p to 6 hours of 4g wireless network backup. everyone else, no way. we let calls from any of your devices come from your business number. them, not so much. we let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. the others? nope! for a limited time, when you get fast, reliable internet, you can add voice for just $24.95 more per month. call or go online today. call or go on line today. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. new tension and new intrigue in the paul manafort trial. prosecutors again challenge remarks the judge made with the jury present. and we now know star witness rick gates is also helping with other still secret aspects. plus, how's this for turning the tables?

a democratic senator in a tough re-election race says president trump isn't doing enough to secure the border and stop illegal immigration. and the iowa state fair is open, which guarantees two things. fried just about anything on a stick and a parade of people who think they should be the next president. count the never shy attorney of stormy daniels among them. >> i'm here to listen to the great people of iowa, explore the fair, and figure out if it makes sense to run for the presidency. people evidently want to come out. they want to hear what i have to say, and i'm encouraged by that. >> back to that interesting story a bit later. we begin with two law and order mysteries, both tied to the russia meddling special counsel investigation. one, what is causing secret meetings and a delay in today's proceedings at the trial of former trump campaign chairman paul manafort? and two, why is the special counsel calling the so-called manhattan madam, a woman who

once ran a high-profile prostitution ring, before the grand jury? we do know she's a close friend of roger stone. the manafort trial first. the prosecutors arrived at the courthouse today within striking distance of finishing their case, but there's been no testimony yet. instead, the judge has called private so-called side bar conversations with the prosecutors and defense attorneys then ordered an early lunch recess to, quoted, consider an issue. our crime and justice reporter shimon prokupecz has been tracking this trial. do we have any idea what this pause is about? >> not at all, john. we expected for prosecutors to wrap up their case today. they came in this morning, both the defense and prosecutor, and the judge had called them to the side bar, up to the bench out of -- you know, the jury was not present. the public could not hear what was going on. there were two of these side bar conversations. the judge essentially said he'd be back. he went to the back of the courtroom. he did not walk towards his chambers, i'm told by cnn folks

who are inside the courtroom. he went to the area where the jury usually sits in the back of the courtroom. he was there for some time. he then returned and said he'd be back, court would be back in recess at 1:45 where they would continue to hear evidence. we don't know what this delay is about, and clearly it's obvious that whatever the delay is, it's not been cleared up. so the judge needs more time. the attorneys for the defense team have not said anything to the press there. the special counsel's office, which is obviously overseeing this prosecution, has not given us indications on what this delay is. it is peculiar. it's weird. no one expected this today. certainly as we know, this judge likes to move things along. it has to be something he's still considering, something perhaps maybe significant to cause such a delay in this trial. >> that point about the judge an important one. he's tried to keep this as speedy as possible. obviously a mysterious pause.

we'll stay on top of it. meanwhile, another law and order twist. a former associate of roger stone did not appear for a scheduled grand jury hearing today, defying a subpoena from the special counsel robert mueller. cnn's m.j. lee is outside that courthouse in d.c. what happened? >> reporter: well, john, andrew miller, a former aide to roger stone, was supposed to make an appearance, testifying before the grand jury at the courthouse today. we're just learning he's not going to do that. so as you said, he's defying the subpoena from robert mueller. we caught up with his lawyer, and he tells us that the plan was, the hope was that by andrew miller not appearing for this testimony today that he would be found in contempt by the judge, and that is exactly what happened. he is now found to be in contempt by the judge. the judge has now issued a stay until monday. what his lawyer is telling us

now is that this will kick off the appeal process, again so they can argue that andrew miller does not want to and will not appear before the grand jury as a part of this investigation. what they have argued in the past is they believe this investigation on its whole is unconstitutional, and that is why they think miller should not have to participate in this testimony, this grand jury testimony. so this is their plan going forward. obviously keep in mind miller is not the only aide related to roger stone. somebody in roger stone's orbit that mueller's team has been interested in, kristen davis is supposed to appear later today. so we're on the lookout for her as well, john. >> mj lee outside the courthouse where the grand jury is here in washington. appreciate it. keep in touch if there's more developments. let's go back to the manafort

trial. one of the things we don't know is what is this about? at this point, we're getting close to getting to the jury. judges and attorneys have more conversations at that time in a trial. now you have this mystery where this judge goes out. as we try to figure out what this mystery is, and i don't want to speculate. we know that the prosecutors came to court today for the succeed d second day in a row asking the judge to clean up some of the words they say were prejudicial. they were having testimony yesterday about a loan paul manafort was trying to get, and the judge cracked saying, focus on a loan he actually got. the prosecutors are mad. if you're in a criminal conspiracy, it doesn't matter if you get to the finish line. so there's been tension with the judge about his conduct in the case. how significant is that? >> i mean, could be significant. we don't know exactly what this delay is all about. we don't know if the judge will clear up any of the things the prosecution has been concerned

about. they are concerned what he's been saying could influence the jury in the long run. i think what's interesting also is that we don't know about why a decision was made to seal this discussion that occurred also involving rick gates and the trump campaign and if this is a suggestion by the prosecution that gates is cooperating with the mueller team about that separate investigation, which is about russian interference and about whether there was any collusion with the trump campaign. so a lot of unanswered questions. we'll see how significant they turn out to be. >> normally you get toward the end of a trial, you're clearing up questions. at this juncture, we're adding questions. here's what happened in court. the defense lawyer questioning rick gates, the star witness, paul manafort's former business partner who said, yes, we broke a lot of laws, yes, we lied on our taxes, yes, we lied on these bank forms. that's what rick gates has been saying. the defense has been trying to say you did this. paul manafort is not involved.

kevin downing, the defense attorney. have you been interviewed by other members of the office of special counsel about the trump campaign? rick gates, yes. downing, and were you interviewed on several occasions about your time at the trump campaign? so the defense brings the campaign into the trial. the prosecution says, whoa, stop. they go up to the judge. there was a court filing. the conversation they had with the judge is now sealed. often those kwfrconversations s up later. that has been ordered sealed because the special counsel filed this, disclosing the identified transcript portions would reveal substantive evidence pertaining to an ongoing investigation. sealing will minimize any risk of prejudice from the disclosure of new information relating to that ongoing trial. so rick gates is not just a key witness in the paul manafort trial. they're trying to mine gates for something later. >> that's where this gets really

fascinating. this whole case about manafort has been kind of hard to follow. it's unrelated to president trump other than that manafort was very important to his campaign. the gates stuff is directly relevant to what mueller is looking into. he was in a key position during all of these key moments. the trump tower, the wikileaks document dump. and he stayed on after manafort left. so he's in a very important position to reveal something. now we have what seems to be evidence that he is talking with the special counsel. >> that his role is way more important than just rearview mirror, what paul manafort and he did before they joined the campaign. >> but i think it also reminds us of how much we don't know about what's going on with the investigation. sometimes i feel like i'm having coffee with rudy giuliani every morning because he's on tv so much. but we're only hearing 50% of the story. i think that's a really important thing to keep in mind, especially when you get these little trickles of information

that make you say, oh, well, what's behind the door? we really don't know. so i think when we look at the polling numbers, when we think about this investigation as a political entity, we just don't know what's going to come. it's really hard to be predictive or, you know, make assumptions like the trump campaign seems to make. oh, this'll be done by september 1 because of this doj guidance. well, it's not so clear that doj guidance pertains to this investigation. so i think that's a really important thing to keep in mind here. >> yeah, i think watching the trial unfold, the question raised in many people's minds is how does this relate to the 2016 election? how does it relate to russian meddling? that conversation that defense lawyers raise really revealed that the mueller team was talking to rick gates and perhaps using him -- has plannings to use him as a witness against trump. not only that, but if they extract a conviction against manafort, they also hope to squeeze him for information.

>> you come away when you see that with a clear impression the special counsel -- the trump people would like to say this is an isolated case, nothing to do with the trump campaign. special counsel making the case this is a building block, this is one of our cases, but we're going to move on from here. to the point you make about so much we don't know. mj lee standing outside of that courthouse. a person most people in america haven't heard of, andrew miller defies a subpoena. think back to the elliott spitzer days, a lot of people heard of kristen davis, the manhattan madam. she's about to be a witness for the grand jury. you say, what? what does this have to do with russian election meddling or any trump campaign nefarious activity alleged? we do know they're both very good friends of roger stone. we do know roger stone says this is just because he's a good twitter reader and a good interview reader. roger stone knew in advance or signaled in advance about the wikileaks document dump. do we have any sense of how they think these stone associates can get them to a relevant piece of information? >> we know that they're circling

around roger stone. for weeks they've been interviewing some of his key associates, people like michael caputo, long-time friend of roger stone, and others. they have not spoken with stone, which is also a suggestion they want to talk to people in his orbit before talking to him. i think it also signals more broadly the trump team wants this to conclude by september. this is not going to conclude by september. this investigation is ongoing. there's a lot we don't know. there are some key people yet to be interviewed. they ultimately have to determine how to move forward. >> to that point, there's no hard and fast rule the special counsel has to shut down. there's a general principle that within 60 days or so, you don't deliberately do anything that could interfere with that election. james comey is recent exhibit a in how people say don't do it that way. here's jay sekulow, one of the president's lawyers. they continue to make the public case that mueller has a

responsibility to shut it down. >> this needs to be over with soon. it's -- i think it's been very bad for the country. we're at a point in this inquiry where they can wrap it up. this has been the most transparent investigation in u.s. history. all of these documents given, all of these witnesses put forward, they really don't need to speak to the president. they haven't made the constitutional case to speak to the president. >> he doesn't mention all the stories changed. i would also say all the lies told. the president's lawyers, we'll see if they ever end up in go court, if they're good lawyers. there's no requirement on robert mueller, number one. number two, most people who know robert mueller think he's a career guy. he's not going to deliberately poke during an election season, but he's going to do his work. they're just trying to convince, what, the electorate that if bob mueller keeps going, he's a horrible person? >> it's an argument about propriety and if he were to do something, it would be a break with tradition, inappropriate,

and the president's lawyers are making political arguments because they're worried about impeachment, which is a political matter. i think they're doing what's appropriate in the interest of their client. >> but to lisa's point, we don't hear from bob mueller during all of this. we only hear from the trump side of things. that's had a big hit on bob mueller's numbers. he's been sort of slowly and methodically doing the work and building his case. >> when he wants us to know something, he will let us know something. >> last i checked, president trump is not on the ballot. there's a real open question about how much of that rule pertains to elections where the person in question is not on the ballot. >> great point. we'll keep an eye on this one as we count down to those 60 days. we're mainly waiting to see what happens in the manafort trial this afternoon. up next, president trump being criticized for not doing enough to secure the border. by a democrat.

named 'park' in the u.s. ninety-six hundred roads it's america's most popular street name. but no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local allstate agents knows yours. now that you know the truth, are you in good hands?

you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist.

we're building that wall. we're building the wall. don't worry. we've already started. we've already started. we're building that wall. we've already started. we're doing a lot of things that people don't even know about. >> that's president trump this past weekend in ohio recycling a signature 2016 theme in an effort to excite republican voters about the 2018 midterms. but the administration's own numbers don't always back up the president's tough immigration talk. and because of that, we have an interesting midterm twist today. the president still struggling to get his wall money from congress and arrests for illegal border crossings are up in 2018 after dipping last year. so, get this, a vulnerable trump state democratic senator now trying to turn the tables. north dakota senator heidi heitkamp says, quote, i don't share the view when people say, well, we don't need to do anything. the border is secure. the border is not secure, but we need to be smart about how we do

border security. here's the punchline. we're waiting for a southern border strategy. bam. it's not often that you have a democrat essentially saying the president either isn't tough enough or doesn't have a plan, choose your way to characterize it, on immigration. >> yeah, moving to the right of trump. she also supported the gang of eight immigration bill that did have a lot of border security money but also included a pathway to citizenship for people here illegally. this is an issue that of course -- >> suggesting she's trying to reposition herself to the right. >> yes, perhaps. i know that's shocking in an election year. undoubtedly, this is an issue republicans view as something they can energize their base on. trump is saying they're starting to build the wall. that is far from the truth right now. and they're not getting the money they need. he's also not fulfilling his own campaign pledge. where is mexico paying for this? >> he's talked about the

possibility of a government shutdown if he doesn't get a big chunk, an allocation of money in the last spending bill they have to do when congress comes back. i want to put these numbers up so you see them. there's been a lot of tougher enforcement by the administration, but there's also this. the numbers don't lie. southern border patrol apprehensions. you see the numbers going up. this is the current fiscal year. the government fiscal year starts in october, running through july. you see those numbers. here's a little comparison. fiscal year 2014 when obama was president, there's the numbers there. family unit apprehensions, just shy of 70,000. '14, just 77,000, almost 78,000. the trump number is higher than the obama numbers. >> i think there are two ways to read those numbers. one is are there more crossings because the economy is booming and the president is empowering border patrol agents to arrest people? but the heitkamp thing is such a fascinating win doe into red-state democrats. she's not the only one. joe donnelly of indiana came out

saying he supports building the wall. joe manchin of west virginia, the same. on the wall in particular, i really think that the president's calls to build the wall are -- i go back to that old cliche of the election that trump's voters take him seriously but not literally. i really think it stands for really people wanting strong border enforcement. you know that heitkamp called really for a southern border strategy. i think she's right on with that. i don't think trump's voters will be disappointed if we don't have a wall specifically, but they do want border enforcement. >> one of the strengths of the trump campaign was that he was and rightly so in many cases, able to look voters in the eye and say career politicians are hypocrites. they say one thing and do another. he made the case that the clintons don't play by the rules. sometimes fairly, sometimes not so fairly. that sold. don't trust career politicians. will it affect him that he rails against this so-called chain migration? and forgive me, his wife's parents were made united states citizens yesterday through the very policy that the president

of the united states says should be ripped up and thrown away. >> it probably should, you know. it is clearly hypocritical. there are so many instances where hypocrisy doesn't seem to stick to donald trump. why that is, you know, is many thesis papers to explore that. i do think that it's a clearly hypocritical move where his family is benefitting. it's kind of another interesting instance where melania trump's parents, the lawyer for them, was making a clear point in stating that chain migration is a dirty word to describe family reunification. it's one of those instances where melania in her view points are totally at ods from president trump and his view points and what his administration is doing. >> we shall see as that plays out. >> i think this will affect him about as much as the trump organization's use of foreign

workers to biuild properties. >> there you go. and heidi heitkamp trying to turn the tables. we'll see if any democrat takes this issue and puts it into a campaign. up next, republicans' midterm messaging features one familiar face this cycle not named president trump. when i received the diagnoses, i knew at that exact moment ... i'm beating this. my main focus was to find a team of doctors. it's not just picking a surgeon, it's picking the care team and feeling secure in where you are. visit cancercenter.com/breast

but how do i know if i'm i'm getting a good deal? i tell truecar my zip and which car i want and truecar shows the range of prices people in my area actually paid for the same car so i know if i'm getting a great price. this is how car buying was always meant to be. this is truecar. gimme two minutes. eligible for medicare. and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza... [mmm pizza...] is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80 percent... medicare will pay for. what's left... this slice here... well... that's on you. and that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company comes in. this type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. and these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. that's because they meet their high standards of quality and service.

wanna learn more? it's easy. call unitedhealthcare insurance company now and ask... for this free decision guide. inside you'll find the range of aarp medicare supplement plans and their rates. apply any time, too. oh. speaking of time... about a little over half way and there's more to tell. like, how... with this type of plan, you'll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. great for staying with the one you know... or finding... somebody new, like a specialist. there are no networks and no referrals needed. none. and when you travel, your plan will go with you- anywhere in the country. so, if you're in another state visiting the grandkids, stay awhile... enjoy... and know that you'll still be able to see any doctor who accepts medicare patients. so call unitedhealthcare today. they are committed to being there for you. tick, tick, tick, time for a wrap up. a medicare supplement plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't.

you know, the pizza slice. it allows you to choose any doctor, who accepts medicare patients... and these are the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. whew! call unitedhealthcare today and ask for this free decision guide.

i'm a small business, but i have... big dreams... and big plans. so how do i make the efforts of 8 employees... feel like 50? how can i share new plans virtually? how can i download an e-file? virtual tours? zip-file? really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the answer is simple. i'll do what i've always done... dream more, dream faster, and above all... now, i'll dream gig. now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. sleonly remfresh usesep one in threeion-powered melatonin to deliver up to 7 hours of sleep support. number one sleep doctor recommended remfresh - your nightly sleep companion.

midterms are historically about who's sitting in the oval office, but some republicans are trying to flip the script and make nancy pelosi the issue. >> dishonest danny would vote with pelosi to raise taxes and give amnesty to millions of illegals. dishonest danny o'connor, he'd make washington worse. >> before you vote, do your research. nancy pelosi has. that's why pelosi's financing lisa brown's campaign. same values, same liberal records. >> under nancy pelosi, our economy crashed. reckless spending devastating unemployment. >> according to a group that tracks campaign ads, 37% of republican tv ads that aired in ohio's 12th district mentioned or featured pelosi. nationally, 11% of all gop house and senate ads at least mention pelosi. republicans say using pelosi as

a midterm motivator works. while democrats call that wishful thinking or at least exaggerated spin, it's no secret these gop attacks come as more and more democrats say they won't support the california democrat for speaker if their party retakes the house this november. that tells me that it may not be working as well as republicans say, but it has to be working if more and more democrats are saying, nope, won't do it, right? >> so i think there's two interesting parts of this argument. one on each side. so obviously as many of your viewers know, running against pelosi was a big issue in this recent special election in ohio. what a republican down there told me was that the republicans saw it as a particularly good motivator for some republicans who maybe were a little shaky on the president. that, well, you feel shaky on the president, but you really don't want house speaker pelosi. so this is why you got to turn out. this is why you have to vote republican. on the democratic side, i think it's a good argument for democrats because not only does

it inoculate them against these republican attacks, but it also gets at this other piece that many in their base would like to see, which is generational change that they have this fairly elderly leadership in the house and there's certainly a large portion of the party, a notable portion of the party that would like to see younger blood. >> good. >> and pelosi has a real challenge here in becoming speaker again, particularly of the democratic majority. there are a lot of democrats on record saying they won't support her. maybe this is just politics and seeing it on the campaign trail and they'll feel differently in secret ballot elections. but on the floor, those are not secret votes. she can only lose so many. that's why a lot of democrats say privately and some publicly why are you even giving the republicans an issue? you becoming speake again will be very hard. >> that's what's going to -- she's going to face a tough choice. people think -- a lot of people

thought she would face that choice after the election. some people might think before the election. if we move closer, past labor day, and it's like, yeah, the democrats will probably retake the house but it's still a question, no, he's not going to take advice from bill crystal. but he does post this today. pelosi would do her party a favor by announcing that though she looks forward to being part of a democratic majority, that she looks forward to a new leader and she's urging her 75 and over colleagues not do so as well. could there come a point before the election where she has to deal with this question? or is she koconvinced she can a least ride out the election? she's the most organized person in the democratic party. she's the best fundraiser, particularly for house democrats. and she gets this. she can count. >> and i don't think there's any hint of her backing down. she sat down with "the boston globe" editorial board in may and said, i don't want five men

sitting at that table, referring to all the men in congressional and white house leadership. i'm going to be at that table. so she's very committed, i think, to running again for house speaker, even though it probably would benefit her party if she tried to kind of pass the baton. >> but would she run if her math told her she might lose? >> i think she probably would. i think that she believes that she can win. she believes that she can -- the democratic enthusiasm will be so intense if they do win and at the end all these naysayers wllh come to her side. >> we'll continue to watch the dynamic. we have to take a pause for some breaking news. special counsel robert mueller issuing yet another subpoena in the russia investigation. this one also involving trump confidant roger stone. our justice correspondent jessica schneider joins us from washington. jessica, spell this out. >> reporter: a lot seems to be swirling around roger stone. of course, we're seeing the

manhattan madam at the grand jury today. now word just out that the special counsel's team has, in fact, subpoenaed randy credico. randy credico is a comedian, a radio show host, and a friend of roger stone. it was randy credico who roger stone said was his back channel to wikileaks and wikileaks founder julian assange. we know credico initialy refused an interview. he has now agreed to a voluntary interview. this grand jury subpoena is for september 7. not too far away, less than a month away. it really shows that this investigation continues to go on. it continues to move forward. it looks like roger stone is a big part of this investigation. roger stone himself has not been in contact with the special counsel's office, but all of these people in his orbit are

now part of this special counsel probe. again, the manhattan madam is before the grand jury today. we know andrew miller, who is also a confidant of roger stone, he was also subpoenaed. he has not appeared. he will be held in contempt. and now this latest subpoena for randy credico. one last thing, john. rudy giuliani talked about this investigation wrapping up by september 1st. we can see that just by the mere fact that this subpoena for randy credico is for september 7th, that looks very unlikely, and it won't happen. john? >> very important point at the end there. jessica schneider, thank you. september 7th happens to be 60 days before the midterm elections. there's a signal. robert mueller doesn't talk in public, but what he puts on the court calendar tells you a little something. we'll keep track of that as well. before we go to break, marking a milestone. 25 years ago today, ruth bader ginsburg sworn in as the second female supreme court justice. >> in my lifetime, i expect

there will be as many sisters as brothers in law. that prospect is indeed cause for hope, and its realization will be cause for celebration. (vo) this is not a video game.

this is not a screensaver. this is the destruction of a cancer cell by the body's own immune system, thanks to medicine that didn't exist until now. and today can save your life. ♪ ♪ topping our political radar today, football is back and the president says kneeling nfl players should, quote, find another way to protest or be suspended without pay. today's tweet comes after

several players kneeled, raised fists, or stayed in the locker rooms during the national anthem at last night's preseason games. the nfl says it is still trying to work out a compromise with players. while those talks are ongoing, it will not enforce a previous announced policy that did include fines and other potential penalties. president trump is tweeting he's authorized a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum from turkey. the white house says this is a national security issue, but sources telling cnn it's also because of the failed discussions to bring home an american pastor detained in turkey. meanwhile, the turkish lira tanked today because of tensions with the united states and the unwillingness of turkish authorities to raise interest rates. a tiny difference in the vote count but a giant controversy in the republican primary for kansas governor. here's the tally. kris kobach has a 116-vote lead over the incumbent governor jeff colyer. it's the secretary of state

required to verify the vote. kobach said he'll recuse himself given he's one of the candidates. take a listen. >> i guess i'll be happy to recuse myself. as i say, it really doesn't make any difference. my office doesn't count the votes. the counties do. it's purely symbolic because i don't have any involvement in the recount, but i said of course, if he wants me to, i would. he's said, okay, i do want you to. so i will. up next, the potential democratic 2020 field just got a little more crowded. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't.

and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. but if something happened to you... you need life insurance! and chances are selectquote can get it for you for under a dollar a day! selectquote found michael, 38, a $500,000 policy for under $23 a month. selectquote found anna, 37, a $750,000 policy for under

$22 a month. selectquote's secret? they comparison shop select group of great companies like these for your best rate. give your family the security they need... at a price you can afford. since 1985, selectquote has saved over a million families millions of dollars on life insurance. call the number on your screen. or go to selectquote.com. discover what over a million families know. we shop. you save.

an interesting, some might use a different word, but let's call it an interesting new addition today to the long list of 2020 democratic presidential hopefuls using 2018 as a test

track of sorts. michael avenatti is in iowa. you know him from the tv. he's attorney for adult film actress stormy daniels. yesterday you see him right there at the iowa state fair. that's a traditional walking tour, face time with potential voters. tonight avenatti has the stage. he's the lead speaker at a democratic fundraising event. he'll test his theory that voters will be looking outside the box as they pick someone to test the current outside the box incumbent. >> i'm here to listen to the great people of iowa, explore the fair, and see if it makes sense to run for president. i think i could beat the president in a general election. i think it's going to be a brutal campaign. i think it's going to require a fighter. i think it's going to require somebody that's scrap wpy. i think it's going to require someone to engage in a significant cage match for the future of this country. >> cage match. i yield the floor.

what do we make of this? >> i'm really, really tired thinking about the democratic field for 2020 already. >> which one of the 25 or 26 or 27? >> i think when you start counting the ones who will flirt with the bid to raise their profile, which may be what mr. avenatti is doing here, 25 might be a lowball number. you're going to need a lot of graphs and charts, moving maps to keep track of them all. >> your first instinct is to laugh, right? forgive me, mr. avenatti. a guy with no political experience. a guy who's been on tv, going after the president in the stormy daniels case. then, wait a minute, donald trump had no experience, a lot of people laughed, said reality tv star, this is just to raise his profile. this is about his ego. >> one thing the democratic base is going to be looking for is someone who's going to go after the president, toe to toe, fight him tooth and nail. that's going to be a real interesting way to see how the

democratic field shapes up because there will be some who naturally because of their personalities will not necessarily want to go as far as a lot of folks on the left want to go, which would be to impeach and then convict the president. others may be more moderate in their approach to the president. michael avenatti clearly is not. maybe he does appeal to that segment of the base. >> we'll see if he's successful or not. sometimes people who get in a race or around in the pregame of a race do influence other candidates even if they do well. here's michael avenatti. you remember michelle obama, if they go low, we go high. when they go low, i say we hit harder. >> that clearly has been his strategy. the question in my mind about avenatti is trump was able to self-fund. i don't think avenatti would be able to self-fund at the same level. at the same time, he's gotten an enormous amount of free media. he's taken a lot of shots at the president. it's not clear to me that any of them have really landed. so i don't think he has a great

track record from which to run. >> would you want to be one of his clients right now? in the sense this has already come up during the michael cohen proceedings in new york where there was a question about whether avenatti should be barred because he's always on television. there was this no person involved in this action has been more yubiquitous in the media than michael avenatti. that was from a federal judge. now anything he says in court for any client can be questioned as politically motivated, right? >> yeah, and i think you're seeing the transition of his career at this moment from a court-time lawyer to somebody arguing in public. but i do think it illustrates the wide openness of this democratic field, the fact that we will think about and talk about and it will get written about the fact that michael avenatti is going to iowa. >> let's be fair. these worker bees get frustrated when these quote/unquote candidates get attention. there's a congressman, mr. delaney, he's in iowa.

we have this picture, i hope. the former republican speaker of the house john boehner, shorts and boat shoes. he says de lay nebraska laney i old buds. showing up for a democratic congressman. okay. >> john boehner is loving life right now. that's for sure. i don't think we expect delaney/boehner 2020. that's probably a little of a stretch. >> sure. >> but, you know, nobody knows. we're in an era with new political rules. nobody quite knows what they are. you will see a lot of democrats throwing out their theory of the case, throwing it up against the wall, and taking share shot. >> and we'll see who paul ryan shows up with. >> excellent. touche. i like that. he'll join boehner in the era of no political rules. up next for us, one year after charlottesville, kanye west, spike lee both on television saying very different things about president trump and race. this is a story about mail and packages.

and it's also a story about people and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you

bundle and save big, but now it's time to find my dream abode. -right away, i could tell his priorities were a little unorthodox. -keep going. stop. a little bit down. stop. back up again. is this adequate sunlight for a komodo dragon? -yeah. -sure, i want that discount on car insurance just for owning a home, but i'm not compromising. -you're taking a shower? -water pressure's crucial, scott! it's like they say -- location, location, koi pond. -they don't say that. two prominent african-american celebrities and two very different takes on president trump one year after the stain of charlottesville. kanye west telling jimmy kimmel he continues to support the president and this he gets annoyed with african-americans who tell him that is unacceptable. >> everyone around me tried to pick my candidate for me, and then told me every time i said i

liked trump that i couldn't say it out loud or my career would be over, i'd get kicked out the black community because blacks, we're supposed to have a monolithic thought. it represented overcoming fear and doing what you felt no matter what anyone said and saying, you can't bully me. liberals can't bully me. news can't bully me. the hip-hop community can't bull y me. >> spike lee said the president stoked division. >> the president of the united states had a chance to denounce hate, hate groups. the whole world saw what happened, and he didn't do it. since this guy's gotten in the white house, it's not even a dog whistle. it's a bull horn.

and then also, anderson, we've seen a rise of the right not just in america but worldwide. >> interesting perspectives from both. where are we a year later? i just add this to the conversation, if i were the president, this would horrify me. 49% yes, 47% no. the question, do you think trump is a racist? half the country thinks the president of the united states is a racist. >> it's stunning. the question is, is the president concerned about that? when he talks about african-americans, he often talks about how the unemployment levels are low. he doesn't really get into anything beyond that. and does he need to come out and say something more publicly now that we're at the year anniversary of charlottesville. there's no indication he will. >> he's not tried to start any dialogue nationally. there was some talk he might do that after the nfl season. instead, he's still picking fights, whether it's lebron james and the basketball arena or the nfl players today. he keeps picking fights with

black athletes. >> you can add to this list omarosa has a new book out and she's alleging there are tapes with him using racial slurs. i think there's added evidence of some of these racial hostilities. i think we as a country generally have not had teaching moments on this issue. it's just been more division over racial issues, which the president has not let on. >> he clearly thinks it's good politics with his base. it's also clearly fairly divisive for the country. >> i don't think trump intends his presidency to be about unity except in the sense of recapturing an american identity that i think many african-americans feel excludes them. i would add maybe latinos to that. i think in the president's conception, it doesn't necessarily. he thrives on divisiveness. >> and the laura ingraham comments in the news this

morning. the people aligned with the president don't seem to factor us in, shall we say. the white house putting out a statement within this past hour, condemning that book, denouncing that book. they have in the past denounced people who say they are going public with private information. they've not denounced their supporters though. thank you for joining us today on "inside politics." jim acosta is in for wolf today. he picks up our coverage right now. have a great day. hello. i'm jim acosta in for wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us. an act of defiance is where we start. an ally of roger stone refusing to testify before a grand jury in the russia investigation, challenging robert mueller. this as another stone ally, the manhattan madam, takes the stand. a judge ordering a plane to turn around and threatening to hold the attorney general in contempt. and north korea fo