Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20180425

Cnn has learned that Russian Diplomats expelled from the United States were suspected covert agents on a mission to detract defectors from the kremlin. From the former director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. Our correspondents and analysts are all standing by. Lets go to evan perez. Ev evan, what more can you tell us about those Russian Diplomats . Among the 60 dip low hats that the Trump Administration kicked out of country, a group of suspected russian spies that u. S. Law enforcement and intelligence officials were responsible for tracking russian defectors and their families here in the United States. In one instance the fbi and intelligence officials were aware of a group of russians who were believed to be trying to case someone resettled inside the United States as part of a cia program. This is a cia program that provides new identities to protect people who have vet led inside the United States. People who have helped the cia provide information to the cia in the past. This raised concerns among fbi counselor intelligence official who is thought the russians were preparing to target some of these people. We reached out to the Russian Embassy here in washington. They did not respond to our request for comment. The cia and the white house and the fbi all decline to comment for this story. How long have u. S. Officials been concerned that russians, the russian espionage agents might be tracking russians who have resettled here in the United States. Its probably fair to say this concern has been around for some time. Everything changed after the attack in the uk in march where it was the british spy, russian Intelligence Officer who was an attempt to kill him. Nerve agent that was used to try to kill him. Everything changed after that. When the fbi and u. S. Officials starting seeing what some of the russians here were doing, it changed everything. They grew very concerned that perhaps they were collecting intelligence on the whereabouts of some of these people and so it became a matter of National Security for them. Look, theres no secret here that the russians would try to pull off Something Like this here. Theres great concern among law enforcecement officials and peoe at the fbi. Congress has been concerned about this for a while. Thats right. I think its no secret theres a long list of suspicious deaths in the United Kingdom and europe. The concern among officials over there and here in the United States is that the same thing could happen as a result. It appears that the russians have become emboeldsenned that they can get away with this stuff. The democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee put together a report earlier this year. It said the trail of mysterious deaths, all of which happen to people who possess information at the kremlin did not want made public should not be ignored by western countries they they are safe from these extreme measures. The russians seem to believe they can pull these things off and get away with it and the calculations about how to protect these people have changed as a result. Back in 2006, as you report this july 2006, a law was passed that permits the assassination of enemies of the russian regime. That was back in 2006. What is u. S. Law enforcement doing about this potential threat. Do they believe any russian emigres who defected have been killed on u. S. Soil . I dont think theres any concern that people have been killed here. Theres a very robust Counter Intelligence at the fbi that does this kind of work that follows some of these spies. On spying on spies. Thats all they can really do. They ratcheted up that intelligence. To really make sure that nothing that happens, anything similar that happened in the uk happens here. The mere fact that the russians were able to locate some of these people and their brazen teams at following them, doing surveillance on them, learning more about some of these people who resettled here has concerned u. S. Officials. Very often im told that some of these russians who have come oth United States still have relatives back in russia. Thats one way the russians requecan find they can have leverage on them. A lot of them do business. Thats something the fbi and intelligence agencies keep an eye on. The belief is some of these people are informing on others. Its something the fbi is constantly worried about. Now to capitol hill for breaking news on Veterans Affairs nominee Ronnie Jackson and serious new allegations revealed tonight. Lets bring in our senior c congressional kcorrespondent. What can you tell us . This is a document compiled by staff who is the ranking democrat. This comes after the staff interviewed 2 peop3 people who worked with Ronnie Jackson. They lay out explosive details and allegations about his past. Pass misconduct and these are allegations that have not been fully sub ststantiated. Enough to delay a confirmation hearing scheduled for today. They fall into three different categories. One is how he prescribed drugs in the past in a loose manner according to this document. Another one dealing with how he administered an office that had abusive behavior towards his colleagues. Particularly people who worked underneath him and number three, about drunkenness. Drinking on the job and on trips overseas. One particularly damaging allegation is secret Service Going away Party Jackson got drunk and wrecked a government vehicle. It also says on one occasion jackson could not be reached when he was needed because he was passed out drunk and one time it talks about him reaching for holding a medical wag and intoxicated while holding this medical bag. Other allegations as well causing some alarm on capitol hill particularly when it comes to prescribing medication. He gave large supply of percoset to a white house military officer. He would not track how he handed out the sleeping medication, ambien and a drug to wake people up. Those controlled substances require tracking which allegedly he did not do. People would come to him to get these medications because other physicians would not, according to these allegations. This compiled ed by the democr. The republicans view this as veers. They want to investigate this further. They want to get to the bottom of all of these allegations and thats one reason why they delay todays confirmation. Another republican who sit ons the Committee Said these are coming from credible individuals bringing forward these allegations even as the white house said he has been fully vetted. His past background checks and the past and jackson himself has denied crashing a car, something he said moments ago. Theres still enough concern on capitol hill that his nomination in serious doubt of ultimately getting this job. Very serious doubt. Thank you very much. Calling his record quote impeccable and vetting thorough. Lets go to our chief white house correspondent. Dr. Jackson is defying any pressure to step aside, at least for now, right . Thats right. Hes not backing down. He spoke to reporters a few moments ago outside of sanders office. The White House Press secretary. Telling reporters hes not wrecked a car. At one point he was asked about the aellegation that he drove drunk. He said i have not wrecked car before. Hes asked about this allegation that hes not prescribing correctly opioid drugs. At one point he said i cant tell you where thats coming from. Then the final question was put to him, are you still moving forward with your no, maam medication. He said yes. At this point hes still moving forward. At this point it seems dr. Ronnie jackson is trying to hang in there despite all of this pressure coming from c capitol hill to step aside including one House Democrat saying he should do just that and step aside. Sarah sanders said he received praise from former president obama. I asked Sarah Sanders about the fact that the president at a News Conference with the french president over here at the white house suggested that dr. Ronnie jackson lacks the necessary experience to run the v. A. He claims the president didnt say that. Heres how the Exchange Went down earlier today. Yesterday the president suggested that dr. Jackson does not have the experience to run the department of Veterans Affairs. Is that Fair Assessment . Thats not what the president said. I think youre taking some of his words out of context. Based on your speech today i know you dont appreciate when people take your words out of context. Id appreciate it if you not do that to the president. He said that had been one of the questions people posed about him. Reporter in fact, we have the quote right here from the president yesterday. He said i know there is an experience problem because of lack of experience but there is an experience problem. Contrary to what Sarah Sanders tried to tell us in the Briefing Room earlier today, she tried to pull a fast one and spin herself out of that question. Unfortunately, she was not sticking to the facts. The president did suggest yesterday that dr. Ronnie jackson lacks the experience to run the department of Veterans Affairs. That is going to be one of the primary questions facing dr. Jackson if and when he gets another hearing date. Were hearing from white house officials including Sarah Sanders saying that at this point they want to try to reschedule that hearing. That confirmation hearing for dr. Jackson. At this point no date has been scheduled. Obviously the white house would like to see that get wac on the schedule. The nature of these allegations are such that well have to see how this plays out moving forward. Make no question about it, theyre in a defiant hoed. Thanks very much. Lets talk about all the breaking news. Senator, let me quickly get your reaction to cnns reporting that some of those expelled russians were possibly targeting other russians living here in the United States are russian who is have come to the United States and working with u. S. Law enforcement working with the cia safe here in the United States . First, its good to be with you. The report we did author show this is part of the tools that mr. Putin uses in europe and the United States targeting people that disagree with his regime. Yes, he tracks these people to other country, including the United States. I dont have specific information about threats against any of the russians here in the United States. Thats exactly what mr. Putin does. He tracks these people. He finds out information about them and as we know would happen in uk hes not beyond trying to poison or get rid of people who disagree with him. How likely is it that russia could carry out a poisoning like the one we saw recently this britain on that former russian spy sergei and his daughter. How likely is that . I think it would be wrong for us to assume that mr. Putin wouldnt do that. Clearly we saw him do that in the uk. That would be outrageous but interfering in our election was something we thought he would not do. He did that also. We have to be prepared. Clearly, thats something that would have to go challenged by our country. We cant let the sovereignty of america be abridged by another country. Theres no evidence that mr. Putin has done anything. Hes clearly trying to get information about people in our country from russia that disagreed with mr. Putin. Washington post reported that trump was livid the u. S. Expelled so many russian diploma diplomats. The u. S. Expelled 60 Russian Diplomats. Were looking at the numbers. France expelled four. Germany expelled four. The uk expelled 23. What do you make of this that the president was so angry that the u. S. Expelled so many Russian Diplomats in light of the new details . Clearly what action we took was rather mild compared to what mr. Putin has done here in america. I think we had to be Even Stronger in our message to mr. Putin that we wont tolerate this type of behavior whether it is interfering if our elections or interfering in our own sovereignty or what they did in uk in regards to trying to poison individual. Russia is the actor. Its mr. Putin. Hes the bad actor. We need to take action against him. Let me switch gears and talk about another sensitive issue. The president s nominee to run the department of veteran affairs. Are these new allegations against Ronny Jacksons behavior disqualifying . Understand they are being made by members of military that worked for him. They are extremely troubling. I do believe were entitled to a confirmation hearing to find out the facts. Let us go through the proper vetting here in the United States senate. Its clear that President Trump did not do that. I must tell you hearing these allegations, knowing the source, knowing theres multiple sources, its extremely troubling. Let me get another issue, i want to get your reaction. Sources saying that Rudy Giuliani, the president s new lawyer on his personal legal team, met this week with the special counsel, Robert Mueller to discuss the potential for an interview between mueller and the president. Whats your reaction . As you complete an investigation, it would be natural for mr. Public schomuel to interview President Trump. That would be a normal flow from this investigation. I hope that mr. Rudy giuliani visit was to facilitate that cooperation. The president said he intends to cooperate. Part of that would be if mr. Mueller desires an interview that the president would make himself available. Let me ask you about the secretary of state nominee, pike m mike pompeo. The secretary of state should be the loudest, hold out voice for International Diplomacy dialogue and negotiations. Are you concerned that mike pompeo and john bolton have the president s heear . Im concerned that our chief diplomat, will he be an advocate for diplomacy. He wants to withdraw. We heard be macron today talk about how critically important it is for u. S. Leadership on global issues that we need to be in the lead. We need a top diplomat that will make be americas voice in the International Community advancing our universal values. Thanks for joining us. Just ahead, shocking new allegations surface. Can dr. Ronnie jackson survivor as the president s v. A. Nominee . Ill talk with James Clapper about cnns exclusive new reporting on expelled Russian Diplomats and chilling spy mission they are suspected of carrying out right here in the u. S. Yes. Do you think its going to surprise your daughter . Absolutely. Wait, is mom here yet . Wheres mom . Shes in this car. What the heck . Whoa. Yo, whose car is this . This is the allnew chevy traverse. This is beautiful. It has apple carplay compatibility. Do those apps look familiar . Ohhhhh. Do you want to hit this button . Theres a hidden compartment. Uhh, whoa. Mom, when im older can you buy me this car . I wanna buy me this car. Just another day on the farm. Or is it . This farmers morning starts in outer space. 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Soil by Russian Diplomats who have since been expelled from the country. Officials telling cnn the spies tracked russian defectors including one person part of a cia program to provide new identities to resettled russians. Joining us now is James Clapper. Hes the cnn National Security analyst. You were just in the uk where this former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned. How great is the risk that could also happen here on u. S. Soil . Its a risk. The United States is so much larger than the uk and we have so many more people than the uk. There are more places to stash people, if you will than there are will the uk. Its still a possibility and clearly this is a Standing Task of relinquish shan intelligence operatives during the society yet and that carries over with russia where theyre always on the search for defectors or others who have aided the United States. Could russians get that kind of nerve agent that they used in the uk here in the United States . What needs to happen to make sure they cant . I think its quite possible for them. I think one of the most important things we do is to do what we did which is expel a lot of russian operatives. Thats probably one of the most important things we can do. Of the 60 diplomats the u. S. Expelled, some of them were monitoring russian emigres who come to the United States. This was a source of deep concern. You used to run National Intelligence for the u. S. I assume youre familiar with all of these concerns. Of course. Cant go into specifics about it wu thats always a concern. I think this is sop for all russian operatives. I would use the term diplomats with air quotes, by the way. Do you think all of them were spies under diplomatic cover . Virtually all of them were im sure. All of them. Of the 60, most if not all of them were spies. Thats not necessarily news. We thought that but some of them were monitoring russians living in the United States and potentially u. S. Officials fearing they could be targeted for assassination. Thats the news. I think yes. The notion of reaching out and targeting people who they consider enemies of the state in place like the uk and thats within the realm of possibilities here. How good is russian intelligence if say theres a russian spy who comes to the United States, defecting and the cia and fbi give that individual and family members a new identity. They move that person to arizona or new mexico or some place like that. The russians can still find that person. How good are they in this kind of intelligence . Theyre quite good and quite aggressive. I think our program is pretty sophisticated. We go to Great Lengths to try to protect these people who have assisted the United States. Do you tell them we, we know you have family members still in russia. You can menever talk to them, write to them. They cant know anything about you. Thats one way the russians can pick up the scent and find these individuals. Absolutely. Thats a vulnerability that are explained to people that we bring here to resettle approxima. Sometimes that gets to be a daunting challenge. The russians understand that. If that have any relatives that they are aware of back in russia, theyll leverage that for sure. Thanks so much for joining us. Just ahead, wrabreaking new. Michael cohen has formally asserted his fifth amendment right against selfincrimination in the ongoing civil suit with the porn star. We have details. Were also learning that the newest member of the Trump Legal Team Rudy Giuliani has met with the special counsel Robert Mueller. We have new details on that as well. Duncan just protected his family with a 500,000 Life Insurance policy. How much do you think it cost him . 100 a month . 75 . 50 . Actually,duncan got his 500,000 for under 28 a month. Less than a dollar a day. His secret . Selectquote. 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We have breaking news on the president s long time personal lawyer, Michael Cohen and his fight to delay the lawsuit by the porn star stormny daniels. Lets go to our national correspondent. Whats the latest . Reporter this is big movement in the case of Stormy Daniels trying to get out of her nondisclosure agreement. It tells you about whats happening with Michael Cohen. I want to read the declaration that he has just filed in District Court. Hes talking about his fifth amendment rights. Youll remember hes now under criminal investigation after his home, hotel, and his offices were raided. This case here in california is a civil court case. His attorney has been arguing because heis under criminal investigation he should not have to testify or appear in this civil case was a some of the things he says, if hes deposed may hurt him in the criminal case against him. Heres what Michael Cohen has put in a declaration to the judge. He says based upon the advice of counsel, i will assert hi fifth amendment right due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the fbi and u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york. Those are his words. Thats something the judge asked for. Youre seeing video of Michael Cohen on a daily basis. Were getting video of him either going to or from his daily work its about being able to assert your right. This is a very big deal when you consider what is happening in this case. Remembering this is a civil case. The Stormy Daniels case where shes trying to get out of an nda and hes facing the criminal investigation there in new york. I want you to stand by sarah. Joey jackson, our c thrksnn leg analyst is joining us. Michael cohen is under criminal investigation by the feds in new york. Now asserting his fifth amendment rights to avoid saying anything. I think its a very Significant Development to be clear. Lets understand this. You can assert your fifth amendment right. Thats the im not saying a thing because a person does have the ability not to incriminate themselves. Lets make the distinction clear. The civil case in california relates to matters that are noncriminal. However, we do know that theres a Southern District investigation and as an element to the fraud that the Southern District, thats the feds are accusing him of or hes under investigation for is the whole issue of potential Campaign Finance viviolations. We know the Stormy Daniels payoff was made 11 days prior. At issue was going to be what was the sbents. Was it a Campaign Contribution . He has a right not to say a thing. From a legal perspective its anticipated. You never want your client to say anything that might potentially embroil them even further into it. Im not surprised that this lawyers move that they would file a declaration saying im pleading the fifth. Im not saying a thing. What i would anticipate then is nothing will happen along the lines of the civil case in terms of any deposition or anything related to his testimony. That will be stayed pending the criminal case. I would also think h the criminal case he would not have a word to say. That is that the federal government will have to construct a case without his participation. I should also say this, there could be some point going down the line he could be wrought into the Southern District for a reverse proffer. What does that mean . It means the federal government sdruz occasion where if they have the goods against you, will bring you into the office and explain what they have. Then it will be up to you. This the the information we have. These are the documents. He doesnt have to say a thing. He just listening to his lawyer. If hst compelling enough you may or may not want to cut a deal. Were far away from that but im looking into the future of what if Southern District can do. Civil case, california, not related to the Southern District case in new york. They are related in as much as the one element of Campaign Finance violation and whether or not he did indeed violate those laws with the payoff of Stormy Daniels 11 days before the election. A huge, Significant Development in the case. Gloria, you have been monitoring this closely as well. Michael cohen in addition to y saying he will assert his fifth amendment right. He does offer this explain why hes doing this based on the fbi raids. During the kcorrespondsing raid the fbi seized documents relating to the 130,000 payment. He is making connection why hes going to assert his fifth amendment right. Right. If there are potential federal election law vie lags, et cetera, he doesnt want to incriminate himself. I think this is a huge development. I think its something that would probably be welcomed at the white house. If he did violate federal election law, if he were to testify about who knew what when, did the president know, did the president not know, i think its very wise of his attorneys to not have him do it and if i were donald trump, id be very happy about that. Its interesting. The president s long time lawyer for more than a decade, Michael Cohen now formally telling a District Court hes asserting his fifth amendment right. Listen to what President Trump, then candidate trump said about those who assert their fifth amendment rights. This is september 28th, 2016. Ron, listen to this. So there are five people taking the fifth amendment like you see on the mob. You see the mob takes the fifth. If youre innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment. Whats your reaction, ron . Legally they may welcome him taking the fifth. Politically the name of the president s long time personal lawyer or alt mernately fixer i not a good political juxtaposition. I think its only im not the lawyer here, but i think its only the first act in what will be a drama with many acts. Whether he takes the fifth or not, the investigation will go on. If the federal government has a strong case against him on the grounds of Stormy Daniels, whether he take a deal would look different. If you look down the future, if you look at how this may play out over the next several weeks and months. From everything we have learned about donald trump over the last two years, i think people should be very sanguine about the fact he will stand back, respect the usual boundary offenies of the president and allow his attorney to face this legal jeopardy that could reverberate into jeopardy for him. He keeps coming wac to this. Congress has to be thinking about what they will do to defend the rule of law if it comes under greater threat from the decisions that could flow from this important step today. It is pretty extraordinary when you cover the white house. The president s long time personal lawyer and friend is asserting his fifth amendment right. Its very extraordinary. We have not heard from the white house since this happened a short while ago. In that letter that his lawyer sent to the court today, his lawyers were representing him the president s lurawyers . Yes. They sent this letter indicating really how they will handle the information that was seized during fbi raids. The raids we know infuriated the president and one detail they had in there is as they are going over the information to see whats impressiprivileged a they said President Trump will help them look at it. Our client will make himself available as needed to aid in our privileged review on his behalf which shows how close this has gotten to the president. We went from a part where the white house was really trying to keep their distance from President Trump from this case trying to like protect him. We have seen how close this has gotten saying hes willing to help out and even yesterday when he was welcoming the french president in the oval office and a reporter asked if it comes to this, would you pardon Michael Cohen. A legitimate question that we have been wonder and he snapped at the reporter who asked that and said it was a stupid question. He was very angry about it. Were really seeing how consumed the president is. He isnt keeping that private. Were seeing it right out in public. He hasnt claimed privilege. Theres been more than 37 witnesses that have been interviewed by the special counsel in and around donald trump. They havent claimed privilege in those interviews. The notion as pointed out, that the president will now personally be looking at what was scooped up in Michael Cohens office to see whether privilege should be claimed really gives you an indication of how personally involved he is in what is sitting in Michael Cohens office. Its a difference. Its real difference between this and the mueller investigation. We should note at that press conference in palm beach with the japanese prime minister, the president brought up hes not had anyone use privilege or he hasnt. He did bring that up during that press conference when being asked by the special counsel if he has any plans to fire Robert Mueller. He did bring that up not prompted by the reporters. Everybody stick around. We have a lot more on the breaking news. Significant breaking news right after this. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, Little Things can be a big deal. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Let someone else do the heavy lifting. Tripadvisor compares prices from over 200 booking sites to find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. So you barely have to lift a finger. Or a wing. Tripadvisor. Were following breaking news. Michael cohen, the president s long time personal lawyer telling a federal court in los angeles that he will assert his fifth amendment right and not say anything in regards to the Stormy Daniels lawsuit that is under way right now. David, we went back and its obviously very awkward and em wa warsing for the president ot United States to see his lawyer take the fifth amendment right wasillaed e wasillaed on what the president has said. Have you seen whats going on in front of congress . Fifth amendment. Fifth amendment. Fifth amendment. Horrible. Horrible. The mob takes the fifth. If youre innocent why are you taking the fifth amendment . When you have your staff taking the fifth amendment, taking the fifth so theyre not prosecuted. I think its disgraceful. What do you think . The president said if youre innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment . It bears repeating that Michael Cohen has not been indicted. He has the constitutional right to take the fifth amendment this is a problem because u it suggests one that his lawyers think he could Say Something in the civil case that might aid prosecutors in his criminal case. They are not just waving away the criminal case, theyre taking it seriously and that i think is something the white house is now going to have to answer repeatedly, especially based on the clip you just playeded. Joey jackson amidst this, theres a letter thats just been release nd the separate federal case. The criminal investigation of Michael Cohen in new york in which the president s lawyer, including the lead lawyer, that they want to be able to go through all the documents seized to see if theres privilege there. They say our client, meaning the president of the United States, will make himself available to aid in his privileged review. What do you make of that . Just think about the implications of that. Think about the implications of the president of the United States getting involved himself. So if hes that involved, what information may be out there which so imperils him such that this requires his personal time . We have major issues going on throughout the country and internationally that require the president s attention. So for a letter like that to be submitted talking about privilege tells you theres major concern here. Now two quick things. Number one on the issue of issue of politics, it looks terrible. You have the president talking about the mob. Only they assert fifth amendment right and now, you have your own, your personal guide, whos doing the same thing. From a legal perspective, its the only way to fly. Because at the end of the day, pross will bring cohen in and theyll go over chapter and verse, woclf. A reverse proper. What if any information sout there. We could talk pardon day and night, but there are charges that have nothing to do with the federal charges, so im looking to know how closely the federal prosecutors will be working to ensure accountability here. And gloria, youve got new reporting on Rudy Giuliani. The president s new lauyer. Rudy giuliani had his first feet meting with bob mueller yesterday. And they were discussing this question of a potential interview with the president which as you know, wolf, these discussions have been going on for months. But giuliani was brought in to try and streamline these conversations and bring them to a conclusion and the negotiations are going to continue and one of, one source told us that the president s mind on testifying has changed dramatically since the cohen raid. As long as were talking about Michael Cohen. One source described it as a seismic shift, that the president was willing to testify before, but then when he saw the raid on Michael Cohens office, he completely changed his mind. So now you have a president saying you know what, if you want me, youre going to have to come and get me. All right. Everybody stick around. More breaking news were following. The fired fbi director, james comey, facing americans tonight, answering questions about President Trump and the russia investigation in a whole new way. Stay with us. Ts going to surprise your daughter . Absolutely. Wait, is mom here yet . Wheres mom . Shes in this car. What the heck . Whoa. Yo, whose car is this . This is the allnew chevy traverse. This is beautiful. It has apple carplay compatibility. Do those apps look familiar . Ohhhhh. Do you want to hit this button . Theres a hidden compartment. Uhh, whoa. Mom, when im older can you buy me this car . I wanna buy me this car. For the big things in life, we tend to start small. Less of this. Cut back on that. But if it feels like a lot of effort for a little gain, change that. Start with something that makes a big difference. Your student loans. Refinancing with sofi could save you 30,000. Its an easier way to reach your life goal sooner. Weve helped over 195,000 people. We want to help you too. Find out how much you can save in just two minutes at sofi. Com save. In just two minutes to bring together a group of remarkable people. To help save the universe. From paying too much on their car insurance. Hey, theres cake in the breakroom. What are you doing . Um. Nothing . Marvel studios avengers infinity war, in theaters april 27th. Now. Where were we . When i first came to ocean bay, what i saw was despair. I knew something had to be done. Hurricane sandy really woke people up, to showing that we need to invest in this community. I knew having the right partner we could turn this place around. It was only one bank that could finance a project this difficult and this large, and that was citi. Preserving Affordable Housing preserves communities. So we are doing their kitchens and their flooring and their lobbies and the grounds. And the beautification of their homes, giving them pride in where they live, will make this a Thriving Community once again. James comeys new book just debuted on the best seller list in the number one spot. This as the fired fbi director is is about to take part in his only live town hall event answering questions about his ouster by President Trump and much more. He takes the stage with cnns anderson kocooper a little overn hour from now. We also know a prominent edition to advertise legal team has emerged. Patrick fitzgerald is a long time friend and colleague of comey. Were learning he took this job last may. Fitzgerald was the special counsel in the Valerie Plame leak investigation. He was apoined to that by james comey and it was that investigation that led to the conviction of former white house official Scooter Libby and last week, President Trump pardoned him. So expect that to come up u tonight. Some 600 people will be in the crowd and hes going to be answering questions from every day americans including many of the students here at william and mary. This is of course james comeys alma mater and we expect many of those questions to be taught. Everything takes place here in just about an hour. Thanks very much. And be sure to tune in to the cnn town hall tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Thanks for watching. Erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Outfront next, breaking news. President trumps embattled va pick, damming new allegations face iing him, including wreckia government car while drunk. Is the president still stick in by him . The white house spokesman is outfront. Also breaking, more Michael Cohen, pleading the fifth in the ongoing case with storm daniels. This as his attorneys are expegting to look at material seizeded by the fbi tonight. Michael avenatti is my guest and Rudy Giuliani, the newest member to trumps legal team