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--:-- John Bickley: Michael Cohen testifies against Donald Trump, his former boss, but how credible is Alvin Bragg's star witness? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley, with guest host Katie Pavlich, editor at Town Hall VIP. It's Tuesday, May 14th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: The prosecution's star witness, Michael Cohen, took to the stand on Monday in a make-or-break moment for Donald Trump's hush money trial. Cohen is considered the most important prosecution witness against Trump because he was the fixer who set up the payment to Stormy Daniels that lies at the heart of the case. Here to break down what Cohen had to say is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey, Dave, so what did we learn on day one of this testimony that really could decide this case?
--:-- John Bickley: Cohen was described as comfortable on the stand. He's been on this merry-go-round before, both in courtrooms and in congressional testimony, but curiously did not look at the jury much. He testified to having helped Trump to kill stories, including a fake tale by a Trump Tower doorman, as well as alleged affairs with Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels. And this isn't new news, but he did go into detail about how he worked with the National Enquirer to catch and kill, as it's known, such stories.
--:-- David Marcus: A recording of Cohen and Trump was played in which they discussed the payoff. Cohen testified that he recorded that without Trump's knowledge so that he could play it for National Enquirer head David Pecker to prove Trump was going to pay him for killing the story.
--:-- John Bickley: Another main thrust was Cohen's claim that Trump was only worried about the election, not about his family when he paid out the hush money. At one point he said that Trump didn't care if Melania found out. And that was a rare moment when Trump at the defendant table visibly shook his head in disagreement.
--:-- David Marcus: Cohen also testified that Trump knew the intimate details so to speak of the hush money deal, though there wasn't much to corroborate that. And Trump's defense has indicated that Trump did not know a lot of these details.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah. Now, the name Allen Weisselberg was mentioned by Cohen quite often. He was the chief financial officer for Trump's business. Why was his name raised so often and are we likely to hear from him?
--:-- David Marcus: As CFO, Weisselberg was generally speaking the third person who was party to these arrangements that Cohen was making to suppress stories. Weisselberg is in jail right now on an unrelated charge, but it looks like prosecutors don't want to risk putting him on the stand where he could plead the fifth or even say things that contradict Cohen.
--:-- John Bickley: If he doesn't testify, Trump's legal team could file a missing witness charge asking the judge to point out to the jury that the prosecution actively chose not to call a witness with relevant information. So that is something to keep an eye out for.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, indeed. How was the first day of Cohen testimony generally received? Were there any smoking guns?
--:-- John Bickley: Look, even CNN seemed underwhelmed with the testimony in large part because his credibility has more holes in it than a spaghetti strainer because of his past lies and convictions for lying. That was something the prosecution tried to get out of the way early. But if it's hard for CNN to ignore, it's going to be hard for jurors to ignore.
--:-- David Marcus: Sure. There's also the matter of his recent TikTok appearances raging against the former president, including one in which he wore a T-shirt that seemed to depict Trump in prison. Did those come up?
--:-- John Bickley: They didn't, but they're still likely to, if not in direct testimony, then on cross-examination, certainly.
--:-- David Marcus: I mean, here's a little taste of what he's been saying. Don't be that person that sits on the sideline and has to turn around and say to your kids or your grandkids, I should have f***ing voted. Trumpism is fascism, and we must eradicate it from our body politic.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, and at the same time, Trump's gag order states that he cannot directly respond to Cohen. This will be a big part of the defense here that Cohen's just out to get Trump and, in fact, profiting from doing just that.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, it's hard not to draw that conclusion.
--:-- John Bickley: There was also some powerful friends of Trump's in the courtroom. Who did we see there on Monday?
--:-- David Marcus: Trump had a few notable names in the courtroom with him on Monday, including Senators J.D. Vance and Tommy Tuberville, as well as Nicole Malliotakis, who is New York City's only GOP member of Congress and thought of as a swing district moderate.
--:-- John Bickley: So, I mean, her support is notable. And jurors may also recognize her from her recent run for mayor.
--:-- David Marcus: She spoke after watching some of Cohen's testimony and kind of summed up the GOP position on all this. This is a sham trial. The people of the state of New York would wish that Alvin Bragg, the district attorney who brought this case, would focus on the actual crime that is taking place and plaguing our city.
--:-- John Bickley: This echoes what we've heard from other Republicans. And John, I expect we will be hearing it quite often.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, no doubt about that.
--:-- John Bickley: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Katie Pavlich: Just months from election day new polling from New York Times shows Donald Trump with his largest lead yet in a number of key battleground states. Here to break down the numbers is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hey Cabot, so we see new polling coming out virtually every day, but this one is getting far more attention than most.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Yeah, and for good reason. These numbers were highly anticipated as they were the first set of battleground polls released by the Times this year. It showed Donald Trump with a stunning lead in a number of crucial battlegrounds.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Get this, among registered voters in Arizona and Michigan, Trump leads Biden by seven points, Georgia 10 points, and Nevada, which has not gone red in 20 years, Trump is up 12 points. In Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he's up three and down two respectively, but both of those results are within the margin of error.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: And when you narrow the poll down from registered to likely voters, those results are almost identical, with Trump still ahead in five of six states.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, for context, not only did Joe Biden win all six of those battleground states back in 2020, but at this point in the race, he was polling ahead of Trump by around four points on average there. So the script has been totally flipped heading into 24, with Trump seemingly in a much stronger spot this go-round.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: So what are the specific issues driving these results?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, if you dig into the numbers, Trump is simply viewed as more capable on the most important issues to battleground voters. We've talked at length about his polling advantage over Biden on the economy and immigration. And in this poll, those were the two most important issues, with 40% of voters listing them as their main priority.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: And in this poll, those were the two most important issues, with 40% of voters listing them as their main priority. Now, President Biden does consistently win on issues like abortion, climate change, defending democracy and healthcare. But those issues combined were only the top issue for 19% of voters.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Trump is perceived as more capable on the things that are most important. Another interesting nugget here, nearly 70% of voters said our economy and political system needs, quote, major changes. But very few battleground voters believe Biden is capable of bringing that change. Just 24% said they expect him to implement major changes in his second term. For Trump, that number was 70%.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Here's Brent Buchanan, president and founder of the polling firm Signal, speaking to that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, Biden's got problems, and a lot of it comes down to what has traditionally been his base. They're more working class. They've historically been Democratic voters. And because of his economic policies and the continued inflation, they're just getting squeezed further and further, and they don't see that he's capable of actually doing anything about it.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: This poll offered yet more evidence of a trend that we've seen developing in recent years, and that is Republicans making inroads with young people and minorities. For example, in 2020, Biden won 87% of the Black vote. This poll shows him at just 63%, with Trump polling in 23%. If that holds, it would represent the highest level of Black support for a Republican since Dwight Eisenhower.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to Buchanan, that shift is similar to one we saw among working-class whites in 2016. The trend that's been occurring with white working-class voters is now moving its way into non-white working-class voters, particularly males more than females. And that's really what's happening within the population of African-American voters right now is just these people, again, are the most impacted by Biden's economic policies.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: We also saw similar results among another reliably blue voting bloc, Hispanics. A growing number now support his policies, including strict border enforcement and even mass deportations for those here illegally. According to The Times, he's now within three points of Biden with Hispanic voters.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And most surprising of all among 18 to 29 Trump is actually ahead of Biden in battleground states by a margin of 46 to 43. Now it unclear if those results have more to do with support of Trump growing or simply dissatisfaction with Biden. It's likely a combination of the two. But regardless, they are setting off alarm bells in the White House.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Yes, easy to see why. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: A group of college women in Wyoming are getting their day in court today after their sorority allowed a trans-identifying man to join. The biological male sorority member, who goes by Artemis Langford, is accused of inappropriate behavior in the sorority house, including watching girls while visibly aroused. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here with the details.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So Maraid, tell us about this court case.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: So oral arguments for this case start today in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The plaintiffs are six sorority sisters who accused their sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Wyoming of breaking its own bylaws as well as breaching housing contracts and misleading the female sorority members when it allowed a trans-identifying man to become a member.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Back in August, a judge dismissed the sorority sister's original case, saying they'd failed to adequately state a claim and saying the court can't interfere with how a private organization like a sorority chooses its members.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: The six sorority sisters are appealing that decision. So let's talk about why having a trans identifying male sorority member was a problem. What were these behavioral issues in the sorority house that made the girls uncomfortable?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So there were a number of inappropriate behaviors from Langford, according to the sorority sisters. He would allegedly sit on the sofa in the Kappa Kappa Gamma common area and watch the girls walk by for extended periods of time. On one occasion, he allegedly had a visible erection. He's also accused of taking pictures of the girls during a sleepover, as well as repeatedly asking inappropriate questions about female genitalia, breast cup size, and birth control.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Lankford is reportedly 6'2 and 260 pounds, by the way. Some women also allegedly suffered lost sleep, panic attacks, and mental breakdowns.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: We spoke to Allie Kogan, one of the sorority sisters who's a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Here's what she shared.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: There's just so many different situations that made us uncomfortable. We do have sexual assault survivors that do live in the house. And just having to be there and comfort my sisters as they cried because a man is now in the house, that's truly heartbreaking. And I don't understand how anyone could not see why we need our private spaces.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So what's next for this case?
--:-- Katie Pavlich: So the case will proceed at the federal appeals court after oral arguments today. And we'll have to see if the appeals court agrees with the lower district court and throws it out, or if the court thinks the women do have some claim to relief.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The women are arguing they've suffered emotional distress due to this situation. We spoke with attorney Mae Mailman, who's representing the sorority sisters and is also director of the Independent Women's Law Center. She spoke about the legal argument they're making.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: The bylaws here say that new members shall be women, and the directors of Kappa Kappa Gamma added an entirely new category. They didn't define women. They still can't tell us what a woman means. But they've said that membership is now women and individuals who identify as women. So that's just a clear breach of the bylaws.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: At this point, it's been more than a year and a half since the situation with the trans-identifying male sorority member began. So we'll have to see whether the girls' lawsuit pans out for them. If it does, it would be an interesting precedent for these kinds of cases.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Well, no doubt sororities and women around the country will be watching this very closely.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Thanks, Katie.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
