the only reason a document released by michael avenatti would end up in that case is because michael cohen's lawyers made it that way. the only hook they have have to go after avenatti with the judge is that avenatti sought at one point to join that case. he did not join that case. he's not associated with the case, he's not a party in the matter. yet they're asking the judge to reach out beyond the inl of the case to go after him on this. all they're doing is succeeding in moving these damning allegations into the center. >> these are the things when you talk to michael avenatti the errors that he forces them to make. that's what that pleading in federal court in new york looks like to me. >> he's a sure footed man. >> thanks, lawrence. >> thanks, rachel. it's like every day since michael avenatti entered his life, a crazy day for michael cohen. >> mr. cohen -- >> how are you doing today? >> doing great. thank you. >> my comment about michael avenatti? in response? any response to avenatti? >> his document is inaccurate. >> how do you feel about you may have changed an election? >> p

michael avenatti what's your response to the lawyers seeking to have you barred from the courtroom in the michael cohen case? >> lawrence, good evening. of course, they want to bar me from the courtroom in the proceeding because we've made considerable inroads over the last eight weeks. we've disclosed some damaging, accurate information relating to michael cohen and his activities. and we're not going anywhere, lawrence. regardless of what happens by way of this motion before the honorable judge kimba woods, who you know and i know, and she's an exceptional judge. regardless of what happens,'re not going anywhere. i'm not going anywhere and my client is not going anywhere. we're going to see to it that the truth of what happened here is laid bare for the american people and the evidence is laid bare for the american people. michael cohen and his attorneys don't like us because we speak the truth, because we disclose accurate information about the illegal acts that have occurred over the last two years plus between michael cohen and mr. trump. it's that clear. it's obvious why they wa

rudy giuliani and donald trump have not dared say the words michael avenatti this week after michael avenatti revealed the millions of dollars in payments that michael cohen's llc has received after he used that llc to pay stormy daniels $130,000, including the payment of a $500,000 in flow from a company with strong family ties and business ties to the russian oligarch, viktor vekselberg. that is the payment exposed by michael avenatti that has finally brought the stormy daniels story together with the russian influence in trump world story. it has been michael avenatti's most important moment so far, and most startling revelation about michael cohen. and rudy giuliani has nothing to say about it. not a word. this week rudy giuliani has been silenced, either because the president realizes how much damage rudy giuliani does every time he opens his mouth, or rudy giuliani and the trump team cannot think of a single thing to say about michael cohen pulling in multi-million dollar paychecks by selling access to donald trump, or both. as expected. we're learning more about the big payment

he was speaking for michael cohen, chosen by michael cohen, as michael avenatti says. what happened to him? >> my sense is that everyone in cohen land is not getting on television right now. that that is part of their legal strategy -- >> does michael cohen know that guy he did send out on television was the worst failure he could have possibly sent on tv as a tv lawyer? >> i don't know that he knows that. >> does he think rudy giuliani is hurting him on tv? >> from my reporting from people familiar with it, he thought rudy giuliani getting on television and making things more complicated for him was incredibly frustrating and he could not understand why he got on not only once, but two, three, four times and made things more complicated for him. >> now me and michael cohen have an area of agreement. i knew it was about to happen. emily jane fox, thank you for joining us. really appreciate it. and michael avenatti, hang around because rudy giuliani can't stop talking about you. even when he's asked questions that have nothing to do with you, he can't stop talking about

tonight's last word goes to michael avenatti. he delivered in this hour as a guest on this program about the communication between donald trump's lawyer, michael cohen, and stormy daniels' then lawyer keith davidson when they were arranging the payment to stormy daniels in 2016 of that $130,000. >> there were extensive communications between michael cohen and keith davidson in october of 2016 relating to the timing of this payment and the need for the payment to be made prior to the election. extensive communications relating to the need for the payment to be made when it was made and as it related to potential influence on the election, period. >> michael avenatti gets tonight's last word. there will be more analysis of this breaking news from michael avenatti on "the 11th hour" with brian williams, which starts now. >>> tonight rudy giuliani blows up the trump legal strategy where hush money paidcccc to a p where hush money paid to a porn star is concerned. then the president doubles down. tonight how it changes the investigatio

thanks to stormy daniels' lawyer, michael avenatti, we now know that michael cohen has used essential consultants llc for much, much more than sex hush money deals. an investigative summary prepared by michael avenatti and his law firm released this evening says that michael cohen used essential consultants llc to, quote, engage in suspicious financial transactions totalling $4,425,033.46. and joining us now is michael avenatti, the attorney for stormy daniels who has released this today. michael we all studied this document of yours when it came out today with these lists of payers basically into essential consultants llc. how did you assemble this list? >> carefully. >> but, as i said, i'm not aware that your lawsuit with stormy daniels has reached a discovery stage where a court is approveling you issuing subpoenas to michael cohen to reveal this kind of information to you, which would become available to you eventually in this kind of lawsuit. so i expected you were going to get here. i don't -- i can't imagine how you got here now. >> well, lawrence, this is not your average case

the attorney for stormy daniels, michael avenatti wants the recordings made public. let's bring in our political and legal experts. you heard kathleen say if the recordings included conversations between michael cohen and trump as avenatti claims that they exist, that could be a serious potential headache for the president. >> absolutely. because remember, it's only going to be privileged if the conversations were about legal advice or made for the purpose of legal advice or there is an attorn attorney/client relationship. we've seen time and time again people saying you were never my attorney. there may not be that functional relationship. if that's the case, it could be pupal publicized. if it's things that may be in some way nefarious or criminal in nature, it's more than a headache. it could be a criminal violation, and now he gave the everyday for that. it's contingent on there being a tape tween michael cohen and donald trump. right now it's in the air. >> the only one saying that is michael avenatti. he told jake tapper an hour ago, no doubt about it. there are

michael flynn took our money. so what mr. avenatti has done here is connected a dot because this lawsuit and the allegations that the qataris, they claimed according to this they had bribed michael flynn, now we have michael flynn, michael cohen and the person who is said to have prescribed flynn in the elevator together. i don't know what the connection between michael cohen -- i know nothing about the cohen connection to this, if there is any cohen connection, over than the fact they rode in an elevator together. but the attempts to engage in what seems like an influence operation through this very strange medium, an old-timers basketball league, which a strange story. it involves a rapper like ice cube. one of the things michael avenatti has done is bring various threads together and create a garment, we don't know the shape of the garment, or i don't, but the garment is more visible. >> joyce vance, sernl certainly the special prosecutor is aware of this sworn statement in the lawsuit and the way -- what rumaihi is quoted as sayin

as an example of what michael avenatti is concerned about, he told the judge about a phone call he got from a reporter. mr. avenatti, your honor i received a call last week from a member of the press who asked me to comment on an audio recording that the member of the press had evidently heard. during that discussion mr. davidson disclosed attorney/client privileged communications that he had with my client. later, outside the courtroom, after michael cohen's lawyer admitted that such repocordings might exist, michael avenatti called the recordings, the trump tapes. >> just like the nixon tapes years ago, we now have what i will refer to as the trump tapes. mr. ryan admitted that there are audio recordings that michael cohen was taking for years and that those recordings are, to quote him, not only do they exist but they are under lock and key, and some of them relate to my client and her attorney/client privilege communications. mr. cohen and his attorney, mr. ryan, should release all of those audio recordings to the american people and to congress so that they can be heard by all. >>

michael avenatti somehow got access to these financial transactions now. and they're at least partially confirmed, these detailed financial records about this secretive business entity associated with michael cohen. other news agencies have been able to obtain financial documents which they say on -- excuse me, which they say corroborate avenatti's reporting. and we've had a whole day of these big companies bumbling around, eventually confirming the truth of what he alleged. so why do we know this stuff? is it potentially dangerous to the criminal case against michael cohen or to the mueller investigation that we do know this stuff? is this stuff integral to their case? will it hurt their case now that it's out in the open? the treasury department's inspector general announced today that they're investigating whether banking documents were improperly leaked in this case. there is also the question of how much of it is true. although these big companies involved have confirmed the payments or said they actually paid michael cohen even more than what avenatti

over the weekend, michael avenatti released video images which he said showed a qatari official in thetrump tower on that day with michael cohen. and today that qatari official confirmed that he was indeed at trump tower on that date. michael avenatti then tweeted today once again we have been proven right. more ugly details to follow. ahmed al rumaihi is the qatari official who was then the head of qatar's investment fund controlling over $100 billion. mr. al rumaihi's admission that he was at trump tower came one day after his company issued a statement about the video images of him that michael avenatti released saying we do not confirm and have no basis to confirm the video. last night here on this program, michael avenatti point to a statement made under oath in a civil lawsuit in california in which a business partner of mr. al rumaihi quotes him as having claimed to have purchased or attempted to purchase influence with the trump administration. jeff quatenets who is a friend of steve bannon and who is now suing mr. al rumaihi said mr. al rumaihi requested i set up a meeting bet

michael avenatti will join us here on "new day" in just minutes. let begin our coverage with abby phillips live at the white house. >> reporter: we're learning some new details today about michael cohen, the president's personal lawyer and his finances. his ties to a company that's linked to a russian oligarch who was sanctioned by the u.s. for election meddling. that oligarch cnn has learned has been questioned by the mueller investigative team and we also have some new details about what the investigators asked him about. cnn has learned that special counsel robert mueller's investigators questioned russian oligarch viktor vekselberg about hundreds of thousands of dollars his company's u.s. affiliate columbus nova paid to president trump's personal attorney michael cohen after the 2016 election. viktor vekselberg he's close to vladimir putin and one of several glarkz sanctioned by the u.s. government next month. the company was also hit with penalties in retaliation for russia's interference in the election. >> i can't make any comments as it rela

yes, we would prefer michael avenatti was not out there but maybe mueller thinks michael avenatti has a small fraction of what they've been able to uncover. as well as michael avenatti has done in terms of investigating this issue a, preparing this memo, you can bet that mueller has vastly greater resources. he has the power of the government behind him to obtain these documents and i suspect had this stuff a long time. to the extent people are saying words, inconsistent, could come back to frustrate mueller or make him very happy. >> we heard briefly from a guy who i'm sure is looking at this very closely and you have to wonder if his nervousness level is rising. that is michael cohen. so media caught up with him this morning and asked him about those documents that avenatti put out there. here's what he said -- >> mr. cohen -- >> great. thank you. >> how do you feel -- >> any response? any response? >> the documents are inaboccura. >> how do you feel about you may have changed an election? >> not too close. not too close. >> chuck what do you suppose that means? it's inaccurate. a d

michael avenatti said there were payments from the associate with the russian oligarch and went to michael cohen and maybe it was reimbursed to storm and the money doesn't match up but now the best case scenario for vekselberg is they were just buying influence, including at&t, four $50,000 between october 2017 and 2018 and $200,000 with anti-trust net neutrality and nov artis and paid to michael cohen and they met with him at davos, what are the legal implications of the president's lawyer running this sort of weird off-book consulting firm where you pay to hang out with him? >> well, one question is -- is whether they were trafficking and influence and whether michael cohen was promising things that government could do which raises bribery and other things beyond the initial scope of what happened in 2016 but that can be very much in the purview of federal investigators. two other points here as we dig in, one is there was a lot of discussion about whether bob mueller had handed off this whole thing into new york because it wasn't collusion any more. and that was a complex jurisdictional

do you have any reporting to add to this picture coming out of a court filing from michael avenatti? >> what we do know and has been reported before, that michael cohen recorded conversations. and when the government executed its search warrants last month, those recordings may or may not has been some of the things that were swept up. they were on probably electronic devices that were either in his office or his hotel room or his home. and i'm sure that those recordings are somewhere in the government's possession. >> i want to talk about the avenatti brand a little bit. today, there was also a $10 million judgment that he lost against ex-partners, where he owed them money. there's a lot of shady stuff out there. i still think michael avenatti is a head fake to the real issue. donald trump has slept with a lot of women. he's paid off a lot of women. that's not going to change the way anybody feels about him or take him out of office. and avenatti to me is becoming a little bit of a carnival side show. he is a side show, and i do believe, and i speak to michael all the time and i'm no

. >>> we just heard from michael avenatti, the lawyer for stormy daniels. i want to bring in michael zelden who was the assistant to the justice department and there are so many michaels. i'll go to r eva so i'm not confused. you say he's a civil lawyer violating a civil agreement. >> i love avenatti and that he's exposing all this information about donald trump and his relationship with michael cohen. i agree with him 100% when he says the american people have a right to know this information. i just don't want anything that michael avenatti is doing to interfere with the special counsel's investigation. and because he's not the federal prosecutor designated to investigate donald trump, i want to make sure. i'd like to make sure he's not in any way damaging either of those investigations. his lawsuit against donald trump to void the nondisclosure agreement is solid. i think he is a repository, as he calls himself, of information, and he shares it. we do know how the media works, and this could backfire and he could soon find himself a subject of criticism,

michael avenatti's or robert mueller's? >> um, neither. leave it there. thank you both for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. we're going to be right back. it'll connect us to everything that's going on in the company. get it for jean who's always cold. for the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. give us the data we need. in one place, anywhere we need it. help us do our jobs better. with domo we can run this place together. well that's that's your job i guess. ♪ my time is thin, but so is my lawn. now there's new scotts thick 'r lawn 3-in-1 solution. with a soil improver! seed! and fertilizer to feed! ♪ ♪ now yard time is our time. this is a scotts yard. guarantee. now yard time is our time. and so should you. on struts, brakes, shocks. does he turn everything to gold? not everything. now get $100 back on a 2-axle brake service with your midas credit card. book an appointment online. mitzi: psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ( ♪ ) mike: i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ( ♪ ) joni: th

sheer fact that michael cohen's attorney says yes, there are recordings out there, that's what michael avenattid to bolster all his claims, and it's uncheer what exactly tapes there are and what's out there and what information is on them, wolf. >> brynn, thank you. michael zeldin, if there are phone conversations recorded between michael cohen and donald trump, and you saw his tweet michael avenatti said, nixon 2.0. seems to be suggesting that there may be these kinds of taped conversations potentially that could be explosive. >> it depends on what's on the tapes and what they relate to, of course. so there are two lawsuits going on here. one is avenatti's stormy daniels i want deposition testimony of the president because it relates to my achievement's nondisclosure agreement. if those tapes bear on that, and when the freeze on that case is lifted, presumably michael avenatti will get to ask the president what is on those tapes. so there's a forum for which those can be released. then there's the southern district of new york case, which if there is evidence of criminal where wrongdoing, the

michael avenatti's or robert mueller's? >> um, neither.hance. >> we're going to have to leave it there. thank you both for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. we're going to be right back. that make the difference. only botox® cosmetic is fda approved to temporarily make frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines look better. it's a quick 10 minute treatment given by a doctor to reduce those lines. ask your doctor about botox® cosmetic by name. the effects of botox® cosmetic, may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be a sign of a life-threatening condition. do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyelid and eyebrow drooping and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of seriou

they're going to be brawling in court over this, and you know michael avenatti, he does not back down. but stephen ryan, who is michael cohen's attorney, i think here is really ready for a fight oefover this, because they believe, as they say in this, that the actual bank records, they have no reason to believe that mr. avenatti is in lawful possession of michael cohen's bank records. and that clearly is going to come up in court. how did avenatti get these bank records? >> and he has given no direct answer yet on that point. gloria, you have a lot of sources both on the president's legal team and michael cohen's world. you know, in light of all of this, what are you hearing from both camps tonight? >> well, look, i think michael cohen is obviously having a rough time here. i think there are a lot of people in michael cohen's world, and in the world of donald trump, i should say, who believe that michael cohen, with these lobbying clients, overstated his contacts with the president, once donald trump left trump tower and left the transition and went into the white house. so, you know,

i have seen a lot of michael avenatti on tv. there he is. why would i make sure to watch this guy tonight? it's because of this document that he has just released. mr. avenatti put this out this afternoon, posted it online. it was this stand alone set of sort of jaw dropping allegations about financial transactions involving the president's lawyer, michael cohen. mr. avenatti did not release any supporting documentation or information to go along with this thing that he posted online. initially i'm not sure anybody in the news business knew what to make of sort of wild and surprising allegations he is making here. it's hard to know what to do with it without any backup. but now over the course of the last couple of hours, both "the new york times" and nbc news have reported that they, too, have obtained and reviewed original financial documents that substantiate what michael avenatti is saying. so now we have some actual news here. it's about the company that michael cohen used, the president's lawyer used to pay off stormy daniels. right bef

t, which is trying to acquire cnn and its parent company time warn per .the information that michael avenatti revealed earl yer said that at&t had paid several hundred thousands of dollars to michael cohen's essential con l consultants llc. at&t released a statement confirming that. another company, a pharmaceutical company just issued this statement saying any agreement with essential consultants were before its current ceo took office and has expired. as for why central consultants received $500,000 from a u.s. affiliate of a company owned by a russian oligarch named vikt viktorvekselberg, we have reached out to michael cohen and his attorney and neither have responded. within aapproximately 75 day with the payment of mr. clifford, viktor vekselberg caused substantial funds to be deposited into the bank account from which mr. cohen made the payment. these funds may have replenished the account. on october 2016 through january 2018, mr. cohen used his first republic account to engage in suspicion financial transactions totaling $4,425,000 and some change. chief among the suspicious financial

what i do want to ask you about is michael avenatti's style?s the impression that maybe mr. trump is afraid to get into it directly with him? >> i think that's exactly right. we don't know what the president is thinking, of course. but his reluctance to tweet about this speaks volumes. if you look at what he's been able to accomplish. he's got video of people walking into trump tower of the he's been able to point out or to tell the world really about this funnel of money that was coming in and the stormy daniels piece of it is only a smaller piece of a very big pie that he's carving in to and the more he's out there talking, the more worried the trump administration is becoming. i think it's ultimately very damaging. >> john, the lower third here reads that michael avenatti and stormy daniels are unlikely heroes. do you think that ultimately michael avenatti will be a hero for stormy daniels? you get lost in forgetting the fact that all this is about her attempts to get out of a nda? >> his primary duty is to his client and it really is up to

that comes from michael cohen's opponent, michael avenatti. breaking right now he's released information, seven pages which i'm going to walk through and this tweet where he talks about the allegation that michael cohen received half a million dollars in the months after the 2016 election from a company controlled by russian oligarch who has been sanctioned by the united states and linked to putin. this is breaking allegation. nbc news has not been able to confirm this material. we don't have the underlying documents from the bank and we don't have a full response from mr. cohen. i promise to bring it to you as soon as we get it. i do know and i can tell you that the very oligarch mentioned here in this material was in the only sanctioned by the u.s. treasury in april under the trump administration but he was also contacted by mueller's investigators who reportedly questioned him two months ago according to new york times. they snagged him as he flew into a new york area airport. he's not been identified as a suspect in connection with the muel

out about michael cohen's businesses. they argue that avenattiourt because he did use bank records and information from, for example, a michael cohen who was a canadian in tanzania and another michael cohen who is a resident in israel. they further argument this inspector general report that the treasury department is now saying that they're going to look into where did they get these bank records from. were they obtained illegally. they are saying, okay, michael avenatti you have done things that should disqualify you from representing stormy daniels. they are not saying the case ought to be thrown out. they are also taking issue with the fact that michael cohen received money from this russian oligarch. they're also denying that as well. again, wolf, this is their first response to what michael avenatti has been saying this week about their client michael cohen. what they are saying to him is we will see you in court. >> what do you make of this? >> one of the questions from the very beginning since this was made public is where did avenatti ge

michael avenatti said payments to cohen's company raises serious questions. >> i don't believe michael cohen is registered as a lobbyist as he should be to represent any foreign agents or foreign interests. the big question is this. all this money comes into this account, we have reason to believe it didn't all go to michael cohen. michael cohen needs to disclose where the balance of the money went, and if it went to donald trump or the trump organization and if he was part of a scheme to sell access to the president of the united states, that would be a shocking development, but i don't think that's out of the realm of possibility at this point. >> ahead on morning joe, reaction to overnight developments from michael avenatti. >>> and breaking down election results. don blankenship has conceded. what it means for the gop chances of winning that senate seat in the fall. >>> and mike pompeo makes another surprise trip to north korea. those stories and a check of the weather when we come back. this is the story of green mountain coffee roasters dark magic told in the time it takes to bre

eastern on msnbc. >>> still ahead, michael avenatti will be our guest. ll talk to him about his bomb shell report that details some questionable financial dealings of president trump's personal attorney michael cohen. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. dear great grandfather, you were persecuted, and forced to flee the country of your birth. but you started a new life in a brand new world. when i built my ancestry family tree, i found your story... then, my dna test helped me reclaim the portuguese citizenship you lost. i'm joshua berry, and this is my ancestry story. combine the most detailed dna test with historical records for a deeper family story. get started for free at ancestry.com historical records for a deeper family story. here's the story of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. gr

. >>> the breaking news tonight, michael avenatti's explosive allegations about michael cohen. a half million dollar payment from a company with ties to a russian oligarch and a friend of putin. money that went into the same account used to pay off stormy daniels. >>> plus perhaps the biggest undoing of the obama era yet, donald trump announces the u.s. is out of the iran nuclear deal. >>> and steve kornacki is at the big board with tonight's late primary election results, including the fate of the candidate who ran to the right of donald trump. "the 11th hour" on a tuesday night begins now. >>> good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 474 of this trump administration brings new allegations that president trump's personal lawyer took half a million dollars from a russian oligarch. much more on that in just about 30 seconds. but first we want to catch you up on tonight's primary races across the country. if you've been watching, you know we've been keeping a close eye on that west virginia republican senate primary. president trump weighed in

although they do seem to indicate the payments that michael avenatti has been talking about. does it make sense to you that michael cohen would accept $500,000 in payments from a company -- an american company whose head, american head is related to a russian oligarch whose -- who runs the parent company back -- and is very close with vladimir putin after the election at a time when the -- his client, the president of the united states, is under, you know, suspicion and a cloud of collusion or cooperation with russia? >> well, i don't know that it makes sense in terms of is that the smartest thing to do at that period of time. maybe not. this is a period of time that, as reported, he has not been invited to join the president at the white house. he's kind of trying to scramble and figure out what he's going to do. maybe he just sets up this consulting shop and starts taking in money from wherever he can get it. i do think the fact of that money coming into him is of great interest to the prosecutors who i think have had this information for a long time. i'm sure they've alread

i wonder if you can get your analysis of the claim that michael avenatti makes, and he has a big dog de at the bing of the show tonight. >> what communication did michael cohen have with the president relating to this liability around the time that that form was completed? because if they discussed purposefully excluding this liability from that form, or if any acts were taken to further keeping it off the form, that would be a serious, serious problem for the president. what communication did michael cohen have with the president, relating to this liability around the time that that form was completed? because if they discussed purposefully excludeing this liability from that form or if any acts were taken -- >> cheri, that sound bite was so great, i wanted to play it twice. and yet it was not the exact piece of analysis i wanted to review. let me just read it to you. he basically said the trump team is not smart, they're plagying tic tac toe, they are incompetent, they are going to get caught. but he is, as i say, their legal opponent. on a scale of one to ten, how much do you grade

>> zero. >> we're joined now by michael avenatti. michael, i don't know if you can hear there, there's a pause and a shock by sean hannity, when he says i didn't know that, after rudy giuliani says that the president reimbursed michael cohen. >> well, lawrence, thanks for having me on. i have to tell you, i am rarely, as your viewers know, rendered speechless. but i am absolutely speechless at this revelation and this admission. and i hope that your viewers, and i hope the american people, upon hearing this and watching that clip, they should be outraged. i don't care whether you're on the left or on the right or in the center. i don't care what your party affiliation is. you deserve to be told the truth by your president and the people that stand at the podium at the white house briefing station or podium at the white house briefing conference, press conference, and answer questions. i don't care what your political persuasion is, that's what you deserve as an american citizen. this is an outrage what has gone on here. the american p

avenatti's report came from. a couple of clues that are not from michael cohen indicates that the name was run through a gof government terminal and came up with good hits and bad hits. that's an interesting take away here. >> guy, what did this change when avenatti's documents came out, did it change how you view the case and where do you think we are headed? >> despite what avenatti was saying earlier in the broadcast, i don't think it is good to file paper we ares with a federal judge and be wrong 5% of the time and to make mistakes, if true, they've gotten the names wrong and they've gotten amounts wrong. they've gotten transactions wrong. even though the bulk of it may be right. i still don't think it is good for avenatti. i haven't been a fan when i was with the government and now i represent people on the other side. i'm not a fan of trying your cases in the immediate and that is his strategy. >> do you think what we learned from avenatti last night only changed what we learned about this kacase what the public kno and mueller proceeding at his altitude, southern district of new york at theirs and we get to kno

it goes on to say michael avenatti gave a toxic mix of misinformation. mr. cohen said as much in shorter form when cameras d esended upon him outside his midtown hotel while get into a cab here in new york. >> any response? any response to avenatti? >> his document is inaccurate. >> mr. avenatti was back on television tonight, two hours ago in this very studio pushing back hard on all of this. here is what he told rachel maddow. >> this is really a clear example, rachel, of ignoring the elephants in the room and concentrating on the fleas on the floor. and what do i mean by that? so in the report that we issued, we identified about $3,180,503 worth of financial transactions. they've taken issue with a whopping $20,583, okay? so we struck a percentage -- our report appears to be 99.35% accurate, which if this was an election, that would be pretty good for the popular vote. >> tonight's news comes as we're still tracking developments on the parts s of avenatti's repo that are accurate and seem to intersect with the overall russia investigation. washington post

michael avenatti, stormy daniels' lawyer, says there's a great deal of evidence. contemporaneous at the time that they did, in fact, discuss the campaign. >> michael avenatti is going to say what he has to say to collect his money. he'll be on later. people can judge why he let it go on "saturday night live." if this is a serious case and not a comedy. here's the test of the campaign finance commission. if it could be for any other purpose. if a man buys a suit, if a woman buys a dress, it cannot be considered a campaign contribution. this was for another purpose. to protect him and his family. it may have involved the campaign. doesn't matter. it would have been done under any other circumstances if there was no campaign. >> if that's the case, then why wasn't it -- >> i can prove -- i can prove it's been done numerous times. not necessarily with president trump. but with many other people that i and other lawyers have represented. >> if it could have been done any other time, she gave an interview in 2011. on radio shows earlier as well. why didn't the president

michael cohen's attorney took quite a shot at michael avenatti. stephen ryan said i've never seen an attorney conduct himself the way mr. avenatti is conducting himself. he said what he did in releasing those records referring to the financial documents when we became aware of involving michael cohen last week was quote entirely improper. he said it was a premeditated drive by shooting of my client's rights. there were definitely some back and forth twobetween michael ave noot tee. the judge said she will hold his right to intervene in this case. right now he doesn't have standing to appear in court. two significant rulings today as this ongoing criminal investigation moves forward and that's the latest here from lower manhattan. >> we should point out that michael avenatti came out and went right to the cameras but more briefly than usual. whether that brush back is having an affect yet, remains to be seen. matt miller, first of all, we don't know what they are looking into. we know that there has been this extraordinary series of raids. the raid

in addition, michael avenatti has been very savvy here. lawyers who use the public domain to litigate their cases often are criticized for doing that. but i think it is a very effective strategy particularly in this case when you can't get a lot of information from bob mueller's team because they are rightfully keeping everything confidential. when you see him go on tv and baiting the white house to make a lot of misstep, i think that's a smart strategy. they are not trying to take out donald trump. she is trying to get out of an nda. michael cohen, up until recently, filed an arbitration case in qaa ska to keep her quiet, and has been essentially threatening her and putting pressure on her to keep her quiet. she wants to tell her story without the threat of having to pay donald trump millions of dollars. that's what's happening. >> all right, guys. what's happening also you will come back in a little bit and we will talk about that wildly inappropriate comment from the would you say aide about senator john mccain. come on. >>> boiler poin

to perhaps seek this information from michael avenatti. they say some of this information was seized in those fbi searches that occurred at his home in office at michael cohen's office. so certainly the issue here is a that michael cohen, that michael avenatti has posted some information that they say is inaccurate, but they want to know just how michael avenatti got ahold of this information and just moments ago, he responed to this court filing. he's essentially calling it baseless. says that mr. ryan's submission, michael cohen's attorney, on behalf is baseless and sanctionable. they fail to contradict 99% of the statements. so certainly he's continuing the fight here, not backing down and we'll see if the judge in new york entertains this. >> thank you very much. now to our national political reporter, mj lee, patrick healy and former nixon white house couns counsel, john dean. you've been breaking so much of this story. these payment frs novartis and how it was cohen who approached novartis from your reporting and you're learning more