Nbc news, a source close to cohn said the decision to resign was abrupt. Entirely due to irreconcilable differences based on trumps tariff plan. The white house said today the president will sign the plan by the end of this week. Both democrats and republicans have warned of the risk of a trade war. Axios reports cohn considered the announcement a personal embarrassment. He had boasted to his wall street and hamptons buddies he had kept the president on the right track on trade. Theres growing alarm now of a potential brain drain at the white house coordinating to the associated press. Cohns departure sparked fears of a larger exodus. The president tried to preempt the concerns yesterday. Lets watch. The white house has tremendous energy, tremendous spirit. It is a great place to be working. Many, many people want every single job. I read where, gee, maybe people
times. The times is reporting President Trump spoke to witnesses about matters they discussed with Special Counsel robert mueller. They reported the Special Counsel in the Russian Investigation has learned of two conversations in recent months in which President Trump asked key witnesses about matters they discussed with investigators, according to three people familiar with the encounters. The first Vold Don Mcgahn and the second reince priebus. As the times reports, legal experts says trumps contact with those men most likely did not rise to the level of Witness Tampering but potentially a problem and shared them with mr. Mueller. Were joined by New York TimesReporter Mike It Will Schmidt who broke the story. This is odd in the sense that i do you as a nonlawyer that this looks like the wrong thing to do. You shouldnt be talking to people who have just talked to the prosecutor because it
suggests youre Riding Helicopter on these people. Number one rule is investigations dont talk to witnesses, dont talk to prosecutes. And leave that alone. The president has largely disregarded that advice from his lawyers. Its particularly interesting because the president got into so much trouble for trying to talk to comey and that was disclosed this is Head Scratching for a lot of people watching it. What does this tell us about the Intensity Factors in the white house in terms of the president trying to check on whats coming at him . I think the president cant help himself. Hes curious and he wants to know as much as he can and he wants to try and find out as much as he can about the mueller investigation. And you know, obviously anyone in his situation would be curious in that way, but the problem is that it creates this appearance that doesnt look good to mueller because it looks
the two of them. Thank you, mike schmidt from the New York Times for breaking that story to us while we got it from you. Let me go to ashley parker. This seems to be i want to get to the crazy empty house at the white house where everybody seems to be leaving. But this question where the president is now denying he told mcgahn to fire comey. Well, it seems like in reading that article which again is not my story, but is that he pushed, the president denieded that to mcgahn and mcgahn gently reminded the president that actually, sir, you did ask me to do this. This gets to sort of a central problem the president has which is he often when hes saying something in the moment, he says what he wishes it to be. And then he seems toes genuinely believe it. Some people would say he was lying to mcgahn, other people would say he was simply misremembering. But it makes him a very
unreliable narrator and hard to deal with. Its one of the reasons his lawyers are res stoent have him go before them and certainly something verbal rather than written questions and a reason youre seeing the exodus in the white house. Hes difficult to deal with and people are finally saying ive had enough. I guess, peter, the question is how do you restrain somebody who cant remember that you werent restraining him last time if he doesnt have a conscious memory what hes told people to do, how do they think they can influence what he doeses . Very challenging client for any lawyer, of course. Michael was right and ashley is right. This is one thing lawyers make clear to their clients, dont talk to witnesses even if you have nothing but benign intent, it can easily be misinterpreted. Going back to the bill clinton era when the Monica Lewinsky case and he calls in his secretary and leads her through
im sorry, like don regan who goss an inflated idea who he was. He thought he was Prime Minister down there and the president reagan was some sort of old time sort of hanging around Hindenburg Type that didnt matter anymore. He learned he was not in fact in charge. Does this president need these people that think of themselves that is important . Does trump need gary cohn or people like him around him . He doesnt seem to want them. Look, if you hire the former president of Goldman Sachs pretty important job as your chief economic adviser, then you know, i think he expects you to follow his advice on fundamental things. Things fundamental to him. But trump trumpet to the world he was a protectionist. When cohn arrived he knew he was going to work voluntarily for a protectionism and then he says i cant believe protectionism is
going on here and it was and is. Cohn is making perhaps i think made the mistake, people treat this man as if hes a 2yearold. He can be humored and you make excuses for this. But he can be led in that of this direction. Hes not a 2yearold. Hes a grown man who has been like this all his life. And knows exactly what hes doing. Going back to the first story, he knows hes not supposed to talk to witnesses but okaying. Figures people will say trump will be trump. Trump will indeed be trump. Hes our president right now david jolly, somebody may go to the white house thinking they can put the president of the United States in a play pen and pacify him and keep him there while they run the place themselves. The president puts his staff people in play pens. Gary cohn didnt think the job was big enough for him, trump thought it was and was unsatisfied. Is this a 10 of whatever, are
we making a bigger story, everybodys making this into a huge story. All the major papers say theres a problem with trump in the traffic, people coming in and out of the white house is too swift, its not healthy. Is it nor not important . No, this is a big story. The country needs experts around had president whether you agree with their ideology or not, when it comes to the economy and National Security, we need people smarter than the current president advising him. Look, theyre leaving for one reason. And its donald trump. Theres an old ax yox in industry thats true in politics, you never leave a good job but you do leave a bad boss. Donald trump is incapable of knowing the seriousness of this office. Weve become conditioned to accept the condition of mediocrity. Cohn left if youve got a shot at protecting a shred of your reputation, you leave the white house now. With cohn out, an commercial
nationalist like Peter Navarro seemed to be on the rice in the white house. In june of 2016 is, he appeared on hardball along with alf cole president Richard Trumka where he offered this bizarre defense of his candidate donald trump. Lets watch. Donald trump is has a platform that you guys are dreaming about. He is taking every step. Hes a fraud. The aflcio has recommended for a president to take. Hes a fraud. That may be but were going to find out. That may be. Your workers dont believe hes a fraud. They believe that he is the guy. You just said it may be that trumps a fraud. What did you mean by that . Heres what i mean. Trump says hes a fraud. I say well find out. My view is your workers dont think hes a fraud. I dont think hes a fraud which is why im supporting him. That was a strange ashley, that was a strange defense of your candidate saying he may be
a fraud. I dont know. Whats his name, nunberg said that roger stone may lie. I dont know he may lie once in awhile. These Peoples Defense of each other is narrow simply in terms of loyalty but not qualifications or basically professional morality. Sure. In this white house, the tone starts at the top. And the president demands absolute loyalty. You do see that. And there are sort of weak defenses of one another. Thats not taking into account all the ways people are publicly knifing each other. There is a sense among a lot of people in the white house that theyre not actually that loyal to trump personally. He is sort of this vehicle or vessel for them to try to move their opinions. As is in the case with kae gae, when theyre unsuccessful theyll leave. That is the damning praise from people who dont always respect the boss. Peter baker, that would suggest why were getting great
reporting out of the white house. They dont rest the guy. Usually you had your manifest responsibility to have a moral commitment to the boss, you believed in the person. You worked for them for that reason. And that was the only reason you worked for them. They werent replaceable parts, these bosses. I dont understand how people think about this president as somebody who happens to work with them but doesnt deserve their respect or loyalty but ratted out pre day to the press. Im not knocking your sources but they seem to be prolific. Theyre everywhere. Yeah, you make a good point. There are definitely people in the white house who believe strongly in President Trump and his agenda, believe strongly in his presidency. It is true a number of people in the west wing are more jaundiced about him. They roll their eyes at night with friends and colleagues like hit critics do. They tend to talk outside of school a little bit about what theyre Encount Kerring because theyre frustrated. They may be there because they
believe in his agenda but not in him, they may believe theyre helping the country get through a difficult time. Youre right, not everybody there is a complete loyalist. David, youve been a politics. Have you ever had people working for you that you thought were really just there out of Career Ambition no, love or affection for you or even honor for you . Did you have anybody like that around you . Well, no. If you saw it, you smoked it out. And respectfully to peters point, hes being very generous to a lot of white house staff. Theyre there largely a number of underqualified people there out of selfinterest. Only people who believe in his agenda are the steven millers of the world. Those are the wrong people we want in the white house. That makes it a happy Hunting Ground for journalists. It does. Youve never had a leakyer administration. What does it tell you about the quality of the administration . There are a lot of mediocrities in the white house. This is a rough jury. I have to respect. I do respect this jury. It is tough and coming in in i would say in a geet attitude. Theyre guilty. Thank you ashley parker, Michael Schmidt was on the phone. I thought he was on a ship to shore phone. Peter baker, Eugene Robinson and david jolly. The legal battle between adult film star Stormy Daniels and donald trump. She says the Nondisclosure Agreement she signed isnt valid because the president didnt sign it. Do trump and his attorney have a Fighting Chance to keep her quiet . Thats ahead. Plus, more new details about the Russian Investigation as Robert Muellers investigators digging into secret meetings between trump allies in the say shell islands. The uae and the trumps threat of a trade war opened up a gaming rift between the president and many republicans. And it could smother over the economic message they hoped would cut their losses in this years midterm elections. The happy talk about the tax cut aint so happy right now. Finally, something that happened 507 years ago next week. This is hardball where the action is. Ng for a house. But one day were sitting there and we decided that, something needed to be done about what was going on in our innercity. Instead of buying a house, we decided to form this youth league. These kids mean everything to me and i just want to make sure i give something positive to do. Wow, thats amazing. Thats a blessing right there. To know that someone out there cares and is passionate about what were trying to do in our communities. You excited . Yes. Yeah, were gonna to look good right . Yup. Awesome. Alright come on, bring it in man. Love these guys right here. Alright come on, bring it in man. Burned me up and down, shno way to cool it. Every time you kiss me its like sunshine and whiskey applebees handcrafted burgers. Any burger just 7. 99. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. Do you want clean, stain free dentures . Try polident. The four in one Cleaning System kills 99. 99 of odor causing bacteria,
cleans where brushing may miss. Helps Remove Stains and prevent stain build up. Use polident daily. Attorney general Jeff Sessions traveled to california today to formally announce that the Trump Administration is suing the california over its immigration policies. In a speech top California Law enforcement officials, sessions blasted the states socalled Sanctuary Laws saying it made it impossible for federal agents to do their jobs. And crack down on illegal immigration. He said the laws are being pushed by Radical Extremist whos want open borders. Governor jerry brown accused the attorney general, catch this, of trying to apiece his boss, President Trump. This is completely unprecedented. For the chief Law Enforcement of the United States to come out here and engage in a political stunt, make wild accusations,
many of which are based on outright lies, thats unusual. I do think this is pure red meat for the base, and i would assume but this is pure speculation, that jeff thinks that donald will be happier with him. Im sure donald will be tweeting his joy at this particular performance. Jerry brown, still amazingly stateofthea stateoftheart. Well be right back. Get an extra day by the pool get to spend more time together get more moments to remember there are some things you can only get when you book with us. Get more from your spring break getaway with exclusive hilton offers. Book yours, only at hilton. Com
when you have something you love, you want to protect it. At legalzoom, our network of attorneys can help you every step of the way. With an estate plan including wills or a living trust that grows along with you and your family. Legalzoom. Where life meets legal. Hes taking this action on today. A lot of the amount of misinformation thats out there, some of which has been disseminated by mr. Cohn and others she believes its important the public learn the truth what happened. Trumps long time personal lawyer Michael Cohen has previously said trump denies the allegations and Sarah Huckabee sanders reiterated that point earlier today. Lets hear her. The president has addressed these directly and made very well clear none of these allegations are true. This case has already been won in arbitration and anything beyond that, i would refer you to the president s outside counsel. Well, the civil suit a copy of which first obtained by nbc news says daniels had a relationship with President Trump from 2006 to 2007. It then alleges years later during the 2016 president ial campaign, mr. Trump and his personal lawyer Michael Cohenpressured her that would be Stormy Daniels, into signing a Nondisclosure Agreement or Hush Agreement for 130,000 and a guarantee that she would not share any texts, photos or information about the alleged relationship. Mr. Cohen previously said he used his own personal funds to an fail tate the payment to daniels and neither the Trump Organization or campaign of trumps was party to the transaction. A copy of the agreement appears as evidence in the lawsuit. While President Trump is not named in the document, the suit alleges stormy and trump entered into the agreement under Pseudonyms Daniels as peggy peterson, trump as catch this name, david dennison. The Signature Line for denison you can see there is blank. He didnt sign it. Michael cohen has not responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Yawn dowd we know him has declined to comment. For more, katie from miami. Youve got a big question. Whats this all about . Who is going to win. So as a legal perspective, Stormy Daniels has a little bit of an uphill battle. California law stands for the proposition just because you didnt sign an agreement doesnt mean its still not enforceable. What do i mean by that . Why did she get 130,000 and why did she take that pone if it wasnt to keep her silent. Th