Im writing, directing, performing, dancing. Like none of that has changed. People are under this huge misconception thats i just started stripping, and i have been doing this for like 18 years. Thats not true yes, im more in demand. And like i said in the Rolling Stone interview, if somebody came up to you and said, hey, you know that job you have been doing frefrk, how about next week, i pay your quadruple . Show me one person who is going to say no. So its helped you financially . Its helped me in the short immediate time because more people are coming out and more people in the clubs, thats more tips. But, you know, i have yet to see how its going to play out long term. When you look back at this stage of your life, what do you think youre going to think about . What are you going to think about what youre going through right now . Holy [ bleep ]. I mean, is there really anything else to say . Anything i havent asked you thats important to know, anything you would like to talk
the Million Dollars to protect her and say here, im good for it. Go tell your story . At least ten individuals in the last three days alone. Is she contemplating taking any of those ten offers . No. Lets talk about this. Im here with cnn legal analyst paul cowen, lets answer that question right off the bat. Is it that simple . Could she just talk and let Somebody Else pay whatever penalty they could be with this nondisclosure . She could, because the nondisclosure has a clause, called the liquidated damages cause, which says because its hard to figure out what the damages are, each violation will be 1 million. I think the problem with that theory, though, is the way its written, it could be multiple awards of 1 million depending on how many different stories she were to tell about the president. So it could be more than a million, and maybe it would be harder to get somebody to raise that much money. Judging by what her attorney told michael and what he said in multiple interviews, that doesnt seem to be her end goal. She seems to want to be free and clear of this nda completely, right . She does, but i think, of course, its all about the money in the end. I mean, she took 130,000 to keep quiet originally. And i think now she probably wants to write a book or go on the lecture tour and make a lot more money. She realized she undersold herself in terms of the information. Right. Perhaps not thinking that donald trump would ultimately become president of the United States. Now, i want to talk about the legal wrangling involved right now with this nondisclosure agreement, and essentially the case that her attorneys are trying to make. Theyre saying that the whole thing is invalid because donald trump never signed it. Do you think shes got a case . No, i dont think she has a case on that theory. I dont want to get too deeply into the weeds on this, but if you look at the first clause of the agreement, it says that the agreement could be between e. C. ,
llc, and or davidson, denison, rather, david denison, the president. The pseudonyms. And or. He does not have to sign the agreement for it to be effective. However, what i find to be interesting is that when you get into the clauses that deal with what happens at the arbitration, they only refer to d. D. Having the right to specify what law will apply, d. D. Specifying where the arbitration will take place. And d. D. Is not a party to it. So i think its sloppy drafting here. And as a result of that, theres a valid contract, but the clause is the most important clauses may not apply. Theres really two separate legal arguments taking place. One having to do with the future of the nondisclosure agreement, but also the potential federal elections violation that could blow back on the president , but the first person who has to deal with that is michael cohen. Can he make a legal argument that he took on this
responsibility of paying off Stephanie Clifford or Stormy Daniels without the president having any knowledge of it and the president then being completely absolves of any wrong doing . I think its an absurd argument. One of the accounts i was reading is he took this money from a line of credit on his home. A lawyer taking, you know, a line of equity on his house to pay 130,000 to a porn star on behalf of a client, the president , i mean, without the president knowing . That sounds pretty ridiculous. The original story, i think, was the one that rang true, was he was desperately trying to get ahold of the president to say, you know, 130,000 has to be paid by this date or shes free to talk. And he went out on his own and used his own money to get the thing in place. So that nothing bad would happen. Im betting thats what really happened. And it could be an election Law Violation even if he paid the money because its a contribution in kind by somebody
else who, which hasnt been reported. Either way, whether the president is paying for it or hes paying for it, it still could be an fec violation. What about Michael Cohens future . Hes an admitted member of the new york bar. Is this an appropriate action for an attorney to take this type of action on behalf of his client without his client knowing about it. No, it would be unethical if he did that. Theres a provision of the code of professional spanlt that says in handling litigation on behalf of a client, you have to consult with the client about the litigation. But of course, he may if he were to be pursued, he would appear and say, well, i have had general discussions with the president in the past and i have authority to handle these sorts of situations. Not that this has ever happened before, mind you. Michael cohen kind of describes himself as the president s fixer. He likes being compared to ray donovan, the fictional character that Liev Schreiber plays on the showtime drama. Is he going beyond the bounds of
what a normal attorney would do in representing and protecting their clients . You know whrx i looked at how he became affiliated with donald trump, i think of him more has the president s groupie, who eventually then morphed into personal counsel, who is putting out fires left and right for the president , and doing things maybe that counsel such as ty cobb in the white house would be inappropriate to involve them in these sorts of things. He was, you know, originally an investor in an apartment, a trump apartment, then he got some Family Members invest. And thats how his friendship with donald trump started. Then all of a sudden, he becomes the president s attorney. And as you play this out, as you look into the future, it seems as though at this point, this isnt something that Robert Mueller is all that interested in. Could it become something that bleeds into the special counsel investigation and what theyre looking into with russia . We have to circle back to your previous question about whether its an election Law Violation. That could cause mueller to circle back because election law
violations can be criminal violations. And if this has come out during the course of his investigation, it could be part of a referal to congress that there may have been election Law Violations here, and would that be a listable, Impeachable Offense . That would be up to congress. And that would depend upon whether its a Republican Congress or a democratic congress. Its a little hard to say how this works out in the long run. May not know the answer to that until after the 2018 midterms. Although stormy is doing well on the circuit she works these days. Its worth pointing out, obviously, a lot of sordid Details Associated with the story, but as you point out, there are huge legal ramifications for the most powerful man in the United States. All right, paul cowen, thank you for your analysis. Still to come, no sitting United States leader has ever agreed to meet with a north korean leader. But is President Trump heading into dangerous diplomatic territory . Ill ask a former ambassador who has negotiated with north korea coming up next. Okay folks
okay, people, thats a reset. You want us to surprise her again . Yeah, but like in a fun way. Like this. All my favorite friends are here. Theres tony and diane. Like that. avo switch to the best unlimited on the most awarded network, and get up to 500 off the Samsung Galaxy s9. For just go to priceline. Vel, now you can save even more when you bundle your flight and hotel together, up to 625 dollars off your trip. Wonder if i could also save money by bundling my personal trainer and pet sitter . Nice kaley, 5 more minutes come on trixie, burn off those treats dont you quit on me frank come on frank goldie, this isnt even on bundling doesnt work everywhere, but it does on priceline. It was the unexpected announcement that shook the diplomatic world. The president of the United States saying yes, he will meet facetoface with the reclusive leader of north korea. The exact when and where has yet to be hammered out. But just the idea of President Trump and kim jongun in the same room has analysts either excited at the magnitude of such a meeting or very nervous since the risk of failure and the stakes are both so high. Cnns will ripley is in seoul, south korea, right now. Which of these many emotions are very high in south korea this weekend after this announcement. And will, from your perspective, how are south koreans reacting . Are they excited or anxious . You know, on the streets here in seoul, the overall mood is optimistic. Theyre very enthusiastic about their president here, moon jaein, feeling he pulled off the virtually impossible. He did say, president moon, this is almost miraculous that President Trump agreed to this meeting. The fact that the south koreans were able to send an envoy to pyongyang on monday, and thursday, they had a commitment from the president of the United States for a Summit Meeting with kim jongun, truly extraordinary times were living in. Obviously, this is on the mind of President Trump. He tweeted about north korea four times in four hours. He said he had conversations with china and japan, both of which he says are optimistic about this process. Pleased that hes pursuing a diplomatic path as opposed to the alternative. He says he believes north korea will honor its commitment not to test a missile or a Nuclear Device while the diplomatic process is ongoing, and ryan, unsurprisingly, hes also upset with the media. He says that the coverage has turned fake. And that we are now saying so what, who cares . I dont know about you, but i certainly dont remember saying that. No. I was at the white house
yesterday, will. And part of that is born out of the confusion that we saw on thursday night versus the stance of the white house on friday. It just seems to be a bit of unclarity as to exactly what needs to be in place for this meeting to take place. Do you have a different perception about whether or not this meeting will even take place from what you did on thursday as opposed to where we stand now . Well, certainly, from the south korean perspective, they believe the meeting is going to take place. But there is some mixed messaging from the white house about what they expect to happen before this summit could actually be held. You know, President Trump apparently accepting the invitation for a meeting on the spot, which is probably what the north koreans anticipated when they extended the invitation. They figured it would be an opportunity that President Trump could not refuse for this kind of historic moment. But normally, these types of summits take months or years to prepare for, when you have two Heads Of State sitting down. Especially with an issue so sensitive and complex as north
korea. Theres so much prep work that needs to be done. And the white house is trying to figure out how to do that in a matter of weeks. How to prepare President Trump for a sitdown with a leader of a country that, you know, has really defied the International Community for so many decades. And apparently, you know, the president feels in one meeting he can solve the issue. And maybe he can. We dont know whats going to happen when this summit happens, if it does, by may or whenever they decide theyre going to do it. No doubt. Will ripley, the stakes are enormous. Thank you for your perspective. Now, one of those north korean experts who is worried about the risks surrounding a meeting between donald trump and kim jongun is bill richardson. Hes the former u. S. Ambassador to the united nations, and hes joining me now live to discuss this important topic. Ambassador, thank you for being here. You have been to north korea several times. Clearly, your interest in the peninsula is high. But as a diplomat, is this a wise move, taking a meeting at this level with so much at
stake . Well, you mentioned, ryan, i have been very involved with this issue for a long time. I have been there eight times. I have never seen the u. S. north korea situation as bad as its been. So im supportive of this summit. Its like a hail mary pass. President s meeting before diplomatic talks by lower level individuals take place, but there are enormous risks. Im pleased with the president s tweets today. Where hes realistically talking about the concessions. The concessions we have made, the visit, that is a concession. The president accepting. And the north koreans not having missile or Nuclear Tests and saying theyre okay with the u. S. south korea military drills. Keep it that way. Dont overpromise and say, well, theyve got to denuclearize before the meeting. Thats not going to happen. North korea is going to take
years, if that ever takes place. Yeah. Well, i want to get your reaction to what how some lawmakers on capitol hill are responding to this. This is massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. Listen to what she has to say. What i worry about is that he will walk into these negotiations and just bluntly, he will be taken advantage of. The generations of kims, the dictators, have wanted to meet facetoface with the United States president. And think about why. This is a giant prize for them. They believe it legitimizes their dictatorship, and they believe it legitimizes their Nuclear Weapons program. Before we hand that kind of a win over to kim jongun, we need to be meeting government to government and seeing the north koreans put on the table
evidence that they have frozen their Nuclear Weapons program. And have taken steps to take away, to reduce their nuclear arsenal. We need to see verifiable proof of that. Otherwise, we are giving them an enormous prize for no cost at all. And as i said, i want the president to succeed, but i am deeply worried that he will be taken advantage of, and that means ultimately, the United States will be taken advantage of. Senator warren, no fan of donald trump, obviously. She may run for president in 2020, but does she have a valid fear here, that the u. S. And specifically President Trump could be taken advantage of . Well, she has a legitimate worry. I have a legitimate worry, but as i said, i believe he took the right step in accepting the summit, because things couldnt
get worse. What i disagree with what she said, although i dont im not precise on what she exactly meant, is you cant have verifiable inspections, denuclearization before the meeting. Its unrealistic. Both sides have already made concessions. It makes sense to proceed with this summit. But what senator warren discussed is something that should involve a negotiating process. That the president assemble a team right away, State Department, led by tillerson. Department of defense, mattis. Mcmaster, a strategy that involves, look, north korea is not going to denuclearize, but its worth pursuing them curbing the use, freezing missile activity. Freezing conventional weapons. The peninsula is fraught with danger right now, and the reason that south koreaens are so happy
is at least theres a Detente Process going on that could maybe not have such a conflageration. So again, lets give the president and his team a chance, but i do worry. I mean, he shoots from the hip. I dont want to see bad tweets. Actually, the tweets today were reasonable. Maybe hes moving in the right direction. Maybe hes calmed down, but i doubt it. I dont know what hell do tomorrow morning. That point you make, ambassador, i think is part of what senator warren is talking about with her concern. It seems as though the president decided to make this move without consulting many of these people who would be intimately involved in the process youre talking about. Secretary of state tillerson was in africa. Earlier in the same day, he said there were no plans to move toward a meeting with the north koreans and afterthe fact said this was all the president s decision. Doesnt he need to involve the State Department a lot more, and dont they need to get diplomats on the ground in south korea to
be more involved in the process, and can they do that all before a meeting as soon as may . Well, look, if its going to be a delay of a month or so, i would be okay. But youre right. Theres a lot of work to be done. One, build a negotiating team. More importantly, have a strategy of expectations. What are we going to get out of it. Fill the ambassadorship in south korea. We dont have anybody there. Probably give the lead to secretary tillerson, although he was out in djibouti, africa, not knowing what was going on. So assemble a team and a strategy. Listen to diplomats, listen to former president s who have dealt with north korea. The president cant do it alone. This is not a reality show, this i