the "wall street journal" reports allen weisselberg, the trump organization's chief financial officer, has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the ongoing federal probe against michael cohen. if weisselberg's name sounds familiar, it's because you heard him mentioned on that secretly recorded conversation between cohen and trump, exclusively obtained by cnn from cohen's attorneys. >> and i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for the financing which will be -- >> wait a sec. what financing? >> reporter: on the tape cohen and trump are heard discussing buying the rights to karen mcdougal's story. a woman who alleges a ten-monthlong affair with trump. >> replacing george this week is my chief financial officer, allen weisselberg. >> reporter: weisselberg, seen here in an episode of trump's reality show "the apprentice," controlled the movement of money at the trump organization. the journal reports weisselberg has been linked to two payments made to women who allege sexual encounters with trump and that he paid cohen, who in october 2016 paid porn star stormy daniel

allen weisselberg's subpoena? will you respond to allen weisselberg's subpoena?re, none this morning, no answer yesterday either. when kaitlyn collins asked the question at a white house event, actually there was an answer. serving as a pool reporter for all the networks was then barred from the following event. more on that shortly. i want to check in on cnn abbey phillips at the white house. you asked the white house today about this. what happened? >> reporter: we've gotten nothing but silence on this all day today. and all week. this is a white house that has only had three white house press briefings all month and only one this week and the president on the lawn refusing to answer questions from the reporters about a number of topics that have come up about this issue. the reason we continue to ask the white house about this because hope hicks, the president's spokesperson during the campaign denied any knowledge of this payment to karen mcdougal during the campaign. now, that's known to be untrue and the president used to stopping with reporters and not giv

why is allen weisselberg so critical here? i'll remind viewers that that audio tape that came out, that conversation between michael cohen and donald trump speaking about that hush money payment perhaps to karen mcdougal, that former playboy model, mentioned allen, allen weisselberg in that tape. >> before we get to the tape, allen weisselberg has been a long-time confidant and employee at the trump information. he's the cfo of the trump organization and he's been described as being one of the closest people to the -- not only is he in the innermost circle of the trump family and organization, but he's at the senior-most levels there. somebody described him like wallpaper. he blends in there and for that reason and in part because of his loyalty and his sort of understated presence has been able to last there for decades. he's been at the organization since the days of fred trump, donald trump's father. >> and the bottom line as i understand my colleague katy tur speaking to someone, a former employee of the trump organization

allen weisselberg, the cfo has been around trump since the '80s. one employee told us he knows where all the financial bodies are buried. it was weisselberg left in charge of the trump organization along with trump's sons. it was weisselberg who cohen mentioned repeatedly. in the secret recording michael cohen made of him and donald trump discussing a possible payment they reference allen weisselberg. >> i spoke to allen about it when it comes to financing -- >> what financing? >> allen weisselberg is the long time chief financial officer for the trump organization. we have learned he has been subpoenaed as a witness in the criminal probe of cohen according to the wall street journal. >> replacing george this week is my chief financial officer allen weisselberg. >> reporter: he appeared on trump's reality show "the apprentice" and handles financial matters for years, a relationship trump has tried to down play as trump's legal problems have grown. >> a tiny fraction. he has other things. he has businesses. from what i understand they are looking at

the recording, cohen proposes creating a shell company to do the deal. >> and i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. >> so, what do we have to pay for this one, 150? >> yes. >> reporter: prosecutors now using a federal grand jury to question weisselberg, the president's loyal long-time deputy who knows all there is to know about the trump family business. >> all right, so, let's get to pierre thomas, live again tonight from washington. and pierre, we know that prosecutors are listening carefully to that recorded conversation with the president, in which michael cohen actually mentions that cfo, allen weisselberg, in connection with the hush money payment? >> reporter: that's right, david. that tape is of high interest and they just got access to it this week. weisselberg is a key witness and a gateway to knowing more about the president's finances. trump wrote in one of his books, "allen has been with me for 30 years and he knows how to get things done." david? >> pierre, thank you. >>> our team here has been reporting on the children who were separa

allen weisselberg is the lynchpin of all trump financial matters. not incidentally, mr. weisselberg is also reported to have been personally responsible for preparing donald trump's tax returns. for years. oh. if he has now been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in the southern district of new york, that is potentially a very big deal. we know that the president has been particularly sensitive even particularly emotional around investigators and even the press pushing too hard when it comes to his personal finances and finances around his business. allen weisselberg has been subpoenaed before a federal grand jury in new york. that is the kind of thing that is likely to push the president's buttons. but wait, there's more. breaking news even beyond that tonight from andrew des dario and kevin paulson at "the daily beast." this is an important story. tomorrow there's going to be a little bit of a strange scene at the white house. they are apparently planning tomorrow on bringing in the president himself to make a big show of him personally chairing a national security coun

don junior, eric and allen weisselberg.hat's how entrenched allen weisselberg is with the trump organization. it is very significant prosecutors have requested an interview, information from him. that reporting according to "the wall street journal." >> thank you for your reporting. with me now our chief legal analyst and a former federal prosecutor jeffrey toobin. gentlemen, thank you for being here. let's begin, jeffrey, with what options allen weisselberg has now. >> unless he can take the fifth, i mean he basically has to talk. he's not a lawyer, so there's no attorney-client privilege issue, a cfo client privilege. if he's called to testify he has to talk. the way prosecutors usually work or try to work is to have the actual financial records to confront a witness with. it's always better to show a witness documents so that they can't say i don't remember, i don't know the detail. it's often a complex matter to interview someone like a cfo who deals with a lot of numbers because you need to numbers first. but prosecuto

so allen weisselberg has authority to manage donald trump's personal money.rks with the kids and he also worked with a foundation, which was recently charged by the new york attorney general's office. his name came up with that in terms of questions over whether weisselberg helped disburse payments that were really campaign related for the foundation. and he's denied that. so he's essentially involved in everything. and so that's what makes him such a pivotal figure. >> he was referenced this that tape we just listened to, michael cohen, invoking his name. when you look at the trump confidantes or advisers, how does he fit in? the president memobly in that interview with maggi haberman, about what the red line might be, crossing it to go into the family's finances. this is a guy, dare i say, probably more intimately than michael cohen, could know what those finances look like. and i think as you have reported, he did president trump's tax returns for many years. >> absolutely. i mean, what i suspect is that -- i mean, he's clearly very loyal. he's someone tha

president, are you worried about allen weisselberg?do you have any response to michael cohen, mr. president? allan wieisselberg's subpoena? will you respond to allen weisselberg's subpoena? >> no answers there. none this morning, no answer yesterday either when cnn's katelyn collins asked the question at a white house event. actually, there was an answer. katelyn who was serving as a pool reporter, meaning working for all the networks has been barred from a following event. we'll have more on that. you asked the white house today, and what happened? >> reporter: we've gotten nothing but silence on this all day today, anderson, and also all week. this is a white house that has only had three white house press briefings in one month and president trump on the lawn refusing to answer questions from reporters about this and a number of other topics that have come up about this issue. the reason we continue to ask the white house about this is because hope hicks, the president's spokesperson during the campaign denied any knowledge of this

if there were checks cut, it went through allen weisselberg. testifies, what does that tell? >> if the southern district is only looking at the payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdoogle, yes, he is important. he is the conduit through which payments are made. if f this is broader, than his role welcomes even that issue more important. starting with fred trump way wac when and continuing on. we don't know what the southern district is looking at it yet. we talked earlier about why hasn't cohen been before the southern district, nanny this case, the documents they seized from his property and his computers went through a master process where she determined what they could look at. now they're just really getting access to that information. they may not be ready to talk to cohen because they have not yet digesting all of the stuff they have. so what is important for them to learn is what is it that the scope includes, and if it is broad, than weisselberg will be a witness in this investigation. >> i'm not sure it matters in terms of legal jeop

michael cohen, "the wall street journal" reporting the finance chief of the trump organization allen weisselberg has been called to testify in front of the federal grand jury. he is a witness in the probe of possible bank fraud or campaign finance violations by cohen. weisselberg's name came up in the recording of trump and cohen that cohen's lawyer gave cnn this week. the two men talked during the campaign about possibly buying the rights to the former playmates story claiming she had an affair with mr. trump. >> i need to open a company for the transfer of that information regarding our friend david. i will do that right away. >> give it to me. >> i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for the financing. >> neither weisselberg, the federal prosecutor, nor the trump organization responded to the request for comment. >>> president trump set to meet with the national security counsel on the issue of election security. it may include the update on the russian interference methods. it may try to effect

allen. our next guest goes into deeper detail. weisselbergas worked for the trump family since the 1907s and knows more about the trump organization's history and finances. he joined the company after graduating from college and worked for the president's father, fred, as an accountant. he has since become the trump organization's chief financial officer and one of the president's closest business confidants. tim o'brien is the executive editor of bluoomberg blue. you have written about him extensively. what can you tell us about him? >> well, he goes back, he is a legacy trump organization employee, and there aren't many of those, katy, and he sort of had control of one of two important silos inside the trump organization. this is a very small boutique business. it's not a big fortune 500 company. it was really built around a branding and marketing trump himself, and all of the cash in cash out, writing checks, deciding about the financial deals, that came through allen weisselberg. and he did it for a very long time. and we now know, i thin

this is a man by the name of allen weisselberg. weisselberg is considered to be the gatekeeper to trump's personal finances. he is being asked now to testify in the michael cohen case. the criminal investigation. now cohen, the president's former personal attorney, just released one of the secretly released conversations with the president to cnn where we hear him mention by name allen weisselberg about the payment when they're having that conversation about the former playboy model. here is a clip. listen for his name. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david so that -- i'm going to do that right away. >> i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. yes. all the stuff. because you never know where that company -- where he's going to be. >> if he gets hit by a truck. >> correct. i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. >> spoke to allen about it. with me now cnn legal analyst, a former federal prosecutor is with us for the eastern and s

no one is closer to donald than allen weisselberg. he's more on top of things than anybody in the entire organization because he's a decent guy who does the right thing. and i found him to be so in the 20 years that i was there. and it would surprise me that he was involved in covering up for money laundering. >> what do you think his relationship is with michael cohen at this point? do you think he has a positive relationship with cohen, or that they are now in some kind of dispute or at odds? >> they're in a negative position, and so is the government, hostile to cohen. the government doesn't like the release of these tapes so early in an investigation. this is lanny davis's actions. a prosecutor likes to keep all the tapes. >> sure. >> quietly. in addition -- >> do you think, jay, let me ask you this, do you think, jay -- >> wait, it alerts trump to the danger of -- because things might be taped and a prosecutor often uses taped conversations. now trump is on notice of tapes. >> one more question in, and then i'm going to go to ano

i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set up the thing with funding. do you buy that weisselberg didn't know what the retainer was being paid for? >> of course, i don't buy it. i take everything i hear from trump world as a lie. what we have seen from this president and people working for him is that they lie and they lie and they lie. that is the one revealing fact from this tape. you can argue and debate whether you heard that he was going to pay cash or not. what you can't argue is the fact that the man lied to the american public and had the people working for him lie to the american people. i think this is a nightmare scenario for donald trump. he has got two guys who are deeply ingrained in his organization who handled not only personal issues but also financial issues and business issues. you have his money man and his fixer, his personal fixer who are now under legal scrutiny. michael cohen under much more than legal scrutiny. you have seen the guy go from michael cohen used to be the guy who would take a bullet for donald trump. today he is th

>> you told us allen weisselberg was donald trump's father's accountant, knows where all the money is in the trump organization. michael cohen saying i've spoken to allen about setting this up and the financing, that is where the money comes from. >> so someone needs to talk to allen about what allen knows and when he knew it and what the money was being used for. i highly doubt that anyone in the trump organization really wanted to create a record of this payment. anytime it has come up from rudy that he's said donald trump wanted to write a check so this could be recorded but they're using an llc to mask the whole thing and false identities so no one can see who the parties are involved. i have a hard time believing they wanted to create a record of this. second, i don't know how much in all of this a campaign finance violation really has to worry donald trump. a campaign finance violation is not going to bring down his presidency. but an investigation that goes into the core of his financial dealings and looks at possible financial quid pro quos with people in his company that did

we learned federal prosecutors e seeking to interview allen weisselberg, mr. trump's chief e financial ofand someone who knows as much as anyone about how the trump organization and mr. trump personallyas done business and with whom. but there were two other stories that got the most attention this week and they bothnvolve the president's now former long-time attorney, friend and fi michael cohen. not only did cohen release a tape o money payments to a playboy model, hepa appears to be pd to tell the special counsel that mr. trump knew about the infamous trump tower msiting with rs in advance. if michael cohen tells that version of events and if he could provit, could turn changer, even game for members of mr. trump's own party. >> is michael cohen lying? >> for more than a year, president trump and his surrogates have denied that he knew of the june 2016 meeting with kremlin-connect agentst trump tower that included his son, his son-in-law, and his thenma campaign chair who is now behind bars. >> no, i didn't know anything about the meeting. >> do you tell yo

why is allen weisselberg so critical here?mind viewers that that audio tape that came out, that conversation between michael cohen and donald trump speaking about that hush money payment perhaps to karen mcdougal, that former playboy model, mentioned allen, allen weisselberg in that tape. >> before we get to the tape, allen weisselberg has been a long-time confidant and employee at the trump information. he's the cfo of the trump organization and he's been described as being one of the closest people to the -- not only is he in the

cohen proposes a shell company. >> i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing>> reporter: prosecutors using a federal grand jury to question weisselberg. he knows all there is to know about the trump family business. the tape is of high interest and they just got access to it this week. weisselberg is a key witness in knowing more about trump's finances. trump wrote in one of his books, allen has been with me 30 years and knows how to get things done. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> a group of investors is calling on mark zuckerberg to step down as chairman of facebook. >> they say it weakens the oversight. facebook has rejected similar requests in the past including one last year. >>> house lawmakers have gone on summer recess without considering articles of impeachment against rod rosenstein. a handful of republicans are accusing him of not complying with requests for documents. house speaker paul ryan says he does not support impeaching rosenstein. the measure is likely to fail in a vote. >>> eric church is pointing a finger over the las vegas conce

>> allen weisselberg is more than just a cfo. he was also been the financial gate keeper for donald trump himself and for his family for a long time. he's been around in the orbit of this man and his businesses for decades. i think one question he's surfaced in a number of issues that have come up in the -- he was involved in foundation and he's been linked to payments related to the two women who alleged sexual encounters to donald trump. this is a reminder that beyond -- behind this volley of back and forth between the trump camp and the cohen camp that's going on right now, there are two investigations going on right now. the fact that mr. weisselberg was asked to testify before a grand jury, we don't know what he was asked but the fact this man who has access to the intermost sanctum has been asked to testify cigny cig signifies something. >> cohen investigation is being handled by feds. signifies something. >> cohen investigation is being handled by feds. signifies something. they are separate and apart from the mueller inve

i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. >> okay. joining me now, "new york times" op-ed columnist and msnbc political contributor bret stephens and ron insana. ron, weisselberg is thought to be the most important person in the trump organization whose last name isn't trump. >> right. >> he has been with the trump family forever. donald trump's father and donald trump. the idea is whether payments were made by check or cash or contracts were drawn up or companies were formed, it couldn't happen without weisselberg. now, a lot of people are interested in donald trump's tax returns, but that -- we don't know whether that's within the purview of the mueller investigation to get to, maybe it is. but now they have got a real reason to talk to this guy because michael cohen named him on a tape. >> listen, as any chief financial officer knows where every dollar and penny happens to be within an organization. so if there were anything untoward that took place in the trump organization, he would have to know about it. the cfo is the only perso

. >>> replacing george this week is my chief financial officer allen weisselberg. ink george is tough, wait until you see allen. >> that was donald trump hosting the second season of "the apprentice" in 2004. the chief financial officer allen weisselberg, the washington street journal has report reported. let's get to our white house's chief and susan page, so you have been tracking all this. tell us who is allen weisselberg and tell us how he matters. >> he's the bookkeeper and he worked for donald trump's father and now for donald trump. he knows all the financial history of the company and of the president's. he's important because he can help prosecutor in new york to potentially figure out whether there were reimbursements made and he can help build al n narrative of the final picture of the trump's organization. >> susan package, this is getti really close. getting into his finances, that's what he told michael schmidt of what he's concerned about. >> weisselberg knows a lot more. and also this is an investigation by the southern district of new york. it is no

now, the second name is allen weisselberg. he is the cfo of the trump organization. why does his name matter? well, cohen said it. and in the context it implied that trump's company could have been involved in cohen's hush money efforts. we don't know for sure. but it seems like he was talking to him about it. the legalities. it would be all about money movements on one level. and we know of no transaction that ever actually happened. they're talking about doing it, but we don't believe it was done. the company was set up. and then it was closed down and another one was set up. and that second one was done for stormy daniels. that was a different corporation. but it was set up with the same kind of dynamic, which is why we care about this dynamic because it sheds light on what could be a pattern. now there's something that's not getting a lot of notice. if this were just about mcdougal, why did cohen say "all the stuff from a.m.i." listen to this. >> what are we going to pay? >> funding -- yes. and it's all the stuff -- >> i was thinking about that. >> all the stuff.

that's where allen weisselberg's name comes into public view. we learn that federal prosecutors want to talk to him. >> one of your sources says he knows the most about president trump's business outside of his children. hired by the president's father a long time ago. >> possibly more than the children. the way the trump organization works, based on my reporting on it, is everyone kind of goes off on the business side and does their own deals, goes out and fine finds licensing opportunities. there are few people that know what everyone is doing. there's a handful. trump, when he was there. allen weisselberg and maybe one other executive. when trump left to go into -- to go to d.c. he entrusted the business to his sons. >> thank you for the reporting. >>> straight ahead, polling su s suggest democrats have a solid chance of flipping the house in november. what's their message? we are talking to a lawmaker who is running for a leadership position in the party. what message does she think the democrats need to send next? ♪ oh, look... another anti

i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding -- yes. and it's all the stuff, all the stuff. you never know where that company, where he's going to be. >> if he gets hit by a truck. >> correct. i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. >> all right. let's chat about this. gloria borger is with me, national political reporter m.j. lee, and legal analyst, a former federal prosecutor. so, m.j., straight to you on your reporting. tell me more about weisselberg and why he's a key piece. >> remember that weisselberg has been with the trump organization and working for donald trump for many, many years. so a part of it is sort of the length of time that he has worked for donald trump is so long. and in his position at the trump organization he knew anything and everything. this is what a former trump organization employee told me. this former trump organization employee says allen knows where all of the financial bodies are buried. allen knows every deal, every dealership, every sale, anything and everything that's been done. anything you c

according to the "wall street journal," the chief officer allen weisselberg has been subpoenaed. e quote, ultimate nightmare scenario for this president because he, quote, knows where all the financial bodies are buried. allen knows every deal, every dealership, every sale, anything and everything that has been done. he knows every membership, anything you can think of. david kay johnston is back with us. a pulitzer prize winning journalist. he has been reporting on trump's finances for almost three decades. so david, welcome back. you of all people know how much this man knows. how rattled donald trump must be right now. >> donald is undoubtedly extraordinarily rattled. allen weisselberg may invoke his right to the fifth amendment. it's a right we all have and we shouldn't draw any conclusions but prosecutors can grant him immunity in an effort to force him to testify will he will know sources of money which is critical to the russia matters. he will know who trump is fully indebted to. because the financial disclosure forms for the president are not very good. as mr. trump himse

and that's why allen weisselberg is so important. i'm not saying that this necessarily means the end of donald trump, but what it means is this is more than simply now an issue of one particular russian hacker. and on top of this remember one other thing, george. the trial of paul manafort, trump's former campaign manager, starts this week and goodness knows what comes out of that. >> it will be interesting. that case certainly focused on bank and tax crimes. financial fraud. but you know, not connected to the trump camp, mr. trump directly, but the question is how will that impact paul manafort with the bigger investigation playing out? scott lucas, thank you so much for your time today. we'll stay in touch with you. >> thank you. >>> in a few hours the trump administration is facing another reunification deadline order by a judge. we're talking about what's going on at the border. this time the administration has to provide a list to the american civil liberties union detailing the migrant children it has reunited with their meanti

i'm eamon javers in washington dow jones has reported a new subpoena has gone out, allen weisselbergeen subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in a probe of michael cohen, the president's former lawyer and it's not known whether he already appeared before the grand jury or what questions the prosecutors from the new york southern district have for him and they're saying that the date of that subpoena could not be determined weisselberg is an absolutely key figure in the trump organization as the chief financial officer he is viewed as one of the top people inside the trump organization who was not a trump himself. he was mentioned in that michael cohen tape of the president of the united states that was released earlier this week on cnn and other news outlets cohen refers to allen weisselberg about using financing involved in financing payments for secrecy running up to the elections >> eamon thanks so much. out of our bure yo in washington, d.bureau in washington, d.c. >>> back to "the blitz," honeywell. you talked about it, 8% or so this week. >> i did i bought it this w

we'll see what allen weisselberg testifies to before the grand jury. he is so close to trump.comes out of his casino empire. been his accountant many years, worked for his father. he knows where all the bodies are buried. he's even along with trump's sons, a trustee of the business while trump is president. so talking about what he knows, and he will be compelled to do so before the grand jury, to a certain extent. this could get an awful lot messier for the trump family. >> thank you both. guarantee i'll speak with you both again. thanks. thanks, guys. >>> rules for beating president trump up. why trump opponents should stop obsessing over that trump tower meeting. ahead on "a.m. joy" why claire mccaskill is a top target for russian hackers. because they've chosen the industry leader. subaru outback holds its value better than any other vehicle in its class, according to alg. better than rav4. better than grand cherokee. better than edge. make every adventure a happy one with subaru outback. get 0% apr financing on the 2018 subaru outback. i'm ray and i quit smoking with chan

i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with -- >> so what are we goingo do? >> with funding -- yes. >> president trump blasted cohen in a tweet this morning asking, quote, what kind of a lawyer would tape a client? so sad. some might ask why would somebody hire a lawyer like this? that's another question. joined now by mimi rocah, a former u.s. assistant attorney in the southern district of new york. mimi, i think that a lot of focus has been on what's on the tape when the more important aspect in all of this may be the fact that michael cohen chose to publicly disclose the tape. why is it more important in your mind and in frankly the minds of most legal analysts that just the action of cohen doing this is so meaningful, forget what the substance of the tape is? >> well, chuck, i think it signals in a sharp way what he's been signaling for the past couple of weeks, which is his break in loyalty from trump. as you said at the beginning, everyone knows that he famously or infamously said he would take a bullet for donald trump. and it is that loyalty that

. >> i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding -- >> [ inaudible. >> yes. and it's all the stuff -- all the stuff. you never know where that company -- >> gets hit by a truck. >> i'm all over that. >> let's go to our white house correspondent kaitlan collins. the president fired off an angry response on twitter directed at michael cohen. what did the president say in this tweet? >> well, wolf, the president isn't pleased. he went off on twitter not complaining about the content of what's included in the audio recording of his converation with michael cohen, but the fact that michael cohen recorded the conversation at all. the president said what kind of lawyer would tape a client? so sad. is this a first? he said he's never heard of it before. why was the tape so abruptly terminated while i was presumably saying positive things? and the president says i hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped. can this be so? too bad. the president doesn't elaborate on what those positive things he would have said while discussing a payment m

"the wall street journal" is reporting that the trump organization cfo, allen weisselberg, somebody we introduced you to yesterday, known as the president's long-time financial gate keeper, is being called to testify before a grand jury in a criminal case involving the president's personal attorney or former personal attorney, who, by the way, has publicly fumed -- turned against the president, and that's not all. 50 new subpoenas have just been requested by prosecutors in the case against the president's former campaign chief, paul manafort, whose trial, by the way, begins in just a few days. and all of these are developments that happened in just the last few hours. folks, amid this accelerating frenzy of legal activity embroiling this president and his allies, we're also seeing a phenomenon of what you might call creeping authoritarianism from this president and his allies. and this creeping authoritarianism seems like it might be part of an attempt to regain, disrupt or overtake the narrative of legal woes that i just mentioned. >>> the white house retaliated against a reporter yes

allen weisselberg. he's been called to testify before a grand jury for the michael cohen investigation. why does this matter? a trump biographer said weisselberg has worked for the trump family since the '70s. he could potentially provide more damaging information to prosecutors than cohen could about the president's dealmaking. check out this stint in front of a camera in 2004 on the "aprend"apre "apprenti "apprentice." guest mentor. his name popped up more on the recording between him and president trump. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david. i'll do it right away. i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. >> there he is. barbara is still back with us. msnbc contributor and former u.s. attorney. anita and betsy here, as well. the significance of weisselberg being subpoenaed. according to the "wall street journal," somebody who is a financial gatekeeper. >> yeah. i think this is really interesting. not on

allen weisselberg has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in new york. that is the kind of thing likely to push the president's but the onlies. but oh, wait, there's more. brews beyond that from the daily beast. this is an important story. tomorrow there will be a little bit of a strange scene at the white house. they are apparently planning tomorrow on bringing in the president himself to make big a show of him personally chairing a national security council meeting about election security. a meeting about keeping the mid-term elections safe from any external meddling. that is rich given that it is unanimous everywhere else outside the kremlin that russia interfered in and cast doubt on our last election. but they'll trot out the president about keeping our next election safe, to run it himself. so that should be fascinating. mid-term elections only about 100 days away. democrats have been really stamping their beat the the security of. election. they've been scamping their feet with increasing fervor and even desperation over the past few days and week

but we have not talked about the allen weisselberg appearance before the grand jury that is pend, ands is related to the cohen case in the southern district of new york, and that is a huge deal. >> because he knows everything? >> everything. he is synonymous with trump's money. so if you are looking at trying to unravel things that could be problematic for donald trump over decades, this is not just over the last year. >> he was working for donald trump's father? >> he worked for donald trump's father. he was involved in the trump foundation. he is involved in the trump organization. he is involved in trump's personal trust, the money that was moved over after he became president. and he reviewed the campaign's books at various points. he literally knows everything. i feel like that was the -- that is getting overshadowed about this talk about what cohen may or may not say. and in reality, the allen weisselberg call to a grand jury is an enormous deal. >> maggie haberman, carl bernstein, jeff toobin, thanks. >>> ahead, american politics and policy, lieutenant colonel ralph peters will

that's allen weisselberg who's been working for the trump organization since the 1970s. he goes back to trump's father, fred trump. to the extent he comes under scrutiny by prosecutors, if you think michael cohen knows secrets about donald trump, this guy knows where all the bodies are buried so it's a very dangerous situation. >> he helped bury them. joyce, what do you make of the idea that we have no ability with the sort of current makeup of congress to have any sort of norms around illegal conduct or potentially illegal conduct? and i say that because if they aren't bothered by the actions of russia, and to be fair they're giving secretary of state pompeo some tough questioning today, but this is 18 months in the making. what can -- and i know the prosecutors don't need any green light from congress, but are they at all weakened by the ongoing war between the fbi and the justice department? >> it's an interesting situation because ultimately doj's policy is that a sitting president can't be indicted. so let's say that emily's backstory turns into an unfolding conspir

. >> i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding -- >> so what do you we get to pay -- >> yes. >> president trump's twitter feed is no stranger to controversy. he used it to hit back at michael cohen and now "the new york times" that robert mueller's scrutinizing his tweets about james comey and attorney general jeff sessions. to see whether they add up to attempts to obstruct justice. diane and kendis. >> janai, thank you. >>> there's a new claim this morning from stormy daniels' attorney, michael avenatti said he's now representing three other women who claim they were paid to keep quiet before the election. he's not saying why they were allegedly paid to keep quiet. overnight, he tweeted, the three additional women "all paid hush money through various means. time for cohen and donald trump to come 100% clean with the american people." avenatti didn't offer any evidence to support those claims. >>> facebook ceo mark zuckerberg is under pressure this morning facing new calls to step down after his company suffered the biggest one-day loss in val

. >> i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. >> so, what do we have to pay, 150? >> yes. >> reporter: the next portion of the tape is in dispute, as the men discuss how to pay. president trump's current attorney rudy giuliani says the president wants to pay by check, so there's a record. >> we listened to it numerous, numerous times, and the transcript makes it quite clear at the end that president trump says, quote, don't pay with cash. >> reporter: but cohen's own attorney says the recording shows the president actually wants to pay with cash. >> we know that trump used the word cash and people who use cash, rudy giuliani knows when he's u.s. attorney, are either drug dealers or mobsters. >> reporter: listen carefully and judge for yourself. >> when it comes time for the financing, which will be -- >> what financing? >> we'll have to pay. >> reporter: at that point, the tape cuts out. but tonight, one thing is indisputable -- the president is furious his former fixer secretly recorded their conversation. "what kind of lawyer would tape a cli

i will do that right away. >> give it to me. >> i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for the financing. >> neither weisselberg, the federal prosecutor, nor the trump organization responded to the request for comment. >>> also breaking overnight. north korea handing over the first set of patchy fossible re killed in the korean war. u.s. air force plane with 55 cases of remains arrived at the osan air base in south korea. alexandra field joins us live from outside the air base. alex, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dave. the commitment has never waivered to bring home the remains of every soldier killed in the conflict. it has been 65 years. more than 5,000 sets of remains believed to belong to u.s. service members in north korea. now a step forward. north korean officials handing over 55 boxes of remains. they were picked up by cargo plane and brought to osan air base. the boxes received by an honor guard here and taken to a hangar where there will be preliminary investigation. in