Jake tapper starts right now cnn Breaking News welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper and the prosecution has rested its case and now its Donald Trumps term his defense team has called a witness, Robert Costello and attorney. What one point advised Michael Cohen that stella has claimed in that cohens lied about him under oath during this trial. This comes after a shocking revelation on the stand earlier today, threatened to rock the prosecutions entire case under intense questioning. And by the defense, trumps former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, the star witness for the prosecution, admitted that he stole from the Trump Organization organization and were not its not talking lunch, money or funds taken from some transaction that has nothing to do with the charges against trump were talking we had 60,000, technically larceny that was part of the 420,000 payment made to cohen. That was allegedly falsified to reimbursement for Hush Money Payments to Stormy Daniels that payment are those pain mints that make up the 420,000 thats thats the crime at the center of this trial. Whether they were falsified, even though the prosecuted prosecution had technically raised the issue of this 60,000 theft earlier in the trial, they didnt really spell it out clearly to the jury they certainly didnt explain that this was a crime in fact, cnn senior legal analyst elie honig points out that larceny over is 50,000 in new york is actually a class c felony, which is more serious. Then the charges trump is on trial for right now, being either a misdemeanor are the most a class e felony. Its prosecutors have to prove that trump himself falsified or directed the falsification of the business since records. But with cohens testimony, introducing theft into this alleged hush money coverup deal. The defense could now try to use this to raise reasonable doubt over whether donald trump truly knew the details of what but he was paying here. Lets go straight to cnns paula reid, who was outside the courthouse in manhattan and and paula, well talk about costello in a second. Hes on the hes on the stand right now making his displeasure known with some of the rulings. But explained to us exactly how cohens stole this money from the Trump Organization. He admitted doing this and why it could impact the prosecutions case well, he stole this money by line to Allen Weisselberg about what he should be reimbursed for. Their is a tech Company Called red finch. And he said that he had paid them 50,000 hello so when we thought at critical piece of evidence with Allen Weisselberg and cohen was sat down to sort of hash out how much he should be reimbursed. The hundred and 30,000 he paid stormy and yells plus this money for red finch. What cohen revealed on the stand is that he actually skimmed 60 of that. Lets take a look at how todd blanche elicited this from cohen on the stand. Here, blanche asked him, he said, so the 50,000 that you got back from red finch, you only actually paid the red finch owner 20,000, right . Cohen said, yes, sir. So you stole from the Trump Organization cohen said, yes, sir. You didnt just steal the 30,000 because it was grossed up it was 60,000 cohen said, yes, sir. A stunning moment because when he was originally questioned on direct examination by prosecutors, he did concede that hes skimmed some money off, but prosecutors failed to ask him jake just how much he skimmed off. You might assume as a few grand. But here getting him to confess that it was actually 60 of this and then when they had an opportunity to try to rehabilitate him on redirect. His defense was basically well, i felt that i was oh, this because i had been wronged in other ways. And the biggest problem for prosecutors is that the actual criminal charge here is falsifying Business Records. Theyre alleging that trump directed these Business Records to be falsified to cover up the Hush Money Payment, a problem is now you have a big percentage of the money cohen received from documents that he even said he falsified this invoices for also based on lots hi, is that he told the all the other person in this conspiracy. So this testimony, this was another punch that todd blanche managed to land on Michael Cohen, unclear what the jury will make of it though alright. Paula, lets walk through whats going on on the stand right now because it sounds rather intense. The defense has called Robert Costello as a witness. He was a lawyer who at one point had advised Michael Cohen in the last few weeks. He has been coming out and saying that Michael Cohen is lying about him on the stand. He testified before congress, before republicans in congress, and some of whats going on right now. Now is for instance costello said that he cohen told him ten to 12 times during their meeting. I swear to god, bob, i dont have anything on Donald Trumps, so thats he is there to impeach the credibility of my the goal cohen. But whats going on is that costello is really expressing disdain for judge merchans rulings stella shakes his head as if he was exasperated exasperated. When judge merchan sustained an objection from the prosecution about one of the answers at another time when the prosecution objected, merchan told the lawyers to approach the bench and costello could be heard saying on the microphone ridiculous saying ridiculous while the attorneys are at sidebar then in another time, there was another objection which was sustained. Costello, lets out a jesus thats my interpretation, but thats how one says such a thing when theyre frustrated merchan leans forward and says to the witness, mr. Costello sorry and then beauvais returns . No. No. And then and then at one point, the judge actually asks for the for the trial to take a minute. He tells the jury the leave the room. This is a pretty extreme thing to do, and he tells costello in arrays choice, jake, the judge has just clear the entire courtroom yeah. Where is it now . This has escalated to ease concern and the overflow is cut. Were not getting any more information. I mean, the fact that this has escalated to this extent, this is part of why there was disagreement within the trump world about whether they should call bob costello. The only reason he is being called is because the client insisted that he be called. There were people on trumps team that thought he would be too much of a but the judge has now reprimanded him for staring him down. Yeah. This is really taking a so yeah, thats what i was i was getting to that yeah. He told costello and arrays voice when he told the jury you to leave mr. Costello, your to remain seated. The jury leaves. Then costello, after another sustained. The objection. Costello roles is eyes lets out an audible sigh. Sayyed gland says that the judge the judge says, i want to discuss proper decorum in my courtroom. The judge says, you dont give me a sayyed, i and you dont roll your eye the judge says, when theres a witness on the stand, if you dont like my ruling, you dont say jeez, you dont say strike it. Costello holds a long glare at the judge. Judge merchan says, are you staring me down . Then the judge says clear the courtroom theres yelling by Security Officers at the press to leave the video is cut. Courts security says nobody can come back in. Paula you have a jd, youve been covering court cases for quite some time. Have you ever seen anything like this no, this is unbelievable and i know bob costello quite well. Ive talked to him for for about a decade. The fact that he would allow this happen on the stand, it suggests in many ways that he is probably posturing for the defendant. Remember its the defendant that overrode his own Defense Attorneys. They said this is not a good idea. Do not put costello on the stand. He overrode them because he loved castellows performance in Congress Last week where he attacked not only only bob costello, but also this case. And the judge. So the fact that costello would conduct himself in a trial like this potentially jeopardize a case like this. I am actually pretty surprised but it validates the concerns that have been expressed by members of trumps defense team about why they did not want to call costello and also reminds us why when the defendant calls the shots and not the Defense Attorneys, you can have Something Like this happen. And paula i mean, bob Robert Costello. Bob costello, he is an attorney, right . I mean, he he knows how important it is more than the average joe on the street to show respect and definitely prince to a judges rulings. I mean, these are just objections that are being sustained. I was there last week or the week before and you know, i mean, a judge merchan sustained. Objection. Since from both the prosecution and the defense, i know the defense doesnt think hes fair, but as a general note, what i saw seemed in keeping with Courtroom Proceedings for him to do that thats thats knowing hostility. I mean, that is knowing animosity towards a judges ruling this is this is unbelievable that he wouldnt age in this kind of conduct force. The entire courtroom to be cleared. I reiterate theyve always been concerned about costello castellows, the only Defense Witness calls before the grand jury in this case. His testimony he said resonated with grand jury, but he didnt stave off an indictment. He was not expected to be called until late last sweet when trump said he had to be called, this is so over the top, undermining everything the defense has tried to do for their client over the past week or so its unclear what impact this is going to have on the case itself, but this is exactly why certain members of the defense team did not want to call him. But again, ive dealt with him for a decade. I am pretty shocked that this is the way that he behaving on the stand. Look, heres animus towards Michael Cohen. No doubt. He also has some ill will towards the judge. But the fact that he would engage in this kind of behavior if youre in a criminal courtroom and the historic case of this nature is truly shocking. Yeah. And members of the media and the people in the gallery are being allowed back into the courtroom. Let me get my parents well, the way in here and i apologize ahead of time, per usual for when i interrupt you to tell you whats going on inside the courtroom but first, let me start with Kaitlan Polantz who has been covering this now for quite some time im pretty surprised. What about you . Im pretty surprised, but take this is maintaining order in the court. I dont know. Im surprised about bob costello who was a member of the bar would would say jesus when a judge, it makes a ruling, he doesnt like and hes hes not hes not hes not the defendant hes a witness. Yeah. And staring at the judge, sighing, rolling his eyes. Thats clearly not the sort of behavior that you would expect out of a witness. And we cant say exactly why hes doing what hes doing, but he is quite an experienced attorney and he is in this circle of people around donald trump, whos been on the legal side of things more often then in this position as a witness, he was see bannons layer. He was really giuliani, his lawyer. He has been a lawyer in these cases for quite some time in this context, hes a Legal Adviser to Michael Cohen trying to put that fine point for the defense team that Michael Cohens the lying liar who lies . Yeah whether thats going to come across because of this level of disruption remains to be seen will be for the jury to decide, but at least adamson, what do you think . What do you make of it all . I mean, i am really shocked the only time ive ever seen a courtroom cleared is when theres an actual security concern somebody has yelled something threatening the defendant has got up and made movements toward the door. Thats when they clear a courtroom. So this was in extreme step, but one that was necessary because it is right. He costello was showing no decorum for the court, a complete disrespect for this judicial process. And you know what its undermines the defenses case because they need him to be more credible than Michael Cohen. But when assessing the credibility of a witness, which the judge will instruct demeanor is one of the things that the jury can take into account when assessing the credibility and think about the debian or weve just seen thats a Tim Parlatore. What do you what do you make of this . All . Because i have to say bob costello elderly gentleman walks in, has a a good story to tell about why Michael Cohen either light then are as lying now, one of the other, why, why do this . Speculate for me . Oh, i was good because i dont have a good answer. But you dont know, but its formed speculative. Me. Look, in full disclosure. Bob is a friend of mine. Yeah. Ive known him for a while. Did you expect this . No. Okay. No. Bob is the former head of the Criminal Division in the Southern District of of new york, us attorneys office. Hes very experienced criminal lawyer. I know that he has been frustrated generally with the process. I know that when he went before the grand jury, he was very frustrated that frustrated with what . With the District Attorney and the way that they presented the case where they wouldnt ask him the questions or let him testify about certain and things and he brought a lot of the emails and they refused to submit them to the jury. So maybe this is some of that frustration boiling over i was certainly you dont want to have this kind of behavior in front of the jury. I will tell you that much of what were seeing right now is after the jury will last and one thing i was thinking before before this is the volume of objections coming from the prosecutors office. It struck me that it could have a negative impact of the jury of saying, oh, this is something they really dont want us to hear, must be something some there, there. Yeah, i dont know if bob may be if this increases that are neutralizes, were going to squeeze it the quick break shan. Well, im going to come to you first and the next block. I apologize, everyone. Stay with me for just joining us. The judge has just cleared the courtroom and then reopened it after a rather tense exchange. With Defense Witness. How will this dramatic day 19 of the hush money coverup case and cnns covering his trial gavel to gavel well be right back this is a. Secret, war. Secrets and spies premier sunday, june 2, attempt bombs. Oppression moves fast so we partnered with verizon to take our operations to the next level with a custom private 5g networks, we get more control with Production Efficiencies and greater agility. Thats and to intelligence. Its your vision, its your verizon. Can the riva support your brain health . Narrate janet hey, eddie, know, fraser, franck. Frank bred. How are you . 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If you or a loved one who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, call us now were back with breaking News Coverage of Donald Trumps hush money coverup trial after an unexpected and dramatic moment, judge juan merchan cleared the courtroom after a confrontation with a witness, Robert Costello confrontation between the judge, had the witness questioning of this witness has now resume. Lets bring back cnns paula reid. Paula walk us through what happened, how things are going on the stand now. And if you have any idea what the hell was behind all that yeah. Thats the question im texting sources inside the courtroom. Mine are close to costello asking them effectively that what the hell i mean, bob costello certainly wants to testify in this case. He has personal animus towards Michael Cohen. Hes clearly there to undercut his credibility, but to get in tussle with the judge overseeing this case that he cleared the courtroom proceeding, some sort of security risks. I mean, that is extraordinary eyes spoken to the costello for years. I know him quite well. This is out of character. Now one possibility im going to raise is usually the motivation for most people who act out either civil or criminal court in front of former president trump, which is they are performing for an audience of one. This could very much be performative for the defendant, weve previously reported that costello is owed millions of dollars his longtime client, Rudy Giuliani. We broke the story that region giuliani and bob costello went to trump at bedminster to effectively begged him to pay what giuliani owed costello. He still owed millions of dollars in legal fees. Some of this performance i wonder, is it to curry more favor with the defendant . Hopefully get paid some of that money because otherwise, jake, this does the client no good acting up like this. Theres no other real incentive to behave this way towards the judge, say anything you want about Michael Cohen, costello can and does, but to engage in this kind of behavior in historic criminal case is outrageous. And the only law article explanation i can get from sources so far is that he is performing to ingratiate himself to the defendant. Well, no doubt he did that. Our panel is back and lets update everyone as to whats going on. The jury is back. Emile beauvais, the defense attorney, is back no discussion of what just transpired. He brings up an email between costello and cohen. You were at the bottom of this message. I will not pester you if you do not want to talk, you know how to reach jeff and myself beauvais says this is whats castello wrote to cohen, costello said what he meant was he wouldnt hear from me again unless he contacted me. Phone records are being displayed on the screen to the jury. There are screened means all over that courtroom in each juror has his or her own screen. The next call after the email was cohen calling costello. Now the prosecution than objects. Susan hoffinger, the judge says, im going to allow it. Yes. Costello asks a judge before proceeding. Sounds polite, but then castello begins talking about the email and hoffer once your objects again and the judge sustained this time costello said the call from cohen was one hour, 36 minutes, and 15 seconds over Memorial Day Weekend. Sounds like a lovely way to spend Memorial Day Weekend. Costello shakes his head slightly with an open palm gesture at the ruling or sean doesnt say anything about the gesture, but they asked castello to keep his answers its narrow. Asking whether he gave cohen legal advice on the 96 minute call without getting into details . Yes. Castello says beauvais shows the jury an email from june 7 and phone records. The call the call acid 46 minutes. The email from costello says that after you called me back, i left a message for Rudy Costello testifies after reading the email that gold directed him to call giuliani on his behalf, mr. Cohen making constant object a complaints about Rudy Giuliani and what he was saying to the press, castello said as he began to say, cohen was also complaining about his lawyers not being paid by trump at this point in 2018, roshan sustained an objection from hoffinger, another prosecution objection. Sustained. Roshan than cautioned costello, rob castello, the witness to again, only answers the questions. Hes asked. Again, merchan says to the witness, please just answer the question. So here are the questions. Did you ever put any pressure on Michael Cohen to do anything . No. Did you ever pressure him to interact with Rudy Giuliani in a certain way . No. Did you care about president trumps interests while speaking to Cohen Beauvais asks know, castello says, my obligation was to Michael Cohen. Trump is paying close attention and is looking in the direction of the Witness Stand. Shen wu. The objections here why is the prosecution objecting so aggressively . What exactly do you think theyre trying to keep out . Of this case or this wanted to keep it very narrow. I mean, were talking before this started about why it isnt all hearsay when he was commenting on cohens prior testimony. And because of the part inconsistent statement, thank you for pointing that out so its got to be very narrow. Its gotta be a very specific statement, which is a prior one. That is inconsistent, thats why theyre really trying to whats the prior whats the prior inconsistent statement that theyre trying to point out anything that Michael Cohen said on direct that he previously told to bokeh solo something thats inconsistent with that. So he can talk about those things. But if if Michael Cohen says remember or if he didnt testify about something in his testimony, then bob cant talk about it. So if he told and costello has has testified that cohen told him years ago, i swear to god, i dont have anything on donald trump. Right . That is obviously contradicted by days and days of testimony two books and hundreds of podcasts, episodes and tiktoks it is. Okay to introduce castellows. He told me Something Different not only the fact that he said that at the time, but also at that time, michael coma so facing jail. And so thats when he had the greatest motivation to Say Something about donald trump to save himself as opposed to after he gets out of jail saying all this stuff on a revenge tour, at least. I dont know how much the jury has been affected by the wild crump it fracas we saw earlier today. To quote bloom county. But but it does seem as though this has in general been a great day for the defense yeah. I would say so. You had that wonderful. Gotcha moment. Where Michael Cohen admitted that he stole the money. I think it was 60,000 dollars. And now theyre calling this Defense Witness, who is seemingly undermining a story that Michael Cohen had told. And look, even though what castello is testifying to is not really the heart of the case about the hush money i think its important with this general theme of Michael Cohen lies and is tim just said he he was lying at a time when he should have been motivated to then tell the truth to throw donald trump under the bus, so to speak, but he didnt. He said he had nothing on it. Let me ask you so the documents the socalled smoking gun according to Michael Cohens friend lanny davis, the idea that there is an Allen Weisselberg statement. And Allen Weisselbergs righthand man, mcconney, both of which seem to have this like a receipt of this for this, this, for this, this for this, these are the Falsification Allegations are built into this. The idea that donald trump was being stolen from within this document and no, certainly not nine ill trump, but nobody would would sign off on something if they knew all the details in which theyre actually being stolen from to how much do you think that undermines the case . Because one of the things landed davis, Michael Cohens former lawyer and friend had said on this very set last week forget Michael Cohen, look at the documents, will now we know the documents have falsehoods, not just the alleged falsehoods that the prosecution is alleging, but Michael Cohen falsehoods yeah. I think its incredibly damaging. Right. Because this whole time weve been saying, as you said, look at the documents documents dont have a motive to lie, but there are lies now in these documents. I think the prosecution is really going to have to focus on the fact that the math kind of adds up, right . We see the 130,000 payment, right there in the document, then we see the handwriting acknowledging it, and then putting two 50 thousand we know the 50,000 some of it was skimmed, but the reality of it was mostly yes it, most of it was skin, but the reality is, the math does add up. These were payments and theyre more consistent with what Michael Cohen said. They were then retainer payments. So is it damaging, incredibly damaging, but does the prosecution still have a story, a narrative thats borne out by that documentary evidence. They do, they do. Everyone stand by . Were standing by for the defendant in this case, donald trump, to speak after the shocking day in court right now, attorney Susan Hoffinger with the prosecutor mission, is grilling Robert Costello, Defense Witness. Shes asking castello if he was hoping to represent cohen. Cohen castula replies, i wasnt hoping anything. It wasnt my email male. 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We just saw the courtroom be cleared and then reopened after a confrontation between the judge and a Defense Witness, also, Michael Cohen, the prosecutions key witness today, admitting he stole 60,000 from mr. Trump. Our panel is back in just to give some updates on whats been going on right now, the prosecution is a grilling the Defense Witness, bob costello. Bob costello was very disdainfully expressing his disagreement. Shall we say, with judges, sustaining of the prosecutions objections to the point that the judge felt it necessary to clear the room and to reprimand the Defense Witness who seemed rather, at least by accounts inside the courtroom, hostile to the judge. We know that bob costello is frustrated with this entire prosecution and doesnt think that the District Attorney was interested in the facts of the case during the grand jury proceeding, according to our friend Tim Parlatore over here, her nose costello. So hoffinger is asking the prosecutor is asking Castello Question jones are talking about shes basically pushing the idea that you wanted to represent Michael Cohen. He says, no, i wasnt i didnt know him from a Hole In The Wall Castellows says he met with cohen because jeff citroen, thats Michael Cohens previous attorney made an arrangement with Michael Cohen and he asked me to come along because cithaeron was primarily a real estate lawyer. This is why but you call highprofile highprofile case for you, hoffinger asks probably yes, castula says half and youre pushes castello to say that cohen would be a big get for him and his firm at the time. Remember, costello used to be head of the Criminal Division and the Southern District of new york, us attorneys office. Hes new to the Defense Attorney Game as it were. I still after a pauses would say no, i didnt want them as a client. Hoffinger is trying to get castello to acknowledge taking on Michael Cohen as a client would put them into the same orbit as donald trump and Rudy Giuliani castellows resisting hopkins, youre challenging costello. He would have been happy to announce going as this client email records on april 20th, castellows sent this message to his son i will be on the team. It will be an honor to have you part of my team. I will be eternally grateful for the help and guidance youve already given me, Michael Cohen, personally, attorney for President Donald Trump says, this is not public yet castello texas says to his son. So do not say anything to anyone about this. I dont know. Were going to make an announcement, but ive been authorized to contact Rudy Giuliani its council the president trump, tom i will i will be representing Michael Cohen castello, son, responding to the Email Congratulating him whats the point here . Shes shes trying to say that bob costello is a lawyer and he has sour grapes. Yeah. Theres a lot that theyre trying to put into the record here of what Michael Cohen may have been like. Theyre trying to say that, yeah, maybe he wasnt trustworthy when you said that he was saying Something Different, but jake, step back for a bit. This case is flying towards closing argument. Yeah. The defense has indicated they might have one other person, a Campaign Finance expert, that they will call, but we may be minutes away from the end of the evidence presentation on both sides. And just from this afternoon, the extent of the defense case has been trying to nullify certain things. Michael cohen said the Defense Presentation has been entirely then if this Campaign Finance coursework doesnt get called entirely about Michael Cohen is that enough to make their argument to the jury that trump should be acquitted or to convince one juror potentially to hang or has the prosecution done enough . Setting aside Michael Cohen to prove the case the intent to deceive to break the law All Of The Above in the Business Records. Thats where we are. Jan is shaking his head and nodding Different Things. You said what disagree where where do you think . What do you think . What do i mean, it does seem as though look, this is the prosecution has rested. This is the defense. This is their big witness. They might call one or two more other people probably one other person, but we dont know. Its possible that after this, the defense is going to rest. We dont know, but we are almost done with this case and then it will be left in the jurys hands. And where do you think we are the defense still . So does not have a real good theme besides Michael Cohen. And i think thats gonna be problematic. Form. I mean, all this attack today, first of all, the whole theft thing was brought out previously on direct. Its not like a gotcha. Moments never come out but it wasnt i dont think it was spelled out though. It wasnt like well, they wouldnt but im just saying they didnt they didnt inoculate themselves very well on it. I would say they may have nochlin themselves enough, but certainly defense tried to explain it, which they should try to do the problem with the exploitation there though, is it still goes back to cohen is not an honest man therefore, he has no credibility. Those are actually slightly Different Things. He can have credibility about what he is testifying to, even if he is generally a dishonest man, hes been a thief whatever it is, you know, he was a shell for trump those are slightly Different Things and they just seems like not in hindsight, theyve loaded everything on this notion that you just cant believe cannes because hes a bad person. Hes a very dishonest man that i think is going to be problematic for them. Theres just too much evidence for the prosecution. So it is my great chagrin that we do not have cameras in the courtroom and we rely upon these little tidbits coming in from our reporters half and youre asking if castello can be empathetic to someone whos apartment has been rated given his experience as a defense attorney, costello says, yes. How often do you says you thought he was being a drama queen, didnt you . Casella says, no, i never met Michael Cohen before and he was putting on quite a Show Costello says cohen told him in that meeting that he thought about john jumping from the hotel roof because he couldnt handle the pressure. The judge is asking the attorneys to approach the bench while that happens, im want to run a little bit of sound because we dont. Youre not allowed to hear all this incredible drama going on because of how they do things in new york adhering to a great 18, 30 system of justice. But i want to air some of what bob costello said the fox on friday, so you get a flair for who he is, how he talks, how his presentation is, and what he is testifying to. Lets roll that tape virtually everything that Michael Cohen has said and i read his testimony, at least the part that relates to me is a lie. And i have died convinced to prove it. He claims that right there in the clip that you just put on the screen that we brought a Retainer Agreement. Totally untrue. He didnt see a Retainer Agreement for at least six or seven days after that and we have emails that corroborate that the judge meanwhile, since i heard that 25 second clip, has said the jury can go home for the day the jury is leaving the courtroom. The prosecutors asking the judge to instruct bob costello to not talk about the case i dont know if hes going to adhere to that or not. If not, hes welcome to come on the show and talk all about it, but whats your whats your take on everything that has happened today in court because its been a de yeah. I think wild is the best way to describe it. I think that the defense had a very strong de again, they were able to get michael well call it a bit and cross think the Castello Testimony has been a little uneven. Im looking forward to really reading the transcript of the cross here by Susan Hoffinger, because it seems like she is ape. She has been able to bring out some inconsistencies in his testimony. And bob costello bob costello testimony, we need him. Theyre not weedy, but the defense needs him to be credible. Yeah to undermined Michael Cohen, right . Otherwise, it becomes a credibility contests like which one you going to believe and theyve heard a lot more for Michael Cohen. This is just a rebuttal witness. Let me let me just interrupt because we are really close to the end of this because hoffmans your says she has half an hour, maybe 45 minutes left this will be tomorrow. Beauvais says theyll have redirect, but doesnt expect it to be long. Its probably ten, 15 minutes, i would guess. And beauvais says he doesnt expect theyre going to be calling any witnesses after kala after costello, the judge says that, of course can change, but it based on the information that was just delivered in the courtroom it sounds as though theres a ban an hour left in in this witness, who will be the last witness, at which point what at which point . Closing arguments because they said the Closing Arguments would be a week from tuesday. Does that mean who voted . Would i look for here it they said the Closing Arguments would be a week get from tomorrow. But if theres only an hour left of testimony in blanche oh, here we go. Blanche is asking for a dismissal of the charges which is what we expected they were due. Thats thats what any defense attorney would do i dont think the judge merchan is going to give it to them. Hes going to let a jury hes not in fact, the way that they usually work that in new york state court, the judge probably asked defense, would you like to make a motion . Right. So its not like he stood up, so get it out of the way. Right. So its something that you have to do. It preserves the issues repeal. Its unlikely to be granted. And even if it is likely to be granted oftentimes, judges will withhold their ruling until after the jury comes back. Yeah. That way the prosecution has the ability to appeal it if they are going to dismiss kaitlan, what are we expecting the schedule to be like . Because if theres only about an hour left of this last witness and thats what we think its going to be based on what the defense just said. Does that mean theres still going to wait another a whole another week, so they dont have the jury dealing with this during the Memorial Day Weekend other take this is one of My Favorite Things about court the unpredictability of it. I think this morning when the judge said, were definitely not going to be closing tomorrow. Thats not gonna be ready. He didnt realize that the afternoon would end in the way that it has. Certainly looks like they could close tomorrow. That was the plan he told the attorneys be ready to close on tuesday. Thats when we expect it to be. There very white arrow or next to no, no, tomorrow. So that was what happened last week into tuesday hey, were prepared to close on tuesday, knowing that Michael Cohen would wrap monday and offense case would be short this morning was when the judge said it doesnt look like were going to get to the end of this by the end of tuesday. So were going to have to push closing later. We just need to see what the judge is going to do. He could say lets go lets get on with it. Lets instruct the jury. Lets do the Closing Arguments. Im curious if if hes going to take more arguments on the motion for mistrial or motion to dismiss. The advantages to pushing the havent start deliberations before a holiday could be either side because a lot of pressure on them to reach a verdict. Right. Because no they couldnt get out and hit the Beach Blanche is arguing right now that the prosecution did not prove their case against trump. Again, we expected that to happen. Trump is staring the defendant is staring at his attorney. His body is turned almost around to watch a blanche fascinating stuff standby all how might this wild day sit with the jurors in this case . Im going to ask retired judge with a bit of experience in a big moments of big cases stay with us whether youre doing it yourself for hiring the pro today. Lets paint. 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Did you know sling has your favorite News Programs for just 40 a month my favorite news for just 40 a month my favorite news for just 40 a month. 40 a. Month like favorite for just 40 a month 40 get your favorite. News are 40 a month sling lets you do that im someones are fatty in washington in this is cnn were back as testimony in Donald Trumps Hush Money Case has just wrapped up for the de what a wild de the prosecution has rested. Michael cohen under defense questioning, admitted to stealing 60,000 from the Trump Organization or for at least from mr. Trump personally. Lets bring in retired California Superior Court judge ladoris hazard cordell. Shes also the author of her honor, which by the way, sounds like a great tv show. I hope somebody picks that up and you get a streaming series on macs judge, trumps legal team finished its crossexamination of Michael Cohen. They sought to undermine his credibility but even further today, cohen admitted to larceny to stealing thousands of dollars, 60,000 from the Trump Organization an actual worse crime, although hes not been charged with it, then the Misdemeanor Felony that trump has been charged with. What is your reaction to what weve heard from cohen . Before . I can answer that. I just have to tell you, jake. Oh, the trials and tribulations of a trial court judge. And as youll amended today, its so sad that we dont have video of what happened in the courtroom and i still dont understand, even without video because we want to protect the jurors identities, why there was an audio stream . So people could actually hear what people are saying so with regard to the testimony of Michael Cohen the media is off. This is a bombshell. Its not a bombshell because the jury has already heard him testify that he took money, shouldnt have taken what happened today is that the defense put a name on it that you stole it, actually committed larceny. And he says, yeah. Okay. I did i stole it so what what portrayed what is portrayed in the media is not what the jurors are ever going to see if they are following the judges instructions, not to look at any stories on tv b or read anything about this. Its another piece of information for them to consider. Yeah. And what luck we had was most driving. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, no, please keep going. What was most shocking was the testimony of this last witness, this lawyer, who had the audacity to make a comment about the judges Ruling Pooling on an objection and then to try to stare down the judge, and i will tell you, i really admire how the judge handled it, which was you dont stare me down and you better get it together. And this is, this is a lawyer so did he help the defense because i think the defense after they had finished before this Witness Thereabout Get A Pop the champagne corks, and its like no, no, no, no. I dont think this witness really helped the defense at all my guess they call this witness because maybe their client wanted them to do that because he really didnt add anything and really created more of a problem than a help one of the things going on right now in the courtroom is because obviously the defense is making a motion to dismiss all the charges. Plan says when trump sign the checks for cohen and the white house, me holdover from trump tower in new york, quote, theres no evidence that theres any idea or any intent to mislead or to hide or to falsify the Business Records blanche also argues theres no evidence of another crime being covered up in connection to the false business filings, which is how this goes from a misdemeanor to a felony. Theres no evidence zero, that anyone was thinking about a Campaign Finance charge in 2016 when this payment was made to ms daniels. Blanche now says, how is keeping a false story from the voters . Criminal referencing the other story with the fake story about the kid that trump had that wasnt its not a true story. He said thats not a catch and kill, your honore, and certainly not criminal catch and kill anyway thats still going on there. I dont know anybody who thinks a judge merchan is going to just dismiss dismiss the charges. But blanche is saying theres no the way that the court should let this case go to the jury, relying on mr. Cohens testimony, and without mr. Cohen, there is no case. Well, what do you make of that . I know its standard procedure for the defense attorney to say this. But what do you think of the case . Hes making here that theres no way that the judge should let this even go to the jury based on mr. Cohen right i disagree that this is a routine that all Defense Attorneys do. This is really what we call the directed verdict saying, judge, all of the evidence is in now and they have not they the prosecution have not proved each element of the offenses that trump is charged with beyond a reasonable doubt. Key . In this case is his trumps intent if there is a connection, did he intend that this payment be that these falsified records that that be to assist in the commission of another crime, and that is with regard to interfering with the election. This is not just routine i do think they have a point to make. They are saying that the prosecution didnt connect all of the dots that get them to trump, and it is reasonable for the judge to seriously consider this. This isnt just kinda thrown up there, just to make a record. I do not believe that the judge will grant this request, meaning were going to take it away from the jury. Hear all the facts, and even if five find all of the facts here to be a certain way, they dont amount to a crime. Im just going to dismiss it and not take up the jurys time. Thats what theyre asking. Yeah. Rarely does a Judge Grant A directed verdict, but it has happened in some time. I do not believe it will happen in this instance. I think this is a man at her for the jurors because theyre fact finders. And then to determine du the facts comport with the elements of the crime and if so, find it beyond a reasonable doubt. So the blanche or the Defense Attorneys arguing theres no conspiratorial intent that makes this misdemeanor a falsifying Business Records a felony to hide because because of hiding get information from voters, because the payment to Stormy Daniels, he says was not part of any catch and kill scheme. Ami, the tabloid Empire Wanted nothing to do with it. And Michael Cohen is not a media company. He argues, merchan jumps in and says to the defense attorney, so youre asking me to find Michael Cohen not credible as a matter of law and todd blanche says, yes. And judge merchan says, okay, im a judge marsha and asks again, you want me to take it out of the jurys hands and decide before it even gets to the jury that as a matter of law, this person is so not worthy of belief. More shawn asks again, bland says we didnt just catch him an ally, your honor, he came in with a history of lying. So again, he is probing as you are suggesting, he should do, judge merchan as to what exactly the defense is asking here for. Blanche says he testified and he lied under oath in this court room. The consequences of that lie, if accepted by the jury, is a conviction what do you think . What do you think you would do here so the defense is making exactly the argument they should make and judge merchan has asked the question, youre asking me to determine the credibility of Michael Cohen, which or narrowly should go to the jury. Thats exactly. Let me for one second, your honor. I apologize because humans because hes saying exactly what youre like literally as the moment youre saying its coming in, he says, you said this is the judge. Now, you said his lies are irrefutable, but you think hes going to full 12 new yorkers. So hes saying we should give it so bad. Lets let the jury slap it down. Exactly exactly. So thats an indication that judge merchan is not going to take this away from the jurors. Im going to say leave it to them to determine Michael Cohens credibility in addition, in determining the credibility the jurors are also going to look at all the paper trail the documents follow the money so all of that and it isnt just he was here on the Witness Stand and no one should believe him. Theres more information that was produced evidence produced at this trial that can determine the credibility of all of the witnesses. One big problem, the product the defense has when they get to Closing Arguments, they have denied that was ever an affair between trump and Stormy Daniels. Theyve just said that didnt happen. If the jury believes Stormy Daniels the defense has a problem. They cant back down at all. So if shes credible than it is credible to believe, then that there was the Hush Money Payment and that trump was a part of it. So donald will trump by denying that this fair exist, this a fair existed, has really painted them into a corner. And i think thats problematic in the end. All right. Gentle doris hazard cordell, author of her honore. What that was really that was really fun talking to you all exactly. The judge mossad was taking in and saying pretty much everything that you said, except a minute later. Thank you so much for being with us. And let me bring in kara scannell, who is in the courtroom today. So kara, we are at a disadvantage out here in the realworld. If you can call a cable news set, the realworld, because were taking in this information from brilliant reporters like you trying to absorb it and trying to imagine what it is like in there. And we have no idea what it actually is like in there when Michael Cohen was revealed to have committed larceny of six 60,000 within the documents that are the split alleged smoking guns, according to the prosecution and Michael Cohen fans was that as big a bomb . Im michelle in the courtroom to the jurors as it felt out here jake, these jurors have hoped faces and theyve had poker faces this entire trial. They let on very little about their reactions to testimony as its coming out, even last week when todd blanche trumps lawyer kind of cornered Michael Cohen about that phone call in october of 2016. They didnt really rack they didnt react much today either, even in that moment where Michael Cohen was asked by todd blanche if he had stolen 60,000 from the Trump Organization, cohens answer, throughout this whole testimony was again, measured, just agreeing that yes, he did steal from them blanche followed up. You havent been charged with grand larceny. The prosecutors know that you stole this monday and cohen said, no, he hasnt. So it didnt have the same kind of moment as last this weeks of testimony when blanche cross cohen on that phone call, but it certainly wasnt admission something that was not exactly shaped that way by the prostate when they brought this out on their direct examination of cohen, cohen had said that he did take the money and he said that he thought he was owed it, but it has a little bit more of the drama today because the outright blanche outright asks cohen if hes stolen. Cohen agreed that he did, but it didnt have that same kind of reverberations through the courtroom as we felt last week. Right . Its not Law And Order dunk done. Its its an actual courtroom. Kara scannell. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. So right now just to bring you inside the courtroom according to the tidbits, were getting. The prosecution. Mr. Colangelo is now arguing that several documents corroborate cohens testimony namely the records brought in through geoff mcconneys the both though, the weisselberg memo and the one that his his righthand man banned Jeff Mcconney wrote memorializing the reimbursement plan colangelos says that at a minimum, a reasonable juror can conclude the invoices, the ledger entries, the sign checks with check stubs, all contain false information, meaning falsification of Business Records. Color. Angelo now says that there is also an overwhelming record of concealment that ports and intent to defraud on trumps part what do you make of it . What do you think . Yeah, thats the right argument to make to overcome this directed verdict, i believe is the correct parlance for new york which is which is telling the judge, just throw this thing out. Now, dont even let the jury way correctly as a matter of law, theyre going to have to equip defendant. The standard is really the prosecutor. The prosecution has to have proven by sufficiency of the evidence that a reasonable juror by the way, things just look, judge. Merchan is saying hes going to reserve his decision on the motion to dismiss from trumps team. So hes not hes just tabling it for now. And i think thats what tim said that i believe it was tim said that they were going to table it there. Were going to do closings and then if as a matter of law, if they must direct the work, then they will he will issue his ruling and issued a quick before closings. Not not not appropriate to do it for her closing because you want to preserve that issue for the appeal which the government would most likely, and you dont want either side to be able to say he didnt even listen to our closing or whatever. They want to be. All right. They want to be able to make all there arguments and preserve their ejections. But i think the prosecution is correct that they have established at least by the sufficiency of the evidence that are reasonable. Juror could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Thats all they need. A reasonable juror with the evidence that has been elicited, could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There is overwhelming evidence in this case. And if you choose to credit Michael Cohens account, they have met their burden. Tim, what do you make of the argument from judge hey, you think this is so obvious that this guy is lying why wouldnt you just want to have 12 skeptical new yorkers have added because