criminal defendant donald trump. today michael cohen confessed to committing federal crimes with and at the direction of donald trump in a conspiracy to help him win the 2016 presidential election said this about the possibility of donald trump running for president in 2024. >> 2024 is three years away. and it's a very long time especially when you have the district attorney and the attorney general's office breathing down your neck. they don't just have the document that they got from the tax returns, they now have rudy guiliani documents as well. this is a multi-facetted investigation. there's many tenticles that are going to be grabbing at trump, at don jr., ivanka, eric, the kushner's you name it and a host of other people. i really believe they need to come down, come back to reality. >> leading off the discussion are adam kaufman who served as executive assistance district attorney and chief of the investigation division at the manhattan district attorney's office. and also msnbc analyst and host -- of hell and

that donald trump represents. marco rubio has the job of defending donald trump. >> yeah, grab the popcorn. i would say you know even if you are not a democrat, a republican who believes in democracy, marco rubio seems afraid of everything. val demings seems to be afraid of nothing. there is a real contrast in terms of strength and kyle clark character. obama won it in 2012. trump opens up a few points in 2020. you have to look at the senate picture in totality. the democratic party in my view, this is not just maintaining control in 2022 as important as it is. the 2024 cycle in the senate is brutal for the democrats. you got joe manchin and we are not playing that much offense, maybe now to campaign against cruz being a presidential year or maybe rick scott. you have to maximize in wisconsin and you have to protect warnock and kelly. you have to have some states like florida. this time there were few people in politics. they ended up determining the president of the senate control. florida is really important. i

trump is the real story of donald trump 's life now. and he knows that. he is so much more worried about that than what liz cheney said yesterday. he is much more worried about the prosecutors closing in on him than any of that stuff. >> yes, and he has to be because he has to work on it constantly and he has to pay for the legal defense. and i will tell you, i just got a note from the control room, lawrence, while we've been talking, we at msnbc on our show have just confirmed with the new york attorney generals office what cnn reported a few minutes ago which is that in fact the new york attorney general says the trump organization investigation is no longer purely civil, it is now an active investigation of the trump organization in a criminal capacity. we've confirmed that and so that is for real. and you're right, that's the center of his universe right now and in short order, will probably be the sum total of his universe. >> and there's more than a few ways that a business can be involved in criminality but there are tax evasion

one, each knows donald trump and the trump children very well. number two, each of them is cooperating with prosecutors against donald trump. and the convening of a grand jury is very significant because it's a really unique investigative tool. it is not something you start unless you have serious evidence as a prosecutor. and andrew is exactly right. this panel is going to work three days a week. that has to make donald trump nervous. they're working a lot more longer hours than he ever did. and all is focussed on him. and the grand jury is a secret thing. so when people go in, like, you know, perhaps the people you had on your show yesterday, they don't go in with their lawyers. they go in by themselves. that's for an iortant reason because, you know, maybe their lawyers are paid for by the figure head of the criminal enterprise or something like that and telling them what to say. when that witness goes in, she or he tells her truth only to these people on the grand jury and the prosecutor. it is a powerful tooth for getting at the truth, and t

children. >> i think donald trump is going to flip on all of them. >> i do believe that donald trump only cares for himself. what's going to happen when all of a sudden they turn around and start asking him about his tax returns or the devaluation of the assets or the way he took deductions. i don't do my taxes, it is my accountant. he's going to say don jr. handles that or ivanka handles that. >> leading off our conversation tonight, the lead prosecutor in the mueller investigation, tim o'brien is with us and senior columnist for the bloomberg opinion. he's the author of the book "trump's nation." the new york times confirmation of what has been reported, the new york attorney general's office has been criminally investigating the chief financial officer of former donald j. trump's company for months over tax issues. andrew, you had 24 hours to deliver what was breaking news exactly 24 hours ago. we do have some additional information, what's your reading of legal jeopardy for donald trump now in the state of new york? >> a couple of thoughts. allen weisselberg is clearly in the sit

and donald trump knew was coming. a trump advisor tool political today, there's definitely a cloud of nerves in the air because of the grand jury investigation in new york city where prosecutors have obtained and are studying donald trump's tax returns, for evidence of possible bank fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud. the washington post reports quote, the district attorney also is examining the compensation provided to top trump organization executives, people familiar with the matter have said. prosecutors reportedly are hoping that added pressure on donald trump's longtime accountant the so-called chief financial officer of trump world, allen weisselberg, whose own taxes are under criminal investigation of, will convince weisselberg to cooperate with investigators. as he has actually done before in a trump investigation. the trump adviser told politico, i think the weisselberg involvement and the wild card of that makes the political situation more real. the fact that they are dealing with a numbers guy who just has

one of them is donald trump. but for the head of the caucus to unite the party and not divide it, the sole focus needs to be on pushing back against democratic policy. >> so, linda, what about that argument? it's time for the country to move on. it's been four months. yeah, we're going to have an investigation of the insurrection but it's time to move on and put that in the rearview mirror? >> well, i think that's exactly right. just tell it to donald trump. he's the one that won't move on. i think what alice said about the 2022 elections is absolutely right. if republicans have any hope of controlling the house of representatives, they've got to win back districts they lost in 2018 and 2020. internal polling bit republican national committee shows that donald trump is deeply unpopular among republican voters and all voters in those swing districts. so, he had a 15-point deficit in his unfavorable rating over favorable rating in those swing districts. the only way you're going to win those seats back is by offeri

it was not breaking news to donald trump. washington post reports that the notice from the attorney generals office was sent in late april two attorneys for the trump organization. it suggested that criminality could apply to actions by current and former company executives and employees if the investigation finds wrongdoing, the person familiar with the matter said. the disgraced president of the united states was banned from food and other social media issued an old-fashioned press release today, the first sentence of which was a lie, according to the washington post reporting that donald trump's lawyers were informed of the criminal investigation in late april. donald trump's statement today said, i have just learned through leaks in the mainstream media that the democratic new york attorney general has informed my organization that their investigation is no longer just a civil matter but also potentially a criminal investigation working with the manhattan district attorney's office. and so tonight there is still taking it

he started add fred trump's accountant. donald trump made him the coo. donald trump will have a hard time saying he didn't know. the prosecutors will have a hard time that ties him through evidence to knowledge of this. that's why witnesses will be important. donald trump doesn't use e-mail and has a long practice of deny blts. >> this is what michael cohen about what he might do if he feels backed into a corner. >> i think donald trump will flip on all of them. what do you think about that? including his children. what's going to happen when they turn around and start asking him about his tax returns or about the devaluation of the assets or the way that he took deductions. i don't do my taxes. it's my accountant. he will point the finger. he will say don junior handled. ivanca. don't take me. take melania. he will tell them to take every one except himself. >> in a public corruption type of case, eric trump testified under oath. how likely is it they become a finger pointing exercise where every one is trying to blame others. how does that impact a kin

he bowed to donald trump. so he adores donald trump. and that trump knows and has relied on as this trusted and probably the only trusted party left other than family. but you put allen weisselberg and like you said everyone has a heart. i would question about that when it comes to donald, and i mean that. but weisselberg will not -- he will not go to jail, and he will not let his children be thrown under the bus, so to speak. because there is no pardon coming down the road. the only thing that trump has to offer right now is money, and i don't know that money would pay off jail time. >> final question. if donald trump did something over the line in these recent years within the statute of limitations, do you think he left enough fingerprints for these investigators? >> trump has a way of getting people to do things he wants them to do without saying, do this. and cohen talked about that, too. that is the way we all lived there. it is not like i'd like to see this. what would it be like if this happened? maybe this should happen but not

he's very loyal to donald trump and the trump family. remember, he started working for donald trump's father before donald trump took over the company. he's been there for decades. so you would have to, i think, have very strong evidence and very significant jail time exposure for allen weisselberg in order to get him to cooperate. >> it's a very good point. daniel, thank you so much for breaking all of that down as we search for answers here. much more on this including a reaction from a trump biographer next. and they're finally deciding to condemn markry taylor greene's comments after she compared mask rules to the holocaust. we're going to show you the explicit response to the gop leader. >>> and why the biden administration shut down a secret covid origin investigation that began under president trump. ♪ you've got the looks ♪ ♪ let's make lots of money ♪ ♪ you've got the brawn ♪ ♪ i've got the brains... ♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700 click or call to switch there are never enough hours in the

in the end, one, they are -- well, they are afraid of donald trump. he's afraid of donald trump. donald trump doesn't want this commission to happen because he thinks it's all a witch hunt and it's all a fraud and whatever else excuse he's going to come up with to try to throw sand in the gears of an investigation that is going to show his culpability in inciting those people to ransack the capitol in order to overthrow the will of the american people with the electoral college vote being certified. i mean mccarthy -- i don't understand -- actually, i do understand what's going on with him and why he had the sudden reversal from january 13th saying, you know, january 6th donald trump is responsible to going to mar-a-lago and kissing the ring of donald trump. kevin mccarthy has always and will forever remain, be someone who cares about power. and right now for him, doing whatever donald trump wants, he believes is going to lead to a situation where republicans will retake the house and he will get the speaker's gavel. that is what this is all about. >> jim, i need you to check my

and that's the case with donald trump, the perception is that donald trump is a very powerful person. and if you believe he is powerful, he is. the truth is, i think he is a paper tiger. i think he's never made a real decision in his life and he is scared of his own shadow. but i think that is part of the reason people are like, they just see donald trump is a powerful figure with powerful movement. and maybe there are right, i just don't think they are. emily: when it comes to individuals seeing trump as a powerful person, i'm wondering how your colleagues see it when you speak with them in the house. how many of them really believe that trump won 2020 election, and that things were rigged against him, and how many are just going along with it because, as you mentioned, they might be worried about political consequences? rep. kinzinger: i truly, truly, emily, that may be two of my fellow colleagues in the house believe that the election was stolen, maybe 10. and i say that because i'm putting room and there for people who are not really all that high iq on some things, i guess. i thi

judges doing whatever what donald trump i wanted. donald trump, in fact, said ereo these were trump judges. what it turned out is these judges were conservatives who adhered to the law.ustice and i'm very proud of that. because these judges and justices were gettingcult t smey the left often and at a very difficult time they stood up for the constitution and for the oi rule of law.th so again, these talking points e that donald trump puts out and then are just repeated by people have again and again been provew false by republican officials in arizona, republican officials in georgia, and you now have a legal cases that are, you know,u you've seen i believet it's on- i may be mistaken but some of the conservative tv shows have e gone on and read statements from their lawyers saying we want to make clear something to the s jt effect that people who were on e this show who were saying things that might be similar to that ae gentleman who was justt on, we have no evidence to prove any of that. and we aren't making that claim, because th

he said, republicans would be crazy to walk away from donald trump. if he left the party, he believes they would take half of the party with him. now they're in this quagmire. do they stick with this? it seems like they're going to. this is very much the party of donald trump, and the big lie. >> and mary bruce, what does joe biden do about it? >> that is a very good question. i mean, this is certainly a far, far cry from the republican party that biden often brags about being able to work with when he was a senator. the white house when pressed on this will say, look. biden has a record of working with people when disagree with him, but this is different from that. how do you work with an opposing party -- how does biden work with them when they perpetuate this lie that he lost the election? then just hours later, he's sitting in the oval office trying to hammer out a bipartisan infrastructure deal, and then he comes out and tries to claim to all of us reporters at the white house that no one is questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election. that's

but it also said that facebook could not ban donald trump indefinitely. the company must reassess the penalty within six months. thejudgement reassess the penalty within six months. the judgement does leave away back for donald trump on facebook but for now the dough —— door is firmly closed. and that is a huge problem for donald trump and his hopes of a political return. in a statement, the former president lashed out saying that facebook was an embarrassment to our country. and they and other social media countries must pay a political price. facebook has been essential for mr trump. price. facebook has been essentialfor mr trump. his essential for mr trump. his campaign used essentialfor mr trump. his campaign used it to raise money and micro target voters. he sent and micro target voters. he spent more _ and micro target voters. he: spent more than $200 and micro target voters. he spent more than $200 million in 2020 between his campaign and his bac on facebook advertising. it is notjust an opinion that it was early in essential part of his politi

now that silence is broken we get regular updates from donald trump on this personal web site donald trump himself doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by what's going on he's got his own web site he's now communicating with his supporters however many look at this and say ok 1st it was donald trump who could be next perhaps this has some dangerous implications for freedom of speech and the power of the tech monopolies to influence politics so the need to. continue thanks to kind of that result he's kind of in there reporting from the u.s. . so france's most famous general is waging wars beyond the grave as the country pulls out all the stops to celebrate 200 years since the death debate is raging about whether it's time to cancel the emperor many see him as a genocidal tyrant who killed men who killed millions although his fans do believe he is the nation's greatest ever hero charlotte even ski enters the fray in paris. napoleon bonaparte it's a name that everyone you know is a french emperor colegrove nations 200 years after his death and his ideals still shape france but was n

i think donald trump is a political car wreck. and people slow down and look at the wreck, but they eventually move on. i'm not going where donald trump is taking the party. i don't believe that trumpism is conservatism. he's becoming a jack-ass at a time when we need to have a serious debate about the future of the party and the country. how grow grow the party with donald trump saying most illegal immigrants are rapists and drug dealers? how do you grow the party when he has a level of intolerance that i haven't seen really in my lifetime? >> so it was only a few years ago that lindsey graham was wondering how the republican party could possibly grow under donald trump. remember that. that question. how you grow the party? graham famously changed his tune once he was elected, becoming trump's golf buddy and most ardent sycophant in the senate. and following the violent insurrection on january 6th when graham and his colleague were physically put in harms way by trump's words and his rioters that he sent to capitol hill graham pu

[laughter] howie: robby, if this had happened last year, donald trump doesn't care about gas lines, donald trump doesn't care about shortages and why doesn't president trump confront putin and president biden got a question like that. >> it would be putin, putin, putin. that's what it was under the trump years. this is something that i've noticed. whenever the media gets something wrong or controversy that the democrats are responsible, the media narrative adapts the republicans are pouncing on this line, google the word pounce. that's the word that's used. mainstream progressive news outlets try to use is that, well, the right is using a legitimate thing to their advantage and it's bad that they are doing that. we see that when the media screws up something like covington, jussie smollett. the media got that wrong but the story is not how they got that wrong. why do you care we got that wrong? howie: both things can be true. sarah, a week later the washington post had this headline. biden administration struggles to limit political damage from gas shortage which is the first time there wa

donald trump is not going to take responsibility for what's going on here because donald trump doesn't take responsibility for anything. and he's going to turn around and say, i pay a lot of money to my accountants. i pay a lot of money to my lawyers. i didn't know. i was told to do this. and that's where all of the witnesses are going to come in and all of the documents are going to come in, and it's going to show a pattern, the fact that donald trump is lying, that he was involved, as i have said, going back over two years, that donald trump is involved in every single aspect of every single transaction that took place at the trump organization. >> yeah. and you mention exactly how he treated you in what was later deemed to be you telling the truth on some key issues, calling you a rat. it is interesting to query whether that is the fate that might await mr. weisselberg, depending on how they play it or whether they turn on each other. again, depending on what the underlying evidence is. michael, i want you to stay with me. i want to bring in someone who has a view about how this aff

and it's what donald trump has not been. it's about donald trump. we're repeating things that we all know and what is so remarkable is if you read liz cheney's op-ed, you see what she's talking about, these are just basic statements that, you know, two years ago we would have yawned at. she is somebody fighting for the heart and soul not only of her party, but for what this country stands for. january 6th was a dividing point. i don't have to tell you that. it was a dividing point between two groups of americans, one who believe in the rule of law and believe in the peaceful transfer of power and those who do not. and there were a handful of republicans that stood out on january the 6th, whether you're talking about ben sass or mitch mcconnell or liz cheney, there were a handful of republicans that stood out and said we're about the rule of law. we're not going to steal elections. mitch mcconnell who is going to be in the news today for some other things said it was the single most important vote of his life. and it was. and here we are three, four

you still got donald trump and donald trump doesn't want to talk about policy. donald trump doesn't want to talk about what is best for the republican party which is presenting issues and dealing with issues and dealing with policy issues but he wants to talk about himself and his alleged, you know, the big lie about him supposedly losing the election. that's what he wants to talk about. that's the reason -- that's what forced liz cheney into responding. >> you know, i talked to tom freedman about this last night and there are probably democrats just sitting on the sidelines saying this is republicans fighting among themselves, who cares. for democracy to work, we need two parties at the very least with, you know, who battle over ideas and believe firmly what they believe and argue about it and figure out a way to govern. but if one of those parties is just backing and thrown in the towel on reality and backing the lies of the former president and linking themselves, it becoming a culltive personality, that has implications for the democracy itself. >> absolutel

in the end, well -- they are afraid of donald trump. he is afraid of donald trump. donald trump doesn't want this commission to happen. he thinks it's all a witch hunt and a fraud, and whatever else excuse is going to come up to throw sand in the gears of the investigation that's going to show his culpability and inciting those people to ransacked the capital, in order to overthrow the will of the american people. with the electoral college vote been certified. mccarthy, i don't understand -- actually, i do understand what was going on with him and why he had the sudden reversal from january 13th saying, you know, january 6th, donald trump was responsible to go to mar-a-lago -- kevin mccarthy has always, and will forever remain, be someone who cares about power. right now for him, doing whatever donald trump wants, he believes it is going to lead to a situation where republicans will retake the house and he will get the speakers to count. that's what it's all about. >> jim, i need you to check my political homework on the senate on what i think is going on there. th

you still got donald trump and donald trump doesn't want to talk about policy. donald trump doesn't want to talk about what is best for the republican party which is presenting issues and dealing with issues and dealing with policy issues but he wants to talk about himself and his alleged, you know, the big lie about him supposedly losing the election. that's what he wants to talk about. that's the reason -- that's what forced liz cheney into responding. >> you know, i talked to tom freedman about this last night and there are probably democrats who are kind of just sitting on the sidelines thinking oh, well, this is just republicans fighting among themselves. who cares? for democracy to work, we need two parties at the very least with, you know, who battle over ideas and believe firmly what they believe and argue about it and figure out a way to govern. but if one of those parties is just backing -- has just thrown in the towel on reality and is backing the lies of the former president and linking themselves, it's becoming a cult of personality, that has implic

it's donald trump. donald trump was out of power after january 6. and when kevin mccarthy went down probably with steve scalise and put the paddles on him and resurrected him, he is the one that tweeted something yesterday about horse doping. he is the that keeps talking one about the stolen election. he is the one that isn't unifying. but of course, he's out of power. he is the loser, but he's the one that a lot of people fear. emily: i want to know why you sort of think why that is. i was looking at a poll the other day i reuters. -- the other day by reuters. it showed that 81% of republicans still view president trump favorably. i know that there have been many other polls showing the comments within your party, but at the end of the day, lawmakers are responding to their constituents. why do you think there are so many constituents that are so very loyal to trump? rep. kinzinger: it's a delicate dance. on the one hand, lawmakers respond to our constituents, but we also have to lead. otherwise if you are literally , just chasing public opinion an

what was donald trump doing that day? i talk fog a senior white house official who said he was loving the capitol mob that day. what was he up to? we're not going to get the bottom of those things unless we investigate and it seems like they're going to do it on their own. >> the divide was on full display last night, jim. you saw matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene having their own event, very much in contrast to former house speaker paul ryan. >> once again, we conservatives find ourselves at a crossroads. >> taking advice on party building from paul ryan would be like taking advice from how to interact with your in-laws from megan mark kl. >> if they appeal to one personality or imitations, we're not going anywhere. >> this is donald trump's party and i'm a donald trump republican. >> it was dishonorable. >> we've got clear something up. who won the presidential race on november 3rd for georgia? >> voting for republican leaders are looking for mettle. >> would it not be better to move on and look forward to trump in

trump after the january siege of the capitol, and donald trump's continued posts during the insurrection that the election was stolen, potentially inflaming the violence even further. the irony here is that facebook executives created this independent board to insulate themselves, allowing them to punt these kinds of hot button decisions to outside experts. but in upholding donald trump's ban today, the board punted the final decision back to facebook. joining me now is "washington post" white house bureau chief ashley parker, william byers and roger zakmazee. my apologies if i have to interrupt you to see the president. dillon, to get this conversation started, can you walk us through what this oversight board decided, because it's not exactly clear. >> yeah, that's right. there are two parts to it, which is, one, they upheld the initial decision to place the suspension on trump in light of the fact that they deemed he was encouraging people who were engaged in violence. that was an acceptable decision. what was not acceptable in the eyes of the board was to place an indefinite suspensi

donald trump -- i had so many people who said i don't like what donald trump tweets, but i like his policies, so i'm going to support him. liz chin any, i like her policies but i don't like her tweets. she needs to leave. it's al leej angs to one monday, donald trump. we have to recognize that as a party and recognize that four months ago, we allowed the narrative to lead to an insurgency on january 6th. until we take ownership, we can't heal. >> how long do you fight to stay a member of a club or reform a club that doesn't want you? i'm referring to the republican party. >> look, i've been a republican far longer than donald trump has, and i'm not to let him come in and hijack party and turn it into something that great people like ronald reagan and george w. and george h.w. bush and all the great leaders back didn't want it to be. i'm not going to let donald trump win at that. that's what the fight is about. i believe in what we used to believe in with 21st century solutions, though. >> it was interesting to hear congressman crenshaw. he said, hey, my constituents are asking about x. one o

people stayed home because donald trump said you cannot trust the election results. all right, so democrats won. now, liz cheney is fighting on a bigger principle, and as far as that goes, i applaud her and i hope more republicans, you know, support her. but let's not forget, the party right now is at the state and local levels. and it is full of trumpism. it is full of extremism. and we are going to get -- things are going to get much worse before they get better at that level. we're going to see a lot more extreme candidates get the nomination, which could in fact put in jeopardy the republicans taking back the house in 2022, because all those swing seats they were able to hold onto in 2020, they're going to have more extreme candidates if they don't have the likes of gonzalez in ohio and kinzinger. this is the problem, they're not going to hold on to their power. so i don't think that there's a win per se for liz cheney. but i do think she's on the right side of history. >> perhaps for principle. don, do you think this provides an opportunity or some kind of openi

but donald trump is the master of this party, it is the donald trump party. liz cheney, who has one of the strongest conservative records in the party, was replaced by somebody with a record comparable to many democrats. elise stefanik from new york is a moderate to the point of being almost liberal at least in the context of a republican party that's very conservative. they don't care about that. this point is not about issues, it's not about your philosophy or ideology. it's entirely about your fidelity to the leader, being donald trump. >> peter, moderate to some degree in her voting but not in her rhetoric. >> it's changed. she moved from being a new york state moderate who voted against donald trump on a lot of issues like his tax cuts and other issues to being one of his fiercest supporters, at least rhetorically. that term we saw in the 2019 house impeachment when she was on the committee that was considering the impeachment, she was one of his full-throated defenders. at that point she moved from the more moderate side of the party on ideology, on tru

posts going up on facebook from donald trump and the groups that organize the trump rally on facebook. they summoned the crowd as liz cheney said in the passionate speech and took place on facebook among other places. >> right. throughout donald trump's emergence as a political figure posts including on facebook seemed to really be treading on dangerous ground with inciting rhetoric and certainly perpetuated the baseless claims of election fraud from november on and as they geared towards the certification of the electoral college vote on january 6 the defining moment in the fight against joe biden's election, yes, there was a lot of talk across social media platforms in particular facebook about this group, including organizations i use that toerm loosely like the proud boys gathering there up to no good and the post that got him finally suspended you know it was just within of many and frankly even that he had to be convinced to put anything on there. white house aides who saw the situation at the capitol who had mike pence calling for help to get the president to call off the troop

yet donald trump won florida. the ap has called florida a model for what voting should look like in america. governor desantis has praised how well florida has managed its elections. >> the way florida did it, i think that inspires confidence. i think that's how elections should be run. rather than us be at the center of a bush versus gore in 202 wrb we're now being looked at as the state that did it right. >> the result of 2020 from an administrative perspective was florida had the most transparent and efficient election anywhere in the country. that is governor desantis himself just in february, a couple of months ago. as the "new york times" notes, the state has weakened key parts of the voting infrastructure built after that 2000 election fiasco. let's bring in national political reporter for politico, someone who knows florida politics as well as anybody, mark caputo. first of all, the spectacle yesterday of the fox news exclusive, governor desantis broadcasting to a national audience about a state law and th

when donald trump was elected president, his lawyer actually said, quote, trump had relinquished leadership and management of the organization to his sons, don and eric, and longtime trump executive allen weisselberg. so alan weiselberg is a very integral part of donald trump's business. and two days after the new york state attorney general letitia james announced there was a criminal investigation into the trump organization, nbc news confirmed that her office is also conducting a criminal investigation into allen weisselberg's personal taxes. "the new york times" reporting that investigators have examined whether taxes were paid on fringe benefits that mr. trump gave him, including cars and tens of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for at least one of mr. weisselberg's grandchildren. this development is bad for allen weisselberg, but it might be even worse for donald trump. as "the times" reports, two assistant attorneys general from ms. james' office have joined the district attorney's team, which has been seeking to turn mr. weisselberg into a cooperating witness against m

trump organization, including donald trump. we have been speaking with a number of the witnesses and insiders who are basically the building blocks of this thing, people like trump ceo allen weisselberg's daughter-in-law, jennifer weisselberg. >> allen himself admitted to me that his taxes and pay stubs, he said, i'll never show this. it's supposed to be the guarantor on my apartment, my lease, when i was getting divorced, and he said, oh, no, i can't show my taxes, i can't show my pay stubs. i thought, why not? basically he was saying they're illegal and i'm not releasing them. it was during the cohen sdny investigation. pretty telling. >> this family is going to pretend that it all had to do with allen and that allen was in charge of everything, allen was responsible. and they're all going to flip against allen. >> i think if you take a look at the panel that's here in front of you, ari, you have what i would term to be the trifecta of trouble for trump. if you take a look, you have of course stephanie, who has the melania an

donald trump lost the election. a crowd of his supporters trying to overturn the election and tried to stall the winner over the loser. they are still pushing the big. lie they understand the central goal for the post trump republican party and that's power over all aus. and pr correspondent brian mann has been following stefanik's political bat for years. he shared his observations in a very popular trader threat yesterday. he joins me now. brian, i wonder if you could sort of take me through the congresswoman's career thus far as you followed it closely. >> she arrived here in northern new york, where her district is, describing herself as a class east coast moderate. she went to harvard. she talks about being a new kind of republican. someone who could broaden the appeal of the party. really, that's how she operated for the first couple of years. then, donald trump came along, redefined the republican party, and we saw at least a fonda change your own brand. her political -- tactics, the way she spoke about it. w

donald — donald trump on foreign policy. donald trump on foreign policy. donald trump when he ran in 2016 run on change _ donald trump when he ran in 2016 run on change in _ donald trump when he ran in 2016 run on change in the republican foreign policy, moving away from the interventionism of the bush years which _ interventionism of the bush years which of— interventionism of the bush years which of liz cheney and her dad very clearly _ which of liz cheney and her dad very clearly embraced. there was a split already— clearly embraced. there was a split already there and that split now is widening — already there and that split now is widening because of what you saw after the _ widening because of what you saw after the election and the way donald — after the election and the way donald trump challenged it. thank ou ve donald trump challenged it. thank you very much- _ the gop is doing its best to revise the narrative surrounding the events of january 6th — and mr trump's role in it — but the investigations — both federal and congressional

that's what donald trump never really understood. his own people are around him with a quotation to the effect that what impact does it have on me? what ise the impact on my constituents if that's notwa the question you are asking you should not be a public office. >> the commonwealth of virginia 2015 to 2019. representative comstock joining us for this conversation. thank you for your time. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> we will come to order. today we will hear from former homeland security intelligence officials as well as national security and civilse rights

that donald trump lost. she said to the party, we, as a party, should not continue to pursue this big lie. we should not lie to the american people. for that, she is going to lose her position of authority. to sum up, that speaks to this idea of this democratic centralism that now we are all of one thought and one mind, and that all depends on what you donald trump thinks we should be about. >> it really is like the original party line. the party line is now donald trump won the election, it was stolen from. him you can't go anywhere cross in the party. line that's with the party line is. and -- you know, in terms of who she, is this is a person who is a hard right member of congress. this is not a squish, this is not a rhino, this is not a moderate in any way shape or form. >> that's right. >> which is what is so striking about. what's the litmus test is, has moved away from any plausible ideological count to simply this one about donald trump. >> yeah. it doesn't matter. if liz cheney had come out and said

i think the media desperately misses donald trump. he drives ratings and he drives clicks and they need donald trump in order to get ratings up for some of the stations. howie: donald trump, mara, puts out releases that are sent to reporters and ripped 35 house defects or as weak. president biden is doing all kinds of things. he helped prod netanyahu and when you talk trump, everything gets excited, polarized and television like that. >> well, if you live in front of a television set, sure. but if you read the newspapers it seems like the middle east was the main story this week. donald trump and his statements was not on the front page. so i think, you know, there are a lot of different media worlds and one of them need to fill up the vacuum with a lot of punditry but there are things that happened. howie: i've seen stories about this and next topic but more space for other things. ahead chris cuomo apologizing for privately advising his brother in that sexual harassment probe. when we come back, are the media hyping a change in stat

should donald trump be the future of their party? yesterday we posed that question to three voters in up state new york, two republicans and one former republican. >> as a lifelong republican, do you believe that donald trump is necessary to move the republican party forward? >> absolutely. i love trump. my husband does, too. >> depends on what direction you want to go. the direction i would like them to go, no. >> it's hard to say at this moment. i mean, he still has a lot of people that support him. >> let's discuss all of this with michael steele, the former chairman of the republican national committee, host of the michael steele podcast and msnbc political analyst. liz cheney at the end of the week, with everything that's been going on and all of the hue and cry over what it means for her to be there or not be there and what it says about the party, what do you think is going to happen to liz cheney. is she going to keep that house leadership job or might she lose it to somebody more loyal to president trump? >> she'll lose it t

donald trump remains the leader of the republican party until donald trump decides he's not. >> let's look forward to next week, a vote to oust cheney could happen as soon as wednesday. you tweeted and said cheney should insist on a roller coaster -- on a roll call vote. no secret ballots. talk about why it's so important to do as you say, to have this as out in the open as possible. >> yeah, this interesting. the house republican congress rules are not in liz cheney's favor. that does not mean she can't make motionses to waive a rule or try to have this vote by roll call where each member has to stand and be accounted for. most elections are by secret ballot. now the first question is how is liz cheney's seat vacated? does she decide to resign before a vote? does she decide i don't have the confidence of the conference, i'm going to resign and vacate the seat? does she wait for a motion to vacate the chair which triggers a vote among house republicans? she could move for every american to be accounted for. it takes six republicans that say secret ballot. i think this is a reflection

donald trump knew him fairly well. does it belie the story in any way that donald trump would have even made such an overture to your dad? because if he knew him he would know that arlen specter would have no tolerance for that. >> i just think that is the way that donald trump is. i don't think he cares that much about the listener. he cares more about the speaker. and this is the way he has always operated. he's gotten himself in trouble for doing stuff like this. he was impeached in 2019 over something just like this in relation to the phone call with my father, he was not outed by my father publicly because of their friendship. my father, i think, prized his loyalty to his friend donald trump at that time. of course, that was a different donald trump than the one we have come to know from the public issue. he did, of course, put the fact of the phone call in his -- and he was very angry about the call and very angry about the patriot -- >> was it a break-point in their relationship? >> no, it was not a break-point

it is donald trump. donald trump was out of power. kevin mccarthy went down and put the paddles on him and resurrected him politically back to life. he is the one who tweet something about horse doping. all this weird stuff -- he does not tweet anymore, he sends out a press release. he is the one that keeps talking about biden stole the election. he is out of power and a loser, but he is the person that a lot of people fear. emily: why do you think that is? a poll showed that 80% of -- 81% of republicans still view president trump favorably. i know that obviously there have been many other polls showing within your party. at the end of the day, lawmakers are responding to their constituents. why are so many constituents still very loyal to trump? rep. kinzinger: it is a delicate dance. on the one hand, we respond to constituents, but we also have to lead. otherwise if you are chasing public opinion and public opinion is following leaders, you end up chasing your tail out in traffic. to some extent you look at your tail and wonder wher

it's not just about donald trump and liz cheney. it's about how you treat a woman who speaks her mind, and we heard the references to some members have made to her about being, well, she's that girlfriend that you have a problem with, right? >> yeah. >> all of that is now fodder for the upcoming cycle, and liz will be the tip of that spear. >> yeah. we'll see. so far they don't -- they feel no compunction to course-correct, and i don't even know if they're wrong considered the factors at play. that was enlightening. thank you, sir. >> all right, boss. >>> for republicans, so-called wokeness has become public enemy number one. in states like tennessee, they're trying to stop schools, like a state man date to stop schools from teaching about systemic racism. today in the state legislature, one member attempted to blow everyone's mind with a unique and dubious defense of the morally debased three-fifths compromise. >> by limiting the number of population in the count, they specifically limited the number of representatives that would b

somebody that worked for the trump organization once told me that donald trump has many lawyers, and lawyers that he went to one he didn't want to listen to the advice of the real lawyers. when he was president, we saw this. he manifested that kind of behavior publicly. so we just don't know. we won't have insight until such time, if and when the da decides to make an indictment and some of these documents become part of this public record. but we know that donald trump is really on the hot seat now with this expanded criminal investigation with two prosecutors in new york looking at it. and now this step, which is not unexpected but is consistent with everything we know, which is that the manhattan da is very serious about uncovering potential evidence of protracted and systemic fraud at the trump organization. >> andrea bernstein and david cay johnston, thank you so much for making time tonight. >> thank you. >> this manhattan district attorney investigation which is about to go before grand jury, has been underway for more than two years. of course, since trump was president. it's

donald trump will be 75 years old next month. he spent the better part of 55 years avoiding the consequences of his own actions, thumbing his nose as social conventions, convention acting irrationally and ignoring norms of sort of basic human decency and of course, thumbing his nose at the law and this is the first time in that long stretch of time that he's facing a criminal investigation that he can't exercise any control around. >> and just finally, what is it saying the new york attorney general time is joining the investigation? how much do prosecutors need to go from civil to criminal. >> you have to have some reason, anderson, that's not a decision you just make on a whim. the new york a.g. has been looking at this case for a long time and it appears they found something that upped the ante and stakes for them. it happens all the time as a prosecutor something that started as a civil investigation, civil lawsuit, you find something and say whoa, this is next level stuff. we need to make this a criminal investigation. >> ap

and you will see the very first thing, our story, donald trump. and the leadership eric and donald trump, jr., are the two people listed. so now look, i suppose donald trump can pull a ted cruz and blame his kids here or something like that. but absent that, what this letter is saying is that prosecutors believe that there is, you know, a strong reason to think that the trump organization committed various crimes. and remember, the prosecutors hereto have trump's tax returns. trump lost a battle 9-0. very bad news for him. >> so neal, let me take a second whack at this. this is new york city and state. are there any limits on their scope or powers? can they prosecute for good reason anybody for anything at any time? >> they've got to be crimes, of course. but the new york attorney general, the state prosecutor is involved is very significant for two reasons. number one, before this, this was largely fought by the manhattan d.a., cy vance, who is retiring. second, more importantly, the new york prosecutors, the state prosecutors, have a suite of po

donald trump -- i had so many people who said i don't like what donald trump tweets, but i like his policies, so i'm going to support him. liz chairman, liz cheney, i like her policies but i don't like her tweets. she needs to leave. it's allegiance to one monday, donald trump. we have to recognize that as a party and recognize that four months ago, we allowed the narrative to lead to an insurgency on january 6th. until we take ownership, we can't heal. that's why i think it is so important. >> how long do you fight to stay a member of a club or reform a club that doesn't want you? i'm referring to the republican party. >> look, i've been a republican far longer than donald trump has, and i'm not going to let him come in and hijack my party and turn it into something that great people like ronald reagan and george w. and george h.w. bush and all the great leaders back didn't want it to be. i'm not going to let donald trump win at that. that's what the fight is about. i believe in what we used to believe in with 21st century solutions, though. >> it was interesting to hear congressman crensha