The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired May 30, 2024 - 16:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [16:00:04] … JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: …We don't know -- we don't have any idea and we're certainly not going to find out at least for another 30 minutes. But this is a big breaking news. Elie Honig is here. So, as a general rule, and I don't know if this is even fair, but you can tell me if it's not. Okay? Is -- this is relatively quick for a complicated 34-count indictment. Judge Merchan says, please let there be no reactions, no outburst of any kind when they read the verdict. [16:40:04] Good luck to you on that, sir. The -- it is 11 hours, 43 minutes considered to me, it's short. Trump, by the way, Trump leaning back in his chair when the judges took the bench, he kept a straight face when the judge denounce there was a verdict. Does this seem quick to you and does that usually mean not guilty? Guilty? Any ideas? HONIG: This does not feel unduly quick or unduly long to me. And I will say this, here's one piece of good news for prosecutors. There are three potential outcomes here, right, conviction or convictions of some sort, not guilty of some sort, but a hung jury is now off the table, right, and that would be a fear for me as a prosecutor from the start, because a certain small percentage of cases do hang. I think there was a heightened chance of a hung jury here, just given the nature of the defendant here, the fact that people tend -- TAPPER: Hang juries take a lot longer than 12 hours. HONIG: And they wouldn't have said we have a verdict. So this is not a hung jury. And what were about to hear, it's really important to remember, there are 34 counts in this case. So the jury is going to read its verdict. One of those counts at a time, count one, count two, count three, all the way through. Now, they might not necessarily find all guilty or not guilty. They could find different verdicts with respect to different charges but the thing that would give me a big sigh of relief right now is a prosecutor, again, all the qualifications, we have no idea what this verdict will be. TAPPER: Right. HONIG: It's not a hung jury. TAPPER: It takes hung jury off the table and right now, just to give you some updates from inside the courtroom, Trump and Blanche are still chanting while they wait for the data end, and the judge is off the bench. Blanche has been smiling, laughing at what Trump is telling him. Let's bring in CNN's Kaitlan Collins -- Kaitlan. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Jake, I mean, obviously, we don't know what to expect here. Were waiting to see what this verdict is, but I will say the Trump defense team that has been waiting along with their client Trump inside of this room and Trump's allies and his entourage, they thought they were about to go home for the day. They thought because they got back from that lunch break. That's about 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. That's when there's no activity in the court. There was no note afterwards. There have been radio silence from the jury, and they had expected been expecting that they were about to be home for the day and deliberations were going to resume tomorrow. And so, of course, no one knows what is happening inside that jury room, except for the jury itself. But now that there is word of a verdict, this comes as Trump himself has been sitting inside the courtroom for a few minutes. He's been chatting with his lead attorney here, Todd Blanche. They were kind of talking back and forth. Kara Scannell in the room said that they were sitting so close their shoulders were almost touching. But really, they just been hanging out inside of this room across the hall from the courtroom where Trump is built to have this verdict read to him from this jury. They were eating pizza earlier. They were watching TV and just kind of waiting to see what this jury was going to decide, Jake. So, obviously, this is a remarkable moment. You heard Elie there saying it's clearly not a hung jury since they do have a verdict here. The Trump team had been hoping that there would be a hung jury in this case. It seemed unlikely since the likelihood of those is not very high when you look at the percentages of how many hung juries there have been in the past. But now, they are waiting to find out what this is going to look like. Obviously, they'd been planning on the political side for the outcome of this verdict, whether it is going to be a guilty or not guilty verdict, and how that's going to influence Trump on what he just mentioned when he was going inside the courtroom there, Jake, and he was saying, I want to campaign, as Trump was walking in there. And so quite a remarkable moment as they are waiting along with the rest of us to see what this verdict is going to be. And I should note, Trump has been attending this trial every single day is required for him to be here. It's also required for him to be at the courthouse for this very reason that we are experiencing right now, which is that the verdict does have a jury. I should note, Eric Trump is sitting in the courtroom behind his father. He is the only member of the Trump family that we have seen in court with Donald Trump today. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum was also here earlier. It's not even clear if he's still here. Other members of Trump's defense team. Stacy Schneider is also joining us. And, Stacy, I mean, obviously, we're just kidding this breaking news that the jury does in fact, having verdict. We've got about 30 minutes or so while we were waiting for them to fill out this form. So what is this process look like now that the jury has reached this verdict as they're filling out these forms where I know obviously, as we heard in the jury instructions, they'll come into the room. The jury foreman -- foreperson, juror number one, what will be the one who got to verbalize is this, but the judge will go through the list and ask each juror to confirm, yes, this is your verdict, whether it's guilty or not guilty. SCHNEIDER: Yeah. What you just described is called polling the jury, and that happens second. So first, they'll actually read the verdict to each count. And then they'll go through each individual juror and ask them if it's true that that was the verdict that they had rendered. [16:45:04] The reason that is done is because it has to be unanimous verdict. Each and every juror must agree. And defense likes the individual jurors pulled at the end of the case. If it's a guilty verdict because they want to make sure that each juror is firm on their decision, no one felt pressured. Sometimes jurors, it's happened before, where they've spoken out when they're pulled and said, was this your verdict as well individually? And if there's a little hesitancy, that might be explored. That's an odd occurrence. It has happened, it's not often. I want to share with everyone when sort of old wives tale that defense attorneys use when juries are coming back into the room and Manhattan with a verdict, we always look at the expression of the jurors faces and whether or not they're looking at the defendant when they walk in the room. The reason for that is when the jurors returned to the box and all -- all get seated, which they have to be before the verdict is read out and court reopens, they usually pass or are right in the direction of the defense table. And the old wives tale is, or the theory is, it's not scientific. But if the jurors are looking at the defendant, we tend to think that means a guilty -- a not guilty verdict, excuse me, if they don't look at the defendant, it means that they're nervous or anxious. They don't want to look him directly in the eye because they're about to drop the hammer on the defendant. The other thing we look at in jurors when they all come back as a group into the jury box, when the verdict is ready to be the read is, are they jovial? Are they relaxed or are they somber? If they're relaxed, I've seen juries come back with a verdict on my cases if they're kind of laughing and they seem loosened up, I know it's a really good sign. If they come back in the room and they're somber and they're not really looking. Some of them looked down, it's not a good sign. It could mean a guilty verdict. COLLINS: And I've also have Paula Reid and Kristen Holmes here with me. And, obviously, Paula, I think this is remarkable that the jury had three notes, two yesterday at third this morning, and then no more. I mean, we were waiting to see without maybe they have another question, they want to hear some more evidence and they're only notes and early questions or to reread testimony at the jury instructions read back to them and after that, they have now reached a verdict. REID: Yeah. I think they have heard already. We thought for sure they would want to hear maybe additional portions of witness testimony read back to them, maybe those instructions, many of which were bogged down legalese read back to them, but I think we all need to take a second and pause. This is a significant moment in the history of the United States. We are about to find out if a former president will become a convicted felon. This is the first case of its kind, and the fact that these deliberations move as quickly is quite shocking as someone who sat here for seven weeks and watch every second of it. COLLINS: Yeah. I think we had I mean, what's also notable is how the reaction is playing inside the courtroom. Trump in his attorneys, they thought they were about to go home for the day. They thought they had more time. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) was going to the camera, as soon as this wraps, I was told there was no verdict. And that they're going back in there, that the jury is going to be released at 4:30 and they were ready to come back again tomorrow. I mean, (INAUDIBLE) by Donald Trump's mood. He was laughing. He was slopping around Todd Blanche, writing him notes. He was feeling like he was going so go through this again, happy to be going home. This is very surprising to them. COLLINS: I mean, we were sitting here and the judge brought the parties into the courtroom. He said, I'm going to go and release the jury around 4:30 p.m. This is about 4:20 or so. And then we were sitting here at -- well, it's been awhile since the judge has come back into the room. You know, what's taking so long? Because typically he'd bring the jury in, tell him not to discuss the case and then say, okay, you can you can go home. We'll see you tomorrow morning. And instead, he came back in the room. There was a note and he said that the jury told him they had reached a verdict and now Trump and his attorneys are quite still and they went from chatting and Trump and Todd Blanche kind of laughing and smiling one another to now oh, quite serious as they're about to find out what this jury -- HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) Alina Habba, one of Trump's attorneys not in this case but previous cases, walked in with her mouth agape, that has been quiet, Eric Trump walked out of the room, then came back in and is now sitting behind his father again. I mean, clearly, they are scrambling right now because this was not expected. Now, they had been expecting any moment all day for there to be a verdict but at this point, they just come to the conclusion there wasn't going to be one. It was time to move on. Now, you just want to say one thing you mentioned this when were talking to Jake about the political ramifications of all of this. Donald Trump's team has been preparing for a guilty verdict since before this trial. They believe that they have been really on the messaging of saying this was election interference, saying this was linked to President Joe Biden. They are trying to make sure this doesn't impact him in November, but the real truth is that we just don't know. This is uncharted territory. [16:50:07] We've obviously seen the polls. They haven't moved in the past when Donald Trump faces legal issues, but that doesn't mean anything in terms of a conviction or potential conviction. COLLINS: And, Paula, obviously, what you had been reporting was that the Trump team was anticipating an Allen charge, that the jury would say, we can't -- we can't come to a decision, but judge would bring them in and say, I do really urge you to come to a unanimous decision that hasn't happened yet. Clearly, whatever their decision is, they've reached to this verdict after not very long -- (VIDEO GAP) ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. TAPPER: And welcome back. We are keeping a very close eye on the Manhattan criminal courthouse, right now. It is judgment day for former President Donald J. Trump. There is a verdict in his case. We are standing by for the jurors to bring their decision in his hush money cover-up trial. They will reveal their verdict just minutes from now. Mr. Trump is there in the courtroom. He is the only former U.S. president to ever face criminal prosecution, and he is now waiting to learn if he has been cleared or if he has been convicted. If you're just joining us, I'm Jake Tapper in Washington with CNN special live coverage of this incredibly consequential day in the history of these United States. After more than 11 hours of deliberations, over two days, a dozen New Yorkers have decided the fate of the former president and the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee in the criminal case against him from the district attorney of Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, the judge has summoned everyone to the courtroom. And soon the judge will ask the foreman of the jury to confirm that the jury has reached a unanimous decision. Then the verdict on each of the 34 criminal charges against Mr. Trump will be read allowed in court, one at a time, again, 34 state felony counts of falsifying business records, each one pertaining to an individual check or an invoice, or a voucher. All of the charges in service of an alleged cover-up of money paid to former Trump fixer, Michael Cohen in connection with the purported Stormy Daniels hush money conspiracy. That's what's being alleged. We have reporters in the courthouse. We will be bringing you the jury's decision on each of the 34 counts as close to real real-time as possible. And let us begin with Dana Bash. Dana, huge moment. And as Elie Honig points out, it is less than 12 hours and the only thing we know right now is that it's not a hung jury. It could be a mixed verdict. It could be an acquittal. It could be a conviction on all 34 counts. But Donald Trump's defense team was hoping for a hung jury. They were hoping for one juror to at the very least as a strategy to refuse to convict. And they did not get that. Now that doesn't mean they didn't get an acquittal. We don't know. But it is -- I -- it is quick. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's quick. And I think its fair to say that the nation is collectively holding its breath right now because we don't know, we don't have any idea except for the fact that they have made a decision that it's not going to be any form of hung jury or a subsequent mistrial and what we do -- the information that we have, it only is what we've been reporting all day and since yesterday, since the jury has gone behind closed doors, deliberating, when they have come back and ask for very specific transcripts to be read to them and that's it. So what we have right now is the justice system working its way through the jury process? And you're going to have a former president, candidate for president again, sitting in a courthouse and a courtroom, listening to 12 average citizens announce what they decided in each of the 34 counts about his fate. TAPPER: So, again, if you're just joining us, there has been a verdict in the Donald Trump hush money cover-up prosecution. We do not know what the verdict is. The jury has asked for 30 minutes to go through the proper forms that they need to fill out before they come back into the courtroom and reveal how they have ruled on these 34 different criminal charges. Karen Friedman, Agnifilo, tell me because you are a veteran of the Manhattan district attorneys office, what is going on right now when they say they have to fill out the forms, what does that mean? And after they're done with that, what are we going to have take place in that courtroom? KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So there's 34 counts on one or two sheets of paper. It's called the verdict sheet, and it's just a list of the counts in the order that they appear on the indictment. So count one will be first on down the line. [16:55:02] It'll have the charge, which is falsification of business records in the first degree and any identifier that Judge Merchan added to the verdict sheet to show what that count corresponds to, whether its a particular check, whether it's a particular invoice just for ease of reference, since it's all identical, the charges. And so, that verdict sheet will be -- has two different columns, guilty or not guilty. It's not guilt or innocence. TAPPER: Right. AGNIFILO: They're not declaring innocence. What they're doing is they're saying if they vote not guilty, it means they unanimously believed that the prosecution did not meet their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and they have to fill out just check a box guilty or not guilty? The foreperson signs it. TAPPER: All 30 -- they're 34 different forms? AGNIFILO: There are 30 -- 34 different boxes is actually 68 different boxes, right, 34 guilty, 34 not guilty? It's a list. TAPPER: Okay. So several pieces of paper? AGNIFILO: It's probably. I don't think it would fit on one piece of paper, so I would guess a couple of -- but it's not like they're feeling thing out forums with names and addresses and security. TAPPER: Right, so this is my -- this is my little, this is my little form. I don't know if we can zoom in on this. This is just to help me explain what they're about to decide. Is it something like something like that? AGNIFILO: Something like that. TAPPER: So, count one and then just two checks. AGNIFILO: Correct, two checks guilty or not guilty. And so, a question would be if it was a clean sweep, guilty, or clean sweep not guilty. They could I don't think would need 30 minutes to have to fill that out. So when they said they needed 30 minutes because it's literally just checking the boxes, it seems like and again, well know very soon that they want to make sure if they've -- they've found him guilty on some and not guilty on others, that it's corresponding to the right count, which is why they need in 30 minutes. TAPPER: So I see. So if they were acquitting him altogether or convicting him altogether -- AGNIFILO: They could just go like this. TAPPER: Right, two minutes. Can we get two minutes -- AGNIFILO: Exactly. TAPPER: -- throughout this form? But they want 30 minutes that might, and again, we're just reading tea leaves here. AGNIFILO: Yes. TAPPER: But in your experience as somebody who used to work for the Manhattan district attorney in your experience, that probably means they wanted be careful about how they fill out this form. AGNIFILO: And when they're ready, what will happen is they will be -- they will all be brought back into the courtroom. The jury will sit in their designated seats. The foreperson of the jury will be asked to stand. They will stand up. They will hand their verdict sheet to the court officer who will then walk it over to the judge. The judge will look at it and hand it back to the court officer who will hand it to the jury foreperson, and the judge will say, members of the jury, I understand you have reached a verdict. Is that correct? And they would say yes, it is. Okay. As to either the clerk or the judge will say as to count one of the indictment, how do you find, and they will say guilty or not guilty. As to count two, how do you find? And they will go down the line. TAPPER: Who's going to say that, the judge or the clerk? AGNIFILO: It can be either the judge or the clerk. Just depends on a personal preference. TAPPER: And just -- sorry to interrupt, and just to bring you the viewer or listener, the information as they do that, as the judge or the clerk says, on count one, how do you find in the foreperson the jury says guilty or not guilty. We will provide that to you in real time. So you will know count one seconds after it's been said. You will know count two seconds after it's been said, we will bring that to you live here on CNN. The judge's clerk has entered the courtroom. As they await the jury, the defendant, former President Trump, and his attorneys, and the prosecutors are occasionally chatting among themselves. I cannot imagine the nerves in that room. The -- first of all, for the defendant and most especially for the defendant, former us president. This has never happened before, but also for everybody else in that room, the jurors, the lawyers, the prosecutors, the most important case of their lives and something of enormous consequence politically historically, legally. LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: And, of course, remember with the process of selecting the jurors, they were all audibly justifiably concerned about their safety, about how they be viewed if their identity was revealed in some way, anonymity has been a very big priority for this judge from the inception of this case, even having a juror have to leave and not be a part of the case longer because she was concerned -- he or it was concerned about their anonymity been compromised, and now there had been ready to deliver a verdict, as a matter of consequence. And how it will be received by the public given that we are 100 and what, 159 days away from a presidential election with the defendant as the person who will be on that ballot. It's an enormous moment. It is for all defendants as well. Remember, the weight of the government against a person, the burden of proof that is required to convict somebody, these are all things are considered by defendant. He came out yesterday, to talk about and almost started manage expectations about even Mother Teresa could not have beat this case. Now the burden of proof does not mean that it's a given that you will get a conviction or that the weight of the government and had then your name at the other end of against such as the people of New York. But just think about this, this is the indictment in this case. This is how lengthy it was: 34 charges they had to go through each of them. Some involved ledgers, entries. Some involved invoices. Others involved personal checks. CNN Live Event/Special Aired May 30, 2024 - 17:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [17:00:00] LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: …If this is a mixed verdict, as Karen has articulated, well, it's perhaps not surprising that there are different ways in which the evidence came in to support each one defendants tie to the individual accounts. But this cannot be overstated. JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Yes. COATES: We have a moment of extraordinary history. TAPPER: It is a moment of unbelievable history, unprecedented. We've said that so many times involving Donald Trump. But truly, this moment involving a former US president and the legal system, the criminal justice system in this country may have an intense consequence. Judge Merchan is on the bench, we do expect the jury to come forward with their verdict in 10 minutes or so, so we are really in the in the closing minutes. And, again, we don't know what the verdict is going to be. We know it can't be a hung jury, because they've only been doing it for less than 12 hours and so that's not enough time to say, hey, we can't come to a conclusion. It could be 12 -- it could be 34 counts of acquittal, it could be 34 counts of guilt and conviction. It could be, and one of our experts at least has gone out on a limb and said that she thinks that it's possible that it's a mixed verdict, because otherwise, why would you need 30 minutes to go over and check boxes. Merchan is reading the note into the record one more time. The judge has called for the jury. We are just minutes away from finding out. For those wondering what differences there are in the case, Elie and then Tim, of the different checks and ledgers, two of them or one-two counts, 1 to 4, and counts 5 to 7 were not signed by Donald Trump himself. Those are in February and March 2017. All the others counts, 8 through 34 have to do with invoices vouchers, checks and stubs and where Donald Trump was the one who signed the check in question. Elie Honig, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst: Crucial point here, we are about to receive not a verdict or the verdict but 34 verdicts. And we need to take them one at a time because I have seen it happen plenty of times where count one is guilty, and then later on there's a bunch of not guilty. I've seen it where count 1, 2, 3, 4 are all not guilty, and then the rest of them are guilty. And if there's a split verdict here, which is a possibility, one way the jury might decide to split this verdict is to convict on the checks that Donald Trump signed but not the other documents. And if that's the case, I believe the first check that Donald Trump actually signed is count 10. TAPPER: Yes. So the judge has called for the jury. He asked both parties, the defense and the prosecution, are we ready to bring out the jury? Both parties said yes. Kaitlan Collins, a huge moment in American history. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And a remarkable shift in demeanor inside the court, Jake, of course, as we watched Trump and his attorney kind of just chatting with each other as they were initially inside the courtroom laughing, smiling. Now when the judge got on the bench at about 4:30 and said that, yes, there was indeed a higher demeanor in that room shifted, and Trump grew quite serious. His son, Eric Trump, briefly walked out of the room and then returned and is sitting behind him. I should note, Eric Trump is the only family member who is going to be in the courtroom when this verdict is read. It is basically entirely locked down inside that room. That was the plan all along. We can now hear helicopters circling overhead as they are also planning to increase security precautions, because court officials had wanted to make sure that it didn't get crazy outside of the courthouse once it was announced that there was here a verdict in this case, our reporters inside the room say there's a few more court officers. Also in this -- in the room. There's usually four or five standing as members of the public had been inside that courtroom, just a few but mainly reporters as well. They're now waiting for the jury to come in after six weeks now in its seventh week where they have been hearing all this evidence now deliberating for about 10 to 11 hours roughly, inside that firm, also listening to jury instructions yet again. I've got Paula Reid and Kristen Holmes here with me. And, Paula, obviously, you know, no one knows what this verdict is going to be. But they have spent the last 30 minutes or so filling out the court forms that they're going to bring in there, and then read aloud inside that room. PAULA REID, CNN LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Historic documents that they've just filled out. Both sides of this case, the prosecution and Trump's defense attorneys, have framed this as some form of election interference. Trump has argued that this case was brought against him, it was about eight years old, because they want to prevent him from getting into the White House. Now, we're going to go back to Jake, as I understand it, because the verdict is going to get underway in just a moment. TAPPER: All right. Thank you so much, Kaitlan Collins. And we're all just trying to speculate here if this is a mixed verdict, what might that mean. We still do not know of course. It could be 34 votes of not guilty, it could be 34 votes of guilty. The jury is right now entering the courtroom to render their verdict on these 34 felony criminal charges against the former president of the United States Donald John Trump. [17:05:12] And, Tim Parlatore, you have represented President Trump in the past. First of all, are you surprised that a verdict came so? I mean, to me, it seems very quickly. We were, you know, could it -- I thought the Weinstein jury was out for six days, I'm not comparing the two but that was another high profile case. This was not even 12 hours. TIM PARLATORE, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Right. This is a very complicated case. I mean, I do think it's interesting that they told the judge that they have a verdict, but then ask for additional time to fill out the form. TAPPER: You agree with Karen's assessment? Tim: I do. And I also think that they did that because they would normally just say we have the verdict. I haven't seen where they've asked for additional time, but I think they were looking at the clock and saying, hey, if we don't tell the judge now, he's going to send us home. TAPPER: And the jurors -- and the jury alternates. There are six alternates as well. All 18 of them are now in the courtroom. Tim, please continue on. I'm sorry. PARLATORE: I think that they wanted to let the judge know, hey, don't -- TAPPER: Don't dismiss us for the day. PARLATORE: Let's get it done today. I'll tell you right now, this is the most stressful moment. And when they read this verdict, the majority of defendants that I've represented at this moment, it's so pressurized. They can't hear. Their ears shut down. And especially when you have this many counts, you're going to have to have one of the lawyers, you know, taking it down and a complicated case, when they're done. And they say this is the verdict. Donald Trump is going to turn to his lawyers and he's going to say, what did they say? TAPPER: So the judge just turned to the jurors and said we received a note from you signed by your jury foreperson at 4:20 PM, 4:20. Here come the verdicts we have the verdicts. OK. Count 1 is guilty, that is felony charge, count one falsifying business register. Count 2 also guilty, falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 3, guilty, falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 4, guilty. That's another felony charge falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 5, guilty. That's another false fine business record in the first degree felony charge. Those -- so that is five felony charges that Donald Trump has been found guilty by this New York jury. We still have 29 other felony counts to go, but that is five guilty verdicts by this jury when it comes to when it comes to falsify felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree in service of another crime. And that crime would be covering up the stormy Daniels hush money payment. Count 6, guilty. So that is six charges. Count 7, guilty. That is another charge. Count 8, guilty. that is yet another charge, eight out of eight he has been found guilty. Count nine, guilty. So that is nine out of nine. Count 10, guilty. Another felony charge, falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 11, guilty another felony charge of falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 12, guilty. Another felony charge, falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 13, guilty. Another felony charge of falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 14, guilty. Count 15, guilty. That is 15 out of 15 so far. Count 16, Donald Trump found guilty, 16 out of 16 when it comes to falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 17, guilty. That is from a July 2017 payment to Michael Cohen, Count 18, guilty. That is another felony charge. Count 19, guilty, another felony charge, falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 20, guilty. Another felony charge falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 21, 20 and 21 both guilty. This is for an August 2017 payment, so is Count 22 also guilty. Counts 23, guilty, also guilty. Donald Trump found guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 24, guilty, another felony charge. Count 25, guilty. Another felony charge, falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 26, guilty. Another felony charge falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 27, guilty, another felony charge falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 28, guilty. Another felony charge falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 29, guilty felony charge falsifying business records in the first degree. Count 30, guilty, felony charge falsifying business records. Counts 31, guilty, falsifying business records in the first degree. Counts 32, guilty, falsifying business records in the first degree. [17:10:04] Only two counts left. Count 33, former President Donald Trump found guilty falsifying business records. Count 34, guilty. Donald Trump found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. All 34 are felonies. Donald Trump has now been convicted of 34 different felony crimes by a jury of his peers in Manhattan. Thirty-four felony charges for former President Donald J. Trump convicted of 34 felony charges, having to do with falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, an unbelievable moment in American history. They, the jurors, are now being asked about their agreement with these charges and they are responding yes. Trump has a frown expression on his face as the verdict reading is completed. He is not moving. The former president of the United States now a convicted felon, having been found guilty of 34 felony charges by a jury of his peers in Manhattan, New York. The court officer is asked if either party wants the jury polled. Trump attorney Todd Blanche says yes. This is when they go around and ask each juror if they agree with what has just been read by the foreperson. The jurors all have straight faces. They are now being pulled. Karen, when they do this, do they ask each juror for each charge for each count, or they -- or would they simplify it and say to each of the 12 jurors, do you agree you convict him on all 34 charges KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: In this particular instance, because it was a clean sweep of all 34, what the judge would do is he would say, juror number one, you just heard that there was just a 34 count all guilty. Is that your verdict? And they would say yes, sir. Juror number two -- TAPPER: Yes. The juror is being pulled right now. They all said yes, yes, it is. And they are each going, as you just said, Karen, juror number one, is this your conclusion? Yes, it is. Juror number two, is this your conclusion? Yes, it is. And the alternate jurors, Judge Merchan said we couldn't have done this without you. He thanks all of the jurors very much for their service in this case. Trump is returning to look over the jurors as they're being pulled. The former president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a convicted felon, 34 times over found guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree by a jury of his peers in Manhattan minutes ago, Anderson? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Jake, as you said, it is a remarkable moment in American history. I'm here with Kaitlan Collins and CNN's Paula Reid who have been covering this obviously from the beginning. The judge has said that he will meet privately with all the jurors just to thank them again, but that he cannot actually discuss any parts of the case with them. What happens now, Paula Reid? REID: So this is going to be a long road even before this jury took their seats in that courtroom, that Trump team was preparing their strategy for appeal. And the first argument they're probably going to make is that, they believe their client never would have been able to get a fair trial in Manhattan. They tried to move this out of Manhattan arguing that he wouldn't get a fair shake. And they've tried to rack up every possible objection already. Attorney Todd Blanche moves for an acquittal of the charges, not understanding the verdict, certainly something that any defense attorney would do in this circumstance. But they're thinking -- they're playing the long game here, and they're thinking of every possible objection. The strategy was described to me as death by a thousand cuts. And they've been racking up every objection, every possible constitutional question that they could raise before an appeals court. So I guarantee you, I'm told this will be appealed. And it's a long road, the appellate process, COOPER: You know, Kaitlan, it's so interesting in the last 24 hours now, there had been some supporters of the former president who said that, you know, they thought maybe there was a rogue juror or maybe there was a juror who seemed to smile at -- or look over at Donald Trump or look over (inaudible) the team or some of the acolytes, the politicians who were in the room. They sense perhaps there would be one holdout. There wasn't a lot of hope among the Trump team from all the reporting, your reporting and others that there would be an acquittal. But their hope was that there was some holdout juror. COLLINS: And what a remarkable moment this is because Donald Trump himself always thinks that he can somehow sway everyone. I mean, he always -- that's why he says he wants often wants to testify in his own defense when he speaks with people, when he speaks with voters. And for him to sit there and listen to all of these jurors, and Donald Trump looked on as every juror confirmed that yes, this was their finding, that they did find him guilty on all 34 counts is remarkable in and of itself. And it's something that Donald Trump has never experienced before in his life. [17:15:07] And the idea that even he was holding out hope that some of these jurors would be on his side, some of these jurors would help deadlock this or at least lead to an Allen charge where they had to be told by the judge, tried to come to a unanimous decision here is remarkable. And one thing I'll say is, Trump has been falsely claiming that the jury did not have to come to a unanimous decision here. They did have to come to a unanimous decision on all of the -- and they did on all of these charges. They found him guilty on every single one. Yes, as attorney is moving and saying that Michael Cohen, without his testimony, Donald Trump would not have been found guilty on all accounts. He is saying that the defense believes Michael Cohen committed perjury on the stand. Those are all issues that they'll take up. But for this moment, in and of itself, for Donald Trump's trusted attorney and personal fixer for so many years, to have been at the center of this case that did ultimately lead to make him a convicted felon, while he's in the middle of a presidential campaign is completely uncharted territory. Even for Donald Trump, even with the bravado that you'll see from him, the appeals that you'll see from his legal team, he did not want to be here and now he does find himself here. COOPER: This is also now Donald, you know, who rightly would be proud of being a former president of the United States on his record forever in history. He is a convicted felon, of course, unless it's overturned on appeal or somebody pardons him. Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked for sentencing a date in late July. We should also note that jurors did not look at Donald Trump as they left the courtroom. Every time I was in the courtroom, I assume you were in the courtroom too, we watched jurors come and go. I never saw jurors look at Donald Trump. I'm not sure if you did as well. Trump is sitting at the defense table without moving. That's been reporting now all during this, during the reading of the sentence, as the fourth person was reading each guilty verdict. It was said that he had a frown on his face, but that he was not moving. COLLINS: And this is a jury of his peers, I should note. That they will try to say, well, he would have never gotten a fair shake in New York. Obviously, Trump built his business in New York. He was defined as a New Yorker when he ran for president, even though he's a resident of Florida that's still how he's seen. Some of these jurors followed him on Truth Social. Some of them said they had no opinions of him at all. Some of them -- one of the jurors described him she said she thought he was selfish, but they all said they could put their political beliefs aside and listen to the evidence here. And clearly that is what they were doing because just this morning, they were asking for headphones to listen to the evidence. They wanted the judge to reread the instructions to them. It's clear how seriously they took this responsibility and these findings that they have come to. REID: And speaking of politics, the district attorney, Alvin Gragg, who brought this case. He was in the courtroom for the verdict. When he brought this case against former President Trump, there was a lot of scrutiny, questions about whether he was bowing to political pressure. And right now, Todd Blanche talking about Trump's other legal cases. He, of course, faces three other criminal prosecutions. And he's arguing that Trump's legal team needs to prepare for a three day hearing in Florida scheduled for late June, likely related to the classified documents prosecution. But this is validation of Alvin Bragg's decision to bring this years old case, a historic case that among -- COOPER: Sentencing date is set for July 11 at 10:00AM. Donald Trump is leaving the courthouse -- courtroom, let's watch. COLLINS: And he went from hours ago in a room across from where he's about to exit eating pizza, laughing with his team, moments later to find out that he's been found guilty on all 34 counts. COOPER: You see Bove there, Boris Epstein, one of his top advisors. COLLINS: That's Stephen Cheung who's back is to as a campaign spokesperson. Alina Habba, Trump's other attorney. They're clearly huddling. This is what they did the other day when Trump was about to come address the cameras. They sat outside the courtroom and kind of talked about it. COOPER: Which prosecutors told the judge that there is no bail. So sentencing will be now in July. See if he's -- COLLINS: Donald Trump and Todd Blanche are talking. That's Jason Miller you can see in the back with his glasses on, and Eric Trump is the tall one right there, deciding what he's going to say to the cameras. COOPER: You know, it's interesting to hear the rhetoric that Trump has used against a Judge Juan Merchan for, I think anybody witnessing this inside the courtroom. He seemed to bend over backwards to try to be fair to all the parties in this. The Trump team has to file any motions by June 13th, and the prosecution must respond by June 27th. COLLINS: The judge certainly did everything -- COOPER: Here's the former president now a convicted felon 34 times about to address reporters. DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER US PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It's a rig trial, a disgrace. [17:20:11] They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5 percent or 6 percent in this district, in this area. This was a rigged disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people. And they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here. You have a (inaudible) back, DA, and the whole thing, we didn't do anything wrong. I'm a very innocent man, that -- it's OK, I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. And I think it's just a disgrace. And we'll keep fighting. We'll fight till the end and we'll win because our country has gone to hell. We don't have the same country anymore. We have a divided mess. We're a nation in decline, serious decline, millions and millions of people pouring into our country right now, from prisons and from mental institutions, terrorists. And they're taking over our country. We have a country that's in big trouble. But this was a rigged decision right from day one. With a conflicted judge, you should have never been allowed to try this case, never. And we will fight for our Constitution. This is long from over. Thank you very much. COOPER: Donald Trump not talking details of the case, but attacking as he has pretty much every day, consistently and often late at night, the judicial system, the United States claiming that this is rigged, that this shouldn't have been brought in New York where his business is, in fact, located. Here with Paula Reid and Kaitlan Collins. I mean, this is again, clearly, he's turning this to politics, into the campaign, and trying to leave this what he calls a rigged system to a rigged system that he hopes his voters believe in it. REID: Yes. He has to now, right, because he's the Republican nominee. And this is going to be a factor. Perhaps not a big one, perhaps not one that'll change the hearts and minds of voters, but this is something he's going to have to contend with. And his framing is again, that this is all election interference. The same argument the prosecutors made against him, right? He was trying to subvert democracy. That's how he's going to try to frame this to the American public to explain why he is now a convicted felon. COLLINS: And what's remarkable is the sentencing for Donald Trump in this case is going to happen. That hearing four days before he will attend the Republican National Convention as the party's -- he's the presumptive Republican nominee, now he will become the Party's official nominee there. That's also when he's expected to announce who is going to be the vice presidential candidate. And it's remarkable that obviously we've never been at this moment in history, but the fact that he will be at that convention for days after he is sentenced in this case, when we find out. What the judge here, Judge Juan Merchan, who is attacked repeatedly as corrupt without any basis for that, is a remarkable moment in where this election is headed. We don't know what the political impact of this will be. But the fact that he'll be sentenced as a convicted felon four days before the Republican Convention is something we've never seen before. TAPPER: Yes. Daniel Dale, a fact checker for us, is with us. Daniel, you heard what former president said there what stood out to you. DANIEL DALE, CNN REPORTER: He made the false claim that he made before the trial made almost every day during the trial and repeat it again now after the trial. He said that this was all done by the Biden administration. As I said I think on TV more than 10 times at this point, there is not a shred of evidence that the Biden administration did anything to bring this case, to orchestrate this case, to run this case. This was a case brought by a locally-elected prosecutor. Yes, a Democrat, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. There is no sign that Joe Biden, his DOJ, his White House had anything to do with it. Now former President Trump continues to reference a former DOJ official under President Biden who went to work for DA Bragg's team. There was no sign that anyone else at DOJ or the President himself had anything to do with that personal employment decision. And then off topic, not a focus today, he repeated his claim that people are pouring in over the border for mental institutions. As Kaitlan has repeatedly noted, I've specifically asked the Trump campaign for any evidence to corroborate that claim. They have provided zero, nothing at all. COOPER: Daniel Dale, thanks so much. You can hear helicopters now circling above the location. We are right outside the courthouse obviously. This is something police in New York's service and others have certainly been preparing for very carefully. We're going to have continuing coverage throughout the day and throughout the evening. Right now let's go back to Jake Tapper in Washington. Jake? [17:25:03] TAPPER: Thank you, Anderson. And for those wondering about the political consequences of these 34 guilty verdicts, the short answer is nobody has any idea, period. Nobody has any idea what the effect will be. We do know that there has been polling information about how a guilty verdict might affect individuals, but theoretical is obviously different from actual. There was a new NPR-PBS NewsHour Marist Poll released recently that suggested that any verdict in the hush money trial would be unlikely to have a major effect on most voters choice. It wouldn't impact for most people. Overall, 67 percent of registered voters had a guilty verdict and trial would not make a difference, 76 percent said the same thing about a not guilty verdict. Where there is significance is in the margins because this is, as far as we can tell right now going to be a very close election in a handful of battleground states. And a few people defecting from Biden or Trump could make the difference between winning the White House and losing the White House. And in the polls, a small share of people who support Trump say that a guilty verdict would dissuade them from supporting Trump and the Marist Poll, 7 percent of those who say they would vote for Trump in the presidential race, say a guilty verdict would make them less likely to back them in a Quinnipiac poll, 6 percent. Not a lot and again, theoretical this took place before the verdicts 34 of them. But it is suggestive, Danna Bash, that this could have an impact on some Trump voters. DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: It could. And, I mean, just to sort of reemphasize what you just said -- COOPER: We have no idea. BASH: -- multiple times, we don't know, and it's one thing to sort of say beforehand. And it's another thing in the words of one of his allies who I talked to while they were up in New York on the air, 34 is a big number. Just -- not only on the -- his personal impact, but on the political impact. It just despite the bravado that we just heard from the former president, and we will continue to hear from him and his allies as their statements are pouring in, in support of him and echoing the witch hunt and the rigged, and all the things that he claims, which Daniel Dale -- COOPER: Right. And we should note, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, Republican Speaker of the House, called today a shameful day in American history. Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of disbarred convicted felon he goes on from there. But the point I think you're making is, we're going to have, in addition to the momentousness of these 34 counts, we're going to have months of that kind of rhetoric from very powerful Republican officials throughout the country. Let's go to Kara Scannell right now who just come -- just came from inside the courtroom of this incredibly historic day. Kara? KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jake. Yes. So, you know, we thought that this was ending at the end of the day without a verdict. And then the judge came back on the bench after saying he was going to excuse the jury, he returned at 436 saying, the jury had another note. It was time stamp at 4:20. They had a verdict and they needed an extra 30 minutes. The mood changed entirely inside the courtroom. Trump had been laughing with his lawyer, Todd Blanche. They had been talking a lot. He was smiling. It appeared they thought that this day was ending without a verdict. And then after the judge had read the head note, everything changed. He became very still, he had his arms crossed, folded across his chest. It became a much different situation inside that courtroom. And we waited for the jury to enter. When they came in, they filed into the courtroom. None of them looked over at Donald Trump. That is normal. They normally don't. But they all walked toward their seats, took their seats. And then, the court security officer asked them to read the verdicts. The foreman stood up, with a microphone, and he was asked for each count if they had reached a verdict and what it was. And he went through all 34 counts saying guilty. Then after that, the court security officer asked them if this was a unanimous verdict by all the jurors. They answered audibly in the courtroom saying that yes, it was. The judge asked if any of the parties wanted this individually pulled. Todd Blanche, Trump, Trump's lawyer, said he did want the jurors individually polled so they went through each juror, each of the 12 jurors one by one, and they each confirm that their verdict on all 34 counts with guilty. Then the judge had thanked the jury for their service. He excused them and said that he wanted to talk to them afterwards, asking them to stick around for a little bit because he wanted to thank them individually for their service over these past seven weeks of this trial since jury selection began. So they were waiting in the back room for the judge to go and discuss with them. [17:30:02] And then he's -- the judge sent the sentencing date for July 10th -- 11th, excuse me. And then at that point, he said, if there was nothing else, he was going to excuse them. At this point, Donald Trump stands up. We can now finally get a good look at his face. His face was red. He looked upset. He had a frown on his face. And as he walked toward the well, that separates where he's sitting into the common area of the galley where the rest of us are, his son, Eric Trump is sitting in that first seat. And so Donald Trump reached out to him, shook his hand vigorously. And then as he's walking past him, Eric Trump patted his father on the back. So kind of the most humane moment we've seen in this trial, this personal emotional interaction between the father and son, as Trump then walked down the center aisle of the courtroom and out into the hallway, where then he spoke to the cameras. So, you know, it was certainly a historic moment. And quite a dramatic moment coming very unexpected at the end of this day, which had looked like it was heading toward there not being averted. So certainly a surprise to Donald Trump and his team, and something that they did not see coming based on the change in their demeanor, and it's certainly a serious month for Trump where he did look like he was upset with the outcome of this trial. TAPPER: And Kara, tell us, if you would about the jurors, these 12 Americans, 12 Manhattanites, in addition to the six alternates who are asked to consider, give up their lives for several weeks, consider a very complicated case and charges, came back fairly quickly with this unanimous guilt a verdict of 34 guilty charges making for the first time in the history of the United States, a former president of the United States, a convicted felon, when they were sitting there as the foreperson read the verdict when they were being polled, each one of them, all 12, saying that they agreed with the guilty verdict on all 34 counts. Did they look at the defendant, the former president? Did they have any emotions on their face? You said earlier that the President was looking at them. What were they doing with their faces? SCANNELL: When the foreperson was reading the verdict, the jurors, I'd say half of them were looking straight down at the ground, and others were looking at the judge, I didn't see any of them look at Donald Trump. And, you know, as you noted, he had craned his neck so he could look at them, as they were being individually polled. None of them appeared to make any eye contact with him while they were sitting in the box throughout this whole reading of the verdict, both when the foreperson read it, when they were individually polled, and then when they left. So they did not appear to look at him at any time entering or leaving the courtroom. And as he was watching them today, none of them appeared to look back at him. You know, and this jury is all made up of New Yorkers, but the foreperson is from Ireland, an immigrant here. This is a well-educated jury. There were a couple of lawyers on the jury, some other executives. So a representative of New York in many ways, and a jury of Trump's peers as he is a native New Yorker himself. But there's appeared to be no emotion either displayed on the faces of the jurors. They were all pretty straight face, no expression throughout this whole process. And it is something that, you know, they knew coming into this, that this was going to be a significant historical trial. And throughout the trial, none of them had betrayed any sense of what they thought of the evidence, or how they were reacting to any of the witnesses. They really kept straight faces. Often joke they've had poker faces on this whole time. You really were not getting anything, any revelations from them throughout this trial. Jake? TAPPER: Very wise. What about the judge Juan Merchan who has been attacked over and over by the defendant, former President Trump now a convicted felon by his allies in the media, what was his reaction. And also if you saw any reaction of the defense attorneys or the prosecution, what they did during this rather surreal moment in American history. SCANNELL: Now the judge had brought the jurors in. He seemed -- he's a soft spoken man, and he was even soft spoken when he came in and had said to them, you know, initially he came in and said, I'm going to excuse the jury at 4:30 today, I'll be right back. And he left the bench. There's about 15 minutes left in the day, he came back in at 4:36. And he said I have a note, there is a verdict. But he has maintained this kind of cool composure the entire time. Then when he brought the jurors in and while we're waiting in this period for the jury to come in, it is almost pin silent in that courtroom, everyone being on edge, everyone waiting for the door to the right of the judge to open and for those jurors to walk in. There was no discussion amongst the parties, as we were waiting in this moment. Then when the jury came in, you know, the judge essentially hands it over to the court officer. And he asked him initially at first, you know, I have your note, is this accurate? Is this your note that you have a verdict? [17:35:25] The foreman confirms, and then the judge hands it off to one of the court officers who does the individual verdict reading asking the foreperson each time for count one, how did you find? And then he say guilty across all 34 of those counts. It was only after all of that was completed, the judge then thanked the jurors for their service, said he wanted to talk to them, said he couldn't talk about the case, couldn't talk about the facts. But he just wanted to talk to them, because he knew that they had sacrificed a lot to be members of this jury hearing evidence for the past six weeks in what is undoubtedly a very high profile case. And these jurors know that, that they know where, they are -- they know the attention on this. As you'll remember from jury selection, there was a lot of attention on whether jurors felt that they were being too exposed by the idea that people knew that they were here for jury duty. So he wanted to take the jury back and get to meet with them. Now this jury has been essentially anonymous, only the lawyers have known their names. Even the foreperson signing the verdict sheet was just supposed to sign with his juror number. And that was the judge had done that out of protection for this jury. So we do not know if any of them are going to speak. The judge told them that all of the restrictions he has placed on them have been lifted, that they are able to speak if they want to. But he also told them that they don't have to speak if they don't want to. Now also, I would say the prosecution as is pretty typical. They kept straight faces throughout the reading of the verdict, and they left the room without saying anything or showing any emotion. Jake? TAPPER: All right. Thank you so much, Kara Scannell, unbelievable day in that rather shabby courtroom in the New York City courthouse. The White House has generally been avoiding commenting on that -- on this case. But that has seemed to change in the last few days. The Biden- Harris campaign sent Robert De Niro and two of the police officers who were attacked on January 6th to Manhattan to talk about the case. And let's go to Kayla Tausche, who is outside the White House on the North Lawn right now because we are now getting our first reaction, if not from the White House itself from the Biden-Harris campaign. What did they have to say Kayla? KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this statement is from communications director, Michael Tyler. And it says in part, in New York today we saw that no one is above the law. Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law on his own personal gain. But today's verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office, at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. The statement goes on to allude to the chaos that the campaign believes would ensue if Trump were reelected, saying the American people will reject it this November. Of course, we just heard the former president say that the people will be the final deciders here and that November 5th, will be when this case ends, and it is in his words long from over. Now, it's unclear exactly when or even whether we would hear from President Biden responding directly to the fact that his predecessor is found guilty on 34 felony counts. Throughout the week, aides were non-committal about whether the President would weigh in personally, alluding to a very complicated schedule that he has, as well as the fact that today in particular, is a somber day for the Biden family. They are in Delaware, where they're remembering Beau Biden, the President's son who died nine years ago today at age 46. It's a day that the family usually spends out of the public eye. And to that end, the White House called a lid at 9:53 a.m. earlier today, that means that we were not expecting to see the President in public again. Of course, history could change things. Jake? TAPPER: All right, Kayla Tausche, thank you so much. And let us consider this moment a rather significant one in American history. For the first time ever a former U.S. president is now a convicted felon found guilty by a jury of his peers of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, some questions that some of you might have. Can a convicted felon run for president? The answer is, yes. Can a convicted felon serve as president? The answer is, yes. Can a convicted felon vote for himself or herself for President? The answer is it depends on the state but in Florida where Donald Trump lives, former President Trump lives, they tend to defer to the state where the conviction takes place and that is New York. And felons are able to vote in New York if they are out of prison. [17:40:01] So those are some of the questions. Now, I have questions and Karen let me start with you which is, what exactly is going on in that courthouse right now? We know sentencing is going to be July 11th, which just happens to be within a week of the beginning of the Republican National Convention, for those keeping tabs on the overlap of this case, and the political realities in which we live. What are they doing right now? Are the jurors getting out of dodge? There -- I saw something on the screen saying something about no bail. And I know that this meant like, they weren't even thinking about requiring the President to need to put a bail or anything like that he is he is a free man, of course, but tell us about what's going on behind the scenes. AGNIFILO: So there's a couple of things going on behind the scenes right now, first of all, security. There's a whole security protocol that is making sure that everybody, including Trump supporters are behaving and including people who wanted the former president convicted, that there's going to be calm, and that everybody is OK. So that's going on, the jurors are also being protected and their anonymity is being protected. So they're going to continue to be driven back home, taken back to the place that they essentially came from, so that they can remain anonymous, as long as they choose to. One more thing just to also keep in mind, the gag order still in effect, which I thought was really interesting that Todd Blanche didn't request, Judge Merchan. Now that the trial is over now that the jury is excused, that the gag order be lifted, which means -- TAPPER: And just to remind people, sorry to interrupt, but the judge issued a gag order saying that Donald Trump could not talk publicly about the jurors, or the witnesses, or members of the family of the judge, or the prosecution team. But the judge on the prosecution team themselves were completely fair game, rhetorically. Go ahead. I'm sorry. AGNIFILO: And then in the D.A.'s office, I just saw they're about to hold a press conference at 6:30. I think Alvin Bragg is going to speak. So they're preparing what they're going to say and how they're going to address this. And they are going to, I guess, tell everybody, what this means on behalf of the Manhattan D.A.'s office. So I think everybody is doing their various jobs right now and collecting themselves because this is such a big deal. And I also think the D.A's office is going to start thinking about sent sentencing. TAPPER: Yes, let's talk -- AGNIFILO: And it something we should think about, yes. TAPPER: And let's talk about that now with this side of the table, because I believe that the judge gets to decide the sentencing, not the jury. Is that standard? Is that how it always -- sometimes the jury never decides? COATES: In instance like this? No, that's not going to happen. And remember, we know that in fact, remember what happened during the closing arguments, when Todd Blanche made the reference to prison, the judge was quite clear, even giving a curative instruction of the jury to say, your job is a fact finder. My job is to actually sentence. And the sentence itself could be a maximum for all charges of 20 years, up to four for each count, but the maximum of 20 years. This is a first time non-violent criminal offender, though, and so the likelihood of him serving hard prison time is pretty slim, but it does not remove the stain of now being a 34-time felon. And to your point about being a felon and being from Florida, there is a great irony in this instance, that he would -- if he were in Florida, be asking people to vote for him. And he could not do that. And because it's a crime involving dishonesty and fraud is considered under the umbrella of moral turpitude, which means that even after you complete your entire sentence, you still have to appeal to the governor of that state -- TAPPER: If he convicted in Florida? COATES: If it happened in Florida. TAPPER: Yes. COATES: And so this irony of the governor of Tennessee from having to weigh in prospectively on. TAPPER: So let me ask Elie, how does this work, the sentencing, because first of all, obviously, Donald Trump or former President Trump and his legal team are going to appeal. And we've discussed already the grounds for appeal and the arguments that he might bring up for appeal, and there are many. Beyond that, though, he can't appeal until the sentencing. ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: TAPPER: Right? And how is that decision made? It's -- it -- does Judge Merchan just go to his chambers and emerge like Moses with tablets? Or are their arguments that are going to be made by Donald Trump's attorneys by the prosecutors? HONIG: There will be intensive investigation and arguments between now and -- TAPPER: Public ones. HONIG: Yes, we will get public filings where the D.A. will ask the judge to impose whatever sentence they think is appropriate. Donald Trump's team will put in their request certainly for a non- incarceratory, non-prison sentence. And let me address a question that I imagine is on a lot of people's minds, which is how likely is it that Judge Merchan imposes a sentence of prison? Now, this is a Class E felony. In New York State, you have Class A is the most serious felony, Class E is -- TAPPER: Just to interrupt for one second. We see the former president there and his team getting into their motorcade of SUVs to return to his home. On this unbelievably historic day, no doubt he is angry, no doubt he is sad to a degree, dejected. Kara Scannell talked about a moment where he reached over and shook his son's hand. His son patted him on the back. Whether you think this was the right verdict or not, it is one that weighs heavily on any defendants emotions, and this is a former president of the United States. I'm sorry. Elie, go ahead. [17:45:29] HONIG: If we look at the universe of Class E convictions in New York State and several good researchers out there have done sort of surveys over the last year or so. Generally, the estimates are that somewhere between 70 and 90 percent of Class E New York convictions result in non-prison sentences. So that would be some combination of probation, fines, perhaps community service. But the converse of that 10 to 30ish percent do result in prison time, and this will be entirely up to Judge Merchan. TAPPER: Is there a difference or the 10 to 30 percent that are sentenced to prison for Class E felonies, individuals with worse lawyers? Are there individuals with we have previous criminal records like Dana said, I mean, is there any sort of delineation? HONIG: So I'll give you what the relevant factors usually would be in a case like this. First of all, how big was the offense? How major was the offense? It's a big difference to steal $5 million versus $100,000. Was this person a first time offender? Or are they on their second, third, fourth conviction? Yes, the quality of lawyering can absolutely play into it. But this is the most difficult thing that judges do. I mean, you talk to any judge that will tell you, the hardest part of their job is imposing a sentence. And one other thing I just want to make very clear, if Donald Trump does get a prison sentence imposed on him on July 11th, odds are very, very high, he will not have to start serving that sentence right away. Because in a case like this, he's very likely to get what we call bail pending appeal, meaning he will almost certainly not have to begin serving any sentence until after all of his appeals are done. That would certainly take us out past the election. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So on November, he could be out on bail? HONIG: Yes. He will, in all likelihood, in November be -- he will have been sentenced on -- in July. And the sentence will not actually be imposed until his appeals are done, which will take us well into 20 -- TAPPER: So the appeal process, just to be clear here, so the appeal process, which will kick in the very moment after sentencing, right. I mean, the Trump legal team already has those briefs ready to go. They're going to appeal every single one every single avenue they can all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, I would imagine that will take months and months, if not years. HONIG: Potentially. So Donald Trump has one appeal as of right to the mid-level New York Court, the Court of Appeals for New York, which is the middle level, if he loses there, he can ask the top court in the state of New York, which is actually called the Court of Appeals, that nomenclature gets confusing. He can ask them to take the case. They don't have to though, it's the same as our U.S. Supreme Court. They can take it if they want to. They don't have to. And then from there, he can try to get it up. TAPPER: We're watching by the way, just the motorcade of the former president leaving the courthouse on its way to Trump Tower, several cars, you see supporters of the former president with Trump flags in the streets. And it is an area that where there is a lot of security. So there does not appear to be a huge crowd for blocks and blocks and blocks. It's also a large -- tall, you know, a capital Democratic city by and large. Anderson? COOPER: Jake, thanks very much. One side of the street, you see some Trump flags. The other I saw a couple of one finger salutes there as well. But the former president now making his way back, assume to Trump Tower. COLLINS: Yes. It's remarkable. I mean, this is a typical -- drive he's obviously been making every day after he's left court. You saw him getting in the motorcade there. The last person I saw Trump speaking to before he got in was Steve Witkoff, who's a donor. He's been here almost every single day of court from what I've seen when I've been inside the room, and now he is making this drive back to Trump Tower the first time he's done so as a convicted felon, typically he uses this time in the court to call allies and friends of his. I mean, remarkable to think of the people who will be on the receiving end of that call and this ride. I should note, obviously, this conviction is landing in the middle of a presidential campaign. We just talked about the sentencing happening four days before the Republican convention. And the White House has actually just responded, they don't typically weigh in on any of this. But they had made a plan to say something once this happened from a White House spokesperson and Sams from the Counsel's Office. He said, quote, we respect the rule of law, and we have no additional comment. But obviously, this is going to be something that President Biden himself will be asked about. COOPER: It's just so interesting to watch, you know, this small motorcade moving through the streets of New York. I just drove down through these very same streets, I mean, people going about their lives. This is not a big deal in the city of New York. I mean there were, you know, several hundred people waiting outside today. But, you know, and I literally ran down the streets about 30 minutes ago and they're packed with people out shopping, people out doing their business, coming here from work. [17:50:14] REID: Yes. Most people in America going on with their lives of course, Manhattanites, rarely fazed by anything that also connects to the jury. Remember, when we first started this case, we were concerned that the people who were called to serve on this jury might beg off, might try to step down for fear of what they could face, them or their families as a result of their participation in this trial, and we did not see. After the jury was seated, we did not see one juror abdicate their responsibility or choose to remove themselves from the situation. And again, I think that also speaks to Manhattanites, right? They understood what they were getting into. And they were up for this assignment. COOPER: We have not heard obviously, from any jurors, Judge Merchan had -- has instructed them, they can speak out if they want to, they can also remain quiet, if they want to. The choice is up to them. Obviously, there'll be a lot of interest in what they have to say. But for all the pre-trial talk about the complexity of sort of this novel charge, the difficulty of perhaps understanding what crime was committed, or maybe there'll be a disagreement of what particular crime was committed and arguments over the judge's instructions to the jury, did that make it easier for them to find a guilty verdict? That they didn't all have to agree on the exact same criminal count -- charge or criminal activity. They were able to make this very quickly. REID: Yes. It's really -- I think it was shocking, actually, to those of us who were here waiting for the verdict that they were able to do this so quickly because even those of us who have watched it have had questions. Clearly, the jury had additional questions about their instructions, about count one. And obviously, it comes with great risk for any of these jurors to speak out. But it would be fascinating for history, for the record to know how these deliberations proceeded. If there were holdouts that they had to be persuaded and how clear the assignment was to them. That would really be I think, a really significant thing. COOPER: Yes, Kristen Holmes is joining us as well. Kristen, I mean, the jurors had requested the judge's instructions be reread to them to exactly here again, the instructions from him. They also wanted the details of that meeting in 2015 that took place at Trump Tower between David Pecker, Michael Cohen and Donald Trump. That was the original meeting to kind of talk about being the eyes and ears of the campaign. It was a phrase that David Pecker had used by his testimony in that meeting. It was a meeting we'd learned during the trial called by Trump and Michael Cohen in order to reach out to David Pecker to find out what he could do for his campaign to become president. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and clearly after the jury relooked at all of that evidence, they came to the conclusion that Trump was guilty on all counts. Now I am told that Trump is livid. Now, we were told by senior advisors that people around him allies, and he was calling them late at night at Trump Tower, that he was saying that he thought it was likely that he would be convicted blaming the fact that the jury was based in Manhattan, saying that most Manhattanites had a left or liberal leaning tent, so he thought that might happen. But when it comes down to actually happening, Donald Trump has tended to believe that he is Teflon that nothing can actually stick to him. So this did come as a shock to his team, particularly given the day they had. They had told me that they were getting ready to leave that there was no verdict, that Trump was going to come out to the cameras right after they were dismissed and then they were going to head back to Trump Tower expecting another day of deliberations. Now, I do want to talk about something involving that sentencing that Kaitlan mentioned on the convention, one of the things that was slightly overlooked was the fact that Todd Blanche actually asked for a late July sentencing date. That is notable because that would have been after the Republican convention. Donald Trump's team has been incredibly concerned about this trial around the convention, when they were using their delay, delay, delay tactics. One of his senior advisors told me that they were worried about pushing this too far, and that the trial would butt up against the convention. Now, you are seeing Todd Blanche asking for this to be after the convention and instead, he is going to be sentenced just days before he officially becomes the Republican nominee for president. And while it is incredibly historic that he is the first former president to be convicted in a criminal trial, it is also historic that he will be the Republican nominee being sentenced just days before and not only that, despite all of his legal peril currently at this time, he is still resonating in the polls. And his team tells me that because of the messaging that we heard from him today, the election interference, the linking this to former president -- excuse me, current president, Joe Biden, that they believe that this isn't going to impact him in November. But I want to be clear that they also know that we are in uncharted territory and anything could happen. They have absolutely no clue how this actually plays out when voters go to the ballot box. [17:55:11] COOPER: Yes. And also how it plays out in the messaging of Donald Trump moving forward. He's had a sort of rather post-apocalyptic view of the country. Will that increase? We certainly heard some of that after the verdict today. Kristen, we'll check back in with you back here with Paula Reid and Kaitlan Collins. I understand, Paula, that Michael Cohen has released a statement. REID: Yes, Michael Cohen, obviously a key witness in this case has just released a statement and he said, quote, today is an important day for accountability and the rule of law. Well, it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters. I want to thank my attorneys, Danya Perry and Joshua Kolb for their invaluable guidance and support throughout this process. And in many ways while Trump was right, the one who is the defendant here, Michael Cohen was also certainly being scrutinized by this jury because his testimony was critical as the only person who could really directly link the defendant to this alleged conspiracy. And Trump's defense attorneys, they did their best to try to just destroy any credibility that Michael Cohen had. That really was the defense, the cross examination of Michael Cohen, undercutting his credibility, highlighting his criminal record or highlighting his disdain for the defendant, the fact that he's profiting off of this. But at the end of the day, the jury appears to not have been swayed by those arguments. And it appears that they believe that Michael Cohen corroborated by additional evidence was credible enough to convict. And again, this underscores why it would be helpful for history to hear from some of these jurors, even if they're anonymous to understand how they perceive Michael Cohen because he even admitted to stealing from the Trump Organization. At one point it was really just an unprecedented kind of appearance on the witness stand. It would be fascinating to know how the jury metabolized everything they heard from -- COOPER: So and also the importance of David Pecker, I mean, the fact that he was the first witness called by the prosecution, they clearly viewed him as essential to kind of setting the stage for all of this. COLLINS: And that those are the two witnesses whose testimony clearly mattered to the jury. We can only speculate when they were asked sending those notes and asking to be read back their testimony hours ago. But last night, the indication was that it wasn't a good sign for the defense because it wasn't about the checks. It wasn't about the invoices. They wanted to hear the testimony about specifically that meeting at Trump Tower in 2015. That now fateful meeting where it was Trump and Cohen asking how David Pecker could help Donald Trump's campaign. Now as he is in his third run for the White House, David Pecker and Michael Cohen's testimony about that meeting at Trump Tower, where it was just the three of them Hope Hicks in and out of the meeting, that is clearly something that was very pivotal to this jury, because they wanted to hear the account of David Pecker of that meeting and from Michael Cohen of that meeting. And what was the underlying factor of it was that it was done to influence the 2016 election and the outcome of that. And these are also two figures who have known Donald Trump, Michael Cohen for over two decades now and David Pecker for several decades. Two different distinctly figures. David Pecker wanted Donald Trump to be president still views him in a favorable light, which was made clear on the witness stand. Michael Cohen obviously said he wanted to see Trump held accountable. We saw what he said in his podcast. And it was those two figures whose testimony was the one of the last things the jury heard this morning before they made this pivotal decision. TAPPER: Todd Blanche has been a lot of time trying to knock down the importance of that meeting in 2015 essentially saying, well, David Pecker never used the term catch and kill, though obviously, when the testimony was read back to the jury, they would have heard, he may not have used that phrase, catch and kill. But he did talk about catching and killing stories has been one of the services he could offer to then candidate Trump. REID: It's a great point, because in his closing argument, Todd Blanche spent a lot of time trying to debunk the idea that this was all done as part of a conspiracy to influence the election. And at that point, it was pretty clear that that was actually something that prosecutors had establish beyond a reasonable doubt. And a lot of the questions lingered on Trump's involvement in the actual falsified business records. So in hindsight, it's not clear that that was the highest best use of the closing argument to spend so much time on, something that was clearly pretty well established, in large part to your point by David Pecker, the first witness out of the box, clearly someone that they believe, prosecutors believed was the perfect person to present their case, to initially present their case with because he was so credible. He doesn't have an ax to grind. Yes, this was a long time ago, but he seemed to have a pretty decent memory. And again, no real dog in this fight. And the jury rarely found him quite credible. COLLINS: And you know what I'm thinking about right now is, obviously there's a lot of unknowns but also all of the major Republican figures that we've spoken to who have said whether or not they would still vote for Donald Trump, even if he's a convicted felon, people like Chris Sununu, Bill Barr and others, remember the first Republican primary debate that they were all asked if they would still vote for the party's nominee even if he was a convicted felon he or she, Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie were the only two who did not raise their hands and said they would. [18:00:16] This is going to be the next major question for all of those figures, now that some of them had already prefaced that they would still vote for him because they questioned that outcome of this verdict, whatever it was. And now that's -- you're going to see the impact that has over the next five months before voters go to the polls -- COOPER: Yeah. COLLINS: -- November. COOPER: A historic day here. Let's go to Jake Tapper in Washington. CNN Live Event/Special Aired May 30, 2024 - 18:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [18:00:03] … JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thank you, Anderson. And if you are just joining us with the breaking news, the historic verdict is in, Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, has been found guilty by a jury of his peers on all 34 New York State felony counts of falsifying business records tied to the alleged Stormy Daniels hush money cover-up. I guess we can remove the word alleged from that. The former president of the United States is now a convicted felon, even as he is running to return to the White House. Mr. Trump left the courthouse a short while ago. He will be sentenced on July 11th, literally just days before the Republican National Convention is convenes. Of course, Donald Trump and his lawyers will appeal this conviction. But as of now, and they cannot appeal until after sentencing July 11th, as of now, 12 jurors from Manhattan, 12 of the president's peers have made a monumental decision, finding the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, guilty on all counts. We are standing by for a news conference that will be held by a Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is the one who brought this case against Donald Trump. We will hear his reaction to the verdict. But let us chew on this momentous day with our panel here. And, Laura Coates, the jury was given a lot of reason by the defense to not come to these conclusions, Michael Cohen's credibility for one. They rejected all of them. LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: They did. They said there were two reasons never to actually come to any of these conclusions, and it was because of Michael Cohen. They did not offer an alternative theory of what happened. They said that the government had not met their burden of proof, which they were required to do. Remember, the defense went first. Trump was very furious about not being able to respond to that. But gone now are the tea leaf reading of what they felt about credibility considerations, whether they believed Michael Cohen's testimony, whether they believed even those witnesses who were very, you know, kind to or sympathetic with Donald Trump, that's all done. This is a moment of such significance because the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt now that there were 34 counts of falsified records, not with direct evidence or statements from Donald Trump to suggest that, yes, I ordered the code red, but instead saying that I was directing somebody or made possible the falsified records. This was a question for many people. Could it be elevated from a misdemeanor to a felony? The only way to do that was from this predicate crime. And remember, as we were talking about, Elie, The idea that most of the time people wondered should they have a lesser included offense here? Should the defense have tried to include that in some form or fashion? They opted not to and now you've got 34 felonies. TAPPER: And, Elie Honig, well, before I come to you we don't have cameras in the courtroom because New York thinks that it is still the year 1732, but here is artwork from Christine Cornell, one of the courtroom sketch artists before the verdict was read. And you see the defendant, the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, standing there looking at the jurors before the verdict was read. And, Elie Honig, we have talked before on this panel many times about how the fact is that a lot of witnesses are people with credibility issues when it comes to crimes because a lot of criminals, Sammy the Bull Gravano was brought up many times on this panel a lot of, a lot of witnesses are a lot of criminals are individuals who associate with other criminals, which is not to say, well, Donald Trump is now a convicted felon, but the idea being that jurors do distinguish between people who do not have credibility, generally speaking, and what they say in a courtroom, they factor that in. ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: That's exactly right, Jake. This verdict comes down to one word, corroboration. It's a word that we prosecutors, former prosecutors, are obsessed with. Because you want to be able to make the exact pitch that the D.A. made to the jury when he was closing the other day. He said to them, essentially, you don't have to take Michael Cohen at his word in a vacuum. Look at everything that backs him up. Look at the handwritten notes. Look at the checks. [18:05:00] TAPPER: Not only you don't have to, but they said you shouldn't. HONIG: Right, exactly. They said, let Michael Cohen simply walk you through the evidence. And if we even think to the note, the one substantive note we got, which came yesterday, what the jury asked for is the testimony of David Pecker and Michael Cohen about one crucial meeting. And that testimony that they both gave was not identical. It's never going to be identical, but it was consistent and it was mutually reinforcing. And so I think it's reasonable to conclude that the jury went into that room. They said, can we trust Michael Cohen based on all the other evidence? That's what the D.A. asked him to do. And they gave a resounding yes. TAPPER: Kasie, the politics of this are, are, are inescapable. You've been talking to people about Republicans about this. Tell us what they told you. KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I talked to a pair of Republicans who quite candidly would prefer to see Donald Trump lose the election in November, but I think it's really telling that they are not jumping on this verdict immediately. That the way they are looking at it is as something that is going to force our already incredibly divided country into their respective corners, that it is going to have the effect of amping up the division, the anger, and I think some of the things that we're seeing in terms of Republican fundraising, reports of websites being down kind of underscore that point that it is galvanizing many supporters of Donald Trump to support him all the more. DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I think that we need to look at the calendar one more time. You were saying July 11th. I'm sitting here looking at it. That is a Thursday. July 15th, which is a Monday, is the first day of the Republican convention. And I know that our reporting is that Todd Blanche and Trump's other attorneys will be asking for the sentencing to be moved until after the Republican convention. We don't know if he's going to grant that but this whole -- not just this case, but other cases, and his presidential campaign, are so intertwined and the collision between that sentencing date and the convention are just it's almost too much to even fathom. On top of that, we've been hearing the former president more recently saying that he's not going to pick his running mate until either right before or maybe even during the convention. I've already been communicating with Republicans saying it's hard to imagine that he doesn't take this moment and the content and the context of what was happening in this trial with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal take that into account when he picks his running mate. TAPPER: So, right now, Donald Trump forced to contend with New York traffic. That's his motorcade. There he just posted on his social media site, Truth Social, in all caps, victory on November 5th, save America. HUNT: Jake, can I just jump in, because we're already seeing this political fight start to play out. Chris LaCivita, who, of course, at the top of the Trump campaign, just retweeted, re-Xed, I'm not sure what we call it now, at Governor Larry Hogan, who is the Republican nominee for the Senate race in Maryland. Larry Hogan said, regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process at this dangerously divided moment in our history. All leaders, regardless of party, must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship. LaCivita says, on top of this, you just ended your campaign. TAPPER: You just ended your campaign, Larry Hogan, the Republican nominee for Senate in the blue state of Maryland. HUNT: Yes, because he called for respect of our institutions collectively in this moment. TAPPER: Well, there is an appeals process, but before we get to that, Karen, the sentencing process, tell us more about that. KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So, what will happen is that Donald Trump will have to report to probation and probation will prepare what's called a presentencing report where they take certain information. And this is something they do in every case before sentencing, certain information about him, including whether or not he expresses remorse, because that is something that is normally taken into consideration for sentencing. When Judge Merchan actually sentences any defendant, he takes many factors into consideration. If you removed the name Donald Trump from his consideration, and it was somebody who came before him for sentence that also had three open other felony indictments in three other jurisdictions in both state and federal court. He's somebody who has been convicted of 34 felony counts, was held in contempt ten times for disobeying Judge Merchan's orders. He would absolutely fall within that 10 to 30 percent who would be sentenced to prison. But because his name is Donald Trump, who knows what will happen, but those are the exact factors that any judge in New York State would take into consideration. And those are the people who are convicted of E felonies that would go to prison. [18:10:00] Now, he could -- there's a wide range of options. He could get up to four years. He could also do weekends in jail. That's as an option if Judge Merchan wanted to do that, where you literally report to jail for weekends. He could do probation. He could do community service where he has to pick up trash on the subway. So -- JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Could he do home arrest? AGNIFILO: He could do home arrest. Every option is on the table with a class E felony like this. But I wanted to jus for people of what any other defendant, because I worked in the D.A.'s years. I've seen hundreds of thousands of cases and sentences. And those are the factors that would have gone into that equation. And, absolutely, without a doubt, any other defendant who was similarly situated to Donald Trump, who is not going to show remorse, and who I am sure will push the bounds of the still remaining gag order after this, we'll see what happens. But anyone else in that position would get prison. TAPPER: Jamie Gangel, before the trial began, you spoke with Michael Cohen, the defense witness, the number one witness for -- I'm sorry, the prosecution witness, the number one witness for the prosecution, about whom much has been said about his credibility and that certainly at times during the trial appeared to be potentially undermining. Obviously, it was not. What did he say before the trial and how did it work out? GANGEL: So, we don't know what the jury took into account yet, and we may never know because they may not speak to us. But what Michael Cohen said, this was about, 24 hours before is, he said there are going to be all of these other witnesses. And, in fact, there were 19 other witnesses and he saw his job as being the narrator and that his job was to connect the dots, but that we would -- forgive me, this is not working -- that we would see all of the documents, the evidence, those Allen Weisselberg hand-scribbled notes, but he said to me over and over again, you're not going to have to rely on me, you're going to be able to rely on this other evidence TAPPER: If you're just joining us, the former president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of 34 counts of falsifying business records, felony charges. Maggie Haberman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter from The New York Times, who has been in the courtroom, I believe every day of this trial, is joining us right now. Maggie, first of all, tell us about that moment, the moment of 34 felony convictions. MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure, Jake, very dramatic. I have been in courtrooms when there's been a verdict in intense cases, and the judge always cautions people to not have reactions, as Justice Merchan did in this case as well. Usually there is a reaction. There was silence from Trump supporters. Trump himself was sitting (INAUDIBLE). His head had been tilted to the side. We had a bit of an obstructed view because of the court officers in the room, but the jury foreman stood up and was asked where the jury was on each count, and it was guilty. TAPPER: All right. Maggie, we're having some problems with Maggie's phone connection. HABERMAN: -- for today. TAPPER: Maggie, we lost you there for a second. Say that again. HABERMAN: Sure. Sorry, Jake. And it's still quite crazy right now just in terms of a lot of activity. Eric Trump, Trump's only -- TAPPER: Okay, we're going to wait for Maggie to -- HABERMAN: He shook his head -- TAPPER: And, Maggie, just give us a couple minutes. See if you can find a better cell phone spot. We really want to hear from you, but you keep fading in and out for significant amounts of time. Just to give you at home, while Maggie walks to a better cell phone spot some background information, the Trump team has to file any motions by June 13th and the people must respond by June 27th. This has to do with the sentencing part of the case. And then, of course, July 11th, as we've said, is sentencing. Dana? BASH: Yes. And, I mean, I actually have a question, and maybe you'll know the answer to this. What are the chances that this judge will say, okay, you're right, July 11th is four days before the Republican convention, I'll wait until afterwards? AGNIFILO: I was actually surprised that that wasn't an application made. Usually there's a negotiation in court about what day do you want for sentencing. I was surprised that maybe they just didn't report about it. But, normally, there is a conversation between the lawyers to pick that. So, I wouldn't be surprised if the judge -- if there was some movement on that date. [18:15:03] It's kind of a quick date, too. Normally, if somebody is not incarcerated, it can go as far as a few months out. So, we'll see. We'll see what he does, but there's a lot of flexibility there. TAPPER: So, the jury reached a verdict at 4:20 P.M. Donald Trump, the now convicted felon, the 45th president of the United States, at 6:14 P.M. is arriving at his home at Trump Tower has to be one of the worst days of his life, if not the worst. Anderson? COOPER: Jake, thanks very much. Joining us now is Danya Perry, Michael Cohen's attorney, her first interview since Donald Trump's conviction. Danya, first, I understand you've just spoken to Michael Cohen. He put out a statement. What did he say to you about his reaction to this? DANYA PERRY, MICHAEL COHEN'S ATTORNEY: I was actually shocked if you saw his statement. He was -- of all the things he could have said or done, he actually expressed his gratitude to me of all people, and I think that really is -- it's the Michael cohen that I've seen he has mixed feelings, they're complex emotions. He feels vindicated, of course. He's gratified that the jury absolutely believed him and returned a swift verdict. He's gratified that the judge denied the motion that would have precluded his testimony as ridiculous emotion as it was it, it also was swiftly denied. And so he is feeling those things, and as he testified in court, he definitely wanted to see accountability for his former boss and mentor and someone who meant so much to him for so long. But for those same reasons, he certainly there -- his emotions are tinged with sadness as well, sorrow for what has happened in the past ten years and the past several in particular. So, I think he feels that this is a sad day certainly for Mr. Trump. And he actually expressed that to me, but also for the, for the country. And so I think what he's going to be focused on right now is this is not a personal beef, as many people have talked about, and as Todd Blanche spent a lot of time in closing statements and a cross- examination, as Michael said in his statement, and as he just posted, for him, he wants to focus on the next chapter, both for himself and also for the country. He sees this as a moment, it's a day of reckoning, and it's a triumph for the rule of law, not him, for the rule of law and for democracy. COOPER: Danya, I just want to show our viewers what we just a replay of what we just saw, Donald Trump arriving outside Trump Tower to go to his home. He approached a barricaded position where cameras were gesticulated to some of his supporters there, seemed to thank them for clenching his fist in a raised salute, pointing to some people in the crowd and then moving back to go home to Trump Tower. Clearly, you know, Danya, so much time was spent ripping apart Michael Cohen's credibility on the stand by Todd Blanche. This was something, you know, he did the cross-examination. He clearly viewed this as critical testimony. To what degree does Michael Cohen feel vindicated, because we have not heard from jurors yet, but, clearly, in order to have reached this verdict, they must have believed Michael Cohen on some level? Yes, there was a lot of other evidence that backed up things that Michael Cohen had said. Does he feel some sense of vindication? PERRY: 100 percent. There's no other way to read that verdict. And it was unanimous, of course. It was quickly rendered and it was guilty on all counts. So, there was seemingly no hesitation at all about his testimony. And I think that's exactly as it should be. I've known Michael for four years, but he's been talking about this time and for six years, and it has always been the same story. It's always been consistent. It has always made sense. And it was corroborated, as you said. So, the jury clearly had absolutely no trouble believing him, nor should they have. So, there was a lot of (INAUDIBLE) and a lot of name calling and finger pointing, but at the end of the day, the jury saw a straight, clear and quick path. [18:20:00] And, of course, Michael is feeling gratified by that and vindicated. COOPER: Does your client have any thoughts on sentencing? Obviously, he has expressed thoughts previously on what he thinks sentencing should be. He has said he thought that Donald Trump should be, I think, in an effing cage at one point. He certainly has said on the sand that he would like to see conviction and would like to see him kind of experience the same things that Michael Cohen experienced being put behind bars. Did he express anything about what he would like to see a sentencing based on all these convictions? PERRY: No. What he has said is he wanted to see accountability, and that has already happened. So, whatever happens in July or whenever the sentencing is, if it's adjourned, that is not something that he's concerned with. Yes, he certainly made statements in dramatic fashion, as he often does for entertainment value on his podcast or in interviews, but that is not at all his focus right now, not anything he's thinking about. As I said before, he's gratified with the judge's decisions. The judge has ruled down the middle, and the judge will rule at sentencing, and that's his province. Today's verdict was the jury's province. The sentencing will be solely the judge's, and I don't believe that Michael will have anything to say about that. COOPER: Danya Perry, I appreciate talking to you. Thank you so much. Danya Perry, attorney for Michael Cohen. I'm back here with Kaitlan Collins and Paula Reid. Obviously again, I mean, Michael Cohen was critical to this case. They didn't want to lead with him. We have the verdict sheet as well. Let's put that up to talk about it as well. We're -- as we wait for them to put it up. Okay, so I'm going to you. Michael Cohen. Testimony obviously was critical in all of this, not so critical that they wanted it to be first, though. There's the verdict sheet. You see each of the counts, falsifying business records, falsifying business records each one checked off, you know, yes, this is history. PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: There was even some surprise that they let him go last. They thought that maybe they'd want to sandwich him, right, because he was complicated. But they had confidence in him, they met with him dozens and dozens of times over the course of a year to prepare him on the stand, and he held up pretty well. He didn't lose it. He didn't get too testy. Obviously he did. Defense argues lie on the stand he admitted stealing from the Trump Organization, but as a witness, he did come across as calm, cool and collected. And given who we're talking about, that was a success, not only for him, but for the prosecution, COOPER: There had been some question. Would jurors decide guilty on some charges, not on others? Would they sort of tried to kind of have a split decision in some cases? They went every single charge found guilty. REID: Yes, that is totally not what the Trump team expected. I think a lot of legal experts also thought maybe they would convict him on the charges related to falsifying documents specifically the checks that Trump signed, but the others perhaps it was there was not enough of a direct link. So, this was a surprise, but I think what we've said consistently throughout our coverage is we have no idea how this was going to go. It just wasn't clear. Anything was possible. COLLINS: And just to look at that verdict sheet, though, and to see guilty, guilty, guilty, because it was a question. Could you be convicted on only the checks alone and maybe not the ledgers and the invoices and the other parts that we were seeing? And to see that X marked in every single box on that verdict sheet, all of these all of these jurors coming to the same decision here as you can see there in the left hand column. And looking at the transcript shows you how quickly all of this happened. The judge has the two parties to come into the courtroom at 4:15 P.M. today Eastern. That's when he said I'm going to excuse the jury about 4:30. They were still deliberating. We had not received any notes. Then it took about 15 minutes for the judge to come back in the room. He came in. They didn't even make everyone rise. Everyone stayed seated. And the judge, I'm looking at the transcript, he said, I apologize for the delay, but we received a note and it was signed by the jury for a person at 4:20. So, while Judge Merchan is in the courtroom with the prosecution and the defense thinking he's about to dismiss this jury, and then he goes to find out that actually they've sent a note that says we the jury have a verdict. We would like an extra 30 minutes to fill out that form. And you see here in the transcript, it looks like that verdict sheet, it just says, where the clerk is asking, how do you say to count six? How do you say to count seven? And it's just guilty, guilty, guilty, in this transcript. COOPER: I want to bring in Clark Brewster, the attorney for Stormy Daniels. Clark, I understand you have talked to Stormy Daniels. I'm wondering what her reaction is. What is your reaction? CLARK BREWSTER, ATTORNEY FOR STORMY DANIELS: Yes, Anderson, I did speak with Stormy. I mean, she was actually pretty emotional. Really, you know, a lot of mixed emotions. Obviously, it's a sad time for, you know, anyone to have a conviction like this. [18:25:06] I mean, it's momentous to the country. So, it really kind of hit her hard. But on the other hand, she knows how hard the jurors worked and their oath that they took. And we have to respect that no man is above the law and we have to respect the system. But, you know, she has empathy, but she also did her duty and came to court and told the truth and was exposed to cross-examination and the jurors did their work. COOPER: Do, you know -- I mean, does she -- did she express anything about what she would like to see for sentencing? BREWSTER: No, we've not really discussed that. It will be interesting. I think the judge probably knows this case better than anyone at this time and we're opposed to trust in his judgment as to what would be a fair sentence in this matter. You know, there's so many emotions that run through this, the emotions of the fear that she expressed, as I told you about in the previous meetings, about somebody doing harm to her, and then all of the anxiety about getting on the stand and facing two days of examination. But this is the culmination, and this is how our system works. You get a trial, and people take oath to apply goodwill and proper analysis of the law to the facts, and they return to verdict it. You could feel in that courtroom this is a very diligent, informed jury and you have to respect that and compliment them on their work. COOPER: Clark Brewster, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. I want to go back to Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Wolf? WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, thank you very much. We're watching history unfold right now. First time in American history, something like this has happened, a former president of the United States convicted on 34 counts, felony counts, very serious counts indeed. I want to bring in the author and legendary journalist, Bob Woodward, right now. Bob, thanks very much for joining us. Give us your reaction as someone who, together with Carl Bernstein, did all the lead reporting on the Watergate scandal many years ago. What is your reaction now to this historic moment? BOB WOODWARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well first of all, maybe the country's not as divided as we think it is, that this jury was able to quite quickly reach a consensus, and the consensus is that Donald Trump is a felon. And that changes politics. That changes the whole understanding of Trump and the presidential election that's going on. So, this is one of these moments that changes history and defines history. Now, we're going to have to hear from what the jurors said and how they did this so quickly. But I was quite surprised. I expected there would be some very vocal Trump supporters on that jury and would kind of have another point of view here. But there's been one point of view, and that is that Donald Trump is a felon. That's something I think it will go through an appeal process. We'll hear from the jurors. But this is a kind of raw truth that doesn't happen that often in politics. BLITZER: Certainly doesn't. Bob, you interviewed Trump on several occasions while he was president of the United States. Do you think he fully understands the gravity of this situation? WOODWARD: Well, I think he does. I think he will watch the coverage and his lawyers will tell him that this is bad news. But Trump does, and I've spent a year talking to him, nine hours, he could call me at any time, I could call him at any time. This was 2020, the last year of his presidency. And he does -- you know, we realized this he's created a political cult. But I think the cult members have to kind of take a moment to pause and say, how did these people reach this conclusion that our guy is a felon? BLITZER: Give us your sense, the sentencing is going to happen in July, just before the Republican convention. He's the presumptive Republican nominee. He can run for president. He can even serve for president even as a convicted felon. [18:30:00] Give us a sense of what this means for the country right now. WOODWARD: Well, only in America would we have this occurring before our eyes. But it is occurring. Again, I go back to its significance. Donald Trump was somebody who's been accused. He is now a convicted felon. Now, it's a jury in New York. We're going to hear what the jurors say and, you know, how they reached this unanimous conclusion. You know, we live our own lives. There aren't many unanimous conclusions on anything. I, quite frankly, thought there would be a debate that this might take days. It did not take days. I think that's very significant. But we're going to have to hear how they reached this conclusion. BLITZER: Very quickly, before I let you go, Bob -- WOODWARD: In the legal world -- BLITZER: I'm just curious, pardon, just curious how you compare this current crisis in the United States right now with what happened when you were reporting for The Washington Post, during Watergate that led to the forced resignation of a sitting president of the United States. WOODWARD: Well, that took a couple of years from the initial reporting that Carl Bernstein and I did. But this is quick. This is a. legal and political declaration. I think it goes down in the history books. Now, there will be discussions, there will be appeals. I mean, Trump has been out saying this is a disgrace. Of course, the whole Trump approach to his own situation and the country is, well, the rules don't apply to me. I'm going to -- when I spent a year interviewing him and doing three books on him, there is that sense of, I make my own rules, and, boy, I'm going to play by those rules, and those are the rules that count. And this jury said, no, we're going to make the decision here, and they've done that, powerful moment. BLITZER: Very powerful, very historic indeed. For those of us who appreciate American history, first time ever something like this has happened in U.S. history. Bob Woodward, as usual. Thank you very, very much. Dana, let me get your reaction right now. When everyone is saying no one is above the law, including a former president of the United States that has become abundantly clear. BASH: It has. And just to pick up where we're Bob left off there about obviously this is going down in the history books, that's kind of a no brainer. But the other point that he was making about Trump telling him over and over again that he felt that he could play by his own rules or at least suggesting he could play by his own rules and skirt the law, that's what I keep thinking about in this moment, not just even the political realm, but for decades before he got into politics in New York real estate. And the fact that the irony is, in many cases, he used Michael Cohen to try to push the envelope on legal issues, and to be very litigious in a lot of ways. So, he spent an entire adult lifetime trying to avoid this kind of scenario of even being indicted, even being in a courtroom. And never mind 34 convictions, felony convictions. That's what I'm trying to absorb, how he is feeling at this moment, given what he has done his entire life. BLITZER: Jamie Gangel, we're showing our viewers the sketch. You can see it right in the middle of the screen right now. And just to be precise, that sketch was taken as he was hearing 34 times in a row, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, 34 times. GANGEL: You know, however Donald Trump spins this, however much he yells about a rigged trial, and the judge, et cetera, and whatever the political outcome is in November, this is not a good day for Donald Trump. And he is familiar with the court system. He has had cases over the course of his career. And what does he do? Fight, fight, fight, fight. Maybe eventually in a civil case, he's lost or he settled. But I think it is important to remember that, just to go back to those closing arguments, we made a big deal about they were so long and it was a marathon closing argument. I think Prosecutor Steinglass did in the end probably an extraordinary job in communicating, in connecting the dots for these jurors. [18:35:09] We don't know whether the jurors will ever discuss with us what it was. But I think the fact that this came back so quickly speaks to the prosecution and also those other witnesses and the physical evidence. COATES: And, you know, Wolf, we've been all talking throughout the course of this trial about what would be the impact of, say, Allen Weisselberg not being a witness that was called. He was the third person, the sort of elephant in the room of someone they could not connect. And the other person who could have corroborated someone like Michael Cohen, he obviously is in Rikers Island. Obviously, that was not impactful for this particular jury, his absence. We heard about, well, why would they have mentioned Karen McDougal? Would that be a red herring for this jury? Was the defense counsel or the prosecution on a different tangent? We talked about how that was a moment they asked for to be right again. And, of course, I wonder right now, there was a decision made by the former president of the United States not to testify in his own defense. He said from the beginning, he thought that this was a rigged system, the words he used. It's a disgraced system, rigged, a conflicted judge. It was corrupt. He talked about a venue change. He named the percentage he actually lost in New York to President Biden as well. And then he himself chose not to testify. The big showman did not say in his own defense in any way. And, you know, when you look at all this combined, it's amazing to think about this historic moment that the man we've usually called Teflon Don is now Felon Donald J. Trump. BLITZER: And 34 times. Kasie? HUNT: I also think when you step back for a minute and you really look at this, we have spent so many hours talking about the most complicated aspects of this case. We've also talked about what is the most simple explanation. And I do think that there is a simplicity to Donald Trump paying $130,000 to someone and why would he do that if it hadn't actually occurred? And why would he do that if not because the election was mere weeks, days away from the time that that payment was made? I think that the challenge is that we have seen things like this not entirely matter. It's a little bit two fold. Donald Trump has not won an election since all of this came to light. He lost in 2020. But now we're in a situation where we have a Democratic incumbent. The election is increasingly simply a referendum on Joe Biden. And the decision today is likely to activate the people who most support Trump, probably more than it's likely to activate people who support Biden. BLITZER: Yes. Let me just bring in the former Trump attorney, Tim Parlatore, he is with us. Give us your reaction to this historic moment. TIM PARLATORE, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: So, you know, I'm going to focus on the legal, not the political aspects. And I say that this case strikes me from the beginning is an incredibly defensible case that was not well defended. You know, the amount of time that the defense spent talking about Karen McDougal and catch and kill and all of these other things that had nothing to do with the actual charge of the falsified business records. And I think that they really fell into the trap of fighting all these things they didn't need to, where it's easier to just, you know, kind of concede all that stuff and focus in on this right here. You know, it, it surprised me a little bit how fast they came to a verdict. It also surprises me the unanimity of counts, obviously, the unanimity of the vote. But guilty of every single count is something that, I was not expecting. I figured if they came back with a guilty verdict to at least be split, maybe they would try and, you know, come to some type of Solomonic, you know, splitting of saying, okay, we'll find them guilty of counts up to the amount of the reimbursement. But at a minimum, the part where, you know, Weisselberg says that it's a bonus or a fee to Michael Cohen, well, that one is not really a false count. And so the fact that they came guilty across the board like that does surprise me. And I think it speaks to -- you know, to me, it speaks to the fact that the prosecution had a good theory, a good theme that they carried straight through, very long, but the defense didn't have that same thing. BLITZER: I spoke with several former Trump attorneys in recent days and many of them were suggesting there would be a hung jury. There would be at least one member, 1 out of the 12 jurors, who would decide differently from all the others. Were you expecting a hung jury? PARLATORE: Well, if you and I were in Vegas yesterday, I would have put all my money on a hung jury. Yes, absolutely. BLITZER: So, you agree with a lot of your former -- PARLATORE: I do. You know, I was expecting it to be a hung jury. I didn't know which way that it would go. But to get a to get a unanimous verdict this quickly was not something that I was necessarily expecting, especially given the complexity of the case, the number of counts and everything else. But I can see where the jury came to that given the presentations that were made. [18:40:00] BLITZER: Were you expecting this, Jamie? GANGEL: I was not. I thought the soonest we would come was Friday just again because of the complexity. But, you know, I think in the end, we've talked a lot about common sense, and over the last five, six weeks, we've talked about all of the things that could make you skeptical about the prosecution. I think at the end of the day, the likely reason it was across the board was the jury believed the underlying motive. And they saw those documents and they didn't overthink it the way, nothing against the lawyers, but you're looking for all the holes in it, and they looked and they said, you know what, this makes sense. BASH: Yes. And I just wonder, like you were saying, Tim, questioning the defense spending a lot of time on catch and kill and Karen McDougal, does it tell you anything that the jury in one of the questions that they asked the testimony to be reread was about that? PARLATORE: Oh, yes. I mean, the fact that that was one of the first notes that came out, we want to hear testimony -- BASH: Does that make it more -- does that give the defense attorneys more credibility and how they talked about that, or you think it's the opposite? PARLATORE: No, the opposite. They allowed the jury to focus on something. You know, Karen McDougal is not part of these charges. And they allowed the jury -- they even directed the jury in some ways to these, you know, ancillary aspects that really -- and I kind of wonder whether Karen McDougal would have even been mentioned had the Harvey Weinstein decision come down earlier. Remember, she, that was testimony that came out in the first couple of days with David Pecker before the Weinstein decision came out limiting how much you can talk about those so-called other bad acts. And so the fact that the jury was focusing on that, I think, is a testament to the fact that the the defense didn't focus. COATES: And don't forget the reason they were talking about the Karen McDougal in terms of Josh Steinglass' closing was to alert them and say, go back to that phone call. Go back to a meeting in Trump Tower and beyond. Go back to the eyes and ears conversation. That was the most important. They wanted them to focus on that and say, because, remember, that was one of the few times that you actually heard Donald Trump deputizing in a way Michael Cohen, essentially saying, this is the person you have to talk to. If women come up, this is who you're going to be talking to. I'm paraphrasing here. So, you're right, the mention of her and the ancillary issues. It also is very clear and striking that Stormy Daniels was not -- they tried to discredit her for so many reasons, tried to suggest that her profession and even her name choice was a reason not to believe her, that a person that they tried to paint as somebody who would stop at nothing to get the story out and was motivated by money with someone who you could not believe, and yet this jury appears, we'll wait to see, appears to believe that, well, like Steinglass said, the motive here was Stormy Daniels because who would you essentially want to silence? Who would you have incentive to do so? Somebody who would stop at nothing to get a story out that would be, lo and behold, close to the election. BLITZER: Yes. It's clear that these 12 members of the jury clearly believed a lot of what Michael Cohen was testifying under oath as well, even though his record as a convicted perjurer was made clear, abundantly clear, especially by the defense. Everybody stand by. I want to go back to Anderson in New York. Anderson? COOPER: Wolf, thanks very much. I'm here with Kaitlan Collins and Paul Reid. We are waiting the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, to make remarks. That should be happening really at any moment now. This was obviously a big gamble for Alvin Bragg. I mean, we'll also talk to former District Attorney Cy Vance. That office chose not to move forward with charges. Alvin Bragg took another look at this, did move forward. It has been -- you know, there's been a lot of debate. He was in court, to my knowledge, at least twice. I don't think much more than that. REID: Yes. I think the total is probably three times, and then he came back today. But this is his chance to speak, because over the past year or so, he's taken a very low key approach. He has not spoken publicly about this. It's quite a contrast to some other prosecutors, for example, Attorney General Letitia James here in New York, when she had her cases against Trump, you know, she would hit the microphones on the way in, hit them on the way out, spar with him on social media. Also down in Georgia, right, Fani Willis, she's also been quite vocal. But Alvin Bragg took a different approach, a more traditional prosecutorial approach, not to speak about the case. Again, like you said, he only appeared in court a few times. The first time we saw him is with some paralegals from his office, had to testify in this case. We also saw him during the testimony by Michael Cohen and then we saw him during closing arguments, but he hasn't really said anything. So, this appears to be the proper context for a prosecutor to speak. COLLINS: And, obviously, we're waiting to hear from him. He is one of the first people, I mean, the foremost people that Trump attacked throughout this trial. [18:45:02] He was never under the gag order. Trump could attack Alvin Bragg and he really couldn't attack his team. I should note is Alvin Bragg is up to speak going to come onto this lectern any moment now. I'm told that Donald Trump his remaining in New York City tonight. He's not leaving and going to Florida. He's not going to his Bedminster club in New Jersey either. He is going to stay in the city tonight. He's back at Trump Tower now. And he's been surrounded by his political team for much of this entire trial legal advisers have been in the room. You saw Jason Miller, one of his political aides with him as he was exiting the courtroom. What they are now grappling with is how this affects their calendar for the next several weeks. Obviously, CNN's debate is in less than a month from today, and that is for Donald Trump will face Joe Biden for the first time. It's hard to say this doesn't come up at that. Then over two weeks after that, that's when he is going to have -- a little bit after that he's going to have his first sentencing on July 11 in this case, at 10:00 in the morning, something that the prosecution, the defense, the judge, all agreed to in that courtroom, right before Trump left for the first time. And then the Republican National Convention is just days after that, the beginning of it, where Trump will be in Milwaukee with the rest of it the Republican Party, many of whom have pledged to still support him, even if he is a convicted felon, which, of course, he now is. And so, you're seeing how this is also going to obviously impact the political calendar. We'll see if it impacts voters and what they think, but we have seen in polling that there are moderates, there are independents who said that it would change their view and their willingness to vote. COOPER: Here's Alvin Bragg. Let's listen. ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Good evening. First and foremost, I want to thank the jury for its service. Jurors perform 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 over these past several weeks. Twelve everyday New Yorkers and, of course, our alternates heard testimony from 22 witnesses, including former and current employees of the defendant, media executives, book publishers, custodians of records, and others, they reviewed call logs, text messages, and emails. They heard recordings. They saw checks and invoices, bank statements, and calendar appointments. This type of white collar prosecution is core to what we do at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. In the 1930s, District Attorney Thomas Dewey ushered in the era of the modern independent professional prosecutor. For now, nearly 90 years, dedicated professionals in his office had built upon that fine tradition. A major part of our practice during that nearly 90 years has been public integrity work, including cases involving jurists, local and state electeds, public servants, and others. I want to thank this phenomenal prosecution team embodying the finest traditions of this office professionalism, integrity, dedication, and service. They are model public servants and I am proud and humbled to serve side-by-side with them. The 12 every everyday jurors vowed to make a decision based on the evidence, and the law, and the evidence and the law alone. Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes to the courtroom doors, by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor. [18:50:19] I want to conclude by expressing deep gratitude to the NYPD and the officers of -- the officers of the Office of Court Administration for securing the courthouse, all of our safety, making sure the courthouse and all of the other matters that are important in their own right continued seamlessly. They will continue to be an always been incredible partners. Thank you. REPORTER: Do you plan to request a prison sentence? Donald Trump's multiple violations of the gag order that was (INAUDIBLE) BRAGG: The judge has scheduled a sentencing for July 11th. We will speak in court in that time. He also set a motion schedule. We will speak in our court filings as we've done throughout this proceeding. REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) BRAGG: I do not. REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) BRAGG: I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor. And that's exactly what we did here. And what I feel is gratitude to work alongside phenomenal public servants who do that each and every day. It matters that you all write about, make the press, and lots of matters that you don't. I did my job. We did our job. Many voices out there -- the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken. REPORTER: Mr. Steinglass, many people said the prosecution was masterful and flawless. Just wanted to know how you feel at this moment. How do you feel? JOSH STEINGLASS, PROSECUTOR: I'll let you have you it. BRAGG: Mr. Steinglass, I think some of you probably saw him speak for a little bit the other day. So he's done his job, as has this team, and he just told me, tell them how I feel. I think you said that. I will just say just enormous gratitude. Our system I talked about the jurors at the beginning of my remarks. We have a phenomenal system. Twelve every day New Yorkers, they listened to the judge's directions. They follow the evidence. You saw them in court every day there were careful and attentive. And so I feel deep gratitude, work alongside them to be a part of this system. And I just want to echo that this is what we're doing every single day. I mean, during this trial, just this week, all right, ghost gun indictment, all these wage theft plea resolution, sex crimes, convictions, all sorts of work that's being done by phenomenal public servants. So we're -- we're before you today on this obviously consequential matter, but this is what we do every day. We follow the facts and the law without fear or favor. REPORTER: If a jail sentence is on the cards, it's likely that Trump and his attorneys seek a stay on enforcement of that sentence pending appeal. If that were the scenario, would your office object to staying the sentence? BRAGG: I'm going to let our words in court speak for themselves when we get to the sentencing matter. I'm not going to address hypotheticals. They raise arguments. We'll respond. And I think your question really underscores important point. This is an active ongoing matter, right? We have other phases of this going ahead, we will continue to do are speaking about this matter about issues like that in court. REPORTER: From day one, the viability of this case has been questioned. It all sorts of media outlets all over the place, including from the defendant himself. Can you respond to any of that, how you feel now that you've gotten the conviction? BRAGG: So, my response again is I did my job, and I think particularly, I talked about the history of the office. [18:55:01] You know, my personal history, I started as a prosecutor in 2003 in the Public Integrity Unit in the New York state attorney general's office. I served also in the Public Integrity Unit in the Southern District of New York. These are kind of cases I've done personally. And it's a hallmark of the tradition of this office that I'm proud to lead. And I don't want to go into the whole body of litigation but we now have a federal court decision ruling on the legal theories. We had a state court decision on the omnibus motions, but most importantly, today, we have the most important voice of all and that's the voice of the jurors. They have spoken. Donald J. Trump has been convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Thank you. (CROSSTALK) COOPER: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg making brief remarks and not going too much detail about the case, about the various -- the history of this. I want to bring in former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, a man who had this job before Alvin Bragg. I appreciate you being with us, Attorney General -- Mr. District Attorney Vance. I'm wondering, what -- first of all, what your thoughts are on what Alvin Bragg has said and on this verdict? CY VANCE, FORMER MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, I want to preface by, Anderson, saying how -- how deeply I appreciate the excellent work that my former office did under Alvin Bragg now. And this team, this trial team, I think they were superb, both in their dedication to bringing a tough case forward and the execution of that work in trial, which a quick verdict I think reflects -- reflects how well they put this case together. In terms of how -- COOPER: You spent years investigating this case and eventually handed over to Alvin Bragg? VANCE: We spent -- we spent several years investigating it. We were slowed down by COVID, but we went to the Supreme Court twice to get access to Trump's financial records and tax returns, which led to the -- his indictment on during my time of the Trump Organization and the CFO. And so, we were -- I think we were the first two or three chapters of this long book that Alvin Bragg has written chapters that same book since I left. But I congratulate D.A. Bragg. I thought his remarks -- I thought it was a class act. You know, he was circumscribed. He was not boastful. He said he did his job and no more than do his job. And I think that's how he is presented himself and should be -- it should be recognized for how difficult this was, as the judge should be recognized for how difficult his job was in managing an extraordinarily important trial with some extraordinarily volatile players. COOPER: There were questions when you were the da about whether you would actually bring charges. You did not when you left office. Alvin Bragg continuing investigation, and did. Why did you not bring charges while you were in office at that stage? VANCE: Well, Anderson, I don't want to go into our internal conversations while I was district attorney because I think those are determined to be confidential. But we were focusing on the financial aspects of the Trump Organization and individuals in it. The southern district, as you may recall charged Michael Cohen, declined to go further on that case. They asked us to stand down in our investigation, which I did because I thought that was the right thing to do. And we simply move on to a different -- a different -- essentially different lane. And it was in that lane after we had indicted the Trump Organization and the CFO that we were concluded -- continued to pursue, but it's always the new district attorney's responsibility to decide how he wants to move forward. So it's not so much Anderson, I say, why didn't I, but why did Alvin Bragg? Alvin Bragg saw something that he felt he wanted to pursue that could be pursued productively that was important and I think today vindicates his decision. I applaud them for it, and I applaud the office for it. COOPER: What -- did you -- are you surprised at all that jurors came back, with a guilty counts on a 34 counts? I mean, each one -- there had been some talk that perhaps they would have find him not guilty on some, some of the easier charges, guilty on. They found him guilty on everything. VANCE: Obviously, Anderson, I was going -- I didn't know how this case was going to land with the jury, and I think there was a lot of speculation that there was going to be a hung jury and at the end of the day, as I -- as the case was developed and as the trial started you really saw the building blocks, the careful way the prosecution built the building blocks of its case with so much physical evidence, documentary evidence, witness testimony. So I was really not surprised at this verdict. I think get occurred perhaps a day earlier than I thought it might. I think this was a quick verdict, but I think that reflects the competency of the lawyers who presented it in court. COOPER: Cyrus Vance Jr., thank you so much. Appreciate it. Wolf, let's go back to you. BLITZER: Thank you very much. And, Dana, a lot of folks were bracing were bracing for a decision, but this came very, very quickly. BASH: It came very quickly, and I have to say that as we kick it back to Erin Burnett, that this is a moment where we are all still digesting the implications and the impact and were not going to know the real impact for a long time. BLITZER: It's going to be a while. We'll see what happens on July 11 as well. Truly a historic moment for the nation today, the conviction of former president and presumptive Republican president nominee Donald J. Trump. Stay with CNN for much more on this major breaking story. Erin Burnett picks up our coverage right now.