Wolf blitzer in the situation room. Ill see you tomorrow. Happening now, the first day of Donald TrumpsCivil Fraud Trial wraps up with the former president in the courtroom to fight charges that could potentially decimate this family business. Trump attempting to turn the trial into a platform for personal and political attacks. Also tonight, republican hardliner matt gaetz takes his threat to House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy to the house floor, but stops short of any action yet telling americans to, quote, stay tuned. Were tracking the intense gop infight right now after mccarthy worked with democrats to avert a government shutdown. And californias governor appoints a democratic activist to temporarily fill the senate seat of the late Dianne Feinstein. Well take a closer look at Laphonza Butlers potential impact on d. C. Politics and on californias high Profile Senate Race in 2024. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. All right. Lets get right to the opening day of Donald TrumpsCivil Fraud Trial in new york. The former president in the United States appearing in court with the future of his Business Empire on the line right now. Cnns Kara Scannell is outside the courthouse in manhattan. Kara, so what happened today . Well, wolf, the Attorney Generals Office laid out their case saying year after year, loan after loan, donald trump and his adult sons had inflated the value of their assets in order to obtain favorable Interest Rates on loans. They played snippets of Deposition Testimony from eric trump, donald trump jr. And donald trump himself. All three expected to be witnesses in this case. Here is what donald trump said as he sought to distance himself from the financial stnlts at the heart of this case. Take a listen. To meet your obligation here . Presenting the information in accordance with gap. Was Allen Weisselberg responsible for that . Back to the form. I would say yes. Now they also showed a letter that trump himself had signed that was sent to deutsche bank, one of the banks that loaned them money. This is part of the egs Office Attempt to link trump from the Financial Statements to the loans at issue in this case. Part of the elements of this case theyre looking to prove now. Trumps attorneys have taken issue with the allegations in this case saying that no banks lost money. Banks in fact made 100 million in money. There were no conspiracy. There were no victims. They say any differences in the valuations of some of these properties such as maralago or the family home known as Seven Springs in nosh was real estate, not fraud. So really pushing back on that. The state called their first witness Donald Bender. He was on the stand for several hours this afternoon. Inside the courtroom, trump was very attentive. He was fully engaged. He was flipping through papers at times. He was watching the witnesses and his attorneys as they gave their testimony in their opening statements. But he did not engage with the new York Attorney general at all. In fact, he passed by her three times without even looking at her. It was only one time that as he walked past, he glanced down to look at her. But they had no involvement, no engagement. Eric trump in the court today did stop and see the Attorney General. He shook hands with her. And then when he left for the end of the day, he spoke with her again for a second time that was quite a contrast from outside of court where donald trump took every opportunity to speak to the cameras and criticize the Attorney General, calling this a witch hunt and politically motivated. Wolf . Kara, what happens next in this trial . Tomorrow Donald Bender will be back on the stand. But the Attorney General will begin to present their case. Well get into witness testimony. They say theyre going the call 27 up and will have an opportunity to put on their case. Another important witness here that came up today will be michael cohen, the Attorney Generals Office said they will call him and trumps attorney have called him a convicted felon, a serial liar. So we can expect a pretty aggressive crossexamination when he takes the stand possibly this week or later next week. Kara scannell in new york for us, thank you. Lets break all of this down with our legal and political experts. And carrie cordero, let me start with you. Prosecutors are asking the judge to bar trump and his family for all practical purposes from being allowed to do business in new york. What are the ramifications of that . Its what the whole case is about. Its about the fact that a judge has already found them liable kevin conducted fraud in their business. And now weve got this whole second part of it where he will consider additional things like Insurance Fraud and conspiracy and falsifying documents. But at its heart, its whether or not they will, a, have to provide fines into the hundreds of millions of dollars. And b, whether theyll be able to continue to do their work in the state of new york. Yeah, the stakes for the trump family and for trump specifically are enormous. Trumps legal claims, legal team claims i should point out, norm norm eisen is with us that the banks were repaid. That there really werent any victims of this. What do you make of that argument . Wolf, if i were to shoot at you and miss, would still get prosecuted. If you create false financial documents, if you exaggerate your property, if you allegedly commit Insurance Fraud, bank fraud, it doesnt matter if you happen to injure the banks or the Insurance Companies that time. There are many different ways that those materials are relied upon. And just like that shot that misses, you can still be prosecuted. The judge made this point in his very severe partial summary judgment. You keep making this argument, he said, to the lawyers, but ive already said it doesnt matter under new york law. And it doesnt. We dont want people lying in their business records. Good point. Gloria borger can with us. Trump appeared several times today, making public statements before and after he was in the courtroom during the course of this. Listen to what he had to say. Here is some of it. Listen to this. This is a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time. We have a rogue judge who ruled the properties are worth a tiny fraction, a tiny fraction of what they actually are. We have a racist Attorney General who is a horror show who ran on the basis that she was going to get trump before she even knew anything about me. In effect, the trump seemed to be turning this into a Campaign Stop for himself. You think . Weve all heard of rose garden campaigns that president s have when they dont want to leave the white house. Well, this is a Courthouse Campaign. And were going to dont see the Courthouse Campaign for months and months and months. He clearly was not speaking to the judge, whom he dissed completely. He was talking to the American Public. He was talking to his base. He was talking to people. He wants to convince that he is the victim here. And that all of these put together are just a protracted way of getting him because he is running against joe biden. And that is, you know, its very simple. But wolf, could i just add, addition to what gloria is saying, we just saw these pictures of him inside the courtroom. And i do think it has an impact. This is not normal. And this case is a charge of fraud, that word. This undermines his brand as a successful businessman. It goes to the heart of who donald trump is. Look, this may not change the minds of the base. He may raise some more money off of it. But i think the question is of at the end of the day, the end of this trial, you know, if he is the nominee, does it undermine his standing with republican some republican voters, moderates and independents who think enough already . Because he seems to think it helps him in the republican primary contest. But its certainly not going to help him in the general election if he is the nominee. Correct. Correct. He is already leading by far in the primary, but what does this do to independents who lean republican . Maybe they wont vote for joe biden. Assume that thats the matchup. But maybe they wont turn out for donald trump either. You can also tell how personally important this is to him. He ran in 2016 telling everybody he was rich. And that was one of the reasons they should vote for him, because he wasnt dependent on anybody else, and he knew how to get around the tax system, et cetera, et cetera. And his business is everything to him. The Trump Organization is everything to him. And you cannot underestimate how important personally this particular trial is to him. And i think he is going to let the American Public know that he thinks its all a fraud. We heard, carrie, the former president attack the judge and the Attorney General both before and after he was in the courtroom today. How will the judges react to this . Well, first of all, as far as the legal strategy goes, its the worst possible thing that he could do, because this is not a jury trial. It is this judge that he is lobbing his verbal attacks against who is going to make the decision, and who has already in his decision last week ruled against the former president and the Trump Organization, and who has in his opinion last week made very clear that he doesnt think much of the arguments that are being made by the former president s team. He called them a fantasy world, not the real world when it comes to the arguments that the Trump Organization has been making. Well, to carries point, what gloria and jamie are saying, this may be the single most personally devastating set of events to donald trump, both because the judge has already ordered that he loses his certificate to do business for his new york businesses. Hes already found that there was substantial fraud. The train is speeding down on donald trump. This is going to be a very tough case for him to reverse on appeal, and so its both his emotional investment, but a very real liability. Let me get jamie to react what the former white house Chief Of Staff john kelly is now publicly on the record saying about donald trump, his public boss, warning of a potential second trump term in the white house. This is kelly. Listen to this. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said, god help us. Thats how he is describing trump. So lets just remember general john kelly was his longest serving Chief Of Staff. This is a well respected person who was in the room, in the Oval Office Day in and day out with donald trump. General kelly has spoken out before, but he picks his moments. He doesnt do this all the time. And the fact that he is confirming these quotes now is devastating i think and it also speaks to the fact he is clearly worried that donald trump could be president again. He certainly is. And these are on the record, statements from kelly. Guys, thank you very, very much. Just ahead, what congressman matt gaetz, whats he waiting for right now as he renews his threat to try to oust Kevin Mccarthy but fails to make it official, at least not yet. A new subpoena for Bernard C Kerik in the Georgia Election case. We have new cnn reporting. Thats just ahead. House republican hardliner matt gaetz is ratcheting up the drama right new as he vows to push forward with his threat to boot Kevin Mccarthy from the speakers job. Gates urging everyone to stay tuned, his words, for his next move. Cnns chief Congressional Correspondent manu raju is up on capitol hill. Man knew, how serious is the threat to mccarthys job tonight after he worked with democrats to prevent a government sh shutdown. Very serious, wolf. In fact, there are three republicans right now who are saying that they will vote to oust Kevin Mccarthy. Matt gaetz will only need five total. Assuming all democrats also vote to kick out Kevin Mccarthy from the speakership. So tonight there are major questions about what democrats will do. Right now huddling Behind Closed Doors with the democratic leader, hakeem jeffries. And wolf, moments ago one republican congressman, don bacon told me preliminary discussions have begun with democrats to cut a deal. Kevin mccarthys speakership in peril as he tries to stave off a right wing revolt. Congressman matt gaetz, vowing to do something never successfully done, ousting in the house, and promising not to back down until mccarthy is no longer in charge. Weve got understand why we are here. Reporter the main reason . Mccarthy relied on democrats to help keep the government open until next month. Are you worried about throwing this institution into chaos, peril analyzing an institution that your party runs . You talk about chaos as if its me forcing a few votes and filing a few motions. You dont know chaos until youve seen where this party and this uniparty is bringing us. Reporter for gaetz to succeed, he would need the support of at least five House Republicans. All democrats voted to eject mccarthy. Then the house would be paralyzed until a new speak cory be elected. I think the members should be looking for stronger leadership. House Democratic Leaders have not yet decide howd to vote and what concessions to seek from mccarthy. I am not happy with Kevin Mccarthy as speaker. But as a friend of mine says, it can always be worse. Reporter others not eager to give mccarthy a lifeline. Would you vote to vacate . Would i cast that vote . Absolutely. Reporter once gaetz files a motion, the house could vote within two days. Today the speak worry not say whether he would have to cut a deal with democrats to keep his job. You always count me out, right . Im just asking the possibility. I tell you the same thing every time. I never give up. I think thats destructive to the discussion. I think its destructive to the country. And my focus is sure i will only on getting our work done. Reporter the last time a similar vote happened was in 1910. But Joseph Cannon remained as speaker as his powers were weakened. And just the threat in 2015 of ousting john boehner led to his abrupt resignation as speaker. Mccarthy plans to fight it, even as he is facing more pressure from the right wing to abandon billions of dollars in aid to ukraine. He cant do it. It would be a violation of the hastert rule which is a long held rule by republican majorities that the speaker cannot bring a bill to the floor if the majority of the majority doesnt support it. Reporter all as frustration builds among mccarthys allies. I just pray for wisdom for matt and clarity on this, because i think that would be terrible for america. I think weve lost you, mike. Man knew, stand by. Manu raju reporting from capitol hill. I want to get some more on all of these important developments. Joining us now, a key republican. Were joined by tony gonzalez, the cochair of the congressional caucus. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. As you heard and you well know, republican matt gaetz said he will likely seek to remove speaker Kevin Mccarthy later this week. Do you have confidence in mccarthys leadership, congressman . And how will you vote on a motion to remove him . Hey, wolf, thanks for having me. I am actually cochair of the hispanic conference. You know, there is no doubt that tensions are high here there is a lot of animosity. Its like watching a novella, a spanish soap opera, and you cant look away. Were worried about inflation, security. The border certainly i think its a little early to tell how this week is going to turn out. I think most americans, while its fun to watch the politics and the Knife Fighting and the back and forth, people have real problems at home. How do we secure the southern boarder . This is not only a United States issue. This is a central and south america issue. Not playing these political games. So do you have confidence in mccarthys leadership . And once again, congressman, how will you vote on a motion to remove him . You know, there is no doubt that mccarthys speakership hasnt been ideal, to say the least, but this is the route weve gone. We have to see what the vote brings. We have to see if that comes up. Ill make a determination when that happens. I wake up not thinking about mccarthy, not thinking about gates. I wake up thinking how about we secure the southern border, how we get this