Responsible. Nobody working for the government his responsible i am responsible. This is really an attack on a political opponent thats all it is. Jessica dean, cnn washington im thanks for joining us. Anderson starts now tonight on three 60 what Opening Statements and early testimony say about where things are headed in the first ever criminal trial of a former president. Also tonight, Breaking News in one of his three other criminal cases this is what a witness says. The former president told his valet and the part and he says he dangled in the classified Documents Case plus the antisemitism and fear jewish students say theyre now enduring you on campus after days of propalestinian demonstrations at some of the countrys foremost universities. Good evening. Thanks for joining us today. 12 New York City jurors and six alternates. Got there. First peek inside a highstakes world far removed from the everyday white collar charges. Theyve been chosen to here a world of celebrity tycoons, porn stars, alleged payoff sleazy tabloids, and legal fixers. Safe to say, 34 counts of falsifying Business Records never looked like this before. And no president or president ial candidate has ever been where this one is or demonstrably less in control of his own faith. The donald trump, which seemed to be written on his face as he sat through Opening Statements, then watched his onetime Tabloid Publisher friend testified for the prosecution. Trump is facing possible present time if convicted and fines for allegedly violating a gag order and trying to explain that he did not do with the prosecution alleges, namely, Cover Up Hush Money payments to a porn star to keep voters from finding out this is a case where you pay a lawyer a lawyer and they go all legal expense. Thats the exact term they use. Legal expense in the books. They didnt call it construction, they didnt say youre building a building, but he puts in an invoice or whatever of bill and the pending they call it a legal expense. I got indicted for that today. The trial began in are seen as Kara Scannell starts as off she was inside the courthouse during the trial. Now shes outside. So what was it seems like what was it like Behind Closed Doors . So interesting you said donald trump sitting at the Defense Table, he was taking notes and handing pieces of paper to his attorneys during the prosecutions Opening Statement. And then when his lawyer took the lectern to address the jury, trump had turned the face those jurors and more than half of them raise their hand when the judge asked if anyone wanted a notepad and a pen, so they were actively involved paying close attention, but also in an extraordinary move today, the chief administrative judge agreed to publish a transcript of the proceedings every day. So the public could follow word for word. This Torque Proceeding as Opening Statements got underway today i think it went very well prosecutors open their case today saying it all boils down to a conspiracy and cover up that Trump Orchestrated A Scheme To Corrupt the 2016 president ial election and covered it up by lying in his Business Records. Assistant District Attorney, matthew colangelos saying it was election fraud, pure and simple. Trump attorney todd blanche argued the former president is innocent. Blanche also claimed there is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election in his remarks, cole a lead prosecutor on the case. So the alleged crimes began at an august 2015 meeting between trump, Michael Cohen, and x National Enquirer publisher david the first witness to testify in the trial on monday, colangelos said the three formed a conspiracy at that meeting to influence the president ial so election by concealing negative information about mr. Trump in order to help him get elected. The prosecution said agreed to help by damaging information on trump to make it go away, a move known as catch and kill at the center of the case, a 130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, just weeks before election day in 2016, the prosecution said a sexual infidelity especially with a porn star on the heels of the access Hollywood Tape would have been devastating to his campaign. So at trumps direction, cohen negotiated the deal to buy daniel story to prevent it from becoming public before the election, trump has denied having an affair with daniels prosecutor said trump did not want to write the check himself. So cohen put up the money, colangelos argued trump, cohen and former Trump Organization cfo Allen Weisselberg agreed cohen would be paid back in monthly installments through fake invoices to the Trump Organization in a nod to cohens past credibility issues, prosecutor said key witnesses like cohen have made mistakes in the past and encourage the jury to keep an open mind and carefully evaluate all of the evidence that corroborates Michael Cohens testimony, then it was trumps attorneys turn blanche said the das office should never have brought this case he said the prosecution story is not true, and the jury will find plenty of reasonable doubt. He pivoted to paint trump as a husband and father, saying hes a person just like you and just like me, trumps team suggested the Payments Trump made to cohen. Were not a payback for funds paid to Stormy Daniels, but instead payments to his personal attorney trump defended himself against these charges after court on monday which in an invoice or whatever, a bill. And they panic the legal expense. I got indicted for that plant, shifted blame to cohen saying the reality is mr. Trump is not on the hook, is not criminally responsible for something mr. Cohen may have done years after the fact. Blanche said the prosecutions outline of a supposed catch and kill deal with was not a scheme, but completely irrelevant and not illegal in the afternoon as briefly took the stand, he did not look at trump, but trump look directly at him as he testified carol, what was david what did he talk about on the stand because it was limited his time today yeah. David was on the stand for about 20 minutes and he started to describe to the jury how the National Enquirer operates, telling them that they engage in checkbook journalism, meaning that they would pay for stories now you also said that he had to email accounts including one that he used for confidential and sensitive matters, will be back on the stand tomorrow, and he is expected to testify about these kachin killed deals at the heart of the case. Sen. Can help. Thanks so much showing his now jury consultant, jill huntley taylor, former Trump Campaign adviser, David Urban Bestselling author and former federal prosecutors jeffrey toobin, also form and hadnt chief assistant District AttorneyKaren Friedman agnifilo, and timmy agangawilliams, who served as Senior Investigative counsel to the house january 6, committee. A lot to talk about, geoff. I just reread your piece from the new yorker years ago about david profile of him, what stood out to you today about, i mean, why is he the first witness . Why is he so important . Well, you could see that in the way coinjoin talk about the how this case is going to work. Thats the prosecutor prosecutor, which is this this was a conspiracy to help donald trump win the election through the suppression of bad news stories three of them one of them being Karen Mcdougal, the one alleged affair with alleged affair. The other was adore man who alleged falsely the trump was the father of a child. And the third, of course, was Stormy Daniels, who is the basis for the charges in the case. And david is the key figure in all three of these, who basically controlled the money or at least for two of them he controlled the money for how these these stories were going to be suppressed. And that, thats what thats what coenzyme talked about in the Opening Statements. And thats what cracker began to testify in his testimony today and qarrah, why does the suppression of these stories matter . Because at the time hi, im what they were trying to do in the Opening Statement and what theyre going to try to do through the witnesses is take the jury back to 2015 and 2016 when none of this information was out in the open and the access Hollywood Tape had just come out and the campaign very much did not want these negative stories. Trump was not the case. Candidate that he is today with the popularity that he has now, he was sort of a candidate that, that was a longshot candidate and he was trying to suppress these stories. It was very important to his candidacy to suppress these negative stories on the heels of the access Hollywood Tape, i think the insiders, like hope hicks, like david, like Michael Cohen, are going to really take us into what it was like back then and why they were so desperate to get these stories suppressed and we die the defense said in their Opening Statement spoiler alert, theres nothing wrong with trying to influence an election is called democracy so whats wrong with trying to influence an election by suppressing these stories well, i think what the prosecution is going to argue and is arguing that these were unlawful election contributions. And in part write that here donald trump, he could have paid for catherine kill. Thats fine. Youre allowed to enter ndas. Thats fine. What you cant do is getting this kind of conspiracy here to have fonz going to impact an election because we have rules and regulations as to how you can spend Money Election and have it has to be reported. Donald trump here, the accusation being that he took bunny had it paid out, didnt report it like would be required and then engage in this concealment. And thats part those Business Records. So its the underlying Business Records, crime. And its done to conceal a separate crime. Here potentially being this election fraud. So i think thats whats interesting here, is that theres really going to be approving up of initial crime that isnt charged, that focuses on Election Schemes or whatnot and i can later on were going to get to bless kind of the more boring crime which is these documents, these 34 misrepresentations allegedly by the prosecution, but its all going to come down to why were these payments made . Was donald trump just a husband and trying to protect a wife perhaps or was he actually a candidate trying to protect a campaign . And that would make it unlawful. Urban is lavished i actually have a little bit of hope there. Lets inductively die. Explain that. I was like, wow, if a jury has got to buy that, maybe were gonna get a hung jury. Maybe we get a not guilty because that is a lot of ifs. Ifs that ifs and its a lot of Connective Tissue to get to the actual crime. Hear what trump is saying in what he just said was look, it said on the 34 things that are signed legal fees or whatever the exact wording of it. Whats i mean if its a payment to an attorney, hes saying its the legal fees. So any payment in to an attorney is legal arguments have great jury appeal. I mean, they have great jury appeal. Theres simple they make sense. Its like why paid i paid a lawyer. Thats a legal fee that makes sense. I can influence election, of course. Of course everybody does that. Thats democracy. He makes these very simple arguments. And no matter how complicated the case is, a jury is going to make it simple, but i thought the defense pointed out what appears to be a real weakness in the governments case today which is, i dont think the jury is going to have any doubt that this was hush money. I you know, this this whole idea that it was just money to cohen. I think its ridiculous, but the charge in this case is that donald trump cause these documents to be filed falsely and donald trump was the head of a very big company and a bookkeeper filled out these forms how did trump tell the bookkeeper what to do when it appears that trump had no contact . With the book, but what were some of these checks done in the white house itself . Im in trump sign. These chairs, right . I mean, i dont think theres any doubt that trump sign the checks, but the issue is how were they recorded in the corporate records of the Trump Organization . The charge here is that that was false and how trump made entries in the corporate but records false. That leap is something i havent heard how the government is going to prove it. We have a long way to go, but thats something i think is raising a question is it to influence the election or stay off the couch, right . I mean hes embarrassed. Wife embarrass family. I mean, is that what it was paid for . The argument against that is he then later on after the election, sort of my understanding is asked Michael Cohen, do we have to actually go through and pay Stormy Daniels . So if he was really concerned about his wife finding out, im not sure he would be Wasting Question whether or not he needed to pay. Thats what thats going to Michael Cohen get on the stand and testify. And if somebody were about that right but i think the timing context is going to be everything here. I think i do not think theyre going to be able to prove up that he was a caring husband that was worried about what his wife at home thought. One, theres an inconsistency with the behavior of potentially would still be daniels that he was just carrying husband, that the Defense Lawyer suggested in their opening. But the timing is going to be everything. This this will camp with Michael Cohen had a campaign the email address. These are individuals hope hicks, shes not shes not working for him personally. These are folks are trying to get this man elected president. And thats the context by which its happening. And if after the election he no longer thinks he asked to follow through he still married to bolonia. So if he was concerned a motivated by protecting her from formation, why would the fact that he hes now president , changed his views if it was really a family personal issue, he would still be as committed to protect information from her. I would just simply say that maybe its not maybe the store is not that interesting once hes elected a lot of other things coming down the pike, right. And it just kind of an adjunct to this just real quickly to raise republicans look at this and saying, this seems awfully similar similar to what happened with a hunter biden laptop pre, the 20 election. This youre hearing a lot of that from republicans jumped. So it does take it has enough, dont know with hunter biden no, no, it does. Hold on for sayyed. Let me explain. Right. So people will say the biden story was put put out there and saying 75 intelligence officials said that this was all russian propaganda, didnt get in the news. Nobody really looked at it before the election, right . There was a conspiracy, a coordinated effort to keep it out of the media until after the election, right . And people say, nobody peel back the onion that nomans look but at that. And so why, why does trump and jeff again, it seems like playing people in congress are looking at things. They just havent really found anything. So when they do, we can talk about the conspiracy to keep it out of the media before, but nobody told it seriously before the hunter biden has never run for president , has never been subject to Campaign Finance regulations. Were talking about canada trump, when a for president. So i think thats a clear distinction. What stood out to you about the former president s did anything standard about the form persons behavior. So yeah, a lot stood out to me the main thing though is that he once again violated the gag order. He walked out of court and started talking about Michael Cohen. And tomorrow morning, court is not starting until 11 or the jurys not coming back until 11 because theres a hearing in the morning in order to determine whether donald trump violated the gag order. Ten other times, but then he walked out yesterday or this morning, i should say. And talked about it again. Those was talking about witnesses. Hes not supposed to talk about the witnesses. And so its going to be can you call them a liar fraud and a couple other things . And so i think the judge that i think thats really whats going to whats going to happen tomorrow is going to be very interesting because inside the courtroom, hes on his best behavior. I think he learned from his previous civil trials that outburst in court dont win over a jury because the jury really came down hard against him in the E Jean Carroll cases, for example, we are those big verdicts and so i think he i think hes learned that in court. I think judge merchan is doing a good job of Keeping Control of his courtroom. But