Exclusive: FBI Seized Recordings Between Trump's Lawyer And Stormy Daniel's Former Lawyer; Michael Cohen Facilitated $1.6 Million Agreement On Behalf Of GOP Fundraiser
PAUL: Glad to have you with us. 30 minutes past the hour right now, I'm Christi Paul.</s>BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. A source tells CNN, the FBI now has recordings of President Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen apparently, recorded his conversation with the lawyer for two women who say they had affairs with the president.</s>PAUL: All of this event folding, of course, and meanwhile, a source says Cohen got a call from the president yesterday. A White House spokesman says Cohen is still the president's personal attorney even though he's under criminal investigation. According to a warrant, Cohen is being investigated for bank fraud, wire fraud, and campaign finance issues. So far, Cohen has admitted no wrongdoings and we need to point out, he has not been charged.</s>BLACKWELL: So we have learned a lot in the last 24 hours. Joining us now, Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. And Kelly Jane Torrance, deputy managing editor for The Weekly Standard. Good morning to both of you.</s>KELLY JANE TORRANCE, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: Good morning.</s>JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.</s>BLACKWELL: Joey, let's start here with these recordings, the CNN exclusive that there are the recordings of the calls between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson, who represented both Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels. The value those could add to this case is what?</s>JACKSON: The value is everything, right? So, think about this, Victor. How many times do we say wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall? Right? To the extent that you have recordings that gives you insight to exactly what was happening. What were the conversations about? Who were they about? Who did you indicate that you were representing? And you know, what was the agreement about? When did it start? When did it begin? What were the terms? What were the conditions? And so, it will tell us everything. The larger question for me, Victor, is why you would record such a thing. I thought we learned that the days of Nixon that, that wasn't such a smart thing to do for a lawyer. Why? I mean, on the one hand, if the recordings exonerate you, the prosecutors are going to say, Aha! The reason you recorded it is to set it up. You knew you were guilty and you have proof to establish that you would doing nothing wrong. On the other hand, if the recordings implicate you, you know, look, it speaks for itself. And so that's problematic. Last thing I'll say is this, I think we should have any discussion concerning Michael Cohen, under the backdrop of the Scooter Libby pardon, right? I mean, we're talking about Michael Cohen, who is so close to the president, who gets a phone call from the president no matter what they spoke about, right? Oh, the weather is changing, whatever else. I think the code is, listen, you know the power that I have, you know what I can do, I know you know my secrets, don't say a word, and I got your back. And so --</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, you really don't have to talk about the topic of the day, just the call at the right time may send message enough. Let me come to you, Kelly Jane, because this recordings may not be exclusive to the conversations between Cohen and Davidson. We understand that this was a practice that Cohen employed for some time.</s>TORRANCE: Yes, and let's face it, Victor. There might be a good reason that Michael Cohen was recording his conversations, and that's because he's doing a lot of unsavory business with some unsavory people. You know, I have to say, Donald Trump, talks about how he always hires the best people. Well, Michael Cohen is not your typical high powered lawyer. I mean, this guy did not graduate from a Harvard or Yale law school. He graduated from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, which apparently a couple of years ago had the worst entering class that legal academia had ever seen. And this is a guy who deals with a lot of sectors not known for transparency and not known for great dealing. We're talking taxicab medallions, things like that. And so, the fact that he's recording his calls might mean he's dealing with a lot of unsavory people. But look, when you think about it, these recordings could be very big because the things that the search warrant said they're investigating is wire fraud, bank fraud, possible campaign finance violations. Well, we know Keith Davidson is already under fire from one of his former clients, Karen McDougal, who she argues he actually collaborated with Michael Cohen to help Donald Trump's interests and not her interests. Which of course, he's her lawyer, he's supposed to be. So, those recordings, if they are, you know, honest and they were made and nobody keep this and didn't know they were being made. Apparently, they could really establish that Donald Trump's lawyer engaged in fraud or possibly extortion to get these women to remain silent.</s>BLACKWELL: So, Joey, let me come to you with the work that Michael Cohen's lawyers have to do over the weekend. Cohen's attorneys, obviously, were in court yesterday, asking the judge to block prosecutors from using the information, the data that they got during this raid on Monday, in part because of attorney-client privilege. Well, the judge asked, who were the other clients? Give me a list. And his attorneys couldn't give an answer. They've got until 10:00 a.m., Monday to give that list. Why is that important?</s>JACKSON: Well, it's significant for a number of reasons. Let me say this, first of all, I think Judge Kimba Wood, the federal court judge is right on point. The</s>BLACKWELL: Yes.</s>JACKSON: Then, you know, the judge has to rule accordingly. So, I think this judge in keeping with her background and experience is being careful, wants to get it right and wants the information necessary in orders to do just that.</s>BLACKWELL: Kelly Jane, finally to you. We've also learned, in addition to the hush agreements as related to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal that were negotiated in connection with president. Of course, President Trump denies those affairs, that Cohen facilitated these $1.6 million dollar hush payment last year to a former Playboy model who says she was impregnated by a top GOP fundraiser, Elliott Broidy. I mean, a pattern here, but is it -- is the value more than the pattern? Is the value in this beyond just there being a third here?</s>TORRANCE: Yes, I do think so. First of all, the fact that -- you know, Michael Cohen seems to be the guy handling this kind of cases certainly says something. And Elliott Broidy, of course, just stepped down as one of the deputy finance chairman of the GOP over this issue. And what's really interesting is that how did Michael Cohen, hear about this Playboy Playmate with these claim? It was from Keith Davidson, he actually, was the lawyer for this woman. So, it looks shady on so many different levels. And when you look at the fact it's not just Donald Trump now, it's somebody else in the GOP. You do have to wonder how much was going on before the election, and how much of it was involving information they wanted to suppress because of the election. And you know, the pattern is certainly concerning. And I -- again, if you look at the search warrant, it says wire fraud, bank fraud, campaign finance violations. And that has to do with all of this stuff. And the fact that the same lawyer's involved in getting hush money for these women, and apparently, again, the argument Karen McDougal made is he was working against her interests --</s>BLACKWELL: Yes.</s>TORRANCE: -- and for the president's interests. It's very suspicious, and you can see exactly why prosecutors got the search warrant. It's an outrage as some in the White House are trying to say.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes. We've got to wrap it thee because we got the breaking news this morning. But we know that Michael Cohen is ordered to be in court on Monday. Kelly Jane Torrance, Joey Jackson, thank you both.</s>TORRANCE: Thank you.</s>JACKSON: Thank you so much.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes.</s>PAUL: So, the U.S. considers an air strike on Syria a success. What about Syria's allies? We have more from our reporters in Russia and Iran, live for you. Stay close.