Speeds at no additional cost. From the company with 99. 9 Network Reliability and advanced cyber security, its ultimate speed for ultimate business. And its all from Comcast Business. Shell renewable race fuel. Reducing emissions by 60 . Were moving forward with indycar. Because were moving forward with everybody. Shell. Powering progress. We will take you inside the courtroom today for the next hour. American political history demands that we begin with what happened outside the courthouse today, when the Republican Party will be in bravely rose up , in spirited defense of adultery with adult film stars, paying them off to by their silence, and creating false Business Records to hide those payoffs, by republican candidates. The Republican Party did not specify whether its bands on abortion should include exceptions for pregnancies resulting from republican political candidates having intercourse with adult film stars. At 9 51, Michael Cohen was shown an invoice that he created to facilitate Donald Trumps false bookkeeping recordkeeping, to cover up Donald Trumps reimbursement to Michael Cohen for paying off adult film star, Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence about what she says was a very brief sexual encounter with donald trump. Was this invoice a false record . s the mac yesman. Yes maam. Donald trump faces the criminal charge of falsifying Business Records. In exactly 15 minutes after gag order one said that, the highest ranking republican in america stood outside the courthouse where Michael Cohen was testifying about false Business Records and said this. President trump is a friend and i want to be here to support him. Speaker of the house, mike johnson, a southern baptist, who publicly uses his religion to defend and explain everything he does and says, has now proclaimed himself to support a friend who, as johnsons religion would describe it, committed adultery with Stormy Daniels and arranged it to pay off Stormy Daniels and arranged to create false Business Records to cover up his payoff to Stormy Daniels. Mike johnson uses his religion as sword and shield every day, but not just himself, the full weight of the Republican Party to a microphone to declare support, and the parties support, for everything donald trump is accused of in this trial, because here is what speaker johnson did not say, today. I dont believe Stormy Daniels. In fact, speaker johnson did not say a word about her. He did not attempt to deny a single word of the evidence that has been presented against donald trump, and that leaves speaker johnson supporting donald trump, no matter what donald trump did with Stormy Daniels or what donald trump did criminally with Michael Cohen. President trump is a friend and i wanted to be here to support him. That is the profoundly perverted depth to which donald trump has personally pushed the most overtly religious Speaker Of The House in history. No other speaker has ever worn and wielded his religion as his professed guide in every single thing that he does and every single vote, and in everything he says. Religiosity is to mike johnson What Vulgarity is to donald trump. It is the essence of the man. So, in supporting his friend, donald trump, mike johnson unwittingly destroyed the facade of his own political religiosity. As mike johnson was debasing himself at the courthouse today, Michael Cohen was asked, was this check stub a false statement . Yes maam. Michael cohen repeatedly said yes maam to the prosecutor who asked him about all the checks he received from donald trump as reimbursement from his payment of 130,000 to Stormy Daniels. Each of them was mislabeled as being for Legal Services rendered, instead of as a simple reimbursement, which they were. Michael cohens testimony fully delivered all of the evidence of the false Business Records charged in the district attorneys indictment of donald trump and his testimony also delivered the necessary evidence to prove that Donald Trumps decision to order the payoff to Stormy Daniels was to save his president ial campaign, not to save his marriage. At the direction of was the key phrase we all read six years ago the federal indictment of Michael Cohen for illegal Trump Campaign contributions, and that payment to Stormy Daniels for the benefit of Candidate Trump and the Trump Campaign. The indictment in Michael Cohens guilty plea said he made that payment at the direction of individual one. That turned out to be donald trump. He used that phrase, today, on the witness and, under oath, to describe that he made the payment, at the direction of Donald J Trump and for the benefit of Donald J Trump. The surprise of the day was crossexamination. One, donald trump lee Defense Lawyer, todd blanche, had nothing. One of our guests tonight predicted to me that todd blanche is Cross Examination would be terrible. He was right. Todd blanche did not support a single relevant point against Michael Cohen. The other big surprise was that Michael Cohen maintained his poise and reasonable tone, that he established indirect examination by the prosecutor that few of us expected Michael Cohen to be able to maintain, under the stress and challenges of crossexamination, but todd blanche presented no challenges. He tried to wake up the jury with his first question. My name is todd blanche. You and i have never spoken or met before, have we . We have not. But you know who i am, dont you . I do. On april 23rd, so after the trial started in this case, you in on tiktok and called me a crying little , didnt you . Sounds like something i would say. But, the jury already knew that Michael Cohen does not like donald trump anymore. So it came as no surprise to them that Michael Cohen, who has already testified to being profane might Say Something about someone, like Donald Trumps lawyer, like that. The only person who needed waking up in that room today was Donald Trumps eyes remained closed, by my observation, for about 90 of the day. This is wildly beyond what we have seen before. Its impossible for donald trump not to be asleep during some of his long, extended, i closing sessions including Michael Cohens Cross Examination. Donald trump has insisted after first being caught sleeping that hes not sleeping, hes just resting his eyes, but no eyes need to be rested the entire day, even 77yearold trump eyes. Donald trump, who is so aware of everything his face is doing when, for example, taking a mug shot or being on public display in any way, leaves his face with his eyes closed, and tortured, elderly shapes when he drips off into his closed eyes space, his mouth shifts from its preferred scowl to the look of a collapsing old building. The mouth loses all shape, its become unrecognizable by the wrinkled curves they take under those closed eyes that stay closed, longer than they have ever stayed close in that courtroom. More than 10 minutes at a time. The old man sitting there in the defendants chair, head tilted back to the right, eyes closed, made it look like a trial at a nursing home. If he were found like that in his chair at a table in the nursing home during lunch, he would be immediately checked for signs of life. His lawyers have given up trying to keep donald trump awake. The trick that seemed to work so well yesterday, giving him printed comments full of praise about him to read did not work. Nothing worked. Especially the trump defense. Todd blanche has tried and will continue to try to use Michael Cohens own public words emphasize how much Michael Cohen hates donald trump, but the problem with that, with an american jury, is that Michael Cohen is speaking for at least 100 Million People in america. At least one third of the country and some days, maybe half the country, hates donald trump as much as Michael Cohen does. No juror will be shocked that Michael Cohen hates donald trump. They all know people who hate donald trump, as do most americans, but the prosecution was able to tell the story effectively to Michael Cohens testimony about how donald trump and Michael Cohen committed crimes together and how that destroyed Michael Cohens life, leaving him with more reason than most americans to hate donald trump. I will always protect mr. Trump, the Michael Cohen, in a Written Statement to the media in the second year of Donald Trumps presidency that was introduced into evidence today and that is what he was knee deep into the cult of donald trump. Cult member Michael Cohen was stunned when the fbi knocked on his door to serve a Search Warrant in an investigation that began, with andrew wiseman. Michael cohen spoke on the phone to donald trump after that raid and according to his testimony today, donald trump told him, dont worry, everything is going to be fine. I am president of United States. That was the last time Michael Cohen spoke to his cult leader. Michael cohen testified today i felt reassured because they had the president of united its protecting me. Then came the messages from donald trump, direct communication, indirect communication, which Michael Cohen testified that he took to mean, dont flip. Donald trump was paying Michael Cohen legal fees in a joint defense agreement, when Michael Cohen was getting a dont flip message. It was 11 30 in the courtroom which Michael Cohen said , dont flip. At that moment, the trial took on the tone of a mafia trial. Michael cohen was concerned that Robert Castillo , the lawyer who wanted to defend him, it would not represent his best interests. He testified that castillo, who used to work with Rudy Giuliani, wanted to establish a back channel, for Michael Cohen to Robert Castillo to Rudy Giuliani to donald trump in the white house. Michael cohen wanted to be able to talk to his own Defense Lawyer without necessarily telling Rudy Giuliani and donald trump everything he told his lawyer. In an email to Michael Cohen, trying to convince him to maintain that back channel of communication, Robert Castillo wrote you are loved, with the champion oddity of the word loved being in Quotation Marks. One of those odd uses of Quotation Marks you see from Donald Trump Tweets and posts. What did you understand mr. Costello to mean by you are loved, by whom . By President Trump. That is what Michael Cohen wanted. Donald trumps 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, maam. 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 paying off Stormy Daniels and being reimbursed by donald trump, and showing the checks used to reimburse him, i apologize to congress, i apologize to the country, i apologized to my family. Final question the prosecutor asked him before handing them over for Cross Examination was, do you have any regrets about your past work and association with donald trump . I do. What are they . I regret doing things for him that i should not have. Lien, bullying people in order to effectuate a goal. I dont Regret Working at the Trump Organization because, as i expressed before, some very interesting, great times. But, to keep the loyalty and to do the things that he asked me to do, i have violated my moral compass and i suffered the penalty, as has my family. And so, in careful, thorough description, the question and answer, Michael Cohens story contained the classic arc of tragedy. Michael cohen , whose father was a holocaust survivor, made the long and unlikely climb all the way up to a meeting with the president of the United States in the oval office. He stood there that day in the white house, floating high up in the thinner air with the title, personal attorney to the president of the United States. He reached an altitude he never thought he could reach. But there he was. In the oval office, reaching that high altitude, a higher altitude than his father could have dreamed for his son, or Michael Cohen could have dreamed for himself. While you are visiting the white house, did you have a private conversation with them President Trump . s the mac i did. Where did the conversation take place . In the oval office. Did you discuss the Reimbursement Payments that were going to be made to you . Yes maam. Can you tell the jury a bit about that conversation . I was sitting with President Trump and he asked me if i was okay, if i needed money, and he said no, all good. He said, because i can get a check and i said no, im okay. And he said, all right, just make sure you deal with alan. Did he say anything about anything forthcoming . Excuse me . Did he say anything about what would be forthcoming to you . Yes. A check for january and february. And at that point in time, you had not yet been reimbursed for the payments you made to Stormy Daniels . No maam. So, when Michael Cohen is played by a great actor, you will feel sorry for him. If you were in the courtroom today, you could, for the first time, begin to understand him. After this break, adam, tim, and andrew will join us. Much more. Take your business to the next stage when you switch to shopify. Nothing dims my light like a migraine. With nurtec odt, i found relief. The only Migraine Medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. To those with migraine, i see you. For the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of Episodic Migraine in adults. Dont take if allergic to nurtec odt. sea shell renewable