Thats a closed session but its significant for several reasons. First, you mentioned hes the president s personal lawyer. Hes known him for years, they go back in terms of business dealings. This is a person whos been in a lot of private, personal and confidential conversations with the president so it will be very, very interesting to see what kind of information hes going to be able to reveal. And then of course its a sign of a potential escalation or widening in the russia probe given there have been other significant interviews. Of course, Jared Kushner met with the Senate Intel Committee as well. But this will be a very interesting interview to watch and again as the headlines play out with that on the hill, on tuesday, while the president is in new york, trying to focus on things like the threat from north korea, the current Iran Nuclear Deal and other pressing issues. He will be trying to make this a global debut on The World Stage where others may be talking about some of the domestic problems that have to do with the russia probe here at home. See which one overshadows the other. Thank you. Lets bring in White House Correspondent for nbc news. Com,
ali vitali and Washington Bureau chief for mother jones, david corn. Ali, great to have you in the studio. First, your reaction to the fact that Michael Cohen will now be testifying in front of the Senate Intel Committee. The significance of that and what impact it may have on the other investigations, the other Mueller Investigation and the investigation on the house side. Look, Michael Cohen was always around, he was always involved like monica mentioned. Hes someone who has been a confidant for the president for a long time and hes deeply loyal to President Trump. Thats something thats interesting when you see what comes out of the testimony is whether or not there is some kind of new revelation that prompts some new page turned in the bob Mueller Investigation or whats ongoing on capitol hill. Theres the second prong to this. While trump is here trying to make his America First pitch to the u. N. General assembly hes got a bunch of things whats trying to push through on capitol hill. You look at tax reform. I wouldnt be surprised if this is part of his way of trying to be forthcoming with that and also trying to continue to put pressure on congress to figure out some of this stuff. David, what what does this tell you about what part of the Russia Investigation theyre really focused on . Is it the Business Aspect . We use the word collusion sometimes, but where does this fit into the various layers of the investigation . I think Michael Cohen straddles many aspects of the scandal. My concern is that theyre bringing him in too early. You need to get documents, you need to talk to other people first before you question what may be the principals in any possible scandal or controversy of this sort. Remember, i think one of the key things here is that Michael Cohen is in the middle of the biggest, massive Conflict Of Interest that donald trump has. This broke a couple of weeks ago. While donald trump was running for president , in late 2015 and
say and they have a way deeper breadth of knowledge to speak about. Is there a potential for Michael Cohen to get a deal, immunity, protection from the other investigations if he cooperates with them . It remains to be seen what kind of deal is being thought about behind the scenes or talked about. But his willingness i guess to go forth or his appearance will certainly make a lot of news. And to alis point earlier, the context of all of this and in terms of what the president is trying to do and what the legislative what hes trying to do on the Foreign Policy front. We know that the Russia Investigation is really bother some to this president. Its the source of a lot of his frustration not only with members of his own party but the political process in general. And so out of all the things this week, if theres more scrutiny placed on someone like cohen who is close to him i think you know we could be watching for the president s reactions on this sort of thing. Demilitarized zone. In our diplomatic efforts fail though our Military Option will be the only one left. All right. Joining me now, former u. N. Ambassador to the United Nations, john negroponte. Im curious to get your thoughts about what youre hoping to hear from President Trump on tuesday. What do you expect he says, what do you want him to avoid . Right. Well, first of all, i think its important to stress that this General Assembly sessions are not Decision Making decisions for the president. Theyre an opportunity for him to conduct a lot of diplomacy. Hell have meetings with the Latin American countries, the africa groups. People and countries he has not necessarily had an opportunity to visit during the initial months of his presidency. So i think that diplomacy is going to be important. I think people are going to be very much attuned to what he
says about the United Nations himself. Since he spoke against the u. N. , he criticized it during his president ial campaign, i think theyre going to look be looking for some reassurance that he doesnt want to assault the organization, undermine it, withdrawal significant support. He may want to tweak it. Hell talk about reform and put an emphasis on reform in his speech im sure. I think they want some reassurance that the United States still sees the United Nations as a viable and valid institution in which to conduct multilateral diplomacy. We have seen previous president s including george w. Bush to use the General Assembly as a platform to articulate their vision, in particular with the iraq war calling them the axis of evil. Do you think he has to articulate a clear vision for this administration when its comes to world issues, whether it be north korea, whether its be the Iran Nuclear Deal . I do think hes going to touch on those issues. Im sure north korea will be highest on the list of priorities. I think the situation in syria, international terrorism. Definitely iran. While it may be technically compliant with the joint agreement, it has not been behaving according to the spirit of that agreement because it continues its disruptive activities in the middle east region. I think hell talk about reform. So yes, i think hell go over the kind of u. N. Agenda that people are interested in hearing about there. Do you believe when he uses words like rocket man to describe the north Korean Leader he did today in a tweet, does this kind of language worry you that it could escalate tensions . Well, i have always been in the school that feels that we shouldnt be too selfcritical about provoking the north
koreans. They invaded south korea in 1950 with backing by the way from china and russia. I mean, lets not stand truth on its head here. They have been the aggressive party, the provocative party. We in selfdefense along with our allies are trying to deal with that situation. Importantly the president s going to be with the Prime Minister going to meet with the Prime Minister of japan and that will be an important meeting. Let me ask you about diplomatic personnel, whats your assessment of nikki haley as u. N. Ambassador so far . You have occupied that seat. How is she doing so far and some are saying that shes eclipsed Rex Tillerson as our top diplomat. Yeah, well, i dont know about the latter part. I was colin powell was Secretary Of State when i was at the u. N. And we worked very closely together. Hes one of my best friends. But i do think shes shes
carried out her responsibilities very well. Shes proactive. Shes visible. Shes obviously delved deeply into the many different issues that are on the United Nations agenda and what im particularly grateful to Ambassador Haley for is that through her discourse with the public shes been able to reveal how many important different, important issues the United Nations deals with that are of concern to the american people. Mr. Ambassador, very quickly, should the u. S. Embassy in cuba, should that be closed given some of the reports that have come out with the sonic attack that happened on u. S. Diplomatic personnel . You know, what is your advice to this administration on cuba . Right, well, i know this is a matter under investigation and there are these reports. Theyre deeply concerning. 21 people seem to have been affected by the socalled acoustic attacks so obviously
our First Priority is always to protect our people. On the other hand, if we were to close the embassy in cuba that would disrupt the long tradition. Because before we had an embassy of course we had the u. S. Intrasection for 25 or 30 years. If at all possible to keep it open i think we should. But if the attacks persist i think maybe our presence would have to be suspended there until we get to the bottom of this. Im going to actually ask you one more question, this is about the Iran Nuclear Deal. The administration has been somewhat divided about it, the Iran Nuclear Deal is not working despite the fact that its been certified repeatedly for the first couple of months of the investigation. Your take on whether it should stand as it is or should be scrapped. Well, id be very reluctant to scrap it. I think theyre technically cop pliant as compliant as i said
earlier, but they continue to conduct disruptive activities whether its support for hezbollah or for the forces in iraq that are causing trouble and in the gaza strip and in if arab israeli conflict as well. Iran is not behaving in a constructive way towards the rest of the middle east region. And i think thats what the president and the secretary are driving at when they express concern about irans behavior. Former ambassador to the United Nations, ambassador negropon negroponte, thank you for joining us. A vicious attack in france. What were learning about the victims and the attacker and back here at home, a city on edge. More protests right now under way in st. Louis as anger grows after a white Police Officer was found not guilty in the shooting death of an africanamerican man. All that next. Stay with us. But every one of those businesses will need legal help as they age and grow. Whether it be with customer contracts, agreements to lease a space or protecting your work. Legalzooms network of attorneys can help you, every step of the way. So you can focus on what you do and well handle the legal stuff that comes up along the way. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Welcome back. Some breaking weather news were following this hour. Tropical storm maria is now hurricane maria, it is moving to the Caribbeans Islands already devastated by hurricane irma. It has maximum sustained winds of 75 miles an hour. Meanwhile, Hurricane Jose is not expected to make landfall. Heavy rain and winds are expected this week though. All right, overseas in france, an acid attack, two of the students from Boston College now in serious condition. The other two are reportedly in shock. It happened in the Southern City of marseille. The victims were part of Boston Colleges paris program. They were sprayed by a woman known to have psychiatric problems. We have more on the details. Reporter at about 11 00 this morning the four Boston College students were all in their 20s and were standing in a square outside the Train Station in marseille when a woman sprayed them with hydrochloric liquid. Now the girls were take on the hospital where they received treatment for burns. Boston college says they have been released since. The woman who sprayed the acid is 41 years old and is in police custody. Its a horrific attack that left four american girls with injuries and in a state of shock. All right, Claudio Luongo there. In st. Louis theyre bracing for a third night of protests. Anger boiled over, when 11
officers were injured and 0 people were arrested. City police say the ten people were arrested and 23 businesses and five police cars damaged. The unrest stems from the friday acquittal of a former Police Officer who shot and killed a black suspect. Joining us now is nbcs scott cohen. On the campus of st. Louis university. Scott, what are they expecting there tonight and what is the condition of the situation behind you . Reporter well, let me set you set the scene for you, ayman. This is a protest and really a totally peaceful protest thats been going on for 2 1 2 hours now and we just marched with the protesters about a mile and a half from st. Louis Police Headquarters here to the campus of st. Louis university. About four miles from the gateway arch if you can get a sense. And theyre making their way now across the campus here. Again, this has been going on now and of course going on now into the evening and this is where things get a little bit dicey and it really is a pattern that we have looked at and
hopefully wont repeat for a Third Straight night. Peaceful protests all day long, and then the peaceful protests breaks up and late at night some of the stragglers or a core group of violent people do their thing. And last night ten people arrested. Of course the night before that two dozen people or so arrested. Some Police Officers injured. Some businesses damaged. Some property damaged. So the hope is that the peaceful protest is the end of it, but of Course Police are bracing for any eventuality. The governor of missouri spoke a short time ago about their plans as the night goes on. This third night after the acquittal. We have no patience for violence. We have no patience for vandalism. And thats why you saw the minute that people engaged in vandalism our Law Enforcementofficers were on them. They caught them, they cuffed them and they took them to jail. We have no patience for this. Reporter again, thats regarding the protests at night that have gone on for the last couple of nights. This protest in the day has been peaceful. They were chanting in front of the Police Headquarters and staged what they called a diein. Everybody laying in the street. Basically telling police well save you the trouble of coming to our neighborhoods. That was the message they were trying to give and the police have been completely restrained throughout all of this. Actually kind of giving them a path through the streets. Even when the crowd at one point tried to fake them out and go down another street. The police were there at the next intersection to head them off and try to keep other motorists that happened to be in the neighborhood safe. As you see now they have made their way across this campus of st. Louis university to points unknown. Well continue to follow them and follow them into the night. And see if they can keep things peaceful on this night. Yeah. Certainly going to be something were following throughout the course of the evening as sun sets there. Thank you. Well, coming up, more on the Big Development in the Russia Investigation. President trumps long time associate Michael Cohen is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee. And checking in and out. I. C. E. Raids, motel 6 in arizona after employees hand over Guest Information. Up next, im joined by the reporter who broke that story. Hey grandpa. Hey, kid. Really good to see you. You too. You tell grandma you were going fishing again . Maybe. vo the best things in life keep going. Thats why i got a subaru, too. Introducing the allnew crosstrek. Love is out there. Find it in a subaru crosstrek. And lifes beautiful moments. Ns get between you switch to flonase allergy relief. Flonase outperforms the 1 nondrowsy allergy pill. When we breathe in allergens, our bodies react by Overproducing 6 key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. Flonase helps block 6. Most allergy pills only block one and 6 is greater than 1. With more complete relief you can enjoy every beautiful moment to the fullest. Flonase. 6 is greater than 1 changes everything. This is a story about mail and packages. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to del