Anderson Cooper takes viewers beyond the headlines with indepth reporting and investigations. Emmen asked that i schedule a meeting with you. I believe youre aware of the meeting, wondered if 3 00 p. M. Or later on thursday works for you. In case you missed it that is a russian government attorney flying over from moscow. It was all about a promise of dirt on hillary clinton. Heres don jr. , how about 3 00 at our office. Thanks for your help setting it up. Those arent Alternative Facts those are just facts, those were the detroits they were looking for. More now on the Breaking News, the president s interview with reuters. There certainly seems to be a dramatic ramping up of the rhetoric of the president when it comes to mueller, his team and the probe overall. We seem to be through the Looking Glass here tonight. One thing can you say about their view of the truth here, it seems to be pretty important to the president when he said to
reuters that he views sitting down with special Council Robert mueller that its a perjury trap. The president should not be concerned with sitting down with robert mueller, in the Special Council team. Hes worried about purgering himself, they must have some concept of what the truth is. While theyre ramping up the rhetoric on robert mueller. Theres a scenario where he can envision. Lifting sanctions on the russians in exchange for their cooperation perhaps in the ukraine or syria, it begs the question what exactly would that involve. I cant imagine Vladimir Putin pulling russian Back Ed Forces N the ukraine. While the president is ramping
privilege over any information or material that don mcgann gave to the special counsel. We have a lot of critics out there that say this isnt going to hold up. Thats an inyouing thinking they had at the time at the same time, down the road they were thinking, they could block mueller from using any or all of that information from the Special Councils office. I want to talk more about the Breaking News. Joining us now, ralph peters. Thanks for being with us. The notion from the president that he could run the Mueller Probe if he wanted to, what does that say to you. It says that he does not understand the law, for one thing when i heard that, for whatever reason, i flashed on an incident from the 1990s, when someone grabbed the baton from the band leader and tried to run the band. Trump thinks hes able to do anything. And its a result of having yes men and yes women around him for so long. Its a preposterous claim. You have the president today saying even if i am telling the truth, that makes me a liar you have giuliani saying, truth isnt truth. I mean, it seems like were operating in some alternate universe sometimes these are literally things we would have written. Im starting to see giuliani as a left bank intellectual. Theres something called coherence theory. Especially post modern philosophy, the idea that if everybody agrees on something, then its true. If thats you take coherence theory, and all trumps followers believe that somethings true, its reality. To be very serious. Youre imagining giuliani as
a left bank glass of wine, cigarette. Obviously, you know, but seriously, about giuliani, i cannot help feeling somewhat sorry for him. And theres a lesson in giulianis behavior for all of us. For anyone ever associated with the media. You need to know when to get off stage. Giuliani is seduced by the bright lights, big city. He was a star. Everybody respected him. People loved him. He wants that again, instead hes turned into a pa Theltic Travesty of himself, and frankly, he may be a diversion but hes doing great harm to the president by running off his mouth. Kenny rogers, know when to hold em, know when to run. Giuliani not telling the truth about not knowing the lawyer was
russian. Giuliani, do you think hes doing more harm here than good . Or is he doing exactly what the president wants him to do, which is to throw as much spaghetti against the refrigerator door, see what sticks and what confuses people. First of all, ive never pictured you as a kenny rogers fan. As for giuliani, its not just giuliani. They need to do their homework. Even if he wanted to do propaganda, lie outright to the american people, have you to be on the same sheet of music, you have to get your lies straight. Its not a question of not getting the facts straight, they cant get the lies straight. Do you think were at an infliction point. We have the Manafort Verdict coming 37 whatever mueller is going to decide. Or frankly, i mean, i feel like
ive asked that question a million times over this presidency. I think thats right, every days an Inflexion Point of some sort for this presidency. As ive always maintained, i have great faith in robert mueller, we dont know what he has up his sleeve. When i look at it, the context of The Don McgannTestimony Everyones Making Comparisons to watergate, i think thats wrong. If you read the externals of what muellers doing, it looks more like a classic Justice Department investigation of a mob boss, you cant get the mob boss, because he didnt pull the trigger, so you go after the money, you go after the tax evasion, money laundering, you go after bank fraud. And you go after perjury, we shall see what emerges from all of this. I think President Trump is extremely worried, extremely worried, and that was even
manifested in his interview with reuters today. Where he made this off the wall remark about well, he would like to lift sanctions on russia, if a few conditions prevailed. Well, he knows at this point that he cant lift sanctions in russia. Putin knows it, i believe that our president , our president was signaling Vladimir Putin, that hey, im still trying, im still trying. You dont think thats what that was . Theres no other explanation for it. He knows he cant lift the sanctions i think as ive maintained all along, putin has a grip on this man, tragic for everybody. Putin may be losing patience much i would love to have heard what was said behind closed doors. At that helsinki meeting. Russia is hurting economically. We shall see what mueller comes up with. I cannot help but feel trump is a buffoon and many other things besides. What we often miss in the hubub of the tomfoolery, this is a tragic time for our nation, for our image in the world. For our constitutional order. And so ultimately, all those goofy remarks by giuliani and kellyanne conway, theyre not funny, theyre deadly serious. The folks in the control room would like me to make those kenny rogers lyrics clear. You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, no when to run. Ill cherish this moment. Im still thinking of giuliani in a beret sipping wine. Now to two cnn journalists. The president telling reuters he could run this the Mueller Investigation, does that make
any sense to you . It makes no sense. And its wrong. If you think about 2, the one thing we know for sure, the president is not above the law. If he was above the law, it would say that in the United States constitution, theres no question that the president cannot take over an investigation in which he is the subject and say, it goes away. If he was the king in a country he could do that. But in a country like we live, in thats not possible how rattled does the president appear to be when it comes to mueller. He seems to be extremely nervous, and getting more so by the day and getting more irrational by the day. Theres another way to look at this, dante in the middle of our lives, i came across a dark wood, and the straight way was lost. I think were in that very dark wood right now. Because the president is not making sense, he continually attacks people, i saw an account today. Over the course of his presidency, hes issued a tax on 484 individuals or institutions, on top of his 5,000 falsehoods, this is quite a show. Does any of it matter . I mean, this could have been pretty much any night in which the news this kind of stuff is being reported for the people who believe in him for his base. Is it just about sowing enough doubt that people kind of throw up their hands . Thats certainly part of his intent. All of this his base is his even protection at this point, because he is in a panic, and lets build on what david is speculating. They say hes unhinged. Only he knows the facts if hes capable of parsing the facts, hes not making sense in terms of a coherent defense. Hes trying to do everything he can to affect the midterm elections, to reach his base, to put fear into other republicans who may not be part of that base enough to win the midterms. There is a cumulative effect of everything we are seeing including the Mcgann Story Is very important. Because what the Mcgann Story Is, as his lawyer said its not that Mcgann Incriminated the president , but he contributed to the matrix of showing the president s Obstruction Of Justice in a very, very definitive way as well as
showing the collusion well, we fully, i think we do know some of it, and some of it has been reported. Part of that is indeed about what happened. Ill give you one example. And i think we can reliably say that mcgann talk ed about attempts to fire attorney general sessions, by reince priebus, asked by the president to fire attorney general sessions. Or obtain his resignation. Priebus refused. A few days later, priebus was out. In a skeletal form, that was reported by vanity fair, its of huge importance in the whole pattern of what trump has done to obstruct goes to what mcgann talked about. Its part of a matrix, its part of a damning matrix, its not
incriminating by itself as his lawyer said tonight, perhaps. Because his lawyer said tonight, to clarify things, he did not incriminate the president but did he contribute to that matrix. We have to take a break. Later Paul Manafort waiting for a verdict. And Michael Cohen waiting for perhaps federal charges. ford chime its the Ford Summer Sales event and now is the best time to buy. You ready for this, junior . Yeah, i think i can handle it. No pressure. Thats just my favorite boat. Boom. laughs make summer go right with ford, americas bestselling brand. And get our best deal of the summer zero percent financing for sixty months on f150. Get zero percent financing for 60 months plus 2,800 bonus cash on a 2018 f150 xlt equipped with 2. 7l ecoboost. Ancestrydna can open you to a world of new cultures to explore. With two times more detail than any other dna test. You can connect more deeply to the places of your past. And be inspired to learn about the people and traditions that make you, you. Savor your dna story. Only 59
our sites lowest price ever. Whenshe was pregnant,ter failed, inlaws were coming, a little bit of water, it really it rocked our world. I had no idea the amount of damage that water could do. We called usaa. And they greeted me as they always do. Sergeant baker, how are you . They were on it. It was unbelievable. Having insurance is something everyone needs, but having usaa now thats a privilege. Were the bakers and were usaa members for life. Usaa. Get your insurance quote today. So you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop, 24 7 tech support. Yep, thanks guys. I think he might need some support. Yes. Start them off right, with the School Supplies they need at low prices all summer long. Like these for only 2 or less at office depot officemax. Mom okay we need to get all your School Supplies today. School. Grade. Done. Done. Hit the Snooze Button and get low prices on School Suppliesall summer long. Like these for only 2 or less at office depot officemax. My entire staff here did not believe i knew the whole lyrics to kenny rogers song. Im very upset. Talking tonight about trumps conversation with righters. He hasnt given much thought to stripping Robert MuellersSecurity Clearance. But did not rule it out. As you know, this unfolded at the end of an already busy day
fp characterized by a flood of president ial tweets. You see the president throwing out some of the most loaded terms in american history. John dean was a rat in the nixon administration, hes calling people in the mueller team thugs, the idea that Paul Manafort is getting it tougher than al capone. Does in a serve the president well . No, no, i dont think so. What it may serve the president is contributing to an exhaustion factor. People are tired of this tore ant of insults. And doing everything except being president. Even so, the clock is ticking now, you remember Rudy Giuliani has said that were not going to testify after labor day. Its only two weeks away. Mueller doesnt have much time to act. Otherwise this all could be put off until after the first of the year. I think that would be driving a lot of us crazy. The idea of it being put off about if there was a decision by mueller not to have anything that could influence the election for 60 days could he still continue. He could still continue his investigation in all this stuff. Its not as if hes releasing information. He would continue his investigation. But he wouldnt do anything that could be public. You wouldnt be serving subpoenas . He would be incredibly cautious about that. To make sure there is nothing that could come out that would make sure hes look at the conversation. He wouldnt do anything that might sort of raise public attention during that 60 day period. What do you make of the language that the president its stunning, i think it is really disappointing. Criminal prosecutors, their job is to follow the law and the facts and in any case, to argue that they are criminals, going out and being politically motivated themselves, its a sad day. And completely at odds with the people you know that work in the space. The criminal is faced with the looming publication. Any sense of whether hes worried about that and how much . That indeed, one of the people i talked to in the last 3, 4 days say thats something the president has expressed great worry and concern about, about what is going to be in bobs book. Hes terrified about what cohen, his former council, his former fixer might say to authorities and what cohen is shopping
around, what he may have about many matters of interest to mueller. And then we also get back to this question of as evidence by this throwing around this mccarthyite notion, there is only one mccarthyite that we are seeing in all of this, that is the president of the United States. You think hes the joe mccarthy here . I dont think theres any question about it, i said something about it back in february on our air. If you look at What Mccarthy did, he attacked the legitimate institutions of the government. He attacked the State Department for having communists in, he attacked the usia. He attacked other government departments. He tried to say even as the president and those around him have been saying, he essentially said there is a deep state
riddled with communists that we have to be concerned about. He was making it all up. And the president has consistently he learned at the knee as you pointed out of roy cohen, cohen was more than his lawyer he was his mentor. And cohens tactics were mccarthys tactics. Throughout his business life, trumps tactics have been cones tactics and mccarthys tactics and the Birtherism Question is a mccarthyite tactic. It is Interest Iing if you believe joe mccarthy was a not a good guy and bad person. You wouldnt hire roy cohen. If you thought joe mccarthy was ab hor end, you know, roy kohn was part and parcel of that. Absolutely. That is John Mccarthy was one of the great villains in american history. He will always be remembered not only for destroying the trustworthiness of any institutions, but destroying the lives of many of the people he attacked. And the way that donald trump goes after individuals and institutions, some 484 since he became president. You know, is a replica of what wrote roy kohn, schooled donald trump in years ago. His whole confrontational, lets take it to the court, bullying style, that comes right out of the roy kohn playbook. Its a dirty playbook. No president has ever used mccarthyite tactics. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Rudy giuliani is taking on john brennan. 9 latest from colorado, where
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