[Isa Soares, Cnn Anchor:] At least two dead and dozens injured after a strong earthquake rattled Turkey and the Greek islands.
[Vause:] A special counsel digging deeper into President Trump's business dealings and now the president's legal team taking a closer look at his authority to grant pardons to his staff, his family, even himself.
[Soares:] And a conflict-free life, O.J. Simpson's shocking statement and why a parole board granted him early freedom.
[Vause:] Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us for our third hour. I'm John Vause.
[Soares:] And I'm Isa Soares. NEWSROOM L.A. begins right now. Now a 6.7 magnitude quake has rattled Turkey and Greece, sparking panic and causing a lot of damage.
[Unidentified Male:] [Speaking foreign language].
[Soares:] These people were celebrating a birthday at a seaside patio in Bodrum, Turkey, when the tremor struck. Several cms of water washed up on the deck and sudden darkness.
[Vause:] No fatalities have been reported in Turkey but across the Aegean Sea, CNN Greece reporting at least two dead on the Greek island of Kos. Merchandise toppled from store shelves and rubble lay in the streets. Dozens of people have also been hurt.
[Soares:] Let's get more on this story. CNN producer Gul Tuysuz has the latest from Istanbul. Gul, both Bodrum as well as Kos, they're very popular with tourists, also with locals, too, in terms of this is high holiday season. What are you hearing from the ground?
[Gul Tuysuz, Cnn Correspondent:] First of all, Isa, we're hearing from the Greek authorities that those two people that had been reported as dead, they've come out and announced their nationalities. It's one Swedish and one Turkish national are the ones who have lost their lives in the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that really shook this very touristy resort, part of the Aegean, both on
[Soares:] And of course, this happened in the very early hours. Thanks very much, Gul. Do keep us posted. Let's get more from meteorologist Karen Maginnis, who's in Atlanta. Karen, give us a sense of just how powerful that quake was and the concerns moving forward in what relates to the aftershocks.
[Karen Maginnis, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes. And those aftershocks, they are very unnerving, Isa, especially since it took place during the early morning hours. People were either out enjoying themselves, because it's a very touristy area, or people were sleeping. So either way, it happens at night and it's an event that you are not expecting. A lot of people were forced out into the streets to sleep there because their buildings, they are afraid or their buildings are compromised. So this is the general area, I will tell you this is very tectonically active. What does that mean? We see a lot of earthquakes across this region. It's one of the most active in the entire world. So here is this coastal community, already we have seen about eight aftershocks between 4.0 and 5.0. Now, if you went
[Maginnis:] from 0.5 magnitude to 0.8 magnitude, that sounds like three clicks away. It is actually 20,000-30,000 times stronger. So this is considered a strong earthquake. And it was measuring 6.7 magnitude. And we are looking at an earthquake that certainly is capable of taking a number of lives but its depth was fairly shallow, just about 10 kilometers deep. Already we have those two fatalities reported here. And around the globe, typically you might expect between 100, maybe 200 earthquakes of this size in a year. There you see some of the damage associated with what looks to be some of the tourist areas, some of the debris that was thrown onto the roads. There was actually about a half-meter tsunami, so it was very small but it ripped some boats from their moors and also produced some water in some of those coastal areas. But we will keep you updated on the situation there Isa.
[Soares:] I appreciate it, Karen Maginnis for us there, thanks, Karen.
[Vause:] Well, Donald Trump's legal team reportedly going on the offensive, looking to discredit the special counsel's investigation of the president's alleged ties to Russia during last year's election campaign. "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" both reporting that the president's strategy now is to try to find conflicts of interest among Mueller and his investigators. And "The Washington Post," reports that Trump's legal team also taking a close look at his authority to grant pardons, even to himself.
[Soares:] Well, meanwhile, Bloomberg is reporting that Mueller has expanded his probe between Putin's and Trump's business dealings with Russians, going back more than a decade. Bloomberg says FBI investigators and others are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and other real estate dealings.
[Greg Farrell, Bloomberg Legal Investigative Reporter:] What we have learned is that he is taking a broad view of the investigation and not a narrow view. So the mandate he was given in mid-May is open to interpretation. Anything related to Russia and that might have resulted in interference in the election. He is clearly going back, more than a decade, to any real estate transactions. He is clearly focused on any major transaction that has taken place, like the Miss Universe 2013 pageant in Moscow, et cetera, the flipping of the Florida mansion, in order to get information, yes, he'll have to issue subpoenas.
[Farrell:] He has to issue subpoenas to some banks and more difficult is to issue not subpoenas but requests for information from foreign banks, European banks. That takes time.
[Soares:] How much tension, how much anxiety is there within the White House to relating to this investigation as to how far it may go?
[Vause:] All this comes as the spokesman of communications for President Trump's team has resigned. Joining us now, Democratic strategist Matt Littman and CNN political commentator and consultant, John Thomas. Good to see you both. OK, so we had that extraordinary interview on Wednesday, which the president gave to "The New York Times." In that interview, he essentially drew a line in the sand for Mueller. This is what he said.
[Schmidt:] Mueller is looking at your finances and family's finances unrelated to Russia. Is that a red line?
[Maggie Haberman, "the New York Times":] Would that be a breach of what his actual charge is?
[Donald Trump , President Of The United States:] I would say yes. Yes, I would say yes.
[Vause:] So that was Wednesday. Almost on cue, Thursday comes this report from Bloomberg that Mueller is in fact looking very closely at Trump's financial records. Which, Matt, you know, seems to be well within the rights and the authority of the special counsel.
[Matthew Littman, Democratic Strategist:] Well, in the counsel's charge, it basically says he can investigate anything about Russia and anything he finds out during the course of the investigation
[Littman:] so yes, I mean, he can look into Trump family finances if you look at the people they have hired on the Mueller team, these are people who were white-collar criminal lawyers. And so, I don't think it should be any surprise that they are looking at the Trump family finances at this point. The problem for Trump is, there's a reason why he has not wanted to release his taxes for all this time. And one of the reports is saying that he is really getting nervous about the fact that they're looking into the tax returns. There's a lot here that we don't know about Trump's finances because he has not wanted us to know. We may find out and that's what's making him nervous.
[John Thomas, Cnn Political Commentator:] This is the problem with the special counsel, is they have such broad authority to go anywhere and everywhere, when they were charged to look at the 2016 election. Exactly what does an apartment deal that Trump may have done
[Littman:] That's exactly that is not what he's charged with
[Thomas:] You're right. And so why he is going back?
[Littman:] Because that's not what he's charged with. He is charged with anything the finds out in the course of the investigation, including Russia. So anything that he finds out is fair game. And he's finding some stuff out.
[Soares:] But
[Farrell:] He is clearly focused on any major transaction that, that has taken place, like the Miss Universe 2013 pageant in Moscow, et cetera, the flipping of the Florida mansion, in order to get information, yes, he'll have to issue subpoenas. He has to issue subpoenas to some banks and more difficult is to issue not subpoenas but requests for information from foreign banks, European banks. That takes time.
[Soares:] How much tension, how much anxiety is there within the White House, relating to this investigation, as to how far it may go?
[Littman:] Before they get to you, let me just say that Trump firing Comey is the stupidest political decision of all time because the whole reason all this is happening is because he fired Comey. Go ahead
[Thomas:] and you're right in the sense of the second the special counsel was appointed, Trump lost because this will take twists and turns. Look, Trump, as a business man, has lived a life, I'm sure he has had a lot of bad business deals, a lot of bad business debt, people with axes to grind and now they're all going to have a voice. And I'm sure Trump and his team are going oh, God, this thing is creeping way beyond whether or not Russia hacked the election or I had anything to do with that.
[Littman:] And if you broke the law you broke the law.
[Vause:] Well, in "The New York Times" interview, the president laid the groundwork, it seems, to try and discredit Robert Mueller and the investigation, so he told "The Times." "We were interviewing replacements at the FBI. Did you know Mueller was one of the people that was being interviewed? The next day he is appointed special counsel. I said what the tell is that all about? Talk about conflicts. But he was intervening for the job. There were many other conflicts there I haven't said but I will at some point," indication Mueller's out for some kind of payback because he didn't get the job. And then the past couple of hours we had this report from "The Washington Post" about that Trump's lawyers are actively compiling a list of Mueller's alleged potential conflicts of interest which they say could serve as a way to stymie his work. This is according to a couple of Trump's legal advisers. John, I just wonder how effective can the administration be trying discredit Mueller? He had bipartisan support when he took the job. He's the former FBI director, the second longest-serving FBI director. He saw this country through 911.
[Thomas:] Yes, it's going to be hard to do that if they're looking to discredit the messenger. I'd probably focus on his team members that he's bringing in to show conflicts. I think early on, I can't remember exactly the person, but I think somebody had close ties to Clinton, coming into the team, or it was a Clinton donor. So that's the strategy they will use. I don't think Mueller, good luck with that one.
[Vause:] You know who else gave money to Hillary Clinton?
[Thomas:] Donald Trump, right?
[Littman:] But also, by the way, none of this is about the truth, finding out the truth of what's happened with Trump over the years and with his finances is what we should be looking for. Donald Trump is not Donald Trump believes we have
[Soares:] But it seems within the Republican Party, many are already worried and voicing their concerns about whether President Trump may actually fire Mueller. Take a listen.
[Sen. Orrin Hatch , Utah:] This is a person that makes statements off the cuff that sometimes come back to haunt him. And that's one of them. I'm presuming he probably wishes he could take that back.
[Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Do you have any concerns about that approach that he's taking with Jeff Sessions, the attorney general?
[Sen. Ben Sasse , Nebraska:] The independence of our judicial officials, Justice Department officials, is highly critical to the functioning of our democracy.
[Raju:] Do you have concerns about the president saying that Bob Mueller should not look in the finances of the Trumps?
[Sen. Richard Burr , Chairman, Senate Intelligence Committee:] Well, I haven't seen that specific thing. But Bob Mueller should look at anything that falls within the scope of the special counsel's mandate.
[Soares:] So do you think, Matthew, that he's pretty much set the stage for this?
[Littman:] I absolutely thing that Trump will fire Mueller at some point, I can't see how he's not. Trump does not think that the law applies to him.
[Soares:] How big of a bombshell would it be?
[Littman:] In the House, I don't think it's that big of a bombshell; in the Senate, I do think it's a bombshell. So go ahead.
[Vause:] I was going to say, which kind of explains some of the reporting we are getting now about the president taking a close look at his authority to grant pardons. So, John, just complete this sentence for me: if the administration has done nothing wrong, then why do they need to look at the power to pardon?
[Thomas:] Because, again, well, you have to know all your options. I think, Trump feels, and probably rightfully so, that this thing has become a witch hunt, that they are going to go through whatever layers of the onion they have to, how many decades they have to go back, whatever apartment deal or condo that some Russian bought that maybe he doesn't have a relationship with. They will find some wrongdoing that may have really no connection to this election. So Trump has got to figure out his options. And he needs to shut it down.
[Littman:] It's not a witch hunt if they find legitimate things that Trump did wrong.
[Thomas:] You're right, but what about the 2016 election?
[Littman:] They are looking into the 2016 election. We just came out last week, we just got new news about Donald Trump, Jr.
[Soares:] Will Mueller, do you think, be intimidated by any of this?
[Littman:] Absolutely not. There's no reason for him to be intimidated by this. And I believe that in the Senate, most of the people support Mueller. And if he ends up, if Trump ends up firing him, I think that already they're probably pretty far along in this investigation.
[Vause:] Really quickly, Senator John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer. I think now is a good time to remember what a decent man he was and what leadership he showed during the 2008 election campaign. Look at this.
[Unidentified Female:] I cannot trust Obama. I have read about him and he is not, he is a he is an Arab, he is not
[Sen. John Mccain , Ariz:] No, ma'am; no, ma'am.
[Unidentified Female:] No?
[Mccain:] No, ma'am; no, ma'am. He is a he is a he's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.
[Vause:] Very quickly, John, what happened between then and now?
[Thomas:] Dramatically different people, there's no doubt about that.
[Soares:] Matthew, John, thank you very much.
[Thomas:] Thanks.
[Vause:] Well, we will take a short break; when we come back, The Juice is about to be set loose after nine years in a Nevada jail. The parole board agrees to early release for O.J. Simpson. Details in just a moment.