. >> michael cohen has clearly made the decision that he is going all in in terms of his cooperation. >> donald trump seemed blind-sided by the latest michael cohen plea. he stood up on the south lawn and called michael co-an liar. >> he's a weak person and he's trying to get a reduced sentence. so he's lying about a project that everybody knew about. >> before cohen cooperated with the mueller investigation, he was the president's loyal fixer. >> if anybody else was in his mind going after his boss, he was going to fight back. >> he vowed to protect donald trump at all costs. >> he told me that he would take a bullet for the president. >> could the man who was the president's go-to problem solver now be his greatest problem? >> he is such a wild card in terms of the danger he poses to president trump. >> if i were donald trump i would be very worried about what else is out there. >> good or bad. michael cohen will be part of american history. >>> president trump's former long-time personal attorney, michael cohen admitting he made false statements to congress about the russia investigation. >> it wa

. >> president trump: michael cohen pled guilty to something that's not even a crime. wait a minute. nobody except for me would be looked at like this.

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

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

it's not so simple of linking trump to the payment. but michael cohen is clearly saying he had criminal intent. he knew this was about protecting donald trump for the election. and he would testify at a trial it would seem that was donald trump's intent. and when this first came out donald trump lied about it. he said he didn't know anything ability the payments. and the other big piece of news which you alluded to was the level of cooperation that michael cohen is providing on the heart of the investigation, which is russia collusion. and it's not completely spelled out here but it's not just about the trump tower moskow. there were a number of issues here alluded to where cohen talked to mueller's office about contacts with russians. and it goes into the white house. it also talks about cohen dealing with people in the white house up until this year, and that is the first mention of mueller coming into the current white houses as opposed to the campaign. and the last thing i'll say, lawrence, is this document shows once and for all that donald t

y el ex asesor de seguridad nacional de trump, michael flynt, insiste en pedir que no lo envÍen a la testificar en la cÁmara baja, tan pronto como los demÓcratas toman el control de la misma el prÓximo enero. cohen fue el abogado personal de donald trump durante mÁs de 10 aÑos y es una de las personas que mÁs conoce la organizaciÓn. en washington, pablo gato. univisiÓn. patricia: hablemos ahora de inmigraciÓn. a pesar del riesgo de fracturarse y de un arresto casi seguro, muchos inmigrantes se siguen saltando el muro fronterizo en tijuana. quieren pisar suelo estadounidense para entregarse y pedir asilo. esto fue lo que hizo un grupo de inmigrantes, que tan pronto cruzaron a san diego, fueron detenidos por la patrulla fronteriza. se calcula que unos 1000 centroamericanos asaltado por varios sectores de esta valla fronteriza con muy poco Éxito. enirque: el presidente de mÉxico, andrés manuel lÓpez obrador, informÓ hoy que conversÓ vÍa telefÓnica con el presidente donald trump. hablaron sobre el tema migratorio y la posibilidad de lanzar un programa conjunto para el desarrollo y la cre

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

michael 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

article about how i think there's enough evidence without ami to charge donald trump with campaign finance fraud if michaele to cooperate. this now really ratchets up the evidence. and provides important and significant corroboration to the fact that donald trump likely committed campaign finance fraud. >> it also speaks to how much information they must have. we can't stress enough. david pecker has been a friend and ally to president trump -- >> right. >> to jared kushner for years and years. he and trump have been in business together. i can think of stories that investors who have backed ami told me where they said they were in meetings, over the years, with david pecker and when that phone rings and it's donald trump, he's got something to say, pecker leaves the room. these two have been tangled together for decades. mimi, what does it say to you? >> so, what this does, stephanie, gets rid of the john edwards defense. just -- >> huh. >> -- a couple of days ago rudy giuliani was on twitter saying, you know, this is a settlement, a civil settlement of a suit or -- i forget his exact language. he was try

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

first there is president trump's former fixer michael cohen. ould take a bullet for donald trumps speaking out. this time he says for the country. in his first interview since being

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

district of new york who are investigating this case may make the final decision as to if trump broke the law. michael cohen said he broke his laws at the direction of president trump. >> that hits just keep on coming. thank you so much. >>> michelle obama's book tour brings her to san jose tonight. she will be speaking in ahead of that she met with a group of young people from eight nonprofit. we are live at the community center where the discussion took place today. everyone was all smiles. >> michelle obama was once the executive director of the chicago branch of public allies. they got a chance to ask her a a few questions about that experience and a few others. >> at each stop on her book to her, michelle obama commands a smaller room to talk to people. >> these sessions are intended to reach small groups, in this case public allies. a nonprofit that helps young people develop leadership skills. it is a place she went herself in chicago. >> this was one the best jobs i ever had. >> when you look back and see what she has done, it represents what we have aimed to teach young people. >> many got to

. >> reporter: president trump now says michael cohen was just his pr guy. bang-up job there, by the way. "the lead" starts right now. defense and denial. president trump giving his first tv interview after his former fixer michae cohen was sentenced to three years in the big house. is it possible the president just managed to dig the hole deeper for himself? also breaking today, a russian woman who was once face-to-face with candidate trump admits tock an agent of the russian government and gives us one of the most revealing looks yet at one of moscow's operations to infiltrate american politics. >>> plus, did you read it before you posted it? the department of homeland security posts a memo about the border wall, and it's missing a few words, but don't worry? president build wall high. >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin with the politics lead. while his personal lawyer and fixer is heading to prison, president trump is trying to shift the blame and spin the story claiming he did not direct michael cohen to break the law which is, of course

y el ex asesor de seguridad nacional de trump, michael flynt, insiste en pedir que no lo envÍen a la ato. univisiÓn.gración. a pesar del de fracturarse y de un arresto casi seguro, muchos inmigrantes se siguen saltando el muro fronterizo en tijuana. quieren pisar suelo estadounidense para entregarse y pedir asilo. esto fue lo que hizo un grupo de inmigrantes, que tan pronto cruzaron a san diego, fueron detenidos por la patrulla fronteriza. se calcula que unos 1000 centroamericanos asaltado por varios sectores de esta valla fronteriza con muy poco Éxito. enirque: el presidente de mÉxico, andrés manuel lÓpez obrador, informÓ hoy que conversÓ vÍa telefÓnica con el presidente donald trump. hablaron sobre el tema migratorio y la posibilidad de lanzar un programa conjunto para el desarrollo y la creaciÓn de empleos en centroamÉrica, todo con el fin de aliviar las causas de salidas de mÁs migrantes hacia el norte. lÓpez obrador se comprometió a dar mÁs detalles de esta conversaciÓn durante su conferencia de prensa matutina maÑana jueves. patricia: y lo que ya dijo el gobierno de lÓpez obrado

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

original lawsuit concerning the nondisclosure agreement daniels signed with the former trump attorney and fixer michaele suit was brought after trump accused daniels of fabricating a story that a man threateneder in a parking lot if she didn't -- threatened her in a parking lot if she didn't leave the president alone. he called it a total con job. daniels claims they had an affair in 2006 which president trump denies. >>> google's sundar pichai stressed to members of congress google operates in a nonpartisan fashion. >> i lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way. to do otherwise would be against our core principles and our business interests. >> he was questioned on whether google is developing a search engine nature for china -- engine for china. here's what he said. >> right now we have no plans to launch in china. we dent have a search product there. our core mission is to provide users access to information, and getting access to information is an important human right. so we are always compelled across the world to try hard to provi

we have just received two major filings involving the former trump lawyer, michael cohen. e from the special counsel, robert mueller, and another from federal prosecutors in new york. and we're awaiting another mueller filing pertaining to former trump campaign chairman, paul manafort. there's lots of news that's breaking right now, significant developments. i quickly want to go to our senior justice correspondent, evan perez. evan, like all of us, you've been going through these filings. give our viewers the headlines. what are you findin out? >> well, wolf, this is a tale of two documents of the. the first document filed by the prosecutors in manhattan, they describe a pattern of deception by michael cohen. we'll read just a part of what the court filing says. it says that cohen, an attorney and businessman, committed four distinct federal crimes over a period of several years. he was motivated to do so by personal greed and repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends. now he seeks extraordinary leniency, a sentence of no jail time, based principally on his

that's not all cohen had to say about president trump. >> reporter: michael cohen is directly contradicting president trump's claims that he did not order his long time personal attorney to make these two hush money payments to these women who claim to have had affairs with president trump. michael cohen made clear many this interview with abc that president trump not only ordered him to make the payments, he did it with the intentions of trying to influence the outcome of the 2016 campaign and he tried to cover it up. when asked directly if donald trump knew it was wrong, he replied of course. the michael cohen poses political exposure. michael cohen saying that donald trump isn't telling the truth about his campaigns connections to russia. take a look. >> the special counsel did say you're doing your best to tell the truth about everything related to their investigation. everything related to russia. do you think president trump is telling the truth ooabout that? >> no. >> how does that end for donald trump? >> that gets into the whole investigation right now. i don't want to jeopardize a

i'm sure flynn realized trump shares my opinions. >> at the 2016 republican national convention. michael flynn delivers an impassioned speech in support of trump. >> with donald trump in the white house, we will make america great again! >> we do not need a reckless president who believes she is above the law. >> flynn support pays off when donald trump is elected president. >> the trump transition team pushed back hard today over reports the cia concluded that russia intervened in the u.s. presidential election to help trump win. >> but amidmounting evidence that russia tampered with the election. >> it was a threat to the democracy. that's a big deal. a set of allegations the trump campaign was involved in that effort was working with the russians and the russians were sort of trying to hurt hillary clinton and help trump. >> the continuing drum beat of questions about flynn and the russians. >> michael flynn discussed sanctions with russian envoy before trump took office. >> several phone calls to russia ambassador to the united states. >> considering flynns remarkable service to the

trump. blind loyalty is how michael cohen defined his duty to president trump and what led him to cover up dirtys sending him to prison for three years. good evening everyone. michael cohen pleaded guilty to a series of crimes including tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to congress. fox is live tonight in washington with more on today's developments. developments. >> reporter: good evening to you. michael cohen had loyalty to president trump and said he would take a bullet for him and now the loyalty will end him up in prison. but the question is, what does this mean for the trump administration. >> reporter: president trump's former personal lawyer michael cohen walks out of federal court court sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to various crimes including campaign financial violations, tax evasion and lying to congress. the u.s. school district judge ruling the 52-year-old deserved modest credit for his decision over the summer to admit guilt and cooperate in the investigation of robert mueller. >> where this goes from here remains to see seen. he has mor

let's listen to what he told bloomberg radio. >> no question that president trump knew what michael'sny would be and since president trump was told about the tower conversations that michael cohen said he had with the senior official and that he conferred with his client about those conversations. the inevitable conclusion is that mr. trump and the white house knew that michael cohen would be testifying falsely to congress and did not tell him not to. >> what more do you as a member of the house judiciary committee want to know about this? >> we should remember the president also made false statements about the subject of that meeting, assisted in the preparation of a statement that put forth a false explanation about russian adoptions. there is a lot here to learn about. again, it's more evidence that this president rather than directing everyone involved in the investigations to be forth coming and tell the truth was aware that people were saying things consistent with the untruths or the lie he had been telling about the meeting. there was a lot of additional questions that we are

president trump speaking out today against his longtime lawyer and fixer michael cohen,saying the charges that led to cohen's three-year prison sentence were intended to embarrass the president. president trump:"because what he did was all unrelated to me, except for the two campaign finance charges that are not criminal and shouldn't have been on there. they put that on to embarrass me. they put those two charges on to embarrass me."but the president's view, spelled out in a flurry of tweets and in an interview with fox news, is at odds with the facts.he insisted that the campaign finance charges against cohen, relating to the hush-money payments to porn star stormy daniels and playboy playmate karen mcdougal, weren't criminal.president trump: "michael cohen pled guilty to something that's not even a crime."but that's not true.the charges are criminal, and part of the reason cohen received a prison sentence of three years, along with tax evasion, bank fraud and lying to congress.the president, increasingly isolated, as friends turn on him, including national enquirer publisher david peck

all this coming as federal prosecutors eye trump's family business. all this after michael on behind closed door. >> he's saying he didn't direct you to do anything wrong. is that true. >> i don't think anybody believes that. nothing at the trump organization was done unless it was run through mr. trump. >> joining me now, e.j. dion. let me get your reaction to the democrats who insist ongoing after trump's tax returns right out of the gate. >> i think it's the right thing do and i think it's important they begin by putting this in the right context which is this is not a fishing expedition. they are asking trump to live up to a norm that every president since the nixon years lived up to in putting out his tax returns. it's something that's expected because the american people have the right to know what conflicts of interest does this person have? did this person pay their taxes properly? we ask cabinet officials to give all kind of information to congress and trump is saying, i don't have to give up anything. it's also true that there may be a lot to learn here about whet

trump. well it has implications for him both politically and legally the lawyer for michael cohen lanny davis who's just tweeted out that cohen is willing to talk about everything to muller what that means is this could be more damaging legally for donald trump the national choir the national enquirer which was involved in one of those payments also said that trump knew about those payments so what that means politically is that it's very clear that donald trump lied about what happened here that will certainly weaken his hand but it will also give congress the ability to investigate and members of the house from the democrats take over the house of representatives in january will likely eagerly take on that task and it means a lot of things that does not want out there things like his tax returns are now going to be out there in the public and that's going to hurt his favor ability ratings it's going to be a problem for him to get legislation through but that was already a foregone conclusion now legally the justice department's official position is that you can't indict a sitting president

it's not just michael cohen, the lawyer of donald trump, it's michael cohen the deputy chair of the rnc. if mueller is doing his due diligence, if the sdny are doing their due diligence, they're not just looking at the individuals who have money who have possibly been doing pay-to-play, but also why are certain members of the republican party so supportive of this particular president and what do they know? so this opens up a much larger conversation about not just the president but his administration and the larger republican party in the past two years. >> ken, final word to you. where does the investigation go from here? what is your big takeaway after what we learned tonight with this investigation? >> this is just another legal thorn in the side, probably not even the most damaging or dangerous one, but in a presidency that is increasingly dominated by and consumed by these various investigations. it's going to be something that trump is going to take more and more of the president's time going forward, legal resources, personnel resources. it's going to bedevil this presidency. >>

trump, not president trump. michael cohen pays $130,000 to stormy daniels. y that donald trump didn't know about it? >> i can't imagine that, no. absolutely he knew about everything. absolutely. even things that weren't so major he knew about. people just told him what they were doing and he said, fine, do it, and he gave them authority within the confines of what they were doing. >> it's interesting you're saying small things and big things, but $130,000 is not small. so there's no question he wouldn't know. he's trying to distance himself from cohen. he's called him a two-bit and all kinds of things, not very smart last week. he makes up stories to get an already reduced deal for himself and gets his family off scot-free. now, cohen was guy who said he would take a bullet for trump >> i know, i heard that. >> i'm sure my colleagues would say the same thing. whether he wanted to be at the white house or not, he stayed loyal for a long time even after he felt abandoned by the president. when people close to trump see him talk about michael cohen like this, pe

some believe the contents of the latest memo is true provide some cause for concern for donald trump michael cohen was trump's long time lawyer and fix up he's pled guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations and it's this latter charge that now directly implicates the president in its filing prosecutors in new york say code made to hush money payments to women in contravention of campaign finance law that filing says as cohen has now admitted with respect to both payments he acted in coordination with and at the direction of individual one individual one is assumed to be donald trump so prosecutors are directly implicating the president in the crime the special counsel's moment about cohen confirmed what was already in the public domain about failed attempts to build a trump tower in moscow that continued even as trump was on the campaign trail expounding about his proposed russian foreign policy however there are two new areas which might be of concern to trump firstly miller writes cohen provided the special counsel's office with useful information concerning certain discreet ru

take a listen to what former trump fixer michael cohen said this week about his two campaign finance felonies? >> nothing at the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr. trump. he directed me, as i said in my allocution as well as the plea. he directed me to make the payments. >> i understand that's michael cohen and he has a history of saying things that are not necessarily true. it's not just him making the assertion. in the filing, they said that he made these payments at direction of the president. does it bother you? >> let me point out that there are a lot of unanswered ethical, legal and factual questions but clearly this was not a good week for president trump, nor for his campaign organization and these allegations are concerning. but we need to wait until we have the entire picture. and that's why it's so critical that the special counsel be allowed to complete his investigation unimpeded so that we can have the full picture. >> i get that when it comes to the russia investigation, because we're still waiting to hear the whole picture there. when it com

part of the effort to bury bad press about donald trump. michael cohen recorded a conversation he had with the then candidate about that payoff. >> i have spoken to allen about how to set the whole thing up with funding. >> what are we going to do? >> yes. it is all the stuff. >> allen weisselberg is the cfo of the trump organization. right at the center of trump world. he was granted immunity. news of the deal with ami came moments after cohen's sentencing for crimes which included arranging payments and lying to congress about the trump tower project in moscow during the campaign. cohen's advisor speaking out stating 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. here's athena jones. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine. this is the first time a member of the president's inner circle received prison ti

the story concerns michael cohen, president trump, and a potentially impeachment offense. that big. cnn's evan perez, gloria, and pamela brown did the reporting. gloria, explain what you're hearing, what you learned. >> we're reporting that michael cohen, who is now a star witness for robert mueller, used to be the president's fixer, was under the impression early on, right after the sort of stormy daniels saga, that if he stayed on message and continued to protect the president, that either a pardon or some kind of protection would be there for him. our reporting shows he got this impression not long after the stormy daniels case broke. remember, he went to mar-a-lago, met with the president at that time. we are unclear about who conveyed that message to michael cohen. we know he came away early on thinking, i'm in a good spot. i'll be protected. we then know that everything kind of fell apart after the raid on his office. first, the president was still supportive of them, but then he went on "fox and friends," and the president said, well, he only did a little legal work for me. th

these huey payments to actresses who said they had affairs with donald trump. michael cohen was the man who arranged those hush money payments but at the direction of donald trump according to some of these filings this made this happen. >> sreenivasan: and itavs illegal to some sort of a campaign contribution, right? >> that's right. >> sreenivasan: that is kind of what this is perceive to be, if this is hush mone it is helping your campaign by keeping this out of the public's ear. when you look at the psident's twitter feed or his lawyers, they're saying these documents vindicate him, there is no ia.clusion with russ like, the witch hunt he seems the call it. >> that doesn't seem to be the case. individual one, we know who is donald trump, and ul manafort, other documents we have seen recently, some are putting his cards on the table, some face up some face down. rudy giuliani, the president's lawyer, tweeted. a man who went to trial on an illegal campaign contributions charge and he was not convicted an that was a big bck eye for the government. that is one example

they say michael cohen had the same mentality. if you want to call it the trump organization mentality, we'll just get away with it. the rules don't apply. this was 2 x 4 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 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 is sitting around in a silver platter, the privilege of that. this is the federal prosecutor was 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 that's why you should do time. it's going to royal the city you're in, the manafort filing which is getting attention, although it's partly redacted. chris, it says on here on page 9, we only dealt with this briefly, paul manafort authorized people to speak with the administration on his behalf and lied to muller about it. he was in con

some believe the contents of the latest memo is true provide some cause for concern for donald trump michael was trump's longtime lawyer and fix he's pled guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations and it's this latter charge that now directly implicates the president in its filing prosecutors in new york state could make to hush money payments to women in contravention of campaign finance law the filing says as current is no admitted with respect to both payments he acted in coordination with the direction of individual one individual one is assumed to be donald trump so prosecutors are directly implicating the president in the crime the special counsel's moment about cohen confirms what was already in the public domain about failed attempts to build a trump tower in moscow that continued even as trump was on the campaign trail expounding about his proposed russian foreign policy however there are two new areas.

it is a big deal that federal prosecutors say president trump directed michael cohen's criminal payoff to silence women. but now rudy giuliani says trump didn't direct it, but even if he did, it's not a crime. >> did president trump direct michael cohen to pay off these two women or not? >> no, the truth is actually what cohen testified to under oath before congress and what he repeated numerous times on tape recordings that he made, which is that the president didn't know about this until sometime into it. but chris, even if it were true, it's not a crime. >> that may be rudy giuliani's opinion. the problem is, the prosecutors and cohen have agreed that it was a crime. giuliani appeared to get tripped how long trump was seeking business in russia in 2016. this is something the russia has already been caught lying about. >> did president trump know that michael cohen was pursuing the trump tower in moscow into the summer of 2016? >> according to the answer that he gave, it could have covered all the way up to november of 2016. he said he had conversations with him about it. the preside

michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. president trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, sentenced this week and continuing to accuse the president of having directed him, but was part of what cohen pled guilty to not actually a crime? >>> and a dire warning to the current senate about our democracy from 44 former senators, republicans, democrats, independents. will the current senate heed that call? >>> plus, it was already a parent's worst nightmare, losing a child to suicide, but they say it got worse when the priest at their son's funeral denounced the way his life ended. >>> and in a new cnn poll, the leader of all democrats eyeing a 2020 run is one of the oldest, but is former vice president joe biden nevertheless the democrats' best candidate to beat donald trump? >>> and he hit more home runs than any player in his era and was one of our first national celebrity brands, but what was babe ruth really like behind the scenes? i'll talk to the author of the new best selling biography. >>> but first, what does michael cohen's sentencing th

trump's long-time lawyer and fixer michael cohen pleading guilty on thursday to lying to congress. he specifically lied about his efforts to secure a real estate deal in moscow for the trump organization. the intel chairman of the house intelligence committee adam schiff refuting the president for his business dealings being very cool and illegal. >> there is no way to describe that as cool or ethical or in the national interests. it means that the president, whether he won or lost, was hoping to make money from russia, was seeking at the same time to enlist the support of the kremlin to make that money. the spokesman for the kremlin intervened to help donald trump and his business in the cover-up. that is so deeply compromising. >> and we have some new insight today into cohen's correspondence with russian officials over the efforts for that trump tower in moscow. with me now, keir simmons in argentina. you spoke with the president's right-hand man who said he exchanged words with cohen over the deal. what did he say? >> reporter: what you're about to hear is from dmitri peskov who

michael cohen was a liar. so that's why there's the discrepancy between the way that donald trump treats michael cohen, calling him a rat for cooperating, and the way he treats michael flynn. the question that went unanswered is flynn is a liar also, by his own admission. he's now a convicted liar, a convicted felon for lying. so what exactly makes that distinction different other than the president's personal attitude towards these two men? that's a question she was sort of pressed on repeatedly and kept on talking about how president trump was, you know, just watching this sort of play out in the court system. obviously that sort of stunning delay in the sentencing for michael flynn is something that she was asked about right off the bat, not sure if you were in it at that point or not. but she talked about how that's something that is up to the judge, up to the courts to decide. it was a notably sort of less aggressive tone than we've heard from other people in the president's orbit who have been convicted or who have pleaded guilty in crimes related to the russia investigation. for example, the incredibly

i am done being loyal to president trump. >> michael cohen said president trump directed him to make hush money payments to two women during the campaign. they both claim to have had apairs with donald trump. the president -- affairs with donald trump. the president denies the affairs. and said he never asked michael cohen to do anything illegal. michael cohen disputes that. michael cohen is due to report to prison march 6. >>> u.s. stocks closed lower today as traders worry about weaker economic growth in china. dow fell 800 points. nasdaq lower abye 159 and s&p 500 -- by 159 and the s&p 500 fell 50. >>> a storm system bringing inches of rain. i will time it out for you for the weekend. >> two oakland men are giving back this holiday season. the make over they gave to a homeless man who says he feels like he won the lottery. >> excitement in san jose outside the sap center as michelle obama's booker to comes to town. we will tell you what he said and how she reached a helping hand out to volunteers and community members. >>> two oakland men decided this holiday season they wanted to

become the first member of the trump admin strags to be sentenced, and this comes after trump's former lawyer michael cohen was sentenced to three years in prison. cohen insisted trump asked him to make illegal payments to silence women who had affairs with president trump. >> so many investigations, and clearly the investigative walls are closing in on trump. getting the michael chone plea here is a game-changer in so many ways. a lot of this is going to turn on whether cohen has tapes or somebody else does. i think it's also going to turn on how trump responds. >> meanwhile the incoming chair of the republican chair committee representing adam schiff is investigating whether there was any illegal funding in the president's inauguration. sara sanders is reacting to whether the inauguration committee misspent funds. >> that doesn't have anything to do with the president or first lady. the biggest thing the president did in his inauguration was to come here and raise his hand and take the oath of office. the president was focused on the transition during that time and not on any of the planning. >>> t

point of view from donald trump's point of view is his violation of campaign finance law michael cohen was the into me jury who paid the hush money to silence women who had affairs with donald trump during the press during the presidential campaign the silencing was during the presidential campaign as word. what we have here there is a direct implication for the president in that crime this is that these are the lines on approximately june sixteenth twenty fifteen individual one for whom cohen worked at the time began an old ultimately successful campaign for president of the united states individual one i mean from that description donald trump during the campaign kern played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories each from women who claim to have had an affair with individual one. cohen acted with the intent to influence the twenty sixteen presidential election in particular and its current himself as not admitted with respect to both payments he acted in coordination with and that direction of individual one time don't trump directly to the cri

the original lawsuit concerning the nondisclosure agreement daniels signed with former trump attorney and fixer michael cohen. the suit was brought after trump accused daniels of fabricating a story that a man threateneder in a parking lot -- threatened her in a parking lot if she didn't leave things alone. >>> things just got a lot worse for british prime minister theresa may. we'll go live to london next. 'tand in your garage,son a brand new john deere. that's not a mirage. with 60 months financing at 0%, say "happy holidays" to money well spent. if additional offers are what you desire, visit your john deere dealer before they expire. now, start up your engines and drive out of sight. new john deere equipment for all and to all a good night. see your john deere dealer today to discover more great deals and special financing offers. new year, new deere. opportunity is everywhere. like here. where you can explore the world knowing you can always find your way home. ♪ hi. maria ramirez! mom! maria! maria ramirez... mcdonald's is committing 150 million dollars in tuition assistance, education, and caree

last night's filing in the michael flynn case might have other members of the trump family worried. ccording to the filing, michael flynn, has, quote, provided financial assistance in a criminal investigation separate to a the special prosecutor's investigation. that section is entirely redacted. the filing also says michael flynn, quote, provided first information about the content and context of interactions between the transition team and russian government officials. those include michael flynn's phone call with the russian ambassador in december 2016 asking russia to help defeat a u.n. resolution on israel. flynn admitted he lied to the fbi about that conversation. he also told the fbi he contacted the russian ambassador at the direction of, quote, a very senior member of the presidential transition team. we know based on nbc news reporting that that very senior member of the trump transition team was jared kushner, donald trump's son-in-law. joining our discussion now, peter zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor and former deputy counsel for scooter libby in the george w. bus

what it could mean for president trump and for michael cohen as the feds in new york argue he should t substantial prison time. right now, robert mueller also is set to file a secret document on paul manafort, the former trump campaign chairman, and why prosecutors believe manafort lied. there's lots of news to unfold right now. >>> i want to go first to our political correspondent sara murray. sara, mueller's document makes it clear that michael cohen was cooperating but he's not necessarily suggesting he shouldn't get a substantial prison sentence. >> no, i think there's a reason it was filed in tandem with the southern district of new york, which took a much harsher tack on what michael cohen should serve in terms of prison time. they said they participated in seven interviews and he was not entirely forthcoming in the first one, but by the second one it sounds like cohen came around and continued to participate. he really did divulge some information at the core of what the special counsel is looking into, in particular his own contacts with russians and another contact from a rus