net worth, got pledges from his three oldest children to count a portion of their wealth on his personal guarantee statement to the bank. i'm sorry. all across america, the bank of mom and dad often helps grown children, but the other way around is quite unusual. and it goes to donald artificially inflating his net worth. >> and she agreed to that? >> well, she signed a pledge, pledging part of her assets to her father, yes. >> and ivanka trump testified today that she didn't recall any specific discussions over annual financial statements. a, is that plausible, and b, does that matter? >> i think it's not plausible. there are some details that she may not have remembered that are not important. but clearly because she negotiated a much lower interest rate -- 6 fewer percentage points, roughly -- on one of the loans, that shows she was deeply involved in this. so her role, i think, in this was quite clear. but what she provided was evidence of certain transactions that, as karen pointed out, require proof of intent. and secondly, she didn't refute any of the documents. she said, i didn't write that or somebody phonied up that document. >> karen, what do you make of how ivanka trump distanced herself? i remember during the election -- there was all this talk about all these kids are running the corporation and, you know, they show up at corporate events and allegedly the two sons are running the corporation in their father's absence. it's not like -- certainly none of them are claiming the buck stopped with them. they all seem to be passing the responsibility off on unnamed accountants. >> i wasn't surprised that don jr. and eric trump distanced themselves because they are defendants in this action. she, if you recall used to be a defendant. but an appellate court said she was beyond the statute of limitations. so, why she did it and said she didn't recall is unclear. maybe loyalty to the family. i don't know. but she doesn't have as much to lose because she's not a defendant in the action. >> and david, if the judge rules against the former president, the end of this, what do the penalties actually look like? >> well, the judge initially revoked all of the business certificates, business licenses of the trump organization. there are more than 500 trump entities. they've been restored at least temporarily by an appeals court. if in fact it stands that donald trump doesn't have business licenses, he has to discourage these assets. the state will get its money first. donald trump will be at the end of the line. he may be able to acquire back some of his own, but he cannot do business in new york if the judge puts back in place the revocation of the business licenses. it's a corporate asset. >> so, what happens to trump tower? >> well, donald owns only part of trump tower. it's his apartment at the top. he owns the retail space and the office space. and that would be among the properties most likely to be sold. the problem trump will have is a sale following this trial is not going to be at premium prices. it's going to be at fire sale prices. and that could have a serious, depressing effect on trump's finances. >> and karen, as you said, the attorney general rested the case. the defense takes over. what are you anticipating from that? they're going to try to get -- do you think it's likely they'll call back eric and donny jr.? >> i think so. they didn't cross examine them when the attorney general called them on their case. i think that was a strategic decision so they could make a motion to dismiss at the end of the government's case. it's almost like reserving the right to do that. so, i can imagine that they would call them to the stand to get them to say whatever it is they want them to say and potentially even the former president. they could call him back and let him go on and on. because on direct examination, that's your time to talk and to give your story, as opposed to the yes or no questions, which is what he was -- what the government was trying to get out of him, was more specific. >> and the judge as well. >> and the judge as well. as long as it's on topic and it's relevant and it's admissible, then you have a lot more leeway on direct than you do on cross. so, you could see them doing that. and the bankers that they promised. so, we'll see. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. coming up next, what voters said last night about democrats and republicans and the issues and what it does or doesn't say about the electability of president biden or donald trump. also a live report from the pentagon and the air strikes american jets carried out on iraniaian targets s in syria.. it's no secret that in the last few weeks there have been some deeply troubling poll numbers for democrats. president biden with just 39% job approval and recent "new york times" polling shows him losing to the former president in four out of six key states. voters continue to vote for democratic policies, especially on abortion. and that pattern certainly held last night. >> i think it's about execution. it's about messaging. and we've got to do a better job. yesterday, to me, was a complete failure. >> north carolina republican senator thom tillis today after ohio voters approved an abortion rights referendum. and virginia's republican governor failed to flip the commonwealth senate, after campaigning heavily for republican candidates there. with me, van jones, senior data reporter harry enten, alyssa farah griffin, and david axelrod. democrats performing well at the ballot box since the dobbs decision. >> i like to look at things not just individual races but larger context. >> people say that about you? >> they do say that. they say that and they say i like data. we saw the kentucky governor's race, the virginia legislature. we've seen in special elections since the dobbs decisions, democrats consistently outperforming joe biden's 2020 baseline in every single congressional election. and of course the 2022 midterms in which the democrats had arguably the best performance for the white house party since at least 2002 and arguably the third best performance in the last century. so, we've seen it over and over and over again. the polls are saying one thing with joe biden doing poorly, but the election results, a lot of folks are voting for democrats and democratic policies. >> what does that mean for a third party candidate like robert kennedy jr. >> so, joe biden, donald trump, who of the least -- they would be two of the least major party nominees on record. and if you look right now, what rfk jr. -- you mentioned those polls. if you look at what he's getting in these states, high teens to low 20s across six of these battleground states. he is polling higher than any third party candidate has polled since ross perot in 1992. something's going on. we're not talking about this guy, but a lot of people seem willing to vote for him. and more than that, he could really shake up the dynamic. you said in four of those six swing states that donald trump was ahead of joe biden. if you add rfk jr. to the equation, look at arizona, pennsylvania, those are five-point leads for donald trump in those polls without kennedy. you add kennedy to the equation, all of a sudden, it's a tie. and all of a sudden, we have a tight race for the presidency. and i was surprised that no one seemed to be talking about this poll data at all because rfk jr., for better or worse, that dude is running and running strong and getting a lot of folks. and he could really shake up the dynamic of the 2024 campaign. >> what do you think about voter turnout? >> the couch is going to get a lot of votes i think. that's all you're looking at. the trump base is powerful. it's excited. they're going to want to come out. they're traditionally smaller than the democratic base. the democratic base seems depressed, except when it's time to vote. it's like everybody's sad all day long. and then it's time to go vote and people get mad and determined and go back to being sad. so, it is possible that there's something happening out there detached from biden, detached from trump. you do have the labor movement now up on its hind legs fighting hard. you do have groups like black voters matter that are now very sophisticated and well support. and you have the issue of abortion. we have the cost. we have the capacity. the question is, do we have the presidential candidate to win in 2024? >> i love ill lit ration. >> should democrats be concerned about president biden's chances? >> i think we're a closely divided country. so, people should take this seriously under any circumstance. but obviously there are special circumstances here. the country is in a sour mood, he's the incumbent, and there are issues of his age. if this is a referendum on joe biden, i think it is a perilous situation for him. on the other hand, if he can turn it into a choice and he can capture some of these issues that are motivating voters in these states and mobilizing voters, then i think it's a different situation. so far, he has chosen to play into the referendum strategy, by running ads about the economy that are more buoyant than people's view of them and talking a lot about bidenomics and so on. he needs to start talking about donald trump, and he needs to start throwing this thing into a comparative -- >> you ran into an issue with president obama -- >> we did. >> -- coming out of the 2008 financial crisis. >> we did. first of all, we learned a lesson about how we talked about the economy. but we threw the race -- for a year, we, sort of, anticipated that mitt romney would be our opponent. he knew he had economic credentials. we ran the race around who would fight for the middle class, who cares about people like you. we ended up winning on that basis. it takes day in/day out discipline to turn a place into a comparative race and stay out of the referendum tract. >> there's this, kind of, bizarre dynamic where the brand of the democratic party, in fact, is probably stronger than the brand of the joe biden. consistently on ballot initiatives and state-wide races outperforming joe biden's performance. on the flip side, on republicans, our brand is shot. it's having an incredibly hard type, especially around the issue of reproductive rights and abortion. trump is not a winner. he has not won major victories for the republican party dating back to the 2018 midterms. but he does energize people. what do we do to make voters want to come out for us in elections when donald trump is not on the ballot? and if donald trump, who's very likely going to be on the ballot, how do we not alienate the massive swath of voter who is see him as radioactive and repugnant. >> also how do you handle the abortion rights? >> nikki haley has given the most nuanced answer to this. i'm curious to see what she says tonight, when her chief opponent, at least in this debate, is ron desantis who are signed a six-week ban. 15 weeks is something i think you can communicate to a lot of the american public if framed with better adoption care services. and by the way, this isn't about restricting your rights. it's about solidifying -- the vast majority of the country supports 15 weeks. that's a good starting point. you have to communicate it. and by the way, you have to talk with compassion. we hurt ourselves so bad, as republicans, after dobbs, when it just became demonizing women who wanted them, criticizing the act of abortion itself rather than talking about crisis pregnancies being very real. >> glenn youngkin though -- >> he pitched 15 weeks. >> but kate bedingfield said very smartly last night, he, yes, took a more moderate position, but he didn't talk about it in a moderate way. he was using the old pro-life language to cater to the base of the republican party, but it did not resonate with independents. there's a way to communicate this that gets the broader swath of voters. >> alyssa said something important about trump. you want to be careful about, sort of, extrapolating from these elections that harry's been talking about. democrats have done quite well, dating almost back to when trump was elected to have every election after. a general election for president of the united states is a different kettle of fish. and trump will bring out a large turnout of people who aren't going to participate in these elections. it's a different kind of electorate. and that, i think, is important to keep in mind. >> that's why that kennedy factor could be so important. a lot of those folks that would normally sit out but may come to that ballot box, they may go, i hate both major parties. i think i'll go with kennedy. >> i agree third parties are going to play a huge roll in this election. new u.s. air strikes targeting military assets in the middle east. also ahead, a new video revealing hamas, tactics as israel says it is at the heart of gaza city. plus what it was like for a palestinian american couple who had gonene to the reregion to v theieir family.. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year