Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 201808

A look at Breaking News, politics and reports from around the world. Federal crime. Tonight, the president is changing his story again, claiming that he learned about Michael Cohens Hush Money Payments to women later on. His words, later on. That contradicts the evidence and cohens assertion under oath that he was acting on the directions of mr. Trump. The white house insists the president has done nothing wrong. But the cohen plea deal, along with Paul Manaforts criminal conviction, have escalated a legal and political crisis being likened to watergate. This hour ill talk with Michael Cohens lawyer, lanny davis, and House Intelligence Committee member jim himes. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. First lets go to our White House Correspondent kaitlyn collins. Kaitlyn, we heard from the president in a new interview. We also heard from him on twitter. Reporter thats right, wolf. The president s first public remarks since Michael Cohen implicated him in a crime yesterday. And the president is attempting to rewrite history about when he him as a liar who isnt a credible person. But of course its hard for the white house to distance themselves from cohen because hes someone that the president hired that knew the president for over a decade and did a lot of work for him. And the president s on tape saying that he likes him and saying that he is a good guy. So look for that strategy from the white house, but wolf, this comes as those who know the president best are admitting that he is backed into a corner at this point and its pretty hard to determine what it is the president is going to do next. Wolf . Especially when he is backed into that corner. Kaitlan, thank you very much. As the president tries to spin the cohen plea deal, hes getting multiple facts wrong. Hes falsely claiming, for example, that his former lawyers Campaign Violations dont amount to a crime. They do. And hes trying to bolster his argument by stressing that he paid back cohen, not his president ial campaign. Lets bring in our crime and justice reporter simon prokup z prokupecz. The president told fox news that the Hush Money Payments to the women did not come from the at least through november. So whats going on there . Hes still cooperating. Rick gates, who just finished testifying, hes still cooperating. That came up during the trial. Remember, at a Bench Conference they talked about the government and the defense team talked about his cooperation. The judge did not want it out there publicly. He sealed that Bench Conference. So what is rick gates still working on with the government . So wolf, clearly in all honesty what we dont know is probably more concerning and should be more troubling in this investigation for the president and the people close to the president than anything else. What are you hearing about roger stone and any possible legal involvement affecting him . . Well, wolf, quite frankly, we also we have some idea that we know that the former madam was in to see the grand jury. We know that there are two other people, a person who was close to roger stone, Andrew Miller who worked with him on the campaign, who did some other personal work for him, has been fighting the subpoena. We dont exactly know why. All of that is sealed. So we dont know why hes fighting to subpoena. A judge held him in contempt when he didnt show up. So that is still ongoing. And there are probably other parts of this investigation, financial. The whole russia Collusion Thing we believe is ongoing. There are grand juries that are still active and hearing from witnesses. So theres really, really a lot thats still ongoing, and we really dont have any idea about when this is going to end. And then the big question really, wolf, is in the end what will the president finally do . Will he go and meet with mueller, sit down with investigators and answer their questions . All excellent points. Thanks so much, shimon prokupecz. With that, lets talk about all of this and more. Michael cohens attorney lanny davis is with us here in the Situation Room right now. Lanny, thanks very much for coming in. Wolf. And i know youve been busy over these past several days. Lets talk about the president s latest statement in this new interview which im sure youve seen the excerpts and with fox news the president says he only learned about the Hush Money Payments to those two women and he says you only heard later later on but he also says they werent Campaign Violations because they came he says from me. Whats your reaction . Its an incorrect understanding of the law. The law pertains to whether it comes from him as a personal donation, which is what the interpretation is, or as a Campaign Fund donation. The law has limits and requires disclosure. What the prosecutors found is that the money was paid two weeks from the election, motivated by a fear and a threat from miss daniels that she was going to go public right before the election. So the finding of the Prosecutor Subject to a jury in a trial is that the motivation as a principal political purpose made that donation illegal and a felony. And if its a felony for Michael Cohen, my client, who pled guilty, its certainly a felony for the man who according to the prosecutors directed and coordinated the payment of that illegal thats the way he phrased it. Michael cohen in court yesterday, he was directed to do so, it was coordinated by the then president ial candidate donald trump. Just so you understand, its true. He did use those words. But those words were worked out and corroborated with the prosecutors. Thats their view of the case. And they did not indict so u. S. Attorneys for the Southern District of new york, the prosecutors, they knew he was going to say that. Correct. Did they have Backup Evidence to support what he was going to say about the president . Yes, they put out an information, its called an information, which explains the case. Referred to unnamed individuals from the campaign that provided evidence and individuals from the Trump Organization with wire transfers and documentation of the transfer of the money that mr. Trump knew about and indeed Rudy Giuliani admitted even after mr. Trump lied about it on Air Force One when he said i dont know anything about it. Giuliani said mr. Cohen was reimbursed for what turned out to be a loan. But was there any other person who heard, directly heard the president coordinate direct Michael Cohen to go ahead with these payments to these two women . Well, the information filed by the the answer is not explicitly named in the information filed by the prosecutors but the prosecutors leave anonymous the individuals from the campaign and the individuals from the organization who would have been aware of mr. Trumps knowledge if not direction and making it illegal, his distinction between personal and Campaign Funds. Somebodys given him bad legal advice, maybe its Rudy Giuliani. But who are those individuals that you suggest knew about all of this that could back up what Michael Cohen said in court yesterday . We dont know because the prosecutors chose to name them individual 1, individual 2. And i assume that those names will be either revealed or not revealed depending upon what the prosecutors decide. But for mr. Cohen he certainly agreed that mr. Trump directed him to do this. But has your client, Michael Cohen, told you who those two individuals are . No. And hes not actually sure. Its hard to guess because there are a lot of people who were involved and aware about the Stormy Daniels issue, her threat to go public, the concern about the impact on the president ial race, and the decision for him to do the financing from his home to pay her the 130,000. But the individuals we can guess who they might be. But the prosecutors did not share that. But i just want to be precise. Youre saying a lot of people knew about this in advance . Certainly according to the information there were several people. Mr. Cohen would say a lot of people because in the Trump Organization it was pretty commonly known as you know President Trump has a door that lots of people are in and out of and the culture around mr. Trump was that most people knew most everything. So when the president said in that fox news interview today that he only learned about the payments, the Hush Money Payment to Karen Mcdougal later on, was he lying . I dont know if he was lying. Its not plausible to me that he didnt know about this arrangement. But that would be up to a jury to decide on credibility. I would respectfully suggest that a president that lies so much is not exactly going to make a credible witness but there is that Audio Recording that Michael Cohen made that you released to cnn that shows the president talking about the payments in advance. And he says now he only learned about it later on. Well, as i said, President Trumps record on telling the tru truth, he has a lawyer who says the truth is not the truth. I would not take his credibility at a high level. But the other thing in that tape you should listen to is the way the conversation began with a discussion about the polls. That the polls were looking better in the middle of october. Which they were for mr. Trump. So the context of the conversation was politics. Then the decision to pay miss daniels and maybe a juror would believe mr. Trump, that he never thought about the impact on his campaign if his affair with a porn star came out right before election day. There may be some people who believe that. Im a little confused. Why are you not saying that the president today lied . Well, i do think the president lied. But that would be a redundancy because this president has lied thousands of times beginning with the biggest inauguration parade in american history, or barack obama not being an american citizen. It is a problem for mr. Trump that even his supporters laugh about. They know hes lying. He knows they know hes lying. And in this case were the prosecutors to bring a case against President Trump as an incumbent president unlikely, they would not have a hard time convincing a jury i think of the inference that he was motivated to make an illegal contribution for political purposes, which makes if a crime. Lets go through some of the specifics. The prosecutors say the invoices that Michael Cohen submitted for reimbursement for the Hush Money Payments to those two women, the prosecutors say that was all a sham. To whom did cohen submit those invoices . I dont know. I think the invoices for youre talking about the technology the invoices to get reimbursed for the 150,000 for Karen Mcdougal, the 130,000 for Stormy Daniels plus the it was also bolstered because he wanted to make sure that Michael Cohen, who had to pay taxes on that money work get a lot i think it came to around 400,000 total that the prosecutors say he was reimbursed. So the Trump Organization he borrowed the money based on an equity line on his house, Way Overcovered by the equity in his house. He used that money, 130,000, at the direction according to the information of mr. Trump and paid the hush money to miss daniels. So no story came out he worked with American Media to get the 150,000 to Karen Mcdougal. Correct. Then after the election he was paid 35,000 a month according to mr. Giuliani as well as the record over the course of a year so that he was paid the gross amount, then after taxes down to 130,000, plus additional money for some services that he provided to the company. So the answer to your question, he was paid by the Trump Organization. What did he send those invoices to to get reimbursed . To the Trump Organization. I know. But who there . Which individuals . I dont know. I actually forget the mans name who was the controller, the individual, the chief Financial Officer. The chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg whos now been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury. Im guessing, and i dont know that the invoices were sent to mr. Weselberg. Weisselberg. Weisselberg. I always have a problem with you suggest your client Michael Cohen has information that will be very useful to the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller. What is that information . Well, i pick my words carefully. Im not quibbling. I said would be of interest. That i believe that he observed and saw mr. Trump being aware of the use of emails to damage Hillary Clintons campaign. That could only have been derives through illegal hacking from a Russian Agency called wick rae wikileaks. I believe there is some information mr. Cohen could provide to mr. Mueller that would be of interest to mr. Mueller. I dont know if its a smoking gun or how decisive it is. What im suggesting is that mr. Cohen was an observer and was a witness to mr. Trumps awareness of those emails before they were dropped, and it would pertain to the hacking of the email accounts. Has your client, Michael Cohen, already sat down with Robert Mueller or his Special Counsel team . So there are certain questions as an attorney i cant answer. I hate not answering your questions after all these years, wolf. By cannot answer that question. Why . Why is that so sensitive . Because if the answer were either no or yes it would violate a confidentiality understanding with the Special Counsel, whether you see him or not. And the last thing we want to do is violate Confidentiality Understandings, whether its with the prosecutors who mr. Cohen greatly respects, he wanted me to mention especially on your program that when he was booked and processed he was treated very courteously, even when he was raided by a massive search warrant, even his childrens telephones on a sunday, he thanked the fbi agents for their politeness. So the answer is that mr. Cohen took his responsibility, pled guilty, and now hes committed to one thing and one thing only, which is to tell the truth and to tell the truth about mr. So hes ready now. Hes already pled guilty. Hes ready now to cooperate with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, assuming that mueller wants him to get some more information. What woe anticipate receiving in return . A reduced sentence . Nothing has been offered. Nothing is on the table. There was no deal. He will serve time based upon the guidelines on sentencing. Hes without resources, owes a lot of money, and weve set up a Go Fund Me Site Calling called Michael Cohen excuse me, Michael Cohen facts fund. Com. Or truth fund. Com. Excuse me. Michael cohen truth fund. Com as a way of asking people who supported his commitment to tell the truth, especially about mr. Trump. He does need the help. But you understand that by not saying whether or not hes already met with mueller and his team youre leaving open the possibility that he already has met with them. I am leaving open that possibility. So we have to assume that its likely that they did meet. Possibility isnt likely. But i have to say im leaving open the possibility. But you cant tell us . Is that what youre saying . Because of what, attorneyclient privilege . Is that what youre saying . Both that and the Confidentiality Understandings when were dealing with people making investigations we dont talk about any meetings, yes or no. Because there are a lot of other people who have met with the Special Counsel and done extensive q a. Theyve already announced it. It isnt a secret if you go ahead and answer questions from the Special Counsel. Well, for a good period of time mr. Cohen was under criminal investigation. Now hes awaiting sentencing. And he is not going to discuss his conversations with the prosecutors or if he had any with mr. Mueller. But i am telling your audience that mr. Cohen hired me when he decided to turn to the truth and to declare his independence from mr. Trump. I never would have taken him on as a client if i didnt believe he