>> right now the criminal trial against former president trump is in lunch break. his former lawyer and convicted felon michael cohen has been testifying about the "access hollywood" tape. one of the big takeaways was he said that trump was concerned about the reaction from the campaign. which stands in direct opposition for what we heard from hope hicks who talked about, and i want to quote her directly. "he was worried how he would be viewed at home." she gave anecdotes to that effect. to the trim controller who said he was concerned about his global brand with several of these stories. direct opposition. you get to choose who to believe. the professional woman or the convicted liar. moments from now the state department will hold a briefing. we will take you to that after antony blinken gave some of his harshest criticisms yet of israel amid a state department report that is explosive that we will be certain to hear about in just a few minutes. 15 minutes from now.

"america reports." >> we are in the fourth week and there is still no evidence whatsoever connecting trump with any criminal wrongdoing. a crime that is not charged. it's a crime that prosecutors won't tell the defendant what it is. i don't know what they were going to do. this trial is rigged. it is dishonest, it's a disgrace to new york, it's a disgrace too the country. >> sandra: that was earlier and now a live look outside this newark supreme court where a jury has been hearing directly from the prosecution's star witness michael cohen. x attorney for former president donald trump. hello and welcome everyone. i am sandra smith in new york as we kick off a new week. >> john: center, glad to have you backward i'm john roberts in washington and this is "america reports." ct. in lunch break now. so far michael cohen has testified that his duties at the trump organization included killing negative stories about his boss. he started detailing the steps

to shut down the stormy daniels story before the lunch break. >> sandra: the testimony could make or break this case as the prosecution works to convince the jury he is a credible witness despite his checkered past. we have expert analysis across the next two hours to cover everything that is happening and that has happened so far. >> john: first to our senior correspondent eric shawn live outside the state supreme court. eric they started to delve into the stormy daniels affair. we are likely going to hear a lot more about that this afternoon as court resumes. >> that they did, john. what a dramatic way to keep the jurors on the edge it just before they broke for lunch. michael cohen did testify here in court. the former president trump was worried about stormy daniels alleged affair story getting out and it would harm his campaign. that is the heart of the crop prosecution case against the former president and it is the first time we have heard that

from a witness in this trial. in his test one of this morning, he said that the former president told him that he needed to do whatever he could to keep the stormy daniels story under wraps. past the election, he said "this is the first time that a witness has tied trump to the concerns that stormy's story could damage his campaign." that's what prosecutors have tried to say that there is a conspiracy to pay her off and hide the reimbursements to cohen. all his legal expenses. cohen said "the president said just take care of it. this is a disaster. a total disaster. women are going to hate me. this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. push it out as long as you can, just get past the election. if i win, it has no relevance and if i lose, i don't even care." he also testified that when they first heard about karen mcdougal's claim of an affair with drum, he said trump told him "she's really beautiful and make sure it doesn't get

released." for the second time the jury heard the audio of trump and cohen talking about paying mcdougall. cohen admitted he secretly recorded this on his iphone without trump's knowledge while sitting at his desk. >> when it comes time for the financing. >> what findings question rick >> we will have to pay them. >> the defense, when they get hold of michael cohen, they will try to drill into them. not only has credibility but also challenge him over his claim. former president trump has said in this case that the stormy daniels story would hurt his election chances. that is what prosecutors have been saying all along but leave it to the defense to see if they can undermine and cast doubt to that because michael cohen so far is the only witness here who has claimed that.

back to you. >> john: we will see when they get there. eric, thank you. >> sandra: let's bring in leo terrel beard civil rights attorney and fox news contributor. it is great to see you. let's remember, put it up on the screen. "vanity fair" 2017. who michael cohen was and said he was then when he said he would take a bullet for the president. i'm the guy who stops the leaks, i'm the guy who protects the president and the family. i'm the guy who would take a bullet for the president. my how things have changed. now he is the prosecution's biggest weapon apparently. >> and he is a convicted felon. he lies and he lies over and over again. he has a hatred toward trump up to his testimony he has been on tiktok. this witness has no credibility. in the real testimony of michael cohen will start on cross examinations. spew and he's telling a much dit story now than he was telling back in 2018.

this is what he said to "the new york times." in terms of the payment to stormy daniels but he said, "neither the trump organization or trump campaign was a part of the transaction with with clifford. and neither reimbursement of the payment directly or indirectly buried the payment to miss clifford was lawful and not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure in any way." i remember having a phone conversation with cohen when he told me that he took out a home equity loan to pay for all of this. put all along the same lines of what he told "the new york times" and yet he was out there on the stand and now here he is out on the stand telling a completely different story. what is the jury to make of all of that? >> exactly. let me tell you what's going to happen. the real testimony starts with the letter, john. he is going to -- the prosecution has to deal with all of his lies and the fact that he

is a convicted felon. he is reversing himself. how we deal with that is going to be very interesting and let's not forget the elephant in the room. the cfo, allen weisselberg. he just made reference to alan weissberg. they won't even call it. when i submit to you as you have a witness. the only witness the prosecution will present as far as linking trump to a crime and this witness has no credibility. i will tell you right on the air this testimony will last three or four or five days. expect the defense to have them up there on the witness stand for three days. up until right now there is not a single shred of evidence that president trump participated in a crime either falsifying records or to hide a campaign state or federal finance charge. >> sandra: i've been out for a few days. if you were to write the headline for this trial so far. up to just this past hour where they have taken this break. what would it be?

you >> a big zero for the prosecution. judge, do the right thing. declare a mistrial and a verdict in favor of the defense. >> sandra: it has been something to watch. you look at the last to come out of the courtroom before they took this break. cohen asking trump how things are going upstairs meeting with milani appeared trump telling: how long do you think he's going to be on the market for question rick not long. talking about all of this in the "access hollywood" tape. it truly shows that his concern was with his wife and how it would expect his family. >> and that's the key point. hope hicks brought that out. everyone listening to this program prosecution is not interested they are interested and damaging his election chances. someone handed a copy of

"the new york times." you saw the rally in new jersey. this is backfiring and you have democrat judge, prosecutor, everyone trying to get trump on this legal attempt. it's not working, sandra. >> john: leo terrel, thank you for kicking us off this afternoon. we appreciate appeared a lot more to come as the days progress. right now let's bring in fox legal editor carrier bonds. the case that the prosecution is trying to make is that all of this was in benefit of the campaign. in his testimony, he went some distance toward satisfying the story that they are trying to get out. when they talk about the stormy daniels news coming out and he broke to trump because michael cohen had taken care of the same thing back in 2115 years earlier. he said trump was really angry with me. i thought you had this under control. i thought you took care of that. michael cohen said he took care of it in 2011 peer trump

reiterated just take care of it. this is a disaster, a total disaster, women are going to hate me. this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. hope hicks last week testified that the former president was really concerned about what the impact was going to be on milani appeared who do you think has greater sway with the jury? >> at this point i would think it's hope hicks because michael cohen has a track record of lying to court, to the media, to congress, to the irs. he does not have a lot of credibility at this point. but you know, we heard a lot from michael cohen this morning about how much he and donald trump spoke and how involved donald trump was. but this does not play to the heart of the issue. we don't know what donald trump knew about the ins and ounce of the payments to stormy daniels. how he knew, how is classified, how it was arranged. we haven't gotten there. one thing that has struck me is

how much michael cohen prided himself on fixing things for donald trump. it seems like he lived off the affirmation. he said that working for donald trump for a decade was fantastic. it was a wonderful experience. the reason i bring that up as if one is a really good fixer with which supposedly he was, a good fixer make sure that their principal does not know details that could potentially harm them down the road. they try to make distance so that principal can claim possible deniability. i think it's going to be a bit of a jump for the jury to hear from michael cohen how he did all of the stuffer trump, how it meant so much to do a good job only to find out what he's going to say in a couple of hours, actually i told him all of these things that can probably get him in trouble down the road. that's not what a good lawyer fixer would do but on that note, i was surprised to hear again more about this recording that was introduced into evidence.

the fact that a lawyer would record his client secretly and bring it to the publisher of a magazine just to show the publisher don't worry, my client will pay you and i want your loyalty. talk about violating basic tenets of attorney privilege. >> sandra: one of your last notes struck me when you went to the heart of cohen's credibility which is what we are walking in the courtroom today. if he was happy, trump would be happy that he doesn't have to pay but painted a completely different picture. cohen going ballistic. it would be interesting to see if the defense raises us on the cross. do you expect to happen? >> definitely. cohen made it sound like he was so happy that he knew trump would be happy because he didn't have to pay but as you just s

said, david painted a completely different picture with him going ballistic saying the boss is going to be very angry but he was saying this is going to be happy because he doesn't have to be the number. i've seen this in the coverage after the organization. access hollywood story being bad and damaging and catastrophic. we've heard that from a number of witnesses. that is stating the obvious. anybody who lived through october 2016 knew that story was going to be bad for donald trump politically. but just because something was bad for him politically doesn't mean that the steps he took thereafter were wrong illegally and the prosecution is yet to make that case and prove that crime. we will hear what michael cohen has to say this afternoon to that point. >> john: what do you think the defense will do when they get a chance to cross-examine michael cohen question rick mike eichler who was on with us last week was on with us and i put the question to him. he said i would eviscerate him.

the defense has gone easy obviously on witnesses like hope hicks. they went pretty easy on run a graph. you think they will take the long knives to call in here? >> they will go through all of the statements he has made in the past that completely contradict what he is saying now. i'm sure they will bring up statements where he talked about donald trump caring about the impact of the story on milani and all kinds of things. i expect them to bring up michael cohen's own words against himself. >> sandra: that will be an exciting afternoon. we look forward to it continuing shortly. thank you. >> john: we will talk soon. we are watching as a lawyer's question the star witness a new york versus trump criminal trial on the stand trump's former fixer michael cohen. bill hemmer has a coveted seat inside the courtroom. he will be going in right after the lunch break joining us in the next few minutes he will join us to talk about what he is

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>> sandra: we will head back to lower manhattan where the prosecution's star witness has taken the standard former michael: detailing his relationship with his ex-boss. bill hemmer at the conclusion of his show ran down to the courthouse. he is doing is live from there. we anticipate court will resume a short time from now.

you are outside the courtroom and you will be inside that courtroom shortly bill but your thoughts so far. >> big media circus down here and it has been this way for a month and i could go into detail later on that but you have a dozen, dozen and a half tv trucks that have been part out here for the last month. here's what i think right now. it's the toughest ticket in town and it's more difficult than the rangers, more difficult than the new york knicks beer there's only a couple dozen seats inside that courtroom. what we tried to do over the coming week is get a bit of an alternating which we and our colleagues to get inside and get a taste of what's happening inside that courtroom. when i see you at the 4:00 hour, sandra, i can deliver that to you. what i think is significant today is this. today is michael cohen's day. michael cohen in all likelihood will be on that stand all day today and probably into tuesday as well before you get any sort of cross-examination.

my colleague from fox business was telling me that he is speaking very slowly, it is very deliberate, and therefore this is a long day and will be a long process. a couple things to keep in mind about michael cohen. remember, he pled guilty to lying to congress. he served three years in prison. he pled guilty to a criminal counts including unlawful campaign contributions. that is his background. go back to 2017. early after that election, michael cohen wanted to go to washington, d.c. he was talking about being the chief of staff under president trump. he was talking about being an attorney general under president trump. none of that happened because donald trump left michael cohen back in new york city. washington was not in his future. when trump's attorneys get their opportunity, you will hear a lot more about that. in the meantime, that one stinging remark there toward the end right before lunch break is

hanging in the minds of the jurors. when michael cohen said it trump said this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. women are going to hate me. it will be interesting to see how his lawyers pick up on that point and how trump counters that. not just today but throughout the week. >> john: it will be interesting to know if the jury believes a word that comes out of his mouth because let's go back to february 27th 2019 when he was appearing before a house committee and he said the following. i did things and i acted improperly at times. at times at mr. trump's behalf. i blindly followed his demands. my loyalty to mr. trump has cost me everything. i acknowledge my own mistakes and i have owned up to them publicly and under oath. i'm sorry for my lies and lying to congress and then in another hearing or i guess it was the same hearing. jim jordan says to him you wanted to work at the white house. you didn't get brock to the dance. michael cohen said i was extremely proud to be personal

attorney to the president of the united states of america. i did not want to go to the white house. i was offered jobs and we have learned in the course of this child that he was beside himself upset that he did not get brought to washington. what is the jury going to believe your? >> great question, john. it will be up to them to tell us in the end. i think another important aspect of this trial developed today. alan weiss oberg was trump's accountant. for decades. he is serving a second prison term and rikers island prison out by laguardia. it was thought that weiss oberg may or may not be able to corroborate michael cohen's testimony. but when court opened earlier today, and remember last friday afternoon just to update you the judge was asking about weiss oberg and maybe he should be called as a witness. that has not happened. when the judge deferred on

admitting some of the evidence about his agreement that he reached with the trump organization when he left oregon for donald trump, he said that will be inadmissible meaning it will not be entered into this case. i find it very significant because if that remains, john, if there is no alan weiss oberg, if there is no separation agreement entered into this case, you will only have michael cohen's word against donald trump. and the entire trial will rest on that. >> sandra: so set up the next few hours for us. you will head back into the courtroom, trump is expected to head back in there around 2:00. court will resume around that time. we do think things will wrap around 4:30. we do expect the president, the former president will speak as he often has. i think every time as he is departing the courthouse.

set up for us your expectations for the afternoon and we will see you later. >> 2:00 you are exactly right about that. we will head in 15 minutes earlier. security is very tight as you would expect on a trial and a story like this. we will go for two and a half hours and we will see where michael cohen's lawyers pick up the case, the ones that happen. i would expect trump to talk again and head back to fifth avenue and midtown. what happens after that is anybody's guess. i'm thinking at the moment with stormy daniels on the stand for about seven hours and 30 minutes, i think michael cohen will well exceed that once you get to the cross-examination. then i think you need to ask yourself who is left on the witness stand after that? after michael cohen. it is anybody's guess at the end of last week we had people working on books from six or seven years ago working in the white house from six to seven years ago. i don't know who else the state

may call but may be toward the latter half of this week the state will rest. it is possible as of this moment right now monday afternoon. >> john: at one of the think is going to have to reconcile is back in 2018 when all of this happened he told me in "the new york times" and anybody else who was willing to listen to him that he never got paid back for the stormy daniels payment and i was going to tell the court that it was all a fraud to cover up the payment? we will see. congratulations. we will talk to you later. >> great to be with you guys. >> sandra: we will see you soon. >> john: our coverage of michael cohen's testimony rolls on. is he helping or hurting the prosecution's case question work we will have the latest in the courtroom just ahead. speak on matter what comes out of cohen's mouth today or this week, it is checkmate for the prosecution. now we can't believe anything

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>> sandra: former president donald trump coming face-to-face with the attorney who flipped on him as michael cohen takes a stand. lydia hua fox business' live outside of new york state supreme court for us this hour. lydia, we expect his testimony to resume shortly. what have we heard so far? >> really fascinating morning we are seeing on display from donald trump's former attorney michael cohen. i just had an opportunity to speak with our director who's had the opportunity to see michael cohen today along with me and as he testified in the new york civil case. today michael cohen is much more calm than he has been in the past. eric trump tweeted a while ago that it feels like michael cohen's testimony is rehearsed and as soon as that tweet posted, i remarked to my colleague with you me i felt the same way. he was going through his

testimony methodically. it feels like the prosecutor spent a good chunk of the morning trying to rehabilitate his image right off the start allowing him to talk about his family and his work history as it see if it's a dedicated family man with an established career of some sort. we have to remember this case is about documents and allegedly falsified documents. for that reason, the prosecutors are also trying to paint donald trump as a mastermind behind all of this. they are letting michael cohen talk about how donald trump is a micromanager appeared how everything was run by donald trump at all times. this is all going to lead to testimony that we will hear later about how donald trump probably knew about all of these payments and the entire payment scheme here but that raises when i think is a big gaping hole in the prosecution's case so far and that is the fact that we have not heard from alan weiss oberg. i know we are talking about michael cohen today but alan vice oberg is a big part of this game. he was former cfo of the trump organization.

someone who the former controller said was behind the whole arrangement of how to structure the repayments to michael cohen throughout 2017 for buying stormy daniels story rights. without alan weisselberg did testify, there's no one that's been able to say donald trump a new or directed the way in which michael cohen would get paid for acquiring story daniel story rights. and so far we have also not heard michael cohen testify to that effect either and that leaves open the effect that donald trump's intent which is crucial to all of this. it seems to me that even with michael cohen and all of his credibility issues, the prosecution seems that they are still coming up short without weisselberg's testimony so i'm waiting to see if that will be a development. note sign that we hear from weisselberg at all this week. >> sandra: think should be back underway in the courtroom 28 minutes from now. lydia who outside of the courthouse. thank you. >> john: let's bring former federal prosecutor brett tolman who is former counsel to the judiciary committee. let's get you to speak on what lydia was talking about a moment

ago. there is no sign yet that alan weisselberg's testimony will be allowed into court. he is the one that really knows how the checks got cut. and unless and until he is brought before the court to explain why these were labeled as legal expenses. is it michael cohen's word against not even trump's word because he may not testify but is it just the jury taking michael cohen at his word? >> john and sandra, thank you for having me. it's fascinating to watch a prosecution be so willing to put a convicted perjurer on the stand and there's no question on my mind that some of the first questioning is going to be about obviously his inconsistencies, the lies that he has told. but you will notice something intriguing is happening. he is trying to lay the foundation for him actually not being trump's lawyer. to articulate that he was something different. and the reason is not just

because he needs to paint donald trump as the micromanager, he can't afford in a case like this advice of counsel is an actual defense. he is trying very desperately to separate himself from the practice of law with donald trump and that needs corroboration. there is nobody that's going to corroborate that he was not his lawyer and all statements he makes has to be corroborated in front of the jury and if they can't do that, that is the definition of reasonable doubt. >> sandra: what you imagine is the strategy when they return from the to the court room a few from now? >> i think they are worried about cross examination. that's why they're such an effort to script everything that is being said. some of my most difficult witnesses that had credibility, i wanted them on the stand and off very quickly. it's shocking to me that they are spending as much time as they are with michael cohen. if i were them, i'll get them nuts and bolts of what they

think you can offer and limit the scope of cross-examination because cross-examination is limited almost exclusively to what comes out in direct examination. you go into his credibility but other than that the longer they go, the broader they present the cross examination. >> john: you spoke to this idea of whether or not he was acting as an attorney or he was taking direction from trump. listen to what he said on tiktok back on october 24th 2022. listen here. >> the only person who should be held accountable is this guy right here. not me. donald if you can't see it. this guy needs to be held accountable. there is not a single thing that occurs at the trump organization that is not directed by and for the benefit of donald j. trump. plain and simple. >> john: nothing happens that is a direct benefit for donald trump but listen to this recording played in court. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that

info regarding our friend david. i've spoken to alan weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. yes. it's all the stuff. when it comes time for the financing. >> what financing? pay them with cash. >> no, no, no. i got it. >> john: it sounds like michael cohen is doing an awful lot of the directing. >> have you ever known a lawyer with that level of confidence and ego to be the guy that sits and listens while the client explains what he's going to do? it never works that way. lawyers are in charge, lawyers tell clients what they are going to do and that is what michael cohen was doing with donald trump. >> sandra: as far as wells we may hear from him as we were

just talking to bill hemmer outside of the courthouse. any predictions where this could go next? >> they certainly need corroboration but what we aren't hearing, you will notice that michael cohen discussed at length his interactions with the media and the stories and his interactions with folks but you just don't have the testimony yet that outlines the underlying crime that they have to prove or that the actual payment is anything other than a shakedown. if there is some suggestion that it is a shakedown, then you will lose some of the jury. right now there are so many holes that they need to start fixing and plugging these holes or as a prosecutor you are thinking this ship is going down. >> sandra: it's a story you tried to sell in 2011 to the dirty.com. and then shopping it again in 2016. that may go some distance. thank you so much. we appreciate it. we will see you soon.

>> sandra: the federal corruption trials surrounding senator bob mendez getting in manhattan today. >> good afternoon. the wheels of justice certainly moving here in lower manhattan. the trump trial down the street, bob menendez here. i will break that down right after this. feel more confident with stock ratings from j.p. morgan analysts in the chase app. when you've got a decision to make... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪) when you have chronic kidney disease, there are places you'd like to be. like here.

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>> john: democratic senator bob menendez federal corruption tile kicking off today. he and his wife are accused of accepting bribes including cash and gold bars as part of a grand prix scheme involving egyptian officials. senior reporter.

>> they try to get a jury. that's the first order of business here. they have 102 persons in this jury pool and they are trying to whittle that down to 12 jurors and six alternates but they have gotten nowhere today. we don't actually think that they will get to opening statements today. bob menendez is accused of accepting bribes and also operating as a foreign agent on behalf of egypt and qatar. listen. >> what a chilling effect on the mere engagement of these conversations and inquiries would it be. if a some of those actions taken in pursuit of your fact-finding effort to inform what you are legislative actions should be can be carried into official acts in violation of the law and not within the protection of the suit beach or debate clause of the constitution. >> he is accused of writing an independent letter to curry favor with qatar and he worked with another businessman.

democrats hope that menendez would resign and cory booker served as a character witness. he was there on the first day but not this time. >> i'm not going to follow the day today. i will be waiting for the verdict. >> have you talked about the trial? >> we have not discussed the trial in any depth. >> menendez was just on trial seven years ago on unrelated charges that he ended in a hung jury. he then ran for reelection in 2018 and won. >> today is resurrection day. and i want to thank god once again for allowing me to stand before you as i walked in to this courthouse 11 weeks ago an innocent man. >> prosecutors are going to focus on menendez taking gifts including a mercedes-benz convertible. his defense counsel is also

going to try to blame some of this on his wife nadine. she goes to trial in july. expect about a nine week trial here for senator menendez. john. >> john: all right. we will follow at every step of the way. chad outside of the court. thank you. now this. >> he is what i call a pinocchio witness. one to prison for lying to banks, lying to congress, lying to everybody. he is still lying. he recently admitted that he lied in court. >> sandra: of the prosecution in the new york versus trump trial are tasked with the job of making michael cohen a credible witness. could his checkered past make or break the case? we have trial attorney mercedes colwin on deck jusa brt ahead. add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. tell your doctor right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs.

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the future is here. we've been creating it for more than 100 years, from the most advanced technology to the broadest, most reliable network of sales and service dealers. always moving forward. we lead. others follow. >> sandra: we are waiting for michael cohen to resume testimony a short time from now. about 10 minutes way. our next guest has always said that this all boils down to a cohen versus trump case. mercedes. it seems like the strategy is to poke holes in cohen's accountability. >> great to be on with you and john. this is the moment we've all been waiting for. the key witness for the

prosecution. the key witness at the prosecutors believe will be the connective tissue that puts everything together paired what we've heard so far from "national enquirer" to hope hicks and now stormy daniels of course and no michael cohen who was the only person according to prosecutors who really knows the insides of the communication between himself and former president trump as to what those payments towards stormy daniels actually work. >> john: there's a big issue about his credibility and his believability appeared this is what he told congress back on february 27th 2019 where he acknowledged that he lied to them. in here. >> i acted improperly. at times at mr. trump's behest. i blindly followed his demands. my loyalty to mr. trump has cost me everything. i've acknowledged i have made my own mistakes and i have owned up to them publicly and under oath. i am sorry for my lies and for

lying to congress. >> john: literally ten days earlier he told this to "the new york times." neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was a party to the transaction with miss clifford and neither reimbursed me for the payment directly or indirectly. the payment to miss clifford was lawful and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone. jonathan turley talked about making cats walk backward and how does cohen now under direct examination say anything other than that when it comes to talking about these payments. these legal expenses. how does he after saying all of that, though he is a proven liar say no, no, no that wasn't true what i said back then. what's true is what i'm telling you now. these payments were fraudulent. >> you made a great case for the defense because that's what the defense is going to do. the prosecution, they have to take the wind out of the sails

and put in the fact that he has made these statements in the past but at the end of the day he has already given that explanation. he said i was doing it at the behest of my boss. this is who i was loyal to and that's why i did it. but it's up to the jury to decide and it's a he said he said type of scenario. who is telling the truth? with a convicted liar you made a great case for the defense. they will go right into that. they said this is the statement you made before congress. this is the statement you made to the media. if you weren't lying then, are you lying now? you are already a convicted perjurer. it's all right for the defense and that's what that offense has to do and pounce upon his credibility because he is so critical to the prosecution. >> john: you could make a point that he said he said is between michael cohen and himself. >> there was no chance in former president trump will have to make that decision for himself. it's a key question whether or not he will take the stand appeared certainly something he will be cautioned against and

leave it up to the defense to say the prosecution did not make their case appeared they failed to meet the burden of proof and not put the former president on the stand to be subject to cross-examination. >> sandra: that leaves us wondering with this set to resume 6 minutes from now. where this all goes next beyond today and beyond the star witness. >> it's interesting. it's a key question because prosecutors, we had expected that karen mcdougal would take the stand. prosecutor said she would not be called to testify. either there might be some issues regarding her testimony or the testimony that's come in. perhaps the prosecution feels that stormy daniels did an effective job during her examination that it's not necessary to bring karen mcdougal. but we will see. she was on the witness list and she's not being called to testify. the prosecution made representation last week that they will wrap it up this week. then it will be up to that of the defense to take over from

there. at some point this week we can expect that the defense will start their case. >> john: it may not have been clear enough in the way i set it which often happens but i meant to say when it's a he said he said then, it could be what michael cohen is saying now versus what michael cohen said in the past. he said this done and now we sing this now. but here's the question. so the defense is going to try to take cohen apart nine ways to sunday by saying this is what you said in the past and this is what you say now, how can both be true? but do they need to introduce some sort of contradictory evidence to say what you are saying now is just as untrue as what you were saying back then? >> the defense attorney susan nicholas is an incredible attorney. i've no doubt that she will be thorough in her cross-examination and it will touch upon the statements made in the past. any evidence or inconsistent

statement will be fodder for cross-examination. as a defense attorney i have done that repeatedly if there have been public statements made that contradicted testimony. that is something that is fodder for cross-examination. you seize upon it and confront the witness with it. undoubtedly knowing miss nicholas as i do, she will bring that up during cross-examination and it will be continued fodder for the jury to decide how many statements as michael cohen made about that payment and how many different versions having given and which version do i as a juror believe is true? that's the key question for the jurors to answer. >> sandra: mercedes, thank you for joining us. all of us set to be back underway a couple of minutes from now. and you. >> always great to be on with you. >> john: testimony for michael cohen set to resume any moment now. he's expected to pick up right where he left off detailing the steps taken to shut down the stormy daniels story. we assume that they will start getting into the finances pretty soon. analysis from jonathan turley,

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