‘Showoff!’ CNN’s Jake Tapper Wows Panel After Reciting Entire ‘Law & Order’ Introduction
In cable news, the Fourth Estate is represented by separate but equally important groups: the news anchors who present the news and the anchors who quote crime shows while delivering the news when they need to liven things up a bit.
CNN’s Jake Tapper spent a brief moment on Monday putting his Law & Order fandom on display, which left anchor Laura Coates face-down onto the newsdesk in laughter.
During jury instructions being given by Judge Juan Merchan at the start of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Monday, Merchan told jurors that lawyers were not allowed to comment during witness testimony, adding, “That happens on TV and in the movies, that does not happen in real trials.”
Coates dug into those comments a bit, comparing the real-life trial to an episode of Law & Order, during which a crime is committed, an arrest is made, and a trial is completed within the span of about 42 minutes. She also discussed other instructions that were given, but Tapper, in a moment of admirable crime show nerdery, cooked up a callback in the form of the classic Law & Order introduction, word for word:
Coates: Here it’s interesting because there’s a moment he says that the lawyers, that the notes are not a substitute for the actual transcripts. This will come into play in having lawyers on your jury as well. We were concerned about, remember, can lawyers be on the actual jury? The reason people have concerns is because you might be deferential to them and say, “Is that what happens, is that the issue here?” It’s almost away of them reminding, “Look, the prosecution and the defense, they have to build their case. They have to defend their case.” But the lawyers, and also note-taking is not going to substitute for you what you’re hearing. And again, there is no formula for evaluating accuracy. You have your varied life experiences to do so. So, much like the jury selection was kind of an art, assessing credibility is going to come from your own gut intuition and what you believe to be true.
Tapper: Yeah, and if, unless I’m mistaken, in the criminal justice system, the people are represented by separate but equally important groups: the police who investigate crimes and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
Anchor Dana Bash was less impressed and called Tapper a “showoff,” but Coates dissolved onto the desk laughing. She then rose up saying, “I actually have a newfound respect for this right now!” Bash said that Law & Order executive producer Dick Wolf was “going to be calling you,” but Tapper promised: “I’ll send him the check.”
Watch the video above via CNN.
