>> harris: we're awaiting the verdict. historic times with a former u.s. president, donald trump, on trial in new york and after deliberating for more than four hours the jury spent last night at home. they returned about 90 minutes ago and at their request the judge is rereading part of his instructions to the jurors again they wanted it. yesterday the jury also wanted to hear again sections of prosecution witness testimony from former publisher david pecker and donald trump's ex attorney michael cohen. earlier today the jury sent a note specifically requesting those jury instructions how to weigh evidence in the case. i'm harris faulkner and you are in "the faulkner focus." seven men, five women considering 34 felony counts against trump. prosecutors claim the former president falsified business records to hide potentially embarrassing stories during his 2016 presidential campaign. trump's defense team argued manhattan district attorney bragg's office has failed miserably to prove their case. many legal experts agree with that. the former president with this today before he headed into the courtroom. >> i would like to answer all of your questions, they are very easy questions to answer but i am gagged and can't talk as much as i would like to about this ridiculous case that is hurting our country so badly. he is a conflicted judge, everybody knows that. i can't talk about the conflict because of the gag order he put on me. i want to say this is a very sad day for america. the whole world is watching and a very sad day for new york. i've gone through two of these trials already. >> harris: eric shawn gets us started as he has. verdict watch, day two. eric. >> hello. the jury is trying to determine exactly what did donald trump exactly do? they are hearing testimony read back this morning that supposedly shows what trump told them about this illegal scheme. the day started this morning with the judge reading back some of the jury instructions he gave yesterday. instructions that include how to consider if a witness lied or made inconsistent statements. the jurors perhaps seeking how to consider the testimony of admitted liar and convicted felon star witness michael cohen. right now they are in court hearing what pecker and michael cohen said trump told them to do as they started to hash out this alleged plan. it was august of 2015. two months after trump launched his white house bid both pecker and cohen testified they went to trump tower to meet with trump and at that meeting they said trump told them to work together on the secret plan to protect his campaign. cohen took the stand on may 13 testifying it was trump who set it up. he said that telling the jury that trump said to him and pecker at that meeting, the two of you should work together and anything negative that comes let michael know and we'll handle it. pecker testified three weeks earlier took the stand on april 22nd. what he told the jury appears to corroborate cohen. pecker said quote, at that meeting donald trump and michael, they asked me what i could do and what my magazines could do to help the campaign. the jury just heard pecker's testimony read back about the phone call where trump asked him if he should buy mcdougal's story to bury it. he said he should. pecker put up the money for that and the jurors will help about that later on today. when they read the testimony. one court reporter reads the question, the other reads the answers. the two court reporters had real new york accents so it is a mini theater in a way. jurors were told are taking notes. especially taking notes during the part of the testimony from david pecker saying that he would be the eyes and ears of the trump campaign so that testimony read back continuing now. what it all means, harris, tea leaves trying to figure it out. we won't know until there is a verdict. >> harris: absolutely. we have great experts along my side to get through some. facts of the case. judge jeanine pirro,, matt whitaker, phil holloway, former assistant district attorney. judge pirro, i will start with you, my friend. talk to me about what happens when you can't take the jury instructions away in the state of new york. i looked at the statute. it has already gone through an appeals process. they aren't going to change it any time soon. they may ask time and time again to have those instructions reread. you have experienced some of this. >> well, i've read those instructions as a judge to juries. the reason that's done, harris, is to make sure that people don't take those instructions into the jury room and fight among themselves as to what it means or add additional elements or inferences. the judge is the one who charges the jurors regarding what the law is. and i personally don't have any trouble with that. it's the only thing that i've been accustomed to. you don't want people drawing their own conclusions. it is interesting, we have heard some of the jurors were rubbing their heads when the judge was reading about reasonable doubt. i don't think i've ever instructed a jury on reasonable doubt when they haven't come back and said can you read that one again? because reasonable doubt is very simple. it is a doubt for which you have a reason and it is a very difficult thing for people to try to apply to the facts of the case. but they do. >> harris: so in the instance of where you come back and have specificity about those instructions like the application of the law to evidence, which is apparently a question they have. what does that mean to you? >> well, the problem with that -- i've got to go to this before -- is the fact the defense was not allowed to argue how the facts fit into the law or how their facts don't fit into the law. so the defense was in a position where they weren't able to even talk about that to the jury. so now the jury is trying to piece things together and, you know, they have no help with regard to that because the defense was not allowed to fully defend their case. >> harris: is that fair? >> it clearly is not fair. you know, none of this is fair. this whole trial is a make believe trial in the sense that these are crimes we've never heard of based upon dead misdemeanors, based upon felonies that are federal crimes, that are roped into it for which you don't need a unanimous verdict. and the whole thing is just -- it's smoke and mirrors. he must have done something wrong here so it will be a very difficult task for the jury to try to figure this out. and the defense wasn't even pursuant to the fifth amendment advised what that original crime was that bootstraps this and makes it into a felony. in addition to the fact they don't have to be unanimous about column a, b, or c that involve federal tax crimes and federal election campaign violations. finally, harris, there was no reason to identify michael cohen as having been convicted of a federal campaign violation. the judge says it is basically because, you know, it goes to his credibility. we already know he is a liar. you didn't need that. >> harris: right, yeah. then he had to clarify that you can't, you know, inject that into a case just because one man is being held to account on co-conspiracy then you have to look at the other one differently. i mean, all of it seems like a redo but i know we'll call it a clarification, i guess, because that's the way he interprets the law. matt whitaker something that the judge just said put a button on it for me. dead misdemeanor more than they expired and now they have more life and have become felonies but it also means other people have passed on it. the judge is exactly right. this case has oxygen because alvin bragg, the d.a. of man mat an, decided to give it oxygen. >> when others passed. the southern district of north korea. alvin bragg's predecessor. these were crimes that had passed the statute of limitations for years and only because an extra covid year on the felony statute of limitations it was extended to six years for felonies were they able to get this under the wire. i think it's obvious to a lot of folks this was brought for pure political pain for president trump. brought by democrats who don't like him very much and want to have something to hang over him. now the biden white house is playing along. they are sending their surrogates to new york to have a press conference. i don't think it went well but they are using this to message. >> harris: well, and part of that, i would say from a political sense is because you have to go where the limelight and cameras are. they are not on joe biden. when you watched the press conference the robert de niro, it happened during this aisle. you flipped around the dial to some of the other networks and they weren't carrying it. they were liberal networks. maybe they didn't want that on air. i don't know what the situation was. phil holloway, in terms of the timing of this. everybody from the uber driver this morning is asking when do you think the verdict will come? ? we don't know. >> we don't know. just because we have experience, that experience tells me that we just are going to have to wait. it is kind of like reading tea leaves trying to figure out what a jury is doing when they are asking questions. it may be that one juror has one small question or it may mean they are completely divided back in that jury room. it is not surprising because what we've seen particularly with respect to these jury instructions, we've seen, harris, the judge merchan take the place, if you will, of the district attorney and grand jury. he is grafting into this case these three so-called other crimes. he is giving the jury the option of picking amongst themselves from this menu of options. these -- this is an essential element of the crimes charged. the jury is supposed to be unanimous as to each and every element of the crime. the judge is charging them with offenses that the grand jury has not presented in this case. it does violate the first amendment. donald trump and his team were never on notice of this. this is void from the very beginning and wrong and like legal fantasy land here. >> harris: i wanted to know what kind of notice had been given. if there wasn't any and -- judge, just quickly, you have to go but we're so glad you are with us. >> can i just say one thing? it is unheard of in new york state in any criminal case that a defendant can be indicted on a crime and not know what that crime is. it is a violation of the fifth amendment. it wasn't in the indictment. the bill of materials, opening statements. so the defendant could not defend himself against these make believe crimes over which new york state has no jurisdiction. the whole thing is like a smoke and mirrors show. donald trump is a bad person, he must be guilty of something. by the way you don't have to be unanimous on what that something may be. this case is riddled with reversible error, harris. >> harris: all that comes on appeal and by then november may have passed and isn't that the point politically for democrats? judge jeanine, great to have you for this part of our hour. very grateful. matt and phil, you will be with me for the hour. thank you for that. we'll take a quick break. jury deliberations are continuing. you can see on the right box on your screen it is almost six hours they've been doing this if you count the four plus hours yesterday and the couple they've been at it this morning. keep you updated with the latest from the courthouse as we await the verdict in this case. plus democrats are reportedly in an all-out panic over president biden's struggles with black voters. well, he keeps making it worse. perhaps he should not talk about people of color. ge companies,... ...our bottles might still look the same... ...but they can be remade in a whole new way. thanks to you... we're getting bottles back... and we've developed a way to make new ones from 100% recycled plastic. new bottles - made using no new plastic. you'll be seeing more of these bottles in more places. and when we get more of them back... ...we can use less new plastic. see how our bottles are made to be remade. introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. otezla can help you get clearer skin. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. let's say you want to help your small business thrive. constant contact has helped millions get the word out. with marketing tools to help you create emails, social posts and more. grow your business with constant contact. start today at constantcontact.com. >> harris: breaking news catching you up on what we have just learned while we were all in a commercial break. they were listening to a reread of the michael cohen testimony in the historic trial of new york versus donald trump. and now they have stopped that and are going to resume deliberations. we'll watch a little activity as people exit the courtroom and kind of, you know, get into place to resume those deliberations and we'll bring you up to speed if they have anymore questions. when they do they go back into court and the former president has to be there for those questions and answers. so we might not see him very much unless they decide to take a break at some point today. they broke yesterday for lunch. we'll see if that happens today. we're all over it. the right box on your screen has the latest minute-by-minute quick check and we'll be doing analysis live here. president biden's campaign is now considering how do you handle the verdict in a former president's trial? and particularly the president's opposition in the election? biden versus trump, how do you handle that verdict? well, it is being reported the campaign will not change course with biden and the president will stay quiet, in fact, even if trump is found guilty. now, why do i say that with such inflection? since earlier this week, "politico" had been reporting he was going to make a speech after trump's trial once the verdict is in with a speech at a white house setting, which they said from the white house would seem above politics. less about politics. who thinks that's the case? reuters is reporting that's not going to happen. we'll cover it and see what happens. a new piece argues any remarks biden would make on the case would be political. the president in a rally yesterday went hard after his gop rival. >> president biden: i'll be -- i'm not going to let trump turn into a place where -- i'll damned if i will let him -- >> harris: he looks so angry. tough talk aside, democrats are reportedly overwhelmed with anxiety. here is a column arguing rank and file democrats have told pollsters for months they want someone other than biden. anybody but biden. but now top party strategists have broken into the open to voice misgivings even alarm. they know equally that it is too late to replace biden. if democrats had been in unseesing ferment for the past two years maybe biden would have bowed out like lbj but he has been basking in delusional set abetted by party aides telling the line. that's a quote from "the washington examiner." ari fleischer is with me. that is a very specific and to the point take on this whole thing. your reaction, ari. >> well, all of this just points to how deep a problem joe biden is in. harris, it really reminds me of the 1992 george h.w. bush campaign to shore up his base and never did. he began his campaign and ended his campaign appealing to the christian coalition and traditional right wing groups that should have been in his camp and he never got to the ticket splitters and bill clinton won. joe biden is doing the same thing. he has to go to black groups, the heart of the democrat party, to try to get them back into his column. hispanic groups, democrat base. that's his entire campaign. and it didn't work for george h.w. bush and a sign of how much trouble an incumbent is in when they begin their campaign trying to reassembly the base and put it back together again. >> harris: the base is part people of color, the other part of the base is the young people they have lost. he is not talking to their needs and what they are going through right now. also just culturally where they are. they hold signs some of them that say genocide joe over the war in israel against the hamas terrorists. so it is a tough spot for him. president biden lashed out at a reporter who asked this. >> president biden, will you be serving your full four year term or handing over power to vice president harris? all four years or handing over? i can't hear you. can you approach? [inaudible] >> harris: is that a joke? >> on this one i can't blame joe biden. when a reporter asks you a question like that what are you supposed to say? and so he just tried to dismiss it all. it is a question that -- a legitimate question. to any president asked a question like that you always want to smack a reporter who asks something like that. >> harris: i don't know about that, ari. if you really want to support your own ticket and you believe in the person who by the way has lower polling than he does. i could see why he wouldn't believe in her. say you do and you would hope a president who he picked, a vice president he would then wouldn't you shore that person up in that moment and say to that reporter heck, yeah, she is with me. i'm with her. we're doing this together, four more years. like a post-it note and writes itself. >> well, the point about harris, if he answers the question, then he sparks a whole new wave of stories about harris is in, biden reaffirms support for harris or he commits to four years. it is just a story line that you just want to kill. you don't want it to go anywhere. that's why politically speaking the right thing for biden to do is to dismiss it and therefore there isn't a story since he didn't say anything and create more news. >> harris: you are a press secretary. that's all that experience coming forth. who knows if he would last four years? you are keeping him away from the curb. you are great at that. new report says several top black democrats are now alarmed. reportedly behind is scenes over biden's shrinking among that voting block. one cnn reporter says it is more than just a minor problem. >> it is a huge alarm. it is spiraling and police sirens and any alarm you can think of is what's going on off the democratic side. these numbers could be deadly to joe biden's campaign. >> harris: president biden along with his vice president spoke at a majority blackboarding school yesterday trying to claw back support and biden attacked former president trump again and again and again. >> president bidenthreat that trump poses is greater in the second term than his first. what do you think would happen if black americans had stormed the capitol the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested george floyd's murder. he is that guy who won't say black lives matter and invokes neo-nazi terms. he is pedaling lies and stereotypes. >> harris: there is nothing positive for the nation in that. just how much he hates his opponent. >> it is worse than that. he said republicans want to put you all back in chains to an african-american group. this is the card joe biden plays every time. it is vile. it is part of what divides america. when he talks about stereotypes he is the one engaging in the stereotypes against donald trump. the black vote in 2024 will be one of the most fascinating stories out there. in 2008 when john mccain ran against barack obama he got 4% of the black vote. when mitt romney ran he got 6%.