for the financial crimes. >> cohen said he would take a bullet for donald trump. ew people who wear suits to work can stand up to the idea of many years in prison. cohen didn't. he cut the best deal he could for his family. unlike paul manafort he is committed to cooperate. he's gone down the path and he's not coming back. it could be very dangerous for donald trump. >> >> he surpassed the ambitions of college years. not in the way he would have wanted. his name is forever tied to donald trump. >> no matter what happens. michael cohen will be part of american history. because of his association with the 45th president of the united states. >> and his words and deeds pass, present or future could change the course of an american presidency. >>> hate is on the rise in america. it's emboldened. >> the war on whites is real. >> normalized. >> the government is nothing compared to the jewish menace. >> and destroying lives. >> there are people who will say once a nazi always a nazi. and you can't change who you are.

donald trump's former lawyer going to prison. a judge sentencing michael cohen to three years in prison for several financial crimes and two crimes linked directly to trump. also today another bombshell we didn't see coming. the tabloids company linked to trump admitting to paying off a woman who alleged a relationship with him helping trump win the election. cohen was emotional as he spoke in court today and blamed trump for his actions saying quote, it was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light. cohen said he had been quote living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day he accepted the offer to work for trump. today is the day that i'm getting my freedom back. the judge said many of cohen's crimes were about personal greed. he should have known better and his partial cooperation didn't wipe the slate clean. the new york prosecutors saying they reached a deal with american media, the parent company of the national enquirer which cohen worked with the hush money scheme. the feds sayin

cohen a good man. times have changed a lot. president trump to answer any questions about michael cohen today about him being sentenced to three years in prison, although he did say he thought michael cohen should get the full sentence for what he did. but also one of president trump's biggest arguments with this and his legal team, including rudy guiliani, is that this is not directly related to the president. but it's going to be hard for them to argue that today after what we saw not only with michael cohen and being directly related to the president and implicating the president, but also now that the prosecutors have said they reached this deal with ami, the publisher of the national enquirer, directly tying that payment to karen mcdougal, who alleged an affair with trump to the trump campaign. >> and the president is being described as seething right now as a result of all of this. jeffrey, the three-year sentence that michael cohen got, what's the message that sends to the president? >> well, you know, it's a serious sentence. under fed

than just michael cohen. trump defenders in washington including some republican senators have been saying they can't believe donald trump committed crimes with michael cohen just on the word of michael cohen alone because michael cohen is a liar. now, that is actually now something we can all agree on. michael cohen is a liar. or at least was a liar. even michael cohen agrees on that. he pleaded guilty to lying to congress. but after michael cohen was sentenced today, for the first time in the investigation of the president of the united states federal prosecutors put out a press release about the case. robert mueller's special counsel's office and the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan have been showing their work only in court, only in formal legal filings in court and in statements to judges in court. but today after the court session where michael cohen was sentenced to three years in prison the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan issued a press release saying that michael cohen was sentenced to three years i

election to karen mcdougal and stormy daniels to keep quiet about alleged affairs with president trump. cohenthe president in felonies. saying donald trump directed him to make those payments. trump has denied affairs and denied anything about the payments. cohen admitted to lying to congress and special counsel investigators about contacts with russia. cohen pledged to continue to cooperate with the mueller investigation. dave and christine. >> athena jones, thank you. let's go to washington and bring in political reporter jeremy hurd. good morning. >> thanks for having me. >> a three-year sentence for the fixer. what does this mean for donald trump? >> i think it is hard to underscore how significant this is for the president. he is obviously in recent weeks and months gone after cohen and accused him of being disloyal. he was part of the inner circle during the campaign and closest to the president that we have seen charged. this is the biggest sentence we have seen in the probe. it is certainly the most significant legal jeopardy and political jeopardy the president has seen so far with t

cohen ripped trump, just before being sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution. cohen pleaded guilty to committing nine federal crimes, some of country according to prosecutors were committed out of loyalty to trump. now the man who once said he would take a bullet for trump fired back saying this to the judge saying "today is one of the most meaningful days of my life. i have been living in a personal and mental incarceration ever since the day that i accepted the offer to work for a real estate mogul whose business acumen that i deeply admired. the father of two then added he was committed to, quote, ensuring that history will not remember me as the villain of his story. cohen also brought up this recent insult from the president. >> he's a weak person and by being weak, unlike other people that you watch, he's a weak person and what he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence. >> michael cohen said trump was correct in calling hmm weim, we adding "but for a much different reason he was implying. it was because time and time again i f

long time trump attorney michael cohen sentenced to three years in prison. to do with presidential business candidate donald trump but one alleged, the payment to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal said made illegally in violation of campaign laws and also say at the direction of then republican donald trump. inside the courtroom. you were talking about the emotion of cohen's family earlier when they heard the sentence but in delivering the sentence, the judge wanted to send a message, right? >> reporter: that's right, john. he really emphasized more than once that the importance of this case and this especially given the high publicity value of it was the need for deterrence. he said that, you know, there is an acute need for a sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offenses here and to respect the law. so the judge was sending a strong message. he said, in fact, earlier before he delivered the sentence that because of the crimes in this case and because of the public nature of the the importance to the democracy that the sentence in this case needed to

trump. cohenheading to jail, but the real story is the mounting pressure on president trump. >> michael cohen's attorney asked for no jail time because of cohen's cooperation with prosecutors. prosecutors say that cooperation was done reluctantly, and now cohen will go to federal prison for several felony convictions. once president trump's personal attorney and fixer, today michael cohen is a convicted felon facing three years in federal prison. the charges tax and bank fraud, lying to congress about a trump tower moscow project, and campaign finance violations for paying two women before the 2016 election to keep silent about their alleged affairs with mr. trump. cohen who once said he'd take a bullet for the president today told a judge he felt it was his duty to cover up the dirty deeds of president trump. he said blind loyalty led him to choose darkness over light. >> even though he's saying this blind loyalty that led him to do it, it's a h connections to donald trump that enriched him. >> c

trump. third. cohenrovided relevant and useful information concerning his contacts with persons connected with the white house during the 2017/'18 time period. this is a whole new area that at least as far as i'm aware no one knows about. the fact that they are looking into the behavior of the white house in 2017 and this year? i mean, maybe that explains our earlier report of why they were investigating or interviewing general kelly, who only joined the white house in august of 2017. final area. fourth. cohen described the circumstances of preparing and circulating his response to the congressional inquiries, which were false, while continuing to accept responsibility for the false statements contained within it. but what is really significant here, i think, is that cohen told mueller's office about more contacts between trump's orbit and its -- it appears trump himself and russia. and that's why we're here. that's why we care about michael cohen. that's why we care about robert mueller. because of his

y pagar a dos amantes supuestas de trump y por evasiÓn fiscal. la sentencia de cohenesidente por la trama rusa, lori tiene este escÁndalo que amenaza la presidenrd >>> gracias josÉ, del presidente trump y ni una palabra sni un twitter total silencio sobre la sentencia de su exabogado cohen quien dijo hoy perdiÓ su brÚjula moral >>> el hombre que una vez fue el abogado personal del presidente trump y ayudaba a esconder sus trapos sucios es hoy un criminal convicto. michael cohen que llegÓ a decir como muestra de lealtad serÍa capaz de llevarse una bala dirigida al hoy presidente con tal de salvarle dijo emocionado en corte que fue la lealtad ciega a trump que yo llevÓ al camino de la oscuridad. >>> cuando cohen hace fraude Él viola su mejojuramento en la co >>> cohen es la cabeza mÁs reciente que ha rodado en torno al mandatario todo a raÍz de la investigaciÓn del fiscal especial robert mÜller sobre la injerencia rusa en la campaÑa presidencial. esta misma pesquisa a destapado como el pago que trump le ordeÓo hacer a dos mujeres una de ellas la actriz porno stormy dani

they probably have recordings of trump that michael cohen had. ey probably have recordings of other people, the family members. and it's going to be so clear that this has been a criminal enterprise from day one with the russians and trump, that the republicans will jump off of the ship and say we've got to get rid of this guy. so we're going to have hearings that's going to be like impeachment because it's going to bring out the facts. >> let me ask you this. what does it take to get an impeachment hearing against this president? he's accused of federal crimes by federal prosecutors in new york city. that makes him one of three presidents in history. are the democrats prepared to allow this to be the only president in history who gets accused of federal crimes like this who then does not face an impeachment hearing in the house of representatives? >> i don't think that will happen. i think it's going to have to be speaker pelosi and chairman nadler to be the leaders. nothing gets scheduled in judiciary committee without chairman nadler, the chair

cohen said he took quote "full responsibility" for his actions while working for trump. n august cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts against him-- including campaign finance violations tied to president trump. cohen admitted making illegal hush-money payments to women who claim they had affairs with the president before he took office. he must also pay more than 2 million dollars in fines. ( james ) and the parent company of the national enquirer has reached a deal with prosecutors in the probe into president trump and cohen. under the agreement, american media inc admitted to making a 150-thousand dollar payment in cooperation with president trump's campaign ... in order to prevent former playboy model karen mcdougal's claims of an affair with trump from being made public during the 20-16 presidential race. they also admitted to paying for negative stories about trump's relationshippublish the as part of the agreement, charges will likely not be brought against the publisher. (james) coming up next on the kron 4 morning news ... the holiday shopping season is a

john sweeney assesses where michael cohen's conviction leaves trump. a lawyer for donald trump, he was his pitbull. but now, he has done a deal with the fbi and tonight, the president is seething. i never directed him to do anything wrong. whatever he did, he did on his own. he is a lawyer. this week, cohen were sentenced to three years in jail. he told the court his weakness was a blind loyalty to donald trump and that he felt "it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds." trump must now fear his old watchdog. he is vulnerable on three fronts. the first, his contacts with the russian mob. trump was cosy with this man, russian—born, former gangster felix sater, in early 2016. sater tempted the donald with the possibility of russian finance for a trump tower in moscow. cohen told congress that the moscow project died in early 2016. that was a big fat lie. cohen has now admitted that the moscow project ran until the summer of 2016 and that he lied to congress. on this, cohen could potentially destroy his old master. it's really significant because trump i

it's from one of the two sentencing memos filed in the case of trump's former lawyer michael cohen today which are shedding new light on the president's potential legal exposure. as trump's long-time fixer, cohen pleaded guilty in august to campaign finance violations in making hush payments to two women on trump's behalf, and now tonight's sentencing memo makes clear that, quote, with respect to both payments, cohen acted in coordination with and at the direction of individual one. that's the president. we're also getting new insight into what cohen has told the special counsel in the ongoing probe of potential collusion with russia. according to the filing from mueller's office, cohen not only provided information about the moscow real estate problem, trump tower over there, that trump pursued during the election, but also provide information about attempts by other russian nationals to reach the trump campaign. according to the memo, quote, cohen spoke with a russian national who claimed to be a trusted person in the russian federation who could offer the campaign -- here's a phrase -

gives his very first nrlt view since being sentenced to three years in prison that trump told cohen to make hush money payments to women even though trump knew it was wrong. >> nothing of the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr. trump. he directed me as i said in my elocution and i said as well smt plea, he directed me to make the payments. he directed me to become involved in these meters. >> he was trying to hide what you were doing, correct? >> correct. >> and he knew it was wrong? >> of course. >> and he was doing that to help his election? >> yes, he was very concerned about how this would affect the election. >> to help his campaign. >> to help him and the campaign. >> all right, so you heard it there, cohen making it absolutely clear. two key claims. one, trump directed the payments. it builds on nbc reporting that trump was in fact in the room with cohen and the national enquirer david pecker discussing those hush money payments during the campaign. and the second cohen claim is that trump knew it was illegal. and here's the potentially damaging new

not just about anything but lied specifically about money that cohen, trump, and we know felix sate sater were trying to make in russia. he's now saying that cohen has tried to mitigate those crimes and that he told the truth about russian attempts to reach the trump campaign dating back to 2015. also russia-related matters, as mueller puts it, that are, quote, core to his investigation. mueller says cohen learned about all of these things because of his, quote, regular contact with company executives -- a tantalizing reference to unnamed people in the trump organization. it could be employees, it could be family members. while mueller says cohen has been helpful, these federal prosecutors in new york are not impressed. moments ago and it is a thrashing. they say michael cohen only gave up basically at the end when he had few other choices. they hammer him and they note he wasn't ever actually formally a cooperating witness, that he didn't do everything he could have done and new york prosecutors note he also committed four distinct federal crimes. they say in their version of the case th

trump could be facing. >>> also breaking today. moments after cohen sentencing, it was announced another gatekeeper for trump's secrets got immunity. what might the parent company of the national inquirer reveal about payments to a playmate? >>> plus, political chaos and a leadership crisis and for once i'm not talking about washington, d.c. any moment, results of a critical vote. will america's most special ally have a new leader? >>> welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. we begin with the politics lead and the president's former personal attorney and fixer, headed to to prison. michael cohen today sentenced to three years, the longest sentence so far for anyone involved in the special counsel's russia investigation. though the bulk of this sentence is for crimes he was being prosecuted for by the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. crimes that include those that, according to federal prosecutors, were committed, quote, in coordination with and at the direction of donald trump. the prosecutor for the special counsel today revealed

builds on nbc reporting that trump was in fact in the room with cohen and david pecker discussing the hush money payments in the campaign. the second claim is that trump knew it was illegal. here's the potentially danieling news for trump today -- new audio emergencies from 2012 showing that trump was indeed familiar with the relevant campaign finance laws, specifically how the law applied to the john edwards case. arguing that payments to his mistress were not campaign finance violations. in fact, they were personal payments. here's trump in 2012 revealing he was watching the case very closely. >> i always thought he was a sleaze bag, frankly. this is a tough trial to start off with and a lot of people are saying it's not a trial the government is going win. a lot of good lawyers have told me the government doesn't have a good case. i think the spite what the lawyers are saying it's not a very good case for the government. >> trump saying on that recording he spoke to, quote, a lot of very good lawyers about the case. that isn't michael cohen saying trump new about the campaign finan

and they say michael cohen had that same mentality. if you want to call it the trump organization mentality, it is we'll just get away with it, the rules don't apply. i mean, this was a two by four striking michael cohen in the head over and over today. and this is someone who went out there and did media leaks and tried to say he was doing it both ways or he was going to do this because it was for the good of the country, or he said he wasn't taking a pardon, as if this was something for him that's sitting around on a silver platter, i mean, the privilege of that. and this is the federal prosecutors, as you're alluding to, saying no, it doesn't work like that. you're busted. that's why you're in trouble. you're busted. that's why you're sort of cooperating. and it still wasn't good enough, so you should do hard time. that comes against another thing i think's going to royal the city you're in, the manafort filing, which is getting attention, although it's partly redacted. chris, it says in here on page nine -- we only dealt with this briefly on my hour -- paul manafo

telling the truth here down the line i am done with the lying i am done being loyal to president trump cohen's conviction and scandalous revelations come as president trumps political and potentially legal problems are compounding cohen's cooperation also suggest the russian probe under special counsel robert muller is accelerating can really help get al-jazeera the white house u.s. president donald trump has picked his next chief of staff he announced that budget director mitch veiny will step into the role next year on an interim basis or then he takes over from john kelly who is stepping down after almost a year in the job. the u.s. and canada say they're committed to keeping politics out of the extradition case involving always chief financial officer china has called for one one joe's immediate release she was arrested in canada on december first on charges of violating iran sanctions but is currently out on bail washington wants her extradited secretary of state mike pompei you have met canada's foreign minister is hoping for a good outcome. the united states is engaged in an extradition

trump. coheno five years in prison. >>> a jury has recommended a life sentence for james fields. he rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at last year's white nationalists rally in charlottesville. kenneth craig has more. >> reporter: the same jury that convicted james fields jr. of first degree murder recommended a life sentence plus 419 years in prison. >> this trial and today's outcome has been a very long time coming. >> reporter: charlottesville prosecutors said they hope the jury's decision will begin the healing process more than a year after fields rammed his dodge challenger into a group of counterprotesters at a white nationalists rally. >> and hopefully the outcome achieved today is charlottesville's small part in rejecting and holding accountable those whose violent acts against others are fueled by hatred. >> reporter: the crash killed 32-year-old heather heyer. her mother spoke after the sentencing. >> in the end the hands of justice say that he needs to be kept away from

cohen telling the court he felt the need to coverup for mr. trump's, quote, dirty deeds. hen says he will continue to cooperate with prosecutors as the russia probe moves closer and closer to the president, his business and his family. also tonight, we are told mr. trump is seething, railing against cohen in private conversations and calling him a liar. >>> i'll get reaction from democratic senator bob menendez, and our correspondents and analysts are standing by. first, let's go to our national political correspondent, m.j. lee. m.j., no one who has been punished in the russia probe so far is as close to the president as michael cohen. >> that's right, wolf. and the three-year prison sentence that michael cohen got today was certainly not the outcome that he was hoping for and, in fact, his lawyers were hoping that he would get no jail time. as a part of their argument for leniency, they pointed to both his cooperation and also made a personal case saying that michael cohen and his family had already suffered so much. the judge that decided michael cohen's fate today clea

insists the trump you that he was the make that knew that making the payout was wrong cohen gave his first interview since being sentenced to prison on multiple charges which include violating campaign finance laws related to those payments. reports. as the courtroom drama surrounding donald trump's former personal lawyer came to a dramatic conclusion this week michael cohen was largely silent not anymore dying knew what i was doing was wrong in contrast to his earlier statements cohen now says trump knew about the hush money payments he was making to two women alleged to have had affairs with trump according to cohen the payments were directed by trump in an effort to influence the outcome of the twenty sixteen presidential election nothing in the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr trump he directed me to make the payments he directed me to become involved in these matters the payments were in the hundreds of thousands campaign finance law caps contribution to a campaign at twenty seven hundred dollars making the payments and the legal donation to

in a new interview with abc, trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, says trump absolutely directed himnts to daniels and mcdougal and did it with a specific purpose in mind, winning the presidency. >> he was very concerned about how this would affect the election. >> to help his campaign? >> to help him and the campaign. >> reporter: that, experts say, would be a violation of campaign finance law which may be why the president is blaming his lawyer for bad advice, tweeting thursday morning, i never directed michael cohen to break the law. he is a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. but that argument hardly lasted half a day because just hours after tweeting that, trump told "fox news" cohen barely did legal work for him. >> that was his title, a fixer. >> very low level work. he did more public relations than he did law. >> why did you need him then. >> reporter: but back in april the president had a different view of cohen on air force one when he denied knowing about the stormy daniels' payment. >> mr. president, did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? >> no

a war of words between president trump and michael cohen. ny pundits accuse the president of masterminding the hush money scheme. president trump: i never nexted him to do anything wrong. he was a lawyer. he was supposed to know what he was doing. >> a federal judge who has a finding of fact agreed president trump directed michael cohen commit those crimes. >> if michael cohen were not connected to the president of the united states, he would not be in this situation today. >> why would sending money to women be considered a crime. it not against the law to employ a bad lawyer. cohen pleading guilty is not the same as trump pleading guilty. howie: whatever happened to the media's focus on so-called russian collusion. what about the "national enquirer." the president threatens a government shutdown in an extraordinary televised meeting with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. president trump i'm proud to shut down the government for national security. >> i say oh, my gosh, nancy pelosi is a boss. >> he pulls the veil to show how petty and unreason

cohen, when mr. mueller is finished doing his work, to tell all the truth and all the facts about donald trump, probably in front of a congressional committee. >> reporter: including cohen's account of hush money payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. the president's explanations evolving. first pleading ignorance. >> did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? >> no. >> reporter: then this last summer. >> did you know about the payments? >> later on, i knew. later on. >> reporter: this week describing the money as a simple private transaction. as for any political peril facing the president, overnight president trump said he wasn't concerned that he could be impeached because he says he hasn't done anything wrong, telling reuters, i think that the people would revolt if that happened. lester? >> peter alexander at the white house, thanks. >>> now to the growing terror manhunt overseas after a gunman opened fire in a crowd at a world-famous christmas market. the eiffel tower in paris going dark just moments ago to honor the victims. as that hunt for a radicalized killer expands, r

>> donald trump has called him at all hours of the night. >> reporter: he is not calling now because cohenadmitting negotiations about trump tower moscow continued during the presidential campaign, while trump denied having any business interest in russia. he says he wasn't touched with trump's lawyers and white house staff as he prepared a false statement to congress. and cohen says at the direction of the candidate, he coordinated payoffs to women accusing trump of sexual relations. even releasing a secret recording about one of them. >> when it comes to the finance, which will be -- >> what financing? >> reporter: all part of the job. >> my job is i protect mr. trump. that's what it is. if there is an issue that relates to mr. trump that is of concern to him, it's, of course, concern to me and i will use my legal skills within which to protect mr. trump to the best of my ability. >> he is going to be my absolutely pleasure to serve you 500 million lawsuit. >> reporter: often with threats as in this 2015 conversation with a reporter. >> this is also part of the trump/cohen methods is you

president, did michael cohen cover up your dirty epeds? >>ter: president trump ignoring questions about his once devoted confidant and lawyer michael cohen, but democrats gearing u to take over house investigationsckn januaryly pounced. >> what it means is that the president's personal lawyer is going to go to jail in part for the commission of offenses that were coordinated and directed by the presidentthe united states. >> reporter: republicans argue cohen's crimes includingai ca finance violations have little to do with russia. >> anytime a forme lawyer of yours goes to jail, it's probably not a good day, but i have yet to see anyvidence coming from mr. cohen of collusion, and that's started the mueller investigation to begin with. >> reporter: it's been a complicated relationship. mr. trump just last year aising his trusted attorney. >> michael cohen is a very talented lawyer. he's a good lawyer in my firm. >> reporter: but days ago, mocking cohen. >> he's a weak person and not a very smart person. >> reporter: hen'sadviser, lanny davis -- >> the next chapte

cohen stuff. it's pretty basic. donald trumpected him to do lots of things, including way two women off to they don't talk to the papers. the manafort stuff, given the narrative around how this is all coming together, where do you place the manafort stuff? >> the question coming into this filing, ever since we found out paul manafort lied according to the special counsel and violated the terms of his cooperation agreement. did he lie about personal criminal liability, lobbying, finances, or did he lie about things that related to the president? the answer is both. he lied about all of them. it's interesting because if you look at the specifics of his lies about kilimnik. remember what that appears to be about. remember what happened when paul manafort was the campaign manager, constantikonstantin ki flew into the country, had a meeting with paul manafort. talked about how manafort would make good with a guy he owed money to. he clearly lied about that. >> he could give them intel on the election. >> that's right. access to the t

trump. michael g quien fuera michale cohen, quien fuera abogado del presidente donald trump. y ni su hija violeta quiso faltar. su esposa y su hijo tambiÉn lo acompaÑaron.por violar la ley federalmediante pagos a la prisa por no, stomry, daniels y a una exmodelo, Él insiste que actÚa bajo Órdenes de donald trump. cohen han implicado en los delitos federales a donald trump. "esas ordenes tenÍan como objetivo alterar el resultado de la elecciÓn presidencial," acusÓ este senador demócrata. el problema para trump es que l y que lo hicieron en coordinaciÓn con ladonald trump. segÚn la empresa, los pagos se realizaron para asegurar que una mujer no hiciera pÚblicaslas acusaciones daÑinas sobre el candidato. y de esta manera, influenciar la elecciÓn. pero cohen podrÍa revelar aÚn mÁs informaciÓn sobre trump al fiscal especial del rusiagate en el futuro. >> michael cohen va a recitar todo lo que pueda para salvar su pellejo. pablo: por otro lado, la jueza en el ex gajo del ex jefe de campaÑa de trumo, paul manafort, quiere que muller explique mejores las mentiras. y el ex asesor de se

to bob mueller's investigators and lied to him, and lied specifically about money that we know cohen, trump and felix sater were trying to make in russia. mueller said in the new filing that cohen has now taken steps to mitigate those lies and other crimes. he gave crucial information about the trump campaign in russia, this was after he started lying he started telling the truth, mueller said, and he told the truth about russian attempts to reach the trump campaign dating back to 2015, also russia-related matters core to his investigation. he knew about these things because of, quote, his contact with company executives, a reference to unnamed people in the trump organization, could be employees, could be family members. while mueller said cohen was helpful, the federal prosecutors in new york not impressed at all. it was a they sharashing. they say michael cohen only gave up at the end when he had few other choices. they hammer him. they note he was not actually a cooperating witness, he didn't do what he could have done. and he committed four distinct federal crimes. they say in their ve

telling the truth you down the line i've done with the lying i am done being loyal to president trump cohen's conviction and scandalous revelations come as president trumps political and potentially legal problems are compounding cohen's cooperation also suggest the russian probe under special counsel robert muller is accelerating can really help get al-jazeera the white house well u.s. president donald trump has named an acting chief of staff in a tweet he announced budget director mick mulvaney will step into the role next year he takes over from john kelly who is resigning after almost a year in the job after weeks of political turmoil sri lanka's disputed prime minister mahinda rajapaksa has announced he's going to step down the government hasn't been functioning for nearly two weeks after a court suspended rajapaksa and his cabinet following the loss of two no confidence votes in the hayward reports. less than two months ago he was being sworn in as sri lanka's new prime minister but after weeks of political turmoil mahinda rajapaksa has to resign to ensure his son said on twitter the st

trump? >> it is a day of reckoning for michael cohen, obviously. but it is also a day of reckoning for donald trump. and just to pick up on what mj was saying about how much has been made of michael cohen's motivation of loyalty to the president, i'm seeing from inside the courtroom our reporter is reporting that the argument that cohen's lawyers are making is that cohen knew the president might shut down the investigation and that is part of his motivation as to why he came forward when he came forward. in addition to the loyalty of why he did what he did, the decision to start working with investigations now he is making the case in court looking for leniency here that he did so with knowledge that the president might try to shut down the investigation. as you know, kate, president trump said all michael cohen is doing is just trying to get himself out of trouble, get a shorter sentence as much as humanly possible. he is not to be trusted. rudy giuliani has attempted to discredit him. none of that changes the fact that michael cohen and southern d

john sweeney assesses where michael cohen's conviction leaves trump. hen was not just a lawyer for donald trump, he was his pick all. —— pitbull. now he has done a deal with the fbi and tonight, the president is exceeding. i never directed him to do anything wrong, whatever he did he did on his own. he is a lawyer. this week michael cohen were sent to three yea rs michael cohen were sent to three years injail. he told the michael cohen were sent to three years in jail. he told the court his wea kness years in jail. he told the court his weakness was a blind loyalty to donald trump and that he felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds. trump must now fear his old watchdog. he is vulnerable on three fronts. the first, his contacts with the russian mob. drop was cosy with this man, a former gangster in early 2016. he tempted donald trump of the possibility of russian finance for a trump tower in moscow. michael cohen told congress that the moscow project died in early 2016. that was at big fat lie. he has now admitted that the moscow project ran unti

about the hush money payments he was making to two women alleged to have had affairs with trump according to cohen the payments were directed by trump in an effort to influence the outcome of the twenty sixteen presidential election nothing of the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr trump he directed me to make the payments he directed me to become involved in these matters the payments were in the hundreds of thousands campaign finance law caps contribution to a campaign at twenty seven hundred dollars making the payments and the legal donation to trump denies he ever directed his former lawyer to break the law i never directed him to do anything wrong whatever he did he did on his own he's a lawyer a lawyer who represents a client is supposed to do the right thing that's what you pay them a lot of money on wednesday cohn was sentenced to three years in prison his crimes include making false statements to congress tax evasion and arranging those payments during the twenty sixteen election he will begin serving his sentence in march he denies he's speaking out to embarras

cohen's false testimony was shared with the white house and it's possible president trump knew cohen would make false statements under oath. >> not a peep from the president on wednesday, but behind the scenes, we are told the president is seething and assuring associates cohen is a liar. we have athena jones with more. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine. this is the first time a prison sentence has been associated with the russia probe. there was a pattern of deception by cohen. the u.s. district judge agreed saying cohen thrived on the access to powerful people. cohen told the court he took full responsibility for his crimes and speaking about trump, he said time and time again i thought it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds. orchestrating hush payments to karen mcdougal and stormy daniels, cohen implicated the president in felonies. saying donald trump directed him to make those payments. trump has denied affairs and denied anything about the payments. cohen admitted to lying to congress and special counsel investigators about contacts with russia. cohen pledged to

deal than a president trump deal, that cohen was trying to drive it forward and trump was not as involved as cohen's words might otherwise suggest. in other words, this was the trump team recognizing that the news of the trump tower might be potentially damaging to trump and trying to insulate him from that. what's more, felix sater, who was russian born and worked with michael cohen on setting up the moscow project told me last week also that the reason the project fell through was because trump himself became the republican nominee. in other words, trump's financial future was inextricably linked to the moscow project. one other detail about dmitri petkov, it's important to remember, is that he explicitly lied about this moscow project. i think it was about a year ago that he told reporters he did receive inquiries from the trump organization related to a potential moscow but that he left those questions unanswered. now fast-forward to the g20 and we know that peskov is giving a different story. instead he's saying he did resp

trump campaign chair. as you recall, unlike cohen, manafort formally agreed to cooperate with the government, but mueller pulled out of that agreement and said manafort had been lying to prosecutors while feeding information to the trump legal team. that document says manafort told multiple discernible lies about five major issues after agreeing to cooperate. including "his contacts with administration officials." now, just to keep us all orderly, i'm going to get to the manafort stuff in a bit. but let's begin tonight with what we learned in the michael cohen filings, two different ones. here to help us go through the incredible details, including what we learned about trump and the russians, i'm joined by the guy i always turn to for this stuff, nbc news investigative reporter tom winter, and justice analyst matt miller, a former chief spokesperson for the department of justice. gentlemen, thank you for being with me on a friday night. tom winter, let's talk about this. you followed this very closely. you and i have been together when everything to do with russia and cohen has come out. what did we learn toni

president trump lashed out at special counsel robert mueller in his own former personal lawyer, michael cohen, on twitter monday. trump responded to cohen's lawyers' request for prison time served by tweeting he deserves "a full and complete sentence." last week, cohen pleaded guilty to lying to congress to help cover for trump. trump also praised his long-time adviser roger stone for having "guts" for agreeing not to testify against him. some experts, including george conway, litigator and husband of white house counselor kellyanne conway, have said the tweet amounts to witness tampering, which is considered an obstruction of justice. special cocounsel mueller isis expected to file a sentencing memo today for michael flynn, and sentencing memos for michael cohen and paul manafort in the coming days. cia director gina haspel is set to brief senators on the murder of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi today. she will reportedly meet with top mbmbers the arm

to president trump cohen's conviction and scandalous revelations come as president trump's political and potentially legal problems are compounding cohens cooperation also suggests the russian probe under special counsel robert muller is accelerating can really help get al-jazeera the white house. should encourage facing more political uncertainty after the prime minister. announced he's going to step down the country's been without a functioning government for nearly two weeks after a court suspended rajapaksa and his cabinet following the loss of two no confidence votes and haywood explains. less than two months ago he was being sworn in as sri lanka's new prime minister but after weeks of political turmoil mahinda rajapaksa has to resign to ensure his son said on twitter the stability of the nation rajapaksa was previously sri lanka's president for decades bringing to an end the country's long civil war with the brutal final assault on the tamil tiger rebels his appointment as prime minister though has been controversial from the stars and plunged the country into a constitutional

the truth you done with a lie i have done with the lawyer and i'm done being loyal to president trump cohen's conviction and scandalous revelations come as president trumps political and potentially legal problems are compounding cohen's cooperation also suggest the russian probe under special counsel robert muller is accelerating can really help get al jazeera the white house. top government officials from canada and the united states have met in washington d.c. at a time when both countries are locked in disputes with china top on the list of concerns the detention of a top chinese executive in canada at the request of the u.s. had to pay and has the latest. trying to project a feeling of friendship these leaders from the u.s. and canada went out of their way to say this isn't about politics the arrest of chinese tech executive when joe in canada at the request of the u.s. on charges of violating iran sanctions they say it's just about following the law and their governments can't intervene in the courts insisting this isn't part of the ongoing trade war between the u.s. and china will cont

about the hush money payments he was making to two women alleged to have had affairs with trump according to cohen the payments were directed by trump in an effort to influence the outcome of the twenty sixteen presidential election nothing of the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr trump he directed me to make the payments he directed me to become involved in these matters the payments were in the hundreds of thousands campaign finance law caps contribution to a campaign at twenty seven hundred dollars making the payments and the legal donation to trump denies he ever directed his former lawyer to break the law i never directed him to do anything wrong whatever he did he did on his own he's a lawyer a lawyer who represents a client is supposed to do the right thing that's what you pay them a lot of money on wednesday cohn was sentenced to three years in prison his crimes include making false statements to congress tax evasion and arranging those payments during the twenty sixteen election he will begin serving his sentence in march he denies he's speaking out to embarras

nadler actually weighed in on whether trump knew cohen was lying about the trump tower moscow project. watch what he had to say about the president. i'll get your reactions after. >> the time when he can get away with lying to the american people all the time and evading accountability is coming to an end. the fact that he was lying to the american people about doing business in russia and that the kremlin knew he was lying gave the kremlin a hold over him. one question we have now is does the kremlin still have hold over him because of other lies that they know about? >> so based on your reporting, david, what leverage could the kremlin have on trump and how could russia use this against the president? this could seem at least to the naked eye or to someone who doesn't fall it closely as an n innocuous leverage. >> the question lied to the american public. he said that he, quote, stayed away from russia, had no business deals with them. well, we now know they didn't stay away. he signed a letter of intent with his name to do business with russia and he had his personal fixture, his l

cohen also made media appearances as a surrogate and supporter of mr. trump. during the campaign, cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories, each from women who claimed to have had an affair with trump so as to suppress the stories and thereby prevent them from influencing the election. with respect to both payments, cohen acted with intent to influence the 2016 presidential election. cohen coordinated his action was one or more members of the campaign. oh. including through meetings and phone calls about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. in particular, and as cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of donald j. trump. as a result of cohen's actions, neither woman spoke to the press prior to the election. we then get like three solid pages of totally granular detail as to how these crimes were committed, including how they were funneled through trump's real estate business, the trump organization, through false entries in the company'

trump organization. the president's business. the mueller filing in the cohen case tonight is the one i think poses the biggest apparent risks, not just for the president, but even potentially for members of his family, who of course were working at the trump organization, and also we know dealing with some russia-related matters during the campaign. so that's the basic map of what we've just received tonight from these core filings. that's the basic map of where we are going. we're going to do the manafort filing and then we're going to do sdny and then the special counsel's filing. the special counsel's filing is the one i think kind of blows up tonight. all right. let's start with manafort. manafort filing is ten pages, and this is basically a notice to the judge from mueller's office explaining why mueller's prosecutors determined that paul manafort was lying to them, that he is in breach of his plea agreement because he hasn't been telling them the truth. according to mueller's prosecutors in this filing today, they only need to demonstrate to the judge th

cohen's legal woes over? in the last few weeks when we heard from donald trump, he had said things like michael cohen is just looking to protect himself, his family members, he mentioned his father-in-law. so where do things go for michael cohen? does he have any family members who at this point to get tied up with legal issues? >> first of all, i don't know the answer to that question. i certainly hope not. i know his family has suffered like every family would. but today in court michael cohen did not ask for mercy. he took responsibility. he stepped up to the line unlike donald trump. and said that he owned his past behavior as well as the behavior that led to this sentence. but regarding his family, i can't answer that. if i knew i probably wouldn't anyway. >> you have mentioned today that you are no longer representing michael cohen as his lawyer. but you still are going to have a role advising him. >> yes. and for those in your audience, probably 99% who don't understand what that means, when you're a lawyer you have great restraints on what you can say to the media. not only are you worried about how