we're joined again by jeff toobin, and also anne milgram. even though he was convicted of 8 of the 18 charges is there any way to view this verdict except as a victory for mueller and his team? >> it absolutely is. i mean, this is a tremendous victory for mueller's team. if i could just make one point about sentencing, you know, jessica is exactly right about if you added up all of the counts he was convicted of, it could be 80 years. that's not really the way federal sentencing works. there are guidelines that group criminal behavior together. and my tentative look at the guidelines suggest he's really looking at about ten years rather than 30. ten years to a 70-year-old man, to anybody, is a heck of a lot of time. >> would that be ten years with good behavior down to like -- could it be down to two or three? >> no, no. in federal court, in federal prison, you have to do 85% of your sentence. if you get ten years, you're looking at eight and a half years, which is a long time for anybody. but for a 70-year-old man, it's a very big deal that

cnn legal analyst anne milgram. professor dershowitz, this reporting that mueller's team is willing to reduce the number of questions that ask about potential obstruction, do you this that's going to be enough to get the president to sit down? >> well, it's a very smart move by mueller because it's not about quantity, it's about quality and substance. if they can just get the president to testify about what his motive was in firing comey or about why he spoke to comey about being -- going soft on flynn, those are potential perjury traps. so mueller is very smart to reduce the number if the result is that he can get trump to sit down and talk to him. the lawyers are not happy about this. the lawyers do not want the president to answer any questions because that would subject the president to a possible 1001 prosecution, that is lying to a prosecutor. so -- and remember too, the lawyers are saying to him, look, you don't have to answer questions about your intent. we have a very good privilege argument that will proba

anne milgram as well. thank you. >>> just ahead tonight, more on how the paul manafort trial may factor into all of this. what went on today as the case tonights to speed through court. >>> also, why the government may never end up calling their star witness. >>> also next, the rage at trump rallies and the president's encouraging of it, directed at reporters. keeping them honest, when we return. my mom's pain from moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis was intense. i wondered if she could do the stuff she does for us which is kinda, a lot. and if that pain could mean something worse. joint pain could mean joint damage. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop further damage enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal infections are common. or if you're prone to infections, h

. >> anne milgram, i'll read a couple sentences from this document that the u.s.ney for the southern district of new york released. and let me read it to you. michael cohen, the defendant, caused and made the payments described herein in order to influence the 2016 presidential election. in so doing, he coordinated with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls about the fact, nature and timing of the payments. and in court, he said he did all of this in coordination, and at the direction of a candidate for federal office, designed to influence the election. that candidate for federal office being donald trump. >> yeah, it's extraordinary. i mean, usually the word there would be conspired with. you know, we would have expected if he wasn't the president of the united states to have seen donald trump named as a co conspirator here. there is no question that he is deeply implicated in this, and that essentially he is the mastermind of the coverup and cohen was the one who implemented it and did it. and that's what he acknowledge