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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  August 20, 2018 5:00pm-6:00pm PDT

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>> my husband will be so mad. he will not speak to me. >> jeanne moos, cnn, new york 37. >> thanks so much for joining us tonight, ac 360 starts now. good evening, after a weekend of bruising headlines, president trump is ramping up attacks on the russia investigation, while one of his current attorneys tries to explain why truth isn't truth. so there's a lot to cover tonight. breaking news, the president telling reuters he's stayed out of the mueller probe so far, but could run it if he wants to. there's reporting that federal prosecutors are priping charges against michael cohen. there's reporting that don mcgann the current white house council has been meeting and talking with robert mueller's team. there's also the president's former campaign chairman, still waiting for a verdict in his tax evasion and bank fraud trial. and dozens more weighing in against the president and john
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brennan's security clearance. his anger at least on twitter appears to be growing. bob mueller and his whole group of democrat thugs spent over 30 hours with the white house council, only for my approval for purposes of transparency. he then went on talking about mueller. anyone needing that much time is just someone looking for trouble. they are enjoying ruining people's lives and refuse to look at the real corruption on the democrat's side. the lies, the firings, the deleted e-mails and so much more. mueller's angry dems are a national disgrace. the president railed against bruce orr's security clearance he's threatening to yank, and also john brennan. studied the late joseph mccarthy, we are now in period with -- mccarthy was a demagogue
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who routinely twisted the truth. his former attorney and close friend was the lawyer roy kohn who helped mccarthy be that demagogue who routinely twisted the truth. robert mueller, until the president began taking shots at him has always been known and praised for being the opposite of mccarthy. the president would have you believe that mccarthy and mueller are on equal footing. that's the place we're in right now. the president and people speaking for him believe truth isn't truth. just listen to what the president's lawyer had to say about whether the president should talk to robert mueller. >> what i have to tell you is, i'm not going to be rushed in having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury. when you tell me that he should testify because he's going to tell the truth, and he shouldn't worry. that's silly, because it's someone's version of the truth, not the truth.
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he didn't have a conversation about -- >> truth is truth. >> no, it isn't truth. truth isn't truth. the president of the united states says i didn't -- >> truth is the truth, mr. mayor, do you realize -- this is going to become a bad m eme. >> today, giuliani tried to clean things up. my statement was not meant as a pontification on moral theology. the classic he said she said puzzle. sometimes further inquiry can reveal the truth, other times it doesn't. whatever you think he was trying to say, there is history here. other wellian language is nothing new from the president's people and the president himself. it began just after inauguration day with ridiculous lies about crowd size. >> you're saying it's a falsehood, and they're giving sean spacer gave alternative facts. >> alternative facts.
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doesn't that seem so long ago? the craziness of it is still crisp, there's no expiration date on that phrase. the president less than a month ago, in a speech in can canning city, uttered something which other well himself could have written. >> just stick with us, don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. and just remember, what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening. it's okay, everyone, what you're seeing and what you're reading, is not what's happening. actually, none of it is. none of it is real, sleep well. there's no more threat from north korea, these aren't the detroits you're looking for, move along. before we move along, i have to show you one other amazing display of twisting that rudy giuliani tried this weekend on chuck todd's program. that donald trump junior, paul manafort and jared kushner had with the russians on information
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on hillary clinton. put that all aside, there are some basic actual facts about the meeting that are known, that are clear, not alternative facts, not untruthful truths. the main facts of the meeting are not in dispute. listen to the man just totally making stuff up. >> i don't even knew if she was russian at the time. >> i think they knew she was russian. >> they knew it when they met with her. not when they set up the meeting. you asked me, did they show an intention to do anything with russians. all they knew is that a woman with a russian name wanted to meet with them. they didn't know she was a representative of the russian government, and indeed she's not. >> they didn't know she was russian. they didn't know she was a representative of the russian government. in the immortal words of mike wallace, come on. come on! there are e-mails. let's put them up.
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emmen asked that i schedule a meeting with you. i believe you're aware of the meeting, wondered if 3:00 p.m. or later on thursday works for you. in case you missed it that is a russian government attorney flying over from moscow. it was all about a promise of dirt on hillary clinton. here's don jr., how about 3:00 at our office. thanks for your help setting it up. those aren't alternative facts those are just facts, those were the detroits they were looking for. more now on the breaking news, the president's interview with reuters. there certainly seems to be a dramatic ramping up of the rhetoric of the president when it comes to mueller, his team and the probe overall. >> we seem to be through the looking glass here tonight. one thing can you say about their view of the truth here, it seems to be pretty important to the president when he said to
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reuters that he views sitting down with special council robert mueller that it's a perjury trap. the president should not be concerned with sitting down with robert mueller, in the special council team. he's worried about purgering himself, they must have some concept of what the truth is. while they're ramping up the rhetoric on robert mueller. there's a scenario where he can envision. lifting sanctions on the russians in exchange for their cooperation perhaps in the ukraine or syria, it begs the question what exactly would that involve. i can't imagine vladimir putin pulling russian back ed forces n the ukraine. while the president is ramping
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up the rhetoric on robert mueller, he's offering these exit lanes to vladimir putin. >> in terms of news to don mcgann, how has the white house been reacting to that. >> so far, from what we understand, the president is unnerved, he is uneasy about what don may have said to the special council's team. it's not exactly clear that the white house or the president's legal team fully understands what don mcgann told robert mueller's team, i can tell you i along with some of our justice department colleagues here at cnn have been talking to sources all day long about this, and a source told me about this decision to allow don mcgann to cooperate with robert mueller, sit down with robert mueller, and what they viewed at that time was, this was not a waiting of executive privilege, it was allowing don mcgann to speak with the special council, but at a later date they could exert
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privilege over any information or material that don mcgann gave to the special counsel. we have a lot of critics out there that say this isn't going to hold up. that's an inyouing thinking they had at the time at the same time, down the road they were thinking, they could block mueller from using any or all of that information from the special council's office. >> i want to talk more about the breaking news. joining us now, ralph peters. thanks for being with us. >> the notion from the president that he could run the mueller probe if he wanted to, what does that say to you. >> it says that he does not understand the law, for one thing when i heard that, for whatever reason, i flashed on an incident from the 1990s, when someone grabbed the baton from the band leader and tried to run the band.
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trump thinks he's able to do anything. and it's a result of having yes men and yes women around him for so long. it's a preposterous claim. >> you have the president today saying even if i am telling the truth, that makes me a liar you have giuliani saying, truth isn't truth. i mean, it seems like we're operating in some alternate universe sometimes these are literally things we would have written. i'm starting to see giuliani as a left bank intellectual. there's something called coherence theory. especially post modern philosophy, the idea that if everybody agrees on something, then it's true. if that's -- you take coherence theory, and all trump's followers believe that something's true, it's reality. to be very serious. >> you're imagining giuliani as
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a left bank -- >> glass of wine, cigarette. >> obviously, you know, but seriously, about giuliani, i cannot help feeling somewhat sorry for him. and there's a lesson in giuliani's behavior for all of us. for anyone ever associated with the media. you need to know when to get off stage. giuliani is seduced by the bright lights, big city. he was a star. everybody respected him. people loved him. he wants that again, instead he's turned into a pa theltic travesty of himself, and frankly, he may be a diversion but he's doing great harm to the president by running off his mouth. >> kenny rogers, know when to hold 'em, know when to run. giuliani not telling the truth about not knowing the lawyer was
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russian. giuliani, do you think he's doing more harm here than good? or is he doing exactly what the president wants him to do, which is to throw as much spaghetti against the refrigerator door, see what sticks and what confuses people. >> first of all, i've never pictured you as a kenny rogers fan. as for giuliani, it's not just giuliani. they need to do their homework. even if he wanted to do propaganda, lie outright to the american people, have you to be on the same sheet of music, you have to get your lies straight. it's not a question of not getting the facts straight, they can't get the lies straight. >> do you think we're at an infliction point. we have the manafort verdict coming 37 whatever mueller is going to decide. or frankly, i mean, i feel like
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i've asked that question a million times over this presidency. >> i think that's right, every day's an inflexion point of some sort for this presidency. as i've always maintained, i have great faith in robert mueller, we don't know what he has up his sleeve. when i look at it, the context of the don mcgann testimony everyone's making comparisons to watergate, i think that's wrong. if you read the externals of what mueller's doing, it looks more like a classic justice department investigation of a mob boss, you can't get the mob boss, because he didn't pull the trigger, so you go after the money, you go after the tax evasion, money laundering, you go after bank fraud. and you go after perjury, we shall see what emerges from all of this. i think president trump is extremely worried, extremely worried, and that was even
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manifested in his interview with reuters today. where he made this off the wall remark about -- well, he would like to lift sanctions on russia, if a few conditions prevailed. well, he knows at this point that he can't lift sanctions in russia. putin knows it, i believe that our president, our president was signaling vladimir putin, that hey, i'm still trying, i'm still trying. >> you don't think that's what that was? >> there's no other explanation for it. he knows he can't lift the sanctions i think as i've maintained all along, putin has a grip on this man, tragic for everybody. putin may be losing patience much i would love to have heard what was said behind closed doors. at that helsinki meeting. russia is hurting economically. we shall see what mueller comes up with.
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i cannot help but feel trump is a buffoon and many other things besides. what we often miss in the hubub of the tomfoolery, this is a tragic time for our nation, for our image in the world. for our constitutional order. and so ultimately, all those goofy remarks by giuliani and kellyanne conway, they're not funny, they're deadly serious. >> the folks in the control room would like me to make those kenny rogers lyrics clear. you got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, no when to run. >> i'll cherish this moment. >> i'm still thinking of giuliani in a beret sipping wine. now to two cnn journalists. the president telling reuters he could run this -- the mueller investigation, does that make
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any sense to you? >> it makes no sense. and it's wrong. if you think about 2, the one thing we know for sure, the president is not above the law. if he was above the law, it would say that in the united states constitution, there's no question that the president cannot take over an investigation in which he is the subject and say, it goes away. if he was the king in a country he could do that. but in a country like we live, in that's not possible how rattled does the president appear to be when it comes to mueller. >> he seems to be extremely nervous, and getting more so by the day and getting more irrational by the day. there's another way to look at this, dante in the middle of our lives, i came across a dark wood, and the straight way was lost. >> i think we're in that very dark wood right now.
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because the president is not making sense, he continually attacks people, i saw an account today. over the course of his presidency, he's issued a tax on 484 individuals or institutions, on top of his 5,000 falsehoods, this is quite a show. >> does any of it matter? i mean, this could have been pretty much any night in which the news this kind of stuff is being reported for the people who believe in him for his base. is it just about sowing enough doubt that people kind of throw up their hands? >> that's certainly part of his intent. all of this -- his base is his even protection at this point, because he is in a panic, and let's build on what david is speculating. they say he's unhinged.
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only he knows the facts if he's capable of parsing the facts, he's not making sense in terms of a coherent defense. he's trying to do everything he can to affect the midterm elections, to reach his base, to put fear into other republicans who may not be part of that base enough to win the midterms. there is a cumulative effect of everything we are seeing including the mcgann story is very important. because what the mcgann story is, as his lawyer said it's not that mcgann incriminated the president, but he contributed to the matrix of showing the president's obstruction of justice in a very, very definitive way as well as
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showing the collusion -- >> well, we -- >> fully, i think we do know some of it, and some of it has been reported. part of that is indeed about what happened. i'll give you one example. and i think we can reliably say that mcgann talk ed about attempts to fire attorney general sessions, by reince priebus, asked by the president to fire attorney general sessions. or obtain his resignation. priebus refused. a few days later, priebus was out. in a skeletal form, that was reported by vanity fair, it's of huge importance in the whole pattern of what trump has done to obstruct goes to what mcgann talked about. it's part of a matrix, it's part of a damning matrix, it's not
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incriminating by itself as his lawyer said tonight, perhaps. because his lawyer said tonight, to clarify things, he did not incriminate the president but did he contribute to that matrix. >> we have to take a break. later paul manafort waiting for a verdict. and michael cohen waiting for perhaps federal charges.
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all summer long. like these for only $2 or less at office depot officemax. my entire staff here did not believe i knew the whole lyrics to kenny rogers song. i'm very upset. talking tonight about trump's conversation with righters. he hasn't given much thought to stripping robert mueller's security clearance. but did not rule it out. as you know, this unfolded at the end of an already busy day
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fp characterized by a flood of presidential tweets. you see the president throwing out some of the most loaded terms in american history. john dean was a rat in the nixon administration, he's calling people in the mueller team thugs, the idea that paul manafort is getting it tougher than al capone. does in a serve the president well? >> no, no, i don't think so. what it may serve the president is contributing to an exhaustion factor. people are tired of this tore ant of insults. and doing everything except being president. even so, the clock is ticking now, you remember rudy giuliani has said that we're not going to testify after labor day. it's only two weeks away.
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mueller doesn't have much time to act. otherwise this all could be put off until after the first of the year. i think that would be driving a lot of us crazy. >> the idea of it being put off about if there was a decision by mueller not to have anything that could influence the election for 60 days could he still continue. he could still continue his investigation in all this stuff. it's not as if he's releasing information. >> he would continue his investigation. but he wouldn't do anything that could be public. >> you wouldn't be serving subpoenas? >> he would be incredibly cautious about that. to make sure there is nothing that could come out that would make sure he's look at the conversation. he wouldn't do anything that might sort of raise public attention during that 60 day period. >> what do you make of the language that the president --
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>> it's stunning, i think it is really disappointing. criminal prosecutors, their job is to follow the law and the facts and in any case, to argue that they are criminals, going out and being politically motivated themselves, it's a sad day. and completely at odds with the people you know that work in the space. >> the criminal is faced with the looming publication. any sense of whether he's worried about that and how much? >> that indeed, one of the people i talked to in the last 3, 4 days say that's something the president has expressed great worry and concern about, about what is going to be in bob's book. he's terrified about what cohen, his former council, his former fixer might say to authorities and what cohen is shopping
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around, what he may have about many matters of interest to mueller. and then we also get back to this question of -- as evidence by this throwing around this mccarthyite notion, there is only one mccarthyite that we are seeing in all of this, that is the president of the united states. >> you think he's the joe mccarthy here? >> i don't think there's any question about it, i said something about it back in february on our air. if you look at what mccarthy did, he attacked the legitimate institutions of the government. he attacked the state department for having communists in, he attacked the usia. he attacked other government departments. he tried to say even as the president and those around him have been saying, he essentially said there is a deep state
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riddled with communists that we have to be concerned about. he was making it all up. and the president has consistently -- he learned at the knee as you pointed out of roy cohen, cohen was more than his lawyer he was his mentor. and cohen's tactics were mccarthy's tactics. throughout his business life, trump's tactics have been cone's tactics and mccarthy's tactics and the birtherism question is a mccarthyite tactic. >> it is interest iing if you believe joe mccarthy was a -- not a good guy and bad person. you wouldn't hire roy cohen. if you thought joe mccarthy was ab hor end, you know, roy kohn was part and parcel of that.
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>> absolutely. that is john mccarthy was one of the great villains in american history. he will always be remembered not only for destroying the trustworthiness of any institutions, but destroying the lives of many of the people he attacked. and the way that donald trump goes after individuals and institutions, some 484 since he became president. you know, is a replica of what wrote roy kohn, schooled donald trump in years ago. his whole confrontational, let's take it to the court, bullying style, that comes right out of the roy kohn playbook. >> it's a dirty playbook. >> no president has ever used mccarthyite tactics. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. rudy giuliani is taking on john brennan. 9 latest from colorado, where
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rudy giuliani joined in president trump's assault on john brennan today. he posted this tweet a day after brennen said he was challenging his security clearance last week. today president trump granted our request to handle your case, after threatening if you don't, it would be just like obama's red lines. come on, john, you're not a blow hard. juligiulian
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giuliani's taunt comings as dozens more officials added their names to the letter denouncing the president for the revocation of his clearance. joining me now director clapper. should brennen in your opinion take legal action against the president? >> well, that's certainly an option. i know john is considering it, and there are several legal activists who have approached all of us that have been threatened with this, and in john's case, where his clearance has been revoked. and i think that's a decision yet to be made. that's certainly one option. i will say, just to clarify, though, that john's interest is not in attempting to restore his clearance with a suit. his point would be to make a larger point, which is his right
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to speak and by extension others, which is by the way, if i may just take a moment to amplify something i said yesterday on state of the union, the issue here is not parsing john's rhetoric. the issue is his right to speak, and by extension, other's right to speak. >> the -- i want to read you something that the president tweeted today. he said i hope john brennan brings a lawsuit, it will then be easy to get all of his records, texts, e-mails and documents to show the poor job he did. but how he was involved with the mueller rigged witch hunt, he won't sue. you worked with brennan for many years, could the president get the records and cherry pick them if he wanted to? >> it's so hard to parse that tweet to begin with, it's not at all clear to me how the records at the agency would have any
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grounds in the first amendment. he has access to the records that john brennan had access to. they're all part of the government's records in that respect, i don't think they would reflect anything along the lines of what he's characterized. we're forced to respond to this kind of dialogue as opposed to the kind of public discourse you hope you would engage in on these types of issues, where you're trying to understand these issues better. we're getting trapped into this name calling and immature statements. >> we're in an age where the president of the united states is calling people who work for the government thugs. rudy giuliani. >> blow hards, all of these things -- so much for the language of presidents, think not what you -- what your country will do for you, but what you can do for your country. the president has such an enormous responsibility and has an incredible platform for
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shaping the discourse of the united states. >> director clapper, the president has said that the reason so many former intelligence officers are coming forward condemning the -- taking away brennen's security clearance, his clearance is worth great prestige and big dollars. is there a truth to that? >> it could be for some people opinion it doesn't really apply to me or i don't think to john. i've been eligible for access to claks phied information since september 1963, so going on 55 years. there are intervals there where i didn't have access. that's the difference here. we left the government in january of '17 still eligible, but we don't have access. for me it doesn't have direct impact. it could on others.
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depending on how this is applied. >> that's the thing, the president is not just threatening people who are out of government, but people who are still working in government. i mean, bruce orr is currently at the department of justice. it's actually a part of his job. >> i mean, i think actually the bruce orr piece is something that we should be focusing on. in my view, one should be raising the question of whether or not that's having a chilling action on other employees of the department of justice who are concerned about their security clearance being pulled because of the activities they're engaged in. i think it is particularly concerning, not only are we undermining in a sense, freedom of expression and as jim points out, we're not thinking about the john brennans and jim clappers, but so many other career officers who may be
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formers. may be working in the defense industry for the broader defense of the united states government. but as you point out, the bruce orr's of the world, that means if they feel chilled could be undermining the institutions and their ability to protect against these types of violations on our principles. >> you're talking about the president saying people are making big bucks, there are many many people former intelligence people who work for military companies or companies doing business with the u.s. government that do rely on having a clearance. and a lot of that is work which does -- and whether you like it or not, it does -- it is part of the u.s. government. it benefits the united states, whether you like the policies or not. >> yeah, part of our national security structure without question. >> if i could just add one point
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here to this discussion. another one of the enemies list, is mike hayden, and i would point out that mike's been out of the government for nine years, he has nothing to do with the russia investigation, in no way has he been able to beneficially touch that, so that just illustrates how political really this list is. and it's particularly egregious with bruce orr. >> jim clapper, thank you. coming up, breaking news out of colorado. charges have been filed in the deaths of a pregnant woman, and her two young daughters. who was charged and what officials are saying. the temperature that is rising, the latest next. get your groove on with one a day 50+. ♪ get ready for the wild life ♪ complete multivitamins with key nutrients that address 6 concerns of aging, including heart health, supported by b-vitamins.
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makes it possible to track glucose levels. without drawing a drop of blood, again and again. the most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life. life. to the fullest. breaking news tonight in a horrific case out of colorado. the killings of a 34-year-old pregnant woman and her 2 little girls, tonight charges have been filed. randi kaye joins us with the latest. >> reporter: chris watts was charged with the murders of his
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wife and two young girls. he was charged with unlawful termination of a pregnancy. his wife was 15 weeks pregnant, and also charged with three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. one of the things the affidavit says is chris confessed to killing his wife. he did so because he had asked her for a separation, looking to end the marriage, and then he said it was an emotional conversation, but a civil conversation, he went out for a bit and came back, she had strangled one of their girls already, and she was blue on the bed, and actively strangling the second daughter. he flew into a rage and killed his wife. that's his story. the affidavit says he was having an extra marital affair with a co-worker. something he denied in earlier interviews with investigators. we have been following this
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since last week, and this is what we found in terms of how this case has unfolded. >> girls, mommy has a baby in her baby. >> yay! >> a moment of joy that's turned to pain and mystery. that was shanann watts telling her two daughters that she was pregnant again. bella and celeste were thrilled. >> i love you girls. >> i want to give the baby a hug. >> there's video of her sharing the news with her husband of nearly 6 years, chris watts. >> that's awesome. i guess when you want to, it happens. >> not long after that video was taken, something terrible happened. on monday last week, shanann and her daughters went missing, then came tuesday, shanann's husband chris began a series of public
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pleas for their safe return. >> just come back, if somebody has her, just please bring her back. i need to see everybody. i need to see everybody again. this house is not complete without everybody here. i just want them back. i want them to come back. and if they're not safe right now, that's what's tearing me apart. >> authorities searched the home and canvassed the neighborhood. two days later, a grizzly discovery. >> we've been able to recover a body that we're quite certain is shanann watts body. >> the woman's body was recovered on the property of a petroleum and natural gas exploration company where chris watts used to work. the bodies of two children were found nearby. then, another bizarre turn. the desperate husband and father who pleaded for his family's safe return was suddenly the prime suspect in their disappearance. >> in the late hours of
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wednesday evening. chris watts was taken into custody. >> no, he wouldn't do anything. and then i seen his interview, i was like oh, my god. something's not right. >> shanann's brother directly accuse accused chris watts. this piece of blank may he rot in hell. he killed my pregnant sister and two nieces. police have not suggested a motive. watts told reporters that he and his wife exchanged words. >> it wasn't like an argument. we had an emotional conversation i'll leave it at that. >> still on shanann's facebook page of a happy family. i got a friend request from chris and i thought, whatever, i'm never going to meet him.
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eight years later, we live in colorado, have two kids. >> it's awful to see her talking about him. >> so lovingly. >> what we know about where the bodies were found. he loaded all three bodies into his truck. and took them to his oil company where he worked. he was fired the same day he was arrested much he was given a map by authorities and he was able to pinpoint where the bodies were. shanann was found in a shall low grave. the two girls were found in oil tanks where their bodies were submerged for four days. >> if he's claiming he killed her out of rage why would he hide their bodies? >> that's what doesn't make sense. you don't hide the bodies and do all those television interviews. >> thanks very much
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or you hide the bodies and do do all those television interviews. by, what a case that is. tonight we're taking on the case of the truth, anderson. can the president do what he just said, which is take over the mueller probe? can he? should he? and when it comes to what he seems to fear the most, it's the interview. why is he really ducking the mueller interview? we have some great guests who know him personally and who understand the legal issues personally, and they're going to test the case for us tonight. >> all right. about ten minutes from now. coming up, two of president trump's longtime associates in legal jeopardy tonight. jurors in the trial of his former campaign chairman paul manafort are still deliberating, and sources are telling cnn that the president's former personal attorney, michael cohen, the fix-it guy, could be facing criminal indictment from federal prosecutors by the end of the month. more ahead.
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two of the president's former associates are in legal jeopardy tonight. on the left of course is his former campaign chairman paul manafort. jurors are still considering 18 counts of alleged financial crimes. on the right is his former personal attorney, michael cohen. michael cohen, sources are telling cnn, that federal prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against him, could announce them very soon. more on the manafort trial coming up. but first brynn gingras joins us with more on cohen. what have you learned? >> reporter: yeah, anderson. two weeks left in august, and what sources are telling my colleagues is that the sdny federal prosecutors are keenly aware of the midterm elections coming up, and they don't want any of their decisions to influence the election. so that's why we have this end of august deadline for this possible charges against michael cohen. but, listen, we've always known the federal prosecutors have been looking into cohen's business practices, possibilities of bank fraud, tax kraud, campaign finance violations. but "the new york times" really
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focused that in their reporting saying that it's possible michael cohen lied to lenders in order to secure up to $20 million in loans for his taxi businesses. $20 million is a lot of money and could be very significant to this investigation. of course when we talk about the probe into whether or not he gave this hush payment to stormy daniels, if he committed any campaign finance violations, that would be something, of course, the trump administration would be interested in hearing if charges do come in the next few weeks, anderson. >> do we know anything about a possible deal with prosecutors? is that a possibility, and what if anything could that mean for the mueller investigation? >> reporter: yeah. we don't know if he has made a deal. sure, there's a possibility. we haven't heard a deal has been struck as of yet. of course we know michael cohen has been vocal that he's willing to give information in order to strike a deal. and as we understand it, if he does strike a deal, it will be with sdny, but it also could be with other investigations like the mueller investigation. so at this point we don't know what michael cohen knows or what
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he can actually offer investigators. but that's certainly something we hope to find out very soon, maybe even sooner than we think. anderson. >> brynn gingras, appreciate it. fascinating turn of events for michael cohen. bi we'll continue to follow that. the jury in the paul manafort trial has gone home for the day, again without delivering a verdict. shimon proek pkupecz is at the t house for us. no verdict today. there was some activity. what happened? >> reporter: there was, anderson. we really didn't get to see the jury today except in the morning and in the afternoon, some nine hours after they started their deliberations, they went home. but there was activity in the courtroom. a lot of secret meetings between the judge and the attorneys. this has happened often at this trial, and there were two more today. the judge sealing those conferences. they're bench conferences done outside of the jury, outside of the public, and they were sealed. so we don't know why that is. we don't know what they were discussing. clearly the jury here still
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working, going through a lot of the evidence that they heard and some of the 18 counts that they're looking at, but really, anderson, no word -- none -- from the jury today as to what they're thinking. >> and when do deliberations begin tomorrow? >> reporter: so they'll be back tomorrow first thing in the morning, 9:30 they get here. they're expected to just go right back into the jury room and begin their deliberations. they have already, interestingly enough, put in their lunch orders. today the judge, before the jurors left for the day, asking them if they had submitted their lunch orders. they said they did. so perhaps maybe they're expecting a long day here tomorrow as well. >> you talk about the discussions at the bench with the attorneys. are the attorneys and manafort -- are they there all day long just waiting? >> reporter: yeah, exactly. yes, they are. manafort, obviously he's been in jail since this trial started, so he stays in the courthouse. and the attorneys for -- his attorneys have been sending a lot of their time at a hotel across the street where a lot of
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the media has been gathered. so we all kind of hang out together. there's a hotel directly across the street from the courthouse. what usually happens is when there's a note or perhaps there's something the judge wants to discuss, they'll get a phone call, and usually that's how we know something is going on, because the attorneys will then rush into court, and then we all kind of chase them into the courthouse. >> on friday, the president has said manafort was a good man. do we know if the judge has reacted to that at all? >> reporter: no. we don't know. we don't know if the jury has even seen some of that reaction from the president. the judge has not addressed that issue in the court. >> is the jury sequestered? >> reporter: the jury is not sequestered, anderson. some people have questioned that as to why they were not sequestered given all the publicity surrounding this case. but, no, they're free to leave in the morning. we've even seen jurors outside smoking here. they're tree to leafree to leare day. don't miss full circle on facebook. you pick some of the stories
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that we cover. you can see it week night as 6:25 p.m. eastern. if you haven't checked it out, you should. it's a fun show. the news continues right now. i want to hand it over to chris. "cuomo prime time" starts now. >> thank you, anderson. i am chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." president trump is attacking the special counsel like never before, including a declaration today that he could be running the probe himself if he really wanted to. really? former a.g. michael mukasey is here. what he sees as the reality of what trump has to worry about and when the probe should end and how. we're going to zero in on why trump is so panicked about ducking the mueller interview. this notion of a perjury trap, is it real? one of his close confidants will be here with some insight into why trump is so newly panicked. and the president's lawyer, rudy giuliani, told me last week facts are in the eye of the beholder. i told him that's not true. he then w