Kate Bolduan gives a fresh take on todays top stories. Zeldin. This is a very serious allegation. He misunderstands, i think, that his failure to directly sell his own shares is whats at issue. Whats at issue is his provision of nonpublic information to his son and another so that they could cut their losses in their sales. That violates the mail fraud statutes, securities fraud statutes, and there is not really much of a defense if in fact the facts in the allegation are true. Michael, this is sdny indicting a sitting member of Congress Months before an election. We know prosecutors are confident but i mean how airtight does this case need to be . Well, two things. First, we know from the from that which happened during the last 2016 election that youre not supposed to bring indictments against congressman and other political people within 60 days. So they just sort of snuck under the 60day donor election statute. Just. Yeah. But the fact is that, you treat public corruption in the same way you treat other crimes. When you have evidence of it, you indict as long as it is not within that 60day period. Like all cases you want to make sure that you have evidence sufficient to prove in court your allegations and they have a pretty air tight indictment here, it seems to me. Chris collins deserves his day in court as well. His attorneys will be speaking out. They say his name will be cleared. Interesting to see what happens at this Press Conference coming up in just a little bit. Michael, thank you so much. Thats the legal side of it. Much more to come on that, believe me. But lets talk about the political side of it and fallout on capitol hill. Here with me now, cnn politics reporter and editor at large, Chris Cillizza and nbc correspondent, phil mattingly. Collins has been under investigation on the hill with regard to this company. This is separate from any Insider Trading question. For a while. What we heard from the congressman to wolf blitzer is a perfect summation of what weve seen from him on capitol hill. He would pitch his colleagues about this. He was the only member he has stepped down in i believe april. He was the only member of congress who is a sitting member of a company board. He was on the committee that oversees what this company does. There were allegations, which he long denied, that he had been involved in trying to write pieces of legislation to aid this company. There were also during the Office Of Congressional Ethics Investigation clear emails and evidence that he was meeting with officials from the National Institute of health to essentially talk about this company, as well. You talk about kind of the long run of people wondering and thinking this doesnt lead. If you dont follow this day in and day out like the three of us do, even if you do, the idea you could be on a board, and as he proudly touts, be the biggest shareholder in a company that you are on the committee that has some level of jurisdiction over smells fishy. That doesnt mean it was illegal on its face. But smells fishy. If you are Chris Collins, or if you are republicans generally, this is a district just from the politics of it p isnt it like the reddest district . New york . Chris collins was one of Donald Trumps earliest supporters. Everything east of buffalo proper is in this district. Donald trump won it 60 35 effectively. Chris collins was with donald trump because i think he recognized in donald trump a message that had real power in his community. That said, this is a district that its been redistricted a little bit, but this is a district that a democrat has held, Brian Higgins held it for four terms prior to the redistricting. It was made more republican. If collins stays on and continues under indictment, thats an allbetsareoff type situation. Doesnt mean is he going to lose. But when you are a sitting member of congress there are lots of examples of people who are charged and who win. But there are some who lose. This will take that district and make it more competitive. It is worth noting, though it has nothing to do with these charges phil will correct me if im wrong if you were to name who was the sort of most outfront protrump member of congress, Chris Collins would be in that conversation. Again, that doesnt have to do with these charges but he is someone very closely aligned with trump and that trump movement. What is paul ryan thinking at this moment . If you find out, i would love to know. Heres the interesting thing. When you head into the leadup to an election, stories like this, whether or not he ends up pleading guilty, whether or not he ends up being guilty, whether he is vindicated, they start to set in to a narrative. What ive heard already from a number of democrats who are seizing on this not because they care about Chris Collins and not even because they think they can win or flip Chris Collins district, but this becomes a data point, that they talk about the people that are in power are corrupt. The people that are in power are part of the swamp. People that are in power are just rife with conflicts. If whats in the indictment is true, it is a pretty textbook case of securities fraud. Heres the interesting element of that. You can actually pick out from his lawyers statement what theyre going for right now. Securities fraud and frankly Insider Trading is rife with grey area. Weve seen Security Fraud indictments and convictions overturned in recent years when it comes it certain hedge funds, things. That nature. You can tell what his attorneys are clearly keying on right now, is that he did not make any trades. It is worth noting that when this trial failed, when it became public that it failed, Chris Collins got crushed. There were headlines, as the biggest shareholder in this company the stock price plummeted 90 some. Yeah. Afterwards he said, this wasnt a good thing. Theyll clearly defend him robustly and thats clearly the area they are going on but it is a daily indictment which is why they brought it, to be honest. I do think it is worth noting. Michael touched on this. There is a political and there is a legal course these things will travel. Political course remember back to ted stevens. He was indicted alaska senator indicted. He wound up losing that election. Then it comes out later that, well, hes actually been cleared of the charges. So the Legal Process and the political process do not always line up. The political process can hurt you even when the Legal Process remains in progress. I will also say about stevens, a very different Political Climate then at that moment in time. Thanks both very much. Also breaking this morning, the president s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, telling cnn that trumps legal team plans to issue their response today about a possible sitdown with Robert Mueller. This Cat And Mouse game you just cant get enough of it. What questions will they answer . What answer will they not . Will we find out . Well see. Plus, former manafort associate rick gates getting grilled in court again today after admitting to lying, stealing and cheating, even on his wife. Has gates lost his credibility . Who had a good day in court yesterday, whos having a good day today . Well find out. Your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. We commit to being open, taking responsibility for the problem, and fixing it. This begins with new leadership, and a new culture. And youre going to see improvements to our service. Like enhanced background checks, 24 7 customer support, better pickups, and ride quality, for both riders, and drivers. Youve got my word, that were charting an even better road for uber, and for those that rely on us every day. More Breaking News this morning. Cnn learning that President Trumps legal team, led by Rudy Giuliani, plans to respond today to special Counsel Robert Mueller about the Cat And Mouse game that has become the possibility of the president sitting down for an interview with the Special Counsel. Mueller had offered the president an interview that included questions about possible Obstruction Of Justice. Rudy giuliani made clear in an interview with the Washington Post that he was not comfortable with that but, of course, every day is a new day. What could they be countering with now . What is giuliani saying . Cy offis he offering up any det . Hes not offering up any details. The fact that the negotiations are still ongoing, no one has sort of set any limits right now or has closed off the options here. It is essentially a Counter Offer to the Counter Offer to the Counter Offer. Right . As you said, we keep playing this Cat And Mouse game. Ultimate question is going to be what is the president going to do. Is he finally going to sit down with the Special Counsel. I think its been very clear and Rudy Giuliani reiterated this this morning to our dana bash that they want to limit the obstruction questions, the questions about the firing of the fbi director, the former fbi director, james comey. The questions surrounding whether or not he tried to influence the fbi investigation to his former National Security advisor, michael flynn. This seems to be the key issue for the president and his attorneys. They are trying to limit the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, the fbi, in asking any questions surrounding that. Obviously the question of what will the president finally do, we dont know. I guess we will wait to see what the Special Counsel how the Special Counsel responds to the attorneys. But essentially all of of this is still a backandforth, and as you said, a catandmouse game, and it continues. And just continues. Not the end of this. Great to see you, shimon. Former federal prosecutor, shan wu. Giuliani says the president would be open to agreeing to answer questions on Obstruction Of Justice even though he wasnt comfortable with that idea a couple days ago. As long as the questions arent this is what he told dana bash arent, quote, unquote, Perjury Traps what does that mean to you . Thats a good question that could mean Different Things to different lawyers. Per perjury trap is this notion that if you, as the prosecutor, already know that the person youre questioning has given an answer, or you have information that has them locked in, and you also have a pretty strong idea theyre going to lie about that, thats the perjury trap. It is not a perjury trap to have an session and ask questions you dont know the answers to. Thats not a perjury trap. Thats giuliani saying that hes worried about Lis Cliehis Clien likes to speak off the cuff, go off subject and lie. So hes worried hell talk himself into a perjury trap. Perjury trap su already have the info, you know the persons going to lie and you already know how to close that trap on them. Im so confused. But you did such a good job on that one. But on the most basic level, would Robert Mueller agree to Something Like this . I just dont see i dont see a universe where you say, okay, no Perjury Traps, lets sit down now. Because no selfrespecting prosecutor is going to agree that they are setting a perjury trap. Thats exactly the point. Theyll say we want the truth, we want to ask you questions. Of course there is no perjury trap. Just have your client tell the truth. Thats just spin on giulianis part. They could negotiate parameters of these events or timeline are offlimits. But the general concept of a perjury trap is quite meaning l meaningless, actually. If this is what giulianis going back with, do you think they are any closer or any further away from the president actually making a decision or being questioned by Robert Muellers team . The only thing they are closer to is giulianis plan to drag things out closer to the midterm elections if thats what they go back with . Well. Stand by to stand by. Shan, actually stand by. More coming in on a very different yet related topic. Stick with me. Rick gatess just finished testifying in the first trial to come from Robert Mueller investigation. The star witness in the fraud trial of President Trumps former campaign chairman. The star witness admitted to lying, cheating and stealing in a brutal Cross Examination. Cnns joe johns is outside the courthouse of Paul Manaforts trial with the very latest. Joe, what is the very latest . Well, as you said, it was testimony that spanned over three days of brutal Cross Examination and the final questions for rick gates, from both the prosecution and the defense, really sort of went to his credibility and truthfulness. Both sides asking questions about that. Probably the most interesting question that came out of it, as we know, gates testified yesterday that hed had an affair and that sort of played in to how he used money that came out of lying and cheating. Well, today the defense counsel, kevin dowling, asked gates whether he had four four Extramarital Affairs in the recross. And before he got a chance to answer, the judge brought everyone to the bench and they had a discussion about it. Downing made the point that he was asking that question because he wanted to know whether gates had lied to the Special Counsels office. If he had lied, that could at least potentially invalidate the Plea Agreement he has to testify. So the judge did not allow that question in and when it was reasked, it was reasked in terms of have you had a long i should just read this to you quickly before we go. Does your secret life span over many years . And gates said, yes, ive made many mistakes over many years. That question did not get answered about the four Extramarital Affairs. This thing got nasty really, really fast. Moving at breakneck speed. Shan wu, for a brief period of time you represented rick gates. Shan, does it surprise you how things went down with this Cross Examination of gates . Not really. As usual, im not speaking from any confidences or privilege material. Just as a spectator watching this. One would expect that Kevin Downing would bear down as hard as he did. Thats a classic way to cross examine a cooperating witness. I think the big Strategy Question is, should the prosecution have tried to take the sting out of the affair by bringing it up ahead of time the way they did by having rick disclose his trying to steal or his actual stealing from manafort. By not doing that, it gives the defense a little bit of an i gotcha moment which they really followed up on. From their point of view, really getting to ask that question does a lot of damage even without the answer to it. Thats what i was going to ask. Even if they threw it out there and then they were pulled to the bench and werent able to get the answer, it is still out there. Right . Had. Yeah, its still out there. The questions themselves are not evidence but for the effect on the jury, thats already out there and it will be interesting to look at the transcript and see whether the prosecution tried to object or whether judge ellis, as he has been prone to do, was taking care to make sure that he kept things on the straight and narrow and they didnt go too far afield. Judge ellis is very interesting to watch throughout this and listen to throughout this trial. Lets talk about him maybe tomorrow. Shan, thank you so much. A lot of Breaking News coming in this morning. More Breaking News. Senator rand paul announcing he has personally delivered a letter from President Trump to russian president Vladimir Putin during pauls visit to moscow. Cnns manu raju is in washington with much more. What can you tell us about this letter . This actually came about after multiple discussions between President Trump and rand paul. I have been told by a source familiar with the matter, kate, that paul and trump had discussed this matter for some time about these meetings that rand paul was planning to have in moscow. Now paul as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had planned to travel to russia, meet with senior russian officials even before that helsinki summit. But in the runup to this meeting with russian officials that rand paul had over the last several days, he did speak with President Trump, i am told, several times, both on the phone and in the oval office. After they had met, rand paul was given a letter from President Trump, a handwritten letter to deliver to putin, to deliver to the russians, which rand paul Just Announced on twitter that he did today. Rand paul saying this in his tweet, that the letter emphasized the importance of further engagement in various areas, including countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges. But Remarkable Development given that a lot of folks arent aware exactly what happened in that first summit. Heres rand paul, a senator, not a member of the president s administration, carrying out this diplomacy, apparently of what happened in the first summit and trying to extend this to future talks between President Trump and president putin. Absolutely. Manu, thanks so much. We appreciate you bringing that to us. Coming up for us still the race that is telling us a whole lot about how voters feel about President Trump and midterm elections. Both sides in ohio claiming a victory of sorts this morning as the special election there is still too close to call. Well talk about what it could all mean. Prewashing and removing stuckon foods, the first time. Wow, thats clean new cascade platinum. When we switched our auto and home insurance. With liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey oh, thats my robe. Is it . When you switch to liberty mutual, you could save 782 on auto and home insurance. And still get great coverage for you and your family. Call for a free quote today. You could save 782. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. But, its not too close for donald trump to declare victory and take credit for it. As results trickled in for a marquee congressional special election, the president tweeted out this when i decided to go to ohio for Troy Balderson he was down in early voting. After my speech on Saturday Night there was a big turn for the better. Now troy wins a great victory during a very tough time of the year for voting. He will win big in november. Balderson holds a razorthin lead right now but Democrat Danny Oconnor is not conceding. Ryan, what are you hearing there today . Reporter well, it could be some time before we know who won this race last night. Right now Troy Balderson holds on to a 1,700vote lead. Theres about 8,000 provisional and Absentee Ballots they have to get through. That will take about ten days before they get through all those ballots. Then at that tenday market is when they will a he decide if this race is within a half a Percentage Point which would mean automatic recount. If it is within a Percentage Point, Danny Oconnor could ask for a recount that he would pay for. Regardless, there are still pretty big implications in all of this. Keep in mind this is just the trial run ahead of the big event in november where theyll be running for a full twoyear term. Despite the fact that Danny Oconnors behind right now doesnt appear to be conceding. I dont think he knows what hes talking about. You can fly in, hang out here for a couple hours, fly out. You dont walk on our roads. You Dont Have Kids that go to our schools. You dont deal with the Public Health crisis with addiction that we have here in our state every single day. I think it is more important to have grassroots conversations and Troy Balderson can have all the people he wants fly in from d. C. I dont think it makes too much of a difference. Reporter of course, oconnor talking about the president of the United States and it will be debated for some time just how important the president s influence was here. But of course, he may be taking and claiming victory in this race. But keep in mind, this is a race that for three decades republicans have won easily and they spent more than 5 million to the democrats 1 million. If they end up winning, it is going to be by a very narrow margin. Ryan, thank you so much. As we watch as the provisional ballots will be counted. Lets discuss with the democratic Nominee Running for governor, richard cordray. In ohio he faces republican state attorney general mike dewine in november. Thanks so much for coming in. My pleasure. How do you view what happened last night . Too close to call means what . It means there was a massive swing in this district. The incumbent representative, of course, won it by 36 points two years ago. Donald trump won it by 11. What we have is a race thats too close to call today. We have about 8,500 ballots yet to count. It shows that theres tremendous enthusiasm for change. Tremendous enthusiasm to reject the divisiveness coming out of washington. Thats what we hear across ohio and in this district in particular. If it remains as is, when the provisional ballots are counted and balderson wins by a razorthin margin, an almostwin is not an actual victory in any supportives ever played. Thats been the truth for all of the nearvictories weve seen in special elections this cycle. How does this one differ . What we have is tremendously gerrymandered districts in the state of ohio. But you cant gerrymander the state as a whole. So what we have here is we have tremendous enthusiasm for change. We have voters who really care, not about the politics and the squabbling and the fighting, but about what can you do that matters most in my life . How can you improve my health care and reduce costs . How can you improve education . How can you spread out Economic Opportunity around the state . Thats what danny was talking about in this race. Thats why there was such a positive response. Positive. But still, if he doesnt win, he doesnt win. Right . Still, you still think this means more you still think this means something even if he doesnt end up winning. Look, this is a very gerrymandered district. Donald trump won it by 11. The incumbent representative won it by 36 points. This is a deadeven race at this point so this is a big swing. What were finding is similar big swing around ohio. Why . Because people are rejecting the divisiveness, the scapegoating types of politics coming from washington, reject being the corruption they see in washington and columbus. They want something different. They want clean government. They want effective government. They want government thats on their side and fighting the powerful special interests. Thats rich cordray, not mike dewine in this governors race this year. What does the too close to call outcome last night mean for your chances to win the governors race in november, do you think . Look, it is a big boost. Danny was campaigning, health care was the most important issue he found in his district. We are finding similar things across the state of ohio. Mike dewine has fought to take Health Care Away from ohioans for eight long years. Ill fight to bring down costs in the Health Care System Holding Accountable the middlemen and bringing down Prescription Drug prices. These are things people care about, Peace Of Mind issues for so many families. Thats the right focus and thats what people want to know about. Not some political squabble or horse race punditry. They want to know how are we going to affect and improve their lives. One things folks are talking about is it seemed to trip him up, who he would support for speaker of the house, who Danny Oconnor would support for speaker of the house. Oconnor says that he wont vote for nancy pelosi to be speaker given the opportunity, but also conceded in an interview that he wouldnt if it was if pelosi was the only democratic option for speaker, he wasnt going to stand in her way. Why is nancy pelosi so toxic in 2018 midterm races . I dont know much about that and i dont care much about the federal officials. Im running for governor of ohio. Im running to lead this state. People can see our plans and programs at cordrayforohio. Com. Im talking about what were going to do to stand up for ohio. I hear you. But you worked in washington. She put out looked at it this morning. She put out a statement supporting you, calling you a patriot when you left your post at cfpb. It is just kind of it is just a question. Do you think she would do a good job as speaker again . I dont think voters care here when theyre talking about whos going to be the next governor of ohio whos in various positions on the chess board in washington, d. C. Thats just not relevant to my race. Whats relevant to my race is how doo we improve health care, education and Economic Opportunity for ohioans. Thats my focus and it will continue to be my focus, not whats happening in washington ba among insiders. Richard cordray, well continue to follow your race. The trump administrations getting challenged in court again over immigration. What theyre being challenged on now and how it could change whos allowed to enter the United States. Thats next. If youre turning 65, you may be learning about medicare and supplemental insurance. Medicare is great, but it doesnt cover everything. Only about 80 of your part b medicare costs. 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They separated the kids, they sent these parents overseas without their kids, they cannot orphan these kids. It is their responsibility. And he said they need to come up with a plan to find them, but they also need to give us information so that we can help. They have been sitting on Phone Numbers of these parents for weeks or months. You think theyre Withholding Information we finally got the Phone Numbers. I dont think they would say they are withholding. Theyll say they are just getting around to it. From our standpoint, doesnt make any difference. We just got Phone Numbers. They could have been handed over ages ago. The judge has said i want a point person from the government. I want the aclu to have a point person with another ngo on the ground, in central america somewhere. Let them talk, get this done. It is not that hard. The government should not be dragging their feet. These are little children sitting there without their parents. What are the numbers we are talking about here . Last numbers i saw, it was still 400plus children whose parents have already been deported. And 100 or so more that are still here, still separated, still in government custody. Thats what were talking about. These numbers arent changing, lee. Right. So we need to make progress. I think thats what the judge is saying. Look, this is not that complicated. Basic detective work. Lets get on it. The government should be giving over all information quickly. We want the government to take some steps. The government could be running psas in these countries. The government could be taking whatever steps they do. We have ngos working on this. But it is never going to equal the resources the government has. Are you getting more or less confident you are going to be able to get these kids back together . Ive always been confident. Im concerned about how slow it is tanking. I have to remain hopeful. Has the process lost all sense of urgency in terms of the government fixing what this judge says it broke . I think thats the right question. Ive always felt the government has the resources to do this if theyd prioritize it and keep it as a sense of urgency. I think we were losing some sense of urgency and the judge on friday said, forget it, the government better appoint someone to handle this part of it. I think now hopefully what do you expect to get this week when you met . Phone numbers. Hopefully a plan from the government, more information. For example, there are basics things that we should be able to get. The government knows what language these people spoke. A lot of them spoke indigenous languages particular to regions. We are going to start calling all these Phone Numbers and arrange to meet with these parents, even if it is way up in the hills in guatemala or wherever it is. We are going to put people on the ground and go see these families and explain their options. What is your gut telling you in how long this is going to take . In terms of people who have been deported, we have 400plus children with parents who have been deported. Thats a good question. I really dont know. What i am hoping by the end of the year even . I do not want to see it drag that long. But what im also hoping is we do it on a rolling basis because we cant just think of them as an aggregate number. Each little kid needs to be reunited so each day if we can get some kids reunited, thats victory. One story of progress. We just talked to Catholic Charities of new york. They had eight children getting on planes from new york to head to their parents. Exactly. Those are stories we want to tell as well. Exactly. Keep us updated. Well check in. Breaking news though coming in just now, just handed to me. House Speaker Paul Ryan is now weighing in on this mornings indictment. News of the indictment, a fellow republican congressman, Chris Collins. He put out a statement. I will read it to you. While his guilt or innocence is a question for the courts to settle, the allegations against Congressman Collins demand a prompt and thorough investigation by the house ethics committee. Insider trading is a clear violation of the public trust. Until this matter is settled, Congressman Collins will no longer be serving on the house energy and commerce committee. In terms of what the House Speaker the Top Republican in the house has power to do, he can strip a Committee Seat and that is what he is doing. At least until the thats the very latest with that. And any moment now, the u. S. Attorneys office will hold a News Conference about this very much. Chris collins arrest, the indictment, the 30page indictment that they released this morning. Were going to bring this to you live. It is such a good time to kiss i never thought id say this but i found Bladder Leak Underwear thats actually pretty. Always discreet boutique. Hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. So i feel protected and pretty. Always discreet boutique. A bombshell from businessman elon musk. The tesla ceo says he wants to take his Company Private once again and teslas board says its looking at the options. What is going on here . Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans is live from the New York Stock Exchange with more on this. What do you make of this . Its a fascinating hes had a very cranky relationship with wall street. The wall street analysts for some time. Hes got this big, broad vision. When he cant meet some of his production goals, wall street tends to be critical of him. And he doesnt like these short sellers. These are investors who come in and sell a stock they dont own and profit from basically not having a vision in the company. He says in a tweet yesterday which shocked everyone, he said that he has the funding prepared to take his Company Private at 420 a share. Valued at Something Like 70 billion. That would be the largest ever public to private conversion. And sort of day two here. The stock down a little bit but its getting a lot of attention. Well talk about that later on markets noup cnn. Com markets now. Also interview the movie pass ceo about the changes to their Subscriber Service and how much money theyre losing. Kate . A lot more to come. Christine, thank you so much. Any moment for us, the u. S. Attorneys office will be holding a News Conference about this mornings arrest of republican congressman Chris Collins. Arrest forward inside eed for i. Well bring that to you live