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Affiliate cnn if you ever miss an episode, you can listen to the show once you get your pod breaking news tonight and the trump trial, the Bruising Cross Up for the day after the defense repeatedly hammered the prosecutions star witness for his past lives, and aggressively tried to catch him in new lies. Under oath. The trump teams scoring major points and its bid to undercut cohens credibility. That includes getting cohen to admit he did not fully remember a phone call for trade as a direct link between trump and the Stormy Daniels Hush Money Deal. For the next hour, well be taking you inside the courtroom from gavel to gavel with new testimony trend transcripts, breaking down all of todays most important developments and looking ahead to whats next welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Wolf blitzer is on assignment. Im Alex Marquardt a Special Report in the situation room, Trump Trial Today lets get right to the breaking news on a pivotal trial day for Donald Trumps defense, the former president s lawyer poking holes in Michael Cohens testimony and possibly sewing doubts. Enjoy tours minds. Cnns Kara Scannell has emerged from the courtroom in manhattan where shes been reporting on the trial. All day. So cara, tell us about the most significant and the most dramatic moments that you saw firsthand in that courtroom well, alex, just moments ago and trumps lawyers saying and still not saying whether the former president will take the stand and testify. But the judge told both sides they should prepare to get Closing Arguments in this case as soon as tuesday in this after a day of fireworks, where trumps Lead Attorney todd blanche had Michael Cohen in the Hotseat Brands thank him. A liar, and through aggressive questioning, painting him into a box trumps ex lawyer, Michael Cohen, in a dramatic moment on the stand, grilled over his memory of a key Phone Conversation that directly implicates former President Donald Trump in his criminal trial. Nobody wants to do this. This isnt fun. They get personal, they get nasty trumps lawyer, todd blanche confronted cohen on his testimony about the deal at the center of the case that he paid off adultfilm star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to kill her story of an alleged affair with trump, which trump denies cohen, who is the prosecutions key witness . Testified earlier this week that on october 24, 2016, he made a phone call to trumps bodyguard, Keith Schiller. He said, uh, you schiller as a conduit to speak with trump, to say the daniels deal was resolved and he was moving forward. But an Intense Exchange inside the courtroom that could undermine his testimony. Blanche showed records that moments before the brief one minute and 32nd call, cohen sent a text to schiller for help with prank calls. He was receiving from a 14yearold. There was no mention of daniels in the text. Blanche showed the text messages. Cohen said, who can i speak to regarding Harassing Calls to my cell in office, the dope forgot to block because number schiller responded, call me. Cohen told the Defense Attorney today he didnt remember the harassing phone calls, but after confronted with them, maintained, he spoke to schiller and also trump blanche pacing the courtroom, his arms flailing and his voice rising, set to cohen. That was a lie. You did not talk to President Trump on that . Night. You talk to Keith Schiller about what we just went through admitted cohen commonly replied, no, sir. I dont know that its accurate blanche moved to show the jury texts between cohen and the team, cohen writing this number has just been sent to Secret Service for your ongoing and continuous Harassing Calls over the past three days. If you are a minor, i suggest you notify your parents or guardian the prankster replied, i didnt do it. Im 14. Uh, please dont. Cohen responded, please have your parent or guardian contact me before Secret Service reaches out to them before getting to the Phone Call Blend spent the morning trying to paint cohen as a vengeful liar. Cohen confirmed he hasnt sold to trump countless times, including on his mea culpa podcast. Blanche played clips for the jury, are truly hope that this man dann, up in prison. But revenge is a dish best served cold. And you Better Believe i want this made to go down and rockin side for what he did to me and my family blanche, also proud lets cohen repeatedly about lying to congress in 2017 about the trump organizations moscow project. There were a couple of different leinz blanche asked, thats correct. Cohen replied. Cohen later, apologize to congress during his oncamera testimony in 2019, i am sorry for my lies and for lying to congress i have done some real Soul Searching and i see now that my ambition and the intoxication of trump power had much to do with the bad decisions in part that i made that trump watch the clock crossexamination very closely, turning his chair so he could face as attorney and look over at cohen answering these questions. Now, todd blanche trumps lawyers said that crossexamination will continue in some monday when court is back in session, the prosecution said their redirect should be over by lunch in trumps team said theres so assessing whether to call any other witnesses, alex. All right. Kirsten l, outside the courthouse in manhattan. Lets get more on all this with our legal and political experts. Thank you all for joining us. Elliot williams, i want to start with you this was i think we would all agree a very Pivotal Moment in this case, break down this moment where todd blanche, trumps Lead Attorney was grilling Michael Cohen about this phone call that would directly link the former president to these hush money . Absolutely. And we have some excerpts from some of our reporters who were in the room now, viewers who did not have Michael Cohen fighting over texts with the 14yearold on their bingo boards are right. You are not alone. This was quite a moment in terms of what it meant. So again, theyre going back and forth about this call that happened on october 24, 2016, were allegedly Michael Cohen says that he raised Stormy Daniels with keith, with President Trump. But as qarrah noted, the text, the records dont seem to suggest that so on the call or at least today on crossexamination, mike cohen says part of it was that the 14yearold, but i know that keith was with Keith Schiller. This is present trumps body was with mr. Trump at the time and there was more potentially than this, then todd blanche, the Defense Attorney, says that was a light, you did not talk to President Trump. You talk to Keith Schiller. You can admit it. Now, cohen when still staying pretty cool and calm here says, no, sir. I dont know that its accurate. I believe i also spoke to mr. Trump and told him everything regarding the Stormy Daniels matter then todd blanche says, we are not asking for your belief this jury does not want to hear about what you think happened, right there theres an objection and the prosecutor the prosecution objects. The judge sustains it because of the fact that blanche was forcing him are asking him to opine on what Somebody Else thought it just wasnt improper question. So at this Point Todd Blanche is pacing around, flailing his arms. Hes pretty appearing pretty upset with Michael Cohen. It says, but your memory is that you were testifying truthfully on tuesday a minute and 36 second phone call, and you had enough time to update schiller about all the problems you are having. And also update President Trump about the status of stormy day daniel situation because you had to keep him informed. Michael cohen responds i always ran everything by the boss immediately. And in this case, it would have been saying everything has been taken care of and has been resolved. So again, its what hes what todd blanche was getting at was in this minute and 36 seconds. Its sorted get up strains logic a bit to suggest that he raised both Stormy Daniels and this punk 14 yearold who he was fighting with and quite frankly, the prosecution did not prior to this, prepare the jury for the fact that there might have been some ambiguity as to what happened on this phone call, right . Nicky, lots youre a criminal Defense Attorney on this 96 second call the prosecution now has to prove that trumps involvement in this hushmoney scheme goes Beyond A Reasonable Doubt what did this crossexamination by todd blanche of Michael Cohen today, how much re much doubt do you think that raised at least for the jurors . I think it has to have raised some doubt. I mean the fact that there was testimony previously from Michael Cohen that this phone call was about x. And now there are texts that suggest its about why and as elliott said, not a lot of time for there to be a conversation about both x and y raises some doubt that that that and the y here obviously is that what trump said was disk or what cohen said was discussed had to do with Stormy Daniels. And if there was if there was just very little time to discuss both the 14 yearold issue and Stormy Daniels. Its its it is hard to believe that he got to the Stormy Daniels, so i think i mean, anything the prosecution sorry. Anything the defense can do to suggest that Michael Cohen isnt getting it right or is misrepresenting things, is important to raise those questions and potentially lying even further, right . Jim, trusty, you represented trump there has been reporting out there that the former president was disappointed with perhaps the lack of aggression by todd blanche, do you think that that change today . What do you think the former president s reaction is to how his lawyer perform . Well, hes gotta be its got to be feeling pretty upbeat. I mean, look the crossexamination is not usually like tv. I mean, you dont usually go to the ultimate question and thats why youre lying, mr. Cohen isnt it . But we kinda got there today a little bit and its a little bit dangerous territory for the defense. I think todd did a very nice job being very disciplined in his cross for the first big chunks which was established, facts established these bias established. He has a history of lying, but dont give them an opportunity to crawl out and make a speech, set it up for closing argument. I think it got a little fired up and went a little far and you saw the objection, but its not really the objection that matters. Its that he started making argument that cohen could figure out where its going. And cohen then comes back with i dont admit it. I will tell you why. Dont ask him the question of admitted to lie. Its not going to do it and so theres a little bit of an advocacy lesson there, i think in terms of getting to whipped up and thinking youre going to get the home run when a triple is just fine. But look at the end of the day. I like everyone. Im just shocked that cohen would lie about this call. Its an amazing in development for an otherwise perfect witness. Now, more seriously, they set the whole trial up. The defense that theyll child up to be a referendum on cohens honesty. Thats exactly where you want this fight to be. So its a good moment. New Milliken Henderson now, there are no proceedings tomorrow. So the jury is leaving with these impressions. They now have 72 hours, two but to reflect on this and really take stock of what sounds like a made for tv moment that of course we didnt see, but how do you think that impacts them . Listen, i mean, there are a couple of more questions crossexamination of questions from the Defense Prosecution will go back as well and try to rehabilitate Michael Cohen. Im not a lawyer were so i dont know all the ins and outs of what the final questions and the approach will be. Of course, therell be Closing Arguments. So they have more time to process this, right . We sort of look at this almost like its a its like a football game, right . And this is theyve still got some time left on the clock in there could be more to come i do. Think obviously you saw trump feeling very good today. He came out he was reading, hed clearly had folks look at cnn, look at msnbc, which he calls of course, ms in dc and, you people were saying that this was a good day for him and it kind of a bad day for Michael Cohen because this is a case that race, that breast on Michael Cohen its credibility. And you saw them really poking holes in it today, not to the point about how you rehabilitate here on on the redirect as the prosecution picking up on jims point, sort of like the budweiser or anheuserbusch adds know when to say when is it really important skill for prosecutors, quite frankly, and Defense Attorneys two and dont go too who far with trying to rehabilitate him, simply walk in and they can ask the question on that call on october 24, do you remember talking about Stormy Daniels and this 14yearold . Yes. No further questions and get out of there. It does not benefit the prosecution in any way to be going back and forth and pingpong what the defense about the facts of this of this of this phone call, the damage has been done but this was jims point. You risk stepping in it further. The more you keep lingering and trying to litigate really small points even if they are really damaging to your side. So nikki, to that point, the prosecution is going to have a chance to question Michael Cohen again. But how risky do you think it is to wrap up their case with him as the final witness like this. I think that the only other people who could shed light on it, right. Would be Keith Schiller or the chief Financial Officer and its not necessarily the case that schiller would have anything to add i mean, if it were the case that schiller simply pass the phone or was in the room but wasnt listening are left the room. There might not be anything that he could add, so it might not be it might not be the best witness to end and i dont it doesnt seem like its going to be on a very high note. But on the other hand, im not sure what else they could who else they could call. And now jim i mean, schiller is really a central character here, and there. So there are so many new questions about this phone call again in a minute, 36. So do you think those 12 jurors going to wonder why schiller isnt one of the witnesses. If they were still clinging to cohen as a possibly credible witness, maybe by the government has the burden burden here. So i think if youre the defense, youre moving on to bob castello ville, youre not worried about shiller because like cohen has just hes a Dream Come True for crossexamination. There are so many things to attack them on. Bias, convictions for lying, lying to congress, lying about his federal play. It never ends so yeah, theyve got a great gotcha moment on this, but i wouldnt even overplay that from the defense youve scored the point. Its the governments burden if they dont. And schiller would probably end up being a friendly cross. It becomes in for the government. I think they rest. And by the way, i think theyre resting here because they lost the ability to call Karen Mcdougal with the opinion that came out on the weinstein in case i think they realize theyre in treacherous territory with this other offense kind of conduct yeah. Listen, well see i mean, this was a huge moment, i think for donald trump. He probably im sure was very helpful to his attorneys because he knows Michael Cohen im very well. They work attached at the hip, folks who cover donald trump always its all Michael Cohen to the extent that the folks did so this was a real i think moment and you could tell that donald trump was very pleased with what he felt was sort of this guy who was so close to him now coming after him now seeming to crumble on the stand, it certainly sounds like he was very pleased on this very dramatic day, as we may be ending the the stages are nearing the end stages of this very important dramatic trial historic trunk. Thank you all. Coming up, cnn anchor Kaitlan Collins shares her takes from inside the courtroom, including Donald Trumps Body Language as he watched his current lawyers go after his former fixer, plus what Stormy Daniels attorney thinks about Michael Cohens crossexamination we shouldnt and whether it may seriously damaged the prosecutions case. Hes gonna be joining joining us a heads. They went its time yes. A time has come for a fresh approach to dog food every day moore dog people are deciding its time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs fresh food from the farmers dog made by. Vets and delivered right to your door precisely portion from your dogs needs. Its an idea whose time has come Fashion Moves fast so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level with a custom private 5g networks, we get more control. The production efficiencies, and greater agility. Thats enterprise intelligence. 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Rubella you never faithful price deals on top before there current salary more now on the breaking news, a crucial de, of crossexamination in the trump Hush Money Trial, the Testy Exchange between lead Defense Attorney todd blanche and Michael Cohen clearly capturing the attention of the former president. I want to bring in cnns Kaitlan Collins, who was inside the courtroom for much of the afternoon. So caitlin, when you were watching trump, what what stood out to you . Well, what i love these courts sketches because it the christian cornel she is amazing. You can watch her that todd blanche looks more like a superhero, but that gourdes sketch that he did in the courtroom. But this was a really a huge test for him this afternoon. Today really overall as he was questioning Michael Cohen because Michael Cohen is someone who is not flustered on the stand when he first started questioning him on tuesday, there werent any really knockout blows, certainly not that trump was looking for, or that could help sow doubt about his credibility for the jury and that shifted today. And so one thing i was watching really closely was one, how the jury was taking in todd blanche, because he hasnt played a huge role in this trial so far. He is the Lead Attorney, but he hasnt really been in charge of crossexamining any of the other highprofile witnesses that weve seen, people like Keith Davidson or david pecker, or Stormy Daniels today was his chance to really do that. And obviously, you saw and heard from kara how he drilled into Michael Cohen on his memory of certain phone calls with donald trump and the jury was watching todd blanche very closely. And you can kinda see its almost like a tennis match for their eyes are going back and forth between todd, blanche and Michael Cohen. Todd blanche and Michael Cohen, and top ledge kinda has this way of questioning Michael Cohen where he would Say Something and say thats right, isnt it . Or thats correct. And Michael Cohen in turn, was very calm and even toned, but he was speaking very slowly it even halting only its some points alex, as if he was choosing his words really, really carefully. Its not the same the prosecution was up there. He knew generally what they were going to ask with them ask of him because he is their witness here. And so that was remarkable in and of itself as her donald trump, who you see here, ive been in court several days when Keith Davidson was on the stand when Stormy Daniels was on the stand, when Michael Cohen first took the stand earlier this week typically donald trump is looking straight ahead, sometimes will lean back in his chair kind of relax, have his eyes closed for a sustained periods of time that was not the case this afternoon with Michael Cohen. He was at his body almost shifted in the direction of the Witness Stand. He was looking directly in that in that way, is todd blanche was really drilling down with Michael Cohen and, at times he kinda had a scholar whose face, sometimes youd a smirk on his face as he was watching all of this play and clearly enjoyed watching his attorney crossexamine his former attorney, and then caitlin at the end of the proceedings today, todd blanche told the judge, youre walmart, sean, that there has been no decision yet on whether the former president is going to take the stand and testify. Do you think that thats still a realistic possibility no, i dont. And of course, you can never say would 100 certainty with donald trump, everyone who has ever covered him always has a caveat because he does like to be predictably unpredictable but it seems quite clear from conversations weve had that there is no plan for donald trump to take the stand and even he is waffled on it and his public statements saying it, but its not clear why todd blanche doesnt want to just definitively state with no one else in the room, the witnesses not in the room. And this is happening. The jurys not in the rumen. This is happening. Its just the prosecution, the defense, and then reported theres and members of the public who were there watching. And so he would not say that. But what is clear is this is coming to an end quite quickly and the judge told the parties to be ready, potentially, as soon as tuesday to start wrapping this up to give their summations of their cases. Its not guaranteed that it will happen that quickly. But todd blanche didnt say you only has maybe two hours or so left to question Michael Cohen and then prosecutors will have the chance to reexamine him, to read, question him whether or not trumps team ultimately calls any witnesses could also depend on how this questioning of Michael Cohen goes. If they feel as strongly as they do at the end of monday, is they do right now, which they felt pretty pretty good walking out of that courtroom today. That remains to be seen, whether they think its worth calling anyone else or if its necessary for them very interesting day to be in that courtroom, Kaitlan Collins. Thank you so much for joining us with your impressions and to our viewers, katelyn, will be back tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. If two anchor more of our special coverage shes gonna be alongside are anderson cooper, caitlin, thanks again. Coming up, an attorney for Stormy Daniels joins me here in the situation room. Ill get his reaction to Michael Cohens testimony and the heated crossexamination more than 500 million in art stolen may sound what turned out to be the biggest dark heist in history, you cant help but wonder if this was some sort of Fee Inside Job i would really happen with jesse l. Martin sunday at nine on cnn good data, cough oh, no bob, i call later chest congestion. Hello, 12 hours of relief. Wow no coughing and movie. Hashtags, gel, not coffee mucinex, dm, 12hour doesnt just quiet it treats coughs caused by excess mucus at the source and controls number 12 hours. Its come back season stubborn congestion, dry mucinex, 12hour doctors recommend Coli Stool Softener four, gentle, dependable relief from constipation. Its so gentle. Doctors even recommended during pregnancy and after Surgery Coolies increases water in the stool get softer, so its easier to go. No harsh laxatives, cramping or straining coal lace. 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Your client, Stormy Daniels has a complicated relationship with Michael Cohen the defense has now gotten cohen to admit to repeated lies on the stand earlier today. Do you think his testimony has damaged the prosecutions case . Well, first of all, i want to make it clear. I mean, Stormy Daniels has never met Michael Cohen The First Time they ever spoke was on a podcast that he was hosting back in 22, but the real relevant time period that these events occurred, she did not know Michael Cohen other than by name, had never met adam, had never talked to them. So the relationship was really a distant just reference relationship i dont think there was any doubt that the prosecutor, the defense in this case, would have a lot of fodder to crossexamine Michael Cohen. I mean, weve had years of statements lots of appearances by statements he made in writing and orally, there were captured on video, so its across examiners dream to have that mountain of conflict and inconsistency to crossexamine them. Its no surprise that he would have some traction on that ms daniels testified that she has no knowledge of the alleged falsified Business Records which are of course, at the heart of this case. So how do you think jurors are going to be ultimately weighing her testimony . Well, i think her testimony was important to set the context for the would put in motion the decisions by trump and his team to take action to obtain the Nondisclosure Agreement to try to shut her up. Obviously, they had a different mo with Karen Mcdougal and david pecker and the national enquirer. And they chose a different route this way with stormy but its not really what i think that Michael Cohen can recall or how a consistently is and telling a story in 24 for events that occurred in 16, 17, and 18, the real issue is what is corroborative, what documents exist, who had the motive what actions were taken i dont think witness needs to know every detail. They just have some part part and the overall Factual Development of this matter. And to that point, about whats corroborative. Now that were getting towards the end of this trial, do you think that theres reasonable doubt that trump committed these crimes and Stormy Daniels ready for a potential not guilty verdict . Well, stormy is ready for whatever happens here. I mean, she is very resilient. Shes a strong woman and she shes quite impressive in my view on how she used with these issues but youre asking if theres reasonable doubt the question as was he behind the nda, did he orchestrate that . Did he cause cohen to pay her off and did they conceal in their way and the Record Keeping that particular the truth. And i dont think theres any doubt about that. Is there . I mean, who else was doing it . I was it just something fun for Michael Cohen and why would it even be in trumps books if he didnt, he wasnt the one that was behind. I mean, it really theres no plausible, sensible conclusion that can be reached other than he did it he caused a colon to get it accomplished and they dealt with it from a Bookkeeping Matter in a way in which they thought they could conceal it further. But all trump needs this one dirt to disagree. So if hes not convicted do you think that there will be feelings of regret from Stormy Daniels for coming forward in this way about her encounter with a former president no, i dont think shell have regrets. I think that i mean, she was asked by the government and resistance the District Attorneys office, and theyre investigators to tell well, the truth and come forward and what shed be willing to testify. They serve a subpoena on her thats what we do in this country. And our criminal Justice System as you have to have a level of Cooperation Among witnesses and production of documents to present a case in a courtroom. And i dont think she has no regrets about that. Weve, also heard from daniels husband, barrett blade. He sat down with cnns erin burnett earlier this week. I want to play part of that interview pecker, listen i think if its not guilty, we got to decide what to do good chance. Well probably vacate this country if he is found guilty, that shes still going to to deal with all the heat that feel like shes the reason that hes guilty from all of his followers. So i dont see it as a win situation either way he said theres a good chance that theyll have to leave the country or choose to leave the country. How concerned are you about your clients safety after this comes to a close well, we cant predict what could happen among people that think theyre doing is bidding or want to cause a name for themselves. So weve seen that in the history of this country. So you always remain concerned, isnt attlee barrett is not stormys husband i mean, i think she testified the stand, their partners and they do live together, but theyre not merit. Apologies for that error. On the Political Sayyed beyond this verdict, know, no matter which way it goes, does Stormy Daniels have concerns about donald trump potentially being elected president again i dont know if shes thought that out that far i think she is concerned that somebody could do or firms certainly. And shes doing all that she can to protect herself. And we anyone that would be caught up in a case like this that could be victimized, is someone that we ought to put our arms around and try to help and assist so im hoping that then when this case is over, whatever happens everyone can go on about their lives were left feeling the threat of somebody hurting them. Stormy daniels, attorney clark rooster. Thanks so much for joining us this evening. Appreciate your time. My pleasure. Thank you. Just ahead, the huge show of loyalty from Donald Trumps top political allies at his trial today. Why some republican lawmakers were even willing to risk control role of the house floor to support the former president meet the 12th pioneers, changing the world clear concise, mission driven, been just not sure its him raising way to help champions for change saturday yet nine easter on cnn now, sponsored by Charles Schwab today. At americas Beverage Companies are models might still look the same, but they can be remade in a whole new way. 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This is cnn lets get back to our breaking coverage of Donald Trumps Hush Money Trial in manhattan, where his entourage of republican supporters is growing by the day, some of trumps top political allies meeting with him before court gambled into session this morning, even jumping at the chance to defend him in front of the cameras observing the jury, i could see that there was a great appreciation for the liar that Michael Cohen was. You got a corrupt prosecutor. You gotta corrupt star witness. You got a corrupt judge. This is a scam. It is a sham, it is a show lets bringing cnns Alayna Treene and cnn senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings for more on this. So alaina broadly, whats behind this republican show of support in manhattan i think its pretty clear, alex there all clamoring to show that they stand with donald trump and thats really what we saw on display today, 11 members of the House Freedom caucus, not only did they show up in court with donald trump, actually met with him before the trial, kicked off at trump tower. Our colleagues, melanie zona and annie grayer just reported and then also eric trump, Donald Trumps son was there as well. And then of course we saw them do this Press Conference outside the courtroom and thats really keeping with what weve seen from other highprofile allies of donald trump over the last week or so, then coming to Court Standing in solidarity with him and attacking the case. And i think a key thing to keep in mind here is that remember, donald trump is under a gag order. He is not allowed to discuss the witnesses in this case. People but like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, hes not allowed to attack prosecutors families. He is allowed to attack the judge and especial or excuse me, District Attorney alvin bragg, but hes also not allowed to talk about the jurors. However, matt gaetz is one example we just saw that video of him there. He has been really going through that line, attacking the people that donald trump cant go after he labeled Michael Cohen at this Press Conference as an unreliable liar. He spoke about the judges family, something that donald trump had been warned repeatedly, not to do. And he also spoke about the jury. So were also seeing many of these allies not only show up with donald trump, but kind of going around the guidelines its of the gag order to do the attacking for the former president. Thats a very good point, scott, what do you make of all this is parade is growing so strong that today there were enough republican lawmakers who accompanied trump to court that they actually risked losing control the house floor yeah. Well, some of these people that showed up today routinely do things that aid democrats in the house. So i guess its par for the course. Are people like matt gaetz who work with democrats to throw out. Kevin mccarthy, but largely speaking, i think this is reflective of something old and campaigns which is surrogate operations. Most campaigns organized groups of supporters to go out into the country and talk on the candidates behalf. Usually its about policy issues, whatever. But in this case, the entire campaign is happening in and around this courtroom. So this week, all the surrogates for donald trump are coming to the court and theyre saying things that the candidate himself cannot say. So i think youll see this kind of surrogate work continue long after the trial. Its just right now. There really isnt a campaign outside of whats happening in new york city. Alaimo, you mentioned matt gaetz a moment ago. I want to put up a pretty stunning tweet from him in which he echoes the former President Trumps call. In 2020 at a debate in fact, for the proud boys, which of course is a farright Extremist Group remembered during that debate, he said this back and standby and there you have gates repeating the same thing. So alayna, what can you tell us about that . Thats right. Matt gaetz was really evoking that rhetoric that we saw donald trump use. That is really become a call for people on the writer, i should say specifically, the Extremist Group, the proud boys. And remember this is something that when they, many of these people and their leaders of this group were convicted for Seditious Conspiracy for their role on january 6 of 2021. And then they later use that members of the proud boys to recruit more members. So this is really, i think underscoring some of the activists behavior that were seeing, some of Donald Trumps allies use and something thats going to be very prevalent in the upcoming election. Now, i saw that we had reached out to matt gaetz, his team about this language that he tweeted out and they said, i think the tweet speaks for itself. So i think clearly matt gaetz is leaning in to some of that hard farright extremist Conspiracy Theory stuff that is tied to the proud boys. Scott, what do you think . Think about this post . Because the leaders of the proud boys are now in prison. Many of them for their failed plot to keep trump in power, their involvement in january 6 the leader of our movement. The leader. Yeah, sure. Lets lets as a strategy, relive one end revisit one of the worst moments of Donald Trumps 2020 campaign when he said that in that debate which by the way, that debate was a disaster it was a terrible moment and you never really recovered, even though we did well in the second debate, it was too late by then, but im sure im sure the folks back at the Trump Campaign office are thrilled for matt gaetz, who supposedly is there to help them, is out here reliving one of these terrible moments from a campaign that donald trump was by 7 million votes sure, the president appreciates all this support. But you have to understand that this is a provocateur who is saying provocative things in standing on donald trump shoulders to get attention for themselves in a way that is not necessarily helpful to donald trump and the head of the proud boys and 3k, its ario, he was sentenced to 23 years, which was the record sentence its for anyone involved in january 6, quite something to see that from the congressman. Thank you both for joining me coming up as Donald Trumps Hush Money Trial moves towards the finish, and were gonna be taking a closer look at some of the key witnesses whose testimony could prove crucial during these Closing Arguments this is a keepsake frame. This is actually a photo from my wedding im adam weiss, founder and ceo of keepsake, the mobile app it makes it easy. Have your photos printed, frame and shipped to your doorstep, just choose a photo that you love. 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My name is mike and this is my chem xylose moment call your cardiologist today and see if a camp xylose moment may be in your future too. There were giant so much there the minute Woman Building or daibes next generation submarine they are giant and what they do because they work in a place where they can grow where they can learn the skills to build careers as powerful as that we build giant. Because it takes one to gum find it at walmart im tom forming in washington and this is cnn Donald Trumps historic criminal trial is getting closer to the finish line. Michael cohens star turn on the Witness Stand could wrap up as soon as monday with the possibility of Closing Arguments to start the following de lets bring in cnns brynn tass, bryan, this crossexamination of Michael Cohen has really capping off weeks of some really interesting testimony. Alex has seems to have been one compelling witness after another in this trial. Tonight, we look at the most important witnesses. Theyre most Pivotal Moments and their overall impact on this case Donald Trumps first criminal trial featured a succession of critical and colorful witnesses, each providing key insight that could make or break this case potentially the most crucial witness up to this moment, Michael Cohen, Donald Trumps former lawyer fixer, bully for higher thought to be the only witness in this case who could directly tie trump to the alleged crimes hes accused of. 34 counts of fraud related to the hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels at the end of the de, hes gonna be the make or break a witness for either side. Its going to be does the jury believe him trump has denied wrongdoing with the payments and denied the affair with daniels, the adult film in store herself spent days on the stand testifying in sometimes graphic detail about the alleged affair and the money she received. She did not bring out all that much except for to disprove the allegations that were made in the Opening Statement by the defense that the affair between mr. Trump and Stormy Daniels never occurred. Another key player on the stand, david pecker, the powerful former publisher of the national enquirer. Pecker provided almost dizzying detail of the socalled catch and kill plants, saying he bought and barry story on the alleged trump affair with Playboy Model Karen Mcdougal. And a fair trump also denies and testify find that he refused to buy Stormy Daniels story. He set the stage and created the conspiracy itself. He tied mr. Trump to the conspiracy, at least as far as mcdougal was concerned, there was Keith Davidson, the exattorney for both daniels and mcdougal. Davidson testified that he he sold the story of Daniels Affair to Michael Cohen for 130,000 rhona graff, trumps assistant of 34 years with the trump organization, took the stand for the prosecution, but admitted in court she didnt want to be there graphs spoke of how she kept trumps schedule and his list of contacts age showed that there were certain people that were on mr. Trumps speed dial or on his contacts, which included mcdougal and Stormy Daniels, that pecker was calling all the time and he was talking to pecker. Hope hicks, trumps former Campaign Press secretary and White House Communications director, cried, went on the stand he recalled the level of panic in the campaign when the access Hollywood Tape was revealed but analysts say the most important witness is one who may or may not testify, putting donald trump on the stand, right huge upside, huge downside, right. Lots of risk there the trial, of course, now focuses more towards trumps lead Defense Attorney todd blanche, and the witnesses who we may or may not call to the stand maybe next week and well of course, have our eyes on whether donald trump takes the stand. Alex, ryan, todd. Thanks very much for that report. Well be right back the russia for trying to spy on us. We were spying on them i was friday. Friday this is a war. But secret war, secrets and spies, a nuclear game premier sunday, june 2 at ten on cnn. When your business throws you a surprise, dont throw in the towel with funding, you can count on biz to credit, makes it simple and convenient to solve problems. You never saw coming when Trouble Bruise bus to credit is the solution, viz to credit funding. Whats next water would help with this dry spots. Thats known disease, but Scott Healthy Plus Will Cure Lung Disease going around. 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Its your vision, its your verizon Erin Burnett Outfront next on cnn tonight, republicans are fuming over president joe bidens decision to claim Executive Privilege over audio tapes of his interview with the Special Counsel, robert hur, the prosecutor who investigated bidens handling of Classified Information the spring in cnns mj lee at the white house, mj. Whats behind this move . Well, what we thought today alex was a major escalation in the ongoing fight between the white house and House Republicans over the Audio Recording of Special Counsel robert hurs interview with president biden. The background here, of course, is that the Special Counsel investigated the president s handling of classified documents meant that concluded back in february, and her as youll recall declined to bring criminal charges against the president , but he did create a whole lot of controversy by suggesting at numerous points in his report that the problem that the president suffered from serious problem memory problems, which of course the white house wrote off as gratuitous and political in nature, and back in march, we did see the doj released the written transcript of that interview. But House Republicans have been pushing for the release of the Audio Recording. They have been now threatening to pursue merrick garland, the attorney general, for being in Contempt Of Congress for not releasing that Audio Recording. And their argument has basically been that we need that Audio Recording to continue pursuing are Impeachment Investigation into the president. Now, what we saw today was the House Judiciary Committee voting to advance that Contempt Resolution the House Oversight committee is also going to hold a vote tonight, and the house its the white houses council said in a letter to House Republicans, the absence of a legitimate need for the Audio Recordings lays bare