White House Press Secretary under president obama and msnbc political analyst. Adam pollock, and charles coleman, an msnbc legal analyst. Vaughn, i want to start with you. You have kind of lived all of this from the beginning to the end. As you watched what unfolded today, help us understand it, but also put all of that testimony by Hope Hicks Which was pretty dramatic in the context of what we knew at the time. Reporter exactly, its dramatic because hope hicks was somebody who testified today that she was intimately involved with donald trump in what was a very Small Campaign brass that included keith shiler and Corey Lewandowski and Michael Cohen, the outside personal lawyer voice who maintained a quasi role with the campaign, representing donald trump. In this, for hope hicks and for the jury here, is a key, crucial witness that knows donald trump so well, but also was a trusted adviser and aide, somebody whose words were never really highly scrutinized, somebody who donald trump has never publicly blasted or tried to undercut the reputation of. But what hope hicks ultimately testified today was twofold, number one, she did not testify that she was aware of any conversations about a catch and kill scheme as part of that august 2015 meeting between david pecker, Michael Cohen and donald trump. She also testified that on october 8th, the day after that access Hollywood Tape drops that in phone calls she had with donald trump and Michael Cohen that she was not a part of any conversation related to Stormy Daniels, and instead she didnt become aware of Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal just four days before the 2016 election when a Wall Street Journal reporter reached out for comment about the story that he was about to publish. But she also, hope hicks, was crucial for the prosecution and the reason why the prosecution before her before the jury because she was able to effectively testify just how much in october of 2016, concern around these women and these Salacious Stories and the allegations which she called damaging stories and damaging developments about donald trump came as a result of that access Hollywood Tape dropping. She went to trump tower after receiving an email from the Washington Post just before the publication of the access Hollywood Tape. She said her initial reaction was deny, deny, deny, until she brought it to senior advisers and trump himself and it became obvious that the story was true. Thats when eventually, of course, the women voters became a concern for the campaign, and she testified that over the course of those following weeks that the forefront were the allegations and the extent to which they understood they needed to quash the stories around these damaging allegations about donald trump, including there in that final week of the campaign when she herself brought a Draft Statement to donald trump and then he, with Michael Cohen worked to try to rewrite the statement that they ultimately brought to the Wall Street Journal, one in which they ultimately denied having any awareness of the arrangement between the National Enquirer, Karen Mcdougal, as well as Stormy Daniels. So, adam, all of this must be leading to a point that they hoped to get to in the next 15 minutes when they resume their questioning of hope hicks, and before the jury goes home for the weekend, you love to leave them thinking about exactly all the things that theyve talked about. What is it that what weve heard so far this morning is leading to this afternoon . Its leading to the Stormy Daniels story mattered, mattered to the campaign. Trump wanted, would have wanted the story to go away. Access hollywood was tremendously damaging, that under states the gravity of the situation, and they didnt want the stories coming out in the middle of the campaign. How do you get to that point . Theyll be asking her, what was the situation, what was the worry, even if shes not going to be able to testify, even if she wasnt in the room with the deals about Stormy Daniels, shell be able to testify what was going on in the room of the campaign, what were they looking fo what were they trying to kill, what was the panic around the access hollywood. Youre nodding, charles. I am because again, this is so central to the prosecutions point. Are we getting to the meat now, sort of . Almost. Were getting closer than we have been. People have to understand, because a lot of folks really may not get that the notion of hush money by itself is not illegal. And so in terms of establishing the case as alvin bragg has brought the indictment he has to be able to prove that this was done to try and impact the election. Thats when the combination of the falsified Business Records along with the ultimate crime that it was attempting to further are going to matter most. And so these points, although they may seem overblown, theyre really essentially because if they get this wrong, their case goes out the window, which is why the emphasis on the impact of the access Hollywood Tape as well as the concern about the other stories has to be driven home to the jury and you want to err on the side of making it extra clear, rather than not making it clear enough. What do you think about and david fahrenthold, a well known journalist broke the story for the Washington Post, and he said this, when i reached out to hope hicks about the access Hollywood Video while i was working at the Washington Post, we already knew the tape was legitimate, but we wanted to know how trump would explain his words. Her first reaction was, again, in his conversation with her, that doesnt sound like something he would say, which is exactly what today, this morning, she testified as he told her when she reported what was on that tape, that doesnt sound like something i would say. Does it send a message to the jury that donald trump is someone whos just going to deny, deny, deny, change his story. Is that part of it significant . I dont know that that part is significant. I think whats most significant about it is the congruence between her comment and what he actually said. What it shows is even though she wasnt in the room with the catch and kill with Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal, Shed A Real Inside Track into how donald trump thought. So in terms of someone who could actually communicate how much of an impact these stories had and how concerned they were, not only as the campaign, but for donald trump, the actor, the defendant in this case, she is the one who can literally choose words out of his mouth and communicating that and making that clear is really essential to bolstering her credibility as a witness. Robert, as someone who has worked in the white house, what do you think the jury needs to understand about the position that hope hicks had not just in terms of the fact that he clearly trusted her, that she admired him, but also just the proximity she had. She was going in and out of meetings all the time. I dont know about you, but not a lot of people i saw when i worked at the white house who just wander in and out of meetings at will . Well, thats the good thing about, quite frankly, a valued press person is you have immediate access to the principal to ask them what their feelings and what their thoughts are, to get their reactions. Your job is to convey their response. Look, i think the prosecution is clearly putting her central to, as vaughn said, its a Small Campaign apparatus, and she was central to that apparatus both in the campaign and in the white house. There were very few people that were as close to trump as she was. I think theyll continue to establish that, continue to establish the central nature of her role and to establish this idea that she had the ability to go ask him questions and get that information. Good Press Secretaries in the white house or in a campaign have access to the candidate or to the president so that theyre not just making it up as you go along. Youre getting that guidance directly from the principal. Adam, hope hicks testified for more than eight hours Behind Closed Doors at the House Intelligence Committee where she declined to answer a lot of questions, but did, this is according to the New York Times, quote, she did say that her work for President Trump who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods had occasionally required her to tell white lies. What does that tell to the jury . I think that the prosecution here is painting a broad picture of Salacious Witnesses, of Salacious Witnesses who lie, who arent with the truth at all times, who are willing to fabricate because that gets to the heart of the charges here. The heart of the charges is fabricated records. Trump treated, charles, hope hicks, almost like a daughter, and he, as vaughn pointed out rightly, ive never heard him whisper a bad word about her, not usual, right, in trump world. What are the chances that could complicate any kind of crossexamination, even though i should say some reporting has been that after she testified for the january 6th committee, he wasnt as fond of her necessarily as he had been previously. Right. And i do believe there are some reports coming out of there that we dont know how eager hope hicks has been to take the stand in this case. This is a complicated matrix were working with around the witness. The tweet from donald trump doesnt necessarily matter because the jury at least in theory is not supposed to see it. So theyre not going to see or they shouldnt see it or shouldnt hear about it. In terms of whether it affects Hope Hicks Presentation on the stand as a witness during the crossexamination, that is largely going to depend on how aggressive his attorneys are with respect to the questions that they ask. If you have a witness who you believe could be friendly to you on crossexamination, you will do your best to lead them in a particular place you want them to go,and if they are as friendly as you believe, theyre going to go with you. If they resist or stop giving you the answers you want, then it becomes more contentious and we might see fireworks fly. Whatever it might run contrary to the spirit of when it was he decided to put in this tweet about hope hicks being like a daughter. Robert, an awful lot of voters, and certainly the voters in 2016 knew this stuff. Most people had heard about this stuff. The details and the granular details in some cases that were getting to, the new perspectives on it, are different and i wonder in democratic circles and the conversations youre having if there is a belief that going over this again and again and again. But also introducing some, again, new perspectives for it could have implications for november. I think absolutely. Look, i think in many ways, one of the things that was central to joe bidens candidacy in 2020 was im going to be a good steward, and youre going to forget the chaos. And all of these trials, all of these witnesses, all of this testimony, just reengages this notion of remember how chaotic not just the campaign was but ultimately what the white house was like, and i think that is a helpful thing for democratic voters to hear, really helpful for swing voters to be reminded of just what it was like during those times. You know, the frantic tweets, the sort of howling at the moon, if you will, the tear down of even your own staff, and just the sheer chaos of it all. That was what biden was trying to fix and the reminder that could come back, i believe, will land well for the biden campaign. Stand by. Coming up, Donald Trumps former White House Communications director will join us live with her impressions of Hope Hicks Testimony so far. Prosecutors are at the table in the courtroom. Were waiting for donald trump and his team to arrive. Well have much more on Chris Jansing reports after this. Rep. Custom scans help you find new trading opportunities, while an Earnings Tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. E trade from Morgan Stanley ella fashion moves fast. An jen y on top of the market. So we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level. marquis with a custom private 5g network. ella we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. jen thats enterprise intelligence. vo its your vision, its your verizon. Nexium 24hr prevents Heartburn Acid before it begins. Get allday and allnight heartburn Acid Prevention with just one pill a day. Choose Acid Prevention. Choose nexium. ella fashion moves fast. jen so we partner with verizon choose Acid Prevention. To take our operations to the next level. marquis with a custom private 5g network. ella we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. jen thats enterprise intelligence. vo its your vision, its your verizon. I have moderate to severe crohns disease. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are looking up, ive got Symptom Relief. Control of my crohns means everything to me. Control is everything to me. Feel significant Symptom Relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less Abdominal Pain and fewer bowel movements. Skyrizi is the first il23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. And the majority of people experienced longlasting remission at one year. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. Liver problems may occur in crohns disease. Nows the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohns with skyrizi. Control is everything to me. Learn how abbvie could help you save. Norman, bad news. I never graduated from med school. What . But the good news is. Xfinity mobile just got even better now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. Plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. I gotta get this deal. Thats like 20 a month per unlimited line. I dont want to miss that. Thats amazing doc. Mobile savings are calling. Visit xfinitymobile. Com to learn more. Doc . Just moments ago, donald trump returning to the courtroom where he has now arrived inside. Sat down at the Defense Table with his attorneys, and todd blanche is immediately whispering to him. The jury has not yet come in to the courtroom. And about to return to the stand is Donald Trumps former aide, hope hicks, who has been described as mysterious. The only time they have heard her voice is in this video played before the january 6th committee. I was becoming increasingly concerned that we were damaging we were damaging his legacy. What did the president say in response to what you just described . He said something along the lines of, you know, nobody will care about my legacy if i lose. So that wont matter. The only thing that matters is winning. Joining us now is Stephanie Grisham, the former chief of staff and Press Secretary for first lady Melania Trump, and former White House Communications director and author of the book ill take your questions now, what i saw at the trump white house, also with me, Washington Post investigator, josh dossey. As to what you saw, weve talked a lot, stephanie, for the last hour and fifteen minutes about the access that hope hicks had, the relationship between her and donald trump, but you saw it up close. What can you tell us . Yeah, you know, watching the trial today has been a lot of mixed feelings. I can only imagine the sense of anxiety that she had. I joined the Trump Campaign in july 2015 so i was actually the second press, Communications Person to join the campaign after hope, so i worked with her for six years. All of the reports are correct, she and the boss were extremely close. He trusted her with everything. She traveled with him everywhere. It was funny. Hearing her say that she had to put any statement past him or any response to the media past him is exactly correct. I was always flying with the press during the campaign, and if i had to answer the press, i had to go through hope who had to go through trump to make sure i could give them even a simple answer like yes were going t