Anderson Cooper takes viewers beyond the headlines with indepth reporting and investigations. His plea agreement, including that he stole some hundreds of thousands of dollars from Paul Manafort, rick gates did, by filing false expense claims. So really, just a long list. It was remarkable to be there in the courtroom as rick gates over the course of 80 minutes detailing that long list of alleged crimes. So allegedly, theyre both Stealing Money through not paying taxes and other means, and then gates is also Stealing Money from manafort . Thats exactly right. So you have listen, this is one of those cases when i was inside there, anderson, having followed a mob priel or two, it struck me as you had the case of the bob boss there with his capo testifying against him. Of course in many cases like this, the person who is gates witness doesnt have the cleanest record himself. And that certainly holds true for rick gates. I should mention he also pleaded guilty to lying to federal prosecutors that is something you can expect the defense to bring up when they have their
chance to question him. One final note i would make, anderson, is there you had Paul Manafort at the defendants table. About ten feet away was rick gates facing 90 degrees to him. Rick gates did not make contact with Paul Manafort. But Paul Manafort sitting there with his arms crossed did not let his gaze leave the face of rick gates as he was making these claims. He was not happy. He was very stressed. You could sense some anger in his eyes as he was watching rick gates give this testimony against him. Wow. And more from gates tomorrow. Jim sciutto, thanks very much. I want to bring in our legal team, former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers and another former federal prosecutor, cnn analyst Renato Mariotti renato, you said rick gates was the most important gates in the Manafort Trial by far. There was an accountant in the past days. How damaging was his testimony today saying he lied at the direction of mr. Man forkts and he al because the defense was going to
bring i want, prosecutors wanted to get it out that he lied to manafort and stole from manafort and broke the law . Well, very important testimony, anderson. Theres no question that it was important. One of the key things that gates did is he said on the witness stand that he committed crimes along with Paul Manafort. I will tell you from my experience trying white collar cases, it is always very damaging to the defendant when a flipper, a cooperator like mr. Gates takes the stand and says i committed crimes. So did that man, and heres how we did it together. So thats something very help to feel the prosecution. But as you point out, there is all of this baggage that comes along with gates. I think the defenses argument is going to be that if mr. Gates was able to hide his embezzlement and theft from mr. Manafo manafort, what else could he have been hiding . He is the real mastermind. He is the guy who is the real wrongdoer. They preview pthat. There is some evidence that doesnt rely on mr. Gates that also points that manafort was committing crimes. Thats what theyre going have to focus on explaining away. But in the meantime, take down gates is job one for the defense. Jennifer, to talk about some of the other evidence, you already had the accountant testifying that gates instructed her to do things which were illegal, and that she went along with it. Thats right. And, you know, the prosecutors were careful to draw out from all of those witnesses that it wasnt just gates, it was manafort too. So they would ask them who did you communicate with, who gave you these orders . Did you check with manafort, even fit was gates who gave you the order in the first place. And we heard time and time again that, yes, manafort was involved. He was on top of all of these transaction, even if it was rick gates kind of giving the initial orders. That was all part of this corroboration that the prosecutors are laying the groundwork for so they can tell the jury, listen, you heard from rick gates. He told you a to z how these crimes were committed. But dont forget he corroborated including the financial records and the testimony of all of
these witnesses who said manafort knew. It was manaforts deal. He was involved from day one. Renato, in your experience, when a defendant is put on by the prosecution and says or a witness is put on by the prosecution and says yeah, i broke the laws, i committed crimes and i did it with this guy, just as you said, how effective is that in undercutting the defenses argument, which is how you cant trust this guy because he committed crimes, and he just admitted he committed crimes as hes got a deal . I think its very effective because it takes away the th thunder from the crossexamine. They know the defense in their opening went after gates, said he was the real bad guy. So theyre expecting to hear some real dirt on rick gates. And if theyve already heard it all already, if the defense
questioning just sounds like its repeating what the prosecutor already said, it really takes a lot of the thunder out of it. And thats why prosecutors do it. We called it fronting. And thats what prosecutors do all the time. Jennifer, do you agree fronting works . Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Because, you know, you got to get it all out there. You dont want any surprises on cross. Theyll beat him up for a while about youre a liar, youre a criminal, blah, blah, blah. But theyve heard it all before. At some point, if they get too aggressive, then the jury starts to feel sorry for your cooperator. And thats really the last thing the defense wants. So they have to be a little careful with that. Renato, what do you think gates is going to talk about tomorrow . He is back on the stand tomorrow. He wasnt really on the stand for all that long, a couple of hours today. What do you think we can expect . I think the prosecution is going to walk through all of their evidence with gates. Theyll walk through the emails with manafort, ask him to interpret those emails. What did you understand manafort to mean when he said that . What were you saying to
manafort, back and forth . Walking through each one of the counts, each one of the charges to manafort and explaining what was happening and how it works. Theyll really use it almost like a preview of a closing argument, allowing the jury to see how Rick Gates Interfaced with all the evidence, having him explain as an insider how the scheme worked. Renato mariotti, appreciate it. Jennifer rodgers as well. More now on the star witness, how he became one and how he got in a position to be so valuable for the mueller team. Randi kaye has more on that. Reporter rick gates, a 45yearold father of four, was once a senior aide to Donald Trumps campaign. He entered trumps orbit through Paul Manafort, trumps former Campaign Chairman. Gates and manafort met in the 1980s when gates interned at manaforts lobbying firm. Gates teamed up with his old boss again in 2006 at manaforts new firm to do business in the ukraine as lobbyists and political consultants. A decade later, in 2016, manafort joined the Trump Campaign and brought his trusted
reporter things only got worse. In october last year, Gates Surrender after being indicted by a federal grand jury. Court filings exposed what prosecutors describe as an 11year scheme in which gates and manafort laundered tens of millions of dollars they made doing foreign lobbying work. Prosecutors say the two funneled 75 million through offshore accounts. Among the charges, conspiracy to launder money and failing to report foreign bank accounts. The white house quickly tried to distance itself from him. Look, i think that those are issues that took place long before they were involved with the president. Reporter but there is no denying gates history with the Trump Campaign. Gates ties to manafort and his activities could mean he was briefed on the june 2016 Trump Tower Meeting which manafort attend, along with don jr. And jared kushner. A russian lawyer had promised to give them dirt on Hillary Clinton. Gates and manafort reportedly also once emailed about trump
campaign adviser George Papadopouloss efforts to set up a meeting between trump and russian officials. They reportedly dismissed the idea, but still, the Special Counsel may question gates knowledge as part of the wider probe into collusion. Randi kaye, cnn, new york. There is a lot more ahead tonight, including new reporting on what the president s associates are telling him about his twitter habit. That and the posting that might have been one tweet too far because it once again gives a new account of that Trump Tower Meeting randi just mentioned. The question, does it clear anything up or does it just dig the president in a deeper hole . Were keeping him honest, ahead. Later, the president s they aye tack on lebron james intelligence, The First Ladys pushback and whether or not there is a racial element to the president s attacks. Cornel west joins us for that. I can do more to lower my a1c. Which may worsen kidney problems. To help lower my a1c i choose trulicity to activate my within. Ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. The new united Explorer Card hooks me up. Getting more for getting away. Traveling lighter. Getting settled. Rewarded learn more at theexplorercard. Com sometimes a day at the ballpark
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twitter and russians. Cnn has learned that this is the seemingly obvious piece of advice that President Trump is now getting from some people around him, do not tweet about the 2016 Trump Tower Meeting. That was the meeting attended by the president s Campaign Chairman who is now on trial, by his soninlaw and donald trump jr. Who decided to meet with a russianlinked attorney who was promising intelligence on Hillary Clinton. This was the meeting that was first concealed, and once it came to light was surrounded by a stonewall of misleading statements, obfuscation, and outright falsehoods, lies. The tweet went up yesterday. The president writing, and i quote, fake news reporting a complete fabrication that i am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son donald had in trump tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent. Totally legal and done all the time in politics, and it went nowhere. I did not know about it. Now before going any further, we should just say this last bit,
that he did not know about the meeting is now in question, with sources telling cnn that Michael Cohen is apparently ready to testify that he did in fact know, which would contradict don jr. s sworn testimony to congress. The notion that everyone does it, thats just flatout false, and well talk more about these things shortly. Right now, i just want to focus, though, on the larger item. This is the first time the president of the United States has pointblank unequivocally said, and were going put up the tweet again, that, quote, this was a meeting to get information on an opponent, period. Now remember, before word of the meeting even broke, donald trump jr. Was lying about meeting any russians in any campaign capacity. Heres what he told the New York Times way back in march of 2017. I did excuse me. Did i meet with people that were russian . Im sure. Im sure i did, but none that were set up. None that i can think of at the moment, and certainly none that i was representing the campaign in any way, shape, or form. So that was a lie. Actually, it was three lies. No Campaign Meetings, none that were arranged in advance, and none he could remember are. Three lies which began falling apart several months after they came out his mouth. On july 8th, 2017 the times revealed the meeting had in fact taken place a full year before. So then this became the new line. A statement allegedly crafted by don jr. And his lawyers, at least thats what the president s lawyer said at the time. Well goat that the Statement Read in part, we primarily discussed a program about the adoption of russian children, but it was not a Campaign Issue at the time, and there was no followup. The president , with the help of his team, tried to distance himself from that statement, first totally and then less so and then finally really not at all. More lies. But those will come later as well. So on the 8th, we merely had that statement. Again, allegedly written by don jr. And his lawyers saying the meeting was primarily about adoption policy, not campaign politics. Now even then, we knew and reported that adoption policy for the russian government, its not about adoptions. Its about sanctions. Not adoption. So even in that statement, the notion that this was a meeting about helping orphans, it just didnt hold water. Then the very next day, the New York Times reported it most certainly was about the campaign, specifically about getting Kremlin Dirt On Hillary Clinton. So then the story from don jr. , then it again changed once the times reported that, hoping to seem transparent, don jr. You may remember released some emails showing this is exactly what he had been promised. Kremlin dirt on Hillary Clinton. And his emails also showed he was eager to receive it. And i quote from the mails, if its what you say, he wrote to one of the gos between, i love it. And remember, just a few months earlier, presumably with the memories that much fresher in his mind, he said he couldnt remember any Campaign Meetings with russians. And when he did, it wasnt about Leveling Dirt on Hillary Clinton, it was about adoptions. Don jr. , for reasons that dont make much sense, he decided to go on fox news. Did you tell your father anything about this . No. It was such a nothing. There was nothing to tell. Nothing to tell. So now his memory refreshed about this meeting and what it was really about, he also remembered that he certainly never told his father about it before or after. Never told his dad, despite the fact that don jr. Had suddenly been told the russian government was supposedly supporting his Fathers Campaign and had dirt on Hillary Clinton. Thats allegedly big news. Allegedly he never told his dad that was big news. Never mind donald trump has been handson his entire life, was handson his campaign, wanted to be in the loop owls. Right above the floor each others and the dad and son spoke often. Never mind trump promised a speech and after the meeting was allegedly bust, that speech was never given. To continue distancing the president from this meeting after the story broke, the president and his team denied any knowledge of the meeting. Listen. Did you know the time that
they had the meeting . No, i didnt know anything about it. He was not aware of the meeting, did not attend the meeting and was only informed about the emails very recently hi bihis counsel. Then when it was reported that the president on Board Air Force one had dictated a statement that was released by don jr. About the meeting being about adoptions, the president s team denied the president had done that. Listen. He certainly didnt dictate, but, you know, like i said, he weighed in, offered suggestion, like any father would do. Thats what Sarah Sanders said when faced with factual reporting. Her answer was kind of a half acknowledgment which became a fuller but still a dishonest acknowledgment in a lawyer from the president s lawyers Special Counsel mueller. They wrote the president dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son. Sarah sanders said he didnt dictate. The lawyers, when they actually had to write the Special Counsel
said oh yeah, he did dictate. Publicly on tv the lawyers were saying the president didnt dictate the statement. Privately, in a lawyer the lawyers admit yeah, he dick tatd, but it was short and it was accurate. But it turns out that too wasnt the whole truth. Yes, the president dictated. It. Yes, it was short. No, it was not accurate. The statement mentioned adoption, not attempted collusion which the president and his defenders once denied until that story also shifted. Last week it became if we did it, so what . Which i dont even know if thats a crime, colluding about russians. You start analyzing the crime. The hacking is the crime. The hacking is the crime. Thats certainly the original the president didnt hack. Of course not. He didnt pay them for hack. So now soliciting Government Intelligence from a hostile foreign power to get elected president isnt a crime, which keeping them honest is far from clear, but the whole framing of it as a hypothetical which is really interesting, because the president actually flirted with
admitting this meeting was about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton when the story first broke last year. Listen to him on the 13th of july last year, standing next to the president of france. And that is after the president had dictated the Air Force One response claiming the meeting was about adoptions. I do think this. I think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting. Its called opposition research, or Even Research into your opponent. Politics is not the Nicest Business in the world, but its very standard where they have information and you take the information. So hes saying the meeting was about getting this information, which is not what he said in that statement. Whats interesting is that statement we just played for you didnt get a lot of attention at the time, but its now resurfaced because of what the president just tweeted yesterday, which we told you at the beginning of this. Again, that tweet from yesterday. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent. Totally legal, done all the time in politics, and it went nowhere. So when the president dictated or crafted the statement for don
jr. That it was primarily about adoption and not mentioning kremlin intelligence, he was lying. When his Press Secretary denied he did anything more than offer fatherly advice on that false statement, she was lying, or possibly she had been lied to as well. Maybe she didnt know she was lying, but she had been lied. To maybe. But what she said was not true. And when the president s attorney publicly said that the president didnt write that statement, didnt dictate that statement, he was also either lying or he had been lied to. This is what his attorney now says about that. I had Bad Information at that point. I made a mistake in my statement. Ive talked about that before. That happens when you have cases like this. I agreed to go on your network and others days within being retained on this and had a lot of information to process. I got that one wrong. Bad information. So he is saying he didnt know he was not telling the truth. It was just Bad Information. Bad information, which must have come from the president , who
lied to his lawyer, or from someone else around the president who was lying, or had been lied to by the president. Have you ever heard the old expression, scratch a lie, find a thief . I dont know if its true, but in this case you scratch one lie and you sure do start to find a whole bunch more. One more thing. If youre wondering what donald trump jr. Has to say about this now, he went on Laura Ingrahams radio show today. She played for him clips of him and others laming the meeting was about adoptions. Heres what happens next. Do you want any comments on that, donny . Because theyre hitting you on that for contradictions. Theyre calling it worse than contradictions, obviously. Hello . Yeah. Donny, what is your reaction to all that . Were going to see if we can reconnect with donald trump jr. On this because we cant seem to hear him. Don, you hear that . We dont know where he went. Bueller . Bueller . Bueller . Yeah. We dont know where he went either. However, we do know where cnns dana bash is. She has been reporting on the president being advised not to tweet about this. So dana, what have you learned that people around the president are saying to him about these tweets . To stop doing it when it comes to the Trump Tower Meeting. The president is, according to people who are im told are talking to the president , is giving this story way more oxygen than it would get if the president just left it alone. And when i say this story, im talking about just the notion of trump tower, the whole question of what happened inside trump tower. The fact is the president s impulse to tweet out really a way to combat a story by cnn and by the Washington Post about him being concerned about his son, visavis the Trump Tower Meeting, in that tweet, he talked about the idea that this was actually all based on trying
to find dirt on Hillary Clinton. And so he exposes himself on something that is clearly very real that Robert Mueller and his team are looking into. Now, having said that, the president s team certainly is okay with the president s tweets on, lets say, calling the Investigation A witchhunt, calling It Everything Under The Sun having to do with trying to chip away at the creditability of the mueller investigation, because they think that thats ultimately good for them when it comes to the court of Public Opinion that they might face. But right now, at this critical time, im told he is being urged, you know. Youre not making it better for yourself by tweeting about trump tower. What more are you hearing about when the president s legal team will respond to muellers request for an interview . Soon. Either today, monday, or tuesday at the latest, i am told. And this is really procedural, because how many times have we
talked about a back and forth between team mueller and team trump on this whole question of an interview . I mean, weve been talking about it for months and months and months. But were really getting close to what the Trump Legal Team hopes and thinks is decision time because were now three to four weeks away from labor day, which is the unofficial start of the Midterm Election season, and their hope and their expectation inside the trump team, at least, because the mueller team isnt talking, of course, is that this is left alone in that window of politics, and in that window of campaigning. So well see if that happens. We dont know exactly what the counteroffer is going to be. We know that the parameters have been something in terms of an impersonator view about the whole notion of collusion, any connections that he or people who work for him had during the campaign with any russians and what the president s team has
been fighting is any question or questions about while he was president , and that would have to do with potential obstruction of justice. Dana bash. Dana, thanks. Thank you. So now that the president s current strategy at least on twitter is to say that the Trump Tower Meeting is legal, it didnt go anywhere, the story has changed multiple times. Ill talk about whether that matter, next. They Work Togetherf doing important stuff. The hitch . Like you, your cells get hungry. Feed them. With centrum micronutrients. Restoring your awesome, daily. Centrum. Feed your cells. Agent beekman was one step ahead of them. Dits stole the lockbox from the wells fargo stagecoach, because he hid his customers gold in a different box. And the bandits, well, they got rocks. We protected your money then and were dedicated to helping protect it today. Like alerting you to certain Card Activity we find suspicious. If its not your purchase, well help you resolve it. Its a new day at wells fargo. But its a lot like our first day. 3 toddlers wont stop him. And neither will lower back pain. Because at a dr. Scholls kiosk he got a recommendation for our custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Look, its a big problem fer him at every level. First of all, he is changing the story. Remember, he was the one who drafted or dictated the statement on Air Force One, saying that it was about russian adoptions, which as you pointed out earlier is about sanctions. Secondly, there is a legal issue here. If this dirt or socalled dirt on Hillary Clinton was exchanged, its illegal from a foreign country. And third, what is he doing tweeting about this as bob mueller is conducting an investigation look into exactly what happened at that meeting . He if he does testify before mueller, and i have my real doubts about whether he will, Dont You Think Mueller is going to ask him about it . Of course he will. So is he setting himself up for some kind of perjury trap . This is why his attorneys are saying to him you know what . Stop it. Stop doing it. You know, david, if i worked
in the president s orbit in the white house, and i dont say this with any glee, i dont know how anybody who works around the president can believe what he says to them, because just in this one example, hes undercut Sarah Sanders, his own attorney, i mean all the stories that have been crafted over the last year plus have just, you know, hes now just totally shown the lie to them all. They have to be very hardened individuals not to be deeply affected by this, anderson, and wonder about the credibility of the president. I must tell you, we went through the same dilemma with president nixon way back when in watergate, inside the white house, whether to believe or not believe. And for a long time, we believed. But at some point everybody started to snap. And you wonder when thats going to come, if it hasnt already come with this story about the tower meeting. I want to go back to what gloria said. I do think this this tweet that now has raised the
significance of the tower meeting and made a compelling case of why mueller needs to talk personally, person to person, asking questions about what happened after the elections because it ties in to what happened during the campaign season. So he has to have in this testimony a full answer from the president. And finally, the President Trump now has a dilemma that hes going to be asked by mueller did you know before that meeting about the meeting . And if he wants to protect his son, he is going say no, i never knew that. But that will be he would be possibly committing perjury on his own. If he said yes, i did know, then he throws his son under the bus, and his son has committed a perjury. And ambassador eisen, mueller would have access i mean, ive talked to intelligence people. Mule worry have access to the blocked number to know who the blocked number was that donald trump jr. Called. I think there was a call before and i think there was a call after the meeting. We dont know if he called his dad, but that would certainly be one option. And if in fact he did call his dad and talked to him about the meeting, then they both have been lying. Thats right, anderson. Of course it never comes as a surprise when the president lies because weve had so many thousands of them by this point. Weve never seen anything like it in american history. The problem here is that the unfolding, the constantly changing story is deepening the president s exposure and that of don jr. , not just because of the lies, which are always a problem when youre trying to persuade a Special Counsel or another fact finder. But because that tweet, anderson, is a crime to seek information from a Foreign Government in a campaign. Thats an in kind contribution. The tweet is basically a confession. So now as david says, the
president is facing an ominous choice within the first few minutes of his interview with bob mueller if it ever happens. Hes going to be stuck between whether to perjure himself, whether to confess to obstruction or to crime, or whether to throw his son under the bus. Hes just making his situation worse every day. And gloria, the president has reiterated he didnt know about it. Thats obviously in contrast to the reporting that Michael Cohen may be willing to testify or may be willing to tell mueller that in fact he has information that the president didnt know about or the candidate didnt know about it. Right. And how about the president giving a speech . Saying im going give you a speech in a couple days about dirt on Hillary Clinton. I think thats pretty interesting evidence that mueller could use and ask him about. And if trumps attorneys are
saying, look, well let you talk to the president for a very short period of time about collusion. This would fit into that, the socalled conspiracy. And so they dont want him to they dont want the president to talk about obstruction after he became president. This would be one of the major questions that mule worry want to ask him, which is why ive now come to believe after reporting this for months and months. And dont forget that. Had an interview set up back in january at camp david that never happened. Im now beginning to think that his lawyers are so united on this that they may just say to trump were just not going to let you do it. David, the narrative surrounding the purpose and the outcome of the Trump Tower Meeting, its changed so much over the course of last year. Even donald trump jr. Added to that today, down playing, calling it a bait and switch meeting. How do you think muellers team is viewing all of this . Well, i think that they find
it, there is a mountain of evidence out there that they have to sort through because its conflicting. And theyre going to have to decide what they want what the bottom line is and bring it before. I just dont see how they walk away from this one, anderson. Much of what has come up, you could argue a it either way. And it would be hard to say for sure that theyve got something to take to it that might be put in front of a house of representatives. But the Trump Tower Meeting has gradually gained all this prominence, and i think its a very, very serious problem for the mueller team first to straighten how who says what it, and then to decide where to go with it. Yeah. I want to thank everybody. Nba star lebron james opens a school in ohio using his money and fame for objective good. Who could possibly criticize him after that . Well, the president of the United States also got another dig, in excuse me, at cnns Don Lemon Questioning their intelligence. Well talk about it next. thomas nice choices you see, now verizon lets you mix and match your family unlimited plans like you mix and match your flavors. So you get what you want, without paying for things you dont. Number 6. I know. Where do i put it . In my belly. vo one family. Different unlimited plans. Starting at 40 per line on the network you deserve. When mit rocked our world. Ailed we called usaa. And they greeted me as they always do. Sergeant baker, how are you . They took care of everything a to z. Having insurance is something everyone needs, but having usaa now thats a privilege. I got some financial howd that go . Le ago. He kept spelling my name with an i its bryan with a y. since birth. Well, i happen to know some people. Do they listen . What . Theyre amazing listeners. Guidance from professionals who take their time to get to know you. We can keep all these emergencies small. And the fact that we can bring it together and effectively Work Together is pretty special. They bring their knowledge, their tools and equipment and the proficiency to get the job done. And the whole time i have been in the fire service, pg es been there, too. Whatever we need whenever we need it. I do count on pg e to keep our firefighters safe. Thats why we ask for their help. The president s once again lashing out at a wellknown African American public figure, nba superstar lebron james who just opened a school in ohio. On friday night, cnn reaired an interview with lebron james, and it seems the president tuned in because he tweeted, and i quote, lebron james was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. He made lebron look smart, which isnt easy to do. I like mike. That was a reference to michael
jordan, who said through his spokesman afterwards that he supported lebron james and the amazing job he is doing for his community. Joining me are professor cornel west of harvard and princeton and cnn political Comment Whatinator paris dennard, former black outreach for president george w. Bush. Professor, im wondering what you make of this which is just the latest example of the president criticizing a wellknown African American person on intelligence. Well, i think we need to keep the focus where it belongs because its clear that President Trump Doesnt Focus On What he ought to. The focus is on first gloria marie james, a mother, a magnificent black woman raise as magnificent son and becomes one of the greatest athletes in the History Of Modern Times who then use his greatness to serve others. 230 very precious students of all colors who are being attended to. Thats the focus. Thats why im with my dear
sister Melania Trump. She says thats what we need to be focusing on. Lets focus on the children. Lets focus on this Magnificent Act of service which is part and parcel what it means to be a great human being. And thats what i see in brother lebron. And i salute his mother for that. Paris, what does it say to you that the president Doesnt Focus On What dr. West is talking about and what melania was trying to focus on and instead just goes after him calling him dumb. Same with don lemon as he has called Maxine Waters, low iq, and others. What we know about this president is he doesnt attack first, but he always responds. He responds if he feels something is said about him that is negative or harsh, hell respond to someone that is black, hell respond to someone that is a woman, hell respond to someone that is white. Thats just how the president was when he was a private citizen, a candidate and now the president. The real focus should be on the president supporting things like Charter Schools and School Choice and Parental Choice and trying to figure out ways how we can improve school systems
across the country, not just in akron, ohio, which i think is a positive thing. But i think and hope that lebron james and others will come to the table with the federal government, with the Trump Administration and try to find ways to make this solution more of a national solution, not just singly focus on akron, ohio, which is still a very good thing. But of course none of that was said by the president of the United States, dr. West. What he did say and has said before about Congressman Waters is one of the oldest kind of racist tropes, racist attacks on African Americans in this country, questioning the intelligence of it. It was an obsession among racists for centuries. , no i think there is no doubt. Weve got a whole line and lineage of racist, misogynist, homophobic things said about this president. But thats like saying the sky is blue and grass is green. The challenge is, and i was raised in such a way you dont get in the gutter with a
gangster. You respond with positive ways of accenting greatness, service, vision, struggle, courage. This cycle can go on and on and on with him saying these kinds of things. When he is talking about sister Maxine Waters, low iq. We know thats racist and sexist to the core, but you dont respond by somehow trying to react and simply count whatever he said. A quick point, just to correct dr. West, the president , again, is not the one that is on the attack. He is always responding to things that have been said to him about congressman by Congressman Waters, by lebron james, by others. And so the president is not sitting here going on the take. He is responding to. Thats a distinction. Thats the response of a 12yearold. A 12yearold cant stop themselves if somebody says something, they Say Something equally mean or worse, or a 5yearold. This is the president of the United States. I mean, he watched an interview
in which lebron james is talking about, you know, this extraordinary thing that hes doing, and speaking about it in a really beautiful way about getting kids the power of a bicycle and a helmet for a kid that when he was a kid and going out and being able to see other worlds and giving him a sense of freedom, you know. And his he took none that of away from this. All he said, he tweets don lemon made lebron look smart, which isnt easy to do. Anderson, you can gloss over the facts of what lebron james actually said about the president , which was not positive. I dont understand why he was even talking about President Trump in this interview, about his wonderful school. Because we he was asked a question about him. Exactly. And i dont understand why in past tweets he has gone on the attack about President Trump. Because President Trump has said has said. As a child, then you can say that lebron james is acting like a child because he is saying these things that are petty, that are childish about the president of the United States. So it goes both ways or it doesnt. No, no, no, no, no. Lebron was telling the truth. It was donald trump who called the black athletes sons of bitches. It was donald trump who mistreated Stephen Curry and others who hasnt planned on going to the white house. Brother paris, lets be honest, its trump who is using this kind of vicious language. Vicious language . So if thats vicious thats right. Then lebron james calling the president via twitter bum would be vicious as well. Its fascinating to me, paris. I get youre a supporter of the president , and thats your gig, and you cant publicly break from him because then youll get in trouble, i guess. Anderson, youre wrong. Im a grown man and i have my own opinions. I dont would be work for this administration that dont pay me. I have been republican since i was 16 years old. Thank you. Okay. Let me ask you. You see no problem with the president of the United States going to state t state of alabama and calling African American Football Players who are exercising their right, whether you agree with them or not, sons of bitches and they
should be fired, saying that in the state of alabama, with all the history we know in the state of alabama, saying that in a public forum, and then calling Maxine Waters low iq multiple times, and calling don lemon stupid, or whatever he called him, and lebron james dumb. You dont see any throughline to this . Well, anderson, i have said on cnn a number of times and even said privately in the west wing that i did not think it was appropriate or the right word im saying do you see a through line in it . Let me finish. Saying that it was right to say sons of bitches, i did not think that was appropriate, and i said that wasnt a good thing to do. I said that on cnn. I said it private apply ly in t wing. I do see a commonality, and the common denominator is the president is responding to people who have said things that have been negative or harsh and
attacked him personally or attacked his character. The president has done this to africanamericans, to white people, to white men, to white women, to members of his own cabinet. Professor west, do you think theres a commonality in no. He has called some White Sisters dumb. I think he called sister mieke dumb. He uses dumb across race, across gender. But the problem is that when he folks on people of color and talks about that uses that kind of language, we have a history that goes a long way that accents the deep White Supremacist overtones even as hes calling a white male dumb or white women dumb. So that, yes, paris, its true. Hes an equal opportunity gangster across the board. Our challenge is going to be and i will tell you this, brother paris. If somebody call you a vicious name and i thought it was wrong,
i would defend you based on principle even though we dont agree on a whole lot. But we human beings. And i know theres gangster in me. Theres gangster in you. Theres gangster in trump. Theres gangster in anderson. The challenge is how do we get control of those gangster elements such that we live a life of some decency and a slice of integrity . Thats what were talking about. Its all about accountability. Accountability. Accountability. Paris den nard, professor west, i appreciate the discussion. Thanks very much. Thanks, dirs. Up next, we have more on the tweet by the president attacking lebron james. First Lady Melania Trump has a much different take on the nba star. Its not the first time hes pushed back after something her husband has done. Ill show you when 360 continues. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. 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 you 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. Fine for some things. But for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. An unjection™. I receive travel rewards. Going new places. oh going out for a bite. Going anytime. Rewarded learn more at theexplorercard. Com
you shouldnt be rushed into booking a hotel. With expedias addon advantage, booking a Flight Unlocks discounts on select hotels until the day you leave for your trip. Addon advantage. Only when you book with expedia. Attack the nba star lebron james on twitter but his wife, first Lady Melania Trump, is praising james for his charity work. Her Communications Director released a statement that reads in part, quote, it looks like lebron james is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation. Just as she always has, The First Lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today. Mrs. Trump would even consider visiting james new school in ohio. Its not the first time The First Lady has contributed her husband, forged her own path. With more, here is cnns randi kaye. Im standing very strong on the ground, on my two feet, and im an own person. Reporter that was Melania Trump during the 2016 president ial campaign. As first lady, her independent Streak Continues to draw attention. Take, for example, what happened during a recent trip overseas. Melania trump was watching cnn onBoard Air Force one. When the New York Times first reported her husband got upset,
insisting all tvs be tuned to fox news. In response to that report, The First Ladys spokeswoman issued a statement saying, The First Lady watches any channel she wants. Mrs. Trump has also weighed in on policy with a rare statement on her husbands controversial Immigration Plan for detaining and separating families at the southern border. Her spokeswoman told cnn that mrs. Trump believes we need to be a country that follows all laws but also a country that governs with heart. After that, the president signed an order to keep immigrant Families Together in detention, acknowledging his wife had urged him to stop separating children from their parents. And when Melania Trump took a trip to tour the u. S. mexico border, she let her wardrobe do the talking for her. The back of her jacket read i really dont care, do you. The first ladys Communications Director insisted its a jacket. There was no hidden message. Still up for debate, was there a
message, and if so, who was it aimed at . These days Melania Trump is pushing back against the president s lawyer too. After news broke of mr. Trumps alleged affair with porn star stormy daniels, Rudy Giuliani said this. She believes in her husband. She knows its not true. Reporter The First Ladys Communications Director issued this terse response. I dont believe mrs. Trump has ever discussed her thoughts on anything with mr. Giuliani. Melania trump certainly isnt afraid to go it alone. After reports of another alleged affair, this time with a former playboy playmate, mrs. Trump skipped a Ride On Marine One with her husband, instead taking her own motorcade to Andrews Air Force base to meet him on Air Force One. People think and talk about me like, oh, melania, oh, poor melania. Dont feel sorry for me. Dont feel sorry for me. I i can handle everything. Reporter randi kaye. Cnn, palm beach, florida. Quick final note on what donald trump jr. Told Laura Ingraham today. We mentioned it in our report on the administration shifting story on the Trump Tower Meeting in 2016. You heard donald junior get caught off when asked about his contradictory stories. Heres what he said when he called back. They started playing the recording and then it got cut off. It was a 20minute meeting. Tended up being about essentially nothing that was relevant to any of these things. And, you know, thats all it is. Should have played that right after we aired the first part. The news continues. I want to hand it over to chris cuomo. Cuomo prime time starts right now. Happy to use our time to get the record straight, anderson. Always good to see you. Im brushing my hair just like you. Thats what you get for wearing my suit. I am chris cuomo. Welcome to prime time. Rosie odonnell has reportedly gathered hundreds at the white house for a musical protest. But this aint smiles and show tunes. She is spoiling for a fight. Her history with trump is as
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