the man in charge of that tabloid, david pecker, is a friend of donald trump, and trump is a man of pecker'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 national enquirer" printed a ridiculously false claim about the kennedy assassination and the father of ted cruz, trump's rival for the republican nomination, the billionaire jumped on board. >> on the cover are "the national enquirer," a picture of him and crazy lee harvey oswald having reakfast. >

to do that, they'd have to somehow know that pecker said "donald trump is a friend of mine.ted to help him, so what i did was make a deal with karen mcdougal so that her story would never see the light of day." ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: whoo! >> stephen: good luck twisting that one, robert mueller. ( laughter ) and today we learned that pecker's "the national enquirer" paid a doorman with gossip on trump $30,000 to keep quiet "about trump fathering a love child in the 1980s." wow, the president must really be ashamed of this scandal, considering the children he is willing to claim. ( laughter ) ( applause ) yeah. and just a few hours ago, the doorman confirmed the payoff, saying, "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." okay, it's official. there's now a housekeeper i feel worse for than the one at that russian hotel. ( laughter ) this is embarrassing. and insiders say the president is considering firing robert mueller, and it wouldn't be the first time. th

pecker denies any wrongdoing, just helping out a friend.nvolving top trump allies. a month after flynn was fired for lying to the vice president, the world exclusive cover story was trump catches russia's white house spy, who it said was flynn. and the same day it was reported that the fbi raided paul manafort manafort's home, this story, trump adviser sex scandal, paul manafort's sicko affair. to be clear, neither man has ever confirmed these stories are true. vp of communications for american media who ow-- and forr district attorney for the southern district of new york. do you have any doubts that this front page is sending a message to michael cohen with this cover? >> hi, erin. absolutely. i don't think -- their message is loud and clear, that if you turn, this is only the beginning of what we can do to you. >> so it's in a sense a threat. the threat from -- a threat to michael cohen, watch out, it can get worse? >> well, it a not so subtle way of delivering that message. you have to understand the power that david pecker and "the nat

so david pecker is doing the same, catching and killing stories. he puts himself in the same position as michael cohen. he puts himself in the position of being a target by the federal prosecutors. whether it's the southern district prosecutors or robert mueller. this is the second story now we're hearing, and we heard the guests on before us talk about there being conflicting evidence about michael cohen being in, you know, communications with pecker about these stories. so i think it's perhaps just a matter of time before federal prosecutors want to know what's in the office of ami, what kind of evidence may be there to support that these stories are being killed not because they're not credible stories but because it's done to protect the reputation of the president. >> and then also, michael, listen, before i introduced you guys i talked about athena jones reporting saying that there are dozens of stories that were i guess caught and killed or suppressed using the same tactics. and that's from a former senior editor there. >> right. well, i thi

reporter ronan farrow writes in "the new yorker" magazine that pecker was instrumental in killing an unsubstantiated 2015 story from a long-time trump door moon who claimed he heard trump had a child out of wedlock with one of his employees in the '80s. >> really the crux of this for one of the sources that stepped forward was reporting was halted they alleged with direct orders from david pecker. >> as for ami it says the suggestion that david pecker has ever used company funds to shutdown this or any investigation is not true. these claims are reckless, unsubstantiated and false. the question now is are there more women out there with agreements that keep them from speaking publicly about alleged relationships with the president? stormy daniels' current attorney says he's sure of it. >> from everything we've seen there's a number of mdas out there that were executed over a significant period of time. my client was not alone. i'm sure there are a number of women that have found themselves in the same situation. >>> ahead, keith davidson, michael cohen, and this man, elliott brody. w

that's what let the video go sensationally viral. >> ronnie peckering! >> two? >> ronnie now is rather famous in his hometown. in this incident, that night, there is two sides of the story. ronnie says he wasn't saying anything. the 29-year-old who actually punched ronnie. he says he apologizes, but he lost his mind and managed to hit him on the old jaw and knock him out. after all, this ronnie is not pressing any charges. >> there is one thing in this video. and we don't have time for the whole thing. >> the cable car. >> fine, we'll make other arrangements. that's not a cle car anyway. out of the chopper. >> i was hoping he would lock like that. >> immediately hit full speed. >> trapping everybody. >> this gets so good >> he's reckless, wrooefb weaving between skiers. >> if not careful, they will get the popo. >> if they're looking for him, they'll finds him real quick. >> nothing will stop them. >> this house. >> yes, yes, yes. >> this goes beyond anything i've seen him do. it's so good. >> it looks like the popo will get it. he goes right, they pull this mov

. >> as for ami it says the suggestion that david pecker has ever used company funds to shutdown this eor any investigation is not true. these claims are reckless, unsubstantiated and false. the question now is are there more women out there with agreements that keep them from speaking publicly about alleged relationships with the president? stormy daniels' current attorney says he's sure of it. >> from everything we've seen there's a number of mdas out there that were executed over a significant period of time. my client was not alone. i'm sure there are a number of women that have found themselves in the same situation. >> ahead, keith davidson, michael cohen, and this man, elliot brody. what's the connection between the three? more hush money. ♪ ♪ (baby crying) ♪ ♪ don't juggle your home life and work life without it. ♪ ♪ and don't forget who you're really working for without it. ♪ ♪ funding to help grow your business... ♪ ♪ another way we have your back. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. the powerful backing of american express. ♪ with exp

pecker would want to do something in secret. he wants to benefit. in order to benefit, he needs to know that trump would reward him for it. >> all right. ashley, i want to ask you one last thing. your new story in the washington post says that michael cohen sometimes taped conversations with associates and investigators may have their hands on those recordings. how does this change the game? >> well, basically according to the legal experts we spoke to, we know cohen sometimes taped conversations, and we have no reason to believe he deleted them. that would be with all the material that was swept up in the raid on his home, his office, his hotel room. and the legal experts say these are gold mines. audio recordings aren't first or secondhand accounts. they're the real deal. that's something investigators would be interested to get their hands on and listen to. >> thank you so both of you, jill and ashley, thank you for your great reporting. >> i need to make it clear again. no offense to men's health or ali getting caught doing anything naughty. i w

sources telling nbc news the feds are eyeing cohen's connections to david pecker, a trump supporter,american media incorporated, known as ami, the parent company of "the national enquirer" and communications with its chief content officer dylan howard. this comes after these headlines today. nbc news has not confirmed this reporting, that the tabloid paid a trump doorman 30 grand to stop an embarrassing unverified rumor about then candidate trump about an affair and an out of wed lock child. the story never ran. today ami categorically denied it use company funds to shut down this or any investigation, and said the love child story was determined not credible. the company saying neither donald trump nor michael cohen had anything to do with their decision not to publish the story. the trump organization also denied it, saying the doorman has a history of peddling false stories, and the woman in question denied the story to the associated press. ami also reported bee paid former play boy model, this woman, karen mcdougal, $150,000 in 2016. she alleged a 2006 affair with donald trump.

david pecker and american media twice accused of paying women or a guy and a woman of -- to quiet thechael cohen accused of paying stormy daniels. the whole russian attack on our election. he was the beneficiary of saying i didn't participate in it in any way and things happen that benefit donald trump that other people do for him and he never knows about it. >> some people are lucky. we have lots more to talk about. who will be appointed with the president trump nickname next? stay with us. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ ythen you turn 40 ande everything goes. tell me about it. you know, it's made me think, i'm closer to my retirement days than i am my college days. hm. i'm thinking... will i have enough? should i change something? wel

this came -- do you know that this came directly from david pecker >> that's what we report as a claimm several of the sources involved. you know, they say he was calling regularly about this. now ami we should point out has flatly doid that. a source close to the white house referred us back to am. they're referring to each other. i think with the raids happening and the probes happening that fbi raid this week focusing specifically on finding these kinds of transactions and communications related to them with michael cohen more may come to light about how involved he was. >> did you talk -- i believe you talked to some ami employees believing that michael cohen may have been in communication with ami during this time. >> that's exactly what they have said. and, again, ami denies that. but the sources we talk to on the inside did say that was happening. >> which again points to -- if there are audio recordings taken from michael cohen offense and there were communications between michael cohen monitoring that they were working in tandem to protect donald trump, that's extraordinary. >

pecker had ever used company funds to shut down this or any investigation is not true. former playboy model karen mcdoogl accuses the national inquirer doing the same thing with her affair with trump paying her $150,000 for the rights to the details and giving her a short-lived fitness column. the white house denies the allegations of the affair. she was on cnn last month. >> i think someone is lying. i can tell you it's not me. >> that was nbc's stephanie gosk reporting. we say it all the time on the show, and i feel like a broken record. it's not about the sex. it's not about the rumors. it's about the money. three payments. number one, the one the agreement between stormy daniels and michael cohen 11 days before the election. . two, karen mcdougal and american media. the former doorman and american media after donald trump announce head would run for president. this seems to be here what federal investigators are raising questions about the pattern. >> the money gaining the attention of the feds. that's why you had the raid, to president trump's personal attorney's o

of the trump campaign effort from the beginning long before trump became a candidate, he and david pecker had a strong friendship and it shows itself in the front of the enquirer which i read every week at the super market stand because their best stories is always on the front page and all the qualifiers are inside real -- >> why do the aliens land so frequently? >> that was their sister publication. you got to keep them straight. >> they had the obamas on the cover and all kinds of scandals they made up about the obamas. about voters, the voters own matter as much here ari as the other possibility of violations of campaign finance law which is an interesting and serious area. we don't really know for sure but if you help to pay off somebody to cover up something that's negative about your candidate, is that a campaign contribution? that has yet to be decided -- >> we've reported -- on that piece, we've reported that the theory that these are campaign donations does not have a lot of federal support in the law but the theory that you have to be honest when you make financial transactions

they said david pecker, the publisher of the story, never used any funds to shutdown the story. >> conversations recorded by trump's lawyer before and during the 2016 campaign were likely scooped up in the raid on michael cohen's home, office and hotel room. the sources say cohen recorded discussions about the campaign and interactions with the media. two officials tell the washington post that trump associates are worried that the recordings are now in the hands of the fbi. evidence from the raids have to be reviewed by an independent team to make sure it doesn't breach attorney/client privilege. >>> sources say president trump's legal team have pulled back on the interview with special counsel robert mueller. they are reviewing if the president should talk to mueller at all. they were meeting to discuss the testimony. trump lawyers were blind sided by the raid and consider it a major breach of trust. >>> the white house is preparing talking points to undermine the credibility of rod rosenstein. the plan is still in the preliminary form. the president is considering firing rosenstein who overse

a new yorker magazine was the first to report that it was pecker who was behind the 150 grand deal made with mcdougal. >> that's what we report as a claim of several sources involved. they said he was calling regularly about this. a.m.i. flatly denied that. a.m.i. says the suggestion of silencing her is complete without merit. >> killing a 2015 story from a long time trump's doorman claims he heard trump had a child out of wedlock in the '80s. 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 former doorman says in a statement released this week. other publications report that a.m. i've bought the story from him for 30 grands and never published it. >> many of the forces was on direct order on david pecker. >> there were stories mentioning michael cohen that he spoke with two former a.m.i. employees who said they believed that cohen was in close contact with a.m.i. executive while the reporter were looking into sajudin's story. these claims are reckless and unstan shu unsubstantiate

ami's chairman david pecker is a friend of the president. publisher states it since released him from the contract and denies shutting down the story saying, quote, ami categorically denies that president trump or michael cohen had anything to do with its decision not to pursue a story of a quote love child that it determined was not credible. adding, quote, ami and mr. pecker deny any suggestion that there might have been any partnership created which might influence any business ties in regard to ami. these claims are reckless, unsubstantiated and false. sajudin's story sounds similar to karen mcdougall who was paid thousands to just before the election for details of alleged affair with prmp. >> this is about the most powerful people in the country having the ability to silence and change the news narrative at will and i think that the public should know that. >> reporter: mcdougall told anderson cooper her attorney approached ami. >> did you know that your attorney was going to go to ami which is the parent company owning "national enqui

maxine, with your time at ami, do you have any idea how often trump would be in touch with david peckerch. >> i don't know right now, i know from the time i was there, they were in contact regularly, and david pecker liked to boast they are very close friends. he had just flown in on donald's jet, he's dining with him. he had bragging rights attached to donald trump. i would assume that's still going on. like i said, i can't speak for right now, i know they spoke regularly before. i think it's safe to say that any story that comes out like this has got to have been passed by trump beforehand. i can't see how they run a piece like that without passing it by him. it makes no sense. >> we don't know that for a fact, if that is the cases, and if you are michael cohen. knowing what you know about how trump and the national enquirer and ami work so closely together. how concerned should michael cohen be? >> every piece of his history now with donald trump is specially before investigators. we don't know what documents and transactions were seized. he's clearly in lots of legal jeopardy on a n

we heard over and over again that was a direct order coming down from david pecker the head of this company who has publicly professed an allegiance to trump. this is significant because it establishes a pattern. this is potentially the third illicit payment during the election cycle, stormy daniels, which was a direct deal with that woman to silence a story that she had and karen mcdougal story which she first talked to us as well and another example of through this same company a story being caught and killed. >> here to discuss now former federal prosecutor jennifer rogers and m.j. lee. let's just fill in the blanks here just a little bit. ronan farrow explaining this news story the "national inquirer," the parent company paying $30,000 to keep the rumor quiet. the inquirer paid karen mcdougal for what here? >> ronan was saying is there seems to be now a pattern of this kind of behavior is really, really key. if you look at the two stories of the two things that are being reported, yes, there are such similarities that are so striking in this story with the trump tower doorman in 2015, i

pecker. i'm joined by katie phang and jonathan allen reporter for nbc news digital.atie, there's so much news. this simple question, what would be illegal about michael cohen, the president's lawyer/fixer for arranging payments to eem through the "national enquire enquirer"'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

"national enquirer" publisher david pecker in this case caught and killed that karen mcdougal story fordonald trump. now, ami has denied they coordinated in any way with trump or killed the story for trump. but last month, miss mcdougal sued ami, saying they tricked her when she signed away the right to tell her story. because she says ami and her own lawyer were secretly coordinating with trump's personal attorney, michael cohen, to get the story killed. so she thought she had a lawyer representing her, but she actually didn't. she was part of a scheme to make her go away. and that $150,000 payment from ami to karen mcdougal, that is now reportedly one of the things the fbi was searching for evidence about when they raided cohen's office and hotel room on monday. so, yeah, it's the "national enquirer." but these payments 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

for all communications that were tied to two top american media inchopper rated company executives, pecker howard. american media incorporated probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people. one of their publication is the national enquirer. there has been various reporting over the years that president trump or people.in his circle toer in the trump organization may have been behind payments to people to tell their exclusive stories to that publication skpk then this publication does not publish their actual stories or their accounts of specific incidents that have happened. and some of those incidents have been reportedly perhaps negative or detrimental to president trump's reputation. that's some of the reporting that's out there. what we have learned and what the "new york times" first reported is that the search warrant had a specific section where they requested any communications between molkal cohen who was of course the president's personal attorney and these two top executives david pecker and dillon howard. that's what is new at this time. this is just kind of helping us katy kin

pecker. stories about martians on earth -- >> and pay to kill. >> it's more like a super pac sometimes than an actual news organization. but the theory that we were talking about before is that basically the trump organization is like a racketeering organization, that basically the -- special attorney, attorney for the southern district could use the rico act which is an act passed in 1907 for basically trying to indict mafia organizations because you could never get the leaders either to testify or anybody to incriminate them. and so one of the things that people have talked about is using those statutes to basically indict the entire trump organization, which would be an interesting approach. >> barbara, is it your sense that prosecutors are looking at the trump organization, mr. trump, and his colleagues in the way that rick posits they would be? >> a rico would be a pretty big allegation. i don't know we're there yet. you would have to show a pattern of racketeering activity. they would c

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

. >> 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 contribution or an unreported campaign contribution. so this doe

friend david pecker used the national inquirer to buy stories and shut tome down. he sees the media and a paper do what it's supposed to do. >> if i donald trump own a newspaper i would use it entirely as a vessel to attack enemies and he's projecting that out ward. that was great. thank you. that is "all in" for this evening. >>> the breaking news we're covering tonight comes from the "washington post." mueller's people have told trump's people the president is the subject of a criminal investigation, though not currently a target. mueller is preparing a report about donald trump's actions in office and there's more. two of the reporters on this story standing by to talk with us. that news dropping just hours after the first sentencing and prison time ordered in the mueller investigation. and the president's comments today on russia and putin are now being viewed in a new light because of tonight's reporting. as "the 11th hour" on a tuesday night gets underway. good evening once again from our headquarters here in new york. day 439 of the trump administration. and

company chairman, david pecker,is a friend of the president.the tabloid denied that mr.p 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 trump. :"this is this is about the most powerful people in the country having the ability to silence and change the news narrative at will. coming up at eight.. what these good samaritans did to stop laptop thefts in the east bay...and landed two men in handcuffs. plus. while he testified before congress...mark zuckerberg's wealth grew. how much richer he is now. and next. as others ran out....san bruno police officers ran toward danger without hesistation. we meet the heroes that rushed into action the day of the youtube shooting. it's a kron-4 exclusive...straight ahead ((lawrence tease))i'm kron 4 chief meteorologist lawrence karnow.coming up, i will take a look at your 7 day forecast. details are right after the break.

the suggestion that david pecker has ever used any company found shut down this investigation is not true." categorically denying this catch and kill happened. >> let's bring in david chalian first. starting to connect some dots, we were sitting here this time yesterday talking about the initial report saying that the investigators wanted to raid michael cohen's hotel, home, office because they wanted record related to "access hollywood." before that there was stormy daniels, karen mcdougal and now the doorman. shall we call this a pattern? >> we shall. it is a pattern. and here's why i find it so fascinating and why i think michael cohen may find himself more exposed to potential legal jeopardy, even though he's conducting the same behavior he's conducted for years. he takes actions to protect donald trump. that's what he does. it one thing to do that when donald trump is the ceo of the trump organization. it another thing when donald trump changes the context by becoming a presidential candidate. maybe the behaviors that michael cohen employed to protect donald trump in the private

it's run by david pecker, a friend of president trump. >> all right.ormer white house ethics lawyer if president bush is running for a u.s. senate seat as a democrat. according to a commission filing richard painter will be vying for al franken's former seat. smith has said she intends to run for a six-year term as well. so paunter's impending announcement is bound to set up a primary before november. he's been a constant critic of the republican party saying americans are fed up with the gop and his campaign tweeted that americans are quote, in the fight of our lives sating that our democracy is under assault. >> switching gears and back to congress. nunes is no longer considered safe in his election bid. downgraded nunes district to likely republican. nunes is still considered a favorite in this year's race but will face a strong challenge from dans who has raised more than $1 million in the first quarter of the year alone. >> white house reporter steve nelson, good to talk to you. as we just heard president trump sort of renewing his call over the w

trump by his friend david pecker, then there is another potential for fraud.ern district of new york is notoriously -- it's my alma mater so i can take some pride in this and i was head of the official corruption section before i went down to washington to work on the watergate case. >> let me get your quick reaction to the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, chuck grassley, reacting today when he was asked about the possibility if the president could fire robert mueller. listen to this. >> i think it would be suicide for the president to fire him. i think the less the president says about this whole thing, the better off he will be. and i think that mueller is a person of stature and respected, and i respect him. just let the thing go forward. >> that is hugely important. >> why? tell us why you believe that's important. >> i testified before senator grassley's committee back in june, and the import of my testimony was that the judiciary committee needed to protect robert mueller against the potential for firing, just what's been discussed and what ha

he thinks bazos uses "the washington post" the way his friend david pecker used the national inquirer shut tome down. he sees the media and a paper do what it's supposed to do. >> if i donald trump own a newspaper i would use it entirely as a vessel to attack enemies and he's projecting that out ward. that was great. thank you. that is "all in" for this evening. >>> the breaking news we're covering tonight comes from the "washington post." mueller's people have told trump's people the president is the subject of a criminal investigation, though not currently a target. mueller is preparing a report about donald trump's actions in office and there's more. two of the reporters on this

david pecker is one of the president's supporters. he cheerleads the president a lot. they have a long time relationship down in florida and the question is whether or not this story was bought with the purpose of keeping out -- keeping it out of the headlines. to essentially buy her silence. and so that is the reason why she has filed this lawsuit. and so it is kind of a surprising thing that this would be included in the search of cohen because he claimed he had nothing to do with this and to do with the american media and the national inquirer doing a private deal with this woman to be clear, american media said they are cooperating with all inquiries on this issue and they say they simply bought the story and decided not to publish it because they say they didn't find it credible. that is their story. >> karen mcdougal got $150,000 and stormy daniels got $130,000. >> and the people doing this investigation in new york are public corruption investigators. that is important in all of this. that is where this is being generated and those are the investigators that are

learning that they're seeking communications between cohen and two executives of american media, david peckeroward oversee the national enkwiquirer. in a statement ami categorically denied that donald trump or michael cohen had anything to do with its decision not to pursue a story, that it determined was not credible. and the ripple effect of the cohen raid is coming into view changing the white house's approach to the special counsel's investigation. nbc news's national security and justice reporter yulia ainsley has more on that. >> that's right, nbc news learned that talks between mueller's team and trump's legal team broke down earlier this week after trump learned that his personal lawyer, michael cohen, had his offices raided. what this means is that the president has gotten frustrated. he no longer wants to cooperate. he doesn't want to sit down for that interview where he'd be able to bring his lawyer and possibly negotiate the terms, the scope, the questions that could be asked. instead what he wants to do is sort of go to war. we're hearing more about the possibility that he could

. >> we were prepared to take the deposition of david pecker, to take the deposition of other executivxecutives, to get these documents, these recordings you mentioned, this correspondence. that's not what karen wanted. what karen wanted was to not be beholden to this company. she doesn't want to be on their magazin magazines. she was tricked into a catch-and-kill contract. >> the settlement that she's got, though, it's been reported that the settlement will include her getting a magazine cover. >> it's not accurate. it actually makes me upset. because we worked hard to negotiate this and we made it clear she didn't want money. she just didn't want to deal with these people. >> does she want to get columns? >> no. >> she's not getting any material for herself published in their publications. >> hear me out on this. ami insisted they have the right to repurpose old pictures and articles because they want to save face. they want to put her on their magazine and say, oh, there's nothing going on here, this is a commercial relationship. it's a fraud. she was tricked into a deal so that her

the ceo of that company, david pecker, happens to be a close friend of the president, has been for yearsrings us to this new reporting from the new yorker and the associated press, both of whom say a former doorman at one of trump's manhattan buildings made a claim, an unverified rumor based on second-hand information, about trump fathering a child in the late 1980s with an employee. the a.p. reported that in late 2015, american media incorporated allegedly paid the doorman $30,000 for that rumor. ami says neither donald trump nor michael cohen had anything to do with its decision not to publish the story. the trump organization has denied the story and says that the doorman is pushing a false story. nbc news has not confirmed the story and has reached out to the white house for comment. here to talk about all of it, julia ainsley, nbc news national security and justice reporter, and jeremy bash back with us, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon, also an msnbc national security analyst. so, julia, every time you come on, i ask you where you believe the mueller investigation stan

. >> a former editor said david pecker sbubought so many storieo protect druonald trump called ia favoredk. >> i'll be careful to stick sto what we reported in the new yorker. i won't speculate on how many more there may or may not be. certainly we now know that there were at least two transactions on behalf of the president or benefit of the president. ami denies that was the purpose. the multiple sources seemed adamant about that with the aim of silences stories that could be been unflattering to the president. >> i know you do a lot of reporting on this. are there more payments to come out? >> i won't speculate on how many more there are but the pattern is sufficient that legal experts tell me this has serious ramifications for election law, for criminal law and certainly as to what the ami side of this gets out of the transaction. what we report many this late e story is sources told us this was a different one and may have resulted in introductions to individuals who could have helped ami. >> we'll continue our conversations. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >>> we'll hav

. >> we were prepared to take the deposition of david pecker, to take the deaf six finition of executives, get the documents. recordings you mention the, this correspondence. nothing would have made me personally happier. that's not what karen wanted. what karen wanted was to not be beholden to the company. doesn't want to be on their magazine, work with them. she was tricked into a catch and kill contract. >> the settlement, reported, the settlement will include a magazine cover from ami. reported but not accurate? >> not accurate. it makes me upset. we worked hard to negotiate this. and we made it clear she didn't want money. she just didn't want to deal with these people. >> does sunny want he want to g? >> none of her material published in the publications. >> hear me out. important to understand what happened. ami insist they'd have the right to repurpose old pictures and articles because they want to save face. they want to put her on their magazine, and say, oh, thirtz nothirtz -- there is noth going on here. a commercial relationship. it is a fraud. she was tricked into a deal. so

this man, david pecker, is ceo of the parent company — american media incorporated — and he's a friendback on us media until more details about her alleged affair with donald trump. she already had an interview where she told a lot of the story but there might be a big deal and other media events that will be somewhat ofan media events that will be somewhat of an embarrassment for donald trump —— book deal. although with this lawsuit going away, that is probably good news, because you have a requested documents, things could then be publicised, some things which donald trump doesn't want to go away. don't go away yourself. another story involving donald trump's embattled lawyer michael cohen: he dropped libel lawsuits he had filed against buzzfeed and a political research firm. anthony — why has he done this? he says this because he is distracted by other legal cases and obligations, investigations, into him by the us government, that he doesn't now have time to pursue this, but dropping those settlements could be related to this raid that the federal government did on michael coen las

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 there was no collusion. we talk with a house intel member about the duelling reports next. elevated comf

david pecker, the publisher, and dylan howard, the "national enquirer" editor and chief.any released this statement. ami denies that donald trump or michael cohen had anything to do with its decision not to pursue a story about a love child that it determined was not credible. now, it's moments like this when the "national enquirer" is putting out statements about what's true and false. that it would be really great if the "national enquirer" never printed outright screaming lies on the cover of the "national enquirer," which it does on a regular basis. a spokesperson for 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

he thinks bazos uses "the washington post" the way his friend david pecker used the national inquirerdown. he sees the media and a paper do what it's supposed to do. >> if i donald trump own a newspaper i would use it entirely as a vessel to attack enemies and he's projecting that out ward. that was great. thank you. that is "all in" for this evening. >> good evening. much appreciated. thanks to you at home for joining us. great to be back, i had a couple days off, for which i'm grateful especially for my friend joe reid who filled in last night but as i say, it's great to be back lots of great news. the shooting that took place in california, that was the focus of news attention this afternoon. close to san francisco, from all the information that we've got at this point it looks like this is the kind of shooting that will be classified as a workplace shooting potentially a workplace shooting related to a domestic matter. neither of those things are unusual at all in this country at this point, however, in this case, this took

. >> what's fascinating here is that pecker and ami in some ways have an ironclad thing to say, in both case of mcdougal and this. >> well -- >> right? they can just say, like, it didn't work out. we didn't publish it. >> and you know what? that could well be -- >> i'm not saying -- i'm not impugning it, i'm just saying, they can say that. >> that's exactly right. and in fact, that's what they said to us. and that the merits of the story were such that they didn't believe he was -- that dino was credible. and they decided to drop it. you know, traditionally, based on months of reporting, talking to former tabloid writers and editors, people who spent years sort of getting the craft perfected, the publication doesn't make a habit of paying out that kind of money and not pursuing it in some regard. or if they do, there's a purpose behind it, which is another sort of long-known industry trick, trade called catch and kill. >> and that's the thing here. you start getting a pattern and there are individual denials become less plausible. >> and also, that's why, even if we all say, okay, well,

both pecker and howard have reportedly been involved in payments to people who wanted to tell storiesat would be viewed as damaging to the donald trump campaign or to donald trump in the years before he was elected president. we will have more on that story as we get it. moments ago we learned that president trump met with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein at the white house. the white house says the two talked about routine department business. is there much routine department business at the attorney general's office these days? this comes as the president responded to reports that he and his allies are trying to undermine the russia investigation which is overseen by rod rosenstein. a short time ago the president tweeted he has been cooperating with robert mueller and has full confidence in ty cobb the white house lawyer dealing with the probe. earlier he tweeted that he would have fired mueller if he wanted to. a "new york times" report that he wanted to in december was fake news. the first tweet was in response to a "washington post" reporter that steve bannon is pitching a

people up and money to hide stories and to the degree to media company like "national enquirer," david peckerend, what kind of influence do they have over the president now? what kind of -- what do they want in exchange for this? not only have they paid money to hush people about actual affairs, they have printed stories about fake affairs involving ted cruz. they have a lot of stories that they have done and catch and killed to benefit donald trump. what does he do for them in return? that's a question. >> what's also interesting kore. any publicly are saying they didn't find the person credible they paid $30,000 according to ronan reporting they work aggressively on the story gave a lie detector test to the person which the person aldly passed. not admissible in court. very fallible. but if near paying the $30,000 though the publishers says they don't believe. >> it's intriguing and also complicated as well. as you just laid out, anderson. it goes back to if you think -- what's so powerful about this is that the president of the united states is now extremely vulnerable to blackmail, whethe

michael cohen may have had about these two women or potentially others we don't know about, with david peckerompany that puts out the "national enquirer" and often engages in something called catch and kill, which is what we saw with the former playmate where you basically -- it's a version of hush money still. you pay a woman for her story, and then you never accomplish it. that's one thing they're looking into, and it seems like what we know so far, michael cohen is sort of the president's fixer, is sort of front and center in trying to keep these women silent and trying to handle all these women who they worried might come forward during the campaign. and to your first question, you're right. the mood in the white house is incredibly grim. the president is furious and aides are worried about what's going to happen next. >> ashley parker, david corn, thanks for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. >>> tonight's last word is next. >>> time for tonight's last great, another dead end. sarge, i just got a tip that'll crack this case wide open! turns out the prints at the crime scene- awwww