dan abrams with us as well. donald trump jr.'s e-mails sending shock waves through capitol hill. many democrats and republicans tonight say they have serious concerns. abc's mary bruce back on the hill. >> reporter: those four pages of e-mails tweeted out by donald trump jr. rocketed through the hallways and offices on capitol hill. any comment on these e-mails? >> they are unbelievable. thank you for coming. >> obviously, it's troubling. >> reporter: a growing chorus of democrats saying there is no question. this is a game-changer. >> donald trump jr. was openly salivating about the prospect of getting damaging information from the russians. it is certainly evidence of collusion. >> this was an attempt at collusion. >> just to be clear, when you see this, you have no doubt that the trump team knew that the russian government was trying to interfere? >> i would just read what was in the e-mails. it was in black and white that it was part of a russian government effort to help trump discredit clinton. >> reporter: and tonight, hillary clinton's former running mate, senator tim kai

thanks very much. >>> let's talk now to dan abrams.e is back along with our consultant brad garrett. brad, what do you make of these allegations and how would you investigate? >> the allegations are pretty strong, george. looking at a possibility of maybe grain alcohol or methanol mixed in with regular alcohol. and there's a lot of different motives as to why i think this was done. but the short answer is, you'll have to investigate it, you the family. you cannot rely on the mexican authorities to do it. >> pay private investigators? >> pay private investigators. the reality is, this is a very sensitive investigation to do. you'll have to get into the nuts and bolts of the resort. you'll have to deal with the bartenders, the people at the pool, and it's going to have to be people, george, that have a relationship, probably mexican, have grown up there, maybe they're ex-cops, but that's -- >> the fbi has no jurisdiction in mexico. >> no, in reality they don't. what ever jurisdiction they have, the mexicans give them and this is not the

our chief legal analyst dan abrams, matt, let me begin with you. the president may not want to sign this bill but he as robin said has no choice tweeting about it sad republicans even some carried over the line on my back do very little to protect their president as the phony witch-hunt continues two groups are laughing, democrats and russians. the president feeling the heat. >> well, he's definitely feeling the heat. this is the first probably bipartisan bill of this congress and it's aimed directly at donald trump and his supposed inability to sort of hold russia accountable in this. the funny thing about that tweet, george, as you and i have talked about is in the four key state, and wisconsin all of the gop senators that ran and won one with bigger margins than donald trump in that. i think donald trump's in a situation right now where republicans who have been steadfast in defending him now are beginning to peel away. >> okay, dan abrams, let's talk about jared kushner's testimony. pretty detailed testimony right there detailing four contacts,

but dan abrams, is this the smoking gun?ll, it's not going to be the smoking gun for the larger investigation that robert mueller is doing. but the question of is this criminal with regard to donald trump jr., there's a strong argument to be made that this is a technical violation of campaign finance law. >> reporter: campaign finance law prohibits political campaigns from accepting anything of value from a foreign entity. and political dirt could be seen as valuable. >> i don't believe that agreeing to the meeting per se is a violation. assuming that there was something of value that was passed to the campaign, then there could be a financial penalty. >> reporter: the cast of characters in this russian election saga is already more complicated than a tolstoy novel. and today joining the generals and the komisars and the privileges princes some unusual new characters. the beauty pageant world. zblvg t >> of course the big man on campus, donald trump. >> reporter: and the russian pop music scene. that first e-mail to don jr.

let's talk with more with dan abrams and pierre thomas. dan, i want to put up a tweet. a lot of reaction to it. extraordinary interview. preet bharara said in his tweet the president today effectively asked sessions for his resignation, will he resign or insist on being fired. any other attorney general, the resignation would come in. >> i think it days and weeks to come. regardless of what you think about jeff sessions or james comey or robert mueller, this is stunning. if you care about law enforcement and the official positions that they hold, this feels like a troubling effort to undermine their independence. you have the president of the united states in one interview attacking directly or indirectly the attorney general, the assistant attorney general, the acting fbi director, the former fbi director and the special counsel. all in a matter of a few paragraphs. that's a astonishing. >> he did it in such a casual way but, pierre, your reporting, all signs are the attorney general hunkering down. >> george, last night the justice department declined to comment and e

dan abrams, the commissioners there to say they were following their own regulations and the people of the state of nevada and the united states that they were being fair and just. >> yeah. they read the briefs ahead of time. they know what the arguments are going to be and the proceeding itself, is pro forma. i think they pretty much had made their decision coming into this. that according to their 11 factors that o.j. simpson should be granted parole. if you look at it through that prism it's the right decision as a technical, legal parole matter. i think there were many hoping that they would stray a little bit and that they would expand the definition of aggravating factors. and potentially consider, for example, the civil judgment, the fact that in the late '80s, o.j. simpson was accused of domestic violence, et cetera. but none of that came into play. in the end, i think that as a technical matter it ended up being a pretty straightforward, somewhat easy decision. >> and no mention at all of anything that happened before that armed robbery in las vegas back in 2007. deborah rober

. >> the president's son may have violated a campaign law as abc news chief legal analyst dan abrams explains. >> well, it's not going to be the smoking gun for the larger investigation that robert mueller is doing but the question of is this criminal with regard to donald trump jr., there's a strong argument to be made that this is a technical violation of campaign finance law. >> donald junior's lawyer's says he did not wrong and robert mueller will examine the meeting. >>> the president is heading to paris where he'll celebrate bastille day with the french president emmanuel macron. the two leaders are at odds over climate change and the president's decision recently to withdraw from the paris climate accord. but they're hoping to find common ground on terrorism and defense. protesters plan to voice opposition with what's being called a no trump zone. >> and senate republicans work on their version of a health care reform bill a top senate republican says an obama tax increase will likely stay in place. john cornyn says they have two levied by president obama on couples making ove

. >> fascinating from dan abrams, who said if his name was john simpson, he would have a 90% chance. >> the legal experts say he should be a perfect candidate for parole. but because he's a celebrity, it's much more complicated. >> and i know you have new reporting tonight on how he's preparing behind bars for either outcome. it's a special "20/20." o.j., his last play. at 10:00 p.m. eastern. >>> and stocks soaring, the dow up, the third record close in a row to round out the week. >>> there's still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this friday. the deadly fall on the set of a popular tv show. a stunt man, missing the safety pad by inches. what went wrong. >>> and a major car recall. two separate problem involving more than 1 million vehicles. >>> and the bridal nightmare. stores shutting down. brides wondering if they'll ever get their dresses after already handing over significant cash. a lot more news ahead. i have afib. even for a nurse, it's complicated... and it puts me at higher risk of stroke. that would be devastating. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself.

i will speak on his behalf -- >> dan abrams, when you're going through the beginning of this hearing, his score is very low, considered low risk if he is let out. the question i have is how much leeway, then dorks the commissioners have, factoring in everything they've heard the last hour or is this precooked? >> coming into this, there was the sense that o.j. simpson would be released. is it possible to lose a commissioner or two? probably not. the form is supposed to be filled out methodically. he is much worse here than he was in 2013. i don't think his lawyer is helping his case. >> our colleague has covered o.j. for most of the last 20 quleers, as have you, the original trials. this is the same o.j. >> jim was just saying that to us in our internal system here. it is. it's the exact same o.j. i remember talking to o.j. simpson in the civil case in the hallway all the time. and it was always about deflection, never taking responsibility, never admitting anything. it's the same o.j. >> one of the things we did spend a lot of time -- that was a small portion of our conversations, wa

dan abrams and nancy grace weigh in next on "gma."er abc7 news update in about 30 minutes and always on our news app and abc7ne things are heating up on the wta time to play when the us open series hits stanford... for the bank of the west classic, join the celebration of summer. where the action off the court, is just as hot as the action on it. july 31st through august 6th join us monday, july 31st for net generation kids' day. the ultimate family tennis experience! don't miss the wta action while it's in stanford. whimper yap yap yap yip is your dog trying to tell you something? allergic itch in dogs is a medical condition that's more common and treatable than you think. that's why there's prescription apoquel: the revolutionary medicine that's giving millions of dogs the relief they deserve. apoquel goes to the source of the itch to provide relief in as little as 4 hours. woof and apoquel is safe without many of the side effects associated with the use of steroids. apoquel is for the control of itch associated with allergic dermat

. >> let's bridge in dan abrams. when o.j. simpson gets out of prison will be different than the life he knew before prison. >> restrictions including alcohol use, travel, when he can travel. where he can travel. weapons possession. there is going to be a whole list of it. but this is a new world. when o.j. simpson went to prison, smartphones didn't exist, really. so the world is going to be watching the most famous pa row lee in america, closely, including the goldman family, saying they are owed $52 million. >> because of the nine years that passed. dan, thank you. >>> we move onto the other news tine. a developing headline coming in from minneapolis. the police chief speaking out for the first time just moments ago after the fatal shooting of that bride-to-be, justine damond. she called 911 to report what she thought was a sexual assault, but she was shot by a police officer. the police chief on the case since the shooting with critical words for the officers moments ago. >> as to why the cams are weren't on, sit my belief

dan abrams. nancy grace. the consensus is he'll get paroled? >> likely.ve literally 11 factors they consider. plus one, minus one, they score it. o.j. simpson was already granted parole on fi5 of the 12. everyone now believed if you take what the parole board did previously. think about the fact that o.j. simpson still hasn't had problems in prison, he'll probably get parole. but he's o.j. simpson. there's that factor out there that remains. meaning the the world knows about the murder case. knows that he was found responsible in the civil case. it shouldn't matter. the question is going to be, does it? >> will it matter, nancy? >> i'll tell you what will matter. several of the factors the the parole board are be considering including the severity of crime and aggravating circumstances. those aggravating circumstances don't have to be convictions. and let me remind everybody, am i the only one that remembers that '97 jury that said he did commit double murder. that was a civil jury. it was a unanimous verdict. this parole board can consider that as well.

and remember, he's been accruing that over time while in prison, as well. >> dan abrams with us this rning, dan, thanks very much. >>> david, joining us in a morning exclusive o.j.'s friend bruce fromong who was the victim of that botched robbery attempt and spoke on o.j.'s behalf in court yesterday. bruce, good morning. i know your testimony back in 2008 was part of the reason why o.j. ended up behind bars in the first place. why the change of heart? >> well, i think that o.j. has served his time and, you know, he served what he was supposed to do. and it was time for him to get out. >> you had a gun pointed to your head during that robbery attempt. how does one forgive? i know you probably will never forget it. but how does one forgive that? >> it wasn't o.j., let's make it clear. it wasn't o.j. that put the gun to my head. that was mcclinton that came up, threatened to kill me. >> o.j. was found criminally responsible for creating the situation which led to that. >> yeah, yes, he was. he was the one that, you know, but he was also the one that even though he denies it, he was also

let's talk about it with dan abrams and nancy grace and, dan, let me begin with you.ime i hear negligent homicide i think it's a contradiction in terms. explain why she would plead guilty. >> it means you didn't do it on purpose but that you created a risk that was unjustifiable, that either you did something or didn't do something that led to the person's death. bottom line is that the reason she took this deal is because it means she's getting out of prison in a matter of months as opposed to risking it for years. the more interesting question is why did prosecutors offer this deal and the reason for that is because they had a weak case. nancy may disagree with me but -- you don't offer this kind of deal to someone who is facing murder charges unless you are worried you're not going to get a conviction and in this case i think it would have been very hard to get a conviction because that videotape you heard, that alleged really taken out of context. when you listen to the full 11 hours, it's nowhere near as incriminating as the clip seems. >> i hear you laughing. i

. >>> let's bring in abc's chief legal analyst dan abrams for more on that. do you make of this emergency order? >> look, i think that it makes total sense and i think that venus williams is going to win in effect in this case meaning on the order. why? because this is the key piece of evidence. the car. you've got the video and then you've got the car. and knowing exactly how fast it was going, being able to get all the data from the car is critical and so the fact that venus williams' lawyers are saying, wait, we would put in place a procedure here before the plaintiffs just go into the car and start extracting information, makes complete and total sense. >> is there any validity and i'm guessing you're going to say to the plaintiffs' lawyer assertion that this is about hiding evidence. >> no, i mean the bottom line is they're all going to get access to the car. they'll all get access to the data. it's just a question of when and how. and to me that's just sort of playing to the media saying, oh, look at this. they're trying to hide evidence. this is very ty

let's talk about it with dan abrams. break this down right now.made the decision. >> they used this video, i am certain, and went frame by frame. i did this last night. i went through this video last night frame by frame to look at when did he lift up the gun, looking at him moving backwards in his -- he goes forward in the lawn mower, then the guy with the gun moves forward to the fence. the victim then comes back on his lawn mower with his gun in a sort of threatening manner and so this is exactly what prosecutors did because typically you don't have a video and you just have one person saying here's what happened and here's what i thought and here's why i shot. here you can go through every single frame of that moment because, boom, right there you see him lift up the gun and then there's a threatening thing with the arm and that is exactly the -- >> much better chance if there's no video he gets charged. >> oh, yeah, no question, the video is enormously helpful to him here because what prosecutors might do if there wasn't a video is a, you kno

dan abrams, brian,thanks very much. over to robin. >>> now to the health care battle.rotests breaking out as lawmakers return to capitol hill. senate republicans are now working on a revised version of their bill but opposition continues to grow and mary bruce is in washington with the latest. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning. senate republicans are back from their break and now the race is on to save their health care bill. they have just 14 days left if they hope to get this done before the august recess, but this morning the bill seems to be losing steam. the opposition is growing and so are the protests. senate republicans were welcomed back to capitol hill with this. [ chanting ] >> reporter: protesters speaking out against the bill blocking hallway, taking over offices. 80 people arrested. >> you are killing people. >> reporter: with frustration growing across the country the bill is in serious jeopardy. opposition from within the republican party is growing. they can afford to lose just two republican votes. but at least ten gop senators are now a n

and coming up at 7:00 a.m., dan abrams and nancy grace weigh in live with your "gma" first look, i'm matt gutman, abc news, reno, nevada. >>> police are warning contractors to be on the look out after someone stole three utility trucks along with thousands of dollars in tools in sonoma county. in each case, the thieves punched out the ignition. the trucks were found within several miles from where they were taken. you're looking at pictures posted on facebook by one of the victims. about $10,000 in tools were taken in one incident alone. >> the family of a deceases cancer patient is suing ucsf medical center. this according to sfgate.com. judy dale died in september. her family alleges care takers promised to get her information medication to end her life, but backtracked. the suit claimed the medical center did not appropriately help the woman in ending her life. >> thousands of bay area employererize warned to comply with a rule requiring them to offer commuter benefits to employees. a rule that became permanent last year requires employers to offer a commuter benefit to workers wh

dan abrams and nancy grace will join us this morning.went viral two college students who matched on tinder are meeting for the first time live here in our studio. all that is coming up. swipe left. i did that 'cause when i saw michael strayhan, i hadn't seen him in like a week and a half he came in and swiping left. >> oh, my goodness. >> you should be nice to michael. eases from my hometown. >> reporter: i got to be nice 'cause tam says you're from the same hometown, you know. >> does he know that. >> he does know that. >> yeah. >> well, anyway, we'll see you soon robin. >> you should have like a big feast with your crew. one big meal get to know each other better. >> let's do that another time. for now we're going to head out on 42 and check that. it's starting to slow on the northbound side from the black horse pike as you head up toward 295. not too bad just yet. don't want to head for the tacony palmyra bridge right now as you can see it's up so that's why you don't want to head for it. the ship coming through. head for the betsy ro

according to abc chief dan abrams. >> it's not going to be the smoking gun for the larger investigationcriminal with regard to donald trump jr., there's a strong argument to be made that this is a technical violation of campaign finance law. >> and trump jr's lawyer insists he did nothing wrong. sources tell abc news that special counsel bob mueller will examine that meeting. >>> moving on now to a fight between passengers, forcing a southwest airlines jet to turn around. the flight from austin, texas, to chicago had just taken off when the disagreement started. the boeing 737 returned to austin where the two young men were removed from the plane. the argument was reportedly over who was sitting where. southwest does not assign seats. >>> and it took six security guards to take an unruly passenger off a flight of qantas. the man was reportedly drunk and arguing with a crew member. he was handcuffed and carried off the plane, but first, all the other passengers had to get off the plane. they had to wait three hours before returning to their seats, so you can understand the cheers that yo

let's bring in dan abrams this morning because, dan, you were honest about o.j.pson's performance during this parole hearing. you thought he wasn't very good and yet it was a unanimous vote so what happened here. >> so he basically relitigated the crime again. he didn't express enough remorse. i mean, this was easy, right. all he had to do was go in there, be contrite, say he's sorry. say he's ready to move on, say he's ready to be a productive member of society and instead he goes into all the details of why he was wronged in effect and he wasn't that bad. the bottom line though is that there is really a form that these parole officers follow and i'm confident they had made that decision before o.j. simpson came in, so he really would have had to do something so bad so out of the ordinary, so think were probably the four votes that he had before he even came in. >> you heard one of the parole commissioners tell him that he's going to be watched very closely and even listed some of the things that he'll face in life on parole. >> yeah, there's going to be restric

we bring in abc news chief legal analyst dan abrams. an insurance company denied him benefits.the case here. >> in the insurance case what they said he made changes to the boat intentionally, right before they went out to sea, that made the boat less safe. they said that those intentional acts by him meant that they shouldn't have to pay any insurance benefits. but they didn't say he killed his mother or he killed his grandfather. here you have the family members going a step further and saying we believe he killed he killed his grandfather and as a result shouldn't be able to get any of those inheritance dollars that he would ordinarily be entitled to. >> tell us how a civil court works. >> unlike in a criminal case where you have to prove something beyond a reasonable doubt. here they have to prove it's more likely than not and there are these statutes in place in a lot of states. actually don't have one in new hampshire but in most states basically says if you're the one who took someone's life, you can't then benefit when it comes to an estate. and so what they're saying he