Become a reality among democrats. Up first, a tale of two felons. President trump praises Paul Manafort, his former Campaign Chairman, now convicted on eight federal counts of tax and bank fraud. The president tweeted this, i feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. Justice, and he puts the word justice in quotes took a 12yearold tax case among other things applied tremendous pressure on him and unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to break. Make up stories in order to get a deal. Such respect for a brave man. The president took another swipe at Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and personal fixer for more than a decade who pleaded guilty to eight charges and implicated the president of the United States in a hush money scheme. The president tweeted this. Quote, if anyone is looking for a good lawyer, i would strongly suggest that you dont retain the services of Michael Cohen. Lets bring in our white house
house, thank you. Republicans, meanwhile, in congress for the most part, they failed to act as a check on President Trump, but will these guilty verdicts, plea and guilty plea serve as a moment of reckoning for a party hoping to stay in control in november . At the same time, can Democrats Use this to their advantage to try to stall Brett Kavanaughs nomination for the United StatesSupreme Court. Lets go to our Congressional Correspondent phil mattingly. Hes up on capitol hill. What are you hearing from both sides, phil . As you would expect, republicans not rushing out to talk about this. And those who are, certainly not willing to do so in a critical way. Look at where Republican Leaders are. I ran into Mitch Mcconnell earlier today. He chose not to respond when i asked him about this. Speaker paul ryan said they need more information. Scra john cornyn said while this was serious, this had nothing to do with russia. Also orrin hatch saying there are issues here, but were not really sure what else we can do. Take a listen. They cant be ignored. High crimes and misdemeanors . I wouldnt go that far. Do you think this opens up the president to being indicted while sitting in office . No, i dont because i dont think he can be indicted while sitting in office. Well just have to see where this all works out. Wolf, its somewhat of a familiar refrain up here where something happens at the white house. Some republicans have concerns. Others dont want to weigh in on it at all. Behind the scenes, aides make clear how serious this is. They just arent sure what their bosses should do about it. On the democratic side, youve seen democrats led by Chuck Schumer coalesce around a single strategy. Take a listen. The president identified as an unindicted coconspirator of a federal crime, an accusation made not by a political enemy but by the closest of his own confidantes is on the verge of
making a Lifetime Appointment to the Supreme Court, a court that may some day soon determine the extent of the president s legal jeopar jeopardy. In my view, the Senate Judiciary committee should immediately pause the consideration of the kavanaugh nomination. Senator schumer referring to brets c Brett Kavanaugh, the president S Supreme Court nominee. When youve heard from democrat after democrat this morning, its not impeachment. Many of them dont want to touch the issue at all. Its all about that nomination saying as long as this is an issue hanging out there those issues should be postponed. A member of the Judiciary Committee has canceled her one on one meeting with kavanaugh. The reality is republicans control the chamber. Republicans have the votes if they are unanimous to move this nomination through. Right now democrats hoping this issue helps their push, not just to block the nomination on the floor but to pause the hearings
Wolf Blitzer looks at politics, Breaking News and international stories. Emails, which is a Computer Crime that was the subject of the indictment of the 12 russians. Lets discuss this and more with our experts. Cnn political analyst molly ball, ross garber and carrie cordero. Do you think Michael Cohen has enough information that would be worthwhile to robert mueller, the special counsel, to go ahead and bring him in for questioning and maybe work out some sort of deal with him . Well, thats the big question. What information of value does Michael Cohen have . I have tended to think over the last few weeks as his public messaging continued to go along the same lines as lanny davis just said. That Michael Cohen has information to tell. Ive tended to think if he really had information that the investigators needed, that they would have already been talking to him. And so im inclined to think the investigators may not need Michael Cohen as much as michael
cohen needs a deal to lessen his jailtime sentence when he comes up for sentencing. He can get five years in december. Thats when hes scheduled to be sentenced. According to his current plea, he could get five years. So i think its in his interest and thats why were seeing his lawyer out front arguing that he has information of value. But all of this time, the special counsel investigators could have been talking to Michael Cohen and if they havent, then im inclined to think that maybe they dont need him as much as he might need them. You saw those tweets posted this morning. Paul manafort, now a convicted Felon Stealing Millions of dollars from american taxpayers in these various schemes. He calls him a brave man who refused to break and make up stories to get a deal. And he contrasted that with Michael Cohen. So you think the president is setting the stage for a pardon for Paul Manafort . It seems hard to read it otherwise. Thats the message. The message is, hang in there, buddy. Hang tough. And i think those are really the big issues right now. Heres the one problem. Ill get to you, molly. The one problem if he issues a pardon, he could be subpoenaed were talking about Paul Manafort testify before congress. He condition no longer plead the fifth if he has a pardon from the president of the United States . Maybe, maybe not. Some of them were Tax Fraud Charges which may expose him to consequences criminal consequences in state court. And so his equivalent to the Fifth Amendment right is available in that context. And its very rare for a judge to say, no, you cant invoke the fifth. You have to testify. I think as a practical matter he probably still could decline to testify. Molly, how do you see this unfolding . With all due respect, theres a way to read it that is not just as a signal that trump is going to pardon cohen. If he did intend to pardon him sorry, to pardon manafort. Hes had a lot time of when he could have done that and hasnt seen fit to do it. And his insistent all along, including after the verdict, this case has nothing to do with me. This is stuff manafort did long before i ever knew him. And, you know, there is a point to him announcing this in public on twitter rather than simply sending a private message. He is speaking to the public. He is speaking to his base and his supporters and to republicans. He is sending a message about the whole narrative hes been shaping of this investigation. The narrative of the witch hunt. The narrative of loyalty and disloyalty. These characters that hes created in the public imagination to say, here is a good man who has been loyal to me. Heres a bad man who is not loyal to me and we cant trust him. Hes continuing his Ongoing Campaign to discredit anything that Michael Cohen says by creating this contrast with the character of manafort. I agree. I think the fact its happening in public and that we all get to see it is you are exactly right. Its still fascinating and extraordinary. Some have suggested, carrie,
manaforts association with the president , the odds were good manafort would not have been prosecuted and tried and convicted. We wouldnt have known about his crimes. Exactly. Now that we know about his crimes, the president is still praising him. And still praising him and the president might also think it was unfair that he was jailed pretrial. So the president may actually believe that Paul Manafort was treated and has been treated unfairly. Weve got a lot more to discuss, guys. Thank you very, very much. Everyone stand by. All eyes now on house republicans, how theyll handle this news. Ill speak live with one of them who also happens to be a key member of the House Intelligence Committee. Plus, the sheer number of people in the president s orbit who are now convicted criminals or in serious legal trouble. That number is growing. Well break it down for you. One democratic senator is standing by to join us live after she just cancelled her meeting with the u. S. Supreme Court NomineeBrett Kavanaugh suns the president is, what she
calls, an unindicted coconspirator. Stay with us. This is cnns special coverage. Omar, look. [ Thunder Rumbles ] omar, check this out. Uh, yeah, i was calling to see if you do laser hair removal. For men. Notice that my hips are off the ground. [ Engine Revving ] and then, im Gonna Pike My hips back into downward dog. [ rhythmic tapping ] hey, the rain stopped. A bad day on the road still beats a good one off it. I can still taste it in my mouth my ci can worry about it,ine. Or do something about it. Garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. And its odor free. And pharmacist recommended. Garlique. ® a very dramatic conclusion to a monthlong scandal. Admitting in Federal Court he paid off a porn star and a playmate to prevent their alleged affairs with mr. Trump from becoming public during the 2016 campaign and that he did so under the direct direction of mr. Trump. Michael cohens admission is shocking on its face but also because it exposes the Alarming Number of lies voters were led to believe by the president and those closest to him. January 12th, 2018. The Wall Street Journal reports Michael Cohen arranged a 130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just one month before the 2016 election to keep her from going public about an alleged affair with mr. Trump. In a statement, cohen called the allegation about the affair outlandish. Then, on february 13th, cohen told the New York Times he used his own personal funds to pay off daniels saying neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump Campaign was a party to the transaction and neither reimbursed me for the payment. On march 5th, the Wall Street Journal reported cohen wired the money to daniels lawyer just 12 days before the election. Cohen responded with a twoword email statement, fake news. Two days later, the white house weighed in. Ive had conversations with the president about this. There was no knowledge of any payments from the president , and hes denied all of these
allegations. On april 5th, President Trump broke his silence on the Stormy Daniels payments, denying involvement. Did you know about the 130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels . No, no. Why did Michael Cohen make this if there was no truth . Michael is my attorney and youll have to ask michael. A few days later he acknowledged michael did represent him in the deal with daniels. He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me, and, you know, from what i see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no Campaign Funds going into this. Why is he pleading the fifth . On may 2nd, Rudy Giuliani took it one step further. No Campaign Finance violation. So they funneled it through a law firm. Funneled it through a law firm and the president repaid it. But he did know about the
general arrangement that michael would take care of things like this. The following morning, mr. Trump added that cohen received a monthly retainer. Then on july 24th, cohens lawyer released a secret recording between cohen and mr. Trump discussing the logistics of another payment. This time to former playboy model karen mcdougal. When it comes time for the financing, which will be what financing . I have to pay cash. No, no, no. On august 21st, cohen officially flipped on his former boss and plead guilty to Campaign Finance charges stemming from those payments to Stormy Daniels and karen mcdoug ap. He also told the federal judge the Mcdougal Payment was for the principal purpose of influencing the election. We should note that President Trump denies these affairs with these two women. Joining us now, utah congressman chris stewart, a republican. A key member of the House Intelligence Committee. Very nice of you, congressman,
to join us today. So many of your republican colleagues are sort of run away from tv cameras right now. But thanks so much for joining us. I want to get your reaction clearly to Michael Cohen, the president s longtime personal attorney and fixer. What he told this Federal Court yesterday about the president s direct coordination, direction in these payoffs to these two women. Well, wolf, its a mess. And, look, i honestly dont know what to believe at this point. Mr. Cohen has been very inconsistent. The president hasnt been terribly consistent in things that he has said. Its going to take a little while for us to really understand what really happened here. I do want to say this, though. Go ahead. And that is that, well, theres this allegation or this pleading that he made these payments. And that would only be legally effective if it was an illegal
campaign contribution of some kind. And fec law is a click margin its very complicated, but i talked with an fec attorney and he said i dont think that would be illegal. There are others who clearly think it would be. Im interested to hear what the fec has to say. Would it be illegal if youre running for the u. S. House of representatives and gave someone else money to pay off, only days before an election, these kinds of allegations from emerging . Would that be illegal . Well, i mean, if i use my campaign founds, it clearly would be illegal. If i use my personal funds, i dont know that it would be. Im not trying to defer or protect. I genuinely dont know. If that money was being used as an inkind campaign contribution, the money that you are giving someone else being used as an inkind campaign
contribution, and it isnt disclosed to the fec as an inkind campaign contribution, wouldnt that be illegal . I honestly dont know that. And john edwards was tried on something very similar. He was not convicted on that. I think its john edwards . Yes. Its a very niche area of law, and not much expertise in this. But if i could draw one other comparison, if i could. I know, wolf, you may not agree with this. But i think its fair to do this. And that is the American People hope that, two things. One is that no one is above the law. Mr. Manafort, though he was a friend of the prrkesident, he should be held accountable. I hope the president doesnt pardon him. But it would be a terrible mistake just to pardon someone because they were a friend of the president. The American People want everyone to be treated the same. They dont want anyone to be above the law. But i think you could ask the question, was it illegal for the Hillary Clinton campaign to hire
fusion gps and foreign agents to dig up dirt on mr. Trump . I mean, this is an area that, again, i dont know we know the answers to these questions. They are something well have to look at and see what the fec has to say. We know the Justice Department spent more than a year looking into all of these allegations against Hillary Clinton. We know what the result of those allegations were, what they concluded at the time. But let me basically get your thoughts on this. Its a very sensitive issue right now. And i want to be precise. Are you saying you would be upset, youd be disappointed if