Transcripts For CNNW Inside Politics 20180814

Former Trump Campaign chairman. Lets get straight to shimon prokupecz. This is a big risk taken by the defense team here, deciding no witnesses, no case. Yeah, its a huge risk. This just happening moments ago. So were sort of digesting it. Certainly we were not sure if Paul Manafort was going to put on a defense. Attorneys had not indicated to us they would. We did not expect manafort, of course, to take the stand. Nonetheless, there is overwhelming evidence here by the prosecutors, the special counsel team, and the evidence and testimony they put forth. It is a little surprising theres no case here, that theyre not putting on any kind of defense. It is a risky move. Well see what they argue in closing arguments. Of course, as you know, theyve been making a big deal about rick gates here and how he was the person who was really responsible for this. It looks like thats what theyre going to stick with and probably just use information that they gathered during the trial on crossexamination of rick gates and other witnesses to sort of establish that. But it is, john, absolutely a huge risk not to put on any kind of defense. Itll be interesting, you know, once this trial is over, to see how jurors react to that and what they were thinking. Usually, you know, youre told by the judge jurors are told if a defendant has not put on a case, you shouldnt view that negatively. But nonetheless, jurors perceive things. So thats going to be interesting. And i guess now well have closing arguments and perhaps, you know, a verdict in the next day or two. Certainly this case is now over. Closing arguments will begin. And this is, john, no doubt a huge risk by the defense. Shimon, stay with us. I want to go to our correspondent joe johns, who has been in alexandria, virginia, for the trial. Joe, i understand as this played out, there was some interaction between the defendant, the former Trump Campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and the judge. Reporter yeah, but very little. The judge essentially asking him if he wanted to testify, and he said no. Shimon is absolutely right. It is a risky move for the defense, not only because jurors expect to hear from the defendant, but also because the defense loses the opportunity to humanize this defendant who has through the prosecutions case been demonized to some extent. Also important to say even the judge himself in a gentle way, i would say hes not a very gentle judge, but in a gentle way encouraging earlier in the trial Paul Manafort to testify, suggesting that if he did, the judge might have been more likely to allow in evidence that the Internal Revenue Service Never audited Paul Manafort. So a lot of reasons why manafort might have wanted to get on the stand. If he did get on the stand, certainly he would have been subjected to a very harsh crossexamination, which might have not only hurt him in this trial but could potentially also hurt him in the trial that is at least scheduled for september on related but different charges. So manafort will not testify. Theyre now working on instructions to the jury. After that, theyll move toward closing arguments. Back to you, john. And after closing arguments, of course jury deliberations. Joe johns, appreciate it. Keep us posted on any developments. Shimon is standing by as well. I want to bring into the conversation our cnn legal analyst michael zeldin, whos worked with the special Counsel Robert Mueller in the past. I want to be clear up front. Theres absolutely no requirement for a defendant to present a defense. Give me your analysis of this decision by the manafort defense team. So theyre not going to come up with any witnesses of their own to say to his character, his integrity. Obviously no new witnesses to challenge the prosecutions case. Theyre simply resting on the prosecution and the big decision not to put manafort on the stand. What do you make of that . I think it was foregone that manafort was not going to testify. He could not survive crossexamination. His best hope was that gates would be so bloodied by the crossexamination that theyd be able to say to the jury, you should have a reasonable doubt as to his voracity and therefore as to the governments case as a whole. So he cant testify. If he puts on character witnesses, they get to crossexamine them in terms of did you know that Paul Manafort was this, did you know Paul Manafort was that. Again, its an effort to bloody up manaforts reputation. So really, this case should have been a guilty plea. That said, you could get a nonguilty verdict. But the closing arguments left to say essentially we damaged gates, we impugn the integrity of a few of the financial witnesses. Therefore, one of you guys, please, have a reasonable doubt and either hang this jury or all 12 of you acquit him. But this was pretty foregone, paul, that this guy was not going to be able to testify, and there was no defense to the documentary case. And as we watched this, important to note for anybody watching who hasnt tracked it on a daily basis, these charges have to do with Paul Manaforts work before he joined the Trump Campaign, before 2016. However, there has been some suggestion he tried to use his influence in the Trump Campaign to get a bank loan, to maybe promise jobs to people who were helping him get what the government says are Fraudulent Bank loans. Michael, just a quick observation from you. On what we learned about bob muellers special counsel team, their prosecution style here, youre right. The defense went after gates very hard, but then the prosecutors came back in after that with more clinical witnesses, if you will, saying heres the documentation, here are the Financial Experts to back up what rick gates told you. Whats your assessment . What did we learn about the methodical approach, the evidentiary approach of the special counsel . Right. As i watched the case unfold, i liked very much the way the prosecutors told their story. They started out with manafort has lived a luxurious life with highend purchases of jackets and houses and the like. Then they said, but that money was not declared on taxes from financial witnesses. Then they said his Business Partner can corroborate that. Then they close with additional people saying this is what rick gates told you, were confirming what rick gates told you, and we are the bankers who were defrauded. As a story, you want to tell the jury something that they can understand because its a complex matter. Taxes and Foreign Bank Accounts and the like. I think they did a very nice job in telling that story. I think they were very well prepared. I think its a portend of the future of anyone else who wants to go to trial against these guys. Because downing and company, manaforts lawyers, are themselves very good lawyers. He had very able representation, and i dont think they were able to do much with the prosecutions case. Michael zeldin, appreciate those insights. Now here in studio for insights. Were waiting for the judge to give instructions. Then it goes to the jury. Sort of the pause button as to what happens here. But to michaels point, no expectation of Paul Manafort to testify. Did anyone think he would take that dramatic risk . I think it was going to be very difficult for him to testify. The question was going to be what kind of defense were they going to put on without him on the stand and would they be raising the question even more prominently in the minds of the jurors of why they werent hearing from manafort if they were hearing from defense counsel and from his defense team. I think i would have been surprised to have seen him take the stand. I think that this decision was probably made with all of that in mind. That said, i think what your previous guest said was important to keep in mind, the prosecution put on a very orderly kind of methodical case that is going to be very difficult to take apart. So it seems that the defense counsel calculated that their best play was to try to raise as many questions as they could about what was being said about Paul Manafort by rick gates and others and sort of rest on that as their best hope of getting him acquitted. Again, nothing in these specific charges has anything to do with russian collusion w the Trump Campaign, with the president himself. As a Building Block here, if youre the president , youre watching this. If youre the other people facing charges or being looked at by the investigation, youre watching this. How important is it for the special counsel to get a win here . I think if were sitting on this set the day after or the day of the verdict and it appears to be an easy conviction, i think were all going to be saying, okay, this is a win for the special counsel, and this shows that, you know, this case, this very first case they brought was a slam dunk. If thats not the case, it will raise a whole host of questions about, first of all, whether the president s political attacks on the special counsel have made it impossible for any jury to consider these charges fairly. Second of all, about whether they know what theyre doing, having brought, you know, what seems to be a case on tax charges supported by a mountain of evidence and witnesses, and if they cant land that, i think itll raise other questions. Shimon, youre still with us, i believe. At one point, the prosecutors objected successfully to defense questioning of the star witness rick gates. We did see a small portion in which they said you cant ask him those questions because that would disclose Sensitive Information about an ongoing investigation. The tease being rick gates is cooperating on additional potential cases that go beyond his work for Paul Manafort that ostensibly because the questions were about his work in the Trump Campaign do include 2016 forward, if you will. The judge said that would be eventually unsealed. Do we have any idea when . No, we dont know. In fact, theres been a couple of these moments where the judge has sealed conferences. This morning, thats how court began. We expected we would begin s summations, closing arguments this morning. Then around 9 15, the court informed folks in the courtroom the judge was closing the hearing. There was another sealed hearing. We dont know what that was about. The next news we got was that the defense was resting. Rick gates, we dont know exactly his entire cooperation. We will eventually probably learn it once other cases are brought. Its clear based on what prosecutors have said in court that theyre using him for other parts of this investigation that they do not want to be public. Thats why they objected to the questioning from Paul Manaforts attorney when he started getting into, well, youve met with the special counsel 20 times, right . And rick gates said yes. Then he wanted ask him questions about what he may have said regarding other investigations. Because theyre attacking rick gates credibility. Theres no doubt that Paul Manaforts attorney probably has a good idea of the kind of cooperation rick gates has been providing because he has certain statements that the special counsel had to give him. He may have some idea of what that investigation is. You know, maybe thats why he wanted to bring it out. Who knows. Certainly rick gates is a key part of this investigation for the special counsel. And to that point, if youre the president s legal team or anyone else, roger stone, whose fre friends are being called before the grand jury right now, the idea that rick gates is still cooperating, stuff that involves 2016 or forward looking, windshield not rearview mirror. If youre watching this from the outside and if youre team trump and trying to say this is isolated, precampaign, so Paul Manafort turned out to be a bad hire, not a nice guy, but has nothing to do with the president. That part makes you think what is going on, right . Right. This is something we know the president is very closely watching, as is rudy giuliani. Because rick gates was still part of trump world for so long after the president made claim that Paul Manafort and rick gates were only involved for a few months. That is really not the case. So whatever happens on that front and the level of cooperation that rick gates is doing with the special counsel is probably part of the reason why the president has been on the attack as much and calling out mueller by name in tweets more so in the past few weeks. It also plays into i mean, basically the same thing, how theyre using this as their pr campaign. Theyre probably glad Paul Manafort is not testifying so he couldnt give anymore insight into perhaps how this would weave into the 2016 campaign. He has another trial after this one. Then we continue to move on. Youre right. The president s attacks continue, but we shall see. Big test for the special counsel. Up next, the president and his staff escalate their attacks against a former aide. She says shes got more ammunition. This is your wakeup call. If you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. Ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion. Humira can help stop the clock. Prescribed for 15 years, humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. 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President trump, meanwhile, escalating personal attacks today, tweeting, when you give a crazed crying low life a break and give her a job at the white house, i guess it just doesnt work out. Good work by general kelly for quickly firing that dog. Thanks, mr. President , for making me repeat that. Its torreimportant to mention President Trump is fond of insults, its less common he actually calls someone a dog. It is obviously a dehumanizing insult, leveled in this case at an africanamerican woman. The president is angry because, among other things, omarosa claims President Trump used the n word on the set of the apprentice, and its captured on tape. President trumps former Campaign Spokeswoman told cnn last night never happened. That is absolutely not true. I have no sources with that tape. I have no connections to anyone at Celebrity Apprentice other than omarosa. In fact, she was the only one that brought this tape up. Today, though, on cbs, heres omarosa releasing a new recording she says has several campaign aides, including Katrina Pierson, discussing allegations trump used that word. Pierson and lynne path sonto saying no one ever denied the existence of a conversation about a reported apprentice tape. This just in to cnn. Pierson says during the 2016 campaign, we heard rumors about an alleged tape from the apprentice. Its clear these rumors were always being circulated by omarosa herself, and her alone. Her recording of me, it was one of many times i would placate omarosa to move the discussion along because i was weary of her discussion on this alleged tape. Im going to stop reading the statement because it has information we havent discussed in the program. Essentially Katrina Pierson now saying omarosa is wrong, crazy, whatever you want to say. Shell be on erin burnett out front this evening to explain her side of this. Lets go to cnns jeff zeleny at the white house. I was going to ask you to help untangle this. I dont think it can be untangled. Reporter john, what it speaks to is the fact that new statement there from Katrina Pierson, now she says she acknowledges there was a secret tape recording. She said she was trying to placate omarosa at the time. What this all boils down to, lets take a step back. This boils down to who President Trump, then candidate trump, decided to surround himself with. At the time he brought omarosa on to the campaign, it was unclear he was going to become the 45th president of the united states. It was unclear that she would end up here at the white house, but that is what happened. This is a huge mess, largely of everyones making. As we untangle this, there is potentially some legal action here. There has been an action filed in new york state, potentially with the Trump Campaign, seeking arbitration. What that means is to have a judge or a legal representative essentially handle this and see if omarosa essentially violated that nondisclosure agreement she signed with the president ial campaign. More controversial, though, is a potential disclosure agreement she signed with the president when she left, at least discussion of that. Thats highly unusual. When you break down all of this, i assume this will be the subject of the White House Press briefing this afternoon. It is a huge mess by all sides. Now we, i think, have a reason why general kelly was trying to fire her or certainly remove her. And this is the fallout from that. And of course lets not forget someone here is trying to sell a book. John . Yes, indeed. Someone here is. Jeff zeleny at the white house, appreciate it. Lets bring you to the studio. A he said she said between the president and omarosa. Now you have a she said, she said, she said. I dont think were ever going to sort this out. I think we do know that of these cast of characters, a lot of them have said things in the past that we can document as not being true. The president primarily among them. Omarosa among them. To jeffs point, isnt this more about we were just talking about Paul Manafort, who was known not to be a boy scout when brought in by the Trump Campaign. The president himself in this tweet essentially says, i know omarosa was a crazy, wacky person, but i gave her a job with 170,000 a year of your money, but i did it because she said nice things about me. This is the president s best people, right . Its extraordinary. Hes essentially admitting here that he, you know, when he was thinking about who he wanted in the white house, he was okay with the idea of hiring someone that he knew to be dishonest, that he thought was crazy, that he thought was wacky, essentially because she was on his side. The whole entangled situation we have now about the tape or was there a tape or wasnt there a tape and what was on the tape, i mean, i think that its clear the president wants to quiet omarosa down. He wants to deny these charges that are in the book. I assume thats the reason they have filed this arbitration. But it also is the case that everyone else that worked on that campaign, including Katrina Pierson, and everyone else whos a part of this discussion now probably also signed one of those nondisclosure agreements with a nondisparagement clause. Its a signal to them and everyone else still around the white house and the people who left the white house or never went into the white house after the campaign that he will come after them if they say what they heard or what they saw in this particular way. Its extraordinary as well because this is a person, omarosa is a person, who actually worked in the white house. Public officials are typically not subject to this kind of confidentiality agreement. They have to sign something that says i will not disclose classified information to someone without the proper clearance. But they dont its the opposite when youre a federal employee. You are supposed to say what you saw and what you witnessed if you see something inappropriate or see wrongdoing. And if youre the president of the united states, and if this never happened, if he never used theres a lot she says. The one thing in particular is she has a tape of him on the set of the apprentice using the n word. Lets assume that never happened. You can see why he would be angry about that. Does that give anybody, but especially the president of the united states, the right to call any human being, and in this case an africanamerican woman, a dog . No. I think thats the easy answer. No, there isnt an excuse. You shouldnt be name calling anyone because hes the president and also a person. She has really gotten under his skin. He tweeted about this, what, eight times today. The last time i counted. I dont know that hes tweeted that many times about north korea let alone something that is gossip from a book. So the rumors of this tape have been out there for quite a while. I know weve looked into it. I know a lot of other news outlets have looked into it. Nothing has come of it. The other thing the president is dealing with is the fact that he doesnt really have a good track record on how he deals with africanamericans. Look at what he said about lebron james last week. Theres a whole litany of things he said. So one of the things that hes going to have to deal with Going Forward is the fact that this isnt out of the realm of possibility. The fact he said this. I dont think if we found out there was a tape anyone at this table would be shock, shock, sho shocked because of how hes treated particularly black athletes but also omarosa, a whole litany of people. The racial undertones have been there since we first learned act the possibility of omarosa having any tapes and trump allies already going after her. This sort of fight in the last few days, weve seen words being used, especially when the president talks about not just black athletes but people who have worked for him and people like Katrina Pierson and lynne patton are being put out by trump allies to defend the president because theyre the other most highprofile africanamericans in trump world. I think Kellyanne Conway got call the out on that just this weekend because theres no one really out there who can defend the president strongly on racial issues. Hes just kind of digging a hole for himself by clearly tweeting things like dog and other words. If President Trump really wanted to silence omarosa, he could have ignored her. I know that we all assume at this point thats not a possibility for this president , but had he ignored her, this story would have gotten way less oxygen. Instead, he explicitly acknowledged the allegation. I think had he chosen to rise above, take the high road, not at all even acknowledge this was happening, it would have been much less of a story. You know, it would have been noted that this was unverified, and everybody would have moved on. The book isnt even selling particularly well. He has chosen to magnify this feud and to put it in the spotlight. So to the extent that this has become a bigger controversy than it needed to be, its because hes called attention to it. Exactly right. He had the reality tv response, shall we say, not the more the World Wrestling federation response. Right. Well continue i will say this with certainty, well continue to follow this story, much to at least my dismay. But we will. Up next, trump looms large in the wisconsin primaries today. Why some republicans are running toward the president , others steering clear. Eligible for medicare. Gimme two minutes. 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That republican primary is one of those establishment versus outsider clashes. Lets take a look. Its drawing a lot of outside money. More than almost 14 million in outside money spent in the one Republican Senate primary in one state, wisconsin. Take a peek. Kevin nicol son is t kevin kevin nicholson, hes the outside candidate. Antinicholson money, a small amount. You get the impression more than 11 million of that outside money to help him, including by hurting her. Its a republican primary. Shes establishment. Hes outsider. What do they share in common . Look at their tv ads. Hug the president. President trump needs an ally he can trust in the u. S. Senate. Thats not kevin nicholson. Fortunately, theres a consistent conservative running for u. S. Senate. President trump needs fighters in the senate. Fighters like kevin nicholson. Nicholson has a real plan to help trump drain the swamp. Kevin nicholson for senate. Weve seen this before. Interesting to me in this particular state because this was a blue state the president turned red. Democrats are determined to prove that was a fluke, number one by getting scott walker, they hope, this time. Well get to that in a minute. But you still have these republicans running these protrump ads, even though tariffs and the president s personal war with harleydavidson. Is that a risk . I think in the primary weve seen across the country in every primary this year, every republican primary, this is clearly the message that the campaigns, the candidates, the pollsters have tested and found wins republican primaries. Be the strongest trump ally you can. Similarly, weve seen otherwise wellqualified candidates lose because they were perceived as less loyal to President Trump. The question im waiting to see answered, i think like clockwork, as soon as these primaries are over, youre going to have democrats attacking republicans who are too close to trump. So will the trump hug turn out to be a doubleedge sword, to mix a metaphor. I think when you have two candidates backed by two different republican billionaires, the other aspect is they didnt want to get too negative in the primary to attack the other candidate because its so close. One way they went positive is by hugging trump even closer. And most people wont know these names. If you followed scott walkers career, he won three statewide elections in just a couple years, including a recall election. He is reviled by democrats in wisconsin. But hes proven himself to be a survivor. Democrats think this is the year they finally get scott walker. One way you know that is look at all these democrats running to win the primary against scott walker. I think we have that graphic as well. Eight candidates running. That tells you they think theres a chance. The question is, is this their year . They say scott walker keeping winning is a fluke, wisconsin is a blue state. President trump winning was a fluke, wisconsin is a blue state. Scott walker keeps winning and the president won. Is wisconsin a blue state . I dont know that it makes a difference. It gets weird whith the governo. You have that in vermont as well, actually. With scott walker, hes such a formidable fundraiser. You cant discount thats all we were talking about all the way back in 2015, how formidable a president ial candidate he was going to be because of that fundraising network. That hasnt dissipated for him. That is going to matter. His performance as a president ial candidate was pitiful. It was not good. I want to get into the dynamics. This state fascinates me. You look at a state where the president , to his credit, turned pennsylvania, turned wisconsin, turned michigan. You study those states. Was it just a one campaign . Was it the clinton campaigns failings . Was it some way the president talks . Since then, you have scott walker, National Republican figure as your governor, the speaker of the house, paul ryan, the president loved the fact he likes to give out his maps. Look at the states i turned. Now he has tariffs, and hes saying boycott harleydavidson. Listen to speaker ryan and Governor Walker trying to dance around that one. Yeah, the president has a style thats different. He knows that i dont like tariffs either, but i think at the end of the day, we hopefully can get an agreement here that opens up more access to our products in europe. I think thats good for everybody, including h harleydavidson. I want harleydavidson to do well here in the state of wisconsin. I think one of the best ways for that to happen is for us to do what the president himself talked about. Thats get to a point where theres no tariffs. Spin. I think the question is how big of a factor trump will be in this particular race, as jackie said. Scott walker is a wellestablished figure in this state. He has a formidable fundraising apparatus, which is very important in a race like this. Will trump, sort of the specter of trump that has encouraged all these democrats to throw their hats in the ring to get the nomination, will that energize democrats more than it energized republicans, who has you point out are already worried about the effect of tariffs, worried about the effect of some of his policies on the manufacturing sector, on Companies Like harleydavidson. This whole idea that the tariff issue is going to be taken care of later, like its a pain now, but for down the road, it will be better for us, that does not motivate voters. Voters take a look around themselves on election day and say, what do i feel now, what is happening now, who do i blame for that . If they make the calculation that trump has created a situation and that scott walker is allied with him and created a situation that is hurting them now, theyre not going to care about what might happen down the road. The president thinks well be out of that tunnel by 2020. My guess is hes not going to ask the president to come up and help. Just a guess. Up next, details on another big primary in the spotlight, one that features two extraordinary candidates. Okay we need to get all your School Supplies today. School. Grade. Done. Done. Hit the Snooze Button and get low prices on School Supplies all summer long. Like these for only a 25 cents at office depot officemax. Hundred roads named park in the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But allstate agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local allstate agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . I knew at that exact moment. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors. Its not just picking a surgeon, its picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. Visit cancercenter. Com breast topping our political radar today, another noteworthy primary were watching featuring two remarkable candidates. Its vermonts democratic primary for governor. Trying to become the nations first ever transgender governor. Among her opponents on the primary ballot, a politically passionate 14yearold who thought, why wait, after learning vermont has no minimum age requirement for its top office. Heres both making their case. My age hasnt played as large a role in my campaign as one might think. Everywhere i go, my message transcends age. For some vermonters, i think my being transgender might be an issue. I think its going to be a small minority. I think vermonters are going to vote for me for what im going to do for vermont. Lets just call this next story about karma. Remember the former Trump White House aide and one of the president s most vocal side kicks throwing around the fake news label . Well, he got busted using a fake business card. A gorka card suggesting he works for fox news. He doesnt. The piece points out the card features all the usual info and an outdated fox logo. The current one is on the right. No comment from fox. A congressional candidate in oklahoma thinks hes found the effective attack line ahead of his republican runoff in the district one race. Harris supports the Mueller Investigation. Hern hopes the position is a turnoff to voters, especially in a state where the president carried every county in 2016. Hi, im kevin hern. A christian businessman and constitutional conservative. Im a political outsider who supports President Trump. My opponent wants the Mueller Investigation into the president to continue. Up next, well follow up on that. Do americans want Robert Mueller to take his time or wrap it up . 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Welcome back. Some news cnn poll numbers to discuss on an issue the president says shouldnt exist. It does, and our new cnn poll finds 34 approve of how the president has handled the russia election interference investigation. Thats not a strong number, but it is up five points since june. Special Counsel Robert Muellers numbers also up a bit. 47 approve of how the special counsel is handling his investigation. Thats up from a41 back in jun. Still, most americans want mueller to pick up the pace. Look here. Twothirds of americans, including majorities across party lines, think mueller should wrap all this up before the november elections. Now, the president might like that last number, but we know he doesnt like the mueller probe. And we know just who he blames. This tweet today, if you needed a reminder. If we had a real attorney general, this witch hunt would never have been started. Looking at the wrong people. Jeff sessions cannot get any love at all. Its an interesting across the board result that the poll found, which is clearly for two different reasons. Republicans want this over with because they want it over with. They want it to go away, by and large most of them probably agree with the president that maybe it shouldnt have started in the first place. Certainly that its gone on for too long. Democrats want it over with because they think theres some there there and they want it out on Public Record before voters go to the polls. I am intrigued by the idea that people think that both the president and bob mueller are doing a better job with the investigation than they thought previously. What we had been seeing is the president s constant tweeting about this and constant discrediting and undercutting of the investigation was having a real effect. The publics view of the investigation had been slipping. I wonder what has made it bounce back. Are people just in an overall better mood because the economy is better, so theyre saying nicer things about everybody involved in politics . Or the manafort trial is under way, so they say bob mueller is doing his job. Its a hard one to slice and dice. The president s numbers went up mainly among independents. I think its always possible that the same effect is going on, as with the other question where trumps calling attention to this investigation, trumps continued obsession with the investigation is jacking up his supporters and also jacking up his opponents. So his supporters are getting more and more negative on the investigation. At the same time, his opponents are probably increasingly enraged by the way hes treating the investigation. It seems like just by calling attention to it, he galvanizes both sides, just as weve seen politically. Anywhere trump goes, both sides are zbal havegalvanized. 66 want mueller to finish by november. Thats common sense. But the president would like that number. Weve also watched the president s attorneys out now especially on steroids saying this should be over by september 1st. Theres zero president ial reason to testify. The president has prerogatives. Should donald trump testify under oath if asked by the special counsel . Yes, 70 . No, 25 . So they may be doing some business among republicans, but if seven in ten americans say yes, mr. President , you should testify if asked, that means a lot of republicans are saying yes, mr. President , you should testify if asked. I think thats part of the reason why voters want this wrapped up sooner. They feel like if the president testifies, then it probably comes to an end sooner. I think this whole investigation has really taken a toll on voters, just hearing about it constantly in the news and obviously as julie said wanting to get to the bottom of it. Theres reasons for that on both sides. I think youre absolutely right. Democrats think the president is going to end up lying and getting himself in trouble. And republicans who dont think he did anything wrong just want him to get on the record and get out of there and get this thing wrapped up. But as weve seen, the lawyers have been wrong. Even though theyre telling its like, are we there yet . Yeah, were five minutes away. Its like that with the mueller probe. So it would be nuts to say why doesnt everybody who has relevant information testify. Then we get a report put together by credible people, and we take the results with whatever they are and not come at it with a polarized, partisan preconception. Nuts . That 70 number actually is really interesting to me because it raises the possibility that trump has actually done too good a job of convincing his followers that hes completely innocent and there is nothing there. Seems like you have a lot of republicans and independents saying, i believe the president , hes done absolutely nothing wrong. Hillary is the one they should be investigating. And so he should just go do this interview and clear the air. In that case, they may have a political problem when and if he refuses to testify. But it wouldnt be a relevant question if we had a real attorney general. Dont forget that part. Up next, a long time congressman running to be his states attorney general suddenly fighting serious abuse allegations. For just 59. Ancestrydna can open you to a world of new cultures to explore. With two times more detail than any other dna test. You can get a new taste of your heritage. Only 59 our sites lowest price ever. You wouldnt accept from any one else. Why accept it from an allergy pill . Flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Its more complete allergy relief. Flonase. We really pride ourselves on temaking it easy for youass, to get your windshield fixed. Teacher lets turn in your science papers. Tech vo this teacher always puts her students first. Student i did mine on volcanoes. Teacher you did . oh, i cant wait to read it. Tech vo so when she had auto glass damage. She chose safelite. With safelite, she could see exactly when wed be there. Teacher you must be pascal. Tech yes maam. Tech vo saving her time. [honk, honk] kids bye tech vo . So she can save the science project. Kids whoa kids vo safelite repair, safelite replace democratic congressman Keith Ellison denying serious allegations against him as he competes today in the primary for Minnesota Attorney general. A woman who had a longterm relationship with congressman ellison says he was emotionally abusive and physically abused her on one occasion, which prompted her to move out of his apartment, she says, back in 2016. Her name is Karen Monaghan. The allegations surfaced when her 25yearold son posted on facebook that he saw a video in 2017 showing ellison dragging his mother off a bed while cursing at her. Monaghan told cnn she misplaced the video during a move and wouldnt want it to be made public, calling it embarrassing. The congressman denies the allegations and released a statement saying, quote, karen and i were in a longterm relationship which ended in 2016, and i still care deeply for her well being. This s this video does not exist because ive never behaved in this way, and any characterization otherwise is false. Serious allegations. The timing, because the congressman is on the ballot today, what is to be made of this . His statement there leaves no wiggle room. This woman says it happened. I just want to note, some of our kfile team looked into this. They say Three Friends of monaghan who asked to remain anonymous did tell cnn she had confided in them about the bed incident in the months after she moved out of ellisons apartment. So there are friends of hers who say she did tell them at that time about this, which is important. We have no idea whether or not this is true, and because the primary is today, unfortunately, voters are not going to have a chance to have these allegations more strongly investigated or strongly vetted before they have to make a decision, which to me says that todays primary is going to be about how much sort of Political Capital capital, if you will, Keith Ellison has with his own home state democratic primary voters. Hes long been a favorite of the progressive left. So i think, you know, this primary is going to test whether the progressive voters believe him based on his long service to the state or whether this creates enough qualms about what could be a quite competitive race. In a statement to cnn, Karen Monaghan said, me sharing my story has nothing to do with the primary election. It is never a good time for a survivor to share their story. If i waited a week later, it would become an issue between a democrat and a republican. I take her at her word for that. This is difficult to talk about. The fact is, to your point, this comes in the wake of the Metoo Movement, countless allegations about others in power. I just want to note, groups have to make choices. Youre right. Keith ellison has a pedigree with the progressive movement. Some groups have to make choices, not knowing where this ends up fact wise. One group says, we believe women, we believe Karen Monaghan. Domestic abusers do not belong in any position of power. I think no matter what happens tonight, he has such a role within the democratic party, as molly was just saying. This is going to probably continue with further digging from reporters and trying to figure out what happened with this video, if it exists. Theres just still so many questions out there. But i think that will continue no matter what the Voters Decide today. This is also a state that has had another person in power caught up in the Metoo Movement in senator al franken. That will be top of mind for voters. Well have to see. One of the races well watch tonight, this one because of these sad allegations, serious allegations. Well watch these votes tonight and count them tomorrow. Thanks for joining us today. Hope to see you back here at noon tomorrow. Wolf is in now to pick up our coverage. Have a great day. Hello. Im jim sciutto in for wolf blitzer. 1 00 p. M. Here in washington. Wherever you are watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us. We begin with breaking news. The defense in Paul Manaforts tax and Bank Fraud Trial has rested without calling any witnesses. Manafort telling the judge himself he did not want to take the stand. That now sets the stage for closing arguments tomorrow morning. With me now is shimon prokupecz, whos been following the trial. Also, michael zeldin, a former federal prosecutor and former special assistant to Robert Mueller at the justice