Brian Williams examines the days top political stories and current politicalcampaign news. New york. Day 579 of the Trump Administration turns out was the day the president was placed in real legal jeopardy. Here is the story from tomorrows front page of the New York Times. Cohen pleads guilty implicated president. The president s former personal lawyer turned himself into the fbi today and stood in Federal Court and pleaded guilty to eight charges including two related to rush Money Payments to women which he admitted were at the direction of his boss, donald trump, for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election. Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and lying to a financial institution, as well as two Campaign Finance violations. Again, both involving trumps quest for the white house. The payoffs described match the cases of Karen Mac Dougall and stormy daniels. This case is being brought by the feds. Attorney for the Eastern District of virginia. Also happens to be a senior official at the fbi. And Daniel Goldman, former assistant u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york. The jurisdiction at the center of much of todays news. Welcome to you all. Nicole, i would like to begin with you. Mr. Goldmans former boss, the former u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york, said on twitter today just a plain statement of fact. Michael cohen in a courtroom in the Southern District of new york under oath, declared that the president directed him to commit a federal crime. A lot of this, all of this happened while you were on the air this afternoon. Have you had time to inhale just what it is we witnessed today . You know, i thought about today. We were on the air together on the day of trumps bizarre inaugural address, my old boss had colored the language to describe. I was thinking about the line about carnage and i was thinking
anything for their family, that they betrayed him. The idea of loyalty and carnage sort of collided after i got off the air today and sort of looked at the wreckage in the lives of these people that went into business with the president committing crimes, perhaps at his behest. You see ongoing pile ups in the lives of everyone associated with this president. Emily jane fox, you have spoken to Michael Cohen in the hours since his appearance in Federal Court. Tell us about the conversation. This was an emotional day for Michael Cohen. Mostly because of what his family witnessed and i think that was difficulty. I wasnt in the courtroom today listened to him go count by count and not only admit he was guilty to those, but really describing detail why he was guilty of those crimes. So watched him get emotional and describing that and then this evening when i spoke with him emotional talking about the toll this took on his family, something he stressed to me over
if they were going to perhaps say you wouldnt want to see your wife go in the federal slammer. Did she have any cupability. Ill correct you he has a daughter and a son. Forgive me. Thats it. The rest i think youre spot on. I think thats a very important point. This is very closeknit marriage. They are people who are very involved in their businesses. The New York Times reported over the weekend shes someone Who Cosigned Loan documents and from all i know in my year of Close Reporting on Michael Cohen, he would do anything to save his family from any trouble, any pain, any hardship. If his wife were, in fact, in any kind of trouble, that would be a reason for him to take action to stand up and do something. Artfully answered and thanks. Michael, all the smart reporters in the business,
everything weve seen come and go. Every one weve seen come and go. The folks who knew the Name Of The Game kept saying cohen is the one. Cohen is the one that could do the most damage here. Cohen is the one to concentrate on. You were among them. Is this kind of what you were talking about . Go back to the spring, the raid happens and the president s lawyers say, okay, its a new front in our legal wars. We know the extent of the Mueller Investigation, at least they thought they did. We understand the questions of collusion around the president. We understand obstruction. We have no idea what went on between the president and Michael Cohen. We dont think were getting truthful answers from the president about it. We do not understand the extent of his criminal exposure, and that is incredibly scary. Up until today, i still do not think they appreciated just the gravity that this was going to have on the president. And im not sure what they can do at this point. I dont know how they get themselves out of this situation. And thats just one part of the fight. We still havent seen what mueller is going to do. Thats exactly right. Daniel, please help us lay people out. Describe the agreement agreed to today. What is in it . Whats not . Does this constitute the quick and easy phrase of flipping. Did Michael Cohen flip today . If not, how shy of that is he . Well, the big surprise here is that he did not flip. This is not a Cooperation Agreement. This is a standard Plea Agreement where Michael Cohen went into court, as we all saw and witnessed, and admitted to committing eight crimes. He did not agree to cooperate with the government in any meaningful way including testifying down the road. And the government did not agree to write a letter to reduce his sentence, which is the benefit
that he would have gotten. This is very surprising to me as a former assistant in that office because all indication is that Michael Cohen is not only willing but desperate to cooperate. So i, frankly, do not understand exactly what is going on because it does seem based on his allocution in court today where he volunteered, by the way, when he pointed at the president , that was unnecessary. That was something he did not need to say in order to fulfill his obligation to al cute to the judge. Its not in the information. Its something he added himself to essentially make the president an unindicted coconspirator. He clearly wants to cooperate but this is not a Cooperation Agreement. I center to say, he has lanny davis appearing on this network and cnn Tonight Capabilitying theres indicating theres
stories to tell. Including but not limited to advanced knowledge of russian hacking. Its almost if theyre begging to have a meeting with president ers. As a former prosecute we are im sure chuck will say the same, we will offer the meeting any day of the week. Its surprising given the foreshadowing that lady davis is making. Given what he said in court today. Thats enough to pique the prosecutors interest. It piques our interest. The only other explanation the prosecutor dont feel theyve told him the truth. I adopt think theres been enough time they could have been meeting over the past couple of weeks and for the prosecutors to believe hes not truthful. So the final conclusion, the only thing that makes any sense to me is that this is a marker. This is a place holder before labor day, before we get into election season. So they dont disrupt anything and cant be accused of disrupting anything related to the election. Have him plead guilty to what we know hes under investigation for, and then theyll sort of begin the cooperation process, which requires many, many meetings between cohen and the prosecutors and investigators. Chuck, it comes down to you. In the moment as it was happening today, i heard several good legal minds. Open the door and toss out the phrase unindicted coconspirator it had me flashing back to 1974 and 75. Is it a term of art in the law . Can it be applied to one donald trump after a day like today . It is a term of art and the law, brian. I think it can be applied to the president of the United States as of today. Weve thrown it around before but today we had someone stand up in court under oath, by the way, it wasnt just any someone. It was the president s personal lawyer who said i was directed to do this by donald trump. Its a remarkable thing. Daniel is right. Cohen did not need to go there. He did. One other point i would like to amplify. Like daniel, im a bit confused why theres no Cooperation Language in this agreement, but nothing in the agreement precludes him from accommodating down the road. And so it may well be a marker. The cooperation may follow. It certainly seems like mr. Cohen and his team are foreshadowing that. And if hes truthful and helpful, im certain the government will be interested. Nicole, here is the big question. The rest was all wind up. What did today do to the trajectory of this presidency that you and i talk about for a living. Where are we headed now . Its shattered. The narrative that the investigation of this president
is a witch hunt. I mean, the witches all had, you know, Keys To The Kingdom and these were all people that were doing Donald Trumps bidding. So the idea that he can spear the investigation that will follow to the Southern District of new york which had nothing to do with what the target that donald trump attacked on a daily basis, i think its a bridge too far. I think this might be the day. If we look back and theyre whipping the votes in the senate to see if the Impeachment Vote in the house, if they have enough votes to convict him. Theyll look back on this day as one of the days that began to erode that lock they have on the republican base. Republicans have been pathetic. Theyve been pathetic during the campaign and during the presidency. But you cant sustain too many days where the president s former fixer lawyer stands up in court and said i committed crimes at the request of the president. And look the other way. They did it after that Access Hollywood tape. Theyve done it after every sort of these are serious crimes being charged of the people that were closest to this president. Michael schmidt, i dont know that anyone at the New York Times has assigned the side bar. I suppose its plausible that today was the day on two fronts when the good guys, meaning men and women woman. In northern virginia, a jury of Paul Manaforts peers acquitted themselves well and put in a lot of effort in that case. And in new york, we got to work watch the Career Publicer is vanlts of the Southern District of new york. One of them actually called cohen out as a fellow lawyer. As someone who had disregarded his training and tradition. But to a lot of people watching, it felt like a recentering today. Part of this story we dont know the answer to. And that is why did Rod Rosenstein have the cohen
investigation moved to the Southern District . Because what it did was it took the issue of a witch hunt sort of away from mueller on that day. He gave it to these Career Prosecutors here. They walk into court today. They get this plea and they walk out. Its not bob mueller. Its not the 17 angry democrats. Its a bench of welleducated assistant United States attorneys that have done this. That protects the integrity certainly from a political perspective. The president cannot as easily stand up tomorrow and say look at what bob mueller has done. This is not bob mueller. Thats a great point. Our guests have agreed to stick around while we fit in a quick break. When we come back, how today fits and what it tells us about that point. The larger Mueller Investigation. And, later, bad news for another Senior Member of the trump team. It has to do with a house guest of his and another republican member of the house indicted. The news watch never stops, as they say on a new york radio station, were here to cover it all The 11th Hour just Getting Started on a tuesday night. This wifi is fast. Brians back . He doesnt get my room. Hes only going to be here for like a week. Like a month, tops. Oh boy. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. As we have reported, President Trumps long time personal attorney Michael Cohen turned himself over to the fbi today and pleaded guilty to a number of felony charges,
including breaking Campaign Finance laws. The man who once said he would take a bullet for donald trump admitted he arranged payments for two women at the direction of the candidate, referring to trump with the purpose of affecting the election. Right now its not totally clear what this news means for muellers overall russia investigation, but Harvard Law Professor wrote on twitter about something weve been discussing. Quote, no way cohen would have entered guilty pleas to eight Felony Counts in new york city today without either a sealed Cooperation Agreement or a con right now its not totally clear what this news means for muellers overall russia investigation, but Harvard Law Professor wrote on twitter about something weve been discussing. Quote, no way cohen would have entered guilty pleas to eight Felony Counts in new york city today without either a sealed Cooperation Agreement or a con confidential understanding with mueller, which the Plea Agreement in the Southern District of new york expressly left open. So he still has Key Information on trump to share. No mention of Michael Cohen or Paul Manafort tonight at the president s rally in west virginia. He briefly brought up the whole russia thing. Fake news and the russian witch hunt. We got a whole big where is the collusion . You know, theyre still looking for collusion. Where is the collusion . Find some collusion we want to find the collusion. The panel remains with us. Chuck, talk about Robert Mueller. Talk about what quarter we may be in of this investigation. I guess the motto there continues to be steady as you go. Steady as you go. Every time you ask me a bob mueller question, brian, i Say Something like steady as you go. Were not in the First Quarter anymore. I know that. I dont think were in the Fourth Quarter either. Theres two other quarters. But my sense is that theres a lot more work to be done. By the way, i dont think i agree with the professor. But Plea Agreements in the federal system have to be the
entire agreement. There can be no Side Agreements. Let me make that clear in court and writing. And so i still believe that mr. Cohen may cooperate, at some point, and im sure mueller would want it. Of course, he would, if its truthful and helpful. But i dont believe there are Side Agreements here. Somebody who would know more about that practice in the Southern District of new york than me would be dan goldman. But i suspect that mr. Tribe may be wrong about that point. And, dan, when you hear the president on the no collusion front, weve just emerged from a 24hour period with a lot of discussion about the email setting up the meeting at trump tower because of the intense russian government interest in seeing donald trump elected. Is that ball game for you right there . Its not ball game, but it is a strong indication that there was an appetite, a willingness, an intent to engage with russia in order to allow the russians
to interfere with our election, which is a crime. It gets us part of the way but it doesnt get us all the way. So, you know, collusion, of course, is colloquial. I dont think that itself would be grounds for a Conspiracy Charge, which is how bob mueller would charge it, but it gets it part of the way. When you start to add up the different data points, the july 27th date, when trump asks russia to find Hillary Clintons emails. Then an indictment from bob mueller that said on that date, they went phishing for emails. It starts to make a little bit more sense. Now you have lanny davis who goes onair tonight on Rachel Maddows show and said that