mr. vekselberg was sanctioned in connection with ukraine.f been out of government now over a carrier i highly suspect there is some intelligence that points to mr. vekselberg's involvement in something that is ukraine related. because that was the rational. that was the executive order cited when he was sanctioned last month. >> the plot thicken peterson mike carpenter form direct for russia at the national security councils during the obama administration. thank you very much. >>> thanks. >>en at news running so fast today we turn to ferris boweler to catch it. really. that story is next. we do whatever it takes to fight cancer. these are the specialists we're proud to call our own. experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. expert medicine works here. learn more at cancercenter.com my mom washes the dishes... ...before she puts them in the dishwasher. so what does the dishwasher do? new cascade platinum lets your dishwasher be the dish washer. three cleaning agents dissolve, lift an

mr. vekselberg was sanctioned in connections with ukraine.t for over a year, i highly suspect there is intelligence point that points to mr. vekselberg's involvement in something ukraine-related. that was the rationale, that was the executive order cited when he was sanctioned last month. >> the plot thickens. mike carpenter, former director for russia at the national security council during the obama administration. thank you very much, have a good evening. >>> the news has been running so fast today we are turning to ferris bueller to help us catch it. really, that story is next. ♪ it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same. but while some push high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers.

mr. vekselberg is probably not best friends with vladimir putin, but i think the question is irrelevant.today, you must do the bidding of the kremlin when the kremlin calls on you, and, in fact, you probably got out of your way to do good deeds to make yourself in the good graces of the presidential administration. and certainly mr. vekselberg has shown he's willing to be the kremlin's money man, willing to do their bidding when they call on him. >> all of these ties. vekselberg and his cousin, whose company gives money into the inaugural fund, they both attend the inauguration. then there are other things. vekselberg and wilbur ross co-investors in the bank of cyprus linked to dirty russian money, a connection that ross tried to downplay when he faced confirmation last year. just, i mean, is this just one more instance where because trump and cohen and others just knew so many russians and were doing different levels of sort of business or deals with them that this is just sort of inevitable or is there something we should be noting about that he is also tied up with the bank of cyprus?

mr. vekselberg, quick question from cnn -- >> no, thank you. not now. >> mr. why did your company pay hundreds of thousands of $ -- >> not now. >> reporter: he is another media-shy russian billionaire linked with the kremlin and mired in allegations of collusion with the trump team. the fbi questioned victor vekselberg about payments to trump attorney michael cohen by his company's u.s. affiliate. they say it was for consulting work. we asked about the payments, too. >> appreciate it -- just later, okay? yeah. really appreciate -- >> the access -- >> i understand. you are so aggressive. >> no, i'm not at all. >> no, no, no. please. >> reporter: access to the president -- >> please, later. >> reporter: we now know that vekselberg met cohen even before president trump was inaugurated. these recently unearthed january, 2017, images from the lobby of trump tower in new york show the russian billionaire wearing a hat and coat, checking in at the security desk, lingering for several minutes and entering an elevator with his business partner. cohen hasn't responded fo

mr. viktor vekselberg, a russian oligarch with an estimated net worth of $13 billion. he and his cousin routed eight payments to michael cohen to essential consultants llc through a company called columbus nova, beginning in january 2017 and continuing until at least august 2017. columbus nova is a private equity firm with over $2 billion in assets. columbus nova is the u.s. investment vehicle for renova group, which is a multinational company controlled by viktor vekselberg. okay. so, michael cohen, president's lawyer, with a background in, like, the taxi business, sets up this little delaware shell company as a way of paying the porn star, paying stormy daniels that $130,000 right before the election. he says publicly to come up with that $130,000 to pay stormy daniels, he had to take out a home equity line of credit. a new lawyer for the president, rudy giuliani, says that ultimately that $130,000 was slowly reimbursed to mr. cohen over a period of months when the president paid michael cohen $35,000 a month over time during 2017. well, we now find out that that lit

mr. vekselberg, quick question from cnn. why did you your company pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to president trump's lawyer? >> not now! >> appreciate it. just later, okay? i understand. i understand. you're so aggressive. >> reporter: no, no. >> please. please later. >> sources say the fbi questioned vekselberg about his contacts and he was also sanctioned for the u.s. for election interference. meanwhile, roger stone also facing tough questions. "the wall street journal" is reporting that he tried to gather dirt from julian assange using a new york acquaintance. he repeatedly e-mail a radio personality in 2016 looking for documents about clinton's time when she served as secretary of state. the new report also calls into question stone's testimony to the house intelligence committee last year. it comes as cnn has learned that special counsel robert mueller is looking into stone's finances. he recently subpoenaed two of stone's former associates, which may explain that he said this this week. >> i can guarantee you t

mr. vekselberg, searched his electronic devices ap questioned him. they confront him after he stepped off a private plane about two months ago. the russian billionaire has not been identified as a suspect in the investigation. but the "new york times" report thad vekselberg was present for the president trump inauguration and that 2017 dinner where michael flynn was amongst the guests of honor. nbc could not reach connor comment tonight. we have joined my julia ainsley, justice reporter for abc news, barbara mcquaid former u.s. attorney for the eastern of michigan and a staff writer and msnbc contributor. it's from avenotti, but it's a bombshell. because it connects a russian oligarch paying $500,000 into a bank account, basically, which michael cohen was using to pay off hush money to stormy daniels. this the an amazing connection. your thoughts. >> it's an amazing revelation. chris. when we first started poking around on this i can remember a year or more than a year ago, asking people in counterintelligence, what should we be looking for? they sai

mr. vekselberg and his cousin quote routed eight payments to mr. cohen through columbus nova.tself is fully owned and operated by u.s. citizens and that it has never had foreign ownership. it also says that the oligarch had no role in the american company's decision to hire michael cohen. >> the company is previously portrayed a bit of a closer relationship, haven't they? >> that's right. until recently columbus nova included those ties. we find an archive company of columbus nova website and it describes as a partner. the u.s. investment vehicle for ren nova group. it says intreater is a foreign director and current member of executive board. it is the same description that columbus nova has used for years. columbus nova said it was a quote u.s. based affiliate of renova group affiliated. listed columbus nova as one of the companies, an umbrella group that had it. the website changes are being made because the ties of renova are being misunderstood by the media. >> they are only taking this down now though. >> that's right. >> it is because of all of the access and the inform

mr. vekselberg and his cousin routed eight payments to mr. cohen through nova. the company itself is fully owned and airported by u.s. citizens and never had citizenship and the ol good morning -- oligarch had no involvement in hiring cohen. >> they have a closer relationship. what do you know about that? >> the company until recently included its ties to nova on its website. >> that information has since been remochltd an archived copy describes it as a partner of columbus nova and describes the american company this way as the u.s. investment vehicle which is a multinational zurich based holding company. it describes a current member of the executive board of renova group. it's the same description columbus nova used for years on the website. a filing in 2007, columbus nova said it was the u.s.-based facility group of companies, one of the largest russian strategic investors. when it was found, it was renova u.s. manage l and since changed its name. as recently as april listed it as one of the companies out of two dozen that include under its group structure.

mr. vekselberg. >> reporter: columbus nova released a statement saying it has been and continues to be 100%ned by americans, and has never been owned by viktor vekselberg or the renova group, but it is hard to erase family ties. columbus nova's ceo is vekselberg's cousin andrew introtter. vekselberg's other cousin also works at columbus nova and is the one who registered dozens of website domain names to the company. >> they need to be able to explain what the relationship is, but it certainly looks like this is all tied together by the fact there's a family connection here but also a long-standing business connection. >> reporter: in all there were nearly a hundred domain names registered by frederick introtter on behalf of columbus nova. including eight with some vary united nations variations of the words alt-right. they were domain names made within two day of a speech made by hillary clinton. >> this is not conservativetism as we've known it, not republicanism as we've known it. these are racist ideas, race baiting ideas, anti-muslim, anti-immigrant all key tenants making up the racist

mr. vekselberg, there with the hat, his back is to the camera, he's accompanied by his cousin, a man by the name of andrew intrader. as you may recall, we did some reporting regarding andrew intrader. he was eventually hired by michael cohen as a consultant, was paid about $500,000 by michael cohen for what we were told was consulting work. and now this new video which we have reviewed today shows that these two men, andrew intrader and viktor vekselberg were at trump tower and as you said, we were told the meeting is about improving u.s. and russia relations and this meeting we're told was with michael cohen, the president, was not there, donald trump was not in the meeting, the meeting lasted about 30 minutes and then the two men left. and as you now know, kate, pretty well there has been a lot of reporting about victor vekselberg, about andrew intrader and it all tells us why the special counsel is so interested in viktor vekselberg. we know at some point andrew intrader was also questioned about the fbi. now, also keep in mind, kate, viktor vekselberg was at trump's inauguration. there

mr. vekselberg, is worth $13 billion. he's not the only oligarch who has shown up. we've seen -- deripaska has shown up when paul manafort was the campaign manager of the trump campaign offered a private briefing to him as to how things were going up. we've seen other oligarchs pop up in connection with donald trump jr. and others. there is a pattern, despite what the administration says, about russian oligarchs and russians in general sort of inserting themselves into this story. this idea that the american arm of this -- of this company that is owned by the oligarch has nothing to do with russia is, of course, ludicrous, but common sensically, is it just pay to play? that's one sort of political answer to this. the darker counterintelligence question i would ask is, you know, the russians we know were trying to get as many vectors as they could into the trump campaign, into the trump team. this is an opportunity to get trump's personal lawyer potentially, someone who would be a great access agent to provide information back to the russians or an agent of influence

mr. vekselberg, quick question from cnn. >> thank you.t now. >> why did your company pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to president trump's lawyer? >> not now. >> he is yet another media-shy russian billionaire linked with the kremlin and mired in allegations of collusion with the trump team. the fbi questioned victor vekselberg about payments to trump attorney michael cohen by his company's u.s. affiliate. they say it was for consulting work. we asked about the payments too. >> i really appreciate just later, okay? really appreciate. i understand. you're so aggressive. >> no, no. >> no, please. please. later. >> reporter: we now know that vekselberg met cohen even before president trump was inaugurated. these recently unearthed january 2017 images from the lobby of trump tower in new york show the russian billionaire wearing a hat and coat, checking in at the security desk, lingering for several minutes, then entering an elevator with his business partner. cohen hasn't responded with comment, but a person familiar with the meeting tel

mr. vekselberg, quick question from cnn. >> thank you, not now. >> why did your company pay hundreds of thousands -- >> i said not now. >> -- to president trump's lawyer? >> i really appreciate -- just later, okay? really appreciate -- i understand. you are so aggressive. no, no, no, please. >> did you want to buy access to the president? do you know -- what did you get for the money? >> please, later. >> these are questions, sir. please answer them. >> we'll tell everything. not now because -- >> did you -- what did the fbi question you about? >> thank you very much. >>> now to the u.s. state of hawaii. kilauea is turning parts of that state's big island into a volcanic wasteland. more people are being forced to leave. this as molten lava flows onto the streets there. active fissures are bubbling up pushing lava up to the surface and ash plumes are being thrown 10,000 feet, some 3 kilometers into the air. and it takes just minutes for this volcano's destructive fury to engulf homes. take a look at this. >> this house, this house. house on that side over there also gone. this is insane. lava is a

mr. vekselberg quick question from cnn. >> thank you. not now. >> why did your company pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to president trump's lawyer. >> not now. >> really appreciate -- okay. really appreciate -- i understand. you're so aggressive. >> no, i'm not. >> please -- >> was it to buy access to the president? >> please -- [ inaudible ]. >>what did you get for the money? >> please leave. >> questions, sir. >> you have to understand -- [ inaudible ]. >> what did the fbi question you about? >> thank you very much. >> so why is robert mueller and his team so interested in vekselberg? >> well, i think it is a question of follow the money. so viktor vekselberg was questioned when he arrived in the u.s. on his private plane earl -- early this year and was asked about political donations to the rnc and the trump victory fund and also asked about the payment to michael cohen. now the reason why they're asking for viktor vekselberg is because his company is a big russian kong glomer at, largest investor with the company that his cousin

mr. vekselberg and his cousin, quote, routed eight payments to mr. n through columbus know vachlt now, columbus nova says vekselberg's russian company is its biggest client, but the company is owned and operated by u.s. citizens and it's never had any foreign ownership. it also says that the oligarch had no role in the american company's decision to hire michael cohen. >> this company has por taped a bit of a closer relationship, evan, haven't they? >> reporter: that's right. until recently, columbus nova included those ties to renova on its own website, but that information has been removed. we found an archive copy of the website and described entrader as a partner of columbus nova and says the u.s. investment vehicle for renova group, which is a multinational zurich-based industrial holding. it says that entrader is a former director and current member of the executive world of renova group. now, it's the same description, john, that columbus nova has used on its website for years in filings with the securities and exchange commission in 2007, for

mr. vekselberg -- guess what they attends, an inauguration together.olumbus nova obtained him as a consultant. here's the question, why would cohen deal with any company, with any links to russia for any reason, at a time when the president was already under massive scrutiny for russia ties? that is an open question, and one that surely has occurred to special counsel bob mueller. in fact, both is vekselberg and the columbus nova ceo has been interviewed. that's the first part of the story. the other focuses on a series of other payments made to cohen's company all made by major corporations all coming in the last month. pharmaceutical giant nov vast this paid almost 400 grand. and at&t, 200,000. and korea air 150,000. n nov artis entered into a deal. at&t said cohen's company was hired to provide insight. they did no legal or lobbying work for us and the contract ended in 2017. again, we can take the companies' statements at face value. but when you have big companies reaching out like this it raises questions what they were seeking in turn. interesti

mr. vekselberg and his cousin andrew, showed up at trump tower, then went upstairs to see michael cohen.d we are told that the meeting was about u.s. and russia relations and ways perhaps to better that. what's not entirely clear is why viktor vekselberg was present. we know that vekselberg was questioned by the special counsel, by fbi agents who stopped him when he arrived to a new york area airport. fbi agents met him and questioned him. they've also been looking at whether russian money was used through straw donors to donate to the inauguration and to the trump campaign. now, michael cohen wound up getting a contract with viktor vekselberg's cousin, who wound up paying him $580,000 for this contract. that also is something that has been reported on. we have extensively reported on. because of viktor vekselberg's ties to the investment firm that the cousin runs in new york, certainly, wolf, all of this has been something that the special counsel and the fbi has been investigating. >> thanks very much. with the latest on that front. our panel is back. and david, this michael cohen mess

mr. vekselberg. he has a difficult relationship with the kremlin.uld a couple people of his company arrested by the kremlin a couple months ago. he fancies himself being a western oriented businessperson. he is a leader of skofl va inside rush sharks their attempt to create a silicon valley in russ russia. he is not one of the insiders with putin. he has difficult relations with putin. my only hypothesis, and we need to know more to understand, maybe he was trying to use his connections in new york city, a place he spends a lot of time. his daughter lives in new york city to demonstrate to putin that he could be useful to create this back channel with michael cohen. >> speaking of strange relations with putin, you had some. >> yes. >> you write in your book how complicated it got. you were on the receiving end of some of his attacks. here's what you write in the book. i also tried to distinguish between our government's disdain for authoritarian policies pursued by the kremlin and my respect for the russian people, culture and history. the kremlin h

mr. viktor vekselberg. he and his cousin routed eight payments to mr. cohen's group company named columbus nova llc beginning in january 2017 and continuing until at least august 2017. michael avenatti's report also refers to former rnc official elliott broidy. it came out last month that he facilitated a $1.6 million payment to a playboy model that broidy said he got pregnant pz 'dill tad below, mr. cohen received $785 thouks from mr. elliott broidy that originated from an account in broidy's name at bank of america. michael avenatti joins us tonight. a lot to go over. we reviewed the doms that appear to show the payments you revealed earlier today. we haven't independently verified this em. but the fact that at&t has now come out saying that the documents at least related to at&t are correct, obviously bolsters the authenticity of the documents. i know you're not going to say what your information is based on, but you are obviously very confident in the information that you released earlier. >> 100%, anderson. 100% confident. we would not have release

mr. viktor vekselberg and his cousin, mr. andrew intrater, routed eight payments to mr. cohen through a company named columbus nova llc beginning in january 2017, continuing until at least august 2017. according to the documents, those payments added up to approximately $500,000 and it, quote, appears these funds may have replenished the account following the payment to ms. clifford, aka stormy daniels. the documents also reveal payments from corporations like novartis, the pharma giant, at&t, korea aerospace. here is michael avenatti on this network in just the past hour. >> there's no question that this has all the markings of a pay to play-type scenario. this is a president who ran on this whole candidacy of draining the swamp and how the lobbyists were going to be closed out of the process, and they weren't going to be allowed into the white house anymore. meanwhile, now we find out that you have michael cohen, who had an office next to donald trump in trump tower for many, many years, and this guy appears to be selling access to the president of the united states. >

mr. vekselberg has had long, very large investments in russia, in the energy sector and he is there for veryse, and beholding to the government. >> reporter: according to avenatti, columbus nova made a series of eight payments to a holding company established by cohen known as essential consuls. he used that for a hush agreement with storm before the 2016 election. "the new york times" reported earlier this year that special counsel robert mueller's team has interviewed vekselberg. but an attorney with columbus nova said last night that the company's ownership is entirely american, that vekselberg had nothing to do with business with cohen. according to avenatti's memo, unconfirmed by abc news, essential consultants received a total of $4.4 million including wire transfers from a number of major corporations doing business inside the united states. among them, at&t which wired cohen payments totaling $200,000. last night, at&t, which has a major merger with time warner pending, is being challenged by the justice department, did not dispute the transaction saying essential consultants is one

mueller also questioned vekselberg about his cousin's generous campaign contributions to mr. trump, including a $250,000 donation to the president's inauguration fund. the "new york times" reports that both vekselberg and trotter met with cohen before setting up the consulting arrangement. financial records reviewed by avenatti indicate that cohen's company also received payment from a number of corporations, including nearly $400,000 from a is subsidiary of pharmaceutical company novartis. 200,000 tkhrr fr$200,000 tkhrrt. and 150,000 tkhrr fr$150,000 fra aerospa aerospace. in a statement, at&t said essential consulting of of one of several firms being engaged in 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. they did no legal work or lobbying for you. the contract ended in december 2017. korean aerospace is currently working to is secure a tkfp contract with the u. s. air force and declined to comment to the "new york times". well, all of this is happening a the president' newest lawyer, emmett flood is, according to source, starting his first day on the

a source tells cnn that mueller also questioned viktor vekselberg about his cousin's generous campaign contributions to mr. trump including a $250,000 donation to the president's inauguration fund. "the new york times" reports that both viktor vekselberg and introder attended president trump's inauguration where they met with cohen before setting up the arrangement. financial records reviewed by "the new york times" indicate that cohen's company also received payments from a number of corporations, including nearly $400,000 from a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company know variousis. $150,000 from korea aero space industries. korean aerospace industries is working to secure a defense contract with the u.s. air force and declined to comment to the "the new york times." at&t is currently engaged in a legal battle with the justice department over a proposed merger with time warner. cnn's parent company. in a statement, at&t said, essential consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide incites into understanding the new administration. they it no legal work or lobbying for us and the

vekselberg, and tried to ask about the meeting. >> reporter: quick question from cnn -- >> no -- >> reporter: why did your company pay hundreds of thousands to mrer? >> not now. >> reporter: he is another media-shy russian billionaire linked with the kremlin and mired in connection with the trump team. the fbi questioned vekselberg about payments to trump attorney michael cohen by his company's u.s. affiliate. they say it was for consulting work. we asked about the payments, too. >> appreciate -- just later, okay? >> reporter: access -- >> no, no. please. >> reporter: to get access to the president -- >> please leave that. >> reporter: we know that vekselberg met cohen even before president trump was inaugurated. these recently unearthed forrest images in the -- unearthed video images in the trump tower showing the billionaire wearing a hat and coat, lingering for several minutes, and entering into an elevator with his business partner. cohen hasn't responded for comment. a person familiar with the meeting tells cnn the two went to cohen's office on the 26th floor. they did not meet the then-president-elect himself. they left the building 27 mi

vekselberg about this. >> it is hard to believe that they just happened to pick, just the point that mr.i made earlier, that they happened to pick michael cohen for real estate advice and nothing to do with his relationship with the president of the united states. to our knowledge, it is not known that there is anything illegal about these payments. >> there isn't. and nothing from at least what we have been told by our sources specifically by one source who has knowledge of this investigation. there are suspicions as you raised. concerns that he was sanctioned by the united states for interfering in the u.s. election and linked to this company in new york that was paying michael cohen money. so certainly those are questions that investigators are going to have. that is why they stopped viktor vekselberg on a plane when he came to the new york area. also why they have questioned the man behind columbus nova. to see if there is any way, any kind of financial influence into the president's circle. so certainly these questions, these coincidences would be something investigators would want

times showing that the investigators stop vekselberg at the airport when he was flying on a private airplane, and interviewed him twice about his dealings with the mr. cohen. it seems that as more comes out, this is a bigger part of the russian collusion probe than initially understood. >> yes, that is right. what we need for the conspiracy which is what we would be talking about is an agreement between more than one person. trump would have to have some knowledge and connection to it, but he would not have had to take any direct action personally or necessarily if he knew about it, he knew about the criminal intent if there was criminal intent, and so this is some of the things that put us much more closely in that circle of potential con spespiracy, wh is really the brass ring for mueller. >> that is really the law, and the politics, howard dean, which is the extraordinary way that the republican national committee is keeping cohen on board. and take a look at this new today. >> michael cohen last time we spoke, you told me that he was still working as a deputy finance chair for the rnc and is that still the case? >> it is still the case. there i

mr. avenatti's documents cons to be that one of the entities that paid money into the shell company set up by michael cohen is associated with russian oligarch named viktor vekselberg. vekselberg was sanctioned by the u.s. government last month along with his gigantic holding company which is called renova, an investment firm linked to renova. from january of august last year for a total of a half million. "the new york times" reported last week that vekselberg was personally stopped at a u.s. airport and questioned by mueller's team. it has since been reported that vekselberg's american cousin who runs that investment firm associated with renova, his american cousin has also been questioned in the special counsel's investigation. it's the cousin's firm that reportedly paid cohen. that said the firm is denying any connection between vekselberg himself and the payments to michael cohen. the company does confirm that they paid michael cohen. they say they paid him as a business consultant. they say they paid him as a business consultant, quote, regarding potential sources of capital. question number one, why do we know this stuff? michael avenatti somehow got access

vekselberg, also reportedly interviewed by mueller. cohen used the same account to wire the $130,000 hush money payment to stormy daniels. the porn star said she had sex with mrtrump more than a decade ago, a claim he denies. the president's attorney, rudy giuliani, tells nbc news the president was not involved in any way, either before or after he was president. a spokesperson for the russian ole gar igarch is also respondi saying he never had any contractual relationship with mr. cohen or his company. >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> a republican senator, john mccain, is urging his colleagues to vote against the confirmation of gina haspel as cia director. mccain was held as a prisoner of war in vietnam. he was tortured and has been a vocal critic of harsh interrogation. he said he respects haspel but her testimony failed to fully explain her involvement in the cia's enhanced interrogation program after 9/11, which many people considered torture. haspel began her testimony on wednesday by offering her personal commitment that the agency would not restart that controversial program. >> i support the higher moral standard that this country has decided to hol