Transcripts For CNNW The Lead With Jake Tapper 20180509

That is the decision of an independent company and has nothing to do with the white house. Margaret. Im happy to take the answer from the private counsel but i made efforts and havent been able to and ill pose it publicly and if could you address it, ill appreciate it. Do you know whether mr. Cohen approached the white house as a representative of any of those companies, whether the president was aware of the payments or whether he was aware that mr. Cone w mr. Cohen was marketin him. Im not aware. Ill refer you to outside counsel. And the president said woe drain the swamp and does it make a difference that his personal attorney was selling access to him. Im not going to weigh into this. That is an individual decision by the companies and you are the press secretary standing there at the podium and over what has been revealed over the past 24 hours, does the president think it is appropriate that his personal attorney was selling access to him given that he promised to drain the swamp. We are not engaging nat matters in this process and i would refer to you outside counsel for anything to do with Michael Cohen or im going to keep moving. Has the president taken any action during the administration to benefit novartis and at t or korea air space. Not that im aware of. Saudi arabia said they would pursue a Nuclear Weapons program if iran were to pursue Nuclear Weapons. Would they have the administrations support in the event that occurred . Right now, i dont know that we have a specific policy announcement on that front but i can tell you that we are very committed to making sure iran does not have Nuclear Weapons. The president said today about iran, he said well see how we do with iran. Probably we wont do well with them but that is okay. Does the president feel as if he can negotiate with iran Going Forward or has he resigned to the fact that these two parties might be so far apart on a potential new deal Going Forward . As the president said yesterday, he would like to see something happen. But we are 100 committed to making sure that iran does not have Nuclear Weapons and that is until we see that happen, were going to continue to put maximum pressure and enormous sanctions on them, all of the sanctions in place before the deal are back in place. And were preaching to add additional sanctions that may come as early as next week. Can you tell us the president had expressed an interest in meeting kim jongun at the dmz and but today he said that is not going to be the case. Can you walk us through why that is no longer the case . What were the issues that have not made that possible . I can tell you that a date and location are set but beyond that, i dont have any other announcements at this point. But we expect that to to be announced here in the next few days. If i could just follow up on that. For this administration, what are the most important criteria for the location for that site im not getting into the specifics. When we make an announcement about the date and location, well provide further detail at that point. Was the decision to send secretary pompeo to north korea yesterday at the very time the president was ripping up the Iranian Nuclear deal, was that meant to reassure north korea that we can the United States can make a nuclear deal that will be stuck to . Im sorry, i couldnt hear the last part of the question. Was that intended to reassure north korea that it is worthwhile getting into negotiations with the United States over a nuclear deal that well stick to. The purpose was to make sure that we continued the progress that we have had on setting the date and the location for the president s meeting with kim jongun. Which happened as well as an additional thing which you all know about and that was secretary pom perreault w pompeo was able to return the americans which will be back in the United States tonight. I want to ask about the toeb the tone of this potential summit because north korea criticized that the maximum pressure was the reason for the north korea and south korea meeting and they reminded secretary pom perreault that happened as a result of no outside sanctions but does the president maintain he had everything to do with that meeting and worried the backlash could impact the tone of his own meeting with kim. The president talked about the maximum Pressure Campaign has worked. We have seen north korea make progress since that campaign started. But the president has also been very clear that some of that success is due to our allies and our partners particularly both president moon, Prime Minister abe and president xi and theyre role in helping put pressure on north korea and they have all played a big role in the maximum Pressure Campaign but a lot of that is due to the fact that the president has spent time developing relationships with those individuals and theyve collectively been able to put pressure on north korea. And can i ask another question about the three detainees. Can you give us any details about how and when they were informed they were coming home . Theyre Immediate Reaction and if nothing else, their families, how they found out and whether the president has spoken to any of them directly . I know that there has been a number of different points of outreach from the administration starting early this morning to contact the families. In terms of other details. Dont have that right now but well be happy to provide it. There were reports this morning that nafta negotiations had hit a snag over autos. Is the white house pessimistic it will reach a deal on nafta well continue to push forward in those negotiations but as the president said, he wants to make sure we get the right deal but i dont have announcements on it yet [ inaudible question ]. Im not going to im not a gambler so i wont throw out wild percentages here but well continue in that process. Thank you, sara. For a long time you and the president and other administrations saying there is an infrastructure bill. In fact, you were saying it before scarlets last birthday when you corrected me on her name. That is a pretty good memory, john. But you nailed it this time so right. Got it right. And the on capitol hill and in business, people doubt that they will see any kind of bill see the light of day and they put out that you could say maybe the 20 billion in the appropriations bill that deals with infrastructure or the reauthorization of majors such as the faa could count as infrastructure legislation. Aside from the the things in other bills, will will there be an infrastructure bill, yes or no. Ever [ inaudible question ]. The administration as you mentioned secured some funding for infrastructure projects. We also laid out priorities that we wanted to see in an infrastructure legislation package. Were going to continue to look at ways to improve the nations infrastructure but in terms of a specific piece of legislation. Im not aware that will happen by the end of the year. Sara, gina haspel told the senate she would not reopen enhanced interrogation programs if she becomes cia director and how does the white house square that with the long held belief that torture is acceptable, on the campaign trail he repeatedly endorsed torture as a form of interrogating the president has confidence in gina haspel to lead the cia and wants to see her do exactly that and will allow her to fulfill that position and make those decisions. Just to follow up on that. Does the president still believe that torture works, since the campaign. I havent had a conversation with him that recent lirks and the payments regarding mr. Cohen. You said you are not able to answer these questions here in the briefing, that you would refer us to his outside counsel. Could you possibly work on an arrangement where perhaps mr. Giuliani or somebody who could speak on behalf of the president from a legal standpoint come into the Briefing Room and answer these questions so were not on a daily basis trying in vain to ask you about all of these legal troubles facing the president. Mr. Giuliani is not an employee of the white house but im happy to encourage him. I know hes done a number of interviews with several of you and would be happy to do more. And just to follow up on that, sara, dont you think the public has the right to get answers about these questions, if there are payments coming from russian connected entities or russian individuals connected to the kremlin through a Shell Company that is controlled by mr. Cohen to pay off whoever, doesnt the American People have a right to have some information about that. And i think there are appropriate venues an channels in which to do that and ive encouraged you to reach out to them to do exactly what you just outlined. On north korea, before he was a National Security adviser, john bolton was crittal of the Obama Administration to send bill clinton to negotiate the detainees in 2009 and did the National Security adviser raise any issues about the current negotiations and what circumstances are different now than in 2009 to make it more appropriate. Im not aware of anything that he raised ant the purpose of the secretary pompeo trip was to negotiate and discuss the upcoming meeting between President Trump and the leader of north korea. Another question on daca. Can you explain what the president s views are on the discharge petition and efforts by some republicans to force a vote on daca . Weve been clear what our position is. We laid out several months ago what we wanted to see happen. We would still like to see that happen and love to see a piece of legislation that includes all four of the principles an the pillars the president outlined. At his most recent Campaign Rally in michigan, the president mentioned that the Unemployment Rate was so low that we could bring in more guests workers under h2b veisas and im worried of wages not rising as quickly if that doesnt take place. Im not aware of any concerns on that front. Yesterday Hillary Clinton and john kerry and former president barack obama weighed in on the president s iran decision. John kerry said it weakens our security and breaks americas word and isolated us from our european allies and former president obama said it called for principal fact based and unified leadership for our country and Hillary Clinton said our credibility is shot and they called it a mistake. What is the president s response to them and what does the white house think about those former Obama Administration officials commenting on this and the appropriateness of that. I think based on each of those individuals lack of success in this entire process on foreign affairs, they would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and council and whether or not we made the right decision. One last question. And does he still have confidence in Rudy Giuliani. Yes. Hes done a fine job. Last question. And two questions. If you could indulge me. First back to when the president s tweets from earlier this week when he referred to the 13 democrats running the russia investigation. Setting aside the fact that Robert Mueller is a republican, is the president aware that federal law prohibits discrimination in hiring based on political affiliation and how does he does he believe political affiliation should be taken into account when hiring prosecutors regardless of this law. Weve been fully cooperative with the special counsel and well continue to be. And beyond that, i dont have anything else to add. And second question. Today Senate Democrats plus Susan Collins filed a discharge petition to repeal to repeal the fcc repeal of the obama era Net Neutrality rules. The president signed 15 cras and would this be the 16th, well keep you post when we have a policy announcement on that front. Thank you so much. Well see you later tonight. And welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. Youve been listening to the white house briefing, since the bombshell allegations involving the president s personal fixer dropped by Michael Avenatti. And the information well get into right now with Michael Avenatti who joins me. Sara sanders today said the American People have a right to know and get answers about the fact that a Russian Oligarch, a putin crony who has a controlling firm in a subsidiary with a 500,000 cash payment to Michael Cohen, the trump fixer and sara sanders say the white house Briefing Room not the appropriate venue for questions about that. Youre the one that brought that payment to light and it has been confirmed by several media out lights, what is your response. If that is the not forum, what is the forum. But there needs to be a forum where they explain the series of payments and a series of payments between january and approximately august of 2017 totaling approximately half a Million Dollars and it is not just those payments. There is a whole host of other payments made by multinational corporations. We have yet to really get straight answers as to why they hired Michael Cohen and what they hired him for and whether the president knew about it or received any money and what Michael Cohen did with the money and the list of questions goes on and on. And is there something more nefarious that you suspect took place beyond what is legal in washington which is rather disgusting and swampy influence peddling, people close to a politician, people who have had previous relations to a politician going out there and sail say saying, i have access to politician x and give me a retainer and i could advise you how to work this. And the companies in addition to the firm with the ties to the Russian Oligarch and putin crony include at t, novartis and there are others. Is there anything more nefarious at stake what is already fairly seedy but might be completely legal. Based on my review of the evidence and my investigation, i dont think its as simple as what youve described. I think it will be shown there are things far more nefarious and if you look at the reaction of the companies over the last 24 hours, that is a strong indication that where there is smoke, there is fire. And by that, what i mean is you have the u. S. Based entity tied to the oligarch claiming they have no ties to the oligarch or the parent russian entity he said just to be clear on the firm is Columbus Nova. That has that has ties to the Russian Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg and the claims that he used the company as a vehicle to pay Michael Cohen, that is false. Not there is no ties but it was wasnt the oligarch himself funneling the money to use Rudy Giulianis word, funneling the money to Michael Cohen. They said more than that because they claim they were entirely u. S. Owned and they seemed to suggest they had no ties whatsoever to the russian Parent Company or the oligarch which is pate ebtly untrue. One statement from novartis last night which they had to back off and walk back today relating to how much money they had paid and what the involvement level was. So the companies are trying to put a spin out because the truth i think is very bad for them and very bad for Michael Cohen and potentially bad for the president. What is this truth that you talk about i think that ultimately what is going to be disclosed is that Michael Cohen was selling access to the highest office in the land and donald trump knew about it and knew Michael Cohen was not a registered lobbyist and knew he wasnt making the requisite disclosure and what is interesting to see, i think, jake, ultimately is when you trace the money about what money came into this llc and what money went out of the llc and the president and Michael Cohen better hope that none of that money gets traced back to the president or the Trump Organization or another entity that the president controlled at the time. Because if so, i think that could have serious consequences. Do you have evidence that President Trump knew about this . Do you have evidence that some of that money going into this essential essential consultants, this Shell Corporation that Michael Cohen set up, that some of the money did find its way into the coffers of the Trump Organization or any or anything related to President Trump. Im not going to disclose right here right now the extent of the evidence that we have. And what it shows. Weve been pretty measured in what weve released. And almost 100 of everything that weve released has checked out. You saw we released the summary last night. I think the New York Times and nbc confirmed and other outlets independently confirmed the information dish. And you say 100 ba there are payments to a different Michael Cohen. I think there is a 980 payment or some minor payment. But the big ones check out as Michael Cohen. The big wunz one, meaning 98 and just trying to be precise. You talked about how President Trump better better hope that none of this leads back to him in terms of whether or not he knew or whether or not any of the money went back to him and you said youre not going to suggest that you have more information along here is what i will say the white house said they are not concerned. The president is not concerned. I think that is a bunch of nonsense. I think they are concerned. Where is Rudy Giuliani and the advisers on president and going on shows and answer questions. They re fuse to answer questions anywhere, your show or another show. Things are so bad, they are not even going on fox, thats how bad things are. The allegation you are suggesting here, not only that somebody was selling access to the president , but that maybe he was even giving some of the money to the president or to his firms, that is a that is a stark suggestion im not making that discussion that suggestion or allegation, im saying all of the evident is not in yet as to where this money went and i find it very hard to believe, jake, that the president at least did not know what Michael Cohen was doing for this 18month or 12month time period. Find that hard to believe. This was a man that was at the right hand of the president , starting in approximately 2006 and 2007 with his office next to Donald Trumps office in trump p to you anderson was close to the president and handled a whole host of issues including the Stormy Daniels the idea that donald trump knew none of what Michael Cohen was doing starting in january of 2017, i think is a bunch of nonsense. You just dont believe it. The Shell Corporation we first learned about it because of your case, the Stormy Daniels case and the hush money payment, 130,000 paid to her to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with President Trump. Do you suspect any of the money from the Russian Oligarch or whom ever was purposefully funneled again that is Rudy Giulianis word not mine, funneled through this Shell Corporation in order to pay off Stormy Daniels . We dont know whether the the payments from the oligarch were made for the specific purpose of paying back the 130,000. But what we do know is the payment was made on october 27th of 2016. And there does not appear to be any substantial deposits between that payment and the first payment that was directed to the llc from the oligarch in january of 2017. You seem to be suggesting that at t, novartis and other financial interests were paying for what . Access to the president or influence to Michael Cohen so he could influence the president. What were hearing from the entities are that novartis hired him for health care consulting, so evidently hes got a expertise Michael Cohen has expertise in medical consulting or a doctor. The south korea might be better than dr. Bornstein to be fair. Probably. There is no doubt about that. You have to understand, im just a lawyer. Im not that talented. But Michael Cohen is an accountant because he was helping the south Korean Aerospace company with accounting. I found that to be interesting. He was helping novartis with medical issues and hes a doctor. He was helping the other entity, the u. S. Subsidiary with real estate and Business Consulting purposes so hes evidently a real estate agent. This guy is a jack of all trades. Hes a renaissance man, the davinci of our time. The last question. Do you think there was something with this firm with ties to the Russian Oligarch they were after beyond just trying to influence policy, having to do with that Investment Bank. Well i dont think Columbus Nova was making those payments because they wanted to be invited to a state dinner. Michael avenatti, thank you. We appreciate your time. So much more to discuss. How likely is it that Michael Cohen was the only person who saw this money. Democratic senator Kamala Harris weighs in next. Stay with us. Once there was an organism so small no one thought much of it at all. People said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. They thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldnt that be cool . And thats why exxonmobil scientists think its not small at all. Energy lives here. Almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. With liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey oh, thats my robe. Is it . When you switch to liberty mutual, you could save 782 on auto and home insurance. And still get great coverage for you and your family. Call for a free quote today. You could save 782 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. Tech dont wait for a chip like this to crack your whole windshield. With safelites exclusive resin, you get a strong repair that you can trust. Plus, with most insurance a safelite repair is no cost to you. Customer really . singers safelite repair, safelite replace. 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. Allow you to take advantage of growth opportunities. With a level of protection in down markets. So you can be less concerned about your retirement savings. Talk with your advisor about shield annuities from Brighthouse Financial established by metlife. That was the president s personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen just moments ago returning to his hoe hotel in emergency. And the bombshell of release of information about the president s lawyer possibly taking large sums of money from corporations with business in front of the president , including an Investment Bank with ties to a Russian Oligarch and putin crony. Joining me to talk about this and much more is Kamala Harris of california. She sits on the Senate Intelligence commity. The firm in question with the ties to the oligarch said he had nothing to do with the huge sum of money given to Michael Cohen. Do you believe him . I dont know what to believe. But ill tell you that it is the reports are very troubling and yet again were hearing information about what might be i connection to russia and Russian Oligarchs so it is something we need to Pay Attention to. The special counsel Robert Mueller and his team questioned this oligarch about the payments to cohen, as a former prosecutor, how close do you suspect this is to actually hitting President Trump . You know, im part of an investigation that were doing in the Senate Intelligence committee so i cant talk about that evidence and what were doing there. But since you mentioned mueller, i think it is very important that whenever were talking about his investigation, we realize he has to stay in that position and be free from my political influence and i sit on the judiciary judiciary also and a bipartisan bill has been passed out of committee saying that we should make sure that mueller is remains in tact and that he is not fired at the whim of the president and i would like to see the majority leader bring that to the floor for a vote so we can ensure there is a legitimate investigation that takes place and that mueller is able to see his investigation through. Earlier today, you had tough questions for the nominee for cia director gina haspel at her confirmation hearing. Lets play a little bit of that. Do you believe in hindsight, that those techniques were immoral . Senator, what i believe sitting here today is that i support the higher, moral standard we have decided to hold ourselves to can you please answer the question. Senator, i think ive answered the question no, youve not. Obviously talking about socalled enhanced interrogation techniques also called torture. Right. Was gina haspel any more candid when you spoke with her behind closed doors. I cant talk about what we discussed in the skiff in a classified setting but ill tell you and the public right now, i intend to vote against her as a nominee. I will not vote to confirm her as the next director of the cia and ill tell you why, jake. First of all, lets just set the table. The work of the men and women of the cia is noble and important work and they do it at great sacrifice with incredible service. If youve been to that building, you know that there are stars with no names of those who have fallen in service to our country. So they do it without any expectation of award or reward and they should be hon kwlored the mission of the cia should be honored and this is not about the integrity of the men and women of the agency, but this is a issue about whether this particular person should head that agency and when we make that decision it will be a statement, it will be a signal about our values as a country in terms of how we value the rule of law and transparency. How we value our moral authority and im concerned that she is not the best signal to the work force of that agency, to the American People or to our neighbors around the globe. And so im going to vote against her. What specifically is there in her record that you object to im sure i dont need to tell you she would be the first woman cia director. Of course. And there is so much reason to always take great pride ive been the first woman in many positions ive held. It is very important to have women in all of these positions. But im not going to accept a false choice that you either accept a woman or you or you accept someone who has not admitted that torture is morally wrong. I think we can have both. There are plenty of qualified women in the cia who should whose names should be put forward for the nomination and for higher positions within the agency. This is not that question. This is this is a question of whether well have someone who heads up that very Important Agency who has the ability to make decisions that for the most part will be made in secret and for the most part will be decisions that must be made in the heat of the moment and they will have the center and the ability and the conviction to make the right decision even when no one is watching. And for this nominee, we dont have to speculate about the scenario, we have an example. Which is what happened after 9 11. And frankly, on the test of where she would make a decision in terms of whether it is morally right or wrong, she failed. So it was really her answer or rather lack of answer to your question which is basically is torture wrong or and the enhanced techniques wrong and her inability to answer that that leads you to the conclusion that you wont vote for her. There is more than that and what we discussed in a classified setting and Something Else we discuss discuss in the open hearing. She made the decision about whether the American Public has access to information about her professional back ground and she is making the decision about whether or not the American Public will hear things that may not be favorable and so my question was whether she would be willing to recuse herself from making that decision to avoid an appearance of conflict so the American Public could judge for themselves whether they believe her record of work supports the idea that she would be a good leader and she was not willing to say she would recuse her and i asked her as a followup because i submitted a letter suggesting instead of her making the decision about what should be classified and unclassified in terms of cia reports, that instead that would go to the director of National Intelligence dan coates and she wouldnt agree that he should make the decision instead of her because of an appearance of conflict. These are problems because it is not only about her back ground, but her willingness to be transparent and where transparency is an option. Senator, as you know, many intelligence chiefs from democrat and republican administrations are supporting gina haspels nomination, including general james clapper, who worked under obama and john brennan who worked under obama. And mike morell who worked under obama. Would you be opposing her if she had been nominated by president broi obama and i find it credible that he could have nominated her given the fact there seems to be such support for her among the obama officials. What do you think of that. I think that each candidate, each nominee should be judged based on their record regardless of who appoints them, period. Senator Kamala Harris, democrat of california, pleasure to have you on. Thanks, jake. Take care. Lets go right now to phil mudd. One of our commentators here on cnn. Phil, youve just heard senator Kamala Harris, democrat of california, a rising star in the party saying shell vote against gina haspel for cia director. You used to work for the cia. What is your reaction . She spoke about American Values and she spoke about rule of law. I appreciate what she votes on. She can vote however she wants. I dont appreciate the collective amnesia. Lets go dirty and ugly. I was among the cia officers 15 years ago who spoke with the congress in detail about the techniques we used. I spoke about the techniques that were authorized by the department of justice, and i spoke to republicans and democrats, they were either silent or supportive. We have talked to people would represent rule of law. I cant help they are republicans. They were voted on by the American People when they voted for a republican president. They are the highest lawyers in the land and including the attorney general. They told us this was not torture and that it complied with the constitution and that it complied with u. S. Law. You can vote against gina haspel but dont give me the collective amnesia how it is on cia. I want to talk to the senators who told us that they represented American Values an conveniently in 2002 and 2003 disrepresenting American Values an now that we dont face the same threat and different senators, its okay to attack one of my former colleagues. Im pissed off. This is collective amnesiach we didnt do. It get over it. And just in her defense, shes a freshman member of congress. She was not there she was not among the democrats and republicans that you are talking about just individually. I just want to make that point. But lets branch this out to others in the panel. John avalon, you heard phil mudd there objecting the, idea that gina haspel made decisions approved by the u. S. Congress offends him and im sure offends other people as rl. Righteous from phil mudd and those people in the 9 11 period and it is important to see things in context. I think america had a conconversation of the torture in the wake of 9 11 and came out on the right side which is it degrades our moral authority. And the questions about when she was running the cia and in thailand and the questions about the the destruction of video tapes are legitimate questions but for me it is also significant that you have so many obama cia era leon penneta and others that are saying shes qualified. This is not a Ronny Jackson repeat. You could say her involvement was troubling and distasteful but not a debate about whether shes qualified. She is. Is this a partisan vote, would they oppose on the grounds of the probably. I think the votes probably going to come out in her favor. These are questions that demand tough choiry inquiry but we need to righteously judge someones actions. Phil. Lets make sure we understand the two different questions. America is in a different place in terms of the act to reflect on what we did 16 years ago when we captured the first al qaeda prisoner in the spring of 2002 and what america thinks today. And perfectly appropriate and the Congress Passed different laws an also appropriate to say that people including Kamala Harris are uncomfortable with where america was 16 years ago but to say this person did something that reflected where the american psyche was and therefore i will judge her today and pretend that somehow cia and isolation didnt represent American Values, i reject that. John is right, i do not agree with senator harris in her characterization of history 16 years ago. It wasnt that way. So laura coates, let me bring you in. There were people welcome back the cia and the Intelligence Community even within the Justice Department at the time who disagreed with the interpretation thatten hasnted interga intergags interrogation tooks did prevail and should she be held to account for decisions that were agreed upon and then basically the government changed its mind . I think in part, yes. I think that it is probably inappropriate to ask her about questions of morality, when there are National Security interests at stake, which is one of the reasons people find this to be a conundrum. The idea you would impose a moral compass talking about aka, torture and waterboarding and sleep deprivation is a strain interpretation of what the role of the cia was at that time. But i must say, i have to agree with phil, you dont have to go back 16 years about the torture technics which i disagree with and the both of the men under the torture techniques are still at Guantanamo Bay right now as we speak. The larger issue ins in 0 in 2011 when there was a report about the techniques an the video tapes that confirmed what was happening at that time, especially at the photographs at abu grave emerged there was not a follow up question from the democratic congressman or the white house. So to that degree at this point in time it seems to be hypocritical and untimely to question it now. And i want to change the subject to the other big story of the day which has to do with Michael Cohen taking this giant payment from an Investment Bank with ties to a putin crony and Russian Oligarch and from other several other corporations in this company. Margaret hoover, when you look at the arrangement and granted we dont have all of the information right now, you know as well as i that influence peddling is an ageold tradition in washington. Now do you have to register as a lobbyist if do you it. And if you dont, that is against the law. But just as a as a ethical and moral matter, not legal, if he was not registered as a lobbyist, is there anything necessarily nefarious going on here with Michael Cohen taking all of this money from an Investment Bank with ties to a putin crony as well as other corporations. Straight on the top of the reporting and the surface of it, not necessarily. Again, we dont know the extent of this, though. Influence peddling happens. The problem you get at initially is the hypocrisy is the unforgivable sin in politics and he ran on draining the swamp but instead he brought in his own guys to enrich himself and the very least and the most innocent version his own people are enriching themselves based on the closeness to the presidency. And it is swampy is the best interpretation. And we know the mueller team questioned that Russian Oligarch about the alleged half Million Dollars payment to Michael Cohen and does the fact that the mueller team knew about this but still referred the Michael Cohen case to the u. S. Attorneys office for the Southern District of new york because it is outside of the purview of the mueller investigation, does that suggest to you that this is already been investigated and it has nothing to do with Russian Election interference or collusion or not necessarily. Not necessarily. Remember, the special counsel does have the ability to investigate all matters that it comes across that may have some ties or theyve come across that has a connection to the collusion investigation or the finances of other people. And so it may be that this right now is not under the purview, but to take it back at some point in time and say im interested in this particular course of action but it is important to acknowledge that right now this was one of two russians they stopped at airport outside of new york and looked at the files and asked questions and probably took the phone when they were under the jurisdictional power of the United States of america. There may be things still in the works here and im sure if im part of mueller team, that probably a little bit perturbed that Michael Avenatti has disclosed a heap of information about things that may have had to do with the oefrl investigation. But the fact it is farmed out in one category does not mean that it is not of interest in other areas and that have not yet materialized for mueller and his team. John we have to not normalize this. It is ill disagree on that. This is not simply washington influence, this is not restocking the swamp. This all occurs after weve we know that russians tried to influence the election on Donald Trumps behalf and his personal lawyer gets a payment for a half Million Dollars for services unknown at this point. Politics is perception. It doesnt take a genius to figure that out. If you are the president s personal lawyer, you dont jump at that money because it will create a ton of problems for the president and yourself and for issues of the national interest. So if greed overrides good judgment, that speaks to the culture and the character of the individuals involve and this should not be k. Street moved up to up state. And well squeeze in one quick break. What are the three americans flying back to the United States be able to reveal to United States intelligence officers. Stay with us. woman one year ago today mom started searching for her words. And my brother ray and i started searching for answers. vo when its time to navigate inhome care, follow that bright star. 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Pamela brown filed this from the white house. People never thought a thing like this could happen. Reporter team trump is flying high after success in north korea. Were honored by tfact that the three gentleman are coming home. Reporter three prisoners held by north korea regime are heading home as free men which trump announced in the surprise tweet. Im pleased to inform you that secretary of state mike pompeo is in the air and on his way back from north korea with the three wonderful gentleman that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health. The aircraft seen here at an early stop in tokyo will land at andrews tomorrow in the early morning. The president and Vice President will personally greet them. It will be quite a scene and it is very exciting because it represents something. It represents something very important to this country. Nobody thought this was going to happen. And if it did, it would be years or decades frankly. Reporter newly released detainees were arrested last spring as relations between pyongyang and the Trump Administration grew more tense. They will be met with fire and fury like the word has never seen reporter the two employees at Pyongyang University were accused of carrying out hostile acts against the regime and the third american kim dongchul had been held since 2015. Already some republican members of congress are calling for trump to get the nobel peace prize. He deserves the nobel prize. Everybody thinks so but i would never say it. Reporter a single day summit between trump and kim jongun now affirms firmly scheduled and the date and place to be announced within days. We have a good shot at making it successful, but a lot of things can happen. Reporter the spotlight on north korean relations comes one day after President Trumps bombshell announcement. The United States will withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. Reporter that decision caused international outrage. Iranian lawmakers so furious through burned american flags and copies of the agreement on the floor of parliament. Theyve got to understand Life Reporter today trump responded with athreat sure to keep the world watching. I would advise iran not to start their Nuclear Program and i would advise them very strongly. If they do, there will be very severe consequences. Reporter and unclear what the consequences would be, the president ruled out the dmz in terms of north korea where the summit would take place. Leaving singapore as a likely location for the summit between the president and kim jongun. Jake. Pamela brown at the white house. My panel is back. So phil mudd, it is not france or the european union, planning a meeting, it is President Trump and it is not russ it is iran pulling out, but he is in the world stage. You have to look at this in context. And before we say it is too significant, this reminds me of a Mission Accomplished moment remember that 15 years ago when bush lets not say Mission Accomplished. Were rewarding the north koreans for praise with releasing hostages and it wasnt that long ago when they sent home a man they murdered otto warm bi rev. And if you look at tpp, the trade deal, if you look at climate change, if you look at iran and each stage America First in my world means america isolated. Weve stepped back from the chinese and europeans and others in an effort to say our interests are more significant. That may work but i think in a globalized world you have to question how as the world gets smaller we could be more isolated. Margaret hoover said that everything thinks he deserves the nobel peace prize. That is not true. Not everybody does. We all hope the summit works. Do you think there there are elements of the trump Foreign Policy that initially seem to be working. Absolutely. You just phil just said it, by doing things differently he hasnt produced different results. You may have disagreed with the way he went about doing, it i would prefer if he renegotiated a iran deal and after france but he is producing different results and this could lead to other there is a flip side, President Trump doesnt have a lot of experience on the world stage and the flip side is he thinks hes one of the best negotiators going into this with north korea and north korea has sat across table from four american president s and not given anything. So it is unclear that just because were sitting down with him there is going to be a massive victory in a denuclearized north korea. And that is one of the things i wonder about, john, President Trump seems to sometimes give away leverage. You could argue that withdrawing from the iran deal as he did, actually gave away leverage. Sure. Because right now the decision the u. S. Is facing is the u. S. Going to sanction European Companies in iran,is the u. S. Going to make boeing pull out of the deal with iran. The tough decisions are for the president of the United States, likewise with north korea, does President Trump have more invested in a success in the north korea and south korea summit than maybe kim jongun does. That is a great question. And clearly xi in china and kim have been speaking. This is a multilateral negotiation and that is why with you drawing from the iran deal creates questions about american consistency and when it makes a deal does it stick to the deal. I do think he deserve credit for adjusting the calculus and the tough stick from trump but were a long way from getting this done so that needs to be kept in mind. There is no Mission Accomplished yet. And phil mudd, give us annoid yar an idea, the three detainees that will land in the middle of the night east coast time, what kind of information will intelligence officials be seeking from them to find out more about the rogue regime of north korea . Well, lets hold on a second here. My first question is what are their mental and physical state and what chance do they have to see family. Would you have questions after that. For example, what questions did they receive from the north korea hierarchy that talked to them and what misperceptions did they see. That is a closed society. The window into how north koreans think is substantial. Partly because we dont have a diplomatic presence there and any sense of how they view us and what kind of questions they are asking detainees will give a window on what north korea thinks about america. That is valuable. Thanks one and all. In moments it will be exactly one year since President Trump fired fbi director james comey. 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Who is the mysterious russian billionaire being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller and why would his u. S. Affiliate funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Confirmation fight. The president s pick to run the cia faces tough questions from lawmakers and vows not to allow the torture from