>> AGRICULTURALLY AND ETHICALLY, GREAT POINTS, LAWRENCE, AS ALWAYS. >> THANKS, ALEX. >> HAVE A GREAT SHOW. >> THANKS. >>> WELL, IT WAS A ONE WORD SENTENCE THAT CHANGED DONALD TRUMP'S LIFE. HE WASN'T EXPECTING TO HEAR THAT WORD YESTERDAY. AT 4:15 P.M.,JUDGE MERCHAN TOLD DEFENDANT DONALD TRUMP AND HIS LAWYERS, THE PROSECUTORS IN THE COURTROOM, QUOTE, I'M GOING TO EXCUSE THE JURY ABOUT 4:30. WE WILL GIVE THEM A FEW MORE MINUTES AND THEN WE WILL EXCUSE THEM. DONALD TRUMP'S DEFENSE LAWYER, TODD BLANCHE, SET ALL RIGHT AND THE JUDGE SET I'M GOING TO STEP OUT FOR A FEW MINUTES. THE CONVENTIONAL COURTROOM WISDOM FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS IS THE LONGER A JURY DELIBERATES, THE BETTER IT IS FOR THE DEFENSE. AND SO DONALD TRUMP AND TODD BLANCHE WERE NEARLY GIDDY THAT THE JURY WAS GOING TO GO HOME FOR A SECOND DAY. WITHOUT REACHING A VERDICT. >> DONALD TRUMP THOUGHT HE WAS GOING HOME WITHOUT A VERDICT TODAY. HE HAD ABOUT 15 MINUTES TO KILL AND WHAT WE SAW WAS DONALD TRUMP AT THE DEFENSE TABLE THAT WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. HE WAS JOKING, HE WAS LAUGHING, HE WAS SMILING WITH TODD BLANCHE. THEY WERE LAUGHING ALMOST INCESSANTLY. TODD BLANCHE LAUGHING SO HARD AT ONE POINT, DOUBLING OVER THAT HIS FOUR HEAD ALMOST TOUCHED THE TABLE. THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING HOME TODAY, IT SEEMED, WITHOUT A VERDICT. IT WAS ALMOST A JUBILANT AND GIDDY DONALD TRUMP, BUT THAT CHANGED QUICKLY WHEN JUDGE MERCHAN CAME BACK IN THE ROOM TO INFORM THE PARTIES THE JURY HAD REACHED THAT VERDICT. >> THE JURY HAD A VERDICT AFTER ONLY NINE HOURS OF DELIBERATION, WHICH IS NOT A LONG DELIBERATION FOR A 34 COUNT INDICTMENT OF THIS COMPLEXITY LEVEL. SO DONALD TRUMP WATCHED HIS JURY INTO THE COURTROOM FOR WHAT WOULD BE THE FINAL TIME. THE JURY WALKED BY HIM, AS THEY ALWAYS DID, AT HIGH SPEED, NEVER LOOKING AT HIM. NEVER LOOKING AT ANYONE ELSE. JUST FILING STRAIGHTAHEAD, FOCUSED ON THE JOB THEY TOOK AN OATH TO DO. THERE IS NO SUSPENSE LIKE A JURY VERDICT. NOTHING LIKE IT. WE HAVE TAKEN THE SUSPENSE OUT OF SO MUCH OF MODERN LIFE. WE HAVE POLLS TELLING US WHO IS GOING TO WIN ELECTIONS. WE HAVE COMPUTERS TRACKING EXACT THE WHERE HURRICANES ARE GOING TO GO. WE CAN KNOW THE GENDER OF OUR BABIES BEFORE THEY ARE BORN. THERE ARE WEBSITES DEVOTED TO PREDICTING THE CHANCES OF WHO IS GOING TO WIN WHICH OSCAR AND AS PREDICTION HAS BECOME EASIER, SUSPENSE HAS BECOME MUCH MORE RARE. IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE DRAMATIC ARTS FROM SHAKESPEARE TO SPIELBERG, NO DRAMATIST HAS BEEN ABLE TO DELIVER TO AN AUDIENCE THE FORCE OF THE IMPACT A JURY VERDICT HAS IN THE ROOM AS IT HITS, JUST WHEN THE SUSPENSE FEELS UNBEARABLE. I HAVE SEEN LIVES CRUSHED IN AN INSTANT BY A JURY ROOM. I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE SENT OFF TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR BY ONE WORD. GUILTY. AND I HAVE SEEN LIVES SAVED BY A JURY VERDICT. WINNING THE LIBRARY -- LOTTERY HAS NOTHING ON THE WORDS NOT GUILTY FOR A CRIMINAL DEFENDANT. EVERY ANNOUNCEMENT OF EVERY JURY VERDICT LEAVES EVERYONE IN THE COURTROOM DIZZY. NO MATTER WHICH VERDICT THEY WERE HOPING FOR. IT IS HARD TO TRUST YOUR EARS WHEN YOU HEAR THAT VERDICT. DID HE REALLY SAY WHAT I THOUGHT HE SAID? IT IS WHAT SPEEDS THROUGH THE MINDS OF EVERYONE WHO HAS JUST HEARD THE VERDICT. THE WORLD SLOWS DOWN AND YOU EXPERIENCE THE PASSAGE OF TIME IN THOUSANDTHS OF A SECOND SO THAT IF THERE IS ANOTHER COUNT OF THE INDICTMENT, IT ALWAYS SEEMS LIKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A SECOND VERDICT COMES A VERY LONG TIME AFTER THAT FIRST VERDICT. AND IF BOTH VERDICTS ARE THE SAME, ONLY THEN DO YOU BEGIN, JUST BEGIN TO BELIEVE YOUR EARS. THAT IS WHEN YOU HEAR THE CRYING. THAT IS WHEN YOU HEAR THE MOTHERS CRYING FOR THEIR SONS WHO HAVE JUST BEEN CONVICTED. I WAS A TEENAGER WHEN I HEARD A WIFE CRYING FOR HER HUSBAND WHO HAD JUST BEEN CONVICTED OF MURDER. I HAD MANY CONVERSATIONS WITH HER DURING THAT TRIAL. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE SOUND OF HER VOICE, BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET THE SOUND OF HER CRYING WHEN SHE HEARD THAT VERDICT. AND IF THERE IS A THIRD VERDICT, ONLY THEN DOES YOUR MOOD BRIGHTENED, IF IT IS THE VERDICT YOU WANTED TO HEAR. BUT IF IT IS THE VERDICT YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR, AND IF YOU ARE THE DEFENDANT, BY THE THIRD VERDICT YOU ARE IN THE DARKEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN IN YOUR LIFE. YOUR EYES MAY BE OPEN, BUT YOU CANNOT SEE, YOU CANNOT FEEL, YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU AND YOU BEGIN TO FEEL THE GREATEST FEAR YOU'VE EVER FELT IN YOUR LIFE ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU. FOR TWO FULL MINUTES YESTERDAY, THE WORST TWO MINUTES OF DONALD TRUMP'S LIFE, DONALD TRUMP LISTENED TO HIS JURY VERDICT, DELIVERED BY THE FOREPERSON OF THE JURY, WHO MOVED TO THIS COUNTRY FROM IRELAND AND STILL HAS AN IRISH ACCENT THAT WAS LAST HEARD IN THE COURTROOM WHEN HE WAS ANSWERING QUESTIONS AS A PROSPECTIVE JUROR, SIX WEEKS AGO. THERE WERE NO SCREAMS OF ANGUISH AS YOU SOMETIMES HEAR AT JURY VERDICTS. NO ONE CRIED. THE CURRENT MISSES TRUMP WAS NOT THERE. ERIC TRUMP WAS THE ONLY FAMILY PRESENT AND IF HE HAS FEELINGS FOR HIS FATHER, THEY ONCE AGAIN WENT UNEXPRESSED. THE ONLY THING DEFENDANT TRUMP HEARD IN THE COURTROOM WHEN THE TORTUROUS SUSPENSE FINALLY BROKE, WAS THIS. THE CLERK. HOW SAY YOU TO THE FIRST COUNT OF THE INDICTMENT CHARGING DONALD J. TRUMP WITH THE CRIME OF FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE? GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY? JUROR NUMBER ONE, GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT TWO? GUILTY. COUNT THREE? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT FOR? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT FIVE? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT SIX? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT SEVEN? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT EIGHT? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT NINE? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 10? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 11? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 12? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 13, GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 14? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 15? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 16? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 17? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 18? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 19? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 19? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 20? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 22? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 23? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 24? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 25? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 28? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 29? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 30? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 31? GUILTY. HOW SAY TO COUNT 32? GUILTY. HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 33? GUILTY. AND HOW SAY YOU TO COUNT 34? GUILTY. THE CLERK, PLEASE BE SEATED. 34 TIMES. 34 TIMES. JUST HALF AN HOUR EARLIER, DONALD TRUMP WAS LAUGHING WITH HIS LAWYER, LAUGHING AS HE HAD NEVER LAUGHED BEFORE AND THEN HE HAD TO LISTEN TO THE WORD HE HOPED HE WOULD NEVER HEAR, 34 TIMES. HE HAD TO LISTEN TO THAT WORD 34 TIMES, BECAUSE 12 PEOPLE RANDOMLY CHOSEN FROM THE 1.6 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING ON THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN, RAISED THEIR RIGHT HAND AND ANSWERED YES TO THIS QUESTION. DO YOU SOLEMNLY SWEAR OR AFFIRM THAT YOU WILL TRY THE CASE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AGAINST DONALD J. TRUMP IN A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL MANNER AND TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY RENDER A TRUE VERDICT ACCORDING TO THE LAW AND EVIDENCE? I WATCHED THAT JURY PAYING MUCH MORE ATTENTION TO EVERY WORD OF TESTIMONY THAN DONALD TRUMP DID. I WATCHED THAT JURY PAYING MUCH MORE ATTENTION TO EVERY WORD THE LAWYERS ON BOTH SIDES SAID, THEN DONALD TRUMP DID. I WATCHED THAT JURY NEVER CLOSE THEIR EYES IN THAT COURTROOM THE WAY DONALD TRUMP DID FOR HOURS ON END. I WATCHED THAT JURY RESPECT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THAT ROOM. MORE, MUCH MORE THAN DONALD TRUMP. EVER COULD.
