Us on this tuesday morning. Morning joe starts right now. Then we got to the Porn Starriness. Trumps defense, i never slept to Stormy Daniels and didnt pay her to be quiet. Michael cohen paid her to be quiet. Hes such a great guy who i hope is torn apart by wild dogs. And i only paid him what i thought were legal fees. If i did anything at all, i did everything, which i didnt do, to protect my wife from finding out about the things i never did. Stephen colbert. Well go through the consequential day in court in Donald TrumpsHush Money Trial with his former fixer and Attorney Michael Cohen on the stand. It will continue today. Well have expert legal analysis on the testimony and what we should expect in a few hours. Also ahead, well go through major developments in gaza. Israels military battling regrouped Hamas Terrorists in the north while weighing a fullscale assault on rafah in the south. Plus, the latest from ukraine and the surprise visit today by u. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken. This comes as russian president Vladimir Putin is set to make a state visit to china later this week. Good morning. Welcome to morning joe. It is tuesday, may 14th. With us, the host of Way Too Early, White House Bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. Bbc news katty kay. Pulitzer prize winning columnist and Associate Editor of the Washington Post, eugene robinson. Good morning to you all. Joe, a very busy morning. I can tell you, theres a lot to watch today in New York City, but mainly for a lot of us, its a pivotal game at Madison Square garden at 8 00. Theres no doubt about it. We could talk about a lot of news today, but for most new yorkers that are sports fans, you included, willie, its the knicks. As those of us outside of the greater, well, tristate area, its the Great Pumpkin. Let me tell you, every spring, New York Knicks fans tell you the Great Pumpkin rises from the patch in the east and brings toys and goodies to all good Boys And Girls, only to wake up the next morning and have their hearts broken. I dont know. Maybe this year, willie, will be different. Are you going tonight . Im not going, but i will be locked in and borderline comatose tomorrow morning, having stayed up late to watch the game. Yeah. I will say, though, weve learned over the last, i dont know, 51 years, not to actually expect too much in the spring from our team. This year has felt different because of Jalen Brunson, because of this team. They were blown out of the building in indiana. Whats worse, theyre hurt. They look exhausted. Theyve been through a long season undermanned. Lets see if they can big deep. The crowd will be behind them. They have to win tonight. Dont want to go back to indiana down 32. You know what . This team has given us reason to believe all season, so i will continue to believe in Jalen Brunson and the nova boys. Im not traditionally a new york sports fan, other than joe namaths new york jets. There is something undeniably cool about the knicks or the rangers doing well. The knicks especially doing well at Madison Square garden. For those of us of a certain age, Madison Square garden, that is where everything happened. Whether you talk about the knicks in the early 70s, the fight of the century which, by the way, was billed the fight of the century in 1971. And ended up being the fight of the century. Ali frazier. Man, if the knicks could play well in Madison Square garden, how exciting that would be for all sports fans. Look, i will be rooting for the knicks. I dont have a dog in this fight. Im not usually a huge knicks fan or a huge pacers fan, but, boy, you know, its so great in the garden when theyre playing well. It is. Spike lee is there. You know, the crowd is just crazy. Yeah. Its unlike any other place. Its a moment. Tonight would be a real moment because the knicks are so beat up. I mean, there are hardly any of them left. Do they have ten guys who they can put out on the court . It is just amazing. Yeah. Jalen brunson is just a superstar as far as im concerned. I hope they can do it. We need a willis reid moment. Can i jump in . Of course. Im taking notes because im off to l. A. To interview Magic Johnson, as one does. No way yes, seriously. Thats amazing. Thats why i wont be on the show on thursday. Anyway, look, youve given me a whole lot to talk about, so this is great. As you know, my starting level is, like, somewhere under the table here. This is very helpful, guys. Thank you. I love that. One team, knicks, ni yeah, got it. Talk a lot about the Boston Celtics, and theyll be fine when you talk to magic. Yeah. We have a lot to talk about in news today, willie. I have to say one thing, willie, jumped out to me today. Its so strange. You have all of these people protesting in support of hamas. There is a New York Times story that talks about just how oppressive. Secret files show hamas spying on its people. How oppressive and what total tyrants hamas was when they ran gaza. Again, something you dont usually hear in the media. You certainly dont hear those College Campus protests. How unpopular hamas was inside of gaza. They didnt broker any dissent. They followed people around. They spied on their personal lives. Of course, as we all know, but nobody talks about, if there was any dissent at all, youd end up with a bullet in the back of your head if you were a palestinian or pushed off a building. This story begins to tell the truth about hamas, but i must say, News Coverage overall over the past six months has been deplorable. They havent pointed out what david french has pointed out. Hamas and isis really the same. The fact that American College students have gone out in support of a force thats the moral equivalent of isis shows just that Hillary Clinton is right. So many of them had no idea who they were cheering on. You dont have to wonder, either. This is interesting reporting but not surprising to most people who know anything about hamas and the way theyve run gaza, or if you woke up to Hamas On October 7th and seen the videos, read the stories, heard the details, the horrifying accounts of what happened that day, thats pretty much all you need to know about hamas. In fact, what it has done to its own people, as detailed in the story. Well talk more about that in our next segment with Richard Engel reporting live from the region. We will begin here in new york. Michael cohen returning to the Witness Stand later this morning after testifying for more than six hours yesterday. Nbc news senior Legal CorrespondentLaura Jarrett has a recap of the day in court. Reporter a highlyanticipated courtroom showdown. Prosecutors star witness, Michael Cohen, President Trumps selfdescribed fixer turned fierce critic, told the jury he paid off an Adult Film Actress before the campaign. Everything required trumps signoff, cohen told the jury. Testifying, trump was furious in 2016 when he learned daniels was still trying to sell her story of sex with the former president. Telling cohen, i thought you had this under control. Cohen explaining hed managed to suppress daniels story years before, but it resurfaced on the heels of the access Hollywood Tape. Cohen feared if daniels went public, it would be, quote, catastrophic for the campaign. Saying, mr. Trump told him, just take care of it. This is a disaster. Women are going to hate me. Guys may think this is cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. Cohen said mr. Trump told him he met daniels at a golf tournament, describing her as a beautiful woman. Mr. Trump has denied he had sex with daniels and pleaded not guilt toy the charges of illegally disguising his Reimbursement Checks to cohen on the books and records. The defense arguing cohen was his attorney at the time, handling a personal matter to avoid family embarrassment. Hope hicks previously testifying trump didnt want newspapers with details of a Hush Money Payment with a different woman delivered to their home. But cohen saying trump wasnt concerned about melanias action. He wasnt thinking about melania. This was all about the campaign. Cohen adding, mr. Trump told him, i want you to push it out as long as you can. Just get past the election, because if i win, it will have no relevance. If i lose, i dont even care. Cohen testifying he told mr. Trump he would pay daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement, opting to use money from a Home Equity Line Of Credit. Mr. Trump was appreciative. Saying words to the effect of, dont worry. Youll get the money back. The state trying to show that daniels payoff wasnt isolated but part of a pattern. Cohen admitting he secretly recorded his client while they discussed repaying the National Enquirer, which purchased the story of another woman who said she had sex with mr. Trump, which he denies. The financing which will be what financing . Ill have to pay him something. Reporter prosecutors presented no direct evidence that mr. Trump or anyone falsified Business Records, so cohens credibility here key. Telling jurors, mr. Trump never used email because too many people have gone down once prosecutors obtained their emails. Cohen now a disbarred attorney for lying under oath, the defense argues hes out for revenge after not getting a job in the white house. Cohen testifying he would have liked to have been considered for white house Chief Of Staff for his, quote, ego. Theres no fraud here. Theres no crime here. This is four weeks of keeping me from not campaigning. Laura jarrett reporting there. Lets bring in former litigator and msnbc Legal Correspondent lisa rubin. Good morning. Good to see you. Morning. Michael cohen in no Uncertain Terms explicitly describing how this went down. Directly ordered by trump to send the check, quoting donald trump as saying, just do it. Apologies to nike. What did we learn yesterday from Michael Cohen. Cohen testified to a number of conversations he had privately with donald trump or with other participants, sometimes with david pecker, for example, other times with Allen Weisselberg. Again and again, Michael Cohen showed, when he said he made the payments in coordination with and at the direction of donald trump, he meant it. Youll recall that yesterday, i sat here and said, im interested to see how Michael Cohen flushes out that phrase, at the direction of. Was that code, meaning, did trump wink, wink, nod, nod, please take care of this, or was he explicit in asking Michael Cohen to make sure Stormy Daniels got paid, and also equally explicit in how they were going to account for that through paperwork . Michael cohen left that unambiguous. Donald trump knew he intended cohen to pay Stormy Daniels. He intended that Michael Cohen will not only repaid but paid in a way that left Michael Cohen in good standing, a, with taxes, and, b, with a little extra for the bonus he was stiffed at the end of 2016. He knew the entire time that it would be papered over as Legal Expenses. Michael cohen filled those gaps yesterday. Michael cohen made clear that this to donald trump, according to Michael Cohens account, was about protecting his election hopes. It wasnt about protecting his marriage. That was Michael Cohens assessment anyway, saying this was all about the campaign. Push this past the campaign. If im elected, nobody cares anymore. How significant is that . Very significant. Youll recall, the defense wants to say this was about the family. The principal objective here, even if donald trump knew about it, principal objective was not for the campaign, that there was no conspiracy here to promote Donald Trumps election through unlawful means. Cohen said he asked trump, how is this going to go upstairs, meaning when a story broke about Karen Mcdougal. Trump said, dont worry about that. How long do you think id be on the market for . Not long. You know, trump basically also saying to cohen, even if my wife is that upset by that, dont worry about that. Ill be taken care of. Ill find another woman other than melania. Thats not a person who is principally concerned about the impact on their family. Lisa, so much has been made of Michael Cohens credibility issues, and rightly so. He lied to congress. He spent time in prison. Just give us your assessment as to how did he do yesterday in terms of demeanor. There has been word he might lose his temper, as he has been known to do. Both his demeanor and was he believable . Did he do what the prosecution wanted . I think he did. He was the best thing i can say about Michael Cohen yesterday was he was humble. He took responsibility for things that he hasnt taken responsibility for in the past. He did so without being grudging about it. Basically said, for example, he was repaid 50,000, john, when he was repaid for the Stormy Daniels payment, also got a 50,000 for a vendor that trump had stiffed. He had paid that vendor partially but not totally, and, yet, he asked the Trump Organization, give me all 50,000. What did he cop to yesterday on the stand . He pocketed the remainder of that. Michael cohen taking responsibility yesterday, not only for conduct we already knew about, thats been charged, but all sorts of other conduct, including bullying and lying for the former president , dozens and dozens of times. Not being the best guy. Also, copping to basically uncharged criminal conduct yesterday. For example, lying in his statements to First Republic bank when he was trying to open an llc account, the vehicle he repaid Stormy Daniels through. If he can keep that demeanor on crossexamination, maintain the same humility, i think his credibility will be better off than people think. At the same time, i watched your segment earlier this morning with matt lewis. We should not dilute ourselves. Michael cohen is not a hero. He is a person who has been complicit in really bad things in the past. That doesnt mean he is not telling the truth now, but it also doesnt mean he is an American Patriot and hero. Katty kay, thats the foundation of the defense, which we may start to hear later today. Well have some more direct examination at the beginning of the day and perhaps cross begins later today. The foundation of the Defense Argument is, this is not a credible witness. Discount everything you are hearing. Thatll be fascinating, right . He was clearly prepped very carefully for the prosecutions questioning, and he performed well. This was not the bully weve heard of. This was not, as hope hicks described him, somebody who was selfcentered and uncharitable. He came across well. I think the question is going to be, lisa, how do you do you get any inclination from how he performed yesterday about how he is going to hold up once he gets under cross . The pressure is going to be much more. Theyre going to try to push his buttons. Thats what crossexamination does. Thats their whole goal, is to do that with donald trump. As an aside, im still digesting all the things that donald trump said about, i wont be on the market very long. Dont worry about me. I dont know how that goes down with women in the jury. Lisa, do you get a sense of how he is going to hold up under cross . Katty, it is always impossible to say how much a witness gets rattled. Of course, i watched Michael Cohens crossexamination in the previous trial, where he was rattled by alina habba. Michael cohen maintained, for example, while he lied to congress, he was not formally charged with perjury. He also maintains he made those lies for Donald Trumps behest. If Michael Cohen doesnt insist on semantics today and continues to accept responsibility, and even says things like, for example, my ego was hurt when i wasnt considered for Chief Of Staff,