trump claims he never had sex with the born star, but cohen insisted trump gave him clear directions -- pay daniels to keep quiet, saying, "there's no reason to keep this thing out there. just do it." cohen said he took out a home equity line of credit to cover the $130,000 payment and told trump, "i was going to front the money for it, to which he was appreciative. he stated to me 'don't worry about it. you'll get the money back.'" and cohen testified he fully expected to be reimbursed, saying, "i would not lay out $130,000 for an nondisclosure agreement needed by somebody else." on the very day he wired the money to daniels, 12 days before the election, he said he called trump for final sign-off. "i wanted to ensure that he approved what i was doing because i required approval from him on all of this," cohen testified. "everything -- on top of that, i wanted the money back." as soon as they got off the phone, cohen walked across the street and wired the money. jurors today seeing phone records showing the moment that call took place. prosecutors said trump did reimburse cohen, and i

cohen describing a meeting with mr. trump at the white house in 2017 where he posed for this picture. cohen says they discussed mr. trump reimbursing him for paying off stormy daniels, an arrangement developed by trump organization cfo allen weisselberg months earlier. i was sitting with president trump and he asked me if i was okay. he asked me if i needed money, and i said no, all good. he said because i can get a check. i said no, i'm okay. he said all right, make sure you deal with allen, cohen testifying. later saying he was frightened when the fbi raided his home and office in 2018, saying mr. trump told him, "don't worry, i'm the president of the united states. stay tough" which cohen took to mean don't flip. but cohen says he turned against mr. trump after consulting with his family. "my wife, my daughter, my son all said to me we're supposed to be your first loyalty." cohen has been disbarred and convicted of lying under oath. and tonight the defense zeroing in on his motives. trump attorney blanche asking cohen if h

trump, $0.20 on the dollar. that's what mr. cohen and this is exactly the story he's telling right now because there were 50 vendors that had not been paid by trump university cohen at presumably at trump's instructions, offered to pay them 20% of their invoices, $0.20 on the dollar all but two of the vendors accepted the offer and he had them paid within 48 hours, accepting that renegotiated bill he asked about the other two that didn't accept. >> michael cohen said they just went away meaning did you pay them the prosecuting attorney hopkin's you're asks no, ma'am. cohen says. so it was basically if you did business with donald trump, according to this telling and according to your story he would offer you ultimately $0.20 on the dollar. and if you didn't take that, you would get nothing. michael cohen says he would go into trump's office and tell him when he he accomplished a goal. i mean, this this this testimony rings true to what michael cohen has told you personally. >> and in fact, it was stronger than that. and i said to him

while cohen is now implicating mr. trump in an alleged crime, costello testifying cohen told him back then, "i swear to god, bob, i don't have anything on donald trump." directly refuting cohen's testimony that mr. trump directed him to pay off stormy daniels before the 2016 election. "michael cohen said numerous times that president trump knew nothing about those payments and that he did this on his own," costello testifying. the judge repeatedly sustaining prosecution objections leading to a heated scolding of costello after he audibly muttered "ridiculous" and "jeez." the judge at one point saying, "are you staring me down?" and clearing the courtroom. all of it after cohen earlier revealed he stole tens of thousands of dollars from his former client. cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for mr. trump, today admitting he duped his old boss into reimbursing him more money than he was owed. cohen saying that he gave a tech company $20,000 in a brown paper bag and pocketed the rest. tens of thousands of dollars more f

after trump was elected, cohen was not given a job in washington donald trump always kept michael cohent a certain distance and code became more and more resentful of the fact that he was being kept at arm's length distance by donald trump. the relationship ruptured after cohen's role facilitating the hush money payments to stormy daniel's became public cohen went to jail, was disbarred and bitterly testified against prompting congress. >> he is a racist he is a conman and he's achieved is cohen really a different man now from those days as trump's bullying fixer this new michael cohen seems a quieter, more subdued, chastened. he does seem to be a feed. it hits. he's he's lost stature, he's lost his connection to trump as for the future dynamic between the two men, trump biographer marc fisher says it's possible that trump might try to retaliate somehow for cohen's testimony. >> but fisher says that trump is also known for bringing people who go astray back into his orbit. he says that's a possibility with michael cohen. albeit a slim one. well, i suspect it's a very slim one, indeed, b

trump on october 24th, 2016 at 8:02 p.m. cohen says he informed mr. trump at the time the deal to pay off stormy daniels would be done. blanche today raising his voice, saying that was a lie. showing the jury never before seen text messages, suggesting the call was for another purpose entirely. cohen had earlier reached out to schiller for help dealing with a 14-year-old prank caller. and schiller texted back telling cohen to call him. logs show a call on october 24th that lasted just 97 seconds. the defense's clear implication, the phone was never passed to mr. trump. cohen appearing blindsided. blanche grilling him, "that was a lie, you did not talk to president trump. you talked to keith schiller. you can admit it." cohen responding, "no, sir, i don't know that it's accurate." cohen adding "i also believe i spoke to mr. trump about the stormy daniels matter. blanche shooting back, "we are not asking what you believe. this jury does not want to hear what you think happened." cohen's credibility key to the state's case as he is the only one who has te

trump's signoff. on top of that i wanted the money back. cohenfar has been effective for the prosecution, he is the y placed donald trump directly in these discussions about payoffs to stormy daniels. >> cohen pointed to a trump tower meeting where he and former chief financial officer allen weisselberg showed a trump at this document with cohen's name by the top and $130,000 scribbled at the bottom. him it was there, cohen testified, that trump approved the plan to pay him in monthly installments. jurors also heard a trump and a cohen allegedly talking together in 2016 about a separate hush money payment made to former "playboy" playmate karen mcdougal, a recording cohen made without telling trump. >> i spoke to alan about it, when it comes time to financing -- >> what financing? >> we'll have to pay for this. >> one major challenge is getting the jury to believe michael cohen. he's a convicted felon who spent time in prison and admitted to lying to congress. >> the only way they could do that is really by allowing cohen to be himself on the sta

before anyone ever thought of voting for donald trump, michael cohen's view of donald trump was close to worship. according to his testimony today, michael cohen felt, quote,, i was on top of the world. went donald trump told him it was fantastic, that was donald trump's word fantastic that michael cohen got offenders who did work through fraudulent trump university to accept 20% of the amount of money that donald trump actually owed them for work done at the university. the word fantastic came up four times and michael cohen's testimony always quoting donald trump's reaction to good news. often involving the cover-up of bad news about donald trump. according to cohen's testimony, trump thought this was fantastic. the cover story in the national enquirer titled the donald trump nobody knows!. it let michael cohen edit that article as part of the inquirers deal with donald trump to publish positive stories about him and terrible stories about his political opponents and to catch and kill any stories about donald trump having sex with women other than his wives while married to those wi

trump's chances” in the 2016 election. cohend trump discussed plans to reimburse him during a meeting in the oval office. jurors seeing this photograph and these checks that allegedly covered part of the reimbursement. trump is charged with illegally falsified business documents to make it all look like legal expenses. cohen admitted that even after the election, he kept lying again and again “to protect mr. trump, stay on message, demonstrate my continued loyalty.” but in april 2018, the lies caught up with him when the fbi raided his hotel room and office. cohen said he was “frightened,” but trump reassured him, "don't worry. i'm the president of the united states. there's nothing here. everything's going to be okay. stay tough. you're going to be okay." cohen said that was the last time he spoke with donald trump. he plead guilty to federal campaign finance charges related to the hush money deals with daniels and former playboy model karen mcdougal. serving 13 1/2 months in prison. on cross examination, defense attorney, todd

trump and michael cohen, guys. >> thanks so much. les, wasting absolutely no time saying this was the guy who donald trump went to, they had that kind of relationship. i'm going to read a couple more back and forths between the prosecutor and michael cohen. were you at any time part of the special counsel's office? no, ma'am. why not? it was not part of the discussion when i joined trump org. so just for mr. trump? just mr. trump. and then later, during the time you worked there for mr. trump, how often would you say you met with him or spoke to him? every single day, multiple times a day. this is in the first couple of minutes of testimony. >> this is exactly what i expected to see and i expect that we're going to see more of this. they are going to essentially tell a story that in many respects serves as a character arc almost to get to the point where the relationship being what it is, where michael cohen is completely invested, he is donald trump's right-hand man. you have to paint that picture so that you understand how close the

cohen: on behalf of mr. trump. >> whether they view him as a truth teller or just spitting another one of his lies is probably going to drive this verdict. >> reporter: cohen with the target of an fbi raid in 2018, part of investigation into the hush money payments. he said it left him despondent and angry, but trump, he testified, offered him reassurance. "don't worry, i'm the president of united states," cohen said trump told him. it was the last time they spoke. after making his statement, speaker johnson refused to take questions, but i did ask him, would he stand with trump even if trump is convicted? he rushed off and ducked into his motorcade, underscoring how many republicans are coming here to show solidarity with trump, but few want to talk too much

in the case is asking that cohen stop making public statements about mr. trump. senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has the latest. >> reporter: tonight, nbc news learning from multiple sources prosecutors will call their star witness, michael cohen, on monday. he called himself donald trump's fixer. now a vocal trump critic. cohen unleashing on his old boss in his book and on social media spotted online this week wearing a t-shirt depicting mr. trump behind bars. the judge today directing prosecutors to inform cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any statements about the case or mr. trump, but not placing a gag order on cohen. mr. trump remains under one barring him from attacking witnesses and the jury. >> it's a disgrace. it's not a case. there's no crime. there is no crime, and they've failed to show a crime. >> reporter: cohen, a critical witness for the prosecution, as the jury has now read his text messages, heard his voice, and seen evidence that he paid stormy daniels $130,000 just days before the 2016 election so she couldn't

cohen says he and trump about it. and cohen testifies that trump says, how long do you think i will be on the market for not long you said stephanie a few weeks ago when you and i were talking that there were certain moments of this trial that may be very significant for trump. trump's life, for his marriage was this one of them yeah, absolutely. >> look, i think there are two things can be true at the same time and could melania trump be angry right now about all of this being out there at about their personal lives. and it's humiliating absolutely. on a personal level. >> but yes, she knew who she married. and i think that that comment to michael cohen ring absolutely true she's happy, she's got a very good life. she's not going anywhere. that's been proven. and so i absolutely believe you said something like that to michael cohen ryan on that point though the point and we know this is going to happen across, but there are even trying to bring it up under direct because they want cohen a chance to respond to it, and

trump. cohenhe said this would be a great way to have a back channel to the president to make sure you're still good and still secure. we're hearing a lot more from cohen about other people, like in this testimony today, about jeff sessions, robert costello, rudy giuliani. maya, what is the prosecution trying to do, and is there any problem with bringing all of these new players into the conversation before the jury? >> yeah, my guess is what prosecutors are trying to do is really underscore, i think misty said this earlier, this point that michael cohen has changed from the guy who was protecting donald trump to the guy who is now being honest about what he did with and for donald trump, and at donald trump's direction. and that this is part of the color around why and the power of it all and what kept him loyal in one period and then shifts him in another. if you remember, hope hicks also testified about how michael cohen and how trump describes michael cohen as a guy seeking to protect him, so

trump. picking up on what's happening right now. cohen is talking about how long before the election this was. the tape. he says a month. he is dying right now to mean? tremendously negative story in the trump campaign. what did you understand as a result of communications about the impact of the access hollywood tape? it's going to be significantly impactful, especially with women voters. and there's an e-mail, over the donald trump playboy article owned by ami and cohen is telling them i told them to immediately take it down. what also strikes me negative to mr. trump and with impact the campaign. it strikes me that katy, you know this better than anyone at the time. hope hicks was talking about cohen in a very different light about his interventions. cohen thought it would be central to the response to access hollywood. strikes me that hope hicks and others and especially since he was in communication, might not have thought -- >> michael cohen did a lot for the campaign. he wasn't, in the same official capacity as say hope hicks was o

he asks cohen, he was obsessed with trump. cohen replied, i don't know if i would characterize the word obsessed. i admired him tremendously. cohen-addad that at that time, i was knee deep into the cult of donald trump. blanche suggested cohen changed his view on trump to help his own legal problems. >> he needs to be held accountable earlier tuesday during the end of direct examination prosecutors zeroed in on the repayments at the crux of the criminal charges against trump. this is the old days while you're allowed to call a legal expensive legal expenses cohen testified it began with a 2017 oval office meeting with trump where he said they discussed how he would be reimbursed for the $130,000 he paid out-of-pocket to stormy daniels despite cohen saying he did minimal work for trump in 2017, going month by month, he outline sending made-up invoices and receiving checks totaling $420,000, which he said included the hush money reimbursement, other fees, and a bonus. >> prosecutors showed one of the $35,000 checks signed by trump and

trump's sign-off, cohen told the jury, testifying mr. trump was furious in 2016 when he learned stormy daniels was still trying to sell her story of sex with the former president, telling cohen, "i thought you had this under control." cohen explaining he'd managed to suppress daniels' story years before but it resurfaced on the heels of the "access hollywood" tape and cohen feared if daniels went public it would be, quote, catastrophic for the campaign, saying mr. trump told him "just take care of it. this is a disaster. women are going to hate me. guys may think this is cool but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign." cohen said mr. trump told him he met daniels at a golf tournament, describing her as a beautiful woman. mr. trump has denied he had sex with daniels and pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally disguising his reimbursement checks to cohen as legal expenses on his internal books and records. the defense team arguing there was no crime, that cohen was his personal attorney at the time, handling a personal matter t

trump. his former fixer michael cohen telling the jury that trump said, "just do it" when talking about paying stormy daniels for her silence. michael cohen saying he took out a home equity loan on his own home to pay for it. he says trump promising to pay him back. the jury listening intently. >>> just a short time ago, the explosion, the demolition of that remainder of the bridge in baltimore. with the massive cargo ship still there. and with the crew of that step still onboard 48 days later. >>> the harrowing moments inside a church. dozens of families and children. a 16-year-old boy armed with a gun interrupting mass. the priest ducking behind the altar. >>> tonight, the severe storms, possible tornadoes and damaging winds. ginger zee with the new forecast. and now the smoke moving in from the fires in canada yet again. >>> the race for the white house tonight. and president biden taking aim at china, announcing major new tariffs he says to protect american industry and jobs. and tonight here, the new polls, where this race stands in the key battlegrounds, where donald trump is ahead. >>>

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trump, who cohen without emotion now refers to as mr. trump. now the importance of cohen's testimony and all of this cannot be overstated. this is what the case is all about. >> he is the only person who can testify hi about what is at the heart of the case. >> and that is trump's direct involvement in the alleged conspiracy to falsify the business records in order to pay stormy daniels, not whether the affair happened. none of that falsifying the business records. now the testimony was intense today, cohen rarely looked in the direction of trump. he said the former president than an instructed him to pay daniels $130,000, quote, just do it. he recalled trump saying and just before cohen went to the bank on october 26, he testified that he called trump again. he said, quote, i wanted to ensure that once again, he approved what i was doing because i require approval from him on all of this everything required, mr. trump sign off on top of that, i wanted the money back and they pointed to crucial documents showing the call log saying that trump an

today, the judge cracked down on cohen, telling him he needed to stop taunting donald trump after cohen wore a shirt on social media depicting the former president behind bars. it comes after a week of dizzying testimony sex and innuendo from adult film star for stormy daniels. we get more now from cbs's robert costa. >> reporter: former present donald trump closed a day in court. and alleged sexual encounter he denies. >> everything you have been watching has nothing to do with the case. >> reporter: daniels took a swipe at trump on time, riding real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. oh, wait, never mind. prosecutors say daniels was a key witness. she accepted a $130,000 payment from trump's former attorney michael cohen before the 2016 election, in exchange for keeping quiet about her story appeared on the stand friday, former white house aide madeleine westerhout testified about a 2017 oval office meeting, where prosecutors say trump and cohen discuss those payments. >> are you ready to testify? >> yes. >> reporter: as the prosecution's star wi

trump concerned about that? cohen, yes. hoffinger, direct attention to september of 2016, did you record a convo with trump regarding purchasing karen mcdougal life rights. >> this is the only one i taped. >> why did you tape this one? so i could show it to david pecker. that way he could hear the conversation that he was going to be paying him back and i also wanted him to remain loyal to donald trump. >> this is key. this is critical. this shows that paper trail, and it also shows if you think about it, the pattern that cohen actually experienced when he wasn't getting paid back or he didn't receive the compensation necessary to pay stormy daniels. so i think what the prosecution is kind of doing is laying out this mirror to show this pattern because the pattern also links back to trump as well. is there an issue, though, if cohen's right now saying this was the one conversation i recorded. i think as a juror -- >> was mr. trump aware, no, ma'am. mr. trump wasn't aware. i'm left to question, why was this the only one he re

blanche asking, was fixing tiffany trump's situation important to you. cohen, it was important i take care of it but not personally important to me. blanche, that was something you spoke to president trump the next morning about. cohen, no, sir. blanche, there was still fallout from the ak sed hollywood tape, you just thought it was about stormy daniels. my recollection is i was speaking to him about stormy daniels because that is what he tasked me with taking care of. that's what i had been working on. blanche, do you recall speaking with president trump about opening a hotel in d.c. cohen, we had conversations about that. blanche, you just discussed the daniels situation. as i recall, yes. the retainer agreement with mr. weisselberg and you brought the statement from you and a.w.? cohen, yes, sir. so that is, it appears, now the heart of the case. they're finally getting to that point. it does still feel to me reading it, which, again, it's not complete. this transcript is rough notes coming from our reporters. at the same time it's a little like, okay, wher

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trump's demeanor when michael cohen? was on the stand donald trump for a lot of the testimony today with sitting back in the chair with his eyes closed not reacting too much. >> but there were certain moments when he did react. one was in michael cohen brought up melania trump and trump had made a face and in that context, cohen was talking about melania trump and what her reaction would have been had she learned about the stormy daniels story. just as trump was negotiating, according to michael cohen, to try to bury it. the other time was toward the end of the testimony, trump would pass notes to his lawyers when michael cohen was getting some to some of the details of the his conversations with trump about his bonus. and when michael cohen was talking about his bonus, he said that he was angry, even for myself, unusually angry about having his bonus cut by two-thirds. trump had kind of laughed to himself and smiled and reacted to that. clearly suggesting he had some kind of memory of that. but throughout, michael cohen

you can't deny the transactions from cohen to daniels, trump to cohen. >> they're going to get to thehite house meeting where allegedly donald trump agrees to all of this. i would just have to say, you cannot believe michael cohen, but when you have allen weisselberg's own handwriting in the exhibits. andrew weissmann talking about how he thinks these are devastating. you would be hard pressed to say that weisselberg would do something outside of donald trump's knowledge. weisselberg is serving a second sentence. >> you could also say he's a criminal. >> certainly you could say he's a criminal, but he's a criminal on behalf of donald trump. these handwritten notes saying here's what we're going to pay michael cohen back. this is a polling company, as you said, right, duncan, and then to say that we're also going to pay him for the taxes he took out. it's a very specific number obviously. i just don't see where the daylight is from these documents. if there's a smoking gun in this case, is this it? >> this document proves the falsity of the business records on the face of it. the numbe

cohen used to be trump's lawyer and personal fixer as he was called. legal experts say his testimony could make or break this case. i'm harris faulkner and you are in "the faulkner focus." michael cohen says he was directed to falsify business records in order to conceal payments to sex film worker stormy daniels ahead of the 2016 election. those payments were in exchange for silence about her alleged affair with trump and while no witness -- this is perfect, we know that -- cohen is a special brand of liar like your pants are on fire. the judge in the case has refused to put a gag order on cohen, who posted several hours on tiktok can't stop talking about trump and the trial. the judge said maybe he could talk a little less this weekend. he sid that on friday. yeah. gregg jarrett, an attorney himself, says manhattan district attorney alvin bragg is relying on a shaky star. >> he is what i call a pinocchio witness, disgraced, disbarred, convicted perjurer, went to prison lying. he is still lying. he recently admitted that he lied in court when he copped

and trump said to michael cohen, "you handle it." in other words, trump is not handling it, michael cohen handle it. then you get to the details about karen mcdougal payment, the $150,000. he said, "what financing?" and instructed michael cohen to take care of it. as we are speaking, he's been grilled about his conversation with alan weisel buried about how this payment would play out. notably, where is trump and all of this? that seems like michael cohen fixing things while trump was kept informed to some top level degree. >> emily: which is usually the homelike of a fixer. they protect the principal, as kerri kupec has pointed out numerous times. when you hear someone like cohen is now saying every detail has been reported to the boss, that's a little surprising, because that is usually not what happens at all. in fact, an appropriate fixer leaves it vague to this plausible deniability, and the whole point of the fixer is to handle things in whatever way. so when someone tells you to handle it, that could mean a whole host of things

from michael cohen to donald trump. it lasted 2:31. che said, so do i understand you remember, as you sit here today, you remember that call. cohen, based on the documents i was able to look at, it jogs my mom. blanche, do you have a recollection. cohen, i recall the conversation based on the documents. blanche, at that time, at that day in june. cohen, based on the documents i reviewed, i did. cohen is a lawyer here. >> this is a classic example, i think, of an attorney on cross-examination asking, you know, two too many or three too many questions. you can establish easily that mr. cohen gets a thousand calls a day. you can establish easily that he get os 30,000 calls a month. once he agrees to that, you can argue to the jury when mr. cohen is no longer on the stand that it's simply not credible to believe he remembers one phone call out of 30,000. but if you ask mr. cohen whether he remembers it, and he says he does, you're stuck, and again, i think this is a classic mistake people make in cross-examination. he's not going to admit h

did michael cohen believe he was acting as a conduit to donald trump? michael cohen at this point in contact with donald trump anymore? >> reporter: no. let's take a step back. the last conversation that donald trump and michael cohen had was in april after his apartment was raided. there was a phone call made by donald trump to michael cohen saying, i'm paraphrasing, i support you, i'm behind you, we remain loyal to you. we have got this. i'm the president of the united states. i will make it all right. that was in april of 2018, the last conversation that donald trump and michael cohen had. the last conversation. robert costello was then recommended to michael cohen to retain him as his attorney when they launched the investigation into michael cohen. robert costello is a good friend of giuliani. giuliani was acting as an attorney for donald trump at the time. hence why there were conversations from robert costello to michael cohen saying, for instance, i am having a meeting, a conversation -- i'm paraphrasing here -- with my friend. is there anything

trump in 2018? i did legal work in 2018. cohen, as a result of the stormy daniels matter and her electing to go public, mr. trump wanted an arbitration action filed against her for breach of nda. so i was contacted by eric trump and mr. trump regarding how to go forward on this nondisclosure agreement. did you work on that matter? yes. with other attorneys? yes. more work in 2017 or 2018? more in 2018. did you get paid? no. >> that shows the contrast, doesn't it, to what they're trying to prove, they say we paid for legal work, he was always doing legal work and this is how we operated. this suggests otherwise. >> this is stark. the $420,000 there is going to be no question was not for legal services. it was repayment for this hush money scheme. >> and an outlier. >> an an outlier. >> an outlier for cohen. >> it goes to trump's knowledge of intent with respect to how the records were -- were portrayed, right? in the sense that we heard repeatedly he was stingy. he didn't like to pay his bills, including his lawyers' bills. the not

trump that night. you can admit it." cohen kept his cool. "no, sir, i can't," he responded, "because i'm not sure that's accurate." trump's defense pointed out the call in question was 96 seconds, but cohen sticking to his story, insisting it covered both the prank phone calls he received and the hush money scheme. the defense did not get into the plan to pay off the porn star instead, the defense tried to chip away at cohen's credibility, painting him as a serial liar, angry, who turned on trump when he didn't get a white house job. cohen acknowledged he was "disappointed" he was never even considered for white house chief of staff, saying, "i would have liked to be considered, for ego purposes." but he repeatedly claimed he never actually wanted the job, preferring what he called a "hybrid" role outside government, telling the jury, "there was no shame in being personal attorney to the president of the united states." throughout his testimony, cohen has been calm and measured. today, trump's lawyers wanted the jury to get a sense of the bom

but then the cross-examination of michael cohen will begin. that's when trump's defense lawyers will get to question cohen. some legal observers suggesting today, that that expected cross- examination of michael cohen which is now looming, that effectively might be the entirety of trump's defense. the defense is under no obligation to bring any witnesses to the stand including trump himself. they may not try to mount any witnesses, any defense at all other than what they are going to do to michael cohen in trying to score points off of him in cross exam. how is it looking that might go for them now that we're seeing michael cohen on the stand? we have more on that. and much more ahead on all of this including why divorce lawyers all over the country had their ears turn red today. we'll be right back with our recap of today's proceedings in the first ever criminal trial of an american president. stay with us. ♪ i'll be there... ♪ ♪ you don't... ♪ ♪ you don't have to worry... ♪ ♪ limu emu... ♪ and doug. (bell ringing) limu, someone needs to customize and save hundr

trump." that is what michael cohen wanted. ld trump's respect, admiration, his love, but then, he probably knew that donald trump is incapable of love and luckily for michael cohen, his family was capable of love, even after the horror they experience of an fbi raid in their family home. his wife and his daughter, in college, and his son, in high school, did an intervention. he testified that it was a conversation with his family that made him decide that it was time to escape the trump cult. " by that time in late august, what, of anything, had you decided about whether you would continue to live for president trump? >> i made the decision based on the conversation that i had with my family, i would not live for president trump any longer. >> if not for the campaign, would you have paid that money to stormy daniels? >> no, ma'am." michael cohen say the day he pleaded guilty was " the worst day of my life." donald trump issued a tweet that day, aimed at michael cohen . he told the jury that when he testified to congress about p

michael cohen testified in that case and trump had a very visceral courtroom. he maintained his position that michael cohen is a liar and perjurer. in this case trump is prohibited from making those kinds of remarks out in the hallways to cameras. there is a gag order that restricts him from talking about witnesses, including michael cohen. it'll be interesting to see how trump reacts in court. what kind of facial expressions he has, how he talks to his lawyer. we heard during the stormy daniels testimony he was cursing and muttering at the defense table, and then what his reaction is outside court. the natural instinct for trump has been to attack. in some ways he is responding to attacks from cohen. it'll be interesting to see how trump reacts to all this considering we did see them face-to-face in october. host: one quick follow-up. the prosecution has said two witnesses this week. michael cohen and we know who the other one is? (202) 748-8000 we do not -- guest: we do not. they have been careful not to disclose who their witnesses are. it seems like they've

but cohen asked trump to be he paid the full amount, which was doubled to cover taxes ultimately, cohen admitted he kept around $60,000 for himself, blanche asks so you stole from the trump organization? yes, sir. cohen replied cohen said he was angry about getting a low annual bonus earlier in the trial, cohen told prosecutors he requested the full reimbursement because that's what was owed and i didn't feel mr. trump deserve the benefit of the difference on monday, cohen admitted it was wrong to have taken the money cohen defended his character during testimony to congress in 2019. >> i understand i have lied, but i am not a liar. i have done bad things, but i am not a bad man after cross-examination concluded prosecutors tried to clean up some of the damage done to cohen's credibility. >> prosecutor susan hoffinger asks about repayments cohen received from trump for the the $130,000 in hush money he provided to adult film star stormy daniels, which is the crux of the case. >> this is why i'm here because we called it a legal expense payment to a lawyer cohen testified that despite th

trump? yes. michael cohen testified for the first time that just before leaving to be inaugurated as president of the united states, donald trump review the smoking gun document that laid out the crime. he then talked in detail about the crime with his cfo and with michael cohen, and he said, quote, do it. he approved it. if there's anything in this case that isn't plainly blackletter proven by the documents and the records, if there's anything as we have been waiting for and testimony from witnesses, this is probably it. it certainly was not all. there's a lot to say what happened today. let's start there. lawrence o'donnell, you are there. >> yeah. the one other bit that we got that is important is donald trump, at the time in october 2016, the final day of the president's campaign, directing michael cohen to make the payment to stormy daniels. he said he directed me to do it. we remember michael cohen's federal indictment that everything he did was at the direction of, individual one who turns out to be don

trump directed the payoff to daniels and then disguised his reimbursements to cohen, all of which mr. trump denies. the defense spent three days grilling cohen, who has been convicted of lying under oath and was disbarred. if found guilty on the low-level felonies here, mr. trump faces anywhere from four

trump. and that is what michael cohen always wanted. donald trump's respect, donald trump's admiration, donald trump's love. by then michael cohen probably knew that donald trump is incapable of love and luckily for michael cohen his family was capable of love, even after the horror they experienced of an fbi raid that michael cohen brought into their family home. michael cohen's wife and daughter, then in college, and his son, then in high school, did something of an intervention on michael cohen. michael cohen testified that it was conversation with his family that made him decide that it was time to escape the trump colt. by that time, what if anything had you decided about whether you would continue to lie for president trump? answer, i made a decision based on the conversation with my family. i would not lie for president trump any longer. question, if not for the campaign, would you have paid that money to stormy daniels? answer, no ma'am. michael cohen said that the day he pleaded guilty was, quote, the worst day of my life. donal

the money came from trump's former fixer michael cohen, and trump then paid him back. prosecutors charge the former president illegally falsified business records to make it look like a legal expense. trump claims cohen acted on his own. but in court, prosecutors played a recording of a phone call between cohen and daniels lawyer at the time, keith davidson. cohen telling him trump often complained about paying the hush money. >> i can't even tell you how many times he said to me, "i hate the fact that we did it." and my comment to him was, "but every person that you've spoken to told you it was the right move." >> reporter: davidson testified that after the election, cohen kept in touch, making sure stormy daniels was keeping quiet. when stories about trump and daniels began bubbling up in 2018, davidson says cohen had him draft multiple statements in the porn star's name. one denying a "sexual and/or romantic affair with donald trump." davidson insisting the letter was "technically" true, because no one "ever alleged that any interaction between she and mr. trump was

you were president trump's attorney the entire year, cohen says correct. it was president trump paying you back. cohen, it was a reimbursement. did he overpay for things regularly. no, sir. cohen says trump university where people accepted 20 from legal fees. >> blanche, these were different vendors, hoffinger objects outside the scope. sustained. donald trump spent $70 million of his own money on the campaign. objection, sustained, blanche, the 11 years you work for donald trump, do you recall him ever just willingly overpaying for something. michael cohen, no, that's the first time i recall mr. trump paying for an nda. blanche, i have no more questions. cohen steps down they are in a bench meeting. actually, the defense calls daniel i think it's citco. who in the world is daniel citco. vaughn hillyard are you with us? do you know who daniel is? >> reporter: katy tur, are you really putting that on me right now? no, i don't. and i hope we're not embarrassed by this as soon as we find out. this is not somebody that was on my radar either. >> i can tell you

trump feels betrayed by cohen cohen feels betrayed by trump. d so there is that sort of real personality dynamic that's going on here. i think the prosecutors do need to go more into michael cohen's motivation to say what is now clearly he's not being portrayed as this noble, altruistic guy. and i think he has to be consistent with that, but they still need to say why are you here now? why did you testifying for the prosecution the dynamic all de has been very, very interesting he comes across, michael cohen is someone who really admired trump at one point, someone who wanted to please all of the time, how does that play into this? well, i think it's really interesting. this is the whole portrait that jurors are getting about sort of inside the trump political campaign. the trump organization inside trump himself and this of notion that people really do caudal up to him. people want to use them, people want his favor for and then he uses them in somehow sometimes they feel betrayed and then they want to get back at him. so this whole dynamic is

trump, which cohen says, no, ma'am. we are revisiting a topic that took place this yesterday and one of course that trump's defense team has been very clear that they want to try to create the impression that he altered that conversation, that it had been cut off mid-sentence and the why? yes. shai, you recall honore michael cohen offered an explanation an incoming call it come in hoffinger gate at that point in time, some crops where do details about a call being incoming and being registered on the voting on the call records. because that that we're revisiting this part of it. what does that tell you about the concerns? the prosecution may have about how the credibility of himself is actually perceived yeah. >> i mean, it's clear that they're concerned about this and most likely what happened was they went back last night after the collision of yesterday's testimony, they reviewed it. they sat as a group and talked about everything that happened and everything that they needed to accomplish today. most likely, with the