thank you so much for your words, ralph nader. a real pleasure. >> essential.org is our web site. >> hinojosa: we'll go. thank you. >> okay. >> hinojosa: continue the conversation at: captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org robert: president trump rattles global markets after threatening china with billions in new tariffs. i'm robert costa. u.s. troo head to the border and t embattled e.p.a. chief fights to keep his job. tonight on "washington week." trade war. president trump: you have to go after t people that aren't treating you right. robert: president trump calls for an additionalli $100 b in tariffs on chinese goods, escalating the feud between the world's two largest economies. plus -- >> this president has shown tremendous courage. robert: will e.p.a. administrator's scott pruitt's unwavering support t f president help him with a storm of controversy. questions about h hou

it might be george nader.knows the trump people, he works for the emirites and that's what mueller is focusing in on is what nader's roll was in the seychelles meeting which has been reported and may have been a back channel set up between the transition team and the russians as a way of communicating outside of normal channels. >> barbara. back to the collusion front, there's a lot on obstruction but now we're back to the collusion with russia during the campaign. what does this teal us about a deal or conspiracy involving the trump folks and the russians? >> i don't know that we know yet but mr. nader seems to be a key person. often times you can tell a lot of things from documents, getting bank report, phone records, other kinds of things that can help you connect people. in the end you need a human witness to explain how the dots are connected and it could be mr. nader is providing that role for robert mueller. >> why do you think he got immunity? >> well, he may have some exposure, he at least perceives h

ties to the united arab emirates are well known but according to a new york times report nader also has previously undisclosed ties to russia meeting with russian oligarchs and negotiating an ill fated arms deal between russia and iraq in two thousand and twelve and i think that we will continue to get a wealth of information from mr nader and i think not only russia but it seems as though mr nader has almost a worldwide network of people at very high levels that he puts together to collaborate in various and sundry schemes that are supposed to be under the radar screen if you will for special counsel robert mueller who's investigating possible collusion between russia and the campaign of donald trump that makes nader a potential goldmine he could conceivably give information on alleged money funneling from the u.a.e. to trump's campaign and its allies and on russia's efforts to to the u.s. election toward trump at american airports f.b.i. agents at mulder's command have detained high profile foreign visitors in cloak and dagger encounters among them an australian entrepreneur with

ties to the united arab emirates are well known but according to a new york times report nader alsoas previously undisclosed ties to russia meeting with russian oligarchs and negotiating an ill fated arms deal between russia and iraq in two thousand and twelve and i think that we will continue to get a wealth of information from mr nader and i think not only russia but it seems as though mr nader has almost a worldwide network of people at very high levels that he puts together collaborate and various and sundry schemes that are supposed to be under the radar screen if you will for special counsel robert mueller who's investigating possible collusion between russia and the campaign of donald trump that makes nader a potential goldmine he could conceivably give information on alleged money funneling from the u.a.e. to trump's campaign and its allies and on russia's efforts to to the u.s. election toward trump at american airports f.b.i. agents at mulder's command have detained high profile foreign visitors in cloak and dagger encounters among them an australian entrepreneur with ties

and a new york times investigation says the lebanese american businessman george nader could have new information about russian interference in the two thousand and sixteen u.s. presidential election. now ministers from egypt see don and ethiopia holding talks on a massive dam project which raises questions about who owns the world's longest river if the opiah and sudan up pushing for the building of there are nice stones down over the nile but egypt is wide it will cut into its share of the river and its myth explains. in the northeast of africa the waters of the nile irrigate crops that feed millions of people the white nile flows from uganda through south sudan and into sudan and the blue nile from ethiopia into saddam and in the capital khartoum they converge on the world's longest river heads to egypt and not far from the border with sudan ethiopia is building what will be the largest down in africa a one thousand six hundred eighty square kilometer area is being flooded to create the dams lake how quickly this is done is one of egypt's main concerns he gives. to believe us. to b

and they'd say, "nader, why don't you go back where you came from?" and he would say, "listen, when i sailed past the statue of liberty in 1912, i took it seriously. do you?" so he turned the tables on them, and he said, country?"ve your "darn right." he said, "why don't you spend a little more time improving it?" ( laughing ) so that's the e nd of dialoat were exposed to all the time. t >> hinojosa: bre must have been times, ralph, when you were just saying, "god, this..." i mean, you were under surveillance... >> mm-hmm, by general motors. on hinojosa: ...by corpora by general motors. they were coming after you. >> yeah. >> hinojosa: in those moments when you're... you know, you whre basically being targeted across the board kept you going? >> i think it's a striving for justice. edlost a lot of friends in traffic crashes ssly. there were no seatbelts, nos, airbo padded dash panels, you know, no rollover support. now, for example, it's much safer-- motor vehicl much safer-- but i lost high school, college classmes. and i used to hitchhike a lot, and

ralph nader, it's great to havee you onhow. >> thank you. >> hinojosa: so here's the first question i want to throw out to you, because, you know, you're a conser advocate. as a kid who was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, you know, lph nader... everybody knew what you were doing. ur but paint a piof what our country would look like if you hadn't existed; ifou hadn't, you know, brought in the regulations, what would our country look like? >> well, me and a lot of other people. >> hinojosa: okay, b... >> but well, for example, we wouldn't have mandatory motor vehicle safety standards, we wouldn't have recall requirements for companies who sell you a defective car. we got through meat and poultry inspection laws; there were rtually no inspection standards of diseased meat and rol the illness that comes it, never mind the fraud. environmental protection there wasn't anything like that in washington. legal services forhe poor-- this came out of the 1960s as well. a consumer product safetysi comm, for example, was created. the problem is that the corporations know how to game y ese syste

ties to the united arab emirates are well known but according to a new york times report nader also has previously undisclosed ties to russia meeting with russian oligarchs and negotiating an ill fated arms deal between russia and iraq in two thousand and twelve and i think that we will continue to get a wealth of information from mr nader and i think not only russia but it seems as though mr nader has almost a worldwide network of people at very high levels that he puts together to collaborate in various and sundry schemes that are supposed to be under the radar screen if you will for special counsel robert mueller who's investigating possible collusion between russia and the campaign of donald trump that makes nader a potential goldmine he could conceivably give information on alleged money funneling from the u.a.e. to trump's campaign and its allies and on russia's efforts to to the u.s. election toward trump at american airports f.b.i. agents at mulder's command have detained high profile foreign visitors in cloak and dagger encounters among them an australian entrepreneur with

well nader seems to be a gold mine for a mole or we knew beforehand that he had connections with the united arab emirates that he had acted as an agent for the crown prince of jobby at what we now know is that he also has significant russian ties that is according to reporting by the new york times it's out today that he knew carol dimitri of a russian investment fund manager that's important because that is the russian official a russian oligarch apparently who met with an emissary from the trump campaign in the seychelles in a meeting apparently arranged by this george nader and we know that muller has followed up on some of these suggestions that he has pulled a russian oligarch that he's had his his officials pull aside a russian all the guard who was at an airport in new york asked about donald trump in his connections with russia seized that man's electronics which are apparently being examined right now there was also an aussie businessman an australian businessman who was stopped at a washington airport he was questioned about ties to russia so and to the united arab emirates

and it involves george nader, a lebanese-american businessman who sources say is cooperating with the special counsel. interviewed four times by mueller's grand jury. those sources say nader set up the seychelles meeting between prince and the russian banker specifically to launch conversations between the trump transition and russian government officials. >> people talk about there was a back channel or all of that? you're saying no, off the table? >> complete hogwash. >> reporter: prince was familiar with the investigation tell abc news his team has obtained evidence from nader that suggests he met with prince at the pierre hotel in new york city a week before that seychelles meeting. sources say that evidence documents that reveal within hours of the new york city meeting, nader started sending messages to prince with the bio of the russian banker, showing he was a powerful putin ally. just a week later, prince was in the seychelles having a beer with that russian banker. a meeting he said was unplanned. prince has said he was not representing the trump transition and he has spokes

we have this george nader, who seems to be like waldo, he's all over the place. he keeps popping up with connections to a lot of people. we have erik prince. and it looks like these two guys didn't casually and accidentally meet in the seychelles. >> there have been a lot of forgotten meetings with russians or meetings with russians that weren't very important among people in the trump camp. i'm sure mueller has noticed that, now he has an interesting hook for learning more about those meetings. we have eric prince who by all appearances is on the hook for perjury, that's the sorts of thing where mueller would be able to approach him and flip him. he would get better treatment in terms of sentencing, than he would get if he were to go to trial or be prosecuted for this crime. perhaps mueller will be able to use prince to explain all of these unexplained and forgotten meetings throughout the campaign. >> jill, let's talk about oleg daraposco. he is somebody who has ties to paul manafort. these have been established. he is the one who was paying paul manafort for l

i'm maria hinojosa, this is one on one. hralph nader, it's great e you on the show. >> thank you. >>osa: so here's the first question i want to throw out to you, because, you know, you're a consumer advocate. ho as a kidas growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, you know, ralph nader... everybody knew what you were doing. but paint a picture of what our country would look like if you hadn't existed; if you hadn't,

george nader is a top adviser to the united arab emirates and its crown prince. fox news has confirmed that a senior official of obama administration was concerned about a meeting with the trump team and the crown prince. the meeting in question was just after the election because the crown prince is such a strong ally and supporter of the russian president, vladimir putin. the "new york times" is reporting that george nader attended an economic forum organized by officials. fox news has learned that nader used his ties with the russians and especially a russian oligarch to set up a meeting in the seychelles islands. nader wasn't necessarily a major player in the trump campaign team and many respects he tried to burnish his resume and work experience. >> shepard: thanks, catherine. thanks for being with us. where do you see us in this investigation now, on sanctions and money? >> money is the key. it always has been. with in corruption or fraud type of cause, you follow the money. it's there. robert mueller and his team are locked into this. they always have been

nader now also reported the link to russia quoting to the new york times to what extent and what does it say the investigation is focusing on now. well foley this shows that george nader is a valuable witness for robert mueller he's got an immunity deal so on the one hand he has little fear of prosecution however on the other hand he really is required to give a lot of information because those immunity deals come with conditions one of those conditions is that you answer all questions truthfully so we knew before that he had ties to the u.a.e. that he was an advisor to the crown prince of the effective leader of the u.a.e. but what we're learning now is through this new york times article that he had deeper times to russia than had been previously disclosed he helped negotiate an arms deal with iran and russia back in two thousand and twelve that deal eventually fell apart but he had also he has times to russian oligarchs one of them is a guy named carol dimitri of a russian state investment fund manager he arranged a meeting between dimitri of and a liaison from the trumpet ministra

and george nader was stopped in january. nader is emerging as a more and more complex figure with connections from the united arab emirates to russia. we have reporting on the extent of his connections with russia. he's a lebanese american businessman who used his russian connections to set up what has become to close followers of this drama. the meeting in the seashells between eric prince and the manager of a state run russian investment funds. those familiar with the meeting have told the "new york times" it was in part to explore back channels between the trump administration and the kremlin. mueller's investigators have been pushing about a meeting nay der attended in new york in early 2017 with jared kushner and steve bannon at the office of the hedge fund manager richard gerson. at the time of that meeting, they were close to the trump administration. and one question is whether there were illegal funds in the trump campaign. and "the washington journal" reported in an e-mail dated august 4, 2016, mr. stone wrote i di

well merriam nader's seems to be the witness who keeps on giving similar we knew long ago that he had ties to the united arab emirates that he had acted as an agent for the crown prince of abu dhabi and we knew that he had arranged a meeting between a trump liaison and a russian businessman in the seychelles but what we're learning now according to this new york times article in and is that he also had deep ties to russia that he has had them since at least two thousand and twelve when he negotiated an ill fated arms agreement between iran and russia that he is familiar with all the guards there and what that means is that miller can ask not only about the u.a.e. connection whether money was funneled from the united arab emirates into the trump campaign or its allies we can also ask about russian collusion whether russia helped trump in that campaign so that intertwines two parts of two major strands of this investigation and of course nader is a cooperating witness he has an immunity deal and that means he is protected when he talks to miller and he isn't the only figure who has made

and what did nader have to do that? apparently much deeper tied to the russians than we thought.e thought he was an in between person. he may have been part of the russian deal. meetings like that going back to trump tower with the family members there and all the time, michael cohen and what he's been up to overseas. is trump was he trying to make money as he ran for president and entang lick both together. >> mueller's investigation i think was always going to shift into a follow the money type probe in terms of whether or not the president actually had -- whether or not russian had leverage over the president probably in the form of something financial because of his real estate empire. with regard to nader, there was reporting this week that he actually met with erik prince before and after this meeting in the say shells to kind of brief him on this russian financier they were going to meet with. and what i've heard is that this meeting in the seychelles was actually about activating some kind of bank accounts. that is something that mueller would be interested in. why was er

most people remember ralph nader. in 1957 he took on the meat industry. in order to have stricter regulations about what it is what went into processed foods. upton sinclair and ralph nader were both brought to washington and offered an award by president johnson in improving consumer safety and food products. one of the issues in 1967 that attracted herb block's attention was overcharging americans for drugs. not everybody was treated the same. some markets, more heavily populated markets come -- markets, pay less. this is a double inadequacy related to how people -- the captain's look at all the research we have to do. it's hard to imagine today a time when the seatbelt was not part of the automobile. in 1967 researchers realized americans would be a lot safer in automobiles. it would reduce injuries. the automobile industry pushed back. the concept for this particular cartoon would be the alibi created extra pressure on the accelerator. it may surprise a lot of people that the library of congress houses cartoons. we have 128,000 cartoons and 14,460 of

right well according to the new york times reporting there is certainly some interest about george nader by robert mueller the special prosecutors you point out he is a lebanese american businessmen that you have mentioned correctly has apparently ties to russia that may date back to twenty twelve and is also a well known advisor to the united arab emirates now his links to russia had not been previously known until now and that seems to be what's causing a little bit of the attention that and the fact that he has had numerous white house meetings that have caught the attention of the special prosecutor but there are also other meetings that extended outside the white house that seem to be on the radar as well in terms of the investigator things like the fact that he may have used his ties as the manager. rather nader allegedly used his ties to the manager of a state run russian investment fund to apparently set up a meeting in the seychelles with a russian fund manager and trump advisor and this apparently taking place just before donald trump took office another interaction that is bei

my colleagues had a piece in the "times" yesterday about how nader's ties to russia are greater than we thought they were. so it's -- we try and knit all these things together you have all of these different things and mueller's just pulling out all these strands and at the very least he's going to find some sort of unsavory thing, it may have nothing to do with the president but it may have to do with access in washington, we're learning more about how you register as a foreign agent in washington. >> or not. i mean, we're also learning, some people who were supposed to register may not have done so. >> the problem with manafort. and that's the issue manafort is looking at. >> i love when you take me inside these rooms. what crimes are they looking for in everything mike schmidt laid out? >> well, before we talk about crimes, let's not forget how this special counsel inquiry started. it started as a russian counterintelligence investigation so one of the questions that mueller has to answer is not whether there are criminal violations but rather how, when, and why a foreign power ma

nader now a key witness has testified before mueller's grand jury at least four times. among the documents mueller has secured are those suggesting nader met with prince at the pierre hotel in new york city on january 3rd, 2017 and that within 24 hours, nader sent prince detailed bio information on dimitriev showing he was a powerful putin ally. a week later prince was in the seychelles having a beer with dimitriev. nader says he was at the seychelles meeting, something prince never mentioned in his testimony. prince denied going to the seychelles as a representative of the trump transition and a spokesman of his tells us he stands by what he told congress. george. >> scope of this investigation is wide. thanks very much. paula. >>> there are also new developments this morning in that deadly water slide case which took the life of a 10-year-old boy back in 2016. the co-owner of the kansas park has pled not guilty to second degree murder, and abc's diane macedo is here with all of the details. diane, good morning. >> paula, good morning. jeff henry said only that his hea

so most people remember ralph nader for face at any speed. but he, in 1967, he took on the meat industry in order to have stricter regulations about what went into processed foods to make them safer for consumers to eat. this cartoon reminds me of upton sinclair who exposed tainted meat in his book the jungle in 1906. and upton sinclair and ralph nader were both brought to washington and offered an award by president johnson for their work in improving consumer safety in food products. one of the issues in 1967 that attracted herb block's attention was overcharging americans for drugs. sometimes the pharmaceutical industry would charge 4,000% of what it cost to produce a pill and not everybody was treated the same. some markets, especially more heavily populated markets paid less for drugs than rural areas. so this was a double inadequacy in how things were promoted to people. the caption is, look at all the research we have to do. it's hard to imagine today that there was a time when the seatbelt was not part of the automobile. in 1967, rese

you have someone like george nader emerge as this cooperator with mueller. why is he cooperating? what is mueller interested in with him? why is the uae -- my colleague had a piece in the times just yesterday about how nader's ties to russia are greater than we thought they were. as we try and knit all these things together, you have all of these different things and mueller is just pulling on all these strands. at the very least he's going to find some sort of unsavory -- it may have nothing to do with the president, but it may have to do with access in washington. we're learning more about fara, how you register as a foreign agent in washington. >> or not. we are also learning some people who were supposed to register as foreign agents may not have done so. >> the problem with manafort and that's the issue with manafort. >> frank figliuzzi, i love when you take me inside the investigator's mind, inside these rooms. what crimes are they looking for in everything that mike schmidt just laid out? >> well, before we talk about crimes, let's not forget how this special counsel inquir

ralph nader, it's great to havee you onhow. >> thank you. >> hinojosa: so here's the first question it to throw out to you, because, you know, you're a conser advocate. as a kid who was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, you know, lph nader... everybody knew what you were doing. ur but paint a piof what our country would look like if you hadn't existed; ifou hadn't,

six corruption cases a new york times investigation says the lebanese american businessman george nader could have new information about russian interference in the two thousand and sixteen u.s. presidential election. is a witness in robert miller's investigation according to the times he has connections to both the united arab emirates and russia may have information that links two important parts of the inquiry. and six men have been killed in georgia in a coal mining accident three more were injured when the roof of the mine collapsed the country's economic development minister said the accident was caused by a pressure pump were up to date with the top stories much more coming up in twenty five minutes time i have a full bulletin for you after rebel education we'll see you after that stay with us . education matters the universal rights to expand arise and offer better prospects the passport to a better life yet around the globe schools and institutions are at breaking point systems been deemed to be no longer valid. linking schools of all and how they want identifying the sale of t

and in new york times investigation says the lebanese american businessman george nader could have new information about russian interference in the twenty sixteen u.s. presidential election according to the times see house connection this to both the united arab emirates and russia and may have information that links to important strands of the inquiry to get. see a headline stay with us one i want coming up next a watch. getting to the heart of the matter if more stuff i can do the turkish cypriot people calls you today and says let's have talks with you except given i think he's going to do and to turn to facing reality are you willing to make that call the always or the portal. for thinking this through hear this story on talk to al-jazeera. and you know not gone on in their job. in china. will seem to be challenging the government quickly feel the heavy hand of state security the chinese government has to tours to manipulate to the people and one is the violence. the are the public and. now democratic countries warn china is carrying out its system of control and censorship one of

then there was also george nader, a frequent trump white house visitor, an ex-con on child porn charges, a reported adviser to the united arab emirates, now reportedly a cooperating witness for the mueller investigation. he too was stopped by fbi agents working for mueller's team. they reportedly stopped him at the airport, at dulles airport, searched his electronics, served him with a subpoena to testify to the grand jury. eventually he became a cooperator. also an australian businessman who reportedly knows george nader, he also was reportedly stopped by mueller's team at an airport and had his electronics seized. a right-wing writer guy who once lobbied for a job in the trump administration said just within the last two weeks that he too was detained by mueller's team, in his case at logan airport in boston. there are also apparently several russian oligarchs who have been stopped and questioned by fbi agents working with mueller's team including at least one oligarch who had his plane and his personal electronics searched when he landed at a new york-area airport in his private jet.

with result to nader, there was reporting this week he met with eric prince to kind of prebriefm on this russian financier. what i've heard is that this meet ng was about activating some bank accounts and that is of course something that mueller would be interested in is why was eric prince, who was a trump supporter, de facto member of the trump campaign meeting with this ruggen financier who's close to putin and what can george nader tell mueller about it. michael cohen has been privy to every deal trump has made in the last couple of decades. if he ever entered into business with someone tie w ties to putin, he would know about it. so of course he's a valuable witness and now he might be in the position to be flipped and cooperate with mueller. >> what struck me this week is that mueller's people are stopping oligarchs at the border. they're grabbing them saying let's see your computer, your laptop. they start going through it. this is pretty aggressive stuff. >> the element of surprise is quite helpful in their, to their advantage in this instance, but i agree that mr. cohen is not o

most people remember ralph nader for "unsafe at any speed." on the meattook industry in order to have about whatgulations went into processed foods to make them safer for consumers to eat. this cartoon reminds me of upton -- to ex postem tainted meat in his book "the jungle." upton sinclair were both brought to washington and offered an award by president johnson for their work in improving consumer safety in food products. 1967 that issues in attracted herblock's attention was overcharging americans for drugs. sometimes, the pharmaceutical industry would charge for thousand percent of what it -- 4000% of what it costs to produce a pill. not everything was the same. some markets paid less for drugs than rural areas. this is a double inadequacy in how things were promoted to people. the caption is, "look at all the research we have to do." that hard to imagine today there was a time when the seatbelt was not part of the automobile. realizedresearchers that americans would be a lot safer in automobiles if there was a seatbelt to restrain them in

nader international and domestic football would still be played at formby.of the football league says that fans can create a powerful voice that should be hired in the bed to change the law around safe standing at grounds. shaun harvey wa nts clu bs safe standing at grounds. shaun harvey wants clubs do have the option of safe standing. there was an online survey to get fans opinions. ronnie o'sullivan is in second—round action at the world snooker championship in sheffield. he trails ali carter going into the evening session later on. they had been all square at 3—3, but carter took the final two frames before the interval. on ahead of mercedes topley time sheet ahead of the azerbaijan grand prix. they are yet to win a race this season with ferrari claiming the opening two. but us was three hundredths the set and —— second... max verstappen‘s session ended early when he crashed his red bull. and that is all the sport for now. you can find more on all of those stories on the bbc sport website. i will be back with sports day at 6:30pm. hope you can join me wit

dude i'm sure the nader president putin nor president trump will allow this to happen they are after all leaders who have been elected by the people and they are responsible to these people for peace and calm. diplomatically russia can afford to attempt to pause in hostilities with the us is on the ground much is going its allies way following the fall of eastern ghouta to syrian government forces damascus is moving against the remaining besieged anglaise of rebel activity one by one they're forming. the un's envoy to syria who is in saudi arabia and turkey earlier in the week has now come to moscow next will be iran de mistura is assessing whether the foreign powers involved in syria's war are ready to restart the un facilitated political process he acknowledged that recent days have been rough we had a very dangerous and very difficult and very tense week and. it priority for the u.n. secretary is for a secure general and therefore the coming here and doing dish tour. in various capitals and very much in moscow is to play already. did temperature seven to mr a maybe doing the diffe

was favored to win and you are time's investigation says the lebanese american businessman george nader could have new information about russian interference in the twenty sixteen us presidential election there is a witness in robert melissa investigation according to the times he has connections to both the united arab emirates and russia and may have information that links to important strands of the inquiry and there's much more on our website just click on our dot com for more news features and video those are the top stories stay with us and al-jazeera as the callao caliph foundation continues. the year six fifty six. just a quarter of a century has passed since the death of the prophet muhammad. and the foundation of the caliphate. the third caliph off man has been murdered by a group of rebels in the capital. baghdad tell us a man that only a loved one gonna live the issue would get in the dino and joe will follow. that's the way can you help when i mean i mean. what in the hell do i could mean in my duty and. ali cousin and son in law of the prophet yielded to the pressure becom

you have george nader, another witness for mr. mule whoar i mua convicted child molester.'t a grand jury throw this case out if these are the only witnesses it can muster? >> which is why you saw today the dnc filing its publicity stunt lawsuit. the handwriting is on the wall. the mueller thing is collapsing in slow motion. they're frantic and desperate to keep this crazy rush rush nair tiff and conspiracy going. democratic narratives have telegraphed over to their pals in the party, file a civil case to drag this thing out forever. david: there's no there in terms of collusion. therefore you got to make it a political case which is what the dnc lawsuit is all about. >> discovery runs in both directions. you'll hear tom perez huff and puff about taking depositions. guess what, it flips the other way too. david: we can find out more about the relationship between fusion gps and is whole lot of things. >> what ever happened to the dnc servers. david: the president mentioned that today and also the relationship with certain russians and the clinton foundation. >> where do the

and george nader mixed up in all sorts of stuff. he allegedly facilities a meeting with erik prince, the brother of the education secretary. now to those charged but pleading not. paul manafort opted to go to trial rather than plead guilty. he's charged with conspiracy against the united states and money laundering. there are 13 russian individuals and entities. the russian businesses and oligarchs will likely never face trial but the charges stand as a statement point by the special counsel. there's raids. last summer the fbi raided the virginia home and storage unit belonging to paul manafort. this week the fbi under the direction of the united states attorney for the southern district of new york searched the office and hotel room of president trump's personal attorney michael cohen. and here's a look at all the people in the president's orbit who have been interviewed by the special counsel. just to bring you up to speed with where this is. joining me now, national security reporter and nbc news casual correspondent peter alexan

he reportedly worked with and was cultivated by george nader, the foreign political advisor who arrangedet meeting just before trump's inauguration. and according to the washington post, mueller has evidence that that meeting was an effort to establish a back channel between the incoming trump administration and the kremlin. >> switching gears to the department of justice now, the department of justice's inspector general has referred his findings on former fbi director andrew mccabe for possible charges. mccabe was less than forthcoming when asked about the disclosure of information to the media regarding an investigation into the clinton foundation in 2016. the referral raises the possibility that mccabe could face charges for his alleged misconduct, but it does not necessarily mean he will be charged. in a statement his lawyer says in part, we were advised of the referral within the past few weeks although we believe the referral is unjustified. this standard for an attorney general or for inspector genre feral is very low. -- general is very low. >> while you were director of the fbi

george nader, adviser to the united arab emirates leadership.e allegedly set up a meeting between erik prince and russian contacts. now, to those who were charged but not pleading guilty. paul manafort. he's opted to go to trial rather than plead guilty. manafort is charged with conspiracy against the united states and money laundering, among other things. he sued to get the charges thrown out, both in washington, d.c. and virginia courts. there are also 13 russian individuals and entities. the most symbolic portion of the mueller probe was the charging of the russian businesses and oligarchs. they'll likely never face trial, but the charges stand as a statement point by the special counsel. >> serious statement. >>> while those russians are not going to face trial any time soon, we know who will. paul manafort. he chose to fight, and his trial is set to begin september 17th, which happens to be the 231st anniversary of the u.s. constitution. ahead of the court date, manafort is suing to get the charges against him tossed. we alleges the special

we've seen a little bit of that this week where we've seen some tie-in with nader. this may be a lot more russia centric than people have originally expected. >> let me give you the last word on that. we talk about bob mueller being completely immune from, walled off from all politics, but it doesn't mean he's oblivious to them. this seems like a very smart move for mueller politically to be able to show the white house or the white house counsel, whomever is still able to talk sense into this president, that there is no mission creep, that anything outside of what deputy attorney general rosenstein articulated in that memo, because manafort is already challenging the legitimacy of the probe, is being sent to other prosecutors. you worked in that office. is this a typical kind of investigation that that office would and could handle? >> oh, sure. i mean the southern district can handle any kind of investigation. >> they've prosecutes terrorism cases. >> sure, anything. there's no question they can handle it, and i agree with you on the mission creep argument. it's a

>> we've seen this with other people, with george nader and some of the other folks, george papadopoulos was stopped at the airport. so we've seen this kind of activity by the mueller team. but when you are going and stopping and questioning these wealthy businessmen, these wealthy oligarchs from russia who are traveling here to do business, they have business in the united states and they're allowed to travel here, which is one of the reasons in which i'm told some of them are cooperating with the mueller team. >> how significant, jim, is this? >> you've heard from president trump, his supporters frequently declaring closed a whole host of lines of inquiry by the special counsel when in fact there are many indicators coming out of this investigation that those lines of inquiry are at least still open. we don't know that they'll establish any nefarious connections between trump and the oligarchs or on the collusion area anything. he's stopping people at airports, he's trying to find out if there's evidence there. when he delivers his final report we'll know the answer to all of those que