[Blackwell:] A source tells CNN the FBI now has recordings of President Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen. Apparently, he taped his conversations with the lawyer for two women who say they had affairs with the president.
[Paul:] The recordings could become a key piece of evidence obviously in the criminal investigation of Cohen, the man who once said he would take a bullet for President Trump. Cohen has admitted no wrongdoing, but according to a warrant he is being investigated for bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance issues. Cohen has been ordered to attend court on Monday, by the way. All righty. So, joining us now, Kaitlan Collins, CNN White House reporter. Kaitlan, what are you hearing this morning about all of this?
[Kaitlan Collins, Cnn White House Reporter:] Well, so, when these FBI agents raided Michael Cohen's office, hotel room, and house on Monday, something that really angered President Trump, we are told that they did seize recordings between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson. Keith Davidson is an attorney who represented both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, two women who said they had affairs with President Trump. He is no longer their lawyer, we should note. It is important to note that they recorded conversations between Cohen and Keith Davidson, something Cohen is known as a standard practice essentially for him. So, it would be interesting, these prosecutors are clearly looking to see what it was Michael Cohen knew about these payments, what exactly his role was in all of this. They have obviously been looking at not only his role in the payment to Stormy Daniels, but also what role he played in trying to suppress the information about Karen McDougal, that former "Playboy" playmate who says she did have an affair with President Trump. Now, this is all interesting because it could prove very valuable to these investigators as they are looking at the role that he played. This is all going on as the White House is still maintaining that Michael Cohen does still represent President Trump. They just spoke yesterday. The president actually called Michael Cohen as my colleague Gloria Borger reported and then the deputy press secretary, Raj Shah, said on CNN last night that he does, in fact, still represent the president. Michael Cohen is someone who is very close to President Trump, a close confidante of his for the last decade or so. He represented the Trump Organization for some time and also has been spotted at the White House. So, someone who is very close to the president and recordings if they have any of between him and President Trump that would also prove very interesting. Certainly, something that will be troublesome for Michael Cohen if the investigators here get anything out of these recordings between him and Keith Davidson, that attorney.
[Paul:] All righty. Thank you very much for the wrap-up there, Kaitlan Collins. I know it gets diluted and crazy with all of the names intact. We appreciate you walking us through it. Thank you.
[Blackwell:] All right. Joining us now, Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and anchor for Spectrum News. Errol, good morning to you. Let's talk about these recordings between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson. As Kaitlan said there, this is the man who I guess some would say coincidentally both represented Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels. The expectation is that these will be valuable to the investigation. How do you see where do you see the value?
[Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Some of the value lies in whether or not the recordings were even legal, depending on the state we're talking about, you're not supposed to record these kinds of recordings. That's sort of a slide issue in some ways. But for the prosecutors, though, I think it can help establish whether or not the facts or the timeline that they've sort of created by other means can be corroborated with hard evidence. So, when Michael Cohen is talking with this particular attorney or anybody else about what he's doing and why he's doing it and on whose behalf he's doing it, he's providing sort of a timeline, giving you breadcrumbs. He's letting you know potentially what the president knew or didn't know, what he may be acting on behalf of the president with or without the president's knowledge, what he was trying to do and when he was trying to do it and why. It's a treasure trove of information. But again, it could be in the nature of confirming what the Mueller team already knows.
[Blackwell:] The "New York Times" is reporting that the president's advisers are viewing the investigation into Cohen as more threatening, more imminent to the president than even Mueller's Russia probe. Considering all that we've learned in the emergency hearing yesterday for protection order to stop the FBI from getting into those files that they seized on Monday, you think they're right?
[Louis:] Absolutely. They do not know, Michael Cohen and his lawyers, do not know exactly what was seized. It was done on a no-knock warrant. They went into his safe-deposit box of his bank. They took his phone, his computers. It is an amazing amount of information that they have. And it's hard to say I would be surprised if Michael Cohen himself and his attorneys could say with any certainty what it is that's on all of the multiple devices, the sources of information. Remember, they went to his home as well as two different offices, and again, the safe-deposit box, it's impossible to sort of really create a kind of defense when the other side is holding all the cards. In this case, the U.S. attorney is holding all of the cards. They know what they were looking for. They know what they have and Michael Cohen is one reason you saw him on the sidewalk is if they take your computers and phones and they've tossed your office, what are you left to do?
[Blackwell:] There is nothing left to work with. Let's talk about the story of the morning, Syria. Congressman Thomas Massey who's opposed U.S. military presence in Syria for some time has tweeted this since the strikes last night. "I haven't read France's or Britain's Constitution, but I've read ours, and nowhere in it is presidential authority to strike Syria." Several Democrats have called the attacks I should change that, the strikes illegal absent the authorization of use military force specifically for Syria. Now you've got a Republican who is coming out and keeping up the campaign of calling them unauthorized, at least maybe illegal. Do you expect that there will be some traction here for Congress to finally authorize?
[Louis:] Yes. Not only members of Congress, but there are a lot of forces on the right including the extreme right for whom Trump's anti- interventionist rhetoric during the 2016 campaign was a big campaign promise that they were relying on. They are going to sort of invoke not just the Constitution but his own statements on the campaign trail, his own tweets in the years leading up to the campaign that he was not going to be the kind of president who would bring Americans into what is often described as a quagmire in the Middle East. He's doing just the opposite of what was promised, and there are both legal and political reasons that people are going to take issue with it, including members of the president's own base, absolutely.
[Blackwell:] All right. Errol Louis, thanks so much.
[Louis:] Thank you.
[Paul:] British Prime Minister Theresa May is talking about this overnight strike on Syria, emphasizing it's not aimed at regime change, so to speak, but at deterring the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Live reports for you coming up from London and from Paris. Stay close.