Coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Well go to trial, what evidence was the government to prepare to prove each single count that Michael Cohen pleads guilty to. The ones that involved the president , the government says and i am holding a copy of the transcript today. We were prepared to offer hard documents. Documents that was taken from Michael Cohens Search Warrant back in april. Also, prepare to offer Audio Recordings that were made by cohen. We heard one of those involving the president several weeks ago. Then theyre going to introduce additional witnesses to the to this. Hey, we got hard evidence here thats going to corroborate the information thats included in the these counts. It is not just Michael Cohen is saying well the president is telling me to do this and this is why i wrote or sent this
person a check or money. It was not just his words. They have to have evidence well, not only Michael Cohen say that but we can back it up in these different ways. We have ed as well as testimonies. It is not a situation of he said she said. It is not just one piece of evidence but it sounds like a slew of evidence and again, Rudy Giuliani who says back in may that the president knew about these payments to Michael Cohen. Got tom talking about these tapes and emails and more the prosecutors say of what they have. What kind of story does cohen need to tell to interest bob mueller . Well, i think he just needs to be able to provide insiders view of whats going on in recent months and years with respect to the campaign and other Business Dealings that the president before he was the president was involved with. It seems to me and i would agree
to tom that there there seems to be a lot there and increasingly i would suggest that it is beyond their not being a he said she said because of the existing of corroborating evidence, i would submit that increasingly what cohen is saying fits into what i think most people outside observers just assume was going on. This was a story that i think increasingly just believable to the average person and some have assumed that this is the way trump cohens team operated and now we have someone talking about it and it is going to make sense and be believable to most people. We heard from the special counsels office essentially saying they dont need cohens testimony to corroborate whatever they have with regards to the president. What can we make of that . We well, that can be fairly
directed criminal conduct. It is very different and i just dont think what about obama excuse is going to play. It is an important distincti distinction. The Obama Campaign was 375,000 if i remember this correctly. You were there last night in West Virginia, i want to play something, this is the closest that he came to talk about either case. This is the president. Fake news and the russian witch hunt, where is the collusion . Theyre still looking for collusion, where is the collusion . Find some collusion. We want to find the collusion. Supporters there in West Virginia could not careless about this . People did not care. I question them specifically of whether or not they cared and i questioned them about Paul Manafort of the former chairman being found guilty of eight charges. People said it does not matter to me, the president has not been convicted of anything. It does not matter. One specific supporter i thought knocked me off my socks said the president was paying women off like a boss and he said the president was protecting melania trump, the first lady, by paying off these women. Thats the way this one supporter put it. He was taking care of h is wife by spending this money and quieting these women and i also asked people whether or not they would be bothered if the president himself was somehow either pled guilty or convicted of campaign violations. Unless he shoots somebody on fifth avenue that theyre not
going to change their support of this president and that unless he shoots somebody or commits treason that theyre not going to see a problem with it. These are of course the people that are most strongly supported of the president. Theyre the people thats coming out to the rally. It is indicative of the fact that his supporters are not worried about this and dont think this will impact the midterms. Manny davis, i understand you had a conversation with mr. Cohens personal attorney short time ago. Any new information from him. Lanny davis was telling me he think the president did break campaign f Campaign Finance laws. He thinks the president should be indicted for those crimes. Thats a gray legal area on their right to say that the president cant be indicted. Lanny davis says Michael Cohen is ready to talk about all sorts of things and including things that may impact the mueller probe. He did not say it specifically
but there is ideas where hacking emails may have had some sort of involvement and Michael Cohen may talk about that and he does say Michael Cohen does not want to be pardon because he thinks the pardon would be dirty because the president is reckless and correct. Gregg, quickly before i let you go. Could a president be charged with a crime that was committed before he was president . Could he be held responsible for committing a legal act before he occupy the office of the president of the United States . Potentially. So the two office of Legal Counsel opinions that address this issue, the doj opinions are simi simply opinions. They take the form of doj policy. The big question that i think is looming is do those opinions when taken together mean that no
president can be indicted whether of alleged crimes during his presidency or before or is it simply a matter that was simply in the past. It sort of depends on Rod Rosenstein and bob mueller of what they think of those opinions and what they think is the right thing to do in this case. Should there be sufficient evidence to charge the president. Thats a big unknown and well have to see how that is sorted out. Thank you, tom winter and yam yamiche, is always a pleasure. Pardon me . Power politics, republicans Control Washington right now, how do they deal with blow after blow, corruption and an indictment of another republican congress. On the other side, powerless politics. The democrats control nothing in washington right now. But, we are starting to see a strategy bubble up. How theyre looking to turn the cohen and manaforts news to perhaps a win on the Supreme Court fight. This wifi is fast. Simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. Paul manafort woke up this morning a Con Vickvicted Felon his future seems bleak. These charges predate his time
of the trump campaign. He does face up to 80 years in prison and faces additional threat. Another criminal trial in september. This one in washington, d. C. I want to bring in our former u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york, aelie, yo also cowrote a piece of the headline of manaforts choices. If you are Paul Manafort, which one would you do . Manafort is now convicted and looking at a serious sentence, hes a 69yearold man. I do not think hell go off and serve that sentence and out lives it. Hes got two choices, one is
cooperate and hell have to tell everything he knows. He still have to do jail time less but some, verses if hes pardoned, He We Dont Waont Ph Walk Out of that prison right now. The related question is what is the president doing . Is there a chance that lets just say there is something to know, is there a chance that Paul Manafort does not know it . Is there a chance that a lot of folks for months now have gotten this thing all wrong that maybe manafort y manafort, yes, guilty of all financial crimes may not have been emersed enough in the president s inner circle to become familiar with some illegal dealings he may or may not have. When you are sitting down with a potential cooperator, they need to understand that all i want from you is the truth. I dont want you to make up thing that things that will make me happy. I just need the truth. I have cooperators who have high hopes for. Maybe he knows who did this murder and break it for us and he came in and says i know about that murder, i just dont. Sometimes that exact scenario you lay out just happens where the cooperator knows something but not everything you hope. I want to play something after what the president said after the manaforts conviction and Michael Cohens plea as well. I have to tell you that Paul Manafort was a good man, he was with Ronald Reagan and with a lot of people throughout the years and i feel very sad about it because it involves me but i still feel it is a sad thing that has happened. This had nothing to do with russian collusion. There is the sound byte from yesterday fast forward to today. The president is using his favorite megaphone, twitter, i feel badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. Justice took a 12yearold tax case among other things applied tremendous pressure on him. Michael cohen he refused to break such a respect for a brave man. Are we reading too much into this . The president is trying to lay a foundation where he can pardon manafort and have a pretext to say why. If the president marpardons manafort, people are going to go nuts. Hes trying to prevent manafort of cooperating. That tweet you just showed us and the quotes and prior tweets, i think this is an unjust prosecution. If he pardons manafort hell say no, it was not to prevent from cooperating and as i have said many times before, i felt this is an unjust prosecution. People mercedes agree, i am the
president and i get to decide that. It is giving h i im some cover. You alluded to this. Manaforts second child in washington, d. C. A lot of legal insiders are suggesting that is the trial that he should be everyone more concerned about. Why is that . There is more charges and more Volume Evidence that we are going to get into more details on his dealing as this unregistered foreign agent. Well get into more depth of his work in the ukraine for these prorussian interests. It would be interesting to see where it goes and potentially worse for manafort. For folks who live down there, there are some distinct difference. It is all gravy for prosecutors. They already have what they need for the virginia conviction, it can omnivonly get worse for man. Duncan hunter is indicted. Now republicans attempt to limit his power may be more difficult than they hope. Oh oh ozempic® vo people with Type 2 Diabetes are excited about the potential of onceweekly ozempic®. In a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. Oh under seven . vo and you may lose weight. In the same oneyear study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. Oh up to 12 pounds . vo a twoyear study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. Oh no increased risk . Ozempic® ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with Type 1 Diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not share needles or pens. Dont reuse needles. Do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. Stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. Serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. Tell your doctor if you have Diabetic Retinopathy or vision changes. Taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. Common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. Some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. I discovered the potential with ozempic®. Oh oh oh ozempic® vo ask your Healthcare Provider if ozempic® is right for you. Howdoing great dad r does this thing got . Looking good babe are you filming. At booking. Com, we cant guarantee youll be any good at that water jet thingy. But we can guarantee the best price on a hotel, like this one. Or any home, boat, treehouse, yurt, whatever. Get the best price on homes, hotels and so much more. Booking. Com, booking. Yeah
tough choice leading up to the midterms of the manafort and Michael Cohen convictions. Gop lawmakers are reacting today. Well, these are serious charges and cant be ignored. I dont think he can be indicted while sitting in office. Well have to see where this all works out. There is no good news in whats happening obviously. This is very unfortunately. It is serious. I want to see this go through our judicial system. I dont think we know all the facts. Impeachment does not start in the senate anymore. It starts in the house. It is too serious of the subject for me to speculate on. I have been here for 11. 5 years and this is i dont think i have witnessed anything like i have in the last year and a half. To be clear those are republican senators, jake
sherman is a Senior Writer with politico and ana palmer, a senior washington correspondent of politico. It is wednesdays play book here on msnbc. Mr. Sherman, i will start with you here, what are you hearing behind the scenes from republicans about the i word or anyone is talking about impeachment . It is not about republicans but about democrats, where Will Democrats go if they take back the house which as we know is not a certainty but certainly a probability. There is going to be intense pressure from the progressive base especially in the House Democratic caucus which is drifting to the left as we have seen the last couple of months to impeach trump and i think Democratic Leaders no matter who they are, we dont know whos going to be the leaders, nancy
pelosi or somebody else. Leadership will have to be careful in looking over and ip peaching trump is not a good look. We dont know when mueller is going to deliver his report. Rudy giuliani told us this morning theyre at the end of the process. It is certain that if democrats take back the house, there is going to be an intense over sight of this administration, Something Like we saw frankly when republicans first took over the house in 2010 of barack obama. Anna palmer, there does so many to be a movement if you will. We heard from the senator from hawaii who says shes not going to be taking a meeting and hes not taking a meeting with the president s Supreme Court nominee of brett kavanaugh. Are we starting to see more democrats there in the upper
chamber sort of used this as justification for not even talking to kavanaugh . Yes, i think what we saw is just the beginning of democrats trying to use this and the clips you pay before we went on and really showing a stumbling of republicans trying to find a way forward and they dont want to be talking about this and theyre coming into Campaign Season and every pole we look at shows that voters want a check on President Trump and republicans have not proven that theyre going to do that and willing to take him and separate themselves from him. What you are starting too see in the coming weeks do republicans start to distance themselves . I doubt it on the kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. Thatll be very, very surprising. Some of the other things you can see them taking action on tariffs or other things that they have not in alignment with the president on. Adding to the president s troubles yesterday out in
california, republican congressman thought by many to be quite the rising star, douncn hunter, he and his wife indicted on charges of misused campaign funds. Chris collins was charged with Insider Trading two weeks ago. Axios is quoting. The Republican Party looks like a Criminal Enterprise. How do republicans counter this narrative that the entire party has become corrupt, thanks to donald trump. Well, two out of 235 members of the House Republican conference being indicted does not exactly total up to Criminal Enterprise but this is the second republican this month to be indicted and if you look at the evidence laid out against hunter, it is stunning. Spending 15,000 to a vacation
in italy and drinking around town with other members of congress and friends and other colleagues. Stunning stuff and it is definitely looks criminal. The big thing democrats are going to try to do over the next couple of weeks is try to do what they did in 2006 which is say that republicans are not fitting to serve in office and that republicans are corrupt and kind of paint the entire party with this brush. That i will say is republicans doing themselves no favors. Dunn can hunter is not going to resign. Hes fighting to keep his Committee Seat and force a