I truly hope this man ends up prison. Cohen says sounds right. Nicolle wallace will pick it up from here. Thank you as well. All of our guests that have joined us including duncan, we will see you back here on thursday afternoon when were going to do it all over again. Dont go anywhere. Deadline white house starts right now. Hi, everyone. We have a packed house. Its 4 00 in new york. After putting donald trump in the room where it happened, where that allegedly criminal scheme to hide hush money payments ahead of the 2016 president ial election was hatched, the expresident s former fixer Michael Cohen today closed the loop on the story that often sounds like it is straight out of a bad mafia movie. Cohen describing donald trump operating like a mob boss who became president of the United States using a back channel to keep cohen quiet and loyal and cohen describing going to prison and ultimately breaking with donald trump. The man he served for more than a decade. Happening right now, Michael Cohen is facing crossexamination. Hes answering questions from trump attorney todd blanche. It is sometimes very testy. Its sometimes very flat. Well get into all of it. And it comes after Michael Cohen recounted to the jury everything in his life that led up to this moment. Cohen describing meeting with donald trump in the oval office and being reassured that he would get paid for paying off Stormy Daniels. Getting reimbursed for the hush money payments going through it check by check by check by check by check by check by check by check and by check, invoice, invoice, invoice, every last one of them. This is important because each one of these documents amounts to one of the Felony Charges against donald trump. Cohen also described the 2018 raid by the fbi saying he was, quote, Concerned Despondent and angry. After that trump told him this, quote, dont worry, im the president of the United States. Theres nothing here. Everythings going to be okay. Stay tough. You are going to be okay. That would be the last time the two men would ever speak. Michael cohen telling the jury that he faced pressure to hire an ally of Rudy Giulianis, Attorney Robert Past Tell Lo who acted as a back channel to trump, sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places. The message from team trump to cohen was very clear, cohen saying, he was saying stay loyal, dont cooperate, dont flip. Essentially saying it on twitter at the same time which was entered into evidence. Ultimately Michael Cohen would plead guilty. That came in August Of 2018 because he decided that, quote, i would not lie for President Trump any longer. Prosecution reminded everyone that Michael Cohen went to prison for doing something at trumps direction, in a sentencing memo. Prosecutor asked this, quote, why, in fact, did you pay that money to Stormy Daniels . Cohen, to ensure the story would not come out and affect mr. Trumps chances of becoming president of the United States. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked, quote, if not for the election would you have paid the money to Stormy Daniels . Cohen replies, no, maam. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked, at his direction did you pay the money . Cohen says, trumps. The prosecutions questioning ends with prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asking Michael Cohen if he has any greets working for trump, to which he responded, quote, i regret doing things for him that i should not have, lying, bullying people to effectuate the goal. I do not regret working for the trump organization. I expressed before, some very interesting and great times. To keep a loyalty and do the things he asked me to do, i violated my law compass and suffered the penalty, as has my family. A dramatic day of testimony from a former Trump Loyalist Turned Star Witness For The Prosecution that is very much still happening under way at this hour where we begin with our most favorite reporters and friends with us at the table for the hour, Msnbc Legal AnalystAndrew Weissmann is here. Just back from the courthouse. Nbc news correspondent Vaughn Hillyard is here. New york times Investigative Reporter susan craig joins us and former federal prosecutor and sdny deputy chief, Msnbc Legal Analyst, Christy Greenberg is here. Vaughn hillyard, Word On The Street is blanche is bombing. How is that going to go over with trump . A man supposed to be his voice. Sue and i were on the subway and following along the last hour and wondering if there was going to be is that fair . A dialog from todd blanche going on the offense against Michael Cohen. But that hasnt taken place yet. Over the course of the first several minutes there was a drawn out back and forth over whether he leaked a story to the press or not. All of us sitting in the courthouse there were looking at one another like this is not what we anticipated. Were thinking there was going to be questions about his credibility. Even when todd blanche brought up a photo of Michael Cohen wearing a shirt that had donald trump behind bars, even then Michael Cohen was very dispassionate, yeah, i wore that shirt, and the jury they have heard this. They know who Michael Cohen is at this point, so it was just Something Else to watch this afternoon unfold. This morning, when answering the questions of the prosecution, he was dispassionate, believable figure there, and so far that is who the jury has in their mind right now. I read some of it and what seemed i read msnbcs Reporting Blanche has been preparing for this moment, but i also wonder if that months long planning didnt get recalibrated over the last 48 hours when the prosecution didnt just hang a lantern, they shined a light on all of Michael Cohens warts, the lies, the shame, the loyalty, the leaks. Thats what the second day of direct was. Right. Im not i dont think that they did, though. Im not a lawyer, but if i was todd blanche i would have started out and had a bunch of questions, youve called donald trump a jerk. Youve called him the worst person on earth. Youve called him this. I would have gone on and tried to get that sort of thing out and at least create some sort of narrative and then go into how hes monetized it. He seemed to be jumping all over. He started i thought out of the gate he started strong, weve never met, have we . He says, youve called me, this is like family tv i cant say it, but a really horrible thing. The most the worst objection. And then an objection right away. It did wake everybody up and the jury heard it. Hes been bobbing and weaving around Different Things rather than going i think topic by topic. He elicited five minutes ago a defense of Michael Cohen in response to todd blanche, quote, at the time i was knee deep into the cult of donald trump. Essentially suggesting yes, i looked at him as my surrogate family. And that is who what the jury is hearing, Michael Cohen saying i was so far in to donald trump, i would do whatever it took to be there to defend him. He hasnt gotten Michael Cohen riled. Thats where they want to go, get Michael Cohen really agitated. Michael cohen is a little bit agitated but Michael Cohen wakes up a little bit agitated. You know todd blanche. You worked with him. Is this his thing . No. I mean, i dont know why he would start about Michael Cohen calling him names. It seems like hes got a thin skin. This is this has nothing to do with him. I would think the first question would be youre a convicted liar. You have lied, youve lied to the irs, to banks, youve lied to congress. Like point out the lies because that is where thats really his achilles heel. He cant quite fully admit all of his lies to this day. I didnt think he really did it on direct even at the end when he was still kind of dancing around whether hes admitted and really taken responsibility for all of the crimes, the ones that did not involve donald trump, the tax fraud, bank fraud, that had nothing to do with trump, and he was still, you know, yes, i pled guilty to it and i dont dispute the facts but they really shouldnt have come after me for that and it was wrong of the prosecutor. She shouldnt have come after my wife. He said they shouldnt come after his wife, he was threatened, which again, i dont know the specifics of what happened there, but generally in my experience in that office, thats not generally how these things go. I mean, jeff berman in his book said they were surprised when Michael Cohen said he was going to take a plea. It wasnt something they were expecting. They were expecting to go to trial. You know, again, what he has said publicly about that is actually very different than what he said on the stand. What he said publicly in numerous interviews i dispute the facts, i didnt commit tax evasion, i didnt do these things. Point out the inconsistencies. Get go on the offensive and once you can show that he has lied about certain this then you want to get the jury to say if hes lying about these matters you cant trust him, and you cant trust him on these matters. Thats maybe more of a natural way to go. Instead, youre obsessed with trump, love the attention, love talking to the press, and that to me is a so what. Im not sure thats where you start. It was the analysis of some of our legal experts and friends, that Stormy Daniels performed better on cross, so are they not strong at cross . Do we have a pattern here yet . Well, i think its a combination of sort of the on direct for Stormy Daniels, i think you have to remember, its a highprofile matter for both the prosecutor, its not every day you have this searing spotlight. For Stormy Daniels, its not every day not only are you testifying under oath in a criminal case but a searing spotlight. Direct which should be the easiest can be rocky for the witness and prosecutor. I can tell you, i used to say a highprofile case brings out every flaw you have. If you have a lot like me thats a lot to bring out. For a witness, just think about Stormy Daniels, who might have, you know, may not be proud of everything in her life and certainly for Michael Cohen who has to admit a lot, its difficult. So theres a reason direct can sometimes be stilted. By i think Stormy Daniels cross was im sure Susan Necheles doesnt like hearing this, but i think Susan Necheles dehumanized her and allowed her to speak and she was more comfortable and i think that happens when you have another day to sort of relax. I think that Michael Cohen, having heard him live on i thought he was sort of remarkably good. I also think people should i think stop saying oh, hes a different person. Lawrence owe donald made this point when in court under oath you are a different person. Theres a different circumstance. You act differently. Ive been a witness. Sometimes you take that oath so seriously, it is as if you are careful. You know, people have different parts of themselves. Its like getting pulled over from secondary screening. Yes, maam, yes, sir, no. I will say also, todd blanche its an interesting choice to have him do this. Just because its your first time, doesnt mean youll be bad at it, but, you know, he is not an experienced Defense Lawyer. Hes an experienced prosecutor. Its a very different art form. I think so far, with a witness who has so much baggage, so many ways to attack him, youre not hearing what you usually get from a Defense Lawyer, which is clear, telegraphed, themes to a jury. And so i was, frankly, shocked that he started the way he did. It was i totally agree with kristi, beyond thin skinned, rude, it was clearly going to get an objection. I am not surprised that you do not want your first line of argument be sustained by the judge. Jurors tend to like judges and sort of follow their lead. That was not great. Theres so many better ways to deal with it. I feel because a lot of this stuff deals with the special Counsel Office and inknow personally, there were things that i thought were misleading and i dont mean that Defense Lawyer shouldnt have been asking it, but i was like oh, come on. They tried to say didnt donald trump sort of during the Russian Investigation you were told not to speak to donald trump, as if like somehow youve been shunned, and that donald trump couldnt possibly have told you through indirectly what to say when you testified in front of congress. That is not how it works. These kind of cases, everyone is lawyered up. The fact that youre told that means youre inside the tent, not outside the tent. And the suggestion this means donald trump had no way of communicating to him. Hes tweeting at him the day before and after. Lawyers talk. Im not saying theyre saying lie, but they can communicate to what they think is a truthful story as to what should be said, and, so i just thought there was some fast and loose with the facts. And thats a fact problem. There seems to be i just want to be blunt about whats happening right now. There is clearly a Performance Issue that judge merchan has noted, objections that have been sustained, described by reporters in the room, as combative when questioning. If he bombs at the Performance Level, what where does that leave you with trump . Usually you get the boot as the lawyer. How many lawyers trump doesnt i mean trump didnt care where you went to law school. He wants you to look the part. Feels like this may be a moment. Thats why he lost the decision, the civil fraud trial. Alina habba performed in his eyes how a lawyer should perform and who was sitting in the second row today, alina habba, not there arguing in his defense but sitting there as a witness. I felt like there was some channeling of donald trump at the beginning. One of the first things we get out hes a liar and a folder, or, you know a folder. Flipper. The adjectives. But that was one of the first things that came out, was that hes a leaker to the media, and these are all things that donald trump is very focused on. Not things that trump i guess my point is, what are you handing me . What do you got . So next to you. This is happening right now. We should keep an eye on whats happening right now. I was not a lawyer and wasnt in the room but a student of donald trump and when someone is viewed to have bombed at a Performance Level he doesnt care if youre the smartest lawyer who breathed in air. This may be a tenuous air. Its too late to get rid of his lawyers. The second part is, being inside of that courthouse here today, usually ive been outside here getting the notes from our team and sue and andrew were like you have to bear witness to this. Im glad i did. The eyes. We come back to the eyes being shut for two minutes at a time. He would have his eyes shut this morning. Then he would open them quickly, mention something to his attorney and back to his eyes shut. I dont know whether hes sleeping or not. What was taking me aback was it was defiance of the process. Right. Thats so interesting. Theres a gag order placed on him. He cant stand up and speak out in his own defense in that courtroom unless he takes the stand. Keeping his eyes shut almost in way of disregarding it, i dont care, about these proceedings with the jury right there, was his act of defiance. It really does feel that way. We were talking about this at lunch and ive come down on having seen him do it every day. Its not one day this happened. It is every day for 80 to 90 of the court proceedings, He Hs His Eye closed. He will nod off but thats not whats going on. His eyes closed i think it is an act of defiance, sending a message. The jury is picking up on something there, but he doesnt care. So interesting. Whats happening right now, i want to ask you about the final sort of chunk of the narrative on direct, that was this morning. I mean, some old characters, Jeff Sessions. I mean i had a million new questions about what when sessions recuses himself from all, we went back and looked at it, i covered it as and believed it to be sessions recusing himself from the russia question. If you go back and watch the video he says im recusing myself from all campaign related things. What cohen testifies to today under oath is that sessions was going to take care of pecker. That is not russia related. That is the coverup. Right. He says that donald trump specifically told him that sessions would have his back. Its incredible. Its a direct line. Donald trump saying were getting into the white house. Don