Defense attorney Todd Blanche opened today's questioning by asked Cohen about his communication with reporters.

"Since that time [when your last testimony ended], how many reporters have you talked to?" Blanche asked.

Cohen said he's spoken to reporters "who called to say hello, to see how I'm doing," but that he didn't talk about the case.

"Didn't speak at all about your testimony last week?" Blanche asked.

"Correct," Cohen responded.

As Cohen resumed his testimony, jurors appeared attentive, with several taking notes. Trump sat slouched at his chair with his eyes closed.

Following the break, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has entered the courtroom.

He took his seat in the witness box to resume his cross-examination as Trump looked on.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche asked to approach the bench about an ongoing discovery issue.

Both legal teams leaned in as Blanche spoke to the judge.

With the sidebar completed, the judge called for a ten-minute break.

Judge Merchan denied a request from defense lawyers to broaden the scope of testimony from their expert witness Bradley Smith, who is an expert on campaign finance regulations.

On Thursday, defense lawyers asked Merchan to allow Smith to testify about various terms related to federal campaign finance laws. Merchan denied the request, citing long standing precedent prohibiting witness testimony about the law.

"An expert is not permitted to present or interpret the law," Merchan said.

Merchan also expressed concerns about Smith's testimony prompting a "battle of the experts" between Smith and an expert called by prosecutors, which Merchan said would confuse the jury.

Merchan said that Smith could still testify, as long as he follows the limits imposed in his pretrial ruling on the case's motions in limine.

"The court will monitor this testimony closely to ensure full compliance," Merchan said in a pretrial ruling. "Any deviation from this ruling could result in sanction up to and including striking the expert's entire testimony."

Trump, sitting at the defense table, shook his head after the judge announced his ruling.

After Judge Merchan ruled that he would not admit a photo that prosecutors said showed Trump and his bodyguard Keith Schiller together on Oct. 24, 2016 -- the night of the phone call Michael Cohen said he had with Trump to finalize the Stormy Daniels deal -- prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said he respected Merchan's ruling, but criticized the defense for objecting to the evidence despite not contesting that Schiller and Trump are both in the photo together.

"I am not sure why we are jumping through all these hoops," Steinglass said.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche said it would be "patently unfair" to allow prosecutors to recall C-SPAN executive Robert Browning to testify about the photo after the defense has presented witnesses.

"That's not the way a trial is supposed to work, judge," Blanche said.

The judge ordered prosecutors to check with Browning -- who previously traveled from Louisiana to testify -- to see if he can be here by 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Mangold subsequently reported that Browning would be able to make it.

"They are booking travel right now," Mangold said.