This country what it is. Im proud of you and your family. Dont ever forget where you came from, boy. Yes, maam, absolutely right. Amen to that. Thank you, chris. See you soon. This is cnn tonight, im don lemon, Chris Collins of new york stands indicted in an alleged Insider Trading scheme. Accused of multiple counts of fraud. It is rare for prosecutors to indict a sitting elected official, particularly in an election year. The u. S. Attorney in new york says that collins acted as if laws, well, they didnt apply to him. Donald trump has accomplished in this primary, is unprecedented. Donald trump is absolutely brilliant, and Donald Trumps a
swamp of washington, were going to have fun doing it, were all doing it together. When it comes to washington, d. C. , it is time to drain the swamp. Not only has that swamp not been drained, this administration is building all over it i know that Chris Collins is a congressman and a trump supporter, hes not a member of this administration, trump told us he was going to build his administration out of the very best people. It hasnt exactly turned out that way. Lets start now with trumps First National security adviser. Thats michael flynn. Who was fired by the way, and then he pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contacts with russians before trumps inauguration. His contacts with russians before the inauguration. A recap of the days news. Potential clients as a consultant. Due to his proximity to the most powerful man in the world about that aside from cohens regular day job before the president densecy where he opened up llcs and pretended to hide payments on behalf of the president. And, of course, trumps former Campaign Chairman mr. Paul manafort is as we speak on trial in virginia. On multiple tax and bank fraud charges. Mart of Robert Muellers on going investigation. The star witness against him another Trump Campaign official who western the on to serve inside the white house. Thats rick gates. What was that line again . Were going to make America Great again. Were going to use our best people. Im going to get the best people. Were going to deliver, were going to get the best people in the world. We dont want people that are b level, c level, d level. We have to get our absolute best. Were going to use our smartest and our best. Were not using political hacks any more. Its a sophisticated chess match, but i have the best people lined up. You need people that are truly, truly capable. We have to get the best people. Best people to drain the swamp. Cnn legal analyst lauren coats. And harry lip man a former u. S. Attorney. Good evening, everyone. Lets talk about draining the swamp, and getting the best people. What happened to the best people and draining the swamp. I mean, the swamp as you pointed out did not get drained. The creatures just rotated through the Revolving Door down here, theres a word that became a word i never heard of until this presidency when people were sort of struggling with how to describe this government of sort of fringe characters, people with resumes that did not usually enter into
government service. And that word is chacistocracy. It points in this presidency, its been an apt way to describe it. To paraphrase donald trump, theyre not sending their best. And i think the evidence that you its not a partisan point, you laid out the evidence there of an administration that is just filled with people who have either crossed ethical lines or challenged norms that we have all upheld for decades in this country. And all being led by the president at the top who sets that tone. Lets talk more about the swamp here, Rudy Giuliani says they have responded to muellers latest proposal regarding an interview. These allegations should be over by september 1st, are they in a position to be calling the shots like that . No. Nor would they even know what theyre saying. Weve had a series of those kinds of statements from giuliani, was going to be a couple weeks. Weve had a series of the statements from trump starting
back in june. Im 100 ready to testify. And instead what weve received is this kind of tango between the two groups where giuliani and trump at least feign some kind of desire and willingness to sit down and answer some questions in some form. Not acting in anyway the way a witness or not to mention a suspect in a criminal probe would act. You dont believe them . You dont think hes going to sit down . Weve had a series of the statements from trump starting back in june. Im 100 ready to testify. And instead what weve received is this kind of tango between the two groups where giuliani and trump at least feign some kind of desire and willingness to sit down and answer some questions in some form. Not acting in anyway the way a
witness or not to mention a suspect in a criminal probe would act. You dont believe them . You dont think hes going to sit down . You think theyre feigning interest . I do think theyre feigning, its been that way for a long time. In part, though, i think it because i think its not in trumps interest to sit down. Not because its a perjury trap, one of the two word trump slogans he throws about like drain the swamp or fake news, its really hard to know what he means. But because he knows mueller seeks real answers to important questions. And mueller will have information that trump doesnt have. And it will put him in a precarious position if he has any vulnerability. The time has come then, i think this is an important question. The time has come now to subpoena the president . In a word, yes. I mean, i would never want to second guess robert mueller, hes got impeccable judgment along with everything else, there has been some reason hes been staying his hand, but
surely if the reason to stay his hand is that theyll be able to work out a deal. Its pretty clear that wont happen. It will have some delay to subpoena him. There will be a legal battle, but thats going to happen whenever he does it. You know, i think not only do we need it for the probe, but we need it for the country. We need to know whats happened, we need to know where trump what trump asserts, and we may never find out without his being forced in some way to give answers. Lets bring you in now, laura. The president s team wants to limit what the Special Council can ask and saying that they would consider questions related to obstruction as long as they arent perjury traps. If lose telling the truth, why does he need to worry about perjury . Arrogance. You want to be arrogant enough to dictate the terms of someone who holds a greater bargaining
and also it shows you that his fixation on the notion of obstruction is one that his own behavior continues to fuel. The only reason that aspect of the investigation has been prolonged is because he continues to tweet and engages in acts that make people say, i think a red flag has been lifted here about your own conduct. Perhaps if he stopped talking about the issues, he would be able to have a more timely efficient close of the probe and what would we talk about . Theres still plenty to talk about, because the president has an irresistible urge to do so. I was being snarky. Those all fuel Robert Muellers thirst to say, what is it you dont want me to see, thats the only thing i want to look at. I want to play this, this is what Rudy Giuliani said to trumps other lawyer. On jay seculos radio show. We have now given him an answer you he should take a few days to consider it. He has all the information he needs. The interview will provide everything that he has. It seems like that they are trying to delay or stop an interview at all costs. Despite the president saying
completely political battle. Did it escape any of you that the president s attorney has a radio show . And he invited his other private attorney to be on. You discussed the conversations you probably had with your client its not that you cant ever indict a president period its a sitting president. The idea you could cause there to be an indictment is key here. I think robert muler is keenly aware of that particular aspect of it. Stick around, everyone, well get you in on the other side, harry. Despite demanding an end to this russia investigation. Dragging out negotiations with mueller through the november midterms could boost republican candidates at the polls. Well talk about that next. Rudy giuliani offering a new twist in defense of the president , it could be done by labor day. The president s attorney seems to be supporting a new strategy tonight. Lits talk about rudy, shall we . I promise you the First ResponseRudy Giuliani is
telling cnn it could benefit if if muellers investigation are. Check out the new united Explorer Card. Saving on this saving on this saving in here. Rewarded learn more at theexplorercard. Com bundle and save big, but now its time to find my dream abode. Right away, i could tell his priorities were a little unorthodox. Keep going. Stop. A little bit down. Stop. Back up again. Is this adequate sunlight for a Komodo Dragon . Yeah. Sure, i want that discount on Car Insurance just for owning a home, but im not compromising. Youre taking a shower . Water pressures crucial, scott its like they say location, location, koi pond. They dont say that. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens brown paper packages tied up with strings these are a few of My Favorite Things these are a few of My Favorite Things you dont see psoriasis. You see clear skin. You see me. But if you saw me before cosentyx. I was covered. It was awful. But i didnt give up. I kept fighting. I got clear skin with cosentyx. 3 years and counting. Clear skin can last. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you. Cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. See me now. Im still clear. How sexy are these elbows . Get clear skin that can last. Ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. I promise you the First ResponseRudy Giuliani is telling cnn it could benefit if if muellers investigation are. Even if the president gives an interview, mueller wont know anything more than he already knows. Hes asserting literally theres no more to know, theres no what did you say you told jim comey . Or when did you find out about the russia meeting . Or why did you get so angry at Jeff Sessions and what did you say . These are the critical core questions for judging his state of mind. And giuliani seeks to put them off the table. I do think if it drags on. The probe hangs over him and it obviously creates a kind of cloud. On the other hand if the report comes out and its damning, then that will be the kind of record that is taken in to the midterms. It could be that hell already have begun to pivot, i think time probably favors Mueller Over Trump at this point. I think the strategy, though, ryan is that giuliani thinks
its going to energize the gop voters, people are getting tired of it, or it will betray trump as a put upon figure that should everyone is out to get him. Is he right. Theyre turning mueller into this person whos unfairly out to target trump. The whole Witch Hunt Rhetoric and all that. And i dont know if hes right about that, it probably depends on the race and the demographics
of the district youre talking about, some republicans dont want to talk about this issue at all, others have leaned into it more and talked about it, if you look at that ohio race last night, the special election, neither candidate was really hot on the russia issue, they talked about tax cuts and medicare and bread and butter issues. I do think my own view is, it would be good for the country if this report if muellers going to write a report thats going to become public. Wouldnt that be great if we had that before election day. And the country would know all the facts and there wouldnt be this Issue Hanging over trump. We would actually voters could go to the polls understanding that the makeup of how important the makeup of congress was going to be. If they thought the Mueller Probe was bs, they could keep the republicans around, if they thought it was serious and only a new Democratic Congress could rectify the situation. I have to ask you. Do you think muellers
considering the impact of all this might have on the midterms in november . I think hes required to consider the impact of every major prosecution on elections. The doj policy is that youre not supposed to engage in a prosecution that could impact an election. Which assumes the person you may be targeting would be on the ballot. Thats not the case here for President Trump. Hes not on the ballot, not a member of his campaign team. So it would be assuming that the doj policy is that one should not prosecute or pursue prosecution of anyone, even if the people who are targets or subjects would have no bearing on the actual ballot initiative. Its a big assumption he would make. You think its a red herring . I think its a very big red herring. The reason giuliani is pointing to september is because of early voting. There are states around the nation that have early voting beginning in september. Which ironically is one of the things that many of the Voter Fraud Commission did not enjoy about having the early access to the polgs, and now they are aware, keenly aware that the early elections will have some impact on muellers consideration of how long to continue this probe. Do you really think, ryan, witch hunt whatever happens out of the mueller investigation. Do you think thats going to that wont really change anything when it comes to the base . The Target Audience here, i think in the court of public opinion. I guess maybe to keep the space energized would be interest and it would be people that you could possibly peel off from the democratic party, right . I mean i guess i still believe, maybe im naive, if mueller finds evidence of a crime, that republicans, that there is a chance that republicans would change their views about the investigation. Remember, in watergate, i mean, people defended republicans defended nixon after a lot of
very incriminating evidence had built up. Even after john deans testimony, right . His own White House Council came out against him and said he as a crook. We dont believe dean. Nobody things didnt turn until you had the smoking gun tape. And so im not saying that mueller has that. I still i do believe there is some red line at some point that could be triggered in the investigation. And we wont know that until mueller reveals all he knows. Until we get to that red line. Harry, giuliani and trumps legal team they keep using this phrase, perjury trap. We talked a little bit about this before. They do it because theyre trying to raise questions about muellers tactics, right . Thats part of it, i think it is a kind of slogan that revs the base up. I agree with the point that ryan just made, that were really talking about trying to have an impact on the sort of margin of
people who can actually be persuaded to think twice about it, they bandy it around. And god knows what they think it means, its certainly nobody proposes here to treat him different from other witnesses who come in and give the facts about what they knew and what happened. And when they knew it. A perjury trap if it means anything is a sort of setup just to play gotcha with a factual question. These are the deep questions that are front and center in this criminal investigation. They have been for over a year. And muellers been stymied in trying to get to them by trump. If you think for just a second of the kinds of questions trump will be asked, i think you have to dismiss the idea that it could ever be a perjury trap. Theyre really rolling the dice when it comes to the subpoena thing. If he is subpoena, he doesnt have the opportunity i have to get to the break. His attorneys wont be in there with limb, right . They could make a compromise. And they have in the past,
certainly he cant try to set the rules as hes doing now. Thank you all. Appreciate your time. When we come back, the new york Congressman Accused of Insider Trading who could face up to 150 years in prison if hes convicted. Chris collins not only denying the charngs, but insisting hes going to run for office again. Crabfest is back at red lobster, with our largest variety of crab all year like new crabfest combo. Your one chance to have new Jumbo Snow Crab with tender dungeness crab. Or try crab lovers dream. But hurry in. Cause Crabfest will be gone in a snap. 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 your society was dearled by a woman, who governed thousands. Commanded armies. Yielded to no one. When i found you in my dna, i learned where my strength comes from. My name is courtney mckinney, and this is my ancestrydna story. Now with 2 times more geographic detail than other dna tests. Order your kit at ancestrydna. Com your friend just marea. You like her. Shes really good at social media. She buys stocks in companies that stand for something. You like her. Shes always up on the latest trends. She got in early on the whole goat yoga thing. And her sunsets are always no