Stormy Daniels testifies in Trump's hush money trial

Adult film star Stormy Daniels dished out salacious details of her sexual encounter with former President Donald Trump in 2006 from the witness stand on Tuesday, describing how they met at a celebrity golf tournament and what she says happened when she went to Trump’s Lake Tahoe hotel room.

In a mostly casual and conversational tone, Daniels recounted details from the floors and furniture in Trump’s hotel room to the contents of his toiletry kit in the bathroom. At one point in court, Daniels threw back her arm and lifted her leg in the witness box to re-create the moment she says Trump posed on his hotel bed for her, stripped down to his undergarments.

But some details Daniels described were so explicit that Judge Juan Merchan cut her off at several points. And Trump’s lawyers argued that Daniels had unfairly prejudiced the jury, asking Merchan to declare a mistrial. The judge denied the request but added that some of the details from Daniels were “better left unsaid.”

Here are takeaways from Day 13 of the trial:

Hush money came after "Access Hollywood" tape controversy: Daniels would go on to describe how she stayed touch with Trump, even coming to briefly see him at Trump Tower to talk about the “Celebrity Apprentice” reality show. Daniels said that in 2015 after Trump began running for president, her then-publicist Gina Rodriguez tried to sell her story. But Rodriguez didn’t find much interest until after the “Access Hollywood” tape of Trump was released in October 2016 – eventually leading to the discussions with AMI and then Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 not to go public with her case.

Judge denies Trump’s mistrial motion: Trump’s lawyers argued the judge should declare a mistrial after the morning of salacious testimony from Daniels. Trump still vehemently denies the allegations, his attorney Todd Blanche said, arguing there was no way to “un-ring that bell” for jurors who have now heard unfairly prejudicial testimony. Blanche argued that the testimony had nothing to do with the district attorney’s case about falsifying business records.

Defense accuses Daniels of lying for profit: Trump attorney Susan Necheles didn’t take long to challenge Daniels’ story in cross-examination, accusing the adult film actress of hating Trump.

Daniels’ body language was tense and her tone notably shifted as Necheles attempted to dismantle her credibility. Daniels gave short, terse answers to many of her questions, defiantly responding “false” and “no” while disputing Necheles’ assertions that she had made up details in her story or that she was trying to extort Trump.

Read more takeaways from Tuesday's testimony

During the mid-morning break, Judge Juan Merchan called defense attorney Todd Blanche to the bench and ordered him to speak to former President Donald Trump about his “contemptuous” behavior during Stormy Daniels’ testimony Tuesday.

Merchan said he decided to speak to Blanche at the bench because he did not want to embarrass Trump. “You need to speak to him. I won’t tolerate that,” Merchan said.

Blanche again said he would talk to Trump.

Merchan then described Trump's inappropriate behavior. 

Here are the highlights from Tuesday in court:

Two witnesses on the stand: Adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Sally Franklin, the senior vice president and executive managing editor for Penguin Random House publishing group. 

Here’s what to know about their testimonies: 

Sally Franklin: The publishing executive was first on the stand and she testified for 46 minutes as a records custodian, pursuant to a subpoena. 

Stormy Daniels: Before the jury was called in on Tuesday, the defense renewed its objection to her testimony. Judge Juan Merchan said he agreed with Trump's attorneys that she has credibility issues, but that's why the prosecutors need to be given a chance to establish her credibility. He ruled it's fine to elicit that Trump and Daniels had sex. "That’s fine. But we don’t need to know the details," he said. 

What’s next: The defense indicated it will continue cross-examining Daniels on Thursday. Court is dark on Wednesday. Prosecution has also said it will do a round of re-direct. 

Prosecutors zeroed in on the hush money payment at the center of the case against Donald Trump as Stormy Daniels took the stand today.

Here's a timeline CNN compiled of key events in the case that Daniels was asked about:

See a full timeline and read up on the key players in the case below:

Judge Aileen Cannon has indefinitely postponed Donald Trump’s classified documents trial in Florida, citing significant issues around classified evidence that would need to be worked out before the federal criminal case goes to a jury. 

In an order Tuesday, Cannon canceled the May trial date and did not set a new date.

Remember: The hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump is one of four criminal cases he faces while juggling his presidential campaign.

Donald Trump called the prosecution's hush money case against him a disaster in remarks outside of the Manhattan court on Tuesday.

Trump did not discuss witness Stormy Daniels while he spoke to reporters.

The former president said he should be campaigning instead of sitting in court and thanked reporters for waiting outside the court all day.

Stormy Daniels testified for a total of 3 hours and 44 minutes today.

She's expected to return to the stand Thursday to answer more questions from Trump's attorneys.

Before the judge cut her off, attorney Susan Necheles asked Stormy Daniels whether the text messages between her then-agent Gina Rodriguez and Dylan Howard of the National Enquirer showed that she was trying to sell her story.

Judge Juan Merchan cuts off Trump attorney Susan Necheles to dismiss the jurors for the day.

"Alright jurors, let's call it a day," he says.