His son to cancel the meeting. He did not tell the fbi about the meeting. And if anything, he further encouraged and emboldened the russians to hack, because he went out just about a month and a half after the meeting and said, russia, if youre listening, which years ago from today, as you pointed out, you would be rewarded for hacking Hillary Clintons emails. Michael avenatti, after, represents Stormy Daniels said Michael Cohen has far more incriminating things about the president. I demanded release of all trump tapes and stated at the time there were multiple recordings and we know there are indeed over 100 recordings seized. This information on the Trump Tower Meeting is not the best information Michael Cohen has. Issure you of that. Start with kelly odonnell. Not far from where the president is spending the weekend at his
bedminster resort. Good morning. The president refused to answer questions on camera about Michael Cohen and that infamous meeting at trump tower with the russian lawyer. Still, we keep asking what did he know and when did he know it . Reporter these are persistent questions, alex, and the president commented in his own way but not engaged with reporters when we have been asking about this issue. It is important in understanding what the president s knowledge was, what his role may have been, what the intentions were when that meeting in 2016 was taken, and the fact that the stories have changed over time, and once considered an ally, Michael Cohen now appears to be squarely in the camp of being a threat to the president. But theres credibility issues all around. Which one of the figures in this is to be believed . Now, this comes at a time when the president also has other things on this mind like the economy, and improved numbers there, and the campaign trail. With all of this russia investigati
did. Reporter referring to friction the president caused with nato leaders after demanding they boost defense spending. Friday, for the first time, the president shared a National SecurityCouncil Meeting on election interference, but notably, the official statement did not mention russia. His administration will not tolerate foreign interference in you are 0 elections from any nation state or other malicious actors. The president refused questions ten times this week. Mr. President , sir, is Michael Cohen lying . Reporter after news his former attorney, Michael Cohen, is prepared to tell authorities that mr. Trump was aware that russians offered to bring dirt on Hillary Clinton to a Trump Tower Meeting with donald trump jr. In 2016. Mr. President , did you know about the meeting at trump tower . Reporter but his only response has come on twitter. I did not know of the meeting with my son, don junior. Then suggests a motive for cohen under investigation. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jab. Amid the controversy, the white house is celebrating. New signs the economy is thriving. Were on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years. Reporter and, alex, sometimes there is just the unusual situation of two figures well known being in a space where you might not expect them and that happens from time to time at Washingtons Reagan National Airport and on friday politico captured an image showing special Counsel Robert Mueller waiting in gate 35x. A number of different destinations in the same location in the waiting area. So Robert Mueller seated there in the lower left frame and in the upper right side of that frame, thats the president s son donald trump jr. Also waiting for a flight. The two men did not interact but of course, their lives very much
interconnected over the last year and a half since mueller took over the investigation and all of these new questions surfaced about what did donald trump jr. Know . Had he been fully disclosing information to the congressional committees . Is he in sort of the the p purview of the Special Counsel . Imagine waiting for your flight to take off that says so much about whats happening in washington. What i would give to be that lady sitting directly across from mueller. Are these guys even acknowledging each other . Quite something. Anyway reporter yes. We chuckle now. Thank you so much, kelly. See you again. Bring in brian bennett, senior White House Correspondent for time and nbc news digital reporter. Gentlemen, good saturday morning to you. A source telling nbc news that Michael Cohen is certainly ready to tell Robert Mueller then candidate trump new in advance about his sons 2016 meeting with russians at trump tower. Of course, this contradicts both the president and donald trump jr. And his testimony. Brian, if its true, what does this mean for the Mueller Investigation . It means a lot, and already Rudy Giuliani is out there trying to take down the credibility of Michael Cohen, and whats interesting is when a prosecutor like Robert Mueller has a cooperating witness, and if Michael Cohen decides to cooperate fully with prosecutors, its more than just what he has to say. So he may say he recalls President Trump knowing about the june 2016 meeting, but he also may know a lot of details about where prosecutors can look for communications, as we know, there may be some recordings of conversations that could refer back to that. There could be other pieces of evidence that Michael Cohen knows about that he could tell prosecutors, and so its not just his word against theirs. It could also be other pieces of
Alex Witt hosts coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Evidence. For instance, donald trump jr. Called an unlisted number shortly after that meeting. Get Cell Phone Numbers leading to donald trump himself would be very strong evidence. Brian, the president verbally silent, publicly speaking. You go to twitter and in a tweet says cohen is trying to make up stories to get himself out of an unrelated jam. Different than the tone when the pr president called cohen a great guy. Can you make Heads Or Tails what this looks like . Estranged now and unlikely to ever come back. Michael cohen has turned on the president. He has in public actively is trying to undermine the president s story on this, and those tweets are really significant, because the president has Put In Black And White on the record what his version of events is, and theres no going back from that. That is incredibly significant. Id note right now. You can see the weather in bedminster is incredibly good. In the 80s, sunny. Significant. The president will be golfing, distracted. The last time the president sent a rainy weekend in bedminster, more than a year ago in april, and he decided to Fire Jim Comey when he came back to washington after that. So its significant, i think, that the president will be in bedminster on a sunny weekend where he can be out golfing and not stewing and watching reports about the russia investigation, as you know, probably make time to put out tweets. Usually does that before he hits the golf links as hes done the last couple of weekends. Look at Robert Mueller, alex, right now combing through the president s tweets. What about those relative to Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions . How does that factor into it . The way hes slammed him on twitter . Right. Robert mueller is looking for,
building an Obstruction Of Justice case. The key with an obstruction of justi justice, you have to prove intept. Challenging. Its not a smoking gun. You have to establish a pattern of facts. Thats what Robert Mueller will be trying to do with these tweets. Jeff sessions, trump almost specifically threatens him. If i had known he would have recused himself i would never have appointed him, and trump threatening sessions to drop the witchhunt into the president ial election. The president is his boss. You could make the case this is trump trying to pressure his subordinate to drop an investigation into the president. Can we pull up that picture once again from politico . This dca, reagan terminal 35x. Have either of you been there, and if you have, would it be possible to not know. Its small. Cramped, right . Would you not know Somebody Else who is potentially boarding the same plane, these two its possible if youre absorbed in whatever youre reading and didnt look up to see as people came in and out. But it is not its not a large space, but because of a lot of flights depart from there a lot of people do go through. An amazing terminal. Sort of like a green room from outside a cable news show. People from all Walks Of Washington Go Through there and often theres curious interactions that happen in that terminal. Oh, yeah. Especially after events like White House Correspondents dinners and things like that. Alex, you want to weigh in on this . Ive spent too much time at that gate. Brief eye contact and in a split second agreed to pretend they didnt see each other. Fully aware they were in public and any interaction would be a big public scenants an interesting reaction to this picture. Thank you for weighing in. Appreciate it. Coming up next, suspicions about that Trump Tower Meeting. And in the dark. How even the Secretary Of State appears to have little idea what exactly happened in that trumpputin private powwow. Senator, i understand the game that youre playing, again. No, no. Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, i dont appreciate you characterizing my questions. My questions are to get to the truth. vo what if this didnt have to happen . I didnt see it. vo what if we could go back . What if our car. Could stop itself . In iihs frontend crash prevention testing, nobody beats the subaru impreza. Not toyota. Not honda. Not ford. The subaru impreza. More than a car, its a subaru. Your hair is so soft did you use head and shoulders two in one . I did mom. Wanna try it . Yes. It intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. Manolo . Look at my soft hair. I should be in the shot now too. Try head and shoulders two in one. Dear foremothers,
your society was led by a woman, who governed thousands. Commanded armies. Yielded to no one. When i found you in my dna, i learned where my strength comes from. My name is courtney mckinney, and this is my ancestrydna story. Now with 2 times more geographic detail than other dna tests. Order your kit at ancestrydna. Com. The man is a liar. A proven liar. There is no way youre going to bring down the president of the United States on the Testimony Uncorroborated of a proven liar. I guarantee you, this guy is a proven liar. The president s credibility is not at issue. He didnt know about it. I know that. Ive been over this in great detail. Ive talked to the corroborating witnesses. This guy is walking into a trap. The president s lawyer there reacting to reports that Michael Cohen claims the president new beforehand and approved of that infamous Trudge Ptower Meeting Offering Dirt OnHillary Clinton. A former cia officer joins me, 28year veteran, in fact, of the National Clandestine service, served in moss cows in t the moscow in the 1990s. Big welcome to you. You have long held that the Trump Tower Meeting was not
trump jr. Because hes already testified under oath about this . Seems so to me. Im not legal expert. Theres been a pattern of lies, lies, lies or coverups. Thats obviously where legal investigators are going to look. From the outside, there was certainly a willingness and a welcome desire to collaborate and collude with anybody to help them against the Hillary Clinton campaign. And is that why you say that this was not an innocent meeting . That they were trying to get dirt on Hillary Clinton . I mean, it wasnt all about adoptions, we later found out not true in the claim. Why is it you think it was you know, not an above Board Meeting . For a couple reasons. One is, when a foreign power steals information from american citizens and provides it to you, the right thing to do is go to your lawyers, your security people, go to the fbi. But is it possible that the
trump team was too knew eve to know that and do it . People suggested this team couldnt even have pulled off corroboration, that naive and inept . Still doesnt make it right, however, its a good point and possible donald trump jr. Was that naive and that inept, but not possible Paul Manafort was that naive and inept. Hes worked in that cesspool of russian collaboration, collaboration of russian cooperation, Mafia Intelligence Overlap and would have definitely known what happened, and they had months and months of other contacts and things following that they could have in some fashion reported this. How does this differ from traditional opo research . Youve heard the defense, everybody does this. You try to get Opposition Research on your candidate, merely because of the foreign Entity Involvement . Yeah. I dont know much about Opposition Research and that certainly makes sense, but when a hostile foreign power, who whose soul Foreign Policy goal
is to hurt the United States steals american citizens documents and offers them to you you have to have if youre of any common sense or a patriot or any ethics have to look into that before you jump. Part of this problem is, it goes to the fact that i think people have become so partisan now they see their political enemies as real enemies, and, therefore, actual foreign enemies that can help them, theyre willing to sort of work with them to take down their political enemies. We really are in a bad place if that becomes sort of the Standard Operating Procedure. Okay. I want to get to the president s hil cin helsinki meeting. Talking at the Senate ForeignRelations Committee hearing this week. Take a listen. A number of conversations with President Trump about what transpired in the meeting and present when he and President Putin gave a synopsis what took
place. Speak with sergey lavrov, i have a pretty complete understanding of what took place in that meeting. Did you speak to the translator at that meeting . I havent. Did the president tell you that he discussed relaxing russia sanctions or not . Yes or not. They are entitled to have private meetings. Im telling you what u. S. Policy is. Does it sound pompeo got most of his information just like the rest of us Russian Readouts and whats your thought on that if you agree . I do agree and feel bad for him. Hes trying to walk that tightrope of loyalty to the president and also lack of access of information what the president talked about. Its clear to all of us President Trump really doesnt understand what his policy is and doesnt explain things well about what happened. Mike pompeo who has to defend the administration probably went to President Trump and got the same word sale we all got and is trying to make something out of it. In the government we usually have what we call an olive
government approach. Big foreign policies, everybody has to be moving in the same direction. The problem with this administration is, there seems to be a,eneder the president policy and then whatever the president happens to say. Trying to square those two things is really hard. Can i ask you your thoughts on the fact that Vladimir Putin has invited President Trump to moscow . The president s apparent willingness to accept . Hasnt done it yet, but do you have concerns about that . If the president Goes To Moscow for a meeting . I have concerns about it but i think probably everybody in President Trumps administration also has concerns about it. I dont think anybody under him supported the helsinki summit. And now theyve seen what came out of it, they certainly dont want a replay of that anytime soon. President trump seems to have his own sort of game going. Sort of likes to stick his finger in the eye of everybody and its the George CostanzaForeign Policy. Do the opposite of what everybody else wants to do here. It doesnt make any sense and Vladimir Putin knows that very well and understands the
partisanship here and that every time he throws out something its going to have us all feeding on each other. He can just keep throwing these things out and trump will mischaracterize it or, yes, or no, and then eat each other up a couple weeks and do it again in a month. Out of time. Quickly, can i ask, any suspicion or concern the helsinki meeting could have been taped by Vladimir Putin . Would that be typical Standard Operating Procedure . I think you certainly he would try to do that. It was in the president ial Administration Building there. It would be unlikely, and they dont need to. President putin can sort of say whatever he wants to say in that meeting and cause trouble for us over here. Thanks so much. Good to talk to you. Thank you. Open warfare. Up next, the pivotal moments that convinced Michael Cohen to go to battle with the president. Sweat the details. Noticing what most will never notice. Its what you do. When the thing youre making. Isnt a thing. Its your reputation. The allnew ram 1500. Comfortably, the most luxurious truck in its class. And why more people are switching to ram than ever before. Sharper vision, without limits. Days that go from sun up to sun down. A whole world in all its beauty. Three Innovative Technologies for our ultimate in vision, clarity, and protection. Together in a single lens. Essilor ultimate lens package. Purchase the Essilor Ultimate Lens Package and get a second pair of qualifying lenses free. Essilor. Better sight. Better life. Thats confident. But its not kayak confident. Kayak searches Hundreds Of Travel and Airline Sites to find the best flight for me. So im more than confident. Hows your family . Kayak. Search one and done. Essential for the cactus, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjectionâ„¢. Xeljanz xr. A oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. For a man he said hes take a bullet for. Carol lennik, thank you for being here. Good to see you. Looking right into one of your reports in which you write cohen has felt wounded and abandoned by Trump Waiting for calls, even a signal of support that never came. Cohen got frustrated when trump started talking about him in the past tense. Panicked last month when he thought the president no longer cared about his flight, becoming furious when giuliani commented on some of his accounts. Do you think hes turned against the president all because of a soured relationship . I think, alex, youve hit on the central question. The soured relationship is really worrisome to Michael Cohen, but there are two parts to that. First, remember the raid on Michael Cohens home, his apartment and his office . That raid seized a lot of information, and criminal investigators are looking at michael for reasons that have
nothing to do with donald trump. In addition to looking at whether or not he played an illegal role in trumps campaign. But separate and apart from all of the drama about trump, Michael Cohen has Serious Problems that have to do with potential bank fraud, and thats wearing on him. He is very concerned and has told many of his colleagues and associates that he expected to be arrested any day, and he wanted some sign from the president , some, if not promise, some indirect signal that he was going to protect him, and potentially pardon him for the things in which he has very, very much exposed. Okay. Im curious. Go ahead. Experts are saying the release of the recording that cohen put out there could end up hurting him . Because its infuriating not just the president but prosecutors as well. So ultimately cohens emotions. Might they have gotten the better of him, or do you think this is part of a bigger
strategy we cant see yet . So clearly, one of the pieces of the early strategy was to say, President Trump, i love you. I care about you, but i have some bad things to say about you. I have information that could be damaging to you. And when there was no love shown or no commitment shown, that got Michael Cohen quite concerned, according to people close to him. As for whether theres a larger strategy. We cant know what else Michael Cohen has in his, i want to say bag of tricks, but thats too flip. We cant know all the things he might have and recordings and emails still to be released. However, youre absolutely right, alex. His initial salvo doesnt seem that smart, because prosecutors with whom he ultimately has to make some kind of plea agreement, with whom he ultimately has to negotiate, are not going to be pleased by this kind of behavior. Sharing evidence thats not been entered into the public record. Making claims publicly and on cnn and the Washington Post rather than in a quiet room in secret. Regarding cohens reported claim trump knew of the 2016 meeting with the russian lawyer, despite his repeated denials, Cnn Reports Cohen has no evidence to back that up. Is the claim worth anything if he cant corroborate it . There is a really, quite a he said she said, he said they said element to this as you mentioned. On one side people are saying cohen has direct knowledge, firsthand witness knowledge, that don junior told his father about this. However, on the other side, there are a lot of people in trump world, a lot of very wellpaid lawyers and a lot of Family Members and friends, who say, everyone else does not agree. No one else can recollect this ever coming up, and i think interestingly, that group of
folks have told us there is no corroborating evidence. So somebody says they saw it. A lot of other people say they dont remember anything like that, and, by the way, theres no recording. Theres no memo. So are you relying on the word of Michael Cohen . I find that interesting, because its not exactly denying it, but it is saying, it will be hard to prove. You know, Rudy GiulianiPraising Cohen at one point. The president Praising Cohen. Now going on the attack against him. Do you think theyre just trying to goad Michael Cohen now into saying something, or i guess appealing to, as youve written about, this heightened emotions that he has . I think in trump world, everyone would like Michael Cohen to simmer down rather than be goaded, and, remember, Rudy Giuliani essentially created a bit of an opening for this dramatic weekend and turn of events, because rudy described the Tape Recording that was
ultimately just first described and then released, but rudy, after the existence of the recording was made public, rudy went on television to say it was entirely exculpatory and showed the president absolutely had no advance knowledge. Now, when we actually got the transcript and cnn got the recording, you heard that it did seem as though the president did have advance knowledge. He didnt seem surprised at all about the idea that Karen Mcdougal was claiming hed had a longrunning affair with him, and that shed sold the rights to her story to American Media incorporated, david picker and publisher of National Enquirer so when rudy made that description, that Set Off Cohen World and when the recording was ultimately released. I think everybody in trump world would like michael to to quiet down. Carol lennik, not you. Come back and talk with us any
time. Thank you. Thank you. And coming up, trump versus cohen. Who will supporters ultimately believe . Nsurance experts. Rodney mastermind of discounts like safe driver, paperless. The list goes on. How about a discount for long lists . Gold. Mara, you save our customers hundreds for switching almost effortlessly. Its a gift. And jamie. Present. Together we are unstoppable. So, what are we gonna do . Insurance. Thats kind of what we do here. Ive been Making Blades here at gillette for 20 years. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making americas 1 shave. Precision machinery and highquality materials from around the world. Nobody else even comes close. Now starting at 7. 99. Gillette. The best a man can get. When it comes to strong bones, are you on the right path . We have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture, so with our doctors we chose prolia® to help make our bones stronger. Only prolia® helps strengthen bones by stopping cells that damage them with 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Serious allergic reactions, like low blood pressure; trouble breathing; throat tightness; face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe Jaw Bone Problems may happen or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual Thigh Bone Fractures have occurred. Speak to your doctor before stopping prolia®, as spine and other Bone Fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium; serious infections, which could need hospitalization; skin problems; and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. If your bones arent getting stronger isnt it time for a new direction . Why wait . Ask your doctor about prolia. Source telling nbc news former lawyer Michael Cohen is willing to tell Special Counsel Mueller that he knew about that meeting in advance. Bring in a clumpi iscolumnist t daily beast and a political analyst. What do you make about the claims and how this changes the investigation for the russia investigation . This was actually a very important week, because what it did was, it connected these, for lack of a better word, the sex investigations, that part of the story, with the russian collusion story. And the connection is the accountant, Allen Weisselberg, now testifying before the grand jury. So we learned on these tapes that, you know, there had been this special unit that may have broken Campaign Finance laws in paying off Karen Mcdougal. Then we learned towards the end of the week that, you know, this
june meeting, this now knnotoris june 2016 meeting, might have been something that donald trump knew about. Its a little bit like a mob case. You have liars on both sides, but just because somebody is established as a liar, like theyre trying to paint Michael Cohen in the trump camp, doesnt mean that he wont be credible on the stand. If it comes to a try. So, you know, this idea that they can kind of knock him out by saying that this guy that they used to have in the family is now a liar which is what giuliani is saying, thats not necessarily going to work for them. But on twitter yesterday, you have the President Lashing out at Michael Cohen, Dibbling Down De doubling down on the meeting, that he knew anything. Would they take the president s word over Michael Cohen . Jonathan, i disagree. I think they are going to be successful, the trump camp, in Painting Cohen Out to be a guy
who lacks credibility, has lied and lied over and observver aga. Look back in time. Remember, all the polls comment . He was never really in touch with reality and kicked out of the trump universe because his last name isnt trump and he so badly wanted to be one of The Cool Kids lunch table and never was. Theyll paint him out to be somebody scorned and frankly i think theyll win. The president wins when he takes it directly to his base, speaks directly to them, i did nothing wrong. Believe me. Stick with us. Literally used those words. Stick with us, dont believe the liberal media and where he wins out every time. Funny for us who see the truth pap guy who lacks Credibility Serving as the president s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani saying the former personal lawyer lacks credibility is a goofy game here. I think in reality, we know that President Trump is going to win with his base. Youve got to distinguish
between the politics, where you might well be right, because his base will stick with him, even if he shoots somebody on fifth avenue, and the legal proceeding where you have laws that may have been violated. It youre looking at a jury, for instance, in the trial of donald trump jr. , and hes in a world of hurt, legally, you cant, you know, say, well, they will necessarily believe his father over Michael Cohen. We have a long way to go now before we know whos going to be more credible on the stand. Theres a problem here. A problem here. Its that cohen says he was in the room with many others. But whos going to corroborate that claim . He doesnt even have Audio Recordings of that june 2016 meeting with the russians. So he has no physical evidence to prove we dont know that. Theres speculation on that. No. We dont know what sort of other evidence he might have. Remember, he made 100 Audio Recordings. Now, its true that if hed made
one of this meeting they probably would have brought it forward this week, but we dont know what kind of corroboration there might be on that. Were very early. This story just broke. It is. I agree. There are calls for donald trump jr. To reappear and give testimony this time in front of the Senate Judiciary committee. Any reason republicans should not support that move . Theres really no reason. Heres the thing. They know don trump jr. Lies, whether behind closed doors, to the public, Doesnt Matter to republicans on the hill. Don jump jr. Is who we know he is. Jonathan rightly points out, the legality is what matters i dont know any republicans on the hill have a reason to get involvedfine with him reappearing, hes again going to lie. This family looks us in the face and lies to us. A segment of the Republican Party buys that and another part of the part that rejects that. Frankly, i agree, its early. No problem with don trump jr. Going to the hill and clarifying what he said before, but my sense is that hes going to go and hes going to lie again. The Trump Organization as a whole always wins out by saying, look at the democrats. Look at the liberals. They just want to take us down. Jonathan, you mentioned the tapes. 100 of them reportedly in existence. Listen to lanny davis, Michael Cohens lawyer. Responding to questions about why these tapes were made in the first place, or how. Here it is. Michael cohen has an answer to why he taped conversations, and i think hell have to give that answer himself. I cant reveal that, but i will say that Michael Cohen has turned a corner in his life, and hes now dedicated to telling the truth to everyone, and well see what happens. How do you interpret that, jonathan . Well, hes ready to flip, if he hasnt flipped already. Thats been clear for a while now, and thats very dangerous for donald trump. This is a person who was at his side in many, many situations. Well see what Allen Weisselberg testifies to before the grand jury. He is so close to trump. You know, he comes out of his casino empire. Been his accountant many years, worked for his father. He knows where all the bodies are buried. Hes even along with trumps sons, a trustee of the business while trump is president. So talking about what he knows, and he will be compelled to do so before the grand jury, to a certain extent. This could get an awful lot messier for the trump family. Thank you both. Guarantee ill speak with you both again. Thanks. Thanks, guys. Rules for beating President Trump up. Why trump opponents should stop obsessing over that Trump Tower Meeting. Ahead on a. M. Joy why claire
mccaskill is a top target for russian hackers. Because theyve chosen the industry leader. Subaru outback holds its value better than any other vehicle in its class, according to alg. Better than rav4. Better than grand cherokee. Better than edge. Make every adventure a happy one with subaru outback. Get 0 Apr Financing on the 2018 subaru outback. Or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. Serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be lifethreatening. Stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. Tell your Healthcare Provider if youve had depression or other Mental Health problems. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. The most common side effect is nausea. I cant tell you how good it feels to have smoking behind me. Talk to your doctor about chantix. New this week, attacks the
attorney Michael Cohen. Calling him a liar. Willing to tell the special Counsel Robert Mueller trump knew about the 2016 Trump Tower Meeting between his son and russia lawyer. Joining me now, columnist for New York Times and nbc pretty contributor Brett Stevens with a big welcome to you i cant wait to get to you this week. Lets talk about this Michael Cohen. Youre your reaction to this news overall, what are the implications of this going forward. They might be really serious, especially if cohen has a whole series of recordings. My fear is that i think the trumps opponents, and i include myself among them, have beeen cn i wantly consistently sort of banking on the expectation going to be Smoking Gun Evidence. Really bad news. Michael cohen is kind of tainted witness. Spent the time talking about what kind of lawyer he had been in his past life. The sort of jobs he did for
donald trump. So theres going to be a question about his correct from the getgo which the president ss team is going to exploit, even if they were defending him a few months ago. Lets get to allen wieselburg. New york times is reporting that federal investigations have asked to interview him as part of investigation. Its sganlt for this reason. Many have suspected in in our guts that if counsel mueller find evidence of collusion. Improper relations its going to get financial side. An organization that is constantly pishing the legal envelope or that was operatings perhaps outside of the legal envelope. In terms of the volume of lawsuits they were engaged in, the sort of investors they had. The places they were looking for markets. Its very natural that someone like him would be in their
interest. If you can get access to anything. Wieselbereisselberg. It will president s father. So hes been in the family for a very, very long time. And its not entire lly clear tt he either has something to give or would be prepared to give it. What do you think is the northwest important rule for being donald trump. Dont focus on the past. Americans are not going to vote in 2020 on what may Ronald Reagan m or may not have happened. Frankly, there is this obsession. I engage in it. In 2017, did the president s tweet cross the line into the
Obstruction Of Justice. Guess what, i think the balance of the american eledoesnt real care. Those are going to be the things. In other words, stop bashing. Give voters reasons to vote for you. Eric every party only has so much Political Capital to spend. Democrats are spending a lot of that capital on trying to relitigate 2016 and hoping theyre going to find a Smoking Gun Evidence of impeachable offense. They need to inspire like barack obama did in 2008. The one thing you wrote the prior day and it reads how trump
won reelection in 2020. During the commercial, i would say you said it was a very easy thing for you to write. Yes. How so and what has been the reaction other than someone looking at you rather stunned. People think i wrote a prediction. I wrote a warning. A piece thats day lined after the election trying to look back on how he won. It comes down to one thing. In 1992 when bill clinton ran against the senior george washington, he said its the economy stupid. Thats the primary consideration on the minds of most americans. So if there is prosperity. Will that be strongly in favor of trump. Counter trump with a positive agenda coming from practical
democrats. Is this going to be prophetic if the economy stays strong and builds as the president in that News Conference yesterday suggested it would . A lot of things can happen that would talk over the ability to build. If its a Strong Economy, have you just written what everyone will be writing the day after the election. Take one more historical example. In 2000, we had an incredibly Strong Economy under president clinton. Peace and prosperity and george w. Bush ran under the mantle im going to restore dignity to the office. He called it conservatism. Look back and say it Didnt Work Out as he intended. It was a very different presidency. Thats how he won with a positive message against a president s who is seen as having to baste the office. And thats how democrats, Something Like that is the way democrats are going to win. I want to be proved wrong on
november 4, 2020. Brett stevens, very good to talk with you. See you again, no doubt. In just a few minutes on a. M. Joy, President Trumps timeline of denial about the Trump Tower Meeting. If your adventure. Keeps turning into unexpected bathroom trips. You may have overactive bladder, or oab