Katy Tur hosts coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. To do things like flip. The Attorney General who has been under fire by the president quite a bit has release his own statement pushing back on the president. This is consequence because the Attorney General did this right as he was going to the white house to meet with the president on criminal sentencing. Here is what he said. While i am Attorney General, the actions of the Department Of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political conversations. I demand the highest standards and where they are not met i take action. However, no nation has a more talented, more dedicated group of Law Enforcement investigators and prosecutors than the United States. I am proud to serve with them and proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law. Just another note. I spoke with the doj official after that statement came out, asked what the mood is at the doj, and the person said, defined is not exactly the right word, but that they are confident that they are doing their jobs there. Amber, it is quite a statement
to have Jeff Sessions put that out as he is walking in the door at the white house to see the president. Yeah. Im starting to wonder if in one week we see the president lose not just two allies in Michael Cohen and david pecker, but his attorney, Jeff Sessions as well, who was one of the first highprofile members of congress to endorse him. This language that i hear sessions use, the Justice Department will not be bowled over by politics, is what i hear Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein say repeatedly when he has a chance to speak publicly. And until now i havent seen the two match up in that kind of again i agree defiant isnt quite the right word, but that sort of defiant rhetoric towards the president. Here they are finally aligned against the president in terms of his attacks on the Justice Department, specifically it raises the question of what could happen next if the
president keeps blaming Jeff Sessions for everything thats happened to him so far. Here is a hint. Senator Lindsey Graham a moment ago said that maybe the president should fire Jeff Sessions. But if he does, do it after the midterms. Listen. The president s entitled to an Attorney General he has faith in. Somebody thats qualified for the job. And i think there will come a time sooner rather than later where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department Of Justice. Clearly, Attorney General sessions doesnt have the confidence of the president , and all i can say is that i have a lot of respect for the Attorney General, but thats an Important Office in the country. After the election i think there will be some serious discussions about a new Attorney General. Not just that. Senator grassley, the current
judiciary dhar, reversed course in what he was saying, which is that the Judiciary Committee had no time to confirm a new a. G. Now he is saying, yes, they do have time. So Lindsey Graham and then there is Chuck Grassley, who are saying maybe its time to get somebody new in there. When you hear this, charlie sykes, i dont see republicans running for cover with the president and all of the convicted felons that now surround him. Trying to find a way to it seems help the president push back on all of this. And the timing is awfully interesting. You have Donald Trumps own Swamp Turning against him at the same time he is giving interviews where he sounds like a mob boss and he is clearly at Cross Purposes with his own Attorney General. This would be the moment i would think for Republicans Congress to say, okay, mr. President , we will stand with the rule of law. There are limits, but again as we have so many times, you know, in the past seen, they are not doing that. They are apparently very, very comfortable with Donald Trumps swamp. Im afraid that Lindsey Graham appears to be giving the president a green light here. The deputies are going to make this at least in part an election about corruption. S sam, saying the Republican Party is tied to corruption. Look what the president has, those around him. Look at Chris Collins, Duncan Hunter who has just been indicted on multiple counts of improperly spending his campaign money. 47page indictment that was just jaw dropping. You are working for bannon with the midterms. How do you push back on that . I think in terms of those two congressmen, Duncan Hunter, he cant resign, unfortunately. We would call for it if he could. With that said, Chris Collins did resign. They will have a new candidate there. And we have to just he is not going to run for office. He is not on the ballot. And well see. The idea that donald trump or the house is responsible, the
republicans for two specific congress ma congressmen and their conduct, its a good Talking Point. This is not draining the swamp. The swamp is getting thicker. We would say he is not responsible for the conduct of collins is he responsible for the conduct of cohen . Maybe not manafort because manafort d these things before he was involved with trump or maybe not with trumps knowledge. Michael cohen, i mean thats directly implicating the president. Michael cohen is directly implicating the president. His only implication he has is are on these two payments to women, to mcdougal two Serious Campaign but as far as his lawyer, lanny davis said yesterday, multiple interviews, not with you, but he said he doesnt have any new information on the trump tower so is russia the only crime that the president is able to commit that would hurt him . Is that what you are saying . If there is nothing going on with this russian collusion and investigation, the idea that you have Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley saying sessions one
of the reasons they are going for sessions to be pushed out is because rosenstein has not been answering their subpoenas and sessions has shown that he has no Real Authority recused himself . He fully recused himself. He didnt have to fully recuse himself from the entire investigation. Thats the issue. Thats why i was quite surprised on your reporting there. I think its interesting that the Talking Point against what Michael Cohen is saying is that this has nothing to do with russia as if the president can it only matters that the president committed that crime and the other crimes he may or may not have committed, thats nothing. On the Campaign Finance, he pled guilty to that. That has not been adjudicated. I can make a Sound Argument the moment he walked into the court he pled guilty and the judge accepted it. Period. End of story. He didnt have a jury of peers but he pled guilty. The judge accepted his testimony and allocution in court. I was there. There was Something Like 20
charges they were talking about bringing against michael. He pled to six. I have heard that. There was Something Like up to 20 that it would have been. Perhaps i should have talked to you. Okay. You can talk to me afterwards. He please on these two payments. If you think he should be thrown out of office because he had a bad lawyer who didnt understand the fec laws if donald trump knew he was breaking the law, you have a strong argument for high crimes and misdemeanors if you are knowingly breaking the law in order to get into office. Well, yeah. I mean, if Michael Cohen broke the law by making that payment, why wouldnt donald trump be considered to have broken the law as well . The rot starts from the top right here. You know, the Duncan Hunter case is fascinating because of the degree and then the scope of the sleaze. Also, his trumpian response. You notice how he immediately goes to the trump play back, the attacking of the Department Of Justice, saying this is fake news. This is part of this culture of
corruption that i think the republicans have stumbled into, that by tolerating donald trump, they have also allowed the creation of this environment where you have guys like Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter and others who think they can get away with anything because they know that there will be hacks who will come on Cable Television and provide them air cover. They think they are immuneized from consequences. I think that creates a dangerous, dangerous environment for the republicans and i think they are going to pay a huge price for it. It may not be illegal, but look how his Cabinet Members who have resigned have misused taxpayer money. It goes all around. Charlie sykes, amber phillips, tom winter, sam nunberg, thank you very much. When it comes to Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort, Mums The Word for most congressional republicans. Also, the president spreading a new Conspiracy Theory. He is butting into a racially
charged debate in south africa with all the wrong facts. My next guest says the nightmare is just beginning for Paul Manafort. All of the president s legal problems next. I believe, i really do believe that somethings got a hold on me, yeah oh, it must be love oh, somethings got a hold on me right now, child oh, it must be love let me tell you now, oh it must be love and back pain made it hard to sleep and get up on time. Then i found aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid, plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. Im back. Aleve pm for a better am. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. How close i want to know did this jury come to convicting Paul Manafort on all 18 counts . By one. There was one hold out. You agreed on the eight counts. The ten others, one person kept
you from making that first step . Thats correct, yes. The public, america needed to know how close this was, and that the evidence was overwhelming. I did not want Paul Manafort to be guilty, but he was. And no one is above the love. Paul manafort was one juror away from being found guilty on all 18 charges, as you just heard right there. Still he is now a convicted felon. One of several in president trumps orbit. Which also now includes Michael Cohen, his longtime lawyer and fixer who the president is suddenly saying was only a parttime employee who he barely saw. Joining me now National Security reporter Kennedy Dylan and former assistant u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york, elie hoenig. Welcome. So the president is trying to push back here. He doesnt want to be associated with Paul Manafort. Now he doesnt want to be associated with Michael Cohen. He is saying Paul Manafort is a
great guy. He is really walking a fine line, ken, when it comes to what can get attached to him. I dont think there is anything fine about that interview he gave disparaging the Justice Department. That was incredible to me. He basically said that he believes prosecutors are regularly putting on witnesses who lie when he was talking about flippers and how people shouldnt be allowed to flip and make up stories. He was accusing his own Justice Department of unethical behavior. He puts the word justice in quotes and raised questions about Paul Manaforts conviction and prosecution. You have this juror, paula duncan, who is an ardent trump supporter and thinks the Paul Manafort is a witch hunt and believes russia did not interfere, yet she sat through the 12day trial, heard the evidence and concluded Paul Manafort was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all the counts. She was not the hold out. Another female juror she is saying was a hold out. She said that person was not necessarily a trump supporter,
she didnt believe, but somebody who didnt want to convict for her own reasons that the rest of the jurors but i find it fascinating that this trump supporter who confronted with 12 days of evidence said i dont Want Manafort to be guilty, but he was guilty. Its a witch hunt, but here i trust what the prosecutors did. Lets listen to the president talking about why he thinks flipping should be illegal. One of the reasons i respect Paul Manafort so much is he went through that trial you know, they make up stories. People make up stories. This whole thing about flipping, they call it. I know all about flipping for 30, 40 years i have been watching flippers. Everything is wonderful and then they get ten years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go. It almost ought to be out laud. Its not fair. I was talking to a doj official who said the president doesnt understand the law. You doesnt understand that when a witness flips or a defendant flips, its something that has
to be corroborated by prosecutors. He doesnt understand the law or Law Enforcement or common sense. You know who hates cooperating witnesses the most is leaders of criminal organizations. They call them rats. Gang leaders hate, i cant say flippers. Its silly. Gang leaders hate in cooperating witnesses. Corrupt ceos hate cooperating witnesses because thats how the Department Of Justice gets into secret organizations and gets to the top guy. If no one flipped, people at the top of corrupt organizations would be untouchable. Of course, thats what the president would like. They call them rats. The president called johndina rat the other day. Thats unconscionable to me. If you talk to police chief, nypd, all around the country, they say one of the biggest impediments is this no snitching, rats culture. Snitches get stitches. For the president of the United States to be promoting
that is beyond the pale. Incredibly dangerous to our cities and to our communities. Lets listen to the president trying to say that the payment to the women were not illegal because the money came out of his own pocket. Did you direct him to make those payments . He made the deal. He made the deals. By the way, he pled to two counts that arent a crime which nobody understands. Did you know about the payments . Later on i knew, later on. You have to understand what he did, and they werent taken out of Campaign Finance. Thats a bigger thing. Did they come out of the campaign . They didnt come out of the campaign. They came from me. And i tweeted about it. I dont know if you know, but i tweeted about the payments. But they didnt come out of the campaign. Elie . So, real quick, that statement is contradicted by tapes. Even if true, he is cooked either way. If it came out of the president s pocket, its a Campaign Expenditure he did not
support. If he received it from somebody else, its a contribution. He would have had to report what he was paying the money for. David pecker flipping on the president , pretty big news . I dont know if he is flipping, but he is granted immunity. They were allies for a long time. He knows a lot of secrets. It seems like the walls are closing in on this president , katy. Ken dilanian, elie hoenig. Thank you very much. And the silence of mitch mcconnell. The sounds of silence coming up next. Youre turning onto the street when you barely clip a passing car. Minor accident no big deal, right . Wrong. Your Insurance Company is gonna raise your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. Maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different Insurance Company. For drivers with