he went into far east russia to visit his girlfriend and now he is being held and charged with theft. piece this together based on putin's history and what we might be able to glean a week into this story. >> i think the girlfriend is the key, bill. she was reportedly deported from south korea and i'm quite sure she was in contact with staff sergeant black. she might have lured him to russia. so that he could be arrested there. it is another one of our american citizens now. we can't leave anyone behind but vladimir putin you can be sure will seek to extort us to get the maximum gain for him through some swap that would serve russia's interest. >> bill: this is indeed a curious case and you are suggesting he was set up. >> yeah, absolutely. this was a relationship he probably had when they were together in seoul.

the military now will be having to go back over there reporting requirements. russia is a criteria country, not a non-frat country. probably allowed to date her but that presents significant counter intelligence risks i'm sure the house and senate intelligence committee oversight will take a hard look at this. >> bill: story on our radar now. thank you for coming on. sorry it's short. his mom was talking earlier today and hope to have her on tomorrow. dan hoffman. thank you. >> dana: a live look at the new york courthouse where stormy daniels is expected to testify in the criminal trial of former president trump. that's your plot twist for today. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm dana perino. nice to be here with you. >> bill: good morning to you, dana marie, william george has hello. i'm bill hemmer. a blockbuster day in court or it might be, right? the word was at 8:00 a.m. stormy daniels would be on the stand. it hasn't happened yet but on

the witness list. her attorney went public earlier today saying that would be the case. the first witness on stand was not stormy daniels. >> dana: eric shawn at the courthouse. get your update now. hi, eric. >> hi, dana and bill. the witness on the stand is sally franklin, managing editor of random house talking about some of the former president's book. prosecution trying to get some of that into evidence. but it is an intense day at court. electric anticipation as we all wait for stormy daniels to take the stand. ms. daniels expected to be the second witness right after ms. franklin testifies and she is expected to describe her alleged affair with the former president in 2006 and why she was paid off by michael cohen. prosecutors say the deal to hide her claims was to protect mr. trump's presidential campaign. the defense says no, it was to protect melania, the trump family and trump brand. prosecutors say that trump

arranged with cohen. they are marked as legal expenses. when he arrived the former president reiterated his defense that he was paying michael cohen as his lawyer. >> we didn't put it down as construction costs, the purchase of sheetrock, the electrical costs. the legal expense that we made we put down as legal expense. there is nothing else you can say. you don't have to put down anything, i guess, but we put down legal expense was a legal expense. >> yesterday the jury saw those trump checks made out to michael cohen. prosecutors say that they paid cohen back for the $130,000 he took out from his home equity line to pay stormy. those checks are the basis of the 34 counts of filing false business records. the defense today likely to try

to portray ms. daniels as an ex tore shonnist. they objected to the prosecutors wanting to bring in details about her allegedly having sex with trump. the judge said some of those details will be allowed in so the jury will hear supposedly about the alleged sex act between ms. daniels and the former president back in 2006 that she claims. the former president, of course, has always denied that he had any affair with ms. daniels. we understand that she is waiting in a room right now ready to be called to the stand as soon as ms. franklin is finished. >> dana: thank you. former white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany is here. i asked jonna earlier. you might remember this. some of the news that you had to deal with as press secretary. do you think stormy daniels is a reluctant witness today? >> i think she is a witness that has a beef with the defense, has

a beef with former president trump. clearly there has been animosity back and forth between the two. i actually think she probably relishes this moment and enjoys this moment. i can't read the tea leaves, but i wouldn't classify her as that. >> bill: trump talked about the legal expenses how you list it. if you put down sheetrock as we heard from eric shawn's report you put down sheetrock or the contractor that. him talking about the case and whether or not they can prove it. >> they have no case. every legal scholar i see, maybe there is seasoned out there, some whack job, virtually everyone that i've seen has said there is no case. a case that shouldn't have been brought. the previous d.a. wouldn't bring it. bragg didn't want to bring it. then he brought it because of money and -- >> bill: you are an attorney.

as you clarify not practicing. and we just had -- we had a row with jonna and andy. all three of those people aren't buying the story. are they or we missing something? >> you read the key part from the controller yesterday. was michael cohen a lawyer? yes. okay. this is a legal expense? yes. there was a step beyond. if you read forward to the questioning right after that. so even if you say okay, this somehow was not a legal expense. even if the prosecution can make that argument, the next part of what was asked by trump's counsel president trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described, correct? to which the controller says he did not. so even if for some reason you can make an argument this was an illegal expense which is an inten able argument you have the added step did trump know about this, direct it or was he just signing checks? >> dana: listen to call for number three about an unfair

trial. president trump understandably i guess, i'm not sure if he is making the connection directly is bringing biden into this. watch. >> this all comes out of the white house and joe biden. this comes from the white house and it's all biden. it is an attack on his political opponent that hasn't happened in this country. it does happen in third world countries but it hasn't happened in this country. and it is a shame. and the trial is a very unfair trial. it is a very unfair trial. >> dana: i understand the tactic and i understand the point. how do you think it will go over? >> i think it's going offer well. we have colangelo stepping down from a great job at d.o.j. to take a job at the state level? i would venture to say not many people have made that decision. i would love to find another example of that. a good argument he is making. andy mccarthy said this. when you look at the decisions alvin bragg is making bringing

stormy daniels. bring up the access hollywood tape. alvin bragg is begging for this to be appealed because you have that weinstein case, you have something called a rule can't bring uncharged crimes or act. this will be dismissed on appeal. most prosecutors don't want to be reveresed. all he wants is a conviction. the appeal would take more than a year. >> bill: you have company now. welcome back. lydia hu an attorney inside the courtroom today. she writes that the idea here for prosecutors reading excerpts from "the art of the deal" is to show how trump is so detail oriented, penny pinching and frugal and that he always signs his own checks. meaning that trump would know -- these are new pictures from inside the courtroom right now seeing them for the first time -- that trump would know every

penny of his multi-billion dollar operation. does that argument fly to you? >> i looked up when "the art of the was published." 1987. the fact that the prosecution thinks they have to rely on a book which by the way, i'm sure you can still buy it. donald trump didn't try to scrub that book to interfere with the campaign, right? so the fact that they have to rely on that to help prove their case is utterly ridiculous. i hope what they are serving the jurors for lunch is popcorn. that's the only thing that the benefit they get out of the testimony coming this afternoon or later this morning. >> dana: not very nutritious but fan to snack on. andy mccarthy. talk about what i was mentioning to kaylee about trump trying to tie -- he talks about biden, the opponent he has in the

presidential election. >> kaylee is right about colangelo. the only thing i would add to that, dana, this is one of these like the dog that doesn't bark thing but a very profound bit of evidence. the reason that congress proposed in the federal election commission and the justice department exclusive jurisdiction for enforcing the federal campaign finance laws is they wanted uniform application of those laws throughout the united states. the f.e.c. does it on the civil side. justice department on the criminal side. if another local prosecutor who has no federal jurisdiction tried to enforce these laws and made up his own corpus of federal campaign finance law as he went along as it was convenient to his case, the justice department and the f.e.c. in a normal administration would not sit on their hands. they would go crazy. they would be papering that

prosecutor's office and the local courthouse and the federal court there with all kinds of objections to a local prosecutor presuming to try to enforce federal law. that's not happening here. the only reason i can think of that it is not happening here is the biden justice department thinks it is peachy as long as alvin bragg is prosecuting donald trump. >> bill: hang on one moment for me, mark. >> i think that's right. so exclusive jurisdiction the federal government has over prosecuting these cases. but even if you get to the substance of this you have bradley a. smith, a former member of the federal election commission who is written in the pages of national review where we read andy mccarthy, he has written even if you consider this in the context of federal election law, this would not classify as a campaign expense straight from the mouth of someone who worked for the f.e.c. the sole standard here is trying

to affect an election, then you have to start classifying toothpaste. toothbrushes, wheaties you eat in the morning as federal election expenses. >> dana: the i.r.s. would like to take a look at that. >> bill: one quick update. not just "the art of the deal" a number of exhibits the state wants to enter. "how to get rich." another one "think like a billionaire." why does this go? when you heard trump yesterday at the end of court say the judge says we have two or three more weeks here, do you see this thing going two or three more weeks? >> possibly can especially when the judge is making these rulings. i'm starting to get a theme for today. it is desperation day. you are allowing books from the 80s to come in? what about some bumper stickers on his car when he was in college? we're talking about whether he

committed fraud or not. how does that -- how does that bear on this issue? i do think it's relevant but the relevance is so low, so remote, it approaches almost no real value. i think the judge, in balancing whatever benefit there is, should certainly say it's outweighed by prejudice. i think the same thing can be said for stormy daniels and this salacious interactions allegedly between them. i don't get why he is allowing that testimony in, either. >> dana: all right. everybody stick around. we'll stay with this. it is a blockbuster day in court. stormy daniels is expected to take the witness stand in the trial of former president trump. we'll keep you updated on that as our coverage continues. stay with us.

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>> bill: 18 past the hour now. more news out of washington a moment ago. republican leaders in the house, stefanik coming out about the chaos on campus a moment ago and had this to say. check it out. >> good morning, everyone. under the failed far left democrat leadership of joe biden, our country is unrecognizable and the american people know it. once acclaimed colleges and universities have turned into chaos. fall into brain washed anti-semitic group think, canceling commencements. instead of protecting jewish student joe biden has pandered to the pro-hamas wing of the democrat party. and campus leadership has shamefully followed suit negotiating with these pro-hamas terrorists and submitting to their demands following joe biden's pattern of appeasement. these apologists for a anti-semitic mob have turned the democrat party into the party of

pro-hamas. that defends calls for death to america, heard across american campuses. as we laid out last week, house republicans under the leadership of speaker mike johnson are taking action. as part of this conference-wide investigation we have two major hearings this week. the oversight committee is bringing mayor bowser and d.c. chief of police before congress for answers regarding the anti-semitic mob at g.w. 's campus and the education and workforce committee will address anti-semitism in k-12 schools. these schools must be held accountable. house republicans will use every tool available to end this scourge of anti-semitism that is destroying american education. shifting to the house floor this week, house republicans are continuing to lead and deliver for the american people bringing legislation which protects america's consumers rights from their right to choose their home appliances. >> bill: this is a thing and it is obvious. what trump said going into court today the country is on fire is

lot of republicans and a lot of independents view and perhaps some democrats, too. >> dana: something i watched this morning. the free press run by weiss weiss. they had a young reporter but you remember that janitor who was basically held against his will at columbia university because of the protestors by a 40-year-old who is a trust fund kid and has a $2.3 million brown stone. she interviewed this janitor and they were left defenseless. he had to defend himself and here is just a short bite from the interview that block did with mario torres. >> is columbia going to retaliate and find a reason to fire me? is someone going to come after me? we are taking a big risk, you know, doing this. but i think that they failed. they failed us.

and i think that's the bigger story. they failed us. they should have done more to protect us and they didn't. >> bill: that's the janitor. >> dana: i want to tell you something else. he has two young kids. he said he likes the shift because he can take care of them. he likes the school and has a lot of pride if his work but doesn't know if he will go back but afraid of retaliation by the university. at the end of her piece there is a gofundme link and be able to talk about this a little more. >> bill: the school needs to do the right thing by the john tore. >> dana: and others. >> bill: he is described as a trust fund kid with a 2.some million dollar brown stone in brooklyn. >> dana: not a student. the other thing he says he could tell it was super organized. they came in from both sides. covered cameras, had zip ties and ready to held him against his will. five counts against the guy but not holding someone against his

will. the police department and alvin bragg's office should have to answer for that. >> bill: we have this, right, also on the hill. >> dana: education secretary miguel cardona is facing questions on campus anti-semitism, part of this whole thing with columbia. virginia foxx has been stalwart in this and she will get some answers today hopefully from the secretary of education. >> bill: back at the trial here in lower manhattan, we're looking through our emails here. no cameras down there. we just have our producers and reporters inside the courtroom or in the overflow room. so they are sending us emails when there is news in the trial. there hasn't been an email in a whopping five minutes which is a long time for a case like this. in summary there is a lot of exhibits that the prosecution is trying to enter into evidence. the defense is arguing it is not relevant. what they are trying to establish is that trump watched every penny in his business and therefore every penny would include every penny that went to

michael cohen. essentially that's the bottom line at this point as of today. we were told stormy daniels will be on the stand. we still believe that to be the case but it hasn't happened yet. >> dana: we're following this and going to take a quick break and bring you back with more analysis on the trump trial. . like a craft cocktail connoisseur at the cambria hotel bar. or mr. "tackled the inbox" so it's room service time at a radisson hotel! book direct at choicehotels.com ohh, effervescent. all these games on directv— and no satellite on the roof! think about this: blue jays, cardinals, orioles... what's missing? the andean condor? no, walnut-brain! pigeons! they'd rather name a team after socks! to be fair, we're not very athletic.

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book your exam online today. using the finest materials, like indulgent memory foam, and ultra-conforming inner-springs, for a beautiful mattress, and indescribable comfort. save up to $800 on select adjustable mattress sets at stearnsandfoster.com >> bill: no sign of stormy daniels on the witness stand yet. sally franklin, the first witness of the day, her testimony ended while we were in commercial break. right now there is a side bar up at the judge's bench. do i have this right? where the judge sits. >> dana: i would not be great at $10,000 pyramid today. >> bill: what they are apparently talking about is how much detail they can go into into the sexual encounter between stormy daniels, who is also known as stephanie clifford. her real name and how much they

can go into in court. we'll see what the judge decides. in the meantime, a uc berkeley law professor and former assistant attorney general. welcome, john. why don't we get you on the record. you just state for us your name, kidding. state whether or not you think that new york state has proven its case. >> not yet. the big problem with the case, there is no legal crimes that have been committed so far. all that the prosecution seems to be doing is dragging donald trump through the mud but none of the things he has been accused of have been shown to be illegal. maybe he had an affair with stormy daniels. that's not illegal. maybe he paid her money for a non-disclosure agreement. that's not illegal. the illegality is allegedly an attempt to crib to his campaign without reporting it. that's a federal crime. i heard andy mccarthy a few minutes ago making the same

point. it is up to the united states government and the justice department to prosecute federal crimes, not elected district attorneys in new york. what is going to happen next? red state d.a.s will start prosecuting the bidens for violating federal law under the same theory that bragg and judge merchan has allowed here. >> dana: i know you talk to a lot of other attorneys and all the smart people talking to each other. what is the general consensus about this case? >> be careful when smart people start to talk to each other. there will be some real trouble brewing. what's really i think a lot of my liberal friends in legal academia and law profession kind of embarrassed by this case. they wanted the main case to be the january 6th special counsel case in washington, d.c. that's been knocked off course now by the supreme court immunity oral arguments. they know this is the weakest case on the facts. my friends know this is the

weakest case on the law. they can already see that it seems to be helping donald trump politically by -- you have given us the poll numbers nationally. incredible when you go off with the weakest case first. trump has turned that to his political advantage. >> bill: john, stand by one moment. you join our terrific team of jonna, mark and andy. a moment ago trump and his attorney are sitting and chatting for several minutes at the defense bench while his team is talking about the judge. stephanie clifford, the porn star known as stormy daniels, has been called to testify as a witness in trump's new york criminal trial. we await for her to enter the room. andy, let's begin with you. if the debate over is how much detail the judge allows the state to bring into the courtroom about this sexual

tryst they had decades ago what is the appropriate answer as it applies to the case itself? what is your guess? >> what should happen, because it's actually irrelevant to the actual charges in the indictment, is that should be so streamlined that it could be down to a sentence if it has to happen at all. the reality down here on planet earth is the whole point of this exercise is to embarrass trump and try to harm him politically. so what i anticipate will happen is merchan will give bragg's prosecutors a lot of leeway to tell the story the way they want to and even if he purports to put some limitations on them, if the prosecutors take liberty with that, it really hurts the defense to object to this in front of the jury and act as if they are being hurt by it. because legally it's irrelevant even if it's humiliating for the former president. >> bill: here it is. the clerk said the people call stormy daniels, end quote.

>> dana: here we are, mark. how do you think it will go down in front of the jury? >> i think they will see this as another desperate act. this is not bearing on whether he committed fraud, you know. every piece of evidence is subject to what we call 403 balance where you take the probtive value, the reasons why the evidence should come in and you weigh that against the prejudicial impact. how damaging it would be. clearly having a porn star in a fraud trial testifying about what went on between her and the former leader of the free world is so sensational that it takes the jurors' eye off the ball. it takes them away from what the prosecution is supposed to be proving and grossly prejudicial. >> bill: reflect on what john said. when he talks to smart people in the legal world that they wish

this trial were about something much more serious. >> dana: do you remember the legal scholar from boston university. i read an article from him. he said i thought this case was a mistake and now i think it's an historic miscalculation. >> bill: because of the harm that it could create for the judicial system. >> dana: and how embarrassing it is to the prosecution. >> i'm good at taking smart conversations down a notch. let me say i think what will happen today when stormy daniels gets on the stand. she won't be providing testimony. she will be providing sex-timony. how do you cross-examine that? you simply put the note if front of her she said nothing happened and whatever she confessed on

the piece of paper. they have nothing to do with the indictment as everybody all the really smart people agree. has nothing to do with it. >> bill: kerri cue pack said stormy daniels looks like she just rolled out of bed. it is bizarre. john, you were asked earlier whether or not you thought that she wanted to testify. maybe she doesn't want to have anything to do with being there today. >> are you talking to me? >> i'm sorry, i would expect that she wants to testify because look, the prosecution is putting on an episode of reality television. jury can't take their ice off it. america can't. stormy daniels is making her career out of just being a celebrity, being a public figure.

why shouldn't she want to testify and make even more a spectacle out of all this? whereas trump's lawyers, their hard job is to tamp this all down to try to focus everybody on the lack of a crime. but they are being swamped by all the tawdryness. stormy daniels is adding to it and benefiting from it herself. >> bill: i have more details if you want them. here we go. stormy daniels sworn in wearing all black with a long black card began. air up, glasses on. prefers to go by stormy daniels not stephanie clifford. born and raised in la. pair divorced. shares custody of her daughter. raised in a low income family. dad paid for private christian high school. graduated top percentage in the country received a full scholarship but ended up --

editor of the year book club. part of the baton rouge ball accompany and your background on stormy daniels. >> dana: jonna, can i ask you? we can't see her, only have the description. rolled out of bed, wearing all black and her glasses. not looking glamorous. we have pictures of her here. a beautiful woman. what do you think that's about and how will the jury take it? >> i don't know if the prosecution maybe coached her on how to look. don't come in looking like the star of a movie. don't do that. even though she is there to testify that -- about sex and salacious details. they probably tried to make her cover up a little bit and look a little less glamorous or she

really did roll out of bed. you know what she does for a living. who the heck knows. >> bill: stand by one second, jonna, as we try to -- we're waiting on the next email to pop. the reason for the -- the importance of that is to get the first important question on behalf of the state and we're waiting on that. >> dana: let me pull up something from "the new york times." this is "the new york times" and andy, let me go to you with this. in some respects stormy daniels will be unable to help the prosecution. she had no direct interactions around the time of the hush money agreement with mr. trump or with mr. cohen. nor can she testify about the plan for mr. trump to hide his reimbursements to mr. cohen by characterizing them as legal fees. again, i know we're going back and maybe feels like we're beating a dead horse here, not that we would ever do that, but if we keep going back and around that this is not illegal, that she is not relevant to this, that it is just for the press

even though it's not on camera, it really is interesting to think about what, john, you said. a lot of liberal legal scholars think this case is a mistake and an embarrassment. >> that's right, dana. i don't think this is beating a dead horse. john and i and the rest of us on the panel, the circles we run in we get to talk to smart people and take the temperature about stuff like this. i must say as someone who grew up in new york city, i'm wondering what the manhattanites on the jury think. what i would be wondering is while crime has surged in manhattan since 2019 and in the rest of new york city, how many actual crimes that occur on the streets of the city are not being prosecuted while bragg's lawyers are pouring over donald trump's books from 30 years ago and prepping a porn star to come in and give salacious testimony that has no connection to

something that apparently isn't even a crime but they have enough resources apparently to dedicate a number of prosecutors to untold hours to, and untold resources to while crime surges in the city. that's what i would be wondering. >> bill: you might be right. there might be another side to that. that side might be hey, we're to get this guy. >> yeah. there is -- i'm -- the most simple explanation is the explanation. that's the explanation, bill. >> dana: john, i have a question for you. i'm sure you've never heard that before. earlier today we were talking about this guy colangelo who left the number three position at d.o.j. to be part of bragg's team to prosecute trump. you worked in the justice

department. legal counsel. you know that well. how unusual a move is that and what does it tell you about biden's possible connection here? >> dana, we worked together in the justice department at the same time. >> dana: i wasn't sure if i had that exactly right, the timing. >> we were there at the same time. you don't go work there for the furniture and the cafeteria. you go there to work with other smart lawyers. usually the path you want to follow is you work in the d.a.'s office first or maybe a state attorney general and you get to go work where andy worked at the u.s. attorney's office in the southern district of new york, the finest one in the country or main justice where we worked. it is strange for someone to reach one of the top jobs at d.o.j. and turn right back around and go back down to state or local d.a.'s office. all that means is that it helps donald trump's story that there is some kind of cooperation or

collusion between the biden justice department, the biden white house, and what is going on with the d.a. with bragg. that's really embarrassing. if this is an embarrassing case itself is a part of a coordinated effort with the justice department or the d.a. in georgia that they worked it out so that the weakest case, the most salacious legally weak case with a judge who seems to be way over his head dealing with the first amendment and the campaign is the case that goes first and maybe the only case before the election. that from their perspective is a disaster. >> bill: woof, mark. here we go. and to andy's point, i don't know how far we go. we're at the point where stormy daniels, who became a very well-known porn star, i think in that business she was considered the best known porn star at the time, right? so apparently at age 21 she went to california with a girl friend for a shoot. completely clothed.

director saw her and thought she was an adult actress, asked her to do another movie. offered a contract and by that time she was 23 years old. what we don't know, mark, is how much the judge will allow into evidence about whatever happened and what was it lake tahoe inside of a hotel room or a wherever the former president was staying at that time. that's where the juice is going to be and that's where a lot of writers will be hanging on and a lot of reporters will be, too. >> yeah, if you mean juice and that means irrelevant, salacious, jurors will be paying attention, but really taking your eye off what this case is about, sure, there will be plenty of juice today. candidly i'm saddened. i've been in the criminal arena for22 years. ist is sad when a judge allows

testimony like this in a fraud case. we can laugh all day long. this is about any defendant, when a judge somehow thinks that the details of an affair are somehow more valuable than the -- you know, how damaging this is. i don't understand it. i'm saddened by it and i think it affects future defendants. this shouldn't happen. >> dana: it is a good point. am i correct we have charlie hurt and kevin walling with us as well? okay, carley hurt. can we get your reaction to this morning? you've been watching. give us your thoughts as you have been listening in here. >> well, i've enjoyed listening to all of this. it is hard to take any of this seriously because it is so ridiculous. even if you take the prosecution's theory at face value, it is not against the law. so we're starting there.

and then you find out the prosecution is basically making up this entire circus. it is all designed to embarrass donald trump or to detain him, whatever. you know, and i guess my big question is has anyone ever climbed down into the gutter with donald trump and then wound up winning? i can't think of a single example where that happens. this is ridiculous. it is embarrassing. we often talk about in washington the swamp and how the government is out of control and doesn't listen to people. this is an extension of the swamp. the swamp is the kind of operation that punishes people with the courts. and the prosecutors, whether we like it or not are speaking for the people. the people are paying for all of this. this is the swamp in action. all designed to take out a political enemy. it is really hilarious and sort of entertaining but it is really

disgusting and it is the entire reason donald trump ran for president eight years ago and is running for president again. because people are sick and tired of the swamp using the public, using the public force in order to punish political enemies. >> bill: on that note, kevin, if 51 percent of the country think like charlie hurt thinks politically where does it leave the republican candidate when this trial is over? >> to your point. this is how the former president won the primary. this case allows him to be this aggrieved party where he can fundraise off of this. he is hoping potentially that the judge in this case actually sentences him to be in contempt of court to a jail sentence to fundraise off this. further the narrative he is being targeted politically.

it is to the former president's benefit to some degree. >> dana: kevin, charlie, jonna, john, mark, and andy, stick are us. we'll be right back. ooked cute . ( ♪ ) meanwhile, at a vrbo... when other vacation rentals aren't what they're cracked up to be, try one where you'll know what you get. ♪ with fastsigns, create factory grade visual solutions to perfect your process. ♪ fastsigns. make your statement™. if you're a grandparent, you know what i'm talking about when your little grandchild starts talking to you. something i couldn't hear for a long time. it's funny how something like just a hearing loss can have an effect on a relationship. somebody would ask her something and she would just walk right past them ( laughs. i just could not hear.

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>> dana: fox news alert. back with our coverage of the trump criminal trial about the

hush money to stormy daniels. she is on the witness stand right now. we have our panel of experts with us now but there was another piece of this story as stormy daniels testifies, there is still this hangover of the gag orders that president trump has now been accused of violating. and alina habba was on hannity last night. >> he is threatening to throw a former president as he acknowledged most importantly today in the courtroom while i was there, this is probably going to be the future president and for somebody who is left wing to say that was shocking. but he did and he recognized it and threatened to put him in jail for speaking. >> dana: john yu, i want to get your take on the constitution and what it sounds like to you whether the judge is reluctant to do it but he is willing to throw the former president in jail? >> how this judge is in over his

head. he is treating donald trump like a normal mafia or drug running case. that's not what is going on here. not only is donald trump being charged for crimes but he is also the leading opposition candidate for president in an election that's just occurring in a few months. this is the very core of what the founders wanted to protect with the free speech clause. it was not celebrities running around in the "national enquirer." they wanted to protect people's right to run for office. the right of all of us to engage in discussion about who we are going to elect to represent us. the judge is almost ignoring -- he might say in court i realize you are running for president but his orders and the way he is enforcing them show no sense tovalt to donald trump's status as a presidential candidate. he is about to turn -- if he really does throw trump into jail he will turn trump into a free speech martyr. he will go to jail to defend the provision of the free speech

clause in the first amendment against an overbearing judge who doesn't understand what is at stake. >> bill: speaking of the judge. hang on one second and we'll get to -- i want our viewers to know based on testimony we're now at the moment. this is july of 2006. celebrity golf tournament at lake tahoe. she met with trump and the other players in the event and took a picture. she was 27 at the time. trump she said was probably as old or as old as my father who was 60 at the time. stormy later saw trump in a gift room and trump made a comment you are the director, you must be the smart one. stormy confirms she took a picture with trump. at that point someone said would you like to have a dinner later tonight? that's the testimony as of now. now, john, you mentioned the judge, okay? andy mccarthy mentioned the judge. mark mentioned the judge.

jonna spilbor has always talked about the judge and here is speaker mike johnson on that same individual. >> the judge, who is a well-known democrat, is pursuing a gag order on president trump. think about that. think about the magnitude of that. he is trying to override president trump's constitutional right to defend himself against the constant smears of his political opponents in an election year. not just any election year. the election year that most everyone understands is the most fateful one of our lifetimes. you cannot call yourself a serious judge and threaten a presidential candidate with jail time when he defends his reputation in public in the middle of a campaign. and i think everybody of good conscience understands that. then we have the classified documents case where president trump is being treated completely differently from president biden. >> bill: all the legal eagles on our panel are offended by the fact this case is even being brought and you all think it is bad for the judicial system. kevin walling is a democrat.

you were talking about politics a moment ago. here is the abc news polling as of today. support for trump if convicted, 80% say they'll continue to support him. 16% say they will reconsider the support. 4% say they will no longer support him. kevin, those numbers have dropped considerably in the last two months. >> certainly, bill. but they can also make the difference in a close election. axios was out with a story that just 6% of voters in about six states will decide this election. even talking about those small margins we know the difference made up from 16 to 20 in places like pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, president is traveling to michigan this week. was in north carolina last week. we have eyes on that state potentially. but that could make the difference to your point, bill, in some of these close precincts and some of these incredibly close states especially with independent voters. >> bill: or it backfires.

>> dana: love to talk about raw politics. i want to get to charlie hurt on the horse race between trump and biden and this trial and how you think that's going. we found out over the weekend the biden campaign wants the president's media appearances to be curtailed more than they already are. they want the speeches to be shorter. looking for more quality over quantity. you will hear from the president today from the holocaust museum on holocaust remembrance day. the president doesn't have to be in court tomorrow. he is campaigning when he can. i wonder what the democrats have wrought for themselves in terms of the campaign. do they think this is a good idea? >> right, yeah. maybe democrats should switch their strategy and get joe biden charged with a lunatic raft of charges in a courtroom where the judge is preventing him from talking anymore. that's what they are trying to

do. meanwhile donald trump is trying to talk more to people, which is kind of the way it is supposed to work in a free republic where you have candidates who are going out and talking about their ideas for the future and you have democrats trying to muzzle their candidate and then using the courts to muzzle the other candidate. it is truly a bizarre world we're in. you know, judge merchan, if he wants to -- the only thing i can think of that would sell hotter than the trump mug shot t-shirts are pictures of trump being hauled into jail for exercising his first amendment rights in the middle of a campaign. this is lunacy and people talk about donald trump changed the norms. these are the norms that are being absolutely destroyed by democrats using the court system to go after the president. >> bill: we have a minute left before harris faulkner takes over the coverage today. if i can i would like to squeeze

in mark one last time. mark, i think you expressed the most disdain for this case happening but we're at the point where trump asked for a phone number and they arranged to have a dinner in california. we were almost on that day. >> yeah. all of what they've said so far they've allowed in. i'll say okay, it establishes something the prosecution has to prove. if they go any further and allow her to get into the salacious details about what they did in that room, i'm done. that would be so problematic and then any respect i have for this judge is out the window. it shouldn't come in. it is more prejudicial than prob probative. >> the president speaks from the holocaust museum at 11:30. >> harris: they were just mentioning the president. he is in