Trump Attorney Denies Story Alleging Payment For Porn Star's Silence.
LEMON: The President's personal attorney denying a story that alleged a sexual relationship between Trump and a porn star. At any other time, that would be what everybody is talking about. Two decades ago, the Monica Lewinsky scandal led to President Clinton's impeachment. Let us discuss now, Michael Isikoff chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo news and also Sally Quinn, a Washington Post contributor and the author of Finding Magic. Thanks for joining us. 20 years, Michael, since your reporting of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and his lies about it became public. It was a bombshell. Talk to us about the news and how it hit Washington,</s>D.C. MICHAEL ISIKOFF, CHIEF INVESTIGATION CORRESPONDENT, YAHOO NEWS: Well, it was quite the earthquake, wasn't it?</s>LEMON: It certainly was.</s>ISIKOFF: On so many different levels. I mean people have talked about this as, you know, I had the story, I certainly was aware of the relationship that the President, the then-President Bill Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky. But what made this a story was the decision by Ken Starr to launch a criminal investigation of this matter. To wire Linda trip in her conversations with Monica Lewinsky to gather evidence to suggest that the President and his good friend Verna Jordan were seeking to cover up, to obstruct the ongoing Paula Jones lawsuit, and that was a stunning development.</s>LEMON: So without Ken Starr, are you saying this may not have been reported?</s>ISIKOFF: We at "Newsweek" knew about the allegations of the relationship for months. I had been talking to Linda Tripp. She had provided me all sorts of circumstantial evidence, including offering to give me the blue dress, although it was not clear what I could possibly have done with it to use that corroborating evidence, but once the Paula Jones lawsuit proceeded and it was clear that Bill Clinton was going to be deposed under oath and was going to be asked about this, we got closer to the story, but it was the intervention of Starr that made this the political earthquake that it was.</s>LEMON: And eventually the cover-up that made it a bigger political earthquake.</s>ISIKOFF: And the President of course denied - publicly denied that the allegations were true.</s>LEMON: Sally, the Lewinsky story, it was epic then and eventually resulted in the President's impeachment, and you fast-forward 20 years and we have a story about President Trump allegedly having a tryst with a porn star, Stormy Daniels. The "Wall Street Journal" reported just this past Friday on an alleged tryst that the President's attorney, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 payment for a former adult film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement to preclude her from publicly discussing any alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. Citing people familiar with the matter. Why hasn't the public reacted the same way? This is someone who is now the President of the United States, was married, had a small child and is accused of covering it up in some way. Why isn't this a big story?</s>SALLY QUINN, WASHINGTON POST CONTRIBUTOR: You know why? Because I think that on the list of outrageous, this comes very low. With Bill Clinton, and I have to say that Michael Isikoff did a brilliant job reporting on Monica Lewinsky story and I was there hanging over his shoulder looking at his computer while he was doing it. During that time, it wasn't a shock that Bill Clinton was having an affair, because we already knew that he had done that, but it was a shock when it became clear that he was going to be deposed and then he lied. But I think with Donald Trump, first of all, everybody knows that this is what he does, and I think that he has -- it was a consensual affair. I don't think any money changed hands at the time, at least that we know of now. And I think that the only thing that is going to get in the way is the money, follow the money. Where did they get the money to pay her off to keep her silent? Why did they wait so long? How was it done? But that part of it, I think, could be difficult. But I think that when you look at what Trump has done with the environment and what he is done with DACA and what he has done with health care and what he is doing with the immigration and racism -- you know, you could go on and on and on.</s>LEMON: You think this just falls in there.</s>QUINN: This just falls at the bottom, and the Trump supporters obviously their issue --</s>LEMON: They don't care. It doesn't matter. They don't care about anything. There is no indiscretion, there's nothing. You mentioned Kenneth Starr. Would something like this possibly turn up at the Mueller investigation?</s>ISIKOFF: You know, not on its face. I mean, with the Monica Lewinsky thing, she was a subpoenaed witness in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Remember, the Supreme Court voted 9-0 and said the lawsuit should go forward. It was a legitimate legal process. And that is what turns it, you know, turned it into --</s>LEMON: Michael Cohen denies there is any inappropriate relationship with Stormy Daniels, and Cohen also released a statement from Daniels in which she denies having sex with the President. So why do you think this story hasn't blown up?</s>ISIKOFF: First of all, they did not deny the $130,000 payment. That is what leapt out at me. If nothing had happened, why did money change hands? And if money didn't change hands, why didn't they deny that money had changed hands? So that is the first sort of red flag that leaps out. Of course, as Stormy Daniels had talked to others and confirmed that she had had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump and then after the $130,000 payment, she said she did not have a sexual relationship with Donald Trump. So there are legitimate reasons to be somewhat skeptical about some of these public statements.</s>QUINN: I think you were saying discrepancies.</s>LEMON: Do you think it is a different standard, because -- listen, this President, everybody knows he has a problem with the truth. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about his affair. Do you think there is a different standard with this President? I don't have a lot of time left.</s>QUINN: Let me just ask you one question. Suppose this happened with Barack Obama. How would you think it would go down? It would be a huge scandal and he probably would have been forced to resign.</s>LEMON: Republican and Conservative Media would be all over it.</s>QUINN: But I don't think, I mean Melania would leave him over this, I don't think she would care. The only thing, his supporters are, number one, if it's ever been shown that he was behind an abortion of someone that he'd had sex with or, two, that if he were gay or a cross-dresser. I think that other than that, he is golden.</s>LEMON: All right. Thank you. That is like -- what is it? A live boy or dead girl? Thank you very much. Interesting.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His overall health is excellent. He has very, very good health. He is in the excellent range from a cardiac standpoint.</s>LEMON: But it turns out President Trump's tests show he has heart disease, so why didn't his doctor say that during his briefing?