How Michael Cohen went from Trump's best friend to his worst enemy and witness for the prosecution

The ReidOut with Joy Reid

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4.5 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

Tonight on The ReidOut, Joy Reid leads with anticipating mounting as Michael Cohen prepares to testify on Monday in Donald Trump's criminal trial, poised to confront his former boss's legal defense head-on. While Trump's lawyers are expected to discredit Cohen as a habitual liar, his consistent narrative, reinforced by corroborating testimonies from other prosecution witnesses, lends weight to his claims. Meanwhile, Trump seems to be assembling his notorious entourage, including Paul Manafort. The once-convicted felon turned pardoned, alleged "bad guy for hire," notorious for his dealings with autocrats like Putin's Russia and Congo's Mubutu Sese Seko, is now allegedly seeking favor from China. Adding to Trump's woes, his former admiration for RFK Jr. now turns to concern as the latter gains traction within Trump's anti-vaxx MAGA base, prompting a state of panic within the former president's inner circle. Listen now!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Tonight on the readout. The expectation is next week that I'm on and I'm kind of looking forward to it because again can't be finished with
0:17.2	something unless you start it. Michael Cohen is said to take the stand Monday in
0:22.3	Trump's criminal trial.
0:23.7	Trump's lawyers will call him a liar,
0:25.3	but Cohen's story has been consistent
0:28.3	and corroborated by the other prosecution witnesses.
0:31.6	Also tonight, Trump is getting the old band back together,
0:34.4	a rogue's gallery of crooks, including convicted felon turned
0:38.7	pardoned bad guy for hire, Paul Manafort,
0:41.9	who used to do the dirty work for Putin's Russia and
0:45.2	Congo's Mobutu Cesarco among other autocrats and more recently has
0:50.0	reportedly been shaking his tin cup for China.
0:54.4	Plus, Trump used to call R.F.K. Jr.
0:57.0	a very smart person.
0:58.1	But now he's in a state of panic that Junior
1:00.7	is winning over some of his anti-vax Magabase.
1:07.0	But we begin tonight with a mantra best summarized by the great Robert Nesta Marley.
1:12.0	Your worst enemy could be your best friend and your best friend
1:15.9	your worst enemy. Which brings us to one of Donald Trump's most important hires a
1:21.0	higher he now seems to bitterly regret Michael Cohen.
1:25.0	For 12 years Cohen was Trump's personal attorney known as Trump's fixer, his pit bull
1:30.1	in one of his go-to surrogates when Trump entered politics.
	...

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