listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts. the lead starts with wolf plitser in the situation room. happening now breaking news, a huge legal and financial blow to donald trump. a jury says he should may more than $83 million in damages to writer e. jean carroll for defamatory statements he made about her. we re breaking down the verdict and the message it sends to the former president and the clear front-runner for the 2024 republican presidential nomination. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer, and you re in the situation room. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. let s get right to the major breaking news we re following right now. the bombshell verdict in the defamation trial against donald trump. the former president now on the hook for a stunning $83.3 million. let s go to cnn s cara scannell outside the courthouse in new york where all this unfolded. kara, walk us through this verdict. reporter: wolf,
13 federal charges against a sitting member of congress. george santos accused of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds. so will republicans call on him to resign with every vote in the house critical? santos due to be arraigned at any moment. public pressure campaign. president biden hitting the road and hitting republicans over a fierce budget standoff. in minutes he s making the case for raising the debt ceiling once again without conditions, with potential economic consequences just weeks away. and heroes in action. newly released audio reveals the terrifying moments as officers search for the texas mall shooter. one officer telling the dispatcher i need everybody i got. chilling words as they ask for backup. we re following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. just minutes from now, new york congressman george santos is expected to appear in federal court. he was taken into custody this morning.
new york grand jury has voted to indict the former president of the united states. donald trump. this is the first time in us history the first time in us history that criminal charges have been filed against anyone who has served as president of the united states. the charges coming after the investigation of hush money paid to former adult film star stormy daniels to cover up her alleged affair with trump. this has huge implications not only for trump but also for the nation as the former president makes another run for the white house right now, our correspondents, analysts and contributors are all standing by as we cover this breaking story and what comes next paris canal is on the scene for us. let s go to your first year there in new york. you re watching all of this unfold. tell our viewers what else you re learning. well, that s right. we learned that in manhattan grand jury has returned an indictment against former president donald trump. as you said, the first time
Hello again. Thank you for joining me. Im fredricka whitfield. We begin with breaking news. A federal judge now ruling former National Security adviser john boltons book can hit store shelves blocking a Trump Administration push to stop its release. This as another legal faceoff is unfolding. U. S. Attorney general bill barr making a latenight announcement that Southern District of new york prosecutor Jeffrey Berman would be stepping down. But berman is disputing the claim saying he has no intentions of leaving. Bermans office has been in charge of prosecuting several of President Trumps allies. All of this just hours before the president takes the stage in tulsa, oklahoma, for his first rally in months. Crowds of people cramming together for his appearance, even as Health Officials warn it could turn into a super spreader event. Lets start with Kristen Holmes at the white house. President trump already lashing out over the bolton book release. Unsurprisingly doing so on twitter. First
Flynn was fired in february and a source now tells cnn that trump knew in january that flynn misled the fbi as well as Vice President pence. This ties into a tweet that was posted on the president s account that reads, i have to fire i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the fbi. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide. The president s personal attorney john dowd says hes the one that wrote that tweet and not the president. Cara, what did the president s lawyer mcgahn tell the president and what he knew with the fbi. When don mcgahn was greeted by acting attorney general sally yats y y yates in january was the same thing he had told mike pence, the Vice President , about conversations with a Russian Ambassador which don mcgahn believed to be a lie. We understand that he relayed that to the president , that sally yates, the acting attorney general did not, you know, c