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  • -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 ]

-President Trump freaked out about the Russia investigation

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