with regard to the claim that paul manafort was paid to arrange a meeting in 2012, both paul manafortnd the white house are pushing back on that allegation to politico and this is where it gets good because their rebuttal to that charge is that paul manafort couldn't have been paid to do that because why would anybody go to paul manafort to get to donald trump in 2012? paul manafort and donald trump had no connection back then. paul manafort, in fact, never worked with donald trump before he became his campaign chairman in 2016. and i think they see that as a great rebuttal to this story. but in offering that confirmed information to back back this allegation that really bothered them, they do raise a whole other way more interesting question. i don't know and i don't really care whether paul manafort was the target of blackmail while running a campaign. but what's really interesting, the question of how paul manafort ended up being donald trump's campaign manager. who picked him for that? hold on. hold that thought. stay with us. >>> when russia said about trying to influence the pre

paul manafort at the time was outraged by that reporting. he denied ever receiving any of those millions of dollars. he says he has no idea why this ledger apparently showed him to be the recipient of $12 million plus in otherwise untraceable cash. but that said, less than a week after "the new york times" published whole handwritten pages of that ledger, paul manafort was gone. he quit on august 19th as donald trump's campaign manager. but now we know that that's not actually where things sort of ended. that's where it started really getting juicy. because paul manafort had worked for this pro-russian political party in ukraine. specifically, he was the political machine behind the dictator, behind this pro-putin, pro-russian corrupt, tacky gold toilet loving dictator. and then get this, viktor yanakovych ran off back to moscow to be sheltered by russia three weeks after that. three weeks after he got run out of ukraine. there was a follow-up arrest of somebody very close to him. and it was an arrest made at the request of the american fbi.

according to new york times, one person picked up on the calls for paul manafort. manafort told nbc news he had no contact knowingly with russian intelligence officials. president trump responded to the story this morning on twitter writing the fake news media is going crazy with conspiracy theories and blind hatred, and this russian connection nonsense is merely an attempt to cover up the many mistakes made in hillary clinton's losing campaign. this is like precious bodily fluids from dr. strange love. another setback for the trump administration, late today the pick for labor secretary withdrew his nomination after it became clear he didn't have the republican votes he needed to win confirmation. our panel is here. jeff, i want you to weigh in on this thing. i don't think anybody said anything quite like a president. this is strange. one day he puts out the fact threw his press secretary that he fired the guy with extreme prejudice because he didn't trust him, and now today 24 hours after the press secretary speaks the thoughts of the president, he says no, it wa

i mean there was paul manafort. the then campaign manager who was forced out over, you know, his ties to russia. and then michael flynn, his national security adviser. so the idea of the trump campaign and then the trump administration talking to russia has been something we've been talking about for months now. and the latest revelations show that people in the campaign, paul manafort specifically were talking to people in russia. it's just kind of an incredible thing to learn. that u.s. intelligence and, you know, the fbi were talking about this stuff. >> and you make a good point. i mean, the white house has really gone to great lengths to try to convince the american people that the white house doesn't have any kind of relationship with russia. even, you know, whether it's kellyanne conway or sean spicer even talking about this hours before the latest information came out. listen to what he said at a white house briefing. >> back in january, the president said that nobody in his campaign had been in touch with t

. >> i spoke to paul manafort last night. >> my exclusive interview with one of the operatives under scrutiny. have you spoken to the president since he's been the president? while he's in the white house? >> plus, the growing calls for an independent investigation. >> if there are contacts between the trump officials and russian intelligence officials that amount to collaboration, that is a big deal. >>> and susan sarandon comes back on the show for the first time since the election. do you feel that you properly appreciated what a donald trump presidency would be? whenfall this starts right now. >>> good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. it's only wednesday. we are now smack in the middle of what has already been by far the worst week yet for the trump administration, one that brought us first the resignation of national security advisor michael flynn and then, just this afternoon, the withdrawal of labor secretary nominee andy puzder which we'll discuss shortly. but we begin tonight with revelations that have some raising the specter of watergate. new details about alleged c

in his name was mentioned because he used to do business with paul manafort.hey were business partners in a real estate project in new york a couple of years ago, so that is the first time that westerners heard about this particular oligarch as someone who is close to putin and doing business with paul manafort, who is close to trump. then came that dossier that was widely discredited, and there were questions about the money there as well, and now finally it turns out that he is being prosecuted by the united states on entirely different matter. a want to extradite him from austria, and things look bad for him, except now donald trump this president. the question is what will the trump white house do with this case? where they continue to prosecute him and antagonize vladimir putin? or will they back off? vladimir putins in turbid the preceding of his criminal case in the u.s.? the donald trump administration says we will go through this, will he take that as a slight? >> the idea that it is not about the bribery. it is an unproven assumption. that win after

paul manafort helped donald trump stage a very successful convention. the highlight of the troubled children, the speech to rally the faithful by rudy giuliani, general plans speech, a lot of high point in this convention. we have a large audience for our convention than the democrats, unheard of. and they pull it out, they pull it together very quickly without much structure. somatoform i think gets and desserts and gets a lot of credit in the book. >> host: that surround the time he departed the campaign. can you talk about that and what led to your leaving? >> guest: i left in august because my book was coming out and i didn't want to be accused of being secret of that because he was. because i had a fundamental on campaign strategy at the time, but i mean, really i think i will address a big he needed to run a more traditional campaign and i did think that some of the twitter fights that he got in distracted from his overall message of immigration and tax reform and trade and so on. again, he was right and i was wrong about a lot of it. but i also a

some of the people who are under investigation in the probe include paul manafort.was a former trump campaign chair and has links to russia as well as ukraine's exiled former president viktor yanukovych. roger stone is a longtime republican operative. the calls from congress and senate have been coming in fast and furious, and from bipartisan aspects. republicans as well as democrats. republicans now making calls. graham is saying that the russians have been trying to break the backbone of democracies all of the world. check wesley saying russian meddling is unacceptable. bob corker says congress needs to get it all out there to the public domain. looking ahead, the senate intelligence committee could call witnesses by the end of this month. that could include paul manafort, mike flynn and also sally yates, who was the acting attorney general up until a few few weeks ago until she was fired by president trump. she did tell the white house that mike flynn could be blackmailed by the russians. a lot there, and a lot more to come. >> thank you so much. on this continui

those advisers include former campaign chairman paul manafort and recently resigned national security adviser michael flynn. president-elect trump and then president barack obama were briefed on details of these extensive communications according to u.s. officials familiar with the matter. manafort who has business ties with russia and the ukraine told cnn he was not in contact with russian officials during the campaign calling the allegations, quote, boggling. asked about possible contacts between trump advisers and russia, white house spokesman sean spicer gave this somewhat confusing answer on tuesday. >> there's nothing that would conclude me that anything different has changed with respect to that time period. >> reporter: u.s. officials say the timing of the communications was alarming, the calls taking place while russian hackers were targeting u.s. political organizations with cyberattacks meant to undermine the election. >> russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. >> reporter: paul manafort addressed those concerns in july.

his former campaign ceo was paul manafort who has ties to russia. his secretary of state was given the medal of friendship by russia. so, you say there'satives goingk but i see a lot of folks in donald trump's administration who have a friendlier view of russia than maybe past administrations did. >> i think it was obama that leaned over to putin and said, i'll have a little more flexibility to give you what you want after the re-election. >> i'm sorry, i don't know what you're referring to, congressman. >> remember when he leaned over at a panel discussion or in a meeting and he said, i'll have more flexibility after the election. no one pushed the president on what he meant by that, but i can only assume for a thug like putin it would embolden him. >> congressman, thank you for joining me.

the latest, paul manafort and michael flynn with contact during the campaign with russian officials.ans now say -- what? >> well, it's interesting, john, because the fact -- the fact that there were contacts between russian officials and the trump campaign is really not anything new here in russia. we actually had just a few days after the election from russia deputy foreign minister in an interview with interfact, saying there were contacts, didn't elaborate on the frequency of them. but it's interesting when this takes place in a time, suddenly in the last 24 hours or so, this relationship which many had high hopes for improving under the new u.s. administration has been very strained. the reports of three separate military incidents coming out of washington. first, that the russians have deployed a cruise missile that violates a 1987 treaty. the kremlin spokesman say to get russian agency that russia is in full compliance with that treaty. and there have been no official accusations. it's actually a russian spy ship according to cnn is now in international waters off the coast of

"the new york times," one person picked up on the calls was trump's former campaign chairman, paul manafort. manafort told nbc news he had, "no contact knowingly with russian intelligence officials." president trump responded to the story this morning on twitter, writing "the fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred." and "this russian connection nonsense is merely an attempt to cover up the many mistakes made in hillary clinton's losing campaign." like precious bodily fluids from dr. strangelove. and another setback for the trump administration, late today, the president's pick to be labor secretary withdrew his nomination. andrew puzder pulled out after it became clear he didn't have the republican votes he needed to win confirmation. joining me right now, "washington post" white house correspondent jenna johnson. "the new york times" white house correspondent, mark. and of course, also joining us, columnist for politico and the daily beast, jeff greenfield. jeff, i want you to weigh in on this thing because i don't think anybody's seen anything quite

trump's former campaign chairman paul manafort had business ties with russian contacts. manafort has denied having any relationship with the russian government. john mclaughlin is former acting c.i.a. director. >> if it turns out that any deals not only unprecedented but would be shocking and would be something that you would have to take active steps to ensure never happens again, and it would leave a permanent stain on this administration. >> reporter: investigators also continued to vet a 35-page dossier compiled by a former british spy who concluded that the russians had compromising information on president trump. sources familiar with the investigation say while some of the details may never be confirmed, there is increasing confidence that some aspects of the dossier are true. flynn could face charges if he lied to the f.b.i. scott, the overall investigation is one of the most sensitive and closely held in the history of the f.b.i. >> pelley: jeff pegues for us tonight. jeff, thank you. well, congress is getting in on all of this. in addition to the f.b.i. investig

. >> former trump campaign chair paul manafort denies talks with russian intelligence. >>> good morning, everybody. welcome to "street signs." just want to apologize for the slightly irregular programming seen over the last 15 minutes. essentially the london office had to be evacuated because of a fire alarm. onward. very glad that you're with us this morning. our european equity markets were slightly higher. we're hanging on to slight gains for most of europe up to a half a percent. the ftse up and two lagerts trading lower by 1.5%. a lot of focus on whether or not we're going to have to go through some type of other crisis given the hesitation of the imf to be involved in further bailouts. when it comes to our european equity markets, you're looking at health care. food and beverages and banks trading up the most. banks up 1.7%. you would have noted a super strong session. record high seen and we were very much helped along by the banking sector in particular, goldman sachs, for example, going through a previous ten year record to close at record highs once again and contributing to m

>> the "new york times," paul manafort and other high level campaign officials. >> he was fired.t to -- >> as soon as all the issues started to be raised. >> good thing that he was fired after the issues were raised. >> michael flynn was fired too. after all this came to life. >> jack, i do have to tell you, we don't know what the end result will be. but when it's come to these things, russia, where there's been smoke there has been fire. asking if you're comfortable in the end if it turns out that something nefarious happened, are you comfortable looking back on this having defended something that was wrong? >> i want to know all the facts just like you do don. that's the great thing about your show, always in search of the facts and why brian and i are on this together. >> if it turns out to be nothing, brian, are you comfortable saying what you said? >> that's why need independent investigation, can't be led by jeff sessions and need select committee in congress. >> at end of the day, that's the real question here, when you actually think about it, are you comfortable with the

we're talking about during the campaign, guys like paul manafort. why would they be in such regular contact? >> it could just be intent to establish some kind of relation. or it could be sinister, and i know that the president doesn't like to think that the russians aren't our friends, but they do like to destabilize. they're masters of it, there's no reason why they wouldn't be doing it to both sides. so we know the calls were made, we don't know if they were calls back, and what we don't know is content. to this day, none of us has seen what was said. >> democrats are asking for that. what do you make of the latest allegation? >> sure. so there's a lot that we don't know. but what we do know is stunning and frankly unprecedented. first of all, the cover-up on its own is major. hope hicks, the trump spokesperson after the campaign said there was no communication between trump's campaign and russia, it was a lie. sean spicer more recently said the same thing. it was a lie. michael flynn said he didn't talk about sanctions or he didn't remember if he

paul manafort and general flynn had been reported to have constant contact with russian intelligence officials. they must testify. and anyone else involved in this must be made available to testify, as well. our caucus is united in these three request. ourope andrus -- expect republican colleagues to join in, as well. the gravity and seriousness of this issue cannot be overstated. risk, ourty is at system of checks and balances and rule of law is at risk. this cannot be a time for partisan squabbles. must be a time when both parties come together to protect the rule of law, the systems of checks and balances and the security of the american people. i will take a few questions. >> how can you achieve this result? [indiscernible] it schumer: let me just say, is the right thing to do. the public will see it is the right thing to do. a number of republicans have expressed real concern. if the public sees what is going on they will demand the kind of bipartisan, thorough investigation we are asking for. >> [indiscernible] he possessed explosive information about the trump campaign manager

we have reached out to paul manafort, to michael flynn, to the white house. we have not heard back from the white house, have not heard back from michael flynn. paul manafort denies the allegations. >> a lot of reporting out there right now from you. pamela, thank you so much, great to see you. this is kind of the big story at the moment. we do expect another big story, to hear from president trump very shortly. his focus today, not on russia, but you heard him speaking to retail industry leaders, but also a big focus today on israel. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will be arriving at the white house shortly and the two leaders will hold a joint news conference, interestingly they're holding the joint news conference before sitting down for meetings. let's go to white house correspondent athena, what are you learning, what does each leader want to get out of this visit today? >> reporter: kate, you're right, it is interesting to have these two leaders meeting the press before they meet each other. the prime minister is expected to arrive at the bot

members of the president's campaign team had contact with people in russia during the campaign, paul manaforts campaign manager, came out with a statement today. what did he say? manaforte with paul today. he is the second of three campaign managers during the campaign. he told me open i have never had any connection to putin or the russian government, either directly or indirectly before, during, or after the campaign." this comes following reports that the new york times suggested he talked to russian intelligence officials. allegations.se i spoke with sources on the capitol hill said the joint intelligence committee might call paul manafort and general flynn to testify. joe: thank you very much. check out the great cover story of andrew pozner, if not for that cover image alone, which you will never be able to un-see. this is bloomberg. ♪ joe: "what'd you miss?" more evidence the fed me be ready to move as early as march. two charts from matt basel are. -- matt basel are inflation reading that on the service look firm, and on the core as well. you found some interesting components. what ar

we all know paul manafort during the campaign. what can you seduce from the past 12 hours?he trump campaign, now the trump administration has brought american foreign policy into align with russia. in some cases overturns 70 years of american policy. questioning whether the united states would honor nato treaties to countries targeted by russia, like estonia. bringing american policy i line with russia with the annexation of crimea. so, it's not just about two individuals. and michael flynn made his paid trip to russia in december of 2015. 18 months into the russia war in ukraine. >> barbara, cnn has some new reporting. just in this hour, that bob harward is the top contender for michael flynn's just-vacated job. >> admiral harward he was the deputy at the u.s. central command and of course defense secretary james mattis headed up central commander. another possibility of a retired general by all accounts someone with a very reputable record. by all accounts, a very competent retired admiral. the question is, another retired officer what the nsc needs at this point? the nsc

that's why i thought he was wise to bring in my former partner, paul manafort, who is an expert in convention politics. pull together a structure ultimately rout the cruz people in the rules committee. we were prepared to rout them in the -- >> senator ted cruz who ran against trump in the primary. >> guest: last man standing. so, the campaign needed to change at that yuck tour and then did. then in a general election the campaign needed to change again. the president wisely brought in steve bannon, kelly yearn conway and -- kellyian conway and they able to retool for the general election campaign but i can tell you, trump didn't prepare for any of these debates. not traditionally astand-in act can like -- >> host: what dead he do. >> guest: the didn't too anything him just read and made notes and calculated and he went in -- i would argue he won every debate. >> host: there is a lot of criticism about his performance, he did not seem prepared or knowledgeable. >> guest: he is a pollar rising figure. always going to be criticism. the proof is in the fooding him won the election. one debate wa

paul manafort is confirming his quotes in "the new york times."vernight. he also t n

others include trump's former campaign chair paul manafort and former trump advisor carter page. according to the "new york times," call records show manafort was in touch with russian officials before the election. hours before the "times" published its expose, white house press secretary sean questioned if anyone was in touch with russia before the election. >> back in january, the president said no one in his campaign had been in touch with the russians. now, today, can you still say definitively that nobody on the trump campaign, not even general flynn, had any contact with the russians before the election? >> my understanding is what general flynn has expressed is that during the transition time -- we were clear during the transition period from he did speak with the ambassador -- >> i'm talking about in the campaign. >> there's nothing to conclude there's anything different. >> 17 days ago, flynn had misled otherice resident, officials, and he was a potential threat to blackmail by the russians. why would he be kept on for almost three weeks? >> that assumes a lot of things

the american officials quoted said one of the advisers picked up on intercepted calls was paul mann manafort. this comes nearly 24 hours after trump's national security adviser, michael flynn, resigned. but this morning donald trump didn't seem too concerned about the chaos and confusion surrounding michael flynn's resignation tweeted this complaintinstead. "the real story here is why are there so many leaks coming out of washington in will these leaks be happening as i deal on north korea?" >> before damaging news is leaked, damaging events have to actually occur, and even a cursory examination about the leaks which trump is complaining reveals the real problem is the leaking, it donald trump. it should have been obvious long before trump won the presidency that general flynn was not the choice for national security adviser. perhaps more troubling given recent developments, general flynn has repeatedly taken a sympathetic line toward russia. in december of 2015, he spoke at a gala in moscow for russia's state-sponsored propaganda arm "russia today." he was photographed sitting at putin's ta

paul manafort's daughter received message from someone claiming to manafort financial dealing with thepro putin leader. that politician decide message came from him. manafort denied wrongdoing with regarding his work in ukraine. how solid is this? >> the hack is on. >> there was a blackmail threat? >> yes. it could have been an effort to setup politics -- the concerns that democrats have raised about how -- >> why did trump dumb manafort after he worked for them? >> it was about his work in putin -- >> it was something there. >> it is something there. >> second question, how did manafort get together with trump. was it russian connections? >> so manafort had worked for tom bar recogniack, but manafor worked with trump to broker meetings with pro-putin, the ukrainian guy said he did not send the e-mail. >> how far back does trump go in russia? >> ten years or so. >> i which is what is the entanglement the trump campaign had with the russians? >> if you look at the tweets and find reporting, once you -- you have to deal with the first question which is the veracity of the tweets, the ver

paul manafort has totally denied it. people knew that he was a consultant over in that part of the world for a wild, but not for russia. i think he represented ukraine or people having to do with ukraine or whoever, but people knew that, everybody knew that. >> reporter: in his capacity as your campaign manager, was he in touch with russian officials during the election? >> president trump: he said no. i can only tell you -- he was replaced long before the election, you know that, right? he was replaced long before the election. went all this stuff started coming out, he came out during the election peered paul manafort, who is a good man alst was replaced long before the election took place. he was only there for a short period of time. how much longer should we stay here, folks? five more minutes, is that okay? five? let's see. i want to find a friendly reporter. are you a friendly reporter? watch how friendly he is. watch how friendly he is, go ahead. go ahead. [indistinct question] [ inaudible question ] >> asking a

there are three names that could be in focus, michael flynn, paul manafort, and sally yates.se we talked about her a couple of weeks ago with regards to her as the acting attorney general who decided not to defend a trump's executive order on that immigration ban, but she did tell the white house in january that michael flynn could be blackmailed by the russians. were not sure what happened with that information, but there are a lot of questions coming up and very few answers. well, there is also israel. prime minister benjamin netanyahu visiting trump at the white house, the president signaling that major break from u.s. policy on the two state solution. ramy: from a two state solution to a one state solution, the possibility trump is open to, breaking with decades of u.s. policy between israelis and the palestinians, ensconced in the 1974 yuan resolution. he said he would prefer a two state solution, but with think it "easier," but would be happy if both parties were happened. more than 6000 settlements have been announced and disputed land . mr. trump told mr. netanyahu to

this is the third administration person to resign. , paul manafort, and now general flynn. if we were not looking into it, you would wonder. you have an heightened responsibility now because this is about transparency. openness is a characteristic of a democracy. is the tool of an authoritarian regime. they are engaging in secrecy at the expense of our national security. one last question. reporter: what is your general reaction and response to the fact that this is a high profile member of the administration residing with a lot of questions less than a month of the new administration. what about the timing of all of this? is profoundly concerning at a couple levels. one, for what it says about the administration itself. it's this organization. as i mentioned earlier, it is tolerance for the fact that they tolerated this in spite of the american people. until it was exposed, they were not willing to set the public's straight -- public straight. we just had north korea launched a missile. there might be a crisis with iran tomorrow. we need a national security council infrast

fbi and the justice department about other members of the president's campaign team, including paul manafortwho you spoke with today. kevin: yes, just before the press conference, i spoke with the manafort via telephone, second of three campaign managers to donald trump. he vehemently denies all allegations that he at any communications before, during, or after the campaign with any russian intelligence officials or any members of vladimir putin's administration. he said there were notes on conversations regarding sanctions. but he's at the only time he personally spoke with the campaign and campaign officials regarding russia and allegations of such was when it was in the news. so he is vehemently pushing back on this. again, with flynn in the news and now mena fort in the news, this is a strong denial coming from paul manafort, but there are growing calls that some of these affiliates might be called to testify on capitol hill about all of this. michael: kevin cirilli, thank you. bill faries there was national security, thank you for keeping us up-to-date. i know you guys will have much mo

one of the people mentioned as taking part in conversations was former trump chairman paul manafort. denied having conversations with any russian intelligence. >>> this all comes after national security advisor michael flynn resigned yesterday. >> the trump administration said it was because flynn misled the vice president about those calls. nbc news reports the president was informed by the justice department on january 26 that flynn wasn't truth. . vice president pence wasn't told until 15 days later. by then the vice president had gone on tv to defend flynn. >> we got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue with a level of trust between the president and general flynn had eroded to the point where he felt like he needed to make a change. >> thorough review of his actions and recorded phone calls found nothing illegal. >> tweeted about flynn's resignation. wrote the real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of washington. will these leaks be happening as i deal with north korea, et cetera mpk cetera. >>> local politician calling for

general flynn, paul manafort -- who had -- >> ed: he said he spoke to one russian official. he did not resign over that. he did not resign over that. he got pushed out of the campaign. >> he absolutely did resign over it. paul manafort resigned amidst the fbi closing in on his communication and potential coordination with the russians. >> ed: maybe something will happen, we have not heard anything official. >> and then there is carter page, a former policy advisor who resigned during the campaign after meeting with russian officials who were under sanctions including the russian official who was supposedly in charge of the intelligence gatherings on the u.s. election. >> ed: you are throwing out all kinds of things. you're saying it is bigger than watergate and there should be an investigation. there are already several congressional committees -- i want to make another point. there was a panel formed to look at how to remove a president from office. it said in part, he became concerned about the amendments shortcomings after growing worried over trump's behavior. he pointed

cu -- paul manafort, who for as andme was on his campaign the possible legal issues that arise -- thats ongoing. probably takel many months because this is the kind of investigation you cannot do quickly. we all know how these law enforcement investigations work. you go step-by-step, you hit the lower guy and get the lower guy to tell you about the more senior person and more senior person, and that's what is going to be going on through much of this year. margaret: it may not have been a strategic decision by the president to appear to have gone to war with the intelligence agencies out of the gate. many would say michael flynn have 33 years of public service, some great respect because of it, but he had also made some enemies. this suggestion that you can lie public or deceive other officials and get away with it really hit some people the wrong way to say this is something is verifiable evidence of in terms of a transcript of an intercepted phone call will stop you cannot stand at the white house podium or put the vice president out and try to prove something that is provably false.

>> we know a lot of the -- has to do with paul manafort. if that's all it is, we knew about that during the campaign. that's not really new news but if it turns out there were other high officials now in the government or extensive negotiations or talks between flynn and the russians and russian spies that would be an issue but we don't know. you can imagine what might be but as yet there is no proof. "the new york times" said there's no evidence that there was any cooperation between the trump administration on the interference in the election with the russians. as of yet, there is nothing. >> bret: okay, charles. as always, thank you. the trump administration is making some small changes to obamacare is republicans are to present plans to repeal it and replace it. the health and human services department is proposing tighter scrutiny for people who sign up for coverage outside open enrollment by claiming a change in life circumstances. the irs is abandoning a plan to start rejecting tax returns of taxpayers failed to indicate they have th

advisers and ties to russia including a year-long investigation of former trump campaign chairman paul manafort his alleged connections to pro-putin figures in ukraine. and alleged meetings between former trump adviser carter page and russian individuals under u.s. sanctions. m manafort and page denied any wro wrongdoing. the fbi continues to investigation a 35-pace dossier compiled by a former british intelligence agent alleging russia has compromising personal and financial information about donald trump. cnn was first to report on friday the intelligence agencies have now corroborated aspects of the dossier, specifically calls between russian officials and other russia nationals known by u.s. intelligence for sharing information damaging to hillary clinton and helpful to donald trump. former top obama adviser ben rhodes tweeting today "when campaign chairman and national security adviser both resign over russia ties, there is more. manafort and anyone have nothing in common except russia and trump." president trump for his part continues to make public statements seemingly defending vladimir

also included in the fbi's investigation former trump campaign chairman paul manafort.they have not bp contacted by the fbi about being the target of an investigation. >> the role of the fbi is to find out what's real. >> reporter: former assistant director of the fbi. he says it conclusions. >> the notion that there is suspicion there or that somebody that the fbi is looking into connections doesn't mean there are connections. it certainly doesn't mean there are nefarious connections. it could mean on its face the fbi is looking into it. >> reporter: law enforcement sources confirmed earlier this week that fbi agents had interviewed former national security adviser mike flynn last month. according to the defense intelligence agency, flynn's security clearance has been suspended as investigators look into his ties to russian officials. norah? >> jeff, thank you so much. >>> dozens of restaurants and businesses from new york to los angeles plan to stay closed today as part of a nationwide protest called a day without immigrants. slen ti chef jose andres is one of many re

alsoy the y paul manafort was her place long before the election took place. he was only there for sure period of time. how much longer should we stay here, folks? five more minutes, is that okay? five? wade, i want to find a friendly reporter. >> i'm friendly. >> are you a friendly reporter? watch how friendly he is. go ahead. >> so first of all my name is jake from -- magazine and despite what so many colleagues might be reporting i haven't seen anybody my community accuse either yourself or anyone on your staff of being anti-semitic however what we are concerned about and what we haven't really heard you address is an uptick in anti-semitism. there had been reports out that 48 bomb threats have been made against jewish centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks. there are people who are committing anti-semitic backs or threatening --. >> you ask a very simple and easy question. and it's not. it's not a fair question. sit down, i understand down, i understand the rest of your question. so here's the story folks. number one i am the least anti