michael cohen talked about individual two, felix sater. a penthouse to putin would entice other wealthy buyers to purchase their own. michael cohen discussed the idea with a representative of putin's press secretary. they add "two fbi agents with direct knowledge to the trump tower moscow negotiations told buzz feed earlier this yeerd that cohen was in frequent contact with foreign individuals and that some of these individuals had knowledge of or played a role in 2016 election meddling." this comes, of course, from the same reporting team that six months ago wrote this piece that almost matches word for word today's indictment. they got it completely and totally right. here to talk about all of it, one of those reporters, jason leopold. everything you said shows up today. the reporting you have tonight, what was this plan and how far did it get? >> well, first, thank you, chris, i appreciate that and the kind words. the plan was discussed prior to january 2016 when michael cohen said that all of the negotiations related to trump tower mos

michael cohen talked about individual two, felix sater. a penthouse to putin would entice other wealthy buyers to purchase their own. michael cohen discussed the idea with a representative of putin's press secretary. they add "two fbi agents with direct knowledge to the trump tower moscow negotiations told buzz feed earlier this yeerd that cohen was in frequent contact with foreign individuals and that some of these individuals had knowledge of or played a role in 2016 election meddling." this comes, of course, from the same reporting team that six months ago wrote this piece that almost matches word for word today's indictment. they got it completely and totally right. here to talk about all of it, one of those reporters, jason l leopold. everything you said shows up today. the reporting you have tonight, what was this plan and how far did it get? >> well, first, thank you, chris, i appreciate that and the kind words. the plan was discussed prior to january 2016 when michael cohen said that all of the negotiations related to trump tower m

here is plimichael cohen workin with felix sater. using the presidential campaign to boost their ability to try to get this done. >> we know that cohen was contact i contacting putin's spokesperson. he's not sarah sanders. this is somebody who is closely involved, side by side with vladmir putin. talk more about that. >> there's a 20-minute phone call that took place between michael cohen and who we believe to be a representative. through our reporting and what we learned through the gifting of a penthouse there were additional conversations in which michael cohen discussed that. he denied he spoke to anyone about that. it appears that he was moving forward trying to get this done. working closely with top officials within the kremlin to try and see that the trump m moscow plan could move forward. >> people who want to get a broad understanding, i highly recommends these stories. thanks to both of you. >> thank you. >>> russia and the mueller investigation have a kind of a nasty habit of getting in the way of trump's moments on the w

walk us through who felix sater is. >> this is a guy who is rumored to -- or alleged to have broken a margarita glass in a bar fight over some slight and a guy who, as you mentioned, is also alleged ties to the russian mob. when the kremlin found out these guys were interested in pursue ago business deal in moscow, when trump was a presidential candidate, i mean, you can imagine vladimir putin salivating over the prospects of running an influence operation to entangle these guys to make contact with them and try and milk this for all it was worth. this is during the height of the campaign. we're talking about 2016 here. the president was clearly lying in his comments about having no business dealings whatsoever with russia. he clearly did. and russia, you can count on it, used those connections and that interest on the part of donald trump to try to expert its influence. >> buzzfeed news obtained renderings for what a trump tower in moscow would look like. how involved would the kremlin be? >> the kremlin is involved in all major business dealings. every single oligarch in russia is a

that that's according to felix sat , sater,. president trump tells rudy giuliani he never heard about the idea. it was one of the topics cohen discussed in over 70 hours of questioning by mueller's team. he's expected to continue cooperating with mueller. but here's the thing that's got to have this president really, really, really rattled right now. the news broke after he turned in his written answers to mueller's questions, including questions about the moscow project. and if the president's answers don't match what cohen now says, that spells big trouble. rudy giuliani says there's no contradiction, and we haven't seen those answers. but robert mueller has. president reacting to all of this just about the way you'd sper expect because sources are telling cnn tonight, he is in a terrible mood, spooked and completely distracted. which sounds about right. a little over an hour after cohen dropped his bombshell this morning, the president stood before the cameras on the south lawn and did what he always does. first, deny. >> he'

look, felix sater had been on the scene with donald trump for some years. he was a real estate adviser. he had a card that identified him as such. and he had a somewhat checkered past. he was a convicted felon who had been implicated in a mobbed up scheme on wall street and then turned government informant. in september of 2015, which is after donald trump has already declared for the presidency, he's -- the campaign is under way. sater pitches this idea for the trump tower moscow project to michael cohen. there's e-mails saying, you know, he shows, you know, this is a way to help make world peace, bring russia and the united states together, help get donald trump elected president and for us to make lots of money. that was clearly the prime motivation here. and, you know, the public story, the narrative from the trump folks, starting with michael cohen after all this emerged after the election was in january '16, michael cohen tries to get in touch with somebody in putin's office, dmitry peskov, the press spokesman. don't even know how to get in touch with

he is a friend of felix saters, right. felix sater is involved in this deal. but i'm not quite certain. none of my sources have suggested it, and i'm not certain that he is the guy i would immediately sort of pivot to. i would be more curious to know who either at the banks or at the kremlin were these individuals talking to. who was working that behind the scenes? >> who at the banks or at the kremlin. >> i feel like i'm following your breadcrumbs a lot these days anthony cormier for buzzfeed news. absolutely groundbreaking work. >> thanks. >> much more to get to tonight. stay with us. ♪ the greatest wish of all... is one that brings us together. the lincoln wish list event is here. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with $0 down, $0 due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. only at your lincoln dealer. and a complimentary first month's payment. if your moderate to severeor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio®, the only biolo

felix sater:"i don't know putin. i've never met him but if this deal was going forward, i certainly would have started working the phones."cohen also worked with felix sater - a russian- american businessman - and outlined an itinerary to travel to russia to discuss the deal.cohen even contemplated that then candidate-trump would also visit russia, writing:graphic: "my trip before cleveland. donald trump once he becomes the nominee after the convention."sater was in close contact with cohen during the campaign....and boasted about his ties to vladimir putin. graphic:"our boy can become president of the usa and we can engineer it,"sater wrote. graphic:"i will get all of putin's team to buy in on this, i will manage this process."the trump tower moscow deal never came to fruition....but the changing story from michael cohen has congressional leaders calling for more investigations....and more coordination with mueller. rep. adam schiff:"this i think only underscores the importance of our bringing mr. cohen back before

they even considered offering vladimir putin the penthouse in trump tower moscow according to felix sater, a russian born business associate of trump's who worked on the project building with michael cohen. buzzfeed is reporting that penthouse would have been worth $50 million. here to discuss, walter schaub, the former director of the office of government ethics and david kay johnston, is the author of "it's even worse than you think, what the trump administration is doing to america." gentlemen, good evening. every day, there's something. so david, i'm going to start with you because you know, trump started pushing for a moscow deal in the '80s. here he is back then in russia with his then wife. this is ivana trump, right? was the moscow building the holy grail for donald trump? >> well, donald had this vision of having trump towers all over the world with his name and abn faux gold letters. there have been i believe five different attempts to get a building like this. the idea of giving the penthouse apt however to the modern czar, smart business move because many oligarchs might feel

that is according to felix sater, a russian-born one-time business associate of trump's who worked on the project with michael cohen. confronted with news of cohen's plea, the president dismissed him as weak, claimed it didn't matter because he could do whatever he wanted during the campaign. but remember, all this means is that then candidate trump was trying to do business with russia in the middle of a campaign that russia interfered in to help elect him. so let's discuss now. we have lots to discuss. john dean is here. jack quinn. good evening. today's developments, gentlemen, it's really -- just when you think it can't get any more twisted, it gets -- i know this is not a word. twisteder. it gets more twisted. so john, i'm going to start with you. back in august sources close to michael cohen told me that they saw parallels to your story. right? >> yes. >> after what happened today, do you think there are parallels? >> well, there are some. he's an obvious insider. he didn't try to end it inside, as i happened to do. but when it came time to stand up, i think he did. when i look

sater, one of trump's business associates. i think we all know donald trump sr. doesn't do e-mail and donald trump jr. does do e-mail as far as i know. was he informed of anything related to the moscow project? that would contradict what he told the senate intelligence committee. remember also that donald trump jr.'s position and donald trump sr.'s position is that they never discussed the trump tower meeting which was also in june of 2016. that has always seemed highly questionable to me. today's developments put that in -- in question as well, plus the trump position is that roger stone may have talked to donald trump frequently during the campaign but they never discussed wikileaks which was obsessive interest to both donald trump and roger stone, the fact -- i mean, all of these things come together make the trump position factually more difficult to maintain. >> kim, i want to ask you because there was something the end of this document. it ends like one of the writers and producers here described it as a cliffhanger. mue

he is a friend of felix sater, felix sater is involved in this deal. none of my sources have suggested it and i am not certain he's the guy i would immediately pivot to. i'd be more curious to know who either at the banks or at the kremlin were these individuals talking to. who was working that behind the scenes? >> who at the banks or at the kremlin. okay, i feel like i'm following your bread crumbs a lot these days. >> sorry. >> anthony cormier, buzz need news. much more to get to tonight. stay with us. to remember at the lexus december to remember sales event. lease the 2019 es 350 for $399 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. [ horn honking ] [ engine revving ] what's that, girl? [ engine revving ] flo needs help?! [ engine revving ] take me to her! ♪ coming, flo! why aren't we taking roads?! flo. [ horn honking ] -oh. you made it. do you have change for a dollar? -this was the emergency? [ engine revving ] yes, i was busy! -24-hour roadside assistance. from america's number-one motorcycle insurer. -you know, i think yo

looking at the testimony of felix sater and others to determine what does this tell us about their truthfulness. >> as the president signs a trade deal with mexico and meets to talk about another deal with china. a meeting that the world is watching and certainly markets are to see where the global economy is headed. we've got to begin this morning with one thing. the president in argentina with a big g-to meeting should be the top of mind but instead president trump spent a lot of time doing damage control. attacking robert mueller on twitters and defending the moscow project he spent years flat out denying. first, i want to set the stage for what we know right now. the stakes are huge. it could be key to the stock market soaring or tanking for the rest of the year. any distractions could be a problem. boy does the president have a big one right this moment. we know that yesterday his longtime attorney and fixer michael cohen pleaded guilty to lying to congress. he specifically lied about the president's repeated attempts to secure a real estate deal in misco, now admitting he talked to the pr

sater, another business associate of donald trump, were planning to gift the $50 million penthouse in trump tower, moscow, to vladimir putin. so there's the possibility of bribery there. there's also the question of whether donald trump was lying to american voters about the basis for his historicly pro—russia foreign policy of unilaterally dropping sanctions on russia and, if he was lying, there's the possibility of conspiracy to defraud the united states. the buzzfeed allegations and they're in the new york times as well, buzzfeed quite some time ago, one of that proven. buzzfeed quite some time ago, none of that proven. what about this issue, the president says, look michael cohen is lying about something that was no secret. everybody knew about it. in fact, he did say he had no business ties to russia. he has kept on saying that. yes, he said that consistently, from the very beginning of his campaign. i rhink we have to remember that michael cohen is the 20—year lawyer, fixer and consiglieri for donald trump and he has repeatedly praised his character over the years. so for hi

sater, another business associate of donald trump, were planning to gift the $50 million penthouse in trump tower moscow, to vladimir putin. so there's the possibility of bribery there. there's also the question of whether donald trump was lying to american voters about the basis for his historicly pro—russia foreign policy of unilaterally dropping sanctions on russia and, if he was lying, there's the possibility of conspiracy to defraud the united states. the buzzfeed allegations and i think they're in the new york times as well, buzzfeed quite some time ago, none of that proven. what about this issue — the president says, "look michael cohen is lying about something that was no secret. everybody knew about it." in fact, he did say he had no business ties to russia. he's kept on saying that. yes, he said that consistently from the very beginning of his campaign. i think we have to remember that michael cohen is the 20—year lawyer, fixer and consiglieri for donald trump, and he has repeatedly praised his character over the years. so for him to now call him weak and a liar sugges

sater. that is a way to essentially get the regulatory system greased. get this greased. he said he wants it, you get it greased. this is interesting to me. a columnist in the new york post said what are they doing? why are people picking on president trump? today i'm not such a skeptic. for starters, we know between the plea deal and the special counsel, robert mueller they were seeking business opportunities as trump was securing the gop nomination. given the nature of both trump and putin, the ideas might have been discussed and is it possible to dismiss? even out here in the world of commentary, mueller is breaking through, if you will, as he gets closer to the top of the pyramid. >> i can tell you from a hill standpoint, democrats in the house let go of this discussion for a long time. they were focusing on potential obstruction of justice and the president's interaction with the justice department and now after this week with all these new revelations, they are 100% saying collusion ag

. >> reporter: cohen also worked with felix sater, a russian american businessman to discuss the deal and cohen even contemplated that cohen would visit russia saying it was his trip before cleveland. sater was in close contact with cohen during the campaign and boasted about his ties. our boy can become the president of the united states and the we can engineer it. i'll get all of putin's team to buy in on this and i'll manage the process. the trump tower moscow deal never came to fruition, but the changing story for michael cohen has them calling for more investigations. >> this only underscores the importance of bringing mr. cohen back before our committee and also looking into this issue of whether the russians possess financial leverage over the president of the united states. we believe other witnesses were untruthful before our committee. we want to share those transcripts with mr. mueller. >> reporter: so while additional congressional probes of cohen could pop up, it looks like his sentencing could come fairly soon. his attorneys have asked to merge this guilty plea with the

what communication did you have with michael cohen, felix sater and others, including foreign nationals about russian real estate developments. and we also know he answered this question. what involvement did you have concerning platform changes regarding arming ukraine? eli, you picking up anything else that we now know he has answered? we know those were on the list of questions that his lawyers obtained from mueller at the very beginning of the year. >> i know at least some of his attorneys are not all that confident, even in the answers that the president put down in writing and sent to the special counsel. we've heard from rudy giuliani saying, look, this is the truth as he remembers it, but, you know, trying to create a little leeway here. this is a sticky situation for the president. he's never really played by the rules in business, in politics. he endeared himself to a lot of supporters by flouting a lot of the rules. he's personally operated with this cockiness, this belief that whatever happens, he'd get away with it. that may be coming back to haunt him now until a couple we

there were efforts by felix sater to try to set up meetings in russia. so this was certainly a deal they wanted to get done. now, whether it was what cohen has called puffery or salesmanship, it doesn't materialize and no money got made on the deal. but, again, it just shows the interest around the president of the united states in doing business and doing deals with russia. and everybody keeps lying about it. >> that really is the most stunning thing today with the special counsel walk through all of this. matt, thank you as always. it's good to have you. >>> coming up, how michael cohen's guilty plea this morning is connected to that infamous 2017 steele dossier that painted a picture of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. you're watching msnbc. your brain changes as you get older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. ♪ the greatest wish of all... is one that brings us togeth

felix sater, who worked on the project with cohen, said it was an idea considered as a marketing ploy for the moscow project. even though trump said he had no active russian business interests during the campaign, now he says it only made sense to keep potential deals like the moscow project in the works. a seeming contradiction to some of his earlier claims. >> i was running my business while i was campaigning. there was a good chance that i wouldn't have won. in which case i would have gone back into the business. and why should i lose lots of opportunities? >> i built an unbelievable company. but if you look there, you'll see there's nothing in russia. >> now, of course, it's not illegal for donald trump to mislead the american people. the big question, though, is whether in his written answers to special counsel robert mueller those line up with the latest we know now about this moscow project and how long discussions went on about it, jake. >> sara murray, thanks so much. back with my experts. just to underline this, the president said in january 2017, no deals that could happen

anyway, pursuing the trump tower project in moscow, michael cohen teamed up with felix sater, a russian-born american citizen helping plan cohen's trip to russia and pushing the deal, he wrote co-inghen in 2015 saying boy could become president of the usa, we can engineer it. i will get all of putin's team to buy in on this. i will manage this process." it sounds like mob talk. according to the "washington post," sater told cohen he could get president vladimir putin to say great things about trump. where do i go with this? let me go back to tom on this. put it together. money, politics. what, i mean, we're not even talking the dossier for a while now. it is so -- it's so connected, all this stuff. >> it really is, chris. i think that's kind of the biggest thing we're trying to figure out at this point. i mean, i think we're a good six, seven months behind where robert mueller actually is in this investigation. i think really tellingly today, chris, they decided to set the sentencing for what michael cohen pleaded guilty to today for december 12th, which is also the date that he's going to b

how russian born real estate developer and as i recall, one time snatch our informant for the fbi, felix later, how does he figure into the mix? i know that that is a whole other discussion, but there were conversations in 2015 as i recall into you 2016 about the project and what sater to build as the benefits. but the deal never went through. >> bill: part of the court documents they were just reading to us, it doesn't mean i'm not allowed to do business. he later said we had a position to later do a deal in moscow. i did not do it. they would be nothing wrong if i did do it. is anything in this document today on behalf of michael cohen, does it contradict anything that he just said? >> you know, i'd say what was tabled in court today doesn't conflict with that, and when i look at this two page summary that was provided to the senate intelligence committee, the one area that there does appear to be a conflict is that cohen told the senate intelligence committee to the best of my knowledge, mr. trump was never contacting anyone other than me on two occasions. a nonbinding letter of inten