[Blitzer:] We are standing by for special counsel Robert Mueller to file court paper ahead of the sentence for Paul Manafort, expecting that momentarily. We'll get that to you as soon as it comes in. Also breaking "The New York Times" reporting right now that President Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen met with federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month. "The Times" said Cohen offered information about possible irregularities within the president's family business and about a donor to his inaugural committee. Susan Hennessey, "The New York Times" report which all of us have now read, suggests that the U.S. attorney for the SDNY in Manhattan now going directly after the Trump business empire that Michael Cohen, who worked for Donald Trump for 10 years as a lawyer and fixer, has already been questioned.
[Susan Hennessey, Former National Security Agency Attorney:] Right. I think this once again reveals why individuals close to the president are so concerned about the Southern District. They believe they it might represent more of a risk for the president than the Mueller probe. They don't have any kind of jurisdictional limit here. Michael Cohen doesn't have a formal cooperation agreement. But prosecutors can recommended a reduced jail sentence within one year of his sentencing. So essentially, he has a really, really, strong incentive now to cooperate as much as possible, tell absolutely everything he knows. It is interesting that every time, sort of, prosecutors look under a new rock they appear to find a brand-new set of possible crimes, now we're hearing that there's some question about insurance claims. This is sort of, this is a brand-new thing on the table. I think that ultimately, this really, really raises the political importance and potential importance of Michael Cohen's public testimony. He has said from the beginning that he has a story to tell. He clearly believes the story is going to be incredibly damaging to the president. And so, I do think that it's going to be really, really important to see what is he willing to say under oath and before the American people about Donald Trump's facility.
[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] And that would be Wednesday morning, Gloria, starting at 10:00 a.m., when Michael Cohen does appear before the House Oversight Committee. And presumably, they're going to ask them about this development.
[Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Sure. Look, I mean, this goes into the whole broader aspect of the Trump organization, as Susan was saying. And I think
[Blitzer:] Including the president's family.
[Borger:] Including the president's family, including potentially the president. We don't know. But if Michael Cohen is talking about, according to the Times, potentially, a regular insurance claims, if he was talking to them about the $900,000 donation to the inaugural committee by Mr. Zuberi, according to the Times. Then, these are things that prosecutors want to know about. We know that they're investigating the inaugural committee and we know that Michael Cohen has been on the inside of the Trump War for more than a decade. And CNN, as you'll recall, was the first to report that prosecutors wanted to interview people who worked for the Trump organization. So, now we know exactly what they're pursuing. And we know that Michael Cohen is such an important link in all of this. Yes, his credibility will be questioned, sure, but he has said publicly: I have a story to tell; I'm not going to be the villain here anymore. I want to set the record straight.
[Phil Mudd, Cnn Counterterrorism Analyst:] Wolf, one quick comment on this. The president already told us this. He's not a great poker player, he played his hand already. Look at his Twitter feed. How many times has he gone after campaign people? Manafort, Gates, Flynn. Flynn was the first cooperator the number of times that the president has gone after Flynn. I could probably count on one hand. How many times has he gone after Cohen? Countless times. What's the difference between Manafort, Gates, Flynn and Cohen? Manafort, Gates, Flynn know about the campaign in Russia, not so much. Cohen, knows about money. I think the president is worried because he knows he's got a vulnerability on this issue, and he told us.
[Blitzer:] Remember that interview last year the president told the New York Times that going after his family or his business, that would cross, Joey, a red line.
[Joey Jackson, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Well, it wouldn't cross a red line in as much as remember the special counsel has a very specific mandate relating to and dealing with Russia and collusion, Southern District does not. Their mandate is to investigate criminal activity in the event that this criminal activity that it becomes problematic. But something very important, and that's corroboration. The White House will savage Cohen as they have on the issue of his incentive and bias to lie. As Susan mentioned, right, because the substantial assistance within one year of sentencing, if you assist enough and if you're on team America and you do it right, here's the carrot, here's the stick. We'll going to do good things for you and we'll going to reduce your sentence because you're cooperating. But it's more than that, Wolf. In the event that Cohen is able to give reliable information to the southern district who's not bothered by a mandate about Russia; they're bothered by a mandate about a crime, whether it involves your family or not. If it's in this district, we're going to root it out and find it. And so, in the event that Cohen gives then information, and the Southern District is able to get information that substantiates, corroborates, and otherwise supports what Cohen is saying, that could lead them to this other fruit and that can represent problems for the president of the United States.
[Blitzer:] Yes, more legal headaches, no doubt, for the president. And his family, potentially has very significant, you know Susan, Bloomberg has been reporting a new
[Hennessey:] All right. So, it's pretty unusual to see this degree of, sort of, leaky kind of law enforcement. These reports don't just describe that the prosecutors are sort of about the set of backup charges. But it also shows quite a bit a leg on what they are actually thinking about going after him. And so, these are really, you know, relatively harmful leaks. Now, there might be double jeopardy issues. The laws are pretty complex in terms how they related between the state and federal government. You know, that said, I do think that we're seeing a little bit of a lack of discipline, a loosening as the Mueller investigation potentially heads into the home stretch. We are seeing a lot of leaks out of other investigations, right, sort of the Southern District and now the New York District Attorneys' Office. But also, sort of a flurry of leaks about the special counsel's office. Now, we've seen a lot of reporting but most of that has come from defense attorneys and people that the special counsel's office has interviewed. Now, we see DOJ, not just leaking a lot about whether or not the special counsel is about to, you know, hand over these reports to Bill Barr, but also not getting its story straight as today.
[Blitzer:] Clearly, the district attorney in New York thinks a presidential pardon of Manafort is possible, what do you think, Gloria?
[Borger:] Well, the president has called Paul Manafort a very brave man. The word to that effect, "brave," being the important part of it. He has said publicly, he thinks that he's been treated badly. And while they were not particularly close during the campaign, I think that the president has watched what Paul Manafort has gone through and feels like he hasn't betrayed him in any way shape or form. And so, it is completely possible that the president could pardon him. He has said various occasions, I didn't take that off the table. So, we don't you know, we just had no idea. And I think what they're saying in New York as well, you may have authority over that but you don't have authority so far as the state is concerned.
[Blitzer:] The president has a lot of legal headaches beyond Robert Mueller and the special counsel investigation.
[Borger:] Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
[Blitzer:] Everybody standby. Much more on all of the breaking news right after this.