So, why didnt they activate it . Those stories, plus, selena gomez gets candid about the Health Battle she waged in secret. I needed to get my mind right, be healthy. More of our exclusive interview. A first look at the iphone 10 before it hits stores. And costume foolery. Its time for our annual halloween reveal. And this one will have you seeing stars youll never be able to unsee. Today, tuesday, october 31st, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everybody. Welcome to today. So nice to have you with us on a halloween morning. I want to take one good look at you as you used to be before the transformation. Ive been preparing for this moment my whole life. And im ready. Thats what im afraid of. We have a fun morning planned. Well get to that later on. First, lets go to our top story. The fallout from the indictments of the special investigation of the Trump Campaigns alleged ties to russia. The white house is trying to brush aside the criminal charges against Paul Manafort and his onetime top aide, rick gates. But its a plea deal with another Campaign Adviser who pled guilty and is cooperating with the fbi that could be the bigger concern for the white house. We have two reports for you now. And were going to talk to corey lewandowski. Lets begin with nbc national correspondent, peter alexander, at the white house. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning to you. Its the Campaign Advisers plea deal that provides the clearest evidence yet between the campaign and russian officials. Moments ago, the kremlin is calling the charges against former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, a u. S. Internal issue, denying russia meddled in the 2016 election. This morning, the white house pushing back. Reacting to the first criminal charges in Robert Muellers russia investigation. The president s chief of staff on fox news. All of the activities as i understand it, they were excited for, was long before they ever met donald trump or had any association with the campaign. Reporter press secretary Sarah Sanders also downplaying the news. Todays announcement has nothing to do with the president , nothing to do with the president s campaign or campaign activity. Reporter but documents show that George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier this month about lying to the fbi about his characters with kremlinse kremlincorrected russians. He said he was told by the russians they had dirt on Hillary Clinton, including emails. That was 2013, before it was known that they hacked the democrats. A month earlier, papadopoulos with candidate trump. George papadopoulos, hes an oil and energy consultant. Excellent guy. Reporter the 30yearold was arrested three months ago and has since been cooperating with muellers investigators. Court documents refer to unnamed Campaign Officials who were unaware that papadopoulos was trying to set up a meeting between donald trump and putin during the campaign. One of the unnamed officials was former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Both manafort and his deputy, rick gates, pleading not guilty to felony charges during a short court appearance. They are accused of hiding fees and failing to pay taxes, failing to register as lobbyists and lying to the fbi. Indictments say they pocketed money in offshore accounts. Manaforts lawyer calling the charges ridiculous. I think you all saw today that President Donald Trump was correct. There is no evidence that mr. Manafort or the Trump Campaign colluded with the russian government. Reporter prosecutors say manaforts money helped cover the cost of four homes manhattan to suburban washington, d. C. As well as other lavish purchases. 250,000 on luxury cars. 1. 4 million on clothes. And nearly 8 million in home improvements. The judge set bail for both men, ordering them to home detention. Following reports that President Trump was fuming as he watched news of the indictments on tv monday, the president s lawyer tells nbc news, President Trump spoke to his attorney several times to ask questions about the process. But in his words, never showed any angst or anger, adding that he wanted the country to understand the president remains committed to cooperating with the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Matt and savannah . Peter, thank you. Ari melber is with us now. Ari, good morning. A bit of a rollercoaster. They were breathing a sigh of relief when the manafort and gates indictments come down. And it doesnt touch on the time when they were involved with the Trump Campaign. But now, we have a former trump adviser who pleads guilty to meeting with russians. Trying to arrange a meeting with russians and the Trump Campaign. And the russians say they have dirt on Hillary Clinton. How does it shake down . How it shakes down is you have someone pleading guilty to russiarelated issues from the campaign. So, theres no dispute to this part. He lied to the fbi about it. Now, he admits that. That is a huge break in the russia investigation, even if we dont know how high other problems go. This isnt the end. This is only the beginning. Whats the prosecutal strategy here . You have manafort and gates . You got them indicted. You let them marinate for a little bit, allowing them to contemplate the consequences they face. All the while knowing this other guy, papadopoulos, is cooperating with the investigation. And you come back to him at a later date and dangle that cooperation again . Youre putting your finger on the strategy and whats so fascinating about this news. The only reason any of us know this is because bob mueller wants us to know this. This is part of his strategy, to unfurl, not only this financial set of crimes that may not have much to do with 20 16, and something that has direct evidence linking back to the russian effort to get to the Trump Campaign. Bob mueller got what he can get from his corroborating witness. And wants other people to say, look how far ahead we are. You want to be on the cooperating side. Thank you very much. Corey lewandowski was Campaign Manager before Paul Manafort and is an adviser to the super pac. Good morning. Happy halloween. How well do you know George Papadopoulos . George was a lowlevel volunteer who might have attended the one meeting that took place of the foreign advisory team. But he was not a person involved with the daytoday operations of the campaign, or a person i recall interacting with on a regular basis at all. Were you aware or was anyone at the white house aware, that he had been arrested as part of the investigation back in july . Have you had any interaction . Or has anyone in the inner circle has any interaction since july . I cant speak for the people in the white house and what they may or may not be aware of. I can say, unequivocally on behalf of myself, ive had no interaction with george from the time he was arrested or since i left the campaign, as i can recall, in june 2013. I was not aware of his arrest other than what was reported yesterday. Knowing he was arrested and is cooperating with the special counsel, if he was in contact with anyone in the inner circle through phone calls or emails or visits to the white house, do you imagine theres people in the white house this morning waking up with dry mouths . Well, look. I can say this. I know a number of the people in the white house. I had the privilege of working with them on the campaign. And george was never a person who was part of a team that was interacting with Senior Management on a regular basis. If george did lie to the fbi and hes been arrested for the lies, he should be accountable for that, which anybody should be. I dont think theres any concern in the white house about any potential contact he may or may not have had. Lets see if we can clear up a few things from the indictment, which im sure you read. Are you the Highranking Campaign official that received emails from George Papadopoulos during this apriljune time period of the campaign . Thats a great question. I dont know the answer to it. As you know, as the Campaign Manager, i was receiving thousands of emails a day. I dont know if that was specifically referring to me or was that Paul Manafort . Or was that rick gates or somebody else . You dont recognize the emails . Come of t some of the emails have quotes. The campaign official, which may or may not be you, forwarded an issue and said youre running point on this. Did you send an email like that . I dont recall that specific email. But youre asking me to remember an email from april of 2016 on any given day would have received 1,000 emails. And this would have potentially come from a lowlevel volunteer. I dont remember the exact email. Im not sure if im that person or not. I cant speak to who is named in that incident. At any time, corey, did George Papadopoulos tell you verbally or in an email, that russian officials told him they had dirt on Hillary Clinton or thousands of her emails . Do you remember receiving that message from George Papadopoulos . I dont remember that. And the reason would be is because george was such a lowlevel volunteer, i dont recall having much interaction with him throughout the campaign. He would have potentially been talking to somebody else. As the Campaign Manager, when we were in a primary fight with ted cruz and john cakasich, i was n involved with a lowlevel volunteer. Were you aware that the russians had hacked the dnc computers and emails before the news broke . Did you get that information before april of that year . To the best of my knowledge, absolutely not. When i found out about that, i found out about it through public press reports. Has the fbi asked to interview you . Have you been interviewed by the fbi . Let me be very clear. I will be happy to cooperate with any ongoing investigation. I have not spoken to anybody from the fbi. But ill be as clear as i can be. I will cooperate with any investigation. Im 100 certain that all of my intersection interactions with at the campaign were above board and legal. Ill be happy to do that. Corey lewandowski, thank you very much. Another storyline connected to russian interference and the election, involves misinformation on sites like facebook, twitter and google. All three are testifying in hearings on capitol hill. Jo ling kent is there. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning. Ahead of todays hearings, we have new details on how widespread this problem may have been. 126 million americans may have been exposed to russianbacked content on facebook, in the leadup to the 2016 president ial election. And there is much more. This morning, new bombshells from facebook and twitter on russias attempt to influence American Voters in the leadup to the 2016 election. Facebook revealing to nbc news, that 80,000 posts from russianbacked facebook accounts, potentially reached onethird of all americans, between 2015 and 2017. According to prepared testimony obtained by nbc news, the World Social Network will Tell Congress today, approximately 126 Million People may have been served one of their stories at some point during the twoyear period. Those posts came from 120 fake russiabacked pages. At first, only reached 29 million useusers. But through likes, shares and follows, they reached 126 million americans. Thats half of all eligible voters. Facebook said we tried to shut the accounts down. The platform was separate from 3,000 targeted ads. This comes a year after Mark Zuckerberg initially brushed off facebooks role in the election, a position he recently walked back. I dont want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. Thats not what we stand for. Reporter also new today, twi twitter says it found nearly 30,000 accounts that were linked to russian entities between november 2016. They were seen 288 million times. Twitter said the impact was limited, added russianlinked accounts constituted less than threequarters of the tweets on twitter at the time. Congressional investigators are expecting more answers from twitter, facebook and google, in a series of hearings starting today on capitol hill. I want to make sure that our 2018 and 2020 elections are secure. This threat is going to continue. An they have the ability to top interference in our elections. Reporter another big question is if theres links between the russian activity on twitter, google and facebook and the Trump Campaign in the leadup to the election. And one senator is telling, he will be revisiting that question today and tomorrow. Guys . Jo, thank you very much. A surprise move at the sentencing hearing of Army SergeantBowe Bergdahl. He made a tearful apology for abandoning his post in afghanistan in 2009. Kerry sanders is at ft. Bragg with more on this. Reporter Bowe Bergdahl could face life in prison. In a surprise, bergdahl here, took the stand, and offered a dramatic apology for what he had done during war. High emotion in court from Army SergeantBowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl surprised observers from taking the stand and tearfully apologized for those who were wounded searching for him, after deserting his post in afghanistan in 2009. It was never my intention for anyone to be hurt,bu bergdahl said, reading from a statement and choking back tears. One of those soldiers, master sergeant, mark allen, was shot in the head searching for bergdahl. His wife testifying, tearfully describing the dramatic brain injury that paralyzed her husband, leaving him unable to speak or hold their 9yearold daughter. Hes not able to reach out to her or talk to her. Bergdahl was released in 2014, after being held by the taliban for five years in a controversial prisoner exchange, under the obama administration. In graphic testimony monday, bergdahl described how during his captivity, he was kept in a cage for four of the five years. Bergdahl saying he was repe repeatedly pebeaten. Concluding, i think about what i did every day. But on social media, little sympathy. He is a coward that ruined the lives of brave men and their families, said one. Another one writing, hes only sorry he might go to jail for life, which is what he deserves. Sentiments echoed by thencampaign trump on the campaign trail. A dirty, rotten traitor. Reporter bergdahl asked to dismiss the case after the comments by President Trump. But he said he would consider the president s comments as a mitigating factor for ten tensing. Bergdahl was on the stand for two hours. Since he gave his apology before first being sworn in, prosecutors will not be able to question him. Thank you. Mr. Roker, lets say some of the group, somebody here, might be wearing something a little more revealing than others on halloween. Is it going to we know its not me. Its not me. Is it going to be cold out there . It will be very brisk. It will be one of those trick or treats where, remember when you were a kid and mom made you put the coat on over the costume . Never a good time. All in all, not too shabby. Belowaverage temperatures, up in the upper Mississippi River valley. The western plains. Heavy rain developing through texas and parts of arkansas and oklahoma. Beautiful weather out west. Beautiful weather out west. Well get to your that one. This. That one. Good morning. Im meteorologist bill henley. A lot of sunshine, clear skies. Breezy. The westerly winds to 15 Miles Per Hour keeping philadelphia in the 50s. Up to 55 for the suburbs. New jersey, 58 degrees. The same winds up to 15 Miles Per Hour out of the west. Stronger this afternoon. Youll see them at the shore, too, near 60 later today. Middle 50s for the Lehigh Valley. Plenty of sunshine. Up to 57 with sunny skies for delaware. Th have a great halloween. And thats your latest weather, matt. Al, thank you very much. Coming up, the questions being raised about the rescue rf those two women who say they were lost at sea on a disabled sale boat for months. And more with selena gomez and her best friend and kidney donor. How she sometimes felt guilt about her fame. First, o a halloween mornni steve sweeneys negative headlines keep piling up. Why are south jerseyans so angry at sweeney . Sweeney repeatedly sided with Chris Christie to underfund south jersey schools, increase standardized testing like parcc, cut takehome pay for teachers, and broke his promise to fund the pensions of hundreds of thousands of new jerseyans all while padding his own. Steve sweeney says a lot of things. But the truth is, hes not on our side. Check out what we have. The muchhyped iphone 10. Give it. Your first look, before it hits the stores. Hoda, what have you got . Hoda, what have you got . It is our favorite day on hey, buddy heard you had a hard day. So, i brought you a snack. I had a bad day too. I forgot my briefcase. It had my laptop all my papers in it. There i was, at work. Feed his kindness, with the fresh roasted peanut taste he loves. Where theres jif, theres love. Give with an extra 20 off with the fresh roasted peanut taste he loves. Cozy up with womens sweaters and fleece womens boots and home decor. Plus, only at kohls get