Situation room. Its coming up next greg, you news and the Trump Hush Money Criminal Trial a longtime trusted aid to donald trump takes the stand. Dan wrapping her Blockbuster Testimony just a short while ago, hope hicks, taking Jurors Inside Trump world as the Stormy Daniels story broke and describing how trump feared allegations of Sexual Misconduct would hurt his 2016 president ial campaign. Hicks, tearing up at one point as she faced crossexamination, were their former boss only a few feet away will take you inside the courtroom for all the key moments of the former president s historic criminal trial welcome to our viewers here in the United States and Around The World im wolf blitzer with a Special Report in the situation room, the trump trial today lets get right to the Breaking News on hope hicks testimony in the trump hush money, Hush Money Trial, the new revelations, the raw motion and i would all may impact the jurors deciding the former president s fate cnns chief Legal Affairs correspondent, paula reid, is outside the courthouse in new york for us paul us, or what prompted hope hicks to get so emotional on the stand. And what was the line of questioning them well, if that was certainly the most its dramatic moment that weve had in this trial. So far. Now, shortly before she broke down on the stand, she answered some questions that could be really critical to the prosecutions case. Her example, she admitted that in fact, trump had acknowledged the payment was made at one point, and also so that cohen had made it out of quote, loyalty. Well, if thats incredibly significant because not only is trump acknowledging his awareness at this payment was made also, the cohen made it which undercut huts the defenses argument that this was indeed some sort of retainer for general legal services. And then she talked about the fact that this was done four for the election and that trumps appreciated that the story was suppressed ahead of the election. So this was an incredibly significant moment throughout the course of this trial. Thats part of why i think we saw that emotional response quick question before i let you go, paula hope hicks testified about what you described as the panic within the Trump Campaign when learning about the access Hollywood Tape, what does she say . Yeah, this is significant, wolfe, because the access Hollywood Tape is a key part of the timeline for prosecutors, because it reminds the jury just how much pressure there was on the trail im campaign in the month of october 2016 to avoid any additional stories about enlisted Sexual Activity from coming out and the access Hollywood Tape . She described it as being very damaging and factual, said it was a fullblown crisis, something that i think there is consensus about with other top advisers in the 2016 okay. Im pain. So its significant that she testified on the stand about just what a big deal that was because of course, if we know that after that tape is revealed, then Stormy Daniels and her attorney, Keith Davidson they approach the trump world about getting that hush money payment all i want you to stay with us as we bring in some of our legal and political experts as well. First to cnn legal analyst karen friedman, agnifilo, who was inside the trump trial for the first time today, we should note that karen is of council for a firm that represents Michael Cohen, but she has no contact with cohen, does not work in this case. And there are no restrictions on what you can say about this case. Karen, you said theres nothing like actually seeing this trial upclose, an inperson, take us inside the high emotions that were going on today. So you have to understand this is a white collar. Your case, right . Whitecollar cases are typically very boring, very dry, and not a lot of emotions. Its very different than say, a Violent Crime case where sometimes because you have a lot of tears and a lot of very graphic testimony. Yet today, seeing what happened when hope hicks broke down in tears was it felt like the closest thing to a perry mason moment that you will have in a whitecollar case. So it was after it was at the very end of her to have her direct testimony when they were saying when when she was admitting this evidence that was just crushing on donald trump and was very, very strong for the prosecution about how how trump said to her that he was glad that this information came out. Now, instead of this is all after the the election, whose glad it was coming out. Now, instead of before the election because it was so damaging that these affairs were coming out. And thats exactly what the prosecution is needed. Is somebody tying Donald Trumps motives primary motive . To not wanting this information to come out to the election. She also though, did talk about how how he didnt want his family to find out either. And that was additionally they are motivating factor. So i thought that it was very powerful though, for that to come out. Also, she came across as very credible. She was very intense elegant, she didnt seem like she added an ax to grind. She was thoughtful. She didnt say she things that she didnt remember. She was careful to say, look, i know i might have said that in the grand jury, youre trying to refresh my recollection, but as i sit here today, i dont have any memory of that. She came across as being just very careful and thoughtful and just saying the truth. And i think it really was impactful so for her that she knew it felt like she knew that she had just certainly very damaging and she broke down. Karen. Were told that trump turned and nauta to hope hicks with a small smile as she actually walked out of court after a de other day of ups and downs. What were the dynamics like between hope hicks said donald trump . Its clear that she still has a lot of affection for him as a politician, as a businessman his family milley, his exwife is she really, really respect him. And as she was very respectful of him throughout her entire testimony and that came through loud and clear, which obviously makes her a very powerful witness to the jury and i think if youre donald trump, you can see that too. So, so perhaps so thats why he he did that, but its clear. Its clear there were very close they went through a lot together. They were on the road together campaigning and they were together night and day. And so that was came across loud and clear as well. Certainly did what more karen can you tell us about trumps demeanor today, specifically what struck me about it was how much it felt just like any other criminal case. You didnt see any of the theatrical or drama that we heard about and saw in the prior civil case cases where he was combative, are fighting with the judge or standing up, walking out with the jury, or shaking his head, nodding all that kind of stuff, all the things that we heard about before he didnt see any of that. He sat there he paid attention. Hed whisper to his lawyers. Theyd pass each other notes or information he seemed like it was really paying attention and careful. And the jury also seemed like they were very thoughtful and really just looking at what was happening. So it felt like any other the criminal trial at 100 Centre Street that ive seen hundreds of and he was acting like he was a regular defendant and it just goes to show to the judge, really, i think has kept control over this courtroom in a good way. Good point. Karen standby, but to get back to you on crushed khardori, a former federal prosecutors with us as well on cush, i hope picks was the ultimate trump insiders shall we say . And a highly anticipated Witness For The Prosecution . How much did she helped build their case today . Look, it seems like it was on balance of very good day for the prosecution. That dramatic ending that can was describing. I mean, thats the end of the week, right . Ended . The de on friday. So the jurors are going to go home with her testimony at the top of their mind and that image of her on the stand breaking down at the top of there okay mind and i just want to sort of emphasize one point here concerning hope hicks is testimony about the impact on the election. This is very unique and important, obviously because she is the first Trump Campaign insider, but also you can see what the prosecution is doing here. Weve heard from david pecker about his perspective on the relationship between the Hush Money Scheme and the campaign and from the national enquirer, we heard from Stormy Daniels is lawyer Keith Davidson about his perspective. Now weve heard from hope hicks, right . So we have really principles involved in this transaction from every angle, really unanimous on this point evidently. And i think that its a key point for the prosecution and a good day for them. Important point of d, glory is bored jurors with us as well. Lets watch gloria trumps reaction outside the courtroom, just a little while ago. Well watch this im not allowed to comment on any of that as you know, im under a gag going i was very interested in what took. Place today so gloria, what does that tell you . And as someone whos covered, who picks and trump for that matter, what stood out to you today . Well, what stood out to me was first of all, she was under subpoena and didnt really want to be there. And at the end of the day, i wasnt quite sure whether she was more helpful to the prosecution then to the defense because from the prosecutions point of view, she made the case that trump was a micromanager, that he was involved in new about the Stormy Daniels payments, et cetera. But from the defense point of view, she also made the case that he was concerned about millennia and that this was personal and so on the one hand, she said, well, this was all about the campaign, which and on the other hand, she said, well, this was personal, which is exactly what the defense wants to say. So i think it was kind of a mixed bag for the prosecution. Interesting. Paul olympic back to you. I hope picks also testified that Michael Cohen tried to quote insert himself into the 2016 president ial campaign and would go quote road even though he didnt have any actual role on the campaign, how significant is that well, its only not the first time ive heard something negative or id flattering about Michael Cohen, as i said, it seems to be the one thing that unites both sides so this case is that nobody has anything nice to say about Michael Cohen, but that, that is something that potentially Defense Attorneys could seize on because they could try to use that testimony mean its a look, clearly he was freelancing, he wasnt indirect coordination nor was he working on behalf of the campaign. So its something that Defense Attorneys could potentially season she had a lot of other negative things to say about Michael Cohens suggesting. When trump said that cohen paid the hush money out of loyalty, she said she didnt consider himself a very consider him a very selfless or charitable person. I mean, a lot of the other witnesses have had unpleasant, unkind, unflattering things to say about Michael Cohen and thats just again, making it more difficult for prosecutors who really will ultimately have to pin a lot of their case on him and karen. The first thing that hope pick said today was that she was nervous from what you could see and you were inside the courtroom. How were jurors taking in her testimony, her pivotal testimony in this trial they seem to be very interested in what she had to say. They seem to be closely paying attention. And thats really what you care about is it is the jury. Right. Because theyre the ones who are going to be making this decision ultimately. But i think it came across the one thing that came across is that she was very authentic and seemed to be very credible gloria hope hicks made her admiration for trump very clear during the course of her testimony, she was describing working with him on the 2016 president ial campaign, saying, and im quoting are now hes a very good multitasker. Hes a very hard worker. He always, hes always doing many things things at once. What do you make of that . Well, she still likes him even though they havent spoken to each other in the last couple of years, i dont think he liked her testimony before the january 6 committee, but i think she made the point when shes saying hes a multitasker that he was involved in Micro Managing in many ways the campaign. And that raises the question of if trump is a micromanager and a multitasker, how could he how could he distance himself from what Michael Cohen was doing with Stormy Daniels . That that seems unreasonable to suggest but i think that that probably worked to the prosecutions benefit. Interesting. And on kirsha, how did they did the Trump Defense team benefit from hope hicks is testimony yeah. I mean, i think laurie is exactly right and isolating the testimony where she said there was concern about melania, im sure that trumps lawyers are going to be bringing that up in their closing. And we also of course have yet another person in the parade of these witnesses talking about Michael Cohen being sort of selfaggrandizing and sort of slippery and dishonest person i. Dont at this point. I dont know how much marginal value that adds, but it is helpful for the defense to have a parade of the governments own witnesses, basically dumping all over the star witness repeatedly and with a fairly uniform critique. So there were bright spots for the defense here. It wasnt all one sided interesting. Thanks to all of you. Excellent analysis is usual coming up. 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