I relish the day i get to face him and speak my truth. Stormy daniels takes the stand, telling the jury what happened with donald trump. The door to the hotel opens and what is donald trump wearing . Silky pajamas. And how she was paid for her silence. What was illegal was the hush money. If i had not signed the nda, he would not have been indicted. Tonight, the impact of her testimony on the case. We are talking about a very, very colorful witness. And what the testimony says about the defendant. This is a man who always felt entitled to have his way with women. Lisa rubin and harry litman watched it all happen and they join me tonight. And with one candidate in the courtroom and one on the campaign trail, how are the polls this type . Jen psaki is here with more on that, when all in starts right now. Good evening from new york, i am chris hayes. I think it is fair today was the biggest day of Donald Trumps criminal trial so far. This morning the star witness for the prosecution took the stand. Stormy daniels, also known as stephanie clifford, the woman at the center of this case, took the stand today. Daniels is the former Adult Film Actress who prosecute who prosecutors say had a sexual encounter with donald trump back in 2006 and was the recipient of a Hush Money Payment in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election to hide that fact from the american public. There is no disputing that the details are salacious. Some viewers may find them uncomfortable to hear, but the encounter between donald trump and Stormy Daniels is of significant relevance as this man once again competes to be the president of the United States. The question of whether or not donald trump illegally interfered in the 2016 election by engaging in Business Records fraud, by Shielding Information from the voters via Hush Money Payments that were concerned that were concealed, should be front of mind for voters again. With the expresident in the room, listening, brow furrowed and that points, according to the judge, Cursing Audibly about 10 feet away, daniels told the jury about her initial encounter with trump two decades ago. She described meeting that then reality tv hosted a Celebrity Golf Event in lake tahoe where she was 26 years old and he was 60. After initially believing she was going to have a meal with trump, daniels arrived to his Penthouse Suite to find him wearing silk pajamas rather than dinner attire. She says she made him change his clothes and then they discussed her career. Trump discussed his marital problems with his wife melania, who at the time was at home taking care of their fourmonth old son, baron. Daniels grew tired of drums questioning and told the jury at this point i had enough of his arrogance and cutting me off and still not getting my dinner, so i said are you always this rude, arrogant, and pompous . Daniels testified the two did not eat dinner. Instead she went to the bathroom to touch up her makeup and in a moment she described to the jury as a jump square jump scare return to find the former president on the bed in his underwear. She said the two had a brief sexual encounter after which trump told her it was great, lets get together again, honeybunch. In response, daniels says she left as quickly as she could. Daniels then testified about the Hush Money Payment itself. She said that interest in her story grew dramatically following the release of that access Hollywood Tape, a Pivotal Moment in the story about this, and she wanted her story to be made public at of the 2016 election. Ultimately she says she signed a Nondisclosure Agreement for 130,000 in order to put the entire ordeal behind her. She said it was her understanding that she was supposed to pretend as though they had never met and she said the fear of violating that deal is why she initially signed onto a statement that denied the affair. Trumps lawyers, attempting to use her testimony which at times was both granular and freewheeling as a justification for a mistrial. They petitioned for one after she testified. Judge juan merchan denied the request and conceded that daniels was a little difficult to control, but concluded, i dont believe we are at the point where a mistrial is warranted. Adding that the defense itself did not put up much of a fight. I am also surprised there were not more objections. Following crossexamination during which trumps attorney attempted to discredit daniels and her testimony, court adjourned for the day. We are far from over. She will retake the stand wednesday morning after that break and i imagine there will be a lot more to learn from that. Joining me now are two people who watched this happen at the courthouse. Msnbc Legal Correspondent lisa rubin and former Attorney General at the department of justice, harry litman. Great to have you both here. Lets start in the morning, which is that we didnt know stephanie clifford, Stormy Daniels, was going to take the stand today, right . Reporter we did not. I was standing in line when the Associated Press reported that Stormy Daniels would be the witness. I have to tell you i was surprised for a couple of reasons. One, i was surprised it hadnt gotten out before, but given where we were in the case, we heard perhaps the driest day of testimony in the trial so far yesterday about the false documents were allegedly false Business Records that constitute the heart of the crime that has been charged here. To then go from that and instead of moving forward with other witnesses who would testify about the false Business Records, to go sort of backward in time, but also upward in interest to Stormy Daniels, was, i think, a little bit of a surprise, narratively, for me. We didnt know in the morning, but before the jury came in the defense raised something about her testimony, so we knew it was going to be she before the jury did. There was definitely something when it happened and you could zone in on the jury and their keen interest. This was a name they been waiting to hear. S and the most famous other person involved in this encounter. So you have direct examination. Before you get into it, let me hear from each of you what is important if you are setting this up on direct . What you need if you are the prosecution out of this witness . Reporter i will tell you what the prosecution said because it is largely what i anticipated, which is that you need Stormy Daniels in the case to elaborate on what she would have told the public, had she in the october 2016 not signed any agreement, but instead come forward. You need the jury to believe that so they can understand what trumps motivation was for entering into the conspiracy and authorizing Michael Cohen to enter the hush money settlement. You need to see her. That is the other thing. She is narratively at the heart. The jury is curious. She is the human figure that puts everything in motion. The jury will be dissatisfied if it does not get a glimpse of her and hear her story. Now when i saw she was going to be on, one of the challenges for a witness like this, the way that human beings were, when we tell the same story over and over again we dont tell at the same way every time. It is how people are, how memory functions. Something that happens in other trials is you do the deposition and then you dont want them talking a lot about it, because they are up there and you can say you said this year and this year. So you have this person. She has talked about this quite a bit. We played her on jimmy kimmel. She wrote a book. So what was your expectation of what sort of witness she would be and how was she . Reporter lets start with the premise that the problem you identified is a problem for virtually every witness across this trial and it is something that the prosecutors talked to prospective jurors about. They said peoples memories fluctuate. The events at hand happened a long time ago and you wont blame people if there are minor inconsistencies in their stories, because you will understand that is human nature, right . So they are prepared for that, but what to make Stormy Daniels even more different is she has a story that is rooted in a sexual trauma. Yes she said trump never physically threatened her, but it is clear in her retelling of the story that it is a problematic sexual encounter from her perspective and like many sexual trauma victims, for her the details that are most memorable and vivid are not the ones most important or relevant for a court of law. So confining her story to what the court thinks is important and what the defense will tolerate her testifying to is an added challenge on top of those inconsistencies built from the fact that these events happened. The 2006 sexual encounter between them was 18 years ago. That is true as to the sexual act itself, because merchan was concerned it could be prejudicial to trump. So there are some guardrails here to what she can say. Thats right and she speaks quickly and the d. A. Does not control her that much. Merchan is peaked and at one point makes his own objection and sustains it when he thinks theyve gone too far. That is the core narrative. More broadly she tells a story, a sort of version of an american success story. Once hardscrabble, but exotic, for lack of a better word. She humanizes herself to the jury, which they are going to need, because all they know is she is an Adult Dome Actress and she tells something to really try an actual human being with hopes, dreams, a career, Different Things she has done. Precisely and yet does the jury get next to it . Because also there is this sensational and kind of exotic aspect to it. That thing is that i think is relevant in terms of motivation. I was following along today and a lot of people noted and i think this comes up on cross, that it has a darker cast. Her telling of the story is less kind of like and more like this is gross. Shes very clear this was not Sexual Assault. This was consent in the legal sense, but in terms of her objective experience, there was a power position. She felt she kind of got badgered into it. Reporter there was an imbalance of power and she testified to looking up at the ceiling at one point and thinking to herself, how did i misread this situation . How did i get to hear . I have to tell you, chris, for me where that called me back to his may, 2023, sitting in a federal courthouse not that far away, thinking about e. Jean carroll, who was a victim of Sexual Assault. Thinking to herself after bantering with trump, thinking she would have a Cocktail Party story and walking out after the assault, shaken, thinking i screwed up. What did i do to let it go here . It was murky and she was kind of disassociated in the key event. Here was my lightbulb moment today. From afar, putting two and two together, which is to say the access Hollywood Tape is the biggest crisis the campaign faces. Subsequent accusations On The Record by actual women who say he sexually assaulted me. This story told and the way she told it today seems like much more of a possible deathblow than the version that i think had been may be communicated before or how i understand it, which is like more Buffoonish Hijinks and less predatory. The reason that seemed to matter to me is because of the motive here, which is that this is about the campaign. Right and to put an even finer point on it, when you are talking literally about the campaign on a day by day basis, Stormy Daniels signs the first iteration of this Nondisclosure Agreement on the same day the New York Times reports that these other women are coming out of the woodwork to say that they have been sexually assaulted. This is all happening day by day by day, starting with october 7 and the washington post. November 10 is the day the New York Times reports these other women and Stormy Daniels signs for the first time, but she does not sign the real agreement until october 28. Meanwhile the Trump Campaign is Fighting Valiantly to get out from under the access Hollywood Tape and the weight of it, including these prominent republicans who dont want to associate with him anymore. Had she told this story, this wouldve been devastating. What hope hicks call the crisis would have been a catastrophe. Until then we have had maneuvering, hush money. This was trump the grotesque. Trump the foul, kind of monstrous figure that is exactly what they were scared of in october, 2016. Hence also the move for the mistrial. I want to talk about that and trumps reaction, because there is some wild stuff from the trump you will read in a moment. There is a lot more if you guys will stick around. Including the warning from the judge that donald trump could be posting himself right into jail. Might be a first in history, but it is possible. Next. Ible. Next. When i was diagnosed with hiv, i didnt know who i would be. But here i am. Being me. Keep being you. And ask your Healthcare Provider about the number one prescribed hiv treatment, biktarvy. Biktarvy is a complete, onepill, onceaday treatment used for hiv in many people whether youre 18 or 80. 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It appears the judge is right. It does not serve as a deterrent because this morning trump posted this. I have just recently been told who the witnesses today, an apparent reference to Stormy Daniels. This is unprecedented. No judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way. The post was quickly deleted. Back with me, Legal Correspondent lisa rubin and harry litman. That post, on the line. Not a direct violation, but it is about a witness. I want to read this part. Do i have this . Oh, here it is, sorry. This is the side bar between merchan and todd blanchet some point that happens. You guys dont hear this, right . Okay, we are getting this later. I understand your client is upset, but he is Cursing Audibly and shaking his head visually and that is contemptu