good evening. thanks as you just heard we have breaking news. the jfk assassination files are out. we're sifting through them as fast as we can. we'll talk about everything that

we're learning later on. not all of them, we should point out, have been released and we'll talk about that as well. in the meantime, welcome back to the 2016 presidential election. at least it feels that way tonight with just a couple weeks to the anniversary of the most surprising election night in generation. two campaign stories are dominating the headlines. each an opportunity to refight the battle. each away for some to cast doubt on the outcome. all the familiar names are present with a single question happening overall of them and all of it. who is not telling the truth here. are playing in the trump campaign being less than honest about the role a campaign data outfit played in their effort to elect president trump. and on the democratic side are former clinton campaign poe des at that and wasserman schultz being less than honest about their connection to the russia dossier. when in fact their respective organizations did. we have new reporting on this tonight and on the wikileaks

outreach as well as a larger discussion of how both stories have given the two sides of campaign 2016 the fuel to drag it nearly to the end of 2017. william talk ner is right. the past isn't dead. it isn't even past. we're going to take you through both stories, lay out the time lines so you can decide for yourselves what to make of them and who to believe. you probably heard each story described. we're going to try to did he tangle them starting with a beat by beat -- our justice correspondent pamela brown reports. >> reporter: 11 days after trump's gop nomination on july 18th, 2016. >> for the presidency of the united states. >> reporter: and two days after this now infamous moment. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.

>> reporter: donald trump's campaign made his first payment to controversial data firm cambridge analytica on july 29th. we're now learning that same month, according "the wall street journal" another infamous moment occurred. cambridge analytica's ceo reached out to wikileaks founder julian assange seeking access to hillary clinton related e-mails. also that same month, wikileaks began releasing hacked e-mails from the dnc. >> we have more material related to the hillary clinton campaign. >> came bij analytica was founded by wealthy republican donors mercer in 2014. they began backing trump after the gop primaries in june of 2016. that same month jared kushner took overall data operations for the trump campaign. kushner said once his father-in-law won the gop nomination, the campaign used both cambridge analytica and the

rnc's voter data saying, quote, we kept both data operations going simultaneously and a lot shared between them. and bay that we could scale to a pretty good operation. >> they had a team of cambridge data scientists embedded in the trump headquarters who were doing very sophisticated models wok that helped to in which where the campaign was going to send donald trump. >> in august 2016 steve bannon became ceo of the trump campaign. before that he feels the vice president of cambridge analytica. while working for the firm, bannon had urged the trump campaign to fire them as far back as april, according to the new yorker. in september 2016 the trump campaign made its biggest payment to cambridge analytica, $5 million. that's according to fec filings. those payments eventually totaled nearly $6 million. the the payments listed by the fec as being for data management services. >> the firm has offices in london, new york and right here in washington, d.c. just three

blocks away from the white house. cnn has reached out to cambridge analytica for a response in the wake of the revelations about wikileaks, but despite our repeated attempts, we have not heard back. >> but in november just before the election, cambridge analytica's ceo alexander knicks did speak to cnn about his data operation and the newly reopened fbi investigation into, you guessed it, hillary clinton's e-mails. >> clearly there are unknown nns. you know, such as what's recently happened in the case of the democrat's candidate with the release of the -- or the reopening of the e-mail inquiry. we can't predict that. >> as far as the trump campaign, it released a statement distancing itself from the firm saying, quote, we as a campaign made the choice to rely on the voter data of the republican national committee to help elect

president donald j. trump. any claims that voter data from any other source played a key role in the victory are false. >> pam, would this be of interest to investigators for collusion? >> sources i've spoken to say yes. they say that the idea that the data firm reached out to wikileaks alone does not mean a crime occurred at face value, but as one fbi official told me today, what it shows is an intent to go beyond normal proactive campaign tactics. and investigators would use this bit of information to see if there was any coordination, whether there was anyone from the trump campaign who was intimately involved. as i said, the intent and mind-set and whether there was any sort of conspiracy. you include this piece of a puzzle to roger stone, an advisory telling the hill he had an intermediary who connected him with as sang. he also was briefly in touch with an intelligence offer online. and then according to the wall street jurm there was an effort by opposition research working

for the -- with people on the trump campaign searching on the dark web for raurnz who may have had clib ton's missing e-mails. all of this would be taken into account. but we should note there have been no accusations of wrongdoing, anderson. >> joining us now, senator risch ard blumenthal. to you, senator, what if anything, is the significance of cambridge analytica reaching out to wikileaks. >> it is significant because it demonstrates evidence of potential collusion between the trump campaign and the russian interference. there's no question according to the intelligence community, that there was russian interference. the president has called the special counsel's investigation and the investigation of the judiciary committee into that alleged collusion with it as a hoax, but here we have more evidence of a pattern that has been established of collusion and perhaps of obstruction of justice. >> the statement put out by the

trump campaign saying -- basically distancing themselves from cambridge analytica saying, look, any suggestion that it was anything about rnc data, that's what we relied on most heavily. does that pass the smell test given that they're spending $6 million. >> not in the least because they have spent $6 million to hire cambridge analytica as a consultant, as an agent, in that capacity. it was reaching out to wikileaks. in fact, reaching down into the gutter because remember, wikileaks' business model is to take information, stolen often by foreign governments like the russians, and then publicly size it without any regard to the harm done to men and women in uniform or others who are cooperating with us abroad. and cambridge analytica well knew that business model. >> it's very possible, though, that it was just coincidence. just coincidence that candidate trump,up, said this that press conference russia, if you're

listening, you know, if ufr got the 33,000 e-mails, we'd love to see them or release them or whatever the actual words he said. two days later they start paying cambridge analytica and later that much analytica makes the outreach to wikileaks. when you put out a timeline it looks like it's all one piece. it could be a coincidence. there's no evidence that president trump said reach out to wikileaks. >> point number one, it could be all coincidence, but it has to be coupled trump campaign welcoming the outreach from rob goldstone, saying he had russian sources of dirt on hillary clinton. and donald trump jr. saying i love it. the meeting on june 9th, the a of the united states. there is a series of circumstantial evidence. no conclusion reached out but

certainly a basis to investigate. >> i want to turn to the trump dossier story. i asked you if it pass the smell test, the statement made by the trump campaign. does it pass the smell test to you that the head of the dnc, the head of the clinton campaign are now saying they had no idea money was going through this law firm to pay for this dossier? i mean, if they didn't know, who would have known? >> well, the lawyer working for them was the one who actually began paying for this opposition research. >> isn't that a little too cute? i mean, if you're paying millions of dollars to a law firm, you probably want to know examine will know what the law firm -- the reason you do it through a law firm is to have deny ability, i assume. >> regardless of whether that claim passes the smell test or not, remember what the key distinction is. here the money was coming from the dnc and it was going to

opposition research. it was not supported by a foreign government, not by the russians. that's the key distinction. >> isn't it possible, though, that christopher steele, who was getting information, possibly buying information from russian sources who may have been duped by the russian government or in collusion with the russian government to give -- i mean, that's the argument a lot of republicans are making. the russian government may have given disinformation about candidate trump through christopher steele that was essentially being paid for ultimately by the clinton campaign. >> and it never had an impact on the campaign, another key distinction. if it doesn't pass the smell test and it's worthy of investigation, the special kounlsz, robert mueller, will look into it. and bottom line the collusion between the trump campaign and russian interference, as well as obstruction of justice is under investigation and if there are other similar actions, they should be investigated as well. >> senator blumenthal. appreciate your time. thank you very much.

staying on the subject of the dossier that we just talked about, what are you learning about what clinton's former campaign chief john podesta told the intelligence committee. >> yeah. in september behind closed doors john podesta actually met with the senate intelligence committee investigators and towards the end of an interview that focused a lot on his hacked e-mails a question was posed to him whether or not the clinton campaign had any sort of contractual relationship with fusion gps, the opposition research firm that did produce the trump russia dossier, and he said he had no knowledge of it. podesta saying i didn't know. i don't know if we have any relationship. nothing like that at all. and this is significant, anderson, because this is the first time that we have learned someone this high up in the clinton universe sitting down behind closed doors with investigators on capitol hill skising their knowledge about the ties with fusion gps ties that dossier. and even though he was not sworn

in to formally go under oath, you cannot lie to congress in an investigation. so his testimony or his interview had to be truthful because otherwise congress will look into this further. >> i understand the one person who claims to know about this research is the attorney, mark elias and he actually was at this hearing as john podesta's lawyer s is that right. >> yeah, that's right. in fact rs he was sitting right next to him. he was representing john podesta. even though he knew at the time that his firm had retained fusion gps as its client to research these allegations and podesta said he had no knowledge of it, elias did not offer any information there at that interview that he was aware of this. but he was there, just to be clear, he was not a witness during this interview. he was just there serving his client. but he very well could come back as a witness now that we do know

that the clinton campaign and the dnc were helping fund this research. but, anderson, in the aftermath of us learning about this, elias's firm put out a letter saying that their clients only knew that they had this arrangement with fusion gps only recently, suggesting last month john podesta did not know at that time. >> what about former dnc chairwoman debbie wasserman schultz? what did she tell the senate intelligence committee. >> we're learning for the first time she did meet earlier this month and she made a similar case. she was asked directly about whether or not the dnc had these similar ties to fusion gps. she said she had no knowledge of that either. she said pretty clearly that she did not. first time we're learning that she even met with the investigators let alone saying that there was no dnc connection. but i can tell you now that we do there is some, there's a very good chance that she could come back for further questions because at that point that was

not a big bulk of the interview but it could be if investigators want to call her back for further questioning. >> appreciate that. coming up next we'll hear directly from the former -- breaking news that's a quarter century in the making. the government releasing documents from the kennedy assassination files. the the president holding back some of them. the question is why and will that fuel conspiracy theories that have been out there for decades? more on that ahead. is helpink rise higher than ever. as the world leader in unmanned aerial systems, we're attracting the world's best talent to central new york. and turning the airport into a first-class transportation hub. all while growing urban areas into vibrant places to live and work. across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov. to grow your business with us in new york state, according to feng shui, the bed should on it.orth east. you're trying everything to get pregnant. new one-a-day couples pack

gives you both nutritional support you may need. for her to prepare for a healthy baby and for him to support healthy sperm. be in it together. you know win control? be this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. which makes me one smooth operator. ah! still a little tender. (vo) go national. go like a pro. hi, i'm the internet! you knoarmless bowling.lt? ahhhhhhhh! you know what's easy? building your website with godaddy. get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. build a better website in under an hour. before the break we laid out

the two campaign stories that are driving the latest skimmerish in the election campaign that seemingly will not end. the daily beast had reported reached out to wikileaks and on the democratic side denying knowledge of paying the firm behind the trump dossier. joining us now brian fallon. also jeffrey tu been. so, brian, i know you said you did not know about these payments. if john podesta didn't know and debbie wasserman schultz didn't know, who possibly would have known within the dnc and the clinton campaign because millions of dollars are being dpin to a law firm. >> well, but given to a law firm to perform everyday legal work. they would do things like our fec compliance and internal vetting of people -- >> they weren't asked to do opposition research. >> well, they were, i guess.

i see people going around saying that there were millions of dollars spent on this. those are line items from these fec reports that capture all of the -- >> right. but if millions of dollars are being spent and this firm is doing opposition research someone has got to be saying where is it. >> right. and i don't know who was part of those conversations in april when the firm, the research firm fusion gp a came to mark elias apparently and said hey, a republican had been funding this workup until now, we think you might be interested in it. i'm not sure who had the conversation that gave the green light -- >> someone clearly had to know. >> yes. and whoever that person is i would shake their hand and offer to take them out to a steak dinner. i'm glad there was somebody who was trying to get to the bottom of donald trump's web of opaque business connections. >> ed, it's sort of the colonel clinic defense i see nothing -- >> it doesn't pass the smell test. you know, anderson, one of the

things the late phyllis slaply used to say is run for office and lose because you learn how campaigns work. in campaigns opposition research especially of the kind that was being sought is not something that's not on the radar screen of the top level people. maybe podesta didn't know. somebody knew. somebody had to know. you don't spend that kind of money without the word coming back on what you've got frankly because if you've got nothing you stop spending it. by the way, it's been sort of covered up for months now. if it was such a straightforward issue, why not come out and say here is what we have. >> that is the other issue. if it is a great idea -- >> when the dossier came out in january i said at the time i had never heard of fusion gps prior to after the election and never heard of christopher steele. if i had known at that point that we had paid for it, that was the work product of research that the campaign had sponsored, i would have been happy to admit to it. there is no shame in this. this is campaign opposition research is campaign work 101.

>> can i just draw a distinction here. as i understand it, gps did a lot of work, not just the dossier, for the clinton campaign. the dossier, the last date on the dossier is december of 2016. a month after the election. you know, everyone in the clinton campaign at that point was curled up in a fetal position on the sophia. i mean, they were not involved in doing that. so i think it -- >> at that point it might have been the fbi. >> well, it's not clear who was funding or why they were doing the research at that time. but it's not surprising that brian and all of his colleagues didn't know what was going on in december. i don't think they were too involved. >> but before there was a dossier there were memos being written by christopher steele that must -- i mean, were circulating somewhere, whether to the attorney or someone else. i mean, it wasn't as if they were -- >> let me jump in here. it is definitely true during the mogs of the fall, september and

october, and i was aware and other members of the campaign were aware of many of the rumors that were circulating about donald trump and meetings that, say, carter page, who was a foreign policy advisory in the campaign may have taken in europe. this was all swirling out there. we had multiple conversations about it. largely based on reporters calling us up saying have you heard this? we're trying to run this down. now connecting the dots, i suspect that it was fusion gps that was briefing those reporters which in turn was calling us. so we were familiar with this information. there are a multitude of democratic organizations on the outside, whether it's priorities usa which is an entity i happen to work for now or american bridge, any number of which, you know, if you very well may have thought it was helping -- and tipping off those reporters. >> but if christopher steele and fusion gps are briefing reporters, certainly they're giving memos to the lawyer who is paying them all this -- >> someone knows. and by the way, the point here now is that steele at least before this moment steele was talked about as someone who was

getting information from the russiansful this is all a russia push, right. so now we have to find out who in the campaign knew or should have known and were they actively being told by steele, hey, i've got source in russia that are pushing this story. >> i don't see how steele could have been paid by the russians. steel was investigating the russians. >> my understanding is the allegation was he was paying sources in russia and the russian government ostensibly, this is what we're hearing were feeding stories and pushing things this. >> steele was hired because of his expertise in russia. he did not go to russia, bt he still had contacts, we assume, with connections to the kremlin or knowledge of, which is why some of the information in the dossier has turned out to be true. other, you know, information has not been verified and seems pretty outlandish. >> right. but the allegation is is it possible that the kremlin was giving disinformation, negative information about candidate trump to steele that he's paying for and that essentially ultimately the dnc -- >> this that case he'd be the

victim of a wild-goose chase. on the other hand, you have a set of actions that we know that the russian government undertook, illegal acts that they committed in service or in furtherance of trying to help elect donald trump. there were no actions taken by the russian government that helped hillary clinton. all we know that the russian -- >> how do we know? maybe there were some. maybe -- >> what was the -- >> the russia -- >> feeding to steele -- >> after the election after hillary clinton had lost? >> you just said steele was talking to reporters trying to put -- you know how opposition works. you get something -- >> there's no evidence of this, but -- >> everyone is dpg it when people are lying, they're usually lying as trump said today it's like watergate in modern times. there's a cover-up of some kind. what is it? now let's get to the bottom of it. >> if the russians were -- trying to hack into election rolls in certain states but then leaving all this to christopher steele to carry out -- >> let's get to the bottom of it. let's get to the bottom of why

no one in the campaign says they knew and whether they knew that they were getting information from russians. let's get to the bottom of it all. >> jeff, the fact that no one in the campaign seems to have any idea about this, does that raise -- >> well, someone has to have an idea. we've only heard from john podesta and debbie wasserman schultz, who was completely on the outside and had nothing to do with anything. robby mook is the person you would want to ask who was the campaign manager. he would certainly know if the campaign was spending this kind of money. john podesta was out raising money. he was not involved in day to day. someone has to know. and the problem that the clinton campaign has here, i mean, i think brian, you know, alluded to it, which is they -- i mean, they would admit to it. this is what we do. campaigns do opposition research. there's nothing to feel guilty about but the problem is they haven't said what the story really is. >> just a fundamental difference between the two stories that cnn is giving proper attention to both stories, but they're

characteristically different. here even when we find out the whodunit and approved it in april of 2016 it still won't amount to much because there's no criminal activity. for the purpose of trying -- >> that's not the campaign, right? >> we agree on that. >> just like the law firm. >> the point is that you have a contractor hired i bt campaign in this instance that didn't engage in any illegal activity and the instance regarding donald trump, cambridge analytica was trying to make themselves to a party to a criminal conspiracy to illegally hack hillary clinton's e-mails. >> 54 years after john f. kennedy was killed some of the papers on the investigation are public. why not all the records were relead as the president said he would. details on that ahead. - [voiceover] you hope nobody knows it's you,

but you know it's you, so know this. the activated charcoal in charco caps absorbs gas for fast gas relief without passing the gas. charco caps, put less boom in the room. for fast gas relief without passing the gas. when it comes to reducing the evsugar in your family's dietom. coke, dr. pepper, and pepsi hear you and we're working together to do just that. bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all. smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels, and reminders to think balance. because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org

there's breaking news tonight. as we mentioned, formerly top secret documents about the assassination of john f. kennedy are now public. it is just a fraction of the documents. president trump delayed the release of many of the files following concerns from national security agencies of what should be made public. they were all supposed to be redeesd today although there is a loophole to allow the president to delay. tom for man has been going through the files.

tom, what have you and your team found? >> well, we have a lot of people looking at all this, anderson. and i'll tell you, their a lot to look at. almost 2,900 documents were released. this is just one of them. 14 pages of handwritten notes. very hard to get through all of this. what we have found so far, though, is intriguing. for example, there is a record of oswald calling a kgb agent while he was in mexico city a few weeks before the assassination, asking about something going on in washington, d.c. this seems to have been tied to his attempt to get a russian visa or a could you ban visa, neither of which he obtained, but nonetheless, this is some proof of something we've long suspected. there's also a conversation we found with j. edgar hoover saying after oswald was killed by jack ruby, he's saying that the fbi was directly warned. somebody called and in a calm voice said that he was part of a group that was going to kill oswald. roux by said he was part of no

group out there, but this is the first evidence we've had that the fbi was directly warned about that. and one other interesting note, there is a conversation there, a message that was sent to robert kenne kennedy warning him that a bong was coming out alleging they had a an affair with marilyn monroe. through these thousands and thousands of pages that's what we've found so far. there will be a great deal more to be found. >> can you just explain why all the material was not released. >> it was not all released because at the eleventh hour here it appears that the cia and fbi said there were concerns about national security and it seems in a more pointed way to have been concerns about people who have been cited somewhere in here who could either be known by name or could be susd out based on information about what was gathered that somehow this might put their families or any survivors in some kind of bad position out here. we don't lael know what that's

about but that seems to be what the situation is. i'm telling you, if anything is going to raise the concerns of conspiracy they're risz out here, here is go that's been on the books for more than 25 years, this release of documents. we've known it's coming. everyone knew it was coming and with less than six hours left all of a sudden there's a nuisance of we need to look at this further. we haven't had enough time to look at it. i'll guarantee you conspiracy theorists are going crazy over that. >> joining us now cnn presidential historian and cnn senior political analyst david gergen. david, does it make sense to you now that at the eleventh hour essentially it turns out they're not going to release everything? >> well, it's a surprise, certainly. the tweets coming out of the president over the last few days have certainly suggested it was going to be all. but in fairness to donald trump, he did say it may not be all. but i think the fact that we're getting down to 300 pages does give more weight to what most

experts i had a chance to talk to, a pulitzer prize winning history other yap. he's now writing a biography of john f. kennedy and his basic conclusion is the big story -- there's not likely to be anything big, major, dramatic, bombshell that would change the basic story line that lee harvey oswald was acting alone. where the information may be new and revealing could be out of mexico city where oswald spent about six days, two months before the assassination talking to cubans, talking to russians. and that's where the professor may be the new story coming out of the documents released tonight. >> tim, does it surprise you that they held back some documents? >> no, actually. i'm not surprised. part of this story is that this is a product of the conspiracy theories of the 90s when people were saying things like kennedy

might have been culled by the mob, the cubans, might have been killed by the cia. and the assassination records review board pulled in all possible documents that might shed light on any of those possible theories. as a result they put together 5 million pages. when the act was put together, i am sure that the congress didn't expect that there would be blanket declassification of 5 million pages in 2017. and to some extent they kept kicking the can down the road. some of the materials they pulled together have nothing to do with lee harvey oswald but have to do with u.s. covert action against cuba, congo, the dominican republic. and those involve informants. and i was waiting to see whether we would get those names. now, what we're getting so far are some very interesting details. i share fred's view that weapon

weren't going to learn very much, if anything, about the lee harvey oswald issue because there was a very serious none partisan board in 1998 that saw all of this material and they pushed for release of anything that really bore on the question of whether there was a conspiracy behind oswald. there are other details. for example, we now have materials regarding u.s. activities against cuba that show that the u.s. government considered using chemical weapons and biological weapons as part of its operations to undermine the fidel castro regime. and to know that this is new, you'll notice on these documents in some cases there are these marks on the side. and that shows you what used to be classified. so you can get a sense of what our government considered highly classified up to now. that's a very big deal. i have not seen that kind of thing before, actually. >> david, is it possible that president nixon, other pliksz from the era essentially took secrets to their graves about

jfk? >> absolutely. absolutely. i'm sure they did. you know, after all, they had a lot of access to j. edgar hoover's files and there are all sorts of details there, both governmental as well as salacious. and so i am sure that they knew a lot more. in fact, i think donald trump knows a lot more than he's let on. he has access, no doubt, to these documents that are still hidden or at least that he's been given summaries. we'll have to see what happens on this. but i do think this go back to it, the warren commission did apparently have access or at least some members of the commission to all the documents. and that was before they issued their basic report. so that's what gives some credence to the notion that there's unlikely to be a major change in the story. but we may learn important elements. what if the cubans or the soviets told oswald there in mexico city that they want him

to go in or unleashed him, going to help him. we still think it's a lone gunman, but maybe he had encouragement. maybe there was money. >> i want to -- if i can disagree respectfully with david. the reason we have so much conspiracy thinking about the kennedy assassination is the warren commission was not shown all the documents. they were not told about the assassination attempts against castro. there were a be in of things they were not told which is a reason many people raised the issue. it was in the 70 that the congress, senate and house got that information and now we're seeing much of it. >> yeah. >> good thing for us. >> appreciate it. when we come back, the president's decision to release only a fracture of the documents certainly won't help put the conspiracy theories around the assassination next. next details from the white house on how the president made this decision. easier. except when it comes to retirement. at fidelity, you get a retirement score in just 60 seconds.

and we'll help you make decisions for your plan... to keep you on track. it's your retirement. know where you stand. to keep you on track. a trip back to the dthe doctor's office, mean just for a shot. but why go back there, when you can stay home... ...with neulasta onpro? strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. neulasta helps reduce infection risk by boosting your white blood cell count, which strengthens your immune system. in a key study, neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17% to 1%... ...a 94% decrease.

applied the day of chemo, neulasta onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the next day. neulasta is for certain cancer patients receiving strong chemotherapy. do not take neulasta if you're allergic to neulasta or neupogen (filgrastim). ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems, allergic reactions, kidney injuries, and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. in patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur. the most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. so why go back there? if you'd rather be home, ask your doctor about neulasta onpro.

on our breaking news tonight, thousands of jfk assassination files are public. but citing national security concerns the president decided to hold some files back. jim, why did the president change his mind? >> reporter: well, basically, anderson, what happened was and we're learning this from talking to our sources, this was a bit of a messy process. they were trying to get authorization and approval and a green light from these various national security agencies that this information that's coming out of these jfk files would not compromise them in any way. and there were objections that came back from those various national security agencies. and so what the president decided to do and we're hearing that this was a decision that was made in the last several hours was essentially punt this off to six months from now. so 2,800 files were released this evening, but the vast majority of those files are

still undergoing an enter agency review. so we're not going to see those files potentially six months from now. and around sop, i think the question has to be asked will the agencies raise the same objections six months from now and we're not going to get to the bottom of these files. i tried to ask the question on a conference call with the administration officials earlier this evening. they had a conference call with reporters on this. is there any evidence of a conspiracy behind the assassination of president kennedy? and they said well, we just can't comment on the content of these records. and so you get the sense when you talk to officials, anderson, that as they are releasing these records to the public for the first time, keep in mind not all of them are being released, they don't even know what is in these files at this point. >> obviously they're going to be reviewing that in the months ahead. appreciate it of the as we mentioned, holding some of these documents back is only going to fuel the fire for some conspiracy theorists. our randi kaye has a look at

some of the theories that are out there. >> several thousand enthusiastic -- >> nearly 54 years since the day president john f. kennedy died and conspiracy theories difficult abound. >> the truth is oswald killed the president. >> os wal, as in lee harvey os wal of the the federal government says he shot the president and only him. despite that, conspiracy theorists just don't buy it. they point to people like the man who came to be known as umbrella man. he was seen opening and closing his umbrella on the grassy noel on a perfectly sunny day. some have argued that the man was either signaling a shooter or shooting a poison dart at the president. >> the umbrella man came forward. he testified before congress. there was never any credible evidence. >> could bring down the most powerful man in the world. there must have been a more

grand owes scream. perhaps even one that involved former could you ban leader fidel castro, who was often connected to kennedy's assassination. oswald's trip to mexico city just weeks before the assassination has long raised eyebrows. while there previously released government documents revealed he met with could you ban and soviet spies. >> it appears that he actually made the statement in the could you ban embassy in mexico city i want to kill president kennedy, i'm going to kill president kennedy. >> and what about the cia or the mob, who was angry at kennedy for his crack down on organized crime? theories abound on their involvement too. even president kennedy's own vice president, lyndon johnson, could he have ordered a hit on his boss? some conspiracy theorists say yes. remember, it was johnson who set up the warren commission to put an end to the chatter that he was responsible for the assassination. still, the chatter continues. much of it focused on the number

of bullets fired that terrible day. the warren's commission official 888 page report concluded that in all three shots were fire, all from oswald's rifle perched on the sixth floor of the texas school book deposition to her. one bullet struck president kennedy and another known as the magic bullet struck president kennedy and texas governor john connelly, who survived the shooting. >> governor said he believed he was struck by a second bullet which only fueled talk of a second shooter. skeptics wonder how was oswald able to fire fast enough to hit kennedy and connelly given that connelly was seated right in front of the president in the car. despite all the intrigue both the warren commission's final report from 196 had and a review by the justice department in 1987 agreed, lee harvey oswald

acted alone. randi kaye, cnn new york. >> joining me again, cnn president alhistorian. it is obviously the fact that these documents now have been delayed, it is just going to spur further conspiracy theories. >> yes. but as i've tried to lay out, the 5 million pages include things that are interesting to certainly to people like me about covert ak, but they're not directly related to the lee harvey oswald story. i've always found it interesting, around son, that many americans on the left and the right consider their government to be inefficient. that's one thing both sides of the aisle agree on. and yet many americans also at the same time belief that the government is so efficient that it could have murdered a president and kept it secret for so long. so sink there's a disoh nance there. in 1998 we got the best

information that the u.s. government had apparently on the oswald issue. there are new details to come out and there are some leads that may not lead anywhere, but they're worth looking at. what i believe this release is about, though, is that era. that era of secrecy i, that era of covert action. and that's what we'll see more details of of the and what's being held back, i believe, are materials regarding foreign government assistance to us, materials about code bricking. materials regarding sources that are not directly related to what happened in dallas but are people run by the cia elsewhere who might have provided a detail or two about oswald's time in russia or japan. i think those are the details. >> you were talking before about cia covert operations in congo i guess with la amonga in dominican republic and elsewhere. there might be information there. >> no doubt about it. i mean, i'll give you an

example. still secret, maybe, i haven't been tlu all the documents. i've only started going through them. secret was the cia man who brought the poison to congo to kill mum ba the leader. ultimately the u.s. didn't kill him but the fact of the matter the cia person prout some poison to kill him. the name of the cia person was secret. the cia -- and maybe it's open today, but the cia tries to protect those names. that's the argument they're making to president trump. >> right. makes sense. >> i suspect. >> appreciate it. up next, the other big moment today, the white house, president trump declared our nation's opioid crisis a health emergency. his comments as well as what the first lady said at today's gathering and how the epidemic is unfolding on mechanic's streets when we continue. and he does it with dr. scholl's. only dr. scholl's has massaging gel insoles that provide all-day comfort to keep him feeling more energized. dr. scholl's. born to move.

you're more than just a bathroom disease.. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. we're fed up with your unpredictability. remission can start with stelara®. talk to your doctor today. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options for stelara®.

♪ ♪ hi! leaving a career to follow a calling takes courage. a personalized financial strategy can give you confidence to take the next step. hi guys! aw yeah! see how access to j.p. morgan investment expertise can help you. chase. make more of what's yours.

this afternoon president trump declared america's opioid crisis a public health emergency. last year more than 64,000 americans died of drug overdose largely due to opioids. at today's white house event, both the president and the first lady spoke about the epidemic. >> what i found to be the common theme with all these stories is that this can happen to any of us. drug addiction can take your friends, neighbors, or your family. no state has been spared. and no demographic has been untouched. >> it is time to liberate our

communities from the scourge of drug addiction. it's never been this way. we can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic. we can do it. >> for the president this was an effort to deliver on a campaign promise. and as you heard, this is a crisis you can find in any city or town. tonight we show you its grip near boston this evening. our gary tuckman talked with some addicts walking the streets. we want to warn you this may be tough to watch, but we think it's important to see how the opioid epidemic is unfolding in the u.s. here's gary's report. neighborhood south of downtown boston. to others, it's a living hell. >> i'm a junkie, i've been shooting heroin for 16 years. i'm homeless, i live on the sidewalk. this is my life. >> i didn't grow up thinking i was going to be a heroin addict. like this isn't exactly what i want to be. >> what are your hopes and dreams?

>> to get sober, to have a family. at one point i thought i was going to and i lost the love of my life. we both overdosed and when i woke up he was dead. >> billy is 31 years old, he has a 5-year-old son. he wants to be a tattoo artist some day. but even while we talked, he was looking for a vein. >> is it possible for you to stop shooting the heroin while we talk? >> if i had gotten it in me it would be, but. >> that what's i'm wondering. like you feel such a strong urge that you can't stop while we talk? >> yeah. there's nothing that would stop me. and that's how bad it gets. >> megan also lives on the streets and the sidewalks. >> you're about to reach your 30th birthday. how long have you been addicted to heroin? >> since 19. >> how did you start the first time? >> it was pills. then pills became expensive, hard to get.

and heroin was just extremely easy to get and a lot cheaper. >> like megan, the gateway to heroin for billy was also pain pills. he was 13 years old when he started. >> i was already using prescription pills. i liked the way it felt. i found out heroin was cheaper than pills. it was more intense. so i began sniffing heroin. and then i found out shooting it was the next step from there and i would save money, and i went right to shooting. the first time i shot it i fell in love with it. it was like -- the only way i can explain it is i met god. >> billy and megan are joined in their opioid devotion by scores of other people who gather on the street, that happens to be near a hospital, methadone clinics, and shelters, people who want to help. 40 miles up the road, in the small city of gloucester, massachusetts, police will not arrest you if you come to the police station with opioids looking for help.

the strategy of help, not handcuffs started here and spread throughout the country. but after a much publicized and encouraging start, the police chief here is facing a stark reality. things are not getting better. >> we've seen an increase in fentanyl. fentanyl is a drug that is 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin. >> like heroin, fentanyl is an opioid. even a tiny dose of it can be lethal. craig uses that. like everyone we met on the street, he wants to stop, but says he can't. >> i'm addicted to opiates. >> what do you do here on the street? what kind of opiates? >> the thing is, every -- all the opiates right now is fentanyl. so everybody is dieing. >> it's about to start powering here in boston. these people who can't live without their pills and their needles will be sleeping in dirt that will turn into mud. >> are you afraid you're going to die from this? >> i know i'm going to die from this. >> are you afraid you're going to die from this?

>> not really afraid. honestly, sometimes it just -- death seems easier. >> gary joins me now. you were able to talk to some of these people. what did they have to say about -- did they talk about the announcement today? is that on their radar at all? >> anderson, the people on the streets, some of them have heard a little about president trump's declaration, no one's heard any specifics. we filled them in a little bit. the consensus seems to be if this results in more treatment centers and better treatment centers that would be good, but there's a lot of skepticism. i must tell you, i've interviewed many opioid addicts over the years. i've never interviewed one who enjoys doing this. they want to be cured, they want to be made better. they hope that this could work. anderson. >> gary, appreciate you doing that. thank you very much. our team continues to look through the jfk assassination files. more than 2,800 records no longer a secret. we'll have more on what our team has uncovered and why president trump decided to hold others back and not release them when we continue. >> tech: so you think this chip is nothing to worry about? well at safelite, we know sooner or later

every chip will crack. these friends were on a trip when their windshield got chipped. so they scheduled at safelite.com. they didn't have to change their plans or worry about a thing. i'll see you all in a little bit. and i fixed it right away with a strong repair they can trust. plus, with most insurance a safelite repair is no cost to you. >> customer: really?! >> tech: being there whenever you need us that's another safelite advantage. >> singers: safelite repair, safelite replace. directv has been rated #1 in customer satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. but some people still like cable. just like some people like banging their head on a low ceiling. drinking spoiled milk. camping in poison ivy. getting a papercut. and having their arm trapped in a vending machine. but for everyone else, there's directv. for #1 rated customer satisfaction over cable switch to directv. call 1-800-directv.

according to feng shui, the bed should on it.orth east. you're trying everything to get pregnant. new one-a-day couples pack gives you both nutritional support you may need. for her to prepare for a healthy baby and for him to support healthy sperm. be in it together.

we begin the hour with breaking news. new information about what role president trump played in getting a gag order lifted that allows an fbi informan