The latest news from around the world with hosts John Berman and Poppy Harlow. Reporter well, poppy, probably the headline at this point is, out of the earshot of the jury this morning, judge t. S. Ellis who is a veteran of these sometimes complex and controversial criminal cases in Eastern Virginia advised attorneys on both sides in an attempt obviously to avoid any prejudicial inferences being drawn by the jury, told attorneys on both sides to avoid, if they can, the use of the word oligarch. And thats important because some of the bosses and people in power in ukraine have been referred to as oligarchs. Obviously the meaning of oligarch is a member of a Power Structure in which the power rests with the few, as opposed to suggestion or inference that an oligarch might be a criminal. This case is the Defense Strategy and the Defense Strategy here, susan, is my client, Paul Manafort, knew nothing, did nothing wrong, hands are clean. It was all his deputy, rick gates. Thats a bold move,
Analysis and discussion of the days top stories and compelling issues from Lawrence ODonnell. Beforehand. Rudy giulianis answer to that was, nobody can be sure of anything. With Defense Lawyers like that, who needs prosecutors . So why Hasnt Donald Trump replaced his weak, Tv Defense Lawyer who is doing a terrible job of defending donald trump . Well, there are a few real possibilities and rational possibilities for that. One is that donald trump doesnt know what good lawyering looks like and sounds like. After all Michael Cohen was Donald Trumps lawyer for years. The same Michael Cohen who Rudy Giuliani now describes this way. The way is unethical. Is a scum bag. He is a horrible person. Will Donald Trumps next lawyer be describing Rudy Giuliani that way some day . Another reason he has not been fired is that it is actually impossible to do a better job of defending donald trump. That might just be it. It is impossible to do any better than giuliani has done. He goes into Tv Interview
Coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Former Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manafort is on trial. Charges predate the Trump Campaign but could have ramifications for the campaign if he is convicted and could face up to 10 years. Lets take a look at some evidence presented by the Special Counsel against Paul Manafort. Case stands on two basic legs. One that manafort Made Tens Of Millions working for ukrainian politicians and russian oligarchs that he never paid taxes on and two that he took out fraudulent loans from u. S. Banks. Manafort spent upward of there is 14 million to buy several properties in alexandria, virginia, landscaping, housekeeping and Home Improvements done to boost the value of the homes. Then allegedly inflated his worth on loan applications like this one, taking out even more money. As the Specialty Counsel put it, he created cash out of thin air. He spent more than 1. 4 million at Clothing Stores in new york and and beverly hills. T
2 00 p. M. In washington where today the president s lawyers are scrambling to clarify his tweets. It is unusual since the president s lawyers dont respond so quickly to clarify anything, he says, which makes you wonder if the tweet in question got them worried. In a series of official president ial statements, remember the white house has called his tweets official statements, trump called the russia probe a disgrace to the usa and seemed to demand his Attorney General put an end to it. Quote, Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this rigged witch hunt right now before it continues to stain our country any further. As reported in the New York Times last week, Special Counsel Rocky Mountain is keepi m rob Robert Mueller is keeping an eye on the president s twitter. No, say the president s lawyers. Katy Tur hosts coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Clinton campaign, and the indictment of 13 russians and three entities who allegedly used a Sophi
Chris Hayes discusses the days top news. Of these things is still playing out. One of the things that has happened is we have seen an escalation against mueller. This was crossing a line he has not crossed before. This is the closest he has come to a direct order to stop an investigation into himself and the campaign. And not only that, he is doing it as an fbi agent is on the stand testifying. It is still amazing and i dont think we should lose track of either of those things, they are both remarkable and both frankly what we have seen before. It has been hard. And we are looking through the Mueller Investigation through a straw and we get the king of unreliable narrators. What do we know in terms of the back and forth. A lot of today was about
gam gamesmanship. They dont want to say absolutely not we will not do an interview. So this is part of the gamesmanship. Mueller is saying, okay, we will take some of the questions off the table. Would you please sit down with us. And frankly i