Wolf Blitzer looks at politics, breaking news and international stories. January of this year, the president s lawyers tell the special Counsel Robert Mueller in a letter that mr. Trump dictated the statement himself. Fast forward to late last month, cnn reporting that Michael Cohen is willing to tell the Special Counsel that the president did know about the 2016 Trump Tower Meeting in advance despite numerous denials from President Trump and his team. And that brings us up to speed. The president now admitting the meeting was designed to get information on an opponent, but once again claiming he did not know about it. Now jay sekulow admits he was wrong when he denied the president was involved in that first misleading statement. Listen. I had Bad Information at that point. I made a mistake in my statement. I talked about that before. That happens when you have cases like this. I think its very important to point out that in a situation like this, you have, over time, facts develop. Thats what investigations do. All right. Joining us now to discuss all of this, cnns chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto, our legal analyst and defense lawyer, ross garber, and cnns chief political analyst gloria borger. It sounds like this is a pretty incriminating series of events. Sure, it is, because the president effectively came out and said this was not a meeting about russian adoptions. This was a meeting about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton. We know that the statements that were made about the president dictating that statement on Air Force One were intentionally misleading. We know that. Theyve tried to correct the record. Theres a question about whether the president would have to testify on this. Will he talk to mueller about this . Is this something in these negotiations that his lawyers would allow him to answer questions on . I kind of doubt it. Maybe in writing. And then theres also the other question. We have reporting from jake and kaitlan about him being worried about don junior. By the way, the cfo of the Trump Organization is also talking to the Special Counsel. So theres a lot of Stuff Unraveling right now. Hes been subpoenaed to testify before a Federal Grand Jury. Heres what the law says. Ill put it up on the screen. This is the specific law. It shall be unlawful for a Foreign National directly or indirectly to make a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value or to make an express and implied promise to make a contribution or donation in connection with a federal sta federal, state, or local election. The key words here, other thing of value. Quote, dirt, Opposition Research, which is clearly a thing of value. Yeah, so in the president s tweets, he says its not legal. Substantiate what support this gave, it will become a question for the congress and really the American Public as to whether accepting help from a foreign adversary is something that a president should do. Keep if min mind, theres histo here. Other american president ial candidates have been offered things by russians. Theyve also been offered dirt on their opponents, if you go back to 2000, and they refused it and reported it to the fbi. Campaigns pay for Opposition Research. That is a thing of value. The law says that a foreigner cannot provide, quote, other thing of value, in addition to money or a donation to a candidate for federal, local, or state running for office. So the argument is that Opposition Research is a thing of value. Heres the issue. In the case of clinton, theres
no argument were not talking about clinton. Were talking about donald trump jr. Donald trump jr. Was offered a thing of value, and he colluded, if you will, he colluded with gold goldstone and the others to try to get that thing of value. Is that conspiracy to obstruct the law . See, i think where were going to wind up is on the question of conspiracy. Which is the same as collusion. Well a different word for collusion. In some ways, it is a different word for collusion. In terms of the thing of value, i do think that becomes a Slippery Slope, and there are First Amendment issues there. Whats the First Amendment issue . People are the righave the rk to each other, to listen to each other. But you dont have the right to go to a representative of the russian government and seek that kind of dirt on Hillary Clinton. An adversary in the midst of an influence campaign on a u. S. Election. Again, i think ultimately under the law, that is not going to be considered a thing of value because of the Slippery Slope of it. But this is from a foreign
national, right . Exactly. And thats not legal. Well, but again, we should talk about the clinton situation because its not dissimilar. In the clinton situation, there is information coming from russian nationals to the Clinton Campaign through somebody else. Nobodys paying the russian nationals. But wolf, you hit on something that i think is going to be the key to it, which is conspiracy. What else, if anything, was happening here . What else did donald trump jr. Or anybody else know about the russian governments efforts . Donald trump jr. Says in that email to rob goldstone, the british publicist whos working as a liaison with the russians, if its what you say, i love it, especially later in the summer. What does that say to you . It means, i want it, i want it later in the summer when were closer to the election. You know, the question is how much of this was going on. If you were running a campaign,
say youre the General Counsel of a campaign, okay. Somebody in the campaign said, you know, we got these russians coming in, and they want to give us some dirt. Wouldnt you expect to get a call as the General Counsel, and what would your advice be . Its a terrible idea. So youd say putting aside whether that particular act is illegal, its a terrible idea. Also because it raises tons of red flags about other issues. So you say dont do it . Look, it is a terrible idea. But then its a different question about whether its illegal. Again, i think in the broader context, you do have to wind up looking if youre the General Counsel, it would be stupid. Terrible. Terrible idea. The other issue, look at the context. This happens in the midst of an influence campaign on the election where russia was trying to influence in a whole host of way, including Stealing Information from clinton aides, exposing them for maximum impact. Also keep in mind the context of
this specific meeting. They ended up talking about just adoptions. What is that about . Thats about the mack ngnitsky. Thats something the kremlin hates because it imposes severe financial sanctions on oligarchs and other businessmen close to the government who are involved in human rights abuses, okay. So what you have in that context then is the quid pro quo. Were going to offer you dirt on the hillary Clinton Campaign. By the way, can we talk about these sanctions that weve hated for ages and which the russians brought up repeatedly . I think you have to look at the broader picture there to understand what the context of that exchange might have involved. Then theres the next level, which is Michael Cohen says, well, the president knew. So the president says, i didnt know. Does that add another level to the conspiracy . There are so many more things we would need to know to be able to size that up. All im saying is right now based on what we know, just that meeting, i dont think a court would say that just that meeting, even if there was dirt
or Opposition Research, i dont think it was a crime. I think the question is going to be all of the optics, all the things you and jim and wolf are discussing, what else was there . What else did the Trump Campaign know about, if anything . I think were going to learn more about whether that stuff exists or not in order to be able to size it up. You made a good point earlier, gloria, who said the chief Financial Officer for the Trump Organization for 40 years, if not longer, has been called before a Federal Grand Jury because he obviously knows a lot about what, if any, Trump Organization, Business Deals were going on with russians in the 80s, the 90s, and the 2000s and beyond. Thats a source of enormous concern to the president of the United States. As would Michael Cohen. And Michael Cohen for 12
years. I know the president is deeply irritated, presumably one of the reasons hes been speaking out and tweeting angrily in recent days. Guys, good discussion. Thank you very much. Moments ago, the trial of the president s former Campaign Chairman resumes. Rick gates is set to testify fairly soon. Stand by. Plus, senator rand paul raising eyebrows again, this time youre going hear what he told russian lawmakers during a visit to moscow. And the president s criticism against lebron james is being called racist and hateful. Now The First Lady of the United States is contradicting her husband. Well discuss. Sometimes a day at the ballpark is more than just a day at the ballpark. Stadium pa all military members stand and be recognized. Sometimes fans cheer for those who wear a different uniform. No matter where or when you served, tmobile stands ready to serve you. Thats why were providing half off family lines to all military. A free Decision Guide is a great place to start. Call today to request yours. So what makes an aarp Medicare Supplement plan unique . These are the only Medicare Supplement plans endorsed by aarp because they meet aarps high standards of quality and service. Youre also getting the great features that any Medicare Supplement plan provides. You may choose any doctor that accepts medicare patients. You can even visit a specialist. With this type of plan there are no networks or referrals needed. Also, a Medicare Supplement plan. Goes with you when you travel anywhere in the u. S. Call today for a free guide. Happening right now, the trial of President Trumps former Campaign ChairmanPaul Manafort has just resumed moments ago. The big question right now is will manaforts former Business Partner rick gates testify against him possibly today, possibly later this week. Gate, as you might recall, pleaded guilty to two criminal charges and cut a deal with the prosecutors. Hes now cooperating with them. We also know todays session is starting off with the crossexamination of manaforts former accountant who testified last week that she helped him prepare fraudulent tax returns. Joe johns is over at the courthouse in alexandria, virginia. Joe, is there new indications right now if we can expect to see gates testify today, tomorrow, later this week . Whats the latest indication . Reporter wolf, it isnt clear right now. It could be today. It could be tomorrow. We may here a little bit more about timing in just a little bit. That timing could be affected by, number one, what you already mentioned at the top, the
testimony of the accountant. She testified on friday. Her crossexamination continues today. Thats the first thing. Another thing thats going on is government has asked to put a couple fbi Forensic Accountants On The Stand to read, essentially, the emails of Paul Manafort. The government is trying to make a case he was a very handson manager of his affairs. Depending on how the judge rules on that, hes been really trying to push this thing through, if he says yes to those new witnesses, that could affect the timing on rick gates. Now, of course, hes a critical witness for both sides, the prosecution and the defense here. Rick gates was a top associate of Paul Manafort for a long time. He even served as the Deputy Campaign manager in the Trump Campaign around the time when
manafort was actually running the show. Gates has pleaded guilty already to some related offenses. Hes awaiting sentencing. Hes cooperating with the government. So a star witness for the prosecution. For the defense, they see him as the guy they can pin the entire case on. The defense has already made it clear that in their view, gates is the person who was behind the scenes, pulling the strings, and, if you will, creating the underlying illegality thats at the root of this case. So hopefully well learn in just a few minutes whether this thing is going to go quickly with gates today or perhaps tomorrow, wolf. Youll keep us up to speed. Well keep a close eye on this, of course. Joe johns over at the courthouse, thank you. Meanwhile, a democratic lawyer getting ready to respond live to the president s outright admitting that the purpose of that Trump Tower Meeting was to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. Youre going to find out what
this democrat says what should happen next. Stand by for that. Plus, senator rand paul is in moscow. He invites russian lawmakers to washington. Were now learning through russian state media what he allegedly told the russians, stand by. Whats the 1 new Skincare Product in 2018 . Olay whips. Absorbs faster than the 100, 200, and even 400 cream. Feels amazing. I really really love this. I will 100 swap up my moisturizer. Can i have it . Olay whips. Morning. Morning. What do we got . Keep an eye on that branch. Might get windy. Have a good shift. Fire pit. Last use 0600. Id stay close. Morning. Get ready to switch. Protected by flo. Should say, protected by alan and jamie. Right . Should it . When you bundle home and auto. Run, alan . You get more than just savings. You get roundtheclock protection. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors. Its not just picking a surgeon, its picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. Visit cancercenter. Com breast
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trump tower. President trump now saying the purpose of the meeting was to receive dirt from people with direct ties to the russian government on his opponent at the time, Hillary Clinton. Joining us now, a democrat, member of the Armed Services committee. Thanks for joining us. Whats this revelation from the president , this latest tweet over the weekend from him, what does that say mean for the russia investigation right now . I think its extremely important. Its one more piece of a mosaic that clearly spells out that during the 2016 election, the Trump Campaign was deeply involved in getting information from the russias, ans, and throughout that campaign, the russians interfered in the election. This mosaic is a very, very bad one. You add to that the continuing reluctance of the president to say anything at all bad about putin or the kremlin. You go, something is seriously
wrong here. One more piece of a very, very bad mosaic. The president claims that even if he colluded, he says collusion is not a crime. So what kind of jeopardy do you think his son donald trump jr. Is in after this revelation from the president . Well, i think you have a conspiracy here. And a conspiracy is a crime. Its based upon an illegal act that is obtaining information from a foreign government. Opposition research is extro extraordinarily expensive. Hillary clinton spent a lot of money on the steele document. Thats another issue. Let that be set aside. In this case, the opposition resear research, provided the meeting was about what the president said, adds up to an illegal act. If one or more people are involved, you now have a conspiracy. You have two crimes going on. You have an election law and a conspiracy. This is a very, very serious
matter. Unfortunately, the House Of Repres