President Trump's Personal Attorney, Michael Cohen, Changes His Legal Team; Trump Allies Concerned Michael Cohen Could Flip
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. 11:00 p.m. here on the East Coast. Live with all the new developments tonight. President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen changing his legal team. Sources telling CNN that he has been meeting with lawyers who might potentially represent him and that he wants attorneys with experience in the Southern District of New York. What does that all mean? Cohen's been the subject of a criminal investigation since the FBI raided his home and office that was back in April. He has not been charged with a crime, but sources say he will not be shocked if he is indicted. What does this mean for President Trump? Also tonight a top Republican on Capitol Hill criticizing his GOP colleagues for not standing up to President Trump accusing Republicans of being in a cult-like situation when it comes to the President. We're going to talk about all of that straight ahead. A lot to get to in the next hour. I'm going to begin, though, with Michael Cohen and changing his legal team. I want to talk about this now with Michael Avenatti, attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels who is suing Cohen. Good evening, sir. What does this mean that he is changing his legal team that he split with his council?</s>MICHAEL AVENATTI, STORMY DANIEL'S ATTORNEY: Well, Don, I don't think this is positive development for Michael Cohen or the President for a variety of reasons. I mean, these are attorneys that have had involvement with him for weeks on end. He is paid them likely millions of dollars. I mean, I estimate that his burn rate is probably about $500,000 a week.</s>LEMON: I read that. Where'd you get that? Half -- that is a lot of money.</s>AVENATTI: No. It's a tremendous amount of money. But that is what you see in these white collar -- criminal cases, Don, with these many documents at issue. And you know, in the last hearing that we had, Michael Cohen's attorney's, they stated they had 15 -- over 15 lawyers working full time, and based on my experience with New York and Los Angeles rates, I mean if you do the math it works out to probably about $500,000 a week. And look, this is what happens in these cases. You have defendants that start out and they're very defiant and they state they're going to take bullets for their co-conspirators and all of a sudden the burn rates sets in and they start burning this kind of money and then reality sets in. And the fact the matter is, I'm not at all surprised by this. I think this source, whoever it is that stated it's about having somebody with experience with the Southern District of New York, I don't think it has anything to do with that whatsoever. I think, it's all about money.</s>LEMON: All right, hold that thought, because you were talking about the attorneys. I've had legal experts come on and I would get the statements from Michael Cohen's attorneys and whatever his P.R. people, and I would read the statement and the defense to -- our legal experts who are not Democrat or Republican and they would say to me that is wrong. He is getting bad legal advice. Do you think he is getting bad legal advice? Do you think people were stringing him along, because they wanted the money? Or -- I don't know, $500,000 a week that a ridiculous amount.</s>AVENATTI: I agree 100 percent and I think it is a ridiculous amount of money and the fact of the matter is, Don, look, there were two option. Option one was having the team review the documents. And options two was having Michael Cohen's private lawyers review the documents. Now, the private lawyers advocated for them to review the documents.</s>LEMON: That means they are charging him?</s>AVENATTI: Of course. There is a profit motive. There's a disincentive for them to advocate on behalf of having the taint team do it. Let me just -- let me tell you something, Don. The end result is going to be basically be the same with the exception of Michael Cohen is going to be 2, $2.5 million lighter in the pocket. And so now reality has set in and this is a very bad situation for Michael Cohen and it is a very bad situation for Donald Trump.</s>LEMON: How much did you say lighter in the pocket?</s>AVENATTI: Well, I mean, I estimate it is $2 -2.5 million that Michael Cohen has burned. And look, here's the important thing, of all the people on the face of it planet that Donald Trump should have brought inside the tent, embrace, given love should have been --</s>LEMON: Michael Cohen.</s>AVENATTI: Absolutely, because well, not -- not only because he was so loyal but just from a Machiavellian perspective, if you want to reduce it to that. This is guy that knows where all the bodies are buried. This is the guy that represented the President for 10 or 12 years. If you are going to pick anybody to be loyal to, it is this guy. The problem is that you have a President that values loyalty when it comes to him, but he is not willing to give any loyalty in exchange. And we have seen that in a whole host of context. But here's the problem, nothing lasts forever. And this is going to come back and it is going to bite him in a very big way and I predicted that for two and a half months.</s>LEMON: You've been very adamant that you think that he faces some serious charges. Do you think this is a sign that charges are imminent when it comes to Michael Cohen?</s>AVENATTI: There's no question in my mind that charges are imminent. I don't know that he is going to be arrested tomorrow or even next week. I think some of those reports maybe are overblown. There's no question in my mind, Don, as I said, two and half months ago, that Michael Cohen is going to be indicted and he is going to attempt to flip on the President. But here's the problem, Don, with each passing day for Michael Cohen his options get more and more limited. If in fact Bob Mueller concludes that a sitting President cannot be indicted, Michael Cohen may have played his hand too long. Not to mix metaphors but he may be left with no chair when the music stops. And when I mean by that is, if Bob Mueller concludes that a sitting President cannot be indicted, and I actually believe that he will conclude that based on what I know of Bob Mueller and what I know of his conservative leanings and his belief related to various legal scholars. If Bob Mueller concludes that, Michael Cohen is not going to have anybody to roll-up on. He is not going to have anybody to lean on. He is going to have zero leverage and he is going to be out on an island. And I predict if that happens I think ultimately he is convicted, or he pleas, I think this President is going to hang him out to dry. I don't think the President is going to give him a pardon and I think Michael Cohen is going to be sitting there potentially in a prison cell wondering what he did with his life.</s>LEMON: The president is a self-profess billionaire, maybe he is going to help him pay the legal fees.</s>AVENATTI: You know, why hasn't he already? I mean, this is one of the cheapest guys on the face of the planet.</s>LEMON: So, we talked about does him wanting -- I said to hold that thought when it comes to having a legal team that has experience with dealing with the Southern District of New York. Because it is been said that his team has more experience in dealing with the law in Washington or political, that sort of thing. So you said that you're not buying that. Why?</s>AVENATTI: No. I'm not buying that, because it doesn't matter at the end of the day whether you're litigating cases in D.C. or New York or Los Angeles. When you're at the federal level and you're at a level of this magnitude, whether you have experience with a particular office or not, in my view does not carry a ton of weight. If you look at the lawyers that are prosecuting this case in the Southern District of New York, lawyers that are very, very capable but many of which, I mean, they haven't been in that office that long. We're not talking about 20-year prosecutors. So I'm not buying that. I think it's a bunch of nonsense. I think at the end of the day this comes down to money. Michael Cohen has probably run out of money or he doesn't have the money to front, and now these lawyers having taken 2 million or $2.5 million off him have abandoned him. And you know, this is what a lot of these big firms do. I mean, they talk a good game, but when it really comes down to it, they're nowhere to be found.</s>LEMON: You sound like, I mean you feel sorry -- you sound like you feel sorry for Michael Cohen, he is being abandoned by his legal team. Like the President saying, oh, he did Hillary Clinton wrong, Comey so that is why I have to fire him.</s>AVENATTI: Well, look, I mean, I have to tell you. This is a very serious matter for Michael Cohen, OK. He is going to face some very serious charges. I know he has a family, I know he has a wife, I know he has kids, I understand he is a good father. I don't wish any will, you know, will against him, Don. You know, I have to tell you I'm very concerned about his safety, I am very concern about his mental state. I'm just going to state that here tonight. I don't know where this is going to end. I hope he is able to handle it because this is tremendous amount of pressure, but look. --</s>LEMON: It is tough on him, I do know that, because the number of times that I've spoken to him, it is toughed on him, he is worried. He is concerned about his family, especially his son.</s>AVENATTI: Look, this is -- I don't think people can comprehend how much pressure this is. And look, in that respect I feel for the guy. I mean for the reasons I've just stated. But, look, he is been isolated and abandoned by someone that he was loyal to, Mr. Trump, who's shown no inclination to take care of him or have his back. You know, his attorneys have put their own profit motives ahead of his interest, there's no question about that in my view now. I mean, this guy has been placed on an island. And people that are twisting in the wind are dangerous.</s>LEMON: OK. Quick. Two things quickly if you can get to, because allegedly Trump's allies are concerned that he is going to flip. Should they be concerned?</s>AVENATTI: They should have been concerned two and a half months ago when I predicted it.</s>LEMON: So, where do you get and also do you think any of this -- how does this relate to Stormy Daniels? Do you think anything that comes out of the recordings or any of the things that were taken in the raids -- because I think you're waiting -- Friday is the deadline, right? To determine if that is the things that were taken in the raid, if they were attorney-client privilege. Anything that comes out do you think it's going to be related to your client?</s>AVENATTI: Oh, I think a number of pieces of evidence are going to be related to my client. And Don, look, our case has gotten better every week. It is getting better every other day and you know, hopefully Rudy Giuliani will go on Fox and Friends in the morning and it will get even better.</s>LEMON: Michael Avenatti, thank you appreciate your time.</s>AVENATTI: Great to see you.</s>LEMON: When we come back Republicans attack President Obama throughout his two terms in office saying he was vain and inexperienced. I wonder what those same Republicans would say about President Trump. We are going to discuss that right after this.