she is known as the manhattan madam. she ran a manhattan prosecution ring and future a time she went to jail in the scandal surrounding new york governor eliot spitzer. now roger stone put out a statement today basically saying he doesn't have any idea what mueller wants with kristen either. says kristen davis is a long-time friend and associate of mine. i'm the godfather to her 2-year-old son. she knows nothing about russian collusion, wikileaks collaboration or any impropriety related to the 2016 election, which i thought was the subject of this probe. i understand she appeared voluntarily. i'm highly confident she will testify truthfully if called upon to do. >> so it appears that mueller investigation into roger stone is not only continuing, but escalating. >> it does seem like there is circle in and around him. andrew miller who is another former associate of roger stone is also being called to testify in front of tgrand jury. if you look into roger stone's back story, there is a reason they might be interested in t

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 what she has to offer mueller's investigators. kristin davis, the woman known as the manhattan madam, meeting with special counsel robert mueller's team for a voluntary interview earlier this week, sources tell cnn. investigators apparently interested in her ties to longtime trump adviser, roger stone. she and stone have been close friends for a decade. investigators also expressed interest in having davis testify before a grand jury. the latest indication prosecutors are aiming to building a case against stone. davis' lawyer declined to comment. in a statement, stone tells cnn, kristin davis is a longtime friend and associate of mine. i am the godfather to her 2-year-old son. she knows nothing about russian collusion, wikileaks collaboration, or any other impropriety related to the 2016 election, which i thought was the subject of this probe. i understand she

>> i think that 2018 was missing was the manhattan madam, remember, she came into sort of prominent inhe elliott spitzer, the former governor of new york. sometimes it's the 1980s and 1990s all over again. look, their relationship is described as that they've had ties. we don't know what these ties are. we don't know what the nature of the relationship is. he represent -- or she ran for office once. he was her campaign manager. she worked for him once. and so the fact that she voluntarily came forward, maybe either because she has exonerating evidence or because she sees as carrie was describing the sort of -- you know, the wagons circling around one person and she may have information. so, you know, mueller is a busy guy. he's not interviewing people that may not have something relevant. and the fact that this cast of characters that surrounds the trump campaign from 2016, you know everyone from, you know, stone to the, you know, stormy daniels to now the manhattan madam, you know, that's the nature of the people he hung out with. and that's a character quality that is represented in

again, the manhattan madam is before the grand jury today. we know andrew miller, who is also a confidant of roger stone, he was also subpoenaed. he has not appeared. he will be held in contempt. and now this latest subpoena for randy credico. one last thing, john. rudy giuliani talked about this investigation wrapping up by september 1st. we can see that just by the mere fact that this subpoena for randy credico is for september 7th, that looks very unlikely, and it won't happen. john? >> very important point at the end there. jessica schneider, thank you. september 7th happens to be 60 days before the midterm elections. there's a signal. robert mueller doesn't talk in public, but what he puts on the court calendar tells you a little something. we'll keep track of that as well. before we go to break, marking a milestone. 25 years ago today, ruth bader ginsburg sworn in as the second female supreme court justice. >> in my lifetime, i expect there will be as many sisters as brothers in law. that prospect is indeed cause for hope, and its reali

>>> the so-called manhattan madame testifies.ont of the grand jury. >>> the time has come for the united states space force. >> and the space shooting for the stars. welcome to "early start." i'm phil mattingly. >> i'm christine romans. 31 minutes past the hour. let's start here. california's governor declaring a state of emergency as the raging holy fire inches closer to homes in the southern part of the state. here is what we know. the inferno is 5% contained. more than 21,000 people under mandatory evacuation and so far, more than 10,000 acres have burned. look at these images emerging overnight from the holy fire bearing down on this neighborhood in lake elsinore. firefighters asking a man to leave as he was using a garden hose to put flames out on his roof. this man capturing flames in his backyard. this man eventually left and told cnn he is not sure he will have a home when we returns. cnn's stephanie elam brings us the latest from lake elsinore. >> reporter: christine and phil, this is the concern. we are here at the holy

today, christin davis known as the manhattan madame. the paul manafort trial. the judge meeting with lawyers for almost five hours. and we have no idea what they were talking about. but let's start with the manhattan madame and cnn's mj lee at the federal courthouse. >> reporter: the woman known as the manhattan madame, christin davis, scheduled to testify today before a grand jury in robert mueller's russia investigation. investigators could be interested in her ties the long-time trump adviser roger stone. she was interviewed last week. they have been close friends for a decade. >> christin davis is a brilliant woman, a friend of mine. someone who has made mistakes and has paid her debt to society. >> reporter: davis once ran a high-end prostitution ring and went to jail as part of the scandal of governor spitzer. >> the remorse i feel will always with me. >> reporter: and ran for new york governor in 2010. >> i have redeemed myself and americans believe in second chances. >> reporter: also worked with stone more recently. in late 201

she's known as the manhattan madam. talking about her possible ties to long time trump adviser roger stone. her ties, we know they were very close. also ahead, apple becoming the first american company who hit a trillion dollars in value. so we had a little fun with this today. what can you buy with a trillion dollars? wait until you hear this coming up. eligible for medicare. gimme two minutes. and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza... [mmm pizza...] is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80 percent... medicare will pay for. what's left... this slice here... well... that's on you. and that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company comes in. this type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. and these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. that's because they meet their high standards of quality and service. wanna learn more? it's easy. call unitedhealthcare

the so-called manhattan madam, kristen davis.ongressman, what do you make of all of these people, these contacts, these associates of roger stone coming into the cross hairs of the special counsel's investigation? what does this mean about roger stone? what can you tell us about roger stone, why he's so important in all of this. >> i think roger stone is very important because roger stone made himself important. he talked about being close to julian assange during the campaign. he bragged about it. he claimed to know that mr. podesta was next in the barrel. lo and behold, surely after those e-mails came out. he pulled back on that after the fact, but it's hard to do that. this is pretty important stuff if we're talking about conspireing with a foreign power to affect our democratic process. he claimed publicly to have that awareness and that knowledge. >> and devin nunes, as you know, the chairman of the house intelligence committee, told an audience at a republican fundraiser recently why he thinks they have to keep the majority

another is a friend of stone's known as the manhattan madam. the third is a former aide of stone's named andrew miller, who refused today to comply with a subpoena. so he is now facing a contempt charge. why dodge if you have nothing to hide? let's get after it with miller's lawyer, mr. paul kamenar. welcome to "prime time," counselor. >> thank you, chris. good to be here. >> good to have you. let's test the case. is this about hiding? is this about ducking the truth if. >> absolutely not, chris. this is a constitutional challenge to the lawfulness of the special counsel mueller. what we did was challenge his constitutionality on the grounds that he was not properly appointed under article 2 of the constitution. and we said that if you're going to appoint him under the constitution, he has to be appointed by the head of the department. >> right. >> and the head of the department is jeff sessions, not rod rosenstein. >> right. you made that objection. it was ruled on by the judge in a 90-plus-page decision that every expert that we've had on abo

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 publicly that he's bracing for the possibility of an indictment. you know, kristin davis' story in and of i

let's go to washington where the manhattan madame faces the grand jury.hy is mueller interested in her? >> reporter: we don't know the answer to that. we know she will appear at this courthouse to testify before the grand jury. last week she was interviewed by mueller investigator as well. we don't know the details of how that interview went. keep in mind she does have close relationship with roger stone, the former trump advisor who is also embroiled in the mueller investigation. >> reporter: she's known as the manhattan madame. kristin davis testifying before a grand jury. investigators are interested in her tries to a long time trump advisor, roger stone. she and stone have been close friends for decade. in a statement stone told cnn last week, kristen davis is a long time frepds and associate to mine. i'm the god father to her 2-year-old son. she knows nothing about collusion, wikileaks collaboration or any other inpro p pryty. i'm highly confident she will testify truthfully if called upon to do so. davis once ran a high end prostitution ring. she we

kristin davis, once known as the manhattan madame, scheduled to appear before a grand jury today.a subpoena, did not appearment let's get the insights of political and legal analysts. joey jackson, why? it just seems sort of logical. you don't have to be a lawyer. i'm not a lawyer so, you know, i can figure this out but why is mueller mueller focusing on the players of roger stone? seems like he's honing in on roger stone. >> this is significant and called due diligence. right? prosecutors doing due diligence to determine what went on here. interestingly, a jury goes back and deliberating and we have no idea what they talk about until they send out a note and sense the direction they're going so looks at the direction here. what's the missing link so far in this investigation? what are we all waiting for? the shoe to drop on the "c" word, collusion, conspiracy. whether there's conspiracy, an intent to commit a crime and mutual agreement. so he's the guy to look out there to provide that link. as to whether or not there was this collusion. how do we know? remember last month, jim,

"manhattan madam," anything. roger stone, anything you say about these people at this point i kind of have to believe because there is no credibility coming from the other side. and i think that that is when mueller is kind of of pulling on all these threads, i assume it is for a good reason. >> evan, weigh in here. what did you see happening with all of this that is broader than just on that collusion? >> i think about the political elements or i've been thinking about that. as the investigation or investigations move forward, it becomes more and more clear to anyone who is still considering facts that yes the russians intervened in our election, yes, it was a broad effort, multifaceted. probably has roots that go back in time quite a bit. we'll learn a lot more over time. but as it becomes clear that the russians used this candidate president trump and the republican party and elements of the conservative movement to advance its attack on the country, it becomes also more clear that the republicans, elected rep

again, this is the manhattan madam. help us understand how she is connected to robert mueller's investigation. >> kristin davis, the manhattan madam has been working with roger stone for a period of ten years doing web design for him, working on campaigns. she has run her own political campaigns with his help. they have a very close relationship. they're also close friends. he's in fact godfather to her 2-year-old son, so there's any number of questions that they might be asking her about. now, she says and roger stone -- they both say that she knows nothing about russia collusion or anything like that. in fact she was giving birth to her son in september of 2016 just after all of the wikileaks and the trump tower meeting were going on and so she says she really has nothing to contribute on that front. now, she did meet on wednesday with a member of robert mueller's team, according to a person with direct knowledge of that meeting. she did not comment today and neither did her new lawyer down in d.c. >> you know who did

you knew her as the manhattan madam. her name is kristin davis, and she's here for her first interview since her grand jury testimony. what did they ask? what did she say? she is here to tell us. >>> plus peter strzok fired from the fbi, and tonight his attorney is firing back. he is here to make the case to you that this firing is not about the text messages. >>> and we have leon panetta, former director of the cia, secretary of defense, and white house chief of staff under president clinton. he's back here on "prime time." we're going to talk russia and the apparent white house security breach as omarosa leaks a recording from the situation room. is that a crime? well, it's monday, but we already have a week's worth of news. so what do you say? let's get after it. >>> what does mueller want with roger stone? how does it tie into what he may be looking at with the trump team? finally we have someone who can help us get answers. kristin davis. she got the nickname the manhattan madam during the eliot spitzer scandal. she

sources say robert mueller's team say the team interviewed the woman known as the manhattan madam. here's sarah murray with a look at her possible connection to this whole collusion probe. >> reporter: kristen davis the woman known as the manhattan mad arms meade meeting with special counsel mule ear's team earlier this week. investigators apparently interested into her ties with roger stone. she and stone have been close fend for a decade. they expressed interest in having davis testify in the garage prosecutors are trying to build a case against stone. davis' lawyers declined to comment. stone tells cnn kristen davis the a long-time friend and associate of mine i am a god father to her two-year-old son. she knows nothingant wikileaks collaboration, clux, or anything which i thought was the subject of this probe. i understand she appeared voluntarily. i am highly confident she will testify truthfully, if called to do. so davis once ran a high end prostitution ring and went to jail surrounding then new york governor eliot spitzer. >> the remorse i feel will always be with me. >> she

that was unsuccessful because of her notoriety as a manhattan madam. but interestingly kristin davis worked for roger stone in late 2016, she did clerical work for his web site. given the fact that roger stone during 2016 talked about the fact he had talked with julian assange -- he later walked that back, but given that fact kristin davis is probably of interest to the special counsel so she could shed light on what she knows about this possible interaction between roger stone and julian assange. but she did testify before the grand jury today. >> what about andrew miller, the former aide to roger stone? he was held in contempt. >> kristin davis answered her subpoena, she was here before the grand jury. andrew miller did not. he refused to comply with the subpoena and as a result the judge held him in contempt and issued a 93-page opinion. the judge put the contempt ruling on hold until monday so andrew miller's attorneys can go through the appeal process. they're arguing the appointment of special counsel mueller in and of itself is unconstitutional

i think clearly if this manhattan madame was intimate with mr. stone around that time period, that's what mueller will want to know. >> when you look at what joe just described, the side bar conversation that happened earlier this week tied to rick gates, the star prosecution witness, as it pertains to the question that was asked of him by the defense in terms of his role in the trump campaign, tie all those threads together for me. >> a lot of people pointed out, defern defenders say this all proceeds their work for trump. goes right up to the line of them working for trump. it's all about violations and a alleged fraud that happened during their years of work in ukraine. the one question we have all had is after gates service to mueller in this manafort trial is over, did he also and is he also working with mueller on the question of collusion and giving mueller information about his role as the deputy for the trump campaign. remember, gates stayed in the campaign longer than manafort. he was there after manafort left. he knows a lot. we don't

the special counsel focuses on the associates of long time confidant roger stone, a manhattan madam preparing to testify before the grand jury. and now the man who may have been the back channel to wikileaks is answering s&ps. >>> and amarosa is firing back with some explosive claims in her new book, calling the president racist and detailing an alleged attempt to silence her. >>> avenatti 2020, stormy daniels' attorney pops up in iowa saying he's thinking about running against president trump. does he have what it takes to mount a campaign? >>> and a wildfire forcing 21,000 people to evacuate. >>> wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jim acosta, and you're in "the situation room." >> breaking news tonight, special counsel robert mueller is moving closer to president trump's long-time confideant roger stone, three people close to stone have now been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, including kristin davis who is known as the m manhattan madam. and our correspondents and analysts are standing by. but first let's go to cnn's national political reporter, wh what can you tell us? >> reporte

the so-called manhattan madam notorious for running an escort service is called to testify. >>> and later, the jaw-dropping discovery. the fossil of a megashark that's twice as big as a great white. it's a revolution in sleep. the new sleep number 360 smart bed, from $999, intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts. so you wake up ready to train for that marathon. and now, save up to $500 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. ends wednesday. >>ifou rest assured, the company says it's not going out of business even though it's shutting down . ll, news of the plant clnicaus s the company hasn't said though how it will keep making the shoes. reports say the work will be outsourced. >> kendis is immediately stockpiling his crocs now. >>> turning now to the latest in the russia investigation, a woman known as the manhattan madam is set to testify today. kristin davis is expected to appear before special counsel robert mueller's grand jury. davis is a close friend of trump confidant roger stone who could be facing an indictment. she's the madam who claimed to have supplied pr

people close to stone keep getting called in for questioning including kristin davis, aka, the manhattan madam who went before a grand jury on friday. what could mueller want with a former madam m. emjay has more details. >> we don't toe know why mueller was interested in talking to kristin davis. but we know that davis appears to be one of several people close to roger stone that mueller is interested in talking to. even though as of friday roger stone says he hasn't been contacted by mueller. the woman known as the manhattan madam kristin davis scheduled to testify before a grand jury in robert mueller's russia investigation. special counsel investigators could be interested in her ties to long time trump adviser roger stone. she was interviewed by investigators last week. she and stone have been close friends for a decade. >> kristin davis is a brilliant woman, a friend of mine, someone who made mistakes and has paid her debt to society. >> davis once ran a high-end prostitution ring and went to scale as part of the scannedland vochgt elliott spitser. >> the remorse i feel will always be wi

stranger cases such as the one you just mentioned. >> josh, the fact that mule ser talking to this manhattan madam, does this provide fuel for the critics who accuse mueller of overreach, who may be asking what the heck does this madam have to do with election interference in russia. >> i'm sure the critics will make that point but i think it's clear that mueller is being as thorough as he can. he's bringing in as many people as he can, and you know, before he issues that report, he's going to make sure that he's exhausted all of his leads and pursued all avenues of investigation, and that's exactly, in my opinion, what he should be doing. you know, you've got this constant drum beat amongst the republicans and people close to the president saying that mueller should just end this or wrap it up. what did rudy giuliani say? put up or shut up. you know, of course, set aside that mueller hasn't been saying anything. he's probably the only one who's shut up out of this whole ordeal. he's not going to be pressured. he's going to go through the motions and go through this investigation until he feels li

>>> a woman once known as the manhattan mad zh madam was scheduled to testify today.roger stone. roger stone is meantime another associate of stone, andrew miller defied a subpoena to testify. his attorney saying they intend to appeal that order to appear. jessica schneider has more details. so kerstin davis, who was once known as the manhattan madam, she was scheduled to testify as mueller appears to be focusing in on roger stone. what's the latest? >> yeah, she's likely of big interest to the special counsel because of her close friendship and the fact that she is a long-time associate of roger stone. in fact, they've been friends for more than a decade now. it was in 2010 in fact that roger stone served as her strategist when she ran for governor of new york state. that was an unlikely and ultimately unsuccessful bid for governor, probably because of her notoriety of the manhattan madam. interestingly as well, krirstin davis worked for roger stone. she did some clerical work for his website. during the campaign, during 2016 talked about the fact that he had talked

august 8th. >>> once upon a time in the new york city in the tabloids no bigger story than the manhattan madam scandal. the madam was kristin davis. ran a high profile sex service. wednesday, kristin davis met with the team of robert mueller. she is a good friend of roger stone. >> the key difference between the mta and my former escort agency was that i ran one set of books. >> roger stone has been making super super weird instagram post about davis with her child. why do fbi agents dispatched by robert mueller keep asking my friends if i am the father of this baby. in a statement today stone said kristin davis is a long time friend of associate of mine. i am the god father to her 2-year-old son. joining me to help understand what is going on is michael issi koff. what is going on? >> i can attest that kristin davis was very close to roger stone at the crucial period that mueller is looking at. i remember interviewing roger stone at the office of yahoo and kristin davis showed up with him and they left together. so you know, clearly what is interesting here to me is that mueller obviously --

a woman known as the manhattan madam. investigators appear to be interested in kristin davis' ties to long time trump adviser roger stone who she has known for a decade. shimone is all over this for us today. how are are these two connected? >> it's a great question. this case has everything. today we are talking about madams, yesterday we were talking about ostrich jackets. there really is everything here. it's really not clear exactly why the special counsel would be interested in her and, as you said, she is a long time friend, associate, close friend of roger stone. he is the godfather to her son. so there are a lot of questions and it certainly seems that this has to do with some of roger stone's more personal life, perhaps maybe his finances. we know that that's something that the special counsel has been looking at. others who have come before the special counsel, there have been others who have been asked questions about roger stone, but exactly why her we don't know. roger stone always the colorful person that he

the manhattan madam apparently ran his website. there's a lot of data that passes through these i.t. folks' possession, their eyes, so even if she didn't witness with her own eyes something bad, she has knowledge about data and where data goes and where it's stored. so these are all relevant inquiries. they may not have dramatic testimony, but they will be pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. >> your take on this rogue's gallery. talking about the manhattan madam a few years after she was involved in the eliot spitzer scandal. did you think we'd be talking about her again? >> really hard to keep track of who and where and how they're all tied together and where the dots connect. it just raises more questions than it provides answers and that's been the problem all along, right, with the way any trump administration official acts, which is always kind of making people feel like you have something to hide, is there something you're guilty of. i don't know, with watching this trial, i'm not a legal expert, but, again, you know, even when it c

so it's the methodical mueller meeting the manhattan madam. i worked with him for four and a half years. does not do fishing expeditions. i can think of two reasons. one is people and the second is money. if roger stone is in the middle of this investigation, one of the basic sort of questions or lines of questions you would have for her is what do you know about him, but what else do you know about people he introduced you to, people he talked about. people who were in his circle. i want people questions to fill out what we know about who mr. stone was in contact with with. the second issue i assume her business dealings, i want to be polite on camera, were interesting and varied. i want to know if mr. stone had a business relationship with her, where that money came from. who paid. how. that was an important question for the manafort investigation so far. he was paying for clothes with wire transfers from overseas. she had a financial arrangement with stoep, who paid for what. it's pretty interesting. >> and wildfire 'loas we look a coverede

. >> then, why the manhattan madam just met with robert mueller. >> i never forced anyone to do anything. >> and what it has to do with roger stone. >> kristin davis is a good friend of mine. >> plus new reporting on the saudi money flooding trump's new york hotel, and why a federal judge tonight is calling the trump administration reunification efforts unacceptable. when "all in" starts right now. >>> good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. at the close of the first week of paul manafort's trial, things do not look good for the former campaign chairman of the trump campaign. and today in particular, the testimony about manafort's alleged tax evasion and bank fraud took on a very human dimension when his accountant admitted under oath on the stand that she had in fact knowingly falsified tax documents in order to save manafort hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. manafort's accountant, cindy la porta testifying i knew it was wrong, i could have refused but that would expose the accounting firm to the risk of litigation or i could have called long-time clients liars. i very muc

so the manhattan madam, what did she have in terms of access? she knows timeline. she can help corroborate that. she knows communications and she may know finances. it could be about other associates she saw and you would want to confirm the timelines, especially when you are dealing with the wikileaks issue. >> who is randy cred co? >> an activist in new york. he has been involved with politics. he does impersonations of people on phones. he used to go on the albany show all the time with the "new york post" guy. >> what does he have to do with roger stone? >> roger claimed that he was his conduit or he was his contact for -- who gave him information in germs of julian assange or wikileaks and what was going to be released. i was asked about their relationship. it came in 2013 when we were going to use kristin davis to run as a libertarian comptroller against eliot spitzer. she got arrested, so we couldn't continue. he was a subject. what was interesting from what you were saying is they specifically asked me, what do you know about roger and donald trump? how oft

here now exclusive interview former manhattan madam kristin davis bombshell beauty.d to have you here, kristin. they are casting a very wide net around roger stone and they are trying to find out if you knew anything about, perhaps, his relationship with christopher, his discussions with julian assange, the potential to leak he a males through wikileaks is any of that anything you were familiar with. >> i mean, i have no knowledge of russian collusion, of any wrongdoing in the 2016 campaign. i didn't even work for roger stone at that time. he has been one of my best friends for many years. also him and his wife are god parents to my 2-year-old. in terms of russia collusion i don't even believe that happened. >> martha: you live nut same building he a would just heard. >> duplex. >> martha: see each other friends and socially i would imagine. >> that's correct. >> martha: did he ever discuss with you anything along the lines of well, there are pretty hot tee males that are about to drop. julian assange gave me heeds up and anything along those lines ever? >> what did

>> she is the manhattan madam. you'll remember when eliot spitzer went down, she claimed that she had provided prostitutes to him and became instantly famous. he has denied that. she spent four months at rikers island. i met her when she came out of rikers island. she was doing interviews at the time. she wound up running for mayor. she is quite a character. she has been working with roger stone on his political campaigns. she has done web work for him. robert mueller wants to talk to her probably about finances and following the money. >> i'm sorry. i misspoke earlier. i meant robert mueller. i said sdny. so many investigations to keep track of. how does she tie into donald trump other than roger stone? are they looking at anything specifically, any way she could have been involved in a back channel potentially? i know when mueller's investigators and prosecutors are questioning witnesses part of the line of questioning is what role did roger stone play? was he really an advisor or was he -- or was he really not a

maybe number three would be paul manafort, roger stone, the manhattan madam. all of those stories, you know who doesn't like them, the president of the united states. so he has decided to tweet yet another wildly -- i'm not going to say what it is. he's tweeted about the nfl. what do you think, mark? >> well, that's typical trump. that's what he's doing. as i've said before. he wants to use this to drive a wedge and exploit the midterms. and it's really -- exploit the midterms for his base of course. it's really a hate holiday weekend for him. because we're book ended with the anniversary of michael brown's untimely death and the anniversary of charlottesville. it just so happens i'm blessed to be here in phoenix with the a. phillip randolph institute, with leaders in the civil rights movement and the labor movement, who have dedicated their lives to fighting this fight. and saying to all of us we need to continue. we can't give it up at all. donald trump himself is a racist and a white supremacist. that's all there is to it. and he needs to understand. these

>> well, the manhattan madam part admittedly might be a bit out of my expertise. but i think the hard thing that mueller has to do here and of course he's uniquely qualified, as is his team, is move from all these pieces of information, many of which have significant counterintelligence implications. what are key people doing. where is money moving. what are the connections back to russia. what malfeasance is going on. in moving from simply counterintelligence stuff, which is basically common sense suspicions and following patterns to a legal case where you can actually begin convicting people and saying, okay, the laws were broken here. i think common sensically, everybody can look back and say, look, there was a lot of no good stuff going on here. but turning that into a legal case is something that's a bit tougher. >> i do think, you know, for roger stone, he must be looking at paul manafort right now going, you know, if they're going to build a case against me, if that's why they're interviewing the manhattan madam and they're going after me and my finances, d

. >>> also, the manhattan madame testifying today. why the special counsel wants her and what she is telling our team this morning. you'll only see it and hear it here on msnbc. our team is set up and ready to go on this friday. we're going to start with president trump up add bedminster, putting himself in the middle of the culture wars again. reignited his fuel with the nfl after several players protested in preseason games last night. you're seeing some of the video. the president tweeting, saying, the nfl players are at it again, taking a knee when they should be standing proudly for the national anthem. numerous players from different teams wanted to show their outrage. they make a fortune doing what they love. be happy. be cool is the message from the president. fans are paying so much money to watch and enjoy. a football game is no place to profes protest. he continues and continues. let me get to geoff bennett, live in new jersey. it comes as all of this goes down. it is not new from the president. what is new is this is the n

one of his close allies, the manhattan madam, testifying before a grand jury in the investigation today, while another one of stone's allies is being held in contempt of court today for refusing to comply with the judge's order to testify. which means he's choosing potential jail time over cooperating with robert mueller. here to help us understand all the day's developments, joyce vance, former u.s. attorney and law professor, frank figliuzzi. on set with us white house reporter from the "the washington post" ashley parker and mike schmidt from sniemz. -- "the new york times." joyce, let me start with you and the machinations of this for a nonlawyer and someone outside this court, it seems like a bizarre, bizarre trial with a very interesting character as a judge. tell us what it means that they were on pause for so long, do we know what they were doing and what are the scenarios for what could have been going on. >> we don't know exactly what was going on, but this really isn't at all unusual for a trial. sometimes when you get to this point and even earlier on in a case, issues can c

we just heard a clip from kristin davis known as the manhattan madam, she got in trouble said she reformed her life and you hired her to do work and trying to turn things around and she said special counsel who is supposed to be looking at alleged russian collusion brought her in for questioning. what is this about? >> and start her with a bill for $1400 in child care for her testimony because she had to travel to washington, kristin davis has no knowledge of russian collusion for wikileaks collaboration or any other illegal act in the 2016 election or anything else, nor does anybody else who has been created in front of the grand jury. this is quite simple. there is no such evidence, there is no such witness who can testify truthfully to the contrary. i really do regard this as the president said as a witchhunt. that was a great report from the report of it was all speculation. i had a 20 forward exchange with him on wikileaks direct message long after wikileaks had already published the allegedly hacked dnc emails. innocuous. ed: the crime related to coalition and talking to wikileaks is

how did the mueller end up calling the manhattan madam before the grand jury?lived through 98 so i know there are no rocks that special councils will stop from turning over? i think it's unfortunate for special counsel has gone down this road. roger stone has been clear, hehe didn't collude with anybody, he was up to his usual political tricks and bragging and they are obviously interviewing everybody around him regardless of connection, just as they are interviewing everyone around trump. quite interestingly one of roger stone's other associates appealed to subpoena and i think although it was turned down at the district level, it was the most fascinating case which might be the case that unravels the entire independent counsel the investigation if it's appealed. >> mark: that is an interesting appeal. this doesn't meet any basic judicial norms what the special counsel does. he goes down the chain, he wants to talk to this madam because she's got something on some other guy and he can put the squeeze on that other guy and the other guy can roll up another guy

that's why she's the manhattan madam.ious she end said up in riker's stripped searched by male guards repeatedly and spitzer had no legal repercussions even though he's the one who helped change the law to help put her in prison. she met roger at a radio statan said you should go into politics. we can team up against spitzer together. >> there's this new character who has apparently been called his back channel to wikileaks. you're familiar with him as well. how do you see him fitting into the bigger picture? >> more than a similar history in the way that trump has relationships with people and a minute later is calling hame liar and a scumbug and he has nothing to do with me and i never met him before. they've done stand up comedy and other times they absoolutely want to distance each other. in this case roger seemed to feel like he a great collection but roger was never really able to successfully get to asaufpg personally himself it seems. it's always through administer meetiaries and at the time he thought he was real

. >> and the manhattan madame. >> and i agree with the analysis, listen, they ju just - the mueller team just eninte interviewed her last week voluntarily and came in on her own. they're putting her in the grand jury this week. she says something and she provided some information that they do want to lock in under oath in the grand jury, they're moving very, very fast which in my view is unusual for this kind of case. i believe it is something certainly important in what is a russia collusion probe. >> all right, guy, anna, and thank you to both of you. julie ainsley keep us posted on the manafort's recess. we are waiting to hear. >>> we'll talk about the immigration crisis, a judge ordered a plane carrying a deported mother and daughter to salvador to turn around. immigration actions did not stop there. he threatened to hold jeff sessions in contentive court.mh sessions in contentive court.oh sessions in contentive court.he sessions in contentive court.he sessions in contentive courtivp. what's the #1 new skincare product in 2018? olay whips. absorbs faster than the $100, $200, and even

we start with breaking news on robert mueller and the manhattan madam.s 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

. >> reporter: kristen davis the woman known as the manhattan madam meeting with mueller's team for a voluntary interview earlier this week. they apparently interested in her close twice roernl stone for decades. they expressed an interest in having her testify before a grand jury the latest information prosecutors are building a case against stone. davis' lawyer declined to comment. in a statement, stone tells cnn kristen davis is a long-time friend and associate of mine. i am the godfather to her two-year-old son. she knows nothing about russian collusion, wikileaks, i understand she appeared voluntari voluntarily. i am highly confident she will testify truthfully if called upon to do some davis once ran a high end prostitution ring and went to jail as a part of surrounding then new york governor eliot spitzer. >> the remorse i feel will always business with me. >> she has worked with stone over the years and in late 2016, she joined his payroll to help him with cleric am tax. mueller's team had been looking into possible contacts between stone and wikileaks julian assange. >> i fol

kristen davis, the infamous manhattan madam met with a member of mueller's team. it's believed she met with mueller because of her close ties to another trump confidant roger stone. only time will tell what if anything will happen in this trump trip to bedminster, we should be in for an unexpectedly evidentful supper vacation. joining us now, julia ansly. he was not courtroom today. deputy assistant attorney general under president clinton and glen kurshne rerkr. jeff sessions in the room with the president when he was told robert mueller was going to be special counsel. according to bloomberg news, jeff session offered his resignation in that moment. >> that's right. it for jeff sessions the idea that robert mueller had been aopponented was obvious right there, that it was because he recused himself from this investigation that third down been allowed to happen, that rod rosenstein was able to appoint the special counsel. of course the way we see it, the logical way to see it was the appointment of robert mueller was because of the firing of jim comey. the fs the

. >>> the so-called manhattan madam has a date today with robert mueller's grand jury in the nation'sapital. her name? kristin davis. she once ran a high-dollar escort service and did jail time and is a close friend of long-time trump confidante roger stone. apart from that, her potential value to the special counsel is not clear. for his part, the president has put out yet another blistering statement against what he calls the rigged witch-hunt. this ends differently than most with these two words -- stay tuned. and with that i bring in cnn political analyst molly ball and jackie kucinich. ladies, i hope you've come with answers. molly, to you first. stay tuned on what? >> obviously this is an ongoing investigation. i think it's also the case that the president knows more than the rest of us although he does do his best to keep us informed by twitter of every development and evolution in his thinking. by this is also something that's sort of a -- something trump says a lot, he like to say stay tuned. sort of the tv impresario likes to string people along so that's all i read into tha

t the manhattan madame was interviewed this week. sources say kristin davis appeared voluntarily. davis is a long time associate of former trump adviser roger stone. sources say mueller may be building a case against stone. >>> zimbabwe's opposition party says it will not accept the outcome of this week's presidential election calling it rigged. the president denies it saying the vote was transparent and peaceful. many hoped a smooth election would attract investment. >>> a confidential new u.n. report accuses north korea of continuing to pursue its nuclear and missile programs in violation of international sanctions. the report was prepared by independent experts. the news comes as u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said a few hours ago that the u.s. was optimistic north korea would follow through on its pledge to denuclearize. >>> pompeo sending a message to russia that grants work permits to north koreans is against u.s. sanctions. >> we've seen reports that russia is allowing for joints ventures with north korean firms and granting new work permits to guest workers. if these