Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, with Michael Cohen back on the stand, played an Oct. 16, 2017, recording that Cohen secretly made of a conversation with Stormy Daniels' then-attorney Keith Davidson regardin the Stormy Daniels payment.

"What would you do if you were me?" Cohen is heard asking on the recording.

"Ugh. I can't even -- I don't even know. ... I can't even imagine," says Davidson.

"I mean, would you write a book, would you break away from the entire Trump, you know, we'll call it doctrine, you know, would you go completely rouge, would you join with Bannon, you know. What -- I mean any -- any thoughts?" Cohen asks.

"Because it's not just me that's now being affected. It is my entire family. It's, you know -- and the --- there's no -- nobody is thinking about Michael. You understand? And despite what like -- for example, you know, what the earlier conversation, you know, and who else would do that for somebody, who else?" he says on the recording.

" I did [it], because I care about that guy and I wasn't going to play pennywise, pound foolish," COhen says, to which Davidson replied, "Right."

"And I'm sitting there and I'm saying to myself, what about me?" says Cohen. "And I can't --- I can't even tell you how many times he said to me, you know, 'I hate the fact that we did it.' And my comment to him was, "But every person that you've spoken to told you it was the right move."

Asked by Hoffinger about the recording, Cohen said, "I was referring to the payment that I made to Keith Davidson that I made on behalf of Mr. Trump."

"How has telling the truth about what you did with Mr. Trump affected you?" Hoffinger asked.

"My entire life has been turned upside down. I lost my law license, my businesses, my financial security, which I was fortunate early to be able to obtain. My family's happiness is paramount," said Cohen.

Michael Cohen returned to the stand and prosecutors displayed an image of Trump and bodyguard Keith Schiller on Oct. 24, 2016, the night of the phone call Cohen said he had with Trump to finalize the Stormy Daniels deal.

Before showing the image to the jury, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger read a stipulation that the photo came from a video that ended at 7:57 p.m. on that date.

Under additional questioning, Cohen said he had "more than 20" conversations, in person or by phone, with Donald Trump in October 2016 about the Stormy Daniels payoff.

"Do you have any doubt in your mind that Mr. Trump gave you the final signoff [on the Stormy Daniels payment]?" Hoffinger asked.

"No doubt," Cohen said.

"Would you have paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 had Trump not signed off?" Hoffinger asked.

"No ma'am," Cohen said.

"Why not?" Hoffinger asked.

"Because I wanted to ensure I would get my funds back," Cohen said.

Prosecutors reached a compromise with defense counsel that prevents the need to recall C-SPAN executive Robert Browning to testify.

The state has called Michael Cohen back to the stand to introduce their desired photo evidence through Cohen's testimony.

Judge Merchan offered to break early today and resume tomorrow morning when C-SPAN executive Robert Browning arrives to testify.

He also gave the defense the option begin presenting its case today.

Defense counsel and Trump huddled over the question.

Throughout his cross-examination this morning, defense attorney Todd Blanche has attempted to legitimize the repayment arrangement between Trump and Cohen in 2017.

Prosecutors have argued that Trump falsified business records by describing a reimbursement for the Stormy Daniels payment and other expenses as payment for legal services pursuant to a retainer agreement, even though Cohen never had a retainer agreement with Trump.

Blanche emphasized all the legal work that Cohen did for Trump and his family in 2017. He also showed the jury an email from Allen Weisselberg, where he requested Cohen to "please prepare the agreement we discussed so we can pay you monthly."

Amid frequent objections, Blanche has referenced the "agreement" mentioned above as a "retainer agreement," though Cohen never had a formal retainer agreement with Trump.

Pursuant to the "agreement," Cohen said he received nine checks directly from Trump in 2017.

"That would have been nine checks -- 35,000 a piece," Cohen said.