now, i turn to the reporter of the hour, richard engel, nbc's chief foreign correspondent, david roth caph, and former federal prosecutor karen loeffler. welcome all. richard, your story involves one putin foe who we just showed, because it is part of his organization that got some of this evidence. you obviously went about your corroboration independently. walk us through how you got this and what it means. >> reporter: so it's a little bit complicated, but as you said, when you look at it in the bigger scheme of things, it's actually not that complicated and the pieces are coming together a little bit like a mosaic. if you just look at one little spot, you don't see it. but if you take all the pieces together, you do start to see a pattern. so there was this meeting at trump tower right in a critical portion in the campaign. president trump was then the presumptive nominee, so he was moving up in the world. and there was a lot of setup going on. who was going to set up this meeting? what was it going to be about? who was going to thereby? and there were e-mails going back and forth

>> richard engel, thank you. by the way, you can see a lot more of richard's reporting tonight when "on assignment with richard engel" at 9:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. >>> still ahead tonight, pothole protection. technology that makes your ride so smooth you'll barely notice the bumps in the road. >>> and the controversy, after police are call the on camera slamming a former nfl player to the ground. >>> we're back with a game-changer for your car and so many roads are full of potholes waiting to cause expensive damage. the good news, there is new technology on the way to help ease the pothole pain. nbc news national investigative correspondent shows us how it works in tonight's rossen reports. >> reporter: it's the dreaded springtime jolt, potholes popping up across the country from indiana to texas, new york and it's a big problem. 30 million drivers impacted by pothole damage every year but now new technology for your car that keeps you steady even as you drive over this. how does this work? >> clear motion is a

justice department request for information. >> richard engel, i am going to be watching this in 51 minutes. it's great to have you with us. i can't wait. >> reporter: thank you. >> all right. you can watch richard's full interview with natalia veselnitskaya in a special edition of "on assignment" with richard engel tonight at 9:00 on msnbc. >>> the president is touting the report released today by the republican house intelligence committee. democrats say the report does not present a full threads don junior testified he did not know who that number's one, but corey lewandowski said that donald trump's residence that is a blocked phone line. the day after those phone calls, candidate trump made a big announcement. >> i am going to give a major speech on probably monday of next week, and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the clintons. i think you're going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. >> congressman eric swalwell. let's talk about this first. there are calls between don junior. there's a call in between. was the committee abl

i'm joined by the author of that report nbc's richard engel in salisbury, england where the poisoning occurred. peter take, chief white house correspondent for the "new york times" and anyone nap is the great grand daughter of nikki ta khrushchev. richard, let me start with you. the idea that this assassination attempt part of a hit list. what can you tell us about that? >> well, it's certainly plausible according to a former british intelligence official who is familiar with russia and russian tactics. i can tell you that the poisoning that happened here in salisbury sent a chill down the russian community living in this country. the uk has been something of a magnet for russian dissidents for critics of putin and frankly, for spies who have changed sides and come here to take refuge. we spoke to two former spies, both people that the kremlin considers traitors. they are both concerned for their future, concerned for their lives. and one of them said that in february, he received a call from someone on the inside. we have no way to verify he received that call. we weren't on call. he

justice department request for information. >> richard engel, i am going to be watching this in 51 minutes. it's great to have you with us. i can't wait. >> thank you. >> all right, you can watch richard's full interview with natalia veselnitskaya with a special edition of "on assignment with richard engel" tonight at 9:00 right here on msnbc. >>> while the president is touting the report released today by the republicans in the house intelligence committee, the democrats say the report does not present a full picture. and they put up their own minority report with the threads they say their gop counterparts refused the pull. it reveals some very interesting new information about who donald trump jr. was talking to in the run-up to that trump tower meeting. according to the report, trump junior's phone records show two calls to and from the same russian number on june 6, 2016, three days before the meeting takes place. that number appears to belong to evan agalarov, the russian pop star, remember him, and the trump business partner who was the one who helped initiate the meeting. and here'

you look at richard engel's interview with this woman. it doesn't tack -- you don't have to watch a whole season of "homeland" to think maybe this woman is connected to the russians in not a very good way. she is representing that she has information and will give you the help of the russian government in order to achieve something that the russian government seeks. that's not bad judgment. that's seeking the help of an enemy of the united states to win a political campaign. >> let me go to karen and back to richard. karen, when you look at it that way, and i'll read a quote from the interview here where she says i'm a lawyer. i'm an informant since 2013 i've been actively communicating with the office of the russian prosecuter general. when you look at that statement, that firms up her links. if they didn't get information at this meeting, could this meeting still be used to show the kind of criminal intent necessary for other potential crimes during 2016? >> well, yes, it could. it certainly looks like an attempt and an interest and int

i can't wait to see richard engel's full interview of her. that will be a very exciting thing to watch. >> well, we're going to see a lot more on rachel's show tonight at 9:00. after republicans in the house intelligence committee today released a one-sided report basically concluding the russian investigation, democrats issued a minority report detailing several leads that the republicans refused to explore. one of those leads raises new questions about whether donald trump was aware of that trump tower meeting, something he's publicly denied. two days before that june meeting in trump tower, donald trump jr. reportedly had two calls from the son of a russian oligarch who was arranging the logistics for the meeting. according to house democrats, quote, his phone records also show a blocked number at 4:27 p.m. that day between the two calls. trump jr. claimed he did not know who was associated with that blocked number. the democratic report also notes that corey lewandowski -- it aappears donald trump senior may have been in touch with his so

nbc's richard engel is live in istanbul turkey. thank you, richard. let's bring in courtney kube joining us from washington, d.c. courtney, it has been a long night for you as well. you have been monitoring this the last several hours. what are your sourcing saying about the strikes in terms of the targets they went after. how successful is this mission purely from a military standpoint in terms of objectives stated? >> they went after three specific targets. the objective was to take out bashar al assad's ability to carry out another chemical weapons attack on his people. so what they went after. number one, a production facility, research development and production facility. this is a syrian military, syrian regime structure that they hit. they also hit a storage facility, chemical weapons storage facility. and took out a command and control structure. this is another syrian regime military building. so what is it? was it a success or not? they struck the targets they were going after. we don't know whether there was syrian military killed or civili

>> richard engel, thank you. >>> a contentious showdown for president trump's nominee for secretary of state, current cia director mike pompeo. he faced a barrage of questions on his interactions with president trump about the russia investigation and on a range of hot button issues he'll face from iran to north korea. our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell was there. >> reporter: do you think you can really get the state department back on track? mike pompeo's fitness to be secretary of state and the mueller probe back on track take center stage. doubts if he would stand up to an unpredictable president. >> when the leader of our country speaks with the full might of the most powerful military in the world, the world has ever known behind him, he must choose his words carefully. >> will you support the president's worst instincts? >> reporter: pompeo refusing to say whether the president asked him to block the investigation of former national security advisor michael flynn. >> did president trump ever discuss the fbi or special counsel russia investigation with you? >

>> richard engel tonight, thank you. >>> back in this country, millions are on alert for severe storms across the south and already an apparent tornado touched down in arkansas near the oklahoma border. there are reports of damage including near an elementary school and reports of people trapped in their homes. cities under threat from the system include little rock, shreveport, dallas, memphis, kansas city and des moines. there are blizzard warnings in colorado to minnesota as temperatures soar across much of the east. >>> tonight new body camera footage shows the police encounter with a woman that opened fire at youtube, shooting three and injuring more before take her own life. just hours before the shooting police found her sleeping in a car after her family reported her missing. in the chilling exchange, police ask the shooter why she's in the area, and if she's a threat. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the video. >> reporter: police found nasim aghdam asleep in her car at 1:30 a.m. hundreds of miles from her home on the day of the shooting. >> are you ever pla

what do you make of what she had to say in that interview with richard engel?nating interview with richard engel. that's some incredible television. just amazed he got her to essentially confess to a certain extent that she was a lot more than she had portrayed when she had spoken in the united states. my first takeaway is that she was more than an informant. i had long suspected she had ties to russian interview and she confesses that, too, that she was a legal officer and advocate to a certain extent for a military unit, quote unquote, associated with the fsb, russian intelligence. that is the gru. >> give me your sense for what this means to the russian investigation more broadly. go back to the meeting in trump tower. how much does this about face that we saw there on display stand to change the investigation as we know it's proceeding now, malcolm? >> well, you know, they argued that they were not meeting with representatives of the government of russia, even though the e-mail chain said that they were, that the information was coming from the crown prosec

. >> richard engel. chief foreign correspondent is live in istanbul, turkey, the sun such as it is has risen. important neighbors, the turks to this military operation. richard, i understand through your reporting you have a bit more clarity on what transpired to your west earlier today. awe off well, what we have been trying to figure out and you have been talking about some of it, brian is this apparent discrepancy between the tone that, that president trump was, was projecting is his statement to the nation. when he said that, that this its a sustained campaign. that the u.s. will continue to, to, act against the bashar al assad regime until it stops using chemical weapons. when announced on the night of strikes, when announced in a national address, air strikes are under way. that sound very much like a commitment for more military strikes. and that it is, something of of a head snap when a short time later, defense secretary mattis came out, no this was one and done. perhaps there might be more actio

i'm going to roll richard engel's interview with her, including a very curious way she describes herselfhe end. we'll talk about it on the other side. >> the only reason i'm asking these questions is because of the contact that you had with the most senior people who are now in our government. >> you said your relationship with the prosecutor general is what? >> so as we're used to hearing every day, i'm a lawyer, and i'm an informant. and, malcolm, i heard bill clinton's white house lawyer, jack quinn, say tonight that he thinks this is putin pressing a button to say to trump and the u.s. government, i'm the captain now. here's a few of the things i can control, and don't forget i'm involved in your process. >> that's an excellent example. i actually used it as putin's own personal guardrail, sort of a way to hedge trump in. you have a person here who's on the verge of leaking information. i thought the most extraordinary part of richard engel's interview, which i think is just brilliant journalism -- he always does well -- is when he got her to admit that she worked for a special milit

i'm joined now from aestoestoni richard engel whose full interview with veselnitskaya airs right after us tonight at 9:00. richard, great to have you. what'd you learn from this interview? >> reporter: well, we learned more about who she is, her background, and her version of the story. and about her connections to the russian state. we spent quite a bit of time with her. we actually interviewed her twice in two different cities. and she told her -- she told us that her purpose was to shed light. this is her official story, on what she believes is a grand conspiracy being perpetrated against the united states of america. and she believes that sanctions on russia are based on lies and false reporting and she says she was simply there in trump tower to shed light on this matter to the officials who were prominent americans, meaning those people who were at the trump tower meeting. but she did say also, that as part of her own investigations, she had come across damaging information about hillary clinton, some of her donors that she wanted to share. then, we also came across some of this

you heard it in richard engel. he at the same time is distracted by what's happening in new york with michael cohen, distracted by what's happening in his justice department. how does that play into what's going to unfold here today? you've got to imagine the president staying closely connected to the drama unfolding back home? >> yeah. he's at mar-a-lago, which is sort of his playground. he likes to hang out and mingle with his friends and paying club members. he's going to be distracted, i'm sure. i know the japanese want his undivided attention but president trump is so fixated on what's going on in new york with michael cohen, on the comey book. remember, on friday when he was making that final decision last week to authorize the military strike in syria, he was focused on comey and he was helping sarah sanders figure out how to attack comey in the press briefing and tweeting about comey. he's really focused on these kind of shiny objects in the media. the question later today is whether he can focus entirely o

richard engel. tonight, richard will have more of his interview with natalia veselnitskaya. >>> trump spoke, the korean war is ending apparently but what is north and south korea's plan for peace and what about the face to face meeting between president trump and kim jong-un? this hour we're also watching the white house at 11:40 a.m. eastern time. president trump is going to greet angela merkel. we'll bring that to you as it happens. they'll hold a working lunch at 12:15. they're expected to cover trade and russian relations. at 1:50 p.m. they'll hold a joint news conference. that's what hallie jackson was talking about. she'll be there. you're watching "velshi and ruhle". we'll be back in a minute. ♪ better than anyone ♪ anyone i've ever met ♪ i'm stuck on your heart, the best just got bigger. ♪ i hang on every word you say applebee's new bigger bolder grill combos. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea can start in the colon and may be signs of an imb

tonight we are going to tallinn, estonia, where our own richard engel is live on assignment. when . >> good evening tonight from tallinn. we're here in this tiny baltic city near the russian border to cover large-scale war game that nato has been holding. it's practice on how to defend against a massive cyber attack launched by a fictitious country that seems a lot like russia. so nato is preparing. but today republican members of the house intelligence committee gave president trump a pass when it comes to russia. they said they found no evidence of collusion between trump's 2016 presidential campaign and the kremlin. which brings us to that scoop rachel was talking about. our investigation has uncovered new information that suggests the russian lawyer at the trump tower meeting, the meeting where trump campaign officials thought they'd be getting dirt on hillary clinton, was far more connected to the russian government than she'd acknowledged before. in fact, in our interview she called herself an informant for a russian government agency. she had previously told a senate c

>> joining me now from estonia is richard engel. welcome. tell me your take aways from your conversation. >> reporter: she was very angry when we presented these e-mails. she said they had been stolen, hacked. she accused us of being part of a grand conspiracy. she was sticking to her guns that she was a private lawyer and wasn't doing anything wrong and wasn't trying to offer any quid quo pro at the trump tower meeting. trying to offer compromising material this exchange for help from president trump to get elected. we've within digging. we've been interviewing and spent several hours with her and spent more time going through documents. the documents do suggest that she had this role. this role where she could communicate with senior level people in the russian administration and coordinate what was a russian government response to the u.s. justice department. that doesn't suggest just an avenrage citizen who is there representing her clients and suggest a much deeper role as does the fact that she was meeting with the most senior people i

but once richard engel confronts her with the e-mails, here's how she described herself. >> but you can confirm you had this back and forth dialogue? um trying to find out in this case whether you were cooperating or colluding with the russian state, which raises questions about your background, particularly in light of the fact that you were in the trump tower with the -- >> the trump tower -- >> that's what this is all about. the only reason i'm asking you these questions is because of the contacts that you had with the most senior people who are now in our government. >> you said your relationship with the prosecutor general is what? >> some important context here. in messages exchanged with donald trump jr. before the trump tower meeting, the alleged dirt that was promised to the trump campaign was said to come from the kremlin's top prosecutor. those explosive new details of natalia veselnitskaya's kremlin ties broke just as house intelligence committee republicans released a redacted version of their final report from a year-long probe into russia's interference and influence oper

. >> chief foreign correspondent richard engel is following this story for us.e recently back from syria. how are decisions that are made in washington impacting the situation on the ground there? and any idea what could have led the president to seemingly change his mind like this? >> so the decisions in washington and the statements by president trump are having a tremendous impact on the war against isis in syria. what the president said is pretty much correct. isis has taken an enormous blow. the caliphate has been reduced to almost nothing. what was a large black spot on a map that was the so-called islamic state has been reduced to two pockets in syria. but there's a real problem right now. u.s. commanders have told me they still need to focus on those two pockets that are remaining. and there's a lack of confidence in the u.s. commitment to not only eradicate isis, but to stick with our partner force. and that's why these statements are really damaging. there are roughly 2,000 u.s. troops in syria. they are not necessarily -- don't think of them as combat

nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel spoke to her in an nbc news exclusive. >> natalia veselnitskayato that 2016 meeting to see donald trump jr., senior adviser jared kushner and then campaign chairman paul manafort. she was introduced in an e-mail as a russian government attorney bringing dirt on hillary clinton. but she told us a month ago that was a misunderstanding. >> even testifying before a senate committee, she said i operate independently of any governmental bodies. but listen to what she's telling us now about her ties to the chief prosecutor of russia. >> when we spoke to her, we brought with us previously undisclosed leaked e-mails. >> what were you discussing in these e-mails and with whom? >> the e-mails were released today by a russian website named the dossier project. tied to a prominent critic of vladimir putin. nbc news cannot verify the authenticity of the e-mails, but in them, she appears to be communicating with a russian prosecutor dictating edits to a russian government response to a 2014 request for information by u.s. prosecutors. e-mails raising more questi

this is brand-new reporting from nbc's richard engel and is based on e-mails that show that the russian lawyer in question natalia veselnitskaya has now recanted her earlier denials of russian government ties. she acknowledged to nbc news that, quote, i am a lawyer and i am an informant. since 2013 i have been actively communicating with the office of the russian prosecutor general. the significance, of course, is that the trump tower meet sergio garcia a known flash point to be under investigation and scrutiny by special counsel robert mueller in his investigation into possible obstruction of justice and collusion. to help us understand how richard's reporting impacts both the special counsel investigation and essentially renders incomplete or irrelevant the house intel committee report, we have some of our very best reporters and guests. with us from washington, jeremy bash, former chief of staff at the cia and pentagon and an msnbc analyst. natasha bertrand, writer for the atlantic covering intel and national security. also an msnbc contributor. john heilman, nbc news and msnbc natio

. >>> plus, richard engel joins us with more details on this woman, the russian lawyer at the center of that infamous trump tower meting. her ties to moscow closer than we thought. >>> our team is set up here and ready to go. we want to start brand-new with mike. mike, the house intelligence committee has just released its final declassified report on russia interference in the 2016 election. we all remember last month the committee voted to end its investigation and release a report over intense objection business democrats, right? so the bottom line is, the prism to whi through which this is viewed is largely political is that fair? >> that's fair. that's been the complaint about democrats about the process all along, especially here in vote tongd the ing to end their investigation last money. they're saying they continue to go ahead with the investigation and just this week they will an interview with the clak whistleblower so they're full steam ahead. in terms of what the report says, we're getting the declassified version of what was voted out last week. it's 253 pages so we'll

she confirmed to richard engel that those were her personal e-mails. and those e-mails directly link that 2016 trump tower meeting where donald trump jr., paul manafort, and jared kushner, were present. and the fact that donald trump wants to now say that this fits very cleanly into some gift wrapped box that is him being tough on russia? it strains credulity, it doesn't -- it's not credible, it's definitely not a credible point to be making. i think whoever gave him his talking points for his speech tonight was very off base. >> danny savalas, let me turn to the president giving his thanks to the house intelligence committee, during the coursing those thanks to the republicans, the republican majority on that committee. those republicans released a report yesterday absolving the president, saying that there was no collusion. let's pour a little cold water on this. what does this really mean? other investigations continue. and you look at the house intelligence committee, it was bifurcated, republicans on one side, democrats on another. never the twain

. >> richard engel, what do you know from are the standpoint of russia and putin these actions -- itple months ago with the missiles to ukraine but this week kicking out dozens of spies from the u.s. did putin, was he expecting that? did he think this might happen? did that catch him off guard? does he feel maybe he's misread trump in some way? >> it's hard to know what's going on inside putin's mind inside the kremlin. i think we have a good sense of why there was this international outburst and this international flurry. diplomatic activity expelling russian diplomats from a couple dozen countries. i think it was about the precedent. this was not just some enemy of the kremlin who was assassinated. this man or attempted to be assassinated. this man wasn't strangled or pushed out a window. he was exposed and his daughter to a military grade nerve agent in a small city where i am right now in england. two people were seen on a bench frozen solid foaming at the mouth. that is not something that people can ignore. and there was a deep concern among european officials, certainly among b

that interview that richard engel did with that russian lawyer. how does this change the picture?well, it changes her story about what transpired. there had been suspicions for a long time, david, that she had very strong ties to the kremlin. now had there are indications she had ties to the top office in the kremlin. i think in terms of serious investigators, they already assumed she had ties to the kremlin. the more critical question is what did they know about her connections or what did they think her connection was. and we already know that people at the top level of the trump campaign believed she was a representative of russia's government. that probably provides whatever predicate is necessary for any charges that might eventually come over that issue. whether she actually was or wasn't that kind of representati representative, could have been a sting operation. i don't think that affects the liability of the americans involved. >> there's a theory this week of stories changing. it happened about the president talking about his relationship with his long-time attorney fixe

let's go to chief foreign correspondent richard engel. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. i think it is significant that we're not seeing a lot of action. we're seeing some rhetoric and hearing rhetoric from russia. vladimir putin saying that this was an attack against a sovereign nation. hearing defiance from the syrian regime. so far, nothing concrete. that is quite significant. it looks like russia is prepared not to escalate this further. russia did not target u.s., french or the united kingdom as it carried out the strike. the russian missile defense systems remain quiet. the only action we saw was a series of anti-aircraft coming outs of the syrian re -- out of the syrian regime. when you look at what has happened with the passage of time, despite very aggressive tweets from president trump, what we saw was a fairly limited strike targeting three locations. all of them associated with the chemical weapons program of the syrian regime. then some angry rhetoric from russia. angry rhetoric from syria. nothing much beyond

that's not what she told our richard engel this week. >> the only reason i'm asking the question is because the most senior people in our government. >> you said your relationship with the prosecutor general is? what? >> have you heard about the lawyer? for a year, a woman lawyer, she was like i know nothing. now all of a sudden she supposedly is involved with government. you know why? if she did that, because putin and the group said, you know, this trump is killing us. why didn't you say that you're involved with government so that we can go and make their life in the united states even more chaotic. >> michael, steele, i want to talk first about the house intelligence committee investigation. i talked to members on both sides. democrats are a little bit louder about this, but there is agreement that it devolved into a farce. >> i think everyone is disappointed with the way it looked. i think trey gowdy, because he's retiring, is right, is honest act the fact that the mueller investigation has tools that the house committee did not. they were frustrated with how the ranking democrat seeme

i mean, from what i hear from richard engel, it was a contentious interview when he caught up with herat do you think of the fact that she is speaking out about this now? >> well, i mean she didn't actually have any choice because according to her, her e-mail accounts were hacked and we and nbc got copies of those e-mails and they show that a long series of exchanges between her and the russian prosecutor general's office about how to respond to the u.s. government's request. and by the way, we have a treaty, mutual legal assistance treaty, which we are supposed to help russian with their law enforcement cases and they are supposed to help us. and it is supposed to be strictly confidential. that is like having, you know, in our system like having a defense attorney come and sit in on our secret grand jury proceedings. >> just amazing. this is an important report that came out to prove what was long suspected but to see hard proof of it is an important moment here. sharon, thanks so much for coming in. >> thank you for having me. >>> any moment now, angela merkel will be arriving at the

it's with richard engel.t is. >> reporter: you said your relationship to the prosecutor general is what? >> what does that mean i'm an informant? well, i think that what this interview highlighted is that time and time again, we haven't been getting all the straight details, especially when it comes to the trump administration. with the president changing his tune and now you have the same situation here with this russian lawyer, where originally she denied all of this. now she's saying yes, when it comes to russia's prosecutor general, she does actually inform him, provide him more information and has been doing so for years. i think that where we're at now is that we still have all the same questions we did before. it just seems like maybe there's a little bit more truth starting to spill out. on the issue of the house intelligence committee report and what was put out there. what's significant is what's missing from it. i think what republicans weren't willing to do, there were a lot of key witnesses who w

this was a rather extraordinary exchange between her and my colleague richard engel about that infamous meeting in trump tower. in the past she said in a statement to a senate committee that she was there on her own in that meeting with campaign aides, including the president's son. she's reversed that, saying she was there at the behest of the kremlin. your take on just how significant that pivot is, that about-face is. >> if she was involved with russia, it's more evidence of a nexus, a connection between the russian government and the trump campaign. so the next thing that still has to be established is what degree of intent was involved. what did the trump campaign members who met with that russian lawyer, what did they reasonably know at the time, and what were their expectations. and contrast those to their stated expectations so far, which is essentially that this was a nothing meeting. we had no plan of anything other than seeing if maybe there was some dirt. but the closer that that lawyer was related to the russian government, the closer this could be perceived as direct collu

richard engel focused on the disconnect between commanders in the field and washington proper. how does this attack change that conversation in washington, do you think? >> i hope that it changes in a way that kevin really highlighted. this shouldn't just be limbed to the anti-isis campaign but rather the nexus of what we're seeing here is russia. when you start talking about russia and talk about targets as a strategic base to have a presence, the common denominator when it comes to destabilizing forces around the world, whether crimea, ukraine, syria or interfering in our 2016 elections is russia. until we call out russia and prioritize the threat of russia towards the u.s. and the world at large,hiss going to inue to happen. let'be vyill breathes the air that he breaes simply becse putin gives him sanctuary. i don't think put h any issue or interest in assad other than they want to keep that strategic base. so by putting pressure -- air strikes are going to happen, but by putting pressure on putin, perhaps you will see what should happen which is honestly a regime change. it

richard engel is reporting that natalia vefl

she had spoke with richard engel with the tie to the russian chief prosecutor. [ speaking foreign language >> when we spoke to her, we brought with us previously undisclosed leaked e-mails. what were you discuss iing in these e-mails and with whom? >> f. [ speaking foreign language ] >> and let's bring the national security an analyst and frank, as a former counter intelligence official, what stood out to you in richard's reporting and ms. moyer and her potential with the campaign? >> it is the strongest information yet on her direct linkage to the russian government and the russian intelligence service, and be clear here. we have a russian intelligence operative sitting down during the campaign with high-ranking campaign officials and representing or reporting back to the russian intelligence services, and that is s significant. >> do you see any new legal problems for the trump campaign who participated in the meeting? >> well, certainly, i would say it is more than poor u judgment. poor judgment is one too many glasses of wine. i would say that we really need more evidence to know exact

richard engel is in istanbul. a very important neighbor, a very important player in that neighborhood. what can you report from there, richard? >> well, i think it was striking when you listened to what president trump said and then listened to the pentagon briefing. in some ways, it seemed to be talking about two different kinds of operations. president trump described this very much as an open-ended campaign. said that the u.s. is prepared to sustain this campaign until president bashar al assad stops using chemical weapons. and then defense secretary mattis made it clear it's a one-off operation. so what is it? is it a one-off open ended campaign? i think our allies and adversaries around the world will be asking themselves what did we see? mattis said it was a heavy strike but precise strike. that's what people understand. but is this a one-off or the start of a long campaign? i think it's significant that the russians did not respond as far as the pentagon knows at this hour. the russians have significant air

lydia, let me show you something that our colleague richard engel is reporting tonight. it is in line with this fox news contributor's concern. the russians are up to no good. let's watch and talk about it on the other side. >> this is your kgb card. >> he says just last month he got a call from a friend still on the inside. >> he told me, look, be careful. look around. >> his source told him he was one of eight on a hit list. it includes skripal and christopher steele, author of the infamous trump/russia dossier. >> do you think that the fact that there are -- i mean, america -- it's so surreal. america's allies are responding to russia's actions in the u.k. against russians living there. do you think that there is a danger in not just people not seeing these stories, but being misinformed about the nature of vladimir putin's russia? >> there is no question that this is probably the grave est danger that faces our country right now. in that report which i watched earlier, you have the conclusion that the nerve toxin was likely smeared on the doorknob of this man's home.

she told my colleague, richard engel, that she's an informant for the russian government. here's what the president said about that last night. >> you heard about the lawyer? for a year, a woman lawyer, she was like, oh, i know nothing, know nothing. now all of a sudden she supposedly is involved with the government. you know why? if she did that. because putin and the group said, you know, this trump is killing us. why don't you say that you're involved with government so that we can go and make their life in the united states even more chaotic. >> what did you hear in that explanation, congressman? >> it's hard to tell because it is extraordinarily confusing. let's remember this meeting took place long before the election. but only a few weeks after george papadopoulos was told by the russians. this is now almost two years ago. mr. papadopoulos was told by the russians that they had e-mails that they had illegally obtained. we haven't even questioned mr. papadopoulos in the house investigation. what are they afraid of finding out? clearly the russians' intent was to atta

. >> talking to richard engel on this, like a fire, if it's not completely put out and we declare mission accomplished -- that's right. peter alexander in the white house briefing room for us, thanks very much for you, for your reporting on that nbc news national security and justice reporter julia ainsley as well. i want to take a quick check of the markets with minutes left in the trading day, one minute left in the trading day. we are closing 1% higher. look at the top above the numbers, look at the chart. this market has been consistently higher all day. what happened is it started off 2% today, and then kudlow, larry kudlow said that maybe these chinese tariffs won't happen and investors have been liking that. we don't know who to believe, though, because the president and peter navarro, wilbur ross says it will happen. larry kudlow says it won't happen. we're not sure. but this has been one volatile market closing 1% higher major markets today. that does it for me. "deadline white house" with nicolle wallace starts right now. >> hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. a block buster re

richard reported moments ago, richard engel reported that two locations were known -- were thought to have been hit on the outskirts of damascus. we are getting piece by piece information. kyle perry is nbc global editor of digital content. cal is just off the phone, with somebody in syria who we believe is an eyewitness to what's been happening thus far since these strikes have happened. what can you tell us we've been able to learn this evening? >> i'm talking to somebody in western damascus. they're confirming three sites in and around damascus have been hit. the united states military looks as though they're targeting command and control facilities and specifically chemical weapons facilities. the first location is the meza air base in the southern part of damascus. very large air base. dozens of hangars there, that would be a command and control facility. the second location is in jemraya. that is in the northern part of the city. it appears as though this was a special forces republican guard command and control facility. again i want to stress in keeping with what keir said, in

. >> reporter: new reporting from nbc's richard engel on the russian lawyer who met with top campaignfficials at trump tower in 2016. natalia veselnitskaya now describes herself as an informant to a powerful russian prosecutor. >> translator: i'm an informant. i'm a lawyer and i'm an informant. >> reporter: veselnitskaya met with the president's son and son-in-law. she says she did not pass information about the trump meeting. friday with the german chancellor at the white house, president trump put the fate of north korean nuclear talks on his shoulders. >> i think i have a responsibility to do it. if i can't do it, it will be a tough time for a lot of countries and a lot of people. >> reporter: the president says two locations are under consideration for the summit. when asked if he had already spoken to kim jong-un himself? he chose not to answer. >> i will be meeting with kim jong-un in the coming weeks. we look forward to that and hopefully it will be productive. >> reporter: also in the conference, the president stood up for rear admiral ronny jackson. the white house figures ip

in this exclusive interview with nbc's richard engel. >> the only reason i'm asking these questions is of the contact that you have had with the most senior people who are now in our government. [ speaking foreign language ] >> you said your relationship with the prosecutor general is what? [ speaking foreign language ] >>> joining me no you is jonathan kay part, jason johnson, scare ra kensy and author of "the view from flyover country" along with paul butler. sara, i'm going to go to you on this first. donald trump jr. talking about his trump tower meeting back in december, on december of, 2017. this was his testimony before the house intelligence committee, adam schiff asked trump journ, not vessel net sky i can't, but she, vessel knit sky i can't started discussing donors to hillary clinton, that was the first topic she raised, trump jr., that was my recollection, yes. congressman adam schiff, which would indicate that she understood the ostensible purpose of the meeting which was to provide derogatory information about clinton. trump jr. to my understanding, yes. so trump jr. was

sitting down with richard engel, our very own, earlier this week on friday night, as a matter of facte sort of threw a monkey wrench into that messaging, said she was an informant for the russian government. the president responded tonight, take a look at that. >> i want to thank, by the way, the house intelligence committee. okay? they do it with us too. russian collusion. you know, i guarantee you, i'm tougher on russia. nobody ever thought -- in fact, have you heard about the lawyer? for a year a woman lawyer, she was like, oh, i know nothing, know nothing. all of a sudden she's supposedly involved with government. you know why? if she did that, because putin and the group said, you know, this trump is killing us. why don't you say that you're involved with government so that we can go and make their life in the united states even more chaotic. look at what's happened. look at how these politicians have fallen for this junk. russian collusion. give me a break. i'll tell you, the only collusion is the democrats colluded with the russians and the democrats colluded with lots of other

and then soon after that you have richard engel interviewing a russian lawyer who said yes, actuallylin when i went to talk to don jr. and the gang. >> well, i mean, it shows the absurdity of nunes brings the investigation to an end way early. and most importantly from the standpoint of the investigation, before we followed up on the most rudimentary of leads and pushed back on a number of the president's key people who refused to answer questions. this is a big part of the story that has not been told. the people closest to the president, hope hicks, lewandowsk came into the congress and said we're asserting executive privilege not just for a number of narrow conversations we had with the president which is traditionally how it would be asserted but with everything that was said not during when he was president but during the transition. but there's the three key people thumbing their noses at congress and congress should have pushed back on that. >> can you run the time line for me because speaking to former members of your committee they that i had this was a committee that manage

so they were already telling richard engel and our other colleagues that they're being abandoned by theeone, bolton, is going to have to reconcile the president's twitter withdrawal and what he said in ohio and what he said last week in the white house about getting out and what he said to his military advisers about getting out with what is happening on the ground. and what nick and others have pointed out, this is not the first suspected chemical attack this year. so in the years since that pinprick strike on april 6, 2017, there have been eight alone this year of at least chlorine if not poison gas. >> so bob costa, it leads to the question of which president trump we're going to see responding to syria because there is the president trump who wants to get out of wars and has been critical of that but there's also the strong leader who wants to show america's force in the world and has spoken behind the scenes about, you know, why can't we use nukes? i mean, i'm not sure exactly what part of this president is going to be emboldened by his new national security adviser as well. >> and