Harassment of jewish students at College Campuses across the country. David pecker is no saint. The former National Enquirer testified at Donald Trumps trial that he willingly used his Tab Tabloid Empire to help the campaign chute colluding the outright manufacturing of fake muse. And while he tied trump and his henfixer Michael Cohen to these unsavory claims, pecker was eager to play along. Cohen would ask for a negative piece on an opponent, and the inquirer would embellish it. Look at this, a totally bogus story. And this ludicrous piece tying cruzs father to Lee Harvey Oswald and the Jfk Assassination tone by photo manipulation. Most of the media a praised peckers performance while others trashed t. A. Alvin braggs d. A. Alvin braggs case. Trumps relationship with the National Enquirer was even sleazier than it looked in 2016. David pecker was not a significant witness for the prosecution. And ill tell you why. Because there is no crime. David pecker is very composed, a credible witness. He was being specific in his testimony. So it was the star witnesses of the case that wanted to catch and kill to protect trump, not trump. Got it . Howard now to the catch and kill the inquirer paid a trump doorman 30,000 for a tale about the former President Fathering an out of wedlock child which turned out to be totally false. The inquireerer paid 150,000 To Cairn Mcdougal to stay quiet about an alleged 10month affair which trump denies. Trump opposed the payments saying such things always come out, but pecker insisted. Yet the publisher said he balked at playing off Stormy Daniels. Another factor, perhaps, pecker hadnt been reimbursed for the payment to karen mc mcdougal, so Michael Cohen had to give stormy the 130,000. It sets the stage for the alleged falsification of expense records to reimburse cohen. Alvin bragg wants to tie it to a larger conspiracy, and trump hasnt actually been charged with conspiracy. Im howard kurtz and this is mediabuzz. Howard joining us now to analyze the coverage, robby soave, a Senior Editor at reason magazine, and in los angeles, leslie marshall, Radio Talk Show Host and Fox News Contributor. Robby, why do the media keep praising david pecker whose testimony clearly damaged trump when he voluntarily and eagerly was buying and suppressing these womens stories, publishing fictitious stories about trumps rivals . Not exactly a boy scout. Well, for the Mainstream Media, min is a hero if they are providing any sort of information that in any way looks unfavorable to donald trump. So hell be the hero of the day even though the actions are sleazily, i think anyone howard no ones defending that. Theres no way around that. But the question becomes can they prove that was Directedly Trump and that its actually part of an Election Campaign violation. You know, weve seen so much bad behavior from the media over the years, the media, Mainstream Media a being in the tank for democrats contributing to the suppression of stories unfair to conservatives and to trump. Maybe some of the American People are saying the other side did it so much, how is in any if different . Howard leslie, nobody thought david pecker was a paragon of journalism. The jfk cover alone was appalling. But hes testifying under immunity, so he has to tell the truth or face perjury if charges. So does that make him a hero . Are there questions. Is i think theres a couple of things here. First, i think its funny that we talk about the National Enquirer and sleazy in the same sentence as if we never thought that before, sorry. Howard now we do. Secondly yeah. [laughter] then secondly, you know, i think that a lot of people have the opinion especially on my side of the aisle that if you were in bed, if you will, with donald trump, if you were all in for donald trump which pecker certainly was, you know, as he admits, that youre not going to throw him under the bus. And i think because this testimony was damaging, it definitely starts to put, you know, the pieces of bread on the ground, you know, for the trail that the prosecution is leaving leading the jury to watch and to follow. I think thats what theyre praising. And i un, i hear you, you know, when you have a deal like that, you have no choice in a sense, people would say your backs against the wall. Heck, we should all tell the truth all the a time especially under oath howard and especially on this show. His buddy and looking out for himself, just putting it out there. Howard to be robby, despite the saturation Media Coverage, what does Braggs Office accomplish by playing up not just Stormy Daniels, but Karen Mcdougal and the doorman who made up a story when the heart of the case is these falsified expense records in. Well, what theyre treal accomplishing is keeping him from campaigning. [laughter] i mean, hes in court all day. That is the real blow and why many probably conservatives out there watching this are going to say was this, you know, is the main issue here not some actual criminal matter. Were all trying to understand what the first of all criminal case is, but to criminal case is. Howard he uses it as part of his campaign. But, frankly, hes not making news, i dont think, on grounds that is favorable to him. His ardent supporters, yes. Theyre going to vote for him a thousand percent, but they cane vote for him. Those people love this kind of stuff, and theyre going to bat for donald trump, but the undecided, the moderate voters, the people in swing states who dont like biden, are frustrated with the last four year, they need to hear what hes going to do for the working class, for the economy, on the border, foreign policy. And the more hes talking about these criminal cases even if hes the victim howard right. Even if hes right, i dont think its good for the campaign. Thats the frustrating thing. Howard well, trump did come out and talk about the sort of anemic growth rate. In other words, hes got a platform if after each session of court. Leslie, david peck pers, i am not purchasing this story, i am not going to be involved with a porn star. A manhattan jury not terribly likely to be sympathetic to donald trump, but how many people are are going to be shocked eight years later that trump wanted his tabloid palhis fixer to use money to suppress this is salacious story which the former president denies from Stormy Daniels . If. Thats not surprising, but what it does and why the prosecution is doing this, its not to keep him from campaigning. You want to take your time presenting to the jury especially when you have a trial that is very, going to be paper trail heavy. That is hard to keep a jurys attention on. Its sort of all of us like having Statistical Analysis and data all the time. So they start out with this, and you might say the sexier part of this no pun intended and then you start the out with this because you show a pattern of behavior that,s you know, if they do a, ergo, they could do b. And to robbys point, i would agree with him that this is actually hurting the people that are going to vote for him love him, theyre going to the people that arent going to vote for him that are going to vote for biden arent going to vote for him. But there are people out there, especially people who sported nikki haley that say i dont want to go back to the circus that some of them remember the four years when trump was president as and this trial highlights more circus. Howard i think youre lying about the sexy part, the pun was intended. [laughter] anyway, robby, in my view this is the weak est and most openly partisan of the four criminal cases. Even some media a liberals say its too bad this case is going first. But pecker testified that trump and cohen asked him to use his empire, he has a lot of magazines besides the inquirer, so catch and kill these bogus stories two months after the Campaign Launched and once elected in to 17, just days before the inauguration or this may have been a week or two, trump called and thanked David Pecker For Taking Care of mcdougal and the doorman stories. So i cant say leaving aside the heelty because its a criminal legality because its a criminal trial, but one of that is going to help donald trump. Well, yeah. If the jury decides this figure that the talked about the Zodiac Killer and all the other crazy stories, if they find that to be a credible person, if they find Michael Cohen who has repeatedly confirmed to have mess led the public on a variety of issues, to who Michael Avenatti thinks is not a credible person, then the jury gets to make that decision. But the question is they get to make concern its a criminal case, so the jury makes that decision. But the broader case of whether trump is fit for office, again, is a question the American People will get to decide in november. And some of this does feel, im sure it feels like this to Trump Supporters and conservative voters that this is all an effort. They feel like they cant beat him in november, so they have a jury of, you know, manhattan liberals who are going to reach a decision different from what the American People would reach. Howard yeah. But keep in mind it only takes one juror to produce a mistrial, and it depends on the strength of the defenses case. Leslie, trump was angry about this Wall Street Journal story. I went back and looked at it, on Karen Mcdougal that that ran just days before the election. He accused pecker of leaking it. He hung up without saying goodbye. But it didnt get much pickup because in the last three days before an election, there were a million things going on. So its interesting that after all the efforts to suppress the story, that it came out anyway at least in the journal. Everything comes out in the end. I always tell my kids, you will always get caught. I will always find out. [laughter] and i think for the most part, i think for the most parts that is true. And i also would agree with you, howie, be one of those liberals on the left that thinks this is the weakest of four cases and certainly not wanting this to go forward. But to your point, robby, it really irritates me that the everybody thinks we democrats have so much control over the criminal Justice System and that we would misuse that power specifically, you know, to try to push an opponent off. Joe biden beat donald trump before very, very tight the race, i believe he can do it again. We dont need to have these trials. There are four trials. You dont get to this point, you dont get to this number of indictments without evidence going forward. And, honestly, it helps him with his base with if you know, at least, you know, those that feel hes been victimized as the former president howard right. Just briefly, robby, its weird watching this because all we have is the reporters feed, and they put them up on the screen and the anchor says it. T kind of like, i dont know, its kind of like watching, its kind of like watching jimmy fallon, jimmy kimmel and stephen colbert, and you can see the cue cards. Its all secondhand because there are no camera as in the courtroom. Yeah. So we have to rely on their information about whether hes falling asleep in court, a whole news cycle of that, was that this week or last week . Trump is certainly good for the ratings of Mainstream Media a and the diminishing audience of people who hang in for every new revelation. Im sure this is good tv for people what watching on the other side as much as it infuriates so many conservatives in this country. Howard right. Well, you know, on crossexamination, trumps lawyer brought out that pecker had been courting celebrities and paying sources for years before donald trump even got into politics. Ahead, are the media exacerbating the antijewish protests at columbia and other major schools . But when we come back, the judge, the former president and the gag order. Call leaffilter today. And never clean out clogged gutters again. Leaffilters Technology Keeps debris out of your gutters for good. Guaranteed. Call 833. Leaf. Filter today, or visit leaffilter. Com. To abandon their pets. Those pets often end up in shelters that euthanize them after just a few days. But were better than that, my friends. Im john ohurley, and i invite you to support Puppy Food Bank with a 15 and i invite you to support Puppy Food Bank with a 15 a month donation with your support Puppy Food Bank can ship pet food to rescue shelters, pet food that will save pet lives. So wont you join me. Donate now. And Puppy Food Bank will send you a very nice gift. Howard the gag order in the Hush Money Trial triggered a heated media a debate as manhattan prosecutors argued donald trump should be fined 10,000 for violating the ban on attacking witnesses. You have one President Who acts like hes gagged, never talks, and you have another President Who, lets face it, a little gagging sometimes wouldnt hurt him. But its unconstitutional. That Gag Order Wording could not be more clear. Donald trumps Criminal Defense Lawyer are insulted the intelligence of the judge and everyone else in the courtroom. So i cant talk other than minutes name is mentioned somewhere deep in the article, and i end up in violation of a gag order. I think its a can disgrace. Its totally unconstitutional. Howard so, robby, why is the gag order such a heated media issue when trump has attacked two witnesses, Michael Cohen and stormy, and the judge is weighing a grand total of 10,000 which is not exactly going to bankrupt the former president . Look, he is running for president howard thats right. Good answer. He has a right to do that, and he should be able to discuss the case broadly. Now, i agree, he shouldnt be giving personal information about the judge or other people involved in the courts whereabouts or specific information about jurors. Now, of course, Liberal Media Journal its have been doing that all week. I saw all the tweets about describing them very specifically howard oh, hold on and got scolded by the judge for providing too much information and, therefore, undermining the anonymity of the jurors. Yeah. Everybody gets to do it except donald trump, so i understand the frustration. And, frankly, the gag order was more ridiculous in the federal case where he was not allowed to even describe or criticize mike pence who was running against him at the time for the nomination. Even the aclu thought that one did imperil his First Amendment rights. In this case, you know, its a little bit more ambiguous, and maybe he has to pay those so 10,000 fines. Lou howe leslie, in fact, when judge juan merchan expressed his frustration with trump lawyer todd blanch for not providing specifics, he raised his voice and said youre losing all credible, you provided nothing. Not a great moment for the trump side. No, not a great moment at all. And, look, we do have a First Amendment right. But a judge also has a right to impose a gag order. And there is a fine line, its a very gray area, maybe an uncharted area. You can talk about the media all a you want as robby just mentioned. None of us are running for president , and none of us are under indictment. Thats a big difference. Also its a big difference if you, in a Political Campaign as he is and i feel he has every right on social media and what not to talk about the Political Campaign, you know, to keep saying hes victimized, you know, to take out his violin. The problem is when you get into talking about which he has the judge, the jurors and the witnesses. That is a line that is crossed. Im sorry, thats Law School 101 if youre looking to be a criminal attorney. I think a lot of what he said, though, is editorial kind of this is unfair if, im not going to get a favor trial here, the judge is against me a fair trial here. Not my mob should do something about this judge at this specific time and this is where he lives. That, obviously, is not something that should take place. A lot of what im hearing from him sounds like editorial complaints. That is part of his reelection effort, and do we want to go down the direction in the road of that being something hes not allowed to say as he up runs for president. I think a lot of americans feel thats not the case. Of course, the judge gets to do what he wants, it is a criminal matter as a leslie points out, but we should be aware of throwing out our climate of free speech around elections. Howard welsh trump says its unfair and unconstitutional for people involved in the case, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels go on tv and attack him, and he cant fight back. But hes the defendant. Leslie, trumps argument,