tuning in for local news, at least in the eastern part of the country, you're watching abc news live coverage of a significant day here in american history. former president donald trump found guilty on all 34 felony counts in the hush money, criminal trial here in new york city. that, of course, involved that payment to stormy daniels in the weeks before the 2016 election. and it wasn't simply that the documents had been falsified. the argument the prosecution set out to make was that they were falsified. in addition to trying to keep this information from the voters who had a right, they said that was their argument, had a right to the information to make up their own mind before the 2016 election, it had been said when it comes to the testimony of michael cohen, you heard jon karl talking about michael cohen there, the defense had called him the greatest liar of all time in that courtroom during closing, the prosecution, saying, we didn't pick michael cohen. we wouldn't have picked

him as our key witness, but that it was former president trump who picked him for those very reasons, those very skills being able to lie, being able to fix, being able to make things happen. that's why michael cohen is playing such a large role in this case. that was the argument made by the prosecution. it had been said that even if michael cohen is a liar, that he would have a hard time fooling 12 new yorkers in that jury box, judge juan merchan instructing them even in the end, through jury instructions agreed upon by both the prosecution and the defense, that the jurors could not find the former president guilty. based solely on the testimony of michael cohen, that they must have corroborating evidence to the magnitude that would allow them to find the president, the former president, guilty on all 34 counts in a new york city courtroom here late today. josh einiger of our station, wabc-tv here in new york, channel seven, of course, that team doing

extraordinary work, trying to cover this day in and day out as well. josh, you were in the courtroom. describe the moment the jurors walked in and the former president's reaction to that verdict. >> yeah. so, david, it was it's hard to overstate the wild shifts in the atmosphere in that courtroom over the course of really just a few minutes. i'll actually start a few minutes before that, which is when the judge called all the parties back to the courtroom at around 415, when the jury was to deliberate until 430. and the judge told both sides he was going to let the jury go at 430, and then he left the bench and over the next few minutes, donald trump was positively giddy with laughter with his lead attorney, todd blanch. they were laughing pretty heavily at the defense table and really all smiles. they seemed very relaxed. and it was really only a few minutes after that that the jury sent this note saying they had a verdict. so when they did enter, i think you heard olivia rubin say earlier, they

walked in in a very well practiced eyes down, eyes forward, not looking at the former president who was really just maybe a foot or two to their right as they have to file past him and they got into the witness box. and what i'll tell you is that from where we were sitting, david, we're not able to see his face. we can only see the back of his head. so it's hard to know what expression was on his face. but as they started to read through the counts. count one guilty, count two guilty, there was no motion at all in his body until they got to count four, at which point he slowly started to shake his head. and that lasted for a few more counts. and then at around count 6 or 7, he was just still again, all the way through to count 34, when he was found guilty on all counts. >> david, any reaction were you able to see from eric trump his son? was his son still in the courtroom at that point? >> his son eric was in the courtroom sitting next to one of his attorneys and no obvious

reaction from him either. he was looking straight ahead, sort of ramrod straight and did not betray any emotion. and then i will tell you, david, that when the jury did file out, it was that same awkward staging in the room that we've talked about so many times. they walked out now with him on their left, some of the jurors actually turned their face to the right in the direction of the judge and away from the direction of trump, so that they would not have to make eye contact with him as they filed out of the room. and then when he left the room a few minutes after that, there was just a look of disgust. i i have no other real word for it on his face as he walked out of the room. and then? and then you saw him before the cameras after that, we're looking at the suv carrying the former president back up to trump tower here in manhattan. >> and josh, the moments after the verdict was delivered, we understand that each juror was then polled right there with the former president sitting at the

defense table. each juror polled by the judge. and how did that play out? and i know you were sitting behind the president very hard to tell his facial expression. but describe for me, if you will, that moment and then what? the judge then said to those jurors after their job was done. >> so when they polled the judge polled the jurors. he didn't pull them on each count. of course, there are 34 counts. there are 12 jurors. he he basically went through juror one. is this your is this your verdict? juror one said yes. juror two. juror three and during that time trump did turn in his chair and he was looking off in the direction of the jurors, no obvious expression on his face. it seemed fairly impassive and then, you know, at the end, the judge did these jurors for their service. he told them, i don't have a direct quote in front of me. but he told them how difficult this trial has been, how stressful this trial has been for them. he

thanked them for their service, and he excused them from the room. and then he asked them if it would be okay if after he excused him from the room, he would then go to them to have a conversation with them and thank them personally. you know, you know, one on one. and that was when they rose from the jury box. everyone rose, including the former president. and then they filed out of the room, taking great pains not to look in his direction. >> that's a very interesting observation. and i had wondered earlier when i had reported earlier on the air here that that the judge told those jurors that he would be interested in their feedback, thanked them for what was a very difficult task when that communication might take place between the jurors and the judge. josh einiger here of wabc, reporting that the judge then planned on meeting with those jurors after they left the courtroom. and you have to wonder, josh, and it's an impossible question to answer. you have to wonder if the four person or perhaps the two attorneys within the jury, or who it was on that jury that,

that that got them all together and said, when we walk in, let's walk in in a certain way. because your description and olivia rubin's description earlier on the air, you know, really match up to a t the decorum, the way they carried themselves, regardless of what you believe about this case, how they carry themselves is something that we can all observe and certainly appreciate , at least in their behavior. i know there are going to be a lot of opinions on the outcome of this trial, but to have walked in and to be a concerted in their effort to sort of look down, not bring any more emotion or drama to a case that's already has historic implications here. >> you know, david, it's hard to know, of course, as you point out, what you know, what the impetus was behind all of that part of it really could simply be that it was just uncomfortable for them. you know, they're here. they are in this incredibly weighty position. the, the, the fate of

the former leader of the free world is in their hands. and he's a pretty imposing figure, especially when he stands so part of it could simply be be that, you know, kind of intimidation factor, or maybe an attempt not to allow themselves to be intimidated by that, you know, type of stature, you know, standing that presence just to their right as they walk in or their left as they walk out. it was, though, as you point out, david, i mean, there were two attorneys on this on this jury. there were quite a few people with advanced degrees. so you know, there are people with with life experience and wisdom, perhaps, who could guide, you know, the whole jury in terms of its how it comports itself during this, this really historic, historic and very stressful trial. >> josh einiger of wabc-tv josh is just one of several reporters who have been down there from the beginning for us both through wabc and our network team here. there with olivia rubin and aaron katersky. and we'll come back to each of them

with our live coverage here. again, you're watching abc news live coverage, the president, former president being brought back uptown to trump tower in a city where 12 jurors have found him guilty on all 34 felony counts against him. it had been believed, as we were in day two, of deliberations, the fact that the deliberations continue throughout today, they got close to that end time today. there had been some indication from the judge that the day would be wrapping up. jurors might be going home. there was levity at the defense table between the former president and todd blanch, his lead defense attorney. they thought they were going home for the day when suddenly the judge said, that jury has reached a verdict and they will be entering the courtroom shortly. a number of our reporters who were in the courtroom and in that overflow room that actually has a camera trained on the courtroom as well, all described very similarly the change in temperature immediately at that defense table. we had been

reporting here over the last day or two that with every day that goes on, that gives a defense team a little more hope that there might be dissent among jurors within within the jury. and that doesn't mean they're not still going to come up with the same answer. but as the days wear on, that's considered a better sign, perhaps, for the defense. and so that sudden turn at the end of today, dan, must have been very unsettling for the former president and for todd blanch. yeah. >> i mean, look, a hung jury in this case, meaning one juror saying, i'm not going to convict would have been a big victory for donald trump. it would have meant the any potential retrial wouldn't happen until after the election. if he wins the election, it wouldn't happen. potentially until 2029. so they were certainly hoping, at the least for a hung jury here. and i'll tell you, the fact that this jury came back today, it's pretty quick. i mean, yes, you can argue this wasn't that complicated a case. that's true as a legal matter, though, it wasn't that easy a case either. and the fact that these jurors

came back after a half day yesterday, a day of deliberations today, came back with a verdict in this kind of case, suggests to me that there wasn't much dissension, dissent on that jury because, you know, it'll be very interesting to hear when they initially went back there, did they poll the jury? did they say, what do you all thinking? let's do a quick hand raise. a lot of the time that happens in the jury room were they all saying that they thought guilty at the outset? again this was a pretty quick verdict to come back with 34 counts and suggest to me that if there was any dissent, there wasn't much. >> let's ask you a couple of quick legal questions for those who might have just joined us right around the 6:00 hour here in the east, when people come to the tv for their local news, you're stuck with us a little earlier than normal here tonight. given the stakes at play here and this guilty verdict for former president trump guilty on all 34 counts. this does nothing, dan, legally, when it comes to running for president, he continues to run.

>> no problem. correct. and he can vote to. we were about to talk about it before he can run for president. no question. the question of voting is based on new york state law because florida defers back to the state where it happened. that's new york and new york. really, the only way you can't vote is if you're serving time, actually serving time. so he will be able to run for president and he'll be able to vote. the question is going to be when the sentencing is going to happen on july 11th. the question is going to be even at that sentencing, whatever the sentence is, does it begin immediately? i think that there's a really serious chance that what will happen is that the judge will say, i'll allow you to appeal this. and while they are appealing the sentence, whatever it is would be put on hold. >> this might be a little nuanced, but i find it interesting in all the reading because he has moved to florida and made himself florida, a resident of florida. that's his home base. now that had the trial played out in florida, for example, he would not be able to

vote felons in florida aren't able to vote. right. >> it's a different it would be a different law. it would be under florida law. but again, ron desantis could could change that. right. as the governor, he could say, i'm going to pardon you in effect and allow him then to vote. so if it had been in florida, ron desantis, as the governor, would have control over not just the question of can he vote, but he could also pardon him with regard to any conviction as well. but of course, it's a moot point because even though he's a resident of florida, they wouldn't have to do anything to help allow him to vote. >> correct. because this played out in new york, where they would allow a convicted felon to vote unless they're serving time. now, this is the question that came up earlier, and it is a question that people at home are going to ask. we know the sentencing is july 11th. by my count, four days before the republican national convention in, still extremely unlikely that the sentencing would include any kind of time behind bars. >> yeah. i mean, i think it's unlikely you're talking about the lowest level felony here. you're talking about someone with no criminal record, one

question i think some people will ask is, well, you know, this is a defendant who has been attacking and trashing this judge. even we just heard him do it moments ago. could that play into the sentencing, typically in a case a lawyer would say, are you crazy? you're going after the judge who has complete and total discretion over what your sentence is going to be. i think this case is a little different. i think there's more of an expectation of the politics meets law aspect of attacking the judge. question is how will the judge react to that? because he does have the discretion. we're talking about what would usually happen in a case like this. the judge could still decide that he wants prison time. but i think that i think in the end that that remains unlikely, even despite the very significant and personal attacks on this judge. >> what do you think he does? >> the judge i think he's going to give him some sort of probation, maybe some sort of community service. there's a

possibility of home confinement, which would be sort of a balance between the two. >> we're watching the secret service here. they have arrived at trump tower just south of central park. for those of you who know manhattan, the former president returning to his home at trump tower, you can see the nypd there telling people to continue on their way. a difficult thing, though, to get through to new yorkers who know very well, obviously, as as does the country, that this is something, that that certainly will divide many americans, but it will be a day and a piece of history that we will not forget in a long line of sort of markers in this political climate of these last several years in our country. former president trump, you see here, arriving back at trump tower, just a couple of hours after thinking that the jury would be going home for another night, that deliberations would go into a third day, and then the sudden turn in that courtroom when

judge juan merchan informed the former president, where you saw him there just moments ago on the sidewalk, unclear whether or not he will address any reporters or those who are gathered there. let's just listen to the those who are gathered there on fifth avenue. you can get away. >> our president, will you appeal? you are free to go guilty >> familiar gestures from the former president, though no words, a sort of rarity from the former president. and it's hard to decipher, the differing chance what we're hearing from folks there, though, those on the ground will be able to report that out later. one thing we did take note of over the course of this trial is that the crowds gathered in lower manhattan were were small by comparison of what we have seen by way of rallies in the past or

gatherings in support of or against the former president. and john santucci. i want to bring you in on that. the fact that what we witnessed in lower manhattan over the last couple of weeks, there wasn't large scale protesting outside that courthouse, i want you to weigh in on that. and also, you have reaction from stormy daniels just in. yeah >> david, a couple of things. first, if i could. david, just an observation question, from what we just saw of donald trump walking up in front of the building, david, i remember it almost like deja vu. and it's funny because it's so critical to what came up in this trial the weekend that the access hollywood tape came out in october of 2016, that image that we just saw, david, is a rinse and repeat of what donald trump did the saturday morning as he was hunkered down in trump tower plotting what to do for his first run for the white house. he came outside the tower. he pumped his fist on the corner of

56th street, looked around for a second, and walked back in. it is literally copy and paste with the former president. did as a candidate under intense pressure, under what was at that point, david, the worst moment for his first campaign for the white house. and just to see that again as someone that has covered donald trump for that long, from that moment, it really is just an unbelievable image to see again. a day after for another one that was so horrible for him to see him doing that exact thing. i mean, donald trump has a playbook. we know that he talks about every day of his life, being an episode of a tv show. so, it clearly seems like that one was a bit of a rerun, if you will. but just to go back to your other question, david, about reaction from many people around the former president. i've gotten a lot of texts in the last couple of moments here. not surprised, angry, you know, trying to find a way to pivot towards a way to get this campaign back on track and

really move away from this courthouse. you know, donald trump is probably tonight going to spend one of his last nights in manhattan. and then it's back to florida, where he is a resident now. and then quickly back on the campaign trail. david, just to your other question about stormy daniels, our colleague olivia rubin, who ran out of that courtroom and spoke to us and then quickly got reaction from stormy daniels attorney, her attorney telling, telling olivia in a statement, quote, stormy is relieved that this case is now over. she always had great faith in our justice system and the solemn oath jurors take in undertaking their service. no man is above the law, and the selfless, hardworking service of each of these jurors should be respected and appreciated. david, that is an attorney for stormy daniels. to our colleague olivia rubin here at abc news. and you got to imagine, david, for tonight, going back to donald trump, if i can, for a second now that he is going back into that tower, back into that residence, he's going to be doing david, what he did

for so often when he would come home from the campaign trail, he is going to have cable tv on all night. he's going to be watching all of the coverage. he'll probably be watching us very shortly. we know that he still watches all of the evening newscasts on tivo, says it was one of the greatest inventions ever, and he'll be focusing on all of the commentary. taking this in, he'll start doing what he always does working the phones, asking people what do they think about this? it is going to be very hard for people to tell him. much of this is good because as we've talked about repeatedly and you mentioned this earlier, david, and it's a great point and an important one. donald trump is obsessed with two sets of numbers ratings. he was always focused on tv ratings and poll numbers. and we know that those polling numbers that have shown that if there was a conviction in this case, it could impact a small but important swath of voters. that is something he's going to be asking people when he starts doing the phone calls tonight. how many voters do you think, could this be a problem?

>> i want to bring in rachel scott, who covers the race for president on that point. john. thank you. stick with us here, rachel. just looking at these numbers here, the latest abc news ipsos poll, 20% of donald trump's supporters said they would reconsider, order or withdraw their support for him if he were convicted in the new york case. now, of course, it's still early on. the numbers in these polls have shown, you know, considerable movement back and forth, but within a range which i always find fascinating this far out, this this race is very close in this country. it's very close in the key battlegrounds, which we all know. the electoral college is what decides these presidential races. but inside the campaign they have got to be concerned about the potential if these numbers hold, because 20% of supporters who might reconsider changing their who they would vote for could be just enough to make the difference in an election. that's 1 or 2 points, at least nationally. >> and david, over the last several weeks, there are

advisers in the trump campaign, allies of the former president, who have simply just been concerned about the image of having the former president, a presumptive republican nominee, inside of the courtroom. now that the former president walking into trump tower, he was followed behind him with several campaign aides. they're going to walk into that building and have to contend with something that no other campaign has ever had to face in american history. and that is how to have a presumptive republican nominee who is also a convicted felon, now try to get to the white house. we have seen the former president bounce from the campaign trail back to the trial in the courtroom, back to the campaign trail and his advisers are in fact worried, as is the former president, as we know that he keenly follows many of these poll numbers. how much of a political liability this is going to be for him, not only within his own base? we know, according to our abc news ipsos poll, that 80% of trump supporters say they will stick with him. but it's that 20% who say they'll either reconsider or withdraw their support. and even when you look at other polls,

17% of independents in a latest quinnipiac poll said that they might be less likely to vote for the former president if he's convicted of a crime. that is a big concern for the former president, because we know just how close this race could be. so even just having a small swath of those voters turn away from the former president could make all the difference in these critical battleground states. one group that is not turning away from him, david, i will tell you, it is the republican party. they have lined up one by one behind the former president. we're already seeing that reflected and the number of statements that we received since the verdict was actually reached and read inside of that manhattan courthouse. and not only that, we saw something too, that was pretty unprecedented, david. we saw a number of republicans line up behind the former president at that manhattan courthouse, including the second in line to the presidency, the speaker of the house, david. they are standing by him as he goes through this. >> you talk about the speaker of the house, mike johnson. and as you know, he was in that courtroom in recent days, there

has been john santucci alluded to this earlier as a sort of tally of who showed up in that courtroom to show their political support of donald trump, who within the republican party, speaker johnson, among them. and we know that politically up on the hill. speaker johnson has tried to move forward certain issues that donald trump was putting pressure on republicans not to move forward with, but on this particular point, they sort of cleared the deck. speaker johnson and a show of political unity showed up at that courthouse here in new york. >> yeah. and, david, how rare is it to see the second in line to the presidency show up outside of a courthouse to defend a former president who was standing trial, who has just been convicted on felony counts? it was an extraordinary part that we have never seen before in american history. we've heard from the speaker of the house today. he calls this a shameful day in american history. and of course, it wasn't just the speaker of the house. there were 37 republican officials that visited that manhattan courthouse. we were talking about two republican governors, seven current or former attorney

generals, 28 republican lawmakers. and a lot of them were saying what the former president could not. we know that donald trump was under that very strict gag order. so a lot of those republicans were coming out and a show of loyalty for the former president to rail against michael cohen, to rail against the witnesses to blast this whole process, something that the former president was barred from doing under that gag order. it was a sign of loyalty to the former president. but, david, this is a party that has only grown more closer to donald trump as he has been indicted. and now as he has been convicted, we have learned moments ago, the trump campaign says that their fundraising site is down because of the volume of people supporters looking to show in sizable numbers, according to the trump campaign, their support of the former president and the former president posting himself, rachel, on truth social. yeah, just moments ago, as the former president was making his way there to trump tower, he did post on truth social. he called

this a disgrace. he claims that he is innocent. he says we'll keep fighting. we'll fight to the end. ending that statement by saying the real verdict is going to be november 5th by the people. and it certainly will, david. it will certainly be up to the people of the united states to decide whether or not they want to put former president donald trump back in the white house. >> rachel scott, our thanks to you as well this afternoon. of course, these polls don't indicate that if they change their mind on donald trump because of a conviction that they would necessarily vote for president biden instead, but certainly a question moving forward in the polling will be whether or not certain voters in this country can stomach, if you will, voting for a convicted felon and for those whom it makes no difference at all. that's going to be a question certainly asked of voters with greater intensity. now that it is a reality. 34 felony counts. late this afternoon here in new york, the former president found guilty on all counts in the hush money case involving the payment to stormy daniels. that payment, made by michael cohen, donald

trump's, you know, handpicked for many years, fixer and lawyer, cohen testified that he took out a home equity loan to pay stormy daniels and prosecution made the case that it was not just michael cohen here, that this was a concerted effort along with david pecker, former publisher of the national enquirer, to try to catch and kill, if you will, certain stories that might be damaging to then president trump's as a candidate campaign leading up to the 2016 election. again, as we know from jury instructions from judge juan merchan here in new york, he told them repeatedly that they could not convict based solely on testimony of michael cohen, that they must look at the totality of the evidence here. 627 here in the east, world news tonight coming up in just moments, our entire team standing by these are images just moments ago, fifth avenue, the former president making familiar gestures that we have seen politically for many

years now to the crowd, gathered the chants from the crowd, people chanting, most likely if it's new york city and we know new york well with both viewpoints, and, and certainly we heard and saw that downtown although the size and scope of the crowd downtown was much smaller than what we have seen along the way, certainly at political rallies and other moments of support or demonstrations against really both kinds of demonstrations. what we saw at the courthouse in lower manhattan wasn't what we have seen. certainly in recent years. dan abrams, a final thought from you as judge juan merchan, as you say, will rely on suggestions from a probation officer, sort of extraordinary to wrap your head around this, that the former president of the united states, like any other convicted felon, will have to sit across from a probation officer, be asked several questions, and then that officer will suggest to judge mershon where to go from there. right. >> the probation department will

make a recommendation, but i think in this case, the judge is going to kind of do this one on his own. yeah. you know, in a typical case, you need some advice from the probation department. you need to interview. you need to learn about the defendant. they provide a whole list of information, etc, about the person that's supposed to help inform the judge's sentence. here the judge knows a lot about donald trump. i'm not sure he's going to need a lot of assistance from the probation department. not sure that he's going to rely one way or the other on that, but there's a huge range here of possibilities in terms of a sentence. you're talking about anything from no jail time at all to up to four years in prison. no one expects anything like the top end. the question really just becomes any jaja time at all. and as you and i have talked about repeatedly, i think that's unlikely. >> and it's not four years for each felony count. it's four years over the course of all these counts, right? i mean, it could be concurrent. >> it could in theory be four years, but it's not going to be correct. that's not that's not a practical reality in this case. based on these particular

crimes. >> we will wait to see. and as you suggest, i certainly believe that is the case. judge juan marchand certainly will be likely coming up with whatever decision he comes up with, mostly on his own. and he's had some time to think about this. certainly the potential that he would have to come up with a sentence for a former president of the united states who lay today was found guilty on 34 felony counts in a new york courtroom. again, the former president donald trump back at trump tower tonight deciding what his next move will be as he continues in this race for president. world news tonight begins right now. >> this has been a special report >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight" with david muir.