ic karl is probably right. >> with all due respect to my idol, i'm not sure we can say that about kushner at this point. you know, his lawyer has said that no documents have been subpoenaed about 6066 fifth avenue. i think, you know, we need to be very cautious. robert mueller is doing his own thing. up in unof us knew that 123 defend the case was coming about the russian social media attempt. i think we need to be careful about inferring it. so i think we should, you know, presume that someone is, you know, under investigation or may be indicted when we don't know that. >> yeah. thank you so much. president trump's announcement of spending tariffs on steel and aluminium triggering fireworks.

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>> this is about 2.6 pennies worth of steel. so if that goes up by 25%, that's about 6/10 of one cent on the price of a can of campbell's soup. i just bought this can today at a 7-eleven down here and the price was $1.99. who is going to be too bothered by 6/10 of a cent >>well, the cans can add up. president president defended his decision in a tweet. we must protect our country and our workers he wroe the steel industry is in bad shape. if you don't have steel, you don't have a country. it was something that the president campaigned hard on in 2016. there are many critics and a few supporters so far and it's another example the president turning public orthodox on the head.

steven muller is joining us. and max boot. to have your commerce secretary, you know, who is, you know, wealthy. he can go on television and make the argument you heard. how is this roll out, in your opinion? and what do you make of the actual policy? i would say this, i'll defend the president in this regard. i think he has the right intentions here. he feels strongly about protecting the jobs of the steel workers in this country. i campaigned with him and we went to a lot of areas where factories have been lost. in the midwest there's a sense that their factories have been lost as a result of trade. now i happen to disagree with that. i'm saying his intentions to look out for the middle class workers. the other thing i would say,

anderson, and you mention the fact he campaigned on this. he did. he told the american people and the american voters he was skeptical of these trade agreements and he would impose tariffs and he's done that. i'm not defending it. i think it had hurt the economy. i hope he reverse the policy soon. e hope it's never implemented. the stock market is falling. i believe because there's about 50 workers who use steel rather than produce it, then in the end of the game, this may actually end up costing the american economy more jobs than it creates. >> it's not just steel tariffs. a republican president went on television wednesday and said take guns and figure out due process later. if that's not up ending gop orthodox si, what is? >> it's clear that donald trump has very few in-depth views on the world. and one of the few deeply held convictions he has is that trade

is a bad thing. he's turning his back on republican orthodox. he's premised on the assumption that the united states will extend the free trade zone around the world and free trade is in our interest. he's turning his back on that. the first thing he did is pull out of the trapgs pacific partnership. this jipt trade zone in asia. and hands a giant victory to china. trade wars are dangerous. they're instructive to the economy. we don't need or want a president who is going to have a trade war that is unnecessary and will be instructive not only to our economy but to america's standing in the world. >> of course not.

you know, nobody wins a trade war. look, i'm actually in favor of getting tough trade with china. and i would be in favor of using trade as a weapon against china. i think china is a danger to the world. they've enabled north korea. in this case, did you know, anderson, we import most of the steel from? canada. and canada is not an enemy of the united states. i don't think it makes sense. on max's point, look, we agree, max, on the economics. no question about it. i campaigned with donald trump. i went to him in the mid western states. it's possible that it was his trade position that helped him crack through that blue win and win the states. a willed op -- a lot of voters a agree with donald trump. bernie sanders is in favor of the policy. responsible leadership is resisting the base impulses of your base and standing up to the horrible ideas people have

instead of catering to them. and, you know, playing to their emotions in the face of all economic opinions of the contrary >>well, max, i'm saying this. you know, you and i people who understand the value of trade and the benefits of trade to workers, we better make a better choice than the american people. right now i don't think a lot of americans are with us. i saw paul the other day, the majority of americans support these. we have a sales job to do. >> i'm sure that's true. it doesn't let donald trump off the hook. >> yeah. let's leave it there. we saw the record low. it and now we've imposed steel tariffs. we're not losing jobs in manufacturing. we're gaining them. >> yeah. steven moore, thank you. max, thank you.

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latest face to face meeting with the nra. his second one this week. some are concerned on wednesday remember the president met with a broip group of lawmakers at the white house. he seemed to signal support for stronger background checks raising the minimum age to buy rifles and taking guns away from the mentally ill. that puts him at odds at times with the nra. but the president insisted he would never cave to them. >> the reason i had lunch with the nra i said you got to do something. they have great power. i agree with it. they have great power over you people. they have less power over me. >> that was wednesday. a couple of days after his first meeting with the nra. the second meeting came yesterday. chris cox was there and he tweeted, quote, "had a great meeting with donald trump and the vp. we want safe schools, mental health reform, and to keep guns away from the dangerous people. the president and vice president support the second amendment."

support due process. after the president said he's in favor of taking the guns and worry about due process later. some are wondering if the president is back on the same page with the nra. i spoke with mark kelly. wife of gabby giffords. wounded in a shooting seven years ago. pushing congress to make changes to stop gun violence. >> >> it seems like a big change over a 48-hour period. so i don't know. i don't think he was asked today. i saw his tweet this morning about meeting with the national rifle association and the oval office and that happened very quickly. and it just 24 hour period his views seem to have shifted dramatically.

>> yeah. i mean, the president talked about gun control with lawmakers on camera. he deserves credit for the bipartisan meeting, but only seems to speak with the nra behind closed doors and the nra said the president doesn't want gun control. it seems that his words tend to be affected by whoever is in the room he's talking to at the time. >> pretty fluid. i heard what he had to say on wednesday, i guess, when he was meeting with members of congress. it was pretty encouraging for me. it was policy proposals that we've been talking about for a long period of time. you know, things like background checks for gun sales, limitations to some extent on you know what weapons people buy. these protection orders. it was very positive. but you can see the influence that the gun lobby has. the fact they can get into the president's office very quickly and within 24 hours get the seemingly change his position in

a tweet. >> yeah. sanders also said today that the president is still conceptually supports raising the age of purchasing rifles to 21. saying it has a better chance on the state level. that's not what the president said. he urged senators to make that part of a bipartisan bill >>well, you know, she might have been right. it has a better chance at the state level. we've experienced that, as well. i mean, we've had a lot of success helping pass 200 pieces of legislation in state capitals. washington, d.c., is very difficult to get meaningful legislation passed. the defense. especially lately but the gun lobby.

it's easy too see what that translates into the. the fact they can get into his office and quickly and get him to change his mind. >> >> are you encouraged by retail corporations taking action? do you think other companies will follow the lead? >> walmart did that a couple of years ago with semiautomatic assault rifles. and to see dick's sporting goods do that and raise the age. i think it's incredibly positive steps. dick's also put out a long list of policy pages they would like to see. i went online and bought golf balls from dick's. it's a positive step. >> i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you for having me on. coming up next, a powerful

nor'easter morphs into a cyclone. we'll have an update next.

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it's all about big values, jr. prices. it's called a bomb cyclone. it is bad up and down the northeast. high wind. 22 million people under a coastal flood warning. drenching rains. the extreme drop in pressure that you see in tropical storms sdp hurricanes. the video from massachusetts. can you just describe the conditions where you are? it looks miserable. >> you know, it's a little bit better than massachusetts where we were earlier today. along the south shore where there's no power at all. it was getting dangerous. we moved further north where it's still wind and rain. i can tell you behind this road closure it's not better. there are homes right now under

several feet of water. and right now there are active rescues going on. they have been going on all day for the peninsula. that area into at lanic ocean. children taken out by front loaders and boats. the rescues still going on right now. >> when's the next high tide? >> hathat's coming up in an hou and a half. that's why there's such urgency with the rescue going on really all across this area. that's getting hit. the fear is this is the second high tide. it will be the highest. it's possible it will set records. that will add to flooding that areas have seen tlohroughout th storm. >> when are the worst conditions expected to be past you in the area? >> we know some areas of south shore this all emergency is

going to be over by sunday. however conditions change. earlier today we were seeing rain and then it became wind and became flooding. and now we're seeing snow. they're changing. everyone is having to adapt and hunker down until this passes us. until sunday. >> airports are a mess. appreciate it. thanks for being there. the wild week for the white house. the special of a cnn special report on the trump russia investigation. so dense... so tempting. new temptation mascara. only from maybelline new york. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, ...

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not to put too fine a point on it. it has been a dizzying week. taking into account all the other weeks in the trump administration. to highlight a few developments. jared kushner cannot keep his top security clearance. the white house now has a higher clearance than jared kushner. the "washington post" reporting four countries discussed ways to use kushners comp collated business arrangements. lack of accident peerexperience manipulate him. mueller is asking ab the president's business dealings. as he weighed his run for the presidency. the nsa chief tells the intelligence committee the

president hasn't told him to confront the russian cyber threat. that's not a complete list of all the things that happened this week by any means. it is a perfect reason to for the cnn special report. a trump russia investigation. which starts now. >> announcer: the following is a cnn special report. only being a politician for a short period of time, how am i doing? am i doing okay? i'm president. i'm president. you believe it, right? >> a shadow hangs over the white house. >> why so many lies? >> this is not normal. >> the most explosive evidence yet in the russia investigation. >> the urgent questions. >> was it appropriate for you to meet with the russian officials?

>> is it true that mr. manafort owed you millions of dollars? >> at the heart of the trump-russia mystery. >> i have nothing to do with russia. >> but there were secret contacts. >> breaking and stunning news. release of an e-mail chain. >> it came from russians. >> some denials that defy facts. >> i don't know what you're talking about. it's disgusting, so phony. >> i didn't take any money from russia, if that's what you're asking. >> a shocking dismissal. >> the president of the united states has terminated the director of the fbi. >> he's a show boat, he's a grand stander. >> those were lies plain and simple. >> donald trump's changing stories. >> i own nothing in russia. i don't have any deals in russia. >> i've done a lot of business with the russians. >> compliments for vladimir putin. >> he is very much of a leader.

he's done an amazing job. >> where does the story end? >> you may or may not find evidence of an impeachable offense. >> the russian story is a total fabrication. it's just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of american politics. [ speaking foreign language ] good evening. i'm pamela brown. for more than a year i've been part of a cnn team investigating this critically important story. a consensus of u.s. intelligence agencies concluded that russia

interfered with the treasured right of american democracy, the free and fair election of a president. the big question now, were the russians working with any associates of donald trump or his company or his campaign? we followed hundreds of different threads to financiers. we've reported new information almost every day. tonight we will bring that reporting all together in one place to tell a more complete story. we don't know how this investigative journey will end, but we do know where it starts. ♪ >> in november of 2013, donald trump brought the miss universe pageant to moscow. >> russia and putin, you know, i was in moscow and they treated me so great.

putin even sent me a present, beautiful present. >> hi, everybody. welcome to moscow! >> it's an amazing location. moscow. all of russia is going wild over it money the miss universe pageant is setting records. >> trump seemed to have the time of his life. >> wow. that's really -- >> you're looking very -- >> that is really nice. now i belong. >> the big man on campus. >> donald trump. >> this is the unlikely place where an unusual cast of characters first emerged. men who would end up in the middle of an investigation that has plagued a presidency. donald trump was paid between 12 and $20 million to bring miss universe to russia.

>> russia wanted it, moscow wanted it, everybody wanted the miss universe. we had 18 countries that wanted it. they fought really hard to get it. >> the money came from this man. a billionaire developer, friend of vladimir putin, sometimes called the trump of russia. >> then they were whisked away to the magnificent agalarov estate. >> miss universe was a family affair. son emin sang at the pageant. and his mom got a job, too. >> fashion and beauty expert, irina agalarov! >> trump seemed thrilled with his new russian friends. before the pageant, trump

invited the agalarovs to dinner. and also there was music publicist rob goldstone. a fan of silly facebook posts, he he's the man who wrote the infamous e-mails to donald trump jr., e-mails that promised dirt on hillary clinton. and emin, the singer, would later help goldstone set up the trump tower meeting with russians. and there was one more mystery guest, who would later show up at trump tower. ike kaveladze. trump wined and dined all of them but he was after a bigger fish to make his pageant great. >> well, we've invited president putin. i know he'd like to go. >> before the miss universe deal, donald trump almost never spoke of vladimir putin.

it was 2013 when he seemed to address an intense admiration for the russian strong man. >> he's put himself -- a lot of people would say he's put himself at the forefront of the world as a leader. he's done an amazing job of showing certain leadership our people have not been able to match. >> he would echo those sentiments for years to come. >> putin has an 80% popularity in this country. he's so outsmarting the united states that all of a sudden the people in russia like him. run but a very smart cookie, much smarter than our president. >> this was when trump began giving conflicting reports about knowing putin. >> do you have a relationship? >> do i have a relationship. >> what exactly is your relationship with vladimir putin? >> i have no relationship with putin. >> he would change his story repeatedly. >> we were stable mates. we did very good that night. >> i don't know him, i have

nothing to do with him, i know nothing other than he will respect me. >> vladimir putin did not show up at the pageant but he made other contacts. >> i got to meet other leaders there. it was a top-level event. >> i was with oligarchs and generals. >> it's hard to say if oligarchs or generals were at the party. >> everybody was there. it was a massive event. it was tremendous. >> but trump did have at least one business meeting. >> we're thinking about doing a trump tower moscow. >> trump sent this good-bye tweet to his new russian friends. fantastic job, he said. trump tower moscow is next. four years would pass, but the

players at miss universe would return to take center stage in the trump-russia drama. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> the most explosive evidence yet in the russia investigation. >> it was in july just six months ago -- >> breaking and stunning news, the release of an e-mail chain from last june. >> -- that the world first learned about the trump tower meeting. >> e-mails revealed that donald trump jr. went into a meeting with a russian lawyer. >> the president's son had a secret meeting with russians. >> clearly told she was working for the kremlin and that she had damaging information on hillary clinton. >> and it wasn't just don jr. paul manafort and jared kushner were there, too. >> the subject line of the e-mail chain, russia-clinton, private and confidential. >> i thought it might have been fake. >> russia-clinton private and confidential?

>> who follows them down that rat hole? >> not very smart people. >> what? seriously, what? >> some of the e-mails read like a script for a bond movie, but they were written by rob goldstone and donald trump jr. >> information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and would be very useful to your father. >> this can't be dismissed as people out to get donald j. trump jr. or fake news. this is evidence of willingness to commit collusion. >> the offer of political dirt came courtesy of agalarov with assist from his pop son, emin. >> this is obviously very high level and sensitive information, but it's part of russia and its government's support for mr. trump. >> when donald trump jr. is told

the russian government is trying to elect your father president, he doesn't say what do you mean? how can that be? he says, "i want to hear this." >> the actual response? >> "if it's what you say, i love it." >> the trump camp's explanations were confusing. >> strange and conflicting responses. >> trump jr. told the the "new york times" it was, quote, a short introductory meeting primarily about russian adoption. cnn reported that president trump helped write the statement while he was flying home from the g-20 summit. >> he weighed in and offered suggestion like any father would do.

>> if a misleading statement was put out, the core question is the classic question of intent. were trump administration officials starting with the president himself lying to the public about the nature of his campaign dealings with russia? when the story of the meeting first broke, trump defenders downplayed it. >> i don't know much about it other than it seems to be a big nothing burger. >> this is a massive nothing burger. >> hillary clinton?

>> finally don jr. acknowledged the full story, that he had met with a russian lawyer offering dirt on hillary clinton. >> the stories kept changing about what the meeting was about. >> we got more information when donald trump jr. appeared on fox news. >> someone sent me an e-mail. i can't help what someone sends me, you know? i read it, i responded accordingly. and if something was interesting there, i think it pretty common. >> the difference in this case was that it came from russians. >> russia, america's adversary. sean hannity did not press trump jr. about russian interference, but one year earlier, jake tapper did. he asked trump jr. about what were then still just suspicions. >> robbie mook, the campaign manager for secretary of state hillary clinton, i asked him about the dnc leak and he suggested that experts were

saying that russians were behind both the hacking of the dnc e-mails and their release. >> keep in mind as you watch this, it was six weeks after the trump tower meeting, after trump jr. had been told russia wanted to help his father win. >> it just goes to show you their exact moral compass. they'll say anything to be able to win this. this is time and time again, lie after lie. it's disgusting. it's so phony. >> journalists began questioning everything they heard. >> you are 100% confident that no one in the campaign, not don jr., not jared kushner, not paul manafort, no one in the campaign told the president about what happened? >> i don't know how that's coming into the picture. the president of not at the meeting, was not aware at the meeting, did not participate in the meeting. the fact is the president of not

involved. >> there's a legal side and a political side. >> you're out there saying constantly there was no effort to collude with the russians in any way, shape or form. suddenly you have your son, your campaign manager and your senior adviser all in a meeting with russians who have promised to bring you dirt. >> on the very same day his son set up that meeting, donald trump told a crowd that he would soon have something to share on the clintons. >> i am going to give a major speech on probably monday of next week and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the clintons. i think you're going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. >> trump never did give that speech. but finally with all of washington buzzing about the

trump tower meeting, donald trump weighed in from france. >> i think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting. it's called opposition research or even research into your opponent. >> even among republicans, the response was, really? >> any time you're in a campaign and you get an offer from a foreign government to help your campaign, the answer is no. >> from the moment you watch mr. dr. zhivago to the point you had a shot of liquor with a guy in a furry hat, you need to disclose every contact you have ever had with russia. >> donald trump jr. said he had done that. >> so as far as you know, in is all of it? >> this is everything. this is everything. >> but it was not everything. there were more russian there is who were never mentioned. >> today we learned more people were in that meeting than just the lawyer and the three members of the trump team. so you're learning more about

who was the eighth person in the meeting between donald trump and -- >> it was a friend of the agalarov family. >> we're waiting to find out if there were any russians in new york that day who were not in that meeting. it was jared kushner, paul manafort, rob goldstone, rinat akhmetshin, ike kaveladze, a russian translator and natalia. >> she denied bringing up any dirt on hillary clinton.

>> i want to make sure everyone understands there was never a talk about damaging information about mrs. clinton. >> now she says she may have had dirt about alleged illegal donations to the clinton campaign. >> natalia says she provided certain documents to the russian prosecutor general. >> agalarov family attorney spoke. >> she referenced the possibility that money was provided to the clinton campaign. >> no people has now grown to 12 people, trump associates who

have had contact with russians. two of the most prominent have been charged with crimes. michael flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. paul manafort pleaded not guilty to, among other charges, money laundering. you'll hear more about them later in this story, but one lesser known player is also in the hot seat. donald trump first mentioned him at a meeting with "washington post" editors in 2016. >> george papadopoulos, an oil and energy consultant. excellent guy. >> excellent guy george papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi in the russia investigation. >> you called george papadopoulos an excellent guy. what is your reaction? what's your reaction to george papadopoulos? >> the trump team has been working overtime to portray him as a nobody. >> this individual was the member of a volunteer advisory council.

>> he was the coffee boy. if he was going to wear a wire, all we'd know is whether he prefers regular american coffee. >> but the coffee boy found his way to the big boy table with donald trump and other top campaign people. and it turns out papadopoulos may be the reason there's a trump russia investigation. >> the fiancee of george papadopoulos says he was much this is a big deal. the fact that an official said they have these e-mails and want to use them to benefit them in the election. >> when the e-mails began to

leak, australia told the fbi. papadopoulos is now cooperating with the mueller team. when we come back. >> the president thinks this is a witch hunt, any way you can respond to that? >> before there was a mueller investigation, there was a comey investigation. >> i remember standing in the "newsroo ne newsroom and somebody gasped. >> the jim comey bombshell that no one saw coming. >> it's a dark moment in american history today. the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. and now there's a new way to smooth. introducing new venus platinum. a premium metal handle boosts control...

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>> but days later, he made a decision that potentially put his presidency in legal and political jeopardy. >> we have major breaking news. >> moments ago, breaking news that no one saw coming today. >> i remember standing in the newsroom, and somebody gasped, went -- >> a bombshell at the white house. james comey is out. >> president trump had abruptly fired the man in charge of investigating his campaign's ties to russia. although the president is allowed to fire the fbi director, there were suspicions about trump's motivations. >> this is not normal. this is not how presidents behave. it's a dark moment in american history today. >> one senator says it has plunged the country into -- and i quote here -- a full-fledged constitutional crisis. >> it fueled calls for a special prosecutor and raised questions about how the firing was handled. >> comey wasn't even in the city. he was all the way across the country.

he actually found out by looking up and seeing it on the television. >> wait. okay. i just got to stop it. he was talking to fbi agents in los angeles, and he looks up, and he sees that he's fired from television. >> that is what we are told. >> that just gives you a sense of how impulsive this firing was, and it really did backfire. >> the underlying facts are not in dispute. the president fired james comey. the issue is why. >> did something specific happen? was there a moment? >> the white house comms department, didn't know about this. >> the media team was scrambling to answer reporters' questions. >> they couldn't come up with some talking points, a statement, an explanation, like the basic facts. >> and sean spicer was left standing by the bushes. >> hold on. just turn the lights off. >> no cameras at the moment. >> let's just relax, enjoy the night, have a glass of wine. >> they deliberately didn't tell the press office because they

thought the press office would leak it. this was at that moment when he was hugely mistrustful of his own staff. >> at first a memo written by deputy attorney general rod rosenstein was given as the justification for the firing. rosenstein has been the top official overseeing the russia investigation after attorney general jeff sessions recused himself last march. that recusal had infuriated president trump, who reportedly saw it as disloyal. >> he had expected a certain measure of personal loyalty of sessions, which was not how the u.s. government is supposed to work. >> on the night of the comey firing, the chaos continued. >> what prompted that? >> you have to ask the deputy attorney general. >> he just started two weeks ago. would the white house have told him to do that? >> the memo was critical of comey's handling of hillary clinton's e-mails before the election. >> why now are you concerned

about the hillary clinton e-mails when president trump was praising it from the campaign trail. >> i think you're looking at it from the wrong set of facts. you're going back to the campaign. this man is the president of the united states. he took recommendation of his deputy attorney general. >> that makes no sense. >> finally trump gave what appeared to be his real thing. >> i said you know what, this trump-russia thing is an excuse by the democrats for losing an election they should have won. >> the day after comey was fired trump shared his feelings about it with russian officials visiting the oval office. according to the "new york times," the president said, i just fired the head of the fbi. >> to say it to an adversarial

country. >> perhaps the rest was when the president said this, i just relieved great pressure have taken off. >> the president has consistently said that he did not obstruct justice when he fired james comey. the two men come from completely different worlds. >> james comey is a professional law man. he has a respect for the traditions of the justice department. >> it should be about the facts and the law, that's why i became fbi director. >> donald trump on the other hand is a business man. >> he expects absolute loyalty from everybody working for him. that's the culture in which he has operated for many, many years. >> their relationship got off to a bad start. before the inauguration, james comey was in charge of telling donald trump about the dossier, the controversial document contained allegations about the

president gathered as part of an opposition research project during the campaign. >> i didn't want him thinking that i was briefing him on this to sort of hang it over him in some way. >> it turns out that's exactly what the president thought. according to an interview he gave "the new york times." >> trump's reaction was anger. he said it was completely false. >> the encounter apparently didn't sit well with comey either. >> we know he went back to the fbi suburban and pulled out a classified computer and wrote his first memo about his interactions with donald trump. >> i was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so i thought it really important to document. >> the inauguration was such a success. >> comey's next public encounter with the president was awkward. the director of the fbi thought it was crucial to keep his distance. >> he stands in the part of the room that is physically as far from the president as it's possible to be.