Judge clears courtroom in fiery exchange with Trump witness Costello | The Excerpt

On Tuesday’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. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has won an appeal to fight extradition to the U.S. The International Criminal Court has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and others. The Doomsday Glacier in Antarctica is melting faster than scientists thought. The Tennessean's Keith Sharon discusses a new podcast - Murder on Music Row.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it.  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.

Podcasts:  True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Tuesday, May 21st 2024. This is The Excerpt.

♦

Today, the latest from Trump's Hush Money trial after the judge cleared the courtroom following a fiery exchange. Plus, Julian Assange has won an appeal to fight extradition to the US. And the International criminal court requests arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas.

♦

Former president Donald Trump's New York hush money trial continued yesterday after pausing Friday for Trump to attend his son's high school graduation. I caught up with USA Today Justice Department correspondent Aysha Bagchi for the latest. Aysha, thanks for hopping on.

Aysha Bagchi:

It's always good to be here, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So Aysha, let's just start with this. How did Michael Cohen's testimony wrap up yesterday?

Aysha Bagchi:

Cohen's testimony wrapped up with another kind of long session of cross-examination by Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche. It really did start to seem that some of the jurors might be getting a little impatient. I was watching them as the cross-examination went on yesterday. Some of them faces that looked long, kind of moving around and fidgeting. So it definitely seemed to be a cross-examination that meandered in some ways, but Trump's lawyer did try to hit home on some big points trying to undermine Michael Cohen's credibility. One thing he got Michael Cohen to admit is that Cohen had stolen from the Trump organization, that Cohen had paid a certain amount of money to an outside organization that helped Trump with some polling. He paid less than the kind of agreed upon price to start with, but then asked for a reimbursement for the whole thing. And Cohen agreed that he stole in that way. And Trump's lawyer also questioned Cohen about past examples of lying. So he really hit home on those points.

But still the big fireworks in the Cohen cross-examination really came the previous week on Thursday when Trump's lawyer showed that Cohen had talked about a call with Trump's bodyguard that Cohen said was about a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. But some text messages suggested that at the very least Cohen was also discussing something else, some harassing phone calls that he was getting from a fourteen-year-old. So Trump's team really leaned into that to argue that Cohen had lied, had been untruthful on the stand.

Taylor Wilson:

And the defense then shifted to calling witnesses, including lawyer Robert Costello. Judge Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to chastise Costello at one point Aysha. What happened here and what else can you tell us about Costello and his time on the stand yesterday?

Aysha Bagchi:

Yes, it was a very dramatic moment, kind of late in the day yesterday in the courtroom. Some of this did not take place in front of the jury, which is probably a good thing in the judge's eyes because the judge might not want to show too much of an opinion about a witness in front of the jury. But some of it did take place there. This lawyer who's testifying about his experiences with Michael Cohen was on the stand and the prosecution was making objections to some of his testimony. And Judge Merchan sustained several of those objections. And then you heard Bob Costello say, "Geez" out loud in the courtroom right next to the jury, sitting between the jury and the judge.

Judge Merchan in front of the jury said, "I'm sorry?" Meaning questioning Costello that he exclaimed geez. And then Costello then said, "Strike it." And then the judge cleared the jury from the courtroom and started reprimanding Costello in front of all of us, the reporters. And evidently, the judge thought Costello was trying to stare him down in that moment. The judge then said, "Are you staring me down?" straight to Costello's eyes. And they're sitting within 6 ft. of each other. And then the judge said, "Clear the courtroom." And security officers even forced reporters to leave. So it was a very dramatic moment. It seemed like Costello was going to get another dressing down from the judge outside of our presence. And then we were brought back in.

Taylor Wilson:

And Trump lawyer, Todd Blanche, you mentioned him earlier, Aysha, is urging the judge to dismiss the prosecution's case. What reasons did he outline yesterday?

Aysha Bagchi:

Blanch went into a really lengthy argument for why this whole case should be dismissed. Basically, he said that the prosecution hasn't proven the case, that they haven't shown that Trump falsified business records. They really challenged this core idea that the prosecution has brought up with the jury that these business records said that they were paying Michael Cohen for ongoing legal services in 2017 when really what the payments were for was reimbursing him for a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. So Blanche said that that hasn't been proven. He said that the prosecution hasn't shown that Donald Trump had any intent to defraud, which is a requirement for these charges.

And Blanche really also went after the testimony of Michael Cohen. He said that Michael Cohen is incredible because he has a history of lying and so the judge should throw out his entire segment of testimony, which lasted several days. And Blanche said the prosecution is relying so much on Michael Cohen that that means that the whole case should be thrown out.

On that last point, Judge Merchan seemed skeptical. He said something along the lines of, "You really want me as a matter of law to declare that the jury can't decide whether Cohen is credible?" So he seemed skeptical, but he didn't actually issue a ruling yet. So he said he's going to do that in the future. But Todd Blanch made some big arguments for trying to get the whole case tossed out.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Aysha Bagchi is a Justice Department correspondent with USA Today. Thank you, Aysha.

Aysha Bagchi:

Thanks, Taylor.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has won the right to challenge a British court's decision to extradite him to the U.S to face espionage charges. The move extends a years-long legal battle that pitted U.S and British authorities against Australian national and free speech campaigners. The UK High Court's decision yesterday means that Assange will have another chance to try to stop being transferred by British authorities to the U.S to stand trial for disclosing American military secrets. His legal fight in Britain has been going on for more than 13 years. The hacker in 2010 brought out details from what was the biggest security breach of its kind in U.S military history. The U.S Justice Department indicted Assange in 2019 on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over his publication of classified U.S diplomatic and military documents. Former U.S Army Intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning served jail time for leaking documents to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks published classified documents about U.S military action including video footage that showed a helicopter killing civilians in Iraq. It also published thousands of confidential documents indicating the U.S military killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan in unreported incidents.

♦

The International Criminal Court yesterday requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and others on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the Israeli-led war in Gaza and the Hamas-led October 7th attack in Israel. The charges targeting Israel could spark further international outrage over Israel's conduct during its seven-month war in Gaza, delivering a major setback to Netanyahu. President Joe Biden, who has faced mounting pressure politically for his support of Israel, slammed the court charges against Netanyahu as outrageous. The Biden administration has argued the court has no jurisdiction over Israel's war against Hamas. Biden said, "Let me be clear. Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence, none between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."

♦

International criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan said he has reasonable reason to believe Netanyahu and Israel's defense minister Yoav Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the starvation of Palestinians as a weapon of warfare, willful killing or murder, and intentionally directing attacks on a civilian population. Khan said the court charged the three senior leaders of Hamas with extermination, murder, and the taking of hostages as crimes against humanity, war crimes, or in some cases, both. The court is also seeking to hold the Hamas leaders responsible for rape, sexual violence, torture, and other inhumane acts and cruel treatment against Israeli hostages during their captivity.

♦

Scientists have found evidence of vigorous melting at Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier according to a new study out yesterday. And for the first time, there's visible evidence that shows warm seawater pumping underneath the glacier. The Thwaites Glacier, part of the vast West Antarctic ice sheet, is of the world's fastest-changing and most unstable glaciers. It's called the Doomsday Glacier because of its potential to dramatically raise sea levels in places like Florida. And it's been studied for years as an indicator of human-caused climate change. Study results also suggest the Antarctic ice sheet is more vulnerable to a warming ocean than previously thought. It may require a reassessment of sea level rise projections.

♦

Integrity turned out to be deadly for Kevin Hughes. He took two bullets in the back of the head in the middle of one of the most famous streets in America. I spoke with The Tennessean's Keith Sharon to learn more about a new podcast, Murder on Music Row. Keith, thank you so much for hopping on The Excerpt today.

Keith Sharon:

Thanks for having me. It's been a long process and I am ready to roll with this podcast.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, we're all ready. So let's just start with this. Who was Kevin Hughes and what happened?

Keith Sharon:

In 1989, Kevin Hughes was a 23-year-old kid with a scraggly beard and a mullet. He came from a farming family in Carmine, Illinois. Music was his thing, specifically charting songs. He came to Nashville to be on the business end of drinking and cheating songs. And I'm convinced after my two years of research that Kevin Hughes was shot to death because he dared to challenge the corrupt country music industry in 1989.

Taylor Wilson:

Wow. Strong word. So the podcast, Keith, is called Murder on Music Row. For folks not in Tennessee, not familiar with the area, what is Music Row and what's its significance to Nashville and this story?

Keith Sharon:

Music Row is the heart of Nashville's country music industry. It's a mix of office buildings and little row houses that have been converted into music studios. It's where the most famous people in Nashville work every day. On that night of the murder in 1989, Willie Nelson, Chris Christopherson, and Faith Hill were at the scene of the crime.

Taylor Wilson:

So what made you decide to do a podcast on this case?

Keith Sharon:

There was a rumor in 1989 that Kevin Hughes was about to go to the media with his story about the corruption he had found inside the music industry. And by the time the story got to me 34, 35 years later, I felt it was our responsibility to tell the story that two bullets stopped Kevin Hughes from telling.

Taylor Wilson:

And Keith, what can audiences expect to walk away with or learn about the case in this series?

Keith Sharon:

Audiences will learn about the incredible confluence of events in Nashville that happened in 1989. That was the year with breakout career performances by Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, Mary Chapin Carpenter. Taylor Swift was born in 1989, and there was this murder plot that happened in the middle of the most famous street in Nashville. By the end of the podcast, the audience will have enough reported and fact-checked material. They can make their own decision on what truly happened on the street that night.

Taylor Wilson:

Keith Sharon from The Tennessean, thanks for making the time.

Keith Sharon:

Thank you so much.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

From The Tennessean, Murder on Music Row is an 8-part true Crime investigative podcast and an 8-part narrative series that will be released every Tuesday. You can find a link in today's show notes.

♦

And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump trial: Fiery exchange with Trump witness Costello | The Excerpt