Trump's White House vs. Consumes By Michael Cohen Tape Scandal

Versus Video Transcripts:
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day 552 of the Trump administration and
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we are still tracking continued fallout
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over the release of that taped
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conversation between then candidate
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Donald Trump and his former lawyer and
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fixer Michael Cohen again we learned
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tonight the feds have over a hundred
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more Cohan recordings more on that in a
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moment
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back to last night's released recording
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here is a key portion where Trump and
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Cohen are apparently and
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matter-of-factly discussing buying the
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rights to the story from a former
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Playboy model who claims she had an
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affair with Trump in 2006 I need to open
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up a company for the transfer of all of
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that info regarding our friend David you
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know so that I'm gonna do that right
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away I've actually come up on TV and I
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just broke into Alan why superb about
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how to set the whole thing up with
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funding yes and it's all the stuff all
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the stuff because here you never know
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where that company never know what he's
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gonna get correct so I'm all over that
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and I spoke to Alan about it when it
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comes time for the financing which will
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be the audio was given to CNN by Michael
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Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis NBC News
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has authenticated the recording with
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Davis but we don't know if the original
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recording has been edited at all as
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we've reported both sides dispute what's
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on the tape you just heard Cohen's
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attorney says Trump brought up by paying
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in cash president Trump's attorney Rudy
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Giuliani flatly says the president can
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be heard saying don't pay with cash
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according to the president's lawyers the
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payment was never made earlier today
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President Trump refused to answer
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questions about the recording at the
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White House
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a boisterous day in the oval office to
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be sure but no more boisterous than many
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other days that went on for about 30
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more seconds you just heard CNN reporter
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Katelyn Collins in that clip she went on
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to ask the president a few more
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questions mostly about Vladimir Putin
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according to CNN after the White House
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announced another event in the Rose
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Garden later in the day Collins herself
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was asked to come to former Fox News
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executive bill shines office in the West
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Wing she was met by shine who is these
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days deputy chief of staff for
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communications in the White House and by
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White House press secretary Sarah
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Huckabee Sanders Collins said they told
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her she was disinvited from the Rose
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Garden event that was open to all press
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because the question she asked earlier
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were inappropriate for the venue and
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that she was shouting condemnation of
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the move quickly poured in from members
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of the news media the White House
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Correspondents Association even Fox News
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supported the CNN correspondent in this
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case the White House released a
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statement today that read quote at the
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conclusion of a press event in the Oval
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Office reporter shouted questions and
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refused to leave despite repeatedly
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being asked to do so subsequently our
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staff informed her she was not welcomed
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to participate in the next event but
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made clear that any other journalist
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from her network could attend she said
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it didn't matter to her because she
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hadn't planned to be there anyway to be
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clear we support a free press and asked
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that everyone be respectful of the
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presidency and guests at the White House
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meanwhile President Trump did respond to
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news of the Cohan recording being
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released this morning he said on Twitter
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what kind of a lawyer would tape a
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client so sad is this the first never
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heard of it before
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why was the tape so abruptly terminated
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cut while I was presumably saying
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positive things I hear there are other
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clients and many reporters that are
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taped can this be so too bad meanwhile
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Michael Cohen's attorney said today
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his client is now committed and telling
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the truth Michael Cohen has an answer to
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why he taped conversations and I think
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you'll have to give that answer himself
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I can't reveal that but I will say that
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Michael Cohen has turned a corner in his
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life and he's now dedicated to telling
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the truth to everyone and we'll see what
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happens
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Philip Rucker of the Washington Post
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reports tonight that the tapes release
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raises concerns in the White House that
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Cohen could spill secrets about Trump to
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the FBI quote Cohen has felt wounded and
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abandoned by Trump waiting for calls or
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even a signal of support that never came
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Cohen got frustrated when Trump started
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talking about him in the past tense
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panicked last month when he thought the
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president no longer cared about his
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plight and became furious when Trump
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lawyer Rudolph W Giuliani contradicted
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some of his accounts according to his
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associates in Cohen's gravest hour as
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one associate described it Trump was
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leaving him out in the wilderness the
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result is open warfare between attorney
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and former client with that let's bring
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in our leadoff panel for a Wednesday
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night Matt Apuzzo Pulitzer prize-winning
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New York Times reporter Cynthia auxin is
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back with us a former federal prosecutor
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and a veteran of the Civil Rights
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Division at the Justice Department and
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the aforementioned
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Philip Rucker Pulitzer Prize winning
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White House bureau chief for the
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Washington Post
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good evening to you all Phil I'd like to
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begin with you and your work tonight you
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report that there are over 100 more
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recordings that Cohen has made that have
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been seized by the feds but that this
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one that we just heard was the longest
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and most substantive what else can you
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add to the record tonight from your
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reporting that's right Brian
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and many of the recordings that the feds
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have are actually of Michael Cohen
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taping secretly taping conversations
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that he had with reporters with
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journalists during the Trump campaign
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and and after Trump's election there are
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a number of Congress know conversations
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between Cohen and Trump but sources are
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telling us that those conversations are
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not as substantive as the one that was
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released last night that said there is
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concern inside the White House and more
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broadly in Trump's orbit about these
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recordings and I think more
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importantly about what Michael Cohen may
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now feel compelled to share with
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prosecutors if he chooses he's clearly
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decided to break with president Trump
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with by releasing this audio with the
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combative statements that his attorney
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Lanny Davis has been making and there's
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a lot of concern that he may want to
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share what he knows with federal
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prosecutors he'll further a lot of the
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recorded conversations are said to be
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with members of the news media and it's
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further said about going that he just
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would roll on his phone during
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conversations kind of in lieu of
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note-taking and as a matter of course
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that's right that's what Lanny Davis his
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attorney told us that Cohen had a
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practice of recording conversations
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instead of taking notes it sounds odd
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for a lawyer to do that but he did and
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he did it on his iPhone he would keep
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hold of those audio files and you know
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Lanny Davis said he didn't intend to do
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anything with those audio recordings
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other than to keep them as his own
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personal record but that was the way he
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chose to keep his records when he was
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working as Donald Trump's personal
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attorney Matt Apuzzo I'd like to play
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for you Rudolph Giuliani with sean
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hannity tonight because Rudy here's the
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tape and views the transcript a
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different way he's been talking about
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his experience listening to mobsters on
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tape and while this conversation likely
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taped in Trump Tower and not the
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ravenite social club is much clearer
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than a lot of law enforcement mobster
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wires let's listen to the former mayor
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of New York City
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you got it listen to it four or five
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times which is when I talked about mafia
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tapes I talked about this being a mafia
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tape I said I'm an expert on tapes I did
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4,000 hours of men on tape saying Donald
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Trump says don't pay with cash
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interruption : no no no no I got it
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check no no no and then very very
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suspiciously he cuts the tape off
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because it's a very very innocent very
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solid exhalation so Matt there you have
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it your reaction well I'm you so we live
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into the tape four or five times and you
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know I have not listened to as many
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hours of of secretive mob recordings as
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Rudy Giuliani so I can't I can't really
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compare the two but but this is a case
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where you know Rudy Giuliani is saying
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well here believe our transcript because
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you can't believe what you hear and and
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this is the this is what we run into a
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little bit with with both candidate
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Donald Trump and Donald Trump in the
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administration right now is they say
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things and then it turns out that those
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things are not true
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and then reporters say ok but what about
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the other thing and there's a and we're
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not gonna talk about that and so it's
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it's it's a strategy that we've not seen
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in Washington ever really work before
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because most press secretaries most
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politicians realize that getting caught
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in the lie is like usually way worse
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than whatever it is you're being asked
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about you know so whether it's you're
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the president's got a plan to fire the
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Secretary of State or the president
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dictated misleading statement and his
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son's name or there's a tape and it
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shows that the president knew that the
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National Enquirer had the rights to this
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you know this this story about an
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alleged affair and every time they say
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they don't know anything about it other
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stories fall so you know it's fake news
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and then time after time it turns out
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it's real and then they just say move on
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so you know let's I will see what
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happens if they can enhance the tape I
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guess well let's turn to a former Fed
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all right sent the nation turns it's
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lonely eyes to you short of hiring a
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skywriter as I've said before it appears
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mr. Cohen is anxious to work with the
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feds
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two questions for you how does this tape
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being out there affect that bid and
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secondly what do you make of the tape
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well I don't think it does mr. Cohen any
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good to have released the tape what
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we've seen over the last couple months
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is Cohen trying to get a pardon from
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Trump he was sort of fishing for a
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pardon and that went
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we're and now he spent the last time
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with Lanny Davis kind of fishing for
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some kind of agreement or some kind of
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deal to flip and and so far they aren't
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biting and the problem for him is
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prosecutors are control freaks and we
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like to be in charge of our case and we
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like to do it in the courtroom we do not
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as much as we love you Brian we do not
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like to do it on the eleventh hour and
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we do not like to do it on Good Morning
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America and we do not like to do it on
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the Today Show so it doesn't help it
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doesn't help Cohen that Lanny Davis is
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on this media campaign and that they're
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releasing tapes in fact what he should
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do is be quiet
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he should hire he can hire Lanny Davis
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or he can hire somebody who else who
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likes to be quiet and they should have
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private discussions with the US
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Attorney's Office I think it's a mistake
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and it almost makes me wonder because as
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much as he's fishing around for a deal
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and he can't seem to get one if he
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angers them enough he won't get one
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because they can just go ahead and
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prosecute him and deal with them down
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the road and that's kind of what he's
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looking at if he doesn't start behaving
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in in a in a smarter way
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in my opinion and as far as the tape
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goes whether it's cash or cheque I don't
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think it makes a difference the point is
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that the president has lied about this
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he was involved in the discussions he
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knew what they were doing and that
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there's a real threat here for
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conspiracy to violate campaign finance
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laws to the president United States
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hey there I'm Chris Hayes from MSNBC
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