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tv   Wolf  CNN  February 23, 2018 10:00am-11:00am PST

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to attract the world's top drone talent. all 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. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington and wherever else you're watching around the world. we begin with breaking news. former governor rick gates expects to plead guilty today. will rick gates fully cooperate in the investigation now? clearly this has implications for paul manafort, the former trump campaign chairman.
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>> you're right, wolf, it has implications for paul manafort but also for this investigation that is looking for deep sbly i the trump campaign and russian operatives. we're expecting rick gates will be here at the federal courthouse in washington to plead guilty. he's going to plead guilty to two criminal charges. one of them is conspiracy to defraud the united states, and the second one is making false statements. we're told according to these documents today that were filed in court today, wolf, that as recently as earlier this month, rick gates met with the special counsel and the fbi, and according to the special counsel lied about a particular meeting that he was being asked about, a meeting that goes back to 2013. so it appears that as recently as earlier this month, at least according to the government, rick gates was lying in order to protect other parts of this investigation, perhaps paul manafort. as you mentioned, paul manafort, who has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts here in washington and 32
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counts that he is now facing in alexandria, virginia when were filed yesterday, wolf, he says he's innocent of those charges as well, the pressure is now on him. because rick gates is going to be a key witness. we expect that as part of this agreement, this plea deal with the government, rick gates is going to have to provide some information to the government. and that would obviously be very bad news for paul manafort. until this point, wolf, one of the things about this case is the government hasn't had really any witnesses, any big witnesses, to use against paul manafort. that changes today. at 2:00 p.m. when rick gates walks into this courthouse and he pleads guilty to at least these two charges. we don't know all the details of what he is going to cooperate with the special counsel, but usually, typically in these agreements, you have to essentially say everything you know, and that has implications beyond paul manafort. we know, of course, that this special counsel investigation is looking at others inside the
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trump campaign, and so the question is what happens to paul manafort? does he flip? and then does he provide information about others that are under investigation in this special counsel probe, wolf. >> it clearly is designed, at least in part, evan, to put that kind of enormous pressure on paul manafort, the former trump campaign chairman, to go ahead and cop a plea himself, to plead guil guilty, to cooperate, and hope for some sort of reduced sentence. i assume that's part of the strategy here. >> right. that has been the strategy from day one. we've seen very, very aggressive moves by the special counsel, wolf. not only the 12 counts that were filed here in october, but they filed 32 charges in alexandria. these were tax charges, these were failure to file income tax returns, failure to disclose foreign bank accounts. this is a man about to turn 69
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years old. if he's found guilty of these charges, we're talking decades in prison. he's going to die in prison if he's found guilty of these charges. we've heard a lot of bravado from manafort's camp. they say they're ready to go to trial. not only are they suing the special counsel saying he doesn't have the jurisdiction to bring these charges, but they're saying they're going to trial. that's what we've also been hearing from rick gates. we've learned in the last hour that he sent a letter to some of his friends and family members saying he had always intended to fight but he has changed his mind. wolf, this has been a very odd situation here, because we've seen rick gates come to court here in the last couple of days, filing paperwork for himself. we know that he had some lawyers and that he had switched to another lawyer to try to help negotiate this plea agreement. there was some question as to whether or not he would actually go through with that. so in the last couple of days, it's been a bit of a guessing game as to exactly how this
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would go. today we know he's going to come in here and plead guilty at 2:00 p.m., wolf. >> the guessing is over as far as rick gates is concerned. evan perez over at the federal courthouse, thanks very much. let's talk about this, get some analysis. joining us, our chief political analyst gloria borger and jim zeleny. gloria, you've obtained this very important letter that rick gate wrote to family and friends. >> yes, and it gives you some insight of the pressure he felt given what he's going to do today at 2:00 in the afternoon. the portion of the letter that we've received is addressed to friend and family. it says, given the news reports of last week, i wanted to give everyone an update of the events that will occur today. since the indictment has been handed down last october, there's been great pressure on
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our family, and these last several months have been excruciating. last weekend there were several news outlets that wrote false and misleading statements concerning my situation. despite my initial desire to vigorously defend myself, i have had a change of heart, and that reflec reflects evan's reporting. the reality of how long this legal process would take, the cost, and anticipation of a trial are too much. i will better serve my family moving forward by exiting this process. the consequence is the public humiliation, which at this moment seems like a small price to pay for what our children would have to endure otherwise. i want to protect our family from further anguish and believe that ensuring their well-being is first and foremost. this is one of the most difficult decisions that i have ever had to make. please continue to pray for us. and then the letter goes on. >> it's a very emotional letter
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from him explaining why he has decided to flip now and to cooperate, to plead guilty. it sets the stage, michael, for potentially a lot of pressure on his boss, the former trump campaign chairman, paul manafort, to do the same thing. >> exactly. you now have a very large amount of paper and electronic evidence against paul manafort. now you have a witness who can guide the jury, if you will, plough all of that evidence to say i was there, i was on the inside, this is what we were doing, this is what this document means, this is what this computer file means. it makes it very difficult to overcome the prosecutor in a case like this. therefore, manafort has to make the same sort of decision that gates outlined in the letter that gloria just read, which is, am i going to go to trial twice, because there's a virginia case and a d.c. case, in the hopes of winning, which are almost nonexistent in the tax cases and
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the failure to report foreign income cases, or am i going to flip and plead and cooperate? i think the government really wants manafort. i think what this is about is manafort being able to explain evidence that the government has obtained maybe through fisas or otherwise that they couldn't get into evidence without manafort. i think manafort is the key to unlock ing a lot of what the government's case may be on collusion, if there is collusion, and on the counter-intelligence side of things. >> just some context, gloria, paul manafort was the campaign chairman leading up to the republican presidential convention. he was dumped afterwards, but for months he was directly involved. >> he was with the campaign for five or six months. i should also add that he was in the now infamous trump tower meeting that don jr. set up. >> with the russians. >> with the russians.
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and that rick gates is important also because rick gates was in the campaign and then served. and so i think he bridges a lot of time periods that they're interested in. and you'll notice in the indictments, and you know this better than i, rick gates has always been described as kind of an accomplice, if you will, as the sidekick to manafort. he was clearly directed by paul manafort in things that he did. so it very clear that he was involved at every level but has intricate knowledge of what occurred. >> you're right to say that manafort was laundering tens of millions of dollars and gates was laundering single figures, single millions of dollars in money. so there is a difference between the two, but they were both together in what is clearly a conspiracy to defraud the united states government. that has been charged. that's count 1, and he can walk everybody through that if
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manafort goes to trial. >> the second charge is perjury. >> the second count is a false statement, correct. interestingly, back at a 2013 meeting between a lobbyist and a congressional member and manafort. so when i read this, i think to myself, if i were company a, who is named in this thing and that's one of the lobbying firms, this is not a good sign for me, either, because they've got that into focus because that's the lie that they picked. >> and just to give it some further context right now, manafort engaged -- they were serving as lobbyists and they didn't necessarily register with the justice department on the foreign agents' registration act, which is a crime. they were serving as lobbyists, as representatives for the ukranian president at the time who was closely aligned with the russians and vladimir putin, and that's how it's been brought in to this whole russia investigation. >> that's right, and don't forget, that's where a large portion of manafort's income
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came was from that work for ukraine for the russian-backed president, and that's where all this money came from. and when that spigot was turned off, that's when they tried to avoid taxes and hide their other income, right? i mean, that's how the scheme worked. >> that's how the scheme worked in part 2. in part 1, they were just flat out laundering the fruits of their successful lobbying campaign. one always asks the question, why did trump bring manafort onto the campaign? some say it's because of delicate counts. others are saying because of what gloria said, he has a connection to ukraine, he has the connection to russia which creates the basis of the relationship that is said to be the heart of the collusion counter-intelligence part. there is a lot to be sorted out which is why they need manafort. >> you could ask the question the other way. why did manafort want to join
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the campaign? that question could be asked both ways. >> he then worked for ukraine who has since left ukraine. the president calling the former deputy who stayed outside the parkland, florida rampage a coward. we have new details in that investigation. also, the governor of florida rick scott announcing some dramatic new proposals after the shooting, including age limit in florida on buying any kind of firearm. selection of audiobooks. for just $14.95 a month... you get a credit good for any audiobook ... and you can roll your credits to the next month if you don't use them. audible members get free no hassle exchanges ... and use the mobile app to listen anytime, anywhere. start a 30-day trial and your first audiobook is free. listening, is the new reading.
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these law enforcement officers must either be sworn sheriff's deputies or police officers and be present during all hours students are on campus. i disagree with arming the teachers. my focus is on bringing in law enforcement. i think you need to have individuals that are trained. banning specific weapons and punishing law-abiding citizens is not going to fix this. what we have to do is we have to really focus on the problem. we've got to take all weapons away from people with mental illness. >> another big part of the governor's proposal is banning the sale of all guns to anyone under the age of 21. right now in florida you can purchase an ar-15 style rifle, for example, at the age of 18.
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kaylee hartung is joining us at the meeting of the governor in parkland, florida. what does the governor want for this to implement? >> he wants $5 billion to introduce gun laws, school safety and mental health. this after spending a week talking to students of stoneman douglas, the teachers, law enforcement, as well as leadership from state agencies and mental health experts. bottom line, he wants it made virtually impossible for anyone with a health issue or anyone with a threat to others to be able to purchase or use a gun. let's roll through some of the points on his action plan. as you mentioned, he doesn't want anyone under the age of 21 to have the ability to buy a gun. he wants tougher background checks and longer waiting periods. and at the start of the 2018 school year, he wants omore
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officers at the school as opposed to the one that they had. he wants glass put in on campuses and he wants more dedicated health counselors on hand to help student with their problems. he wants to get rid of bump stocks and he may use taxes to help pay for this. students who made the trip to tallahassee to speak to the governor this week said they find the plan encouraging, but right now it's just words. they continue to demand action from the florida state capital. the governor has two weeks, as he said, to work aggressively with the legislature to make this work, wolf. >> there was, as you remember, an armed deputy at the stoneman douglas high school where you are, and that armed deputy not being hailed as a hero. quite the opposite right now.
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tell us about that. >> reporter: well, broward county sheriff said he was devastated and sick to his stomach when he saw video surveillance of that armed officer get into position and stand outside for five minutes while the students were being slaughtered. he did not do his job that day. he should have entered that building, he should have approached the killer and he should have killed the killer. now he's out of a job after 34 years on the police force. he is retiring after being suspended without pay. he said the students and families that lost loved ones that day deserve to know exactly what happened. >> kaylee hartung on the scene for us. thank you very much. the president used the word "coward" today when talking about that armed officer. here's more of what president
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trump said. >> when it came time to get in there and do something, he didn't have the courage or something happened, but he certainly did a poor job, there's no question about that. he was there for five minutes, for five minutes. that was during the entire shooting. he heard it right at the beginning. so he certainly did a poor job. but that's a case where somebody was outside, they're trained, they didn't react properly under pressure or they were a coward. it was a real shock to the police department. >> joining us now from parkland, florida is alfonso calgarone. he's a junior at the stoneman douglas high school, a survivor of that shooting last week. first of all, how are you doing, alfonso? >> frankly, i'm tired. not only mentally and physically from the hours of work, but because even though governor scott and the president are talking about change, there's still no laws being written, and
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i want that to be one of the principal issues. because, of course, people want change now after students or survivors had to speak out on it. but when is it actually going to be written? that's my question. >> did you know this deputy, scott peterson, the armed deputy who was at your high school? >> i did not. i only saw him sometimes in the front parking garage, but apart from that, i had never seen the deputy on campus. >> what runs through your mind, alfonso, when you hear that that armed officer stayed outside the school building and didn't go inside to actually confront the shooter, even though a lot of shots were being heard? >> frankly, it's heartbreaking. because when you're an officer, you say that you are going to dedicate yourself to serve and protect the public or whoever you're entrusted to protect. this officer did not do that. he failed the oath he swore by. not only that, he ruined his
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career, he ruined his reputation, and now there are 17 kids who are dead. 17 kids -- well, three adults, pardon me, but still, people died because of his cowardice. i just want to say people are going to try to push more law officers, just like rick scott said, per 1,000 students. that's not going to help. we need to stop the shooter from being able to acquire the gun, not put more guns into the school, give more money to the nra and forward their agenda of a pro-gun america. >> at this conservative political action conference that's going on in the washington, d.c. area, alfonso, the president once again spoke about his plan to arm specially trained teachers. listen to what president trump said. >> you would have a lot, and you would tell people that they're inside. and the beauty is it's concealed. nobody would ever see it.
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unless they needed it. it's concealed! so this crazy man who walked in wouldn't even know who it is that has it, that's good. that's not bad, that's good. and a teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened. >> what do you think of the president's plan to arm specially trained teachers? >> in principle, i'm glad he's speaking about change, but still, i think that's a terrible idea. because frankly, teachers are meant to teach and educate students. teachers are not meant to be military grade soldiers. teachers are meant to shape my future, help me throughout life and educate me. even if they are undercover, that is still just funneling more money to the nra who clearly is not supporting our right to live. they're putting their right to bear arms over the pursuit of life and happiness. and i think it's fairly tragic. >> as you know, the teachers and
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a lot of the staff, they are able to go back into the school as early as today. students are going back, i understand, next week, maybe tuesday. what are your plans? will you be able to go back into that high school? >> i hope that i'll be able physically and emotionally, but i already know that sincerely, i don't think it's the right thing to do. i think this tragedy happened way too soon. they're trying to push to open the school soon enough so that kids have to go back to school and will stop speaking out about wanting commonsense gun laws. that to me is disgusting. because i'm trying so hard. i am pushing day and night because i want this country to still have the second amendment and still be able to bear arms, semi or fully automatic guns, just -- there needs to be some common sense. how can an 18-year-old who can't even buy a beer buy an ar-15?
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how can background checks be so loose? you can go to a gun show and walk out with a gun. there's no waiting period. there's no actual background check done. how can somebody, the police reported to his 20 times in 2010, was autistic and got expelled from school for behavioral reasons, and they did nothing. i think this is a way to silence the kids. but we will not be silenced. we are dedicated and we're going to continue with this movement on march 24, and every rally, every petition, and we will be at every one at every turn. this is what means to us, saving kids' lives, and especially the ones that had sadly fallen due to terrible laws. >> thank you very much for your
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time. good luck to you. we're getting past calls the shooter made to 911 talking about his very emotional state. we'll play it out for you. also breaking news. moments from now the trump campaign adviser expected to flip in robert mueller's special investigation which escalates the pressure on paul manafort, the former campaign chairman.
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in a stinging review, president trump condemned the actions of an armed school resource officer that was on duty but stayed outside stoneman douglas high school as last week's shooting unfolded. >> when it came time to get in there and do something, he didn't have the courage or something happened. but he certainly did a poor job. that's a case where somebody who is outside, they're trained,
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they didn't react properly under pressure or they were a coward. >> let's bring in our panel. joining us our senior political analyst mark preston, our senior political reporter malika henderson and legal analyst gloria bori gloria borger. what's your reaction to the president's reaction? >> you need somebody you can count on at the school, so when he had a security officer that didn't react, he made it sound like this was one guy, and you really need more people who can back him up. that's what we heard from him at cpac this morning. he was talking about concealed carry. he was saying the teachers love their students. it should be the teachers, therefore, who should protect them rather than this kind of a guard who may not know the students. >> we haven't heard drebtirectl
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from the guard yet. we don't know his side of the story. we know what broward county sheriff's scott israel said yesterday. he was heartbroken. he was sickened by the reports that the security guard waited outside, never went inside that high school. the president was very forceful once again this morning at this conservative political action conference here in the washington, d.c. area, and he accused the democrats of wanting to take away americans' second amendment rights to bear arms. those are powerful -- that's a powerful accusation that the democrats will sharply reject. >> and he certainly was throwing a lot of red meat to an audience that wants to believe that, that perhaps believes that, but that's not going to help solve the problem. the situation we're in right now is that both sides refuse to talk to each other, they talk past each other, and when you are in a situation like this and people say, the president needs to be a leader in this, show some leadership.
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going out there and saying something like that only adds more fuel to a raging fire right now, and that is not leadership. >> listen to what he said on the issue of guns and what the president said afterwards. >> it should not be easier for a mad man to shoot up a school or a bank or a jewelry store or some gathering. >> why do we shoot up our banks, o and why not our schools? >> we drop off kids at our school that are so-called gun-free zones that are wide open targets for any crazy
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madman bent on evil to come there first. >> it's a gun-free zone. it says, this is a gun-free zone. please check your guns way far away. and what happens is they feel safe. nobody is going to come at them. >> at least on those three points, the president was echoing what wayne lapierre said. >> he's very much giving his talking point on this idea of arming teachers with concealed weapons from the nra. in many ways, this is his most detailed policy proposal. it's the one he talks about the most, it's the one he has sort of numbers, 10 to 20% of teachers, maybe they would be folks from the military. so yeah, in this way he is echoing the nra and even in some ways going further than the nra even though the nra backs this plan. they mainly talk about security guards being there to protect the students. so in that way, he's certainly on the same page. he is differing from the nra in
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terms of raising the legal age limit to purchase some guns, so in that way we'll see what he does. is that something he's going to lead with or is he going to lead with this idea of arming teachers, something he ultimately probably wouldn't have any control over. this would be a local and state issue, up to school systems what they wanted to do. >> the president thought his prepared remarks were boring, so he went off script, and at one point, he went after senator john mccain who, as you know, is suffering from brain cancer right now. listen to this. >> except for one senator who came into a room at 3:00 in the morning and went like that, we would have had health care, too. we would have had health care, too. >> you know, just two weeks ago megan mccain, senator mccain's daughter, said the president had personally promised her he wouldn't continue to attack her father who is going through this really very serious crisis in his health right now. >> he can't help himself.
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honestly, this is someone who doesn't have any internal editing process. he feels that senator mccain did something wrong to him, to him personally, and he's not going to forget it no matter what promise he made to megan mccain. by the way, megan mccain just tweeted that she and her mother cindy mccain are going to be on "the view" midweek next week and they're going to talk about this. i think megan mccain wanted him to stop this, as any daughter would. honestly, he can't help himself. it's the only reason i can think of. >> it must be very hurtful to hear this kind of rhetoric from the president. he's said things like that in the past, apparently promgsised that he wouldn't do it again. it's the first thing i thought of when we heard him talk about john mccain in that way. i thought about what megan mccain had said and this promise she had apparently gotten from the president that he now has gone back on. >> you know what's sad, i was in iowa when president trump said,
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i don't believe you're a hero if you got caught in vietnam as a p.o.w., that you got tortured as a hero. john mccain is a hero. whether you like his politics or not, he's a hero. and the fact that donald trump can get away with this goes beyond donald trump, it goes to his supporters who thinks it's okay to talk this way. >> they booed mccain in that audience. they booed him and here's a man who suffered greatly. >> if you want to boo john mccain, you know, because of specific policies or what have you, that's fine, okay? that's politics. what we just saw right there was not donald trump attacking him for his policies, it was donald trump, as you said, trying to get back at him because john mccain didn't support him. and that in itself is terrible. >> guys, there's more news that we're following. coming up, brand new 911 calls from the florida killer. you're going to hear him describe his emotional outbursts and violent past.
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the florida shooter calling for help. we're now hearing chilling 911 calls from the killer who shot and killed 17 people at stoneman douglas high school. >> 911 emergency. >> hi. i was just assaulted now. someone men someone attacked me. >> a call from palm beach county. >> i don't know where i came from. i'm new to the area. >> by the same 19-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed 17 people at his former high school
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mar marjory stoneman douglas. after his mother's death, nikolas cruz and his brother moved in with the dechamps family. according to 911 calls, even though guns were banned from the trailer, the dechamps feared cruz' outbursts. >> he was in the backyard behind the fence digging for 15 minutes, and i'm positive he hid a weapon. i'm positive he hid a 9-millimetre carbine in the back. >> 911 records showed at one point cruz threatening to pick up a gun at dick's sporting goods after a fight. >> he got mad and started punching the walls. >> he was throwing everything around the room and my son got
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in there and said, stop it. >> and then a kid came at me and threw me on the ground. he started attacking me and he kicked me out of the house. >> a very disturbing report from our affiliate. those 911 calls came shortly after the death of his mother in november. we reached out to the host family. they're in that report for comment. we haven't heard back from them, at least not yet. joining us from los angeles, cnn law enforcement josh campbell. josh, what can we take from these emergency calls? >> wolf, it's another layer of heartbreak for the victims of family members that went through this senseless tragedy. i think they continue to be revictimized every time we learn a new detail, a new clue that could have possibly helped stop this. you interviewed a short time ago one of the students who lived in, alfonso, and i think he lived out some of the mistakes better than i can.
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talking about the tips that came in to law enforcement, talking about the weapons. i think as we see the pattern being put together by the latest calls, it's clear we failed these kids and we have to do better. >> absolutely right. i have to learn a lot of lessons from this so it doesn't happen again. josh campbell, thanks. at president trump gets ready to hold a joint news conference, his former campaign adviser is about to flip in the russia investigation and cooperate with the special counsel robert mueller. he just walked in to court. we'll go there. stay with us. but one blows themisturizer all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells so it bounces back. neutrogena®
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in south korea. we cannot have a better or smarter person representing our country. is this unusual for the president to send ivanka trump on what potential ly could be a very sensitive diplomatic mission right now, shoring up relations with south korea, knowing that she potentially could be very close to a representative of north korea? >> yes, and vice president mike pence was already in south korea, so it was interesting him saying that. the president imposed new sanctions. she will exercise this diplomatic muscle a lot more than what the white house said. basically she's a winter sports enthusiast which is why she's going. >> there will be symbolic moments but substantively there could be serious diplomatic moments as well. >> there definitely could.
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that's why we need an ambassador in south korea that can work on these issues. they're complex. there's a roon why under various administrations, republican or democratic, you go into a meeting with trained experts who have background on the issues and approach them that way. north korea won the olympics, medal count aside, all the press out of the olympics is about north korea playing ball, literally and figuratively, with other countries while continuing their legal programs. so, we really need a trained diplomat to implement these things. >> i assume would be well briefed. the north korean delegation at the closing ceremonies will be kim jong-chol. >> it might be a show of force that, yeah, she's still involved. she's still being read in, still an intelligence area where she has access. but certainly it's going to be a standoff. we'll be looking at it the same way as when mike pence was there
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with kim jong-un's daughter. >> and she's leading this delegation, the white house press secretary is part of the delegation, but she's the leader of this delegation. >> she is. and that's really surprising. if she was going in her capacity as first daughter, that's great. why not? but someone who doesn't have experience should not be leading a delegation to diplomatic issues. >> she's working, like her husband, jared kushner, with interim security clearances. >> that's correct. and her port polio lately has been more about small business, women's issues, family medical leave. when her portfolio expands like this it feels, as you said, a little odd to include this massive issue right now. >> president trump briefly at the cpac speech mentioned new sanctions to north korea and
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then said let's hope the for the best. >> i don't think we should hope for the best when we have a nuclear arms state threatening to launch missiles at the united states. we need a careful plan. what's clear coming out of the olympics, we don't have one. the sanctions are strong. they're unprecedented. but our diplomatic approach is incredibly haphazard. vice president mike pence agreed to a meeting with the north koreans with no preconditions and then got snubbed. we'll continue our special coverage moments from now, a rare moment, the president will actually take questions from reporters in a formal news conference. lot to ask him from the school shooting to the new charges against his former campaign adviser. we'll have all of that live right after a quick break. any chance of an upgrade?
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hello, i'm wolf blitzer in washington. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. we're following breaking news on multiple fronts. former trump campaign official rick gates is about to plead guilty in robert mueller's wide-ranging russia investigation. the plea hearing is set to begin moments from now at the same time the president will be holding a big joint news conference with malcolm turnbull, visiting prime minister of australia, nation hailed, by the way, for addressing its gun violence problem. he arrives hours after president trump pushed once again for arming selected trained school teachers here in the united states. we'll get into the rick gates plea deal in a moment.
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all the breaking news. first our senior white house correspondent pamela brown in the east room of the white house, awaiting this joint news conference. pamela, gun control almost certainly will come up. >> it certainly will. these two leaders had a rocky start. you recall that contentious phone call they had about refugees. the two men have seemed to put that behind them and have warmer relations. you can imagine, wolf, gun control will be one of the key lines of questioning here when the president does take questions from reporters. really on both sides. australia is a country that has combatted gun violence as well. as you recall there was a mass shooting in the '90s where 35 people were killed. since then australia took very strong measures to cut down on gun violence. that will likely be brought up. and the president's suggestion that teachers who are highly adept should be armed and other