And no american president has ever said yes before. So i dont think we have any idea how theyre going to behave between now and when this meeting is ultimately going to happen because this is such a bizarre turn. Whatever anybody thought was going to happen between trump and north korea, i think the idea of just a nostrings meeting, giving the north koreans this thing they wanted for decades, i dont think anybody thought this was going to happen. Certainly Rex Tillerson and the state department didnt think it was going to happen as late as this afternoon. I dont know what to say about whats going to happen over the next few months. I may be extra eager to be hopeful in this arena because as you know i own a house on the pacific coast. And i just painted my garage. And it would be such a shame if anything were to happen to that garage. I am a fan of the whole pacific region. I feel the same way my friend. We like to keep the thing intact as it is now. From your mouth to gods ears. Let it be true that this is something that is going to lead to a period of peace or a maybe a longstanding march toward a more peaceful future. I dont know. At this point i cant believe he said yes. Later in the program we will be playing bill clintons moment where he thought he had some kind of deal like this and, of course, nothing came of that. Exactly. Well see. Thank you, rachel. Thanks, lawrence. Well, first there was fire and furry Michael Wolffs best selling book detailing chaos, which led to Robert Mueller interviewing the books main source, steve bannon. Then the update to gateskeepers that focussed on Reince Priebus and how Reince Priebus reversed the president s order firing attorney general jeff sessions, an important revelation to a possible obstruction of justice case against donald trump. Surely that book was of interest to the special prosecutor. And today, Robert Mueller has a new must read book. David corn and michael isikoffs russian roulette they released the first excerpt from their upcoming book which sheds new light on Donald Trumps ties to russia. Particularly the time period around 2013 and the Miss Universe pageant in moscow. You have the Miss Universe pageant youre going to hold it in russia. Its november 9th. To coincide with the upcoming olympics. Have you had any dealings with russia. I have a lot of business dealings in russia. Yes, that was the longest necktie in the history of the David Letterman show. In russia roulette they could find no evidence that donald trump met Vladimir Putin. But there is plenty of evidence that donald trump was eager to meet Vladimir Putin four months before, telling David Letterman that he met Vladimir Putin once, donald trump tweeted within do you think putin will be going to the Miss Universe pageant in november in moscow, if so, will he become my new best friend . My new best friend, that was Donald Trumps ambition for Vladimir Putin. Thats how what he wanted Vladimir Putin to become in his life. His new best friend. According to russian roulette trump had for years longed to develop a glittering trump tower in moscow. Trump realized he could attain none of his dreams in moscow without forging a bond with the former kgb lieutenant colonel. Vladimir putin did not attend the trump Miss Universe pageant in moscow but shortly after he returned from moscow, a billionaire russian real estates daughter showed up at the new york city city Office Bearing a gift for trump from putin. It was a black lacquered box, inside was a sealed letter from the russian autocrat. What the letter said has never been revealed. If special prosecutor Robert Mueller didnt know about that letter before reading about it today in that excerpt of the new book russian roulette, the special prosecutor will surely want to get his hands on that letter now. The book reveals a meeting in trump tower in january 2015, that was a precur sor to the meeting in trump tower with russian officials during the campaign. In january of 2015, nearly a year after putins invasion in ukraine, trump had agalarov and goldstone as guests to his office in trump tower, a meeting that was never publically revealed during the investigations that followed the 2016 election. While they chatted, trump was encouraging emin, who had performed at the Miss Universe pageant, maybe next time youll perform at the white house. In june 2016, goldstone would return to trump tower this time escorting a russian led delegation offering potentially derogatory information on Hillary Clinton courtesy of the kremlin to top officials of the Trump Campaign. Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort was in that meeting hoping to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. And today Paul Manafort picked up a second ankle bracelet. He pleaded not guilty in a Virginia Federal Court to charges of bank fraud and conspiracy. Thats a separate case to the one manafort has already pleaded not guilty in. So the second not guilty plea earned him a second ankle bracelet today. Prosecutor Andrew Weissman whos the tax expert said the prosecution is ready to go to trial soon, adding this about the manafort tax fraud case, quote, i dont think its complicated. Manaforts defense lawyer countered with, i think it is complicated. He asked that the trial be delayed until at least november. The judge set a trial date of july 10th. A washington d. C. Court had had already set a trial date of september 17th for the first set of indictments returned against Paul Manafort. Joining us now curt anderson, host of the radio program, studio 360. Also with us eugene watson, writer for the Washington Post. And david k. Johnston. Hes the author of the book, its even worse than you think, what the Trump Administration is doing to america. David i want to start with you as a student of trump businesses, what we learned today in the russian roulette excerpt is as, i think, a clear and explanation toward trumps attitude toward russian sanctions as weve seen yet because those sanctions came while he was in the mid lg of trying to set up the deal for a trump tower in moscow. When that collapsed because of the sanctions, Rob Goldstone is quoted in the book saying, rob suspected the demise of trumps project influenced trumps view of sanctions. They had interrupted a business deal that trump was keenly interested in. David that seems like a simple explanation of the trump attitude toward sanctions. And i think its a logical and sensible explanation. It helps us also understand some of the antipathy that donald trump has for the Obama Administration because if he thought he was about to get this deal that he longed for and lusted for for so long and it comes apart, thats going to upset him. The excerpt, i feel like if we were gold miners we realized theres a new vein off in another direction we need to dig through because theres more gold here to be mined. Gene there are details about setting up the Miss Universe ma gent in moscow and whats involved in that. Theres one quote here this is someone from the pageant saying, we all knew the event was approved by putin. An official later said you cant pull off Something Like this in russia unless putin says its okay. Trump would only be making money in russia because putin was permitting him to do so. Gene, there we see where Donald Trumps first real engagement with putin world occurred. Yeah we do. I think, my understanding of the way russia works, thats certainly true, you dont make that kind of money and put on that sort of event in moscow without his permission and his support. But the letter in the black box, thats what i want to see. Thats amazing. Maybe it was just sorry i missed you in moscow, you know, well run into each other some other time. Or maybe it was something more substantive than that. I certainly want to see that letter. I guess Robert Mueller does, too. Yes, and theres real detail in here about what the financing was going to be for this trump tower in moscow. And the book excerpt says this about it, it says, the Stateowned Bank announced it struck a Cooperation Agreement with the group to finance about 70 of a project that would include a tower bearing the trump name if the deal went ahead, trump would officially be doing business with moscow and the russian government. A letter of intent to build the new trump tower was signed by the Trump Organization and agalarovs company. It was the obama sanctions that ended it up. It was the obama sanctions as well as the incursion into crimea and ukraine. Three ms after the Miss Universe pageant where donald trump was desperate to meet Vladimir Putin, which didnt happen then. One can see in terms of that quick ajay sen si the pageant, his hopes high, and then it falling apart because his would be pal putin invaded crimea and ukraine. The other thing i find so interesting from the book is the Ron Goldsmith beat who was there making the deal for the Miss Universe pageant in moscow. And then it was there in 2015 and then again in the famous 2016 meeting. Hes seemed like a comic secondary character. He has reported to the Senate Intelligence committee and has expressed a willingness to talk to mueller. Ill be interest today see how he figures. I have a hunch he may be more than this funny comic relief character. I share the opinion of gold stone in the book. He seems to be a cooperative source in the book but he is in the room for some of the key moments. The comfort and familiarity that the trumps have with goldstone as we saw in the emails from june of 2016 suggests that theres a lot more connection here than were aware of. Yeah and gene, of course, donald trump his involvement in a beauty pageant has many dimensions. Its not just about making money. He also involved himself in personally picking the winners. I want to read this passage of it. This was trumps chance to review the contestants and exercise an option he always retained under the rules of his pageants to overrule the selection of judges and pick the contestants he wanted among the finalists. In short no woman was a finalist until trump said so. If there were too many women of color he would make changes, a staffer later noted. If he didnt like a woman because she looked too ethic. You could sometimes purr suede him by telling him she was a princess and married to a football player, a staffer later explained. The view of beauty through Donald Trumps eyes. Why am i not surprised . Its the way you would imagine donald trump would comport himself running a beauty pageant. Speaking of donald trump comporting himself, theres also the question of what Extracurricular Activities he got up to in his time in moscow and, you know, maybe maybe there are characters in the story who can throw more light on that that hasnt already been covered by the dossier. So lets ask mr. Goldstone and others about that as well. Curt, keith schillers story is in this book that night in moscow where he says he stood outside the door of the hotel room for a while to make sure that no one went in there but then at a certain point he left and he cant say what happened in that hotel room for the entire night. And again, its interesting, isnt it, this weekend of the miss usa pageant in las vegas where the deal was signed and settled, it was just the tuesday following that weekend where donald trump does what is to me his famous tweet saying, well, will Vladimir Putin become my new best friend, as you mentioned at the beginning of the show, when i go to moscow. So this is one more instance of you cant make it up. Its so beyond any fictional version of reality, but as we find with donald trump, with revelation after revelation, it is it is its extraordinary. I mean, if he were looking not to leave a trail of suspicious activity, this is the opposite of that procedure. Curt anderson, david k. Johnston, gene, thank you all for joining us tonight. The president is reportedly furious with his press secretary because she said too much about his confidentiality agreement with Stormy Daniels, which among other things forbids Stormy Daniels from revealing any video images and still images that she has of donald trump. And it also forbids her from discussing, quote, paternity information, end quote, about donald trump. Corey lewandowski was back in front of the house Intelligence Committee today and like some of his other trump teammates including his former hope hicks, he refused to answer questions. Congressman jim himes will join us. [burke] at farmers, weve seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. Even close claws. [driver] so, we took your shortcut, which was a bad idea. [cougar growling] [passenger] what are you doing . [driver] i cant believe that worked. I dropped the keys. [burke] and we covered it. Talk to farmers, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. 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Lewandowski had with the president about the potential of firing bob mueller. Witnesses dont get to pick and choose when it comes to very relevant testimony to our investigation. So we requested a subpoena. Corey lewandowski was the Trump Campaign manager when a group of russians went to a trump tower meeting. Corey lewandowski left his wife and children in New Hampshire while he was working on the Trump Campaign. He then embarked on an extramarital affair with hope hicks, who he met on the Trump Campaign. Hope hicks was famously involved in the drafting of false statements to the New York Times about that the trump tower meeting with russians. That statement was drafted on air force one with President Trump a year after the meeting in trump tower when the New York Times began pressing for details about the meeting. When hope hicks testified to the committee, she too refused to answer questions related to that trump tower meeting. When steve bannon met with the committee, he refused to answer most of the committees questions. The top democrat on the committee announced today that he would like to have eric prince return for another appearance before the committee after last nights reporting in the Washington Post that his january 2017 meeting in the seychelless was a planned effort to establish a back channel to russia. Erik prince told the committee that his meeting was a purely coincidental encounter in a bar. The meeting that erik prince had with the russian banker was not happenen stance, its at odds with what we heard in the testimony before the house Intelligence Committee. Joining us now is congressman jim himes. We have more reporting tonight from the wall street journal about that meeting, which he reported to you happened by happen stance. But it was reported as planned. And now the wall street journal reporting that mr. Muellers investigators have heard testimony from a witness that the donor, erik prince, wasnt introduced to the russian by intermediaries as he had told the house panel, the people said. So it looks like the intermediaries had nothing to do with it, according to the reporting we have most recently. Thats the area you want to followup with with erik prince . Thats right. This new reporting, and theres not communication between the congressional investigations and bob muellers investigation. But this new reporting and this new shadowy character, george nader, who apparently if reports are to be believed was at that meeting and there was some allegation that perhaps that meeting was designed in advance partly again, this is allegation to open a line of communications with the russians, that is a story, if it is true, im reading the same press reports that you are, if that is true, that is radically at odds with what mr. Prince told the committee, and i dont feel badly saying that because that transcript has been made public and the public can look at what he said. He basically said, if i might summarize. I was wandering around the lobby of the hotel, went and grabbed a beer with the guy, we e talked a little bit and i moved on. So we would like to know if he was being honest with the committee and if not what that meeting, in fact, was all about. What do you have to do to get him back as a witness . My suspicion would be if you read the transcript he wasnt a particularly friendly witness. My suspicion is that we would have to subpoena him. This gets to the a larger issue about what is the republican majority in the house willing to do, not just mr. Prince, are they willing to have a subpoena because we have the possibility that he was not honest with the United States congress, but are they willing to push back on all the other areas in which witnesses have thumbed their nose at the United States congress. We have this broad assertion of executive privilege from steve bannon, from hope hicks, where they say were not talking at all about our time in the white house or during the transition. An unprecedented privilege. This is not just an antitrump, protrump fight. This is a precedent for the United States congress. There will come a time when the republicans want to do an investigation, where if anyone can come in and say im not answering those questions because i dont feel like it or whatever, you have badly damaged the ability of the congress to do investigations. And what this goes to the question of Corey Lewandowskis testimony too. He refused to answer questions apparently today, and the remedies for that, i guess, are the same issue can you subpoena him . Will the republicans agree to subpoena him . Again, you heard from adam schiff, so i dont think im speaking out of school when i say that, yes, mr. Lewandowski and his attorney basically decided they wouldnt answer any questions that they did not determine were relevant to our investigation. Now they werent under subpoena, so theres a whole conversation what youre required to do when you appear voluntarily. But again, there is no way that either mr. Lewandowski or his attorney, who are not privy to any of the operations or history or evidence that has been presented to the congress theres no way they can make a judgment of relevarelevancy. So my republican friends need to make a decision. I understand the investigation is steeped in bipartisan ferver. But they need to make a decision whether they want the congress some day they will want to work their magic on a democratic president , on a Hillary Clinton, do they want Hillary Clinton to come and say im not answering your questions because i dont deem them to be relevant to your investigation . Representative jim himes, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you, lawrence. It looks like the leader of north korea is getting what leaders of north korea have always wanted a meeting with the president of the United States. The New York Times nice las christophe who has reported from inside north korea will join us. And who is the president s biggest problem now . The president is apparently very angry about Stormy Danielss appearance and reporters questions and more angry about his press secretarys answers. I know when i hand them the keys to their first car its gonna be scary. But i also know that were gonna have usaa insurance for both my boys. Its something that theyre not even gonna have to think of. Its just gonna be in the family. Were the tenneys and were usaa members for life. On the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort, your sleep number setting. Does your bed do that . Its the last chance for clearance savings up to 600 on our most popular beds. Ends soon. Visit sleepnumber. Com for a store near you. So, howell. Going . We had a vacation early in our marriage that kinda put us in a hole. Go someplace exotic . Yeah, bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. What . What happened . I got a little overconfident on a moped. Even with insurance, we had to dip into our 401 k so it set us back a little bit. Sometimes you dont have a choice. But it doesnt mean you cant get back on track. Great. Yeah, great. Id like to go back to bermuda. I hear its nice. Yeah, id like to see it. No judgment. Just guidance. Td ameritrade. Tonight the president accepted an invitation to meet with north Korean Leader kim jongun. South korean officials were at the white house today they briefed the president , Vice President , National Security advisor on south koreas talks with north korea. I told President Trump that now meeting north Korean Leader kim jongun said hes committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that north korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises within the republic of korea and the United States must continue. He is eager to meet with President Trump as soon as possible. President trump said he would meet kim jongun by may to achieve permanent denuclearization. Shortly after that announcement the white house released a statement confirming that the president will meet with kim jongun. He will accept the invitation to meet with kim jongun at a place and time to be determined. If youre feeling a bit of deja vu about this, it could be because of this. Today, after 16 months of intense and difficult negotiations with north korea, we have completed an agreement that will make the United States, the korean peninsula, and the world safer. Under the agreement north korea has agreed to freeze its existing Nuclear Program and to accept International Inspection of all existing facilities. This agreement represents the first step on the road to a nuclearfree korean peninsula. Joining us now Nicholas Christophe columnist for the New York Times who has reported inside korea at least three times. Your reaction to the news. Its extraordinary to go from threatening to comparing Nuclear Buttons to then promising a summit with kim jongun. And i think frankly its a dangerous gamble and a bad idea. In some ways i cant believe im saying that because for years ive been arguing that we need to have direct talks between the u. S. And north korea. But direct talks are one thing, and we need to have those negotiations. But any summit should be carefully preceded by by going through what the rules are. And this is essentially a gift to north korea. North korea craves the recognition. It wants to be seen with its leader standing side by side with an american president. And its fine to have that as the outcome of a long process where we get what we want, but to give that away without getting anything back at the beginning i think is a mistake. I guess i also worry that President Trump, as weve seen in negotiations, will periodically assert something and if thats in the context of a discussion about budgets or gun policy, then his staff can walk it back later and said well, he didnt quite mean that. In International Diplomacy working out a deal with kim jongun, that may be harder to walk back. Whats the difference between 1994 where we saw bill clinton feel himself on the verge of something similar and where we are tonight . Crucially, bill clinton did not actually go to north korea. The agreed framework was worked out by diplomats over the course of many months and during the negotiations, he president clinton required the north koreans to stop reprocessing at their Nuclear Power plant, and in the end, of course, the agreed framework did not work out. The u. S. Has some responsibility for their failure, north korea has plenty, too, they were cheating on that as well. So there are reasons to be skeptical. We should have engagement and we should be trying to solve the nuclear crisis. So, you know, if this were if he were sending mike pompeo to pyongyang to talk about denuclearization to work toward a summit, that would be great. But right off the bat, giving them a summit, it makes me worried. Barack obama in his First Campaign for president said he would be willing to have direct discussions with north korea without preconditions. I think that is like wise a mistake. I have somewhat more confidence in president obamas ability to follow a script and not suddenly go off course and promise things than i do in President Trump, but, you know, in either case, i think that a president ial visit is a huge gift to the north korean regime, it legitimizes the regime. So its something to work toward. Something that we can deliver in exchange for things that they want. But it shouldnt be something that we just give away without even i mean, for example, there are three americans who are still held prisoner in north korea. A starting point should be a commitment for them to be released. And what about the the notion that north korea has promised to stop Nuclear Testing and their missile testing in the meantime. Isnt that some kind of concession . That really is important. And its i think that is the most significant part of this, plus the fact that they accept we will have military exercises going ahead. So you do see what might be the outlines of an agreement. And that would involve their freeze on testing. But again, this should be an agreement to be hammered out by maybe hr mcmaster and north korean officials, and then sealed by the president. Rather than simply having President Trump sit down over dinner with kim jongun and willy nilly agreeing to who knows what. Nicholas christophe, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Good to be with you, lawrence. Well, so far in the battle of the White House Press secretary versus Stormy Daniels, the White House Press secretary is losing, especially on Donald Trumps score card. Needles. Essential for vinyl, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. Tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Needles. A must for vinyl. But for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. An unjection™. The president is reportedly very unhappy about his press secretarys performance yesterday. The president is apparently very happy when his press secretary sticks to her two standard rules of performance, number one, lying. And number two, pleading ignorance. I havent spoken to the president about that, is the press secretarys most frequent reply. And sometimes that reply surely is also a lie. So it combines both of the principles of a successful trump White House Press briefing at once. But yesterday Sarah Sanders took one giant step beyond her usual professed ignorance when she was asked about the president s relationship with Stormy Daniels. The president has addressed these directly and made very well clear that none of these allegations are true. This case has already been won in arbitration, and anything beyond that i would refer you to the president s outside counsel. You said that theres arbitration thats already been won . By whom and when. By the president s personal attorneys. For details i would refer you to them. But youre aware of them. I would refer you that it was won in the president s favor and refer you to the president s outside counsel for any details beyond that. The arbitration was won in the president s favor. That is what the president is reportedly very upset about, that Sarah Sanders admitted that the secret arbitration over a confidentiality agreement with Stormy Daniels was won in the president s saying that. In saying that she has given official white house confirmation to what we knew. That the confidentiality agreement signed by Donald Trumps lawyer and Stormy Daniels was written to protect donald trump who was referred to in the confidentiality agreement by the alias david dennison. As Stormy Danielss lawyer insisted last night on this program, the arbitration process no longer governs this agreement because Donald Trumps lawyer violated the confidentiality of the agreement by talking about the agreement publically, and donald trump never signed the agreement. The confidentiality agreement is now an exhibit in Stormy Danielss lawsuit against donald trump. Paige 5 of the agreement lists four names of people who Stormy Daniels said already knew about her relationship with donald trump before she signed this agreement. According to a cnn report, the second name on that list, angel ryan is the actress jessica drake, who is one of the women who came forward during the president ial campaign accusing donald trump of kissing her without permission and offering her 10,000 in exchange for sex. The same year that donald trump began his relationship with Stormy Daniels. And right around the same time. As i mentioned last night with Stormy Daniels lawyer, the confidentiality agreement also contains some stunning details about exactly what donald trump is trying to keep secret, including video images, still images, and information about Donald Trumps sexual conduct, as well as this, which is the bombshell phrase in the confidentiality agreement, quote, paternity information. So what does the president want the White House Press secretary to say when she is asked why does the president s confidentiality agreement with Stormy Daniels forbid her to reveal paternity information . Well see if former White House Press secretary josh ernst has any good ideas about how to handle that question next. Dont we need that cable box to watch tv . Nope. Dont we need to run . Nope. It just explodes in a high pitched yeahhh. yeahhh try directv now for 10 a month for 3 months. No satellite needed. Lepick out the car of youring to let choice. Of you and you say, well, whats the catch . The catch is that its the only car youre going to get in your entire lifetime. Now what are you going to do knowing thats the only car youre ever going to have . And you love that car. Youre going to take care of it like you cannot believe. Now what id like to suggest. Youre not going to get only one car in your lifetime. But you are going to get only one body. And only one mind. And that body and mind feels terrific right now but it has to last you a lifetime. Istart at the new carfax. Comar. Show me minivans with no reported accidents. Boom. Love it. [struggles] show me the carfax. Start your used car search at the allnew carfax. Com. At some point, lawrence, the president of the United States needs to answer the very basic questions relating to his relationship with ms. Daniels. He needs to do so just like bill clinton did, just like gary hart did, just like countless other politicians have done over the last 30 years, period. Thats Stormy Danielss lawyer who appeared on this program at this hour last night. Joining us now josh ernst, former press secretary for president obama. Youre here because i wanted the best. I wanted the best press secretary, ive never seen anyone better at that podium in the briefing room. And i just want to see how you would handle the questions that come out of this confidentiality agreement, which is now public, including some of the questions that i tweeted today, which would be why does the president have a confidentiality agreement with Stormy Daniels ordering her to turn over video images, still images, created by donald trump . Thats just question number one. How how is the press secretary supposed to handle this . You reading about this, about the president s dissatisfaction with the way that Sarah Sanders handled this line of questioning in the briefing, it reminded me of a question i faced in the briefing room. No it didnt. Stop there. Theres never any questions about Stormy Daniels in an obama briefing. You lost me completely. Sorry. Its preposterous, right . Of course president obama never did anything this embarrassing or potentially illegal. So this is, obviously, uncharted territory. Theres no denying that ms. Sanders is in a very difficult situation here. Look, lawrence, the first thing that you should do when youre speaking on behalf of the president of the United States and you know that youre talking about something thats very important and knowing that its something that he himself cares personally about, you should go talk to him about it. Thats the thing thats particularly peculiar about all of this, lawrence, is that everybody in washington is talking about this story. Journalists are asking the White House Press secretary on Live Television asking her to talk about this story, but there are two people in washington, d. C. , that are not talking about this story, thats the president of the United States and his spokesperson. And thats a problem. I had a trick for this when i first started as a spokesperson for the president in the white house. When i was the deputy press secretary, i often traveled with the president which meant that i would brief reporters on the back of air force one. I would often travel with the president on the helicopter from the white house to Andrews Air Force base where hed get on the plane, id do the briefing. On that helicopter flight id often lean over to the president and say, mr. President , these are a couple of questions i expect to get at the briefing today, how do you think i should handle them . Ah, yes. The first is that i knew id be saying the thing i knew hed want me to say. I was just talking to the president about this and and then id be able to give the answer in a way that would enhance greatly my credibility. It would convince these reporters down the line that maybe we should Pay Attention to what this guy has to say because he seems to be spending a lot of time talking about these issues with the president of the United States. It would be a much more effective advocate in addition to making sure i do a good job in representing the president of the United States. This is the one controversy where the president was staying out of it. Stormy daniels is the only woman the president has not attacked. Donald trump has never denied anything that Stormy Daniels has said about him. Donald trumps never denied anything that Stormy Daniels lawyer has said about him. So Sarah Sanders apparently yesterday crossed the line for the president when she acknowledged that that confidentiality agreement was written for him by his own lawyer, and its an agreement to keep Stormy Daniels quiet about the following things alleged sexual partners, alleged sexual actions or alleged sexual conduct, related matters or paternity information. And the question to her is why does the president have a confidentiality agreement with Stormy Daniels about those subjects . Where can she go in the future questions that we know are coming about this . Its not obvious where she can go. I think the only thing she can do is what she often does when asked about the russia investigation, which is to refer all these questions to the president s attorney. And look, i think there is an artful way for her to potentially say, look, i wasnt working for the president of the United States when this agreement was drawn up, and you should go talk to the attorney who drew it up. But josh, one thing she does continue to lie about is she does repeatedly say the president has denied this involvement with Stormy Daniels. And in fact, he has never denied this particular womans claims about him. Yeah. Yeah, look, she is there are times where she hasnt been particularly precise in describing certain facts of what the president has said and hasnt said. Thats an occupational hazard working for somebody who says lots of Different Things that arent actually true and that he doesnt really mean. Josh earnest, the last words master of diplomatic. Tonights last word is next. Next chapter tripadvisor compares prices from over 200 booking sites to time to bask. In low prices find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. Refreshing, isnt it . Tripadvisor. Theres so much goodness it makes us feel alive. It illuminates our world and connects us to each other. With transitions® adaptive lenses® youll live the good light. They block uv rays. Plus they help protect from harmful blue light. Both indoors. And out. Enjoy life more comfortably. Enjoy life more richly. Live the good light. Find an eyecare professional at transitions. Com time for tonights last word. President trump promised that his tariffs on steel and aluminum would be applied in, quote, a loving way. Yeah, congratulations, President Trump. You can even make tariffs creepy. No ones ever done that before. Get your tariffs off me. Exactly. Conan and andy get tonights last word. And the last word is tariffs, and in Brian Williams hour coming up, youre going to hear more about whats happening on tariffs, what the president decided to do today after threatening to put on a worldwide tariff on steel and aluminum, he changed that somewhat. The 11th hour with Brian Williams starts now. Tonight with the news dominated by a important star, a potential trade war, the president agrees to meet with the north korean dictator. The surprise announcement in the white house driveway by the delegation of south koreans. Well speak with one of the few americans who has negotiated with the north. Plus former Trump Campaign chair Paul Manafort now wearing a second ankle bracelet after pleading not guilty in another Court Appearance today. The president s contacts with his witnesses. And by moving on tariffs, trump goes against his own party, some on his own staff, and its still just thursday as the 11th hour begins now. And good evening, once agai