Welcome back to the weekend, everyone. Prosecutors in donald trump trials that they could rest the case as early as next week. This after Stormy Daniels testified. Criminal charges dont hinge on Stormy Daniels testimony. This case is about concealing the Hush Money Payment that went to her. That is how Michael Cohens testimony will come into play and he is expected to take the stand on monday. Joining us now are our guests who are with us. Its so good to see you. If someone was not watching this week, if they were not following it be right be by be, what was your big take away from this we cracked i think a few things. Monday, Stormy Daniels let the headline grabber this weekend but monday was important because we saw some ploys from the Trump Organization to walk through some of the documentation. And how it traveled its way through the Trump Organization. And then down to the white house were checks for side and came back up. That is really important because this case really does hinge on those 34 records, the receipt and the checks and the information that was allegedly falsified in order to swing the election and there will also be an election charge here that the government hopes will get the misdemeanor charges up to a felony. See the documents and what they were and being talked to i thought was significant. Stormy daniels was obviously up. There were a lot of headlines around that and she was significant because she talks about what happened. Karen google and there is another third catch and kill situation, they are important because of context for what happened but Stormy Daniels and the payment that went to her is that the heart of it. Its the one we care about because it is one that involves these 34 documents weve been talking about that will underpin the case. On that point, its not about the sex, its not about the encounter as we are framing it. It really is about the Business Records ap noting that despite all the talk of what may happen in the hotel room, the case against trump does not rise and fall on whether her account is true or even believe about it as a trial but money changing hands, business transactions, and whether those payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election. That is what this is about. That is where the prosecution is hanging his hat. All of the narrative that we seem play out including Stormy Daniels testimony is going to that core point. So, why is everybody talking about this in a way that makes it about the sex . Is that a failure to understand and terms of the positioning of the cake . Or is it just we like the salacious of it . There are two reasons. Is a complicated case and i think maybe those of us in the media havent done a good enough job of educating the public that the core facts and how the other facts relate to it. But, i have to take issue with the assessment. It may have been irrelevant in another world because there is a world in which the prosecutors could afford on this case without having to take a position on the underlying encounter that occurred. That became untenable when trumps lawyers open attacking Stormy Daniels and claiming she lied about it and denying that it occurred. Became untenable for the prosecutors. They had to put her on at that point because it is a start of the whole story and what they did last week, they set all the circus aside and the conservative spin, what they accomplished was two things. One, they establish that Donald Trumps defense now is a lie. I believe Stormy Daniels account. That means donald trump is lying and is still lying. Number two, more importantly, they demonstrated to the jury that todd blanche was willing to relay that my to them in his opening statement. Thereby thoroughly undermining his credibility in front of them, too. That is worse than trump and worse for his position in the case than trumps credibility. Trump, i am sure, and i can with a high degree of confidence put his lawyers in that position. It was a major mistake. Susanne, how did the jury , i guess, feel and how did they respond as Stormy Daniels was on the thing . I was actually in the Overflow Room so i could not see her but i want to talk more about Stormy Daniels and her testimony because i think it doesnt matter whether or not the jury believed her. Donald trump we have learned there was one of the three Hush Money Payment that one out to somebody who was making an allegation that did not happen and they took a Lie Detector Test and that testimony has come up. But the fact that Stormy Daniels came in and said it did happen is important because if they believe her, it makes it all the more urgent in 2016 that he wanted to cover it up and i think the details of her are important to the jury because their understanding exactly what donald trump and Michael Cohen and the campaign were trying to cover up and what they were paying Hush Money Payment four. What would have been the headline if that information had come out in 2016. If the National Enquirer instead of catching and killing that story had caught it and run it and how damaging it would have been especially when weve heard other testimony that would have come after the Access Hollywood taper it would have been devastating and i think the jury has heard some of that and there is an argument that didnt go too far . There has been debate about that Stormy Daniels caught the light giving too much information about the encounter . I think reasonable minds can agree on that and that issue may be brought up on appeal but overall it was important for the jury to hear the contours of it and to hear her story and decide whether they believe it or not. If nothing else, i think it did get under Donald Trumps skin because nbc is reporting that donald trump was Cursing Audibly in the courtroom to the point where judge merchan had to tell his lawyer, i understand your client is upset but he is Cursing Audibly and shaking his head visually and that is contemptuous, according to the transcript that is what hes doing inside the courtroom and what he is doing outside the courtroom. Here are some of the things he said. Whats going on with the judge is a disaster . I am interested in i being held in this court with a corrupt judge who is totally conflicted. Its not stopping. I think it is quite repetitive and old by now. Weve heard it over and over again. They are asking me, he supposed to be very vigorous and is coming out looking like a mess every afternoon and doing the whole blah, blah, blah. But, he will keep at it. But you know what that blah, blah, blah is for. Its in the court of public opinion. Theres his desire to make this a pr thing. But there is also this effort that is much bigger to undermine the judiciary and if only in the minds of a fraction of americans. Yes, i think that is a very, very important observation because i am short it is upsetting the judge, rightly, and the prosecutors, rightly. They have complaint on the record about this. Again, the longterm assessment of donald trump strategy is this is a set of crimes to plausibly if convicted and losses reelection, he couldve gotten just probation. It is increasing the odds that the judge will sentence him to prison and the odds that the prosecutors will ask for prison time and the odds that the judge will send him away to prison for some period of time. It is not helpful to him to be doing this within the confines of the legal situation. What it is doing for him politically, hes hoping it takes them back to the white house. But the camera is not usually standing outside the courtroom. You know, that same courtroom that donald trump is in regular runofthemill folks who have gotten caught up in the system or done things that are criminal and they dont have a camera they can talk to. Am i making this up . The camera is interesting and a lot of people were wondering about that. The camera is there in the court system puts it cases that have a public interest. They can also be used by the prosecutors if they want. Donald trump just happened to be the one taking advantage of it. Will, from that standpoint, if you want to put a camera there, further prosecutors and defense to come out and talk, then why not at least give us the audio inside the courtroom . I am with you. So much of this case could be clarified for the American People if we didnt have to get second and third hand impressions and all of that. If we could just absorb it firsthand directly and really see the man in the moment for what it is. I think that people dont we are reading i read the Recording Trend up the transcript and that is from what he actually said but i think people to a certain extent dont necessarily believe because some of this is crazy. It just sounds so farfetched and they have a hard time believing, did this really happen or where we putting Something Else on it . In reality, this is what is happening but without the audio and video from the courtroom, people are left to their own little Media Circles and corners of the internet where they get their news. I wish we could have it unfiltered and a camera in there. I am the biggest advocate of that and i think its a real tragedy that even though i think the reporting has been excellent, anytime people can hear something first is better. It makes a difference. Dont go anywhere. We want to continue the conversation because there is so much more to get to. Donald trumps criminal trial and later this hour, jen psaki will join us to talk about her new book say more. You are watching the weekend. look, things may seem fine down there, but you need to watch out for diseases. Ill be okay. Does this look ok . ugh. How do i protect myself . With the new Scotts Healthy Plus lawn food. Its the only product that prevents 27 diseases while feeding your grass to help keep your lawn healthy this season. Want me to show you how to put it on . No, i think i know how to use a spreader. Pick up a bag of the new Scotts Turf Builder healthy plus lawn food today. Feed your lawn. Feed it. [ Cellphone Ringing ] phone call from the boss . Sorry. Scotts turf builder healthy plus lawn food today. Outdoor time is me time. I hear that. Thats why we protect all your vehicles here. But hey. Nothing wrong with sticking it to the boss. Ooooh, flo, you gonna take that . Why would that concern me . Because youre. The. Arent you the. . Huh. We never actually discussed hierarchy. Ok, why dont we just stick to letting dave know how much he can save when he bundles his home or auto with his boat or rv. Wait, i thought jamie was the boss. [ laughter ] its funny because im not boss material [meowing] hi, whats your name . This is our new friend. Well talk about it later, ok . what does a cat need . Chewys here. [smash] no, no, no, no. That good . Hey, wait, come back. is this normal . Ask the chewy vet team. How much is too much catnip . For everything you need and everything you need to know. Find it at chewy. Her uncles unhappy. For ev im sensing aned and everyunderlying issue. Know. Its tmobile. It started when we tried to get him under a new plan. But they they unexpectedly unraveled their price lock guarantee. Which has made him, a bit. Unruly. You called yourself the uncarrier. You sing about price lock on those commercials. the price lock, the price lock. so, if you could change the price, change the name its not a lock, i know a lock. So how can we undo the damage . We could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. Their connection is unreal. And we could all unexperience this whole session. Okay, thats uncalled for. Go next week, the prosecutions final two witnesses are expected to take a stand and the first criminal trial of a former american president. Back with us, Ankush Khardori and susanne craig. We were in the break, susanne, and i was saying, people say a lot of things about Michael Cohen and i dont think you should have been on a podcast or tiktok, but i have faith in Michael Cohen that he is going to go in there and do what needs to be done because he is the person who went to jail because of this. He has suffered immensely and i think michael call when once donald trump to have that accountability and he knows the documents are how that happens. I was making the case and ankush was looking at me like. I agree with you but i also think he has been doing something that was suggest that he doesnt have the best judgment. The tiktok video that he made where he had a picture of donald trump in an Orange Jumpsuit behind jar behind bars, im not following every beat of what Michael Cohen is doing in terms of what he is saying about donald trump on tiktok, but weeks ago, i did see a treat he said, i am not going to say anything about donald trump because of all the stuff going on with the gag order. Then he has been poking the bear ever since. I think there is so much at stake here. Im just surprised he is doing it given that. I do think once monday morning comes, its interesting that he is schedule, it looks like, the government is saying they cant wrap their case by friday which means it sounds like his examination could be tight. A few days. I think they will keep him to the four corners of the case and very much have him be a narrator for the jury through the documents. We will hear a lot about the checks, a lot about the agreement that he had with trump about the Hush Money Payment and things like we heard this week. He would send emails over to the organization thing, i would like my payment and per my legal retainer, and we learned that there is no legal retainer. He will talk about things like that. I hope you are right about it and im sure he understands the cavity, but his behavior he engages in is perplexing. Im going to set up the question for you because im going to take The Other Side of the spirit i get completely what Michael Cohen is doing. And i approve, baby boy. I approve because is working ahead. He knows the man. Everybody was testified in this trial involved in this trial, he is the one man who knows the man. He knows the buttons and he knows doing that tiktok video and saying all this stuff, when he gets in that courtroom and there is the mono a mono moment, its going to be rich and i think there is a psychological game being played here by Michael Cohen to a certain degree. Yet, he will do the testimony stuff, but the setup, for me, the setup is when he said he was not going to say anything and im like, yeah you are because that is the relationship. Okay. So. That may be accurate. Im just talking about the manfred yall watch Michael Cohen . Where am i wrong on this . It is a terrible idea. Terrible. Heres why. The prosecutors, they said yesterday, have been asking him for and im not surprised that over i would be yelling at him, pleading at him to stop it. Yes. But he has disobeyed those instructions. If you take but so has donald trump. The jury is going to be asked to trust cohen, not trump. Your thought about what he mightve been doing and he might thought that is not helpful to him. You know, its not even an academic question because there will be a true line that the defense will pull through here which is that Michael Cohen also thinks he can say and do whatever he wants. He has lied to every branch of the federal government. Several months ago they determined that he purged himself but that will be his when he like to the justice department, that wasnt for donald trump, that was for him. When he lied to the irs, that wasnt for donald trump, that was for him. That will not work. I hope for his own sake that he abandoned that line. This is not helpful and does not sound good for Michael Cohen. I am concerned for him. This is concerning. I think the legal beagles at the table, i think this is also a matter of Public Performance and i get the whole thing with the jury. How much the jury saw or heard from any of this. Hopefully they happen. Give me one second on this. I did print up this is not grade school fight this is a court proceeding. And it will matter next week and some of the things that Michael Cohen has done have been in service of donald trump, but there are other things he has done that has been tripped up he went for tax evasion and i think we will see if he continues to speak out this weekend we will see a cross where all of this will be brought up and it will print up they can say this has been going on while this court case has been going on. I think if it was just a public dispute its fine, but in a court case you risk serious damage to the point where the judge said to the government lawyers yesterday, ask him for me to shut up. I am paraphrasing but that is what he said. At the end of the day, donald trump hired Michael Cohen. If they want to make him a villain who cannot be trusted across, print up i still think he can be a really good witness. He knows the narrative. The documents are great but they dont go to intent and the witnesses will take us to the table on intent for the jury to come back with a verdict of guilty. We dont know where it will go because