Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testifies in Trump "hush money" probe

I mean, Manhattan Grand Jury could be moving closer to deciding whether to charge former president Donald Trump. Former publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker testified before the New York Grand Jury for a second time yesterday. He was involved when adult film star Stormry Daniels received $130,000 in alleged hush money before the 2016 election. So if charged, Trump will become the first former president to be indicted in U.S. history. Joining us now is CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa standing by as you have been for a week and a half at this point.

Yeah, so let's talk about David Pecker. Why was he called for a second day of testimony before the Manhattan Grand Jury? Based on our conversations with sources familiar with the investigation, David Pecker was called in for another time before this Grand Jury. He's been here previously to underscore what he said months ago to this Grand Jury. What we believe the district attorney Alvin Bragg is trying to do is wrap up this investigation and convince the grand jury about his perspective on the case based on the testimony of various witnesses. So we've seen Michael Cohen, the fixer come in, the key witness in this investigation. We've seen Bob Costello, someone who's questioned Michael Cohen come in last week. And now yesterday, David Pecker coming in.

David Pecker is important because he's part of these discussions with Trump, with Michael Cohen back in early 2016 about what are called catch and kill endeavors, which is to stop unsavory stories from being published. There was a deliberation behind the scenes about how to do that. The district attorney here wanted to spell that out one more time. All right. So what more, Bob, do we know about the testimony on Monday? And why does the DA feel that this is so important to the case? We're at a moment right now, Vlad, where it's a crossroads in this investigation. A district attorney is under no exact timeframe when it comes to making a decision on whether to seek an indictment of former President Donald Trump in this case. They could spend weeks bringing in additional witnesses, thinking through the documents they have.

So while there's an atmosphere here outside Manhattan criminal court that something could be imminent, the legal process again and again reminds us that there's no such thing as imminent unless the district attorney decides to move in that direction. So you do see the district attorney, some thought last week he would wrap up his investigation, still bringing in witnesses. And that means in short, he perhaps is trying to button up his case before he makes what is called this presentation to the grand jury about a possible indictment. Because in the way this all works, the district attorney himself isn't the one who gets the indictment in hands. It's a Trump. He asks the grand jury to vote on an indictment and then it's handed up to Trump. So in the meantime, we know that the former president is running to become president again.

He's been using this process to do some fundraising. He attacked one of his perceived competitors because Governor Ron DeSantis hasn't actually thrown his hat into the ring. But Donald Trump was talking on Fox News. He went after Ron DeSantis. What did he have to say? He was sharply critical of the Florida governor, who was not even in the race. Some Trump allies tell CBS News privately that Trump is potentially trying to stave off a DeSantis challenge to keep DeSantis out of getting in to the 2024 presidential race. Most DeSantis allies say he is still likely moving toward his own 2024 presidential bid.

But you do see Trump again and again hitting DeSantis on his record in Florida, on his personality, taking some personal shots at DeSantis, making it uncomfortable for him before he makes that final decision. All right, Robert, thank you.

Robert Costa, CBS news chief election and campaign correspondent, Donald Trump, david pecker, hush money, stormy daniels, manhattan district attorney, new york grand jury, probe, indictment