A morning newscast featuring breaking news and weather reports. A morning newscast featuring breaking news and weather reports. Area, ostensibly to rally for a representative locked in a dead heat in the house race. He seems more interested in pleasing his base than boosting candidates. Earlier, he stumped in pennsylvania for lou barletta, going up for a seat against bob casey. But he spent time listing his grievances against the media and touting his accomplishments, and when talking about Lou Barlettas opponent, trump described that as the boring stuff because sources tell cnn that President Trump is increasingly frustrated with the russia investigation, the fact that its still going on and seemingly produced no evidence of collusion. But the probe could be far from over, as President Trumps legal team is continuing to negotiate the final details of a potential sitdown interview between President Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller. And aides tell cnn that they hope by filling trumps schedule
with these political events, they can help take trumps mind off the investigation, can improve his worsening mood in the Ohio Special Election could provide a crucial opportunity for President Trump to do just that as republicans are really hoping to avoid another Democratic Victory in a district that trump won easily just two years ago. Christi. All righty. Sarah westwood, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Well, theres a new twist in the russia investigation. Sources tell cnn Robert Muellers team has interviewed the woman known as the manhattan madam. Heres cnn Political Correspondent sara murray with a look at the possible connection to the collusion probe. Reporter Kristin Davis, the woman known as the manhattan madam, meeting with Special CouncilRobert Muellers team for a voluntary interview earlier this week, sources tell cnn. Investigators apparently interested in her ties to longtime trump adviser roger stone. She and stone have been Close Friends for a decade. Investigators also expressed
interest in having davis testify before a grand jury. The latest indication prosecutors are aiming to build a case against stone. Davis lawyer declined to comment. In a statement, stone tells cnn, Kristin Davis is a longtime friend and associate of mine. I am the godfather to her 2yearold son. She knows nothing about Russian Collusion, wikileaks collaboration, or any other impropriety related to the 2016 election, which i thought was the subject of this probe. I understand she appeared voluntarily. I am highly confident she will testify truthfully if called upon to do so. Davis once ran a prostitution ring and went to jail surrounding the prosecution of eliot spitzer. The remorse i feel will always be with me. Reporter shes worked with stone over the years, and in late 2016, she joined his payroll to help him with clerical tasks. Muellers team has been looking into possible contact between stone and wikileaks founder
julian assange during the 2016 campaign. Yeah, i followed assanges twitter feed. I had a goggle alert for him. I read every interview he gave. You could foreshadow what he was doing, but im not involved in any collusion or conspiracy with the russians or anyone else. And theres no evidence to the contrary. Reporter investigators have also been probing stones finances and his personal life. People familiar with the situation say at least two witnesses were asked whether stone was actually the father of davis son. Earlier this week, stone posted a photo of davis and her child to instagram with this caption why do fbi agents dispatched by Robert Mueller keep asking a number of my current and former associates if i am this babys father . What does this have to do with Russian Collusion and the 2016 election . Now, this week, another former associate of roger stone, andrew miller, was also ordered to testify before the mueller grand jury. Yet another indication of how the special counsels team seems to be circling around roger
stone. Sara murray, cnn, washington. Sara, thank you so much. A Commentary Writer for the Washington Examiner is here, along with joey jackson, legal analyst and defense attorney. Thank you both for being with us. Saraj, i want to ask you, the fact that mueller even met with her at all, what does that tell you about the trajectory of where this is going and where its headed . There are likely two possible outcomes to this trajectory, christi, one of which is trying to paint a broader picture of the Trump Campaign during the 2016 election and trying to get a sense of what roger stone knew as opposed to, you know, what he actually dealt with in terms of with the russian government, whatever foreign interest, like in the instance of Paul Manafort, who is now being, you know, held in, you know, looking at particularly the judgeTrump Campaign. You dont have that link. And so, we cant look at this particular Madam Investigation and her voluntary cooperation at this point in isolation. We have to view it in the broader picture. They are, the federal government, investigating stone. Stone has had contact right, remember guccifer, which was a twitter handle tied back to the russians and russian intelligence officers. So, why is someone who is close to trump, who is involved in the campaign, who is a strategist, communicating with the russians . Whats the link, if any . Whats the inappropriate, untoward, or even illegal act, if any . So, in order to know that, you go to the associates who know roger stone to discuss his m. O. , to discuss what hes doing, who hes communicating with, what you know him, you know, ultimately to do in terms of transacting with people, and then potentially you get that. Remember, christi, final word is that, you know, generally people, if they do commit crimes, not suggesting he has,
they dont just do it in the bright of day, right . They do it in the dark of night. So you have to look at all types of associations in order to determine whether theres something inappropriate. So, thats why theyre looking at stone, because he could provide the Critical Link that would lead to the c question, collusion again, im sorry conspiracy, since this collusion, no collusion, collusions not a crime, conspiracy is, and thats why theyre looking at it. Got you. I want to move to the manafort trial. 18 charges, tax and banking crimes here for Paul Manafort from a Campaign Chair for President Trump. Interesting this week the accountants who testified here, particularly cindy laporta. She testified that her firm falsified a loan amount at the request of rick gates to help manafort pay less taxes. Does that, joey, play right into the defense that gates was the one facilitating all of this and that manafort didnt know anything about it . Short answer, christi,
absolutely not. You know, big picture, again, on this. I do not understand why he would be, that is, manafort, taking the case to trial. Understand that of the 18 counts in the indictment, prosecutors need one victory. Do the math from a statistical perspective, and you tell me how you get out from under that. And so, the only thing i could think, again, big picture, is that hes holding out for a pardon. We know that the president doesnt like the investigation. We know the president has stated that he believes manaforts treated unfairly. And so, this could be a very well and academic exercise in as much as after the fact, should he be convicted i think he will hell be pardoned. But to your point, looking at the accountants testimony, the bookkeepers testimony, when you look at Documentary Evidence speaking to the issue of forged documents, emails which essentially prove and corroborate the falsity of the documents, offshore foreign accounts that were never disclosed, you wonder, wow
this doesnt turn on rick gates and his testimony alone, which the defense would like to attack and say hes the guy thats doing everything, and Paul Manafort was just along for the ride. Theres much more compelling evidence in that. It does not turn on a word. It turns on documents. And when it does that and theres a paper trail, its very hard to get from out under any type of prosecution, notwithstanding what defense you have. And so, i think this represents trouble. I think hell be convicted. Okay. So, he thinks hes going to be convicted, siraj. President trumps, outside of his association, i guess, with manafort because these are all alleged crimes that happened before he had any association with the pretsident, but that association between the two, other than the optics, is there any real risk to the president in a conviction for Paul Manafort here . The only real risks, really, is the president s reputation, because Paul Manafort has a reputation of being sort of a seedy lobbyist in washington who has been known to, you know, put his connections out there with
foreign governments and not disclose those connections. So, if youre looking at manafort and his connection to the Trump Campaign, sure, there may not be actual conspiracy to c collude with foreign governments, let alone the russian government, but there is a possibility that manafort may have used his connections to kind of leverage the Trump Campaign in a better position during the 2016 election, and that is probably why they are going after him in this regard. There isnt any evidence right now that manafort had anything to do with connecting the Trump Campaign to the russian government. Right. We dont have that. But the fact that he is a part of it is just another stain on the campaign. Yeah. The optics dont do any favors here. Siraj hashmi and joey jackson, always appreciate your perspectives. Thank you. Thank you. U. S. Intel chiefs say that russia may be trying to hack the midterms, but President Trump is calling it all a big hoax. Well ask our National Security expert what to make of these mixed messages from washington. Next. Also, you know the tsa is considering Ending Security Screenings at small airports across the country . Yes thats just one of many options that theyre looking into to save money. Also, the reward is increasing for clues in the disappearance of a missing University Of Iowa student. How this tightknit community is coping with so much uncertainty right now. Just let her go and lets get past this. Its a hightech revolution in sleep. The new sleep number 360 smart bed. It intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts on each side to keep you both comfortable. And snoring . How smart is that . Smarter sleep. To help you lose your dad bod, train for that marathon, and wake up with the patience of a saint. The new sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999. Smarter sleep will change your life. Fda approved for over 18 years. President trump and his administration are sending mixed messages on Russian Election meddling, hours after his top National Security officials warned that russia may be trying to hack u. S. Elections again. The president called it a russian hoax during a rally. Take a listen. The Intelligence Community continues to be concerned about
the threats of upcoming u. S. Elections, both the midterms and the president ial elections of 2020. Our democracy itself is in the crosshairs. Make no mistake, the scope of this foreign influence threat is both broad and deep. Now were being hindered by the russian hoax. Its a hoax, okay . Ill tell you what, russias very unhappy that trump won. All right, joining me now is juliette kayyem, former Assistant Secretary of the department of Homeland Security. Good morning. Good morning. So, let me ask you the obvious. What do you make of this incredible contradiction . It is hard to fathom in any other administration where you would have your National Security apparatus stating the truth so its not that theres mixed messages. There is a factual, truthful message, which is the russians continue to try to infiltrate our campaign, social media, and disrupt our democratic processes. And then there is an untruth message, basically a lie, which is that all the Russia Discussion is a hoax. So, theres no way of melding the pieces. You just either have to accept that the president is off in his own land and the National Security apparatus is going to do everything it can to protect the United States, or that the president is essentially, basically signaling to russia, as many people now wonder, that we will not do enough to stop him, to stop putin from doing this again in 2018. So, its just its unfathomable that this exists right now, but i think weve sort of gotten used to it, of these sort of two different worlds, the National Security world, factbased world, and then Donald Trumps tweets and statements. And the president s
statements are especially important when it comes to trying to deter the russians from doing this again, because hes the one thats going to say, hey, if you do, this is whats going to happen. And yet, he doesnt. So, we can try and protect our system as much as possible, but part of that deterrence is the message coming out of the leader of the free world. Thats exactly right. So, ive been calling this come hither collusion. You know, we have all these discussions about collusion in 2016 and whether its been proved. But i think if you put all the facts together about what donald trump has done hes denied that the russians you know, hes denied sort of the facts about what the russians did in 2016. The republicans have sort of denied funding to state and locals to prepare for it. Trump says he has a Good Relationship with putin, never really challenges him. Trump seems to be signaling, right, to the extent that National Security is as much about, you know, war and military efforts as it is about the United States signaling to our adversaries that we will not
tolerate certain conduct, trump is signaling to putin that he does not view russias infiltration as a problem, so its sort of what i call the come hither, right . And any rational russian, right, including putin, would look at what donald trump is saying and believe that this president is not concerned and is not putting the full force of our apparatus to protect the United States. So, i have to say, i welcome what the National Security team did this week. I think its important for them to have done it, but you cant fight a war without your Commander In Chief, right . And they dont have the Commander In Chief on board. Im going to play you a sound bite from former cia director leon panetta. He says hes very concerned about this, obviously. Listen. I have never in my lifetime seen an administration that is presenting such a confused message when it comes to aNational Security threat. And the fact is that its sending a very mixed message to both our enemies and our allies that the United States does not have a clear policy when it comes to russia. So, hes sort of reconfirming there what we were just talking about, juliette. I was glad to hear these intel chiefs come out and very strongly say that this is not going to be tolerated. I didnt hear a whole lot of whats being done. So, what is being done . What do you know of what were trying to do to prevent this russian meddling . Okay, so, theres two pieces to whats being done. One is clearly the best sort of policy would be to have the russians stop doing what theyre doing. So, to that extent, having the National Security team essentially name and shame Whats Going On, expose what the russians are trying to do, because its through that transparency that either the russians, you know, stop doing it, or People Like Us and Law Enforcement, intelligence
officials are aware of what the russians are doing. So, thats one way of doing it. So, thats sort of offense. The other way is, of course, defense. Prepare ourselves for whatever might happen, in particular on the state and local level. This is the world i lived in at the department of Homeland Security. Preparing the state and locals for whether its the, you know, infiltration of the voting apparatus, disruptions to voting on the day of. That is also being addressed on the state and local level. There is support for them. But without a i would say without a leadership that is basically fighting this war every day i dont like using the war