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announcer: and now, "bbc news" '. this is "the context. '. >> is a political returned and nobody's ever seen anything like it. >> persecutors are eliciting testimony that can point to the fact that everything michael cohen did, he says he did at the direction of a benefit of donald. >> mr. cohen used to be paid to fix all of donald trump's problems and now he probably is the biggest problem the former president has. ♪ christian: the man who once described himself as donald trump's takes the stand in new york. he told the jury donald trump told him to take control of the

stormy daniels story and prevented from having his campaign. but is he a trustworthy witness? we will get the thoughts tonight from a former federal judge. scuffles in israel as a member of the is marred by protests and division. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken has warned that an l-out assault on rafah would promote anarchy. israel says it has seen signs of a musket in the north. good evening. when michael cohen informed donald trump and 2016 that a former adult film star stormy daniels was selling the story about an alleged sexual encounter, trump for the roof. the access hollywood story was already hurting his campaign with female voters. cohen said he feared trump -- cohen said trump feared that if it got out, it would be catastrophic. he wanted him to buy the rest of the story so it wouldn't come out ahead of the election.

trump didn't care much if the story came out after the election. he wasn't concerned about his wife's reaction to it. there is the nub of the prosecution case. they need to prove trump was directly involved in the payments to daniels and wanted the story killed because of the election. but is cohen a trustworthy witness? he was convicted in 2017 of campaign finance charges and lying to congress, later disbarred front-line quebec. trump says his testimony is flawed. >> this trial is rigged. it is a disgrace to europe, a disgrace to the country. i should be out campaigning now instead of sitting in a very cold court house all day long. this is a biden prosecution. it's election interference at a level that nobody in this country has ever seen before. this is the third world country, not the usa.

christian: let's speak to our correspondent who has been following the trial in new york. it's a day everyone was waiting for. the essential figure in the trump corvette. what did we get? reporter: yes, it's been riveting testimony, because remember, to prosecutors, michael cohen is the one that links donald trump to everything. what we heard from michael: was that he was afraid the stormy daniels story would be a catastrophe for that all caps campaign. donald trump instructed him to "just take care of it," hearing him the story would hurt him with female voters. when asked what his wife would think about it, donald trump simply the flight according to him, "how long do you think it would te for me to be off the market michael cohen given the impression that donald trump is not at all concerned about how the story would impact his family.

michael cohen also say that he initially asked allen weisselberg, the trump organization chief financial officer to make that $130,000 hush money payment, but allen weisselberg basically said he was not in the financial position to do so. and that is how michael cohen describes how he became the one to front the money. so quite a lot of ground so far, that michael cohen covered. he talked earlier in testimony about how he was eager to please donald trump as his attack dog and that every single thing he did was at the direction of donald trump to get credit, to make sure donald trump was pleased with him. so vy much painting everything he did as for the benefit of donald trump and at his direction. christian: we already know from previous witnesses that donald trump didn't know about the payments and the payback. the prosecution has the show here that the entries into the business records were false

entries and they have to show that he knowingly knew these payments were not legal expenses. does cohen do that? reporter: yes, there were some really interesting testimony earlier, where persecutors were essentially trying to elicit testimony that showed donald trump to efforts to conceal the kind of nature of what he was doing. i mean, michael cohen talked about how donald trump never wanted a paper trail, how he refused to put things in emails because he made comments to michael cohen that that is how persecutors of gotten people in the past. in a secret audio recording where donald trump and michael cohen are heard discussing a yment to the former playboy model karen mcdougal, we hear trump saying to "pay in cash," michael cohen in his testimony saying, that was to make sure there was no paper trail.

and saying that allen weisselberg said that the reason the company couldn't make that payment was they didn't want any link from donald trump to that payment, that that would defeat the purpose of trying to silence her. so at every step, prosecutors are trying to establish with michael cohen testimony that trump tried to hide the true nature of these payments and knew what he was doing was illegal. ofourse donald trump has pleaded not guilty the defense will have the chance to cross-examine michael cohen, and will try to poke holes in that. but prosecutors are trying to make sure they cross every t. everett i. christian: thank you. let's cross the street to a former u.s. district judge. thank you for being with us again on the program. when the case started, people said it was the weakest of the four, that it was a stretch to link an accountingisdemeanor to a criminal felony.

from the evidence you've heard today, was it a stretch, or is the prosecution making a case? guest: the prosecution has certainly made out the misdemeanor part of it, the falsification of business records. i think there is no doubt that trump knew about that and knowingly and willfully. the harder part is making it into a felony, because in order toe a felony, it has to be with the intent to violate a different crime, and other crime. end of the best that the prosecution is saying is that it violates the new york election law, which says that when two or more people conspired to promote the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and it is acted upon, then that is a crime. so that would turn the falsification of business records into a felony. the problem is, what unlawful means? and what the people have told

the judge's just a week ago, is that the crime is a violation of the state election law. but the state election law is trumped, so to speak, no pun intended, by federal election. so trump would have violated the federal election law and that is a stretch. that's the hard part and not many people are talking about that. christian: when the dea says michael cohen by will not be the linchpin in this case, that there would be plenty more for us to learn about the testimony of michael cohen, are you saying that, in fact, from your perspective, the prosecution hasn't yet closed that circle? guest: no, i am not saying that. i am saying it's going to be a matter of credibility. so far, the truth seems to indicate that trump knew full well that the reason these hush-money payments were being

made was so that it wouldn't come up just days before the election. that satisfies the concept of promoting the election of any person to public office by unlawful means. but the people have been very cagey about specifying which statute, the underlying statute, has been violated. is it a federal election law, the new york election law, the tax law? they were not required to say that in the indictment and that is the part that still isn't entirely clear. but the proof is there. i think cohen has testified all day to date that the purpose of these payments was to keep her quiet until the election was over. and then trump says it wouldn't matter anyway. christian: a lot of people will reflective of the fact that when he was the fixer, but his own admission, he was the man that did trump's bidding. he has already gone down for campaign finance charges. guest: that is true.

christian: so why was the person who he was acting for it not be liable for the same charge? guest: is interesting. the federal prosecutors who indicted cohen made the decision not to indict trump than for the violation of the federal election law. the federal campaign finance law, i should say. they could have, but they called him unindicted co-conspirator number one. they analyzed the evidence, federal prosecutors, and felt there wasn't enough. but district attorney bragg has gotten into this more, than all the phone call records and email records and witnesses and he feels he can prove what the federal prosecutors were reluctant to charge trump with at that time. christian: in terms of the character of michael cohen,, he has made no secret of the fact that he hates him, donald trump, everything he has been put through. how would the jury look at that?

guest: i do't think we can evaluate that yet. direct examination is usually quite peaceful. the prosecutor and witness practice, they go over it and go over it and it is going in very fast and very smooth. i don't think you will have a very good sense of how he will come off in front of a jury until we see how he holds up under the sort of relentless and aggressive cross-examination. then we will know more. so if the cross-examination kind of makes him feel like -- makes the jury decide he is nothing but a liar, he always lies, even with all the corroboration and documents, ty might not believe the one part that he had's, which is the conversations with trump. he provides that essentialink, the emails and phone calls certainly show his involvement, but to take it directly from him to trump, that hinges on him. so we will have to see how he holds up in cross-examination.

christian: the persecutions say they will rest this week, we will probably have the cross-examination of michael cohen tomorrow and wednesday. beyond that, in light of everything you just told us about focusing the jury's attention on the federal felony, how long will the closing arguments become in this case? guest: first of all, i actually didn't say the federal felony. the state crime. the unlawful means is the federation of -- violation of federal campaign finance law. it is difficult to understand that new ones but, yes, closing arguments will talk about what makes this a federal felony. the falsification of business records the purpose of violating another law. we will focus on that, which you haven't heard about yet. i think porn today is trying to say there is evidence of that because trump said things like

it doesn't have to hold us up very long, it will not matter in a few days. making it very plain that the purpose of this is to keep it from voters. that is election interference. christian: interesting. shira scheindlin, i was going to talk to you. thank you for that. let's bring in former u.s. prosecutor, at my next sketch. just listening to that, you get a perfect example of why this is such a complex case for people outside of the u.s. to understand. what you make of what you just heard there and help for the prosecution has gone so far in making its case? guest: sure. i do agree with the judge that there is going to be an issue for prosecutors when it comes to proving the felony piece of this. i actually disagree with her in the sense that i think there is also an issue for the persecution when it comes to

proving that misdemeanor element because i don't think that they have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that trump was aware of the false statements in business records. there is some evidence of that, cohen's testimony, there will be an argument that the checks are evidence of that. but that's another point the defense can hit. christian: when michael cohen said donald trump didn't want to -- didn't want a paper trail, the ceiling guest: that is an explanation for why there is no paper trail but it is, from the words of michael cohen, convicted liar and fraudster. so i think that is an element the defense been attacked. but this is a theoretical academic discussion. as somebody who has tried a lot of cases in my career both as prosecutor and as defense attorney, i actually think the prosecution is looking good right now. that is because the jurors are not what you think about this as a law school exam.

first of all, jurors are always inclined to go to prosecution. i say this is a defense attorney who has defeated the prosecution since i have been on the other side. it's not an easy thing for the defense to accomplish. secondly, and i think this is critical, trump himself has not allowed his attorneys to keep the focus on these very technical issues that the judge and i are talking about. instead, trump has forced his attorneys to deny that any encounter took place with stormy daniels, denying that the hush-money payments were down at his dection and so forth. by denying everything and by attacking stormy daniels in such an aggressive fashion, i think they jurors are not going to like that and are not going to believe the arguments being brought by the defense. eight actually think the prosecution is looking like they are in a good position even if

the scorecard keepers, let me or the judge, might think of it differently. christian: i wonder when you step away from the complexity of the case, whether it is federal, state, misdemeanor, you actually come back to the point that senator mitt romney was making the other day, that you don't pay 100 $30,000 not to have a sexual affair. guest: that's right. i think that level of reasoning is going to be one of the jury brings into this. they will make a decision in their gut and say this all seems very sorted. if this was not wrong, where was he trying to hide it so badly? michael cohen was taking out a home equity line of credit to make this payment. allen weisselberg, there was a discretion in a moment ago from the reporter about how he told michael cohen he didn't have the means to make this

statement so it had to be michael cohen. the jury might think that allen weisselberg did have the money but he didn't want to be included in this. there will be discussion about what is wrongful, but legal, and what is actually a crime. from that perspective, the defense is making a big mistake and i think it is, from trump himself, by not getting the jury focused on these technical issues, and instead, denying everything and allowing this more sordid story to take front and center stage. christian: good to talk with you, thank you for coming on the program. guest: thank you. christian: around the world and across the u.k., you're watching bbc news. for our u.k. viewers, let's focus on stories making headlines here today. an inquiry looking into the traumatic childbirth experience some women face as called for a

major overhaul of maternity and postnatal care in england. the report stated that all too often, for care was tolerated as normal it recommends more recruitment and training to ensure a safe level of staffing. the government has watered-down proposals to crack on so-called nuisance rough sleeping, after opposition from the mps. the criminal justice bill will now no longer give police forces in england and wales the power to move people because of bad smells. king charles has officially handed over the love curling chief of the arm air corps, to s son, prince william. charles was the inaugural holder of the title 32 years ago. at 11 :00 this morning across israel, the sirens wailed to

mark memorial day. [sirens wailing] ordinarily, this is a somber and introspective date and usually one in which the country comes together. but not today. there was heckling and scuffles at a ceremony where hardline security minister it to marvin devere was speaking. in tel aviv, protesters held up and the blood of israeli hostages was on the government to both hands. israeli settlers once again, located an aid convoy bound for gaza throwing food on the ground. video of the siege suggests soldiers present did nothing to intervene. it doesn't help that the government's focus is to questioning its strategy. today u.s. secretary of state antony blinken set an all-out attack on rafah wld provoke anarchy without fully eliminating hamas. certainly there are pockets of

resistance reappearing out in the north, in the jabalya camp where israeli troops again engaged in street battles with hamas fighters. around 1.4 million palestinians are sheltering in rafah, most of them children and women. it is a designated safe zone. intensified in his early bombardments in the eastern part of the city that have caused tens of thousands to be displaced again. let's speak to my guest, senior director of the middle east atlantic. thank you for being with us this evening. -- senior director at the middle east at the atlantic council. the tenor of memorial today. as you say, it's a day where the country's chance to come together, but seems to be now if we can sense that the government doesn't fully have a plan to end this and doesn't know what the next they will look like. guest: that is absolutely true.

this day in israel has been for years one that brings the country together, it is unheard of to imagine in previous circumstances that this would be a moment for division even if it is a small number of people who took the opportunity to protest, some silently and some vocally. it is evidence of the divisions that underlie israeli society even as there is unity over the overall war aims, there is a disunity around this government and israel. christian: does what they have done so far in rafah constitute to you that the full ground joe biden has warned about? est: no, it is not the full ground offensive joe biden warned about. he was concerned about israel having the exact same strategy in rafah that they had in khan younis. if they did that with a population of one .4 million packed densely into an urban

environment, it would have ended up with tens of thousands of more deaths. thus far, it seems israel is not approaching a rafah in the same way, but it is approaching it in a more incremental manner. we have seen depending on the news sources between 200 50 and 500,000 people leave rafah more recently. christian: those concerns we have talked about within israel, seemingly, according to the bbc reported today, are now being heard within the military, that there is no day after plan. secretary blinken has touched on that today, talking about the anarchy that might ensue. now we have fighting in jabalya, which was supposedly an area that had been removed of hamas fighters. guest: the israeli military strategy, in my view, has gotten a lot of criticism that is not

warranted. there are certain criticisms that are warranted which is that after clearing an area, they have not held the area. the reason why you hold an area is not only so that you can abide by your responsibilities under international law to provide basic security and sustenance of the people, but it is also to prevent your adversary from coming back into the area. and that is exactly what has happened, there adversary, hamas, has been able to regroup in areas that israel spent a lot of blood and treasure to clear in the first place, and that is a military mistake. christian: congress comes back tomorrow. there are clear deep divisions there over the decision to pause aid to israel. what do you make of the rhetoric we are hearing from the secretary of state and the white house? guest: that rhetoric really is reflective of the underlying frustration that i hear from my friends in the white house and at the state department with bibi netanyahu's government.

it is not a division on the military objective. the united states and israel share the objective of israel going to rafah and taking out, or at least making the military not effective, the remaining four brigades that hamas has there. digging out of the tunnel infrastructure and continue to decapitate the organization. where the biden administration has divisions on is that it has been no plan for months now coming from jerusalem for how this campaign is going to be done inside of rafah. on top of that, there has been no plan for the day after. the day after in terms of security within and governance within gaza, and then the longer day after of addressing the underlying israeli-palestinian issues. christian: the plan to evacuate civilians from rafah, secretary blinken, again, seeing over the

weekend that he would like to see the plan. 350,000 people we are told already on the move, to an area of the coast that isn't really a safe zone. its effectively a beach and dependent on the one crossing still open at the moment. his concern mounting against within the state department and white house that this is going to look pretty bad? guest: the original plans, as inadequate as they were, were reasonably effective. despite the horror and tragedy thate see every day in order television screens. those originally plans from the previous phases were to move people to the south. you can't move people south anymore in rafah because he would be going to egypt and that would turn internal displacement into ethnic cleansing. so they have to go somewhere else. israel does not want to bring them into israel, they have to go elsewhere into gaza.

the problem is the other places are not population centers. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

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