Every Administration Prior to the Trump Administration has had ndas specific for anyone that had a security clearance. Then, day 11 of the manafort trial. Good day in court today. And the defense doesnt call a single witness. Mr. Manafort just rested his case. And its Election Night in america. Bernie sanders is live on set. All in starts right now. Good evening, from new york, i am ali velshi in for chris hayes. No one to root for in the escalating feud between president of the United States and his former aide Omarosa Manigault newman. A he said she said. Omarosa made an explosive allegation against the president. Whether the Trump Campaigncolluded with russia to disrupt the election. Omarosa claims that then candidate trump had advanced knowledge of the hacked emails that were released by wikileaks. You were instructed to bring up the emails at any point you could. That was our talker. Did donald trump know about those emails before they came out . Absolutely. He knew about them . Yes. He knew before he was released it. I am going to expose the corruption that went on in the campaign and in the white house. Continue to blow the whistle on all of this. She declined to say whether she has been before the grand jury. She is not a reliable narrator. There is good reason to be skeptical of this latest claim. But she has been able to corroborate. Last night, another former trump staffer Katrina Pearson denied having discussed a rumored tape of the president saying the n word. Kdid that happen . It sounds like she is writing a script for the movie. I have been talking about this. And it is absolutely not true. Yet again, omarosa brought receipts airing audio of a conversation about trump this morning on cbs news. I said well, can you think of any time this might have happened and he said no. Well that is not true. He goes, how do you think i should handle it. And i said it depends on what scenario you are talking about. And he said what he said it. He said t its embarrassed. That is according to Katrina Pearson. I was weary over this obsession. Asked directly if there could be a recording of the president. Can you guarantee the American People they will never hear donald trump uttering the n word. I cant guarantee anything. But i can tell you that the president addressed this question directly. I can tell you that i have never
heard it. Just to be clear, you cant guarantee it. I havent been in every single room. I can tell you the president has addressed it directly. And i can tell you what the focus and the heart of the president is, and that is on helping all americans. Now the president is going to war on omarosa. Quote, when you give a crazed, crying low life a break and give her a job at the white house. I guess it just didnt work out. Good work by general kelly for quickly firing that dog. The Trump Campaign has retained the same lawyer who. You will hear it referred to an nda. For more on the battle between the Trump White House and one of its own, joined by betsry woodrow. And jeff bennett. It is very clear that omarosa, whatever evidence she has has gotten under the president s skin. Without a doubt. That is not something up for debate. She has caused the week to be spoiled for white house staffers. Sort of crumble underneath them, omarosa was in a lot of rooms. She attended a lot of meetings. And people in the white house tell us that even though she didnt have a large Policy Portfolio and even though she doesnt have that much of a record of accomplishment to roll out. Many colleagues criticize her for being there. She managed to place herself in the room for a host of meetings. And having conversations. And people dont know how much of that she taped. It is the big question mark. It is the open question and that is why there is so many agitation in the white house. She may have been one of the most productive people around every meeting she was in she taped. Trump staffers live in fear of omarosas next tape. Three times in a row she made an allegation. The white house or someone in the trump orbit has denied it and she has come with a recording. President trump is consumed by this. Tweeting about omarosa at least ten times in the last 24 hours. White house staffers describe the psychological warfare that former Hillary Clinton campaign. Belonging to Clinton Campaign chairman john podesta, so an interesting parallel. Senior white house staffers say they feel relatively safer. She wasnt included in smaller high level meetings. Betsy, matthew from. Would in fact change minds about him. I dont know if that is true. Is the issue now whether or not the president ever actually used the n word which Sarah Huckabee sanders was not able to deny today. The president stuck in the mid30 Approval Rating despite everything we know about him. It is hard to talk about what hypothetically, what type of response this hypothetical situation would generate. What we do know is that the president has a long history of comments and actions as it relates to racial issues in the United States that many, many people find to be deeply troubling. This goes back to the 70s when
he was sued for allegedly discriminating against africanamericans. You have trump going after the central park five. Five young men accused of being in a brutal assault. For years after that fact, trump stayed pushing the line that these men were guilty. Despite dna exoneration. In the white house, we have him using obscenities. Immigrants from scandinavian countries should be welcome. You dont have to think very hard what he is getting back. What kind of impact would a tape have on the president s reputation. Look, i hate to say it, but a lot of this is already baked in. I think you might be right. Abc news is reporting several former aides receiving roughly 15,000 per month. Concept of paying people money to not talk. Seems to be out there. This came up today in the White House Press briefing. We know that donald trump has a long history of using nondisclosure agreements. Both in Business Life and now in political life. Paying people in some instance to keep silent. We heard Sarah Sanders say. And as we called former officials we learned that that is in fact the case. We talked to chris lew. Ari fleischer. All men said that ndas have never been used in the white house. There are protections for highly classified Sensitive Information but that falls under a security clearance. Ndas are used for preserving personal secrets not state secrets. Thanks to both of you. For more on these ndas, i am joined by legal analyst mimi rocah. And Jason Johnson politics he had editor for the route. Anything that governs who is
allowed. We are talking about the government putting an nda in place with Government Employees and that is what is so controversial and why Sarah Sanders claims that every administration has done this cant be right. This isnt really trump a party to that he is ndas, this is the white house. The government. Whenever you have Government Action trying to limit the speech of Public Employees and even private employees, there is a First Amendment analysis here. And a lot of people are saying these are likely unenforceable. The move to sue, to enforce this nda, i cant believe they are going to be able to win that claim. So must be some other reason to
file this. Get inside omarosas head, she has been dripping little bits of evidence out there. Successfully now, three times in a row said something in her book that has been countered out there and then has recordings. She knows the Trump Campaign is coming for her and they appear to be fearful of what she knows. They are trying to muzzle her. Might be getting a temporary Restraining Order to do this. Where do you see this going. This goes as far as omarosa selling the book. She is a very, very smart woman. She has been doing this for years. Can you name anyone else in the history of Reality Television who has had a 15 year career. She knows how to keep herself in the public sphere. She has been mentored by donald
trump for years. She knew legally what she was going to be able to keep doing. They dont want to go go to trying with her, discovery would blow up in their faces. The white house is concerned in given the number of people of how long she was there and how close she was to the president of the United States. So mimi, ndas are signed by parties if i have some sort of secret. And i dont want you telling other people what i am up to. And we know there is classified information, but what omarosa said to katy tur is remarkable. It is remarkable. It is explosive if true and that is the big question as you and other people have said. Good reason to be skeptical of
her. If she has a recording of some form that corroborates that, that you would be hugely important. Even if she doesnt have a recording, we dont know exactly in what form the questioning is taking place of her by mueller. But, they may want to talk to her again now. She has said she has talked to the investigation once. They are never going to take just her heard for it. They wouldnt do that with anyone witness let alone this witness who everyone has reason to be skeptical of. I didnt see the full interview but i dont believe she was asked how do you know he knew. That claim that trump knew ahead of time about the hacked emails, it Doesnt Sound Crazy because of what else we know about the investigation, the facts that came out about what happened. If she can get the investigators closer to the how, jason, that becomes interesting. But you mentioned she is inoculated. I am not sure that the dirt about the fact that the president may have used the n word is needle moving, but if she gives mueller something he can use. She was five, 20 steps, she was batman on this. Five, 20 steps ahead. She knew when her book was coming out and they didnt know. There is a political element to all of this and a legal and american democracy element to this. For all of the people that want to poopoo this, no, this is drama. No. What we are hearing at its core is a close advisor to the united
states regular recorded and now using it for profit. That speaks to the lack of vetting. A year and a half into the administration, speaks volumes. Mueller knows that having a witness like that in the investigation, if they got in trouble for the steel dossier, imagine if he brought this up. The first trial of the Robert Mueller era is coming up to a close. Find out why resting without calling any witnesses. Not cool. Freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting . Now thats cool coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. And no surgery. Results and Patient Experience may vary. Some common side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort,and swelling. Ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you and visit coolsculpting. Com today for your chance to win a free treatment. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on is boost®. Delicious boost® high protein nuritional drink now has 33 more protein, along with 26 Essential Vitamins and minerals boost® high protein. Be up for life. Called into the courtroom after the Noontime Break for the sole purpose of hearing the attorney said they will not be calling any witnesses and they are resting. That was the defense in the first case. The first of two cases against Paul Manafort president trumps former campaign manager. With 27 witnesses and 367 exhibits, the prosecution appeared to put on a solid case. The jury will hear Jury Deliberations tomorrow. I am joined by nbc National News reporter julie ainsley. Was there any discernible action when the lawyer rested the case. More of something that we wanted to see if they had anything to put up but in some ways it wasnt that surprising. All through this case, the defense has had a strategy of in their Cross Examination of taking chips away. Whether that is bank fraud, tax evasion. They want to cast doubt. Is this really mr. Manaforts signature. That was their strategy. Particularly with gates who probably the most notable this this entire case. The prosecution knew he was going to be dangerous and they attacked gates character. They used that strategy all along and i think, and of course dan can get into this as well,
they didnt want any defense to be just a few Character Witnesses and say manafort is a good guy. Their best defense is to say the Offense Didnt Go far enough. That is interesting. What are the options . A mistrial, a hung jury, an acquittal. This seems like a risky strategy on the part of the defense. What do you make of it. Two times a defense does not call any witnesses for their case and one is where they really do feel like they, the government doesnt have been the evidence. And the other is where they really have no case of their own. And they have no affirmative defense. We are in the latter situation here. The government buttoned up their case with documents, emails, and records. And they buttressed it with
witnesses like rick gates. On the flip side not much of a case for Paul Manafort to affirmatively make. Rather than put on a few technical witnesses to try to pick away a little bit on the margins, they made a decision, which i think is a wise one not to put any on. In this situation, the defense is much better off to say and to argue that the government hasnt met its burden, the case is all about rick gates. And you saw what a liar is, you cant convict my client based on rick gates testimony. I am not sure it is an argument that is going to win, but the best they have to work on here. There are other things going on here. Some discussion that may have to do with a jury, an issue about that. And then a judge who on several occasions taken issue with the
prosecution and gotten into it with some of the lawyers. Tell me what these two stories are about. The second, i will take that first. An awkward pause in the courtroom today. The prosecution said they wanted to include something in a Jury Instructions that would tell the jury more explicitly that the judges interjections and questioning of the witness shouldnt be considered. And the judge thought he already explained that and didnt understand why the prosecution needed to go farther. He said do you think that i interjected too much and there was a long pause and they said yes, there were times where he said obviously manafort didnt Pay Attention every dollar because you embezzled from him. The prosecution wants to be careful that the jury doesnt
read too much into the judge whiwho is supposed to be the independent voice. Daniel and i were both outside the courtroom today waiting two hours. And we saw jurors go in one by one to meet with the judge. From where we sit and the press, it looks like there is at least been a conversation under seal through motions started by the defense and responded to by the government that could be over this issue of a juror. The judge over and over again saying please dont talk to anyone on the outside. Come in with an independent mind. And with a case like this that is saturated in the media and we know the jury is not under sequester, that is hard to do. Daniel less than a minute, but tell me about this judge, ellis, i dont know if it
mellowed out during the course of the trial, but in the beginning seemed to be Butting Heads with the prosecution. And seemed to echo Donald Trumps view that this has got anything to do with the mueller investigation. Or the investigation might be overreaching. He has mellowed out this week and he realized that he went too far by interjecting as much as he during the questioning. He is not wrong to limit the charges in the case. Notwithstanding. He really did overstep his bounds by interjecting the questioning. And that is to be distinguished by a judge giving prosecutors a hard time and always trying to move things along. Keep the prosecution moving. And that is often to the prosecutors benefit even if
they dont think it at the same time. When he is interjecting during, and questioning, that is inappropriate. And that is the one issue the prosecutors took issue with. And he seemed amenable to it. Because he probably realizes in retrospect that he went too far. Thanks to both of you. Julia ainsley and daniel goldman. Coming up, senator Bernie Sanders on tonights primaries. The senator joins me right after this. We just got married. Were all under one roof now. Congratulations. Thank you. How many kids . My two. His three. Along with two dogs and jake, our new parrot. That is quite the family. Quite a lot of colleges to pay for though. A lot of colleges. You get any Financial Advice . Yeah, but im pretty sure its the same plan they sold me before. Well your situations totally changed now. Right, right. How bout a plan that works for 5 kids,
2 dogs and jake over here . That would be great. That would be great. That okay with you, jake . Get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change from Td Ameritrade investment management. And the wolf huffed and puffed. Like you do sometimes, gr