Lower manhattan. Michael cohen back on stand for what will be his final day of Cross Examinationened Re in Donald Trumps criminal trial. Now the prosecution is gearing up to redirect questioning of its star witness just one more time. Welcome to a new hour of americas newsroom, im dana perino. That first hour went by like that. Bill im bill hemmer. Good morning. We were talking about the Sports Analogies we could draw. Well get to that. Dana i use batters box and see if i used it correctly. I was kind of there. We have more. Bill we did a little hockey, too. Dana more to come. Bill thats coming your way. The fireworks not over yet. Former president unleashing on the whole process before he entered the courtroom a short time ago. One hour and 15 minutes ago. Watch. I dont think there is one person that says that this trial is legitimate. And everybody is talking about the judge. The judge shouldnt be doing this trial. He is totally conflicted. He is the most conflicted judge possibly in the history of the court system and everyone knows what im talking about. Bill eric shawn outside of his post yet again where were learning a little bit with cohen back on the stand. We have a better idea about the schedule not just this week but next week also. Good morning. Lets begin a new hour. Hello. Good morning, bill and dana. I would say were in the bottom of the eighth if you have a Sports Analogy for this trial. Michael cohen now back on the stand as todd blanche, trumps lawyer, trying to portray him as a serial liar. The cross examination ongoing this morning will likely end today. The prosecution will have another crack at cohen. Blanche questioning cohen on how he was prepared for his testimony. How many times he met with prosecutors and tried to imply he lied again when he was discussing his 2019 congressional testimony. That was when he testified about his work for the former president and the Trump Organization. Meanwhile, President Trumps lawyers indicated who they want to call as a defense witness, Bradley Smith. Smith is an Election Law Expert and former chairman of the federal Election Commission. Smith is on record saying he thinks the payments to Stormy Daniels are not campaign contributions. That as prosecutors allege but instead they should be classified as personal expenses and if the jury considers them personal expenses, that would undercut a key prosecution point. Smith has compared this case to the 2012 prosecution of former North Carolina senator john edwards. He faced charges that he misused Campaign Funds to try and hide his affair with his mistress, that exploded during the president ial campaign in 2008. It turns out that Senator Edwards Trial ended in an acquittal and mistrial. Judge merchan this morning in arguments discussed this situation saying he would restrict what smith has to say saying he doesnt want a battle of campaign experts. Well see how he rules on that. Meanwhile the judge is indicating that well have a pretty fast continuation of this case. Prosecution ending today, Closing Arguments set for next week probably tuesday because monday, of course, is memorial day. Back to you. Bill john yu joins us, Law Professor and former assistant d. A. I want to share some of the things cohen admitted to lying to so far. Falsifying invoice for the Trump Organization. Using yom kippur to delay payments to Stormy Daniels and other things. He admitted to two lies when i was in Court Last Week on an application for an llc. I was wondering where does this end, right . How deep does the bucket run . You say that the defense has made dents to cohens credibility but not destroyed it. Explain, john. I think if you are trumps attorneys, you want its like a symphony. You want the little parts to build to a crescendo. That has to be today at the end of the cross examination. You want to leave with cohens credibility totally destroyed. So i think so far theyve been making hits but cohen has kept his composure, it seems. You were in the courtroom. I havent been in it and we dont see a video feed but it sounds like he still maintained his composure, still sounds like cohen is providing the only link between President Trump and this alleged federal Election Campaign violation. I think trumps attorneys have to really close the door on cohen now. They really have to leave in the minds of the jury that this guy is a liar, he cant be trusted. He has lied under oath to the federal government and courts and thrown in jail. He lied to both congressional committees and special counsel robert mueller, which is hard to do at the same time. That means that nothing he says can be trusted. Thats what they have to leave the jury with at the end. They are still building to it. Well see if they can accomplish this. Dana what about the momentum and length of trial . It feels like it is dragging on a bit. We dont have court on wednesdays, no court this friday. Then memorial day and after Memorial Day Weekend people start paying more attention to a 2024 election and then after Fourth Of July and labor day and were off to the race for sure. So is it in trumps lawyers interests to wrap things up quickly or should they think about calling Bradley Smith and think about adding bob costello . Last week you thought bob costello wasnt credible after you saw him on this show and testified in front of Congress Last week. His testimony is already out there. The judge knows that. Would the jury benefit from hearing from costello . Its a very interesting tactical questions that trumps lawyers and political advisors have to make. So far theyve been doing a great job using the trials to boost trumps poll ratings to give him momentum to attack biden. The Trial Tactics may argue against delaying it into Memorial Day Weekend or after when it might get more political attention. The reason why is if you feel confident and you feel you have destroyed at the end of day Michael Cohens credibility you want to point out to the jury the other stuff that happened in the weeks before like Stormy Daniels and so on actually dont prove the alleged crime. Then you might want to show that confidence by making the defense really short and say the prosecution just didnt prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt and we dont have to do that much. Well sit down in a day and put on brad smith, a friend of mine, one of the nations leading experts on Campaign Finance law to show there is no federal crime and i think you should bring on bob costello but bring him short just to show again that cohen just lies all the time, which i think should be a pretty easy thing to do. Bill just did it effectively a few minutes ago. You just close the case quickly because it Shows Confidence in the defense. Let the jury start deliberating maybe they wrap up quickly. Bill i want to go back downtown to Andy Mccarthy outside the courthouse. Bring us up to date what you are getting on notes inside. Day four for cohen on the stand. Its a long time for one witness. Sure is. He is a very important witness. I think actually to johns point about bob costello, one of the reasons i would opt to call him is he is a very likable guy who has made a career out of charming new york juries. In a case where every prosecution witness was or not every single one but the major ones were unsavory characters it might be to their advantage to put on somebody who actually would, i think, go over well with the jury. Dana while you are there, can you describe the scene outside . I understand there are month protests. I dont know if its more or fewer than before. Who are they supporting and chanting . There are people, dana, from both perspectives. The antitrump people are here, protrump people are here. Seems to me theyve petered out a little bit and there seemed to be more energy before the trial day started. I dont know if they try to get a read of whats going on inside like we are. There was a little more energy, i would say, at around 9 00 or 9 30 than now. Bill stand by and john yu back to you in california. Okay, so you will get the federal Election Law Expert. Before the jurors were brought into court this morning it seems like the judge asked whats the line of questioning, what are the bounds by which you will obey, lets say, if brad smith is on the stand . And trumps attorney said what does expenditure mean and what does contribution mean . Keep in mind he is a federal Election Commission worker. Used to be a member of the fec. It seems to me that thats a pretty easy definition for someone to understand. Do i have that clear . Yes, but the problem here is andy made this point on your show a few minutes ago. The prosecution hasnt actually shown how trump violated federal Election Commission law. They have been sneaking it in by saying cohen violated it and pecker might have violated it. Thats not what is on trial here. Whats on trial did donald trump violate federal election law . You havent seen the Prosecution Put that on yet. So its weird to me actually to see judge merchan letting Stormy Daniels testify at will all over the place on things that are not actually relevant to the trial and then he is all over brad smith. Not just a worker. Brad smith is a distinguished Constitutional Law Expert and one of the top scholars on the federal election law. One of the first people identified all the problems with the federal election law. This is the perfect guy. I would think if a judge would be defer let someone testify is brad smith. Bill i was watching lanny davis talking about the payments and how they were partitioned over a period of 12 payments. He was suggesting that that was evidence that trump knew that the maximum contribution is 2700 under law and therefore he knew that he had to string them out to be ahead and conceal this. Does that hold water . Im not so sure. The fact of the matter is lanny davis, all of us can speculate. In the courtroom the prosecution hasnt shown any evidence about that. They have shown no intent by trump to violate fec law. So you could have that theory but the prosecution hasnt shown that at all. One other point, a larger point and why brad smiths testimony is also important. The d. A. Here, alvin bragg, elected by the people of manhattan to enforce New York State criminal law in manhattan. He is not allowed to take that mandate and rove around federal elections prosecuting whoever he thinks violated federal election law. Thats up to the federal Elections Committee and the Biden Justice department grabbing at anything it can to throw at donald trump and yet the Justice Department and fec chose not to proceed with this case. It is a violation, i think, of the constitution as the Supreme Court has told us for State Officials to go around trying to prosecute people for federal law because they arent responsible to anybody in the federal government. Dana amen. Thats a question we just keep coming back to. The madness of all of this. I am going to sneak in a question to Andy Mccarthy that has to do a little bit with politics and judges, the judicial system and president biden. This is him over the weekend, andy, talking about trump and if he were to win again the kind of people he would put on the court. Watch. President biden let me ask you, if he is reelected, who do you think he will put on the Supreme Court . Do you think he will put anybody who has the brain . Folks, look, as dr. King said, give us the ballot, well put judges on the bench who will judge justly and do mercy. Dana andy, your thoughts on that before we take a quick break. I think its peculiar, inappropriate but particularly peculiar after last week when they made a decision that i think shows that they follow the law and the text rather than one partys political agenda or the other. They made a decision about the Administrative State that should have been very pleasing to progressives, which i think shows it is a court trying to get it right. Dana all right, Andy Mccarthy, thank you so much and bill, we have to get more information. Bill you think he will put anybody who has a brain . Wonder how that settled in. Dana interesting Biden On The Campaign Trail and biden in front of a teleprompter is different. Something to watch. Bill well see more of it as the months proceed. Back with more from our Terrific Team and we will introduce you to a couple more lawyers, too, about what they are seeing over the weekend and into this week, too, stand by. Were back on it next. This homestyle Chicken Salad wrap from subway this is how you do it. Savory chicken, crisp veggies all wrapped up these wraps are amazing. People can hear my thoughts . Thats a problem. Stay fresh out there with all new wraps from subway. Using the finest materials, like indulgent memory foam, and ultraconforming innersprings, for a beautiful mattress, and indescribable comfort. Save up to 800 on select Adjustable Mattress sets at stearnsandfoster. Com id like to take a moment to address my fellow veterans, because i know so many of you have served our country honorably. One of the benefits that we as a country give you as a veteran is the eligibility for a va loan, for up to 100 percent of your homeā s value. If you need cash for your family call newdayusa. 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Tiffany anybody and everybody that contributes anything to this place, no matter if its a big business or just the grandmother that donates once a month, they are changing peoples lives. And thats a big deal. [music playing] dana were back with kennedy. And back with us retired nypd inspector paul mauro, also an attorney and fox news contributor. Paul, this is in the New York PostEditorial Board said this. Trump prosecution wind down proves it was always a witch hunt. And that manhattan d. A. Alvin bragg developed a totally novel legal theory where 34 Misdemeanor Counts of business can be converted to felony charged because they were allegedly in the service of covering up another crime. Braggs team forgot to offer any evidence that their records were falsified or to specify what the other crime might be let alone prove it. You write about this in the ops desk today. Why hasnt the second crime been named . Were so many weeks into this trial. What is going on . Just the fact that so many of the commentary around this case revolves around what is the theory of this case is indicative of how unusual and really mal formed this is. You never have this when we have public discussions of cases. Generally was a witness effective. Has the crime been proven. None of us can figure out whats going on. Dont you get the feeling we all expected an a