calendar yet. pretty busy schedule. it will also lead to the mass exodus of lawmakers. no, it won't be considered. it'll be an interesting element in the months ahead. >> thanks for joining us. don't go anywhere. a lot of breaking news happening today. wolf starts right now. have a great day. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us. breaking news right now involving the president's long-time fixer and former attorney. cnn is now reporting that michael cohen, who's facing possible criminal charges, is in talks with prosecutors for a potential plea deal. keep in mind cohen is not only under investigation for possible bank and tax fraud, but possible violations related to secret payments he made, including one to stormy daniels. let's go to cnn's shimon

prokupecz. they're getting new information for us. kara, first to you. what are you learning? >> we're learning that michael cohen is currently in plea negotiations with the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan, which is investigating him for potential bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance violations. these talks have been undergoing for at least the past day and a half. it's possible they fall apart. but we do know that cohen's lawyers are negotiating with prosecutors to try to get a deal. we understand it will not be a type of rick gates style cooperation where he's flipping against someone, where rick gates had flipped against paul manafort and testified in his trial. these negotiations are continuing. the con tours of the talks could change. we did see michael cohen arrive at his attorney's office this morning for the second day in a row. as we reported on sunday night, the u.s. attorney's office is moving ahead with the decision to indict cohen. if these plea negotiations fall apart, it is expected that michael cohen will be indicted. now, wolf, we reached out to the u.s. attorney's office. they declined to comment.

we've not heard from cohen's attorneys either for any comment on our reporting. >> stand by for a moment, kara. i want to get back to you. shimon, what else are you learning? >> wolf, some of what we're told the u.s. attorney there in new york has been looking at are payments michael cohen received. this all came out that he received them for potential lobbying, potential influence at the white house and other places. some of the people who have come before the grand jury there in new york were asked questions about this money, about the money that michael cohen had paid them. some of them who have been asked to appear before the grand jury, they were told they did not need to appear right now while prosecutors could be close to negotiating this plea deal. of course, keep in mind, as kara said, at any time this could fall apart. there are some questions about money, whether or not what kind of fine potentially michael

cohen could face, what kind of forfeiture he may face. all of, from everything we know being negotiated, but also just very important to keep in mind that at any point this could fall apart, and we could see michael cohen indicted. this is all in an effort to avoid any kind of an indictment here. it would be pretty much difficult for michael cohen to get any kind of a deal if he was indicted because then ultimately he likely would have to plead guilty to a top charge. so what his lawyers are trying to do in this case is avoid an indictment so that he could plead to something less, perhaps serve less jail time, and also money is a big thing in this negotiation. >> kara, let me get back to you. you're saying that as part of this guilty plea, if in fact it goes forward, he would not necessarily be cooperating with federal prosecutors or the special counsel robert mueller. is that what you're reporting? i want to be specific on this very sensitive issue. is he flipping and cooperating

or mottnot? >> our understanding as of right now is this would not involve a type of agreement where he would be cooperating in that type of rick gates situation where he's the government's key witness against someone. our understanding is that, you know, the prosecutors' posture has been they would follow doj guidelines, they would not indict a sitting president. so what would michael cohen have to offer them that would allow them to agree to a deal where michael cohen as part of a cooperation agreement would get one of those 5k1 letters, which is one of those letters that tellings t tells the judge ultimately sentencing him, don't fully sentence him, he helped us. our understanding is that type of negotiation is not on the table. cohen would be pleading guilty to crimes he's guilty of and would work with investigators to, you know, be truthful if they had any follow-up questions. this is not one of these significant cooperation deals

where he is going to not have to take responsibility for his actions because he's going to deliver someone else to the government. >> wolf, if i can just add something, the other important thing is we have no indication. the big question is would the special counsel, would robert mueller want to talk to him. right now from everything that we've gathered, there is nothing to say or indicate, i should say, that robert mueller wants his cooperation. so that's important too. certainly the southern district, the new york prosecutors probably don't want him to cooperate, but obviously in the grand scheme of things in this entire investigation, and what really started this off for michael cohen, there's no indication that robert mueller or the special counsel team here in d.c. wants his cooperation on anything right now. >> very interesting stuff. i want both of you to stand by. this is clearly breaking news. i want to bring in our analyst to assess what's going on. joining us, cnn legal analyst shan wu, former federal

prosecutor glenn kirschner and cnn legal analyst laura coates. what's your reaction to this news if this plea deal goes forward without necessarily providing evidence on other cases? >> there's three important things to consider. you got information, incentive, and influence. is there some incentive on behalf of mueller's probe or somebody in new york who's saying they would like to give this person an opportunity to plea not to all of the charges but to a limited portion. and for that, you have to have information that's useful to me in some way as a prosecutor that may influence other cases in some way. she was very nuanced in her reporting and right to be, that the idea it may be he wants to take a plea offer to less than what they could charge him with. it doesn't mean they think he does not have information about the president of the united states or that they already have things they don't need him for. it's going to be a little bit of a give and take about what he can influence in other cases, whether they have incentive to do so, but ultimately, it's

going to come down to what information he's able to provide. >> i want to get your analysis, glenn, as well, but if he pleads guilty to a lesser charge, there's no trial, the incentive for him is he might get a reduced sentence as a posed to waiting and going through a long trial. >> that could be, wolf, but i would be surprised if we didn't see michael cohen at the end of the day come on board as what we call a global cooperator. i can tell you as a federal prosecutor practicing here in d.c., i used to have targets of investigations who committed crimes in d.c. they committed crimes in maryland. they committed crimes in virginia. so what we would do is all of the prosecutors would get together, we would meet with a target's defense team, and we would reach a global cooperation agreement that would sort of address the crimes that the aspiring cooperator committed in all jurisdictions. that way the information that the target had to provide would be available to each and every jurisdiction.

i understand that there's a lot of give and take going on at the moment, as laura said, but i strongly suspect that at the end of the day, we'll see michael cohen develop into a global cooperating witness. >> shan, let me get your analysis. >> i think that's right. while his lawyers may want to just have a, quote, plea negotiation right now, that's not all that's going on. the prosecution is going to want to debrief him. they're going to want proffers from the lawyers as to what information can he give. and they're going to look at this from a global perspective. it's not going to be what it's sounding like right now, which is which charge can we pick and choose to plead guilty to. >> rachel? >> totally seconding all that was said before. this is a guy who was president donald trump's fixer. he knows things about the president that nobody else knows, even people that work every day in the white house. they're of course going to want to try to get information from him. also, one of my colleagues talked to. michael cohen's lawyer just a couple days ago.

lanny davis, he kept bringing up that he's been in talks with john dean, who obviously flipped on nixon during watergate, saying he sees parallels with his client's situation, saying that cohen has seen things that prosecutors potentially would want. so again, i would be very surprised if these conversations are not ongoing right now. he clearly knows stuff they would want to know. >> it's interesting, laura. the special counsel robert mueller referred this michael cohen case to the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york in manhattan, instead of doing it himself. remind our viewers why. that could potentially be relevant if there is a plea deal. >> well, remember, robert mueller has continuously been criticized about the expansive nature of i hhis mandate, that s trying to pry on issues that are unrelated to collusion with a member of the trump campaign with russia. he saw an opportunity to have a case that he came across, and he farmed it out.

it doesn't mean he can never get any aspect of it back. what people complain about is the idea, well, he was told to go into a house and investigate a homicide and ignore the mountain of cocaine on the coffee table. the michael cohen case is the mountain of cocaine on the coffee table, and he farmed that out. if it turns out there's more information about his underlying mandate, he can retrieve that information. but it's interest to be know he farmed this out and there's actually some actual comprehensive charge that might come of it, showing there's some fruit of the labor of the special counsel team. >> but the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york works very closely with the special counsel, right? >> exactly. and just because bob mueller farmed out a portion of the investigation to the southern district of new york, perhaps because that portion deals only with taxi medallions, financial crimes that michael cohen may have committed in new york. that doesn't mean bob mueller all along hasn't retained a great big hunk of the michael cohen investigation for himself.

the two are not mutually exclusive. >> they work very closely together. everybody stand by. there's more breaking news we're following. the jury in the trial of former trump campaign chairman paul manafort says it's stuck on one count right now out of the 18, and the judge has told them to keep deliberating. we're going there to the courthouse live right after this. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from an allergy pill? flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which most pills don't. it's more complete allergy relief. flonase. and if you get lost, just hit me on the old horn. man: tom's my best friend, but ever since he bought a new house... tom: it's a $10 cover? oh, okay. didn't see that on the website. he's been acting more and more like his dad. come on, guys! jump in! the water's fine! tom pritchard. how we doin'? hi, there. tom pritchard. can we get a round of jalapeño poppers for me and the boys, please? i've been saving a lot of money with progressive lately, so... progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents. but we can protect your home and auto

when you bundle with us.

but we can protect your home and auto my ci can worry about it,ine. or do something about it. garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. and it's odor free. and pharmacist recommended. garlique.® we have more breaking news in the trial of the former trump campaign chairman paul manafort. just a little while ago, jurors asked the judge what happens if they can't reach a unanimous decision on one of the 18 charges. the judge responded by instructing the jury to keep deliberating. manafort is facing these 18 counts of tax evasion, bank fraud, hiding foreign bank accounts. let's go to cnn's jessica

schneider outside the courthouse in alexandria, virginia. what's the latest, jessica? >> reporter: wolf, the jury has been back in that deliberation room for just more than an hour now. they went in just before noon. all of this upon the judge's instruction that they go back into the jury room and continue their deliberations on that one count that they indicate they've had trouble reaching unanimous verdict on. so right now the jury is back in the deliberation room. it indicates that perhaps this jury has come to a conclusion, has reached a decision on those other 17 counts, and there's one count they're having trouble with. it's interesting. this judge gave what's called in this circuit a sawyer's charge to the jury. it basically presses the jury to go back into the deliberation room and reconsider things, talk things over again. he put things very simply for the jury. he said, you should not surrender your honest conviction

simply to reach a verdict. but then he talked to them for five minutes, imploring them to continue working together. he said that it is your duty to agree upon a verdict if you can do so without violating your individual inclinations. he then encouraged the jury to continue working together. he said give deference to each other, listen to each other's argues. so possibly for the past hour plus, that's exactly what this jury has been doing. there's no indication as to how long they may take, whether or not they may end up reaching a unanimous decision on this one additional count they're having trouble with. as for the defense team, they walked out of this court after the instruction was given to the jury. the defense team still putting on an air of positivity, saying all of this has been good for paul manafort. of course, it's only the jury that knows, and perhaps we'll know soon too. perhaps we'll wait for a verdict. we'll see if it comes soon. >> six men and six women on that jury. we'll stay in close touch with

you, jessica. all right, shan, what do you think? what does this say to you that the jury asked the judge what if they can only reach agreement on 17 of the 18 counts? >> if i were the prosecutor, i would be happy about that note. i think it's more likely that they have reached a decision to want to convict on the other counts as opposed to acquit. that's why they're very conscientiously working over this last count. and it certainly says they're having some dissension about that last count, but i would not be happy if i was the defense right how. i would be quietly confident if i was the prosecutor. >> laura, withe be check with t criminal rules of federal procedure. i'll read to you one smnentence. if the jury cannot agree to all counts, the jury may return a verdict on those counts on which it has agreed. >> you can render a partial verdict. now, of course, the judge was essentially saying, teamwork makes the dream work. continue to try to get all the

counts resolved. you can, in fact, give them a partial verdict. that's okay to do so. what happens if they are to return maybe 17 of the 18 or 3 of 18 or 1 of the 18, the prosecution, if they have a conviction or an acquittal either way can say we will decide to retry on that particular ground, on that particular charge alone. if you have a conviction on 17 of 18 counts, you don't necessarily want to have that particular new trial. remember, this is obviously a two-week trial. you can do a partial verdict. this jury is well aware of that now. >> how do you see it? >> i actually have two observations about this. the first one is i'm a little surprised judge ellis went right to an anti-deadlock instruction. the jury didn't announce they were deadlocked. usually that's when a judge opts to give an anti-deadlock instruction. they just asked a question. what happens if we can't reach unanimous verdicts on one of the 18 counts? i've had this exact note in criminal trials. what i think -- we can't say for

certain, but what i think is going on in their minds is they don't necessarily know that if they deadlock on one, even if they've reached verdicts on the other 17, they might believe the whole case ends up as a hung jury, which is not the case. they can return a partial verdict. here's what i predict. if they send out another note saying we're still struggling with one, the judge at that point will probably ask, have you reached unanimous verdicts on any counts? if so, let's announce them in open court. >> that would be a big, big deal. one of the other rules is if the jury cannot agree on a verdict on one or more counts, the court may declare a mistrial on those counts. the government may retry any defendant on any count on which the jury could not agree. so there is that option. but if, in fact, they get a conviction, we don't know if they will, if they get a conviction on 17 of the 18 counts, that's a pretty big deal for the special counsel. >> yeah, big victory for special counsel robert mueller. this is obviously the first trial of this investigation.

if they are victorious, that's going to obviously bolster the public view of what they're doing from here on out. i think it's interesting that you mentioned the prosecutors should be happy about this. my colleague was talking manafort's lawyer. he was saying that they believe it's a good sign for manafort that the jury hasn't been able to decide. maybe that was before they found out it was just one count that they were deliberating on. but again, just goes to show we don't know what they're thinking at this point. >> actually, he tried something interesting. he asked for a new verdict form to put the onyx of hung jury on every single count, trying to suggest they should revisit that question. interesting strategy attempt by him. i think to glenn's point, the judge giving this sort of dynamite charge now also creates some possible appellate issues. they had not announced they were deadlocked. later on if there's a conviction, manafort's team could argue, you put too much pressure on them at this point. >> seek a retrial under those circumstances.

all right. looks like they're getting closer and closer. this is day four of their deliberations. we will, of course, stand by for that verdict. guys, thanks very, very much. don't go too far. there's more breaking news we're following. the president's long-time fixer and lawyer now in talks for a plea deal with federal prosecutors. what michael cohen's legal jeopardy means for the president of the united states. plus, microsoft thwarts a cyber attack by russian hackers targeting critics of moscow. who was targeted, how they were discovered and much more. we'll be right back. medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67? that's the plan! it's also a great time to learn about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. here's why...medicare part b doesn't pay for everything. this part is up to you. a medicare supplement plan

helps pay for some of what medicare doesn't. call unitedhealthcare insurance company today to request this free decision guide. and learn about the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. selected for meeting their high standards of quality and service. this type of plan lets you say "yes" to any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. do you accept medicare patients? i sure do! so call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. oh, and happy birthday... or retirement... in advance.

...where you can shop withvent! confidence and convenience plus get these 4 benefits from kenmore at sears. up to fifty percent off appliances with your sears card. like this washer and dryer for $539.99 each. and this refrigerator for $899.99. hurry in to sears today.

does your business internet provider promise a lot? let's see who delivers more. comcast business gives you gig-speed in more places. the others don't. we offer up 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. there's more breaking news. the special counsel robert mueller once again delaying the sentencing of the president's fired national security adviser michael flynn. flynn pleaded guilty back in december. the court has asked for periodic updates. let's go to cnn's laura coates, our legal analyst. in their statement, they said due to the status of its investigation, the special counsel's office does not believe this matter is ready to be scheduled for a sentencing hearing at this time. clearly they want to do more questioning of flynn. they're hoping to get more information. >> they do, indeed. they want to keep him on that hook. notice the direct contrast between michael flynn and george papadopoulos, both who have pled guilty. mueller recommended sentencing

already for papadopoulos for his betrayal, they perceived, after he struck a plea deal for not being a cooperative witness, for not giving information they needed. michael flynn, in contrast, is somebody who i think pled guilty before george papadopoulos, and you have this notion of, well, we want him to still be there. the delay of sentencing tells you they have a need for this person and that he's a fruitful cooperator, not just giving information or a blow hard in different ways. he's somebody who's actually still useful. once he's no longer useful, they will then ask for sentencing. >> they told the court they'll give another update in 30 days, when there could be sentencing. >> and of course 30 days from now is around the time mueller's probe would have to end if the doj rules would say you can't interfere with an election. >> very important. no sentencing for michael flynn, at least not yet. meanwhile, other important news happening right now. the u.s. intelligence community warned this would happen again, and now it has. microsoft says russians tried to

hack the u.s. senate as well as conservative think tanks here in washington. those attempts thwarted just weeks ahead of the november midte midterm elections. the attempted cyberattack happening as the president of the united states is still casting doubt on russia's meddli meddling in the 2016 presidential election. let's go to our senior national correspondent joining us right now. alex, you've been doing a lot of reporting on this. what can you tell us about this attempted hack? >> wolf, this was not the government that came forward with this information. this was microsoft, who are saying that a number of sites were set up in order for russia to carry out attacks on the u.s. midterm elections. now, they are pointing the finger squarely at fancy bear. you'll remember that name. that is the russian hacking group that's directed by the russian military intelligence. we of course know that name from 2016. they were accused of and indicted for hacking into the dnc in 2016. now, there is no evidence that

any of these sites that were set up were effective in carrying out attacks. how they did it was they set up six different websites that are designed to carry out what are called spear phishing attacks. they're designed to look like official sites for different groups are, for different people. usually there's one letter, one digit that is slightly off so that people are lulled into a sense of security and share personal information. they'll be sent a phoney link, people will follow that link and put in important information like their e-mail passwords, which the hackers will then use to get inside. now, in the case of these six different websites, one of the key words that was used was senate, an indication that these hackers were likely targeting senators. there's different senate offices. this is something that we've actually seen before. we heard this last month when an almost identical attack was revealed to have been carried out against senator claire mccaskill of missouri, who's one of the most vulnerable senators

in this midterm election. microsoft has said the hackers are broadening, expanding their targets. that's because now they're not just going after democrats as they have in the past. they're going after republicans, most notably these two groups, the hudson institute and the international republican institute. those are two conservative think tanks. they're notably anti-russian, vociferously against president putin. the iri has board members who are very vocal in their anti-putin stance. those include senator john mccain, mitt romney, and many others. now, we have to note we have not heard a response from the white house today, but we have heard from the kremlin. we got this rather interesting statement from them, which says, from the u.s., we hear that there was not any meddling in the elections. whom exactly they're talking about, what is the proof, and on what grounds are they reaching such conclusions? so wolf, they are saying they don't know anything about this hacking, they don't know

anything about these hacking groups, but look at that. from the u.s. we hear there was not any meddling until the elections. who are they hearing that from? the highest levels of the u.s. government are saying the russians did hack into the 2016 elections. the only person who's waffling on that, wolf, is the president. >> including that interview with reuters yesterday when he said if, if the russians did it. once again raising a serious question. alex, good report. thank you very much. the president is silent so far on the new hacking attempt by russia. so how will congress respond? the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell issued this warning just over a month ago. listen. >> i think the russians need to know that there are a lot of us who fully understand what happened in 2016, and it really better not happen again in 2018. >> all right. let's get some insight now from former cia director, former defense secretary leon panetta. mr. secretary, thanks so much for joining us. so what's your reaction first of

all to the news from microsoft that it blocked a hacking attempt by russian military intelligence targeting the u.s. senate as well as these conservative republican think tanks? >> well, there's no question that the russians are again engaged in a very broad and directed cyber attack against the united states and against our election systems. they are going after not only democrats, they're going after republicans who for one reason or another have raised concerns about russia. so it's a very broad attack here. the good news is that microsoft was able to discover these sites and report them, and hopefully other companies will do the same. but there is no question that i think all of us have to be vigilant that the russians are continuing to try to influence american view points when it comes to this election.

>> as you know, president trump once again as recently as yesterday questioning russia's role in the attack on the 2016 presidential elections here in the united states. why this back and forth when the u.s. intelligence community, including those leaders nominated, confirmed during the trump administration, say without a doubt it was russia? >>. >> we've been asking that question for a long time now because this president seems to have a real blind sight when it comes to the role the russians are engaged in. he rejects what everyone else believes is the truth, that the russians are engaged in this effort. our intelligence agencies have made clear that that's the case. republicans and democrats on the hill, as we heard senator mcconnell say, are aware that the russians are engaged in this

effort. it continue, i think, to raise concerns for all of us. why the president continues to ignore the facts. >> why do you think he does? >> i think this president has shown that when it comes to russia and russian attacks and russian influence on our system, he has shown a willingness to accept their view point that they are not engaged. he did that at the summit with putin. he basically said he accepted what the russians were saying as opposed to what our intelligence agencies were saying. so it's very clear that for some reason here, the president believes the russians more than he believes our own intelligence and law enforcement officials. >> you signed on to that initial letter from more than a dozen former intelligence leaders here in the united states criticizing the president's decision to revoke john brennan's security clearance.

john brennan, the former cia director during the obama administration, a man you worked very closely with. tell us, first of all, why you signed that letter. >> well, as you saw from all of those that signed that letter, there were some 15 of us republicans and democrats who served in the intelligence area. and our concern is that this is about our national security interests. when you talk about security clearances, security clearances are used in order to help protect our national security. there are 4 million security clearances out there, largely in our intelligence community, our military community, and others that are serving our national security and trying to protect this country. to use our security clearance

process, which is related to national security, to use that now as a political weapon, to go after people whose political views you may not like, whose speech you may not like, whose support for investigations you may not like, turns our national security interests into a political weapon. i think this is kind of trump's approach of wag the dog, where he is using national security issues to divert attention. and i feel that that undermines not only our national security, i think it undermines the office of the presidency. >> there's an article, an important article in the new issue of the new yorker magazine that says that president trump even once considered denying intelligence briefings to former president barack obama. the president fired back, tweeting this, and i'll read what he just tweeted today.

falsely reported i was going to take the extraordinary step of denying intelligence briefings to president obama. never discussed or thought of. explain why first of all former presidents get regular intelligence briefings and what would happen if they were denied those kinds of intelligence briefings if for some reason president obama were denied a serious intelligence briefing before he left on a foreign trip, for example? >> well, it's critical to provide former presidents with an intelligence briefing so they're aware of the issues that are impacting on our country when they go abroad, when they speak because presidents carry a lot of weight. you want presidents to be informed about our national security threats. you want them to be totally

informed about -- the reason we have former directors is so that if the cia director or the secretary of state wants to be able to get their opinions, they can provide them with the information that would help get their guidance and advice. that's the way we've operated when it comes to national security, that we seek the advice of those who have served and have experience, and to suddenly pretend that you can deny that and walk away from that is to weaken this country. >> since leaving the government, have you been asked for advice by current -- either a cia director or secretary of defense or other high-level national security personnel? have they called you and said, leon, i need some help?

>> i've been asked for advice, and i've always been prepared to give it because i think that all of us have a duty to this country and to its interests, regardless of whether republicans or democrats. i think the most important thing is to try to make sure that we h do everything possible to trek the united states of america. so when somebody in the administration calls and wants my advice, i'm happy to give it. >> and they have called you, and you still have your security clearances? >> i think the security clearance is one of those that are provided on the basis that if i was ever to go back to washington to a cia director's meeting, that they could reinstate that security clearance for purposes of getting the information i would need to give that advice. i think that's the only way that

security clearance operates. >> but they have -- people in the trump administration have called you? i just want to be precise on that point. >> they've called. it hasn't always involved classified information, but they have called. you know, i've been willing to provide that advice when they call. i think it's important for all of us to recognize that no one knows all the answers. when i was in office, i called my predecessors. i convened former directors of the cia at langley to be able to brief them on classified information so i could get their views and opinions as to what needs to be done. you know, the important thing about people in office, whether they're president or cia director is that we don't know everything. it is helpful to reach out to people to get their guidance and advice.

i think the president needs to do more of that. >> leon panetta, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. up next, there's more breaking news coming into cnn right now. president trump's supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh weighing in directly on his view on the future of roe versus wade. what he said, stand by. r the re. unlimited for you. for them. for all. get unlimited for as low at 30 bucks per line for four lines at t-mobile.

♪ it is such a good time to dance ♪ ♪ it is such a good time to [ laughing ] ♪ scoobidoo doobidoo ♪ scoobidoo doobidoo [ goose honking ] ♪ [ laughing ] a bad day on the road still beats a good one off it. ♪

progressive helps keep you out there.

the nation's largest senior-living referral service. for the past five years, i've spoken with hundreds of families and visited senior-care communities around the country. and i've got to tell you, today's senior-living communities are better than ever. these days, there are amazing amenities, like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars, and bistros, even pet-care services. and nobody understands your options like the advisers at a place for mom. these are local, expert advisers that will partner with you to find the perfect place and determine the right level of care, whether that's just a helping hand or full-time memory care. best of all, it's a free service. there is never any cost to you. senior living has never been better, and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. call today. a place for mom -- you know your family, we know senior living.

together we'll make the right choice. there's breaking news coming in to cnn right now. president trump's u.s. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh now weighing in directly on his

view on the future of roe v. wade, abortion rights for women here in the united states. our congressional correspondent sunlen serfaty is joining us from capitol hill. what is he saying? >> reporter: well, wolf, this is certainly a big meeting for the supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh, today. he may have indeed taken a small step towards winning over a key republican swing vote, that of senator susan collins of maine. they met for a little over two hours. while the senator left that meeting saying she will not yet reveal how she intends to vote, she certainly spoke complimentary of him, saying the meeting was excellent and informative. she says the meeting was devoted significantly -- a significant portion of the time was devoted to abortion. she said specifically that she asked kavanaugh whether he believed that roe v. wade is settled as law. in that meeting, kavanaugh, she says, told her he agreed with

justice roberts what he said in his own nomination hearing, that, yes, it is settled as law. that could be key in potentially winning over senator susan collins' vote. certainly kavanaugh has another big meeting on the hill. he's right now meeting with senator claire mccaskill, later today senator leahy, also amy klobuchar and camela harris. also meeting with chuck schumer, who is leading the charge to get more documents released from his time in the bush white house. this is just two weeks from his confirmation hearing. >> sunlen, thank you very much for that update. we're following two major developments right now. the first one on paul manafort's trial. the federal judge telling jurors to keep deliberating after they appear to be stuck on one of 18 counts. and more breaking news. president trump's former personal attorney and fixer

michael cohen, who's facing possible criminal charges, is now in serious talks with prosecutors for a potential plea deal. we'll have the latest on that as well. stay with us. gimme one minute... and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80% - medicare will pay for. what's left is on you. 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. these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement for meeting their high standards of quality and service. so call unitedhealthcare insurance company today and ask for your free decision guide. with this type of plan, you'll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and when you travel, your plan will go with you -

anywhere in the country. whew! call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide.

in the cross hairs of russian hackers, microsoft now says it disrupted an attempt by russia to hack the senate and two major conservative think tanks here in washington ahead of the 2018 midterm elections in november. one of the think tanks is hudson institute. joining us now, the president and ceo of hudson kenneth -- i should saul him ken, ken weinstein. thank you for joining us.

an important think tank in washington. tell us why you think you were targeted by the russians. >> we do a lot of work on russia, ukraine, missile defense, national security. in particular, an initiative that's gone out to expose the impact of the immediate circle of vladimir putin and his cronies who have robbed his country of wealth and tried to store it overseas in the west and we have done a lot of work and this kind of work we're doing is having a direct impact. people in moscow see it. we have been big backers of the act and know that -- see the impact of the work we have done. >> tell us how it came to your attention. microsoft, give microsoft a lot of credit. tha they were discovering this and how did they inform you? >> i was enjoying the last day of vacation on sunday and microsoft sent an e-mail that it was urgent and needed to talk to the top cyber security expert. got on the call. i was surprised but not shocked

to learn about this attempted spear phishing by this unit to try to get our friends to try to log in and to pass their contact information on and so that their computers essentially taken over by the gru. >> was the fbi, law enforcement involved? did microsoft inform them? >> microsoft in touch with law enforcement. the fbi and the department of homeland security have been in touch with us over time, not immediately over this case but we have been in touch with them because there's other foreign governments trying to get in, chinese, iranians and probably others. >> what was the damage done? >> none whatsoever. >> how come? you would think that -- how long has this been going on? >> well, microsoft caught this, they saw that somebody tried to register a mirror website that

looks like our website and prevented any damage to us and deeply grateful. >> so -- but you have to assume this is going on. others have been targeted, as well. microsoft or maybe other institutions have not discovered this. >> sure. look, we have been on high alert for sometime. chinese tried to take down our website about a year ago and failed and hackers of shanghai. we have been on high alert and told the team to be very careful and alert to spelling errors, attempts for login i.d.s and told friends, also, dealing with us to be aware, as well. >> what advice do you have for think tanks around the country and the world? >> be immensely suspicious of attachments from people you don't know. even addresses that look like e-mail addresses of people you know. e-mails of people you know, double check. click on the e-mail, the sender name to be sure it's right and if you have some suspicion, send it to your security person. send it to your director of

operations. they'll tell you whether it's real or worth opening the attachment or not. >> are you surprised the president has not responded on twitter or else to this microsoft development? >> i'm sure he will. there's a lot going on today. >> even yesterday in the interview with reuters he was saying if the russians did try to hack in to the 2016 presidential -- still raising questions of that. >> clearly tried to hack into our u.s. senate offices. >> international republican institution, they work closely together and they both are very critical of the russians. ken, good luck over there. thank you for the important work you do. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. monitoring several news breaking stories in new york. michael cohen in talks with prosecutors for a potential plea deal. in virginia, right outside of washington, the federal jury for paul manafort still deliberating after revealing they might be stuck on at least one of 18 charges. stand by.

i never count the wrin. and i don't add up the years. but what i do count on... is staying happy and healthy. so, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. new boost® high protein nutritional drink now has 33% more high-quality protein, along with 26 essential and minerals your body needs. all with guaranteed great taste. the upside- i'm just getting started. boost® high protein be up for life introducing custome be your own. fabric design.f-a-kind. exclusively from budget blinds. you design it. you pick the pattern, the colors, the fabric. budget blinds does the rest, creating drapes and pillows. that's style and service for every budget. yours alone. for your one-of-a-kind home. call budget blinds for your free consultation right at home!

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. here we go on a tuesday afternoon. we have a lot of breaking stories for you. good afternoon. two stories involve individuals who were once central figures in president trump's inner circle. michael cohen, president trump's