Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Prosecutors have left us on a massive cliffhanger as we break for lunch.

They took us right up until the point before Cohen made the payment to Stormy Daniels - the actual events that form the basis of the charges in this case.

The court will soon hear some key information: how Cohen was reimbursed, and how those reimbursements were recorded, and whether Trump knew about it.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Prosecutors secured another key piece of testimony from Michael Cohen before the lunch break.

They asked him about Trump's concerns that Daniels might tell her story about the alleged sexual encounter.

When Susan Hoffinger pressed Cohen on whether Trump was concerned about his wife, Melania, finding out, Cohen said: “He wasn’t thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign.”

Trump's legal team has argued that Daniels was paid off to protect Trump's family from the story.

To convict Trump, prosecutors will need to prove to jurors that Trump's intent was actually to influence the 2016 election - as Cohen has just alleged.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Just before the break, Michael Cohen said when he learned that Stormy Daniels was shopping her story to the National Enquirer, he went to tell Trump because he kept his boss "abreast of everything".

"He was really angry with me,” Cohen recalled.

He testifies Trump told him, “I thought you had this under control, I thought you took care of this," referring to a 2011 blog post about Daniels and Trump's alleged encounter that Cohen had quashed.

Cohen alleges Trump told him to "just take care of it".

He claims Trump also called it a "disaster" for his presidential campaign and told Cohen “women will hate me".

It's lunch time. The court is breaking and the jury have filtered out of the room.

But stick with us, we have more details on the way from testimony that happened just before the break.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

Trump has expressed a great deal of rancour toward Michael Cohen in public statements over the years, even violating his gag order against attacking witness in this trial by calling Cohen a "convicted liar".

But today Trump must sit silently, like any other defendant, while a key witness - the ex-president's former fixer - testifies against him.

I can see Trump on a video feed in the court overflow room, and he appears to be leaning back in his seat and watching.

Despite all of the drama between the two men, for most of the morning Trump has looked - to be honest - a little bored.

He does tend to grow more animated when his defence lawyers go on the attack, and we can expect that later when they have the chance to cross-examine Cohen.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

We’re now getting back to Michael Cohen's recollection of the events surrounding Stormy Daniels, the adult-film star who alleges she had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump.

The prosecution asks Cohen what he said to Trump about the alleged tryst.

“One of the things that we need to do is we need to... take care of it,” Cohen says he told his former boss.

Trump told him he had met Daniels at a golf course, and “she liked Mr Trump”, Cohen adds.

Cohen says he asked Trump whether they had a sexual encounter, but Trump did not answer him directly.

Trump merely said initially that she was a “beautiful woman”, Cohen claims.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Much of Michael Cohen’s testimony that the court is hearing may not be entirely new, but - in a boost to prosecutors' claims - it does appear to corroborate what other witnesses said.

Prosecutors are taking the court through a familiar series of events: the catch-and-kill scheme with David Pecker and the infamous Access Hollywood tape that proceeded the Stormy Daniels scandal.

We’ve already heard about the behind-the-scenes of these events from others close to Trump: his former aide Hope Hicks, his assistant Rhona Graff and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

But what's key is that Cohen's testimony doesn't sound outlandish or inconsistent.

Prosecutors are likely hoping this will help establish that Cohen is trustworthy, particularly as he is expected to later testify that Trump directed him to pay off Stormy Daniels for the sake of his 2016 presidential bid - an allegation that is at the centre of this case.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

We have circled back to the fallout from the Access Hollywood tape, where Donald Trump was caught on a hot mic in the 2000s talking about women in a vulgar matter.

Prosecutors raise two phone calls between Trump and Michael Cohen from 8 October 2016, right after The Washington Post ran its story about the Access Hollywood tape. The newspaper had obtained a leaked recording of the tape.

Cohen tells the court he was in London at the time, and he testifies that Trump had thought to spin the tape as "locker room talk", which was reportedly his wife Melania's idea.

Trump wanted to use that spin "to get control over the story and minimise its impact on him and his campaign", Cohen says.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger just got a key bit of testimony from Cohen, after asking him whether he was planning to reimburse tabloid publisher David Pecker.

“Were you planning on owning the life rights to that story?” Hoffinger asks Cohen, referring to former Playboy model Karen McDougal's claim that she had an affair with Trump.

“What I was doing, I was doing at the direction of and for the benefit of Mr Trump,” Cohen replies.

His response helps prosecutors’ argument that Trump was behind the hush-money reimbursement scheme, even if he did not make the payments himself.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Cohen is walking us through the process of setting up a limited liability company to disguise the deal he had reached to purchase Karen McDougal's story with the National Enquirer.

The idea was to muddle the paper trail, he says.

But at the end of the day, the deal fell through and the Enquirer didn't transfer the rights to Cohen.

Image source, Reuters

We have an early court sketch of Michael Cohen's testimony.

Cohen can be seen at the stand in the sketch while prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is questioning him. Justice Merchan is observing and Trump is keeping a stern eye on proceedings.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Cohen is giving some more behind-the-scenes details of the alleged hush-money payment to Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who claims she had an affair with Trump.

Cohen says Trump told him to go see Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to handle the reimbursement to David Pecker, who had paid McDougal $150,000 for her story.

Cohen claims Weisselberg told him they should not use the company to reimburse Pecker, because that would defeat the purpose.

The goal, Weisselberg allegedly told Cohen, was not to have Trump’s name affiliated with the payment at all, Cohen testifies.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Susan Hoffinger is back questioning Michael Cohen about the recording we heard before the break.

Cohen says he was recording the conversation to convince David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, that he was going to be reimbursed for the hush-money payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal.

While we were waiting for the jury to return, Cohen and Trump continued to avoid eye-contact despite sitting a few feet away from each other.

Image source, Getty Images

When Donald Trump sits at the defence table, there's a stack of papers in front of him.

One of the court photographers took this image before proceedings started today, which shows Trump's hands hovering above a news article from the New York Times.

The article's headline is "Trump Leads in 5 Key States, as Young and Nonwhite Voters Express Discontent With Biden".

Trump often displays articles like this to media when he speaks before court starts in the morning.

Image source, .

While you're here, why not sign up for US Election Unspun, BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s newsletter about the race for the White House.

Each week, Anthony takes a look at a different critical aspect of the run-up to the US election, including Trump's trial.

Readers in the UK can sign up here

And if you’re outside the UK, this is the link.

The newsletter will arrive in your inbox every Wednesday about 17:00BST (12:00EDT).

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Just before the break we were hearing a recording of a conversation between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen.

It is one we previously heard, but Cohen is now providing the context behind the call.

In September 2016, Trump and Cohen were speaking about how Karen McDougal's catch-and-kill deal would be funded.

"I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David," Cohen was heard saying on the call.

Cohen testified that he meant David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer.

Pecker wanted to be reimbursed for the $150,000 payment that he had made to buy McDougal's story of an alleged affair with Trump - and bury it.

"So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?" Trump's voice was heard saying on the call.

For those interested, the entire call transcript can be read here, external.

Former president Donald Trump did not respond when asked questions during the break, though he did pump his fist three times when he walked past.

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican who represents the New York City borough of Staten Island, also ignored a flurry of questions from reporters.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Cohen has been on the stand for nearly two hours of testimony, and the judge says it's time to take a break.

The jury have been excused for a few minutes to stretch their legs.

Stick with us, we are about to bring you some more of Cohen's testimony that happened just before the break was called.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The prosecution has just handed Michael Cohen a thumb drive with a recording on it.

Cohen says the recording has several voices on it - Donald Trump, his assistant Rhona Graff and Cohen’s.

He is asked if they discuss a catch-and-kill scheme on the recording.

Cohen confirms that they do.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Michael Cohen is being asked about a lot of events that other witnesses have already testified about during this trial.

Prosecutors clearly want to corroborate as much of Cohen's testimony as they could before he took the stand, since he has credibility issues.

But one thing that only Cohen can truly speak to is Trump's alleged reaction to each key beat in the prosecutor's story of the case.

After going through each event - the negotiations with a doorman, a Playboy model, and more - prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks Cohen if he updated Trump, and what the reaction was.

Cohen often confirms that he did, and he relays Trump's alleged response.

When the defence gets a chance to question Cohen, however, they'll likely try to poke holes in these recollections.

The defence has been trying to portray Cohen as a rogue agent, who didn't necessarily act on Trump's direct marching orders.