-President Trump freaked out about the Russia investigation
this morning after returning
from a very awkward international summit.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Trump was at the G20 summit in Argentina over the weekend
as he faced his most serious legal threat yet
from the Russia investigation,
which right off the bat has to be weird.
Every time Trump goes to one of these international summits,
he's under a cloud of suspicion.
He's like a guy who goes on a date
and tries to ignore the fact
that his ankle bracelet is beeping like crazy.
[ Laughter ]
[ As Trump ] What? No. That's just like a Fitbit.
That noise means -- it just means I got my steps in."
[ Normal voice ] And from day one,
the constant and increasingly damning revelations
from the Russia investigation have made Trump's relationships
with other world leaders super awkward.
For example, in Bob Woodward's book "Fear,"
Woodward describes Trump calling his Egyptian counterpart
and President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,
saying, "Donald, I'm worried about this investigation.
Are you going to be around?"
Trump said it was like a kick in the nuts.
Although in fairness,
Trump always looks like he just got kicked in the nuts.
[ Laughter and applause ] Right?
And... [ Cheers and applause ]
...look at the way he stands.
The way he stands looks like a freeze frame
from "America's Funniest Home Videos."
He looks like a dad
who was standing on the wrong end of a seesaw.
[ Laughter ]
And you could see how lonely Trump was
throughout the G20 summit. On Friday, for example,
world leaders gathered for the traditional group photo.
And after the photo was done,
Trump just sort of milled around by himself for a while.
[ Laughter ] Look at him.
[ Laughter ]
He looks like he's at a house party
and the only other person he knows is in the bathroom.
Surprised he didn't do that move
where you pretend to respond to texts,
but in reality, you're just playing Words With Friends.
[ Laughter ]
Trump is desperate.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Trump is desperate to socialize at these things,
but he's so bad at it. For example, he signed
a new trade deal with Mexico's president
and Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau,
who he's repeatedly attacked.
Trump tried to claim the dispute had made them better friends,
but Trudeau didn't seem to agree.
-I'm honored to be here with President Enrique Peña Nieto --
become a great friend -- of Mexico
and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
who has also become a great friend.
It's been a battle,
and battles sometimes make great friendships.
So it's really terrific.
-Look at his face. [ Laughter ]
Absolutely nothing. [ Laughter ]
That face is the closest thing Canada has to a middle finger.
[ Laughter ]
In fact, on Canadian television --
on Canadian TV, that face is considered so obscene,
it has to be blurred out. [ Laughter ]
And even when someone does want to be friendly with Trump,
he messes it up. For example, he was supposed to
take a photo with the president of Argentina.
But watch as Trump walks away from the shoot early
and is caught muttering off camera on a hot mic
while the president of Argentina
stands there awkwardly by himself.
[ Indistinct conversations ]
-Get me out of here.
-That's right.
Trump was caught on a hot mic, saying, "Get me out of here."
First of all, we're trying. Second, why?
Why can't...
[ Cheers and applause ]
Why can't you stand still for like 10 seconds?
I've had better luck getting my dog
to take a Christmas photo in her Santa hat.
[ Laughter ]
Is there a more exhausting job
than a man who has to chase President Trump?
[ Laughter ] "Go get him, Gary."
"Uh..."
The only person Trump ever seems truly comfortable with is
at these summits is Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So Trump must have been super Bummed
when he was forced to cancel his meeting with Putin
after his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, admitted
in a plea deal that he lied about plans
to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign.
Although when he was asked about the meeting with Putin,
Trump insisted that he canceled it
not because of the guilty plea
but because of a naval skirmish between Russia and Ukraine.
And as usual, Trump made clear
that he definitely knows the specific details
of what happened in that naval skirmish.
-You know, frankly, in light of what happened with Ukraine,
with the ships and the sailors,
it just wouldn't be the right time.
We can't allow certain things to happen.
And you know, it happened.
-Okay, so, he has no idea what happened.
All he knows is it had something to do with ships and sailors.
This is what I think went down.
The National Security Advisor briefed Trump and told him,
"Okay, Mr. President, all you have to do is
tell the press that the United States
is protesting the seizure of Ukrainian naval personnel
by Russian forces in the Black Sea
in violation of international law."
And then Trump just, like, stared at him for 30 seconds,
and the National Security Adviser
said, "Just say Russians seized Ukrainian naval personnel."
And then Trump stared at him for another 30 seconds.
And then he said, "You know what?
just say it's about ships and sailors."
[ Laughter and applause ]
The revelation that Trump was pursuing a business deal
with Putin in the summer of 2016 during the presidential campaign
is probably the most damning development
in the investigation so far.
It makes clear that not only have Trump
and his closest associates lied repeatedly,
both to the American people and to Congress,
but also that Special Counsel Robert Mueller knows they lied
and he can prove they lied. And now Trump is freaking out,
unleashing an angry tirade this morning on Twitter.
-The President wrote this.
"Michael Cohen asked judge for no prison time.
You mean he can do all of
the terrible, 'unrelated to Trump' things
having to do with fraud, big loans, taxis, et cetera,
and not serve a long prison term?
He makes up stories to get
a great and already reduced deal for himself
and get his wife and father-in-Law,
who have the money, off scot-free.
He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion,
serve a full and complete sentence.
'I will never testify against Trump.'
This statement was recently made by Roger Stone,
essentially stating that he will not be forced
by a rogue and out-of-control prosecutor
to make up lies and stories about President Trump.
Nice to know that some people still have guts."
-Damn. There are only two explanations here.
Either he got more bad legal news this morning
or someone kicked him in the nuts again.
[ Laughter ] Also, I have a few questions.
First of all, you know "scot-free"
is spelled with one "T," right? It's not a person's name.
Trump probably thinks Scott Free
was the first person to get way with a crime.
[ Laughter ] -[ As Trump ] in the 1700s,
a guy named Scott Free --
he stole a donkey and he got away with it.
[ Laughter ]
And that's why we still use his name today.
[ Laughter ] Because of the donkey.
[ Normal voice ] Second,
why does he put his own name in quotation marks?
I swear, it's almost like even he knows
he's not really the President.
He could have saved us all a lot of time
if he had just tweeted this.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ] In order --
In order to believe that Trump did nothing wrong,
you'd have to believe that he and his closest associates
have been lying for three years, including to Congress,
under penalty of perjury because they're innocent.
Just think about how many times their story has changed.
First, they said
there were no contacts with any Russians, period.
Then, they said that even if they did try to collude,
nothing came of it.
Then, they said collusion is not a crime.
And now Trump's defenders are reduced to insisting
that he wasn't personally involved in the hacking himself.
-Robert Mueller and his team of partisans
have no evidence, not a whiff of collusion
involving Trump and the Russians.
A Trump Tower meeting -- perfectly legal.
The hacking -- that's absurd.
Trump wasn't involved in that.
-Of course he wasn't.
Trump couldn't hack into a computer
even if the password was "Melania."
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Trump's ex-lawyer lied to Congress
about a business deal with the Russian government,
and he told investigators he lied because Trump lied,
and Mueller can prove it.
Every new legal filing from Mueller makes clear
that he knows what really happened.
And when Mueller's done with him,
I have a feeling Trump will be saying...
-Get me out of here.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]