Get a jump on the days news with Christine Romans and Dave Briggs. Close associate to Paul Manafort for 12 years, but now hes flipped, he pleaded guilty, and hes telling all he knows to prosecutors. So, it will be interesting when he is back on the stand for more Cross Examination this morning. Christine and phil . Jessica, thank you for that. Legal woes multiplying for michael cohen. The Wall Street Journal reporting President Trumps former lawyer and fixer is now under investigation for tax fraud. Sources tell the journal the federal prosecutor in manhattan is looking into whether cohen underreported income from his taxi medallion business. The Taxi Licenses yielded hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last five years. The Wall Street Journal also reporting federal investigators are looking into possible fraud against the bank that financed cohens taxi medallion business. Cohen has not been charged with a crime, and the journal reports he previously denied wrongdoing. Firefighters are struggling to contain the largest wildfire in california history. At this point, the Mendocino Complex Fire has scorched nearly 293,000 acres. 75 homes have been destroyed, and the fire at this point only 34 contained. Now, firefighters are up against a myriad of issues here, but chief amongst them, hot, dry, and windy conditions. Cnns Stephanie Elam has the latest from california. Reporter christina and phil, we are standing in the midst of some of the devastation from the Mendocino Complex Fire, which is actually two fires that started about the same time, burning near each other here. And you can see how hot this fire got. The devastation here, even in this rural community, you can see that it has really ravaged some of the properties that are here. And just to give you an idea of how bad the fire season has been, if you go down just blocks from where we are, theres another building thats burned down. You might think its from this fire. Its actually from a different one. All in all, there are some 17 fires that are burning in the state. And just to give you an idea of how bad this fire season has been with this one being the largest fire in state history at this point, some 550,000 acres of land that had been burned in the last three weeks because of always. Last night, President Trump hosted an informal dinner for some of the countrys top Business Leaders at his bedminster golf club. The president and first lady welcoming more than two dozen ceos and their spouses, including the heads of pepsi, fiat chrysler, fedex and boeing. Welcome. Its great to have you here. And were looking for a great discussion tonight and i just want to thank the president for doing an incredible job and for all of your help. The policies of the other administration would have been more regulation and much higher taxes. And what youre witnessing now could never have happened. And growth has taken us out of a lot of problems that have been caused, and youre going to see super growth soon when its all said, when its working like a finetuned machine. Youre going to see some real growth. That exclusive guest list included the heads of Smaller Companies who have been extremely loyal Trump Supporters. The u. S. Unveiling tariffs
on another 16 billion in chinese goods, bringing the total value to 50 billion. The Trump Administration released its list of 279 products yesterday, targeting things like chemicals, motorcycles, and antennas. The 25 tariff will take effect august 23rd. Chinese state media slammed the move overnight, warning that Wantingly Raising Tariffs will only hurt the u. S. Beijing already said it would strike back in equal measure, just like last month when the u. S. Imposted tariffs on chinese goods worth 34 billion. Wall street shrugged off the first round, but u. S. Business warned they will raise prices for consumers, especially as the trade spat escalates. The white house is threatening an additional 200 billion in tariffs on chinese goods. China plans to hit back with its own tariffs worth 60 billion. The Trump Administration says the tariffs are punishment for chinas unfair trade practices, like stealing u. S. Technology, stealing u. S. Trade secrets. Beijing denies those allegations. The street reaction to this has been fascinating, or lack of
reaction. The supergrowth that the president talked about, thats really earnings have been so good because of some of these trump policies, like cutting taxes. I mean, thats really been the most important here. So, at this point, they feel like the trade war is contained, and there are some who say if you didnt have this trade spat, youd see stocks even better. Yeah. Worth watching. Obviously not stopping any time soon. All right, Iowa College StudentMollie Tibbetts now missing for three weeks. Coming up, why her father believes shes still alive. And why Secretary Of State mike pompeo may be headed back to pyongyang. A live report after this. My name is jeff sheldon, and im the founder of ugmonk. Before shipstation it was crazy. Its great when you see a hundred orders come in, a hundred orders come in, but then you realize ive got a hundred orders i have to ship out. Shipstation streamlined that wh the order data, the weights of , everything is seamlessly
put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping ll everythings pretty much done. Its so much easier so now, were ready, bring on t. Shipstation. The number one ch of online sellers. Go to shipstation. Com tv and get two months free. Know about cognitive performance . As youd probably guess, a lot. Thats why a new brain Health Supplement called forebrain from the harvardeducated experts at force factor is flying off the shelves at gnc. Forebrains key ingredients have been clinically shown to help enhance sharpness and clarity, improve memory, and promote learning ability. And now every man and woman in america can claim a complimentary bottle. Just use your smartphone to text the keyword on the screen to 202020. Scientific research on cognigrape, a sicilian red wine extract in forebrains memorysafe blend, suggests not only sharper recall, but also improved executive function and faster information processing. Your opportunity to get into harvard may be gone, but its not too late to experience a brain boost formulated by some of their brightest minds. Just text the keyword on the screen to 202020 with your smartphone to claim your complimentary bottle of forebrain. Do it now before you forget. Thats the keyword on the screen to 202020. And a the lot of folks saying, what have the north koreans done . What have they exhibited in terms of denuclearization to earn a second very highprofile meeting . Reporter well, this from the north korean perspective not launching anything since last november, blowing up their nuclear test site, although some experts question what really happened there, possibly dismantling their Satellite Launch Station and they returned 55 sets of u. S. Service member remains. So from their perspective, they feel theyve done quite a bit, but what they havent done according to the Global Community is steps towards denuclearization and they say theyve done enough, they want the u. S. To do something now. They want gradual sanctions relief right away, not at the end of the process, which the u. S. Has said theyll do only once the nukes are out. Thats not acceptable to the north koreans. And they also want a peace treaty formally ending the korean war. Weve been saying for a couple beaks. North koreas Foreign Minister reiterated that over the weekend and blasted the state
department, saying that the u. S. State departments Stance Post Summit is not helpful, is not helping them build confidence and could derail the denuclearization talks, but he also praised President Trump, saying President Trump has a vision, the north koreans believe in that vision, and my source telling me the north koreans want to sit down facetoface with trump. So, now you have john bolton saying that a meeting could happen, maybe at the United NationsGeneral Assembly next month. We just dont know. They probably havent set a date or time yet, according to the Trump Administration. But it does seem the north koreans feel theyre going to get a more favorable deal if theyre facetoface with trump, than anyone else, including Secretary Of State pompeo. Will ripley, thank you. Investigators are trying to identify the remains of a boy found during the search of a new mexico compound where 11 children were discovered living in filthy, decrepit conditions. Investigators say they recovered the remains of an unidentified child inside the compound on monday. Now, authorities raided the compound last week in what initially started as an investigation into a mans alleged abduction of his son
last year. County sheriffs Officials Say the children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were turned over to state Child Welfare workers. The children found living in squalled conditions with no Running Water or electricity. Police say they looked emaciated. Five adults have been arrested. The reward for a missing Iowa College Student now over 300,000. Mollie tibbetts father says he believes his daughter is still alive. I think the longer this goes on, the absence of finding her, that she could be someplace where we can still get her back. Rob tibbetts says he believes his daughter may have gone willingly with someone she knew. His daughter was last seen taking a jog three weeks ago. Wayne chaney, who lives near the search area, has been questioned by the fbi. He told the Des Moines Register he has refused to take a polygraph, saying i have nothing to hide. He has not been charged in connection with this case. Mollies father, rob, will join us on cnns new day at 7 30 a. M. Eastern time. Definitely tune in for that. I think the rewards 300,000 right now . The city of chicago vowing to put hundreds of Additional Police officers on the streets, the move coming after 66 people were shot over the weekend. Of those, 12 people died. Chicagos police chief says 430 officers are being put on street duty while 200 more will be on patrol over the weekend. Some officers will have their hours extended or vacations canceled. Officials say others are also being reassigned from other duties. A fighter jet launches a missile by mistake. Thats a real bad day. Oops. For that pilot. That story just ahead. Plus, a brandnew Chinese Rocket with a need for speed. When i received the diagnoses, 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
an airtoair missile accidentally launched over eston estonia. A search is under way to find the missile, which is believed to have landed perhaps 25 miles north of tartu. The spanish fighter jet accidentally fired it during a policing mission. The Foreign Minister called the incident extremely regrettable and also called the Nato Air Mission over the Baltic Country necessary to estonias national security. China says it successfully tested its first hypersonic aircraft. Its a Big First Step forward in Aerospace Technology that could intensify pressure on the u. S. Military. The waverider uses shock waves in the air generated by its own flight to soar faster than five times the speed of sound. Experts say it can carry nuclear
warheads and that its speed and unpredictable trajectory made it nearly impossible for any antimissile Defense Systems to interse intersect. The story of the winning bidder. With that, i have done what i said i would never do, and that is sing on live television. But more importantly, we now know hdtv is the new owner of The Brady Bunch house. The Chief Executive of the parent company, discovery, said the house in North Hollywood will be restored to its 1970s glory. Architectural genius in that era, i think. The house was listed at a Starting Price of 1. 9 million. Former n sync band member lance bass expressed his disappointment on social media at losing out on the house but it seems all is forgiven with Bass Tweeting in part kudos, hgtv. I know you will do the right thing with the house. That is always my biggest worry. I can smile again. Gosh, that house iconic. How much, 1. 9 million . Thats not terrible, right . Well, in california. Hey, i could ooi couldnt you could buy ten houses in my hometown for that. Next, all eyes on ohio with a special election race thats still too close to call. And high drama in the courtroom as the star witness against Paul Manafort is confronted about an extramarital affair. Witness, Painting Rick Gates as a cheater and a thief who cant be trusted. Firefighters gain some ground on the largest wildfire in california history, but the battle far from over. Tesla boss elon musk stuns wall street with a public declaration of his private ambitions. Welcome back to early start. Im phil mattingly. Im christine romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour. Nice to have you here. Phil, lets begin with the elections last night. If ohios 12th District is any indication, a blue wave may be coming in november. In a special election many considered a bellwether for the midterms, the race between Republican Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny Oconnor is too close to call this morning. Now, its an encouraging outcome for democrats in a deep red district, no matter how this plays out. There are still more than 8,000 outstanding provisional and Absentee Ballots that could take days to count. Balderson currently leads oconnor by less than one percentage point, less than 2,000 votes. The candidates, both candidates spoke last night, oconnor refusing to concede, balderson
quick to claim victory. Id like to thank President Trump. [ cheers and applause ] america is on the right path, and were going to keep it going that way. Over the next three months, im going to do everything i can to keep America Great again. As we see division and discord tearing apart our country, we must remember that each and every one of us are gods children and that all of us need to be treated with dignity and respect, and i think we could use a lot more of that spirit in washington these days. President trump taking time out from his Working Vacation to declare balderson the winner and take credit for it, even though the outcome is still not official here. The President Tweeting, when i decided to go to ohio for troy balderson, he was down in early voting, 64 36 . That was not good. After my speech saturday nights, there was a big turn for the better. Now troy wins a big victory in a
tough time of the year for voting. He will win big in november. Thats not how early voting works. Several other primaries to tell you about, including another race too close to call in johnson county, kansas. Secretary of state kris kobach, a hardliner on immigration who received President Trumps endorsement, Locked Intight race with governor jeff colyer. The official result could be announced later today, johnson county. And in missouri, josh hawley is predicted to be winner for the republican primary for senate. Theyre hoping he will take the seat in november. And it is predicted that State Attorney General in michigan Bill Schuette will be the candidate in november, another trump endorsement. Gretchen whitmer will be the democratic candidate. And john james, another trumpendorsed candidate, is predicted to capture the u. S. Nomination for senate in michigan. James is an africanamerican iraq war vet endorsed by the president. He will face democrat Debbie Stabenow in november. Former trump campaign
chairman Paul Manaforts longtime righthand man back on the witness stand today. Manaforts Defense Lawyers expected to pick up where they left off yesterday, trying to undermine rick gates credibility in the eyes of this jury. Gates admitted to a host of transgressions, but so far, manaforts defense team has not done much to pin the bank and tax fraud their client is charged with on gates alone. That part of their Cross Examination may come