-Donald Trump took the stand today
for an angry and combative appearance
in his New York fraud trial,
marking the first time he's faced direct questioning
from prosecutors in court as part of a sprawling case
that could wipe out his entire business empire.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Just to recap, throughout his presidency,
Donald Trump was consistently the most disliked president
in the history of polling.
He lost the popular vote by 3 million the first time
and 7 million the second time.
He cost the GOP the House in 2018 and the Senate in 2020.
His hand-picked candidates in 2022 were rejected
and humiliated in almost every single race
where he played a major role.
He got impeached twice, oversaw a disastrous
and incompetent response to a once-in-a-generation pandemic.
He orchestrated a coup attempt
and incited a riotous mob to storm the Capitol
that threatened to kill his own vice president
and install him as an unelected dictator.
He's facing four separate criminal cases,
as well as a civil fraud trial
that could erase his entire business empire.
And on top of all that,
he's the weirdest human being on the planet.
So naturally, after all that,
he is finally slinking away from the national spotlight
in disgrace to face consequences for his behavior.
And I'm just kidding.
He's leading in the [bleep] polls again by like a lot.
-In the race for the White House,
new polls are showing some very unfavorable trends
for President Biden.
The latest CBS news poll of likely voters
finds President Trump slightly ahead of President Biden.
-A "New York Times" poll of six battleground states that
President Biden won back in 2020.
Now, in five out of six of those states, Mr. Biden
is trailing Donald Trump.
He's behind by five in Arizona,
six in Georgia and a startling 10 points in Nevada.
He's even trailing in states like Michigan and Pennsylvania,
where the president has seen strong Democratic support.
-This brings us to a new segment we're calling
"Seth Stares Off Into The Distance
And Mutters To Himself For A Second."
[ Laughter ]
[ Muttering ]
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Muttering ]
Biden's old, but Trump's old, too.
[ Laughter ]
I mean, like...
Really...
[ Laughter and applause ]
I mean, some people say, "Oh, this will be good for you,"
but get that out of your head.
[ Laughter ]
This isn't a real cigarette.
[ Laughter ]
This has been "Seth Stares Off Into The Distance
And Mutters To Himself For A Second."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Now, I know we are a full year away from the election,
and it's natural and normal for people
to express their frustration
with the incumbent at this point in the calendar.
The same thing happened with Obama too,
and then he went on to easily defeat Mitt Romney.
In fact, Gallup's final poll
before the election had Romney ahead,
so there's no reason to panic.
On the other hand, we have to start [bleep] panicking now!
We are [bleep], [bleep], [bleep], [bleep]!
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
-So, I guess this new poll makes Trump the front runner,
not just for the GOP nomination, but for the whole deal.
Yeah. I mean, okay, cool.
What a world.
That would mean the current front runner
to be the next president spent the day in court
where he was grilled on the stand by prosecutors
about his company's alleged widespread fraud.
And this morning, when he arrived in court,
he did his usual Trump shtick,
where he complained about the proceedings
and lashed out at everyone involved.
Maybe you should spend less time coming up with names
for things and more time coming up with a defense.
"Mr. President, we have to explain to the judge
how you came up with this net worth estimate."
"I call it warfare or lawfare.
Or how about this one? Law not fair.
[ Laughter ]
I was up all night for that one."
So far, the entirety of the Trump defense
has basically been that they had no idea
what was going on at their own company.
Last week, Trump's two oldest sons,
who were officers at the company,
pleaded ignorance when they took the stand.
-Two of Trump's sons, Don Jr., Eric as well,
who are executive vice presidents
at the Trump Organization, they both testified this week.
Both made arguments that were nearly identical,
that it was the company's accountants who,
in fact, were responsible for issues
with financial statements, not them.
-I'm apparently guilty of fraud
for relying on my accountants to do, wait for it, accounting.
I mean, think about that.
What does that do for literally any other business?
You pay experts millions of dollars to be experts.
You sign off on what they give you.
-That's, wait for it, not how it works.
[ Laughter ]
By the way, I'd be fine if we instituted automatic jail time
for anyone who does wait for it in 2023.
They're accountants.
You give them information,
and then they just prepare the statements.
They're not the ones running your business.
You're supposed to be in charge of them.
Also, you can't believably say you employ experts
when your family is also employed
the law firm of weirdo, goofball and nuts.
Oh, no. Was Rudy Giuliani also your accountant?
"Good news, boss, I just did all the numbers,
and it's a unicorn.
[ Laughter ]
I was -- I'm as surprised as you were, boss.
[ Laughter ]
It's a mythical creature. Now we have proof."
[ Laughter ]
The other defense they've been using before today
is that Trump's children should be left alone,
even though two of them were officers of the company
who signed off on the statements in question.
-Trump is accusing Attorney General James
of harassing him and his children.
-Mr. Trump is lashing out online,
saying leave my children alone.
-And now these children are being brought in away
from their families for doing nothing wrong.
-These poor innocent, lightly bearded children
are being brought in alone.
Their nannies have to wait outside,
which means they're going hours between snacks.
It is shameful.
But today it was Trump's turn to take the stand,
and let's just pause for a moment
to appreciate how dramatic it is.
A former president being grilled in court about systemic,
years long fraud at his company,
which is the entire basis of his fortune
and his image as a supposedly successful businessman.
And this isn't even one of the four criminal cases.
This is just a civil case.
We've become so inured to Trump's flagrant
lawbreaking and insanity
that it barely registers as news anymore.
If Martin Van Buren had been dragged into court
on fraud allegations,
that would be the only thing anyone remembers about it.
Instead, all anyone remembers about him
is the "Seinfeld" episode.
Or that's the only thing Sal remembers about it.
[ Laughter ]
And I'm sure it won't shock you to learn that Trump was both
combative and uncooperative during his testimony today.
In fact, this morning he couldn't even make it
through the first half hour of testimony
without repeatedly picking fights with the judge
and getting yelled at.
-Happening now, behind those doors,
Donald Trump has been testifying
in the civil fraud trial against him.
He's been on the stand for about 25 minutes or so.
He has been admonished by the judge.
He has criticized the judge.
The judge has told him to stick
to answering the questions in this,
all within the first minutes of testimony.
-That's how it started.
They couldn't even make it 25 minutes
without having to wrangle him like they're trying
to give medicine to a cat.
He was supposedly the Commander in Chief.
He can't even get through one day in court
without getting into like nine different fights
within the first 25 minutes.
He's like a blue collar dad at a fancy restaurant,
immediately furious he didn't get bread right away.
"What kind of horse hockey is this?
I want butter, not a dish full of chopped up olives.
And why the hell is everyone wearing a suit?
This is a restaurant, not a funeral.
Of course, I wouldn't be surprised
if someone dropped dead when they saw these prices.
Screw this, I'm going to the Golden Corral."
I told the valet guy just tell me where you parked it."
[ Laughter ]
In fact, things got so heated that at one point
the judge had to turn away from Trump
and appealed to his lawyers to get him to behave.
Now, because there are no cameras inside,
we can't actually see what happens,
so we have to rely on narration from reporters
on even the smallest gestures or facial expressions.
-Let's get back out to the courthouse.
Paula Reid's got some more detail from inside.
What's happening?
-This is getting pretty heated.
The judge asking Trump's lawyer,
"Can you control your client?
This is not a political rally."
This coming from our colleagues who are inside
the courtroom watching this live.
The judge forcing Trump's lawyer, Chris Kise,
to talk to the former president.
The former president, we're reading here,
apparently waved his arms at any suggestion
of taking a 10 minute break.
He is sitting back in his chair, we're told,
just pursing his lips in that sort of classic Trump smile.
Trump's lawyer is assuring the judge
that their client "understands the rules."
The judge shot back and said,
"Well, he doesn't abide by them."
Now, apparently they're back into questioning.
-This is kind of a frustrating way
to hear what's going on in court.
It's like listening to hockey on NPR.
Like, you know, the action is crazy,
but it's so confusing to listen to.
Let's see, we're getting more reporting from the courthouse.
Yes, Mr. Trump waved his hands and pursed his lips.
Then he moved them in and out
like he was playing an invisible accordion.
Then he began drawing little boxes with his fingers
and pointing to his head, saying, "I understand the rules.
I have them all up here in my big brain."
Then the judge shot back,
"You're not acting like you know the rules."
Then Trump said, "Am, too." And the judge said, "Am not."
Then Trump said "Am, too." Then the judge said, "Am not."
Then Trump said, "It smells like updog in here."
Then the judge said, "I'm not falling for that."
Then Trump said, "I don't know, dog.
What's up with you?"
Then the judge said, "You can't just act like I fell for it.
Loser says what?" Then Trump said, "What?"
Then the judge said, "You said what.
That means you're a loser."
Then Trump got angry and screamed, "This is warfare!
No, wait. It's lawfare. No wait. It's law unfair."
Then he got up and tried to storm out of the courtroom,
but his tie got stuck in the door
and he fell backwards and split his pants
and threw up on himself, and the judge called a recess.
And Trump said, "The judge [bleep] in my pants."
And the judge said, "No, I didn't."
Then Trump said, "Then how did [bleep] get in my pants?"
Then the judge said, "Maybe it was updog."
Then Trump said, "What's updog?"
Then the judge said, "I don't know. what's up with you?"
And the entire courtroom laughed.
[ Laughter ]
Back to you, Kate.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Although I guess the judge's warning
did start to sink in with Trump at some point
because as he left the courtroom for a morning break,
reporters tried to ask him a question
and he just made a lip seal gesture as he walked away.
-Mr. Trump, has it going in there?
[ Laughter ]
-He could have said no comment like a grown up,
but of course he did a goofy gesture
like an eighth-grade girl who knows about your crush.
The only time he's made that gesture in his life
was when his kids asked him to read a bedtime story.
"Sorry, boys. I'm under a gag order."
The 2024 presidential election is still a year away,
and a lot can happen, but no one should doubt
that as of this moment, Trump could very well win,
which would give him the power to pardon himself,
essentially erase his indictments,
and officially declare himself above the law.
Again, as we've seen before,
a lot can change and will change between now and next November.
So when it comes to the election,
all we can do for now is just stay calm while we...
-Wait for it.
[ Laughter ]
This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Hey, everybody. Thanks for watching "A Closer Look."
And as a reminder, my brother Josh
and I have started a new podcast called "Family Trips"
with the Meyers Brothers. We hope you listen.
We hope you like it, and see you soon.