Wolf Blitzer looks at politics, Breaking News and international stories. Wolf Blitzer looks at politics, Breaking News and international stories. 2016 election. It was also the follow up on any other Criminal Activity that might have been discovered in the course of that investigation. As these things unfold, and again this is the nature of an investigation where one witness leads to another, more information comes to light, and when and if prosecutors find reason to believe that other Criminal Activity has taken place, they not only have the right to follow up on that, they have a duty to pursue it. And certainly given Robert Muellers charge here, he has a duty to pursue it. I really do think this goes to a broader point. Ill make it very quickly. I think its really important at this juncture that the president changes approach. I think hes got to stop the combat with this investigation because this is going downhill for him. He needs to now, i think, adopt a posture of more cooperation,
really to be running a pr campaign and a counterimpeachment effort. In other words, everything that Rudy Giuliani does seems to be targeted towards a political audience and an audience on the hill. Thats very different from having behind the scenes lawyers who are giving advice about legal culpability and legal liability. And i add to that, one of the major problems there is that i think the lawyer in question, mr. Giuliani, he did not understand the law that was being looked at and has really given the president bad advice with the effect that the president has said things that implicate himself. The Campaign Finance laws. Specific lip tally the campa finance laws. The president has all but acknowledged wrongdoing. Its in large measure, i think, because mr. Giuliani has said, you know, the Campaign Finance laws are minor violations. They dont amount to anything. I mean, thats just dead wrong. You cant break the law in trying to become president. Willful, knowing violations of the Campaign Acts are felonies. Jack makes an important point. The white house points out correctly the president has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. He has not been indicted with any criminal wrongdoing. But in all the federal statements that were made when Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to those eight counts, especially to counts seven and eight, the federal prosecutors do say that the president of the United States was in effect an unindicted coconspirator. Even though he wasnt formally charged or indicted. The president is individual one in the Michael Cohen plea documents. Thats such a dramatic and unique experience to have. We have a federal criminal case, Michael Cohen pled guilty,
Michael Cohen said in court and in the documents that the individual who he coordinated with and who directed him to commit this Campaign Violation was the president. So clearly its a significant fact that the president is described, even if not by personal name, in these documents and whether or not members of congress politically want to take that as a significant federal crime or whether theyre going to wait for the Mueller Investigation to conclude and see if theres an Obstruction Referral or whether there are other federal crimes that implicate in some way the president s behavior is a political question. The u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york says hes a coconspirator. Unindicted, not charged, but a coconspirator. Thats right. And one thing the president needs to be worried about and again, this is why i think its really port that he make a very significant turn in his approach to these investigations. He needs to be worried about the fact that a willful violation, a criminal violation of the Campaign Finance laws is an Impeachable Offense. I think theres little doubt that the impeachment clause would cover Criminal Activity in attaining the office, not just in carrying out the office of president of the United States. Thats for politicians to decide, if it ever does get to the House Of Representatives and if it passes the House Of Representatives, they only need a simple majority and then winds up in the senate where you need a twothirds majority. Let me just add the founders, george mason among them, specifically addressed what should happen if a president conducts himself in a criminal fashion in attaining the office of president. Specifically talked about how that should be a subject of an impeachment. Well see if it ever gets that far. The president is not taking the advice that jack is giving
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discontinue medical treatment for brain cancer. He was diagnosed last year with an aggressive glioblastoma and the prognosis was very serious. Both Senator Mccains wife and daughter put out statements a while ago on twitter. Quote, i love my husband with all my heart. God bless everyone who has cared for my husband all along this journey. Meghan mccain tweeted this. My family is deeply appreciative of all the love and generosity you have shown us during this past year. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We could not have made it this far without you. Youve given us strength to carry on. Joining us now, our senior political analyst mark preston and our chief medical correspondent dr. Sanjay gupta. The reaction has been pouring in. What are you hearing . You can really judge a mans character in his place in life by what his enemies say to him. What weve seen today is an
outpouring of support. Enemies, someone such as mitch mcconnell. He was a republican leader who john mccain clashed with all the time. He tweeted out today, we are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, sirn i d cindy, and the e mccain family are in our prayers. Mitt romney, who he ran against in 2008, said, no man this century better exemplifies honor, patriotism, service, sacrifice, and Country First than senator john mccain. Im blessed and humbled by our friendship. Wolf, we are really starting to see an outpouring of support for senator john mccain, someone who not only served in the United States senate and congress, but honorably. I emphasize that word, honorably during the vietnam wort. More than five years as a p. O. W. In vietnam. Ive known him for at least 30 years. I can testify exactly what youre saying. A very, very decent, wonderful
person. Certainly a source of parade to pride to so many people. Sanjay, youve done a lot of reporting over the years on Senator Mccains health. Back in 2008 when he was running for president , he let you have extensive information about his health. You broke the story a year or so ago about his brain cancer. Tell us a little bit more about that. Yeah, it was july of last year, wolf. At that time, you know, Senator Mccain, his office had reached out basically telling us hes been diagnosed. You may remember he had this question of a Blood Collection above his left eye at that point. He was going to have an operation for that. It was during that Operation Doctors discovered, look, this isnt just a Blood Collection. Theres something more here. And that is how this glioblastoma, or gbm, a type of aggressive brain cancer, was found. Its been just over 13 months since that diagnosis. After the operation, he underwent what we call conventional therapy, you know, chemotherapy and radiation. We know that its been tough on him. These are tough therapies. Theyre designed to kill the cancer cells. Oftentimes they can have an impact on other normal cells in the body. Thats what makes this type of therapy so tough. Hes a tough guy, but its a hes older and its harder on someone whos obviously of more advanced age. You know, its at some point a risk benefit discussion thats constantly going on. With the doctors, with Senator Mccain, his family r t, are the benefits greater than the risks . At this point, theyve decided thats no longer the case. In a statement, it says with his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment. But he will be getting treatment for pain and other related side effects, right . Yeah, you know, my understanding, hes always
talked about the fact that he wants to stay home. He wants to be at home. Theres different types of options to make sure that someone is comfortable. I dont know, you know, what kind of state hes in right now. I will say that because someone has made the decision to no longer have therapy doesnt necessarily mean it correlates with a precipitous decline. It just means that it doesnt appear the treatments are working or the benefits are outweighing the risks. At some point, it will be likely hes going to need some sort of care, whether its hospice or comfort or whatever sort of care that will likely be done in the home. I think i speak for all of us here at cnn, all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world, we wish Senator Mccain only the best in these days, these critically important days for him and his family. We send our love to that family. Sanjay, thank you. Mark preston, thank you as well. Up next, we continue to follow the Breaking News. The chief Financial Officer of the Trump Organization granted
immunity in the investigation of Hush Money Payments. What the white house is saying about it. Also, the president and his orbit facing an onslaught of serious legal cases. Were breaking it all down. Its the sears labor day event . Where you can shop with confidence and convenience plus get these 4 benefits from kenmore at sears. Up to fifty percent off appliances with your sears card. Like this washer and dryer for 539. 99 each. And this refrigerator for 899. 99. Hurry in to sears today. Thats style and service for every budget. Yours alone. For your oneofakind home. Call Budget Blinds for your free consultation right at home does your Business Internet provider promise a lot . Lets see who delivers more. Comcast business gives you gigspeed in more places. The others dont. We offer up to 6 hours of 4g Wireless Network backup. Everyone else, no way. We let calls from any of your devices come from your business number. Them, not so much. We let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. The others . Nope for a limited time, when you get fast, reliable internet, you can add voice for just 24. 95 more per month. Call or go online today. Call or go on line today. More now on the Breaking News this hour. The chief Financial Officer for the Trump Organization in new
york granted immunity in the investigation of Hush Money Payments. The source says Allen Weisselberg testified as part of the Michael Cohen case. It was cohen, the president s longtime former attorney, who implicated the president in payments to two women, at least two women, to cover up alleged affairs. Our chief White House Correspondent jim acosta is joining us now. Jim, when Allen Weisselberg was subpoenaed last month, a former Trump Organization employee told cnn that was the ultimate Nightmare Scenario for trump. What are you hearing right now over at the white house . Reporter well, wolf, it is potentially a Nightmare Scenario for the president because the public really just doesnt have that much insight into what was going on inside the Trump Organization and to president trumps finances when he was a private citizen because he did not release his tax returns and so on. So yes, this is potentially a very Big Development in that case. I will tell you at this point,
the white house isnt saying anything at this point. I will tell you in the last several minutes, i did hear from a Trump Legal Team source who was sort of down playing this development, Allen Weisselberg being granted immunity in the Michael L Cohen case and essentially saying this is from a while back, this is not new and really saying nothing more than that. So well have to wait to see whether or not the president wants to comment on all of this, wolf. Hes leaving for columbus, ohio, later on this afternoon, in about 30 minutes to an hour from now. Typically when he makes these departures on the south lawn of the white house, and its a pictureperfect day today here in washington, they cant blame the weather and motorcading him out to joint base andrews. Hell come out of the residence of the white house and pass right in front of reporters. Well see if he wants to take any questions. Theres not only just this knew about Allen Weisselberg but all of the news weve been talking about all week long, these inconsistent statements weve been hearing from the white house and from the president on
the Stormy Daniels payments and so on. Then of course later on this afternoon, the president will be in columbus, ohio. He will make some remarks at the republican state dinner there. So there will be multiple opportunities for the president to weigh in on all of this, not to mention this war of words thats been going on with the Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That could also flare up, as youve noted. Over the last 24 hours, hes been taking some jabs at his Attorney General. As weve seen, Jeff Sessions has been punching back. Wolf . Certainly has been. Thats another huge, huge story as well. Jim acosta at the white house, well stay in close touch with you and see if the president does agree to answer some reporters questions as hes emerging from the white house over there on the south lawn. Thank you very, very much. Allen weisselberg is certainly one of many close allies to turn against the president in one week. Were walking through them also. Also this, as president
trump continues his blistering attacks against the Attorney General, it appears Jeff Sessions may be losing the support of a major ally, at least some republicans in the u. S. Senate. His former colleagues in the u. S. Senate, at least some of them, we have details. man managing my type 2 diabetes wasnt my top priority. Until i held her. I found my tresiba® reason. Now im doing more to lower my a1c. I take tresiba® once a day. Tresiba® controls blood sugar for 24 hours for powerful a1c reduction. woman wed been counting down to his retirement. It was our tresiba® reason. He needs insulin to control his High Blood Sugar and, at his age, hes at greater risk for low blood sugar. Tresiba® releases slow and steady and works all day and night like the bodys insulin. vo tresiba® is a longacting insulin used to control High Blood Sugar in adults with diabetes. Dont use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Dont share needles or insulin pens. Dont reuse needles. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. Check your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can be serious and may be lifethreatening. Injection site reactions may occur. Tell your prescriber about all medicines you take and all your medical conditions. Taking tzds with insulins like tresiba® may cause serious side effects like heart failure. Your insulin dose shouldnt be changed without asking your prescriber. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, extreme drowsiness, swelling of your face, tongue or throat, dizziness or confusion. man i found my tresiba® reason. Find yours. vo ask your Health Care Provider about tresiba®. Covered by most commercial Health Insurance and Medicare Part d plans. Youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with. An increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts,. Or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Its really been a dizzying week of news with so many developments on the multitude of legal cases surrounding the president of the United States. Joining us now to help sort it
all out for us, cnn politics reporter and editor at large chris cillizza. Help us put these cases into perspective. Okay, wolf. Im going to talk relatively fast because theres a lot. Lets pop up the graphic that shows the legal universe. Okay. Lets just run through them. Bob mueller, we know about that one. Special counsel investigation. Not sure when that ends, but probably the biggest domino out there. We have reporting from last night, New York Times reporting that, the manhattan d. A. May look into the ways in which the donations to Karen Mcdougal and storm y daniels wee made because they may have been dicey looking. Thats Karen Mcdougal. We know she was paid 150,000 in a catch and Kill Agreement by ami, american media, david pecker, the company he runs. You know this guy by now. Michael cohen pled to eight counts earlier this week, including two on Campaign Finance tied to the donations to Karen Mcdougal and stormy
daniels, the porn star who got paid 130,000 11 days before the election for her silence that we know was set up through a Shell Company that cohen set up and was paid back by donald trump. Less attention given by still a pending piece of litigation, Summer Zervos has sued donald trump. She said she had an affair with him in the 2000s. Hes denied it. She said he defamed her in the process. Theres a lawsuit in which discovery is happening now. Go to the bottom, this is a Trump International hotel. This is in d. C. , the old post office. This ties to amollment, which is a way of saying donald trump is benefitting from the fact his name is on this hotel. Foreign dignitaries stay here to cozy up to him. That case is ongoing. Judges have rejected the trump administrations attempts to throw that case out. Thats a lot, wolf, but thats all the ongoing legal maneuvering around donald trump. Back to you. Its only just beginning, i suspect. Also this week, weve seen so many of the president s closest friends either turning on him or potentially preparing to turn on him. The most recent being the Trump Organization chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg. So chris, what could each of these flips, whatever you want to call it, mean for the president . How deep could all this go . So weisselberg is here in obviously the newest piece of information, that he was granted immunity to talk about cohen and the payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal. We dont know if the weisselberg Immunity Deals more broadly with the finances of donald trump. Remember, this is someone who has for decades worked for donald trump, was hired by Donald Trumps father. No one knows more than this guy. Okay, but we have Jeff Sessions. We know sessions recused himself, the Attorney General. Thats why trump believes hes in this mess. He recuses himself from the russia investigation. Now a Special Counsel is noted. We have omarosa. Shes written a book about it. She has tapes. That was last week. It may come back. Then cohen and david pecker. This may be the biggest domino to drop. The head of american media, reports that there was a safe that had a variety of catchandkill deals like Karen Mcdougals that pecker, who is a longtime friend of trump, set up. In march 2016 after National Enquirer ran a piece alleging with zero proof that ted cruz, Donald Trumps opponent at the time in the primary, had multiple extramarital affairs, pecker and trump had been friends. Cruz made that very clear. There was no denial there, but this is the pecker trump relationship has been a long one, and in both cases youve seen it work for Donald Trumps political gain. So keep an eye there. Yes, all these people in some way shape or form have turned on donald trump. Back to you, wolf. Chris cillizza, thanks for that explanation. And if that were not enough,
theres more Breaking News. The president of the United States just tweeting, there you see it right there, that hes asked the Secretary Of State mike pompeo not to go to north korea at this time. He says because i feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. It was only yesterday and the day before that secretary pompeo said hes heading back to pyongyang. Now the president says not so fast. Well update our viewers when we come back. From the first loving Touch Everything that touches your baby should be this comforting pampers swaddlers, the 1 choice of hospitals, is 2x softer and wraps your baby in our most premium protection so every touch is as comforting as the first pampers the 1 choice of hospitals, nurses parents
president trump is telling his Secretary Of State mike pompeo that he doesnt want him to go to north korea right now after all. Our White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is joining us. Let me read these three tweets from the president that he just posted, then well discuss. Well put them up on the screen starting with this one. I have asked Secretary Of State mike pompeo not to go to north korea at this time because i feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. Additionally, because of our much tougher Trading Stance with china, i do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were despite the u. N. Sanctions, which are in place. Secretary pompeo looks forward to going to north korea in the near future, most likely after our trading relationship with china is resolved. In the meantime, i would like to send my warmest regards and respect to chairman kim. I look forward to seeing him soon. So kaitlan, give us some context
right now. It was only yesterday that secretary pompeo said hes heading next week to north korea. Reporter wolf, this is really big. Mike pompeo was scheduled to make his fourth trip there next week. He Just Announced a newly appointed envoy. Now the president is cancelling it, telling us he asked pompeo not to make that trip. Pompeo was under a lot of pressure. This was going to be one of the most significant trips of his career because hes under real pressure to show this diplomacy with north korea is actually producing tangible results. Thats something thats been in question ever since that summit in singapore between the president and kim jongun when they sat down and signed that agreement about denuclearizing. Yet, there have been no real results since then. The administration is only able to point to things that happened before singapore, like no more missiles being fired off or anything like that, of that nature. Of course, wolf, youll remember the last time that mike pompeo went to north korea, he was jerked around by the north koreans. They kept changing his schedule and informing him of things
later on. Then he never even met with the north korean dictator as he was scheduled to. So this really does show off a lot of the frustration that has been happening inside the west wing among not just the president and mike pompeo but also his other National Security officials, the defense secretary james mattis and the National Security adviser john bolton, over how they should move forward with north korea because they are seeing this frustration that theres actually not that much progress being made as far as denuclearization is going. So that is what we seem to be seeing a result of here, wolf. We did see the Secretary Of State mike pompeo just outside the west wing maybe an hour or so ago. That likely was when that meeting occurred, that the president asked pompeo not to make that trip to north korea. Certainly very big news that hes this concerned about the progress that theyre making, that hes going as far to ask his Secretary Of State to cancel a trip that had already been announced to go to north korea. Yeah, youre certainly right. A very big deal. The president at least in part blaming china, the trade dispute
between the u. S. And china, tariffs and trade, for this decision. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Lets discuss this and more with ryan lizza, cnns political analyst. Also joining us from new york, s. E. Cupp, the host of cnns s. E. Cupp unfiltered which premieres on cnn this saturday night at 6 00 p. M. Eastern. Ryan, first to you. Give us your reaction to this news that the president announcing on twitter that pompeo is not going next week to north korea. Well, its part of this sort of erratic pattern of decisions with respect to north korea. I mean, there are two notable things in that series of tweets. One is hes mostly blaming this on china, right . He made some reference to this in the interview with fox news this week. He believes that china is no longer putting enough pressure on north korea to act the way we want north korea to act. And he blames essentially the trade war that he started with
china for their alleged retreat here. The second thing is he continues to have these kind of odd, very warm and respectful comments for chairman kim. He ends the series of tweets with sort of a, you know, dont worry, chairman kim, i still like you. Warmest regards and respect to chairman kim. I look forward to seeing him soon. So needless to say, this is not the normal kind of diplomacy we are all used to. Its frankly very bizarre. And look, a lot of people did warn the president that starting a trade war with china would have ramifications if you need their cooperation with north korea. Trump himself now seems to have come to that conclusion. Another bizarre twist in all of this, s. E. How do you see it . Well, just to you know, how you end a letter to a pen pal. It is not how you address one of the worlds worst dictators who
starves his own people. Even if you are trying detente, diplomacy, even if that is your effort and youre trying to sort of thaw the freeze, you still need to recognize who this man is. And treat him accordingly. But also yes north korea was always going to be a foley and going to singapore and staging these theatrics was not going to simply reverse, you know, decades of policy and inaction and stubbornness on behalf of the north korean regime. So if Trumps Shoot First Aim Second Kind of Foreign Policy is backfiring, color me unsurprised. And s. E. , what is your reaction, how worried should be the president be that Allen Weisselberg for 40 years, a key player at the Trump Organization, chief Financial Officer, has now been granted
immunity and is talking . Yeah, this is lnl as is almo oprah is in charge. You get immunity, you get immunity, you all get immunity so that everyone connected to the trump inner circle feels as though they can go on record and they can go on record presumably because they have something to go on record about. Id be very concerned if i were trump that he will be implicated in to what is being alleged as Campaign Finance violations, that is telling one of these people, either david pecker or weisselberg, we need these stories to go away because of the election. It is very possible one if not all of these players have exactly precisely that information to relay and possibly proof of it. Very quickly, if the stories that these two women who say they had an affair with the
president years earlier, if in factual the details had come out in the days just before the election in 2016, would it have made a difference . You know, that is a great question. We do know that trumps supporters, his hardcore supporter, know all of these facts now and they havent turned on the president. But right before the election 2016 when some of those voters were taking a little bit more of a gamble, look, it was an election decided by 80,000 votes in three states. So you flip half those plus one and Hillary Clinton would have been president. I think this is the argument that as we digest the fact that the president seems to have been involved in what prosecutors say was a criminal conspiracy as democrats start to digest this and republicans think is this an Impeachable Offense or not, i think the argument that at least to me is on the more persuadable side is acts that helped elect you that were illegal in some
way, that is in the category of things that should be impeachable. If you did something corrupt or criminal that got you elected, that is in the universe of impeachable things. Some crimes a president may have committed before they were in Office Dont Rise to an Impeachable Offense and some things that you do as president that are not technically illegal could be impeachable. So i think that is your question is the key one. Was this criminal and did it help elect him. And once you start answering yes to those questions, youre in the universe of impeachment. And s. E. , if we would have all known about Stormy Daniels and Karen Mcdougal two week before the election, do you think that that would have made a difference . It is hard to say because we know about it now, but that is after a year plus of trump and trump surrogates sort of bashes us over on the head with these stories of fake news and witch
hunts and so it is all i dont want to say it is normalized, none of this is normal, but it is all part of this big Noise Pattern that wasnt there quite yet in the months leading up to the election. Yes, trump was talking about a rigged election. He was sort of laying the ground work. But i think we were still capable of surprise back then. Were august a litt all a little jaded now. So i imagine had all that built up especially following access hollywood, maybe it would have turned enough voters, it wouldnt have taken many, to push the election hillarys way. Well just never know. We know that we didnt know before the days leading up to the election because of the 130,000 that were paid to Stormy Daniels, 150,000 that were paid to Karen Mcdougal, the Hush Money Payments. S. E. , ryan, thank you to both of you. Important note for our viewers, remember, you can catch s. E. s new show right here on cnn
tomorrow Night Saturday night, 6 00 p. M. Eastern. It is called s. E. Cup unfiltered. Well be watching. Congratulations. Looking forward to the new show. Thanks a lot. Any moment now, the president will be departing the white house for ohio. Will he address the Immunity Deal or the north korea talks . The Breaking News continues next. You wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from an allergy pill . Flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Its more complete allergy relief. Flonase
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