that's like $20 a month per unlimited line... i don't want to miss that. that's amazing doc. mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc? thanks for joining us this hour. let's jump right in, okay?

here is the thing that everyone who has not been paying a lot of attention is probably thinking today. if this trial is about something that happened in the lead up to the election in 2016, not the election this year, not the last presidential election, but the one before that. if this trial is about something that happened in the lead up to the 2016 election, nearly 8 years ago, why is it only come to trial now? it turns out that is kind of a funny story, in a bad way, because it turns out this case springs, specifically, from one of the worst and most dangerous revelations we ever had about the trump presidency. one of the worst things that happened while trump was president, something that, for me, is absolutely front of my i think about what is the worst that might happen in a second trump administration, and i will tell you why.

so, it was almost exactly one year into trump being president, january of 2018, the wall street journal broke the story, that something that looked really illegal happened in the presidential campaign, right before the 2016 election. the wall street journal reported in the january 2018 story that, the woman on the right here, a director and actor named stormy daniels, right before the 2016 campaign, had been paid $130,000 to not talk about what, she says, was a sexual encounter with donald trump. and, you know, the alleged adulterous sexual encounter is one thing, trump, for his part denied that it ever happened, and still denies that it ever happened. but, sex is one thing, money is another. this was a presidential campaign. she got $130,000. if that money was spent for the purpose of the campaign to help trump get elected, there are

rules about that, right? criminal laws apply to that kind of spending. when that story broke in the wall street journal, michael cohen denied that when the payment went to stormy daniels, that donald trump, or his campaign, or his company, had anything to do with the payment. michael cohen, when that story came out, he said that he, personally, had paid a stormy daniels with his own money, out of the goodness of his own heart, no, no, he didn't have sex with stormy daniels, he just paid her himself, personally. no one else was involved and he wouldn't say anything else about it, he wouldn't say what the payment is for. all he would say is that the payment was totally legal. nothing to see, hear, all aboveboard. nevertheless, the fbi decided there was something to see. they persuaded a judge that there was something to see, as well, they got a court order to search warrant to search michael cohen's office. and they seized business records and emails and documents, and then michael

cohen was told that he would be charged with federal crimes, and then michael cohen struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors, the u.s. attorney's office in the southern district of new york. cohen pled guilty to campaign- finance violations and other charges, he admitted that he had arranged this payment to miss daniels and also another woman who says that she had a nine month long affair with trump. he says he arranged these payments, he coordinated to make sure these women would get paid to stay quiet about their allegations of infidelity, in order to help trump's presidential campaign. now, when michael cohen pled guilty, president trump responded by calling him a rat, that's nice. when michael cohen pled guilty, he admitted in federal court, that he had not paid out this hush money on his own initiative out of the goodness of his heart.

he admitted in court filings, he swore in person in federal court, that he had been directed to make these payments by his boss, donald trump. he effectively said, you know, yes, i committed this crime, i committed it integrates with my boss because he wanted me to. it was ultimately for him. trump was referred to in the court documents, famously described as individual 1, and michael cohen attested in federal court that in the commission of the crimes he was pleading guilty to, he acted in coordination with that the direction of individual one, a.k.a. donald trump. and michael cohen had receipts to back this up. literal receipts, when he was called to testify before congress, you may remember, he brought with him copies of the checks given to him to reimburse him for making the illegal payment. checks, signed in some cases, by donald j trump. many of them signed while trump was in the white house, it was all an amazing spectacle, right?

i mean, other presidents may be get involved with a campaign- finance scandal, but illegal hush money payments to two mistresses with reimbursement checks for one of the illegal payments signed in the white house? a, gross. b, not your typical presidential scandal. we are already in unprecedented territory here. but that is not actually the most important point, right? the michael cohen federal case revelations, michael cohen pleading guilty, coming clean and saying what happened, that left in its wake, not just a slimy trail of yuck, don't let the kids read the news anymore, it left one intimately baffling question in its wake, which was, now, who is getting in trouble for this? who is the one person getting in trouble for this crime? just michael cohen?

really? he is going to federal prison for years, and he is the only one? why is that? why is he the only one? we now know why that was. and it's really bad. it is one of the worst things we learned about donald trump's behavior as president, and what he was able to do as president. we tell ourselves all these stories, now, about you know, thank god there were adults in the room who said no to him. we should be worried if there won't be adults in the room next time, right? we tell ourselves these feel- good stories, thank goodness the institutions held and he wasn't able to wreck the american system of government and the american rule of law, the way that he wanted to. really? in some cases, and this is one of them, the so-called adults in the room did exactly what he wanted, and the institutions did not hold. they were corrupted. and thereby terrible consequences. and that is actually where this case comes from and why it took

so long to get to trial today, in new york city. remember, this was a federal case. michael cohen case was a federal case. when michael cohen pled guilty, the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, the federal prosecutor running the office investigating and prosecuting cohen, that was a u.s. attorney named jeffrey berman. jeffrey berman is a lifelong republican, he was appointed to his post at fdny by president trump, he worked on the trump campaign and the trump transition, but after jeff berman was fired from the trump administration, after he was fired by the u.s. attorney in fdny, he wrote a book about what happened to him in that job, and one of the things he described in detail, was about the michael cohen case. according to jeffrey berman, running that u.s. attorney's office, after michael cohen pled guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison for this crime, president trump's appointees of the u.s. the part

of justice in washington, maine justice, they started repeatedly reaching down into berman's office, into fdny, to try to make the whole case basically go away. this is from jeff berman's book called holding the line. he says, quote, while michael cohen had pleaded guilty, our office comes continued to pursue other possible campaign finance violations. when bill barr took over of trans attorney general, six months afterwards, barr not only tried to kill in litigations, but incredibly, he's adjusted that michael cohen's conviction on campaign finance charges should be reversed. attorney general barr, summoned by deputy rod pisani overseeing the cohen case in late february, to challenge the basis of cohen's guilty plea, as well as the reason behind pursuing similar campaign-finance charges against other individuals.

he was told to cease all investigators work on the campaign-finance allegations, until maine justice determined that there was a legal basis for the campaign-finance charges, to which cohen pled guilty, and until barr himself determined there was a sufficient federal interest in pursuing charges against others. the directive attorney general barr gave, amplified that same day by a follow-up call was explicit. not a single investigators step could be taken, not a single document in our position possession could be reviewed. and of maine justice decided there was no legal basis for the charges? the attorney general of the united states would direct us to dismiss the campaign-finance guilty pleas of michael cohen, the man who implicated the attorney general's boss, the president. bars posture here raises obvious questions. did he think dropping the campaign-finance charges would bolster trump's defense against impeachment charges? was he trying to ensure that no

other trump associates or employees would be charged with making hush money payments and perhaps flip on the president? was the goal to ensure the president could not be charged after leaving office? was the goal to ensure that the president could not be charged after leaving office? justice department rules do say, for better or for worse, that presidents cannot be criminally charged while serving as president. but if federal prosecutors had determined that trump had committed these crimes, with michael cohen, right? nothing could stop them from charging president trump for those crimes the moment he was again a private citizen. and the head of the u.s. attorney's office that brought this case and did this investigation, he says that trump skies at the u.s. justice department monkeyed with this case, with this instigation on trump's behalf to make sure fdny would not and could not determine donald trump committed these federal crimes.

this isn't something that we had to worry might happen, this happened. the whistleblower on this was the guy who was running the u.s. attorney's office that got monkeyed with. he was in a position to know. and other revelation from jeff berman's book is that when michael cohen pled guilty, jumps justice department made prosecutors at fdny strip out tons of references to trump in court filings. so, the big damning document they ultimately filed contained that key phrase that cohen acted in coordination and indirection with individual one, but he says that the document they plan to file was much more exquisite about donald trump's involvement in cohen's crimes. what they wanted to say was that trump acted in concert with and coordinated with cohen. when trumps just as the parent saw that, they were apparently livid, they made fdny cut down

this court filing from 40 pages to 21 pages and they made them strip out all the most damning findings about trump. in order to protect trump from this federal instigation. when i got done with it, the final document no longer said that michael cohen had committed his crime acting in concert with and coordinating with trump, with individual one, instead, the final document said, he acted in concert with and coordinate it with one or more members of the trump campaign. one or more members of the trump campaign was trump. but justice department officials in washington, people appointed by trump, made the prosecutors office take that out. jeff berman also says he was ordered by trumps justice department to investigate prominent democrats at trump's behest, including john kerry. berman says he was told right

before the 2018 midterm elections, that his office should bring charges against a democratic lawyer who had been president obama's white house counsel. berman's office looked into it, decided, not only had obama's white house counsel not done anything to warrant being prosecuted, he actually hadn't done anything at all. he was innocent of what he was being accused of, here. after berman refused to bring those charges, trumps attorney general, bill barr, tried to push berman into resigning. he even put out a late-night press release, in june of 2020, claiming that jeff berman had resigned. jeff berman had not resigned. and he said so. he refused to go. he did that, in part, because he had just seen what had happened and another important u.s. attorney's office, after a total takeover, there, by trumps justice department. it was in the dc u.s. attorney's office, that the schemes went even further. bar, in the dc u.s. attorney's

office had succeeded in ousting the u.s. attorney there and installing his own people, that attorney's office in dc immediately moved to drop the charges, and undo the guilty plea from trump national security adviser mike flynn. moved to undo the recommended sentence for trump adviser roger stone, just convicted of multiple felonies, this was the same attorney's office that folded to the pressure to bring charges against obama's white house counsel after berman refused to do it because there was no case. that case was soap palpably week, the jury voted to acquit in less than five hours. that rarely happens to federal prosecutors, but it happened there, because there was no case, because trump insisted that the prosecution be brought forward. one u.s. attorney's office looked into it and said are you kidding? there's nothing here. the other one went ahead and did it., because that is what trump demanded. even though there was no case.

jeffrey berman saw what had happened in the dc u.s. attorney's office and he did not want to allow the same thing to happen in fdny. so, jeffrey berman fought. bar puts out this press release saying berman has resigned, berman puts out a statement saying, no i haven't and there was a dramatic 48 hours during which berman twice refused to quit, refused to let his office be taken over by trumps attorney general. and then finally, trump fired jeffrey berman. and the victory that berman one coinciding so hard and making so much noise is that after he was fired, he made sure that his deputy, a normal prosecutor was promoted to take his place instead of bill barr sending trump guys to take it over, like he did in dc. but this is a very bad black mark on the record of the u.s. justice department. and, the result of all of this was, you know, terrible drama, scary revelations about the justice department under president trump, but it was

also, crucially, a federal criminal investigation diverted and delayed and tampered with. the federal criminal instigation into the crimes for which michael cohen went to prison was stymied, and here is a key point, it wasn't just the federal criminal investigation. while all of this was going on, at the federal level, the investigation into michael cohen, the attended investigation of people beyond cohen who participated in those same crimes, the revelation of trumps personal culpability for those crimes, trumps justice department, while this was all happening, they reached down and put the brakes on the whole thing. right? a corrupted federal justice department, acting to protect the president, despite findings of law and fact. while that was happening at the federal level around the cohen case, it had the effect of stymieing a potential state prosecution as well, because new york

prosecutors in the manhattan district attorney's office were also interested in investigating and potentially prosecuting these crimes that had taken place. after all, these crimes took place in their city. but, the feds -- right, this was supposedly their case, and they asked the state prosecutors to hold off while they pursued their federal case on this matter. what we came to learn is that the federal case wasn't happening, delayed and diverted and ultimately stopped by trumps appointees of the u.s. justice department. and so, state prosecutors are twiddling their thumbs, wasting tons of time waiting around for the feds to supposedly finish this investigation, which is an investigation that is not actually happening, because of corruption. it was months after cohen's guilty plea that federal prosecutors quietly signaled in a court filing that the investigation was over, and nobody decides michael cohen would be federally jott

charged. it was literally two weeks later, two weeks after that quiet admission from the feds, that state prosecutors started issuing subpoenas for their own investigation. so, if you find yourself wondering why alleged crimes that happened in 2016 are only coming to trial now, one of the reasons is that donald trump's justice department succeeded in delaying and ultimately stymieing the federal investigation into the alleged crimes for which donald trump is now effectively facing a new york state trial. and that successful effort by trumps justice department to forestall any federal investigation into trump or any charges against him, we can see the legacy of that successful corruption, that successful corruption of the case, we can see the legacy of it in the way the manhattan district attorney has had to charge this case, because one of the big awkward parts of this case now being tried in new york is that there is a crime that is being described here, which has never actually been charged.

right? people who criticize this case, that is often one of the major issues they will take with it. a crime is being described here but if that crime is such a crime, how come it was never charged? right? the new york das case against donald trump says these false business records trump created, in his real estate business, right, when he described these hush money payments as if they were legal fees, falsified business records are not just a misdemeanor, they are a felony, because they were created to conceal another crime. what is the other crime? well, the da has described what he believes the other crimes are. one of the indicated other crimes as the federal campaign finance violation that prosecutors say michael cohen committed with donald trump. it is an awkwardness for this case that that federal crime was never charged against donald trump, it was only overcharged against michael

cohen. but the reason that federal crime was never charged against trump? it appears to be because the federal investigation into trump's culpability in the matter was perverted on trump's behalf by trumps appointees. so, that is this big gaping wound at the center of the trial. it is a constant reminder that it is bonkers that only michael cohen and nobody else ever paid a price for this criminal scheme. right? it is also a constant reminder, you know, of something else, bigger than this case, it is a big bright flashing warning light about what we, as a country, should expect in a second trump presidency. you know how scary it is, to think about bill barr doing this with ongoing investigations, reportedly, with cases that have already been pled to, with sentences

that have already been recommended by the justice department after convictions, for him to go in there and just take apart all of those cases on trump's behalf, because trump told him to? they were able to do some of that. they would very much like to do a lot more of that, which could upend any citizens life in this country at the whim of donald trump. right? we do not talk nearly enough about what trump to see the succeeded in doing to the u.s. justice department when he was president. he ousted u.s. attorneys, he got instigation's into himself and his allies killed, he got the case against his disgraced national security adviser thrown out even though he had already pled guilty. he got the sentencing recommendation for roger stone reduced after stones multiple convictions. he got the justice department to investigate and prosecute prominent democrats he didn't like even when zero case was to be made, that all is worse than anything richard nixon ever did, and he was pretty bad on that front. it is arguably the worst thing any modern president has ever done to the u.s. justice department, to the rule of law

in this country. it is the kindest candle we should be keeping front of mind every single day as he tries to get back into the white house right now. it is absolutely the blueprint for where they would start to try to complete the unfinished business, right? of the first term, if donald trump returns to the white house. that is where this case comes from. right? the tawdry's case imaginable, coming from the grossest and most petty personal failings. all the while, revealing a huge, serious problem from this country that we have not yet reckoned with. a core problem for our protection of the rule of law. a core failing of the rule of law for which not nearly enough people have yet gotten in trouble. we got lots more to get to tonight but we will talk to somebody who was at the courthouse, today, just ahead. stay with us. [ metal groans]

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this was the headline. the headline was 72 hours until all hell breaks loose. this was the headline of a trump email on tuesday, not just predicting but implying that trumps supporters should sew up to the courthouse for trumps trial.

saying, if we fail to have a massive outpouring, then all hell will break loose. that went out on friday. did it work? was donald trump able to get that massive outpouring in the streets he was begging for, today, from his supporters? did it work? alas, now. you can see there are a few trump flags, a lot of members of the press. there was one flag that says trump or death. there was one guy holding a trump 2028 flag, which at first glance looks like it might be a call for trump to stay president indefinitely and never leave until you see the tiny text of the top of the flag that says don jr. a monarchy under the trump family just like america's founders intended. there was also this truck which circled the courthouse several times, this truck appears to be the same truck or at least a

similarly decorated trump to the one that trump posted on his social media account a few weeks ago, which featured a decal we are not going to show which shows president biden bound and gagged and tied up like he was being held prisoner in the bed of a truck. so that was there. but it wasn't the crowd. trump did not get his massive outpouring of trump supporters today. he got a few dozen people, but not many. there were a bunch of anti- trump protesters, though, including these folks who were gathered behind that banner which says no one is above the law, they were there. trump has repeatedly and extensively called on his supporters to show up in large numbers to support him at his arraignment, at his court hearings, and now, at his first criminal trial. he really wants it, it he keeps asking for it, it does not seem to be happening, which on the one hand feels like a relief in terms of security concerns, and on the other hand it feels like it has to inflect somehow, the dynamic inside, that the

dynamic outside, in the streets, is absolutely a huge disappointment for trump and his campaign. joining us now is lisa rubin, msnbc legal correspondent, who watched the proceedings live inside the courthouse today. i know it has been a long day, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. so, you are a legal correspondent for us here on msnbc. before that, you describe yourself as a recovering lawyer, you are an experienced lawyer, was this a normal day in court, today? >> partially what was extraordinary, is just how normal it was. i was saying to somebody else today that it was a weird swirl of the mundane and extraordinary. throughout the day. so, we had moments that were blistering in their foreignness and even the former president appeared to be board by them and i think that is a generous description, that includes when

jurors were reading off their answers to the jury questionnaire, because of course, when somebody is not reading the questions to them and they are just taking off one by one with their answers are, it's not the most scintillating thing to listen to. on the other hand, there was a lot of argument specific to this case, and to the former president, and specifically listening to the das office, outline some of the evidence on which they would like clarifications, which was fascinating because it shows you just out thoroughly they have researched this case, and found documents and evidence to support the general scaffolding of the story that michael cohen has told. >> let me ask you about something that happened raided the end of the proceedings today. it was rid of the end of the day, and at the beginning of the day, they had the discussion you were just describing about, you know, what evidence would be allowed, it does give us some sense of the scaffolding, as you say, on which they are going to build a case, but at the end of the day, an unexpected scheduling matter came up, translators asked if trump could skip coming to court on the day next week when the supreme court in washington is going to hear this case in which he is

claiming he is immune from prosecution, and of course in this criminal trial, trump is a defendant and his required to be in court every day. he is not required to attend any supreme court case and did not go to the last case about his eligibility to be on the ballot, it is seeming, from your notes, that you sent me about what was going on at what you could see, it seemed like the judge sort of took -- not to defense necessarily, but seemed to react strongly to that request from trumps lawyers. can you explain why that was, and what happened? >> there were a couple of things that happened. one was this was the first request from trump -- the third request from trump today alone to skip a particular trial, he also asked to skip for his son behrens high school graduation and he also said he does not want to have to be here on wednesdays because that is a day the judge traditionally is not going to hold trial and trump wants to be able to go out and campaign. todd lynch noted that on the judge basically said look, i will try to take wednesdays off, but this thing is moving

slowly, i reserve the right to call you back here on wednesdays. that is more of a courtesy to you and also something that i do to ensure that i can keep my other case is moving. but, in terms of the moment where the judge appeared to take umbrage, it was because todd blanche said, we don't think we should even have to be here. and he was suggesting they never thought that this case should be heard now, because trump is a candidate for president, and also because their contention is that trump cannot get a hearing, here in manhattan, because of all the pretrial publicity. because the judge has ruled on those motions, he was particularly offended by the accusation, the contention that they shouldn't have to be here, and he sort of reeled back and said, you don't think you have to be here? and then he got quiet and if you have ever had a relative like this, i do. he is a person who gets quieter as he gets angrier, and it's almost scary. that is when he made it very clear, trump is

required to be in his courtroom, by law, this is a state criminal proceeding and despite the fact that he has other legal things going on, including event of the united states supreme court, he must be here on april 25th >> you are exactly right, there is nothing like a family elder, getting yelled at is one thing but there is nothing like a family elder who brings the volume down to the point where all you can do is wait to see if he will still have your life at the end of a sentence. i have been there. i know that feeling, that is exactly the feeling i got when you sent me that note to thank you for joining what happened. lisa rubin, msnbc legal correspondent, our tireless correspondence on these matters. stay hydrated, my friend, thank you so much. >> thank you. i want to turn, now, to catherine christian who has lived the life of these prosecutors, in court bringing this case today, she is a former assistant district attorney in the manhattan district attorneys office. i really appreciate you making time to be here with us. thank you. >> i am glad to be here, rachel.

>> can you tell us -- i am most interested in your oval overall impression of how today went, and again, is sort of a version of the question i asked lisa, was this a normal day in court? was this the kind of proceeding that -- the kind of pace, the kinds of yeses and knows from the judge that you would expect in a typical new york das case, or was this really feeling different? >> it was normal. it was interesting, from my colleagues who are former federal prosecutors, were shocked, because it is very different in the federal system. the judge is the one who does all of the questioning, for the voir dire, and it is really much more smooth. in the state system, in new york state, the attorneys take part. and also, in the state system here in new york, there are a lot of preliminary matters that happen right before jury selection, like what you heard this morning, issues about what evidence the prosecutors want

to bring in. i think tomorrow will also have something called a sandoval hearing. what is that? whenever a prosecutor wants to cross-examine the defendant about prior convictions or prior bad acts, they have to give notice to the defense and then the judge will decide, which ones, if any, the prosecutor's can question the defendant about, and that will be another hearing, which also happens before jury selection. so, this happens, and in a case like this, where you know you have a high-profile defendant, with strong feelings on both sides, it will be a much longer proceeding. you had 96 people who were brought in with prospective jurors. 50 of them sort of self identified that they cannot be fair and impartial, so they are gone and now you're left with 4 to 6. that is not shocking on a case like this. and according -- to donald trump set of them, but you only had

in manhattan, only 50 of 96 is not bad, and the judge is moving along as fast as he can. he is a very fair judge, and he is a very smart judge and he does move things along quickly. wednesdays, he has off, because he is the presiding judge of manhattan mental health court. so in addition to this trial, he has a heavy duty calendar of those cases, requiring patience and special attention. so, that is why on wednesdays, this court is not in session for the trump trial. >> those pending motions handled by the judge today, before voir dire started with attentional jurors, they were substantive and interesting. we got to hear argument between the two sides about, you know, what aspects of which alleged affair could be heard in front of the jury and we her discussion about whether the allegedly illegal -- i will say

alleged illegal agreement with this publishing firm, the national inquirer publisher, whether evidence and meetings around that alleged agreement can be brought in front of a jury, it's all really interesting stuff. when we have a sandoval hearing that you were describing, would you expect that to also be, for lay observers, a substantively interesting thing about what is going to happen in the trial, about the strength of the evidence and indeed, about the contours of the alleged crime? >> yes. and what you will see, which is what you saw earlier today, is how fair the judges. the access hollywood tape, which many viewers have seen and we don't have to describe what donald trump said, he said, that cannot be shown to the jury. it is too prejudicial. however, a transcript can be played, or read to the jury. he also said that the deposition which was taken in the jean carol case cannot be shared with the jury, again,

because it is too prejudicial. we will see the same thing at the sandoval hearing. the prosecutors will ask for a number of bad acts. the general rule is, anything beyond 10 years is to remove. if and ask for prior bad acts beyond that the judge will say no, that is too remote. i don't know which acts they will ask for, i doubt the judge will allow them to ask any questions about the three open indictments, he has a fifth amendment right enzos are indictments, not convictions. the several civil fraud trial, donald trump could be cross- examined, not that he was found liable of falsifying business records, why? because he is charged with that here, but he might be cross- examined about the fact that the judge found him not credible , you may recall he was called back about whether or not he had violated the gag order regarding the judge's court attorney. donald trump should certainly be

cross-examined about defamation verdicts, lying, and defamation of the jean carol british. i'm sure the prosecutors will ask to cross-examine about that, assuming the donald trump testifies, but this is a very important hearing, because cases and convictions have been reversed because the defendant has said, i would have testified about for the fact that it the judge told the prosecutors they could cross- examine me about every bad act. it is an important decision of the judge is going to make. >> important in terms of fairness to the defendant and also important to those of us watching this in terms of understanding that elements of donald trump's past which may be starting to haunt him in court this week for the first time ever. that give me a really clear sense of what to watch for and

what to keep an eye on moving ahead, thank you so much for helping us. >> you are welcome. >> much more to come here, tonight. stay with us. we'll keep repairing. slowing my cancer from growing and living longer are two things i want from my metastatic breast cancer treatment. and with kisqali, i can have both. kisqali is a pill that when taken with an aromatase inhibitor helps delay cancer from growing and has been proven to help people live significantly longer across three separate clinical trials. so, i have the confidence to live my life. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. avoid grapefruit during treatment.

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there was a picture on the front page of the national enquirer, which does have credibility, and they are not going to do pictures like that, as they get sued for a lot of money if things are wrong. okay? a lot of money. and there was a picture. all i did is point out the fact that on the cover of the national enquirer there is a picture of him and crazy lee

harvey oswald having breakfast but this is a magazine that, frankly, in many respects should be very respected. i mean if that was the "new york times" they would have gotten pulitzer prizes for their reporting. i've always said, why didn't the national inquirer get the pulitzer prize? >> why didn't the national inquirer get the pulitzer prize for breaking the big news that ted cruz's dad killed jfk? i mean, you have to admit, that's a scoop. and look, world exclusive investigation. it's not even like somebody on another continent had that, just the inquirer. that of course came right after the inquirer's big scoop that hillary clinton had been caught, on camera, having romp at a seedy motel. cd-rom conned caught on camera

at this motel that was around the same time they reported on hillary clinton's secret hitman. hillary hitman. they also broke the news that hillary clinton was hooked on narcotics. she's on drugs, and, they broke the news of donald trump getting revenge on hillary and her evil puppets. it says, muslim obama, little bloomberg, weird cane, meaning tim kane. mob connections, shady billion- dollar deals. boy, that really does sound like pulitzer material. is also right around the time they broke the big news of hillary clinton's 10 deadly secret that every american must know. her 10 deadly secrets. jill clinton now. donald trump says, give them the pulitzer prize. that was with a publication called the national enquirer

gave a donald trump during the 2060 and election. today, on day one of trump's criminal trial in new york, in which he is accused of using his business records to cover up a payment made to influence the 2060 and election, prosecutors asked the judge if they could introduce evidence related to trump's arraignment arrangement with the national enquirer during the campaign. an arrangement which did not just produce the kind of quality blitzer contender journalism i just showed you, prosecutors today describe the arrangement between trump and the national enquirer in 2016 as an unlawful conspiracy to influence the united states election. the judge ruled today that he will allow the introduction of that evidence about the scheme that donald trump cooked up with the national enquirer, of all places. as a legal matter, how does that narrative help the prosecution win their case? why is it legally relevant? that's next. reduced kate's t.

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joining us now is someone in the courthouse today, someone who did win a pulitzer prize for coverage of donald trump's business record in financial scandals, let's bring in suzanne craig, investigative reporter at "the new york times." thank you for being here, i know you had a really long day. >> thanks for having me. prosecutors today got permission from judge marshon to permit evidence at this trial about donald trump's relationship with the national enquirer, and how he worked with -- basically in coordination with the inquirer during the 2016 campaign, to boost his campaign. what is your sense of why this is important to the prosecution's case, and what is your sense of how important this evidences to potentially winning this case? >> i thought it was really significant. it is hard to say what is going to be the most significant thing, because it is going to depend on the testimony, but i

thought this was significant because we are not noticed going to learn the role that ami had in a very narrow fact here, the stormy daniels or karen richardson payment, the offer payment to the doorman, we are going to learn that donald trump and david tucker went back years, and that during the 2000 or perhaps even beyond the election 2016, that they had an agreement, where david becker would do the catchup kills the stories of donald trump, stories that would never appear, the ones that we have heard a lot about, but also that he was somehow involved in stories that involved marco rubio, ted cruz, ben carson, hillary clinton. i don't know quite where that list ends, but i think we are going to hear a lot more about that relationship with these guys have known each other for years. they both have very large estates done in palm beach, and

seemed to go back a long time, in terms of trading information that went right into the national enquirer, donald trump helping out on stories, you know, they had a very mutually beneficial relationship for years, and i think that the jury is going to hear a lot about that. >> why is that not a story of biased press, and instead is a story that prosecutors say was effectively an illegal conspiracy, criminal conspiracy to influence the election? how does money make it a different thing than just a story about a weird tabloid? >> right. you hear a lot about the national enquirer buying stories. we have sort of known that they do that, maybe not in so much detail but david has paid a fine already to the federal election commission, because he paid the money to karen at google, was a violation of laws about corporations interfering in an election. and in this case, the lawyer

for the da said today, and i will quote here, said, there was a deal struck between ami and the defendant to put their thumbs on the scale, to control the flow of information that would read reach of the electorate, and that is what we are going to hear, that is why he is pushing for all of us to get in, to really set the table for exactly what donald trump and david packard were doing. it was not just a few payments, it was a larger scheme. >> suzanne craig, pulitzer prize-winning is to get a reporter at "the new york times." susan, i know you've had a long day, thank you for being here. i really appreciate it. we will be right back. back. ir you can do at home. just once a month. nucala targets and reduces eosinophils and helps your symptoms. think less asthma attacks... less need for oral steroids... less asthma-related hospital visits. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection

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