tv Inside Politics CNN March 8, 2019 9:00am-10:00am PST
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we're the edsons. my name is roger zapata. we're the tinch family, and we are usaa members for life. to begin your legacy, get an insurance quote today. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing this big breaking news day with us. among the developments this hour, a big shake-up at the trump white house. the president's communications director heading out of the white house. he says he's heading now to the president's 2020 re-election campaign. any word on why bill shine is leaving now? >> reporter: this is an unexpected departure, the white house announcing the resignation today, saying that he gave his resignation to the president last night and will be working
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on the 2020 campaign. it's not clear what that campaign entails, but he was brought on board to improve the president's press coverage. that did not shine in the less than a year that shine served at this white house. shine was scheduled to go on the president's trip to vietnam for those north korea denuclearization talks but dropped out of the trip unexpectedly a couple days before, so perhaps a sign of the departure to come. it's not clear, john, who will take shine's job as the effective communications director in the white house. there have been six people who have held the title of communications director at the white house or who have done that job effectively, so the white house now will be looking at a seventh white house communications director as the white house heads into a difficult period with impending release of the mueller report and dealing with the democratic house. so it will be interesting to see who, if anyone, the white house will be able to get to fill that position, john.
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>> an interesting development, as you note, sara, at an interesting time. sara westwood at the white house. let me know if we learn anything more. kaitlan collins, kathy lucie with the associated press. if a senior player is leaving, you announce their departure as you announce who is coming in to replace them. yet again we learn of someone else leaving. if he is just going to work on the campaign, there is some sense in that, but -- >> bill shine was a topic of conversation after the new yorker piece, talking about the relationship between bill shine and fox news. he played a big role since he was at the senior level at fox news. we talked about the work he had been doing, but i do not think anyone expected bill shine to be
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leaving. it's very questionable that it's so abrupt, although there are a lot of abrupt resignations in this white house. i think what adds to that level of mystery there is that bill shine was scheduled to go on the vietnam trip with the president. which is a big trip. they don't make staffing decisions for a trip like that lightly. the people who go, there is a pretty limited manifest for who is going on that trip. then just a few days before, bill shine announced he would not be going on that trip any longer. he hung back to take care of things. there had been talk that the president was unhappy, that he thought he was going to bring this former fox news co-president into the white house, was going to help him get better coverage, and the president was unhappy that that was something that did not happen. which raises the question, could anybody help the question get better coverage? that is something the president talked about privately. >> we've seen bill shine on stage a lot helping with events, and yes, helping sean hannity
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produce his show with interviews with the president. let's remember, this was a controversial hire to begin with, because when bill shine was at fox news, he was in a senior position. it was controversial to begin with. then he settles in, and the question is, again, why now, and the president is running for re-election. they set up a campaign structure. the campaign structure is involved in the morning structures call. if that happens, it leaves some sense, but leaving that gaping hole, the mueller report is about to come out. you want a senior player inside. yes, you want a strong campaign operation, but you also want a senior person inside at this moment. >> yeah, this is a huge moment for this white house with a lot of messaging needs going into all these events you're talking about. a question i think we have to talk about is just what role he had been playing in the weeks leading up to this? was this sort of a snap decision
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based on something we have yet to still find out, or had this been percolating for some time? had he lost confidence in the president in some way that maybe meant he wasn't able to advise on some of those decisions. we're still trying to figure that out. but the president is a very, very hard critic in terms of the media he gets. we know how much media he takes in and just how much he cares about the way he's portrayed on tv. >> bill shine has his own statements, it's the highest honor of his life. sarah sanders saying how valuable he's been in the west wing. the issue the reason i'm a little skeptical is we've seen this before where the trump white house says a on day one, and by dinner or the next day, the story is often b, c or d. >> and most of these jobs do not get filled in a timely manner, and this one seems particularly hard to fill because in many ways the president is his own
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communications director, right? you can go out there with the best messaging plan in the world and he undoes it in a tweet. that's probably the reason you see all these openings is because the president is such a challenging guy to work for, but this one feels particularly lucky number 7. >> underscoring lisa's point, the white house has brought in a couple extra hands over the last several weeks particularly for the white house democrats to control, and there is a lot to respond to coming from that new majority. at the same time, sarah sanders is not held a briefing for the press since january 28. we are in early march right now. that is a long time to go without taking questions on, you know, policy, politics and substance from the white house press corps, and the president does do his impromptu gaggles like he did this morning, but that's not a substitute for answering questions. >> jason miller, sean spicer, mike dubke, anthony scaratucci,
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hope hicks. >> they're constantly coming in. >> whenever we reported a story saying there had been complaints about what bill shine's strategy was, that he sent officials from fox news but wasn't trying to expand their support beyond that, but people did talk about how it's a very tough job to be president trump's communications director when he was his own communications director. >> personal vacancies, as we're having this conversation, the secretary of the air force tweeting, today i informed the president i will resign as secretary of the air force to be the president of the university of texas-el paso. it's been a privilege to serve with our airmen.
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i am proud of the progress we have made to restore the readiness and lethality of usaf. here's one of the challenges. just today someone mentioned a dramatic change in the president's mood and a big new pla thing this morning. the president became quiet when asked about michael cohen. >> i never have nor would i ever accept a pardon from president trump. >> that's the wrong sound there. we wanted to play the president there. let's list ton the presideen ton the north lawn. >> i don't even discuss it. the only one discussing it is you. i haven't discussed it. i know that in watching and seeing you folks at night that michael cohen lied about the
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pardon. it was a stone cold-faced lie. he lied about a lot of things, but when he lied about the pardon, that was a stone-faced lie. he -- i could go a step above that, but i won't go there now. >> relatively calm, especially when the words michael cohen come up. that tape airing on the east coast. at 4:11, he said, bad lawyer and fraud michael cohen said in testimony that he never asked for a pardon. his lawyers contradicted him. he lied. additionally, he directly asked me for a pardon. i said no. he lied again! he also badly wanted to work at the white house. he lied! the president's aides at the white house have been trying to impress upon him, be calm, don't get animated.
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he tried to talk about the economy today. everything is good. the democrats that power the house now, they want all the documents about this cohen pardon conversation. they want witnesses about this cohen pardon conversation. >> and they want witnesses about whether the president lied about him seeking a pardon. they said he hadn't asked for a pardon after a certain day, which he would say. -- the president waited for over a week to bring up that michael cohen had asked him directly for a pardon. cnn had reported that michael cohen was under the impression of, i think back in december, before he started cooperating that he couldn't maybe get a pardon from the president, but the president came out directly today that he asked him for one personally which takes it above the lawyers which we thought the conversations had been. it's interesting the president had waited this long when he had
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said last week he wasn't waiting for one. >> you have a perpetual liar and a convicted liar saying the other one is lying. good luck. >> and both sides are then trying to undermine what was said. >> exactly. and that's why -- in advance of the michael cohen hearing a couple weeks ago, the republicans have been making that case that michael cohen is an unreliable narrator, he's going to prison for life, why are you taking him seriously? but you have to look at the comments he's up against and try to decide who is telling the truth. >> michael cohen not wasting any time responding. he's about to go to prison. he has a couple weeks before he goes to prison. the president said he directly asked for a pardon. these are two guys who used to be buddies, right? used to be very important to each other. a set of lies by potus. mr. president, let me remind you, today a national women's day. you may want to use today to
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apologize for your own lies and misdeeds to women like karen mcdougal and stephanie clifford. stephanie is the real name of stormy daniels. >> we would not be talking about michael cohen today if he had not just ended with a gaggle. here's the president who went up against him. >> he has to know every time he hits send that he is likely to change the conversation. why did he want us to be, again, a liar calling a liar a liar. >> what we're seeing again with michael cohen really emphasizes what cohen sees as a key for weakness or vulnerability to the president. he's trying to get under his skin.
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>> but this is what fwrrustrate republicans in the midterms. they wanted to talk about the tax bill and instead they were constantly taken off course by tweets like this. you have to wonder how this all plays out. the presidential election is obviously very different than a midterm, but we are in that cycle now about how all this shapes and whether we have the same republican frustrations yet again. >> can we end in march 2019? if republicans have a fantasy that this is going to change as they head into 2020, the evidence is rather overwhelming at this point that it will not change. we'll keep an eye to both those developing stories at the white house, the back and forth between the president and michael cohen. up next, how has the president pitted against controversy and taken a big vote on the anti-corruption bill. >> this is, in our view, a historic day, a pivotal day, a day that will make a difference as we go forward. and congressman phillips said,
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today house democrats hoping to get back to debating policy instead of prejudice. last hour the house passed hr1. that's a sweeping pack of ethics and other reforms. the breakdown of the vote tally tells you all you need to know. all democrats on hand today voted for the measure. all 170 republicans voted no. for house democrats it was an important effort to move past a remarkable family feud. just yesterday after days of drama over how to handle anti-semitic statements, they voted against anti-semitism and
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hate. >> that bill is what house republican leaders and house democrats wanted this week to be all about. it was simply a piece of legislation for the new majority, getting the hr1 numbering for the bill. not that it was just a symbolic bill because he made clear it wasn't going anywhere in the senate, but also 670 pages, kind of an overhaul of several different factors they talked about in the campaign in the opening months of congress, and yet it was swamped over the course of a week. i think the key thing to recognize here, what we all saw this week, this isn't a one-off, this isn't a one-time thing. this ripped the lid off some very severe generational divides, idealogical divides, divides between different groups in the caucus and it's something republicans made clear they're not going to let go anytime soon. mitch mcconnell bringing this issue up repeatedly.
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they feel like it was watered down. they feel democratic leaders were cowed by some of the leaders who felt congresswoman omar was unfairly cornered about what this resolution was all about, and because of that, they're going to keep bringing it up. i was talking to democratic voters during the votes, and they said, look, we're glad it's behind us. we hope it doesn't come back up again. one member told me rather candidl candidly, i hope everybody stops tweeting. let's discuss it and hope it stays off twitter. >> there is some grumbling in the republican ranks that they managed to get themselves in the middle of their story because of their vote breakdown. explain. >> reporter: so there were 23 no votes in that anti-hate resolution yesterday, they were all republican no votes, and the rationale is explicit. they made clear they thought it was watered down, they thought it specifically should have
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identified congresswoman omar. i think the main thing i heard from republican leadership aides or those close to republican leadership was this was an easy yes vote and we could have kept the spotlight on democrats to a big degree. congresswoman liz cheney voted no. she has been out front on congresswoman omar saying she should be stripped of her committee affairs. the idea that the third ranked member of the house would split from the top two members of the house. kevin mccarthy said, quote, i always think we're stronger when we all vote together. it was pretty explicit what he meant by that, and that is that leadership is supposed to vote together. keep an eye on this. i think this is going to be, between leadership, something people will be watching for the next couple weeks and months ahead. >> we'll keep an eye on the ambitious congresswoman cheney throughout the weeks and months ahead. phil mattingly on capitol hill, appreciate that. the democrats hope to turn the page.
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the president of the united states hopes to not let them turn the page. >> i thought yesterday's vote by the house was disgraceful. because it's become -- the democrats have become an anti-israel party, they've become an anti-jewish party. >> this is part of why this debate was so painful to the democrats in the sense that they would like to have the high ground on issues of prejudice. they believe the president gives them plenty of material to look at him and say, a, that's not a president. b, it's not decent. whether it's charlottesville or something else the president has done that casts him as anti-semitic. >> over the past few days the democrats have been kind of tripping over their own feet. they've been happy to let them do that and hammer on it. you've seen the president call it disgraceful. he's more than happy to speak about it with reporters and
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that's because they're able to push this narrative with the democrats that things they don't condemn that they're hypocrites. >> this is great for the white house because not only does it give them cover on issues of race and gender, it also allows them to make a play for jewish voters who are still overwhelmingly democratic but still may have some concerns about how the democratic party is shifting on israel. and perhaps more importantly, it allows them to bolster their base. they are strong supporters of israel, they don't like to hear this thing. so it's kind of a three-pronged win for the white house by just letting democrats go with this. >> speaker pelosi gave them a lot of grace saying she didn't understand how hurtful her remarks are. they don't buy that anymore because it's happened several times. we'll talk to you about it once, twice, three, four, five, but the question is what happens going forward with these young freshmen who doesn't want to be
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told, tame your tweets. she said, i'm certainly not looking to be comfortable and i don't want people to feel comfortable around me. i think really the most exciting things happen when people are extremely uncomfortable. i'm okay with taking the blows in it means it will ignite conversation that no one was willing to have before. >> while this is very important, it's still at the end of the day a symbolic resolution. but the democratic-run caucus is going to be arguing over issues of climate change. immigration will be another one and whether or not to eliminate i.c.e. or not. and, again, we talk so much about this emboldened group of new impressives in the house, but the house majority waninorie
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republican-held districts so they can win back the majority in 2020. >> i've certainly been hearing this week from republicans in and around the white house who are a little bit gleeful. being in the majority is hard. they said, we dealt with this. i think they're enjoying a little bit watching it play out. >> the democrats have started this impurity test. they have embraced this brand of being against all forms of hate, anti-semitism, gender bias. these are the most fiery issues at the center of our conversation. again and again these issues are going to flare up and they might have divisions in their ranks and they'll have to deal with these messy cross-currents. we already had this in virginia. >> they draw these lines and open themselves up to criticism. if you drew this line, why is rolf north still governor of virginia? why don't you do something
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binding about it. >> one of the most interesting developments, i thought, in this whole week-long firestorm was when the presidential candidates weighed in from the campaign trail? kamala harris, elizabeth warren to say they stand behind congresswoman omar. you'll see this play out not only in virginia but also in the house as we saw this week. but they'll migrate to the campaign trail and they'll be in the general debates and the fight on immigration. up next for us, a surprisingly weak jobs report for february, but there are some bright spots in the new data. as a home instead caregiver, for everything that i give, i get so much in return. hearing all of stanley's stories about his home, and everything that he's learned over the years, it reminds me that this is as much for him as it is for me. join our family of home instead caregivers
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welcome back. a shocking weekly jobs report is out this morning and now a question of whether it's a blip or a warning. they said the economy added only 20,000 jobs in february. it is just one month and there's no doubt temporary factors like bad weather and the partial government shutdown played a role in these numbers. and there are silver linings in the new report. the unemployment rate still remarkably low, 3.8%. a year's growth in wages, pretty solid. this report raises questions about whether this is just a speed bump or if the economy is heading into a stretch of slower growth. among those hoping this is just a blip, a president gearing up
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for a re-election campaign that is ank offchored on the theme te has revved the economy into high gear. >> we've seen wages rise more than they have at any time for a long, long time. the economy is very, very strong. if you look at the stock market over the last few months, it's been great. and certainly since my election, it's getting close to 50%. as soon as these trade deals are done, if they get done, and we're working with china, we'll see what happens, but i think you'll see america spike. the unemployment rate just went lower. we're down now to 3.8%, so we have very good news on that. i think the big news, really, was that wages went up and that's great for the american worker. >> we get started with a walk through the numbers. >> a big surprise with the february jobs report. only 20,000 jobs were added to the economy in february. while this is a surprise, not
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completely unexpected, because if you see how the jobs numbers have been over the past year, they've been averaging 234,000 jobs added monthly, so there's only so long the jobs market can add that many jobs when we know that the unemployment rate, as we learned today, is sitting at 3.8%. that's a drop from 4%. we did see the unemployment rate tick higher in january in part because of the government shutdown. so what happened with the sectors in february? we did see job additions in business services and health care. but then we see the dropoff in construction. a lot of 31,000 jobs. that gives an indication of why we saw some of those job numbers go down. in february we are seeing a home sale under pressure. the job gains of 20,000 jobs added to the economy in february, is this a trend or is this just a blip? because we did see the job numbers go down in similar fashion in september of 2017.
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john? >> allison kosik, thanks for the numbers breakdown. whether you're a president or an american worker, that's what you're worried about. sdwlus this is just a blip. put up the jobs numbers of the past few years. october 2017 the last time we were this low, but they do happen. if you look at the overall picture, that's pretty good. is there a rebound in the making here or are there signs of slower growth? >> i would say it's probably something in the middle here. that was a very disappointing figure, 20,000 jobs. the initial reaction this morning was like, did someone forget to put a zero on the end of it? but i think overall it's dangerous to interpret too much from one month and it really should be viewed as more of a corrective to the blistering job growth we saw in january and february. overall there could be trouble on the horizon here with the economy.
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we are seeing economies overseas, particularly china and europe, slowing, the effect of the president's $1.5 trillion tax cut starting to work its way through. then you have the ongoing trade war and the effect of the tariffs. so all of this could come back to bite just as the 2020 campaign starts to heat up. >> and the campaign part is what makes it interesting because we can walk through this. if you're president trump you have low unemployment. you have more jobs added. you have higher wage growth. you're cutting taxes and regulations so you think that's bringing stimulus to the economy. on the flip side, tariffs are causing a lot of anxiety in the farm states, trump states. stock markets up now but we've had a few blips there and the growth that you speak of. if you're the president and you're in tough negotiations with china. now there is talk of a meeting with president xi. if you're president, does that make you think, i want this to be over with, i want to win
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re-election? >> the white house is paying very close to these numbers because they know the economy is going to be so critical to their 2020 message. that's something they want to be able to tout. that's why you saw the president touting the wage growth when he left this morning. they're also looking to that chinese trade deal that they're looking to secure. that would be historic. it would be good for president trump while in office and they think it would help him despite what the economy numbers are going into the campaign. >> after the trade deficit news came out this week, i talked to republicans on the hill and they said, yes, of course, this increases the pressure for the president to get a trade deal later this month. we're still at the point where they say farmers do love trump, they support him, but they are starting to orun out of patienc. this is hurting their economy back home and that could definitely have an impact for his re-election campaign.
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>> we listen to a lot of voices in washington, we should listen to voices from america more than we do. i think china is not playing by the rules for a long time. i think people recognize, particularly with china, they have not been playing by the rules for a long time. i think producers are supportive of trying to correct these issues. on the other hand, we don't want it to go on forever. >> they've been very loyal to president trump in these states. these are states the president needs for his re-election. iowa is a key state to him. other ag states are going to be a big part of it. every president wants to run for re-election, but he wants to know that he is the one charging everything, his decisions. if there is a slowdown, it's on
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him. >> there won't be any new policies before the election, just not going to happen. maybe a new chinese trade agreement, we'll see how it goes. is that the biggest thing the president can do in the sense that he can't pass any new legislati legislation, but if he's going to do anything, it's on him, right? >> he has been very motivated to come to a deal, in part because of the stock market last year. that's another measurement the president sees as a measure of his performance. but in recent days we've actually been hearing that that summit between the president and president xi jinping of china is a little bit less certain. the president is also open to criticism on both the right and the left here for taking what is a bad china deal. and it seems like they're starting to back off a little bit from the certainty of that summit happening later this month in mar-a-lago. the chinese particularly very
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worried about the example set by the in the hanoi when he met kim jong-un, wary of sending the president across the sea just to be embarrassed if no deal is made. >> they might think that a report like this might give him more leverage. before you go to brik this national women's day, the first pun verral if fighter pilot went on to become senator. >> it just pissed me off. i said, that's exactly what i'm going to do. i'm going to be the first woman pilot. i knew nothing about flying, but i was mostly driven because they told me i couldn't. welcome to the place where people go to learn about
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companies of annual revenues of at least $20 million. she said they've become too powerful. warren says big company is squashing small companies. john hickenlooper kicks off his 2020 campaign in denver last night. having a progressive agenda, he says, could also appeal to republicans and independents. >> being a pragmatist doesn't mean saying no to bold ideas, it means knowing how to make them happen. that is my record! and that will be my promise as president. let's get to work! >> and the big 2020 problem for the lesser knowns in the democratic field, getting that all-important name recognition. candidate buttigieg rise to go
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that challenge. >> i think it's fair to say i'm not famous. so the big challenge is just getting known. i think our party, in moments like this when there is a widespread field, i like to think our party is favorable turf for new voters and underdogs and has a knack for giving a person with an unknown name a shot. next, paul manafort is sent to prison but also lands a body blow to special counsel. guess who just got reinstated! well, not officially. nervous? yeah. yeah me too. don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. i'll see ya in there! just ok is not ok. especially when it comes to your network. at&t is america's best wireless network, according to america's biggest test. now with 5g evolution. the first step to 5g. more for your thing. that's our thing.
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respected judge said there was no collusion with russia. this has nothing to do with collusion. there is month collusion. i don't collude with russia. >> the truth, for those of you who care about such things, paul manafort's trial centered around conspiracy, not collusion. but they made sure the president was paying close attention to this. >> i think most importantly what you saw today is the same thing that we had said from day one. there is absolutely no evidence that paul manafort was involved with any collusion, with any government official from russia. >> judge ellis sentenced manafort to nearly four years in prison minus time served. it is sparking outrage to some. that in a moment, but first the public appeal from manafort's lawyer. is the president considering a pardon? >> has the president ruled out a
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pardon for paul manafort? >> i didn't discuss that with the president. i haven't heard him say that. >> cnn's jessica snyder joins our conversation. i want to talk to you about the pause. very smart pause. >> the president was asked again about it today and he said he's not the one who discusses the pardons, it's us who keeps bringing it up. behind the scenes, that was a pretty big question about whether that's something the president might do. >> mr. downing, mr. manafort's lawyer, was clearly putting it out there, shall we say, by saying once again, please, mr. president, there was no russian collusion. the judge can do whatever he wants, but this is well below the guidelines. what was the rationale? >> the judge said it quite clearly, this is a just sentence. inside judge ellis' mind, this was a just sentence.
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he didn't believe the sentencing guidelines spoke to what this crime was, the fact that paul manafort was a first-time offender here. manafort's lawyers really pushed this point as well because they submitted several other examples of people who had stolen much more from the government and paid much less when it came to jail time. they cited one woman, and this was incredible, who had $40 million in an overseas bank account. her sentence was five seconds -- five seconds and doesn't make sense -- of probation. judge ellis didn't go that extreme, but they were trying to have this parody in sentencing by saying, manafort, first-time offender. that's it. >> and do you take this as a shock in the sense that he could have gotten 20 years in prison? he has another sentencing in six weeks. he will probably spend pretty close to the rest of his life in prison. the judge did say in the trial,
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you don't really care about mr. manafort's bank fraud, you really care about what information mr. manafort could give you that would reflect on mr. trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment. >> certainly there was skepticism by the judge yesterday. this is prison time, there is going to be another sentence. if you think about this in context of just how many people this case has pulled up. it is still a wide-ranging investigation that has touched a lot of people associated with the president. >> and i think we're so engrossed in the details that it is important to step back and say, look, the president's campaign manager was kwikd, was senten -- convicted, was sentenced to jail for bank fraud with foreign governments. that is a big deal. in any other administration, this would be a huge deal, but i think with this new cycle and this administration, the scope of this investigation, a lot of these moments sort of get lost in the -- >> it is stunning sometimes that the standard is, well, the
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president hired a swamp creature who broke the law repeatedly, then cut a deal to cooperate and lied about it. but the president said that does not reflect badly on me because you haven't proven russian collusion. you've only proven that i hired, and he's one of a half dozen, swamp creatures that have lied and are going to jail. >> the judge did say this wasn't a trial about collusion, but he didn't say there was no collusion, he just said this is a trial on other matters. so the judge twisting his words by saying he found no collusion. >> this is one thing they can come out of this saying this is nothing but collusion. if the president is convicted of anything, it's a big deal. but this white house want so
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distance themselves, they want to push the narrative that it started out being about russian collusion but it's morphed into so many other things. >> this would be a 550 alarm fire and we just feel like it's a little brush fire over here. >> the president is still speaking very kindly about paul manafort, too. today he said he feels badly for him, it's been a hard time for him. >> there's more to come here. the next sentencing on sunday in washington, d.c. she could throw the book at paul manafort. >> paul manafort is becoming exhibit a in the democratic card. >> i'm really ticked off about this, but in our country we prey on the most vulnerable citizens in our nation. poor folks, ill folks, addicted folks and overwhelmingly black and brown folks.
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>> are you shocked he only got 47 weeks? >> no. >> this has been front and center for the campaign, and the president just signed a reform. >> black guy gets poifrld make up a huge portion of the democratic the so we're going to keep hearing about this topic for sure. >> thank you all for joining us today on an interesting day. a lot happened. i hope to see you back here sunday morning as well. we'll be up at 8:00 eastern. lots to talk about, including the president in alabama. brianna keilar starts after a quick break. and check out the full line of ascend kayaks for good times on the water. your adventure starts here. come hok., babe.
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