hey, laura. >> hey, abby. great show, as always. do you sleep ever? no? >> i will try to sleep tonight. i will be watching you from my couch with my glass of wine. >> thank you so much. we will see right back here on monday then. >> thanks. >> we know how she might be spending her weekend, but i don't know how you are spending years. the former president is spending his getting ready to testify under oath. i am laura cox live. it is almost here. donald j trump will take the stand with the courtroom drama unfolding in new york. he will face questions about the business he loves so much, that he put his name on it. this one is really hitting him where he lives, are actually where he used to live until he packed up, then went down to florida. if the judge rules against them, they could be forced to pay back millions. i mean a lot. perhaps more importantly, they could lose their business license. the former president is reacting exactly the way you would expect them to. >> this trial is a disgrace. it is a disgrace. it should have never been brought. this is a very partisan judge with the person who is very partisan sitting beside her. >> that is how you might give yourself a gag order. he's already been fined twice. the second time for 10,000. maybe it is chump change, as my dad used to say, for the president, but today, expanding the gag order to his attorney. the written order, citing hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, packages. not from the attorneys, of course, but in the wake of he and his attorney's comments. never a good strategy to a set the judge. this means it is that judge who will decide the case. meanwhile, it is turning into a bit of a trump family reunion in the courtroom. we heard from don jr., from eric trump, taking the stand. accusing both of them from knowingly participating in a scheme to obtain benefits like better loans, insurance policy terms. he is using that, calling the trial a witchhunt. also, he is blaming new york for what has happened. >> this is a big charade that is a waste of taxpayer money. i was actually one of them. it is said, should it happen. >> the number one son, don jr., testified that he was not involved. he is blaming their accountants instead, saying they worked on it, that is what we pay them for. >> i am apparently guilty of fraud for relying on my accountant to do, wait for, accounting. >> and then there is evil in trump -- ivanka trump. she claimed she would suffer what she called undue hardship if she had to testify during the school week, since she lives in florida with her three children. i think arsenio hall would say that is a thing that makes you go -- imagining what your response may be. the judge did not buy either, by the way. the big question tonight, what will happen when the former president himself tasty stand and answers questions. not in front of the camera, on the campaign trail, to a journalist or anywhere else, but now under oath. i want to bring in anthony, equaling 11 days as the communications director, which probably told him a lot about what the former president might be thinking tonight. he is a supporter and honor to the former new jersey governor 's presidential campaign. i'm so glad you are here with us tonight. i have been really wanting to talk to you and get your insight. this is been quite a week. a lot is riding, as you can imagine, on that trump brand. he has spoken about it for decades. it is how most people know him as a business owner. his children of course, as well. he will have to do testify under oath on monday. what are you thinking that will look like? >> you know, i am old enough to remember when bill clinton had to go through this back in 1998 20 years ago. he was the sitting president at that time. i think the former president will be well rehearsed. i think he will stick to a very tight script about what he knew and what he did know. i know his lawyers are coaching him right now on perjury. they are telling him, you've got to keep it tight. that will be a worse crime than just a fraud. that comes with criminal penalty. my guess, he is a stage performer as we both know. i think he will perform on the balance beam pursuing to the coaching of his attorneys. i don't think he will go astray during testimony. i think he is aware of how damaging that is to him. >> he is going to have to be on a tight leash, whether he can stay on it or not is the question. it is not as if it is this case. you can imagine the prosecutors right now from the other trials who are pain and hand, trying to reverse anything you might say that relates to their particular case. i do wonder if he can stay on that tight, short leash under his guidance. they seem to really have it down. would you make of their decision ? that look, they delegated this. why are you looking at me? >> i am not 100% sure. i understand why they are saying that. positioning themselves is very busy business people that have delegated this stuff. it is a little different. as you know, that law requires a public company ceo to make an affirmation on whatever is in the accounting record for the company. that is not the case. still, they still have the culpability if the damage actually took place. i have a soft spot for that. if you are in an executive, due to the impossibility of time, you had to rely on other people i think what is at issue here, how are those directed? what were they told to manufacture in those statements? i think that will ultimately come out in the trial. i think the president will be the one in the hot seat. truth be told, 76% of the american people think this is a politicized indictment. you know, in this country today, to get 76 percent of people to agree on everything when we are having a hard time agreeing on the colors of the flag. we both know the president is popular in a certain sector of the republican party. he is really not popular in the rest of the country yet. 76% of the people saying, whoa, this seems a little far- fetched. then what happens to all the other real estate directors and business leaders? exaggerating their books and records. i just want to make one quick point. the law that he is being brought to trial upon his want to protect the little guys from big people. donald trump, fairly big guy, a former president against the big bank. there is a lot at stake for the prosecutors. they've got to get this squared up and get this right. the president knows this. >> i just want to point out, the figure you are getting. i think you are pointing to the august poll that found that 75% of republicans believe he is facing politically motivated prosecutions. not the widest cross-section of people. i agree with you in that the prosecutors have got to got their eyes. why do you think she does not want to testify? is it something as simple as, look, it is my brother. it is my father. i do want to be -- don't want to be on the stand. you know her quite well. why did she not want to be on that stand? >> listen, i have to state the obvious. i like her great deal. i got along with her and jared. i actually got along with eric and don jr. my only issue is with the president. i honestly think that just taking it and putting it into your own family for second, if they were on trial, do you want to go and testify? you know you have to go under oath. you know that puts pressure on you. you certainly don't want to say something that will hurt your dad or brothers. i think it is a simple as that. i don't think there's anything beyond that. also, she has been very public about wanting to stay out of the political process this time. if the president returns to the presidency, i think she has been very clear that she is likely not to return to the white house. i do take her at her word. also as a brother who has a sister, has a large family, i certainly wouldn't want to be in her position. i think it is probably understandable. >> really quick, when you meet with don jr. ord eric -- or eric trump. >> i actually do. i think the president is the one that really has to be questioned here. it is my surmise that the president is really the one that was guiding most of this action. not that those guys i good executives in that business, but i don't think they were the ones that were driving the choreography of a financial statement. if that did happen, this is where the prosecutors have to prove it came from the top. so far, they've got the judgment motion. we will see what happens. thanks for stopping by. >> good to be here, thank you. >> we've all seen how this is really bringing it home. the hate that is spreading around the world is actually being felt here. the is what they are seeing and hearing isis not freree speech. students at cornell university were engaged in a community day today in the wake of extraordinary stress. as a wave of anti-semitism threatens students they are and frankly all around this country. for university students panned a new essay titled, what is happening on college campuses is not free speech. they say in part, quote, although one may think anti- semitism has an impact only on jews, it shows it poisons a society at large. they want to counter hateful violence in all its forms. when they failed to do so, they fail us all, unquote. here with us now, a senior at brown university. gabriel diamond, a senior at yale, and a junior at cornell university. thank you all so much for being here. i have been really eager to talk to the students involved, students who are on these campuses who are most impacted. i am so glad that you are here to paint the picture and it is very thought-provoking. i will begin with you. i know you were a junior at cornell. we were talking a lot this week about what was going on, following the arrest of a student posting online threats to kill members of the university's jewish community. classes were canceled today. what was today like for the students? >> yeah. first of all, thank you so much for having us today. we really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. like you are saying, tensions for the past week, and obviously the week before that, they have been very high. i not today, students really took the opportunity to be with their friends, engage in discussions about what has been going on, finding solace within those conversations. it is a lot of what we wrote about in our article. how open discussion is really the way to further educational goals, rather than intimidation. >> gabriel, on that point, we talk about open discussion. this is been quite a minefield for a lot of people to try to on the one hand, climb a steep learning curve, understanding the nuance of what has transpired over decades. let alone, the horror of what has happened since and on october 7th. what are you finding have been the most helpful types of conversations to have? >> i think there are two types of conversations that we need to be having. i think the first is a sin -- is within the jewish community, how we can come together. i've seen on a lot of campuses that jewish students and faculty are really coming together to show support and unity. i think the other conversations we need to be having our across the aisle. with people who we may disagree with, and really trying to actually learn from one another. this is the perfect purpose of the university, right? to learn, challenge your mind. right now, we are seeing students aren't able to do this. there is a culture intimidation. on some cases, escalated to violence. >> you know, i wondered about that. i'm glad you mentioned the types of coalitions. certainly, when it was in the wake of the killing of george floyd, there was the expectation and demand that this would be a cross-cultural conversation about what was happening, about the temperature across the country and beyond. looking to the civil rights era and freedom writers, the idea of who was attacked, assaulted, and even killed on these buses. they were not just black americans hoping for a change. it was a cross-cultural experience, as well. i was curious about what the experiences would like on college campuses. that what is happening is perhaps a tragic microcosm of what might be happening more broadly. are you shocked? are did you feel the simmering of a lot of this beforehand on your campus? >> i think we are all shocked. i think in the wake of what happened on october 7th, a lot of us were expecting us to have a moment of moral clarity. and this is against israeli civilians, and that the entire world will come together to condemn what happened. what we are seeing across the nation is the very opposite of that. all of us are on the exact same board of the -- which is a group of students, one each from 150 plus campuses across the country. what we are hearing directly from students who are part of that network is a culture of intimidation, students protesting. really creating this culture of intimidation. in some cases, violence. this is something that is absolutely shocked us. >> let me ask you this, gabriel. how should universities respond to make students feel safe? is there something more that should be done? does it feel like they are being too reactive? >> yeah. i think there's a lot that can be done. i think right now, some universities are looking to be, as you said, very reactive. they are looking to issue statements, essentially play catch up with what is going on. they should be getting ahead of this. with some more extreme cases to get rid of professors that are essentially promoting these beliefs that are not just beliefs, they are evolving into violence. glorifying the martyrs, talking about free palestine from the -- they are talking about from the jordan river to the mediterranean sea, which is actually calling for the elimination of the jewish state. >> the idea of these statements not being what you believe to be free speech, where the of the protections of allowing people to simply speak their minds with no repercussions. this seems to be much more nuance. the former president barack obama was giving a speech, advocating for peaceful coexistence. it prevailed in that discussion that people within his foundation have had to, what he said, sort through their differences on the issues. listen to this. >> the issue is not a wish for different outcomes. an end to the killing, peaceful coexistence between two sovereign and pete -- free peoples, but rather different assessments of a path that we need to take in order to get there. >> what does that look like to you? that path? >> yeah, absolutely, laura. i think it all goes back to what i was saying before. everyone has very strong passions about the subject, some of it being very personal to some of us. we might have family in the middle east. we might be deeply affected by this. it is time for people to simply respect each other, engage in dialogue, be able to respect each other's opinions. in doing so, really find common ground. that is possible. there is absolutely common ground. we aren't able to find it right now because we can engage in that because of the current tension and hostility on our campuses. >> may you show us all the way after all that you say. you truly are the future. good luck on that journey. thank you so much. >> thanks for having us. up next, more fallout here at home. arab-american and muslim voters. they've got a message for president biden. >> i did vote for joe e biden i 2020. >> do o you planan t to vote fo in 2024?4? >> i do not. there is anger in the muslim it arab-american community. many, threatening that their votes in 2024 are at stake. others, already outright refusing to vote for him. also the people in congress who is going so far as accusing bided of supporting palestinian genocide. >> mr. president, the american people are not with you on this one. remembering in 2024. >> that anger, not only from progressive lawmakers, everyday voters are also upset. >> every decision and action has a price tag. the decision you make, the price tag is we will boy cat -- boycott you. >> if the election was held today, and he is on the ballot, i can promise you that until we get that >> dearborn, the center of arab america. how can it be this for president biden? we will take a look. the blue represents muslim american voters. they may live in the key battleground states in places like georgia, pennsylvania, arizona. i want to bring in a former biden administration adviser, executive coalition director for the democratic party. thank you so much for coming. you just heard that person guarantee he would even get five votes for biden in this area. first of all, the anger that is there, i know it is nuanced. i know it would not be a singular issue, singular answer, but what is fueling the resentment and anger toward him specifically? >> thank you for having me. the a rab american community overwhelmingly voted for the biden-harris ticket. especially in michigan and the demographics there. they felt they knew him on a personal level. if you ask anybody from the community, they thought we knew joe. because of his compassion. and then this conflict that happened on october 7th, it is was shifted things drastically. they felt they were backstabbed. they are not getting that same compassion, or the israeli side is getting it. that is an issue they had with president biden. they just want to share their story and be heard. i had one of the community members share the story with me. after seeing every single day of this war, a six-year-old child that is the only survivor . he was the one that had to identify the bodies of his whole family. these are the stories that really become personal to the community. we had to make sure we are also representing them. >> how does the administration correct this? obviously, he is over there trying to understand the different sources they made behind the scenes, suggesting a different approach in terms of a cease-fire area otherwise, running out of control. sounds like there might be a more particularized route. not just for political reasons, but for them to feel like they are actually seen by this president. >> there have been small steps in the right direction. compared to when the conflict first began. like the governor of michigan. she sent the letter to secretary blinken, asking them to bring them back home safely. there were also senator durbin. there were other ones asking for a cease-fire. the number one issue in the a rab community and palestinian community are struggling with, they want a cease-fire. they want to end the killing. you have thousands of innocent civilians dying the same way in israel on october 6. >> you mentioned the president and other members. he is pushing a bill that would literally expel palestinians to the united states. former president trump, as you know someone who was a proponent of what he wanted to be called the so-called muslim band, as opposed to what people actually side as. if there is no support of president biden on a ticket that is, what? 360 something days away right now? then who? >> i don't want to say there is no support. it will be harder to make the case for the community the longer this conflict drags out. they want to make sure that they get out safely. we also want to stop the inside killing of the palestinians. especially the children. the innocent people being bombarded in refugee camps. we want to make sure we are able to stop that. also, the bottom line is 2024, there is the honest truth, that the community is not really thinking of the political side of things. they just want to end the mourning they are going through. they are wanting more. they are not being able to think about how they can start regaining some of that trust. >> you see the numbers from christopher wray. the islamophobia, the anti- semitism, the hate crimes on the rise. clearly, the priority is not, gosh, who will live 04 2024 as opposed to, how do i protect my family today? i guess that is the nuance that is missing, as well. >> the initiative that was done for the islamophobia, and the anti-semitism. that is helpful, but it is also all triggered by the conflicts happening overseas. they play in effect here in the united states. in the communities, as well. they have not seen these numbers of hate crime since 9/11. there are people really struggling in the community to make sure they are safe and their kids are safe when they go to schools. >> this is quite a wake-up call. i wonder if they will understand it. thank you so much. up next, remember this off-duty pilot? the one that admitted to taking magic mushrooms, then try to cut the engines at some point for the plane midflight? i will talk to one of the passengers, who isis now suingn afteter this. tonight, three passengers are suing alaska airlines for emotional distress after an off- duty pilot allegedly tried to turn off the engines midflight last month. the passenger say he was flying as a standby employee passenger. he should never have been allowed in the cockpit. he was suffering from depression and lack of sleep. the incident left them struggling with anxiety, insomnia, and fear of flying. emerson is facing 83 felony counts of attempted murder. he has pled not guilty. joining me now, -- was on that flight and one of the three passengers suing alaska airlines, along with his attorney. thank you so much for being here. we first heard about the story, it was unbelievable to think about. in a statement, alaska airlines says it is reviewing the incident. adding, quote, the pilots and flight attendants operating flight 2059 responded without hesitation to ensure the safety of all on board. we are incredibly proud and thankful for their actions. talk to me about what it is you experienced on that flight. >> it was 30-40 minutes of terror 20 minutes into the flight. the flight attendant in panic came and told us there was an emergency happening. we had no information as to what and why. the plane took a dive down, and the dissent was so steep that the plane was shuttering. i didn't know if it was the plane, the pilot, the personnel, the passengers. i looked to my right and behind me to the folks next to me. are we saw in each other's face was terror. it was at that point when i looked out the window and i thought this would be the time when i was going to die. >> your experience the way you describes it sounds absolutely terrifying. it is interesting because on a flight full of people, people may have different experiences. i spoke with another passenger who was on the flight. i want to play a portion of what it is she told me. listen to this. >> i didn't know anything was wrong until the flight attendant came on the loudspeaker and said that we had a situation and we need to land the plane immediately. we didn't know where we were landing, and we didn't know what was wrong. she assured us we were safe. >> that is her statement in which he said. obviously, you are different person. she says as you just said, you didn't know what was specifically wrong until the announcement. would you make for the difference in terms of your experience than hers here? >> we've been in communication. she is mentioned in the second time the flight attendant came on the p.a. mine was the first. in the first, there was no mention of what the situation is. the second one, she clarified that there was a medical emergency and that it was not a plane of personnel issue. >> so scary to think about all of this going down. you mentioned the nosedive part of it. your belief that this would somehow end very differently. what are you ultimately hoping will be accomplished by this lawsuit? for myself? >> for yourself, the other passengers. are you hoping for to be more specific or more broad? i've been reading a lot about him. he looked like he lived a fairly normal life. i think the part for me, the pilots have a big responsibility on their plane. they had to take care of us when we are on there. we are in their care. they should have the opportunity to seek help without refuge -- retribution. i think there could have been a fear of something, losing a job or what not. i don't know. i would like to see that there is an open door policy that they can communicate the troubles they're having, get the help they need. >> there only three plaintiffs in this right now. given what he is saying now, do you expect to have more join in? my thank you, laura. we filed the lawsuit on the behalf of the people that hired us to pursue the matter. we filed it as a class action. it is up to the court if they should all have that matter tried together. we think they should. since we filed this action, we have had numerous other passengers contact us and telling us similar stories. some of those were in the flight or where at mac. they could hear the air traffic control that was telling the pilot to describe with the quote, unquote threat level was. the pilot saying they have it under control. there is a lot more going on. not only for emotional distress, but frankly primarily our clients are interested in finding out, having the airlines tell us truthfully what they did, if anything -- this is omitted from their statement. what if anything they did to evaluate mr. emison and his fitness to be in the cockpit? and what policies and procedures they have, or should have? we would like to mandate some kind of check that would challenge people just like you are challenged by a police officer if you are stopped, that this person is fit to be in a cockpit. that is the discretion. >> i tell you, anyone that has ever flown is leaning in at this very moment. thank you so much. >> thank you for having us. nearly a week since matthew perry passed away. the friends director says mamatthew was s like a a son to that d director jojoins me next ♪ ♪ it's been nearly a week, one week since matthew perry's death. some of the most moving tributes have been about how he helped people facing addiction. over his lifetime, the friends star was so candid about his own struggles with drugs and alcohol abuse. tonight, a new endeavor has been created to honor his legacy is called the matthew perry foundation. it was launched by his loved ones and it aims to help others who are struggling with addiction. joining me now is james burrows, who directed the first four episodes of friends. has been a lot of time with one matthew perry. james, i am so glad to meet you. tonight, and it is so fascinating to think about in a world where really, the intentions been of so many is sometimes like that of a social media gnat, right? are continuing to flood social media with recollections about him with chandler bing, you were there at the very beginning. why do you think he is able to still resonate with so many people after all this time? >> because he was an actor who took a great part that was written by modern day and made it an extraordinary one. you don't often see that. i think all six of them did that, all six of those cast members, were able to extend the character beyond any expectations. and matthew had a gift of he would, he had a particular word in a sentence that emphasized that words that nobody else had any idea of doing that. i guess the most famous one is can it be any more exciting? so that was his skill. he put his own spin on things. >> is so fascinating, that is one of the phrases, the catchphrases everyone thinks about your right, when the words initially are just on the script, it is actor who has to bring it to life and leap off the page. for it to have the staying power, and to really create a character in so many ways, you know, do you recall, was matthew more like chandler or chandler more like matthew? were they kind of one in the same? >> i think there's probably 60% matthew and 40% chandler because once he started playing the part, the writers could write to that. to write to his particular skill and his particular manifestations and his physical comedy. so once we heard matthew read that part in reading around the table for the first episode, we knew there was something special. >> the cast is really like a family, i wonder if you have been in touch with any of his cast members about what this extraordinary loss has been like to even try to process? >> i've talked to schwimmer and i have talked to matt leblanc and the three girls were, when the news happened they were together and they were just basket cases. but we test texted back and forth and i haven't heard from them in a little while but i assumed that hopefully they are recovering. >> to think that the universe had them together in that moment when they heard that news , what was it, what must be going through david and matt's mind right now? >> yeah, i know. it's, the cast called me pop up because i was there at the beginning. and for me it is like losing a son and for them it's like losing a brother because in the early days of me doing that show i tried to create a family. where the six of them loved one another because i've figured that would come across the screen and they became extremely close. and they were like one person with six hands and so it's devastating for them. i'm not sure that the three girls were together because i only texted, i can't corroborate that. but i know jen texted back and said she was talking to courtney and lisa. >> james burrows, i'm so sorry for your loss, truly i am. and i thank you so much for joining us. and thank you all for watching. our live coverage continues after a short break