captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we are in vietnam as the president negotiates with north koreons leader kimun to try to end the rogue nation's nuclear thapons program. ... >> i know what mr. trump is. he is a racist. he is a con man.d is a cheat. >> woodruff: ...michael cohen testifies president trumpim directedo lie and break the law and that mr. trump personally reimbursed r hush money while in office. we help put the claims of mr. trump's former lawyer in context ath response from lawmake a former special counsel on what today means fointhe stigations into the president. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a morean just, verdanpeaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: welcome, it is 9:00 p.m. in the eastern u.s., 6:00 p.m. in the west. in vietnam at this hour, president trump and north korean leader kim jong-unave just arrived for a one-on-one meeting dismantling the north's nuclear program.s thiseir second face-to- face encounter in eight months.

there are plans for a ceremony for the two leaders to sign a joint agreement, raising expectations for productive talks. back in dominated by testimony from president trump's former lawyer miael cohen. we will take a deep look at that later. but moments ago we heard fromum mr. and kim jong-un. nick schifrin is there in hanoi. we just watched video of the two leaders sit downgd and had dinner together lar night. they beginning serious talks this morning. what do we expect? w ll, we are seeing a lot of warmth already from these two leaders. we saw that last night, trump leaning in to kim, kind of patting him on the back, joking with him w ha seen the ame warmth, this morning and what president is trying to do isse that relationship in ordoer make some progress on some of the key issues. obviously, the main issue of the u.s. is intinerestes

denuclearization, but the u.s. admits that is now a log-term goal. on the shorter term goals, just for today, trying to get some kind of agreed definition of denuclearization that might sound obvious, be hcause the been working on these issues for years but it is really alluded them and, eluded them and tha may focus in on one of the nuclear plants in north korea and talk about tfuture of u.s. nuclear ability on the peninsula. also they will btalking about freezing north korea's program, the u.s. trying to get a longer term freeze, not only tests of missiles and nuclear weapons, but also physician material, the fuel for nuclear weapon ad some type of road map is the third part, judy, the united sttes does not expect a lot of major parts today but they are hoping for a list oee agnts of those major steps in the future with some kind of understanding when those will take place. >> woodruff: so, nick, clearly some scale back demands or expectations on the part of the

trump administration? >> yeah. you know, senr u.s. officials kind of pushed back on me and a lot of us when we point that out, but there is no doubt that they have evolv, last summer secretary of state mike pompeo went to pong i don't think and had a very difficult meaning with kim -- the top aide to kim jong-un and really demanding one official telling me, demanding at least one nuclear weapon to put on a boat during that trip. now, the u.s. officials are talking about step-by-step, phased steps that both north korea and the u.s. can take, and so some of those specifics wt e donow exactly what is going to be agreed to, of course, but some of those specifics might be things like inspections, allowing international inspectors in to verify the closof a key nuclear test site and a key missile engine testing site that the north koreans have pledged to close and the question is what is the

u.s. give in response to something likef that, a lot o critics of the president are worried that she going to give awayoo much. the president's defenders say no, we have a much more realistic notion going inep y-step from north korean for the americans and koreans and th is a slow process and that a is okay 0 and that's the evolution. >> woodruff: nick, that's what i wanted to a you because in order in any way entice or get north koreans agreed agr to make some of these important changes or concessions in their program,hat is it that the u.s. is prepared to do for them? >> well, we don't kn how far the u.s. will go, because we don't know how far the north koreans are going. what the north koreans are asking for is sanctions relief, requests 1 through 12 are u.s., eu, u.n. sanctions that are on north korea because of the missile program, because of the nuclear weapons program and because of its horrific humand, rights recnd so the north koreans ask for sanctions relief and the u.s. says what do youn

give for the ions relief? >> we don't expect any kind of e major concessions from rth koreans and from the americans on sanctions relief. but depending on how fa the north koreans are willing to go, u.s. officials are talking about ings like southian, north korean cooniperation, hurian, programs economic, that would require some sanctions waivers or at least some lifting of sanctions so that's what the north koreans are pushing for and how far, we will see how farhe u.s. is going to push as well. >> woodruff: and nick, it was interesting to go back to what you said at the outs that the trump administration is hoping to build on this wamth or relationship between the two men to try to build othat. what evidence have we actually seen of that? >> the evidence that we have seen of the president, obviously, is saying things like i fell inve with kim jong-un, which he said a few months ago. brags about the letters that kim jong-un has sent, and what is interting, you talk to

north koreans experts, they will say that the president has gone soft, at least the president critics will say this. that the u s has lost leverage because the president is speaking so kindly of kim jong-un. and what they say is in the past, there is no evidence that the north koreans will denuclearize and are actually being serious aboutnu earization zoo that is why a lot of these critics say the president is frankly being played. but the president says, ad wh some of the pro engagement folks ute, that's thein past, kim jong-un is different. he is interested, genuinely ing workn his economy and the only way to do that is to lowers tensith the united states and therefore he is interested in making some concessions that the u.s. is really asking for. >> woouff: and we noticed the president tweeted after their dinner last night that theyad a very good dialogue. he said they were great meetingsso positive tone at least coming after last night. all right. nick scifrin reporting from hanoi, i'm sorry we are going to

keep on talking to nick. my apology. to some extent, we are reading the tea leaves here, aren't we, because we are looking to what has been tweeted and looking at a word or t that was spoken when the two of them meet in front of the cameras? >> yeah. i mean, watching nth korea through these, is always reading tea leaves and the administration has frankly been pretty tight lipped about exactly what is happening. as we know, in terms of o what e knows what to th senior administration officials have said asking for that freeze, asking for shared denuclearization definition and asking for a road map. t what we also know is what the president has been saying, what the president's incentives for kim to make some of these dramatic moves that the north koreans have never been willing to make in the past, the first one is economics. the president has been saying time and agaid again over the last eight, nine months, north korea can bec rih, north korea has this unbelievable real estate, i mean, you know, forme

real estate manager using that term and they are using vietnam to try and show that, because vietnam is a communist country that has liberal lizomed its ec opened up to the west, at least economically, businesses and there is a boom, there is an economic boom here, seven percent growth last year, fastest growth in asia other than china and india and so what the president is saying, look, you can have this. whether or not that actually convinces kim jong-un to make those steps, that is open for debate. r >> woodruff: aght. nick, nick schifrin reporting from hanoi and i am told we now have the tape. this was the -- these are some of the comments from president trump and kim jong-unust moments ago when they got together for their meeting thursday morning, hanoi time. y >> thau very much, chairman kim, and it is great to be with you again and i am sure over the years we will be together a lot. and i think we will also be together after theact, meaning

after the deal ask made. we had very good discussions last night at dinner and the predinner was very goo and there are a lot of great ideas being thrown about. i thinkimportantly the relationship is, you know, just very strong.av and when youa good relationship a lot of good things happen. >> woodruff: and those weref somee comments from the president sitting there with kio -un. nick schifrin, thanks very much and we will talk to you a little later in the program. >> ♪ ♪ >> woodruff: it was a hearing not seen before-- the president's former lawyer, michael cohen, publicly stated t that mmp directed hush money payments, knew in advance of wikileaks' hians to release ary clinton's emails, and his subject is the subject of ongoing criminal investigations. in more than five hours ofim

combative tey before the house oversight committee, thema 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 mr. 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 is a con man. he is a cheat. he asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair, and to lie about it tos fe about it, which i did. the country has seen mr. trump court white supremacists and bigots. you have heard him call porer countries "( bl ) vales." his private-- in p, he is even worse.ke he once me if i could name

a country run by a black person that wasn't a "( bleep ) hole." this was when barack obama was president of the united states. while we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in chicago, he commented that only black peoplo d live that way. and, he told me that blackou people never vote for him because they were too stupid. mr. trump tasked me to handle the negative press surunding his medical deferment from the vietnam draft. au. trump claimed it was b of a bone spur, but when i asked for medical records,ve me none and said there was no surgery. he told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer sply the fact that he received a medical deferment. he finished the conversation with the flowing 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 suspicions. yet, last fall i pled guilty in federal court to felonies for the benefit of, 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. the more people that follow mr. 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 t 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 sir. >> you didn't get brought to the dance, and now nothing he says or produces has any credibility. apparently he even lied about delivering his own child which his wife had to correct the record of. ladies and gentlemen how on earth is this witness credible? >> i got to tell you. u know, america's watching you, i've been getting texts right and left saying how can anyone listen to this pathological person. he's got a problem. he doesn't know fact fromio fi you didn't o this to protect trump. this is all about you. there's no truth with you whatsoever. that's important to o look

up there and look at that old adage that our momlitold us. liar, pants on fire. no one should ever listen to you and give you credibility. it's sad. >> woodruff: our lisa desjardins was in the hring room today. d yamiche alcindor has been tracking reaction from the white house. hello to both of you. so, lisa, you were there. we were just hearing michael cohen, in essence, warn the eerepublicans on the commiot to do what he was doing-- protect the president, followt. the presid what was the dynamic there? >> well, it was another intense and historic feeling here. and the lineo 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 the akes here, that this is the first time we've seen someone come testify about what may be impeachable offenses if they're proven. and both parties clearly came, as we saw in those clips, with their messages and their scripts. but i think what happened, judy,

is actually the tone was set by ,wo people this that room, o the chairman elijah cummings, ran a very tight ship an shut down both sides when they went too long and also when they seemed to get out of hand. the other, michael cohen mself. i think republicans came in-- in fact, i talked to republicans who came in thinking here was a great chance f them to swing a g 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 with them in a calm and poised manner, and at time defended the president, even as he was making incredible accusations ainst him. so republicans came out during the break, judy, and actuallo did not wantlk to reporters as much as democrats did, which was a sign of the exphrg kind of what they were eling inside. one other thing, judy-- was there anything new here today? there were a few news. one that stuck out to me was michael cohen saying in publiche that are other investigations pending in the southern district of new york that do involve the president in some way. >> woodruff: it's interesting

what you're sang about republicans, because publicly, they are still questioning michael cohen's credibility. and that brings to you, yamiche, because it is in the eye of the beholder. one side saying very belvable, the other side saying he's not. what were they saying at the white house today? >> michael cohen really set out to dismantle this idea of president trumpals the businessman who ran for president because he wanted to see america thrive. 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 for the candidacg of bresident. and the white house here is pushing back very strongly on that.e now th, of course, this incredible split screen they have to talk about, which is th president isetnam, meeting with kim jong-un, the leader of korea, but he's still ve much focused on washington and focused on this explosive day here on the hill. ngthe president was out sa that michael cohen is a liar, and that's what the white hoe was saying i also have been text messaging with rudy giuliani, who is of course, counsel for thees

ent, and jay sekulow, both are very adamant that l cohen is not someone who should be trusted. it's hard to see whether or not michael cohen will be effective here politically because, of course, republicans e people who are supporting the president are sticking with him. i also want to talk about this incredible moment that happened in the hearing. representative and republican, mark meadows, he brought o lynn patton. she is a hud official who is also a longtime friend of the president. he had lynn patton stand next to onhim and said this iss so who is an african american woman who said she would never work for someone who say racist, and what say you, michael cohen, of her statement? and michael cohen said i understand she might say that and i know her very well. but in fact, as someone whose parents are holocaust survivors i am some in ways ashamed i worked for president trump. lynn patton spoke with me ampt 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 she was on the higher moral ground. he also wanted to pivot back toh this ide president trump doesn't see color and told me he only sees succand failures and more people should be like that. we have the president's camp and the white house pivoack to the original image of the ident, someone from "the aprevents" hiring and firing people and making deals. >> woouff: it's interesting bcause we heard another member of the commit later on, representativehreeb, in essence, saying one of her fellow members of congress, a republican, was a racist. he denied that later. it brought up a whole 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 ump directed him to make to two women who have been alleged 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 about the alleged affair. the transfer 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 pres ient. cohen sawas partial reimbursement for his payment ti clifford, whicated campaign finance violations. >> the president of ited states thus wrote fopersonal checthe payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaignfi nce laws. >> did the president call you to coordinate on public messaging about the paymfots to ms. cl in or around february 28? >> yes. >> what did the presidt ask or

suggest that you say about the payments or reimbursements. >> he was not knowledgeable of these reimbursements and he was not knowledge of my ac >> he asked you to say that? >> yes. >> in addition to the personal check for $35,000 in july 2017, is there additional corroborating evidence that mr. trump while a tting president of the united states directly reimbursed you hush money as part of criminal scheme to violate campaign finance law? >> there are 11 checks that i received for the year.f: >> woodrohen also accused the president of inflating his own financial assets. here's his exchange with missouri democrat la >> i'm giving the committee today three years of president 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.

>> can you explain why you hadnc fil statements and what you used them for? >>byhese statements were use me for two purposes: one was discussi with media, whether it was "forbesneor other maga to demonstrate mr. trump's significant t worth. that was one function. another, when dealing lateon with insurance companies, we would ovide them with these copies so that they would undetand that the premium, which is based sometimes upon the individual's capabilities to pay, would be reduced. >> and all of this was done at president's direction d with his knowledge? yes, because whatever t numbers would come back to be, we would immediately report them back >> and did this information

provided to us inflate the president's assets? >> i believe these numbers are inflated. >> to your knowledge, 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 deutsche 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 're hearing the democrats did put a fair amount of focus today on the president's finances. s of what the thinking there? >> as we wait for the murl investigation, a lot ofth democrats thine may be more of a clear direct connection of wrongdoing for the president himself when it comes to his money matrs. that's why this came up again. and, of course, this is something cohen knows a f t about himsrsonally. so to kind of break down all of that sound, that was a lot from mr. cohen. let's start with first this inflaight of of mr. trump's save thes.

one reason that is a big exclamation point, if he did inflate save thes to a bang, that is potentially bank fraud. but there was another allegation here, as he overstated his save thes to one group de people, he tated it, mr. cohen said,n to the i.r.s.,der to make sure his taxes federally and l also hal property taxes would be lower than perhaps he deserved to pay. so mr. cohen was accuse mr. ally cheating in two different ways. this is something that the trump organization has denied. no there's another set of financial issues here. that is the hush money that he is accused of paying to two women. and what's significant here-- there are a couple of things. one, mr. cohen-- when he talked inhat clip about the messa mr. trump gave him, that was to reporters. toit's not a crime to lie reporters, unfortunately. but it could be a crime, potentially, if mr. trump testified about this in a

hearing or encouraged mr. cohen to cnge his own testimony an lie for him. so that's y we're watching is hush money in particular. the president, i want to sni, initially having any knowledge of that hush money, and then later walked at back and said, "no, these were prievment payments that are totally legal." and we'll see. this is sort of act one in a very large drama, drviously. >> wf: for a different purpose, not being clear about what the purpose was. >> that's right. he left it open but mrn 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 potenies 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 roger stone was on the phone. mr.pu trummr. stone on the speakerphone.e mr. stld mr. trump that he had just gotten off the phone with julian assange and that mr. aysange told mr. stone that, within a couple of there would be a massive dump of emails that would damage hillary clinton's campaign. mr. trump responded by stating to the effect of, "wouldn't that be gre." questions have been raised about whether i know odirect 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 stone to make contact with wikileaks and indicate the campaign's interest in the stratic release of the illegally hacked materials? >> i'm not aware of that

>> was stone aree agent reporting back to the presidentt e'd done or acting on campaign on behalf of the president and with his authority? >> free agent. >> reporting back to president what he had done? >> yes, he frequently reached out to trump, mr. trump happy to take calls. it was free service. >> stone said he never spoke to trump ab we corroborate what you're saying?on >> i know, suspect special counsel and other agencies has information you'>> looking for. re you aware of anything the president has done thahave subjected him to blackmail? >> no. >> are you aware of any videotapes?

>> i've hearof these tapes for a long time. i've had many people contact me over the years. i have no reason to believe those tapes exist. >> woodruff: so coming back to you, yamichelistening to all is, did we learn anything new about legal implications for the esident with regard to t russia investigation? >> well, the key question coming out of this michael cohe hearing is going to be, "is there any criminal and legal implications and consequences for anyone, either for president trump or people around him because of michael cohen's testimony?" so i want to walk you through some legal problems that might pose to be an issue for the president. the first is roger stone and the wikileaks issues and the hacked d.n.c. emails. right now, the president was possibly directed roger stone to work with illegally hacked information. that could prove to criminal problem for president trump. the other thinis this trump wer moscow project. now, the president has said ovev an again that he didn't have business going in with

russia during the campaign.t, but in fhis could be part of the-- what could be a case about collusion, because he b would have hadiness interest for work russia. the other thing i'm talk about briefly is the trump tower jrmeeting with donald trum michael cohen is making the case president trump knew very well that donald trump jr. was walking into a meeting trying to get information about hillary clinton from russia. that could also be a problems problembecause that woind be wo with a foreign country to impact an american election. there are political issues, too, but these legal issues might be the ones that matter most. >> woodruff: all right. yamiche alcindor, thank you very much. and lisa desjardins here in the studio. >> woodruff: in the day'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, we are ready for that. but, i would like to say this to you again, that right now better sense should prevail. we should sit down and sort out our issues with dialogue. at woodruff: today's clash between the rival was their most serious since 1999. stit came a day after indied its first air strike inside pakistan since 1971. in nigeria, president muhammadu buhari appealed for unity todaye winning a second term in africa's largest docracy. 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 take his case to court. iran's president hassan rouhani has rejected the resignation of his foreign minister, mohammad javazarif. instead, rouhani praised zarif in a national address today. the foreign minister negotiated0 th iran nuclear deal. but now, both men face pressure from hard-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 hearing that negotiators still have a lot of work to do on openingch ese markets, curbing cyber- theft of u.s. commercial secrets and other issues.ma >> we arng real progress. if we can complete this n fort, and agsay if, and can

reach a satisfactory solution to the all important outstanding s issue of enforceability,ll as se other concerns, we mig be able to have an agreement that helps us turn the corner in our economic rationship with china. >> woodruff: earlier this week, president trump postponed a inrch second increase of tariffs on imports from he cited substantial progress in the trade talks. heavy rains and melting snow ha made two california tow only accessible by boat the russiariver has crested to its highest levels in 25 years flooding towns like guerneville, 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 arrested today for ballot fraud. leslie mccrae dowless junior is charged with obstruction and illegal handling of absentee ballots. last week, the stateions board cited evidence of fraud, in ordering a new election in the disputed race. and, chicago is now assured ofvi 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, low-rated schos and overwhelming pensi debt. democrats in the u.s. house today pushed through a major gun control bill, the first in nearly 25 years. it mandates fedel background checks for all firearm sales and transfers. a second bill, due for a vote tomorrow, extends the background check period to 10 days. thbills are given little chance in the republican-run senate. rdthe u.s. supreme court h arguments today about a giant

cross that's been on public land in maryland for near century. supporters say the so-called "peace cross" is a memorial to those killed in world war one. ponents say it violates separation of church and state. a decision is due by jun and, on wall street: the dow jones industrial average lost 72 points to close at 25,985. the nasdaq rose five points, and, the s&p 500 slipped one point. >> woodruff: we want to get reaction to michael cohen's whstimony from lawmakers now. we start with onwas in the room. congressman james comer of kentucky was among the republicans who posed tough questions to michael cohen today. he joins me now. congressman comer, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> woodruff: what was your main takeaway from listening to

hi >> well, i don't think we lened 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--as 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 thremonths. he's a guy that just got disbarred this week from the new york bar. so the level of credibility from the one and only witness was a little suspect. 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?me , in saying that the president, for example, directed him to make hush money payments to women with whom the president had affairs? w l, 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 president's lawyer already raes a cloud of suspugz ev the word that michl cohen had and the. he delivered today. >> woodruff: when he provided the evidence, a check signed bre the presidenbursing michael cohen for the hush money payment wh, does that say to you? >> well, you know, the president has repeedly denied that that's what that was for. if i want to quote the president, i believe he sa it s a personal, private transaction.

the president has also led some to believehat, you know, michael cohen was on a retainer, and that possibly the last bonus payment that michael cohen claimed he hadas a severance check. because after, that to my knowledge, i don't think michael did any legal work for president trump again. >> woodruff: so you think he may have just made the whole iing up? >> well, i don'ton't know what happened. and i want to find out. i think lot of america wants to find out. but, unfortunately, we have a witness that the things that he can prove, like the check, youhe knowas a check. obviously, he showed a copy of the check. he recorded certain conversations that he had with the president. but other things bhrk he talks-- when he talks about i thinnathey did coor with russia or assange on wikileaks. i hed that but i don't have that reported. he made a t of spectacular claims today. it's just unfortate that there

wasn't enough evidence, in my mind, to be able to go much further in trying to punish r e president y wrongdoing. >> woodruff: well, he certainly did have countriesicisms of the president. he bacd it up in some cases with evidence. but he also, when asked on a number of occasion, about very critic statements made about the president, accusations made against the president, on a number of those casions he said, "no, i don't have any reason to believe that's true." so he painxed picture of the president. did that add to his credibility in your mind? >> i'll be honest with you, judy. his credibility is very 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 loanat applns. he tried to say he didn't do anything wrong because he eventually paid it bk. he only paid it back because he got caught lying and, you know, it's a crime. in kentucky, in new york-- it w doesn't mattre.

if you mislead the bank, if you omit significant liabilities, anat's a felony. to say before the commit net testimony, if you listen to what his answers were to my questions, he said he didn't commit a felony. bunhe pled-- he pled guilty the southern district of new york to bank fraud. >> woodrf: so just to sum up, you are completely satisfied that the president has done nothing wrong. >> i am. there's nothing that came out today that would lea me to believe that the president has committed an impeachmentable offense.de the president inancial claims before that weren't 100% accurate. i think any business person could say that. but as far as an impeachable offense, i do not think the president has done anything wrong. and the i think the democrats are wasting newfound capital in this investition.th i believ this was the first step in a process to try to impeach the president. i don't think nancy pelosi wants

to go there. but the speaker has a very new, very liberal, very aggressive group of freshmen legislators. so i believe there's a movement within a very liberal wing of the democrat party here in washington to try to take stepsh to imphe president. i don't think they gained any traction today. woodruff: representative james comer of kentucky. we thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now to democratic congressman adam schiff of california, chairman of the house intelligence committee. welcome, congressman schiff. we know that michael cohen is going to be before your mmittee tomorrow followi this. but tomorrow it's behind closed doors. we've st heard from a number he republicans, including mr. comer, who sayjust don't see credibility from michael cohen. how do you respond to that? >> well, look, there's n question that any witness coming before congress who has a history where they been

s shonest with congress co with a credibility problem. but at the same time, a lot of what he said today i thinkls red his credibility for the reason that you mention, and that is-- and i say this speak as a former osecutor-- when people want to make things up, they generally don't dn a half-fashion. so when mr. cohen testied, for example, that he overheard a conversation between don expwrrn jr. and s father that he recognized in retrospect 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 times when i thought that his testimony was quite striking, and in a very credible fashion. for example, when he testifiedrs about the ruf a videotape of the president striking his an elevator, he was very quick to come to the president's defense and said, "i don't

believe he would do that." yonow, that's not somethindo if your agenda is just to bury the president orr eceive a lighntence. and those type of things do getge a witness credibility. i find it striking, though, judy, listening to my colleague that you just interviewed,hat there's really any question about these hush money payments. and what i found shocking today ilst to hear it again said out loud is that thigal conduct, this conspiracy to violate the campaign f laws, continued during the presidency, while donald trump was in the oval office. and, you know, i think mr. cohen ulproperly point out that ni admitted to these reimbursements. so to somehow say they were about something elsedoesn't even square with what the president's lawyers are saying. >> woodruff: what aboutg somethse congressman comer said, and that is he thinks this is democrats-- basically democrats' first step in trying to impeach this president. is that what's really going on here? >> you know, i think that's the narrative we saw the republicans

wanted to say today which is, "don't hear what mr. cone has to say. don't look at the substance or try to find corroboration for what he has to say.le s just tear this down andal make iabout impeachment." its certainly been the case the last couple of years, mr. trump has been a champion hm his own wapet. what i think whabrought to rilight today was a whole of serious wrongdoings and s iminality by the president. and what i thinkriking to my g.o.p. colleagues is for two years there's been no ght and we're getting it for the first time. m and be jarring, but that is what congress is supposed to h. >> woodruff: are yring from your republican colleagues that they now have doubts about the president that ty 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 president in the oval office. sometimes they're flying his base back in their districts. but the willing 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 around him who have a code of dishonesty, a way of life ofdi onesty. and we have seen that in the thousands of falsehoods thatom havefrom the president since he took office and the multiple convictions ounthe people ahim. i will say this, also, judy, if my g.o.p. colleagues are igcomplaining about bring witness who has been convicted of a crime, well, then we can't bring in a whole set of people around donald trump who have all been convicted of various crimes. >> woodruff: finally, one very quick question.

your committee, we said, the intelligence committee tomorrow, you're meeting behind closed doors. but is there one thing you can tell bus the direction you're going to be taking with mr. cohen th we didn't hear today? >> yes, and, you know, we're going to be drilling down on some of the topics you heard about today and some you didn't. but to give you an illustration, moscow trump ter, this project that michael cohen talked about toda having repeated conversations on the campaign trail with donald trump while donald trump was denying this was happening to the public. we're going to be drilling down in great detail, going over dozens of documents dealing with that transaction, talking about other witnesses to that transaction, talking about who in the kremlin they were reachouth to for help, goi into a lot of detail on that and other issues. preciate it. we thank you very much, chairman schiff. >> thank you. dr

>> wf: and now to the nick schifrin is back to talk about the major issues they will discuss. >> it haghbeen months since a historic handshake from president trump called a new chapter between e u.s. and one of its principal adversaries, since then he portrayed his personal connection to kim jong-un as the most important source of progress and pledged great affection for north korea 0's authoritarian leader. >> >> and thewe fell in love. okay? no really. he wrote me beautiful letters. and they are greatetters. we fell in love. >> schifrin: president trump's critics accuse him of going ft and say the u.s. has lost its reverage, because north korea has done nothing tce its nuclear capacity. sung-yoon lee is with fletcher school at tufts university. >> well the u.s. is playing into north korea's hands, which is to grant illusory concessions as north korea buys more time andy moth which the prefect the bomb. >> schifrin: president trump's

defenders say the administration finallhas it right. >> i'm in no particular rush. >> schifrin: patience, and reasonable expectations for a long process towardti denucleari. >> in my view, we're in the best position we have been in for 16, 17 years. s ifrin: robert carlin worked on north korea for decades for the u.s. government, and visited the country more than 30 times. he says the u.s. does have leverage because kim jong-un needs the u.s. >> kim is serious about getting his economy started again. the north koreans believe you can't do that as long as you ve an external threat, a security threat. so in their mind they have to lessen that threat to give themselves space to do this work internally. th's what he's doing. >> schifn: one of the u.s.' top priorities is to agree on a definition of delaclearization. st year, north korea blew up the entrances to its main nuclear test mountain, 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 meaningless. >> kim jong-un has decoissioned a tired nuclear test site as we saw last year in may that he no longer needs after six underground clear tests. there have been no meaningful concessions made by kim jong-un over the past year. >> schifrin: and meanwhile,e thtellite images show north korea maintains 20 missile sites, and continues to produce fuel for their nuclear weapons. the administration's critics say anything less than rolling north 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 korea's full nuclearization, and reallych ging the status quo, the balance of power in north korea's favor in tul korean penin: >> schifhe administration says, that misses the important

concessions north korea has already made.an aftenprecedented number of tests in 2017, kim jon hasn't tested any missiles and nuclear weapons for 15 months, a significant sacrifice for a clear program that still needs more testing. the ministration wants to broaden that freeze, a position supported by former defense secretary bill perry. w should try to maintain that freeze.n no testingrticular but also try to expand it to no >> schifrin: in the late 1990s, after perry served as secretary of defense, president clinton dispatchedim 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 to negotiate less ambitions objectives. >> to the extent we 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 pyongyang, cretary of state mike pompeo demanded north korea takeat dr unilateral action. now, u.s. officials talk aboutus simultanteps, they are no 'rnger demanding an inventory of up front, and the negotiating not just denuclearization, but also nortr korea'rities: achieving peace on the korean peninsula, and improving relations with the u.s. overall. that can be done by resolving the korean war, which in 1953 ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.po tical declaration to end the war and perhaps diplomatic leliaison offices would enim to harness changes to north korean society, like a rapid expansion of marketsargues bob carlin. >> i believe kim needs ahe declaration onnd of the korean war so he can justify

tanging priorities. he is trying to mongs in place for big moves on the economy, and that is linked up with what he's 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 demilitarized zone, and officials from both cos 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. last week president trump said that's not on the table. >> no, it's not. that is not a consideration. >> schifrin: but early this month he highlighted their cost to cbs' margaret brennan. ou're going to keep u.s. troops there, in south korea? in yeah, i mean we haven't talked about anyelse. maybe someday. i mean who knows. but you know it's very expensi t

to keep troore. you do know that. >> schifrin: what president y ump's advisors know, thehave to improve on the generalities agreed tin singapore, and create a specific roadmap both sides can follow. while critics say that's a road to nowhere... >> north kor buys more time as the other side, as the u.s. puts its guard down with which to build its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. >> schifrin: but defendersvi argue, today ps an opportunity for the u.s. to transform the relationship by negotiating more than denuclearization. >> there are many things we can do to sort of bring north korea into the world of nations instead of being and pariah nation and an outcast nation. and i think those things are worth doing too in parallel with workg on the hard objectives >> schifrin: president trump argues he can do that by promising to make north korea great again by providing the country prosperity. and by harnessing the tw leaders' relationship. >> and where are we now? no missiles, no rockets, no nuclear testing, we've learned lot. but much more important than all of it, much more important,

much, much more important than that, is, we have a great lationship. i have a very good relationship with kim jong-un. >> schifrin: the hanoi summit wi relationship, translates into convincing north korea once and for all, it can survive without nuclear weapons. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin in hanoi. >> woodruff: president tru-u and kim jonghave just finished their one on one meeting today.ke they walout. ey were joined by their top diplomats, then they went back inside to meet with a larger group. and so back to our nick schifrin who is in hnoi watching it all, nick. >> judy, that meeting will ntinue and we still are waiting for some kind of agreement between the two leaders this afternoon, so we are not quite sure how this is going to come out, but what we have hard from the president is a serious lowering of expeations. he said it just a few minutes ago i can't speak necessarily for today but just a little nd over a period of time i know we are going to

have fantastic success. i agaian't necessarily speak for today, a sure sign that he is not going kannounce anyd of breakthrough today. >> woodruff: well, we will watch. we will find out at comes of this larger meeting that is taking place and you are following it. nick shiffporting from hanoi. ew and that is the newshour and that's the nshour for 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. re you can do the things you like to do with a ss plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language.

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