CNN Hot Mic Picks Up Stifled Guffaws As Dana Bash Reads Out Stormy Daniels ‘Spanking’ Quote

CNN anchor Dana Bash drew audible off-camera commotion with her reading of a racy Stormy Daniels spanking quote from her testimony at ex-President Donald Trump’s trial.

Tuesday morning saw a bombshell go off ahead of the Stormy Daniels hush money-election interference trial , as news broke that Daniels herself would be taking the witness stand.

When court began, Judge Juan Merchan laid out which lines of questioning would be permitted regarding Daniels and former President Donald Trump — and which would not .

But on Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s branded coverage of the trial , there were still plenty of laugh-inducing moments from the testimony, including a moment that interrupted Bash’s interview with ex-Trump pal and infamously short-lived White House official Anthony Scaramucci .

When Bash stopped to read a quote about spanking Trump with a magazine, stifled laughs and a metallic clanging sound could be heard off camera, as Bash suppressed a smile:

DANA BASH: As you were talking to Jake, we’re hearing more from Stormy Daniels on the stand at — he–

The then-businessman Donald Trump showed a photo, a photo of himself on the cover of a magazine, asked if she had seen it, and he said, no, not that I have.– “I didn’t watch or look at magazines like that as a 27 year old film star.”

And now, Daniels says she snapped at Trump, “Are you always this rude? Are you always this arrogant and pompous? You don’t even know how to have a conversation,” she recalls.

I’m guessing even back then, assuming that this is true since she’s under oath, that’s not the way a lot of people talked to Donald Trump even before he was in politics.

But, Anthony, I want to ask you about the Melania Trump of it all. There was just a reference to her when Stormy Daniels just testified that Trump told Stormy Daniels that the two of them don’t sleep in the same room. And this goes back to one of the core questions of this case, which is whether or not he was only trying to protect his family and marriage, or whether he was also trying to protect his political viability.

And before you answer that, I’m going to read one more, update from our reporters. Daniels says she told Trump of the magazine, “Someone should spank you with that. I’m sorry, Anthony.

(clanging sound) (stifled guffaws)

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI: Well, I mean, listen, I mean, there’s a there’s a there’s a simple answer. I remember, Dana, when the windows open and you hear clip clop outside, it’s a horse. It’s not a zebra.

So the obvious answer is the answer. And so he had two things going on in his mind. One, he didn’t want the exposure personally as it related to his family life. And secondarily, he knew that this could be a big bomb that blew up on him, politically.

Watch above via CNN’s branded coverage of the Stormy Daniels hush money-election interference trial .