The key moments of Trump’s trial, according to CNN’s in-the-room reporters

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CNN —

With a holiday weekend happening between the final witness testimony and closing arguments in former President Donald Trump’s New York hush money criminal trial, it’s worth taking a moment to look back at what we’ve just seen.

CNN’s Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle and Jeremy Herb were inside the courtroom and an adjacent viewing room for all of the oral arguments – for all 20 days over the course of a month when the trial was in session.

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his legal team in a Manhattan court, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in New York. Trump is appearing in court on charges related to falsifying business records in a hush money investigation, the first president ever to be charged with a crime. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Related article Your latest questions about Trump’s trial, answered

While these are the first criminal trial proceedings against Trump, he also faced a civil fraud trial brought by the New York attorney general and two separate defamation lawsuits brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. A judge found Trump liable for fraud for inflating his net worth to get friendly loans, and juries found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defaming Carroll. CNN’s reporters have covered all of the trials.

I talked to Herb and del Valle about how they went about getting what happened in court out to the world in almost real time and what people watching on TV might have missed.

Portions of those conversations, conducted by phone and email and edited for length, are below:

What will you take away from covering this trial?

DEL VALLE: This is actually my