thank you so much for being here with us. good night for all of us here in our nbc news washington bureau. . this morning the president's former fixer goes before congress with what could be explosive testimony. michael cohen is reportedly prepared to tell lawmakers that trump had advanced knowledge about hacked democratic e-mails in 2016. as that is happening, president trump is in vietnam, where he will be meeting with north korean leader kim jong-un in the next hour or so. we will go live to hanoi with the latest on that. plus the house blocked an emergency declaration. now the legislation heads to the senate where the vote there will be very close.

good morning, everyone, it is wednesday, february 27th. we have so much to get to, including brand-new developments from vietnam. later this hour, we expect to see the president leave with his one on one with north korea's leader. we will have live coverage of that. first an explosive headline at home, racist, con man, cheat, these are some of the words donald trump's former lawyer michael cohen will use to describe the president later this morning. a draft of cohen's opening statement obtained by nbc news includes allegation that is the president had advanced knowledge about hacked democratic e-mails. >> that donald trump, jr. alerted his father about what cohen believes was the june 2016 meeting offering dirt often hillary clinton. cohen claims trump urged him to lie about seeking a real estate deal in moscow and will provide a check allegedly signed by the

president in august of 2017 that cohen says was a reimburse am for paying off stormy daniels, along with claiming trump exhibited what cohen calls racist attitudes and that the president's mistreated his staff members, abused his charitable foundation and lied to his family. all in the pursuit of personal enrichment or pleasure. yesterday, cohen spent about 10.5 hours behind closed doors with the senate intelligence committee. he also made this brief comment. >> i really appreciate the opportunity that was given to me to clear the record and to tell the truth and i look forward to tomorrow to being able to in my voice to tell the american people my story and i'm going to let the american people decide exactly who is telling the truth. there so in one section of his draft statement, cohen alleges that donald trump was quote a presidential candidate who knew that roger stone was talking with julian assange about a

wikileaks drop of democratic national committee e-mails. cohen goes on july 2016 days before the democratic convention, i was in mr. trump's office when his secretary announced roger stone was on the phone. mr. trump put stone on speaker phone. he told mr. trump he had gotten off the phone with julian assange and mr. assange told mr. stone that there would be a major dutch of e-mails damaging hillary clinton's campaign. mr. trump responded wouldn't that be great? stone denied having conversations about wikileaks and hacked e-mails. >> turning overseas to vietnam, over the next hour or so president trump is set to greet and have a one on one conversation with kim jong-un followed by what is being called a social dinner. to the second time trump is meeting with the elusive leader. the president and the administration have appeared to

hedge on the possibility of de-nuclearization with secretary of state mike pompeo even asserting on sunday a third summit may be needed. still the trip hasn't stopped trump's twitter habits, tweeting yesterday, "vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. north korea would be the same, and very quickly. if it would did you nuclearize. the potential is awesome, a great opportunity, like almost quickly. for my friend kim jong-un, we will find out shortly. >> he followed that up, the democrats should stop talking about what i should do with north korea and ask themselves instead why they didn't do it during eight years of the obama administration? last night he met with the president's prime minister and spoke about his feelings for the summit along with vietnam's economy. watch this. >> we have a have been big meeting planned tonight, as you know, with north korea and

chairman kim. and i think it may very well turn out to be very successful. it helps that it's in vietnam. because you've shown something that the world is really getting to see the incredible job have you done in vietnam in a very short period of time. have you made tremendous progress. it's a freight thing for the world to see. now the world is actually watching and looking at vietnam. so i look forward to the meeting tonight with chairman kim and hopefully it's going to be successful. we'll see what happens. but he wants to do something great also and i think he wants to do something that would be on a par, if you look at what you have done in a short time, he can do it in a very rapid time, make north korea into a great economic power. >> joining us live from hanoi, vietnam, nbc news white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, we are just about an hour away from trump and kim's second in-person meeting. the world is watching. what can we expect there? >> reporter: well, one of the

things, louis that is important is they are calling it a social dinner and while that is a term of art if diplomacy. it also really tells us a lot about how president trump views his interactions with kim jong-un, an emphasis on the relationship as a leading edge of any real negotiations that can happen here and in the clip we just played, you also hear the president focus on the economy of north korea and a path forward for the regime if they choose to do more on de-nuclearization. of course the focus with the singapore summit last year was all about verifiable certain de-nuclearization. well, that's not the story the united states is telling now. while that is still something that is a goal the president and his top negotiating team, are focused on trying to get something productive and measurable out of kim jong-un. but also trying to entice kim jong-un with economic opportunities.

so, of course, he would like to see north korea freed of some of the sanctions, what would he be willing to deal with that? the president also tweeting, reporting saying people don't know what his intentions are on north korea and he wants to do both, de-nuclearization and expanding plans for an xi that would be very different for north korea. so tonight a social dinner, the main event tomorrow. back to you, guys. >> nbc news' kelly o'donnell. a lot to digest in the coming hours. thanks so much. i want to bring in a senior fellow and korean chair for the center of strategic studies, also with us, a fellow and global comparative politics at the london school of economics and author of the despot accomplish. brian clo brian kloss. the trump administration has gone from demanding immediate de-nuclearization. -- brian i want to go to you on the one -- to now saying it may

take time. what the chances kim jong-un gives up his weapons here? >> close to zero. unfortunately. this is the one thing north korea international -- not necessarily legitimacy, at least having to be treated with some level of respect because they have nuclear capabilities. so, you know, i think it's clear that trump's negotiating strategy has taken him back from that goal because he's probably realized as his intelligence chiefs told him, they will not give up the bomb. the question is what will trump give up in hopes of a good headline. that's the question today, with the testimony on the hill, trump might potentially announce a favor of withdrawal of troops from south korea, which would be damaging all sort of to chase this deal which after last year's singapore summit, we had the contours of a deal, a big headline. it turned out kim was

accelerating his nuclear program covertly. that's what i would say would happen again. >> what are some of the concerns we have to the question brian asked, which i think is the question on a lot of people's minds what could the president possibly give up to try to make a headline, to make a splash, to come out what he likes to call a win, a victory. what would concern you the most in terms of what the president does offer without a solid agreement? >> well, i do think that he's going to offer a peace declaration to say the war is formally over. otherwise it sounds inknockous. there is a slippery slope from peace declaration to peace treaty. we're just talking about. and peace treaty would just lead to or undermine the rational for u.s. troops presence in south korea. of course the president is someone who always questions why we have troops in south korea, which countries like south korea too much. now i do think because u.s. and

south korea just reached a deem, president trump is not going to announce at this time that we're putting out troops. what i am concerned about is in one on one conversation this is something that president trump can promise kim. they will come in the future. >> so kelly brought up some good points, how much does the relationship that the president has established with kim jong-un resonate with him and the flattering things he has said about him, his love letters he sent back and forth, all that sort of thing. along with the promises of a fourishing xi inside north korea. do those sorts of things resonate with kim that can bring him to the table and make real promises and raelg declaration? >> i doubt it. kim knows how to flatter president trump. they have been exchanging beautiful love letters. i think it's very difficult to entice kim with this vietnam modem. if you think about vietnam, they were able to achieve this kind of liberalization of economy or

pursue china. china's style commitment only because they were able unify first. right? this is a different case with north korea. north korea still has to contend with freer, richer, more democratic south korea or rival state. they're not unified yet. so i have to say, i'm folt overly optimistic. i don't think much is going to come out of it, except some symbolic. >> i was going to say, it seems like he is dangling the carrot in front of the north korean leader. brian, let me get your international perspective on all of this. yesterday, there were dutch customs officials intercepting a huge shipment we believe of russian vodka making its way to top north korean officials, particularly in pyongyang. this is obviously coming on the heelings of president trump changeing russia and china on twitter saying they have been instrumental in helping the sanctions on north korea. give us the global perspective of how this is playing out. what does it say about trump's

strategy in the region at large? >> well, i think it's a continuation of america first acting as america alone. and an exposure of the fact that it's really dangerous to turn your back on allies, because sometimes you feed them. this is a classic example where trump's diplomacy is you unlikely to succeed because he has not lined up the other players on board. the real problem is you have that happening at the same time that trump is giving up the moral high grounds and the soft power america has because he's praising russia, china and saying he's in love with one of the most murderous tyrants on the planet while attacking our democratic allies soive do think we need to be clear, it's not normal for a u.s. president to call somebody who has murdered an american, commits mass state sponsored rape, who has hundreds of thousands of people in gulogs, to call that person a friend and say he's in love with him. so i think we have a really backward situation with thinks foreign policy and everybody in europe is looking at this,

shaking here heads, wondering whether they can rely on the united states going forward. >> brian brings up a good point we sometimes take for granted the language the president uses in describing spokeswoman line chairman kim. >> and we forget. >> what he's about and how he's ruled it. >> it's continuously important to remind people of that. >> thank you both very much. see you in a bit. still ahead the house has passed a resolution to block the president's national emergency declaration. but will the senate do the same? what mitch mcconnell will say about that. >> later, a congressman ally appearing to threaten michael cohen. now he is apologizing, those stories and a check on weather when we come back. and a check or when we come back. my experience with usaa

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measure to pass the vote of 45-13213 republicans joining the democrats, well below the two-thirds needed to overcome the president's promised veto. here is nbc casey hunt speaking with the minority leader. >> reporter: do you have any concerns about a democratic president using this power after setting this precedent? >> democratic president versus used this power because they have the right to use this power. a number of presidents, republicans and democrats have used this power for numerous things. >> so the resolution now heads to the senate where the measure can pass on capitol hill yesterday, vice president mike pence tried to convince senate republicans to hold the line. but he faced major resistance there. according to politico, pence's pitch has done little to move wavering gom senators. meanwhile the hill reports senate leader mitch mcconnell told the president she likely to lose the simple majority vote. meaning at least four

republicans can have et to block the emergency declaration. mcconnell says there is nothing he can do about it. the majority leader says he is unsure if the president's action is legal. >> i personally couldn't handicap the outcome at this point. >> reporter: do you personally believe the president's emergency declaration is legal? >> well, that's a part of what we were discussing today. >> reporter: what do you think? >> well, we're in the process of weighing. the lawyer was there to make his argument. there was some counterargument. i haven't reached a total conclusion about you know i wouldn't go to me for simple will. i didn't go to law school. we had serious lawyers with that issue. >> what key republican senators are saying, utah's mitt romney says he is still deciding. lisa murkowski is explaining why

she will vote to block the president's order. >> this is not about whether or not you support ensuring our boarders are strong and secure, which i absolutely do. this is about making sure that we respect the lines and the lanes of authorities that are laid out in the constitution. >> and murkowski is now the third republican senator to say outright they will support the resolution of disapproval. one more and the president would be forced to veto the measure. all right, let's get a quick check on your weather now with meteorologist bill kierans. >> california continues been the big story. good morning, everyone. the rivers are at the highest level since 1995. these are areas for the most part north of san francisco, north of the napasale. they got drenched. santa rosa the weather records go back to early 1,900s, 1906.

yesterday they had 5.5 inches of rain. why is it important in it was the rainiest day in the city's history. that's an impressive record. this wasn't your ordinary rain system. it poured overnight, too. it's not like it was done. now the heavy rain is trying to shift to the east of san francisco, getting out of that region where the flooding concerns are. you expect a lot of river flow morning. the other weather story that you need to know about overnight, light snow from minneapolis to green bay, one or two inches from detroit to central michigan. today that will push into areas of central new york. we are going to see about 2 tore four inches of snow the finger lakes, syracuse, binghamton, albany down into areas of central new england. so keep that in mind for your evening travel plans in areas of western new york and central new england. not a lot of snow here in new york. it will stay plain old cold. >> thank you very much for that update. now, after broad allegations

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. house democrats are poised to issue subpoenas in the practice of separating families at the border. the house oversight committee authorized the use of subpoenas yesterday. democrats are seeking documents

from attorney general william barr, homeland security kristen nielsen and secretary alex aczar. >> that news comes amid thousands of allegations of sexual misconduct towards migrant children at the border. they provided axios with department of health and human services detailing four years of abuse aemgss against unaccompanied minors in the custody of the u.s. government. according to axios, the allegations include everything from rumors of relationships to forcible touching. a spokesperson from hhs has responded to the news writing this, in addition to other rigorous standards put in place by the office of refugee resettlement, background checks of all facility employees are mandatory. within the allegations of abuse, sexual abuse are made, they are taken seriously and orr acts swiftly to investigate and respond. a republican candidate at the center of the undecide north

korea house race rocked by ballot fraud will not run in the newly ordered election. mark harris announced yesterday he will opt out of running for the 9th congressional district race citing health concerns. his decision comes a week of the state board of elections including hearings into election fraud in the district by calling for a new election. harris announced during the hearings that he has suffered two strokes and was hospitalized in january. in a statement, harris said, in part, quote, given my health situation, the need to regain full strength and the timing of the surgery the last week of march, i decided no to the file in the new election. harris twice tried to certify the race while the investigation was still up a going. he led democrat dan mccready by 105 votes on election day. other prominent republicans in the state, pat mccorey and robert pittinger declined to run

with the new race completely in flux. >> certainly developments there and what's taken place. >> all right. still ahead, much more on what we can expect to hear from michael cohen, trump's former fixer. plus, senator bernie sanders just announced his 2020 presidential bid last week. he is already seeing a staff shakeup. we are back in a moment. y seeinf shakeup. we are back in a moment. [farmers bell] (driver) relax, it's just a bug. that's not a bug, that's not a bug! (burke) hit and drone. seen it, covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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. >> welcome back. ist the bottom of the hour. we are getting a preview of the bombshell allegations, donald trump's attorney michael cohen will make in the house oversight committee in just a couple of hours. new reaction from the president while he readys for his summit in vietnam. two huge stories going on right now. a draft of cohen's opening statement paints the president as a serial liar, who has more advanced knowledge than he is admitting about russia's involvement in the 2016 campaign. cohen's testimony claims the revelation between the tower meeting between donald trump jr. offering dirt jogged his memory. quote, something clicked in my mind. i remember being in the room with mr. trump, probably in early june of 2016, when something peculiar happened. don jr. came into the room and walked behind his father's desk, which in and of itself is

unusual. i recalled don junior leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which i could clearly hear, and saying the meeting is all set. i remember mr. trump saying, okay. good, let me know. mr. trump had frequently told me and others that his son don jr. had the worst judgment of anyone in the world and also would checking with his father. president trump said he knew nothing about the meeting until it was reported by the "new york times" in july of 2017. >> michael cohen also plans to give house investigators a copy of a check from donald trump's personal bank account. he says president trump personally signed that reimburses him for paying off stormy daniels in the final days of the 2016 election. cohen says the $35,000 check is one of 11 installments he received after discussing the matter while visiting the oval office in 2017.

cohen was charge for the theme. he acted in coordination with and at the direction of individual one, a clear reference to the president in committing these federal crimes. cohen's alleged conversation and payments came well before president trump denied knowing anything about payments for the affair. e affair >> . >> president trump is in hanoi, vietnam this morning preparing for his sum with north korea's jim congress eun. but his mind is on matters at home. the president tweeting, quote -- michael cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me, unfortunately. he had other clients also. he was just disbarred by the

state supreme court for lying and fraud. he did bad things unrelated to trump. he is lying in order to reduce his prison time, using cook's lawyer. a reference to cohen's spokesperson lanny davis. >> republican member of congress is walking back his explicit testimony. florida congressman matt gaetz. he tweeted yesterday evening. he tweeted yesterday evening g aetz denied his tweet could be construed to witness tampering, called it witness testing. tampering, testing? >> is that a new legal term? >> i think so nancy pelosi

posted -- o nancy pelosi posted - gaetz delete that tweet. wrote -- it was not my intent to threaten. i should have chosen better words to show my intent. i am sorry. >> keeping it classy. former attorney general matthew whitaker has agreed to clarify his testimony on whether president trump sought to influence the committee. jerry nadler added the former acting attorney general had voluntarily decided to speak on his testimony to the panel earlier this month. whitaker is expected to meet with the committee privately and no date for the new meeting has been announced. while lawmakers have not said what whitaker will address with his new testimony, it is

expected to be focused on his previous comments on whether he had contact with the president about the investigation into business dealings involving michael cohen, including hush money payments, excuse me. >> so as the "wall street journal" believes it has everyday the president asked the ag for the southern district of new york jeffrey berman, a trump ally could take back control. previous reports suggested there is no sign. whitaker acted on any request. according to journal the judiciary committee is looking at whether whitaker may have perjured himself in his prior appearance when he told lawmakers at no time have the white house asked for promises, commitments, concerning the special counsel's investigation or any other investigation and that he did not provide any. >> all right, joining us here on set. msnbc -- >> here he is -- >> nan of the hour. you have a busy day today? >> it will be a busy day today, not whitaker. it will be cohen today. >> i didn't know what to ask you

about the tweet, matthew gaez, whitaker, cohen. let's start with cohen. i assume you read the opening stramt released overnight, bombshell details coming out of it. what will be the biggest take away? >> can i check through some of the stuff that you were referring to in. >> yes, go ahead. >> the possible check he wrote the personal check with regards to reimburseing stormy daniels, knowing about the hacked e-mails. right that he had then announced on the campaign trail, saying to russian, hey, release those hacked e-mails you have. now we know possibly have you this phone call and knowing about that meet income trump tower that we have been talking about forever with don jr. >> of those three the meeting in the turn tower is maybe the most concerning. i think you will see people like roger stone and trump and everybody else will fall back on the hacked e-mails, they merely knew about them. they're aware. they weren't actually participating in or conspireing

to release those e-mails. they were just gleefully happy knowing the e-mails were being released. but the meet income trump tower moves us a little closer to the definition of working with or receiving something of benefit from a foreign power and that is prohibited. it's against the law. we are also probably going to hear more about those payments to stormy daniels. and while many of us may think, ah, we have been talking about this for months and months, who even cares? this isn't a bomb shell. >> that doesn't matter, last summer, michael cohen stood up in a district courthouse and said i committed a crime when i paid off these women and donald trump knew about it. >> one, the individual one. >> individual one. right. donald trump knew about it. >> cohen is identified trump specifically in his testimony? >> that's right. not long after michael cohen said that in open court. the doj filed documents saying that's what we believe, too. since last year we know the doj

believes essentially that donald trump directed a crime by michael cohen. while that seems like so 2018 and so long ago, it remains really the strongest evidence of a crime committed by donald trump. >> so let me get your thoughts quickly on what the strategy for republicans here has been. you got matt gaetz witness testing and apologizing, what does it say about the mindset of approaching michael cohen, particularly those that want to defend the president to the till? >> is it testing or tampering? >> it's trolling. it's not yet a federal stracht. it will be soon. i say that jokingly the law struck hims to catch up with technology. when most of these statutes were written, they never imagined twitter. and most of these people aren't proficient in technology the way younger folks are. you have this situation where matt gaetz does what the

republicans should not do today. focus instead on credibility. don't troll michael cohen. don't go after him or intimidate him or witness test him or whatever you want to call it. focus on the fact that leak many cooperating witnesses, michael cohen has credibility problems. you can say he lied before to congress. hough do we know he's not lying again now? and that alone should be the focus. don't jump in on the gaetz train. what is the objective here of michael cohen? we know he has delayed this thing over and over again because of shoulder surgery. yesterday i heard there is a possibility he thinks in his mind and his legal team as well, he can get reduction of his sentence. >> that sentence came down from fdney. what could happen? >> it's possible. there is a mechanism, ruling 35 that allows a defendant even after he is sentenced to continue to cooperate. and if he does, then the government can file a letter

asking for even further reduction in his sentence. what's strange here is that michael cohen had the opportunity to do this on the front end. he was never signed to a cooperate agreement. he only gave partial cooperation. so now he's trying to really make the case for more reduction in his sentence, which some defendant can do. it doesn't happen as often, some defendants can get that reduction after they cooperate. >> our white house troll expert, thank you for breaking down the trolling. senator bernie sanders is already facing a major shakeup within his ranks. top strategists who all played leading roles in sanders' 2016 campaign have announced they are parting ways with the senator, speaking with nbc news on the decision, they cited creative differences with all three saying in a joint statement the

senator deserves to have consultants who share his creative vision for the campaign. both sides say the split is amicable. but some tensions between sanders and devine were evident in the final days of the 2016 primary campaign when sanders pressed on with his run after it became clear he couldn't win the nomination against hillary clinton. devine has also recently faced scrutiny for his consulting work years ago in you kra inwith former trump campaign chairman paul manafort. meanwhile, the senator is pledging to diversify the top ranks of his campaign, citing criticism for running a campaign in 2016 that was too light and too male oriented. if you are waiting for biden to be announced, you will still be waiting. he may be jumping into the field after securing the blessing of his family. >> from being pushed, pushed, prodded by my son hunter and my wife jill and my daughter, there

is a -- we just had a family meeting with all the grandkids, too. and there's a consensus that i should, they want, they, the most important people in my life, want me to run. >> so while his family may be on board, biden says that he is not making the decision whether to run, taking the decision whether to run lightly. >> i can die a happy man never having lived in the white house, but what i don't want to do, is i don't want to take people's time, effort and commitment without there being a clear shot that i could be the nominee. i think we can. i think that's where we are. but there is still a couple hurdles to go through to make sure we have all this in place. and if we conclude that, i would announce that i'd run for president and, but, you nknow.

>> just say yes. >> but i'm not there yet. i don't want to mislead you. i'm being straight forward. >> you didn't catch that, someone in the crowd said, just say yes. multiple sources, the former vice president has begun making job offers in new hampshire, signaling a potential bid. all right, still ahead another day and another former trump official mole is releasing a book. details on who may be dishing on their time working for the president. plus, bill kierins is back with another weren't storm set to create more problems today. sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough

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gary cohn will highlight large portions, including his time working for president trump. according to reports, cohn hasn't finished the book. no deal is in pleas yet. politico says bob barnett an attorneyal legal powerhouse williams and connelly has been shopping the idea to publishers in new york. cohn made comments in the past, he was in the process of writing about his experiences in the trump administration after he left the white house in 2018. let's get a check of the weather with meteorologist bill kierans. i guess spring is nowhere close. >> not even. the first week, first two weeks of march look like a lost cause if you like warm temperatures for much of the country. yeah, bearer of bad news. second half of march looks better, better be. detroit to saginaw, out to grand rand. it will move into areas of western new york. some is not hitting the ground here in pennsylvania. here's the snowfall forecast for

today, rochester chest tore syracuse areas. we could see snow you could be plowing and half travel delays there. it looks like it's north of new york city, when you wake up tomorrow morning, you could have two inches on the ground, just enough to make you clear the car off or do light shoveling. so today, frigid high temperatures in the middle of the country. this is going to be the theme. wind chill values are negative 20. rapid city a high of 14. we are warm in the ohio valley, warm in the southeast. cold tomorrow in the northeast and then as we go towards the beginning of march, guys, not enjoyable. i was looking at fargo. on sunday, their high temperature is zero. that's the cold that's heading for all of us. >> didn't punxsutawney phil say that spring was coming sooner than later? >> never trust a rodent. >> thanks, bill. still ahead theious tis department is dealt a blow as a major merger gets the green

light to move forward. ivanka trump squares off with alexandria ocasio-cortez over her green new deal. details coming up. details coming up.

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ocasio-cortez. here were her original comments. >> i don't think most americans in their heart want to be given something. people want to work for what they get. i think this idea of a guaranteed minimum is not something most people want. >> ivanka trump later responded to headline on her apparent challenge to the deal writing quote, no,i do not. i support a minimum wage. i don't support a minimum guarantee to people not willing to work, the question asked of me. alexandria ocasio-cortez writing, as a person who actually worked for tips in my life, i can tell you people want to be paid enough to live. >> the justice department defending its efforts to stop the at&t time warner merger after the government rejected

the $80 million plus deal saying it was unpersuasive, the u.s. district court of appeals upheld the decision which found the deal unlikely to harm competition. according to the law street journal, it's one of the biggest losses for the antitrust division in a generation. >> coming up on "morning joe," president trump prepares to meet with kim jong-un, the very latest as the leader sits down for talks. >> democrat bob menendez will discuss the summit and why he says it is nothing more than a maid for tv moment. "morning joe," everyone. "morning joe," everyone. it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex. because i'm made to move.

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about that. >> tell us axios one big thing today. >> i was going to but i just got a text from my colleague. we have breaking news about to pop on axios a.m. a $35,000 check signed by donald trump himself dated august the 1st, 2017. after he was president, well into his presidency, a $35,000 check to michael cohen, what cohen alleges is a reimbursement to be displayed during the evidence today. you've been hearing this this alluded to he will produce this evidence, told by a source

familiar with the situation. >> how about what you guys have done at axios, how will this sit on the narrative, not in just this issue, others, in the opening statement of michael cohen, engaging in criminal activity, as michael cohen has described? >> the key is credibility. he's going to prison and already admitted to lying to congress. this is why paper and evidence have such a higher premium with this guy than almost anyone else we've seen testify before congress. that's why items like this, a $35,000 check signed by donald trump, after he was president, become important pieces of evidence because michael cohen's claims he's making is the president ordered him to commit a campaign finance violation. >> here's the thing. we can naturally assume bob mueller has this information

already. he has this check in hand. he understands these payments were made by the president after he was elected president -- go ahead. >> no, i wouldn't assume that. we spoke to a source close to cohen. they are claiming he stumbled across this particular piece of evidence in the last 48 hours. i don't know for a fact -- >> he stumbled across this evidence when michael cohen's offices were raided? >> it's totally possible. i don't know what mueller has or hasn't seen. i don't want to make assumptions what mueller has or doesn't have. generally speaking the assumption mueller has all this stuff is a pretty good one. >> thank you very much. we will be reading axios in just a bit. you can sign up for that newsletter by signing up for it. >> that does it for us. "morning joe" starts right now.

>> one aspect of the conflict, by the way, that i will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of america and the highest income level, found a doctor would say they had a bone spur. that is wrong. that is wrong. >> today, michael cohen will tell lawmakers donald trump offered to help him handle the bad press surrounding his medical deferment from the vietnam draft. he wanted cohen to take care of it. he said, you think i'm stupid? i wasn't going to vietnam. this morning, he is there, as two huge stories come crashing together. in just a few minutes the american president will shake hands with kim jong un, as the former fixer shares secrets on capitol hill. >>