scott cohen filed this story. >> reporter: the competitionas intense. >> all hands on deck. >> sometimes a little weird. >> we might have to start with going to the state to see if we can get the legislature to change the name to feenz iks amazona. >> entering the bid for 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investment. the result a tie. >> this was a fierce mp ition. i think it's exciting for amazon. i know it's exciting for the state of new york. >> cntainly consolidates queens as the great economic capital consolidates new york city as a great international tech hub. >> new york's long island city enabled gets half the prize, a nod to a strong tech workforce. the other half to northern virginia, a strong workforce as well and a strategic location wedged between reagan national airport and the pentagon. >> it is a performance-basedac incentivege we put on the table. the return on our investment will be very good. >> and a consolation prize to nashville, tennessee for strong economy. it will get 5,000 employee operations center. >> this is the largest jobs announcement in thery of the state of

he's serving a life sentence in prison and scott cohen is one of the very few journalists to go insideon and speak with the man hseimlf scott joins us next. >> welcome back. ten years ago bernie madoff confessed to his sons that his $65 billion hedge fund was nothing but a giant ponzi scheme the ripple effects of the scam of the century continue to this day. scott cohen led our mad yoff coverage back then >> are we safer today bernie madoff himself is marking this tenth anniversary quietly we believe at the medium security prison in butler, north carolina where he turn 80 this spring now nine and a half years into a 150 year prison sentence a few years ago i spontaneity surreal two hours with bernie madoff behind bars to hear bernie madoff tell it, running a giant ponzi scheme was stressful even before he got caught life in prison was kind of a respite. kind of like being in the army he told me in 2013, only you're not worried about getting killed madoff's lead defense attorney is still in touch with his most famous client. >> he's doing okay for 80 years old. there's a respect from th

scott cohen led our coverage of the scam of the century and he's back now catching up with some of thoseictims. good to see you. >> on the surface it sounds as if madoff's victims are doing okay after they're getting 6 cents back on the dollar. the figures only begin to tell the story. on the one hand there are investors like joyce greenberg of houston who says she's gotten back about 60% of her multi-million dollars madoff investment. >> well, i consider myself very fortunate. >> reporter: she says part of that is due to good recordkeeping on her part. more important, she didn't withdraw any more from her madoff account than she put in. according to irving picard, the trustee rounding up funds for the victims that makes greenberg a net loser at the top of the food chain for recoveries. for greenberg a pleasant surprise. >> when madoff confessed, i thought i would never see the money again. >> reporter: but on the other hand our clients like the kent family from georgia, like thousands of victims eileen kent's parents withdrew more money than they invested believing the returns on their

scott free, is that possible for cohen? >> no, he has a criminal convicti conviction, the judge is going to pick a sentence he believes is fair given the circumstances, just like every other department in any given case, from the lowliest person who steals a piece of mail. >> depending -- obviously, even given you're saying that it will most certainly, or i suppose extremely likely be reduced for the cooperation as mueller is suggesting he wants to do against the president? >> it could be reduced, the government isn't going to tell the court to reduce it based on cooperation, based on substantial assistance, they're going to put all the facts before the court and say, this is the crime he's committed. this is what he's done, they're not going to file a 5k letter stating to the court financial assistance by cohen. he'll serve the complete sentence when it's imposed. >> what do you make about the president's focus on this today? >> very few people know president trump's mind and the way it works, and how to get inside his min

investigators, and now he's got what you'd have to call a surprising reaction to the cohen and manafort sentencing memos ladies discuss, scottor of "everything trump touches dies." rick, there were a lot of tweets but they ended with this one. totally clears the president. thank you. i mean, is he talking about obama? is he talking about bush? i don't know. but him? if he's talking about him, that clears it. >> i'm not sure -- i'm not sure individual one understands exactly how the law works. because just wish casting yourself and saying oh, i'm cleared now, it's all good is you know, donald trump fastball ualism at large and this is a guy who clearly spent the day in a growing state of anxiety and rage. i mean this morning was some classic rage tweeting. and you've got to imagine they were trying to beat the door of the john down trying to get the guy out and he ends today. >> just look at your screen, everybody. this is just today. sorry, rick. continue. >> it's okay. >> 14. 14 times. >> no, this is not a well man, don. this is a guy who honestly believes that he can change the fabric of reality and make the law go away by

lawyer and kel kel kellyanne conway tweeted you directed and coordinated with cohen to commit two felonies. other than scottat being received by republicans in congress. >> any time anything like this happens, what does this lead to? what i said from the beginning is what marco rubio said earlier. we just want to see when this is all done what is laid before congress and what is the evidence. and what we're doing right now is taking a new filing and extrapolating what that means and the long run. we don't know. so this is something bigger? is this a campaign finance violation? which would obviously, i don't think be anywhere near impeachable. democrats run a major risk by automatically right now as we heard jerry nadler talk about impeachable offenses. it's an impeachable offense. i'd be very careful if we do. that that will derail the next two years of their agenda. >> i mean, on the point of going too far, definitely degree. it was obvious that the republican controlled and the democrats should definitely do their jobs in that regard. they have a vision and not just be anti-president trump. they should be

cohen case. back with me now, kaitlan, kirsten, and scott. so let's talk about this.dent shopping for an attorney general who will shut down this investigation? jeffrey toobin called it a feature, not a bug in terms of what he's looking for. >> reporter: i think that's certainly what critics of this white house think, and i don't think it's unusual they drew that conclusion because his primary problem with jeff sessions was that he had recused himself and couldn't be in charge of the russia investigation. therefore, president trump thought it had gotten out of control. white house officials will continue to insist day in and day out that the president is not going to fire robert mueller, and he doesn't want to bring the investigation to an end though it's clear he wants it to come to an end on his own. but you can guarantee that the president's pick for the attorney general is going to have a fight for this when he does go to be senate confirmed because of course that is going to be a question that a lot of senators feel pressured to ask. are you going to either recus

trump tweeted cohen is making up stories to get a deal for himself, his wife and father-in-law so they can get off scottree. notice the spelling of scott free? scot with one "t" is free of penalty. we get more from some girl, a terrific reporter, kaitlan collins, at the white house. >> reporter: it seems that president trump bottled his anger toward the special counsel robert mueller and unleashed it in a series of tweets going after the special counsel, but after his former attorney michael cohen who recently pleaded guilty to lying to congress. president trump is not only saying he lied under oath, but calling for the maximum prison sentence for michael cohen saying he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for the crimes he committed which he says were not related to him. two high profile guilty pleas have had to do directly with president trump. one admitted he violated campaign finance laws which he did at the direction of president trump and lying to congress, which he said he did out of loyalty to president trump. this seems to have unnerved president trump. we reported michael coh

and now he's got what you'd have to call a surprising reaction to the cohen and manafort sentencing memos let's discuss now. scottis here, rick wilson. rick is the author of "everything trump touches dies." rick, there were a lot of tweets but they ended with this one. totally clears the president. thank you!" i mean, is he talking about obama? is he talking about bush? i don't know. but him? if he's talking about him, that clears it. >> i'm not sure -- i'm not sure individual 1 understands exactly how the law works. because just wish casting yourself and saying oh, i'm cleared now, it's all good is you know, donald trump fastball fab lymph -- fabulism writ large and this is a guy who clearly spent the day in a growing state of anxiety and rage. i mean this morning was some classic rage tweeting. and you've got to imagine they were trying to beat the door of the john down trying to get the guy out and he ends today. >> just look at your screen, everybody. this is just today. sorry, rick. continue. >> it's okay. >> 14. 14 times. >> no, this is not a well man, don. this is a guy who honestly believes that he can ch

cohen's crimes. >>> and gop power play. outgoing wisconsin governor scott walker signs a controversial bill passed by the lame duck legislature, stripping power from the incoming democratic governor and blocking him from enacting campaign promises. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm brianna keilar. you're in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news this hour. special counsel robert mueller's team slamming a suggestion in michael flynn's sentencing filing that the former national security adviser lied to fbi agents because he was caught off guard. the new mueller filing just released as i say flynn was, quote, committed to his false story and had already spread the lie about his contact with the russian ambassador to other top members of the trump administration. i'll talk about that and much more with congresswoman jackie speier of the intelligence committee and our correspondents, analysts and specialists with full coverage of the day's top stories. let's get more on this breaking news with cnn political correspondent sara murray a

cohen's crimes. >>> and gop power play. outgoing wisconsin governor scottrsial bill passed by the lame duck legislature, stripping

scott, thanks to all of you. a lot to digest there today. >> michael cohen said the president is lying about the russia investigation, full stop. his advice to his former boss coming up. >>> plus, the deadline to stop a government shutdown is just one week away now, with christmas coming. but there's no plan, and lawmakers in the house don't return to work until the middle of next week. >> hmm. >>> also, genera motors laying off thousands of workers. thousands. in ohio, the president says those jobs will be, quote, replaced in like two minutes. really? fact checking that ahead. at dewar's, all our whiskies are aged, blended and aged again. it's the reason our whisky is so extraordinarily smooth. dewar's. double aged for extra smoothness. going to extremes for perfect skin? where does it end? new olay whips. while not equal to cosmetic procedures, our b3 complex hydrates to smooth skin. injections? rejected. beautiful skin? accepted olay. opportunity is everywhere. like here. where you can explore the world knowing you can always find your way home. ♪ ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don

a weak and terrible person, et cetera, he is so angry at michael cohen right now, i don't think there's a chance in the world. >> scott, thank you. >>> all right. well, of course, scott will have all our checks and balances every morning on "today in the bay," as well as right here at 11:00 for our midday newscast. >>> new right now at 11:00, a major street in the south bay is back open after being shut down. a crash on stevens creek in san jose was creating a huge traffic nightmare. nbc bay area's bob redell at the scene. bob, i know they were saying that westbound lanes would be closed for some time. but are they back open now? >> reporter: they have been back open, marcus, for at least about an hour and a half. we're talking about stevens creek boulevard. you can see the remnants of this accident reopened at winchester boulevard. after this accident involving a wrong-way driver. and as you can see from nbc bay area sky ranger, two other vehicles. so three vehicles in total. this happened around 6:45 this morning. a driver of a white honda was heading eastbound when he, for whatever reason, ended up in the westbound

and part two of the tweet he says cohen has lied to get his wife and father-in-law off scott free.that moment, the internet needed to wait, no, who the heck is scott free? scott free was trending on twitter as a reactions started pouring in. this guy who may or may not have just changed his twitter name to scott free this afternoon replied to the president, leave me outta this. folks at merriam webster tweeted the correct spelling. some guy probably. everyone's favorite lawn mowing meme, are you scott free? i know of one person who can't manage to board a plane scott free. ready to get your feast on? you better be 'cause it's red lobster's new create your own ultimate feast event! pick 4 of 10 favorites to create the ultimate feast you've been dreaming of. will you choose creamy lobster mac & cheese, tender, wild-caught snow crab... crispy jumbo coconut shrimp, hey, we never said choosing was easy... just delicious. so hurry in to create your own ultimate feast before it's gone. and be the party hero. get ten percent off when you order red lobster to go. but only for a limited time

and part two of the tweet he says cohen has lied to get his wife and father-in-law off scott free. in that moment, the internet needed to wait, no, who the heck is scott free? scott free was trending on twitter as a reactions started pouring in. this guy who may or may not have just changed his twitter name to scott free this afternoon replied to the president, leave me outta this. folks at merriam webster tweeted the correct spelling. some guy probably. everyone's favorite lawn mowing meme, are you scott free? i know of one person who can't manage to board a plane scott free. i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too. if you'r

scott and this is the fox report. former trump attorney was sentenced to three years in prison this past week. he violated campaign finance laws. cohenush money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claimed to have had an affair with present time. today chomps

scott and this is the fox report. former trump attorney was sentenced to three years in prison this past week. he violated campaign finance laws. cohen said he made a hush money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claimed to have had an affair with present time. today chomps personal attorney claimed that he did not know about those at the time but when he found out he reimbursed cohen. he also pours cold water on the possibility of a one one-on-one sitdown between the president in mueller. >> after what they did to him. and no sentence for him. fourteen days i did better on traffic violations than i did with that. they are a joke. over my dead body. we are live with more. nothing was done within the trump organization without mister trump's knowledge. not only did he know about these payments but that he directed him to make them. he directed him to get involved in the matters. he said that's false and that president trump has repeatedly said it is false as well. >> the president is telling the truth. this man is line. is at a big surprise you. the man i got up in front of the judge and said i was fiercely lo

cohen got three years in prison for that with also the sentences running simultaneously for a total sentence of three years. scott, back to you >> okay, sue, thank you. once they go through it, we may see you again soon thank you, sue herera, for the update >>> doc, the fed, go and then wait, is that the ideal? >> that is ideal yep, that's ideal and is the most likely. i agree with mary ann and, unfortunately, joe, i think that is what we're going to see but, judge, what i'll point out is something i pointed out to you on the nyse. we have seen a building in risk appetite, pretty substantially it's not just apple. it's a whole host of things including the broad market >> wait, you told me not that many days ago you had big put buying on the s&p. >> on monday that was a one-day expiration and i explained at that time those were puts that expired that day they bought them at 30 cents the shortness of what we're seeing in the derivatives world. >> in that short period of time? >> this same thing, the iwm, on monday hit 141.50. the iwm, the russell 2000. i told you yesterday strong buying throughout the day especiall

scott jennings, thanks very much, as always. >>> special counsel robert mueller's team set to review new details on paul manafort and michael cohen today in the russia probe. it could be a very crucial day. we might get strong signals about where the investigation is going, how far it's going. >> that could happen any minute. >> also right now, former fbi director james comey is on capitol hill. he's testifying behind closed doors before two house panels today. we'll give you an update when we have that. >> and a republican leader in texas says there's a push to oust him. why? because he's muslim. we'll talk to him. it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. tide pods child guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs safe and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child guard packaging. oh, look... another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and wrinkles. one week? that definitely works! rapid wrinkle repair®. and for dark spo

scott free. he should in my opinion serve a full and complete sentence. endorsing some strong prison time and a lengthy prison time for michael cohen versus roger stone and the other people who are not cooperating with the special counsel, robert mueller. you can see where his emphasis is today on twitter. >> it is unusual for sure. this week ahead for robert mueller, what are we expecting? >> it will be a busy week. one of the key characters in the trump-russia story is michael flynn. he's the president's first national security adviser. we haven't heard from him since he pled guilty more than a year ago. we are expecting tomorrow some important new details of what he has been saying to robert mueller and his prosecutors and really one of the first important cooperators in had the mueller investigation. he knows a lot not only about the president, but jared kushner and several other characters. brianna ? >> evan perez, what a busy week we have ahead. i want to bring in kaitlan collins at the white house. as i bring in kaitlan, we are going to take a look at the markets after this hit with her. china has confirmed president trump's claims which the marke

i was directed by my attorney, michael cohen, who i am now playing as a copy boy, to actually do this campaign finance violation. so which one is it? >> and scott, there's a mystery in these documents. it says, ami made a payment in the amount of $150,000 in cooperation, consultation and concert and at the request and suggestion of one or more members or agents of a candidate's 2016 presidential campaign. one or more. >> yeah. and is one or more the president, the campaign manager, other people? did the president not involve himself in those conversations? we don't know that. that's a critical piece here. i mean, look, the reality is, it was dumb to pay these women in the first place. it wouldn't have changed a thing in october. people already knew who donald trump was. and it was dumb to lie about it. and it has gotten him into a huge mess here. clearly, they want to indict the president of the united states. what i'm wondering about, at the white house right now is, do you have in cases of emergency, you just got indicted, break glass, plan. it is clear these prosecutors want to go down this road and will if permitted to do so by their bosses

scott. >>> let's turn back to the sentencing for president trump's long-time fixer and former personal attorney michaelhe con. he's now set to spend three years in prison and after that hearing cohen's attorney seemed to suggest that cohen may have more toay downhe line. let's get a closer look at all of this wh pete williams. take a look at the big pictur what is the significance of cohen's sentence iing? does it have implications for the president? >> as for the mueller investigations , cohen hasaid that he's willing to continue to cooperate. he could. d hesn't walk into prison until march 9th. and et he could continue even to cooperate after that. and in theory had f hisn cooperat turns out to be valuable, mueller's people could say we need to shave some time off his sentence. but i think one of the most important developments today was actually something that didn't happen in court to ay. it w announcement by. the prosecutors in new york who charged w cohh this campaign finance violation for h tush money payments to two women who claimed they had affairs with donald trump. a thiho person in on discussions, it was cohen and the president who directed them to dthis, the third. per

scott free. he lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence, the president saying of michael cohenhen's lawyers asked a judge to give him no sentence time. the memo stated cohen was in close contact with trump and his legal team when he prepared a statement for congress to land a deal to build a trump tower in moscow. at the same time, president trump is praising his former long time associate roger stone over his refusal to testify against him to the special counsel, raising questions over the legality of the president's tweets. the president tweeting i will never testify against trump. this statement was recently made by roger stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about president trump. nice to know some people still have guts, says the president, likely allude to go his tweet slamming michael cohenen over his guilty pleas. that tweet immediately raised the specter of potential witness tampering. lawyer george conway who is the husband of white house counselor kellyanne conway responded to the pr