but first it's hard to believe that this time last week we were previewing the president's meeting with vladimir putin. but, of course, we are apparently living in a different space time continuum here in 2018 where even gravity works differently. but more on that in a moment. all of that happened before friday when "the new york times" dropped that bombshell report about michael cohen and his recording of president trump. then came saturday when the d.o.j. made the documents about surveilling former trump campaign aid carter page public. and don't forget about paul manafort whose trial begins this week in virginia. along with a reminder that the president's former campaign chairman has been sitting in jail for over a month as he prepares to face a jury. but back to that part about gravity. the president's approval rating is ticking up, not down. a brand-new poll from nbc news and the "wall street journal" conducted before and after the helsinki summit shows the president approval rating at