Donald Trump’s attorneys on Thursday sought to paint one of the witnesses at the heart of the hush money deal with Stormy Daniels as someone with a long history of extracting money from celebrities while going “up to the line without committing extortion.” Plus, at Tuesday’s pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and The City College of New York, 282 people were arrested, according to the New York Police Department.

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Police are at UCLA and have declared the pro-Palestinian protest on campus an unlawful assembly, a source told CNN. About 300 protesters were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York on Tuesday night, and at least a dozen people were arrested at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday. While the demands among protesters vary at each university, the majority of demonstrations have called for the divestment from companies that support Israel and the war in Gaza.

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Over 100 protesters were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York — most at Columbia — according to a law enforcement official. Columbia University property, including Hamilton Hall, was cleared two hours after officers entered the campus to remove people protesting Israel's war in Gaza. The university has asked NYPD to maintain its presence on campus until May 17. Columbia has been the epicenter, but protests have been roiling universities across the country, with administrations taking different approaches to the encampments that have sprouted up in support of the Palestinian cause.

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Four officers were killed in a shooting while attempting to serve a warrant at a home in Charlotte, North Carolina, including one deputy US marshal and two local task force officers, authorities say. A total of eight law enforcement officers were shot during the incident, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said.

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David Pecker finally stepped down from the witness stand after more than 10 hours of testimony across four days, where the former American Media Inc. chief described in detail how he helped Donald Trump suppress negative stories and pummel Trump’s rivals in the National Enquirer during the 2016 campaign. The back-and-forth over Pecker’s story set the stage for the further brawls ahead when witnesses such as adult film star Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, take the stand. 

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The former president was the epicenter of attention Thursday during key testimony from media magnate David Pecker at his first criminal trial in New York. Plus, the Supreme Court appeared ready to reject former President Donald Trump’s claims of sweeping immunity and the broad protections he has sought to shut down his federal election subversion case, but also reluctant to give special counsel Jack Smith carte blanche to pursue those charges.

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Justices will be hearing oral arguments in his sweeping immunity case that could have profound implications for his legal fate and poses never-before-resolved questions about the powers of the presidency. Plus, a grand jury in Arizona has handed up an indictment against former President Donald Trump’s allies over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign.

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Judge Juan Merchan appeared poised on Tuesday to sanction Donald Trump for violating the gag order in his criminal hush money case after peppering the former president’s lawyers with questions about why Trump’s social media posts were acceptable. Tuesday began with a hearing on Trump’s 10 alleged violations of the gag order. The day ended with former American Media Inc. chief David Pecker talking about how he vetted allegations of an alleged affair between Trump and Playboy playmate Karen McDougal in 2016 while in constant communication with Trump’s then-fixer, Michael Cohen. 

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The very different story as a jury is being asked to believe in Donald Trump's hush money trial.

Plus, new revelations in the classified documents case. What a top Oval Office insider warned Donald Trump and who allegedly got promised a pardon. And police intervening during pro-Palestinian protest at New York University after intimidating chants and anti- Semitic incidents.

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Tonight’s show begins with Laura reflecting on an unbelievably disturbing moment after seeing a man lit himself on fire in front of the New York City courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money coverup trial is underway. Pus, we explore the question: how does the prosecution prove Trump paid hush money to win the election? Also, Speaker Mike Johnson risks the wrath of GOP members with a foreign aid bill. 

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If Donald Trump opts to testify at his New York criminal trial, Manhattan prosecutors want to use his past legal run-ins to discredit him to the jury. In a filing released Wednesday, prosecutors for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office say they’ll ask the former president about the recent verdicts against him, including the recent civil fraud trial with the New York attorney general, where a judge found Trump and his company liable for committing persistent and repeated fraud by inflating the value of his assets to get better loan rates.

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