, and the trump organization. mr. cohen has maintained that he formed that llc on his own, unbeknownst to mr. trump, unbeknownst to the trump organization, that he drafted the documents. >> and that he did it just out of loyalty to his friend, donald trump. >> correct. he expects the american people to believe he spent all this time and energy, hours upon hours doing all of this work, and the president never knew anything about it, and no one in the trump organization ever knew anything about it. we've already produced and you've shown some of the documents on the show. the trump organization e-mails. we now have these documents. the statement that was provided by ms. martin is demonstrably false. if you look at the first document that you showed your viewers, in the upper left hand corner it designates ms. martin as a representative, a legal representative of ec, llc. it's right there in the upper left hand corner. >> and she is a full-time employee of the trump organization. >> she is a full-time employee as evi

cnn has learned that special counsel robert mueller has subpoenaed the trump organization for business documents as part of its russia investigation. with this look now at the trump family's business empire, has mueller crossed the president's red line? >>> sanctioning russia -- the trump administration announces punishment for moscow's meddling in the 2016 election, singling out more than a dozen russians already indicted by the special counsel robert mueller. why did the administration miss congress deadline by a month and a half? >>> friend or foe -- as president trump moves closer to blaming russia for the poisoning of a former spy, the white house won't say whether the president, vladimir putin, is an ally or the enemy of the united states. why unwilling to call him out? >>> and deadly bridge collapse -- a walkway collapse, crushing cars and trapping the people inside. rescuers are working frantically to reach the victims. what caused the span to come crashing down? >>> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situa

past few months, now it appears that mueller's team wants the exact details by subpoenaing the trump organization itself and, of course, that going directly to president trump and his family's business ventures. anna? >> right. jeff, talking more about family and financial dealings. this comes weeks after jared kushner's business dealings have been under the microscope as well. >> reporter: no question at all. that is something that, as we look back at a timeline that, june 2016 meeting in trump tower that jared kushner was one of the people that helped organized. that is still the subject of inquiry from investigators. as jessica was saying about the red line, this is something that is very key here at this moment. if the president believes that bob mueller and his special counsel team are crossing what the president sees as a red line into other areas of the investigation, even though bob mueller has a broad mandate to essentially follow this as it goes, this could play into something we've been seeing all week here in washington. the president has been in a firing mood. he fired his secretary

either the trump organization nor the trump campaign was party to the transaction the trump organization may not have been a party to that transaction but pretty clear one of its attorneys is involved in this case and not the first time she has defended donald trump. here she is just after the access hollywood tape surfaced. >> none of us would ever imagine that he would ever do anything like this. i believe him when he says he didn't do anything inappropriate with women. >> an action could brought without any advanced notice. we are going to talk to attorney avenatti. as previously reported lawrence rosen a new york attorney is representing ec, llc in the arbitration. the trump organization is not representing anyone and with the exception of one of its california based attorneys in her individual cavity facilitating the initial filing pending the pro -- explain this. michael cohen said all along the trump is not a party to this. and then forwarded that to his private e-mail address to then communicate with stormy daniels' former attorney. this is a new trump employee, jill martin, new

knew about it and e-mails came out from michael cohen using the trump organization e-mail. said, well, people do that, they do it personally, the organization had nothing to do with it. now we find out that jill martin signed the document in the arbitration, representing the consulting firm, the llc, and used the trump organization address and her only job as far as we know is the trump organization, she doesn't take cases on the side, so this raises the question of whether or not the trump organization is much more involved. one time, with one loirks mayaw one e-mail, i never really believed that. with jill martin, it makes it look like the organization is involved. >> so cnn asks martin just so you know the process, why is your signature on this arbitration document? the reaction actually comes from the trump organization. right? it comes from the trump organization, despite the assertion they're not involved, and this is what it says, working in a private capacity on behalf of cohen's attorney. the trump organization is not representing anyone and with the exception of o

special counsel robert mueller has subpoenaed business documents from the trump organization. is he crosses donald trump's red line by investigating the trump organization. >> and do they stem is from the counterterrorism or the arises from provision of the special counsel's purview. what do those terms me? we will tell you. they make a critical difference for what this could mean for the administration. >>> the trump administration is imposing new sanctions on russia for its election interference. seven months after they were passed by a huge margin in congress. now, the kremlin is retaliating against the u.s. sanctions, and the uk as well, after they expelled diplomats over that nerve agent attack. >> and we have breaking details on that deadly pedestrian bridge collapse in miami. what authorities now say may have caused that footbridge to be reduced to rubble in just seconds. let's begin our coverage with cnn's abby phillip live at the white house. abby? >> reporter: well, good morning, chris. president trump is one year into office, and he is feeling more self-assured, as a

the new york times broke the story it includes russia related documents within the trump organization. it is the first that we have known of mueller demanding documents involving president trump's businesses. remember the family's businesses and finances are a touchy subject for the president. he said so in a conversation with the new york times with michael schmidt. >> is that is a red line? >> i would say yes. >> now, of course, today's subpoena is russia related and not personal but with the trump organization, with personal and business, well, that's a blur. by the phone who shares the by line on the story today with magg maggie haberman. >> anderson, the first time we know of a subpoena for these kinds of documents. it does not mean it is a first one. this one contains a number of search terms including one. one person pointed out to me that it could be all manner of things related to trump. it do what it does tell us is the probe that the president's legal team had told him would be done by december or soon after he would be cleared not only if it is not ending any time in the n

he subpoenaed the trump organization itself. he subpoenaed russia-related documents related to the trump organization. it's first we've known involving president trump's businesses. the family finances are a touchy subject for the president. he said sew in a conversation with maggie haberman. >> would that be a breach of what -- >> i would say, yeah, i would say yes. >> it's russia related. but can the personal be business related? that's sometimes blurred. for more we go to maggie haeberman. what can you tell us about this move by special counsel mueller? >> anderson, it's the first time we know of that there's been a subpoena for these kinds of document. that doesn't mean it is the first one. but this includes a number of trump firms that relates to russia. one person pointed out to me there could be all manner of thins th things that show up related to russia. doesn't mean anything nefarious or financial. but what it does tell us is that this probe which the president's legal team had told him would be ending by december or s

we did get a statement from allen who is an attorney for the trump organization. he says that the organization is cooperating with the investigation. he says it's old news. but i have to tell you, erin, the fact they received a subpoena, that's new. >> that is new. and obviously hugely significant. thank you very much, evan perez. and i want to go now to john dean white house counsel during watergate. and david gergen served as adviser to four presidents. john let me start with you. you heard the reporting eve insaying looking at things like the moscow tower they asked a lot of questions about, "the new york times" saying mueller wants some documents, and others related to other topics. he's investigating. what is the significance of this? how deep could this go, john? >> well, it's significant in a number of ways. first of all, it does show the bre breadth and depth of the investigation. he's being very thorough. as evan said he doesn't know if they are being responsive in turning over the documents. but it certainly will get to this point. it's not surprising. th

"the new york times" reports that robert mueller has subpoenaed the trump organization to turn over documents including some related to russia. according to the report, it is the first known instance of the special counsel demanding documents directly related to trump's businesses, bringing the investigation closer to the president. while the scope of mueller's order is unclear, the subpoena could relate to two areas of the probe that might ultimately lead to trump's impeachment. potential financial improprieties related to russia and possible collusion during the campaign. mueller subpoenaed his trump's business records and comes after the president warned the special counsel last summer any investigation of his personal finances would cross a red line. let's listen. >> mueller was looking at your finances, or your family's finances unrelated to russia, is that a red line? >> i would say yes. i would say yes. >> if he was outside that lane, would that mean he would have to go? >> no, i think that's a violation. >> today's development comes after multiple outlets reported the special counsel

michael cohen has repeatedly tried to put some distance between himself and the trump organization and the trump campaign. remember he gave that statement awhile back saying that while he facilitated this $130,000 payment he was not reimbursed by either the trump administration or donald j. trump for president campaign but said nothing about whether he was reimbursed personally by donald trump himself. sarah sanders this week in the white house briefing room said the president had no knowledge of this payment but here you now have michael cohen, this undercuts to a degree the distance cohen had tried to put between himself and donald trump, saying the president has nothing to do with this, we don't know that that's the case, of course, but here he is using his trump org e-mail, getting e-mails from stormy daniels lawyer addressed to the special counsel for donald j. trump so his name is obviously connected to this here, in addition to cohen being his long-time lawyer. we have to note that neither cohen nor his attorney now has responded to our request for comment on this, although stor

at the top of the list for the documents request has been to be the 2015 proposal that the trump organization was pursuing to build a trump tower in moscow. obviously, that is a very key period here. the campaign was getting started in 2015, and for the 2016 presidential race, and so there is a lot of questions that these special counsel has to have about that deal, obviously, did not happen, did not happen, and before the special counsel asked about that deal in particular. you got to think that's at the top of the list for the request for documents. >> could it include his tax returns? we know how sensitive he's been about not releasing those tax returns. >> right. very well could. i mean, we don't know, but, again, this is something that the special counsel has a great deal of leverage. he has the ability to go wherever he needs to go to get to the bottom of this investigation. >> because we have learned, sarah, i know you've reported this, that the mueller investigation, they have been looking into the trump companies, corporations, business dealings, previous business dealings in russia.

. >>> we believe that we'll trace this back in one form or another to a payment from the trump organization or from the surrogate for mr. trump. >> you've got mail, could an e-mail setting up a six figure payment link the president pack to the porn star and possible election law violations? >>> we begin with two big stories oout of the white house this morning. new today the "wall street journal" is reporting that the lawyers are seeking a deal with special counsel robert mueller to speed the end of the russia probe. a person familiar with the discussion said that the legal team might have trump sit down with parameters. another says it's totally false. new details on what happened inside the oval office the night that president trump accepted kim jong-un's invitation to meet. the "wall street journal" reports president trump interrupted a conversation between south korean officials and said, okay, okay, tell them i'll do it. the south korean officials looked at each other as if in disbelief and tell them yes, the president said. a senior official tells the south korean news agency that the

and in a statement the trump organization said it is fully cooperative with the investigation. so as mueller's word is seemingly getting more credible, the president's is not. yesterday mr. trump admitted to making things up while talking with justin trudeau. here is a president speaking yesterday in missouri for senate candidate josh holly. an auto of his remarks were leaks and we've confirmed the authenticity of this ourselves. here is a sampling. >> trudeau came to see me, he's a good guy. justin. he said, no, no we have no trade deficit with you. we have none. donald, please -- i said wrong justin -- i df-- i didn't even know. i didn't know. >> he just said it. why the president would boast about that isn't entirely clear. his defense on twitter, i was right. we do have a trade deficit with canada. but the office of the u.s. trade representative said the president is wrong. the u.s. goods and services trade surplus with canada was $12.5 billion and the source the u.s. trade representative office. but sarah huckabee-sanders insists the president is right. and so she decided t

documents related to the trump organization's dealings in russia. he first known time robert mueller demanded documents directly related to president trump's businesses and specifically president trump's business in russia. why subpoena the trump organization now rather than just continuing to request stuff from them voluntarily? why do this now at all and in light of this subpoena, why are house democrats now confidently asserting they have document evidence and testimonial evidence that the trump organization was actively negotiating with a sanctioned russian bank. that's a very serious allegation and democrats say they've got the evidence of it. why is that? that's next with somebody who knows. stay with us. goes here. test drive the ztrak z540r at your john deere dealer and learn why it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast. nothing runs like a deere. save 250 dollars when you test drive and buy a john deere residential z540r ztrak mower. going somewhere? whoooo. here's some advice. tripadvisor now searches more... ...than 200 bookin

the trump organization. it is not old news, it is brand-new news that the mueller investigation has subpoenaed the trump organization. so a lot of on fis case today. peter alexander trying to get through some of it as it relates to the trump administration's view on russia. i saw you trying to get some satisfaction out of a question to sarah huckabee-sanders. what were you trying to get at with her. >> we'll play that exchange in a minute. but now robert mueller is subpoenaing the information as it relates to russia and other topics from the trump organize, the first time we know they've been going to the heart and the headquarters of donald trump's own businesses, the trump organization itself, the white house was trying to puff out his chest and say, look at all that we are doing in terms of sanctions against russia. first for the meddling in the election, something that congress had mandated months ago. now today announcing sanctions against 19 individuals and five entities and more broadly the dhs, depar

documents related to the trump organization's dealings in russia. is is the first known time robert mueller demanded documents directly related to president trump's businesses and specifically president trump's business in russia. why subpoena the trump organization now rather than just continuing to request stuff from them voluntarily? why do this now at all and in light of this subpoena, why are house democrats now confidently asserting they have document evidence and testimony evidence they were negotiating with a sanctioned russian bank? that's a very serious allegation and democrats have the evidence of it. why is that? that's next with somebody who knows. stay with us. with those we love, but does psoriasis ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz. for people with moderate to severe psoriasis, up to 90% had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. with taltz, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. t

trump's lawyer michael cohen at his trump organization account saying he had ties to vladimir putin of russia and said that building a trump tower in moscow would help mr. trump's presidential campaign. trump signed a nonbinding letter of intent for the project in 2015 and discussed it three times with cohen. does that lender, his statement and the tape we played at the top of the show that was an interview with you and your colleagues peter baker and maggie haberman, inoperative? it sounds like he had a condo. sounds like he was looking to have more than a condo. >> we haven't had a really good look into the president's relationship with russia. we know about this 2015 agreement. we know that the president had reupped some of his licensing deals he had in russia right around the time he got elected. we know he wanted to build a tower there dating back to the '90tion. we know about his infamous trip there in 2013 for the miss america pageant. but we don't know a lot beyond that. it's sort of been a black area of the whole investigation, an obstruction. we know a lot about that. meeting

did she reasonably believe that michael cohen acted on behalf of the trump organization or trump himself? because that will create authority in the law, even if no express authority existed. >> when you were chief of staff, from time to time, you had to deal with some crisis management. there have been a number of folks who have said that this is how it started for president clinton. >> i'm michael. >> do we have michael -- we don't have him. sorry. we'll come back to mack in a second. let me bring in ken dilanian. let's say for the sake of argument the trump organization did okay this payment. what significance would that have for the president? >> i think it's unclear, craig. it would depend on the purpose of the payment and there's some issues here around whether this payment could be construed as helping donald trump's election. and you know, that's been an issue in the past with john edwards when he was running for president and payments were made on his behalf to a mistress. that was charged as a federal crime. this goes back to henry cisneros who was investigated by a special coun

she is also assistant general counsel for the trump organization. but the company claims she facilitated the filing in her individual capacity. much like former trump org lawyer michael cohen who claimed he used his personal funds to facilitate the hush money payment to dans last year. as the lawyer representing stormy daniels revealed that even more women have approached him with potential cases against the president, i want to bring in someone following the developments closely. josh marshall. i've been following your coverage of this. what's the significance of another lawyer popping up with the trump org e-mail address. >> they are sloppy. there are a lot of the lawyers in los angeles. and so why? there's no reason why this had to be the case. this was a trump organization operation to shut her up. but what it really -- what strikes me about it is, when i think about the russia probe, when i think about everything that happened, these are people are not careful. they're very sloppy. >> what do you think the broader sort of significance of the sto

and some day we'll know the date that robert mueller subpoenaed the trump organization will be become a publically known historical fact some day. and so we will know if donald trump's february 27th primal scream of witch hunt was the day that he got a call from new york, from the trump organization, telling him that donald trump's business just received its first subpoena from robert mueller. we now know that in response to that subpoena the trump organization will be handling over to the special prosecutor any and all documents, e-mails, texts and any other material they have concerning donald trump's attempt to close a deal on a building project in moscow that would give him something he has dreamed about for decades, a trump tower in moscow. and no one knows more about that deal than the authors of the new book "russian roulette" michael isikoff and david corn. they are here to begin the discussions. the subpoena has arrived officially. you managed to dig out a lot for this book without subpoena power. >> yes. would have been great if we had it. >> what is the special prosecutor g

and it comes on the day the special counsel revealed he has subpoenaed the trump organization, demanding business documents. so much for the president's red line. robert mueller, president trump, look to be closer than ever tonight to an epic showdown. now we don't know exactly what mueller is after in those documents, but we do know that the president warned back in july that if mueller looked into his personal finances unrelated to russia, he would consider that crossing a red line. >> mueller was looking at your finances, your family's finances, unrelated to russia, is that a red line? >> would that be a breach of what his actual -- >> i would say yeah. i would say yes. by the way, i would say -- i don't -- it's possible it's a condo or something, i sell a lot of condo units, somebody from russia buys a condo. who knows. i don't make money from russia. >> mueller's demand for documents from the trump's family business points to an evasion th investigation that includes a whole lot more than just russia's attempts to interfere in the presidential election. we don't know what's in those

you have a trump organization lawyer, pro hock viche getting involved in the case. p. rosen did not barred in the state of california. you have to be barred in the state of california. you need a lawyer from the state of california who has a bar admission there to vouch for that person so they can participate in the case. >> it is really hard in california to find a lawyer -- >> that's what i was going to say. >> i admit the optics are poor here. this is not substantial involvement in the case. once you -- once someone gets admitted in most jurisdictions, including california, once someone is admitted pro hock vice -- >> you're saying michael cohen who by all accounts -- >> rosen -- >> michael cohen who is an intelligent person and allegedly seems to be an attorney with a license reaches out to his -- the vice general counsel -- >> michael cohen's lawyer, rosen -- >> how do you know it's rosen? how do you know rosen reaches out? >> that's how it works because in order for him to be involved in the matter on behalf of -- >> right, but michael cohen is involved in this

their defense to that is the trump organization was doing this to protect the reputation of the trump organization, not the reputation of the president of the united states as president. i think they're setting themselves up to defend against an fec claim. >> they can't have it both ways. she wasn't working for the trump organization, she can't argue i was, i was trying to protect the reputation. >> what about the canadian trade deficit. you can have that both ways. why not a lawyer? >> you can say anything these days. let me ask you one other question. it relates to all of this. michael avenatti saying there have been a number of people coming forward saying they'll pay, they'll pay whatever she is fined or charged if she speaks her story. they'll reimburse her for whatever fee she may have to turn over if she breaks the nondisclosure if it comes to that. can she do it and get money for it? >> no, absolutely not. i mean, the whole idea of a nondiscle suno nondisclosure agreement is you're paid a certain amount of money and you have to remain silent. you don't get to back out of that

he did so using the trump organization e-mail account. >> i think it's hard to blame michael cohen for a problem donald trump created. if you are going to transfer money and try to do night surreptitious way, you might do it in a more savvy way. not using your own name. not using your own e-mail address. perhaps using a nominee. the fact remains $130,000 was passed to this wol on the eve of the campaign. what was very explicitly hush money. and the idea that donald trump is unaware of that, or knew nothing about it at the time. strained credulity when we heard about and it as it comes out, only seems less plausible. >> this is what he says. >> i sent e-mails and i used it for everything. i'll certain most people can relate. >> he's opening himself up. there's debate about the trump organization is what we're going to hang our hat on here. a lawyer might say, aha, there's an investigation. what this gets me is probable cause to look into other things. the association with the trump connection. now you can look at other sxhoils other communication facilities. bank records and other conta

we've learned that president trump's personal attorney, michael cohen, used the trump organization e-mail account during negotiations to pay off a porn star who claims to have had an affair with president trump. let's go to our senior investigative correspondent, drew griffin. he has the details for us. drew, you just had a chance to speak to stormy daniels' attorney. what are you learning? >> a brief conversation michael cohen confirmed that the first e-mail that aired on nbc news is legitimate. it is an e-mail between michael cohen and stormy daniels' former attorney, keith davidson, and also a representative of first republic bank. it seems to deal, wolf, with the transaction of money that took place between michael cohen, which he says he facilitated, to stormy daniels, who we know as stephanie clifford, a money transfer that took place between bank accounts on october 26th at 4:15. michael cohen, who sent a message to the bank from his e-mail @trumporg.com, is asking if his money has been deposited. he's being told that is true, and he forwarded that message to stormy daniels' attorn

you've seen the inner workings of the trump organization, the trump family and their financial dealingsi guess. remind our viewers about the president's past business relationships with people in russia and pursuits of russia organization expansion, let's say. >> well, actually, his relationship with russia, what was then the soviet union, goes all the way back to the 1980s when parastryka began and gorbachev was opening moscow to the world. he tried to shake the trees there and see if he could make something fall out. he made a big noise about it. when he returned he actually talked about how he thought he was the best person to negotiate a a arm a armacist treaties as if he knew anything about it. he really saw opportunity but was never able to capitalize on it. most recently with the miss universe pageant that he held there in 2013, there was again new initiative. and with his business partner there, there was an expectation that something grand could be constructed but it never was. really, the pertinent thing, i think, where robert mueller's investigation is concerned is if the tru

assistant general counsel at the trump organization. remember she spoke on behalf of candidate trump during the 2016 election. this would make her the second employee at the trump organization who now has a direct involvement in the stormy daniels related legal matters. jill martin put out a statement and i also talked to her on the phone yesterday. she insists she did this in her private capacity and with the exception of herself, the trump organization is not involved in stormy daniels' related matters. it raises questions about michael cohen's previous statements that he acted entirely on his own. two other things to quickly mention, first of all, stormy daniels's lawyer michael avenatti is saying there are other women who might be considering taking legal action against president trump. we'll try to find out what he is talking about. we have a new friend of stormy daniels speaking out. he says during 2006 and 2007, the time period when stormy daniels had this alleged affair with trump, he listened in on private phone calls that stor

about the money, y you're talking about the cover-up, now you got the subpoena hitting the trump organization, and so why is donald trump always denying this? the comedian billy ichner came on the show and said that donald trump said no there was no collusion, that means this is. when donald trump makes that many statements about the russian deals and his sons talk about russian deals and we have evidence of michael cohen who's in the eye of the storm trying to make a deal, what does mueller seek in the documents? >> it's going to take some time to comply. >> i don't mean wrapping up. some of the clues are a little obvious at this point. >> why does donald trump continue to do things that benefit the russians. today he imposed people of those agencies, but those are people who have already been indicted. where are the indictments against the oligarchs, the senior officials close to putin. the argument might be you don't want to sanction people you have been involved in a criminal conspiracy with because they might turn on you. >> when you look at it's comparison, like the internet research ag

he sent this subpoena to the trump organization. so the question is what is it about? we know in 2017, last year, it came about trump tower -- moscow. a deal that was being put together for that that the president had signed a term sheet about. >> mr. mueller here apparently not inclined to heed the warning from the president, that red line that president trump urged him not to cross, and that red line being, michael, a look into his business practices, correct? >> well, the president said that if it was business stuff beyond russia. so looks like at the least mueller is up to the line, but if there's no indication that this actually crosses it. but the president said it would be business issues beyond russia. so this is a subpoena that had a lot of search terms in it, and sophomore were related to russia but we don't know what the other ones were. >> michael, do you get the sense through course of our reporting that this is an investigation that is winding down or do you get the sense that this is an investigation that is going to continue for some time? >> well, the p

neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was party to the transaction, and neither reimbursedt either directly or indirectly. trump organization may not have been party to that transaction, but it's pretty clear one of its attorneys is involved in this case, and it's certainly not the first time she's defended donald trump. in fact, here she is in october 2016 just after that access hollywood tape surfaced appearing on cnn's erin burnett outfront. >> none of us would ever imagine he would do something like this. it's completely inconsistent with his character and our own personal experiences. because of that, i believe him when he says he didn't do anything inappropriate with women. >> so she's a vice president and assistant general counsel to the trump organization. so back to the arbitration case, ms. martin did win a temporary restraining order because the nondisclosure agreement stormy daniels signed said an action could be brought against her without any advance notice. that's an assertion that ms. daniels' current attorney, michael avenatti, strongly disputes. tonight we

don't know what you call it when the russians make multiple approaches to the trump family, trump organization hillary clinton where the candidate stands in front of the public crowd and says, russia, you'll be rewarded if you hack her deleted e-mails. once russia does it, the campaign doesn't report to law enforcement its prior contacts with russia. they actually amplify through social media, the candidate's own words, what russia hacked. i think that's clear collusion. there's also evidence that the public has not seen that we think if, we release our transcripts, they would also find. >> are you going to release that secret evidence, that private evidence? >> the republicans during the investigation said the transcripts would be released. they are now backing away from that. i think that's because they don't want to the public to see they can't defend their claim there's no collusion. it would also show what little interest they showed in this investigation and i think the best thing we could do is release the transcripts, let the american people decide for themselves. >> what do you think

evan, what records might the trump organization that mueller would be interested in? >> at the top of the list, the 2015 deal that the trump organization tried to pursue to build a trump tower in moscow. as you know, this is a sort of donald trump's great white whale. he's been chasing a deal in moscow for many, many years, for decades, trying to build a real estate project that. that never went through, as you know, and now we expect that is part of what robert mueller wants to know about. what's interesting, jake, is that as you noted, the special counsel has documents already from the trump organization. they said in january, they that have turn over a lot of documents, some of the stuff they already turned over to congress, so this means that there is something else that the mueller investigators believe that is missing from the documents, perhaps, or that they want to make sure nothing is missing in the investigation. we got a statement from the attorney for trump organization, he says that since july 2017, we have advised the public that the trump organization i

call today. >>> new documents obtained by cnn suggest there's a deeper link between the trump organizationnd efforts to pay off stormy daniels in exchange for silenglence about an allege affair with donald trump. those same documents provide the first evidence that another one of donald trump's attorneys besides his personal lawyer michael cohn is involved in the ongoing legal battle. look at this. a demand for arbitration james jill martin, a top lawyer at the trump administration, as the attorney representing the country cohen set up to funnel the $130,000 payment to daniels. the address that martin lists in the documents is the same as the trump golf club near los angeles. when cnn reached out to jill martin she claimed she was working in a private capacity saying, and i'm quoting here now, the trump organization is not representing anyone and with the exception of one of its california-based attorneys in her individual capacity facilitating the initial filing the, company has had no involvement in the matter. is that an excellent or not such an explanation? >> it's an explanation and w

if this is just some random nut who is unconnected to the president or michael cohen or the trump organization, that's one thing. on the other hand, if this is a threat that was directed at her from trump's counsel or from the trump organization or emanated from the white house, it is a major story because then it becomes an obstruction of justice, it becomes aiding and abetting in a threat to a witness which would be -- could be federal, criminal conduct and could be criminal conduct in california or new york or wherever the threat emanated from. so it would be a major issue. >> right now, this is looking like more of a potential campaign finance violation, right? and that would take it to a criminal matter. >> yes. and -- but we should also be clear that even the campaign violation can be a criminal matter. the fec regulations say that if you make an in kind contribution, which the $130,000 that was paid to her might be viewed as, to help a political candidate, it has to be reported. now, that can be prosecuted as a civil case or a criminal case. it depends on how the department of justice w

manafort, he was investigated initially for the representations he made on behalf of the the trump organization, with donald trump was the candidate with russia. he winds up getting indicted for his personal business dealings in the ukraine. i mean, you know, once that net is out. once the microscope is on you everything is fair game. it's hard to argue, you can't look at this or that. so, yes, if there is an issue with that payment to stormy daniels being made on behalf of the candidate, okay and wasn't declared, that's fair game, unfortunately. if that's the case. and, you know, quite frankly, michael cohen again has made statements that would give rise to suspicion for any prosecutor to say, that doesn't make sense that a lawyer took out a home equity loan with his own money, paid somebody that he didn't even know on behalf of a client who, by the way, had the wherewithal and the month to afford $130,000, and by the way, didn't tell the client about the settlement agreement. it's illegal and a fraud if that's the case. it doesn't make sense. doesn't pass the straight face test. and if that i

>> we are not going to comment about the trump organization >> reporter: if i could ask you about the poison attack in great britain. the president says it looks like putin organized it what would be the response will russia pay a price for doing this >> look, the united states as we have said all along stands in solidarity with the closest ally we share the assessment russia is responsible the united states is working together with partners to ensure this does not happen again we'll keep you posted. >> reporter: in the past week the president's personal assistance lost his clearance and was escorted out of the 3wi building does this create instable that leaves the u.s. vulnerable as president trump is preparing to sit down with kim jong un. >> i don't think there are any as a rule n vulnerabilities here we have had an incredibly successful year. the results of last year don't lie. as we look at new successes that were focused on the president wants to make sure he has the right people in the right places >> reporter: nau [ inaudible question ] >> you may have changes from time to tim

he did it, had nothing to do with the trump organization, nothing to do with donald trump personally or the white house. does any attorney ever pay $130,000 out of their own pocket? >> first of all, we keep labeling it as hush money. it's pursuant to a nondisclosure agreement. these nondisclosure agreements are entered into every single day in america. they are entered any by politicians -- >> it's money to remain silent. >> it's money to not disclose the substance of the case. so $130,000 was paid. it was pursuant to a contract. but to answer your question, is that normal course of business for an attorney to pay it? no. but there's nothing illegal about it. given the context of this relationship, there is certainly nothing unethical about it. remember, michael cohen was representing ec, llc. it was ec, llc that entered into this contract. donald trump was a third party beneficiary. >> does that make sense to you? >> it doesn't. donald trump was not a third party beneficiary. under the law of california, he was a signatory to the agreement. what mr. cohen has said is as follows, tha

and she's not any lawyer of the trump organization, you might remember she spoke on behalf of candidateump throughout the 2016 campaign and she's the second trump organization employee to have a direct involvement in the stormy daniels legal battle. she sent this statement last night. she says "the trump organization is not representing anyone and with the exception of one of its california-based attorneys in her individual capacity facilitating the initial filing, the company has had no involvement in the matter." certainly raising new questions, john, about michael cohen's previous statement that he acted alone in all of this. >> mj, you laid it out clearly, though the documents say her name, her title, where she works but she's not involved. thanks for that. >>> joining our panel, cnn chief legal analyst jeffrey toobin. so that point, i'm being snarky but i think i should be snarky in this case. sorry, help me through canon of ethics. she's a major attorney in a major corporation signing this with her address and title and we are to believe this is her doing this in her spare time wi

what they show are a bank sending michael cohn at his trump organization e-mail address this note, the trumps have been deposited into your checking account. forwarding that message to stormy daniels. all of this to handle the payoff on candidate trump's behalf 11 days before the election. did donald trump know about the business cohn was burying. here is press secretary sarah sanders today. >> we've addressed this extensively and i don't have anything to add. >> here she is on wednesday. >> look, the president has addressed these directly and made very well clear that none of these allegations are true. >> so keeping them honest, the one thing she nor the president or the white house has done is address the allegations. it is the one thing they have not done. michael cohn has spoken out several times. with all of that as backdrop, michael avenatti joining us now. can you explain what the document is? >> absolutely. and thanks for having me on tonight. this is yet another e-mail that shows that throughout this negotiation period, this period during which attorney cohn was negotiating o

michael cohen, trump organization employee. he said neater the trump according anization were a party to the transaction and neater reimbursed me either directly or indirectly. it was not a campaign expenditure by anyone. $130,000, 11 days before the election in exchange for daniels silence about the affair she said she had back in 2006. today he said he raised from a home equity credit line. nothing he told the candidate about. just his own money from his own pocket. >> lawyers don't do that. they don't do that with their own money. it's not ethical. it's not proper to do that without talking to the client. it also doesn't make any sense. you know, it's one thing if he was such a billionaire he had $130,000 sitting around. the idea dthat he goes into a home equity line and it goes out of the goodness of his own house, it's not believable. >> also the claims not to have actually have informed his client about it at all. even if everything he claims is true that he borrowed money, how do you explain he was -- the question is reim

special counsel bob mueller has subpoenaed documents from the trump organization. "the new york times" reporting that the mueller team has been asking witnesses about a potential real estate deal in moscow. now, coming up, we're going to talk to a man at the middle of that potential deal. a russian-born businessman who says he was trying to help broker a deal to build a trump tower in moscow. get this. he also claims to be an american spy. >> we have a lot to talk about now with democratic congressman jim himes, a member of the house intelligence committee. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's talk about h.r. mcmaster. are you concerned that his position appears to be precarious, particularly at this time of national security concerns? >> yeah, i'm very concerned, alisyn. i'll tell you what i'm concerned about, it's about the fact that the adults are leaving the building. with gary cohn leaving, rex tillerson leaving, h.r. mcmaster leaving, these are the people that a guy like me and the american people may look at and say you may have the anthony scaramucci's o

llc and the trump organization. mr. cohen has maintained that he formed that llc on his own, unbeknownst to mr. trump, unbeknownst to the trump organization. this idea that there is a separation between e.c. llc and donald trump and the trump organization is a complete and utter fiction. >> on that note we bring if our leadoff panel for yet another busy wednesday night. michael crowley, national security editor and senior correspondent for politico. jill colvin's back with us, white house reporter for the associated press, who was with the president on his whirlwind trip to california and the midwest. and returning after his all too brief appearance last night, actually early this morning, because of the breaking news we were covering in pennsylvania, is phil elliot, politics correspondent for "time" magazine. phil, since we used your turn of phrase at the top of the broadcast, you called it through your reporting "season 2" for our only president in the history of our republic with a background in reality television. wh

ultimately we're going to be able to trace this back in one form or another to a payment from the trump organization offer from the surrogate for mr. trump. >> i think it is crystal clear they are doing everything in their power to keep this out of court and what does that mean? that means hidden from the american people. >> let's get right to the white house and nbc's kelly o'donnell for reaction. we just had the completion of the white house press briefing where this wasn't really covered. >> it was not the dominant topic in part because of the north korea news which -- we'll also talk about and in part because sarah huckabee-sanders knows the land mines associated with this and took a much harder view of not engaging on the subject which is sometimes the back and forth between reporters and a spokesperson. if the door isn't opened at all, it is hard to keep going with questions. but as you point out, this is a case where michael cohen at least failed to properly protect the trump organization by engaging in the negotiations related to this with use of his trump organization e-mails. so if it's on

. >> it was my understanding there were search terms in the subpoena, and the trump organization now has to find, go through all of their documents to be responsive to it. this is e-mails. this is all sorts of things. >> president trump once saying any investigation into his businesses would cross a red line. >> if mueller was looking at your finances and your family finances unrelated to russia, is that a red line? >> would that be a breach of what his actual charge is? >> i would say, yeah. i would say yes. >> this morning, more potential west wing chaos amid new reports national skuecurity lead mcmast is out. >> looks to be leaking that mcmaster is out. the president of the united states is calling him in saying, no, wait, i like him. i like him. >> the "washington post" is reporting on the mood inside the white house in recent days, saying this, verged on mania, as trump keeps his own counsel. >> there will always be change, and i think you want to see change. i want to also see different ideas. >> all right. now to more breaking news. that stunning allegation you heard at the beg

nobody was connected to it at the trump organization. nald trump then didn't know about it. >> and he wasn't paid back, which is a critical piece. >> now documents reveal, no, in fact, there was another top attorney at the trump organization, jill martin. her signature is on one of the legal documents that establishes the llc or at least is connected to the llc. there you see her signature. so what does this mean now? >> it makes michael cohen's explanation much less plausible. it begs the question of why are so many people connected to such a weird payment based on a relationship that she is claiming to have with donald trump. people in trump's orbit tan general challengely confirm that it has been dealt with legally. the more people that come into this, the more it raises legal questions for what this means in terms of trump's potential liability. if they were supposed to be paid back with campaign funds. it is a much less convenient excuse, that i'm not sure people were buying anyway. >> at the end of the day, who cares. maybe there wa