♪ Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty ♪
>>> WE HAVE BREAKING NEWS, THE
FBI HAS SEIZED A RECORDING MADE
DURING -- THEY SEIZED IT DURING
THE RAID AT MICHAEL COHN’S
OFFICE, A RECORDING OF DONALD
TRUMP AND MICHAEL COHN
DISCUSSING A PAYMENT TO A
PLAYBOY MODEL.
PLAYBOY MODEL. RUDE
RUDE RUDY GIULIANI CONFIRMED HE
DISCUSSED IT ON TAIP.
DENYING THE PAYMENT WAS EVER
MADE BUT THE RECORDING IS LESS
THAN TWO MINUTES LONG.
THE "NEW YORK TIMES" SAY THE FBI
GOT IT WHEN THEY RAIDED MICHAEL
COHN’S OFFICE.
COHN’S OFFICE. >> KAREN McDOUGAL, THE FORMER
PLAYMATE, THESE WERE ALLEGEDLY
PAID TO COVER UP AN AFFAIR HE
HAD WITH HER WHILE MARRIED TO
FIRST LADY, MELANIA TRUMP.
>> ONE OF THE WRITERS WHO HAS
BROKEN THE STORY FROM THE "NEW
YORK TIMES" JOINS US ON THE
PHONE.
PHONE. >> I’M GOING TO START.
WHAT?
WHAT? >> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. RIGHT.
RIGHT. LORDY, THERE ARE TAPES.
SO IT WAS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER
ABOUT McDOUGAL’S CASE IS SHE
CAME FORWARD TO THE "NATIONAL
INQUIRER" IN THE FINAL MONTHS OF
THE CAMPAIGN, AND SAID I HAD
THIS CONSENSUAL AFFAIR WITH
DONALD TRUMP, AND I WANT TO TELL
iSTORY.
iSTORY. THEY PAID HER BUT THEN NEVER RAN
THE STORY.
THE STORY. IT’S WHAT’S KNOWN IN THE TABLOID
WORLD AS CAPTURE AS KILL.
IT EFFECTIVELY KEPT THE STORY
FROM COMING OUT DURING THE
CAMPAIGN.
CAMPAIGN. WHEN "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL"
BROKE THIS STORY DAYS BEFORE
ELECTION DAY, THE EXISTENCE OF
THE ALLEGED AFFAIR, THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN DENIED EVERYTHING.
WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE
PAYMENT.
PAYMENT. AFFAIR NEVER HAPPENED.
WELL IT TURNS OUT THAT IN A
CONVERSATION TAPED DURING THE
CAMPAIGN, MICHAEL COHN AND
DONALD TRUMP DISCUSSED POSSIBLE
PAYMENTS.
PAYMENTS. >> NOW, MATT, LET’S BACK THIS
UP.
UP. WHO TAPED THIS CONVERSATION?
BECAUSE THIS IS NOT THE FBI.
>> CORRECT.
>> CORRECT. >> MICHAEL COHN, THE SELF-
SELF-DESCRIBED FIXER, WHO, FOR
YEARS AND YEARS HAS PUT DONALD
TRUMP AND HIS WELL-BEING FIRST,
IS THE ONE WHO TAPED THE
CONVERSATION WITH TRUMP?
>> YES.
>> YES. SO COHN WAS LIKE THIS ATTACK
DOG, PIT BULL THAT TRUMP USED TO
SICK ON HIS ADVERSARIES AND
JOURNALISTS, AND HE FREQUENTLY
TAPED HIS CONVERSATIONS WITH HIS
ADVERSARIES.
ADVERSARIES. AND THAT WAS TO DONALD TRUMP’S
BENEFIT, BECAUSE IT GAVE COHN
LEVERAGE AND NOW IT APPEARS THAT
VERY PRACTICE HAS NOW
BOOMERANGED BACK ON THE
PRESIDENT BECAUSE TRUSTEEDONALD
OWN CONVERSATION WAS RECORDED BY
MICHAEL CORNER
MICHAEL CORNER MICHAEL COHN, HIS LOYAL ATTORNEY
AND FIXER.
AND FIXER. THIS RECORDING -- WE NOENTSDON’T
LEGALLY WHETHER IT IMPACTS THE
PRESIDENT BECAUSE IT HASN’T BEEN
MADE PUBLIC, BUT ITS VERY
EXISTENCE CALLS IN QUESTION THE
HONESTY OF THE PRESIDENT TRUMP
CAMPAIGN DURING THE CAMPAIGN,
ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH
WOMEN AND WHAT HE DID TO KIND OF
KEEP THEM QUIET.
>> IT’S TWO VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE
ISSUES
ISSUES ISSUES, FIRST, DID THEY LIE
ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BOTH WITH
McDOUGAL AND WHAT WAS DONE ABOUT
IT.
IT. THAT’S ONE PIECE.
SECOND PIECE IS IF THE
RECORDINGS TOOK PLACE DURING THE
CAMPAIGN, THAT GIVES CREDENCE TO
THE ARGUMENT THE PAYMENTS WERE
MADE IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE
CAMPAIGN, AND THAT THEN COULD BE
A CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATION.
>> EXACTLY RIGHT.
PROSECUTORS IN MANHATTAN WILLARE
INVESTIGATING WHETHER THESE
PAYMENTS WERE MADE TO HELP THE
CAMPAIGN, AND IF SO, ARE
THOSE -- DOES THAT VIOLATE
FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW.
>> WALK US THROUGH WHAT THROUGH
GIULIANI HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT
THIS.
THIS. >> GIULIANI HAS CONFIRMED THE
EXISTENCE OF THE TAPE TO US.
WHEN WE BROUGHT THIS TO HIM, HE
SAID, WELL, THIS IS EXCULPATORY,
BECAUSE TRUMP SUGGESTED TO COHEN
THAT IF HE WERE TO MAKE A
PAYMENT TO McDOUGAL, HE SHOULD
DO THAT BY CHECK RATHER THAN
SENDING CASH SO IT WOULD BE
PROPERLY DOCUMENTED.
PROPERLY DOCUMENTED. BUT WHAT’S SO WEIRD ABOUT THIS
IS, IS THEY DIDN’T PAY A CHECK.
THEY PAID THIS WOMAN THROUGH
"THE NATIONAL INQUIRER."
>> WHICH IS OWNED BY DAVID
PECKER, A FRIEND AND ALLY OF
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FOR DECADES.
>> CORRECT.
>> CORRECT. SO WHILE RUDY GIULIANI SAYS,
WELL, THIS IS EXCULPATORY, WHAT
IT ACTUALLY DOES IS SHOWS THEY
WERE TALKING ABOUT PAYMENTS TO
HER IN ONE WAY, AND THEN THEY
WENT AND DID A SECRET PAYMENT TO
HER IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY.
SO IT’S ALL VERY, YOU KNOW --
IT’S ALL VERY MURKY, THE LEGAL
ARGUMENT THAT THE PRESIDENT’S