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achieving the american dream. >> it's the immigrants that made the united states. it was the immigrants who came here to have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of doing whatever they wanted to do. and they're the ones that made this country. we are giving them the key. >> come on in. >> -- to unlock all doors. and i see the pride when they say i am an american. >> to see how florence's program unlocks the doors of the american dream, go to krnhecnk n cnnheroes.com right now. good evening tonight, somewhere former mob boss, john gotti, rotting in his grave must be smiling because the president is attacking a former associate for cooperating with law enforcement and praising a convicted felon about staying silence and may reward him with

a pardon. today, we heard the president put silence and loyalty, to him, above the law. he called it flipping. another associate flipped and received federal immunity. and the publisher who bought and buried karen mcdougal's story. the president belittled his own attorney, jeff sessions, yet again, and said impeachment proceedings would reduce america to poverty. his conversation came when he had high praise for himself. >> i give myself an a-plus. i don't think any president has done what i've done. we haven't even been two years. >> and he warns what he believes would happen if he were ever impeached. >> i don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job.

i'll tell you what, if i ever got impeached, i think the market would crash, i think everybody would be very poor. >> as for factors that might lead to impeachment or expose him to liability, he said buying the silence of two women in the closing days of his campaign is not against the law even though his former long-time attorney michael cohen has pled guilty to exactly that, saying he broke the law at the president's direction. the president continued to try to distance himself from his former lawyer. >> didn't do big deals, did small deals. not that much. they made it sound like i didn't live without him. >> the president wept on talk a flipping, confessing to crimes and the things that mob bosses didn't like, either. >> he made up stories. this whole thing of flipping, i've known all about flipping. for 30, 40 years, i've been watching flippers, everything is

wonderful and they get ten years in jail is and flip on the next one, as high as you can go. it almost ought to be outlawed. >> almost ought to be outlawed, cooperating with law enforcement, confessing. what about the mafia term, staying silent? the president seems to like that a lot. >> one of the reasons i respect paul manafort so much is he went through that trial. >> are you considering pardoning paul manafort? >> i have great respect what he's done in terms of what he's gone through. >> what he went through, for the record, is a federal trial on 18 counts of tax evasion and bank fraud in which a jury of his peers convicted him of eight felony counts carrying decades of prison time possibly. he has another trial to come. paul manafort is a convicted felon, an eight-time loser, a felon, serial lawmaker, taxpayer who cheated americans

out of millions of dollars. the president says he is a friend of ours, as they used to stay in the mob. jim acosta joins us. i understand you're learning more about the advice the president is getting about issuing pardons related to the russian investigation. >> reporter: that's right, anderson. i have been told by a source inside the president's legal team he has been advised for months now to avoid any pardons in the russia investigation including paul manafort. interesting to point out earlier this evening "the washington post" was reporting rudy guiliani told them in just the last several weeks, rudy guiliani had to talk the president out of pardoning paul manafort until it is over. what's interesting here about all of that is that at the white house secretary, sarah sanders, apparently was giving us a false or incomplete information that did not add up when she said that a pardon was not under discussion, has not been under discussion. this evening, she put out a

statement saying this pardon is not something being discussed in the white house. the president has not made a decision on pardoning paul manafort or anyone else. just because the discussion is not happening at the white house doesn't mean it isn't happening at other places, at bedminster or anywhere else. interesting to see the white house parsing its words over this issue. clearly, anderson, this is something under discussion, something been on the president's mind and appears it's been on the president's mind lately, as well. >> to hear the president yet again go after attorney general jeff sessions, going after him in that interview, we will talk to him more about it later. where do things stand on that? >> you heard him earlier on fox, what kind of man is this, once again seizing on this recusal jeff sessions decided to go with early on in the administration to stay out of the russian investigation. that has obviously been under the president's skin ever since

then and he went after jeff sessions. what changed, a watershed moment often this punching bag relationship the president constantly beating up on jeff sessions, jeff sessions fired back showing what a lot of people in washington have been waiting for a long time, some independence what the justice department should have from this white house and says what he decides to do will be independent from political considerations at the white house, something a lot of people have been waiting -- a lot of people have been waiting a long time. thank you. david gergen, access tv's dan rather, and investigative reporter, carl bernstein. dan, i've been reading some of your tweets today, suggesting martin scorsese should direct the movie of the trump presidency with "goodfellas." what do you make of this? >> we move into the political

theater of the absurd. i did discuss martin scorcese might make the bio-pic. he had "goodfellas," "gangs of new york" or might warrant to turn to the "sopranos." scorsese, i say this half ingest that he had a lot of experience -- in jest -- this whole trump era has moved to a completely different position now. by my own analysis, i say my own opinion, i think before the last 48 to maybe 60 hours, there is an outrage fatigue in the country. trump, i can't think about that anymore. the manafort guilty verdict and the cohen guilty plea, i think, changed the dynamic into a much

more dangerous period for donald trump personally and politically for the american presidency, and therefore for the country. i do use the word, absurd, what else can you say about it? i said with you a couple of occasions going back a month or a year, i suggested that what's happening in the trump era is worth a shakespeare play or ancient greeks. it's moved into a whole different era now. i do find when one tweets any suggestion about gangster movies, gangster connection here that seems to resonate with the public. i don't think there's the outrage fatigue anymore. people are centered on this. i know there are trump people who say they don't care. i don't believe that for a second. americans, whether they're trump supporters or not, somewhere down in their core believe the american presidency should be about honor and integrity. it's very hard to see what's

happening these last few days and hear what the president is saying, trying to move us to believe truth is not truth, crime is not crime, facts are not facts. the american people have a lot of common sense. it may be a long time coming. i myself think it's far too early to talk about impeachment as long as the republicans control at least the senate and have effective control of the supreme court i don't think there will be any impeachment. this story is yet to unfold. >> david, to dan's point, the president of the united states, truth is not truth and crime is not crime, the president is saying people who confess to crimes are flippers and almost ought to be outlawed because it's not fair and people who stay silent and fight and go through trial and get convicted as felons, they're stand-up people. >> i think, anderson, all four

of us agree tonight it's deeply offensive to have a president who is the guardian of the justice system, protector of the law in our country so blatantly disagree what we believe, undermine much of what we believe. i agree very much with dan's analysis the dynamics have been changed. donald trump is a control freak in many ways. he wants to control everything he controlled this epic battle against mueller month after month. he alone had the platform and mueller couldn't speak. we talked about that before. mueller had a chance to speak in courtrooms. trump is losing control of the narrative and mueller is taking it away from him. you can see it in a fox poll that came out today, which was fascinating. in july, you ask americans if

they approve or disapprove? in fox poll, 48 approve, 40 disapprove. today, this week, 59% approve, it's gone from 48 to 59. the disapprove has gone from 40 to 37. i think you can see the power of the courtroom can change the dynamics. mueller is holding a lot of cards. we don't know what they are. trump himself must be panicked because he doesn't know what the cards are and he has lost control. >> how many times have we been at points we said this is an inflection point in the presidency, tipping point, turning point, whatever the phrase you want to use yet it just continues on? >> here's what's different. we have now seen in its naked ugliness the instinctive lawlessness of this president of the united states. the sewage, the stench of the sewage seeping from the white

house swamp is starting to waft across the country. it's becoming tangible. there has been a change. i think people are now getting a look at the real donald trump in a way that is taking the blinders off some eye, not enough eyes on republicans in congress, his enablers and protectors through the awful months of his presidency. we're also seeing great examples of his incompetence. the rails are starting to come off visibly. you hear it in the rails of congress discussing it in private in ways they have not. we're into a new era of the trump presidency in which he is not only not in control in the way of his authoritarian

instincts, his authoritarian instincts are starting to fail him because too many people are on to those authoritarian instincts, and they frighten people, they frighten what he is trying to do to this country and its traditions and institutions of justice. in every despotic tyranical country that the leader has tried to seize the institutions of justice and undermine the press as the real means of controlling through authoritarianism. people are starting to realize that. >> dan, just the lies, whether something is against the law or not, we had good people on either sides arguing good law. just the lies, the swamp, at the heart of the swamp, the number of lies is overwhelming.

>> this is a good example how much has changed in the american political landscape. the word lies has been used for much of what donald trump has said quite a while now. this is something new. previously people were reluctant to say somebody told a lie especially the president of the united states. president trump has so clearly adopted the attitude, if i donald trump say it no matter how big a lie, the word is just, no matter how big a lie it is, it isn't going to matter. there have been books written about authoritarian technique in history. much of what the president has been doing is aversion of a big lie, tell a lie, know it's untrue, but given the bully pulpit that is the presidency -- >> repeat it over and over.

>> repeat it over and over. one reason he tweets so much, bombards it and counts on the power of the presidency to persuade and influence. he feels and i wonder if he still feels given the last couple of days, he was invincible and he could say any damn thing he pleased, if he said it often enough people would believe it. i would guess using a poker phrase he's checking his hold cards and is called to account on these lies. >> david of ami, american media incorporated that owns "the national enquirer" and tabloid like magazines. he in donald trump's terms, flipped and cooperating with federal prosecutors like michael cohen. that's stunning. david pekker, there's no telling how many files he has on the man who is now the president of the united states.

no telling how many catch and kill stories or sleazy things david pekker has access to he has on the president. >> that's absolutely right, anderson and why i think the president is so upset and panicked. we hear continual reports from the white house to that effect and he has lost control. one of the harsh lessons in life is loyalty runs both ways. donald trump is only loyal to himself and cuts people loose. now, people are turning it on him and disclaiming their loyalty to him, breaking their bonds with him to save themselves. that has made it particularly dangerous. let me emphasize one other thing. he can still cling onto office a lot longer than people think.

i don't think he's down and out yet. he's down but not out. a lot still will depend ultimately what mueller has on the collusion question. >> we will discuss this when we come back. we have to take a quick break. we have never seen donald trump truly cornered with his back against the wall and truly down. we have no idea what he is capable of for better or for worse, when truly cornered. that's something obviously we may come to witness and may not. coming up next we talk more about the attorney general and how much longer he might be the attorney general and one of the president's earliest congressional supporters and latest alleged felon, duncan hunter and we'll tell you about his day in court. of gasoline up in the air. that amounts to about 10 pounds of carbon dioxide every week (malo hutson) growth is good, but when it starts impacting our quality of air and quality of life, that's a problem. so forward-thinking cities like sacramento

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more now on the president's latest shots on the guy who is known for being a punching bag that is the united states attorney general. >> i put jeff sessions in as attorney general and never took control of the justice

department. it's an incredible thing. >> the president also said the only reason he appointed jeff sessions because he supported him during the campaign. the two have been at odds ever since jeff recused himself. he put out a statement saying, while i am attorney general the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. i demand the highest standards and where they are not met i take action. how long he remains in the job is an open question. it is incredible, jeff sessions has probably done more than anyone else in this administration to execute the president's agenda, getting judges through confirmation process, the fact he is the person the president is focused on with such mockery is extraordinary. >> it's the ultimate irony, you're right. sessions has done more to advance the trump agenda, not

only judges but in other ways than anybody i can think of in the administration. the fact president trump does this tells us a lot because it raises the view, if president trump is not guilty of anything, why does he act like he's guilty by doing such things by saying if sessions had told me he would recuse himself about the russian probe. this is erie. i'm prepared to say there's never been anything quite like it in the history of the american presidency. my friend, david gergen, a presidential scholar and served in all sorts of white houses would know, there's been nothing like this. >> i would like to hear your thoughts on it. dan tweeted, the question is we enter the next chapter and the

fate of this nation lies not in the acts of the president but gop leaders and party faithful who seem determined to explain away criminality for their own cynical grip on power. in watergate, it was republicans who ultimately turned the tide. other than republicans saying things and whispering, you still don't hear an awful lot of folks going on the record, even speaker ryan's response to the michael cohen guilty plea was, oh, well, we need more information. >> ryan is a great example of the most crazy leadership of a political party i think i've ever seen, in all the years i've been covering politics. the fact is two things are going on at once, running on parallel tracks. republicans in washington who have shown no inclination and probably won't show any inclination to have a spine until after the midterm

elections. also, we have to look at who trump's constituency is. he still commands 80%, 90% approval of those people in this country who call themselves republicans. that's a huge difference between now and watergate. in watergate when nixon left office, perhaps 52% of republicans according to the polls approved of nixon still. disapproval rating of trump's is extraordinary. and he is the president of his base during a cold civil war in this country. he has brought that cold civil war to the point of ignition. when we talk about the danger during the next few months, that

cold civil war is fraught because he is intent on doing whatever he has to do to hold onto these powers, to hold on to his presidency, and his followers are indeed many of them ready to stand behind anything that he does. that's the extraordinary difference between -- one of the extraordinary differences between a period of watergate and now because the behavior and conduct as demonstrated by donald trump is so far beyond what would have been approved in 1974 by republicans, voters and representatives in congress alike, that's the real difference. we have to wait for the midterms to see if anything changes. >> david, do you agree with that? >> yes. i agree with most of that. i think for all of us here, this republican party is increasingly unrecognizable.

it has become the trump party. because of what many consider the cowardice of the republican leaders, if trump goes down, this party may go down with him. their values setting forth and not facing reality and unwillingness to see climate change, the tax bill presented, a whole range of things that will leave this party in serious, serious trouble with minorities and women and millennials. they will pay a price for this. if they don't change soon and start drawing clear red lines, i think the consensus what is happening with jeff sessions on the hill and the senate, he may well be removed from office after the mid-terms. we're building towards a climax after the mid-terms, a real danger sessions will be out and trump will fire mueller and put

somebody in to close the mueller investigation. republicans have to move to protect special counsel now. if he gets fired without republicans making that protection they will be jointly responsible for dismantling this investigation. >> david gergen, carl bernstein, dan rather, thank you so much. appreciate it. good to have you all. >> thank you. we touched on this reporting long time trump friend, david pecker, was given immunity and weigh in on the possible significance of this in a moment. so you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop, 24/7 tech support. yep, thanks guys. i think he might need some support. yes. start them off right, with the school supplies they need at low prices all summer long. like these for only $2 or less at office depot officemax.

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a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! we mentioned at the top the man who kept some of donald trump's secrets and other secrets as well cut a deal with the feds. david pecker, the head of the company that publishes "the national enquirer" was granted immunity. he says, i am the ceo of the company and they squelched stories implicating trump himself. david pecker, it now seems clear is the david on the tape that michael cohen made just before the election discussing the possibility of getting the

rights to karen mcdougal story already bought in a catch and kill deal right before the election. >> i need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, david. i will do that right away. i've spoken to allen about how to set the whole thing up with funding. yes. it's all the stuff -- all the stuff, you never know where that company -- he gets hit by a truck -- i'm all over that. i spoke to allen about it. when it comes time for financing -- >> what financing? >> i have to -- >> pay with cash? >> no, no. >> allen wiseleberg is the trump organization's chief financial officer, david pecker and talking about the karen mcdougal catch and kill arrangement.

there is a report that they kept a safe on other damaging stories it killed, as part of its relationship with donald trump. here to talk about it, jeffrey toobin. you wrote a lengthy piece in "the new yorker," i recall, about david pecker. >> i did. >> what do you think about this, that there's a safe, potential information that david pecker or ami would have on donald trump -- >> is enormous. >> david pecker is very open with me including talking about karen mcdougal saying, we supported donald trump and i wanted to help him by making this deal with karen mcdougal. that may -- it's certainly not unlawful to support a candidate, that's what magazines do. but getting involved financially in buying silence for -- in return -- as a political favor

is potentially a big problem. it's part of what michael cohen pleaded guilty to. we obviously know there are these two hush money deals, but inside this safe, it is certainly possible there's more in there. >> if david pecker got immunity in the situation, does that mean it would be blanket immunity to cooperate with anything with the prosecutors? >> i would assume he has been given immunity with conversations with them and refused to walk in and would incriminate himself if he's paying money and if it's related to the political campaign, he's potentially guilty of a crime. what happened he saw that liability and refused to walk in the door without a grant or immunity. if he had a decent lawyer they would have said he wants immunity. >> i'm sure. he is now free from prosecution from both the southern district of new york that did the michael

cohen investigation as well as the mueller investigation starting increasingly to bleed together. >> if it seems logical he walks in with a grant of blanket immunity, would the southern district attorneys ask him about other cases not related to -- >> i have to believe. > agree. >> they certainly would be free to do that. given the scope of the relationship between trump and pecker, it's a lot to talk about because they go back to the '80s together. "the enquirer" was and organ of support for trump in a really extravagant way. >> the -- ted cruz stories were another thing. >> remember, the government doesn't just give out immunity. you can't walk in and say i'm potentially guilty of a crime, i want immunity.

they had to make proffers and the lawyer says here's what we know and would say and why we want immunity. the government already probably has some of this information or some sense. >> not just related to michael cohen. >> it might have been. that's a very important point you're making, you have to show the government you have something worthwhile before they'll give you immunity. it's a big deal to give immunity to someone because you are potentially avoiding prosecution of serious crimes. the fact they gave him immunity suggests that pecker has something serious they need. >> the interview the president gave which aired this morning, in which he talked about, first of all, the campaign finance violations of michael cohen, they weren't really campaign finance related. said they weren't crimes. >> and it wasn't campaign money. and he talked about flippers as being something that should almost be outlawed. did that make any sense to you? >> it's hard to be shocked by

stuff donald trump says. all of federal law enforcement is based on the idea of going from the bottom up. you get them to cooperate. >> that's how courts exist. >> let's how you get the heads of organized crime families and the leaders of drug -- the president is very big talking about how evil ms-13 is, this gang from central america. the only way they prosecute people from ms-13 is by using flippers. the idea there is something sinister of flippers just because it led to the conviction of paul manafort is surreal. >> i agree. the people who flip are guilty and are sentenced and get a benefit on sentencing and can be good. as a rule, they do a lot of time on the crimes they committed. >> thank you. why is the president

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the president is all of a sudden concerned about south africa or concerned about some white people in south africa. after watching a segment on fox news, the president tweeted i've asked secretary of state pompeo to closely study the africa land and farm seizures and the large

scale killing of farmers. south africa government is now seizing land from white farmers. land reforms is complex and racial sensitivity and past policies removed black south africans from the land in favor of whites. as for the president keeping them simple and honest, there's not large scale killing of farmers. it shows it's reached a 20-year low, 47 killed in 2017, 2018, obviously, still a high number, a huge crime situation in south africa. getting the facts wrong, curious the president is suddenly interested in south africa at all since the only other time as president he tweeted anything about south africa was 2017, on our toes this afternoon, facing the challenges and opportunities facing our nations

today. and four months later he called them s-hole organizations in private meetings and suggested they live in huts. why is the president suddenly tweeting about south african land policy particularly relating to whites? carlson talked about it last night and why is it an issue regarding white south africans. the anti-defamation league is concerned the president is echoing a long-standing and false claim. and tweeting south africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation. it reminds us of our colonial past. race matters and the dr. king. i want to get your response to the ambassador. he tweeted president trump was attacking south africa with a disproven racial myth of large scale killings of farmers. this man has never visited the continent and has no discernible africa policy. i wonder if you agree with that?

>> you know, brother anderson, there's a line in the t.s. eliot poem we're distracted by distraction. fairly clear he's lying again. i read recently told 429 lies in 58 days. we shouldn't be surprised. he's at moment in these last days where it looks like brother donald trump, gangster, racist, misogynist, a brother because he's a human being. he's a human being who chooses to be demonic, reaching the end, meeting his match with brother mueller. when mueller lays bare and discloses the facts donald trump will not just be shaking in his boots but saying good-bye. he expresses something deep in the american culture. in terms of catastrophic and keeping track of gangsters, not all by himself, not isolated. he has something in the culture,

he has followers. we have to come to term what's produced him. corporate elites still running amuck. the wall street still breaking records, stock market breaking records, wealth inequality still increasing, racial divide still deep and homophobia still running amuck. not just getting donald trump on his way but on his way out, i believe. we have to keep track of his humanity as he goes out. >> you talk about a distraction a technique he used before, what do you think it says the first time the president decided to comment on issues in africa, africa is an extraordinary continent with many different countries in it, other than that one tweet about meeting with african leaders in which i think he welcomed leaders from a country that doesn't exist he

chooses to offer focus on a small population of white people in south africa. >> he's in over his head. he's got a white supremacist tilt, no doubt about it. i wish he could say something about uganda, what's going on with the arrest of opposition leaders, a u.s. ally and say something about yemen, especially women and children, u.s. supported saudi forces doing that. he's in over his head. i don't think we ought to take it too seriously, he at this point is throwing whatever he can in hopes that it sticks and tries to get us away from the fact that he is going under. i think, in many ways, you think of the tiers of fred and mary ann, his mother and father, this is the son that we produced, look at the levels of criminality. but as a human being he can still change.

i'm not making a program on it. i'm saying that because i don't want us to be self-righteous in our criticism. even after trump we have to be just as righteously outraged and full of indignation in terms of wealth and in equality and prison situation and women are treated, gays, lesbians, trans and especially black and brown folks. once trump leaves the racism doesn't leave, my brother. >> you really believe -- >> absolutely, my god, i know you can be better, i know i can be better. >> i don't know if i can be -- >> hard to think of a better panel than that, everybody can be better. i'm a christian not because i'm naive, i'm a christian because i believe we all have the capacity, given our wretchedness to be better, true for everybody, right wing, left wing, center, liberal, across the board. but we have to be honest and candid about our foes.

donald trump is my foe, no doubt about that. we swing at each other. even still, even as a gangster that he chooses to be, i know i have some gangster in me. i have to try to control it. >> this is maybe getting off topic, in your belief, is the key to change to acknowledging one's wretchedness, the word >> the key to change is the courage to criticize, the courage to hope and the courage to love and to bind with others to be forces of good before the worms get your body. that's the history of the species at its best. but the dominant history of the species is hatred, envy, resentment, domination, oppression. that's what's so beautiful about democracy. that's what's so beautiful about love and justice, what love looks like in public, just like tenderness, what love feels like in private. that tenderness, that love and democracy is an interruption from the dark and vicious history that so many of all of us have to wrestle with in the depths of our soul. that's what it is to be human. and let's just be honest about

it. all of us stand in need of transformation. we used to say in my church if the kingdom of god is within you then everywhere you go you ought to leave a little heaven behind. how much heaven are you leaving behind? donald trump not leaving too much heaven behind. a whole lot of hell right now. that's why he's got to go. and he will go. >> dr. west, it's always an education. i appreciate talking to you. >> thank you so much, my brother. you stay strong. >> you foo. thank you. i want to check in with chris, see what he's working on for "cuomo prime time" at the top of the hour. chris? no? we don't have chris? >> oh. there you are. >> hey, chris. >> i was just playing. i heard you the whole time. no, i'm kidding, anderson. i'm down in washington, d.c., this strange land where nothing really works the way it would anywhere else, so even the coms are a little screwed up. we came down here for a couple of big reasons. one, there's so much in the air the white house needs to

defense. so literally, muhammad has gone to the mountain and kellyanne conway is going to come on from the white house and defend everything that is in the air. and it's also going to give us a chance, my friend, to meet with some of the familiar faces from those white house press briefings and get their perspective on where they think we are and where they think we are headed. so we're going to take it all on from the capital. >> look forward to it. that's about nine minutes from now. coming up congressman duncan hunter entering a plea he and his wife misused more than 250,000 nasdaq campaign funds for trips, bar tabs, vacations and a plane ticket for a pet rabbit. the latest next. e give you more for your thing. here we're adding tv and movies from our unlimited plan to the powerful new samsung galaxy note9. the perfect device for entertainment & productivity. so, it's essentially the ed helms of devices? how so? well he's both very entertaining and very productive. you think? yeah, i do. and that's my completely unbiased opinion. buy a galaxy note9 and get one free.

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republican congressman and early trump supporter duncan hunter was in court today pleading not guilty to federal charges he and his wife misused a quarter of a million dollars in campaign funds for personal expenses. a republican aide tells cnn that hunter has agreed to step down from his congressional committee assignments even as he claims this is all politically motivated. the indictment is 47 pages. it alleges that hunter and his wife falsified records, conspired with each other to use campaign funds to live well beyond their means on things like trinz, restaurants, and yes an airline ticket for a pet rabbit. and there's more. randi kaye has details. >> reporter: a lavish lifestyle despite being strapped for cash. in 2015 alone california congressman duncan hunter and his wife allegedly took a family

vacation to italy that cost more than $14,000 and a trip to hawaii for $6,500. all of it, prosecutors say, paid for with campaign funds. in the indictment a disturbing pattern. the hunters are accused of disguising their purchases as benefiting veterans and charities. case in point, an alleged 2015 conversation between duncan and margaret hunter about buying hawaii shorts. they'd run out of money, the indictment says, so she suggested he buy the shorts at a golf pro shop so that they could falsely describe the purchase later as some golf balls for the wounded warriors. and in an effort to justify why that lavish vacation to italy was paid for with campaign funds the indictment says the congressman tried setting up a tour of a u.s. naval facility during the trip. when naval officials couldn't make it work, he allegedly offered this terse response -- "tell the navy to go f themselves." prosecutors say the couple was

in such dire straits they overdrew their bank account more than 1,100 times over seven years. the congressman, who has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, suggested that it wasn't his fault. >> when i joined the marine corps i gave power of attorney to my wife because i was gone all the time. >> his wife margaret allegedly spent plenty. >> i'll be out there campaigning for him, standing in for him. >> $200 on tennis shoes at dick's sporting goods which prosecutors say she then claimed were for a dove hundredth event for wounded warriors. also $152 on makeup at nordstrom. disguising it as gift basket items for the boys and girls clubs of san diego. a $394 purchase from macy's prosecutors say was listed as gift baskets, too. she too has pleaded not guilty to the charges. >> the accusations against your wife, what do you have to say? >> that'll come out in court. that's for the court and for her. >> was she in charge of those big charges? >> she was the campaign manager

of the campaign. >> at costco the hunters spent more than $11,300 in campaign funds according to the indictment. more than $5,700 at walmart. if everything in this 60-count indictment is true, the temerity is tough to hide. for example, the indictment says duncan hunter claimed a $257.40 reembursement from campaign funds for driving his car to a trip to virginia beach with a fellow congressman despite the fact that they did not use duncan's car on that trip. he also allegedly spent more than $1,000 at a ski resort in lake tahoe, even though his personal bank account balance was barely $15. duncan says he's not worried about the investigation, saying it's all just politically motivated. >> this is modern politics and modern media mixed in with law enforcement that has a political agenda. >> your dad spoke with us -- >> that's a new department of

justice. >> randi joins us now. is there any evidence at all this is politically motivated? looking through thain diemt it's hard to see. >> reporter: no. certainly not in the 47-page indictment at all. but what he's saying, what duncan hunter is saying, is that the prosecutors were involved in this case, had attended a clinton campaign event. but sources told cnn that the guy, the prosecutor who actually chose to indict was appointed by attorney general jeff sessions last year and there's no connection at all to the clinton campaign or campaign 2016. >> he's also saying this is the new department of justice. the new department of justice is run by jeff sessions. >> exactly. who appointed the guy who now has indicted him. so it's sort of an interesting circular argument that he's make. but it's worth pointing out also that his campaign treasurer, duncan hunter's campaign treasurer according to the indictment, had warned him. he had said look, you can't do this, this is against the law. you can't spend campaign funds that people have given you on yourself and your family. and he apparently according to the indictment if it's true told his campaign treasurer, well, that law is silly. that was his quote. >> it also seems like he's distancing himself from his wife in his public comments so far.

>> yeah. they had no interaction in court at all today. >> randi, thanks very much. we'll definitely follow that. a reminder don't miss full circle our daily interactive newscast on facebook. it's a lot of fun. you pick some of the stories we cover. 6:25 p.m. eastern on facebook.com/anderson cooper full circle. all one word. the news continues. want to hand it over to chris down in d.c. "cuomo prime time" starts now. chris? >> thank you, anderson. i am chris cuomo. and welcome to "prime time." we are in the nation's capital, washington, d.c., tonight. the president's former lawyer says trump directed him to commit crimes. the president says you cannot believe michael cohen. he well, does he think we can trust one of his closest friends, who says the same thing as cohen? today we learned a tabloid mogul gets immunity regarding those big payments to women and reportedly accuses president trump of knowing and being involved in everything. remember, that may be why the president actually said that maybe allowing