captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc dr >> wf: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight... >> i know trump is. he is a racist. he is a con man. and he is a cheat. >> woodruff: ...michael cohen testifies president trump directed him to lie and break the law and that mr. trump personally reimbursed him for hush money while in office. we help put the claims of mr. trump's former lawyer in context with response from lawmakers and a former special counsel on what o day means for the investigations ie president. en, our second major story: we are in vietnam as theid prt negotiates with north korea's leader kim jong-un to end the rogue nation's nuclear weapons prndram. all thatore on tonight's

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his sbject ise subject of ongoing criminal investigations. in more than five hours of combative testimony before the use oversight committee, the man who once said he would take a bullet for the president repeatedly slammed his former boss' character. >> i am ashamed that i chose to take part in concealing . trump's illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience. i am ashamed because i know what mr. trump is. he is a racist.he s a con man. he is a cheat. he asked me to pay off an adult film sth whom he had an affair, and to lie about it to his wife about it, which i did. the country has seen mr. trump court white supremacis bigots. you have heard him call poorer countries "( bleep ) holes. his private-- in private, he is even worse.

he once asked me if i could name a country run by a black person that wlen't a "( bleep ) this was when barack obama was president of the united ates. while we were once driving through a struggli 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. mr. trump tasked me to handle the negative press surrounding his medical deferment from the vietnam draft. mr. trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when i asked for medical records, he neve me nd said there was no surgery.ol heme not to answer the specific questions by reporters edt rather offer simply the fact that he received aal deferment. he finished the conversation

with the following comment." you think i'm stupid, i wasn't going to vietnam." questions have been raised about whether i know of direct evidence that mr. trump or his campaign colluded with russia. i do not. i want to be clear. but, i have my suscions. yet, last fall i pled guilty in federal court to felonies for the benefit , at the direction of, and in coordination with individual #1. for the record: individual #1 is president donald j. trump. i did the same thing that you're doing now. i protected mr. trump for 10 years. th.more people that follow trump as i did blindly are going

to suffer that same consequences that i am suffering. >> woodruff: republicans on the committee, for their part, were quick to attack cohen's character and credibility as a witness. >> mr. cohen, how long did you work at the white house? >> i never worked in the white house. >> that's the point, isn't it, mr cohen. >> no sir. >> yes it is. >> no sir, it's not, sir. >> you wanted to work in the white house. >> no >>r. ou didn't get brought to the dance, and now-- nothing he says or produces has any credibility. apparently he even lied about o delivering h child which his wife had to correct the record of. ladies and gentlemen how on earth is this witness crotible? >> io tell you. you know, america's watching you, i've been gettingleexts right an saying how can anyone listen to this pathological p pson. he's gotblem. he doesn't know fact from fiction. ecyou didn't do this to pr trump. this is all about you.s ther truth with you

whatsoever. that's important to you, to lore up tnd look at that old adage that our moms told us. liar, liar, pants on fire. no one should ever listen to you angive you credibility. it's sad. >> woodruff: our lisa desjardi was in the hearing room today. and yamiche alcindor has beenac ng reaction from the white ouuse. hello to both of so, lisa, you were there. we were just hearing michael cohen, in essence, warn the republicans on the committee not to do what he was doing-- protect the president, folw e president. what was the dynamic there? >> well, it was another intense and historic feeling here. and the line to get in stretched for two city blocks inside this large office building on capitol hill. i think both sides came into it very aware of thehe stakere, that this is the first time we've seen someone come testify about what may be impeachable offenses ifhey're proven. and both parties clearly came,

as we saw in thoselips, wih their messages and their scripts. but i think what happened, judy, is actually the byne was se two people this that room, one, y e chairman elijah cummings, who ran a verght ship and shut down both sides when they went too long and also when they seemed to get out of hand. the other, michael cohen camself. i think republican in-- in fact, i talked to republicans who came in thinking here was a great chance for the swing a big hit for the president. they thought this was a man whose credibility would be easy to take down. instead, they found someone who was able to joust wi th in a calm and poised manner, and at times, defended the president, even as heas making incredible accusations against him. so republicans came out during the break, judy, and actually did not want to talk topo ers as much as democrats did, which was a sign of the exphrg ked of what theyre feeling inside. one other thing, judy-- was there anything new here today? there were a few ne things. one that stuck out to me was michael cohen saying in public that there are other

investigions pending in the southern district of new york that do involve the president iw soy. >> woodruff: it's interesting what you're saying about republic they are still questioning michael cohen's credibility. and that brings me to you, yamiche, because it is in the eye of the beholr. one side saying very believable, the other side saying he's not. what were thsaying at the white house today? >> michael cohen really set out to disntle this id of president trumpals the businessman who ran for president because he wanted to see america thive. instead, michael cohen said he was a con artist and someone who ran because he wanted to enrich himself off the of the presidency and forhe candidacy of being president. and the white hse here is pushing back very strongly on that. now there is, of course, this incredible split screen they have to talk about, which is ths presidenn vietnam, meeting with kim jong-un, the leader of north korea, but he's still very much focused onashington and focused on this explosive day here on the hill. the president was out saying that michael cohen is a liar, and that's what the white house

was saying. i also have been text messaging with rudy giuliani, who is of course, counsel for the esident, and jay sekulow, both are very adamant that michael cohen is not someone who should be trusted. it's hard to ser whethert michael cohen will be effective here politically because, of ppurse, republicans and the people who are ting the president are sticking with him. i also want to talk about thieds inle moment that happened in the hearing. representative and republican, mark meadows, he brought out leo lynn patton. she is a hud official who isso a longtime friend of the president. he had lynn patton std next to him and said this iss someone who is an african american woman who said she wuld never work for someone who say racist, and what say you, michael cohen, of r statement? and michael cohen said i understand she might say that and i know her very well. but in fact, aso someone whse parents are holocaust survivors i am some in ways ashamed i worked for president trump.

lynn patton spme with me apt hearing. she tells me she wanted to stand there and knows michael cohen very well and she wanted to make sure he knew and she knew he was one higher moral ground. ae also wanted to pivot back to this idea tht president trump doesn't see color and told me he only sees successes and failures and more people should be like that. we have the president's camp and the white house pivoting back to nee original image of the president, somrom "the aprevents" hiring and firing people and making d >> woodruff: it's interesting because we heard another member of the commit later on,hr representativeeeb, in essence, saying one of h fellow members of congress, a republican, was a racist. he denied that later. it brought u a whle different dimension here. right now i do want to turn to more of the testimony. michael cohen also described hush money payments he said president trump directed him to make to two women who have been allegedded to have had extramarital affairs with

mr. trump. cohen today produced a copy of the $130,000 wire transfer he paid to porn film actress stephanie clifford, known as stormy daniels, which cohen says she "demanded" to keep quiet abt the alleged affair.tr thsfer is dated october 26, days before the november 2016 presidential election. cohen also produced a copy of a personal check written out to cohen, and signed by mr. trump, of $35,000 on august 1, 2017 while mr. trump was president. cohen says it was pa reimbursement for his payment to cliffo, which violated campaign finance violations. >> theresident of the united states thus wrote personal check for the payment of hush money as part of a crimil scheme to violate campaign finance laws. >> did the president call you to coordinate on public messaging about the payments to ms.

clifford in or around february 28? >> yes. >> what did the presask or suggest that you say about the leyments or reimbursements. >> he was not kneable of these reimbursements and he was not knowledge of my actions. he asked you to say that? >> yes.n >>dition to the personal check for $35,000 in july 2017, is there additionalin corroborevidence that mr. trump while a sitting president of the united states directly reimbursed you hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance law? >> there are 11 checks that i reived for the year. >> woodruff: cen also accused e president of inflating his own financial assets. here's his exchange with missouri democrat lacy clay.e >> i'm giving mmittee today three years of president trump's personal financial anatements, from 2011, 201 2013, which he gave to deutsche

bank to inquire about a loan to buy the buffalo bills and to forbes. >> can you explain why you had financial statements and what you used them for? >> these statements were used by me for two purposes: one was discussing with media, whether it was "forbes" or other magazines, to demonstrate mr. trump's significant net worth. that was one function. another, when dealing later on with insurance companies, we would provide them with these copies so that they would understand that the premium, which is based sometimes upon the individual's capabilities to pay, would be reduced. io and all of this was done at president's direand with his knowledge? >> yes, because whatev numbers would come back to be,

we would immediately report them ck. >> and did this information provided tprus inflate the ident's assets? >> i believe these numbers are inflated. >> to your knowlge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to a bank in order to help him obtain a loan? >> these documents and others were provided to deustche bank on one occasion when i was with them in our attempt to obtain money to put a bid on the buffalo bills. >> woodruff: so, lisa, as we're hearing the democrats did put a fair amt of focus today on the president's finances. s of what the thinking there? >> as w me wait for turl investigation, a lot of democrats think there may be more of a clear direct connection of wrongdoing for the president himself when it comes to his monrsey mat that's why this came up again. wsd, of course, this is something cohen kn lot about himself personally. so to kind of break down all of that sound, that was a lot from

mr. cohen. f let's start wirst this inflaight of of mr.av trump's thes. one reason that is a big exclamation point, if he did inflate save thes to a bang, that is potentially bank fraud.a but there wather allegation here, as he overstated his save thes to one group of peple, he understated it, mr. cohen said, to the i.r.s., iorder to make sure his taxes federally and also his local property taxes woulbe lower tn perhaps he deserved to pay. so mr. cohen was accuse mr. trump of basically cheating in two different wayin this is somethat the trump organization has denied. now, there's another set o financial issues here. that is the hush money that he is accused of paying too women. and what's significant here-- there are couple of things. one, mr. cohen-- when he talked in that clip about the message mr. trump gave him, that was to reporters. it's not a crime to lie to reporters, unortunately.

but it could be a crime, potentially, if mr. d ump testifout this in a hearing or encouraged mr. cohen to change his own testimony and lie for him. so that's why we're waching this hush money in particular. the president, i want to say, initially denied having an knowledge o that hush money, and then later walked that back and said, "no, these were prievment payment payments that totagal." and we'll see. this is sort of act one in a very large drama, obdriously. >> wf: for a different purpose, not being clear about what the purpose was.g >> that's . he left it open but mr. cohen is saying this is what it was for. republicans dispute that. >> woodruff: once again to the hearing: a central question of the ongoing investigations into president trump and his campaign has been about potential ties to russia. cohen offered some details about actions of staffers during the 2016 election. >> mr. trump knew in advance of

mr. stone's. in july 2016, days before the democratic convention, i was in mr. trump's office when his secretary announced that roghe stone was onhone. mr. trump put mr. stone on the speakerphone. hamr. stone told mr. trumphe had just gotten off the phone withulian assange and that m assange told mr. stone tplt, within a cof days, there would be a massive dump of emails that would mage hillary byinton's campaign. mr. trump respondetating to the effect of, "wouldn that be great." questions have been raised about whether i know of direct evidence that mr. trump or his campaign colluded with russia. i do not. i want to be clear. but, i have my suspicions. >> do you have reason to believe that the president explicitly or implicitly authorized stonto make contact with wikileaks and indicate the campaign's intere

in the strategic release of the illegally hacked materials? >> i'm not aware of that >> was stone a free agent reporting back to the president what hne or acting on campaign on behalf of the president and with his authority? >> free agent. >> reporting back to president what he had done?>> es, he frequently reachedmr out to trumptrump happy to take calls. it was free service. >> stone said he never spoke to trump about wikileaks, how can we corroborate what you're ying? >> i don't know, suspect special counsel and other agencies has information you're looking for. >> are you aware of anything the president has done that may have subjected him to blackmail? >> no. >> are you aware of any

videotapes? >> i've heard of these tapes for a long time. i've had many people conta me over the years. i have no reason to believe those tapes exist. >> woodruff: so coming back to you, yamiche, listening to all this, did we learn anything new about legal implications for the president with regard to the russia investigation? >> ll, the key question coming out of this michael cohen anaring is going to be, "is ther criminal and legal implications and consequences for anyone,ither for president trump or people around him because of michael cohen'tes imony?" so i want to walk you through some legal problems that might pose to be an issue for the president. the firsts roger stone and the wikileaks issues and the hacked d.n.c. emails. right now, the president was poss tly directed roger stoo work with illegally hacked information. that could prove to be a criminal problem for president trump. the other thing is this trump

tower moscow project. now, the president has said over and over again tat he di't have business going in with russia during the campaign. but in fact, this co td be part e-- what could be a case about collusion, because he would ve had a business interest for work russia. the other thing i'm talk about briefly is therump tower meeting with donaldrumpr. michael cohen is making the case president trump knew very well that donald trump jr. was a walking ineeting trying to get information about hillary clinton from russia. that could also be aproblems thaproblembecause that would beg with a foreign country to impact an american election. there are political issues, too, but these legal issues might be the onethat matter most. >> woodruff: all right. yamiche alindor, thank you very much. and lisa desjardins here in the studio. we appreciate it. and to you watching, we are going to have more on chael cohen's testimony a little later in the program.

>> woodruff: now to our other top story: the second summit between president trump and north korean leader kim jong-un. our nick schifrin is reporting on the summit with a newshour teamand sets the scene on da one from hanoi, vietnam. >> schifrin: in the capital of a former enemy, president trump once again extended his hand to a historic adversary, and said he was making kim jong-un an offer he can't refuse. >>as think that your country tremendous economic potential. unbelievle, unlimited. and i think that you will have a tremendous future with your countr a great leader. and i look forward to watching it happen, and helping it to happen. and we will help it to happen. >> schifrin: the 72-ye-old new yorker and 35-year-old north korean dictator displayed mutual warmth. and kim, whose country has never allowed a free press, told reporters the two leaders' mutual efforts to make this summit happen, could help overcome decades of distrust.

>> ( translated ): here we are today, sitting next to each other, and that gives us a hope ulthat we will be successf this time, and i will try to make brat happen. >> schifrin: thiance was once unthinkable, until last june's singapore summit, the first time a sitting u.s. president met a north korean leader, but their agreement its ized for lacking specifics. today the president said it waso alg as planned. >> we had a very successful first summit. i thought it was very successful. and some people will like to see it go quicker. satisfied, you're satisfied, we want to be happy with what we're doinno thing like having a nice private dinner. >> schifrin: the smiles continued after a 30 minute private conversation, and before dinner with kim's top aides, and secretary of state mike pompeo and white house acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. the president predicted summit would succeed. >> a lot of things are going to be solved, i hope. and i think it'll lead to wonderful-- it will lead to, really, a wonderful situation long term. >> sifrin: that situation is

promise of the prosperity on display in hoi. the u.s. is urging north korea to consider counist vietnam's onomic opening and 7% growth, a model. it's not lost on the.s. delegation that in the hotel where kim is staying, rolls royce has its hanoi showro, featuring a $600,000 ghost. today, vietnamese workers welcomed a north korean delegation to vietnam's largest congmerate. they toured a vehicle factory, and a food supply company.er 40 years ahe vietnam war, the u.s. and hanoi have reconciled. whether economic incentives and a personal connection can deliver the same with nuclear north korea, remains to be seen. >> woodruff: and nick joins me now from hanoi. so, nick, what is the u.s. side looking for going into this summit? >> schifrin: judy, senior u.s.de officialcribe wanting to be much more specific going into this summit than they were

before singapore and really looking for threespects. one, a shared definition of "denuclearization." that might seem obvious because the two sides have been talking about that for years. but it really has elewded both sides, and it's a question of whether that incdes not only north korean nuclear save thes but u.s. save thes an save thes. number two, they're really looking to freeze north korea's nuclear and missile program. there have been no tests for the last 15 months. the suz looking to expand tha tt freeinclude the fuel that goes into nuclear weapons. and number three, a roado mapr going forward, not necessarily all the steps up front, but anen agreon which steps will have to be coming soon, and whe those stll come. and that's a big shift, ju the u.s. in the past has demand front-loaded moves by north korea before the u.s. made moves. now both sid are talking about phased approach, simultaneous steps both can take.

>> woodruff: and what north korea? what do we been what they're looking for going into this? >> schifrin: issues one, two, three, and five are sannsct relief. there are a lot of u.s., e.u.disprks u.nn.sanctions on north korea for its nuclear policy, missile program, and also its horrific human rights records. the u.s. said it won't lift any of those sanctions unless ere is major. there is talk about helping south korea and north korea communicate across the border, especial humanitarian, perhaps economic issues. and that would require some sanctions relief.e, and, of couhere is the question of the declaration of the end of the korean war. that is not necessarily the top north korean issue, but north korea does want to focus on its economy, a to do, that judy, it needs to lower the tension with the u.s. and, obviously, one way to do that would be to try and end the war. >> woodruff: and quickly, that raises the last question i had, and that is to what extent are

the north koreans interested in somesort of economic improvement as a result of all this? >> schifrin: the steps that vietnam has taken are kind of the model that the u.s. is trying to convince north korea to take-- liberalization of markets, more privatization. the experts say that north korea could do that, but ao does not consider vietnam a good model because they consider themselveo actuallye modern and more industrialized than vietnam. and so the's a lot of questions about whether the u.s. can convince north korea to consider vietnam.t, udy, one quick thing-- right behind me is where john cain went down before he became a prisoner in hanoi. the u.s. coming toietnam trying to send the signal to north korea that the u.s. has no permanent enemies. >> woodruff: nick schifrin following it all from hanoi, thank you.he inay's other news, india and pakistan came to blows in disputed kashmir, after days of escalating tensions.

pakistan said it shot down two indian warplanes, and captured one pilot. india said it lost one plane and one pilot. protesters in pakistan celebrated by burning indian flags. but the prime minister called for talks between the nuclear- armed rivals. >> ( translated ): if you want any kind of dialogue on terrorism, ware ready for that. but, i would like to say this t you again, tght now better sense should prevail. we should sit down and sort outs our isith dialogue. >> woodruff: today's clash between the rival states was their most serious since 1999. it came a day afte its first air strike inside pakistan since 1971. in nigeria, president muhammadu buhari appealed for unity today after winning a second term in africa's largest democracy. the former military dictator had his victory formally certified at a ceremony in abuja, the capital. he said he was deeply humbled.

the top challenger claimed fraud and vowed to take his case to court. iran's president hassan rouhani has rejected the resignation of ign minister, mohammad javad zarif. instead, rouhani praised zarif in aational address today. the foreign minister negotiatedh 2015 iran nuclear deal. but now, both men face pressureh frd-liners over the u.s. withdrawal from the nuclear pact, and resulting sanctions. a trade deal between the u.s. and china is far from finished. that word today, from robert lighthizer, the u.s. trade representative. he told a u.s. house hearingeg thatiators still have a lot of work to do on opening chinese markets, curbing cyber- theft of u.s. commercial secretn other issues. >> we are making real progress. if we can complete this effort, and again i say if, and can reach a satisfactory solutioto

the all important outstanding issue of enforceability, as well as some other concerns, we might be able to have an agreement that helps us turn the corner in our economic relationship with china. >> woodruff: earlier this week, asesident trump postponed a march second incof tariffs on imports from china. he cited substantial progress in the trade talks. heavy rains d melting snow have made two california towns only accessible by boat the russian river has crested to its highest levels in 25 years flooding towns north of san francisco. meanwhile, southern towns are also reeling from recent rains flooding forced some to leave towns in mississippi. a north carolina political operative at the center of an unresolved congressional race was arrestedoday for ballot aud.

leslie mccrae dowless junior n is charged with obstructd illegal handling of absentee baots. last week, the state elections board cited evidence of fraud, in ordering a new election in thdisputed race. and, chicago is now assured of having a black woman as mayor, for the first time. on tuesday, former federal prosecutor lori lightfoot and cook county board president toni preckwinkle advanced to an april runoff. the winner will face a high crime rate, w-rated public schools and overwhelming pension debt. mocrats in the u.s. house today pushed through a major gun control ll, the first in arly 25 years. it mandates federal backgroundch ks for all firearm sales and transfers. a second bill, due for a vote tomorrow, extends the background check period to 10 days. the bills are given little chance in the republican-run senate. the u.s. supreme court heard arments today about a gian cross that's been on public land in maryland for nearly a

century. supporters say the so-called c "peass" is a memorial to those killed in world war one. opponents say it violates separation of church a state. a decision is due by june. and, on wall street: the dow 5,nes industrialverage lost 72 points to close at5. the nasdaq rose five points, and, the s&p 500 slipped one point. >> woodruff: we want to get reaction to michael cohen's testimony from lawmake w now. we stah one who was in the room. tngressman james comer of kentucky was amo republicans who posed tough questions to michael cohen toy. he joins me now. congressman comer, thank you very mh for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: what was your main takeaway from listening to him?

>> well, i don't think we learned anything new that we hadn't already heard through speculation in the media in the past. but one of the things they tried to do in my questioning-- i think most of my republican colleagues tried to do-- was determine the level of credibility of this witness. i think that it's-- it's suspicious that the first witness we have in this committee with the new democrat majority on an issue they're supporting ends up being i guy that's going to be in jail in less than three months. 's a guy tha just got disbarred this week from the new york bar.so he level of credibility from the one and only witness was aec little su but i don't think we learned anything earth shatteringly new on the trump investigation. >> woodruff: we knew from his opening statements and his comments he made before that he's now saying he made a mistake in his continue years of loyalty to president trump. he talked about the mistakes he had made. he was open about that. but what about what he had to

say about the president? i mean, inaying that the president, for example, directed him to make hush money payments to women with whom the president had affairs? >> wl, you know, my first impression is this guy's the president's lawyer. if he felt like he was doing anything illegal, it's the role of the attorney to tell the client that, "i don't think this is legal." or "no, you cannot do that. ." so the fact he was the yer already law raises a cloud of suspugz ever the woraed that micohen had and the. he delivered today. >> woodruff: when he providedi the dence, a check signed by the president reimbursing michael cohen for the hush money payment what, does that say to you? >> well, you know, the president has repeatedly denied tha that's what that was for. if i want to quote the president, i believe heit sai was a personal, private ansaction. the president has also led some

toh believet, you know, michael cohen was on a retainer, and that pos bly thest bonus payment that moomichael cohen claimed he had was a severance check. because after, that to my knowledge, i don't think michael cohen ever did anyegal work for president trump again. >> woodruff: so you think he may have just made the whole ing up? >> well, i don't-- i don't know what happened. ut. i want to find i think a lot of america wants to find out. but, unfortunately, we have a witness that the things that he can prove, like the check, you know, he has a check.ob ously, he showed a copy of the check. he recorded certain had withtions that h the president. but other things bhrk he talks-e talks about i think they did coordinate with russia or assange on wikileaks. i heard that but i don't have that reported. he made a lot of spectacular claims today. it's just unfortunate that there wasn't enough evidence, in my

mind, to be able tgo much further in trying to punish the esident for any wrongdoing. >> woodruff: well, he certainly did have countriesicisms of the president. he backed it up in some cas with evidence. but he also, when asked on a number of occasion, about very critical statements made about the president, acc against the president, on a number of those occasions he said, "no, i don't have any reason to believe tha"t's tru so he paint aid mixed picture of the president. did that add to c hisredibility in your mind? >> i'll be honest with you, judy. his credibility is vey low with me. the line of questioning i took with mr. cohen was the fact that i have a banking background. he lied on his loan applications, on multiple loan applications. he tried to say he didn't do anything wrong because he eventually paid it bck. he only paid it back because he got caught lying and, you know, it's a crime. in kentucky, in new york-- it doesn't matter where. if you misleadhe bank, if you

omit signi that's a felony., and to say before the commit net testimony, if you listen to wat his answers were to my questions, he said he didn't commit a felony. but he pled-- he pled guilty in the southern district of new york to bank fraud. >> woodruff: so just to sum up, you ele complsatisfied that the president has done nothing wrong. >> am. there's nothing that came out today that would leave me to believe that the president has committed an impeachmentable offense. the president madfinancial claims before that weren't 100%e accu i think any business person could say that. but as far as an impeachable offense, i do not think th president has done anything wrong. and the i think the democrats are wasting newfound capital in this investigation. i believe that this ws the first step in a process to try to impeach the president. i d think nancy pelosi wants to go there. but the speaker has a very new,

very liberal, very aggressive group of freshmen legislators. soi believe there's a movement within a very liberal wing ofd thmocrat party here in washington to try to take steps to impeach thede pre. i don't think they gained any traction today. >> woodruff:iv represent james comer of kentucky. we thank you very much. >> tnk you. >> woodruff: now to democratic congressman adam schiff of california, chairman of the house intelligence committee. welcome, congressman schiff. we kow that michael cohen is going to be before your committee tomorrow followi this. but tomorrow it's behind closed doors. we've jut heard from a numbe of republicans, including mr. comer, who say they just don't see credibility from michael cohen. w do you respond to that? i> well, look, there's no question that anytness coming before congress who has a history where they been dishonest with congress comes in

with credibility problem. but at the same time, a lot of what he said today i think bolstered his credibility for the reason that you mention, and that is-- and i say this spe aak ormer prosecutor-- when people want to make things up, they generally don't do it in a half-fashion. so when mr. cohen testified, for example, that he overheard a conversation between don expwrrd his father that he recognized in retrosct was about a trump tower new york meeting with the russians. if he was just determined to bury the president, he would not have made any ambiguity about that. there were also timeswhen i thought that his testimony was quite striking, and in a very credible fashion. for example, when stified about the rumors of a videotape of the present striking his wife in an elevator, he was very quick to come to the president's defense and said, "i don't believe he would do that."

now, that's not something you do if your agenda is just to bury the president or receive a lighter sentence. and those type of things do getgive a witness credibilit. i find itriking, though, judy, listening to my colleague that you just interviewed, that there's really any questioou these hush money payments. and what i found shocking today just to hear it again said out louds that this illegal conduct, this conspiracy to violate the campaign finance laws, continued during thewh presidencye donald trump was in the oval office. and, you know, i think mr. cohen properly point out that giuliani admitted to these reimbursements. so to somehow say they were sn'tt something else, doe even square with what the president's lawyers are saying. >> woodruff: what about csomething else congressmmer said, and that is he thinks this is democrats-- basically democrats' first step in trying to impeach this president. is that what'seally going on here? >> you know, i think that's the narrative we saw the republicans nted to say today which is,

"don't hear what mr. cone has to say. don't look at the substance or try to find corroborahaon for what to say. let's just tear this down and make tall about impeachment." it's certainly been the case the last couple of years, mr. trump has been a champion of his own impeachment. what i think what was brought to light today was a whole series of serious wrongdoings d criminality by the president. and what i think is striking to my g.o.p. colleagues is for two years there's been no oversight and we're getting it for the first time. and it may be jarring, but that nis what cogress is supposed to do. >> woodruff: are you hearing from your republican colleagues that they now have doubts about the president that they did not have before? >> you know, my republican colleagues expressed those doubts in private what we saw today, they're not

willing to express those doubts in public. and quite to the contrary. they are playing to the opresident in the ovalffice. sometimes they're flying his base back in their districts. but the wling tons speak truth to power was nonexistent, unfortunately, by the g.o.p. in today's hearing. i hope for the sake of our country that changes because one thing they think ran through the the entire hearing today is the portrait of a exprt those aro him who have a code of dishonesty, a way of life of dishonesty. and and we have seen that in the thousands of falsehoods that have come from the president since he took office and the multiple convictions of the people around him. i will say this, also, judy, if my g.o.p. colleagues areg complainout bring naig witness who has been convicted of a crime, well, then we can't bring a whole se people around donald trump who have all been convicted of various imes. >> woodruff: finally, one very quick question. your commit ce, as we said, th

intelligence committee tomorrow, you're meeting behind closed doors. but is the one thing you can tell bus the direction you're going to be taking with mr. cohen that we didn't hear today? >> yes, and, you know, we'reto goine drilling down on some of the topics you heard about today and some you didn't. but to give you an illustration, moscow trump tower, this project that michael cohen talked about today, having repereated cotions on the campaign trail with donald trump while donald trump was denying thig was happen the public. we're going to be drilling down in great dengail, goiver dozens of documents dealing with that transaction, talking about other witnesses to that t transactiolking about who in the kremlin they were reachouth to for help, going into a lot detail on that and other issues. >> woodruff: we appreciate it. thank you very much, chairman schiff. >> thank you. >> woodruff: and now to thl leestions michael cohen's testimony may raise for the president. sol wisenberg was deputy independent counsel during the whitewater investigation, in which he personally questioned

president bill clinton. mr. wisenberg, thank y j very much fning us again. did you hear anything-- thank you-- did you hear anything in day's testimony that you think places president trump in any or further legal jeopardy? >> i didn't heg ar anyth the testimony today that puts him in any furgts legal jeopardy? his jeopardy is wat it is. there was, to me, nothing new about this testimony. it was a circus, frnk, a circus to put it on and most of the eestioning bypublicans had a surkus atmosphere. but there'seally nothing new. but congressman schiff did point out something i think is important. if you've been following the case, and all of the murl investigation, and all the indhiementz have come out, presumably, own a relatively

small group ofpleodoes, that right? but now by putting it on television and having it on thal cable networks all day long, there are some people who might haveearned tngs that they didn't know before because they didn't spend all day looking at indictments and criminal information. but there is absolutely nothing nenyof a substance that came out today. >> woodruff: so whether it was michel cohen talking about president directing him to make hufn money payments, his providing a copy ofheck the president gave him to reimburse him for hush monheey? whit was the comments he made about telling a bank the president wasth worore than he was? you're saying all of that doesn't rely add up to anything legally? >> well, no, no i'm saying it doesn't add up to anything further. take away the last thing you mentioned about the banks, and just focus on the husmoney payment to the women. that's all contained in michael cohen's plea papers in the southern district of new york. i can guarantee yu, there nothing he said today that

hasn't been said to the prosecutors in new york. and that's a vey strong case there against cohen and potentially has some real danger esident.pr but there's nothing new from the testimony todthay. 's-- that's my point. i don't at all say that there's nothing of significance. there's no news. >> woodruff: and in fact he did refer on several occasions today, michael cohen did, toos investigations under way in the southern district of new york. do you have a sense of what the southern district has, what it's >> well, we know from the cohe papers that they've got a credible case having to do with violations of the campaign finance law. the problem for people o are interested in indicting the president is, numberne, we're not going to see a sitting president indicted in all likelihood. and, number two, there is a different standard-- every

re'sndant is different-- th a different standard for the person whose campaign it is than it is for soebody who works on his campaign. and there's a high level ofif intent requireou're going to quick somebody for that. so there's a difference betweena trump and michael cohen. having said that, the southern district onew yo doesn't-- doesn't mess around. i mean, they've got a very strong case there. i just think it might be ultimately more relevant to impeachment than to any prosecution of president trump. >> woodruff: impeachment, of course, something the congress would undertake, were it to take place. solomon wisenberg, we thank you very much. >> no problem. >> woodruff: and now we return >> woodruff: we return to the meeting between president trump and kim jong-un in vietnam. nick schifrin is back now to examine the major issues they will discuss.

>> schifrin: it's been eight months since a historic enhandshake, and what pres trump called a new chapter betwn the u.s. and one of it principal adversaries. since then, he's portrayed his prsonal connection to kim jong- dg as the most important source of progress, and p great affection for north korea's authoritarian leader. >> and then we fell in love. okay? no really. he wrote me beautiful tters. and they are great letters. we fell in love. >> schifrin: president trump's critics accuse him of going soft rtd say the u.s. has lost its leverage, because korea has done nothing to reduce its itclear capacity. sung-yoon lee isfletcher unhools tu after iv>> w.ell thsie u.s.ty is playo north korea's hands, which is to grant illusory concessions as north korea buys more time and money with which the prefect the demb. pdeo finally has it right. >> i'm in no particular rush. >> schifrin: patience, and reasonable expectations for a

ng process toward denuclearization. >> in my view, we're in the best position we have been in for 16, 17 years. >> schifrin: rert carlin worked on north korea for trcades for the u.s. government, and visited the comore than 30 times. he says the u.s. does havege leveecause kim jong-un needs the u.s. >> kim is serious about gettingt his economted again. the north koreans believe you hrn't do that as long as you have an externalt, a security threat. so in their mind they o lessen that threat to give themlves space to do this wo internally. that's what he's doing. >> schifrin: one of the u.s.' top priorities ito agree on a definition of denuclearization. last year, north korea blew up the entrances to its main m nuclear tentain, and vows to destroy an engine testing site. since the early 1990s, north korea has claimed these site destructions represent progress. but critics say they're aningless.

>> kim jong-un has decommissioned a tired nuclear test site as we saw last year ih ma he no longer needs after six underground nuclear tests. there have been no meaningful concessions made by kim jong-un over the past year. >> schifrin: and meanwhile, these satellite images show trth korea maintains 20 missile sites, and continuproduce fuel for their nuclear weapons. the administration's critics say anthhing less than rolling n korea's program back, is accepting north korea as a nuclear weapons state. >> what the u.s. is unwittingly doing i fear is really abetting, enabling north koreanu full earization, and really changinghe status quo, the balance of power in north korea's favor in the korean peninsula. >> schifrin: the administration saysthat misses the importan concessions north korea has already made. after an unprecedented number of tests in 2017, kim jong-un hasn't tested any missiles and

nuclear weapons for 15 months, a significant sacrifice for a nuclear program that still needs more testing. the administration wants to broaden that freeze, a position supported by former defense secretary bill perry. >>e should try to maintain that freeze. no testing in particular but also try to expand it to no >> schifrin: in the late 1990s, after perry serveds secretary of defense, president clinton dispatched him to start negotiations with the north koreans. back then, the idea was to expand the relationship to accomplish arms control. today the administration is following the same strategy, and perry urges the president toss negotiate mbitions objectives.nt >> to the exe hold the standard, complete dismantlement, complete verification, and that it could be never turned back again, this is just unrealistic it cannot happen. so i don't like to hold out objectives for negotiations that are just not achievable.

>> schifrin: senior u.s. officials admit their goals have evolved. last summer in pyoyang, secretary of state mike pompeo demanded north korea take dramatic unilateral action.. now, uficials talk about simultaneous steps, they are no longer demanding an inventory of up front, and they're negotiating not just denuclearization, bual north korea's priorities: achieving peace on the korean peninsula, and improving relations with the u.s. overall. that can be done by resolving the koan war, which in 1953 ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. a political declation to end the war and perhaps diplomatic liaison offices would enable kim to harness changes to north korean society, like a rapid expansion of markets, gues bob carlin. >> i believe kim needs a declaration on the end of the korean war so he can justify anging priorities. he is trying to move things in place for big moves on the economy, and that is linked uphe

with wha doing with the americans. >> schifrin: it's also linked up to what he's doing with south korea. south and north korea recently blew up outposts along the demilitarid zone, and officials from both countries are trying to connect railroads. the u.s. could allow that opening to proceed by lifting some of the sanctions now imposed on north korea. but critics fear that could lead the u.s. to withdraw some or all of the 23,000 troops from south korea. blst week president trump said that's not on the >> no, it's not. that is not a consideration.ut >> schifrin:arly this month he highlighted their cost to cbs' margaret brennan. >> you're going to keep u.s.in troops thereouth korea? >> yeah, i mean we haven't talked about anything else. maybe someday.. i mean who kno but you know it's very expensive to keep troops there. you do know that. >> schifrin: what prest trump's advisors kno they have to improve on the generalities agreed to in singapore, and create a specific roadmap both sides can follow. while critics say that's a road to nowhere... >> north koreauys more time as

the other side, as the u.s. puts its guard down with ich to build its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. >> schifrin: but defenders argue, today provides an opportunity for the u.s. to relationship by negotiating more than denuclearization. >> the are many things we can do to sort of bring north korea into the world of nations instead of being and pariahnd nationn outcast nation. and i think those things are worth doing too in parallel with working on the hard objectiv>>. chifrin: president trump argues he can do that by promising to make north korea great again by providing the country prosperity. and by harnessing e two leaders' relationship. >> and where are we now? no missiles, no rockets, no nuclear testing, we've learned a lot. but much more important than all of it, much more important, much, much more important than that, is, we have a great relationship. i have a very good relationship with kim jong-un.n: >> schifhe hanoi summit will test whether a good

relationship, translates into n convincith korea once andl, for al it can survive without nuclear weapons. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin in hanoi. >> woodruff: and we'll continue to report on the summit tomorrow. rand that's the newshour tonight. i'm judy woodruff. thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> ordering takeout. >> finding the west route. >> talking for hours. >> planning for showers. >>ou can do the things you like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel.la a uage app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language. >> and with the ongoing support

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helloe. every and welcome to "amanpour and company." . here's what coming up. trump and kim immediate again. joins us about whether the two leaders now really mean business. then. >> ♪ >> crafting a feel good musical from the aes of 9/11. canada's come from away arriveso in on's west end after scoring a major hit on broadway. and i speak to the show's creators, david hien and ireen sankoff. kremlin's moste prominent critics. russiajournalist speaks with