one was allen weisselberg, the other was jason greenblatt. it's still strange to me that jason greenblatt's name hasn't surfaced at all, and general counsel in the trump organization. donald would always turn to allen and jason, or to -- get a stamp of approval on anything. i think jeff mcconney and matthew calamari's name, would also come up in the future. having said all of this, as andrew pointed out, the idea that allen weisselberg is not cooperating is true only in the narrowest sense. he now has to go to trial with he's over the coals now. this sort of sword hanging over his head that is found to be lying in as much as 15 years of and there might as well be a prison. cooperation agreement in place, b is going to, i think, be a material witness against the trump organization. a thing to remember is the trump organization has been in financial trouble over the last two years. it has an enormous amount of debt, and it's been battered by the covid lockdowns, it's in the worst business you could ever it imagine being. during covid. urban rea

one was allen weisselberg, the other was jason greenblatt. theit's still strange to me tht jason greenblatt's name hasn't surfaced at all, and general counsel in the trump organization. donald would always turn to allen and jason, or to -- get a stamp of approval on anything. i think jeff mcconney and matthew calamari's name, would also come up in the future. having said all of this, as andrea pointed out, the idea that allen weisselberg is not cooperating is true only in the narrowest sense. he now has to go to trial with the sort of sort hanging over his head that is found to be lying in as much as 15 years of prison. he's over the coals now. and there might as well be a cooperation taking place because he is now going to, i think, be a material witness against the trump organization. a thing to remember is the trump organization has been in financial trouble over the last two years. it has an enormous amount of debt, and it's been battered by the covid lockdowns, it's in the worst business you could ever it imagine being. urban real estate

cow us who exactly is allen weisselberg -- tell us who exactly is allen weisselberg? reporter: allen weisselberg is the former chief financial officer of the trump organization. he started back working first with donald trump's father as a junior bookkeeper in the 1970's, and he rose throughout the company to become the head of finances. really, he was key to understanding the inner workings of this family run company. even though he is no longer the chief financial officer, he is still on the payroll for the trump organization. he was seen as a key potential witness for prosecutors as they tried to delve into the trump organization, and different criminal investigations they have going on. this plea deal, it was, in a statement by his lawyer, really a decision by mr. weisselberg to avoid what could have been a 15 year prison sentence if he was found guilty in this tax fraud scheme. laura: is the former president implicated at all, or is it the trump organization itself that is probably going to be implicated? reporter: here in this case, allen weisselberg has admitte

cow us who exactly is allen weisselberg -- tell us who exactly is allen weisselberg? reporter: allen weisselberg is the former chief financial officer of the trump organization. he started back working first with donald trump's father as a junior bookkeeper in the 1970's, and he rose throughout the company to become the head of finances. really, he was key to understanding the inner workings of this family run company. even though he is no longer the chief financial officer, he is still on the payroll for the trump organization. he was seen as a key potential witness for prosecutors as they tried to delve into the trump organization, and different criminal investigations they have going on. this plea deal, it was, in a statement by his lawyer, really a decision by mr. wsselberg to avoid what could have been a 15 year prison sentence if he was found guilty in this tax fraud scheme. laura: is the former president implicated at all, or is it the trump organization itself that is probably going to be implicated? reporter: here in this case, allen weisselberg has admitted

the guilty plea of his financial right-hand man, allen weisselberg. nbc's kristen welker we'll will bring that down now. >> allen weisselberg, the former chief financial officer pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges, admitting he took one point $7 million in untapped unchecked perks, including free rent, school tuition and multiple mercedes automobiles. weisselberg agreed to pay nearly $2 million in taxes and finds, and serve nearly five months in jail. as part of the plea deal, weisselberg is expected to provide information about those business dealings, but not about his former boss. >> and if he does not hold up his end of the plea deal, weisselberg could face 15 years in prison. that is a lot longer than five months. david, you have been reporting on trump's finances for years. how big of a deal is this guilty plea, for weisselberg, for trump, and for the company? >> well, it certainly -- [inaudible] i didn't think i've ever see it. allen weisselberg is perhaps more important in the trump organization than trump was. he was the man who ran sort of a

now, look, pretend this isn't allen weisselberg. most criminal defendants plead guilty, something like 94% of people who are charged with crimes plead guilty. it is not that uncommon for someone particularly in a relatively small in the grand scheme of financial crimes case to plead guilty to something like this. what people care about is he testifying against donald trump and he's not. >> not exactly. not against donald trump as part of the d.a. criminal investigation into donald trump the person. but he is going to testify in the trial against the trump organization, which does include that word trump, which -- it does have an impact on the family. >> certainly it does. and we saw this with trump university. this is a person who is a political figure, relight on his business acumen and business reputation as a key point of credibility. at least prior to his first disastrous term. for this now to sort of be thrown into the category of places where they chisel, places where they cheat the government, places where unlike the rest of

the guilty plea of his financial right-hand man, allen weisselberg. nbc's kristen welker we'll bring that down now. >> allen weisselberg, the former chief financial officer pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges, admitting he took one point $7 million in untapped perks, including free rent, school tuition and multiple mercedes automobiles. weisselberg agreed to pay nearly $2 million in taxes and finds, and serve five months in jail. as part of the plea deal, weisselberg is expected to provide information about those business dealings, but not about his former boss. >> and if he does not hold up his end of the plea deal, weisselberg could face 15 years in prison. that is a lot longer than five months. david, you have been reporting on trump's finances for years. how big of a deal is this guilty plea, for weisselberg, for trump, and for the company? >> well, it is certainly the [inaudible] either see. allen weisselberg is perhaps more important in the trump organization than trump was. he was the man who ran sort of all the organizational and financial asp

allen weisselberg is going to rikers island. this week, a doctor was found dead in rikers island, like, killed in the jail. the correction department captain stabbed in the neck at rikers island complex. this is not club mid med. this is not cushy. >> this is on the one hand. and then you've got to think covid -- >> are you surprised that he is going to, jail for trump, effectively? >> i think it is a pretty good deal for him. when i think about the calculation he made, that he wanted to go to trial, and face, that and just have it continue to linger? or could he get this deal? with good behavior, he will get out in 100 days and he is probably going to have a lot of protection inside? i mean, i'm sure there was a lot of soul searching that went down on this. but i guess i am more just -- surprised at this juncture that i am that he's going to jail -- [laughs] >> [inaudible] and i really shouldn't be surprised that anything. it gives me some energy to say it. >> well, when susanne craig is surprise, we should all be surprised. th

because it means that prosecutors will get to ask allen weisselberg about the crimes he committed at the trump organization, they will be able to ask him under oath who are the others involved in the criminal conspiracy that weisselberg has just pleaded guilty to taking part in, and we do know that there are only a handful of people who could have been involved in that conspiracy, because countless reports over the past few years have revealed that the trump organization isn't the place where decisions are made without sign-off from someone with the last name trump. one of the reporters who has done. so most extensive and detailed reporting on trump's business and his finances is susanne craig, she is part of the team of "the new york times" reports who won a pulitzer prize for president trump's finances and exploded the myth that donald trump was a self made billionaire and revealed that trump's organization was built on a foundation of squandered inheritance and tax dodging. she is exactly the person i want to talk to, today. susanne craig, thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >

allen weisselberg is going to rikers island. this week, a doctor was found dead in rikers island, like, killed in the jail. the correction department captain stabbed in the neck at rikers island complex. this is not club mid med. this is not cushy. >> this is on the one hand. and then you've got to think covid -- >> are you surprised that he is going to, jail for trump, effectively? >> i think it is a pretty good deal for him. when i think about the calculation he made, that he wanted to go to trial, and face, that and just have it continue to linger? or could he get this deal? with good behavior, he will get out in 100 days and he is probably going to have a lot of protection inside? i mean, i'm sure there was a lot of soul searching that went down on this. but i guess i am more just surprised at this juncture that i am that he's going to jail -- [laughs] and i really shouldn't be surprised that anything. it gives me some energy to say. it >> well, when susanne craig a surprise, we should all be surprised. thank you so much for

i want to talk about former trump organization ceo allen weisselberg, just officially pleading guilty to the charges against him. what happened in court and what happens for him next? >> reporter: well, he's going to serve five months at rikers island jail in new york city, lindsey, according to the reporting notes we're getting from our colleague, tom winter, who was in the courtroom. so he's pleading guilty, essentially to 15 counts involving dodging taxes on lavish fringe benefits that were paid to him, including the lease of a car, private school tuition for his grandchildren, a luxury apartment, stuff that the government said was actually compensation, should have been taxed, was not taxed. so he has agreed to serve this sentence and to testify against the trump organization when that company -- not former president trump, but the company goes on trial. but he has not agreed to testify in any capacity against the former president himself, who's not charged in this case. and for that reason, a lot of people are looking at this as sort of a victory for donald trump. his longtime mo

but the fact that allen weisselberg is not going to cooperate against donald j. trump or the trump children is the big news here. and it means that it is increasingly unlikely that we will see criminal charges out of the manhattan d.a. against individuals in the trump organization. >> another case, there are a lot, the ongoing investigation of trump's handling of the classified documents, top secret and otherwise, down at mar-a-lago. the phrase that continues to stick out to me, ongoing grand jury criminal investigation as the doj describes it. does ongoing mean they're considering whether there is criminal liability or they're looking for more documents or both? >> both, jim. we used to say that your investigation is ongoing until the minute the jury comes back with a verdict. you're always continuing to look for more information as a prosecutor. and, yes, i think there are sort of two lanes here. some question about, well, did doj go in and seize those documents from mar-a-lago just because they wanted to retrieve the documents for national security or are they

and the two critical people were donald trump and allen weisselberg. so the fact that he is admitting that they engaged in this practice makes it hard to believe that donald trump didn't know about the practice. it's going make it impossible for the trump organization to defend itself. but at the same time, it's something of a victory for donald trump because allen weisselberg, he went back 40 years, as you say. he knows where all the bodies are buried. the whole point of this case was really to get get allen weisselberg to flip against donald trump on things of much greater significance, and much greater financial amounts involving the valuation of real estate, insurance, potential insurance fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud. and he clearly refused to cooperate. and that's why we saw the resignation of two ranking very high, very prominent, two of the best criminal lawyers, former prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers in the city, mark pomeranz and carrie dunn resigned because of the new incoming manhattan d.a.'s' fusel to move forward with the case. an

now, as part of the agreement allen weisselberg has agreed to testify in the trial against the trump organization that we understand he has not agreed to cooperate in the specific manhattan da criminal investigation into donald trump himself. with us now investigative reporter david k. johnson, he is the author of "the big chief: how donald trump fleeced america and enriched himself and his family." david, great to see you this morning. who likes this deal? who doesn't? >> well, depending on what prosecutors do with this deal, it could be very, very troubling for the trump organization, which is a co-defendant along with allen weisselberg. ultimately this case at least in theory could lead to dissolution of the trump organization as a corporation and require donald trump to hold his properties in his own name, which exposes him to a lot more liability in other matters. >> i think we should focus on that because the headline was, oh, he is not going to cooperate when it comes to donald trump. it's not without some peril, perhaps, for donald trump that you could see the trump organizat

but this will be a live witness, it'll be allen weisselberg, the longtime cfo. he's been with the company for 40 years, going to testify against the company, if it gets to trial. >> is it just testifying in this particular scheme against the company, or the company and other things they may have been involved with? >> that's the thing here, this is just for his testimony in the tax fraud trial. you know, remember, he got charged with this because prosecutors were trying to put pressure on him to cooperate and they're much broader investigation into the trump organization's finance and whether they misled lenders and ensures. but weisselberg was not willing to cooperate with that investigation. so, you know, he was indicted a year ago, july, he's on the cusp of the trial in october. he just lost some motions to dismiss the indictment, he's now come to terms in that he's going to cooperate with this investigation. and for him, he gets some certainty here because according to this deal he, would serve five months in prison with time off for good behavior, we're loo

once allen weisselberg pleads guilty, it is over for the trump organization. he -- the crimes he committed, imputed to the trump organization, so the leverage in terms of the financial consequences to donald trump doesn't mean he's gonna go to jail, but the consequences for the trump organization are huge. and remember, those people think donald trump did this in part, for money, that he's venal. this is a big deal. so, i think that would be number one, focus on the financial consequences of the allen weisselberg deal. and then, down the road, i mean, lawrence, you laid out a litany of criminal and national security trouble, in florida, in d. c., in georgia. and this is a day where you saw a movement on all fronts. and to me, you know, the thing that i thought was probably the most telling was the grand jury subpoena to eric herschmann. there is a guy who can completely corroborate what we heard from cassidy hutchinson. i am sure he has information, also, on the search warrant issues, for instance, i can't imagine he's gonna cooperate corroborate the idea that

any minute now, former trump organization chief financial officer allen weisselberg is expected to plead guilty to charges of not paying taxes on more than $1.7 million in perks, such as rent, car payments and school tuition. the plea deal calls for him to testify against the trump organization at trial. this comes just hours before a federal judge in west palm beach, florida, will be hearing arguments on whether to unseal the affidavit used to justify the fbi's search of the former president's mar-a-lago resort last week. the justice department wants to keep it sealed to protect its investigation, but trump and a number of news organizations including nbc news want it to be released for transparency purposes. all of this one day after trump's former personal attorney, rudy giuliani, spent six hours testifying before a special grand jury in fulton county, georgia, which is investigating efforts to interfere in the 2020 election there. giuliani left the courthouse without saying anything to reporters. his testimony came days after he was informed that he was a target of the investigation.

>> yes. >> allen weisselberg on the check. mr. weisselberg for sure. >> andrew, is it a big deal that the trump org is going on trial and what does today mean? >> it is a big deal. i am somebody who i think like a lot of people prior to today had a lot of skepticism about the manhattan d.a.'s office and whether the investigation was really ongoing in a meaningful way, and i've changed my mind. >> hmm. >> i think this is a big deal. first, there's no question the defense got something out of this, because they capped their exposure to five months if and only if he testifies truthfully. so he has to partially cooperate. he has to take the stand october 24th in the trump organization case, assuming that the organization doesn't plead out and there's going to be a ton of pressure on them now i think to get a plea, but assuming he testifies, it's going to be really hard not to mention the "t" word in that trial. i mean, we're talking about a very small company, and in order for weisselberg to get his five-month deal, the judge today ma

now, in a separate case, moments ago, allen weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of trump's family business, he pleaded guilty to a 15-year tax fraud scheme. we'll have more on that in just a moment. let's begin with katelyn polantz. katelyn, set the scene for us here. >> reporter: this afternoon, kate, we're going to be listening for justice department prosecutors and how much they're willing to say about this ongoing investigation into the handling of classified material, potentially kept at mar-a-lago after the trump presidency. it is going to be about this affidavit, but this say court hearing over secrecy. the justice department says that this is a serious ongoing criminal investigation. it implicates highly classified materials, and that they need protections of confidentiality to keep their investigation going, to keep doing the work that they need to do to decide whether there should be a charge here. on the other side, media organizations are fighting for transparency, including cnn, and have written to the judge saying there is a public interest here. there is a hi

from the time that we learned publicly that allen weisselberg was under investigation, we knew about that due to various reports and leaks before he was charged. the story line is, if you are looking at somebody high up in an organization, they may be able to flip and give evidence against someone higher up. he made clear he was not prepared to do that during the investigation, and they charged him, presumably under the impression that he was going to flip. he made clear he wasn't going to do that. so it's clear that allen weisselberg has limited obligations to testify, and is not implicating trump and nothing in the indictment against the organization or against weisselberg makes much specific reference or indirect reference to donald trump either. so there are other areas for donald trump, maybe georgia or elsewhere, but probably not with respect to allen weisselberg. >> you note all the places donald trump is facing legal problems. florida, atlanta, georgia, new york. there's also on capitol hill where the house is trying to get donald trump's tax returns, just this afternoon, the

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earlier, he spoke with cnn with what's at stake for the former president when allen weisselberg takes the stand in october. here he is. >> donald trump and allen weisselberg are stuck together like two pieces of fused glass. you shatter one, you saddle the other. since you know about all the deceptive practices of the trump organization, when the trump organization goes on trial, now scheduled for just a few days before the fall elections, he can give a roadmap under examination. i don't expect them to go out of his way to cooperate. he may end up be treated as a hostile witness by the prosecution when they call him. >> former president trump or any member of his family has been accused of wrongdoing, weisselberg's case. if the trump organization is convicted, they could be required to pay back taxes and fines, but no one else will go to prison. >> all right. turning now to the war in ukraine. >>> europe's largest nuclear power plant, caught in the middle of the front lines. deepening fears it's a grave risk for catastrophic accidents or worse. the sprawling facility hasn't been inspe

the new york one, is, in your experience, when someone like allen weisselberg seized donald trump being weekend every day with this federal investigation that is going on, does that make him, island muscle, brick any more likely to collaborate against donald trump in that state tax fraud case? and in georgia, what do you make of lindsey graham's attempt to not testify and fani willis is saying about the evidence she has about but lindsey graham did? >> so on weisselberg, which i find quite interesting, i think it certainly doesn't help that -- when he sees what's going on, but i think the more important thing is these are state cases. no one can hope that a republican president is going to come into office and pardon somebody. if he is convicted, that's going to stick, and it's gonna stick for good. he he could try to cooperate. the other thing that the manhattan district attorney's office can do is if he doesn't cooperate voluntarily after the trial, they can just immunize him and put him in a grandeur in for some to testify, and then if he lies then, he will face additional time. so t

just as allen weisselberg has become a felon. so in a concrete way, that may scare off banks, and counter parties, and business interests. donald trump's hasn't taken a lot of interest in his hotels because he is an active businessman, but nevertheless this is gonna hurt. this is the family business. but in terms of hitting trump the man, no. it does seem that that part of this investigation is over. >> what does it mean that he's going to cooperate and testify against the organization, and not the individual. it seems to me, and all the other legal analysts i heard say. this if he testifies, it's gonna be a tough rap for them to beat. anything is possible, but. >> yeah, i don't see. there was a crime here. there is a mountain of evidence. some of it is very interesting. we're talking about a ledger where donald trump was paid, personally, out of this personal bank account. paying private school tuition for allen's grandchildren. writing those checks, and signing those checks. this was in the allocution today. and allen weisselbe

allen weisselberg was indicted at the same time as the trump organization. just a little over a year ago. and in that time period, he's now to the point where he's pleading guilty and then in late october, on october 24th when the trump organization goes to trial, he's going to testify against the very same conduct that just a few hours ago in this courthouse behind us, he admitted to doing. that's namely off the books payments for certain things he received as a result of his employment for the trump organization. he received payments from multiple mercedes benz cars, an apartment. a garage for the cars. as well as several other cash payments. in one instance he used to pay for his grand kids private tuition. none of that would be illegal has he paid the taxes for it. the state, the city taxes for it and had the trump organization properly accounted for it. we wouldn't be standing here talking about it. there's nothing against that type of compensation, but there is something against when you don't pay the bills and now he's going to pay 1.94 million plus t

allen weisselberg entered a guilty plea this morning, 15 felony counts in a tax fraud account. this will compel him to testify against his former company should the case ever go to trial. our reporter is live in new york. walk us through what happened and what it means. >> reporter: yeah, john. so this hearing wrapped up just a while ago. about an hour long, and allen weisselberg was in that courtroom, the judge going through every one of the 15 points that he was pleading guilty to, asking weisselberg if this is what he was pleading to. he said yes, your honor, in a very hushed tone. he didn't give any other statements. but as part of this week, allen weisselberg will have to testify against the trump organization where he has worked for more than 40 years. the manhattan district attorney issuing a statement after this plea deal, claiming victory. he said instead of paying his fair share like everyone else, weisselberg was provided with expensive cars, private school tuition and new furniture, without paying required taxes. this implicates the trump organization in a wide rang

tim, what happened for allen weisselberg and donald trump today in court with a trial date now scheduled? >> in addition to this being the worst week in the courts for trump, lawrence, it's one of the craziest weeks for bad excuses to get cases dismissed lobbying ignored by judges, both lindsey graham said the subpoena against him should be clashed because everyone else who is on the call was wrong. and allen weisselberg said that the new york -- manhattan district attorney shouldn't be allowed to prosecuted because was being prosecuted simply because it was associated with donald trump. and the courts well know, it's apparent that you broke the laws are gonna take this to court to make sure that that was the case. i think the issue now that i think is very interesting in the district attorney's case is whether or not this finally compels allen weisselberg, trump's longtime cfo collaborated and district attorney investigation -- so far he's been much more resilient than anyone thought he would be. i think there was -- i thought he would've cooperated with investigations sooner than he di

once allen weisselberg pleads guilty, it is over for the trump organization. he, the crimes he committed, imputed to the trump organization, so the leverage in terms of the financial consequences to donald trump doesn't mean he's gonna go to jail, but the consequences for the trump organization are huge. and remember, those people think donald trump did this in part, for money, but he's venal. this is a big deal. so, i think that would be number one, focus on the financial consequences of the allen weisselberg deal. and then, down the road, i mean, lawrence, you laid out a litany of criminal and national security trouble, in florida, in d.c., in georgia. and this is a day where you saw a movement on all fronts. and to me, you know, the thing that i thought was probably the most telling was the grand jury subpoena to eric herschmann. there is a guy who can completely corroborate what we heard from cassidy hutchinson. i am sure he has information, also, on the search warrant issues, for instance, i can't imagine he's gonna cooperate corroborate the idea that the

reporter: i think actually when all of this came up originally, when allen weisselberg was indicted in this, many were wondering if he would then start to cooperate with prosecutors, and whetr he inflated the value of his assets in order to get favorable bank loans. remember, allen weisselberg is a long time executive, he started in the company back in the 1970's under donald trump's father. he knows the inner workings of the company. but we come to find out that even with this key deal, even with his willingness here to testify in the upcoming trial against a trump organization, that all along he has been unwilling to cooperate at all into the probes into his longtime boss. so really what we are seeing is that this kind of code of silence has really continued amongst those in the trump organs asian close to president trump. to the dismay -- in the trump organization. there were critical, the fact that charters have not been brought already, saying it has been a great failure of justi and accusing president trump of being guilty of multiple felonies. on the other hand, president trump

it allen weisselberg could have on former president trump?- former president trump? it will certainly have _ former president trump? it will certainly have an _ former president trump? it will certainly have an impact - former president trump? it will certainly have an impact on - former president trump? it will certainly have an impact on the | certainly have an impact on the trump organisation. when you prosecute a company who you prosecuting? you're prosecuting the employees and the officers and the directors of that company. some individuals will certainly be involved to their detriment when allen weisselberg testifies against the organisation later this year. as far as former president trump himself, that's less clear about whether or not he is any kind of personal exposure. he was the president of the trump organisation during some of these years. there could be some direct involvement in some of these tax issues. that is well yet to be seen because it is not any kind of commitment by allen weisselberg to testify against donald trump personally. just auainst do

allen weisselberg's plea deal points to federal tax violations with the trump organization. the court has said, as part of this that it's also true that from at least 2005 to 2021, together with the trump corporation and the trump payroll corporation, jeffrey mcconney and others, you engaged in a scheme to defraud federal new york state, and new york city tax authorities, with the purpose of compensating yourself and other trump corporation employees and a manner so that substantial portions of your income and theirs were intentionally unreported or missed reported by the trump corporation or trump payroll, they will compression to the taxing authority. the defendant, weisselberg says, yes, your honor. connect this to me to any of the larger things going on with donald trump and what role weisselberg will play, if any? >> well, donald trump has, throughout his career, lined and denied in financial records. he tried to cheat the city of new york out of about two and a half million dollars a year, and went through farcical attempts to hide the business records, that's in my bo

allen weisselberg, a long time trusted employee of the trump organization is a fine and honorable man who in the past four years has been harassed and persecuted and threatened in a quest to get president trump. in an effort to put this matter behind him, decided the best course of action for himself and his family was to plead guilty. the two trump companies that the manhattan d.a. has been targeting, however, will not be taking a plea for the simple reason that they have done nothing wrong. as a result we now look forward to having our day in court which quite interestingly has been scheduled for september 24th, around the time of the midterm elections. you mentioned the proximity to the midterm election. what do we imagine not just the political stakes of that trial is obviously not going to conclude before the midterm elections and trump will make it germane to the midterm elections. talk to us through that. >> jury selection starts on the 24th so by the time we hear opening statements and by the time we get to opening arguments we'll be closer to the midterm elections and i'm not

. >>> long time chief financial officer allen weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies on thursday admitting his role in a decades long tax fraud scheme. >>> international community reacting this horror that this could be at the center of fighting. >>> hello and welcome, it is friday, august 19, 9:00 a.m. here in london, 4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast where a federal judge has released a few new documents related to the search of donald trump's mar-a-lago home and the details they contain on the potential offenses sharpen the focus on the former president. the same judge signed off on the affidavit and he indicated thursday that he is willing to unseal portions of it that were used to just guy the fbi search. he told prosecutors to prepare redactions to the document in case the ruling is to release it. meantime we're learning that trump's claim that he had a standing order to declassify the documents taken from the oval office is nonsense. cnn can exclusively report that 18 former top trump administration officials have been mocking that claim. here is how trump's former national security

. >> my chief financial officer allen weisselberg. >> reporter: and pleading guilty, allen weisselberg acknowledged conspireing with the trump organization to evade taxes, and he could be called to testify as early as this fall. the trump organization called weisselberg a, quote, fine and honorable man, claiming he was harassed, persecuted and threatened in a politically motivated prosecution. on twitter, a trump spokesman said the american public should be permitted to see the whole mar-a-lago affidavit without sections blacked out. norah? >> catherine herridge with a lot of news today, thank you. >> you're welcome. >>> today federal health officials announced a major boost to the country's supply of the monkeypox vaccine amid a surge in new cases. cases are up more than 30% in the last week to more than 13,500. cbs' tanya rivero has the new details. >> reporter: tonight the white house says an additional 1.8 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine will be available starting monday as cases of monkeypox are up over 30% from just a week ago. >> thanks for coming in. >> thank you, sir. >

. >> my chief financial officer, allen weisselberg. >> reporter: in pleading guilty, allen weisselberg acknowledged conspiring with the trump organization to evade taxes, and he could be called to testify as early as this fall. the trump organization called weisselberg a "fine and honorable man," claiming he was harassed, persecuted, and threatened, in a politically- motivated prosecution. on twitter, a trump spokesman said the american public should be permitted to see the whole mar-a-lago affidavit without sections blacked out. norah. >> o'donnell: catherine herridge with a lot of news today. thank you. well, today, federal health officials announced a major boost to the country's supply of the monkeypox vaccine, amid a surges of new cases. cases are up more than 30% in the last week, to over 14,000. cbs's tanya rivero has the new details. >> reporter: tonight, the white house says an additional 1.8 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine will be available starting monday, as cases of monkeypox are up over 30% from just a week ago. >> thanks for coming in. >> thank you, sir. >> report

. >>> trump executive allen weisselberg pleads guilty to 15 felonies including conspiracy and criminal tax fraud. the trump organization's longtime cfo agreeing to testify against the company, but not trump himself. >>> nfl quarterback deshaun watson suspended 11 games and fined $5 million, the largest in league history, after two dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct. >>> you legal crossings at the southern border nearing an all-time high. the u.s. is on track to arrest 2 million migrants this year. our cameras are at the sthsroup officers. texas governor greg abbott pressed about bussing thousands >>> russia threatens to switch off europe's largest nuclear power plant. president zelenskyy warns the world is on the verge of a nuclear disaster. >>> back here at home, police release images of a chaotic scene on the streets of las vegas. a violent carjacking case and shootout. officers firing through the windshield. dash cam video shows the suspect intentionally ramming a police k-9 vehicle. >>> and in oklahoma, police video shows a woman slipping out of handcuffs while in the bac

allen weisselberg, who's 75, avoided paying tax on more than £1.5 million worth of unreported perks. under his plea deal, he will serve five months in prison and will have to give evidence against the trump organization. donald trump himself has not been accused of wrongdoing. earlier i spoke to our north america correspondent, peter bowes, and asked him if allen weisselberg's guilty plea spells further trouble for trump. this is a man who worked for the former president forfive decades. if anyone knows the inner workings of the trump organization, he does. however, it seems as if, as part of this deal to get a relatively short sentence, he has not agreed to give evidence in the future against donald trump. what he will do — he will be a witness at that forthcoming trial involving the trump organization, again involving its tax affairs, and he could well give some very interesting information regarding that, but as far as talking about donald trump, it seems as if that is off—limits for him. he has not made any agreements, and after those five decades, he is still remaining very

prosecutors, they get a conviction of allen weisselberg. they get a testimony against the trump organization, which is fine, but nobody goes to joe for. that >> nobody -- you can testify against the trump organization. >> this is why the whole thing is a fiction, because when you prosecute a corporation, it is just paper. it's a corporation is funky, the only penalty is a fine. nobody goes to joe. you have to prosecute and individual to send an individual to jail. the only person who has been prosecuted criminally by the manhattan diego exum with this is allen weisselberg. from weisselberg putting view, he mitigates his exposure. he could have a longer sense if you want to trial and lost. he locked in a lower sentence for himself. from donald trump's point of view, he's probably not happy that weisselberg will testify against his organization. but if i am advising people to, i would say the big ticket is you, donald trump, and you are not safe from criminal charges in this case. >> considering his sentencing of 15 years, would you see like,

allen weisselberg, who's 75, avoided paying tax on more than £1.5 million worth of unreported perks. under his plea deal, he will serve five months in prison and will have to give evidence against the trump organization. donald trump himself has not been accused of wrongdoing. earlier i spoke to our north america correspondent peter bowes and asked him if allen weisselberg's guilty plea spells further trouble for trump. this is a man who worked for the former president forfive decades. if anyone knows the inner workings of the trump organization, he does, however, it seems as if as part of this deal to get a relatively short sentence, he has not agreed to give evidence in the future against donald trump. what he will do — he will be a witness at that forthcoming trial involving the trump organization, again involving its tax affairs, and he could well give some very interesting information regarding that, but as far as talking about donald trump, it seems as if that is off—limits for him. he has not made any agreements, and after those five decades, he is still remaining very loy

the ex-ceo allen weisselberg, pleading guilty to tax fraud. weisselberg has agreed to testify at the upcoming trial of former president trump's company. in exchange for testimony, weisselberg will serve only five months in jail on rikers island and pay nearly $2 million in taxes. prosecutors say weisselberg designed and ran a 15-year tax scheme that gave himself and other executives, lavish, off- the-books perks. they say the guilty plea was one of the most difficult decisions of the cfo's life. in a statement, he said, mr. weisselberg decided to enter a plea of guilty today to put an end to this case and the years long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family. rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. now, notably, sources tell nbc news, there are no indications that weisselberg will flip against former president trump personally and implicate him in any crime or any company. here's correspondent tom windham. >> from organization money man to convicted felon. allen weiss

in new york, trump's long-time cfo allen weisselberg pleads guilty in his control in a tax scheme, as he tries to avoid more jailtime. and also today, walmart, walgreen's, and cvs, all ordered to pay up in a multimillion dollar opioid settlement. where will that money go, as prosecutors claim they helped fuel a silent epidemic that left so many americans hooked and hundreds of thousands dead. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we'll start with our politics lead. major developments when it comes to learning more details behind the mar-a-lago raid. this afternoon, u.s. magistrate judge bruce rhinehart ruled he will unseal additional documents surrounding the search and left the door open for releasing parts of the actual affidavit, which lays out in detail why the justice department felt the need to take the unprecedented step of searching the home of a former president. the doj is against revealing that affidavit. they say it would provide a road map for their criminal investigation to possible future defendants. and they say it could chill future cooperation by witnesses. but the

allen weisselberg is expected to serve five months in prison. scientists are investigating whether the dinosaurs were wiped out not by one asteroid strike, but two. they've identified a huge crater off the coast of africa of a similar age

. >>> trump executive allen weisselberg pleads guilty to 15 felonies, including conspiracy and criminal tax fraud. the trump organization's longtime cfo and one of donald trump's most trusted associates agreeing to testify against the company, but not trump himself. >>> nfl quarterback deshaun watson suspended 11 games and fined $5 million, the largest in league history, after two dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct. >>> illegal crossings at the southern border nearing an all-time high. the u.s. is on track to arrest 2 million migrants this year. our cameras are at the southern border as groups of migrants cross the rio grande, many intercepted by border patrol officers. texas governor greg abbott pressed about bussing thousands of asylum seekers to new york city and washington, d.c. >>> overseas tonight, russia threatens to switch off europe's largest nuclear power plant. president zelenskyy warns the world is on the verge of a nuclear disaster. >>> back here at home, police release images of a chaotic scene on the streets of las vegas. a violent carjacking chase and shootout.

. >> i also want to ask you about former cfo of the trump organization, allen weisselberg. you tweeted that the manhattan doj gave trump a gift like i'm uneasy on vital berg. what does that plea mean not just for the trump organization, but also for trump himself? >> yeah, this is another low point in my opinion, for the manhattan district attorney's office. remember, there were two seasoned prosecutors who had been working the criminal case into donald trump. they said that there was enough evidence to indict him and to convict him, and yet they resigned because they claimed in a resignation letter, but to prosecutors, and in that resignation letter, they basically said that the district attorney killed the case that was prove-able, and her resigning. now the da's office gives this unbelievable sweetheart plea to allen weisselberg. 15 felonies, of a 15-year-long criminal schemes to defraud in the first degree, weisselberg stole, let's call it what it was, all kinds of money from the new york city taxpayers and the new york state taxpayers, and he gets a sweetheart deal whe

nobody knows more about the inner workings of the trump organization than allen weisselberg. does his guilty plea spell further trouble for the former president do you think? , , ., ., ., ., ~ think? this is a man who worked for the former _ think? this is a man who worked for the former president - think? this is a man who worked for the former president for - for the former president for five decades. if anyone knows the inner workings of the trump organization, he does, however, it seems as if as part of the still to get a relatively short sentence, he has not agreed to give evidence in the future against donald trump. but he will do, he will be a witness at that forthcoming trial involving the trump organization, again involving its tax affairs, and he could well give some very interesting information regarding that, but as far as talking about donald trump, it seems as if that is off—limits for him. he has not made any agreements, and after those five decades, he is still remaining very loyal to his former boss.— remaining very loyal to his former boss. ~ . , former

what trump was up to. >> i think that all roads lead to allen weisselberg. all fingers point to him. >> the only few people that in the trump organization that know anything about the taxes is mr. trump who knows everything about everything, allen weisselberg, the chief financial officer. >> do you think he couldn't ultimate tour guide into the trump orbit? >> yes. >> mr. weisselberg on the check. mr. weisselberg for sure. >> pleading guilty means weisselberg becomes a convict and that he is guilty of some of these crimes which relate to basically ducking taxes, hiding benefits, getting compensation through things that most employees never get, like having donald trump pay for your kids' school but then not actually paying your fair share in taxes for that. now the prior d.a. cy vaps went big, went after one of the trump tax returns and they took that all the way to the supreme court and they won beating trump and there was a big d.a.'s race in and he covered that and he said here on "the beat" he's going to follow the facts. >> i'm a majority leader of the

>> well, donald trump and allen weisselberg are stuck together like two pieces of fused glass. you shatter one, you're going to shatter the other. and since he knows about all the deceptive practices of the trump organization, when the trump organization goes on trial, now scheduled for just a few days before the fall elections, he can give a road map under examination. now, i don't expect him to go out of his way to cooperate. he may even be treated as a hostile witness by the prosecution when they call him. >> and he's -- and i should be clear here. the requirement is that he's going to appear as a witness. you're pointing out that could be hostile. that's not the same as cooperating and flipping. in fact he is not doing that. over and over again we've heard from people in trump's orbit what you describe as diffused glass. listen to this. >> it's been his life. he's always -- he's always been saved by donald. >> he knows everything about donald. next to a family member and perhaps even more than a family member, he knows everything about donald. >> everything went through don

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