what's your reaction of the criminal investigation by the trump organizations? his is dramatically putting legal pressure on donald trump. up until now investigating of trump was a consequential of the two. . he had a criminal probe in motion and a criminal probe potentially carries a prison sentence with it. a civil probe usually that can results in a massive fine. the fact that the new york's ag suggest that is she has evidence of criminal and that's the standard in a criminal case that the defendant knew he or she was doing something wrong and had criminal intent behind it. that's a difficult and challenging standard to meet in a prosecution. and i would think that tish james is dotting all her i's and crossing her t's because it involves a former president. it appears they are joining forces. so this is a huge, huge development in the investigation of donald trump. >> and andrew wiseman told us the attorney general is under no obligation to communicate this to donald trump's lawyers. it seems to have been announced as a way of alerting all of the other potent

no one outside of the trump organization knows more about the trump businesses than you do.action tonight to this announced publicly announced teamwork now in a criminal investigation of the trump businesses by the new york state attorney general and the manhattan district attorney? >> it's this dramatically ups the legal pressure on trump, on weisselberg and the entire trump organization, lawrence. up until now they've been their consequential of the twoas mo relative to laetitia james is investigation. she's a new york attorney general. because he had a criminal probe. and a criminal probe potentially carries a prison sentence. with it, a civil probe usually at its worst can result in a massive fine. the fact that she, the new york a. g. has decided to convert her case from a civil to criminal probe in a prosecution suggests that she has evidence of criminal intent. that is the standard and a case that the defendant knew that he or she was doing something wrong and had criminal intent behind it. and that is a very difficult and challenging standard to be in a prosecution.

, is there any distinction between donald trump and the trump organization? rump and the trump organization are one in the same. allen and donald may look different, but they are not different inside. there's no difference. the power that they have been -- they were handed by -- when he became president, i was there. i was sitting in the presidential box during the parade with ivanka and jared and vanessa and her children. i was at the red carpet that was rolled out for him to walk into the white house. it's palpable, the power is palable. i thought, this is so dangerous, i cannot believe they're giving this much power and control to someone that is doing it for their own bepnefit. >> 28 years you've known allen weisselberg. you were 19 years old, you started dating barry, became with your husband. so you mentioned that day when you were in the front row, we have pictures of you at inauguration and you were there with the trump and weisselberg families. you said this walls a profound moment for you. why? >> it just felt dangerous. it's something that is hard t

lawyer for the trump organization declined to comment.estigation a witch hunt and said james' office has been politically motivated. >> basically they're combining resources, which i imagine, not good news for the trump organization. tell me if i'm asking the right question heesh. here, explain the significance here, what's it mean this has moved from civil to criminal in nature. am i correct with that question. is that what's happened? >> yeah, don, so the first thing this tells me is the new york attorney general's office saw something that has led them to expand and change the nature of their investigation because going back to 2019, the new york attorney general has been in the civil lane not criminal while the da has been in the criminal lane. now the ag has seen something that's prompted them to make a decision to say now we need to cross over and join you district attorney's office on the criminal side. that's a big move. we don't know what it is or what it was. i want to say this about the new york's attorney general's office, i'v

in november, we know subpoenas were issued to the trump organization relating to consulting fees paidpresident trump's daughter ivanka. we know those subpoenas were issued as a result of groundbreaking investigative reporting done by suzanne craig and other reporters at "the new york times" who basically got the story of the year when they gained access to trump's long-secret tax records. if the new york attorney general's office has now decided they have found something potentially criminal in the evidence they're looking at, something that ought to be prosecuted criminally instead of just pursued with a civil lawsuit, what could that be? how serious could criminal charges be that come about as a result? outside of the investigative offices themselves, the one person i know who knows the potential evidence here better than anyone else is the person who dug it up, is new york times investigative reporter suzanne craig who along with her pulitzer prize-winning team at "the new york times" have made more information public about donald trump and his business finances than anyone else. s

new york attorney general's office that they are now pursuing a criminal investigation of the trump organization. i'll talk to former trump lawyer michael cohen a bit later. but we begin "the reidout" tonight with breaking news. the house just moments ago voted to authorize a bipartisan plan to create a 9/11-style commission, investigating the january 6th insurrection. here is the vote, where, as you can see, 35 republicans had the courage to break away from party leadership to vote for the commission. 175 voted against it. in the days leading up to this moment, kevin mccarthy and many of his republican colleagues have signaled their firm objection to more transparency. it's the latest example of the majority of republicans goose stepping to the dear leader's tune of erasing a crucial day in our nation's history, the day a pro-trump mob stormed the u.s. capitol, looking to attack the sitting vice president. disrupting one of the core tenets of our democracy. this vote occurred the same day the fbi released new video of the insurrection. take a look at this footage. this is what a republican just

a "beat" exclusive on this trump organization pro. you won't see these individuals and witnesses anyone else. we will be joined, as nicolle and i were briefly discussing, by three of the people that were closest to donald trump's business, a business he's been running a long time and now are giving him legal problems in new york. we're talking about the former lawyer michael cohen, and david axelrod's daughter-in-law jess fer weiss of berg, and we're talking the senior adviser to melania trump. that's coming up a little later in the program. >>> we begin with the republican party's complete and total inversion of the big lie. this has become a crisis in realtime. the u.s. senate could vote as soon as this week to investigate the january 6th insurrection. all evidence shows one republican party, that in time recently this year, wanted to find facts and even hold donald trump responsible, now they're going on record opposing the truth, the party putting donald trump ahead of a basic national security probe into how and why their lives as

investigation of the trump organization. we're going to get into the details of that soon, but here is the big takeaway. the former president now faces the possibility of criminal charges, possibility at least of criminal charges from the state of new york. the personal political consequences, the business consequences as well really stand out here. >>> also moments from now the gop rift over truth, trump and his big lie takes center sage once again. in a big vote today on capitol hill, cnn has learned that dozens of past republicans may soon go against the wishes of their top leader, kevin mccarthy, and vote to approve a bipartisan deal that would form an independent commission to investigate the deadly january 6th insurrection. mccarthy -- lawmakers say why? because they're scared. we begin on capitol hill where the house is in session. manu, what are you hearing ahead of the vote today, especially since -- it seems like they're whipping, even if they're not officially whipping, they're telling people in their party not to

>> there was nothing that happened at the trump organization that did not go through mr. trump with his approval. >> plus, where we stand as a nation. one year after the murder of george floyd. with jamele hill and adam sewer. all in starts right now. >> good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. with a huge new story. out tonight from the washington post, recently confirmed that the ap appears, reporting in the manhattan district attorney has now convened a grand jury that will hear evidence in the criminal case against donald trump. the grand jury is expected to decide whether or not to indict the twice impeached acts president. that's according to two people familiar with the situation. this indicates the investigation of trump and his businesses has reached an advanced stage after more than two years. the post reports also suggests that vance believes that he is found evidence of a crime. if not by trump, then by someone potentially close to him or by his company. some prosecutors see a grand jury in order to present evidence and hear from witnesses. and the prosecut

a former senior trump organization official, executive vice president. she worked with donald trump for over a decade. she also wrote the book "tower of lies." thanks for coming back on "the beat". >> my pleasure. good to see you. >> good to see you. based on your experience and knowledge of how trump org operated, mr. weisselberg, the finances and the rest, do you have the sense that these investigators will find a lot of things that went right up to the line or over the line? >> both. i mean, he always goes right up to the line every single thing he does, not just the mantra. that's the way they operated the trump organization. but if need be, go over the line, absolutely. >> what do you think weisselberg is feeling and thinking today? >> i think weisselberg is very concerned about his kids. i think that what they're doing is the kind of thing they did with flynn. remember his kid? i don't think weisselberg will let his son go to jail. so that's what he's doing. >> you don't? >> and maybe i'm -- no, no, no, no, no. >> we watched this all. and i don't vi

it's certainly not good news for the trump organization. >> the reason i asked, the response that kararmed the trump investigation that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. so that means it's civil in nature, but also criminal. they just added this criminal capacity on top of it. who are we talking about here, elie when we talk about the trump organization? >> well, the trump organization likes to put out this veneer that it's this massive corporation. but really, if you hear people who are part of it testify and talk about it, michael cohen has talked about it publicly. it's really just a mom and pop shop. it's run by donald trump, by some of his children, by eric trump. and wesselberg is obviously a key guy. he is the financial gatekeeper. this is a financial case. we know that the d.a. has been pressuring wesselberg through his family members, whether appear to be trying to do to flip wesselberg. and they believe he has the keys to the kingdom. it's really a pretty small shop. and they're going to be under an intense spotlight now. >> thank yo

the trump organization facing another criminal investigation, a new development overnight. new york's attorney general has now joined the criminal probe into the former president. what will donald trump's response be? >>> and the firm behind arizona's election audit admitting to a major blunder. we'll speak with the former republican senator jeff flake about the conspiracy theories that are consuming his state. joo and president biden's cringeworthy joke the avoid taking questions. someday i'll ask you a question that will change me forever. ( time after time begins to play softly ) yes. ( time after time continues to play softly ) start your someday with a ring from the neil lane collection. available at kay [sfx: thunder rumbles] [sfx: rainstorm] ♪ comfort in the extreme. ♪ keeping your oysters business growing ♪ has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo leticia

let's remember, it's not enough to indict donald trump to just show, well, the trump organization itself was involved in fraud. you have to be able to prove specifically that donald trump or any person you may want to indict knew about it and authorized it. it's not enough as a prosecutor to just say, oh, come on, of course he must have known about it, of course he said it was okay. you need specific proof. i'm not aware in the public sector of there being any specific piece of smoking gun evidence at this point. >> they've got a lot of power, six months, three days a week, and they have subpoena power. they can bring in folks to answer their key questions here. >> yeah, and that's vital, poppy. the fact that -- the two main things a grand jury can do is issue subpoenas and ultimately vote on indictments. the subpoena power is very important. these are criminal subpoenas, taken very seriously by the courts. we've seen, for example, donald trump casually blow off congressional subpoenas in the impeachment hearings. these are different. courts are much more likely to compel witnesses to co

individuals inside the trump organization. gonna have pressure on them to get them to talk about donald trump. that seems to be where it's going. and they're in that phase now putting pressure on ellen weisselberg, the longtime cfo of the trump organization. and possibly others within the trump organization. the accountant, main accountant that handles donald trump's tax stuff is also of interest and then that in the. they've also had at least eric trump in for an interview. so there's a lot going on and we don't know where they are heading with it. who's being intrigued viewed. there's a real heat on a lot of people. >> susanne craig, pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter on from the new york times. who has known more than anyone to shed light on what is going on in these criminal probes. suzanne, great to have you. thank you for being on. tonight >> great, good to see. you >> will be right back, stay with us. with us. imone biles? i guess? yessss! should we dismount now? [ heavy breathing ] allergies with nasal conge

the big point here is it all roads to the highest level of the trump organization. of them lead through weisselberg. from there, they stand out and you can go in different directions. but you need to secure his cooperation in order to you dispense with any defense -- we had no idea was just the accountant, he is the guy, more or less the only guy that says, as mark cohen says before, trump knew exactly what was going on, this was the way we did things here and they are really putting the lean on him in a maximum way to get him to do just that. >> we're almost out of time but is there any irony to the fact that as you said, this is the accountant? he would imagine, i know big companies have accounting firms, but if the company accountant is being investigated for tax fraud, is that a bad sign for the organization? >> terrible. the organization is in huge trouble anyway, but the question is the question of liability. it is ironic because trump is the guy who has always wanted to keep his crimes, if you will, close to home to a small confederate that he can trust. he ha

but, you know, within the trump organization, there are other executives. there is family members of donald trump. there is the companies themselves and there is donald trump. so this grand jury will be doing a lot of work. no doubt they will be using it in an investigative way, issuing subpoenas, compelling people who don't want to testify to testify. so this is really using the grand jury, i think, to the fullest extent of what it's meant to be. >> yeah. and it raises a lot of questions about weisselberg, which we will have more special coverage tonight because we're looking at this from the outside. we don't have all of the access that the three of you have had at various points in these kind of cases. but as outsiders we're tracking, boy, a lot going on around weisselberg. before i lose this panel of experts and i have a lot more people waiting in the wings, i want to go to each of you lightening round in a word or a sentence. number one, in summation, what changes today for trump org and who has the most to worry about? what changes? and who has the wor

the new york attorney general's office just announced its investigation of the trump organization is no longer purely a civil matter. it's now a criminal case. the a.g. is working with the mabt district attorney on the expanding probe. >> their office is investigating whether trump's business inflated the value of its assets for loans and for tax benefits, and separately the manhattan dchl a. has examined millions of pages of documents including trump's personal and business tax returns. trump's lawyers have not yet responded. the former president in the past has called the investigations politically motivated and a witch hunt. >> the attorney general's office is now joining and teaming up with the manhattan district attorney's office in the investigation. le tia james has been conducting a civil investigation into the organization since 2019 and they recently informed the trump organization that their investigation is now turning criminal. in a statement that the a.g.'s office gave cnn last night, they said we have informed the trump organization it's no longer civil in nature. we're

all indication s major focus on the trump organization. there's never been this intensive investigation of his business dealings, the corruption trump admitted to with regard to his charitable organizations. it's not surprising his business may not have been law-abiding. >> that's a really good point. can't do a charity in state of new york. on his blog, i find it funny to say. he's typing on his blog and accusing her of being political saying she will go after these organizations which she had alleged had been corrupt for a long time. how effective might it be to try to turn the into politics especially since cy vance is on his way out. he's a lame duck prosecutor pursuing there case. >> i think they ought to give him his twitter account back because all he does is get himself in trouble. there's nothing sweeter than if everybody accuses everybody else. he is likely to blame other people. he's intensely loyal. he's not going be easy to flip. that's why they will need every lever of power in order to get limb to flip on donald trump. it wil

we know they're investigating the trump organization and within it and donald trump headed that organizationve tools and prosecutors don't start them unless they have serious evidence, particularly if you're talking about the possibility of an investigation against the former president. and they operate in secret. so, you go in alone if you've been called to the grand jury. you don't even get to bring your lawyer in there and that's very significant because it's really a tool against the mob which would pay lawyers and then tell them what to say. here if you're a witness, if you're a cooperating witness perhaps allen weisselberg or a member of his family or something like that you go in and tell the truth without the fear that the higher ups in the organization will find out what you said. so, ultimately, they have the power to investigate on their own. >> so, katie, just as a refresher for our viewers, when we're looking at the trump organization, who are the major players who are going to be investigated here most likely? >> well, the major player that we know is allen weisselberg who basi

." >>> trouble for the trump organization. the investigation into his business turns criminal. what kind of breadcrumbs are prosecutors looking for? a woman who worked side by side with trump for more than a decade. barbara res joins us live next. good morning. barbara res joins us live next good morning nobody builds 5g like verizon builds 5g because we're the engineers who built the most reliable network in america. thousands of smarter towers, with the 5g coverage you need. broader spectrum for faster 5g speeds. next-generation servers with superior network reliability. because the more you do with 5g, the more your network matters. it's us...pushing us. it's verizon...vs verizon. and who wins? you. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. >>> there are new questions this morning on whether long-time chief financial officer of the trump organization could flip o

>> yes and you would find it at the trump organization. >> msnbc's george read asked michael cohen if donald trump's children would know about the manipulation of acid values. >> yes they would know, what's the evaluations are. specifically on projects that they were designated to. each of the children were designated two different properties, but allen weisselberg, you every single dollar in and every single dollar -- not even dollar, to the penny, every single penny in, and every penny out it all went through alan weisselberg's desk and reported to donald j trump. >> the new york times is now conforming the reports that allen weisselberg is under criminal investigation for his finances. michael cohen told joy read that donald trump would blame any possible crimes on allen weisselberg and he might even blame crimes on his own children. e >> i think donald trump is gonna flip on all of them. what do you think about that? including his children. i really believe that donald trump cares only for himself, and he realizes that his goose is cooked. what is going to happen when all of a sud

there was this very large payment from the trump organization to ivanka trump as a, quote/unquote, consultant. while she worked there, there could be tax implications. allen weisselberg could be as well. >> what evidence are we looking at? >> michael cohen. he has talked to prosecutors. he has tweeted himself,ly be the star witness, let's see. it's michael cohen. let's see if that pans out. we know the d.a. has the tax returns. they went all the way to the supreme court to get those tax returns and millions of other financial documents. they obtained information earlier from deutsche bank, the lender to the trump organization and then this, we don't know. this is a question mark. allen weisselberg. if they can flip him, he's the longtime chief financial officers of the trump organization, that's going to be critical. watch and see if the grand jury subpoenas weisselberg or indicts him. that's going to be keel. >> this is hugely helpful. appreciate it. brianna? >>> maggie haberman is here to discuss. maggie, you have covered trump for years. i wonder, how do you think he's viewing this? >> i d

the grand jury is essentially the first step toward bringing a criminal charges against the trump organizationsibly including the former president of the united states. so michael, you know there have been calls to see trump's tax returns. up for years and there is always an explanation that he was under. >> didn't couldn't talk about i imagine that we're going to finally see these tax returns. >> do you think that this this is a world of trouble for him and his organization. if he had had run for president, he might have gotten away with it. >> i don't know. i mean, if you if you believe which what michael cohen has you know, this is something that's been going on for quite some time. and usually at some point, you know, if you at 10 as my former boss, pelosi say, you know, politics and criminal charges are like a like a hitchhiking service. the scene you put your head up. so is there to chop it off. i think you're something where he's been out there in the public limelight enough that inevitably someone was going to be looking at it. but i think that certainly the actions he took as presiden

politically motivated. >> joining me is barbara redd, former executive vice president of the trump organization who worked for donald trump for 18 years. thanks for joining us. i was reminded of something you told alisyn camerota. you said donald trump and this organization felt that laws basically were for stupid people. >> right. >> what do you mean by that. >> well, i mean, he actually sort of said that when he talked about how he was able to manipulate the bankruptcy laws. i'm so smart. i can do this. and effectively, he really did believe that the laws were built -- based upon notions that people would follow that didn't have the kind of sense of entitlement that he had. so he both felt that the laws were not for him and he also felt that people that actually followed them had no creative insights that they could skirt them like he did. >> so you worked for him for a long time through thick and thin and through things going well and not so well. when something like this would happen, and i know nothing like this exactly has ever happened but the announcement of a criminal investigation. cl

one former trump organization employee told cnn alan knows where all the financial bodies are buried,up with donald trump on trial? >> i don't know if i'm ready to go that far yet, but we do know that weisselberg has already sat for a deposition with tish james's office back when it was only a civil probe. we also heard in jessica's package that the former daughter-in-law of weisselberg, jennifer weisselberg has been operating quite extensively with cy vance's office. when prosecutors are looking at trying to prove accounting fraud, insurance fraud or things like that, it's actually quite complicated. it's not as though those tax documents are going to be a smoking gun jumping out at them. they have to triangulate documents, look at contemporaneous submissions presidentially on different documents. i think both of the offices are seeing that the other one can provide different pieces of the puzzle and coming together make them that much stronger now. it's unprecedented. >> kim, even if weisselberg doesn't voluntarily cooperate, his former daughter-in-law, his son's ex-wife jennifer, t

he has been the chief financial officer of the trump organization for nearly 20 years. lly said, quote, trump had relinquished leadership and management of the organization to his sons, don and eric, and longtime trump executive allen weisselberg. so alan weiselberg is a very integral part of donald trump's business. and two days after the new york state attorney general letitia james announced there was a criminal investigation into the trump organization, nbc news confirmed that her office is also conducting a criminal investigation into allen weisselberg's personal taxes. "the new york times" reporting that investigators have examined whether taxes were paid on fringe benefits that mr. trump gave him, including cars and tens of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for at least one of mr. weisselberg's grandchildren. this development is bad for allen weisselberg, but it might be even worse for donald trump. as "the times" reports, two assistant attorneys general from ms. james' office have joined the district attorney's team, which has been seeking to turn mr

an attorney for the trump organization declined to comment on the matter. trump and his representatives have repeatedly denied any wrong doing. joe? >> yeah. jonathan lemire, i've been growing impatient over the past months over leaks from the fbi and other prosecutors saying, oh, behind the scenes we hear this or that or whatever. i've now read 437 articles about how what happened today makes matt gaetz's situation worse. i keep reading about rudy giuliani. we got used during the trump era, a leak here, a leak there. it happened back during the bush era. karl rove, every friday they would say, hey, make sure you're around to go to the tv studio. karl rove, this is the day we just heard from the fbi a leak that karl rove is going to go to jail. blah blah. this wasn't a leak. this actually was from the office. i don't know if that means anything. i'm not sure about why you announce we are now investigating him for criminal -- do your investigation. bring the charges or don't bring the charges. but, again, this really wasn't a leak. this is the office basicall

the grand jury may not only be dealing with the trumpet related issues or trump organization related . -- trump related issues or trump organization related issues. other matters may come before, but experts say the fact that a grand jury has been convened in relation to the investigation into the trump organization indicates that it has now moved on to a criminal charge basis, whether that is directed at donald trump, his organization, or somebody close to him, that is not clear at this particular point. grand jury proceedings remain utterly confidential, utterly quiet. the situation at the moment, what we do know is that the new york state attorney general did announce last week that they had moved from a civil investigation into the trump organization's tax dealings into a criminal one. we know, too, that the investigation being conducted by the district attorney in new york is now working in alliance with the new york state attorney general. things have been ramping up considerably in recent weeks, and now the information that i grand jury has been subpoenaed does indicate come --

manhattan's top prosecutor cy vance has been investigating the trump organization for over two years. digging into possible cases of bank and tax fraud. no former president in u.s. history has ever been criminally charged, but vance's team is examining trump's business practices before taking office, which includes several of his properties like trump tower and his seven springs family estate just outside new york city. >> we know there's some interest in whether president trump's company has properly paid taxes on some of the real estate properties. we know there is some interest from investigators about the chief financial officer, allen weisselberg, and maybe some of his own personal tax activities. >> reporter: last week, new york attorney general leticia announced she joined the da's criminal probe. her office is also continuing its civil investigation into the trump organization which she discussed with cnn last year. >> what we are investigating is the fact that the trump organization inflated their assets for the purposes of obtaining loans and insurance coverage and deflated

but he could be very important to unraveling the financial doings of the trump organization. >> chuckosenberg, my friend, thank you as always. good to see you. >>> by the way, coming up at 4:00 p.m., everybody, jennifer weisselberg, the ex-daughter-in-law of trump's long-time money man, what she claims to know about shady dealings inside the trump organization and the retaliation that she says she is now facing for speaking out. >>> as we go to break as well, a solemn tradition this memorial day, known as flags in, soldiers of the old guard placed american flags at each of the more than 280,000 head stones in arlington national cemetery. flags were also placed at the tomb of the unknown soldier and at the four memorials on chaplain's hill, honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service of this country. we'll be right back. ifice in sercevi of this country we'll be right back. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. star

letter is saying is that prosecutors believe that there is a strong reason to think that the trump organization committed various crimes. and remember, the cross accusers here have trump's tax returns. he lost 9 to 0 to keep this from the new york prosecutors but they've got it. very bad news for him. >> so neil, let me take a second whack at this. this is new york city and state. are there any limits on their scope or powers? can they prosecute for good reason anybody for anything at anytime? >> well, they've got to be crimes of course but i think the fact that the new york attorney general, the state prosecutors involved is very significant for two reasons. number one, before this, this was let off by the manhattan da who is actually retiring. so there's a questionable happens that investigation after he leaves this fall. but second, more importantly, the new york prosecutors, the state prosecutors, have a sweeter power called the -- which is just about the most extensive anti fraud criminal law of any state in the country. it gives him sweeping powers. so what this means in practical terms a

the da's office have the trump's organization taxes at this point.e a lot more at stakes for him and the president. t he's been by his side for 40 years. we should note for this story, alan weisselberg's attorney did not comment. he did add a criminal defense lawyer who specialized in taxes for his team so they are gearing up for this. >>> i want to go to our senior analyst and laura coates and the author of "the making of donald trump." laura, we find out about this criminal investigation into a guy 40 years working with trump. alan weisselberg, how afraid should he be? >> well, he probably not only knows where the key to the castles are. he's not charged with a crime and cooperated in some respects. everyone assume that is if there is somebody like donald trump within the organization at the goal of every prosecutors to go for the so-called bigger fish. the cfo, the trump organization is a pretty big fish in its own right. if there is any wrong doing that may be alleged in the future on the civil or criminal side, the idea that they would use him a

he has handled the trump organization's finances for 40 years. legal pressure is now mounting for him from both the attorneys general s' office and the district attorney. what will it mean for trump if prosecutors are successful in getting him to cooperate with authorities? >> well, don, if they succeed in getting alan weisselberg to flip, that will be enormous. he has been there forever, as you said. he is the cfo. he knows all the finances inside and out. knows where all the bodies are bettered. it would be huge. honestly, i'm not optimistic. they've been going after weisselberg for years now. the southern district, when they were investigating the stormy daniels payments where they ultimately convicted rookie, they had weisselberg to talk about that. i'm not sure they'll get there, but we'll see. >> when the new york attorney general's office grilled eric trump in october, the investigation was civil, and it has been under way since 2019. now it has become criminal. that was the breaking news last night. what could have pushed for this change?

the new york attorney general has interviewed his son eric, who now runs the trump organization. trump has long said it's all political. >> these same people that failed to get me in washington have sent every piece of information to new york, so that they can try to get me there. >> reporter: and today, trump reacted to the latest development with a lengthy written statement, calling the investigation, "a political and partisan hitwitch hunt," adding "there is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime, that is exactly what is happening here." >> jon, bottom line, what should we make of this announcement from the new york state attorney general, that her investigation is also now a criminal one? >> reporter: well, david, the attorney general gave no indication as to why she has now turned this into a criminal investigation, but perhaps the most significant aspect of her announcement is that she said she is now working with the manhattan d.a. that means the two most powerful prosecutors in new york have now teamed up to investigate the trump

but listen to the former daughter-in-law who was on erin burnett talk about the trump organization. >concerned, there's been nothing legal going on in the past 21 years. >> allen weissleberg, will he flip on trump? >> yes. >> okay. that was an emphatic one-word answer. the new york attorney general's office opened a criminal tax investigation into allen weissleberg, so what would it mean if he flipped? >> don, it would be a really bad day, i think, for the former president and for the trump organization if allen weissleberg decides to provide state's evidence. it's easy for his former daughter-in-law to provide her opinion in that way but investigators are going to put pressure on people they want to come on board to become witnesses. one of the ways to do that is to look into their tax situation to determine, as has been alleged in this situation by some of the folks who are in the know, that people in the trump organization may have received benefits like, you know, rent and things like that, other benefits through their employment that maybe weren't declared as taxable revenue. it'

>>> a key figure in the trump organization under pressure. could trump's money man flip on the former president? and the homeowner seen pointing a rifle at protesters last summer is now running for senate. should voters support a guy facing felony charges. >>> a very good morning to viewers here in the united states and around the world. it's thursday, may 20th. there are disturbing new revelations about the death of a black man in police custody two years ago. a lawyer for the family of ronald green says they were initially told that he crashed his car while being pursued by louisiana state troopers in 2019. >> now body camera footage has emerged and shows green being tased, kicked and dragged by the officers before his death. the case is now the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. ryan young joins us live now to explain exactly the timeline of what happened and what we were told about what happened, ryan. >> let's also not forget this video was leaked. it was not officially released. so we've never seen the full tape so far. and

ag's office led by leticia james has been conducting a civil investigation into whether the trump organizationad improperly inflated the value of some of its assets in order to obtain bank loans or get favorable tax treatment. this involved some of the skyscrapers in new york owned by trump and the family estate in west chester county known as seven springs. what we've learned is that the ag's office has joined forces with the manhattan district attorney's office led by cy vance jr. that investigation is very similar in nature. this is why there's this ability for them to work together here. now the ag's office last night told us they recently informed the trump organization. here's what the spokesman said in a statement. we've informed the trump organization that our investigation is no longer purely civil in nature. we are now actively investigating the trump organization in a criminal capacity along with the manhattan da. now a source familiar with the investigation said that what this really means in practice is that a couple of the attorneys working at the ag's office have now joined forc

think bigger. >>> two of new york's top prosecutors teaming up to investigate the trump organization.al, letitia james, is looking into finances of trump org cfo, allen weisselberg. manhattan district attorney, cy vance, is reviewing gifts weisselberg and his son received from the trump organization. and weisselberg, a common denominator of bother organizations. his former co-worker, barbara res, believes it only means bad news for the former president. >> i think -- worried about weisselberg. weisselberg has been with him for 50 years or close to it. and he's probably the most trusted employee trump ever had. and there was never a question that -- that allen would be loyal, to my mind. but now, that they're playing with his kids. and maybe, even implicating him. i don't see allen going to jail for trump. >> the most trusted employee. joining me, now, former assistant u.s. attorney, alex little. alex is now a partner at burr and foreman. alex, what does the attorney general's involvement tell you about new york's criminal case against trump? >> tells you two things. one, it has to inv

breaking news a major development in the investigation into former president trump company the trump organization. what the attorney general of new york is announcing. >> new fall out after authorities announce deputies in north carolina were justified in shooting ann true brown jr. what his family is demanding. >> the great mask debate the governor of texas signs an order banning mask mandates in school. how he plans to enforce it. >> caught on camera a girl fights back against a would be kidnapper at the bus stop. what police revealed about the suspect. >> the push to ban those terms on college campus. >> from the lucky lottery ticket finally found. to the hungry gator chasing customers at wendy's. to a water skiing wonder. all the stories for wednesday morning. >> this is "america this morning." >>> good wednesday morning. we begin with the breaking news the investigation into former president trump company the trump organization has taken a serious new turn. >> we learned the investigation by the new york attorney general is looking into potential criminal charges. the attorney has been inves

it works to get a subpoena deal with deutsche bank which loaned trump organization millions of dollars>> scott, other cases against the former president as well. >> there are a lot. number of women who made against donald trump the most prominent is the civil lawsuit from newspaper columnist e.g. carroll and this gentleman you see, the state of georgia, is investigating whether trump tried to illegally influence the outcome of the presidential election there with phone calls and what election leaders perceived as threats during the georgia recount. biden ultimately won georgia but trump called the georgia investigation politically motivated. it's important to remember, the attorney general, secretary of state who you just saw in that video and the governor of georgia, they're all republicans. >> thanks so much, scott. >>> moving on to other news this morning, just in, fire crews are working on a house fire in san francisco. this was video that was just posted to citizen app, it's happening on schrader street in the cole valley neighborhood. firefighters say it's burning the roof and up

the revelation comes soon after james said her office's civil investigation of the trump organizationnow criminal. that investigation includes whether the company improperly inflated the value of assets in financial filings, something former trump tore michael cohen testified to. >> it was my experience that mr. trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes. such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes. >> reporter: cohen has met with investigators several times. trump has previously denied any wrongdoing. >> this is just a continuation of the witch-hunt. >> reporter: and the former president said in a statement wednesday, they failed to stop me in washington, so they turned it over to new york to do their dirty work. we're also getting new details about the federal investigation of trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani. prosecutors now revealing in new filings that they seized 18 electronic devices from giuliani and more than one of his employees. we are not learning what else was searched

. >>> a new york investigation into the trump organization is now a criminal probe. what that means for the former president. masks? forgot about it. what was once the terrible epicenter reaches a major milestone in the comeback. stay with us. priceline works with top hotels, to save you up to 60%. these are all great. and when you get a big deal... you feel like a big deal. ♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal. ♪ every bubble ♪ ♪ every scrub ♪ ♪ every spray ♪ ♪ every day ♪ ♪ dove and degree fund local youth programs. ♪ every day u does good ♪ unilever cal: our confident forever plan is possible with a cfp® professional. a cfp® professional can help you build a complete financial plan. visit letsmakeaplan.org to find your cfp® professional. ♪ what happens when we welcome change? we can transform our workforce overnight out of convenience, or necessity. we can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them w

we have experts who are going to walk us through all of it, what this means for trump, his the organization, the people who run his company, his family, so on and so forth, and even for the so-called trump era. that as we mark one year since the death of george floyd. as we just discussed. doesn't feel like it's been a year, does it? but then it feels like it's been a lot. from doesn't feel like it's been a year. it feels like it's been longer. one year since george floyd was murdered before our eyes. we can say that because there was a murder conviction, found guilty, murdered by a police officer who kneeled on his neck for an excruciating nine minutes, 29 seconds, the video we all watched, driving hundreds of thousands of americans and people around the world out into the streets to demand justice for george floyd and sparking a racial reckoning. but is it a reckoning? is it really? have we really reckoned with the racism that killed george floyd? have we? his family in washington today to press for the bill that bears his name. the george floyd justice in policing act. his daughter, gian

>> there was nothing that happened at the trump organization that did not go through mr.

. >>> breaking overnight the trump organization is now the center of a criminal probe by new york's attorneyeral we've got the details as we know them at this hour and who in the trump family may be involved. >>> deadly violence in the middle east continues in the wake of president biden voicing support for cease-fire our richard engel reports from the front lines. >>> a war of words is building in the leadup deciding whether or not to appoint a 9/11 bipartisan congressional commission to investigate the january 6th attack at the capitol. >>> this morning we remember the awkward, heart break kid, the duke himself charles grodin. >>> why is this rooster costing himself nearly $10,000 on a two acre farm? "early today" starts right now. >> good morning, i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. breaking overnight, a seismic shift in the trump organization. this after the new york state attorney general announced it is pursuing a criminal investigation. they issued this statement we have informed the trump organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in natu

organization rather than an individual, and if so, what would happen to the individual, you know, the trump organization or the former president? >> generally speaking prosecutors are formore reluctant to indict corporations than they are to indict individuals. in order to indict a corporation, you'd have to show someone as part of that organization has committed a crime. it could be an institutional failure, for example, of the organization to be compliant with the laws, but in this case, because the organization is small and is so -- is so wrapped up in the embodiment of donald trump and there's allen weisselberg as lauren mentioned who's the cfo who's been there for decades and there's a few other employees -- it's not a big organization -- i would be surprised if they simply indicted the organization and did not indict any individuals. >> you mentioned it's a small organization. we know the leadership is small, it always has been. it includes a lot of family. is that a red flag itself, keeping the inner circling of an organization like this small? >> not necessarily. i think it's more o a reflection

his two sons have been intimately involved with the trump organization for many years. g for trump. the other was an employee who handled a lot of cash and there's a lot of discussion now about what happened and whether all of that cash was declared. so you've got on one side his loyalty to trump and trump's loyalty to his own kids. and on the other side his concern for himself. he's 73 years old. does he want to spend his golden years in prison? and concern for his children. so, this is a really fraught situation. and the last thing i would mention is that this is the first time that donald trump has ever faced the prospect of being brought into a courtroom without either the presidency protecting him or the confidence that no one will flip. he's never had somebody flip on him. and i think the pressure for weisselberg to flip is enormous. >> speaking of the adult children, harry, if ivanka or don jr. or eric were subpoenaed, couldn't they just plead the fifth? >> certainly. and i don't think they can make this case through any of them. they have to make it through weiss

former president trump is facing serious legal heat as the investigation into his organization turns sselberg, who is now under criminal investigation over taxes. but former members of trump's inner circle are saying it won't take much for the cfo to flip. here is what barbara rez, a former executive vice president of the trump organization told me about that yesterday. >> what did you think? >> based on what he we have read about him, paying for or arranging for all their expenses so they can live like multimillionaires, clearly he has some great affection for them and that's gotting to to disappear because he wants to play indicate trump. that's not going to happen. if there is a threat of them going to jail or he himself going to jail, i think he will flip. >> all right. joining me now, david fahrenthold and the talking feds podcast. thanks for joining me on this. david, i want to start you on this one and get into the piece that you wrote to "the washington post," the seven big questions surrounding this probe fn obviously we can't get to all seven of them. you talk about intent.