Kate Bolduan gives a fresh take on todays top stories. What happened with this meeting beyond just the meeting. Was there any sort of further contact, any sort of further conspiracy to disseminate any of this information. Because thats obviously what happened after this meeting. And also goes to this idea youve had President Trump basically saying, oh, the russians didnt help. The russians really wanted Hillary Clinton to win, theyre upset that i won. He said at his rally just recently. But here he is, admitting that there was this meeting with the russians, where the russians were trying to help his campaign. And norm, youve worked for the administration, you worked for president obama. The fact that a lawyer for the president of the United States says that he got Bad Information when it comes to jay sekulow, who would he have gotten that Bad Information from that he was so comfortable then going on tv and repeating . Well, kate, the Bad Information we now know originally stemmed from President Trump when he dictated
that false coverup statement. That kind of a statement, if its found to be an intentional, can be part of a larger obstruction or conspiracy case, the statement dictated on the plane. And the fish rots from the head. Clearly, it had to have some involvement by President Trump. And thats the key problem here. If we cant believe President Trump that this was a meeting about russian adoptions, then why do we believe him now when he says he didnt know about it, as he declared in his tweet . Theres been so many lies from this president. Thousands, according to the washington post. And theyre accelerating. Thats the reason that he probably his lawyers do not want him to talk to bob mueller, because as soon as he opens his mouth about this or anything else, hes either going to commit perjury, or hes going to
confess to object trucstruction conspiracy. So were seeing it spinning out of control. Well, quite simply, no one knows. And thats why i keep saying my hair hurts on this. If it was nothing, if they got nothing, if theres nothing wrong, then why, oh, why has it taken if theres still no clear answer of who knew what, when and why . Donald trump disputes this, but the cnn reporting that he is really worried, as youre talking about, the legal exposure to his son, don, junior, about this, where is the legal exposure he should be worried about . For don, junior, hes the only one thats testified under oath. The more that comes up with his inconsistencies, the problem. Did he tell his dad, did his dad know about it . Did he realize his meeting with russian officials, which seems blatantly obvious from the first email that says its a Crown Prosecutor in russia. So hes got the most exposure on that. For the president , i mean, it would be a novel Prosecution Theory to go with obstruction,
just based on tweets. But i think as norm pointed out, the president is just making more trouble for himself with the tweets. And the tweets can set the foundation for him being questioned and making false statements under oath or during interview testimony. Even if they cants we prosecut him, the tweets create a dangerous atmosphere for him. Norm, go back to the basics. President trump says that what was done in the taking the meeting to get dirt was totally legal and done all of the time in politics. Is that the case . Kate, i was a lawyer for the obama campaign, the Obama Transition and the obama white house. And i can tell you, we didnt have a single contact with a hostile foreign adversary to offer dirt on john mccain. If we had, we wouldnt have replied as don, junior did. If it is what you say, i love it. Our reply would have been, call the fbi. And this is not normal. Ive written about the potential crimes that come in under the heading of collusion, including conspiracy, an agreement to attack the United States. There were more than 80 contacts, according to my count, between the Trump Campaign and russia. And if those contacts we know bob mueller, ive worked with him and against him for a quarter of a century. We know that if bob mueller believes that there was a Trump Campaign participation in a conspiracy to attack the United States election, hes already charged dozens of russian individuals and companies with that. If he believes the Trump Campaign participated at the trump tower meeting or in any of these 80plus contacts, hes going to charge somebody. And i agree with shan. Don, junior is among the most likely targets. And we have a clue. Mueller hasnt yet talked to
him. Hes saving him for last. Thats a sign that he may be charged. If theres one constant in the inconsistencies in all of it, the one thing is that the president says that he didnt know anything about the meeting. Didnt know anything about the meeting in advance. Thats the one constant there is, which i find fascinating. And well continue to follow it. I guess is all we can say. Shan, nia, thanks so much. Norm, great to see you, thank you. I appreciate you guys coming in. Thanks, kate. The white house will be putting sanctions back on iran, but also says it is still willing to talk without any preconditions. What is going on here . And what does this mean in the very immediate future . We have details on that ahead. Plus, the saddest Living Conditions and poverty i have seen. That is how a sheriff is describing the 11 children found starving in the middle of the new mexico desert. Were going get an update on how those children are doing now today and how they ended up in these horrific conditions. Thats actually pretty. Always discreet boutique. Hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. So i feel protected and pretty. Always discreet boutique. I knew at that exact moment. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors. Its not just picking a surgeon, its picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. Visit cancercenter. Com breast so at this moment, what will sanctions being slapped back on iran, what do they do now . Well, theres no question that it will increase the economic pain on iran. Youve had the iranian currency already fall in roughly by half this year. And there is unrest in iran, and im sure this will contribute to that. The most important part will happen in 90 days when theyre going to slap Oil Sanctions on iran. But, you know, its not clear to me that the Trump Administration has any plan. And let me make that actually stronger. I dont think the Trump Administration has any plan for how to translate these sanctions into actual into an actual agreement that would end the Iranian Nuclear program to a great greater extent than it was already ended under which iran had given up 97 of its material. Unilateral sanctions, tough tweets and a lot of hope i dont think will be successful. You actually raised Something Interesting there. The ball is in whose court then . Sanctions go back on. Iran needs to come to the Trump Administration to say, lets talk . Or trump needs to go to iran and is already saying, we would be open to talking. Its unclear to me. Trump seems to be pursuing the same kind of strategy he pursued with north korea. Issuing blood curdling tweets, which he did a couple weeks ago and then a week later saying, oh, im ready to talk without preconditions. And he thinks that strategy was successful with north korea. Earth to trump. It has not succeeded. North korea is not giving up their nuclear offense, and theres no sign its going to succeed with iran because the sanctions that were going to impose i dont think are going to put sufficient pressure on iran to make bigger concessions than they already made with the obama administration. Because every indication is that the russians and chinese are coming in to take over the kind of work that european and u. S. Companies are doing in iran. China will probably continue buying iranian oil. So i dont think this policy is going to work. In fact, theres very few i
mean, they seem to have hope of regime change, but theres very few examples in history of sanctions actually forcing regime change. South korea might be the only one. Countries like north korea, venezuela and cuba have endured decades of u. S. Sanctions without changing regimes or changing their behavior. So, you know, i dont see a well thought out Trump Administration policy in place here. I just wonder what the status of the relationship really is. Because over the weekend, the president raised again the idea of meeting with the iranian president , much like as youre talking about, the meeting he had with kim jongun. But how would you describe the status of this relationship, non relationship with iran right now. I would take trump up on his offer to meet, because given trumps track record, he is easily duped in these kinds of negotiations. He is prone to go into a negotiation like with north korea or the european union, you know, Breathing Fire and brim stone. And then its all sweetness and
light and hes backslapping everybody, praising interlocutors. He could easily praise president rouhani as being intelligent, warm, witty, et cetera, after a meeting and, you know, concluding a deal which is probably going to be half as onerous as the one he tore up. I think theyre shortsighted not to take advantage of trump in that respect. But, you know, assuming theyre not going to meet, i think youre going to see, you know, further tensions ratcheting up. Let me ask you, then, about north korea. Because cnn is reporting that north korea actually believes there is a strong possibility of a second summit between President Trump and kim jongun later this year. But if you look at the latest facts since their last summit, youve got the Secretary Of State saying that north korea is continuing to make fizzle material. Images indicating that north korea is making new missiles. But north korea did return what the Trump Administration believes are the remains of more than 50 service in ebmembers fre
korean war which is what they discussed in the summit. Whats the point of a second meeting now . Thats a great question, kate. Everything im seeing suggests that north korea is taking donald trump to the cleaners. His credulity is staggering. North korea is not taking significant steps to denuclearize as they supposedly promised at the singapore summit. Theyre doing the absolute minimum, turning over these 55 remains, which may or may not be u. S. Service members remains. They could be dog bones, for all we know. And continuing their development of icbms. Theyre continuing their development of nuclear fuel, as mike pompeo acknowledged. So there is no sign theyre actually denuclearizing and the notion of rewarding with a second summit . I mean, that is ludicrous. The first one is bad enough, but a second one after they havent done anything significant is absurd. Clearly what the north koreans are angling for is major exceptions on the part of the u. S. For example, a peace treaty
which could pave the way for the pullout from south korea after trump already agreed to suspend u. S. Military exercises. They are looking for major concessions on the u. S. Part and not doing anything significant on their part. But, you know, trump is kind of going along with this travesty, because he wants to run around and beat his chest and claim hes the worlds best dealmaker and got a great deal from north korea. Lets see, max. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thanks, kate. Coming up for us, a district that President Trump won by double digits in 2016. Why is tomorrows special election in ohio coming down to the wire then . The latest from the ground and what it all means for the allimportant midterm elections. Saving you time for what you love most. Kids whoa kids vo safelite repair, safelite replace Agent Beekman was one step ahead of them. Dits stole the lockbox from the wells fargo stagecoach,
because he hid his customers gold in a different box. And the bandits, well, they got rocks. We protected your money then and were dedicated to helping protect it today. Like alerting you to certain Card Activity we find suspicious. If its not your purchase, well help you resolve it. Its a new day at wells fargo. But its a lot like our first day. And service. Youre also getting the great features that any Medicare Supplement plan provides. You may choose any doctor that accepts medicare patients. You can even visit a specialist. With this type of plan there are no networks or referrals needed. Also, a Medicare Supplement plan. Goes with you when you travel anywhere in the u. S. Call today for a free guide. And above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. It is down to the wire, folks. Ohio voters will be heading to the polls in less than 24 hours of the right now the special election in ohios 12th Congressional District is neck and neck. Like as in the latest poll shows, the republican and the democrat separated by a single point. Within the margin of error. Why is this getting so much attention . This one simple fact. Republicans have held that seat for more than three decades. Why so close . What does it mean for the mid terms . President Trump Campaigned for the republican, Troy Balderson over the weekend. Will he be making all of the difference . Joining me right now, cnn political director, David Chalian and washington correspondent for the columbus
dispatch, jessica we areman. Thanks for being here. Jessica, lets talk about the feeling on the ground right now. What is the feeling there . What is the impact of the president s visit saturday . I mean, there are folks who are very motivated. Th this is a very interesting district. The rural areas are supportive of trump. Closer into columbus. The feelings are a little more skeptical, and thats a place where governor kasich pulls better. So its kind of a divided republican populus. And it really sort of depends hopefully for republicans. Republicans are hoping, at least, theyll be able to motivate the base, those folks from the rural areas who are very, very solid for President Trump out. And that was sort of the point of the rally. David, you look at the poll again. Theyre essentially tied. Where balderson, the republican, had a tenpoint lead in june. Is this looking to be, you know, elections are all local type of a race . Or in the end, is this a referendum on the president and the current kind of Political Climate, do you think . The current Political Climate is about President Trump. Theres no denying that. Obviously, you see that is not the subject of all what the candidates are talking about or the ads. Theres a lot more talk about Social Security and medicare than there is necessarily about President Trump or nancy pelosi on the airwaves, kate. But we cant deny the National Political environment. Since january 2017 when President Trump took office, the story of politics in the trump era at the ballot box has been this democratic enthusiasm. Even in these red districts when they have come up short, democrats are outperforming what the candidate had done there previously, what Hillary Clinton did there in those districts. You saw in the conor lamb race in pennsylvania, it actually emerged in a democratic victory, flipping that seat that donald trump won by 20 points. Here weve got a seat that donald trump won by 11, as you said, a republican has been holding it for 35 years or so. It shouldnt even be close, but it is close, because of the National Political environment. And it is, as you have already pointed out, jessica, a
fascinating i dont know, tension, if you will. Because balderson gets the endorsement of both Ohio Governor and chief trump critic, john kasich. And also the endorsement and big backing by the president himself. Though kasich yesterday says that balderson told him that he actually didnt ask the president to come for the visit. Whats going on there . That made things a little bit awkward. I mean, you know, originally republicans were saying, oh, my goodness, this is the one thing where President Trump and governor kasich actually agree on something. By god, weve managed to unit these sort of divided parts of the party. The comments yesterday on cnn made some republicans in ohio kind of, you know, go, ooh. Im not really, you know it made it a little more awkward, where things looked much more unified originally. Well see. I dont know if it will have an impact on who votes tomorrow. I think probably voters are more interested in the issues that really sort of affect them. How is their pocketbook, how do they feel about their jobs . Yeah. But, i mean, its kind of
it was i guess our october surprise. It was just another awkward in this awkward Political Climate, david. David, a win for the democrat, danny oconnor, means what . It means a huge shot in the arm in advance of this home stretch Fall Campai