Hey there! From CNN, I'm Krista Bo with the five things you need to know for Friday, April 26th.

'A historic hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump continues today with the first and only witness so far getting back on the stand for cross-examination. David Pecker is the former publisher of the National Enquirer, who told the jury over several hours of testimony how they would catch stories that were unflattering to Trump and kill them. And that included the hush money deal he allegedly helped broker with the adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, which is at the center of this case, as well as a catch and kill story about an alleged affair between Trump and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied the affairs. The defense is questioning pecker to try to poke holes at the 'tabloid king's' testimony for the prosecution, after establishing yesterday that the practice of catch and kill long predated the run up to the election, something that looms over this trial as the is expected ruling on whether Trump violated the gag order placed on him.

As student demonstrations and arrests continue at colleges all over the country. Negotiations are ongoing on the campus that started it all. CNN's Polo Sandoval is at Columbia University with more.

'Hey, Krista, just over a week into these campus protests, students who are staging in Columbia University's pro-Palestinian encampment, they say that what their school is offering, that it basically fails to meet their demands of divestment and amnesty for their fellow protesters. They're also telling CNN that as part of these ongoing negotiations between them and the university, that a possible statement between President Minouche Shafik is being worked out, one that ideally would address last week's police action that resulted in over 100 protester arrests on the Columbia campus. We have reached out to the university for comment on that, but for now, all sides of these negotiations are saying publicly that they are making some progress in actually resolving their differences, but ultimately still no end in sight, with the university calling for the dismantling of that encampment where the commencement for the university is going to be held in just a few weeks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells CNN the U.S. has seen evidence that China tried to influence the upcoming U.S. elections.

We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere. And we want to make sure that that's cut off as quickly as possible.

Blinken spoke to CNN after he met with Chinese leader XI Jinping. As the U.S. and China are working on stabilizing their rocky relations. Blinken said he repeated a message President Joe Biden gave XI during their summit in San Francisco last November not to interfere in the 2024 elections. Beijing has repeatedly said it does not interfere in U.S. elections.

Inflation remained stubbornly high last month, but it hasn't stopped Americans from spending. The Fed's preferred inflation gauge rose 2.7% for the year ending in March, which is above expectations and February's reading. Inflation is driven by increases in housing, health care and transportation costs and still remains above the Fed's 2% target after 11 rate hikes in two years. The Fed has been eyeing potential rate cuts for 2024. But economists and analysts say it's unclear when that would happen, after a series of hot inflation reports to start the year.

A celebrity went to the white House to talk about an issue she's worked with both Trump and Biden on. That's next.

I'm a big believer in the power of redemption.

Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a roundtable at the white House yesterday to discuss the progress the administration's made on criminal justice reform. A celebrity who's passionate about the issue joined her.

I am super honored to be here to hear your stories today, and I think it's so important to share them and amplify them, because there's so many people that are in your position that can use the inspiration.

Kim Kardashian and the vice president heard the stories of some of the 11 people President Biden pardoned Wednesday for nonviolent drug offenses. And in this meeting, Harris touted the administration's new rule that removes most restrictions on federal small business loans based on a person's criminal records.

All right, that's all for now. I'm Krista Bow and if you want a lighter look at the world, join us tomorrow for the next edition of Five Good Things. Till next time.