The Russia investigation.
It’s back in the news, and at this point,
this thing is like a sale at a used Honda dealership.
It never ends.
Well, you may remember a few months ago,
Special Counsel Robert Mueller convinced
Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort
to flip against Trump.
But now it turns out Manafort may have double flipped.
Let’s start with our top story.
This new revelation raising some big questions this morning
about what is going on in the Russia investigation.
Was former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort
playing both sides, in effect?
MAN: The New York Times reporting overnight
that Paul Manafort’s lawyer repeatedly
briefed President Trump’s lawyers
about his client’s discussions with Mueller’s team
after the former Trump campaign chairman already agreed
to cooperate with the special counsel.
Manafort’s move-- a highly unusual arrangement
that several legal experts this morning suspect
may be a bid for a presidential pardon.
That’s right. Resting snitch face over here
has apparently been telling Trump what’s happening
in the Mueller investigation.
Yeah. Telling him everything
that Mueller is thinking about, what they’re doing.
It’s like when your friend takes a test in the second period,
and then at recess, he tells you
what to expect when you go in for the test, yeah.
Although, I bet, even with the answers,
Trump could still mess it up.
He’ll be like, "Now, if I can’t remember the answer,
I’m just gonna put ’B.’"
"Sir, did you ever meet with Vladimir Putin?"
"B!"
(laughter)
And if you’re wondering, if you’re wondering,
how did Mueller figure out that Manafort was being shady,
well, you see, the thing about Manafort is,
he has a very subtle tell whenever he’s lying.
Here he is in 2016 being asked about Trump and Russia.
And you watch carefully, and tell me
if you can pick up any signs of deception.
So to be clear, Mr. Trump has no financial relationships
with any Russian oligarchs?
Uh, that’s what he said. Uh, I didn’t... That’s what I said...
That’s, obviously, what the... our position is.
(laughter)
Smooth.
(laughter)
In other news, President Trump is still fighting
his own administration’s climate change report
released earlier last week, right?
And like the climate, his arguments are getting worse.
President Trump explaining why he is so skeptical
of his own administration’s report
on the dire consequences of climate change.
He tells The Washington Post...
-(laughter, groaning) -Clearly...
Clearly, the president doesn’t believe in the science
or the English, because...
if you’re trying to say you’re too smart
to believe in climate change, it doesn’t help
when your argument ends with,
"It’s right now at a record clean."
Like, it makes him sound super dumb.
Or maybe, maybe Trump is so intelligent
that he’s leaving English behind.
Maybe that’s what it is, yeah.
He’s developing something totally new.
You know, like he’s...
He’s like those aliens from the movie Arrival.
Like, we just need Amy Adams to interpret for us.
(amplified breathing)
There is a cooling, and there is a heating.
They go, "global warming," they go, "climate change,"
they go, now it’s sort of, I hear a lot of "extreme weather."
If it’s cold, it’s okay. If it’s hot, it’s okay.
If it’s windy, if it’s not, if you... everything’s extreme.
Trust me, I’m, like, a smart person.
She was trying. She was really trying.
All right, moving on.
Ivanka Trump is back in the news,
this time because she solved the border crisis.
Yeah!
I’m just kidding. She (bleep) up again.
It came to light that early in the administration
you used your private e-mail for White House business.
Your father had taken Hillary Clinton to task for this,
so how did you wind up in a similar situation?
Well, there really is no equivalency.
My e-mails have not been deleted.
Nor was there anything of-of... of substance,
uh, nothing confidential that was within them.
So there’s no connection between the two things.
Your father hammered Hillary Clinton on this,
said that it was criminal, she should be locked up.
Hillary Clinton is guilty.
She knows it, the FBI knows it,
the people know it.
Okay, first of all,
what the hell is going on with Trump there?
He’s got the hat pulled down, and you can’t see his face.
He’s doing this weird thing with his hand.
It’s almost like he went through a weird Michael Jackson phase
in the middle of the campaign.
You know? He was just like, "Uh! Shamona! Uh!
"I asked... I asked Annie, ’Are you okay?
"Are you okay, Annie? Are you okay?’
"She’s not okay, folks, she’s not okay.
"You know why. MS-13.
Gotta build a wall-uh."
-(laughter) -Anyway, anyway, back to Ivanka.
Uh, I actually believe her when she says
that she wasn’t using her private account
for important work e-mails,
because in order to have important work e-mails,
you have to do important work.
-(laughter) -She doesn’t do anything.
Her in-box is probably just Goop newsletters
and thousands of unopened e-mails from Eric.
-That’s all it probably is. -(laughter)
And you know what’s amazing here,
you know what’s amazing is that not only is
Ivanka’s e-mail scandal similar to Hillary’s,
but the excuses sound the same, too.
They’re all stored on the White House system,
so everything has been preserved,
everything’s been archived.
They were captured and preserved immediately
on the system at the State Department.
...all part of the public record.
...public for everyone to see.
And there’s no prohibition from using private e-mail.
It was allowed. Others had done it.
We all have private e-mails and personal e-mails
to coordinate with our family.
...private, personal e-mails.
E-mails about planning Chelsea’s wedding...
...as well as yoga routines, family vacations,
the other things you typically find in in-boxes.
(chanting): Lock them up! Lock them up!
Have them share a cell! Make it a reality show!