allen weisselberg. he was charged, today, in manhattan, along with the company and trump payroll corporation in a 15-count indictment alleging tax fraud, conspiracy, falsifying business records, and scheming to defraud the state of new york. this is a big deal. even if you agree with his lawyers that this shouldn't be a criminal matter. it's a big deal, even if you agree with the former president, who called the case, quote, the political-witch hunt by the radical-left democrats, with new york now taking over the assignment. why is this a big deal? simple. the investigation is not over. the pressor -- pressure just grew enormously, today, on allen weisselberg. and no one disputes how closely connected he has been to the man, whose books he has kept for decadings. decades. >> every single thing, when it was the acquisition of paperclips, light bulbs, furniture, mattresses, you name it. allen weisselberg's kids' payments. rent, everything, would have a donald signature on it or his initial. >> in a moment

i was asked again with allen weisselberg. i was instructed by allen. in the office with me was allen weisselberg. >> reporter: cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and violating federal campaign finance law among other things and was sentenced to three years in prison. in 2018 weisselberg was granted limited immunity in the cohen investigation so that he could share information with federal prosecutors in new york. trump once shared his views on immunity at a rally. >> and if you're not guilty of a crime why do you need immunity for? >> when it comes to those hush money payments would allen weisselberg know if trump had knowledge of them? >> absolutely, yes. he wouldn't do anything without him. he wouldn't ever do anything without his approval. >> reporter: at first trump said he had no knowledge of the payments. then his attorneys admitted that trump reimbursed cohen for the $130,000 hush money payment he made to porn star stormy daniels. if trump did make hush money payments, then he may have violated election law. the question surrounding all of it,

thank you. >> futerfas, allen. >> i just have a few comments to make. >> all right. the you were lus ening to allen futerfas, the lawyer representing the trump organization. making the case that they believe the charges are politically motivated. we have now received the indictment. we're combing through that. we'll bring you details of it as we continue to analyze it. and piece it together. i do want to cross over now to tom winter who was inside the courtroom during that arraignment. >> so i want to go quickly to the indictment. i think i can lay out what's been charged here. exactly what prosecutors allege has been done wrong here. violation of law. particularly they say that in the scheme, beginning from 2005 and continuing to june 30th, 2021, that would be yesterday, the defendants and others devised and operate aid scheme to defraud federal new york state and new york city tax authorities. the purpose of the scheme according to the indictment, was to compensate trump organization executives in a manner that was off the books. the beneficiaries of the scheme rec

understand allen weisselberg is not a cpa, he's a bookkeeper. then what they're going to do knowing frick and frack, they're going to point around to mazers, the accountant. say you knew this and you should have been warning us because that's all that they're good at is deflecting their i will legalities on to somebody else. it wasn't me, it's him. if it's not him, look at him. donald doesn't care if it's going to be al land or the accountants at mazers or someone else. it doesn't matter as long as it's not him. it's an amazing -- it's an amazing way about him, you know, where, again, he'd rather be his children than be himself. >> we had a prosecutor on earlier who said that, you know -- i think you made this point before, that there are these millions of documents, a ton of documentation that is the real star of this case, not necessarily weisselberg. what did he mean by that? what documents are out there and how damaging could they be? >> i know the documents because i spent more than ten occasions with district attorney so i'm very familiar

and how much pressure does this put on allen weisselberg? that's what you'd be asking yourself tonight if you were in your old job. >> for sure. thank you. good evening, lawrence. today's indictment is, clearly, a very broad-ranging indictment. involving 15 years. allegations of 15 years of scheme to defraud taxing authorities. and we are talking about $1.76 million in income that was, either, falsely reported or mis -- or not properly reported. i think with -- it's -- it's clearly a very significant indictment. i think, in terms of the issue of mr. weisselberg's cooperation. right now, he is looking at charges that don't mandate a jail sentence. it doesn't mean that he wouldn't get one, if he was convicted. but it doesn't mandate a jail sentence. um, i believe that the calculation made by mr. weisselberg's lawyers and mr. weisselberg is he is going to fight this, for now. and see what comes down the pike, in terms of additional charges. if he were to have cooperated with the da's office, you can be sure that the da's office would have requi

again we're waiting for allen weisselberg to arrive. we do not know what the impact will be on him, when he is officially charged up until this point he's not cooperated with investigators. will this indictment lead to some cooperation? that's what we're waiting to see over the next few days. again we'll bring you allen weisselberg's arrival when it takes place. >>> now this -- >>> i don't know what other excuses can be made for the republican party at this point. they've been given ample opportunities to, you know, to have an exit ramp from the previous administration and they chose to embrace that administration and in doing so on the backs of hundreds of police officers that responded to the insurrection. >> that's a d.c. police officer who was brutally assaulted during the capitol insurrection on january 6th telling cnn he was shocked but not surprised after all but two house republicans voted against creating a select committee. the house did ultimately vote in favor of creating, and cnn congressional correspondent jessica dean. >>

to remove the notation " per allen weisselberg " from the entries of donald j. trump's detail general entries related to tuition paid on his biafra to his family members private school. you can get four years for that. four years in prison, just for that. just for that falsifying of business record. allen weisselberg is accused of committing that crime in the final weeks of the winning trump presidential campaign in 2016. the question that today's indictment does not answer is, exactly how involved and responsible for these crimes was donald trump? tonight, donald trump who is reportedly not a good sleep or will at some point tried to fall asleep and allen weisselberg who is 73 years old, is a husband, a father, and grandfather, who wants to spend his remaining years with his wife, his children, and grandchildren, all the time have been beneficiaries of the crimes outlined in this indictment, direct beneficiaries. tonight, allen weisselberg is facing a possible sentence that could leave him in prison for the rest of his life. donald trump has to fall asleep toni

allen weisselberg, also a very big fish. the idea that he would only be useful to try to bring somebody else in or implicate somebody else, and what i think is very much so dismissive of what the severity of the charges may very well be. now, it is true, obviously the prospect of facing federal incarceration for anyone is very problematic, but it might be that he has outlived his usefulness as a cooperator. it may be that they're able to corroborate or substantiate the types of things they needed him for, for any prospective bigger fish already. so a lot of this is a balancing act of prosecutors about trying to get things to substantiate their case, corroboration, but people outlive their usefulness. one key way to know that is an indictment against them. >> and then what happens after they've outlived their usefulness? they're indicted and then the prosecutors don't need them anymore? in other words then they can go to jail and the prosecutors don't care? >> i mean it could be that they, in terms of usefulness, they are no

allen personally. >> he tries not to. he's made mistakes, but typically, no. >>> they fedex packages? >> right. right. from bieoynton to palm beach. >> you would see the fedex packages constantly? >> yes. >> you want you were convinced at one point you thought allen weisselberg could flip. he did not, obviously. he could still decide he wants to cooperate. do you see that happening? do you think that charges could change his mind? knowing what you know about him and knowing who he is. >> yes, i think he'll be in a different mindset after today. >> how so? >> maybe the new tax attorney is just making him aware of the fact that there are issues here. i thought tax fraud and tax evasion was a crime itself -- >> it is. >> typically it's a civil case, i understand what you're saying, but i have no doubt they are going -- that they have much more, they're not going to bring this case against a former president without a lot more. we have a lot more time with the grand jury panel, correct? we have another four months. >> this is

insider, she is ready to testify against allen weisselberg at trial. we are very gratified to hear the reporting that the da's office is considering bringing criminal charges. we had been working with them and other investigators since late last year and have provided investigators with a mountain of evidence about not only fringe benefits but also other potential tax issues. we will discover in the indictments revealed tomorrow what other potential tax issues could be involved. and today in an interview with msnbc's hallie jackson, jennifer weisselberg said she believes there is legal jeopardy for allen weisselberg and for donald trump personally involving things that happened after donald trump became president. >> who do you think has leverage on him? what do you think that leverage entails? >> i think it's donald. >> what is the leverage? >> it's with the presidential inaugural committee. >> can you tell us anything more about that? >> i mean, it seems like it bleeds into the trump organization, and there were some things going on after donald was

allen weisselberg had some of that through a certain payment. with ivanka trump what we saw -- others are involved as well -- there was $26 million that we found in consulting fees that were being paid from entities that donald trump controls outward. we couldn't see who they were going to. we saw them going out. it was like, wow, when we saw it, where were these going? what we found as we went along was we were comparing the taxes to other documents we had, public documents and other documents. we saw some of it went to a company that is controlled by ivanka trump is an officer of and paid out to ivanka trump. why that was a red flag is because she's an officer of the trump organization and has -- she's paid more than $2 million. she's getting consulting fees. that should be -- the irs would look at it and say -- they are only -- these payments should be ordinary and necessary. you have to question why somebody who is making $2 million at the trump organization is also getting consulting fees. what's going on? what we in our reporting suspected

the clerk, allen wiseleberg. an indictment charging you with grand larceny in the second degree and other related charges. how do you plead? guilty or not guilty? the defendant, not guilty. the trump corporation, the grand jury of the county of new york has charged you with scheme to defraud in the first degree. corporation pleads not guilty. the trump payroll corporation, charging you with scheme to defraud. how do you plead, guilty, not guilty. the company pleads not guilty. thank you. the judge, very well. a different prosecutor rises. your honor, in light of the many cases, as spelled out this was a 15-year long tax fraud scheme involving off the books payments which is a type of crime charged against companies and executives all the time. contrary to today's assertion by the company's ceo, former president donald trump, this is not a, quote, standard practice or the act of a rouge or isolated employee but instead by the most senior executives benefitting themselves and themselves receiving pay raises. the ch

allen: ¿la conoces? terry: por favor. allen: antes era menos delgada. terry: no lo entiendo, en verdad no lo entiendo. [♪♪♪] pirÁmide. [♪♪♪] (♪ música ♪) (♪ música ♪) (♪ música ♪) (♪ música ♪) (♪ música ♪) >> a horas del 4 de julio residente se preparapn para celebrar. >> el florida los trabajos de rescate continúan este sábadopreocupación de que las aglomeraciones este fin de semana disparan los contagios de la variante delta de covid-19. >> feliz sábado fuegos artificiales para este 4 de julio en san francisco, el espectáculo se realizara el ... muchos esperan atender a los espectadores que lleguen antes del choque. >> buenas tardes estar preparando para este 4 de julio en pantalla esperan tener un número alto de clientes dicen que es otraoportunidad para poder recuperarse económicamente. >> lo hacemos para pagar nuestra renta ahora está bien caro todo. otros optarán por viajar así dijo una trabajadora que viajará a modesto donde se notará con varios familiares que no había visto dijo que tomara preca

., allen weisselberg, who surrendered to authorities in new york city this morning. prosecutors say that for at least 16 years, the trump organization paid top executives off the books, calling it a sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme. weisselberg himself, they said, avoided paying taxes on $1.7 million, used company money for apartments, private school tuition, and luxury cars-- all of it adding up to 15 counts. the trump organization called it a political play with a bigger target in mind. you think the real target here is former president trump? >> given the nature and the unprecedented nature of these charges, that's certainly-- that's the reason they were brought, okay. if the name of the company was something else, i don't think these charges would have been ght. wberg p not guilty, has worked for the family for almost 50 years. but now he's under pressure to flip. >> this is a man in his 70s. if he looks at michael cohen and look what happened to him in terms of imprisonment, when they put the cuffs on you-- as they did today at the courthouse-- you

allen weisselberg on the check or mr. weisselberg for short. >> michael cohen there testified about weisselberg in 2019. he's been a reasons there several times. the investigation remains ongoing and michael cohen joins me now. michael. you started this and your reaction to today's indictment. the organization that you used to work for and the cfo you used to work so closely with. >> i am not surprised of the ziemt, thest a little benefit what of us looking for or hoping for in a sweeping set of indictment meaning allen weisselberg. he's not the keystone to this entire indictment. there will be more as far as i am concerned. i know that i had gone in and i have spoken on more than a dozen occasions to the district attorney and there are a multitude of issues that are far more ranging from allen weisselberg is not paying for a car. he's not the only one. it had the same wacky compensation package. >> wacky compensation, the company intentionally use to avoid taxes, is that your view? >> well, my view is that if you are liv

what would be left for allen afterwards. allen, i know we are talking ten years. i don't think he would get ten years for that. at least talking to my attorney, patrick bradley and it's not as if donald would stop paying him. it's not as if donald would not take him back after what happens here. so, the idea that we are looking at something like this, i also said from the beginning, rodger would never testify against donald. it would have been easier for him. he did not do it. manafort, who knew exactly what his plan was when he was cooperating with mueller, i didn't think he was. it's not the same as michael cohen. i'm not saying he was right or on wrong or treated well on or whether he should be going to the white house. what i say is people have to understand this is the person who was there at the founding and it's not as if he is to therefore have something waiting for him afterwards after he testifies. what is he going to do at 76 years old. >> you are saying, yeah, you are saying that there's a lot of sourcing that the theory on of the case is, there's enou

that's a charge against allen weisselberg, cfo. another charge, then allen weisselberg faces alone which is grand larceny in the second degree, ran larceny of course is theft. they're accusing him of essentially stealing in effect from the irs by knowingly obtaining a tax refund that he was not supposed to get. but the... venues here, they genuinely interesting i think surprising news is, number one, this is a lot of charges. 15 felony charges is a serious and extensive indictment that the trump organization lawyers have been trying to spin to the public for the past week or so for sure. this is a heftier indictment and they prepared people for. it is therefore a heftier indictment that most people were expecting. number two, in statements today from the da's office and from the new york attorney generals office, remember this is essentially been in a joint investigation by those two conference into entities. statements from both of those entities released, and in that exchanged that in court that i described it why they need a pro

and he talked about the arrest of allen weisselberg. you see trump making excuses that hopefully allen weisselberg doesn't slip on him and thinking and taking the case that his company does what every other company is doing. even if they are it is still illegal. trump is using the tune it is still working for so many republican voters. >> many of my viewers have had enough of trump, is probably useful to hear what you just said that he said last night because it is a remarkable defense to a bunch of allegations. in many cases it defenses i didn't do it. here is what he said about the charges that you were just talking about. >> they go after good hard- working people for not paying taxes on a company car. you used an apartment because you have to travel too far where your houses and you didn't pay tax or education for your grandchildren. does anybody know the answer to that stuff? but they indict people for that. but for murder and selling massive amounts of the worst drugs in the world that kill people left and right, that's okay, thin

i thinkette a battle for the love of allen weisselberg. let me read part of the trump organization statement here before i get to you. allen weisselberg is a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who worked at the trump organization for 48 years. he is now being used by the manhattan district attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former president. so, this is a battle to win the hearts and mind of one person or perhaps one family, allen weisselberg. i can usually judge the former president's concerns by the number of things he tries to talk about in a 48-hour period before bad legal news and he has been as erratic as ever, so he clearly even though they tried to tell us he's not concerned, he seems highly concerned about this if you look at the nondenial denials about their concern. >> so what's interesting is that statement you just read, chuck that, we got from the trump organization today is basically -- can be summed up in five words which is, hey, allen, we got your back. that's what they're trying to

>> it's not good for allen weisselberg. donald trump managed to in one statement both incriminate himself to a degree by admitting, yes, we paid these perks, no, we did not pay taxes on this, and two, distanced himself by saying, who knows about this stuff. as you said in the intro, most responsible adults know about this tax stuff, but especially cfos like allen weisselberg. donald trump is doing himself no favors and certainly is doing allen weisselberg no favors. >> amanda, this is something that you have covered, you may cover in "the gaslighting of america," but if barack obama, or a democrat, or the clinton foundation, had said these type of things or made these kind of comments in public, how would republicans feel about that? >> of course, i mean, republicans would probably hold them to account. and that's what's so frustrating about the trump era, he keeps getting involved in all these scandals and investigations and somehow everyone around him is held accountable except for him. allen weisselberg is in trouble rig

allen weisselberg may not be cooperating now. that doesn't mean he won't cooperate in the future. so i think that's what's going on, but the president has ignored the advice of his lawyers in the past and who knows who will follow that advice now. >> do you, as a former prosecutor and someone who's spent considerable time investigating donald trump in the first impeachment investigation, does this feel like an inevitable turn of events for someone who has behaved the way you have seen him behave up close in the presidency? >> yes. i mean, this is a grift or from start to finish. he brought his swamp from new york with him to the oval office and this is a guy who used his foundation as a personal political fund. can we be surprised if this organization, the business and, would not be the subject of indictment? but at the same time, i thought an indictment is likely. i still think it's a steep hill to climb to indict the former president. the quality and quantity of the evidence would have to be very significant. it's relatively easy to make a case against the corporation, but to be

what prosecutors will try to do is build up pressure on allen weisselberg. he has been an executive for the trump organization for decades. so if prosecutors can build pressure on him so that he might help actually prosecutors to go after donald trump, that's actually the goal. the trial will not start probably before next year, so there will be time for allen weisselberg and his lawyers to consider if they are going to help prosecutors, or if he's going to remain on the side of donald trump. but clearly this is all getting some witness to help prosecutors against the former president. brent: jens korte, as always, thank you. it's being hailed as a huge step towards tax justice. 130 countries have agreed to a global tax plan to ensure that multinationals pay a tax rate of at least 15%. the plan is designed to prevent large firms including google, amazon, and facebook from taking advantage of weak tax rules. today's show of support is significant, but not every country is on board. reporter: this modest press release from the oecd could have a huge impact on

allen weissleberg is front and center. many have said he's the guy who knows where the bodies are buried, if you will, been with donald trump for 50 years since the beginning of the organization. >> i think we'll get a sense of what prosecutors have. we've been hearing about the elephant for months but we haven't seen it so we'll see the beginning of the evidence they have. we heard these charges relate to unpaid taxes but how much, one apartment, one car, was this a pattern of tax evasion for many people over many years. when we see that, we'll see the legal pressure on weisselberg, because weisselberg flipping to reduce his liability will be one of the important things to happen. >> this could be the tip of the iceberg as the da looks into the trump organization. what happens from here do you expect that mr. weisselberg will flip on donald trump and leading to charges on the former president? >> reporter: it's hard to expect until we see how much jail time, if any, allen weisselberg is facing. if you remember, michael co

so the question today is we know about allen weisselberg. give us a better sense of the who right now in terms of who is being charged today. there's also the company. >> big day. we'll learn a lot of important detail but there are some things that we do know already. today's indictment will charge two defendants. the first defendant is the trump organization itself. yes. prosecutors can indict corporations even though they are not people but important to know there are only financial penalties. this could mean the end of the trump organization ultimately if they get convicted but nobody can go to jail based on a corporate charge. the second charge is an individual allen weisselberg long time chief financial officer of the trump organization. if convicted as an individual key go to jail and he'll be a focal point. prosecutors are clearly trying to put pressure on allen weisselberg to flip him and get him to cooperate. >> what types of crimes are we talking about? >> a lot of details we'll get out of the indictment today. the gist of it is ta

why is allen going to do a 76 years old? >> you're saying that there's a lot of sourcing that theory of the case is, there is enough stuff that they might hit trump, but they would need an insider as is so often the case with enterprises like this, to provide the testimony. and that's why they're putting heat on weisselberg? that if they got father it would be based on weisselberg. and your say if that's the theory of the case, 90% chance it's a dead end? onlyworks. because you think weisselberg is right or die? >> yes. yes. even at his age, even with the exposure his kids could possibly have. there's a story that went around the office. when donald was about to do his taxes, the actual boardroom on donna's floor, you would go down allen's office was right there. allen would be sitting there with jeff mcconney, the comptroller, they were talked o'donnell. jeff would then leave the room and allen and donald would have a discussion. ellen is the only one who can really tell you about the financials of that corporation, besides

the trump organization's chief financial officer allen weisselberg surrendered to the manhattan district attorney's office on thursday, charged with grand larceny for avoiding taxes on $1.7 million in perks that he did not report as income. his arraignment came as the d.a. filed criminal charges against the trump organization, accusing it of operating a 15-year tax fraud scheme. weisselberg pleaded not guilty. he was ordered to surrender his passport and was released without bail. his lawyer said the case against him and the trump organization was politically motivated. >> in 244 years, we have not had a local prosecutor go after a former president of the united states or his employees or his company. that is a significant line to cross. a mako weisselberg could face up to a decade in prison if convicted. many legal experts are speculating prosecutors targeted him with the hope he will flip and help investigators in other ongoing probes into the trump family business. we'll have more on this story later in the broadcast with pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter david cay johnsto

to put allen weisselberg in prison. it may also be why donald trump's continued ranting are why joe biden's approval ratings are so strong. and then there's president biden's continued leadership in the most important job the president can have making americans safe. here's president joe biden today. >> because of our wartime effort to administer 300 million shots in arms in 150 days, more than 182 million americans have received at least one shot including nearly 90% of seniors and 70% of adults over the age of 27. by the end of this week, we'll have reached the mark of 160 million fully vaccinated americans and that's a goal i set in march that i'm thrilled we're going to hit just a few days after july the 4th. the bottom line is the virus is on the run and america is coming back. we're coming back together. >> leading off our discussion tonight, ezra klein, opinion columnist for "new york times" where he hosts the podcast "the ezra klein show." he's the author of best seller "why we're polarized". >> also joining us

and that is allen weisselberg. and it is people like allen weisselberg said, the children that are actually going to be collateral damage to this. and that is the exact incentive that you need to give someone like allen weisselberg. it's not just to save his own hide, but the height of his children as well. >> one of those conversations like, dave, with someone who is in like weisselberg who's in this position. >> it depends on who's having the conversation, chris. it's gonna be curious to see who ends up representing him. is it a laura connected to the trump organization? or is there enough at this point to drive a wedge between the two to force him to get his own attorney. but oftentimes who edged up happening in a situation like this, for successful defenses of individuals in these positions, is whether or not you can get them to level with their point of view enough to realize that it's wise to acknowledge when they simply got you. and are you going to do that in a way that's going to ultimately lead to you get

what would be left for allen afterwards? allen, i know we're talking about ten years. i don't believe he would get ten years for that. at least talking to my attorney, patrick bradley. and it is not as if donald would stop paying him or wouldn't take him back after what happens here. so the idea that we're looking at something like this. i said from the very beginning, roger we're never testify against donald. it would be very much easier, roger stone, he didn't do it. manafort. who knew exactly what his plan was when he was cooperating with mueller? i don't think he was. this is not the same as michael cohen. i'm not saying whether he was right or wrong, i'll saying people have to understand. this was the person at the founding. it not as if he's waiting afterwards, after he testifies. what is allen going to do at 76 years old? 75? >> you're saying there is a lot of sourcing, the theory of the case is there is enough stuff that might hit trump that they would need an insider, so often the case with insiders like this. and that's why they're putting on the heat. if the

that's the incentive to give someone like allen weisselberg. it's not just his own hide, it's the hide of your children as well. >> what are those conversations like with someone in that situation that weisselberg appears he will find himself in tomorrow? >> it depends who is having the conversation. it's curious to see who represents him. is it a lawyer connected to the trump organization? is there enough to drive a wedge between the two and force him to get his own attorney? often what happens, for a successful defense of individuals in these positions, is whether or not you can get them to level with their point of view enough to realize that it's wise to acknowledge when they simply got you and you do that in a way that's going to lead to you getting the best resolution in court. that's not easy to do. we have seen public failures of lawyers who couldn't pull it off. that's what the conversations entail. >> i want to -- since i have you here, i want to ask about another huge piece of legal news today. it took a lot of people by surprise. i

that is allen there talking in that press conference. he tried to and in contrast to what we're hearing from ari talk about this scheme that was being set up here by the organization itself, was that he was saying at the core of this case are complex questions about fringe employment benefits that would be settled in discussions between a person being accused or perhaps somebody who did not pay their taxes. your take away from what you've seen so far in terms of the indictment and whether that legal defense argument apluz here. >> well, i think there are two questions here. the first is, you know, could you argue that the trump organization was truly confused? they did not understand what they were doing? they thought they were doing the right thing by accident they were doing the wrong thing. i think that we mentioned earlier, the internal ledger in terms of every dollar they gave out to him, they subjected from the compensation. so they understood these were payments to him as part of the job. but they understand also they were not pay

look, we're going to get allen wieselberg. it's not allen weisselberg they're looking for. >> interesting point there, the prediction from former trump organization employee and lawyer michael cohen. the trump organization and cfo have pleaded not guilty to tax charges. back with us is neil cottiel. who has organized dozens of cases before the supreme court. let's start with the trump matter. with the prediction michael cohen just made, what do you make of what came down today? >> i think that michael cohen is absolutely right. the prosecutors here are looking for something bigger than this. what people don't talk about, these charges are against the trump organization, which donald trump ran as president, branded with his name, and they are not minor charges. they allege about a million dollars in taxes not being paid. it's like a million dollar heist, and the justice department does a five minute google search, and you will see the justice department puts people in jail for five years for tax evasion like that. this isn't mi

allen weisselberg is a wholly-owned psychological subsidiary of donald trump's criminal mind. if you work for donald at any high level position, you have to commit criminal offenses and they've committed many of them over the years. it would be difficult to get weisselberg to flip in any circumstance. there is no minimum prison sentence in the indictment that he now faces. he could get in theory 15 years. he's a first time offender, he's in his 70s, probably would get probation or at worst, home confinement. that's probably not enough to get him to flip. on the other hand, if they were to charge his sons, we've heard a lot about their family dynamics. >> oh, yeah. glenn, last quick question to you, you and i have had this discussion many times before, my friend, donald trump, his organization may go down for some sort of tax corruption crimes. but there are bigger crimes he should be prosecuted for, right? >> yeah. donald trump is a federal problem and we need a federal solution. it's wonderful that new york has finally gotten off its duff and it seems like they're indicting h

this isn't new today to allen weisselberg. when he goes to sleep tonight he will say, okay, i call their bluff. they threatened they were gonna charge me if i didn't cooperate. they chose -- i chose not to cooperate, this is where i will be. let's see how this plays out. what's weisselberg is banking on, because new york state sensing -- for white collar cases are relatively lenient, he's not likely to face that much jail time. i think you will wait to see the evidence that the prosecutors have, which they have to turn over within 45 days. then he will start to make some decisions as to why he wants to do. motions he wants to file, or whether he wants to try to work out the guilty plea short of cooperation, or perhaps, if he wants to cooperate. given that he had the opportunity to cooperate any likely knew he was facing and chose not to, i don't think the handcuffs today, or tonight, when he goes to sleep, knowing he's been arrested, i don't think it will change his calculus. if there was additional witnesses and charges, that

that person would be allen weisselberg. and it remains to be seen whether or not he is willing to play ball. >> tom, what are you looking for in the indictments to give you a sense of what's next? >> in new york state we don't get speaking indictments. we have talked about this countless time. we get an indictment from the u.s. attorney's office here in new york. it is 30, 40, 50 pages of detailed information, time line, maybe text messages, email conversations are included in that. that's not typically something we see in new york state but since they are charging a company, will they have the ability to give us a lot more information to help us understand the broader part of this? which leads me to my second point, so far we have heard about what's going on today from trump's attorneys, attorneys on the defense side to kinds of knock the air out of what we are about to hear today and what might be contained in these indictments. i think it will be interesting to see just how much more the manhattan district attorney's off

second of all, they've already taken a run at allen weisselberg. they have also approached allen weisselberg, i am certain, and said this is what we have. we would like you to cooperate. allen weisselberg said, thanks but no thanks, i'm not going to cooperate. i'll take my chances. he's not facing that much jail time. and i don't think there's any more pressure to add to him based on the fact that he was in handcuffs today. he knew that was coming. he made that conscious decision to get arrested and get indicted rather than cooperate. i don't think we have any good reason to suspect that he is going to cooperate down the road. so i don't see why there would be additional charges against the trump organization unless new evidence comes in. i don't really see any statute of limitations issues in this indictment that would have required them to do this now as opposed to later. it's a little confusing to me if they have more why they would charge this. common sense leads me to believe they're not going to have anymore. >> new york's attorney general le

when you read the indictment, the evidence of allen weisselberg's guilt is overwhelming. from the two sets of books to an indication allen weisselberg 's own tax prepare or flipped on him to a pretty clear paper trail that shows he was criminally evading federal state and new york city taxes. but i think probably the most ominous part of that indictment is there are two unnamed people. presumably fairly high up in the trump organization, who enjoy the same criminal perks that allen weisselberg enjoyed. they haven't been named yet but we have to ask ourselves. who are two other individuals who would've been high up enough in the organization, and firmly entrenched enough and donald trump's inner circle that they may have enjoyed the same off the books compensation as allen weisselberg. could there last name beat trump? we will know soon enough. >> it's a very good question. david, returning to weisselberg there is hope he might turn on trump. flip, but he hasn't. he's risking a prison sentence. you've been following the donald. you've known him personally for decades now.

allen weisselberg making it happen. this is a pattern and practice of the trump organization for numerous executives and employees over a decade and a half. so this is really serious stuff, much more expansive than i would have expected given what folks have been saying over the last few days, and it's real trouble for trump and his organization. >> the indictment, jennifer, repeatedly mentions other employees who also got benefits from the trump organization. buwe

both the company and the cfo allen weisselberg pleaded not guilty. three months after a deadly attack by militants in mozambique, we have a special report about the local people caught up in the violence. and a piece of internet history goes up for auction. the original code for the world wide web is sold for more than $5 million. welcome to "bbc world news america" on pbs and around the globe. china's communist party is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and the president xi foreign powers -- is warning other powers. they are alleged human rights abuses. our china correspondent has the story. reporter: the were front and cef its celebrations. the total control, the omnipotent leader, the unquestioning loyalty. overlooking tiananmen square, the general secretary spoke of how the party saved china from a history of humiliation and of the power it now wields. >> the chinese people will never be bullied, oppressed, or enslaved. any royal who dares -- anyone who dares go against us will have their heads cracked and bloodied. reporter: there are no refere

you are about to turn 74 years old, allen. and if you get convicted here, you could go away for several years. so, you need to let that sit for a bit as a prosecutor but that indictment sent a message yesterday. >> maggie, i think people forget sometimes trump organization is a family business. relatively small, in some ways, family business. a family business now under indictment. you have a byline on the story which i think is really interesting in "the times," which talks about how this indictment could affect the family business, almost immediately. what will the impact be? >> so, john, the biggest question, right now, is what this means in terms of the trump organization's relationship with its lenders. in -- in various areas. whether that is lenders on specific properties. whether that is lender -- lenders in the -- you know, that we are not aware of, frankly. but oftentimes, there are covenants that are agreed to between lenders and a company or organization as to a specific project or as to an amount of capital being g

and this is where allen weisselberg fits in. received benefits. a company car, tuition for one of his grandchildren's schools and bonuses. and this is something that we expect to be part of the case today. we don't know the full breadth of it but i think once we know more, we'll be able to get a sense of how much additional pressure there will be and where else this investigation may be heading. >> ckara scannell, thank you vey much. >>> joining us now to discuss the significance. eli honig and cnn anchor and happens to be a lawyer, laura jarrett. eli, i want to begin with you. the manhattan d.a. has had trump's tax returns and azars for months now and had michael cohen to speak with, a relative of weisselberg himself. is this enough at this point given what you you've seen and with your experience as a prosecutor, would you expect a d.a. to lead with his or her strength in effect, lead with the strongest charges or do you see this as a first step? >> that is the big question here. is this the first step or is this all there is? a lot of that will

cfo allen weisselberg led into court in handcuffs today. prosecutors charging the company with ten counts and weisselberg with 15 counts in an alleged scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. weisselberg also charged with grand larceny. now, the former president, the former trump fixer and keeper of secrets i should say, michael cohen, who knows a thing or two about taking the fall saying this today. >> what you have right now is allen weisselberg's head on the chopping block. and do you think that donald trump will protect him? well, if allen looks back at what happened to me the answer an emphatic no. >> remember what he told congress about how his boss made his wishes known, how he made sure people knew what he wanted them to do? >> he doesn't give you questions. he doesn't give you orders. he speaks in a code. and i understand the code because i've been around him for a decade. >> so here's what you should know. the former president is not charged with anything right now, but his pride and joy,

someone who does not seem to be cooperating with me, allen weisselberg? >> exactly. when the dutchman first came down, i wondered, is this really enough leverage to get weisselberg to flip on trump? let's be honest, to give prosecutors information about activities or actions on the part of the former president trump, the prosecutors that might be interested in. i wasn't quite sure, not but i think weisselberg, having heard the president weaken his case, we can his defense, might be rethinking, and might be wondering just how far on this limb he wants to be, if the president is going to continue to undercut him, potential lines of defense he might have. he could end up in jail, but seriously information his age. >> ezra, as i read arizona's new reports about the trump attempt to steal the election there, that was blocked only by someone returning his call, i was reading it in tandem with your recent piece about democracy itself in this country, and the central flaws, to put it mildly, in our democracy. the electoral college which is what the election schem

allen weisselberg has been running that company from the back office for decades. if he is now out and trump's busy trying to be president again, it's going to be the kids? as i mentioned, business insider was first to report last week that allen weisselberg is now no longer an officer or director of the trump organization subsidiary in scotland. it was "the wall street journal" and then "the washington post" that matched that reporting today. "the washington post" further reporting that actually the day after allen weisselberg's name got taken off of the subsidiary in scotland the next day on friday the trump organization removed allen weisselberg from 40 other companies. 40 other trump subsidiaries based in the state of florida. in most instances allen weisselberg appears to have been listed as some combination of director, treasurer, vice president, and/or secretary of each of these subsidiaries. now he is out of all of those titles and the kids are in. instead. what could possibly go wrong? did i mention that allen weisselberg has been running the actual busine

first public comments about the criminal indictments against his company and chief financial officer allen weisselberg. i'll speak with weisselberg's former daughter-in-law. and the conservatorship that continue to say control her. >>> i do begin with surfside. we're looking live at the remaining pores -- portion of champ lane towers. they will in fact begin the process. earlier officials gave us insight into the process of how this demolition is expected to unfold. take a listen to this. >> the team is using a method of demolition called energetic felling, it clues small, strategically placed detonation and relies on the force of gravity to bring it down. the collapse area is confined to the immediate area around the building. >> so all this, of course has amplified with tropical storm elsa churning. they could experience strong winds there. rescue mission has been suspended since saturday night. we want to bring in vaughn hillyard with more. >> reporter: they're working actively to place the debt nations. we don't know exactly what time the officials in the demolition crews intend to tak

he knew allen new how to handle it. he said say, we can't publicize this. >> with you, jennifer, people would like to be able to say, this is the ex-wife, you know what they mean, they had a tough divorce. of course she's going to say these things. you gave documents to prosecutors that showed these things. it wasn't i'm mad at my ex-husband, it was look at these documents. in light of that and your understanding of the situation and the family dynamic, the whole suspicion here is, is this big enough for allen weisselberg to say this is going to be bad for me and my kids, i have to work with the prosecutors even though i have a loyalty to donald trump? do you believe this is enough heat on him for him to give up donald trump? >> watching him in handcuffs today and seeing him walk in handcuffs, i don't think he can watch his kids do that. i just don't think he can. that was painful. i think it brought a real awareness and stark reality to it. >> what do you think? >> about whether he's going to give up trump? it's intere