happening now, break news. i can't believe we're told president trump was shocked to learn that his former lawyer michael cohen secretly taped their conversation about a pay off to silence a playmate. cnn has learned that multiple recordin recordings of mr. trump are in the hands of the fbi tonight. not good for trump. a source with knowledge of cohen states this newly revealed reporting could be damaging to the president. we're getting new information about what was said and why it might spell trouble for the president. sex, guns, and lies that's how prosecutors say an alleged kremlin secret agent infiltrated american politics getting close to trump allies and other republicans. a gop congressman now confirmed to cnn he had encounter with maria butte tina. and 17 dead. disaster strikes a duck boat ride in a popular vacation spot with children and families onboard. the company says a severe storm

came out of nowhere, but could there have been a way to escape? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. breaking news on president trump caught on tape by his long time fixer. we're told that michael cohen recorded multiple conversations with mr. trump including a discussion of a pay off to former playboy model to keep quiet about their alleged affair. one source tells cnn that mr. trump learned about this. once he learned ability it and i'm quoting now, i can't believe michael would do this to me. what a way to end a week dominated by the putin summit disaster and many awkward attempts by the white house at damage control. i'll get reaction from two members of the house foreign affairs commit aerobic democrat ted lou and republican ted loho.

let's go to our national correspondent athena jones. >> the fbi seized these recordings back in april as part of a federal criminal investigation into cohen's business dealings. the existence of these tapes apparently came as a surprise, as you mentioned, to president trump and to karen mcdougal who says she had a nearly yearlong affair with trump nearly a decade ago which he denies. this news today comes after cohen tweeted last night interestingly about the importance of the free press. tonight the stunning revelation that michael cohen, president trump's former personal attorney, secretly recorded conversations between them and not just once. a source familiar telling cnn when informed of one of the tapes trump said, quote, i can't

believe michael would do this to me. trump's current attorney rudy giuliani tells cnn one of the conversations which took place two months before the 2016 presidential election in the then canned's trump tower's office was about payments to former playboy model caikaren mcdougal, an affair trump denies. >> we were together ten months before i chose to end it. so we saw each other frequently. >> dozens of times you were together and you were intimate. >> yes. >> giuliani said the payment was ultimately never made and the tape shows trump did nothing wrong. in the end mcdougal reached a separate $150,000 deal for her story with american media inc. the parent company. ami never ran the story.

trump's campaign denied any knowledge of ami deal in a november 2016 wall street journal report on the agreement. the fbi seized the mcdougal tape and others during an april raid of cohen's office. part of the southern district of new york's criminal investigation into his business dealings including the $130,000 payment he made to porn star stormy daniels day before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an alleged 2006 encounter with trump that trump also denies. >> and you had sex with him? >> yes. >> you were 27, he was 60. were you physically attracted to him 12 him? >> no. >> not at all? >> no. >> the closer it gets to the election that raises a bigger question about whether that was some type of loan to the campaign to help effect his chances in the election. >> the secret recordings may provide an answer to one of the biggest questions facing the

president. just what does cohen have on him? trump's former fixer -- >> i protect mr. trump. >> -- has cept signals in recent weeks he's willing to cooperate with the mueller russia investigation. according to giuliani the mcdougal tape is the only one of true substance. >> mr. president, did michael cohen betray you, sir. >> while the president's lawyers are saying there's really nothing to see here another source is saying this mcdougal related recording is not good for the president, and there are multiple parties interested in what could be on the tapes. one of them is michael avenatti, the lawyer for stormy daniels who is suing both cohen and trump. wolf? >> all right, athena, thank you very much. we're getting the first reaction from michael cohen's attorney to the breaking news. let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger who's been doing a lot of reporting on this. what are you hearing from cohen

lawyer lanny davis? >> here's what he says in a statement to us, wolf, obviously there is an ongoing investigation and we are sensitive to that. but suffice it to say that when the recording that has been widely reported is heard it will not hurt mr. cohen, and any attempt to spin cannot change what is on the tape. >> so where is this moving from now? you're getting a lot of indications from various sources on the trump side, on the michael cohen side. where is this heading? >> i think it's headed at some point, we're going to see what's on the tape or hear what's on the tape. there are privilege matters, et cetera. but what we have here is a tale of a tape with two sides. rudy giuliani saying it's exculpatory, it helps his client. and michael cohen's attorney making it clear this is not bad for michael coman, and then i

spoke with another source today who said in fact it's not good for the president. so the president's attorneys have always indicated that they believed that there is nothing that michael cohen has that would be bad for the president, but we have no way of knowing at this point. we have not looked over those documents. there are privileged documents that we cannot see, so this is going to have to play out. and of course michael avenatti, who is an enemy of mr. trump is now seems to be befriending michael cohen to a degree under the theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. so we'll have to see how this goes. >> stormy daniels' lawyer, michael avenatti. it's interesting giuliani himself says on the recording, then the president-elect told michael cohen, write a check, it was $150,000 that karen mcdougal received, not cash. the words not cash suggests

maybe there have been other deals where they used cash. >> well, you could read that into it. nothing was paid apparently according to giuliani. so we don't know, but according to rudy giuliani what this means is that the president wanted an accounting of it so that it would not be hidden. obviously cash hides things, so it could be your interpretation, it could be rudy giuliani's more benign interpretation. he's doing his job, he's trying to defend the president. and now lanny davis has spoken out because he's trying to defend michael cohen. >> a lot of different versions of this right now. also tonight the president is at his golf club in new jersey apparently feeling betrayed by his former lawyer who once touted his loyalty to mr. trump. let's go to our chief white

house correspondent jim acosta. both of us were in helsinki for that putin summit on monday. seems like a long time ago. first of all, what reaction if any are you getting from the white house? >> reporter: silence, wolf. a lot of silence. the president did not speak as he left the white house for new jersey this afternoon. there was no briefing held by the white house press secretary. the white house is eerily quiet this evening, wolf. once again silenced by news that has overwhelmed the administration's message. and just when you thought this week would end with more cleanup over vladimir putin, another encounter has come back to haunt mr. trump, and there are recordings. in this recording of the president leaving the white house there is only silence. as he declined to comment on the bombshell his former personal attorney michael cohen recorded mr. trump discussing a payment to playboy model karen mcdougal aimed at covering up an alleged

affair. >> i'm not a lawyer. i did what i did. >> reporter: for a president who often boasts he likes to make recordings of his adversaries it could be the ultimate irony. >> fortunately we tend to record stories now, so we have it for your enjoyment if you'd like it. >> reporter: michael avenatti believes there are more cohen tapes covering a range of subjects. >> i will tell you for a fact there's more than one. there's multiical recordings and all of them should be released for the benefit of the american public. the problem for the president is he's got multiple problems relating to his relationship with michael cohen, but a very big problem is that michael cohen will go down as one of the world's great evidence hoarders over the years. >> reporter: another surprising development involving cohen, avenatti said he ran into cohen's personal attorney monday night and had a lengthy and product conversation. it's the latest sign cohen may

be willing to turn against the president. he once complained the fbi raid on his former lawyer was an attack. >> an attack on our country in a true sense. it's an attack on what we all stand for. so when i saw this and when i heard it, i heard it like you did. i said that is really now on a whole new level of unfairness. >> reporter: the latest twist montana cohen saga comes as the white house is still cleaning up after the president's disastrous summit with vladimir putin. now the president wants a second rau rendezvous at the white house. >> if that meeting takes place in washington i think it's all to the good. those conversations are important. >> reporter: other republicans in washington aren't so thrilled. >> say that again? that's going to be special. >> reporter: besides the director of national intelligence, dan coats, who

seemed floored by the news that the president would invite putin to washington gop lawmakers are worried mr. trump could be played again. >> i've seen the russian intelligence, you know, manipulate many people in my career. and i never would have thought the u.s. president would be one of them. so it's disappointing. >> reporter: former house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers who worked on the president's transition was just as candid. >> it was setup to helsinki i think candidly was a disaster. so you had the president of the united states really crossing europe insulting many of our allies and, you know, a little bit rude. my mother used to say rude is a very poor imitation of strength. >> some white house staffers are angry with dan coats, but the director of intelligence insists coats is exactly who the president needs on his team, someone to be honest with mr.

trump even when he doesn't want to hear it. as for the michael cohen saga, the first lady has put out on a statement on behalf of mr. trump. it's a very brief statement. it says mrs. trump remains focused on her role as a mother and as first lady of the united states. we should point out the first lady did travel up to bedminster this weekend without the president. >> the president now separately flew up on air force one to new jersey as well. jim acosta, thank you very much. also breaking tonight we're learning that robert mueller's team wants to talk to the woman known as the manhattan madam. m.j., give us the details. >> that's right, wolf. we are learning that robert mueller, the special counsel has reached out to the manhattan madam. she you might remember ran a prostitution ring in new york city, and she actually ended up going to jail as a part of the

scandal involving the former new york governor elliot spitser. if there is a subpoena robert mueller is going to hand down to kristen davis we are told that will not happen. he says if the special counsel subpoenas her i will be representing her. at this point in time we do not know why robert mueller might be interested in speaking to this woman, but we do know that kristen davis is good friends with roger stone, the former trump campaign aide. they have known each other for a very long time, and in fact roger stone is the godfather to kristen davis' child and she has done work for roger stone including we are told clerical work and work involving his websites. just a few minutes ago we did get a statement from a

spokesperson. roger is the godfather to her son. she's currently in the cosmetology business and she knows nothing whatsoever about collusion in the 2016 election. she's trying to get ahead of the story. >> intriguing development in this investigation. m.j., thank you very, very much. joining us now is congressman ted lou. congressman, thanks so much for joini joining us. and let's get to some of our big stories. first of all recordings of then candida candidate donald trump and michael cohen. and those tapes include conversations from those two men about payment to a former playboy model who had an alleged affair with donald trump. how much trouble might this be for the president? >> thank you, wolf, for your question. i'm a former prosecutor and the large payment to silence karen

mcdougal looks like a felony violation of the campaign finance laws. that's one reason congresswoman kathleen rice and i wrote a letter to it fbi earlier this year asking for an investigation. and what these cohen tapes established at a minimum is cohen knew about those payments. >> in kind campaign contribution not reported to the fec, that could be a problem. let's talk about the white house preparations under way right now for yet another summit with vladimir putin in the fall at the white house despite the widespread backlash to his first meeting on monday. should that meeting, the second meeting, congressman, go forward? >> not at all. i'm also a veteran. i never imagined our u.s. commander in chief would deliver the talking points of the kremlin. and for vladimir putin to not

acknowledge that he ordered the russian military to attack american elections in 2016 and have him step onto u.s. soil is embarrassing, it's disgraceful. that meeting should not occur until the kremlin acknowledges what they did to america. >> according to a top microsoft executive, congressman, three candidates, three political candidates in the 2018 mid-term election campaigns, they've already been targeted we're now told by the same russian hackers, the military hackers who attacked the democratic national committee back in 2016. what kind of message would it send if president trump were to invite putin to the white house as the russian government is still actively engaged, we're now told, in these cyber attacks against the american electoral system? >> so i have no problem with the u.s. having better relations with other countries. the problem is if we don't hold russia accountable for their attack on u.s. elections in 2016

and advise them to do it again, that's the message president trump is sending to putin. i'm a vice chair of the dccc. we knew that in addition to the democratic national committee the democratic campaign committee was also attacked in 2016 as well. so the russians have a very sophisticated large scale ongoing pervasive influence campaign on american democracy. there's no way vladimir putin should be coming nis fall. and if he does i'm going to be marching in protest along with others against him. >> some in president trump's inner circle are worried right now the helsinki summit will embolden special counsel robert mueller. do you believe president trump's performance with putin strengthened mueller's hand? >> absolutely. i think it makes it harder now for the president to fire mueller or deputy attorney

general rod rosenstein. it really makes you wonder what does putin have on trump? and this is not just coming from me. it's coming from republicans. we saw this amazing op-ed "the new york times" who basically said that he's a cia agent and he's seen people being manipulated and he believes the president of the united states is being manipulated by putin. >> will hurd before becoming a congressman was a cia officer, a clandestine officer. thank you for joining us. just ahead i'll talk about the prospects of a second trump-putin summit in washington after the backlash of talks in helsinki. republican congressman ted is standing by live. we'll get his views right after this. you always pay your insurance on time.

tap one little bumper and up go your rates. what good is your insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

so let's promote our summer travel deal on choicehotels.com like this. surfs up. earn a $50 gift card when you stay just twice this summer. or, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com

a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! we're following breaking news on michael cohen's secret recordings on president trump. this as the president continues to deal with the backlash from his summit with vladimir putin in helsinki and his invitation to the kremlin leader to come to washington for a visit to the white house in the fall. joining us now republican congressman ted lou of florida. he's a member of the foreign affairs committee. congressman, thanks so much for joining us. ted, i should say. ted lou earlier, ted sorry for the confusion. thanks for joining us.

there's two teds. let's talk a bit about the news coming in today. do you believe michael cohen does have information on those tapes that could potentially seriously damage the president? >> i believe he has information on those tapes. right now it's all hypothetical and innuendos. we don't know what's out there. there's a lot of conjecture, so let's wait until we see what's on those before we go down rabbit holes. >> should the next summit that the white house now says the invitation has gone forward to putin to come to washington to the white house in the fall, should gnat go forward even though we don't know the american public doesn't know what happened during that first meeting? >> i'm not so concerned what happened in there. a lot of times these leaders meet and they discuss things that doesn't go public initially. we'll find out later. you know, the thing i'm concerned about, and i came out

publicly and said that russia did intervene or interfere in our election process. that is not tolerable. and i think with what you reported earlier and what we've seen with these three other candidates being already hacked this year, if indeed this does go back to russians that are in the russian military or government, absolutely not. i don't think we should invite president putin over here at this time. i do agree we should have relationships with all leaders of all nations. but if it's something like this so soon after the election -- the last election and russian meddling is still going on, i think we need to bring an end to it and send a strong signal. >> yeah, because even the top intelligence officials, dan coats, the director of national intelligence, mike pompeo, the former cia director and now the secretary of state christopher ray, the fbi director. they say not only did the russians do it in 2016 but they're continuing to do it now and they're gearing up for the mid-term elections in november.

so what i hear you saying is if they are right that this meeting should not go forward this second summit, is that right, congressman? >> yeah, i would have to be leaning to that side, and i think more sanctions need to go forward. keep in mind, they've been meddling with us for 70, 80 years and they're going to continue to do that. and if it's not the russians it's going to be the chinese or north koreans or another state actor. this is something we have to come together as americans and protect our constitutional republic, the democratic process we use to elect our leaders. actually i just passed on the foreign affairs committee the cyber act, and they're going to be fast tracked to the house so we get this fast tracked and other nations don't mess with us because these are what we're going to do. so it's a timely time to do this. >> here's what a lot of democrats are asking, if you're that concerned about cyber

security, why did you vote, why did a lot of republicans vote against that ledge slaz that would beef up with a lot of money cyber security? >> because they had some other stuff that were in there that weren't pertinent and just a messaging bill on their side. ours is bill that passed unanimously republicans and democrats, and we got support in the senate. and this is the way that legislation would be done instead of putting out messaging bills where the sounds good on face value but when you get into the bill it doesn't do what it was meant to do. >> let me read an article that was written by your colleague, i assume one of your friends, republican congressman will hurd of texas. he writes this. over the course of my career as an undercover officer in the cia i saw russian intelligence manipulate many people. i never thought i would see the day when an american president would be one of them.

obviously a very, very strong charge from will hurd. do you agree with your fellow republican that the president based on his comments after the summit with putin was actually manipulated by the russian leader? >> no, absolutely not. will's a good friend of mine and he can have his own opinion. we don't know what happened in that meeting ahead of time. they may came to an agreement, i did hear the president call president putin out on the ukraine. they talked about the oil and gas. there's a lot more that's going to be revealed as time goes on. but i do not believe president trump was under any influence or manipulation. i can tell you i've sat with him. that president, president trump loves america. and the way he talks about this country, it's earnest, heartfelt and it's real care for this country. you know, and we go back to previous administrations, we can always go back to president obama saying wait until after the election, i'll have more

flexibility. did we go after this in this kind of vengeance to find out what he meant by that and did we bring all that out? i think we should take pause. >> congressman, i can assure you and i was one of the reporters working on that story when president obama said that, we gave it a lot of attention. there was an open mic and it was played for days and days. we had a lot of coverage on that. congressman, always good to have you here in the situation room. thanks for joining us. >> just ahead the white house is rocked by a new bombshell, the revelation that donald trump's long time lawyer and friend and fixer michael cohen recorded him discussing a pay off to a playboy model. and a republican congressman confirms he met with a russian woman who's now in jail on federal charges of being a secret agent for the kremlin.

wow kaley, this is a fancy hotel. must have cost a lot. actually, i got a great deal. priceline saves you up to 60% on hotels, but that's something the hotels don't really want other guests to know. i saved about 120 dollars a night! did you say you saved 120 dollars a night on a room? 120 a night on a hotel room... that's a lot of savings! i saved even more on my flight. save up to 60% on hotels with priceline. (vwith miracle-ear, because ains miracle-ear hearing aid

can help keep you more connected to your loved ones and the world around you. a simple call to the number below for your free hearing evaluation... and our generous 30 day risk free trial can help you eliminate background noise, and transform your favorite busy restaurant into a clear conversation. with more than 1,400 locations, you can always find a local miracle-ear center. and professional, highly-trained hearing care specialists are there for you to determine the results of your hearing test. and, whether you need a hearing aid or not, they'll take the time to really get to know you so that all of your questions are answered. if it turns out you do need a personalized hearing aid, they'll make sure it always keeps you connected to your loved ones and all the things you care about. a simple call to the number below is all it takes to get your free hearing evaluation at a miracle-ear center near you, as well as our generous 30 day risk free trial. as an industry leader, miracle-ear is known for having 70 years of experience innovating hearing aids and helping people hear more clearly.

and we're now introducing our latest advancement: our exclusive genius 3.0 technology. this is the most-advanced technology available in any of our hearing aids, as it seamlessly connects your hearing aids to all of the latest smartphones and tvs, making for clearer phone conversations and better enjoyment of music and entertainment. it also interprets and processes all of the sounds around you, and delivers our most natural-sounding hearing experience ever. our hearing aids are discreet, too, you won't even notice them... and neither will anyone else. we know that staying connected to the people who matter most is important to you. so, when you call now, you can be one of the first in your area to take advantage of our free hearing evaluation, and our generous 30 day risk-free trial. call or visit us online today!

does your business internet provider promise a lot? let's see who delivers more. comcast business gives you gig-speed in more places.

the others don't. we offer up to 6 hours of 4g wireless network backup. everyone else, no way. we let calls from any of your devices come from your business number. them, not so much. we let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. the others? nope! get internet on our gig-speed network and add voice and tv for $34.90 more per month. call or go on line today. we're getting new reaction to the breaking news on michael cohen's secret recordings frf president trump including a conversation about a payment to silence former playboy karen mcdougal. let's bring in our analysts to assist, and marc geragos, you're

our legal analyst. what's the legal fall out based on everything we know right now? >> well, part of the initial analysis is how did this get out? did the genesis of it, did it come from michael cohen? michael cohen as a lawyer i know a lot of things more to worry about than his legal license, but frankly taping your client and their attorney-client conversations to me absent crime or fraud is an abomination. if it came out from the white house, they must believe it's exculpatory, otherwise i don't understand why they would be talking about it. because if you talk about the substance of this attorney-client conversation then you're waiving the privilege and allowing it to the come out. so i would assume they know what it's like, and i would assume somewhere on a privilege log this was listed as a conversation that was seized. the government has no right to

have this conversation absent a crime fraud exception and i would guess that the judge probably said this shouldn't have been turned over. this would not have been admissible absent the government having a waiver from either giuliani or someone on trump's legal team. that to me is the fundamental analysis you've got to start off with. >> you're right. there's a lot of analysis that yet needs to be done. let me get your thoughts on another sensitive issue. the white house says preparations are now under way for a second summit between president and putin. but a senior microsoft executive has just revealed that three 2018 congressional campaigns have already been attack bide the same russian military intelligence hackers that attacked the dnc, the hillary

clinton campaign, the dccc in 2016. yet we could see vladimir putin coming to the white house in the next few months for a second summit. how does that ring to you? >> it raises a lot of red flags. in fact, this speaks it a lot of challenges to the intelligence community. in the days and weeks to come we're going to learn a lot more about russia's current and ongoing efforts to influence our 2018 mid-term elections. now and leading up to the elections the intelligence community is going to be extremely busy monitoring and trying to put measures in place. so for the president to invite vladimir putin here during that time puts a lot of stress on the intelligence community. i'm also told one of the things he's interested in is having vladimir putin during the big military parade that he's talked about. so i think the president is kind of focused on his own interest with this. >> the president is focused on his own interests, that never

happens. >> a military parade on pennsylvania avenue. if it happens around the time of the mid-term elections, a lot of republicans are not going to be happy presumably if putin gets a red carpet reception at the white house. >> if it happens before the mid-terms it could be problematic because they don't want to be talking about the president and russia when they go home. they want to talk about things like the tax cuts if the tariffs aren't undermining them at that point. so it takes the conversation away from the economy. it takes the conversation away from their re-election because they're going to have to -- when you're up on capitol hill that's the last thing they want to be answering questions about, and there's no doubt this split screen, i think david axelrod said it best, that putin could be coming to super vise some of the election meddling you're

getting and you just got a front row seat. >> a very strong supporter of the president, even he suggests that if the russians are still engaged in election meddling in the 2018 mid-terms he doesn't want to see putin at the white house either. >> absolutely. and we still don't know exactly what transpired in the two hour meeting with president trump and president putin in helsinki. they want the interpreters, the only people in that room to come forward. the white house keeps saying what they're after is improving relations between the united states and russia. but they have yet to lay out any clear objectives in terms of what they're trying to achieve in these conversations with vladimir putin especially when there's so much scrutiny the president's own intelligence chiefs have said moskow is still actively trying to interfere in the 2018 mid-terms.

certainlily his own national security team has suggested he's not using his authority in the way he can to disrupt cyber attacks at the source. so really the question is is that going to change and the republicans on capitol hill complaining are they going to do anything in their power to send a message to moskow not to interfere. >> the fall out from that summit in helsinki has actually strengthened the legal hand of special counsel robert mueller, do you buy that? >> i do actually. i think if you were his criminal defense counsel, he's got more than one, that that would not be something you would want to have robert mueller taking a look at. obviously the things that were said and now they supposedly weren't meant the way they were supposed to with the double negative, all of that does strengthen the hand of mueller. remember you've got a whole team

of people that are looking and have him and his family in the coss hairs. that certainly does not help. if you're a lawyer working to defend a client and you see a client doing something like that, that's not something you're going to say, hey, i embrace that wholeheartedly. it clearly is a problem. >> i suspect the president's lawyers don't him want him to sit down with an interview. there's a lot more we're following including a republican congressman confirming now he met the russian woman now in jail charged with being a secret agent for the kremlin. and a vacation outing turns into a horrific nightmare as a duck boat capsizes near missouri keeling 17 people. so what went wrong?

the day after chemo might mean a trip back to the doctor's office just for a shot. but why go back there when you can stay home with neulasta onpro? strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. in a key study neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17% to 1%, a 94% decrease. neulasta onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the day after chemo and is used by most patients today. neulasta is for certain cancer patients receiving strong chemotherapy. do not take neulasta if you're allergic to it or neupogen (filgrastim). an incomplete dose could increase infection risk. ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems allergic reactions, kidney injuries and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. in patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur.

the most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. if you'd rather be home, ask your doctor about neulasta onpro. pay no more than $25 per dose with copay card.

tonight a republican congressman is confirming to cnn that he met a russian woman who's now in jail on charges of being a secret agent for the kremlin. maria but maria butina is accused of using sex, drug and lies to influence political leaders. >> look, wolf, according to prosecutors putin's aim was to try to infiltrate political

circles. the invite made possible because she came alongside her boyfriend paul erikson who has known sanford for 30 years. the highlights a key question in her case, was putin complicit in her scheme? twice maria butina says she was denied and then the nra came to moskow. putin hosted a gun conference and charmed nra board member david keen and his associate paul erikson. by april 14, visa in hand butina was an her way to indianapolis and snapped a pic with wain lupier. her relationship with erikson quickly turned romantic, whether he was duped by his young lover

who used him for political connections or wittingly lured him into a spy operation to influence politics ahead of the 2016 election is unclear. an unlikely match erikson is nearly twice butina's age. >> if you want power, show up and work for them. >> after growing up in south dakota and graduating from yale, he now works for -- erikson also launched investment schemes and faced lawsuits because of them. he's currently under investigation for fraud by the u.s. attorney's office in south dakota. butina's upbringing, starkly different. >> for such places like siberia, this is a question of survival.

everyone has a gun. >> after graduating and dabbling in the furniture business, she set off to moscow. by fall 2014 she was trading emails with her lover erickson about how to obtain long-term visas. her russian handlers wanted her to have a more prominent u.s. foothold. by summer she was enrolled at america university on a student visa, all part of her cover story. by then she had already become a fixture at the nra events, with the prayer breakfast and working with torshin and erickson to work with back channel communications between president trump and vladimir putin. authorities found a note in his handwriting that red had how to

respond to fsb employment. but it's inclear unclear whethe for him or butina. with school behind her, she was planning a move to sioux city with ericsen. day after buying moving boxes she was arrested. now erickson is not explicitly named in the butina indictment but they do match the operatives that assisted her. he's not charged in the butina case but he's under questioning for fraud. >> what a story that is. thanks very much. sara murray reporting. just ahead, there's more information coming to light that president trump was recorded by

his former fixer michael cohen discussing a payment to pay an x-play buoy model. and 17 people are dead including nine member of one family after a duck boat sinks at a popular vacation spot. liberty mutual saved us almost $800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. with liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. hey! oh, that's my robe. is it? when you switch to liberty mutual, you could save $782 on auto and home insurance. and still get great coverage for you and your family. call for a free quote today.

you could save $782. liberty mutual insurance. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ you always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed? let's say it in a really low voice. carl? lowest price, guaranteed. just stick with badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com

touch shows how we really feel. but does psoriasis ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz. up to 90% of those with moderate to severe psoriasis had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. most people were still clearer after one year. with taltz, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection, symptoms, or received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz, including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur. ready for a chance at 100% clear skin? ask your doctor about taltz. this is a tomato you can track from farm, to pot, to jar, to table.

and serve with confidence that it's safe. this is a diamond you can follow from mine to finger, and trust it never fell into the wrong hands. ♪ ♪ this is a shipment transferred two hundred times, transparently tracked from port to port. this is the ibm blockchain, built for smarter business. built to run on the ibm cloud.

investigation of a duck boat ride that turned deadly when it

sank in a severe storm. 17 people were killed including children during a popular vacation spot near branson, missouri. miguel marquez has more. >> reporter: it's incredible. nine people from a single family perish. only two members of that family walked away from this. the national transportation safety board now on the ground trying to understand what happened. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: cellphone video capturing the unthinkable. a tour boat full of families disabeering beneath the swells on missouri's table rock lake. fewer than half the people would make it back to shore alive. 17 passengers from ages just 1 year old to 70, including boat's driver bob williams are now

gone. >> one lady lost nine members of her 11-member family. >> oh, dear. >> i had a chance to talk to her. it's difficult to find the right words to say. >> reporter: it's one of the deadliest duck boat accidents in history. as strong weather rolled in thursday, the waters on the lake became treacherous. >> never seen it quite this bad. boats can't get in. boats can't get out. >> reporter: this video from a man who had a ticket for the duck boat and turned back, tweeting, we saw high winds and bad weather roll in, so i decided to get a refund and leave with my wife. severe thunderstorm warnings for the area were first issued at 5:45 and again at 6:30 just before the accident. >> welcome aboard. ride the duck. >> reporter: still, two duck boats continued with their advertised tour. radar shows the fast-moving storm heading toward branson hitting the lake with 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts just as the boats tried to turn back at 7:00 p.m.

only one made it to shore. the first emergency calls for the other came in at 7:09. >> we need a water rescue. it will be north of the showboat. it will be a duck that has capsized. >> if there's somebody out there with a video, please turn it in to our stone county sheriff's facebook page. >> reporter: the president of the duck boat company tells cnn it slould never happened. >> it was perfectly calm and we had a high-speed wind system that came out of nowhere. obviously we should. be out there in severe weather. we're absolutely devastated, and we couldn't feel -- we feel terrible. >> reporter: for so many here, now grieving such sudden loss. terrible is just the beginning. now, the next step in this investigation is to bring that boat up from the depths. if you look at that video, it was only a few dozen yards from

the shore. it sank to about 40 feet and then slid to 80 feet. they hope to bring it up by monday. >> what an awful, awful story. our deepest condolences to families. erin burnett yac's "outfron starts right now. michael cohen's secret recording of president trump. it's in the fbi's hands. how many more tapes does he have. plus they want to talk to kristen davis. what's her connection to roger stone. and what does putin have on stone? it's a question that more and more people are asking. let's go out. good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a secret trump tape. tonight i can tell you there is a tape. the president's former lawyer michael cohen recording a conversation he