Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20180815 : vimarsana.com

Cameras are not allowed inside that alexandria, virginia, courtroom, but weve had reporters inside from start to finish detailing and dissecting every word. Shimon prokupecz has been following this trial for uincluding being inside there. Shan wu, former federal prosecutor turned defense attorney. He previous served as attorney for manaforts former Business Partner rick gates. Shimon, the final word from the prosecution here, emphasizing that word lies. Yeah. Quite a number of times. And really this is what this case has been about. Tax fraud, frank fraud, lies. Lies on documentings. Lying in emails, lying to accountants. And lying for money. Lying for money. Hiding money. Not wanting to pay taxes. One of the more interesting things and probably perhaps more greater color from this Closing Argument was how the prosecutors treated rick gates. At one point telling the jury, you dont need to like him. Trying to deal with this issue of the fact that he had an affair. He was stealing from Paul Manafort. All of those, obviously, are going to be pleaded guilty to lying and also pleaded guilty for his own charges relating to it. The other thing they made a point of, its all about documents. Weve all made a big point that rick gates is the star witness here. Prosecutors said, no, the star witness is the documents. Look at the documents. If theres something you dont believe or something you question about rick gates, all of that is supported by the documents. So, clearly, that to them is an important part of this case. And the bank fraud is really an important part of this case. Thats where Paul Manafort has the most exposure, where he can really face significant time. If you can, help us handicap this case here now. You did have the unusual circumstances where the defense did not bring any defense witnesses. Closed their case. Now theyll make their Closing Arguments. Is this an open and shut case for this jury . I dont think so. Not at all. Its always hard to handicap. Any white collar case with this amount of documents, its an uphill battle. Not that unusual for them not to put on a case. I think it shows a measure of confidence that they think theyve scored some points on crossexamination. They built some credibility for themselves. They promised the jury were going to show you gates stole which at the time was a basit oa bombshell, but they delivered on that. And he ple guilty to false statements. Theyve made some points on crossexamination. On bank fraud some arguments that they their may have been this notion of the quid pro quo, it doesnt mean manafort submitted false information to the bank. Theyve got some things to hang their hat on. I wonder what theyre going to do here. Give the jury the tax fraud and then really ham or the bank fraud. I think thats where he has the most exposure and there is some argument to be made under the law, certainly to the jury that perhaps the prosecutor did not meet their burden of proof. The tax fraud hell have a hard time with. On the bigger issue of the broader focus of the mueller investigation, russian interference in the election, it came out of the trial, reaffirmed last week when gates didnt reveal but confirmed hed been interviewed by the special prosecutor, his team, some 20 times. That investigation still ongoing. Do we have a sense of gates importance to muellers investigation on the russia portion of this probe . We know from whats come out publicly here. We can infer the fact he got a very generous plea offer here. But i think weve seen little hints that there is a lot of debriefing going on. Weve seen some of the examples come out. 20 times is a lot of time to spend with prosecutors. And they dont waste their time. Hes cooperating. He had a lot of charges against him, gates. To get that cooperation deal with the promise it appears of just probation, not jail time, and if the prosecution says they didnt really need gates to convict manafort, does that then presume that he is cooperating on the other issues under investigation, and providing value . Right. Generally the prosecution is not going to give someone a good cooperation deal unless they feel its valuable. Im not speaking from anything confidential or privileged but thats just the way it goes. In the manafort trial, theres this atmospheric that its possible theres a jury nullification issue going on where they might think, you know, he did so many wrong things and theyve given him such a good deal that maybe its not entirely fair to mr. Manafort. And sometimes juries will go that route or you really only need one person to go that route. One person who doesnt believe it meets the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. Shan and shimon, thanks. Among the mountain of evidence in the paul mafrnafort trial is an email exchange from jared kushner. Manafort emailed kushner recommending a Bank Chairman for secretary of the army. At the time, that bank was providing millions of dollars in loans to manafort. The email included two other recommendations for possible trump appointees. Kushner responded, quote, on it. Theres no indication the trump team in the end considered those suggestions or that kushner was aware at the time of those millions of dollars in loans to manafort. Jim heinz of connecticut is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and he joins us now from stamford, connecticut. Thanks for taking the time. Good afternoon, jim. So that email there was an example of manaforts continued influence or perceived influence with the Trump Administration because three months after he left as chairman he felt he had the influence at least to request a job for his banker. How concerning is that to you . Well, its ugly. Its very ugly. The American People should have the confidence of knowing that their secretary of the army or their under secretary of commerce didnt get that job because he wanted to he was willing to extent a loan to Paul Manafort. Thats not the way a government should work. And it just really talk about the swamp not being drained. It is the ultimate in influence trading. Now surprise, right. No surprise. This is an administration that sort of makes a hobby of influence trading and so im not surprised by it, but again, its further example of the reason why the American People have record low regard for washington, d. C. Were, of course, witnessing a continuing public assault by the president and his allies on the special counsel, the investigation. Just a short time ago, the president s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had more particularly pointed words for mueller about this probe. And im going to quote him here. He told bloomberg, if he doesnt get it done in the next two or three weeks, hes speaking about mueller here, well just unload on him like a ton of bricks. Right the damn report so we can see it and rebut it. What is he threatening here to unload on the special counsel who was appointed by a Deputy Attorney general appointed by this president. What is he implying there . Well, you know, i mean, my god, so much to unpack there. First of all, the president has been unloading on bob mueller a vietnam war hero, respected by pretty much everybody, for over a year. I dont know what he means by were going to unload. Were at the tail end of a year plus of the president and the president s people doing all they can to delegitimize bob mueller and the fbi. This has one objective. When mueller comes out with his report which i anticipate hell do in due course, whenever he thinks that justice is served by releasing that report, not whenever rudy yell july or donald trump want it to come out. He will come out with a report that the white house will, over the course of a year and a half, have delegitimized in the eyes of some minor ity of the americn population. The American People ought to scratch their head and say what other subject of an investigation gets to decide when the prosecutor wraps up their case . The president is not above the law and neither is his attorney. I wonder, the president has been perpetuating this attack on mueller for some many months. Hes made a lot of veiled and not so veiled threats against the special counsel against his attorney general jeff sessions. But he hasnt pulled the trigger on he could fire him, jeff sessions. He could fire the Deputy Attorney general. We know from our own reporting hes had a lot of internal pressure not to take that step. In light of how long hes done this without actually moving, do you think this is more for public consumption and that these are, in the end, empty threats from the president . Yeah, look. At the end of the day, the recourse against the president is political. We have a long conversation of the legal intricacies of whether a sitting president can be indicted. The bottom line is thats never been tested and so the answer to this question of, is donald and so, therefore, if his base believes, as they do today because of his Donald Trumps throwing mud at mueller, at the fbi, at the department of justice, if he believes that the entities are corrupt and bob mishlgs mueller, despite all the evidence and many guilty pleas is somehow serving the interest of Hillary Clinton which is insane on the face of it given what happened prior to the november 2016 election, the president can count on a number of republicans to regardless of what happened, this is, remember, i can shoot somebody on fifth avenue president , the president can rely on republicans to defend him, regardless of the fact pattern because he has so delegitimized bob mueller. Theres a new poll from quinnipiac university. It says more than half of republicans now agree with the president s assertion, alarming assertion, offensive assertion that the enemy is the press of the people. Just 36 said the news media had an important part of our democracy. Now among democrats, very different numbers. Just 5 said the media is the enemy of the people. Thats more than half of people who describe themselves as republicans who say that the media is the enemy of the people. Language from an authoritarian regime. How alarming should that be . Right out of you know who says that kind of stuff . Josef stalin said that kind of thing. Dictators say that kind of thing. And sadly, and i do mean sadly. Ive got lots of terrific republicans in my Congressional District in connecticut. Lastly its just demonstrates the extent to which the Republican Party has abandoned all its principles, whether thats fiscal responsibility, whether thats not supporting tariffs, you name it, being decent. And become really a cultive personality around donald trump. And its a really interesting question to ask yourself. What happens to the Republican Party posttrump. What are my colleagues who gave up their constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and a balance on the president of the United States. How are they going to answer for that on the back end of Donald Trumps presidency . Congressman jim hunt, thanks for joining us today. Thank you, jim. Well, the White House Press secretary says she cannot guarantee that a tape does not exist of the u. S. President using the n word. Were going to discuss that next. Plus, turkey now retaliating against President Trumps tariffs. And still refusing to release an american pastor held there. The standoff spooking the markets today as fears of a Global Financial crisis, thats right, a Global Financial crise, i at least fears of that, expand. In more than 300 priests accused of abusing more wait for this 1,000 Young Children in just one state. Today, not a word yet from the pope. Im going to speak with one survivor of that horrendous crime who says the war against the catholic hierarchy is just beginning. Unlimited ways to be you. Unlimited ways share with others. Unlimited ways to live for the moment. All for as low as 30 bucks a line. Unlimited for you. For them. For all. Get unlimited for as low at 30 bucks per line for four lines at tmobile. Oh oh ozempic® vo people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of onceweekly ozempic®. In a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. Oh under seven . vo and you may lose weight. 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You may choose any doctor that accepts medicare patients. You can even visit a specialist. With this type of plan there are no networks or referrals needed. Also, a Medicare Supplement plan. Goes with you when you travel anywhere in the u. S. Call today for a free guide. Welcome back. If youve been keeping track, the white house still not denying that President Trump may have used the n word during his time on the apprentice. Is it because like you and perhaps like uthe white house isnt sure who to believe. Do you trust omarosa, the reality tv villain turned white house aide or put your faith is Katrina Pearson, the Trump Campaign staffer who signed an nda meaning if the president said that vile word, she couldnt confirm it. Perhaps jake tapper summed it up on the air best. We honestly have a story where there are like 30 liars. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not credible. Nobody. Nobody is credible. Theyre all changing their stories. Omarosa, Katrina Pearson, the president. Theyre all changing their stories and we dont know what to believe. Thats why omarosa has these tapes. Want to bring in cnn politics reporter chris cillizza. Help us keep track of this. We often say there are changing stories. Thats not a new thing with this administration. But these stories have changed remarkably. Changed remarkably and changed remarkably quickly. Remember, were dealing from monday to wednesday. Lets go through it. Lets start, obviously, Katrina Pearson and omarosa. What katrina said on fox news. That did not happen. Shes talking about the n word tape. It sounds like omarosa is writing a script for a movie. Lets stop there. Fast forward to Tuesday Morning when omarosa is on cbs and plays some audio of a conversation she secretly recorded between she, and pearson and another. Im trying to find out the context it was used in to help us maybe figure out a way to spin it. I said, well, can you think of any time this has happened and he said no. Well, thats not true. How do you think i should handle it . And i told him what you just said which is, well, it depends on what scenario youre talking about. And he said well, why dont you just go ahead and put it to bed. He said it. No, he said it, hes embarrassed. Katrina pierson comes out with a more formal statement. We never had a call confirming that frank lutz, a republican pollster directly heard President Trump say this word on a tape. That doesnt mean the tape sdnc doesnt exist. They were denying frank heard donald trump. Wait, theres more. Katrina pierson two hours later in her secret tape recording of me it was many times id placate omarosa to move her along. And one more time on those same thi thing, with erin last night. The complete epitome of annoying where you have to finally give in to get on about your day. Four explanations. Less than 24 hours, jim, and the last explanation that Katrina Pierson has settled on is she lied on that recording to placate omarosa because she just wanted to move on with the conversation. What did she lie about . The fact that donald trump likely said, in their mind, the n word on a tape or that it existed. Thats a big thing to just Say Something because you want to move the conversation along. But thats where Katrina Pierson has landed. And thats why we just cant get to the bottom of this. So many stories. So many changing stories. Back to you, jim. Wont know unless we do find theres a tape. Chris sills cillizza, thank you. Sarah sanders having an opportunity to clarify remarks from yesterday when she was asked whether the president is on the tape using the n word. Here is the response that got so much attention yesterday. Can you stand at the podium and guarantee the American People theyll never hear donald trump utter the n word on a recording in any context . I cant guarantee anything, but i can tell you that the president addressed this question directly. I can tell you that ive never heard it. Just to be clear, you cant guarantee it . Look, i havent been in every single room. Joining me now is Julie Hirschfield davis. Listening to Sarah Sanders there. Thats not the first time you see the white house spokesperson protect themselves a bit. One say, well, the president has said this. Its not me. The president has said this but also really cant rule it out because she cant rule it out. In a job like that, her one task is to be able to convey accurately what she knows to be the truth. And she has gotten burned time and time again on so many of these issues that have arisen for the president , whether it be Stormy Daniels and his involvement with her and trying to silence her. Whether be it a policy issue of what was happening at the border with children and families. Where she says something that later proves not to be able to be borne out. We do see her now retreating more and more into this space of, heres what i know to be true. I really cant speak to bebeyond what ive been told. It leads to this situation you have today where youll have to come back at this and give an answer that may be more satisfying to people who are trying to get to the bottom of what is a fairly simple question. Its interesting theyve added this was not until now a scheduled briefing. Do you read into that that the white house is going to make another shot at clarifying this . I guess i would assume that they would. Weve gotten to the point and its pretty unusual in the annals of white house coverage where its not a foregone conclusion there will be a regular briefing at the white house. When there is, sometimes its an occasion. And its often a surprise. And i think actually thats also by design. That allows the white house to control and sort of narrow the scope of questions because people never know whether youll get a crack at the white house to actually ask about the issues of the day, the questions the president himself may have raised with a tweet or whatever else. When is the last time hes done an actual full press conference as opposed to the briefings. Its been more than a year except for on foreign soil. On correcting the record, it was a rare instance yesterday where the White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders admitted she had made a mistake in yesterdays press briefing, this related to job figures. She had said yesterday that trump had been responsible for far more black jobs than president obama. Have a listen to the claim. This president , since he took office in the year and a half hes been here has created 700,000 new jobs for africanamericans. Thats 700,000 africanamericans that are working now that werent working when this president took place. When president obama left, after eight years in office, eight years in office, hed only created 195,000 jobs for africanamericans. Only problem with that figure is it just wasnt true. Sanders admitted that later tweeting, correction from todays briefing. Job numbers for President Trump and president obama were correct. But the time frame for president obama wasnt. Im sorry for the mistake but no apologies for the 700,000 jobs for africanamericans created under President Trump. The economy added about 3 million africanamerican jobs while obama was in office. And 140,000 new jobs attributed to trump were actually added while obama was still president. Did the correction actually correct the record on this . Well, actually not. The 700,000 figure that she provided as you point out includes a couple of months under when president obama was still president. And the figures she was comparing it to for president obama when she said were for eight years were for the first 20 months of his presidency which included several months when george w. Bush was still president and had been in the aftermath of a huge financial meltdown. So, no. She didnt actually correct the record but more notable is the fact that the Trump Administration actually does have a positive story to tell on this front. Put aside the comparison with president obama. When you go into the briefing with a talking point to that, to have it be that shoddy and that devoid of checking and sort of nailing down the details, which is what the counsel of economic advisers does is extraordinary. You want to get the stats right. They have a positive story to tell here but they were trying to fudge the numbers by starting it at the inauguration. It gives president obama a knock for something that wasnt his responsibility. Sometimes it can be to your advantage to stick to the facts. Imagine that. Julie, thanks very much. Coming up, a damning grand jury report on predator priests. Raping, thats right, raping little boys and girls. Some of them as young as 18 months old. Why, quote, men of god did nothing. The shocking allegations of a coverup spanning some decades. Well speak with a survivor. Stay with us. With two times more detail than any other dna test. You can get a new taste of your heritage. Only 59 our sites lowest price ever. Im a small business, but i have. Big dreams. And big plans. So how do i make the efforts of 8 employees. Feel like 50 . 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. Brace yourself for one of the most alarming stories well do today. From men of god to monsters. A new grand jury report out of pennsylvania says that more than 300, quote, predator priests, end quote, have been credibly accused of sexually assaulting more than 1,000 children. 1,000 children in one state. The cases are disturbing. The details horrific. Not only that, the report revealed what was essentially a playbook of how the Catholic Church in pennsylvania protected themselves, protected those predator priests, even after they found out what they had done. Jim van sickle testified before the grand jury in this case. His alleged abuser is named in the report and was charged earlier this year with abusing two boys. This between 2010 and 2002 and 2010. Mr. Van sickle, thanks for joining us. We appreciate you giving us the opportunity to talk to you about what a disturbing thing. Thank you for having me. I want to ask you how youre doing and what kind of support youre getting, if any, to handle the pain that you went through. I can tell you that the announcement yesterday was a huge victory for all survivors in pennsylvania, as well as the United States and across the world. I came out in february or march of this year for the first time after 36 years of silence. That event in and of itself was very healing. Since then ive been reaching out through my Facebook Page by my name jim van sickle and hundreds and hundreds of people have reached out and ive been able to talk to victims and survivors, and thats been healing. Yesterdays announcement and the work that the attorney generals office, josh shapiro, dan dye, the whole office, the work they put in uncovering the truth and allowing our truth to be sold in this report is just breathtaking. Its been so validating, so exciting. And so healing. But i do have to mention that theres a hole in my soul that may never go away. And i realize that. And its something i have to live with for the rest of my life. A hole in your soul. Part of this is the abuse of trust, right . You trusted this priest. You considered him a mentor and he horribly abused that trust in abusing you. What would you want to say to him . I actually had the opportunity through a catholic woman who contacted me who had acce access. And basically what i told her was that i was being led by the holy spirit and jesus christ in this process and that i really just want to pray for his eternal soul. The sad fact, im sure, i was amazed when i read this and im sure our viewers will feel the same way. These cases, for the vast majority of them, the state statute of limitation prevents any legal action, even documented legal action, credible legal action against these predators involved. But you and the people youre working with, youre trying to change that now. How can you do that . Well, our next fight, which will start here in september, were supporting representative mark rozzi and his new bill he just put forth here to change the statute of limitations and actually abolish it. The key point to the whole piece of legislation is a look back window for those people who are outside the statute of limitations. And youre right, jim. This report shows many, many, many abuses, but theres only been two convictions. My predator being one of those. Two convictions. Over a thousand children. So many others who arent getting that justice. Pope francis, the head of the Catholic Church, hes been more forward leaning on this issue than his predecessors. Many public comments. Hes met with victims. Theres been no official comment from the vatican yet on this case. Are you disappointed by that . Yeah, i am. You know, i think josh shapiro laid it out pretty clearly what needed to happen as far as the support from the bishops, the cardinals here in the u. S. , as well as, obviously, pennsylvania. Were asking for them to call off their lobbyists, the insurance lobbyists, the catholic lobbyists and let us pass this bill. I think for these people and a look back window to be able to face their predator in court will be a huge step to healing. And it will also be an accountability that fits the crime that allows the church to have to purge itself and holds them accountable in a way that they will purge themselves of this heinous action thats going on within the Catholic Church. And one challenge for cases like this, it is difficult. Its painful to come forward and recount these crimes because, as you said, it leaves a hole in your soul. What advice would you have for other survivors today . Would you encourage them to come forward . I have. As a matter of fact, i spoke to a victim over the weekend in my hometown. Very afraid to come forward. We met at night in a closed strip mall, and we just shared stories and he was able to share his story, and i was able to just basically listen to him. The next day he called and met with my family and a close friend of mine who is also a survivor. Drove down from buffalo to bradford, p. A. , and met with him. And today i spoke with him about his desire to speak out, and i connected him with another network and hes going to be calling them to make a statement. And hes so excited. But hes also afraid. The thing about it, how many people are outside of this statute of limitations . Being outside makes you feel like, if i do come forward, nothing is going to happen. There is nothing thats going to happen, and why subject myself to openly coming forward if there is nothing that can happen. Thats why the statute of limitations in pennsylvania is ridiculous. I had two years to come forward when i was abused. I didnt even know what the statute of limitations was at the time. Didnt even know they existed. My predator spent time after trying to reach out to me to kind of get me past that period of time because he knew if you got me past that period of time, the laws of pennsylvania protect the predator and not the victim. So the anger that you may see or the emotion that you may see is a lack of healing that cant be healed. You cant even come forward and go after these predators, and its sad, and its frustrating. And the tears i think you saw from that stage, although they were out of extreme happiness that this report came out, theres still a little bit of a cloud there because theres nothing we can do. Twoyear statute of limitation then depends on children coming forward because theyd still be minors, id imagine, in many cases. Jim van sickle, really appreciate you being brave to share your story and the work youre doing. I went through 12 years of Catholic School myself and watching this is particularly disturbing. Wish you the best. Can i say one more quick thing . Sure. Of course. I want people to know that were not after the religion and were not after the faithful inside the Catholic Church. Were after the predators and the people who cover them up. And i think the catholic voice can be strong here by turning to their pastors, turning to the hierarchy and speaking out with us to force change inside the Catholic Church. Well said, jim. Thanks very much. Thank you. I appreciate it. Best of luck to you. Still ahead an american pastor at the center of another escalating standoff thats bringing down the markets around the world right now. How turkey is retaliating to President Trumps tariffs. Im captain obvious and hotels. Com rewards me basically everywhere. So why am i hosting a dental convention after party in my vegas suite . Because hotels. Com lets me do me. Who wants to floss me . Hotels. Com. You do you and get rewarded. 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. November 6th, less than three months away, is the day Voters Decide who controls the house, senate and 38 governors seats. In turn those winners help determine the future of the trump presidency. Just last hour, cnn released a new poll on which party leads the race and on what issues matter the most to voters. Cnn National Correspondent john king is here to break it down. The socalled generic ballot numbers have been tightening but now a big lead for which party . The democrats, jim. Big lead. Look at the numbers in our brandnew poll. A doubledigit lead for the democrats. 52 of registered voters want the democrats when asked who youll vote for when it comes to congress. 41 say republicans. Democrats need 23 seats net to pick up control of the house. If this stays in double digits by election day, anywhere near double digits, democrats get to 23 and more. Democrats started the year with even a bigger doubledigit lead. As we get into the spring, this was essentially a dead heat. 47 44 just in may. As we get closer to the election, democrats opening this doubledigit lead. 12 weeks to go. The republicans have a problem. If the election were today, numbers like that, guess what . The democrats would retake the house and then some. We also asked voters, what are you thinking about . Whats moetivating your votes. First, republicans, what is extremely important to you. President trump, taxes and immigration are the top issues. Not all that surprising. Republicans hope to run on taxes. The campaign trail. T that way on this is how republicans look at the top issues. A little different when you ask democrats. Health care and immigration. And this is interesting. Immigration, we usually identify as a republican motivating issue. Because of the family separation issue, democratic anger at President Trump. Immigration, normally an issue that works for republicans might this election motivate the democrats. Interesting to watch the ads in these races. A lot of democrats focusing on issues over the president. A lot of republicans focusing in on that old favorite target nancy pelosi. Is that a big motivating factor for the gop base . Our poll is very interesting on this. You can put the numbers up on the screen. As a national issue, its not working for the republicans just yet. Only 34 of republicans say nancy pelosi is extremely or very important to their vote when thinking about voting for congress. 60 . This is among republican voters. 60 say its not that important. Its working for us in ohio or in montana. This is a national poll. We have to be careful. Most of these individual house races will be decided in the states. If republicans think nancy pelosi is a Great National motivator, our poll tells you, theyre down in the generic ballot double digits and trying to make pelosi their big motivating force as a national issue, theyre not passing the test, at least not today. John king, master of the polls, thanks very much. Just moments from now, the White House Press secretary is holding her first press Briefing Since not being able to guarantee that the president is not on tape using a horrible racial epithet. Plus, the defenses Closing Argument is under way right now in the trial of the former Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Stand by for the latest. 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 essential for the cactus, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. 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Its the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40 . Just tap and go. For the best savings on flights, go to priceline. Tariff turmoil. Turkey hitting back at the u. S. , announcing new tariffs on several american products, including cars, alcohol and tobacco. The tariffs intensifying as a Turkish Court rejects a second appeal to release an american pastor, Andrew Brunson who turkey believes was part of an attempted coup in turkey in 2016, all of this contributing to a tumbling turkish economy. You can see the dow down more than 200 points. Here with me now, columnist nor the washington post, josh rogan. This pits strongwilled men against each other, erdogan and trump. What backs them off the edge . By the way, turkey is a nato ally. It wasnt so long that trump called erdogan a friend. And now hes escalating not only a tariff and trade war, but a sanctions war against our nato ally. And hes demanding the release of american pastor Andrew Brunson, who was arrested on october 16th under trumped charges of espionage, trying to overthrow the government with little evidence thats true. Now, why has the president committed to this one case, when there are other americans in prison in turkey and everywhere around the world . It so happens that brunson and his family are represented by the president s personal attorney, the American Center for law and justice, the organization that he runs. So they have a special access, and the president and the Vice President have taken this as their personal cause. There were negotiations. Now there arent. Theyre not going to back down. They want brunson released or the trade war and tariff war, and sanctions war with turkey will continue. It is driving the same time turkey closer to russia, is it not . This, again, a nato ally. Sure, because wars have consequences and collateral damage. And a bad turkish economy is bad for the region. And theres not a clear way out. Its really easy to inflict on turkeys economy. Hard to get them to change their behavior. And what will happen for sure is that they will see the United States as an unreliable ally. Theyre already acting like an unreliable ally and that pushes them closer to russia and iran, also facing u. S. Sanctions and its not clear what the offramp is. Right now were just escalating, escalating, escalating, with no end in sight. Josh rogan, thanks very much. Under way now, the defense begins its Closing Arguments in the trial of President Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. This after the defense declined to present a case or call any witnesses. Plus, the White House Briefing just moments away. These are live pictures from the briefing room. Stand by. Baby boomers, heres something you should know. Theres a serious virus out there that 1 in 30 boomers has, yet most dont even know it. 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Youre watching cnn. Thank you for being with me. The White House Briefing is set to begin any moment there, as the defense is about to give its final pitch to the jury in the fraud trial of the president s former campaign chairman. And as a verdict on Paul Manafort draws near, questions of race and this president are drawing even more controversy. All of this and trumps attorney is making a pointed threat toward the special counsel, robert mueller. Rudy guiliani telling bloomberg news, if mueller doesnt finish the russia investigation in, quote, unquote,