Charges related to bank fraud, tax charges. So this is the moment where this courtroom will now finally be hearing from manaforts essentially his number two, his former right hand man, rick gates. And gates is the prosecutions key witness. He will be the next person to testify. Lets go first to cnns caris beganel. She is just outside the courtroom in alexandria, virginia. Tell me, when will this happen . Mere minutes . We have one more witness to finish testified today. Thats manaforts accountant. Rick gates is the witness thats up next. Many of thes attorney said that in court. This all came about as one of manaforts attorneys sort of dropped a bombshell alleging that rick gates embezzleled millions of dollars from Paul Manafort. He asked the accountant would that have been something she would have looikd to have known. She said she would. He teed all of it up by making
it appear that rick gates was the main person he dealt with. And he tried to suggest through his questioning of her this was all because gates was evading criminality himself. After the prosecution is done with this witness, we willing hearing from rick gates. He has worked with Paul Manafort for 20 years. We are ptd anding manaforts attorneys to hammer him when they get a chance to. Thats likely to occur tomorrow. Kara, thank you for the setup. I have people to talk us through what happens when this Rick Gates Moment happens. Rick and jessica, great to have both of you on. Jessica, let me dive right into this with you. I think in order for everyone following this trial to appreciate how deeply connected these two men have been over
their lifetimes. Kara just mentioned he had been his deputy for 20 years. But rick gates goes way back with Paul Manafort to when he interned at his lobbying firm. Exactly right. He was his research assistant. Wow. He did that for a while. And then he came back in 2006. Thats when he worked hand in hand with Paul Manafort. Brooke, thats why rick gates will be on the stand for this particular trial. Because he will know impactly how this alleged scheme of paul many of thes operated. He will be able to tell the jury exactly what Paul Manafort directed him to do. You know, of course the government is alleging here that they hid these foreign bank accounts. They hid all the millions that they made from lobbying in the ukraine. So thats what rick gates will be able to tell the jury. Of course the defense is planning to go on the attack here, as kara mentioned. They are going to say, no, this was rick gates embezzleling money, stealing millions fromPaul Manafort. And oh, by the way, rick gates has admitted to lying to the government. So, jury, why would you believe an admitted liar . Thats going to be their tactic here. What is interesting here is maybe not so much what rick gates will tell the jury but maybe brooke what he has already told prosecutors. Of course he has been working with them since he struck this plea deal back in february. Who knows what he has been telling him behind the scenes about how the Trump Campaign operated and what may have been the dealings with the russians. He wasnt in the Trump Tower Meeting but he knew about it. There is a lot going on here with rick gates. Lets go inside the courtroom. Seth, to you, put yourself on the prosecution side, the government side. Hes up on the stand. What picture would you, if you are the prosecutor, what picture are you trying to paint for these jurors to hear in terms of this is the guy who knew the guy who did all kinds of, you know
naughty, naughty things, and he had a Front Row Seat to it . Its all about closeness. Its all about proximity. And its all about timing. This is a very strong case by prosecution. I know they have taken a few bumps along the way from judge ellis. But its very well grounded in documents, and its also very well grounded in witnesses. There was a point that was mentioned a moment ago that was very important. You have to get into the mindset. You have to get into the intent. The documents are critical. And we see the signatures. We see the documents. And we see the trail. But rick gates is going to be a key witness in terms of being able to demonstrate straight the intent of Paul Manafort. The other thing i would add in terms of the color and the context of this is that there have been some colorful discussions about the role that judge ellis has taken and how he has been giving the prosecutors a little bit of a hard time in their case in chief. As a lawyer who practices in the Eastern District of virginia on a regular basis and knows judge ellis very well and has been in front of him, i can tell you that he treats everybody quite
sternly and directly. Hes very smart. Hes very sharp. Im sure when the defense puts their case in chief on he will give them some of that medicine as well. We have heard stories about this judge. Its good to know that you have experience firsthand. For the defense side, you know, as jessica and others have laid out, they are going to pin this whole thing on gates. It wasnt manafort. It was gates who was the mastermind. Well, its going to be very difficult the pull that off because at the end of the day, the lead of the Business Enterprise is in control. We have already heard from the accountant that manafort was a man of detail. He had his hand on the business. He was riding this horse. He had his hans happends on the. Rick gates carries a lot of weight. I think that his testimony and the information he shared with prosecutors is so significant that i even think that
indirectly he had a role in the breakdown of the story on the Trump Tower Meeting this weekend because when the fbi puts on witnesses they have to release fbi interview statements. And it seems that there may have been some further information behind the scene regarding some key discussions that took place before the Trump Tower Meeting with don jr. Which might have triggered a little bit of A Change Of Heart from the president there are putting don jr. In jeopardy. I think the bottom line is that mr. Gates is a significant witness that changes the dialogue and the narrative for many witnesses that are involved in this case. Reminding everyone, gates was the third person in the trump orbit to cop a plea, he and flynn and papadopoulos cooperated. Lets move along. Lets talk about the legal implications. We were just talking about the Trump Tower Meeting. The legal implications ofPresident Trumps treat indicating that the Trump Tower Meeting was to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. Did this open the president and his son up to legal jeopardy. Plus a bizarre sighting on Air Force One this weekend. Hope hicks, we will talk about what she would have been doing there. And alex jones blocked. The Conspiracy Theorist and much of the content from his info wars website removed from you tube, facebook, apple. But is it a violation of free speech . You are watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Your brain y begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. Learning from him is great. When i can keep up anncr thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. Dads got all the answers. Anncr prevagen is now the numberoneselling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. She outsmarts me every single time. Checkmate
The latest news from around the world with host Brooke Baldwin. His attorney, Rudy Giuliani added, this whole new storyline that okay, no not only was there no collusion, that collusion is not a crime. All right. Now that we are all up to speed, this is where we are today. Let me bring in cnn courthouse correspondent Kate Lin Collins and seth barrons wag katlyn, to you. You, in addition to all of that you have new reporting today with jake tapper that trump is concerned whether his son, don jr. , might have legal exposure in the Special Counsels russia investigation. Tell me about that. Thats right, brooke. The president is growing increasingly concerned. Thats why we have seen him ramp up his attacks on the Special Counsel which you have seen play out on his twitter feed calling out the special Counsel Robert Mueller by name, something we did not see the president do six months ago, before. He would never go that far as to
that he did not tell his father about this meeting. The president maintains that on twitter. Of course, brooke, as you pointed out, there are questions about the white houses credibility and the president and his familys credibility about this entire meeting because so far they have really thanked their story on multiple occasions and often the truth only comes out after it has been reported by another outlet. Katlyn used the phrase by the books. Seth, heres my question. Trump says hey its politics, everyone tries to get dirt on someone, everyone is doing it. Let me point out federal law yolk makes it a crime for any person to solicit accept or receive any contribution or anything of value from a foreign person or for a u. S. Campaign or for the purpose of influencing an election for federal office. Even though seth they say they didnt get any dirt on Hillary Clinton was that meeting against the law, given that the intent was there . Well, potentially, yes. I hear the defense and i dont think the defense is very strong. If i try to rob and bank and i walk in to open up a safe but the safe is empty, i cant say it is a nothing burger. It is an attempt at criminal activity. In this instance, the reason why this yet another uturn by the president on the Trump Tower Meeting is that once it again it changes the narrative. The president thrown under the bus is his son donald trump jr. Several legal issues come into play. They are high level and very serious. You arity absolutely right. This could give rise to an instance of an alleged conspiracy for Aiding And Abetting. A claim for violation of federal election law. There are other felony issues that potentially float out there as well. Remember that donald trump jr. He bet the farm that this was an innocuous meeting about russian adoptions. He is all in on this. Yesterday we have a complete
president also is enveloped potentially in a criminal conspiracy for Aiding And Abetting violation of federal election law. This is an underlying felony. Also keep in mind that if you are gone after for ating and abetting by the federal Prosecutors Office the agent who is trying to assist the principal on Aiding And Abetting has the same criminal liability as the principal himself. There is very high risk thats involved in this situation. This is the latest uturn on the story about whats going on here. And this is direct heat not only on the president directly with you indirectly because if his son ends up getting in a lot of legal hot water then thats going to create a major storm cloud that could be heading directly towards the white house. Katlyn last question to you just on lying. We know that jay sekulow the president s attorney said over the weekend he is explaining his initial misstatement saying okay he didnt have all the information on trump tower. No. The meeting was about adoptions
and then we find out its actually about dirt. And then over the weekend hope hicks is seen getting on Air Force One. We dont know if the president lied to her or she lied to the American People. What do you think you cover this white house every day of lying in 2018 . Brooke, their credibility really at stake here. We have seen the white house make she is imts sta, these definitive statements saying the president had no role in the drafting of that statement. Then the president s legal team goes against that and contradicts it in a memo to the Special Counsel when they said actually trump did play a role, he did dictate that entire statement. That has been a recurring pattern throughout everything with russia. The white house often complains about the focus of russia on reporters and on their reporting that they have on the white house. But we have seen their narrative change ever since President Trump got into the white house. At first they said there was no contact at all with any russians. Then they said there was no
collusion. And now they are saying that the collusion is not a crime. As far as this goes, jake sekulow is not the only one who said that the president had no role in that statement. Sanders, hope hicks, and Kellyanne Conway. It simply isnt the truth anymore. The truth comes out in the end. Thank you both so much. Coming up next, you tube, facebook, apple band together against Info Wars Content from the hate spewing website and its leader alex jones have been taken down. Hear how he is responding. And all eyes on that courthouse in alexandria, virginia, the federal courthouse as the key witness for the government, rick gates, takes the stand this afternoon and testifies against President Trumps former Campaign ChairmanPaul Manafort. Updates as soon as we get them. And the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen. But we wont get there without you. Join the fight with the Alzheimers Association. Morning. Morning. What do we got . Keep an eye on that branch. Might get windy. Have a good shift. Fire pit. Last use 0600. Id stay close. Morning. Get ready to switch. Protected by flo. Should say, protected by alan and jamie. Right . Should it . When you bundle home and auto. Run, alan . You get more than just savings. You get roundtheclock protection. Bold choice, charlie just tear, eat. Mmmmm. And go try all of my Chicken Creations chicken
how can i share new plans virtually . How can i download an efile . Virtual tours . Zipfile . Really big files . In seconds, not minutes. Just like that. Like everything. The answer is simple. Ill do what ive always done. Dream more, dream faster, and above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. President trump is once again attacking the media. One Voice Lending Support a pastor. The pastors indication shocking some, pleasing others, when he delivered a prayer asking the lord to protect this president from something he called Jungle Journalism. Tonight i pray that you will protect our president and his
family with a shield of faith. Lord, that shield of face against the firry darts of the wicked one, against the Jungle Journalism that distorts integrity every day gets in his face with Lies Mistruths and innuendos. Lord protect him. Protect him. Later on twitter the president would go on to accuse the media of being to blame for Quote Division in the country. And now some americans may take these dangerous attacks lightly but in terms of rhetoric listen to something. Just one day before the rally in colorado a death threat was phoned in ailed at two journalists here at cnn. Don, you are on the air. Good morning. It all started when trump got
elected. Brian stelter and don lemon from cnn called Trump Supporters all racis racists. They dont even know us. They dont know these americans out here and they are calling us racist because we vetted for trump . Come on. Give me a break. They started the war. I see them, im going to shoot them. Bye. First of all, just on behalf of my two colleagues here at cnn, they never did that. And that call is reprehensible. A couple of members of the president s inner circle have publicly broke within the president over this. White house counsellor Kellyanne Conway and the president s Daughter Ivanka say they do not believe journalists are the enemy of the people. From media wars to info wars he suggested the Sandy Hook School shooting was hoax and that the September 1 Th terror attacks were an inside job by the government. Im talking about alex jones. He is the founder of info wars. And he is now feeling the heat himself. You tube, facebook, and apple all announcing theyre removing his content from their platforms. Heres how you tube explained its decision. Quote, when users violate policies repeatedly like our policies against hate spreech, harassment or our terms preventing circumstance up vengs of our enforcement measures we terminate their accounts. With me now,ology ifr darcy. You were just saying to me you were surprised that they took this kind of action so swiftly . Yeah, this happened very quickly, over the past 24 hours. It seems to have been prompted by apple. Apple last night removed the entire library of alex joness podcasts from their store. Then we have seen throughout the day tech platform basically remove alex jones from their website after ammel removed that podcast. Then facebook came out this morning, early in the morning and said they had unpublished
info wars and other pages secretaried with alek