hello i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington, 8:00 p.m. in moscow. 1:30 a.m. saturday in pyongyang, north korea. wherever you're watching from around the world thanks very much for joining us. first it was fire and fury. now it's lock and loaded. those are the latest towards from president trump in the verbal confrontation with north korea. earlier today president trump tweeted this -- "military solutions are now fully in place. locked and loaded should north korea act unwisely. hopefully king jong-un will find another path." on the front page of the "pacific daily news" in guam, ominous headline, 14 minutes. how long officials say it would take for missiles from north korea to reach that island of guam. first i want to get to all of that, but there are new developments we're learning in

what's described as backchannel diplomacy going on in private. elise labott is with us. what are you learning about back channel diplomacy? >> reporter: wolf, even since president trump took office there have been talks between u.s. and north korean officials. in fact, this has really intensified since president trump took office, and especially on the release of u.s. detainees in north korea. you remember otto warmbier, released from north korea, unfortunately he died, but then his release was the product of talks between the u.s. and north korea. a special representative for north korea, joseph yune, had been meeting with north korean officials for the last several months. they were supposed to meet in february, but then kim jong-un's brother was killed in malaysia. those talks have been ongoing, wolf, primarily about the release of americans but also in the sense of, let's try and get our relationship back on track. we understand those talks have

continued. joe yune met in oslo with some counterparts at the north korean foreign ministry and also the north korean ambassador to the united nations. so i think it's important for viewers to remember that although the rhetoric is very hot between the u.s. and north korea, there's still diplomatic back channels. we call it, for years, the new york channel. because it goes through the united nations. the new york north korean mission to the united nations. i wouldn't say they're very productive in terms of helping the relationship, but those channels still exist and the hope is that if they can continue talking that would lead to a fuller dialogue on denuclearization or getting talks back on track. >> elise labott, don't go far away. reporters are around the world covering all of the angles of this story. get more. bring in our white house correspondent sara murray. our pennell corners barbara starr. our senior correspondent ivan watson joining us from guam and our correspondent will ripley

from beijing. sara, you're there in new jersey with the president. president trump. he pushed back yesterday against criticism his fire and fury comment went too far. today he tweeted that military options are locked and loaded. is this another sign that he has no plans to at least tone down the rhetoric? >> reporter: i think that's right, wolf. i don't think that president trump sees his rhetoric as the problem here. i mean, you heard him yesterday. he said if anything, his initial statement that there would be fire and fury in response to just a threat from north korea was maybe not tough enough. and he took to twitter today to say the military is locked and loaded. one white house official tried to downplay this saying the president is saying nothing new here. there's always a military option prepared in case of an international crisis, but obviously, wolf, it's a very different tone. very different rhetoric when it comes to this situation. to see the president out there boasting about military might at a time tensions are rising with north korea, another nuclear

power. that is something new. >> the president, sara, we're told he will meet later today with some key members of his national security team. give us a preview. who he had meet with and what do we anticipate at the end of that meeting? >> reporter: well, it's going to be a meeting with nikki haley. ambassador to the united nations, u.n. ambassador to the united nations as well as rex tillerson and national security adviser h.r. mcmaster. original originallyly slated to be behin closed doors. maybe we can get questions in after that meeting. interesting to see a change in tone from him when that happens. tillerson and nikki haley have taken the lead on the diplomatic approach to north korea. trying to find some way to move forward in the back channels elise talked about in terms of the situation there. they were instrumental in pushing for that vote at the

u.n., to slap north korea with sanctions. we heard from president trump yesterday. he said that negotiations are always possible, but he didn't sound particularly optimistic about the notion that they could be successful. we'll see what his tone is like today after that meeting, wolf. >> that meeting is supposed to begin around 5:00 p.m. eastern, and if they make statements as we anticipate they will afterwards, we'll, of course, have coverage of that. full coverage coming up in "the situation room." stand by. going to the pentagon. barbara, we mentioned the headline, "14 minutes." how long it would take for an intermediate range missile to leave north korea, fly over japan and land off the waters, the coast of guam. what else have you learned about how the u.s. could detect and attempt to actually shoot down a north korean missile? >> reporter: wolf, start with where we are right now. u.s. spy satellites are over north korea virtually all the time scanning for any movement of missiles, of launch equipment, any signs of an imminent launch. they don't see that just yet, we

are told from multiple sources. but they are watching for it. so if there is a launch, u.s. satellites would very quickly, within seconds, pick up that heat signature, the infrared signs of a launch. they would then begin to be able to quickly calculate a missile's trajectory, its flight path. where it's headed and its aim point. the target it is aimed at. what we know is that the u.s. procedure is military agencies, intelligence agencies, will all be in instant communication as this trajectory and target would be plotted. they would be able to calculate whether that missile, in fact, is headed for guam. and that means within minutes. and, really, minutes. that's all they have. they have to decide if they want to make the effort to shoot the missile down, if it, in fact, is headed for guam, american territory. one of the interesting wrinkles here is, the north koreans

often, you know, launch missiles anyhow. shorter range missiles. missiles that the u.s. knows are just simply going to go into the waters off japan. so if you have a missile launch and there's no calculation that it poses a threat to south korea, japan, hawaii, guam, or the united states, the u.s. may well let the north koreans just let that missile go, go into the water. the key question -- why 14 minutes is so important -- you have to shoot that missile down as far away from the target as you possibly can. that means a decision would have to be made within just a few minutes about what to do. wolf? >> what else are you hearing from the u.s. military, barbara, about preparations in case, in case north korea does fire those four missiles towards guam? >> reporter: okay. so we're talking about, and it's a good point. we're talking about north korea firing the missiles, the decision about whether you're

going to use the missile defense, if you will. the t.h.a.d. system on guam, ships at sea, missiles onboard to shoot down the korean missile, that's all in place. when the president says locked and loaded, the u.s. military points out it is ready to go when it comes to north korea. you have those 28,000 troops in south korea. 50,000 troops in japan. you have air forces across the pacific, and obviously they are the most mobile. you have b-1 bombers in guam. you can move in b-2s, b-52s. air force f-15s. f-16s. the navy has f-18s in the region onboard carriers. so you have a lot of fire power. several weeks ago the u.s. military as we reported it at cnn updated all the military options for the president. specifically aimed at giving him

a rapid response option that he could order very quickly and that the forces and the weapons would be ready to enact that, if he were to order it. we have two issues here. shooting down a north korean incoming missile, and is there action you want to take inside north korea? do you want to begin a military campaign against kim's regime? wolf. >> in addition to the president saying u.s. military was now locked and loaded, he also retweeted a u.s. pacific command tweet in which the pacific command said that u.s. air force b-1 lancer bombers on guam, they stand ready to fulfill #fighttonightmish,mission. stepped up by the president and the military and pacific command at well. stand by, barbara. going to ivan watson. you're there in guam. how are officials there preparing people for the possibility of some sort of conflict without creating panic?

>> reporter: you mentioned there the b-1 bombers, and the andersen air force base here. it invited lobel journalists to look how some of these b-1 bombers were operating. as one officer described it, they're in a constant state of readiness. he didn't describe exactly what their missions were today, and he also explained some of the motives behind the work they do and what they're trying to defend here on guam. in the u.s. take a listen. >> the majority of the people here, we live here. so i live here. my wife lives here. my two daughters hiv le s lives. my son lives here. we kids go to school here and we feel safe here now. that's what this korcontinued bomber presence does.

>> reporter: wolf, there are some 5,300 u.s. servicemen and women at andersen air force base and naval base guam. and family members, about 13,000 here. of course, this island is home to more than 160,000 other american citizens. the local civilian authorities were issues instructions to people today. we heard from the guam homeland security adviser, yes, just 14 minutes for a north korean missile to get from north korea to guam, provided all of it, technical features of that weapon work and provided it can penetrate multiple players of missile defense, u.s., japanese and south korean missile defense. now, the local authorities have published what they describe as an emergency fact sheet in the event of a missile threat, and that makes for some sobering reading, because it urges people to look for concrete shelters in the event of an attack, and tells them what to do. not to look at a flash on the horizon, if, god forbid, there's

a nuclear explosion, but gives you a sense of some of the preparation and the advice that the authorities are giving. that said, the authorities continue to insist that the threat level is not being raised here, and, in fact, the governor of guam advised locals to go out, enjoy the weekend, enjoy the -- the beaches, and try to pretend as if nothing has changed here. wolf? >> despite the north korean deadline of mid-august nap would be next week, that they said they wanted to see action, positive action from their perspective comes from the united states. i want to go to beijing now. will ripley who's been to north korea more than a dozen time joins us now. north korea, will, you well know, keepi ing up the war of words with the united states. the state-run north korean central news agency saying this, "trump is driving the situation on the korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war making outcries as the u.s. will not rule out a war against the

dprk." the democratic people's republic of korea. what more is north korea saying about this standoff? they're issues more statements. >>. >> reporter: one of two statements north korea put out this morning, wolf. that phrase, "pushing to the brink of nuclear war" is something we hear quite aoften from north korea. we hear our phrases, threatening to turn the u.s. into the stage of a nuclear war if they sense a pre-emptive attack was coming and also calling the united states nuclear war fanatics. all of that language may sound frightening for people listening in the united states, if you put it in context that is the kind of rhetoric we often hear from north korea. fairly regularly. it's business as usual. they did not insult president trump in any of their statements and also didn't reveal anymore details about the plan they announced earlier in the week to launch those four intermediate

range missiles. it doesn't mean they're not still working 0en that plan or would frent to kim jong-un for his signature. if you're looking at their rhetoric today they have not upped the ante as they did with previous statements earlier in the week, woman. >> china is also weighs in on what it would do in various scenarios, will. you're there in beijing for us. what are the latest statements coming in from china, which has a significant role in all of this. >> reporter: two interesting developments here in beijing. one, editorial in the state newspaper, "the global times." a tabloid, not an official government mouthpiece. not speaking officially on behalf of the government, but this newspaper gives insight into the views. the people's liberation army particularly. this editorial said they're calling for china to remain neutral if north korea fires the first shot. but if the united states were to launch a pre-emptive attack,

this calls for china to step in and prevent the united states from toppling the north korean regime. and it's editorial, not a government release. gives you a sense where china stands on the north korean issue and china and russia supposedly once again renewing their calls according to the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov saying china and russia want the u.s. to suspend its regularly scheduled military exercises set to begin later this month in exchange for north korea freezing its missile program. we've heard china call for that many times before and neither side is willing to do that. >> every year, when of the u.s. and south korea have these military exercises the north koreans are very irate about it and want the u.s., south korea, to stop. the u.s. and south korea never do stop. will ripley in beijing for us. thanks very much. there's much more we're following. coming up, more on this developing story, including what the former national security

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act® strengthens enamel, protects teeth from harmful acids, and helps prevent cavities. go beyond brushing with act®. president trump issue as new warning to north korea even it's a diplomatic efforts take place behind the scenes. get perspective from our panel. our cnn military diplomatic analyst retired rear admiral john kirby with us. elise labott still with us and cnn military analyst retired army major general james "spider" marks with us as well. the latest statement, general marks a tweet. military solutions fully in place, locked and loaded should north korea act unwisely. hopefully kim jong-un will find another path. strong words. went from fire and fury to locked and loaded? >> it's a sequence of events that really says we're going to ratchet this thing up. not necessary for what's going on. you'd prefer the president not

engage in this verbal conflagration. doesn't need to do it. the regime up north has routinely done that, but his point remains, and as secretary mattis has said, the military readiness not just on the peninsula with south korea but also our readiness in the region is at a high level all the time. 24/7. so relative to the threat of sending missiles in the direction of guam, we can figure all that out. barbara starr gave a good lay down in terms of how that happens. the enterprise among ship, land-based systems, coalition partners both in south korea and in japan, satellite based. we can pick up the alerts when something's happening, make a decision within a short amount of time to take the missiles down and when they hit the water, gather them up, do forensics and deconstruct them. >> you make it sound like it's so easy to shut down incoming ballistic missiles? >> we have the science. it's not that easy, but we've

done the science and we have to rely on the capability. it's a provocative move for north korea to do that. kim would have to be suicidal at that point to launch a missile and telemetry says in the route of guam. we have to assume it's nuclear. why? we described to them the comp t capability. >> and one thing for them to ramp it up. and the u.s. military specific command is getting involved in the rhetoric as well. i was a bit surprised. speaking as a former pentagon correspondent, during the first gulf war, u.s. air force b-1, b lancer bombers on guam stand ready to fulfill #fighttonight mission if needed to do so. is that the way it goes? >> unusual. part of a pressure campaign dictated by the white house to

make it clear to kim jong-un's regime they're serious. look, i'll hang on the last line in the president's tweet today. hopefully kim jong-un will find another path. i'm holding on to the hope what they're really trying to do, ratchet pressure up so much publicly and so muscularly they'll force a capitulation, force a dialogue with the north. what i'm hanging my hat on, and i suspect if that's true that would explain a little bit about what was done today. >> diplomacy is important. elise, you cover the state department for us. the president by 5:00 p.m. eastern later today up in new jersey will meet with the secretary of state rex tillerson, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley. just scored a big win last weekend at the u.n. security council, 15-0 vote including russia and china, to increase sanctions against north korea. seems like a long time ago. given all the rhetoric since then, but is it realistic to think diplomacy will achieve much? >> i don't think right now, but i think maybe the hope is that

in the long term. i have to agree with john. this ratcheting up of the press, a lot of people saying the rhetoric is scary, but it does seem a little bit, you heard will ripley say, to be working. if you parse out kim jong-un's statements, not talking specifically about four missiles pointed at guam. you hear the regular bombast of, you know, kind of fire and fury we heard from the president. i do think that the diplomacy, this actually, this rhetoric, might boost a credible deterrent. not just a message. this is north korea. a message to china that this is getting out of control. you need to help us dial down the temperature. and that they need to get, also to russia. they need to get involved in the diplomacy. you see russia and china stepping it up a little bit, and i do think that, you know, ironically, this kind of bombast and this rhetoric, i think it is empowering a bit. the danger, a miscalculation

that spirals out of control. >> take a listen to what president obama's former national security adviser susan rice told me last night. listen to this. >> what i worry about is discussion and preparation potentially for what the administration has called preventive wore or pre-emptive war envisioning the united states cerebressentially attack korea in an eminent threat against the united states. deterrence makes good sense, essential to maintain and obviously we don't ever take off the table the threat of the use of force, but pre-emptive war, if one actually were thinking of executing that, would be catastrophic. >> as she spoke after the president, president trump, did not rule out a pre-emptive strike there is no antiseptic military solution. no good military options. seoul will soffer, tokyo in the cross hairs as well. elise indicated, all solutions

have to go through beijing. what's really sad here, you try to play the brinksmanship card and the nuclear age, we've been a part of for 80 years, the costs are exorbitant and now the united states is trying to be the branchman. guess who is coming in to be the calming influence? china. with u.s. influence more. unsatisfactoriry right now. we're unfortunately tipping the scales in a direction that we're not intended to be tipped. >> and china potentially nor influence over north korea than any other country. >> and globally, everybody will turn to china. the united states looks like they're playing brinksmanship. can you step in and help with this other problem? not where we want to be. >> prevent a nuclear war, would be good. >> that's a good thing. stand by. much more. spider marks, elise labott, john kirby, thanks ap usual. coming up, thanking russia's vladimir putin for dispelling u.s. diplomats and other employees from russia, but why

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returning now to our top story -- escalation in the war of words between president trump and north korea. let's bring in democratic congressman ted deutsche of florida, keep member of it's house foreign affairs committee. congressman, the president escalated that rhetoric, the standoff with north korea, by saying military solutions are now fully in place. locked and loaded, should north korea act unwisely. his words. what kind of message is this strong language sending? not only north korea, but also to u.s. allies in the region? >> wolf, i think strong language is appropriate. i think dangerous rhetoric, however, is not. when you think about what we need with north korea. we need diplomacy. we need to show strength, and we need to have pressure, and when

the president speaks the way he does in uncertain terms, let's remember when he talks about, about the possibility of launching a premeditated strike in response to threats from north korea, that makes it harder for those on his team who are actually doing a good job in advancing our interests at the u.n., where the sanctions resolution for the first time really is going to move forward in a strong, powerful way. this makes it really more difficult for the overall effort to succeed, and it leads to the possibility of miscalculation. nobody believes that the united states should launch a preemptive nuclear strike. everyone understands what north korea is capable of now. the goal ought to be to work to lead our allies in one effort throughout the entire administration, to help contain north korea. >> let me get your thoughts on nor very sensitive issue and you're on the house foreign

affairs committee. listen to what the president said yesterday when asked about russia's decision to expel hundreds of american diplomats from the u.s. embassy in moscow and other u.s. consulates around the country. listen to this. >> no. i want ta thank him because wire trying to cut down on payroll and as far as i'm concerned i'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people, because now we have a smaller pay roll. there's no real reason for them to go back. so i greatly appreciate the fact that they've been able to cut our payroll for the united states. we'll save a lot of money. >> all right. so what was your reaction when you heard that? >> well, wolf, that's astounding coming from the president of united states but unfortunately not surprising. think about what the president did. this, he responded to actions taken by vladimir putin in he responsible to sanctions that the united states imposed on russia, because russia meddled

in our election. that response by russia was to ban 755 u.s. diplomats and the president thanked him for it. it's wholly unacceptable but unfortunately, wolf, consistent. this is the president who doesn't value diplomacy. who wants to cut the state department budget by a third and hasn't even filled the key roles involving diplomatic security. it's appalling. the president ought to be standing up for the men and women who are serving our country in a different way, in the diplomatic corps, in a very important way especially in russia. instead he casts them aside at the same time that he yet again thanks and praises vladimir putin. it's really shocking. >> some suggested he was being sarcastic in that statement. you don't buy that? #. >> i don't believe that we should -- first of all, there's 2340 room for sarcasm there. i don't think we should have to try to interpret whether or not the president was being serious when the president was speaking

about the decision by vladimir putin to -- to ban over 750 united states diplomats. there is only one correct response from the president of the united states, and that is to make clear that this is unacceptable, and to stand up strongly for those diplomats, and for our role in the world, and to push back against vladimir putin. the president unfortunately, again, and again and again seems wholly unwilling and unable to take even that basic step. >> congressman ted deutsche of florida. thanks for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. appreciate it. coming up, while president trump is seemingly giving russia's vladimir putin another pass, he's now talking tough about the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell tell thing him to go to work. what's behind he's latest attacks on the republican leader in the u.s. senate? we'll discuss that and more when we come back. rvices right. but if that's not enough, we have 7500 allys looking out for one thing, you.

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later today president trump is scheduled to meet behind closed doors with u.n. ambassador nikki haley and well at secretary of state rex tillerson. we're told general h.r. mcmatch th thor -- h.r. mcmaster will be there as well. it's unclear whether or not the president will speak to reporters afterwards. yesterday he indeed did. the president might be able to answer reporters questions once again. we'll have coverage of that certainly in t"the situation room" later today. meantime, he's spoken extensively about the escalating attacks on republican, the republican leader in the u.s. senate, that's senate majority

leader mitch mcconnell refusing to say whether senate mcconnell should step down. >> i said, mitch, get to work and let get it done. they should have had this last one done. they lost by one vote. for a thing like that to happen is a disgrace. and frankly, it shouldn't have happened. that i can tell you. it shouldn't have happened. >> and -- down authority, some conservative analysts including sean hannity saying -- [ inaudible ]. >> tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal and relace done and taxes done meaning consults and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure. he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question. >> all right. bring in our cnn political analyst and washington bureau chief jackie kucinich's david chalian and chief political analyst gloria borger. strong words, once again. another day involves the

republican leader in the senate. >> yes. it's a little odd. because it's exactly the way he went after jeff sessions. jeff sessions, of course, has his job. general kelly assured him of that, but the way he talks about mcconnell in the senate is what's most interesting to me. senate republicans are "they." mitch mcconnell is as if he is to blame for the failure in the senate. senate republicans to blame for the failure in the senate. this is a president distancing himself from failure, as if -- as if, wolf -- he had nothing to do with the process of trying to get health care reform passed. i understand why he's upset. for seven years they voted on this, and it was a ruse. right? it worked for them politically but didn't have a serious agreement on what to do. i understand his point there, but he is a part of this process. and if he had run with a plan, specifically on repealing and

replacing, and what he would have done, maybe they wouldn't be in a position they're in right now. >> and slamming mitch mcconnell. he's deeply irritating a whole bunch of other republican senators including cornyn, hatch, a lot others? >> you're seeing senators come to mitch mcconnell's defense. not taking on the president for slamming mitch mcconnell, not going quite that far but standing up for mcconnell, have confidence in mcconnell's leadership. the question now is, you see that mitch mcconnell is trying not to take the bait at all. you see trump over several days now continuing to hammer him. the question now is, how does this impact the agenda when they get back in jeopardy how is this new relationship that seems so strained at this point moving forward? i don't think -- mitch mcconnell may not want to take the debate publicly. seems this will have some sort of impact in the way in which things work through the united states senate.

>> and part of a bigger process. you can talk about the battle that's going on between so-called establishment republicans versus more hard-liners. >> absolutely. this does have -- there's two sets of risks here. low risk for donald trump to attack mitch mcconnell. particularly among his base. his base doesn't like mitch mcconnell. that said, his base does like jeff sessions, who he has been going after, and i would be very surprised if senators who are inclined to agree with trump are kind of keeping an eye on what's going on with jeff sessions. someone extremely loyal to this president. who got behind him when no one else would and he has effectively turned his back on jeff sessions and attacked him. that doesn't inspire loyalty. that doesn't inspire some of these senators that might be taking a tough vote for this president to do so. >> and you spent a lot of time studying donald trump as a businessman, as a candidate. now as president. why does he do this? >> it's the way he's done business for the last decade.

30 years or more. what he does is, he decides who he doesn't like. he goes after them. he bullies them. and then expects them to come back to him with a deal that he does like. and you can't do that with north korea. and you cannot do that with mitch mcconnell, and you can't do it with jeff sessions. you're running the government now. not the trump organization. and i think he's also used to having people do exactly what he wants them to do, in the end. that's the way it's worked out for him very much in the past, and that's not the way it's working out for him now. >> i think the real danger here is, and i totally agree with jackie. we've talked about this in the sense that it's easy in the politics of the blame game. trump wins that versus mcconnell. there's no doubt about that. he wins with his base. an easy attack. congress, less popular than they. republicans frustrated republican leaders aren't getting stuff done. donald trump seems publicly to think he's free of all blame

here. this numbers are low in part because nothing's getting done also in terms of big legislative accomplishments. he needs a w on the board as well. he can hammer mcconnell all he wants. his ultimate success is based on mitch mcconnell. >> thanks gloria, david and jackie. appreciate it very much. coming up, the president's former campaign chairman is beefing up his legal team just days after learning about an fbi raid on his home and a report his son-in-law met with federal investigators. new information coming in. we'll be right back. ♪ and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? ♪ ♪ well it's you girl, and you should know it. ♪ with each glance and every little movement you show it. ♪ you're gonna make it after all. ♪ it takes a long time to get to the top... you're gonna make it after all. ♪ but with america's best

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special counsel investigation into possible collusion between the trump campaign and russia appears to be taking a much closer look at paul manafort, president trump's former campaign chairman. sources tell cnn that federal investigators met with and requested documents from at least one member of manafort's family more than two months ago. that means the meeting happened before fbi agents raided manafort's home in late july. let's bring in our crime and justice reporter to help break this story for us. what else can you tell us? >> this meeting, we're told, took place about two months ago or so in new york with federal investigators and prosecutors, and it was really a sense that we have gotten from the folks we've talked to that to try and gain his cooperation, to try and talk to him about some of his real estate dealings that he has had with paul manafort. >> this was the son-in-law. >> this is the son-in-law. our understanding is they're

estranged now. there's some family tension so they're not really communicating anymore, but at the time, federal prosecutors felt it was important to at least bring him in. he turned over documents, other information that they have now turned over to the special counsel's office. and our sense has been that this is all part of a bigger plan to try and get some cooperation against paul manafort and perhaps even to gain some cooperation. by now, the special counsel, for him to gain cooperation from paul manafort. >> clearly they're squeezing him in all sorts of ways. >> that's exactly right. >> shimon, thanks very much. let's get some analysis and reaction to this late reporting. joining us, our legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, paul callan. you heard that paul manafort's son-in-law was questioned by fbi agents and prosecutors. what do you make of that? >> well, i'm not at all surprised. there have been reports that there were land deals that the son-in-law was involved in, in california and possibly other places, and possibly in

partnership with manafort himself. one of those was under prior investigation. there was a bankruptcy involved. so, the feds had reason to be looking at these land deals, and frankly, if they have leverage against the son-in-law, evidence of something they can use against him, they could use that to sort of compel him to give information about paul manafort, and it's kind of a standard tactic in federal investigations. they use one family member against another, sometimes to get leverage to get cooperation. so that could be going on. we don't know, but that could be going on. >> the president reacted yesterday to the special counsel's pre-dawn raid by fbi agents at manafort's home outside of washington, d.c. listen to how the president reacted. >> i thought it was a very, very strong signal or whatever. i know mr. manafort -- i haven't spoken to him in a long time,

but i know him. he was with the campaign, as you know, for a very short period of time, relatively short period of time, but i've always known him to be a good man. i thought it was a very, you know -- they do that very seldom, so i was surprised to see it. >> what did you think of that reaction? >> well, i'm surprised that the president sort of publicly reacted to this, because he, in the past, has said, go ahead with any investigation of my people who are affiliated with my campaign, and obviously, manafort had been campaign chairman for a brief period of time. but the president is correct that this was a tough, aggressive maneuver by the fbi and the special counsel. i mean, this was a pre-dawn raid of paul manafort, and bear in mind, manafort had been cooperative with congressional committees in supplying documents that had been subpoenaed. manafort is represented by counsel. as a matter of fact, he's just changed lawyers, but he had a lawyer normally you deal through the lawyer, unless you were

afraid that maybe evidence would be destroyed or that manafort was holding back documents, in which case you get a warrant from a federal judge for a pre-dawn raid, and that's what the fbi did. >> and the federal judge had to see what's called probable cause to go ahead and issue that warrant. probable cause, that's like the same standard that a grand jury would need indict, right? >> yes, it is. and what i found, wolf, to be very interesting about that is that probable cause for a raid, pursuant to a search warrant, requires probable cause that a crime has been committed and that evidence relevant to that crime is in the place you are searching. so, this federal judge found, obviously, that there's probable cause that a crime involving material in paul manafort's house exists. now, that's a -- that's a pretty big and important finding, i think, in this investigation. >> very big, very important, and we'll continue to watch it.

paul callan, thanks very much for all of help. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." in the meantime, the news continues right after a quick continues right after a quick break. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com goes back to taking tylenol. yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so... more pills. yep... another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? for my pain... i want my aleve. get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. what's going on here? um... i'm babysitting. that'll be $50 bucks. you said $30. yeah, well it was $30 before my fees, like the pizza-ordering fee and the dog-sitting fee... and the rummage through your closet fee. are those my heels? yeah! yeah, we're the same size... in shoes. with t-mobile taxes and fees are already included,

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hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. thank you for being with me. first, this promise of fire and fury, and now the su.s. is apparently locked and loaded, president trump's latest statement escalating the war of words that has the world on edge, and he did it on twirtter writing "military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded should north korea act unwisely. hopefully kim jong un will find another path." earlier, pyongyang vowed to hit the u.s. mainland with strategic nuclear weapons should t