Brought home from north korea by the secretary of state mike pompeo and mr. Trump announces new details of his summit with kim jongun. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Breaking news tonight, the New York Times is reporting that the Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told colleagues she was close to resigning wednesday after President Trump berated her during a cab nate meeting. Also, Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti joins me live this hour and our correspondents and analysts are standing by. First, lets go to Kaitlan Collins with more on the breaking news. What are you finding out . To set the scene, there was a Cabinet Meeting focused explicitly on immigration at the white house yesterday. Of course at the beginning of the meeting they let the reporters come in with the cameras, the president speaks, we heard from the president yesterday some comments on north korea and what not. Not a ton on immigration, just some. But things got interesting, apparently, when the cameras left the room. The New York Times first reported this but cnn has confirmed that the president and Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen did get into a heated lengthy argument over immigration where the president was ranting at nielsen saying he didnt think she was doing enough to secure the border. Nielsen, im told, was holding her ground in this argument with the president , citing the law in some instances but it was a lengthy heated argument, something we havent seen between the president and nielsen in a fashion like this, the New York Times is reporting after that meeting nielsen fell like the president s anger was directed at her specifically and that in turn she drafted a Resignation Letter and offered to resign from that position because of course that argument would she see as a referendum on how she is doing her job. We have not confirmed the Resignation Letter but the New York Times is reporting that much. As far as who nielsen is, this is john kellys protege, she worked with him at dhs before. She came to him with the white house when she was chief of staff. She ruffled feathers there because she was seen as john kellys enforcer in the west wing. When kelly, later on he was the one to who pitched her to the president as taking over as the new department of Homeland Security secretary, she did get that job but clearly the president is not pleased with her performance so far, ranting at her in front of other cabinet secretaries in the rook for this yesterday. But the reason i bring up john kelly here is because its important to note the president and nielsen have never had this personal chemistry, something the president looks for in people he hairs, he hired her because john kelly brought her into the west wing, she became familiar with the president and thats how she got the job as the Homeland Security secretary but clearly it seems to be on theline, neither she is happy nor the president. Very awkward, very embarrassing if not humiliating to be berated by the president in front of the entire cabinet. If he wanted to do it, he could have had a private meeting with her and maybe john kelly present as well. Was there something specific he was so angry about . Weve seen the president s anger about Border Security rise in recent weeks, just look at his twitter feed and you can see it from there, especially what he was saying about the caravan coming from Central America to the United States telling the department of Homeland Security they needed to turn people away at the border. We know some people traveling in the caravan, some migrants did come into the United States seeking asylum so its something that has been a source of the president s anger. When Something Like this angers him, he often takes it out on someone and Kirstjen Nielsen seems to be the target of his anger this time. But according to my source that she did hold her ground where the president. Clearly thats why she offered to resign according to the New York Times thinking if the president isnt happy with her she doesnt want to stay. But the president did seem to be angry with her, talking about immigration, saying he doesnt think enough is being done, of course, wolf, the Border Crossing numbers go up, which we have seen an uptick in april. That robs the president of a talking point, something he likes to use when like when hes going to this rally tonight in indiana with the Vice President mike pence. The president likes to tout that, if he cant talk about that, that takes something away he can use to talk to supporters about what a great job hes doing in office so there is a lot of anger with the president that caused him to lash out in a Cabinet Meeting like this. Growing list of members of the cabinet the president is angry at. Rudy giulianis former law firm took a parting shot as he resigned to focus on the work for the president. The firm rejecting giulianis defense of the hush payments to Stormy Daniels which he suggested was common practice among lawyers and law firms. Our National Political reporter mj lee is joining us. Mj, giuliani claimed there is nothing unusual about lawyers making payments for their clients without clients knowing about it. Thats right, wolf. Hours after Greenberg Traurig announced it parted ways with Rudy Giuliani it released a statement basically rejecting giulianis previous defense of Michael Cohen and this payment to Stormy Daniels. This, of course, is that 130,000 payment that Michael Cohen secretly made to Stormy Daniels back in 2016 to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with donald trump, now giuliani if you remember stunned people last week when he went on fox news and said donald trump paid back Michael Cohen for that 130,000 payment and you might also remember he defended Michael Cohens payment saying theres nothing to see here, lawyers do these kind of things all the time. Here he is. That was money that was paid by his lawyer, the way i would do, out of his law firm funds or whatever funds, doesnt matter. Like i take care of things like this for my clients. I dont burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people. That law firm, Greenberg Traurig is add dreadsing those comments. Heres what they said we cannot speak to mr. Giuliani, speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged without the knowledge and direction of a client. I should note that giuliani said he meant to go on temporary leave from his role at this law firm but he has now decided to make that resignation permanent so that he can concentrate full time on the work hes doing for the president. Giuliani also told our dana bash, mj, that he wasnt aware of Michael Cohens pitch to potential clients for access to President Trump following the 2016 election. What are you hearing on that . Thats right, wolf. What we learned about this week was that Michael Cohen was pitching himself very aggressively to companies shortly after the election saying he could grant them access to the white house, help them understand the new administration. Disab dana bash asked giuliani about this and giuliani said he spoke to the president about this the day the story came out and trump insisted he didnt know about this behavior. I wanted to add that we have breaking news from raj shah. Two reporters on fair force one minutes ago and he said President Trump makes his own decisions, the president makes up his own mind about policy matters so clearly trying to signal the president is not wayed by outside forces, of course, the cohen news created bad news for the white house and what kind of access he may have promised to corporations like at t, like the Pharmaceutical Company novartis and we now now that special counsel rural, they have questioned those two companies about the contracts Michael Cohen struck with these firms. They questioned both of these Companies Six months ago even though were only learning about it right now. Very significant. Mj lee, thanks very, very much. There are also serious questions about an email sent by Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels previous attorney days after Michael Cohens home office and hotel room, safe deposit box were raided by the fbi. Sara sidner is working this part of the story. Sara, what are you learning . Stormy daniels lawyer, Michael Avenatti, as you mentioned, put this email out today. We want to show it to you to explain what is said. But there is an email he tweeted out which is a communication between Michael Cohen to Keith Davidson who is the original attorney for Stormy Daniels who brokered the 130,000 deal to try to keep her quiet, keep her from talking about her alleged affair with donald trump. Heres what the email says. Now, remember,s from Michael Cohen, Donald Trumps personal attorney. It says i lost all my contacts and i had to get a new phone. Please send me all your contact information. Also, why did anthony back out on abc to do the story. Let me know how you want to communicate. Now, we have learned through our reporting from sources that anthony, the person hes referring to in that email, is the boyfriend of Stormy Daniels former manager, gina rodriguez. Now, why would he be doing an interview with abc and why would Michael Cohen be asking about that . Well, according to our sources, he knows some information about Stormy Daniels concerning the nda and concerning her demeanor when she was signing one of those letters denying there was an affair between her and donald trump which she says she was coerced into or threatened into signing. The question is why is Michael Cohen involved in that . Was he trying to get this man to go on television to defend their position and embarrass zelstorm daniels or was he going on to tell his truth and his side of the story and what he knew . Those questions remain to be seen. We have no comment from mr. Davidson. If youre wondering how mr. Avenatti was able to get this personal information that is obviously an email between two people that was private, he has a simple explanation, that is that the email obtained in connection with their efforts to get any and all documents relating to mr. Davidsons prior representation representation of my client. And that is how they got it. He says look we were asking for information that has to do with his client which is perfectly legal and he should have, he says thats how we got ahold of this and he goes further in his tweet asking why is Michael Cohen involved in this and what exactly what r was he trying to prove remembering that email came a couple days after cohens offices were raided. How did he lose his phone . Likely the fbi had ahold of it. Sara sidner, thanks very much. Joining us now, the aforementioned lawyer for Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti. Michael, thanks for joining us. Thanks, wolf, explain precisely what you meant in this tweet you posted earlier racing the question that Michael Cohen potentially sent this email in an attempt to obstruct justice. Well, wolf, this email is very, very disturbing forthe po following reasons. Its less than 48 hours after the fbi raided Michael Cohens home, his office and his hotel room. Michael cohen reaches out to my clients former attorney Keith Davidson, he notes that he doesnt have his cell phone and i can confirm that thats because the fbi took it in the raid and he is communicating with mr. Davidson but they dont have any legal cases at that time together, they dont have any reason to be communicating, theyre not making dinner reservations and Michael Cohen inquires as to how they should communicate and he references this anthony as it relates to some interview that evidently Keith Davidson and Michael Cohen were in the process of trying to get set up. So look this is disturbing, it appears that Michael Cohen even after the fbi raid was tampering with the story. It may constitute obstruction of justice. Michael cohen had no business communicating with my clients former attorney after the representation end ed. Lets get to the other documents you collected. U. S. Foreign corporations for influence and you can look. This information, how did you get these documents . Were not going disclose how we got the information, thats protected by work product privilege. We understand theres been an investigation launched by treasury, we welcome the investigation because we have done nothing wrong and nothing illegal. I find it ironic that people are concentrating on where we got the documents as opposed to the veracity of the report we issued. All but 25,000 has checked out so almost 3 million in transactions no one has quibbled with. Michael cohen and his attorneys made a big deal yesterday out of 25,000. They didnt address payments on your screen because its 100 accurate. We think the public has a right to know and ill tell you we havent even crashed the surface with this email and the information we released, we have emails, text messages, other Financial Information and People Better be very careful in the representations they make and im spoking to you Michael Cohen and your counsel mr. Ryan and others you better be careful in the representations you make in Court Filings and the American People because well prove you wrong if the need be, period. The u. S. Treasury Department Inspector general is investigating this leak of information to you, are you worried at all, michael, that the information you exposed could have a very bad effect on the source of this information who put this information out there . I want to be clear about something. Were not agrees that anything was quote leaked to us and thats a predicate to your question. But to answer your question im not concerned the disclosure of this information will hamper the efforts of the fine attorneys of the Southern District of new york. These are exceptional prosecutors, im confident they will do what they have always done and that is to bring prosecutions that hold up and they get results. Are you willing to fully cooperate with the treasury departments Inspector General . We are willing to cooperate with that investigation, we will and we have nothing to hide. But i would like to comment on mr. Giulianis firing today and thats what it is, lets be clear, its not a resignation, thats trying to put lipstick on a pig. Im familiar with Greenberg Traurig. They took exception to what mr. Giuliani said because its so outside the norm of how attorneys practice and they forced him out of the form so maybe he has enough time now, maybe hell come on with me and we can have an educated discussion about the facts this case as opposed to a bunch of name call. Giuliani to remind our viewers said these law firms routinely pay hush money without clients knowing about it and clearly Greenberg Traurig, this major law firm, was not accepting that, and maybe youre right, thats why hes no longer a member of that firm. Hes completely severed the relationship. What do you make of the denial from right that the president had knowledge of the huge sums of money Michael Cohen was receiving . I dont believe it. I dont believe the denial, this is the right hand attorney to mr. Trump for many years, in fact, as of a couple days ago he still listed himself as the personal attorney to the president and if you put that back up, from april of 24 year so a month ago, this is after the fbi raids, there you go you can see his title at the bottom he lists himself as personal attorney to president donald j. Trump. This is after the fbi raids and hes still using that in his signature block. So the close proximity of mr. Trump cannot be overstated and i dont believe his denial. A spokes for Keith Davidson told sara sidner only a few moments ago michael, and im quoti quoting, any suggestion they didnt have legitimate business to discuss is patently false. Thats the spokesperson for Keith Davidson. Your reaction. So what was the business . Let him come on your show. These broad statements without support mean nonsense. We know the agreement with my client was completed, we know the agreement with ms. Mcdougal was completed. You mean to tell me these two attorneys were working on another deal relating to another woman . Im anxious to hear about it. Have them come on your show and maybe they can explain to the American People what was going on with this fourth woman. He says hes bound by Attorney Client privilege and as a result cant come on and discuss this. You dont buy that reason . Well, look, he makes this broad statement then hes not willing to back it up. Nonsense. One quick question. The mistakes you made and the small sums, clearly small sums, these were other Michael Cohens you got confused with the actual Michael Cohen . Is that what happened . We didnt get confused, wolf, we here in the process of running into ground what happened there. Its a total of 25,000 worth of transactions out 306 million and if you add up the additional 800,000 that came to light when novartis made their announcement, we were aware of that before we drafted our report, we didnt including for strategic reasons. We were aware of the 400,000 for at t. Thats about a 99. 5 accuracy rate, ive taken a lot of tests, ill take that on any exam. Michael avenatti, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Just ahead, the corporate payments President Trumps personal lawyer, what if the president did know about Michael Cohens schemes . Stay with us. Plus, breaking news, President Trump speaking soon about the return of three americans from north korea, well take you live to his rally in indiana. We had long deployments in iraq. Im really grateful that usaa was able to take care of my family while i was overseas serving. It was my very first car accident. We were hit from behind. I called usaa and the first thing they asked was are you ok . they always thank you for your service, which is nice because as a spouse you serve too. Were the hayles and were usaa members for life. See how much you could save with usaa by bundling your auto and home insurance. Get a quote today. No one thought much of itm at all. L people said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. They thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldnt that be cool . And thats why exxonmobil scientists think its request my cholesterol is borderline. I can worry about it, or do something about it. Garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. And its odor free. And pharmacist recommended. Garlique. ®. Theres more breaking news tonight, a shocking joke, its supposedly being called, by a white house aide about senator john mccain who is battling brain cancer right now. Lets go to our chief White House Correspondent jim acosta. Jim, youre getting new information from your sources, update our viewers. Thats right, wolf. Weve been able to confirm a story that came out in the hill earlier this afternoon that kelly sadler, who is an assistant to the president , works at the white house with communications with surrogates apparently said at a meeting this morning among other communications staffers in reference to senator john mccains opposition to gina haspels nomination to run the cia, it doesnt matter according to a white house official excuse me, kelly sadler said it doesnt matter because john mccain is dying anyway. According to an official who coffin fi confirmed this. This was thought to be a joke told by kelly sadler to other white house staffers but according to this white house official the joke fell flat. We should point out the white house that has released a statement to try to clean up this mess and this is from a white house official, theres no white house spokesperson putting their name on this statement that says we respect senator mccains service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time. As you said, senator mccain is dealing with cancer. But, wolf, we should note the tone is obviously as we said at the top, President Trump long mocked senator john mccain about his service to country. He once said he preferred soldiers who arent captured in reference to senator john mccain being a p. O. W. So obviously this just is just a continuation of some of the hostility that exists inside the white house that is directed at john mccain and we are standing out at a rally that President Trump will be holding in about 30 minutes, scheduled to hold in 30 minutes from now. Obviously hell be touting this home coming that we saw last night for those three american prisoners who came home from north korea. But, wolf, this is once again an example of just the intense negativity that flows of this administration and what we saw some of that here ourselves in just the last half hour, there were people chanting lock her up, lock her up almost two years after the 2016 election, Trump Supporters chanting lock her up. Wolf, we should point out its not the Hillary Clinton administration thats under investigation by the special counsels office, its the Trump Administration. Fair point, jim acosta, thanks very much. Lets turn ron wyden of oregon, a key member of the Senate Intelligence committee. I want to get your reaction to the breaking news we had at the top of the hour, the Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen close to resigning after being berated, berated by the president in front of the entire cabinet at a meeting yesterday, whats your reaction to that . Im not surprised anymore, wolf. I mean, we are seeing this happen with one highranking official after another, sometimes i hear these reports and i just get the sense that maybe the president s barber is going to end up at a key post in our government. And to be berated like that over Border Security in front of all the members of the cabinet as opposed to a private one on one meeting. Youre being logical, wolf. And thats exactly why this gives Public Servants such a bad nam name. Vice president mike pence said that Robert Mueller needs to wrap up his investigation. What do you think of that . What bob muellers career has always been about is do it by the books. Dont set arbitrary dates, dont try to intimidate people. Bob mueller is a republican, hes a decorated war hero. Throughout his career and, boy, i have disagrooed with him plenty on policy issues, hes behaved in an honorable way. Nobody is above the law. Let him do the job. Robert mueller has known now we have confirmed for months about Michael Cohens llc called essential consultants which is at the center of a growing scandal around cohen trying to sell access to the president. Does that suggest to you that his investigation is much broader than previously known . It certainly is, again, a new development and a troubling one and what america has seen here raises the specter of corruption in the white house. I have rarely seen Something Like that in really in effect sounds like our government for sale. Its a corporate shakedown. And, by the way, as the ranking democrat on the Senate Finance committee, we have jurisdiction over the Drug Companies and tomorrow well ask pointed questions of novartis. Is there Something Congress needs to do as far as youre concerned . Well, i want to know what novartis thought it was buying for the 1. 2 million. This was a pretty crucial time. They were looking at getting a cancer drug approved, they were negotiating with medicare on the issue of what taxpayers would pay for drugs. Cohen was getting paid more by the lobbyists. I want to know who approved the deal at novartis, the deal stinks and even the employees, many of them seem outraged. Are you calling for a fullscale investigation right now . Yes, yes. We are going to be initiating that on the finance committee. We have jurisdiction over Drug Companies and this is a time when so many seniors and consumers are seeing their prices going through the stratosphere and we have what looks like a corporate shakedown and the company paying out money to somebody like Michael Cohen when what they ought to be doing is focusing on lowering prices for seniors. These companies saying they were paying for insight into the new administration for Michael Cohen. That kind of consulting as you well know extremely common in washington, member of both parties do it. Do you have evidence that there is something more nefarious . As i indicated, i have rarely seen something this gross. Something like this didnt nap either the bush or the obama administrations. So those are the questions well pose to novartis tomorrow but make no mistake, we did not see this in the previous administration, one republican and one democratic. Senator ron wyden making news in the situation room, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. More breaking news, Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reportedly close to quitting after President Trump berated her during a Cabinet Meeting in front of all the members of the cabinet. And are President Trumps lawyers prepping him for a possible interview with special counsel Robert Mueller . Rudy giuliani talked about it to cnn. Stay with us. Parallel parking job goes to. [ drum roll ]. Emily lapier from ames, iowa. This is emilys third nomination and first win. Um. So, just. Wow um, first of all, to my fellow nominees, it is an honor sharing the road with you. And of course, to the progressive snapshot app for giving good drivers the discounts no, i have to say it for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. Safe driving for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. So, howell. Going . We had a vacation early in our marriage that kinda put us in a hole. Go someplace exotic . Yeah, bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. 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Does your Business Internet provider promise a lot . Lets see who delivers more. Comcast business gives you gigspeed in more places. The others dont. We offer up to 6 hours of 4g Wireless Network backup. Everyone else, no way. We let calls from any of your devices come from your business number. Them, not so much. We let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. The others . Nope get internet on our gigspeed network and add voice and tv for 34. 90 more per month. Call or go on line today. The breaking news tonight, the New York Times reporting that the Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told her colleagues she was close to resigning yesterday after President Trump openly berated her during a meeting with the entire cabinet. Lets get more from our specialist and our analysts, gloria borger, we got a statement coming in from kirs n Kirstjen Nielsen. The president is rightly frustrated that existing lo ini loopholes have prevented this administration from securing the border and protecting the American People. I share his frustration, Border Security is the most basic and necessary responsibility of a sovereign nation. There are complex issues and i will continue to direct the department to do all we can to implement the president s security focused agenda. Its my great honor to represent the men and women of dhs who work everyday to enforce our laws and secure our nation. A specific statement but not a flat denial that she was threatening to resign. No, her staff tweeted something saying she never threatened to resign but its clear that she put that out and did nod at dress the name article specifically, wolf, because something happened in that meeting and that was probably pretty offensive to her and you asked my reaction. My reaction is im not surprised, that the president likes to keep his Campaign Promises and he feels this one hasnt moved as quickly as he would like and when people explain to him how difficult it is to close the border as he wants, specifically to do in such a short period of time, he does lash out, thats what donald trump does, thats why he has such a huge turnover in his cabinet and in his staff. So is it a surprise to me . Absolutely not. Dana bash, lets get to other news. You spoke with the president s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani today. Update our viewers, tell us what he told you. First of all, he said that he spoke to the president once about this story that has been out there now for two days about Michael Cohen effectively peddling himself to big firms to make money to say that he has access to the president and what giuliani said is that he spoke to the president , as i said, once about it and that the president said he did not know that cohen was doing that, giuliani also said he is not as worried about it as one would think because theres no connection specifically between Michael Cohen and the president , the president is not specifically named in these stories yet as being involved so we will see if that changes but right now thats what giuliani is saying. The first denial that we have heard specifically about the president knowing what cohen was doing. Well, david swerdlick, how do you see it . As dana said, theres no information in the reporting thus far that suggests the president knew about this, but to believe what mayor giuliani said you have to believe that the president didnt know what was going on with someone who was both his friend, his personal attorney, counsel for the Trump Organization and who was doing payoffs out of the essential consultants account for his alleged mistresses, the same account, the same llc where, according to reporting, money was coming in from corporations including this sort of distantly related russian financial corporation. If you believe all that, then, yeah, mayor giuliani is saying what he talked to the president about, but i think more information will come out. Wolf, what i dont understand about this story is is why is anyone surprised . This is how washington works. What is former senator john breaux, evan bayh, trent lott, what do they do for a living . They sell their influence. What does Corey Lewandowski do for a living . He cells his influence. This is the revolting culture that exists in washington, d. C. Its legal but its revolting. But jeffrey, look, Michael Cohen has not been indicted yet and theres no evidence that anything illegal took place. Youre right that this is part of the washington swamp. Whats not part of the normal washington swamp is that money going for corporate influence is going into the same account where its been reported that money is being paid out to a porn star who is alleged to be the president s former mistress. Thats not typical washington. That i would agree. The porn star angle is somewhat novel, ill grant you that. But the idea that serve so shocked and outraged that Michael Cohen, having failed to get a job in the administration decides to whore himself out as someone in the investigation, thats the american way. Thats legal. But remember, its not just that, its cnn reporting this week also that part of the payment that Michael Cohen got was from a company that is led by the cousin of a russian oligarch. Now that company says that theyre separate so you see the graphic right there, but that is also why this is a big deal. Its not just us saying this, its Robert Mueller, according to cnns reporting, interviewing that oligarch. Yes, that part of the story th as well as the porn star part of the story makes it novel but i find the whole outrage and shock about oh, my goodness, Michael Cohen is selling his access to the president , this is how the city works. Youre absolutely right. Honestly whats shocking and surprise about this to me, jeffrey, i dont know if you agree is why anybody would think that cohen, who wanted to go to washington, did not go to washington and then said to everyone im the person you need to deal with because im so close to the president , why they would buy that because once the president got to washington, of course, that wasnt the case. But, remember, Michael Cohen had dinner with the president at maralago not long ago, shortly before the search of his office. That was about Stormy Daniels, we would think, who knows . I dont know what they talked about but you know if youre a company that has interests in the federal government like at t, like novartis, like these companies that actually did pay Michael Cohen, who better to pay . Sure, maybe you wouldnt maybe it wouldnt work out but you know, he was peddling influence and it was worth taking a shot. We have to go but very quickly, jeffrey, if hes also taking money from a Foreign Company like korean aerospace, doesnt he have to register as a Foreign Agent under the Foreign Agents registration act . Well, that we would have to see, we have to see what the terms are, and lobbyists have to register, too, and i dont i dont eliminate the possibility that there was some technical violation of the lobbying rules but i think the genre action to this story of my goodness, hes selling his influence shows that people dont understand what a cesspool this place is. Thats a fair point, jeffrey and company, guys, stick around, theres more breaking news. Were getting new information about another corporate payment. Why did at t pay Michael Cohen hundreds of thousands of dollars . Liberty mutual saved us almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. Liberty did what . Yeah, they saved us a ton, which gave us a little wiggle room in our budget. I wish our insurance did that. Then we could get a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey, welcome back. This guy, right . laughs yes. Ellen. Thats my robe. You could save 782 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. There is more breaking news tonight. New information about the deal between President Trumps personal attorney Michael Cohen and at t. Tonight, the Washington Post is reporting that at t hired cohen specifically to advise the company on its planned merger with time warner, the Parent Company of cnn. Our cnn senior media correspondent, host of reliable sources Brian Stelter has been working the story for us. Brian, this is a significant development. Youve got new reporting on cohen being paid a whole lot more than was first known. Yes, it seems every day, wolf, we learn more about this deal. First, Michael Avenatti alleged it was a 200,000 payment from at t to cohen over the course of four months. Then at t said, actually, it was for a full year and we were paying for, quote, unquote, insights into the Trump Administration. Yesterday we learned that Robert Mueller knew about this six months ago. He already checked it out. Now were learning the payment is a lot more than originally reported. According to a source with knowledge of the matter, at t paid a total of 600,000. Thats 50,000 a month for 12 months over the course of 2017. This deal started right after inauguration day. As at t, like a lot of other companies, was trying to figure out what the Trump Administration would do with regards to Net Neutrality regulations, the taenat t time warner deal and other big business. This is a crucial piece of this. This is a deal in the works for more than 18 months. At t has been trying to buy cnns Parent Company time warner. As soon as trump came into office, there was concern the Trump Justice Department might try to squash the deal somehow as a form of punishment against this network. Regulators denied that. They said they were worried about the antitrust implications. They essentially sued to block the deal last november, saying the deal would be anticompetitive. Now there is a judge in d. C. About to issue a ruling. Whats notable about this new reporting in the Washington Post is says that cohen was specifically tasked with giving advice about the at t time warner deal. Part of his charge, essentially, his reason being paid 50,000 a month was to give advice about how to approach the deal and maybe how to sway trumps mind about that. That may not be illegal. There was no indication that anything illegal has been done, but as Jeffrey Toobin and others were saying earlier, it sure looks very swampy. It came at a time when the president was attacking cnn on an almost regular basis. Thats right. Brian stelter, thanks very much for that. Just ahead, israel versus iran. Well go live to jerusalem for the latest on the fighting and the growing tension in the region. Once there was an organism so small no one thought much of it at all. People said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. They thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldnt that be cool . And thats why exxonmobil scientists think its not small at all. Energy lives here. So allstate is giving us money back on our bill. Well, that seems fair. We didnt use it. Wish we got money back on gym memberships. Get money back hilarious. With claimfree rewards. Switching to allstate is worth it. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. Thats it . Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, every day mcdonalds helps more people go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. I thought after sandy hook, where 20 six and seven year olds were slain, this would never happen again. It has happened more than 200 times in 5 years. Dianne feinstein and a new generation are leading the fight to pass a new assault weapons ban. Say no to the nra and yes to commonsense gun laws. California values senator Dianne Feinstein were following the very tense situation between israel and iran after israel responded to rocket attacks on the Golan Heights by striking iranian targets inside syria. Our Global Affairs correspondent elise labbot is joining us from jerusalem tonight. Whats the latest youre picking up on over there . Reporter well, wolf, its really an unprecedented exchange of direct fire between israel and iran. Its threatening to turn this long simmering conflict between these two sworn enemies into a fullblown war. Israel lit up the skies over syria. Launching a barrage of missiles on Iranian Military targets in the country, retaliation for what israel says was an attack by the elite quds force of the Iran Revolutionary guard of at least 20 rockets aimed at Israeli Military posts in the Golan Heights. The most direct confrontation to date between israel and iran came just one day after President Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with iran. While Prime Minister netanyahu said the iranian attack failed, he warned iran against a repeat performance. Translator iran has crossed a red line. Whoever hits us will get hit seven times over. Whoever prepares themselves to attack us will be attacked first. Reporter israel says it struck dozens of iranian targets in syria, releasing a map detailing irans extensive military presence right at israels doorstep. Tehran has not taken responsibility for attacking the Golan Heights, but if true, it would mark the first time Iranian Forces have fired directly at israeli forces. Translator the International Community needs to prevent the iranian force from basing itself in syria. Reporter the escalating tensions highlighting concerns over irans military buildup in syria and tehrans ability to use the country as a base to launch attacks on israel. The white house saying in a statement today, quote, the iranian regimes deployment into syria of offensive rocket and Missile Systems aimed at israel is an unacceptable and highly Dangerous Development for the entire middle east. Netanyahu met with one of irans biggest backers wednesday, russian president vladimir putin, and made the case directly for israels actions. Putin, who has influence over tehran, called for restraint. And, wolf, its quiet tonight on the Golan Heights. The israelis do not think that the iranians want to escalate, but they do see this as a prime opportunity to go against iran. They see iran as weakened after President Trump pulled out of the iranian deal, out of the nuclear deal, and they dont see that they would have any better friend in the white house to support their campaign against iran than President Trump, wolf. Yeah, its still a very, very tense situation thats unfolding right now. Elise labbot in jerusalem for us. Thanks for that report. Thats it for me. Thanks very much for watching. Im wolf blitzer in the situation room. Erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Outfront next, breaking news, the president s Homeland Security secretary reportedly almost resigning after the president berated her in front of the entire cabinet. Kirstjen nielson is speaking out tonight. Plus, legal troubles mounting for Michael Cohen as new reports reveal more ties between cohen and russia. And trumps tough talk rattling americas closest allies, but is his base loving it . And more loyal than ever . Lets go outfront. Good evening. Im erin burnett. Outfront tonight, the breaking news, a cabinet in chaos tonight. President trumps Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielson telling colleagues she was close to resigning a