michael cohen -- sean hannity says of michael cohen, we have been friend a long time. i have sought legal advice from michael. possibly the shortest two sentences sean hannity has ever uttered. katy phthang. several questions. first is, does the fact that michael cohen represented three people in 2017, one of which is sean hannity, is that significant? >> other than it being mind blowing, and unexpected. i mean, the lawyers for cohen were trying to fight the disclosure pretty harshly in court with the judge. and the judge made a decision right there on the bench to say you have got to disclose it now. she astute autoly said ali that the legal standard was not meant to hide the identity of that client. so she said disclose it. so they did. now it makes you wonder why, right? why would sean hannity need legal advice from the fixer known as michael cohen, especially knowing what he has done for not only donald trump but for elliot bradentony. >> tom, the judge didn't cause michael cohen to explain why he had sean hannity as client? >> no. i mean, there was no -- and micha

michael knows real estate. >> despite knowing michael cohen for years and the raid on michael cohen's office and home he never disclosed a connection with the president's attorney. that connection to cohen remained murky until to court hearing where hannity was revealed to be cohen's third client. then "the guardian" published a bombshell. >> new tonight sean hannity trying to fight back after a report saying he's related to a series of shell companies to buy nearly 900 homes across the country. >> dozens of the properties were purchased in 2013 at a discount caused by foreclosures. at the time hannity repeatedly criticized former president barack obama about foreclosure rate. >> and the dream of owning your own home has been made a nightmare under obama for many americans. >> some of hannity's properties were reportedly paid for with mortgages backed by housing and development something he didn't disclose when he had ben carson on his show in 2017. with each passing day the trump orbit grows larger. stormy daniels, karen mcdougal, keith davidson, elliott broidy, and now sean hannity

michael's my attorney, and you'll have to ask michael. >> michael avenatti wasn't the only lawyer who bounced. in a letter delivered to federal judge wood today just about the hearing of the evidence of michael cohen, federal prosecutors quoted donald trump on fox & friends this morning as supporting the prosecutor's claim that there is very little material in what they seized from michael cohen that is protected by michael cohen's attorney/client privilege with donald trump. the letter says, quote, president trump reportedly said on cable television this morning that cohen performances a tiny, tiny little fraction of his overall legal work. in the hearing today in the cohen case with the agreement of both sides the judge appointed a special master, a referee, who will help decide what evidence, if any, is protected by attorney/client privilege. the master is barbara jones who was chosen for her judgeship -- she has been in a private practice the last five years. and prior to her career as a judge, she was an assistant u.s. attorney and worked under republicans and democrats. michael

michael's my attorney, and you'll have to ask michael. >> michael avenatti wasn't the only lawyer who bounced. in a letter delivered to federal judge wood today just about the hearing of the evidence of michael cohen, federal prosecutors quoted donald trump on "fox & friends" this morning as supporting the prosecutor's claim that there is very little material in what they seized from michael cohen that is protected by michael cohen's attorney/client privilege with donald trump. the letter says, quote, president trump reportedly said on cable television this morning that cohen performances a tiny, tiny little fraction of his overall legal work. in the hearing today in the cohen case with the agreement of both sides the judge appointed a special master, a referee, who will help decide what evidence, if any, is protected by attorney/client privilege. the master is barbara jones who was chosen for her judgeship -- she has been in a private practice the last five years. and prior to her career as a judge, she was an assistant u.s. attorney and worked under republicans and democrats. michae

michael's my attorney and you have to ask michael. >> you'll have to ask michael cohen. well, it sounds like the fbi and the justice department got that message loud and clear. steven ryan, a lawyer representing michael cohen today issued a written statement saying, quote, today the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of new york executed a series of search warrants and seized the privileged communications between my client, michael cohen and his clients. i have been advised by federal prosecutors that the new york action is in part a referral by the office of special counsel rachel maddow. the decision by the u.s. attorney's office in new york to conduct their investigation using search warrants is completely inappropriate and unnecessary. it resulted in the seizure of protected attorney client communications between an attorney and his clients. these are also wrong because mr. cohen has cooperated with all governmental entities, including providing documents to the congress and sitting for depositions under oath. nbc has confirmed something reported by the

michael is my attorney. you'll have to ask michael. >> reporter: so certainly downplaying the relationship today, john. of course, now this raises a fresh new set of questions including that the president, as he said this morning, said michael cohen only did a tiny bit of business for him. it raises questions about what information and what conversations they this is truly privileged, of course. we know that is something that is going on now after the fbi agents raided michael cohen's home, office and hotel and got a whole bunch of information. now we're going to see how that complicates this and what the president said today. >> kaitlan collins at the white house, thank you for explaining that. >>> joining me now, ileana johnson, two separate things here, all within that one piece of sound we just heard. on the one hand, a slight contradiction or movement on what michael cohen's relationship was vis-a-vis stormy daniels and the case there and the fact he was representing the president on that case. on the o

>> no. >> why did michael cohen make it? >> you'll have to ask michael cohen. michael's my attorney and you have to ask michael. >> do you know where he got the money to make that payment? >> i don't know. >> did you have ever set up -- >> i'm sorry i couldn't hear your response earlier about scott pruitt. >> about who? >> the president answers three quick questions about stormy daniels before he finds his way back to the safer grounds of refusing to answer any more questions about stormy daniels. to question one he says no, i didn't know michael cohen made a deal with stormy daniels, question two, why did he make the payment, i don't know the president says you have to ask michael question. to question three, do you know where he got the money to make the payment? the president says, i don't know. imagine, imagine how stunned donald trump was by that first stormy daniels question. so stunned that he gave a one word answered. so flattened by it that he didn't overwhelm the question with a barrage of words and immediately change the subject. he was so stunned th

michael rothfeld has written, boss, i michigan yss you so muc exile of michael cohen. we spoke earlier tonight. >> this piece is fascinating. the relationship between donald trump as president and donald trump as a citizen and michael cohen, it's certainly i guess complicated would be the easiest way to explain it. the president seems to have insulted michael cohen for years, publicly and privately. >> right. we reported that back in 2012 when michael cohen's son was having his bar mitzvah, trump said he was going to come and didn't show up. everyone was waiting for him, they even delayed the blessings. cohen was calling him and asking him to come up and trump gives an insulting speech like michael was begging me to come here, he wanted me to come but you know him, he never lets up. >> and what -- i mean it does seem to -- the relationship basically seems very one-sided. i mean i don't quite understand michael cohen's motivation for -- i mean what does he need from donald trump? i don't know -- one can't get in somebody else's head. but it seems like with donald trump,

i never received an invoice from michael. i never paid legal fees to michael. but i have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which i wanted his input and perspective. >> jill wine-banks if what sean hannity just said was true, was he a client of michael cohen's? >> it's really a side show to debate whether he was or wasn't a client, because the only relevance is if there is a document that has some legal advice that he gave -- that michael cohen gave to sean hannity whether that would be attorney/client privilege. otherwise it doesn't matter. normally you wouldn't even reveal the name of your client, the fact that you represent someone is part of attorney/client privilege. so the fact it's public is already a violation of attorney-client privilege although under these circumstances it was inevitable. he was probably a client in the sense he might have given him $10 to get advice under attorney/client. that would create it, it's an unusual circumstance but that would make him enough of a client for attorney/client privilege. u

michael avenatti has once again legally corn erred donald trump and michael cohen and forced michael cohen to make a dramatic admission tonight. the first big admission michael avenatti legally forced out of donald trump is that donald trump is, indeed, david dennison, the president of the united states actually used the alias david dennison. when president trump's lawyer first went into federal court in los angeles to move the stormy daniels case out of state court, that was the first time that the president officially admitted in a court filing that he is david dennison, the name that appears in a confidentiality agreement with stormy daniels. that was a huge thing for the president of the united states to formally admit that he used an alias in a confidentiality agreement with an actress and director who calls herself a porn star. and he was forced to admit that because of the legal steps taken by michael avenatti on behalf of stormy daniels and then because michael avenatti continued to press his case in court and in the court of public opinion, michael avenatti forced donald tru

or a different michael cohen. he had a passport. it's possible to have a second or third poassport. if you have his travel documents, financial records, you can answer the question which michael cohen it was who made that trip that was mentioned in the dossier. >> all right. so, let me -- you just stacked like three plates on top of each other. let me try to unpack them for my little brain. there have been a whole bunch of people whose crime for the crimes that they've been charged with and they pleaded guilty to was lying to the fbi. are you suggesting that it's possible that he simply got caught lying? and because it's outside the purview of russian collusion, that that maybe was referred to the u.s. attorney's office in the southern district to be dealt with as a separate case? >> that's possibly a fourth plate, nicolle. >> fourth plate. >> in the process of doing these interviews that there may be a separate investigation here by the fbi into michael cohen who is involved in a bunch of interesting transactions

>> michael cohen. and don't forget, these payments were red-flagged, the payment to stormy daniels was red-flagged by the bank. and he has apparently set up llcs in a number of cases. i don't know if he did it in the karen mcdougal case. i think that is of interest to the banks. and also don't forget, we have the president on the record denying that he had had an affair. now, i don't know if there's nothing illegal about lying to the media, but you do have that out there. one more thing i want to add to what michael is saying is that i was told by a source, look, michael cohen has represented the president in dozens and dozens of legal cases over the years. not just stormy daniels and not just karen mcdougal, but a whole host of things, and that potentially opens up the president as well. >> julie, which raises the question whether there were other hush agreements that michael cohen worked out with other women over the years. >> well, it raises that question. it also raises a whole host of other questi

michael cohen under criminal

what michael says. >> yeah. look, lawrence, the one heartening thing about this is jay goldberg represents the notion at some point in his life, donald trump hired actual lawyers who had actual brains in their heads and could make basic legal and strategic assumptions before hiring clowns like michael cohen who don't qualify as lawyers in any meaningful way. jay goldberg is making the obvious observation. it's the same observation that michael avenatti, who i've been spending a lot of time with this week, i've been with him for the last three days, he's convinced, as goldberg is, that michael cohen who donald trump did not take him to washington d.c. when michael cohen wanted to go, that michael cohen, who's going to be looking at significant jail time in michael avenatti's view and apparently in goldberg's view, that this man is going to stare down jail time and stand up for donald trump and say i'm going to go to prison rather than roll over on donald trump who has not treated me particularly well, has not sto

that is something that michael cohen apparently did very well. >> before michael cohen became entangled in a presidential scandal, he was the kid from the suburbs who revered donald trump. >> michael was drawn to him, his personality, his brashness, his approach to life. >> i think they both defined they wi themselves by what they wear, drive, what they can buy and sell. >> will that admiration and loyalty be enough to protect the president? >> i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, good man. >> attorney client privilege is not a magic wind. if he is helping you commit a crime. >> if he flips, you are in trouble. >> he said he would take a bullet for the president. when he said it, he sounded like he meant it. >>> hello. welcome to a special edition of "headliners." in a political landscape full of colorful characters michael cohen stands out. he leapt to the front page with plot twists worthy of a legal thriller. how did he get here? >> breaking news. it's a bombshell. >> tonight, a dramatic fbi raid at the new york office and hotel room of michae

call michael. when it comes to questions about the president's alleged relationship with adult film actress stormy daniels and the $130,000 payment michael cohen says he made to her right before the election, the white house response, the president's response personally has been to tell reporters they need to talk to the president's lawyer, call michael cohen. we're not answering, ask him. well, today as cohen's office and hotel room were raided by the fbi carol linnic, tom hamburger, and doug barrett at the "washington post" were first to report that what the fbi did today, seize records related to that payment to stormy daniels, what the fbi was after appears to be much broader than that. "michael cohen, the long-time attorney of president trump, is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations. fbi agents today raided cohen's manhattan office home and hotel room seizing records about cohen's clients and personal finances. investigators took cohe

michael: great writer. michael: ed bradley. jeff: coolest man on earth. michael: lesley stahl. jeff: deft reporter, hardest working woman i know. bill: hard-working. i mean, she is in early -- yes, the hardest working person. michael: andy rooney. jeff: oh, curmudgeon for sure. loved being andy rooney on and off the air. loved him myself and miss him so much. bill: i miss so many things that he hated, that i hated too. >> [laughter] n andyl: i love to tell a rooney story. michael: sure. jeff: andy loved to party. he was always at a party and always had his maker's mark on the rocks. and i remember being with him once when they didn't have makers at a bar, and he said, they never have the bourbon you want. >> [laughter] jeff: we were at the super bowl. i can't remember how far back, but we were at a party at the super bowl and i said, andy, you got to meet this guy bruce, come over. i said this is bruce, he is the cfo of the cbs television network. he is the guy who signs your check every single week. he is the guy responsible for all that money at cbs. without looked at him los

her attorney, michael avenatti is already there and so is michael con, as well. dr. glaude, let me come back to you. i think joyce made a point here that's worth making. every day multiple times a day that these are not normal times in which we are living. >> by no stretch of the imagination. we're witnessing every day, craig -- every single day -- the executive branch, the presidency, diminished in some sort of way. here we are spending our time with stephanie clifford, with stormy daniels, kind of paying attention to the salacious dimensions of that story. and also trying to wrap our minds around perhaps a level of corruption we haven't seen in the modern era of this country. i still think that we have two things lurking in the background here. we have the michael wolf book which we kind of threw away for a while after that hullabaloo around his publication. he talked about michakchael cohs the fixer. it is not just stormy daniels. there are all sorts of ndas out there. there is the steel dossier. there is a reporting out there that michael cohen was in prague. the

have to ask michael cohen. well, guess who watches tv? robert mueller. because today on a tip from mueller, the fbi raided cohen's office, seizing records related to several tops including payments to a pornographic film actress. >> stephen colbert gets tonight's last word. stormy daniels' lawyer will respond to the news that stormy daniels is cooperating with federal investigators. michael avenatti is in "the 11th hour" with brian williams, and that starts now. >>> breaking tonight, is the president starting to make his public case to fire robert mueller? the white house press secretary claims for the very first time today that the president has been advised that he has the authority to do so. >>> also breaking tonight, "the new york times" reveals that donald trump wanted mueller out back in december. it's the second time that we know of that the president sought to shut down the investigation. one of the reporters who broke that story is here. >>> plus news that stormy daniels, the porn star paid off by the

ago and said michael cohen is my lawyer. the highest level of justice has just signed off on an fbi announced raid on the president's personal lawyer -- >> why was it -- we don't know everything. >> we don't know. >> but it doesn't stop from opining in the thousands -- >> i'm saying that i suspect -- to say this is not a big deal strikes me -- >> i do want josh as a former special agent, you are saying it is not true that the no-knock midnight raids are only done on bad guy drug dealers with guns. go ahead. >> that is right. and this isn't any disrespect for mr. urban, points for creativity. i understand the position he's in. but fur a law enforcement officer and focusing on a crime it doesn't involve those that are dangerous but those destroying evidence but the fact is the point that was made has nothing to do with what i just said a moment ago. >> josh -- normal for the fbi -- >> -- and the department of just. >> it is normal for the fbi to no knock and guns drawn on a matter like mr. manafort? that is a normal procedure.

cohen, the office of michael cohen, and the hotel room occupied by michael cohen. and since the evidence at issue in today's court proceeding overlaps with evidence sought by stormy daniels' lawsuit, the judge invited stormy daniels' lawyer, michael avenatti to be present in court today. and he is present here at the last word tonight. this time, when michael avenatti went to court, he brought stormy daniels with him. >> for years mr. cohen has contacted like he is above the law, he has considered himself -- referred to himself as mr. trump's fixer. he's played by a different set of rules or should we say no rules at all. he has never thought that the little man, or especially women, even more women like me, matter. that ends now. my attorney and i are committed to making sure that everyone finds out the truth and the facts of what happened, and i give my word that we will not rest until that happens. >> leading off our discussion now, michael avenatti, the attorney for stormy daniels, and jill wine-banks former assistant watergate special prosecutor and msnbc cont

look, this is from michael cohen back in 2015. michael cohen tweeted saying hillary clinton, when you go to prison for defrauding america and perjury, your room and board will be free. >> wow. >> i think many people around the united states, to quote the president, are wondering who's going to be in the orange jumpsuit first. could it be michael cohen? could it be some of these others who are pleading guilty? it's really a terrible crisis for the country and yet people are talking about this. the president is talking about it as if it's personal and it's all about him. >> we don't have a sound bite. they found no collusion with russia. you have it. let's play it. >> say found no collusion with russia. the reason they found it is there was no collusion at all. no co collusillusion. this is the most biased group of people, these people have the biggest conflicts of interest i've ever seen. democrats, all, just about all, the democrats are and a couple of republicans that worked for president obama. >> what is he talking about? is he

he has known donald trump much longer than michael cohen has known donald trump and unlike michael cohen jay goldberg has served donald trump in court as a real lawyer in touch situations. jay goldberg is himself a former federal prosecutor and has decades of experience watching the way fbi investigations work and what they can lead to. and with all of his legal experience and his personal knowledge of donald trump and his acquaintance with michael cohen, it is jay goldberg's carefully considered legal judgment that the cohen case is more dangerous to his friend donald trump than robert mueller's investigation, and that if michael cohen turns against the president, which jay goldberg thinks is an absolute certainty, then michael cohen's testimony could lead to the impeachment of the president of the united states. jay goldberg joined me in a discussion earlier this evening, and here is just some of what he had to say. >> let's take your theory out to its logical end. >> yes. >> michael cohen cracks. you said there's less than a 1% chance -- >> it's not the issue -- >> let's take it throu

have to ask michael cohen. well, guess who watches tv? robert mueller. because today on a tip from mueller, the fbi raided cohen's office, seizing records related to several tops including payments to a pornographic film actress. >> stephen colbert gets tonight's last word. stormy daniels' lawyer will respond to the news that stormy daniels is cooperating with federal investigators. michael avenatti is in "the 11th hour" with brian williams, and that starts now. >>> breaking tonight, is the president starting to make his public case to fire robert mueller? the white house press secretary claims for the very first time today that the president has mueller? the white house press secretary claims for the very first time today that the president has been advised that he has the authority to do so. also breaking tonight, a new york times reveals that donald trump wanted mueller out back in december. it's the second time that we know of that the president sought to shut down the investigation. one of the reporters wh

client. >> i have known michael a long, long time and let me be very clear to the media, michael never represented me in any matter. i never retained him in the traditional sense as retaining a lawyer. i never received an invoice from michael. i never paid legal fees to michael but i have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which i wanted his input and perspective. i assumed that those conversations were attorney/client confidential. >> he seems to be saying i am not really a client of cohen. now regardless of the exact nature of their attorney/client relationship even if it is as hannity says on twitter exclusively about real estate. >> hannity reported as if he had no connection to the story on fox news. >> this is a fox news alert, michael cohen just had his office and home and hotel that he was staying in raided by the fbi early morning. what it means that mueller's witch huaunt investigation is a run away train without clear tracks. >> oh yeah this guy also represented me, no mention of that and he passes along legal advices. sean hannity also t

let me go to is michael schmidt still on? michael, what's your reaction to this? >> let me go to jennifer on this. the legality of this question. we were talking about this whole question of scooter libby and this pardon offer. what's it say to the people out there keeping information away from the prosecutor right now who might want to flip now? >> well, it's troubling obviously because they're trying to develop these witnesses and already have developed witnesses in rick gates and michael flynn. if he were to pardon them, all of a sudden, what's going to happen with those witnesses? it seems to be a message to them given the timing. it's questionable whether it's an obstruction in and of itself. he's clearly incidentally interfering with the investigation. you have to prove intent to show it was obstruction. >> ashley, this question of the dossier looking more profoundly accurate now. the fact that elements in it now will, what did or didn't happen in the hotel but the question how that aretative presented to the government about the role trump played in russian

i never received an invoice from michael. i never paid legal fees to michael. but i have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which i wanted his input and perspective. >> i'm joined by former federal prosecutor and reverend al sharpt sharpton, host of "politics nation" here on msnbc, and a friend of "the beat," if i may. before we get to big answers, yes or no, should sean hannity have disclosed this? >> well, obviously, it's important. >> yes or no? >> yes. >> yes. >> i'm going to play, too. yes. this is a pretty basic requirement. question number two, each of you, why wouldn't he? >> he had something to hide. make him seem more distant from the story than he was. >> i think that clearly he wanted to beat the drums for donald trump and not appear like he had any reason other than that was his opinion, and i think what he has done has undermined his own credibility as a journalist because all he had to say in full disclosure i'm doing his legal adviser and lawyer are the same. he can't have it both ways, ari. one of the things

michael cohen, you know, admitted paying and michael cohen said the president had nothing to do with this. >> so, gloria, that's the moment and that's when the president said "ask michael cohen" and according to the court documents this is coming back to biete hi. >> it is. it clearly is stated in a footnote here. they're saying even if the president is michael cohen's only client, the michael cohen, the president said personally he did not know anything about this. and he did not know anything about the payment and you'd have to ask michael cohen. so if he's denied knowing about it, they are, you know, they are saying that these communications there should not be any communications. because they wouldn't be, you know, if he denies knowing about it, then why is michael cohen worried about it? because it never happened. if we believe that the president is telling the truth. and so, obviously, they're saying this stormy daniels matter is really not covered here. and they are questioning at every turn. michael cohen's assertion that he not only work for donald trump. that he had five ot

michael, thanks for joining us. what can you tell us about all those payments made through that delaware company? >> this company is central consultants michael cohen first established in 2016 and he used it to pay stormy daniels, the former porn star, $130,000 to cover up her alleged affair with donald trump. and so we reported on friday that he also negotiated a nondisclosure agreement for venture capital elliott brody. so we learn that the fee for this deal went to central consultants, the same company that was used for stormy daniels. then when elliott broidy found that central consultants was used for stormy daniels, he made the first of the payments and said, hey, i don't want to use this anymore, i want to pay you guys directly. >> a new story about an alleged affair with donald trump jr. was shut down by attorney michael cohen. what can you tell us about that? >> this first came out when donald jr.'s wife filed for divorce, there was allegations that he had had an affair with a member of a singing duo back i

can michael flynn come back? >> well, i think that the fact that he is planning that and the president is tweeting means that he has some very serious information that the president does not want divulged. and as he is watching michael cohen sending signals, she's very concerned that flynn knows he's in his corner. >> we'll be right back. 0 feet a. 0 feet a. but how do you really know that the beans journeyed to the port of mombasa and across the pacific? that you can trust they're 100% authentic? ibm blockchain. a smart way to track every step, ensuring this coffee did indeed come from 6,000 feet above sea level. and not a foot lower. ♪ ♪ guarantee. and so should you. on struts, brakes, shocks. does he turn everything to gold? not everything. now get $100 back on a 2-axle brake service with your midas credit card. book an appointment online. with your midas credit card. play [music plays]his". when everything's connected, it's simple. easy. awesome. you. >> my thanks to renato, bill, reverend al. don't miss

michael, thank you so much for joining us this evening. so let's talk about your reporting, that one of the president's long time legal advisers jay goldberg warning him about michael cohen, that he could flip. what else could you tell us about that warning? >> basically he said that in his long experience as a criminal defense attorney and a prosecutor that essentially someone can say, you know, i'm going to stand by you, i'm never going to crack. but when a family man like michael cohen and he's facing the prospect of criminal charges, time in jail, he's got kids at home, that he's almost certainly as jay goldberg says is going to flip and turn on the president. so he said you just have to be very careful. you may trust this guy, but in my experience he's going to crack. even mob figures crack when they're under. >> interesting. tell our audience about jay goldberg. this is someone who's been a key figure in president trump's personal life. >> that's right. he has 50 years of legal experience both as a prosecutor on the federal level and

i'm not going to say michael is going to lie. i'm worried about michael. michael cohen got screwed the most i ever saw by anyone, by donald trump. and what i worry about is what michael's going to say when he's called in by someone like andrew wiseman about the banks. >> krystal, you have worked in politics. it is a nonpartisan fact that loyalty is prized in politics. the difference is whether you have ethical and legal lines around how you pursue loyalty. because there's also loyalty to the country. >> right. >> your view of these people and their view of loyalty -- you mentioned the bullet -- is michael cohen in a place where as the fbi goes through this material, as he's under this heat, his loyalty remains only to donald trump, not to his higher obligation as a lawyer or a citizen? >> well, up to this point, what we've seen is exclusive loyalty to donald trump. so if past is an indication of what we expect to continue to see, you know, that loyalty has been second to nothing else including claiming to pay his own personal funds to stormy daniels in the

michael rothfeld has written, boss, i miss you so much, the exile of michael cohen. we spoke earlier tonight. >> this piece is fascinating. the relationship between donald trump as president and donald trump as a citizen and michael cohen, it's certainly i guess complicated would be the easiest way to explain it. the president seems to have insulted michael cohen for years, publicly and privately. >> right. we reported that back in 2012 when michael cohen's son was having his bar mitzvah, trump said he was going to come and didn't show up. everyone was waiting for him, they even delayed the blessings. cohen was calling him and asking him to come up and trump gives an insulting speech like michael was begging me to come here, he wanted me to come but you know him, he never lets up. >> and what -- i mean it does seem to -- the relationship basically seems very one-sided. i mean i don't quite understand michael cohen's motivation for -- i mean what does he need from donald trump? i don't know -- one can't get in somebody else's head. but it seems like with donald trump,

they don't know who michael cohen had kept or was taken. but i am guessing, the president's own lawyers don't know what the president has done with michael cohen over the last ten or however many years, 12 years. >> so as we know, as we reported earlier today, there was the phone call between the president and michael cohen and my understanding is that the president's lawyers had urged him not to make that call. and he made it anyway. we don't know details about what was said. but lawyers are always going to be concerned about that call. both michael cohen and the president are not always forth coming for the people who are working for them. and so right now, you are kind of flying blind. i mean, they really don't exactly know what they are looking at and they are not going it know until more information comes out from prosecutors. that is a scarey proposition if you are a lawyer even if it all turns out there is nothing the president has denied any wrongdoing. but not knowing what is there, is scarey for an attorney. >> it is hard to overs

if michael cohen did something wrong, if the president and michael cohen did something wrong together, that's on the two of them. that's not on jeff sessions. again, jeff sessions is the attorney general of the united states. he's not the president's personal attorney, he's not there to protect president trump from being held accountable for anything he might have done wrong or protect the president's associates for being held accountable for anything they might have done wrong. that is one thing this president still does not understand. if he sees this as a personal attack and he puts people in these jobs, they should be people loyal to him and who protect him. not to be loyal to the united states of america and the constitution. >> the president says it's an attack on our country, it's out of bounds. michael cohen's attorneys can now go to court. they can challenge this warrant. they can go to a judge and say, this is out of bounds. they can air their case. paul manafort has done that, saying the special counsel is out of bounds here. you're going to see 27 pages here way lot of bla

the president and michael cohen. mostly from michael cohen. and what we did five or six weeks ago, joe, is that weapon sent a mental and the message was this. my turn. it's my turn. enough of the nonsense and the lies to the american people about what happened in connection with this payment. and we're going to continue to control the narrative and the microphone until somebody rips it from our hands. >> michael, i said during the republican primary to the republican candidates, and i have said to democrats now, that the only way beat donald trump is you say in his face, you smo smother him, keep on him, keep hitting him. i was critical, i have been critical from time to time, but as john and i were discussing last night, it seems that you have outplayed donald trump at his own game time and time again. so, i mean, there is the legal side of it, but when you're going after donald trump, obviously, there's also public relations is very important. and i will say, on this score, has anybody, have we seen anybody since donald trump who has become

michael cohen's. let's move closer. "access hollywood," a month before the election, that comes out. what are they looking for? the "access hollywood" tape as it relates to michael cohen and his involvement. 11 days before the election stormy -- stormy -- that issue comes out. and so to what extent if any was this directed and related to the campaign and done and designed to protect trump and in other words the entire force of this goes to the motivation of circumventing campaign finance laws. so you want a law that could potentially be broken, it is that one. the motivation for doing it, it is to protect the candidate and if you get all of that together, then you have your violation of law and then you have michael cohen and then, wolf, you get to trump. >> and it is interesting, jamie, that the rage in new york on michael cohen -- the raid in new york on michael cohen office it was referred to the u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york in manhattan. so how does this fit into the broader investigation? >> w

he had michael cohen on a million times. he never disclosed to his viewers that they have this relationship. >> right. that's what's missing. >> where he seeks legal advice from him. >> right. >> but hannity gets to play with the facts in terms of whether he's a journalist or not, he said both. >> but it doesn't matter. >> he blurs the line. >> does it matter if he's not a journalist, should he have had to disclose all that? >> it does still matter. the disclosure is that he calls me humpty dumpty for some reason. don't know why and i enjoy covering him. he's a really interesting phenomenon because he does blur these lines. he says journalism is dead and says he's not a journalist yet he calls his show real news and has anonymous sources. he tries to visit both ways. as a result there are certain standards. i think some of his viewers would have wanted to know about the cohen relationship, even if they like it. oh, good, my guy hannity is tight with trump's people. that would be a positive thing. i think this story shows us

cohen because michael cohen is a lawyer, michael cohen is a diligent attorney who has confidential communications all the time with his many clients and therefore all his documents and communications are or ought to be off limits to prosecutors and the fbi, god bless attorney-client privilege. that's been the defense. several problems with that strategy emerged fairly quickly. first, prosecutors were quickly able to pry out of michael cohen an admission from him that actually he has only three clients. he does not have a gazillion clients. he has three. one of them, he says, is a host on the fox news channel, who quickly made a public declaration that actually michael cohen never really did any legal work for him at all. "michael cohen has never represented me in any matter. i never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees." okay. so not a lot of legal production that's going to turn up in a raid of michael cohen's files in that case. that's client one. client two, rnc official elliott broidy, who says michael cohen briefly represented him recently on just one discrete matter. michae

michael michael knows real estate. >> despite knowing michael cohen for years and the raid on michael cohen's office and home he never disclosed a connection. that connection to cohen remained murky until to court hearing where hannity was revealed to be cohen's third client. then the guardian published a bombshell. >> new tonight shawn hannity trying to fight back after a report saying he's related to a series of shell companies to buy nearly 900 homes across the country. >> dozens of the properties were purchased in 2013 at a discount caused by foreclosures. at the time hannity repeatedly criticized former president barack obama about thefore closure rate. >> and the dream of owning your own home has been made a nightmare under obama for many americans. >> some of hannity's properties were reportedly paid for with mortgages backed by housing and development something he didn't disclose on his show back in 2017. with each passing day the trump orbit grows larger. stormy daniels, karen mcdougal, keith davidson, elliott broidy, and now shawn hannity with michael cohen as the common thr

i know that you know michael and you like michael. and again there is such a disconnect from what we see on tv and for people who know michael cohen personally. most people really like the guy in person. talk about that story and what could only be called an abusive professional relationship. >> what i've seen up close over the last 11 years with michael -- i've not seen any of that play out. clearly, when you have a guy like trump and you are working by his side, probably whether you're his kids or michael or anybody else, there are going to be those moments, that's the guy you're working for, this is not a sweet, loving, nurturing guy to any of his employees. i do know michael loved donald and in some twisted way, he does. he was affected when he wasn't brought to washington. donald said look, i need you watching the store. i need you watching the kids, kind of that's where i need you. and michael understood that and took that at face value. i think personally he was disappointed. he, you know i don't think he necessarily would come

i never received an invoice from michael. i never paid legal fees to michael. but i have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which i wanted his input and perspective. >> jeffrey toobin, your response? >> well, there seems to be some disagreement between michael cohen and sean hannity about whether they ever had a legal relationship. and that is potentially significant because if sean hannity is telling the truth there, then their conversations would not be privileged. and any relationship between them would not be privileged. certainly if sean hannity did retain michael cohen he should have disclosed that because he's been a big advocate of michael cohen on his television and radio show. that is a matter of journalistic ethics and not a legal issue. but there does seem to be a difference of opinion here about whether there ever was an attorney-client relationship between the two of them. >> and laura, one of the things that sean hannity made clear to say was that michael cohen never represented him with any third party matter

let's listin. >> so i've known michael a long, long time and let me be clear to the media, michael never represented me in any matter, i never retained him in the traditional sense as retaining a lawyer, i never received an invoice from michael, i never paid legal fees to michael. but i have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which i wanted his input and perspective. and i assume that those conversations were attorney-client confidential. but -- and the other thing i need to point out to the media that is apparently going insane over this, not one of any issue i dealt with michael cohen on ever, ever involved a matter between me and any third party. >> so daniel goldman has just been seated. he joins our chorus of smart voices and former u.s. attorney. and in the words of sean hannity, this is no big deal and i called him up for advice, why were they so funny about disclosing his name. >> because hannity didn't want to be revealed he is the client and now turning into a whole side show circus. about what is interesting about what he said is that he's

i never paid michael cohen for legal fees. >> but earlier on his radio show, the fox news host suggesting those conversations were protected under attorney/client privilege. >> i might have handed him ten bucks. i want attorney/client privilege on this, something like that. >> on a nightly basis, hannity repeatedly blasts the special counsel's investigation. >> we have now entered a dangerous new phase and there's no turning back from this. mueller is out to get the president and it appears at any cost. this is now officially an all hands on deck effort to totally malign and if possible impeach the president of the united states. >> reporter: but hannity has never disclosed his connection to cohen. law professor alan dershowitz schooled hannity last night on his show. >> you could have said that you asked him for advice or whatever, but i think it would have been much, much better had you disclosed that relationship. >> reporter: the drama didn't stop there. stormy daniels swarmed by the press as she walked into the courthouse

i never received an invoice from michael. i never paid legal fees to michael. but i have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which i wanted his input and perspective. and i assume that those conversations were attorney/client confidential. >> so, wolf, it's not entirely clear. did not say the nature of the work that sean hannity and michael cohen were involved in but the fact is that the attorneys did say that sean hannity did not want his name associated with this case, he did not want his name out there but despite all that, the judge ordered it released. >> and in a subsequent tweet sean hannity said those conversations with michael cohen dealt almost exclusively about real estate. i'm sure we'll learn a lot more about this. amidst all of this, stormy daniels was at the hearing as well. what was she doing there? >> she came purely as a spectat spectator. michael avenatti floated this idea that she would appear and did just after 2:00 right before the hearing started. she sat in the back of the courtroom with her attorney.

michael, what do you make of michael cohen's legal team using in court today your own timetable for what you say could be a potential criminal indictment against him in new york, basically trying to use that against you to try to slow down your civil lawsuit. >> well, i mean, i thought, anderson, it was cute. but beyond that, it wasn't very effective. the judge isn't going to make a decision based on the timetable that i provide publicly. he's going to make a decision based on competent, admissible evidence, and he found, to quote him, that their motion, their attempt had gaping holes, closed quote, in connection with it. so, you know, i think they're in a bad place as relates to this motion. and i think the judge sees through it. i don't know what he's going to ultimately rule, but we were very, very pleased with how the hearing went today. and, you know, this is really a continuation, anderson, of donald trump and michael cohen, trying to be cute in their approach to things. it's no different than donald trump not signing the nda. now we have michael cohen not wanting to go on record a

he was referring to what michael avenatti said on television, that michael avenatti said he would be indicted in 90 days. he was quoting michael avenatti who has been