A morning newscast featuring breaking news and weather reports. A morning newscast featuring breaking news and weather reports. It. Thank you. Poll numbers show declining public support for the Mueller Investigation, some people questioning will the issue carry democrats in the midterms or will the booming economy push republicans across the line . We have the managing editor with the Weekly Standard with us now. Kelly, lets look at the numbers. I just told you about the mueller probe, and it seems like thats losing some steam in terms of support from the public. But if you look at some recent report here in terms of the job Approval Ratings, particularly in the midwest, look at what weve got. In michigan, where president actually won in the general election, 54 disapproval. Only 30 plus Approval Ratings here in michigan, minnesota, wisconsin. With that said, if the economy is good, if its solid, is President Trump good . Is he solid as well . I mean, i hesitate to say anything definite right now because who knows what might happen between now and the november midterms. But yeah, the economy is very important. And when people are thinking about answering these questions about approval rating, often its affected by what the latest news is and what theyve heard. So, when people see Donald Trump On Stage with Vladimir Putin and really making a disastrous performance, theyre going to be rolling their eyes and thinking this president is awful. But you know, months later, theyre going to have forgotten about that, and what will they will remember is how theyve been doing and how their paycheck looks. And i do think the one major legislative accomplishment of the republicans is the tax cut bill, and people are seeing more money in their paychecks. And with the news of the economy doing very well, well see if that carries through the next few months. But yeah, i do think that that is going to have a very big effect on the election. And the democrats really do need to have some positive Policy Proposals to answer that. So, the democrats, you dont think, can carry through on this antimueller probe . Yeah, you know, its the democrats have been sort of
counting on antitrump sentiment, and thats one reason, you know, the tax cut bill, the republican tax cut bill didnt get a single democratic vote. Their view is donald trump is toxic, we dont want to be associated with anything thats seen as a win for him. And it looked like that was a very good strategy, and ive said that was a very good strategy. The problem is that you can only do that for so long. People want to know, okay, you dont like trump. Maybe im not sure about him, but what do you have to offer me . And you know, people are getting a bit tired of the Mueller Investigation because we do talk about it a lot. The question is, though, we have no idea what, when its going to end and what hes going to have. And this is the leakiest washington ive ever seen, but his office has actually been very good at keeping things quiet. And so, he may have something, he may not. We dont know, and we wont know until his investigations concluded. All right. Kelly jane torrance, always appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Well, the president is again
denying knowledge of his sons 2016 trump tower meeting, but sources tell cnn the president s former fixer, Michael Cohen, now says that trump is lying. So, the real question here is whose story could hold up in court . Joining us to discuss that is michael moore, former u. S. Attorney for the middle district of georgia. Good morning. Good morning. So, on the surface, you know, this information that cnn was able to uncover, it does sound very damning. Sure. But youve got the legal mind, and youre the person, if you were putting yourself in the prosecutors seat, how damning is it legally . Its a bombshell if they can corroborate it, if they can back it up. And my guess is that bob muellers been working to do that. Especially if youve got Michael Cohen now saying that trump knew about the meeting ahead of time. Thats sort of in preparation to collude with russia. So how do we corroborate it . They could do it through phone records, through emails, memos that perhaps cohen wrote to a file or that somebody wrote to a file that will show at a contemporaneous moment that this knowledge was documented. But theres a little bit of a twist that i thinks with the testifying about trump coming up with a statement about what the meeting was. It always defied him to say he didnt know what it was, but he was still able to come up with the explanation of what it wasnt. Well, what if she didnt tell him . If she didnt tell him what it was when he was aboard Air Force One and he came up with this reason or false story about the meeting, that meant that he knew what it was ahead of time, that he was already in anticipation of it. And youve got somebody whos a control freak, a micro manager, and its pretty clear that he does things on his own and thinks hes the smartest man in the room. It denies logic to think he would have let Something Like this happen or that his children, knowing his personality, would have not gone to him and told him, hey, weve got a meeting with russians, were fixing to break the story on Hillary Clinton. And his public speech he gave saying im going to lay all this stuff out about Hillary Clinton in the coming days, that sort of speaks to the fact that he may have had some knowledge. So, all those things work
together to corroborate perhaps but thats not proof. Not proof, but they can corroborate circumstantially. You dont have to have trump on a recording saying, hey, i did know about it. But youve got Michael Cohen saying he knew about it because his son told him. And then you can look at other things to back that up. Michael cohen, Whats Going On with him . I mean, as you look at this, does this seem like a person whos either trying to get a pardon or trying to get a deal . Which is it . You know, i think he probably feels betrayed at this point by trump. I think he probably expected a little more backup from his longtime friend or mentor, and he didnt get it. And i think hes probably realized what a lot of federal defendants realize, and that is, youre looking at going to the penitentiary and youd better do something to protect yourself and your family. And so, hes clearly willing to come out and sort of send some flares that hes got information. He still hasnt gotten the response hes wanting from the trump team, but it seems clear to me that hes now at least willing and open to talking to
mueller or the prosecutors in the Southern District of new york about these cases. Yeah. Well, theres a lot more id love to ask you about, but time doesnt allow it. Well do it again. Good seeing you. We will. Thank you. President trump is facing a lawsuit over his hotel, just a few blocks from the white house. And a judge is allowing now that case to proceed. Were going to ask our experts what this could mean for the president. I mean, on the surface plus, a houston heart doctor is shot and killed while out on a bike ride. Why police think now that, yes, he may have been targeted. And two small children and their great grandmother are missing after wildfires ripped through their neighborhood. They destroyed their home. Dozens of california communities are being threatened right now by this rapidly growing fire. We didnt think the fire was going to come here, so we didnt really take things out, like Everybody Else scrambling at the
last minute to get out when we saw the fire on the ridge. With an ingredient but n originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. 15 minutes past the hour right now, and there are two small children and their great grandmother who are missing this morning in north california after their home was destroyed by the raging wildfire there. The carr fire were talking about. Its in shasta county. Its devoured nearly 50,000 acres already, and theres nothing left of hundreds of homes and businesses. Cnns Paul Vercammen is joining us this morning, and just to look at the background there, paul, gives you a sobering feel of what those fires can do so quickly. Good morning. Reporter it does, martin and christi. And if you look just behind me, as you pointed out, it came roaring through here. This is in west redding, california. Were a little over 100 miles from the oregon border. And lets give you a sense of what it looked like when the carr fire reared its ugly head in this neighborhood. Flames swirling in high winds and hot temperatures wreaking havoc on the landscape. The amply named carr fire, which Officials Say was first sparked by a vehicle, has ravaged the region since monday, doubling in size over the course of the week, and its still growing. Deadly and out of control, it has charred some 45,000 acres and dozens of structures as firefighters try to contain it. Neighborhoods scorched as smoke and fire climbed through hills fueled by the dried landscape. No idea what were going to do tomorrow. Hell, we dont know what were going to do tonight. Reporter Dominic Galvin and his wife, sylvia, never imagined theyd see their house like this. We didnt think the fire was going to come here, so we didnt really take things out. Like Everybody Else that was scrambling at the last minute to get out when we saw the fire on the ridge. Reporter Officials Say more extreme temperatures are in the forecast and will only continue to make this fire all the more worrisome. It is one of several major blazes burning across the state
and one of some 89 across the country. This is that new normal, that unpredictability, the large, explosivegrowth fires. Reporter leaving firefighters working to control the flames and limit the damage as residents race against the clock to evacuate their homes. Reporter and we should note that the couple who lived here almost 30 years was able to escape with their lives. Martin, christi . Its going to be another very difficult day for firefighters. Paul vercammen, thank you very much. Thank you, paul. Want to bring in meteorologist allison chinchar. Wondering about the conditions for firefighters this morning, because i remember reading earlier this week it was 113 degrees in redding. Yeah, and the thing is, thats not going to go away any time soon. Not only do the residents feel it, but youre right, those firefighters trying to battle the blazes. And its not just california. You have 13 states with a combined 89 large, active fires that theyre trying to contain right now. The ones in california are dealing with incredibly low
containment numbers. The carr fire that we just talked about only 5 contained at this time. Ferguson fire not even 30 contained, and the Cranston Fire is only about 16 containment. So again, youd like to be able to get those numbers up higher and allow those firefighters to make more sufficient progress. This is an incredible image. Again, here you can see the smoke just taking off and the pyro clouds, those ones that get formed from the heat from those fires and heres whats interesting about this particular fire here, is that that one, the fire is actually so intense, its creating its own wind to spread itself. So, the fire is basically creating more fire. And unfortunately, in turn, we are seeing that begin to spread pretty rapidly. Now, the Fire Conditions for carr fire, the temperatures are still expected to remain in triple digits. Winds are going to be locally very gusty, which would spread more of that fire. They are still in a moderate drought, and there is absolutely zero rain in the shortterm
forecast for this area. We have the red flag warning, as we talked about, that critical fire threat because of those very hot and dry conditions that are there. And speaking of that heat, again, look at all of these locations. Youre talking from Washington State stretching all the way back to arizona, where you have some of those excessive heat watches and warnings and heat advisories. Because for a lot of these locations, that heat, guys, is going to stay in place for at least the next three to five days. What a mess. Allison chinchar, thank you so much. And well keep you posted as the sun comes up and whats happening in california throughout the day, of course. Meanwhile, cbs chief les moonves is the latest highprofile boss to be accused of Sexual Misconduct. Details about the allegations, theyre just ahead. Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
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where foreign officials often stay. Walter shaub is with us, along with michael moore, former attorney for the middle district of georgia. Thank you both for being with us. First and foremost, what, to you, im sorry, walter what kind of red flags does this lawsuit throw up for the president . Well, this decision has got to be very concerning to him, because now that the case is going to go forward, it opens the door to the discovery process, which can include depositions, request for production of documents, written interrogatories, meaning they can get into a whole lot of stuff about him. And in fact, the litigants, their attorneys, the two Attorney Generals from maryland and d. C. And norah misen from responsibility and ethics in washington wrote an op ed this week in the new york times, and they say theyre coming for those documents. So, michael, with that said,
is there any chance, supposedly, that, say, this lawsuit could force the president to have to choose between whether he would fully divest from his Business Interests . It may not really become a choice for him. And heres why. I think walters right, the danger for him coming forward is the fact that now his tax records are fair game in another matter. Ive said for a long time, and i think that bob mueller has the tax records and is looking at them as far as the russia case goes. We now know that the Southern District of new york is looking at one of the trump longtime employees there, the cfo, maybe, of the Trump Organization, even back to the time that trumps father was running it. And this is going to become an instance of following the money in that case. And now were talking about having the documents here. So, these documents, as the tax records come out, as more details of money moving in and out of the Trump Organization come out, this may be sort of the straw that broke The Camels Back. Weve had a lot of straws, but
this may be like the bale of hay that youre dropping on The Camels Back that, in fact, brings this thing to a head. So, he may not have the choice about making that decision. That might be made either through the report thats made by mueller to congress, because of documents that are now coming out in parallel cases. But michael, that doesnt necessarily mean the documents would be made public, so we dont know what the political implications could be. We dont know. And this is whats happening. Weve seen it both with giuliani in statements that hes made even about cohen. Weve seen it in statements that other Trump Administration people have made in public. Theyre trying to balance the tight rope between the court of Public Opinion and what they can say and what happens and the evidence that comes out in a court of law. Those things are not always compatible. And so, documents that may come out in one side may not be important in another, and vice versa. So, it doesnt always mean the documents come out, but it may mean theyre available for other people to use in other matters. All righty. Historically, walter, when you
look at this, what are political implications for the president . Yeah, well, obviously, hes concerned because he hasnt released his tax returns. So, i think that alone has been him signaling to us that theres information he doesnt want the American Public to know. And now a particular group, three, really, are going to be able to get access to these things. And as michael pointed out, we dont know how far theyll be able to disseminate them, but at least theyll be looking at them. Another concern for him is that the judge signaled in there that the definition of emolument that he gave, which is any profit gained or advantage, could open questions about his continued lease of the Old Post Office pavilion where the hotel is. Theres a question as to whether or not perhaps even thats an emolument, because the domestic emoluments clause, in addition to the foreign emoluments clause, covers things that come from State Governments or the United States government, other
than your salary. So, hes got a lot on the line here with this decision. So, michael, and i saw you shaking your head there, its more than possibly the Trump International hotel in d. C. Thats at stake here. It could be. I mean, there are discussions about a lease that a chinese bank has in one of trumps buildings. There are other things that are out there, not to mention the fact that, you know, weve had this charade about who was going to control the Trump Organization,