steve bannon going after donald trump jr. hard, calling o out that june 2016 meeting with the russian lawyer at trump tower. also in attendance, there were paul manafort, then campaign chair, and jared kushner. that meeting actually happened about two months before steve bannon actually joined the campaign. so steve bannon now telling the author, michael wolf, in that soon-to-be-released book, "fire and fury," saying this about the meeting in addition, they're going to crack don jr. like an egg on national tv. very harsh words there. also calling it treasonous, unpatriotic. now, of course, don jr. has said that he took the meeting as someone new to politics. he said as a business man, you take about every meeting that presents itself. and he said he also viewed it as getting opposition research. but of course, bannon there hitting back hard on that defense. also, steve bannon in this book says that in the end, he believes this investigation will come down to one thing. he put it this way. he said, this is all about money laun

donald trump jr. will crack like an egg under the investigation. he alleges the special counsel lor's probe is all about money laundering. tonight the president is firing back claiming bannon has, quote, lost his mind. mr. trump insists bannon has nothing to do with him or his presidency, even though he was one of the closest and most powerful advisors. the white house says the president is furious with the claims. dismissing it as trashy tabloid fiction. it explains in detail that mr. trump didn't want or expect to win the white house and even members of his inner circle thought he was unqualified for the job. also breaking tonight. paul manafort is suing the special counsel and the justice department over the russia probe. he's challenging robert mueller's authority to charge him with alleged crimes that have nothing to do with the 2016 campaign. i'll get reaction from senator mark warner tonight, and our correspondents and specials are standing by. let's go to jim acosta. this trump bannon grudge m

donald trump jr. and others from the trump team met with a russian lawyer at trump tower in 2016 after don jr. got an e-mail promising him dirt on hillary clinton. we know don jr. was interested in the information because he replied, quote, if it's what he's saying, i love it. we also know, according to mueller, trump campaign foreign policy adviser george papadopoulos also took a 2016 meeting with a kremlin-connected professor who told him that russia had dirt on clinton. >> pap -- papadopoulos has information that someone was being contacted by russians. >> and we know the head of aanalytics connected to the trump campaign reached out to wikileaks in an attempt to get e-mails from hillary clinton's pub lib servlic server. so the public doesn't know if there was collusion but we know there was a lot of smoke. do you think president trump told general flynn to lie to the fbi about his connections with the russians? >> i don't know that. i do know this, in the aftermath of the flynn firing, you had the

russian lawyer and some other russians trump tower and that meeting was convened as you said by donald trump jr the son of the president's he had been offered compromising material on hillary clinton the opponent of donald trump in that presidential election and. this son of the president from junior had sent an e-mail and now infamous e-mail to his contact man saying i love it even though that contact man had clearly pointed out that this was part of russian government complain to support donald trump in this election so this was all well known but now for steve benen to come forward and say that he even thought this was treasonous of course is a game changer because donald trump has been claiming for so much time that this is a hoax this is a witch shuns there's nothing to this russia investigation and now even steve bennett says no no this was actually treasonous so the president has responded with an official statement rather than one of his infamous tweets let's take a closer look at that response he said steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency when he was fired he not only

also, donald trump jr.wow, just read the comments section on breitbart, which, by the way, i never recommend. >> that itself is weird. >> he's saying even bannon's own house organ, the "o" magazine f steve bannon is going after him. >> he's pretty ensconced at breitbart. >> i don't think breitbart is going to turn on bannon. what's interesting to me after trump's statement essentially curb stomping ban, will breitbart turn on the president? especially with the issues coming down the pike, daca, the need to build the wall. if he's forced to cut some kind of a deal with democrats, does trump really have control of his base as his statement asserted or will that base stick with the likes of bannon and breitbart and turn on the president? >> i think another question also is how does steve bannon go forward now that he's been completely repudiated by the president? how does he go forward and interact with a special counsel or a congressional investigators who he has clearly given a lot of crumbs to. >> one other

and donald trump, jr.n sent a now-infamous email back to that person that offered that material, saying, i love it, even though that informant basically said this information is coming from the russian government and its campaign to undermine hillary clinton. so this was pretty damaging and damning, and now having steve bannon as quoteded in this book, basically confirming that he also thought this was at least dubious or as he put it, treasonous, that is quite big nenews. phil: so donald trump has responded in an official statement rather than in one of his infamous tweets. let's take a closer look at what the president has been saying. steve bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. when he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. and he went on -- steve spent his time at the white house leaking false information to the media to make itself seem far more important than he was. steve was rarely in a one to one meeting with me and only pretends to have influence. carsten, these two m

donald trump jr. , jared kushner and the russian lawyer and ties to the russian government at trump tower and bannon called that treasonist. he said even if you thought this was not unpatriotic or bad, and i happen to think that it's all of that you should have called the fbi immediately. bannon says of the people at the meeting and by the way bannon in the book says that he believes there's zero chance that donald trump jr. did not take the russians up to meet his father, whose a candidate. so you've got bannon statement and then the white house, president trump issuing a statement about steve bannon saying "when he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. steve doesn't represent my base, he's only in it for himself" and then there is someone quoted in the book, thomas ba. rick, as you said whose a friend of president trump's who says " it is clear to min who knows me , those are not my words and they're inconsistent with how i talk and feel about the president whose my long-time friend

quite the response from the president. >> the fact he used the word treasonous talking about donald trump jr. and the decision to have had meeting and not call the fbi. give me your thought. >> that is a charge that is clearly what donald trump's reacting to. that is a charge and a carrieization that has the potential to stick. obviously, steve bannon may have -- i think he says he wasn't in touch with russians, shouldn't be a witness in this investigation. these are his personal characteristicizations what he saw at that meeting. having somebody who did work in the white house attach that kind of description to that meeting is politically damaging. it's also worthy of noting, when steve ban be lesteve bannon lef white house he was careful in public to not criticize the president. he had no problem criticizing other staff or the west wing and how it operated. but he remained careful to not publicly criticize the president when he left, i think because he feared this kind of retribution that the president could deliver. >> the president flatly said he was fired. didn't say he resigned. he was

and also read and closely reviewed the transcript of the interview with donald trump jr. nswered questions, ones that should be revealed in public are in donald trump jr.'s testimony. and there is no way that the testimony, if released from glenn simpson, would taint, influence or any any way distract from the testimony of others before this committee. think the american public needs to know what all of this testimony is. they have a right to know it. the real distraction in my view is the focus on fusion gps in the way that republicans are using it because it's part of an effort to distract us from the real focus, collusion between the trump campaign and russians and their meddling, as well as obstruction of justice and also legislation that must be passed to protect the special counsel. you've made reference already tonight to a number of very concerning developments. appointment of a new u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york who was personally interviewed by the president. as well as meeting between paul ryan and christopher wray, head of the fbi and rod ro

the trump compay in with a group of russians and russian lawyer this meeting was convened by donald trump jr the president's son who had been offered compromising material on hillary clinton the opponent of donald trump in the two thousand and sixteen presidential campaign from a source that source made it clear that this was part of a campaign by the russian government to support donald trump in that election and donald trump jr in a now infamous e-mail wrote back i love it so this was the meeting there this was all well known but now steve benen the former trump chief strategist coming forward and saying this was not only dubious but even treasonous is of course a new dimension because it runs counter to the claims of donald trump that this whole russia investigation is a hoax and a witch hunt and there's nothing to it and the president has responded to the claims in this book with an official statement rather than one of his infamous tweets let's take a close look at that response and he's written steve spent his time at the white house leaking false information to the media to make himse

well it was a meeting that was convened by donald trump jr the son of the president who had been offered compromising material dirt on hillary clinton the opponent of donald trump and the presidential election of two thousand and sixteen which apparently was coming from russia and donald trump jr then sent now infamous e-mail back to that person that offered that material saying i love it and even though that's informant basically said well this this information is coming from the russian government and it's come pain to undermine hillary clinton so this was pretty damaging and damning and now having steven bannan as quoted in this book basically confirming that he also thought this was at least dubious or even as he put it treasonous that is quite big news so donald trump has responded in an official statement rather than one of his infamous tweets let's take a closer look at what the more important than he was steve was rarely in a one to one meeting with me in any pretense to have influence cost and these two men were believed to be close political allies now the president is doing hi

in a statement to fox news, praising donald trump jr. saying donald trump jr. is both a patriot and a good man. he's been relentless in his advocacy for his father and the agenda that has helped turn our country around. notice he didn't go back on saying the meeting was treasonous. what he did tell fox news, he wasn't talking about donald trump jr. when he said it was treasonous. we see air force one landing there. he was talking about paul manafort. in a statement to fox news, bannon saying "my comments were aimed at paul manafort, a seasoned campaign professional. he should have known that they're cunning and not our friends. to reiterate, the comments were not aimed at donald trump jr." he pointed out that bannon did express his regrets in his delay to responding to the book took away from the president's agenda. again, shep, he's not walked any of that back. i'm not sure that the mia culpa and the explanation have done anything to reinstate his standing with the president. the president would seem is very much peo'd at steve bannon calling him sloppy steve

bannon is quoted in a new book accusing the president's son donald, jr of treason, for meeting duringcampaign with a group of russians who'd promised him damaging material on hillary clinton. the president has responded that steve bannon had notjust lost his job at the white house — he lost his mind as well. this from our north america correspondent peter bowes. steve bannon helped to shape the america first campaign that elected donald trump. in the white house he was a key player. he had the ear of the president. but his job as chief strategist was short—lived and he returned to his previous position as the head of rightwing outlet breitbart news. he promised to be the president's wingman outside but this book reveals a different story. the most damaging claim is that steve bannon watched a meeting between donald trump junior and a bunch of russian lawyers during the campaign and considered it treasonous. also a meeting between paul manafort and jared kushner. "the three senior people in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside trump tower in

trump. >> when donald trump jr.he russian government is trying to elect your father president, he doesn't say, what do you mean? how can that be? he says, "i want to hear this." >> the actual response? >> "if it's what you say, i love it." >> the trump camp's explanations were confusing. >> strange and conflicting responses. >> trump jr. told the the "new york times" it was, quote, a short introductory meeting primarily about russian adoption. cnn reported that president trump helped write the statement while he was flying home from the g-20 summit. >> he weighed in and offered suggestion like any father would do. >> but the statement was misleading so there were questions about how large a role the president might have played in crafting it. >> it is something that i think the special counsel is very interested in. and he wants to know who was involved in the writing of it. >> if a misleading statement was put out, the core question is the classic question of intent. were trump administration officials starting wit

what he did to donald trump jr. is one thing. the best defense for donald trump jr. in the infamous meeting in the white house, not being nefarious, it was so naive there was no lawyer there. so overeager, overenthusiastic. to me, that's his best defense. donald jr. didn't intend to collude with russians in any way that was illegal anyway. he wanted to get whatever information he could get. >> kimberly: do you believe he said these things? >> geraldo: to me, the worst thing steve bannon did in this whole episode is to suggest strongly that donald trump jr. is sitting in trump tower a couple blocks from here surrounded by these commies. and then after the meeting he says there was zero possibility he didn't take the russians up to see his father. "washington post," "new york times," every investigative reporter in the nation has been striving to connect donald trump with that meeting with the russians and has failed to do so. now here's steve bannon suggesting you can take it to the bank. zero probably probability didn. this guy was his best friend? >> kimberly: it's

bannon referred to donald trump jr. as a patriot and good man. >>> 5:40. it's cold outside, and they're taking advantage of it in the pocono mountains. you see the wet weather to the west. temperatures iran goiaren't goi as cold when this arrives this afternoon. that sounds great, but it's going to be just cold enough so it's not going to be all snow. instead we'll get a mixture of sleet and freezing rain. that will give much of the area icy conditions for this afternoon and into this evening. the hour-by-hour fork shows by 10:00 -- forecast shows by 10:00, completely dry. the temperature up to 22 in philadelphia. warmer than it got all day yesterday. temperatures will continue to climb. look at early this afternoon, 1:30 this afternoon. snow in the lehigh valley and reading. this is the area of greatest concern, the sleet and freezing rain that will extend into delaware and south jersey, this is 3:00 in the afternoon. as schoolkids head home, it will be slipperiness on the sidewalks, the roadways, and address, as well. even into the early and late afterno

on june 7th following several other e-mails to each other, donald trump jr. and rob goldstone agreed to the june 9 meeting at trump tower. on the evening of june 7th, a tuesday, candidate donald trump promises a major speech on the clintons and their supposedly nefarious dealings. >> i am going to give a major speech on probably monday of next week and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the >> two days later, the june 9th meeting takes place at trump tower. but don junior now claims the russians didn't bring the dirt they promised on hillary clinton. msnbc legal analyst nick ackerman is a former assistant u.s. attorney and former special watergate prosecutor and natasha bertrand is a business insider. on page 255 of the book there's the claim it might have been jared kushner who actually leaked the details of that trump tower meeting where this supposed exchange of dirt on hillary clinton was supposed to take place in order to save himself and sacrifice don junior. does that comport with your reporting and make any sense?

>> well, of course, you know, i think you have to take what donald trump jr. ys with a large grain of salt. you also have to look what he's unwilling to say, what questions he's unwilling to answer. in our interview with donald trump jr., he refused to answer questions about his conversations with his father when they were fabricating that statement, when the president was on the plane, about the russian meeting when they put out the false statement that this was about adoptions. in that instance, he claimed some nonexistent attorney-client privilege, as if he and his father were an attorney, the other a client. take both what he said with a grain of salt, and you also have to pay attention to what he refused to say. >> he's not an attorney, so hard to claim attorney-client privilege. turn to the questions about the integrity of the fbi. you heard questions raised. by a bunch of republicans and conservative news media outlets. the justice department has recovered missing text messages from the two fbi agents being investigated for possible bias, and, also, it s

jr. we should point out that it was donald trump jr. who essentially set up this meeting and looped others into it in an e-mail trail. you see one portion where donald trump jr. said he loves the idea of getting dirt on hillary clinton that the russians were offering. the hand of reconciliation, he touts his abilities as a passenger to the make america great again movement and writing i'm the only person to date to conduct a global effort to preach the message of trump and trumpism and remain ready to stand in the breech for the president's efforts to make america great again. coming on the heels of several attacks from the president himself calling steve bannon sloppy steve. and further news that cnn confirmed that the president reached out to friends and allies to draw a line in the sand as you said and tell friends and allies they support him or steve bannon. beyond that woey had rebecca mercer, bannon's biggest backer making comments distancing herself from the head of breitbart news. he feels his influence waning and tries to make a

jr. the subtext being that paul manafort should have known better and donald trump jr. did not. further we should note that donald trump jr. said that he loved the idea of getting dirt on hillary clinton that the russians were offering as he is quoted as aing in saying in an e-mail. he timeouts his own ability for the make america great again movement. he writes i am the only person to date to conduct a global effort to preach the message of trump and trumpism and to stand in the breech to make america great again. the statement coming on the heels of several attacks from trump surrogates and the president himself on steve bannon. just yesterday calling steve bannon sloppy steve and as you said, cnn confirmed reporting that they reached out to friends and allies to essentially tell them they need to choose a side. either the side or steve bannon and we should note that last week steve bannon's biggest backer made comments distancing herself from the former white house chief strategist and the head of breitbart news. you get the sense that steve bannon feel this is waning influenc

house. >> here's the white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders responded when asking if donald trump, jrcommitted treason, let's watch. >> did donald trump, jr. commit trees snon -- treason? >> that's a ridiculous accusation. if that's referring to steve bannon, i refer you to what he said on "60 minutes" where he called collusion with russia a total farce. if anybody has been inconsistent, it's been him. i would think that going after the president's son in an absolutely outrageous and unprecedented way is probably not the best way to curry favor with anybody. >> heidi, one thing i'm trying to figure out from bannon's standpoint, was he sitting down with michael wolff, aware that he was going to come to the end of his alliance with trump, that he wanted a big dramatic break, or was he shooting his mouth off and as surprised to find this all in prinlt lot looking like looks? >> that is the big question. we don't know when these comments were made and what the context was. steve bannon left in august. but this book has been in the works for many, many months. so was it payback, as well? w

he praised donald jr.nd the president in his statement but he did not directly dispute the quotes in the book we're joined this morning by nbc's tracie potts live from washington tracie, is this about mr. bannon trying to get back into the good graces of prism, do you think? >> reporter: well, if it is, willem, you have to wonder why bannon did after the early release of this book come out and start backtracking he started last week praising the president, praising his agenda, now his more extended stateme statement. he said his comments at that meetings were not directed at the president's son but were directed at paul manafort. someone that's no longer directed at the white house. manafort was the campaign chair. he was also in the meeting along with the president's son-in-law, now adviser, jared kushner, bannon seems to be parsing his words now saying even though they were all there his trees senous words he said donald trump jr. is a patriot, a goodman he has been relentless in advocating for his fathe

in 2008 donald trump jr. made a comment that a disproportionate amount of our assets come from russia. that's never been explained. i've heard that's the key to this is the business that the trump organization did with potentially russians and other foreigners on these around the world. >> we'll come back to you in just a bit. thank you both. the editor at large at "the atlantic," david smith, washington bureau chief for "the guardian," the reporter who first reported excerpts from this book, and seth waxman is a former federal prosecutor. seth, let me start with you. what do you make of this allegation that then candidate trump now about this meeting after it happened? >> that could be very key to the muller investigation. mueller started at the low level, moved up to the middle and is riding up to the higher level officials in the trump administration, his son-in-law. if he's able to put criminal charges at their feet, very close to the top of the conspiracy. a person has to have knowledge to be included in

jr. what do you make of the fact that he seems to be trying to exculpate donald trump jr. implicate paul manafort? >> well, there's no question that really the most damaging part of this whole book if you're steve bannon was the implication tlaurp giving credibility and credence to the mueller investigation, something that donald trump and this entire administration have gone to back breaking lengths to try to discredit. it was eye opening that he would use the word treasonous. this is his effort to unwind and undo all of that. it might have done him a lot more good if this had happened five days ago or four days ago. this is steve really grasping at straws trying to put everything out there to provide what he believes is probably more context to his comments to michael wolff hoping that gives him that stay of execution from rebecca mercer, from donald trump. you know, one thing we've learned about trump over time is that if you publicly humiliate yourself to ingratiate yourself, he is likely to come around again and give you that second, third or fourth chance. i think th

and donald trump jr. as well. as you pointed out, steve bannon saying in that book that, that meeting amounts to treason nap is something that we will undoubtedly ask sarah huckabee sanders we have have a chance to talk to her at the briefing and another headline from the book. a fair amount of fighting between the president and the first lady before the inauguration. that's, of course, according to the book. the first lady's office sharply denying that saying in a statement the book is clearly going to be sold in the bargain fiction section. mrs. trump supported her husband's decision to run for president and, in fact, encouraged him to do so. she was confident he would win and was very happy when he did. that is the pushback so far, but this will likely get a lot of attention throughout this press briefing which is now expected to get under way in about 15 for instance from mow. >> kristen welker, stick around. far from done with breaking down this book. including how it could affect the russia investigation. i'

yeah let me just let me jump in first of all let's richard let's stop the false narrative that donald trump jr did anything improper or illegal it's opposition research in fact he did far less than your idol hillary clinton did to bernie sanders and other democrats donald trump jr took a legal opposition research meeting with a russian lawyer who by the way how they had a immigration parole extension granted by the obama administration so i don't blame him for taking an awful meeting that happens every day in politics you know it i know it you know that peter knows that that being said we're missing one important point about nellie or nelly or didn't just work for fusion g.p.s. fusion g.p.s. described nelly or bruce or is wife was or was the number four man in the department of justice the number four man he had two roles unprecedented had a criminal role and a counter-intelligence for all that deal jay his office was three or four doors down from the attorney general three or four doors down from rod rosenstein his wife nellie or was considered the expert on all matters russia at fusion g.p.s

also there is a right to know what donald trump jr. told us. i will tell you, alisyn, as a former prosecutor, i have looked very carefully and closely at the glenn simpson interview and donald trump jr. interview and the most profound and pressing questions come out of the donald trump jr. interview. >> such as? what raised your eyebrows? >> well, to take what is already public, the exchange between donald trump jr. and wikileaks about stolen and hacked materials taken from the clinton campaign. why wasn't that material and that approach reported to the fbi? the republican leadership has made a criminal referral about christopher steele who blew the whistle on russia. >> he's the one that compiled the dossier. your committee, it seems, more often is interested in him and doing something with him. what's that about? >> and that's profoundly disappointing. because the republican majority has made a referral asking is for criminal review of chris officer steele who reported wrongdoing. not committed it. and they're using facts that the fbi and the

i always thought, well maybe -- there is a high potential that donald trump jr. old his father about the meeting or what he felt about the meeting. but it is pretty stunning -- when steve bannon is saying about donald trump jr., he is going to cack crack like an egg on television. >> and did don jr. tell his father, that is one of the questions we don't have answers to. but i think it is important to stipulate, that bannon himself i don't believe was in a position to know. this meeting took place in june. bannon didn't join the campaign until mid-august. so the way i read that excerpt was bannon was a asserting or speculating or positioning that this happened but i don't think we have any way of knowing or he has any way of knowing what was said in the meeting, what don jr. did afterward and whether or not trump was told about it. >> and it is interesting, but just the -- that the white house is trying to diminish steve bannon's role. >> sure. and there is surmisal in what is written and suggested by bannon. i think one of the dynamics that maggie might be able to

jr. it was donald trump jr. that brokered that meeting at trump tower. he was the one that looped in paul manafort and jared kushner. he's even quoted in one e-mail saying he loved the idea of getting dirt on hillary clinton that these russians were offering. perhaps the most fascinating moment appears where steve bannon appears to offer a olive branch to president trump even touting his own abilities as a messenger for the make america great movement. he writes, quote, i'm the only person to date to conduct a global effort to preach the message of trump and trumpism and remain ready to stand in the breach for this president's efforts to make america great again. we should note here that, for several days now, we've seen attacks the on steve bannon coming from the president's surrogates as well as the president himself, just yesterday referring to steve bannon as sloppy steve. you also noted some of that reporting and cnn has been able to confirm that over the past few days the president has reached out to friends and allies to essentially draw a line in

bannon calling donald trump jr.'s meeting with russians treasonous, one of several startling new accusations. >> did the president's son, donald trump jr., commit treason? >> i think that's a ridiculous accusation. >> president trump blasting back saying bannon has lost his mind. >>> also tonight, fear and fallout from the president taunting kim jong-un on twitter boasting that his nuclear button is bigger. >>> bracing for impact from the so-called bomb cyclone bearing down on the eastern seaboard with hurricane-force winds. blizzard warnings in effect. >>> a billion-dollar battle over the way millions listen to music. could it change the way you stream your favorite songs? >>> and the pot rush in california where recreational weed is now legal and start-ups are getting creative to cash in. >>> this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, everyone. thank you for joining us. there is no love lost between president trump and his former chief strategist steve bannon tonight after bannon was quoted in a

donald trump jr. testified for hours behind closed doors, right after he gave that testimony, one of the senators on the committee chris coons put out this statement reminding everyone that it's a crime to lie under oath, mr. trump jr. we didn't know what that was about at the time. but senator richard blumenthal said that whatever donald trump jr. said in those transcripts it's important and should be released, if not to the public at least to the special counsel, should be given to robert mueller, because they say that transcript of what donald jr. said is relevant to mueller's investigation. so what this means, bottom line is that congress is freaking out right now. i mean, whatever you think of the various investigations or lack thereof on the russian scandal and congress, there is a wide scale, fast-paced freakout happening in both the house and senate as of today. and it's creating a lot of pressure to publicly release stuff the public has not yet seen. and i don't know if we'll ultimately get t

donald trump, jr., if you sat down with him and ask him if his father looked like a ghost on the night of the election? i was there, he did not look like a ghost. he didn't want to have a big ballroom because we were uncertain about the election and he was playing to win and now he's the president of the united states, and that's nonsense in the book. >> maybe, maybe not? >> that stuff is nonsense in my opinion. >> that's why you are here, and michael wolff will have to stand for his reporting and have to back it up. >> i am not trying to hit michael wolff, and what steve did, if he's talking like that it's ridiculous and he should walk it back. >> he said he supports the president. >> i said the truth six months ago, what he was like as a person. >> you think he's disloyal? >> i think he's for steve. at the end of the day, taking out the expletives, he's for steve and we are for the president. if you love your country, president donald trump is our president, and let's go out and help him. i am not for myself, and i said that in the interview and it got picked up on the phone line. i

only lost his job he lost his mind in fire and fury inside the trump white house bannon says donald trump jr was treasonous and unpatriotic when he met with russians who claimed to have dirt on democratic presidential candidates hillary clinton press secretary sarah sanders called the president's anger at bannon justified i would certainly think that going after the president's son and absolutely outrageous an unprecedented way is probably not the best way to curry favor with anybody the book's release coincides with special prosecutor robert miller's investigation into russia's meddling in the twenty six thousand election and possible collusion by the trump campaign it includes interviews with white house insiders including bannon and paints an administration in chaos the white house tried to distance itself from ban and wednesday saying the president had little one on one contact with bannon but bannon was the c.e.o. of the president's campaign played a key role during the president's transition to the white house and was chief political strategist until he was fired last summer in the boo

president trump struck back at steve bannon after steve bannon called donald trump, jr., treasonous.ent the president steve bannon has nothing to do with my presidency. when he was fired he not only , lost his job, he lost his mind." paul manafort is suing the whole department of justice. manafort claims mueller overstepped his authority by charging him with crimes unrelated to russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

, and they were talking about the meeting at trump tower in 2016 in the spring there between donald trump, jr., and russians, promising dirt on hillary clinton. steve bannon said this, if you thought this was not treasonous, you should have called the fbi immediately. >> that's one of the remarkable quotes and there are many more we just learned about. errol louis joining us, and a national political reporter for real clear politics. along from calling that meeting

trump setting his sights on steve bannon after the former chief strategist allegedly calling donald trump jr.'s meeting with russians treasonous. >> going after the president's son is probably not the best way to curry favor with anybody. >> what the president says now about his former friend. and a new book making surprising claims about the first lady. >>> plus chef curry. her nba might be king of the court. when it comes to the kitchen, she's the warrior. >> we have our jamaica johnnycakes. >> this is the specialty? >> this is the specialty, my recipe. >> celebrity chef ayesha curry dishing on her marriage and family life. >> one thing my mom told me was never lose yourself inside of your marriage. >> but first the "nightline 5." >>> not all fish oil supplements provide the same omega 3 power. megared absorbs three times better. one softgel has more omega 3 power than three standard pills. megared advance triple absorption. >> i'm never going to be able to sleep with this cold. i'll take a sick day tomorrow. >> on our daughter's birthday? >> moms don't take sick days. moms take nyquil sev

in the most explosive portion, bannon labels as treasonous the 2016 trump tower meeting with donald trump jr., presidential son-in-law jared kushner and campaign chairman paul manafort when they sat down with several russians, ostensibly to get dirt on hillary clinton. the book is called "fire and fury: inside the trump white house" by michael wolff. excerpts released by "the guardian" and "new york" magazine are full of insults and personal attacks on the president by those who have been close to him. the white house is calling the book trashy tabloid fiction. in an extraordinary blistering statement the president says when bannon was fired last august, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind. the president goes on to methodically diminish and all but delete bannon's role in the campaign and in the white house, saying he only pretends to have had influence. >>> also breaking, former trump campaign chairman paul manafort indicted on money laundering charges is suing special counsel robert mueller, saying the charges have nothing to do with the 2016 campaign and alleging that the justice d

when the president's son, donald jr. refused to answer questions about conversations he had with his father he said on the basis of attorney/client privilege. neither donald jr. nor donald senior is an attorney, and which one of you is the client? but in all of those instances, the republican-led committees in congress, the republican-led intelligence committee said no problem with those bull pucky, i mean dubious, even laughable attempts to avoid answering questions, to assert some pseudo legal rationale for not answering the committee's questions. everybody else has weaseled out of answering questions and they have not cared at all. democrats have complained, republicans have not cared. then steve bannon shows up, he tries the same thing, boom, here's your subpoena. why is he being treated so differently? i think we've figured it out. last july, july 25th. paul manafort, surprise, appeared on capitol hill, and his spokesman announced that paul manafort, surprise, had just testified to the intelligence committee on the

bannon calling donald trump jr.'meeting with russians treasonous, one of several startling new accusations. >> did the president's son, donald trump jr., commit treason? >> i think that's a ridiculous accusation. >> president trump blasting back saying bannon has lost his mind. >>> also tonight, fear and fallout from the president taunting kim jong-un on twitter boasting that his nuclear button is bigger. >>> bracing for impact from the so-called bomb cyclone bearing down on the eastern seaboard with hurricane-force winds. blizzard warnings in effect. >>> a billion dollar battle over the way millions listen to music. could it change the way you stream your favorite songs? >>> and the pot rush