he and butina become nra members, which is weird. they begin attending the nra yearly conferences in the u.s., which are about domestic politics. they meet with top nra officials. they cultivate these friendships. the pictures tell the story. in fact, two times, they got senior nra officials to go to russia, all expenses paid, of course. 2013, the president of the nra, which if you follow politics, you know is a big job and something of a conservative star among people who care a lot about gun rights, which is a lot of people in america. his name there, you see him, is david keene. he goes to moscow, the nra president introduced by, guess who, maria butina. and then they declare no two people were more alike than russians and americans, so they had to work together. >> thank you very much. it's a great honor for me to be here today, partly because over the course of the last three years, i've hosted your senator aleksandr torshin in a meeting from washington. the nra has 5 million members who work with everyone in the united states a

maria butina's attorney, robert driscoll, told cnn butina had no significant contact with john boltonthe nra would not comment for our story or explain why the former head of the nra would ask on his own for john bolton to make that video. we should note that john bolton then and now has often been a very harsh critic of russia. wolf? >> good point. you know, brian, this woman is also accused of working with a top russian banker who's close to vladimir putin, right? >> reporter: that's right. the banker's name is alexander torshin. he's a top banker in russia linked with the kremlin. prosecutors say tore chinn and maria butina worked together trying to make inroads with conservative political organizations in the u.s. to curry more favor for russia. now, the nra has not commented on any of this. torshin has dismissed the entire investigation as a bunch of rumors. >> brian todd reporting for us. thank you very much. coming up, president trump changes his story once again about when he learned about the hush money payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. and what else does michael

butina actually set up the studio time through a friend, david. lawyer is saying that she and erickson are still together, as a matter of fact, he visited her in jail over the weekend. david? >> kyra phillips with us tonight. thank you. >>> pope francis tonight is fighting off calls for his resignation. what italian media is now reporting, after the pope was questioned about an american cardinal. it all comes after that blistering grand jury report, as well, on the catholic church in the u.s. abc's david wright tonight from vatican city. >> reporter: tonight, pope francis reportedly has no plans to resign, despite the archbishop's explosive accusation. according to the italian news agency "ansa," close associates of the pope told them he's "embittered" by the documents, claiming he knew cardinal mccarrick was a predator, but "is not thinking about resignation." >> nobody can remove him from his place as pope. that's the church law. >> reporter: the allegations have exposed a deep rift in the church. >> many of the people who are critical of pope f

and, erickson wasn't butina's only co-conspirator., back in the motherland, was russian oligarch and patton oswalt of the eastern bloc, aleksander torshin. ( laughter ) the f.b.i. revealed that on election night, after trump was declared the winner, butina wrote torshin to say, "i'm going to sleep. it's 3:00 a.m. here. i am ready for further orders." by the way, "i am ready for further orders" is also the theme of trump's next meeting with vladimir putin. ( laughter ) now, trump's behavior has been completely inexplicable lately. and one of the hardest moments to "explic" was when he sat down for an interview with fox news host and boy watching a video on how babies are born-- ( laughter and applause ) ( cheers and applause ) --tucker carlson. ( laughter ) the two men were talking about trump's issues with nato and they seemed focused on one country in particular. >> membership in nato obligates the members to defend any other member that's attacked, so, let's say montenegro-- it's joined last year-- is attacked, why should my son go

butina pled not guilty to acting as a foreign agent. her lawyer insists she's not a spy and says she won't cut a deal with prosecutors if it means saying she is one. >> that's the problem. people talk about cutting a deal but if you're not an agent for a foreign government, you can't lie and say you are in order to get rid of this. >> intelligence experts see butina's far from subtle approach for allegedly trying to infiltrate gop political circles as one of the tools in moscow's bag to try to meddle in american democracy. >> we continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by russia to try to weaken and divide the united states. >> reporter: past russian spies have adopted fake identities, used invisible ink, communicated with coded messages over radio transmitters. but the under-the-radar approach didn't seem to suit butina. >> we promote gun rights. >> reporter: she touted her gun rights group and a racy russian gq photo shoot in 2014. she asked questions at a nevada political event. >> i'm visiting from russia. >> oh, putin! >> rep

butina sought out interactions with j.d.who served for six months at the trump campaign's director of national security before leaving in august 2016. the two exchanged several remails in october and november 2016, culminating in gordon attending a rock concert by the band styx. gordon also invited butina to attend his birthday party. roz lynn, i'm sorry i'm laughing but inviting her to an styx party his birthday party is funny. here's what j.d. gordon told you. from everything i've read since her arrest last month, it seems that mariia butina's saga is a sensationalized click bait story meant to smear a steady stream of republicans and nra members she reportedly encountered over the past few years. since she networked so often i wonder which prominent republican figures she has not come across. i got to tell you from the photos of butina, she has beenened staing next to prominent figures, including presidential candidates long before donald trump got the nomination and prominent nra members. what makes the interaction with

"the washington post" reported that butina and j.d. who was the former director of national security to the trump campaign, socialized in the weeks before the election. gordon invited her to a concert, to his birthday party, to drinks. this places her in closer contact with trump's team than was previously known. now gordon responds to cnn saying, quote, from everything i've read since her arrest last month, it seems the maria butina saga is a sensationalized click bait to smear steady republican and nra members she out front bob driscoll is back with me. as always, i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> let me just start with your response here. you've called these response interactions between butina and gordon innocuous. reportedly told her that, quote, gordon was playing a crucial role in the trump transition effort and would be an excellent addition to any of the u.s./russia friendship dinners to occasionally hold. it does sound like she had specific reasons to meet with gordon w.h.o. which had everything to do with his role on

that's i think the open question that we're left with in this butina saga. after butina was raided, the nra has a very orderly plan of succession and they disrupted that entirely booting out the guy who had been in russia with the nra sort of elite money raisers with butina and torshin and replaced him with oliver north. so it's looking a bit like a cover-up in that regard. >> that's why we're so curious about all your deep reporting on this because locally there are many cases that turn on people being stupid and at a distance people think there's a master conspiracy and in fact people were stupid, they were duped, they were greedy. but the nra is such a sophisticated political operation -- >> you give them too much credit. >> that's what i'm asking you. international in their ambition, did they have no idea that in an authoritarian country like russia, there's not a lot of people rooting for gun rights to help challenge putin? >> well, i mean they had a really high suspension of disbelief, and i think this attractive young russian who was in charge of this

where butina would fall is an agent of influence rather than an official spy and that is probably whygovernment is not trying to make a case against her for espionage, but, instead, as than unregistered agent of foreign influence. in that role, what she would do is much like an intelligence officer, a diplomat, or a journalist, build relationships with her target audience. >> what i find interesting about this is there has been, you know, of course, no end of talk about russian meddling and we look at this as a cyberworld. this is very old school and sort of classic in which we talk about the possibility of a person being used as a spy and a female spy in this way. president trump, as we know, does not seem to agree with his intelligence. you saw that very distinctly this week. and i'm wondering, i'm referencing, of course, the russian meddling what may be this forthcoming election, how does a community prepare or fight off these kind of attacks if the man in charge of the nation doesn't seem to be on board? >> well, it's tough for national security professionals who are laboring in t

who is supporting miss butina in the u.s.ere and if anyone else was involved in what is alleged to be a grand conspiracy to influence figure is in the u.s. on russia's behalf. >> you say anyone else involved, she and the others linked to putin on this sleeper cell or other dogs? >> both russian and american, i think, to >>> we can say that that's what the fbi is sniffing around on. >> you are familiar with the term what happens in las vegas stays in las vegas? what happens online has not stayed online in this case. the midterm campaign hacking we're hearing about involving offline events. how much of this looks to you like bigger offline physical activity inside the united states and how does mueller view that? >> i will speon't speak for mr. mueller. but our sources tell us that money has to go somewhere. this is cash. it moves. they want to know where it went. it is going to be difficult, right? when you deposit cash on the front end, it is hard to know where it came from. when you pull it out, it is difficult to know where

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butina's lawyer confirms to nbc news in the last hour that she in fact exchanged a series of e-mails with gordon but insists her relationship was not a romantic one. also new questions whether the president will sit down with the special counsel. the president's attorney rudy giuliani telling nbc news that he's spending the weekend working on a response to robert mueller's request. nbc news correspondent kelly o'donnell is in berkeley heights, new jersey where the president is staying. kelly, good saturday to you. what more do we know about this? >> well, good to be with you, alex. there is an expectation that the trump legal team will respond to the latest back and forth with the special counsel about terms for an interview with the president. and by doing that, they will perhaps close the window to the real question will he ever submit to questions in an interview with special counsel. giuliani tells us he will spend part of the weekend strategizing on that with other members of the legal team. some people who are not spokespeople of the team tend to draft the letters and responses

maria butina has been moved from a d.c. swrjail to an alexandria work. prosecutors say that butina worked tool infiltrateical organizations, plug the nra. she's pleaded not guilty. butina is in the se jail as former trump campaign manager paul manafort. >>> starting tomorrow, thereul cobe a verdict in manafort's trial. he's facing 18 counts including bank fraud and it's the first ca to stem from special counsel robert mueller's russia probe. but manafort is still facing mother trial that starts in the district nextth for charges of money laundering, failing to register as aei f agent and conspiracy to defraud the united states. a lot going oto wat there. >>> meantime, president trumping and former cia director john brennan aret war and mincing no words. >> this all started after president trump stripped security clearance from brennan. in an interview on friday, brennan said the president wast un for office and conspired with the russians. iresident trump fed back on twitter yesterday, he called brennan aoud mouth partisan political hack who cannot be tr

what did these e-mails between butina and gordon reveal? >> yeah, they showed that the two met at an embassy event, a party at the swiss embassy in late september 2016. so really in the final weeks of the trump campaign. and then paul erickson, the republican operative who she was apparently dating kind of connected the two of them over e-mail, and they show that the fact that j.d. gordon had this trump tie appeared to be important to the e-mail relationship that they then struck up. paul erickson referred to the fact that he was an important person likely in a trump transition, and then j.d. gordon himself sent back to ms. butina at some point a copy of a story from politico noting that he had a role in the trump transition. >> and there was an invitation from gordon to her to attend a concert as well as his birthday party in the fall of 2016? >> yeah, that's right. they have a series of e-mails. they talk about doing a few things. she invites him to a dinner of people interested in the russia relationship. he invites her to happy hour, an

>> you can make a bee line to the kremlin if stands up, if the butina charges stick.the money came from and where it went, it will be very difficult for kremlin to say we had no idea. >> final question. a lot of the discussion about regulating finance and banks in america. is this story which you report begins with bank regulations and laws forcing oversight a sign that's an important part of overseeing banks? >> absolutely. we jason and my partner and i have been reporting on this sort of money and steen again and again whether it's citi in the past, wells fargo. they are critical vectors, points where fbi is able to go and pull records. as we saw earlier in the show today, paper doesn't lie. the fbi is using paper to make these cases. >> it's fascinating and as we've shown in our introduction, you've been doing a lot of reporting. thank you so much anthony cormier. democrats say they got good news. 97 days out of the midterms. that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ 97 days out of the midterms. that's next. and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown p

butina's activism and access drew the attention of the fbi and they started tracking her in 2016.nference called freedom fest. a year later. >> but i have a right to buy arms. >> reporter: butina now sits behind bars. the u.s. government saying she infiltrated the nra and powerfut and despite photos and videos showing them as a couple some are speculating that erickson was just a pawn. >> so in no way, shape or form has maria butina used sex for influence? >> no. not at all. >> or access. >> reporter: her attorney tells us the feds have it all wrong. she isn't a secret agent and this isn't a spy thriller, he says. it's more like a romantic disney musical. ♪ tale as old as time ♪ true as it can be >> reporter: butina and erickson singing "beauty and the beast" in this never before seen video. >> so "beauty and the beast". >> i find it adorable and you look at it and see it's legitimate. maybe i'm a sucker for romance but to me they look pretty happy. >> reporter: bob driscoll says this is video evidence he can use to counter the most salacious charges against his client. >> the gov

butina was not going directly to him to get funding for the work she was doing. rather, the person who is the face of that funding, who essentially acted like a grant administrator, is a gentleman who is a really interesting character. he's not part of the russian government that we know of. rather, he's considered one of the founding fathers of russian public relations. his firm has represented a host of kremlin clients. it's also represented vladimir putin's own political party, united russia. the fact that butina had this person with such an extensive pr record who was helping her, according to my sources, with the work that she was doing in the united states, shows that the nature of her project was perhaps more complex, more involved, than we initially understood. >> great reporting on that angle, betsy. as we set the table here in the broader russian investigation, there does seem to be a lot going on in the manafort courtroom today. and so with that i want to bring in barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney in michigan and a msnbc contributor. i know you've

the "washington post" is out with a new story on suspected russian agent mariia butina revealing for the first time interactions she had with a former campaign aide to donald trump just week before the 2016 election. and paul manafort's trial in virginia reveals that he was flat broke when he decided to work for free for then candidate donald trump which leads many to the not unreasonable question of why. plus rudy giuliani telling kristen welker he is spending this weekend working out a response to robert mueller's latest request to interview the president of the united states. a cia operative and independent candidate for president and also editor at above the law.com, and also managing editor of the beat d.c., and also an attorney and legal analyst joining me. i could not resist here starting with the "manhattan madam," so lisa i'll start there. she is incredibly close to roger stone, another associate of president trump who worked on the campaign. i believe he is the godfather to her son or daughter. i can't remember which. what does this tell you about the approach robert muelle

butina is accused of trying to infiltrate u.s. polal organizations to push russia's agenda. >> all of us rely on first responders after accidents but they can't be everywhere. whether he a car burst into flames after a crash in california this week, it was good sa pair tans who rushed in to save a trapped and unconscious driver. lester holt with the fiery story. >> reporter: it was late at night in kolten, california, right theren the side of the roads, a car engulfed in flames. a mraed inside. >> i think the nice thing to do is to help. we ran overhere. we were trying to throw anything on it, water, dirt. >> pull, pull. >> and when first responder did an rbi, they worked hand ind h to drag the driver to safety. >> anybody nels there? >> michael becker, a corrections damaged by car was woods' vehicle was one of those rushing in. >> we were able to pull one out. other one was already >>out. luckily we got them out in time. the fire went up in flames after we did that. >> reporter: both victims left the scene by ambulance. both are

they show maria butina and j.d. rdan socializedefore the election. gordan works on president trump's campaign and tran igs team. he says hisac intons with butinaere harmless and she networked with many people in shwashington. e is accused of trying to push moscow's agenda. >>> emergency crews continue to monitor the college lake dam in virginia here. this over concerns that more rain could cause more damage than this. d if that fails, the water depth in the town could exceed 17 feet in 7 minutes. 150 homes were evacuated in less than two hours thursday evening due to the floodg from the dam. right now city officials say the dam is stable and safe. they're workio lower the water levels and make any needed repairs soe can return home this weekend. >>> calling out a major gun rights organization. the march for ouriv movement taking their fight to the front today.of the nra >> they've been marching all summer long nationwide demanding gun reform. the group will t meet at nra head quarters in a matter of hours. good morning, derek. >> reporter: good morni

butina is accused of trying to infiltrate u.s. organizations to push moscow's agenda. >>> emergency crews are monitoring the college dam in lynchberg this morning over concerns more rain could cause more damage than this. if the damls f the water depth could exceed 17 feet in just seven minutes. 150 homes were evacuated in less than twohours. thursday evening due to all the ooding from that dam. right now city officials say the dam is stable and safe. but they're working to lower the waternd levels make any needed repairs so people can return home this weekend. >>> and this weekend is the first weekend in august. the time of year whenany parents start thinking about sending their kids back to school. eit can beensive to do so and many local groups including use collecting donations to help out. the effort in fairf county is helping fill a lot of the gaps. it's called bright path. it works with school social workers to make sure students in needpl get ss throughout the school year, not just at the start. even though the official dr

manafort and accused russian agent maria butina are being held in the same alexandria jail. authorities sent us thisew mug shot of the american university mug shot after she left the d.c. jail. prosecutors say butina was tied to the kremlin and tried to merican political organizations like the nra. she's pleaded not guilty. >>> new at 11:00, the world is getting ready for final good-bye to the queen of soul, aretha franklin was surrounded bys loved o in the days before her death. the reverend jesse jackson i revealing a touching moment that she shared before she passed. we go inside a service in detroit. r orter: the service started with praise. it shifted to honoring franklin, telling stories of who she really was. >> she told me about her sojourn with reveren dr. martin luther king jr. and how she fought with brothers and sisters. >> reporter: franklin's longtime friend, reverend jesse jackson spe to the crowd starting with a prayer. >> the lord speak now, bless no healing now, hope now. >> reporter: jackson shared a moment with franklin before she passed. >> she had been

gordon invited butina to a concert and a birthday party.hat we're seeing is an alleged russian agent getting close to someone in trump's orbit. right? >> yeah. and, remember, there are some unanswered, loose threads involving j.d. gordon already in this investigation. he was involved in the attempt to change the platform language of the republican -- at the republican convention to make it more pro-russia, more anti-ukraine. that was the same convention, of course, that had paul manafort, had rick gates, where jeff sessions was meeting with sergey kislyak on the side of the convention. it spools some interesting and intriguing avenues that could help us answer some of the fundamental unanswered questions we still have about what transpired in the middle of the trump campaign in 2016. >> so paul manafort's accountant testified today, carrie, and one of them is cindy laporta who got immunity. she said she falsified a $900,000 loan amount so manafort could pay less taxes. is that damning? >> it's very -- it's dramatic. she has been granted imm

he was arrested, the government went crazy trying to get in extradited just like they are mad at butina. he was sent i would suggest by putin who had a portfolio, and -- in order to undermine u.s. by running guns from moscow to venezuela, colombia, shall as on tape bright but how we can do this. this is a perfect example. it took place in latin america. it could happen again if the situation warrants that in latin america, and as i suggested that are places of dry timber which are about to start burning very quickly. and, therefore, everybody here needs to think about these groups not just as an adjunct to russian strategy in syria or ukraine but as a global instrument of russian knowledge. >> thank you very much. unlike to take both of these presentations and can flip things on their head a little bit. what i wanted to do for the next ten minutes or so is talk about the evolution of pmcs in the middle east region, and how that fits into what's happening with russia's pmc push today. there are three different types of pmc models that you find in the middle east, and particularly in the

he said the interactions with the woman were harmles and she networked with many people in washin butina is accused of trying to push moscow's agenda. >>> in lynchberg, virginia, concerns more rain could cause more damage.if the dam floods, 150 homes were evacuated flooding from the dam. right now city officials say the dam is stable and safe, they're working to lower the water levels and make any needed repairs so people can return home this weekd. >>> top of the show we told you it's the first weekend in august which means it's the time of the year a lot of parents are starting to think aboutg spend your kids back to school. it could be expensive. and many local groups collect donations to help out. but the effort by a nonprofit in fairfax county is helping fill the gaps a well. bright pass works with school social workerse to make s students in need get the supplies throughout the school year. not just in the fall when they start. and even though their official drive ended yesterday, they're hoping additional donations will help students in the months to come. >>> the need for school

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butina secretly worked to develop back channels to the kremlin. she's pleadedguilty. she's in the same jail as former trump campaign head paul maomfort. >>> trow there could be a sperkt in paul manafort's trial. he's facing tax fraud, bank fraud and failure to declare foreign accounts. manafort still has another trial starting in the district next month for charges of money laundering, failure to register as a foreign agent and nspiracy to defrau the united states. >>> meantime, president trumping and former cia director jn brennan now openly at war with each other, mincing no words. >> this all started after president trump strtyped seculearance from brennan. in an interview on friday, brennan said president trump is unfit for office and president trump fired back on brennan who said he is a loud mou partisan political hack who cannot beus d with the secrets of our country. >> i have never respected him. i have never had a lot of respect. >> he's drunkaln power, he ly is. >> the president's decision to revoke clearances has set off dozens of formernc intelli official

maria butina was moved to a different jail. prosecutors say she worked establish back channel ommunications to the kremlin and infiltrate u.s. political organizations including the nra. we've reached out to her attorney for comment. >>> the postal creed says niither snow nor heat nor gloom of t. it doesn't say anything about snakes. ,hat is what a worker in overland pa kansas found in a mailbox y.yester a 20 red tail bowal circuit courter. the police department wasle c in to remove this thing. that resident didn't get any mail ye you're watching "news4 at 6." >>> all right. all ar animal shelters are now closed and the adoption numbers are starting roll in. so far we know well over 900 of these sweetac have found a forever home. it's not surprising. news4's wendi reger was at the shelter when people lined up early to find their newest friends. >> reporter: you could almost hear all the hearts beating with excitement. is there aood day or what? >> we have a dog at home, cody whom we adopted here five years ago. we're looking for

maria butina is in custody.s could be caught by an interpol warrant if they're caught and face justice. mueller didn't indict them as just an exercise. could you shed any light on at least in this report that it sounds like this person was quietly fired? >> well, i would say two things. three things. one, i don't know the full facts. we'll have to learn that. number two, we obviously could not have arrested her in her territory. that's what's different about butina versus this vid. but three, there should have been a thorough investigation. in fact, oftentimes we would run counter intelligence on someone like that to follow them to try to understand what they're doing to try to get greater fidelity as to how the fsb works. and remember, it dedicated lots and lots of resources. i'm being vague on purpose following every single member of the u.s. embassy and first and foremost me and they're really good at it. just to dismiss somebody without trying to investigate and figure out what they were doing if that holds

example.it prime when you read about maria butina , you will see she was trying to infiltrate the nra. she was involved with groups close to the republican party. and other functions as well. when my conservative friends asked me to write articles, they complain about the trip -- people like patrick buchanan. russia is not a particularly russian country, and what is the spectacle of repentant operatives becoming fervent christians is more than amusing. furthermore, the orthodox church is a kgb front. it has been four years. if you look at church attendance and russia, they are not very impressive. it is 3-4%. all this stuff about russia being a christian, religious country, a nice propaganda, but the reality is different. of thesehave all probes. flynn the photograph of about the woman sitting there is just on -- jill stein. democrats will tell you that just dino kos are a lot of votes, but it may have had a factor. that flynn, we know manafort, the nra. we know they try to hack into the republican national committee and various senators. they've attacked democrats and the clinton cam

this is mariia butina, the gun rights advocate from russia in the reporting coming out that she coziedmer trump campaign aide jd gordon who was the campaign's director of national security for about six months. again, the question, compazying to and what cozying means with again an advocate coming out of russia here. >> the more we learn about mariia butina the more she looks like not the innocent college student. looks like she is directed, looks like she is trying to penetrate circles. got the earmarks of a controlled co-opt of the intel intelligence services. we saw the comment 3:00 in the morning awaiting further orders. she was getting very close and likely the bureau thought she was getting too dloet iclose to inner tir kein inner circles. >>> all right. thanks. republican heavy weight oig are starting to choose sides. it's pretty amazing out there. the world is full of more possibilities than ever before. and american express has your back every step of the way- whether it's the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. or getting financing to fund your bus

russian government and crazy trying to get him extradited just as they are now trying to get madame butina extradited. i believe he was sent by politicians to undermine america by running gun. it to lace in latin america and could happen again if the situation warrants it. lacesuggested, there are that are going to start burning very quickly. needsore, everybody your to think about these. not just part of russian strategy and syria or you train but as a global and of russian power. in russian strategy in syria or ukraine but as a global arm of russian power. >> i want to talk about emcs in how thate region and is connected to russia's pmc push today. there are three different models you find in the middle east and the gulf. this has occurred over time. with then to start transfer of equipment and other materials from the iraq the a church or the afghan theater -- you rock theater to the -- iraq theater to the afghan theater. vehicles renting out to move equipment via the you a to afghanistan. includingan companies an airline was hired id os -- -- dos. tos there are dozens of kinds of these

butina is in the same jail as former trump campaign manager paul manafort. >>> and happening tomorrow,ou there be a verdict in paul man manafort's trial.he facing tax fraud, bank fraud but manafort is facing a trial next month for money laundering, failing to register as and foreign agent conspiracy to defraud the united ntates. >>> me president trump and former cia director john brennan ar now in a full out war and mincing no words. >> this is after president trump stripped the security clearance from brennan. president trump fired back on brennan yesterday, he called brennan a lout mouth, partisan political hack. >> i have never had a lot of respect for him. >> he's drunk on power, he really is >> the president's decision to revoke clearances set off sirens for dozens of formerational security officials who signed a letter of protest. brennan is a national security analyst forbc and he will join chuck todd for an interview.i rudy giulill also be there mplts . >>> it's that time of year, back to school, and if you want do et your student ready with a little sfadsfad--fade, alexandr d

for refusal to comply and if that happens, there is a none zero chance, miller manafort and maria butina. joining me now. ben, i will start with you. how often does someone not show up when they are subpoenaed? >> well, it is the way if you are going to challenge say the appointment of bob mueller which is what mr. miller is doing, that is how you do it. you move to quash a subpoena. and then you get held in contempt and you appeal the contempt finding and so that's actually not a wholly improper way of challenging mueller's appointment which is what miller wants to do. judge howell, chief judge of the district court wrote a lengthy opinion saying there is no problem with the appointment and the subpoena is valid. and every reason to expect the d.c. circuit to affirm her on that. and this is at the end of the day, a lot of stern and drang with an order for him to appear before the grand jury. >> who is andrew miller and what is his role in the stone operation? >> well, sort of like nunberg and michael kaputo before him, started as a driver. he worked on a lot of campaigns with him includ

prosecutors have made maria butina, they had a bunch of photos of her smiling ear to ear and sharing very glossy photos are going to be up against a very different image this week and that's going to be her mug shot as she was booked into the detention center this weekend. >> just a grad student. >> just a grad student. >> there's a political convention of sorts in denver this week and a gathering of independents who face very steep odds but are earth watching as the mid-term year closes out. unite america is the group and also putting an emphasis on trying to elect a few independents to state legislator chambers that are closely guided. they could become critical swing votes on big issues in the state. again, the odds are beyond law, and many attempts in the past have failed and fizzled. unite america's efforts offers one 2018 test of just how high. that's it for inside politics. we'll be here at noon eastern tomorrow. up next "state of the union" with jake tamer. don't go away. his next guests includes james clapper and lisa monaco and michael hayden. have a great sunday. for them.

manafort and accused russian agent maria butina areeing ld in the same jail. prosecutors say bina was tied to the creme land yused sex and lies to makes. connections and tried to infiltrate american political organizations like the nra. she has paded not guilty. >>> 6:10 right now. president trump has ramped up his attack on the investigation being led by special counsel robert mueller. "the new york times" reported white house counsel don mcgahn answered questions for 30 hours. the president fired back saying the report made it seem like mcgahn turned on him, but he allowed him to be interviewed. also yesterday on "meet the press" president trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani dgued the president sho delay a sit-down with mueller. >> look, i'm not going to bent rushed having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury. when you tell me that he should testify because he's going to tell the truth and he shouldn't' worry, t so silly, because it's sboi's version of the truth, not the truth. he didn't have a -- t th is truth. i don't mean to go -- >> no, it isn

apparently russian lawmakers asking him whether or not he could ask for maria butina, the russian gunt accused of being a spy in the u.s. for the russia and released and sent back and help with that. it's unclear if any sort of arrangements are being made there. senator paul's visit continues tomorrow, as well. he says so far it's going fairly successfully, wolf. >> there were two u.s. senators that voted against legislation to increase sanctions against russia. i think the vote 96-2 or 97-2. and rand paul one of the two. bernie sanders voted against increasing sanctions against russia. thank you very much. >>> coming up, with r the deaths of three journalists the result of a fight with robbers? there's hints of a link of a close ally of vladimir putin. c. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prev

meanwhile manafort anded acc russian agent maria butina are being held in the same alexandria jail. prosecutors say she was tied to the kremlin, used sex and lies to make u.s. elections and tried to inftrate american organizations like the nra. she's pleaded not guilty. >>> in a fury of tweets, president trump is ramping up his attack on the investigati led by special counsel robert mueller. "the new york times" reported white house cnsel don mcgahn answered questions for 30 hours for the mueller investigation. the president fired back on twitter saying the report made it seem like mcgahn had turned on him, b that he allowed the reterview to happen. the president com mueller to joseph mccarthy who used smearactics to expose suspected communists in the 1950s. >>> yesterday on "meet the press," rudy giuliani argued the president should delay a sit-down with mueller. >> i'm not goingo be rushed into having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury. when you m tell he should testify that he's going to tell worry,th, he shouldn't that's so silly. it's somebody's version of the truth, n

you are at an nra convention in indianapolis with maria butina. be early indications that the russians were trying to screw around in this. what do you think? >> you are right. i gave a speech and she came up. i took a picture with her. i have a picture with you and me and me on president obama so i didn't talk with her, i don't know her from anybody. it's clear to me that the reasons to try to -- the leftist jump to the conclusion that the russians changed the outcome. i'm not seeing evidence of that. they kind of want to skip the evidence and jump to the verdict. they jumped to the conclusion that trump must have clued. i've not seen evidence of that. it's time for mueller to show his cards. otherwise they risk dragging it out. for the left, they have made up their minds. they want to impeach him before the facts are in. >> neil: always a pleasure. governor bobby gentle of louisiana. "the five" right now. right now, now, now. ♪ >> greg: i am greg gutfeld with jedediah bila, juan williams, jesse watters, and a pillowcase is her parachute. dana pe

today at large, whether it's malign cyber operations or more espionage-like activities like the maria butina case in d.c. or straight up fara prosecutions. >> david laufman, i appreciate this is the first tv interview you've done since leaving the justice department earlier this year. i hope you'll come back. i feel like your expertise is something that's really unique and it's helpful to hear from you. >> good to be with you. nice to see you. thank you. >> we'll be back. stay with us. >>> a few weeks after hurricane maria in puerto rico last year this was the view of the commander in chief. >> if you look at a real catastrophe like katrina and you look at the tremendous, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died -- what is your death count as of this moment? 17? >> 16. >> 16 people certified. 16 people versus in the thousands. you can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together. 16 versus literally thousands of people. >> it is true that the official death toll from hurricane maria in puerto rico stayed inexplicably in just the double digits for a lo

butina after the event, reconnecting them and describing them to one another. and the way he described j.d. was to say this is a person who is very important in the trump transition. he's the kind of person that all the right people listen to his advice on international policy. so it did seem that the trump connection was part of why she was making contact with him. >> let me ask you more about the trump campaign foreign policy advisers. they were not visible on the campaign, not really. people like george pop d, these names seem to come out of -- not come out of nowhere. the trump campaign was pressured to release a list of who was advising him. and at the time, considering that nobody was answering the phone and nobody made appearances, it felt like these people were just ran don people they put on a list and sent to reporters. now it looks like there is something more there. given that carter was somebody that the intelligence community had their eye on because of the interactions he was having with russians. the one who it's reported started this whole inve

accused russian foreign agent maria butina. on friday night was moved from the jail in d.c. where she was held since she was arrested in july. they took her out of that jail friday night and brought her over to where paul manafort lives now which is the federal lockup in alexandria, virginia. the reason we have this unflattering picture of her is because i think she's been moved to that new facility in virginia. you see the alexandria sheriff's office. i think we get mug shots from that facility. that's why we've got paul manafort's mug shot, too. she hasn't been convicted of anything. she's being held in jail before her trial because prosecutors thought she would be a flight risk. basically, they argued to the judge that the russians would spirit her out of the country before she cover face charges if the judge left her out on the street. that's why she has not been let out on the street. but now for whatever reason, they have moved her from one lockup to another. that means she's only about two blocks away from where paul manafort's trial has been underway in virginia. tha