he says the number. cohen doesn t say it. so if that s true, and it is, how is it that just before election day, after this recording, two months, when the secret deal by the national enquirer to buy the silence of mcdougal was uncovered, trump s campaign said this. all aspects of this story are totally untrue. we have no knowledge of any of this. that s what hope hicks said at the time. now, that is inconsistent with what we just heard, and it is important for you to know. today the president refused to answer cnn s repeated questions about our exclusive audio. they then disinvited the reporter who was asking the questions from the next event. they can do that. but it does not make the questions go away. and we re going to take them up in our great debate next. hello. -and we welcome back gary,
and what is that? is it just mcdougal? i don t think so. why? because he keeps referring to it in the plural which raises a question. is there a trove of stuff that had been accumulated to insulate trump which they wanted and which theoretically is still out there? now, another important part of this audio is when trump says so what do we got to pay for this? 150? that s a reference to $150,000 that a.m.i. paid mcdougal for her story. a fact that trump appears to remember without prompting. he says the number. cohen doesn t say it. so if that s true, and it is, how is it that just before election day, after this recording, two months, when the secret deal by the national enquirer to buy the silence of mcdougal was uncovered, trump s campaign said this.
and make believe what s on the tape. i agree with you the tape is a little bit hard to hear. i assure you we listened to it numerous, numerous times. the transcript makes it quite clear at the end that president trump says don t pay with cash. cohen interrupts and says no, no, no. i ve got it. and then you are distinctly, if you slow it down, check. and then cohen followed with no, no, no. and then quickly cuts off the tape which indicates exactly what professor dershowitz was saying, that cohen doesn t want the rest recorded. there s no way the president is going to be talking about setting up a corporation and then using cash unless you are a complete idiot. again, the president is not an idiot. laura: there was a moment tonight on cnn where lani davis
scream. i agree with you the tape is a little bit hard to hear. i assure you we listened to it numerous, numerous times. the transcript makes it quite clear the end that president trump says don t pay with cash. cohen interrupts and says no, no, no. i ve got it. and then you are distinctly come if you slow it down, check. i then cohen followed with no, no, no. and then cuts off the tape which indicates exactly professor dershowitz is saying, that cohen doesn t want the rest. there s no way the president is going to be talking about setting up a corporation and then using cash unless you are complete idiot. again, the president is not an idiot. laura: there was a moment tonight on cnn where lonnie davis kept saying we are showing
cohen doesn t feel one to the president, how could that be utilized by the special counsel and what twists and turns remain? while the white house had no officially commented, the president in his own voice on twitter did so, and he is certainly throwing some shade at michael cohen. alex? kelly o donnell thank you so much. see you again today. joining me now, washington post reporter eugene scott and cnbc editor at large john harwood. good morning to you both. eugene, with you here first, michael cohen recording his conversations and the president s response. how concerning is this for the white house realistically? realistically quite concerning because it appears the president was not aware he had been recorded by his former personal attorney, and so it s very possible there are more tapes, and he know knowing what he could have been talking about with cohen, it s probably concern that some of those