--- title: Donald Trump Lawyer's CNN Interview Is Definition of Awkward description: CNN's Brianna Keilar and Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen had a bewildering back-and-forth that produced a very awkward moment canonical: https://time.com/4457280/donald-trump-lawyer-cnn-awkward-interview/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-18T14:55:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:43:29.870Z article:section: Politics og:title: This Interview With Donald Trump's Lawyer Is the Definition of Awkward og:description: It's impossible to look away og:url: https://time.com/4457280/donald-trump-lawyer-cnn-awkward-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc0fc816182694d9/6988a2cf656a3f82cdbccc87/cnn-trump-campaign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1337 og:image:height: 752 og:image:alt: cnn-trump-campaign og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Interview With Donald Trump's Lawyer Is the Definition of Awkward twitter:description: It's impossible to look away twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc0fc816182694d9/6988a2cf656a3f82cdbccc87/cnn-trump-campaign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Interview With Donald Trump's Lawyer Is the Definition of Awkward > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5653dc81-b101-4ca3-b063-579e32744172&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Help, We Can’t Stop Watching this CNN Interview with Trump’s Lawyer [Watch (HLS stream): Help, We Can’t Stop Watching this CNN Interview with Trump’s Lawyer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nuVL2yAj.m3u8) (1:14)  _Published 2016-08-18. The video is uncommonly dysfunctional, even for an interview about trailing in an election._  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Aug 18, 2016 2:55 PM UTC The video is uncommonly dysfunctional, even for an interview about trailing in an election.  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Aug 18, 2016 2:55 PM UTC CNN’s Brianna Keilar and Donald [Trump attorney Michael Cohen](http://time.com/3974560/donald-trump-rape-ivana-michael-cohen/) had [a bewildering back-and-forth](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/08/17/michael-cohen-donald-trump-poll-number-brianna-keilar-sot-tsr.cnn) that produced one of the most awkward moments of the 2016 campaign so far. In an uncommonly uncomfortable video, Keilar challenged Cohen about one of Trump’s favorite things: polls. When Keiler notes that Trump is trailing Hillary Clinton in the general election, Cohen asks her, “Says who?” Keiler seems taken aback, but answers: “Polls. Most of them? All of them.” Further miscommunication follows; prepare yourself for 26 seconds of silence and repetition until both participants are left staring into the camera in disbelief at the other’s response. The video quickly went viral on social media with the hashtag #SaysWho. The Washington _Post_ [characterized the interaction perfectly](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/17/what-its-like-to-report-on-2016-in-37-torturous-hilarious-seconds/) as “What it’s like to report on 2016.” And for those who want to know what to believe, here are current polling results from [Real Clear Politics](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general%5Felection%5Ftrump%5Fvs%5Fclinton-5491.html). \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/08/17/michael-cohen-donald-trump-poll-number-brianna-keilar-sot-tsr.cnn)\] ## Transcript [00:00] So if Hillary Clinton brought somebody in are you [00:03] gonna use the terms overhaul, desperate measures? [00:07] You haven't done it once, okay, because not one [00:11] person of the 900 people that worked for her [00:14] campaign, not one has left, not one has been [00:18] promoted or demoted. No at the top actually [00:22] we have not seen that. And I will tell you Michael that if [00:25] that happened we would cover it like that .>>. You [00:28] would never hear about it .>> And I mean I disagree [00:31] with you .>> Okay .>> I personally covered the [00:34] Clinton campaign. I would be all over that. That would [00:36] be a huge story. All of the banners that you see right [00:39] here Would be up on the television as well. So if there's [00:43] anyone person that's watching this show today, that [00:46] used to be with the Clinton campaign, please call in. [00:50] Alright, well let me ask you about this, so you say, you [00:52] say it's not a shakeup but you guys are down, and it [00:56] makes sense- Says who? Polls. Says who? Most [01:00] of them. All of them? [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [01:06] Says who? Polls. I just told you. I answered your [01:09] question. Okay, which polls? All of them. 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