tv CNN Tonight With Don Lemon CNN January 17, 2018 11:00pm-12:00am PST
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thank you for watching. don't forget i'll be on tomorrow morning, every weekday with allison on new day starting at 6:00 a.m. right now "cnn tonight" with don lemon, the man, starts right now. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. and these are the words we heard today from two people close to president trump. those words are uninformed and unprepared. uninformed and unprepared, it's not me saying that. it's the president's chief of staff and his former campaign manager. chief of staff john kelly told democrats behind closed doors candidate trump's border wall promises, were his word, uninformed. a source also saying kelly has worked to educate the president and move him away from those campaign promises. promises the president's base expects him to keep. and then there's the russia investigation to tell you about. adam schiff saying former
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campaign manager corey lewandowski told the panel he was unprepared to answer questions about what happened after he left the campaign. while trump former campaign executive steve bannon could be back before the house intel panel tomorrow. that as the government edges closer and closer to a shutdown on the eve of president trump's first year in office. a mess that could have been avoided if it weren't for that fire storm over the president's racist comments in the daca meeting last week in the oval office. so here's where we stand right now, tonight, a shutdown looking more and more likely with republicans scrambling just to get a short-term bill to keep the lights on until february 16th. and democrats digging in their heels on daca. so where are we? also cnn political commentators mike shields and charles blow join me as well. good evening, gentlemen.
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mark, you first. washington is still consumed with the fallout over the president's comments that have derailed immigration talks and put the country closer to a government shutdown. what's the state of play right now? >> it's extremely complicated. this issue is not as cut and dry as we often see. and there are two hurdles congress must clear. the 2018 federal government fiscal year started on october 1, 2017. that's right, october 1, 2017. and congress has been unable to agree on a budget up until this time. it will be the fourth time congress has had to pump the ball down the field. and house democrats are not going to support it because there's no fix for daca. this means the house speaker, paul ryan, needs 218 republicans to back this proposal. we don't even know if he has that support. here's the kicker for him. there's a group of influential
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fiscal conservatives, don, who may oppose this measure because of their fiscal concerns and the fact that congress can't get their act together. across the capital and the u.s. senate, it's just as complicated. there's only 51 republicans in the senate now, and you need 50 votes to pass this stop gap measure. and lindsey graham said today he's not going to support it. so that means republican leader mitch mcconnell needs 10 democrats to join the republicans to get the 60 votes needed to approve the stop gap measure. while many democrats are unlikely to support the short-term spending bill in the senate without a fix for daca, there are some who may break and could vote to shut the government down could hurt them in november. it's times like these you really have to wonder is washington really broken or is it really, really broken? >> it always seems we get to these deadlines that are
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looming. mike, the president is blaming democratic senator dick durbin. he's essentially saying this racially charged controversy has had an impact on a deal. he doesn't know for sure either it's dick durbin. it could be lindsey graham. it could be a number of people. >> you know, first of all i think wolf has to pass the cr. mark, to your point i completely understand your point. but this is legislating. there are deals being cut. it's not as if they're on the opposite ends of the table and no one's even speaking. this would be the fourth time the democrats have voted against a program they inherently want, the children's health and nutrition program the congressional black caucus is demanding be put into this.
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they've lost some of their own ranks because of it. pelosi is going to make them vote over it. that gets to your question, don, about what was being said in the oval office. i said to you overnight the president shouldn't have said what he said. those are terrible words to use. but if you really care about the immigrants you're trying to protect, why not blow that up and try and cut a deal? the president is trying to negotiate and get a deal. if you're going to put the children who are at risk in daca first, maybe you wait before you start using this as a political football and you try to negotiate and get a deal. there's a lot of negotiating going on in washington, d.c. right now. there are deals on the table that could actually help daca. and you heard the chief of staff tonight say the president wants to get to a deal on daca. that's why durbin needs to be held accountable. >> i'm wondering when you say cr, we're talking about continuing resolution. quickly because i need to get
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charles in, you're saying you think they're going to pass a cr. do you think it's going to be clean or it has to include some component of the wall? >> i don't know the answer. it's not friday yet. so we're going to have to wait and see how far it gets. >> your crystal ball doesn't go that far. listen, president trump wouldn't say what specific words he used in reuters. he told reuters this. he says i'm not going to get into what i said, but i will tell you it was a tough meeting. so you think about what started all this. remember when he said in the white house i will pass whatever these guys do in this room. so it's kind of a nondenial, denial statement. do you think this whole s-hole word describing, is that the game changer? >> for the cr? >> yeah. >> it hardened positions. and it told people who were acting in good faith, thinking the president would be malleable to some degree and was willing to compromise, that he was not. and it also signaled to people
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that he was -- that he was open to people wisperring in his ear on his own staff. general kelly plays a big role. and if people keep thinking of general kelly as, oh, he's the adult who came in to calm the white house. and he's there to make sure his mood is stable and people don't rush into the oval office, no. general kelly is a big part of this kind of deportation effort. and he has been since he was part of department of homeland security. and it was him who called back to the white house on capitol hill and said we have to make sure this doesn't happen. it was him that kind of made sure that the hard liners were in that room. that all feeds a sense of feeling that we don't know what the president believes, but we know that he's open to being
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manipulated. and the fact that even the congress people on capitol hill don't know exactly what he wants, it's hard for them to even craft legislation because it may come up and not be signed. >> listen, there's been this whole fuss over what this was, but really it's the sentiment behind his statements. that's what's more important. the words are awful, but what he's saying, the racist sentiment. >> it's really saying that where you are from dictates what you're -- >> it's not a cussword. >> it dictates something about your character as an individual who would come to this country. and if you come from a country that's primarily black or brown, that says something different than if you come from a country that's mostly white like norway. that is big thing. forget about these words. that is big racial element. and we have to deal with the president believes that, that john kelly has been pushing that
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for months now. that is the big problem. >> i want to ask you, mark, about this new poll. the numbers are out today. almost two thirds, 64% say that president trump is doing more to divide the country than to unite it. and then there's this, the majority of black, hispanic, and even white voters say president trump does not respect people of color as much as he respects white people. i mean these numbers show how divisive the conversation is when it comes to president trump and race, and certainly these comments do not help that. >> it really is divisive of how president trump has acted over the past year in office and some of the comments he's made. you only have to go back to charlottesville and we could have a whole long discussion on that. don, i dove into the numbers a little deeper than the numbers we put up there. and this is what republicans are terrified about, certainly republicans that i spoke to today about it. this number right here. 58% of independents believe president trump doesn't respect
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people of color as much as white people. and 65% of independents say they believe president trump is doing more to divide the country than to unite. the reason i say that is if you look at the numbers, most democrats believe that trump is dividing the country, and republicans don't believe that. as we all know, elections are won on the margins. to get over the goal line in many of these congressional districts specifically going to this mid-term, republicans are going to need the support of independents. and republicans i spoke to today, those who work on congressional races look at these numbers and they are, very, very upset by that. >> i want to get your opinion on this, because i think this is important and all of you as quickly as possible. this is from a democrat who sent me this today. if democrats cave and agree to fund the wall to protect only 800,000 daca kids, wouldn't that adversely affect 320 million
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americans by raising all of our taxes to cover this $170 billion bill? that is an important question, isn't it? >> there is a big fight within the democratic party right now about what policies to pursue and how far to the left to go. and i think that's exactly what we're seeing that you received in that note from a democrat today. >> that's a dilemma they're facing. mike, you want do weigh in on that? >> yeah, that's right. democrats will think they have a seat they can target because they're going to divide along these lines. look, the president as i said, they're trying to negotiate and they've laid out exactly what they want. they want border security and they want a deal on daca. that's sort of in the middle where both sides get something. which is what we always say we want to see government do. the polar sides of the party are going to pull that apart and that's what you're watching right now. >> charles, i'll give you the
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last word. >> it's interesting. the right has pulled so far to the right what was generally basic modern liberalism now feels like it's far left. we keep saying far left. if i just believe that these kids should be protected, if i just believe we should fund a wall, that actually shouldn't be considered a far left opinion. previous cycles that wouldn't have been considered a far left opinion. it's incredible we've shifted what is defined as liberal. when we come back, if the government runs out of money on midnight on friday, who will take the heat for it, and what will it mean for the upcoming mid-terms? this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain. and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific
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about the upcoming mid-term elections? what does it portend? here to discuss gop strategist mike murphy. mike, thank you for joining us. always a pleasure to see you, sir. the president is telling reuters he'll blame the democrats if there's a government shutdown. how does that work when republicans control the government? >> well, that's the problem. a lot of us old gray beard republicans remember we tried to shutdown the government science experiment back in the '90s, and it was extremely painful. so i think what you're really seeing here is massive negotiation going on. i think very, very few people in the republican party on the elected side want to shutdown the government. this is just kabuki theater here, but it's coming down to the deadline because it's coming down to the guillotine blade. i think the president wants a win, the senate republicans want no shutdown and a daca fix. the house republicans i think want a punt on the budget. so the big pieces are here to
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get a deal. whether or not they can actually work it out or not, still an open question. but if i had to bet i bet we'll get the short-term cr. >> okay, so you think it'll happen. but let's talk about the possibilities here. friday's the deadline. the government is shutdown. so what will that mean for the big picture come saturday for one year in office for this president? >> oh, yeah, all hell will break loose, because both parties, it'll be like a jump ball to blame the other. i think what the savvier politicians in both parties know is that the voters are capable of hating both parties, hating everybody in congress. that's part of the environment that brought the energy for bernie sanders and the energy for donald trump, that elected him president. so the idea is this is like nuke, war. we're going to win because we're going to be half as radioactive as other guys is a pretty silly
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argument. if that happens, you're going to see this massive you're wrong, you're wrong, scream slap fest between them trying to pin blame on the other guy. and my guess is there will be no win and they'll scramble. >> mitch mcconnell told reporters today the president hasn't indicated what he's willing to sign on daca and immigration reform. he doesn't know what the president wants. is that a huge problem? >> see, president trump doesn't speak washington negotiation language, so he's confusing people. if you look through history where you kind of have trump unplugged speaking himself, without staff driving it he's generally been pro-daca. i think the problem they have is some of the staffers in the white house, particularly stephen miller, who's really kind of a sessions plant. i'm not sure how much of a trump guy he really is, is a hard core idealog on this issue. is the president in charge on making a daca deal or being
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driven by his staff? mitch doesn't quite know what he wants because he's not hearing a clear message and people in the house who agree with miller who want to make trouble are emboldened by this. so ambiguity is not a strengthen in last minute congressional negotiation. i'll tell you there are the votes in the senate for a daca fix. and without some movement on daca it's going to be close on the cr. the house i think can muscle it through on the short-term extension. but you need 60 votes. and we don't have 60 votes. so the question is will the democrats want to play chicken all the way, is a real risk to them. it's going to be pretty close. >> i just mentioned this. i don't know if you heard it, i want to -- and let me see if i can find it again because i wonder if the democrats maybe are they not seeing the forest for the trees, and i'm not sure how people feel about this.
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i've got to note today if dems cave and agree to fund the wall and protect 800,000 daca kids, wouldn't that adversely effect 320 million americans by raising all our taxes to cover the $70 billion bill. they must have a clean bill or no bill. what do you think of that? >> yeah, no, it's an interesting argument. the great trick and the secret benefit of being in politics is we print money. so you can make promises and not pay for them. we just did that partially with a tax cut. under a washington map it's often make the political deal now and figure out the paying for it long-term in a couple of terms. so, yeah, from a fiscal point of view the wall is expensive. one of the fights going on is the republicans on the trump side of the equation really want the wall want a ten-year guarantee while the dems say we're going to spend a lot on
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the wall maybe for a year and then they're going to yank the funding. >> do democrats, do they see this -- because if they cave on the wall, again, they'll get the daca deal done. but then it'll adversely affect more people than the daca folks. i'm wondering if lawmakers are thinking about this or this may be something real for democrats. maybe at this point they need to figure out who this affects more. does it effect 800,000 people or millions of people whose taxes are going to be going up who are going to be paying for the wall? that's it. i'm just wondering if they've considered the calculations. >> my take on it -- i can't tell you i'm certain, but my take on it is the democrats are focused like a laser beam on getting daca fixed. it's a huge issue for them and i i think it's the right thing to do. and even the president he's been pretty pro-daca in his statements if you go back to when he was a candidate.
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and i'm a big trump critic. but i think on daca he wants to do the right thing. those strike me as the ingredients for a deal, but we'll see. >> let's talk about a possible democratic wave. voters are always showing signs there will be a democratic wave in 2018. signs there will be. just last night in wisconsin a democrat beat a republican in a seat held by a republican since 2000 in a district that president trump won by 17 points, is this some sort of indicator? is it the canary in the coal mine? how big a deal is this? >> i think it is. i think we've got a big pile of dead canaries. when you step back, it's really not that complicated. we have a republican president who's been massively unpopular. every poll shows it. it's been decades since there's been someone this unpopular, and nobody this unpopular in the
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first-term. democrats are incredibly energized. which means those young democrats who don't normally show-off in a special election are showing up. it's a year to the election. we can't predict the future. but all the signs are there is a democrat surge of intensity. and the president who's backed himself into a cul-de-sac where he only has republican support, has created a political environment where it could be a long day at the office for republicans up for seats in the mid-term. it'll be a battle to hold or lose the house. >> we love having you mike murphy. usually someone of your caliber has something like a book. there's nothing you need to promote here? just happy to come. >> i got a twitter feed. that's therapy for me. i rant and rave a lot. when we come back, president trump's chief of staff in a closed door meeting with hispanic lawmakers admitted his boss was uninformed on the
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a remarkable statement today from white house chief of staff john kelly. during a meeting with congressional hispanic caucus he said that candidate donald trump's positions on the border wall were uninformed. so joining me now to discuss is the congresswoman a new mexico democrat who is chair woman of the caucus. chair woman, thank you so much for joining us. i appreciate it. so let's discuss this. you were in a meeting today between chief kelly, the chief of staff john kelly and congressional hispanic caucus. what did the chief of staff kelly say about this? >> well, he was clearly making the case that if we're bogged down in a 2,000-mile wall because it's a nonstarter for most members of congress and certainly it's a nonstarter for the congressional hispanic caucus, he referenced that president trump is a completely different person than candidate
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trump and that that's not productive, strategic, and that's not what is necessary to secure the border. and that he was an uninformed candidate, and kelly's job is to clearly provide the facts about what would secure the border. and frankly what's refreshing is that he confirmed he made those statements in that meeting. so we're not bogged down and distracted on that part of the meeting. but rather our expectation -- >> he confirmed the statements of what, what was said about the s-hole? >> no, he confirmed today in his press briefings that in fact he said he was not an informed candidate. >> got it. so explain the bipartisan solution you presented the chief of staff for d.r.e.a.m.ers? >> well, we talked about the usa act, which is we keep referring
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to as the two lead cosponsors, congressman aguilar from california, congressman herd from texas, that we have a bipartisan daca fix that protects d.r.e.a.m.ers but also addresses border security, which has really been what the white house has said has got to be part of any policy effort that protects d.r.e.a.m.ers. we have done that. it deals with everything that they've identified without building a 2,000-mile wall or minimizing those protections for d.r.e.a.m.ers. and it's getting growing bipartisan support. it's nearly 30 republicans and 30 democrats in the house. and we feel like it's really got the kind of momentum that it would pass by an overwhelmingly majority in the house of representatives. >> i want you to listen to what kelly said about the border wall tonight. >> in one way another it's possible that we could get the revenue from mexico but not directly from their government.
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>> so did he mention this in your meeting today, and if so what did he say? >> he did not talk about having mexico pay or referencing -- and i saw that whole interview, so he talked about probably increasing visa fees and making changes for nafta so that in fact mexicans and the mexican government in those indirect ways is paying. look, we are all -- i don't know a single member of the democratic caucus who doesn't care about a secure border and is really interested in productive smart ways to accomplish that. and we made really clear in our meeting with kelly, we have a bill that does that. it talks about technology and using evidence-based strategies, improving roads, patching fences and where you need any other kind of investments to secure the border. and we're willing to help you do that, but we are not going to get bogged down in protecting d.r.e.a.m.ers in fantasies and issues that are just not going
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to address in securing the border or making it operationally secure in the near future. >> so do you think you'll get it done? do you think the government's going to shutdown on friday night? >> i wish i had a crystal ball and i could tell you what's going to happen. i can tell you that every single minute of today and tomorrow and friday, members of both parties are diligently working to get this bill over the finish line, have the senate get their bill done. let's go to conference. let's give the white house the chance to govern productively and protect these d.r.e.a.m.ers. it's the kind of work we should have been doing all along. and i'm feeling optimistic how people are motivated. but in the end, only the leadership in the house and senate can make that happen. only they can make the determination they're going to give us a vote on a daca fix or an effort to protect d.r.e.a.m.ers. >> i appreciate your time. when we come back, members of the president's inner circle
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testifying behind closed doors on capitol hill this week. but the white house is making sure they don't say anything president trump doesn't want them to say. we're going to tell you what's going on. and that's next. oh thanks. say, yeah, i took your advice and had geico help with renters insurance- it was really easy. easy. that'd be nice. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." phone: for help with bookcases, say "bookcase." bookcase. i thought this was the dresser? isn't that the bed? phone: i'm sorry, i didn't understand. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." does this mean we're not going out? book-case. see how easy renters insurance can be at geico.com. at outback, big australia is back. our biggest sirloin. our biggest bloom. our biggest entrees ever. and if you're ready to go outback big at home, order right now. outback steakhouse. aussie rules.
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news tonight on the russia investigation. sources telling cnn steve bannon's appearance before the house intelligence committee is an indication of the trump administration's effort to limit testimony to congressional investigators. i want to talk about the latest on the investigation now with cnn political correspondent sara murray. there she is. sara, thanks for joining us. what are we learning today about both steve bannon and cory lewandowski's testimony in front of the house committee? >> we know when steve bannon went he managed to infuriate both republican and democratic members, which is no small feet, because he wouldn't talk about his activities during the transition or during his tenure at the white house. and a number of lawmakers thought that an overly broad
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interpretation of executive privilege. axios did report what was apparently a slip-up. he talked about this meeting that occurred in 2016 between don junior and jared kushner was also at that meeting at trump tower with a number of rugs. and apparently according to axios bannon did say he spoke about that meeting with reince priebus, sean spicer and one who was at one point a spokesperson for the president's legal team. they did not get answers to the questions that they wanted. and they left with a similar feeling from corey lewandowski today. remember he served as donald trump's campaign manager during the presidential campaign before he was fired. and it was a similar situation. corey would not answer any questions about what happened after he left the campaign in 2016. now, he never served in the white house.
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the question whether he could ever exert executive privilege is much muddier. he basically said he was unprepared to answer any questions about what happened after he left the campaign including questions whether he'd spoken to the president about his testimony. >> sara murray in washington. sara, thank you. joining me now a washington democrat who sits on the house intelligence committee. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. you were in the room yesterday and today for bannon and lewandowski and rick dearborn testimony. >> yesterday as has been reported since mr. bannon was evidently ganged by the white house under pretense of executive order, and today we had a witness refusing to answer questions. it begs the question, don, what do they have to hide?
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what are they afraid of? >> do they just refuse or are they just saying executive privilege or pleading the fifth? what's going on? >> though, they're not pleading the fifth. that's a constitutional basis from a legal theory. it was executive privilege, which is dubious at best because it's the president who must assert executive privilege. and he must stipulate certain issue areas or events when he does so. today it was and believe it or not, don, you're hearing this correctly. i'm not prepared. >> that's interesting. and what about your republican colleagues? how are they taking this? are they frustrated or are they okay with this? >> well, yesterday democrats and republicans joined together, as you may have heard, to on the spot issue a subpoena in an intent to compel testimony. today didn't go so well, don. >> congressman, heck, what was the reaction in the room when steve bannon's lawyers spoke to the white house lawyers during the break? >> incredulity.
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>> simple as that. explain. >> well, listen, he's long been departed from the white house. he's asserting executive privilege even though he's not an employee of the white house and hasn't been for quite some time. and he's doing so on his own via a telephone call, not at the specific direction in written form or verbally from the president. a president i might remind you, don, said not that long ago if i am asked to testimony or granted a deposition, i will be glad to do so. it stands in stark contrast or odds with the facts as they are unfolding. >> so it sounds like when you're saying i'm not prepared, it sounds like they're trying to get the questions in advance and then come back and answer them. which, you know, is suspect. >> yeah, that's a good theory. another one might be that they're very concerned about their liability. because, you know, right behind us is bob mueller and his
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investigation. and they may be able to stiff arm us or delay us in the way they did today, but they're not going to be able to stiff arm bob mueller at all. i'd like to remind people -- don, you may not know this. do you know what bob mueller's nickname was when he arrived at the department of justice? >> why don't you tell our audience. >> bobby three sticks. robert mueller the third, robert mueller the hockey player, most importantly robert mueller the boy scout. this is the straightest arrow that ever served i think in the history of the country. this is marine veteran wounded in vietnam and highly decorated. this guy is the epitome and quintessence of professionalism and integrity and honor. and he's going to get at this. and they're not going to pull these chicken coop games with him, i've got to tell you. >> when someone is allowed to come in and you ask them questions and they say i'm not
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prepared to answer the question, i don't know if i could give them anymore of my questions. i would say if you're not prepared, why don't you get prepared and come back. what they're going to do is figure out the answers to the questions and come back and figure out the answers to those questions. and the next set of questions they're going to say i'm not prepared and they're going to go and answer those questions. so i'm not sure i would give away my questions. >> i think they're pretty concerned about what their legal exposure might be. don, think about what might happen during a criminal proceeding and you were a witness and you were asked a question and refused to answer and the defense council said, oh, can we have some time to answer that? it's absurd. >> in an interview in november you said nothing surprises you and people are going to prison. what do you think now? >> oh, yeah, i don't think there's any question. well, we already have two plea deals where mr. flynn and mr. papadopoulos copped felonies.
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these are punishable by up to five years in prison. but as most of us suspect this plea deal was entered into because they're after bigger fish. and i'm pretty sure that director mueller has in mind maybe he'll hold accountable those bigger fish be held accountable. >> i've got to ask you, congressman, about sarah sanders. here's what she said. >> i think we've been dealing with this hoax for a better part of a year. we have to endure the ridiculousness for another month, we can certainly handle it. do the american people deserve that? no, i don't think they do. >> what's your response, congressman? >> abject sadness. we're talking about a foreign power interfering in the heart of our democracy, namely our election system in 2016. it is inarguable at this point. she does a disservice to herself, to the office she represents but most importantly to her country to deny this
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happened and continue to call it a hoax. it happened, period. and nobody else is objecting to that whatsoever. no one doubts that they interfered in our election on a bigger scale than they ever had, and they intend to do it again and are doing it elsewhere. in fact we have some evidence they played a hand in the mexican national election. this is about safeguarding our democracy, and she does not guard us well with such rhetoric. >> congressman denny heck, thank you. >> you're welcome, don. as robert mueller digs deeper into president trump's campaign, what will they find? i'm going to ask a man who's been covering trump for three decades. next. directv has been rated number one in customer satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. but some people still like cable. just like some people like pre-shaken sodas. having their seat kicked on an airplane. being rammed by a shopping cart. sitting in gum. and walking into a glass door.
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don't start humira if you have an infection. join over two hundred and fifty thousand people who have chosen humira. ask your dermatologist about humira and go. white house press secretary calling the russia investigation a hoax. that is the same claim the president makes all the time. that's not stopping special counsel robert mueller. let's discuss that now. david k johnson is here now. the prize winner investigative reporter. the author of the the new book. it's even worse than you think. what the trump administration is doing to america. thank you so much. >> thank you, don. >> it's worse than we think? >> it is.
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in journalism we cover the white house and the congressional leaders and the controversy. my bok is about what is trump doing to our government? he's putting your life in danger. he's putting public safety in danger. he's damaging our long term economic prospects. no one is helping china more to expand the economy and by his inaction on trade deal. they stopd stopped posting since august worker death. 400 people a year die on the job. they don't put the information anymore. i can go on and on enough for the a whole book. >> digging into the president we had you on talking about this. into his financial operations was a red line for the administration. a red line for robert mueller he shouldn't cross. you have been looking into his money dealings for years. what can you tell us about trumps financials? >> well, what mueller is going
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it establish is donald was involved in money laundering. there is some kind of financial connection going on between people in the trump campaign and lt russians or emissaries of the russians. i'd say there's a good chance they'll establish that the trump knew about the hacking of the dnc. ahad had of time. if you look at the e-mail that rob gold stone wrote in june 2016. to don jr. and saying there's no connection. which was flat out lie. and told six lies since then. it says in the e-mail the russian crown prosecutor their attorney general as part of russia's efforts to help, i'm sorry that's not a we'd like to talk would you like help? they were already helping. and the trumps knew it. >> they keep using collusion. do you think -- people believe collusion has been established. >> yes, there's clearly
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collusion. >> it's not a legal term. >> conspiracy is the operative word. lots of people hate conspiracy law and the idea. there's a reason we have them. >> you have over the course of the book in over time how much time have you spent with donald trump. how long have you been covering? >> may of 1988. almost 30 years. he hasn't spoken to me since april of. he threatened to sue he. which he'll never do. i was working on an article. and said if i don't like the way you wrote it i'll sue you. it's a dictator in waiting. >> his son was weighing in on this s hole controversy you can add to it. >> my father sees one color. green. that's all he cares about. the economy. he doesn't see race. he's the least racist person i have met in my life. it's total non-sense. >> that's the line.
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the least racest. he's told me that and many other people. he's from the remarks you can see, the remarks are rayist. there's no way around it. he only sees green. >> he's about money or the presumption of money. he's not about building wealth. he's not a warren buft. he's a cash extractor. and then they fall by the wayside. there are successful casinos in at lanic city. he failed because he pulled money out and didn't put money into them. the trump administration he's different from the previous 44 presidents. we have had racist presidents including one who is andrew jackson. whose portrait hangs in the oval office. we have had competent presidents. incompetent. smart ones bad ones. they tried to make america better. he's totally different.
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the trump presidency is about one thing. donald. full stop, period. end of story. the glorification of the great donald trump. >> how is this different and there was a racial component to it this is different in modern history. >> we haven't had a president in this country like wilson. who was openly racist. until donald. and donald is aggressively racist. and say i'm the lease racist is typical of his con. he's been a con artist his whole life and persuades people to believe what's clearly false. >> interesting. the book is fwraet. there are lots of great quotes in there. i encounselor people to read it. it comes after the other book that came out last week. >> "fire and fury." >> similar to a book you wrote before. >> "fire and fury" by michael wolff.
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confirmed everything in my biography of trump. it backs it up. it is the story of the in fighting in the chaos inside the dysfunctional white house. my book is about here's what they're doing to you and the world. here's why your children will pa pays price. how you're in danger. many of the regulations they're getting rid of will lead to illness and death. he says he's the champion of veterans and yet the budget proposal which if you're a disabled veteran, and my dad was one. 100% disabled. when they want to your cut income. if you were getting 35,000 in disability. it dropped to 13,000. how is that taking care of the forgotten man and making sure veterans are taken care of. >> this is your third book on trump. >> i knew it was an important cultural force. he'll say the most astonishing
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things and people believe him of the he's a master con artist. and he sells himself as this great businessman. he was never a great businessman. there's not a sled of evidence he was a billionaire. his financial disclosure statement 1.4 billion. >> people who saw the apprentice didn't know that. >> that's right. >> people who live in new york. >> that's why he lost in his own precinct nine to one. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, don. >> steve bannon striking a deal with robert mueller to voluntarily speak with his team of investigators. what will he say? at social media. she buys stocks in companies that "stand for something." you like her. she's always up on the latest trends. she got in early on the whole goat yoga thing.
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the future is for the unafraid. ♪ all because of you ♪ ♪ you won't see these folks they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. coming at you with my brand-new vlog. just making some ice in my freezer here. so check back for that follow-up vid. this is my cashew guy bruno. holler at 'em, brun. kicking it live and direct here at the fountain.
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