Trump's Surrogates Take Center Stage In Manhattan

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It's Wednesday, May 15th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi PERSON. And I'm Juanita Tolover, and this is What a Day where we can't get over the first official portrait of King Charles PERSON. It's more than eight feet tall and has a lot of red.

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A lot is an understatement. It is truly wild. It also has a sword and a butterfly. So much going on here.

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But the color truly communicates a lot.

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I don't know if they did a great job of vetting the artist and how maybe they felt about the royals. On today's show, the Biden administration approved more than $1 billion in weapons for Israel GPE. Plus, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visits Ukraine GPE.

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But first, Donald Trump's hush money trial hit a new level of chaos Tuesday as his former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen PERSON's testimony progressed, and prosecutors handed him over to the defense team for cross-examination. And former President Trump invited an entourage of MAGA Republicans to New York GPE to effectively service his mouthpiece.

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I do have a lot of surrogates, and they are speaking very beautifully, and they come from all of Washington GPE, and they're highly respected, and they think this is the greatest scam they've ever seen. All right.

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So before we get to the MAGA crew that Trump PERSON deployed here, tell us about how Michael Cohen PERSON fared on the witness stand.

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Well, prosecutors from the district attorney's office spent Tuesday morning working to lay out all of Michael Cohen's PERSON dirt for the jury before the cross-examination began. According to reports, prosecutors asked about his intentions to mislead the public about the payments to Stormy Daniels PERSON and how he continued to pressure other people to lie about the payoffs, all of which Cohen PERSON admitted. They also asked Cohen about Trump PERSON's approval of the misleading public statements that omitted his own involvement. And Cohen stated that he lied to protect Trump to stay on message and to demonstrate continued loyalty. Cohen PERSON never tried to hide that his actions were wrong. And he made

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it clear that he acted under Trump PERSON's direction. So paint a picture of this cross-examination for us. What did Trump's attorneys ask and how did Cohen PERSON react to it? According to reports, Trump's defense attorney Todd Blanche started the cross-examination for us. What did Trump's attorneys ask and how did Cohen react to it?

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According to reports, Trump's defense attorney, Todd Blanche PERSON, started the cross-examination by stating that he'd never met Cohen PERSON, but that Cohen PERSON called him a, quote, crying little shit to whichCohen PERSON responded, quote, that sounds like something I would say. Like, very casual. Excuse me? That set the tone for the cross-examination. And after that first question, Justice Juan Mershant PERSON called the attorneys to the bench andasked Blanche PERSON, why are you making this about yourself? According to NBC News ORG. It's a valid question. Why is he? The defense team worked to undermine Cohen PERSON's credibility and painted him as a vindictive individual who was deeply frustrated that Trump has not been prosecuted.They referred to his social media posts, book deals, and television appearances as evidence. But while the defense team attempted to tarnish Cohen PERSON's reputation, there were reports that their line of questioning was disjointed and meandering. At one point, Cohen said he didn't understand the questions and one NBC ORG reporter noted that, quote, Blanche PERSON keeps jumping from topic to topic and the time periods keep changing, so not great.

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Not sounding like the most straightforward cross-examination here, but going back to Trump PERSON's entourage. He called in reinforcements, some of whom were expected and invited by him. Others were more of a surprise after a few rough days in court with Stormy Daniels's testimony last week and now Michael Cohen's. So who has been showing up to Trump PERSON's court

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dates in New York? And what have they been saying? Trump PERSON was not lying when he said he has a lot of Republican surrogates. It started last week with Florida Senator Rick Scott. And this week, so far, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville PERSON, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Florida Representative Byron Donalds, North Dakota GPE Governor Doug Bergam, and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramoswamy have made the trip to New York GPE. There have also been additional members of Congress ORG and a few attorneys general alongsideTrump PERSON in court. And my first question is, why are these people behaving as that they don't have day jobs or responsibilities to their constituents? Right. I mean, well, Vivek Ramoswamy doesn't have a job, but everyone else needs to answer that question first.

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No, it is almost certain that he was not invited and just sort of decided to tag along, but this is all very wild to me that this is how these elected officials are choosing to use their precious dime. Trump PERSON's entourage has not only been attending the trial, but they coordinated

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their outfits, each wearing a red tie because they're coordinating. I cannot. If we just back up for a

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second, that is just objectively the funniest thing. You're going to the trial of Donald Trump PERSON,

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the first criminal trial of a president in the United States GPE, and you're going to wear matching outfits? Yeah. Wild. Wild. And they have been proactively planting seeds of doubt about the outcome of the trial. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson PERSON.

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I called President Trump PERSON and told him I wanted to be here myself to call out what is a travesty of justice. And I think everybody around the country can see that. President Trump PERSON is a friend, and I wanted to be here to support him. It's painfully obvious. They were now six months out from an election day. And that's the reason. That is the reason why they brought these charges here and across the country. Keep in mind, this is the highest

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ranking Republican NORP in the nation, casting doubt on the official court proceedings. And let's not forget that this is not Johnson's first time coming to Trump's defense as he served on Trump's defense in his second impeachment trial and was one of the architects of Trump's legal efforts to undermine the 2020 election. Now, not far behind Mike Johnson's were the Veepstakes contenders who also jumped in front of any microphone that they could find this week. Here's Governor Bergam PERSON.

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I think one thing that we've all known is this was a sham trial, but when you have an opportunity to see it up close and personal, you can see it's actually a scam trial. It's so embarrassing.

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He really thought he did something with that line. He thought he was going to have the sound bite of the day. No, sir. No.

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Representative Donalds of Florida GPE also seemed to be confused about the case. Take a listen.

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Where's the crime? There is no crime. The only crime that's happening here is this Democrat judge and the Democrat Party ORG prosecuting their political rival right in the middle of a presidential election.

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And my personal favorite is J.D. Vance getting owned by Caitlin Collins on Sunday on CNN ORG after he tried to blame all of this on President Joe Biden PERSON. Take a listen.

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I think the biggest threat to American democracy, Caitlin, is that the Biden PERSON administration is trying to prevent Donald Trump from campaigning and taking his case to the American NORP people

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even as they hide their own candidate. It's presiding over that case. The Biden administration is not preventing Donald Trump PERSON from campaigning.

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He just did two campaign events tonight.

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He just did two campaign events tonight. He's going to skip his son's graduation and do a bunch more. It's fine. This is not getting in his way of campaigning at all.

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And last but not least, Vivek Ramoswamy PERSON demonstrated how he could level attacks against the judge and his family while Trump PERSON is limited by a gag order. Take a listen.

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What is the crime that Donald Trump PERSON committed? Now, it appears to be what they might allege is some sort of bookkeeping error or whatever. The real bookkeeping that we need accounting of is Judge Merchant PERSON's own family member collecting millions of dollars as a Democratic operative using the existence of this trial as a fundraising ploy for Democrats NORP. This is unconscionable.

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I just can't. I preferred it when he dropped out of the race. We didn't have to hear from it anymore.

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I would like to stick with that, please. But anyways, what should we expect next in this trial? Well, the trial is not

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in session today or Friday per Trump PERSON's request to attend his son's graduation, which you

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mentioned earlier was a ploy. He's still fitting in the campaign events. Don't worry. Barron PERSON's

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graduation is not getting in the way. But the trial will be back in session on Thursday with Michael Cohen PERSON back on the stand for further cross-examination. Prosecutors have said that Cohen is their final witness and they are expected to rest their case in the coming days. After that,

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the defense will present their case. Thank you for all of that, Juanita PERSON. That is the latest for now. We'll get to some headlines in just a moment. But if you are enjoying our show, please make sure to subscribe and share it with your friends. We'll be right back after some ads. What a day is brought to you by Factor. Factor's fresh, never frozen meals are dietitian approved and ready to eat in just two minutes.

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Cards issued by Sutton Bank and Celtic Bank ORG, members FDIC ORG, Terms and Conditions apply. Let's wrap up with some headlines.

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Headalines.

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The Biden administration told Congress ORG on Tuesday

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that it plans to move forward with a new weapons package for Israel GPE, totaling nearly $1.3 billion. The package reportedly includes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tank ammunition and tactical vehicles. It also includes 60 million in mortar rounds. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story, says that it could be years before the weapons in the package are delivered.But the decision comes just about a week after the Biden PERSON administration withheld a shipment of bombs to Israel and after President Joe Biden PERSON threatened to withhold even more military aid over Israel's planned invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafa. The administration has said that it would continue to send aid that could be used for self-defense. Israel has ramped up its attacks on Ratha in recent weeks, prompting many of the more than one million people sheltering there to try and leave,though there are very few places that they can actually go. Also on Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Qatar, one of the nations facilitating negotiations between Israel and Hamas ORG, said that ceasefire talks were at, quote, almost a stalemate.

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U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Kiev on Tuesday to reaffirm the Biden PERSON administration's support for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia GPE. Blinken met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky PERSON. He said that some U.S. aid has already arrived in Kiev GPE, and that more is on the way. This is the Secretary's fourth visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, and it comes just weeks after Congress ORG passed a$60 billion military aid package for Ukraine. The aid was heavily delayed by Republican NORP lawmakers despite Ukraine's urgent need for more weapons and reinforcements. And while Congress ORG stalled on approving Ukrainian aid for several weeks, Russia GPE successfully ramped up its attacks and seized more territory in northeastern Ukraine GPE. Blinking closed out the day by, we're not kidding, joining a local Keeve band on stage and a dive bar on Tuesday night to play guitar and seeing Neil Young's rocking in the free world. Who knew the Secretary of State ORG could shredor compartmentalize at that level? I don't know how to feel. Truly wild. This is just a madlibs to me

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and you will not convince me otherwise. You just filled in activities. You filled in a singer's name. No, this isn't real. The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it is sharply increasing tariffs on a range of different Chinese imports because of what it calls unfair trading practices. The White House is accusing China GPE of incredibly low prices and disrupting global trade along with national security concerns.

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The fact is, American NORP workers can outwork and out can beat anyone, as long as the competition is fair. But for too long, it hasn't been fair.

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Terrace will quadruple on electric vehicles to 100 percent. And batteries for those vehicles will also see increases.

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Folks, look, I'm determined that the future of electric vehicles will be made in America by union workers, period.

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The tariffs will also affect medical products, solar cells, and computer chips. And Biden officially backed the existing tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, which were put into place by President Trump PERSON. The taxes have raised some eyebrows, especially since Biden criticized Trump for his tariffs on Chinese imports during his 2020 campaign. But it's also not so surprising with the election just months away and Biden attempting to boost American NORP manufacturing and economic prospects. China GPE's Ministry of Commerce disapproved of the taxes and it's unclear how and if China will retaliate.

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The Los Angeles County Probation Department announced on Tuesday that more than 60 officers are on leave over misconduct allegations.

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According to officials, 66 officers for both adults and juveniles have been placed on leave since January.

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More than half were sent home for accusations of excessive force, child endangerment or abuse, or possession of contraband. The announcement is significant given that Los Angeles County is the biggest probation department in the country with nearly 3,000 officers. The department stated that the leaves are meant to, quote, regain the public's trust in its officers. However, we should say that it's not clear whether or not these employees are getting paid leave. Okay, so we got a question of the paid leave or not. But the reality is, if they're just being placed on leave and not facing anything else, like losing their jobs, why do they

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think this would build any type of trust? Certainly not the intended effect that they thought that this would have. And finally, some results from Tuesday's elections. In Maryland, all eight of its congressional districts had primaries this year, but the closely watched race was the Senate ORG seat. Prince George's County GPE executive Angela D.Alsobrooks beat multimillionaire representative David Trone PERSON, who poured more than $60 million of his own money into his campaign. Also Brooks will face former Republican NORP Governor Larry Hogan in November.President Biden won, but as of our recording time, nearly 26,000 uncommitted votes were cast. And in West Virginia, billionaire and former Democrat Jim Justice won the GOP primary for Senate ORG, meaning that he'll be a strong candidate for the seat that Joe Mansion is retiring from. In West Virginia's first congressional district, convicted January 6th rioter Derek Evans lost his challenge against Representative Carol Miller PERSON. Miller is heavily favored to win reelection in November. And finally, Nebraska is the only state with both its Senate ORG seatsup for election in November. That is because of a special election filling Republican Senator Ben Sasse's seat. Democrat pressed in love and Republican Pete Ricketts PERSON will compete to fill that seat in November. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. Former White

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House Press Secretary Jen Sacky and Tommy Vitor co-host a Pod Save America episode out later today. They'll cover everything from the upcoming release of her new book, say more, to the media's role in keeping democracy alive in 2024 and beyond. Make sure to check out that episode later today. And don't forget to subscribe to Pod Save America ORG so you never miss an episode. That is all for today.

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If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Put in a song request with the Secretary of State ORG and tell your friends to listen.

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And if you're into reading and not just transcripts of Justice Juan Mershan embarrassing Trump PERSON's lawyers like me, What a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Priyanka Arabindi

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and keep on rocking in the free world. Shout out to Neil Young PERSON. Shout out to our friend Michelle PERSON who introduced me to some other songs that I already knew by Neil Young PERSON but didn't know I knew.

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Reintroduced. There you go.

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We're big fans here, Wad ORG. Big fans.

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And if you have any other Neil Young PERSON recommendations, send them to me.

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Send them our way.

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What a Day is a production of Crooked Media ORG.

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It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf. We had production help today from Michelle Alloy, Greg Walters, and Julia Claire. Our showrunner is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adrian Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka PERSON. What a Day is brought to you by Alta Beauty ORG.This AAPI Heritage Month, Alta Beauty ORG is celebrating the joy of belonging, belonging to a community composed of intricate connections, belonging to our past and our future, to the heritage and birthright that is beauty.

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