Anderson Cooper takes viewers beyond the headlines with indepth reporting and investigations. Courthouse in alexandrialexandr virginia, cnns jessica schneider. So what did we learn today at the trial . Anderson, we learned a lot. It was only the first day here, but this courtroom is definitely living up to its Rocket Docket reputation. They managed to whittle down this jury pool of 65 people down to 12 jurors plus four alternates, and then, of course, we heard the fiery Opening Statements here. In this, prosecutors shed some light on Paul Manaforts lavish lifestyle, and they did it by talking about his 30 hidden Foreign Bank Accounts they say existed in three different countries. And they say that funded that lavish lifestyle that included seven different homes, ranging from virginia to manhattan, all the way to the hamptons on long island. They also talked about his 500,000 luxury clothing. They mentioned a 21,000 watch, and they even, yes, mentioned a 15,000 jacket made of ostrich. The prosecution here says that they have a witness list of 35 people that they plan to call, but this trial is really only expected to go three weeks. We saw just how fast this trial moved just in the first day here. So who knows. It could wrap up even sooner. But yes, 35 witnesses of the prosecution is expecting to call. Anderson . Im amazed how fast it moved today. Jessica schneider, thank you so much. We have new reporting now from cnns jeff zeleny, more on the white house strategy for dealing with the trial. As you might have guessed from the top of the program, item one, distancing the president from Paul Manafort. Were also learning the president watched Trial Coverage on his way down to florida today. Thats according to officials who spoke to jeff. And the president has asked staffers for regular updates as the prtrial proceeds. Joining us is jeffrey toobin, a former federal prosecutor. So is jennifer rodgers. And jason miller is a former Trump Campaign senior adviser. So, jeff, the fact that its day one and theres already been jury selection, Opening Statements and the first witness
called, what does it tell you about how this trial is going to proceed . Its going to be two weeks rather than three weeks. I just have no doubt this trial will go faster than expected. Thats how it always works in the Eastern District of virginia. And its a place where prosecutors win almost all the time. It is known as a very proprosecution jurisdiction, and given the facts of this case, i think manafort is just in a world of trouble. But jeff, the judges want prosecutors the steer clear of anything russiarelated. Is that i mean, is it the Elephant In The Room there for the jurors or, i mean, can they do that . You know, i have a lot of confidence in jurors in matters like this. I mean, the real problem for Paul Manafort here is there doesnt appear to be any evidence that he paid his taxes. I mean, he got all this money. It was stashed in these Foreign Bank Accounts, and the taxes werent paid. Now, like most people who are accused of a crime with a cooperating witness, hes going try to put all the blame on the cooperating wutness. That is a standard strategy. It rarely works, but it sometimes does. And you know, but its just going to be difficult to persuade the jury that somehow rick gates is responsible for the fact that Paul Manafort made millions upon millions of dollars and didnt pay his taxes. Jennifer, do you agree that that defense strategy, trying to pin it all on rick gates, who is a cooperating witness, thats basically the kind of defense 101 . It is. It is exactly. The problem here is that rick gates, of course, was not cooperating until after the charges were filed. So, they were prepared to proceed with this case without rick gates onboard. They have all the documentary evidence. Like jeff just said, these are individual income taxes that Paul Manafort lied about, not to mention some properties on which there was mortgage fraud, had nothing to do with rick gates in the hamptons and in brooklyn. So, hes going to have a really hard time pinning all of this on rick gates, for sure. Jason, the push from the president s allies arguing that Paul Manafort was basically nobody on the campaign, only worked there for four months,
through the Republican Convention if it wasnt Paul Manafort. Did Paul Manafort help prevent some of the brain damage if it had gone forward and there had been a floor fight and such things like that . Of course. But was there any chance that President Trump was going to get caught up at convention or he wasnt going to get through or anything like that . Of course not. Lets not go and blow it out of proportion. So, the role that he played was a relatively shorter amount of time, and i dont think we need to go and blow that out of proportion. But again, everything thats happening to Paul Manafort, those are Paul Manafort problems, those are not donald trump problems. Its harder to blow it out of proportion, jeff, if your title is chairman of the campaign. It seems like a pretty big time. Absolutely. And remember what hes charged with. He is charged with taking millions upon millions of dollars from viktor yanukovych, who was the proputin politician in ukraine. So, its not that this is completely unrelated to the whole russia situation. Remember, too, that during the convention, they changed the
platform toe make the ukrainian section more proputin. So, the entire thrust of the Trump Campaign, which the issue of a conspiracy with the russian interests, you know, remains the heart of the investigation. Manaforts presence in the campaign is evidence of sympathy to putin in and of itself. So in that respect, its not the criminal charges, but who Paul Manafort is, is highly relevant to this investigation. But jeffrey, if i could just jump in real quick, is there some sort of crime that youre accusing the president of . No. Im not, but you know, when you are asking why the president has this fixation with Vladimir Putin, which apparently continues to this day, and why Vladimir Putin was so desperate to see donald trump win and Hillary Clinton lose and why donald trump was asking russians
to hack emails, which they did the same day, all of it is relevant evidence to what happened in this campaign. Jennifer, i mean, at some point, rick gates himself will have to testify. Do you think hell find anything out about will we find anything out about the larger Mueller Investigation from that . You know, the one way that we could is that when a cooperator testifies, the defense is entitled to crossexamine him or her about all Impeachment Material. So, if rick gates did things during the campaign that were illegal or go to his credibility, then prosecutors could raise that and the defense could crossexamine on it. You know, it seems from some of the pretrial motions and litigation that the word russia, i guess one of the prosecutors said, probably wont even be uttered. So, it sounds like they dont have that kind of Impeachment Material they need to front and that manafort lawyers will cross on, so im suspecting not, but if there is anything like that, that could be the context in which it would be raised. Jason, President Trump has said on more than one occasion about only hiring the best. If thats true, shouldnt the campaign have done its Due Diligence when it came the Paul Manafort and figured out if manafort had been operating above board or not . This is a pretty, you know, sleazy track record that the prosecutors certainly have laid out. Well, absolutely. But there is no such thing as a time machine. And so, the fact of the matter is is that Paul Manafort was onboard for, as i said before, a relatively shorter amount of time, and he was not the person who ultimately was the Campaign Manager that took us across the finish line. That was kelly anne, as you know, along with steve bannon and a whole host of other folks who were onboard. But look, Paul Manafort, we primarily focused on the Convention Phase of this, did have a long track record of working with conventions and things like that. But i think one of the other things that i think kind of a little jumbled up in the media is that President Trump and manafort werent particularly close. I dont think that President Trump really knew much all about
Paul Manaforts background. These were not two men who would hang out, grab dinner or lunch or chat. But to the point the president constantly saying he hires the best, that seems to imply he knows who hes hiring. Your argument seems to be, well, he didnt really know this guy even though he went on tv multiple times and talked about what a great guy he was. Well, he got a mulligan in this one. But whats the one thing donald trump knew about Paul Manafort, which was that he worked for viktor yanukovych. That was basically his only client for years. And the fact that he worked for yanukovych, the proputin politician in ukraine, was good enough for donald trump. That tells you something in and of itself, no . But i think the one thing that President Trump knew is that Paul Manafort had convention experience. In the 80s. In the 80s. 30 years ago. But its been a long time since there was a real convention fight. Keep in mind it had been literally decades since there was a real Convention Battle within Republican Party politics. That was something paul was able to speak to. He wasnt being brought on for any Policy Matters or any grand strategic vision. He is someone who was going to manage the convention. That was the value he was demonstrating at that particular time. All right, jason miller, jeff toobin, jennifer rodgers, thanks very much. Up next, the president s trip to florida and his flight from any tough questions or any place he might encounter any tough questions. Were keeping him honest on that. As, Breaking News in the fight over firearms that you can make at home with a special pri printer and the plans a court tonight just blocked from getting out. The legal battle and the role the white house played in this with 3d printing guns ahead on ac 360. Nourished hair. Better color. Keep it comin love. If you keep on eating, well keep it comin. All you can eat riblets and tenders at applebees. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. 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. Addon advantage. 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. To help prevent another stroke. So, im doing all i can to stay in his life. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Chicken thats right, chicken . candace new Chicken Creations from starkist. Buffalo Style Chicken in a pouch bold choice, charlie just tear, eat. Mmmmm. And go try all of my Chicken Creations chicken well, it is july 31st and that gives us an opportunity to point something out. The white house has only held
three Press Briefings all month. Now, these things used to be common enough that they were actually called the Daily White HousePress Briefing, which meant daily. Now you can call them nearly extinct, which makes what youre about to hear kind of odd. Give a listen and ask yourself, does this sound like a promise . Were here. Were taking questions. Were doing everything we can to provide regular and constant information to the American People, and there is a responsibility by you guys to provide accurate information, and were going to continue to try to work with you. Well, she said that may 9th. That entire month, there were nine White House Press briefings. In june, just five. This month, only three. So tell us what was that again . Were here. Were taking questions. Were doing everything we can to provide regular and constant information to the American People. Everything they can do to provide regular and constant information. Everything they can do. See, for a minute there, it sounded like Sarah Sanders was actually promising to provide regular and constant information to the American People. Keeping them honest, we asked her why she promised the people one thing and is doing the polar opposite, but we simply havent had the chance, because there have only been three briefings this month. If youd like to ask Sarah Sanders about her promise, take a number. If youd like to know what President Trump thinks about Michael Cohens allegations about the Trump Tower Meeting, get in line. If you want to see the president challenged about why the white house lied about the president not being involved with wanting to buy Karen Mcdougals silence after audiotape shows he actually was, sorry, you are out of luck. And the same goes for false and misleading statements like this one just yesterday. The president tweeting a highly respected federal judge today stated that the Trump Administration gets great credit for reuniting legal families. Thank you, and please look at the previous administrations record. Not good. The president neglected to point out that the judge admonished the administration for essentially making orphans out of kids. Thats the beauty of the twitter machine. You can omit, you can rephrase, you can make stuff up. Whatever you want, and no one
can challenge you. Last year anthony scaramucci, the new White House Communications director for those ten glorious days, refused to commit to regular white house briefings. Hes gone, but it sure looks like his idea is gaining traction at the white house today. President trump left for his trip to florida this afternoon without saying a word to reporters and in case youre wondering, that is par for the course. With the exception of his jount appearance alongside italys Prime Minister yesterday, the president has refused to answer reporters questions 16 times in just the last six days. Thank you, everybody, thank you. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Mr. President , sir, is Michael Cohen lying . Did Michael Cohen betray you . Mr. President , did Michael Cohen betray you, sir . Mr. President , why did you cancel the meeting with Vladimir Putin, sir . Well, thats what were seeing more and more of, Unanswered Questions and fewer chances to ask them. And in the meantime, the president reportedly is itching for more occasions like he just finished up at tonight, rallies where he can say whatever he wants and hear nothing in return but applause. Our jim acosta is in tampa for us tonight, joining us now. So, this lack of transparency, is there any other reason theyre doing this other than the fact they dont want to answer questions about, for instance, why the president lied and why the white house, why the campaign, i should say, lied, not knowing about Karen Mcdougal and ami and the deal . Anderson, i think the only thing you can conclude, and youre going to hear some folks here, i think, letting their feelings be known at this rally here in tampa, about how they feel about cnn. But anderson, i think the honest answer to your question is that this white house is obviously hiding from the press. Theyre hiding the president from the press. They are hiding the Press Secretary from the press. Thats the only conclusion you
can come to when theyve only had five Press Briefings in the last month of june, and only three Press Briefings this month. I mean, that is historically at a very low level. Now, one thing we should point out, anderson, at this rally tonight, the president went after what he calls fake news. He even talked about fake polls, even though he touted a poll that he said that he had seen saying he was the most popular republican president ever. Its hard to understand how you can have fake polls but also tout polls showing you being popular. But anderson, despite the president going after the press, he just hadnt given us opportunities to ask him very many questions. And i think there really is no other reasonable conclusion other than they just dont like the questions that are going to be asked right now. You know, ive been trying to talk to white house aides about this, and one of the things you hear, and theyve said this before in the past is that, well, when the president has a speech or when he has an event, they tonight want to step on the
message of the day. Well, the president had a speech tonight, and so there was no Press Briefing today. It is possible they could have one tomorrow, anderson, but we just dont know at this point. Yeah, i mean, so, theres no idea when the next one might be held . Say that again . There is no idea, its not a schedule when the next one might be held . You know, i think it is possible. Im pushing these earpieces in my ear just to hear you, anderson. I think its possible they could hold one tomorrow, but aides are being very cagey about it. One thing theyll talk about as they have these off Camera Gaggles when the president is traveling down on air force one, and that sort of thing to various events. But as you and i both know, anderson, thats not the same as having an oncamera briefing with the Press Secretary coming into the briefing room. You know, we used to call them daily Press Briefings. Theyre barely Weekly Press Briefings anymore. And i think, anderson, the only conclusion you can draw at this point is they just dont like the questions right now. And its amazing, anderson. Youre hearing some of the insults being hurled at us right now. Ive been talking to some of these folks this evening, even though theyre being pretty negative towards us right now. I answered a bunch of questions from some of these Trump Supporters here about all sorts of things, a lot more questions than the president has taken from us in recent days, anderson. Jim acosta, appreciate you being there. Thanks, jim. I want to bring in two new voices. One from David Axelrod with long white house experience managing the message. And carl bernstein, who has even longer experience Holding President s accountable, including this one, shares a byline on the Michael Cohen scoop. David, every white house certainly, look, has had their issues with the press. Have you ever seen a white house that has had this many issues with the press . Well, ive never seen a white house who has had many, many issues, not just issues with the press, but every this is a precedentshattering white house. And particularly when it comes to issues of transparency and disclosure, starting with the president s refusal to release his tax returns and running through a whole series of things. I think the important thing,
though, here is beyond not answering questions about Michael Cohen and the probe which are uncomfortable, weve also seen the practice suspended of briefing people, briefing the press when the president speaks to foreign leaders. We are only americans are only finding out what the president has said in their name from reports from foreign governments. Its two weeks later. We still dont know what was said between him and Vladimir Putin. I mean, there are fundamental things, bits of information that the American People deserve, and, you know, the bottom line is this president doesnt believe that he has any obligation to share that information with people. He calls the press the enemy of the people. He conflates his political interest with the public interest. And he thinks that reporting is a hostile act. Yeah, the fact is, were not even sure he has told his
secretary of state or the secretary of defense exactly what was discussed with Vladimir Putin in that meeting. Its not clear from their own from, you know, pompeos testimony, that he really has a fell readout from the president. Carl, do you you fought with many white houses over the years trying to get your questions answered. Nixons Press Secretary had a famous adversarial relationship with the press. How would you compare then to now . I think its far worse. The really great thing thats happening is is that News Organizations from the Washington Post to the New York Times to cnn to the ap to reuters are doing some of the greatest reporting that we have ever seen on a presidency. And the result is that the American People understand what the facts are. They can make up their own minds about it because of our reporting. The idea that somehow we would expect this president , this presidency, this administration to be anything like open or transparent or honest or truthful at this stage of the
game is absurd on our part. And were doing the right thing by doing our reporting. Donald trump is the president of his base. He makes no attempt to be the president of all the people of this country. And part of appealing to his base is to make the conduct of the press the issue rather than the conduct of donald trump and his presidency. So thats where we are, and the great part of this, as opposed to the part that we ought to be terrified about, is that were doing the reporting. And thats really why he is so upset, why he is so furious, why he is going to ground the way he is, because we have raised the questions about what is truthful, particularly about his relationship with putin, particularly about his relationship with Michael Cohen. Weve raised the questions. Theyre out there, and the people of this country know that theyre out there. David, to carls point, its
not just about making the press the enemy, its making nfl players the enemy at times when it suits the president , or making, you know, undocumented immigrants the enemy, or whomever it may be to suit the president s needs at any given time. I want to ask you, though, about comparing to the Obama Administration. Because Kaitlan Collins was barred last week from attending an event in the rose garden at the white house, didnt like questions she asked. Obviously the white house has issues with cnn and their coverage. There are those who say, look at the Obama Administration. They didnt always give the same access to fox news as Everyone Else or the same number of interviews. To that, you say what . Is that a fair comparison . I dont well, no, i dont think its a fair comparison, because they never barred fox reporters from doing their jobs. I talked to fox News Reporters all the time when i was in the white house. They asked questions at president ial Press Conferences and so on. I dont think its look, as you pointed out at the beginning, every president is irritated at times by their
coverage, but most president s understand that that is part of the obligation of the job. That a free press is enshrined in the First Amendment for a reason. But i just want to react to one thing that carl said. Its not just that hes using the press as a foil with his base. He is trying to impeach the media, so that when facts are reported that are inconvenient to him, he can dismiss them as political in nature. And that, to me, is a very insidious thing. Thats really, you know, that is the stuff of autocratic states. And so, while i agree with carl that the reporting has been aggressive, its been thorough, its been critical, there still is concern about a president who doesnt really believe in a free press. And carl, it is not just the
lack of Press Briefings. You know, the president himself still hasnt directly answered questions about why his campaign lied about their involvement in trying to buy Karen Mcdougals rights the rights to her story from a. M. I. , which the Campaign Claim they had no knowledge of, they knew nothing about the deal, nor has he answered any questions about your reporting that he allegedly knew about the Trump Tower Meeting in advance. This president and this presidency and this white house has no interest in the truth, as we have known it in every other presidency. This president and this presidency has an interest only in its own propaganda, its own lies, its own version of events that have nothing to do with real existing information. You know, i went to Jack KennedysPress Conferences, starting with his third one. I was copy boy at the time. And if you were to go back and
watch him and every successive president of the United States, including richard nixon, you would not see anything comparable to the lying, to the unavailability to being open and transparent, such as we have seen in this presidency. This presidency and this president is unique. We have never had anything like this in our history in terms of disinformation. Yeah. Misinformation, and an attempt to undermine the truth at every turn. Not just in a criminal conspiracy like watergate, but about everything. Carl bernstein. David axelrod, thank you so much. Coming up, a federal judge makes a decision on the 3d printed guns that have been causing so much controversy. And after the president tweets, the white house and the nra have very similar statements about the undetectable and untraceable guns. The latest next. On the shelf. Or even. Out in the field. Your mom knew she could always count on us. And your grandma did too. Because for over 150 years, weve been right by your side. Advancing the health of the people, plants and pets you love. So, from all of us at bayer. Thank you for trusting in us. Then. And now. 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 get internet on our gigspeed network and add voice and tv for 34. 90 more per month. Call or go online today. Olly. A federal judge in Washington State has issued a temporary Restraining Order stopping the release of bueprints how to make a plastic gun with a 3d printer. Its the latest development in a controversy thats gone on for years after a company in texas developed instructions on how to make a plastic gun with a 3d printer. Court battle ensued when the company made the instructions available to be downloaded. Multiple states Attorneys General have moved to stop it. Ours later, the White House DeputyPress Secretary said this on air force one. In the United States, its currently illegal to own or make a wholly plastic gun of any kind, including those made on a 3d printer. The administration supports the nearly two decadeold law and will continue to look at all
options available to us to do what is necessary to protect americans while also supporting the first and second amend pts. So it strikes a lot of the same chords as the nra statement, which reads in part, quote, regardless of what a person may be able to publish on the internet, undetectable plastic guns have been illegal for 30 years. A federal law passed in 1988 crafted with the nra support makes it unlawful to manufacture, import, sell, shift, deliver, possess, transfer or receive are an undetectable firearm. Joining me now is Washington StateAttorney General bob ferguson, who just scored that Court Victory stopping release of the blueprints, at least temporarily. Thanks for being with us. Attorney general, the temporary Restraining Order that youve been granted, what does it mean Going Forward in terms of the law here . Yeah, in terms of the law thanks for having me on again, anderson. Appreciate it. This is a nationwide ban. So, what it does, it takes us back to a period of time before the federal government flipped on their policy regarding these
3d ghost guns. What it means is, if anyone posts this information online, theyre in violation of federal law and can suffer very serious consequences. So it makes it unlawful to post that information and make it available to the public. Why did the government offer a settlement to allow these blueprints on the internet in the first place . Do we know . Wasnt it the State Department that stepped in to prevent them from being posted online . That is a very good question, anderson. And truly, its baffling to me and many others why the federal government made this decision. And just to be clear, to your point, there has been a court case going on texas in which the Obama Administration and the Trump Administration opposed this entity down in texas from making this information public. The state Department Filed declarations, talking about the National Security risk and Public Safety risk of any process, no procedure, no nothing. They caved on a case they were winning and allowed this entity to go forward. Its truthfully breathtaking, and the risk to Public Safety is hard to overstate. Yeah, cody wilson, the man
who invented the first 3d printed gun, told cnn today that despite your suit, he has already uploaded plans for the ar15 semiautomatic rifles have been downloaded more than 2,500 times. How concern ready you . And is there anything you can do than . Once its out there, its out there, isnt it . So, i am very concerned about that. And every american who is be should be very concerned about that and the president of the United States should be very concerned about that. And he can put a stop to this right now. He should tell his attorneys to stand down in this litigation and allow us to declare victory in this case and move forward. So, yes, some folks have been able to access information, but obviously, anderson, if its allowed to go forward for days, weeks, months, many more thousands of people would have access to it. We want to limit that damage and were very thankful our judge here in seattle granted our request for a Restraining Order to shut this down nationwide. This notion from the white house and the nra that, quote, regardless of what a person may be able to publish on the internet, undetectable
plastic guns have been illegal for 30 years. So that you say what . Well, id say, why are you fighting me in court then . Were going to court to go back to a time in which it was illegal to do this. The u. S. Government was in court today saying no, the entity should be allowed to post this information. So once again, we have an administration, we have a white house where the left hand doesnt know what the right hands doing. Theyre not communicating in concert with one another. There is nothing new about that, anderson. Ive been on your show many times and ive now filed 32 lawsuits against this administration. In ten cases, we have decisions. I won all ten of them. One of the reasons ive won all ten is because this administration cant keep their story straight. Theyre sloppy. And frankly, theyre dangerous when it comes to Public Safety. And thats why im so relieved judge lasnik took the action he did today. Attorney general bob ferguson, good to have you on. Thank you. President trump took to twitter, telling his followers there was no collusion with russia. This is, of course, a day after his private tv attorney, rudy giuliani, said the same thing. Were going toe have an
examination of that just ahead. Only imagine. D a peaceful night sleep without frequent heartburn waking him up. Now that dream is a reality. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . All around louisiana. Youre a nincompoop phone ping gentlemen, i have just received word the louisiana purchase, is complete instant Purchase Notifications from capital one. So you wont miss a purchase large, small, or very large. Technology this helpful. Could make history. Whats in your wallet . Hundred roads named park in the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But Allstate Agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local Allstate Agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . Yeah yeah yeah we hide hotel names, so you can find four star hotels at two star prices. Hotwire but its tough to gete enough of their nutrients. At two star prices. New one a day with natures medley is the only complete multivitamin with antioxidants from one total serving of fruits and veggies try new one a day with natures medley. A crime, colluding about russians. Okay. You start analyzing the crime. The hacking is the crime. The hacking is the crime. Yes, that certainly is the original problem. The president didnt hack. Of course not. He didnt pay them for hacking. Well, in the strictest sense, both President Trump and giuliani are correct. There is no statute against collusion. Joining me to deconstruct, Retired Colonel ralph peters. So, colonel, the change from the president , from the months and months just repeating that there was no collusion, to just about any question asked about russia, now saying in addition to that, collusion is not a crime, the fact that giuliani is saying that, as well, does it seem there is a strategy behind that shift . A strategy of desperation, if a strategy at all. Collusion outright may not be a crime in and of itself, but anderson, treason is a crime. Collaborating and conspireing with a hostile foreign power against the United States is a crime. Receiving Material Support, clandestine Material Support from a hostile foreign power is a crime. And we get to the people around trump. Moneylaundering is a crime. Tax fraud is a crime. Lying under oath is a crime. So, theres plenty of crime to go around. But what trump and giuliani and all their paladins have been doing is doing their best to blind the American People, to overwhelm us with various forms of diversion and obscure data, to cloud the issue, to muddy the waters. Pick your cliche. But for me, as someone who genuinely cares about this country and who doesnt give a damn about either political party, for me, there is one core question facing our country today. One paramount question, and that is, has the president of the United States committed treason against the United States, specifically, in service in t thrall of some sort to Vladimir Putin . I hope im wrong. I hope it didnt happen. Well see what Robert Mueller brings to the fore. But we must focus on that question and not be diverted by clownish antics, because trump is a brilliant entertainer. In a peculiar way, he may be historys greatest entertainer. He commands global headlines every single day, and we make a mistake of thinking about him as a politician or a leader when he is an entertainer. And by allowing ourselves to be constantly entertained, we lose sight of fundamental ethics, values and security of this nation. You talk about him as a propagandist and a very effective propagandist. Yes. Not only the simple catchphrases, but repeated time and time and time again so that they just become normalized. Its also part of its not just about repeating phrases, its also used as a diversion. Yes. To take you off focusing, take the American People, the media, whomever, their eye off whats really happening, what really matters. Yes. And anderson, consider what a brilliant move it is to attack the press as the enemy of the people. Instead of having the spotlight on trump and his alleged misdeeds, on his daily misdeeds against this country, it turns against the press, the press as the enemy of the people. Enemy of the people is a loaded term. It does go back to roman times. But in the modern era, the first person i can find who really used it is robespierre in the french revolution. As a student of russian affairs, its the enemy of the people in russia. Under stalin during the purges, if you were called an enemy of the people, it was a death sentence. And given all of trumps other ties, to russia and things russian and People Associated with russia, it hardly seemed a coincidence that he calls our press the enemy of the people. And anderson, our press is not above criticism. Sure. Its made of human beings. Human beings are flawed. I have when i thought the press deserved it, i have
criticized the press fiercely, but i hope constructively, because without a free press as our Founding Fathers recognized, democracy cannot function. Lieutenant colonel ralph peters, always good to have you on. Thank you. Thank you. I want to check in with chris and see what hes working on for the top of the hour. Chris . Peters makes you gulp. Talking about, you know, stalin. Its pretty yeah, and its just weird that theyre using the same phrase. So, tonight, were going to take a little bit of a different tact on this issue about collusion not equaling a crime. I actually think that the media got out over its skis on this, and i think were missing the forest for one tree, and im going make the legal case today. And i think its mostly common sense where you can start with where were hearing from the Trump Legal Team right now, but still wind up looking at a whole Garden Basket of potential Criminal Activity that stems from this. So well lay out the case. Were also going to take on the man who wants people to be able
to make their own 3d guns at home. He is going to make the case to the audience as to why. And we are going to test it, my friend. Chris, your screen getting bigger and bigger, your white board there . Ah, yeah, it is, actually. I have two white boards. Sometimes either that or youre shrinking. Yes. I am i am slimming. I covet the board. Kind of look alike. From heredown. From here up, much better. An capitol hill, the top officials were peppered with questions about the Trump Administrations separation of families at the border. One official said Family Separation was not part of the policy. Coming up, ill talk to a senator that was there. Chicken . chicken. Chicken thats right, candace new Chicken Creations from starkist. Buffalo Style Chicken in a pouch bold choice, charlie just tear, eat. Mmmmm. And go try all of my Chicken Creations chicken 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. 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. Addon advantage. Ordinary stains say they 2 can do the job, s. But behr premium stain can weather any weather. Behr premium semitransparent stain and sealer, overall 1 rated, weathers it all. Find our most advanced formula exclusively at the home depot. Where were changing withs . Contemporary makeovers. Then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander with a double palm grab. Who has the upper hand now . Start winning today. Book now at lq. Com. Back pain cant win. Now introducing aleve back and muscle pain. Only aleve targets tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve back muscle. All day strong. All day long. Questions as a Senate Hearing today and those questions elicited some pretty remarkable answers. At one point, the head of enforcement or removal for immigration Customs Enforcement said the facilities where kids and parents were being kept were, quote, more like a summer camp. Thats what he said. Take a look at this exchange between senator Richard Blumenthal and an official at the department of health and human services, who acknowledged separating children from their parents was a bad thing. Would i be correct in assuming that the answer to you was, in effect, thats the whole purpose of the policy, to inflict pain so as to deter Asylum Seekers from coming here, correct . No, sir. We were advised that Family Separation was not the policy. He had raised concerns about the policy there. Well, thats interesting he was told that because heres Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions on fox news talking about the policy. Are you considering this a deterrent . I see the fact that no one was being prosecuted for this as a factor in a fivefold increase
in four years in this count of illegal immigration. So, yes, hopefully people will get the message. It was intended there as a deterrent. Jeff sessions said it. So did john kelly on camera. At the hearing was minnesota senator amy klobuchar. When he tried to get some clarification about the Family Separation policy, even he was told it was not the policy. I mean the standard answer from the government, how do you square that with the world actually seeing the separations as well as multiple members of the administration describing what they say as not a policy, as a deterrent. Well, its very clear when you listen to the leadership, the words you hear from the Attorney General, from the Chief Of Staff of the white house, that they did view this as a deterrent. But the problem is then theyre using kids as a weapon. And i was at the border, and the families i met, some of whom had
been reunited, all they wanted to do was to get back to their mom. A little 10yearold boy and his mom, she had fled honduras as a victim of domestic violence. And then to have her child yanked away from her at the border, didnt know if she would ever see him again. And he said, well, i knew id always see my mom again because shed find me. Those are heartbreaking stories, and thats what we heard today at the hearing. And its very clear to me that there were some people of good will at those front lines whether they were people that worked at the agencies, whether they were the like sister norma from Catholic Charities who runs the operations down there in mcallen, or the volunteers that came from all over america with good hearts to try to fix this. But it should never have happened in the first place. Theres certainly been a lot of reports, stories about what the Detention Centers holding the kids were like. Today we heard this other description from an i. C. E. Official who said this. I want to play it for our viewers. I think the best way to describe them is to be more like a summer camp. These individuals have access to
24 7 food and water. They have educational opportunities. They have recreational opportunities, both structured as well as unstructured. I mean youve talked about having been to the border. Im wondering what you make of that summer camp description. This is not what i heard from these families. One pair of siblings who were separated from each other, one went to florida. One went to texas. They described themselves as being cold. They described themselves as wanting to go and see their parents again. And you still, anderson, have 711 kids that have been separated from their parents. Over 400 of them, they cant find their parents. You know what the difference is between summer camp and this . You go home to your parents after summer camp. Theres also been reports of kidding being given psych oh tropeic drugs without a parents permission. I dont think that happens at summer camp. No, it does not. Did anyone ask that official if he would send his children to summer camp to that kind of a summer camp . Those kinds of things were asked and we got some vague answers. There was one official from hhs, commander white, who clearly said that he told his superiors he was concerned about the psychological effect on these kids. And he also said, you know, this was a policy that we applied to unaccompanied minors. But these kids were accompanied. They werent accompanied by their parents. This announcement from facebook today that they shut down a Disinformation Campaign that was targeting the midterm elections. You introduced legislation aimed at trying to prevent election interference this past fall. Are you happy with how facebook handled this . Im glad they came forward and said what we believed is true and that is the russians are still trying to do this, or it looks like russian accounts because theyre similar to what they had before the election. One of them had nearly 300,000 followers. These same kinds of ads that are trying to turn americans on each other from controversial issues, from immigration issues, and theyre doing it again. Thats why we have to pass this