Trial with wiz former fixer and Attorney Michael Cohen grilled by the former president s defense team about a phone call from eight years ago. Were going to bring you expert legal analysis on that testimony and what to expect next in the trial. Also ahead well explain why President Bidens interview with special counsel robert hur is back in the headlines months after the special counsel decide against seeking charges against the former president. And bring you the latest out of gaza amid growing dire humanitarian concerns. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this friday, may 17th. We made it to friday. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. And we have a jampacked show this morning. And we will begin with Donald Trumps criminal Hush Money Trial, which is nearing the finish line and could potentially wrap up as early as next week. The prosecutions star witness, Michael Cohen, is set to return to the stand on monday after trumps legal team tried yesterday to hammer away at his credibility. Courts in recess today, no actions, so the former president can attend his son barrons High School Graduation this morning and then head to a fundraiser. Todd blanche said cohens questioning will likely wrap up on monday. Didnt quite finish yesterday. The prosecution has said it does not plan to call any additional witnesses and the defense says it may not call any either. That means closing arguments in this case could begin as early as tuesday, clearing the way for the jury to begin deliberating on trumps fate by the end of next week. So Michael Cohen with former trump lawyer faced a second day of crossexamination yesterday and testified that he spoke directly to former President Trump on the phone about the payments made to Stormy Daniels. One of the most consequential moments yesterday came when trumps lawyer, todd blanche, looked to discredit that story. Cohen testified that he contacted trump through his bodyguard, a man named Keith Schiller, on october 24, 2016, about those hush money payments. Blanche pressed cohen about phone records that show he texted schiller that day asking how to handle a teenager who was prank calling him. Cohen responded saying he did not remember that message. Blanche than said this. Do you recall texting Keith Schiller at 7 48 p. M. To say who can i speak to regarding Harassing Calls to myself and office . The dope forgot to block his call on one of them. You dont recall that . Cohen then responded sounds right, yes. Blanche then noted a return text to cohen where schiller simply says, call me. Blanche then pointed out cohen called schiller immediately after that for a conversation that only lasted a minute and a half. Blanche accused cohen of lying, suggesting he did not speak to trump during that call about Stormy Daniels as he had testified. Cohen, however, insisted that both topics were covered despite the short length of that phone call in question. The defense also attempted to paint cohen as having a vendetta against trump. Listen to a portion of his podcast that was played in court. I truly [ bleep ] hope that this man ends up in prison. It wont bring back the year that i losto the damage done to my family, but revenge is a dish best served cold, and i Better Believe i want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to me and my family. Theres no question that Michael Cohen hates donald trump, and stuff like that has been problematic for the prosecution. But lets get more informed legal analysis than what i just gave you by bringing in msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. Danny, thank you so much for being here again. Lets talk about Michael Cohen and how he did yesterday because there were some some sharp differences of opinion in terms of whether he helped or hurt the prosecution. I feel like im in the minority. I know that moment you just described, the phone call to Keith Schiller. A lot of folks have described that as a major moment for the defense. I didnt really see it that way because it was a phone call from eight years ago. I expect the prosecution has their has lined up with their redirect theyre going to get back up and maybe ask a few questions to try and clear that up, but i dont know they even need to because, look, its just memory loss after eight years. Could he have talked about Stormy Daniels for a minute and a half, maybe, maybe not. But i didnt think it was quite as devastating as others do. Again, i think im in the minoritywrite, but to me this is cooperating with corroborating witness. These are usually hardened criminals. Michael cohen was not that. He was going to be flaky on some issues, he was going to equivocate. He was going to have difficulty keeping his story straight on some level. So, yes, i think it was good for the defense they elicited that, but at the same time this is what happens to corroborating witnesses, people like cohen who have credibility issues. Lets go through the time line here. Courts off today, back mondays. Cohen will finish the crossexamination and the prosecution will get a redirect. Is that right . Yes, exactly. The prosecution gets to get up and as long as its limited to whats addressed on cross they can cleanup. I expect they will especially over the weekend they can look at the headlines and they say it looks like people thought we got zinged so lets get back up there and give cohen a chance to explain it. They cant talk to him over the weekend, but they can make a plan for maybe a short redirect. Or the other option is say, look, none of this laid a glove on the real prosecution. The real cool thing is to stand up and say were fine, no closing questions. And then theres closing arguments and the jury gets it. Dont forget theres a Charging Conference with where the lawyers hash out what the Jury Instructions are going to be. Those can last longer than you might expect. My last trial lasted an entire day in the Charging Conference, but it varies depending on the judge. So, yes, your time lines about right, and once the jury gets the case, who knows . Although generally speaking people tend to think jurors deliberate longer than they actually do. And lastly, theres no chance trump takes the stand, right . Look, ive been jokingly taking the underdog bet donald trump might take the stand for no other reason i would be the only one who said it, i would be a legend if he did take the stand. Realistically, statistically, hes highly unlikely to take the stand. Even his bravado saying he would take the stand, thats pretty common in white collar criminal defendants. As the trial approaches theyre fully confident about testifying, and as that day arrive as lot of them say you know what, im good. Well have complete coverage of the trial all morning here on msnbc and speak to you, im sure, again next week. Msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, thank you as always. So outside the courthouse yesterday new yorkers and tourists alike have been standing in line for hours and sometimes days hoping for a chance to see the trial firsthand. The General Public is allowed to watch the proceedings, but not everybody makes it inside. There are roughly a half dozen seats or so reserved in the main courtroom, and about 30 others are allowed to go into an Overflow Room down the hall where proceedings are shown on a closedcircuit tv. Its free to get in, but some people are paying a hefty price a good spot in line. According to the New York Times the woman 12th in line yesterday morning was selling her spot for 450. Behind her was a lawyer who paid hundreds of dollars for line sitters so she and her friends could get into the Overflow Room. Members of the media also standing in line early to get inside. A case not shown on television. Still ahead here, President Biden asserts Executive Privilege over Audio Recordings that were made during his classified documents. Plus a House Oversight hearing devolves into complete chaos with lawmakers going after each other. It wont surprise you to learn who one of those lawmakers was. Those stories and a check on sports and your weekend Weather Forecast when we come right back. End Weather Forecast when we come right back its a beautiful. Day to fly. Wooooo her uncles unhappy. Im sensing an underlying issue. Its tmobile. It started when we tried to get him under a new plan. But they they unexpectedly unraveled their price lock guarantee. Which has made him, a bit. Unruly. You called yourself the uncarrier. You sing about price lock on those commercials. the price lock, the price lock. so, if you could change the price, change the name its not a lock, i know a lock. So how can we undo the damage . We could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. Their connection is unreal. And we could all unexperience this whole session. Okay, thats uncalled for. Welcome back. As we turn to some of the morning other top headlines President Biden is asserting Executive Prevolog in his refusal to release the Audio Recordings of his interview with special counsel robert hur. White House Counsel is telling leaders oof the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, that means congressmen james comer and jim jordan about that letter released yesterday citing a recommendation from Attorney General garland while citing transcripts have already been released and accused them of want to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan purposes. But chairman comer said they wanted to make sure the transcripts are accurate saying it may explain hurs Copclusion Biden should not be prosecuted because of mental acuity and poor memory. We believe that there are some more theres more to the story. We would like to know if it was joe biden answering those questions in the transcript, or was his lawyer answering those questions for him . And with what ive seen in the in the transcribed interviews that weve done, weve released all the transcripts like we said we would. A lot of times theres a Lawyer Whispering in and answering the questions for the various family members. So i think that the American People deserve the truth, and i dont think what were asking for is unreasonable. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries withheld judgment on bidens decision to invoke privilege saying he needed to examine the legal grounds first. Well, ive got to take a look at the legal case for Executive Privilege. I do generally believe that transparency is in the best interest of everyone, and i think the Biden Administration has been really transparent in a variety of different ways throughout their term. But in terms of this specific instance, you know, im going to reserve comment until i get an understanding. We should note nbc news is part of a lawsuit to force the Biden Administration to release the audio of the hur interview under the freedom of information act. Nbc news and other News Organizations believe the audio is public record, that the white house has no grounds to with hold it, and its release would be in the publics interest. We will keep you updated. Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee also voted yesterday to hold Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress Last night amid the fight over those audiotapes. The two Committee Votes fell along party lines with oversights vote happening later in the evening. As Many Republican members were in New York City during the day for former President Trumps Hush Money Trial well have more on that later on both committees will now send the reports to the full house for a vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not said when this matter involving the Attorney General could be resolved. And another congressional story. As things got heated last night, as House OversightCommittee Members debated Holding Garland in contempt, the chaos erupted with republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene. Id like to know if any of the democrats on this committee are employing judge merchans daughter. Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland. Oh, godman, thats right, hes advising. Do you know what were here for . Well, you the one talking about i think your fake eyelashes are messing up no, aint nothing. Regain order of your committee. And i would like to move to take down ms. Greenes words. That is absolutely unacceptable. How dare you attack the principle appearance of another person. Are your feelings hurt. Oh, girl, baby girl. Oh, really. Dont even play. Baby girl . Were going to move and were going to take your words down. I second that motion. That was aoc there. Not a surprise that Marjorie Taylor greene would be at the middle of this. Eventually greene said she would strike her words but she would not apologize. Still ahead well turn to sports with a really good night of Playoff Action against the nhl and nba as the timberwolves force a game 7 with a shocking win. And the New York Rangers with a come back as they punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals. Well bring you those highlights and a check on the forecast when we come right back. The forecasn we come right back so this is pickleball . Pickle ah, these guys are intense. With e trade from Morgan Stanley, were ready for whatever gets served up. Dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. 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Over in the Eastern Conference the New York Knicks will try to put away the pacers tonight on the road in game 6. And in indiana a victory would send the series back to msg for game 7 on sunday.