Summary
Donald Trump pleads not guilty to criminal charges.
The former (and aspiring future) president has been accused of falsifying business records after an investigation into hush money paid to a porn star.
Sarah is back, dialling in from the middle of the media circus in Manhattan, as the team talk through Trump’s historic day in court and answer Americaster questions about what comes next.
HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America editor • Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent
GET IN TOUCH: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast
Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.
This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Natasha Fernandes, Alix Pickles and Cat Farnsworth. The technical producer was Rohan Madison. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.7 | A high profile figure has returned from a holiday retreat |
| 0:07.4 | into the media scrum in Manhattan. Welcome back, Sarah Smith. |
| 0:11.5 | Thank you, Justin. I'm fully relaxed and recharged |
| 0:14.6 | and ready for all of the madness that there has been going on. |
| 0:17.7 | And of course, I got back just in the nick of time. |
| 0:20.6 | I certainly wouldn't have wanted to miss what's been going on today. |
| 0:23.4 | This is a remarkable story, |
| 0:25.9 | as Donald Trump has appeared in court. |
| 0:27.7 | And this is why it is so remarkable. |
| 0:29.7 | Marianna, all sorts of figures that you will barely have heard |
| 0:32.8 | about possibly studied in history. Richard Nixon was once a very |
| 0:37.1 | famous American president, not desperately successful in some regards |
| 0:41.0 | in as much as he had to resign over Watergate. |
| 0:43.6 | But it didn't go any further than that. |
| 0:45.2 | He was pardoned. Bill Clinton, much more recent, |
| 0:47.8 | you might have heard of him, and pitched over Lewinsky scandal, |
| 0:51.7 | but also actually told lies about that scandal under oath. |
| 0:56.7 | Presidents Andrew Johnson, you won't remember him. |
| 1:00.4 | I don't either, but Trump as well, impeached, of course. |
| 1:03.8 | And then Ulysses Grant, of course, always gets into the conversation |
| 1:06.5 | arrested in 1872 for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage, |
... |
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