welcome to our continued coverage. the new york criminal trial of former president donald trump. i'm rachel maddow joined by my colleagues. also, lawrence o'donnell is with us pick we are going to be joined by the star witness for the prosecution in this trial, michael cohen. he will speak to us exclusively. his first reaction to this verdict tonight. michael cohen will be joining us in one moment live. 4:20 p.m. p.m. and it is" we, the jury have reached a verdict. 45 minutes later at 5:05 p.m. the jury was back in the courtroom and is seated. the defendant donald trump was seated as well. the judge addressed the four people. and the judge. without telling me the verdict, how's the jury? and yes, they have reached a verdict. take the verdict, please. with the foreperson please rise to the members of the jury agreed upon a verdict? yes. and how say you to the first count of the indictment, charging donald j trump with the crime of falsifying business records in the first degree, guilty or not guilty? jury number one. guilty. and how say you to count two? guilty. and to three? guilty. and how say you to count for? guilty. and so on, and so on. the clerk proceeded the same question, guilty or not guilty for each of the 34 felony counts. each time, the person replied guilty. a unanimous verdict on all 34 felonies. that is how donald trump became the first american president ever convicted of crime. he became the first president ever convicted of a felony. and just seconds later, the first president of two felonies. and he kept breaking his own brand-new old record. for the most crimes any american president has been given. here is the signed verdict sheet filled in by the jury. 34 handwritten the check marks in the guilty column. signed at the bottom by the prosecutor and by the defense attorney and by the floor person. where they are identified only as a number. and he was the district attorney. alvin bragg . and they performed a fundamental civic duty. their service is literally the cornerstone of our judicial system. we should all be thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and the law. and their time and commitment for the last several weeks. 12 everyday jurors about to make a decision based on the evidence and the law and the evidence and the law, alone. the deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt. the defendant, donald j trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. to conceal a scheme to disrupt the 2016 election. >> this is from the new york district attorney alvin bragg. the office server is sized - supersized this. and this is how they are covering this. this is all front-page. this is "the new york times" he is guilty on all counts. and " the washington post ". and this is okay usa today" and trump guilty on all counts. and " the wall street journal" and here is " the tampa bay times at". he becomes the first former u.s. president. and here is the l.a. times. and " political". trump guilty. " the boston globe". the same. and here is his hometown paper, the queens daily eagle. queens man convicted. the cover of the next issue of " the new yorker". the title is a man of conviction. they detail with his little hands and large handcuffs. nicole, you and i were here as the verdicts were handed in by the jury. and the first reaction. i wonder in these few hours since receiving this information. as we see the republican party react unanimously. this is an illegitimate verdict. i wonder if you have a sense of what this night is going to mean for us? >> for me, the trump story has always been about asymmetry. as we came to set when a learn the verdict pick we would have been the same if he was acquitted. right? it would been respected for the judge that we have been articulating for the last several hours. a respect for reference the jury's and the jurors. and i think if there was criticism it could have been the process did not yield the results that was plain to our eyes. they had the paper in the emails and the evidence. but to the republicans and the trump enabler would have celebrated. they are only condemning aiken action because they do not like the result. i think what is important is for us not to look away. and what is broken is one of the two parties does not respect the law. not because they did not like what they did not see. but because they do not like the result. that is a flashing red light. >> chris? >> i keep thinking about the immunity case before the supreme court. and still pending. one of the things that got to me during the oral arguments was really shameful. multiple conservative justices saying oh come on. you can indict a ham sandwich. the rule of law is going to be used as a tool. and here you have a process that was run with incredible integrity. basically i think the liberal democratic order that we are trying to hold on will rise or fall on our ability to a fair and neutral process that we are all looking. >> democracy is a process based. you are not guaranteed a guaranteed outcome. >> that is true of courts and elections. what we are saying in the republican party is rejecting that notion. if you lose the election, it is no longer legitimate. it is rigged and this is a deeply held part of donald trump's personal view of the world. and he said about the emmys. he goes all the way back. and it is authentically held in his own strange way. but now it is metastasized to take over the party. in some way when that is the ethos that we are seeing, you are removing your self from the consensual enterprise that we are engaged in. in liberal, democratic enterprise. >> thinking about our own coverage on msnbc and the people that we have talked to. the legal experts and the pundits pick you can go through with a fine tooth comb. there was not a moment in our coverage. when all of us were covering the daily trial and covering the transcripts and getting reporters updated. i do not think there was a moment when we said something went wrong there. there was something in this trial for something that has been decided that seems very suspect. or that is going to get up yield. it was never a moment like that. that was true when we were to not know what the result was going to be. to have a non-results driven and honest and fair take on what is going on. it means that you believe in the system. and policing the system to make sure it is fair. willing to accept it regardless of the outcome. >> i do not want to overstate the case. there are times when public officials are convicted of a crime. people rush to their defense. when i was in providence, rhode island and chicago and other elected officials will do it. it is the union in the. and if you are a city councilmember and your neighboring city councilmember gets convicted on a crime. you think they got a raw deal. that happens in american politics. but it is down the line complete party line that has been expressed in a post today about this. this is from the moment it is announced. this is an illegitimate process that i find genuinely unnerving. and from normal politics around criminal prosecution. >> i just wanted to say that we heard from alvin bragg. and what we have heard on tables and shows. we are recording and doing what we are doing without fear or favor. and that is what alvin bragg said. it is interesting. that has a redefinition of courage which i think it is interesting pick we had to redefine what courage means. and now the things that we should take for granted in terms of people believing in the rule of law. we had to redefine that. but if you think about what alvin bragg did. he took a case with a team of prosecutors. i have empathy for the lawyers. having been a trial lawyer, to be able to get us across the finish line. it is an incredible amount of time and energy. but without fear or favor approach they took. they did not let themselves be skewed by the following analysis. even if you have all the elements of a crime. even if you have probable cause and be able to meet all of those elements. sometimes you stop yourself as a prosecutor. can you consider what the jury could be on this. do you have enough to have a jury to care? and when we talk about the opening statements. and i sit at this table for so long, people did not take the value of this case. the first indictment. but what do they did it during that prosecution opening is made you care. they may the jury care about this case. maybe they did not care. that was the critical moment. >> on the issue of fear or favor, the fear factor that were involved in this process at every level. obviously, the jurors, the family members, the judge, the judges family members, the prosecutors and the witnesses. they are going to be speaking in a moment with michael cohen was the prosecution's star witness. michael cohen's saga is a shakespearean. part of the fear in terms of him being a witness is having to come to this journey with his former boss and mentor. and by some accounts, the way that he tells it is worshiped for a long time while he worked with him for a decade. the confrontation with the trump supporters and what trump has been willing to bear on his perceived enemies of the world. that is something that michael cohen is contending with and has been contending with. now presumably in a magnitude a different all counts guilty verdict has been pronounced. we will be speaking with michael cohen. but i want to talk to our friend lawrence o'donnell. lawrence, you were in the courtroom for most of the trial including the testimony from michael cohen. and before we speak with michael cohen. is there a key moment from the witness testimony or how this court proceeded that led or did you think that the very end that it could go either way. >> i did think it could go either way. luckily, we now know and say definitively. he was defending a guilty client. defending a guilty client is really hard and a hard thing to do. it is a very hard thing when you are defending a guilty client to get 12 jurors to unanimously agree to find that defendant not guilty. and he asked them to do many times in his closing statements. and many use the phrase reasonable doubt. and you wonder what that phrase means to every jury. every jury it is common for a jury to want to hear that. and they will want that read to them again. but this jury was clearly unified. there could have not been a lot of hard work to get through in the jury room. basically they got this verdict in nine hours of 34 counts. they were being respectful of the size of the indictment. and rachel, as this day has been wearing on. the key moment was a alvin bragg. alone in a room with his own thinking. after all of this had been presented to him. after more than one team of prosecutors looking at this potential defendant. and suggesting ways that this potential defendant could be prosecuted. while some prosecutors in that office were opposing some of the ideas this defendant could be prosecuted. so alvin bragg had a decision to make. was his decision and his decision alone. to make the decision to go forward with this case. as i was sitting and watching this unfold. i could see why alvin bragg made the decision to do this. why would he look at all of this evidence. his conclusion had to be i cannot possibly not bring this case. this evidence cannot emerge later. the world cannot see this evidence later. and asked me why i did not bring this prosecution. at the very same time, especially when michael cohen was testifying. i could see what the new york federal prosecutors did not bring this case. they were worried about how michael cohen would perform as a witness. what alvin bragg had to do when he decided to bring this case. he had to do one simple thing. it is the hardest thing in the world. he had to bring a perfect case. he had to assemble the perfect team. including, by the way the paralegals that were standing up with him tonight at that press conference. it was not lawyers only. he had the paralegals and the assistance of them with him too. they had to have the perfect team. and they had to present a perfect case. there were plenty of moments that we wondered about. did this help the other side but now we know. the prosecution did exactly what they had to do. they presented a perfect case. for a case like this you have to think about it as an airplane engine. and what doubts you might have about an airplane engine. it has to work flawlessly. it is a life and death matter. the prosecution is to build a flawless airplane engine and the defense's job is just to try to convince you somewhere, the engine is leaking a drop of oil. that is all the defense is to do. so it is perfection with a flaw. there could be a loose bolt. perfection has to win. that is what alvin bragg saw on the onset. there was a way to do this case and a way to try it perfectly. and he did not call out on weisenburger. and now we know that he had to know it was the right call before the fact. we all get to sit here knowing that everything was the right call from alvin bragg. and he had to know ahead of time. he could've said you know what. the foreign half hour closing is too much. i need you to cut two hours but he did not do that. he built his team and he trusted his team and he knew his team was capable of doing a perfect job they had to do. in order to get to all counts guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. this is a story in the room was the story of these two kids who grew up in new york. one is probably the most spoiled brat in the history of american spoiled brats. across the aisle is alvin bragg. alvin bragg grew up on a block in harlem that is called strivers row. his mother and father met in a small town in virginia in the eighth grade. they went to separate colleges. sr. went to syracuse and they came to new york and worked as professionals as most of the people live in strivers row do. they all have high temperatures for their kids. and on strivers row the children learned that if you worked really, really hard in school. if you worked really, really hard. you will be able to do work that you can be proud of. so alvin bragg has been aimed at this point. you know, for reasons that we will never make sense in my memoirs. i decided to spend the day at his alma mater, alvin bragg. for the events surrounding graduation week at harvard. when alvin bragg graduated from harvard college, the school newspaper they ran a profile of him. " the harvard crimson" and the title was the anointed one. and the article that gives you what you think is the most hyperbolic title you could imagine for a college senior. it then lays out for you who this kid is who is graduating and on his way to harvard law school. and i finished the article one year ago thinking yes. that is the right title. that is who this guy is. and everybody, this final week at is what people saw here. and that is what people saw. the people of manhattan that elected him. that is what they saw. they saw somebody who was dedicated to doing this job and doing it flawlessly. and so profoundly modestly. in a country in that trump era that needs lessons in modesty. alvin bragg is that lesson. >> you know, lawrence what a great point. in this moment when it is remembered in history. yes. the crimes will be part of the history. the criminals will be part of the history. the people that were brave enough to take this to the criminal justice system. against all the threat in order to do it and against all odds. and the most powerful people in the country and them most powerful people in the country to do it. those are the people a few generations from now. those are the people that are going to have blockbuster holograms made about it. lawrence, thank you. and i know that we will be back with you in one moment. joining us for his first interview since tonight's verdict is the prosecution's primary witness from this case, michael cohen. he is joined with his attorney. we are grateful for both. >> it is good to see you all. >> how are you? >> i guess the word is relieved. this has been six years in the making. remember, the very first time that i met with the district attorney's office. we talked about it when i was on the show. the first time i met with the district attorney's office when i was an inmate in otis phil. they came up to see me on three separate occasions. this is a six year process within an inch accountability to finally be had. >> were you surprised by the verdict? >> no. i was not. i have been so many shows, and i have told you all along. the facts speak for themselves. the documents speak for themselves. i have listed to so many pundits, the various shows including some of the hosts talk about x, y and two. they could not be further from the truth. i would have conversation with my lawyer on a regular basis. i do not understand it how come they do not see the same thing that we are seeing. i understand that it makes great headlines and so on. but the facts are the facts. at the end of the day, the fact is what prevailed here. >> you mentioned the timeframe and what is been for you. before tonight, there was his criminal scheme that has been described. the illegal election, benefits, and payments. it is been described by multiple prosecutors. but there was exactly one person would gotten in trouble for this scheme. >> only one. >> you are not the beneficiary but the only person who had been in trouble for it. and in the national enquirer god immunity. >> trumps attorney general bill barr told to stop the investigation after you were in prison. after you've gotten a sharp end of the stick and gotten trumps name out of it. it has been eight years from these alleged crimes. i just have to ask you. and how you feel about the verdict but that is justice delayed. it is justice delayed, just as tonight. >> clearly not in this case with 34 counts. and one after another after another. of guilty. it is accountability. it is exactly what america right now. we need accountability to be had by all those that break the law. because as we like to continuously state nobody is above the law. and today's verdict demonstrates that. >> how do you think donald trump is feeling today? >> i can only go back to when the judge sentenced me to 36 months. you do not feel good. sentencing is terrible. and of course i took the plea, the 48 hours that was given to me. they were filing the 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 to protect his family. he took it all the way. and judge juan merchan who is an absolute gentleman to see him on that stand is to see poetry. it is to see a masterful judge who was quick with decision- making. he was absolute judicial perfection. and the jury had tremendous respect for him as it did i which kept me off of my social media. of course my lawyer. and it was really out of respect for judge juan merchan and the process that i did exactly that. and the jury respects juan merchan. i think the antics that went on in the courtroom. it was from donald himself with his leaning back and closing his eyes the total disregard. i did not think he engendered any positive feelings by anyone. >> did you think that he was sleeping or some people said that he was resting his eyes. there was a lot of different interpretations. but your interpretation is that he was being disrespectful? >> yes. i was also not concentrating. i was trying to keep track of the meandering questions. that was very different. from 2016 to 2018, 2020. and trying to keep track of the dates and the events. when you have that type of meandering questioning. it is not an easy process. >> and in preparing for this cross-examination. did you prepare emotionally as well as physically? just watching it in the courtroom