. >> donald trump jr.aid, if it's what you say, i love it. >> his reaction to that is not to say, is this all right? should i call the fbi? >> it's potentially criminal. it's embarrassing. it's a scandal. >> this meeting in some ways goes to sort of the heart of what robert mueller has been looking at. he was appointed to look at any connections that existed between the trump campaign and russia. >> there wasn't anybody higher in the trump campaign except donald trump himself at this meeting. >> so how did a celebrity publicist wind up as a central player in that trump tower conference room? and later as a witness in mueller's grand jury room? his background is far removed from politics. >> he was at one point in time a reporter. he got his first job for his local newspaper at the age of 16. he then became a radio reporter focusing on the entertainment industry. at some point he realized that he kind of had a knack for promotion. >> rob goldstone grew up in manchester, england, in public housing, but he wo

based on your testimony today, donald trump jr. and allen weisselberg directed this payment to you and approved this payment, is that right? >> mr. trump initially acknowledged the obligation, the debt, myself and allen weisselberg went back to his office, and i was instructed by allen at the time that they were going to do this over 12 installments. and what he decided to do then was to have me send an invoice, in which case they can have a check cut. and then, yes, the answer would be yes to your followup question. >> and donald trump jr. obviously signed off on this. >> it would either be eric trump, donald trump jr. and/oral an weisselberg. but always allen weisselberg on the check. >> and you think the executive was donald trump jr. >> yes. >> you knew that the payments were false and illegal, correct? >> i can make that conclusion. >> you told representative kelly that the president was aware of this scheme, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> i just want the american public to understand the explosive nature of your testim

he talks about this conversation with -- where he overheard between donald trump jr. his father which he thinks was about the trump tower meeting but it's vague as he acknowledges. if he was trying to incriminate donald trump, he would have made that conversation a lot more definitive. he was also asked about rumors of abuse between donald trump junior and melania trump and was categorical in saying not only didn't i see it i didn't think -- i don't think it would ever happen. >> because there was a rumor there may have been some elevator video of the president getting physical with his wife. >> and he said that would never happen. mr. trump would never do that. and to jeffrey's point, i think it was moments like that, where he still showed some loyalty, relationship with them that made his testimony overall more authentic. >> something the special counsel's office has said they appreciated from him as well. when he didn't know something, he said it and didn't overstep. they made a point to say, especially as it relates to topics they're interested in, that he was very

in our investigation about the closeness of donald trump and his son, and what we concluded was, they were very close. they talked very often. donald trump jr about decisions in the campaign. and donald trump is a very gracious host. he is someone who would want to know if someone flew across the world to be in his building and talk about the campaign. and so, the idea that he had no idea about it, while he was independently going out as a candidate and saying, new information is coming about hillary clinton, boy, do we love wikileaks, russia, if you're listening, please deliver more e-mails -- it just -- it would defy, you know, everything we know about these two, that they didn't talk. perhaps that's the case, but the best two people who could clear that up would be donald trump and his son and they haven't been cooperative in our investigation. >> also, why would the -- the president's allies might say look, the president didn't know about the trump tower meeting. therefore he didn't know about anything russia-related. that's not what this reporting is, but you understand why the president's supporters would be quick to jump on it. >> su

cohen also implied that donald trump jr. may have kept his father in the loop on the trump tower meeting in manhattan with russians promising dirt on hillary clinton. but most haunting for this president and for this white house has to be cohen's testimony that he's in constant contact with the prosecutors working out of the southern district of new york. >> so the committee understands you've been in contact with the southern district of new york, is that true? >> i am in constant contact with the southern district of new york regarding ongoing investigations. >> is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act what you're aware of regarding donald trump that we haven't yet discussed today? >> yes, and again, those are part of the investigation that's currently being looked at by the southern district of new york. >> you don't say. that's where we start with some of our favorite reporters and friends. former federal prosecutor paul butler. with us in new york, former u.s. attorney joyce vance and one of two people here who knew

based on your testimony today, donald trump jr. and allen weisselberg directed this payment to you and approved this payment. is that right? >> mr. trump initially acknowledged the obligation, the debt. myself and allen weisselberg went back to his office, and i was instructed by allen at the time that they were going to do this over 12 installments. and what he decided to do then was to have me send an invoice in which case they could have a check cut, and then, yes, the answer would be yes to your follow-up question. >> and donald trump jr. obviously signed off on this? >> yes. it would either be eric trump, donald trump jr., and/or allen weisselberg. but always allen weisselberg on the check. >> i just want the american public to understand the explosive nature of your testimony on this document. are you telling us, mr. cohen, that the president directed transactions in conspiracy with allen weisselberg and his son, donald trump jr., as part of a civil criminal -- as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud? is that your

based on your testimony today, donald trump jr. and allen weisselberg directed this payment to you and approved this payment, is that right? >> mr. trump initially acknowledged the obligation, the debt, myself and allen weisselberg went back to his office, and i was instructed by allen at the time that they were going to do this over 12 installments. and what he decided to do then was to have me send an invoice, in which case they can have a check cut. and then, yes, the answer would be yes to your followup question. >> and donald trump jr. obviously signed off on this. >> it would either be eric trump, donald trump jr. and/oral an weisselberg. but always allen weisselberg on the check. >> and you think the executive was donald trump jr. >> yes. >> you knew that the payments were false and illegal, correct? >> i can make that conclusion. >> you told representative kelly that the president was aware of this scheme, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> i just want the american public to understand the explosive nature of your testim

donald trump. then they have previously claimed. let me play this exchange. >> who were the family members you briefed on the trump tower moscow project? >> donald trump jr. and ivanka trump. >> okay, were these in the regular course of business or did the president or family request the briefings. >> this is in the regular course of business. >> do you recall a question on the number of briefings. do you recall how many there might have been? >> i'm sorry, sir. >> do you recall how many briefings there might have been in. >> approximately ten in total. >> all right. ten in total. that is -- well, let's be honest, that is a complete contradiction of what ivanka trump said she knew literally almost nothing about the project and don jr. who told congress that he was only peripherally aware of it and neither of those go with ten briefings and you went on until the president took office. up front now john dean who came up several times due to comments on his program and evan perez and from april ryan and barrett burger, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york harry sandic and author "of the making of donald trump" david k. johnso

yes, the answer would be yes to your question. >> donald trump jr. signed off. >> eric trump, donald trump jr. or alan weisselberg. >> they knew this payment was false and illegal? >> i can't make that conclusion. >> you told representative kelly that the president was aware of this scheme. >> that's correct. grip the american public to understand the explosive nature of your testimony in this document. are you telling us mr. cohen, that the president directed transactions in conspiracy with alan weisselberg and his son, donald trump jr., part of criminal conspiracy of financial fraud? >> yes. >> do you know with this criminal financial scheme that the president, alan weisselberg and donald trump jr. involved in is investigated by the southern district of new york? >> i'd rather not discuss that question because it could be part of an investigation going on. >> i want the american public to understand. it's only a part from bob mueller's investigation, there's garden variety financial fraud in your allegation and the smoking gun documents suggest, the

those were sandwiched in between phone calls that donald trump jr. with a russian pop star and set up that meeting. there was a third phone call that occurred just two hours after the june 9, 2016, trump tower meeting where donald trump jr. was asked in his congressional testimony were these numbers of your father. he said he did not know. donald trump has a blocked number at his primary residence, so that fed a lot of suspicion that, in fact, donald trump was the person who had this conversation, but now we have learned that the senate intelligence committee has been told that it was not his father but two of donald trump jr.'s business asocie business associate. >> there's other calls that weren't blocked. they will have known who those were to and from. the question that matters the most is whether trump senior knew about the meeting or not. now, we know these blocked calls were not to or from him. does that do anything to answering the fundamental question which is did he know about it. >> we still don't know. donald trump has denied. donald trump

>> i want to hear from abbey lowell, from donald trump jr. ck. roger stone should probably come back. all of the very intense innercircle of donald trump needs to come before the house intelligence committee. this is a very small universe of people involved in his campaign. and when coloradoen said trump saw this as a big, fat infomrlgs that was going to help him with his business in the future, i think that was very enlightening. >> and up next today's hearing was explosive. what effect will it have on the president and his standing with it the voters? n the president and his standing with it the voters? you know, i used to be good at this. then you turn 40 and everything goes. tell me about it. you know, it's made me think, i'm closer to my retirement days than i am my college days. hm. i'm thinking... will i have enough? should i change something? well, you're asking the right questions. i just want to know, am i gonna be okay? i know people who specialize in "am i going to be okay." i like that. you may need glasses though. yeah. schedule

here again is cohen. >> donald trump jr. came into the room and walked behind his father's desk, which in and of itself was unusual. people didn't just walk behind mr. trump's desk to talk to him. i recall don jr. leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which i could clearly hear and saying, the meeting is all set and i remember mr. trump saying, okay, good. let me know. >> for many republicans at the hearing there's a clear line of attack. cohen's tenuous relationship with the truth, his financial troubles and perhaps, perhaps even a little sour grapes. >> mr. cohen, how long did you work in the white house? >> i never worked in the white house. >> and that's the point, isn't it, mr. cohen? >> no, sir. >> yes, it is. >> no, sir. >> you wanted to work in the white house. you didn't get brought to the dance and now -- >> i was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the president of the united states of america. i did not want to go to the white house. >> i see a guy work for ten years and trashing the guy h

based on your testimony today donald trump jr. directed this payment to you and approved this. >> mr. trump initially acknowledged the obligation. i was instructed by allen at the time that we were going to do this over 12 installments. >> and donald trump jr. signed off on this. >> it would be them but always allen on the check. >> you think executive too is donald trump jr.? >> yes. >> they knew this payment were false and illegal, correct? >> i can make that conclusion. >> you told representative kelly that the president was aware of this scheme, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> i want the pleamerican publio understand the nature of this testimony. are you telling us that the president directed in conspiracy with allen and his son, donald trump jr. as part of a civil criminal -- part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud. is that your testimony today? >> yes. >> and do you flow if this criminal financial scheme that the president and donald trump jr. are involved in by the southern district of new york? >> i would ra

based on your testimony today, donald trump jr. and allen weisselberg directed this payment to you and approved this payment, is that right? >> mr. trump initially acknowledged the obligation, the debt, myself and allen weisselberg went back to his office, and i was instructed by allen at the time that they were going to do this over 12 installments. and what he decided to do then was to have me send an invoice, in which case they can have a check cut. and then, yes, the answer would be yes to your followup question. >> and donald trump jr. obviously signed off on this. >> it would either be eric trump, donald trump jr. and/oral an weisselberg. but always allen weisselberg on the check. >> and you think the executive was donald trump jr. >> yes. >> you knew that the payments were false and illegal, correct? >> i can make that conclusion. >> you told representative kelly that the president was aware of this scheme, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> i just want the american public to understand the explosive nature of your testim

check, this one to him for reimbursement for the stormy daniels payments, but this one signed by donald trump jrand also alan weisselberg who was the cfo of the trump organization. we have one check. this one we have a picture of signed by donald trump when he was president of the united states in august of 2017. and now we're length that cohen will also produce a second check signed by among others, donald trump jr., the president's son. the significance of that. >> let's just step back and talk about why this all matters at all. as you've been pointing out, one of the things that michael cohen pleaded guilty to was making an unlawful campaign contribution by paying off stormy daniels on the eve of the election. keeping her quiet to benefit donald trump's campaign. so the question is, did michael cohen have coconspirators in that enterprise, this criminal enterprise of the unlawful campaign contributions? that races the question of, well, where did he get the non pay off stormy daniels? and was he reimbursed for the money he paid off stormy daniels to? these two checks, the one check we've seen

democrats have long speculated publicly that donald trump, jr., must have talked to his father at that the president who was then the candidate. what we have learned according to multiple sources is donald trump, jr., talked to two business associates in the blocked phone calls and he didn't speak to his father. that eliminates a lot of speculation the house democrats had that he tipped off his father about the meeting. when donald trump, jr., was before congress he said he didn't tell his father and we know when donald trump was asked in written questions from robert mueller if he knew about the meeting in advance he said that he did not. jim, poppy? >> thank you very much. let's talk about it with ellie hoenig from the southern district of new york, a very in the spotlight district now. also our cnn legal analyst. good morning. let's start on the don, jr., exclusive cnn reporting. significant politically here but on the legal side, does it matter if those phone calls were not from don, jr., to his dad, then candidate surrounding the trump tower meeting because we still do know that t

he will say he thinks donald trump was briefed by donald jr. trump tower meeting but has no direct evidence of collusion, and he will repeatedly talk about president trump lying about his wealth. we will see what evidence he brings to the table. michael cohen today is the subject of president trump's tweets as this president meets in vietnam with kim jong un. willie geist, we just walked through this moment in history trying to cover all the facts. >> i'm thinking as i'm reading this opening statement, his quote to george stephanopoulos in december, will not be the villain in this story. he's ready to step out. heidi, you have information on how democrats will try to get more information and more out of the top lines we've seen in this opening statement from cohen. >> that's right, willie. i've been talking to democrats in on the preparations for this hearing. they say, this is their opportunity to talk to someone who intimately understands how the trump organization and trump foundation operated. specifically, they have great concerns about a

also tonight, cnn has exclusive reporting that donald trump, jr.'s three mysterious phone calls before and after the now infamous 2016 trump tower meeting were not with his father. this is according to new information obtained by senate investigators showing the blocked calls were between don junior and two of his business associates. president trump seizing on the news tonight tweeting, "just out, the big deal very mysterious don junior telephone calls after the innocent trump tower meeting that the media and dems said were made to his father, me, were just conclusively found not to be made to me. they were made to friends and business associates of don. really sad." didn't credit us with the reporting because that's where it came from exclusively, from cnn. but it's clearly a positive development for the trump family. but let's not forget that trump jr. did meet with russians about getting dirt on hillary clinton. let's discuss now all of this. shimon prokupecz, susan glasser, phil mudd and harry litman. good evening to all of you. i just think it

this is what cohen said about him. >> donald trump jr. o the room and walked behind his father's desk which in of itself was unusual. people didn't just walk behind mr. trump's desk to talk to hem. i recall don jr. leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which i could clearly hear and saying, "the meeting is all set," i remember mr. trump saying okay, good, let me know. mr. trump had frequently told me and others that his son don jr. had the worse judgment of any one in the world. also that jodon jr. would never set up any meetings alone. >> don retweeted dozens of tweets disputing what michael cohen had to say. >> this is reporting back in the early days of the administration, suggests that cohen did want to work in the white house. but, donald trump jr.'s defense on everything else, so fierce that it had been offense. it would be believable had he not lie about the trump tower meeting. trump says it was about adopt n adoptio adoptions, but his e-mail revealed it was set up because russia wanted to deliver dirt on hillary

cause you- >> you said, again, in december i think there's at least two occasions where he, donald trump jre. lied about what? >> well, i'm not at this time going to speak to that because, again, we haven't been able to receive documents yet from donald trump jr. but based on the things that we have heard and know about since, i think that that is probably the case. certainly i don't have evidence of that yet, it's just speculation. >> okay. so just speculation. again, but you would ask your chair to put donald trump jr. on the list of people you'd like to see before your committee? >> i'm sure he's on the list already. >> i want to ask you something interesting. if i read this correctly, you wrote a proposal or nominated professor kristine blahs decide ford to receive the profiles award in massachusetts. she of course came forward with an accusation against brett kavanaugh who is now on the supreme court. she told her story in front of the american people. now there's a different professor, professor vanessa tyson who is telling her story to the "washington post" saying she was assaulted b

recall in cohen's testimony yesterday he mentioned donald trump jr., as i recall, in two respects. one, with respect to the trump tower meeting, and the other, he said that one of the checks he received to reimburse him for those hush money payments was co-signed by donald trump jr. now, in fairness, he also said he thought that donald trump jr. was only cursorily involved in those hush money payments. nevertheless, to your question, andrea, prosecutors will absolutely want to know about the role of the children in these financial transactions, whether or not they're targets or subjects or mere witnesses, that would only be speculation at this point. but they will certainly want to know what the children knew. >> and according to the donald trump jr., he has not to our knowledge been interviewed yet. what do you think is his status as far as the investigation is concerned? >> this is speculative, but i think it's informed speculative. typically prosecutors, and mimi knows this well, leave the targets of investigation to the end. under the justice manual, a target is somebody who is

liberty. ♪ >> harris: fox news alert, donald trump jr. hairman adam schiff after reports appeared to undermine the democrat suspicions that donald jr. made phone calls to his father, the president, around the time of the trump tower meeting. tweeting this. "has anyone heard from adam schiff? "chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel has more from capitol hill. >> president trump jumped on the news, writing on twitter last night, "just outcome of the big deal mysterious donald jr. telephone calls after the meeting that the media and dems said were made to his father, me, were conclusively found not to be made to me. they're made to friends and business associates of don. really sad." he taunted the house intelligence chair on twitter, asking, if any has heard from him. there is no love lost between the president's son and schiff. that is leaking things change the subject. he said the calls were between trump jr. and his father when he was a presidential candidate during the 2016 campaign, regarding a meeting with russians offering dir

now, as for the statement by this powerful chairman, follow the transcript, well, we did. >> donald trump jr. and ivanka trump. it would either be eric trump. rhona graff is the -- mr. trump's executive assistant. david pecker, dylan howard, barry levine, of ami, as well. allen weisselberg. alan garten of the trump organization, as well. >> who else knows that the president did this? >> allen weisselberg, ron lieberman, and matthew calamari. >> would don jr. or mr. weisselberg have more information about that? >> mr. weisselberg, for sure. >> "for sure." now, donald trump jr. and ivanka trump name checked by cohen. our cameras caught don junior at a conservative conference today, where he was basically trying to dodge any of those questions that many people have about what cohen said. you can dodge, you know, cameras, but you can't ignore investigators in the house when they have subpoenas. the house intel committee planning to call allen weisselberg, donald trump's cfo in, to testify. so this is what we are seeing and hearing from congress today. what we don't know is what else is happening

. >>> those suspicions that donald trump jr. called his dad after the trump tower meeting were wrong, the blocked call was not his father. >>> one more brutal day of cold before a weekend warm-up relatively speaking. >> after football i'm going to play baseball. and then after baseball, i'm going to play hamlet. >> alas, a million -- >> yes, almost time to play football. excitement building ahead of super bowl liii on sunday. and guess who is there? dave briggs is there. is there anything tom brady can't do? good morning, it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. welcome to "early start." >> and you are a bit under the weather, my friend. i'm dave briggs here in atlanta, just outside this beautiful mercedes-benz stadium, right now it is time to head home for on folks in atlanta because during super bowl week they allow the bars to stay open until 4:00 a.m. rams and patriots hopefully getting a new night's rest though. this is a new routine for most rams players, only four have super bowl experience. patriots however this is old hat here for

donald trump? mr. cohen: i did it to protect mr. trump, donald trump, jr., a ivanka trump and eric trump. >> in your sentencing statement in december in front of the judge, you said this, my weakness can be characterized as blind loyalty to donald trump, a blind loyalty that led me to choose a path of darkness. is that accurate, mr. cohen? mr. cohen: i wrote that. >> let me read a few other things enemy ask you why you did some of these things. when he filed a false tax return 2014, 2015 and 2016, was that out of blind loyalty to the president? mr. cohen: no, it was not. >> when you failed to report for million dollars in income to the internal revenue service committed you do that to protect. trump? mr. cohen: no, i did not. rep. jordan: when you failed to pay $9.4 million in taxes, i have constituents who don't make that in a lifetime, when you fitted to pay that to the u.s. treasury, was that out of some blind loyalty to the president? mr. cohen: it was not. but the number was 1.38 and change and i have paid and i have paid that money back to the i.r.s.

you know donald trump jr. well. allen weisselberg whose names are now drawn in by mike cohen in his public testimony. >> right. michael cohen is doing sort of an epic troll. donald trump right now. donald trump is hanoi and can't do anything about it. i imagine he's crawling up the walls. this is the power of television right now. we've had two years of print reports and legal filings and chatter among folks like us what all this means and we follow it in a very granular level. but i think the larger points of some of this gets lost on a lot of people. i think what you're seeing now with michael cohen testifying on television under oath before well informed people is the first sort of coming home of the trump scandals into people's living rooms. i think that's a big sea change in all of this. >> eddie, we keep hearing from the president and his allies. they going after cohen, his character, calling him a rat. even some of his congressional allies are suggesting that michael cohen's wife is going to step out on him wh

potential but i think that what we heard today in the case of these giant checks both from donald trump and donald trump jr gives us a sense of the criminality and the direct role that donald trump was involved in so i look at that as well the one that's more immediately legally actionable but i think the other is very relevant to the moeller investigation which we know is near its end stages for those who support president trump particularly his republican base will all if this matter to them will cohen's testimony actually make a difference and change the way that they perceive the president's. the true answer is we don't know but i think what's been interesting is that most of these revelations or speculations have been out there and his base has shrugged at them and said that they don't really matter a bit fundamentally they look at these things as small issues but that's not even during watergate i wouldn't say it was public revulsion with president nixon that led him to be there was finally lines got crossed that legislators couldn't accept anymore when it came we don't delegate all of this out to th

. >>> sources tell cnn senate investigators have information that the phone calls donald trump, jr., to a blocked number ahead of the june 2016 trump tower meeting with russians weren't to his father. democrats have long questioned whether donald trump, jr., informed him of the meeting giving him advanced knowledge that the russians were offering dirt on hillary clinton. joining us now, a member of the senate judiciary committee, maisey honona. the russians promised dirt on trump and the calls were not to his father. does that answer questions to you? >> no. >> why not? >> there is a lot that needs to be investigated. this is why the democrats focus so much on the need to make sure the mueller investigation goes forward unfettered and unrestrained. there is a lot going on that we probably still don't know. we need to have the dots connected. >> it is a question that house democrats were asking which is did donald trump, jr., call his father and tell him not then, not those phone calls, that is new information, correct? >> that may be new information. i don't know. surrounding this is

brian: donald trump, jr. is here. how do i know? i looked left. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreati

the things you tweeted yesterday, doesn't it seem likely that after today cummings will call donald trump jr., eric trump and ivanka trump to the committee. i thought aoc and eddie go mmez did well. how busy are house democrats going to be based on what cohen has told them? >> it seems almost certain at some point over the next month, two months, it depends when mueller wraps up. it depends on a lot of outside circumstances. but based on my reporting it seems certain they're going to call more people from the trump organization. allen weisselburg, a name that came up a number of times yesterday, all day yesterday. according to nbc's reporting he has not been cooperating extensively with federal authorities. i have to imagine he'll be brought up to capitol hill. don jr. and eric aren't in the administration, have no case for executive privilege. i guess ivanka could say she's an administration official and the white house could try to block that testimony or speaking to the committee. i would find that hard to believe given she's not discussing things that happened in the white house. it seem

the phone calls that donald trump jr. d the day that he was in conversations about having the meeting at trump tower where he was promised dirt from the russians on hillary clinton, we knew at the time they were to blocked numbers. house democrats had said, oh, did donald trump jr. call his father? were those called the blocked numbers to his father? cnn was the first to report yesterday, carrie, that, no, they were to business associates of donald trump jr., not to his father. so we now he could not have at least in those phone calls told him or informed him about the trump tower meeting. it's an interesting received the fac set of facts and one that supports donald trump jr. and the president's claims. >> it supports them to the extent it's one data point. it's a data point that says that those specific calls were not between don junior and don senior. it shows the difficulty of us being on the outside trying to extrapolate or folks on the hill who are not involved in the investigations trying to extrapolate from specifi

cnn learned new details about those mysterious blocked calls with donald trump jr. the trump tower meeting during the election. >> this was a big mystery. who is donald trump calling around this trump tower meeting that he had with russians in 2016 t. was supposed to be to get dirt on hillary clinton. he made the calls to blocked numbers. there was a theory that maybe he was calling his father. now we learn senate investigators have information that that is not who donald trump jr. was calling. he was not calling his father. he was calling a couple of business associates it seems like one of the mysteries may be coming to an end. >> one singular question settled in the russia probe. can't count them. thanks. >>> joining me now is cnn legal analyst jack quin who served under president bill clinton. thanks for coming in. on this phone calls have long been a source of speculation. who were these calls to? and now we know that senate investigators have information that is not to president trump or with president trump. reports are it is with the business associates. the

maybe donald trump jr. didn't have a conversation with his father immediately going into that meeting. that doesn't mean he didn't have a person to person conversation with donald trump. also doesn't help donald trump jr. he lied. he lied about the purpose of the meeting. people like jared kushner were there, paul manafort was there. really we know initially donald trump participated in a statement that said it was about russian adoption of children but later on we found out through evidence, through emails that it was actually going to be about getting dirt on hillary clinton so let's wait. let's wait and see what the served before everybody rushes to judgment one way or another. >> thank you. more on that racist snapshot from the virginia governor' past that have many calling for his immediate resignation. >>> fear and loathing texas. why republicans are worried he could lose the lone start state in 2020. now that i've got you here for a minute, or two actually, i've got to tell you something. with the cap

donald trump, jr. came into the room and walked behind his father's desk, which in and of itself was unusual. people just didn't walk behind mr. trump's desk to talk to him. i recall don junior leaning over to his father and speaking in a low voice, which i could clearly hear, and saying, the meeting is all set and i remember mr. trump saying, okay, good. let me know. what struck me as i looked back and thought about the exchange between don junior and his father was first, that mr. trump had frequently told me and others that his son don junior had the worst judgment of anyone in the world. and also, that don junior would never set up any meeting of significance alone, and certainly not without checking with his father. i also knew that nothing went on in trump world, especially the campaign, without mr. trump's knowledge and approval. so i concluded that don junior was referring to that june 2016 trump tower meeting about dirt on hillary with the russian representatives when he walked behind his dad's

the final part about that russia the russia thread of all of this is he has his suspicion the donald trump jr in front of him in fact told donald trump about a forthcoming meeting with russian nationals. that was a bid to get. dirt on hillary clinton so that is the main headlines but also tax fraud stuff about the trump foundation and about all of trump just generally not being a terribly nice person but those are the main headlines that we're getting from the michael cohen testimony and that congressional hearing continues she has for the time being thank you we'll speak to you once again in a couple of minutes so you're looking at live pictures right now from capitol hill washington d.c. that is michael cohen he's been testifying to the house committee house oversight and reform can maybe we'll be back in just a moments right here on al-jazeera with all the latest news coming out from washington in just a moment do stay with us. when they cast arrive at a country club and the playground. and. troops. share the week with good. source cubans so far in this magnificent. a chronicle of the revo

some of them were signed by donald trump jr. and by allen weissleberg, the chief financial officer of the trump businesses. the smoking gun check, the one with donald trump's bold signature, will now take its place in popular culture. you will be seeing it in tweets forever. you will be seeing it on t-shirts. it will be imprinted on toilet paper, on coffee mugs and it will take its place in history as the most important check donald trump has ever written because it is the check that could end his presidency. and so the trump loyalists in that hearing today hat one jd o to do, and that was attack that check, attack michael cohen's explanation of the crime that check is part of and not one republican member of the committee dared to do that. not one of them went after that check. not one republican member of the committee tried to defuse that bomb for donald trump. they left the smoking gun untouched in thursday cross-examination of michael cohen. instead of attacking that evidence, instead of attacking that check, they attacked m

and i think donald trump jr. is someone that it's looking more and more like is someone that we need to talk to. weapon need to go through all of the testimony that happened today, the lines of questioning, digest it and strategize from here. it was a lot to take in. >> but you want to call don junior and allen weisselberg? >> i would like to. you know, i don't get to make that call, ultimately, but i think that that's certainly where my head is at right now. >> just in terms of what stood out to you today, i mean, obviously, your vantage point is different than the viewers at home, what did you think were the most important takeaways? >> i guess it depends on what you're looking for. i mean, one of the -- one of the big takeaways for me was is that it really does look like a sitting president committed a crime, very serious crime, while he was in the oval office. and you know, all of the other pieces -- >> and that crime is, is going through the with the hush payments, reimbursing michael cohen. >> correct, and

his conversation he talked about with donald trump jr. sort of overheard a conversation behind the desk as he acknowledged it was very vague. he thought it might have been about the trump tower meeting. but it was not something i think you could say was incriminating. you know, it's all well and good to say, well, it was just -- it was just the campaign finance violation. a, that's a crime. b, it's a crime that the southern district has already said is a crime. and c, it may have tipped the election in the final days. >> the only reason the southern district got that conviction, they could have gotten him to plead guilty to far worse things than a campaign finance violation. the only reason they got him to the that is so they could bring in trump. let's be honest about this. that's the only reason they wanted to the this. >> not being guilty of a crime. >> i can tell you every campaign finance violation i've ever heard of, and i'm wear of a lot of them get fines. you don't get indicted for a campaign finance violation. you get a little fi

who was on the other end of those calls donald trump, jr. made to a blocked number just days before the meeting? well, cnn has learned that senate investigators have new information showing that the calls were between trump junior and two of his business associates, not as many democrats suspected between trump junior and his father, which is good news for the president's son. but there's a lot we still don't know here, including exactly who those business associates were, and what was discussed on those calls. we've got a lot more to come on that story as well. but we've got to talk about the president today, okay? he's trying to convince you to ignore what you heard with your own ears. he's done that before. but this must be the most stunning example of them all, the most stunning one yet. the president tweeting tonight, just concluded a great meeting with my intel team in the oval office who told me that what they said on tuesday at the senate hearing was mischaracterized by the media. mischaracterized by the media. so the president would

that i just read that you had made it to saying did you do that to protect donald trump i did it to protect mr trump donald trump jr even could trump and eric trump. and in your sentencing statement back in december in front of the judge you said this mr cohen my weakness can be characterized as a blind loyalty to donald trump a blind loyalty that led me to choose a path of darkness is that accurate mr cohen i wrote that you wrote that and said that and from the judge that right that's correct and you read a few other things here and let me ask you why you did some of these things when you filed a false tax return in two thousand and twelve two thousand and thirteen two thousand and fourteen two thousand and fifteen and two thousand and sixteen was all that out of blind loyalty to the president no it was not when you fail to report four million in income to the internal revenue service did you do that to protect donald trump no i did not and when you failed to pay one point four million in taxes i got constituents you don't make that in a lifetime when you fail to pay one point four million in taxes to the u.s. tre

every time we connected the dots, by the trump family's own words, donald trump jr. and eric trump saying that, "we're seeing a lot of money from russia flow into our organization," the fact that their bank, deutsche bank, was sanctioned for money laundering with the russians. we think that's at least, as you would say in the law, probable cause to look further. and we weren't able to look further. and we don't believe that the mueller investigation is doing that, because of its narrow mandate, but we k it's important enough -- >> wait. most people don't think the mueller investigation has a narrow mandate. they think it has a broad mandate. at least, certainly, that's the criticism from the right. >> yeah. so, the president said, if you remember -- he said that if mueller was to investigate his finances, he would see that as a redline. we don't see any evidence that they are pursuing money laundering within the trump organization. >> and you have said that you will get president trump's tax returns. >> yeah. that's a priority of our caucus, yes. it's not me who can do it, but the chairma

cohen's claim that donald trump jr. ather about the meeting with the russians at trump tower before it happened in june 2016 as well as cohen's claim that roger stone informed the president that wikileaks was about to expose e-mails from the clinton campaign and the dnc. house oversight chairman elijah cummings said there's a lot more investigating to be done across congress. >> what we did yesterday was gather a lot of information that i think will be -- we may not look into it in our committee but one of the five or six committees will. >> reporter: how shall money to stormy daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with trump years before. two reimbursement checks, one signed by the president and the other, he said, was signed by al ann weisselberg and donald trump jr. >> the financial scam that the president alan weisselberg and donald trump jr. is being investigate by the southern district of new york? >> i would rather not discuss that question because it could be part of an investigation that's currently o

suggestion that there are more people involved in the cover-up. >> this is signed by not only donald trump jr the cfo of the trump organization, allen weisselberg cooperating with the special counsel. >> he has immunity, unlike donald trump jr, and that could open these two men up to possible exposure but what are they telling special counsel and federal prosecutors. it's not a crime to live publicly that they make sure it is straight or supported by the evidence when speaking with robert mueller investigators or new york investigators. >> you can see the 42 members of congress gathering and beginning some of the questioning with each one getting five minutes in order to question michael cohen. this could be an extraordinary hearing today with many questions, and is there anything out of bounds they cannot discuss? >> there is agreement that michael cohen is not supposed to talk about the ongoing special counsel investigation into the 2016 election. out of respect for robert mueller they agreed not to question him and as we son the opening statement he is referring to wikileaks and trump towe

donald trump was president. and it could put allegations of criminal activities directly in the oval office. now, the second check also we are told is signed by donald trump, jr., cohen claims was another reimbursement for the hush money paid to stormy daniels. the attorney for the trump organization declined to comment. >> remember what president trump said in april of 2017 about those payments. . >> all right. well, michael cohen with answer those questions this morning. cohen will also say he witnessed a conversation in july of 2016 where donald trump, the candidate, was told in advance that wikileaks was planning a massive release of e-mails damaging to hillary clinton's campaign. michael cohen, of course, is the president's lawyer and fixer. he is a convicted felon for lying so will that color the view of lawmakers today and while all of this happens at home, president trump is in vietnam for that summit with kim jong-un. he clearly has michael cohen on his mind. he is tweeting early this morning. we have the chairman of the house intelligence committee where michael cohen will testify tomorrow behind closed doors. good morning, congressman. >> good morn

in the summer of 2016 donald trump jr. met with a russian lawyer in trump tower.he pivotal event of the last decade. perhaps generation. before and after that meeting, young mr. trump made some phone calls, very suspicious phone calls. and all this assumed those phone calls were either to vladimir putin himself or to his father, the president. >> donald trump jr. talked to -- had a phone call and then made a phone call right after that to a blocked number. and then he called right back to a blocked number. so we know that this blocked number may very well be donald trump. >> sandwich between those calls back and forth between john jr. is a blocked call. and we wanted to know did that come from the president? was the president involved in the planning or the approval of this meeting? so we said let's subpoena the phone records and find out. >> the timing right in the heat of this meeting makes it sound like he was calling somebody to report about the meeting and what was going on with it. >> tucker: blocked number. it can only be three things, the president, vladim