is that -- is there cooperation only limited to the karen mcdougal case and michael cohen?ot -- when you cooperate with the southern district of new york, they have a blanket rule that you cooperate about everything. you answer any question they have. now they admit to their involvement in the karen mcdougal story, which remember, michael cohen plead guilty to a crime in connection. he said i was helping an unlawful campaign contribution. as a result of that agreement that brian referred to, ami, david pecker, dylan howard would not be prosecuted. but the condition of that agreement is always you don't commit any other crimes or the deal is off. so what they have to be concerned about is the prosecutor saying well, you've now committed blackmail. you've now committed extortion. we're going tear up that agreement and prosecute you the same way we prosecuted michael cohen for an illegal campaign contribution. i don't know if they're going to do that, but it's possible. sorry, gloria. >> let me ask you this, which is if there is a criminal investigation, wouldn't everything ab

this brings us to karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay $125,000 for the life story of karen mcdougal. for whatever the reason may be, he elected not to pay it. david pecker was very angry because there was also other monies that david had expended on his behalf. unfortunately, david never got paid back for that either. >> so david pecker had done this in other cases of other mistresses or women? >> other circumstances, yes. >> okay. >> not all of them had to do with women. >> are you aware of anything that the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him to or may subject him to extortion or blackmail? >> i am not, no. >> okay. are you aware of any videotapes that may be the subject of extortion or blackmail? >> i've heard about these tapes for a long time. i've had many people contact me over the years. i have no reason to believe that that tape exists. >> in december 2015, donald trump was asked about his relationship with felix saider, a convicted felon and real estate developer. he replied, f

which brings us to karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay. he was supposed to pay $125,000 for the life story of karen mcdougal. for whatever the reason may be, he elected not to pay it. david pecker was very angry because there was also other monies that david had expended on his behalf. unfortunately, david never got paid back for that either. >> so david pecker had done this in other cases of other mistresses or women? >> other circumstances, yes. >> okay. >> not all of them had to do with women. >> are you aware of anything that the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him to or may subject him to extortion or blackmail? >> i am not, no. >> okay. are you aware of any videotapes that may be the subject of extortion or blackmail? >> i've heard about these tapes for a long time. i've had many people contact me over the years. i have no reason to believe that that tape exists. >> in december 2015 donald trump was asked about his relationship with felix sader, a convicted felon and real estate developer and he replied,

which brings us to karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay. he was supposed to pay $125,000 for the life story of karen mcdougal. for whatever the reason may be, he elected not to pay it. david was very angry because there were also other monies that david had expended on his behalf. unfortunately, never got paid back for that either. >> so david parker done this with every women? >> mr. cohen: other circumstances, yes but not all of them had to do with women. >> are you aware of anything the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him or may subjection to extortion or blackmail? >> mr. cohen: i am not, no. >> are you aware of any videotapes that may be subject of extortion or blackmail? >> mr. cohen: i've heard about these tapes for a long time. i've had many people contact me over the years. i have no reason to believe that tape exists. >> end of summer 2015, donald trump was asked about hazards dumb i really do but. "i have to think about it, i'm not that with him." why did he endeavor to hide his relationship with feli

a la the karen mcdougal situation with donald trump. let me extort you for money so i don't run nasty things about you. but frankly, is it really extortion? while there's a federal crime, chris, that is defined by basically threatening to suppose somebody in exchange for something of value. you give me money i won't run the story. but there idea that inyou admit there really wasn't a political angle to this whole story, then would you basically be giving something of value and that's left to be seen. >> that agreement is weighing heavily on ami tonight. >> let me go to glenn and the law here. if you blackmail someone. it's like l.a. confidential out of san francisco and l.a. private eyes get hired, take a picture of a guy with his girlfriend, to put it bluntly. this is classic. >> in 10 words or less the law of extortion. chris, $1,000 or i break your thumb. , right? that's it. it's threatening harm to obtain a thing of value. it seems to me what we have here is a threat of harm. harm doesn't have to be physical harm. it can be harm to

he told me and others that the reason he paid karen mcdougal $150,000 was to suppress her story and helphe idea that the "national enquirer" is some journalistic enterprise that is independent of politics is just absurd. you can see why bezos and "the post" being responsible journalists wouldn't possibly agree to lie to protect bezos from this embarrassment. >> is it weird or is it potentially a crime if you believe what bezos is now writing as far as the "national enquirer," american media and david pecker are concerned? >> gosh, you know, that's a law school hypothetical that i'm really not sure i'm prepared to answer at this point. i don't think a journalistic enterprise could be charged with an actual crime for doing this. it's disgraceful journalism. it's appalling behavior on the part of the american media, which is the parent company of the "national enquirer." whether it's an actual crime -- >> he suggests, jeff, extortion and blackmail. those are his comments. >> those are his terms. i would have to think that through more about whether this is an actual crime. what's clear is t

are not aware when mr trump paid, such as karen mcdougall. he was supposed to pay.e there was other monies that david had expended on his behalf. u nfortu nately, had expended on his behalf. unfortunately, david never got paid back for that, either. so, he'd done this in other cases for other mistresses or women? other circumstances, yes. not all of them had to do with women. are you aware of anything the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him or may subject him to extortion and blackmail?” subjected him or may subject him to extortion and blackmail? i am not, no. are you aware of any video tapes that may be the subject of extortion or blackmail? i've heard about these tapes for a long time, had many people contact me over the years, i have no reason to believe that tape exists. in december 2015 donald trump was asked about his relationship with a real estate developer. i'm not that familiar with him, he said. why did trump endeavour to hide his relationship with felix? he had a relationship. felix was a partner in a company that was involv

which brings us to the karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay $125,000 for the life story of karen mcdougal. whatever reason, he elected not to pay it. david pecker was very angry because there was other monies that david had expended on his behalf. unfortunately david never got paid back for that either. >> so david did this in other -- >> other circumstances, yes. not all of them had to do with women. >> are you aware of anything that the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him to or may subject him to extortion or blackmail? >> i am not, no. >> okay. are you aware of any videotapes that may be the subject of extortion or blackmail? >> i've heard about these tapes for a long time. i've had many people contact me over the years. i have no reason to believe that that tape exists. >> in december 2015, donald trump was asked about his relationship with felix saider, a convicted felony and he replied, have to even think about it. i'm not that -- why did he endeavor to hide his relationship. >> he cert

which brings us to the karen mcdougal. he was supposed to pay $125,000 for the life story of karen mcdougal. whatever reason, he elected not to pay it. david pecker was very angry because there was other monies that david had expended on his behalf. unfortunately david never got paid back for that either. >> so david did this in other -- >> other circumstances, yes. not all of them had to do with women. >> are you aware of anything that the president has done at home or abroad that may have subjected him to or may subject him to extortion or blackmail? >> i am not, no. >> okay. are you aware of any videotapes that may be the subject of extortion or blackmail? >> i've heard about these tapes for a long time. i've had many people contact me over the years. i have no reason to believe that that tape exists. >> in december 2015, donald trump was asked about his relationship with felix saider, a convicted felony and he replied, have to even think about it. i'm not that -- why did he endeavor to hide his relationship. >> he cert

he broke the testimony that cohen arranged deals with stormy daniels and karen mcdougal.13 months. when you broke the story, michael cohen said to you, this is now the second time that you're raising outlandish allegations against my client. you have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year, a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since 2011, this is what michael cohen sounded like yesterday. play this. >> is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding donald trump that we haven't yet discussed today? >> yes. again, those are part of the investigation that's currently being looked at by the southern district of new york. >> we're talking about two different men there, michael. what did you make of his testimony yesterday? >> he's reversed himself for some months. it's true, as you said, when we initially were reporting on that, he -- the things you read were referring to whether or not trump had a sexual encounter with stormy daniels. cohen denied that. he actually at the time didn't address the hush m

the tabloid paying a catch and kill fee to karen mcdougal once before the 2016 election, for her storybout her alleged affair with trump which he denies. pecker flipped, cooperating with robert mueller's team in exchange for immunity to detail those payments made by trump's lawyer. calling the amazon ceo jeff bozo on twitter and saying this about his looming divorce from his wife of 25 years. >> i wish him luck. it's going to be a beauty. >> no doubt this is a complex web of allegations and personal history. what bezos is saying here is clear that ami had reasons to protect and protect those saudis, correct? driving home the point that this was politically motivated. >> joining us now. criminal tax turn, what these e-mails show is blackmail and an extortion attempt. does he have a good case? >> anna, good to see you, good afternoon i believe he does, here's why i believe he does have a good case. some in different legal minds can disagree, that's fine. the essence of extortion, is when you're looking and threatening someone. and you're threatening them not only physically, but let's be

we only have heard about the ones associated with the hush payments for stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. i'm confident that they're probably going to be listening to other tapes at some point that will shed more light on how donald trump, the businessman, skirted the law. >> reporter: house oversight chairman elijah cummings said the chairman is clear to talk to cohen about ten different areas relating to trump after working that out with federal investigators in new york. and michael cohen defended his tweet saying it's witness testing, not witness tampering. meanwhile, cohen is still meeting with senators behind closed doors. earlier today multiple sources said he apologized to them for lying in the past. wolf? >> pamela brown on capitol hill. thank you. we're going to get back to this developing story. i want to go to vietnam right now where president trump is gearing up for his second summit with kim jong un, just hours from now. but michael cohen's testimony clearly very much on the president's mind. let's go to chief correspondent jim acosta. cohen's testimony could be a major dis

he said he didn't know about the payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. that was a lie.etapping on trump tower. that was a lie. he said he passed the biggest tax cut in history. that is a lie. he said that obama was close to starting a war with north korea. that is a lie. he said he had nothing to do with russia, but in fact his own lawyer, rudy giuliani, says in talks about this moscow project, that was a lie. he's lied about that. he's lied about so many things. he lied about the former president not being from the -- >> yeah. >> born in the united states. >> yeah. >> lie after lie -- lies upon -- lies, lies, and more lies. >> and that's why it's tough for these republicans tomorrow. they're going to come at cohen, and rightfully so. they have every right to grim grill him. -- >> they have every right to grill him but they don't have every right to defend him. because if you care about one liar, you have to care equally about another liar. so why do michael cohen's lies matter and donald trump's lies don't? >> that's right. because one of them they're afraid of, and on

the president wrote him to reimburse him for hush money to silence porn star stormy daniels and karen mcdougal he will. cohen says that interest check was written while donald trump was president. this puts criminal allegations directly in the oval office. moments ago we saw this handshake with north korean dictator kim jong-un, but we know who that michael cohen son the president's mind. the president tweeted about this this morning. he tweeted about the cohen statement and faced questions about michael cohen, though did he not answer them as he was standing beside kim jong-un. want to bring in abby phillips, name white house correspondent joe lockhart, white house press secretary for clinton, jim sciutto. the national security correspondent who's traveling with the president in hanoi. guys, i want to break this down piece by piece and let's have conversations about we can about the discrete moments we're talking about, the biggest revelation in this which we did not know before is that michael cohen will testify before congress today that he heard a conversation where president trump and rog

payments, if you remember to the two women, who had affairs with president trump, stormy daniels and karen mcdougalnd the moscow deal, which she said he stopped all activity february 1st, 2016. it continued into june 2016, anl as as anyone told cohen to lie. and of course, aaron and eun, his testimony coming before the expected release in coming days of the robert mue salpe counsel report on russia. >> all right. susan mcginnis live for us this morning. thank you. >>> we have an update to aews 4 i team investigation. noww child care center is open for federal workers on capitol hill. you may remember our report last year showed a two-year to t for year wait l children of staffers. at the time, parents told us they had to quit working for se theys, in part, bec couldn't secure spots. renovations inside a hoine office buiare complete. and a larger child care center is open. it's a walk from the capital itself. here's a look at the newsenter here. house administrators tell the i-team it's larger and the wait list is shrinking. >>> today, a prominent pastor will be laid to jorest. e. cherry founded fro

just before the election, karen mcdougal, a former playboy model wanted to go public with , allegationsolong-standing affair witld trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it, known as catch and kill. ami have said they will launch a though investigation into mr. bezos' claims. this magazine is on the defensive it has not been in a way before. it looks lik they picked a fight with the wrong man. jonew sopel bbc washington. ,jane:o, a brief time discussed this case with cara swisher, executive editor of recode. thanks for joining m this is pretty sensational stuff. j bezos said it was a shock to him. how shocked are you? cara: i am surprised he becaso so aggressivuickly. initially he talked about the end of his marriage before the national enquirer could come out. he wasrying to get ahead of this, and in this case he was worried about how he got hacked. when he started investigating he got pushed bk from american media, which owns the national enquirer. he dided to take matters into his own hands and expose w

just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougal, wanted to go public with allegationshe national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they'll launch a thorough investigation into mr bezos' claims. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it's not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the headlines on bbc news: the daily telegraph publishes fresh details of allegations of sexual and racial harassment against the businessman sir philip green. he denies any wrongdoing. theresa may meets her irish counterpart in dublin for brexit discussions over dinner as she tries to win support for changes to the withdrawal agreement. the family of cardiff city footballer emiliano sala say they can now mourn him now, after police confirm it was his body recovered from the english channel. the first lorries carrying us humanitarian aid for venezuela have arrived at the colombian border, but venezuelan

investigators say ami used that practice to bury the story of former playboy model karen mcdougal who says she had a hexual affair with mr. trump, an allegation he's ntly denied. >> they wanted to squash the story. >> you're saying they wantedo protect donald trump? >> i'm assuming so, yeah. >> reporter: former trump lawyer, michael cohen, pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation for arranging that hush money payment. and ami agreed to cooperate with prosecutors rather than face their own charges. but that agreement may now be in jeopardy because it required ami not to commit any additional crimes. and legal experts say the company may have done just that. >> ami's behavior here was , reckless at bed possibly criminal. and they risk having this agreement ripped up. >> reporter: ami insists it acted lawfully. now federal prosecutors must decide whether they agree. peter alexander, nbc news, new york. >>> now to the fireworks on t capitol hillay. the acting attorney general, matthew whitaker, facing a barrage from democrats over his role overseeing robert mueller and what, if anyt

disclosed it was the president that directed you arrange hush money payment to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal to conceal his extramarital affairs, he called you, the president of the united states, a rat. mr. cohen, why do you feel or believe that the president is repeatedly attacking you? you are stating that you feel intimidated asking us to protect you, following your cooperation with law enforcement. >> when you have access to 60-plus million people that follow you on social media and you have the ability within which to spark some action by individuals that follow him, and from his own words that he can walk down 5th avenue, shoot someone and get away with it, it's never comfortable when the president of the united states -- >> what do you think he can do to you? >> a lot. and it's not just him. it's those people that follow him and his rhetoric. >> what is a lot? >> i don't know. i don't walk with my wife. if we go to a restaurant or we go somewhere i don't walk with my children. i make them go before me because i have fear. and it's the same fear that i had before when he initially dec

remember, stormy niels and karen mcdougal. both trump and cohen addressed that issuearlier. >> sir, did you direct mic cel cohen tmit any violations of law? >> no. no. >> he directed me to make t payments. he directed me to become involved in thesett s. >> reporter: so lots of anticipation about testimony today. ecohen's alsoected to apologize to the committee for lying the last time he and phillip, lying, of course, is what is sending cohen to prison in may. >> he is wellre of that. susan, one of the president's allies in the house is now under fire for his comments about ehen. what donow about that? >> reporter: yeah, this is republican congressman matt gaetz of florida. he is now apologizing for a tweet he put up that seemed to threaten cohen with information that he has about him. he says to cohen, do your wife and father-in-law know about your maybe tonight would be a good time for that. i wonder if she'll main faithful when you're in prison. she's about to learn a lot. that's gaetzn twitter saying those things with no ev

questions about in these payments that cohen allegedly made to these two women stormy daniels and karen mcdougal who allegedly had affairs with trump and who were allegedly paid off to keep these affairs under wraps so questions about you know how much did you discuss with trump beforehand how much did you know about what happened between trump and these women did how much did you discuss the payments did he know when you were making the payments and how much for one interesting thing that cohen lays out in his testimony is that. all right my we see now that cohen has taken with dan he's made his oath let's listen in for you know recognize to give oral presentation of your testimony. your my corn. chairman cummings ranking member jordan and members of the committee thank you for inviting me here today. i have is this committee to ensure that my family be protected from presidential throats and that the committee be sensitive to the questions pertaining to ongoing investigations i thank you for your help and for you understand. i am here under oath to correct the record to answer the committee's

just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standingt she had had an affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. theresa may is in ireland to meet prime minister leo varadkar in an effort to resolve the dispute over the irish backstop — which aims to ensure there's no return to a hard border on the island of ireland. the backstop remains the main stumbling block to an agreement. mr varadkar says he will not be negotiating brexit at tonight's dinner saying it'sjust a chance to ‘share persepctives‘. negotiations will ultimately be between the eu and the united kingdom. earlier i spoke to ireland correspondent chr

just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougal, wanted to go public with allegationsrump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they'll launch a thorough investigation into mr bezos‘ claims. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it's not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. three more horses have been confirmed with the equine flu virus, that's led to the cancellation of all race meetings across britain until at least next wednesday. they're from the same yard as three horses already diagnosed. here's our sports editor dan roan. it's a sport at a standstill. this is the scene at yards up and down the country, as racing tries to get a grip of a worsening crisis. stockton hall farm in cheshire. the a0 horses here are being tested for symptoms of the equine flu that has forced this and many other stables into lockdown, and the trainer faces a nervous wait. if they come

just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standingquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the oscar—nominated actor albert finney has died at the age of 82 after a short illness. he began his career at the royal shakespeare company before forging a reputation as one of britain's leading screen actors — in films such as saturday night sunday morning, tom jones, and erin brockovich. will gompertz looks back on his life. albert finney came to fame in the early 60s, one of a new breed of tough looking actors in gritty dramas i'd take a tip from the fishes. never bite unless the bait is good. i won't get married until i'm good and ready. reappeared in reappea red in kitchen—sink reappeared in kitchen—sink dra

talk with a concern about the election in particular the answer is yes then couple that with karen mcdougal which then came out around the same time and then on top of that the stormy daniels matter yeah the and these things happen in the month before the election and also one after the other. the stormy daniels revelation where prosecutors. specials a repository. learned of that. that. matter. and prosecutors stated that the officials at the magazine contacted you about the story and i'm the magazine of course is the national enquirer is is that correct that they did just mean come to you. were you concerned about this new story becoming. public right after the access hollywood study in terms of m. packed on the election i was concerned about it but more importantly mr trump's clattered was i next question what was the president's concern about these matters becoming public in october as we were about to go into an election i don't think anybody would dispute this. belief that after the wild fire that encompassed the billy bush tape that a second follow up to it would have been pleasant an

federal investigators revealing tie company used the catch and kill t to bury the story about karen mcdougaler playboy model who claims had a sexual affair with donald trum which the president has vehemently denied. >> they wanted to squash the story. >> you're saying they wanted to protect donald trump? >> i'm a umingso, yeah. >> reporter: the tabloid facin an opponent with the will, the wealth and the power to fight bake. bezos posting in an online blog, if in my position can't stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can? >> we reached out to ami and amazon. amazon declined to comment and h a. not gotten back to us. >> you mentioned catch and kill. beyond that obviously the "national enquirer" head lines in its history going after the president's pitical enemies. >> not to suggest there's any stories ion on these between president and the enquirer. you might remember during the campaign, made a connection between ted cruz's father and the jfk assassination. that made aot of headlines. candidate trump at the time talked about that on fox with george stephanopoulos. another headl

he paid off karen mcdougal for silence. >> reporter: they agreed to provide information on hush money deal. cnn learned that deal could be in jeopardy if they found pecker of ami broke the law, they could lose their immunity in hush money cases. ami says it believes it acting lawfully in reporting the bezos money but the board is going to investigate bezos' claims. they reject insertion they were influenced by any outside forces, political or otherwise. a spokesman at the white house says he doubts if president trump is even aware of all the bezos reporting and asked if his government ever tried to get ami to put out negative stories about bezos. saudi arabia's foreign minister said, quote, as far as i no, flat out no. brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> ignored a legal deadline to tell congress whether he thinks the saudi crown prince ordered the murder of the journalist. under the magnitsky act, he had 120 days to determine whether the saudi crown prince was responsible and whether to impose sanctions. the white house says the president has discretion not to act on committee requests.

the sdny investigation focused on a $150,000 payment to karen mcdougal, that was before the 2016 election. that payment was meant to catch and kill her claims of an affair with trump. ami bought exclusive rights to the story and buried it. prosecutors said ami helped with their investigation and in return they granted pecker and ami immunity for the cooperation, essentially flipping on the president. that deal contained language saying if the company committed any crimes in the following three years, ami could face prosecution. the allegations by jeff bezos of extortion and blackmail could qualify as breaking the deal. but bezos is not the only person with the claims. ronan farrow, "daily beast" recount similar accounts with the "enquirer." >> the accusation mentioned a less known connection, a link between ami and saudi arabia, pointing out the link between the two isn't yet fully understood. the saudi minister of state for foreign affairs denies any connection to the tabloid publisher, but alex marquardt is trying to connect the dots for us here. >> reporter: the "national enquirer" par

we wouldn't know anybody about picker who does catch and can kill or stormy mcdaniels or karen mcdougalthis horrible rose gallery of people. and now we're basically doing l.a. confidential in the white house. this can crapol oora story we h to cover. >> and the reality for donald trump is you surround yourself with people like that, you're obviously going to be implicated by guilt. that association by guilt. why is it that ami, which is by all accounts an e tension of donald trump and his surrogates. why would ami cordsinate legal liability with jeff bezos, which is what donald trump tweeted about. he said that shareholders of amazon should know about how bad jeff bezos a guy is. and that's what ami said interestingly when they told bezos team it was okay to do all these stories. the deputy general counsel for ami worked at amazon for nine years. you would think the deputy general counsel would have a pretty good idea how jeff bezos operates. i think they've underestimated bezos and his reaction. >> i try to figure out why people do what they do. why would picker, own oer of the nationa

that nonprosecution agreement protects ami against charges in the hush money payments made to karen mcdougal. now any nonprosecution agreement says you shall not commit any further crimes. now you're on our watchful we're the prosecutors. if they committed a crime, that goes out the window and now ami, pecker, perhaps, are facing prosecution for the hush money payments and extortion as well. there is a healthy legal debate out there about whether the actions conscience institute extortion. i think they do. >> what about the second part of the question where em, what about how they acquired the material? >> they should and can ask that. ami, if they realize the writing is on the wall, and the nonprosecution agreement will get written up, the lawyer tells them, it's over, guys. this agreement is over. but if they thookd get those text messages, there could be a crime apart from that so that's another place they could be in trouble. >> why do you say you would bring these charges even though others say they wouldn't? >> i grew up as a prosecutor, prosecuting the mafia here in new york city. i t

paying a so-called catch and kill fee involving karen mcdougal about her alleged affair with trump, whichr's team in exchange for immunity to detail those paint s payments made by trump's lawyer. the splashing story about bezo's infidelity, calling him jeff bozo on twitter, saying this about the looming divorce from his wife of 25 years. >> i wish him luck, it's going to be a beauty. >> reporter: no doubt this is a complex web of allegations and personal history but what bezos, without proof, is saying here is clear that ami had reasons to protect and promote the saudis and his newspaper, "the washington post" and their coverage of the murder angered ami's friend, driving home the point the expose of the affair and attempted blackmail were politically motivated. cnn, washington. >>> all right, jeff bezos' accusations could raise some serious liable issues for ami and its chief. joining us, avery friedman, civil rights attorney and law professor. and criminal rights attorney richard freermaiedman, good to you both. unethical, all of that, but are the alleged acts by ami illegal? >> no. the

trump and pecker have a long documented history, paying a catch and kill fee to karen mcdougal, once before the 2016 election with her alleged affair with trump, help denies. pecker then flipped, cooperating with robert mueller's team to detail those payments made by trump's lawyer. >> that turn didn't dampen the president's rejoicing and requires a splashy story about bezo's infidelity, calming the amazon ceo jeff bozo on twitter and says this about his looming divorce of his wife of 25 years. >> i wish him luck. it's going to be a beauty. >> reporter: no doubt, this is a complex web of personal history. bezos without prove is saying here is clear, that ami had reasons to protect and promote the saudis. in his newspaper, "the washington post" and their relentless coverage of the khashoggi murder angered ami's friends, driving home the point of his afared and the attempted black mail were politically motivated. >>> steven earlstevenlinger joi. where do we start? jeff bozos, versus the national enquirer versus saudi arabia. >> and trump. it's an amazing set of inquiries. the most inte

they basically -- it's called a practice called catch and kill -- exactly, karen mcdougal where she couldo to any other news outlet with that story during the campaign which helped donald trump during the campaign and then -- and they basically -- they worked with prosecutors to talk about their role in that particular episode and so they came forward and said, yes, we did do this and we worked with donald trump to do this. because they were so forth coming they got a break and they said that prosecutors said, we won't punish you for your role in that particular episode, but moving forward if you have other malfeasance than we are going to punish you. so now they are potentially libel for any malfeasance they did in that particular case or any cases moving forward. >> so let's connect the dots here, if there are some dots to connect, glenn. we know that the ami has been used as a wing for the president to get out some less favorable headlines for many of his rivals over the years, hillary clinton, "national enquirer" covers come to mind and many others in the meantime. we know there's a s

just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standingr with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. earlier i spoke tojulia manchester — a reporter at the the hill for some reaction to this and started by asking her whether this was politically motivated in any way? it really has yet to be seen, but looking at the history of donald trump and his relationship with david pecker, it is something that could potentially be looked into. for years president trump, when he was a real estate developer and he was on the apprentice on nbc in the us, he was all over the american tabloids, and the most prominent american tabloid would be the national enquirer owned by david pecker and ami, s

the sdny has focused on a payment to karen mcdougal before the 2016 election.nterfold. this is the catch and kill of claims of president trump. catch and kill means they buy rights to the story. and the prosecutors say that ami helped by the investigation and granted aami to cooperate, essentially flipping on the president. now that deal contained language that said if the company committed any crimes in the future ami could face prosecution. the allegations by jeff bezos of extortion and blackmail could, could qualify as breaking that deal. he's the only one with those claims, ronan farrow and the daily beast all recount similar accounts with the "national enquirer." >> i want to bring in both, we appreciate seeing you today. i want to ask you first and foremost about something that victor was talking about. this nonprosecution agreement between ami and the southern district of new york, is that agreement, dana, at this point, i mean, it shredded? >> it's jeopardy, christi. three years after i signed my clients up for that deal, it's not hard to do because you

publicly, again, he says the president was aware he was breaking campaign finance laws by paying karen mcdougal and stormy daniels. all that will apply to everything. schiff said on abc the democrats are prepared to subpoena mueller, to get documents and get mueller to answer questions. kamala harris, listen to her here. she said she hopes most of it are made public, but if parts aren't made public, she believes the democratic intelligence committees and other committees can get the classified materials. >> i believe that given in particular all the misinformation that we can, i think rightly, believe we've heard that it is important the american public receive as much information and that we be as transparent as possible. so i am an advocate for transparency, i am an advocate for a public report, and certainly that we in the united states congress would receive all of the supporting information, be it a classified hearing or not. >> carrie, help me with this one. she's a former local d.a., former state attorney general. the prosecutor tries cases all the time and they may think in their bones

came across documents, text messages, and voice mails that demonstrated the negotiation for the karen mcdougale are many, many more and as things unfold, you'll see this very unique relationship between ami, which i call a media menace who's been utilized to be kind of like hit men on behalf of the president of the united states. >> i'm talking about negative statements by people. former new jersey governor chris christie in his book talking about his experiences inside the white house called you, quote, garbage. >> yes. >> do you want to respond? >> i think what's also interesting is he said i should not have be in the white house because i didn't have the education. i was one of the few people with priority white house experience. in terms of education, i think my hbcu education is quality and topnotch. and i think that when you see him attacking me instead of attacking the people who actually committed crimes who were accused of beating their wives is just because he's continuing to kind of try to placate the president of the united states. so i didn't take it personal. a lot of people have

just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standinghad an affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's speak tojulia manchester — a reporter at the the hill. thank you forjoining us. tellers about these accusations byjeff bezos of extortion and blackmail by the owners of the national enquirer, what is going on with those claims? he has put all his cards on the table last night in a media post, saying he was being blackmailed by the media company and they had obtained copies of explicit text m essa 9 es obtained copies of explicit text messages and photos of him with his alleged girlfriend. that is when it started last night. today we thought that the company said

for instance, when you look at the payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal, that came from a search of michael cohen's records of his e-mails and his files and so on. for an individual who had been the fixer and the lawyer and the con sillierry for the president going back 30 years, all of that is going to come out. he will have ties to the trump organization and the inaugural committee and just across all the president's businesses. so he can provide information going back. again, a lot of this, even if it's conduct that the president can't be charged with, it's certainly embarrassing to the president. that's part of it. the other thing is, look, these investigators in new york in the southern district, this prestigious prosecutor's office. they have the power to go after things mueller can't. remember, mueller is constrained to only investigate these questions of intrusion and collusion and conspiracy with respect to the campaign. he can look into the inaugural committee, he can look into the trump organization, he can look into the moscow deal and so on. and so when i say he, i m

in which he according to michael cohen, directed payments to silence women -- stormy daniels, karen mcdougal in the catch and kill story that may in and of themselves be campaign finance violations. >> we may as well in decorum throw a state funeral because it is well and gone in this where it existed, i'm talking about the mat gaetz story tonight. and the response was swift. two friends of our broadcast. first bill kristol. this is loathsome. intimidation of a witness testifying before a house committee. more important, though, what does this say about the degree of panic about trump allies about the testimony? and frank, in an organized crime family the mobsters aren't loyal to the capo out of love and affection. they do his bidding out of fear. what is gaetz afraid of? i lay it before you. >> a question right now, what is house minority leader kevin mccarthy do with congressman gaetz? is he going to allow one of his members to be out there on a limb saying this thing about a witness appearing before a house committee. and can they draw blood politically with mr. cohen? can they keep the f

payments, if you remember to the two women, who had affairs with president trump, stormy daniels and karen mcdougal, who claimed to have affairs with the president. he is expected to give his modus for lying. and we ha people on the committee that will try to paint cohen has a lawyer and as someone who is not a credible witness. >> susan mcginnis, live for us this morning. thank you. >>> journalist jorge ramos, who you see here, is hoping to come back to the u.s. today. he and his crew fromsion were temporarily detained after an interview with nicolas maduro. the department of state called to release totm. maduro didike the questions that ramos was asking and confiscated the team's equipment and recording from the interview. ed about the country's humanitarian crisis and showed the president venezuelans eating t of trash cans. it was that point when he apparently left the interview. >>> today, a prominent local pastor will be laid to rest. john e. cherry founded from the heart ministries in prince george's county. throughout his te there, he led an international ministry, spreading across five cont

was the fixer when it came to the two women that had to be hushed up, both stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. i am sure and he actually alluded to the fact that there were probably others. we were not able to determine what they were. this is a man who is basically a immoral. he does not play by the same rules all of us does. he had michael cohen do his dirty work. >> you know today was a day that was going to be talked about and studied as we look back into the history book years from now, people are going to talk about this day, what did you learn that was new? >> what was new that his testimony was edited binomial ty president trump's counsel. this was a conspiracy to prevent the intelligence committee from knowing that the moscow trump tower project went on all through the election year when donald trump said he had no business with russia when he did have business with russia. he had a letter of intent that was in place between 2015 and 2016. furthermore, i think what we heard from michael cohen was there were efforts for tax evasion and probably bank fraud, both in terms of how he mani

organization executives who approved reimbursing him for the money he paid to stormy daniels and also karen mcdougaltory is about stormy daniels. do you have any idea who those executives may be? >> executive number two is the person who had to get the okay for weisselberg to make those payments. >> weisselberg and michael cohen, are they the two people that you don't want testifying? >> yes. >> i mean there are questions. we know trump org. is controlled by a small circle. this is one of the big mysteries that we'll have a clear answer tomorrow. >> go on, did you want to say something? >> i mean, yes, but not about that. >> its got to be someone who's over the cfo or it is going to be one of the higher level executives or the one of the children, right? eric, don jr. or eventually ivanka. >> the committee, do you think they're going to ask about that? >> it is not clear to me how much cohen will know about this. he was not part of the campaign formally. he did not go in at the administration. i thisnk they'll try to ask abot it a little bit but it is not clear. >> that's more of an expedition. the

organization executives who approved of reimbursing him for the money he paid to stormy dan wriels and a karen mcdougal was in there, but this one is about stormy daniels. do you know who any of tho executives might be? >> well allen weisselberg is number one, and the big question is who's executive number two? >> look, yeah we know the trump part was incontrollcontrolled b small group of individuals. but this is something we should have a clear answer to tomorrow. >> did you want to say something? >> yes, but not about that. >> executive two, so no idea? >> well, you know, it's got to being someone who's over the cfo in some fashion. it's got to be one of the high level executives, probably one of the children. eric, donald junior, potentially ivanka. >> the committee, do you think they're going to ask about that? >> it's not clear to me how much cohen will know about this. there's one donor he has an involvement with. they'll probably ask about him. he wasn't part of the campaign formally. he didn't go into the administration, so i think they probably will try to ask about it a little bit, but it's n

company, under its ceo david pecker, admitted in court documents it worked with the trump mp, karen mcdougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story about an alleged affair with trump.the tabloid then kofficer dylan howard, worked with trump's former lawyer michael cohen to deal with negative stories about trump.both received immunity in federal prosecutors' probe into cohen last year.howard was one of the authors credited on the bezos report.a source with knowledge of the enquirer's newsgathering says neither the president nor anyone within the administration had knowledge the tabloid was pursuing the bezos story. another source said: "it's fanciful to suggest that the enquirer pursued this because bezos is a perceived enemy. it was pursued because he's the world's richest man and a newsworthy subject." (grant) according to bezos, a-m-i wanted him to kill a washington post investigation about the tabloid.(vicki) if bezos would say the tabloid's reporting was ánot politically motivated, the emails said the company would not publish compromising pictures of bezos