Analysis and discussion of the days top stories and compelling issues from Lawrence ODonnell. Presidency took a giant step toward impeachment. It happened in a courtroom in manhattan when these words were spoken. At the direction of, meaning at the direction of the president of the United States. And when a defendant is Pleading Guilty in court, it is very difficult for the defendant to Say Something more important than the word guilty. Thats usually the most important word a defendant speaks during a guilty plea session. But today in Federal Court in manhattan Michael Cohen said guilty, your honor eight times and hes also said at the direction of twice. And both times he meant at the direction of the president of the United States. And so today donald trump made history by becoming the first president of the United States to be accused under oath in Federal Court of ordering someone to commit a federal crime to win a president ial election. At the direction of. Have to be illegally pu
Sentence in this case and you agree to cooperate. And i think from Robert Muellers perspective it would be worth it because even if Paul Manafort doesnt have anything incriminating i think Robert Muellers quest is to get to the truth and Paul Manafort certainly knows a lot of what happened. He was present at that june 2016 meeting at trump tower. He has all the connections with the russians and the ukrainians and so it seems that hes in a position to know a lot of what was happening with regard to any connections with russia. So i think we might see that. Barbara mcquade, former u. S. Attorney in michigan. Thank you, barb. Really good to have you here tonight. Thanks, rachel. What a day. That does it for us for right this second. See you again tomorrow. Now its time for The Last Word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening, lawrence. Good evening, rachel. And i was so struck by your interview with lanny davis which is making news in that last hour. Not only did he tell you that Michael Co
The days biggest political and news stories, with interviews and reporting from around the nation. Ricochetting across the political universe tonight which are the ones that involve appear to involve the president of the United States. That he was directed to make payments in coordination with the candidate and with the campaign of President Donald Trump to two women. One was in one involved a payment to a woman 150,000, believed to be Karen Mcdougal. The second to a payment believed to be Stormy Daniels in october of 2016, rather, for 130,000. And for that payment Michael Cohen told the court that he received restitution for that payment or he received the money back for that payment from the candidate who is believed to be donald trump. Throughout this investigation, this particular investigation which stemmed from the Special Counsels office, from robert mueller, has been done in coordination with that office and prosecuted by career and seasoned Public Corruption Public Corruption
What happens. On the predawn raid on the home of his former chairman Paul Manafort i was very, very surprised to see it. And insisting he hasnt given any thought to firing special counsel mueller, saying im not dismissing anybody. Alexandra is live for us in seoul, south korea. Hello to you. People on the Korean Peninsula woke up not to one but two new statements from President Trump. Whats the reaction there . Yeah, its happening once again, don and people here know if pyongyang was pushed by war of words into deciding to launch some kind of attack or retaliate for a perceived attack, its believed their conventional weapons could kill thousands of people before u. S. Military might would overwhelm them. Theyve been calling for dialogue to resolve the exceptionally tense situation. So people are hanging on every word of this fiery rhetoric. President trump doubling down, saying perhaps he should have spoken and issued an even tougher ultimatum, saying there would always be consideratio
Counsel mueller, saying im not dismissing anybody. Lots to talk about. Alexandra is live for us in seoul, south korea. Alexandra, hello to you. People on the Korean Peninsula woke up not to one but two new statements from President Trump. Whats the reaction there . Yeah, its happening once again, don and people here know if pyongyang was pushed by war of words into deciding to launch some kind of attack or retaliate for a perceived attack, its believed their conventional weapons could kill thousands of people in south korea before the u. S. Military might could overwhelm them. Theyve been calling for dialogue to resolve the exceptionally tense situation. So people are hanging on every word of this fiery rhetoric. President trump doubling down, saying perhaps he should have spoken and issued an even tougher ultimatum, saying there would always be consideration for negotiation but wouldnt rule out a preemptive strike. Certainly that is the direction the south korean government would like