mr. goldberg who is r85 years old, said he suggested mr. trump add a well known new york lawyer to his legal team. the president then sought legal help in new york city and hired the law firm of spears and iams where his lead counsel is former federal prosecutor joana hendon. he said he warned mr. trump against submitting to an interview with mr. mueller's team adding it is a certain trap, don't ever do it. michael cohen's because of his roll in silencing women who had stories to tell during the presidential campaign against donald trump, he's also being prosecuted for bank fraud and arranging a $130,000 payment to stormy daniels, arranging a $150,000 from "national enquirer" to karen mcdougal. michael cohen is being investigated because of stupidity. the stupidity of the schemes that he participated in and designed to silence those women. the national inquirer is also being investigated because of the same stupidity. but the national inquirer broke its stupid streak on this today, because today the national inquirer dropped its case agains

mr. goldberg as a courtesy and that he had passed along mr. goldberg's advice to his legal team. mr. goldberg also recommended another lawyer who's also a new york criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor to be on the legal team. but he was not interested in that, and so it's unclear how serious seriously -- he actually reportedly called mr. cohen the same day he spoke to goldberg. if that call happened afterward, clearly he was not listening if jay goldberg told him don't talk to michael cohen because he might be wearing a wire. >> interesting. michael of "the wall street journal," thank you. appreciate your time. i want to bring in now cnn law enforcement analyst jonathan and page payton and areva martin, the author of "make it rain." let's discuss this. page, who typically flips? what kind of client? >> that's a great question, don. i would disagree with the people who say that everybody flips. i mean i've been representing people in federal criminal cases for 24 years now, and not everybody flips. there are a lot of people who were willing to go ahead go to trial. if they're n

mr. goldberg's comments. >> exactly right. implied in the conversation is there's something for the president to be worried about. we don't know that to be true, but he's making these phone calls, he's seeking advice from people when you think about the case against michael, et cetera. to that point, thinking he might flip on you, that means there might be something michael cohen could give on the president. >> mibl chael cohen, who has sed the trump organization for many years, the family and people they've had business dealings with, and that includes other countries like indonesia, and they're known to be shady characters. now these questions are suddenly there and the southern district of new york, that case is going forward regardless what happens with the mueller investigation. it's been nicknamed the sovereign district of new york, just an indication of the independence there. that is going forward regardless of what happens in the russian industry. >> does the president believe mr. goldberg who says, you should be worr

mr. goldberg gave the president that michael cohcohe cohen.nder the investigation that michael cohen is obviously under in the southern district of new york, given the search warrants that were executed, given the proceedings that we're seeing, his whole life is being turned upside down. i think the point that mr. goldberg is trying to make is that is a person who might be in his experience motived to try to cooperate with the government in any way the try to bring some better resolution for his own self in this case. but the advice that mr. goldberg is giving really seems to be based on his experience. he said one thing about the special counsel's investigation that i just wanted to point out, that i disagree with, which is that he said he didn't think the special counsel was sort of managing the case, or was running the investigation. >> right. >> on that side. and knowing how mr. mueller, the former breast cancer mueller operates, i think that that is probably incorrect advice if that's what mr. goldberg told the president. >> it doesn't fi

mr. goldberg as a courtesy and that he had all this? >> i absolutely do. and i think the new york attorney general is so concerned about that that he has gone to the governor to try to seek some protection. because new york will also give protection to someone who's received a federal pardon from state charges as well. so i think that is definitely a possibility if trump is really concerned that cohen's going to cooperate against him. he would end it right when he's charged. he's not going to wait for a conviction, not going to wait for the opportunity for him to cooperate. go ahead and stop it now. and i am certain that there's some sort of message being sent to cohen either directly or indirectly that's going to be the deal. >> you believe michael cohen will flip. >> clearly none of us know exactly what michael cohen is going to do. we're not inside his head. we don't know what advice he's getting -- >> and we're assuming there's something to flip on. >> that's the point i was about to make, don. all of this assumes that the president has done something,

mr. goldberg cautioned the president not to trust mr. cohen. on a scale of 100 to 1, where 100 is fully protecting the president, mr. cohen isn't even a 1, he said he told mr. trump. he said he might be wearing a wire. he is accused of several things and has not yet charged with a crime. my panel here, barbara mcquaid for the eastern district of michigan and also nbc legal analyst. shannon, the president in his remarks today, this was a bilateral press conference for both leaders, kind of went down a couple roads, hopped on the interstate, got off three or four cul-de-sacs. are we any clearer on knowing his intentions vis-a-vis rosenstein and mueller? >> i know some people thought he missed an opportunity to say, no, i'm not going to fire them. that is what he was saying, i'm not going to fire them, that they are here, and he add to do -- added to that, i want to end this investigation quickly. and i know he's been advised if you want this to end quickly, leave them in place. if you fire rosenstein, that will only drag out this investigation. o

mr. goldberg. we could ask during the macron news conference. >> we'll see how that goes. the idea that -- first of all, it's just a weird thing to say. if jay goldberg knows -- donald trump should not is suggest that michael cohen will flip on him. he is a friend and someone he considers family. so this is insulting for michael cohen. to him to go out and talk about this is also strange. why would this be happening? i don't get it. i believe it handled. i just don't understand why it's happened. >> only the best people, chris. only the best people. i think there's some competition in trumplandia for the president's attention. sometimes we look for strategy when there is none. >>> let's move on. the president was asked yesterday during a press conference have you concluded that it is not worth the political fallout to remove special counselor robert mueller or deputy attorney general rosenstein. here's what he responded fpltd. >>. >> there was no collusion. there is no collusion. there was no collusion with russia other than by the democrats. or as i call them, the obstruct

mr. goldberg mentioned about potential for cohen wearing a wire. true? >> i would not expect that. as soon as something is overt, that pretty much means it's blown and everyone's thinking he's not cooperate so no one's talking to him anymore. >> the investigation is open now, and everybody knows about it. so you would never have somebody put a wire on when they know you're under investigation because, first of all, if you are suspicious of someone being under -- cooperating and wearing a wire, you often will say the opposite of an incriminating thing, which can be bad for the prosecution. so in this case you would not see michael cohen wear a wire. >> there are also legal rules. you're not allowed to go to represented parties and president trump is represented in these matters. >> jennifer and daniel, thank you both so much on that. in the meantime, president trump's new national security adviser has just represented the possibility of a walkout. this shedding light on why the president said something similar. >> if i think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we'r

mr. goldberg said he told mr. cohen. that's somebody who's long used michael cohen from everything to, we presume legal advice to having him as his right-hand man, his fixer, his clean-up the mess guy. >> yeah, that's right. i think that the president has counted on michael cohen for years but ever since that raid on the office and what the fbi took out of there, michael cohen and donald trump have an idea of what that is. the president has been incredibly rattled ever since that raid and i think hearing this from people who are giving him counsel privately is not going to calm the president down at all. now we also know that the president has reached out to michael cohen, whether that's a smart move legally or not. that's what he's done. he's talked to him and we just don't know where this is going to go. there is the possibility of president trump dangling a pardon to michael cohen but i spoke with somebody who's spent time with michael cohen recently who said for as loyal as he has been to this president, he knows wha

mr. goldberg thinks that trump may be innocent on the russian collusion stuff but that the business dealingst of the tax stuff -- who knows what's in there? it's crazy to hear not trump's political opponents like me saying that, but trump's own lawyer saying that. that is just a stunning thing to hear. >> and, david, jay goldberg was on the phone with the president, giving him legal advice on friday when, in a federal court here in new york city, a judge was considering how to handle the evidence obtained by the fbi in michael cohen's home, apartment, safety deposit box, hotel room. and among the advice jay goldberg was giving him was, fire rod rosenstein for allowing that to happen. >> one of the things that as i watched that interview that i found most amazing is did anyone ever tell jay goldberg that one of the options before him was not to go on the lawrence o'donnell program and not to talk to you? the idea that, like, he's talking to the president and then he goes on tv and blurts whatever is in his head. amazing. >> i asked him about that, and i asked him about attorney-client privile

mr. goldberg as that's not the kand of thing you should be going to the "wall street journal" to say becauseere's the facts. is that yes, mueller in his investigation clearly found something that was a problem b for mr. cohn and so he kicks that up u to rod rosenstein who decides whatever it is the that found was outside the scope of this veinvestigation regarding this so-called collusion and coordination of some foreign country. so they kicked it to the southern district of new york. >> which by the way, they have dove tails here. they've been looking into something for months. >> if you talk to any sharp legal person out there, they say most likely, mr. cohen had some problems he's facing probably on the business side, but there's nothing yet that connects him in any way, shape or form to the president. so before we start treating this like a legal choose your own adventure book where no matter which ending you turn to, it's bad news for the president. we have to acknowledge the fact that as of right now, michael cohn has michael cohen problems. >> the president is an leaptic about this. o

mr. goldberg, who you interviewed, i think he described on a scale of 1 to 100 that michael cohen wasn't even a one as it related to protecting mr. trump. >> exactly. he gives it less than a 1% chance that michael cohen would actually protect the president in this investigation, at this stage of the investigation. michael avenatti, a lot to think about there what you have to say. >> thank you, lawrence. >> thank you for joining us once again. >>> we have more breaking news tonight that one of the president's cabinet nominations is in very serious trouble. it was going to be an uphill climb for his choice to be va secretary, but new reporting tonight could stop this nomination of dr. ronny jackson, there are serious problems developing on it. we're going to have that. ...a mythical castle... and a grand banquet hall. this is not just a yard. it's where memories are made. the john deere x350 select series with the exclusive one-touch mulchcontrol system. nothing runs like a deere® save 200 dollars on the x350 select series tractors at your john deere dealer today. ♪ with expedia you could b

mr. goldberg actually advised the president to fire rod rosenstein, that is also significant. >> do you think is telling that there is so much concern about andrew weissman? >> i think it's telling that there's concern about how aggressive the investigation is related to donald trump. because i don't think it's all really about one attorney. on a very high level, talented team that has a very deep bench. >> natasha, here was the same lawyer, jay goldberg on "the beat" talking about weissman. >> if the deputy chief, andrew weissman, is behind the asking of the questions, then it's for the purpose of setting him up. because among the people he's indicted, there will be one or two people who will be cooperating in former witnesses. >> other legal experts we spoke to said it would be highly unusual, if not inappropriate, for a prosecutor's office to make their personnel decisions based on what the subjects of a probe wanted. >> right. it would be surprising, but there's also a way that trump's lawyers would finagle their way into keeping weissman away from the president. there were communications

attorney jay goldberg says he warned mr.rump in a phone call over the weekend that cohen's legal problems could be a liability for the president. >> to avoid jail, michael could do what so many witnesses do. he could add to the facts. c could change the facts. he could implicate the president when the president has done nothing. >> reporter: sources tell cbs news that cohen expects to be charged in connection with the f.b.i. raid last week in manhattan. investigators seized ten boxes of documents and electronic communications from cohen's office, home, and hotel room. over the years, cohen has become known as mr. trump's fixer. cohen did not respond to our requests for comment today, nor did his attorney. >> stormy! >> reporter: in recent weeks, his legal fight over payments to adult film star stormy daniels has launched him into the spotlight. on friday, his attorneys will be in a los angeles courtroom asking for a 90-day delay in the onse. rtott frederickson, a former federal prosecutor, says akterial uncovered in civil ca

mr. white and arthur goldberg. thomasgoing to listen to emerson's predecessor. y mentioned earlier that a ale law professor has headed a legal team. he took sick and ultimately passed away. that is when thomas emerson came into the case. we have this for you to listen to. is, the caset case of dr. buxton and mrs. goodwell, the two are that are being foricted as accessories advocating contraceptive device. not only involved with due process laws, i like to advise people with privacy. dr. buxton claims that from practicing this, according to scientific principles and takes due process. also involved a problem of freedom of speech of the first amendment, which prohibits congress and the states from passing any law berating freedom of speech. certainly, one of the most intimate and sacred relations of of a manhe relation and his wife in the privacy of their own home. long arm of the lot reaches into the bedroom and prohibits a man and his wife from doing what they want to do and what medical suggests they do, it seems this is in invasion of the freedom of liberty. i

goldberg recalls the impact of the gideon letter. >> mr.ustice, what happened when the court received the gideon letter? >> when a letter is written to us from a prisoner in a penitentiary, state or federal, and he claims, as mr. gideon did, a violation of a fundamental constitutional right, we regard that letter to be an appeal. it may not be called an appeal by the prisoner. but we deem it to be an appeal. that letter is circulated as gideon's letter was circulated to all of the justices. we do not do anything in our court by divisions. everything that is done is by the whole court. mr. gideon's letter raised a fundamental problem. a fundamental problem that the court had been dealing with for many years. not to its entire satisfaction. and that is, is a man in an american court, accused of any crime, capital or otherwise, entitled to the protection afforded by the sixth amendment to the constitution, which says that he shall have the right of counsel? the 14th amendment, which applies to the states, mean that the sixth amendment's protec

mr. white and arthur goldberg. we are going to listen to thomas emerson's predecessor. you mentioned earlier that a yale law professor has headed a -- had initially headed up a presentam to present -- connecticut's case to the court. he took sick and ultimately passed away. that is when thomas emerson came into the case. we have this for you to listen to. >> the current case is, the case of dr. buxton and mrs. goodwell, -- griswold, the two are that are being convicted as accessories for advocating contraceptive device. not only involved with due process laws, i like to advise people with privacy. dr. buxton claims of this law from practicing his profession according to scientific principles and his own conscience. there is also involved a problem of freedom of speech under the first amendment, which prohibits congress and the states from passing any law abridging freedom of speech. certainly, one of the most intimate and sacred relations of life is the relation of a man and his wife in the privacy of their own home. when the long arm of the law reaches into the bedroom

mr. cohen or anybody else. what jay goldberg said is correct. when somebody decides to cooperate with the government, giving up his 5th amendment privilege, if he has one, that means cooperating truthfully and there's ways to ensure that a cooperating does that. >> having had experience, i want to get your take on this other tweet today about comey and the special council looking into the russia election meddling. saying it stemmed from a classified leak, to the comey memos. does the president have a point and what does it mean for the future of mueller investigation? >> i don't think so. i think the material that is in the memos seems to be not protected by any classified designation. but we'll see. the department of justice and inspector general will take a look at that and we will see. by in large, this is another die version and the question is whether there was an attempt to obstruct justice among other things that are under investigation at this moment. >> let me follow up on that. comey, himself said to jake tapper that he remembers writi

mr. trump sought advice from j goldberg, who represented him in the 1990's, cautioning the mr.ident not to trust cohen. host: denville, new jersey, legislative efforts being debated and voted on today, possibly, protecting robert mueller from being fired by the president. you support this effort. go ahead. caller: i absolutely support this effort. to go back to the stories we are talking about, this lawyer is talking about whether michael: willflip -- michael cohen flip on the president. flip on the president unless there was something to flip on? 'sst: so robert mueller investigation, protection for him -- what do you think? of the mueller investigation is not just to determine whether the russians colluded with the trump campaign, it is to determine why . this is what investigators and prosecutors want to know in -- criminalal kreis case, the motive for the activity. i think legislators, congressmen and senators, ought to be on record whether or not they support protecting mueller or not. .hat is another data point people who want to shut down this investigation before mueller has reache

goldberg gave the president good advice? >> i think he gave him good advice. i think the concern mr. so that would be crossing the line if they actually tried to put someone in with a wire on. >>> there's other news we're following. the justice department is pushing back against accusations that special counsel robert mueller has overstepped his bounds. in fact, prosecutors say mueller has been in frequent contact with the acting attorney, general rod rosenstein, about the russia investigation. this comes a day after the president responded to questions over whether he plans to fire mueller or rosenstein. >> as far as the two gentlemen you told me about, they've been saying i'm going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months. and they're still here. we want to get the investigation over with, done with, put it behind us. >> cnn political analyst ryan lizza and april ryan. they are both here joining us right now. april, does this new information undercut the claims that mueller's investigation has gone rog rogue. >> he has a broad stroke. the problem is ma

mr. hoover and bob mueller, as well as president trump is saying the worse is james comey. thanks to both of you. joining me now is michelle goldberg a "new york times" columnist. you're making your way through this book as well. how do you see it as an object. he talks about a leadership tome, a history, a memoir, how due view this 2k0u789? >> there's an structure structure to the book, it really is a memoir. it's not just about his experiences with hillary clinton and donald trump, but also his experiences with the debate over torture in the george w. bush administration, and pretty substantially about his experiences with the mob, which gives it a symmetry, right? he creates this narrative about what it's like to try to take apart, you know, cosa nostra, and try to get people to break through this these like, and then you describe it as he start to describe it among trump and his cronies, as he talks about the relationship with patrick fitzgerald, and involved in the scooter libby prosecution, scooter libby pardoned by the president this week. >> there's this strange feeling of just like how, i can't believe that character back

goldberg, a long time legal adviser to the president warned trump that cohen might cooperate with prosecuters reportedly telling trump on a scale of 100 to 1 where 100 is fully protecting the president, mr. cohen isn't even a one. and according to politico, another president trump ally warned that when anybody is faced with spending a long time in jail, they start to re-evaluate their priorities. and cooperation cannot be ruled out. >> joining us now, nbc news intelligence and national security attorney and the former attorney general in the civil rights division. ken, politico is reporting trump allies are concerned because of an interview cohen gave last week in which he described the fbi as professional, courteous, and respectful in the raids. remember, it was that same day that trump was out there saying they illegally -- they broke in to his apartment. and comey -- >> the red flag is that comey who is normally combative wasn't -- >> cohen. >> cohen. i'm sorry. >> super combative, and suddenly he's not. >> cohen. i said comey. you said cohen. you did the right thing. >> it's a red flag. the whole situation is a huge red flag for donald trump. michael cohen is a man who knows donald