Blitzer in washington. Ill be back in two hours, 6 00 p. M. Eastern in the situation room. Starts right now cnns Breaking News. And welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper and we continue to follow the Breaking News out of manhattan and where the man at the center of the Hush Money Payments Scandal is testifying right now in Donald Trumps criminal trial, Michael Cohen is detailing exactly how he came to pay 130,000 to Adult Film Star In Director Stormy Daniels, who came forward about an alleged episode with donald trump in the days before the 2016 Election Cohen testified, not only did trump know about the uh, hundred 30,000 payment, but trump directly approved it and said that he would pay cohen back and the prosecution is using cohens testimony to present both an offensive and defensive case offensively by establishing the cohen was the man behind the payments, not just to Stormy Daniels, but also to 1998 playmate of the year, Karen Mcdougal and defensively by trying to establish that cohen frequently lie on behalf of donald trump, getting that out there ahead of time before the defense has their say and by trying to corroborate nearly everything they can that cohen says with actual factual evidence, Text Messages, emails, Phone Records lets get straight to cnns paula reid. Paula what have been your biggest takeaways from Michael Cohens testimony . 20 so far ill take this highly anticipated appearance by Michael Cohen on the stand has paid dividends for prosecutors so far. He told the jury that at long before trump announced his candidacy for the white house, he was worried about stories from women and how they could come out and potentially impact his candidacy. Cohen testified that trump told him, quote, you know, that when this comes out, meeting the announcement about his run for the white house, just be prepared. Theres going to be a lot of women coming forward. Cohen then testified to how involved he was and suppressing negative stories about trump in the lead up to the election. And that in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape, how he personally similarly facilitated that payment to Stormy Daniels. But what was new what we havent already heard so far in this trial is how involved trump was. He testified that he he constantly kept trump updated on this ever to pay Stormy Daniels this hush money testified that he needed trumps approval, is certainly wanted credit for getting the story suppress, but he described trump as a micromanager, testified to how in the loop he was now we also testified that trump promised he would get reimbursed. He said Allen Weisselberg, the former cfo of the trump organization, and i spoke to mr. Trump. We expressed to him that i was going to front the money for the hush money to which he was appreciative. Any stated to me, dont worry, youll get the money back now in the timeline the testimony we are in late 2016 right now, cohen is expected to wrap up the next half hour or so. So we havent quite gotten to 2017, which is of course when these dots im convinced at the heart of this case were allegedly falsified apollo, what do we know about the Defense Strategy for crossexamining cohen . Obviously, a lot of us are backing it to be rather brutal yeah, it totally fair. It will be brutal. Michael cohen knows its gonna be brutal and crossexamination of Michael Cohen is the trump defense, which is why todd blanche, the lead attorney here. He hasnt been doing very many of the crossexaminations of witnesses. He has been exclusively focused on this crossexamination. We can expect that this will go as long if not longer than the direct examination and it will be a multimedia presentation. Many of the things cohen has said about trump can well be used against him, really jake, the greatest challenge for prosecutors or excuse me, for Defense Attorneys is just calling down all of the statements, all of the attacks that cohen has launched against the defendant in the past several years. Really, most of his identity is attacking trumps Defense Attorneys are going to seize on that and try to paint him as a liar. Sure. Who was out for revenge, which is of course the name of one of his books. All right paula reid, thanks so much. Lets bring in our panel we have with us victoria nurse who served his Chief Counsel for then Vice President joe biden former Trump Payroll Corporation attorney bill brennan, former federal prosecutor, gene rossi, and cnns jamie gan, gail, right now, just to give you an update on whats going on inside the courtroom right now. Michael cohen is testifying about the reimbursement of 130,000 and hes talking similarly about the calculations. The back of the envelope as it were calculations by Allen Weisselberg, the chief Financial Officer of the trump organization. I think we have a copy of that document that we can show you that theyre referring to. Its its 130,000 plus additional funding that went into what cohen was paid. And and just to just to get you up to speed, one of the things thats been going on is it Michael Cohen is talking about how a day or two before trump left for the inauguration in january 2017 trump officially made Michael Cohen his personal council. He found out that his its bonus, which usually was included in the christmas card, the check for the bonus was he was angry beyond angry because trump has slashed is bonus by twothirds. Trump laughs to himself in the courtroom when this happens and nodded, as cohen testified, he was beyond angry. He said i was truly insulted personally hurt by it, didnt understand. He said he immediately went to weisselbergs office and in some colorful language expressed to him how truly off and angry i really was. I use quite a few expletives. I was even for myself unusually angry. So one of the ideas here that theyre trying to establish is this anger that Michael Cohen had and theyre trying to get it out on their terms. The prosecution because obviously anything negative that there is about Michael Cohen, the defense is going to introduce evidence that the feeling obviously better that the prosecution get it out there first, let me start with you, victoria, if i could, because the Stormy Daniels payment right before he went to the bank to make the Stormy Daniels payment, cohen says he had to phone calls with trump cohen says he would never have made the payment without trumps approval. And that quote, everything required. Mr. Trumps sign on top of that i wanted the money back that seems like a point that the jurors can relate to wanting to be paid back uhhuh. Yeah. Im gonna think cohen has been doing a good job of explaining that this was all about the election that this is not just we call it hush money and all that tawdry stuff that my republican mother rest your pieces rolling over were in her grave about this is really about the 2016 election and what theyre doing it stepbystep, showing through the admission of the documents and all this boring stuff about who said what when that trump was there. Trump ordered this and cohen wanted to be repaid so lets bring up that weisselberg note that i referred to earlier, which has been introduced into evidence, and its Allen Weisselberg, the cfo paying back Michael Cohen and figuring out how much should be paid back if they grow up the number. So that after he pays the taxes on this check cohen would get back the full amount of money. He owed if they gave me the hundred 80,000 and they didnt grow sit up after taxes onto it. It would be 90,000. Cohen says, but i suspect that you have a different take on how credible mr. Cohen is seeming. I do. Jake is surprisingly enough i mean this guy is a polluted source. He could be the Dictionary Photograph for polluted source. Hes a narcissistic sycophant that put his star on trumps wagon. And when he didnt get what he wanted, which was a dc job, he turned on him and now hes got an extra grind and jake, those jurors dont leave their common sense of the door. What they see a witness like hope hicks will apparently has no ax to grind they take her testimony, has the ring of truth. This guy wrote a book called revenge. This guy, Michael Collins about Michael Cohen. He said earlier, i think in todays testimony from what we saw on the screen, he was hoping to monetize his role as the president s attorney i mean, i think blanche will have him on the stand for days and collins got an allergy to veracity. So its going to be an interesting cross. One of the things that theyre trying to establish here is that the money was actually he was paid in excess of 130,000 because it gets getting into the weeds a little bit but if they they did it as an untaxed expense reimbursement, then he would it would be less money than if he took it as income because reimbursements were not grossed up any in any case, theyve already lost me, but thats why thats why i have an accountant. This all comes after cohen failed to pay Stormy Daniels by in the first agreed upon deadline . Yeah. And what it looked like Stormy Daniels might take her story somewhere else. Cohen says, trump told him, quote he stated to me that he had spoken to some friends, some individuals, smart people, and that its 130,000. Your a billionaire, just pay it. Theres no reason to keep this thing out there. So do it. Thats what people said to trump as trump to Michael Cohen he expressed to me just do it, meet up with Allen Weisselberg and figure this whole thing out, right . Does that have the ring of truth to you . Does that sound right . Well, heres the thing. I want to go to what bill said. Theres an incident in early december, i think teeth davidson talked about it. I represented davidson and Michael Cohen was so mad, believe it or not, bill Michael Cohen thought he could be Attorney General the united states. Now, we all laugh at that. But trump told them hes not going to be Attorney General and told them hes not even go into the white house. So an early december, this angers building and you get to crescendo with the bonus, but to go to the invoices, i call them the souffle invoices. They go from 132420 i think that if the prosecutors explain this rationally and we common sense because i did a lot of tax cases and cohen does reasonably well. I think theyre going to get over that hurdle of connecting the invoices to the election interference. If they do it properly, if they screw up and fohlin, her face, Donald Trumps going to have a hung jury and acquittal. Its as simple as that. So when he first learned that Stormy Daniels is looking to sell her story jamie again go Michael Cohen testifies that he went to donald trump immediately. Cohen says trump told them to handle the story and the trump said, quote, i want you to just push it out as long as you can just get past the election. Because if i win it, i will have no rela it will have no relevance because im president and if i lose, i dont even care. So this would undermine in any claim that donald trump did this because he was worried about what might happen to melania. I think testimony like that goes to guilty, guilty, guilty. I mean, it really just lays it out. Otherwise, you wouldnt you know, why did they were they waiting out until why did he want to wait until after the election . That is not about melania or his family being upset. Its about the election. Can i just address my friend bill here, who who he gets in trouble on social media for some of our conversations which he doesnt deserve we talked before we came on. You talked about Michael Cohen and his personality and veracity he and donald trump Work Together for ten years. I would say in a certain its fair to say they were a match Made In Heaven for those ten years Michael Cohen conducted himself the way donald trump conducted himself. And i think jurors, youre the lawyer, jill, tell me they look at whos on the stand . Their reaction goes beyond the evidence and the testimony theres common sense that goes into this and i think Michael Cohen has, by all accounts, his tone has been even he has said he was ashamed. He has apologize. Im not saying it gets you all the way there. But i think it helps me. I agree with you on i know. Thank but but heres a cycle of the last six or seven years with cohen. He lied to congress. He lied to the irs. He went to prison he came back. He said, im am redeemed. Ive seen the light. And then he had more allies and now hes redeeming. This guys have more comebacks and ike turner, as he testifies from that stand today, he is shopping a reality show called the fixer that anybody little pick it up. This guy always has skin in the game it makes him a polaroid. Were going to squeeze in a quick break. Im going to come back. Im gonna come back to you. You get first first shot at it out of the gate. Stay with me, Michael Cohen right now detailing how he made the payment to Stormy Daniels testifying that he took out a home equity loan. He tried to hide it from his own wife. Did he act under trumps orders or on his own as a faithful servant . Hi, attorneys are here and theyre debating whats at the heart of the case. Were going to squeeze in a quick break. Well be right back this is a secret secrets and spies premier sunday, june 2, attempt bomb cnn water would help us. Its dry spots. Thats loan disease. 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Michael cohen is testifying in Donald Trumps hush money coverup trial in new york right now, cohen is discussing how he was allegedly reimbursed for the 130,000 he paid Stormy Daniels in the days, right before the 2016 election, my panels back with me so one of the things going on right now they have this intense examination, direct examination, not the difficult cross, but cohen, when asked about the accounting being used, that i didnt really think about it. I just wanted to get my money back at the time, cohen says he thought he would get the 420,000 back in one lump sum. This 420,000, if youre wondering how 130,000 became 420, i think this is what it is. Okay. You start up with the 130,000 that they pay Stormy Daniels and theres some group called red Finch Consulting that Michael Cohen hired to rig online polls at Donald Trumps the has again, nothing legal about that either. So thats one 30 plus 50. Thats 180,000. Then if they just give that money to Michael Cohen, he would have to basically pay taxes on Tens Of Thousands of dollars of it. So they doubled it. So he gets back in net. If you remove the taxes, what he originally spent and then an additional 60 lets you have to three at and then additional thousand dollars because Allen Weisselberg felt bad that Michael Cohen got stiff that of a decent christmas bonus. Okay. I think i finally understood that during the conversation because it cohen thought he was going to get it back into 420,000 back one lump sum, Allen Weisselberg turns around and says, while were talking about this, were going to pay you over 12 months as like a Legal Service rendered since i was going to be given the title of personal attorney to the president , cohen recalled the prosecuting attorney, Susan Hoffinger says did weisselberg then show you this document . We can help put that document up again because now its relevant again, calculating the payment there it is the payment and he says, yes he approved it. This is going to be one heck of a ride in dc. Cohen recalled trump saying, well, whats, whats the purpose of all this, of all this testimony . Well, the idea is to get to some sense that where the documents and his Testimony Match so that the jury sees that its all consistent. Otherwise, theyre going to ask questions in the jury room about why is it not just what you did . Bravo and the math why was it such a large payment by though if first time ive ever been bravo for math and my life, im a professor, so i would not somewhere dispatcher is very happy sorry. Sorry my sister levs, if she would hayden anyway, theyre trying to make this consistent because thats what you do and a criminal charge they are playing it by the book. They put in the documents. Now theyre hearing the testimony and they all have to match otherwise, juries invent reasons why hi, there may be a doubt and one reasonable doubt, one juror can scuttle the case. So and the Defense Argument here, theyll brandon is that this money was actually for Legal Services rendered and Michael Cohen is saying, no, no, no, this is happened. Your says, well, what was it actually . And he says reimbursement of my money. Now i get that. You dont think hes a credible witness, and im im not going to push back on that. Yeah. Thats certainly your opinion . Does this document by Allen Weisselberg not buttress what hes saying happened. Jake, even just assuming argue that it does. Okay. Who cares red finch, not illegal hush money, not illegal. They have to tie it into another crime to make the felony and thats where if the last four weeks led to Michael Cohen tying it all together and they dont have weisselberg to corroborated or somebody to corroborate it. I cant imagine theres not at least one juror that gets back there and scratches her head and said, this Guy Convicted Perjure lies about everything like that was wife about the home equity loan. Hes going rogue. I cant believe somebody doesnt have reasonable or go ahead. Go. He said monsters are not convicted based on, you know, nice Little Old Ladies testimony. They are convicted based on some unsavory characters. And this is a political Monster Cohen said he did this because women would be upset with what well let me let me put this this is about the Stormy Daniels story. Let me just put up the quote so people know what youre referring to. Victoria, women are going to hate me guys may think its cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. This is the disaster, a total disaster this is about when they find out that the Stormy Daniels story is out there in might break especially right after the Access Hollywood story was out there so thats according to Michael Cohen, that is donald trump expressing concern about the Stormy Daniels story getting out there, which it did not get out there until years after the 2016 election. Everyone stick around. We have a bit of drama in these final 15 minutes a day, 16 of the hush money trial, we expect core to wrap soon donald trump will almost certainly if past is prologue come out and give us his take on what he heard on the witness stand today. Were gonna be watching were gonna be right back the whole myth has to be reimagined yellens feed if you didnt know whether you were next, they were both tied up yeah. Yeah. I was called in and i saw what turned out to be the biggest heist in history he went from gold medal winning not to a pariah would really happened with jesse l. Martin. 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We now get more control of Production Efficiencies and greater agility with a custom private 5g networks our customers get what they want when they want it now, or even smarter and ready for whats next achieve enterprise intelligence. Its your vision, its your verizon allergies with allegro. They wont stop me nothing beats allegro. Its the fastest non drowsy 24 hour allergy relief live. Your greatness one reading seven, zero. Yeah, thats not good happened huge things happen happens and theyre all coming . Those who are still with us, yes. Grandpa whats this . Your wings. Light em up gentlemen, its a beautiful. Day to fly. Powering progress im Elizabeth Wagmeister in los angeles and this is cnn and were back with our Breaking News. Michael cohen is still testifying right now on the stand in Donald Trumps hush money Cover Up Trial after testimony wraps today, we are expecting mr. Trump so come out of the courtroom and speak. Lets go to cnns kristen holmes, whos outside the courthouse and kristin trump had a couple of allies show up for him today in korda. Tell us who they are and whats his mindset when it comes to the hes guest list yeah. Jagan coming to court with donald trump has become the new loyalty task. Many of these people actually are wanting to be at the top of the ticket the long donald trump, heres what we saw today without eric tribe, alina habba, who was one of his lawyers, but not in this case, a representative from new york, nicole maluo takas we saw the air alabama senator ami toupper, iwill. We saw jd vance out of ohio, senator there he is rumored to be on the shortlist for Vice President , as well as Attorney General of iowa, breonna bird, who paid pivotal role in his Landslide Victory in the primary and are the caucuses in that state. His mindset around having these visitors is that he wants the support. We are told by people close to the former president that he was really upset that more people were not coming out to show their support for him. And also that there werent more protests protesters on his behalf in this courtyard across from the court house. Remember they have a special little area because siphoned off for these trump protesters. Theres only been about a handful someday is one or two today we saw up to five of the sorry and flag, but not the kind of resounding support that hed like to see out here, which is of course led to him continually saying theyre not allowed close to the courthouse, even though we are doing directly across the street from the courthouse. So that led to his team creating a kind of situation within new york where he would go to locations, campaign events, in areas that because likely to get a very welcome crowd, including construction sayyed, meant with a bunch of Union Workers as well as laborers there. He went to a Harlem Bodega places he would get a good reception. That was in part a reaction to donald trump being upset about the lack of support here at the courthouse, look out for baur, big names, people who are trying trying to get attention from the former president showing up in court tomorrow. We are told that Vivek Ramaswamy will be sitting in court with donald trump all right. Kristen holmes, thanks so much. The panels back with me. We should note that the courtroom has adjourned for the day. Judge merchan saying, have a good night. See you tomorrow. Cohen got up pan the courtroom, looked down in his hands for a moment when the merchan gave the judge im sorry, give the jury the usual previous Missile Instructions cohen then gave us small smile. Hello, and nod over at the jury box, just as judge merchan dismissed them for the day eric trump was in court today and up here comes trump. Lets lets listen into the defendant as he discusses todays events. Lets see if he adheres to the the gag order to not go after witnesses. They view this is a scam i think its a terrible thing thats happening to democracy in this we have a lot of under want to come. I say just stay back past lots of laws to stop things like this jd beds. Whats going on . And then courtroom is a threat to democracy and we could not have a country where we get to prosecute your political opponent instead of Persuading Voters Ag murdered as you know, having respected from iowa, let the American People decide who the next leader of the free world who will be politics is absolutely no place in this courtroom. This is all politics and in mccarthy great legal analysts said none of this is illegal. Theres nothing illegal its called politics. Theres nothing illegal a lot of people said that theyre all saying that the older were the only person wants ages. The judge because its a rig deal, is conflicted. You want to check that out . But everybody is saying is no crime leo dirac up until right now these, theres not a single spread get evidence of President Trump participated Internet Crime of either falsifying records you are hiding a campaign or state or federal finance yardage none of it has been absolutely nothing. Look, enjoy a great way to doing great. They kept me here for threeandahalf, four weeks instead of campaigning yet you still have the best whole numbers just came out in the New York Times as we discussed before mock live in libya this as safely as possible oh, theres no ghraieb state or federal with which delayed donald trump or anyone else. This is a case looking for a legal basis. There is none. There is no crime. Its mark levin again, jd vance do the american voters, who are watching this . One opportunity you get to speak up against his sham prosecution and just say the American People should elect the president not use corrupt d c prosecutors two help them get elected, which is exactly what they view in any regard the good break has no authority to enforce federal law. The nda payments were youre paying expenditures under federal law thats why the epc and doj, which do have exclusive authority to enforce federal law absolutely no action against trump. They took no action against me. They look they said its time the only went and did the Shores Back Da Brad Coe turned down the case by the way he turned down the case and it couldnt have been brought six years ago, seven years ago, almost eight years ago. They bring it right in the middle of my president ial campaign break. He said we had a case, you know, if you go back take a look at your earlier records when he came into office, he turned it down and he was angry because of what took place when he saw that they were going to use this scam. He was angry even my Pill Smerconish have cnn a person four for five weeks into a trial or be told exactly that, which theyre being prosecuted for that hasnt happened. You know what happened one very simple reason, because the is no crime, his bark decent. I dont think so. I dont think things, you know, im very well for the prosecution in the court of law. And the court of public opinion, theyre doing even worse matt whitaker, another day of trial and then keeping the president of the Campaign Trail Byron you on the hush money trial, which is not money. Majority of voters pennsylvania, michigan save trump cannot get a fair trial. Thats too bad. Thats really true any regard to break exactly what hes doing. Its improper, completely political case maybe merge john judge versha is having second thoughts. I havent come to us improving. It had not come close to approving fraud or that any fraud has taken place theres no fraud here theres no prime here. This is for weeks and keeping me from not campaigning. Jonathan turley can imagine any competent order would not be embarrassed what is happened in this courtroom this day is truly going to go down information for the new york legal system, which is true the whole world well now, new york weaponized legal system watching this unfold, that courtroom as a lawyer is really deeply disturbing. He was referring to these documents and documents dont move the block the document shows that the nda and the payment that is not in the spirit there. This is a total this is jonathan generally theyre not Unlawful Energy federal campaign contribution. Theres absolutely no problem. Theres no problem with, you know, the mtc itself mpc the elections commission, federal elections commission, they lifted this years ago and they took a fast. They said theres no problem here tim scott objective is to keep dropped off the Campaign Trail as all they tried to do, keep him off the Campaign Trail. Heres the New York Times. It just came out with so while ago where were leaving in every state and every the five q stakes relieving very substantially. I might add. So its all believers said day for the country and said from new york, i mean new york, that a judge is highly conflicted at a level that nobody has seen before for can possibly think of it. And you should go out and check it out but we have a corrupt and we have a judge is highly i can and hes keeping me from campaigning. Hizon appointed new york judge, appointed you know appointed him but read politicians hes appointed is a corrupt judge and is conflicted. The judge and he only let us go out and campaign and get rid of this every single legal atlas even cnn even msdnc, the same theres no case here thank you very much kind of dealing with all right, or rather angry defendant saying theres no case here. And for the record, although we certainly have people such as mr. Brennan on our panel here who are arguing that this is not a strong case. Its certainly not the view of them. Cnn person per say that there is no case here. We are discussing the qualities of the case. So the good, the bad, theres disagreement. We do have people who are in mr. Trumps sayyed on this oh, lovable will will will on whether an on mobile and on the issue on the issue of whether or not this is a good case. Thats all im when i look at this. Yeah, theyre might as well be one of those things when they used to put the blue around the face. This is an american citizen on trial. Yeah and they have to tie it up to another crime and theyve yet to do it. This has nothing to do with the fact that i represented him no trump. I have no political agenda about your view of the quality of this guy. I think they havent made it out yet. Thats all im saying all right. Okay. Anyway, but jamie, again, go very angry and he he he he seemed angry are today than in any previous de guesses his day 16, he seemed angry are today with Michael Cohens testimony, than he did on either of the days were Stormy Daniels was testifying and at least one of those days she said some things that were rather embarrassing and even some people who are in favor of this case thought that the prosecution and the witness went too far, but he seemed angrier than ever today. So what do psychiatrists call it . Is It Transference that hes, you know, hes not allowed to say anything about that. Michael cohen. He hasnt broken the gag order. Oh, yeah. Right. Thats good on the other hand, he was yelling about the judge. Hes allowed to yell about the judge. And so he went there. I just one other issue we should note this, judge is widely respected judge juan merchan is one of the most wellrespected judges at 100 centre street. But theyre all right. Yeah. Yeah, there are under are those who say that that he should have recused himself because his daughter does work for democratic Consulting Group of sorts. Im not saying he should have, but i mean that is when he says hes conflicted, hes not the only one that thing junior wanted to say. I just want to say this when you see a defendant like mr. Trump rant and rave and just stipulate and go off at tangents. My mind was going to explode. What that tells me is that he sat through several hours of testimony and it hit home it hit home. Well, this guy was his fixer, donald trump for all his faults. He knows that Michael Cohen in my view, was connecting with the jury. Now, i wasnt into jury, but thats a guy who knows at what Michael Cohen said was accepted, or at least listened to by the jury. Thats what i see from that high had defendants that reacted like this. And heres what heres what mr. Trump cannot do during his trial. The rest of your trial . He has to keep a poker face which will be impossible because that jury is watching his reaction to everything that Michael Cohen is saying if Michael Cohen says something and mr. Trump is reacting angrily, the jury is going to say it must be true but we dont know that theyre seeing that. We dont know that the jury is seeing the well, we dont know. We dont i mean, they might just be seeing him with a stone face. We have no idea from what i dont think he has a stone face. Okay. But i just respond to the legal argument. Hes making here. I could get 100 Law Professors in here to say that falsifying crimes is a basic crime. Phosphite documents under new york state law. This is the defense of someone i agree who knows that the testimony has hit home because hes taking a legal argument, hes making a legal argument. And is not exactly what i would expect if someone who was innocent. All right, thanks. One and all appreciated. Or retired judge who has been watching this case closely joined wednesday next, her take on the prosecutions case so far with the defense needs to do how highprofile witnesses such as Michael Cohen can theoretically change the dynamics of a courtroom thats all next, stay with us smart minor is all about protecting your vehicle from the inside out with quality and durability we use innovative 3d scanning to create top of the line custom bit more liners make this smart choice, choose smart liner. Honestly, i was scared when i was told agerelated Macular Degeneration could jeopardize my vision. Great. One more thing to worry about. It was all too hard to deal with in the beginning, but making a plan with my doctor to Add Preservation was easy. Preservation. 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And when we get more of them back we can use less new plastic bottles are made to be remade here, you can expect to find Crystal Clear audio expensive display space more comfort for everyone but we still left room for all the unexpected things. Youll find out here. The new 2020 it four Grand Cherokee lined up jeep, theres only one. Its cheap, four by four season. Were right now get the 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee starting at 38,290 msrp visit cheap. Com for details how solomon in new york is cnn and were back with more of our continuing coverage of Donald Trumps Hush Money Cover Up Conspiracy Trial with me now to give, uh, judges perspective of the cases, retired California Superior Court judge Ladoris Hazard Cordell also the author of the book, her honore. Judge cordell, thanks for joining us. This was one of the biggest days of the trial so far. Certainly the one that seemed to make mr. Trump the angry, just what does it feel like as a judge when you see a big witness on upon whom the entire case might hinge take the stand. What does that like as a judge . Well, thank you for inviting me on jake first, i have to tell you, i chuckle when i hear various pundits weighing in about how various witnesses like Michael Cohen are likely to be perceived by the jurors and i presided over many criminal jury trials, some of them highprofile, and i stopped trying to secondguessed jurors. It. You just just cant do it so Michael Cohen testified today and this is one half of the case, meaning its the prosecution sayyed, we dont know how he will hold up in crossexamination. My guess is that he will be well hes no dummy he knows the questions that are likely to be asked to pim. And thats why the prosecution went to some extent, maybe they should have done a little bit more talking about the bad stuff about Michael Cohen that he was the fixer and he considered himself in trumps thug, those kinds of things. So that it wont hit the jurors brand new. One and they defense steps up. But so far, you we havent used mustnt lose sight of and particularly as a judge, presiding, id hear all these various witnesses. You cant lose sight of why people are there in the courtroom and theyre there in a courtroom because a crime or crimes are being being alleged. And in this so if theyve established and they will that documents were falsified, i think they will do that. Then the issue is and part of the crime is did trump with knowledge is falsified documents. Do it with the intent to commit amid another crime or to aid or conceal the commission of the crime. And so thats the issue here. The intent and how do you prove intent, jake, you cant unless you get inside somebodys head at the time. So we cant do it that way, then its proved by Circumstantial Evidence. And in a trial or Circumstantial Evidence is given the same weight as direct evidence. So thats really what this case is about. And Michael Cohen now is kinda pulling all the pieces together. So its a fascinating story. Its very sad that these kinds of things were going on weve only heard part of it. The other part is going to come from the crossexamination of mr. Cohen and whether or not any defense is put on at all Michael Cohen might be the last prosecution witness. Do you think its smart to end the case and the presentation of a case on the testimony of somebody who does have a record, a convicted record of being lot of lying and perjury yeah. I think its fine. And the jurors, theyre not naive people. And im sure there have been other people who have testified in courts who dont have great backgrounds. Thats really in my view, thats not going and i have an impact on the jurors. I do want to add, though, that with regard to the defense, sayyed Donald Trumps latest rant just a few minutes ago in front of everyone, it was a rent is exactly the reason why he wont be testifying. He is a loose cannon. And another point about that rent. He said, and i hope people listen very carefully fully that there was no crime. He did not deny anything. He didnt deny the payment. He didnt deny the affair. He just said what i did was not a crime. So its very, very interesting so i think its just proved that he is definitely not going to be testifying because he cant be controlled once he starts talking as a judge, have you ever been surprised by a jury absolutely. All the time. And thank you for asking that because ive presided over trials, be they Drunk Driving Trials or be they big felony cases. And the jurors will go off and im sitting there thinking therell be they are like 20 minutes because this is a slam dunk. Oh, no, no, no. Its really interesting what jurors gets their attention when theyre in there. They also have the written Jury Instructions with them in their and they take their jobs very, very seriously. And sometimes to my surprise, they get hung up on some issues that i thought were non issues so i think most trial judges are surprised quite frequently about what jurors look at, what they think is important and what they dont. So im this case, its very interesting. You have all these different people and thats what makes Jury Deliberations so interesting, right . You have all these people gather. They have come from different walks of life. And then youre gonna get all these viewpoints and at some point the, the hope is they coalesce behind a decision because of course the decision has to be unanimous what do you expect the defense to hit on beyond Michael Cohens credibility . When they do their cross of him um, do you think that they will try to undermine some of the evidence . What do you think their focus will be again beyond credibility, which i expect will be there. Theyre obvious focus sure. That there are three important parts. There are only three important parts to a trial. Theres Documentary Evidence thats audio recordings transcripts, invoices, emails, copies of checks. Theres witnesses testimony, and then the other the third important part, or Jury Instructions. So the Witness Testimony is really jurors or fact fighters, so theyre gathering facts, they have documents, and now theyre listening to the witnesses so what the defense is going to do with Michael Cohen has tried to shake that testimony one, yes. Credibility. But also, their position. And i think its an unfortunate one is Donald Trumps position is none of this happened. Nothing. Hes just denying everything. So its really going to be hard for them given the Documentary Evidence, its already in to show that Michael Cohen is a liar. I distinct they want the jury to dislike him so much that they just dont want them to give me the time to him, in which case the case will fall apart. I mean, he is the key once they have laid down the foundation. All right. Judge ladoris hazard, a cordell. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time and expertise court has adjourned for the de and Donald Trumps hush money conspiracy trial. Michael cohen testifying on the stand today for around five hours prosecutors expected to resume direct examination tomorrow morning. Cnns Kara Scannell was inside the courtroom today. Qarrah, how was mr. Trumps demeanor when Michael Cohen . Was on the Stand Donald Trump for a lot of the testimony today with sitting back in the chair with his eyes closed not reacting too much. But there were certain moments when he did react. One was in Michael Cohen brought up Melania Trump and trump had made a face and in that context, cohen was talking about Melania Trump and what her reaction would have been had she learned about the Stormy Daniels story. Just as trump was negotiating, according to Michael Cohen, to try to bury it. The other time was toward the end of the testimony, trump would pass notes to his lawyers when Michael Cohen was getting some to some of the details of the his conversations with trump about his bonus. And when Michael Cohen was talking about his bonus, he said that he was angry, even for myself, unusually angry about having his bonus cut by twothirds. Trump had kind of laughed to himself and smiled and reacted to that. Clearly suggesting he had some kind of memory of that. But throughout, Michael Cohen himself was very measured even when talking about some of these conversations, he spoke slowly. He was very deliberate in the words that he chose. One is answering these questions and we did not see any kind of reaction from him. More him losing any cool while he was on the stand, jake, Cnns Kaitlan Collins was also in the courtroom today. Caitlin, did the jury seem engaged oh, they were completely engaged in jake. They have been throughout this trial, but one thing ill say about the story is you cannot tell how they feel about certain pieces of testimony or certain moments inside the courtroom you cant really discern anything from their faces. Theyre kind of expressionless during this. They are paying very close attention and they certainly wars. Michael cohen was on the stand because as the jury came in after the lunch break, which is the first time that i was in the courtroom today, they picked up their notepads immediately. They had their pens in their hands. They are watching very closely and there were times when theyre getting when Michael Cohen got in there where he was only speaking directly to the prosecutors. He put on his glasses as he was reading Text Messages or emails off the screen that shows because the evidence in front of them, but he wasnt really looking at the jury, but that seemed to change later on as the testimony went on, there were moments where he would explain why he took out the home equity line of credit. He would look directly at the jurors. There was another moment where it attempted to be some kind of effort to humanize Michael Cohen to this jury maybe endear him to them. He was talking about his close relationship that he has with his daughter and how she was worried that he wasnt going to get a job inside the administration. And then there showing those texts he was looking directly at the jury as they were as he was telling that story, jake and the other person in the courtroom that i was watching closely is todd blanche. Thats trumps leader the attorney here who was seated all the way to the right of the defense table. So he is the best view of the witness. He was watching Michael Cohen intently. He was often chewing on a pen and writing notes and watching him so closely because of course, todd blanche is going to be the one who crossexamined him when the prosecution has done with them. All right. Thanks to both. You really appreciate it, caitlin, of course, we will look for more of your reporting coming up tonight on the source at 9 00 p. M. Only on Cnn Unique Perspective next hour from a Criminal Defense Attorney who was also inside that courtroom today as Michael Cohen testified, and another big story in the next hour, this one in baltimore, where crews plan to demolish parts of that collapsed bridge that are still sitting on a Container Ship in that maryland port, that demolition is expected literally any minute. Were going to squeeze in a quick break. Well be right back a lot of new dry eye patients in my office. Tell me about their frequent dry eyes, which may point to dry eye disease. Millions of americans were estimated to have that. Theyve tried artificial tears again and again. But the relief his temporal zaida can provide lasting relief. 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Made by steel right now, save 50 the Fsa 57 Battery Trimmer said real still, find yours im tom forming in washington. And this is cnn this is cnn Breaking News welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper in this hour, todays star witness in the hush money cover of conspiracy case, Michael Cohen who testified that donald trump told him an alleged sexual encounter that Stormy Daniels wa