russian-linked ads which reached 10 million people in 2015 and 2016. while of course we have no way of knowing if they did affect the ultimate vote, trump did beat clinton by just 10,700 votes out of of nearly 5 million cast in michigan. the closest race in the country. now, wisconsin is also one of the tightest states where trump won by 22,700 votes. and we expect to hear more about these ads and the potential impact when the senate intelligence committee leaders provide an update about their own investigation, about the extent of russian meddling and whether or not there was any collusion from trump associates. and, alyson, the number two republican in the senate, john cornyn said these are the tip of the iceberg. thank you for sharing your exclusive reporting with all of us. joining us now is democratic senator richard blumenthal who
have been reduced by 40% as a result of tough restrictions. i think we have reached a tipping point, alyson. i think we have moved the needle on public opinion registering with congress. and my hope is that a number of my colleagues who said the bump stocks at the very least ought to be band would support this common sense measure and background checks. do you think the president would support let s just start easy. do you think the president would support the bump stock being banned? my hope is that the president will go to las vegas today and really demonstrate leadership and courage, that he will offer. but prayers and condolences are not enough. and i hope he will propose a plan on bump stocks or sliding mechanisms as they are known
his visit to puerto rico. he tweeted a great day in puerto rico yesterday while some of the news coverage is face, most showed great warmth and friendship. let s talk about that. we have cnn political analyst gregory and editor at large chris solizza. i think it s fair to say that you were critical of how the president was, you know, throwing paper towels. that his tone didn t seem to necessarily fit the tragedy, the hue plmanitarian crisis there. the only local politician we can find that is critical of president trump is the san juan mayor. she felt it wasn t sensitive. reporter: to say i was critical is an understatement. that thank you for that, alyson. look, i just think the thing
from somebody in the orbit of the trump campaign who would know enough that s where they ought to focus their effort. that is clearly what special prosecutor and congress will look at. this highlights the ugliness of what kpufexists online and how google and facebook can be exploited. we have seen it in the aftermath of the las vegas shooting as well. fake stories can be proliferated, created such ugliness and push on the open door of enough people in our society willing to believe that and who have such little faith in institutions from government to media that this kind of thing can take root. okay. gentlemen, thank you very much for the perspective on both of these stories. obviously our top story is what s happening in las vegas and the aftermath. that s where we find chris on the ground there. chris? reporter: and it s all related, though, right, alyson?
reporter: good morning, alyson. a number of ads that appeared during the election season were targeting michigan and wisconsin. these are two states critical to donald trump. the ads were intended to promote anti-muslim messages, suggesting muslims were a threat to the american way of life. now, it has been unclear until now exactly which regions of the country were targeted by these russia-linked facebook ads. they appeared in areas not heavily contested in the election. some were aimed at swaying public opinion in the most heavily protected battle grounds. sources have seen these facebook ads and they have seized on the second is amendment and starting to prop up and criticize groups like black lives matter as part of an overall effort to meddle in the elections. m manu, is the evidence