He has a novel take on whats going on with these tapes. Adam schiff was here already to talk about what Rudy Giulianis been saying about the president possibly cooperating or not with the mueller investigation. Well get his take on what his read of this tape is as both a former prosecutor and member of congress. But rachel, i think this is this is the night that the president has been preparing his followers for. Just today saying dont believe what you see, dont believe what you read. He knew this was coming because Rudy Giuliani had been working all day on the response to the public release of this because cnn told them that they had the tape and it was coming. And it remains an open question as to why we learned about the existence of the tape when we first got word that this tape existed. To my eye, my sort of practiced eye watching these guys, it feels to me like this was leaked from the trump side to sort of get out ahead of this story and put their own spin on it before the tape inevitably came out. Now that the tape is out, certainly the interpretation of what actually happens on that tape is one thing. As you say, this is tape number one. Were told by the authorities dealing with Michael Cohens the documents that were seized from him under search warrant that there may be as many as a dozen of these tapes. Michael avenatti, your guest tonight, has been very, very prescient about the fact there were tapes and there would be more than one of them. Hes tender out to be right all along. So im really looking forward to what he says about this tonight. Goerring right to the tape, rachel. Thank you. Thanks, lawrence. Tonight america and the world are hearing for the very first time Donald Trumps voice on a tape made by his former lawyer Michael Cohen which was released to cnn tonight by Michael Cohens lawyer lanny davis. We will now play you that audio recording in full so you can listen to it and judge for yourself what is said. When Michael Cohen brings up the subject of creating a company in order to make payments to silence a former playboy model who says she had a yearlong sexual relationship with then candidate donald trump. Let me know whats happening. Okay . Oh. Oh. Maybe because of this it would be better if you didnt go. You know . Maybe because of this. For that one you know, to get rid of this. Because its so false, wa theyre saying. Its such bullshit. I think i think this goes away quickly. I think what i think its probably better to dot charleston thing, just this time. Yeah. In two weeks its fine. I think right now its better. You know . Okay, honey. You take care of yourself. Thanks. Im proud of you. So long. Bye. Whats up, mike . Quigreat poll, by the way. Making progress. Bigtime. And you guys are whats happening . Can we use him anymore . Hes we told him whats he said we have a chance. We got served from the New York Times i told you, unseal the divorce papers with ivana. Were fighting it. Kasowitz is going to theyll never be able to get that. Never. Kasowitz doesnt think theyll ever get me a a woman that correct. And its its gun going on for a while. For about two, three weeks now. All you have to do is delay it. Even after that its not going to ever be opened. Theres no purpose for it. I told you about charleston. I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of this info regarding our friend david. So that im going to do that right away. Ive actually ive spoken to Alan Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with funding. Yes. And its all the stuff. Because here you never know where that company you maybe he gets hit by a truck. Correct. So im all over that. And i spoke to alan about it. When it comes time for the financing, which will be well have to no, no, no, no. How are you . And leading off our discussion is Michael Avenatti, who is the attorney for Stormy Daniels. Michael, what are you hearing when you listen to that tape . Well, im hearing two criminal coconspirators conspiring on making a payment and im hearing Michael Cohen being the sycophant that he is for the president , for mr. Trump. I saw this interview that lanny just gave at cnn. I believe lannys a very good lawyer. I like lanny. But that was quite a marvelous performance that he just gave over on cnn trying to paint Michael Cohen, whos an absolute criminal thug, as a victim and as anything other than what he is, lawrence. Hes a coconspirator. Theyre trying to convince the American Public of something that just is not accurate. Look, Michael Cohen could come on your show or any other show right now and disclose what really happened and the context around this discussion, and we could dispense with any debate about who said cash or who didnt say cash or what did they mean by cash or did they really mean cash as in greenbacks or not. And theyre not doing that. And that should be telling to people on whats going on here. Michael, when you say criminal coconspirators, what is the crime that youre hearing . Well, its not necessarily on this tape, lawrence. But look, theres no doubt that Michael Cohen has the goods. And ive been saying this for many months. Just as i predicted, that there was going to be tapes. Theres no question that Michael Cohen has the goods on the president. And instead of coming clean and disclosing that information in full and being full and honest with the American People, he continues to hedge his bets. And they sprinkle out this morsel, this oneminute tape. Theres multiple tapes. Theres over a dozen tapes, lawrence, to be clear. Theres over a dozen. They could come clean and disclose what they know, and theyre not doing that. Lanny davis is trying to curry favor with the American People while at the psalm time holding out hope that somehow donald trump is going to appear in the middle of this very dark forest and lead Michael Cohen to salvation. I think theres something on this tape that clarifies something about why its public. Theres been some discussion prior to us hearing this tape that donald trump strangely did not claim attorneyclient privilege, just waived attorneyclient privilege for this kind of recording. But there is no attorneyclient privilege if third parties are in the room. And donald trump asks for a cocacola at a certain point. Someone could have walked in the room and served him that. That breaks the attorneyclient privilege. We hear a voice in the room at the beginning of the Michael Cohen conversation with donald trump. So this conversation might never have been protected by the privilege. Well, i actually think that it probably was protected by the privilege even if there was another member of the staff or someone else that would have entered the room. That would not vitiate the privilege. I think there was a question as to whether there was ever an attorneyclient privilege surrounding this conversation because i dont think Michael Cohen is engaged in providing Legal Services to mr. Trump under the circumstances. I think this is a stretch at best. I think the white house knew, rudy skrul ni knew that eventually this tape was going to come out, and so they decided not to press forward on the privilege. But i find this very curious, this interview that lanny davis gave, again, lawrence, and im going to go back to this. My b. S. Detectors off the chart right now as to whats going on here. Michael cohen could have issued a written statement even if he didnt want to go on television about what happened here. Where are the rest of the tapes . Wheres the rest of the evidence . You dont get to claim love of country and being a patriot unless you do the right thing and hes not doing the right thing. What do you think that lanny davis acting tonight as mike many cohens lawyer and releasing this audio, what do you think lanny davis is trying to accomplish . I think hes trying to push the reset button relating to his clients reputation. Among the American People. I think hes trying to paint his client as a victim and as a guy thats adverse to President Trump and who really was just along for the ride and wasnt at the center of this. And lawrence, thats laughable. Did you hear the comments from Michael Cohen telling the president what a great poll he had . And if you look at look at all the comments that Michael Cohen made about donald trump after this telephone call in 2016. Look at all the comments that Michael Cohen made through his other lawyers at the very beginning of our case where he was a staunch defender of the president month after month, week after week. I mean, the only reason Michael Cohen supposedly found religion, if you will, at this point is because he realizes that hes about to be indicted for some very serious offenses and hes trying to push the reset button. Were going to add a couple of trump experts to this discussion here in new york. Tim obrien, executive editor of bloomberg opinion, the author of trump nation spt art of being the donald. Msnbc contributor. Kurt anderson is also with us, host of the Radio Program studio 36 ogoechlt author of the book fantasyland how america went haywire. And Jennifer Rubin is with us in washington. Jennifer, were going to try to git in here. Jennifer is a conservative opinion writer for the Washington Post and msnbc contributor. In fact, jennifer, lets begin with you. Youre listening to this tape. What are you hearing . What do you think voters are hearing . First of all, im hearing two people who have a way of discussing these things that is not unique, that is not a firsttime occurrence, that is not a surprise. Does anyone think this is the only time other than the Stormy Daniels situation in which this kind of arrangement went on . This is matter of fact. This is how we deal with it. Oh, we have this one, we have another company we have to set up, were going to have to put the money in. This sounds to me from the Vantage Point of someone just hearing the tape as two people who have a routine, who have a pattern, a way of dealing with these things. The other thing that im hearing is that to the extent to which this is yet another attempt to clear someone out of the way to make a payment so as not to interfere with his campaign, it is a Illegal Campaign contribution. If it came from the National Enquirer company, its a corporate contribution, which is illegal. If it came from trump, in other words, if trump reimbursed him, then its an Unreported Campaign expenditure. But in any case what were doing is seeing a pattern. A pattern of deception of the American People. A pattern of campaignrelated payments that have been disguised and hidden until now. Our trump experts eyre in new york do not look shocked yet by what they have heard on this tape tonight. Tim obrien, you wrote the book on donald trump. Youve been in litigation with him. He failed in his lawsuit against you because of your book. Youve studied his Business Practices. Here he is in trump tower two months before the president ial election and Michael Cohen has a little bit of business to bring up involving our friend david. Right. Is that david pecker of a. M. I. , the publisher of the National Enquirer . Or is that david i think dennison, the pseudonym that trump used to mask his role in some of these payments . I dont know. It sounds like in these comments its probably david pecker because hes talking about setting up a company to deliver money to cover the story that dafvid pecker ended up delivering money to buy and then kill at the National Enquirer. I think whats significant here, lawrence, is that i dont know how much legal exposure donald trump will get because of what Michael Cohen has done. But Michael Cohen is exposing donald trump to all sorts of legal peril. And in this particular conversation they reference Alan Weisselberg i think at least twice and they refer to the fact that alan knows about the structure of these llcs theyre using to manage payments. Alan weissllberg was fred trumps accountant, the cfo of the Trump Organization for years. He knows far more about the finances of the Trump Organization than Michael Cohen ever did. And to the extent that alan weissel sfberg by virtue of being mentioned in these tapes, gets pulled more deeply into this investigation, it exposes Donald TrumpsBusiness Practices to greater scrutiny. He was Donald Trumps fathers accountant . Yes, he was. Is he still working . Hes still working. Hes been with the Trump Organization since the 1970s. Hes still at the Trump Organization. Hes the person overseeing the trust that was established after trump became president to this sort of fake insulation that trump and his sons set up to run the family business. He runs it in conjunction with eric trump is it your judgment, having studied this business as you have, that Alan Weisselberg would know how to get his hands on oh, say, 150,000 nasdaq ca 1 more to handle a problem like this . At the drop of a hat. Kurt anderson, there it is. Theres cohentrump tape number 1. Michael avenatti promises theres more to come. And of course other than provideing with entertainment value night after night as they release the tapes i still dont understand despite what Michael Avenatti said earlier, what the game from lanny daviss point of view is in releasing this except perhaps signaling to somebody, signaling to wesselberg, to trump, and perhaps there are 11 or 12 tapes to come. But i think its interesting to look at both what rude ji giuliani said in the last couple days about the exchange where trump says cash, cash and Michael Cohen says no, no. Giuliani is look, what that really is is donald trump saying not cash, it should be recorded properly as a check, it should be a check. Which i didnt hear in that tape. Maybe giuliani has a different tape in mind. And then lanny davis says no, look at my client, Michael Cohen. Hes saying no, no, no, we cant pay cash. I have and it seems to me Michael Avenatti probably shares this idea. That neither of those lawyers spin on that exchange is very close to the truth. All right. Lets listen to the short version of this again where Michael Cohen begins the conversation about creating the company and everyone listen for the word cash because the dispute as of now is Rudy Giuliani saying Michael Cohen brought up the matter of cash, donald trump said no to cash. Thats what lanny davis is saying no, donald trump says the word cash, suggests cash, and you hear Michael Cohen then say no, no, no and the word check. So listen for out there in the audience which voice is on which of these words. Lets start it again. I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david. So that im going to do that right away. Ive spoken to Alan Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up. With so what are we going to pay yes. And its all the stuff. All the stuff. Here you never know maybe he gets hit by a struck. Correct. So im all over that. I spoke to alan about it. When it comes time for the financing which would be well have to pay with cash. No, no, no. How are you . Okay. If im a juror, i heard donald trump say the word cash. Michael avenatti, that is the dispute tonight, and that word is the reason lanny davis gave for releasing this tape tonight. When the tape was first mentioned, there was a dispute, Rudy Giuliani saying it will help donald trump when this tape comes out. Lanny davis saying no, it wont help donald trump when this tape comes out. So lanny davis publicly tonight has said he wanted the tape to be out there so we could all hear donald trump suggest paying in cash. Lawrence, i agree. Theres no question that donald trump is the individual on the tape who mentions the word cash. I dont even think that should be in dispute, frankly, because i dont think that anyone can arguably state that its anyone other than donald trump. But i want to make something really clear. Lets review what lanny daviss role in all of this is. Lanny davis was not brought in to defend Michael Cohen in connection with the potential criminal charges. Thats mr. Perillos job. Lanny davis was not brought in to defend Michael Cohen in connection with the litigation that we have pending against Michael Cohen. Thats brent blakelys job out in los angeles. Lanny davis was brought in for no purpose other than to effectively put a spin on the facts and the evidence and to be Michael Cohens mouthpiece, if you will. And i have a lot of respect for lanny, but thats what he is in this context. On television and otherwise. Lanny davis was brought in, people are asking, well, why would they release the tape and what is the strategy. Its clear as day to me. The strategy is for lanny to try to reset the narrative around Michael Cohen. And one of the ways to do that is to be the provider of information, to provide this tape to cnn tonight, get it out there, and put a spin on it. And thats exactly what hes trying to do. But michael, just quickly, how does that help Michael Cohen with the real problem that he has, which is with the fbi, which is with federal prosecutors in manhattan . Federal prosecutors in manhattan dont care a word about what lanny davis has to say. Well, they dont care about what lanny davis has to say but what they might care ultimately, lawrence, is what the Public Perception is around Michael Cohen. And if lanny davis was able to create a situation where all of a sudden Michael Cohen looks like a patriot or a hero, that may have an impact p and it may have an impact on Michael Cohens family, it may have an impact on a lot of things in Michael Cohens life. But i dont want the American People to be fooled by this because thats exactly what this is an attempt to snow the American Public about whats going on here. Michael cohen is a coconspirator. He still hasnt done the right thing. Theres umpteen other tapes. Theres umpteen other evidence. And lawrence, i just want to go back to something i said earlier. Michael cohen could have issued a written statement of two paragraphs that described in detail what happened here. He could have issued that. You would have put it up on the screen and read it. Cnn would have done the same thing. He didnt do that. And the reason is because these guys want to continue to hedge their bets. Michael avenatti, thank you very much for joining us tonight with your unique perspective on this. Really appreciate if. Thank you. And were joined now in our discussion by democratic congressman adam schiff of california. He is the Ranking Member of the house intelligence committee. And congressman schiff, youre here to talk about other things 37 we will get to some of those. But i need to get your reaction tonight to what youve just heard. The president of the United States as a candidate for president two months before the election in a conversation with his personal lawyer about creating a company to make payments to silence a woman who claims she had a oneyear relationship with donald trump. Well, lawrence, what leaps out at me as a former prosecutor are a few things that seem apparent. The first is quite obvious. The president had knowledge that they were going to be making these payments. So giulianis earlier claim was patently false, that the president didnt know about this at the time. Clearly he has knowledge. Hes not surprised at all when this topics brought up. Second, its brought up in the context of things they need to make go away until the election. So they talk about the Divorce Proceedings and the president says you only need to make that go away for four weeks and cohen says, dont worry, it will go away for longer than that. And thats the context in which this is brought up. So its an effort to basically prevent voters from getting this information. Thats important as to the issue of was this a Campaign Expenditure. Finally, i would say on the issue of an expenditure for the campaign, the whole purpose of setting up this company to make this payment is to conceal the payment. So to me whether its cash or check is less material than the fact theyre using this organizational structure to hide the payment. If they were planning on reporting it as a Campaign Expenditure there would be no need to set up that company. So to me as a prosecutor, former prosecutor, id say you have evidence of knowledge, you have of an intent to violate the campaign laws, you have evidence that this was about concealing information for a campaign purpose. So thats how i think that the prosecutors would look at this. And to add some Campaign Context to the discussion that we hear on this tape, it begins. Michael cohens portion of the tape begins with him talking about poll numbers in the president ial campaign. He opens it up as a campaign discussion. The next thing he talks about is troubling information that the New York Times is trying to obtain about President Trumps first divorce, his first divorce from his first wife. And they talk about how we only have to get by the next two months with this. That same timing issue was president in the conversation about the president s first divorce. So there seems to be very Clear Campaign focus in this conversation. I think that is abundantly clear. I also think, you know, in terms of who brings up cash this is giuliani trying to get out ahead of this very damaging tape by characterizing it or trying to create a doubt in the public mind where as if people just heard that tape without his preview there wouldnt be any question that its donald trump who at least appears on this tape to be suggesting that they make the payment in cash. What does this do to complicate the president s position in considering an interview with Robert Mueller . Well, i dont think this really has that much bearing on that question. I think that the president s legal team has already concluded theres no way theyre going to put him in front of someone where if he he lies he could be held criminally liable. They just cant have any confidence that he could get through a whole interview without making false statements, particularly on the subject of russia or obstruction of justice. So we see this moving Playing Field with giuliani saying, well, first wed need this to put him forth for an interview, then wed need that. The latest preposterous proposal is well let you ask about collusion but not about obstruction, well let you ask him questions that he can only answer no collusion, no collusion, no collusion, but beyond that thats the length and breadth of what were willing to submit. The bottom line is if mueller wants to interview him he needs to issue a subpoena. Thats the only way thats going to happen. And what would you xb to happen next . If Robert Mueller knows that the president is never going to actually in a cooperative way sit down for an interview, which i assume by now hes figured out, hes seen the giuliani game played as far as it can go, how does Robert Mueller make the tactical decision of do i subpoena this president . I think the mueller team has probably concluded and i think they would be right, if they do subpoena him they win that court case. But it takes time. And the white house view, and they may not be wrong about this, time is working on their side. The longer they can draw this out while appearing to blame mueller for, it the longer in the public mind the russia investigation has been going on and the more appetite there is for the president s argument its time to bring this to an end. So mueller isnt away fighting the clock. And is he prepared to use up the amount of time it would take to litigate . . How much value does he think he would get from that president ial interview . I assume thats what hes debating. Theres a finite number of witnesses on the obstruction issue. And by now i would imagine mueller has interviewed almost all of them. Its not like the conspiracy or collusion issue in which there are witnesses all over the globe. This is a discrete number, and i think the decision hes trying to make is is this something we want to try to present to the Justice Department in the next month prior to the blackout period or are we prepared to litigate this and push it until after the election . One final point on the subpoena question. You said that Robert Mueller has every reason to believe that if he issues the subpoena he wins after the president appeals the issuance of the subpoena. That appeal could conceivably go to what would be a Supreme Court where there are two trump justices. Would a prosecutor today be as confident of winning with a Supreme Court that could include Justice Kavanaugh . Well, there would certainly be reason for more concern than there should be. The precedent i think is fairly clear. But you have someone whos been very outspoken, that is, kavanaugh, about president ial power, about how president s should not be vubt to investigation or prosecution while theyre in office. Someone whos talked about overturning the very precedents that were talking about. So you know, it certainly seems very realistic to imagine that this is why donald trump picked this judge. Of all of the candidates that the Federalist Society put forward, he picked the one most likely to rule in his favor in any dispute between he and the special counsel should it get to the Supreme Court. But i still think he wins, that is, social counsel wins if this goes to litigation. Because the precedent is simply too clear. Congressman adam schiff, thank you very much for joining our breaking News Coverage tonight. Really appreciate it. Thank you. And our panel is still with us. Tim obrien, kurt anderson, Jennifer Rubin. And i want to reset the table here on the cohentrump tape by replaying the key portion of this conversation between Michael Cohen acting as Donald Trumps personal lawyer in trump tower in Donald Trumps office in trump tower two months before the president ial election. Lets listen to Michael Cohen describing to donald trump what he believes he had to do to create a company to pay substantial amounts of money for the silence of a woman who claims she had a oneyear sexual relationship with donald trump. Lets listen to that tape. I need to open up a company for the transfer of of all of that info regarding our friend david. Im going to do that right away. Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with so what do we got to pay for this . 150 . Funding yes. And its all the stuff. Yeah, i was thinking about that. All the stuff. Because here you never know where that Company Maybe he gets hit by a truck. Correct. And im all over that. And i spoke to allen about it. When it comes time for the financing, which will be wait a sec, what financing . Well have to pay him something. Pay with cash. No, no, no, no. I got it. Check. Hey, don, how are you . You told us Allen Weisselberg was Donald Trumps fathers accountant, knows where all the money is in the Trump Organization. Michael cohen saying ive spoken to allen about setting this up and the financing, that is where the money comes from. So someone needs to talk to allen about what allen knows and when he knew it and what the money was being used for. I highly doubt that anyone in the Trump Organization really wanted to create a record of this payment. Anytime it has come up from rudy that hes said donald trump wanted to write a check so this could be recorded but theyre using an llc to mask the whole thing and false identities so no one can see who the parties are involved. I have a hard time believing they wanted to create a record of this. Second, i dont know how much in all of this a Campaign Finance violation really has to worry donald trump. A Campaign Finance violation is not going to bring down his presidency. But an investigation that goes into the core of his financial dealings and looks at possible financial quid pro quos with people in his company that did work with people who had connections with russia does raise the issue of high crimes and misdemeanors. Jennifer rubin, when you get Allen Weisselberg under oath and you begin to ask him these questions as the prosecutors here in manhattan probably plan to do, theres a whole range of possibilities that could come up. Absolutely. How many of these payments were there . Where did donald trump get the money from . Was he reimbursed by anybody as we were just discussing who has a connection to russia . And the fact that donald trump wanted to use cash, and i think its very clear from listening to it, owes in the background, he says cash, and then very strongly you hear Michael Cohen say no, no, no, by check. Donald trumping offer, or desire to pay by cash raises a host of other issues. Have they been complying with bank requirements, which generally when youre withdrawing or depositing sums in excess of 10,000, those have to be reported. So are we talking about banking violations . Are we talking about wire fraud . Are we talking about criminal conspiracy to break Campaign Finance laws. Theres a whole lot there. Were going to have to squeeze in a quick break here. When we come back, well replay the tape again. The audience can judge what theyre hearing again. We have much more coming up. Stay with us, please. 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Michael cohens lawyer, lanny davis, released a recording tonight that Michael Cohen made when he was working as Donald Trumps personal attorney of a conversation Michael Cohen and donald trump in trump tower. We have played it this hour. We will play it again. Michael cohen explains to donald trump two months before the president ial election that they need to set up a company. A company that will pay money to silence a woman who claims she had a oneyear sexual relationship with donald trump. We are joined in our coverage of this now by phone, by emily jane fox, Senior Reporter for vanity fair. And emily, you have very good contacts with Michael Cohen. Youve been able to speak with him from time to time. What is your reading of whats going on here tonight on the cohen side of this story . Why did lanny davis, Michael Cohens lawyer, decide to make this audio public tonight . I think there are a couple of reasons we saw this happen tonight. The first reason is that since tripeople in cohen world have been telling me at that time narrative that Rudy Giuliani put out was incorrect, that he was able to spin what was on the tape if his recollection and that that stuck until today. And i think that falsehood deeply bothered people in cohens orbit. And i also think you have the fact that the president waived privilege on these. For days hes now known that privilege has been waived. So theres no reason for them to stay quiet when the recording was different than what Rudy Giuliani had put out. So i think you saw a lot of desire to set the record straight. This is a peculiar case in which Michael Cohen has a tv lawyer, played by lanny davis, and then he has a courtroom lawyer whos a real litigator, former federal prosecutor here in manhattan. We never hear a word from the lawyer whos actually representing Michael Cohen in court. How does their division of labor work, and is there a conflict between these two lawyers . I think that their division theyre working together in general is also new. They were just recently hired earlier this month. So i think all of that were watching in real time. And i think it could shake out differently over time. Obviously, lanny davis has a responsibility in that he is basically brought on board to control the narrative, to take down what he believes is innuendo and Incorrect Information and to set the record straight in order to press reset on Michael Cohens reputation. That is his role. That is not the role of his courtroom attorney. And i think that if the courtroom attorney had his way that none of this would be public. But the reality is so much of this has been playing out in the public eye, in the media. So there is a desire certainly from lanny davis but also from Michael Cohen to be able to speak publicly about this too. And emily, just quickly, why does Michael Cohen think that his public Reputation Matters at all when if he is a criminal defendant in federal court his case is going to be decided by a jury that will be basically no awareness of his public reputation . I think its impossible to say a jury in this day and age and given the saturation of the coverage will have no awareness of the situation. I think that is part of the calculation here. And theres also the calculation he wants to be seen potentially as a credible witness if he is going to cooperate with the government in some way. Part of that is to restore his reputation with the public at large but part of that is perhaps to restore his reputation with investigators who are looking into him. Emily jane fox, thank you very much for joining us. Really appreciate it. And emily will join brian in the 11th hour with Brian Williams coming up. And george will will join us next. Well get his view of what america is hearing tonight. 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For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. The history of audiotapes for president s is not a good one for president s. The audiotapes of president Richard Nixon are the tapes that brought down his presidency. Lets listen tonight to the first tape we have heard from what is believed to be a Michael Cohen collection of tapes of his conversations with his then client donald trump two months before the president ial election. This is the short version of this audio in which Michael Cohen explains to president ial candidate donald trump that they have to create a company in order to provide money to a woman to buy her silence, a woman who claims that she had a oneyear affair with donald trump. Lets listen to how that conversation went two months before the president ial campaign. I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend david. So that im going to do that right away. Ive actually come up and ive spoken diddish. Give it to me ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up with so what do we have to pay for this . Funding yes. All the stuff. Yeah, i was thinking about that. All the stuff. Because here you never know maybe he gets hit by a truck. Correct. So im all over that. And i spoke to allen about it. When it comes time for the financing which will be wait a sec, what financing . Well, ill have to pay him something. Pay with cash. No, no, no, no. I have got. Check. How are you . George will, pulitzer prizewinning columnist with the Washington Post and nbc political analyst. George, you have heard your share of president ial tapes. This one now takes its place in history. What are you hearing when you listen to this tape tonight . Well, im hearing redundant evidence that mr. Trump is a seedy man whose incontinent sexual appetites get him into trouble with seedy woman. Now, this is not news at this point in his presidency. Im not hearing anything remotely like you referred to earlier tapes, the tape in which Richard Nixon says, well, lets get the cia to lean on the fbi to cover up a criminal conspiracy. In the one case donald trump was a private citizen when that tape was made. Richard nixon is president of the United States. Im also hearing Something Else on the part of people analyzing this, and that is an attempt to turn all of this into a Campaign Finance violation. We really do not want, lawrence, to go down the road where we say anything that happens that can be helpful to an ongoing Political Campaign should be monetized and counted as a contribution and therefore contribute to the criminalization of american politics. I think thats a terrible way to go. There are lots of ways of judging donald trump without getting into that swamp. And the tape tonight comes on a day that the president began by tweeting tariffs are great. These are tariffs that have already begun to separate him from some of his support in the agricultural states which were crucial to his Electoral College win. That day ends with this tape of the president ial candidate donald trump, who needs the affection of those voters who are now suffering under his tariffs more than hes ever needed it before. This is just another day in paradise. We have this wonderful scene here. You know, we conservatives have a theory that government often is the disease for which it pretends to be the cure. The day begins with mr. Trump saying im going to take 12 billion taxpayer dollars to pay off the Agricultural Community for the injuries ive done them in keeping a promise i made to them that helped them vote for me. I mean, he promised to wage a trade war that would cause them all the trouble theyre now having because they cant sell their beef and their pork and their soybeans. Its almost a relief at the end of the day from that absurdity to be talking about this other absurdity. The connection of a politician to his or her voters is something that has always been considered precious and delica delicate. We are seeing a kind of cement holding the trump base support, which is a minority support of this candidate, but at some point does an accumulation of these tapes this is one of what might be 12 of these tapes that we will be treated to over the next two knows what period of time. At some point is there an erosion that would occur in the president s support of people who have withstood every other thing that the president has put them through . Well, thats the question. The superglue that adheres trumps supporters to him is one of the scientific wonders of our age. Now, when you have a farmer talking to the Financial Times in iowa looking out at his field of soybeans saying 1 in 3 of those rows is supposed to go to china and it cant go to china, thats one test. And another test is again at the end of the day we have good decent americans listening to not John Quincy Adams and lincoln and roosevelt, eisenhower, but listening to this lowlife from queens talking about paying off his lowlives from playboy magazine. I mean, there does come a point at which the American People will say enough. See, i dont think, lawrence, that the American People by and large are angry. I think theyre deeply embarrassed and i think theyre sad about what has come to the country. And i think at the end of the day embarrassment and sadness are more explosive than anger. And that is certainly what were seeing in the polls, which are overwhelmingly negative for the president in the majority of the country. Certainly not with his republican support. George will, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Glad to be with you. Were going to have much more about this new tape released tonight by Michael Cohens lawyer where we hear the president of the United States discuss how to make payments and whether that payment should be in cash to a woman who says she had a yearlong sexual affair with donald trump. For me to chae was the culture of the company. And i think that had to shift to responsible growth. Second thing i wanted to change was the leadership of the company. And the third was for us to start listening. Listening to our riders. Listening to our driver partners. I think listening is ultimately going to make us a better company. Something important. Its not going to be easy. Quicksilver earns you unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere. Actually, thats super easy. My bad. Im ray and i quit smoking with chantix. I tried cold turkey, i tried the patch. They didnt work for me. I didnt think anything was going to work for me until i tried chantix. 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And we have a new statement from a Trump Organization lawyer at this hour to one of the central disputes or possibly the only dispute between Michael Cohen and donald trump in the tape released tonight by lanny davis, Michael Cohens lawyer in which we hear Michael Cohen and then candidate for President Donald Trump discussing how to setup a company in order to pay money, sums of money to a woman who claimed that she had a yearlong affair with donald trump. We hear the word cash on that tape, which we have played now several times during this hour. And tonight Rudy Giuliani, the president s lawyer, says that donald trump was not suggesting that they pay cash and that it was Michael Cohen who used the word cash. Lanny davis, Michael Cohens lawyer is saying, no, thats Donald Trumps voice saying the word cash. The unanimous agreement on our panel tonight is it is Donald Trumps voice suggesting the word cash. And so Trump Organization lawyer issued this statement. Anyone who knows the organization or how the president operates knows that theres no green cash, no currency in the business. Everything is documents. There are accountants. There are audits. And tim obrien, youve studied the business, and what hes saying here is that he didnt mean cash as green currency. He meant it as a short hand for not financing. Meaning we wont get a loan for this, we will pay cash. You know, i have no idea what hes talking about because at one point actually trump had gold bars in a box in his office. Okay, thats true. So the idea that trump might not have had a shoe box with cash sitting in it is also a bit beyond the pail. Hes street smart, shrewd about people but not particularly bright. And he tends to surround himself with people who arent very bright either. And when you have this massive collision of people with low iqs they do stupid things. And whats going on here are the actions of people who are ignorant and trying to preserve themselves. Michael cohen is certainly the frontrunner for stupidest lawyer of the year if not alltime. Donald trump was the one who thought i want Michael Cohen working for mee. What does that make donald trump tonight . And what is going on here . He walks in with a wire to tape his client . Im trying to picture the scene here. Is he actually like wired up to catch him in something . Thats baffling to me. At one point i thought we were talking about, you know, making notes maybe over the phone so that he records what his client wanted. But this is guy walking in with a wire to talk to his legal client. All thats a little bit peculiar. Listen, donald trump couldnt get good lawyers to listen to him because he couldnt pay good lawyers. Thats the problem he had before and thats the problem he has now. So he has to rely on the likes of Michael Cohen. The fact hes now trying to pass off his words as somebody elses and they were trying to deny not paying by green but by check, and trying to hush up a playboy bunny before an election shows you how far weve gone down the road here. And Michael Cohen may be in trouble with the new york bar association, an idea of taping a client without the clients knowledge in the room with a client, with other people passing through the room, which threatens the attorneyclient privilege. Michael cohen did serious damage to his client in that room with that recording device. And apart from his legal profession, it is legal in new york state to do that and that would be legal. It is extraordinary and jennifer makes a great point, i think. The idea that Michael Avenatti was arguing earlier that he was putting up these tapes to improve his public reputation, really . I mean whatever you think of donald trump, your lawyer is in there taping you a dozen times or more . I dont think that does much for your public persona. And tim, we have a little window right here in this audio into the strategic mind of Michael Cohen. And so when were sitting here tonight trying to what were actually doing is trying to find the intelligence behind a decision, the intelligence behind the strategic decision with lanny davis with Michael Cohens support to release this tape tonight. Are we looking for the wrong thing behind this decision . Might there be no wisdom behind this decision . I will get back to the stupid factor. You know, there could be a lack of strategy around all of this other than sort of desperate reaches for selfpreservation. Right now i think he realizes theres not a big likelihood that trumps going to pardon him. The people prosecuting him have lots of evidence and hes throwing hail mary passes through. Lanny davis has great experience with publicly defending people in trouble, and hes been very good at it over the years. So we have to consider how lanny davis came to this decision tonight. Well, we dont know who is the driving force. It may have been Michael Cohen or lanny davis. But i think we learned from Rudy Giuliani there are some people at which people are past their prime. And whatever talents lanny davis had 10 or 20 years ago may not be in effect now. Listen, hes been dealt a cruddy hand, and hes trying his best to throw up enough dirt and enough confusion, which is exactly what trumps side is doing. So in that regard at least he has company. Jennifer, thank you. Tim obrien, thank you for staying with us throughout this hour. Of course brian has much more on this breaking news story in the the 11th hour with Brian Williams, and that starts right now. The breaking news were covering tonight, the cohentrump audio recording released by the cohen team tonight on prime time television. Youll hear the president s voice for yourself, especially the one word he uses which motivated this leak. Also the president today speaking to vetvens suggesting an alternative truth. He tells them what youre seeing and what youre reading is not whats happening. Also along those lines the president says hes been so tough on russia he fears they will interfere in our elections to favor the democrats. Luckily tonight doris concern goodwin is with us with common sense perspective as the 11th hour gets under way on a tuesday evening. We