a look at probably going to hit okay maybe take a look here so that was the umpire yelling towards the dugout. >> erin saying what we should note, it was a fan in the stands who first did the talker? boon just stood there and took it when a fan mouth on and boone w out of thamed no i'm nousually, warn that the fans, yankeeut still taylor swift's new album became the most streamed album on its first day across spotify, amazon music, and apple music on friday, the tortured poets department gotten nearly 300 million streams on spotify alone before we sign off this programming node, cnn will have special coverage again tomorrow for another big day. and the new york hush money cover-up trial against donald trump,

former tabloid publisher david we'll be back with wolf blitzer in situation breaking news tonight, the trump trial testimony begins and the official transcript was just released for the next hour. >> we'll take you inside the courtroom from gavel to gavel. as this historic hush money criminal case unfolds the prosecution's first key witness takes the stand after both sides start to lay out their cases in opening statements are reporters and experts are standing by to break down all of today's most important developments and look ahead to what's next. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and arnd the world. i'm wolf blitzer with a special report in this room trump trial today let's get

right to the breaking news on the opening statements and testimony in the first criminal trial of a former president of the united states, donald trump. >> at the defense table as prosecutors and his lawyers began cutting to the heart of the hush-money case against him cnn's kara scannell is joining us live from new york where she was inside the courtroom today, qarrah, we now have the first official court transcript well if there are no cameras in the courtroom, but they're public interests in this case is insatiable. so the treat chief administrative judge here took an extraordinary step, and so they would make the transcript public every day so anyone can look word for war to see what is happening inside the courtroom behind me, this on the day when prosecutors laid out the evidence, they hope to prove in this case and trump's lawyers said what his defense would be saying that he was not

guilty of this crime as opening statements got underway opening statements and the first witness, a former tabloid executive front and center monday as the first criminal trial of donald trump officially got underway i think very well. prosecutor said the case boils down to a conspiracy and cover up that trump orchestrated scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election and covered it up by lying and his business records. assistant district attorney, matthew colangelo's saying it was election fraud, pure and simple. trump attorney todd blanche argued the former president is innocent. the payments made were legal. blanche also claimed there is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election in his remarks, colangelo's a lead prosecutor on the case, said the alleged crimes began at an august 2015 meeting between trump cohen and x national enquirer publisher david the first witness to testify in the trial on monday, colangelo's

said the three formed a conspiracy at that meeting to influence since the presidential election by concealing negative information about mr. trump in order to help them get elected. the prosecution said agreed to help by damaging information on trump to make it go away, move known as catch and kill. at the center of the case, a $130,000 payment to adult film star stormy he daniel's 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 trump's 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, colangelo's 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. prosecutor your 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 cohen's testimony, then it was trump's attorneys turn blanche said the da's 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 he's a person just like you and just like me, trump's team suggested the payments trump made to cohen. we're not a payback for funds paid to stormy daniels, but instead payments to his personal attorney trump defended himself against these charges after chord on monday puts an invoice or whatever and they paid nick or legal expense, i got indicted for that land 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 prosecution's 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 david was on the stand for about 20 minutes to de he was explaining to the jury how the national enquirer operate, saying that they did pay for certain stories he testified on the celebrity side of the magazine industry, at least on the tabloid side, we use checkbook journalism and we paid for stories. he also said that any story that required a payment more than $10,000 required his approval and he testified that he had to email addresses at ami, one that are used for general businesses that is assistant often looked at and one that he kept confidentially. now, before left the room, he walked past donald trump's table, said hello to the table. it wasn't clear if donald trump had responded. we couldn't get a good vantage point of that, but will be back on the stand

tomorrow. will he will get into what the prosecutor sees the core of this testimony, these catch and kill deals in the conspiracy. they say was hatched at trump tower in 2015. wolf larger-scale outside the courthouse in new york. thank you very much. i want to dig deeper right now into the legal strategy. both sides, cnn legal analyst elie williams is with me here at the magic while walk us through what you think are the key points in the prosecution's opening arguments absolutely wolf and everything in criminal prosecution starts with the law prosecutors have to establish elements of an offense and we flag the important one points here today. also flying business records, that's the crime with an intent to defraud. but here's the thing. and most important in this case is up for the purpose of committing another crime or aiding or concealing, covering up a crime. and you heard the prosecutors today literally call it a conspiracy & a cover up. so that's what we're talking about here. this eight or conceal now this qarrah talked about this august 2015 meeting and this is critical

for prosecutors efforts to establish an intent to defraud on the part of the defendant what they're saying, donald trump, what they're saying is that these three people got together at this august 2015 meeting and didn't just to falsify records, but agreed to falsify records for the purpose of helping the former president's campaign. chances that crime is the cover-up of the campaign. in 2016. now, you also have to establish the records or falsified and remember that jurors know none of this. you and i might many viewers might, but jurors don't. and so they have to establish bush how business records were kept within the trump organization. and you have these three employees, jeff mcconney, rona graph, and deborah tarasoff, who can actually testify as to what happened within the trump organization, how they falsified records or allegedly falsified records, put them together and what they did. now, what was the purpose of all of this? and kara touched on this? little bit. we all remember 2016 swirling around the trump campaign were

questions perhaps about this personal misconduct. they might have, and this is the allegation on the part of the prosecutors. it collaborated to benefit the presence campaign by essentially shushing these ends these personal intimate relationships. >> what were some of the key points in trump's defense team's opening statement that stand out to you, it's important that we call them opening statements, not arguments. they're just saying what they think the evidence is going to be and they went hard after michael cohen and stormy daniels on credibility witness credibility. number one, michael cohen with he has criminal convictions and his record, stormy daniels might have had a reason for moving forward with this. she came forward with the story and finally, wolf, really important here too big points made by the defense using the term president trump is innocent. that's not something that prosecutors have to establish this idea of innocence versus not guilty. they said he's innocent. they swing for the fences here. and most importantly, they are attacking the very heart of the charge

here by saying that there's nothing wrong with attempting to influence an election. it's called democracy. now look a core part of the case is this this allegation that trump should not have been influencing election. the defense right after that here, a tech trump on it. you're going to hear more about this over the course of this trial. very important, very interesting elliott standby as we bring in more legal and political experts into our conversation. and andrew mccabe, the defense says, they will find their words plenty of reasonable doubt hello prosecutors overcome that. >> well, it's really interesting wolf the prosecution and the defense have two very different jobs. the prosecution has to essentially build a house and they do it the way they start with that, the way they did today, they put the foundation down with their opening statement in the first witness, and then they start to bring in more witnesses they enter evidence approve every element of the crime the defense simply has to tear that house down. they do that by insinuating doubt. they do that by

attacking witnesses. they do that by attacking the evidence. and so they have much less of a coherent, broad theory. it's just more one shot after another one. and shot after another. and you will see the main witnesses take those shots very directly. >> yeah, it's interesting. david chalian, europe director, prosecutors are framing this as a 2016 election interference case potentially that could be illegal phrase, trump very regularly spins, including outside the court earlier today, after the session, listen to this this is done as election interference. >> everybody knows that idea instead of being able to be invincible, bamiyan and georgia lots of other places campaigning. and it's very unfair david, what do you make of that? >> well, this is an argument we're hearing from him on a daily basis now, and it's not an argument that's going to be in court. this is not the difference between inside the courtroom and what jurors can actually use to adjudicate his

guilt or innocence in this case, whether he's guilty or not guilty versus because what happens outside the courtroom when he's free to make a political grievance argument. and as he's doing here, but it has nothing to do with what the case will be decided on. that is an argument. he's making to a political case to the american people. rather than actually trying to improve his standing as a defendant in the case. and i think the distinction is key to understand because this is part of why the jurors are instructed not to consume media around this case, not to be on social media. it's exactly because this will happen in that space and it shouldn't go into their calculations. will the american people by that donald trump is being sidelined in this campaign in some way by joe biden, who has absolutely nothing to do with this manhattan da's case we'll see i mean, the american people have bought other untruths of donald trump's so we'll see if they, by this one. but this is something we're going to hear on a daily, but i suspect

you're right. i gloria borders with this as well as you took gloria trump's attorney todd blanche said this today. i'm quoting him. there's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. it is called democracy. it's a pretty stunning argument. >> well, it is a stunning argument& one man's democracy is another person's conspiracy. and that's, that's what we were hearing in the court today. he said what donald trump did was perfectly legal and normal and he was effectively just paying his attorney for services rendered, period. and you're allowed to do that. and as a candidate, you're allowed to try and get people to vote for you. that's that's what elections are about. now, the other side is saying, wait a minute, no, no, no, this was a conspiracy. he was trying to hide i the paperwork and that they were trying to dupe the american public because he didn't want the news about stormy daniels out. so you have two sides of the coin here. >> it was interesting. yeah, go ahead. >> i think that theory that todd blanche put out today is

going to run into some trouble because if they're going to hear from the prosecutors that it is actually a crime in new york state to promote a prevent an election. it's part of the new york state election laws, and it is specifically addresses a conspiracy between two people who tried to either promote or prevent an election through unlawful mean. so that is something they are going to hear. the prosecutors come back to time and time again. >> i'm blanche says it was perfectly lawful and perfect legal, but that's the problem. that's the issue. >> sure. that gets you right back to the underlying charge, which is of course the falsification of business record. >> i think that there they have in some ways, i think logically painted themselves into a bit of a corner on the defense sayyed today by putting both of these defenses out, one that he basically didn't know what the payments were for that he wasn't involved in making those ledger entries and those fraudulent entries. >> but on the other hand, saying, well, he did what he did not to influence the election. he did it to protect his family and to spare them the embarrassment. i think those two things are fundamentally contradictory. if

you knew that you were protecting your family, you knew what the paint and that's where for early it was interesting, david, of the national enquirer. it came out today that he had a separate work email when he didn't want any of his assistance at the national enquirer to see that private separate work email. uh, how significant is this testimony? his testimony in this case overall, a. given the fact that he has immunity it's critical because of the fact that he was in that august 2015 meeting that we talked about over at the magic wall that he can speak firsthand to conversations he had with the defendant, and that's always valuable testimony. now, the evidence about the email account is the kinda thing that doesn't need to be brought up at trial. it doesn't help too to establish any given fact, but you plant that seed and jurors heads and it just seems a little off in a little bit. why does this man have a second email address? and it's the kind of thing that little detail that prosecutors can get in to sort of make people raise an eyebrow, eyebrow and think, wait a second something

doesn't smell quite. right. >> it's interesting. david the court released the full transcript today of what happened in the court proceeding. about 1,000 pages. now, there's a different eight was a short day yeah. if you if you go through i mean, it's long, it keeps on going and going and going. i see over here page 953959. so there's a lot of pages that were released today, but there's a difference between reading all these pages and watching a video of what was going on. there's no cameras are allowed in the courtroom that will have a significant impact. a pro, and con on the on this case well undoubtedly will have a significant impact in how americans are consuming the information out of this case, it will not be through memorable soundbites are the ways in which instagram video gets consumed now, for many american voters i don't think it means necessarily wolf that americans won't be paying

attention. we'll see but a first ever criminal case against the former president, who is also the current republican nominee will undoubtedly be of interest, if not every single day of the trial for people. >> certainly news junkies like us will be gripped by it but there will be big moments, days of big witnesses, or as a verdict is approaching, where you could easily imagine, even without the video and audio coming out of the courtroom of americans tuning in to learn what happened and make their own judgments all of it, but all of this is a reminder of how slow the legal system is, how hello, there process as and frankly, how boring a lot of things aren't. i think people. this is a very salacious trial with some details that are of interest with a great number of people. but the world is going to see, it takes a long time to try a case. sometimes like, you know, the characters in this case are so interesting. i mean, you have michael cohen, you have stormy daniels, karen mcdougal well, i mean, the i think the american public will tune in just because of the

salacious nature of it. and also because it involves a former president of the united states, and it's an embarrassing case. and so even though you can't witness what's going on in court, you can certainly read about even if you're not reading every word of those thousand page transcripts every day? >> yeah. >> all right, guys. thanks very very much. we'll continue this conversation just ahead. we'll have boron. today's opening statements. and the first day of witness testimony, a lawyer are used to represent the former president is standing by. but first a closer look at the first witness. the prosecution in the criminal case brought forward against donald trump, right? david is a key player and how the catch and kill schemes fits into the case. >> situation room with wolf blitzer. he's brought to you by progressive save when you bundled motorcycle rv jurors visit progressive.com? >> you know when i take the bike out like this, all my

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first key witness of donald trump's hush money trial is set to return to the stand tomorrow morning cnn's bryan todd is taking a closer look at former tabloid executive, david in his testimony brian is a central player in this alleged hush money scheme. >> prosecutors believe he knows because many of the details will it is also david is longstanding friendship with donald trump and his his familiarity with the tactics of the tabloids that make him such a compelling witness in this trial? 72 year-old david told the court today that when he was president and ceo of american media incorporated, which published the national enquirer. he had the final say on which stories would get published& that quote on the celebrity side of the magazine industry, at least on the tabloid sayyed, we used checkbook journalism and he said they paid for stories that practice was just part of what prosecutors say. we're plans between donald trump and trump's former lawyer, michael cohen to pay women who alleged they'd had affairs with trump

to keep quiet why mr. important is he can talk about the plan to execute the scheme and this is also important. this election interference case doesn't involve just stormy daniels it involves karen mcdougal, karen mcdougal is a former playboy model who the new yorker magazine first reported had an affair and with trump. >> prosecutors say, and the enquirer were part of a scheme to pay mcdougal and stormy daniels for their stories about their alleged affairs with trump. and then to bury those stories. >> so it's called catch and kill as an approach, story is an episode that's, it might be incredibly embarrassing or damaging to donald trump as he ran for president might be acquired by the national enquirer and never see the light of day. >> trump has denied having affairs with both mcdougal& daniel's. prosecutors have given david immunity in exchange for his testimony his former company, american media, has signed a non-prosecution

agreement with prosecutors. born in the brain rocks picker, didn't start his career with the tabloids, but was gradually drawn to that world i believe it's an accountant he had worked in book publishing but he saw an opportunity he thought in tabloid news with american media to really capitalize on america's thirst for gossip and celebrity focus. one kim were employee of has told cnn is known for taking care of his friends and that donald trump was definitely in that category & trump has been friends since magazines really ruled the roost in new york city. >> in the 90s, you got to remember david launched george magazine with jfk junior. so at that time when trump was on arrived has as a real estate mogul in new york city, logically, he went after a media owner who's going to help advance his career. the two hit it off analysts say former president trump's lawyers could try to tear down david is credibility by simply calling attention to the kinds

of sorted stories that is, tabloids would run. >> but it's really not clear at this point what strategy trump's lawyers will use to deal with david is testimony they haven't indicated they're going to come after him with guns blazing wolf, but they might see what happens, he's gonna be back there tomorrow. we'll see what happens. brian, todd. thank you very much coming up. >> we'll go inside the defense strategy, including what it's like to have donald trump as a client. >> one of trump's former lawyers is here. we'll discuss the stanley cup playoffs on tnt, a tds nothing euler's covers continuous wednesday at cvs it's a new de, one were are shared values propel us towards a more secure future through august of partnership built upon cutting-edge american australian, and british technologies. will develop state-of-the-art next

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innocent and did not commit any crimes. let's bring in c in an accurate kaitlan collins caitlin, what does that opening statement reveal about how they'll approach? in this case? >> i mean, it's really the two sides arguing their view of what is at the center of this, these documents, these allegations, and it's basically the prosecution saying it election interference and trump's team coming out and trying to undercut that and downplay it by saying it's really just bookkeeping and you can't prove that trump knew about it that he was involved in it. they said the extent of his involvement with signing checks. we'll see you have to see how the jurors feel about whether or not that said enough about trump's involvement and what he knew was happening. they made arguments about trump not easily parting ways with his money, talking about him being frugal, turning an argument that you saw the prosecution tried to use on its head, and they also wolf talked about the witnesses here, must immediately right out of the gate. trump's defense attorney todd blanche, started talking about michael cohen and essentially saying that he is

not to be believed. of course, we know michael cohen is going to be a central witness to this case because he is someone who had direct conversations about this with trump. he was in the room in august 2015 david the first witness today, and donald trump and he was at the center of all of these efforts to kill these bad stories and the negative stories about trump and to keep them from coming out so that very clearly is going to be a target of theirs. and really what their overall trying to do. wolfe here is just create doubt among the jurors about the extent and of trump's involvement in all of this i understand you're also getting some new information in another criminal case facing trump, the classified documents case. >> what can you tell us about that? >> yeah. well, this is interesting, of course that is the case where or trump has been indicted for taking those classified documents to mar-a-lago out of the white house? else refusing to give them back to the government and standing in the way of the government's efforts to retrieve them. and now we're learning that allegedly one witness in the classified

documents investigation told investigators that trump offered to pardon his co-defendant and his valet, walt nauta, in this case, if he was charged with lying to the fbi when can trump is re-elected in 2024? of course are a lot of caveats there, but this is really notable because it's coming from this redacted interview that we're getting. we don't know which witness it is in the classified documents as investigation, who is saying that trump did offer to pardon walt nauta, who of course we know, was subsequently charged with lying to the fbi in this case and the reason we don't we don't we still a lot of questions about this is because this is someone who who said that they have not spoken to walt nauta since donald trump left the white house, but they did go to mar-a-lago several times throughout the course after he left the white house and they spoke to him about the classified documents and according to this interview, they told him to essentially make sure he returned them to the national archives or otherwise warned that he would give the justice department a reason to indict him something that we do note later happened. it's not clear why this was

not part of the charges that was brought against donald trump. i think there's still a lot of questions, but it does have a witness who did not want to be recorded in this interview because they feared back flash in trump's orbit, saying that he did offer to pardon someone who was later charged for lying to the fbi very are potentially very significant. kaitlan collins. thanks very much into our viewers. kaitlan, of course, we will be back later to light 9:00 p.m. eastern to akre hershko, the source. we'll be watching joining us now, a former attorney for donald trump, jim trusty. jim, thanks very much for coming and let me get your reaction to caitlin just reported about this cooperating witness in the classified documents case. i understand you were once helping trump in that case. what's your reaction? i mean, it's super speculative right now to say there's some reference by someone witness about some sort of pardon. conversation. let me just say walt nauta was always like this talisman for the government where they would do almost anything to try to trip him up thinking he's the keys of the kingdom. he's going to get them to donald trump and donald

trump's intent. so anything that's circles around nada, including the league campaign with the washington then post the doj did at his expense. i take it with a grain of salt. well, how much potential damage, legal damage with this cause trump, if in fact what what this allegation is true. >> yeah, i don't think much. >> i mean, honestly, the president had the remnants of the king. is that you have this pardon, power. we've had all sorts of controversial pardons over the here's going back at least to bill clinton, maybe going back to gerald ford, i suppose the idea that these talking about something that he would have authority to do is not particularly stunning are shocking obviously, it's contextual. we're saying, is he trying to mold testimony are shaped somebody's cooperation on cooperation. i just think it's to speculative to take a nugget out of a report and say that there's anything that's proven at this point, i want to play this clip of what trump said after the trial today. listen to this. sure. >> thanks. you got in trouble for things that had nothing to

do with me that a troubling went to jail. this had nothing to do with me. they had to do with the taxi cab company that and what are they? get all the lives that dig the last drought he got caught lying in the last trial. so he got caught lying pure lime as you know, the gag order that trump is under prevents trump from attacking witnesses, potential witnesses in this case, we're michael cohen as a witness. >> that's going to be called upon. did he violate the gag order? >> well, we'll find out tomorrow morning. obviously, the court's going to have a hearing about this at 9:30. i mean, look, he's talking about cohen. cohen is talking about him three-day and to me, the shock there is that as a prosecutor, the last thing you want is a guy with a perjury conviction, a guy that's a failed cooperator running around and still telling television how much he hates donald trump. he's only added, here's trump is under a gag or judge cohen is not under any gag order. right? i mean, he should be under an informal one where the prosecutors gag

order. i understand what he wants. i know he can't it's just not helping his case or the government's case. but luck will see if the, if the balances there, if the judge looks at it tomorrow morning and says, i think you have violated my gag order. how much he'll care about the fact that the chief recipient of that violation is going on tv daily& nightly and saying the same types of things. >> michael cohen responded on x, formerly known as twitter today writing this and i'm quoting him, your attacks of me, stink of desperation. we are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense. what do you think about that? >> i've feels like i'm rubber and you're glue i mean, it's kind of childish. i mean, look at the end of the day, cohen is his own person and he is helping the defense in a sense here, make him the centerpiece of this whole prosecution that should be the strategy. and i think we saw a lot of that from the opening statements de make get all about a referendum on his credibility. if you do that from the defense perspective, you've got a chance and the prosecution, of course, was distancing themselves saying,

well, everybody's got to pass. he may have a history, but this is about corroboration and schemes and other witnesses. so they're walking away from the importance of cohen while the defense is pushing hard, i think if anything one going on tv and saying these things, probably maybe a little bit helps the defense. >> interesting, judge, merchan. he ruled today that some of trump's past legal problems are can be brought up during cross-examination and now i'm quoting from him, including the verdict in the new york civil fraud trial, his violations of the gag order in that case the two verdicts against trump in the civil suits brought by e. jean carroll& the 2018 settlement dissolving trump's charity. how does that impact the likelihood that trump will do what he says he's ready to do. namely testified yeah, i look i think from the beginning, even before that ruling from the court about all these other little individual moments that they think reflect on credibility. i think it's a bad idea. i think you want the entire focus of this jury on cohen's credibility, and i know president trump probably

thinks that he could go out there and change the day by having his opportunity to address the periodic i get the frustration. this is kinda true in the white-collar sphere all the time c-suite executives, guys that are used to trolling things. but basically what i hear you saying is if you were trump's lawyer today, you would tell him to shut up well, i don't know about shut up because there's a political lane. >> you can't avoid. the guy running for president, but in terms of testifying on the witness stand i'd say look, let's make this about michael cohen and nothing else it shouldn't testify. >> i would say no, but it's going to be but it's one of those things the client ultimately has control of that at the lawyers can only woodshed you so long and push, so we'll see as you know, prosecutors are calling this whole case a scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. but trump's attorney today said this, and i'm quoting him. there's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. it's called democracy. what do you make that argument? >> well, i get the point. i don't know now that i would awarded it exactly like that because now everyone gets a chance to pick at it and say, what, what are you saying that there's no boundaries, there's no illegality is that

could ever accommodate pushing for an election. but i get the point. the point is, this was misdemeanor bookkeeping crotchets, interference is a major crime well, show me the statute that is charged here. i mean, we're talking the crimes in the indictment. it's not a speaking indictments 34 pages, kinda bare-boned, 34 counts of barebones charges. it is literally bookkeeping entries and so yes, they're using the criminal intent aspect to try to elevate misdemeanors to felonies. that's where the battleground is going to be in this trial. now when it comes to a jury verdict. but at the end of the day, i don't the evidence is going to be riding on the shoulders of two or three people and colon being one of them, you've got to just go kind of hammer that every 2nd you can as a defense attorney, assume that defensive will do that. that's coming up. all right jim. trusty. thanks very much for coming. i'm sure could see you. >> appreciate it. just ahead. we'll go live once again to outside the court in new york and get the viewpoint from one of our correspondence, who was in the room on this the first day of witness testimony riyad

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assignment with audie cornish, listen wherever you get your podcasts were following the breaking news on donald trump's hush money trial. now in the testimony phase, we're getting new insights right now from adjust released court transcript, lengthy indeed and from our reporter who was inside the courtroom throughout the entire session today, kara scannell is back with us, qarrah, what stood out the most to you about what happened inside the courtroom? >> well, for donald trump enters the courtroom he usually walks down the center aisles, scanning the rows of reporters that are sitting there. but today when he walked in, he was speaking pretty intensely to his lead attorney, todd blanche, as they walk to their seats at the defense table, when prosecutors give their opening statements, trump was looking straight ahead, not really engaging with the jury, but he was passing a number of notes to his lawyers, especially when prosecutors had mentioned michael cohen. but when his attorney, todd blanche, had given his opening from pedal turned, he was watching the jury paying close

attention to the opening statement as his lawyer was urging the jury to find trump not guilty. now, we also we saw that the jurors were paying close attention to all of the attorneys as they spoke into the judge when he was laying out how this case would unfold and what the jury first should evaluate any evidence more than half of them raise their hand when asked if they wanted a notebook and pens to take notes during this trial, and we saw them all have them handed hand as this opening statements got underway, wolf it's interesting characters tomorrow before witness testimony begins, the judge will hold a hearing to determine if trump violated the gag order. tell us about that. >> right. so prosecutors say that the former president has violated this gag order at least ten times and they want the judge to find him $1,000 for each violation and to war born donald trump, that he could be put in jail if he continues to violate the gag order on trump's lawyers have said that michael cohen, the one of the people that trump is accused of violating a gag

order for statement he's made about saying that he is someone that should be treated differently than the other witnesses in this case because he continuously and almost daily makes comments about the former president. there also saying that they want some clarity on what trump can repost from other people, saying that they weren't sure if that was covered by this gag order. so this hearing is expected to date place before testimony resumes tomorrow. and we'll see if the judge makes the determination in the morning. wolf kara scannell outside the courthouse in new york. >> excellent reporting. thank you very much coming up. new filings reveal just how much money trump world is spending on legal fees i knew that money is coming from as he tries to make make up a cash deficit just ahead of the general election live from the nations capital one of the most unforgettable nights in dc. >> that's water will read back here again, president biden, and comedian collin joseph headline the white house correspondents dinner i've saturday at seven eastern on cnn freeze, dryness, breakage

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bills are draining millions of dollars from his so-called leadership pac money that could have been spent on trump's presidential campaign. brian todd is back with us. we're here at the magic. wall, break down the new campaign finance report for us, brian, or what it reveals. well, will the former president and presumptive gop's excuse me, legal expenses pardon me? >> a really racking up as his first criminal trial gets underway. >> and that's just one of the many legal challenges he is facing his save america political action committee fronts the vast majority of the cost of these legal issues. and that's becoming a big drain on trump. let's take a look at save america at their legal expenses, expenses in just in march according to a new filing from the federal election commission save america spent nearly 3.7 million on legal related expenses just in march. that pardon me. that is nearly three. let's put the figure up here. you can see the kind of the dimensions here that's been only three out of every $4 that had collected altogether, save america turkey has spent more

than 77 million on legal fees for trump and his associates since the start of 2021, when spending shifted from his 2020 campaign to his current bid for the white house. at the same time, these legal expenses are draining trump's coffers. president biden, and the democratic party, are seriously expected their war chest just take a look at the disparity here heading into april, biden's campaign reports at $5.5 million in cash on hand, that is nearly double the trump campaign with 45.1 million in pardon me, looking at the democratic national committee versus the republican national committee, you see the same pattern the dnc has $45.2 million in cash on hand at the rnc, just $21.6 billion. that is a major early fundraising advantage that is money that trump and his political action committees could be spending on advertising, polling, and field offices. they're instead going to these mounting legal fees and that could be an issue for trump is special officially as

we hadn't head into that stretch run of the election season, wolf, the conventions coming up and all of that, they've got real money problems on their hand because of these trials, it's a huge issue indeed, brian, thanks very much for that report coming up the 2024 split-screen on full display once again today with president biden on the road in virginia. log donald trump sits it's on trial in new york this is a travel show visit. >> my fans around the world hi that kind of propaganda where and that's what i do is my gif predicts are calling challengers breathtaking cinematic experience smart. seductive, and bruce like it's sexual tension. >> i'm hanging out with us later on. they come suck you in day out, delivers a supernova of confirming performance doesn't make a little pitch. >> good quaternion those challengers is nothing short of

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greater than you think it's the same news for less, starting at $40 a month it's really been a gift having mom live with us. >> but as a nurse, my training told me she needed more help than i could provide so what connected with the place for mom? my senior living advisor. understood. are unique situation she quickly recommended communities and set up tours. a place for mom, helped us get to a decision and now mom does so well cared for. >> talked to an expert senior living advisor today at no cost to your family? i'm kevin liptak at the white house. and this is cnn while donald trump was on trial in the new york courthouse, president biden was out on the campaign trail once again today, let's bring in our senior white house correspondent, kayla tausche. >> kayla hauwa are the president and his campaign for that matter, seizing this

moment well, wolf, president biden and his advisers are seeking to stay above the fray focusing on issues of policy and substance and declining to wait in and comment on trump's legal issues. >> you'll see today, president biden was in virginia highlighting $7 billion in clean energy investments. vice president harris, for her part one was in battleground, wisconsin, highlighting trump's role in the overturning of roe bindings is expected to do more of the same tomorrow he heads to florida. trump's figurative back and when you look at just the schedule for the first two weeks of this trial, wolf, president biden would have been on a swing through pennsylvania. he's going to upstate kate, new york later this week and campaign and white house officials say, expect his schedule to stay incredibly robust as trump is kept in court through june. now, advisers tell me that they're using this time with trump in court and off the trail to essentially hunker down and kraft strategy and plans for the months to come.

>> but publicly play the campaign has wasted no time trying to rip the former president. there new and now opponent in the 2024 race with some sharply worded missives. >> strategically using language like sleepy don, stormy, and hush in an oblique reference to the trial in those statements. but despite and all of that, i'm told by both campaign and white house officials will if that there's no formalized effort to monitor the daily developments of the trial. there's no war room, there are no daily memos, there are no individual staffers who are tasked with reporting up to campaign and white house brass on what happens each day. i'm told they're getting their information like the rest of us it's watching the proceedings on tv wealth, they let's actually at the white house. >> thank you very much into our viewers. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in this room to all our viewers celebrating passover, have a happy passover. >> erin burnett outfront starts right now