Buzzfeed: President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," January 18, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

ED HENRY, HOST: Thanks, Shannon. Good to see you. Have a nice weekend. Happy birthday, May, by the way. We begin with the Fox New Alert. Brand new photos of a massive group of migrants that just now made a dubious bid of American history. The largest group ever to break into the United States successfully. 376 Central Americans digging tunnels under a weak portion of border fence near Yuma, Arizona where they were confronted by U.S. Border Patrol Agents and then immediately demanded asylum.

Good evening everyone, I'm Ed Henry in for Martha MacCallum and this is “The Story.” Tonight, word that many of those migrants will be yes, released out into our country as the government about to enter day 29 of the shutdown struggles to process those claims for asylum. Well, that sounds an awful lot like a crisis not as defined by the president but is defined by Webster's. I looked it up right before the show. A turning point they say, a situation that has reached a critical phase. That's how the dictionary defines a crisis.

So one can't help but wonder, with the breach this massive, will Democrats be forced to finally change those talking points we've heard throughout the shutdown?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: This President just used the backdrop of the Oval Office to manufacture a crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President does not want this shutdown to end. He manufactured this shutdown as a crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it is absolutely a manufactured crisis. Everyone knows this is a man-made crisis made by one man in particular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Man-made crisis. OK. For his part, the President continues to insist Democrats get back to the bargaining table to reopen the government and secure that Southern Border. But so far Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not budge. Instead today she blasted the President for putting her own security at risk when he grounded air Pelosi canceling that seven-day excursion the White House dismissed as nothing more than a Pelosi P.R. stunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The fact that they would leak the commercial -- that we were flying commercial isn't danger not only two us but two other people flying commercial. It is very irresponsible on the part of the President. We'll go again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're essentially accusing the President of the United States of endangering Members of Congress and American --

PELOSI: No, I'm just saying what the State Department reported to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Well advisors to the President are denying all that. We'll discuss in a moment. To be sure, the security of Nancy Pelosi and every other government official is important. It should not be taken lightly. But why is it the Democrats tonight seem to be chirping so much about their security saying so little about the security at the border especially with another caravan of thousands heading our way.

So the President appears to be taking matters into his own hands tonight. He says he's planning a major announcement 3:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Will he finally declare a state of emergency? All of that we'll get into in a moment, but first Steve Harrigan, our correspondent live in Mexico where the next Caravan is making its way north. Steve, what are you seeing on the ground?

STEVE HARRIGAN, CORRESPONDENT: Ed, if you wonder what it looks like when the caravan comes to town we can give you a little show-and-tell of what that is. This is Tapachula, Mexico where the first wave of that Caravan from Honduras has arrived after four days of hard walking and jumping in the back of pickup trucks. This is about a thousand people who've made it here. And you can see they basically take over the city square.

They're resting now. They'll probably sleep outside. It's been a rough route for them. There was some chaos on the border with Mexico this morning. The gates of the border were briefly thrown open in the pre-dawn hours about a thousand people crossed with no documentation. After that, summer order was reestablished. We saw documents being checked, people given wristbands and given five days to wait for a visa.

The attitude of Mexico's leftist president is to open these migrants -- is to welcome these migrants with open arms. To treat them humanely to allow them passage through Mexico. And when you talk to the people around here many of them say they are willing to work in Mexico but really, for the most part, their goal are one the same, to get to the U.S. and they get there to work, and to make money.

The real question is though is how the Mexican people feel about this. The President says to welcome them but you can see what this does to a small town. This is the second time this town has been hit by a caravan and there are two more still forming now in Honduras. Ed, back to you.

HENRY: All right, Steve Harrigan, I appreciate your reporting. Moments ago the press secretary at the White House Sarah Sanders was asked if the President will use that announcement at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow to declare a national emergency. Her response, stay tuned.

Joining me now former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, happens to be the dad of Sarah Sanders, a Fox News Contributor as well, Charlie Kirk Turning Point USA Founder and Jessica Tarlov here with me in New York, Bustle.com Senior Director of Research and a Fox News Contributor. Welcome, all.

Mike Huckabee, I want to start with you because all this talk about security as I said at the top, I remember around Christmas I was asking Ted Lieu and other California Democrats, why haven't you spoken out about Officer Singh who was gunned down on Christmas night. He, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, many other California Democrats did not speak out about that. And yet now we hear all about a security around a plane.

MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS: Well, first of all, I do wonder, you've got California people who have been killed by illegals, and when she talks about that her life was in danger, there's a couple of things I've note. Did they have commercial reservations? If so, show us the reservations because they were scheduled to be on an Air Force plane. There's no indication that they actually made commercials --

HENRY: Yes, I understand they were trying to make them is what I understood they were using a non-classified computer system so this State Department Cable is laying out the idea, Governor, that if you're on a non- classified computer making commercial flight plans as you say, it's hardly a secret.

HUCKABEE: Well, and that's not the President's fault. Let me tell you what would have been dangerous and if he had done this, the President would have been culpable. If he'd have waited till they got to Afghanistan and then taken the Air Force plane away, then they could have complained. But he did them the favor by telling them they weren't going to be able to use it before they ever got to the airport and I think that's incredibly appropriate because they need to be here.

If 800,000 federal workers out of work are so really important to Nancy Pelosi, then don't be gone the next several days pretending that --

It was a week contract, Governor.

HENRY: Let's let Jessica get in here.

HUCKABEE: I don't care how long it was, Jessica. They have no business going out of the country when they need to settle this and they're not doing it because they don't care --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE: This is not about the shutdown -- Jessica, let me finish -- this is about a showdown, and that's what they're trying to push.

HENRY: OK, Jessica.

JESSICA TARLOV, CONTRIBUTOR: Nancy Pelosi was clear that this wasn't a week-long P.R. stunt as the president said in his letter when he took away her military plane, but they were actually well overseas to talk to our men and women in uniform who I know are incredibly important to you as they are to all of us here on the panel and in this country. She was making a stop in Brussels to refuel and also to talk to our NATO allies, something that is also important even if you do think that they don't pay their fair share or whatever the talking point is on that front.

When Nancy Pelosi was complaining about it is exactly what Republicans complained about when President Trump caught flak for his trip overseas over the Christmas holiday where people said oh is just a P.R. stunt and he was acting you know, oh I'm home alone etcetera. And then he made it clear that you don't announce these plans in advance, right? You go and you get on the plane and you fly overnight so that no one sees that you are doing that because it is dangerous for American officials to be in combat zones. So just think back to how upset you were a few weeks ago and then direct that towards the president.

HENRY: OK, let Charlie jump in here as well and then we'll get to the, Governor, Charlie. Weigh in on that controversy, but I also want to get to the bigger question tonight which is how can Democrats continue to say this is a man-made crisis by the President at the border when you see those pictures of over 300 Central Americans breaking their way into America?

CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: Right. So first, Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House. Her first duty is to first and foremost pass laws and legislation. She controls the purse. The Constitution says all spending bills must originate in the House. The President is the commander-in-chief. His first duty is to direct the Armed Forces and so when he goes overseas he's obeying his Constitutional duty.

Look, I'm glad Nancy Pelosi wants to honor our troops and all of us. You know, I have no disagreement with that. Is this the best time to do it? Is it's the best time to go overseas while the government is shut down and there's a crisis on the border and 800,000 people are not getting their paychecks? And finally, to your point Ed, look, this is a crisis on the Southern Border, and what really hurts me to see is how our heart as a country is being taken advantage of.

You know, I'm sure we all want to take in a lot of people that are suffering, but what bothers me is that these migrants or these border jumpers that come across the border, they don't go to a port of entry to establish asylum. And then as soon as they're caught, then they -- then they say they want to seek asylum. Our laws are being taken advantage of and there's a whole industry created around this of lawyers and nonprofit organizations that unfortunately take advantage of our benevolence.

HENRY: Governor, there's a Web site that's just been created I understand this afternoon urging people to contribute money. These are supporters of the President. Contribute money so that the public can help fund the wall. And they're saying, if you send money in, they'll -- and you can see it right there -- send a brick to Chuck and Nancy. They will send a brick to either the office of Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi to say build that wall brick by brick.

HUCKABEE: Well, there's a better solution, and that is that there would be adults behaving like adults ought to behave in the Congress. They would recognize they're not going to get everything. The President is not going to get everything, but they ought to be able to sit down, work out a deal where they get DACA but they also get a real border security which they claim they all want but they really don't. If they did, they would have already done it. So let's get it done. There's no reason you can't.

And they're at a prime moment where they could get more than they would have gotten and that's by bringing in the DACA portion of it. I think the President wants to resolve that and he will.

HENRY: So 30 seconds each, Jessica and Charlie, starting with Jessica. What do we -- can you expect from the President? Is there anything he can say tomorrow that will get Democrats to the table?

TARLOV: To the table, yes, I think we'll go to the table. Chuck Schumer has been clear they have appropriated tens of billions of dollars over the years for border security. Democrats are not against border security. What they object to is a crisis that doesn't reflect the data. If you look at Border Patrol data, it shows that we are down 90 percent in terms of illegal crossings from the year 2000. That shows the net outflow.

So again, I -- when you bring up an example, like a Kate Steinle or Officer Singh, it is a horrible tragedy but it doesn't mean that the President has the right to go out there and try to abuse and fear monger to get his way when the American public is not on his side.

HENRY: Well, these images today suggest maybe he's not fear-mongering. Charlie, last point.

KIRK: 20,000 minors were smuggled across the southern border last month. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants will commit crime year after year, ICE data shows. And look, this is a crisis on the Southern Border but it's not one that Nancy Pelosi wants to solve. She went to Hawaii over Christmas and New Year's Eve. She could have been at the negotiating table.

TARLOV: Charlie, that --

KIRK: Democrats just went vacation in Puerto Rico with lobbyists. They are not -- they are not genuine in their -- in their pursuit to try to get a deal --

TARLOV: The data that I have seen that show that illegal immigrants commit far fewer crimes than natural-born Americans. I'll be looking at your data for that but that sounds like an inflated number used again to fear monger.

HENRY: All right, Jessica, Charlie, Governor, I appreciate you all coming in today.

TARLOV: Happy weekend.

HENRY: Yes, we started off right. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, he is coming up live. He is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, ANCHOR: I don't know whether the story is true or not and I would take it with a giant grain of salt. I guess you can't have a giant grain, a giant block of salt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Well, you get the point. Chris Wallace is right. Some are not taking the advice. They're jumping whole hog on what they think is a new blockbuster. Tonight, Democrats pledging to probe President Trump over an unverified BuzzFeed report alleging he instructed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. Some are even crying impeachment immediately they say if the report is true. But tonight the White House is firing back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: Like that's absolutely ridiculous. I think that the President's outside council addressed this best and said in a statement earlier today that's categorically false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Joining me now, Corey Lewandowski, he's the former Trump 2016 Campaign Manager of course and Jake MacCoby former Speechwriter for Attorney General Loretta Lynch. I appreciate you both coming in.

JAKE MACCOBY, FORMER SPEECHWRITER, ATTORNEY GENERAL LORETTA LYNCH: Thanks, Ed. Good to be here.

HENRY: Corey, it was just one week ago tonight in fact that the New York Times had the previous blockbuster that was going to blow the President out of the water saying that the FBI had a counterintelligence investigation to find out whether he was a Russian agent and some of the same people said, oh my gosh, it's all over, the walls are closing in. Where are we one week later?

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Well, look, this bud -- this BuzzFeed story is completely crazy. The fact that Michael Cohen has any credibility left to even be named as a potential source of the story should give everybody pause. This is an individual who's admitted to lying to Congress, who's admitted to embezzling his now a convicted felon, who's facing significant amount of jail time.

And look, here's the very important part, Ed. I think I have testified in front of Congress more than any other staff from the campaign. I've been very open about it. I've volunteered. I've been in front of the House twice and the Senate once. Never ever did the White House asked for me to present my testimony ahead of time. Never ever did anybody asked me to say something that wouldn't -- wasn't anything other than the truth and I'd had candidly no communication with them. So this story is just cannot be true because Michael Cohen is borderline crazy.

HENRY: OK, I hear what you're saying. On the other hand, Jake, what Democrats are hanging this on in part is that as you know, the BuzzFeed story is not just about Michael Cohen's word against the President, it suggests and they don't have the evidence yet, it suggest that there were e-mails, text messages, perhaps other evidence from the Trump Organization to back this up.

MACCOBY: Yes. And in fact, the reporters of this story has said that Michael Cohen wasn't a source for their story. So this isn't just about -- isn't a he said he said kind of situation. They have named -- they've said that there are multiple witnesses, that their text messages, e-mails, documents, which means that we're not just talking about two different groups of people arguing. We could be talking about hard evidence that shows something really concerning, and that's concerning for two reasons.

One, is because telling a person to lie to Congress is a federal offense that carries a five-year prison term and because the President's own attorney general nominee has said that if the President told a witness to lie, then that would be obstruction of justice. But also because, if the President did carry out these actions, then Russia would know that he was lying and that gives them massive leverage over the President, massive leverage of the United States, and that is --

HENRY: Absolutely. But, Jake, you've reference to all that with, if it's true, if it's true, when you were working for Loretta Lynch as Attorney General, she couldn't even decide whether she'd be called the Hillary Clinton e-mail -- it should be a matter or an investigation. It was almost a semantical debate. Now, all of a sudden Democrats are running with something that we simply don't know.

One of the reporters says they haven't seen the evidence. They've been told that this is true. So how do we know that it's true?

MACCOBY: Well, that's why it's called a scoop and we find out. That's why we -- this not only deserves an investigation but it demands one because we should know if this is true or not. And the only way we find out if it's true or not is by conducting a thorough investigation and I think that's what we should do.

HENRY: But Cory, it seems like story after story, it's sort of shoot first and get the facts later.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, Ed, look, let's go back to the story of Paul Manafort supposedly visiting you know, Assange in the embassy, you know, the Ecuadorian embassy which we now know never transpired. Let's go back to the fact that Michael Cohen supposedly was in Prague which we now know because of his own passport and the Mueller investigation never transpired. These stories are doing a disservice to the American people and what this President has pointed out for the last two years is it's fake news and the American people see through it.

So look, let's get the facts right. But making accusations which we know to be not truthful aren't helpful.

HENRY: Last point, Jake.

LEWANDOWSKI: And moreover, Michael Cohen -- hold on -- very important, Ed, it's very important. Michael Cohen audio recorded every conversation he had. Let's see if there's an audio. This doesn't exist because it never happened.

HENRY: Jake, he went through a long list of stories where the walls are closing in. It's all over for Trump but then we find out well, maybe not.

MACCOBY: Well, they went along with the stories where the walls have closed in further. And that's why you've had Rudy Giuliani yesterday saying that members of the President's campaign may indeed have colluded with Russian officials and that's their defense which is a little concerning. So at this point, the members of the President's team are getting ready to throw anybody overboard that they can in order to save the President. And by the way, Cory, I just want to point out. When you say that the American people trust the President on this, that's just not true.

Last month a poll came out that had the American -- that had 35 percent of Americans, just 35 percent of Americans saying that they believed somewhat or totally the President's denial in Russia and there was a big majority --

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: It's going to be the Mueller report. Does the Mueller report have evidence, yes or no? Last point, Cory, last point.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, what I said was this is fake news, and if you look at the empirical data 90 percent of the news coverage of this President has been negative towards the President and that's unfortunate because our economy is continuing to grow.

HENRY: Cory, Jake, I appreciate you both get your points in.

MACCOBY: Thank you.

LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you.

HENRY: Meanwhile, the White House scoring a big victory announcing round two with North Korea's Kim Jong-un. The details, the summit 2.0 next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We'll probably need another summit. We'll probably need -- or meeting. We could use a different term. But we'll probably need another one. We're probably -- I will say this. We're much further along than I would have thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENRY: President Trump today scoring a big win in the form of a summit sequel. The President set to hold a second meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as the U.S. continues to seek fully verified denuclearization from the rogue regime. Details still a bit scarce though. It's expected to take place at the end of February. The precise date and location still unknown. Here now live Harry Kazianis. He's Director of Defense Studies at the Center for the National Interest. Harry, thanks for coming in.

HARRY KAZIANIS, DIRECTOR OF DEFENSE, STUDIES AT THE CENTER FOR THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Thanks for having me.

HENRY: So what was your biggest takeaway today in terms of what was new beyond them saying OK, because Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a meeting, then there was an Oval Office meeting with North Korean officials. What was your biggest takeaway?

KAZIANIS: Well, I think that it's the personal diplomacy. I think the difference here that the President brings to the table is his own personal touch. He wants to try to get to know the North Korean leaders, understand how they tick. And we have to remember, he doesn't understand the normal foreign policy playbook. He doesn't understand all of the history.

I think the President's advantage here is he's a businessman. He's pragmatic. And I think what he's going to try and do is get the best deal for the American people. And I think his approaches are bearing results. Keep in mind that it's been over 400 days since there's been a nuclear weapons test or missile test, that's results.

HENRY: But I want to underscore that because you'll remember a year and a half ago, there were all these people, the mainstream media saying the President is reckless. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's leading us into nuclear war and he said what you see from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham sometimes a friend not always a friend to the President, tough critics sometimes saying today President Trump deserves great credit for getting us to this point. We have a long way to go and I'm hopeful that the engagement started by President Trump can finally end the North Korean problem in a win-win fashion.

So let's get beyond the credit, at least acknowledge that he's brought a fresh approach. What has to happen in Summit 2.0? What specifically two or three things that will tell us this is real?

KAZIANIS: Well, you know, Ed, I think both sides need to get a win here. Because you have to remember, even Kim Jong-un has his own domestic political audience, elites in North Korea that he has to convince that it's worth dealing with the United States. So I think the deal on the table that's been floated makes sense.

The North Koreans would close down their young beyond nuclear facility which is one of their main nuclear testing facilities, facilities that builds fissile material for weapons and essentially the President would either give a political declaration that ends the Korean War or we would take off some sanctions. Both sides win in that deal. And if the North Koreans cheat, if they lie, if they don't let inspectors in, we don't -- we don't do the deal.

HENRY: I've got 15 seconds. A sight we've heard about maybe it could be South Korea so that they'll go to the DMZ together. What's your sense?

KAZIANIS: I think it's a Vietnam. The Vietnamese won a free trade agreement the United States. They want better relations. They're very eager to have it. I think that's where it is.

HENRY: Harry, I appreciate you coming in.

KAZIANIS: Thank you.

HENRY: Still ahead, a 2020 Democratic candidate already in some hot water because of some past views that are being seen as anti-gay. Guy Benson and Marie Harf here live to weigh in, you see them there, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TULSI GABBARD, D-HI: Aloha. In my past, I said and believe things that were wrong. And worse they were very hurtful to people in the LGBTQ community and to their loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABBARD: I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, officially throwing her name into the ring to become a presidential candidate in 2020. But she already hit a bit of a speed bump over past comments on civil union for same sex couples. Gabbard issuing an apology in response to that stance but listen closely as she appears to at least partially blamed her "conservative upbringing."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABBARD: I said and believed things that were wrong and worse they were very hurtful to people in the LGBTQ community and to their loved ones. I sincerely repeat my apology today. I also grew up in a socially conservative household, where I was raised to believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. So, for a period of my life I didn't see the contradiction in those beliefs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Joining me now, Guy Benson and Marie Harf, host of course of Benson & Harf on Fox News Radio. Good evening to both of you.

GUY BENSON, CO-HOST, "BENSON & HARF" RADIO SHOW: Hey, Ed.

MARIE HARF CO-HOST, "BENSON & HARF" RADIO SHOW: Hey, Ed.

HENRY: Guy, do you think it's a bit of a cop-out to say, well it's a conservative's fault?

BENSON: Well, look as someone who is actually planning his own same-sex marriage right now, and by the way you guys were totally right, it is so ludicrously expensive. I welcome the Congresswoman's change of heart on this issue. And I think when you feel passionately about something and someone comes over to your side, you should celebrate that and thank them.

And I think holding grudges or pointing fingers is probably the wrong approach. I think there's a lot of people who support gay marriage in this country, who had a different upbringing. I think she wasn't necessarily casting aspersions at her family or her parents or what have you. She was saying I've come to a different place.

And I do think it's important to that end Ed, when we're having these conversations, not to malign people who believe differently. People who believe in a traditional definition of marriage as bigots or hateful people, which I think is grossly unfair to the vast majority of them. I don't think we can -- we can have a better conversation about these issues and I think that she generally did pretty well on this one.

HENRY: Marie, do you see it that way, number one and those broaden (ph) out in 2020. There's obviously a lot of candidates already in, more coming as well. You see Joe Biden, who is largely seen as, oh the left will love him but now you hear people whispering, well, he didn't treat Anita Hill that well when he was Senate Judiciary Chairman. Maybe someone on the left won't be happy with that.

Bernie Sanders has women from his 2016 campaign who don't feel comfortable about what they believe was a "bro culture there." So, talk about how these various Democrats navigate their past?

HARF: For every political candidate there are challenges and certainly in the social media era where you can go back and find statements or interviews from decades ago. People's past are sort of right in front of them, especially when you are a political candidate. I think that politicians and people, frankly, should be able to evolve and have positions change over the years, as long as they seem genuine and honest as they discussed that.

On the last two issues Ed that you brought up, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden and women's issues I think to a lot of Democrats, those are certainly things they will consider. But when they look at that against someone like President Trump, right, there's really no comparison.

This primary for Democrats, Ed, is going to be a huge primary. It's going to be spirited and I think that's great for the party. These candidates will get to air out these issues on national stages on really important state-level stages. And the people that can answer questions well and honestly and connect with voters, they will rise to the top.

HENRY: I'm sorry to interrupt. Let me interrupt real quick (ph), we had some breaking news. We got a Fox News Alert and I want both of you stand by for this. This is big because (ph) I want to get your reaction, see Michael Cohen there. A spokesperson for the Special Counsel is making a rare statement to dispute the BuzzFeed News report, alleging that "the President directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress."

BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's office in characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate. That is from Peter Carr, you see right there, Spokesperson for Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.

So, I apologize, Marie and Guy, to break in. But as you can imagine, doing a nightly -- a Fox News Radio Program, there's breaking news all the time in the Trump administration. So, I want to talk 2020 but react to that Guy first because we were talking about this early in the program. Week after week, we hear bombshell, the walls are closing in, that's it. We were just debating, is this one going to fall apart as well? And now the Special Counsel weighs in to say this is not accurate.

BENSON: So, last night was a wow when the story broke and this is absolutely another wow. Because, as you say, in your introduction of the breaking news, Ed, it is extremely rare for the Special Counsel's office to come out and say anything or dispute any particular report that's flying out there and they felt the need to do so here tonight.

That is I think a problem for BuzzFeed and the reporting. And we'll see where this story goes from here but that is a significant development.

HENRY: It really is and in fact we have Corey Lewandowski, who's on early. He's going to comment in a moment. We're going to go into breaking news mode here to make sure we stay on top of this. But, I want to get Marie's thoughts as a Democrat. There were democrats today as you know out there and we played a clip from Chris Wallace say, everybody take a breath.

He's been in this business a long time and he's talked about a grain of salt to a lot of these stories. And it -- I don't think a lot of Democrats listen to that.

HARF: Actually, Ed, I think a lot of Democrats did. And the people I talked to today and that I saw out there were saying, OK, if this is true, it's a big deal but we still need to wait for Bob Mueller. And the question at the end of the day is, is every single piece of that BuzzFeed story wrong, are some parts of it right but not the main parts?

We said earlier on our radio show tonight Ed that if BuzzFeed went with the story and it turned out not to be true, that is a huge journalistic limb to go out on. If you're not confident in your sources, at the end of the day, all of this is speculation until we get the Mueller report.

HENRY: It is but on the other hand Marie --

(CROSSTALK)

HARF: That's what we need to see.

HENRY: You're right. There were some Democrats who were responsive, I want to be fair. On the other hand, there were Democrats saying, impeachment. This will lead to impeachment. You're right, some of them said, if true. But for those of us in our business, you're not supposed to go with stories that you're like, if it's true, this is a big deal.

And shouldn't Democrats, real quick, and then I'll will get to Corey, Marie, shouldn't Democrats, especially now that they have got some power in the House, take a deep breath and wait for the facts?

HARF: Everyone should wait for the facts, I agree with that. I would also say there were a lot of conservative and Republican commentators today saying, if true, this would be a serious crime and this would be impeachable. So, everyone needs to take a deep breath. They need to look at the facts and Bob Mueller is the person we are all waiting for Ed.

HENRY: Corey Lewandowski, I want to bring you in live. I'm not sure I can name a previous time that you've cited Bob Mueller as a source that you agree with but this might be a case where -- Bob Mueller's office weighing in is a pretty darn big deal.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, this is a huge story, Ed, because it just goes to show that the intellectual integrity of the BuzzFeed people has none. Look, they think it's all fun and games to go after the President and say if the story is true. There had to be an enormous discussion inside the Mueller investigators that they had to come out and make a public statement on a Friday night to dispute this story.

Because, it was so egregious that they felt the need to keep the integrity in place of their investigation, to show that once again the facts that the media is putting out are not facts at all. It's conjecture and speculation and that does nobody any good.

HENRY: Yes and Corey, I apologize. I'm looking down, I'm checking my phone, this is breaking as we speak. I want to repeat this statement because I want everyone to understand what we're talking about. I want to get more reaction.

So Peter Carr, he is a spokesperson for Bob Mueller, is saying, BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's office and the characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony, are not accurate. The reason why I'm reading that slowly and going over again, Corey, is I'm looking for daylight.

Are they -- are they picking and choosing? Are they saying maybe one line in the story is not true but other parts are in fact true? And I'm reading it closely and it seems to me that second phrase there, about the characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office not being true is important.

Because, the whole story hung on the idea that this was not the testimony of a liar in Michael Cohen, against the President, man versus man. It was documents proving the President wrong. Now, the Special Counsel is saying, we don't have those documents.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well Ed, it was supposed to be text messages and e-mails and other communications that they have either reviewed or thought to be in place, which now we know don't exist. And look, where is the accountability in the media, Ed?

And I -- and look, the American people are tired of this. Is this reporter going to be fired? This is the same reporter who has had problems with intellectual honesty in the past. This source should have been vetted.

The story should have been vetted and the major outlet who picked it up and gave it credibility should have to take a step back and say, look if you're going to write a story, there had better be some integrity out of it because it's not fair to the American people. And for 24 hours, the political world was thrown into a dither for somebody who was having fun at the President's expense.

HENRY: You're absolutely right. And I want to be fair to BuzzFeed because they have, I'm looking down again, they have updated and they sent out a tweet with the statement for the Special Counsel and are saying, update, a spokesperson for the Special Counsel is disputing BuzzFeed News's report.

So, they are acknowledging that there's a problem with the story, at least that the Special Counsel is disputing it. But this is my question tonight, why did they go with the story if it wasn't all there, number one? And number two, BuzzFeed is the same organization, as you alluded to a moment ago, that went with the unverified dossier a couple of years ago, didn't they?

LEWANDOWSKI: That's exactly right. And look, Ed, this is an extraordinary step from the Mueller team. Never in the last two years have we seen someone from the Mueller investigation come out and say this is a factually inaccurate story, which is basically what they are saying.

They are saying that what BuzzFeed wrote about Michael Cohen was so wrong that they took the unprecedented step of coming out and saying that because we know that Michael Cohen is a serial liar. He's a convicted felon, he's a person with all kinds of problems and credibility issues. And BuzzFeed should have taken all of that into account before they published their story last night.

HENRY: All right. Corey Lewandowski, we appreciate your live reaction. We'll be checking back with you. I'm going to be on Fox & Friends this week and I'm sure we're going to be wanting to get your reaction throughout the weekend. This story is breaking and is big. Corey, I appreciate it.

Let's go back now to Marie Harf, as well as Guy Benson. Guy, we left off with Marie, I want to come back to you. As you process this, I don't want to make too big of a deal about one story in one direction. You know, last night we were all trying to process, is it really a bombshell.

I don't want to overcorrect and say, oh boy, this means the President is in the clear because this investigation goes forward. But, it feels like a pretty darn big deal.

BENSON: Right, it comes back to the three words, we don't know. We don't know what Mueller has or doesn't have except this rare window into what they don't have.

HENRY: Right.

BENSON: And the fact that the Office of the Special Counsel felt compelled, based on all of the chatter, to come out and say, actually this story that's making so many waves here in this town is not accurate. I don't think we can downplay that as anything other than very significant in this whole process.

So again, we don't have any knowledge that the President is totally in the clear or not. But BuzzFeed went out and last night they put out there and they said this morning, I believe, they were 100% confident of their sources here. Well, maybe they need to get some new sources because, I think, is a black eye, it appears, for BuzzFeed.

And it's why, Ed, last night I was on Shannon Bream's show, Fox News @ Night, while this was all breaking. And I said, if it's true, it's a very significant deal but there had been a string of so-called bombshells that have detonated over the Mueller issue and the Russia probe that have turned out under further scrutiny to be underwhelming or untrue. Let's be careful, let's use caution and this exactly is why.

HENRY: Yes, I suspect there are some producers at some other cable news channels are wondering, they have to change their rundowns because they were going with something from last night that may all wonder (ph).

(CROSSTALK)

BENSON: Yes. Now, they're rewriting prime time right now.

HENRY: Yes. Marie, I want to bring you in as well with your experience because you wear another hat which is when I was dealing with you as a reporter and you were at the State Department, you were maybe a little mad at me or other reporters, everyone as well. We went out on a --

(CROSSTALK)

HARF: I'm never mad at you, Ed, never mad at you.

HENRY: -- yes, it was professional but in all seriousness, you dealt with this kind of thing, where you would tell news organizations, you better have your stories straight. A story about the Iran nuclear deal or something else where the details really mattered, really have impact.

And in this case, we have a situation where this is a presidency, this is a presidency on the line. Democrats suggesting that he can be impeached. We heard about suborning perjury, obstruction of justice. These are serious, serious matters. And these stories have to be accurate if we're going to get to the bottom of the story, don't they?

HARF: They do, Ed. And if this turns out to not be accurate, it will be a disservice to all of the other very good journalists who are running down real stories about what Bob Mueller is investigating. Many of which have been out there in the public and many of which have turned out to be true. So, they would actually do a disservice to journalism in that case.

I would say team Trump, as representatives of the administration and the President, have at times gotten themselves into trouble and seemed untrustworthy in their denials because their stories on so many issues have changed, if you just look at Rudy Giuliani this week and his story changing on the issue of collusion.

So that's why for a lot of people, not just Democrats, for a lot of Americans when they hear a denial from team Trump, it doesn't always ring true, and I think that is something that has been a problem. When you're a government spokesperson like I was as you mentioned, all you have is your word.

And what I would say to you something, it wasn't true, I was always telling the truth. Team trump has gotten themselves into trouble on that. Rudy Giuliani, people like him doing that, are actually also doing a disservice to the President.

HENRY: Well, Marie makes a fair point. The administration has to look at its own credibility guy. On the other hand, that doesn't give news organizations a license to report, you know, whatever they want. Pardon me, who do we have on the phone?

All right, I will get to Byron York, is live on the phone right now. Byron, I want to get your reaction but I also wonder if -- as I think about this past week, I believe it was last Sunday that Jonathan Karl, a careful reporter, I believe, at ABC News, said that he was hearing the Mueller report was going to be anti-climactic and there wasn't necessarily going to be a bombshell.

Then, this BuzzFeed report comes out a few days later suggesting there is a bombshell coming from Mueller. And now it looks like Mueller's office has put that in its track, to stop in its tracks tonight, Byron.

BYRON YORK, CONTRIBUTOR: Very unusual for Robert Mueller's office to do that. But, this was really probably the most spectacular big, if true, story that we had all of this in the -- this whole Trump-Russia affair. So, it's not really super surprising that Mueller might take -- make an effort to correct the record here because he was the problem.

We do know some things that are going on in this Cohen case through the court filings. We've seen the charges against Michael Cohen. We've seen his plea. We've seen his sentencing memo which was from last December. And if you look at that, the lawyers for Michael Cohen came flat out and said, President Trump directed him to commit a campaign finance violation.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: Right.

YORK: And -- but at the same time, they did not say that President Trump directed him to lie to Congress.

HENRY: You're right.

YORK: As a matter of fact if you read that, you get the idea that Cohen was in contact with the White House. And he kind of knew the party line, which is there was no collusion, no contact with Russia but we all knew that party line.

HENRY: Right.

YORK: Everybody heard Trump say there was no collusion.

HENRY: And by the way, the President has denied that he directed Michael Cohen to commit a crime either in terms of lying to Congress or in terms of those campaign finance laws as well. Byron, I appreciate your insight.

Guy, I want to go back to you. What say you about how all of this is playing out?

BENSON: Well one thing, Ed, is I am looking forward to the next presidential tweet. Because, I think there's a man in the Oval Office right now who is very happy to really dunk on fake news. And guess what? This is something apparently that BuzzFeed has brought on itself here. Because one of the things that I wrote today at townhall.com, I wrote about this whole thing and tried to be even handed about it.

And I raised a few concerns that I had about the report saying, let's be a little bit skeptical. And one of them was the fact that tou had anonymous sources talking about additional documentation that the journalists themselves apparently had not seen. So, they are reporting about characterizations of text messages and e-mails that others supposedly were giving them but they hadn't seen those particular items themselves.

Although, there was some dispute between the two journalists who collaborated on the piece. One said they had seen it, the other said they hadn't. That was odd to me. That smelled a little bit fishy. So, this may not be, you know, the Mueller piece may not be here the statement, that every single thing in the story is false, but it was false enough, inaccurate enough that they had to come out and say no.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: Marie, quick point, then I got another live guest on the phone. Go ahead Marie.

HARF: No, I agree. I mean was looking at the Mueller statement and when you read it, it was really listening closely. Did they leave any wiggle room for the fact that maybe some pieces of the story were accurate but other big pieces really weren't?

And if -- in either case, Ed, I want to hear BuzzFeed's response because this is -- if it's true that they were really wrong here, it does a disservice to everyone including fellow journalists.

HENRY: That is that phrase again, if true. I want to bring in Joe diGenova. A former U.S. Attorney of course, a sharp legal bi (ph). Let me read the statement and then get Joe's live reaction. This is breaking, a Fox News Alert.

BuzzFeed's description, the Special Counsel's Office says, of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony, the three words, are not accurate. Joe, your reaction, Joe diGenova.

JOE DIGENOVA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, it's fairly obvious that the reporter who wrote this story should be fired but don't count on it. Number two, this is a stunning revelation by the Office of Special Counsel. They have never done anything like this before. They felt compelled to do so for one reason, there is a new sheriff on the block and his name is Bill Barr.

And if they hadn't done this, he would have been so furious when he was sworn in. And let me say this to Marie Harf, Marie, if you don't think this is enough to tell people that somebody got the story wrong, let's have some honesty, OK? This is an outrageous act by BuzzFeed reporters. They should be fired.

What they've done is, so you want to go after the President, go after him with something that's real. This is a fake story, it's outrageous. And I am very, very pleased that some professional prosecutors finally stood up to the liars in the media.

HENRY: Right, Marie, your name was invoked. I want to give you a chance to respond to that.

HARF: Yes, thanks Ed. I mean, look, I as a Democrat, have throughout this entire investigation tried to remain very measured in what we know and what we don't know. But, there are real facts that real journalists have uncovered about the Trump team's relationship with Russia.

(CROSSTALK)

DIGENOVA: How about this one?

HENRY: Joe -- no, Joe, I'll let you talk. Go ahead Marie.

HARF: So I am -- I, Joe, look I know you're happy that this story has been debunked. I don't want fake stories out there either but I don't like the way team Trump uses the label fake news on every story about Russia they don't like.

(CROSSTALK)

DIGENOVA: BuzzFeed just happened --

HARF: No, I know and every story about Russia --

HENRY: OK, let's get Joe in because many organizations have to stop doing fake stories, for team Trump maybe to stop calling it fake news. They have to actually accurately report and fairly report what is happening in this investigation, Joe.

DIGENOVA: This is absolutely outrageous. What this is, this is journalistic piling on, a bad story, a false story, forget the word fake. This is utterly false.

When you have the Special Counsel who has issued no statements at all at any time during this investigation, except statements in open court, that they felt compelled to deny this story is a sign of the tragic state of American journalism but I applaud the Special Counsel. I'd been an extreme critic of the hacks (ph) that he has on his staff and I must say, tonight, he has acted like a professional.

HENRY: Sure -- OK, I want to say, Joe, quick point from you, CNN this morning, when you wake up, it was wall to wall impeachment, suborning perjury. Do other people owe the President an apology tonight?

DIGENOVA: There -- well, first of all, CNN is a journalistic joke. MSNBC is a strong second. Their coverage tonight, which I was watching in anticipation of some other shows that I'm doing, was absolutely outrageous. These people are embarrassing from stem to stern, CNN, MSNBC, how sad. Where has journalism sunk? Tim Russert is rolling over in his grave.

HENRY: OK, Joe diGenova, we appreciate you joining us live. You obviously have a strong point of view and you've made it. Guy and Marie --

(CROSSTALK)

DIGENOVA: Thanks, man (ph).

HENRY: Guy and Marie, I appreciate you both coming in and providing your insights as well. I have some other important guests here and we have them scheduled -- we were going to -- we're laughing because we're going to talk about some lighter stories in the news but this is big breaking news. Nan Hayworth, Susan Li and Mattie Duppler.

Mattie, starting with you. What do you make of this news?

MATTIE DUPPLER, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Well, I think that everything that's mentioned today is really the point, which is that we need to be judicious. We need to have expectations of media and we need to be able to question when people are going to get the story wrong, why they got it wrong.

Now the question of course moving forward is what does BuzzFeed do in the wake of this? Is it a mea culpa? Do they say that, you know, we got some things wrong and we'll do better or do they double down and continue to defend a story that they said just a few moments ago was true?

HENRY: Susan, what are your thoughts of course bias (ph)?

SUSAN LI, CORRESPONDENT: Well being a journalist -- yes, being a journalist you have to have your sources right. You have to depend on them. It's not just one source, you better have one, two, even three to back up the same story and there is reputational risk. I mean look what happened to BuzzFeed. Is anyone going to believe them from now on?

HENRY: Yes. Nan?

NAN HAYWORTH, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Well speaking as a former member of Congress, I mean this reflects -- journalism has never been so biased, has never been so hair trigger in favor of one party and against another as they are now. And I'm just glad that there are journalists out there who will report the actual story --

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: OK.

HAYWORTH: -- instead of jumping on a bandwagon.

HENRY: Let me just reset. This is Ed Henry filling in for Martha MacCallum tonight with the breaking news. The Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, authorized his office to issue a very, very rare statement.

They say this on the record, BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office in characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate.

So bottom line, you remember the BuzzFeed story which broke late last night and sparked countless news stories and news analysis that appears now to be untrue based on what the Special Counsel is saying that the President allegedly directed that man there, Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, to lie to Congress.

The White House sharply denied it. Rudy Giuliani, the President's Attorney, last night said, I got -- if you want to believe Michael Cohen, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that you can buy. And a lot of people in the media laughed at that statement and said he's not really denying it. There's a more forceful statement from Rudy Giuliani today, sharply denying it, saying this was not true.

Quickly, I want to come back to my panel here and get everyone. Mattie, hearing that, I think it's very significant that it was not a statement saying some of the report is not true. It's saying specifically the documents, meaning the story hung on the idea that it was not Michael Cohen's word versus the President.

It hung on the idea that there were e-mails, text messages, documents that would prove the President is lying and Michael Cohen is telling the truth. The Special Counsel is saying no.

DUPPLER: It was decisive and so now we need to see the report. How long has the Special Counsel been going on and for how many months have we been promised an end to it.

I think the fact that the Special Counsel came out so brazenly with this -- with this statement shows that they really are -- they're producing a product that I think will be decisive in its own accord but we need to see it. Enough is enough to have this going on for months and months at a time.

HENRY: All right, quick point, Susan first.

LI: An ongoing questions to BuzzFeed because their journalist appeared on other stations today being asked over and over again, do you trust your sourcing, do you have the material to back it up? Over and over again, they said we have seen the e-mails, we have seen the text messages. Everything proves that our story is true.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: Well, they suggested that they hadn't seen all the evidence but that their sources were representing it to them. And Susan it seems like --

(CROSSTALK)

LI: But they're pretty adamant about it, right. We have to be sure.

HAYWORTH: It's not journalism, it's rumor mongering, Ed, and all bear in mind that BuzzFeed was the first to publish the dossier.

HENRY: Right.

HAYWORTH: That has been thoroughly discredited.

HENRY: Which was unverified then is largely unverified now as we report to you tonight, live from New York. Nan, Susan and Mattie, I appreciate you all coming in. This is Ed Henry. I had been sitting in, of course, for Martha MacCallum. We are going to be on top of this breaking news story all evening. I'll be back tomorrow morning, 6:00 a.m. Eastern for Fox & Friends as well.

This BuzzFeed story's suggestion that the President of the United States directed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress, has now been denied, by Robert Mueller. Someone, who the President is not usually on the same page with, instead tonight, again, we'll be watching for the President's reaction on Twitter or elsewhere, because he is a frequent critic of the Special Counsel.

Tonight, the Special Counsel saying that the President is right, at least on this one story and Michael -- BuzzFeed, about Michael Cohen is wrong. That's "The Story" this Friday night. Have a great weekend. Tucker is up next with his breaking story, next.

Content and Programming Copyright 2019 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2019 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.