Trump hush money trial recap: Michael Cohen faces cross-examination | The Excerpt

On Wednesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Michael Cohen faced cross-examination Tuesday from former President Donald Trump's defense team in Trump's hush money trial. USA TODAY Senior Campaign Reporter Sarah D. Wire discusses how some in the GOP are already raising 2024 election doubts. Authorities issue a public service alert warning that foreign terrorist organizations may potentially target LGBTQ events during Pride Month. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says that “it may take longer than expected” for high interest rates to lower inflation. USA TODAY Breaking News Reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman talks about a rise in fatal dog attacks, and some common factors.

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.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Wednesday, May 15, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, a look at the cross-examination of Michael Cohen. Plus, some Republicans are already spreading doubts 2024 election results and we talk about fatal dog attacks.

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Michael Cohen faced questioning from Donald Trump's defense team yesterday as the former President's hush money trial rolls on. It was the defense's first shot at Cohen after the disbarred lawyer told jurors on Monday that he was following Trump's orders when he bought porn star Stormy Daniel's silence about an alleged affair with Trump. But Trump attorney Todd Blanche avoided addressing the specifics of the payoff at the center of the case while working to show that Cohen, Trump's one-time attorney and fixer, may have had motive to lie about his former boss. At one point, he asked if Cohen had been obsessed with Trump, who he once idolized.

Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up the true purpose of his reimbursements to Cohen in an effort to save his candidacy from damaging disclosures in the 2016 presidential election. But Cohen strengthened the prosecution's case yesterday, testifying that he made the payment to Daniels, "To ensure that the story would not come out, would not affect Mr. Trump's chances of becoming President of the United States." You can read more with a link in today's show notes. Michael Cohen is set to retake the witness stand for more cross-examination tomorrow after an off day in the trial today.

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Donald Trump's doubts about election results are spreading among the GOP and raising concerns for January 6, 2025. I spoke with USA TODAY's senior campaign reporter Sarah D. Wire for more. Sarah, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt today.

Sarah D. Wire:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So let's just start here. How is Donald Trump himself already working to place doubts about this fall's election results? What's he been saying?

Sarah D. Wire:

He never really stopped saying that the 2020 was stolen, but in recent weeks we're specifically starting to see him talk about 2024 more. In a May 2nd interview, Trump said he might not accept the results of the November election. He said, "If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results. If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country." And that really echoed what he was saying in 2016 and 2020. It sounds like he's trying to set that up already.

Taylor Wilson:

And some Republican lawmakers are becoming increasingly vocal about potentially not certifying results from this presidential election. Sarah, who are we talking about here and what are their motives for leaning into this kind of rhetoric?

Sarah D. Wire:

It's a mix of people auditioning to be vice president and people who need to stay in Trump's good graces in order to remain in power like Speaker Mike Johnson. It's a growing list, includes Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Representatives Elise Stefanik of New York and Byron Donalds of Florida.

Taylor Wilson:

What do political experts say about this kind of discourse?

Sarah D. Wire:

Every expert I have spoke to has been very worried. Michael Miller at George Washington University, political science professor who studies how democracies end call it extremely corrosive to democracy to have elected leaders saying this this far out from an election. He said, "Historically, democracies collapse when elected leaders start telling citizens they can't trust elections."

Taylor Wilson:

Sarah, folks have very stark memories of January 6, 2021. Are any lawmakers worried we could be heading toward another chaotic few weeks or months after the November election, and is there any pushback from Democrats or other Republicans about the election doubts we've been talking about?

Sarah D. Wire:

Now, these VP candidates keep hedging that they won't challenge a fair election. But what we saw after the 2020 election is that some people have very different definitions of free and fair. Some lawmakers have told me they're worried about violence and facing another six-week long legal battle after the election results like we saw in 2020. That's been mostly Democrats, but I'm also hearing that from some Republicans. There's been a recent effort to have members of Congress sign on to a promise to certify the results of the election. This is promoted by a group called Democracy First and they've asked these members to sign on to a promise to agree to protect the right to vote, denounce political violence, and accept the election results even if they lose. So far, only five Republican members of Congress have signed on.

Taylor Wilson:

Interesting stuff. Sarah D. Wire is a senior campaign reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you, Sarah.

Sarah D. Wire:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

Federal authorities have issued a public service alert warning that foreign terrorist organizations may potentially target LGBTQ events during pride month in June. The joint statement from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security does not mention any specific threats or intelligence suggesting that any event, celebration, or individual has been targeted. But officials said efforts by foreign terrorist organizations, "To commit or inspire violence," against holiday celebrations, including pride events or LGBTQ related venues are compounded by the current heightened threat environment around the world. It did not specify what has contributed to the increasing threats.

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said yesterday that it may take longer than expected for high interest rates to lower inflation. And he gave no hint that a recently slowing labor market could mean earlier rate cuts. Powell said during a session at a Foreign Banker's Association meeting in Amsterdam, "We'll need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work." But he also reiterated that a rate hike is unlikely. His remarks largely echo those he made at a news conference after a Fed meeting earlier this month when officials kept their key short-term interest rate at a 23-year high of five and a quarter to five and a half percent.

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Fatal dog attacks are rising. And while they're hard to predict, there are some common factors. I spoke with USA TODAY breaking news reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman to learn more. Cybele, it's always great having you on. Thanks for making the time.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Thanks so much.

Taylor Wilson:

So Cybele, what are some recent high-profile incidents of deadly dog attacks?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Yeah, so we've already seen tragically some instances of fatal dog attacks this year. In fact, just last week, just a few days before Mother's Day, a mother in Georgia was killed and a family member said that she had seen some of her kids being attacked by a pack of dogs and she ran out to help and then she was found dead. Earlier this year, there was also a three-month-old who was mauled by a dog and a four-year-old too. We find that in a lot of these instances, the victims are commonly children just because they're smaller and they sustain injuries from these attacks more easily. And also in February, there was a man in Los Angeles who was reportedly mauled by his dogs while he may have been feeding them and he died from that attack also.

Taylor Wilson:

And in terms of the numbers, Cybele, how often do dogs fatally attack people? Which way is this trending? And how often are fatal attacks compared with dog attacks in general?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

As many of us who own dogs, love dogs know dogs do bite a lot. About 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year. That being said, fatal dog bites or dog bite-related deaths are still very, very rare. However, in about a three-year period from around 2018 to 2021, they did more than double. That being said, still very small numbers. So in 2021, that was 81 deaths. And some of the scientists that I talked to about this said that because those numbers are so small, it's hard to really say that it's trending in one direction or the other.

Taylor Wilson:

Do we have any data on whether certain dog breeds are more likely to attack people than others?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

It's hard to pin down what that data would be. It's not quite completely fleshed out. And the experts that I talked to said that really it comes down to more how a dog is trained and how it's socialized really than its breed. Dogs have very different personalities and behaviors even within their breed, so we can't quite say that it's directly linked to breed.

Taylor Wilson:

So what factors do some of these incidents we've been talking about have in common?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

It's difficult to predict exactly when a dog is going to bite. Usually, it's going to be in response to something going on in their environment. For example, if they're in a stressful situation or if they feel threatened, they can lash out. Sometimes dogs bite to protect something like mothers will bite to protect their pups. Or if a dog's resources have been scant, like if they haven't had enough food, then maybe they'll bite to protect some food that they have. And sometimes dogs bite because they're sick or they're in pain. One expert told me she had heard of instances of dogs being hit by a car. And then, when somebody goes up to help them, they'll try to bite that person.

Taylor Wilson:

And dog owners who are listening to this, I'm one of them, Cybele, what can they do to ensure their dog doesn't get aggressive? And for anyone around dogs, really, what advice do experts give?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

So the important thing for dog owners to remember, I think, is that you really just need to train your puppy when they're little not to bite or nip. And from what I learned, dog moms do this themselves, and so we need to be the parental figures of our dogs. It can be cute when they're little, when they nip you a little bit, but when they get older and they're big and strong, it's not quite cute anymore.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you, Cybele.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Thanks so much.

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Taylor Wilson:

Be sure to stay tuned later today when popular Ukrainian YouTuber and wartime storyteller, Anton Ptushkin joins my co-host Dana Taylor to discuss humanity's responsibility to animals during wartime. You can tune in beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time right here on this feed.

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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. If you have any comments or questions, you can always email us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump trial recap: Michael Cohen faces cross-examination | The Excerpt