captioning sponsored by cbs >> mason: the russia connection. e-mails show donald trump, jr., welcomed a russian offer of help in his father's campaign against hillary clinton. >> this is the most problematic thing i've seen thus far. >> there are a lot of dots, and i think we're tarting to see those dots start to get connects. >> mason: also tonight, a military transport plane crashes in a mississippi field killing all 16 on board. >> you are just helpless. you don't have any control over it, and you want the help them so bad. >> mason: a dr. charged with sexually assaulting female gymnasts reaches a plea deal in a separate child pornography case. >> he got caught in the current. >> mason: and a dramatic rescue, a powerful rip tide is

no match for a sea of samaritans. >> this is this is the "cbs evening news." >> mason: good evening. i'm anthony mason. the russia investigation the president calls fake has just become a very real problem for his son. today donald trump, jr., released an exchange of e-mails in which he accepts what is purported to be an offer of help from the russian government in his father's campaign against hillary clinton. a russian lawyer was to deliver dirt on clinton in june of last year at that trump tower meeting we first learned about last weekend. it involved trump, jr., brother-in-law jared kushner, and campaign chairman paul manafort. we have extensive coverage tonight, including major garrett on team trump's changing stories, nancy cordes with the political fallout, and julianna goldman on the legal implications. but we begin with jeff pegues, who is following the e-mail

trail. >> reporter: the first e-mail on june 3rd was blunt. music publicist robert goldstone wrote donald trump, jr., that a russian official had offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia. goldstone said it was very high level and sensitive information and part of russia and its government's support for mr. trump. the president's son replied, "if it's what you say, i love it." the information goldstone wrote was comeing from emin agalorov, a russian pop star whose father is a wealthy oligarch with ties to vladimir putin. mr. trump had worked with both men to bring the miss universe pageant to moscow in 2013. >> moscow is going to get hotter. >> reporter: four days after the initial e-mail, goldstone sent another message. this one said a russian government attorney was flying

over from moscow. trump, jr., agreed to meet with her on june 9th and said campaign chairman paul manafort and the president's son-in-law jared kushner would also attend. they were copied on trump, jr.'s, response. then candidate trump was at trump tower at the time of the meeting. the white house says he was unaware it was going on and only learned about it recently. less than a week after the meeting, the democratic national committee accused russia of hacking into its computer servers. the following month wikileaks began releasing stolen dnc e-mails. the russian government lawyer, natalia veselnitskaya, denied that she ever promised compromising information about clinton or that she works for the kremlin. "i do not represent interests of anyone other than myself in this situation today," she said. trump, jr., posted the e-mails on twitter to be "totally transparent," but the any timed

timed -- "new york times" says he released them only after its reporters told him they had obtained the messages. today white house spokesman sarah huckabee sanders read a statement praising his son. >> my son is a high-quality person and i applaud his transparency. >> reporter: trump, jr., said again the lawyer had no information to provide and wanted to talk about adoption policy, but that topic is never mentioned in those e-mails. anthony? >> mason: thanks, jeff. the e-mails conflict with team trump's repeated insistence there was no contact between the campaign and russia. here's chief white house correspondent major garrett. >> we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the clintons. i think you're going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. >> reporter: that was candidate trump in 2016 two days before his son don, jr., met with the russian lawyer at trump tower. no one knows what mr. trump meant, but what followed was a steady diet of denials about

contacts or cooperation with russians. this was don, jr., in july. >> it's disgusting. it's so phony. i can't think of a bigger lie. >> reporter: three days later. >> it's just a total deflection. this whole thing with russia. russia, if you're listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. i have nothing to do with russia. >> reporter: that same day campaign chairman paul manafort was asked about any russia connection on "cbs this morning." >> can you tell us what you know about the relationship and what the campaign knows and what donald trump believes? >> we have no relationship. >> reporter: the issue similarrered through the transition. senior adviser kellyanne conway on "face the nation." >> did anyone involved in the trump campaign have any contact with russians trying to meddle with the election? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: five days before the inauguration, vice president

elect mike pence repeated the denial. >> did any adviser or anybody in the trump campaign have any contacts with the russians who were trying to meddle in the election? >> of course not. >> reporter: shortly after taking office, the president fired michael flynn for dying about his dealings with russian officials. then came this denial. >> can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with russia during the course of the election? >> well, i told you, general flynn obviously was dealing. so that's one person, but he was dealing, as he should have been. >> during the election? >> no, nobody they know of. >> reporter: and again in may. >> this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election. >> reporter: the white house clung to its denial as recently as yesterday. deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders. >> no one within the trump campaign colluded in order to influence the election. >> reporter: the president's statement about his son being high quality and transparent was

specifically designed to steer clear of future legal issues and the meeting itself. the white house said the president is frustrated the russia story simply will not go away. anthony? >> mason: major garrett at the white house. thank you, major. now to the reaction to the trump, jr., e-mails on capitol hill. chief congressional correspondent nancy cordes is there. >> this is obviously very significant, deeply disturbing. >> reporter: democrats describe the e-mail chain today as a game changer. >> the e-mails are the end of the idea pushed by the administration and the president that there is absolutely no evidence of intent to coordinate or collude. >> reporter: hillary clinton's running mate virginia's tim kaine went even further. >> this is moving into perjury, false statement, and even into potentially treason. >> reporter: republicans were troubled, too. new york's lee zeldin tweeted, "that meeting is a big no-no." >> this is the most problematic

thing i've seen thus far. >> reporter: south carolina's lindsey graham said the trump campaign should have reported the encounter to the f.b.i. right away. >> you have an e-mail suggesting that the russian government wants the help the trump campaign. you have a response from don, jr., saying, "i love it." >> reporter: trump, jr., says he had to listen if the russian lawyer had info about an opponent. i asked florida's marco rubio who ran for president himself last year what he would have done? >> i would be very suspicious because i'm very anti-putin. i would be very suspicious of them. >> reporter: would you report it to the authorities? >> i think i would have. >> reporter: the trump team's changing stories about who they met with and when have left few republicans willing to go to bat for them on russia. oklahoma's jim inhofe is one of them. >> you guys are trying to spend every breathing moment trying to destroy trump. you know, good luck. >> reporter: vice president pence was here on capitol hill

today, but he took no questions. his office says that he was unaware of this controversial meeting and that he is no longer focused on the campaign, especially the part that took place, anthony, before he joined the ticket. >> mason: nancy, thanks. so what are the legal implications of all this, the trump, jr., e-mails and his meeting with the russian lawyer fall under the mandate of the special counsel. here's julianna goldman. >> reporter: one of the key questions for special counsel robert mueller investigationing russian interference into the 2016 election is whether or not the trump campaign is involved. collusion isn't illegal, but conspiracy is. so does the fact that donald trump, jr., and others met with someone they were told was a russian government lawyer who wanted to help the campaign matter? >> the changing rationale fuels the conspiracy theories. >> reporter: a law professor of george washington university

law school says the e-mails alone don't necessarily prove conspiracy, but they raise questions that could put mr. trump and his inner circle in legal jeopardy. first, why did trump, jr., initially lie about the purpose of the meeting? >> conflicting stories for prosecutors are like blood in the water for a shark. it attracts prosecutors and investigators. they want to know why there's conflicts. >> reporter: then there's this: did the e-mails contradict any information campaign associates have provided to the f.b.i. that could lead to criminal charges. and furthermore, why didn't jared kushner include the meeting when he submitted his government security clearance form? >> the most serious criminal issue in these controversies comes down to false statements. for those of us who do criminal defense work, that's the crime we fear the most. it's very hard to defend against. the government tends to use false statements to prosecute people in washington more than any other crime. >> reporter: another big

question: did the e-mails point to a violation of election law by soliciting information that could be of value from a foreign agent? lawyers we talked to said that's a harder case to prove. anthony? >> reporter: julianna goldman, thanks. >> mason: senator mark warner of virginia is the top democrat on the senate intelligence committee. he joins us tonight from the capleitol. good evening, senator. >> good evening, anthony. >> mason: senator, how do these new e-mails affect your investigation? >> well, the last 24 hours is first time that the public has seen evidence that trump officials actually were willing to accept information that was part of a russian government effort to hurt hillary clinton and promote donald trump. and what's disturbing to me is not only that fact, but that once again we have seen a pattern that it started right after the election, through the transition, and throughout this administration where now it's more than a dozen trump campaign

or transition or current administration officials have constantly said they had no conversations with russians, they didn't know anything about any of these kind of... any kind of intervention on behalf of the russian government to intervene in our elections candidly. those kind of comments have now been disproven. >> mason: the trump administration, senator, has denied any collusion between the campaign, the trump campaign, and russia. do you see any evidence of collusion here? >> well, my job in this investigation is to keep it bipartisan until all the facts, until we see all these individuals. i had a chance to question donald trump, jr. i had a chance to question gerald -- jared kushner. i had a chance to question paul manafort and a host of other individual, and then i'll reach my conclusion. but boy, oh, boy, the idea that you have these e-mails in black and white that said to the president's son, hey, we've got damaging information on hillary

clinton, and this is part of a russian government effort to help his father, i don't see how anyone can deny that this brings the investigation to a whole other level. >> pelley: lastly, senator, your colleague tim kaine said today, "this is moving in the perjury, potentially treason." do you agree? >> listen, i'm going to keep my judgments to myself until i get chance to have all these witnesses appear before us, to hear their side of the story, and frankly, we have a little more digging to do in terms of other leads we have to follow, but this is a very, very disturbing pattern. it happened once or twice, you might excuse it as rookie mistakes, but you don't make a rookie mistake when you take information from a foreign government, in this case a foreign adversary like russia where the information is being represented as part of a government effort to actually help one candidate, and in this case besmirch another, in this case hillary clinton.

>> mason: senator mark warner, thanks very much. >> thank you, anthony. >> mason: the senator says his committee plans to call donald trump, jr., to testify soon. coming up next on the "cbs evening news," the deadliest marine crash in more than a decade. and later, a doctor formally with u.s.a. gymnastics may face federal sex abuse charges after all. my doctor recommended i switch laxatives. stimulant laxatives make your body go by forcefully stimulating the nerves in your colon. miralax is different. it works with the water in your body to hydrate and soften. unblocking your system naturally.

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>> mason: the f.b.i. joined military investigators today in trying to find out what caused a marine refueling plane to corkscrew into a so soybean fied in mississippi. all 16 on board were killed yesterday in the deadliest marine crash in 12 years. here's david begnaud. >> reporter: the military transport plane fell from the sky over western mississippi, sending black smoke billowing

above the countryside. before the crash, local volunteer fire chief donald fulgham heard a boom. >> we looked up, and it was coming, and he started spiraling. it just kept going. >> reporter: the plane is a kc-130. it's used to refuel other planes midair. 15 marines and one sailor were on board the aircraft. seven of the crew members were based at camp lejeune, north carolina. major andrew aranda with s a spokesperson for the military. >> they were on a training flight to el centro, california. they were on a mission to transport personnel and equipment. [taps playing] >> reporter: near the crash site, marine supporter david weeks honored the fallen. the tragic final moments of their lives will be etched forever in the memories of witnesses like gary fulgham. >> i wanted to cry. you know, you're just helpless. you don't have any control over it. and you want to help them so bad.

it's pitiful. >> reporter: foul play is not suspected here. seventh of the crew members who died were part of an elite team that's used in the global fight against terrorism. i'm about a mile i'd say from the crash site. we were able to get close this morning. i got to tell you, you could smell the jet fuel from probably 500 yards away. anthony, we have a local source in mississippi who says there was no mayday call before that plane disappeared from radar >> david begnaud with the tragedy in mississippi. thank you, david. up next, a courtroom surprise in the case of a doctor accused of molestic gymnasts. yes. so let me ask you this... how does diabetes affect your heart? it doesn't, does it? actually, it does. type 2 diabetes can make you twice as likely to die from a cardiovascular event, like a heart attack or stroke. and with heart disease, your risk is even higher. you didn't know that. no. yeah. but, wait, there's good news for adults who have type 2 diabetes

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or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. i don't even think about cigarettes anymore. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. many insurance plans cover chantix for a low or $0 copay. >> mason: a former team doctor with u.s.a. gymnastics agreed to a plea deal today in a child pornography case. initial reports yesterday suggested the deal would mean the doctor would not face federal prosecution for sexually abusing athletes, but dr. jon lapook reports there was a change overnight. >> reporter: dr. lawrence

nassar walked into federal court in michigan today and pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, 37,000 image, and destroying the evidence. nassar is the former doctor for the women's olympic gymnastics team. attorney general jon manly represents more than 90 athletes accusing nassar of sexual abuse. >> the f.b.i. and the u.s. attorney's office told all of our clients, including jeannette antolin and others, that they couldn't bring their cases now because of this plea bargain. >> reporter: manly was outraged that nassar might escape criminal prosecutions for sexual assaults occurring overseas. >> apparently last evening the justice department had change of heart because they went into court this morning and said they're going to leave the door open to those prosecutions. >> reporter: jeanette antolin competed with the u.s. national team from 1995 to 2000 and helped u.c.l.a. win three national championships. she was just a teenager when she

was first treated by nassar. what happened, do you think, between yesterday and today, because today's ruling is different than what they told you yesterday? >> i think there was a lot of pressure put on them by the media. they saw people talking about it, and they knew that people were angry. >> reporter: this isn't over either legally or for you emotionally, right? >> no, not yet. >> reporter: manly told me that no sex abuse victim wants to testify, but most will because they don't want this to happen to another child. anthony, the judge has discretion to sentence nassar to anywhere from 5 to 60 years in prison. >> mason: as you said, jon, it's not over yet. dr. jon lapook. next, strangers form an unbreakable chain in the sea to save lives. >> this portion of the "cbs evening news" is sponsored by ford, going further so you can. t listening to me. watch this. who wants ice creeaaaaaam!?

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>> mason: we end tonight with an incredible rescue. it happened over the weekend off the florida panhandle. mark strassmann is there. >> it was happening right here actually. >> reporter: jessica simmons heard panic coming from the gulf of mexico. >> they kept yelling at us, "help us, help us. we can't do it, we can't do it." >> reporter: a rip tide had trapped brothers noah and stephen ursrey in 15 feet of water. roberta ursrey is their mother. >> i seen my husband, my daughter, my oldest daughter and my nephew, but i didn't see my boys. they were screaming and crying they were struck. they couldn't go nowhere. >> some people on this beach swam out the save them, including four members of the ursrey family, but once out in that water, even those rescuers needed rescuing. 100 yards off shore suddenly nine heads were bopping in the water, many on the verge of

going under. this cell phone video shows strangers linked arm in arm formed a human chain. five people grew to 15 and eventually around 80. jessica simmons and her husband derek both strong swimmers reached the exhausted victims of the current and guided them on a surfboard one by one to the human chain and safety. did you think all nine were going to survive? >> yes, i knew they were. >> reporter: you did? >> i knew because i was going to make sure. >> reporter: barbara franz was rescued unconscious. she had a heart attack fighting the rip tide. the human chain saved all of them. [applause] something was simply stronger than the rip current, a group of strangers pulling together. mark strassmann, cbs news, panama city beach, florida. >> mason: the beach broke out in applause when it was over. it took an hour. remarkable. that's the "cbs evening news." i'm anthony mason in new york. thanks for watching. good night.

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