‘Major Win!’ CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Paula Reid Report Big Blow Against Trump In Election Interference-Hush Money Trial

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins reported on a “major win” for the prosecution from outside former President Donald Trump’s election interference-hush money trial over payments to a porn actress.

Trump’s trial — on 34 felony counts in the case that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels— began Monday morning with jury selection.

CNN was on the scene with branded coverage entitled “Trump Hush Money Trial” featuring custom graphics and live coverage outside the courthouse.

Before jury selection began, CNN chief legal correspondent Paula Reid explained the development that Collins called a “major win” — and bad news for Trump:

KAITLAN COLLINS: And welcome back to CNN’s special live coverage. I’m Kaitlan Collins, outside of the New York courthouse, where Donald Trump’s hush money trial has just officially gotten underway and is now going back and forth between the prosecution, the defense and the judge. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing all of this.

CNN’s Paula Reid is outside the courthouse here with me and Paula. The prosecution just got a major win inside of that courtroom, as they were arguing that evidence related to the National Enquirer and its coordination with the Trump campaign of 2016 should be allowed in, as evidence which Trump’s team didn’t want. And the judge just said.

PAULA REID: Yeah, I’ll let it in. And specifically, this is evidence about articles that were run in the summer of 2015 about Trump’s then-opponent, Ted Cruz.

Now, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche objected to this, saying that this is going to confuse the jury. Running a negative story about Ted Cruz, they argue, is not a crime.

But the judge said he’s going to allow this evidence in, because remember, the theory of the case here from the district attorney is that when Michael Cohen was reimbursed for that hush money to Stormy Daniels, that the documents were falsified, right.

They wrote down fraudulent reasons for why he was being paid. But the reason that’s being charged as a felony is because the district attorney insists that this was all done to interfere with the 2016 election.

And so the reason that this evidence is critical for the prosecution is they’re trying to show that these falsified business records were part of a larger scheme to help Trump’s chances in 2016, and the judge here said he’s going to allow this in because, quote, “The district attorney’s office has demonstrated there was an understanding that certain things would be done and wouldn’t be done at AME.”.

That is a company that own the National Enquirer. He said, “I believe this evidence is necessary to complete the narrative of what took place.”.

So, not great for the Trump team there because, again, this is the the larger narrative that the district attorney is using to charge this as a felony.

Watch above via CNN’s “Trump Hush Money Trial” coverage.