fast if possible. it's possible wow. all right. well, thank you all very much. i appreciate it. good to see you and tomorrow we'll see what we get. thanks for joining us are breaking news coverage continues now with anderson good evening. >> thanks for joining us. it went from early this morning, late into the evening and adjust wrapped up first the defense and then the prosecution, the first criminal trial ever of a former president having their final say, jurors will get the case tomorrow. it hadn't prosecutor joshua steinglass until moments go walking them step by step by step through the former president's hush money payment to stormy daniels shortly before the 2016 election in the alleged scheme to hide it from voters. now he emphasized how much of the case in his telling did not rely solely on the testimony of former fixer, michael cohen, who's faults acknowledged saying, quote, we didn't pick him up. the witness store. as for defense attorney todd blanche, she accused cohen of lying to the jury, calling him, quote, the mvp of liars and the gloat, which he said stands for greatest liar of all time. he wrapped up by listing ten justifications for reasonable doubt. the final one being michael cohen. blanche also earned a scolding from the judge for saying, quote, you cannot send somebody to prison unquote, based on cohen's word. judges make that decision, not juries. the judge will instruct jurors on the relevant points of law tomorrow afterwards, the former president is fate will be in their hands as for him, he wanted to today complaining online, the prosecution gets the last word complaining during a break this afternoon that the prosecution's closing arguments were boring when see if he'll have anything to say tonight with us is new york criminal defense attorney arthur aidala, cnn legal analyst, norm eisen, seen in news nights the philip, the sources, kaitlan collins, all three were in the court also see didn't senior legal analyst elie honig and cnn's kara scannell outside the courthouse in lower manhattan carolyn, start with you. what was the mood like in these historic and lengthy, lengthy closing arguments? >> the marathon of closing arguments. i mean, that the jury's attention was wrapped throughout this de they had been inside that coordinate for more than ten hours hours listening, what almost seems like could have been yesterday to donald trump's team, give their closing arguments and then the prosecutor, joshua steinglass, and just finishing moments ago, his closing arguments was lasted the almost five hours, four hours, and 41 minutes. they were focused on both of the attorneys as they spoke. i've looked at them multiple times and they were all looking directly at the lawyer, looking down at the monitors in front of them when evidence was put up on the screen, the lawyers, both of them went through excerpts of transcripts, some of these text messages the phone logs all to remind the jury in the prosecution's case that they do have evidence that there is evidence beyond michael cohen and that they should find donald trump guilty before. and the reason symbol doubt. and then in the defense's case, trying to poke holes in the testimony of cohen, and in some of the other evidence that they have suggesting that if this was really a big conspiracy, why wasn't david pecker involved in the ultimate payment to stormy daniel's? so a lot of focus and attention by the jury today, donald trump for his part, had actually turned his chair about 90 degrees at one point to watch his lawyer give the closings and watch the jury as they were taking all of this in during the prosecution's closing arguments, trump was facing forward. he didn't really seem to be paying much attention to that occasionally leaning into look at the monitor himself about some of the emails text messages that were put up. but along de day that really tested the patients of people in there. but the jury did seem to be wrapped the sep judge check with them several times to see they wanted to keep going. and at one point, he asked them publicly in front of us, not having an officer du it behind the scenes and the jurors nodded their heads in agreement that they wanted to stay, but this now finally coming to an end. just a few moments ago anderson norm, you were there both for the morning session in the afternoon session, what jumped out at you? what were the high highs, low, lows well, it was a long day. >> i thought the jury hung in there. the first thing you look for is the jury continuing to pay attention? can and they did. it was fascinating to me, the strategy of the defense and the prosecution, anderson, because they were opposite strategies the defense honed in on the three critical issues in this case and said you can't prove these 34 records were false. you can't prove trump intended to defraud with these false records that he knew they were not income, that they were reimbursements. and you can't show that he was covering up an election conspiracy. so they used kind of an inductive approach. they organize the evidence. todd blanche, by those three issues the prosecution to the exact opposite, a chronological or a deductive approach. review. it felt like they reviewed all 200 plus exhibits that they put into evidence in this case at times, it was painful. that's when we were watching the jury as kara said, they hung in, but i thought that was necessary. don't as a prosecutor don't leave anything on the table. if the judge will give you the time, if the jury says, i'll stay till 8:00, argue till seven, 7509, and the weight the overwhelming weight of the evidence that was the prosecution approach. >> i mean, it was striking how different the two closing arguments humans were because michael cohen loomed over both of them. but in very different ways todd blanche was trying to basically eviscerate michael cohen and any credibility he had with these jurors repeatedly saying he lied to you and trying to make it personal almost for them josh steinglass, the prosecutor, took a very different approach and he kind of had this very conversational style. he was almost incredulous at some of the arguments that todd blanche had made. he made no hesitation and turning back to point and todd blanche's direction or pointed donald trump, who almost never referred to as donald trump. he just referred to him as the defendant defendant. the defendant repeatedly, and he was kind of scuffing almost what todd blanche had said in his closing arguments and he would say, i'll get back to that ridiculous point later or they really want you to believe this, trying to create this idea that whatever todd blanche had said in his closing argument was just not believable. for the other. that's the term motorcade leaving, which is notable because trump didn't speak leaving court, which he normally does. but the other thing that they tried to do with michael cohen that stood out to me because i was in there this afternoon as he was in his lengthy closing arguments for the prosecution, as he was saying, this isn't all on michael cohen, the documents that we have here which he referred to as the smoking gun in this case, which is one does the math jotted down on how they would pay michael cohen back, didn't come from michael cohen. it came from jeff mcconney and trump organization employee who as the prosecution noted, has no ax to grind with donald trump. >> i did think just reflecting back on the morning session where i was in the court the trump team, they did present some things that were just beyond belief. i mean, the idea that no one in trump's orbit thought that the national enquirer running negative stories are positive stories about trump would influence the election in any way. beyond belief, those point that was leading with becker, that was the whole point of the meeting. i mean, the idea that donald trump, just as a person wouldn't not believed that. look, the good news for the defense is that they don't have to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt. it's not on them to do that, but it did make me wonder some of those moments where maybe even some cases they were twisting the evidence in ways that did not actually comport with what the evidence actually was in phase that they asserted things like, for example, they call the access hollywood moment. basically nothing burger in the campaign. again, a ridiculous assertion if you were there, you were a human being and the united states of america, when it occurred those moments, i think cut against their credibility in some crucial ways will it? make or break this case? i don't know what part of the argument that they were trying to make to the to the jury is that michael cohen cannot be believed. michael cohen is the person who is the serial liar, the fabulous. and yet i think the prosecution tried to make this point when they got their turn and closing statements, you cannot also make statements that are kind of beyond belief. and then have the jury want to believe you and disregard everything that michael cohen one here for work there and i led a second, but for those of you who are in the courtroom, it's different when you're inside versus what we on the outside in the morning, we're reading from our folks inside todd blanche's his closing statement felt meandering when you're just reading the text on the outside. we did it play meandering in the room and i'm wondering for the prosecution's closing, did it feel like five hours? >> it felt like more than five hours i'm very restless. person, but i thought it was the right thing to do for them to use all that time. blanche is a meander. he is not a linear person. we saw this in his cross-examination of michael cohen, was that strategy? figure just lack of experience and it was a strategy because he wanted to hone in on all the places where there can be reasonable doubt in the order he thought of the difficulty of bruce. he wanted to go from stronger less strong to weak as he hit them with the beshear job. but it did meander at times. the jury does not. i think the jury does not like todd blanche. i think they prefer ml beauvais. they like susan nicholas better. i don't think they're fond of your leg eye by the way, this jury this is a jury that does not show a lot. so that tells me you have been analyzing smile several times as steinglass was making his which it did go on at length and there were some dry moments where he was going through the documents, but he also would pepper in these quotes, like the one where he said donald trump didn't pay a porn star or pay a lawyer, but he was paying a porn star funneling the money through an attorney when he was talking about he didn't go to the witness store to get michael cohen. he was making the point, this is who donald trump chose to surround himself with. so it was really long, but he had these little leinz and i saw some of the jurors smiling at some of steinglass as lines, which is a big deal because they don't have expressions typically only are there lots here? >> i'm definitely going to defer to the people who are in the room because there's no replacement for that. i mean, i'm looking at like our viewers watching the each individual update come up ordinarily, i would think a five-hour closing is outrageous. it goes against everything i was taught, goes against everything i've ever done. i never gave a closing anywhere near five hours. you lose the jury. it's a terrible idea, but hearing norm say that the jury, first of all, they were asked, do you want to stay and indicated yes. and that they continued to pay attention. that makes a difference for me if you still have their attention, i don't think it's disastrous to do this. i agree based on what we were able to see, i thought todd blanche's closing did meander. i don't think manuring is a strategy. i think it's a fault. >> you can attack a prosecution case aggressively and effectively in a direct and compelling way. and to me, the whole argument about this had nothing to do with the campaign from six weeks ago in this case started struck me as a stretch and i think it remains a stretch now, under the evidence, i want to drop that, honestly, the whole part about you don't concede it explicitly so we just just give it the back of the hand. stormy daniels denied this ever happened, right? hope hicks told you it was about the family focus on the documents and connecting trump to the documents. that's where the defense lies. that's where i think blanche had is better moments. >> it had a feel of throwing everything at the wall that might stick. >> okay. so i'm going to take a page out of ellie's book what i'm going to defer to the people in the courtroom, but i'm sitting here with three national anchors and all three of you know, it's all about editing right? you could go on, i could give you guys all right. we're going to talk for three hours. you'll figure out something to say. it's all about editing it down and you'll ellie talked about his training. i was blessed to be trained in the brooklyn da's office i remember angela murali. i thought i gave a great salvation. he's like shut up, shut up, arthur enough. you're going on and on. but i was 26 years old. i was 27 years old, i was 28 years old. so i learned and it's honestly it's a similar skill set on television. you can go on and on, you get this, you get 30 seconds, 15, and then you got to count down. it's the same thing with the jury. you have to be like, okay, there's a limited amount of time. i get that they're they're looking at them just because they're looking at them, you don't know where their brain is that well, that was a really good burger. i had them memorial de you don't know where they are thinking and where they're lapsing in and out. but abby, when you talk about losing credibility to me, that's the most important part. it's one thing for a jury not to like the lawyer, not to have cooled by out with the lawyer, but it's another thing to not believe him or think he or she is trying to sell them a bill of goods that just doesn't make any sense. and the example you use, i do agree with saying that that access hollywood thing was a nothing. i mean, i know that summer day sitting at home, it was not a bit of nothing. it was a big deal. yeah. i mean, there were so many moments like that they described here they were trying to poke holes in the recording of donald trump. >> fair enough. >> but the way that they tried to poke holes in it, i thought also really stretched credibility suggesting in that trump didn't say things that you could hear him saying on the call, even describing how the call ended inaccurately by saying that michael cohen, you couldn't hear michael cohen picking up the other call that's not at all what happened. >> he was recording on his phone, received an incoming call which ended the recording. and so to look if you have an iphone you know how that goes and misrepresenting that to the jury, i think does not hurt care i mean, the court the other thing that one of the things he misrepresented was implying that well, the national enquirer doesn't matter because it's circulation was 350,000 at this time. when in truth the impact of the national enquirer story can be far beyond the number of actual subscribers who pay money to read the national enquirer or look at it even on the checkout stand, it has a ripple effect to other people do reporting based off yeah. >> i mean, one of the things that blanche had said was that, the national enquirer had such a low subscriber eight compared to the new york times but then on closing arguments by the prosecution, they said that that was kind of absurd, that everybody who's in a supermarket who checks out at the register stir is going to walk past and see the headlines of the national enquirer. remember david pecker had testified that he didn't want to get involved with the stormy daniels deal because he didn't want to do a story about a porn star because of these record, because his tabloid is on the supermarket shelves and that some of these supermarkets wouldn't want to see that. so certainly prosecution came back at that point by saying that even though this circulation may be lower than that of the new york times. it doesn't mean that the number of eyeballs that aren't happiness when everyone is checking out at the grocery store, they're still going to see that. so they tried to correct that part of it. yeah. it's true if the national enquirer does have a true story, then that would be something that other national organizations would follow and try to match. >> there was also a testimony during the trial, the david pecker didn't even care what was inside the pages of the national enquirer. all he cared about was the front cover because the impact of that checkout line and just people seeing that front cover that for him, was that such a huge priority kara scannell. thank you. we've got to take a quick break. john berman joins us. he's been going through the transcripts of tonight's extended closing arguments will talk about what could stand out for the jury. and later journalist if i were joins as soon as reporting on catch and kill gave us such an early and clear window into the world at jurors have been shown in this trial i'm getting vaccinated by ssrs pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia already gotten pneumonia vaccine. but i'm asking about the added protection prep, not 20 if you're 19 or older with certain chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, copd, or heart disease, or are 65 or older, you are at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia, prevnar 20 is approved in adults to help prevent infections. we 20 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia in just one dose don't get prevnar 20 if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients, adults with weakened immune systems may have a lower risk bonds to the vaccine. the most common side effects were pain and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, fatigue, headache, and joint pain. >> want to be able to keep my plans. >> i don't want to risk ending up in the hospital with pneumococcal pneumonia. >> that's why i chose have now asked your doctor or pharmacist about the pfizer vaccine for pneumococcal pneumonia. >> some people would rather crash then slow down there was a golden age for motorcycles then took my breath away i'd go his club out and this is my family the club is changing what do you want me to do this mark writers good or only beaters june 21st at bus to credit, we know running a business takes everything you have, and only a certain kind of leader has what it takes. >> every new challenges years to solve. and there's no such thing as off the clock. you carry the weight of the problems but your resolved never wavers. no one else can do what you do. we know your drive. we know your determination. >> you've come far enough to know successes for those who take it this due credit funding. >> what's next oh my leaf filter. >> i just scheduled an appointment online and the inspection was a breeze. they explained everything lee filters technology protect your gutters for good now, my home is protected calling three, three lee filter or visit lee filter.com a new group. >> this assignments in my bag like a bunch of groceries. alice qizan, greece just contemplate freedom. >> you can take your eyes off the new 2024 jeep wrangler in glady it or cheap, there's only one top off this memorial day with 2000 bonus cat allowance. i'm 2024 jeep wran a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today! clumps. never scoop again with litter robot this sourness, but kaitlan collins, tonight at nine just moments ago closing arguments, the stormy daniels hush money trial wrapped up in a lower manhattan, the prosecution getting the lengthy last word nearly five hours worth tomorrow morning after hearing instructions from the judge. jurors will have the case and the former president's fate will be in their hands, joining us. cnn's john berman has been going through the trial transcripts for us we mentioned this moment when judge merchan scolded trump's attorney todd blanche, how did that play out in the trust? >> he came right at the end of todd blanche is summation where he was once again saying that michael cohen is a liar. >> you can't convict just based on michael cohen. todd blanche said cohen came in here, he raised his right hand and he lie to each of you repeatedly repeatedly. you cannot you cannot send somebody to prison. you could not convict somebody. josh steinglass, the prosecutor says objection. judge masan says, sustained. blanche then goes on. you cannot convict somebody based upon words of michael cohen. now, that was at the very end of the summation, that jury then left the room they want on their lunch break and there was a conference here in the judge scolded todd blanche for what he said here. he said, i'm going to give a curative instruction. i think that saying that was outrageous, mr. blanche, please have a seat for someone who has been a prosecutor as long as you have i've entered defense attorney as long as you have, you know that making a comment like that is highly inappropriate, it's simply not allowed, period. it's hard for me to imagine how that was accidental in any way. it's also interesting that as soon as steinglass said objection and it was sustained todd blanche didn't need instruction about what the objection was about. he knew instantly what he had said was inappropriate. right. i mean, because he corrected himself by just taking out the prison pardon i like to push the envelope in summation, but that's you can't say jail. >> you just you just can't say j. you can say you use your common sense. people don't tell you to check, leave you come since outside. we all know what happens at the end of a trial that's not for you to decide. it's up from the judge, but you can't eat it. you can't say jail. he didn't push the envelope. he tore the envelope and ripped it into little pieces, right? >> he said a jail dorm zhao. >> are sure this saturday. >> yeah. no, that's a red line. you do not the rdas why? >> that is a read lock as it is so powerfully prejudicial for the jury, but it's all of them in sentencing. >> that is the role of the j. >> telling them that you potentially you're sending the form of prison united states should present. that's prejudicial. there's three jobs. the job of the jury is to weigh the facts. the job of the judge is to instruct them i'm on the law so they can apply the law to the facts and then depending on the verdict, it comes back to the judge to sentence. but in defense of todd, i will say it seemed to me as soon as he said it, he knew he'd gone too far. he stopped himself. it was like a little hiccup i think he just got carried away in the moment and it was not an intentional mistake. he slept seven second but he was so hard on michael cohen for his mistake when he did all right. >> now that is not going to get unwrung. okay. i'm sorry, but it's not going to get unwrung because it's always been in the atmosphere in this case. ultimately, this jury is they're not stupid people. they understand that this case is about finding themselves in trump tower a former president donald trump, guilty of a felony, which would involve some kind of punishment. and i think that they know that todd blanche evoked it and put it back on the table. i don't think that there's anything that can be done to take that out of their mind. i have a hard time. i have a hard time. believing that it was inadvertent. i don't know. i'm just trying to extend the benefit of the doubt and i'll tell you why. at the southern district of new york prosecutor's office word todd used to work where i used to work where alvin bragg use work. >> we were paranoid about exactly that happening. >> you did not want to defend slur whoops, slipping in if you convict, he'll go to jail or who go to jail for decades, or you'll separate him from his family until it's kids are full grown. and i was so paranoid about it. i would say the judges, right before closing, judge, obviously they're not going to be mentioning the potential of prison here judge, would always look at the defense like you're not doing that right? defense. sorry. we got of course not. that is that was a serious overstep by todd blanche's lucky. it was only a curative and gentlemen, give it to you because steinglass acted out of a conversation between cohen, trump and keeps your live bodyguard because this was that devastating moment when michael cohen was on the stand, todd blanche revealed or got pointed out that there was a 14-year-old who had been harassing michael cohen on the phone and cohen had called schiller or texted schiller about what can i do about this 14 year-old initially? cohen had testified that that phone call for which there is a record, that that phone call was with trump to tell him that the payment to stormy daniels was going through, you were there for the testimony todd blanche elicited that it looks like there was a phone call at exactly that time with keith schiller, where they talked about this 14 year-old boy and then cohen on the stand basically ended up saying, well, maybe i talked about both things. so josh steinglass, the prosecutor here, tried to show that you could talk about both things inside the length of the phone call, which was 96 seconds because they have a record for that. so what josh steinglass did is he goes out there before the jury today. and he basically times in a self and he says let's try a little experiment. i will be cohen and he fakes a call here. hey keith, how's it going? it seems like this prankster might be a 14-year-old kid. if i text you the number, can you call and talk to his family, see if you can let them know how serious this is it's not a joke uh-huh. >> yeah. >> all right thanks, pal. hey, is the boston hear you can you pass on the phone for a minute? i will wait just a couple of seconds and then he pauses and waits for schiller to fake hand the phone to make trump, and then he goes, hey boss, i know you're busy, but i just wanted to let you know that the other thing is moving forward. my friend keith and the other party that we just scott, its back on track. i'm going to try one last time to get our friend david to pay. but if it's done, it's going to be us to take care of it. uh-huh. yeah. all right. good luck in tampa. >> by when he time it was 49 seconds, which is way less than the 96 seconds of the actual cells. >> very surprised that this was allowed to happen and because i felt like he injected hypothetical things that did not actually happen into the minds of the jury. that's remarkable about it was actually a really strong moment when you were in the room in court because josh steinglass held is a fake phone up to his ear as you did this and he did or didn't do that? >> yeah. sorry. i wouldn't told you beforehand, but and he didn't pause for a few seconds when he was saying, okay, wait to pass the phone to the boss and it was actually a powerful moment in court because what he was trying to do was restore michael cohen's credibility from that moment a few weeks ago. the question is, of course, the jury just had a week off. did they remember that moment? was it distilled on their mind or was today actually more helpful in making the case that multiple things could be discussed on that call and the point that he drove home after that was that the defense wants the jury to believe that michael cohen is coming in near to say anything he can to get trump convicted and josh young lawsuit saying, well, if he was why wouldn't he have gone further than the moments where he said actually trump denied to me having a relationship with stormy daniels or trump. did this i don't recall about that conversation. he was saying michael cohen can forget things that doesn't mean he's lying to you the bit with the phone is a good piece of stagecraft like i respect that i'm envious of that i wish i would have done something like that as a prosecutor, but it's also a cheap gimmick that's not the point of what michael cohen got caught in there. the point is not you couldn't possibly have discuss both things in a minute, 36 obviously, he could easily he could've the point is michael cohen never said a word about the text with the 14 year-old kid in the grand jury in his prior statements to the prosecutor on direct on direct, it was a very clean story. i just called donald trump. it was about stormy daniel's, then he gets caught. then you see him backtrack in real-time. and come up with this. oh, well, maybe it was both things. that's the point that goes to his credibility. they really it's a nice, not uberman, nice piece of stagecraft by the phone, i'm sorry. by the by the prosecutor, but to me, it's actually misdirection. >> john berman. thank you. everyone. stay with us. there's a lot more to discuss is going to be joined by the attorney of the man at the center of both closing arguments. michael cohen when your home needs work, where do you go? angie. angie? that's where angie gay man with angie find top rated certified pros and your area plus compare quotes and pricing to help you get all your jobs done well, find top rated certified pros in your area at angie.com to give your teeth the dentist clean feeling, start with a round brush head, add power, and you've got oral-b round cleans better by surrounding each tooth to remove 100% more black for a superior clean oral-b brush like a pro foreign the leaky refrigerator coil card is that bad of an ac fan motor? >> oh, no. >> but your future is bright with an american home shield warranty to reject your cover and appliance as an home system or their fees behind me, my baby is a stage sale. >> we talked about that american home you sign up today at hhs.com smile, you found it the feeling of findings, psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only so tick two a once-daily pill for moderate to severe prac psoriasis and the chance that clear or almost clear skin, it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up are finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once daily. so tick two was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill oh, don't take if you're allergic to so take too serious reactions can occur. so ticked, you can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb, serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides or had a vaccine or plan to tick to as a tick to inhibitor tick two as part of the jak family, it's not known as a tiktok has the same risks as jak inhibitors find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding there's only one, so tick two, so ask for it by name. so clearly you so tick to pods, spring moving fail has been extended save up to 25% on moving and storage until june 10, and cy pods, it's been trusted with we're 6 million moves don't wait, use promo code 25. now to save, look at pot.com today, row sparks engineered for the spontaneous, a dual action formula with the active ingredients of viagra and sialic faster acting and long-lasting grabbed the moment get started at row.co slash sparks. >> one second, grandma, this guy is going to buy my car. >> okay. do you need car bomber entering plate number? no accidents, right? >> generating offer guard mama can pick it up tomort, go to shp station.com slash, try and get two months free. >> the nba playoffs. i always get emotional. >> you more concerned about what's going on inside the nba and what's going on inside? you you know, docx, right? >> and that's all the time we have. thanks for watching. are you cutting to a commercial western conference finals presented by at&t, continue on to interior. >> as their transcripts we've been reading show the defense aimed a lot. their rhetorical ammunition the credibility of michael cohen quoting the former president's attorney, todd blanche, saying, and the last thing i'm going to talk about that give me the reasonable doubt is what i've been talking about for the past several hours, michael cohen he's the human embodiment of reasonable doubt, literally join his now is michael cohen's attorney, danya perry, who is also a former federal prosecutor first, all your i'm wondering what you made of todd blanche, all the things he said about your client, about michael cohen on the stand today? were you surprised by any of it? >> i wasn't surprised because he gave a full preview of his argument during the lengthy cross-examination and it obviously was a theme that they hit over and over again, beginning with opening statements. and i think that's pretty much all the ammunition that he had. and he obviously had that very hard. michael cohen just told me that by his count, at least he called mr. blanche, called mr. cohen lie or at five times? i don't know if anyone's actually counted that, but it sounds like it was a lot of times and i think that that was a miscalculation, not just because i'm here to support but my clients credibility. i think he was very credible, very honest, very forthright, very composed on the stand. and he gave no reason for the jury to believe that he wasn't telling the full and complete truth. actually, sometimes he over allocated to things that at some point the defense that so you lied to congress on this in this date and michael said, yes he hadn't. so he's over admitting to crimes and to bad conduct, if anything. i think he handled themselves very well on the stand. and it's it's no wonder that the defense went after him. >> they clearly were trying to rile him up at times when he was on the sand. he remained very calm, really throughout, which is sort of a side of michael cohen. a lot of people haven't seen people were surprised by that. there was that moment when todd blanche got into the 14 year-old boy phone call, that michael cohen had not previously disclosed or talked about? >> i don't know if prosecutors had not caught it as that occurring before the keith schiller phone call, how how does how do you explain? >> the fact that michael cohen had not identified the involvement of the 14-year-old as part of that phone call it's exactly as you say, he it had been many years, right? that was in 2016. and you simply had forgotten what was a much less salient point from that conversation? once he was reminded of it, it did come back to mine. it had been a young prankster who basically made it impossible for mr. cohen to conduct his business. and so it did come back to him, but it wasn't the most impactful part of that conversation. and as soon as he was refreshed, he recalled it and truthfully and i think in a very common sense way that oh yeah, that's did happen. but look how much we're able to accomplish another conversations. and i think the prosecutor made made of really strong point of that is summation. i think even the recorded conversation that related to karen mcdougal, which was less than 96 seconds in the important part of it also makes the point that a lot can be accomplished. and so i don't think that was the aha moment that todd blanche tried to make it out to be. and in fact, i think it kind of came back to hurt him once the evidence that yes, both these things can happen at the same time was brought back to bear. >> you said that you talk to michael cohen. i'm assuming that's today. i mean, what did he make of it was both sides talking about his credibility in the sense of obvious they todd blanche called him the gloat, the greatest liar of all time, and in his closing argument, he did use the word liar. it seemed like every other five seconds and conjunction with michael cohen's name. but then josh steinglass also address that with the jury and said, you know, we didn't go and pick him up from the witness stories on an ideal witness, it was essentially is implication there saying that trump was the one new surrounded himself with michael cohen. i wonder what he made of that testimony today. >> that was ali will back me up on this. that's a tried and true trick of the prosecution. they say, we would like to bring nuns and boy scouts to you as witnesses, but we're not the ones who pick them. it's a defendant who picks them as they coconspirator so that was expected and i think i have to hand it to the prosecution. a lot of times the prosecutors will eat eat that, and just say, look, we know he's not he's lied a lot and he's done this in that here. >> i think they were really honorable in supporting him and all the different ways in which he was corroborated in which also the jury could count on the fact that he was now telling the truth that he has turned a corner, as he said, i think and a part of the testimony that was really emotional and really impactful, and i watched the jury listening to michael cohen talk about his journey and about how we came to this place that has really cost him and his family so much. >> you're representing michael cohen, but but you also know todd blanche. >> what did you make of him saying to the jury, don't send donald trump to prison based on michael cohen's words, which he was later reprimanded by the judge for yeah. >> la la and i have seen that trick also many times there are a lot of tricks here, right? i mean, people who have been around the courtroom will see them and it's a classic jury nullification argument. they are trying a little back door trick, right? to tell the jury like, don't don't put this guy in prison. this is where hill and up, particularly in case of this magnitude, and that's so unprecedented when you have a former president and presidential candidate, they, he wanted to back-channel to the, to the jury that the import of what they might be doing by convicting him and it's totally against the rules. the judge was right to admonish him and he thought, why not go for it? because if we if we get an acquittal, we're done and if i may as well just just just go for it. he's not going to be reversed on it on yeah. >> i know you can't talk about the preparation in the attorney-client privilege that you did with michael, but i do want to ask you about one signature moment that really stood out for me in cohen's testimony and his connection with the jury. >> and maybe you'll tell us how they came to be. i noticed that as he got comfortable on the stand, he would turn away from hoffinger, who was examining him and talk directly to the jury. and the jury would focus on him almost like they were having a conversation together. was that something just tell us one thing was that something you practiced in prison? >> well, i appreciate you noting that. and anderson, i appreciate your noting his demeanor on the stand and as you say, that's not that michael cohen, everyone knows. but i will say yes, we spent a lot of time in preparation. but this was truly all heartfelt. i do believe he's turned from the corner and he's a different person than the michael cohen that, you heard on those recordings or even that he the way he presents sometimes on his podcast, there was a moment where michael was very cool and his demeanor was understated. and then there was a moment where that would todd blanche played oh my god, i was there i i hadn't heard the podcasts. i was like, oh my god that's a persona, you know, he takes on this drama. you've been on a thought, you've been on his podcast. i've been on his back as he, you know, he presents an in a certain way he's an entertainer. but that's not the michael cohen that showed up for court. >> is is the michael cohen who did have a change of heart and decided as much as it put him in harm's way and his family that he was going to wear the white hat and do what he thinks is the right thing. danya perry. thank you so much. really good to have you appreciate it. everyone else stay with us. just say we're going to dive deep the stormy daniels payment catch-and-kill scheme at the heart of this case was someone who knows the details very well. ronan farrow is investigative reporting. this has been extraordinary over the years. it will be here my grandfather's run meyer the header for over 75 years now. he's got so many life experiences that you can share. finding the exact date blunt ancestry at that our family does. this was founded was special to share with my grandfather. when you get that moment, what is circle surplus? a few tape play circle isn't energy that gets you to the next level circled is which hope for life tosses limits away available at walmart and drinks circle.com. >> they say we should stop eating so much meat so we made meet out of plants because we aren't quitters impossible we're solving the meat problem with more meat bids to credit. >> we know running a business takes everything you have, and only a certain kind of leader has what it takes every new challenges years to solve. and there's no such thing as off the clock. you carry the weight of the problems, but your resolved never wavers. no one else can do what you i do. we know your drive. we know your determination you've come far enough to know successes for those who take it. this due credit funding. what's next? >> my husband and i own uncle rowing beverage company. we rely on e-commerce and digital tools to build our business and launch new products. thanks to american investments in ai, we're using this technology to run our business more efficiently artificial intelligence is a game changer i'm excited that the us is leading the world in its development. our leaders should continue to protect america's competitive edge to strengthen small businesses like ours wait, no one can design a personalized weight loss plan for me. >> well, i'm dagan why have i done no finds brass newest class can be personalized for both your needs how about goodbye? get your personalized plan today at noon.com victims of mesothelioma and their families may be entitled to receive a cash award from the estimated 30 billion in its best dose trust funds now available over $50 billion has been awarded already if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer caused by us the best dose call the number on your screen now, we have served victims of mesothelioma and their families nationwide for over 30 years, we have successfully recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for thousands of our clients even if a family member has passed du to mesothelioma, you may still be entitled to a cash award. >> so call now for your free evaluation. we want to help victims of mesothelioma and lung cancer and your families get the financial compensation you deserve from the estimated 30 billion in trust funds now available, if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma call one 800 to 171487 now or visit us at meso fund.com someone needs to customize and save hundreds of liberty mutual wait there's an elevator only pay for what you need nexium 24 hour prevents heartburn acid before it begins get all day and all night. heartburn acid prevention, which just one pill a day? choose asieh prevention choose nexium i, hanako montgomery and tokyo and this is cnn welcome back. >> one return focus to what prosecutors claim is powerful evidence that exist beyond the testimony michael cohen, they were speaking in the testimony former national enquirer publisher david pecker, and evidence it's detailing what's become known as the catch and kill scheme involving among other stormy daniels and karen mcdougal's something. our next guess has reported extensively on. we're joined now by journalist ronan farrow, author of the 2019 bestseller, catch and kill, which explored the hush money scheme, the center of this trial and revealed a lot about it running. so the prosecution, they called where the former ceo of the national enquirer's parent company utterly devastating. >> they call this testimony and that it eliminates the whole notion that this was politics as usual to you, is pecker among the most important of all the witnesses called? >> i think one of the canny's moves the prosecution made and how they built this case was to emphasize pecker to the extent that they have and also to put him first, you have to understand, although the charges are about these payments to stormy daniel's and the question of intent behind them, whether and how they were concealed and obviously in the very protracted close today from steinglass, the prosecutor, we got a tiktok of that in almost brutalizing detail that said the prosecution needed to recontextualized all of that with the prerequisite knowledge that this was part of, as you said, what they say is a catch-and-kill scheme efforts to subvert the election hatched in that meeting that they talked about so much with that pecker was present four in trump tower. so especially in light of the fact that the later case about the stormy payments specifically had to deal with this double-edged sword of michael cohen being important connective tissue that they were conveying to the jurors. and michael cohen having some evidence, questions about his credibility and his checkered history in the public eye. that of course we saw the defense really seize on today, especially in light of all of that anderson pecker became very important and the argument that the prosecution made today, two jurors enter the public, that pecker was delete their star witness rather than michael cohen became very important in todd blanche when in his sort of meandering closing statement went down this road, are talking about catch and kill saying essentially the karen mcdougal wasn't catching kill sort of raising questions that does catch and kill even exist well, to give you a sense of that, i was in touch with the sources around my reporting on ami than the parent company of the national enquirer or just today. >> and the prevailing opinion within those circles, including senior folks who were really involved in an oversight role as this play, the scheme was playing out the prevailing opinion seems to be that it's strains credulity to accept the defense's argument here that donald trump just had no knowledge of this. and today, todd blanche argued, well, to assert that donald trump always knew about his business dealings. the prosecution had to deal deal with decades old books saying he's a micromanager but it's really more than that. this is a clear cut case where his representative, michael cohen, was doing something quite extraordinary as an act of loyalty and one piece of evidence after another, what the prosecution called a mountain of evidence seems to suggest that he was behind it so the question really here is not whether there's an evidence surface level case. it's going to hinge on is it beyond a reasonable doubt? and can they get all of those jurors on board? >> now, have some time has passed. i'm wondering what you make of the importance of stormy daniels testimony in this trial? >> well, stormy daniels was a really volatile courtroom moment and i think like michael cohen putting her on the stand was something of a risky maneuver for prosecutors. it was a double-edged sword it certainly diverted the case they were making into tawdry underlying facts that aren't really germane to the charges being asserted. but they made a calculation that that was important, anderson, it was important to establish that donald trump was in a state of urgency and desperation when this scheme was undertaken that he really needed to conceal this in that particular window of time in order to remain electable, especially with women voters. that's also of course, why they fought to introduce as much as they could about the access hollywood tape and only succeeded to a limited extent, but the prosecution is hoping that all of that will add up to juror saying, okay, we get why this scheme was undertaken. >> it was also one of the things that todd blanche spent a fair amount of time today on essentially symbol that just wasn't the case that the access hollywood tape really wasn't as big a deal is most people would probably remember it being or that that these things were not as important as the prosecution is making them out to be and i think hope hicks this testimony was like stormy daniels, quite pivotal in conveying to jurors or at least prosecutors attempting to convey to jurors that that's not quite right, that this was a campaign and a circle of people around donald trump that were thrust into crisis and that there was a real season for him to undertake this extraordinary effort to in the prosecution's terms, subvert the election, whether jurors will care and whether the public will care as they process the information from this case. >> that's another question, but i do think in terms of making what was a pretty difficult case on the prosecutor? fusion is part it this could have gone sideways and a lot of ways that it didn't they really, they cleared a lot of the hurdles they were looking to. >> ronen great stock to ronan farrow. thank you so much. >> thanks, anderson. all right. >> more now, with the panel do you think the jury, arthur fully realizes the catch-and-kill scheme? >> it is as tawdry. >> i mean, todd blanche was essentially saying today that this is just how campaigns are that this was just sort of business as usual. >> well, i have to five hours for the prosecution if he didn't do a good job somewhere in there explaining it, then shame on him. i think so you know, there are times in the trial when you have to have guts as a defense attorney to stand up after a prosecution witnesses. saying, i have no questions then in summation, you, say, you know, why didn't it sdo request time we dan has any questions. she doesn't matter. she doesn't matter. they only called her to embarrass him. they only called her to prejudice you. it doesn't matter if they fooled around and they didn't fool around. you don't want she really is. no, you heard it was her testimony, folks? she's an extortionist she's an absolute extortion as she wanted money. she wanted money for her story. the same way. she wanted money for sex or whole life should point out that todd blanche did not say it doesn't matter whether or not this happened. he said my client denies it. yeah. and i don't for his i disagree i disagree with but that strategy and that's why as a defense attorney in my retainer agreement to this day, it says the attorney shall determine the strategy of the case. so it's what the exception of whether the client testifies or not. the client overrules me. but in terms of what i say or what i don't say, they put in a silo then the dotted line. i determine how we question. >> so you're an attorney who actually does have a retainer agreement anyone anything over 3,500 bucks. >> i got it. that's the law in new york state. >> and that line in arthur's agreement is one of the reasons he's not representing donald trump. >> i'm going to take the fifth the fifth, but that, one. >> there are all these aphorisms among trial lawyers slim to win less is more slim to win slim to win means shrink your case down, remove everything that is not essential. do not keep the jury until 8:00 these are theories of discipline, but the problem is that when you have donald trump for a client there's plenty of evidence that he makes demands. we had reporting caitlin had reporting that he was pushing for robert costello. that was an absolute disaster stir for his case. apparently he those of you who are that stella was mentioned in paying clean. >> it was mentioned because look him up today. yeah. i mean, it wasn't a lot size. the defense mentioned him to very briefly to talk about how he michael cohen claimed that they didn't have much of a relationship. they didn't have a legal relationship and that was not the case. >> it was a very minor far very did they say the jury like, well, you you heard his testimony, so you know what that's what value that one of the things sitting in the courtroom just listening to all the various parts of this case. >> is that sometimes it does feel like you need to be a lawyer to sort through some of the things that are being discussed here. and that's not what they've got. they have a jury except for those two lawyers, but they have a jury of just regular people. and i do wonder sometimes how this is all going to go down because it is it, it's gotten in the weeds. both because the defense has brought things to the table that they shouldn't have. and also because the prosecution has to it's gotten common okay. did and i'm not sure who that's going to benefit at the end of the de to build on that point what's going to happen? the first thing tomorrow morning is the judge is going to spend an hour plus reading a 50, 60 page jury instruction. you want to talk about weeds. just wait for tomorrow and it's gonna get deep. and then because it's new york state, the written jury instruction does not go back into the jury room with them, so we're going to see notes throughout the week saying, hey, can you explain to us again the third element of the second crime? so you're right, abby, the whole trick here is taking it out of the weeds and making it comprehensible to a human being more new, new details, skews me from inside court coming up. >> also your story, daniels attorney and get his take i'm closing arguments plus the pivotal moment ahead for the former president with jury getting the case tomorrow morning bike riders and how those colors on in here you'd have to kill me to get this jacket off don't want any trouble here, then ally collina, what about the bar an account we gotta go we've done scared of advice. >> march workers were your door only beaters june 21st, you call them caramels or caramels, whatever you call them, kara metals.com makes 26 mouthwatering flavors that are the freshest and softest caramels ever produced, try them for yourself or some one you love. go today to caramels.com and see for yourself why choose asleep numbers smart that can keep me warm when i'm cold. >> wait, no, i'm always hot. >> sleep number. does that can i make my sides? >> after i think my side firmer speak number does that can help us sleep better and better sleep number does that 94% of smart sleepers report better sleep now, say 50% of asleep number limited did you some smart been plus spectral financing shop now at sleep number.com for 13 million americans were affected. my identity theft in 2022, and the threats are more than you realize if you're a victim of identity theft, lifelong works to fix it on your behalf backed by the million dollars protection package enroll. now now, adt professionally installs google nest products you're all set on this system. we should go with the most trusted name and home security as the intelligence of google you have a home with no worries brought to you by adt. you're calling. >> some people find there's at an early age. >> others later in life are calling was to build trucks. >> and that's why trucks are what we do we put our everything and every truck so that when you find your course all or nothing can stop you from entering right now, during the ram memorial day sales event, get $1,000 cash allowance on the purchase of most 2020 five ram 1,500 trucks. >> hurry to your local ram dealer today have heart failure with unresolved symptoms. >> it may be time to see the bigger picture. heart failure and seemingly unrelated symptoms like carpal tunnel syndrome shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat could mean something more serious, called attr cme. are rare under-diagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you call your court cardiologist and ask about att rcm a widely filter. >> it's well-designed, efficient. >> i appreciate that leaf filters technology keeps debris out of your gutters for good, guaranteed. guaranteed. >> what more could you ask for shell renewable race fuel. reducing emissions by 60%. ♪♪ we're moving forward with indycar. because we're moving forward with everybody. shell. powering progress. norman, bad news... i never graduated from med school. what? -but the good news is... xfinity mobile just got even better! now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. i gotta get this deal... i know... faster wifi and savings? ...i don't want to miss that. that's amazing doc. mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc? heart-healthy, rushed to walmart and find total bce this source. >> but kaitlan collins next it is just before 9:00 p.m. here in new york, the end of nearly 12 hour day for jurors in the first, the form resonance four criminal trials. >> look at the case tomorrow with it a job. they know jury has ever had before deciding whether or not to convict a former president united states and current candidate for the office again, of as many as 34 felonies today was the final chance for both sides to persuade some were talking about it tonight, joining the panel, retired new york city criminal judge georgia grosso and jury consultant alan. alan tuerkheimer. just grass. so it is great to have you with all your experience here. what do you make up closing arguments night, i mean five hours, two-and-a-half, three hours. is that it was a