CNN stars act out dramatic scenes from Trump trial reading from testimony transcripts

There has been a lot of drama in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York.

And now CNN has managed to take some of the action outside the courtroom, with performances of the trial transcript that the network jokingly described as “Oscar-worthy.”

Hosts Abby Phillip and Laura Coates brought in legal analysts Joey Jackson and Mercedes Colwin to perform staged readings of Monday’s testimony.

Jackson played the role of Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, while Colwin took on the role of prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.

Trump is on trial in Manhattan criminal court for allegedly concealing the nature of payments he made to adult actress Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen has already been convicted of the payments and of lying to Congress.

Jackson and Colwin used court transcripts to read “word for word,” including every cough and splutter as part of their recount.

The strange exercise lasted 30 minutes and preceded the legal analysis of the performance of both parties.

During the reading, off-camera announcers covered the “objections” and “sustains” throughout.

It detailed Cohen’s testimony about how Trump claimed that publishing Daniels’ story would be a “disaster” for his campaign because “women will hate me” but that “guys might think it’s cool.”

“It was getting really bad ratings with women and this, along with the Access Hollywood tape, just said, ‘This is a disaster, get it under control.'” Jackson said, reading Cohen’s testimony.

Jackson read another part when Cohen was asked about an alleged conversation he had with Trump, his wife Melania Trump.

The question was objected to but dismissed by Judge Juan Merchán.

Michael Cohen returned to the stand Tuesday morning to give more testimony against his former boss.

The fixer and lawyer, who is the prosecution’s star witness, faced grueling questioning by the former president’s lawyers during cross-examination.

He told the court on Monday how he would silence the former president’s accusers ahead of the 2016 election with a series of secrecy agreements.

The jury heard that Trump was more concerned about his campaign than his wife Melania when stories of alleged affairs emerged.

Cohen also described having worked “under the direction and for the benefit” of the now presumptive Republican nominee.

The cross-examination began with fireworks, as the once stubbornly loyal Cohen was presented with disparaging things he had said or posted about Trump, the trial or the defense attorneys.

Despite the laughter from the audience, Trump remained impassive and sat with his eyes closed.

Cohen was one of Trump’s most trusted allies for about ten years until the fallout from the Stormy Daniels case convicted him of criminal charges.

Cohen was sentenced to prison in December 2018 after pleading guilty to charges of campaign finance and lying to Congress, among other crimes.

He spent about 13 and a half months behind prison walls and a year and a half in home confinement. His time was reduced even further thanks to his good behavior.

“To maintain loyalty and do the things he asked of me, I violated my moral compass and suffered the punishment, as did my family,” Cohen said Tuesday.