>> amen. >> thank you for being with us, connie, she is a pulitzer prize winning author, and rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, ali, much appreciated. that was great conversation with connie schulz, i could have listened all night, that was incredible. thanks to you at home for joining us. super happy to have you here. we have so much going on today and tonight, we have a packed hour planned. i want to start with this, we just got in this transcript and i want you to hear this. so, the background here is a story that you know the general contours of. the president's long-time personal lawyer pleads guilty to multiple felonies and goes to federal prison. among other things he pleads to making large illegal payments to benefit the president's campaign. when he paid more than a quarter million dollars just before the election to stop two women from speaking publically about

affairs they said they had with the president. the federal prosecutors in that case, named the president as individual one. asperson who directed the commission of those felonies and on whose behalf the crimes were committed. michael cohen, the guy boi ingo prison, flat out said he committed the crimes at the direction of the president. well, the federal department of justice has concluded that it cannot bring a felony indictment against somebody who is actively serving as president. two things. first, he is not going to be serving aspresident forever and second, new york state prosecutors are not bound by the same rule. and new york state prosecutors are right now, seeking to execute subpoenas for the president's personal and business financial records. in a case that is believed to be at least in part about the president directing the commission of those crimes for which michael cohen went to federal prison.

also, specifically using his business, the trump organization, to basically launder those illegal payments in an attempt to cover up the crime. so, this is a live case. this is a live criminal case, that directly involves the president of the united states in very uncomfortable ways. the supreme court just ruled that the subpoenas from those new york state prosecutors can be executed against the president just as if he was a normal citizen. and that is under way. that is actively in motion. also, as you know, the coronavirus crisis has devastated federal prisons. one texas federal prison now reports more than 1200 prisoners positive. just getting that news that week out of one federal prison in texas. texas has actually the worst of it in terms of the three largest outbreaks in federal prisons nationwide right now. but, federal prisons generally have done a very poor job with

covid, and the prison where the president's lawyer michael cohen has been locked up. a prison called otisville, it has had its fair share of cases too. and because of that, because of the, you know, collision of these crisis that we are living through, this scandal, ridden, challenge to the rule of law that is the trump administration and this global pandemic and the worst epidemic on earth in any country, here, our american coronavirus epidemic, that coming together produced a strange result. in which michael cohen, the president's personal lawyer, along with a fair number of other white collar nonviolent prisoners he got out of prison before his sentence was up. he got out on a furlough, because specifically, of covid. after his 1 month furlough, the rest of his sentence was going to convert in to home confinement, basically house arrest. which is how he was due to spend the rest of the sentence that he

would have otherwise spent in ottisville, were it not for covid. he is out because of the coronavirus crisis and a couple of weeks ago, just days after he had tweeted that his new book about president trump was coming along nicely and he was looking forward to it being released shortly before this year's november election, just days after he made that public statement about what he is doing with all the time he has on his hands now, michael cohen and one of his lawyers turned up for a visit with probation services. and to his and his lawyer's surprise, they asked mr. cohen to sign a form that said, he is not allowed to write a book anymore. he is not allowed to communicate with the media or social media of any kind and 93 said if he did not sign off -- and they said if he did not sign off on it, back to prison he would go. cohen and his lawyer questioned the provision, but before they had a chance to sign it or not,

a chance to decide whether those concerns about those provisions were big enough that he may not -- before he even had a chance to decide whether or not he would decide it, boom, federal marshals arrived and shackled him and took him back to prison. back to otisville, where he has been in solitary confinement ever since. >> whatever you think of michael cohen, where did this rule come from that he cannot write a book. it's not like prisoners are not allowed to write books. it's not a rule that applies generally in the bureau of prisons. did they invent the new rule just for him? >> in which case, how is it kosher for the justice department to invent a new rule that said is, hey, you will be locked up in prison if you try to write a book about the president, the only way you can stay out at home and not be locked up is if you agree to not write a book about the president. and then you can't even argue with it or they will lock you up. really? really? seriously in this country?

well, in the trump administration, in the justice department under attorney general william barr, that's how they want things to go now. today, a federal judge said, no, that is not how we do things in this country. and we just got the transcript of how that went today and i can tell you that frankly, he seemed kind of mad about the whole thing. all right, i'm going to start here with the prosecutor who's name in this case, is ail son rovner, the prosecutor. quote, i think it's important to note that home confinement means that mr. cohen was still in the custody of the bureau of prisons. it was just a different location that he was within custody. meaning a different location at his home. the judge said in response, quote, we are not talking about locations. that's a false issue. we are talking about the issue of retaliation. he was put on furlough with no conditions other than, hang around your house and be in your neighborhood. the only condition. and when it came time for the furlough period to end, he was

allowed to stay outside, and when the bureau of prisons understands that cohen is writing a book and will likely finish before the election time, he is imposed with conditions. the probation officer does not give him a form, the form for home confinement that is typically used by probation. the judge said, quote, what purpose would there be in a paragraph one of this agreement, preventing engagement with the media, tv, print, film, books, prohibiting social media platforms, not to do certain things about publication? prosecutor said in response. quote, the probation officer is just trying, he never drafted an agreement like this. the judge, i have never seen such a clause. in 21 years of being a judge, and sentencing people and looking at the terms and conditions of supervised release, i have never seen such a clause, have you ever seen such a clause? >> the prosecutor, quote, i have

never seen a federal location monitoring agreement, your honor. >> the judge, why would the probation officer ask for something like this unless there was a purpose to it? unless there was a retaliatory purpose saying you tow the line of giving up your first amendment rights or you will go to jail. we are not negotiating or we will send you to jail and call you intrasigent, how can can i take it any other way other than it was retaliatory. >> the officer had no knowledge of mr. cohen's book. >> it's impossible to take that inference. >> and then, new character on the scene, mr. mckay, who was a different prosecutor. gets in to the mix here. your honor, this is thomas mckay, can i just jump in with a factual point on the timeline. >> the judge, is ms. rovner not capable of answering my questions. >> she is, your honor. >> you will keep quiet. and if ms. rovner wants to

consult you, she may, one person speaks on a side. the judge then said, quote, there's no purpose that i can disearn from this paragraph one that i can find in any term of condition in 21 years of being a judge. nor is it feesable to believe that the probation officer was not asking for something like this because he had some instruction about something like this. i cannot believe fairly that there was not a purpose in paragraph one of the location monitoring agreement to stop his exercise of his first amendment rights and that's in my finding. okay. then there's a long discussion about covid protocols at otisville and whether michael cohen has been quarantined adequately and weathhether soli confinement counts and the judge, let him be tested tomorrow morning. ms. rovner, let him be tested

tomorrow morning and he should be released by 2:00 p.m. ms. perry, turns to cohen's defense attorney. ms. perry, tell me who will be the custodian. >>? yes, your honor. >> does she need to sign anything? >> ms. perry, the lawyer for michael cohen had. i don't believe so, but she is more than willing to. >> and the judge, and she will be taking care of shopping and everything else? mr. cohen will be confined to his home except subjects stated in the agreement? >> yes, your honor. >> the judge, i think we have it. i make the finding that the purpose of transferring mr. cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail was retaliatory. and it's retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his first amendment rights to publish a book and discuss anything about the book or anything else that he wants on social media and with others. that is my essential finding and the injunction is against

continuing retaliation against mr. cohen by keeping him in jail, when he should be confined as he was before the retaliation, at home. the judge said quote, i will issue a written decision further explaining my reasoning and this decision is a final decision. so the judge ruling orally in the hearing today for which we have the transcript. we are not allowed to take or play recordings of it, but getting the transcript means i can tell you what happened. and the judge giving the oral ruling telling the trump administration that they need to let michael cohen out of prison tomorrow. because the judge concluded that they only put him back in prison to try to stop him from writing a book against the president. to retaliate against him for the work he has already done on the book criticizing the president. that's not a thing you can do in this country. the judge has just tonight since issued his written ruling making the same declaration.

so this is official and michael cohen should be out of jail again tomorrow as of tomorrow, after he gets his covid test. but, that was just, a remarkable thing that happened today. we are having, kind of a rule of law, sort of national round of bumper cars in the trump administration and to have a flul judge, in this case, i know it's a one case in. to have a federal judge come in and say, what are you doing? like? i know what you are trying to do here but no, you can't do that here. we get the brush backs infrequently. when they happen, and they are this clear and when the judge, i think in particular, takes care to kind of show his disgust with what the government has tried to get away with. it's sign post i think for us as citizens. it's a civic sign post for us in terms of who we are as a country. i will tell you, just a few minutes tonight, part of why we have a big show tonight. we will have tonight, live, the first exclusive interview with

ms. perry. with michael cohen's lawyer. the person who i just read some from the transcript, she represented michael coenin the hearing and she is the one that got the justice department to release him tomorrow after they tried to lock him up for criticizes the president. we have that interview ahead and i'm looking forward to that. and we also tonight will be speaking with stacy abrams. former leader in the georgia house. big national profile in the democratic party, in contention for running mate for joe biden. we will talking to stacy abrams because she is fired up over something the president has just done that the courts are likely to stop, but he is trying to get away with it anyway. stacy abrams runs a couple of different organizations involved in trying to secure fair access to the vote, and fair access to our small d democracy, she will join us live in a few moments to

talk about it as well. so, like i said, big day, big show tonight. this, this is just one of the news days that has been kind of full of surprises though. i mean in the news business, full of surprises surprises -- is generally not a good thing. there was the odd spectacle earlier tonight when the president announced that the republican party actually won't be holding the convention next month in jacksonville, florida. after all. remember, initially the republican convention was going to be in north carolina, then, when north carolina said they wanted to know what the plan was for like, you know, infection control given the epidemic? the white house balked at that and the republican party balked at it and made a big show and announced that north carolina was terrible for asking so they pull out of north carolina and move the convention to jacksonville, florida, like there's this is no covid there to worry about. it was always fairly insane the whole thing, but now the

jacksonville convention is officially off. the president weirdly going on and on at the podium today at the white house about how great the jacksonville convention was or was going to be or how great he imagined it to be in his mind. he literally said tonight, quote, the pageantry, the signs, and the excitement, were really, really, top of the line. he is talking about an event that didn't happen. a future event that has been called off. they were really top of the line. what does it mean? he said quote, we have great enthusiasm, incredible enthusiasm, and even the polls say about the most enthusiasm they have ever seen. enthusiasm that you -- for the event, that has not happened yet that you are imagining had beautiful pagentry, what are you talking about? then announced that they are cancelling the jacksonville event that went so well about which had so much enthusiasm and had beautiful pageantry and was top of the line.

with them cancelling jacksonville, they are going back to the north carolina idea, but is north carolina really still available. nobody knows what they are going. they are either, it's a month away. they have decided to do online stuff, and they have been rolling it out and making decisions about it. nobody knows what the republicans are trying to do. not in jacksonville, and back in north carolina after insulting and cancelled on north carolina. i don't know what he was talking about with the polls showing all the enthusiasm. there's a new poll, the quinnipiac poll, that does not say. that look at this, this is the quinnipiac poll out today about the presidential race in florida, it shows joe biden with

a 13 point lead over the president in florida. 51% support for biden verse only 38% for the president. this is a big margin. quinnipiac are great pollsters. but 13 is a big lead. most recent polls do show biden beating trump in florida, the rcp has biden up 7 overall. if you lump it together all the recent polls. so quinnipiac saying 13 points? it's a big lead, but again, they are a respected pollster, and that does, honestly track roughly with the other big swing state polling that was just released tonight by fox news. the new fox news poll tonight showing joe biden leading president trump in michigan by nine points and leading in pennsylvania by 11 points and biden 50 and trump 39 in pennsylvania.

the new fox poll showing biden beating trump in minnesota by 13 points. same margin as that florida poll from quinnipiac. biden 51, trump 38. so, yeah, those numbers are all coming in today, all big important swing states. the president in all of the polls losing by between 9 and 13 points to joe biden. in minnesota, florida, and michigan, and pennsylvania. and that comes on the day that the president asked to announce the cancellation of the republican national convention. after a ham handed botched and half hearted failed attempt to move it somewhere new at the last minute. that has now collapsed. they have got their tail between their legs crawling back to north carolina, it's only a month out. nobody knows what they will pull off if anything. and i mean, as days go in politics, you combine the things, it was a bad day for the president politically speaking. >> you know, with all of the same you will obtain i couldn't say crisis going on right now in

our country. why privilege poll particular whus a -- why privilege politics whus are talking about a bad day. it's a bad day no matter who you are in politics. florida just lost the republican convention that they almost stole from north carolina. florida has bigger problems. it's one of a bunch of states that set a new single day death record in the past 48 hours from coronavirus. yesterday, and today, we have seen new death records set in florida, and in california. and in texas. and in idaho, and in alabama, and i have probably missed some. south carolina hit a record both for hospitalizations and for ventilators in use today. georgia, set its hospitalization record earlier this week and then they almost topped that again in the last 24 hours. the daily death toll in the whole united states is back up now at levels it was at almost

two months ago. in texas, the new daily case numbers are flattening a bit in some of the big cities in texas. like for example, in dallas. but the statewide texas numbers are still really bad, death records and hospitalization records set this week statewide in texas. but, i am going to stick a flag here and do what i can to try to bring as much national attention as i can to what's going on in south texas. i think it really ought to be bigger national news right now that the situation in the rio grand valley in texas is well and truly dire. and over the last few days this week, we have reported on hidalgo county specifically, it's the home of mccallen, texas. hidalgo county judge, richard core tease, there's a two week waiting list to get a body in to a crematorium, that means the bodies are piling up. the county is now using five

refrigerated trucks to hold bodies and each truck stores the bodies. the hospitalization numbers are going to double and they do not know where to put people. but, broaden the lens a bit, stay in the rio grand, and the next county over west is star county texas, and star county texas, the county seat is called rio grand city. they have one single and now overwhelmed hospital there. in star county, texas, the head of the health authority said they are forming two committees, an ethics committee to review all coronavirus patients as they come to the hospital. basically to decide if they will even try to take that person in.

committees to decide if there's anything that the hospital can do to help a patient anyway before they try to admit them because maybe it would be more kind to send them home. county health authority telling reporters there's nowhere to put these patients. the whole state of texas and neighboring states have no icu beds to spare for us. among other things the hospital said they are short of oxygen right now. i mean, yes, ventilators and more complicated icu equipment as well, and also the basics. they do not have oxygen tanks or tubing to send people home with. they have got an eight-bed covid unit in star county texas, they have 28 people in it. they are now saying they are going to screen patients for survival potential before they are even going to try to cram them in to their last remaining overwhelmed hospital. local officials in star county are calling for an emergency shelter at home order for the whole county, just like local officials are next door in hidalgo county, and texas

republican governor greg abbott is blocking the countys from doing it, saying they cannot enforce anything like that. the situation in south texas and the rio grand valley is bad enough that it should be seen in my opinion as a national emergency. the rio grand valley is a blaring red flashing siren right now, all the worse case scenarios that we may have talked about in other places that did or did not arrive depending how lucky the states have been before now. the worse case scenarios are active right now in the rio grand valley in texas and it is a story of national significance that requires a national response. nationwide, today marked the 18th straight week in which more than 1 million americans applied for unemployment benefits. the number went up this week compared to last week. the white houses and republicans in congress do not seem ready to extend unemployment benefits, the unemployment benefits boost $600 boost that americans have been receiving during the pandemic. that boost is due to expire

legally next week for practical purposes that means people will, are about to get their last check with that money in it. they are really not moving fast enough in washington right now for it to seem like that is going to get extended in time. the president is taking the lead with congress, taking a hard line on not that, but on retaining confederate names for u.s. military bases this is what he is prioritizing right now. this is what he is picking a big fight with congress right now. the house and the senate have now both passed the, the big pentagon funding bill. which in both the house senate version and the sent version includes a provision that takes confederate names off of u.s. military bases the president said that is so awful, he will veto all funding for the pus military over that issue alone. but the margins by which the bill passed both the house and the senate, margins by which it passed is so great, if the president made good on that

threat to veto military funding in order to retain confederate names on military bases it would result in him having his veto over ridden by congress. over the issue of keeping confederate names in place that the military doesn't want anymore. if that veto, if he vetoes it over the issue, and that is over ridden, that will be the first time that one of his vetoes is over ridden and the override vote would coincidence we learned tonight with the lying in state at the state capitol rotunda of john lewis. he passed away on the age of 80. we learned on monday and tuesday, he will lie in state, as the american hero he is at the state capitol, while the congress, at the same time, will be batting down this president as he tries to hold on to symbols and honors of the

confederacy, in news gods are cruel, but sometimes they are poetic, lots more to come tonight, stay with us. try wayfair. you got this! ♪ ♪ perfect. -you're welcome. i love it. how'd you do all this? told ya! wayfair. let's talk dining tables. yes! blow it up. ♪ wayfair you've got just what i need ♪ so here's to the strong, who trust in our performance and comfortable, long-lasting protection.

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this week, msnbc will start special programming, marking 100 days until the november election. 2016 and 2020 thus far. a heck of a lot can happen, and nobody should count their chickens before they are hatched. but in a big feature, politico.com, democrats make the case that their state is among the states that should be seen that is in reach for democratic candidate joe biden this year against over the edge. tipped the edge.

unbeatable november. two of the states -- the conversation about joe biden's potential pick. on the other side of the ticket, republicans are saying, earlier this year, the georgia secretary of state, a republican, sent out millions absentee ballot applications for the primary election. that ended up being wildly success of. as the yurnl of constitution said that absentee, to over half cast in the june primary. 1 million voters cast their votes. that experiment as successful as it was in georgia, that was maybe seen by georgia republicans as being too successful. and now, that same secretary of

state, despite the incredible success in the primary earlier this year. the same secretary of state has decided that it now would be impractical and too expensive to repeat the effort this fall. they are not going to send people ballots. i mean, despite the huge popularity of absentee voting. and despite the successes and the increasing need in georgia because of the coronavirus epidem epidemic. they are not going to do it. election shananigans are nothing new in georgia, they may be why stacy abrams did not win the governor's race, called her opponent the architect of voter suppression, saying he used his authority over the election to tilt it in his favor that made it harder for democratic lean p minority voters to cast their ballot in georgia. since then, stacy abrams has

done two things to fight that wrong. two acts to help protect the vote and the democratic rights of marginalized communities. those efforts are among the many reasons that she is as i mentioned also reportedly being considered as a potential running mate for joe biden. joining us now is stacy abrams. it's a pleasure to have you back on the show. thank you for making time for us tonight. >> absolutely. thank you. >> let me just ask you, as i'm sort of painting that portrait of what is going on in georgia, if you think that's the way we ought to be thinking about it, if that comports with the way you are thinking about it this year and about what's important and what's in reach for georgia democrats this year? >> georgia is absolutely a swing state. we have the highest percentage of african-american voters of any battleground state at 33% and we saw that level of turn

out in the primaries. we have a record primary turnout of more than 1.2 million voters. and including exceeding republican turnout by a quarter of million votes. let's take a step back, in 2018, my election netted 1.9 million votes. the largest number of democrats to vote in the state's history. and despite only losing by 1.4%. since that time, 750,000 f georgians that were not eligible to vote for me in '18, are now registered to vote. 49% of them are people of color and 45% are under the age of 30. in addition, when you look at the trajectory of elections, president obama lost georgia by eight points. hillary clinton, the secretary, lost georgia by five points. in 2018, the margin was 1.4% and that was with the secretary of state running his own election. we know that the mitigation of voter suppression that fair fight thhas been pushing and th

absentee ballot and encouragement of registrations means that georgia can pick up two senate seats, flip another house steet and flip a state legislature, flip the house so that we can be at the table for restricting. it's a battleground state, the numbers say it so and the math works. >> when you talk about efforts to mitigate voter suppression, what do you make of the status of the controversy in georgia over sending out absentee ballot applications. we saw it was successful in the primary earlier this year. we then saw republicans in the legislature try to block, try to pass legislation that would block the secretary of state being able to mail out absentee billion on the application. that did not get signed in to law. but the secretary of state, the republican secretary of state has received that message and decided on his own that he is not going to send out the ballot

applications. what do you make of the implications of that, and is that part of the fight settled? >> it's of course not settled. until we have the election. we know the shaenanigans will continue. we know fair fight was at the table and we were able to help block legislation that would have made it more difficult for voters to use absentee ballots. we knew that the republican secretary of state was going to bow to the pressure from president trump and he would rescind the smart decision to expand smart access to every georgian that is eligible to vote and so we are now making sure that the applications get to the voters who need to have it. it is wonderful when the state serves the people. but we know that we saw, an incredible amount of participation from communities that normally don't use absentee ballots. part of that is driven by covid-19, and part of it was

driven by the education and the work that we did in 2018 to expand access to absentee ballots. it's one of the ways that the democrats can show up in the election. let's remember, voting by mail is as much about safety as it is about winning an election and we don't want in the state of georgia, where we have a governor who is doing his level we best to ensure the state of infection, with 36,000 people having the disease in the first wave. we know absentee ballots is a way to protect the people so they can participate in democracy without risking their lives. >> you have been fighting this at the state level in georgia, you laid out the terms. the terms of that battle in very stark terms. but i know that there's a presidential initiative that is going to affect the small d democratic rights of voters that you have taken a strong stand on. if you don't mind, i would like to take a quick break and come

back and talk to you about it. i believe the president will be blocked but i want to talk about why you think he is doing it. if you don't mind sticking with us. >> happy to. >> stacy abrams is our guest tonight for the interview, we will be right back. uest tonight for the interview, we will be right back den opportuniy sales event. get zero percent financing on all 2020 lexus models. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

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joining us again for the interview is stacy abrams she is the founder of fair fight and fair count, thank you for being with us. one of the reasons 2020 is such a hugely important year is that it's a census year. census is how we get congressional districts and how we get who is in control in washington. two days ago, the president signed a memorandum stating that we should change how we apportion congressional districts out of the census. we should make it citizenship e depe dependent, it's blatantly

unconstitutional and he is not likely to get away with it. how is he going to try to enkrench republican power? >> as you pointed out numerous times, sometimes it's what he does, and sometimes it's what is behind what he is doing. i agree with you, that the legality of his executive memo is likely going to fail in the courts. but what he is really trying to do, at the same time, is discourage communities of color, from participating in the census. p for black and latino, they are behind by 10%. immigrants do not complete it, you height en the likelihood. and he is trying to scare people out of participation. but we have to understand that if the census is not accurate, the cost is spread across

communities. it does not hurt communities of color. it could decimate budgets, especially in the midst of covid recovery. >> stacy abrams. one of the things that i feel like is sometimes missed when people do national profiles of you and write about you in terms of your political potential and your political leadership is that people don't get what a good teacher and explainer you are. which is absolutely the heart and soul of persuasion. it's part of the reason i always enjoy talking to you. especially about complicated stuff. thank you so much for being here tonight, i really appreciate it. >> thank you so much for having me, rachel. >> all right. got much more ahead here tonight. stay with us. know what? i'm gonna switch now. just need my desk... my chair... and my phone.

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the judge in the mikely he will -- in the michael cohen case, finds that respondens' purpose in transferring cohen from release on furlough and

home confinement back to custody retaliatory. respondents are here by enjoined from any continuing or future action. putting the justice department on notice. do not try that again. you are enjoined from doing anymore of this. for all of the multiple crisis afflicting the country right now, the rule of law stuff is churning along side everything else. from the effort to literally lockup michael cohen for the crime of writing a book criticize averaging the president, to the ongoing deployment of federal officers, you know, in portland, oregon and apparently soon to new mexico coovover the objections local officials. to see what they can get away with. i mean, we are dealing with rule of law challenges that were distopian fiction as recently as

a year ago and with the worse predictions of how bad it could get under this president before you took power. sometimes things go back in the other direction and the aclu enjoining michael side in this fight of what the bureau of prisons and the justice department did to him for the crime of writing a book against the president. the aclu said in its pleading to the court on cohen's behalf that this case sat at the zenith of first amendment protections. today what the judge said on behalf of michael cohen is that that's true. and in this case the first amendment should win. joining us now is an attorney for michael cohen who represented him in this matter. ms. perry, i appreciate you being here tonight. i appreciate the trust it takes to be here. >> i'm thrilled to be here, rachel. thank you so much. thrilled with the judge's decision tonight. thrilled that michael will be home tomorrow with his family.

>> i have read some from the transcript of how the proceeding went today, including some of your back and forth with the judge. i also read some from the ruling. let me ask if i got any of that wrong or misconstrued it. what do you think is the most important thing people should understand about this case and why michael cohen is about to get back out? >> no, you got it exactly right. it was a resounding victory. it was a strong ruling by the judge. he was very clear. he could have made a more narrow finding. he actually made essentially a finding of credibility against the department of justice and the bureau of prisons. he did not credit their pretech churl rational for the determination that it made. he found that, in fact, they had acted in a retaliatory fashion for the exercise of michael cohen's constitutional rights to free speech. so it was a great victory, not

just for michael cohen but not to be over dramatic but for the rule of law. this was -- this was a larger ruling, i think, and as you said earlier in the show, we have seen a slouching and it is good every once in a while to see that checked. so today the dod was checked and that felt really good. >> we read it in the transcript and then also read it in his written ruling this evening. he is saying this is his final judgment. this is his final ruling even after the judge declared his finding today, though, the bureau of prisons continue to try to make the case against michael cohen, releasing a statement basically where they're still hold sog what you described as their pretext that there was a first amendment retaliatory campaign against mr. cohen, that this wasn't the reason they were seeking to lock

him back up. do they have the right to appeal this ruling? is mr. cohen still potentially looking at the bureau of prisons showing up again and trying to rescind his furlough or home confinement if they continue to fight this? >> they absolutely have the right to appeal it. i think they would be well counseled not to appeal it. the judge was strong, and he's on solid grounds. so i agree that was a defiant statement. they found -- their statement essentially was that the judge was wrong and that his finding was incorrect and, so, it might bespeak an interest in appealing it, but i also, i think, you know, they will be watching michael when he gets home and i think -- i think he should be fearful, frankly, and i think

he's going to be watching his back. >> in terms of the book that he says he's writing about the president, "the new york times" has reported on the tentative title for the book. mr. cohen himself has described some of the things that he is going to say in the book that will be, by all accounts, highly critical of the president. is there any legal leg for the trump administration to stand on in terms of stopping them from publishing that book or from speaking about it either in advance of or upon its publication? >> not by this ruling, no. thankfully i think that should be the end of this fight. there are still some details that need to be arranged over the next week or so about what the contours of his ability to interact with the media will be, but it will surely include his ability to finish the book and to public the book. so that story will be told. mr. cohen has an absolute right to tell it, and the public has

an absolute right to hear it. >> this is me talking out of school, but if the terms of mr. cohen's agreement as you negotiate with bop in terms of what his media contact is allowed to be, in the terms of his agreement allow him to speak about the contents of that book, you have my number. >> you'll be our first call. >> thank you very much. the attorney for michael cohen. congratulations on this ruling on behalf of your behind today. thanks for helping us understand. >> thanks, rachel. >> all right. we have one more story for you here tonight. stay with us. onight stay with us find new listings so quickly?

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here is a new truck mounted roving billboard that made its debut in portland, oregon today. dear department of homeland security, great job protecting buildings instead of the constitution. enjoy your new life in argentina. when you are exiled presumably. director chad wolf is trading citizen's constitutional rights. worth the belly rubs you get from your racist boss? that's one way the citizens of portland are reacting to the influx of unidentified federal officer who is have been beating up americans at protests in that city. last night portland's mayor was among the protesters tear gassed by federal officers. he called it an unprovoked and e

grow gous action. he said right after being gassed, i am not afraid, but i am pissed off. the inspector general said he is opening an investigation including allegations that officers have concealed their identities and used force improperly. his office will investigate the actions of department personnel outside the white house in june when protesters were beat up in advance of a presidential photo op. it's intriguing news that someone will investigate what federal officers are doing beating up protesters while moving in unidentified badges. but i will also say bear many mind that the attorney general bill barr is scheduled next week to give his first ever testimony to the house. how much will you bet bill bar will be unable to comment