See you tomorrow. Wait a minute. Isnt that a story about the power of wondering outloud on tv and how quickly we get an answer from our community of viewers, and it is a kind of interactive joy . Why isnt that a story . It is. It is, in fact, a story. But i feel like this is a power we should use sparingly and intentionally. I literally was like, oh, i wonder what that is. I dont know. It should occur to me if i Say Something like that on television, our viewers and the internet will answer. Like you cant just idly wonder about something. So one of the answers that i dont feel like i have is what is Michael Cohen up to . I listened to what Emily Jane Fox told you about what he kind of planned to do, what he ended up doing. Any of this make sense to you yet . You know, there is it seems like there is a whole bunch of Different Things going on at once. But then you have the physical observable thing that requires explanation. There is george and then there is Michael Cohen in a black suit and a fresh haircut. Clearly something changed in the way they understood how this thing was going down. Emily is reporting there had been like a hope or desire that there would be a gigantic interview. And it ended up being this weird off camera thing they could run quotes thing. Nobody knows why he did it. Maybe he was sneaking around on his lawyer when he did it. Not a good way to begin if you are sneaking around on your new lawyer. I know. Well, Michael Cohens relationship with donald trump is coming to an end, a hard and final end. That is the most Important News in georges report. In his strange interview with Michael Cohen. Michael cohen used to like to call himself Donald Trumps fixer and has already been reported Michael Cohen is changing lawyers. It is a very important part of the story, changing lawyers. It seemed like Michael Cohens new lawyer was already in charge of Michael Cohens defense but apparent apparentlily, he has not taken full control of the cohen case from the lawyers who precede him. Which brings us to the most important part of the report of the interview with Michael Cohen, which was not on video and which was presented in writing at abcnews. Com. The most important thing in that report is not anything that Michael Cohen is quoted as saying. It is not Michael Cohens words. The most important line is this once petrillo fully assumes his role, a joint Defense Agreement cohen shared with the president , which allowed their lawyers to share information and documents with each other will come to an end, abc news has learned. If that happens, that will be the bitter end of the Michael Cohendonald trump relationship. And it will mean that donald trump has even more reason to fear Michael Cohen. The rest of the report is Michael Cohen saying perfectly normal things that make sense. But for Michael Cohen, that itself is unusual. Michael cohen used to say that he was, quote, the guy who would take a bullet for donald trump. Now hes saying my wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always is. And there is no husband or father in the world who should think any differently. But Michael Cohen had that same wife and that same daughter and that same son when he said that he would take a bullet for donald trump and leave his wife a widow and leave his children without a father. So of course Michael Cohen would not have taken a bullet for donald trump. He was full of crazy, lying bravado during his time with donald trump. When asked what his goal is now, he gave a one word answer resolution. The quickest way to resolve a legal battle with the fbi and federal prosecutors when you are charged with a crime is of course to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors. In the last line of the report, Michael Cohen said i want to regain my name and my reputation and my life back. In other words, Michael Cohen does not go to prison. He wants his life back. If his lawyer advises him to tell the fbi and prosecutors everything he knows about donald trump he will do that. He said i will defer to my new counsel for guidance. It seems Michael Cohen has a different story to tell now about the plans he arranged to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from speaking about donald trump. In the past it was said donald trump knew nothing about it. Michael cohen said i want to answer. One day i will answer. But for now i cant comment further on advice of my counsel. It seems that Michael Cohen reached for every way he could possibly find to disagree with President Trump. Cohen said i dont agree with those who demonize and villify the fbi. I respect the fbi as an institution, as well as their agents. When they searched my hotel room and my home, it was upsetting to me. As they left, we shook hands. After that image of Michael Cohen shaking hands with the fbi agents who raided his home, he said i dont like the term witch hunt and then said something more president ial than anything President Trump has ever actually said about russian interference in our election. He said as an american i remediate any foreign governments attempt to interfere in our government process and i would call on all americans to do the same. I respect our nations Intelligence Agency unanimous conclusions, which is something President Trump has never said. Michael cohen refused to answer the question, did donald trump know about the meeting at trump tower with russians during the president ial campaign that included donald trump jr. , Paul Manafort . Michael cohen said i believe it was a mistake by those from the Trump Campaign who did participate. When Michael Cohen was asked if he had any regrets, he did not say no, i have no regrets. Instead he said, as an attorney and as an employee, i tried to make good faith judgments in the past. I also acknowledge that i am not perfect. I would prefer not to be in this situation at all, obviously. And of course donald trump would prefer Michael Cohen not to be in this situation obviously. Leading off our discussion now, a former federal prosecutor, a professor of law at the university of michigan. They are both msnbc contributors. Okay, counselors. Lets start with you, jill. Explain to me why a well advised client in a situation like this, well advised by good attorneys would do an interview like this. There is absolutely not one reason that i can think of for him to have done that interview. If he was trying to reach out to the prosecutors, there is a much better way to do it, which is to have your lawyer go to the prosecutors and say i would like to make a proffer. Here is what my client will say. Here is what we can tell you. He wants to cooperate. That would be the way to do that. If he wanted to reach out to the president , he surely has better ways than going on television and taking positions that are contrary to what the president has said. As you have pointed out, he said the fbi was perfectly fine in coming into my home. They were respectful, as opposed to the president who said it was a terrible thing they had done in seizing his documents and invading his office. So this was not a good way to reach out to the president. If he wants the president to pay his legal fees or if he wants a pardon, this is not the way to get it. I dont see how a pardon will help the president. So there is no motivation for the president to grant it. If he gives a pardon, we still have the ability for cohen to testify. In fact, he would have no fifth amendment rights, so he couldnt even avoid testifying, which he could if hes still under indictment or if he is ever under indictment. Barbara, your reading of this because when jill says it is not a good way to reach out to the president , one of the problems is, there is no good way to reach out to the president. A lawyer would advise Michael Cohen not to try to reach out to the president in any way and in Michael Cohens mind, when he hears that, if he is trying to communicate something to the president , he might think this is the only way. Yeah. I dont think hes trying to communicate to the president. As jill said, the things he said were actually contrary to the opinions that President Trump has expressed. I think he is trying to rehabilitate his own reputation. Criminal defendants express that the waiting is the hardest part. I think Michael Cohen just cant stand sitting around waiting and doing nothing and wants to be proactive, so took the bait here and spoke on tv, which agree with jill, is just a terrible idea. Prosecutors are not ready to talk to him yet. Even if he wants to cooperate, they are likely putting him off until they get their arms around all of those search materials. Because of the rule to review for privilege, the prosecutors have not had a chance to see all the materials that came out and until they see that, they are not in a position to confront him with documents or to assess his culpability and to even test the veracity of what hes saying. I think they are putting him off, and i think its driving him crazy, which is why he feels the need to speak. Lets get to this technical point, which i thought was the important line in this report. Once he fully assumes his role, a joint Defense Agreement cohen shared with the president will come to an end. Jill, two things, why hasnt it come to an end already . And what do you make of that phrase once he fully assumes his role . Well, i think that petrillo has probably given some advice already to cohen. And in terms of the joint Defense Agreement, it may or may not have ever existed. It seems like it did. But there is also been some communication today that suggests that what was going on now had to do with the search warrant and that pursuant to that the documents went from the federal prosecutors to cohen and his lawyers, for them to review, to make initial claims. But since his principal client was donald trump, he was also instructed to share any with donald trump that he thought were privileged. Now, presumably he wouldnt have shared any that were from shawn hannitys representation. He would have only shared those that pertained to attorneyclient privilege with the president. So if that was the case, then that is ended because the search warrant has been executed and the documents reviewed. Barbara, is there any reason for guy to be hanging back, waiting for this evidentiary evaluation to be completed on exactly what will be admissible evidence and what will be protected by attorneyclient privilege . I dont know. I dont know the scope of the relationship, but it sounds like the original lawyers were retained for the purpose of getting through this search and that guy petrillo will come in for the next phase. Cohens choice of him seems wise in light of the fact that thats the adversary hes dealing with. But it also suggests to me that Michael Cohen is not looking for a scorched earth defense. Sometimes you choose a lawyer who is going to play hardball and push everything to the max. And sometimes you find a lawyer who maybe has relationships with the lawyers in the office who might be a better choice if you are going to go down a path of cooperation. And, so, it seems like thats a possibility in the choice of lawyer there. Once they are at that stage of dealing with the documents and ready to go forward with cooperation, he would be well positioned to handle that. Thank you both for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. And coming up next, people on twitter havent figured it out yet, but the democrats in the senate know they do not have any secret, tricky parliamentary procedure that they can use to stop a Supreme Court nominee who has enough republican votes to be confirmed. And later, what is the easiest question you can think of asking in a White House Briefing . How about what is the trump policy on the southern border . Why couldnt the Trump White House answer that question today . Youre headed down the highway when the guy in front slams on his brakes out of nowhere. You do, too, but not in time. Hey, no big deal. Youve got a good record and Liberty Mutual wont hold a grudge by raising your rates over one mistake. You hear that, karen . Liberty mutual doesnt hold grudges. How mature of them for drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Your privacy makes you myt number 1 place to go number 2. I love you, but sometimes you stink. Febreze air effects doesnt just mask, it cleans away odors. Because the things you love the most can stink. And try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up to 30 days. Breathe happy with febreze. You shouldnt be rushed into booking a hotel. With expedias addon advantage, booking a flight unlocks discounts on select hotels until the day you leave for your trip. Addon advantage. Only when you book with expedia. President trump said today he spent the morning interviewing four candidates for the United StatesSupreme Court. The Washington Post is reporting who those four were. They were all federal Appeals Court judges. Brett cavanaugh, amy kone yerksbarrett, amull, thapar and raymond kethledge. Two other federal Court Appeals judges the president will meet is Thomas Hardman and William Prior jr. First, they have generally demonstrated the legal skills and scholarship that meet the basic standards of a Supreme Court justice. And more importantly they have all already been confirmed by the United States senate and all of these judges were appointed by republican president s and most of them attracted some democratic votes in the confirmation process. In fact, only one of them got no democratic votes. According to past confirmation preceden precedence, the next two month wills be a rush to confirm a Supreme Court nominee with a simultaneous desperate rush to try to block a Supreme Court nominee by democrats in the senate. For the past 15 Supreme Court nominees, which takes us back all the way to 1975, the average number of days between being nominated and having a hearing is 40 days. The average number of days between being nominated and having a confirmation vote on the senate floor is 66 days. That means with the president planning to nominate a candidate next monday, july 9th, the confirmation hearing would probably be on or about monday, august 20th, with a final vote on the senate floor on or about thursday, september 13th. Now, contrary to popular belief, on twitter and elsewhere outside of the United States senate, this will not be a confirmation process in which the democratic minority in the senate has any parliamentary procedural power or trick that they could use to stop this nomination. Among more credible sounding misconceptions was the idea that the democrats could, quote, exploit the senates unanimous consent structure to grind the senate to a halt. That was suggested by the president of the california state senate, a democrat, who is running for the United States senate against californias senior democratic senator dianne feinstein. He is certainly an expert on Parliament Procedure in the california senate. But they have nothing to do with the confirmation process of a Supreme Court justice. Mitch mcconnell has the parliamentary right to bring the nomination to the senate floor any time he wants to. And senator mcconnell will then ask for unanimous consent to proceed to consideration of the nomination. The democrats will of course refuse to give unanimous consent. And then senator mcconnell will call for a roll call vote to proceed to the nomination. And the president s will then vote to proceed to that nomination. And the elapsed time between the denial of unanimous consent and that roll call vote to proceed will be a matter of seconds. The senate will not be ground to a halt. Democrats in the Senate Already know all of this. And their supports around the country should soon be realizing that there is no trick on the senate floor that they can pull, that the only way to stop the next Supreme Court confirmation is with republican votes against the nomination, which is why there is now so much ten