PRESIDENT THAT LASTED LESS THAN TWO MINUTES?
TWO MINUTES? THINK ABOUT IT.
EDDIE GLAUDE, JOHN PODHORETZ AND BETWEEN THE GLAUDE AND HAD POD
IS ALEXI McCAMMAN.
MIMI, TAKING THE 30,000-FOOT
VIEW.
VIEW. TRUMP IS THE SUBJECT OF A
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION THAT IS
PROBING HIS CAMPAIGN.
MICHAEL COHEN HAS A RECORDED
CONVERSATION WITH DONALD TRUMP
DURING THE CAMPAIGN.
EVERYTHING POINTS TO THERE BEING
MORE RECORDINGS.
MORE RECORDINGS. EARLIER TODAY YOU SAID THIS WAS
JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.
WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT?
>> WELL, WHAT I MEANT, KATY, IS
THAT AS YOU SAID, THERE LIKELY
ARE MORE RECORDINGS.
AND THIS ONE MAY BE TWO MINUTES
LONG, BUT WE DON’T KNOW HOW LONG
THE OTHER ONES ARE.
EVEN IF THERE AREN’T OTHER
RECORDINGS, ANY RECORDING IS
LIKE A SMOKING GUN IN THE SENSE
THAT IF MICHAEL COHEN BECOMES A
SIGNED-UP COOPERATEOR AND HE IS
SOME DAY ON THE STAND OR IN AN
AFFIDAVIT TELLING A STORY ABOUT
EVENTS THAT OCCURRED BETWEEN HIM
AND TRUMP AND OTHERS, THE
PROSECUTORS WILL NEED WHAT’S
CALLED CORROBORATION.
CALLED CORROBORATION. THAT’S THE KEY TO ANY CRIMINAL
CASE.
CASE. AND A RECORDING OF MICHAEL COHEN
AND TRUMP TALKING ABOUT ANYTHING
REALLY WILL LIKELY CORROBORATE
THINGS THAT MICHAEL COHEN IS
TELLING THEM, TELLING THE
PROSECUTORS.
PROSECUTORS. AND SO IT CAN BECOME VERY
VALUABLE.
VALUABLE. IT IS VERY VALUABLE EVIDENCE
THAT PROSECUTORS CAN USE TO
CORROBORATE NOT JUST WHAT IS
SPECIFICALLY ON THE RECORDING,
WHICH SOUNDS HERE LIKE IT’S
GOING TO BE IMPORTANT, BUT ALSO
JUST TO BOLSTER THE CREDIBILITY
OF THE WITNESS IN GENERAL SO
THAT A JURY OR OTHERS BELIEVE
OTHER THINGS THAT THAT WITNESS
IS TELLING YOU.
SO IT’S A VERY IMPORTANT PIECE
OF EVIDENCE.
OF EVIDENCE. >> SO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE
TAPE THAT WE HAVE IS FROM --
MOSTLY FROM RUDY GIULIANI.
HOW THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT A
PAYMENT TO KAREN McDOUGAL AND
TALKING ABOUT WRITING HER A
CHECK INSTEAD OF SENDING HER
CASH.
CASH. ULTIMATELY THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN
BECAUSE "THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER"
ENDED UP BUYING HER STORY AND
GIVING HER A CONTRACT, IN RETURN
THAT SHE SAYS THIS DID NOT
FULFILL.
FULFILL. THE LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THAT
CONVERSATION, WHAT ARE THEY?
>> FIRST OF ALL, JUST BECAUSE
THEY DID NOT -- THEY MEANING
TRUMP AND COHEN, DID NOT PAY
KAREN McDOUGAL BUT SOMEBODY ELSE
DID DOESN’T TAKE THEM OUT OF THE
EQUATION.
EQUATION. I THINK THAT’S WHAT GIULIANI IS
TRYING TO SAY, THAT THIS IS
EXCULPATORY.
EXCULPATORY. THEY TALKED ABOUT IT BUT THEY
DIDN’T WRITE THE CHECK.
THAT’S NOT HOW THE LAW WORKS.
IF THEY WERE TRYING TO COME UP
WITH A SCHEME TO PAY HER OFF, TO
KEEP HER QUIET, AND SOMEBODY
ELSE IS PART OF THAT SCHEME BUT
ULTIMATELY WROTE THE CHECK,
THEY’RE STILL PART OF THAT
SCHEME.
SCHEME. SO, FIRST OF ALL, EVERYONE HAS
BEEN TALKING ABOUT THERE’S THIS
POSSIBLE CAMPAIGN FINANCE
VIOLATION.
VIOLATION. AGAIN, IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER
WHO WROTE THE CHECK OR PAID THE
CASH.
CASH. YOU CAN BE PART OF A CONSPIRACY,
YOU CAN BE PART OF A SCHEME.
IF YOU’RE PART OF THE PLANNING
OF IT, EVEN IF YOU DON’T
ACTUALLY HAND OVER THE MONEY.
AND THEN THERE’S LIKELY SOME
KIND OF FRAUD CLAIM HERE.
IN SHORT, KAREN McDOUGAL GOT
SCAMMED.
SCAMMED. SHE WAS TOLD SHE WAS BEING PAID
FOR ONE THING AND THAT DIDN’T
TURN OUT TO BE TRUE.
SO THIS TAPE IN AND OF ITSELF
PROBABLY ISN’T GOING TO PROVE
ALL THAT, BUT IT JUST SOUNDS
LIKE IT’S ONE STEP CLOSER TO
THIS THEORY THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT BEING
TRUE, AND THAT COHEN POSSESSES
INFORMATION ABOUT IT.
THAT’S THE OTHER PIECE OF THE
ICEBERG I WAS TALKING ABOUT.
>> ONE OTHER THING, WHY WOULD A
LAWYER RECORD A TWO-MINUTE
CONVERSATION?
CONVERSATION? >> AS WE’VE SAID BEFORE, A
LEGITIMATE LAWYER, A REAL LAWYER
WOULDN’T.
WOULDN’T. BUT MICHAEL COHEN WAS NOT ACTING
AS DONALD TRUMP’S REAL LAWYER.
WE’VE BEEN SAYING -- HE WAS HIS
FIXER, HE WAS REALLY MORE OF A
BUSINESSMAN, A HELPER.
AND FOR ANYONE, WHY DOES ANYONE
RECORD PEOPLE’S CONVERSATIONS?
WELL, THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY
KNOW THEY’RE UP TO NO GOOD AND
THIS IS ANOTHER PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT THE TRUMP TEAM IS
WILLING TO LIE LATELYBLATANTLY A
ANYTHING THEY NEED TO LIE ABOUT.
MIMI, THIS IS AN SDNY
INVESTIGATION.
INVESTIGATION. SDNY HAS THESE TAPES.
IF THE SDNY COMES ACROSS
SOMETHING THAT IS PERTINENT TO
THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION, IS
THERE A SYSTEM IN PLACE WHERE
THEY HAND IT OFF TO THE MUELLER
INVESTIGATION?
INVESTIGATION? HOW DOES THAT WORK?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
>> ABSOLUTELY. YOU OFTEN HAVE COORDINATION
BETWEEN DIFFERENT FEDERAL
PROSECUTORI
PROSECUTORI PROSECUTORIAL OFFICES.
PROSECUTORIAL OFFICES. WITH THIS MUCH AT STAKE THERE’S
NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THEY’D
WORK WITH MUELLER’S TEAM.
I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT DID NOT LEAK
THIS, NOR DO I THINK THE FBI
DID.
DID. I DON’T KNOW WHO DID, BUT THERE
IS A THEORY OUT THERE THAT
GIULIANI DID BECAUSE IT’S TO
DISTRACT FROM THE HORRIBLE NEWS
ABOUT PUTIN AND TRUMP.
>> SO HERE’S SOME HORRIBLE NEWS
ABOUT PUT ENANDIN AND TRUMP.
>> BY BRINGING BACK THE WHO HE
SLEPT WITH STORY.
>> IT’S SO RIDICULOUS.
>> AND THAT MAY NOT BE IT, BUT I
WANT TO REMIND PEOPLE AND THIS
IS SORT OF TO YOUR QUESTION THAT
COHEN IS NOT NECESSARILY
SEPARATE FROM THE WHOLE RUSSIA
CONSPIRACY COLLUSION SCANDAL.
REMEMBER, COHEN WAS WORKING ON
TRUMP’S BEHALF UNTIL MUCH LATER
THAN ANYONE HAD PREVIOUSLY
THOUGHT ON GETTING HIM THE TRUMP
TOWER DEAL IN MOSCOW.
AND PART OF WHAT PEOPLE -- THERE
ARE SOME INDICATIONS THAT IF
PUTIN HAS LEVERAGE OVER TRUMP,
IT HAS TO DO WITH HIS FINANCES.
SO THIS ALL COULD BE TIED
TOGETHER AND THAT’S TO YOUR
POINT.
POINT. >> YOU WERE GETTING TO THE NEXT
POINT I WANTED TO MAKE.
IF ANYBODY KNOWS ABOUT RUSSIA
AND ANYBODY IS GOING TO HAVE
INFORMATION THAT COULD BE
INTERESTING TO ROBERT MUELLER
ABOUT RUSSIA, IT’S MICHAEL
COHEN.
COHEN. BUT ROBERT MUELLER HAS NOT
COMPELLED MICHAEL COHEN TO
TESTIFY.
TESTIFY. HE HASN’T SUBPOENAED HIM.
THERE’S BEEN NO INTERVIEW.
MICHAEL COHEN HAS NOT BEEN
TOUCHED BY ROBERT MUELLER.
WHY NOT?
WHY NOT? >> BECAUSE MUELLER IS SMART AND
STRATEGIC.
STRATEGIC. THERE WAS A SEPARATE CASE HERE
TO VERY LEGITIMATELY BRING IN
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW
YORK.
YORK. THERE’S ALL SORTS OF THINGS TO
LOOK AT THAT AREN’T BEEN
MUELLER’S PURVIEW AND HE’S GOING
TO LET THAT PLAY OUT.
YOU’D MUCH RATHER HAVE COHEN AS
A COOPERATOR THAN A SUBPOENAED
WITNESS TO THE GRAND JURY.
YOU WILL GET MUCH MORE