Okay. Tonight in The Trump Trial, Michael Cohen wrapped donald trump gold by the defense and sometimes testy crossexaminati on. Trumps lawyers ccg on cohens pass lies at his recent attacks on the former president in hopes of discrediting the prosecutions star witness. This after a cone directly tied trump to the alleged false records scheme at the heart of this the middle case, saying it was all aimed at hiding the Stormy DanielsHush Money Payment to protect his former boss. And his 2016 president ial campaign for the next hour, well take you inside the courtroom from gavel to gavel will break down all of todays most important developments and look ahead to whats next. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world im wolf blitzer with a Special Report in this room, The Trump Trial today the crossexamination of Michael Cohen is off to a very fiery start with the case against donald trump, potentially hinging on whether jurors believed the former fixer. Lets get all the breaking news on the trial right now, cohens testimony as well, and as intense questioning by the defense cnns Kara Scannell is outside of the courthouse in new york for us, cara, i understand. We just got a new trial transcript. Bring our viewers up to speed thats very well. So trumps attorney todd blanche, was really peppering Michael Cohen with questions using his own words against him, Quoting Cohens podcast and his tiktok videos in which cohen had called Trump A Chito DustedCartoon Villain, blanches. Objective here is some paint cohen house, a man who hates donald trump and is seeking revenge trumps ex lawyer Michael Cohen, back on the stand at time facing an aggressive crossexamination by former our president Donald Trumps attorney as his criminal trial continued on tuesday trumps attorney todd blanche, in rapidfire questioning that jumped around from yeartoyear, tried to paint cohen as an unreliable witness attacking his testimony and showcasing his hatred for trump. I credibility should not be in question. Blanche asked cohen do you want to see President Trump convicted in this case . Cohen responded, sure blanche also highlighted disparaging remarks cohen has made about trump on his tiktok page during the trial, like Calling Trump A dictator di bag, even though cohen confirmed, prosecutors asked him to stop publicly talking about the case, i should have done something but i didnt blanche pointed to merchandise cohen cells on his tiktok and podcasts websites including a mug that says send him to the big house, not the white house, and a tshirt depicting trump in an Orange Jumpsuit blanche question cohen, if he talked to the media, including the cnn last year about the case, despite the District Attorneys Office asking him not to most recently, they asked for my cell phones because they want to be able to extract from it the voice recordings that i had had with Keith Davidson former attorney to Stormy Daniels blanche went through positive statements cohen made about trump during his decade working for them. He asks cohen, he was obsessed with trump. Cohen replied, i dont know if i would characterize the word obsessed. I admired him tremendously. Cohenaddad 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 youre 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 outofpocket to Stormy Daniels despite cohen saying he did minimal work for trump in 2017, going month by month, he outline sending madeup 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 asked were any of those checks in fact, for work during the months described in those checks . Dubs no, maam. Cohen replied cohen testified to this in front of congress in 2019. Theres 35,000 check was one of 11 Check Installments that was paid throughout the year while he was president , the president of the United States thus wrote a personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate Campaign Finance laws Jurors Heads Were Bobbing Back and following the crossexamination, watching todd blanche trumps attorney and Michael Cohen answer those questions. Theres no court on wednesday, but blanche said that he expects to finish his crossexamination of Michael Cohen by the end of the de on thursday. Cohen is the prosecutions final witness in this case. The question will be, does donald trump put on a defense wolf shall see Kara Scannell in new york for us. Thanks very much. Lets get said more all of all of this suborn all of this with our legal and political experts at elliot williams. I understand theres a key exchange that you want to focus in on the valving, the crossexamined the nation of trump by the Trump Attorney todd blanche crossexamination of Michael Cohen. Absolutely. And crossexamination 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 Cohens. So this is todd blanche questioning him. Youve 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, im not asking you if it sounds too you like something you would say, im saying, did you have you regularly commented on your podcast that you want President Trump to be convicted in this case, cohen . Yes, probably. Blanche. Do you have any doubt cohen know so why did you just answer . Yes. Probably cohen because i dont specifically know if i use those words, but yes, i would like to see that. And blanche. And so yes. You want to see President Trump convicted from this case, correct . Cohen, i would like to see accountability. Thats not its not for me. Its for the jury and this Court Blanche i didnt ask what you wanted to see or not see about accountability. I said, do you want to see President Trump convicted in this case . Cohen thats what we just said. You were asking me if i want to see blanche, im just asking you to say yes or no. Do you want President Trump to get convicted in this case, going . Sure. Interesting. The crossexamination of Michael Cohen, as you know, ellie has got very contentious at times. How do you think cohen handle it . Well theres some of the questions here. We should just probably set a yes or no yes or no answer the question and i think often a witness has an incentive to try to bicker with the attorney where you get more Brownie Points with the jury by simply being honest and saying yes, i want to see him lose he and i had been beefing for the last several years, so he may be he did well overall today based on what we read, but it didnt seem like he was trying to fight with the attorney here and could have just thrown his hands up and let me live. Andrew mccabe way way way in. Does this sort of admission potentially damage what cone has been testifying . It does in that it raises the concept of bias. And thats not something that you want as a witness. You dont want the jurors to think that your bias to one result or another conviction or acquittal in this case, mr. Cohen makes that worse by dragging the question out by going back and forth and bickering about little it tells did i use that word or not. He knows what the substance of the question was. How do you just answered it as eliot suggests that a second ago, directly, they would have moved on to something else. So he makes he kind of throws a little salt on the wound there by dragging it out. Its interesting, jamie, because our reporters inside the courtroom say that Michael Cohen remained very even im calm. Their words even in calm. Even when the Defense Attorney, todd blanche, was going after him with very fiery kinds of questions. You surprised by that you know, its hard to tell. This is what makes me crazy about not having cameras in the courtroom because Body Language is different, but to the point that eliot made an andy made, if he is staying even i mean, it sounds like there are some semantics hes hes playing with the words, not just answering yes or no. That can read defensive to the jury. But the real question to me today is, how does the jury read what i call the elephant, whos not in the room . Thats allen weisselberg, who is the former cfo of trump org, who right at this moment, is in rikers. His evidence. Hes in jail and hes his handwriting is on what is probably the most important piece of evidence. But the jurys not going to see him. We dont know how the judge is going to handle that in instructions. But if youre a juror, years wondering where is this guy . I easily test right . Well, hes Rikers Island in the jail, coney admitted david chaldean, as you know to calling trump, and im Quoting Cohen now, a boorish cartoon massage genus. And it once again quoting him a cheeto dusted Cartoon Villain on his podcast so how do you expect the jury might react to that we should know. Michael cohen said those things after he broke with that. Ill try it out while he was in his envoy. I think i think jurors, who knows is the answer. I dont know how jurors will actually feel that way, but it seems to me the very public split that these two men have had is a known thing. And the fact that there are childish words used on a podcast. Its probably not going to factor in to what the jurys mission here is in determining whether or not donald trump committed these crimes Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, the name calling from Michael Cohen on a podcast is not likely to filter into that. Obviously, what this all being presented is all to try as the defense was trying to do, to make Michael Cohen such an intolerable, unlikeable human being to make the jury just not want to listen to anything he has to offer and hes obviously the lynchpin for the prosecution. So these juror first are going to be asked to hold two things at one time in their mind. They may find Michael Cohen detestable and yet still may find his account of these crimes to be the fact pattern that they are adjudicated before them and theyre just gonna have to figure out if they can hold those two things at the same time. Elliot williams, its clear that the Trump Attorney, todd blanche, tried to get out under cohen skin from the very beginning of the crossexamination right . Literally the first question he asked was designed to do nothing other than get under the witnesses scan and we havent pulled here, so right out of the gate, he asks mr. Cohen my name is todd blanche. You and i have never spoken are met before. Have we cohen we have not. Blanche but you know who i am, dont you . Cohen . I do. Blanche. As a matter of fact, on april 23. So after the trial started in this case, you went on tiktok and called me a crying little didnt you . Cohen sounds like something i would say that immediately objection, your honor. The defense object it. Pardon me. The prosecution objected here and the court said sustained, sustains the objection and calls them up that why the objection was lodged. There was because what Michael Cohens views are of an attorney are irrelevant the Defense Attorney probably like keeps saying the defense very probably knew full well, that this was not an appropriate question. Asked that the answer was not going to be admissible, but he wanted to get in front of the jury and also get under the witnesses skin. And he did. Well, i should just note in the transcript, we now know what the judge said to todd blanche in that sidebar where he said, why are you making this all about yourself . Also irrelevant. Like what, what but in a witness thinks about an attorney personally doesnt matter to the trial. Are the defendants guilt or innocence. And i just add this is the unknown. We dont know how that played with the jury. They may actually find that funny. Thats right. These are the things we just have to wait to see about how it lands. If that was his intention to really undermined and to undermine michael michaels. Kind of cool and presence and ability. And the most he got out of it was provoking michael into dragging a few questions out a little bit longer later in the crossexamination, i say swinging a mess the guy held himself together pretty well today definitely was strong parents on direct and on cross. Yeah, he got obviously got a little bit agitated and took a few hits. He didnt need, but no massive disasters yet keyword yet, or this trial will continue on thursday just ahead. Why Donald Trumps republican allies, including the speaker of those, are lining up outside the courthouse to defend him during his trial, plus George Stephanopoulos joins be in the Situation Room. I get his thoughts. Id Michael Cohens testimony, including an interview. He did with trumps former fixer and lawyer which came up in Court Today Trump Hush Money Trial gavel to gavel coverage. The wasteland can bring it to you. Legal insight, Expert Analysis and realtime updates live from the courtroom follow the facts, follow the testimony, follows. Cnn our biggest challenge, uncertainty, hidden fees, surcharges. Who knows what to expect. Turned shipping to your advantage, keep it simple with clear upfront pricing with usps Ground Advantage this homestyle Chicken Salad rafah subway. This is how you do it savory chicken. 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