The Man Who Could Break the Russia Investigation Wide Open

Coming up on today’s show:

• Former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about an April 2016 conversation with a Russian professor who claimed to have “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. Max Kutner, a senior politics writer at Newsweek, and  Amy Sabrin, a retired partner from the law firm Skadden Arps, where she represented many public officials and executives in DOJ investigations, explain what we know about Papadopoulos, how he became involved in the Trump campaign, and what these charge mean.

• Many of the charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates involve their connections to Ukraine, where they worked on behalf of Kremlin-aligned interests and made millions of dollars, which they hid from U.S. authorities. Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, a columnist for The Washington Post, and author of “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,” says there is no way to separate Manafort’s dealings from the campaign’s positioning on Russia.

• In one week, voters in Virginia will choose a new governor. The race between Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam has gotten ugly. Though it’s a tight race, today, most polls have Gillespie trailing slightly. Michael Pope, a reporter with Virginia Public Radio, joins The Takeaway for the latest on the campaign’s homestretch.

• On Nov. 7th, New Jersey will also elect a new governor. In the Garden State, voters will choose between Republican Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Democrat Phil Murphy. Nancy Solomon, managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio, joins The Takeaway with the latest on the race.

• Andrew Cohen, senior editor of The Marshall Project, examines the story of Paysun Long. He has been convicted of murder twice following trials that were constitutionally suspect due to the fact that a key witness for the prosecution lied on the stand. The trial judge and the prosecutor knew this, but did not point it out.

• Country singer Lee Ann Womack has a new album out, called “The The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone.” She reflects on her new work, what it means to be a crossover artist, and she discusses some of the artists that inspire her most. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.