WEBVTT 00:01.933 --> 00:04.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: A civil trial is under way over a magazine columnist's allegation 00:04.433 --> 00:08.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that former President Donald Trump raped her more than two decades ago. 00:08.566 --> 00:13.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Political correspondent Lisa Desjardins takes a look at the lawsuit and the 00:13.366 --> 00:15.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% assault allegations against the former president. 00:15.466 --> 00:20.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And a warning: This story contains details of those sexual violence allegations. 00:20.400 --> 00:25.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: It is the latest legal battle involving former President Trump. E. Jean Carroll, 00:28.133 --> 00:32.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a magazine advice columnist, has accused Trump of raping her in the mid-'90s. 00:32.900 --> 00:37.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In a civil lawsuit filed in New York, Carroll is seeking unspecified damages 00:37.766 --> 00:42.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for the alleged assault. She also accuses Trump of defaming her character. The trial 00:44.733 --> 00:47.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is expected to last for one or two weeks. Carroll says the assault took 00:47.233 --> 00:51.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% place in a dressing room inside Bergdorf Goodman, a New York department store. 00:51.033 --> 00:54.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Here is how she described it to CNN in 2019. 00:54.033 --> 00:55.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% E. JEAN CARROLL, Trump Accuser: He pulled down my tights. 00:57.866 --> 01:02.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it was a fight. It was a -- I want women to know that I did not stand there. I did not 01:04.733 --> 01:09.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% freeze. I was not paralyzed, which is a reaction that I could have had, because it's so shocking. 01:11.633 --> 01:15.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% No, I fought. And it was over very quickly. It was against my will, 100 percent. 01:17.333 --> 01:21.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: Carroll revealed the story 20 years after she says it happened in her 2019 01:24.366 --> 01:27.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% memoir. She can go to court now because New York lawmakers passed a new state law allowing victims 01:29.600 --> 01:33.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% of abuse to file civil lawsuits against attackers, even if the statute of limitations has run out. 01:35.666 --> 01:39.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The former president has repeatedly denied that he raped Carroll, and accused her of 01:39.600 --> 01:44.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% lying. In an interview with The Hill, he said Carroll was -- quote -- "not my type." 01:44.133 --> 01:49.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% He also previously claimed that he had never met Carroll, but her attorneys have provided the court 01:51.166 --> 01:54.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of a picture of them talking at an event in the '80s. Trump is not expected to testify in this 01:56.433 --> 02:00.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% trial, but two other women who have accused Trump of assault have been cleared to do so. 02:00.433 --> 02:05.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Jessica Leeds alleged Trump groped her on the flight in 1979. And "People" magazine 02:07.400 --> 02:11.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% writer Natasha Stoynoff has accused him of groping her in 2005 at Mar-a-Lago while she 02:13.466 --> 02:17.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% was there to interview him. More than two dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. 02:19.366 --> 02:22.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He has charged that the stories are fabricated and politically motivated. Carroll's defamation 02:24.466 --> 02:28.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% accusation is part of a separate suit filed in D.C. That has been indefinitely delayed. 02:30.466 --> 02:34.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Today, in Manhattan, a jury was selected, and both sides presented opening arguments in this case. 02:36.166 --> 02:38.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Washington Post reporter Shayna Jacobs covers two of New York's 02:38.266 --> 02:41.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% federal court districts and was in the courtroom today. And she joins us now. 02:41.700 --> 02:45.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Shayna, take us into the courtroom. What did each 02:45.300 --> 02:48.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% side seem to indicate about their approach to this case? 02:48.200 --> 02:53.166 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% SHAYNA JACOBS, The Washington Post: Each side presented a vastly different version of events. 02:56.133 --> 03:01.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% On Carroll's side, her attorney said that Carroll was violently assaulted 03:02.900 --> 03:07.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s and that she fled from 03:10.900 --> 03:15.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the store, told -- immediately told two close friends and kept it secret for decades because 03:19.200 --> 03:23.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% she was terrified that Trump could ruin her life and ruin her career. 03:23.866 --> 03:28.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% At the time, he was a very, very prominent real estate professional. And, obviously, 03:31.366 --> 03:36.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% his profile only rose since then. Trump's attorney says this entire thing was made up, 03:39.166 --> 03:44.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and that Carroll and her two friends actually colluded to come up with a story because of 03:48.600 --> 03:52.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% a political vendetta against him once he -- once he was elected. 03:52.433 --> 03:55.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: The judge in his case is known for being no-nonsense, 03:55.866 --> 03:58.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% trying to move things along. 03:58.033 --> 04:02.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Help us understand the judge and the jury here, including how the judge is keeping the 04:04.100 --> 04:07.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% jury safe. And how in the world do you pick a jury that is neutral about Donald Trump? 04:07.366 --> 04:11.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% SHAYNA JACOBS: So, not even the judge knows their 04:11.700 --> 04:16.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% identities. They are known only by their assigned juror number. 04:18.366 --> 04:22.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% There was not much biographical information made public during the voir dire process. And 04:25.266 --> 04:30.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% they will also be picked up off-site by courthouse staff and driven to the courthouse, so that they 04:34.000 --> 04:39.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% don't even have any chance of interacting with anyone outside the building or in the hallway. 04:41.000 --> 04:45.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% They're really very, very protected from any possible interaction with someone they're not 04:48.300 --> 04:53.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% supposed to see or speak to. And, again, not even the judge has their identities in front 04:56.133 --> 05:01.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of him. So it's basically as private as it - - private a process as it could possibly be. 05:03.033 --> 05:05.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: And on the question of neutrality, I saw that jurors were 05:05.433 --> 05:08.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% asked if they have been to rallies, those kinds of things. Is that how they did that? 05:10.933 --> 05:15.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHAYNA JACOBS: Yes, I mean, it was posed to the entire room of potential jurors. And instead 05:18.633 --> 05:23.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% of going one by one and asking that, anybody who had been to a rally, anybody with an affiliation, 05:27.400 --> 05:32.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% really with sort of like more extreme group on the spectrum, both left and right -- some 05:36.166 --> 05:41.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of the names that were thrown out were Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, QAnon, Antifa. 05:43.166 --> 05:47.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So they were asked, are you a member of or are you affiliated with any of these groups? And 05:49.366 --> 05:52.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I believe nobody raised their hand to that question. If they had raised their hand, 05:52.433 --> 05:55.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I imagine they'd have been dismissed. 05:55.666 --> 05:58.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: What does Ms. Carroll need to show here in this 05:58.900 --> 06:03.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% civil trial to be successful in her lawsuit? What does she need to prove? 06:03.866 --> 06:08.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% SHAYNA JACOBS: E. Jean Carroll, yes, she has to prove by a preponderance of the evidence, 06:11.300 --> 06:14.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% which is really essentially means more likely than not, that she was -- that she suffered harm as a 06:19.800 --> 06:24.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% result of this, emotional harm, and that her career in her life, livelihood was damaged, 06:29.266 --> 06:34.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that she suffered reputational damage as a result of what Donald Trump said, 06:36.700 --> 06:41.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% really, though, specifically, just what he said last year in a social media post, 06:43.766 --> 06:48.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% which mirrored comments he made to reporters in 2019 when this first came out. 06:50.700 --> 06:54.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So it's sort of like a duplicate set of defamation charges. There's a separate lawsuit still pending 06:56.733 --> 07:01.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in an appellate court for the older defamation claims from 2019. But she is -- this 07:04.200 --> 07:09.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% trial does contain defamation and battery allegations related to the alleged assault. 07:12.033 --> 07:16.066 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: The former president has given some testimony and deposition. He's not expected, 07:16.066 --> 07:18.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I don't think, to be a live witness yet, 07:18.166 --> 07:20.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% but do we know if he will be in the courtroom? Or what does that look like? 07:21.766 --> 07:26.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% SHAYNA JACOBS: His attorney has not -- last I saw -- I did leave 07:26.700 --> 07:28.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a little bit before the proceeding ended. 07:28.766 --> 07:33.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But last I saw and heard, his attorney, Joe Tacopina, has not fully committed either way. He 07:36.333 --> 07:41.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% did tell the jury that he expected they would hear his videotaped deposition from last year. So, all 07:47.433 --> 07:52.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% indications are that he's not going to testify. I -- that still leaves open the possibility 07:54.400 --> 07:58.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that he might appear in the courtroom just to physically be there at one point or another. 07:58.200 --> 08:03.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But we have not heard any definitive thing that would lead us to believe 08:04.666 --> 08:07.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% he will -- he will be there in the next few days or next week. 08:07.300 --> 08:10.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: Shayna Jacobs with The Washington Post, thanks for joining us, 08:10.233 --> 08:11.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% especially when you're on deadline. 08:11.566 --> 08:13.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% SHAYNA JACOBS: Thank you.