i'm wolf blitzer.ou're in "the situation room." >>> this is cnn breaking news. >>> we're following major breaking news. two men tied to president trump now both convicted felons as legal cases hanging over the white house come to a dramatic close at the same time. mr. trump's long-time lawyer, michael cohen, pleading guilty to eight counts tonight, including campaign finance violations related to hush money payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal. cohen implicating president trump in the daniels payoff. this as a jury finds mr. trump's former campaign chairman, paul manafort, guilty of eight felonies in his fraud trial. this hour, i'll get reaction from stormy daniels' attorney, michael avenatti, and senate judiciary committee member, richard blumenthal. and our correspondents and analysts are standing by. first, let's go to our national correspondent, brynn gingras outside the federal courthouse in new york city. this plea deal happened very quickly. >> reporter: and in dramatic fashion, wolf. a

nobody in the wolfe family understands that. they're so such thing as a writer from asheville, north carolina, and it certainly isn't real work writing. and so thomas wolfe is in a quandary the sum he graduates. it's time for him to go to work, like his mother saw him in agony that summer and she said simon, if it's that important to you, i'm going to let you try harvard, she said, for you. she gave him the money at age 19. he boarded the train and went north alone for the first time in his life. this is the second story of the old kentucky home, and you'll find there are multiple bedrooms. julia added three sleeping porches to the house in 1916, and she pushed the house out towards the sides and towards the back to add multiple bedrooms. thomas wolfe wrote about a dark cloak room upstairs at the front of this house with an ugly victorian bay window in it. this is the room where thomas wolfe favorite brother died in 1980. thomas wolfe had a special bond with his brother ben. ben was one of practically raised him. he was eight ye

wolf? >> jessica, do we expect to hear from members of the jury? >> reporter: it is unknown at this point. but the likely guess is that we won't hear from this jury. the jury has told the judge they do not want their names released. that was a question a little bit earlier whether or not the judge might release the names. he decided he wouldn't and the jury stressing they do not want their names released. the judge told the jury he recommends to them, stay quiet. not talk to the media. the judge said that this is not a mandate. this is not something that they have to do. but the judge put it this way. he said i suggest to you that you have a duty of confidentiality. so it remains to be seen if the juries will talk. by all indications they might not and obey what the judge's wishes are and don't want the identities released. wolf? >> paul manafort found guilty on eight counts. jessica, we'll get back to you. i want to go to cara scanell in new york city where president trump's one time fixer

he didn't want to fit in, tom wolf. >> i just found him so utterly sensible, it seemed.ly knowledgeable and i still always come back to why do you feel the need to wear the white suit? it certainly made him stand out, and we know some writers like to do that. >> mary, you became late in life or late in philip roth's life, a close friend of his and you went to the funeral. just tell me how you became such friends. >> i just want to say i'm the only person on the planet who can make friends with an 80-year-old with heart trouble and be so shocked when he died. he did have such a life force. very early when i met him almost three years ago he had a health crisis and i guess i just wound up spending a lot of time at the hospital. he didn't have a lot of family -- he didn't have any family. we just became close. he was somebody i saw -- i don't know, at least once a week, sometimes twice a week, and then i'd go to connecticut in the summer for a week at a time, and he was the most extraordinary company. i -- you got the feelings from philip that he saw you. it's something a l

more breaking news with wolf, who starts right now. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. the ball is in robert mueller's court this hour because it appears the trump legal team isn't budging. according to them, mueller either avoids certain questions on obstruction of justice, or he doesn't get to talk to the president at all. listen to this. >> the reality is he doesn't need to ask a single question on obstruction. he has all the answers. they're not going to change. the president's not going to change his testimony. so stop the nonsense. you are trying to trap him into perjury because you don't have a case. >> those condition also come with a warning from the president's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, and the investigation by september or else. >> i think if it isn't over by september, then we have a very, very serious violation of the justice department rules. they shouldn't be conducting one of these investigations in the 60-day period. >> we should note, there is no

i'm wolf blitzer. you are in the "situation room." [ music playing [ music playing ] >> breaking news the white house is scrambling to diffuse the impact of a stung twitter rant from president trump that called on jeff sessions to stop the russia investigation. quote, right now. the white house claims the president was stating an penalties, not issuing an order to halt robert mueller's probe. but the tweet is raising disturbing, very serious new questions about whether president trump is openly trying to obstruct justice. i'll speak with congressman joachim castro of the intelligence and foreign affairs committees. our cornereds are standing by, 1st, let's get right to our chief white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, a remarkable and disturbing attack by the president on the russia probe. what's the latest? >> reporter: that's right, wolf the white house is flat declining to say more about this besides what sarah sanders said during the briefing earlier the president has not talked more about this

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we're following breaking news on the president's urgent and alarming new call for the attorney general jeff sessions to stop the russia investigation right away. tonight the white house is trying to downplay it as an opinion, not an order. but special counsel robert mueller will almost certainly review mr. trump's tweet as potential evidence of obstruction of justice. the timing of all of this is further adding to suspicions coming as the president's former campaign chairman paul manafort is on trial for a second day. i'll get reaction from congressman chris stewart. he's a key republican on the intelligence committee. and from former u.s. attorney preet bharara. our correspondents and analysts are standing by. first let's go to our chief white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, this tweet may create potentially at least some more legal problems for the president. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. the white

"wolf" starts right now. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. today we are remembering the life and legacy of senator john mccain. the reaction to his death continuing to pour in from all around the globe. this hour i'll speak with several of his very close friends and colleagues. all that coming up. but let's begin right now with some major breaking news here in washington. what could be the end of the north american free trade agreement, nafta. president trump now says negotiators have worked out a separate new trade deal with mexico, a deal that excludes canada. details are scarce, but in a phone call with the president of mexico, president trump called this a good step for the two countries. >> i like to call this deal the united states/mexico trade agreement. i think it's an elegant name. i think nafta has a lot of bad connotations for the united states because it was a ripoff. it was a deal that was a horrible deal for our country. i think it's got a lot of ba

wolf?et, barbara, that on june 13th, right after the summit in singapore with kim jong-un, the president tweeted this. let me put it up there. he said, just landed a long trip, but everyone can now feel much safer than the day i took office. there is no longer a nuclear threat from north korea. so what he said then clearly in contrast to what pompeo and others are saying right now. still a nuclear threat from north korea. barbara starr, thank you very much. >>> coming up, the breaking news. robert mueller's team interviews the woman who earned notoriety as the so-called manhattan madame. the special counsel apparently wants to know about her ties to roger stone. is mueller building a case against the longtime trump ally? if you're turning 65, you're probably learning about medicare and supplemental insurance. medicare is great, but it doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. that's where medicare supplement insura

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we're following breaking news. president trump trying to confuse, downplay, and distract from the fact that his former lawyer implicated him in a federal crime. tonight, the president is changing his story again, claiming that he learned about michael cohen's hush money payments to women later on. his words, "later on." that contradicts the evidence and cohen's assertion under oath that he was acting on the directions of mr. trump. the white house insists the president has done nothing wrong. but the cohen plea deal, along with paul manafort's criminal conviction, have escalated a legal and political crisis being likened to watergate. this hour i'll talk with michael cohen's lawyer, lanny davis, and house intelligence committee member jim himes. and our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first let's go to our white house correspondent kaitlyn collins. kaitlyn, we heard from the president in a n

wolf? >> jim, thank you. jim acosta over at the white house. more now on truly stunning news that the chief financial officer for the trump organization in new york, allen weisselberg, given immunity. let's bring in cnn's kara scandel. how significant is this? >> reporter: wolf, when he was subpoenaed last month for testimony in the investigation of michael cohen, a former trump organization employee told cnn that this was the ultimate nightmare scenario for trump because what weisselberg knows anything and everything about the trump organization's finances. and, wolf, that's because he is the trump organization's chief financial officer. he's been with the company for decades. he's even worked with trump's father before he joined trump's organization. he -- when trump became the president, he put weisselberg in control of the company along with the two sons and his knowledge is not just at the trump organization. he's helped prepare donald trump's taxes and he's a treasurer of the trump found decision and the ties with donald trump are very de

>> good evening, wolf.ight, no promise that mike pompeo is going to get a meeting with koim jong-un when he arrivs in pyongyang. there are signs, however, that north korea is still not denuclearizing and maybe moving in the other direction. new commercial satellite imagery show s the dismantlement activiy at a satellite launch site has been stopped, no longer dismantling. the imagery showing that all of that dismantlement activity has come to a full stop. this comes, wolf, as the very respected international u.n. nuclear watchdog group, the international atomic energy agency says it has grave concern, their words, about north korea's nuclear activity. they are seeing evidence of continuing nuclear activity at north korea's experimental reactors, at its nuclear fuel sites. they are watching all of this very carefully, wolf. >> as they should. and now, in the midst of all of this, for the first time in months, isis all of a sudden has released a new audio message attributed to its leader, abu bakr al baghdadi

i am wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we are following breaking news on a new interview with president trump laying out some conditions for potentially easing sanctions on russia. sources tell cnn he is feeling unnerved by new revelations on the russian investigation. he was unaware of the full extent of the white house counsel's discussions with robert mueller's team that lasted more than 30 hours. i'll get reaction from the top democrat on the house armed services committee, congressman adam smith, i will talk with retired general michael hayden about the president's attacks on the u.s. intelligence community. and our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first, let's go to our white house correspondent jim acosta. tell us about this new interview with the president. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. reuters news service just conducted an interview with president trump today and some very important headlines coming out of that interview, wolf, you mentioned one of them, tha

>>> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> president trump unleashes another torrent of abuse on twitter sounding frantic calling special counsel robert mueller disgraced and discredited, calling his investigators angry, democrat thugs. that follows a "the new york times" report that white house counsel mcgahn met for more than 30 hours with mueller's team and sources now say the president was rattled after learning about that extensive cooperation. and there are now new questions about the president's legal team as rudy giuliani tries to walk back his or welian declaration that, quote, truth isn't truth." i'll talk with the correspondents and specialists standing by with full coverage. let's grin with the chief white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, insults from the president. but he really seems unsettled right now by did latest twists in the mueller investigation. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. the president said to be unnerved and unsettled by this. despite that, the president and

wolf blitzer is here. we'll be right back with jeff daniels. [ cheers and applause ] >> what does it mean to be reliable? the dictionary says trustworthiness, accuracy, outstanding performance. but you know it's much more than that. it's a sense that every time you step inside you can rely on precision timing, sleek design, flawless instrumentation. we pride ourselves on being american-made, with the safety features of a small foreign import. for the 15th straight year there's only one so dependable that it's earned the right to make history by becoming the very first on television to be named j.d. power's most reliable mid-sized late-night talk show. "jimmy kimmel live," the first in its class to be awarded the j.d. power stamp of reliability. >> jimmy: you can always count on us. [ cheers and applause ] >> dicky: abc's "jimmy kimmel live," brought to you by university of phoenix. x. ♪ ♪ so polite, you're busy still saying please ♪ ♪ you feel your dreams are dying ♪ ♪ hold tight ♪ the world is gonna pull

our big wolf trap ball is on septembe 15th. it's going to be a british theme extravaganza about music and art and all the greatusic that came out of the uk over the years. >> that sounds so wonderful. you continue on into the colder months with stuff at the barns. tell me about that. >> they're a pai of historic barns. our performance pattern is actuallyea 300 old. just about 1/4 of a mile down the road on the original existing wolf trap property. we do everything from ram nash to broadway, eclectic, irish, world music, whatever you might love, we have at the barns. >> so basically whatever interests you have in music, wolf trap has something to offer. as arvinointed out, we're not ne with summer just yet. although kids are starting to head back to school, there are still a lot more great concerts going on here at wolf trap. folks coming in tonight are going to be greeted by wolfy and all t great staff out here at wolf trap. you know what? thank goodness it's finally dry tonight. we have beenno so wet. just yesterday when we pi

wolf starts right now. >>> hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. thanks very much for joining us. we start with breaking news on robert mueller and the manhattan madam. cnn has learned the special counsel's team has talked to the infamous manhattan madam kristen davis as part of the russia investigation. davis worked for and is a former friend of roger stone's. sarah murray is here working the story. sarah, i know you're doing a lot of reporting on this. walk us through the latest information. >> we're learning that kristin davis, famously known as the manhattan madam, has met with the special counsel's team. they also are interested in bringing her back and having her testify before the grand jury. this is interesting because she's known roger stone for a long time, for at least a decade. she's done work for him on and off over the course of their friendship together. it tells you prosecutors still seem to be very interested in roger stone and may be trying to build a case against him. he has not heard from the special counsel, but he has said pub

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we have multiple breaking news stories. president trump's legal team is preparing a report to rebut potential conclusions from the special counsel robert mueller. the document will push back on any findings of collusion and obstruction of justice. and that comes as a washington lobbyist with links to an alleged russian intelligence agent pleads guilty to channelling foreign money to the trump inauguration and pledges to cooperate with mueller and federal prosecutors. i'll speak with congressman ted lue of the judiciary and foreign air force committees and correspondents and specialists are standing by with full coverage. first to the breaking news. our cnn justice correspondent evan perez and cnn political correspondent sara murray, they are here. evan first to you. cnn has now learned that rudy giuliani is preparing a report to counter mueller's findings what's the latest. >> that's right, wolf. we know that s

i'm wolf blitzer, you are in the "situation room." >>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> breaking news. president trump has a new target as americans offer tributes to the late senator john mccain. the president is complaining about his own coverage. he says google rigged the search results to produce bad news about him. he says google, twitter and facebook ought to watch their step. as republicans debate whether their former colleague, jeff sessions should stay or go. one top lawmaker says the trump/sessions relationship is beyond repair. another says sessions should stay exactly where he is. i'll speak with david. our correspondents and specialists are standing by with full coverage. let's begin with breaking news, cnn chief correspondent jim acosta is standing by. jim, a new warning now by the president. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. after the controversy of not respecting john mccain, president trump started fire storms warning google, it better be careful, accusing them of discrimin

>> thank you, wolf, for your question. that's absolutely correct, and i think it's important to understand that just because a president has the power to take an action doesn't mean it's legitimate. so for example, if someone were to bribe the president, say i'm going to give you $10,000 in exchange to get a security clearance and the president agreed, that would not be legitimate. so similarly, if the president's revoking john brennan's security clearance because of free speech issues, that is also not legitimate, and i think john brennan would have a very reasonable and probably victorious first amendment case if he were to bring it. >> did brennan go too far describing the president's behavior as -- and he threw out the word treasonous. >> i think different people can look at what the president did in helsinki, the way he ckowtowd to president putin. i'm not sure i would have gone to that length. but i think john brennan is within reason to have made that conclusion. people can also look at the trump tower meeting and r

>> wolf, obviously it's been an emotional week already.ain's family wept over his casket yesterday. the state's governor said arizona without mccain is like picturing arizona without the grand canyon. and today here where we are at the north phoenix baptist church, the pews will be packed with those who knew mccain for decades, including former vice president joe biden. and mccain himself planned all of this. when mccain's casket leaves the church, the pallbearers will carry him out to frank sinatra's "my way," fitting for a life that traveled down each and every highway, marked by love, laughter, and courage. even in death, john mccain did it his way. here in arizona with me, two people who covered john mccain on the campaign trail. with me, particularly in 2008, maeve reston and jonathan martin. we were talking about how it's fitting to have this kind of sendoff first here in arizona. arizona was as much john mccain and his essence as washington or the military. >> yeah, i mean, he always said before arizona, he didn't have a home becaus

that could be very impactful, wolf. talking about international, financial services, totally banned. diplomatic relations. there could be more limits of that and most curtailing all exports to russia so the russian economy already really flagging today. the ruble down. it could be damaging for the russian economy if they don't allow the inspections. >> seems to be a familiar pattern going on. congress angry at the russians. passes legislation, 97 or 98-2 in the senate and overwhelmingly in the house, the administration reluctant. kng squeezes a congress squeezes and then finally acts. >> five members in both chambers voted against it. remarkable to see done. yet behind the scenes, the administration trying to water those down. the president issued a statement at the time saying that some of the provisions were unconstitutional. called it flawed seriously and criticized for slowly implementing these sanctions so they're facing a lot of pressure and new sanctions that have been proposed in the wake of his helsinki summit

wolf starts right now. have a great day. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. thanks for joining us. dirt and deceit. the president outright admitting the trump tower meeting with the russians was for dirt on hillary clinton and in turn admitting the original narratives about it were a ruse. the new legal exposure for the president and his family. >>> plus, moments from now, the president of iran will respond to the u.s. restoring sanctions since president trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. >>> and once again, the first lady of the united states contradicting her husband in a very public way. this time over the president's criticism of lebron james. what message is melania trump sending? all that coming up, but let's start with that online admission by president trump. here's the tweet. quote, a complete fabrication that i am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son donald had in trump tower. this was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal, and done all the time in politics. our white house correspondent kaitlan co

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room."in burnett outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront" next, breaking news, the star witness in paul manafort's trial taking the stand. manafort's right-hand man rick gates. will he take his old boss, his mentor down? >>> plus the alleged russian spy reports multiple contacts with a trump associate. was she just a graduate student? >>> trump saying the immediate can, quote, cause war. what's he talking about and why is he not the only member of his administration who believes that? who else does? let's go "outfront." >>> good evening to all. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the breaking news. bob mueller's star witness rick gates, trump's former

wolf?you know, president trump tweeting about the fires in california apparently making an inaccurate claim that the white house today declined to back up or clarify. here's the president's tweet. let me read it to the viewers. california wildfires magnified and made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren't allowing massive amounts of available water to be properly utilized. it is being diverted into the pacific ocean. must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading. so what are state and local officials telling you about that assertion from the president? >> reporter: i have to tell you, wolf, nobody knows what the president is talking about here. you have obviously had a situation for years where you've had problems with water diversion that pits environmentalists versus farmers and in terms of having water to put out fires that's never been a problem in the history of california. just bafflement is what the people are describing it. >> dan simon in california, good luck

>> reporter: yeah, wolf, you're right. this is a big deal, and it's not good news for president trump. "the wall street journal" reporting that david pecker and an editor at the national enquirer have been granted immunity in this case. before, we had previously reported that david pecker had been subpoenaed in all this. we knew that he told prosecutors in the southern district of new york, which is investigating michael cohen and these hush payments made to these women alleging they had affairs with the president, that he told them that president trump was aware of those payments at the time. that would contradict what the white house and what president trump have tried to say for several months now, including prurp president trump on camera yesterday saying he didn't know about the payments until later on, even though there's an audio recording of him and michael cohen discussing how to make one of the payments. this is big news because david pecker is a long-time ally of the president. that's why he had a role in helpin

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we're following breaking news in the russia investigation. robert mueller's team interviewing a notorious witness with an intriguing connection to the collusion case he may be building. sources tell cnn that the woman known as the manhattan madam met with investigators this week. the special counsel's office apparently interested in her ties to longtime trump ally, roger stone. stone under the microscope in the possible -- the probe of possible coordination between the trump team and russia's election interference. this hour, i'll talk with mark beesy and anthony frante. and our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first, with let's go to our political correspondent, sara murray. sara, the manhattan madam face-to-face with mueller's investigation. >> that's right, wolf. we know that kristin davis has a fascinating backstory and a long history with roger stone, but what we don't know is exactly wh

i'm wolf blitzer in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we zbbegin with breaking news. the mounting legal trouble surrounding the president of the united states, donald trump. the chief financial officer for the trump organization in new york has now been granted immunity in the investigation of hush money payments to women. allen weisselberg's immunity applies to the michael cohen investigation. it was cohen who implicated the president in the payments to two women to cover up alleged affairs. peter nicolas is the white house reporter for "the wall street journal," which first reported this late-breaking development. so weisselberg is described as someone who, quote, knows where all the financial bodies are buried. peter, how significant is this grant of immunity? >> well, it's very significant, wolf. weisselberg is chief financial officer for the trump organization. he's been with the company for decades. president trump put weisselberg in charge of the orga

bob woodward is not michael wolf, he is not omarosa. he is a pulitzer prize winning reporter that does meticulous fact checking and brought them another president. >> today with carl bernstein as we remember. jeffrey toobin, a troubling development today, a different story. the fbi arrested a man that called into the newsroom of the boston globe, made a chilling threat, according to court documents, this individual said, quote, you're the enemy of the people and we're going to kill every expletive one of you. the phrase the enemy of the people, we know where that comes from, the president saying it, including today in his tweets. does the president realize where his angry words going after the american news media as the enemy of the american people, does he realize that god forbid, where that could lead? >> i mean, he certainly shows no worry about it because he keeps talking about the news media that way. you know, i think when presidents speak they have sort of a hydraulic effect. it has more power than just the words itself because t

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we're following breaking news that cuts to the heart of questions about what the russians might be holding over president trump and what they've done to help him. in a new guilty plea a d.c. lobbyist with ties to russia and ukraine has add hittmitted to arranging an illegal donation to the president's inauguration. this is the first time the u.s. government has filed formal criminal charges accusing foreigners of funneling money into trump election-related events. we're also learning right now about sworn testimony by justice department official bruce ohr that was told by a british spy that the russians believe they have mr. trump, quote, over a barrel. i'll get reaction from democratic congressman john garamendi. and our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. first let's go to our political correspondent sara murray. sara, as the russia probe moves forward, the president's lawyers are now preparin

what a beautiful night out here at wolf trap, wendy. the humidity levels areng drop we have a fantastic breeze. i spoke with one loudoun county family who is starting school tomorrow. they're still here enjoying the conc tonight. what can you expect at the bus stop tomorrow? that forecast cong up. mi >>> your health with an important update as your school. go back to today, the food and drugs administration said certain epipens will still work up to four months aft their expiration date. the fda says pens with a 3 milligram dose will fall under that extendedio expir window. so, so do the authorizedeneric versions of the medicine with expiration dates between april and december ofhis year. the fda says thistixtended expi will help cover these shortages. >>> alexa is going kid-friendly. that mns theame question could get a different answer depending on who ist. asking like who is stormy daniels? or where do babies come from? the virtual assistant won't spill theut beans a santa either. amazon worked with child psychologists to comh up wit

wolf?elebration of her life, as it's being called, ryan, it's been going on for about three hours or so, maybe a little longer. they were originally planning five hours, but it looks to me, looking at the schedule, like this could two a bit longer. >> reporter: absolutely, wolf. i know you've been to a black church before. sometimes we don't stick to the time limit. this is the program i have in my hand. we have been taking bets out here. we believe it's going to go a lot longer. in fact, somebody said they plan to be here for eight hours. and guess what, she deserves a day. that's what we have been told by so many people. there were people lining up, fans were getting here yesterday at 4:00 in the afternoon. there was a rumor that fans were going to be allowed into the funeral. that's exactly what happened. we were with them as nearly a thousand people who just got to go inside, they got wristbands, and they were so excited to go in and be able to pay their respects. yes, i think it's goin

wolf starts right now. >>> hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington, 7:00 p.m. in rome, 2:00 a.m. wednesday in pyongyang. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. a stunning new report shows nearly 3,000 hurricane maria linked deaths in puerto rico, up from just 64. also, a secret letter from north korea to the united states that resulted in the cancellation of secretary of state pompeo's trip to pyongyang. so what was in it? and i'll be joined by pennsylvania's attorney general who says he has evidence the vatican knew about a systematic cover-up in his state to protect abusive priests. all that coming up. let's begin with the breaking news. hurricane maria killed thousands more than initially reported. that according to a new study commissioned by the government of puerto rico. researchers from george washington university here in washington say the correct death toll should be 2,975. that's up from just 64. let's go to our correspondent layla santiago. she's here in washington over at george washington university. you'v

wolf starts right now. have a great day. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us. breaking news right now involving the president's long-time fixer and former attorney. cnn is now reporting that michael cohen, who's facing possible criminal charges, is in talks with prosecutors for a potential plea deal. keep in mind cohen is not only under investigation for possible bank and tax fraud, but possible violations related to secret payments he made, including one to stormy daniels. let's go to cnn's shimon prokupecz. they're getting new information for us. kara, first to you. what are you learning? >> we're learning that michael cohen is currently in plea negotiations with the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan, which is investigating him for potential bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance violations. these talks have been undergoing for at least the past day and a half. it's possible they fall apart. but we do know that cohen's lawyers are negotiating with prosecutors to

>> no, wolf. we don't allow witnesses or suspects to set the negotiating terms in criminal investigations and the president shouldn't be treated any differently than any other suspect. look, wolf, this is really about who do you believe? do you believe bob mueller who has indicted two dozen individuals and obtained five guilty pleas and about to go to verdict with paul manafort, or do you believe the president of the united states who continues to lie and give misleading statements about his involvement with russia and refuses to sit down and answer the questions that have already been given to him. i think right now bob mueller has all of the credibility and he should use that leverage. >> how long should mueller engage in these negotiations with the trump legal team before issuing a subpoena? >> you know, i'm going to leave that to bob mueller. but, wolf, donald trump is the reason that this is delaying. he's the reason that this investigation is not wrapped up. he's been given the questions and

i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following breaking news as the trump white house dodges hard questions about the president's former personal attorney implicating him in a crime. in a new interview, the president acknowledges the hush money payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougall, quote, came from me. end quote. in doing so, he appears to be admitting a role in violating campaign finance laws. the president also changed another part of the story saying he only learned about cohen's payments, quote, later on. i'll speak with democratic congressman mike quigley, a member of the house intelligence committee. and our correspondents, experts and analysts they are all standing by. but let's begin with cnn's kaitlan collins at the white house. there ice n there's not many answers today but in a story directly from the president. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. as the president is facing enormous pressure here, he's attempting to rewrite history of when he knew about those pa

wolf, this is a real head snapper.s -- the statement from dan coats last week that he did not understand, was not in a position to know what transpired in that nearly two hour meeting between president trump and our main adversary vladimir putin is really astonishing and, frankly, what it also says to me is, it was a real missed opportunity. normally what you would see is first of all, there would be other officials in that room, people who can record what's going on, who can take notes, who can feed that back to our intelligence community, to our russia analyst and incorporate that in our plans and our thinking going forward. and here we've clearly missed that opportunity. >> i want to get your thoughts on the manafort trial that's under way right now in alexandria, virginia. you worked at one point in your life as a federal prosecutor. you've also worked with robert mueller. what do you make of the testimony of this star witness that's been there for the last couple days, rick gates, manafort's former deputy? >> i wa

wolf trap is actually a national park as well. so coming up at 5:25, we' going to have more on kind of ye hidden gems here at wolf trap that may not know about. i definitely learned a few things today. right now take a look at the satellite and radar. still tracking cloudiness down there in southern maryland but the showers are over. we're not a worriedut any rain tonight. still holding at 84 degrees across the tear yeaen the concert gets underway we'll be falling into the 70s. 11:00 p.m., a comfortle 74 degrees here in washington. temperatures in the suburbs lready in the 60s at that point. tonight is the night, wendy and jim, if you're not heading down tto wolf trap enjoy the weather, at least open up your windows and let fresh air your home overnight. we're falling into the 50s and 60s overght. >> it'een awhile since we've been able to say that.am ia, have fun out there. >> we're going to talk more about the bus stop coming up at 5:25. >> we'll loo forward to that. thank you. >>> it is one of the area's llrst bottlenecks. let's

earlier this year obituary writers around the world paid tribute to tom wolfe the american writer who passed away three months ago wolf was best known for his work as an author books like the wright stuff and bonfire of the vanities however in the one nine hundred sixty s. and seventy's he was also at the forefront of another movement what was called new journalism tom wolfe and others pioneered a new type of reporting boring some techniques from novelists and using them to write nonfiction to in fact produce journalism the initial reviews were not stellar especially from reporters who saw new journalism as an affront to their profession however it revolutionized reporting and its impact is felt to this day not just in the u.s. but around the world and not just in the mainstream news media but also online the listening post takes you back in time now to the one nine hundred sixty s. with the help of two contemporary writers whose journalism was inspired by tom wolfe and the new journalism movement. i have no idea who coined the term the new journalism or even when it was coined at the

tell our viewers what we've learned. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. startling but not surprising the president last night met way group of evangelical leaders over here at the white house, had dinner. this was the event you saw the president finally say something kind about john mccain saying he respected the late arizona senator. but once the cameras were pushed out of the room, moved out of the room, the president had some other remarks and he used some very incendiary language to talk about the stakes for the republicansed in the upcoming midterm election dollars. we. i this up on screen and show you what he said. here's a quote from what he said. i think we're popular but there's a real question as to whether people are going to vote if i'm not -- and going on here with this statement, on the ballot and i'm not on the ballot. a lot of people think i don't like congress, people say. the president goes on here in this statement, i'm not voting because the president doesn't like congress. it's not a question of like or dislike. president continuing h

>> thanks, wolf. this decision the president has taken to reimpose sanctions has huge costs for our leadership and the world for our national security and for our economicing security. and so my view of this decision to reimpose sanctions when iran iss is dismantling its nuclear weapons, the decisions he makes are putting us at risk. >> you don't think that these kinds of economic sanctions and telling the europeans, the japanese, the chinese, you either are with the united states, you can have trade with the u.s., or you can have trade with iran, but you can't have trade with both? you don't think that'll have a huge impact domestically, internally? >> i think it will have a huge impact, but unfortunately not a positive impact. one of the important aspects of the agreement that was put in place was to give benefits to the iranian people for supporting a regime that made the difficult decision to give up its nuclear program. now that we're reimposing sanctions, which makes life harder for the iranian

>> well wolf, you're right. we're talking about john mccain who was a model of integrity, someone who always had a hard fight when it came to politics but treated his adversaries with honor and respect, and the fact that the president is so grudging in his praise for this great american hero really is a reflection on the president. you know, john mccain used to say that what gave life meaning and purpose was being involved in causes greater than himself, greater than ourselves, and unfortunately when it comes to president trump, it seems to be all about himself. i think he believes the greatest cause is himself. and that's a very cramped view of what the presidency should be all about. it should be about standing up for america and american values. that's what john mccain did. that's why he is so beloved across the country. >> senator van hollen, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >>> just ahead, more breaking news we're following on paul manafort. after his conviction on 8 felonies, was he hoping to strike a

>> hi, wolf. a source familiar tells us that weisselberg's interview happened weeks ago and that it focused on michael cohen and the hush money payments to two women who said they had affairs with trump, which trump denies. weisselberg is a major player, in the secret reporting from a few weeks ago, cohen says he consulted with weisselberg, and in the plea deal, he's referred to as executive one, who arranged $420,000 in payments to cohen to pay him back for the payment he made to stormy daniels. he wrote -- please pay from the truth, post to legal expenses when he forwarded the invoices to another executive. it's very clear that he's played a key role. >> athena how big a there et to president trump is it that prosecutors are talking to weisselberg? >> this is certainly a big deal. we're talking about a person who has been working for trump for decades. he is the chief finance officer for the trump organization. he's been running the company with the president's two eldest sons. he prepared trump

>> reporter: yeah, it was interesting, wolf.access to the beginning of the meeting that he had with russian lawmakers talking about wanting dialogue and engagement with russia. so i asked him whether or not he was talking about election meddling with them and deflected the answer. here's what he said. senator, did you speak about election interference, as well? did that come up? >> we had general discussions of a lot of issues and decided that basically right now what we're trying to do is have dialogue. i don't think we solve issues other than -- the issue is no dialogue. the issues is that we can't have discussion of issues with no dialogue. we won't get into the differences other than trying to agree to have dialogue. >> reporter: so there you hear senator rand paul and the russians said there would be no meddling in the midterms in 2018. it was interesting. one of those who was present is the former russian ambassador to the united states. he is actually a senator now in russia and responsible for foreign relations. he had a

wolf? >> thank you. joining us now, democratic congressman alan smith of washington state, a key member of the armed service committee, the top democrat, ranking member of the armed services committee. congressman, thank you for joining us. you worked closely with senator mccain who headed up the senate. what are your thoughts on his legacy as a senator and a military service member? >> well, the first thing that comes to mind is what he said in his farewell letter. that is his commitment to our country and commitment to public service. you know, we didn't agree on every issue. i don't think every republican agreed with him on every issue. if you had no doubt john mccain was trying to do what he thought was best for the country and understood you have to work with people you don't agree with. something we need more of in politics. you are not going to find someone who agrees 100% with you on issues. john mccain understood that. he was willing to speak the truth, even when it wasn't in his best interest,

i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for joining us. we begin with breaking news. president trump's earlyieiest congressional supporter chris collins of new york has been arrested for insider trading. prosecutors announce the charges and showcase their evidence in exacting detail only moments ago. >> as alleged in the indictment, congressman collins cheated our markets and our justice system in two ways. first, he tipped his son to confidential corporate information at the expense of regular investors. and then he lied about it to law enforcement to cover it up. these charges are a reminder that this is a nation of laws and that everybody stands equal before the bar of justice. >> cnn national political reporter m.j. lee has been following the story for us. walk us through the allegations in this lengthy indictment. >> yeah, wolf, these are certainly very serious charges. congressman collins has been charged with insider trading, wire fraud and lying to investigators

>> absolutely, wolf.he president's allies and the president himself engaged in what can only be an effort to discredit michael cohen and to call him a liar who simply can't be trusted. you saw a preview of that message from president trump this morning on twitter. he accused michael cohen of breaking but said that he -- implied he was a bad lawyer. implying also that anything that michael cohen might have offered up in exchange for his plea deal could not be relied on. however, it's clear that this is not going to be a case of michael cohen's word against the president's. there would also have to be proof. that's something that the president did not discuss at all in his morning tweet about cohen. >> what's the mood over there inside the white house right now? how did staffers react when this really significant, historic news broke about manafort and cohen? >> that's right, wolf. double barreled bad news day for the white house yesterday. left so many white house staffers simply stunned by these developme

i'm wolf blitzer. you are in the situation room. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> we are following breaking news. an ugly public feud between president trump and attorney general sessions escalated when sessions hit back after the president accused him of never taking control of the justice department. also breaking, new revelations that long-time trump friend and ally, david pecker, the chairman of the national enquirer's parent company was granted immunity in the michael cohen case involving hush money payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdugal. i'll speak with democratic congressman and our analysts are standing by with full coverage. let's begin with our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. the attorney general was over at the white house earlier this afternoon. how did that go? >> wolf, it seems the white house is caught in another false statement, a statement that doesn't add up after press secretary sarah huckabee sanders told reporters there hadn't been discussions about pardoning pa