the foundation right now. brian todd, thank you very much. and to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. follow me on twitter and instagram at wolf blitz. tweet at cnnsitroom. >> announcer: this is breaking news. >> and the chairman of the house oversight committee which just wrapped up a dramatic seven-hour hearing with michael cohen telling reporters he believed the president broke the law while he has been in office. >> do you believe that the president committed a crime while in office? >> based on what -- looking at the checks, and listening to mr. cohen, it appeared that he did. >> that is a big moment for this

country. chairman cummings is saying, let's be very clear, breaking the law while in office opens the door to impeachment proceedings. it is on the heels of the hearing with michael cohen where cohen left nothing unsaid. >> i am ashamed. because i know what mr. trump is. he is a racist, he is a conman, and he is a cheat. >> cohen today detailing never-before heard information about trump's hush money payments to women and on russia. now cohen originally covered up for president trump on paying hush money to stormy daniels. today, though, we saw it, $35,000 check reimbursing cohen for the payment. you see that check. it is one of the exhibits produced by michael cohen today signed by donald trump, signed by donald trump. look at the date. he was president of the united states when that check was

signed. cohen testified today that president trump called him while he was president to make sure that he continued to lie about the payments to daniels. >> did the president call you to coordinate on public messaging about the payments to miss cliffords in or around february 2018. >> yes. >> what did the president ask or suggest that you say about the payments or reimbursements? >> he was not knowledgeable of the reimbursements and he wasn't knowledgeable of my actions. >> he asked you to say that. >> yes, ma'am. >> are you telling us, mr. cohen, that the president directed transacs in conspiracy with alan weisselberg and his son donald trump jr. as part of a civil criminal -- as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud. is that your testimony today? >> yes. >> and he's talking about the payments.

cohen is going to prison of course for his part in that conspiracy. so far the other alleged players including the president of the united states not yet paying a price. also new tonight, cohen said trump knew in advance that wikileaks was planning to publish hacked e-mails. let me play that exchange. >> january of this year, 2019, "the new york times" asked president trump if he ever spoke to roger stone about the stolen e-mails and president trump answered, and i quote, no, i didn't. i never did. was that statement by president trump true? >> no, it's not accurate. >> and can you please describe for us to the best of your recollection, you were present, exactly what mr. stone said to mr. trump? >> it was a short conversation and he said, mr. trump, i just want to let you know that i just got off the phone with julian assange and in a couple of days, there is going to be a massive dump of e-mails. that is going to severely hurt

the clinton campaign. >> now that is something both stone and trump deny. but the question of whether trump's people were in touch with russian-linked wikileaks is central to the russia investigation and on top of these two big issues, the hush money payments to women and the russia investigation, there could be more we found out today. cohen also saying federal prosecutors are investigating trump for crimes that have not yet been publicly discussed. >> is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding donald trump that we haven't yet discussed today? >> yes. and, again, those are part of the investigation that is curly bei -- kirntly being looked at by the southern district of new york. >> cohen famously said he would take a bullet for trump and figuratively he is and going to prison for crimes he said at the

direction of president trump. >> what do you want your children to know? >> that i'm sorry for everything and i'm sorry for the pain that i've caused them and -- i wish i could go back in time. >> so why did cohen do it? why did he continue to serve and work for a man that he specifically today said was a racist, a conman and a cheat for more than a decade? >> being around mr. trump was intoxicating when you are in his presence, you felt like you were involved in something greater than yourself. that you were somehow changing the world. >> manu raju begins our coverage. and it was emotional and from the sound bites it was emotional and soul bearing and yet new information in there. which chairman cummings said that happened while the president was in office, do you know what he's referring to when

he said it appears that this happened. >> it appears he's referring to the fact that the president was involved in this hush money scheme all the way in and through the -- at least 2017 when he was still president and he was -- he was president and in signing a check that michael cohen produced today for $35,000 as part of the series of payments that were part of that hush money scheme of criminal act in the view of a lot of people -- a lot of democrats noting that also that the southern district of new york implicated the president in those crimes. what adam schiff, the house intelligence committee chairman just told me is that, well the southern district of new york already implicated the president in those crimes but we saw the crimes continued while he was in the oval office. so now the question is where do the democrats go from here? we expect this to be a key part of the investigations that are happening going forward. elij

elijah cummings told me they'll bring alan weisselberg and donald trump jr. who was a name signed on one of the checks to come to capitol hill as part of an investigation into those hush money payments. adam schiff he had shed they will drill down tomorrow when cohen comes back to a classified setting about the topics but today's testimony only going to fuel the investigation on capitol hill and will that begin that discussion over impeachment proceedings. right now the democrat leaders are trying to tamp that down. cummings i asked if there were impeachable offenses and said that, well, i want to proceed very cautiously. they want the investigation to continue. they want to see what the mueller report ultimately produces, but this information significant to how the democrats will plan to pursue and how the federal prosecutors also decide to pursue it. at least we know that -- the southern district of new york is still investigating the president according to what cohen said today.

>> certainly, pretty blunt about it. he was cooperating and in the hopes that he could get his sentenced reduced further. thank you very much. and i want to go to a democrat who questioned michael cohen today. congressman jerry connelly. good to have you. >> good to be with you. >> and he said look at today's testimony and it appears the president of the united states has committed a crime while in office. do you agree? >> yes, i do. and i don't think that is new. in the filing, in the cohen case, by the southern district of new york, the words used were he committed a crime, he, cohen, that was coordinated and directed by individual number one and that is identified as donald j. trump. so there is nothing particularly new. i think we had a lot of -- >> now you understand more about what it was? >> that is right. >> this is about the payments and around the checks that we saw. >> that's right. i think all of us were shocked today to learn that the payments continued from the oval office and that donald j. trump was

unwise enough to sign one of the checks himself. >> right. we'll show it again. that check is there. his name is on it. the date is 2017. but when you take that together, and i know that the mueller report is not out there and there is things we don't know. but if what we know is that the president of the united states wrote this check as indeed he did and it is for hush money payment, that would be a crime, right? >> i believe it is at least one crime. and that is a violation of the federal election law because he was clearly circumventing the law which is why he was hiding both the nature of the payment under a false retainer arrangement with mr. cohen that did not exist, and try to hide the payments themselves by lying about it. >> so that impeachable -- if there is a crime in office, isn't that definitionally impeachable? >> you know, i'm going to -- i'm going to let this process unfold before i decide what is and is not impeachable. but let me just say, illegal

acts by the president of the united states that come to the attention of congress like this cannot be ignored. >> so you're saying there is other things you could do besides impeach? >> i'm saying they cannot be ignored. >> so what does that mean? i'm trying to understand. >> the congress simply can't turn a blind eye to this and at some point the process will have to start to work. what the outcomes are, i cannot -- i can't determine right now. but we take a constitutional oath to defend and protect the constitution of the united states. and when we have a bad actor in the white house, which the founders very much had in mind when they provided for impeachment, we can't ignore that. and so it has to be addressed at some point in some fashion. >> you don't want to go there quite yet on impeachment. >> this is our first hearing. we want to be methodical and fact-based and make sure that mueller has the opportunity to give his report and take final actions before we do.

>> so when you say at least one crime and we were talking about the hush money payments that continued while he was in office. there was also new information today that we learned about relations with russia and what the president said to michael cohen about what he was supposed to say when he testified about russia. and i wanted to play an exchange between you and michael cohen today. and this is specifically about whether the president directed michael cohen to lie to congress about russia moscow tower. here is the exchange. >> did the president in any way from your point of view coach you in terms of how to respond to questions or the content of your testimony before house committee? >> again, it's a difficult -- difficult to answer. because he doesn't tell you what he wants. what he does is -- again, michael, there is no russia. there is no collusion. there is no involvement. there is no interference. i know what he means because i've been around him for so long. >> you refer to that as a code. the way the president spoke and

direct people -- he wouldn't say go lie and he would say you know there is no this and no that even though it might be counter factual. do you believe he told him to lie and does it approach the same level of criminality as you heard about the hush money payments. >> that is a great question. certainly i think he was coaching a witness before a hearing before the hearing and, remember, that is why cohen is going to jail in part because he lied to that committee. and so this isn't just any feel-good immediate meting in the oval office. this is trump telling his personal attorney how he ought to handle the subject matter before he goes before the committee which involves lying. and secondly, i think it could be construed as subordinating perjury because he knew mr. cohen would be under oath when he testified. and the last time we had that was during watergate and that

was seen as a criminal offense by the president of the united states. >> and i'm asking you about impeaching and bringing up watergate and it is raising that spector and you want to proceed cautiously and waiting for mueller and when you have those things out there, do you have more people that you want to bring in and testify under oath and if so, who. >> certainly weisselberg. >> the chief financial officer of trump organization. >> that is right. he's on the favorite list and there might be others. i demure on the family members. i think it is a better part of the wisdom for us to allow the southern district to call donald trump jr. before them and if there are criminal matters they're investigating. i don't see an upside to our doing that. i think it just frankly adds to the narrative and the other side of the aisle that we're just out to get the trumps or something like that. i don't any we need to do that to make a pretty compelling case. >> all right.

about the president. which is who you are focused on. thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. and there was another revelation today from michael cohen about russia and this was about the trump family and they were much more involved in talks for that trump tower in moscow which was very important for donald trump. then they have previously claimed. let me play this exchange. >> who were the family members you briefed on the trump tower moscow project? >> donald trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> okay, were these in the regular course of business or did the president or family request the briefings. >> this is in the regular course of business. >> do you recall a question on the number of briefings. do you recall how many there might have been? >> i'm sorry, sir. >> do you recall how many briefings there might have been in. >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. ten in total. that is -- well, let's be honest, that is a complete contradiction of what ivanka

trump said she knew literally almost nothing about the project and don jr. who told congress that he was only peripherally aware of it and neither of those go with ten briefings and you went on until the president took office. up front now john dean who came up several times due to comments on his program and evan perez and from april ryan and barrett burger, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york harry sandic and author "of the making of donald trump" david k. johnson as we try to understand what happened. john, let me start with you. you said today was a turning point. how? >> well it was certainly a serious punctuation mark on how far it will turn is the remaining question.

i think that the fact the president wrote checks as a sitting president to pay of hush money is the most damning testimony that came out. but he also indicated there are many other investigations going on in the southern district so this is a bad day for donald trump. and the public is beginning to now pay attention and be made aware of this through someone like michael cohen. >> harry, how did michael cohen perform from your perspective. >> i thought on the whole he did well. there were times early on where he seemed like he was getting angry with the republican congressmen getting under his skin and he calmed down and hit his stride. it was very persuasive for him to blame himself for wrongdoing and that gives you credibility and persuasive for him to bring documents and gives credibility and it was also persuasive that he didn't overdo it. he said, well there was a whispered conversation and between trump and his son and i think i know what that was

about,if you were making something up, why not go for broke and say, you heard them talk about the meeting and so he was restrained in certain ways. those are things consistent with truth telling. he's a damaged witness and convicted of perjury before congress but i think it was a good day for him on the whole. >> and evan, as i just played that sound bite, when he said ten briefings in total and saying that those were to ivanka and don jr. and what is the significance of that in the broader context, evan? >> the significant there is i think the democrats on that committee may want to test exactly what ivanka trump and what donald trump jr. meant in whatever previous answers they've given to that very question. look, i think what we know so far is that the answer -- at least from the trump side has been that their communication about this project ended in

early 2016, in january i believe, in january of 2016. >> right. >> so that is what their answer was. so they didn't know michael cohen was lying when he lied about it. the new answer obviously from michael cohen is that it went much more extensively, ten briefings and both ivanka and donald trump jr. and so i think they're excuse or answer has been, look, we didn't remember and the answer we gave was because that is all of the documentation we have. and so it is going to be -- interesting to see i think the previous guest, the congressman there seemed hesitant about whether or not they wanted to hear perhaps in open testimony from the family members. >> barrett, one of the interesting things is -- obviously that is significant if they want to leave that for the southern district. but the question that i have is you have michael cohen saying donald trump would say -- wouldn't say go lie. he would say, you know, michael

there is no russia or collusion. that is how donald trump would speak. but why would he do that? why would donald trump jr. and ivanka trump have been briefed around ten times if what michael cohen is saying is true? and lie about it, if there is nothing to hide? >> that is a perfect question and every time you talk to somebody who is a witness or a defendant in a criminal case and lied about something, that is always the first question. why lie about this if there is nothing to hide. to your first point about cohen's testimony about how the president talked, that really tracks with my experience and i'm sure with harry's experience as well as a prosecutor. this is very common you see defendants in organizations very rarely does somebody come out and say, hey, why don't you and i go commit a crime or please don't tell anybody about the crime we committed together. >> so there is wink-wink, nod-nod code that he used. >> and there is a reason for that, because it makes it more

challenges for prosecutors to prove a case. it is easy when you have somebody admitted to witness tampering and it is harder when it is a eyebrow raised and a shrug of the shoulder. >> and i want to play -- we talked about a few new things and another thing that we learned new from michael cohen was new allegations about roger stone. okay. roger stone and donald trump have said until they are blue in the face that they never had a conversation about wikileaks and all of this -- these damaging e-mails and hacking done by the wikileaks which of course is being used by russia. let me just play what michael cohen said about that today. >> it was a short conversation and he said, mr. trump, i just want to let you know that i got off the phone with julian assange and in a couple of days there is going to be a massive dump of e-mails that is going severely hurt the clinton campaign. >> the reason i ask is because in july 22nd on the eve of the democratic convention, wikileaks

published, as you know, the 20,000 leaked internal dnc e-mails. could your meeting with mr. trump have been before that date? >> yes. >> so mr. trump was aware of the upcoming dump before it actually happened? >> yes. >> i mean, the significance of this -- it could be hugely significant. >> yes. >> if this is true, they have lied and michael cohen was explicit and said rhona graf, then the assistant, said roger stone is on speaker phone and he put him on spoke -- on speaker phone at the desk and he heard the conversation. >> it is not conclusive. it indicates and suggests with other evidence that we have that donald trump knew perfectly well he would be helped by the russians which is not only a crime but should outrage everyone in the united states. it is a crime to accept anything

of value from a foreign government during a american election. now, it's also reasonable to assume, we may never see them, since the conversation that roger stone with julian assange, there are intercepts of that, by the dutch or british or somebody else and they may not put it out there. >> and julian assange was seen -- julian assange and the communications could have been monitored. april, what i'm getting at here, is back to the question i had to barrett. if there was nothing to hide, if the president would say yeah, he mentioned wikileaks but i didn't know what it was and i take help from anybody. it was more innocent like that, then why have we heard so repeatedly the president and his team rudy giuliani deny that what michael cohen said happened ever happened? let me play a couple of examples. >> did you ever talk to him about wikileaks because that is -- >> no.

>> you never had a conversation? >> no. i didn't. i never did. >> and did you ever tell him to -- other people to get in touch with him? >> never did. >> did roger stone ever give the president a heads up on wikileaks and concerning dnc. >> no, he didn't. >> not at all? >> i don't believe so. >> wikileaks, which i had nothing to do with -- >> i mean, april, if what michael cohen said today is true and again i say if, although he certainly seemed to be very credible today, then all of those things are just blatant lies. >> right. erin, someone along the way is lying. we don't know which side. the sad piece is that everyone has a credibility issue. who do you believe? but you ask the right question. why are people lying? we understand why michael cohen would lie. he was being loyal and trying to protect and it is not a good thing but we understand. he said he was being loyal, trying to protect this man. he thought he was larger than life. but why is -- if the president is lying, why is he lying and

cover it up? and that is the question that needs to be answered. but just looking at it, once you get into this piece of wikileaks and roger stone, julian assange and this pouring out of wikileaks, there are tentacles that could lead to other places. and what is the cover-up? what are they trying to hide and cover up. that is the issue. >> harry, can i just once again -- because we're talking about two big issues that developed today. russia investigation with trump tower and the wikileaks connection and also the hush money payments. the checks that we saw, a couple that michael cohen submitted as part of his exhibits. donald trump signing and paying to michael cohen and weisselberg and donald trump jr. involved while he was president. can you explain in english for us why that would be a crime. >> so the reason why that would be a crime is that under campaign finance rules, there are limits to how much money could be contributed to a campaign and disclosure

requirements about how you have to disclose the payments that you receive. and here cohen made significant payments and was then in these checks being reimbursed for those payments. and the reimbursements weren't being honestly held out as this is reimbursement for a campaign -- >> well it was we knew about this retainer being paid. and now we know -- >> it is nonsense. it was not a retainer, it was a reimbursement and it was not disclosed and way more than what someone could contribute. >> and we know the hush payment -- the develop today, i'm making this very clear is that we now have evidence that the checks and that payment continued while donald trump was president of the united states. >> that is right. while he was president. and with his knowledge. this is not something done by another person in a back room. this is a check from his account with his signature on the check. how can he plausibly deny knowing. >> and barrett another point to make to people, it is impeachable because it is while he was in office. i'm sorry, you could be

impeached for things you did before you are in office and maybe that is being more cautious and today we found out the crime continued while he was in office. both of those things could be impeachable if they choose to proceed? >> that is absolutely right. just because it continued while he was president, i think in some ways it makes it more egregious because you would hope that somebody who is sitting in the oval office would hold them -- >> a jaw dropping headline. >> but it doesn't change. if it was a crime it was a crime before he was in office and it would be a crime if he continued while in office. >> all of you stay with me. next a republican lawmaker attempting to prove trump is not a racist and it sparked one of the most memorable moments of today. >> the fact that someone would actually use a prop -- a black woman in this chamber in this committee -- is alone racist in itself. >> mr. chairman -- >> it is setting a precedent that the highest --

>> at one point mark meadows starting to cry. plus michael cohen handing over years of trump's financial statements. things that we had -- didn't think were out there. so what does he claim they prove? emreplenished,d, fortified. emerge everyday with emergen-c. packed with b vitamins, electrolytes, antioxidants, plus more vitamin c than 10 oranges. why not feel this good every day? emerge and see. ♪ ♪

our new, hot, fresh breakfast will get you the readiest. (buzzer sound) holiday inn express. be the readiest. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. life isn't a straight line. things happen. and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. reach her health goals! i'm in! but first...

shelfie! the great-tasting nutrition of ensure. with up to 30 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals! ensure. for strength and energy. ensure. driven each day to pursue bioplife-changing cures...ers. in a country built on fostering innovation. here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cells... and a new therapy that gives the blind a working gene so they can see again. because it's not just about the next breakthrough... it's all the ones after that.

president trump today, right now, about to head to a one-on-one meeting with the north korean leader kim jong-un. it is morning in vietnam. but it might have been a very long night for him. kaitlin collins is out front

from hanoi and how close is mr. trump and his team watching michael cohen and those developments? >> reporter: incredibly closely. we saw the president's kids and his allies back in washington reacting to michael cohen's testimony in real-time. even disputing parts of it, like when michael cohen said he never wanted to work in the white house. which even our sources say simply isn't true. but we know here in hanoi, white house officials are keeping an eye on that testimony as well because they want to be able to talk about it when the president brings it up. and we know president trump was keeping an eye on it because he had a conversation with senator lindsey graham where he said he was complaining about the fact and saying he was bothered that testimony was happening while he's here in vietnam about to embark on the second summit with kim jong-un because the president believes it distracts from what he's trying to do here. by achieving nuclear diplomacy with the north korean dictator and that is something that bothers the president. also we know michael cohen has irritated the president but also the investigations tied to the

president overall, because the president has said they interfere with his interactions with other world leaders and those questions followed him here because even right before he had dinner with kim jong-un last night, reporters were asked him questions about michael cohen's testimony. erin. >> thank you very much, kaitlin. and back to our panel. one of the moments today -- there were a lot of emotional moments and then there were some eye-opening sort of personal things that we learned. john dean, one of them came when michael cohen in an exchange with congresswoman speier was talking about his role. he was the thug. the guy who went out and had to threaten people all of the time and the discussion was about what sorts of things he did. and let me just play the exchange because it is pretty amazing. >> how many times did mr. trump ask you to threaten an individual or entity on his behalf? >> quite a few times. >> 50 times?

>> more. >> 100 times? >> more. >> 200 times? >> more. >> 500 times. >> probably. over the ten years. >> over the ten years he asked you -- a >> and when you say threaten, i'm talking litigation or an argument with -- >> intimidation. >> or a nasty reporter writing an article. >> john dean, something about the way that played out. it was a jaw-dropping moment. >> it was, indeed. in fact there are tapes around of people who recorded michael cohen when he was threatening people and he played really tough. he told them ugly things and ugly things he would do to them. so that is a striking number that he's confessed to. i'm sure he's not happy with it. i'm sure that some will try to use it against him but he's being honest in revealing it. >> it was. and then there were moments where it got very heated today.

look, there were republicans constantly and every time they came up except for maybe one exception they said that he was a liar and a fraudster and a felon and therefore no one should pay attention to what he said and at one moment that got rather heated. let me kpla this exchange with congressman jordan. >> his remorse is nonexistent. he just debated a member of congress saying i really didn't do anything wrong with the false bank records that i'm going to prison for. >> that is not whey said. >> that is what -- >> and i said i pled guilty and take responsibility for my actions. >> shame on you mr. jordan. that is not what i said. >> mr. chairman -- >> that is not what i said. what i said is i took responsibility and i take responsibility. what i was doing is explaining to the gentleman that his facts are inaccurate. >> evan, what mattered most about that exchange in so much

of today was not how this plays with bob mueller or anyone in the southern district of new york. they have documents, they have a point of view. what mattered was whether in the court of public opinion michael cohen convinced people that he was a deeply-flawed but now honest repent ant person telling the truth. >> right. and i think you saw a lot of what michael cohen was trying to do there. i think one of the members of the panel mentioned earlier that if he wanted to just go all out and lie, he could have just said i heard don jr. say that they were going to have this meeting with the russians in the summer of 2016. he could have said something like that if he wanted to just go whole hog. and to seemed like he was also today, erin, trying to walk a fine line. if you notice, he appears to balloon a little bit for the democrats who have been sort of going on the theory that the president and his company essentially have been laundering russian money for years. if you remember he was asked

about that during the hearing today and he said he never saw satchels of rubles and in some ways maybe helped the president there. he also helped the president a little bit on the wikileaks question because he said that roger stone was freelancing. not at the direction of the president. again, if michael cohen wanted to just lie during this hearing, he could have done a lot more. but today he seemed to be trying to weave between all of the things that the republicans were trying to catch him on and what he has already admitted to. >> and not, harry, going so far as in one of the filings where they said roger stone was directed by a senior member of the campaign or someone directed a senior member of the campaign to tell roger stone to do this. michael cohen, if he knew that was -- he didn't go that far but he did move the bar in a huge way on wikileaks by saying that conversation happened. one other thing that he did was -- there was a lot of talk about the catch and kill. bad stories about trump and the

tabloids and they were paid to buy and bury. they were explaining how that happened vis-a-vis "the national enquirer" and tapes about a love child and -- and physical abuse of melania trump in an elevator and michael cohen said clearly those things didn't happen. he was very adamant they didn't happen and the president of the united states would not do. >> that that is what evan was saying. to the extent there are other people who might know that and they could come up and say it and coen is in a position to den why it and he isn't looking to do any favors for trump. it seems as though that is a strong check mark that did not happen. >> now on the personal side there were so many -- a lot of this was deeply personal. you saw michael cohen crying at a couple of points. including at the end tearing he said the president of the united states was a conman and fraud and -- racist.

and he gave a powerful set of examples of why the president is a racist and i want to play a couple of them. >> he once asked me if i could name a country run by a black person that wasn't a shit hole. this is when barack obama was president of the united states. and while we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in chicago, he commented that only black people could live that way. and he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid. >> and then, okay, and then in response to this there was a very heated exchange. congress woman tlaib and meadows tried to disprove what cohen just said there. a black woman who had -- has worked for the trump family is now employed by the administration and brought her in and had her stand up and say, look, she is black and she said

that trump is -- isn't a racist and so he's not a racist. april, let me give you a chance to react to that. that moment there first before i play this very powerful exchange. >> you know, there is a lot to unpack right there. congress woman tlaib inartfully said that congressman meadows was a racist. you could not he is a racist just by that. now let's put that there. but for congressman meadows to ask lynn patton to stand up and she's a black person in this administration and she can't be racist because her father was in the south. those are just points. that doesn't mean that -- >> the president was born in birmingham so -- >> yeah. and she just happens to be in the administration because of her relationship with eric trump. she planned parties for them. and favor for favor.

so that does not equate to the president not being a racist. now if you want to get to the points that was a bad exchange, you have to be very careful when you call someone a racist. .naacp is power and prejudice to oppress a person or people. i didn't see that. but at the same time, was it insensitive? yes. it went down the line of oh, he did say -- he said i've got family members who are of color. it is almost like me saying, i've got white people who are my friends. it is -- it was -- there is a lot of racial insensitivity. if you want to go to the fact that the president has accused of being a -- a racist, talk about charlottesville. the central park five. he still has not apologized for that. putting c's on applications and housing applications, that went to the justice department. so there are questions about his sensitivity when it comes to race.

and the naacp put out a statement today about the racist components, saying, look, this isn't nothing we haven't known before. when you see somebody do something the first time, believe them. >> and it was a moment during the exchange that was so emotional on so many levels. i want to play what congress woman tlaib said to mark meadows when she invoked the racist word. here it is. >> the fact that someone would use a prop -- a black woman in this chamber, in this committee -- it alone racist in itself. donald trump is setting -- >> mr. chairman, i ask that her words be taken down. >> -- i reclaim my time. >> mr. chairman, i ask that her words -- when she's referring to an individual member of this body be taken down as stricken from the record. i'm sure she didn't intend to -- to do this. but if anyone knows my record as it relates -- it should be you,

mr. chairman. >> she eventually did try to back down a little bit, john. but meadows became incredibly upset over her accusations and you saw that there, he started to tear up at one point. by the end of the hearing michael cohen was tearing up as well when elijah cummings was giving a summary about how this is important moment for democracies and michael cohen has lost his life. and you've been in a room like this. what did you make of the emotion, john. >> there is no doubt there was a lot of emotion. it started with the fact that michael cohen couldn't bring his family, which would have liked to have been sitting right behind him for moral support. but he was frightful for their security. he did tear up a couple of times. and then meadows did have that very emotional exchange. it was a -- it was -- there was

a theater aspect in just the emotions of the hearing. no question. and it was pretty dramatic stuff. i think everybody came out pretty well on that. i think meadows did get the point made that he does not feel he's a racist and shouldn't be charged. and the chairman seemed to agree. they have a unique and apparently genuine friendship. >> that is certainly a moment where elijah cummings talking about how close their friendship was. stay with me. because michael cohen said federal prosecutors are investigating undisclosed wrong dos, things we don't know about but we know they may be there so what is he talking about. and plus cohen telling all about trump's mysterious finances for the first time. >> it was my experience that mr. trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes.

thanksmrs. murphy. unitedhealthcare, hi, i need help getting an appointment with my podiatrist. how's wednesday at 2? i can't. dog agility. tuesday at 11? nope. robot cage match. how about the 28th at 3? done. with unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans, including the only plans with the aarp name,

there's so much to take advantage of. from scheduling appointments to finding specialists, it's easier to get the care you need when you need it. just as important as what you get out of it? our broccoli cheddar is made with aged melted cheddar, simmered broccoli, and no artificial flavors. enjoy 100% clean soup today. panera. food as it should be.

breaking news. president trump's former lawyer and fixer michael cohen pointing tonight that there could be more. other investigations that we do not yet know about by new york prosecutors that involve the president. >> is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding donald trump that we haven't yet discussed today? >> yes. and again those are part of the investigation that is currently being looked at by the southern district of new york. >> i am currently working with them right now on several other issues of investigation. >> all right. harry, let me start with you on this. is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that involved the

president that you know of that we're not talking about. yes. how much more could there be? >> there was some communication between trump and cohen and that is a look at possible obstruction-related offense and why are they talking with a microscope hovering over them and there are trump organization related investigations. we know they gave immunity to weisselberg and david pecker and ami and that wasn't all to get michael cohen. it is part of a bigger investigation. and so it seems as if to the extent people thought well cohen is being sentenced and going into prison and that is all over. it is definitely not over. they're still doing things in the southern district, we know about the inauguration investigation which may touch on cohen to some extent. so there is a lot going on. there is a lot of concern. even if mueller wraps up, the southern district isn't wrapping up. >> in the exchanges here, michael cohen was honest that, sure, he's cooperating with everything else he can in the hopes of reducing his sentence

further. sew was honest that he had a dog in the fight. but do you think it is possible that there is something else big out there that could involve the president in another jurisdiction like the southern district. >> it is possible. and that is the likely outcome of once the special counsel office is sort of finished its report and is ready to wrap up, i think it is likely that they will farm out a few more cases to other u.s. attorneys offices around the country. maybe to the southern district of new york or to other offices. so it is likely there are still active investigations that will go go to other offices. i think you do have to michael cohen with a with a little bit of a grain of salt. i do not think that he knows all of the details of those investigations for the sole reason that prosecutors are not really in the business of telling defendants, especially ones trying to cooperate, sort of -- >> everything. he doesn't know all the parts. he knows one, but not all of them. >> correct. >> so so, dadvid, when it comes

to what else is out there, we know that the president of the united states has lied for a long time about his finances. and in some ways that are certainly not illegal, like lying to "forbes" about your net worth. those kind of things happens all the time. to me something that michael cohen said today opened the door to something much more sinister and perhaps illegal. let me play it. >> i am giving to the committee today three years of mr. trump's personal financial statements from 2011, 2012, and 2013. which he gave to deutsche bank to inquire about a loan to buy the buffalo bills and to forbes. it was my experience that mr. trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes. >> okay. again, to "forbes," not against the law. but lying to a bank to obtain a loan, totally different. >> one of the crimes that was committed -- admitted to by michael cohen. >> and, right, and michael co n cohen, partly going to prison for that. what does it mean, if this is true, and again, we don't know,

but if this is true, that would mean that was something that would appear to me that donald trump would have done all the time, if you're willing to lie to a bank once, then you're willing to lie. >> in fact, we know that donald in the past has entered false financial statements. he's hidden records from auditors in my biography, "the making of donald trump," there's the whole hilarious -- dark hilarious, of hiding records to avoid an audit by the city of new york and coming up with stories to hide them. it's reasonable to think that prosecutors are looking at bank fraud, insurance fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax fraud. and not just income tax fraud, there's also issues about donald trump's property taxes, the charitable deductions he's taken. now, combine into this the trump foundation, which my organization, d.c. report, pushed very hard to get a criminal investigation out by the state. our state attorney general doesn't have inherent criminal authority. and you've got a whole package of financial wrongdoing for them to look at. donald trump's finances have

never been properly scrutinized. that's one of the reasons why he had a private bankruptcy, when he was the owner of three casinos. it was done outside the bankruptcy system so he could limit how much got out. a lot got out, but not what would have come out in a formal proceeding. >> and the question is, of course, whether that will come out, whether that will be a part of this. >> absolutely. >> you know, as someone pointed out i thought pretty fairly tonight during the hearing, that michael cohen himself, republicans were quick to say he has no morals because he lied on his taxes, but they repooufused ask the president for his. michael cohen now preparing to testify before the house intelligence committee. that's tomorrow. one hearing that will congressm that hearing is my guest. that's next. td ameritrade can help you build a plan for today and tomorrow. come with a goal. leave with a plan. td ameritrade. ♪ -jamie, this is your house? -i know, it's not much, but it's home.

right, kids? -kids? -papa, papa! -[ laughs ] -you didn't tell me your friends were coming. -oh, yeah. -this one is tiny like a child. -yeah, she is. oh, but seriously, it's good to be surrounded by what matters most -- a home and auto bundle from progressive. -oh, sweetie, please, play for us. -oh, no, i couldn't. -please. -okay. [ singing in spanish ] -please. -okay. - want to take your next vacation to new heights? tripadvisor now lets you book over 100,000 tours,

attractions, and experiences in destinations around the world like new york, from bus tours to breathtaking adventures. tripadvisor makes it easy to find and book amazing things to do. and you can cancel most bookings up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. so you can make your next trip monumental. read reviews, check hotel prices, book things to do, tripadvisor.

tonight, just a few hours away from michael cohen again, back on capitol hill. this time, he will appear before the house intelligence committee. "outfront" now, democratic congressman denny heck of washington who sits on that committee. congressman, you know, you saw today, you saw every moment of it. and what did you hear? did you have a lot more questions? >> well, erin, first of all, i want to say that if you look the word "gravitas" up in the dictionary, there would be a video playing of the manner in which elijah cummings presided over this. it made me proud to call him colleague and friend. i think in terms of kind of concrete things that are takeaways from it, we learned a lot.

we learned, for example, that the president knew that roger stone was in touch with wikileaks and julian assange. we also knew that the president knew ahead of time that michael cohen was going to come before congress and lie, which is, of course, why he's lost his license to practice law and why he's going to prison for up to three years. so we laerearned a lot. but i have to say, while the former two instances are examples of potentially crimes, i found at least equally offensive that michael cohen quoted the president or then non-president trump as having said, i'm not stupid, i'm not going to vietnam, which i find deeply offensive and very, very hurtful to the 58,000 approximately names and the families of those names printed on the 492-foot vietnam war memorial. >> you know, the republicans on the committee today slammed cohen and his credibility repeatedly. they really didn't ask questions. it was a defense -- well, it was

either disparaging him or to protect the president. here's what cohen said at one point in response. >> i did the same thing that you're doing now, for ten years. i protected mr. trump for ten years. and i can only warn people, the more people that follow mr. trump, as i did blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that i'm suffering. >> what did you think when you heard that? >> from mr. cohen? >> yes. >> i think he's coming clean. and to prove it, he brought receipts. look, the republican strategy today, unfortunately, was abundantly clear. it was to engage in hyperbole and character assassination in an attempt to destroy his reputation, so that should the instance ever come that there is an impeachment question before the senate, the base consolidated and won't enable

the senate to deliberate and get to a two-thirds vote in a fair, open-minded, objective way. i think the tactic is clear. it didn't have much to do with getting at the truth. i join with my colleague and friend chairman schiff in asking them, finally, please, put country before party. >> but, you know, when you say, look, there's now a crime -- look, you can impeach someone for a crime before office, but now there's a crime in office, right, with those payments. the wikileaks thing could move the bar in russia here. but did you take away from your republican colleagues that impeachment, if you move ahead with it, would be nothing more than a democratic political move, because they are simply not going to get onboard. they did not seem to want to know the details today. >> the short answer, erin, is, yes, that is precisely what i take away from it. but of course, things change over time and they evolve. and the fact of the matter is, we are yet to see the final work product or products. i caution people to not get too

invested in the idea that bob mueller is only going to create one work product. he may, but it may be multiple products. we have yet to see that. and i'm going to at least extend some hope that they'll keep their minds open enough with new evidence as it continues to mount, and we had two big bricks of evidence today, if not more. >> all right. well, i appreciate your time. i look forward to having you back on. i know you'll be questioning him tomorrow. thanks so much. and to all of you, our breaking news coverage continues now with "a.c. 360". >> a racist, a con man, a cheat. that's a description of the president of the united states from the man who was his attorney and fixer for a decade. good evening, thanks for joining us on a big day here in washington, d.c., where michael cohen testified publicly for the first time today about the president's alleged role in some of the crimes that are sending cohen to prison in a few months. there were a number of big takeaways from the day. the first, cohen says the president asked him to pay off the porn star, who says she had sex with trump and to lie to his wife, melania about it and sign checks, ec