with trump organization executives. what do they want to know about the president's company? >>> not consulted. the general in charge of the u.s. military operations in the middle east says president trump didn't talk to him before announcing plans to withdraw u.s. forces from syria. he warns that despite what the president claims, the fight against isis is not over. >>> cnn gets answers. an exclusive report that first aired here in "the situation room" just 24 hours ago has senators demanding action and seeking answers about american guns, armored vehicles and missiles falling into the hands of enemies, including iran. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you are in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> the breaking news tonight, new details emerging on the president's state of the union address that he will give in just a few hours. it was postponed by the last government shutdown. it's being delivered with another one looming. sources tell cnn the president hopes to hit the reset button with a bipartis

apparently according to "the washington post," these people have been working for the trump organizationor years. >> there's been some investigative reporting that has stepped up that has documented the number of undocumented citizens that are working at these organizations, and i think the trump organization just decided they couldn't deal with the hypocrisy anymore. look, everyone knows you scratch the surface in the service industry -- >> wait. stand by because i have a statement. i've just been told -- it says below is the trump organization statement in "the washington post." it says we are very proud of our diverse workforce. our associates mean everything to us. it just jumped. hold on. our associates mean everything to us. we also take -- let's see. this changed. our associates mean everything to us and are the heart and soul of our company. we also take our obligations as an employer seriously and regularly conduct audits to ensure full and complete compliance with all legal requirements. and then they said last month the press reported on two individuals who had allegedly falsi

mr cohen in your testimony you stated that you began work for the trump organization as a lawyer dealing with real estate transactions that's correct prior to coming to congress i served as a director of two different banks watson hundreds of loan applications and to try to determine your credibility or did i just want to ask you a couple of real estate transaction question just to see how in fact you operate according to the southern district of new york prosecutors you lied to banks to secure loans by falsely stating the amount of debt you were carrying mr cohen my question to you was it donald trump's fault that you knowingly committed a crime of deception to defraud a bank no it's not was that fraudulent loan you obtained for the trump organization or for you personally it would be for me though i'm not familiar with which loan that you're referring to and i would like to i would like to say one thing mr one so i would like you just to respond. well alone the feeling that i feel when we're talking about the home equity line of credit which is what i believe you're referring to we're

what did they want to know from the trump organization? ident trump's announcement come as a surprise to one of the first people that should have

he had a trump organization business card so he's very close to donald trump and very involved in the trump tower moscow deal. there will be public benefit to understand why a presidential candidate was seeking to put a tower in moscow at the same time that we're starting to learn about russia's attacks on our democracy. i think that will be very illuminating. >> is he coming to your committee voluntarily, or has he been subpoenaed? >> i don't want to misspeak on that, wolf. so i'm not clear. i'll just say we do saek to have every witness come forward voluntarily. i'm not aware of a subpoena that's been issued. >> why did you, adam schiff and your committee decide to have this testimony be done in public? >> because of the public value of understanding, again, you have a candidate for president of the united states, somebody who is also a business person and he's mixing the two. he's doing business in moscow throughout the presidential campaign, beyond the iowa caucus, the new hampshire primary. and not just with the british or mexico. he's doing it with an adversary, an adversary we'

>> the trump organization through a subsidiary. >> he said it was business as usual when it came to trump tour moscow. >> one of the things that caught my attention is when michael cohen said he informs con stand contact with prosecutors from the southern district court. i imagine that many of the questioning will focus in on others. and who else could tell us about that. who else participated. again michael cohen did not overstate things here. he said that donald trump did not direct him to lie, he just understood. he is coming across quite credibly and he continues to work with prosecutors inman hat ton get to the bottom of this and other transactions. >> from everything in the public record, are you surprised that don junior has not been involved, are you surprise there'd is no filing directly related to don junior. are you surprised that he has not sat for an interview? >> yes and no. >> if donald trump union is a target, someone in the scope of an investigation and likely to be charged, i expect they would leave him for the very end. you don't tend to talk to targets early in the inv

>> well, i think we certainly had confirmation that the trump organization headed by mr. trump is by any other name a criminal enterprise. and very much like, you know, the organizations transcribed by joe valachi. you mentioned it earlier in the report. i brought it up in the hearing reminding my republican colleagues that joe valachi revolutionized how congress dealt with organized crime and made a huge difference in law enforcement's dealing with organized crime. as you pointed out, he was a lot more than a convicted liar, he was a murderer. but his testimony nonetheless was pivotal to unlocking the keys to how the mafia was organized. mr. cohen is going to be, i believe, one of the pivotal figures in unlocking the key -- the keyhole to how the trump organization in fact operates. and in many ways it does resemble a criminal enterprise. >> you kept making the point to your republican colleagues that it is possible to take testimony from convicted criminals and invest belief in that testimony. it happens in courtrooms around the country every day. criminals turn on each

it's too early to tell but does seem like a breathtaking frontal assault, right, on the trump organization and i'm struck tonight remember that you have key former officials from the trump world who are cooperating with prosecutors who may have already offered them significant information and a road map, if you will, to what they should be looking for when these documents come back. that's very important, it's not the very beginning of this investigation but been going on with cooperating witnesses like michael cohen. >> and rick gates. >> exactly, who was the head of the inauguration committee. >> douglas, yet another investigation into trump world, this one, this is only going to add to the clout around the trump presidency, no? >> no question about it. we probably have a new buzz phrase, straw donors, we'll be hearing that in the next few weeks. trump's inaugural was a mess from the day he talked about a larger crowd size than barack obama and this idea of trying to do whatever he could to capitalize on winning. you know, i think it was correct we just had on that nobody thought donald

>> the trump organization. >> okay. >> through a subsidiary. >> okay. and who are the familiy members that you briefed on the trump tower moscow project? >> don trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> were these in the course of business or did the family request the briefings? >> this is in the regular course of business. >> there's a question on the number of briefings. do you recall how many there might have been? >> i'm sorry, sir? >> do you recall how many of these briefings there might have been? >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. in your written remarks you also wrote, and i quote, there are at least a half dozen times between the iowa caucus in january of 2016 and the end of june when mr. trump would ask me how is it going in russia, referring to the russia moscow tower project. how did the president community those questions to you? was it verbally or on the phone? >> verbally most of the time. virtually all of the time. he would say to me, michael, walk with me. he was heading to, say, a rally, to a car. sa as i would walk him to the elevator

workers at the trump organization?any has fired at least 18 employees without legal status. christina, this is remarkable for a president who has made undocumented workers such a priority for him and yet they were working at his golf cour courses. >> 18 is the latest number the "washington post" is reporting across five golf courses in new york and new jersey. those firings have happened over the last two months. this is not the first story. last week the "new york times" said that they knew of three golf courses. now we have five golf kourbscou we don't know the extent to which the trump organization relies on undocumented workers. at the same time the president is out there blasting illegal immigration, trying to get border wall funding and opening himself up to criticism that this is just hypocrisy. that is playing out. we still do not know exactly how many workers in the trump organization are illegal. part of the reason is we are in the winter season and some of them are seasonal. so they may be asked not to come

>> the trump organization through a subsidiary. >> okay. and who were the family members that you briefed on the trump tower moscow project? >> don trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> okay. now were these in the regular course of business or did the president or family request the briefings? >> this is in the regular course of business. >> do you recall, there is a question on the number of briefings, do you recall how many there might have been? >> i'm sorry, sir? >> do you recall how many of these briefings there might have been? >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. in your written remarks you also, i quote, there were at least a half dozen times between the iowa caucus in january 2016 and the end of june when mr. trump would ask me, how is it going in russia referring to the russia moscow tower project. how did the president communicate those questions to you? was it verbally or over the phone? >> verbally most of the time. virtually all of the time. it would -- he said say michael -- he was reading to say a rally or to a car as i woul

of aspects controversies involving the trump organization. remarkable letter that was set to two different house committee chairman today they say they will not comply with these document requests until these issues they see are resolved with this newly appointed adviser because his firm is a client of the trump organization. in this letter that went to the house yjudiciary and a completey separate committee. it says ethics issues must be carefully investigated and resolved before the request can be addressed. you'll recall that cummings is looking into the hush money payments that went from the president through michael cohen to silence alleged affairs before the 2016 elections. it is on the president's own. the law firm did call the claims baseless. none will be doing on the house judiciary committee helping oversee the mueller investigation and said that any work that the firm has done with the trump organization having minor issues and building code violations an others involving do condominiums. they have subpoena power. expect them to u

cohen, have you seen any shady business at the trump organization? and let the guy talk. >> the president's friends said since cohen became a household name for those of us who covered this president, this was the guy, it wasn't mueller who kept trump up at night. it may now be. but at the time cohen eef's off were raided, people closest to the president said this is the guy, this is the guy who did the dirty, embarrassing stuff that really gets under the president's skin. >> that's right. it's been clear ever since the genesis of the mueller investigation the biggest concern for trump himself and for the people in his immediate orbit has always been about money. the mueller investigation really started getting under zhirn w t mueller brought on agents from the criminal investigations section who were there to crunch the numbers and dig on this financial issue and michael cohen, more than perhaps anyone, we know to be in touch with his investigators, perhaps all alan wisenberg would be in there too. but michael cohen really has an extraordinary level

the inauguration and also the trump organization. and who knows where that could lead them. >> why do they feel more vulnerable there? >> the organization. family, associates, that is why they feel more vulnerable that there could be aspects of that investigation that may not while directly affect the president because the president can't be indicted but it could be his family. there could be some financial connections that could be vulnerable legally. certainly the digging into the inauguration and the breadth of that subpoena that the southern district of new york issues was very striking. and, you know, we don't know everything obviously. but it certainly something that has concerned the president and the people close to him. and it looks like they're digging in as well. the southern district of new york is not stopping. we recently reported that several people tied to the organization have been asked to come in and be interviewed. the southern district of new york wants to interview them. there is really a lot going on. there. >>

>> the trump organization through a subsidry. >> and who are the family mbers that you briefed on the trump tower moscow project? >> don trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> were these in the regular course of business or did the president or family request the briefings. >> in the regular course of business. >> do recall how many of these briefings there might have been? >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. in your written remarks you also wrote and i quote there are at least a half dozen times between the iowa caucus in january of 2016 and the end of june when mr. trump would ask me how is it going in russia referring to the russia moscow tower project. hodid the president communicate those questions to you? was it verbaphy or over the e? >> verbally most of the time, virtually all of the tim he would say to me michael cohen, he was heading to a rally or a car and i would walk him tw the elevator, ld ask me questions quickly regarding the series -- >> could it be about what he was referring to in terms of the project in russia? >> no. this would be it. otherwise there would be no

, the investigation isn't necessarily into the trump organization, but individuals in the trump organization, you have to think that he has a lot to back up what he tells them. on the order of 1.3 million pieces of evidence turned over already in this investigation. >> and the trump organization, trump foundation, the trump campaign, there are a few characters who play a role in all of those. >> just a few. car are a cara, unlike the mueller investigation, prosecutors don't have a mandate, they don't -- well, the president likes to say there is a red line. i don't know that robert mueller has one. but the southern district of new york can go after anything. >> yeah, that's right. the southern district of new york, it is their responsibility actually to follow the money or any indications of impropriety that they see, they should follow it. sometimes the difficulty with so many different kinds of indications of crime is that it is hard to get your arms around the entire thing. that is actually the job of the southern district. but remember, there is no wall between the southern district and t

, but the trump organization helped arrange their fake papers. crime. no question about that. it's president trump shutting down the government for over 30 days because he was railing against illegal immigration to this country. i think the american people are obviously divided on the immigration issue. we are not divided when it comes to hypocrisy. this is about as close as i can imagine to the height of hypocrisy. >> i could be mistaken, but you have it that the trump organization helped them falsify documents? >> yes. a number of these employees have come forward to say that their photos for their fake green cards were taken on trump properties, that they were directed to particular places where they can get these fake papers. the trump organization was completely complicit and knowledgeable in this whole process. i don't know if that's true, but it is certainly something that the fbi should investigate just as they would with any other business when so many witnesses have come forward. >> you haven't heard back from the fbi yet? no we didn't.

everybody's job at the trump organization is to protect mr. trump. every day most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him on something, and that became the norm and that's exactly what's happening right now in this country and it's exactly what's happening here in government, sir. >> thank you, mr. chairman. my time has expired. >> mr. armstrong? >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, can we take a break? >> not right now. >> okay. >> all right. [ inaudible ] >> i did, sir. >> that's okay. thank you, sir. [ inaudible ] >> thank you. >> all right. it's been going on now for more than two hours. a very, very explosive hearing before the house oversight committee. we've been hearing from michael cohen, jake. this is as expected, the republicans are ganging up on him. he's trying to defend himself. the democrats seem to be defending him. this is going to continue. it's very explosive. i suspect it's going to become even more explosive. >> yeah. the democrats, not surprisingly, are using this as a way to try to attack president trump, taking

>> trump organization through a sib sidry. >> and who are the family members you briefed on the project. don trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> were these are the regular course of business or did they request the briefing? >> this is the regular course of business. >> do you recall how many of these briefings there might have been? >> approximately ten in total. >> you also wrote, i quote, there are at least a half dozen times between the iowa caucus the end of 2016 and the end of june when mr. trump would ask me, how is it going in russia? how did the president communicate those questions to you? was it verbally or over the phone? >> verbally mostly all of the time. he would say, michael, come walk with me. he was heading to a rally or a car. as i would walk him to the elevator, he would ask me questions quickly regarding the series of issues. >> any doubt what he was referring to about the project in russia? >> no. this would be it. otherwise there would have been no reason to ask it of me. >> you wrote, quote, mr. trump new of and directed the negotiations throughout the campaign and li

there are no black executives at the trump organization. is -- you've known donald trump off and on for years and years. what's true? >> it's hard for me to say he's racist being that i worked for him all that time. it was a different period of time and words like the n-word were used frequently. they aren't ever used now. >> by donald trump himself? >> i don't remember. i won't say that he did because i don't remember. i remember hearing jokes, always black jokes going back and forth and he told them too. you know the expression, once you go black you never go back. the first time i heard that it was donald and it was a light-heartedness not only about black people and jews and things like that. i remember we were -- >> hang on. i'm still letting that sit for a second. so no one in the room when donald trump or others would make these inappropriate jokes would say, sir, not appropriate. >> people didn't do it at that time. everybody joked and -- i'm going to be honest about it. people laughed at it. this was 1981, 82, 83 and that was 40 yea

everybody's job at the trump organization is to protect mr. trump. every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie to him life ran on something. that became the norm and that's what's happening in this country. it's exactly what happening government, sir. >> think i'm mr. chairman. my time has expired. >> mr. armstrong? >> thank you. >> mr. cohen: mr. chairman, can we take a break? >> not right now. >> all right. >> mr. cohen: i did, sir. [laughter] [devil] that's okay. thank you, sir. thank you. >> mr. cohen: cummings might be able to see something that we could hear in this hearing with michael cohen, but we couldn't. his microphone is a partly not on but we do know that the former president's personal attorney has asked for a short break. as that happens, we remind you that we don't mind you're watching it my best sparks fly on capitol hill as michael cohen since before the house oversight committee. he is making explosive allegations against the president, and facing strong pushback from republicans over his credibility afte

>> i think the trump organization is a freestanding organization separate from the trump presidency.linton was a separate lawsuit independent of the clinton presidency. >> got it. >> so i think those things would be separate in this case. an and, elinia is right, if you do the presidency by fraud, whether that's impeachable offense. george mason i think it was in virginia said it should be, but there is no resolution of that. so that's something they have to figure out as well. >> and real quick, something you said before, michael, about michael cohen not necessarily being the most reliable of witnesses because he's going to jail because he lied to federal prosecutors. >> right. that's right. and that he now has one year under the federal rules, rule 35, to sort of rehabilitate his cooperation to get a further reduction in his sentence. so he's going to try very hard to do that. and the prosecutors are going to lean on him to say here's your one time to do that. of course, the defenders of him, the attackers of him will say he's doing this, he's lying just to get a reduction in the s

he has a staff which is weird for anybody at a trump organization. >> why is that? >> because people don't -- he runs a very lean operation. >> the only person with staff is supposed to be trump. >> this isn't a criticism of the trump administration. but you do your work and you have to do the work of five people when you work for donald trump. and he's somebody that the president greatly trusts. also he's handled all the finances. now, another issue -- >> if he got subpoenaed and he was coming to capitol hill, how nervous would donald trump be? >> he would personally hate it. allen prepares all the final statements. >> and they go over what to say. >> i could have to send trump reports of certain things. allen has to send him updates. >> i want to bring up the name of matthew calamari. said who could give us more information about potential insurance fraud? tell us who he is. >> matthew, by the way, very disliked by anybody who works for the circle. he's somebody who donald hired who was a security guard, this guy. and was beating somebody up. >> saw him at the u.s.

>> the trump organization. >> okay. who were the family members that you briefed on the trump tower moscow project. >> donald trump junior and i ivanka trump. >> regular course of business or did the president or family request a briefing? >> this is the regular course of business. >> did you recall, a question on the number of briefings, do you recall how many of these briefings might have been. >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. in your written remarks you also wrote and i quote, at least half a dozen times between the iowa caucus in 2016 at the end of june, mr. president would askin? how would he communicate that? >> michael, he was heading to rally or a car, he would ask me, questions quickly regarding a series of -- >> any doubt about what he was referring to in terms of the project in russia? >> no, this would be it otherwise there would have been no reason to ask it of me. >> you also wrote and i quote, to be clear, donald trump knew of and negotiate d the project. how did he direct the negotiations? wha

he will know every tax filing that the trump organization has filed for years. if you're a prosecutor, this is a gold mine. you have the cfo of the organization and you have now the president's and one of the organization's lawyers who have agreed to provide evidence to you. it's a gold mine if you're a prosecutor. and don't forget this, mueller's jurisdiction is fairly narrow. the russian interference. obstruction of justice. other matters directly arising. the southern district of new york's jurisdiction is any federal crime that occurs in manhattan, the bronx and certain upstate counties. that's the seat of the trump organization. so they have a purview to be able to investigate anything that has happened within the trump organization going back to the statute of limitations and beyond. that's pretty broad. >> pretty broad. you know, david, when we look at what some of the irregularities that might be filled in a little bit when we hear from michael cohen on wednesday. one of which is the trump administration receiving hurricane damage payments. donald trump s

and the cfo of the trump organization allan weisselberg. the other signed by donald trump himself. months after he had already become president. cohen was asked about his public explanations concerning that payment. >> mr. cohen, you sent a statement to the reporters that said, "i used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to miss stephanie clifford and neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was party to the transaction with ms. clifford and neither reimbursed me for the payment either directly or indirectly." was the statement false? >> the statement is not false. i purpose lly left out mr. trum from that statement. that was what was discussed to do between mr. trump, myself, and allan weisselberg. >> did the president call you to coordinate on public messaging about the payments to ms. clifford in or around february 2018? >> yes. >> congresswoman katie hill, california democrat you just saw there questioning cohen, will join us later in this hour. tomorrow michael cohen will see his final day of testimony on the hill when he appears before the h

new information revealing the southern district of new york is getting more dirt on the trump organizationom "the new york times" reveals trump's former lawyer is offering information about possible irregularities within the president's family business and about a donor to the inaugural committee, according to people familiar with the matter. unlike robert mueller's investigation, new york prosecutors have no limits on what they can investigate. here's what former new jersey governor chris christie had to say. >> the southern district of new york has no resdriksz on their per view. the southern district of new york does whatever the heck you want. you have michael cohen, the president's former lawyer, as a tour guide. that means you can go anywhere. >> michael cohen set to testify at three congress at hearings. tuesday he will meet behind closed doors with the house and senate intelligence committees. on wednesday he'll offer public testimony before the house oversight committee. mi michael cohen has agreed to cover a wide range of topics from the 2016 election to his compliance with finan

according to the trump organization, they told "the new york times" they financed this themselves. bank is a bank they've gone to over and over again for financing in the past after trump developed all these issues with other lenders because of his history of bankruptcies. it's unclear where he may have gotten additional funding if he did from outside sources. remember, he doesn't release his tax returns. with wi we know little about the trump organization finances. >> is a lot of american banks didn't want to lend the trump organization money because what you point out, the history there. he turned to deutsche bank for those loans. what about the connection, if any, between deutsche bank and the russians? that's clearly at the heart of the mueller investigation. >> well, this is raising concern from democratic lawmaker who want no know more about the trump organization's interactions with deutsche bank and saw some of them out there saying deutsche bank has this history that we don't necessarily trust with the russians and that's because deutsche bank was fined hundreds of million

think what happened to the trump organization and trump u.t happens before those acts of fraud happened before the election. cohen knows about money. he -- i don't know why they're asking about collusion. he's a money guy. >> the steele dossier has an allegation that michael cohen met with russian operatives in prague. cohen shot that down completely and that, i think, is -- was a worthwhile, exculpatory piece of evidence that came out. >> he was asked, did you go to prague? he said i've never been to prague or the czech republic. >> a couple of times during his testimony, you know, there were places where he could have incriminated the president more and went out of his way not to. he talks about this conversation with -- where he overheard between donald trump jr. and his father which he thinks was about the trump tower meeting but it's vague as he acknowledges. if he was trying to incriminate donald trump, he would have made that conversation a lot more definitive. he was also asked about rumors of abuse between donald trump junior and mel

>>> the trump organization fires more undocumented workers at its golf clubs. why now? we will ask one of the reporters who broke that story. uffering, cinemasound for brilliant clarity, and cinemacolor for ultra vivid color. experience dell cinema on the xps 13 with an 8th gen intel core i7 processor. ♪ with an 8th gen intel core i7 processor. we know that when you're spending time with the grandkids every minute counts. and you don't have time for a cracked windshield. that's why we show you exactly when we'll be there. saving you time, so you can keep saving the world. >> kids: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ billions of problems. dry mouth? parched mouth? cotton mouth? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath oral rinse and lozenges. help relieve dry mouth using natural enzymes to soothe and moisturize. so you can... breathe easy, there's therabreath at walmart. yeah, i thought doing some hibachi grilling would help take my mind off it all. maybe you could relieve some stress by calling geico for help with our homeowners insurance. geico helps with homeowner

democrats, need to be coming together to address. >> we must say, though, this is what the trump organization, vice president eric trump, here's what he has said on behalf of the organization, that the property will institute the e-verify system and that "we have tens of thousands of employees across our properties," we have "very strict hiring practices. if any employee submitted false documentation in an attempt to circumvent the law, they will be terminated immediately. we take this issue very seriously. this is one of the reasons why my father is fighting so hard for immigration reform. the system is broken." so, they're denying that they're giving any documentation that has been alleged by those who, you said, took a picture in front of a green screen on trump golf course property. >> well, this is why it needs to be investigated. you have consistent allegatios t from these employees who are taking a big risk coming forward, by the way, and then you have this denial. and it's not just a denial. basically, the trump organization is blaming the victims. it's claiming that they somehow dece

what you're alleging is that the trump organization knew she had no papers and that they helped faker her? >> yes. we have met with state investigators. i have sat down with the fbi. she is willing to continue to cooperate with authorities. >> does she have proof? >> she has proof. she has the documents. she has her testimony and this is what's important here, she's not the only person who says that this happened. we have sandra diaz. she also said that this was part of the environment there, that workers came in, documents were provided by people from inside and at this point i am now representing 25 workers in four different cities in the united states and what these workers are telling me is that during the season, the golf season in the northeast apparently ends in november and what they were telling me is that each club, half of the staff at each club was undocumented. >> so this is what the club is denying those allegations, they say the former employees provided their own false paper work in a statement to cnn, trump organization would institute quote everify at all applicable

everybody's job at the trump organization is to protect mr. trump. every day, most of us knew we were coming and we were going to lie for him on something. and that became the norm. that is exactly what has happened right now in this country, that is exactly what is happening here in government sir. >> thank you mr. chairman. my time has expired. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, can we take a break? >> thank you sir. >> this was a portion of today's oversight hearing with president trump's former personal lawyer michael cohen. you can see the entire testimony on c-span.org. here is a look at what he had to say after the hearing today. >> two years ago, i said that when hillary clinton and donald trump are running against each other, i said that this is not about hillary. this is not about donald trump. this was a fight for the soul of our democracy.

everybody's job at the trump organization is to protect mr. trump. every day, most of us knew we were coming in and we were going to lie for him about something. thatbecame the norm, and is what is happening right now in this country, and it exactly what is happening in government, sir. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. can we take a break? >> not right now. [laughter] that is ok, thank you, sir. [laughter] michael: thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen we will come to order. , i want to finalize this issue relating to your .ruth in testimony form the form requires you to list contracts or payments originating from a foreign government. .ot from all foreign entities we said we would give you a chance to consult with your attorneys. have you done that and do you have any additional information? michael: my attorneys believe as they did before that the language in the truth in testimony form which i was given right for this hearing and which requires disclosure of any contracts or payments from foreign governments in the last two years did not app

trump? >> well, it could be problematic, certainly for his organization. the trump organization. we know that people have been into the southern district of new york, prosecutors in new york, regarding this investigation. that investigation, we learned, in a court filing today, is also still ongoing. there are aspects of the michael cohen investigation that are over, but this particular aspect of the investigation, it appears based on those court documents, that that is still ongoing. we had thought maybe prosecutors had come to some kind of an ending there after implicating the president in the hush money payment, but that investigation, according to this court filing, is still very much ongoing. that means that people in the trump organization can still be prosecuted if they find that they committed crimes. >> shimon, thank you. appreciate your time. >>> i want to bring in now "national enquirer's "former l.a. bureau chief, jerry george. mr. george, i'm so happy that you're here. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me, don. >> absolutely. let's talk about the

attorney's office that the -- that officers of the trump organization are implicated.e've reported that executive one, who is named in the documents, is allen weissleberg, the company's longtime cfo. and we know that michael cohen is going to testify tomorrow and has already told prosecutors that weissleberg was involved in trying to cover up this stormy daniels payment. we also have reported that sdny since michael cohen's guilty plea has kind of broadened its organization to look at the trump organization and possible campaign finance violations by the company. i think the degree to which the president is implicated in the investigation into the company remains to be seen. he of course has turned over management of the company to his adult sons and to mr. weissleberg. he does still retain ownership of the company, and i think the degree to which he was involved in organizing that reimbursement and -- when he signed those checks could be really important here. >> rebecca ballhaus, white house reporter for "the wall street journal." "the wall street journal," of course

>> the trump organization through a subsidry. >> and who are the family members that you briefed on the trump tower moscow project? >> don trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> were these in the regular course of business or did the president or family request the briefings. >> in the regular course of business. >> do recall how many of these briefings there might have been? >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. in your written remarks you also wrote and i quote there are at least a half dozen times between the iowa caucus in january of 2016 and the end of june when mr. trump would ask me how is it going in russia referring to the russia moscow tower project. how did the president communicate those questions to you? was it verbally or over the phone? >> verbally most of the time, virtually all of the time. he would say to me michael cohen, he was heading to a rally or a car and i would walk him to the elevator, he would ask me questions quickly regarding the series -- >> could it be about what he was referring to in terms of the project in russia? >> no. this would be it. otherwise ther

according to the source, trump signed some of the monthly checks from the trump organization to xhoen cohen. but this is important tonight, it's unclear whether the check cohin will apparently bring t tomorrow will have trump's unmistakable signature on it. you may recall cohen had postponed his testimony last h month after what he said were po threats from the president against his family like this one in which he singles out cohen's father-in-law. well, late today let's just say the threat quotient was raised by one of the president's strongest supporters in the house.s republican member of congress who represents the florida panhandle matt gaetz who said this and we quote, "hey michael cohen, do your wife and father-in-law know about your an girlfriends?er maybe tonight would be a good time for a chat. i wonder if she'll remain faithful when you're in prison. she's about to learn a lot." responding in a statement cohen's lawyer said, "we will not respond to mr. gaetz's despicable lies and personal smears except to say we trust that his colleagues in the house, both republicans and

different communications that he had taped over the years in terms of his involvement at the trump organization and with president trump. he also suggested a number of people who could potentially corroborate some of the information that he provided today. specifically, he mentioned frequently other people at the trump organization who would be able to corroborate what he was alleging today. do you expect what the house oversight committee just sort of opened a giant can of worms in terms of all of these different investigative avenues that your committee is now going to be able to follow? >> well, i do believe that we are going to have to bring in the cfo and probably donald trump jr., because they are linked to the checks. i also think that what we're going to probably find out, if we are able to get to the trump organization's tax return, is that there was tax evasion and probably misappropriation, because they probably took a tax deduction on the payments to michael cohen as a result of the hush money deal. so there is a lot more to look at for sure. tax evasion, finance bank fraud, all of

we know one of the topics is trump's businesses, the trump organization. this article lays out that he told prosecutors about irregularities with trump org and putting out -- putting out insurance claims. you can imagine lawmakers are that will help craft their questions. >> he testifies wednesday morning, 10:00 a.m., before the house oversight committee, an open session. there will be a lot of eyeballs watching that. thanks very much. >>> tonight, as we await the new filing from robert mueller, president trump is downplaying the potential bombshells in the special counsel's final report. let's go to kaitlan collins. we have breaking news. >> that's right. the president made news on this friday night, announcing he is going to pick kelly knight kraft, the u.s. ambassador to canada, to be the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. she will be replacing nikki haley and the state department spokesperson who the president intended to nominate for this job. last saturday night, she withdrew late in the evening. the president has picked a replacement saying on tw

according to "the times" it is an indication that prosecutors are interested in matters at the trump organizationhat go beyond the role of the illegal hush payments made to women before the 2016 election who claim to have had affairs with mr. trump. cohen pleaded guilty to arranging the payments in violation of campaign finance laws. he is due to start a three yeth prison term in may. michael cohen testifies tuesday behind closed doors and that, alex, kicks off a three day marathon as he goes before committees on capitol hill while his former boss donald trump is overseas for the summit with kim jong-un. alex. >> michael cohen on the hill. we're going to be talking about that exactly what you set us up with. thank you very much for that report, geoff bennett. let's go to the democrat from kentucky. chairman of the budget committee. answer that question. what do you expect on the hill from michael cohen? >> well, you know, i really have no idea. clearly this is someone who has been intimately involved with the trump organization for a number of years who knows exactly what's gone on. we have seen

>> ask miss patton how many people who are black are executives at the trump organization. the answer is zero. >> mr. cohen, we can go through this. i would ask unanimous consent that her entire statement be put in the record. >> without objection. >> all right. let me go on a little bit further. did you collect $1.2 million or so from novartis. >> i did. >> for access to the trump administration? >> no, sir. >> why did you collect it? >> because they came to me based upon my knowledge of the enigma, donald trump, what he thinks -- >> so -- >> sir, please let me finish. >> no. did they pay you $1.2 million -- >> we've already said this -- >> for advice? >> yes, they did. a multibillion dollar conglomerate came to me looking for information, not something that's unusual here in d.c., looking for information, and they believe i had a value. >> so how many times -- >> value was the insight that i was capable of offering them. >> how many times -- >> and they were willing to pay. >> how many times did you meet with them? for $1.2 million, how many times did you meet with them?

>> trump organization through a sib sidry. >> and who are the family members you briefed on the project. don trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> were these are the regular course of business or did they request the briefing? >> this is the regular course of business. >> do you recall how many of these briefings there might have been? >> approximately ten in total. >> you also wrote, i quote, there are at least a half dozen times between the iowa caucus the end of 2016 and the end of june when mr. trump would ask me, how is it going in russia? how did the president communicate those questions to you? was it verbally or over the phone? >> verbally mostly all of the time. he would say, michael, come walk with me. he was heading to a rally or a car. as i would walk him to the elevator, he would ask me questions quickly regarding the series of issues. >> any doubt what he was referring to about the project in russia? >> no. this would be it. otherwise there would have been no reason to ask it of me. >> you wrote, quote, mr. trump new of and directed the negotiations throughout the campaign and li