lanny davis was brought in, people are asking, well, why would they release the tape and what is the strategy. it's clear as day to me. the strategy is for lanny to try to reset the narrative around michael cohen. and one of the ways to do that is to be the provider of information, to provide this tape to cnn tonight, get it out there, and put a spin on it. and that's exactly what he's trying to do. >> but michael, just quickly, how does that help michael cohen with the real problem that he has, which is with the fbi, which is with federal prosecutors in manhattan? federal prosecutors in manhattan don't care a word about what lanny davis has to say. >> well, they don't care about what lanny davis has to say but what they might care ultimately, lawrence, is what the public perception is around michael cohen. and if lanny davis was able to create a situation where all of a sudden michael cohen looks like a patriot or a hero, that may have an impact p and it may have an impact on michael cohen's family, it may have an impact on a lot of things in michael cohen's life. but i don't want th

i asked lanny davis and he rightly skirted the question. he said, i've got my own privilege issues with my client, michael cohen, i can't answer that. if you play it again, he says, no, we have to get all of the things, and then they have the discussion of a, god forbid something happens to mr. pecker. so it wasn't just one thing. what other things do they have? >> we have to put up a response, so here's what the trump team is saying of what he said on tape. >> this is their version of the transcript. they said, this is the transcript. >> they're saying he said, well, are you going to pay him with something? then donald trump said, don't pay him with cash, check. and he says, no, no, no, i got it. nowhere in there does it say michael cohen says cash. >> michael cohen never says cash in what i hear -- >> check, rather. you hear him say check. >> i never hear michael cohen say cash or check. i hear donald trump say cash and check. the trump organization has this argument that he was talking about a way to pay for things and not green money. t

i asked lanny davis about that and he said i can't answer that question, don. there's a reason i keep saying the truth is on our side. he says. and who most wants to hear the truth from michael cohen? i have to leave that unanswered. what do you think about that statement? >> don, you know, look, i think lanny is a very good attorney, but i think he's playing a game, him and michael cohen with the public. i mean there's nothing stopping michael cohen from coming clean right now, disclosing all of this information and all of these tapes. there was nothing stopping michael cohen from issuing a statement tonight about what really happened during this meeting. you know, i mean, lanny was hired to do one thing and he wasn't hired to represent michael cohen before the southern district. that's mr. parillo's job. he wasn't hired to represent him in defending our cases. that's mr. blakely's job. lanny was brought in to change the narrative and push the reset button about the optics related to michael cohen. you know what, lanny may be able -- he may be a good makeup ar

and, you know, the hiring of lanny davis, you don't hire lanny davis if you want to be quiet and lay low. you hire lanny davis if you want to be on television and you want to get your side out and you want a fight on cable news. and so, yeah, whether or not that's ultimately good for michael cohen, i don't know. but lanny davis' book subtitle is "tell it all, tell it first and tell it yourself." and here they told it second. >> cynthia, let me walk you over to the edge of professional courtesy and ask about mr. cohen. we note his name is not on any of the short lists for the supreme court. what kind of lawyer is or was he? >> oh, mr. cohen is the kind of lawyer that you hire if you want to do dirty back room deals, if you want someone to help to skirt the law with you. >> cynthia, let me walk you over to the edge of professional courtesy and ask about mr. cohen. we note his name is not on any of the short lists for the supreme court. what kind of lawyer is or was he? >> oh, mr. cohen is the kind of lawyer that you hire if you want to do dirty back room deals, if you want someone to h

talk about who lanny davis is. and what he could potentially do with somebody like michael cohen. >> yeah. lanny davis is an expert, steve, in navigating the washington scandal culture and the washington media political culture. he has done that effectively going back to bill clinton and his impeachment scandal. and with other clients. and he doesn't necessarily have ideological rigidity. might consider a democratic capital d sensibility. he has invited steve bannon the former trump white house adviser to debate. steve bannon when he was in the white house and trying to advise donald trump on how to navigate the then unfolding mueller probe, he reached out to lanny davis to pick his brain about it. so a recognized expert in this. and one showing a willingness to work. >> michael cohen has been under taking in public recently, the abc news interview, changing his profile. public image strantegy. do you read lanny davis is somebody who can navigate the court of public opinion or court of law? >> both. lanny davis is

talk about who lanny davis is and what he could potentially do with somebody like michael cohen. >> lannyvis is a real expert, steve. and navigating the washington scandal culture and the media political culture. he has done that going back to bill clinton and his impeachment scandal and more recently with others and has shown he doesn't necessarily have ideological rigidity that keeps him from working with folks on the other side or clients that may not fit with what one might consider a traditional democratic capital d sensibility. he is currently lobbying for a check defense contractor and in that capacity he is invited steve bannon, the former white house adviser to debate at a forum sponsored by this contractor and interestingly, steve bannon when he was in the white house and trying to advise donald trump on how to navigate the then unfolding mueller probe, he reached out to lanny davis to pick his brain about it. lanny davis is a recognized expert and who has shown a willingness to work with people who are not necessarily on his partisan team. >> i think it's an interesting questio

hopefully lanny davis is going to do the right thing, and michael cohen. i doubt they're going to do that. i'll get to that in a minute. we have reason to believe there are tapes relating to the payment to my client, including tapes between michael cohen and keith davidson. >> so, i want to get your response to this. this is something that i asked. i spoke to sources as this interview was going on, and i called some of michael cohen's friends. they say it certainly looks like he wants to tell the truth and this is from them, too. the most important person in america right now seeking the truth about trump and that's mueller. i asked lanny davis about that and he said i can't answer that question, don. there's a reason i keep saying the truth is on our side. he says. and who most wants to hear the truth from michael cohen? i have to leave that unanswered. what do you think about that statement? >> don, you know, look, i think lanny is a very good attorney, but i think he's playing a give, him and michael cohen, with the public. there is nothing stopping mic

what's your read on lanny davis and why he did it?y davis is trying to help his client, of course. they want to avoid jail, do a deal with the prosecutors, obviously, and get it out in the public domain their client has this information and their client is willing to play this way. i don't know it helps. again, if this tape was doctored, because i haven't heard that the tape, the whole tape, but i do understand it cuts off at a certain point. >> yes. >> if at any point it was doctored that hurts them, hurts their credibility and their ability to do a deal with the prosecutor. >> an interesting article headline on politico. on lanny davis and it reads, clinton fixer engineers michael cohen's turn against trump. davis' reputation, known as a former clinton ally, and representing clinton. more in hurting president trump than helping michael cohen? >> lanny davis as an attorney does have to follow certainly all the rules of professional responsibility in advocating for his client in this case michael cohen. what you've seen this week is o

>> the audio given to cnn by lanny davis. nbc news has authenticated the recording with davis but we don't know if the original recording has been edited at all. as we've reported both sides dispute what's on the tape you just heard. cohen's attorney says trump brought up by paying in cash. president trump's attorney rudy giuliani flatly says the president can be heard saying don't pay with cash. according to president' lawyers, the payment was never made. earlier today trump refused to answer questions about the recording at the white house.ma. earlier today trump refused to answer questions about the recording at the white house. >> michael cohen's attorney, mr. president. >> thank you everybody. >> did michael cohen betray you? >> thank you very much. >> thank you, everybody. >> thank you. >> mr. president, are you worried what michael cohen is going to -- >> keep going. >> any other tapes, mr. president. >> a boisterous day in the oval office to be sure, but no more than.other days. that went on for about 30 more seconds.

little later with eric lipton of "the new york times," and here is what he wrote in 2010 about lanny davis in an article headlined lobbyist client list puts him on the defensive. quote, mr. davis has built a client list that includes coup supporters in honduras, for profit colleges accused of exploiting students and a company that dominates the manufacturer additives for infant formula. he agreed to respect the ivory coast strongman whose claims to that country's presidency have been condemned by the international community and may set off a civil war. he was harvey weinstein's lawyer for awhile, until that got too awkward. he currently respects a putin-linked ukrainian oligarch. the justice department is trying to extradite that oligarch to the united states to face charges. lanny davis is working to stop that from happening. a few weeks ago, he showed up in prague for a public debate with steve bannon. it was titled, quote, what the heck is going on in america? well, today in america, lanny davis got himself a new client. donald trump's long-time personal attorney michael cohen. davis to

you just need a lanny davis. >> you need a lanny davis. listen to lanny davis talk about the issue of the relationship you have with your clients and whether they're liars or not. what we saw in very unusual public form was the breakup between trump and cohen. oh, and he infamously said on air force one, he's still my lawyer, you go ask him, putting more heat on him. lanny was speaking on "the beat" about the relationship you have with a client and truth. take a look. >> i've never worked for a client that has lied to me or that i could trust not lying to me. that's the reason he can't find a great lawyer. it's because he has lied to the american people. we know that. but he's also lied to his own lawyers. and no lawyer will take a client who lies. >> which goes to the problems donald trump has had getting his own lawyers. what do you see as the key relationship for michael, someone that you spent time with? >> this is a very important role to michael personally. the thing that has rankled him the most in all this, of course, is the effect

lanny davis is being hired to counter rudy giuliani.laying very similar roles for michael cohen and the president respectively. the biggest thing that struck me from that interview, peter, when he said that when giuliani goes on sunday television and says that if michael cohen tells the truth, then that will be good for us. and lanny davis interpreted that to mean that if michael -- the truth according to trump is actually falsehoods and lies and lanny davis made it clear that if michael cohen tells the truth, it would be the opposite of what trump would say and trump would want him to say. so that was a pretty striking revelation. i do think it is an open question as to how much michael cohen has on donald trump. and it may be that michael cohen has a lot of information on other people and a little bit on trump. but as you point out, buttering up the special counsel, michael cohen has been buttering up the fbi from the very get go of these searches. i think at some point he is going to go meet with prosecutors and cooperate. >> and, be

how do you view his hiring of these lawyers, including lanny davis? >> well, i don't think it means anything other than that he's in a cooperation mode. but you have to distinguish between cooperation and the reliability of the information that he imports to the prosecutors. he's savvy enough to know the kinds of information that the government is looking for. and the cases are replete with instances where people have shaded the facts in a an effort to win the cooperation from the government that will enable the judge to give them a lesser sentence. so the fact that he's, quote, cooperating, doesn't ensure that he'll be telling the truth. but i don't think there's any question that cooperation is the order of the day. >> and if that's the case, jay, i've got to ask you, if cooperation, as you put it, as someone who's intimately involved with some of the players here, if michael cohen is moving towards cooperation, how do you think donald trump should view michael cohen hiring someone so bound up with hillary clinton? you and i both know, and i think o

lanny davis says it's relevant for two reasons. one, it shows that the president is familiar with karen mcdougal being paid and the efforts of his attorney to buy back assets, plural, which is something i've never really thought about before. i thought it was just about mcdougal, but now it seems this corporation was formed to buy back assets, things plural, from david pecker. i don't know what else they thought he had. but that's what it shows, number one. and that, two, to say michael cohen wanted to pay cash, and that trump said, no, do it the right way is not what the tape reveals. your take on those two points. >> well, he's accurate on the first point that it seems from my version and reading of the actual tape, it actually says to me that he is alluding to trying to have an overall umbrella in case there's something that happens to the company or the stories go someplace else or david pecker is hit by a bus. he talks about all these different things. remember, he's the head of a magazine and a number of magazines that allege

this guy is working overtime talking to lanny davis and rudy giuliani. what are you saying back to him? when he's saying the president had no nothing, you know and giuliani knows that's a flat-out lie. he had an affair with her. >> i asked mayor giuliani, could he put the president in contact with reporters? we need some clarity about what he knew at that time. he's speculating in many respects. he says he's spoken to the president, but he's not providing the factual clarity we need at this time. >> all right. ken, cohen's attorney compared this case to former vice presidential nominee john edwards' indictment in 2011. walk us through the significance. >> i think this is more important than the debate about whether they paid cash or check and what trump was saying. john edwards was charged with crimes because his wealthy benefactors were making payments to conceal an affair with his mistress. he was charged with illegal campaign finance violations and conspiracy. what lanny davis is saying is that michael cohen is prepared to testify that there was a con

and lanny davis' response was, it certainly sounds like a john edwards case.ou know, andrea, and as our viewers know, john edwards went to trial for wealthy benefactors paying off his mistress. he was ultimately acquitted but there are legal analysts and federal prosecutors who will tell you that the case against donald trump with this could potentially be a lot stronger than what john edwards dealt with. >> if my recollection is correct, john edwards wasn't putting up the money, his benefactor was putting up the money, this is less of a personal involvement. >> yes, and there's also questions -- sorry to interrupt -- whether donald trump actually paid this money. lanny davis said the corporation was set up, the money wasn't actually paid. that could work to the president's advantage but it doesn't discount what david pecker might have been promising in return for -- or promising to keep that tape quiet before the election if he was making those assurances to the president whether that would be an illegal contribution in itself. >> and rudy giuliani today is t

lanny davis was there. attack independent counsel ken starr.client list has really expanded. we were just speaking with, we are going to speak later with eric lipton of the "new york times." here is what he wrote in 2010 about lanny dmaifs an article headlined, the lobbyist client list puts him on the defensive. quote, he has built a client list that now includes coup supporters in honduras. a dictator in equatorial guinea, for profit colleges accused of exploiting students and a company that dominates the manufacture of add i have thes in infant formula. he was also harvey weinstein's lawyer for a while until that got too awkward. he currently represents a putin linked oligarch with suspected ties to the russian mob. the justice department is trying to extradite him. a few days ago, davis showed up in prague for a public debate steve bannon. the debate was titled, what the heck is going on in snerk well, today, lanny davis apparently got himself a new client. donald trump's attorney, and today happened to be the deadline for parties in the coh

he hires lanny davis.says i'm going to get out like your lawyer, like the former mayor of new york and attack you. this is a frontal message to the white house saying, if you think i'm going to take one for the team, i just left the team, it's over. >> getting back to scott pruitt, you were there in the early days of the obama administration and well beyond that obviously. do you recall having to deal with a cabinet secretary who had that much baggage? what do you think of this sudden resignation from scott pruitt? >> i get 14 probes is just too much. you know, i don't think ethics is a big concern of this administration. that's been pretty clear. and in terms of what he's been doing at epa, he's thrilled some of the base of the republican party and certainly the donor base in the energy industry, but the fact is that these investigations are piling onto the point where he was becoming a liability to the president. and so the president cut him loose. i think it's just that clear. i don't think it had anyth

it's more clear to me now why lanny davis decided to take the case. it's also something to be said that lanny davis is actually willing to go on tv and defend his client. rudy giuliani has been out there basically kind of by himself except for michael avenatti was out there, but on a different case. i am not sure about the strategy of releasing tapes. what is the long-term goal? what is the new cycle? if the southern district of new york is looking into michael cohen's activities, this is not going to get the southern district of new york author back. what is the goal? is it tried to embarrass the president? to say there are other tapes means there better be better tapes than that one. if you put out another tape, it's worth in -- worse than soggy cigarette? it's a sparkler you can't use again. here's the other thing. this is the second time the administration is put out information that turns out to befall slater on. so reporters, for example, that went out and said in november of last year we hear there is a payment that was made to karen mcdougal.

you have lanny davis denying his side leaked this trump tower story with cnn. their view is they have no interest in it coming out now. rudy giuliani said they didn't leak it. should the media be giving so much attention to that allegation. there is no tape, there is no document, it will be one person's word against another. obviously it needs to be reported, but with great caution. guy: but the allegation is explosive. it's someone in the inner sanctum of trump world for a long time saying one of the major assertions made by the president about that trump tower meetle is false and would be a capital l lie if michael cohen is telling the truth. howie: would it be a lie that would be much more important, you could call it attempted collusion more so than his relationship with the woman? guy: definitely. howie: sara, are we headed for the kind of story the media loves, michael cohen protecting his own interest, he seems to be saying i did a lot of things for donald trump, i'm not proud of him -- he doesn't use these words. now he's president and i have got to com

lanny davis is not serving the interests of his client. but he can be counted on to do what he thinks is best for the clintons. and if it means maligning the clintons through cohen, that's what he'll be doing. >> hold on. that's very interesting. and we always appreciate you giving us your unvarnished view. you're making an assertion that would be negative about lanny as a lawyer. your view is that lanny davis is basically selling out michael cohen to do the political work of the clintons? >> i have an opinion, an opinion, that lanny davis is motivated by a belief that there was meddling and it had the effect of taking the election victory from mrs. clinton. there are a couple of people, him, paul bagalia, terry mccough that will do anything to further the interest of the clintons at the expense of anyone. and lanny davis is doing something that if nick akerman is on the line, witnesses don't do, this premature disclosure of taped evidence alerts the target, be it trump or any other person. >> here's what i'll do -- >> with the fact they'r

for those watching, their first bouquet of lanny davis, what's the guide? >> he's better known for the more public relations side of law. of course with bill clintb and defended him during impeachment. and his main technique was if something bad was going to come out anyway, put it out, put it out with your own spin. i was think about this as you spoke, we're now getting used to the fact trump lied, and we're going to discount that, though, two weeks from now. and we learn something perhaps more damning about what he was lying about and stuff, i really come back to the notion if the trump people put this out there's worse to come. >> i look at the day when they're saying don't look and see what's coming out of washington, that's not real. and when the trump tweeted about proven facts what we know about election meddling, putin's answer on the his favorite president notwithstanding, they might come after us just to put the democrats in. >> you have a lot of problems and you don't have very good arguments for, muddy the waters. at the end of the day we have g

one ring, it is lanny davis versus rudy guiliani, accusing lanny davis' client, michael cohen, of tampering with the recording of a conversation the president had with michael cohen in 2016 about former playboy model, karen mcdougal. here is rudy guiliani today. >> now i've listened, unfortunately -- fortunately for my client's point of view, to many, many hours of tapes. and the man is a pathological manipulator, liar. he's capable, i think, unfortunately, of doctoring tapes. >> all right. so there's the jab. here is lanny davis with the right hook, telling nbc news, quote, mr. guiliani seems to be confused. he expressly waived attorney-client privilege last week and repeatedly and inaccurately as proven by the tape, talked and talked about the recording, forfeiting all confidentiality. in the center ring is president trump and michael cohen. president trump retweeting a 2017 tweet from michael cohen that read cohen was proud of don jr.'s honesty and transparency. cohen's tweet coming on the very same day don jr. released e-mails about the russian meeting at trump tower. joining me now is

>> well, i think lanny davis being a little cute there. because, of course, michael cohen could hire anyone. and i don't think, unless i've missed something that we know, in fact, that he is paying lanny davis, it's possible that he is doing this pro bono. but the fact is, he has a criminal lawyer, as far as we know. guy pet littlo. that's the lawyer representing him in the court case. so lanny davis is being hired for more of a pr role, it looks like to me. you know, he's going to -- and the fact that he is so closely allied with hillary clinton, in my mind is just yet another signal that cohen is sending to the president. i view this as his sort of public breakup with the president, if you will. and this is a pretty clear sign of, you know, i'm done with you, because look who i'm with now. >> lanny davis, i suppose. all right. let's pivot here to talk about the supreme court. nancy cook, i just want to ask you about a democrat strategy going forward here. you had the minority whip, dick durbin, on television this morning, as well. let's

lanny davis is a democrat, a big clintonista. don't know how much credibility that evidence will have. judge jeanine: the damage is done. i didn't because of my background. but they leaked it. it's not even an issue if they can admit it at trial. if they want to impeach they will say you know about that tape when you and i both not wouldn't be admissible in court. i want to talk about my favorite guy, rod rosenstein who is basically running the department of justice after he convinced jeff sessions to go hide in the closet. you guys wanted to impeach him. and i understand there was a resolution to have the guy impeached based upon what facts? >> a number of things. he should have recused himself from this. he wrote the memo saying comey should be fired. and he signed one of the fisa extensions for carter page. those are critical issues with some of the information we are trying to get. he stonewalled to congress. they redacted material facts from documents provided to congress. this has not been adequate cooperation with the cong

cohen made waves hiring former clinton aide, lanny davis.nd in political lawyering, lanny davis is roasting and baiting his opponent on twitter and next to the word guiliani, the word truth is an oxymoron and stay tuned. guiliani clapping back alleging davis lied for president clinton and the original barb to guiliani that cohen should just tell the truth. >> are you concerned michael cohen will start cooperating with the feds? >> no. in fact, if he wants to cooperate, i think it's great. >> you have no concerns at all about anything michael cohen might tell you? >> as long as he tells the truth, we're home free. >> if he believes it's in his best interests to cooperate, god bless him, he should cooperate. >> davis not tipping anything about cooperating, there are reports cohen is ready to talk and kick off the lanny davis era, a coming in of one of those all important defense agreements. i'm joined by a. scott bolland and a fort lauderdale prosecutor. what does this mean? >> lanny davis has been with hillary clinton for decades. he's a 72-y

that was lanny davis discussing the tape. on the tape, the two men discuss buying the rights to kill the story about an alleged affair trump had with a playboy model. let's bring in tonight's roundtable. eugene scott, sabrina saddici. the whole question . the cover up rng t, the pay off kill. how do you mr. president, explain that tape. >> he is going to deny it and say he wasn't addressing what clearly appears he was addressing. >> what is he talking about. >> what did he want pastor burns or pastor scott to go to. >> cash or check. >> he certainly said cash. that is what we think of. >> cash is the way the dealers do that. >> the white house has been remarkably inconsistent in terms of what the president knew about these payments. also of course the payment michael cohen made. and the i shall question is what did the president know and when did he know it. now the question is you have a pattern submerged where close allies of the president or people directly work for him. what was the president's involvement in the practice

>> while i think it's problematic that cohen hired lanny davis. he's a democratic operative who is known as a pitbull who wants to go after republicans and that doesn't make a lot of sense. but cohen, in my own personal opinion, i think you will be disbarred and i don't think you will have the credibility if he ever does hit the witness stand. he has a real-life legal problems in that he took millions of dollars for lobbying without registering as a lobbyist and try to play off the trump name and uses fake business cards, i'm told, to go after and to solicit these millions of dollars in lobbying money to try to persuade a president, something that never happened. he tried to do it and play off the president's name. i think there are some unknowns as to what other tapes and stuff that he has. but what happens to attorney-client privilege? the context of everything here is not put into play. >> harris: that's an interesting point because, that's where we learn about a month ago talking about attorney-client privilege. >> katie: but according to the

he hires lanny davis.released lanny davis, his lawyer and counselor released the transcript, sorry, the audio of his conversation with donald trump. >> based on people you talk to, is cohen no longer hoping for a pardon from the president if he is charged? is he angling for a plea deal? >> what motivates michael cohen is a parlor game here lanny davis said michael cohen is not angling for a pardon. that's not what this is about. we haven't heard from michael cohen directly. it would seem leasing unilaterally the audio released by lanny davis might not endear him to prosecutors. might upset the prosecutors. >> might upset the prosecutors and might upset although you could argue have the other effect to a president in a position to pardon or not. >> you're reporting the government seized more than 100 recordings cohen made of his conversations. at this point, do you have any sense of what might or might not be on them or how significant they might be? i believe you said there were others with mr. trump. >> o

there of course he's attacking lanny davis. lanny davis is a representative of -- the lawyer now representing michael cohen. i spoke to lanny davis within the last ten minutes. he declined to comment about our reporting last night about what michael cohen is willing to tell robert mueller and today declined to comment in response to the president's comments. a little context about this as the president is attacking cohen's alleged story here. the bottom line is you'll remember as it relates to this case, there have been multiple reports, including those from nbc, that question the president's credibility on this story specifically as it relates to that statement that was dictated, we are told, by the president from air force one in response to "the new york times" questions about don junior and this meeting. you'll remember initially there were a lot of corrections made, but initially it was said that it was simply about russian adoption. ultimately donald trump jr. put out the e-mail exchanges that showed that he had been prom

and lanny davis is a skilled -- i don't know -- skilled publicists, shall we say. and it feels like lanny may have hypothetically have been responsible for the cohen tape being revealed to show cohen had something worthwhile. and rudy giuliani perhaps should have remained silent because basically it's an inkulpatory document, it does not exculpate trump. another blemish on giuliani's to explain how expulpatory this document is and the timing doesn't matter. when it's very close to pay off in august, that they're in september talking about handling the money. >> i'm out of time, jay, but i'll give you the final word briefly. go ahmed. >> giuliani has not been helpful to trump. but then he says that michael cohen can be counted onto tell the truth. and that's an exact quote from the statement that he makes. and it's in trump's interest to impute negative hostility to his testimony with respect to any wrongdoing on a part trump. and for trump's lawyer to say that he's somebody could be counted on to tell the truth is not in trump's interest. and yet that's exactly what

it was either on your show or on your podcast where, you know, we've seen a drum beat now from lanny davising to an effort to rehabilitate michael cohen and a series of flare gunshots aimed at mr. trump. i will say this, and i have a lot of respect for lanny, i don't agree with lanny or don't believe him when he says he's never had a client lie to him in the history of his law practice. i'd be very surprised if that were the case. this is consistent, what happened today is consistent with what we've seen as it relates to sending a warning message to the president. i think that michael cohen has been placed on an island. i've said this in the past. i think it was a grave mistake by the president, if there was anyone that the president should have been looking out after, he's clearly looking out after vladimir putin, we know that, right? he's even inviting him to the white house. he should have been inviting michael cohen to the white house a long time ago. >> cohen retaining davis also shows he's looking for a tough lawyer who's willing to take on trump. you are probably known as the number

>> that he hired lanny davis and the first thing lanny davis does under this new contract is essentiallyes, but this is not unusual. during the watergate investigation it was amazing how many nixon people actually went out and looked for democratic lawyers in order to try and appeal to this idea -- >> really? >> yes. that somehow they thought that by having something that's like former senator tidings represent them in our office they kind of bought into the idea that we were a bunch of kennedy democrats, which was not true. so they were hiring lawyers thinking they could appeal to us and somehow get a better in if they came in with these lawyers. you even saw jared kushner, he's retained the woman who was deputy attorney general under clinton. >> yeah. >> a democrat. >> i think it's the same sort of mindset, that people don't realize that what you ought to be looking for is the best possible lawyer. >> giuliani, joyce, has been playing this game now for several months on moving the goalposts of when they're going to cooperate under which conditions, robert mueller. he threw a new one ou

i just heard from lanny davis. he said the last sentence should read any attempt to spin cannot change what is on the tape. not table. tape. >> little clearer. >> significant word. gloria, you are getting -- >> my dictation is not that great. >> fallout of the summit strengthening mueller's hand? >> dana bash and i are reporting there's some concern with those who are on team trump that the president didn't do himself any good with the helsinki summit and in fact he kind of maybe bolstered the political case against him. he was -- he had the wind at his back. he had an inspector general report critical of the fbi. he had public opinion that was going against muellerme. suddenly he seems to be friendly with vladimir putin. so obviously, in the eyes of the public, it may raise more questions. his supporters, 68% are with him. he has 90% popularity in the republican party. but, you know, the question is, is robert mueller watching that? i mean, we don't know. nothing's happening about an interview. they seem to be in

lanny davis supplied the tape to cnn tonight. you'll hear at first, the president, who appears to be finishing up a phone call. we do not know if there had been any editing or altaring. heaters in its entirety. >> we know what's happening, ok? oh. oh! maybe because of this it would be better if you didn't go. you know. maybe because of this for that one, you know -- to get rid of this, because it's so false what they're saying and sexual [ bleep ]. i think i did -- this goes away quickly. i think what -- it's better to do the charleston thing, just this time. yeah, in two weeks it's fine. i think right now it's better you know? ok. honey, you take care of yourself. thanks. talking to you. great poll, by the way. great poll. >> hello. >> what's -- >> i don't know. >> can we use him anymore? >> no -- oh, yeah. mark burns. >> can we use him? >> no. >> we had a chance to hear from you tonight. [ inaudible ] >> we got served from the new york times. i told you. unsealed divorce papers with ivana. we're -- >> they'll never be able to g

he hired lanny davis, and as cnn reported, released lanny davis' lawyer and counselor, released the audiohis conversation with donald trump. >> based on people you talked to, is cohen no longer hoping for some sort of a pardon from the president, if in fact he is charged on anything? i mean is he angling for a plea dea deal? >> so, anderson, of course what motivates michael cohen is one of thing weez know is publicly michael cohen is not angling for a pardon, that that's not what this is about. we haven't heard from michael cohen directly. and it would seem that releasing unilaterally the audio that was provided to cnn by lanny davis might not be a move that would endear prosecutors. >> right, might upset the prosecutors. >> and also might upset you could argue might have an effect on the president who has a position to pardon or not. >> and they seized hundreds of recordings cohen made, but at this point do you have any sense of what might or might not be on them, and i believe you said there were others with mr. trump. >> so our understanding is that there are other recordings of mr. tr

what we're seeing from lanny davis. additionally from talking to a person close to cohen last week, i can tell you people in cohen's circle of increasingly encourage him to affirmatively go to robert mueller. don't know for a fact cohen has anything that could be relevant to the mueller probe but hope among critics of the president close to cohen he might have snag could be relevant to that investigation and would like to see him circumvent, perhaps a hopscotch over his negotiations with the southern district of new york and go directly to the special counsel. >> a couple interesting elements. content of tapes, and act of releasing the tapes. lanny davis out. saying, "michael cohen is on a new path. it's a reset button to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may". all the questions about might mike many cohen turn on donald trump, looks like the beginning of that. >> is does. we saw in the press, a couple months ago, quotes from friends. attributed to, people close to michael cohen saying he wants his legal

lanny davis says it is clear that donald trump says pay with cash in that recording. you hear the word "cash." the president's attorney rudy giuliani says the president said, don't pay with cash. no turning back now for michael cohen. this is a big, glaring split. we want to bring in cnn political analyst david gregory, attorney michael avenatti. david, i want to go with you first. i want to talk about the legal implications here. what legal questions, if any, does this raise? >> well, michael cohen is under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in new york for a number of things, but one of those things is the potential campaign finance violations. when you are receiving money for a campaign, you need to report it to the fcc. in fact, the president signed a form that actually it is a crime to lie on in which he said, you know, this is a list of the contribution to the campaign and expenditures and so on. so i don't think it was in the part we just played, but there was actually discussion about timing related to certain news about how we need to delay it past

and so the lanny davis overpromise and under deliver on the communications here?> i bet we will watch and find out. >> dana: true. >> he is getting what he wants and that way. a president prides himself on blowing up the new cycle. if he is having a bad's change . i will throw some grenades out there and we will change what i i will do or say something crazy and everybody will go to that bright shiny object. he is not accustomed to this, somebody else doing it to him. >> dana: and to that point though, we know, i do not expect the politics to change, but i do not think that the republicans will be moved or the democrats either way. my question is, though, does this actually provide some sympathy for president trump? an attorney-client relationship is something where you think that you should be able to trust someone paid and the president tweets "what kind of lawyer would do this?" >> yes, one that he hired, that's what lawyer would do this. michael cohen never held himself out to be a good guy. he held himself out -- he said, i forget it was a fictional character

let's start with lanny davis. he says cohen's not going to be the president's bullet taker or punching bag. is this a declaration of war by cohen? frankly, one of the things michael avenatti is saying, if cohen wants the tell the truth, he can release all the tapes. he can just go out and start telling the truth. >> right. and we are parsing this tape very carefully, as we should. but if you are an investigator or a prosecutor or even a civil lawyer, what you want is the whole context. you want to ask michael cohen how did this conversation start? is this your first conversation about this subject? what did you do afterwards? he mentions allen weiselberg, who is another trump organization executive. what was his role in all of this? >> because he is saying the guy from the trump organization knew about the formation of this company to pay the money, and all along michael cohen and all his supporters were saying this is something, at least with stormy daniels, this is something michael cohen just did on his own. no

this thing about lanny davis right now, some debate about whether the court of public opinion or the court of law that we are talking about, what do you make of what he is doing and does it say anything about his legal situation? >> it seems that michael cohen is working hard to rehabilitate his public image as much as anything. i don't think the southern district of new york finds value on what he says to george ste stephanopoulos. it seems that michael cohen is trying to, as he has said, i won't be the villain in this story and lanny davis is not only a lawyer, but he also runs a pr firm. and michael cohen already has a fine lawyer to handle the legal matters, and adding lanny davis in this seems like an effort to win over court of opinion. maybe it adds to his value or credibility as a cooperator. but at any rate, he does seem to be signaling a severance with donald trump and that probably bodes well for anyone who is hoping that michael cohen will cooperate against him. >> thank you. >> and up next, more on today's top story, scott pruitt out of the epa. plus, president trump is