killing a story ain't cheap. >> and it seemed that david pecker's interest waned. enquirer, dillan howard punted that to michael cohen. that's why he had to set up the infrastructure in the shell companies on the fly to do it himself. >> we got the tape where the president said i don't know anything about this. is that something worth mining for you that this is expensive, he may have liked him but he didn't like him this much. was there some type of financial arrangement as well? and if so, would that matter? >> there was an arrangement where there was an expectation there would be some kind of a quid pro quo. at the very least the sources i have around the "national enquirer" that david pecker expected to get that invitation to the white house and introductions to potential sources of funds at a time when the "national enquirer" was flatlining. this was not something he got nothing out of. >> so this book helped to start change culture. i know we never want to get too far because if people read this book, they'll see the impediments on you personally and professi

killing a story ain't cheap. >> and it seemed that david pecker's interest waned.tional enquirer, dillan howard punted that to michael cohen. that's why he had to set up the infrastructure in the shell companies on the fly to do it himself. >> we got the tape where the president said i don't know anything about this. is that something worth mining for you that this is expensive, he may have liked him but he didn't like him this much. was there some type of financial rarngment as well? and if so, would that matter? >> there was an arrangement where there was an expectation there would be some kind of a quid pro quo. at the very least the sources i have around the "national enquir enquirer" that david pecker expected to get that invitation to the white house and introductions to potential sources of funds at a time when the "national enquirer" was flatlining. this was not something he got nothing out of. >> so this book helped to start change culture. i know we never want to get too far because if people read this book, they'll see the impediments on you personally a

david pecker, a name we haven't talked about for a minute. but he goes way back with donald trump. of a lot of those catch and kill deals, the fact that he's talking is eye big deal. >> yeah, david pecker, long time friend of donald trump. he met with trump and cohen about these catch and kill deals and was involved in two of these hush. >> man: payments, one made to stormy daniels and one made to karen mcdougal. he met with prosecutors from the new york manhattan district attorney's office who are investigating the hush money payments the trump organization made. they're looking into whether trump or any execs violated state laws. as part of this investigation, they're now talking to people, they've talked to david pecker, sources tell myself -- they met with cohen three times at the federal prison where he's serving a three-year prison sentence for these hush money payments as he bleed guilty to a year and a half or so ago about the federal campaign violations. this shows the investigation is still ongoing, even as their fight to obtain donald trump's tax returns is now heading t

so they interviewed david pecker last month. david pecker is a longtime friend of the president's.e's done these catch and kill deals. he was involved in the payments to these two women either directly or indirectly. he has a lot of knowledge about what the strategy was. so prosecutors have met with him at the end of october. they are expected to meet with him again. he did have a cooperation agreement with the federal prosecutor. so this is a relationship where we do see, you know, the tables have turned. a longtime friend and protector of the president. now he's cooperating with this investigation. >> that should be a worry to the president. >> kara, thanks. we have shan wu back to help put this into context. as a lawyer, if you have a subpoena that asks about communications with giuliani, does that indicate as a prosecutor that you suspect giuliani committed crimes here? >> well, if i was the prosecutor making a statement, i wouldn't use the word i suspect him quote/unquote but he is certainly what they call a subject of the investigation. that's kind of one category down from b

any immunity deal like that for david pecker and his company would not apply to state prosecutors looking at this as a matter of state law. incidentally, neither would the president have any ability to pardon anyone associated with this as a way of getting them off the hook. in addition to interviewing michael cohen in prison multiple times about this case, and now apparently interviewing david pecker, the guy from ami as well, these prosecutors have also subpoenaed documents related to this crime including financial records they have subpoenaed from the president's accounting firm, mazars. tonight, the supreme court, yes, that supreme court, the supreme court of the united states, tonight issued a stay on a lower court ruling that had upheld the validity of a subpoena to mazars for those trump financial records. so that decision by the supreme court to put on a lower court ruling, to issue a stay to that lower court ruling suggests to some legal observers that the supreme court of the united states is going to take that case, that they are going to take up this issue and decide whether o

that's what's different here. >> david pecker brought a silent editor with him to "the enquirer," ands on his enemies. >> abc news reached out to david pecker, the former publisher. he did not return our call seeking comment. you learned so much from this including that the one-time publisher pope got some of his stories from his barber in theaters now. >> fascinating. tom llamas, thanks so much, and we will be right back. [ applause ] fascinating. tom llamas, thksmu, and we will be right back. [ applause ] >>> good morning. p grks ag&e is warning about the of another public safety power shut off this week because of potential dry and windy weather. the utility says it will start letting customers know today their power will be turned off. we'll have more on weather in a a moment, but first, here's traffic. >> thank you. good morning. so the good new ss that the deadly sigalert we've been foe lowing in berkeley has been cleared. this is eastbound 80 just past gilman. we've had some issues about the intersection. it is move ining, just recoveri from all the delays there and it will be

perfect timing because david pecker, the head of the enquirer, ami, he's talking to new york prosecutors farrow's take on it? he's got a brand-new podcast starts tomorrow. what's that about? he'll give us an exclusive taste. great to see you tonight. thank you very much. >> the navy s.e.a.l. at the heart of a big battle between the navy secretary who was fired. he ousted secretary richard spencer is speaking out for the first time in a new television interview. what he said in just a moment. i'm a verizon engineer, and i'm part of the team building the most powerful 5g experience for america. it's 5g ultra wideband-- --for massive capacity-- --and ultra-fast speeds. almost 2 gigs here in minneapolis. that's 25 times faster than today's network in new york city. so people from midtown manhattan-- --to downtown denver-- --can experience what our 5g can deliver. (woman) and if verizon 5g can deliver performance like this in these places... it's pretty crazy. ...just imagine what it can do for you. ♪ must be hot out there, huh? not especially. -[ slurping continues ] -what you drinking? gaso

. >> reporter: its publisher at the time, david pecker, later admitting under oath how he worked with hush money payments with women claiming to have had affairs with trump, allegations the information in order to bury it. that's what's different here. >> david pecker brought a silent editor with him to "the enquirer," and it was donald trump. trump could not only control coverage of his own life, but he could also offer up story ideas on his enemies. >> thanks to our tom llamas for reporting that story. abc news reached out to david pecker, the former publisher of ""the national enquirer"," but he did not return our calls seeking comment. that's going to be so interesting. it's going to be interesting overall dissecting the 2016 election and the impact that they had. >> there's been so much attention on "national enquirer" especially because of what happened during the 2016 election and the hush money payments when it came to alleged affairs with president trump and david pecker's involvement. i think a lot of people are going to be going to the theaters to see that one. >> that's on