so, yeah, it's the "national enquirer." ments to bury stories about alleged adultery by the president, including one made by the publisher of the enquirer, these are apparently right at the center of the federal raid for the president's personal attorney this week. time to take it seriously. and now we've learned about yet another of those payments. hold that thought. rocket mortgage® by quicken loans® makes the complex simple, giving you super hero levels of confidence. understand the details and get approved in as few as eight minutes so nothing stands in your way. rocket mortgage: america's largest mortgage lender. marvel studios' "avengers: infinity war" in theaters april 27th. in the 2018 lexusxus saes and es hybrid.standard lease the 2018 es 350 for $399/month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just f

karen mcdougal has reached a positive settlement with the national enquirer's company. her silence was bought during the campaign that was reportedly orchestrated by, guess who, the man under criminal investigation by the fbi and the self-pro-claimed fixer michael cohen. they were -- this is important, for information about trump's lawyers involvement in this effort to buy karen mcdougal's story and use that to silence her, a different route to another nda. all of this comes on the same day that donald trump for the first time attacked stormy daniels by name. i'll show it to you this morning. trump responding to that sketch she released. he called it, quote, a sketch years later about a nonexistent man, a total con job. i am joined now on these breaking stories as we await the press conference by my panel. caddie, we, i'm going to be full disclosure to the audience, we booked you as an international reporter and expert and we may yet get to those stories. the president here will be taking the stage for the first time for a press conference since the fbi's raid. first ti

cover of the "national enquirer," which it does on a regular basis.the trump organization denied the story that dino told the "national enquirer" but he said i took a a polygraph test. it seems like the writing is on the wall about that. it's pretty clear he said. he said the story had to come out and he referred further questions to his lawyer. the woman he's referring to in his story about donald trump has denied to the associated press that she ever had an affair with donald trump, the news organizations that know who she is are who wouith holding her n since none of what was said has been verified. they report he did take a lie detector test administered by the "national enquirer" and that he passed that test which said how he learned of the rumor but not the truth of the rumor. when nbc news reached people in the white house for comment about this, multiple officials said they do not intend to comment about the doorman's story that the president has a sixth child with a fourth mother who he did not marry, joining our discussion ken white and back

you're comfortable you're asking them about something true. >> michael cohen goes back with the national enquireryears. he knew the editor long before he knew donald trump. his relationship with the enquirer was strong. he was in contact with them and someone who will happily play the role of fixer when he needs to be. the strange thing though is that i guess why they would have paid for a rumorer they believe to be false when in fact it was in touch with the president's personal attorney on a regular basis? if the personal attorney was suggesting mobaybe eit should. >> i find thus fascinating for all the reez nasons everybody d. >> the national enquirer is not a particular laeflush publication in terms of being able to throw money at whatever it wants. it's gone through a number of bankruptcies and layoffs over the years. there'ser the question of where did the money ecome from a group called common finance has filed complaints basically saying wait a minute, if money was getting paid for stories intended as hush money, that's a campaign finance violation. >> jeff, thank you are for your time to

in hour lurid attacks "the national enquirer" hits hard, fast.hen it comes to donald trump the gloves come off and the kid gloves go on. trump cashes russia's white house spy! trump must build the wall! trump takes charge! why such a difference? the man in charge of that tabloid, david pecker, is a friend of donald trump, and trump is a man of pecker's slash and burn tactic forth taking down politicians and celebrities alike. >> i've always said why didn't "the national enquirer" get the pulitzer prize for edwards and o.j. simpson and all these things? >> reporter: the mutually beneficial relationship between the two new yorkers started in the 1990s over their shared interest in the power and value of headlines. ever since, they've grown closer and more protective of each other's empires. >> it was mostly a one-way protection. it was a kind of hero worship on the part of pecker. he really looked up to donald trump. still does. and he put his very important magazines to work for donald trump's interests. >> reporter: for example, when "the nationa

plus, inside trump's connections and links to the head of "the national enquirer."s under new scrutiny as a salacious story breaks. discover card. hey, i'm curious about your social security alerts. oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ewww! being in the know is very good. don't shake! ahhh! sign up online for free. discover social security alerts. 3 toddlers won't stop him.. and neither will lower back pain. because at a dr. scholl's kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. dr. scholl's. born to move. with exciting new dishes like lobdueling lobster tails.r. and lobster truffle mac & cheese. classics like lobster lover's dream are here too. so enjoy these 10 lobsterlicious dishes now. because lobsterfest ends april 22nd. you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase

a company that owns the "national enquirer." bought the rights to the story of a man who worked as a doorman. ami killed that story. what was the doorman's story? he claims that donald trump had a secret child with a former employee at the trump organization. the doorman even gave the name of the mother and child to ami. yesterday, we got a statement from dino sajudin. today i learn the information i had regarding the story was leaked to the press. i was instructed not to criticize the former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she has about president trump which produced a child. to be clear about this, cnn has not independently confirmed if there is any truth to what the doorman is saying and ronan farrow said the claim was salacious and unconfirmed. according to the agreement with ami, sajudin can speak about the issue, but not any money from the company. ami is denying that trump or michael cohen had anything to do with pursuing the story. they said david pecker, the publisher of the story, never used any funds to shutdo

brook, when has credibility ever been a hallmark of the national enquirer's reporting policies and proceduresdn't print was story was to protect the president. >> go ahead, dana. >> i'm pretty confident that the alien babies that the "national inquir inquirer" has reported. >> that's not real? >> yeah that, has not happened. >> solomon, because of your involvement from the whitewater era, i want to read you a quote from the latest magazine cover. "much as how paula jones' harassment case against bill clinton helped drive his impeachment and the seizure of anthony weiner's laptop led the fbi to reopen its probe of hillary clinton, trump's personal history now may threaten his presidency. what say you, sir? >> i think it's very accurate. it's often the woman, sometimes the man, that bring you down. with president clinton, the way they tried to take down monica lewinsky, they are just weren't quite as careful about it because nobody had ever looked at personal relationships like that. that was the first thing i thought when the stormy story broke and everybody was dismissing it at unimportant, n

i hold this up not because the national enquirer is known for its journalism.use it's controlled by a trump ally. and it is in the center of this mess. as we have reported in our special. because it was involved in the payments to try to silence another trump accuser. i'll read to you what cohen adversary is saying about this now. he's tweeting that ami starting a campaign to under mine cohen's credibility and could lead to him flipping. walk us through this admittedly confusing situation. the enquirer is in the middle of this mess. >> viewers would be forgiven for having a hard time untangling the various players who have been involved in the who were involved in the initial settlement the payment to stormy daniels. to silence her during the presidential race. and then also in the case of karen mcdougal who was also prepared to tell her story publicly. during the race. and ami which run ts the national enquirer which normally is in the business of publicizing salacious storying. stepped in and purchased the story from her. said listen we'll buy the exclusive r

>> plus, the nation"the nationa enquirer" going after michael cohen. that's the cover. is trump using his friend's tabloid to threaten cohen? >>> and breaking news, the department of justice charged suspected caravan members as the president slams immigration law. >> they are obsolete, and they are weak. and they are pathetic. with rocket mortgage, you can be approved in as few as eight minutes, giving you super hero levels of confidence. rocket mortgage. america's largest mortgage lender. "avengers: infinity war" in theaters april 27th. america's largest mortgage lender. hey, i'm curious about your social security alerts. oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ewww! being in the know is very good. don't shake! ahhh! sign up online for free. discover social security alerts. let your inner light loose with one a day women's. ♪ a complete multivitamin specially formulated with key nutrients plus vitamin d for bone health support. your one a day is showing. i'm all-business when i, travel

and the "national enquirer" pay to bury a story about a housekeeper that had an affair with trump at one of the building that's ahead. my car smells good. it's these new fresh-fx car air fresheners from armor all. each scent can create a different mood in my car. like tranquil skies. armor all, it's easy to smell good. if your adventure keeps turning into unexpected bathroom trips you may have overactive bladder, or oab. ohhhh... enough already! we need to see a doctor. ask your doctor about myrbetriq® (mirabegron). it treats oab symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakage. it's the first and only oab treatment in its class. myrbetriq may cause serious allergic reactions. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, or difficulty breathing... stop taking myrbetriq and tell your doctor right away. myrbetriq may increase blood pressure. tell your doctor right away if you have trouble emptying your bladder or have a weak urine stream. myrbetriq may affect or be affected by other medications. before taking myrbetriq, tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney problem

a former trump tower doorman paid off by "the national enquirer." reporter ronan farrow broke that story this morning. he's here live. >>> showdown over syria. president trump warning u.s. air strikes are coming. the military waiting for the president's final decision. after that suspected chemical attack, will russia retaliate? new reports of negotiations under way between the u.s. and russia. >>> missouri's embattled governor fighting back against explosive new allegations by his former mistress facing pressure to step down, the one-time political rising star calls it a witch-hunt. >>> baseball brawls. the bitter rivalry between the yankees and the red sox erupting, overnight. hit by a pitch and charging the mound. both benches clearing and the padres versus the rockies swinging for the fences on the diamond. >>> and 32-year-old rookie andre ingram chasing his dream for ten years, finally shining on the court. we'll talk to him live about his debut with the l.a. lakers only on "gma." >>> we have got to get something straight here. fonzie, did you

and the "national enquirer" pay to brur a story about a house keerp that had an affair with trump at one of the building that's ahead. claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. at a comfort inn with a glow taround them, so people watching will be like, "wow, maybe i'll glow too if i book direct at choicehotels.com." who glows? just say, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com. dray, when he was younger, he loved to smile; and we knew he would need braces because his teeth were coming in funny. this is the picture that was on the front page of the newspaper. all you can notice is the braces! then, once he got to michigan state, he broke the retainer! my bottom teeth, they were really crooked, and i just wasn't getting braces again. then i discovered smiledirectclub. it's easy to just grab it and go and i can change it on the road. i did photoshoots with my aligners in and you can't see them. a smile is a first impression, that's why i think having a great smile is so important. >>> it is yet another night of a ton of breakin

carolina: comenzamos con el tema mÁs trending que tiene que ver con national enquire. scÁndalo que sacude a donald trump. un reporte sobre una hija ilegÍtima del mandatario con una exempleada de la torre trump. el tabloide the national

six months after donald trump announced his presidency, somebody called the tip line to the "national enquirerhat's how they get a lot of their stories. it turned out to be this guy, dino sajudin, claiming to what have been a very salacious story, and the enquirer reporters checked him out. that's the business, that's the practice, that's how you report these stories out. they did a certain amount of reporting. they signed him to a contract that stipulated he would be paid upon publication, which is a natural -- a normal practice for them. and a week after he passed a lie detector test, being asked about how he knew what he knew, not whether or not it was true, he signed an amended contract, which paid him $30,000, immediately, bought the rights to his story in perpetuity, and barred him from discussing it publicly, and if he violated the contract, he would have been subject to a fine of $1 million, a seven-figure fine, for an out of work former doorman. and when he signed that amended contract and was paid, our sources tell us the enquirer dropped its reporting efforts entirely. >> so there's

the payment came from a.m.i., the parent company of "the national enquirer," owned by david pecker, a long-time friend of the president. turns out, his story was never published, a tactic known as catch and kill. tonight, sajudin confirms to abc news he had an agreement with a.m.i. over his story. >> mr. cohen, why do you think they raided your office and hotel room? >> reporter: abc news has also learned that when fbi agents raided the home, office and hotel of president trump's long-time personal attorney, michael cohen, they were specifically looking for any records involving a.m.i. "the national enquirer" also made a $150,000 payment to former playboy playmate karen mcdougal, three months before the election. david, prosecutors digging into whether there were any election finance violations. they want to know exactly who knew about these deals and whether they were intended to influence the election. david? >> kyra phillips with us again tonight. kyra, thank you. >>> and on capitol hill today, the first confirmation hearing for secretary of state nominee mike pompeo, the current c

the national enquirer was involved in killing one of the stories negative to president trump. the relationship between david pecker and the president is well known, and it is hard to imagine that's a coincidence that that's coming out now, that southern district of new york is going after michael cohen. what does flipping mean. it is only relevant if you have something seriously damaging about somebody else. does michael cohen have that? we're going to find out, courtesy of southern district of new york and to some degree robert mueller as well. >> we're just about out of town. last word if you want to comment on this as well. >> just that this entire thing is metastasizing, grown beyond robert mueller, now southern district of new york is involved, other parts of the justice department involved. even if trump wanted to take a heavy hand and shut it down, getting increasingly difficult for him to do that. >> all right, good to see you both. thank you very much. >>> new evidence from house democrats claims the president may have obstructed justice while the house gop maintains

including the payment to stormy daniels and the payment made by account "national enquirer" to karen mcdougal. daniels is now cooperating with federal prosecutors. stormy daniels is working with the feds. the search warrants were sought. and executed by fbi agents and federal prosecutors in new york in coordination with mueller's team. to obtain them, prosecutors not only convinced a judge there was probable cause that cohen possessed evidence of a crime, they got the approval of deputy attorney general rod rosenstein who signed off on the decision. the president president yesterday denounced the raid and assailed the probe in an attempt to obscure the facts and characterized the legal search as a break-in and called the probe an attack on our country. and referring to the investigation in an apparent moment of candor, he said he wanted to keep it down. >> so i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, good man. and it's a disgraceful situation. it's a total witch hunt. i've been saying it for a long time. i've wanted to keep it down. it's frankly a

trump and his people stugted th suggen the ami or "the national enquirer." based on what's happened in the past. >> i think that president trump and "the national enquirer" knew about this payment. >>> is president trump listening, we'll discuss with our panel next, stay with us. so we swapped your car out for the all-new chevy traverse. yes. do you think it's going to surprise your daughter? absolutely. wait, is mom here yet? where's mom? she's in this car. what the heck? whoa. yo, whose car is this? this is the all-new chevy traverse. this is beautiful. it has apple carplay compatibility. do those apps look familiar? ohhhhh. do you want to hit this button? there's a hidden compartment. uhh, whoa. mom, when i'm older can you buy me this car? i wanna buy me this car. with esurance photo claims, you could have money for repairs within a day. wow! that was really fast. so it doesn't have to hurt for long. that's insurance for the modern world. esurance, an allstate company. click or call. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. but i

howie: the national enquirer is being accused of protecting donald trump. ey are accused of spaying doorman to buy and bury a story about a love child. the "enquirer" concluded the story wasn't true. >> they went to such extraordinary lengths to bury a story. this was second hand information that there was an affair, possibly a child resulting from an affair. howie: this does fit the way the parent company blames his area for all the attention paid to a decision not to publish the story. when the doorman is contacted he says my time is valuable. what's your offer. there were all kinds of things we couldn't get to this week. mark zuckerberg testifying about facebook, and the mike pompeo hearings. continue the conversation on twitter @howardkurtz and go to our home page. it's a new design and you can watch the entire episode if you happen to be doing cost something different on sunday morning. we'll see you back here with >> made it very clear that the united states is locked and loaded. if assad doesn't get, it's going to hurt. >> is donald trump unfit to be

it is a much more plausible case than the "national enquirer". >> fec cases are hard to make. the last was again john edwards and they lost. >> they lost. >> thank you both very much. president is tweeting on on syria. president macron says he has proof that the assad regime is behind the attacks. what do you have, nick? >> reporter: quite a remarkable statement from emmanuel macron. chemical weapons were used. at least chlorine was. and they were used by the assad regime. there will be an effective response at some point. this is important because it's the nature that goes to the heart of the nature of the international community's response. remember the last time military action was considered was in april of last year when gas was confirmed to have been used. back in october 2013 it was a nerve agent, very serious used in eastern outa. and you would the barack obama red line. it led to no military action. it clearly didn't happen. they think at least chlorine has been used. they smelt chlorine. certain spasms would suggest the use of a nerve agent. that led some to deal wit

carolina: comenzamos con el tema mÁs trending que tiene que ver con national enquire.escÁndalo que sacude a donald trump. un reporte sobre una hija ilegÍtima del mandatario con una exempleada de la torre trump. el tabloide the national enquirer habrÍa pagado a un empleado esa torre para no esparcir ese rumor sobre la vida del presidente. javier: quÉ empleado si por qué no se habÍa escuchado antes ese tema? se trata del exportero. no mandarÍa por millÓn de dÓlares si divulgaba este rumor. carolina: aunque nos escuchado el mandatario, un portavoz de la entidad trump negÓ las acusaciones. esta publicaciÓn es centro de la polÉmica por la batalla legal con la ex conejita de playboy karen mcdowell, a quien la revista amarillista le habrÍa pagado 150.000 $ or su historia, que luego nunca vetÓ su romance con el presidente trump en el aÑo 2006. son tres escÁndalos en menos de un aÑo que lleva la presidencia. javier: en esta nueva historia, el presidente trump vuelve a la portada de la revista times. la cubierta se basa en otrapublicaciÓn un aÑo atrÁs. en ella se ve al mandatari

"the national enquirer" also made a $150,000 payment to former playboy playmate karen mcdougal. tonight, prosecutors digging into whether there were any election finance violations. they want to know, were secret deals being made during the campaign. david? >> kyra phillips with us again tonight. >>> and on capitol hill today, the first confirmation hearing for secretary of state nominee mike pompeo, the current cia director. pompeo, who sought advice recently from hillary clinton to prepare, was grilled today about russia, about the firing of fbi director james comey and if he would be willing to stand up to the president if he disagreed with him. >> will you stand up to president trump and say no, you're wrong in that view, mr. president, or will you be a yes man? >> i have no discomfort with directness or confrontation. >> pompeo also acknowledging today that he has spoken to special counsel robert mueller. >>> there is still much more ahead on "world news tonight" from bay route this evening. and the news back home of the missouri governor under pressure to resign tonight. t

. >> meanwhile, the national enquirer turning on michael cohen. look fo's shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to gently remove more plaque, and oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the american dental association for its effectiveness and safety. my mouth feels so clean. i'll only use an oral-b. oral-b. brush like a pro. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergi

"the national enquirer" hits hard and fast.nald trump, the boxing gloves come off and the kid gloves go on. trump must build the wall, trump takes charge. why such a difference? the man in charge of that tabloid, david packer is a friend of donald trump and donald trump is a fan of packer's slash and base runner tactics for taking down politicians. >> why didn't he get the pulitzer prize about edwards end all of these things? >> reporter: it started in the 1990s over the shared interest in the power and value of headlines. ever since they have grown closer and more protective of each other's empires. >> it was mostly a one-way protection. this was -- it was really a kind of hero worship on the part of packer. packer really looked up to donald trump, still does. he put his very important magazines to work for donald trump's interests. >> reporter: for example when "the national enquirer" printed a ridiculously false claim about the kennedy assassination, and the father of ted cruz, trump's rival for the republican nomination, th

company of the "national enquirer" paying someone to keep a potentially damaging from the story aboutth out. this time a doorman and a house keerp who are had a rumored affair with donald trump. today the doorman said in a statement i can confirm worng at world tower i was instructed not to criticize the house skeerp dug to prior relationship she had with president trump who which produced child. he joins me now, you're not able to confirm the doorman's story. for you the focus is this is another example of ami catching and then killing a story. >> exactly. as colorful as the underlying claim is, really the crux of this for many sources stepping forward was reporting was halted. they allege, on direct orders from david pecker, the head of the company. >> ami reporters quote unquote had gone out. >> right. >> and investigated the claims made by the doorman. >> the parent company of the national inquirer spent weeks investigating this. there was a positive polygraph result saying it seems in their eyes he had been told. >> ami polygraph. >> ami administer add polygrf that's in the relev

it's "the national enquirer" company that reached this deal, that now will allow her to talk about thenship. it comes after the raid where the fbi seized materials regarding cohen effectively buying her silence. why did you get such a good outcome for your client? >> i think the short answer is, this is not a case that am. >> -- ami wanted to fight, and there's a risk to them with the discovery and the things we allege would be established. so they folded. basically everything we wanted at the beginning they gave us. when that happens, you have to just sign on the dotted line. >> did the fbi heat on cohen help you get to this point? >> i think it probably helped. but i think it wouldn't have mattered. i think it's so clear the issues we presented were there and were a problem. the minute the federal election commission started investigationing th investigating them, i think we were going to get there. >> if your client made this deal with "the national enquirer," why was michael cohen involved? >> it's the $64 million question. >> or is it the $130,000 question, depending on the case?

do know for sure is the president is close friends with david peculiker who is the ownef the national enquirer there does seem to be a two-way street where the enqiurer support the president and the president supports the enquirer. when you're at the supermarket these days and you see the enquirer, it's worth looking to see what the president is thinking about, what the message of the president's world is, and it often gives you a clue of what happened. when michael flynn was going down, the enquirer said that the president was being turned on. it doesn't seem like an accident. >> do they deny claims of coordination? >> they sometimes deny specific claims of coordination, they don't deny the tabloid, that the president supports them and their agenda. don't forget, they almost printed the story about karen mcdougal. >>> president trump is going to be welcoming the president of nigeria to the white house. we're taking a live look at the white house there. a beautiful day in washington. it will be the first time the president hosts an african leader since taking office. will tpresident trump deny

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 against karen mcdougal to force her silence. she is now free to tell her story of what she thought was a genuine love and sexual affair with donald trump that lasted about a year, beginning at the same time the president of the united states allegedly had sex with stormy daniels. a sexual encounter that the president has never actually denied. but the president did finally take to twitter today about stormy daniels for the very first time. and he did not deny having sex with stormy daniels. he did not deny being spanked by stormy daniels with a magazine that had a picture of him and his family on the cover. he did not deny te

but one takeaway, ayman, about the "national enquirer."a kid back before y'all's parents met, the "national enquirer" had a hackett of talking about two-headed babies, ufos and bruce willis's marital troubles. wait, that was this week. ultimately they'll try to paint michael cohen as a rat who's a liar but this man is no typical jailhouse informant. he's not trying to turn his dealer. this is a man who up until a couple of months ago before he went from cy young to sayonara was near the president. >> the fact that it's so close to president trump he's defended it in the past, what do you make of it? >> the reason it's important is not just because it's close to trump, it's close to michael cohen. michael cohen used to be the manager between president trump and david pecker. he was a central figure in planting some stories for the president. now that the tables have turned and he's on the cover -- >> on that same cover there was another headline about president trump not being involved in collusion with russia. all right, it's great to have

he said he was told after the national enquirer bought the story, the store would never run. the national enquirer denies that trump had a single hinthino do with killing the story. >> this appears to be one more story of an evident to pay to kill a damaging story about donald trump. in 2015, there was a story they paid $30,000 to one of the doormen at one of trump's building who claimed to have a salacious building about donald trump. the story is he claims that donald trump had a secret child with one of his former employees at the trump organization. i want to be very emphatic that cnn has not independently confirmed whether this transaction with ami happened o whether there is any truth to what this doorman is claiming. i will csay a very important angle is david pepper, the man that is a publisher at ami, we know he's a very big supporter of donald trump and very close to donald trump and he's viewed as someone who would have incentive to help kill a story about someone running for president. he's denying all of this took place. i want to read a part of his statement --

that's what several media outlets and "new york" suggest pointing to a deal that "national enquirer"company instructed a doorman to be paid $30,000 for a story of an unproven rumor about trump. peddling a story of an alleged affair with an employee with whom he fared a daughter. there's nothing to indicate that claim is true. "the new yorker's" reports ami bought the story in late 2015 and then buried it. >> it is about the most powerful people in the country having the ability to silence and change the news narrative at will. i think that the public should know that. >> reporter: he said 30 moneys after they contacted ami about the deal wednesday, one of the company's other publications radar online published a story that included a memo about the arrangement and e-mail and a polygraph report which states that he took a lie detector test and passed it and concluded the story was not true and didn't publish it, the deal of $11 million penalty to share the account without permission. the personal trump attorney was in contact. >> we do report that michael cohen according to multiple i

a former trump tower doorman paid off by "the national enquirer."er ronan farrow broke that story this morning. he's here live. >>> showdown over syria. president trump warning u.s. air strikes are coming. the military waiting for the president's final decision. after that suspected chemical attack, will russia retaliate? new reports of negotiations under way between the u.s. and russia. >>> missouri's embattled governor fighting back against explosive new allegations by his former mistress facing pressure to step down, the one-time political rising star calls it a

the president has a close, personal relationship with the "national enquirer," has used them before to send messages or try to stop stories from circulating. that to me raises my antenna that this is a president very worried about michael cohen and wanting to seek distance from him. >> look back at the "national enquirer" right before general flynn was let go. chuck todd, thank you as always. we will be watching "meet the press" this morning because chuck will be joined by former fbi director james comey. truly story out of the nfl draft. linebacker shaquem griffin becoming the first one-handed player ever to be drafted. he's going to be suiting up in seattle with someone who's been by his side for his entire life. more now from nbc's matt bradley. >> shaquem griffin made football history saturday, becoming the first ever one-handed player to be drafted by the nfl. >> there's his brother. >> he'll be playing alongside his cornerback twin brother. >> i can't breathe right now. >> it's a dream come true for us, buddy. we're happy to have you, man. you get to play with your brother again,

reports theed press owner of the national enquirer former0,000 in 2015 to a doorman at trump tower to quash ae story that trump fathered child in the late 1980's. the ap reports the inquirer bought elusive rights to the story and refused to publish it in a process known as catch and kill. the national enquirer similarly quash the story on the eve of the 2016 election about trump's alleged extramarital affair with former model karen mcdougal. the national enquirer's parent company chief executive david packer is a close personal friend of president trump. the senate has approved a former coal industry lobbyist to become second-in-command at the environmental protection agency. andrew wheeler, who's worked for nearly a decade on behalf of fossil fuel companies including the coal company murray energy, was approved in a 53 to 45 vote along party lines. wheeler has also worked as a senior advisor to republican senator james inhofe, a prominent climate change denier. wheeler's confirmation comes as president trump is under pressure to fire epa administrator scott pruitt over a series of et

. >> the publisher of the national enquirer is hitting back against former maybe model karen mcdougal. mcdougal claims she's tricked into signing an agreement which made her $150,000 of her story with any then-married man. in a nearly 200 page response filed monday, am i, which did nt run her story is claiming it has a first amendment right not to publish. but mcdougal's lawyer claiming that they are attempting to silence her again. i'm lindsey davis, abc news, new york. >> never more than seven minutes away from my ak u weather forecast. >> in the lake everyone else in the mid to upper 40s, palo alto about 42 degrees. we have clean air today and good conditions whether you're at the beaches or the bay. a few more days to get some yard work finish before the big rains come. you may want to check your gutters again. 50s in the valley, 70 noon a 51 at 8:00, 66 at noon. temperatures hanging in the low 70s from about 1:00 to 4:00 and down to 60 by the time we get to about 8:00 this morning. let's get a check of that morning commute. see if there's >> we just got one in here. you can see a

are actually recordings with the president, recordings with other attorneys, or a.m.i., "the national enquirerever? >> it's a gold mine for investigators. there is nothing you want more than contemporaneous records, actual records of what was said by people who are suspects and witnesses in a criminal investigation. >> so long as it's not privileged. >> right, so long -- obviously they are not allowed to have access to it if it is privileged. if you go in to search somewhere, the more the merrier. more e-mails, more -- more, you know, financial records and tapes -- >> which gets to your point about the taint teams. >> that's the problem. the taint team -- >> just explain for viewer what a taint team -- >> here's what happens. they go in, and the more the merrier. they pick up everything. they pick up things that are clearly in the end going to turn out to be lawyer/client privilege information. then, what they do is, they give it to a taint team, fbi agents and assistant u.s. attorneys. they get to listen to the tapes. they get to read them -- >> and that team is separate from the investigatio

as jill mentioned, "the new york times" reports the parent company of the national enquirer," american media incorporated released her from the contract that barred her from discussing her alleged affair with the president. a lawyer for the former playboy model tells the "times" it's a total win. we got everything we were fighting for. this settlement comes just after federal investigators seized materials from michael cohen which "included information about american media and the mcdougal suit." ashley, is this another tributary of news coming out of this? people will be following that as a sidebar at least, probably top of the fold tomorrow. these things metastasized. you have to really devote yourself to keeping can up on all these fronts. your thoughts? >> well, the reason some of these stories have taken on a life of their own in the media is because you know, karen mcdougal and stormy daniels and certainly her lawyer are incredibly media savvy. they're savvy generally but media savvy in a way that rivals the president himself. on a different track, you're seeing thatting with jam

it might not be true because i read about it in the "national enquirer," so i don't know. [ laughterpplause ] he's been very busy. >> steve: yeah. >> jimmy: the president has been very busy. this morning he tweeted that an attack on syria could happen, quote, "very soon or not so soon at all." [ laughter ] when asked if he's using a a magic eight ball, trump said, "ask again later." [ laughter and applause ] last night trump had dinner with the republican leaders from congress, then posted a a photo of the group on twitter. take a look at the picture. yeah. [ laughter ] since trump put the photo online, a lot of companies have actually decided to start using it in their ads. i'll show you what i mean. the first ad says, "clorox, as white as it gets." [ laughter and applause ] next ad says, "men's warehouse, feel comfortable even though you look deeply uncomfortable." [ laughter and applause ] this one says, "nyquil, if we can't put you to sleep, these guys can." [ laughter and applause ] and this final ad says, "huggies, we're full of crap." there you go. >> steve: ah! [ laughter and

reports theed press owner of the national enquirer former0,000 in 2015 to a doorman at trump tower to quash ae story that trump fathered child in the late 1980's. the ap reports the inquirer bought exclusive rights to the story and refused to publish it in a process known as catch and kill. the national enquirer similarly quash the story on the eve of the 2016 election about trump's alleged extramarital affair with former model karen mcdougal. the national enquirer's parent company chief executive david packer is a close personal friend of president trump. the senate has approved a former coal industry lobbyist to become second-in-command at the environmental protection agency. andrew wheeler, who's worked for nearly a decade on behalf of fossil fuel companies including the coal company murray energy, was approved in a 53 to 45 vote along party lines. wheeler has also worked as a senior advisor to republican senator james inhofe, a prominent climate change denier. wheeler's confirmation comes as president trump is under pressure to fire epa administrator scott pruitt over a series of

but he and trump also had help from their friend, "national enquirer" publisher and guy whose name istle too on the nose, david pecker. ( laughter ) mr. pecker had a scheme to protect trump, where he would pay women for their stories and then never publish them. a practice known in the publishing industry as "catch and kill." the same thing eric trump does with leopards. ( audience reacts ) true story. >> jon: wow, wow. >> stephen: this is the tactic the tabloid pulled with "playboy" playmate karen mcdougal in august of 2016, when they paid her $150,000 for her story about a nine-month affair with trump and then never published an article about it. wait, 150 g's to keep quiet about a nine-month affair? stormy daniels got almost that much, and she only had to have sex with donald trump "once!" these women need to unionize. ( laughter ) you know? ( cheering ) ( applause ) union strong! come together and form the local 104 " regretful donald trump spankers intersectionespankers l sisterhood." and here's the thing, these payments could count as "illegal campaign contributions because they

the publisher of the tabloid national enquirer.that report comes from the new yorker magazine.it says that the national enquirer paid 30=thousand dollars to a former trump tower doorman ... in effect buying his silence about an illegitimate child allegedly fathered by trump. catherine heenan is here to tell us more.catherine? (catherine) it's called catch and kill. a media outlet buys up the rights to a story ... and then sits on it. both the associated press and the new yorker say that's what happened with a former doorman at trump tower. natthree years ago, as donald trump was announcing his presidential bid..."great to be here at trump tower...... one of his own doormen was allegedly meeting with a national enquirer reporter in pennsylvania.dino sajudin released a statement today saying, "i can confirm that while working at trump world tower i was instructed not to criticize president trump's former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with president trump which produced a child." the tabloid reportedly paid him 30=th

we know the "national enquirer" paid karen mcdougal for the catch and kill. >> if it is solely done within the context of pecker and american media, that's one thing. but if that money didn't come from ami, that's a different issue. catch and kill is deeply unethical. what they did was deeply unethical. they could have a defense around unless there are communications or money exchanges hands. >> it is unethical if it is how we use the term catch and kill. you suppressed it for a bad reason. you have editorial discussion. you can say there are a lot of reasons you don't want something. >> let's not be too cute about that. they are spiking a story because it's bad. and purchasing somebody's silence in effect. >> i'm with you. once you put it into a legal context, you're going to have to prove that it was done for a certain reason. michael, am i wrong? >> i think that's right. >> thank you. >> the issue is -- >> you say you're wrong all the time. >> i find you to be pretty correct on these legal issues. >> i'll take it. >> the issue here is whether or not this contribution was an in-kind cont

about michael cohen, the president's lawyer/fixer for arranging payments to eem through the "national enquirenquirer"'s ownership to keep stories out of the public eye for political purposes? >> so the answer to that is michael cohen would be trying to do an end run around campaign finance laws so instead of the direct individual contribution that we've heard about that's been alleged that he did to stormy daniels in the amount of $130,000, putting aside the salaciousness and who characterize about the underlying facts of this doorman, it's the idea of using ami as a conduit to funnel money instead of going directly from donald trump or michael cohen's pocketbook to that of the trump doorman, they use ami to catch and kill. so you achieve two goals. you beak shut the guy up because you bought the story. you never run it and beak you don't ever have to declare the $30,000 in terms of it having an influence in the outcome of the presidential election. what's key about all the stuff is the common denominator for stormy daniels, mcdougal, the trump doorman, trump organization deals in russia is m

(vicki)and the story - suppressed by the trump ally who runs the national enquirer.erine heenan has the story. natthree years ago, as donald trump was announcing his presidential bid..."great to be here at trump tower...... one of his own doormen was allegedly meeting with a national enquirer reporter in pennsylvania.dino sajudin released a statement today saying, "i can confirm that while working at trump world tower i was instructed not to criticize president trump's former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with president trump which produced a child." the tabloid reportedly paid him 30=thousand dollars ... and told him ...he would have to pay a million dollars if he ever breathed a word of this." enquirer stories about the president have been overwhelmingly positive. company chairman, david pecker,is a friend of the president.the tabloid denied that mr. trump had anything to do with the decision to withhold the story.parent corporation american media did pay a former playboy model 150=thousand dollars for her story about a nine-month affair with trum