those counts stem from a salacious hush money payment to an adult film star and the cover-up coordinated between trump, his former attorney michael cohen and head of the national inquirer, david pecker. this case was about a conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 election. we knew nothing about that until after the election was over thanks to some enterprising reporting from the wall street journal but prosecutors were reluctant to bring charges for some time. for years, this case against trump had effectively laid dormant. after six years of waiting and six years of trial and two years of deliberation, the jury of 12 ordinary americans found donald trump guilty on all 34 counts this afternoon. trump's fate is now in the hands of the judge, one mershon, who is scheduled a sentencing hearing for july 11th which is just four days before the republican national convention and while most experts agree prison time is unlikely, it's possible. trump is expected to hold a press conference later today and in all likelihood will continue to rail against the verdict is being rigged which is what he did right after the verdict today but that is not what we saw from this jury which is important. they proved that nobody, no matter how powerful, is above the law. alvin bragg, the prosecutor who brought this case forward, make that point today after the verdict. >> we have a phenomenal system of 12 everyday new yorkers who listen to the judge's directions. they follow evidence. they were careful and attentive , and so, i feel deep gratitude to work alongside of them to be a part of the system. >> the question now is, what comes next? what is the possibility of an appeal from the trump team and how could this impact the 2024 election? joining me right now a special correspondent for the hollywood reporter. you previously worked for the national inquirer and had a front row seat to the so-called catch and kill plot. catherine christian is the former unit chief at the manhattan district attorney's office. harry lippmann is a former u.s. attorney and christy greenberg's former deputy chief of the fdny criminal division. this all felt like it happened quite quickly. that may be how it always happens in a trial when you're getting a verdict. did anything surprise you, how the jury ruled? >> the verdict itself did not surprise me and i thought they would run the table with a couple of little exceptions, they were similar counts but we've been saying all the way through, i was, but so many people were, the prosecution had a story, a compelling one, and the through line from the trump tower meeting to michael: , so the defense just did not seem to be able to repair that and when it got to the very end, so yesterday, they did conscientious but quick work. when we had those teasers on the transcript they were consistent with starting chronologically and going through, they were consistent with trying to figure out whether to corroborate michael cohen but they were also most consistent with and this is what i thought at the time, especially with that audiotape really zeroing in on trump's role. they had already focused in on him, just what he did at the meeting to pecker, cohen and those sorts of things. that followed through credit -- pretty quick but also it seemed to me, methodical. i've been thinking a conviction was coming. >> i want to pause for a moment. i've been watching alan bragg. i've watch this clip a number of times. his tone struck me is like, exactly the right tone and what he delivered, not the tone of people who are not as self- controlled as he was would have delivered. tell me what you thought of it. you have prosecuted cases and worked in these offices. what were you thinking about when you are watching him? >> i have worked with alvin bragg and this was vintage alvin bragg. this is a man who has been really taking a tax from all sides. he was attacked for initially not charging this case. mark cormorant wrote a book criticizing alvin bragg for not being aggressive enough that when he charges the case there is an onslaught of criticism that this was in the were the case to bring, and then you had the attacks from congress, subpoenas to his office that he had to fend off then you also had these personal attacks from donald trump not just on alvin bragg, all those those were awful. he called him an animal, he attacked his wife, they were vicious personal attacks and through all of it, you didn't get a response. he kept his head down and he did the work and what you saw today, he could have come out with a statement that was more boastful and instead, you saw him talking about gratitude, the gratitude to his team, for being part of a system that works in the way that this doesn't that is just who he is. he is a person who is dignified, shows restraint, who has respect for the people he works with them so i was not surprised to see this, but i also have to say, given everything he's been through and what we sing, which was focusing on the facts of the law, this was a strong case, proven by the fact that the jury came out as quickly as they did with their guilty verdict. >> no question about that and some of that is how they structured the case. david pecker was the first person to testify, more compelling, i think , then people thought it might be. you said david pecker's's testimony was the most compelling. >> yes. i thought it was after he testified i said i understand now, particularly when he called himself the eyes and ears of the campaign. i said at the time, he was eyes and ears for this jury to the conspiracy, because he and also his personality, was his authentic self. he took pride in national inquirer's leaving -- sleazy stuff but he didn't really have any baggage. he was credible. he didn't hate donald trump, so he laid the framework and when josh stein glass, the prosecutor, referred back to the trump tower meeting which happened, remember donald trump and his wife coming down the escalator, it was two months after that, that the trump tower meeting happened, and the phone call that pecker testified about that the jury wanted to hear, that was donald trump calling pecker. it was not: calling pecker or pecker calling trump. that conversation that pecker had was michael cohen talking about the boss, donald trump, it was almost mob like, you know, the don, nope unintended, and his lawyer who wasn't really a lawyer in the real sense, michael cohen who was the one who is doing the bidding so when the jury heard the testimony back and also the law, they went back and as we know, at the end of the day we all thought they were going home and then our phones blew up. it was a verdict. >> it was. again, as someone who's not been in these courtrooms in this case, everybody thought we were packing it up and all of a sudden, i mean our first conversation when you had just put out your story which was very courageous, i told you at the time, you told your version of events, you have watched the cell transpire, which must've been kind of a bit of an out of body experience at times, tell me what that has been like for you and also, do you think anything will change on his catch and kill tactics? >> it's good to be here tonight, this morning because we sat together six weeks ago. it feels like a long time ago, and i did my first interview with you and you asked me, what would i like people to know about this case and i said fundamentally, this is a case about election interference and then i spoke to you and the viewers about that meeting at trump tower about david pecker going to meet with michael cohen and donald trump is saying he will be the eyes and ears of the campaign . the company will purchase negative stories about trump stories and promoting donald trump really did form the basis of this case and as soon as the jury asked for that read back of david evidence i was sitting in court thinking, i reckon i've gone through the paper, they a degree about the falsification of these records and now look into the underlying crime and looking for pecker to confirm trumps involvement. your question about catch and kill, thankfully, david pecker is no longer really involved with the media organization that he turned into a criminal enterprise, ami, which is now a different organization, whether different parts of the media will do these types of deals again is really anyone's guess but for me, sitting there today as we were all packing up, i was getting ready, just like the rest of my colleagues in the press, to head out then we got this absolute stunner from merchan who said there's been a verdict and i was thinking well, it's going to be guilty, and for me, it is one of those ones where i've lived it and lived to tell the tale. i was a source for the wall street journal, a source for the new york times, for me, it's actually a confirmation of the work of the fourth estate, that journalism was able to propel the story forward. and show them, through a series of stories, the doorman, stormie mcdaniels, karen mcdougal, about these catch and kills, get it on the radar of prosecutors, which formed the basis of this indictment. >> it is such a good point. journalism on the wall street journal story and people like yourself who were sources in the story, that helped bring this to light. there were several moments of courage throughout this process that led to this day and our judicial system doing its job because you had a jury of 12 men and women making a decision. we have a lot more to get to. we still have so much to cover. stick around. we will be back after a quick break. be back after a quick break. have heart failure with unresolved symptoms? 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pain, and that means everything. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ ask your doctor about how skyrizi could help with your skin or joint symptoms. learn how abbvie could help you save. i don't want you to move. with your skin or joint symptoms. i'm gonna miss you so much. you realize we'll have internet waiting for us at the new place, right? oh, we know. we just like making a scene. transferring your services has never been easier. get connected on the day of your move with the xfinity app. can i sleep over at your new place? can katie sleep over tonight? sure, honey! this generation is so dramatic! move with xfinity. were you surprised by the verdict? >> no, i was not. i've told you all along that the facts speak for themselves. the documents speak for themselves. >> it's been eight years down the road from his alleged crimes. that is justice delayed. what is justice delayed, justice denied? >> 34 cases -- count, one after the other of guilty. it is accountability. it's exactly what america needs right now. we need for accountability to be had by all those that break the law because, as we like to continuously state, no one is above the law. today's verdict demonstrates that. >> how do you think donald trump is feeling today? >> i can only go back to when judge polly sentenced me to 36 months. you don't feel good. sentencing is terrible. i have course, took the plea, the 48 hours that was given to me or they were filing the 80 page indictment that was going to include my wife. it never feels good. i did what i had to do to protect my family. this is very different. donald did not let it go in order to protect his family. he took it all the way. >> that was michael cohen, of course, donald trump's former attorney and self-described speaker speaking exclusively to msnbc earlier tonight. up until tonight, cohen was the only other person to be held accountable for the scheme to pay off stormy daniels. he of course was a star witness, one of them, and trumps hush money trial. i want to start with you and lee cowan of it all, shall we say. we have all been around michael cohen in different ways, some of us have interviewed him. he is a pretty bombastic character, typically. he was not, in that interview. more importantly, he was not in the courtroom. how much do you think his demeanor and how he approached it matter to the jury. >> i think it mattered tremendously because we were all waiting. he was the last witness. we had heard about michael cohen being the fixer, being the guy people didn't want to deal with and who was really brash. you've heard his voice on recordings before. you actually heard from him in the courtroom, so you are expecting a lot and then he came in and was calm and he was pretty even. he did not lose his cool at all and i think that was a surprise to a lot of us who were maybe waiting to see if the cross- examination would maybe poke him too much and he would react and he really didn't, and i think that was important for showing that he respected the process. he respected the courtroom, the judge, and the jury's time, so i think that what a long way. >> it is such an interesting part of it, the tone. harry, you were just saying the narrative of this. josh stein glass but also d.a. bragg and the whole team had to kind of construct this narrative, which includes who they have testified when, presumably. tell me about your reaction. >> props to stein glass and team. there is a prosecutors art, and this was artful. it was not flashy, but they made the story seem compelling, with a hole through line and cohen met with them 25 times. everyone has remarked how much more effective of a communicator stein glass was then blanche. there is huge preparation here and that is what he did. there was one point where an objection was sustained and he just knew how, let's skip the next one before even looking at it. he rehearsed that very strong closing, i'll bet 25 times, and to his colleagues and i think blanche and the whole defense team seem to be very much at odds. that was the sort of vibe. you know, 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration. they told an inspiring story but they worked it through, and everything from the sentence level for he had dynamics and pause, but the narrative level. it was natural in a sense, but he and they made it seem natural. that is a prosecutors art. >> shout out to the female prosecutor on the team, susan, who question stormy daniels, that was her witness and michael cohen was her witness, meaning she was the one who prepared michael cohen and she was the one who did a very effective redirect when the defense that they had that aha moment, that's a lie, and she was the one who had the redirect and brought that photo in keep schiller and trump. she also was the one who destroyed bob costello in cross- examination, so this was a very good prosecution team, and josh stein glass has been trying cases for 25 years, so having seen him and knowing him, i was not surprised that the great job he did, but it was a very cohesive team. you could not really say that about the other side, but out of fairness to them, look at their client was. i mean, that is what they had to deal with, that client, so this was a very difficult process. >> there were some moments she kind of brought things back and put them in a very good place. >> her rhythm. their rhythm, but hers in particular were a big part of this. >> i was in the overflow room for the closing arguments and i was so struck by judge merchan's voice, which, because there are no cameras in the courtroom and people don't hear the audio, unfortunately, the american public doesn't get to hear but he has such a calming voice, under such stressful circumstances and i want to ask you. we've covered this extensively. you know the story extensively. talk to me about the role of the judge and what struck you about it? >> i think it's been such an incredibly fair proceeding and i wish the american people were able to watch, as well, because when we hear this cry that this is a witchhunt and the judge is biased and his daughter is making money out of all of this and then i sat there and see how fair he is, particularly to the defense, what really struck me today is when the jury was being discharged he said to them, you know, i wanted to thank you and then he said to them i want to thank you privately and i want to ask you after this, how we can do this better, and it struck me, what a lovely way to finish these proceedings, that this jury that not only just sacrificed time but have also put their reputations, their lives on the line, people are going to be chasing them in the next several days to get interviews, there is the risk that their names come out and trump supporters circulate them if not trump himself, and that he wanted to take that time, you know, to go into a room and say thank you for what you have done and how could we do this better. when you juxtapose michael cohen, who we all thought defense was going to the prosecution and the defense are going to be under the needle, he was going to have an outburst, it was the defense's big witness who was the one that blew a gasket. so much so, the courtroom had to be cleared. i was there that day for judge merchan actually sort of lost his cool and said everyone out of the courtroom, but it was bob costello who was behaving in a manner that was totally disrespectful to that courtroom, muttering under his breath, saying things like jesus and being totally out of hand and that was the one key defense witness the jury saw, was bob costello acting in a way that we thought maybe michael cohen could've behaved but he was cool and calm under pressure and it was bob costello who is behaving like a brat in there. >> really have like a few seconds left but catherine, everyone thinks it's over now but there's a lot more that's going to happen here. sentencing, potential appeal. >> d.a. bragg is very circumspect. this is not over. there has to be sentencing and there is also going to be an appeal, so he will be very, you know, not saying a lot of things. you can anticipate mr. blanche said he's filing a motion. that could only be a motion to set aside the verdict. it will be denied and then there will be sentencing mammals. donald trump will be sentenced and then he will file an appeal. it depends how fast he perfects that appeal whether or not it will be heard. >> i mean, what you are telling me is there is a lot to come. >> and he's got to sit down with a probation officer and show he is contrite. that won't happen. >> that is a key moment to watch, which i suspect you're going to still need to be caffeinated to be informing our audience for many weeks to come. i am so grateful. this is full circle for us. thank you all so much for being here. coming up next, trump's first criminal trial had a big moment today but now the question becomes, how does his conviction play