>> it has not. >> michael allen, how reali isi sick that?s to be putting a lot of pressure on mike pompeo to deliver something that can't be delivered. >> it is way too aggressive. what he's trying to see is if the north koreans suddenly made a dramatic shift and said they want to cooperate with us completely, that maybe we can do it within a year, but i agree. he's really putting pressure on the state department and the secretary of state to deliver on something that's impossible. >> and he knows the same intelligence that courtney has been briefed on. so he knows it's not possible. he knows they are cheating already at multiple sites, on missile launchers, nuclear fuel enrichment. they still haven't let inspectors back in to yangon. a number of proposals made from experts as to how to get them to declare. but all of them involve a decade to get them to declare everything and then eventually, if this is done phase by phase, and they get the economic benefits they expect and if they really are determined to do this, eventually they would den

i am dana perino in new york, joined by ari fleischer, bret baier and michael allen.s given comments to the press about his meeting with vladimir putin and helsinki. we will have that tape in just a moment. your thoughts on what he hopes this will accomplish, does he want to put this behind him or does he want people to continue to say that it was a win and he wants to try to move on or what does he want? >> he wants to re-clarify this. as a remarks continued and questions continued that you will see in just seconds, he did claim that he misspoke on the election meddling and now says he sees no reason why it wouldn't be russia that was responsible which is exactly the opposite obviously of what he said in that presser yesterday. i think his comments as they have continued to get a little more apologetic for how he phrased things yesterday. that is really what a lot of people thought he needed to do on capitol hill. >> it's unusual for president trump, no president wants to say they misspoke and have to clarify. we are just moments away from this tape that we have from

i think there is a little bit of method to the madness. >> michael allen, trump whisperer. that was impressive. let's look at north korea. there are images showing north korea has begun to dismantle some test sites. this is -- if you can look on the screen. that's the satellite imaging. these have been important for the north koreans in terms of getting its nuclear program up and running. put it in context, tony. >> good if north korea is actually taking steps to dismantle parts of its program. the bottom line is this. unless and until they actually get rid of their nuclear weapons, the missiles and means to make them, we are not really getting anywhere. it has to start with something they haven't done. that is a full disclosure and declaration of their entire nuclear missile program. then we can begin to see if what they're doing is really meaningful. even as they have apparently started to dismantle one site, there have been reports they are expanding others. we haven't seen any net gain si since sing more. the north koreas are masters at stringing out talks, ring out com

. >> michael allen, you worked in the bush administration. there has been a lot of talk about whether or not director of national intelligence can do his job if he is publically not supported by president trump. but he doesn't seem worried by that. >> i think that is because he is a statesman and a man of character. and the first thing you learn after studying intelligence or in his case being on the senate intelligence committee is that you have to speak truth to power. this is the classic job number one of a director of national intelligence to say it's your prerogative to decide what to do once you get a set of facts, but it is my obligation to tell you what they are. and this isn't a close call, by the way. often times intelligence agencies have different views on hard questions, think north korea and their plutonium program. everyone agrees on it so not just saying it to the president but to the world. here is what the united states thinks. >> this is one of the reasons why i think we have seen some republican officials who are upset wit

bush's national securities council michael allen, former u.s. assistant attorney, and our chief political correspondent dana bash. the white house is considering allowing mike mcfaul, the former u.s. ambassador to russia, he served for five years in the government, to be questioned by putin's regime. what's that all about? >> i don't think it's the white house considering it. i don't think it's the administration considering. i think it's the president of the united states not saying no. and his press secretary, because of that, not being able to say no because she speaks for him and he's watching the press briefing. in about 45 minutes, a little under, the united states senate is going to pass a resolution that has been proposed by the democratic leader saying under no circumstances would or should or could a u.s. ambassador or a u.s. member of the diplomatic corps be allowed to be interrogated by vladimir putin or anybody in russia. the fact that the republican leadership is allowing, as toothless as it is, a resolution for the congress and fo

michael allen is with us, once held high level position on the national security staff, and mike bakerformer cia operative. gloria, let me start with you here, we have to get straight to the dan coats on stage in aspen, you know, where he's reacting in real time. this is the director of national intelligence, reacting to learning basically in a tweet that the president invited putin to washington. >> the white house has announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> say that again. >> vladimir putin coming to -- >> yeah. >> yeah yeah. >> okay. that's going to be special. >> i just want you to react to that moment. again, this is a man that talked about the red light is flashing with regard to russia, this is someone who had gone out, responded to this summit between putin and trump on his own, and now you hear him in real time responding to this notion that putin is coming to the white house. what did you think? >> well, you know how they say no man is an island, i think he's an island. i think he's alone here. i think dan coats did not know, it w

this asheofart t president's former personal attorney michael. c >> alleniesel berg's name first appeared in the tapes hireleased earlis week of a preelection conversation between cohen and president trump concerning illegal payments to silence trump's former mistresses.re >>> moallout involving the president's former personal attorney michael cohen. cohen set to spell special counsel robert mueller that then candidate donald trump knve and appro of a meeting with russians back in 2016. apparently in this meeting, the russians were expected to offer up dirt on the democratic opponent hillary clinton. attorney lanny davis are declining comment >>> 4:34 right now. new details in the stoho market ser. facebook shares taking a historic nose dive by more than 19 percent. announced its take on a newany apprch to its business model, that's when all this happened. now earlier this week facebook founder and ceo mark zuckerberg told investors the site would be beefing up security and but it would come at a cost to the company's bottom line. >> as i've sd on past call

tizaeanrgne investigation into the esident's former persona attorney michael cohen. allenselberg's name first appeared in the tapes released earlier this week of a preelectio conversation between cohen and president trump concerningllegal payments to silence trump's former mistresses. more fallout involving the president's former personal attorney michael cohen. counrobert mueller thatl then candidate donald tru knew and approved of a meeting withanussis in 2016. apparently in this meeting the offer up dirt on the t to democratic opponent, hillary clinton. right now, cohen and his attorney lanny davis are this morning.ment. details facebook shares taking a historic nose dive by more cean 19 percent after the sngpany announdt' btauss kies model. earlier this week facebooark zu the site would be beefing up security and contenteading r tot drop of >> all rige, right now. flowing traffic. she'll be here i a second.meanw- >> weather isi--r.s >> you're like what, what,.o start the day here but we'll have to watch oon, bigcert tonight, we will have to watch ht queen beyatr things

and the wall street journal reports a subpoena in the michael cohen case. a source says allen weisselberg knows anything and everything about the trump administration. i will speak with senator ben cardin. and our correspondents and specialists are standing by with full coverage. let's begin with a new twist. our white house correspondent is joining us now. what is the latest? >> good afternoon, wolf. we are learning that the president could be facing new legal troubles. his pension for twitter attacks on his attorney general jeff sessions and former fbi director james comey have become of interest to special counsel robert mueller and it could be the subject of a potential interview that mueller is seeking with president trump. all of this is happening as the president is still trying to clean up the mess that he made with his press conference of vladimir putin in helsinki. white house aides telling cnn that the president could be turning his attention to potential russian interference as early as this week. >> reporter: president trump's social media counter punching can soo

allen. >> reporter: he currently runs the president's company along with eric and don jr. and is caught up in the wide-ranging financial investigation of michaelecutors in new york also examining whether cohen broke laws. weisselberg mentioned in the recording. cohen proposes a shell company. >> i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with -- >> reporter: prosecutors using a federal grand jury to question weisselberg. he knows all there is to know about the trump family business. the tape is of high interest and they just got access to it this week. weisselberg is a key witness in knowing more about trump's finances. trump wrote in one of his books, allen has been with me 30 years and knows how to get things done. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> a group of investors is calling on mark zuckerberg to step down as chairman of facebook. >> they say it weakens the oversight. facebook has rejected similar requests in the past including one last year. >>> house lawmakers have gone on summer recess without considering articles of impeachment against rod rosenstein. a handful of republicans are accusing him of no

subpoenaed, if this is right, that honestly has way bigger implications than just the case against michael cohen. allen wicelberg isn't a household name. he has been at the trump organization since its inception. he is known to be not only a very senior figure in the trump organization. he's been directly involved in a number of financial dealings related to the president and his business that has since come under scrutiny. for example, he is. to have been personally involved in the payments to women who alleged that they had afwars president trump. according to the "wall street journal," he was also close enough to the president and his family that he was the one who handled their household expenditures. personal expenditures and purchases for mr. trump and his family including mr. trump's dealings with various banks. he is the president of the donald j. trump foundation which has just come under very aggressive scrutiny in new york state. he is such an important and senior figure in the president's business empire, when the president announced he was handing off day to day control of his business, no

allen about how to set the whole thing up with funding. yes. all the stuff. you never know where he's going to be. >> michael cohen talking to donald trump about allen. sharp eyed television viewers may remember allen weisselberg from the apprentice. he was a judge that aired on the show. a democratic senator described weisselberg as holding the keys to the trump financial kingdom. others have said he knows about every incoming and out going dollar going back years to when donald trump's father ran the business. good place to bring in our lead off panel on a busy thursday night. rebecca davis o' bryan and saul weisenberg. he was chosen by ken star to conduct the grand jury questioning of president bill clinton. a big group tonight but a lot to talk about. welcome to you all. tell us even though it has to do with tonight's late development, we'll get to your piece of this story in a bit. why would be so important for the president, if it turns out to be true, to have had advance knowledge about the trump tower meeting beyond the fact it would mean his answer to your question was false. >> a basic level he mad

the journal is right, that honestly has way bigger implications than just the case against michael cohen. allen weisselberg is not a household name but he is in the trump household. he's in his 70s. he's worked for the trump family his entire adult life. he started off working for the president's father i believe in the 1970s. he has been at the trump organization apparently since its inception. he's known to be not only a very trusted very senior figure in the trump organization, he's also been directly involved in a number of financial dealings related to the president and his business that have since come under legal scrutiny. for example, he is said to have been personally involved in the payments to women who alleged that they had affairs with president trump according to "the wall street journal," allen weisselberg was close enough to the president and his family he was is the one who happened their household spend expenditures. personal expenditures and purchases for mr. trump and his family including mr. trump's dealings with various banks. mr. weisselberg is the treasurer of the donald

like michael cohen and allen. you have to worry if you're president trump that they are really getting close to you. >> yeah. you think they could unearth things that are relevant to the mueller investigation? >> yeah. of course the mueller investigation has been so disciplined. it's hard to know for sure what different angles they're looking at. that professionalism in not leaking information is actually quite intimidating if you're the defendant. or the subject of an investigation. because it means these are guys who know what they're doing. >> tell me about this case. and what this could mean to the investigation. >> well, i'm not sure how that would connect to the investigation. it's another legal problem for the president. and it's a fairly big one. from my per spect i have it's a good week in ethics in goth government. we haven't had a lot of those lately in government. in one of the three cases this is involving the state of maryland and the district of columbia. with help from a citizens for responsibility

street journal" reports allen weisselberg, the trump organization's chief financial officer, has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in the ongoing federal probe against michael cohen. if weisselberg's name sounds familiar, it's because you heard him mentioned on that secretly recorded conversation between cohen and trump, exclusively obtained by cnn from cohen's attorneys. >> and i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for the financing which will be -- >> wait a sec. what financing? >> reporter: on the tape cohen and trump are heard discussing buying the rights to karen mcdougal's story. a woman who alleges a ten-monthlong affair with trump. >> replacing george this week is my chief financial officer, allen weisselberg. >> reporter: weisselberg, seen here in an episode of trump's reality show "the apprentice," controlled the movement of money at the trump organization. the journal reports weisselberg has been linked to two payments made to women who allege sexual encounters with trump and that he paid cohen, who in october 2016 paid porn star stormy daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged sexual affair with trump. trump denies the affair, and

reporter who has been on this story involving payoffs and the president is michael rothfeld with the "wall street journal." allenelberg, the company handed oh every to trump's children and to him. what role does he play in the trump universe? >> he's basically the keeper of the books. he's someone who obviously is very trusted, if he is one of three people, including donald trump's sons, that, you know, were given control of the company. he worked with fred trump, donald's father, years ago, and basically has done donald's tax returns. so, you know, anyone who is going to know about donald trump and money, it's allen weisselberg. >> you mentioned he's been subpoenaed here to testify before this grand jury. what do we know of their interest in him? obviously, from what you describe, he could possess a lot of information about any number of these stories that we're charting here, day in and day out. what do we know, though, specifically about their interest in him? >> wie don't know what they woud like to ask him or already asked him. it's possible he's already gone in and spoken to them. but you certainly could s

michael cohen? mr. president? allen weisselberg's subpoena? will you respond to allen weisselberg's subpoena?re, none this morning, no answer yesterday either. when kaitlyn collins asked the question at a white house event, actually there was an answer. serving as a pool reporter for all the networks was then barred from the following event. more on that shortly. i want to check in on cnn abbey phillips at the white house. you asked the white house today about this. what happened? >> reporter: we've gotten nothing but silence on this all day today. and all week. this is a white house that has only had three white house press briefings all month and only one this week and the president on the lawn refusing to answer questions from the reporters about a number of topics that have come up about this issue. the reason we continue to ask the white house about this because hope hicks, the president's spokesperson during the campaign denied any knowledge of this payment to karen mcdougal during the campaign. now, that's known to be untrue and the president used to stopping with reporters and not giv

listening carefully to that recorded conversation with the president, in which michael cohen actually mentions that cfo, allen weisselberg, in connection with the hush money payment? >> reporter: that's right, david. that tape is of high interest and they just got access to it this week. weisselberg is a key witness and a gateway to knowing more about the president's finances. trump wrote in one of his books, "allen has been with me for 30 years and he knows how to get things done." david? >> pierre, thank you. >>> our team here has been reporting on the children who were separated from their parents at the border. by midnight tonight, the government was told it has to reunite thousands of children with their parents. so, will they make the deadline and how many children and parents are still waiting? abc's chief national affairs correspondent tom llamas on this again tonight. >> reporter: right now, reunions like this playing out across the country. but still, hundreds of migrant children remain in limbo, despite a court-ordered deline. the government ordered to reunite more than 2,500 children separated fro

they have been looking at michael cohen for months. now they want allen. of the reason may be because we heard on the tape that michael cohen mentioned weisselberg in the conversation between michael cohen and president trump about potentially -- setting up a company to potentially buy karen mcdougal's story. that's where allen weisselberg's name comes into public view. now we learn that federal prosecutors want to talk to him. >> one of your sources says he knows the most about president trump's business outside of his children. hired by the president's father a long time ago. >> possibly more than the children. the way the trump organization works, based on my reporting on it, is everyone kind of goes off on the business side and does their own deals, goes out and fine finds licensing opportunities. there are few people that know what everyone is doing. there's a handful. trump, when he was there. allen weisselberg and maybe one other executive. when trump left to go into -- to go to d.c. he entrusted the business to his sons. >> thank you for the report

allen weisselberg. he's the chief financial officer of the trump empire. michael cohen mentioned him by name on the secret recording with donald trump that was released by cohen's attorney earlier this week. listen to the reference. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, david, so that -- i'm going to do that right away. i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. >> okay. joining me now, "new york times" op-ed columnist and msnbc political contributor bret stephens and ron insana. ron, weisselberg is thought to be the most important person in the trump organization whose last name isn't trump. >> right. >> he has been with the trump family forever. donald trump's father and donald trump. the idea is whether payments were made by check or cash or contracts were drawn up or companies were formed, it couldn't happen without weisselberg. now, a lot of people are interested in donald trump's tax returns, but that -- we don't know whether that's within the purview of the mueller investigation

liz: media debating michael cohen tape, law professor allen dershowitz bushes back.c panel, saying. >> you are implying in a way that i am somehow defending trump. that i am making his case. shame on you. i am making a civil liberties case, i am not part of the trump defense team. >> i don't believe you. >> accuse me of doing that, i am not making a case for anybody. i would be making the identical case if hillary clinton were elected and they were trying to stretch the law the way all 4 of you are trying to stretch the law to target someone who -- >> nobody is stretching the law. >> who is try could too defend civil liberties. >> i am not -- >> i am not responsible for what trump said earlier, i am not responsible for what he says now. >> you are defending him, and -- >> i am not defending him, i am not defending him, i am defending civil liberties. liz: former george w. bush assistance brad blakeman. dershowitz said that tape does not have tape of a crime. >> this is 4 against one this is overreold western movies, wherey hangs guy, give him a trial, dershowitz is i

>> you told us allen weisselberg was donald trump's father's accountant, knows where all the money is in the trump organization. michael cohen saying i've spoken to allen about setting this up and the financing, that is where the money comes from. >> so someone needs to talk to allen about what allen knows and when he knew it and what the money was being used for. i highly doubt that anyone in the trump organization really wanted to create a record of this payment. anytime it has come up from rudy that he's said donald trump wanted to write a check so this could be recorded but they're using an llc to mask the whole thing and false identities so no one can see who the parties are involved. i have a hard time believing they wanted to create a record of this. second, i don't know how much in all of this a campaign finance violation really has to worry donald trump. a campaign finance violation is not going to bring down his presidency. but an investigation that goes into the core of his financial dealings and looks at possible financial quid pro quos with people in his company that did work with people who had connection

oh, it's obstruction. >> as the money man for the trump organization faces michael cohen's grand jury. >> i have spoken to allenelberg about how to set the whole thing up. >> tonight, the growing legal trouble for the president. >> he knows where all of the financial

michael cohen, how did this start? is this your first con vversati about the subject. he mentioned allen who is another trump organization executive. >> he is saying he knew about the formation to pay the money and all along michael cohen and all of his supporters were saying this is something michael cohen did on his own. nobody from the trump organization had anything to do with it. >> it is fine to fixate on whether he said don't pay cash or pay cash. the real question is what is going on here? what was donald trump's involvement? that's what we want to know. the tape tells us something. it is the beginning of a longer storm. >> and in terms of the context it was in august 2016 this conversation was in september. that had already been done. they are clearly trying to -- or talking about paying back david pecker to kill a story. >> correct. the very specific issue, this much is clear they talking about whether trump himself can pay david pecker and sort of own the contract for karen mcdougal. >> right. it is unlessing in happens to the company. the tape makes it pretty clear the presid

. >> as part of the investigation into michael cohen, "the wall street journal" reporting the finance chief of the trump organization allen weissberg has been called to testify in front of the federal grand jury. he is a witness in the probe of possible bank fraud or campaign finance violations by cohen. weissberg's name came up in the recording of trump and cohen that cohen's lawyer gave cnn this week. the two men talked during the campaign about possibly buying the rights to the former playmates story claiming she had an affair with mr. trump. >> i need to open a company for the transfer of that information regarding our friend david. i will do that right away. >> give it to me. >> i have spoken to allen weissberg about how to set the whole thing up. i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for the financing. >> neither weissberg, the federal prosecutor, nor the trump organization be responded to the request -- organization responded to the request for comment. >>> one official says the meeting may include an update on russian interfere especially efforts. this week, the president tweeted russia

allen weisselberg so critical here? i'll remind viewers that that audio tape that came out, that conversation between michael cohen and donald trump speaking about that hush money payment perhaps to karen mcdougal, that former playboy model, mentioned allen, allen weisselberg in that tape. >> before we get to the tape, allen weisselberg has been a long-time confidant and employee at the trump information. he's the cfo of the trump organization and he's been described as being one of the closest people to the -- not only is he in the innermost circle of the trump family and organization, but he's at the senior-most levels there. somebody described him like wallpaper. he blends in there and for that reason and in part because of his loyalty and his sort of understated presence has been able to last there for decades. he's been at the organization since the days of fred trump, donald trump's father. >> and the bottom line as i understand my colleague katy tur speaking to someone, a former employee of the trump organization basically saying that he knows where all the financial bodies are buried. he would know the president's ne

allen weisselberg so critical here? i'll remind viewers that that audio tape that came out, that conversation between michael cohen and donaldpeaking about that hush money payment perhaps to karen mcdougal, that former playboy model, mentioned allen, allen weisselberg in that tape. >> before we get to the tape, allen weisselberg has been a long-time confidant and employee at the trump information. he's the cfo of the trump organization and he's been described as being one of the closest people to the -- not only is he in the

. >> as the money man for the trump organization faces michael cohen's grand jury. >> i have spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. >> tonight, the growing legal trouble for the president. >> he knows where all of the financial bodies are buried within the trump organization. >> russian hackers target their first vulnerable democrat. then the congressman who moves to impeach rod rosenstein wants to run the house. and then, what we know about the fate of thousands of children the trump administration ripped away from their parents. >> you might want to talk to the department of homeland security if it is possible to reunite you with your daughter. >> good evening from new york. i am chris hayes. in the secretly recorded conversation between donald trump and michael cohen two months before election day, we were introduced to a new and fascinating character in the trump orbit. the man cohen said he turned to to help setting up a company for a secret payment. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of the the info regarding our friend david. i am going to

michael cohen cuts deals. allenelberg, as we learned on the tapes, is the one thattu ly implements the deal. how do you move the money around. that's a big, big development. >> a lot going on there.ge chan in topic. >> this is it. >> 100 days. >> you get excited about that? come on, there's a lot going on there.yo how do see the tide kind of turning? >> look, we basically, there e o phenomenons going on, huge enthusiasm on thleft and amazing loyalty to the president on the right. the loyalty of the president versus democratic enthusiasm. what we saw this week in a bunch of polling, ifou're the republicans, the good news is trump -- the trump world is fired up. the problem is independents look likehey are going in a big way with the democrats, 20 to 30 point leads among independents for the democrats. it's ve's going to happen. >> do you think er is an indicator of what's to come? >> it's interesting. the size of the wave will matter on what happens with russia. i think in many ways november could end up turning into

if you feel like you have heard the name allen wesselberg in the last few days, you have, because in the tape from michaelying the story of the play mate, the name comes up, listen. >>. >> i spoke with allen about how to set the whole thing up, and funding -- yes, it is all of the stu stuff. so we're taking care of it. >> the president has long set red lines, allen weisselberg seems to be the personification of the red line. >> exactly if he worked for the president and the trump administration for many years then he is familiar with all of the finances, and if the investigators have documentary evidence, he can verify it, explain it, explain what this dollar amount means or this wire transfer means or what this check was issued to. he can put the context to the documentary evidence. but it is interesting listening to that tape one more time, it struck me differently this time. it continues -- it starts to sound like why was michael cohen repeating his full name. the more times you listen to it, it seems like he was recording for a purpose of creating a record. that's a little bit of an asize. weisselberg

we now have reporting today indicating that allen has been subpoenaed by the southern district of new york in the michaelase to discuss apparently what was discussed on that tape. what do you expect investigators to find out from allen under oath? >> well, there is a lot they can find out from him under oath, lawrence. he joined the trump organization as accountant for fred trump in the 1970s. he's been with the family for a very long time. and he graduated from that job into the cfo role in the trump organization. he's handled everything from crafting donald trump's own personal income tax filings to making large purchases for trump, signing off on the financial aspects of various deals of the trump organization as entered into and clearly as we know from this tape, he was a participant in figuring out how to structure payments that could be hidden in the event that either prosecutors or others might come looking. we know that he did this from the tape in the payment that at least they were considering speaking to him about how to structure the payments to karen mcdougal. it is a constellation of many d

former lawyer michael cohen who released a recording with then candidate trump talking about paying a former playboy model. cbs reporter mola lenghi has the story. >> i've spoken to allen wisenburg about how to set the whole thing up with -- >> so what are we saying. >> with funding. yes. >> reporter: cbs aired a recording between then presidential candidate trump and michael cohen his long time fixer discussing a payment with mcdoogle. mcdoggle says she had an affair with trump. >> we'll have to pay. no, no, no. i got this. no. no. no. >> reporter: the president says he wants to use cash for the payment. the president's lawyer provided a transcript claiming the president said don't pay cash. the president's own lawyers waived attorney client privilege allowing the recording to be released because they say it shows he did nothing wrong but president trump still has questions about it. he tweeted this morning, what kind of lawyer would tape a client. so sad. is this a first? never heard of it before. why was the tape so abruptly terminated, cut. while i was presumably saying positive things. michael cohen's attorney told good morning america he had good reason to make t

michael cohen says and i spoke to allen about it when it comes time for the financing, which will be cing? and michael cohen says well, i have to pay him something and donald trump says don't pay with cash, dot dot dot, check. michael cohen talks over the president now president and says no, no, no, no, no. >> let me be very clear, first of all, i'm not the 58 alan. it's a different alan they are talking about. number two it remains to be seen. i had a case like this years ago where the issue was s. whether the cops say it's done on wiretaps or not done on wiretaps. the court of appeals listened to the tape about 20 times. finally ruled in my favor. this is an issue for forensics. i think whatever was said the context only suggests the president wanted it to be done through a corporate structure. corporations don't send cash. corporations send texts or wire. the context supports the president's view, regardless of what the words themselves say. this the end, this was the conversation and in the end the lawyer decided to do the way the lawyer wanted to do it. it there is no crime or im

allen weisselberg. weisselberg is considered to be the gatekeeper to trump's personal finances. he is being asked now to testify in the michael cohen case. the criminal investigation. now cohen, the president's former personal attorney, just released one of the secretly released conversations with the president to cnn where we hear him mention by name allen weisselberg about the payment when they're having that conversation about the former playboy model. here is a clip. listen for his name. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david so that -- i'm going to do that right away. >> i've spoken to allen weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. yes. all the stuff. because you never know where that company -- where he's going to be. >> if he gets hit by a truck. >> correct. i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. >> spoke to allen about it. with me now cnn legal analyst, a former federal prosecutor is with us for the eastern and southern districts of new york where cohen -- the cohen case is taking place, is playing out, and jennifer taub is back with u

with the help of his son don junior, safry math of long-time financial guru allen weisselberg and long time lawyer and fixer michael cohen, a small, tight, inner circle where loyalty to the boss is paramount. 18 months later the credo is being tested. wiesel berg being compelled by subpoena to answer questions of federal prosecutors in new york. he knows perhaps about payments to adult film actress a. cnn this past week obtained a once secret recording of then candidate trump talking to cohen about buying mcdougal's silence. >> so i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time to the financing which will be -- >> what financing? >> we'll have to pay. >> with cash? >> no, no. >> check? >> note the "i spoke to allen," connected back to mr. weisselberg. cnn has told cohen asserts mr. trump knew advance about the june 2016 trump tower meeting organized by don junior with russians who promised dirt on hillary clinton. the president says he did not know in advance. in fact, the president and those who speak for him denied it some 20 times back last july when word of the meeting broke. cohen says others

michael cohen explains. >> i need to open a company, i spoke to allen weiselberg about how to set that up, the funding, allthe stuff, you never know, that company, you never know where that will be. so i'm all over to that. i spoke to allen about it, when it comes time for the financing. >> pay cash? >> no no no. >> a couple things, this sheds light on more than the situation, right? the stormy daniels case in relation to a company being set up to make the payment to her, so all of the other stuff, right? if something happens to david pecker where does the knowledge go. so we would deal with this through the company. it sounds clear to me. remember the business of michael cohen paying for this personally. like no no no, you're not going to pay, i'm going to take care of it. maybe it's not accurate, but it is something i heard. you lay all of that out there, and the other thing we can't lose iegt of -- sight of is they claimed no knowledge of the payments, and this is saying something different. when he says you cannot believe what you hear or see, and he has been contradicted. this is the president of the

dow jones has reported a new subpoena has gone out, allen weisselberg has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in a probe of michael, the president's former lawyer and it's not known whether he already appeared before the grand jury or what questions the prosecutors from the new york southern district have for him and they're saying that the date of that subpoena could not be determined weisselberg is an absolutely key figure in the trump organization as the chief financial officer he is viewed as one of the top people inside the trump organization who was not a trump himself. he was mentioned in that michael cohen tape of the president of the united states that was released earlier this week on cnn and other news outlets cohen refers to allen weisselberg about using financing involved in financing payments for secrecy running up to the elections >> eamon thanks so much. out of our bure yo in washington, d.bureau in washington, d.c. >>> back to "the blitz," honeywell. you talked about it, 8% or so this week. >> i did i bought it this week. 8% earnings. it's going to challenge its high what's fascinating about the s

michael cohen probe. a former trump organization employee told me allen knows where all of the financial bodies are buried within the trump organization. interesting choice of words there. joining us now is jason johnson, politics ed door at the root.com. another joining us ruth marcus, and daniel goldman, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. all three are msnbc contributo s contributors. donald trump has repeatedly lied in public. it is on the record. we have his statements. we have his contradictions. michael cohen, many would say he's not trustworthy because he worked for donald trump and, i don't know, he sumbly he did things that are not truthful for donald trump. we don't have a lot of on the record lies or falsehoods if you want to use that word, from michael cohen t. on. the only one that i can think of is that he told chris cuomo that he wasn't recording him when he actually was. so in the credibility fight, ruth, who do you think is going to have the upper hand? >> well, in the credibility fight you have to ask a few questions. one is who has the greater motive t

allen wiesel berg is a much bigger fish than michael cohen. because he knows far more than cohen. wieselberg has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in cohen's probe. he was prominently mentioned in cohen's secret audiotape, regarding a possible hush money payment to karen mcdoug el. listen. >> i've spoken to allen about how to set the whole thing up with funding. >> yes. and it's all the stuff. all the stuff, you never know where that company -- >> gets a direct hit. >> correct. i'm all over that. >> financing. >> we'll have to -- no, no, no, no, no. i got -- no, no, no. >> that tape was released to cnn earlier this week, by cohen's attorney which sparked new questions on whether trump may have broken campaign finance laws. joining me now is barbara mcquaid thank you both for being here. by a flub of accounts 37 wieselberg has a lot of answers. this is a pretty big deal, what do you think the significance is of his subpoena and what are federal investigators looking for here. >> the subpoena is particularly significant because it comes in the investigation in t

reporting that the jump organization finance chief, this is a man named allen wiselberg, he's being called to testify in the michael cohen probe now. this is a man who folks have said is very close to the trump administration. he's got intimate knowledge of the company's financial dealings, he was executive vice president, chief financial officer for the trump administration, according to the article in the journal, described by a person close to the company as, quote, the most senior person in the organization that's not a donald trump. again, this is coming from the journal. jill, what do we make of him being called to testify. could this be a direct response to that secret audiotape we were just talking about? >> it certainly could be because he is named in the audiotape of that one conversation that we have already heard as someone that michael cohen consulted with about the financing of the payment and about setting up the secret corporation to funnel the money through. but i think his name lhas come p before and clearly he knows about the bankruptcies, he knows about the loans from russia and germany and from

allen weisselberg, who is the chief financial officer. a lot of people have said, well, look, he knows far more than michael cohen would have possibly known the trump organization given the length of time he was there. allen was there when donald trump's father was running the company. is he that important? >> you know, when i worked there, and that's a long time ago, allen had just come over from brooklyn, and i think his prime function was to run the every day side of the accounting division, in other words, paying bills. i don't know that he was doing the tax returns. i'd be surprised if he was. i'd think they have lawyers and certainly outside accountants for that. as far as the financial dealings are concerned, yes, i do believe that he got more and more involved as time went on, and donald trusted him. he was almost a family member, like i said before. but i don't think that he would have been the most important person in that, you know, sphere of who does what. i think probably cohen knew more than allen. >> the way the trump organization was set up, does it surprise you some of the chaos and sort of -- the president seems the eye