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"laura coates live" starts right now. >> i like the way he said, that "laura coates live" -- i'm going to have an italics on that now. >> have a great show. we >> thank you. >> donald trump's number one son -- story, eric and darren -- guess who he is blaming for a fraudulent financial statement. it's not anybody named trump. tonight, on "laura coates live" -- so, donald trump jr. with the opening act today in the trump family's quarter of a billion dollar new york courtroom drama. he testified today in that civil fraud case against the former presidents namesake business. and it went, well, maybe pretty much how you thought it would go. he testified that he was not involved in the preparation of his father's financial statements at any point in time. and you guessed it. he said, blame the accountants. quote, the accountants worked on it. that is what we pay them for. now, don jr. and his brother eric trump are accused of knowingly -- to obtain benefits like better loans or better insurance policy terms. and then deflating it when it was also convenient to do so. while her brother was on the stand, the sister, ivanka trump, appealed the ruling, ordering her to testify that civil trial. remember, she is supposed to testify next week. and she is saying, please, no. eric trump -- later on this week as well. and while the former president has quite a few cases in court right now, this is the one he has been in the room for. remember, where he has -- think e. jean carroll, i think other court appearances, and other jurisdictions. but this is the one where he is appearing in, and it's going to be testifying, likely, as early as monday. so, why this one? why is this the one? remember, he already left new york, relocated to florida. why is this the casey wants to appear in? maybe because it hits him exactly where it hurts. remember, is reputation, his business, they are really intertwined. some would say whether the business led to the presidency, or the presidency within fuel the business. chicken and egg might be becoming a bit of a story. and -- happening in his hometown of new york city. joining me now, former trump attorney, tim parlatore and attorney a scout bolden. gentlemen, glad you are -- i won't go into the -- i love the movie. he is focused on that particular courtroom and that's where he wants to be. this is where he has taken the greatest umbrage about being accused of fraud. let's just be honest here, first of all. there's already been a summary judgment motion. the judge has already said the documents are fraudulent. now it's about how expensive it is going to be for him. -- you've been his attorney and counsel in the past. why do you think this is the case that so important to him. this >> is the case that really goes into how he built his entire reputation. he came up from the beginning in a real estate, in new york. and all of that leading up to the presidency -- this puts all that into question. and i think that that is why this is something that is so important to him. because it's the presidency for him and that was four years of his life. this is decades. and it is what people know donald trump has. >> potus was once on a seal for him. but now trump is on the plane, the buildings, the name. the fact that his kids are going to be testifying now, don jr., say, for an hour and a half testifying. eric trump -- ivanka trump -- the fact that they are testifying, and a man like him, who is known to be very, very keyed in on loyalty, and what is being said. so, there is going to be -- actually say. >> possibly. this is his financial base. that's the first thing. remember that don jr. and eric trump our defendants in the case. marco got out of the case, but they are still trying to get out of -- testify because she is no longer a citizen of new york doesn't -- >> on that point. it does not, right? you don't have to be a citizen of the state that is putting your charge to say, oh, i am sorry. i -- wear you can't come. that's an absurd argument. >> yeah, if you have got information, of the court things you have information that is relevant, progressive material, then you are probably going to have to stay take the stand it -- >> -- could extend to her. >> exactly, whether they serve her in florida, or wherever she is. but based on don's testimony today, he did not seem to be struggling with any conflict. because, remember, his testimony is, i did not look at these documents. and they have signed these financial documents. but i rely heavily on the lawyers and the accountants. because they had intimate knowledge. so, he has not had to go after his father yet. i do you think that eric and don, as well as donald trump senior a going to have a problem on cross examination, or rather, direct examination, if the a.g. starts to ask them about what they know what eric did, what ivanka, data or what their father did. that could put them out a conflict piece. but still, i don't see them invoking the fifth amendment. because they don't want to draw -- interest from this judge, who has found that these were fraudulent documents. and if they start to lie, remember, this is all about credibility with his judge. he is going to decide whether -- how much of that 250 million is going to be allocated to each one, even though they could be jointly and severed with liable under new york law. >> remember, when we are talking about adverse inference, we are talking lawyer now. but talking about, in a civil context, unlike the movies, if you plead the fifth in the civil world, the jury or the fact finder than can say, i am going to assume that what you didn't want to say is actually going to really make you sound all the more liable and guilty in these issues. >> adverse -- >> adverse inference. look at those -- a wednesday, look at us doing this whole thing. is it wednesday or thursday? okay, i lost track of time. tim, i'm going to ask you this, though, what you are saying as a. scott bolden has laid out, is it enough to get them off the hook? -- i have these. i have these cash flow numbers. i was handing them off to one person. i did not know what you are ultimately going to use them for. you asked for numbers. i gave them to you. they ended up in documents and disclosures. that is connect is too much for me to be held liable. is that convincing? >> one of the things we have to remember here is it is a civil case. so, if this was a criminal case, i would say, absolutely. that's something that can be used for reasonable doubt. but in a civil case, where you have a much lower burden of proof, the primacy of the evidence. you also have new, or should have known. just because you were willfully blind to something and you just signed it without paying attention to it does not mean you cannot be held civilly liable for it. because you did sign something that ultimately was not true. >> -- point. >> but i think that because we talk about civil cases, as opposed to criminal, it is less impactful in that case. >> but i think what is really interesting is what the a.g. has to rebut their denials of plausibility or denials that they had anything, or even knowledge, of what gap financing is. >> what do they have? >> donald jr. disputes. he says, i know the definition of gap financing. but what the government would have to have -- would have to put on other evidence and other testimony from other witnesses who could say, no, don jr. was intimately involved in this. nothing happened. donald trump sr. was intimacy intimately involved in this. and when eric these properties. for example, the d.c. property, the -- the waldorf astoria now, ivanka was intimately involved in those negotiations, if eric was involved in selling their -- a group of african american investors. >> when you look at all this combined, and you think about it, some people would look at this and say, as a civil matter -- we tend to, as a society, put more emphasis on criminal prosecutions. >> right. >> you can end up in jail, people may take more seriously. and some are calling it a kind of victim us victimless crime. like, what is the big deal? who was hurt in this case? what if you are going to inflate assets, and deflate them, they are tax benefits that are derived. they are taxes not being paid. and then there are some that are being treated very differently. is there anything to the suggestion that this is simply -- you know this well with trump as a former client. this all about a political witch hunt -- there is no real victim here. it's just you trying to -- >> it is something that, whether this is a legitimate case or not, the atmospherics around it certainly lend itself to reinforcing a narrative. she brings this case, you have the judge who is, quite frankly, playing into donald trump's game of saying that he is biased. i think that -- >> you think he is playing into it? >> i think the way that he is doing certain things, the way he handled the contempt -- >> by bringing him on the stage? >> by bringing him on the stage, by explaining, no, i was talking about the person on the other side of you, not the side of you. i don't find him from a credible and i will do it anyway. i think all of that certainly gives fuel to the fire and feeds into that narrative that it is something that is a political witch hunt. i think that if they were to go back and take all of the other businesses in new york that aren't run by somebody named donald trump and see how many other businesses have done the same thing and how many us and have gotten similar treatment, that is also something they can use to show that it is biased. then again, none of those other businesses did run for elections saying, i will go get them. >> i hear you, but you are also speaking to prosecutorial discretion. here, i have chosen one case to prosecute, almost like at some times making it productive. take a cop sees many people speed by them on the road, but they choose one. i want to go beyond 81 point -- >> correct, a political prosecution or, a selective prosecution, doesn't necessarily mean that it does not take direct prosecution. it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't have facts supporting it, just that that prosecutorial discretion has been exercised against certain people and not against others. >> maybe they will get to them, but i think by french thomas talking more politics than all right now. let me just say this. if you go out and violate a court order, you have to get on the stand so the judge can -- and he got on the stand, and the judge found him not credible. he gave him an order and then walked out of the courtroom and violated that order, attacking his law clerk, which is an attack on the administration of justice. >> details, details. >> oh, i'm sorry. we are officers of the court to, by the way. >> i want declined to let all lawyer to all the talking. >> good luck with that. speaking of those doing the talking, i am focused on ivanka because she is the one who was saying she is appealing. she doesn't want to testify. obviously, our case was dismissed because the statute of limitations and she wasn't included in this litigation. but, what is the likelihood that she will not be able or allowed or required to to testify. >> i think she gets to testify. i think the appeal will be denied. this judge is good at exercising his discretion, and unless he abuses that discretion under the new york law, she will testify. she has got to concerns, once, she doesn't want to invoke the fifth, even though she is just a witness, she is not a party anymore. and two, they probably think she has information relevant to their civil prosecution of her father and her brother's, and she doesn't want to give damaging testimony against any one of the three. she probably has it because they are very close, it is a family run business, and she probably does have damaging testimony, which is why she is fighting against testifying so much. >> or, she has some information she doesn't want to double john thinks she has to. this is one of the cases out there -- by the way, on the horizon, to look out for, trump is fighting on the immunity section of the january 6th litigation, saying he doesn't want to be on trial at all until after the election. if you can push a lot of these -- >> they have to be careful. they are under oath and their testimony, depending on how far it goes on cross or direct examination, whether their testimony will be used against donald trump in his criminal proceedings. that is always a possibility, depending on the level of relevance to the criminal cases. >> tim, are you eager to get back to being their attorney right now? [laughter] your hand is going up. a big thing, yeah? >> i am happy i left when i did. it was a great experience having been a part of the team. i am very happy that i made the decision i did when i did. >> how very diplomatic. we'll end on that, scott gulden and timothy parlatore, thank you so much. coming up next, the cornell student accused of threatening to kill his jewish peers is now behind bars and will likely stay there pending any for the prosecution. how did the students feel about the threats allegedly coming from one of their own? i will ask them, next. as the war in the middle east is coming home, how do we and what to do about the fear that is spreading? cornell is canceling classes after the arrest of a junior student into threat to kill jewish students. how do campuses respond when the threats come within their student body? joining me now, sophia robinson, managing editor and reporter for the cornell daily son. also here with us as rabbi ari weiss, executive director of cornell. hello, thank you both of you for being here. let me begin with you, sophia, because you were actually at the arraignment, today. what was patrick days's demeanor like inside the courtroom? >> thank you for having me. his demeanor -- he was very straight faced throughout the hearing. he was looking down, primarily up. he said, yes, your honor to a few questions, and is now being detained. >> what are students saying today on campus about the fact that he -- this is an actual student. there were questions about whether it was somebody coming, and anybody could've posted or could have accessed that the actual posting. but the fact that it is a cornell student -- what have the students been saying about that? >> students are extremely disheartened to hear that this is a threat within our community. the students we spoke to said that campus as a whole belt off and strange today as they are trying to grapple with this news. >> rabbi wise, thinking about the distrust that must be fermenting, here. we are talking about looking and wondering who is speaking this way, it is a student who believes this, who is threatening in this way. this could have been and already was an ugly attack on the community, there. i am wondering how you are counseling students tonight in the wake of this arrest. >> so, thank you for having me, and i will just say that, yes, there is some relief that the person who made these threats was caught. there is really some sense that someone part of the cornell community made those. there is a lot of sadness. i think at some level, these threats arise from over the last three weeks, there has been rising antisemitism around the country on college campuses including cornell. i think there is something about these threats that art manifested in part of this culture of antisemitism. but i tell students that, be proud. the response to antisemitism is not too high to judaism but to stand to gather, be proud, affirmed your jewish identity. this friday night, we are going back to one of our -- where the kosher dining hall is, or andra's of students are coming together, finding community together, joining together, affirming our tradition, and standing tall as jewish students. >> i was talking to sofia at the other day when this was first happening, and it had not been and i rest. no one had been identified, rabbi, and we were learning as well that there were students who were changing their behavior on account of the threats. some were not attending classes, some were not wanting to display or otherwise speak about their heritage or religion in any way, and some are also traveling in groups from place to place in a kind of buddy system to try and cope with what is happening. something like this can have a lasting effect on a feeling of see the. are you hearing from students in light of the arrest that they still feel some lingering feelings of unsafe? >> i think it will be a process. as i was saying before, there has been a process and culture of antisemitism at cornell as many college campuses. i think it will take some time for a corner to be turned. but we have had such a great response from cornell university police department to step up and say, we are here and we support you and we have seen strong statements from the university president. just today she announced a number of initiatives to fight antisemitism at cornell through education, which is in line with the work that cornell has been doing. we bring educators to campus, we are educated -- committed to educating cornell about antisemitism, about its history, and about ways of fighting antisemitism. i think at the core is to fight hate with light, with affirmation, with coming together and standing strong. it will take weeks, it will take months, but i think we will be able to turn a corner. >> sophia, i want to know more about what the administration is doing and how are they intending to change, or have they already changed, some policies or procedures to prevent this from happening again? i assume it has to be on the one hand broad to capture other hateful speech, on the other hand very specific and nuanced to suggest what has just happened. >> yes, so, in light of these events, the university announced today that they will be canceling classes on friday to have a community day, citing extraordinary stress that patients are under. they are really encouraging students to try and recuperate and process the events that have happened recently at our campus. as the rabbi said, there are increasing initiatives to combat antisemitism and other forms of hatred on our campus. >> he mentioned some educational moments as well to, be teaching. is that through a core -- do you know if it is through a core curriculum, and elective, part of an add on to the already existing syllabus, or slow by, excuse me, that are happening right now? >> the university hasn't released any details about what this will look like, but we will continue to fend out details in the coming days, i am sure. >> when you look at it that they will be having the community day on friday, classes are canceled, having students try to process and reflect independently can sometimes be a very difficult task because there is a lot of feelings clustering together. what are you intending to do? is there some directive or moments that you are hoping to achieve in order to have people reflect as a part of the community? >> so, i think that is a place that cornell steps and. i am one of the rabbis on our team. we have two other rabbis and we have 14 staff members, educators. we have folks who have the relationships with students, and throughout the last three weeks, including this past week, we have been there for students. we have been there supporting students, we have been there to process what students. right when we heard of the attacks on late friday afternoon, we were at the center for jewish living on 104 west within minutes to beat with students and sit with students and show that we are supporting students. so, this will be a continuation of the work that we do. we have those relationships with students, we are there for them, we are there to listen, because at the core of pastoral listening and