some good but maybe not the president if michael flynn has cooperated. >> michael flynn has alreadyeller everything. all he has to do is send him a subpoena. >> one of the people who said he lied was michael flynn. >> yeah, that's a problem. thank you very much. when we come back, the federal government is now missing the deadline set to reunite the youngest children, children under the age of 5 with their parents. today was that deadline. they're not going to meet it. what the president is saying about it is next. ch may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. let's do an ad of a man eating free waffles at comfort inn. they taste like victory because he always gets the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed, when he books direct at

on the michael flynn case, michael flynn pled guilty.e didn't have a gun held to his head by peter strzok, he pled guilty and is cooperating. he was not the sole investigator to close the hillary clinton case, he was not the sole investigator to open the investigation. i think as the public learns about more of the evidence we saw and more evidence that bob mueller is reviewing, they'll have more confidence in what the fbi did to start this investigation. >> brian: you were prepared and you did bring up those things in your introduction. you did say something else. when things got totally out of control and we didn't have enough cameras to cover all 72 of you, we said let's bring steve bannon back in and let's question him. could you. ground that and whether that come from? >> mr. gaudi was threatening contempt to mr. strzok for not answering questions. i remember him asking mr. bannon in our house intelligencee investigation questions that mr. bannon refused to answer. republicans on the community refused to hold him in contempt. if we

we can guess based on michael flynn's role during the campaign and during the transition. we don't know exactly what he's saying, but most likely that's the delay because the special counsel wants to know exactly everything michael flynn knows before he commits to a sentencing re sentencing recommendation before the judge. >> that makes sense. >> the other part is prosecutors might not want the judge to know what they're learning from michael flynn, what the relevance he has to this investigation is. i think that is certainly one of the frustrations we've seen of political opponents to the mueller probe, but also some of these judges. they're kind of saying, you know, look, you're asking us to delay these sentences. you're asking us to continue to give you this runway, but you're not really telling us what the relevance is here. that's been a huge sort of play from political opponents to say we don't have any idea what mueller is up to, this has been going on for a year, and we don't have any indication of collusion. >> joseph, i would imagine you would have a reasonable a

the president said "i never asked comey to stop investigating michael flynn.another comey lie." today in an interview on abc, rudy giuliani effectively said the president asked comey to give him a break. listen to this. >> he didn't direct him toll do that. what he said to him was can you give him a break. >> comey said he took it as direction. >> well, that's okay. by that time he had been fired and he said a lot of other things, some of which turned out to be on untrue. as a prosecutor i was told many times can you give a man a break. you take that into consideration but that doesn't determine not going forward with it. >> "give the man a break." that sort of contradict what is the president said before but ultimately giuliani is making the argument that even if the president did make that suggestion to james comey, it doesn't rise to obstruction of justice. he laid out serious demands of the special counsel arguing that robert mueller has to prove he has the jurisdiction to pursue an obstruction of justice investigation, among several other things. effectiv

it seems like ages ago that michael flynn agreed to this deal. this is playing out, this is something that is going to continue, they are still delaying the sentencing. prosecutors that want to buy more time. we haven't had president trump's interview being scheduled. so this is all kind of in the course of a much broader thing that you know, these minuscule moments are not going to add up to a lot. >> we talk about flynn, we talk about cohen, and there is also this with another character whose name came up. the associated press has obtained other memos and internal messages. those documents show how manafort made con stin tine kilimnik. help formulate manafort's pitches to his clients in ukraine. other mega wealthy russians with close ties to president vladimir putin. >> it shows that this case that so many people have said, the manafort prosecution, not related to mueller's core obligation to look at russian collusion with the trump campaign and we are now seeing the point that the russian, and this will be perhaps what provides going forward t

on michael flynn, he pled guilty. he pled guilty and was cooperating. also wanted to point out, he said he is not the sole investigator to open the of trump russia investigation. i think as the public learns more about what we saw in the house intelligence committee and more evidence that bob mueller is reviewing, they will have a lot of confidence in the work that the fbi did to start this investigation and hopefully close it soon. >> right. and you did say something else. right in the beginning, when things got totally out of control and we didn't have enough cameras to cover all 72 of you, we said, wait a second, let's bring steve bannon back in. we need to question him. could you ground that and where did that come from? >> that actually set the bell off in my head because i remember mr. gaudi asking mr. bannon in our house intelligence investigation questions that mr. bannon refused to answer. mr. bannon was under a subpoena but the republicans refuse to hold him in contempt. so i thought if we were truly answering and getting answers that witnesse

. >> melissa: can you speak to that second point they're making about michael flynn we want to know who it was that week. them >> marie: the point that it was going to bring up is about michael flynn and that was after he left the defense intelligence agency, he joined a partisan car pain, he gave partisan speeches were he was waiting deeply into politics advocating for someone to get elected and he still is a former head of an intelligence agency would've had the same kind of clearance. >> marie: unmasking various seriously, these are not making these decisions, someone at the white house can ask, the intelligence community is very capable of saying you know if it's inappropriate. >> melissa: i want to know people continue their security clearance, why didn't people yell about michael flynn? you're right, the way that you talk about what he did and those speeches, absolutely. if you don't have clearance, that is shut out. it's a courtesy. >> dagen: i think the american people, their reaction online that on twitter, all women want, this is a blanket park. it's a give me to anybody in th

. >>> at the top of the hour, president trump's former national security adviser, you remember michael flynn, will make his first court appearance since last december. while he pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi, flynn has been cooperating with robert mueller for the last seven months. the special counsel has delayed his sentencing at least three times. politico reports, quote, the repeated delays in flynn's sentence having led to speculation that prosecutors believe his testimony could be useful at some future trial or the sentencing process might disclose some aspect of the investigation that mueller still wishes to keep secret. i want to bring in matt miller, former chief spokesman for the justice department and an msnbc justice and security analyst. what do we expect today? >> i think we'll see both the prosecution and flynn's defense attorneys are going to go into the judge and say, you know, we're not ready to set a sentencing date yet. that politico story i think articulated well. because flynn might be useful in the future trial or they haven't exactly say the why they're delaying it

liberty. ♪ >>> moments ago, michael flynn arrived at court.he first time we've seen him publicly since he admitted to lying to investigators in the russia probe back in december. let's go to jim sciutto who joins us with more. this is a status hearing but it's important because it comes in the context of the mueller team asking for a two-month delay to sentence him indicating what? >> interesting, the mueller team and flynn's lawyers asking for a delay here and that little walk we saw him do, we haven't seen flynn in that context since december when he pleaded guilty to making false statements to the fbi. now he's back. the judge in effect saying why haven't you sentenced this guy yet? what's happening here and reading between the lines it appears what has been happening is that michael flynn has been talking to mueller about his russia investigation. he agreed to cooperate with that investigation and it sounds like the special counsel wants to keep that line of communication as it were open. now the judge is a bill clinton appointee. he tradi

and michael flynn was ordered to ap peer by a judge who said that he felt a level of discomfort of noteeting the general before his sentencing, and while he was there, flynn's attorney asked the judge to speed up the sentencing process. he told the court, quote, mr. flynn is ready to get this chapter of his life behind him. and flynn faces up to five years in prison, but it is possible that he could serve no time at all given his cooperation with robert mueller's investigation. we have our report er who was there at the courthouse in washington. ken, even though he was not sentenced today, how unusual for a defendant's lawyers to ask the judge to speed things up? >> not terribly unusual, katy, because mike flynn is cooperating with the investigation, and it sure looks like he wants to move on with his life, and start earning a living, and you know, he is going to be able to do that despite having plead guilty to a felony, he has significant support in the country, and he has made two public appearances in campaign events including on behalf of a candidate running against congresswoman

mcfarland named as an adviser to michael flynn, trump's first national security adviser michael flynn. this is u.s. person one within who is named in this latest indictment in the scandal as cohabiting with and essentially being a co-conspirator with an accused russian secret agent who is now being held in jail awaiting washington. according to the "washington post's" reporting, this guy who was very personally involved in her and potentially in on her scheme, he recommended that the new deputy national security adviser should be k.t. mcfarland? that was an unusual choice. k.t. mcfarland had been involved in republican politics. she had worked in earlier republican white houses. when i say earlier, i mean way, way, way earlier. she's been an occasional contributor to fox news but barely on the periphery of even weird trumpian national security politics. not a high profile figure. not a heavyweight figure by any stretch of the imagination. nevertheless, after recommendations in part from maria butina's fake boyfriend, k.t. mcfarland was will bed to a very high level job in the trump wh

fired national security adviser, michael flynn has sentencing delayed so he can continue cooperating with robert mueller's russia investigation. tonight, we're learning flynn and his son both have new jobs. missing the deadline, the trump administration is falling short of fulfilling a judge's order to reunite 102 migrant children under 5 with their parents. i will talk about that with the health and human services secretary, alex azar. and, advise and consent. president trump's supreme court pick, brett kavanaugh heads to capitol hill to meet with key senators as the battle over his nomination begins. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in the situation room. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news tonight. president trump arrived in brussels for what promises to be a rather tense nato summit. the president taking new jabs at key u.s. allies, as he tweeted from air force one. complaining about nato costs, and eu trade. we'll talk about that and more with senators john thune and dick durbin and health and

michael flynn wants to expedite his sentencing. eager to move on with his life. flynn's appearance served as a reminder that the president of the united states continues to be part of the investigation. his personal lawyer, rudy giuliani who was right there in the room last night. as the president announces the nomination of brett kavanaugh. i am joined by msnbc legal analyst. >> what do you think of the appropriateness of rudy giuliani sitting there as judge kavanaugh introduced. a man who would have to rule on matters that relate directly to the investigation of the president. >> any time i think of the word appropriate, i do not think of the behavior of donald trump. given that he has done so much worse, this is not the worse thing that has happened. but when you have a nominee who has written extensively that the president cannot be investigated or tried for either a civil or criminal case until he is out of office, that shows why the president would have been attracted to him and why rudy giuliani would want to be in the room because he is hoping that is exa

take michael flynn. he was fired by the obama administration, but kept clearance. >>> the president's plan seems to be unplanned. all at the suggestion of rand paul. he is considered a big vote in the supreme court battle. we have more from cnn's jeff zeleny on what "the wall street journal" calls a dumb idea. >> reporter: dave and christine, the officials have been critical of him and his presidency. the officials have been critical of him and his presidency. this has never happened before. it is something we are told the white house is considering. in the white house briefing room, sarah sanders acknowledged the president is considering it when she said this. >> the president is exploring the mechanisms to remove the clearances because they monetize and politicize public service and security clearances and making baseless accusations against the russia investigation and influenced by russia which is inappropriate. >> reporter: the white house is considering it. it is unclear if they will do it. a senio

the next day jay sekulow said that michael flynn calling off the join defense agreement was not entirely unexpected. he said no one should draw the conclusion that this means anything about general flynn cooperating against the president. general flynn was in fact cooperating against the president and it turns out that dropping joint defense agreement was a really good sign that was about to happen. within a few days, the following tuesday, abc news was first to repo report, about eight days after thanksgiving, mike flynn stood up in court in washington, d.c. and did he plead guilty and he filed his cooperation agreement. incidentally, you should know we'll see mike flynn in court very soon. next week. that was ordered today in a brief ruling from the judge in nine's case. it sets up a joint status hearing for next tuesday, 10:00 a.m. the judge says mr. flynn is directed to attend. so that hearing next tuesday in d.c., we will see mike flynn in court. it is likely to be the start of a long process that will result in mike flynn getting his senate intelligence. that will depend in large p

the judge called them in today, wanting to check up on the sentencing proceedings for michael flynn,been delayed a number of times by the special counsel. cnn's justice correspondent evan perez is with me now. you were there at the courthouse today. there was some talk going into this the judge might be trying to slap down the special counsel, et cetera, but what happened today? >> none of that happened. the judge -- it was basically just over a ten-minute hearing. his concerns seem to be more focused on the probation office and about some procedural things that were happening behind the scenes. jim, he basically just asked flynn's lawyers to say exactly what was happening behind the scenes. he didn't really ask them to explain anything. and he set august 24th for another update. ser essentially what is going on behind the scenes is continued cooperation. >> we know flynn is cooperating. >> flynn has agreed to cooperate as part of his plea agreement back in december with special counsel robert mueller. until he gets sentenced, that is the job he has essentially. he did look a little

. >>> michael flynn had several ties to the russian probe back in september. flynn has been cooperating with the special counsel robert mueller's investigation. he's been asked to delay his sentencing. >>> the nerve agent in england. h friend right after ster gus wider. the two were exposed to a military-grade handling a similar item. >> it's the same nerve agent used to poison a former russian spy in nar. britishrs lea blame moscow. >>> initiative 77 may haveoi be apd by the voters but it's a long way from becoming law. >> that raised minim wage. today, six counselemrs will work to rover turn thisha ened. explain why this would be the right move. justin? >> aaron, good morning. there's some calling the measure misleading today. it could be belt a big blow here. phil mendelson is going to introduce in a wants to voice opposition aboutat initie 77. just yesterday outside the wilson building. we saw a rally in that group. they were calling for the initiatives to be topped. the concern among many, including some council members. the bill has been misunderstood by

. >>> coming up, michael flynn, the only trump administration official charged in the russia investigation is back in court this morning. it's his first court appearance since he admitted he lied to the fbi, what happened, we'll be back. eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like any of these types of plans, they could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call unitedhealthcare insurance company today to request a free... ...[decision guide.] with these types of plans... you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan any time you want. so don't wait. call unitedhealthcare now to request your

ahead, why the former national security adviser michael flynn is looking to get sentenced. he wants his sentencing. we'll also tell you about his new job. plus, the united states government warns people not to travel to certain countries. think afghanistan, iraq, somalia, libya. now a new nation is on the list. it's closer to home and u.s. marines are headed there right now. that's next. i've always looked forward to what's next. and i'm still going for my best even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm up for that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. so what's next? seeing these guys. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taki

. >> josh, as we said in the first part of the show, michael flynn, former director of the intelligence agency, defense intelligence agency, led a chant of lock her up at the republican convention in 2016 and kept his security clearance even though obviously that was incredibly tough thing to say about a former secretary of state. >> that's right. i think shows that this is pure politics what we see on display. there's a distinction of losing security clearance doing something wrong. so with the case of mccabe at the fbi and fired and now is going through a legal issue himself, there's no question, we understand losing the clearance and michael flynn. he got to keep his. acting unbecoming someone in the position and i'll say this to echo barbara starr earlier. this is a disservice to the country because if you're an analyst at cia and nsa and think the person is someone with knowledge one of the former directors, i can no longer tap into the people without the clearance. >> all right. josh campbell, mike rogers, thanks so much. >>> a judge delaying the trial of president trump's former

. >> michael flynn?manafort was -- indicted for things he did far before, several years before his involvement in the presidential campaign. by the way, his tenure on the presidential campaign was about the length of the time of an internship here at 30 rock. the summer of 2016 for whipping votes at the rnc krengs. >> confession. >> three months in tonight. campaign chairman. >> not insignificant. michael cohen indicted for something unrelated to russia. the stormy daniels potential non-disclosure agreement. other folks here. facebook. call this the facebook-russian collusion investigation, because facebook appears to be the only entity money changed hands between facebook and the russian ad farms. it's interesting. as we look forward here to how this investigation really are conclude and remains to be seen how much longer this will go on. we need to keep in mind not one member of the trump administration is tied to this for any amount of russian collusion, and, again, rod rosenstein -- >> except for mic

take the case of michael flynn. the president's former national security adviser. he was fired by the obama administration, but allowed to keep clearance even as he led those lock her up chants. >> the president's plan seems to be unplanned likely at the suggestion of rand paul. he is considered a big vote in the supreme court battle. we have more from cnn's jeff zeleny on what "the wall street journal" calls a dumb idea. >> reporter: dave and christine, the officials have been critical of him and his presidency. this has never happened before. it is something we are told the white house is considering. in the briefing room, sarah sanders acknowledged the president was considering it when she said this. >> the president is exploring the mechanisms to remove the clearances because they mondetie security clearances of being influenced by russia which is inappropriate. >> reporter: the white house is considering it. it is unclear if they will do it. a senior administration official tells me the president likes this conversation and debate, but has not decided if he wi

and that is exactly what michael flynn did last fall. his attorneys also cutting off communication with the president's attorneys. one week after "the new york times" broke that story flynn pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel. if abc's report is true, it does look like very bad news for the president, for whom michael cohen has done all kinds of let's say dubious work over the years. we know he brokered the president's hush money payment to stormy daniels right before the election. he was spearheading efforts to build a trump tower in moscow throughout the campaign. and after election day he courted russian oligarch viktor vekselberg whose u.s. subsidiary went on to give cohen a million-dollar consulting contract, one that was hidden in a delaware llc we didn't know about till recently. cohen could have a lot of information to share with investigators, which might explain why the president had a bit of a public meltdown after the fbi raided cohen's office. >> so i just heard that they broke into the office of

. >> when that happened with michael flynn, michael flynn flipped, michael flynn turned.s going to happen here? >> it's a pretty good consideration that's at least being strongly considered. we can assume the new defense team for cohen is going to begin those discussions about cooperating, just for the reasons that jeffrey said a moment ago, for self-preservation. you know, he's already publicly distancing himself from the president on a number of different fronts, even some -- >> in terms of timing here then, it would seem like we're pretty close, right? imminent. >> yeah. >> i don't know how you would define that word. >> i think so. i mean, you have -- the government had enough information to get a search warrant of a lawyer's office. that's very hard to do. now in addition to all that evidence, they have this new harvest from the search warrant so the case is opnly getting stronger. >> we need to be careful talking about, you know, the case. i don't know what michael cohen did that's unlawful. that's what's weird about this. yes, there is the possibility of an electio

michael flynn granted security clearance back in the obama administration kept his security ca aedaigagninstorpresident obama on the campaign trail. poliodcs, at th we white house, pretty hosdte a n to beurni m iad in od from all states that were made in the t.he sstve president seemed excited about some of the products, of course, louis ville bats, climbed into th but this year it was an f 35 fhter jet parked on south lawn of the white hous as partthe the of lockheed martin. ckheed. something very special.o yes [cheers and applause] it's incredible. how do you t comparehis with a enemy?n othe plane from the they said the difference is when wegh t, they can't see our plane. i saidhat sounds like a pretty big advantage.'s right? it called still t mt nsive military weaponys swete history lesson and talked about branding >> made in america, made in tte, made in america? both retty good [cheers and applause] both pretty good. w i remember whenas growing up, i'd amellca aplace, a littln the usa but me iad everything had made in america ande'sreagain. that, kennedy ntceer? worth it. let's get back t

three times and the judge in that case has been asking michael flynn to the attorney and the counsel what is the holdup, because it is unusual that his sentencing is delayed this long which is an indication that he is continuing to cooperate with the special counsel, and all indications are that it is a pivotal moment for the investigation and remains to see how it is is going to be playing out if michael cohen is going to be flipping on the president or not. >> and when you stay report by the end of the summer, and is most of the team working with the eye on the midterm election calendar and the tradition of the 60-day window there to try to create a buffer to get the report out not close no the election, and is that factoring in into the timing here? >> there are a few different opinions on this, and some say that mooul ser going to be weary of the fact that the election s are coming up, and he is going to want to wrap up the investigation before, that and others say that he is not going to be subjected to the political pressure that comes with wrapping up an investigation by novem

. >>> and michael flynn appearing in court amid confusion over his next career move. those tories and check the weather when we come right back. >>> welcome back. there are new comments from the russian son of an oligarch who had to do with meetings. he told vice news he did not know who asked his father to set up the meeting at trump tower. but he did confirm that he and donald trump jr. had spoken briefly before hand. "i said listen there's some people that want to meet you. they obviously want something could potentially help them are esolve things or not. if you could spare a few minutes of your time, fine, if not, oblaedon jr. being don jr. said i'll do it if you're asking. "and jr. said he could not recall if they had connected priorer to the trump tower meeting. >>> michael flynn appeared in federal court in washington yesterday where his lawyers said who's eagererer to proceed to sentencing. this after robert mueller post ponned instancing for a third time. he cut a deal for lying to federal agents. the court said thenixt status report is due in late august. i

pushing comey to let michael flynn off the hook.hen demanding comey that trump -- jeff sessions, his haranguing of him to get sessions to end his recusal of himself in the mueller probe. take charge of the probe so he can do trump's bidding or get fired himself. as the times reports today, such behavior can fit under the u.s. criminal code. in other words, obstruction of justice. rudy giuliani's defense is that all of this is innocent because it is done in public. this is how he runs his presidency, whenever somebody tries to limit his power, he throws him out of the way. he threatens to fire his new chief of staff. he fired rex tillerson. and mcmaster as if he were changing tides. claiming that his client is innocent because accused behavior fits this m.o. is a joke. the president refuses to be questioned by the special counsel about obstruction of justice. the one area where his accuracies are so well-known they require little detective work. tweeting may be trump's impulsive choice of weapon that doesn't exempt him from the law.

michael flynn despite all his problems kept security clearance along the way.erence? the difference is that the president was okay with michael flynn and he's not okay with these people. so i think it's largely about politics. >> some of these intelligence officials, as you know, they're potential witnesses in the overall russia investigation, right? >> right. yes. and i don't think this move would influence that in any way because it will be testimony based on what they knew at the time, not now, so having an ongoing clearance shouldn't be relevant. might that generate animus? i'd like to believe that these men and women are better than that and that they put duty first, even when the politics of the situation makes it very muddy. >> how much pressure, chris, is president trump facing right now with five witnesses being granted immunity from prosecution to testify against his former campaign chairman paul manafort? also a lot of pressure, more audio recordings from his former lawyer and fixer michael cohen in the hands of government prosecutors. >> well, it's

really deny it so that is exactly that the agenda that's been followed here it was followed with michael flynn also donald trump's former national security advisor and it seems to me there's a real risk that that might happen and of course in terms of. and the allegations against the idea that the national the the n.r.a. one of the most or apache ot organizations in america could be swung round and brought under the influence of the kremlin why one twenty nine year old russian woman is so far fetched in his complete numbers no no no let that is going on no i'll tell you what is being asked to really know what out there what's pathetic here are kind of you know a sleight of hand here no it's not outrageous because remember liberals used to be very distrustful of the national security state they're not anymore let me go to ray you know the contrast in the last few news cycles you have clapper brennan and komi ok you know heralding the virtues of the secure national security state and then we have this young twenty nine one tract of woman that really just wanted to have better relations and she l

former national security adviser michael flynn was back in court, first time since he pleaded guilty to felony charges. flynn is awaiting sentencing for lying to the fbi about contact with russians during the trump campaign. he was heckled today and mueller's office asked about his sentencing being postponed. as politico reports, it's unclear why they are balking at sentencing flynn, but it could be out of concern that detailing the investigation would reveal aspects of the mueller probe that are not currently public. president trump's former campaign chair preparing to face trial in two weeks. paul manafort is held at a jail in rural virginia in the countryside. whether he will remain there is in question. it is believed he is being held alone away from the general population of prisoners. his lawyers asked he be moved to a facility closer to d.c. so they could better prepare for trial. a judge agreed, but the attorneys changed their minds saying that issues of distance and inconvenience must yield to concerns about his safety. the challenges he will face with a new place of confinem

why would the feds delay the sentencing of michael flynn?> you delay a cooperator sentencing is you you're not done using them yet. he might have things to do that might further reduce his sentence or credit. that may be testimony or giving reactions. they are not done cooperating him. >> betsy, i know that manafort's personal assistant was cooperating with fbi before a search warrant was issued with the storage locker. is this a sign that people around manafort were turning on him before he was necessarily even indicted? >> absolutely. it's another indicator of the amount of influence officials with the federal government can have when they talk to private individuals. they didn't need a search warrant to get access because he just voluntarily let them in. manafort's team is argued they shouldn't be able to use the material from that locker in the case against him because he didn't have the authorization or the authority to let them in to the locker. his name was on the lease. he was the individual whose name was on there as actually having

former director james comey in any way, shape or form to close or back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also -- >> no, no, next question. >> so could giuliani's remarks end up hurting the president? >> i don't think those remarks can help, but one thing that we have to keep in mind is that an attorney's comments, particularly when they are in this sort of public relations phase, are generally not admissible evidence at trial to prove that his client acted in conformity with the comments. but words do matter and i think because giuliani has been fighting in the arena of public opinion more than in the arena of court of law, those sorts of statements could come back to hurt the president. when it comes to what statements the president actually made to comey, words matter. presidential words certainly used to matter. and what we have is when you have a president who is the chief law enforcement officer of the country telling the director of the fbi i want you to back off, those are dramatic and it sure sounds like words that could support an interference in the investigation. >> thank

i want to talk about general michael flynn. he ran the defense intelligence agency. i maintained his security clearance after retiring and got really political on behalf of now president trump back in 2016. remember this? let's watch. >> lock her up. that's right. that's right. lock her up. i'm going to tell you. it's unbelievable. >> so that was him getting blatantly political. not just that, general flynn made $33,750 in the private sector from russia's state tv station speaking in moscow in 2015. he made $11,250 from russian charter cargo airline, $11,250 from a russian-based cyber security firm. he clearly monetized from and by the russians. he had security clearance. you were director of national security -- excuse me, director of national intelligence at the time director clapper. was there any discussion when listening to that, when seeing the money he made from russia, of revoking his security clearance? >> no, there wasn't. mike, he took advantage of his long experience in the intelligence and military by forming a company, the flynn intelligence group, the

fbi director james comey to drop that investigation into his former national security adviser michael flynn? >> reporter: this is particularly interesting because it's one of the question that is gets to whether the president tried to obstruct justice and insisted over and over again he didn't try to tell comey to let the flynn thing go and seems like rudy giuliani is suggesting the president said something along those lines. here's what he said to abc. >> how is he a good witness for the president saying that the president was asking him, directing him in his words to let the michael flynn investigation go? >> he didn't direct him to do that. what he said is can you -- >> combmy said he took it as direction. >> he was fired at that time. he said other things, some of which is untrue. the reality is as a prosecutor i was told that many times, can you give the man a break either by his lawyers, relatives, by friends. >> reporter: so you see the president's lawyer there confirming in some way president trump suggested comey to go easy on flynn. >> what are you hearing about the demands that t

among the others indicted, michael flynn, trump's former national security adviser and george papadopoulousrmer campaign aid. both pleaded guilty to lying to prosecutors and both are cooperating with the investigation. an associate of manafort's described in court documents as a suspected russian intelligence operative also indicted, 13 russian nationals and three russian entities. charged with interfering in the 2016 election. and most recently, another group of 12 russian nationals, charged with hacking the democratic national committee and the clinton campaign. his team has interviewed at least two dozen members of the trump administration and other trump associates. >> bob mueller is not making deals left and right. rick gates, george papadopoulous and michael flynn all traded some pieces of information for their respective plea deals. that is presumably incredible information. >> reporter: and what has mueller found out about the june 2016 trump tower meeting between donald trump jr., paul manafort, jared kushner and russians who promised to share dirt on hillary clinton? trump jr. has

michael flynn when he left the defense intelligence agency, the first trump national security adviser did that when he went and consulted for foreign governments, including turkey. this is not an uncommon thing. i do think it's worth delving into whether the president and the white house actually intend to follow through with this. i do think this is much more about making the point that there are these people out there who are criticizing the president and saying things that we don't like about him and it's an effort to really discredit them. i don't think a real tangible threat. >> that's interesting. >> it's not about the security clearance. it's about discrediting the critics. >> we know the white house is totally comfortable with the optics, how this is playing out. it plays into their deep state argument, to their base. do you think the white house, the president, will follow through with this and actually revoke the security credentials of these four individuals? >> it's hard to know. the president has been very frustrated for months with some of the criticisms that the officia

does this mean, jeffrey, they're squeezing more information out of michael flynn?ll, it means they still need him and it means he might be testifying in the grand jury or trial an they want the leverage of his sentencing hanging over him. that's why prosecutors always delay sentencing when they have a cooperating witness because once the person is sentenced, they don't have the leverage of telling the judge whether they have provided valuable service or not so this suggests that in some -- for some reason the prosecutors still want flynn to help out the mueller team. >> and, chris, let's turn to michael cohen. that interview this morning was a big bombshell. what does it say to you when michael cohen saying my loyalty's to my family, my country and not president trump? not exactly what you hear from people in trump world saying all the time. >> yeah. i mean, let's remember by way of context, michael cohen said this is not figurative. literal. i would take a bullet for donald trump and made clear his -- where his loyalties have lain in the past. so now we have famil

when he went to the fbi director and lay off flynn, he knew there was an open investigation into michael flynnouse counsel is saying, you never indicated that flynn was the subject of an investigation. can you shed any light on that? >> well, yeah. when i testified before the senate judiciary committee, i talked about the two different meetings witness mr. mcigan. and he asked me whether or not the investigation was criminal or whether or not it was a counter intelligence investigation. i testified that tt follow-up meeting, he wanted to know whether if they took any action, it would impact the investigation. they didn't want to impact anything in the investigation. so he and i talked back and forth in both meetings about impact on investigation. >> and if the president in that context, having been advised presumably by his white house counsel that there was an investigation concerning the national security adviser, if the president then went to the director of the fbi and said ease up on mike flynn who he knows is the subject of an investigation, how much legal wiggle room is there? >> i'm no

with someone you know. >> you talked about -- >> harder when it's lawyer. >> you talked about michael flynngo and rudy giuliani raised eyebrows suggesting the president told former director james comey to go easy on michael flynn. here's giuliani acknowledging that. >> what he said to him was, can you give -- >> comey said he took it as direction. >> that's okay. by that time he was fired. as a prosecutor, i was told that many times. can you give the man a break? either by his lawyers, relatives, friends. take into consideration. that doesn't determine that not going forward with it. >> just for the record, days after firing james comey, president trump denied any such request. take a listen. >> did you at any time urge former fbi director james comey in any way, shape or form to close down -- >> no, no. next question. >> not the first time we have heard giuliani contradict something that president trump said on camera to the nation. >> no. which is why i continue to be perplexed why the president's legal team or i suppose i should say the president continues to think it is a good idea to h

if you hook at tlook at the stu, in the "new york times," the questions that involve michael flynn's firing. you look at all of them. they're all interrelated to james comey, and they're also essentially the same way michael cone was essentially wiretapping donald trump, these contempt pranous memos mueller has this relationship with james comey that i find to then investigate the firing of james comey, when you lobbied barack obama for him to be your successor. there's a problem with that. >> it does seem, though, that we don't really know -- it's one thing for us to talk about the mueller investigation because of little leaks, things that have leaked out or out because of court documents. we really don't know the vast iceberg underneath the surface. >> that's why robert mueller's, he's spent all this money can at lei least issue some kind of report so we can see the nature. >> this has not gone on that long. compared to the benghazi investigation. the iran-contra investigation. >> i agree from that point. but we should get some kind of idea let's say, so we know -- >> why, why give

the issue here is if you bothered to read the indictments, michael flynn, paul manafort, going on trial this week. that was money and lying, it's not cooperation with the russians. if i'm don jr., jared kushner, i'm worried about money. michael cohen talking about dirty money. not necessarily worried about collusion. but the story that we're hearing now is correct. collusion is not a crime. that said f, if you sit down wi a russian and they offer you something of value, for example, interfering in social media -- >> let's make it, just for the sake of -- >> apologize. >> it would never happen in pennsylvania. >> something of value from a foreign power. i wouldn't call that collusion. i'd call it conspiracy. >> let's think about this. so the first case we have up out of the blocks. paul manafort. paul manafort's case, mueller has said, he's presenting no evidence of any interaction with the russians whatsoever. this is a case about bank fraud. and money laundering. that's the first case out of the block. >> but there are plenty of other cases involved that have to deal with it. there are

fbi director to drop that investigation into the president's former national security adviser michael flynn. >> it seems to be a new version of the story. the president addressed this to "new york times" in which he flatly denied he instructed comey to do anything like that, to drop the investigation to michael flynn. now guiliani seems to say it is not a big deal if he did, the president asked comey to give the man a break, friends, lawyers, close to a defendant would sometimes say hey, why don't you give the guy a break. that's the spirit the president may have approached this. >> joining us, senator mark warner from senate intelligence committee. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> we have a lot of issues to get through. start with michael cohen. as you know he sat for an interview with your committee, senate intelligence committee last fall. do you believe president trump has reason to worry now about what cohen might reveal? >> i'm not going into the testimony that mr. cohen gave to our committee. i still have additional questions for mr. cohen, but i think one thing is clear

and so you could have had potentially a president michael flynn because there is no fbi vetting. cabinet officials get better vetting than vice presidents do. is so he. said, you know, it's absolutely terrifying, and i just thought that was a fascinating. the t vetting process is intention. they have these white collar attorneys who do it for free, and it's kind of like being a private eye. it's a lot of fun for them. i interviewed hillary clinton's vetter for the 2016 campaign too, and he described the process and how he would dispatch attorneys all over the country to interview, you know, times kaine's nursery schoolteacher and things like that. i think vetting is fascinating process. >> host: and the lessons from past mistakes like thomas eagleton with george mcgovern. >> guest: absolutely. and i talk about that a bit in the book and how there are these very detailed questionnaires, hundreds -- i mean, dick cheney was, when he was doing the vetting for bush, which is funny that he was then chosen as his vp, of course, he had 100 questions where a lot of the or very deeply pers

moments ago, former trump national security adviser michael flynn left a d.c. district court after what was supposed to be a routine sentencing hearing. it was his first appearance. first time we're seeing him in public really since he admitted to lying to investigators in december. let's go straight to evan perez, our justice correspondent. he was inside the court. this was all about the judge saying what is taking you so long to get him sentenced after, you know, after admitting to lying to investigators. what did mueller's team say? >> reporter: that's right, poppy. you remember that flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi in december. six months later, the federal judge who's now overseeing the case simply brought everybody here, the prosecutors, the flynn team, to ask them what's taking so long. the answer came that he is still cooperating with the prosecutors from the -- the special counsel robert mueller's office, and so the government is not ready yet for sentencing. essentially while he's continuing to provide information, whatever cooperation he's pr

he defended michael flynn and said he was treated unfairly. this serving of ties with cohen seems very personal, and of course that's understandable given their history. but also it raises even more questions about what cohen knows and what he is willing to say. and when we're focused on what cohen has been saying at that trump tower meeting, that trump tower meeting is really a center piece of this investigation as it relates to the allegations of collusion. and so i think the president's reactions here are very telling. the reactions from his legal team are very telling in terms of the level of the concern they have with cohen being out there and cooperating as it seems he is doing. >> you know, ali, what is it today, 100 days from the mid-terms. and the president has said very recently i'm going to be out there on the campaign trail, six, seven days a week. will he be a benefit? >> i think that's what republicans and strategists are trying to figure out. he is the total wild card. he's a looming figure and can tune into any of them with one

former national security advisor michael flynn making his first court appearance and pleading guilty to lying to the fbi. is he any closer to learning his sentence? plus, president trump takes aim at european allies as he prepares to land in belgium for the nato summit. .it will be an interesting time with nato. nato has not treated us fairly but i think we'll work something out. my day starts well before i'm in the kitchen. i need my blood sugar to stay in control. i need to shave my a1c. weekends are my time. i need an insulin that fits my schedule. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪ (announcer) tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. don't use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. don't share needles or insulin pens. don't reuse needles. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, prepares to land in belgium for sweating, confusio and he. check your blood sugar. low blood sugar can be serious and may be life-threatening. injection site reactions may occur. tell your prescribe

they've done this with other people with the exception of michael flynn. they still acknowledge he's on this earth. everyone else who has gotten in trouble, who crossed them, who seems to have flipped, out the door. >> they don't have any public knowledge what flynn has told the special counsel. >> that's true. >> loyalty still exists because at least there's no public evidence that flynn has given damning information about the president himself. i'm sorry, go ahead. >> first, happy anniversary of the president asking russia if they can find hillary's e-mails. also, i think at least as important as cohen saying the president had advanced knowledge is the fact he says others can corroborate this story. that's very important. it goes back to what we don't know about what bob mueller knows. does he have documented evidence? can he already essentially corroborate what he's claiming? also, i want to point out, michael cohen has stage managed this kind of in an interesting way. in his interview with george stephanopoulos, he declined to say whether the president

michael flynn kept his even after leaving the republican convention.n former intelligence chief james clapper not parsing his words. >> this is kind of a petty way of retribution, i suppose. >> reporter: while house speaker paul ryan described it as. >> i think it's trolling people, honestly zblsh democrats say it's all a distraction while those who have been threatened say even without security clearance they'll still be speaking out. >>> new this midday help may soon be on the way by u.s. farmers hit by tariffs on their goods. the trump administration is reportedby preparing to send billions of dollars in emergency aid to farmers caught in the cross fires. it would include direct assistance and other temporary relief for farmers being hit by retaliatory tariffs on goods like soybeans and pork. >>> new this morning ivanka trump is closing her namesake fashion brand according to "the wall street journal." the president of the brand informed employees this morning that her company would be shutting down. according to sources ms. trump was frustrated by