Trump knew payments were wrong, Cohen says l FULL INTERVIEW PT 1/2

[0:00] It has been a monumental week in American politics, and we are not done yet. We start [0:04] with your exclusive huge interview overnight. This thing came together very quickly late [0:09] yesterday. Of course, it was a day after Michael Cohen received his three-year prison sentence, [0:12] which he says was the worst day of his life. And then those attacks from President Trump [0:17] started early yesterday morning. It continued throughout the day. At some point, Cohen, [0:22] who wasn't planning to speak out, felt he had to respond. Now, there are some things he can't [0:26] answer because he's still cooperating with prosecutors, but he directly contradicts [0:30] President Trump's claims about those hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and playmate [0:35] Karen McDougall. And as you'll see, he is emotional, remorseful, and determined to tell what he says [0:40] is the truth about President Trump. Michael, thank you for doing this. George, good to see you. [0:45] Emotional day in court yesterday, and I was struck by that line you had. You said you felt like you [0:51] had your freedom back. Yes. How does it feel today? Like I have my freedom back. Though I have to [0:58] be honest, it's been very rough to be before the court with my family in attendance, my mother, [1:08] my father, wife, my children, my sisters, my brother, my niece, cousins, friends. It was a very [1:17] rough day. And then you wake up today, and the president's tweeting from very early in the morning, [1:23] several different things. What struck me most is his claim that you agreed to this plea deal for this [1:30] reason, he said. Those charges were just agreed to him by him in order to embarrass the president [1:36] and get a much reduced prison sentence. I know which tweets you're talking about. First of all, it's [1:41] absolutely not true. I did not do it to embarrass the president. He knows the truth. I know the truth. [1:51] Many people know the truth. Under no circumstances do I want to embarrass the president of the United States [1:57] of America. The truth is, I told the truth. I took responsibility for my actions. And instead of him [2:05] taking responsibility for his actions, what does he do? He attacks my family. And after yesterday, [2:13] again, being before the court and taking the responsibility and receiving a sentence of 36 [2:22] six months, the only thing he can do is to tweet about my family. He said in the tweets, he repeated [2:31] in an interview later on, that basically he says, his claim, you're lying about him to protect your wife, [2:40] to protect your father. Inaccurate. He knows the truth. I know the truth. Others know the truth. [2:46] And here is the truth. The people of the United States of America, the people of the world, [2:52] don't believe what he's saying. The man doesn't tell the truth. And it's sad that I should take [2:59] responsibility for his dirty deeds. You lied for him for a long time. More than 10 years. Why? [3:07] Out of loyalty. Out of loyalty to him. I followed a bad path. And hence how we started this conversation. [3:17] I have my freedom. And I will not be the villain, as I told you once before. I will not be the villain [3:24] of his story. He's saying very clearly that he never directed you to do anything wrong. Is that [3:30] true? I don't think there's anybody that believes that. First of all, nothing at the Trump organization [3:35] was ever done unless it was run through Mr. Trump. He directed me, as I said in my elocution, [3:43] and I said as well in the plea, he directed me to make the payments. He directed me to become involved [3:49] in these matters, including the one with McDougal, which was really between him and David Pecker, [3:56] and then David Pecker's counsel. I just reviewed the documents in order to protect him. I gave [4:02] loyalty to someone who truthfully does not deserve loyalty. He was trying to hide what you were doing, [4:08] correct? Correct. And he knew it was wrong? Of course. And he was doing that to help his election? [4:14] You have to remember at what point in time that this matter came about, two weeks or so before the [4:24] election, post the Billy Bush comments. So yes, he was very concerned about how this would affect [4:32] the election. To help his campaign? To help him and the campaign. You mentioned dirty deeds in your [4:38] elocution yesterday. When you think about it, when you look back, did you know what you were doing? [4:46] I'm angry at myself because I knew what I was doing was wrong. I stood up before the world yesterday [4:54] and I accepted the responsibility for my actions. The actions that I gave to a man who, as I also said [5:04] in my elocution, I was loyal to. I should not be the only one taking responsibility for his actions. [5:13] So he's still lying? Yes. Do you know why you were loyal to him at the beginning? No, no. It was a blind [5:23] loyalty. It was to a man I admired, but I do not know the answer to it. And I'm angry at myself. My family [5:33] is disappointed that they have taught me, my mother, father, right from wrong, and I didn't [5:42] display good judgment. You call it blind loyalty. The prosecutors seem to suggest it was, southern [5:49] district prosecutors, I should add, seem to suggest you were being driven by greed and ambition. No, [5:54] that's inaccurate. But again, I took responsibility for my actions, but I didn't make my money working [6:02] for Donald Trump. I had made a substantial amount of money years before working for Donald Trump. [6:09] And anybody who knows me knows that to be the truth. So what do you say to people? And you know, [6:14] there are a lot of people who would be watching who are going to be thinking, but wait a second, [6:19] he lied for so long. Why should we believe him now? What's the answer to that? What do you mean lied? [6:23] Lied about what? At the Trump Organization, it's a microcosm of even just the New York real estate market. [6:30] What do we lie about? It's New York real estate. Yes, it's the greatest product ever created. Is [6:35] that a lie? Well, but you pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Yes. So why should we believe you now? [6:43] Because the special counsel stated emphatically that the information that I gave to them was [6:50] credible and helpful. There's a substantial amount of information that they possess that [6:58] corroborates the fact that I am telling the truth. So you're done with the lie? [7:02] I am done with the lying. I am done being loyal to President Trump. And my first loyalty belongs to [7:10] my wife, my daughter, my son, and this country. You know, that's what he first said to me back [7:16] in July. It wasn't on camera. And as I said, he is still cooperating with prosecutors. So there's [7:21] a lot of things he can't talk about right now. But he clearly felt that he just had to come out [7:25] after those attacks from the president yesterday and say something. [7:28] I mean, he still cooperating with the special counsel. So like you said, there's a lot he [7:32] can't say. But he did say a lot in that. It seemed like he's seemingly doubling down on [7:37] his claims from before. Well, no question about it.