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Stormy Daniels Describes Alleged Sexual Encounter With Trump; Stormy Daniels Testifies In Trump Hush Money Trial. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 07, 2024 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:00]

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: He denied it. And she's told that story before. But the reason prosecutors are eliciting such level of detail about everything, including that encounter, is to show that it's true things like she remembers the furniture. She remembers what floor the hotel room was on. She remembers the location that something happened.

So all of those small details have the ring of truth and are things that you can prove like through her phone, she had the Trump's bodyguard as Keith Trump or Trump Rona, you know, the assistant, those sorts of things to show that what she's saying is truthful.

But it's interesting that the defense is trying to keep the details of the sex out, because you would think if it didn't happen, they would want to go into the details and ask a question like, was there anything unusual? Was there a birthmark? Was there something on his body that only she would know if she had seen him in that situation?

And they're not going there, which I find curious. In some ways, I think it almost makes it seem like they're admitting it happens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Daniels is confirming she did not tell law enforcement, or her daughter's father about this alleged threatening interaction with somebody in the parking lot, the prosecutors asking Daniels about also a 2011 blog post. Daniels said that she'd never heard of the website and she wanted the post taken down.

Again, Daniels has told the story about being threatened in the parking lot before she doesn't have any evidence that it occurred. She hasn't. There's not anybody who's come forward saying Oh, yes, she told me this at the time. She said she went into an exercise studio right after this, what she told me in 2018, that she'd gone to an exercise studio right afterward.

But again, there's -- she has not having documentation on this. She says she did not go to the police because she was concerned. And you'll say she was told about The Post from Gina Rodriguez, one of her representatives. She said she was concerned about it because she had been threatened. Jake, let's get back to you.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Anderson. Thanks so much. And you know, one of the things that's kind of striking about the last hour or so of testimony is the degree of detail that the prosecution has elicited from Stormy Daniels. And at the beginning of the day, Judge Merchan made it clear that he didn't think there should be much more beyond the fact that there was a sexual encounter, according to Stormy Daniels.

Bill Brennan, they've gone far beyond that. I'm not going to go into the details that Stormy Daniels has provided at the instruction of prosecution attorney Susan Hoffinger. But what possible ramification does this create for the defense?

BILL BRENNAN, FORMER TRUMP PAYROLL CORP. ATTORNEY: Jake, it could lead to a mistrial. I don't think a will in this case. But the judge before this session started today in front of the jury made it clear that the prosecution had put guard rails on its inquiry. And he limited it to if I understood his ruling, she can say they had sex that said we can talk about the sausage, but not how it's made.

And this prosecutor with impunity has violated that order all morning and now into the afternoon long. The defense sue naturalist objected numerous times I believe most of those objections were sustained. But I predict at some point maybe it's sidebar that they will go to Judge Merchan to create a record -- a move from mistrial in the hopes of getting of it.

You have to move for that mistrial in case this doesn't go the defendants way to protect the record on appeal. If you snooze, you lose. If you don't move for the mistrial now, you waive it.

TAPPER: So, Elie Honig one, I mean, they brought out a lot of elicited a lot of details, including Stormy Daniels feeling intense regret that she didn't say no, including all sorts of intimate details, again, that I'm not going to share. Why? Why would you do that just for credibility for just to create a narrative that this actually happened? What purpose?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I think that's exactly what prosecutors are going for there. They want details. They want specific nuances so that she's more credible. I do agree with Bill. I think we might see a mistrial motion, it will not be granted to be clear. But yes, for the appeal record, they do need to raise it.

I mean, the judge made clear right up front, he said I don't want excessive details. Here we are two hours later, it took about two hours to get through that whole encounter. And there were several objections sustained and prosecutors, look, we're used to sort of looking at Trump's lawyers and the way they've compromised their credibility with the jury. Prosecutors are not angels, either.

And I've done this. I've gone a little beyond what judges --

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: You haven't been an angel?

HONIG: No, I have not. There have been times when I've asked things that were probably on the borderline, maybe a little over from what the judge had approved. And --

TAPPER: Because why? Because you want the jury to know them. HONIG: Yes. Because --

TAPPER: Even though the judge didn't want you to?

HONIG: Right, I mean, there's gray area here, right? And you would never cross a line but you can step into that gray area. And I do think the prosecutor here has gone a little too far on the level of detail.

I don't think it's going to cause is a reversal and now only now are they getting to the really relevant part about how she shopped her story around how she was paid what she knew about those things.

[12:35:07]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: So what's -- why is it worth the risk for the prosecutor in this particular case?

HONIG: Because I think the consequences will be very minimal. I think the judge may admonished the prosecutor, you know, that happens. It's not going to cause a miss trial. And it could be the officers made the calculation maybe incorrectly, that it's more important to get those details of --

HUNT: Why? If it's not relevant to the underlying question, why?

TAPPER: Is it because they want this whole thing to seem disgusting?

HONIG: Yes.

TAPPER: And take it out on Donald Trump ultimately?

HONIG: Yes. Because jurors care. The visceral gut reaction to the people and the parties absolutely matter. The jury is not a bunch of automatons. They're not robots who just mechanically take inputs and spit out a result. They're 12 human beings. They're 12 New Yorkers. It matters who they like it matters, who they're disgusted by it matters who they believe and who they don't.

TAPPER: Jamie, I want --

LAURA COATES, CNNCHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Excuse me.

TAPPER: Go ahead.

COATES: But that's exactly why the judge is always engaged in the balancing test between what is probative and prejudicial. Probative meaning what's going to inform your decision about the elements of the charges gather being prejudicial, and every time they were objecting, they were objecting because they did not want any insinuation that Donald Trump had engaged in a nonconsensual, forceful sexual act with Stormy Daniels.

That's why they were on their feet objecting about these issues time and time again, not just about her upbringing, but because there is this is a case about whether there was the intent to defraud and falsify documents.

The judge said weeks ago, he does not want to trial within a trial and having prejudicial insinuations that he engaged in a nonconsensual -- nonconsensual or a forced sexual affair, which is problematic. Now of course, Daniels, it's hard to describe the conditions but Merchan sustained an objection to that answer, again, because it's going outside of where they want to be.

TAPPER: So right now Stormy Daniels is on the stand. She's being led through direct examination by the prosecuting attorney stick with us. We're going to squeeze in a quick break much more CNN special live coverage.

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[12:41:42]

TAPPER: And welcome back to CNN special live coverage of Donald Trump's Hush Money Cover Up Trial. Our reporters have been giving live updates from inside the courtroom as the jury is listening intently to Stormy Daniels who film starring director who alleges she had a tryst with Donald Trump in 2006.

And whom Michael Cohen paid off, he says to keep her quiet in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign.

I want to bring in Alyssa Farah Griffin, right now a CNN political commentator who is the former White House Communications Director for Donald Trump.

So Alyssa, you joins the White House after the Stormy Daniels scandal had happened after the story had broken and the like. But you have said that you think this is nonetheless embarrassing for Donald Trump? What must it be like for him in that courtroom? Hearing these explicit details?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, Trump's going to be furious. I would not want to be his attorneys after this, that he has to listen -- sit there, listen, not be able to respond in real time. It's not something he's used to. This is a person who's used to being in control and who reacts very quickly when he feels like something's being said to impugn him.

But what I was thinking about is there's the courtroom and then there's the court of public opinion. So what's happening in midtown Manhattan right now, it matters to -- we should see how -- we'll see how much Stormy can actually make this connection to the hush money payments.

But the court of public opinion if you're a voter sitting at home, who's on the fence, they're tired of the Trump noise. They don't love Joe Biden, but they're hearing the salacious details. That goes a lot further than what we learned when the story first broke. You've got to wonder if you're just you just don't like the ick factor of it.

On top of that, the split screen of Joe Biden calling out campus antisemitism. Maybe it was late but he did the right thing. And he spoke the right words. Trump's not talking about voters issues. He's in a courtroom and you're having to hear about these nitty-gritty details that honestly no Americans want to hear about.

TAPPER: So right now in court, they're talking about the hush money, payment and the nondisclosure agreement, the email and an email specifically addressing expressing dissatisfaction with the delay of funding the agreement. Stormy Daniels saying that she wanted this agreement done quickly because she was concerned about the threat.

She also testified in court today, Stormy Daniels that during her meeting and her conversation with Donald Trump, Trump showed her a photograph of Melania and Stormy Daniels said she was beautiful. He said not to worry, quote, we don't even sleep in the same room. This is back in 2006.

Our reporter in the courtroom says Trump shook his head and muttered something to his legal team. He does appear according to our reporters in the courtroom increasingly irritated. One question I have is, it is notable that Melania Trump has not come to court. Eric Trump has come to court. I think he's there today. I think he was there last week as well. Melania Trump has never come.

Was this ever discussed at the White House her feelings about this accusation?

GRIFFIN: So not in my time, but Stephanie Grisham, who was a close advisor to Melania Trump has talked about it openly. This was something that she was incredibly embarrassed by understandably so she was incredibly outraged. I actually kind of took some distance from the former president after the story broke in 2018.

[12:45:05]

I have -- I'm not surprised at all that she's not there today. But watch what Donald Trump is going to do after he gets out of this today. He is going to try to flip it and say, I was trying to protect my wife from these salacious, baseless allegations. He's going to try to flip the script and say, this actually plays into my argument that this was in fact about protecting my family, not about the campaign. So that's something that I think the prosecution has to be very, very prepared to show that the campaign was also an aspect of it.

But he knows how to flip narratives on their head to benefit him. And I just -- I can't underscore enough. I mean, I can imagine he's outraged right now. His attorneys not objecting as much as he wanted to. I could see that even being something where he considers replacing one of them.

TAPPER: At the Trump White House when you were there, was the consensus that this allegation from Stormy Daniels was a lie, or did people think it was true?

GRIFFIN: I think there were mixed feelings when I was working for Vice President Pence when Karen McDougal came out and spoke about their ongoing affair. And I think for many people that felt very credible, they believed it, but listen to Republican voters. A lot of Republicans made peace with these allegations back when they heard about them.

I don't know that I think it majorly changes the way that voters perceive him, unless they are able to show that this specific payment was made and falsified to try to withhold it from voters in the public ahead of the election.

But the details I certainly think affect people who aren't are on the margins about him, and they're not really sure if they want to be with him because it's not the kind of thing that you want to see from a president. It's not the kind of thing you want to explain to your children. You know why this is in the news, why the potential future leader of the free world was engaging in this behavior.

TAPPER: All right, Alyssa Farah Griffin. Thanks so much for your time.

Stormy Daniels on the stand right now explaining her knowledge of this hush money deal which is at the center of the alleged Trump scheme for which he's on trial. Much more from court ahead. You're watching CNN special live coverage. We're going to squeeze in a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:43]

COOPER: And welcome back to CNN special live coverage of Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial. The judge just excusing the jury for a lunch break after a busy morning of testimony here in New York. We're also just getting new sketches you're seeing them here. Stormy Daniels on the stand testifying as the prosecution led her through direct examination, which she detailed a sexual encounter with the former president of the United States.

Here with Paula Reid and also CNN's John Berman. There's certainly a lot that prosecutors accomplished this morning, what stands out to you the most?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Obviously they're doing something here that is getting the defendants attention, even if legally, what she has said so far is not going to make or break the case.

Right now they're getting into the hush money payment, which again, helps the prosecutors establish that she was paid, and the payment was covered out to help his chances in the election. Up till now, there has not been anything that's going to really truly help the prosecutors but Trump has been so active. He's been tapping his defense attorneys prompting them to object watching everything.

COOPER: Which is much different than his behavior over the last couple of days with his defense.

REID: Yes. I was with him yesterday. And for most of the few hours that I was in there he was leaning back with his eyes closed. I'm not saying him sleeping, but he was not intensely watching the monitor. So she clearly has the defendants attention. He is watching everything that's going on.

And as I said earlier, I think one of the biggest legal risks for him right now is that he is triggered by her testimony and does something to violate the gag order.

COOPER: That is the question when he emerges at the end of the day traditionally will speak to reporters. What will, you know, will he feel the need to say something about her?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We'll find out if he has that restraint that the people have been saying he's all of a sudden appear here. Look, I think the prosecution for the first time has been on offense all morning long. So far, what we've seen from them isn't trying to mitigate the cross examination, isn't trying to mitigate how the defense lawyers will question Stormy Daniels later. I think we're going to get that after the break.

But everything up until this point was, look, this is what Donald Trump was trying to hide. This is the sexual encounter that we've been talking about till now from the eyes of Stormy Daniels. Listen to her describe it and the push the limits very clearly of what Judge Merchan wanted to allow.

And in some cases, they went over those limits, but it didn't feel like they were doing it somewhat intentionally to plant some seeds with the jury about the behavior that they say, you know, Donald Trump performed.

COOPER: We are, I mean, when they come back from lunch. How long do you anticipate her testimony to continue with for prosecutors? Obviously, the defense will then take over.

REID: So I think the question is at what pace are they going to move. I mean, they move very slowly, much to the aggravation of the judge this morning getting to details it just had nothing to do with nothing, right? Trying on the Super Bowl rings or calling her friend and the friend not picking up.

Here if they move at a more traditional clip, they could wrap this up in an hour or so. They need to get through October 2016. They met -- that need to get through the story coming out in public or denials have her explain that. They could finish this up by the end of the day. They could also stretch this out as they did this morning and leave this in the minds of jurors for the day off.

COOPER: You know the defense's argument had nothing to do with the election. This was about protecting Melania Trump, protecting Trump's family making this hush money deal. Clearly for stormy Daniels and the people around her the election was front and center.

[12:55:02]

They knew that suddenly, you know, she had tried to sell her story, according to her testimony, to in touch magazine in 2011. I think it was for $15,000. Gina Rodriguez, an associate of hers tells her in advance of the election that she has an opportunity to sell her story probably for much more.

REID: Yes, because clearly post-Access Hollywood tape they are under enormous pressure not to let any stories about illicit conduct with women get out ahead of the election. She knows that Keith Davidson knows that, Michael Cohen knows that, Donald Trump knows that. So she clearly saw her opportunity.

COOPER: Yes. Today the jury listening to the story of a sexual encounter straight from the woman who says she lived it soon Stormy Daniels resumes her testimony or reporters be inside the court to bring you every most important moment. Much more CNN special coverage in minutes. We'll be right back.

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