- Again tonight with a publichearing heard round the world,

with a man who once saidhe would take a bullet

for President Trump, nowlambasting his former boss

before lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

The president's ex-personalattorney told Congress

President Trump's desire to win

would have him work with anyone.

- Republicans usingthe venue to poke holes

in Cohen's credibility before he heads

to prison for lying to Congress.

- [John] Cohen's bombshelltestimony stopped short

of accusing the presidentof colluding with Russia

in the 2016 election campaign.

- CBN White House correspondentBen Kennedy is here now

with more on the shotsfired on both sides, Ben?

- Leaked in media outlets,

Cohen called PresidentTrump a cheat and a conman.

Congressional Republicans pounced,

and focused their questioningon Cohen's credibility,

given his convictionfor lying to Congress.

But, the commander-in-chief's former fixer

and personal lawyer maintained he will let

Americans decide who is telling the truth.

- I am here under oath,to correct the record.

- [Ben] Michael Cohen'sexplosive testimony clearly

showed intent to damage hisformer boss, President Trump.

- I am ashamed, becauseI know what Mr. Trump is.

He is a racist, he is aconman, and he is a cheat.

- [Ben] The former fixeraccused the commander-in-chief

of criminal conduct while in office,

and disclosed a reimbursement check,

from then PresidentTrump, Cohen claimed was

for hush money payments toporn star Stormie Daniels.

- He asked me to payoff an adult film star,

with whom he had an affair,

and to lie about it tohis wife, which I did.

And lying to the First Ladyis one of my biggest regrets.

- [Ben] And a major accusation

that the president had prior knowledge

of the 2016 Wikileaks email dump

that hurt Hillary Clinton'spresidential campaign.

Cohen stopped short connectingTrump to Russian collusion.

- Questions have been raised about

whether I know of directevidence, that Mr. Trump,

or his campaign, colluded with Russia.

I do not.

- [Ben] Republicanspointed to Cohen's own past

to punch holes in his testimony.

Cohen faces three years inprison, after pleading guilty

to breaking campaign finance laws,

and for previously lying to Congress.

- First announced witness forthe 116th Congress is a guy

who is going to prison in twomonths for lying to Congress.

- Now President Trump firedback at his former fixer,

even before the testimony,declaring in a tweet

from Vietnam, that he's notworried about Cohen's testimony,

and that his former attorney is lying

to reduce his prison time.

Cohen said he never asked fora pardon from President Trump,

and would not accept one if offered.

Ben Kennedy, CBN News, Washington.

- Thanks Ben.

To help us decipher all the theatrics

on the hill today, we now turn to our

ever-trustworthy chiefpolitical analyst, David Brodie.

David, actually, I wasabout to step on you.

- No, no, we wanna just talkabout, just the coverage,

the media coverage of this Michael Cohen.

All three networks, ABC, NBC, CBS,

and of course the cablenetworks, they ran with it.

At the same time, PresidentTrump's over in Vietnam meeting

with Kim Jong-un, andit pales in comparison

in the coverage that it's getting.

Is this unprecedented?

- Well, let's start with this.

Remember, the networks brokein for the James Comey hearing,

almost a year and a half,almost two years ago, so,

it's not unprecedented whenit comes to Donald Trump,

but you know, whenHillary Clinton was doing

the Benghazi hearings, theydidn't break in for that.

And we have to go back to Iran Contra,

and before that the Watergate hearings

to really kind of get thatbig break-in network coverage.

So, it's unprecedentedoverall, but when it comes

to Donald Trump, boy,James Comey, Michael Cohen,

shockingly, the networksgo in for those two guys.

I mean, I'm saying that rhetorically,

and kind of a bitsarcastically because, yeah,

it was kind of not strange to see.

- Well I was chomping atthe bit, now I can ask you.

Republicans today attackedMichael Cohen's credibility right

outside of the gate, whicheven some legal analysts say

is a challenge for him,and it's a huge problem

that undermines his credibility.

So, how much of this testimonyshould Americans believe?

- Well I think that's thebig question, you know,

he's a convicted liar,that's the, don't ask me,

just talk to the courtsand the federal attorneys

and all of that.

He is a convicted liar,in front of Congress,

so Americans are gonna have to decide

what's true and what's not.

Now the Democrats are gonnasay, well, most of this is true,

except for maybe the part wherehe talked about collusion,

there's no collusion with Russia.

So, it just depends.

Look, this reminds me of theboy who cried wolf, you know,

the children's fairy tale, where the boy

that cried wolf basically keptlying and lying and lying,

and then finally he says noreally, I'm telling the truth,

and no one believes him, because,

you know, he doesn'thave that credibility.

So, you know, I think thecredibility is a real,

obviously a major problemfor Michael Cohen.

He was even caught in a lie today.

He said that he never wantedto join the White House

and be the chief of staff or any of that,

but it turns out, that's not true at all.

I mean, there are sourcesafter source saying he wanted

that chief of staff job,as a matter of fact,

CNN was fact-checking him.

And if CNN is calling you out on lies,

you're not having a good day.

- Yeah, Jim Jordan goingafter him hard on that one.

David, Cohen, he calledTrump a racist, a conman

and a cheat, bringing copiesof these apparent checks

that he claims were repayment

for paying off porn star Stormie Daniels.

How much of a problem is this whole issue

for the White House, and President Trump?

- Well, I think there's two issues.

For the president personally,it's embarrassing.

At the same time, we've known this before,

the Stormie Daniels stuff, the checks.

I don't think we've known too much

about those checks writtenwhen he was president

of the United States,and I think there were

about 11 of them thatwe heard about today.

But look, that's moreof a personal nature.

Maybe it's legal, we'llhave to wait and find out.

But there is a yawnfactor to some of this,

I mean to a degree, because we know

President Trump is not a boy scout.

We know this.

Voters voted for him anyhow,regardless of all of this.

And when Michael Cohen saysthat Donald Trump's a racist,

and a conman and a cheat,he's basically indicting

all the people thatvoted for Donald Trump,

basically saying you know what,you all played for suckers,

excuse the expression,but that's what they say

in the streets of New York at least,

and I'm not sure votersare gonna buy that.

I think voters are proud of their vote,

and they're not gonna put upwith Michael Cohen saying that.

- David with have less than a minute left,

but I have to ask you.

You know Michael Cohen professionally,

from your time reporting with him.

How much different was this Michael Cohen

who took the stand today,

from the brass knucklesMichael Cohen of years past?

- Well, he was more humble,but you could see a little bit

of the feistiness thathe wanted to get out,

was trying to control himself.

He's brass knuckles, he isthe fixer, I've known him

for eight years, probablydozens and dozens

of emails throughout those times.

I wanna read you one that he sent me.

This was a quote about DonaldTrump, when I was asking him

about his character, andthis is what he said.

Quote, I believe that Donald Trump

might possibly be mentally and emotionally

the strongest human being I've ever met.

The level of hatred bydetractors, media pundits

and others would totallyoverwhelm and cripple others.

Not him.

His convictions are sosteadfast and purposeful

that he dismisses the negativity

so that he can create positiveresults for all Americans

and deliver on his mantrato make America great again.

And so look, this is MichaelCohen in an email to me

on August 28, 2000, here it is...

- It's a ringing endorsement.

- Yeah, and 2017, thiswas not eight years ago,

this was just recently,and now he's singing

a different tune, becausehe's going to prison,

and that's part of it.

- And we have to leave it right there.

Chief political analystDavid Brodie, thanks so much.

- Thanks guys.