Anderson Cooper takes viewers beyond the headlines with in-depth reporting and investigations. unable to define it. in the past he's called them sons of bitches. now he says they seem to be lacking intelligent. most recently he suggested lebron james was dumb, we know he thinks congresswoman maxine waters is dumb, as well, he's called her low iq. there is history here. mr. chairman trump built his brand on the allegation the first african-american president was not a legitimate citizen. he demanded to see the african-american president's grades in college. more recently he asked white house staffers why the u.s. should be letting into the country from places like haiti and african nations instead of, say, norway. perhaps this weekend on the anniversary of charlottesville, ne neo-nazis gathering in the white house he will say or tweet something to help bring the nation together. out, registering voters, a lot of stuff going on. it's sad the president hasn't acknowledged that. this is unfortunate because you saw the president say i want to engage, i'm willing to take on the issue. he is making positive steps substantively on criminal justice at the policy level but the politics for him always come back to insulting black people so you have a tale of two presidencies where he's met with governors about criminal justice and then the same day goes back to the knob sense nonsense. >> is this just about riling up his base? >> i don't know why he wants to do this. i tell you what i would do if i was a player, which i was. i salute my flag whenever i get a opportunity i salute my flag. not because america is perfect but because of the ideals of america and i will always salute that. that said, i do support these players and their right to protest. i think it's unwise and i think there are other good things they can be doing. there are a lot of things that need to be recognized rather than taking the national stage and protesting the united states of america. >> he has said to other people that this works for his base and that seems to be why he continues to do it because he's brought up this issue. it's not as if this is -- there's new ground here. >> here's new thing about the president -- who i voted for. let's put that out there, full disclosure. >> all right. >> he is a politician entertainer. we take him way too seriously. . the office of the president city of the united states is much more important than some antics that our president engages in. it's embarrassing, sometimes it's embarrassing, sometimes i'm enhanced but i know i'm an american, i have to live my life regardless of what the president does and i know i'm on a national media platform and we're talking about the president but we get way too much in the weeds on what the president does or doesn't do. i think because we have a congress, our constitution is set up so that the president can't ship wreck the country. >> well, so far. but i think -- i understand what you're saying and i think sometimes people do get upset about stuff. but at the end of the day. and when you don't have a condemnation of a nazi march, that sends a signal that there's a bunch of people that 99% of americans don't want to have anywhere around them. it's okay. i'm very concerned about this weekend. i'm concerned we'll go into the week end where there's fear and silence may seem like consent or afore mission. a growth of a nazi movement unopposed the president is bad. >> we can't have it. i don't want to say it's nonsensical but it's outrageous that would not be decried and as a republican who supported the president i would say mr. preside president, please decry these as in racist crazy people walking across the street from the white hou house. my brothers in the nfl, they are game changers, the show we did last year, there were some great things said about the positive things the nfl, the league, the owners have done some things positive. i think there's a lot of positive things that we have. i don't understand why it's still necessary for these guys to take a knee or raise a fist i don't understand it. >> because the conditions haven't changed. you have to remember, we're old guys now, you're talking about these guys are two, three years out of the hood. when they go home for thanksgiving dinner, their cousins, their nephews, their uncles and aunts are still dealing with police forces that are sometimes more hostile in that neighborhood than three neighborhoods over and they don't feel that yes the conversation may have changed, the conditions haven't changed and they want to keep protest i ing. i've never seen athletes have this kind of impact for better or for worse. >> well, there's some individuals -- >> kareem abdul-jabbar. but in my lifetime this has been one of the most effective interventions by athletes and i think we should be proud of them. they could be worrying about their sneaker deals. >> find out what they are doing. how many are engaged in the community and we need to find out who they are, we need to report that. that needs to be what is report report reported. >> lebron james supported the protests for colin kaepernick and then while president trump is putting babies in prison cells, lebron is putting children in classrooms and he goe gets called dumb. at what point can these young people win? >> at this point they can make a difference, they can stand up for their communities, they can show up and be counted. there's so much that's going on in the communities. i just moved into inner city philadelphia from harlem and it's -- it's amazing the opportunity that we have to make a difference in people's lives that we love them and care for them. you talk about the office of the president being more important than the president himself. the whole idea of the office of the president does carry a weight to it and you talk about leadership, that is the ultimate in somebody at the top saying to somebody in any community i see you, i hear you, i care about you. >> you know what drives me crazy. this is a tale of two presidencies. literally you have the president of the united states this week met with republican governors to talk about how to do criminal justice reform. how to do prison reform. and then he turns literally around in the same news cycle, destroys that coverage and picks a dumb fight so you have the policy moving in this direction. >> but he clearly sees it as a fight -- he's not dumb. he clearly sees there is a political advantage among the people. >> that makes him a politician. >> you mean for the quote/unquote racist base? >> i'm not saying a racist base. i'm saying his base. i'm not calling him racists but plenty of people don't like the protests and they're not racist, they just don't think it's the right venue. >> and i'm one of those. >> but his message certainly appeals to his base. >> i guess. but when we define a base like that, most americans love america. >> as do football players. >> i called them patriots before. i i've never decried their patriotism. i'm saying i would choose to do it another way. but with their patriotism and with the patriotism we have for most americans. there needs to be positive reinforcement. it would be great to have a show on that and then we can say to the president mr. president, see what these guys are doing? he should have a conference at the white house on social justice reform and see -- and have some of these guys show up because they are very very intelligen intelligence. when we come back, the mom of heather heyer joins us. how she is honoring her daughter's life and carrying on her legacy. also, what a robert mueller up to? 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>> i'm so busy during interviews i haven't had time to think but a check came in the mail for the estate of heather heyer. those words always tear at my heart. i pulled it together and said okay, back to work. and so that's how i'm getting through the weekend is i'm staying busy and i'm going to collapse sunday night and collapse monday and then tuesday i'm back at work again because that's what you do, you survive. you don't give up. the past year has been surreal. people like spike lee, bernie sanders, they know my name, they have my phone number, that's kind of crazy and yeah, just -- i'm trying to push hard. let's take the focus often of heather, as heather would want us to do. it's been a year now and focus on why she was there and focus on why she died. i'm frying to pass the baton and focus on the fact that we need to address the racial issues in our country. >> i'm wondering if you feel like your eyes were opened not just by what happened to your daughter but the public displays in charlottesville last year. people -- men marching through the streets with torches chanting jews will not replace us and attacking other people. >> those of us who weren't paying attention that was a big shock. people paying attention knew it was coming and that snapped our heads around. i'm sorry somebody had to die before we paid attention. there are lots of people wounded still dealing with surgeries and trauma and some people will never recover and that was an assault on our soul as well and hate is a nasty bit of acid to our psyche and we need to not have hate in our world. but the only way we're going to do that is to fix the problems. we can't spackle this over. if we just try to cover this over or rush into healing this, we'll be back here in a few years. >> you spent the last year carrying on heather's legacy of a new foundation, the heather heyer foundation, stepping into her activist shoes. what do you want to have change? what have you been fighting for? >> well, i'm looking for those kids who have already motivated for positive change, positive non-violence change and i'm saying fine, i'll help your education and training and give you practical experience. i'm not trying to create activists. some kids are automatically that way and i'm looking for those ki kids. >> people are on edge from your city, the nation's capital. what would be your message to people this weekend? >> don't let your card down. be aware of your surroundings. you don't need to be paranoid but you need to be aware. there is a difference. you don't need to live in fear but you need to live in a higher state of alert. this too shall pass and just realize that when people hate there are going to be problems and there's no place for hate. >> i want to ask you something that i read and i wasn't sure it was f it was true. i read you had to keep the location of heather's grave secret because of concerns that neo-nazis would deface it. is that true? >> part ly. the cemetery and i both agreed that there's no need for anybody to visit heather's grave. even well wishers would trample other people's graves. some mistaken person would break some things. but i will tell you that emmett till's marker was just recently shot up. in fact, it gets shot up on a regular basis. violet liuzzo's market was defaced. one time -- i don't think it's happened again because we called them out on it -- there were new testament candles, flowers at heather's memorial and someone had urinated all over everything and had left a note saying it's okay to be white again. so yes there are people who will do stupid things like that so we just -- i keep it. private, the downtown memorial is where people can pay their respects, they don't need to bother her ashes. >> susan bro, appreciate all you're doing and your talking to us tonight. >> thank you, anderson. one quick final note on the foundation susan bro runs and scholarships it sponsors, if you want help, you can do night at the web site heatherheyerfoundation.com. coming up, the woman known as the manhattan madam was scheduled to testify before the grand jury convened in the mueller investigation. she's also a friend of roger stone. and behind closed doors testimony resumed in the manafort trial where prosecutors say they are on the verge of say they are on the verge of wrapping up their case. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. a woman once known as the manhattan madam was scheduled to testify before a grand jury impaneled by special counsel robert mueller as part of the russia investigation. he's a close friend of roger sto stone. another associate of stone, andrew miller, defied a subpoena to testify. his attorneys saying they intend to appeal the order to appear. jessica snyder has more details. kirsten davirstin davis was sch testify as mueller appears to be focusing in on roger stone. what's the latest? >> yeah, she's likely of big interest to the special counsel because of her close friend ssh and the fact she's a long time associate of roger stone. they've been friends for a decade now. it was in 2010 that roger stone served as her strategist when she ran for governor of new york state. that was unsuccessful because of her notoriety as a manhattan madam. but interestingly kristin davis worked for roger stone in late 2016, she did clerical work for his web site. given the fact that roger stone during 2016 talked about the fact he had talked with julian assange -- he later walked that back, but given that fact kristin davis is probably of interest to the special counsel so she could shed light on what she knows about this possible interaction between roger stone and julian assange. but she did testify before the grand jury today. >> what about andrew miller, the former aide to roger stone? he was held in contempt. >> kristin davis answered her subpoena, she was here before the grand jury. andrew miller did not. he refused to comply with the subpoena and as a result the judge held him in contempt and issued a 93-page opinion. the judge put the contempt ruling on hold until monday so andrew miller's attorneys can go through the appeal process. they're arguing the appointment of special counsel mueller in and of itself is unconstitutional so they said by virtue of that fact their subpoenas shouldn't have to be complied with so they're in the midst of appealing that. andrew miller an associate of roger stone but refusing to comply with the subpoena today. >> there's another play, the guy who roger stone says was his wikileaks back channel has been supped to testify. >> that's right. he's a comedian, a radio talk show host, an associate once again with roger stone. he initially rebuffed robert mueller's request for a voluntary interview but then today his attorney tells us he was served with a subpoena and he plans to comply, the subpoena when he is supposed to go for the grand jury, that's set for september 7. interesting date because we heard from rudy giuliani saying he expected the entire mueller probe to be wrapped up by september 1 so we see this probe going full steam ahead. this particular subpoena will be answered on september 7 so obviously anderson the probe won't be wrapped up by september 1 as giuliani hoped for. >> jessica snyder, thanks very much. the end of another week at the paul manafort trial. first big courtroom case to stem from mueller's investigation. took a while for proceedings to get under way as the judge huddled from prosecutors and defense attorneys. jim sciutto is there for us today. so the prosecution was on schedule to rest today before the delay. any word on what that was about? >> it's a mystery and the judge has instructed the discussions be kept between the judge and lawyers involved. we're reading tea leaves based on what the judge said after that delay. he gave instructions that said a couple things. one, don't speak about this trial or your thoughts about this trial and in his words keep an open mind. it gives an indicator that one of the jurors did or said something that is outside the rules, jurors aren't allowed to talk to anybody about the case or watch the news. that's a possibility but we don't know because the judge is keeping the details secret. we know they came back to court and dove back into things in the afternoon so whatever the issue was, it doesn't appear it was severe enough to stop the trial. you've had trials go to mistrials because of misbehavior. >> and once it resumed there was testimony suggesting manafort's role managing the trump campaign helped him win millions of dollars in loans, is that correct? >> it is. a couple interesting developments at the merits of the case. the first is this. what's the importance of yankees tickets? they brought in someone from the yankees who testified in 2011 paul manafort instructed season tickets to the yankees, a couple hundred thousand bucks, these were good seats. he e-mailed instructions for that payment to be made from one of those many bank accounts in cyprus he said up for the express purpose of avoiding taxes. that shows that paul manafort was in charge of that transaction. defense attorneys attempted to portray rick gates as the mastermind and manafort just a bystander but they used that example to show he knew about these accounts and he was instructing how those funds would be used. the other interesting case, anderson, relates to a fraudulent bank loan that manafort received with the help of a senior executive at the federal savings bank. what's interesting about that is that the senior executive later manafort pushed for him to be secretary of the army. so the question being was there a quid pro quo there? it shows that paul manafort kept some influence or at least the appearance of influence in the trump administration after he left his position. >> and are prosecutors on track to finish things up on monday? do we know how many people the defense are going to call? >> on the first question yes, it looks like it. we expected prosecution to wrap up today but barring any other delays or surprise issues or court issuance over the weekend, that seems to be likely, a big question for the defense. i've spoken the to defense attorneys and ask them that. they'll keep their cards close to their chest but we know the judge wants to wrap this trial up in a week or so but it's not up to him. >> jim sciutto, thanks very much. president trump's private lawyers took to the national radio airwaves filling for sean hannity. both lawyers agreeing and agreeing some more they wouldn't let their client fall into what they like to call a perjury trap. we have details of what giuliani and jay sekulow had to say. ♪ ♪ ♪ i put a spell on you ♪ yeah, because you're mine ♪ with chase atms serena can now grab cash on the go, all with the tap of her phone. ♪ stop the things you do no card? no problem. life, lived serena's way. chase, make more of what's yours. no, what?? i just switched to geico and got more. more? got a company i can trust. that's a heck of a lot more. over 75 years of great savings and service. you can't argue with more. why would ya? geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. that he's innocent, which he is but he also understands his role as president and that you can't throw aside prerogatives of the presidency. >> we'll make the right advice to our client. there will be no perjury trial. i said that, you said that, no perjury trap here. we won't allow it. >> oh, no, no, that's so obviously one of the things they're trying to do that it's not easy but we can protect against that. >> they're chewing over whether the president will agree to a one-on-one -- an on-the-record interview with special counsel robert mueller. that is something to be determined. here with me now is mike mukasey, long time friend of rudy giuliani. judge, thanks for being with us. . should the president sit down for an interview with mueller? >> one word answer, no. from his own standpoint i think it's a mistake. from evidence gathering, i think they've got all the answers and his views about what he did or didn't do. >> you don't think the president needs mueller to sit down? >> correct. and i think he'd need to show the reason. then there's president's prerogative, that is complying with whether it's a congressional subpoena or the "of another branch of the executive to do something influences what later presidents can and can't do and all presidents are conscious of that. >> there are some who have said it's important for mueller to talk to the president in order to understand intent. you say no? >> no, that is something that might be germane in a criminal case. there isn't going to be a criminal case here. secondly the president's already talked about what his intent was. he said he didn't have the conversation -- with comey if that's what we're talking about. so that's a dry hope. >> the other thing we hear in the radio interview from giuliani and jay sekulow is the idea of a perjury trap. that they believe that they don't want to have the president in perjury. >> one other point that was in his mind, the firing of james comey, that was something he had the right under the constitution do and in any event, obstruction of an fbi investigation is not obstruction of justice within the meaning of the statute. it may sound odd but it's not and the u.s. attorney's manual is very clear on that. there's case law. obstruction statutes don't cover that so even if that was his intent -- which i doubt because the investigation went on, that wasn't being conducted by comey in any event. that isn't covered. to your next question. >> let's play what giuliani was saying or sekulow saying about the idea of a perjury trap. >> we're walking him into a possible perjury trap not because he isn't telling the truth but because somebody else isn't telling the truth who they would credit, namely comey. so if he says i never had the conversation with flynn and they elect to believe comey, they can write down we believe he committed perjury and we have walked him into that. >> there's a lot of other legal analysts who said this notion of a perjury trap, if you're telling the truth there isn't a perjury trap. >> well, not entirely. you may recall things differently. there may be more than one witness who tells the different story for a variety of reasons and then you're stuck with the perjury charge. however i don't think the question of whether he had the conversation with comey or not is the perjury trap anybody is concerned about. it has to do with the meeting in trump tower and whether he knew about in the advance or not. he says he didn't. other people may say he did. >> is it just that someone else says well he did know about it, the president says he didn't. alan dershowitz and the presidents for the president seem to imply mueller will disagree with somebody who doesn't have the same opinion? if there's documentation i could understand that would be concerning but if the president is telling the truth and it's just a he said/he said it doesn't seem like mueller will go out of spite to believe somebody else. look, he said many things which are not true publicly, and that they are legitimately concerned he might say something that is not true. >> if he has said things that are not true publicly, then he's already said them, and they have proof to the contrary if they want to press it. >> he's talked about millions of illegal immigrants voting. so who knows what he's actually going to say during that interview. >> he's talked about -- who knows what he's going to say during the interview is not a basis for conducting the interview. you have to show a need for the evidence, and i don't -- i honestly don't think there's a need for it. >> judge mukasey, i appreciate your time. let's check in with chris to see what he's working on for "cuomo prime time" at the top of the hour. >> a.g. mukasey is a smart man. however, you're making a good point, anderson. don't let it go. the fact that he could freelance -- the president -- in the interview is exactly one of the main reasons they don't want him in the room with mueller's men and women, because they don't know what he'll say. he could freelance, and in doing so, he could misrepresent fact, truthful hyperbole, and in you do truthful hyperbole to a federal agent, it's a crime. so you are making the right point. tonight on the show we're going to have the lawyer for one of roger stone's assistants. why did he not want to comply with a subpoena? is he hiding something, or is he trying to expose something? we're fortunate enough to have his attorney on to make the case and test it. and we're going to do the same thing with this new tax provision that the trump administration says they don't need congress for. odd when obviously taxation is one of congress' main constitutional roles. and guess who it benefits? donald trump and people like him. is that what we need? we're going to talk about it with marc short, one of the architects of the plan. the closing argument is about why the president is calling out protesters but not the ones headed to charlottesville this weekend. >> yeah. chris, thank you. we'll see you in seven minutes from now. the latest from california where more than a dozen fires continue to burn, and the man accused of starting one of them more than 18,000 acres appeared in court today. i receive travel rewards. going new places. (oh!) going out for a bite. going anytime. rewarded! learn more at theexplorercard.com booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline. a man in california has been charged with arson, accused of setting one of the 15 devastating fires that continue to burn in the state. the suspect was in court today. the fire he's accused of setting is only about 5% contained after burning more than 18,000 acres. stephanie elam has the latest. >> reporter: the raging wildfires in southern california are spreading from these remote cliffs to the edges of hillside communities. the holy fire has forced more than 21,000 people to evacuate. while some are making a last-ditch effort to save their homes. >> come on, let's go! >> anybody else in the house? >> no, nobody's here. >> reporter: long beach police officer josh castro captured these images of the holy fire burning just beyond his yard. tricky wind patterns are creating the so-called elsinore front, racing uphill one moment, downhill the next. pushing flames within feet of these homes. firefighters continue to battle the flames aggressively. in this fire fight, it's hard to believe none of these homes were lost. firefighters managed to contain the flames. >> my heart was pounding, and i was screaming for joy that they're here just doing that for us here. >> reporter: authorities say this fire was intentional, allegedly started by forrest gordon clark, who is now under arrest and charged with felony arson. >> bail has been set at $1 million. >> may i pay for that immediately? i can handle a million right now easily. >> reporter: clark appeared before an orange county judge today. >> mr. clark is charged in several counts involving arson, aggravated arson. >> it's a lie. >> criminal threats. these are just allegations, sir. >> reporter: volunteer fire chief mike milligan has known clark for decades and even showed us a message he says clark texted him just two weeks ago. it's all going to burn just like you planned, it read. milligan has lived here for 50 years and says clark's home was one of the only ones in the community that didn't burn to the ground. >> i know going up there is hard for you. >> yeah, sure it is. >> why is it so hard? >> i know these people. i know the families. i know what has happened here. so, you know, when your friends lose their home, that has an effect on everybody. >> reporter: the holy fire is just one of 15 major fires responders are actively battling across california. so far these fires have charred more than 670,000 acres and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 structures. and with hot and dry conditions favoring the fires, it could be another month before these fires are contained. and keep in mind, anderson, that 670,000 acres that we're talking about burning here in the state of california, that's more than the land mass of rhode island. that's how much has been burned here. if you look behind me, before we came to talk to you, you could see the flames. but then the winds changed directions very quickly. i'm talking about within like five minutes. >> it's incredible. >> now it's coming at us.