Welcome to the lead, I'm Jake Tapper, and we do have some breaking news for you, a jury

in New York finding Donald Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner by far, liable

for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.

The jury also awarding the former magazine columnist nearly $5 million in damages to be

paid by Mr. Trump.

Carroll walked out of the Manhattan courthouse just moments ago with her lawyer who said that

they are, quote, very happy with the jury's decision.

Carroll's lawsuit stemmed from an encounter between her and Trump in a New York department

store dressing room in 1996, Bergdorf Goodman's, where she claims Donald Trump sexually assaulted

her.

Donald Trump just reacted on his social media platform, writing in all caps, quote, I have

absolutely no idea who this woman is, this verdict is a disgrace, a continuation of

the greatest witch hunt of all time, unquote, this all comes as Trump is facing.

Another very serious case in New York City, just last month, the former president pleaded

not guilty to 34 felony charges, related to hush money payments to adult film star and

director of stormy Daniels, not to mention investigations by the Justice Department into

January 6, and to those classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, not to mention the investigation

by prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, who are looking into his attempt to flip Georgia

perhaps illegally in the 2020 election.

But let's go back to the first verdict, let's get right to CNN's carousel outside the

courthouse in New York and Kara.

This was pretty quick and it was also, I think it was more money than she was originally

...