Chris Hayes discusses the days top news. Publication insisting that gucifer had nothing to do with russia. He was bolstering a Russian Disinformation Campaign designed to cover up a russian attack on the United States. That is what roger stone was doing in the summer of 2016. To be the status of mueller and agalarov. They are his business partners. It is emins idea to bring ms. Universe to moscow. And a deal is cut. And agalarov. Leverage. Agalarov has leverage here. Emin wants something. He has wanted to be big in the United States. He is a middle level pop star and son of an oligarch so that has helped his music career. One of the reasons he linked up to the contest is he was hoping to make it big. And being part of that event will help. He has one coming up in a couple of months so if he wants to retain the ability to perform in the United States that is a point of leverage that mueller will have on him and his father has interest here too. Does that square with what you have been reporting. Yeah. We will see. He knows he is in hot water. So he is sweating right now. He he is nervous. Jr. , and others par tis pated, not much came out of the meeting. But i had a meeting and not much came out of it, first thing i would do is call and you say what gives, what happened. And that call would have been made to emin. This thing comes in over the transcript. They set up a meeting that the Campaign Manager and the son attends. And nothing happens. Onto the next one. Thank you both for being here. Here to help me where the investigation is, former Assistant Prosecutor jill wine
banks. And contributor michael shmit. It seems to me that that is maybe unlikely or maybe it is the public posture or position around the president. I remain skeptical that he does. The president has shown from before he was the president until now, that he believes he can explain anything to anyone. He can sit down and convince him to see the world through his eyes and to understand where he is coming from. In this case, he believes he can sit down with mueller and show him he has nothing to hide and bring this investigation to an end. I understand that some people may be skeptical of this. But what that skepticism implies is that the president is
thinking three dimensionally. And i dont think we have seen him do that. He tends to think one base at a time reacts to things and tweets and pops off to them and that is what we are seeing here. What do you think jill brk t about the dynamic here that has emerged. I agree with your perspective on this. I am skeptical as to whether he does want to or whether this is part of his Public Relations campaign. I also agree with michael, that he probably does actually believe that he can con everybody into believing what he says. Because he has been successful at that. And a lot of people do believe him despite evidence to the contrary. So what do i think . I think that actually, he has done enough obstruction in plain
sight and probably enough conspiracy with the russians In Plain Sight that his testimony isnt really necessary. Yes, it would be helpful. And i think there is some amount of negotiating that the prosecutor can do to allow him to have a chance to get his story before the gararand jury. This way he will have had his chance. I dont want to see him having too many questions answered in writing which wont be his answers, they will be legally drafted and crafted as carefully as possible. And i dont think he should be allowed to not answer questions on any particular topic. I cant tell whether the conversations and the back and forth between muellers team and the president s team which we get onesided reporting on this. Is this going to around and
around or is there progress being made. Probably a little bit of both. The negotiations going around for months. Discussions and posturing on both sides. Mueller threatening to subpoena the president , the president s lawyer saying they would fight it all the way to the supreme court. So this is sort of a notion and when you have someone like a president , prosecutors are going to be sensitive to that and willing tong things and do accommodations that they wouldnt do normally. In the case of bill clinton, he was allowed to be questioned at the white house for his case. At the same time the president s lawyers say they are about two weeks from making a decision for two months now. Is this a rope adope where they are trying to extend mueller. And then sort of take it from there. Is that what is going on. As a reporter who has been told we are very close, we are very close for several months, it is hard not to think that. We should talk to mueller, Stage Directions do not move. Do you think, ultimately the question that hangs over all is like, how much, there is political calculation of capital from the mueller side. They can go to a subpoena. It is going to get fought and go to the supreme court, but that is a Political Capital draining fight. How do you think they are thinking of that calculation . I think they would ultimately win that case. I think that the watergate nixon case makes it clear that the president is not above the law and can be subpoenaed. That was a case for documents, this is for testimony. But i dont think there is a significance difference in terms
of law. So i think they would win. But going back to my prior point, it is not worth the fight. Is it really, really critical for going forward. And i suppose if you have a report and you want to be able to rebut what the defense will say, it is better to have him on record. So it would be good to have his testimony on record and then you can rebut it in your report. So that would be the only Real Advantage to do it. That is interesting. Thanks for making time. Next, Breaking News about a major donald trump donor that agreed to make Michael Cohen 10 million just months ago. I will talk to the reporter that broke that remarkable story after this twominute break. Dont go anywhere. The smart ones look to fidelity to find them. We give you research and datavisualization tools to help identify potential opportunities. So, you can do it this way. Or get everything you need to help capture Investment Ideas and make smarter Trading Decisions with fidelity for just 4. 95 per online u. S. Equity trade. Fidelity. Open an account today. Open an account today. Are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi. . A more powerful way to stay connected. It gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most Wifi Coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. Its the ultimate wifi experience. Xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome. Brand new reporting on trump
fixer Michael Cohen and the vast amount of money he charged in consulting fees since the election. In addition to the money he got from no vartis and the 50 grand from an aerospace company. Wall street journal Breaking News that Franklin Haney has Club Membership of maralago, and reportedly boasted about his dinners with President Trump last year also agreed to pay 10 million to the president s then personal attorney if he successfully helped obtain funding for a Nuclear Power
project including a 5 billion loan from the u. S. Government according to people familiar with the matter. Joining me now is michael rothfeld. I thought we knew all of the gigs, the Michael Cohen influence side gigs but i guess we didnt. We didnt know all of them and there may yet be more. We had reported before that cohen had arranged a meeting for the Nuclear Power plant. So there is a few things here that are striking and i should
take a time to read, neither mr. Haney nor Nuclear Development llc ever entered to into a contract with Michael Cohen or his affiliate for lobbying services. You got to register to be a lobby. You can enter into a consulting contract. That is what this contract most likely says. Consulting or strategic advice. And we reported today that cohen had in fact called the Energy Department to ask about this Nuclear Power project and to see if the process could be speeded up. You cant do that. Well, im not a prosecutor, but that is you cant do that. I mean, look, there is a whole
universe of people in washington who consult and dont lobby. To get away with i am a consultant and not a lobbyist, calling up puts you in a tough spot. Am i wrong that it is a crazy amount of money. It is a lot of money. Success fees are very unusual. Legally, it is not certain that it is illegal. Gray area. And 10 million is unheard of is what we reported. Unheard of. To get any government action. Did a lot of reporting on influence, i never heard of a success fee. It is one thing, i mean, look, there is a continuum here. It is one thing if you say i am paying you to work over these people. But i am going to give you the money if you are successful. It looks like a bribe. It lends itself to corruption
and in the old days, the court says that should not happen. And now that lobbying is much more entrenched. It is a gray area. He keeps intercepting with the qataris. Being hey, hook me up, i will shepherd some money and go 50 50 on the project. Cohen was successful in selling himself to a lot of people. Reported earlier this year, i am the guy, fire all of your other people. Hire me. It seems he produced little for any of his clients. Last question, we think there was a monthly retainer along with the success fee. We reported that we dont know the amount of it, but some retainers were 50,000 a month
range. Great reporting. Thanks for being here tonight. Next, the defense of Paul Manafort and why the judge doesnt want to hear any more about his taste in suits. That story is next. En have to t. En have to t. So i think about mouthfeel. I dont think about the ink card. I think about nitrogen ice cream in supermarkets all over the world. I think about the details. Fine, i obsess over the details. Think about every part of your business except the one part that works without a thought your ink card. Introducing Chase Ink Business unlimited with unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase. Chase for business. Make more of whats yours. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Bookkeeper on stand. Earlier in the day, prosecutors submitted more evidence of his lavish spending. One evidence reported a huge flower bed and shaped like an m. Lots and lots of super pricey suits. The judge would not admit all the suits. The star witness who wasnt going to be the star witness may be back to being a star witness. Speak of rick gates. A moment of shock yesterday. One of the prosecutors said gates who also works for the Trump Campaign might not be called as a witness. Another prosecutor seemed to put that possibility to rest saying
kwe we have every intention in calling him. We have been talking about rick gates as the star witness but i am not sure this bookkeeper would turn out to be an important witness. She is also important for those of us who are watching this trial to learn what it might mean for the larger russia. She painted in stark terms a picture of Paul Manafort flat broke. His company lost 1. 6 million. That is the same year he joined the Trump Campaign where he was working for free. Here you have Paul Manafort in debt, close ties to another
person who has been identified by mueller as having ties. We need to ask ourselves how desperate was manafort and what was he willing to do. None of that is going to come up in the trial but most interesting thought that i had today. The bookkeeper says basically, his big client, the ruler of the ukraine who has to fl flee quickly, that when that golden goose goes away, manafort finds himself broke. A few months before he joined the campaign. It was a gradual decent. It was not clear why manafort was unable to join any other
income. There we are. He was in desperate straights. Making up income on their balance in order to get loans on some properties that manafort owned. Back and forth on gates. The defense targets him in the opening. Yesterday a Prosecutor Says we dont know if we are going to call him. And what is going on here the bookkeeper gave them a big piece of the case. And the strategy, the defense is made clear, all guns trained. And if you can take that target away, they have nowhere left to shoot. I do agree with the strategic decision to call him. And here is why. If you dont call him as the prosecutor and you mention him
in openings. The prosecutor didnt say we will call him. They mentioned him. If you dont call him, here is what the defense is going to say on closing. He is their witness. They have the ability to call him. They told you about him, and they are hiding him. That can be a powerful jury argument. Put him out there and he is well supported. And let him do his thing. You have the bookkeeper. Did they cross her . What is defense strategy. There was a little ambiguity particularly in the fraud that she talked about. Because gates was involved in that part of it. Communication with her. And you can see you can get a hint on where the defense is going. They are going to pin it on him. But so much evidence in this
trial that Paul Manafort was involved in all of these financial. The judge in this trial, he seems like a character. He has been obsessed with speed. He gave the assignment to the prosecutor to go home and think about how to speed up the case and he has been very sort of guarding against what he views as president ial introduction of evidence. He sounds like a tough judge. The speed thing, it is really a prosecutors friend. You want to hit it and quit it. If the case drags on and on, you are going to lose the jury. Blame you, missing birthdays. So i think he is doing them a favor. On the lavish spending. It is an important piece. It is inflammatory. You want to appeal to the jurys intellect and to the gut. You see the guy wearing python. Ostrich. Both. Thank you. You hate him. The judge doesnt want that to go overboard. And i think doing the prosecution a favor. If you go overboard, the jury is going to say they are trying to make us hate this guy because he is rich. The Turning Point is when the money dries up. And manafort has this absurdly lavish lifestyle that now he has to pay for it. A quarter Million Dollars in yearly Landscaping Fees that you have to find a way to pay for when your sugar daddy strong man is forced to flee. Thank you both. The white house leaves no room for ambiguity. The president believes the press is the enemy of the people. Plus ryan zinke, a man with a dream of brewing his own beer. That is thing one, thing two, next. Well build it, box it and ship it to your door for you to enjoy. Sleep on it for up to one hundred nights and love it or youll get a full refund. Returns are free and easy. I love my leesa. Today is gonna be great. Read our reviews then try the leesa mattress in your own home. Order now and get 150 off, and free shipping, too. Go to buyleesa. Com today. You need this bed. Ancestrydna makes over 10 million new family connections, every day. Thats more ways to discover new relatives. People who share your dna. And maybe a whole lot more. Order your kit at ancestrydna. Com thing one tonight among the
trump Cabinet Secretaries that have not resigned in disgrace. Ryan zinke, something you may not know about him is he is a big fan of beer. He has a beer dream. For years he has been trying unsuccessfully to get a Micro Brewery built in his hometown of montana. He tried way back in 2012 to get approval calling it a double tap. The City Government turned him down. But he didnt give up. He joined a local committee the next year hoping to change zoning laws. Once again he failed after clashing with fellow residents. Becoming the secretary of
interior doesnt hurt. How halliburton made his Dreams Come True is thing two in 60 seconds. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local Allstate Agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . Now im gonna tell my momma that im a traveller im Gonna Follow The Sun now im gonna tell my momma that im a traveller
transitions™ light under control™ in the trump swamp. Zinke was only over shadows by scott pruitt. Zinkes insistence that an important flag be flown. T colluded to have the chairman of halliburton with lots of Business Build him the Micro Brewery he has always wanted in his hometown. Politico reports there is
evidence that the Micro Brewery that is proposing to build is the same one zinke has planned since 2012. The developers of the project told him the Micro Brewery is intended for zinke. Quote at this Point In My Life i am more interested in sampling hand crafted beers than making them. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens brown paper packages tied up with strings these are a few of My Favorite Things
these are a few of My Favorite Things my gums are irritated. I dont have to worry about that, do i . Actually, you do. Harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. Crest gum detoxify works below the gum line to neutralize harmful Plaque Bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. And, now theres new crest gum enamel repair. It gives you clinically proven healthier gums and helps repair and strengthen weakened enamel. Gum detoxify and gum enamel repair, from crest. Gums are good, so is my checkup crest. Healthy, beautiful smiles for life. But climbing 58,070 steps a year can be hard on her feet, knees, and lower back. Thats why she wears dr. Scholls orthotics. Theyre clinically proven to relieve pain and give you the comfort to move more. Dr. Scholls, born to move. The house may be in recess. But the Trump Administration keeps chugging along. Take a sledgehammer to vital regulations. Announcing its first big step to weaken Fuel Efficiency standards. Standards that are a winwin for the consumer and the environment. Consumers pay less in fuel cost and there is less carbon put in the atmosphere. Who complains about it . Even the Auto Agencies are complaining that they are going too far. This one, better Fuel Efficiency makes people drive too much and leads to more crashes. But of course that never stopped the Trump Administration before. Got to say it takes a special kind kind of stupid to embrace gas guzlers. We cant stay here why . Flat toilet paper ill never get clean way ahead of you. Charmin ultra strong. It cleans better. Its four times stronger and you can use less. Enjoy the go with charmin. You wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your Allergy Pills . Flonase sensimist relieves your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. It helps block six key inflammatory substances. Most pills block one. Flonase sensimist. With pg e in the sierras. E. And im an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 Million Trees have died in california. Pg e prunes and removes over a Million Trees every year to ensure that Hazardous Trees cant impact power lines. And since the onset of the drought weve doubled our efforts. I grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly its heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. What guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. Thats because given the opportunity to say that was not the case, Sarah Huckabee sanders very pointedly chose not to. For the sake of this room, the people who are in this room, there democracy, this country, all the people around the world are watching what youre saying, sarah. A and the white house for the United States of america, the president of the United States, should not refer to us as the enemy of the people. His own daughter acknowledges that. All im asking you to do, sarah, is to acknowledge that right now and right here. I appreciate your passion. I share it. Ive addressed this question. Ive addressed my personal feelings. Im here to speak on behalf of the president. Hes made his comments clear. Bob, what did you think of what has happened the last few days on this score . Well, i think it is obviously disgraceful, it is per verse, it is a lie, its incitement. It is a whole mess of ugly things. And i think as far as sarah huck by sanders is concerned, not all that important. What do you expect her to say . Shes been a mouthpiece for donald trump and i would say shes an apologist for him but she never apologizes. Her job is to marginally make his outrages seem less outrageous. She is very bad at that as well. But kind of, duh, of course she said that, or more to the point, of course she refused to walk back his hideous allegation. You know, he made some clarifying tweet which is not even worth getting into about fake news. What struck me is that there is a secertain, something i feel worried about getting pulled into. The desire on the part of white house to make the press into the opposition and calls at this
time Opposition Party who wants to fight with the press. It is energizing for the people that come to the rallies and throw out their Middle Finger and then ask for selfies afterwards. A very bizarre psychology. But there is something really nasty here happening. This is for the committee protecting journalists. 21 journalists locked up and there are consequences to this. There are consequences. It is not that hes setting up the press as an opposing party. Enemy of the people is not an opposing party. He is right about one thing. There is an enemy of the people. There is a, an enemy within, a fifth column, an enemy of truth and honesty and of civility and of respect and law and order. It is the president of the United States. And what he is doing is so
beyond the pale. And unamerican that what his press spokesman has to say more or less beside the point. What do you think . It strikes me that there is sort of a remarkable irony when it comes to the way this white house talks about the media and that is that there is never been a president who simultaneously so bitter and angry and vitriolic toward the press, but at the same time, so dependent on it and so engrossed in every minute of Media Coverage of his presidency. And trump has been like this going back for decades. This is not something new in his character. When he was a Real Estate Developer in new york, he was obsessed with the way his business was covered. He was a voracious consumer of tabloid journalism, calling up reporters, complaining and badgering with them to write stories about him, to get him in the paper and on tv will he was
very much consumed with Media Coverage of himself and now were seeing that play out in his presidency as the decisions that he makes are infinitely more consequential than the decisions as Real Estate Developer or as a Reality Tv Star and he is facing a press corps that is significantly more, i might get had trouble saying this, but significantly more sophisticated. Hes dealing with the most elite journalists in the world who are writing about his behavior every day and it gets under his skin and it challenges him. I think the job of reporters is making sure that we dont become story and we dont become participant in this fight that he wants to create. That dynamic is one that i wrestle with, too. I dont care what the president thinks about me. People dome like reporters. It happens all the time. Enemy of the people is a stalinist phrase. It is something that people in countries throw people in prison, it is gross language. What do you think about this dynamic between adequately responding to how serious and you goly the language is, and not being pulled into a kind of professional wrestling match with the president which are both in the same cage. Well, it is a question that i personally have to face every day in my role as a critic of media and a commentator on politics. But i must say, ive made my decision. Yes, there is a risk of creating a selffulfilling prophecy by attacking the president of the United States and creating exactly the confrontation that he is baiting us to be in. On the other hand, this is a kind of historic evil and it is such an attack on the
constitution, on the society, on our way of life, on our history, on our founding principles, on our core values, of truth itself, that i would rather fall into the trap of taking on the president than to be silent in the face of this grotesque situation. The press is not the enemy of the people. He is trying to divide america. This is as dem going toic as it comes and it is really dangerous and in time will will be blood on his hands. There is part of this, too, there is both personal pique to your point, this demagoguery. When cult leaders cut people off from their families. There is a thing happening which is dont trust any information you dont get from me. Heres what he said at the vfw. An amazing moment when he tells people what to believe and not to believe. Just stick with us. Dont believe the crap you see from these people. The fake news. And just remember, what youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. I mean, what an amazing quote. What youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. Thats very intentional and tactical. It strikes me that he is really invested making sure people do not trust a huge spectrum of sources about what he is up to. Its not a fluke. It is part of a strategy. A piece that is important to remember is that trump is not an aberration when it comes to the way conservatives and people on the right talk about the main stream media. Going back for decades now, conservatives have been saying, dont trust the liberal media. Sarah made it the password saying dont believe the lying
new york times. This is something republicans have been pushing for decades and decades. It has been a key part of the way the Republican Party has messaged itself saying, dont believe what main stream Media Outlets say. Rather trust only conservative media, only republican politicians. The difference is that trump takes this message and weaponizes it. He talks about it in a way that is extremely blunt and candid. I guess you have to give him credit for the level of honesty here. Hes saying when many others for decades have been thinking, what many others have wanted to say. And he is turning it up to 11. This strain of thought is something the Republican Base has been primed for going back for quite some time. And they are enjoying this. Thank you both for joining us. Sure thing. I want to remind to you check out our new podcast
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