an update to the breaking news on columbia university's campus. we are getting our first look inside hamilton hall where demonstrators broke in and barricaded themselves last night. pictures just in show shattered glass. new york city police cleared out the building and arrested 100 demonstrators on campus and cleared the tent encampment on the south lawn. we will continue our coverage tomorrow. it has been a long night. we have a look back on trump's criminal trial next. and from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc

news, thanks sister staying up late. i'll see you tomorrow. we are reporting on one of the most significant days yet in trump's trial. i will tell you why it was so significant. the defendant lost this long awaited gag order clash. began the second week of testimony. and as i mentioned, nicole, today i was inside that courtroom and then reporting from out front afterward. i watched the witnesses, defendant, and the jury with my own eyes. and that can matter more on a case where we have no video cameras so tonight, i will be reporting what i saw inside the courtroom. just as our other court recorder haves been doing. as you look on your screen, the text you see, quote, and this

is criminal evidence, did he cheat on melania was displayed inside the room. i saw a version of this, maybe not as beautifully colored. the green was what was held up in the room. did he cheat on melania. the star witness was stormy daniels and karen mcdougal's former lawyer on the stand. he hurt trump's defense today. that was clear. trump lost the key clash i mentioned, the judge holding him in contempt for violating his gag order and threatening jail time. you can already tell a lot happened.

>> the judge ruled on gag order violations. >> they are threatening to throw the republican nominee for president in jail for talking, harris. >> he was only ordered to not speak about witnesses, jurors, court personnel or their families. >> he says in part this was willful. >> he looked composeed. >> he is not in control of these proceedings. the judge is the individual in our government process at this point in the trial who determines both what constitutes violating the gag order and what the punishment

can be if he does it again. now what you have here was nine violations primarily from online posts that were flagged by the da and reviewed by the judge. if trump continues to attack witnesses or violate the order he could face jail time. the judge will not tolerate willful violations of the lawful orders and will impose incarceratory punishment. you can tell that incarceration, that is in here. that is the one part. i mean the whole thing is much longer and we saw the lawyer scurry out of the room and review it. but it is that word. and a sign of compliance, the trump team took down past online posts that the judge deemed violated the order today. that occurred during the

morning break. prosecutors called a witness from cspan to confirm the videos of trump they showed to the jury today were valid. so the juror could see from all of this that it was a big issue back in 2016 that trump was facing these allegations from women. you have to remember, i was thinking about this in the room watching these jurors who all looked like new yorkers with their notes out and they are paying attention. but to the best of my ability, i can't tell you they looked like super political junkie nerds. and i also know from watching the questioning that they answered a lot of things. because people are busy living their lives. today was the first time that donald trump's voice was heard in the trial as they watched these types of video. >> i have no idea who these women are. these are lies being pushed by

the media and the clinton campaign to try and keep their grip on our country. they are all false. they are totally invented. fiction. every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my cam pawn. the events never happened. never. all of these liars will be sued after the election is over. michael cohen is a very talented lawyer. a good lawyer. >> that is just some of what was played. the second to last clip the jurors heard is late october 16th. so again, if you are just a regular citizen who is not obsessed with this stuff, you might not know that in late october 16, this was a big enough issue that it was coming up day after day that the candidate was talking about it. connected not only to what he said on the tape, but to the other things we now know from this very interesting if nothing else set of evidence in the trial was just the tip of the iceberg as they tried to keep back the other stories and

allegations. they brought out that. the key witness today was former attorney for stormy daniels and model karen mcdougal. keith davidson who had the damning texts. now that's a sketch of him you see there. but keith davidson also not a household name. but we have always try today talk to everyone we can in our reporting. if you happened to watch the news back in the day when all this came out, keith was someone we spoke to right here on the beat. >> we first contacted each other about the matter in 2011. stormy at a minimum. in 2011. they knew about it in 2012 and 13, 14, they knew about it in 2015. they knew about it when donald trump declared that he was a

candidate. >> how long has it been going around, which different investigators knew about it. the da put davidson on today. it may be because davidson doesn't have the kind of credibility issues that cohen has. davidson still confirmed the same details we know cohen confirms. the investigations with the enquirer which had a clear agenda of buying and burying these stories. this is a rare peek into a process that even at the high levels of media and campaigns you don't always see because it is so secretive. the lawyer tipping off the enquirer about mcdougal, the former play mate as a block buster trump story. the tabloid editor says i will get you more, that's more money, than anyone for it.

you know why. now if it was years ago and you got your hands on that sordid text message, you might not know why. these two did. now the rest of us do. the national enquirer had this very unusual deal of catching and killing stories. they did it for more people than just trump. but they are not on trial. trump is. now, when asked what that meant, they responded they were long time friends. we go from that text to this damning testimony to trump. abc was interested in the mcdougal story. remember, there is a lot going on. abc is the kind of network we would expect to share, to publish, to broadcast her story because they are a traditional news network. not so much the enquirer when they are doing what the da says is basically the work of the trump campaign. so the enquirer said they would

lay it on thick for mcdougal and davidson said good and throw in an ambassadorship for me. he said the comment was in jest. that this whole information and plot and money was about trump's candidacy. that if mcdougal had this deal, it would help trump's candidacy. even a joke by text can become criminal evidence because it goes to what they are saying. it props up what cohen is saying. a lot of the testimony we are seen. trump is presumed innocent. but they are trying to stack everything up saying duh, this was about the campaign. not some privacy interest of donald trump who is so known to jealously guard his privacy. that's not really his thing. they also tried to corroborate the alleged conspiracy and how it benefits the campaign with the prosecutor saying is it safe to say if you close the

deal it would benefit trump? davidson confirmings today, yes. the enquirer and mcdougal reached an agreement of $150,000. they said they started with an ask of a million dollars for mcduogal, a lot of money. and you can see all the jurors, just people with predominantly normal jobs in new york city kind of lean in and go you get a million for that? a detail that grew interest. they landed at the sum of 150k. davidson testified that cohen was pleased with the deal. prosecutors discussed the stormy daniels deal and it was the same motive. they couldn't afford one more scandal like this and get the deal done. so davidson confirmed the argument that the access hollywood tape was driving all

of this because donald trump was already looking at a very tight race. he texted trump is f-ed. and howard who has a boss trying to help trump said at the time according to the texts, wave the white flag. it's over, people. davidson said the enquirer then backed out. and that with the stormy daniels concept is why he ended up negotiates directly with cohen. prosecutors asked did you believe cohen was going to be the ultimate source of the funds and this is where the sordid plot took a turn. he responded never. never prior to the funding. the prosecutors say where did you understand the money would come from? he discussed his frustration

today saying dylan tells me push for the cash. and he testifies it is one more snafu. i thought cohen was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election. at this point, you may say why did the prosecutor spend so much time on those little details? you might say why is the newscaster spending so much time on those details? because they are not little details. they go to the heart of the criminal motive the da is trying to move. if this was all just a cover-up of private stuff, you don't get that second crime. there is probably still business fraud. there is overwhelming evidence of that. but that's a misdemeanor. if you prove, however, against the backdrop of everything i told you they went through in one day in court, donald trump in october lamenting and clapping back against these women who were making these

allegations and the access hollywood tape and the money deal and the feeling he was hanging by a thread. and add to that the idea as long as they could keep it quiet until the election, that's all they cared about. you start to say was this private money or free press and the press can do a lot of things. dmz buys stories too. was it as the da alleges? the campaign crime program where michael cohen and the enquirer moved a lot of money around. and didn't report it to the fac. and they got caught. that is what they are trying to prove. we have two legal experts to break down how far they got on proving that. we are back in 90 seconds. ack . it's new olay body wash. silky indulgent moisture. bye bye, dry skin. hello glow in just 14 days. indulge. with olay body wash.

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i sat down with the prosecutors about 20 hours in total. >> 20 hours with sdny? >> that's right. so i can put together you know, through their questioning where they are going and what evidence they believe is important. and i think that yes. they are of the opinion that it was politically motivated. keith davidson talking to us about a different investigation. the feds looking at the same question. was this a politically motivated campaign crime when

all this money sloshed around. welcome to both of you. emily, i happen to be in the courtroom today. we have been rotating. but irrespective of that as they say, it was a very busy day with the gag order ruling and the star witness. i went through some of what we learned with mr. davidson. do you think the da moved the ball today? >> i think he did. i think you are seeing different witnesses confirm each other and overlap in this presentation of evidence. all pointing toward trying to influence the election. and what is allegedly a conspiracy to do that. by catch and clear. clear references to the idea that cohen was going to provide the money but on behalf of former president trump. that is the most important set of fact that's the prosecution needs to prove in order to make this stick.

>> being in that room which you have been in this times. i will read from the text. everyone looked at the defendant. this is when they were discussing the story. quote, put this up. did he cheat on melania. davidson says says i can't say yet, sorry. the allegation would of course continue onto include that time period that it was that allegation. and some of the sketches we have, grab that. there it is as i mentioned. what does that do in a case like this? will the jury remember that exchange? >> oh there is no doubt that this is going to be something that the jury takes with them. and even though the judge has stopped the prosecutors from introducing some of the evidence in the case that is most salacious, this is a way of the prosecutors getting it before the jury and you may be forgetting that this is a falsifying business records case with all of the salacious

details coming out. at the end of the day, what the prosecutors are trying to do is establish that this is a case where there was an conspiracy to commit election fraud and this dealt with the election. and this testimony put donald trump in the center of the conspiracy showing that michael to hen didn't have authority to act on his own. >> emily, we will put the sketch back up. it was such a moment. whatever the jury hears about michael cohen, there will be some conflicting information on credibility. but a lot of people are reporting out the same stuff cohen says. >> right, that is crucial here in terms of setting up cohen's testimony. you have david pecker from the national enquirer. and you have stormy daniel's

lawyer. creating a set of buffers and you have the alleged conspiracy. hopefully by the time from the prosecutor's point of view, they are set up to believe him because all of these other people have put the building blocks there for him to stand on, so to speak. >> emily, what do you make of how quickly the violating posts by trump came down once the judge said you violated this. and you might go to jail if you don't shape up? >> this is the judge's courtroom. he gets to make the rules and trump can bait him into the kind of fines we saw today and the threat of jail time. you see trump moving to protect

himself from these consequences. all of a sudden the more dominating approach has a real cost. and his lawyers say you can't have this during the trial. >> emily, i showed earlier the actual video of trump. i always mention what the jury is experiencing is different from the rest of us and some of us may be over informed. i wouldn't expect random citizens of this or any state to remember oh yeah, october 16, that was this chapter. you know. august was about the wall. and september was about the debates with clinton. and then october was, that's not really how most people remember it. they remember trump's loud. they didn't like a certain candidate and the trick for the prosecution in an environment where everyone says is this political, is this fair, is that they are still proving a campaign related case. disclaiming the idea that any of this is targeting him

because of his politics. that could be an area where the defense makes more hay. todd doesn't immediate help from duncan or me. but i could imagine a defense lawyer in closing arguments saying what are we doing in 2024 watching campaign videos in 2016 and lawsuit stands are they up to? i'm curious about all of that. >> it is important to remind everyone. this is the crucial set of fact it is jury has in front of it. and it is suppose today be concentrating on. they are supposed to be really immersed in this particular moment. what was the context for it. the campaign. where do the candidates stand. why would trump have wanted to keep this information secret. so that is where the prosecutors are taking the jury. >> you have to bring that story

back to them. thank you. what is it like in that room and how they move the ball specifically, the choice to have davidson who is less known than cohen come first. it is like they seem to be running a certain kind of play here with less known people first. give you a second to think about that. a lot more on the trial. we have an authoritarian vow from donald trump. we have that later in the hour. and, i was in the courtroom today with someone in the courtroom just about every day. the sketch artist behind these now iconic images joins us next. images joins us next.

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my god, the most famous man

on earth is on trial and there is no cameras allowed. just the artists, their pastels and their desire to make trump look as bad as possible. every sketch of trump looks like the grinch had sex with the lorax. >> collin jost mocks this process but salutes the courtroom sketch artist who provided some of the only images of what happened in the courtroom. we will get to yours. you can tell it is a live show. i have the artist already piping up. where trump is on trial. no video cameras allowed or still cameras. the artist has been playing an important journalistist role. the disembodied voice you heard is our special guest. christine cornell. a courtroom sketch artist with

a front row seat in this trial. we showed you some of the other sketch artists. this is some of her work. now they sit, these sketch artists, erupted saw this today. right near the front. behind the lawyers, just right by the defendant sometimes. she has been depicting trump as this historic trial. it is not her first time. she is also telling us she drew him decades ago in an anti- trust case. and depicted other trials of great national interest like mob boss john godde or the central park five prosecution. a case highlighting racial tension in the city. and then a businessman donald trump used that case calling for the death penalty for those young defendants whose charges were later overturned. does art imitate life? does life imitate art? duncan is back with us, welcome to both of you.

>> thank you. >> i have been in several of her sketches already. there was some pretrial hearings in the harvey weinstein case. i was drawn in. i have been a subject. >> yeah. you were there today. why don't you tell us what you look for. what you watch for. >> today was particularly exciting because trump for the first time had a supportive family february show up. his son eric. and i could see that he was visibly moved to have him there. and he stood at the rail and spoke to him for a bit. and we have not been able to really get a good shot on trump this whole trial. so today was lovely. >> let's look at this in full. we'll put this up. and you tell us, you are the eyes of the country or the world sometimes. what are you looking at when

you troy to capture this? >> well, i'm just trying to get what's there. you know. the marshals block our view. so they are very convenient for fleshing out a composition. >> you reflect that reality. someone else, nowadays everyone is, i don't know if you know this, but everyone fashions themselves a photographer with their phones. you know. some people they zoom all the way in. let's pull it back. instead of zooming in, you show us what it feels like in the courtroom. that there is security. there are armed people. that is any trial let alone a presidential one. and you do that. are you trying to get an emotional moment? >> between father and son? oh, you know, i hadn't realized that eric was taller than his dad. it was just, you know, a very intimate type of conversation. you know. where they were right in each other's space. so i was happy to see that. >> so that's the published

version news out lets reporters we use these the audience knows. you also brought it onset the same one. so let's have you hold that up and see how it looks. how long did it take you to draw it? >> i did four of these monsters today. kind of knocking me out. i couldn't believe when they just had one witness after another after another. it's like oh, start again. >> duncan, the trial is primarily for the jury. it is how the jury experiences it. they look at faces and emotion and make tangents judgments on who is telling the truth. how much does it matter what they see? >> we tell our clients defense attorneys all the time. the jury is always looking at you. you are scribbling on your note pad or falling asleep.

and so, the jurors are watching their demeanor and this defendant's demeanor, this is the first time anyone has been in a room with him. and so, obviously larger than life. while the press was not able to sit in there with good cameras, it is really good that at least we have these moments in time that are captured by courtroom artists to be able to get a glimpse of what people are looking like and what people's demeanor are. >> how does this experience compare to other big trials you have done? >> the way that the fbi has some isolated from the rest of us. usually over a little bit of time, feeling of community start to develop. you know. he hasn't been able to come near any press person, to have any kind of conversation or feel a little bit of humanity. >> and in earlier trials, you did speak. >> always. >> how would he talk to you? >> he would tell me i was his

personal courtroom artist. he liked that i made him look like this blond elvis. >> blond elvis? >> this was back in the early 80s . >> i would on redirect have to ask if there was some delusion in play. >> he was a good looking guy. >> okay. respect. >> uh-huh. >> and so he would banter with you. would you see him talk to others in the courtroom? >> i'm sure he did. >> how does that compare to the man we saw today? i was seated near you. assigned. i happened to be seated near you and were looking up and he seemed to be in character as other politicians sometimes are as well. the whole time. and walking down the aisle and doing this. and being aware without cameras on, but he knows you are drawing him and print reporters are watching him. did you find him more in character this time around? >> i think he is very, i don't like the word robotic but he is very stoney. that's a good word for him.

he doesn't show any kind of play of emotions on his face until he gets annoyed. then you see it. >> finally, duncan, briefly the decision to put on other witnesses before cohen. >> i think there's today's other custodial witnesses were trump's fault. the fact those had to get called today was because he refused to stipulate to anything. this testimony today was rivetting and showed the unseemly sort of underbody of peddling gossipy stories about sex and what happens behind the scenes and corroborates testimony. it is like a jigsaw puzzle. it sets up the testimony the jurors are about to hear. >> interesting. i wanted to cash out that question. christine, your work is seen by so many millions and it is really interesting. we will end with another new york artist if you will.

shawn carter jay-z who said i'm in the hall already. on the wall already. i'm a work of art. a warhol already. and you're on your way too. >> charming. >> interesting interesting to get that view from inside the courtroom. >> thank you. >> still ahead, a lot coming up. stay with us. . when you've got type 2 diabetes like me, you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack or worse death. even when meeting your a1c goal. discomfort can help you act. i'm not trying to scare you. i'm empowering you... to get real with your health care provider. talk to them about lowering your risk of stroke, heart attack or death. the promise of america

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this trial has immobilized trump from being candidate trump but he is still able to do interviews and in one sign of a traditional campaign mode, he sat for two pretty lengthy interviews with time magazine. you see the cover. if he wins. and rather than rebut allegations of an authoritarian second term, the candidate admitted some of them. vowing more direct control over prosecutors so he could personally call in federal criminal cases. i just want to be clear, the u.s. has long guarded against that kind of use of prosecutions. sounds more like putin than either major party in america. trump also trying to sort of prenormallize using more force in the home front. there is a strategy to this. he is saying this stuff odds now so when it happens he told you he was going to do it.

that would be an expansion of force on the home front. and against all of the outrage about the crackdown on women's rights and ivf and other things he said he would allow red states to monitor and crack down on women's pregnancies in 2024. again, these are his words. now in many parts of america, many voters are still warming to trump or have such concern about biden that they say maybe going back to trump would be better and they sometimes minimize what trump actually says he will do. they say all this january 6 is talk is overdone. the talk of retribution is overblown so getting this person on the record now so people can read these articles and learn, that has a purpose. voters should know what they are considering voting for. >> you are promising america tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against

anybody. >> except for day one. >> except for day one. we will root out the communists, marxist, fascist and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections. the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. >> the threat from within. he is talking about his fellow americans. trump used this interview to reiterate his threat to prosecute joe biden if trump wins. that is an admission of illegality. they claim they worry about this cycle of prosecution, trump's new threats add to the risk that the court looks more obviously maga partisan. so trump is the one threatening to abuse power to take hostages. that is exactly the kind of

conduct that judges are not supposed to reward even if that conduct is being shared by the person who put them on the court. trump providing the illicit conditions he was asking the justices to guard against which was a big problem as the new york times put it. that was hypocrisy. the question is do the trump appointees on the supreme court care about that kind of thing anymore? now we talked about the campaign and trial today. when we come back, we have a president biden story about something many people thought would never happen. certainly from the older generations of democrats. it is a big change and i will explain next. and i will explain next.

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we cover a lot of different stories and here. most legal stories are about what already happened. you are prosecuted for a law that is already on the books and something you already did. but tonight, we have news from president biden's team about the future. the administration here is poised to take a step toward fundamentally changing the federal laws that restrict marijuana and as we have reported so often discriminate against poorer americans and minorities because a lot of rich kids in college smoke all the weed they want. and a lot of states, a lot of people smoke weed legally at the state level. plans to reclassify this drug from what has been the strictest category which limits

research and justifies harsher penalties, schedule one, moving it down to schedule three. this is a process. it could have big implications for many people. it could change the way the federal government deeding with researching this drug which is not to root for or against its use but allow better science and more information about this drug. we have reported a lot on the way the war on drug has operated. indeed back in the day, joe biden was one of the senators pushing harsh reform and policies. now he is trying to reform them and that itself is striking news tonight. we have a lot more on this busy trial day. stay with me. be right back. l day. stay with me. be right back. there are places you'd like to be. like here. and here. not so much here. farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure which can lead to dialysis.

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we have been following the supreme court, which is in the news a lot, lately. the justices have criticized a host of rulings, including what was once seen as a big step forward, allowing a quality in same-sex marriages. this is a reminder of how what the court gives, it can also take away. conservatives are talking about rolling that back and that brings us to a rare interview with him court just this calm -- supreme court justice, who served over 20 years. >> you are writing about and discussing, for the public, how to interpret the constitution. why does that matter to a regular citizen who is not a lawyer and how do you do it? >> how does the supreme court work? how does court work, how do

federal courts work, it's an important part of the government. >> when we see these words, that have significance, when you say pragmatism, how does that enlighten or reveal what those words should mean today? >> i think the values, here, democracy, human rights, so forth, equality, they will help. in many cases, though not all. it's a shorthand way of saying, try to maintain those values from the constitution. >> someone hears this and thinks, what does this have to do with roe v wade and issues around pregnancy and abortion? yet, you write about how you need realistic or factual barrier for the words and the understanding.

>> they say read the words and if you follow our system, if you read the words, it will be fair, it will be easy, it will be simple. and, it will stop judges from substituting what they personally think is good or bad. i don't think you can keep the simple part, or the clear part but i can give you 50 examples. are you going to overrule every case that wasn't decided by an originalist? you know what? that's all of them. of course you're not going to do that. you are going to overrule the ones that you think are wrong, the ones that you, the judge, think are wrong. g, doesn't that sound like what you just accused me of? >> ever diplomatic, but discussing that intention.

we also discussed the issue of aging officials in government, of course, supreme court justices have lifetime tenures. here is that exchange, airing for the first time. >> a tonja brown's action. >> she's my successor and she's hard-working, and an intelligent woman. >> you have said, with regard to how we run the court, that if there was some kind of time limit for justices, without going into having to worry about their next job, that could be a workable solution to some of the other concerns people have. >> when i have discussed this in the past, talking about changing the system at the court and where the constitution says that their behavior, maybe you need a constitutional amendment, i don't know.

>> but you made a choice to figure out how you want to decide this. when we spoke, almost a decade ago, here is what you told me. >> how do you know in a job, how do you know when it is time to retire? >> that is a good question. i feel i will know and i feel, so far, i seem to be able to do the job. there will perhaps be some indication, i will think about it, but i have not been through enough to give you much guidance on when all retire. >> you found a way to serve a good, long term and then bow out , give up power, if you want to put in the washingtonian tradition. would it be better to have a system 18, 20, or 22 years, that has some cap on justices? >> you know, it's a hard

decision. you think of a lot of different things, and that is why i said that, but it has to be a long-term because you don't want the person looking for another job. >> because then they could become corrupt. >> don't look for another job but think about when your time is up. justice breyer, we might all relate to that. we have shared the entire thing for you on msnbc.com/summit, that the entire free interview. you'll see that on youtube as well and you can watch and join. otherwise, i will see you at 6:00 eastern tomorrow. "the last word" is next. >> we are joined by phone by the chief police, who's been in touch with nypd tonight. i have