committee behind closed doors. president's son-in-law releasing an 11-page statement saying, in no uncertain terms, he did not collude with any foreign government. >> he outlines his viewpoints before the campaign. and his meeting with the russian lawyer. all this comes as the president will sign a new russian sanctions bill where congress actually limits the president's ability to weaken those sanctions. with justice correspondent pamela brown live in washington. she has read through jared's statement. give us the headlines. >> this is the first time, chris and alisyn, that president's senior adviser and son-in-law, jared kushner, is sharing his side of the story about russian contacts and says, point blank, i did not collude nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded with any foreign

government. i've not had any improper contacts. i've not relied on russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector and insists no additional meetings with russians other than the four contacts that have already been reported in the media. he did provide fresh details about those meetings. he says besides a quick meet and greet with russian ambassador sergey kislyak the only other one was the infamous meeting at trump tower with his brother-in-law, don junior, claiming he did not read down that e-mail chain where don junior was told he would be receiving incriminating information about hillary clinton. he claimed he would get hundreds of e-mails a day and couldn't read through each one of them and how he viewed the meeting as meaningless saying in a statement, quote, reviewing e-mails confirmed my memory that the meeting was a waste of our time and looking for a polite way to leave and get back to my

work i e-mailed my assistant from the meeting after ten minutes or so and wrote can you please call me on my cell? need excuse to get out of meeting. he could only recall discussion about adoption during that meeting and there was no follow-up and no documents being offered. during the transition, he said he again met with ambassador kislyak who requested a secure line to discuss the conversation with people in moscow. kushner asked in response if it was possible to use communication channels at the russian embassy, which he says didn't happen. at kislyak's request he met with sergey gorkov who has a direct connection with russian president vladimir putin. he said that lasted 20 minutes and claims it was about relationship building and no personal business was discussed. important to point out that contradicts the statement from the eb that says the meeting was about kushner's business. it was clear, alisyn and chris,

in this 11-page statement that he is trying to downplay these contacts with russians he had during the campaign and transition, saying that, really, they were insignificant, in his view. it's also a defense of why he had these meetings in the first place. of course, he will be peppered with questions when he goes behind closed doors on capitol hill this morning. >> that will be fascinating. pamela, thank you for laying all that out for us. house and senate reaching a deal on a new russian sanctions bill. it's not clear whether president trump will sign it, given that it aims to limit his ability to ever weaken those sanctions. what have you learned about their take on it, joe? >> reporter: alisyn, it wasn't long ago that the white house was opposed to key provisions in that bill to punish russia for meddling in the last election. pressure is mounting on capitol hill to do something. the president finding himself in a tough spot.

a no win if you will. >> president trump's new communication team offering muddled messaging about whether the president support ace bill to unilaterally lift sanctions on moscow. sarah huckabee sanders signaling that the president is open to signing the legislation. >> the administration is supportive of being tough on russia, particularly in putting these in place. >> incoming white house sounding more uncertain. >> is president trump going to sign the russia sanctions bill? >> it's my second or third day on the job. my guess is that he's going to make that decision shortly.

>> the new communications director saying that the president does not accept that russia will t-- tried to influence the 2016 election. >> saying maybe they did it, maybe they didn't do it. >> reporter: reiterated by president trump's own intelligence officials in the last week. >> there's no descent. i have stated that publicly and to the president. >> i am confident that the russians meddled in this election. >> no doubt. i stand by the intelligence that we produced. >> reporter: scheduled to speak with investigators look for possible collus oichlt n, the president unleashing his anger at both political parties, calling the investigation a phony witch hunt and excuse for a lost election while attacking fellow republicans for doing very little to protect their president. the president raising eyebrows a day earlier, asserting he has

the complete power to pardon, suggesting that might can include his family, his aides, even possibly himself, in relation to the russia probe. >> i'm in the oval office of the president last week. we're talking about that. he says he brought that up, he says, but he doesn't have to be pardoned. there's nobody around him that has to be pardoned. >> one of president trump's lawyers offering a contradictory message. >> we have not and i've not continued to have conversations with the president of the united states regarding pardons. pardons have not been discussed and pardons are not on the table. >> reporter: the house is expected to take up that sanctions bill as early as tuesday. "the new york times" reporting when they reached out to scaramucci about the confusion on where the president stand ons the bill, he said he was still new to the information. >> thank you very much, joe. let's bring in our panel.

mr. drucker, when you see this 11-page statement, kushner is saying here is the truth from my perspective. i was overwhelmed, may have been naive but wasn't dirty. he seems to be leveraging you want to criticize me politically, go ahead but i wasn't doing anything dirty. what do you think of it? >> i think he has finally put some meat on the bones. the problems with the drip, drip, drip we've seen in news reports the past six, seven months, they haven't disclosed so many of their contacts and meetings, particularly with russian individuals and officials such that it made it appear as though they were trying to hide things. general flynn of the national security adviser, was fired because he wasn't truthful with his boss. he left the vice president hung out to dry. i think one thing that they should get away from is this

naivety, look, we were high-powered business people running these operations but not smart enough to get this political thing. by the time the particular russian meeting happened in june 2016, they had been running for president for a year. don mcgann was on staff from the very beginning. now the white house counsel, but was campaign counsel. one of the smartest, most effective washington lawyers. >> why didn't he tell them this protocol? >> who knows whether they did or not. my point is, they had his advice. rules for running for governor in particular states, rules for running for senate. i've seen these business people hire people that know politics, as mr. trump did, and start to rely on their expertise so they do everything according to federal lie. they like to play the naivety

card when it's convenient for them. it doesn't help their case, number one, and it doesn't add up if that's what they're going to rely on. >> john kirby, it's not just naivety. he also pleads just being overwhelmed and busy, that he was getting over 200 e-mails a day. he couldn't read through all of them, all the threads. this meeting, in other words, was in his schedule, the meeting with the russian attorney that don junior's e-mails were about, was in jared's schedule as don junior meeting. that's it. that's what he thought -- he didn't know what he was walking into, as depicted by his statement here. so in terms of how the russians were approaching this team, what do you see here? >> one thing that leapt off the page is the phroenetic, almost enthusiastic aggressiveness by the russians to get in on the ground floor with this campaign and after they won as a

transition team, kislyak repeatedly calling to get meetings on the schedule and reaching out. one of the takeaways is this confirms what we knew, a very active russian effort to get involved with trump campaign and post-election activities. one thing i wanted to add to what david was saying, don't forget the state department, we repeatedly reached out to the trump transition team and offered assistance, advice, counsel and background for any meeting they were having and were rebuffed at every turn. we were there. we were ready to support them and they continually turned us down. >> you have ignorance and then you have what they call willful ignorance. because you didn't want to deal with john kirby, obama administration or existing

institutions you walked in blindly. that would still be the best reckoning. that will put the challenge now on the investigators. this is what kushner wants them to believe. what do you think the questions are that come out of this statement? >> well, the statement addresses and confirms the facts we knew earlier, the fact that he did have contacts with russians that did not necessarily show up on his scloesure form. one of motivation and one of take aways and everything else that went on outside of where there's a papertrail. why did kushner agree to have these meetings in the first place? what was he seeking to get out of them? what was the follow-up? the way it's addressed in this statement sounds like bumbling. you can establish certain meetings happened but, really, was there nothing except for this e-mail chain between don

junior and kushner that led to the june 2016 meeting? was there absolutely no follow-up that wasn't in a paper form between other members of the campaign and kushner about what happened in certain ones of these meetings? investigators will try to drill down to everything that happened, there's a fairly agreed upon record having taken place, which will drive what sorts of conclusions they drive, if they agree with kushner or there's something more nefarious there. >> jared reveals about that meeting with the russian attorney, about don junior's e-mails, he found that meeting so irrelevant, so superfulous that he stage aid diversion with his assistant, get me out of here -- i'm paraphrasing. call me. i want to get out of this meeting. he arrived late and left early from this meet iing that he clas

was about adoption. there's no sense, of course, that the russians might have been playing them. no sense of what the russians wanted. they thought it was adoption which, of course, now we believe is synonymous with sanctions relief. >> right. look, they've talked about this meeting being about adoption. at least for the organizer of the meeting, don junior, he knew there was more to it than that. >> or should have known. >> the heading of the e-mail suggested there was more to it. >> he says i didn't know. >> no. right kushner didn't know. >> so does don junior in his ostensable dense. i went in there. it was a friend who want aid meeting. >> he was promised dirt on hillary clinton. >> should have known. >> it's all very plausible that you're running a presidential campaign, from meeting to meeting. you don't ask a lot of questions. i suppose that's possible. i could see that happening. this is don junior. this is not some random campaign

flack saying please jump into a meeting. you do it without asking. the important thing to understand here -- right now, and this is very smart of jared kushner, the facts he has provided in a statement he has written. members of the senate intelligence committee know a lot more -- at least more than we know, to some extent, same with possibly members of the senate judiciary committee. whether this statement is the last word or not. >> i think it was in private. he made this public, which is a smart move. let me ask you, john kirby, about something else. the sanctions bill that the senate seems to hold in pretty bipartisan fashion, the president, now we know again from anthony scaramucci, the president hears russian interference. in his mind it says illegitimate massy. that's the way he takes it. he won't accept the intel on it.

he call this is a witch hunt and hoax, though it seems clear that the russians wanted to have meetings and see what they could get done. all that have leads to this sanctions bill, which is what the russians are worried about. if they go along with this sanctions bill, which his party wants to do. what does it box him into if he signs it? >> basically a test that he agrees. so, look, i think it's silly and small that he won't admit that the russians meddled in the election when everybody else in the universe seems to understand this. i agree with you, it's more just about ego. i'm more concerned about his actions going forward, a, in terms of holding them to account and signing this bill and, b, don't forget, what actions is the government taking to protect

our 2018 elections and 2021s after that? those are the more important issues. >> puts his supporters in a box also. even this morning, supporters are saying you don't know that for sure. scaramucci talked to him and that's what he said. if i'm one of his supporters i take that rationale, i still think this is about my legitimacy as president so i'm not going along with it until i see absolute proof. i'll take that over the alternative. if he's not ignoring what is known about the interference, because he thinks it's politically damaging, why isn't he admitting it? >> the last time we saw a president faced with whether or not to sign a sanctions bill was president obama, and it was the congress, democrats and republicans, pushing him on iran sanctions. this isn't unprecedented but very early in donald trump's presidency. it would be a major rebuke if it

was overridden. >> panel, thank you so much. president trump still not convinced that russia meddled in the u.s. election, despite what his own intel officials say. republican congressman is on next to explain how that works. that's the family taking care of business. awesome notebook! check. but who takes care of them? office depot / office max. this week, these composition books are just 25 cents each. ♪ taking care of business about to see progressive's new home quote explorer. where you can compare multiple quote options online and choose what's right for you. woah. flo and jamie here to see hqx. flo and jamie request entry. slovakia. triceratops. tapioca. racquetball.

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all right. jared kushner released an 11-page statement, which really outlines what he wants the senate intel committee to hear

when he meets with them later this morning. the president's son-in-law and senior adviser basically blames any problems with disclosure on being overwhelmed, some miscommunication or, at worst, being naive. he says that big meeting with don junior that he saw that lawyer in that meeting was just a waste of time. joining us now, republican congressman sean duffy of wisconsin. always a pleasure. did you get a chance to see kushner's 11-page release? what did you think of it, if you did? >> transparency is a good thing. if it wasn't disclosed when it happened it did now. we want to see all the meetings that the trump campaign had with russians and we want to see all the meetings that the clinton campaign had with russia so we can get a good overview. >> i was new, i was green, and

couldn't handle it. if that is the true explanation, what does that mean about the man that the president has picked to solve middle east peace? >> listen, i think what it means is that you have a guy who hasn't been involved in government. this is a family and an individual who have been involved in business their whole lives. doesn't mean they're not smart and talented. it does mean that they are in a campaign that i'm not too sure they were going to be in a position that they were, which is victory. a lot of countries and people, lot of businesses, lot of individuals want to have meetings with them. they were tasked with building out the american government. i think it's fair to say they probably were overwhelmed and i think this was a mistake. i think it comes back to the point, chris, was there something nefarious there? do we have information that the trumps were trying to collude with russia and these meetings were for nefarious purposes? i haven't seen any of that in the testimony and things made

public to the american people. i'm going to take jared kushner at his word. >> the collusion allegations and that part of the investigation. >> that's right. >> you could argue whether or not the russians interfered, which everyone seems to accept, except the president of the united states. and what to do about it, that matters as well. does it trouble you that the president can't separate these questions about collusion from these questions about russian interference and what to do about it? >> i think you do have to separate the two. >> but he can't. i'm asking you, what do you think about that? >> well, let me make the point, though. did they try to get involved in our elections like they do in many other countries? from what i've seen, my answer would be yes. did they impact the outcome of the election? i think the answer is no. i think the president should be able to distinguish those two points. i don't know if the president has seen information that i don't have. but i would agree with you that a lot of his advisers are making

the point that you and i are this morning, which is we think they were trying to be involved. chris, don't you think as we talk about russia, we want all the information, just like we want to know everyone who the trumps have met with, isn't a key piece of this information the dnc server? why won't they turn over that server if the fbi looks at the server and it advances the russia story, are they not turning it over because there's some evidence of criminality on the server? that doesn't make sense to me either. i think we have to have a holistic view of what happened with russia. it's not just the trump campaign but it also involves hillary clinton and the dnc, to look at the broad scope of what the russians were doing. it's not just trump. it's everybody. >> to me it smacks of a political gotcha and false equivalence, to be honest with you, congressman. >> what do you mean? >> there's no suggestion that the dnc had anything to do other than being victimized by any russian efforts to interfere in

the election. so to throw some stink on what did the dnc know or what did hillary clinton know, it just sounds like it's a way of balancing the equation a little bit in terms of a political gotcha game. >> i'm not trying to do that at all. i'm making the point that you often times make. you want to get to the bottom of what russia was doing and how were they doing it. a key part of that is the dnc and the server. i think why that's important is the democrats want to advance this narrative on russia and trump. if you're a victim -- i was a prosecutor. victims would come in with all the evidence that they had to help me prosecute their case. this is a very unique and different situation, where the victim won't turn over all the evidence to prosecute the case. and if that happened to me as a prosecutor, that would be a head scratcher for me, going why don't they want to turn this over? those questions should be asked. what are they trying to hide on that server that they don't want the fbi to see? again, they want this story to

be talked about every single day. and the server could help that. why won't they turn it over? that's not stink. that's truth. >> look, i don't know the particulars. maybe you do -- of what's going on with the surrender of the servers and what kind of cooperation there is. i do know that you're in charge of all the different committees. if you wanted to do a probe on it, you could and you haven't. it's kind of on you guys as to whether or not you're asking those questions. you've never been shy about asking questions you want to ask in the past. right? >> it comes back to a greater point. i look at the house and senate committees. we do russia hearing after russia hearing. republicans control these committees. this is over with mueller. let mueller do the investigation and a thorough investigation. >> the president is the one suggesting that mueller shouldn't be doing it, questioned his integrity in a not too thinly veiled way, saying there are conflicts

people don't know. a member of your party was attacking mueller. >> bottom line is mueller is doing the investigation. >> reporter: for now. >> you can't wind back that clock. how many investigations do we want to have? where i come from in wisconsin, chris, and i'm close to my constituents. they care about health care, border security, they care about what's happening with isis, iran and north korea. those are all the main issues that drive them. even democrats -- i was up at the lumberjack world championships where you get a cross section of people, republicans, democrats. i asked them about russia. even democrats don't believe the russia story, that donald trump colluded with russia. they may not like him, may not like his tweets or his style. they may not like that he pulled out of the paris accord but to think that the trump campaign was colluding with russia, even the democrats don't believe it. i think we need to get to the business that helps the american people. russia, not only for the media,

has been a distraction but for the republican-led congress it's been a distraction. we need to do a better job of letting the facts come out but the business of driving policies that help people, which is why we were elected. >> no question that there's plenty on the plate. i think it all has to be addressed. >> that's true. >> in time. you made a clever segue there, congre congressman. at the lumberjack championships -- i'm look at a picture of you looking very active, standing by a very tall pole. i'm assuming your constituents didn't chase you up that pole. you climbed it voluntarily. tell us about your participation in the lumberjack championships. >> it's always the last full weekend in july. it was a week earlier this july this year. people from all over the country conversion and the best of the best compete in chopping,ing, log rolling, tree climbing. a slice of americana, skills

that lumberjacks used to use in the woods. it's a great competition, all american. i used to compete in that speed climbing. i won that event three times when i was a little bit younger and tougher. >> really? >> yeah. not quite as i used to be in my old age with my gray hair. it's a great event. it's pretty cool. >> i think it's pretty cool that you won. >> chris, you see those poles? up and down that 90-foot pole takes about 20 seconds. it's a pretty cool race. >> that's what it takes you. it would take me 2 1/2 days and probably some type of crane. i'm glad you didn't get hurt. good to have you on the show as always. >> thanks, chris. >> shouldn't you be in some sort of lumberjack competition? >> i have run into trees and knocked them down. but i can't do that. that's impressive. i don't know if you've ever watched one of those things.

>> he did it last year and won it then or we've had pictures of him then. he's good at this. >> impressive. new communications team at the white house. is there reason to hope for transparency and a reset with the media? we take a closer look at what this new communications director will do. hi. i'm the one clocking in... when you're clocking out. sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. there. i can even warm these to help you fall asleep faster. does your bed do that? oh. i don't actually talk. though i'm smart enough to. i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store.

i love the president. i'm very loyal to the president. i respect these guys. the president himself is always going to be the president. i think he has some of the best political instincts in the world and perhaps in the history. he has done a phenomenal job for the american people. >> the white house has a new communications director, anthony scaramucci, who seems to have a lot of love for president trump. though he does not appear to share a lot of the president's positions. sean spicer is now out as press secretary. what does this mean for getting real information out of the white house? jennifer granholm and former trump adviser jason miller. great to have both of you. governor, i want to start with you. anthony scaramucci is an

interesting guy. >> very. >> you took note of that on twitter, of his past positions, very recent past positions. you tweeted out scaramucci deleted tweets showing he's pro choice, anti-gun, pro hillary clinton, anti-donald trump, pro gay marriage. >> he is pretty much aligned. i forgot to mention abuse baus we only have 140 characters that he's anti-wall as well. it's pretty mazing that donald trump, who is mr. loyalty, right, who is suspicious of anybody who donated to somebody else in the campaign, regardless of the fact that donald trump has donated to hillary clinton in the past, right, or to democrats in the past. but the bottom line is that it's really interesting to me that he picked somebody to be his spokesperson who is completely antithetical in his own personal beliefs to what donald trump purports to stand for. >> communications director for the campaign or the transition.

how will this work? scaramucci feels so differently than the president he serves? >> i think anthony will do a fantastic job here. one of the important things for folks to remember is that anthony was an active surrogate on the campaign as well as the transition. he's very familiar with the president's positions. he has been a very effective advocate for those positions. one thing that the governor knows is that when folks sign on to work for, whether it be a candidate or someone actually in office, they're signing on to their beliefs, their positions and they're going to tow the line and work to help advance that agenda. >> yeah. >> the governor, not everybody who worked for the governor during her time in office agreed with every single position. >> no, everybody did. >> right. >> of course. of course. >> right. not everybody. but here is the important thing. anthony has a proven record of advocating the president's position. he really, truly gets this spirit of making america great again. this broader agenda that the

president is trying to move. >> hold on. i understand. to be so fundamentally at odds with your own positions versus the president that you serve -- i mean, would you take that job? would you take a job with someone with whom your positions were antithetical? >> views might change over time and things get said during the course of campaigns when you're on the same side as someone or different side they might be heated. the thing that's very clear here is that anthony is on board with what the president is trying to do. you go back and look at his background as someone who is a businessman. he comes from wall street, private capital, trying to get the economy and growth going. that's very much in the same spirit as where president trump is. i think that's part of the reason both of these two get along and agree so much. >> yeah. >> ultimately, it isn't about anthony scaramucci's core. he is willing to give that up in order to be the spokesperson. >> is that how you interpret this? >> yeah. >> the things he has tweeted --

let me throw some up for people so they understand. all these tweets that represent what you say, that he's pro choice, pro gun control and said things about hillary clinton. if she keeps this up, she might be in play for 2016. he said that in 2012. i hope she runs. she is incredibly competent. he said about gun control, i have always been for strong gun control laws. >> yeah. this is quite -- if it were one evolution, that would be interesting. he has evolved, if it's true he would have evolved, now adopts the president's position, that is head spinning. >> governor -- >> i'm just saying, my point, jason, is to sort of agree with you and say he is a hired gun now really for the president. no different than if you're a lawyer and you have to argue your client's case. and the more interesting point, to me was the president hasn't seemed to want to have people who had evolved like that. he wants somebody, usually in the past, who is loyal to the

core. more importantly, can scaramucci get the president to get on message? i was checking out the number of tweets that the president did just this month of july on his own defense, the obsession he has about the russia stuff and about feeling attacked and about fake news. he did about -- actually, he did another one this morning. 47 in the month of july tweets related to his worry about russia, fake news, all of that, to feeling attacked. his defense. he only did -- that's 47. 14 tweets about jobs and this is supposed to be the month where he goes to make it in america. there's a disproportion. >> you have to let me jump in. the democratic party is so rudderless right now. governor, there is not one person in the united states that woke up this morning who gave a rat's you know what about anthony scaramucci's or anybody

else's tweets from -- >> no, no -- >> she's talking about donald trump. >> nobody -- before you were talking about -- then you want to pivot into this. what people care about is advancing the agenda. >> that's my point. >> repealing and replacing obama care, tax reform done. anthony scaramucci believes in the president's mission, what he's trying to do to move this country forward. that's what people care about. people aren't focused on these tweets. >> when i look at august -- >> even today, you take a look at what -- i'm going to throw you a bone here, governor, and talk about the one attempt at a positive message that the democrats are trying to put out today. it's nonnot even a positive message. they're trying to go on the attack. >> they're speaking about jobs. that's what the president should be talking about, is jobs. his tweet is talking about the investigation. >> do you know who actually has a plan? president trump. you look at the job growth records since he has come in. >> no. >> it's doing fantastic.

look at the stock market, investor confidence, surm confidence. governor, our economy is finally -- >> what has he done? >> starting to move in the right direction. >> what bill has he passed? not one. >> he went to michigan. your home state. and he has already started to make some fantastic progress to reduce burden some regulations to that hurt the auto industry. >> that's why ford decided to move jobs to mexico. >> carrier jobs continue to move. harley davidson started to move. >> jobs right there in indianapolis. >> now you guys are getting started. governor, jason miller, thank you very much. fascinating to see how anthony scaramucci handles all of this. chris? police are piecing together a deadly human trafficking operation, dozens of people, maybe as many as 100 trapped in the back of a semi truck.

temperatures topping 100 degrees outside. people lost their lives. nine at the latest count. what's going on? the latest from the scene. ♪ backpack, check. that's the family taking care of business. awesome notebook! check. but who takes care of them? office depot / office max. this week, these composition books are just 25 cents each. ♪ taking care of business [man: let's go!] man #2: we're not coming out! man #1: [ sighs ] flo: [ amplified ] i got this. guys, i know being a first-time homeowner is scary,

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. an investigation underway in an pauling case of human trafficking. overheating. at least nine of them dead. ed lavendera is live. there's an urgency now to squeeze ever more people into these trips across the border because of concerns about detection. ed? >> reporter: that is true. you know, as gruesome and as horrifying as this story sounds to many people across the country, the reality is that this way, the way these people were being moved is a quite common occurrence along the southern border, especially in this part of south texas where you really see the highest

number of illegal immigration numbers coming across the u.s. southern border. this kind of way of moving undocumented migrants is very common. obviously, this one taking a horrific turn. nine people dead, 30 others being treated in the hospital. nearly 20 of those in critical condition. the driver of the truck has been identified as 60-year-old james bradley of clearwater, florida. he is expected here in downtown san antonio, expected to face criminal federal charges at some point this morning. that continues. that investigation really centers around him, alisyn, as people here, investigators try to figure out exactly who he was working with and who else was involved in this human smuggling operation. >> absolutely. it will be fascinating to hear what he has to say in court today. 17 hikers trapped in arizona now safe. take a look at the rescue effort. you can see one man there being air lifted to safety.

the victims were trapped in this severe flash flooding. my goodness. meanwhile, stormy conditions ushering in cool air in the northeast. jennifer gray has our forecast. hi, jennifer. >> hi, alisyn. that's right. first we need to get through the storms. this weather report brought to you by tempur-pedic. sleep is power. in maryland a reported tornado earlier this morning. crews will be out, assessing that damage. all of this rain, pushing through today. we will see the benefits by tomorrow. we've got to get through today first. flood watches in effect, even a flash flood warning in effect, right outside philadelphia. this will be pushing out today. maek it one more round of rain. new york city, later this afternoon. we will see cooler temperatures by tomorrow in the lower 70s in the northeast. chris? >> all right, jen. when is the baby coming? >> in about a month. >> boy, oh, boy, good luck with that. that will be a forecast we're

looking forward to. >> thank you. trump's son-in-law and top aide jared kushner will face tough questions on the hill today. it will be in private but not under oath. that doesn't matter. you still have to tell the truth when you're before the congress. bottom line, next. forhas adapted to my weightic and shape... so i sleep deeply... and wake up ready to perform. only exclusive retailers carry tempur-pedic. find yours at tempurpedic.com.

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>> all right. so in about an hour, jared kushner will meet with the senate intelligence committee. he will also meet with the house intelligence committee but not today. an 11-page statement was released that will give investigators and us a look ahead of time about the facts. ron brownstein, what is your bottom line on the 11 pages? >> the baseline. how strong a baseline jared kushner sets here, the intensity of his statements. no subordinate clauses here, chris. there was no collusion, minimal contacts. he has now provided, in essence, a very strong, unequivocal statement that investigators will go back and look at. in terms of what's in here, i was struck mostly by one thing that isn't discussed and one thing that is discussed.

the isn't discussed is he notes, in passing, he was the leader of the digital and data and polling teams. many of the democrats and many of the investigators looking at this, you know, want to -- have focused on that area. the question of whether these fabricated news stories, how were they targeted in the u.s.? did they know themselves where to target it or was it a point of collusion. another thing that struck me is that he confirms that he discussed with ambassador kislyak the creation of a secure communications channel through russian facilities, does not answer why -- even if you thought that was necessary to discuss syria, as he says in the statement, why he did not discuss that in terms of using american facilities. >> right. >> obviously there are more question s but this is a pretty strong statement. >> that was fascinating. why trust the russian embassy over your own statement department over your own white house communications?

he needs to explain that to investigators, why go through the russians. a new tweet to read to you in real time from the president. we know you have not read it yet. >> yes. >> why aren't the committees and investigators and, of course, our beleaguered attorney general looking into crooked hillary's crimes and russia relations? i mean, wow, ron. >> yeah, wow. >> the president fixated. >> did he say beleaguered? >> he's right about that, thanks to his efforts most recently, i think the ag is beleaguered. >> the president, especially on the russia front, but on many fronts, is really about making arguments that are designed to convince people of goodwill in the middle of the country. feeding their sense of victimhood, equating them with him.

the idea that, in essence, raising these questions about him all of these, quote, elite forces are trying to suppress his supporters and i think that's a continuation of that. this isn't a serious engagement. he has to deal with health care today. they're about to make the third attempt on the senate tomorrow to bring a bill. there's a poll out today, usa today/gallup poll about whether he should be impeached. 50-state approval ratings and in many of the states key to his victory, particularly michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania, he is at 43% or below. he has serious issues to address in terms of broadening a coalition and is still making argumen arguments continuing to reject the previous intelligence committee but current intelligence officials that russia meddled in the 2016

election. >> more proof of what anthony scaramucci said. when he hears russian interference, he hears legitimacy and once again puts it on the democrat. >> thank you very much for the bottom line. it will be a fascinating week. cnn "newsroom" with poppy harlow and john berman will pick up after this break. i make it easy to save $600 on car insurance,

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good morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm john berman. breaking news this morning, i didn't do it. i got a lot of e-mails and was new at this whole politics thing. that's the first defense, 11 pages worth from jared kushner responding to questions swirling around the trump campaign and the white house. arriving on capitol hill where he will meet behind closed doors with the staff of the senate intelligence committee, investigating the efforts of russia to meddle in the 2016 election. we should see his arrival any money now.