The Lead with Jake Tapper

If Donald Trump is acquitted in his hush money cover up trial, the history books could point to today’s testimony from Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer. Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanche laid out Cohen’s past lies under oath and then introduced evidence claiming that Cohen has lied in this trial. Cohen’s cross-examination is set to resume next week. Learn more about your ad choices....

President Biden and former President Trump have put into writing that they will face off in two 2024 presidential debates. The first debate will occur in just weeks on CNN. The political jabs are already flying. Plus, a look at the charges that could soon be on the way for Boeing, one of the biggest plane manufacturers in the world, after the investigation of deadly crashes.  Learn more about your...

In the New York hush money cover up trial, Michael Cohen is facing incredibly aggressive cross-examination. Trump attorney Todd Blanche has gotten Cohen to confirm that he wants to see Trump convicted in this case and that he makes money off of his anti-Trump social media posts. Plus, House Speaker Mike Johnson is the latest and most senior Republican official to defend Donald Trump outside of the...

The witness at the center of the case, Michael Cohen, is testifying in New York for the hush money cover up trial. He is detailing how he came to pay $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels who came forward about an alleged episode with Donald Trump in the days leading up to the 2016 election.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The next star witness in line to testify in the New York hush money cover up case is Donald Trump’s former lawyer known as the fixer. What is the impact of this trial on Trump himself? Former Trump White House aide Anthony Scaramucci joins to share his perspective.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Several witnesses including Stormy Daniels testified today in the New York hush money cover up trial. Jake walks you through what he saw while observing the courtroom proceedings today. At the end of the day, the proceedings heated back up as Trump’s attorneys argued, out of the presence of the jury, for a mistrial and to lift Trump from the gag order from speaking about Daniels. Judge Juan Mercha...

In the New York hush money cover up case, CNN is learning of a new legal strategy by Trump’s legal team in direct response to testimony from adult film star Stormy Daniels who returns to the stand tomorrow morning. Plus, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is acknowledging a worm ate part of his brain.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Israel is vowing to continue its operations in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated or another hostage is returned while Hamas has its own response. Plus, President Biden is condemning the alarming rise in anti-semitism in the United States. Also, Stormy Daniels is on the stand in the New York hush money cover up case, going into detail about her alleged rendezvous with Donald Trump.  Learn more about y...

A stern warning for Donald Trump today from the bench, keep violating your gag order in your hush money cover up case and you may well end up in jail. Judge Juan Merchan that Trump violated that gag order for the tenth time. He fined Trump $1,000, which is the maximum penalty.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today one of Donald Trump’s most loyal aides and the first former Trump White House employee to testify took the stand in the hush money cover up trial. Hope Hicks acknowledged to the jury that she was nervous to testify at times and she did in one instance cry on the stand leading to a brief delay in the trial. She testified about the campaign’s panic behind the scenes when they learned of the no...

The criminal hush money cover up trial of former President Trump is well underway. Our panel breaks down the latest witness testimony and developments in the trial. Plus, President Biden makes his most direct comments yet on the protests which have erupted from coast to coast on college campuses.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From New York to California and points in between, confrontations between students and police continue. Plus, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel trying to push a ceasefire. Also, from the trial to the trail, Trump hits two battleground states today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Campus protests are hitting a whole new level at Columbia University with violence and vandalism and anti-war demonstrators barricading themselves in a university building. The university is warning people to stay away from campus. Plus, the major move coming from the Biden administration aiming to reclassify marijuana after criminalizing for nearly 90 years.  Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Columbia University, the epicenter of the weeklong pro-Palestinian protests, said it has begun suspending students who refused to abide by a deadline to vacate the campus encampment. Another Ivy League school, Cornell University, said it was suspending student protesters who declined to move to an alternate location. The college protests are raising legal questions around free speech.  Learn more...

A new witness in Donald Trump’s hush money cover up trial, the prosecution just called its third witness, Gary Farrow, a banker who worked with Michael Cohen at the time the payments were made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actress and director Stormy Daniels, both of whom alleged romantic entanglements with Donald Trump.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...

In the New York hush money trial, Donald Trump’s defense team is now cross-examining the prosecution’s first witness, former tabloid executive David Pecker. This is Pecker’s third day on the stand and today for the very first time he described the deal he helped broker with adult film star Stormy Daniels. A deal that is at the center of the case.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho...

Protests are underway across United States colleges and universities after weeks of tension over the Israel-Hamas war. Our reporters report live from campuses where protests continue. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at Columbia University amid the protests.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former tabloid publisher David Pecker is under oath and on the record revealing just how far Donald Trump went allegedly to protect his 2016 presidential campaign. But, when it comes to whether Trump committed a felony in the process, how damaging was today’s testimony? Plus, what Pecker said went down in the room in the infamous meeting in August of 2015 that could hurt Donald Trump’s case nearly...

The prosecution and defense sparred in opening statements during Donald Trump's hush money scheme. Did Trump violate a gag order? Crisis on college campuses; are Jewish students safe at School? Calls increase for Columbia University's President to resign over handling of antisemitism. Plus, the Supreme Court is set to decide if cities can punish people who are homeless, and a U.S. animation studio...

A horrific scene outside of Trump’s New York City courthouse after a man lit himself on fire while inside the courthouse there was a major development in the hush money trial. How long can the prosecution hold out and keep its witness list outside of the hands of Donald Trump and his defense team? Also, in an extraordinary move, some 165 House Democrats came to the aid of Republican House Speaker...

The shocking actions that leads to two jurors in the Trump hush money case suddenly being dismissed in an unusual occurrence. Plus, name calling and fresh threats for House Speaker Mike Johnson by hard-right Republicans demanding he keep his hands off the rule which, as of now, allows just one member of Congress to force a vote to remove him as speaker.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

House Speaker Mike Johnson finds a way to allow votes on aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan but it’s his path forward that has his party in an uproar. Speaker Johnson joins to answer if he needs helps from Democrats. Plus, a brand new filing from the hush money case includes a line of questioning the prosecution may take if Trump takes the stand.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho...

A deep divide in the U.S. Supreme Court is on display today as justices challenge whether prosecutors have been overzealous using obstruction charges against rioters. Plus, a valedictorian’s speech is canceled, the criticism about the muslim student that lead to objections on the campus of the University of Southern California.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Day one of the New York hush money cover up case against Donald Trump wraps. A playboy model will be allowed to testify and the infamous Access Hollywood tape will not be allowed to be aired in court. Plus, a critical meeting at the Capitol as House Speaker Johnson is weighing his next move in the wake of the weekend attack from Iran. Will Speaker Johnson isolate support for Israel for an aid pack...

The US has been on high alert for a significant Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel in recent days as fears grow of a wider regional war. Plus, the House passed a modified surveillance bill, just two days after an earlier version failed to advance in a public rebuke to GOP leadership. The bill, which reauthorizes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also needs to pass the Senate ahead of an...