but consider also the case of maria butina. she was released from federal prison about three weeks ago after she served more than 15 months in federal prison for acting as a foreign agent secretly working on behalf of the kremlin to influence republican and conservative political entities in this country ahead of the 2016 election, particularly the nra. she did serve more than a year in federal prison, three weeks ago she was released and deported immediately to moscow. when she landed in moscow, she was greeted with a hero's welcome, flowers, throngs of well-wishers. well, today we learned that while maria butina did have to serve more than a year in u.s. federal prison, her homecoming was this celebratory thing when she got there. and on top of that as of today we have learned that maria butina has been offered her pick of several different high-level jobs in the russian government. i mean, however we in the united states might view her russian government mission to influence the republican presidential primary in conservativ

maria butina was convicted of trying to influence u.s. policy to help the kremlin.n a new interview she denies any wrongdoing and blames what she calls racism against russians for the charges she faced. this morning, a convicted russian agent is telling her side of the story. i never sought to influence your policies. i came here on my own because i wanted to learn from the united states and go back to russia to make russia better. >> reporter: maria butina is the first russian national convicted for trying to influence u.s. politics. during the 2016 campaign, the 30-year-old befriended powerful republicans and forced a relationship with the nra allegedly to promote pro-russia policies. she was sentenced in april 2018 after pleading guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent. butina is now back in russia, but she sat down with "60 minutes" before she was deported. she claims the feds tried to paint her as a criminal seductress. >> you traveled across the united states attending nra meetings. the u.s. government says that you were making connections with repub

we interviewed maria butina in a florida prison shortly before she was deported back to moscow. >> tell me that there is no racism here against the russians? oh, please. >> the case against her rests on her own words in private twitter messages she sent to her contact in russia. so, incognito, patience, cold blood. what is that? ( ticking ) >> understand brexit? neither did we. but after spending time in the united kingdom last week, we realized that this is basically the story of a long and messy divorce-- unclear custody arrangements and lots of name calling. >> we've lost our minds, basically. >> it also dawned on us that this wasn't the first time the island had left the continent. the geological brexit happened thousands of years ago. this current split is unlikely to end up quite so pretty. ( ticking ) >> do cowboys still exist? we found generations of them ranching and riding in utah. the wright family is the first family of american rodeo. world champions who can make the roughest rides look like a ballet. are you kind of dancing with the horse? >> i like to think you are. i dan

. >>> we move to a new interview with con victimed russian agent maria butina. back in russia after serving a 15-month prison sentence. our chief national affairs correspondent tom llamas here with her side of the story. good morning, tom. >> reporter: george, good morning to you. maria butina did this interview while she was still in custody sitting down with "60 minutes" and despite some damni ining evidence she claims she's a victim of racism against russians. others calling it a masterpiece of disinformation. for the first time convicted russian agent and provocative gun rights activist maria butina telling her side of the story. >> i never sought to influence your policies. i came here on my own because i wanted to learn from the united states and go back to russia to make russia better. >> reporter: the 30-year-old befriended powerful republicans and forged a relationship with the nra. the u.s. government believes to promote pro-russia policies. butina claims the feds tried to paint her as a kremlin seductress. >> you traveled across the united states atte

. >> maria butina is telling her story.ke with "60 minutes" shortly before being sent back to russia. butina served 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. prosecutors say she tried to use the nra as a back channel to push pro-russia policies, but butina, a gun rights activist, says her nra connections were strictly business. >> i was brought to influence your policies, i came here on my own because i wanted to learn from united states and go back to russia to make russia better. >> butina claims prosecutors tried to paint her as a kremlin seductress. she feels had she been american, the connections she made with the nra and prominent conservatives would have been considered social networking. >>> tesla is under the microscope after a number of reports about its vehicles bursting into flames. now the company is staring at a potential investigation and a possible lawsuit. here's abc's trevor ault. >> reporter: tesla facing a potential federal investigation amid accusations some of i

what did maria butina have to say for herself after she got out of principle and was deported.nd drizzled with sweet amber honey. more shrimp more ways. endless shrimp's fifteen ninety nine. hurry, it ends november 17th ♪ ♪ you name it. the ford f-150 will tow up to 13,200 pounds of it. ♪ when you're looking for answers, it's good to have help. because the right information, at the right time, may make all the difference. at humana, we know that's especially true when you're looking for a medicare supplement insurance plan. that's why we're offering seven things every medicare supplement should have. it's yours free just for calling the number on your screen. and when you call, a knowledgeable licensed agent-producer can answer any questions you have, and help you choose the plan that's right for you. the call is free, and there's no obligation. you see, medicare covers only about 80 percent of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. that's why so many people purchase medicare supplement insurance plans, like those offered by humana. they're designed to help you sa

. >> c youanat wch lyesle stahl's fullor rept on maria butina >>night "on60ut mines." qjaui ano: slow miootn dra amsunol fdi anget on of istourt ssite atia ngara falls upivner o the cannadia whese ho osidef eth flsal st aenld on iro bt oahasee bn itonk the roc.ks h baseen rngusti trehein sce t buaow perlfuto srm that roadre throh ugthe rioegn on hwealloen rrcu dentsisdgloted i movgin it doiv rerut abo50 1 feet. iethoritws no fearhe tnt curre coulhesend tld ot boaheover t falls. >>he te rumbl of thousands of sneakers was heard on the paverment of alliv fnee w ykor tyci bosorod t.ay it was the 49thun rningf o e thyonew rkit cy marhoatn. ycjoe ilinje cps gouldee won her ryveir fst matar whon,in fishing sewo f,ours 22 minesut 3 and th,ndff georey kamrowosr wa e faste. man cssroedju in st overwo t urhoans igd ehtut mines. micongp uon the cbsee wkend ,news their aicddstionea nrly oncosthemhe tirld chiren. opl famy's recngkoni with ios.id a>> whyicutomatra bngkite sysms ine somic vehles areoi gng rogue. and can thisew nd roap hel curve cuthe re theor wld'spi edecmi ol csasti.

. >>> maria butina convicted, denouncing u.s. at a meeting on human rights in moscow she said she was strip searched five times a day, called a kremlin tem tres indictments she said that was an insult to her as a woman. >>> commuter train struck a motor home in southern california the camper burst into flames after the collision. the train was headed to los angeles. luckily no one on the train got hurt it is unclear if anyone was in the motor home at the time of the accident. >>> rock group u 2 named artist of the decade. they raked in over $1 billion in sales in the past decade the most of any rock group rolling stones came in second at 929 million. followed by ed sheeran 122 million. >> thank you, sue. first place. maybe they finally found what they're looking for. >> oh! >> got you, carl dom chu has a breakdown of today's market action overseas. >> i'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, irish markets are still doing good along with rest of europe. generally speaking higher as you can see behind me. major forces closi

we interviewed maria butina in a florida prison shortly before she was deported back to moscow. >> tellacism here against the russians? oh, please. >> the case against her rests on her own words in private twitter messages she sent to her contact in russia. so, incognito, patience, cold blood. what is that? ( ticking ) >> understand brexit? neither did we. but after spending time in the united kingdom last week, we realized that this is basically the stor

in 2018 maria butina pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent. spent 15 months behind bars before being deported. >> reporter: her introduction into the nra was facilitated by this man, aleksandr torshin, a russian official who she had admitted in court papers directed her activities in the u.s. butina met him, she says, when he attended one of her gun rights rallies in moscow. we obtained thousands of private twitter messages they sent each other over 2 1/2 years. was he close to putin? >> i don't think so. >> so you wrote him a message and you said "you are an influential member of putin's team." your words. >> it doesn't suggest he is close to putin in any way. >> was he an influential member of putin's team? >> i don't know. >> well you wrote that. you know, in reading through your messages, it reads as if he's your intelligence case officer. >> look, this is -- i think it's an american very old saying that suggests that wolfs have teeth, but not all animals with teeth are wolves. you cannot judge a person based on appearance. >>> a slow moti

maria butina pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.ince her arrest, butina told lesley stahl she never tried to interfere in the 2016 election on behalf of the kremlin. >> the u.s. government says that you were making connections with republicans so that you could influence u.s. policy and you were doing it slowly but deliberately. pwould be called social , that networking. it's pretty explicit that our two countries establish friendship between each other and i don't mean governments. i mean people. >> butina was released from a florida prison last month and deported to russia. >>> we're on the road to 2020 this morning with less than a year now to go before the presidential election. polls show the nation remain starkly divided on impeachment. the latest fox news poll shows 49% of voters want president trump removed from office. 4% say he should be impeached but not removed and 41% oppose impeachment. but will the inquiry have any bearing on how americans vote next november? ed o'keefe is in iowa where the first in the nation caucuse