right now. happening now. breaking news. talking to mueller. a major development in the russia investigation. president trump's former personal lawyer reportedly sitting for hours of interviews with the special counsel robert mueller's team. open to testifying. the woman accusing supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of sexual assault three decades ago is now open to talking to lawmakers about it but not monday as the judiciary committee chairman has demanded. protests and pushback. opponents of the kavanaugh nomination target the offices of swing vote republican senators leading to dozens of arrests while kavanaugh supporters work to push past the controversy to a vote. and plain theft. a shocking airport security breach. a man jumps an airport fence in the middle of the night, makes

his way on to a parked passenger jet and tries to get into the cockpit before being taken down by maintenance workers. now, we're learning he's a licenses pilot. what was he planning to do with the plane? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following breaking news involving president trump's former personal lawyer michael cohen and the special counsel robert mueller's russia investigation. abc news citing sources is reporting that cohen has had hours of interviews with the mueller team over the last month, primarily focused on all aspects of president trump's dealings with russia. we'll talk about that and much more with democratic senator chris van hollen and our correspondents and specialists, our analysts they are also standing by. first, let's get more on the breaking news with our justice correspondent evan perez and our

cnn crime and crime reporter shimon prokupecz. >> according to this abc news report, michael cohen met with robert mueller, and the report says that the meetings have taken place over several hours over the last month. certainly and could spell more trouble for the president who just been the last few weeks saw his former campaign chairman cooperate with the investigation. now, according to this report, wolf, the special counsel asked the former -- michael cohen, the former personal attorney, about dealings that the president had with russia, asking questions about possible collusion, other dealings, and the other thing significant here which would go to the obstruction investigation is whether or not michael cohen was promised either through the president or someone else any kind of a pardon, so certainly this would spell -- could spell more trouble for the president and would be a significant move

here for the special counsel if in fact they did meet with him and did interview him for their investigation. >> you know, everybody, michael president was the president's longtime fixer and personal lawyer for at least a decade. how pig of a threat potentially is his cooperation with mueller, the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york and maybe even with the attorney general in new york? how much of a threat is this to the president? >> potentially he does pose a threat to the president depending on what exactly he says. what stories he's telling. haven't confirmed the report, reaching out to the special counsel and michael cohen hand his team to try to see what they will tell us. look, we know that for many years, wolf, michael cohen was, as he described, the president's fixer. he said he was willing to take a bullet for the president, and now suddenly he's going in to talk about the president's dealings with russians which obviously is something that raises questions about whether what he's talking about, the president's business which you

know that the president has identified as a red line. something that he believes investigators should not be touching as a result of this investigation. we'll see what mueller ends up doing with any of this information, but certainly as this abc report says, there are other agencies that are also involved, including as you mentioned the state of new york, attorney general and the prosecutors there in new york that are still looking at some of the other issues around michael cohen and the trump organization. >> i asked michael cohen's lawyer lanny davis for comment to this abc story. lanny davis, attorney for mr. cohen declined to comment. no inference should result from this no comment. any reaction coming in from the white house, any place else? >> we've talked to people close to the president, and one of the things they immediately said they are not surprised. they expect that had michael cohen would probably at some point talk to mueller, despite all the fireworks that -- that michael cohen has caused as a result of his plea deal, but they also expressed that they don't think it's a big deal for the president. they are confident, they say,

that michael cohen does not have anything to -- to harm the president. of course, that's what you would expect the trump team to say but you have to think that they are looking back at everything that michael cohen was involved, especially because he was so close to the president for many, many years. the keeper of a lot of his secrets. you have to be prepared for whatever eventuality might come from this. >> assuming that the abc story is correct, what does cohen get from all of this cooperation in. >> by the way, i want to show our viewers, these are live pictures coming in from joint base andrews outside of washington, d.c. this is in maryland and the president just landing on marine one from the brief little flight from the south lawn of the white house. he's about to board air force one on a flight to las vegas. he's addressing a political rally there later tonight, but go ahead. >> even though he's plead guilty, he's not cooperating and hasn't been given a cooperation agreement, there could come a time at his sentencing scheduled to be in december that the special counsel or maybe even

the attorney general in new york, the new york state attorney general, decides that his cooperation was fruitful, that they were able to learn things, they were able to pursue investigations, take action as a result of this information, and they can then go ahead and write a letter to the judge saying, hey, this guy was helpful to us, give us a break. maybe instead of a year in jail he gets -- instead of years in jail he gets a year in jail and it could be that he doesn't see any jail time at all because of his cooperation. in the end you have to wonder if that is what michael cohen is hoping for here because no one would touch him as a cooperator while this -- while his investigation was ongoing. now that he's pleady guilty and facing jail time, don't have to worry about his credibility, never made any promises to him, but in the end he could get something. he said he's doing this, wants to cooperate for the good of the country, for his family, want to do the right thing, but this could prove significant if he's helpful and help him avoid jail time in december.

>> he's supposed to be sentenced, michael cohen, december 12th, the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york around the same time, by the way, paul manafort is going to get his sentence. >> and michael flynn as well. >> the president's former national security adviser, the president's former campaign chairman and the president's former personal attorney. they are all supposed to be sentenced around mid-december. >> going to be a busy december. >> we'll all be busy, guys. thanks, thank you very much. also breaking this hour, christine blasey ford is now open to testifying according to her attorney about an alleged sexual assault by the u.s. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh when they were in high school. our chief white house correspondent jim acosta is joining us. jim? ford's aattorney says in exchange for her testimony she wants, and i'm quoting, terms terms that are fair and which ensure her safety. update our viewers. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. the negotiations are going on back and forth. the white house is sort of at the mercy of events watching this unfold like everybody else.

today there was a very significant development as the supreme court nominee accuser christine blasey ford said she could be prepared to testify next week that. announcement came after we reported earlier today that the senate judiciary committee could be flexible with its deadline stating that ford could make her decision by tomorrow morning or later if she wanted to as to whether or not she would sit down in front of that panel on monday. it sounds like she has made her decision, but it's not exactly what the committee wants. >> we believe christine ford. we believe anita hill. >> reporter: the battle over the fate of supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh is escalating once again with protests on capitol hill and demands flying back and forth. the latest an e-mail to the senate judiciary committee from the legal team for kavanaugh's accuser christine blasey ford. the e-mail states ford is willing to sit before the committee next week adding she wishes to testify, provide that had we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety, a hearing on monday is

not possible. that was in response to a letter from senate judiciary committee chairman charles grassley who set a friday morning deadline for ford to decide whether she would appear at monday's scheduled hearing, but sources told cnn that that friday deadline is negotiable saying ford has time to weigh her options. democrats wonder what's the rush? >> as a prosecutor you know you cannot rush something like this. you have to have people investigate. as for the democrats on the committee and what they have asked for, this rush to judgment makes you wonder who else are they trying to hide? >> ford's attorneys say their client want the fbi to investigate her accusation that kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school, but republicans are refusing that demand, even though grassley himself was receptive to an fbi probe into anita hill's allegations against justice clarence thomas in 1981, accusations he described as an 11th-hour charge. >> when the fbi has completed its work, every committee member should be notified and have

access to that report, and a determination by the committee should be made as to how we need to proceed with any allegations. a rule like this should ensure once and for all that even an 11th-hour charge like yours has been fully considered. >> with her attorneys warning ford has received death threats, her family released a statement showing support for kavanaugh's accusers saying we know how difficult this is for her. chrissy is not someone who chooses to be in the spotlight. her accusation promises to have a major impact on the upcoming mid-term elections. republican congressman ralph norman mocked the accusation facing kavanaugh at a debate in south carolina. >> the latest late-breaking news from the kavanaugh hearings, ruth bader ginsburg came out and she was groped by abraham lincoln. >> it's no wonder democrats say ford is reluctant to testify. >> i do hope that she testifies, but i deeply respect her

hesitation given the ways in which her life and her family's life have already been disrupted by attacks, by disrespect, by death threats. >> reporter: as for kavanaugh, the judge stayed behind closed doors at the white house prepping for a possible hearing that may exclude any other witnesses. as aides to the president said, mr. trump has been bragging about the way he has handled his latest supreme court pick. now the senate judiciary committee is now weighing its next move and how to respond to these demands coming from ford's legal team. the committee could potentially hear from ford later on next week if the gop members in charge of that panel agree to her terms, wolf. the president asked about this as he was leaving the white house just a short while ago. did not respond to those questions but our colleague jeff zeleny was on the white house lawn and bill shine, the deputy chief of staff did respond to questions from the reporters and says the white house fully stands behind brett kavanaugh. wolf? >> jim acosta at the white house. let's bring in our congressional

correspondent who is also working this story. sunlan, based on all the reporting that you and your colleagues have done, what comes next? >> that's all going to be discussed on a phone call potentially later tonight and could happen at any mom between the three side, senator grassley's staff and the staff for senator dianne feinstein and the attorneys for the accuser, dr. ford. this was a phone cam specifically requested today in an e-mail from dr. ford's attorney, and she requested specifically that they discuss the conditions for ford's potential testimony in front of the committee. of course, it's, again, worth repeating and worth highlighting again that the conditions for the last 40 hours have been the realisticing point here. we've seen them grapple over the who, whether it would be just dr. ford or judge kavanaugh and other outside witnesses, the where, where in california or here or another location and the

when, of course, a big question. the chairman has set that hearing for monday but dr. ford's attorney said being very clear that they cannot make monday happen so that is out of the picture and, again, it's also worth repeating that the statement from dr. ford's attorney says they will potentially testify next week if the terms are fair so the phone call and negotiations over what is fair and what terms and what's agreed to, a lot riding on what exactly is discussed in that phone call and potentially worked out. wolf? >> if professor ford does not testify, sunlan, will the votes happen next week in the committee. >> reporter: officially that's very much an open question, but we're certainly starting to see republicans lay out their argument that this is her chance and that it's her to choose to come to or not, and if she does not they will likely proceed towards a vote and look no further than what senator cornyn told my colleague manu raju when

asked about this. cornyn said, quote, if she doesn't want to participate and tell her story, there's no reason for us to delay. i think it all depends on what show decides to do. we've all made clear this is her chance, but if she doesn't want to do that, then we're going to have a markup, and, of course, a markup means essentially to move towards a vote on kavanaugh's nomination and you couple that, of course, wolf, with what we've heard from some other important republican forces, senator corker and senator graham and senator flake all saying the same thing, if she doesn't show up, then it's time to move towards a vote which certainly adds to the drama and certainly the high-stakes moment. this will she or won't she potential testimony? >> we'll stand by here to get the latest on that phone call, very critically important call. sunlan, thanks very much. joining us is democratic senator chris van hollen of maryland. senator, we have a lot lot to discuss. i want to take a quick break and begin our conversation right after this. stand by.

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breaking news this hour. abc news is reporting that president trump's former personal lur and fix-- personal lawyer and fixer michael cohen has had several conversations with special counsel mueller's team over the last month over special dealings with russia. joining us now is senator van hollen. thanks for joining us. >> good here, wolf. >> how significant is it, according to abc news, that michael cohen has been sitting down for extensive interviews with mueller's team? >> well, wolf, it's very significant because we know that michael cohen was one of the people closest to donald trump over a long period of time. he was known as trump's fixer,

in on a lot of discussions trump had on a whole variety of issues, so the fact that he is fully cooperating and talking to mueller is a very important development, and it probably is one of the reasons we see the president continue to talk about trying to get rid of attorney general jeff sessions because he sees that, the president sees that as a way to try to derail the mueller investigation that seems to be closing in on more and more important information every day. >> considering how closely michael cohen worked with the president for more than a decade, do you think he can offer information that no other witness at least so far has been able to offer mueller and his team? >> oh, i'm sure there are things that michael cohen knows uniquely among all the witnesses because of that relationship that he had with donald trump, and -- and he has agreed to cooperate fully with the mueller team and so this is a real -- a

deep well of information that the mueller team will be getting. >> let's move on to the kavanaugh nomination for the u.s. supreme court. in a series of treat the senate committee republicans, they now say they immediately reached out to everyone involved in this alleged incident going back some 35 years. they say they have statements, and they say it's the democrats on the committee who haven't participated and professor ford's lawyers are the ones who are stalling. how do you respond? >> well, wolf, the real issue here is what is the goal of the republicans on the senate judiciary committee, because if your goal is to get to the truth rather than just try to railroad through a nomination, then you would ask the fbi to conduct and investigation for this important reason. lying to the fbi is a crime, and for the life of me i don't know why republicans want to shield brett kavanaugh from an interview with the fbi about

this incident as well as this other witness mark judge and the fact that professor ford has asked for an fbi investigation makes it clear that she has nothing to hide because she's willing to talk to the fbi and give her story. so that is the big question, the mystery. why is it that they don't want the fbi interviewing these people when the fbi requires people to tell the truth under penalty of law? >> how do you think the committee and professor ford for that matter, how do you think they might be able to reach an agreement on what a fair hearing would look like? what does it look like for you, a fair hearing? >> well, i'm going to leave that discussion to professor ford's lawyers and the others involved, but from my perspective you would want an opportunity to hear from other fact witnesses. i mean, the whole reason professor ford is interested in having the fbi investigation is because she doesn't want it to

be just a he said she said type of hearing. she wants the phone to bring forward facts that they have put together by interviewing people under penalty of perjury and, therefore, under criminal penalty, and -- and that -- that is the key here, wolf. again, what is the goal? i would hope that the goal would be to get the facts and to get the truth, and that's why it's so suspicious that republicans just want to fast track this entire thing, so i hope that they will take a step back and recognize if they try to fast track this nomination and the true facts come out later and show that judge kavanaugh and the team were just lying, it will create all sorts of additional problems for them, so get this right on the front end rather than pay the price on the back end, and after all we're talking about someone with a lifetime appointment to the supreme court. >> important point indeed.

on a different topic, i want to get your thoughts on something that's happened today in your home state of maryland. i want to express my condolences to the victims of that mass shooting that occurred just outside of aberdeen, maryland. >> first of all, i want to thank all the first responders, emergency responders, very quick on the scene. it required not just local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, federal officials as well. terrible tragedy. we had three victims die, plus it appears the shooter now is also dead. we're -- we've been in touch with local law enforcement authorities and we're continuing to monitor the situation. obviously our hearts go out to the victims of this shooting, but, wolf, what we're going to have to gather the facts, but it

just seems every day we're talking about another killing, in this case another sort of mass shooting, and we have to, we absolutely have to take active measures to prevent this kind of gun violence. it's tearing our country apart. there are things we can do. common sense things we can do to prevent this kind of violence on such a widespread basis. it doesn't mean you can stop every shooting, but we know there are things that we can do to reduce the death toll from gun violence, and it's simply gross negligence that we're not doing it on a national level, again, not any particular incident i'm talking about, but if you look at the tragedies around the country. >> senator chris van hollen of maryland, my condolences of the families who were killed earlier today. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. the breaking news, i should say, continues next. much more on michael cohen's reported cooperation with robert mueller. the hours of interviews he's

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we're following multiple breaking stories including a report from abc news that president trump's one-time personal lawyer and fixer, i should say, michael cohen, has participated in multiple interview sessions lasting for hours with investigators from the special counsel robert

mueller's team. let's discuss this and more with our political and legal experts. dana bash, how significant is this cooperation? >> well, this is abc reporting, and we haven't matched it ourselves here, so, you know, just to be on the cautious side, this is clearly something, just big picture, what michael cohen wa wanted and wants because he is in a lot of trouble and how does anybody who is in a lot of trouble get into less trouble when it comes to a potential jail sentence, and that is to cooperate and to say that you have something that is worth something for the prosecutors, and if you're the president of the united states' fixer, that something should potentially be or could potentially be information on the president, so we'll see exactly how it shakes out, exactly what, if anything, michael cohen did say to robert mueller and his people, but, again, this is -- this has only

an upside for michael cohen. >> because he's supposed to be sentenced december 12th. >> exactly. >> and if he's cooperating fully maybe they will write a judge to the special counsel, the judge in the u.s. district in new york, and maybe get a reduced sentence for the eight guilty pleas that he's already plead to. >> conversations reportedly dealt with the president's dealings with russia. what does that tell you about the scope of mueller's investigation, where it stands right now? >> well, as dana said, this has not been could be rated by cnn, but given what we do know about michael cohen, he himself has been very open about having known a lot of russians and russian businessmen over the past few years, over the past decades actually, and that's about the length of time that he's known donald trump as well, so you put two and two together. we've seen videos of the two men with russian oligarchs in las vegas as well as other places, so one can imagine that if he -- if the president has something

to hide or he's concerned about something with regards to russian relations or russian business interests in particular that michael cohen would possibly know more about that. this is something that the president has likely been anticipating and worried about since the federal officials raided michael cohen's offices and hotel room back in april. >> you know, laura coates, according to abc news, the interviews lasted for many hours over the past month, so what does that tell you about the amount of information potentially that michael cohen has and the potential value it could have for the special counsel? >> it indicates to me that they are actually receptive to him. if they are receptive to him they have reason to believe it's credible information. they are not short-changing him, not having a quick is a-minute conversation to be dismissive of him which is a real big deal for prosecutor to someone who has already pled guilty to crimes that says i'm going to bank on your credibility here and allow me to give you information and i may be able to corroborate it

with alternative independent means. if you have this perception from the mowler probe, it's indicating there's actual good credible information that they can corroborate in some form or fashion. doesn't mean it may pan out to the complete benefit of michael cohen but this is where he was to the before pleading guilty. that the time they weren't even willing for him to dismiss all the counts against him or to have no jail time recommended. this was all part of a plan that i think he's trying to have the leverage turn in his favor. >> another fascinating nugget in this abc news report, chris cillizza, is investigators are asking cohen whether or not anyone from the trump camp, anyone associated with donald trump actually raised the notion of a pardon for michael cohen. why would that be so significant? >> well, because it would be certainly -- laura will tell me if it's obstructing the probe, but it's certainly getting in the middle of the probe, hey, look, we'll take care of you at the end of this, exactly what donald trump said he wasn't doing, never been discussed.

they have said the same thing as it relates to paul manafort. i never would have thought of that. i would say though that the last two plea deals, cohen and then manafort i think are the two most meaningful going forward, took the longest, because cohen knows everything in trump world that is not really the 2016 campaign. paul manafort knows a lot of what was the 2016 campaign. now, trump says he only worked for mow a short time. it was five months at the absolute epicenter of the fight for the republican nomination and him becoming the republican nominee. that covers a ton of ground so if you so those two guys with open-ended cooperation deals and in cohen's case cooperating that we at least according to abc know of, you know, we don't know how it comes out, but my gosh, that's a lot of ground that mueller either has, is or will cover. >> you know, it's interesting. >> one at a time. >> i was just going to say cohen

must be considering whether or not he can trust the president if in fact he's being promised that he will be taken care of. remember, this is the same man that he said he would take a bullet for the president, the president had from all reporting indicated that he may bring him to washington and he seemed to have just dropped him like a hot potato, and according to reports that really upset michael cohen, so to have him come around when the next 20, 30 years of his life right now could see him behind bars, and the president saying just trust me may not cut it. >> also, if you're the prosecutor, you're asking the question about the pardon because you're testing the credibility of michael cohen. your information is only useful to me if you don't have an ax to grind and you're going to give truthful information and help my investigation, but if you're trying to undermine it i'll tell you whatever you want to hear right now because i'll get pardoned anyway doesn't real matter what i do or say here, they also want to know if there was a conversation because they do not fully trust perhaps michael cohen's information or

credibility. if he's had this conversation, what is to stop him from being untruthful with their conversation? >> and he's been all over -- i mean, the last few months, notwithstanding, he's been all over the map as it relates to his loyalty to donald trump, what he knows and doesn't know. remember, michael cohen, his story on the stormy daniels, has now been proven totally, totally wrong. >> that was then and this is now. obviously stuff changes. >> trow. >> everybody, stand by. the there's more news. we'll talk about the other major story of the day. the woman accusing judge brett cav naufg sexual assault when they were both teenagers now is signaling she's open to testifying before the senate judiciary committee next week but not, repeat not on monday. (music throughout)

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liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ we're back with our political and legal experts. dana bash, we're getting new and potentially significant reporting coming in from our own manu raju. republicans on the senate judiciary committee are now looking into the possibility of an outside counsel who is female to question christine blasey ford if a hearing actually happens, this according to a republican source familiar with the matter. our guys are reporting this could help the republicans overcome its lack of any female senators on the committee. there are 11 republican senators, the majority on the committee all men. they are still working out conditions of any hearing. a hearing has not yet been confirmed but if this happens it could be significantly. >> absolutely. remember who suggested this

yesterday. i'm losing track of our days, this week was susan collins, who is really driving the train on a lot of this. republican senator from maine, a critical, critical vote, not on the committee, but because her vote is so important to the ultimate confirmation of brett kavanaugh, what she says and had a she recommends has a lot of weight. having said that, it's also for all of these men, many of whom were on the committee back in 1991 during the anita hill hearing. remember how bad it looked, and probably frankly how bad it felt for some of them to be sitting up there on a huge panel of all men. now there are some women, four women on the democratic side, but on the republican side, no women at all, and so, you know, we were talking as we were learning this information, it's -- these are -- these are high wire act questions across the board, and what's worse for republicans? to be seen as questioning from a

bunch of men, or is it worse to potentially be patronizing by bring a woman in which is -- which is transparent because they don't have women already on their panel? >> we did some checking. in the history of the senate judiciary committee there's never been a female republican member of that committee, so this is obviously very, very sensitive material. 11 republican men, ten democrats, four of the democrats are women. >> well, it would depend on who this woman is, as dana said. what is her background. is she indintelligent if our going to bring in a female republican, i'm not sure that that would -- that would please or at least convince dr. ford and her camp that she would be treated fairly, burks remember, i believe anita hill in her on-ed this week suggested an independent prosecutor be

brought in as well so a female optically would look much better for republican men, a few of whom were experiencing this very same instance in 1991, but it depends on who this woman is and what her background is. >> that's important. very important. laura, how do you see it? >> expertise is important. one of the things that anita hill talked about is the fact that have you 27 years later, and you don't have a protokofl how to deal with this issue and you're still grappling with ways that you could have optics take precedence as opposed to the underlying fact-finding investigation. if this is a qualified person who is able to convey questions in a way that's open-ended, that is not trying to tiptoe and walk on eggshells but also tries to get the questions answered in a way that's respectful and allows the senators with their role to figure out the criteria and qualifications are there for judge kavanaugh to be on the supreme court so be it, but either way the terms need to be applied that she has to as the wednesday not be in a situation where she is simply in a

combative lion's den and that's beneficial to justice kavanaugh as well. >> i just think it's, dana, hit it which is it's -- it's politically speaking, it's -- it's a no-win situation. i think if you gave every republican a truth serum and said would you rather have the hearing they would all say we not, not because they don't think it's important to hear the story, to detail the allegations and talk to brett kavanaugh and his response, but because they are extremely concerned and some ways haunted by the anita hill in 1991, pros proceedings. they worry so much about how it looks. again, if you bring a woman, in an independent counsel sort of person in there may be, but thing that you've learned i think from all of these events that are broadcast to people through television, you never really know how it plays until it plays out. rick lazio thought it was a great idea to walk in front of hillary clinton and say will you sign this at that debate in 2000

and it didn't work out this way. >> i find it hard to give complete benefit of the doubt is good conscience is who has governed people's need to repeat anita hill. the concern of looking back and being the overbearing berated arlen specter during that hearing and what's going to happen if we get this wrong? that's governance. >> there's a lot more news unfolding, including another very alarming story and alarming breach of airport security. a man who has a commercial pilot's license, get this, manages to sneak on to an airliner parked for maintenance. what was he planning? we'll be right back.

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♪ tonight we're learning some alarming new details about a bizarre incident in florida where a man is under arrest after jumping an airport security fence and sneaking onto an airline that was parked for maintenance. let's bring in brian todd who's working the story for us. what are authorities saying? >> reporter: one official said, quote, obviously there seemed to be planning involved here. this young man had a commercial pilot's license and officials are trying to ascertain just what his motive was. in the middle of the night, a flight school student sneaks onto a parked airliner, leaving

his car running, authorities say he jumps a fence, runs across the tarmac and boards a plane that was parked for maintenance. maintenance workers said they saw a shadow. >> a maintenance employee spotted the intruder and notified the airport police department which was on the scene and able to arrest the subject within two minutes. >> reporter: he twiet twice attempted to enter the flight deck and after he was caught he was tried to reboard the plain. he's 22 from the european nation of trinidad. records show he got a commercial pilot's license in january. he faces charges of attempted theft of an aircraft, burglary, but no word on what his motives

word. authorities say they prevented something that could have been much word. >> our security worked just fine. >> just last month a worker took off in seattle flying for an hour, while talking to controllers. >> this that broken guy, got a few screws loose, i guess. >> reporter: fighter jets were scrambled but after an hour he crashed. still the incident raised concerns about whether airliners parked could be stolen. security experts say ever since extremists crashed four planes on 9/11 any attempt to access a plane is concerning. >> we've seen what can happen on 9/11 with terrorists going to flight school, gaining access to the dock pilot. so this incident will be a

concern as they investigate. >> one area they could investigate, the suspect's ties to trinidad and tobago. >> trinidad has been a country in which a significant number of extremists have travelled to syria, to iraq, to join isis from. >> now we have to emphasize as our terrorist effort siess, there's no known connection between this person. but there is concern out there. that's one of many things that investigators are looking at tonight. >> very significant -- potentially significant development. brian todd thanks for that report. more breaking news, president trump's former personal lawyer, reportedly giving hours of interviews to the special counsel, robert mueller and his team about his dealings with russia. how valuable is michael cohen as a witness in the russia investigation?

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show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. happening now, breaking news, cohen cooperating. new reporting tonight that the president's former lawyer may have spent many hours talking to robert mueller's team about russia, possible collusion and more. could this be a huge turning point in the investigation if both cohen and manafort are telling all. prepared to testify, the woman accusing the president's supreme court nominee of past sex assault says she's willing to tell her story after all with conditions and not on monday. her lawyers trying to negot