Erin Burnett stays ahead of the headlines, delivering a show that is indepth and informative. Erin Burnett stays ahead of the headlines, delivering a show that is indepth and informative. A very close relationship. So harry talked about the kind of legal ramifications here. What does this mean emotionally for the president. He feels a sense of the world closing in. Someone just plead guilty to federal crimes and said i committed this federal crime at the direction of the president of the United States. Didnt name donald trump, but donald trump is who he was talking about. Theres no way donald trump isnt feeling this emotionally in a very raw way. Well see that come out in the rally in West Virginia. The president speaking in just moments. Were obviously monitoring it closely. April, youve covered the white house day in and day out. The people the president works most closely with and the president himself repeatedly denied knowing anything about these payments to Stormy Daniels. Lets just listen. Did the president and Michael Cohen talk about this payment at
any time during the campaign or thereafter . Not that im aware of. Id refer you to michael. Did you know about the 130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels . No, no. Why did Michael Cohen you have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney and youll have to ask Michael Cohen. Do you know where he got the money to make that payment . I dont know, no. There you go. Today we do know because Michael Cohen answered that question. Youll have to ask Michael Cohen, in court today. Said it was at the behefts of the president. Giuliani said in may on another network, yeah, he knew about these payments and he paid him back. How does the white house handle this . What does Sarah Sanders say at the podium when you and other journalists ask her . Well, lets not even go to sarah. That would be tomorrow. Lets talk about tonight. The white house from what im understanding from our republican sources are white house staffers are very upset and very concerned about what
the president could say tonight in West Virginia. So thats the first step. And then tomorrow you know, we always hear Sarah Sanders do prezsplaining. This president and Michael Cohen are polar opposites on the truth as it relates to what happened with these payments. But and there is a credibility issue on both sides. But at the same time, you have tapes. Sex, lies and videotape and audiotape now. So thats the issue, the proof. Michael cohen apparently understands that hes condemned a damned man for him to plead guilty to this because there is evidence. So we have to wait to see what the president has to say. Earlier today when the president disembarked air force one, he talked about Paul Manafort, but his silence was deafening on Michael Cohen. You just heard he was just walking. Is he going to turn around . Going to answer . He sometimes does when reporters keep shouting at him. He did not. Rudy giuliani on hannity may 2nd, i believe, and asked about all of this. This is what he disclosed, the president paid him back, paid cohen back for the 130,000. Even sean hannity was like, what . When it comes to the issue of could it be Campaign Finance violation, heres how Rudy Giuliani responded. Was it a Campaign Finance violation . Which usually would result in a fine, by the way, not this big Storm Troopers Coming in and breaking down his apartment and office. That horrible Storm Troopers comment aside, is this just some little thing that Rudy Giuliani is saying . Its like its Campaign Finance violation. Its not a big deal. Heres the key distinction. If you commit a campaign violation. Lets say you exceed the limit and didnt know you made the mistake. That you get punished with a fine. If you willfully, intending to violate the Campaign Finance law do so, then that is a crime. And you can be prosecuted. Felony . It say felony. You can be punished. I think its a five hear yeyea maximum. Is it by accident or is it intentional and willful . Shan, the thing is its pretty were settled. Some contest it. Legally, you cant indict a sitting president , right . If thats the case, then this is political. This is in the hands of congress at this point, shan, or do you see it differently . I think ultimately, it is going to be political. I think mueller is a conservative prosecutor. I think the Southern District is not going to try to make any new ground by trying to indict the president. And i think it does end up being the question of, does this add to the impeachability of donald trump. And an interesting question related to that is ultimately muellers report comes out, which is not about this particular case, how does he handle this information . Does he need to include it in it as well . Thats probably a question for him. Frank, to you. Isnt the best Case Scenario here tonight for the president , the best case, that at the very least he didnt hire the best. That at the very least the president hired admitted and convicted felons. Did i miss anything . Thats what keeps reverberating in my head. Im just laughing but we need to say one other thing about Michael Cohen. We do not know for a fact that hes not yet going to cooperate in some measure with Robert Mueller. That was sort of left out there. Its not part of this agreement. Certainly seems less likely than it did a month ago. If you follow the reporting on this closely it remains an open question as to whether Michael Cohen will talk to Robert Mueller and Whether Mueller will turn around and recommend a lighter sentence. That chapter of the story is not over and the president remains exposed in that fashion. April ryan, to you. The president , remember, was calling all of this a witch hunt over and over again. He said it on april 9th when Michael Cohens apartment was
raided by the fbi. Well, now this is a quote unquote witch hunt according to the president with a guilty plea and an admission in front of a federal judge by Michael Cohen. The president continues this language tonight afterwards discipline it work for him politically . Well, you know it works for his base because the president s poll numbers are very high with his base as it relates to russia. But ive said it over and over again. This is not about theater. This is not about a reality show thats played out, produced by the white house on taxpayer dollars. This is about the rule of law. And this is about an election process that has been going on for hundreds of years and now has been tampered with by russia and also maybe with some of those who are close inside the camp of the trump circle to pay off, to get loans to pay off a porn star and a playboy, whatever you call her, to pay these women off to try not to
influence an election with information they may have. These are serious allegations. And the president could indeed, as he calls this a witch hunt, could be named an unindicted coconspirator to this Election Issue that Michael Cohen is facing. Dont go anywhere. There is a lot of breaking news tonight. Next, were going to talk about Paul Manafort, the former chair for the Trump Campaign found guilty. The jury could not reach a verdict on 10 of the 18 counts but came down with 8 guilty counts. Will trump try to claim a victory on that front tonight . Also the president s thinking this evening as two Trump Insiders join the list of people facing these charges. What happened to only hiring the best . Also, we have other breaking news. Police have arrested an undocumented immigrant in the murder of that iowa College Student. Well bring you the latest. Kenmore at sears. 4 bm up to fifty percent off appliances with your sears card. Like this washer and dryer for 539. 99 each. And this refrigerator for 899. 99. Hurry in to sears today. With our largest variety of crab all year like new crabfest combo. Your one chance to have new Jumbo Snow Crab with tender dungeness crab. Or try crab lovers dream. But hurry in. cause crabfest ends september 2nd. Our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition. For strength and energy whoohoo greattasting ensure. With nine grams of protein and twentysix vitamins and minerals. Ensure. Now up to 30 grams of protein for strength and energy
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[ Goose Honking ] [ laughing ] a bad day on the road still beats a good one off it. Progressive helps keep you out there. President trumps former Campaign ChairmanPaul Manafort convicted on eight counts of financial crimes. Hes found guilty on five tax fraud charges, two counts of bank fraud, one charge of hiding foreign bank naccounts, all felonies. Unable to reach a verdict on ten other accounts. President trump reacted just moments ago to the verdict. This is a witch hunt, and its a disgrace. I feel very badly for Paul Manafort. It was not the original mission, believe me. It was something very much different. So had nothing to do with russian collusion. We continue the witch hunt. Evan perez outside of the courthouse in alexandria, virginia. Lets go through the first, the eight guilty verdicts and this mistrial on ten other counts. What does this mean for manafort . Poppy, one of the first things you have to look at is that Paul Manafort was found guilty of two of these counts of bank fraud. Those each carry up to 30 years in prison. And so, look, his tax fraud the tax fraud charges, which each carry three years or five counts and then the one count of not declaring foreign bank accounts. And that carries a fiveyear term possibly. Look, in a worst Case Scenario, Paul Manafort could spend the rest of his life in prison. We dont know what the sentencing details will be. The judge has not indicated when sentencing will come. But the prosecution you can bet are looking at trying to get the maximum against Paul Manafort. Keep in mind Paul Manafort has another trial coming up in the next few months in september. At least in the District Of ColumbiaFederal Court which has to do a lot more with his activities in the campaign. So we dont know, you know, right now what Paul Manafort would get but were looking at possibly the rest of his life in prison. That upcoming trial in just a few weeks in september having to do with money laundering. Before you go, how is Paul Manafort responding . What is his family saying . Right. He had no reaction immediately in court. When he was leaving he gave a nod and a wink to his wife as he was exiting the courtroom. One of the things the judge did was directly address manafort telling him hed been found guilty of these charges. He looked straight ahead. When he was leaving the court, his lawyer stopped by the microphones and said he was exploring all his options. We do not know whether that means theres going to be an appeal. He has another trial coming up
in a few weeks. You know, cooperating, i suppose, still an option for him. Evan, thank you very much. With me now, my guests are back. Harry, back to you. Eight guilty counts against manafort. Ten counts they could not reach a verdict on. Who won tonight . The Special Counsel Mueller and his team. Greg andres, the prosecutor. The ten counts on which the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Those are open counts. Theyll sit out there perhaps forever if the government feels theyre not necessary for sentencing and under a quirk of our constitutional laws, the conduct for which that related to the Hung Jury Counts can be considered as part of sentencing. So the sentence could be the same as if he was convicted on all of the counts. The president saying that this is a witch hunt and hes saying this had nothing to do with his campaign but if you read through the charges that manafort was
found guilty on, specifically charge 25 and charge 27, they were about bank fraud, bank loans that extended into march of 2016. March of 2016 is when Paul Manafort began his work with the Trump Campaign. Significant . I think it is significant. Theres no way for the president to avoid the taint of what this conviction does. I think i do slightly disagree with harry. The defense did an outstanding job, too. Identified the weak points in the case. And i think kudos have to go to the jury. This was a really sharp jury. They focussed in on the most important things right from the getgo. Theres no way the president can escape the taint of this conviction. To the President Distancing himself again and again from Paul Manafort. You cant deny that you hired the guy. He ran your campaign. One of the most critical points for five months leading up to the convention, getting the delegates, et cetera. But but we have polling,
recent polling in the last few days that shows that republicans are not fans of mueller and how hes handling the probe. 66 disapprove. Only 22 approve. So did today change anything at least politically. Did the guilty verdict make a difference to them . I dont think its going to make a difference with the heart of the base. But there are still a lot of people in the middle who are smelling something bad from the Trump Administration who are feeling like this climate is wrong, this administration is unethical and no way todays verdict doesnt move them further toward those beliefs and maybe get them out to the polls. Also the president when he says rigged witch hunt, he gives the impression theres no wrongdoing out there that the wrongdoers and wrongdoing are completely made up. In this case as a result of muellers investigation and the work still being done, a group of jurors, independent, obviously not stacked with partisan democrats said Paul Manafort is a criminal. This investigation that began with mueller did lead to the
exposure of criminal activity and the conviction of a criminal. And so when donald trump now says rigged witch hunt, to fairminded people that has less power and relevance than ever before. They think i could have been one of those average americans on that jury. Thats right. Were talking about a man who essentially defrauded the government out of millions of dollars. This is not a fine man as donald trump has said over and over. And the president said tonight, Paul Manafort is a good man and that he feels, quote, sorry for Paul Manafort. He has never ruled out possibly pardoning Paul Manafort, which he can do because these are all federal charges. Listen to what he said just last friday on this question. [ inaudible ]. I dont talk about that now. I think the Whole Manafort Trial is very sad. When you look at whats going on. I think its a very sad day for our country. He worked for me for a very short period of time but you know what . He happens to be a very good person. And i think its very sad what
theyve done to Paul Manafort. So april, a president ial pardon possible . Probable . Out of the question . Well, im not going to say its out of the question because what he said once again leaving air force one, he felt badly for Paul Manafort. That is key right there. Paul manafort has been, i guess, held the line with the president. Hes not done a Michael Cohen, if you will. Using Michael Cohen as a verb, that back and forth with him. But Paul Manafort has kept his mouth shut, has not gone out in the press talking against the president or putting anyth