Actually, im afraid of what this trade wareni could do to t u. S. Economy. Therefore, if this is a poker game, hes kind of showing his cards. But right now its just investors, poppy, watching whats going on in the bond market, seeing that flee to safety, and going theres too many uncertainties here for us to deal with. Thats the bottom line. I think, too, if you listen closely to what President Trump said yesterday about delaying those tariffs on china, he said just in case they might impact the u. S. Consumer ahead of the holidays, right . Something he really hasnt conceded before, that this is a tax on every american consumer. Look, stay close, because the dow is off 407 points. Well get back to you in a little bit. Julia chatterley, thank you so much. While the president is on vacation, white house and congressional aides have begun er early stage discussions on gun legislation. Thats what were learning this morning. But there is a lot of skepticism that anything is really going to change and actually pass the senate this time. The president claims he has republican support for background checks, but republican lawmakers are reportedly telling the president , some of them, behind closed door. Kaitlan collins in berkeley heights, new jersey, where the president is. The new jersey white house. A perfect title for it. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Its interesting. There are talks going on for sure. Ivanka trump was calling members of both parties, we hear, yesterday on this issue. The senate says mcconnell is a good man, wanting to get something done on background checks. But theres a lot of skepticism still. Reporter there is so much skepticism around these talks that were told are essentially in the preliminary stages with white house aides, congressional aides meeting, talking about legislation that could potentially expand and strengthen these background checks. Theres still a great deal of skepticism along those talks that actually this is going to go anywhere and that theres a chance they could get any republicans on board with this. Evidence of that is theres only one republican so far involved in these discussions. Thats pat toomey of rhode island, who we know, of course, was part of that background checks push before that republicans were against and that the white house threatened to veto. So thats why theres so much skepticism here. Because despite the president saying he believes the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell wants to do something and is on board with background checks, were being told behind the scenes that several republicans and conservative allies of this white house are telling them they dont think background checks is the way to go here. These talks are going on. Were told the white house aides are going to come to bedminster to talk to the president about this. We should really take this with a lot of skepticism. A lot of these lawmakers are not in washington. A lot are not even at home. Some are on vacations. Thats whats happening in the background as all these talks are going on. So there doesnt seem to be this great sense of urgency. Okay. Kaitlan, were also learning on a totally separate topic, you know, the president had talked about rob blagojevich, whos currently serving a term in jail, that it was indicating he may commute the rest of his sentence. Now have the tables turned . Yeah, they seem to have turned greatly here. Just last week, the president was saying he was seriously looking at commuting that sentence, potentially pardoning him, either one of those in response to of course, hes found guilty of essentially trying to sell president Barack Obamas vacated senate seat while he was the governor of illinois. Of course, he was impeached, went to jail. Now the president was saying he was considering pardoning him or commuting his sentence because he believed he was doing something that essentially a lot of people did. After the president made those comments and people realized just how seriously the president was looking at it, something hes been looking at for well over a year now, he was flooded with calls from not only lawmakers in washington but also republicans back in illinois who were telling the president , dont do this. It sets a dangerous and bad precedent, and this isnt something that we want you to do. Since then, the president has seemingly backed off moving forward with making any changes. Right now its unclear if thats going to happen, but it does seem like the chances have decreased significantly. Okay, all right. Important developments, kaitlan. Thank you very much at the new jersey white house. We appreciate it. All right. Lets bring in White House Correspondent for the guardian. Good morning to you. Lets dig into what americans should realistically expect on the gun front come september after the august recess. Heres what the president said about changing gun laws just after the el paso and dayton shootings. Listen. Ive talked to Mitch Mcconnell. Hes a good man. He wants to do something. He wants to do it. I think very strongly he wants to do brown checks, and i do too. I think a lot of republicans do. Okay. Now lets listen to him, something very similar, after the parkland massacre. We certainly have to strengthen background check. Everybody agrees with that. Were going to make background checks very, very strong. Okay. But that changed after he met with the nra. Is Something Different this time, sabrina . Well, the challenge is that weve seen this movie before. The president continues to say that he wants to see strong background checks, but he hasnt really spelled out what that means. And he hasnt put a great deal of his Political Capital behind a push for stricter gun laws. Is he talking about the Manchin Toomey bill that came up after the sandy hook massacre in 2012 which would have been expanded background checks to private sales, at gun shows, and online . Hes certainly not talking about the house passed bill that makes background checks universal, which is what democrats are calling for. Is it something in between . We just dont know what the president is prepared to support. And he has the bully pulpit at his disposal. On an issue that is as contentious as gun control, if the president were to build the case before the American Public and really make a significant push on capitol hill, then maybe there would be the prospect of some movement, but thats just something he hasnt been willing to do so far. But if it couldnt happen in 2013 after the sandy hook massacre of little children and you now have a senate with 53 republicans you know, remember, back then when the legislation was put forth under the obama administration, you had four republicans vote for it in the senate and four democrats vote against it. Is there any reason to believe the makeup of the senate is more open to this now . Has the public polling on it changed that significantly . No, and to your point, the fact you have a Republicanled Senate and the last time around the Manchin Toomey background checks bill failed to overcome what was a republicanled filibuster tells you that the prospects are really bleak for that particular background checks bill. Now, Senate Republicans have been talking about socalled red flag laws, which is effectively a courtordered way of prohinting certain individuals from accessing firearms if theyre deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. But the republican bill is being criticized by democrats for being toothless because it doesnt require that states adopt red flag laws. It simply incentivizes them to do so. Even some republicans are pushing back on that proposal and saying theyre not prepared to support it because the nra has expressed its opposition to any new gun laws at this point in time. I think the reality is they continue to have a significant hold over both the white house and republicans in congress. So i think the real action would be at the state level. Thats where this fight has been waged in recent years, not on capitol hill. Let me switch gears quickly and talk about the economy. If you look at the bottom of the screen, we have the dow off 441 points. Some Major Concerns about the economy right now. Recession fears are up. You have an inverted yield curve that has a lot of people freaked out on wall street this morning. This has been the shining light for the president. His poll numbers on the economy are very, very strong. They have been buoying the president overall. If that fades and if we are headed toward a recession, how concerning is that for the American People and the economy, but for the president who has largely been able to tout his economic achievements . Well, i think the major selling point for the president going into his reelection has been that his administration had been able to continue the economic progress that began under the previous administration. If that goes away, the question is what is he running on . Youve seen him, frankly, not really even run that much on the economy, especially because youve seen the deficit balloon as a result of the tax bill that remains his major legislative achievement. Thats very unpopular with the American Public. If anything, most of his messaging has been centered in that same us versus them approach to politicking. A lot of its been the same antiimmigrant rhetoric we saw from him last time around. Theres a question as to how much he has been running on the economy, but certainly thats the case that republicans down ballot have been making to voters, and if thats the no something they can they can point to as a reason to give them another term in the Senate Majority or another term in the house, thats going to be really problematic for not just the white house but republicans down ballot. Coupled with a trilliondollar deficit projection now for this fiscal year, which is to blame on both republicans and democrats. Okay. Thank you, sabrina. Still to come, democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand will join me next. Well talk about the chance of actual change in gun laws in this country and a lot more. Also, one of Jeffrey Epsteins accusers says his death has given her more resolve to pursue justice. Shes filed a new lawsuit in new york. Well tell you about that. 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All right. Welcome back. This morning President Trump says that Mitch Mcconnell and, quote, many in the republican party, want to do something about expanded background checks on gun sales. That is not, though, what were hearing from some republican allies of the president. Sources are telling us that behind closed doors, theyre urging the president to, yes, focus on those red flag laws but not on universal background checks. Lets talk about this and a lot more with democratic candidate for president , new york senator krirs kri Kirsten Gillibrand. Good morning, senator. Thank you for being here. Good morning, poppy. What do you think . Is Something Different this time . Is Mitch Mcconnell going to push for background checks in the senate . You know, i dont know. He could be calling us back into congress right now so that we could actually vote on the universal background checks bills that passed the house of representatives already, but hes not doing it. And i havent seen enough members of the senate, republicans, standing up to mitch and demanding those votes. So i believe we need to pass universal background checks as well as a federal antigun trafficking law. And the truth is we shouldnt have to live in a world where little children die on park benches because of stray bullets or where back to School Shoppers are getting mowed down because someone gets easy access to an assault weapon. Thats america that we should not want to be part of. We should be doing the common sense stuff and standing up to the nra. Greed and corruption is why nothing gets done. So on the assault weapons issue, you have talked openly about being in favor of an assault weapons ban. Im interested if you are supportive of a mandatory Buyback Program for assault weapons. It was brought up first by eric swalwell, who was running for president in your party. Cory booker has talked about that. Some are gone as far as to say not only should it be a mandatory buyback of assault rifles, but there should be criminal prosecution for those who dont sell them back. Is that something you support . So i think we should ban assault weapons as well as large magazines. As part of passing that ban, do a Buyback Program across the country so that those who own them can be compensated for the money they spent. But i think both of those ideas are strong. I think having but mandatory. Well, you dont want people to retain them because if you make them illegal, you dont want to grandfather in all the assault weapons all across america. You would like people to sell them back to the government so that you can make sure people who shouldnt have access to these weapons couldnt have them. The next prong of that is, if youre supportive of a mandatory buyback, then the next step is that you then prosecute, criminally prosecute those who dont sell them back, which could result in jail time for those individuals. Are you supportive of that . So the point is you dont want people using assault weapons. So the point is, if you are arrested for using an assault weapon, youre going to have an aggravated felony. The whole point is when you make it a crime to own an assault weapon, then if you are found using it, that would be the issue. So it would just be part of your Law Enforcement in terms of what you have access to. Its in the same way you need to have a certain certification, a certain approval to have a suppressor on your weapon. Thats why the nra is desperate to make it easier to get suppressors where you dont actually have to get a specific license or certification to have that suppressor. So they just care about gun sales. They care about money. They are funded by a lot of people, including gun manufacturers. And gun manufacturers care more about gun sales than the safety of families. You have perhaps the most unique perspective on guns of anyone in your Party Running for president because of the dramatic shift youve made. You had an a rating from the nra until 2010. When you became a member of the senate, it changed to an f. You were representing upstate new york before you were a senator. Youve talked about being in, in your words, embarrassed by some of your own stances on guns. I wonder you think, senator, that it is that prior a rating or the brief you wrote to the Supreme Court in the heller case calling to overturn the handgun ban in washington, d. C. Do you think that part of that is contributing to your struggle to rise in the polls in the democratic primary . No, not at all. In fact, ive had a proud f rating for a decade and have been leading on this issue. In fact, the last time we had votes on this, it was my bill to end federal gun trafficking that got 58 votes. Only two shy of the 60 it needed. So ive been a vocal and effective leader on ending gun violence for a decade. And voters know that about me. But if you viewers like what you hear, you got to go to kirstengillibrand. Com and send a dollar because im very close to guaranteeing my spot on the next debate stage. One of the things that im most proud of, poppy, in this president ial campaign is im leading the National Narrative on major issues. Im headed to missouri on sunday to do a town hall to fight back against these attacks on womens reproductive rights. And getting money out of politics. I wanted to ask you about missouri specifically because you are going to hold this town hall in st. Louis there this weekend. That is a state where theres just one facility, one facility for abortions in the entire state. So you talked in the last debate about being and this struck me watching it a white woman of privilege. What i think is not discussed a lot when it comes to abortion is that laws limiting abortion or having one facility in a state like missouri disproportionately affects the poorest americans. Because they cannot afford to travel elsewhere to get that service. Is that something that we should expect you to talk more about, to highlight this weekend . Yeah, so i believe we should repeal the hyde amendment. Thats the law that makes it hard for lowincome women to have access because you cant use federal dollars to pay for it. Thats why were doing the town hall in missouri because they only have one clinic left. Wi women across that state are going to have trouble getting access to care when they need it in a timely manner. These are vital issues. Its why i wont appoint a judge or justice who dont believe roe v. Wade is settled precedent. You know and other democrats have voted for budgets that include renewing the hyde amendment. Only because it was law of the land. As president , im going to repeal it. Im going to make it a priority. Im only going to appoint judges and justices that see roe as settled land and make sure no matter what state you live in, you get access. These are human rights. These are civil rights. These are basic constitutional rights. President trump has done an allout assault on womens reproductive freedoms since becoming president , even saying during his campaign that there has to be some punishment. He nominates gorsuch. He nominates kavanaugh. His goal with these 30 legislatures around the country is to overturn roe. These are legislatures emboldened by President Trump and his misogynistic language and agenda. Lets talk quickly about the economy. Were looking at the dow. Its off 450 points right now. There are major recession concerns this morning, senator, as you well know. You said something a few weeks ago that also got my attention. You were talking about the economy and your fellow democrats and you said its important to stand up, quote, even to fellow democrats on the economy. Who are you talking about specifically . And how are you going to stand up to them . Are you saying some of these plans are not affordable, and are they being disingenuous saying america can afford them . No, i just spent time in ohio, pennsylvania, and michigan talking to voters who voted for tru tru trump. One of the things trump ran on was no bad trade deals. Bad trade deals have crippled our economy. I wanted to talk about the differences because when i talk to families, i was in youngstown, ohio, where the community had been gutted. I talked to people who were working in a factory for gm for 20, 30 years, and they were told by text message that they lost their job. Some were given 24 hours to quickly move to another state to keep their job. So we need a president ial nominee, and i as president will not support bad trade deals. I will stand up to china. But in a responsible way. You can use tariffs responsibly, but not with a trade war like trump has created, which is hurting our producers. And senator, i have about 15 seconds left. But you voted yes for the budget deal a few weeks ago. You know how much that will add to the National Debt that is already 22 trillion. Why do you think america can afford that . I dont think our economys challenges are because of debt or deficits. I think the challenges are because President Trump is unwilling to stand up to drug companies. Hes unwilling to stand up to the companies shipping our jobs overseas. What about so poppy, economy 101. The quickest way to pay down the debt and the deficit is create a growing economy. Thats why jobs that are being lost in youngstown, ohio, at the gm plant could have been corrected if we didnt have bad trade deals, if trump was willing to have an effective policy against china, if we were willing to have a strategy on how we create opportunity for our manufacturers and producers. Thats not happened under trump. So these voters who voted for him are really suffering, much more so. So under my presidency, i will create a growing economy, which is how i will pay back the debt and reduce the deficit. Lets hope something gets done on that front. I appreciate you joining me this morning to talk about a lot of important topics. Come back soon. Thank you, senator. Thank you, poppy. All right. Take a look at these new images out of hong kong. Look at that. 11 weeks of protests, now you have police with shields up at the hong kong airport. Well have much more ahead. They give us excellent customer otservice, every time. E. Our 18 year old was in an accident. 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Switch to febreze air effects febreze eliminates even the toughest odors from the air. And it uses a 100 natural propellant to leave behind a pleasant scent youll love. Use anywhere odors can spread. Freshen up, dont cover up. Febreze air effects. How you watch it does too. Tv just keeps getting better. This is xfinity x1. Featuring the Emmy Awardwinning voice remote. Streaming Services Without changing passwords and input. Live sports with realtime stats and scores. Access to the most 4k content. And your movies and shows to go. The best tv experience is the best tv value. Xfinity x1. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity. The future of awesome. There is more unrest this morning again in hong kong. Tear gas has now been deployed as police face off with protesters. This video youre seeing is happening right now. Its at a religious vigil event. Our International CorrespondentPaula Hancocks joins us from hong kong. I know youre at the airport where we saw those massive protests yesterday. This is somewhere else. All the same, these protests against the government. Reporter thats right, poppy. The movement has certainly moved from here at the airport to another area. We knew the momentum was still there. We knew protesters would still be gathering to protest against the police. This particular one is in a residential area in hong kong. Its just outside a police station, protest itself. We know the police have been firing tear gas to try and disperse the crowds. This is also the area where we saw thousands of protesters on sunday evening that were in that area. And this is where there have been many protester accusations against the police. They believe that the Police Used Excessive force and brute violence on sunday, something the police have denied, something authorities have denied. But this is really a spark point for the last couple days and the amount of people that came here to the airport because of this one protest at this particular area. So what this shows, poppy, is this protest is by no means over. The authorities may have moved them from the airport itself, but now its elsewhere. Okay. It is extraordinary to see what continues to happen in hong kong. Paula, thank you very much for being there and that reporting. Theres a lot going on today. Heres what to watch. Straight ahead for us, new reports on the suicide of Jeffrey Epstein. Were told the staff failed to check on him for several hours before his death. At visionworks, we guarantee youll see great and look great. Guarantee. We uh. We say that too. You gotta use these because we dont mean it. Buy any pair at regular price, get one free. Really. Visionworks. See the difference. Who got an awful skin condition. With uncontrolled moderatetosevere eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like youre itching all the time. And you never know how your skin will look. Because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. So help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. Dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you cant see it. At 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it, and patients saw a significant reduction in itch. Do not use if you are allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, a severe reaction. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems, including eye pain or changes in vision. If you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. Help heal your skin from within. Ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. All right. New this morning, several Law Enforcement and prison officials tell the New York Times that two Staff Members that were guarding the jail unit where Jeffrey Epstein apparently died by suicide failed to check on him for three hours. Cnn has previously reported the guidelines are those staffers should check on epstein every half an hour. Elie honig is here to discuss that. First, lets get to br bryn gingras. Three hours, just leaving him there when he had just come off suicide watch. Reporter yeah, thats right. Three hours, not monitored, according to the New York Times. As you said, guards were supposed to check on him every 30 minutes or so. So there are still so many questions that are left unanswered here, such as what were they doing . Thats going to be investigated. What does the documentation show they were doing . Thats another question. What do cameras show . We know there are investigative teams that were here yesterday. Theres more arrived today to help answer a lot of these questions. But poppy, i can also tell you that the New York Times is also reporting that the two guards who were charged with monitoring epstein are not answering any investigative questions. They have lawyers. We also know two guards were put on leave, although we dont know if it was those two specific guards. Also, the warden here for mcc has been reassigned as well. Elie, lets talk about that and the new lawsuit this morning. Theres a lot going on. First of all, knowing that, three hours, just leaving epstein despite the fact they should have checked on him every 30 minutes, what does this mean for the legal ramifications likely for the guards, the warden . Its a completely inexcusable failure. Its a systematic failure. We need to get answers that brynn just laid out. What happened in epsteins cell . What happened in that special housing unit . What happened in the mcc . By the way, the fact this happened in the special housing unit makes it even more inexplicable. Its special for a reason. Inmates who are housed there are the highest priority inmates in the bureau of prisons. Theyre people who are cooperating, people who may be in danger theyre people who need extra levels of protection. So theres questions on the ground level, what happened in that building, but theres also organizational questions as well. Lets talk about the new lawsuits. Theyre coming in. One of them is from a woman named jennifer. She said she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by ep speen when she was 14 and 15 years old. She has brought a case against his estate for monetary compensation, against his former associate, and against three staffers. Her argument is that these people, quote, conspired with each other to make the alleged attacks on her possible. Where does this go . Good, because there needs to be accountability. Victims should be coming forward. One of the things that may come out of epstein passing is more victims may feel more comfortable coming forward. Theyre people who suffered through trauma. Theres a fear element any time youre dealing with victims. I think were going to see many more civil lawsuits like this one. I also think this lawsuit may give us a sense of what future indictments could look like. You say civil because obviously the criminal case against epstein is gone, dropped because hes dead. Can there be criminal cases against coconspirators, anyone who facilitated basically child sexual abuse . 100 . Criminal . Yes, i believe there absolutely will be criminal indictments. We got loud and clear signals of that from the Southern District of new york the day after epstein died. The sdny released a statement stressing this is a conspiracy claim, meaning multiple people were involved, and then we saw them go in and do this search warrant in the virgin islands. Theyre still gathering evidence. I absolutely expect there to be more indictments. Theres also a new law here in new york that could change everything. Thats the new york child victims act. It essentially minds theres no institute of limitations. I think its 100 years or something now on people who have been victimized as children. Shes saying today i am exercising my rights under that law. Good for her, and she should. Its such an important law. People, victims, especially when theyre child victims, often take a long time, years, well beyond what the normal statute of limitations would be, to feel comfortable and confident enough to come forward. Victims need to be supported and encouraged to do what she and others are doing. Elie, thank you. Good to have you, as always. Okay. Part two of that incredible report you saw from our Clarissa Ward yesterday. A secret private Army Training camp in the central republic of africa. Its run by russian mercenaries. Well have that exclusive reporting next. Fact is, every Insurance Company hopes you drive safely. But allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . Be right there baby. Unlike ordinary diapers pampers is the first and only diaper that distributes wetness evenly into three extra absorb channels. They stay up to three times drier so babies can sleep soundly all night wishing you love, sleep and play pampers all right. This morning, cnns exclusive look into a private, secret Army Training camp in the Central African republic. Its a Russian Mercenary Group loyal to vladimir putin, and it is stoking fears in washington. Our chief International CorrespondentClarissa Ward traveled into that camp for this story. It was closely followed as she did and joins me this morning from london. Good morning. Good morning, poppy. Thats right. A year ago three russian journalists traveled to the Central African republic to do a story on the growing presence of russian mercenaries there. They were killed and ambushed. They were ambushed, i should say, then killed. We decided we wanted to travel to the Central African republic as well to look at what happened to those russian journalists. But also to explore more broadly this ambitious drive that the russians are making into africa. Initially, the russians were quite friendly and welcoming to us, but as our reporting got deeper, the harassment got worse. Take a look. [ gunfire ] reporter this is boot camp for recruits to a new army in the wartorn Central African republic. The troops are being taught in russian. Weapons are russian too. Its taken months to get access to this camp. Officially, this is a u. N. Approved training mission, but the russian instructors wont talk to us or even be identified because theyre not actually soldiers, theyre mercenaries. Sponsored by a Russian Oligarch with close ties to the kremlin, theyre the sharp end of an ambitious drive into africa, stoking fears in washington of russian expansionism. This is the man in charge here. A former military intelligence officer, he is now the security adviser to the Central African republics president. Translator russia is returning to africa. We were already present in many countries during the time of the soviet union, and russia is coming back to the same position. We still have connections, and we are trying to reestablish them. Reporter thats not the only reason theyre here. The Central African republic is rich in natural resources, gold and diamonds, and the russians want them. We are on our way to one of seven sites where a Russian Company has been given exploration rights. One of challenges of trying to nail down exactly what the russians are doing here, once you get outside the capital, this is still a dangerous and day on theic country. Last year three russian journalists were ambushed and killed while working on a story. The drive is bruising and long, along rugged tracks to a tiny village of huts. Then we have to cross a river on this handpulled ferry. A local teenager rodriguez shows us where theyve been active. The last part of the journey is on foot. We asked the workers if they have seen any russians. Hes saying earlier this year there were a lot of russians here looking for diamonds. Rodriguez says the russians now employ hundreds of workers on artisanal mines like this across the area. In the pit, a group of teenagers pan through the sand in the search for a precious fragment. Whatever they find, they say, must be handed over to the russians agent. Theyre saying the russians who visited actually came from the Training Camp at borengo that we visited. Its clear theyre doing more than just training troops here. Cnn has learned that the Mining Exploration rights have been given to a company that is part of a sprawling Business Empire owned by this man, an oligarch close to russian president vladimir putin, he has been sanctioned by the u. S. For meddling in the 2016 election. A cnn investigation based on hundreds of documents has established that his companies are also providing the mercenary muscle. He is believed to be the man behind wagner, russias most notorious private military contractor. On our return to town from the mines, we notice we are being followed. We tried to approach, but the car drives off. We catch a glimpse of four while males, all but one hide their faces from our camera. Theres no license plate. Police later confirmed to us that they are russians. Near our hotel, we spot the vehicle again. We try to get closer, but the men drive off. So were back at our hotel now, but a bit shaken up, because that car full of russians have been following us for quite some time. We dont know why, we dont know what they want. Mindful of the murder of the journalists last year, we leave town the next day. But back in the capital, russias growing influence is impossible to escape. On the streets, even on the air waves. Rad the radio features African Music and lessons in russian. No surprise, perhaps that it is funded by the company lubai invest. The manager says they said to deepen cooperation between the two nations. And in a country where education and entertainment are in short supply, it a seems that plenty of people are listening. American Officials Say they are greatly concerned by russias actions here, and that they undermine security. But with the u. S. Shrinking its footprint across africa, and with minute pal official kremlin involvement, putin has little to lose. For russians this is a they provide the weapons and training. In return they get access to the countrys natural resources. In the process, to rye assert themselves as a major player in this region. Its a campaign for hearts and minds and hard power. Russia is moving quickly to get a step ahead of its rivals. Cnn has tried repeatedly to reach out to yevgeny, and have not receive any response. Previously hes denied any connection to also mercenary groups. Frankly risking your lives, what do you know about the men who were following you. There was only one man looking at us, with us with the help of the Dossier Center here in uk run by an exiled russian tycoon, we were able to identify. He is a young translator, who works for a company run by, you guess it. Pregosian, this was clearly a coordinated attempt to try to discredit and intimidate is. Thank you, clarissa for that reporting. Thank you for being with us. At this hour with kate bolduan is next. About moving into our new apartment. Why dont we just ask geico for help with renters insurance . I didnt know geico helps with renters insurance. Yeah, and we could save a bunch too. Antonio fetch computer antonio . Ill get it. Get to know geico and see how much you could save on renters insurance. Can the past help you write the future . Can you feel calm in the eye of a storm . Can you do more with less . 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