Trump demands mistrial after damaging Stormy Daniels testimony | The Excerpt

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Aysha Bagchi has the latest from former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. The latest round of cease-fire talks has ended without a deal in Cairo. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen talks about what's next for Hunter Biden after a federal appeals court rejected his dismissal request in a gun case. The Biden administration is proposing changes to the asylum process. The CDC announces new restrictions on dogs traveling to the U.S.

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Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. 

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Friday, May 10th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, the latest from Trump's hush-money trial as Stormy Daniels testimony wrapped up, plus Hunter Biden's trial next month is set to go ahead, and there are new CDC restrictions on dogs entering the US.

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Former president, Donald Trump's hush-money trial continued yesterday in New York as Stormy Daniels concluded her testimony. I spoke with USA TODAY, Justice Department correspondent, Aysha Bagchi for the latest. Aysha, thanks for making the time.

Aysha Bagchi:

I'm glad to be here, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So Aysha, Stormy Daniels wrapped up her testimony yesterday. How did cross-examination finish up here?

Aysha Bagchi:

There were two major points that Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles, really tried to hammer home. One, she tried to get the jury to believe that Stormy Daniels is not credible. There she really went after details in Stormy Daniel's testimony that she hadn't hammered in on so much on Tuesday. Little things that she said had changed across her stories, for example, whether Stormy Daniels walked or took a car to Trump's hotel, or talking about where Trump was when Daniels arrived at the hotel suite.

And then the second big point was about money. Necheles really said that Daniels is someone who's motivated by money, that this was all about extortion. She talked about Daniels claiming to have made a million dollars from the combination of a book that definitely went into these allegations about Trump as well as being on a reality TV show.

Taylor Wilson:

And Aysha, you and I talked earlier this week about the push from the Trump team for the judge to declare a mistrial. What's the latest here?

Aysha Bagchi:

It had brought this issue up earlier in the week, and then on Thursday it raised it again. It said, "We're renewing our motion for a mistrial. We think that Stormy Daniel's testimony is so problematic, it makes it impossible for Donald Trump to get a fair trial."

Trump lawyer, Todd Blanche said that there were aspects of her story that really called into question, the whole idea of even consent in the alleged sexual encounter. He talked about how she had discussed a power imbalance between herself and Donald Trump, how she had discussed a bodyguard being nearby, how she had discussed feeling lightheaded and forgetting aspects of the alleged encounter. And also he said that a lot of the details in her story are just embarrassing and prejudicial, and again, make it impossible for the jury to focus on the things that he thinks are really important.

Now, the prosecution definitely responded emphatically. They basically said that Stormy Daniel's testimony to the extent that it's messy or prejudicial, that's exactly what Donald Trump's motive was for keeping it from the American people. And that's why it's crucial to this entire story about what prosecutors say was Donald Trump unlawfully interfering in the 2016 presidential election by arranging for a hush-money payment to be made to Stormy Daniels to keep this story from getting out in the public because it was the type that would damage his campaign.

The judge denied the motion for a mistrial. Judge Merchan said actually between Tuesday and Thursday, he went back and read the transcript to Trump's opening statement. This was delivered by Trump lawyer, Todd Blanche. And the judge said, "In that transcript, I can see that you said that Stormy Daniel's claims were false. And when you did that, you attacked her credibility to this jury. And when you attacked her credibility, you made it an issue in this case whether what she was saying or what she would say is true. And because of that, the prosecution was allowed to get into this."

Taylor Wilson:

What's left to come in terms of testimony and who's the big fish whose testimony prosecutors have been really laying the groundwork for since day one?

Aysha Bagchi:

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo made it pretty clear in his opening statement that Michael Cohen is going to testify. One way of thinking about this case is that there are three segments to it. One of them is what we just heard from Stormy Daniels about the alleged sexual encounter that then allegedly Donald Trump wanted to cover up in 2016. But the two other portions are really the portions where Michael Cohen would shine in what he can say for the prosecution.

He can describe the hush-money payment and he can describe the backend, where you have these allegedly falsified business records to cover up that the hush-money payment was made and cover up that Donald Trump was reimbursing Michael Cohen for the hush money. These are all prosecutors' allegations. Donald Trump's team, of course, has pleaded not guilty in this case.

Michael Cohen is the key witness, but he's also a problematic witness. He is someone who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in the past. So the prosecution has this real issue of how do you get the jury ready to believe what Michael Cohen is going to tell them? And you can see how prosecutors are handling it.

They have brought in all these witnesses who are corroborating Michael Cohen's statements outside of court he's likely to say. You have witnesses, David Pecker, he was the head of a parent company for the National Enquirer. He described a meeting with Cohen and Donald Trump about the whole catch and kill scheme to snap up stories that could be damaging to Trump in the election.

And you have people who have testified to checks Donald Trump sent that were allegedly falsified to the fact that they recognized his signature on these checks and the checks were written to Michael Cohen to allegedly reimburse him for the hush money. Trump's team has a different story about that. But you can see the prosecutors introducing little evidence and also just using Trump's words against him.

They've had a couple book publishers come in and just read quotes from Donald Trump's books where he says things like, "I believe in getting even. Loyalty is hugely important to me and disloyalty is even worse. This is how I respond to people who attack me. I pay attention to invoices. I sign all my checks because I want to know where my money is going."

These sorts of things that Donald Trump has said largely when he was talking about being a businessman, now prosecutors are using to basically lay the groundwork for the jury to believe what Michael Cohen has to say about what happened in this case.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, interesting stuff as always. Aysha Bagchi covers the Justice Department for USA TODAY. Thank you, Aysha.

Aysha Bagchi:

Thanks, Taylor.

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Taylor Wilson:

An Israeli official said late yesterday that the latest round of ceasefire talks in Cairo has ended without a deal and that Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of Gaza as planned. Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, while the population there has increased by the hundreds of thousands as Palestinians have looked for safety from other Israeli bombardments.

President Joe Biden told CNN this week that the US would not supply the weapons if Israel goes into Rafah. Israeli forces struck parts of Rafah yesterday according to Palestinian residents, and it's not clear what Israel's latest actions in Southern Gaza might mean for the US stance going forward.

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A federal appeals court yesterday refused to dismiss Hunter Biden's gun charges setting up a trial next month. I spoke with USA TODAY, Justice Department correspondent, Bart Jansen to learn more. Bart, thanks for making the time.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Bart, remind us what Hunter Biden is actually charged with here.

Bart Jansen:

Well, it's three charges related to the purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver in October of 2018. He's charged with basically filling out the federal form that you do when you buy a gun denying that he was an addict to narcotics at the time. He has since admitted in comments and he wrote a book about it that he was addicted to drugs at the time, and then also for lying to the dealer who sold him the gun, and then for possessing the gun when he shouldn't have been at the time.

His lawyer likes to point out that he only had the gun for, I don't know, 10 or 11 days and got rid of it. He basically has acknowledged it being a mistake, but now facing criminal charges where he thought he was going to wipe out the charges last July without having to face jail time for it.

Taylor Wilson:

So Bart, what was Hunter Biden actually appealing here and what did the federal appeals court decide yesterday?

Bart Jansen:

Basically he came up with a plea agreement last July. He would've pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and potentially gotten no jail time for those. And he would've had a diversion agreement for the potential gun charges so that if he stayed on the straight and narrow for two years, that those charges would've been wiped out entirely.

And so he thought he was in a good position last July, but then as they were talking about that settlement before the federal judge, Maryellen Noreika, she refused to accept it because there were some disputes about whether he could face future charges.

Hunter Biden has been arguing he's continued to follow the rules of that diversion agreement. He thinks the plea agreement should still be in place. Weiss is saying, "No, you didn't agree to it. We never settled it." So Biden has appealed to the Third US Circuit court of appeals saying that all the charges should be dismissed. There were three major arguments about that. Basically he has a problem with how Weiss was appointed as the special counsel in terms of the denial of the diversion agreement.

And then there's a special way that you can appeal in federal court. It's got a legal term, it's called mandamus, but what it really means is that in extreme or extraordinary circumstances where it really looks like you're going to have the likelihood of irreparable injury, you can ask the federal courts to please take a look at your case, see if there's anything you can do. And in this case, trying to dismiss the charges.

And the appeals court tossed all three of those arguments. And on the mandamus, the special thing, they said, "He just doesn't meet the standard." So the third circuit threw the case back to the district court and that's where a trial is scheduled to begin June 3rd.

Taylor Wilson:

So Bart, what should we expect here coming up ahead of that trial date? Will the Hunter Biden legal team continue to appeal?

Bart Jansen:

Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell said that they are going to continue to fight for the dismissal of the charges. This decision on Thursday was to a three-judge panel, which ruled unanimously in the case. He could appeal to the full circuit, which is about a dozen judges, or try to go to the Supreme Court. It's unclear whether either of those avenues of appeal would lead to a delay in the trial, but those are options for him.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Bart Jansen covers the Justice Department for USA TODAY. Thanks as always, Bart.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Biden administration is proposing changes to the asylum process, which will allow immigration officials to reject migrants with criminal records sooner. The proposed regulation would allow officers to deny asylum claims from migrants convicted of a serious crime linked to terrorism, or posing other dangers to public safety according to the Department of Homeland Security. The rejections could take place in days instead of a process that can take years.

Immigration experts say asylum eligibility is complicated and questioned whether migrants applying for asylum will have access to legal representation that early in the process. President Joe Biden had been considering new executive actions to crack down on record migration at the Southern border after congressional Republicans in February blocked border legislation backed by the White House.

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The CDC announced new restrictions this week on dogs traveling to the US, which some say will make it harder for families returning to the country with their pets or adopting pets internationally. The new regulation goes into effect at the beginning of August and bans all dogs under six months from entering the country. Dogs over six months must show proof that they have not been in a country identified as high risk for rabies. Without proof, the dog faces potential quarantine and dogs must also be microchipped.

The US eliminated rabies in dogs in 2007, and the new rules are meant to prevent the reintroduction of the viral disease, which is transmitted through biting. The agency has identified 131 countries as high risk for rabies as of August of last year.

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And today is National Child Care Provider Day, a day to recognize the invaluable contributions of child care workers across the country who are all too often underpaid, overworked, and undervalued.

We at The Excerpt recognize the incredible challenges parents face today in finding quality, affordable child care. If you're one of those parents, tell us your story. Just drop an email at [email protected] with your name, your city, and a short one minute or less voice recording detailing the issues you're facing in child care right now. We might just use your story on the show.

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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Bradley Glanzrock, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. Sara Ganim is in for me tomorrow, and I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.