By CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Brynn Gingras from the courthouse
From CNN’s Kara Scannell
Judge Juan Merchan's gag order hearing will now take place at 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, May 2.
It’s unclear why the date and time changed.
Before leaving the bench today, the judge said the hearing would take place on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. ET.
It came after the prosecution filed a motion and argued in court that former President Donald Trump violated the gag order four more times over the past few days.
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell, Nicki Brown and Brynn Gingras
Former American Media Inc. chairman David Pecker took jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money case inside how he paid for Karen McDougal’s story to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump – and how his decision not to pay for Stormy Daniels’ story led to Michael Cohen ultimately paying for it.
Prosecutors on Thursday wrapped up their direct testimony with Pecker, who was on the stand for three days describing in detail how he worked with Trump and Cohen to buy up damaging stories about Trump throughout the 2016 campaign.
His testimony laid the foundation for the rest of the Manhattan district attorney’s case against Trump that focuses on the payment to Daniels.
Here are the takeaways from Thursday in the hush money trial:
From CNN's Elise Hammond and Lauren del Valle
Exhibits that the Manhattan District Attorney's office admitted as evidence were shown during former President Donald Trump's hush money trial Thursday.
One of them is a photo of David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, and Trump at the White House.
Another exhibit is the licensing agreement between American Media Inc. and Playboy playmate Karen McDougal. Pecker testified in court that he negotiated a deal that would give McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story that she and Trump had an affair.
The agreement, dated August 5, 2016, also included that McDougal was going to get a monthly column on aging and fitness in Star and OK Magazines.
The invoice for the payment to McDougal’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, is also included in the exhibits, among other documents and text messages.
From CNN staff
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified Thursday about a deal made with Playboy playmate Karen McDougal and outlined the involvement of Donald Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen.
After paying for two other “catch-and-kill” stories, Pecker said he refused to pay money to Stormy Daniels, testifying that he didn’t want the Enquirer “to be associated with a porn star.”
After the prosecution finished its direct questioning, the defense had a chance to start its cross-examination, which will continue on Friday.
Here’s what happened in court:
Karen McDougal:
Stormy Daniels:
Cross-examination:
Gag order: Judge Juan Merchan said he would consider four new violations of a gag order on Trump and set a hearing for next Wednesday. Prosecutor Chris Conroy said these violations include comments Trump made to cameras outside the courtroom, in an interview and at an event. Merchan did not issue a ruling or hold Trump in contempt.
From CNN's Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
As the first criminal prosecution of a former American president began just 13% nationwide feel Donald Trump is being treated the same as other criminal defendants, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Most of the country was divided over whether he is being treated more harshly (34%) or more leniently (34%) than other defendants.
The poll, which began fielding a few days after the trial’s jury selection phase kicked off April 15, finds only 44% of Americans express confidence that the jury chosen for the case will be able to reach a fair verdict, while 56% more skeptical that a fair outcome is in the cards. More see Trump’s behavior during the trial thus far as inappropriate (42%) than appropriate (25%), with about a third saying they haven’t heard enough to say.
Those assessments of how things are playing out in the courtroom come as a rising share of Americans say the charges in the ongoing trial – related to allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to an adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election – are irrelevant to his fitness for the presidency even if true (45% say so now compared with 39% last summer, before he became the presumptive Republican nominee for president)
About three-quarters of voters currently backing Trump against President Joe Biden in the 2024 election say they will stick with him even if he is convicted of a crime, while 24% of Trump’s backers say a conviction might cause them to reconsider their support.
From Christine Cornell and Jane Rosenburg
No cameras are allowed inside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump's hush money trial is underway, but CNN sketch artist Christine Cornell captured the scenes from today's proceedings:
From CNN's Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, and Nicki Brown
The defense started its cross-examination of David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer.
Trump attorney Emil Bove tried to argue that Pecker’s work helping Donald Trump during the 2016 election was nothing new or out of the ordinary.
Bove’s cross-examination lasted just over an hour before court ended for the day. The defense will continue its questioning with Pecker on Friday.
Here are some of the key points:
"That's correct," Pecker said.
"AMI wasn't a charity?" Bove asked. "No, it was not," Pecker said.
"Part of AMI's business model was to purchase stories, correct?" Bove asked.
"Yes, it was," Pecker responded.
From Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, Nicki Brown, and Kristen Holmes
Before leaving the bench, Judge Merchan reiterated that he signed the order to show cause regarding the prosecution's latest request to hold Trump in contempt for the four new violations of the gag order. It came after the prosecution filed a motion and argued in court that Trump violated the gag order four more times over the past few days.
There will be a hearing next Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. ET about that, he said.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy addressed the additional violations in court Thursday morning, providing the judge with another proposed order to show cause, which Merchan signed.
At a hearing Tuesday morning, prosecutors had already asked Merchan to hold Trump in contempt for violating the gag order, citing 10 social media posts from before and during the trial. They also want the posts taken down. Merchan has yet to rule on these alleged violations.
Trump has two campaign events next Wednesday. He is required to be in court for the gag-order hearing unless the judge signs a waiver to excuse him.
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
What happened in the courtroom on Thursday was "breathtaking," former President Donald Trump said after court wrapped for the day.
He also described former tabloid boss David Pecker's testimony as "amazing."
"Open your eyes, we can't let this continue to happen to our country," he added, reiterating his complaint that this trial should have "never happened."
Trump also commented on the "monumental" US Supreme Court hearing on the matter of his immunity in the federal election subversion case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
"I hope it was made clear that a president has to have immunity or you don't have a president. Or at most you can say it would be a ceremonial president. That's not what the founders had in mind," he said, adding he heard that the hearing was "quite amazing" and that the justices "were on their game."
