WEBVTT 00:01.200 --> 00:03.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GEOFF BENNETT: The civil case E. Jean Carroll has 00:03.133 --> 00:05.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% brought against former President Donald Trump is now in the hands of the jury. 00:05.800 --> 00:08.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Lisa Desjardins has the details on what comes next. 00:08.800 --> 00:13.300 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: After two weeks in court, with testimony from Carroll and a handful of witnesses, 00:13.300 --> 00:17.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% lawyers for both sides prison entered closing arguments today, as jurors weigh 00:17.700 --> 00:22.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% whether or not to hold former President Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation. 00:22.366 --> 00:27.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Carroll, a former columnist, has accused the president of raping her two decades ago. 00:28.566 --> 00:30.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% In the courtroom today was Andrea Bernstein, 00:30.700 --> 00:35.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a reporter with ProPublica, who also covers Trump legal matters for NPR. 00:35.066 --> 00:38.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Andrea, can you sum up the closing arguments we heard today? 00:38.133 --> 00:43.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANDREA BERNSTEIN, ProPublica: Yes, so the plaintiff's lawyers stressed that 00:45.566 --> 00:48.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% 11 witnesses testified that Donald Trump sometime in the 1990s forcibly raped the columnist E. Jean 00:52.633 --> 00:57.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Carroll in the lingerie dressing room at a Bergdorf Goodman and that, immediately 00:59.733 --> 01:03.300 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% after -- she was able to struggle and get away, according to her account -- called a friend who, 01:05.266 --> 01:07.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% the friend recalled in testimony, she had called while she was feeding her kids dinner. 01:09.433 --> 01:12.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And then there were a number of other witnesses who corroborated parts of 01:12.000 --> 01:17.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% E. Jean Carroll's account. So her lawyers argued, well, in order to not find Trump 01:19.033 --> 01:23.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% liable -- it's a civil case -- the jury would have to disbelieve all 11 witnesses, 01:25.400 --> 01:28.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and also just believe Donald Trump, when, from the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, 01:30.600 --> 01:34.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% he talked about grabbing women by the genitals and, when you're a star, they let you do it. 01:34.500 --> 01:39.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Trump didn't testify. And his own lawyer said the jurors shouldn't conclude anything from that. They 01:41.533 --> 01:43.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% pointed out what they saw as the number of inconsistencies in E. Jean Carroll's story, 01:43.933 --> 01:48.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and suggested that the incident never happened and that, in fact, E. Jean Carroll and the 01:50.900 --> 01:55.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% woman who corroborated her account in fact concocted it in order to hurt Donald Trump. 01:57.033 --> 01:59.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: As evidence, E. Jean Carroll has presented, as you say, 01:59.100 --> 02:02.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these witnesses, women that she said she talked to the time and also women they 02:02.933 --> 02:07.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% say fall into a pattern of sexual assault from the former president. 02:07.133 --> 02:11.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, of course, his attorneys, as you say, deny this, say this is all concocted, 02:11.266 --> 02:15.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% that it's political. The president -- former president did not appear in court, but we did see 02:15.900 --> 02:20.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% some from his deposition, including he was asked, interestingly, by the attorneys for Carroll at one 02:23.300 --> 02:26.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% point to look at an archival photo of a time when he and E. Jean Carroll were at the same party. 02:27.666 --> 02:30.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And I want to play what happened when he, 02:30.933 --> 02:34.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% by mistake, didn't recognize his ex-wife, Marla Maples. 02:34.366 --> 02:35.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States: I don't even 02:35.933 --> 02:39.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% know who the woman -- let's see. I don't know who -- it's Marla. 02:39.400 --> 02:44.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ROBERTA KAPLAN, Attorney For E. Jean Carroll: You're saying Marla's in this photo? 02:45.833 --> 02:47.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% DONALD TRUMP: That's Marla, yeah. That's, that's my wife. 02:47.400 --> 02:48.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ROBERTA KAPLAN: Which woman are you pointing to? 02:48.866 --> 02:50.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% DONALD TRUMP: Here. 02:50.333 --> 02:51.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ALINA HABBA, Attorney For Donald Trump: No, that's Carroll. 02:51.433 --> 02:53.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% (CROSSTALK) DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I see. 02:53.100 --> 02:55.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ROBERTA KAPLAN: The person you just pointed to is E. Jean Carroll. 02:55.233 --> 02:57.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: Later, he defended himself against Carroll and her attorney. 02:59.433 --> 03:03.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% DONALD TRUMP: She's accusing me - - and so are you -- of rape, 03:03.466 --> 03:08.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and it never took place. And I will tell you, I made that statement. And I said, well, 03:10.800 --> 03:13.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% it's politically incorrect. She's not my type. And that's 100 percent true. She's not my type. 03:15.666 --> 03:17.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: Andrea, obviously, we're in unprecedented waters here. 03:17.733 --> 03:21.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But I'm curious. How do you think that deposition affected the final arguments today? 03:21.700 --> 03:25.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANDREA BERNSTEIN: Well, it came up several times, as you could imagine. 03:25.066 --> 03:30.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And E. Jean Carroll's argued -- lawyers argued that, in fact, E. Jean Carroll was exactly his 03:32.100 --> 03:35.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% type, so much his type that he confused her from a photo at that time for his second wife, 03:38.466 --> 03:41.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Marla Maples. The fact that Trump didn't testify, counselors circled back to at the very end of the 03:44.933 --> 03:49.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% trial, and they said he never came here to tell you, the jury, that he did not do this. 03:51.633 --> 03:56.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And they also argued, referring again to this "Access Hollywood" tape, 03:58.700 --> 04:01.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that Trump had boasted in that tape that he did have a type and that, when you're a star, 04:03.633 --> 04:06.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% you let them do it. Trump's lawyers, as had Trump, called that locker room talk. 04:06.700 --> 04:10.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But Carroll's lawyer said, no, we call it something else. We call it a confession. 04:10.366 --> 04:15.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: You mentioned the jury here. It's six men and three women. They have to 04:17.400 --> 04:21.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% consider whether there's a preponderance of evidence here to support E. Jean Carroll's case. 04:23.866 --> 04:25.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% What does that mean? And have you noticed anything about the jury while watching them in court? 04:25.666 --> 04:27.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% ANDREA BERNSTEIN: Right. 04:27.700 --> 04:32.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So the jury was fairly expressionless, as you might expect, but they did seem to 04:34.666 --> 04:39.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% be attending carefully. And both -- Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina made a very impassioned 04:41.633 --> 04:44.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% closing statement, pointing out what he saw as inconsistencies in E. Jean Carroll's story. 04:44.166 --> 04:48.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And at the very end of the day, the jury watched closely Carroll's lawyers on their rebuttal, 04:50.633 --> 04:55.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% where he was explaining various pieces of testimony that he said Joe Tacopina, 04:56.266 --> 04:58.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Trump's lawyers, had taken out of context. 04:58.366 --> 05:03.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% So they did seem to be attentively listening. They don't have to find beyond a reasonable 05:05.333 --> 05:08.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% doubt. This is not a criminal trial. There will be no finding of guilt or innocence. 05:08.100 --> 05:13.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But if they do find that the preponderance of the evidence suggests that Trump did this and 05:15.033 --> 05:19.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% find him criminally liable, this will be the first time that a jury of Trump's peers have 05:21.600 --> 05:26.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ruled, if you will, on what these accusers have been saying since Donald Trump's first 05:27.600 --> 05:30.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% campaign for president in 2016, that he committed these acts. 05:30.533 --> 05:35.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This will be the first time it's gone to a court of law, been tested, and a jury 05:38.033 --> 05:40.700 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% will find something. Now, of course, they could also find that he is not liable on any of these 05:42.700 --> 05:45.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% counts. And that could come any time tomorrow after the judge instructs them, which will be 05:45.766 --> 05:49.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% first thing in the morning, and then they will have the case and will be able to deliberate. 05:49.766 --> 05:51.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: And, Andrea, in the last few seconds we have here, 05:51.833 --> 05:55.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the potential impact here? We're talking dollar figures, I suppose? 05:55.133 --> 05:59.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANDREA BERNSTEIN: Yes, we're talking dollar figures. It could run well into the millions. 05:59.800 --> 06:04.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% But, of course, here's the question.How do you describe the front-runner for the GOP if a jury 06:06.733 --> 06:09.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% finds him liable? That will be something the whole country will be grappling with, 06:10.200 --> 06:12.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% depending on the verdict in this case. 06:12.233 --> 06:15.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: And we all appreciate you helping us understand it all. 06:15.166 --> 06:17.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Andrea Bernstein of ProPublica, thank you so much. 06:18.733 --> 06:23.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% ANDREA BERNSTEIN: Thank you.