and michael cohen's bank accounts. the flow of that money contains possible inaccuracies about four transactions, amounting to $20,583. so that makes michael avenatti's document 99.6% accurate. one of the inaccuracies in michael avenatti's document was a wire transfer from kenya to michael cohen for $980, but it was not michael cohen, the man who has said he would take a bullet for donald trump. it was a 26--year-old israeli named michael cohen, who told nbc news, i am an aveonic technician in ll airlines. the 26-year-old michael cohen said he had no idea how the mixup could have occurred but he's been getting lots of attention. my whole family was surprised. friends called me, it was a crazy day. it was a crazy day because of michael avenatti's 99.6% accuracy of the flows into the accounts of the man who has always called him donald trump's fixer. last night michael avenatti told us there were possibly more payments than he discovered and today that was proven true. michael cohen showed a farm -- pharmaceutical company

at michael cohen's bank records.his isn't -- they were clearly gotten either through a government subpoena or through civil litigation, they would have been protected, because that's private personal information, and so, you know, we've all sort of moved to the next conversation about it, but in truth, you know, none of us should be looking at his personal banking information. >> ann, norm, thank you so much for being here. so, here we are, and the one person we haven't heard from about all of this, michael cohen. randi kaye has been looking for him. she's outside the hotel where he's staying. randi? >> reporter: john, we have been looking for him. we think he's inside here at this hotel on park avenue. he returned here about 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, we saw him returning, that was the last we've seen of him, although earlier in the day, we did catch up with him, we were able to ask him how he's doing, he said he's doing great and thanked us for asking. in the meantime tonight, we wanted to take a closer look at how

the company does confirm that they paid michael cohen. they say they paid him as a business consultant. they say they paid him as a business consultant, quote, regarding potential sources of capital. question number one, why do we know this stuff? 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

that is something that michael cohen apparently did very well. >> before michael cohen became entangled in a presidential scandal, he was the kid from the suburbs who revered donald trump. >> michael was drawn to him, his personality, his brashness, his approach to life. >> i think they both defined themselves by what they wear, drive, what they can buy and sell. >> will that admiration and loyalty be enough to protect the president? >> i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, good man. >> attorney/client privilege is not a magic wind. if he is helping you commit a crime. it's a story with one explosive revelation after another. >> raising all sorts of new questions. >> >> he said he would take a bullet for the president. when he said it, he sounded like he meant it. >>> hello. welcome to a special edition of "headliners." in a political landscape full of colorful characters michael cohen stands out. he leapt to the front page with plot twists worthy of a legal thriller. how did he get here? >> breaking news. it's a bombshell. >> tonight, a dramatic

forget about michael cohen.hael cohen is a guy who trades taxi medallions in redhook, brooklyn, and yet he is getting these payments from two global corporations. they have a lot of explaining to do. and we haven't even gotten to the fact that now after months and months, maybe a year plus of asking the question was there a direct link, more direct than russians showing up in the president's son's office, more direct than russians reaching out to papadopoulos and others, was there actually money that changed hands? we don't know all the facts, but now it appears that perhaps money changed hands. and that's profoundly -- let me put it this way. that races profoundly serious questions that we have not considered to date. >> and michael avenatti, that's why the biggest headline coming out of your report today is the $500,000 from that company that has the backing of the russian oligarch. that's what congressman himes is talking about. >> yes, lawrence. but, again, i think we've only scratched the surface on this. i

michael cohen had dinner with president trump at mar-a-lago. re that, on march fourth, cohen was also at mar-a-lago for an event. cohen is not a member of mar-a-lago and would have needed aan invite. posted saying he was happy to see cohen at #mar-a-lago. called michael cohen to quote check in before cohen appeared in court regarding his office raid. again, the white house down-playing his relationship. >> the president has many attorneys. >> reporter: michael cohen's own lawyer painted a picture of more than a relationship. before trump became president, nearly constant contact between the two men. >> michael cohen got calls at 3:00 in the morning. >> reporter: has that changed after more than a decade of michael cohen being at trump's side? perhaps, there are own two men who know the answer to that. so michael cohen was one of the originals who pushed for donald trump to run for president. back in 2011, he started a web side called should trump one. and as much as the white house has been trying to distance donald trump from michael cohen, mic

and that is that michael cohen is donald trump's fixer. he was for years the president's right hand man. he constantly spoke to the president. so any payment from any company to cohen is potentially important. and speaking of, i should note, that cohen and his attorney have not responded to our requests for comment tonight. >> m.j., thank you very much. i seem to recall when you first came on, the very fact that it was so easy to trace essential consultants to michael cohen is because michael cohen did not do a good job of covering his tracks when he set this company up. >> eh signed as the incorporator, which is absurd if yoer uh ear try you're trying to shield yourself from an entity. at&t said they paid $200,000 get insights into the administration. i guess that's why the vast majority of american people can't get honesty and insights. because they don't have $200,000 to pay michael cohen to get insights. you shouldn't have to pay $200,000 to get insights into the administration. we all know what that really means. that's first of all. s

it could include a number of reporters talking to michael cohen. it could include any number of people, all having nothing to do with michael's case. it could be something completely discrete, set apart and have absolutely nothing to do with this. and so i just want to dial it back. i'm probably the only one in the panel who worked at the department of justice. everybody at doj takes their responsibility very seriously. >> i do want -- hugh hewitt, we have a large group with us, including somebody who has also worked at the department of justice. >> okay. >> i'm sorry, go ahead, i'll let you finish your thought. >> we take it very, very seriously. they're not going to go get a warrant because they'd like to listen in on the president. they're not going to get a warrant because they're interested in salacious gossip. it has to do to a specific case for which there was probable cause and they will put aside anything unrelated to that case. i think rosenstein spoke to that at the museum the other day. >> mr. cohen, i think that's right, the process tha

we shouldn't lose sight of the big picture is that michael cohen is donald trump's fixer. ident's right-hand man. so any payment is potentially important. cohen and his attorney have not responded to our request for comment. >> i seem to recall early on when you first came on. it was easy to trace essential consultants to michael cohen is because michael cohen did not do a good job of covering his tracks when he set this company up. >> he signed as the incorporator which is absurd. if you are trying to shield your involvement in the particular entity. >> at and t states they paid $200,000 to betterened t unders the physician. >> to get those insights. you shouldn't have to pay $200,000 to get insights into the administration. we know what that means. that is first of all. second of all, it is interesting that at and t comes out and they issue their statement that they pay $200,000 for insights, and at the same time you have the entity tied to the oligarch stating they were purchasing real estate consulting services. you know, it is odd to me. >> and business opportunities i

>> then why did michael cohen make it? >> you have to ask michael cohen. michael was my attorney and you'll have to ask michael. >> so, he said he didn't know and michael cohen has said all along that he did not -- that the president did not pay him back, sara. >> that's right. and there was another question, and the tape didn't go that long, that they asked the president on air force one that day, they asked him do you know where michael cohen got the money to make that poimt? and president trump says no, i don't know. there's no mention of this notion that he repaid him. michael cohen as you pointed out has said he's done this on his own. the striking thing about this is rudy giuliani new to the president's team but the president and his allies felt like is this would bring much-needed star power to their team and firepower, that he could be someone out there defending the president and take a harder line when it came to the mueller investigation but he seemed to have created another mess. the notion that you would have this attorney come on and not know

signed michael d. cohen, esquire, personal attorney to president donald j. trump. michael avenatti in another tweet pointed out, mr. giuliani claimed that mr. cohen is no longer mr. trump's lawyer as of when? because as of april 11, 2018, this year, he was still his lawyer as evidenced by the e-mail i just posted. see also mr. trump's comments on air force one that same month. michael avenatti has not revealed how he obtained an e-mail from michael cohen to attorney keith davidson. joining our discussion now, harry litman, tim o'brien, and jennifer rogers, former federal prosecutor. she is now executive director for the center of advancement of integrity at columbia law school. that signature block on michael cohen's e-mail is fascinating because this is the new phone he had to get after the fbi seized all of his phones, more than a dozen of them apparently. so he had to deliberately type onto there after the fbi raid, personal attorney to donald trump. what's your reading of that? >> it's also the title he was very unabashed about using apparently around the world

think about what rudy giuliani just said about michael cohen. says cohen engaged in this kind of activity on behalf of trump, took care of things so trump wouldn't have to necessarily do it. he's taking care of hush money payments to a porn graphic actress that is alleging she had an affair with donald trump. this is the way of doing business in the real estate empire, i'm sure you can go out all across the country and find people who are very successful that don't have fixers like this that are dealing with such lewd types of allegations. before we get into whether it's illegal owner, that in itself should say something, don. >> yeah. it's unbelievable. this is kind of the gift that keeps on giving. i'm not sure the trump folks is viewing it as a gift but i'm sure daniels and avenue naavenai are. >> what's your reaction to this? >> it's a bombshell if you will. it's a stunning development in this case. for so long there has been a real separation, michael cohen saying there was no affair, the white house saying there was no favor, donald trump

something michael cohen knows absolutely nothing about. joining us now is david murray, a former u.s. treasury official who focussed on illicit financing. he is vice president at financial integrity network. i want to get more of your action as you reported to ronan farrow, in his reporting, about what you see in these reports about michael cohen's banking transactions. you said there's a lot of red flags here. like what? >> thanks, lawrence for having me. the biggest red flag really is that the account activity does not match the profile that the institution established. so when first republic one boarded michael cohen, essential consulting, they established an idea of what the company's activity would look like through that account. the activity that actually went through the account did not look like the profile they established. that's a major red flag. and that in and of itself coconspirator cause for a financial institution to file a suspicious activity report. >> i'm so struck by the amount of work it would take for a bank to monito

this is michael cohen.ou know, a guy whose legal skills have been cast in some considerable doesn't recently. why would somebody be paying him anybody, an american company, somebody from russia. they're paying him for access to the president. they're paying him for information that will help them influence the united states policy on things like sanctions, iran, and other things in which they have a big, big state. i don't think there is any doubt about that. i'm not here saying that any of this is illegal at this moment. it is very confusing. but as confused as many of us may be, you can be sure that robert mueller and his team are not so confused. and i think that, you know, you're going to see an awful lot of people if this is legal calling for reform or the foreign agents registration act provisions that allow things like this to happen. >> you're leading me to my next question, then. because, again, there is no indication at this point that there is anything illegal about this. if the -- is it unusual

, 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. >> does michael cohen know that guy he did send out on television was the worst failure he would 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 complicating 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 for difficult for him. >> now me and michael cohen have an area of agreement. emily jane fox, thank you for joining us. 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 you. that's what he did this morning. so i want to see if you have any comments. we're going to take

this was in effect a loan he had gotten from michael cohen. ohen puts up $130,000 in the first place, and then trump reimburses him. so i actually think that may be a more serious matter than the campaign finance. but look, it all is going to depend on what the communications are between michael cohen and the lawyer for stormy daniels, and stormy daniels herself. was it discussed in the context of the campaign. >> michael gets the last word. >>> when we come back, rudy giuliani did something today that donald trump has not dared to do. rudy giuliani insulted michael avenatti. we will show you what rudy giuliani had to say. we'll show you his attacks on michael avenatti. and michael avenatti is here to respond.t ve got an idea sir. get domo. 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 gue

>> wow, michael cohen completely dismissing michael avenatti's report. we learned that cohen's shell company, essential consultants llc received payments from several businesses. in fact, a senior official inside one of those companies just told nbc news, cohen reached out to them shortly after the election, quote, promising access to the new add. donny deutsche is here, msnbc contributor charlie sykes, contributing editor for the weekly standard. steve schmidt is also back with us. he's in washington today. donny, let me start with you. you're michael cohen's friend. how is he doing? >> he's okay. i spent an hour with him yesterday and spoke to him today. we have to remind ourselves a few things. he has not been charged with anything. michael said as far as avenatti's document, a couple things. not only are therein acsizz, there are inconsistencies. he brings up a very interesting point. is he looking for a g machine man's badge? all this avenatti as it relates to cohen, he is in a civil contract suit with cohen. all this other cloak and dagger stuff, he

kirstjen nielson is speaking out tonight. >>> plus, legal troubles mounting for michael cohen as new rts reveal more ties between cohen and russia. >>> and trump's tough talk rattling america's closest allies, but is his base loving it? and more loyal than ever? let's go "outfront." >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the breaking news, a cabinet in chaos tonight. president trump's homeland security secretary kirstjen nielson telling colleagues she was close to resigning a

i think it's also worth emphasizing why michael cohen is such an important figure in all of this. he is donald trump's fixer. he was the president's right-hand man for many years. he constantly talked to the president. so any payment to cohen during this presidency is potentially important. i will note on a final note that cohen and his attorney have not responded to our request for comment tonight. anderson? >> thanks very much. >>> we're going to dig deep noor the legal implications for michael cohen and the criminal investigations surrounding him. >>> also ahead, the very latest from primary voting in four states tonight. the closer you get to home, the more you know the commute is worth it. you and that john deere tractor... you can keep dreaming up projects all the way home. it's a longer drive. but just like a john deere, it's worth it. a place with 24-hour valet service... and upholstery classes. a place where seniors get the care they need in the comfort of home. home instead senior care. proven to protect street skaters and freestylers. stops up to 97% uv. lasts through he

affiliate paid to michael cohen after the election. the purpose of those payments is unclear tonight, but michael avenatti, the attorney for adult film star stormy daniels, is alleging that cohen received a transfer of half a million dollars from a u.s. company affiliated with the oligarch, viktor vekselberg after the presidential election. cnn has reviewed documents that appear to show the payments. what we have not independently authenticated those documents. i spoke with michael avenatti earlier tonight. >> we reviewed the documents that appear to show the payments you revealed earlier today. we haven't independently verified them. the fact that at&t has come out and said the documents, at least related to at&t, are correct obviously bolsters the authenticity of the documents. i know you're not going to say what your information is based on but you're obviously very confident in the information you released earlier. >> 100%, anderson. 100% confident. we would not have released this if we were not 100% confident in the accuracy of the

the money from the company isn't the only payment made to michael cohen. and his llc. according to reports, the pharmaceutical to your report, the pharmaceutical company paid cohen $399,920 in four payments in late 2017 and 2018. here's what they say. in the agreements with the central consultant entered before our current ceo taking office in february of this year and have expired. do you no he if there is anything improper about the payments? >> you know, again, what is that statement? that's a piece of trash that statement. it doesn't tell us anything. so what if the agreements are expired and so what fit was the prior ceo. that calls into question -- that raises suspiciouses even greater. why not just tell people what the agreement was, what it was for, what did you pay the guy for? if you look at the payment amounts, they're exactly i think $20 less than even $100,000. it looks like they're structured payments zinld at that amount to avoid some reporting requirement or something -- >> so they wouldn't trigger something. >> so they wouldn't trigger the $100,000. the

believe me, michael cohen got calls at 3:00 in the morning. michael would be at dinner. the boss would be calling him all the time. >> i'm sure. >> in the past, cohen has said he'd do anything to protect trump, but now, obviously, you have him maybe profiting off the relationship with president. today, at least sarah sanders seems to be b distancing themselves. this is now strained, toxic, what sort of relationship is there. >> complicated. just keep in mind this relationship has been so based on loyalty. donald trump is obsessed with loyalty and michael cohen has said many time, i am so loyal to this man. but now, the difference that he's under criminal investigation and we know that investigators are looking into his business practices, but also other issues that involve the president directly. whether it's the payment to stormy daniels. that was about protecting president trump. those are deals that cohen has been involved in and now he knows he's under the heat. some of these actions he took on behalf of donald trump happily in past years now might make him liable and

>> you'd have to ask michael cohen. michael is my attorney and you'll have to ask michael. >> okay. three weeks after that, on april the 26th, trump spoke again about the issue. this time he called fox&friends and he revealed this important detail. >> as a percentage of my overall legal work, a tiny, tiny little frakt fraction. but michael would represent me and represent me on some things. he represents me like with this crazy stormy daniels deal, he represented me. >> he represents me like with this crazy stormy daniels deal. which brings us to last night. when former new york mayor rudy giuliani told fox news host sean hannity that trump reimbursed cohen for that payment. >> that money was not campaign money. sorry. i'm giving you a fact now that you don't know. it's not campaign money. no campaign finance violation. >> so they funneled it through the law firm? >> funneled through the law firm and the president repaid it. >> oh. i didn't know -- he did? >> yep. >> but do you know the president didn't know about this? i believe that's what -- >> didn't know about the specifics of

none directly involve michael cohen, but the taxi medallions that cohen owned i take it were seized in the fbi raid of cohen's offices. explain the significance of that. >> so that's right, wolf. so freedman was involved in businesses of michael cohen. we know investigators are looking into the taxi medallion business as part of their broad investigation of his personal financial dealings. whatever freedman might know about michael cohen, how he operated, did business with, in terms of his agreements. cohen has recently refinanced some of these taxi medallions. he might know how cohen handled those trance actions and we know they're looking into the personal and flinancial dealing. if he does cooperate with them, he might be able to explain a lot of how cohen operated. and that will help investigators follow the money and understand the tactics, the partners and just what else michael cohen was doing, wolf. >> yeah, kyra, standby. i want to get back to gloria. on your reporting, so bottom line right now, are they any closer at all the president of the united states actually sitting dow

>> my reaction is michael cohen is in deeper than he ever imagined. f this. he's going to get indicted. the self-inflicted wounds from that camp between cohen, giuliani, trump is mind-boggling. michael avenatti is doing what he thinks is best for his client. but honestly i think it's time to now to all stay in our lanes. he's representing a porn star that had a consensual one night affair with a guy, the president who paid her $130,000. she now sued him to have that agreement set aside. i'm not sure why he's talking about at&t paying michael cohen. the suspect is aisle thick as it is because he was hoeflding him as lawyer for the president. i'm not sure where all that ties into stormy daniels. that's my initial reaction, don, to be quite frank. that doesn't change the facts. >> what i said to him is $130,000. you always -- you always have to manage or think about weigh the risk versus the reward. >> i said this to you the first time we were on your show, what is he fighting about? is his constituency, the ones who vote for him going to be offended he h

michael cohen. what is your analysis of the story line that cohen was not selling just his work, but his potential ability to make things happen inside the trump administration? >> i think that where the danger lies, which is why you say see an intensity in the trump allies trying to stop the investigation and what they need to get -- they being the mueller investigators on the southern district investigated is they need leverage on michael cohen to get him to cooperate if in fact he has some things to give on the president. well, if mr. cohen was representing to any of these companies, at&t, anything he could not deliver, then you're talking about he's exposed to defrauding people for their money, wire fraud, any number of things which again gives more leverage to talk about making a deal. >> now reporting this hour that at&t was under the impression they were getting help from michael cohen for the u.s. government approve a powerful merger. does that sound like michael cohen lying to the at&t or lo

the man at the center of it all is trump's long-time lawyer, michael cohen. it started with this from stormy daniels' attorney, michael avenatti. quote, attorney mr. cohen received approximately $500,000 in the months after the election from a company controlled by a russian -- by a russian oligarch with close ties to mr. putin. these moneys may have reimbursed the $130,000 payment. nbc news has reviewed documents that appear to support avenatti's claim that cohen's shell company, essential consultants llc, received money from a company called columbus nova which has ties to russian oligarch viktor vekselberg. a man who also has close connections to vladimir putin, a man who, we should note, was sanctioned last month by the u.s. government over russia's interference in the 2016 election. a man who, according to "the new york times" been was questioned by mueller's team just last week and was asked about those payments to michael cohen. but has not yet been accused of any wrongdoing in the investigation. vekselberg has not been accused of wrongdoing in the muel

reports today that viktor vekselberg used columbus nova for payments to michael cohen is false. the claims that vekselberg used cohen is untrue. $200,000 was from communications giant at&t spread over four separate payments from october of 2017, to january of 2018. in a statement, at&t said essential consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. they did no legal or lobbying work for us and the contract ended in december 2017. over a similar time period, there was about $400,000 in payments from the pharmaceutical company novartis, shortly before trump reportedly dined with its incoming ceo at the world economic forum in davos. and novartis spokesman said any agreements with essential consultants were entered before our current ceo taking office in february of this year and have expired. last night, michael avenatti said that the payments to cohen's company raises serious questions. >> i don't believe that michael cohen is registered as a lobbyist. i don't believe he's registered as he should be in orde

>> no. >> then why did michael cohen make it if there was no -- >> you have to ask michael cohen. michael's my attorney, and you'll have to ask michael. >> michael, of course, the famous answer was that one word no when he was asked did you know that michael cohen made this payment? so if he didn't know michael cohen made a payment to benefit his campaign, they are in trouble on the campaign finance law. >> well, lawrence, i would agree with that. look, we've seen a lot of conduct by the president and by mr. trump when he was running for office. and a lot of people laugh a lot of things off and they give him a pass on things. i sincerely hope that we have not reached a place in this nation, and i don't think this can be overstated. i really hope that we have not reached a place where it's okay for the president of the united states to stand aboard air force one, on video and audio, and lie to the american people. i hope that we have not reached a place where that is accepted. >> rudy giuliani said tonight that that is irrelevant. that the -- everything about the stormy daniels cas

on michael cohen and money. it comes from the "wall street journal's" michael rothfeld. the headline, "u.s. probes cohen over cash he built up during campaign. trump's lawyer took out lines of credit to secure access to as much as $774,000 as race heated up." michael rothfeld joins us on the phone. so michael, this has literally just been posted, i haven't been able to read the article. explain what you have learned. >> hi, anderson. what we reported is that michael cohen doubled his home equity line right as donald trump was in the height of his political fortunes rising and going into the primary campaign in february 2016. so he closed off his existing home equity line of $255,000 and took out a $500,000 home equity line and we know that he's said he used part of that to pay stormy daniels nine months after that and furthermore rudy giuliani said this week that michael cohen settled other things for donald trump. we don't know whether he used the home equity line for that as well. >> it's interesting. i mean, again, michael cohen has all along said that he did this on h

to recap, michael cohen and his surrogates on tv had been claiming for months that michael cohen, the president's attorney, facilitated as cohen put it $130,000 payment to stormy daniels who says she had an affair with the president 12 years ago. now, the money came out of cohen's pocket allegedly taken from a home equity line of credit we were told. the president had not repaid it. in fact, mr. trump knew nothing about it they claimed and despite coming as it did in the closing days of the campaign the payment supposedly had absolutely nothing to do with the election. nothing to do with skel change an embarrassing story 11 days before the election. on wednesday night rudy guiliani went on fox and said this to sean hannity about the daniels payoff. >> it's not campaign money. no campaign finance violation. >> they funneled it through a law firm. >> funneled through a law firm and the president repaid it. >> oh, i didn't know -- he did? >> yeah. >> the president repaid cohen, he said, so that that was the damage control. and it's a sign of how well it played that mr. guiliani was back

it also appears to have paid michael cohen more than a million dollars. oh. according to mr. avenatti's document, three checks from essential consultants, two for a quarter million dollars, one for $505,000, were deposited in mr. cohen's own bank account last summer. a summer of 2017. what that looks like is this little company he set up paying michael cohen more than a million bucks. that's what it looks like. that raises more questions. first, was michael cohen ultimately the recipient of that million bucks or was he depositing those checks and getting that money for someone else? we don't know what happened to the money ultimately. we know michael cohen put it in one of his own bank accounts. also, where did that money come from? where did essential consultants get a million bucks? michael cohen, didn't he say he needed to take out a home equity line of credit to scratch up the $130,000 that that company was going to pay stormy daniels a few months before? he had to take a home equity line to get 130 grand? where did that company get a million bucks to pay michael cohen jus

they're not buying the ear of michael cohen because michael cohen is not in the administration, he's not in government. michael cohen doesn't make decisions. they're buying an entree into the highest office in the land. it's clear as day that's what all these companies were buying. it would be refreshing if they just came out and said that because that's the truth. >> the president's spokesperson said -- it was rudy giuliani, i should say, his lawyer, said the president didn't know what michael cohen was up to. but the president also said he didn't know about the stormy daniels paf, but as yoff, but a out, rudy giuliani said he did. who do you believe? >> i have no idea what he was up to for the better part of january 2017 up through april of this year. you're talking about a 16-month time period. and during that time period michael cohen is holding himself out as the personal counsel to the president of the united states, and the president is agreeing with that all the way up through april of this year on air force one. >> but he's also calling himself the president's personal lawye

i've seen michael cohen at the office. of the press secretaries said, michael cohen was still the president's attorney. of course, rudy giuliani, his latest attorney said on sunday that he is no longer representing him. but it does raise a whole round of questions about whether or not what the president knew and what michael cohen was doing. >> let's not forget, you know, phil mudd, viktor vekselberg, this billionaire, this russian oligarch, who transferred funds into michael cohen's account there, he's now on the trump administration's sanctioned list. he's been sanctioned by the u.s. government. >> and you've got to ask a question, you know, when mr. cohen was talking about potential clients, i realize these are legal clients, but these names never came up. when you look at the judicial authorization to go into michael cohen's hotel room, office, and home, presumably some of that was because people had suspicions about these contacts. a judge is not going to authorize those searches. nor is a judge going to authorize you

and michael cohen was caught off gord. and last week rudy giuliani distanced himself from cohen and now the reports come out. i wonder, is there another opportunity where the president will have to distance himself and leaving michael cohen feeling further isolated and further alone and as one person close to cohen put it to me over the weekend, that is a very dangerous place for michael cohen to be in for donald trump. >> meaning in terms of what he would do vis-a-vis cooperating or what he would be inclined to do -- >> whatever mental state you are in when someone you consider like family then puts extreme distance between the -- the two of you and put potential leverage -- that is a space that michael cohen could be entering. >> rudy giuliani said there is nothing to worry about because he doesn't know anything. and there are questions i have been consulting. jill, the famous line in the president's men is follow the money. and people forget what that was about. so maybe a refresher. because it does seem like we're havin

michael cohen is going up the river. t it. [ laughter ] >> so, this is the motion that the u.s. attorney filed to quash the motion that cohen filed. the searches are the result of months-long investigation into cohen and seeking evidence of crimes many of which have nothing to do with his work as an attorney, but rather relate to cohen's own business dealings. >>> now, by the way, if you're from new york like i am and you read the story the other day he owned 14 different taxi medallion licenses. >> right. >> these are the businesses that people who do criminal things are in. he was down there at the courthouse signing up people torching their cars to get insurance payment. his list is this long. >> ashley, let me give you the last word with one more delicious nug elget from your reporting. basically rudy went, he was at dinner with his long-time business partner and former political aide tony carbonetti. he said he was dining with the former new york mayor in manhattan's upper east side before he went on fox. we thought

in an interview this week, rudy giuliani said the president had reimbursed michael cohen for the stormy daniels payment and indicated that trump had reimbursed cohen for other matters as well. quote, he was paid by donald trump's personal funds and he was paid out of personal funds which covered that and possibly a few other things, you know, would be considered incidental. the repayments took place over a period of time, probably in 2017 probably all paid back by the end of 2017 that and probably a few other situations that might have been considered campaign expens expenses. giuliani also said this week that cohen solved other problems similarly for trump. he didn't describe what they were or the source of funds they were. joining us is one of the reporters who broke the story on michael cohen. thank you for being with us and thank you for your reporting on this. what's the implication here. michael cohen ended uptaking $774,000 combined in home equity loans in the month before the election? >> yes. prosecutors are looking at whether any laws are broken in terms of how michael cohen m

affiliate made to michael cohen after the election. >> stormy daniels's lawyer michael avenatti has brought out a lot of this new information. cnn has its own reporting as well and what we're dealing with is evidence of a series of payments to michael cohen's consulting company, the same one he used to payoff stormy daniels to stay silent about her alleged affair with donald trump. 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 n

cnn has learned, julia, more about michael cohen's potential sales pitch. re's what he told according to multiple sources. you should fire them there. i'm the guy you should hire. i'm closest to the president. i'm his personal lawyer. so julia, if cohen is being hired for his access and closeness to the president is that pay for play? >> yes, it simply is. and i think these stories sort of finally put to rest this notion that michael cohen is this sort of hanger on. he was quite strategic in who he went after, directly calling ceos. there's the at&t and nuvaris and other companies. why would a russian oligarch pay money to michael cohen into a fund that was also used to pay stormy daniels and that oligarch also benefitted from the delays of the russian sanctions implementation that had been ongoing with this trump white house? i don't think the answer to this question, but the fact i can even ask that question shows how interconnected the trump empire is and that michael cohen does not just represent the stormy daniels side of the problems for donald trump b

what has michael cohen said? he sent a statement out when the complaint was put in place and there it is. he says in a private tran action in 2016 i used my own personal fund to facilitate a payment to ms. stephanie clifford, stormy daniels' legal name. neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was a party to the transaction with ms. clifford. the question is when did that happen, i think that's really important. when did that happen, but ultimately common cause says all of it is a legal problem. >> i want to get to the news. i want everybody to standby because michael is here, and you're about to jump out of your seat. what do you think of this? when you heard this you were listening to rudy giuliani just moments ago when we played that sound bite and what was going through your mind? >> it's an absolute disgrace, don. and i'm disgusted by it. in every american regardless of their political persuasion, i don't care if you're on the left, i don't care if you're on the far right, i don't care where you