but to another point, with the message that judge pauley was saying, judge pauley made a point of saying that michael cohen committed the campaign finance fraud in coordination with and at the direction of individual one which is not relevant to michael cohen's sentencing other than he was are recognized that he was direct ed to do it. but it seemed to be a slight dig at president trump for, an implication that judge pauley believes that president trump, individual one, did direct michael cohen to commit that campaign finance fraud. so we are unpacking a lot of what happen ed in the courthous, andrea, and it was over an hour-long hearing, but it certa certainly, president trump's presence, although he was not there was very much felt. >> and to ken delainian, again, the whole effort by the president to distance himself from everybody around him, manafort, flynn, cohen, and these people were closely connected to him both politically and legally. how sustainable is that effort going forward from what you can tell from the tea leaves of where the special prosecutor is going? >> well, is it

he's an attorney, he could have been appearing in front of judge pauley. and i think judge pauley is a staunch deferred of the justice system and the integrity of the justice system and when you have someone who is an attorney, an officer of the court, who now has pled to a series of very serious crimes, i don't think judge pauley is going to take too kindly to that. >> and gloria, doesn't this just sort of play into trump's hands, this narrative that cohen is willing to tell mueller whatever he wants just to get a light sentence? >> well, the -- it might, to a degree. but you've got to presume that whatever michael cohen is telling bob mueller, bob mueller might know from other sources. that he has clear corroboration on pieces of information, because it's clear to us, from our reporting, that he considers michael cohen a very valuable witness at this point. and mueller is way too careful and way too smart and has too many smart lawyers working for him to just take incoming and say, okay, that's the truth. so clearly, what he is doing, getting michael coh

i'm jane pauley, and this is "sunday morning." the federal government remain shut down because of the border wall stalemate. we'll have the latest, in a few minutes. then, it's on to a different christ

i'm jane pauley, and this is "sunday morning." we're beginning this morning with a look back at the most famous shipwreck of the 20th century, the sinking of the "titanic." the doomed ship has been sharing its secrets for some years now,

i'm jane pauley, and this is "sunday morning."just nine days to go until christmas, holiday shopping is reaching its peak. yet, in the midst of all the frenzy, a former giant of american retailing is

i'm jane pauley this is "sunday morning." the last sunday morning of the year, 018.tom, we'll pause to take stock. take a look back and remember those who left us in the

and judge pauley, who i know, went a little bit below that.th him, this was basically down the middle. the lenient one would have been like 18 months. the harsh one, 50 months. this was down the middle. >> harris: you are closer to being on the same page as the former special counsel for brightwater. an independent counsel, robert ray, we had on the program earlier. he said this is not a walk in the park, 36 months pay $500,000. and fees on top of that. so, give you some room to negotiate if you're going to hear from a ry donnette guy between now and the time he is good prison, march 6. >> that's actually right. there might be some other information. interestingly enough, mueller recommended a lenient sentence because his cooperation was tied to the investigation dealing with the campaign finance violations. >> harris: robert ray says you aren't going to impeach anybody on that. >> harris: and his mistress, so on and so forth. >> i don't consider that a high crime and misdemeanor. >> what robert ray was saying -- sorry to interrupt you -- it w

it seems that some of that argument seemed to resonate with judge william pauley when he handed down the sentence three years in jail for michael cohen. so where does just remind us where does michael cohen fit into the bigger picture of president trump of the ongoing investigation into alleged russian meddling in the twenty sixth the election. right well michael cohen has known donald trump for years he once said famously that he would take a bullet for the president it was this blind loyalty though that in the end seemed to cost him essentially what is a problem for donald trump in all of this and how he could implicate the president or has implicated the president is the fact that he in fact said that he acted in court nation or at the direction of donald trump when he paid off two women in violation of campaign finance he says he did this to deliberately influence the twenty sixteen u.s. election when he made these payments to two women with which to donald trump is alleged to have had affairs the so-called money if you will campaign finance law says if you're trying to make a do

. >> pauley: good morning. i'm jane pauley this is "sunday morning."egin with a remembrance of former president georgue h. w. bush what died friday evening at the age of 9

pauley will sentence cohen for crimes, including campaign finance laws for failing to report the payments. now, one bay area congresswoman has big plans for digging deeper into these and other issues once democrats have control of the house, and we'll have that story coming up at 6. >> all right. we'll see you then, melissa. thank you. >> for more on the manafort case, go to our web site at kpix 5. you can find a link and the complete memo filed yesterday at the special counsel's office. >>> another major shake up at the white house. president trump announced chief of staff john kelly will leave his job at the end of the year. >> john kelly will be leaving. i don't know if i can say retiring, but he's a great guy. john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year. we'll be announcing who will be taking john's place. it might be on an interim basis. >> kelly is a retired marine general, who was hired in july of 2017 to help bring order to the white house, but his working relationship with the president has do tearuated, and some aids say the two men are no longer on speaking terms. today m

but judge william pauley described his crimes as a smorgasbord of misconduct. he said somewhere along the way cohen lost his moral compass before sentencing him to 36 months prison. after the hearing, cohen's father told cbs news he felt dizzy. his court appearance was the culmination of two criminal cases. in august, the president's long time fixer flipped on his former boss and pleaded guilty. to crimes including taxi vision and campaign finance violations. last month he struck a special deal with the special counsel's office agreeing to cooperate with the russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and pleading guilty to lying to congress. he has given the most direct evidence to date that connects the president to criminal activity. >> no, no, no. >> reporter: cohen told investigators that ahead of the 2016 election then candidate trump directed him to pay off porn star stormy daniels and former playboy model karen mcdougal who both allege affairs with mr. trump. prosecutors also revealed that american media, the company that owns the national enquirer and made a

but judge william pauley described cohen's crimes as a ieritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct." he said, "somewhere along the way cohen lost his moral d,mpass," before sentencing him to 36 months in federal prison. as the sentence was read, cohen shook his head in disbelief. fater the hearing, cohen's tother, a holocaust survivor, urld cbs news he felt dizzy. athen's court appearance was the culmination of two criminal cases. in august, the president's long time fixer flipped on his former boss and pleaded guilty to crimes, including tax evasion and campaign finance violations. rist month he struck a separate deal with the special counsel's office, agreeing to cooperate with the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and pleading guilty to lying to congress. cohen has provided the most- harect evidence to date that ties the president to criminal activity. >> reporter: cohen told investigators that ahead of the 2016 election, then-candidate trump directed him to pay off porn star stormy daniels and former playboy model karen mcdougal, who both alleged affairs wi

but judge william pauley described his crimes as a very tabl smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct.said somewhere along the way cohen lost his moral compass before sentencing him to 36 months in federal prison. as the sentence was raid, cohen shook his head in disbelief. cohen's father a holocaust survivor, said he felt dizzy. the court appearance was the culmination of two criminal cases. last month he struck a separate deal with the special counsel's office agreeing to cooperate with the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and pleading guilty to lying to congress. cohen has provided the most direct evidence to date that ties the president to criminal activity. >> mr. president, did you direct michael cohen to commit any violation at all? >> no, no, no. >> reporter: he told investigators then candidate trump directed him to payoff porn star stormy daniels and karen mcdougal who alleged affair with mr. trump. prosecutors revealed today american media, the company that owns the "national enquirer," admitted to coordinating with cohen and making a $150,000 payment

before judge pauley sentenced michael cohen, he said, in regard to individual 1, who we've come to know as our president, the judge added, quote, campaign finance violations threaten the fairness of elections and false statements to congress interfere with the fact-finding process in matters of international importance. michael cohen will begin serving his term march 6. he has said he's willing to continue working with special counsel mueller and that's notable. on another front, another significant development. federal prosecutors in new york made a surprising announcement regarding american media, inc, publishers of the national inquirer. the feds have agreed not to charge ami in return for its cooperation. as part of this immunity agreement, ami admitted it paid the $150,000 to karen mcdougall before the 2016 elections. prosecutors say the chief executive david pecker met with cohen and pecker helped him come up with negative stories about then-candidate donald trump and women. he said the purpose of making that payment to karen mcdougall was to suppress her story, to keep it from in

judge william pauley said that somewhere along the way, michael cohen did lose his moral compass andnitude and breadth of misconduct require significant deterrence. that deterrence come as you mention, 36 month in federal prison, through three years sud parole. restitution to the irs. the forfeiture of a loan at about $1,000 in fines. he can spend the holidays with his family. he will turn himself in on marc. >> jesse: rick, thank you very much. president trump ready to fight back is democrats ramp up impeachment talk. trump telling reuters "it's hard to impeach somebody who hasn't done anything wrong and who has created the greatest economy in the history of our country." i'm not concerned, no. i think the people would revolt if that happens." a kind of agree, greg. especially if the impeachment is on party lines and if it's something really thin, major collusion. >> greg: hold on a second grade you are telling me, jesse, that you agree with donald trump? we need another breaking news. get rick leventhal back you. i agree. trump bears responsibility for employing cohen. that's not a

in a final plea to judge william pauley, cohen describing his life as, quote, personal and mental incarcerationince he started working for trump, all of this a stark reversal from cohen's years of praise. >> i care about mr. trump. >> he is a man of great intellect, great intuition and great abilities. >> he will ultimately go down in history as the greatest president. >> the judge delivering harsh words to cohen, saying he thrived on his access to wealth and powerful people and he became one himself. the president turned on his former lawyer earlier this year as cohen began cooperating with investigators. >> he's got himself a big prison sentence, and he's trying to get a much lesser prison sentence by making up a story. >> at the center of cohen's unraveling, two women and two infamous hush payments. former playboy model karen mcdougal and porn star stormy daniels both allege they had affairs with trump, which he denies. >> hi, everyone. >> federal prosecutors now confirm cohen facilitated the secret payments at trump's direction. the president also denies this despite being recorded discussi

pauley, will sentence cohen for a series of federal crimes, including bank fraud, tax evasion, and of course lying to congress about the timing and extent of conversations regarding the russian real estate deal. melissa cane, kpix 5. >> for more on the manafort case, go to kpix.com, and you can find a link. >>> also today president trump announced chief of y is out. y will be leaving. i don't know if i can say retiring. but he's a great guy. john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year. we'll be announcing who will be taking john's place. it might be on an interim basis. >> kelly is a retired marine general hired in july of 2017 to help bring order to the white house, but his working relationship with the president has deteriorated. and some aides say the two men no longer speak. today mr. trump said he will announce a replacement in a day or two, as you just heard. >>> tonight, a federal appeals court in san francisco says the trump administration's asylum ban cannot go into effect. at least not right away. the president wants to deny asylum to people who cross the southern bord

. >> reporter: judge william pauley saying cohen, quote, lost his moral compass and as a lawyer mr.espite president trump insisting he is in no legal jeopardy, lanny davis, cohen's legal adviser, suggests cohen has more information to tell prosecutors about president trump. >> michael cohen is released to tell the full truth. >> reporter: he is required to report to prison on march 6, '20 not. he is facing to the court. he also is facing an additional $50,000 fine for lying to congressa lopez, abc news, new . >>> british prime minister theresa may has survived a confidence vote by her own party. it was a secret ballot today. conservative party lawmakers backed her 200-117. her critics say she failed to deliver on brexit and negotiate with the european union. the prime minister said she is grateful for the support she received to keep her at party leader. >>> political strategist donna brazile is in town to speak about her new book. it is called ""for colored girls how have considered politics"." she offers a roadmap for a new generation of women. she joined us for "abc 7 news" at 4:

most notably what judge pauley in sentencing michael cohen did, which he didn't take issue with any of out and affirmatively embraced this idea that individual number one, that's donald trump, directed the commission of these felonies. so they haven't used those wrds, but those words don't matter. the southern district of new york, make no doubt about it, is saying these felonies were ordered by donald trump, and they very well could have influenced, as you were discussing with jeff tubin, the election. >> i appreciate it. thanks very much. want to check in with chris to see what he's working on with cuomo primetime. chris? >> it's a big day, very important to drill down on it as a legal matter. we have reason to believe and we will layout on the show that the story is not over for michael cohen. he is still very much in play with the southern district, with the state of new york and with the mueller probe. and you saw today hints and clues as to what may be to come. and you have what the big challenge is for the president of the united states. we'll layout what is out there. we have s

some reporting out of the courtroom, as the judge read the sentence, judge pauley, cohen apparently closed his eyes and shook his head slightly as if in disbelief. in addition to the 36 months, he has two months concurrent for lying to congress as well as a forfeiture of $500,000 restitution and a fine of $50,000. this is significant. we can talk about the pressure that has been put on cohen, and the pressure that continued to be put on cohen. this actually could be re-looked at, this sentencing, for up to a year if he provides additional cooperation to the special counsel. a lot of people are looking at this as more of the effort to put the screws on cohen because he didn't provide everything that they thought he should provide in his cooperation with the special counsel and the southern district of new york. >> melissa: but there are others who take the flip side of that and say that you don't sit down and sentence someone until you are done with the whole procedure. that you wouldn't rely on their testimony after the point that they have sat down and been sentenced. you can kind of argu

and judge pauley is a judge who takes those laws seriously. you know, i think it's important to point out here that one of the -- there was a phrase used in the southern district memo about the evidence against cohen being, quote, overwhelming. and that he didn't cooperate out of sort of the goodness of his heart or spirit, but because he was really caught red-handed. so for trump to say that this clears him, we don't know all of the evidence that is, quote, overwhelming against cohen, but i'm willing to go out on a limb here right now and say that given what the southern district has put as ken said in black and white and writing about the president's actions, i'm willing to bet that there is good evidence that trump had the requisite intent to commit this crime as well. >> okay. and i'll go out on a limb and say this is the biggest act of self-delusion since baghdad bob who said they were winning the war. i want to bring in ari melber, who has been brilliant on this tonight. he is the host of "the beat." ari, i love the way you put it up ton

judge pauley gave him three. yet after he read all the documents and heard all the arguments from the government, prosecutors in d.c. prosecutors in new york. michael cohen and his lawyers. that was about the president. the judge finding that the president ordered and paid for michael cohen to commit a crime. that is very telling. steve: what crime. >> the inintentional deception and failure to report campaign payments. steve: donald trump has said that that was not a campaign violation because it wasn't involving the campaign. it was a damage control payment. >> unfortunately the president wasn't in the courtroom. and the people who were, the federal prosecutors, who had a statement from david pecker, the guy that owns the "national enquirer" said it was for the campaign. the prosecutor said it was for the campaign. michael cohen said it was for the campaign. the president wasn't there maybe he should have had lawyers there. so, if you make an honest mistake in failing to report something, or if you take $100,00