what about david pecker and the -- >> well i think there are a number of possibilities for david peckere ones we know of include a meeting that took place in saudi in the month of september last year between mr. grime, the deal broker and muhammed bin salman and at the table was an effort to expand ami to saudi whether through the sports events which includes a mr. olympia body building contest and then in the month of january this year, mr. pecker was exploring the possibility of purchasing the magazine time from mayeredith corporation ande apashly explored the idea of getting funds from a couple of different saudi entities. one would have been a government source and another would have been a saudi arabia corporation. so those are the two examples. and the other thing to point out, at the dinner in july, with the guest list, we were told david pecker was given carte blanche by the president to invite five to ten people, business associates and their spouses. so this is really an unusual example i think of the white house being sort avenue place to treat as a destination for a close fr

and when i interviewed david pecker, who is mr. head of american media, including "national enquirer," he said very explicitly to me, we did this to help donald trump. we paid to silence her because we wanted to help my friend, donald trump. one of the stories that ronan's been doing a lot of reporting on is how extensive that practice was and, you know, how many other women were silenced in this way, the way mcdougal clearly was during the campaign. >> how extensive is it, ronan, based on your reporting? >> you know, one thing i can say for sure is that a wide circle of sources at this company, ami, which publishes "the national enquirer," say that this was a de facto process. that they were aware this was happening and that it was happening specifically to appease donald trump and to service this relationship between david pecker and donald trump. now, that has become much more relevant since the election. this is the sitting president of the united states and a lot of those sources expressed concern about the national security i

even when i met with david pecker and dylon and keith in new york after this was back august.offered me many more opportunities but i haven't seen anything yet. that's not part of contract. my point is they keep dangling the carrot. i'm not playing that game anymore. >> have you spoken to my women with similar stories who have come forward? >> no. i haven't spoken to anyone. i've heard other stories from other people. it's hearsay. it's not like the directed to me. i can't comment on that. >> would you have come forward publicly if stormy daniels hadn't come forward? do you think it made an impact on you? >> i think it made an impact. it takes a bit of fear away. the way i'm treated and the behind the scenes that i wasn't aware about and all the work i'm not getting which i contracted for. if you didn't get what you were told in a contract work wise, wouldn't you say something? of course. >> do you have any regrets about the relationship? >> back then? >> yeah. >> the only regret i have about this relationship that i had with donald was the fact he was married. if he weren't m

even when i met with david pecker and dillen and keith. in new york.gust. they offered me many more opportunities. but i haven't seen anything. that's not part of the contract. my point is they keep dangling the carrot. i'm in the playing that game anymore. >> are you aware or have you spoken to any women with similar stories that have come forward? >> no. i haven't spoken to anyone. i have heard other stories from other people. it's hearsay. it's not like the girl directly to me. no. i can't comment on that. >> would you have come forward publicly if stormy daniels hadn't come forward? did that make an impact on you gl i think it made a little bit of an impact on me. it gives you more it takes the fear away. however, i probably would have just because as im learning about this contract and the people involved and the way i was treated and all the behind the scenes i was unaware of. and all the work i'm not getting. which i contracted for. yeah i probably would have come forward. if you didn't get what you were told in a contract work wise, wouldn't yo

now, ami, though, david pecker is a long-documented friendship that spans back a long, long time, decadehe wasn't going to buy that story. i'm sure there would have been at the time a reporter that met with her and basically told her it's not really a story, you know, don't bother. then obviously when trump was -- became president, suddenly there was a big value for news sites. >> how much money is typically paid to someone for his or her story, the rights agreement? >> it can completely depend on the story, obviously. but it's less than people often think it is. i think mcdougal was paid $150,000 in total which you think would be much greater, but you have to realize that tabloids reporters and editors are actually, we are kind of like trained in how to negotiate people down and how to limit their expectations and to tell them your story is just not worth that much. there's a lot of coercive tactics that are used to basically persuade someone to sign with you for as little money as you can get away with, basically. >> do you think the $150,000 isn't actually a lot? >> i don't think it i

but also, the use of american media and david pecker.in the course of reporting on harvey weinstein. they were willing to dig up dirt. >> what we're learning about the campaign. >>> before donald trump ran for president, steve bannon was working at cambridge analytica to test the potency of appeals to grievance. fire fighting is a very dangerous profession. we have one to two fires a day and when you respond together and you put your lives on the line, you do have to surround yourself with experts. and for us the expert in gas and electric is pg&e. we run about 2,500/2,800 fire calls a year and on almost every one of those calls pg&e is responding to that call as well. and so when we show up to a fire and pg&e shows up with us it makes a tremendous team during a moment of crisis. i rely on them, the firefighters in this department rely on them, and so we have to practice safety everyday. utilizing pg&e's talent and expertise in that area trains our firefighters on the gas or electric aspect of a fire and when we have an emergency situati

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this after learning american media's ceo, david pecker, is a close friend of donald trump's and according to court documents, regularly takes part in so-called catch and kill arrangements, killing the story before it can damage trump publicly. the president denies the affair but mcdougal says she met trump at a party at the playboy mansion. "new yorker" magazine reported the two met later, talked for a couple hours, then got naked and had sex. mcdougal, a former playmate of the year, claims she's been threatened with financial ruin if she doesn't remain quote, loyal. but a spokesperson for american media says they didn't silence her, but instead, bought the rights to her life story. and it doesn't end there. mcdougal alleges in court that her own lawyer was working in cahoots with that same trump lawyer, michael cohen. back in august 2016, soon after she signed the agreement to keep quiet, she claims in court papers that her lawyer told cohen by phone that the deal was done and ms. mcdougal had been silenced. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> michael cohen has a standing invitation to come on

and david pecker, who was the head of ami, which owns "the national enquirer," i did a profile of himorker, and i asked about this whole situation. about the payments to karen mcdougal, and he said very explicitly, i paid that money because i wanted to get donald trump elected president and i paid her and didn't run the story. i did that as a service to my friend donald trump so this was clearly, you know, you can call it conspiracy, not a criminal conspiracy, but an agreement to help donald trump by burying the story. >> it looks likes an in kind contribution, by the way, if you're doing something to help someone get elected, that involves other than $100,000, that sounds like a contribution. >> that money also went to pay for certain articles she would write about fitness and whatnot. but there's no question the primary motivation for getting her that money was to help donald trump win. >> keith davison who was also trying to get this agreement. he was also the attorney for stormy daniels. it's a small world. >> there does seem to be some sort of a system in place, to try to keep th

david pecker's firm. the firm tones "national enquirer." she is saying she wants to get out of that nda. she was paid to tell her story to these companies. they never published anything. does she have any sort of a case? >> it is different than the nondisclosure agreement. you have the old catch and kill. i'm going to buy your story and i want exclusive rights to it. i am not required to ever publish anything but you're required to never tell anybody else about it. it is not a contract between them like stormy daniels. >> the president's fake name and all that. and now he's joined a lawsuit confirming it. you have this issue of stormy daniels. not the same thing here. this is an issue of a contractual obligation that she may have to fill unless the court would find that she was duped. that she entered into it thinking it was for one thing and she was fraudulently persuaded to say we had never had any intention of ever publishing it. you were enticed under false pretenses. the court looks at that and says fraud based contracts we won't accep

"the national inquirer" is owned by david pecker, a long time friend of president trump.by summer zervos can move forward. and new details from stormy daniels and a polygraph exam. her lawyer has confirmed this photo of ms. daniels, stormy daniels. her real name is stephanie clifford. it was taken in 2011 during a lie detector test that nbc has obtained. it found a 99% probability that clifford was telling the truth for two questions about having a sexual affair with trump back in 2006. the white house and president trump's lawyers have denied any claims of trump having affairs with either mcdougal or daniels. msnbc legal analyst katie phang joins me now. stormy daniels, vladimir putin, and ivanka trump are the only three people i never see the president speak out against. it's stunning to me. it seems like there is a lot of trouble brewing for president trump. but in actuality, besides these being damning headlines, how much of a problem is it? >> so from a legal perspective, there's a world of hurt that's about to be unleashed on donald trump. and why? because each and

the company's chief executive, david pecker, is a close rsal pside trump. the tabloid company is known to buy and then bury stories that might damage pecker's allies. karen mcdougal's lawsuit comes after adult film star stephanie clifford, better known as stormy daniels, sued earlier this month to release herself from a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement paid by trump's personal lawyer, michel cohen, only days before the 2016 election. experts say this payment may have violated federal election law. a third woman, "apprentice contestant" is suing for defation aft trump called her a liar when she accused him of sexual assault. cambridge analytica has suspended its ceo alexander nix, amid revelations about how the company harvested the data of 50 million facebook users in order to launch targeted political ads to sway the 2016 election in president trump's favor. the suspenon also cos after annel ws 4 vids reveal executiv from thcoy, includg nix, bsting abt entrapng politians a launchg fake ns campgns in order sway eltions arnd the world. a federal judge has te

said she wants out of a deal she made with american media, a company run by trump's close friend, david peckersaid she took $150,000 from ami which publishes the national enquirer in exchange for the exclusive rights to her story. her lawyer said the deal was not fair. >> as far as why now, it is only recently come out through reporting and other sources that there was wholesale collusion between the company, karen's own lawyer, and michael cohen, donald trump's fixer. >> mcdougal said they didn't know cohen, the long time trump attorney, was secretly involved in her deal. ami and the president have all previously denied the allegations. but none ofg camera to answer questions. a point made dramatically on "360." >> why won't he come? >> believe me. he can't wait to come talk about it. >> can't wait? >> now in that lawsuit, a federal judge has been assigned. but in the mcdougal lawsuit, the "new york times" reported that ami has denied koenl was part of the deal is that cohen doesn't remember e-mails from the company. in a statement tuesday, ami said the contract with miss mcdougal was valid a

. >> out of fairness, we've asked for an on-camera interview from ami's ceo, david pecker.se yet. cnn also obtained a statement from karen mcdougal's former attorney, keith davidson, which said he can't discuss the matter during to attorney-client privilege but he doesn't believe the assertions in the complaint are a fair and accurate description of the situation. you can tune in tomorrow to 360 for my exclusive interview with karen mcdougal. that's tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here. >>> just ahead, a cnn exclusive. mark zuckerberg speaking out in the middle of the storm of questions about the role facebook played in the election and how it deals with users' data and privacy. the ceo tells his side of the story next. om trips you may have overactive bladder, or oab. ohhhh... enough already! we need to see a doctor. ask your doctor about myrbetriq® (mirabegron). it treats oab symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakage. it's the first and only oab treatment in its class. myrbetriq may cause serious allergic reactions. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, thro

$150,000 from american media, the publisher of "the national enquirer," owned by trump's friend, david peckert she was selling the enquirer the exclusive rights to her story in exchange for the money and to be hired as a fitness columnist. but in a new lawsuit, mcdougal's lawyer says the money was really part of a catch and kill deal, designed to bury mcdougal's story, and that it was all secretly done at the behest of trump's attorney, cohen, to keep her from undermining trump's presidential campaign. >> you know, one thing i can say for sure is that a wide circle of sources at this company, ami, which publishes "the national enquirer," say that this was a de facto process. that they were aware that this was happening and that it was happening specifically to appease donald trump. >> reporter: in a statement, american media tells cnn that mcdougal has not been silenced, saying she can respond to media inquiries about her alleged affair. now, the president, through his attorneys, have denied that there were ever affairs with either of these women. wolf? >> all right. sara, thank you. sara sid

owned by david pecker, friend of president trump.daniels is back in the spotlight after her lawyer released an image of her taking a polygraph seven years ago. nbc has a copy of the report which found there was more than 99% probability she told the shoot when she said -- are you going to make they say this, she had unprotected sex with the president in 2006. the white house and president trump's lawyers have denied any claims of trump having affairs with either mcdougal or daniels and we'll add to that. the judge ruled in flavor of former "apprentice" contestant summer zervos allowing her lawsuit to continue. the president called her a liar for accusing him of kissing and groping her. i'm joined by my friend that knows the law -- well jeremy peters is here. no, new york times reporter who i adore. and ari melber the chief legal correspondent and "host of the beat" with ari melber. i turn to you first, at this point, we are now having this -- had unprotected sex with the president. why are we going down this road? it almost makes me

mcdougal made that agreement with the parent company of "national inquirer," run by david pecker, a closeend of president trump's. the practice is called catch and kill, buying a story and then killing it. mcdougal claims she had an affair with donald trump between 2006 and 2007. three months before the election she sold the rights to her story to american media incorporated for $150,000, knowing it would not be published. mcdougal says ami reneged on other parts of their deal. she says they lied and manipulated her. she says her own lawyer at the time colluded with mr. trump's personal attorney michael cohen to buy her silence. "new york times" media columnist jim rutenberg first reported on her lawsuit. >> she feels as if she was walked into an agreement that takes away her rights to tell her story under fraudulent circumstances. >> but in a statement, ami says they followed through on their agreement with her. she say she has been free to talk about her relationship with president trump since 2016. the white house dismissed claims of infidelities. >> he's denied all those allegations.

recently come out through reporting and other sources that there was wholesale collusion between david pecker'slawyer and michael cohen, donald trump's fixer, so this is a very new development. >> i know you allege they were all in cahoots, the collusion as you say, but did she make the money? did she make the $150,000? >> she was -- she received $82,000 of it and the lawyer got the rest. >> and they promised to publish her columns. did they? >> they didn't make good on virtually any of the things they promised. >> how many columns did they publish? >> i don't know the exact number. maybe two dozen instead of well over 100. >> a couple dozen columns and the money, again, how will you answer critics out there who say this simply sounds opportunistic that she's trying to take advantage of the moment? >> i think they're pretty easy questions to answer because this publicity is not good for karen mcdougal. this is not going to make any money for karen mcdougal. tomorrow we would settle this case if american media gave up their rights, we would assign it to a nonprofit. she has no interest in making