>> jessica schneider at the white house. shimon prokupecz, thanks very much. >>> immediate reaction to the breaks news. republican congressman adam kinslinger, welcome. you've had a hard time keeping track of this, supposedly transparency but details held tight until revealed by various media outlets. what does this say to you about this lack of clarity coming from the president's son on this meeting? >> it's hard to say exactly what it means, because i'm not in the mind of how they're doing it. what i will tell you is if i was advising the white house i would say, look, august of this information, juthis -- all this information, get it out there. any contacts. it will come out. the longer the story changes, the more the story changes, the more people begin to wonder. so get all of this information out there. i would advise the white house to talk about some of the anti-russian things you're doing. syria. let's get the sanctions bill done et cetera and i would say all of this information,ut it out there on the table, because

o our jessica schneider explains. >> reporter: another player erupts from the meeting with donald trump jr. and the russian lawyer. he disclosed everything there was to know with the several e-mails tuesday. >> as far as you know, this is all of it? >> this is everything. this is everything. >> reporter: now news that the russian-american lobbyist was in attendance. he told the associated press he was in the room for the 20-to-30 minute meeting with the openlde son and the lawyer and jared kushner and paul manafort. cnn has learned at least two others were in the room. a translator and representative for the agalarov family. he is focused on overturns the sanctions in russia. he mentions lobbying caught the attention of chuck grassley who describes him as a russian immigrant. apparently with ties to russian intelligence. that was in a letter to homeland security secretary john kelly requesting his immigration history. he denied to the washington post he served as an intelligence agent. he said he served as a soldier for two-years, not the russian government. i was not an intelligence of

>> jessica schneider live for us from the white house. thanks, jessica. >>> it is too easy to get lost in the headlines of the day. but tonight we want to highlight the changing stories coming from the white house in just the past five days. five days, four contradictory stories. as of friday, consistent trump world story line for nearly a year had been no evidence of collusion or cooperation with the russian government whatsoever. donald trump jr. himself had gone farther, saying all along that he had set up no meetings at all with russians, even dismissing accusations of russian interference in the election at all. >> we hear experts. at home once said this is what is happening with the russians. it's disgusting. it's so phony. i don't mind a fair fight. but these lies and the perpetuating of that kind of nonsense to try to gain some political capital is just outrageous. >> that we're going to call story number one. but on saturday, that story changed. confronted by "the new york times" with news of a previously undisclosed meeting with

jessi jessica schneider is here with details. >> reporter: donald trump jr. making statements defending his meeting with the ties to the kremlin. after "the new york times" unearthed the meeting on saturday, the president's eldest son released this saying it was a short introductory meeting, i asked jared and paul to stop by. we talked about a program about the adoption of russian children that was popular years ago. it was not a cam paper issue at the time and no follow up. i was asked to attend. that was the statement on saturday. fast forward to a day later, sunday, when "the new york times" reported additional detail that donald trump jr. was promised damaging information on hillary clinton before he agreed to meet with that russian lawyer. after that story was released, donald trump jr. put out this, i was asked to have a meeting with an acquaintance from the miss universe pageant who might have information helpful to the campaign. the woman stated she had information that individuals connected to russia were funding the democratic national committee and

. >> let's go live to cnn's jessica schneider at the white house. jessica, what more are you learning about this meeting. >> reporter: we've learned that that russian-american lobbyist, rinat akhmetshin, he has confirmed that he was at this june 2016 meeting that involved a multitude of people. we know that it was led, perhaps, by donald trump jr. it also involved campaign chair paul manafort as well as the president's son -in-law and now top adviser jared kushner. this is a story that began last saturday with the "new york times" and we've continued to get drips of details throughout the week. now, this particular person, rinat akhmetshin, he's of concern because senator chuck grassley actually raised some concerns about him in a letter dating back just a few months ago when he wrote to homeland security secretary john kelly, requesting the immigration information about him. and in that letter, senator grassley actually called rinat akhmetshin, he said he was acting as an unregistered agent for russian interests apparently with, quote, ties to russi

our just it correspondent jessica schneider is with us now. jessica what more are we learning?er: the hill reporting the fired fbi director wrote seven memos detailing his nine conversations with president trump. the hill sources say that four of those memos had markings to make clear they contained information classified at the secret or the confident's level, but here's the key. there is no indication that there was any classified information in the one memo that the fired fbi director james comey gave to his law professor friend to leak to the press. james comey testified june 8th he believed it to be a personal document that contained his own recollection. how james comey distinguished it when questioned by senator roy blount back on june 8th. >> you didn't consider your memo or your sense of that conversation to be a government document? you considered it to be somehow your own personal document that you could share with the media as you wanted to? >> correct. >> through a friend? >> i understood this to be my recollection recorded of my conversation with the president as

jessica schneider in d.c. we're going to talk more about this eighth man, whether this is becoming a follow the money investigation. >>> also, a secret sit-down or conversation between president trump and russian president vladimir putin. why didn't we know about this, and why didn't another american join the conversation? >>> and the story of two russian spies living life in a new jersey suburb deep undercover. stay right here. this is cnn. for your heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. hi..and i know that we have phonaccident forgiveness.gent, so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight- four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is wo

jessica schneider, thank you very much. just how damaging was it for the white house to help with the response of trump jr.'s meeting controversy? stick around, we'll talk about that. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ having mplaque psoriasise is not always easy. it's a long-distance run. and you have the determination to keep going. humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for nearly 10 years. humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear and many saw 75% and even 90% clearance in just four months. humira can lower your abi

reporting for us tonight, cnn's jessica schneider. ryan nobel is on capitol hill. pamela brown with some new exclusive video. we begin at the white house and jessica schneider. so the president addressing donald trump jr.'s meeting with w reuters. what is he saying? >> the president saying he knew nothing about that june 26th meeting between his eldest son and that russian lawyer. the president really, this is the first time he's spoken out about this, saying he didn't know anything about it. of course, his lawyer and the deputy press secretary, this is the same message that they've been pushing for the past 24 to 48 hours. the president telling reuters this, saying, i didn't know until a couple of days ago, when i heard about this, i think many people would have had that meeting. of course, i think that's the exact same sentiment that his son, donald trump jr. issued in an interview last night. donald trump jr. saying that he was a political novice, a businessman, and as a businessman, he believed taking this meeting was okay. his father tonight, the president, is

right now let's go to cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider. white house claims mr. trump has confidence in jeff sessions but the interview tells a different story. >> that's right, the white house put it this way at the briefing today. they said the president was disappointed in sessions' decisions to recuse himself from the russia investigation but the president still has confidence in the attorney general. it was quite a different tone than president trump took inside the oval office for that "new york times" article where he slammed sessions and put his anger on the record. tonight attorney general jeff sessions seem to rebuke rumors he plans to resign as head of the justice department. >> i have the honor of serving as attorney general. it's something that goes beyond any thought i would have ever had for myself. we love this job. we love this department, and i plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate. >> reporter: this after being publicly rebuked by president trump in a "new york times" interview. the president expressing his ongoing ire that s

we're going to kick off with cnn jessica schneider. jessica, i think it's fair to say it was a smooth move for scaramucci, but he tried to lay credence to the president's free claim about millions of illegal votes for hillary clinton and he said the president is loved by the american people despite his staggeringly high disapproval ratings. >> reporter: that's right, the new director is already pushing the president's lines that the media has not pushed the long list of accomplishments coming from the white house. he says the media is not treating him fairly and that the american public can see through that. of course, this after a big day of shake-ups at the white house and the president saying few words about it. take a listen. >> make america great again. >> reporter: so now anthony scaramucci moves to chief messenger for the president as sean spicer calls it quits. a seismic staff shake-up in the west wing. sean spicer out as press secretary after six tumultuous months. spicer submitted his resignation minutes after anthony scaramuc

> with more on the attorney general's response and damage control a t the white house, cnn's jessica schneider. >> reporter: attorney general sessions seems to be rebuffing the suggestion that he might resign. the president criticized his recusal. the president saying the decision was unfair to the president. and that president trump wouldn't have asked him to become attorney general if he knew sessions would remove himself from overseeing the investigation. of course, those comments drew a lot of speculation. white house deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders has clarified, in part, saying the president does have confidence in sessions. but really was just disappointed in the decision sessions made to recu recuse. >> clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general. i think you know this president enough to know that if he wanted somebody to take an action, he would make that quite clear. >> christine and miguel? >> thank you, jessica. with that in mind, the president is resufling the legal team helping with the probe. marc kasowitz will see his role as lead law

so let's begin with cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider. 11 pages, he spoke with staffers today on the hill. what new details came out? >> i say 11 pages worth of details. we really got an in-depth glimpse and it was the first time we heard from jared kushner, saying in a statement he wanted to set the record straight. he did detail the four meetings he had between april and december 2016. the first one was previously undisclosed. it was a short meet-and-green. but it really was that june 2016 meeting with donald trump jr. and that russian lawyer among others that's been among the most talked about. and curb any did address it head-on, saying he attended at the request of don junior, and he didn't read the chain of e-mails that promised to hand over dirt on hillary clinton. he reiterated he believed it was about russian adoptions. that's actually what was discussed, but he quickly realized it was a waste of time. kushner writing in a statement, saying i actually e-mailed my assistant from the meeting after i had been there for ten or so minutes and said call me on my cell, need

. >> let's go live to cnn's jessica schneider at the white house. bout this meeting. >> reporter: we've learned that that russian-american lobbyist, rinat akhmetshin, he has confirmed that he was at this june 2016 meeting that involved a multitude of people. we know that it was led, perhaps, by donald trump jr. it also involved campaign chair paul manafort as well as the president's son -in-law and now top adviser jared kushner. this is a story that began last saturday with the "new york times" and we've continued to get drips of details throughout the week. now, this particular person, rinat akhmetshin, he's of concern

. >> joining me now, cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider, "the new york times," jessica, sayspeople in the president's inner circle have formed a circular firing squad now to find the source of the latest leak related to these e-mails and the meeting with the russian lawyer between donald trump jr., jared kushner, and paul manafort. what are you learning about what's now happening behind the scene at the white house? >> reporter: well, one republican source close to the west wing really putting it bluntly, saying that the white house is paralyzed, all consumed, and distracted by this. in fact, one source saying that this is yet another week lost when it comes to advancing the president's agenda, another source saying that really it's time to get some fresh new talent into the white house. but you know, we've heard that when it comes to chief of staff, reince priebus, he's telling the staff here to keep their heads down, to keep working hard, not to be distracted by all this but we know that one person, at least, may be somewhat distracted by this, the president himself. we kno

jessica schneider is out front at the white house for us tonight. jessica, there are always rumors of impending staff shake-ups at this white house. but this still came as something as a surprise today. >> it did, jake. and this staff shake-up, it really unfolded in rapid fashion. it was first thing this morning. we heard anthony scaramucci was here at the white house. just a little while later, we learned he was offered and accepted the position of communications director. and then literally minutes later, sean spicer offered up his resignation. so despite the optics of this, and what we've heard from sources, that sean spicer was obviously displeased with the president's pick, anthony scaramucci today insisted there was no rift between him and sean spicer or between him and chief of staff reince priebus. a seismic staff shake-up in the west wing. sean spicer out as press secretary after six tumultuous months. spicer submitted his resignation minutes after anthony scaramucci, a trump campaign fundraiser and new york financier accepted the job as com

jessica schneider, take us inside that meeting. >> reporter: this was the meeting of the faith advisory. this was inside the oval office monday. that picture was taken by johnny moore from liberty university. people are praying over president trump. johnny moore said that unlike their relationship with president obama, they believe that they have this true, real friendship with president trump. and johnny moore talked about the meeting, the president's demeanor in the midst of this russian investigation. this was the day before donald trump, jr. released the e-mails. but saying that the president was in good spirits, he seemed tough and outgoing. but sarah huckabee sanders, the deputy press secretary, was asked about this in the press briefing today. one reporter asked, were these faith leaders gathered around the president in prayer specifically because it seems that this white house is in a political crisis? sanders issued a stern rebuke to this suggesting that the question itself was ignorant. take a listen. >> the idea that somebody would only pray when they're in crisis i think mak

let's hear from justice correspondent jessica schneider. what's the latest on the meeting and the reaction to it? >> republican leaders on the senate and intelligence judiciary committees say they are eager to hear more from don jr. about that 2016 meeting. they've already requested documents from him and they're waiting for his testimony, but the president is insisting in his pushback that this meeting was all ado about nothing. president trump defended his son's june 2016 meeting with the russian lawyer that promise the damaging information on hillary clinton, calling it something normal in the world of politics. the president tweeting, most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one donald jr. attended in order to get news on the opponent. they told christopher wray last week that the proper thing to do would have been to call the fbi. the president's lawyer jay sekulow tried to shift the focus to the secret service. >> if this was nefarious, why did the president not have the secret service in? >> reporter: but the secret ser

. >> let's go to our justice correspondent jessica schneider who's been watching this one for us. what more can you tell me just about this whole money laundering investigation? >> yeah, well, kaveladze was never criminally charged but the mere fact that he was investigated as part of this potential billion dollar money laundering scheme that was tied to russian brokers, that is raising alarm bells for lawmakers, past and present. in fact, it was former michigan senator carl levin who took to his facebook page to spell out the concern. he pointed to the congressional probe that he led in 2011 that asked the government accountability office to look into how foreigners establish u.s. corporations with hidden ownership as a way to launder money through the u.s. banks so carl levin writing there, numerous corporations and bank accounts established by irakly kaveladze on behalf of people in russia, he said, the owners of those accounts then moved some $1.4 billion through those accounts. so now, at the time, kaveladze, did he speak to congressional investigators? kaveladze said he knew

more from our jessica schneider. >> reporter: a new allegation from the msnbc hosts engaged in a war with the white house. me they claimed they were threatened by the white house this spring. >> we got a call that the "national enquirer" is going to run a negative story against you guys. they said if you call the president up and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike the story. for people at the very top of the administration calling me. >> reporter: they first lobbed the accusation in "washington post" column friday morning. >> he appears to have a fragile, child-like ego we've seen over and over again. especially with women. he can't take it. >> reporter: this was the story the "national enquirer" ran in june, accusing the couple of cheating on their spouses. they said the tabloid hounded the stochildren to get the stor. the president has close ties with the national enquirer, which has attacked his political adversa adversaries. president trump and the publisher david pecker are friends and allies. dilan howard issued this statement, i

so with me now, jessica schneider, cnn justice correspondent and manu raju. first to you on your reporting and donald trump jr. and manafort potentially testifying in this open hearing, what are you -- what are you learning about that? might that truly happen? >> reporter: it could. senator die nane feinstein told earlier today that bob mueller has given her committee the all-clear to get a testimony, to hear testimony in a public session from both paul manafort, the former campaign chairman, and donald trump jr. now, both feinstein and senator chuck grassley, the republican who leads that committee, vice presidented to hear from both manafort and donald trump jr. and grassley's even threatened issuing subpoenas if he does not get cooperation from either of those two men, so that is possible on that front. now, separately, brooke, the senate intelligence committee moving forward with its own investigation, of course, into russia meddling and trying to learn more about that trump tower meeting. earlier today, i had a chance to talk to senator richard burr who

jessica schneider is joining us with the latest. >> donald trump jr. and paul manafort has been called before the senate judicial committee. that's on wednesday. manafort's spokesperson would only confirm he's been invited, hasn't confirmed he will definitely appear. we haven't heard from donald trump jr.'s representatives. but they expect both men to appear. >> i understand that the testimony by donald trump jr. as well as manafort, it will be in a public session, correct? >> it will. it will be the first time the senators can drill into the june 2016 meeting set up between don junior and british publicist allegedly on behalf of the russian oligarch. members of the panel could also drill into why several other people were present, like the russian lawyer, russian-american lobbyist. several questions that could come from the senators if don junior and paul manafort appear. >> they wouldn't appear together? >> we have two different sessions. they're scheduled to appear in the second session. they would be one after the other and not at the same time. >>