>>> WELCOME BACK TO "THE WEEKEND." WEEK TWO OF THE ELECTION FIRST TRIAL WRAPPED WITH A BOMBSHELL. UNDER REDIRECT FROM THE PROSECUTION, FORMER "THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER" DAVID PECKER ADMITTED HE BROUGHT FORMER PLAYBOOK MODEL KAREN McDOUGAL STORY ABOUT HER AFFAIR WITH TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION. THE STORY SAYS WOULD HAVE BEEN GOLD IF IT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED. HE ALSO DETAILED CONVERSATIONS HE HAD WITH WHITE HOUSE STAFFERS AFTER TRUMP TOOK OFFICE ABOUT EXTENDING McDOUGAL'S AGREEMENT. AND JOINING US NOW TO DISCUSS IT ALL IS NEW YORK TIMES INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER SUSANNE CRAIG AND SENIOR CORRESPONDENT LAURA JARRETT. I WAS READING ALL YAWLS NOTES ALL WEEK. >> THAT MEANS MY FRIEND LAURA JARRETT WAS SLOWER TO RESPOND TO TEXT MESSAGE. WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS BREATHLESSLY BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS NOT WATCHING IT WITH THE SAME LEVEL OF DETAIL. IF SOMEONE WAS NOT TUNED IN ALL WEEK WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM WHAT THE TOP LINE OF WHAT HAPPENED? >> THE TOP LINE IS A MAN WHO HAS NO DONALD TRUMP FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE LAST 20 YEARS CAME IN AND TOLD THE JURY THAT THEY DELIBERATELY SAT IN A ROOM AND SCHEMED TO TRY TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION AND SHOULD TRY TO HIDE INFORMATION FROM VOTERS. HE SAID IT PLAINLY, HE DID NOT SUGARCOAT IT, HE DID NOT TRY TO HEDGE AT ALL. WHEN PRESSED ON CROSS- EXAMINATION, HE REFUSED AND DOUBLED DOWN. HE IS -- THIS IS A PERSON WHO IS LIKE THIS TABLOID MOGUL. YOU MIGHT THINK IT IS SEEDY BUT IT IS NOT SEEDY AT ALL. HE IS LIKE AN AFFABLE FATHER. THE JURY IS MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH HIM. HE IS COMPLETELY LIKABLE AS A WITNESS AND ALSO MICHAEL COHEN. HE IS NOT PUNCHING BACK IN THE SAME WAY. HE HAS SO MANY DELIVERABLES FOR THIS PROSECUTION. >> SUSANNE, ON THAT NOTE ABOUT HIM NOT BEING MICHAEL COHEN, DAVID PECKER IS SOMEONE WHO TALKED ABOUT IDOLIZING AND RESPECTING DONALD TRUMP TO THIS DAY. HE WAS SOMEONE WHEN THEY WERE SITTING AROUND, IT WASN'T JUST THESE CASES AND WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, HE WAS ALSO WRITING STORIES AND PUTTING THEM IN THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER ABOUT TRUMP'S RIVALS. HE SEEMS TO BE A MUCH BETTER WITNESS THAN MICHAEL COHEN WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN AND GONE TO JAIL FOR LYING. TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT. >> I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT DAVID PECKER IS A PRINCIPLE HERE. HE WAS TALKING TO DONALD TRUMP AND ANOTHER PRINCIPLE . MICHAEL COHEN IS A LAWYER THAT WAS GOING OUT AND EXECUTING WHAT DONALD TRUMP WANTED. DONNA TRUMP'S LAWYERS I THINK WILL MAKE MICHAEL COHEN OUT TO BE A ROPE ACTOR BUT WHAT YOU SAW WITH DAVID PECKER WAS A PRINCIPLE AHEAD OF THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER TALKING TO HIS FRIEND DONALD TRUMP ABOUT PLANTING STORIES IN THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER AND ALSO KILLING STORIES. THERE IS THIS INCREDIBLE MEETING THAT HAPPENED IN AUGUST 2015 WERE DAVID PECKER IS CALLED OVER AND MICHAEL COHEN SAYS, THE BOSS WANTS TO SEE YOU. THEY ARE IN HER ROOM, AND THEY TALK ABOUT CATCHING STORIES AND KILLING THEM. PARTICULARLY ONES ABOUT DONALD TRUMP AND WOMEN. THEY ALSO TALKED ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES WHERE DONALD TRUMP WOULD GET GOOD PRESS BUT THEN OTHER STORIES WHERE MICHAEL COHEN WOULD COME UP WITH THAT IDEA ABOUT A RIVAL LIKE BEN CARSON OR TED CRUZ AND SEND THE NUGGET OVER AND THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER WOULD, ACCORDING TO DAVID PECKER, QUOTE UNQUOTE, EMBELLISH IT AND RIDE A NEGATIVE STORY ABOUT IT. IT WAS STORY AFTER STORY ABOUT LIKE HEADLIGHT AFTER HEADLINE CAME UP AND I HAVE TO SAY, DAVID PECKER , JUSTIN DELIVERY WAS INCREDIBLE. UNLIKE MICHAEL COHEN HE WAS CALM AND COOL AND A COLLEAGUE OF MINE WROTE IN THE TIMES IN A POST THAT HE WAS ALMOST HE WAS GIVING A DELI ORDER. MUSTARD AND ALL TYPES OF RELISH. I WILL HAVE TURKEY. HIS DELIVERY WAS SO SMOOTH AND CALM. IT WAS VERY POWERFUL AND IRONICALLY FOR SOMEONE WHO MAKES UP STORIES PARTLY FOR A LIVING AND IF FOR YEARS. HE WAS, LIKE, VERY CREDIBLE. >> ONE OF THE THINGS, THE FAMILY VERSUS CAMPAIGN CONCERNS, AND IT CAME UP IN COURT AND THE PROSECUTION ASKED, DID HE AND AND THAT HE IS TRUMP, ARE THEY ASKING DAVID PECKER DID HE EVER SAY ANYTHING THAT MADE YOU THINK HIS CONCERN ABOUT THE STORIES GETTING OUT WAS FOR HIS FAMILY RATHER THAN HIS CAMPAIGN? AND HE SAID, I THOUGHT IT WAS MORE FOR THE CAMPAIGN. AND HE SAYS, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT? AND IT WAS LIKE EVERY TIME I HAD A STORY, THE FAMILY WAS, HIS FAMILY, WAS NEVER MENTIONED. WHY IS THAT AN IMPORTANT POINT? >> THAT IS DEVASTATING FOR THEM BECAUSE THE PARTY LINE ALL ALONG FROM THE DEFENSE SIDE HAS BEEN THIS WAS ALL ABOUT TRYING TO SAVE THE FAMILY EMBARRASSMENT. THIS WAS IN TRYING TO SUBVERT DEMOCRACY OR DO ANYTHING TO THE VOTERS. THIS WAS MAKING SURE MILANI HAD DID NOT FIND OUT OR SHE WASN'T EMBARRASSED. MILANI HAS NOT BEEN AND THAT COURTROOM NOT ONE DAY SINCE THE TRIAL STARTED. DAVID PECKER, AGAIN, TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE MORE JURY SANG MILANI IT WASN'T PART OF THIS BUT THIS IS ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN. EVEN THOUGH THE DEFENSE HAS NOT BEEN ABOUT THE PHONE -- YOU REMEMBER, JOE TACOPINA USED TO ALWAYS SAY THAT. IT HAS NOT COME UP AS A LEGAL DEFENSE BUT THEY WANTED TO GET THAT OUT THERE SO YOU MAY HEAR IT ON CLOSING ARGUMENT THEY AND THINKING IT WAS LEGITIMATE. I THINK U2 IS TRYING TO GET IT OUT THERE RIGHT NOW FOR >> IN McDOUGAL'S DNA, THEY SAID IT WAS AFTER THE ELECTION. WE ARE SEEING TIME AFTER TIME THE DEFENSE ABLE TO ORDER THE PROSECUTION, EXCUSE ME, TAKE ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT TRUMP HAS SAID. TRUMP LIED ON AIR FORCE ONE WHEN TALKING TO REPORTERS ABOUT THIS. HE SAID NO, I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. WE DID NOT PAY HER. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE LONG TRAIN THAT WE HAVE OF THIS CONVERSATION, WE ARE AT THE TOP OF THAT AT THIS POINT. >> WE ARE AND IT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE DONALD TRUMP'S LAWYERS AND THE DEFENSE ARE MAKING IT OUT TO BE THAT THE THINGS THAT WENT ON JUST STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. DAVID PECKER AND DONALD TRUMP HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR DECADES. THEY MET AT MAR-A-LAGO YEARS AGO. FOR A LONG TIME, DAVID PECKER HAS HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH DONALD TRUMP THAT HAS BEEN MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL . DAVID PECKER WILL RIDE IN NATIONAL ENQUIRER POSITIVE STORIES ABOUT DONALD TRUMP AND IN RETURN DONALD TRUMP, ESPECIALLY DURING THE APPRENTICE YEARS WOULD GIVE STORIES ABOUT EITHER HIMSELF OR APPRENTICE CANDIDATES IT WAS MANNA FROM HEAVEN. NEWS GOLD FOR DAVID PECKER BECAUSE THAT WAS HIS STOCK IN TRADE. THEY WERE TRYING TO PORTRAY THAT THIS WAS JUST MORE OF THAT AND IN THE OPENING STATEMENTS, DONALD TRUMP'S LAWYERS ACTUALLY SAID THAT THEY TRIED TO -- TRYING TO INFLUENCE -- IS DEMOCRACY. THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE TRY AND DO. WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS AND WHAT THE GOVERNMENT LAWYERS WERE SHOWING IS THAT DURING THE ELECTION, THE ARRANGEMENTS THAT WERE REACH AND KAREN GOOGLE WHO IS THE PLAYMATE THAT DONALD TRUMP HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH, NINE MONTHS OR A YEAR, THESE PAYMENTS THAT WENT TO KAREN MAKE GOOGLE AND OTHERS WERE LARGER THAN USUAL. THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER NATIONAL -- HAVE A LIMIT OF $10,000. THESE WENT WELL OVER THAT. IN THE CASE OF KAREN McDOUGAL, THEY HAD A CONTRACT WITH HER AND THAT WAS ACCORDING TO DAVID PECKER SOLELY TO KEEP HER STORY OFF THE MARKET BUT SHE DID IN SIGNING THAT GET OTHER THINGS WITH THE AGREEMENT. SHE GOT, YOU KNOW, SHE WOULD HAVE A COLUMN, SHE WOULD GET ON THE COVER OF A MAGAZINE. DAVID PECKER SAID THAT WAS ALL WINDOW DRESSING FOR THE PAYMENT TO KEEP HER QUIET BUT DONALD TRUMP'S LAWYERS WILL SAY THAT CONTRACT WAS ACTUALLY LEGITIMATE AND PAYMENT FOR SERVICES. THAT WILL COME DOWN TO WHAT THE CRIME IS. WHAT WAS THAT PAYMENT, WASN'T LEGAL OR NOT? >> YOU HAVE THE HUSH MONEY CASE IN NEW YORK AND THEN YOU HAVE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT THE ARGUMENT OVER PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY. IT'S EASY TO TALK ABOUT THOSE IN SILOS, BUT YOU SAY THEY ARE CONNECTED. >> THEY ARE CONNECTED BECAUSE THEY ARE ASKING THE COURTS, JURIES, AND THE COUNTRY, IS DONALD TRUMP ABOVE THE LAW. IN THE HUSH MONEY CASE, YOU HAVE A PERSON WHO REPEATEDLY ATTACK POTENTIAL WISHES IS THAT HE IS UNDER A GAG ORDER. UNLIKE ANY OTHER DEFENDANT, HE HAS NOT SEEN ANY REPERCUSSIONS. THE PROSECUTORS WANT A BIG FINE. THEY DON'T WANT JAIL TIME. THE JUDGE HAS NOT RULED AND IT'S ODD THAT HE HAS NOT. I AM SITTING IN THE SUPREME COURT AND YOU ARE LISTENING TO THE JUSTICES TALKING ABOUT SOMEONE MURDERING THEIR ARRIVAL AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT AND THE JUSTICES ARE SAYING BACK AND FORTH, NO MAN IS ABOVE THE LAW. YOU WOULD AGREE WITH ME. AND MR. TRUMP'S ATTORNEYS ARE SAYING YES. BUT AT THE SAME TIME SAYING IF YOU WERE TO KILL SOMEBODY HE WOULD BE IMMUNE FROM THAT. I WAS STRUCK BY IN THE SAME WEEK IN TWO DIFFERENT COURTROOMS AND DIFFERENT CASES THEY ARE BOTH FUNDAMENTALLY SORT OF AT BOTTOM AND TESTING THE LEGAL SYSTEM, A STRESS TEST FOR THE COUNTRY. >> YOU CAN ALMOST HEAR MICHAEL STEELE WHO WAS AWAY IN BUCHAREST, -- >> WHY HAS JUDGE MERCHAN NOT RULED ON THE GAG ORDER? >> I THINK HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT THIS GOING UP ON APPEAL. I DON'T WANT TO SAY UNPRECEDENTED, BUT IT IS UNPRECEDENTED TO HAVE A GOP NOMINEE BEGAN. HE KNOWS TRUMP WILL APPEAL IT SO MY ONLY THOUGHT IS THAT HE IS TRYING TO MAKE SURE HE GETS IT RIGHT AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THE FINE IS. WHY NOT JUST IMPOSE WHAT PROSECUTORS HAVE SAID THE STRAIGHT UP TO
