--- 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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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f70338d0-844b-4477-92bc-dfdeee83cbf1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-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 So if Hillary Clinton brought somebody in are you gonna use the terms overhaul, desperate measures? You haven't done it once, okay, because not one person of the 900 people that worked for her campaign, not one has left, not one has been promoted or demoted. No at the top actually we have not seen that. And I will tell you Michael that if that happened we would cover it like that . >> . You would never hear about it . >> And I mean I disagree with you . >> Okay . >> I personally covered the Clinton campaign. I would be all over that. That would be a huge story. All of the banners that you see right here Would be up on the television as well. So if there's anyone person that's watching this show today, that used to be with the Clinton campaign, please call in. Alright, well let me ask you about this, so you say, you say it's not a shakeup but you guys are down, and it makes sense- Says who? Polls. Says who? Most of them. All of them? [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Says who? Polls. I just told you. I answered your question. Okay, which polls? All of them. 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