Might cut a deal with special counsel robert mueller. Moments ago when White House Press secretary was asked about this, she referred to and read a statement by ty cobb. I would refer you back to the statement from ty cobb in the report that youre asking about. No pardons are under discussion or under consideration at the white house. Can you say unequivocally that no one here has discussed pardons in this case . I can say that ty cobb is the person that would be most directly involved in this. He has a statement on the record saying theres no discussion and no consideration of those at this time in the white house. Does the white house worry about what Paul Manafort might tell special counsel mueller . As we said pretty much every day since we got here, because you guys continue to ask about this topic every single day, there was no collusion. Were very confident in that and look forward to this process wrapping up. Lets go to amy fiscus. Amy, all right, when you read this piece, this scoop from your paper, it says john dowd denies ever floating this notion of pardons. Tell me more about these alleged conversations that took place. Thats right, he does deny having these conversations. Weeks of reporting and talking to sources, we are reporting that last year that dowd talked to lawyers for two of the president s former top aides, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn at a time when the special counsel was closing in on them. This was before manafort was indicted and before flynn essentially agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the special counsel investigation. Why is the timing significant here of when these said conversations were alleged to have taken place . It suggests that the president , at least his lawyer, was worried about what manafort and flynn would tell the special counsel, what they would reveal. Was there any indication that going by the New York Times reporting that dowd ever had a conversation about the idea of floating pardons . Its not clear that dowd talked to the president about this. You could also see the possibility that he did. Its hard to see clients freelancing with such a dramatic offer. With this president its also hard to predict just about anything. What do you make of their denials of this happening . We stand by our reporting and are confident that what we are reporting is true. We have five great reporters on this and have been chasing the story for weeks as the story said, months, actually. Amy fiscus with the New York Times, thank you so much. Well analyze this with my next two guests, two former federal prosecutors, elise wheel and michael zeldin. Good to have you both on. Michael, let me begin with you. The whole notion that the Trump Lawyers and john dowd specifically were broaching this idea, dangling pardons for manafort and flynn. What does that tell you about any kind of concern team trump would have had as the mueller team was closing in . Of course it makes sense that if you were pardoning people who had a story to tell that was disadvantageous to your situation that you would think about pardoning them. What is not clear to me here is whether this was a pardon discussion between the president and his Legal Counsel about the broad scope of his pardon powers generally speaking, which would be appropriate, or the pop possibility that they were talking about pardoning with the prospect of witness tampering or abusing their office. Assuming it was under discussion what the intent might have been with respect to the pardon contemplatio contemplation. Elise, i see you nodding. Thats exactly the point. The president has wide discretion to pardon someone for really almost anything. And its one of those things that, you know, we as citizens think well, you know, is that really proper, the pardon power and we can have debates about that. Under the constitution, really, the president does have that wide power. The discussion is the timing and skugs about why, you know, and the obstruction of justice. Thats the real critical issue here, the timing. The president s intent. Sure, sure. They go together. If the president was aware, was dowd freelancing, was this a conversation with trump . Thats yet to be determined. Again, the power of pardon is unique to the president. Right. But michael, if you are pardoning two key players in this investigation, one of whom has now pled guilty to lying and is cooperating with team mueller, how would one determine if you wanted to pardon in order to impede that investigation, would that be wrong . The way you would find that out is when you put the president under oath in an interview, which is why its, i think, fansible to think that mueller will not sit down and have an interview with the president. Crimes of intent and you could only define the intent or best way to define the intent of the actor youre discussing it with is to ask them questions about it. There will be objective circumstances surrounding it but not without the word of the president will you know what he was endeavoring to do here. Thats the issue whenever you have an intent crime. You have to go into the mind of a person. The way to go into a mind of a person is an interview, deposition or a confession which is not going to happen here. But michael said and, elise, i would love to have you weigh in. A Development Like this, michael said, would make it unlikely for the president to sit with mueller. Right. Do you agree . I do agree. Why . Why would the president expose himself to an interview at this point when now its been, you know, were raising the issue of obstruction of justice. How do you get to intent . You can get to intent by circumstantial evidence, by saying raising the question were raising right now of the time i timing and why would these questions have been raised . Why would we even be asking about pardons if not for the fact that he wanted to keep people quiet . You could raise the questions but you could answer the questions only perhaps with a witness, with a president , in this case, yes, i did this and this is the reason i did this. Why expose himself to that with an interview . He wouldnt. Brooke, let me say one thing to clarify. Please. It might be disadvantageous but in the end the power of the grand jury to subpoena the president thats different. Will prevail and notwithstanding what lawyers may say to him it would be better for you not to testify. I think hes going to have to testify unless he takes the fifth amendment. Unless he takes the fifth. Thats exactly right. Im curious, you have the denials from john dowd, the ty cobb statement which says have routinely responded on the record that no pardons are under discussion or consideration at white house. What do you make of that . Nooem not surprised by that, that he would deny it. Im not saying one way or the other what happened. The denial doesnt surprise me. The only way to find that out now, to really answer the question, if he does not sit down for an interview would be v via the grand jury where either he has to answer the question or take the fifth. What precedent do we have for that . The precedent for the president is bill clinton and the grand jury there where we have the grand jury he did have to go into the grand jury which led ultimately to the impeachment of president clinton. Clinton went in voluntarily. He wasnt forced in. Right. The question would be, if this president said, you know what, i am not going to sit down, you have two years of litigation and nixon versus United States all over again. And optics and how it looks. Michael and lis, we could keep going. Have to break in. I appreciate both of you. Im sure we will on another day. Thanks very much to have you on. Thanks, brooke. On other things legal, is it a legal stunt, strategy . Stormy daniels attorney seeks to depose President Trump and Michael Cohen, alluding to this separately here, is such a precedent, bill clintons deposition in 98, will that work . Residents shut down a City Council Meeting in sacramento after a Deadly Police shooting of an unarmed black man. The white house was asked about this several times over, referring to these Police Shootings as local matters. Are they totally missing the mark . I wanted to get new blinds, and i was talking with my mom about what kind i should get, and she mentioned i should visit blinds dot com. Great quality for an incredible price, thats where i got my blinds. vo with blinds dot com, you get a free Online Design consultation, free samples, free shipping, and a 100 satisfaction guarantee. I give the Customer Confidence by being there every step of the way. We make it really easy. Thats what i love to hear vo go to blinds dot com slash tv right now and when you buy one blind, get the second 50 off. Almost 800 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 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. At crowne plaza, we know Business Travel isnt just business. Theres this. A bit of this. Why not . Your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. Which is what we do. Crowne plaza. Were all business, mostly. Were back. This is cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Could allegations of a porn star force the president to raise his right hand under oath . The white house has continued to dodge questions and the president remains uncharacteristically silent. That may not be for long if Stormy Daniels attorney get his way. Mr. President did you have a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels . Did you have knowledge of the alleged threats against her . Did you know your personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her 130,000 to keep it all quiet . Those are the kind of questions that the president could face under penalty of perjury. Mark geragos, cnn legal analyst and joan kubiak is with me. Joan, first to you, Michael Avenatti going back to the 90s and Paul Jo Jones case set this precedent. Lets get a refresher on what happened there and how it could be applicable today. The case had to do with sexual advances that paula jones claimed that president clinton had made. Paula jones sues, saying that bill clinton, when he was the arkansas governor, made these advances toward her sheechlt sues for that, emotional stress and defamation. The case is pending and president clinton says no, i have president ial immunity. I cant be called into court at all. The Supreme Court in 1997 ruled unanimously that, no, you can be forced to testify in a case involving behavior that took place before you were the president if its not going to take much away from your duties. And in that case, the Supreme Court again unanimously thought this isnt going to take much out of his duties. Can he attend to this, not knowing what was lying, waiting ahead with not just paula jones but monica lewinsky. Goes and testifies and lied under oath and that set in motion the impeachment process. The main point, brooke, there is this 1997 precedent out there that says that a president can be is not immune from liability for this kind of civil case. I should say, though, thats sitting out there. It tonight mean necessarily that drch is going to have to testify in this case. It doesnt . No. Look, it has to do with an arbitration agreement. With paula jones, it was actual behavior that was being alleged, you know, individually toward him. In fact this one almost kind of recalls much more the suit right now pending by Summer Zervos against donald trump that has to do with groping and tee famation. In both, President Trump could be asked to testify but theres a little bit more of a parallel with paula jones. In california the motion filed in federal court by team stormy, do you think the move, mark, is it a total stunt from avenatti or does this truly, truly get trump closer to seeing the inside of a courtroom . My prediction of whats going to happen, theyre going to compel arbitration. The federal judge will grant the motion to compel arbitration. Theyll go over to probably adr, a local l. A. Dispute resolution place. That judge will impose sanctions under the arbitration agreement and Stormy Daniels is going to have not only to pay back the money that she got but shes probably going to have to pay some amount of money for v violating the agreement. I dont think theres a whole lot here. At the same time what i think you see is happening, i have to give President Trump credit. His ratings are going up. His Approval Ratings are going up and it does remind me of bill clinton. The more they went down the sexual road in the 90s, the higher his Approval Ratings wen went. Why do you think that is, putting you on the spot . I think most people are more concerned with other things, especially in this case, where she has come out and said its a consensual relationship and most people dont understand why were dealing with Something Like this 13 years after the fact. You take a look at that 60 minutes interview. It reminded me of geraldo and the vault. We havent talked since that interview. Did you think it was a nothing burger . What did you think . I mean, look, that supposed threat in the parking lot seven years ago, give me a break. You dont believe her . I think michael is im sure that she probably thinks that there was a threat. The idea that somehow that seven years later is going to mean anything is ill just be charitable with t there was nothing to it. The whole thing, i think, borders on ludicrous. Wow, okay. Mark geragos and joan kubik, thank you very much. More protests planned in sacramento after an unarmed black man was killed by police. The white house was asked to weigh in on this story and others moments ago. Their stunning response next. Timwalk in and youll get 1000 forwhen you switch this year. Tt. Plus another 100 when you file next year with jackson hewitt. And theres no appointment necessary. Looking for a hotel that fits. Whoooo. Your budget . Tripadvisor now searches over. 200 sites to find you the. Hotel you want at the lowest price. Grazi, gino find a price that fits. Tripadvisor. More protests are expected across sacramento tonight after stephon clark, unarmed black man was shot and killed by police. Protesters shut down a Sacramento Kings game. One woman walked up to the door wearing a tshirt that said i wont keep calm. I have a black son. Clarks brother interrupted City Council Meeting with this emotional outburst. The chief of police got my brother killed. Enough. He shows no emotion at all. Stevante . Thank you. Shut the [ bleep ] please. Tell him i dont hear him talking. Hes not the mayor anymore. Those protests caused the mayor to cancel the meeting and schedule at a later date for safety concerns. Clarks case and the attorney general not to charge Police Officers in the death of alton sterling. Here is the white houses response. Certainly we want to make sure that all Law Enforcement is carrying out the letter of the law. The president is very supportive of Law Enforcement. At the same time in these specific cases and these specific instances, those would be left up to local authorities to make that determination and not something for the federal government to weigh in on. Gardner that cried out 11 times, i cant believe, his mother is still looking for inindictment of Police Officers in new york. Does the president ask them the status, is something going to happen . What . Im not aware of any specific action. These would be local matters that should be left up to the local authority. Eye wanted to talk to april about that exchange. Shes with me now there at the white house. Shes also White House Correspondent for you aurban ra networks. April . Yes. A local matter. What was your reaction to that . Well, its not a local matter. You know, stephon clark, the California Attorney general is looking at it. And then when you have when you go to and thats a state issue as well as a federal issue. Not just local. When you go to the situation with eric garner in a police choke hold and said i cant breathe 11 times and died on the scene, the federal government is now looking at that. And, you know, i talked to a former highranking official at justice who said there should have been an indictment on that by now. And that is in the criminal section of the u. S. Justice department. So thats not a local issue. And its not local when it goes national. Brooke, when we look at history this is where history plays a part. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. The fact is that there have been problems with the black community and police since black people were brought on slave ships here to this nation called slave patrols. Its gone on for years and years and years. There were whispers about this has happened, this has happened. Now you have the visuals of the accountability piece with the cell phones, whatever device you have or tablets, what have you. People are seeing whats not whispered anymore. Its real. Its not myth. Its not conjecture. Its real. What do you do . I remember talking to jay johnson, former head of Homeland Security in the obama years. He said when you have tensions between the black community and police, theres a National Security issue. And he described the National Security issue being that when you dont trust what each side has a lack of trust, they dont trust one another. If the police ask you in the community if you see something, Say Something, the police will basically not trust you as well. There is a problem there. Is it, though part of it is a moral issue, a moral question . Yes. Of course this is a National Issue that requires leadership. Isnt there a risk when you hear Sarah Sanders saying local issue, let local authorities deal with it it could come off as dismissive . Yes. It was dismissive. You have to think about this. This is a president who very much supports police. I go back to one of those statements he said last year when he was with Law Enforcement, talking about dont be so kind and gentle when youre putting them in the car. I wouldnt hold their head. It makes you wonder, really, where does he stand . Does he really mean that . They said it was a joke. Remember, Law Enforcement came out saying we dont stand behind that. So, there is a moral imperative. Many of these people are people who could have been alive to stand trial and Say Something but theyre dead and we dont hear anything. This is a National Issue. Its not a local issue. The nation is talking. Not just black people but white people. People of all races. There have been long calls for this to change and now its time for the president to determine if he will speak on it, chain the dynamic or stay silent. April ryan, thank you so much at the white house. Thank you, brooke. Next, roseanne. Roseanne brings the political debate happening inside Many American families to television. How the reboot of her show is hitting a political nerve and attracting millions of viewers. Hi im joan lunden. Todays Senior Living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. And theres never been an easier way to get great advice. A place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. A place for mom. You know your family we know Senior Living. Together well make the right choice. At a comfort inn with a glow taround them, so people watching will be like, wow, maybe ill glow too if i book direct at choicehotels. Com. Who glows . Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com. Mitzi Psoriatic Arthritis tries to get in my way . Watch me. mike ive tried lots of things for my joint pain. Now . Watch me. joni think id give up showing these guys how its done . Please. Real people with active Psoriatic Arthritis are changing the way they fight it. Theyre moving forward with cosentyx. Its a different kind of targeted biologic. Its proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. Dont use if you are allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. Or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Mitzi with less joint pain, watch me. For less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. Roseanne is back. Politics in the form of bickering with her sister, jackie. She promised she would get along and, knowing the both of you, im guessing youre the one keeping this feud alive. Whats up, deplorable . You guys have got to talk this out civilly. Mom, aunt jackie, hat in hand. Why dont you get that fixed with the new health care all you suckers got promised . It works good enough to kick your ass, snowflake. There you go. All you people go straight to the violence. Every one of you, wrapping yourself up in the flag and clinging to your guns. Such a stereotype. Where are you going . I just realized we got kids in the house and i cant remember where we hid our gun. Oh, its my little princess. Or senator or doctor or captain of industry because girls can be whatever they want to be. I want a sand castle. Cool. Jackie thinks every girl should grow up and be president even if theyre liar, liar, pantsuit on fire. I think were a liar and who is on fire, roseanne. First dinner weve had together as a family in a long time. Lets try to survive it. Yeah. First lets say grace. Jackie, would you like to take a knee . How could you have voted for him, roseanne . He talked about jobs, jackie. He said he would shape things up. This might come as a complete shock to you, but we almost lost our house the with a he way things are going. Have you looked at the news . Now things are worse. Not on the real news. Oh, please guess how many people tuned in last night. 18 million. That is nearly as many as the voice and ncis combined. Roseanne barr reacting to that. So grateful for fans of the roseanne show for giving it a good premier rating. Here is to making america laugh and talk again. Thank you. A critic who talked to the tv shows producer for this hour. Joannea, how and why did that whole team and roseanne want to bring the show back and was it her idea to have Roseanne Connor be this trump supporter . One of the driving forces behind the show was sara gilbert, who plays darlene, and had this idea to bring back the show in the trump era once she discovered everyone else would be on board, including john goodman, who was killed off in the finale. Hes alive again a, this power of nostalgia and the family. This was the number one show for much of the 80s and 90s. A lot of people connected to them and just had an appetite to see them again. They were also the quintessential working class white urb ach bcexurban family everyone in the media has been trying to understand since the election. 18 million viewers. Do you think that this kind of family is being ignored by mainstream tv . Working class families are fairly rare on mainstream television. Few sxachs. Abcs the middle is a prime example. Tv is aspirational. Either people very rich, kardashian rich or people who are supposed to be middle class and who are either living way beyond their means or this is hollywoods idea of what a middle class house looks like. So its fairly rare to see people who are portrayed in a very positive light who live in a modest house, who have old appliances, who are seen struggling with money and struggling with the bills and seeing that feels like validation for a lot of people. It feels like someone is understanding them. So, lets take it a step further. Of course, i read your interview with the executive producer. Whats really important for roseanne and all of us is to put the whole discourse out in the open. Were hoping we can bring dialogue back. As you point out in your piece, that is a mighty tall order. Do you think they can pull it off . You know, the thing about fiction, the power of fix and of these relationships that we have with fictional characters is that we can put ourselves in someone elses shoes without that kind of without the tension of a relationship you might have with a real person. And the thing about a sitcom and family like the connors and roseanne is that we feel like we know them. Its not just, you know, reading an article where a reporter went and interviewed someone and you sort of read this oneoff. It might be empathetic and very well done, but someone youll encounter once in your life. The connors, you feel like you know. You see them on a regular basis, invite them into the living room. Youre kind of youre going through their trials and struggles with them in an empathetic way. Its a powerful tool for understanding. Joanna, well see how the season continues on. Well be watching. I know you will. Thank you so much for that. Thank you. Coming up next here on cnn, Stormy Daniels attorney takes action to try to get on the record deposition from donald trump. His lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cnn digs into the long history between the president and his righthand man. At holiday inn express, we cant guarantee that youll be able to contain yourself at our breakfast bar. Morning, egg white omelet. Sup lady bacon fruit, there it is but we can guarantee that youll get the best price when you book with us. Holiday inn express. Be the readiest. The morning walk until. It. Wasnt. Dont let type 2 diabetes get between you and your heart. Even if you reach your a1c goal you are still at risk for heart attack or stroke. Talk to your Health Care Provider today about diabetic heart disease. And find out more at heartoftype2. Com. Your heart and type 2 diabetes. Make the connection. Formally launched an allegation into government use of its surveillance powers, in the wake of the explosive nunez memo to surveil trump adviser carter page. Michael cohen has been called President Trumps fixer, his righthand man, his pitbull. He is the man that trump relies on when he needs to get things done. At the center of the scandal after admit iting to paying skoy dani Stormy Daniels 130,000 days before the election. A porn star accepts a payoff to keep quiet about her affair with donald trump, theres got to be a guy who gets it done. Where is Michael Cohen . Where is this guy . Where is this guy . Standing behind donald trump or closer in his back pocket. Michael was, i like to say, ray donovan of the office. He took care of what had to be taken care of. I dont know what had to be taken care of. I know that michael was taking care of it. He is the guy you can call at 3 00 in the morning when you have a problem. Do you know of stories of him calling at 3 00 in the morning . All hours of the night. Every dinner ive been at with michael, the boss has called. Cohen did not call the boss, he says, when he decided to pay Stormy Daniels 130,000 out of his own pocket 11 days before the election. So you believe 100 that donald trump 100 . Theres not an expenditure that isnt authorized that he doesnt know about. His friends claim its all part of his job in trump world, giving the boss deniability and protection. If you know the relationship he took care of a lot of thins s for mr. Trump without him knowing about it, part of the overall structure, that michael had great latitude to take care of matters. A version of the longtime lawyer, pitbull and aggressive defender of all things trump, no questions asked. After dantonio finished his book on trump, he got the cohen treatment, what turned out to be an empty threat. Then he got mad. You just bought yourself an fing lawsuit, buddy. Ill see you in court. Michael cohen described his job this way. I protect mr. Trump. Thats what it is. If theres an issue that relates to mr. Trump that is of a concern to him, of course, its a concern to me. I will use my legal skills in which to protect mr. Trump to the best of my ability. First came to trumps attention after buy iing. Trump loved him for it. That was the beginning of it. After that, they became close. It was something much deeper, almost father and son kind of thing. Always hot and cold. Donald trump could be yelling at him one second and saying hes the greatest person in the world the next second. Trmp knew michael always had his back. It wasnt about pedestrian grichlt cohen, 351, got his degree if you look where michael came from, before he started working for trump org, he came from a hard nosed, a hard nosed new york trial firm. Trump has an eye for talent and this was somebody, he used to call him his bulldog. His tough guy. At the Trump Organization hes done a bit of everything. Running a mixed martial arts company, securing real estate branding deals, and even taking care of transportation. The famous trump plane. There was an engine issue that he took care of and got a really good deal on. Watching him is like a realtd show. Hes texting, on the computer. You can almost say this is Donald Trumps mini me. From long island to be quite wealthy himself. Known spainternationally. In the eye of not only stormy but also of interest to the special counsel bob mueller and congress. During the campaign, when trump said he had no contact with russia, cohen was privately trying to cut a deal for a trump tower moscow. It never happened but mueller has asked about it. The sad reality is that michael pursuing the trump tower deal in december is just another factor that goes into this whole russia narrative. Cohens name was also in the infamous dossier which alleges he traveled to prague to meet with russians. Hes completely denied it and is suing buzz feed which published it. It is immeasurable. The damage that has been caused to him, to his family. I will faithfully execute when trump became president , he did not bring his brash wingman to washington. Do you think he wanted to be in the white house . White House Counsel . There must have been a part of him that was dreaming at a great job at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. He is also the guy who not only knows where all the bodies are buried. He buried a lot of them himself. And that ironically disqualified him. They say im mr. Trumps pit bull. That i am his right hand man. Ive been called many Different Things around here. Now he may be called to testify with. The Stormy Daniels case in federal court. I know Michael Cohen for over 21 years and i know that he will not rest. He will not sleep. He doesnt sleepfullyaway, right . Until he recovers every single penny from stormy thats due the llc. Ive seen a lot of attorneys use intimidation tactics. The problem is, if that is your speed, if you are a onetrick pony, and you use that in every case, when all of a sudden you run up against somebody that doubles down and that isnt intimidated, then youre lost. Cohen flew maralago to dine with the president the night before Stormy Daniels appeared on 60 minutes. If youre Michael Cohen, youre the ultimate loyalist. The words the media should be using to describe mr. Trump are generous, compassionate and you still believe donald trump will be loyal kind, humble, honest to you. Gloria borger, cnn, washington. Gloria, thank you. Next, a new report as President Trump has a grudge against amazon. Today we saw the stock take a huge hit. What the white house had to say about whether those two things are related. If youd have told me three years ago. That wed be downloading in seconds, what used to take. Minutes. That guests would compliment our wifi. That we could video conference. And do it like that. snaps if youd have told me that i could afford. A gigspeed. A gigspeed network. Its like 20 times faster than what most people have. Id of said. Id of said youre dreaming. Dreaming definitely dreaming. Then again, dreaming is how i got this far. Now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. We are moments from the closing bell. Amazon shares down 4 after the news reported that trump may be looking the curb its growing market power. It wants to go after it with antitrust enforcement or by changing tax rules. Heres what Sarah Sanders said about the president s attitude toward amazon. The report said the president is obsessed with amazon and its ceo jeff bezos. Have you ever heard the president talk about amazon . Ive heard the president talk repeatedly about making Business Practices in this country level for everyone across the board. Ive heard him talk about it privately and publicly and it is something that he wants to see happen. Beyond that, i dont have anything for you. According to axios, President Trump has talked about amazons tax treatment because he worries mom and pop retailers may be put out of business. And there you have it. Well send to it washington a little early today. Thank you for being here with me in new york. Jim sciutto is sitting in for jake tapper. The lead starts now. We thought the porn star would be todays headline. The lead starts now. The New York Times reporting President Trumps attorney discussed president ial pardons for two former trump advisers who were later charged by special counsel mueller. What was the white house worried the advisers might say . And Stormy Daniels attorney wants donald trump to testify under oath. Can trump be compelled to testify . And what would he say . Plus, the president says there is a good chance that he will solve the north korea problem and a proposed summit with kim jongun. But there are new signs that china could be working against china could be working against the u. S. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com we begin with breaking news in the russia investigation. News begs the question, might this be the very definition of obstruction of justice . The New York Times reporting faye then trump attorney john