to which weisselberg said, that is correct.accepting outline while suburbs guilty plea, the judge came back to that point, more emphatically, saying this time, if you violate a condition of this plea agreement, i will not permit you to withdraw your plea and i will be at liberty to impose any lawful sentence, which in this case would include a period of imprisonment up to 5 to 15 years. for example, if you fail to testify truthfully at the upcoming trial of the trump organization, i would then not be bound by my sentence promise, i would not permit you to withdraw your plea of guilty, and i would be at liberty to impose any lawful sentence, which again, in your case, would include imprisonment up to 5 to 15 years. do you understand? the defendant, i do. andrew weissmann is back with, us and joining us is tim o'brien, his senior executive editor for bloomberg opinion and author of trump nation. he is an msnbc political analyst. andrew, let me begin with you, and one of the mistakes that has quickly floated out there about, this

and the guy he done verbally with, is weisselberg. and if [inaudible] is going to make that case, it's gonna be very, very hard for the manhattan da to make that case against all trump the person, even if they can make it against the company. >> but donald trump the person is the company. so, chuck, when and if weisselberg testifies next month, can you actually separate the two? like, the company is true trump. there is nobody else. >> you are right, but trump won't be on trial, the company will be on trial. but stephanie, you and david are getting at something really interesting to me. as a former federal prosecutor if someone pled guilty and agreed to cooperate, they do not get to pick and choose against whom they cooperate. they have to cooperate fully against anyone and anybody that we ask questions about. and so that is the weird thing here to me. admittedly, i was never a new york state prosecutor. they may do business differently. but he is agreeing to plead guilty and testify against the trump organization. but not against ind

the ex-ceo allen weisselberg, pleading guilty to tax fraud. weisselberg has agreed to testify at the upcoming trial of former president trump's company. in exchange for testimony, weisselberg will serve only five months in jail on rikers island and pay nearly $2 million in taxes. prosecutors say weisselberg designed and ran a 15-year tax scheme that gave himself and other executives, lavish, off- the-books perks. they say the guilty plea was one of the most difficult decisions of the cfo's life. in a statement, he said, mr. weisselberg decided to enter a plea of guilty today to put an end to this case and the years long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family. rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. now, notably, sources tell nbc news, there are no indications that weisselberg will flip against former president trump personally and implicate him in any crime or any company. here's correspondent tom windham. >> from organization money man to convicted felon. allen weiss

allen weisselberg pleaded guilty to a 15-count tax fraud scheme.eisselberg was facing 15 years in prison but will only serve roughly five months. but weisselberg's attorney says he will not implicate donald trump. why is he getting such a short sentence? >> reporter: well, alisyn, this is the deal that his attorneys struck with the manhattan district attorney's office. and as part of this deal weisselberg had to plead guilty to 15 felonies. that was the entire indictment that he was charged p wp all tax-related charges. all relating to corporate benefits he received including a company-paid apartment that prosecutors say and weisselberg admitted to in court today he did not pay any taxes on. so this was the deal he negotiated. in exchange for this shorter sentence of five months, which his lawyer says could amount to 100 days in jail. weisselberg will be required to testify against the trump organization when it goes to trial in october on the same indictment and the same charges. so this was a deal that was struck between them. importantly, weisse

weisselberg's attorneys say weisselberg will not implicate donald trump. cnn's cara joins us now.hy is he getting such a short sentence? >> reporter: well, alisyn, as part of this deal that he worked out with the manhattan district attorney's office, alan weisselberg agreed to plead guilty to the entire indictment, 15 felony counts that he was involved in a tax fraud scheme with the trump organization. he's also agreed to testify against the trump organization at their trial in october. remember, weisselberg took over control of the company when donald trump became president, along with his sons, donald trump jr. and eric trump. he is a 40-year veteran of the trump organization, someone who is fiercely loyal and close to this family, but as the manhattan district attorney said, his testimony at their trial will be invaluable. new york attorney general letitia james, whose office aided in this investigation, also issued a statement today. she said, "for years, mr. weisselberg broke the law to line his own pockets and fund a lavish lifestyle. today, that misconduct ends." if weissel

i remember when we all looked at weisselberg, if they can get weisselberg to flip on trump that willump. he's refused to agree with prosecutors against mr. trump program weisselberg possessed a curious knowledge of the business practices and prosecutors had pressured him to cooperate with a wider investigation of the former president, and he was not able to sway him and mr. vance's successor, alvin l. bragg has also been unsuccessful. here's the part i don't get, right? in addition to the fact again, expectations, as is often in the case of donald trump that goes flying against the hard face of reality is how do you testify against the trump organization without testifying against donald trump? the trump organization for most of its existence was donald trump and a couple of people rung around doing his bidding? >> so first of all, john, it seems like everyone within 100-mile radius of donald trump is either under criminal investigation or going to prison at this points. so weisselberg has pled as part of this complex deal to that five-month prison sentence and $2 million fine and th

weisselberg's agreeing with them.rial for essentially the exact same conduct and he'll testify against them. if he doesn't, prosecutors have said and the judge warned him today, he faces up to five to 15 years in prison if he in fact does not testify truthfully at that trial and is called for it. so that's what's at stake for weisselberg. five months, his attorney put out a statement. 100 days of getting a lot of questions over e-mail about that. as to what the discrepancy is. obviously he'll get credit if he's on his good behavior at rikers, which everybody would assume he would be. so there's why there's a little bit of a discrepancy there. but rikers is not a place that i don't think anybody wants to be at now. it's a jail that's got serious problems in new york city with a number of fatalities. i don't think anybody's suggesting weisselberg will be in the general population, but it's a difficult place to serve time and for a 75-year-old, it's not an insignificant sentence. >> when does he begin serving time? >> th

weisselberg, now pleading guilty today.this upcoming trial, which will begin in late october, we'll be able to hear more from allen weisselberg on that scheme, but we have to point out, there's no indication that he's going to be testifying or cooperating against his former boss, the former president himself, instead, it will be against his former employer, the trump organization. >> so, charles, to that note, when we asked chuck about this earlier this hour, he said he was surprised that they would have done a carveout. does that also strike you as odd? >> it does strike me as odd. i thought the same thing when i heard chuck talk about it. one of the things as a prosecutor that you try to do when you're securing these sorts of deals is you want to make sure that you can get as much utility out of a cooperating witness as possible. and in this case, you would expect that weisselberg would have some sort of information on donald trump that as a prosecutor, you would want to pressure him into cooperating to deliver. and so th

. >> julia, what happens next for him, for weisselberg? >> like we said, we're expected to hear he would get about five months. we could also see further testimony from him. not today. today is about the plea deal. we might be able to get more information about those inner workings. perhaps that could become public about the trump organization. he could get a reduced sentence for something like good behavior. he's only looking at five months here. really he's getting off with a smaller sentence because this is something where prosecutors are trying to use him to get to the bigger picture and get to the bigger fish here, jose. >> what could weisselberg's guilty plea mean for investigation into trump's business practices? >> prosecutors almost certainly went after weisselberg, hoping he would give up the goods on donald trump. but weisselberg decided that he would rather be a convicted felon than snitch against the former president. he has agreed to testify against the trump organization in its upcoming trial. weisselberg would be the star w

just as allen weisselberg has become a felon. a concrete way, that may scare off banks, and counter parties, and business interests. donald trump's hasn't taken a lot of interest in his hotels because he is an active businessman, but nevertheless this is gonna hurt. this is the family business. but in terms of hitting trump the man, no. it does seem that that part of this investigation is over. >> what does it mean that he's going to cooperate and testify against the organization, and not the individual. it seems to me, and all the other legal analysts i heard say. this if he testifies, it's gonna be a tough rap for them to beat. anything is possible, but. >> yeah, i don't see. there was a crime here. there is a mountain of evidence. some of it is very interesting. we're talking about a ledger where donald trump was paid, personally, out of this personal bank account. paying private school tuition for allen's grandchildren. writing those checks, and signing those checks. this was in the allocution today. and allen weisselberg adm

and weisselberg will not cooperate as part of that.llen weisselberg and the trump organization. allen weisselberg will be required to testify at the trial of the company later this year. back to you. >> the company, not the man trump. you were inside that courtroom. i'm curious what it was like. >> reporter: so it is very interesting. weisselberg came in, walked straight down the line, wearing a mask because of covid. he was asked a number of questions by the judge who ran through each and every count of the indictment. so 15 counts going through all of the elements of the crime, about how weisselberg had an apartment in manhattan, that he did not pay taxes on. that the company, the trump organization had paid for the private school tuition of two of his grandchildren, weisselberg admitting he did not -- he knowingly did not pay taxes on that, and when the judge went through this, it took quite a while, but he was barely audible in the courtroom, spoke in a hushed tone, just saying repeatedly yes, your honor, yes, your honor, to each o

weisselberg stood them down. at the same time, i don't think any of us would want to spend five months in rikers island. >> no. >> and i don't think it's going to make the trump organization look very good when he goes to trial and testifies against them. >> that will be in october. kaitlan collins is still with us. i want to turn, kaitlan, to your reporting. what can you tell us about how former president trump may actually wind up using the mar-a-lago surveillance footage of the fbi search as possible leverage? >> he's already using it, certainly to his gain when it comes to fundraising, wolf. because ever since that search happened on that monday and the days following, if you're signed up to get the former president's fundraising text messages or emails, you certainly saw a flood of them. almost every single one was centered on the search of mar-a-lago, which of course he framed in his political action committee framed as a raid of his residence by democrats. of course, those are accusations they basically us

and what we saw was weisselberg reading his rights, he's doing this of his freewill. and then there was this remarkable passage an elocution where the judge ran weisselberg ran through all the counts. yes, your honor. yes, your honor. this is someone's voice that we have hardly ever heard before. and now he's admitting to cramps. and for the first-time, we have the trump organization directly implicated in crimes that so far only ellison burqas committed. but the trump organization that is hard to separate from from the man, we'll have to defend itself. >> i want to talk about. it because there's so much focus, so much coverage of the manhattan district attorneys offices investigation. the war island brad who now holds this. there's the news that there won't be pursuing charges against donald trump, it was resignation from one of the lawyers that were from that and now it's yesterday's news. but i have literally forgotten that they actually criminally charge the trump organization. what does it mean to criminally charge an entity, a company? >> if prosecutors are succ

cow us who exactly is allen weisselberg -- tell us who exactly is allen weisselberg?ter: allen weisselberg is the former chief financial officer of the trump organization. he started back working first with donald trump's father as a junior bookkeeper in the 1970's, and he rose throughout the company to become the head of finances. really, he was key to understanding the inner workings of this family run company. even though he is no longer the chief financial officer, he is still on the payroll for the trump organization. he was seen as a key potential witness for prosecutors as they tried to delve into the trump organization, and different criminal investigations they have going on. this plea deal, it was, in a statement by his lawyer, really a decision by mr. weisselberg to avoid what could have been a 15 year prison sentence if he was found guilty in this tax fraud scheme. laura: is the former president implicated at all, or is it the trump organization itself that is probably going to be implicated? reporter: here in this case, allen weisselberg has admitted that

or did possibly weisselberg provide other information to the d.a.ut trump and direct him to other evidence that may lead to an indictment? we don't know the answers to those questions, but the fact that he got such a sweet deal raises a lot of questions. >> it does. just a few months in prison, instead of up to 15 years he could have faced. hopefully we'll get answers to those questions soon. nick, jennifer, thank you both for your time and your expertise today. >>> now, the white house is ramping up its response to the monkeypox outbreak. more on those plans to meet growing demand for a vaccine. plus, a bigger suspension and a bigger fine. details on the new punishment for cleveland browns quarterback deshaun watson. stay witith us. that's coming up. gum gives us the dual action efeffect that really takes care ofof both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. therere's no question it's something that i would recommend. if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. breztri gives me better breathing and helps prevent flare-ups. before bre

but weisselberg did agree to testify against the trump organization, and that is important.ans that prosecutors will get to ask allen weisselberg about the crimes he committed at the trump organization, they will be able to ask him under oath who are the others involved in the criminal conspiracy that weisselberg has just pleaded guilty to taking part in, and we do know that there are only a handful of people who could have been involved in that conspiracy, because countless reports over the past few years have revealed that the trump organization isn't the place where decisions are made without sign-off from someone with the last name trump. one of the reporters who has done. so most extensive and detailed reporting on trump's business and his finances is susanne craig, she is part of the team of "the new york times" reports who won a pulitzer prize for president trump's finances and exploded the myth that donald trump was a self made billionaire and revealed that trump's organization was built on a foundation of squandered inheritance and tax dodging. she is exactly the pe

now, look, pretend this isn't allen weisselberg. most criminal defendants plead guilty, something like 94% of people who are charged with crimes plead guilty. it is not that uncommon for someone particularly in a relatively small in the grand scheme of financial crimes case to plead guilty to something like this. what people care about is he testifying against donald trump and he's not. >> not exactly. not against donald trump as part of the d.a. criminal investigation into donald trump the person. but he is going to testify in the trial against the trump organization, which does include that word trump, which -- it does have an impact on the family. >> certainly it does. and we saw this with trump university. this is a person who is a political figure, relight on his business acumen and business reputation as a key point of credibility. at least prior to his first disastrous term. for this now to sort of be thrown into the category of places where they chisel, places where they cheat the government, places where unlike the rest of

weisselberg on the check. mr.s weisselberg becomes a convict and that he is guilty of some of these crimes which relate to basically ducking taxes, hiding benefits, getting compensation through things that most employees never get, like having donald trump pay for your kids' school but then not actually paying your fair share in taxes for that. now the prior d.a. cy vaps went big, went after one of the trump tax returns and they took that all the way to the supreme court and they won beating trump and there was a big d.a.'s race in and he covered that and he said here on "the beat" he's going to follow the facts. >> i'm a majority leader of the state senate. prosecuted two mayors one for bribery and one for campaign finance offers and at the attorney general's office i led the team that helped lead the team that brought charges against the trump foundation. >> he goes where the facts go and he touted those experience. he did work on those cases. here's the news tonight this. whole case after all this time is not e

weisselberg has been with the trump organization for 40 years. he's pleading guilty to the crimes of not paying income tax on corporate benefits he received and shedding light on how this worked inside the trump organization. he's not expected to implicate former president donald trump or any of his adult children. they have not been accused of any wrongdoing. he's also not cooperating with the manhattan district attorney's ongoing investigation into the trump organization's finances, and in a sign of how committed both sides are to each other, the trump organization put out a statement today, calling weisselberg a fine and honorable man. and just to recap, he pled guilty to 15 felonies today and agreed to pay back about $2 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties and required to testify at that trial coming up in october. in ex-change, prosecutors agree that he would seven five months in jail. his lawyers say that could turn out to be 100 days. >> one of the items he admitted to is he did not pay taxes on some of the luxury perks he receiv

allen weisselberg is going to rikers island. this week, a doctor was found dead in rikers island, like, killed in the jail. the correction department captain stabbed in the neck at rikers island complex. this is not club mid med. this is not cushy. >> this is on the one hand. and then you've got to think covid -- >> are you surprised that he is going to, jail for trump, effectively? >> i think it is a pretty good deal for him. when i think about the calculation he made, that he wanted to go to trial, and face, that and just have it continue to linger? or could he get this deal? with good behavior, he will get out in 100 days and he is probably going to have a lot of protection inside? i mean, i'm sure there was a lot of soul searching that went down on this. but i guess i am more just -- surprised at this juncture that i am that he's going to jail -- [laughs] >> [inaudible] and i really shouldn't be surprised that anything. it gives me some energy to say it. >> well, when susanne craig is surprise, we should all be surprised. th

allan weisselberg took what i call a soldier's plea. i've tried to flip co-conspirators against a bigger fish and they said no, i'm pleading guilty and not cooperating. i don't think that bodes well for future cooperation from weisselberg. >> quickly, he would per jury himself and go down on other charges. >> if he's prepared to 15-year scheme to fraud in the first degree, does he care about a petty charge on top of it? not that perjury is petty. but it seems like allan weisselberg has staked out his position and his position similar' not flipping on trump. >> glad for the conversation with all of you. coming up, much more on the legal issues ensnaring some of former president trump's associates. what we know about the georgia election probe where rudy giuliani is now considered a target. decision day for congresswoman liz cheney's political future. the impact she could have even if she loses her primary. they were some of the coolest voting sites of the 2020 election, nba arenas turned polling places. now, new efforts from the nba to t

weisselberg, mr. trump by any measure and out here nickel and diming up to high funds to evade taxes which means somebody else has to pick up the bill. andrew, on more than one topic, thank you, sir. >> thank you. >>> we have our shortest break, which is 60 seconds. when we come back, we turn to a story i have been dying to tell you about with new reporting on why donald trump is having trouble hiring lawyers in multiple cases and the lawyer he just found. we're back in one minute. te >>> now to our special report, a former president's struggle to get just about any criminal defense attorneys while he's facing basically the most escalating simultaneous criminal probe of his long, letigious life. everyone at law firms saying no to trump's bids to get seasoned lawyers. it's familiar because you may recall it's a problem trump faced and this was documented during the mueller probe. now the reporting states the reasons stem from, one, trump is a person, and two, trump is a deadbeat. his style and refusal

now, weisselberg will not implicate the former president at the trial. he also is not cooperating with the manhattan district attorney's long running investigation into the trump organization's finances. the trump organization put out a statement today calling weisselberg a fine and honorable man and said they look forward to going to trial in october. back to you. >>> the u.s. stock markets begin trading again in just a few hours after closing out thursday on an up note. as the final bell rang on wall street, the major averages had each logged some modest gains. the dow was up slightly while the nasdaq and s&p had both picked up a quarter point. this came after a rocky day of trading wednesday when all three indices posted losses. with 5 1/2 hours to go to the start of a new trading day, shear where the u.s. stock futures are standing right now. you can see all three in the red currently. meantime trading across europe, just getting under way this hour. both paris and the cac 40 down, but ftse 100 is up. and across asia, also hang seng there you can see

"the new york times," weisselberg faces charges and test to his loyalty.re was some thought then, a lot of people, trump critics, every time there's a new investigation, say this is the one. that allen weisselberg took this plea deal but not a state's witness, what does that tell you about his tone and tenner when it comes to testifying down the road? >> number one, he can testify against the trump organization, but not the former president himself. now, look, this really was never "the one." at the end of the day, this was a small case in financial fraud terms. i know most american also never see $1.7 million in their entire lives. however, in the case of new york city financial fraud cases, this was never going to be -- there were going to be some proof problems in convicts him. ultimately, you would have to have proven that he intended to evade any tax law in his conduct. and you could -- i think a good defense attorney could get past a jury the question of, well, he thought this was just his compensation. so there would have been a number of challenges

weisselberg also said, he hid those benefits from his accountant. he's required to testify against the trump organization, where he has worked for more than 40 years. when it goes on trial unrelated charges in october, weisselberg has agreed to do this, the manhattan district attorney has brought this case said that weisselberg's testimony will be invaluable. now, in exchange, weisselberg will receive a five month sentence. the judge has okay that, but he warned him today in court, that if he fails to meet any of the obligations he faces, he could receive a stiff sentence in state prison. now, one thing that weisselberg will not do, he will not implicate the former president or any of his children at the tax fraud trial, and he's also not cooperating with the manhattan district attorney's ongoing criminal investigation into the trump organization's finances. anderson? >> has the trump organization responded? >> yeah, so there's clearly no bad blood between weisselberg and the trump organization, despite his guilty plea today. they put out a statemen

now, as part of the agreement allen weisselberg has agreed to testify in the trial against the trump he has not agreed to cooperate in the specific manhattan da criminal investigation into donald trump himself. with us now investigative reporter david k. johnson, he is the author of "the big chief: how donald trump fleeced america and enriched himself and his family." david, great to see you this morning. who likes this deal? who doesn't? >> well, depending on what prosecutors do with this deal, it could be very, very troubling for the trump organization, which is a co-defendant along with allen weisselberg. ultimately this case at least in theory could lead to dissolution of the trump organization as a corporation and require donald trump to hold his properties in his own name, which exposes him to a lot more liability in other matters. >> i think we should focus on that because the headline was, oh, he is not going to cooperate when it comes to donald trump. it's not without some peril, perhaps, for donald trump that you could see the trump organization dissolved here. there is a l

but weisselberg was not willing to cooperate with that investigation.now, he was indicted a year ago, july, he's on the cusp of the trial in october. he just lost some motions to dismiss the indictment, he's now come to terms in that he's going to cooperate with this investigation. and for him, he gets some certainty here because according to this deal he, would serve five months in prison with time off for good behavior, we're looking at 100 days. but these days would be served in rikers island, you know, the new tories new york city jail. but he gets the benefit of not having to go to trial, to potentially get convicted, to face anywhere from 1 to 3 years in prison, as much as 15 years in the new york state prison. so that's kind of the calculus for him. he gets some certainty, he knows he will serve a limited prison term, and he will offer this cooperation. >> and what's next for the criminal investigation in new york, is that so ongoing? >> it's still ongoing but as you probably remember, the previous district attorney, cy vance, had authorized his

>> so on weisselberg, which i find quite interesting, i think it certainly doesn't help that -- whenthink the more important thing is these are state cases. no one can hope that a republican president is going to come into office and pardon somebody. if he is convicted, that's going to stick, and it's gonna stick for good. he he could try to cooperate. the other thing that the manhattan district attorney's office can do is if he doesn't cooperate voluntarily after the trial, they can just immunize him and put him in a grandeur in for some to testify, and then if he lies then, he will face additional time. so they have a lot of tools up their sleeve and they don't have to worry about the 2024 presidential election, and weisselberg doesn't have a possible out. so they're sort of things to come there. i wouldn't count the manhattan district attorney's office investigation just yet. and fulton is fascinating. lindsey graham, tense your question, is making any and all arguments. to me, it wreaks when we are seeing the former president, do which is he will do anything he, cannot just show

. >>> trump executive allen weisselberg pleads guilty to 15 felonies, including conspiracy and criminal tax fraud. the trump organization's longtime cfo and one of donald trump's most trusted associates agreeing to testify against the company, but not trump himself. >>> nfl quarterback deshaun watson suspended 11 games and fined $5 million, the largest in league history, after two dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct. >>> illegal crossings at the southern border nearing an all-time high. the u.s. is on track to arrest 2 million migrants this year. our cameras are at the southern border as groups of migrants cross the rio grande, many intercepted by border patrol officers. texas governor greg abbott pressed about bussing thousands of asylum seekers to new york city and washington, d.c. >>> overseas tonight, russia threatens to switch off europe's largest nuclear power plant. president zelenskyy warns the world is on the verge of a nuclear disaster. >>> back here at home, police release images of a chaotic scene on the streets of las vegas. a violent carjacking chase and shootout.

weisselberg is gonna plead guilty on thursday. you know, it just keeps getting worse, and you have to wonder, looking at it all of this, what else comes up now, what's the next shoe to drop? >> andrew weissmann, of course, lindsey graham shifted his goal post from, show us the warrant, to show us the affidavit. this affidavit makes actual legal case, in addition to the substance of what is in it. but mentioning that it involves possible, it does involve 6e information, what are they referring to there? >> so, the application by the government is they oppose turning over the affidavit in an incredibly well written, and i think pretty well reasoned brief, and what they were saying is there is an ongoing criminal investigation that is active, and there is an ongoing national security investigation. the former, the ongoing criminal investigation, is covered by something called rule 6e. that is grand jury material. whatever happens in the grand jury is covered by federal rule of criminal procedure 6e, and that cannot be revealed withou

key players like weisselberg.her key people that could be investigated here other than the family? >> reporter: really, conceivably, nobody else. a number of people that were involved in the trump organization are either unindicted co-conspirators or cooperated in the investigation. on top of that, there were individuals brought before the grand jury in the state of new york. that immunizes them from being prosecuted for anything they could testify to. it's a tradeoff, if you will, for prosecutors. they can get the information, but they can't use it against that particular person. they have to be careful and judicious how they use it. they were able to get that. to your point, it's really about the former president and his family. of course, in all of this, we can't forget the fact that the attorney general, who is involved in this investigation today and involved in the case of weisselberg, they continue their civil investigation. that's something that's outstanding. now that the entirety of the trump family has

first with weisselberg, he pleads guilty. the point of how this -- the focus on weisselberg all along is to try to get him to cooperate in a broader investigation into the trump business. he's apparently not going to be -- not willing to cooperate with them. though as kara mentioned, he'll be required to testify in court. what is he doing here? what happens? >> well, he's been entirely unwilling to testify specifically against donald trump. and in negotiating this plea, he worked out this special deal where he will testify against the trump organization. but not against the former president himself. so i think that's a defeat for prosecutors. this is -- it is a big deal because somebody from the trump organization and he's a key figure, he's a central figure at the trump organization, has pled guilty to this 15-year scheme of tax fraud. but we have no agreement that he'll say anything about the former president. >> so, i want to ask you real quickly on this hearing that will be happening in that katelyn polantz was telling us

in new york, trump's long-time cfo allen weisselberg pleads guilty in his control in a tax scheme, astries to avoid more jailtime. and also today, walmart, walgreen's, and cvs, all ordered to pay up in a multimillion dollar opioid settlement. where will that money go, as prosecutors claim they helped fuel a silent epidemic that left so many americans hooked and hundreds of thousands dead. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we'll start with our politics lead. major developments when it comes to learning more details behind the mar-a-lago raid. this afternoon, u.s. magistrate judge bruce rhinehart ruled he will unseal additional documents surrounding the search and left the door open for releasing parts of the actual affidavit, which lays out in detail why the justice department felt the need to take the unprecedented step of searching the home of a former president. the doj is against revealing that affidavit. they say it would provide a road map for their criminal investigation to possible future defendants. and they say it could chill future cooperation by witnesses. but the jud

i thought the case against weisselberg was strong.y had two separate sets of books, like "the producers." one said, show to the irs. the other was, don't show to the irs. [ laughter ] >> that's pretty -- go ahead. >> well, you know, in the end, this plea deal does embolden james' civil case against the trump organization. now, weisselberg can testify without fifth amendment protection because the criminal case is over. he will be her star witness. if you think that a civil case doesn't matter, just ask ivanka and the trump foundation, which is no more because of a civil action filed by attorney general tish james. >> donny deutsch, i'm sure you hear this an awful lot, i hear it an awful lot, donald trump always gets away with it. he is the rolo tomasi of american politics. he is the guy that always gets away with it. in america, no man is above the law, except donald trump. just curious, are you still hearing that from people? do you personally believe that donald trump is ever going to see justice for, hell, why don't we just start o

now weisselberg gets out of this five month term. so he caps his exposure. but the government here, the manhattan da's office, gets quite a lot. because, as you said, he's pleading to actually the indictment, 15 counts. a massive tax scheme. and it wasn't for just weisselberg, this was a scheme run by the trump organization. where it is alleged that the trump organization profited to the tune of millions of dollars and various executives did. and that weisselberg is going to be a witness if called at the trial in october of the trump organization. it is one thing for weisselberg to try to have some pr spin now, to say well i am not cooperating against donald trump. but when you are on the stand and you are talking about as you said, stephanie, a small, family run organization, what does that mean? an organization only works through people. so he is going to have to identify people. and the indictment alleges that these are checks that were signed by the head of the organization. which is donald trump. so this is a very bad development for donald trump. >> th

your they have weisselberg who will testify in that trial if he is asked to. it's hard to walk the tightrope between the organization and trump who was running the organization until 2017 successfully. what do you do if on cross examination a lawyer for the organization tries to clear the former president from responsibility and ass weisselberg or says, mr. trump, didn't know anything about any of this, did he? weisselberg is faced with whether or not he maintains his loyalty at the risk of committing loyalty. it seems like at many points in the trial that's a risk weisselberg would run. i want to push back just a little bit on one thing that you said. >> please. >> the manhattan d.a. said he was not going to proceed with the case against mr. trump at that point in time. when he issued his statement, he said if additional evidence came to light, he could reconsider that decision. that's standard for prosecutors. if you bring me great new evidence, he will reconsider the case. this could be the point where something like that develops. as you say, the most like

former cfo allen weisselberg pleads guilty. and then a major win for abortion rights and michigan, as the states attorney general dana nessel is here to break on the ruling. i am ayman mohyeldin, let's get started. >> half truths, badges, disinformation and flat out lies continue to pour out of trump world this week, as the red continues to scramble to try to get their stories straight following the fbi search on trump's home. in just a few days, the official maga line says there was no cause for a search and that the fbi planted classified materials to u.s., there was classified materials, but trump somehow telepathically the classified them. look, each lie is more absurd and more cartoonish than the one before it. quite honestly, it is even more dangerous because the lies are actually turning into threats. those threats are beginning to turn to real world consequences. in fact, just last week, the fbi and the agents issued a joint bulletin warning that threats to federal law enforcement have spike since the mar-a-lago search.

weisselberg who was the cfo and knows everything.er, fred, started it. he is a longtime employee. as the cfo, he knows all the ins and outs. he has said that i am going to jail rather than fully corporate. eventually, it got to the point where, well, maybe a lighter sentence would be worth my cooperating against the trump organization. but then you have to ask what that means exactly. the trump organization is a small enough group. and who is the trump organization? it is donald trump senior, donald trump jr., eric trump and ivanka trump. they are the principal people behind the organization. when you are testifying against the organization, organizations don't go to jail for crimes, they are not people. people pay the penalties. who are the people who will pay ? if he lies, if weisselberg lies and testifying at the trial set for october 24th, not very long from now, if eli's, the judge who is going to send some is the same judge in the trial. he will know that he lied. he has said to him as part of the plea, i want you to understand

the defendant, weisselberg says, yes, your honor.this to me to any of the larger things going on with donald trump and what role weisselberg will play, if any? >> well, donald trump has, throughout his career, lined and denied in financial records. he tried to cheat the city of new york out of about two and a half million dollars a year, and went through farcical attempts to hide the business records, that's in my book, the making of donald trump. and in this case, this is a matter where donald's lawyers went, oh, the money isn't that much, and everybody does this. if you are a median wage worker in this country, you have to work 52 years to make one point $8 million. i don't think that qualifies as fiddling. what is significant here is that now, now that allen weisselberg is a felon, he is a confessed thief, he has to testify against the trump organization, when it goes on trial, and it's currently scheduled for october 24th, just before the elections. so, i suspect it may get delayed. and the -- he has to answer questions truthfull