you've known david pecker for years. you worked for david pecker for years.his fit in with the man that you knew? >> it certainly does, kate. i mean, it was clear that david pecker was intoxicate katd with admiration for president trump. going back to the late '90s. there was nothing he wouldn't do to please him. >> why do you think that was? >> well, i think that you know, in david pecker, donald trump found a -- an amoral ally who saw the turf the same way as he did. and the results were phenomenal for the president at first. >> yeah. many people, jerry, remember that president trump over the years -- you're talking about the admiration david pecker had for the president, now president, but trump, for years, talked glowingly about "the national enquirer." listen to this. >> "the national enquirer" did a story, they actually have a very good record of being right. i've always said, why didn't "the national enquirer" get the pulitzer prize for edwards and o.j. simpson and all these things. you can't knock the national enqueerer. it's brought many things to li

david pecker and others at the national enquirer who are also cooperating with the investigation madeth keith davidson, a los angeles lawyer who represented karen mcdougal who was paid $150,000 by the national enquirer who was paid for the rights to her story about her affair with donald trump. a story the national enquirer never intended to publish but simply bury for donald trump. in that deal was a provision for karen mcdougal to contribute to articles about fitness in the national enquirer. sources told "the wall street journal" that the additional provisions of the deal were there if they needed to mount a legal defense against a crime of an illegal campaign contribution to the trump campaign. the $150,000 payment to karen mcdougal benefitted the trump campaign by keeping her quiet about an affair with the candidate. donald trump was supposed to reimburse the national enquirer according to everyone involved. but david pecker was ultimately afraid that the reimbursement part of the deal would be even more evidence of a crime. "the wall street journal" reports mr. trump called off

david pecker says, one thing i can do is something they call catch and kill.can figure out who these women are who are going to come forward with stories about you and we can buy them and dispose of them, baicsically. >> that's how politics goes these days. our thanks to rebecca davis and always to mimi rocah, we appreciate it. >>> coming up, claims of election fraud from the white house as midterm ballots are still being counted. steve kornacki, believe it or not, is back at the big board to walk us through the latest developments, having had nourishment, when we come back. (music throughout) (burke) seen it, covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ if you way too often...e moves then you might have a common condition called dry mouth... which can be brought on by many things, like medication and medical conditions. biotène provides immediate, long lasting relief from dry mouth symptoms. it is clinically proven to soothe and moisturize a dry mouth. plus, it freshens breath. biotène.

>> david pecker is the chairman of american media, which is the publisher. >> they own? >> they own the national "enquirer "enquirer." he has been a friend of donald trump's and michael cohen's actually for decades. they had previously done -- a business relationship that goes back. we've written about this before. in august 2015 as we have written about in our story today, michael cohen arranges a meeting in donald trump's office. at this time donald trump has risen to the top of most polls and he meets with pecker in his office and says how can you help me with my campaign, and david pecker has a few tricks of his sleeve and says one thing i can do is catch and kill, we can figure out who these women are that are going to come forward and we can buy them and, you know, dispose of them basically. >> wow. >> so that's how politics works these days. congratulations on being part of this byline story that moved the agenda today. our thanks to rebecca davis and mimi roca. appreciate it. >>> coming up for us, claims of election fraud coming from the white house as midterm ba

>> i would have worried the second david pecker got immunity. i would have known at that point in time that the prosecution had some incentive to say, we're going to inoculate you, essentially, at this point in time. whatever you're going to tell us is of enough interest we're willing to say we're not going to prosecute whatever you say. second point, the president is going to come back and say, hold on. there was maybe a dual purpose. remember back when john edwards ran for president and he had a mistress and there was the issue of the hung jury and they weren't buying the idea of campaign finance violations then because there was an ulterior motive for keeping her silent. here the president has a wife, businesses. he's going to tell you that's the reason he did it and that's not a campaign violation. he asked, what can you do for my campaign. not what can you do to help me, to make melania happy, happy wife, happy life or my business great. the resulting actions he took would make me nervous, and i would have a direct connection to a campaign

chairman, david pecker.al prosecutors had enough evidence to outline trump's role without naming him in an 80-page draft indictment of michael cohen. trump reportedly asked pecker to kill a story involving playboy model karen mcdougal. she claims to have had a long-running affair with trump. >> if he weren't married, i wouldn't have any regrets. he was kind and it was a good relationship while it happened. now, had i known at the time there were supposedly all these other women, no, i wouldn't have been in the relationship. >> reporter: trump was involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the agreements, according to the journal. he directed deals and phone calls and meetings with the self-described fixer, michael cohen, and others. >> i'm obviously very loyal and very dedicated to mr. trump. >> reporter: cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts in august, including two counts of campaign finance violations. cohen told the court that it was at trump's direction that he facilitated the secret payment

had a meeting of the minds about what david pecker and american media would do in service of the trump campaign. >> it's the whole way the entire piece starts, right? >> look, i think there was worry by michael cohen and we have to presume that a lot of this information comes from michael cohen, who has spent i believe more than 30 hours with sdny, et cetera. i think one of the worries on mr. cohen's part and on donald trump's part is what happens if pecker leaves american media. there were thoughts he was going to buy "time" magazine at the time, if you recall. they're thinking, oh my god, he knows all this stuff about us and he has a file this thick and can we buy that, can we own that ourselves so that if he goes, it's our property and we get to protect ourselves. >> all the secrets, all the hush money, all the women, doesn't eventually come out depending who is in charge a.m.i. when mr. cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violation, prosecutors filed a 22-major document asserting mr. cohen coordinated with one or more members of the campaign including through meetings and phon

that agreement actually happened when david pecker went to trump's office. and trump said to him the campaign was two months old, what can you do help my campaign, and pecker said if stories come out about women from the past, allegations of your affairs, i can help kill him by buying their stories. and i'll alert michael cohen, and we'll take care of it. >> and based on all the reporting, that's exactly what the national enquirer did. >> that's right. the following june, karen mcdougal, playmate of the year 1998 was looking to sell her story, and her lawyer contacted howard, and howard called cohen, cohen told trump and trump called pecker and said hey, can you help me out with this. and there were some negotiations. they didn't immediately buy it, but after she started talking with abc news investigative reporters ami went back and paid $130,000 in coordination with michael cohen and donald trump to buy her silence. >> and you also talked about where the money came from to pay stormy daniels. >> that's right. we know the money ultimately came from michael c

he and david pecker have a meeting in trump tower at which donald trump says to his old front, they had for a decade, how can you help my campaign. david pecker said among other things, i can flag for you and help prevent stories about -- if women come forward with stories alleging sexual encounters with you. >> shepard: when these woman came forward, david pecker paid to kill. in other words, gave money for their stories so that nobody else could publish them and didn't publish them themselves. >> that's how it worked with the karen mcdougal case. she was coming forward with a story and an agreement with trump and pecker helped a range -- to sell the story to american media. she appeared on some publications covers and in turn they basically killed the story and it would never go somewhere else. >> shepard: rebecca o'brien one of five that co authored this story. the story is on wsj.com and worth a read. thanks so much. >> shepard: our news reporting continues after this. after a sc you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers

a meeting between trump tower and david pecker. the company that owners national enquirer and others. >> when cohen pleaded guilty in august the prosecutors had mentioned there was an agreement in august 2015. what we report the agreement happened when pecker went to trumps office and trump said to him the campaign was two months old what can you do to help. if stories come out about women from the past, allegations of affairs. i can help you kill them. as i have done for others in the past. by buying their story. i'll alert cohen and take care of it. >> based on all the reporting. that's exactly what the national enquirer did. >> that's right. the following june, karen mcdougal the play mate of the year 1998 was looking to sell her story. and her lawyer contacted dillen howard. of american media and howard called cohen. trump called pecker and said can you help me with this. there were negotiations. they didn't immediately buy it. after she started talking to the news. investigative reporters. ami went back and paid $150,000 in co

it tabs a closer look at the start of the agreement between donald trump and david pecker, the chief executive of a.m.i. to have a.m.i. operate in service of the trump campaign and help suppress negative stories about donald trump during the campa n campaign. that started with this august 25th meeting that the journal talks about. >> there is a huge difference, paul, between something as it reads, you know, mighty shady and actually illegal. >> well, that's very true but i think the reason we're talking about this is this wall street journal case reads like a crime novel. it gives you all of the details, all of the sleazy deals going on. one of the things that jumped out at me was david pecker, talking about or testifying before a grand jury admitting that there was this deal with trump that they would cover up his affairs and make it look like the woman was being paid -- this is mcdougal, for being on the cover of the magazine. really even talking about the fact that we have to be good about how the cover-up works because if it doesn't, american media would be in trouble. so it's a

now you got this from a different angle that the president knew and thanked david pecker from. >> when president trump or when donald trump found out about the mcdougal allegation, he called mr. pecker and says please take care of this. pecker promises to do so. they end up paying her. during the transition at a meeting at trump tower, trump thanked pecker for taking care of it. >> nicole, thanks to you and the team for your reporting. i know when it came out, many did not know how deep it went and turns out it is out right to the man, the president of the united states. >> president trump is rebuffing his calling matthew whitacre to recuse himself. democrats are concerned given whitacre's comment on the mueller's investigation like these. >> the truth is there were no collusion with the russians in the campaign. there was interference by the russians into the election. that's not the collusion of the campaign. that's where the left seems to be combining those two issues. the last thing they want right now is the truth to come out and the fact that there is not a single piece of eviden

. >> reporter: ami has not responded with xhencomments, hor david peckery because he was willing and did give details about the payments they were investigating. sara sidner, cnn, new york. >>> and former first lady michelle obama doesn't pull any punches in her new book. >> her comments about the birther movement have president trump firing back. we'll have more on this brewing battle just ahead here. >>> a former first lady has something to say about the current president and it is hash. michelle obama revealed in her new book that she will never forgive president trump for his role in the birther movement. >> and now the president is firing back. kate bennett mahas the story. >> reporter: in her new book "becoming" out next week, former first lady michelle obama lays bare some of her most personal previously held secrets. >> it is candid, it is honest, it is totally and utterly me. >> reporter: her eight years as first lady, obama seemed unfailingly accessible. from her appearances on talk shows. >> turn up for what. >> reporter: to her use of social me

conspiracy. >> so this is according to the "journal," john barrett, trump met in august 2015 with david pecker ceo of the company that owns the "national enquirer." pecker offered to pay the silence of women who might publicize sexual affairs. the bottom line here this stormy daniels saga isn't going away. some trump supporters turn up their nose and say what are you doing this. but if you look at what happened with the stormy daniels saga, it uncovered michael cohen who is now been prosecuted or indicted i should say by the southern district of new york. it has also made the president a liar. it shows him on air force one denying it, and now it is true. this is not going away. >> no. and it connects obviously not just to cohen, but to pecker, to other employees of the trump organization. then the trump organization is trump tower. that's the site of the russian meeting. and you've got strands that continue to overlap and are thick and important. so yeah. this conspiracy and another conspiracy interlink at some point. they're financial, they're real estate. they're relationships. their busines

and his advisers concerned about potential women coming forward and he reached out to his friend david pecker in august 2015 and the rest is outlined in our story is history. >> what you outline in the story is beginning with the meeting with david pecker saying what can you do for me, he was at the center of the efforts to direct hush money to keep women quiet. >> we say that he was aware of or direct participant in and briefed on all of those -- all these various -- the arrangements as they came together. >> well, let me ask you this. what evidence, according to your reporting, does the southern district of new york which has a case against michael cohen -- he's pleaded guilty, what evidence do they have of this? >> we don't know all the evidence, but its -- our article includes one detail which is even before michael cohen pleaded guilty, they had what was at one point an 80 page draft indictment that included more information about what mr. trump was -- what his role was. we know that going into that guilty plea they had that tape in which michael cohen and donald trump were discussing th

in august. >> you outlined the meeting with david pecker, what can you do for me, he was at the center of the efforts to direct hush money to keep women quiet. >> we say he was aware of and a direct participant in, and briefed on all these various -- the arrangements as they came together. >> well, let me ask you this, what evidence, according to your reporting, does the southern district of new york, which has a case against michael cohen, i mean, he's pleaded guilty, whatn evidence do they have of this?ui >> well, we don't know all the evidence, or, you know, but el it's -- our article includes onr detail, which is even before michael cohen pleaded guilty, they had what was at one point, at least, an 80-page draft indictment that included more information about what mr. trump was -- what his role was. we know that they, going into that guilty plea, they had that tape in which michael cohen and donald trump were discussing the payments, or buying the karen mcdougal story. and since the plea, michael cohen, as we report, has been speaking to them and presumably opening up a little bit

the report says trump in 2015 met with david pecker, the head of ami which owns ""the national enquirer and other publications and asked him, "what can you do to help my campaign?" the women involved include playboy model karen mcdougal and porn star stormy daniels, both of whom say they had affairs with him. trump denies the allegations. the report says the "wall street journal" found that mr. trump was involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the agreements. he directed deals in phone calls and meetings with his self-described fixer, michael cohen, and others. daniels was convinced trump knew about her hush agreement and sued him to get out of the agreement. >> my attorney and i are committed to making sure that everyone finds out the truth. >> reporter: mcdougal told cnn's anderson cooper in an interview she was unsure. >> do you think donald trump would have been aware of this deal? >> one of the big complaints with why i think my contract is illegal is because his attorney was talking to my attorney, so -- >> you're saying donald trump's personal attorney, michael cohen? >> c

but david pecker was also mentioned prominently in that story. he appears that he might have had a an immunity deal as wisenberg from the trump organization clearly got an immunity deal. so i don't know that that case is going to go much further. but it is a certainly evidence of a conspiracy. >> so this is according to the "journal," john barrett, trump met in august 2015 with david pecker ceo of the company that owns the "national enquirer." peck erg offered to pay for the silence of women who might publicize sexual affairs. . the bottom line here this stormy daniels saga isn't going away. some trump supporters turn up their nose and say what are you doing this. the saga uncovered michael cohen who has now been prosecuted or indicted i should say by the southern district of new york. has also made the president a liar it shows him on air force one denying it. and now it is true. this is not going away. >> it connects obviously not to just cohen but to picker to other employees of the trump organization. then the trump organization is trump towe

. >> we have to remind our audience, owned by david pecker who also owns the national enquirer.e friend of trump. trump was a source for his news outlets for years and years. he also has been tied up in all of this. don jr., kushner, all know david pecker very well. >> almost even before he flipped, as if they knew it was going to happen sooner or later. >> he certainly knows a lot of things about donald trump. he knows embarrassing things about donald trump because donald trump has behaved in embarrassing ways his entire public life. there's no chance he's not going to caught trouble with the prosecutor getting him in there. there have been other fire walls too. mannen for t m mannafort. why do these people -- >> if you want to speak to the president, you can't call 1-800-white house. you go on cable news. >> he said manafort, he's a congenital liar. he didn't have that much to do with the campaign. >> let's remind our audience, he was the campaign chairperson. specifically at the republican national convention. when trump secured the nomination. so don't let anyone ever tell y

moving along michael cohen and david pecker also has immunity and lastly, there is gerome. as they all become witnesses i want to break down what each person has to offer. flynn and pop -- a more personal look at the president's dealings. with gerome the focus is presumably on wikileaks. incited 12 russian agents for hillary clinton's presidential campaign. robert mueller could be close to putting the pieces together to answer the questions about russian interference. sum mar reezed this morning in the guardian. are any americans charged in connection with that? what about donald trump junior and how close did this come to the campaign? christina is here. she an author and host of the aftermath. mike pesca hosts the podcast the gist and paul butler is a professor after georgetown yufrt university. jer home corsi, what does this say to you? it is not somebody that was working with donald trump for his campaign but he was certainly was in an orbit close to him. >> he was flown to many people because he is a nut and a liar. she t he is the one that came up with this lie that p

david pecker. all these people were involved. vulnerability for themselves what can they give you on trump to save their own skins. >> michael cohen told me specifically directly that donald trump was directing all of this. also audiotapes that speak to that and david pecker has been cooperating. question, is this the kind of thing that in some way the american public, even if it does come to fruition say, you know, technically yeah, but we need more. okay. great. this is one of those one its worry about, just as somebody who is behind the democrats that they can overplay their hand. in the court of push opinion at the end of the day, okay, paying off a porn star. there's politics as usual. thoughts? >> well, i don't worry too much about that. i don't think we know what the story will play out to be. it's hard for me to see how people will react. it's much bigger than it was in the beginning. what we'll see from the full flower of this investigation is both investigative leads in other parts of trump businesses, but also we might

chairman david pecker to soilance two wel who claimed they had affairs with tr s wits.h to outline his role. trump reportedly asked pecker to kill a story involving a playboy model karen mcdougal. >> if he weren't married, i wouldn't have any regrets because he treated me very kind, he was very respectful. it was a good relationship while it happened. had i known at the time there were supposedly all these other women, no, i wouldn't have been in the relationship. >> reporter: trump was involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the greet according to the journal. he directed meetings with the self-described fixer michael cohen and others. >> reporter: cohen told the court it was at trump's direction he facilitated the secret payments. prosecutors said cohen coordinated with one or more members of the campaign. there's this secret recording or trained by cnn in july. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all that info recording our friend david. i'm going to do that right away. i've spoken to alan weisselberg about how to set the whole thick up with fun

chairman david pecker.ral prosecutors had enough to outline trump's role without naming him in an 80 page draft indictment of michael cohen. trump asked pecker to kill a story involving karen mcdougal. she claims to have had a long running affair with trump. >> if he weren't married, i wouldn't have regrets, he treated me very kind and was respectful, it was a good relationship while it happened. had i known at the time there were supposedly all of these other women, no, i wouldn't have been in a relationship. >> reporter: trump was involved in or briefed on every step of agreements according to the journal. he directed deals and phone calls and meetings with a self described fixer michael cohen and others. >> i am obviously very loyal, very dedicated to mr. trump. >> reporter: cohen pled guilty to 8 criminal counts in august, including two counts of campaign finance violations. cohen told the court it was at trump's direction he facilitated secret payments. prosecutors said cohen coordinated with one or mo

candidate in august of 2015, donald trump huddled with a long time friend and media executive david peckerer office and made a request. according to people familiar with the meeting, he asked what can you do to help my campaign? mr. pecker offered to use his national enquirer tack llo e ery the silence of women. he worried that accepting reb e reimbursement from trump. in a sear >>> yesterday video surfaced of a republican senator from mississippi cheerfully saying that she would attend a public hanging if a supporter invited her. cindy hyde-smith made the comment while praising a supporter in tupelo on november 2nd. >> as you can imagine, the video footage went viral and hyde-smith said, in a comment i referred to accepting an invitation to a speaking engagement. in referencing the one who invited me, i used an exaggerated expression of regard and any attempt to turn this into a negative connotation is ridiculous. mike espy called hyde-smith's comments reprehensible. public hangings were commonly used to terrorize african-americans for a century. in fact, mississippi had 581 documented ly

. >> eric, let me just read you this account from that wall street journal article about david peckereo of american media "the national enquirer." according to that article, less than a year later mr. trump asked mr. pecker to quash the story of a former maybe model who said they had an affair. mr. pecker's company soon paid $150,000 to the model, karen mcdougal, to keep her from speaking to the media. trump later thanked mr. pecker for his assistance. >> it's not entirely clear that what trump has done is illegal without one additional element which was actually mentioned in that wall street journal story. under campaign finance law, for it to be a crime, you have to know what you're doing is illegal. it's quite possible that trump did know that but that's another element that trump did need to show, that he knew what he was doing was not just shady but in violation of campaign finance law. >> it's also quite possible that pecker has been involved in even shadier things with trump. as with harvey weinstein, there have been stories that pecker has made catch-and-kill agreements to kil

during the 2016 campaign, donald trump closely coordinated with american media, inc., chairman, david peckerlence two women who claimed they had affairs with trump. federal prosecutors, according to the "journal" had enough evidence to outline trump's role without naming him in an indictment of michael cohen. trump reportedly asked pecker to kill a story involving "playboy" model karen mcdougal. she claims to have had a long-running affair with trump. >> maybe if he weren't married, i wouldn't have regret because he treated me very viend. he was respectful -- very kind. he was respectful. it was a good relationship. it i known at the time there were supposedly all these other women, no, i wouldn't have been in the relationship. >> reporter: trump was involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the agreements, according to the "journal." he directed deals and phone calls and meetings with his self-described fixer michael cohen and others. >> obviously very loyal and very dedicated to mr. trump. >> reporter: cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts in august, including two counts of ca

among those details are he met with david pecker who runs the publisher of "national enquirer" saying what can you do in 2017. and he allegedly paid off a former "playboy" model and thanked pecer for making that payment and referring to paying off stormy daniels, a former adult film star who the month before the election was threatening to go public with her allegations of an affair with the president. it lays out that the president was very involved in two campaign finance violations that michael cohen has now pleaded guilty to. >> henry, rebecca's initial report on the hush payments says mr. trump was involved in or briefed on nearly every step of the agreement. he directed deals in phone calls or meetings with his self-described fixer. and the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan has gathered evidence of mr. trump's participation in the transactions. what could the u.s. attorney's office do here? >> quite a bit. first of all, this is phenomenal reporting by rebecca and her colleagues. kudos. they interviewed 36 people. they are looking at potentially conspiracy charges involving vio

moving along michael cohen and david pecker also has immunity and lastly, there is

chairman david pecker to silence two women who claimed they had affairs with trump. >> seth: you knows a lot that's hard to believe about the trump era. but, one thing i will never get over is the fact that the president asked a friend to help him cover up an affair with a playboy model, and that friend's last name was literally pecker. [ laughter and applause ] it's like the worst screen play in a freshman creative writing class. [ laughter ] i need a name for the guy who covers up the sex stuff. oh, i know. i'll call him rex penis. [ laughter ] so prosecutors now have evidence that trump personally violated election law during a presidential campaign, which makes it pretty convenient that he just installed an acting attorney general matt whitaker who is very much a trump loyalist, and much like trump, whitaker also has a history with fraud. >> whitaker later joined the advisory board, and was first paid in october 2014 for a company that has since been shut down and slapped with a $26 million fine by federal authorities. world patent marketing billed itself as helping investors secu

with an effort to violate campaign finance law and he knew that the folks at american media, that david peckerate allies were corned about corporate finance issues. if that sort of knowledge existed in the president's mind and prosecutors can prove it, then we look at criminal liability here. this is very significant. >> very significant indeed. joyce vance, frank, gwenda blair, thank you for joining us. >>> breaking news out of california as wildfires are raging out of california in the northern and southern parts of the state. the campfire in northern california is the most destructive in the state's history and has claimed 23 lives. the woolsey fire has claimed two more lives. fire officials fear that high winds will hinder firefighters efforts to contain the blazes. o. every insurance company tells you they can save you money. save up to 10% when you bundle with esurance. including me, esurance spokesperson dennis quaid. he's a pretty good spokesperson. ehhh. so when i say, "drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of $412," you probably won't believe me. hey, actor lad

david trump meeting in trump tower. guess what he did? he said he needed help. not just any help, but help for the campaign. pecker said in response they could use the national enquirer to buy the silence of women that made sayings against trump. they emerge as his guilty lawyer michael cohen arranged those deals is cooperating with bob mueller. you see on the screen the efforts to protect mueller from trump's new pick at the doj. thousands marching in cities all over the country. a big story you may not have heard about. newly empowered democrats promising to hold donald trump accountable. >> he should recuse himself. to be track with you, i'm shocked that he has not already recused himself. he is the absolute wrong person to have in this position. >> this person does not, should not be there because of the statements he's made already. >> if there is any effort to obstruct or subvert justice here, we will find out about it. >> trump today down playing any reports he picked whitaker because of his past criticism of the mueller probe. >> well, matt whitaker, i don't know matt whitaker. he worked for jeff sessions