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The United States economy soared in the second quarter, growing at its fastest pace in about

four years.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday that the world's largest economy expanded

at a 4-point-1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, its fastest rate since

the third quarter of 2014.

This is a 2-point-8 percent jump from the same period last year, and nearly double the

first quarter rate of 2-point-2 percent.

The economic boom was driven by a 4-percent jump in consumer spending and a 7-point-3

percent growth in business investment,... which analysts say was encouraged by the 1-point-5

trillion dollar tax cut at the start of the year.

For more infomation >> U.S. economy grows at 4.1% annual rate in 2nd quarter - Duration: 0:44.

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North Korea Hands Over Remains of Korean War Soldiers to US - Duration: 1:02.

For more infomation >> North Korea Hands Over Remains of Korean War Soldiers to US - Duration: 1:02.

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BREAKING Boom! U S District Attorney Announcement…Will Pursue TREASON Charges Against OBAMA! - Duration: 11:54.

BREAKING: Boom!

U.S. District Attorney Announcement…Will Pursue TREASON Charges Against OBAMA!

Since he first stepped into office, President Trump made perfectly clear that the law mustn't

be broken by any of us, and that no one is above it.

He said that one of his first orders of business, when he becomes commander in chief, is to

rearrange many of Obama's orders, including the one signed by him in his last days in

office, removing Dana Boente as second in line for Attorney General.

Dana Boente was bereaved of his position by the Obama administration without any reasonable

justification.

But now that we have a new commander in chief, he is coming back and will unleash hell to

all liberals who will attempt to sabotage President Trump in any way.

In the meantime, former President Obama is effortless working with the Deep-State in

order to overthrow Trump through all kinds of riots, which Boente thinks to be a form

of "domestic terrorism."

Obama has obviously made his life goal to fight President Trump and to take the power

away from him with a help from his supporters, giving them orders from his home just 2 miles

away from the White House.

A report by Read Conservative News says:

WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA IMMEDIATELY UPON LEAVING OFFICE ESTABLISHING A PRIVATE WEBSITE AND

PROCLAIMING ON IT THAT "I WON'T STOP; IN FACT, I WILL BE RIGHT THERE WITH YOU, AS

A CITIZEN, FOR ALL MY DAYS THAT REMAIN."

IT'S OBVIOUS TO EVEN LAYMEN TO DEDUCE THAT "THE BERKELEY RIOTS MAY HAVE BEEN ORDERED

BY PRESIDENT OBAMA HIMSELF."

THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE FOR THE FBI TO IMPLICATE OBAMA FOR SEDITION AND TREASON BUT BEHIND

THE SCENES, THERE IS FIERCE DEBATE OVER THE FALLOUT INCLUDING WORRYING ABOUT TRAITORS

AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT IF ACTION WAS TAKEN AGAINST THE AGITATOR IN CHIEF.

Lou Dobbs explained during his news program that "Barack Obama, who many claim will

be creating a shadow government to frustrate the policy goals of this administration, we're

looking at something that's coming very close to, it seems to me, sedition."

Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and

is instead promoting mainstream media sources.

When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content.

Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with

your

friends and family.

Thank you.

For more infomation >> BREAKING Boom! U S District Attorney Announcement…Will Pursue TREASON Charges Against OBAMA! - Duration: 11:54.

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Political Expert Weighs In On U.S. Debt, Cohen Tapes, Mayor Garcetti - Duration: 5:37.

For more infomation >> Political Expert Weighs In On U.S. Debt, Cohen Tapes, Mayor Garcetti - Duration: 5:37.

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The Emperor of the United States - Duration: 13:17.

In the 1870s, several economic crises came about in parts of the United States and many

Americans lost their jobs.

From this, a movement against Chinese immigrant labor arose throughout the American West,

leading to the creation of the Workingmen's Party organization and an anti-Chinese attitude

in places like San Francisco.

On the afternoon in question, a group of Chinese immigrants find themselves surrounded on the

street by a mob of angry out-of-work Americans, and it appears that a riot is on the verge

of breaking out.

But before the first brick can be thrown or shot fired, a vagrant in a tattered, blue

Army officer's uniform steps between the two parties.

He wears a beaver hat decorated with a large peacock feather, and the only weapons in his

possession are a rusted sabre and a cane, which he uses to walk.

The vagrant is Joshua Abraham Norton - The Emperor of the United States - and before

we continue, you must first learn how it was that he came to power.

Norton was born in London, England on February 4, 1818, but his mother and father soon moved

to South Africa as part of a government-backed colonization scheme.

They worked there for many years as merchants, eventually amassing a small fortune.

After his mother died in 1846, and his father in 1848, Norton inherited their wealth and

sailed west to America, arriving in San Francisco in late 1849.

At the age of 29, and with $40,000 in hand, or, the equivalent of 1.1 million dollars

by today's standards, he opened a business selling mining supplies in an effort to capitalize

on the gold rush.

Though eccentric, Norton was a brilliant businessman, and he soon jumped into real estate, buying

up the land which is now known as Cow Hollow.

Within no time at all, he became one of the most well-respected and wealthy businessmen

in San Francisco.

In December of 1852, Norton struck upon a new business venture: at the time, China was

facing a severe famine, and had responded by placing a ban on the export of rice.

This caused the price of grain in San Francisco, and places all across the Americas to skyrocket

by over 800%.

A business contact tipped Norton off to an incoming ship that supposedly contained the

last haul of Peruvian rice that would be sent to America that year.

Norton decided to corner the rice market, and when the ship arrived to the mainland,

he quickly invested $25,000 into the venture and purchased the entire 200,000 pound shipment.

Norton's dreams of having a monopoly on grain soon vanished, however, when, less than

a week later, two more ships containing Peruvian rice arrived, causing the market price to

plummet to even lower than before the famine had hit China.

Incensed, Norton sued the man who had misled him about the shipment, and after a long and

costly court case, the California Supreme Court ruled against him.

The bank foreclosed on his real estate, and, having lost everything, Norton declared bankruptcy.

At this point in our story, Joshua Abraham Norton fades from the pages of history, vanishing

from public life.

It is commonly believed that, at the loss of his fortune, Norton disappeared after experiencing

a complete mental breakdown.

He would not be heard from again until September 17, 1859 when he walked into the offices of

the San Francisco Bulletin, and demanded the editor publish the following proclamation:

"At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I,

Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the past nine years

and ten months of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these

United States..."

The paper, for whatever reason, decided to humor Norton - and they published the statement

in its entirety.

What may have seemed like a one-off moment of madness took a heightened turn as Norton

soon began making public appearances, dressed in a mixture of Union and Confederate military

regalia, a signature feathered-beaver hat, and a ceremonial saber strapped to his side.

The self-declared Emperor began strolling through the streets of San Francisco, inspecting

the conditions of the sidewalks and cable cars, public buildings, and even ensuring

that police officers made regular patrols to keep the city safe.

He often gathered large crowds together on various corners and launched into lengthy

philosophical expositions on a variety of topics including the state of American politics,

and his plans for the future of his empire.

The public, for what it was worth, ate this persona up.

Within a few months, Emperor Norton had become a local celebrity, and he continued to have

his proclamations and Imperial Decrees published by The Bulletin and other local papers to

the delight of the general public.

On October 12, 1859, he made a decree to formally abolish the United States Congress.

In March of 1860, he issued an imperial decree in which he summoned the Army to depose all

newly-elected officials of the congress.

The Army refused the order.

Hoping to resolve the many disputes that had resulted in the Civil War, Norton issued a

mandate in 1862 that ordered the Roman Catholic Church and all Protestant churches to publicly

ordain him as "Emperor".

On August 12, 1869, fed up with political strife, he declared the complete abolition

of the Democratic and Republican parties.

(Sadly, this order, too, was ignored.)

In 1872, he issued an edict that made it a misdemeanor for anyone to refer to the city

of San Francisco as "Frisco" - and violators would be subject to a fine of $25.

While many of these decrees seem bizarre, Norton occasionally gave orders that would

prove quite prophetic.

He issued instructions for the United States to form a League of Nations, which, a few

decades later, actually happened.

He issued a decree that a suspension bridge be built that would connect San Francisco

to Oakland - an idea that actually became reality on November 12, 1936.

But Norton took his emperorship even further than the occasional newspaper clipping and

public appearance: he would actually write letters to world leaders - and some would

even write back.

In time, Emperor Norton had established real, international relationships.

He even met with Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.

King Kamehameha of Hawaii, toward the end of his life, refused to recognize the U.S.

State Department, saying instead that he would deal only with Emperor Norton.

Locally, Norton excelled at public relations.

He was a beloved public figure, and a constant attendant of the city's churches, theatres,

civic gatherings, and commencements.

Shops soon began selling Emperor Norton merchandise (including dolls, cartoons, postcards, and

cigars) which only caused his popularity to increase.

Soon, he was a living tourist attraction.

Though a vagrant, Norton's celebrity allowed him to enjoy several comforts.

He rented a room in a cheap boarding house for half a dollar a night, he had his own

reserved box seats at several theatres, and restaurants would let him eat for free, knowing

it would bring in customers.

The city gave him a free rail pass and allowed him to use public transportation at no cost

- retail stores would give him free clothing, so they could advertise that *they* outfitted

the Emperor, and most upscale establishments let him in at no charge.

He EVEN printed his own currency - which several business in San Francisco honored.

The outside observer might come to the conclusion that Norton had completely lost his mind - but

through it all, he remained quite the businessman.

He would speak with anyone who wished to meet him - and he made a nice collection of royalties

for every piece of Emperor Norton merchandise that local stores sold.

Despite his reputation as a rogue, unelected and unrecognized world leader, Emperor Norton

only had a single run-in with United States Law Enforcement: In 1867, a policeman named

Armand Barbier arrested him for vagrancy, and then, after a few conversations, further

charged him with lunacy.

Local newspapers immediately wrote scathing editorials informing the public of his imprisonment,

and, during his hearing, outraged citizens poured into the courtroom to protest.

Seeing the massive public backlash led the local police chief Patrick Crowley to release

the Emperor and issue a formal apology on behalf of the entire police force - in fact,

he issued an order for all San Francisco officers from that point forward to salute Emperor

Norton if they passed him in the street.

For his part, Norton granted an "Imperial Pardon" to the man who arrested him.

Whether this was the general public enabling a man suffering from insanity, or simply all

an act by a businessman who knew how to turn a profit, is still hotly debated to this day

- but in the two decades Norton reigned, the truth didn't matter.

Even a man with self-appointed power can have that power if all others are willing to give

it to him.

Which leads us back to the streets of San Francisco sometime in the mid 1870s…

Where Joshua Abraham Norton - The Emperor of the United States, stands between an angry

mob and a group of Chinese immigrants.

The out-of-work men of San Francisco pause their attack at the sight of the emperor.

The men fall silent, and, with their full attention, Joshua Abraham Norton bows his

head and begins to recite the Lord's Prayer.

"Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom And the power

And the glory, forever.

Amen."

The Emperor continues to quote scripture over, and over, and over... and after a few minutes,

the mob disperses - the incident ends without injury.

Years later, on the rainy evening of January 8, 1880, Emperor Norton collapsed on the corner

of California Street and Dupont Street (now Grant Avenue) in front of Old St. Mary's Church

while on his way to a lecture at the California Academy of Sciences.

A nearby police officer (who just happened to be on patrol) immediately came to his aid

and requested a carriage to take him to the hospital.

Norton died before the carriage could arrive.

It was soon discovered that Norton, in his final years, lived and died in poverty.

He had five dollars in change in his pocket, and in his room at the boarding house was

a single gold coin worth $2.50, a collection of walking sticks, his saber, a few tattered

hats, a single franc, a collection of Emperor Norton imperial bonds, some telegrams, a few

letters, and 98 shares in a defunct gold mine.

Though he had scarcely enough money to his name for a coffin, several area clubs and

businessmen donated money to give him a proper burial.

The Emperor was laid to rest on a Sunday, two days after his death.

30,000 people lined the streets for his funeral.

A day later, a total eclipse occurred over the city.

And just like that, the light went out in San Francisco.

This episode of Really Weird History is brought to you by Brilliant.

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In fact, the first 200 people that go to that link will get 20% off the annual Premium subscription.

So, be one of the lucky few by checking out Brilliant today.

For more infomation >> The Emperor of the United States - Duration: 13:17.

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Putin: US Making A Huge Mistake For Using Dollar As Political Tool Against Russia - Duration: 4:25.

You have said many times that Russia must reduce its dependence on the US dollar. Russia has recently been selling US treasury bonds, bringing the share in the reserves down to nearly zero.

Is this all you plan to do? Is this a new state policy, or just protection against the potential extension of the sanctions?

Could it be a BRICS country currency, for example the yuan? We know that the Bank of Russia is increasing its share of yuan denominated assets.

If I may, there is one more question I simply have to ask.

Let me answer this question first, and then you can ask your second question.

Russia is not giving up on the dollar, which is a universal reserve currency.

The Euro can also claim this status more or less, but not fully. Therefore, we are well aware of what the dollar represents today.

As for reserve currencies as such, regional ones are already appearing. To a certain extent, the Russian ruble plays this role in the CIS or EAEU countries.

In general, the strength and value of any national currency depends on the strength and value of the economy standing behind it. We must proceed from these fundamental assumptions.

A few words about the dollar again. We must minimise the risks. We are seeing what is happening with the sanctions that are essentially illegal restrictions. We are aware of the risks and are trying to minimise them.

As for the dollar as a reserve currency, we are not alone in talking about this problem, and it is becoming a problem. You are wrong if you think that this is Russia's initiative.

A great number of countries are talking about exactly this – the need to expand the capabilities of global finance and the global economy, and create new reserve currencies.

This will make the global economy and global finance more stable. This is abundantly clear.

As for our American partners and the restrictions that they are introducing, including in those dollar settlements, I believe this is a big strategic mistake on their behalf

because they are thus undermining confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency. This is the bottom line.

Quite recently, just several years ago, it did not occur to anyone that such instruments might be used in political struggle, in political competition.

Everyone proceeded from the premise that politics is politics or as we joke here: "War is war but lunch is still on schedule."

The same should be true here: disputes are disputes, but when it comes to economics, some things are absolutely stable and immutable.

It turned out this was not the case: payment systems are being used as a political argument in political disputes and in settling differences; currency is being used, too.

I believe it is absolutely clear that this is damaging the dollar as the world reserve currency and undermining trust in it – this is what it is all about.

If this were not the case, there would not be a desire on the part of not one but dozens of countries to consider other options.

It is hard to say now what these options are, but the yuan is certainly acquiring such qualities.

I believe that if it becomes freely convertible from an economic standpoint, this process will accelerate. But it has already been added to the IMF basket, so this is nothing special, a natural process.

Let me repeat that the importance of a national currency depends on the significance of the economy behind it.

Again, we are not going to make any abrupt movements. We are not going to give up on the dollar in any way.

We will use it to the extent to which the US financial authorities will not prevent the use of the dollar in settlements.

For more infomation >> Putin: US Making A Huge Mistake For Using Dollar As Political Tool Against Russia - Duration: 4:25.

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Can This Tournament Help Fix US Soccer? - Duration: 6:20.

It's no secret the United States has

a long way to go as a football nation.

When we missed the World Cup in 2010.

The backlash and the outrage was enormous

but so was the call for change.

So much of what we need to fix has to start

at the base of youth development

and so much of what we need to do to improve

can be seen right here.

We're at the inaugural ICC futures

tournament with better days ahead for U.S.

soccer are taking roots.

Eight of the top European academies,

eight MLS academies,

and eight all star teams have convened

in Orlando, Florida.

For a chance to compete

and learn in a truly professional environment.

For any soccer player in the U.S. that aspires

to become a professional ICC Futures

is the opportunity of a lifetime.

It was something we'd been talking about for about

a year and a half to start doing something

on the youth side that would have an impact

and help player development here in the US.

There's 24 teams

and eight groups of three teams.

I wanted to have one team from

each category in each group so we have

a team from Europe.

An MLS team and a All Star Team.

Our players never in their lives

they would think that they would come to something like this.

To play against against a team like that.

It's been a great experience.

We actually got to play against Celtic. That

was a good game kind of a blow

but it's the experience that you want to play against

the best.

But it's not just for the players.

This tournament gives a chance for coaches to learn

from some of the world's best.

Better coaches equals better players

and better environment.

So having an opportunity like this event

to watch some of the best talk some of the coaches

are very important.

These players are very impressionable

and if they're able to see

and sense from some of the best in the world at

this age it gives them targets

and it also allows us to understand where

we are in our process.

It's a good experience knowing how the other team plays

and now we know where we are compared to

them.

Some of the European teams,

we've learned playing against them.

We learn what

they have done right, with the groups and their teams.

We

want these young players to be

treated like they would if they were professional players

and put them into situations where

they're playing in front of people.

It's being filmed,

their doing interviews they're getting

a feel for what life will be if they

hopefully continue on the path towards

being a professional soccer player.

To make sense of just how big an opportunity

this tournament is for players in the U.S.

we only have to look back a short while.

The academy system in the U.S. is only 10

or 11 years old 2007 right,

that's when it first started?

You imagine a tournament like this 10 20

years ago?

Not in a million years not

and it wasn't even on my radar.

To see something like this

and to see Arsenal here, and to see Chelesea here

and Cletic here.

It's unbelievable.

I'm on my way to watch Illinois Allstars play against

European giant Tottenham Hotspur.

These Illinois players are some of the most talented in the country

and yet many of them can't find a club

or academy that helps them grow in a professional

environment.

But now they're about to play against one of the most famous

academies in the world.

And just like that Illinois goes up, just go to show the quality there is

in these All Star teams.

I think the expectation going into the tournament was that the European

teams would dominate especially against the

All Star teams that would struggle a bit.

But it just hasn't been the case.

I think that the difference in quality

isn't as big as we had thought.

Coming into this tournament,

I said okay Arsenal,

Chelsea FC,

these guys are gonna blow these guys away.

It hasn't happened. It hasn't happenend.

Penalty to

Spurs saved by the Illinois

All Star keeper.

After an hour our game still

tied at 1 so we are entering

penalties let's see how the Illinois team can hold up against Spurs.

Illinois falls to Spurs in penalties

but they did take them to the limit.

They showed what they're made of they showed their talent

and it shows what this tournament is about

and how much these players can showcase

themselves on such a big stage.

While ICC Futures is the perfect representation of

what is possible in youth development.

This level of soccer just isn't the norm

yet in this country.

What you think is the big difference

between the European academies

and these American academies

and American teams.

Obviously length of time,

many European academies

have been around for such a long time.

It's a very new concept in the

US and it's going to take a while to catch up.

Many of the coaches I saw in my time

were coaching from an American

football standpoint you are starting

now to see coaches in coach

know from a soccer standpoint which

is a completely different animal altogether.

I think there were some fundamental differences in

terms of possible facilities,

environment in general.

But I do think in those areas that we're making great strides.

Another amazing aspect of this tournament

and possibly the most important is that none of

the teams or players have to pay a dime

to be here.

While so many players are priced out of the game

in this country,

ICC wants to make sure that if you're good enough

you're given an opportunity.

The issue is the cost of

soccer in the US.

Our kids can't afford to be in an academy program because of the cost.

There's

a lot of great talent out there.

We just have to find it

and it's got to be affordable for them.

Some of these academy teams are expensive are to play in

or are maybe not nearby

and so their not able to make that drive

to one of these academies.

We paid for all the travel

and hotels

and food

and Puma provided all the uniforms

and the shoes for all the players on the All-Star

teams.

We partnered with Rakuten as well,

and between Rakuten

and Puma they really made this possible.

The idea here

with the All-Star teams is

at the age of 14 there's a lot of kids

now players who are on a pathway

to professional soccer

with the MLS development academies.

But there's also good quality players

in every state who are not playing

at that level and it gives a chance for

those players to be

seen.

As You can see ICC Futures is like

nothing we've ever had in this country before.

These players and coaches spent the week in Orlando

competing with some of the most talented U

14 players in the world.

The United States is still growing as a football

nation, but Futures signals a

clear step in the right direction.

In the second part of this two doc series, we're

gonna get into the action

and examine what's happening on the field at

ICC Futures.

For more infomation >> Can This Tournament Help Fix US Soccer? - Duration: 6:20.

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McFaul: Trump Should 'Push Back' On Putin Demands To Interrogate U.S. Officials | MTP Daily | MSNBC - Duration: 7:34.

For more infomation >> McFaul: Trump Should 'Push Back' On Putin Demands To Interrogate U.S. Officials | MTP Daily | MSNBC - Duration: 7:34.

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Does the GDP report prove that the US economy is strong? - Duration: 3:46.

For more infomation >> Does the GDP report prove that the US economy is strong? - Duration: 3:46.

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U.S. Election Security Suffers For Lack Of Oval Office Leadership | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC - Duration: 5:07.

For more infomation >> U.S. Election Security Suffers For Lack Of Oval Office Leadership | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC - Duration: 5:07.

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North Korea Returns Remains Of U.S. Troops Killed In Korean War | NBC Nightly News - Duration: 1:43.

For more infomation >> North Korea Returns Remains Of U.S. Troops Killed In Korean War | NBC Nightly News - Duration: 1:43.

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The U.S. economy surges to a 4.1% growth rate while the trade war persists - Duration: 25:40.

ROBERT COSTA: The economy roars, and so does the trade war. President Trump claims his

policies are responsible for an uptick in economic growth and his critics wonder is it

sustainable. I'm Robert Costa. We talk trade, taxes, and have the latest on Mr.

Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, tonight on Washington Week.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) I am thrilled to announce that the United States

economy grew at the amazing rate of 4.1 percent.

We're on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years.

ROBERT COSTA: President Trump touts a surging economy that grew during the second

quarter at the strongest pace in nearly four years.

He also took a victory lap over his recent trade discussions with the European Union.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) As the trade deals come in one by one, we're going

to go a lot higher than these numbers.

ROBERT COSTA: But some Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly wary of the

president's moves, saying the just-announced $12 billion in aid for farmers is a federal

bailout that proves the president's policy has limits.

HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN (R-WI): (From video.) I don't think tariffs are the right

answer. I don't - I don't support tariffs. I think tariffs are taxes.

ROBERT COSTA: And leaders of the House Freedom Caucus call for the impeachment of Deputy

Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the ongoing Russia probe.

It's a move the attorney general does not support.

ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS: (From video.) My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly

capable. I have the highest confidence in him.

ROBERT COSTA: Plus, Mr. Trump's longtime attorney Michael Cohen accuses the president

of having prior knowledge about a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that included his son, campaign

advisors, and Russians who were offering incriminating information about Hillary Clinton.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) Just remember what you're seeing and what you're

reading is not what's happening.

ROBERT COSTA: We cover it all next.

ANNOUNCER: This is Washington Week. Once again, from Washington, moderator Robert Costa.

ROBERT COSTA: Good evening. President Trump held up today's 4.1 percent growth report

as vindication of his economic policies, and the president insisted the second quarter

numbers are not a one-shot bounce.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) As the trade deals come in one by one, we're going

to go a lot higher than these numbers. These numbers are very, very sustainable.

This isn't a one-time shot.

ROBERT COSTA: But the administration's tariffs are startling - starting to rattle some

farmers out in the Midwest and elsewhere who are seeing a decrease in international

sales. Many Republicans say the $12 billion assistance plan for the industry

is not enough or a long-term solution.

REPRESENTATIVE DAVID YOUNG (R-IA): (From video.) This is coming from the effect of what

the administration has done, and it's an admonition that tariffs are harming agriculture

and harming farmers, and so it's not what they prefer.

ROBERT COSTA: But the president has pulled back from an all-out trade war with the

European Union, agreeing to adjust his proposals.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) This was a very big day for free and fair trade.

We agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff

barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.

ROBERT COSTA: Joining me tonight, Ana Swanson of The New York Times - welcome to

Washington Week; Josh Green of Bloomberg Businessweek, our old friend here; Nancy Cordes

of CBS News, another; and another, Vivian Salama of The Wall Street Journal. Ana, it's

great to have you here at our roundtable. The president took a lot of credit today for

these growth numbers. Can he take credit for this economic growth?

ANA SWANSON: That's right, he did. Well, in general I think that presidents tend to take

too much credit both in good times and in bad for the cycles that the economy goes through.

We are seeing very strong growth right now, 4.1 percent in this quarter, and GDP growth

this year could rise to 3 percent for the first time in over a decade. So those are very

strong numbers for the president. On the other hand, the question is how long do these

numbers last? And we think some of this is the effect of the tax cut.

And economists see that fading somewhat into next year.

And then also we had some very interesting numbers with trade as well, with the trade

tariffs increasing growth now but not in the way that the president probably wanted.

Actually pulling forward purchases, so people were trying to buy goods ahead of those

tariffs going into effect. So that's likely to drop off as well in coming quarters.

ROBERT COSTA: So you're saying maybe there's a frenzy of activity before next quarter.

So this will this frenzy of economic activity, all this growth, be sustainable if people

are trying to buy now and do different deals now before the tariffs kick in?

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, Trump says yes. Most economists say no.

I mean, as Ana alluded to, what happened was a lot of foreign buyers of U.S.

agricultural goods, like soybeans, moved forward a lot their purchases that would have

been made in the - in the next three months in the third quarter into second quarter in

anticipation that these products were going to be hit by tariffs, as they were on July

6th. And so that added about - a little bit over a percentage point to GDP growth,

which gave us this big headline number today. But if you think forward to what's going

to happen over the next three months, you know, those purchases are now gone.

They've already happened.

And so it's going to be tough for Trump to figure out a way to fill in that gap and

produce, as he says he will, a sustainable number in the 3 percent, 4 percent range.

ROBERT COSTA: Nancy, we've been looking at reports from different campaign forecasts.

And the Democrats seem to be gaining momentum ahead of the midterm elections, but

Republicans must like this report as they try to tout the tax cut and rally ahead of November.

NANCY CORDES: Sure, I mean, they'll take it. Regardless of what the reason for

the surge is, they can now get out there on the campaign trail.

Republicans heading home for that five-week recess in the House.

And they'll be, you know, talking about 4.1 percent everywhere they go.

That's a great number for them. And even if it does fall off in the third quarter, that's

only two weeks before the midterm elections. A lot of people have made up their minds by then.

The problem for Republicans is that people tend to vote more on whether wages are rising

or falling than what the overall GDP looks like. That's a number that people don't

really feel. And wages have basically been stagnant. If you think back to 2014,

President Obama had great GDP numbers, even better in the second and third quarter.

And Democrats did terribly in those midterm elections. They lost control of the Senate.

ROBERT COSTA: So the president's happy about these numbers. But he's also getting

some pushback from Republicans on trade. And we saw some movement this week.

You were at the White House, Vivian, reporting on the West Wing, deep inside, about how

the president seems to be taking a few steps back on trade with his deal with the EU.

VIVIAN SALAMA: That's right. And unlike a lot of meetings where when they go into

these meetings generally speaking a lot of the details are already ironed out,

this was something that was touch and go until the very end.

And it was fascinating for us to watch and report on, where literally as of Tuesday night

they started to say, wait, maybe we can actually come together and work something out.

And all through their meetings on Wednesday, between President Trump and the European

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, they were really - it was really unsure until

the very end if they were going to do it. And so President Trump obviously coming

out super excited about the fact that he was able to say, hey, I brought you guys

something. I'm doing a deal. I'm helping our farmers.

And he really didn't go into these meetings expecting that much.

And so the White House was really excited about that, and especially, A, because they

could deliver something to the Republicans who are now going back to their home states

and campaigning ahead of midterms, but also coming off of a really rough week last week.

A lot of backlash after the president's meetings with President Putin in Helsinki. They felt

like this really kind of turned things around for them. And so it was a good momentum

for them to go in. And now the GDP numbers coming out today just capped that week off for them.

ROBERT COSTA: But what's actually in the deal with the EU? Is it an actual deal?

Because sometimes the details matter. It's not just about the president

claiming credit for some kind of broad-stroke agreement.

ANA SWANSON: Right. Well, both the Americans and the Europeans called this a deal,

but I would characterize it more as a deal to begin talking about a deal. (Laughter.)

And the details were pretty vague right now. The highlights were that the president

said the European Union had agreed to purchase more natural gas and more soybeans.

We have to see how exactly that would work and when those purchases would go into effect.

In addition, the two governments will be talking about reducing tariffs on a variety of

goods, including industrial goods. And then the two sides also agreed to talk about reforms

at the World Trade Organization, a lot of which seemed specifically aimed at China.

And many people interpreted that as a good sign, that the United States and the European

Union were once again on the same side with regard to China's unfair trade practices.

ROBERT COSTA: So that's one high level, Josh, about where this whole trade debate's

going, and the president working with the EU. But what about down where it matters

for people day to day? And it's not just the Midwest. I mean, it could be

lobstermen in Maine who are dealing with the effects of this trade war.

JOSHUA GREEN: Yeah, I think the immediate effects of Trump's trade war are not going to

be economic in the macro sense. Most economists aren't really worried yet about the

effects of the trade war because the tariffs are such a small percentage of the overall

U.S. economy. Where I think it's going to hit, though, is individual states and

industries, especially states that voted for Trump, and all sorts of localized areas.

So we've heard plenty about soybean farmers in Iowa, and it's certainly going to hurt

there. But these tariffs are spread across all sorts of different industries. You

mentioned lobstermen in Maine. I mean, they're subject to a Chinese seafood tariff, but

their lobster traps have also gotten more expensive because they're made with Canadian

steel. And so all across the country - whether it's, you know, Alaska, Minnesota,

Iowa, South Carolina - places where there are competitive House races this fall.

These tariffs are becoming localized issues in the way that we may not see on the

national news every night, but that voters in these states absolutely see and feel.

ROBERT COSTA: So why aren't Republicans speaking out more publicly? We hear it, Nancy,

privately. They're free trade Republicans. They don't like where this is going.

But they're reluctant to say much.

NANCY CORDES: Right. And it's interesting because on the campaign trail, you're

starting to hear some Democratic challengers say: You've got to get off the fence

and say where you stand on this. And South Carolina is a perfect example, because the

entire South Carolina Republican delegation has basically either stayed mum or has said,

you know what, maybe you need some short-term pain for long-term gain. The president

is going to negotiate something that is better in the long run for U.S. businesses.

The problem is that he has shown an ability to start a lot of negotiations over all types

of things - trade, and immigration, and everything else - not as much of a track record

on actually completing those negotiations.

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, and this is what Republicans privately say they're very worried

about. They are furious that Trump started this fight four months before the midterm

elections. And what you see, just anecdotally talking to autoworkers, talking to

farmers, is a lot of them are sticking with Trump for now. They're saying, well, we got

to give him room to negotiate. But we'll need to watch over the next couple months. Do these -

do these farmers and autoworkers peel away as the bite of this tariff starts to take effect?

ROBERT COSTA: Well, the president's throwing them a $12 billion trade package.

Is that enough, inside of the White House?

VIVIAN SALAMA: Well, it's a lot of money, but the point is, is that no one is convinced

that it's going to yield any long-term solutions.

And the problem from the White House perspective is that, yes, it's before midterm

elections, but one of the issues that President Trump takes issue with most is that he

feels like Congress, on this issue in particular, is starting to undermine his authority

to make these trade deals. And when they sit there and push back, and they don't

kind of trust his instincts to go for these long-term deals, he feels like they're

basically trying to derail any of his efforts to help these voters down the line.

ROBERT COSTA: Final thought on this. Ana, the president may be having a

handshake with the EU, but his trade war with China seems to continue.

ANA SWANSON: That's right. So there are trade wars on many different fronts right now.

So we've seen a step back with the European Union. However, that could be a temporary step back.

And meanwhile, we still have negotiations with the North American Free Trade Agreement

with Canada and Mexico, and a very big, potentially damaging conflict with China that

needs to be resolved. So there's a lot on the administration's plate when it comes to trade.

ROBERT COSTA: Are those countries expecting any movement? They see the president

moved with the EU. Do they expect him to maybe move before the midterms on their

own deals, their own agreements?

ANA SWANSON: Well, potentially. There is some discussion about trying to finish

the NAFTA agreement before the end of August. But it's still pretty much up in the air.

It's possible that this could prove to be a blueprint for these other agreements.

But it's also possible that other negotiations could be a blueprint for how this goes.

We did see with China the two sides come to what seemed like tentative agreements and

then actually have the president decide that those weren't tough enough measures and walk

them back. So could that happen with the EU as well? We'll have to see.

ROBERT COSTA: It is fascinating. You had a great tick-tock, Vivian, about how

everyone's trying to evaluate President Trump. How do you get him to move, to budge

on this signature issue of trade? And we'll come back to this next week.

But let's turn our attention to New York City, and the saga of Michael Cohen, the

president's longtime lawyer and loyal advisor, who is now signaling his willingness to

cooperate with federal investigators looking into Russian interference in the 2016

presidential campaign. At The Washington Post, I've been reporting on Mr. Cohen's

legal maneuvers all week. Here's what you need to know. Cohen is under siege, under

federal investigation in the Big Apple for bank fraud, and the FBI is looking into

his business dealings in New York. His break with the president has been dramatic.

A week ago The New York Times reported that Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with

then-candidate Trump in which they discussed payments to a former model who said she had

an affair with Mr. Trump. The tape is one of many the FBI seized in a raid on Cohen's

office earlier this year. Then, last Sunday, CNN obtained that recording we just

talked about and broadcast it. Mr. Cohen can be heard briefing Mr. Trump on financial

arrangements and Mr. Trump is engaged in the discussion. Here's why all of this

matters - it's a lot, I know. Trump's campaign ahead of the election had denied the

candidate had any knowledge of payments to the model, Karen McDougal.

It also raises questions about possible campaign finance law violations.

And it shows Cohen is willing to share tapes of his old boss.

Josh, we've been covering President Trump for some time. We'd go up to Trump Tower;

there would be Michael Cohen, the fixer, the confidant. To see him break like this,

to release the recording, what does it mean for this White House?

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, it's shocking, first of all, because Cohen has been associated as

Trump's, you know, fixer, protector, lackey, and attack dog, including with reporters,

for - you know, going back years.

So the fact that he's broken and is kind of openly flouting the material he claims to

have on Trump - not just this one tape that CNN had, but according to news reports over a

hundred tapes of recorded conversations - means that he's potentially a very valuable

witness against Trump should Bob Mueller, the special counsel, and his investigators

decide to bring him in and try and offer him some kind of a deal to testify or provide

damaging material about Trump.

ROBERT COSTA: Is the White House considering a pardon, Vivian, when they watch this

spectacle, they watch Cohen make all of these moves?

VIVIAN SALAMA: Well, frankly, they don't even want to touch the issue.

Every time we ask, they refer us to President Trump's outside counsel, Rudy Giuliani, and

others. Frankly speaking, though, it's fascinating to watch because, again, it's

like what Josh was saying, this was the man who a year ago was saying he would

take a bullet for President Trump, and now we see him turning in this way.

But President Trump, remember, takes loyalty very seriously.

And something like this, someone who was so loyal to him for so long, could really, you

know, just upset him in a way that we've not seen before and question those who are

closest to him because they could flip.

NANCY CORDES: What's really amazing about this saga is it's such a stark reminder that

so many people who are involved feel so little responsibility to the truth.

I mean, Michael Cohen, after Don Trump Jr.

was interviewed, said I'm so glad that he told the entire truth about his meeting in

Trump Tower and, you know, obviously, the president knew nothing about it.

Now Michael Cohen said, actually, the president did know all about it.

Rudy Giuliani a few weeks ago said Michael Cohen is an incredibly honest man; I trust

him. Now he says he's been a liar his entire life.

When you're hearing this from both sides, it makes it very difficult -

ROBERT COSTA: They were trying to keep him contained, and then he explodes

out with all this information.

NANCY CORDES: Right. But, you know, at the same time, you know, if people are willing

to change their stories not a little bit - you know, this is not tweaking around the margins.

These are 180-degree turns. And it really makes you wonder who, if anybody, is telling the truth.

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, to me it makes the existence of tapes all the more important

because, as you said, you've had Rudy Giuliani calling him a great lawyer and a terrible

lawyer. You've had Trump defending - or you've had Cohen defending Trump and going against him.

I'm not sure who's really got credibility to be able to sort of testify, but if there are

tapes or something that investigators can draw on to establish, you know, contemporaneous

truth of what actually happened, I think that's going to be important.

ROBERT COSTA: There aren't tapes about one of the big things that came out.

CNN then reported that Michael Cohen has knowledge of President Trump's awareness, his

prior knowledge, Cohen alleges, of that 2016 meeting at Trump Tower where Donald Trump

Jr. met with Russian figures. They discussed dirt on Secretary Clinton's campaign.

Cohen is now saying he's aware of some exchange between Donald Trump Jr.

and then-candidate Trump about the occurrence of that meeting in the summer of 2016.

President Trump issued a rebuttal, let's be clear, on Friday via Twitter.

It read in part: "I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr." The president

added: "Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself

out of an unrelated jam." Cohen, of course, is facing a bank fraud investigation up in

the Southern District of New York. But there's another thing, Ana, this week that

really caught my interest. I know Cohen's the headline for most of us, right, but

Allen Weisselberg, the longtime CPA accountant for The Trump Organization, gets

subpoenaed to testify as part of this Cohen investigation in New York, and he has

the keys to the kingdom in understanding that Trump financial network worldwide.

ANA SWANSON: That's right. So he's been handling the family's finances for

decades, running - including some of the campaign finances, as well as the charity.

In the tape that you played, he's referred to as the person who is setting up that

payment. And so he, you know, would have very deep knowledge of The Trump

Organization and its various activities abroad. We've seen a little bit in - of a

dive into that with reporting from around the world, as well as leaks like the

Panama Papers - things like, you know, offshore financial accounts, shell companies.

But, yeah, he's somebody who would certainly know where the financial bodies are buried.

ROBERT COSTA: That's the whole thing everyone's always wondering. It's about the

possible obstruction of justice with President Trump with the Russia investigation.

It's about Michael Cohen and what he may know about what the president discussed with

Donald Trump Jr. But it's also - it comes back to The Trump Organization:

Donald Trump's finances, the tax returns.

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, it does. And it's significant, too, because Trump said

explicitly a year ago that Mueller should not cross this red line of investigating

Trump Organization's finances, and that is absolutely what's happening now.

So this has to be a source of great angst to the president.

You know, you wonder, talking to advisors, if this isn't part of what's fueling these

Twitter outbursts and the kind of defensiveness that we saw this morning when he was

claiming I didn't know anything about this meeting with Don Jr.

and listening to him attack Mueller on practically a daily basis, as he does now.

VIVIAN SALAMA: And how far have we come from the days of nondisclosure agreements where

the president basically guided all of his, you know, dealings with nondisclosure

agreements, and suddenly it's all kind of coming out in the open.

It's definitely, definitely making a lot of angst, as you say, for the president.

ROBERT COSTA: And we still don't know if President Trump's going to sit with Robert

Mueller for an interview.

I asked Mayor Giuliani this week, the president could provide some clarity if he sits

down with Bob Mueller, and Mayor Giuliani said we haven't made any decision, that's a

biased group, the typical answer he's given to reporters for the last few months.

But that's the kind of thing we're all waiting to see, will he sit down with Mueller.

But let's go to Capitol Hill, because Freedom Caucus leaders in the House GOP Mark

Meadows and Jim Jordan introduced a resolution this week amid all the controversy about

Michael Cohen to try to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the

special counsel's Russia probe. They argued Rosenstein should be removed because of

what they call the Justice Department's, quote, "stonewall" of congressional subpoenas.

But after meeting with GOP leaders, Meadows and Jordan backed off, and they said they

would instead potentially pursue contempt of Congress measures this fall, something a

little bit below the threshold of impeachment. This is just the latest example of GOP

leaders trying to contain the president's allies on Capitol Hill as the Russia probe

continues. It's becoming a pretty tough fight for Speaker Ryan there's so much anger

you must be detecting among Trump's allies in the - in the Congress.

NANCY CORDES: Sure, but a lot of anger among Republican rank-and-file that these Freedom

Caucus members went this route.

You know, after all, Republicans have been arguing don't elect Democrats, don't let them

lead the House, because all they want to do is impeach President Trump, and then their

own members go ahead and say that they want to impeach the deputy attorney general who

was hired by President Trump. So they didn't think it was a good look. They were very frustrated.

And Meadows essentially admitted to us on Thursday that this was sort of a strategy to

try to force Republican leadership into collaborating with them on that lesser contempt

charge. DOJ says we've given you thousands of documents, we can't give you every

document you want because some of them pertain to an ongoing investigation.

Freedom Caucus members like Meadows want every document they can get their hands on

because they're looking for evidence that this investigation was pursued wrongheadedly.

JOSHUA GREEN: Nancy, do you get a sense - I mean, do Republicans think that part of this

effort is meant to remove Rosenstein so that Trump can fire Bob Mueller and try and stop

or impede the special counsel investigation?

NANCY CORDES: Sure, yes. I mean, Meadows insists that that's not his goal, that he

hasn't talked to the president about that, he's not encouraging the president to do

that, but obviously, you know, there has been a concerted effort. And it's not just on

his part, but there are a few people in Congress, you know, who are - who are really

interested in looking for ways to discredit the investigation and the investigators.

ROBERT COSTA: When you're at the White House, Vivian, why isn't the president, who says

a lot of things on Twitter, is happy to rally against the Mueller investigation - why

isn't he pushing to impeach Rod Rosenstein or fire Rod Rosenstein?

Is it because he's wary of the obstruction of justice charge at some level?

VIVIAN SALAMA: Well, definitely conversations with his lawyers, everyone saying just

take a step back, take a deep breath, and just let this play out without your

interference in it. And, obviously, you know, going back to the whole experience with

what happened with FBI - former FBI Director Jim Comey and how a lot of people felt

that he - that was a potential violation and a potential case of obstruction of

justice, they're telling him to just kind of calm down and let it go for now.

But, you know, anything can happen, and we are seeing his now including with Bob Mueller

looking at the president's Twitter feed for possible obstruction of justice.

At the end of the day, President Trump is alone with his phone sometimes without -

(laughter) - you know, he's tweeting without consulting his lawyers sometimes, and so you

honestly never know what to expect.

And so it's not that surprising that Mueller would look at the tweets.

ROBERT COSTA: How long can this last? Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman,

his trial starts next week. Michael Cohen is making all of these moves.

A movement in the House to impeach Rosenstein.

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, I think it's really up to Bob Mueller and his investigators.

I mean, there's a - there's a school of thought that says he's not going to come in with

any charges before the midterms, so we don't know.

ROBERT COSTA: It's up to Bob Mueller. That's the answer for most of the end of this

program, it's true. (Laughter.) Thanks, everybody, for joining us. Our conversation

will continue on the Washington Week Extra. We'll look back at Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo's congressional testimony this week and find out what it revealed about

U.S. foreign policy. You can find that later tonight at PBS.org/WashingtonWeek.

I'm Robert Costa. Thanks for joining us.

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Technology sector weighs heavy on US stocks - Duration: 5:11.

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As Trump denies prior knowledge of Don Jr. meeting, Russia continues U.S. election hacking - Duration: 5:52.

JUDY WOODRUFF: There were more questions today about what President Trump knew about alleged

Russian involvement in the 2016 election, and new details about vulnerabilities in our

election systems ahead of this fall's midterms.

Nick Schifrin joins me now to discuss what we know.

Hello, Nick.

So the president's former attorney, former so-called fixer, Michael Cohen, is reportedly

saying that the president knew ahead of time, something we hadn't been told before, that

this meeting that took place between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer in the months

leading up to the election in 2016, the president knew about it.

The president is saying today it didn't happen, he didn't know.

So, if it's true, what's the significance of it?

NICK SCHIFRIN: This goes to the heart of whether the president knew or didn't know that Russia

wanted to get him elected and was actually meddling in the election.

And that is something he specifically said he didn't know at all about.

So, this meeting took place, as you said, in July 2016.

It was between the president's son Donald Trump Jr, the president's son-in-law, Jared

Kushner, the campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort, and a Russian lawyer, Natalia

Veselnitskaya.

And we now know that Veselnitskaya had connections to senior Russian government officials and

Russian intelligence and was offering -- quote, unquote -- "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.

Fast-forward to last summer, when this meeting was revealed.

And Donald Trump Jr. specifically said that he never told his father in advance.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And...

SEAN HANNITY, FOX News: A lot of people going to want to know this about your father.

Did you tell your father anything about this?

DONALD TRUMP JR., Son of Donald Trump: No.

It was such a nothing.

There was nothing to tell.

I wouldn't have even remembered it until you start scouring through the stuff.

It was literally just a wasted 20 minutes, which was a shame.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And now Cohen is saying that Donald Trump Jr. did let his father know about

that meeting in advance.

And that could mean the president knew that Russia was trying to help get him elected.

And that is something that he has consistently denied.

And that direct line between Russian interference and the president has never been proved before.

And, as we said, the president denied it today.

In a tweet he said, "I didn't know of the meeting with my -- the meeting with my son

Don Jr."

And he goes on in that tweet to accuse Cohen of lying to get out of considerable legal

trouble.

And we should understand the Cohen is in legal trouble.

He's under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in New York.

So, he does have incentive to play nice with prosecutors.

He's not introduced any evidence.

And he has said in the past that the president didn't know about this nothing.

So, right now, this is he said/he said.

But, at the very least, Judy, it is a big break between the president and a longtime

fixer and someone, frankly, who knows a lot about his history.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, of course, the other part of this investigation going on that the

special prosecutor is looking at is the role Russia played in the 2016 election.

The intelligence agencies in this country say that interference is ongoing right now.

And, today, yesterday, we got our first confirmation that Russians are still interfering.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes, absolutely.

So, Russian intelligence has always tried to do a few things in the U.S., one, sow discord,

two, assist actors who Russia believes it can help, and, three, punish actors who oppose

Russia.

So, in 2016, that meant helping Donald Trump and hacking in order to discredit Hillary

Clinton.

Now we know the first target or one of the first targets in 2018 is Senator Claire McCaskill

of Missouri.

Now, McCaskill ticks all the boxes of why Russia would target her, one, close with Hillary

Clinton, two, very anti-Donald Trump.

Three, she's vulnerable.

She's one of 10 Democrats who are running in states that elected Donald Trump.

And, four, she's vociferously anti-Vladimir Putin.

And, today, she acknowledged that, yes, her office was hacked and targeted.

And she put out this statement.

She said that: "Russia continues to engage in cyber-warfare against our democracy.

While this attack wasn't successful, it is outrageous that they think they can get away

with this.

I will not be intimidated.

I have said it before and I will say it again.

Putin is a thug and a bully."

Now, what happened here?

McCaskill staffers received e-mails that looked like legitimate e-mails from Microsoft.

They were in fact fake.

They were told to insert their passwords on a separate page.

This is called phishing.

And last week, Microsoft, the executive Tom Burt revealed that the very hackers who were

doing this were the same hackers tied to Russian intelligence.

TOM BURT, Vice President of Customer Security and Trust, Microsoft: That organization was

registering fake Microsoft domains and using them for a variety of purposes.

And by using fake Microsoft domains, it made the whole scam that they used to infiltrate

and control their targets look more legitimate.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And this is one technique that worked in 2016.

But, as we know, this time, it didn't work.

But it does prove that Russia continues its efforts to hack and influence the 2018 election.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, finally, quickly, Nick, we know that, on Monday, connected to all

this, the president's former campaign manager Paul Manafort goes on trial.

What should we be looking for?

NICK SCHIFRIN: So, this IS the first court test for special counsel Robert Mueller.

He's accused Manafort of making millions as AN unregistered agent of Ukraine, hiding the

money, laundering it into the U.S., and then lying about it to the FBI.

Manafort's denied any wrongdoing.

Mueller says he will have about 35 witnesses, including Rick Gates, Manafort's former business

partner.

And, again, this is not about Russia.

This is not even about the president himself.

But the special counsel is putting pressure on Manafort, hoping, perhaps in the future

that he will provide some information on the larger investigation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Because he worked so closely with President Trump.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Absolutely.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Nick Schifrin, thank you very much.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

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Lawmakers grill Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Capitol Hill - Duration: 13:28.

ROBERT COSTA: Hello. I'm Robert Costa. And this is the Washington Week Extra, where we

pick up online where we left off on the broadcast. Joining me around the table,

Nancy Cordes of CBS News, Josh Green of Bloomberg Businessweek, Vivian Salama of The

Wall Street Journal, and Ana Swanson of The New York Times.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on Capitol Hill this week before the Senate Foreign

Relations Committee to address questions about President Trump's meeting with Russian

President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. In his opening statement, Pompeo said the

United States would never recognize Crimea as part of Russia.

It was certainly a testy hearing, as the senators pushed for details on what was

discussed in President Trump's two-hour private meeting with the Russian leader.

SENATOR ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ): (From video.) Did he tell you whether or not - what

happened in those two hours?

SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO: (From video.) Yes, Senator. The predicate of your

question implied some notion that there was something improper about having a

one-on-one meeting. I completely disagree with the premise of your question.

SENATOR ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ): (From video.) I didn't ask you a predicate.

I asked you a simple question, and I hope we're going to get through it: Did he tell you

what transpired in the two-hour meeting?

SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO: (From video.) I have had a number of conversations with

President Trump about what transpired in the meeting.

ROBERT COSTA: Pompeo was also questioned about progress in getting North Korea to give

up its nuclear weapons program. He admitted North Korea is continuing to produce fuel

for nuclear bombs despite its pledge to denuclearize. And, in a sign of potential

progress, North Korea handed over the possible remains of U.S. troops killed in the

Korean War on the 65th anniversary of the armistice. Nancy, you were on the Hill.

Pompeo, defiant, and revealed a few details about where this is all going.

NANCY CORDES: But no new details about what everyone there wanted to know about, which

was this two-hour conversation between the president and Vladimir Putin. You know, you

assumed that he was going to throw them a few scraps, new information. After all, these

are not just, you know, random rank-and-file lawmakers; these are members of the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee. But he essentially told them no dice, the president -

ROBERT COSTA: Why is that? Does he not know?

NANCY CORDES: Well, he claims he does know, but he insisted that the president has a

right to a private conversation and that, you know, if he believes that keeping those

details secret enables him to build a relationship with Vladimir Putin that will create,

you know, progress down the road, then he has every right to that. And that was somewhat

astonishing to these senators, who say, look, we're learning more about what happened in

this meeting from the Kremlin and the Russian media than we are from our own government.

ROBERT COSTA: Ana, what do you make of Republicans and how they're handling this foreign

policy question? You see on trade they're breaking with the president at times, people like

Senator Bob Corker, and Corker's out there too on foreign policy raising sharp questions.

ANA SWANSON: Yeah, that's right. Well, I think he - the president has kind of put them

in a tough spot. I mean, a lot of these more free-trade Republicans were elected on the

basis of a - kind of a devotion to free trade and to free markets, and the trade

policies in particular really put them in a tough spot when it comes to that.

So we'll have to see, you know, how this plays out with the midterm elections

approaching, but I think they're very wary of crossing the president on some of these

policies and, you know, having some kind of potential negative reaction from them as

they're out on the campaign trail.

ROBERT COSTA: What did the White House make of Pompeo's performance?

VIVIAN SALAMA: In general, the White House is very fond of Pompeo.

The president - Pompeo's the president's guy right now, and that is a very fluid title I

would say. (Laughter.) It changes quite a bit.

But right now Pompeo is someone that President Trump trusts tremendously, gives a lot of

responsibility to, and he really thinks that he's doing a really good job.

How long that lasts, if it goes on for a long time, we'll wait and see.

But that's why he's giving - given him such tremendous responsibility, and in some cases

sort of phasing out a lot of other advisors.

You know, we see that General Mattis over - the secretary of defense not as engaged as he

used to be and not kind of in the inner circle as he used to be.

General Kelly, obviously, chief of staff, a lot of questions about whether he lasts.

But right now Secretary Pompeo has held two very significant positions in the

administration and he's still in the president's favor, so we'll wait and see.

JOSHUA GREEN: One of the things that's remarkable to me is Congress is a coequal branch

of government and could take steps to pass laws to roll back some of these trade

sanctions or really lean on the White House in a way that it had to respond to to get

more details of the president's meeting with Putin and that sort of thing.

So far they haven't been willing to do it, and what you've seen is the line they're

willing to go up to and toe is they'll say, you know, nasty things in hearings.

You'll have senators like Ben Sasse of Nebraska call trade policy stupid.

They'll criticize things in press releases.

But they won't take that actual step of forcing concessions or forcing things from the

White House, I think by and large because they're still afraid of Trump and all the

voters they know in their own party who still support him.

ROBERT COSTA: But they've been tougher on Russia with sanctions than the president may

want them to be, it seems, over the last year, the Congress.

I mean, they've pushed Russia on sanctions.

VIVIAN SALAMA: Oh yeah, absolutely. And this is the issue that we see, is that you have the

president's rhetoric on one side and the administration and Congress' take on the other.

And finding some sort of middle ground between the two is very difficult because the

administration insists that it is tough on Russia, and you can actually look and see that

there is a track record to prove that.

But then the president's rhetoric doesn't always go in that direction.

JOSHUA GREEN: Right, and even on the sanctions there was some talk in the White House

that, well, you know, we may not - we may not enforce those sanctions. And so you

never really know what you're committed to as far as U.S. policy toward Russia.

NANCY CORDES: I thought one of the fascinating things about that hearing was Pompeo

telling these very frustrated senators, hey, don't pay attention to what the president

says; pay attention to what U.S. policy is. And, you know, they said, look, our allies

and our adversaries respond to what the president says. They take action based on what

he says. You can't separate his comments or his tweets from U.S. policy. You can't say

just, you know, don't pay attention to what that man is tweeting; here's what U.S.

policy is, it hasn't changed. It doesn't work that way.

ANA SWANSON: Exactly. He seemed to walk pretty far down that line, you know, saying

that policy is policy and the president's statements are just statements, but then

sort of seemed to realize what he was saying in the moment, Pompeo, and then had to

reverse himself, thinking the president is not going to like this line of argument.

NANCY CORDES: Right. I mean, the EU may not actually be our foe, but if the president

says the EU is a foe, you know, that is going to have repercussions with our relationships.

JOSHUA GREEN: Yeah. At the same time this has been enormously frustrating to Democrats

and Republican senators I talked to because, in fact, you know, the things that the

administration says when it's not Trump speaking, including Secretary Pompeo himself,

tend to differ sometimes quite dramatically from what Trump himself is saying or

tweeting. So, yeah, it isn't necessarily clear that the two are one and the same.

NANCY CORDES: Right.

ROBERT COSTA: And I wonder about Pompeo and North Korea.

The president - you go to the White House these days, you see pictures of Kim Jong-un

near the lower press office on the way to the Oval Office, and the president had this

embrace of the North Korean leader. Yet, Pompeo in his own dealings takes - appears

to take a tough line in talking with North Korea.

VIVIAN SALAMA: Sure, and actually the North Korean foreign minister was quite critical

after he met with Pompeo the last time in Pyongyang, and said it was a tense meeting.

He was not thrilled with the outcome of the meeting.

And so there are definitely very tough negotiations going through.

We understand that the North Koreans are not sort of 100 percent sticking by the rules

that they had committed to when they met in Singapore in June.

And so the administration, definitely Secretary Pompeo, going in there and saying,

listen, we're not messing around here. You've got to do this.

ROBERT COSTA: The Helsinki meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin seems so

long ago, but it was actually only last week.

(Laughter.) There have been so many twist and turns since then, that is for sure.

President Trump surprised many of his advisors, including deputy - Director of National

Intelligence Dan Coats, by inviting Vladimir Putin to the White House this fall.

After a week of criticism and concern for that overture, the White House said the meeting

was now going to be delayed until 2019. And today it looks like Vladimir Putin

is inviting President Trump to Russia. Was the White House getting a lot of

pushback from congressional Republicans to not have Putin come?

NANCY CORDES: Not only were they getting pushback, congressional Republicans were

flat-out saying: Vladimir Putin is not welcome here on Capitol Hill.

ROBERT COSTA: The leader said that.

NANCY CORDES: Right. And this is a, you know, courtesy that is typically extended to foreign

leaders when they come to the White House. But the Russians were not agreeing to the meeting.

And so the White House had to do something and had to walk it back and had to look like

it was in charge because Russian officials were signaling that perhaps Vladimir Putin

wasn't going to come to this meeting after all, which is kind of a slap in the face, and

added more fuel to this notion that the president was being subservient or submissive to

Vladimir Putin, who was playing it cool.

ROBERT COSTA: Is Putin going to have Trump actually come to Moscow?

VIVIAN SALAMA: So, I mean, rhetorically he said that he would be open to the idea, but

the White House today saying that they would want an official invite. So we'll wait and

see what happens. Obviously that's something I think that they would like to show, that

image of President Trump going into Moscow, kind of on Putin's turf, that would be

a big deal for them. The question is whether or not the U.S. will go for it.

And obviously with all of the backlash that happened after last week's meeting I can't

imagine that, you know, they would really kind of go for this.

And obviously we've seen just them walking back the initial invitation of having Putin

come to the White House, where they said: We will do it after the first of next year -

or, after the first of the year when the witch hunt is over, obviously referring -

they're referring to the Russia investigation.

We don't know when that's going to be, and if it's going to ever happen.

And so we're going to have to wait and see on that one.

JOSHUA GREEN: At the same time, though, we know that Trump loves the drama and the

theater of official state visits and summit, and really gets jazzed up for these meetings

with Kim Jong-un and President Putin. So really, I don't think it would surprise me

that much if Trump did agree, against the advice of his staff, to go to Moscow and

meet with Putin, if he feels he can get something out of that deal.

ROBERT COSTA: What do U.S. allies think in Europe when they see the president cozying

up to Russia? I mean, he's - President Trump's clashed with Canada, he's clashed with

European leaders. What do they make of this continued push toward Russia?

ANA SWANSON: I think they're pretty stunned. So the president has called the European

Union a foe. He said on trade that they were possibly as bad as China.

And those are just really unprecedented statements.

The administration, through their trade actions, has also branded Canada and the European

Union and Mexico national security threats, in a way, because of how they import steel

into the country. And so it's really a new era. I mean, I think, you know, the

president has targeted these countries for several reasons. You know, one is just that

he doesn't have as much respect for the kind of international system and alliances

as some of his predecessors. Another is that he's very focused on trade deficits.

So when he sees a trade deficit pop up, for example with Europe, they then necessarily

kind of become an enemy or a foe.

ROBERT COSTA: When you think about what's driving all of this with President Trump, his

foreign policy, you're the author of a book about Steve Bannon and President Trump, the

former chief strategist, "Devil's Bargain." Bannon's a nationalist.

Is that what's pushing President Trump to work with Putin and to continue this Russia

relationship - another nationalist leader?

Or is it just more that Putin's a strongman in the grand theory of foreign policy?

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, I think it's both of those things.

I mean, Trump has certainly internalized the Bannon worldview of antipathy to

multilateral organizations, the idea of U.S.

primacy, America first, and the idea that America, because we're such a strong country,

ought to strike bilateral trade deals with individual countries, which is what Trump is

trying to do. But I think it's jarring to a lot of our allies. You know, there was

tremendous fear among Europeans that Trump would - and still may - impose auto tariffs.

And one of the reasons there was such relief and the stock market shot up on, I think it

was Wednesday afternoon, after the meeting with President Juncker was that, you know,

there seemed to have been truce for now. But I don't think Europeans know what to make

of this. And as far as Trump, I think instinctively he is a nationalist and a protectionist.

You can go back and look at his interviews going all the way back to the 1980s.

And he would be talking about how America struck lousy trade deals with Japan.

He has been saying the same thing for decades now. The countries have switched from,

you know, the EU and China, where it used to be Japan. But I think he has a way of

looking at the world that he is putting into action and is so different than the

way U.S. presidents before him of both parties have behaved, that we're all

still trying to wrap our head around it.

ROBERT COSTA: We'll leave it there. Wrapping our heads around it all every week. (Laughter.)

JOSHUA GREEN: Trying to.

ROBERT COSTA: That's it for this edition of the Washington Week Extra. While you're

online, check out our Washington Week-ly News Quiz. I'm Robert Costa. See you next time.