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Now: Michael Cohen Testifies About Working With David Pecker To Kill Negative Stories About Trump. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2024 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Buying the Karen McDougal story and killing it, what's called catch and kill.

David had stated, it's going to cost them $150,000 to control the story. To which Mr. Trump replied, no problem, I'll take care of it, Cohen says. Cohen said that meant he was going to pay him back. Trump is going to pay David Pecker back because David Pecker and the National Enquirer are the ones negotiating this deal with Karen McDougal, according to this testimony.

After the call with Trump, Cohen says he followed up with Pecker in another call to confirm the details. Cohen is now reading more texts that he sent with Dylan Howard, who is the editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer and also the National Enquirer/AMI/Trump Organization point manned on squashing the Karen McDougal story. Anderson?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes, Jake, I want to bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes, who has been monitoring this as well, along with us. Kristen, how does it seem to you Donald Trump has been reacting or handling Michael Cohen's testimony to this point?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Anderson, we have two people here, Michael Cohen and Donald Trump, who are both very reactive, people and to some extent a loose cannon. And we know that Donald Trump's attorneys had really tried to brief him on not reacting to Michael Cohen, the way that we saw him react to Stormy Daniels, we saw him mutter under his breath.

The judge had to pull him aside or pull his lawyer aside. He was cursing at certain points. They do not want him doing this with Michael Cohen. They believe that will give Michael Cohen some kind of indication that he's gotten under Trump's skin, which will urge him on. They have told Donald Trump to just remain focused, to not have any reaction.

Now, of course, as I noted at the beginning of this, these are two people who are loose cannons. They often are very reactive. So whether or not he can sit through hours of this kind of testimony without reacting remains to be seen. But right now, it seems as though he is following some of his attorneys' advice here to try and remain disconnected and not have any indication of how he is feeling in response to this testimony. COOPER: Yes. Kristen, Dylan Howard texted, according to Michael Cohen, he agreed to do that, that they were worried that Karen McDougal was going to go on ABC, on GMA, Cohen says they had a concern that story was going to find its way to ABC, meaning "ABC News." They're saying that McDougal's team rejected the initial offer and we're told to get back to them by the EOD by the end of day with a reasonable offer.

I want to bring in Adam Kaufmann. He's a former executive assistant district attorney for the Manhattan D.A.'s office. Adam, just, I'm wondering what you think prosecutors so far are getting what they need.

ADAM KAUFMANN, FORMER EXECUTIVE ASST. D.A., MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: I think -- thanks, Anderson. I think they're certainly trying to get what they need. You know, I echo the points we've just heard about a lot of what we're hearing right now about catch and kill, about Karen McDougal, has nothing to do with the crime, which is the falsification of business records.

So again, what they're doing is they're sort of taking Cohen through points that are already corroborated by others. So that when it comes down to focus on the specific crime, which is the falsification of the record, you know, the sort of testimony about the micromanaging, about Trumps involvement in everything will be largely corroborated and supported by all of that other testimony.

They're also bringing this out to show that the intent to defraud, which is part, an element of the crime, that there was this intent to influence the campaign, which is both part of the intent to defraud, but also is necessary to show the campaign finance violation, which would elevate this from a misdemeanor to a felony. So I think they're trying to build a lot of support around the center of the case, which there's some weakness there in that, you know, the falsification is something that Trump didn't do himself. It was done by others and not by him.

So I think by trying to build everything around it, they're sort of compensating for an essential weakness of the case. Not that it's not provable, it's just weaker than other aspects of the case.

COOPER: Cohen is explaining that they got it, that this is locked down. We prevented the story from being released on "ABC News," and effectively the story has now been caught, he said, as he was told by Dylan Howard. I'm wondering, what would you make of how Michael Cohen is actually testifying? We're told that he has not been looking at the jury as he answers questions.

And I'm wondering, as a prosecutor, I mean, I talked to a jury consultant a couple of days ago regarding someone else's testimony. The jury consultant thought, whatever seems more natural for somebody, maybe not to be staring at them all the time when they're testifying at the jury all the time, that might make some jurors uncomfortable, but maybe kind of going back and forth between talking to, you know, to prosecutors, talking to the jury, I'm wondering what you make -- does it make -- I mean, is it a problem you think that Michael Cohen isn't looking at the jury? [11:05:00]

KAUFMANN: No, I don't think it's a problem. I do -- I mean, I would agree with that. You want the witness to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible. You don't want him looking at Trump, that's for sure. You don't want there to be this sense of a challenge between them, sort of two guys staring each other down, that makes it look like revenge. Ideally, the witness will, you know, focus on the person asking the questions.

And then if it's a short answer, probably maintain that eye contact. If it's a longer answer where there's sort of explanation, maybe pivot and turn to the jury a bit and express it to the jury. But, you know, the natural thing for most witnesses when they're being questioned is to focus on the person asking the questions. So I think that makes sense to me that he's doing that.

COOPER: Michael Cohen is saying he first worked with McDougal's lawyer, Keith Davidson, to get a 2011 blog post about Stormy Daniels and Trump taken down. We learned last week the prosecution had some phone calls, witnesses the night before testimony, which is not uncommon. Do you think there were some phone calls to prepare Michael Cohen for today? How closely do you think that they have been working?

KAUFMANN: I would think very closely. I would imagine that there's been people working with him up to the last minute. You know, he really is, this case doesn't move forward without him. I know some people have opined that the prosecution didn't really need him. I really disagree with that. I think that they had to call him for this case. He's at the center of it. He's the one that created, you know, to the extent you want to talk about a false document, the initial false document was Michael Cohen's invoice.

That's what's received by the employees of the Trump Organization. And they're feeding off of that as they're making their entries in the Donald Trump records. So, you know, the falsity of that document and why that document was made to be false, to have that false recounting of the services provided, that's crucial to the precise theory of criminal liability.

And so really, the prosecutors need Cohen to express to the jury that what he was doing when he created these entries was covering up the fact that they had paid hush money for this story and then tie it into the campaign.

COOPER: The judge has sustained an objection to the prosecutor's follow up question, which is, what was your understanding of why Keith Davidson reached out to you after the signed deal? He's talking about after the deal was signed with Karen McDougal. Michael Cohen is testifying that Keith Davidson had reached out to him, Merchan is objecting to why -- to Hoffinger's follow up. What was your understanding of Keith Davidson? Why he reached out to you? Adam, I assume that objection is because it's Michael Cohen's interpretation of what Keith Davidson was thinking.

KAUFMANN: Yes, that's exactly right, Anderson. You might consider a trial attorney career after this. Your objection is sustained. The, you know, a witness can't testify to what was in someone else's mind. There's usually ways to get around that with follow up questions. But certainly Cohen doesn't know what was in the mind of someone, why that person called him.

COOPER: Adam Kaufmann, appreciate your expertise. Again, thank you so much. Michael Cohen is saying he had also just laid out $30,000 previously. So he's putting pressure on me to speak to Mr. Trump to get the money back. Back with Paula Reid and Kaitlan Collins. This is -- are they talking about -- Pecker insisted that he get reimbursed. When asked if Pecker was upset, Cohen testified very David Pecker was worried he was not going to get reimbursed by Donald Trump.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and he didn't get reimbursed, which is part of why Michael Cohen ends up having to be the one to give stormy Daniels her money. Now, right now, I'm not saying that it's easy what Michael Cohen is doing, but this is the easy part in terms of his assignment.

Now, they followed up at a lunch at Pecker's favorite Italian restaurant. Again, he expressed anger. But what Michael Cohen is going through are things that other witnesses have testified to and Michael Cohen has spoken about publicly many times, things that are somewhat easily corroborated because there's so many other people involved and they're not central, these -- what he's testifying to, these lines are not central to the criminal charges.

What is going to get more complicated is once we get into the Stormy Daniels hush money payment and the reimbursement, and it's really just Trump and Cohen who are the only two, maybe Allen Weisselberg, who have knowledge of that. So right now, our colleagues reporting inside, if he appears relaxed, he's doing pretty well. Again, this is the easy part. It's going to get a little bumpier from here.

COOPER: David Pecker was upset. They went to lunch. Cohen says that when he relayed the message to Trump said, don't worry, I'll take care of it.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Which he ultimately never did. But it does speak to why Michael Cohen had to dip into his own money and draw down that home equity line of credit to pay Stormy Daniels because National Enquirer and AMI and David Pecker had already paid the doorman $30,000. They paid Karen McDougal $150,000, which Trump implied he would be ready to reimburse.

[11:09:59]

I should note, Trump is leaning back in his chairs as his chairs, eyes closed, as Cohen is testifying. That is, it's interesting because, and obviously, you know, how Trump is responding to this has been a key point of interest. When Stormy Daniels was testifying, when she was being questioned by prosecutors, not even being cross examined, Trump was paying close attention. He wasn't doing this thing for most of the time where he will close his eyes for sustained periods of time.

And it seems to be kind of as if he's pretending like what's happening is not happening, like he's not listening to the answers coming from the witnesses. And he is doing that again with Michael Cohen as Cohen is describing, you know, what David Pecker, how this is being carried out in the frustrations of the fact that they weren't getting paid back from this whole --

COOPER: Cohen says at the time, David Pecker was being considered for to become the CEO of Time Inc. And Cohen previously had said that he was -- he had concerns about the files, essentially, that AMI had on Donald Trump.

REID: Yes, I think there's a sense here that there is a concern that if he goes on to another role, there's this file full of potentially incriminating information. And in terms of using like the encrypted apps, we know that, for example, David Pecker consulted with his lawyers about whether this was OK in terms of federal election law. I'm going to pause for one second.

One of the concerns that I had, I expressed, Mr. Trump, was that if he goes, there's a series of papers that can relate to you. You can kind of tell that everybody involved in this knows that they have something to hide. The question is, are they hiding it from the public to help Trump get elected? Part of it, hiding it to protect Trump's family or trying to hide it from investigators. Now Cohen says, I didn't know what those stories were. Nobody was discussing that.

Now Cohen said he recorded the September 6th, 2016 call at Trump. The jury has already heard this, where they discuss the Karen McDougal payment.

COOPER: And in that phone call Donald Trump, they intimate, you know, what happens if David Pecker gets hit by a bus or, you know, if David Pecker went to work for somebody else, who would have access to these files? Cohen says it was the only time he recorded a call in 10 years of working for Trump.

COLLINS: That's so interesting, because I hope the next question is, why did you feel they need to record this call? Why was this the one that you recorded? This also be an interesting moment, because remember when they played this audio for the jury, it cuts off at a certain point, and there's a period that's not there. Trump's team tried to imply to the data guy who was essentially just verifying that, yes, this was a real recording, that part of it was missing or edited.

And Trump came out after and spoke to reporters in the hallway and he said, well, it's cut off right at the part where I say something really positive. I mean, of course, that is a defense from Donald Trump. There's no way to prove that. But it will be interesting for Michael Cohen to be able to be asked and testify to what happened in the rest of that conversation.

COOPER: I was in court the day that expert was testifying and they were trying to get him. He said that another call was going, coming in, which is why, that Michael Cohen says another call was coming in, which is why it was cut off. Also wanted him to remain loyal to Mr. Trump, Cohen says. But unclear exactly how his testimony played. It seems sort of awash as to exactly why no one could say for sure exactly why it was cut off or obviously what we said.

We actually have that call. So let's play the audio of that call while this testimony is going underway. Cohen says he had his cell phone in his hand, he hit record while he had the conversation with Trump, he was on the opposite side of Trump's desk, Cohen says, let's play the sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Correct. So I'm all over that. And I spoke to Allen about it, when it comes time for the financing, which will be --

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Listen, what financing?

COHEN: We'll have to pay him something.

TRUMP: TRUMP: No. Pay with cash.

COHEN: No, no, no, no, no, no. I got it.

TRUMP: Check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Trump was asking or suggesting we have to pay him in cash. Michael Cohen says, no, no, no. To your knowledge, the prosecutor says, was Mr. Trump aware you were recording this conversation? Cohen says, no, ma'am.

REID: So trying to get out ahead of the defense, that's going to try to suggest that Cohen, who was well known to record many conversations with reporters and others, was recording his boss for some sort of nefarious purpose. Instead, they're going to try to -- he's going to try to frame it as he wanted Pecker to know that he had discussed this with him. They're trying to get out an innocent, small eye explanation for why he was recording his boss about a sensitive matter without his knowledge.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, the question is how the jury reads that. I mean, they can see that this is kind of the underbelly of politics and media and stories that Donald Trump and Michael Cohen were deeply intertwined with. I'm not sure how they'll take --

COOPER: Especially, two of the jurors are lawyers. So it is interesting to see how they're going to interpret these kind of --

COLLINS: Which both sides seem to believe will work in their favor. So, I mean, obviously, we'll know when the verdict comes down, but it is interesting how they view this jury and how they're taking this information in, but it's almost guaranteed that when Todd Blanche, who is watching very closely as Michael Cohen is testifying, when he gets up there, he's going to try to use this moment that Michael Cohen decided to record Donald Trump to imply that he had malicious intent. COOPER: And our reporters in the court are reporting that the D.A., Manhattan D.A., Alvin Bragg, is in court sitting two rows behind prosecutors, appears to be listening, watching as the proceeding continues.

REID: This is really notable because the only other time we've seen Alvin Bragg is when two of his lower level employees, paralegal and another employee, have testified. And I was told that he showed up for them to show support, that they were forced to testify in this very high profile, stressful situation because the Trump team wouldn't stipulate or agree to allow that evidence in a different way.

[11:15:12]

So the fact that he's here today appears to be a nod to the significance of this, but also to the tasks that Michael Cohen has ahead of him. He's been preparing with prosecutors to do this for a year. So Alvin Bragg's support in the courtroom, that is definitely notable. Of course, Alvin Bragg has said nothing publicly about this case in the past year, quite a contrast to prosecutors in Georgia and the New York attorney general who has spoken out during their cases.

COLLINS: For Michael Cohen and Alvin Bragg to be in the same room as Donald Trump, two people that he despises the most, is also just remarkable in and of itself. I mean, Donald Trump has railed against Michael Cohen and Alvin Bragg probably more than almost anyone else besides President Biden in the last year or so. Obviously not Michael Cohen anymore because of the gag order that's in place that he also complains about every single day. But the fact that they are all in this small courtroom that is not that big and they're not that far apart and Trump does have a habit of looking back at the prosecutor who's asking the witness questions just as --

COOPER: Cohen is describing generalities, what was on the tape? The audio is now being played for the jury. That's the audio that you just heard us play for you. A copy of the transcript is also displayed on the monitors in front of the jury. I should say the transcript we had didn't have the full wording because you didn't hear, you don't have -- in our transcript, you didn't have Donald Trump saying about a cash, which you clearly hear in the audio. Cohen is taking a sip of water while the recorded call audio is being played for the jury.

It will be interesting once our reporters are out of the courtroom to find out, does Cohen actually start to look at the jury? Has he started to, or if they take a break, does he come back and then start doing it? Have prosecutors told him something?

REID: It looked like at one point they reported that he did actually finally break the third wall and look at the jury, which is good. It shows perhaps he's becoming more comfortable. But I'm really curious to see after the break if they do talk to him about trying to turn kind of the right next to him to the jury as he testifies, part of building that trust, the prosecutors desperately need between the jury and Michael Cohen.

COLLINS: Because they've already heard terrible things about that. I mean, that's the other thing. This is the first time they're hearing directly from Michael Cohen. He's also a rare witness who testifies directly to conversations he directly had with Donald Trump. Keith Davidson, as you'll recall, when he was cross examined by Trump's attorneys, one of the first points they made was this is the first time you've ever been in the same room as Donald Trump, right? David pecker obviously was also able to shed light on that. But Michael Cohen is the key other voice who can talk about what Trump said to him directly. That's the effectiveness of his testimony.

COOPER: And this is not the first time the jurors have heard this to the, what were just talking about before, that forensic expert Doug Daus, he -- when he testified last week, or I guess it was jurors heard this recording earlier. Jake, let's go back to you.

TAPPER: All right, Anderson, thanks so much. So just catching up on what we've been listening to here. Elie Honig, tell me what you think is significant.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is a really important moment in the trial because the jury is now hearing a recording that Michael Cohen made of Donald Trump secretly in 2016 when they're getting ready to pay Storm, excuse me, Karen McDougal, importantly, not Stormy Daniels, but Karen McDougal. It's not a call. It's an in person meeting.

Michael Cohen records on his phone. And the reason it cuts off is because he gets an incoming phone call. That recording is the only time the jury will hear a recording of any conversation between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen. And to me, it's a Rorschach test. When you look at the transcript of this tape, you can see it as Donald Trump knows what's going on. Michael Cohen is telling him we're going to pay off Karen McDougal. Trump essentially says, yes. What's it going to cost? One hundred fifty. Do it.

The other way of looking at it, though, is that Cohen essentially communicating to Trump, don't you worry about the internal details of it. Leave that to me and Allen Weisselberg. You just know that we're paying, we're going to hand, at one point, Michael Cohen says, no, no, no, no, no. Allen and I will handle that. So both sides are going to be arguing this case, this tape intensely because it goes right to that core issue of Donald Trump's knowledge and intent.

TAPPER: So this is a September 6th, 2016 phone call with Donald Trump just to remind people, Michael --

HONIG: So it's an in person meeting.

TAPPER: Yes. Right. In person meeting. And just to remind people, the Michael Cohen's office is raided in 2018.

HONIG: Right.

TAPPER: 2017, he lies before Congress behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee. 2018, his office is raided. 2019 is when he does his testimony before Congress. Cohen so in any case, right now, one of the things going on is part of the audio apparently relates to the "New York Times" seeking divorce papers involving Ivana Trump, which is Donald Trump's first wife, his late wife. While this is being played, Cohen is shaking his head side to side as if he's saying no.

It appears he was disagreeing that the New York Times wanted Trump's divorce records as if he was reliving the memory. Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is now playing snippets of the call, stopping and ask Cohen what he was saying on the recording. George Conway, the significance of this recording?

[11:20:12]

GEORGE CONWAY, CONSERVATIVE LAWYER & BIDEN DONOR: Well, the significance is exactly what Elie said. I mean, it's showing, for the prosecution, it's showing the pattern that existed from the 2015 meeting with Pecker, that they were paying off, that he -- that Trump was neck deep in paying off people who had stories about him and that this was, you know, and that he knew the details of it because he knew, even though he knew -- he delegated some of it to Weisselberg and to Cohen.

I mean, he caused the records to be falsified in the end because that's, you know, that's how the payments were paid. And then ultimately, Trump wrote checks on that. And he saw the amounts that were on the checks and there was backup on the checks that he signed. And so, you know, the prosecution has to connect that tape up with all of the other evidence that it's going to cite against Trump.

TAPPER: So right now, Cohen is explaining that they talked about opening a company. This is one of these shell corporations. That one always goes to Delaware to open, quote, in order to have separation, keeping it away from Mr. Trump. In other words, he is claiming that the shell corporations were discussed with Donald Trump. That's his testimony. Trump is leaning forward to read the transcript on the screen in front of him.

Cohen says he was going to open an LLC that would be the owner of all the information that was contained in that drawer that David was referencing. Hoffinger asks why Cohen referred to David and not David Pecker. Let's bring in more of the audio from that phone call or from that meeting, rather.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David, you know, so that I'm going to do that right away. I've actually come up and I've spoken --

TRUMP: Give it to me.

COHEN: And I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with --

TRUMP: So what are we going to pay?

COHEN: -- funding. Yes. And it's all the stuff -- TRUMP: I'm not thinking about that.

COHEN: -- all the stuff, because, you know, you never know where that company, never know where he's going to be -- correct. So I'm all over that. And I spoke to Allen about it when it comes time for the financing, which will be --

TRUMP: Listen, what financing.

COHEN: We'll have to pay him something.

TRUMP: TRUMP: No. Pay with cash.

COHEN: No, no, no, no, no, no. I got -- no, no, no.

TRUMP: Check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So this is evidence introduced in trial. Donald Trump is reading the transcript as it appears before him on the computer screen. There's two computer screens on the defense tables desk, two on the prosecution's desk, and they are scattered throughout the room. Every juror has their own. In which it is, it seems as though, Elliot, there is a discussion between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen about how to take care of this payment to, and I guess in this case, it's Karen McDougal.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure. Now to pick up on Ellie's point earlier, he used a great term Rorschach test that different people can interpret what's happening here very differently. There is not Donald Trump saying explicitly, here is what I'm asking you to do to break the law. What you do have, though, in Michael Cohen testifying is someone who was there who can say, I believe this to mean unambiguously that he was asking me to engage in conduct, to, you know, to hide or, you know, suppress information about this conduct.

More importantly, the wonderful thing about audio recordings is that they bring people into the room in a way that transcripts or even eyewitness testimony cannot. Had Michael Cohen simply testified, this is what I thought Donald Trump was saying, might have had some power in front of the jury, but there's just something about hearing both people's voices. But again, the interpretation can go both ways --

TAPPER: So just to go over this, so here's the transcript, is Michael Cohen told you about Charleston. I need to open up a company for the transfer of all that info regarding our friend, David, you know, David Pecker. So that I'm going to do that right away. I've actually come up and I've spoken. Trump says, give it to me and get me.

Michael Cohen says, and I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg, that's the CFO of the Trump Organization who's doing time at Rikers right now, I spoke to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with Donald J. Trump. So what do we got to pay for this? One hundred fifty, that's $150,000. This is for Karen McDougal. She does ultimately get that money. Michael Cohen, funding, his

continued thought, how to set up the whole thing with funding. Yes. And it's all the stuff. Trump, yes, I was thinking about that. Cohen, all the stuff because here, you never know where that company, you never know what he's --. Donald Trump, maybe he gets hit by a truck, talking about if anything bad happens to David Packer, how do we preserve this relationship and this information?

Michael Cohen, correct. So I'm all over that. And I spoke to Allen Weisselberg about it. When it comes time for the financing, which will be Donald Trump listen, what financing? Michael Cohen, will have to pay him something. Donald Trump pay with cash. Michael Cohen, no, no, no, no, no. I got it. Donald Trump, check.

[11:25:07]

So Cohen is saying that the reason he mentioned Weisselberg is because Trump had previously directed him to speak with Allen Weisselberg, the CFO, about getting the matter handled. He'd already knew based on conversation with David Packer, which is why he mentioned the number 150.

WILLIAMS: One more thing. Wait, just wait for the defense to pants -- to pounce on. I'm all over that. And I got that. A central part of their case, whether we like it or not, is going to be the fact that Michael Cohen was acting as an independent actor and going rogue and so on. Now, again, you hear Donald Trump's voice here that undermines that argument a little bit. But merely Cohen saying again and again and again, I've got this, I've got this, fuels this argument that he was acting --

TAPPER: I mean he says on the call, Trump says, pay with cash. As I just read to you when I read the transcript, pay with cash. Jamie?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, there it is right there. It's, the mob boss does not write down instructions to do things.

TAPPER: And Cohen explains that was one way to avoid any type of a paper transaction. But that's not what I thought was the best way to do it, $150,000 in cash. Small bills. I made up the small bills part of that.

CONWAY: No, you're right. It's like the mob boss. It's like, OK, let's put the body over here. No, no, no. We have a better place. Does that mean that the mob boss isn't responsible for --

TAPPER: The court is taking a brief morning break. Judge Merchan is off the bench. Jamie, go ahead.

GANGEL: I just think there are two witnesses we have to go back to here. David Pecker, who said that Donald Trump was his mentor. He wanted to help him win the election. Hope Hicks, who said that she spoke to him every day on the phone, we know she was the inner circle and had trust. The jury has heard their testimony. So as an example, when Hope Hicks

was asked whether Michael Cohen would do this out of the generosity of his heart, Hope Hicks testified, I didn't know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person. This is the kind of testimony that when we get to final arguments, I'm sure the prosecutors will --

WILLIAMS: Yes.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Just a very calendar note, September 6th is 32 days before the election.

TAPPER: You've been watching CNN special live coverage. After a quick break, Anthony Scaramucci is going to join us to react to this busy morning of testimony from Michael Cohen. Stay right here.

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