[Burnett:] New tonight, a federal judge slamming the Justice Department and ordering Michael Cohen be released from prison to home confinement. The judge ruling Cohen was sent back to prison in retaliation for writing a tell-all book about the president. OUTFRONT now, Jeffrey Toobin, chief legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. So, Jeff, you know, pretty amazing, right, that you get this you know, the judge saying this was a retaliation, right, from the president's Justice Department for writing a tell-all book. Can this order from the judge be seen as anything else but a stunning rebuke to the president and his Attorney General Bill Barr?
[Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Chief Legal Analyst:] A total rebuke. Judge Hellerstein said I've been a judge for 21 years. I've released a lot of people from prison. I have never seen an order like this. And, you know, first of all, writing books is protected by the First Amendment. And second, why this prisoner out of all prisoners is subject to this? The only conclusion he could draw, and I think it's a correct conclusion, is that this was an attempt to silence someone who is now a critic of the president.
[Burnett:] So, Cohen's book, you know, look, this is the latest in a string of books the president has recently tried to fail to block from publication. There was his niece, Mary Trump, right? There was John Bolton's book. So, was what happened today a surprise, you know, or to you at all or did you you know, did you think this was going to end this way?
[Toobin:] I think, you know, it usually is the case that the Bureau of Prisons has a lot of control over people who are released from prison prematurely. They can insist on house arrest. They can insist on, you know, no communication with certain people. But this was such an outrageous and obvious restriction on his constitutional rights for no good reason. I mean, there is no public safety involved. This was solely based on the idea that the president shouldn't be criticized. And so, for that reason, it did seem like a pretty obvious call for the judge, and it turned out that it was.
[Burnett:] And they tried to say, oh, because he was, you know, captured by the "New York Post" having dinner with friends that this was all a violation. That was the original cover for why they had to send back, but it didn't add up.
[Toobin:] But there was there was no restriction on his ability to have dinner with friends. That was there was no basis for that. And, you know, a lot of people dislike Michael Cohen on the left, on the right. But the point is the law has to apply to everyone equally. And if you're going to release someone from prison, you have to allow them to have the same rights as everyone else and everyone else has the right to express themselves under the First Amendment, and so does Michael Cohen.
[Burnett:] So we'll be seeing that Cohen book?
[Toobin:] We will be seeing that cone book and people can buy it if they want.
[Burnett:] All right. Thank you very much, Jeffrey Toobin.
[Toobin:] All righty, Erin.
[Burnett:] And next, Trump touting his performance on a cognitive test, that he keeps positioning, as you know, as an IQ test. So who gets this test? What you'll find out about the people who will get this test to begin with is really important, because the man behind the test is my guest, next.