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CNN's Alisyn Camerota astonished by Trump supporters excusing Russian efforts to meddle in election

Alisyn Camerota (CNN)
Travis Gettys
March 31, 2017

A group of Trump supporters met again with CNN's Alisyn Camerota, and not one in five of them admitted any concerns about possible conclusion with the Trump campaign and Russia.

Josh Youssef, whose anecdotal claims about illegal voting fell apart under scrutiny during another portion of the conversation, said the U.S. lacked the moral authority to judge Russia because of surveillance programs revealed by the Edward Snowden leaks.

"When was the last time Russia did something terrible to the United States?" Youssef said.

Youssef admitted he didn't know if the late President Ronald Reagan suffered from "Russiaphobia," as he claimed President Donald Trump's opponents did, and another panelist broke in.

"That was a totally different time," said Sara Marie Brenner, a former Trump campaign chair from Delaware. "I mean, you had communism. That was a totally different time in the world."

Youssef cited the justification for invading Iraq to dismiss efforts to determine whether Russia had interfered with the election.

"Look what happened -- we destabilized an entire region," Youssef said. "When we start crossing other people's borders, meddling in their sovereignty, at our own expense -- the instability is grave."

Toni Dibartolo, who previously expressed admiration for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, said she had developed concerns about the disgraced former national security adviser and his ties to Russia.

"I still respect, you know, that he served the country in the past, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed," she said. "He did make an error, he apologized for it and he resigned."

Her husband, Paulie Dibartolo, asked Camerota if she remembered what she'd had for lunch last week to excuse Flynn's denial of communicating with the Russian ambassador -- which turned out to be untrue.

"Yeah, but lunch is different than meeting with the Russian ambassador," Camerota said.

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