kara scannell, cnn, new york all right. kara scannell, thanks so much joining me now is joey jackson a cnn legal analyst and criminal defense attorney joe, it's always good to see you. >> so regarding hope hicks testimony, this week, what it seemed like she helped both the prosecution and the defense right. >> because i'm one side, she was painting trump as his family man who was most concerned about protecting his family when these allegations were about to come out. but of course, on the other side, she talked about him being such a micro-manager and that it didn't seem here you wouldn't know about these hush money payments. what's your take yeah absolutely. >> spot on, amara. good morning to you and i think that based upon that, she certainly gives both parties thanks to argue ultimately, the prosecution and the defense, when it comes to closing argument. but look at the critical things are prosecution can use and fentanyl pivot briefly to the defense. the bottom line is from prosecution's perspective, they point out thi

kara scannell reported for us. thank you, kara, very much. let's break all of this down with our legal and political experts at elliot williams. there's a key portion of the cohen's testimony today that you're looking at, you just got the official transcript and wolf it fits right into the final images we saw in keras piece, there was just shows melania trump is job of the prosecution here is to establish that the actions alleged were not just to hide donald. trump to hide them from melania trump. but his campaign, and they got into that a little bit with michael cohen today. so this is susan hoffinger, the prosecutor saying questioning michael cohen when dylan howard and that's the editor in chief, national enquirer told you on the evening of october 8, 2016, that stormy daniels was out looking well her manager was out looking to sell her story. did you know who stormy daniels was at that time? michael cohen says, i did. hoffinger. how did you know who she was? >> cohen? >> because it was referenced back to the 2011 scenario that i dealt wit

she has no contact with cohen and no restrictions on what she can say about it on that note, kara scannell, talk about the courtroom today. what was it like in there? over the highlights? >> so today was a dry day compared with yesterday with stormy daniels on the witness stand, but it was setting up michael cohen's testimony. we saw excuse me, phone records that came into evidence today, and these are call logs between michael cohen and a number of these key players. most importantly, with donald trump, also david pecker, keith davidson, all of the players here's that are around the catch and deal. and as we know from this, did not come out in court today, but i expect we'll see this. we know from the federal investigation that there were a lot of phone calls just after the access hollywood tape came out. and as they were trying to wrap up the steel. so i think that is going to this is getting this into evidence now. so that michael cohen can talk about it. he's on the witness stand beginning monday. i mean, added to that, we also saw some of these tweets that donald trump had issued two

cnn's kara scannell is outside the courthouse in new york. take us through hicks. his testimony and what broader to tears at one point well, we'll hope hicks was on the stand for about three hours today and then entire time, she avoided looking over in donald trump's direction, but she told the jury how donald trump reacted when the access hollywood tape became public also, how he'd reacted when the hush money deals that are at the center of this case also became public for emotional breaking point came moments after she told the jury that donald trump said to her that it would have been bad if those stories had surface before the election hope hicks, once one of trump's closest aides took the stand friday, in emotional day of testimony at one point, even tearing up on day 11 of trump's criminal trial so i'm not allowed to comment on any of that. >> as you know, i'm under a gag. i was very interested in what took place today. >> hicks, who was trump's campaign spokesperson in 2016, and later served as white house communications director, looked visibly uncomfortabl

let's go right to cnn's kara scannell. she's outside the courthouse in new york for us. kara walker's through the last-minute legal handling following the final testimony by stormy daniels those two rulings against trump's team, the judge denied trump's request to modify the gag order because trump's that he wanted to respond to stormy daniels testimony saying it was something that voters should hear, but the judge deny that, saying he needed to protect the integrity of these proceedings. >> as well as the witnesses past and future. the trump also asked for a mistrial, citing some of the details that stormy daniels gave her testimony, the judge put the blame on trump's attorneys saying that he couldn't understand why they were not objecting more especially when the prosecution asked her about the use of a condom. he said, i do not understand why trump's lawyer didn't do that. now, this comes after a day of combative testimony between stormy daniels and trump's attorney back on the stand. stormy daniels, the adult film star at the center, a former president donald trump's

cnn's kara scannell is outside of the courthouse, would be york for us. kara, tell us more about this recording and its significance. >> well, if the jury heard several recorded conversations that were taken by michael cohen, trump's former attorney in this recording, cohen is speaking with former president and they're discussing the $150,000 payment made to karen mcdougal. she is the former playboy model who alleged she had a monthslong affair with trump this is what the jury heard i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david yeah. so i'm going to do that right away. >> i'd actually come about and i've spoken to allen weisselberg about and how to set the whole thing up with the funding that yes and it's all the stuff all the stuff because you never know that company, never know what he's gonna be, correct. >> so i'm i'm all over that. and i spoke to alan about it when it comes time for the financing, which will be hey, listen won't have to pay yourself if no woman on. i got no now wealth ultimately, the $150,

it your as kara scannell. thanks so much. from record conversations played in court dimensions of celebrity sex tapes and testimony. there's much more discuss plus coming up, we're going to hear from another reporter was also important for all of this plus there's some other news that happened today. >> we'll be right back trump hush money trial, gavel to gavel coverage. >> the way only cnn can bring it to you, legal insight spurred analysis, and real-time updates live from the courtroom follow the facts, follow the testimony, follows cnn. it's odd how in an instant things can transform out of balance in a free fall this is happening. people were there so few certainties as we navigate a future and no i'm glad i found stability and midst at all go standing the test of time you're shipping manager left to find themselves leaving you lost unique to hire. >> i need indeed indeed you do. >> indeed instant match, instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description visited d.com slash higher. >> roe sparks engineere

kara scannell talked about a moment where he reached over and shook his son's hand. his son patted him on the back whether you think this was the right verdict or not. it is one that weighs heavily on any defendants emotions and this is a former president of the united states. i'm sorry, i'll go ahead. >> if we look at the universe of class ii convictions in new york state and several good researchers out there have done surveys over the last year or so generally the estimates are that somewhere between 70 and 90% of class ii new york convictions result in non prison sentences. so that would be some combination of probation, fines, perhaps community service, but the converse of that ten to 30 ish percent do result in prison time. and this will be entirely up to judge judge is there a difference? are the ten to 30% that are sentenced to prison for class ii felonies individuals with worse lawyers are there individuals with with with we a previous criminal records like dana says, i mean, is there any sort of delineation? so i'll give you what the relevant factors usuall

i cnn's kara scannell. kara there was another big moment in court today when one of the witnesses and the judge were really having added, the judge clears the courtroom because of these expressions of disdain for his rulings from defense witness bob costello. tell us about that jake, in 20 years, of covering trials, i have never seen a judge clear the courtroom the way that judge merchan did today. >> it was after this tension shin over bob costello, who's on the witness stand when the judge would sustain the objections by the prosecution costello was making noises rolling his eyes at one point, you could your hidden say, jeez. and so the judge asked the jury to step out more. sean turn to costello and said he wanted to talk to him about the rules of decorum in the courtroom, and even then fellow was kind of going back and forth with him. and the judge telling him you don't say jeez, you don't say stricken. i'm the one that decides the rulings in this courtroom. and then costello again kind of looking the ju

kara scannell, cnn, new york so how important will these final words be to the jury? does one side have more work to do than the other? we put those questions to politicos senior legal affairs reported josh, christine well, i think that trump's sayyed has probably more to do here because they're going to need to stitch together sort of things that they have left hanging in various arguments. >> they have put out a number of different issues that they want the jury to consider as the prosecution case was presented. remember, the defense didn't really call very many witnesses compared to the prosecution. maybe 10% as many, only two witnesses. one was sort of almost trivial to put in some phone records and so they have been cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses, but not necessarily trying to string together a full theory of what happened. whereas i think the prosecution's theory is pretty evidence. so even though the prosecution has the burden of proof, i think the defense is going to have to try to make a more, if not consistent more explained argument, then they

here are the outcome, kara scannell, thanks so much for the reporting. let's discuss now with trial consultant richard gabriel and cnn legal analyst norm eisen. we should note that norm investigated trump as counsel to the house judiciary committee. and the first impeachment trial of donald trump and litigated cases involving him previously. thank you both for being with us on the holiday, richard. so these jurors have been on a break away from the case since early last week. how does that kind of break impact closing arguments? the arguments that will here do you think it might help either side? >> i'm not sure it'll help by their size. the truth is that jurors at this point probably have a pretty good idea of how of how they feel about the case. i think internally they are actually coming up with her own closing arguments because closing arguments for the most part, are really not necessarily. there might be some fence sitting jurors, but a lot of times it is just about are coming your opinion leaders, your people to convince other jurors in the case.

kara scannell is out front live in new york tonight. kara, you've learned a lot more about what we will hear from both sides tomorrow. let's start with donald trump's lawyers with the defense there's so michael cohen in there. what more do we know about their game plan? >> yeah. erica, i mean, michael cohen is going to be the center of closing arguments because he is the only witness that directly ties donald trump to the repayment scheme and those falsified documents, according to the prosecution. now, trump's lawyers are expected to focus on cohen's say that the jury shouldn't trust him you shouldn't believe what he said. they're also going to highlight some of the witnesses that the jury did not hear from in this case, witnesses the prosecution didn't call including allen weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the trump organization, who was in a key meeting with michael cohen and donald trump when cohen said trump approved this repayment scheme, also that they didn't hear from dylan when howard, a top editor at the natio

would once take a bullet for prosecutors, say they could read their case by the end of the week kara scannell do you know tom's youngest son, barron is no longer going to be a delegate at the republican national convention this summer the office is former first lady melania trump's is barron was honored, but he quote, regretfully declines due to prior commitments barron had been selected by florida republicans to serve as an at-large delegate at the july convention of the trump's children were asked to be delegates as well. let's do to come by following a massive solo stove that's creating stunning views around the world, but also has the potential to knock out power grids satellites this is a travel show one. >> visit my fans are in the world via that kind of propaganda anything, and that's what i do, is my gift. >> conan o'brien must go now streaming exclusively on metagenome. >> there's no ten sketches what he told about rodolphe is always been scheduled. >> these sketches slippery is ten these sketches, libyans sketches harvey harvey is a complete one pill once a day treatment used for hi

cnn's kara scannell with the very lightest from new york prosecutors star witness michael cohen is expected to testify on monday in former president donald trump's hush money trial. >> cohen trump's former attorney and fixer is that the crux of the criminal case against him prosecutors say cohen paid off adult-film star stormy daniels on trump's behalf to kill her story of an alleged affair before the 2016 election i'm denies the affair somebody pays to lawyer and then paint. so it was a legal expense that somebody happened to be me i didn't do the bookkeeping. >> i didn't even know about it. this is what the case is about. >> cohen told his political beat down podcast co-host on thursday that he looks forward to testifying sooner or this thing starts the sooner this thing finishes after a defense request, judge juan merchan told prosecutors he wants cohen to keep quiet about the case before he takes the stand, but he can't issue a gag order on a witness. >> something trump expressed frustration about as he left court there is no gag got to michael. >> what did you actually did who is amazi

cnn's kara scannell has a preview of today's closing arguments donald trump watching nascar in north carolina this weekend, while his hush money trial approaches the final lap in new york i think by a lot, trump's lawyers and prosecutors will square off trying to win over the jury of seven men and five women. >> prosecutors called 20 witnesses over five weeks and in their closing arguments, they're expected to tie testimony together with a paper trail of text messages phone calls, and the records at the center of the case. the 11 invoices seeking payment pursuant to a retainer agreement doesn't vouchers and 11 checks. most signed by trump i think we have there is, no during the trial, the jury heard from former members of trump's inner circle the publisher of the national enquirer, david pecker, campaign aide, hope hicks, and his former fixer and personal attorney, michael cohen, who is the only witness to directly tied trump to the cover up. trump's its attorneys are up first and closings and are expected to attack cohen's credibility, arguing to the jury that they cannot find trump

let's go straight to cnn's kara scannell, who was in the courtroom this morning. kara the gist of the testimony today really got back to the nuts and bolts of this case, which is the documents. what did they say? the communications what stood out to you in all yeah. >> i mean, we saw four witnesses today, all involved in putting into evidence from phone calls, a lot of these calls related to michael cohen, we expect him to be testifying as soon as monday. so in a little bit today with setting up what will come on monday, michael cohen and the the phone calls, the text messages, the conversations that he's had. several these records related to calls that he had between allen weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the trump organization, david pecker, at ami, who was involved in two of the catch-and-kill deals and dylan howard, who is also involved in the stormy daniels deal to some extent. so all laying the groundwork for cohen and what he will be talking about when he comes onto the witness stand out interestingly, trump's attorneys asked the judge to

council that was democrats during that first impeachment, was there this morning and correspondent kara scannell kara, what was that moment? the one that stood out to you owe by far? absolutely. i mean, it was the big moment of the day and the way that todd blanche did it spent a lot of the morning on these inconsistent statements drawing out when michael cohen may have lied and then he gets to this phone call and he begins by saying, you spoke with the former you testified de on monday, you spoke with trump on the 24th cohen says yes and he says, do you remember was on speaker phone or did schiller hand the phone comes like, oh, i don't remember. so he's he's setting it up in such a way that you think you're going back to this. and then he says what about these text messages? and then goes exactly as you just described, just confronting cohen with these text messages in the timestamps that were so close and that showed keith schiller saying to him cohen's complaining about this 14 real calling him. shiller says at 8:02, call me coming calls him at 8:02. it's a 96 second phone call and cohen the

cnn's kara scannell has been covering the trial from day one. ra, first of all, walkers through what to expect tomorrow. and as the trial moves forward well, so donald trump's attorneys will have another opportunity to cross-examine michael cohen. they are expected to focus on trying to undercut his credibility and paint him as a liar as we saw yesterday, they had spent two hours going at michael cohen using the words that he has said about donald trump's some of these insults against him to try to suggest that cohen was obsessed with trump, that he was left behind when donald trump went to washington, and that he has been on a revenge tour trying to make money off of donald trump and trying to benefit himself by saying that he would cooperate with authorities in order to get out of prison early and into supervised release early, none of which was successful, but that has been the strategy here, and that's because michael cohen is a key witness for the prosecution. he is their last witness that will be testifying. so we expect the cross-examinati

cnn's kara scannell cover the trump trial from start to finish. kara walker's through what's next for trump and his legal team? >> will trump's lawyers have a deadline of two weeks in which to file any motions before the judge and todd blanche had says that trump's lead attorney has said that they're going to make several motions challenging the verdict, having to do with some of the judge's rulings before the trial, including arguing that they can't get a fair trial and couldn't get one in new york. and also challenging the judge, letting in the test testimony of some witnesses, including stormy daniels then donald trump is going to be sentenced on july 11, so he will have to meet with a probation officer just like any other convicted felon who will interview him, get some materials so that the probation department can make a recommendation to judge juan merchan on what donald trump's sentence punishment should be after being convicted on 34 felony counts, that sentencing again as for july 11. now, todd blanche has also said that trump intends to

cnn's kara scannell has been in court every day of the trial.arrah joining u.s right now, qarrah, new york appeals court just responded to trump's latest filing what did they say? >> 30 appeals court is saying that both sides, donald trump's team and the manhattan district attorney's office have to have all their briefs in by may 20 that suggests that this appeal will not be decided before the verdict in this case is out. so it seems unlikely that the appeals court is going to rule on the gag order in that time but if this challenge does come in the middle of stormy daniels testimony and the gag order prohibits donald trump from making any comments about any witnesses in this case. and the judge has already found that trump has violated that gag order ten times, and he chastise donald trump yesterday in court when trump was seen visibly shaking his head and response to her testimony, and the judge said he heard him utter some curses. so the timing here is interesting. as daniels, will be back on the stand tomorrow for more cross-examination. tru

after he was taunting trump on social media with posts like you want, the one you see here cnn's kara scannellas more prosecutor star witness, michael cohen is expected to testify on monday in former president donald trump's hush money trial. cohen trump's former attorney and fixer. is that the crux of the criminal case against him? prosecutors say cohen paid off adult-film star stormy daniels on trump's behalf to kill they'll her story of an alleged affair before the 2016 election. trump denies the affair. >> somebody pays and then paint. so it was a legal expense that somebody happening. >> i didn't do the bookkeeping. i didn't know about it. this is what the case cohen told his political beat down podcast co-host on thursday that he looks forward to testifying sooner or this thing starts, the sun to this thing finishes after a defense request, judge juan merchan told prosecutors he wants cohen to keep quiet about the case before he takes the stand, but he can't issue a gap. >> go on a witness, something trump expressed frustration about there is no gag order to michael what did you actually

on the unprecedented criminal charges against the former president of the united states, cnn's kara scannell is outside the courthouse would be york for us, qarrah, give us the very latest well well, if donald trump has just left the courthouse at the end of this day, that was just after his lawyers and prosecutors finished negotiating what portions of the transcripts, some from the testimony of david pecker her and michael cohen. >> they agreed would be read back to the jury when the jury resumes tomorrow. this came after there was the sound of a buzzer going up twice inside the courtroom indicating that there were notes from those juries. but at the end of this first day of deliberations, there's not a verdict the historic first criminal trial of a former president and presumptive republican nominee is now in the hands of a jury, erasing condemned i mean, there's charges for we'll say, we'll see how we do 12 manhattan residents, seven men and five women deliberating. if donald trump is guilty of 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in an attempt to influence the 2016 election t

defense attorneys will present their arguments first, then followed by the prosecution cnn's kara scannell has been inside court every day at this trial, she joins us now. qarrah big day tomorrow. what should we expect? >> yeah, it is big day. it's the last chance for the attorneys to speak to the jury and try to frame the evidence in the way that they want them to see it in trump's lawyers will be up first is the attorney todd blanche expected to address the jury and he is objected to attack the credibility of michael cohen. he is the only witness to testify about donald trump's direct involvement in the falsification of the records, the alleged cover-up in this case, and they are expected to try to hone in on cohen's credibility in this trial and suggest to the jury that they cannot convict donald trump based on the testimony of a convicted liar. now, the prosecution is expected to tell the jury that michael cohen has lot of baggage. he is one of donald trump's former close associates, and that's the type of person that trump chose to associate himself with. they will also argue to the j

a kara scannell, thanks so much. let's discuss now with our legal experts, shan wu, brandy harden thank krish kadoorie, brandy, i want to start with you when we talk about closing arguments summations, what are we expecting? what does each shy trying to get out of their last real shot in front of jury. >> that's just what it is you're last real shot to convince the jury that what you're arguing is correct, that your sayyed is actually the right side. and so closing arguments should take all of the things that have happened throughout the trial and tie them up in a nice, neat theory of the case that explains this is why my side of the case is correct. >> it's real quick because i got to let questions to get to. but can you win or lose a case and a closing? >> you could. >> but ultimately the science really says that jurors have made up their mind by opening statements. and so as the evidence trucks along, it's very unlikely that you're really going to win or lose at this point, people have probably made up their minds

let's get straight to cnn's kara scannell outside the courthouse care. what can we expect when michael dean cohen finally takes the stand on monday? >> well jake we expect michael cohen and be under cross-examination and direct examination for several days, and that's because cohen is at the center of this. he is the person that facilitated this $130,000 payment to stormy daniel's. he also according to prosecutors, hatched out the reimbursement deal with donald trump in the oval office in february of 2017. and during that is when prosecutors say that this fear see to falsify the records was agreed to well, here, michael cohen testify about the former president's role both the sine of pays stormy daniel's money to keep her quiet about her alleged one night with donald trump from coming out before the 2016 election. we also expect to hear about how the access hollywood tape cause a flurry of activity within the campaign and helps speed along locking down this deal. and we're also then expect to hear more about how they did decide in the oval office to repa

cnn's kara scannell has the latest trump's ex lawyer, michael cohen, in a dramatic moment on the standlled over his memory of a key phone conversation that directly implicates former president donald trump in his criminal trial. nobody wants to do this. this isn't fun. they get personal, they get nasty. >> trump's lawyer, todd blanche confronted color when on his testimony about the deal at the center of the case, that he paid off adult-film star stormy daniels before the 2016 election to kill her story of an alleged affair with trump, which trump denies cohen, who is the prosecution's key witness, testified earlier this week that on october 24, 2016, he made a phone phone call to trump's bodyguard, keith schiller. he said he used schiller as a conduit to speak with trump to say the daniel deal was resolved and he was moving forward, but an intense exchange inside the courtroom that could undermine his testimony. blanche showed records that moments before the brief one-minute and 32nd call cohen sent a text to schiller for help with prank calls. he was receiving from a 14-year-old. the

kara scannell, cnn, new york and you didn't watch cnn special coverage of the trump hush money trial resumes monday at 9:00 a.m. in new york, 2:00 p.m. in london present shuttle candidates, youngest son, barron is no longer going to be a delegate at the republican national convention this summer. >> the office of former first lady melania trump says, barron was honored, put he regretfully declines due to prior commitments barron had been selected by florida republicans to serve as an at-large michelle to at the july convention, other trump children were asked to be delegates as well presidential candidate robert f kennedy jr. is walking back controversial comments. he made opposing government limits to abortions. he had said he supports a woman's right to an abortion even up to the point of birth his remarks came during a podcast interview published wednesday so in other words, keeping it as is with roe versus wade having been overturned and leaving it up to the states to determine if and when a woman can have an abortion? no, i believe it's the states. >> right. i would say complete

would once take a bullet for prosecutors, say they could rest their case by the end of the week kara scannell, cnn new york, are joining me right now to talk more about the cases. geoff swartz, he is a former or florida judge. judge. great to see you nice to see you, too. >> all right. well, it's hard to believe it. this could be wrapping up by the end of the week. i mean, it seems like it's gone by so fast. so let's zero in on this star witness, michael cohen, he's made it pretty clear that he despises donald trump and we heard that from stormy daniels two in her testimony so how will prosecutors tried to keep cohen on track with the chronology of the money trail record keeping without the personal acrimony, upstaging things that's going to be hard to do because michael is rather explosive at times. so they're real, the real test in this direct examination is, can they keep him on track? and then when he goes to cross, can he hold his temper as they try to? do things to bring about a change of his attitude he can win the de if he in fact, keeps a calm and professional. if he loses his temper

there's no doubt about that kara scannell. thank you very, very much. let's get some more right now with our legal and political experts and katelyn polantz, you've been doing a lot of reporting on this. we just heard once again, the jury heard today from cell phone company analysts and paralegals how does that set the stage for michael cohen? >> well, if the prosecutors are getting everything done out of the way before michael cohen or nearly everything. there may be an additional witness after him, but they're getting everything into the record that they need to today. it was people from at&t and verizon. they were making sure in the record they could attest that the prosecutors had collected some evidence, even from michael cohen's own cell phone the reason they're doing that is because the defense team in the trial context wouldn't agreed anything you can do something where you stipulate where you agree the prosecutors and defense agree to a set of facts show that to the jury, so you don't have to have witnesses like this. take the stand and testify

cnn's kara scannell has been inside the courtroom all day. she's joining us now. she's outside qarrah bring us up to speed on this climactic moment in this truly historic trial what prosecutor joshua steinglass is now entering his third hour of these closing arguments in his focus right now is on the payments. >> this is the heart of the case. the repayment to michael cohen, and how it was booked in donald trump's company's books and records. so this is goes to the actual allegations are false so vying business records that trump is charged with, steinglass is going through methodically all the catch-and-kill deals leading up to this moment. and this is where he is now turning to these repayments saying that cohen was paid in 2017, his those payments ended in that year is though it did not get paid in 20 hey, 18 saying that this was not a retainer that cohen was working for trump as his lawyer when trump was in the white house because steinglass even telling the jury that donald student that michael cohen spent more time in cross-examination in this trial than he

and after key moment in her testimony, she began crying cnn's kara scannell was in the courtroom and has details hope hicks, once one of trump's closest aides took the stand friday, in emotional day of testimony at one point, even tearing up on day 11 of trump's criminal trial so i'm, not allowed to comment on any of that. >> as you know, i'm under a gag order. i was very interested in what took place today. >> hicks, who was trump's campaign spokesperson in 2016, and later served as white house communications director, looked visibly uncomfortable before testifying saying she was really nervous prosecutors quickly brought up the access hollywood tape, which was released just one month before the 2016 election, when you were started there left to do it. >> hicks recalled trump being upset. >> she said there was a consensus among campaign leadership that the tape was damaging to the campaign, and it was a crisis she said media coverage of the tape was so intense, it literally knocked a category four hurricane out of the news cycle. hope said it was all trump, all the time for the next

and this case could go to the jury than two very interesting kara scannell reporting for us. thank you very much. i want to bring in our lives legal and political experts who are following all of this very, very closely. elie honig, i'll start with, you will the defense get into the substance of these criminal charges with michael cohen tomorrow when they resume their cross-examination what will if the defense does not have to directly confront michael cohen on the substance of the charges. they don't have to put the checks and the left hi jurors and the invoices in front of him. and i actually suspect that donald trump's team will opt not to do that. the reason for that is the burden of proof. the question for the jury is not who has a better story as between michael cohen and the prosecution on the one hand, and donald trump on the other hand. the question is, can the prosecution prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt? and i think to that and you're going to see a defense strategy of these witnesses leading off with michael cohen, are not reliable. they're not credible. t

. >> cnn's kara scannell is joining us now from new york, qarrah. tell us what else trump had to say. >> it. trump had a lot of comments about judge juan merchan, who presided over this seven week trial, saying that he criticizing some of the judge's ruling, saying that that's why he didn't testify in his own defense because the judge would have allowed the prosecution to dig into some of his past. he also was saying that the judge just let an unfair trial saying that he looks like an angel, but he is the devil. and we also made some statements against the prosecution's key witness, michael cohen. although trump is under this gag order where he is not supposed to make use prohibited from making any comments about any of the witnesses. so when trump statements today, he did not identify cohen by name. take a listen by the way, this was a highly qualified lawyer. >> now i'm not allowed to use his day because of the gag order but you know, he's just leaves back. everybody knows that took me a while to find out but he was effective. he did work now, the

the question will be, does donald trump put on a defense wolf shall see kara scannell in new york for us. thanks very much. let's get said more all of all of this suborn all of this with our legal and political experts at elliot williams. i understand there's a key exchange that you want to focus in on the valving, the cross-examined the nation of trump by the trump attorney todd blanche cross-examination of michael cohen. >> absolutely. and cross-examination is where an opposing party questions a witness leading questions. often it gets contentious and something that the lawyers want to get out. or number one contradictions in their testimony, bias and credibility issues and some of them that came up today with michael cohen's. so this is todd blanche questioning him. you've talked about extensively on mere culpa, his podcast, your desire to see that president trump get convicted in this case, correct? cohen sounds like something i would say todd buoyancy the defense attorney says, well, sir, i'm not asking you if it sounds too you like something you would say, i'm saying, did you ha

kara scannell, cnn, new york. >> kara, thank you. and still ahead tonight. republican congressman max miller of ohio joins us. he's one of only two jewish republicans in congress. we're going to talk to him about the pro-palestinian protests on college campuses. us aid to israel, and the high-stakes ceasefire talks it's that are happening right now. you're on the cnn newsroom story. this animal is a symbol in this country is in trouble. >> it's very much in trouble in one of the world's most diverse ecosystems. ivan watson influence the stark reality of climate change humanity is being threatened at a rate which i'm not sure we really understand can australia act fast enough to save itself? we're fighting a losing the fight for us the whole story with anderson cooper tomorrow at eight on cnn as the earth issues or distress call in the face of appending climate crisis. and we're done by is advancing his agenda for a greener future. with an ideal climate to support some of the world's largest solar projects and a grid that's almost completely powered by clean

we want to go now to cnn's kara scannell. >> she's been in the courthouse all morning. cara, what is it like to be inside that room laborious the last two hours has been relatively silent. >> the jury's behind closed doors a variety, donald trump and his team are in their room, prosecutors are in their room, and so it's just the media that's sitting in the courtroom waiting for the buzzer to go off to see what the next development in this trial will be. but they've been working behind closed doors for two hours. one of the new things that they ask the judge for today, we're headphones and indication that they wanted to plug into the laptop and listen to some of the evidence we've heard. actually, a lot of evidence that has been audio or video, and that includes donald trump's campaign in speeches, michael cohen's podcasts, and then recorded phone conversations between michael cohen and keith davidson that was stormy daniels attorney. and then the recorded phone of excusing the recording in-person conversation between michael cohen and donald trump. we don't know which o

who was in the courtroom this morning former federal prosecutor elie honig, and corresponding kara scannellwho was also in the courtroom. kara, what was your impression? >> the cross seem to be the last thing that we all heard. so it kinda six our memory, but this morning with the prosecution also did was used cohen to wrap up their case going over month by month, all of the elements of the crime, the alleged crime, the invoices that cohen said were falsified, the check stub that he said the descriptions were falsified, and then the checks sign, but a majority of them signed by donald trump that he said was all false, all because the retainer then the prosecution tried to get ahead of all of cohen's past legal run-ins and everything. but then the cross i mean, that was we were expecting some fireworks here. what stood out to me was cohen remained compose the whole time as he was parsing words with todd blanche over whether he had lied to the special counsel during the investment of russia russia. russia investigation or whether he had given an inaccurate statement that we're going back and

and let me bring in kara scannell, who is in the courtroom today. so kara, we are at a disadvantage out here in the real-world. if you can call a cable news set, the real-world, because we're taking in this information from brilliant reporters like you trying to absorb it and trying to imagine what it is like in there. and we have no idea what it actually is like in there when michael cohen was revealed to have committed larceny of six $60,000 within the documents that are the split alleged smoking guns, according to the prosecution and michael cohen fans was that as big a bomb? i'm michelle in the courtroom to the jurors as it felt out here jake, these jurors have hoped faces and they've had poker faces this entire trial. >> they let on very little about their reactions to testimony as it's coming out, even last week when todd blanche trump's lawyer kind of cornered michael cohen about that phone call in october of 2016. they didn't really rack they didn't react much today either, even in that moment where michael cohen was asked by todd blanche if

kara scannell as well. we'll get to the remaining legal questions in a moment. first, want to talk about the gravity into history of this de, joining us legendary presidential historian doris kearns goodwin doors, what is your reaction to this moment in our country? >> even as i was waiting for the verdict, i kept imagining what would be like 50 years from now, what historians would say. and i think what they will say in part is depends on what we do with this on november 5th. but what those say about now is that a system of important part of a system of democracy worked today. that the rule of law was as the judge said, he's a your peer, the defendant is your appear no man is above the law. and i think they'll seem this trial at least so it seemed to all of us watching it that there was a fundamental fairness that the judge was an extraordinary character. he led both sides have their say, and the jury spoke first the lawyers speak than the experts in the media speak and finding those 12 people speak. and while the joy system is never perfect as no institution i

on these huge de anchors, abby, phillip kaitlan, collins, laura coates, and also correspondent kara scannell, caroline start off with you as we often do. what was like. >> i mean, i thought it was just so fascinating how michael cohen was so cool control today, his answers were very deliberate. he chose his words carefully. he was measured as he told this whole story from when he first started working for donald trump, where he was talking favorably about him, about the experience to ultimately where we ended up at the end of the day, which is work he said donald trump approved this reimbursement to him. another thing that really stood out to me was how prosecuted there's where weaving these call logs in-between everything that michael kahn was testifying to really give the jury something else to look at it. >> it's not just michael cohen way. >> it's not just michael cohen's where because a lot of this is cohen remembering a conversation he had with trump, but there's no other evidence of what that conversation was except these call log shows that calls took place one that stood out to me r

kaitlan collins, also former trump white house communications director or farah griffin, and cnn's kara scannell, who has also in court throughout today, karam, start with you i mean, it is fascinating. this is my first time you've been in there every day and in the overflow room as well to see it all up close. >> what was your sense on how things went with hope hicks i mean, i think she gives something to both sides, something to work with there, but i thought was very interesting that her testimony is as she's recounting this, she is taken gain jurors inside the campaign and into some memorable moments, walking into the glass conference room where she's discussing the access hollywood tape with donald trump, right when she found out that it happened so take them onto a plane when trump was speaking at a campaign rally and she was contacted by the wall street journal. >> they were going to go public with their story just four days before the election, saying that ami had paid off karen mcdougal and stormy mcdaniel. so she's giving the jury memorable moments that usually underscore some credibil

kara scannell. thank you. got to take a quick break. john berman joins us. he's been going through the transcripts of tonight's extended closing arguments. we'll talk about what could stand out for the jury. and later, journalist ronan farrow joins us, who's reporting on catch and kill, gave us such an early and clear window into the world. the jurors have been shown in this trial smile you, found it the feeling of findings, psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only so tick to a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. and the chance that clear or almost clear skin it's like the feeling of finding yourself ready for your close-up are finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. >> once-daily. so tick two was proven better, getting more people clearer skins and the leading pill don't take if you're allergic to so take too serious reactions can occur. so ticked, you can lower your ability to fight infections including tb, serious sections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle pro

he's saying and to the evidence that's being put up before them on that monitor all right. >> kara scannell. thanks. so much courtney's going long today. the prosecution is still making its closing argument. the latest developments next plus what is trump thinking about this final phase of the case, a former w white house insider will join us live check. >> your nothing was space shuttle accidents usually not one thing. >> it's a series of events that. part of the wing coming apart. >> space shuttle columbia, the final flight. now streaming on max. >> you want to close out should i normally i'd hold, by taking the games as smart here? >> feel more competent. let's dock ratings from jp morgan analysts in the chase app when you've got a decision to make, the answer is jpmorgan wealth management my grandfather's run miok the header for over 75 years now he's got so many life experiences that you can share finding the exact date on ancestry at that our family business was founded, was special to share with my grandfather. >> when you get that moment every day, they say we should stop eating so