Lets go out front. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Out front tonight, breaking news, manafort under surveillance, cnn has learned that investigators wiretapped former Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manafort under secret court order before and after the 2016 election. That surveillance continued into this year, including a period when manafort wasnt working for the campaign, but was known to talk with president donald trump. Pamela brown and evan perez broke this story. So much to ask all of you as this breaks. What are you learning fon the . The fbi got permission from the Surveillance Court to monitor Paul Manafort before and after the election, now, this is an extraordinary step for the fbi to do surveillance on a High Ranking Campaign person. Other sources told us this intelligence was not conclusive enough, Robert Muellers team had been provided all of these communications, erin. When you say encouraging, man in a for the encouraging russians to help with the campaign. Obviously, the weight of everything is on that word encouraging, what do you mean by it . Right, theres a lot we dont know about exactly what was said, this is beyond just wiretaps, its also surveillance of all kinds, including searches that the fbi is authorized to do. Were told the fbi has communications between suspected russian operative, relaying what they claimed were discussions with manafort as well as communications involving manafo manafort, none of this has amounted to what people consider a smoking gun in this investigation. Theres still more work being done to determine whether theres a criminal violation here. We didnt get a comment from Paul Manaforts spokesman. He denied he ever knowingly communicated with russian intelligence operatives during the election. So pamela, youre reporting here in a Paul Manafort has been monitors not once but twice . Thats right, erin. Our team has told that the secret order began after manafort became the subject of an fbi investigation in 2014 many we previously reported that for ukraines former ruling party. The surveillance was discontinued at some point last year for lack of evidence according to one of the sources. And then the fbi restarted the surveillance after obtaining a new warrant that extended at least into early this year. The sources say the second warrant was part of the fbis efforts to investigate ties between Trump Campaign associates and suspected russian operatives. Its unclear when that new warrant started. Weve learned that earlier this year, the fbi conducted a search of the Storage Facility belonging to Paul Manafort. As youll recall under Robert Muellers direction. The fbi raided his home in virginia. Of course we knew that. We didnt know he had a Storage Facility until this hour, and we didnt know they raided it. Thats significant. Do you know whether President Trump spoke to manafort while he was under surveillance . That could be crucial. They were still talking early this year, well after the campaign, and it is it a time that weve learned the fbi was listening to manaforts phone calls, it is possible those phone conversations were collected during surveillance as they were listening to them. That we dont have a specific answer for, but it is possible, erin. Which is a crucial point. And, of course, the president had said vocally that he was wiretapped and he meant that to mean not just phones, but all kinds of surveillance, was he right . Not exactly. The Justice Department has spoken out about this. They deny the president s own lines were wiretapped. Its possible he was picked up on manaforts surveillance, manafort has a residence in trump tower, its not clear if the fbi did surveillance on manafort at trump tower. What does this mean for the Mueller Investigation hes in possession of this wiretap. Its been the most visible investigation under Robert Mueller, the special council started in may. We know there is a raid on his Storage Facility before Robert Mueller took over, then you have that raid this past july its unclear if those stemmed from any of the intelligence that was gathered under the face is a warrant, its clear that investigators are still very interested into Paul Manafort, under the direction of Robert Mueller, erin. A couple questions here, manafort for some time with all of this focus has been careful in what he says and how he communicates. What is the significance that they were able to get this crucial face is a warrant to do it. We dont know exactly when the time line of this surveillance whether it has ended, whether its continuing to this day, the fact that they were able to get a face is a warrant is a big deal. This has to get approval from the highest levels of the Justice Department and the nib before agents can carry this out. You almost never find out that these warrants are authorized, erin, the other thing is, you have to present proof or suspicions that someone is acting as an agents of a foreign power. All of this goes into the paperwork that the judges have to prove. Obviously very intrusive work, and not easy to get. Thank you very much. And now, gloria borger. This is a big thing. This is not an easy thing to get. To be able to do this on a u. S. Citizen. What does this tell you abouted u. S. Citizen. It tells you that they believed that they had real reason to reinstitute surveillance of Paul Manafort, whether it was conversations about Paul Manafort, whatever they were hearing on their preexisting surveillance, they thought it was important enough to go to a fisa court to say, we need to start listening in to Paul Manaforts conversations again they dont as evan was pointing out, this isnt done willie nilly here, this goes before a court, it has to be proved. There has to be a real good reason for them to believe that they need to do it. The second thing that just sort of jumping out at me about this reporting, is that, of course, now we have the possibility of the fact that the president of the United States, who continued to talk to Paul Manafort im told until maybe march, that his conversations may well have been recorded as president with manafort, if manafort was being sur veiled at that moment thats something we havent considered up until this point. And these could be, of course, completely innocent conversations about how is your day going. But this is the first time weve really heard about that. So obviously, that is hugely significant. If this was going on before and after the election, somewhere, President Trumps going to be on it, its going to be what we find. It could be innocuous. But he could be there. Youre talking about how hard it is to get this, i think its important for people to understand, you dont just walk in with a sheet of paper and say, can i have this. This has to be signed off by who at the top level. How much documentation would they have had needed to prove this. I have seen wiretap affidavits run into the hundreds of pages. It reflects a good amount of investigation, there is a Legal Standard they have to meet they go through review at the highest levels of the fbi and the department of justice. Theyre signed by the director of the fbi and the attorney general. If Paul Manafort were a named intercept interceptee. Was he an incidental target or otherwise, i request guarantee you it went to the attorney general level for review and approval. This is actually really crucial what you just said. The reason why is because of this, let me give a moment to explain. We remember those tweets on march 4th, for anyone whos just joining us. Just found out obama had my wires tapped. How low has president obama gone to tap my phones during the sacred election process. Bad [ or sick guy ] he was derided for this, is he somehow vindicated . No, i think what were seeing is President Trump, he distorts the facts, creates a smoke screen tries to twist the facts in a way that will only be beneficial to him. His phones were not tapped. We dont know if his conversations were picked up on the intercept with Paul Manafort, they could have, but we dont know that yet. If they were, they werent directed at him specifically. However, if there was discussion where President Trump acknowledged what Paul Manafort is alleged to have done. Hes in a lot of trouble. Let me ask you, this is what people are going to wonder about, you take those tweets from the president , and you take what you just said, this would have been signed off on the highest levels of the department of justice and the fbi. Jim comey was asked directly about whether trumps tweets were true, he said he had no information that supports those tweets and then the Justice Department submitted a court filing. Both fbi and nsd confirmed they have records related to wiretaps. Technically that may be true, but is it misleading if they knew that there was a wiretap of the Campaign Chairman for donald trump . Yeah, this is an interesting question, most people have a basic rudimentary understanding of the term wiretap, and its a term of art, you have to name every possible interceptee in your affidavit and application, whether its a criminal wiretap or fisa. It becomes an important distinction, who is the target of the wiretap, and what device is the target of the wiretapper or the interception. You could generically say that the president was wiretapped if he was intercepted. I could see that the basic citizen would look at it that way. Its a very important distinction as to whether he was incidentally intercepted. That happens all the time. Gloria and chris, again, drawing that distinction, if this is what the president was referring to, he is going to claim victory. Well, you know, the president s phone wasnt tapped. But his conversations were picked up. We dont know. What we do know is that they, the fbi felt strongly enough about Paul Manafort and his interactions visavis this russia investigation that they felt the need to reinstate a wiretap that they had ended a while ago. Because there were things that clearly came to their attention that they felt warranted a lot of investigation. As youre investigating the question of collusion. The russia hack into the election and the rest of it. This story makes mr. Manafort look like more of a central figure in this. You cant draw any conclusions, you do know they were interested. You do know they were interested, the contents are in the possession of Robert Mueller. They would have had to have had an incredible amount of documentation to get this. Things just smell funny, it was based on real bona fide information. Thanks very much to all three of you. Next, we continue our coverage of this breaking news, donald trump not the only one talking about the election, still, Hillary Clinton now today, guess what. Shes open to questioning the legitimacy of the results. Trumps legal team have a public discussion about the russia investigation. Who took this picture . A reporter sitting at the next table. He is my guest, he heard it all. Were tracking Hurricane Maria on an incredibly destructive path at this hour. A storm expert will tell us what is so different about this one. Can we at least analyze can we push the offer online . Legacy technology can handcuff any company. But yes is here. The new app will go live monday . Yeah. With hewlettpackard enterprise, were transforming the way we work. With the right mix of hybrid it, everything computes. Whentrust the brand doctors trust for themselves. Nexium 24hr is the number one choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn. And all day all night protection. When it comes to frequent heartburn, trust nexium 24hr. Their leadership is instinctive. Theyre experts in things you havent heard of researchers of technologies that one day, you will. Some call them the best of the best. Some call them veterans. We call them our team. Endless shrimp is back at red lobster. And we went all out to bring you even more incredible shrimp and new flavors. Like new Nashville Hot shrimp, drizzled with sweet amber honey, and new grilled mediterranean shrimp finished with a savory blend of green onions, tomatoes, and herbs. Feeling hungry yet . Good, cause theres plenty more where these came from. Like garlic shrimp scampi, and other classics you love. As much as you want, however you want them. But hurry, endless shrimp wont be here long. As much as you want, however you want them. You wto progress. Move. To not just accept what you see, but imagine something new. At invisalign®, we use the most advanced teeth straightening technology to help you find the next amazing version of yourself. Its time to unleash your secret weapon. Its there, right under your nose. Get to your best smile up to 50 faster. Visit invisalign. Com to get started today. Welcome back to out front as were following the breaking news. Paul manafort, president interrupts former Campaign Chairman was wiretapped before and after the election. It happened under a secret court order and continued into this year, including a period when manafort was known to talk to the president. Three sources say some of the intelligence collected includes communications that caused concern. Manafort incouraged russians to help with the campaign. Two of those sources warned that the evidence is not conclusive. Out front now, jeff americaly. I appreciate your time. Youre welcome. We know that bob mueller has details of these communications that were intercepted. This is phone communications, emails, any sort of communications that Paul Manafort would have had. How significant do you think this is . Its going to depend on what is on those inninger septembers, if those include the boss said, make sure the russians weighin in a timely fashion, thats going to be a very big deal. If these intercepts are, hes checking in with different folks, it may not have much impact at all, we know there was enough concern to get the first wiretap. There was enough concern to go back and get a second permission for a wiretap. We know the fbi has broken into his home in appropriate legal fashion and taken all the records. The former assistant fbi director for the criminal Investigative Division told us it could have been hundreds of pages of evidence had to be presented. The president tweeted on march 4th, you remember, terrible, just found out obama had my wires tapped in trump tower just before the victory. The tap were finding out about is Paul Manafort who did have a residence in trump tower at that time jim comey would have known about this, is our understanding. He testified to congress he has into information that supports those tweets. You would have had to have all the way to the department of justice, someone sign off on this request. They said earlier this month, they had no records as explained by the president. Do you think the president in some way, had a point here in his original tweet . Not that we know of, and certainly have Jeff Sessions report to the public that there was nothing to this claim, nothing to these tweets, thats pretty conclusive information, i think if the president had been caught in an intercept, its likely Jeff Sessions would have had much more of a caveated description in weighing in on those tweets. If the president had been picked up, Paul Manafort being the one wiretapped, we know he had conversations with the president. Your interpretation is given how definitively they said that tweet was not true. You do not believe a president ial conversation with Paul Manafort was picked up . Yes, yes, Jeff Sessions would have absolutely weighed in. You know, obviously, donald trump is obsessed with this election, and its legitimacy. Hillary clinton also appears to be obsessed with it as well. She said something today that shocked me. She told npr that she would not rule out contesting the election, if russian collusion is proven by Robert Mueller. Heres how she put it. Would you completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election, if we learn that the russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now . No, i would not. Youre not going to rule it out . No, i wouldnt rule it out. So, i mean, thats pretty incredible, right . That she would do that. Is that destabilizing in anyway . There are a lot of people in this country who are angry and could seize that. If it involves more russian well, plotting and so forth, we already know how deeply involved they were, if the information is about treasonous contact at the highest levels of the Trump Campaign, that raises a whole different level of concern about the legitimacy of the election. So youre saying treasonous activity, not just if the russians themselves tried to interfere . In other words, if they did something to mess with vote tally, that wouldnt be acceptable for her to question in your mind, it would be if Trump