cnn is learning the team detained and questions ted malloch. they asked him about roger stone and about julian assuage and wikileaks and they subpoenaed him to appear before mueller's grand jury in april. what does this tell us about where mueller's probe is headed? we will talk about that. plus, president trump increasingly isolated inside his own white house, moving trusted aide scavino into the small office near the president's desk. it was occupied by hope hicks. moscow flexing its muscle for the u.s. and the world to see. russia's defense minister releasing video of a test launch of its new intercontinental ballistic missile. a lot of ground to cover tonight. i want to bring in david axle r axlerod. david, good to have you on. good evening. robert mueller's investigation is moving ahead. we are learning a new name, ted malloch, detained by the fbi at logan airport as he returned from london. he says investigators asked him about trump confidant roger stone and julian assuage. where is this investigation going? do you know? >> you know, wha

malloch is a guy how turns around and starts talking. i'm sure there are other people who get a lawyer and go to the grand jury or fight it. there's so much we don't know even been whom they're speaking with. and beyond that, what they're investigating. again, i was really struck but how they had done their homework. this guy comes off the plane and they've got him chapter and verse. and very much, the only reason to focus on this fellow is because of his ties to the whole chapter of wikileaks and julian assange and russia collusion and that's a whole kettle of fish there. >> harry lipman, thank you very much. >> thank you, chris. >> coming up, the remarkable lengths the president will go to to avoid having to personally fire anyone and what we're learning tonight about the drinking games being played inside the white house. >>> you spoke to him. he made no mention of the fact that he was about to terminate you? >> that's correct. >> and then you found out via tweet. >> yeah, right before that, the chief of staff kelly gave me a call whi

malloch is a guy how turns around and starts talking. i'm sure there are other people who get a lawyer and go to the grand jury or fight it. there's so much we don't know even about whom they're speaking with and beyond that what that are vetting. again, i was really struck but how they had done their homework. this guy comes off the plane and they've got him chapter and verse. and very much, the only reason to focus on this fellow is because of his ties to the whole chapter of wikileaks and julian assange and russia collusion and that's a whole kettle of fish there. >> harry litman, thank you very much. >> thank you, chris. >> coming up, the remarkable lengths the president will go to to avoid having to personally fire anyone and what we're learning tonight about the drinking games being played inside the white house. ht now... aah! ...i would have said you were crazy. but so began the year of me. i discovered the true meaning of paperless discounts... and the indescribable rush of saving drivers an average of $620. why does fear feel s

malloch added quote, whom i communicated with, whom i knew and how well, he said they asked him about roger stone, author jerome coursy and wikileaks. malloch said he told them he met with stone a total of three times and always with groups of people. he said he was asked if he'd ever visited the ecuadorian embassy in london, and he replied no. he also said the agent served him a subpoena from mueller's team that had been issued that day to appear for questioning on april 13th. earlier on this network former prosecutor harry litman put this into context. >> it's this breathless kind of development that shows mueller's not thinking about the red line, the blue line the yellow line. he's just thinking about the finishing line and plumbing the depths of everything that is involved here, i'm sure to trump's great chagrin. we're back in taucom clancy territory. >> and just to recap here on a friday night, what we've learned on the russia front as we closeout another week it was reported that john dowd, president trump's former lead lawyer in this russia case spoke last summer with lawyers

malloch will be questioned again in april. they had the blockbuster scoop this week, john dowd raised the possibility of a pardon for paul manafort and michael flynn. there's a lot to take in here. let's get to it right now. joining me, daniel goldman, former assistant u.s. attorney and a defense attorney and former prosecutor. so, with a welcome to you both, we'll go ladies first here. what do you make of mueller's investigators detailing trump's ally. >> probably one of the most gangsta things i've ever seen. this man is serious. not only is mueller thorough in his investigation in trying to obtain all types of evidence, but what he's doing is methodical. he's sending a very strong message to anyone who feels as if it is an option to cooperate with his investigation so doing this and separating this individual from his wife and letting him know, listen, here is a subpoena, he is sending a strong message. listen if you have any information that may be helpful to my investigation, i haven't talked to you yet. just know i am co

malloch is british and a friend of the brexit guy, he has a book coming out in may "the plot to destroy trump." the forward was written by roger stone. it's blurbed by alex jones. we do seem to be circling a wider and wider and sometimes shallower path of people, but they all have these connections back to putin. >> that's right. that book, it sounds like it's a retort to malcolm's book, the plot to hack america. >> it is. >> sounds like it. >> as we get down to this, just to take one step back to what sarah said, it's so important. now that we are hearing a specific russian intelligence agency's name, the gru, russian military intelligence, it's understand to what russian military intelligence motivation might have been in this effort. they're clearly interested in ukraine. when you see a platform change under president trump that softens aid to the ukrainians, and now the gru may be talking to people in the trump orbit there seems to be a nexus here. if we are hearing that people are aiding the gru, we potentially have people helping russian military intelligence, which is aimed speci

. >>> investigators working for bob mueller this week detained and question ed trump ally bob malloch saying agents had permission to seize and search his cell phone and asked questions about his involvement in the trump campaign. they wanted to know more about roger stone and possible contacts with wikileaks founder julian assange. he was served with a subpoena and will be questioned again in mid april. trump's lawyer john dowd raised the possibility of a pardon for paul manafort and michael flynn. attorney general jeff sessions, trump's frequent target, rejecting calls for a second special counsel to look at claims of political bias at fbi and justice department. joining me now, michael carpenter, former russia director and former associate counsel to george w. bush, who now teaches at george mason university. before we get to mueller what do you make of this expulsion of russian diplomats from our country? does it counter the talk that he's not tough on russia? >> no. this is not a smart move. whether the positions are backfilled or not, russia will mirror exactly what we do. we've

it's worth noting that malloch wrote a book that the deep state was out to get trump and fabricated the dossier to create this entire investigation into russia. >> he says he and his wife landed at austin's logan international airport and he was removed, taken to a private room by the fbi. they questioned him for an hour. they wanted his computers, he didn't have one, but they took his cell phone. >> this is an aggressive tactic to stop someone at the airport, to detain them and question them. this is the thing you would do if you are worried someone is destroying information after their first contact with you or worried they are not going to hand over all the information. for someone who proclaims he doesn't know anything, it's certainly an aggressive tactic. >> not the first time mueller's investigators, fbi agents, among others stopped someone upon arrival back in the united states from overseas. >> that's right. for instance, we saw it with george nader, who is now cooperating with robert mueller's investigation, providing different information about for instance, meetings between m

cnn is learning the team detained and questions ted malloch.y asked him about roger stone and about julian assuage and wikileaks and they subpoenaed him to appear before mueller's grand jury in april. what does this tell us about where