The Lead with Jake Tapper

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. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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/adchoices

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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 nine years later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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's work has been found on a North Korean server. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Mike Johnson, drawing the ire of hard-line Republicans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices