confirmed sergey kislyak going back.been at the center of controversy over meetings he had with former security adviser mike flynn. jared kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law, meetings did not disclose on security clearance forms. there are other meetings as well. with me peter ernest, spent more than 35 years at cia, over 0 in the agency's spy service. he's now executive director of international spy museum in washington, d.c. peter, good to have you here. thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> i want to play a little sound from an interview chuck todd did. let's listen together and we'll talk on the other side. >> sure. >> does the intelligence community believe he's basically an agent of the k dpchlt b, the old kgb? >> given the fact he oversees an aggressive operation in this country, they have more than any other nation as representative of this country. still even after we got rid of 35 of them. so to suggest he is somehow separate or oblivious to that is a bit much. >> so this is james clapper,

it was reported that donald trump shook sergey kislyak's hand. but sessions' people and kushner's peach denied they had any substantive encounter with kislyak. well, now we're being told that congressional investigators have reason to believe, and they're not exactly saying what that reason, but they're suggesting that it is classified evidence, that there may have been a private encounter. that's not proof that there is one, but they have reason to believe it. and they also tell us that the fbi is very interested in this meeting and is concerned that perhaps the russians were seeking to ingratiate themselves with the trump campaign at this meeting. don't forget that april is around the time the democrats first discovered a hack in their network, lawrence. >> joy reid, the denials about this meeting seem to be playing with language. they're saying things like didn't have a private meeting. what does that mean? does that mean one-on-one? no one else in the room? are they trying to say well, it's not a meeting if anyone else is in the room? i'm won

about that as well as possibly the news of another meeting that he had with russian ambassador sergey kislyak that was not disclosed pixel probably a couple of those things.g and as just relating to comey's testimony last week. >> host: hunter walker, what's te host: hunter walker, what's comey testimony on the white house? >> guest: you saw the the president any news conference on friday have a very testy battle with what he termed the fake news and the killer networks.as where he was basically put onut the defensive, induced asked about about a couple of these about about a couple of these director made, namely, did he require a loyalty oath of him? president trump vehemently denied this, that he would do so under oath. one thing i found interesting was much was made of the fact that during comey's testimony the president always active twitter account when unusually quiet. his son donald junior was something of a circuit last week.at t he was tweeting during the testimony and he also appeared on fox news. in this comity seem to sort ofoa corroborate director comey's version of events and su

we're also learning a key player in trump's russia related drama, sergey kislyak will return to moscow back to dig into this with me is hallie jackson and former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfall, who has worked closely for a long time actually with kislyak. good to see both of you. thank you for being here. hallie, something you in the white house press corps have been asking sean spicer and sarah huckabee sanders to clarify for some time, does president trump agree with the intelligence agency that russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election. weren't able to get a straight answ answer, but the tweets gave you an answer. >> they acknowledge by talking about russian meddling in the election, russian meddling in the election. shawn spicer in the press briefing today did not go that far saying yes, the president probably believes that russia was involved in the election. here is the tweets you're talking about. he said the president in his tweets sort of says the reason the president did nothing about russia after being notified by the cia of meddling is he expected clinton wo

now sessions will talk about that and plus his meetings with sergei kislyak and other issues regarding russia in that open session tomorrow. according to the press secretary, the president does not have any problem with that happening. listen to what spicer said. >> he believes the sooner we can get this addressed and dealt with, there's no collusion. he wants this to get investigated as soon as possible and be done with it so he can continue with the business of the american people. >> we weren't sure if sessions would appear in a private classified session or do it in open testimony. we have this statement from the department of justice earlier today. "the attorney general has requested this hearing be public. he believes it's important for the american people to hear the truth directly from him and looks forward to answering the committee's questions." so it would appear that the attorney general doesn't have anything that he's concerned about airing in an open session. neither does the president. don't forget, this is the third time that jeff sessions has overshadowed the president

i was at that speech at the hotel and i remember seeing sergey kislyak in the front row.veryone thought that was kind of interesting. but now perhaps they had some sort of communication around that as well. laura: meanwhile, the president himself has been slapped with a lawsuit under the anticorruption clause of the constitution. what is that about? anthony: it is about donald trump's business empire, and the provision of the constitution says people in political office cannot take gifts, a cannot take titles -- the queen cannot make donald trump a lord. but then there's the question of business enterprises that exchange services with foreign governments also falls into that. it is really uncharted legal terrain and it will be interesting to see -- of course, let it proceed, and then decided on the merits. it is something we have not seen before. laura: speaking of lawsuits, the president suffered another setback with his controversial travel ban. anthony: the ninth circuit court of appeals struck down the original travel ban and said that the second one has the same sort

reports tonight indicate that he might have had a third meeting with ambassador sergey kislyak.now, senator al franken, whose new book is entitled "al franken: giant of the senate." senator franken, we want to discuss your book a little later. but i want to get to this breaking news tonight. so this -- you have this moment in the hearing where he said "no contact with the russians." very clear. he corrected that. >> he didn't correct it for over 70 days. and he only corrected it after "the washington post" broke the story that he had met twice with kislyak. >> so more than enough time for him to comb his memory, to comb his records and find every conceivable meeting that could be applicable to that testimony. >> yes. and we asked for a letter for him to explain this. and it was very unsatisfactory. and, in fact, senator leahy who is also on the judiciary committee and i sent a private letter to cia -- then cia director comey asking -- >> fbi director comey. >> sorry, fbi director comey, asking him and the fbi to investigate whether in fact sessions had met other times with russi

whether attorney general jeff sessions had another undisclosed meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyakion that session and kislyak attended in april when then candidate trump delivered his first major foreign policy address at the mayflower hotel in washington. >> have you met with any other russian officials since you endorsed donald trump?

it does beg the question, what do we know and what do we not know about jeff sessions, sergey kislyak and the russians? >> to be clear, ali, jeff sessions' spokesperson flatly denies that meeting happens. if he goes and denies under oath that this happened, he's laying down a marker and saying, anyone who wants to contradict that, prove it. what we're reporting is there is classified intelligence that suggests there was a meeting. we don't know exactly what that is. one can speculate that it's based on reporting of kislyak back to moscow. that may or a may not be accurate. comey alluded to it, saying there were things that i can't disclose that made it difficult for sessions to run the russia investigation. then in closed session he talks more about the mayflower hotel event. they're not proven. if sessions says he doesn't recall or speaks in not clear terms about it, that will be one take. if he flatly denies it, he's really laying down a marker. >> kasie, a year ago nobody knew who sergey kislyak was. >> most probably did not, yes. >> it turns out that people seem to think he's not

ambassador sergey kislyak is at the center of the investigation of ties between russia and the trumpign. u.s. officials consider him a spy and a spy recruit ever. a charge that the kremlin denies but he raised eyebrows when he appeared with president trump in the oval office. he's been in contact with several of trump's inner circle during the campaign and the transition. attorney general jeff sessions met with kislyak at the republican national convention in july and again in september at his senate office. secret talks that forced him to recuse himself from the russia probe. >> i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign. >> kislyak was front and center at then candidate trump's first major policy address at the may flower hotel. >> an improved relations with russia from a position of strength only is possible. >> cnn first reported that now congressional investigators believe sessions and kislyak may have met on the sidelines of that speech as well. but the justice department denies any private talks there. trump's son-in-law and

he omitted a secret meeting with sergey kislyak. do you understand why that's the case?hy did that happen? >> mr. sessions has corrected the record. >> that was a mistake. >> mr. flynn has been fired, right? >> but you don't understand why he did that? why did he tell that deception? >> we have an investigation going on, chris. but all i know so far what's come out has proven that the president has been right along in that he wasn't under investigation. what he said has been proven true all along based on mr. comey's testimony last week. >> i'm not saying the president is under investigation. for those of us watching this -- >> mr. comey allowed the perception to exist that he was under investigation. >> congressman -- >> when he wasn't. >> for those of us watching this -- >> told the country it was a matter when -- >> for those of us trying to figure this out, it doesn't strike you as weird as three people close to the president of the united states under penalty of perjury gave misleading or false answers about meeting with russian officials? does that sound strange to

the senate when he was in his confirmation by not mentioning any meetings that he did have with sergey kislyak. let's take a listen to what he had to say about this. >> his explanation was terrible. and senator leahy and i wrote a private letter to fbi director comey in march asking them to look at if sessions had other meetings, including this meeting at the mayflower. >> and he's talking about a letter. here is the letter. i'm going to read it to you. we are concerned about general sessions' lack of candor to the senate judiciary committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury. we are also disturbed that the attorney general has not been forthcoming about his contacts with the russian ambassador since he was forced to disclose the two meetings following press reports. the justice department did issue a statement. she called it unfortunate that anonymous sources were bringing this sort of thing up, but the facts haven't changed. the then-senator didn't have any private or side conversations with administrators at the mayflower hotel

third meeting, a third undisclosed meeting between sessions and russia's ambassador to the u.s., sergei kislyaketh: the information about the third meeting comes from communications between kislyak and the russians, according to the "new york times." discussing a private meeting he had with sessions at a trump campaign event. and i'm assuming that intercepted discussion was kislyak saying -- [ russian accent ] "can you believe it? they keep taking meeting with me, even though i'm obviously shady character. [ laughter ] will you sit down with me? they say, yes. i can't believe this." now today sessions also angrily denied that there were any secret reasons why he had to recuse himself, despite comey's sworn testimony which later led to a heated exchange with senator ron wyden of oregon. >> i recuse myself from any investigation into the campaign for president, but i did not recuse myself from defending my honor against scurrilous and false allegations. >> mr. comey said that there were matters, with respect to the recusal, that were problematic and he couldn't talk about them. what are they? >>

to resign immediately if he had an undisclosed meeting with russia's ambassador to the u.s., sergey kislyak, but could he also be guilty of perjury? >> well, we're going to have to see. i actually thought he should have resigned when it came out he didn't disclose the first two meetings we know about before his confirmation hearings. i worked in the department of justice as a federal prosecutor and i can tell you that the credibility of the agency itself is only as good as the person who's leading it. and right now it seems very clear to me that jeff sessions has no credibility when it comes to that. to, you know, running the agency, and it's a critical agency. it has to have a certain level of distance from the president. yes, it's an agency that can carry out policy proposals that the administration wants to do as part of their four years in office, but they have to stay somewhat disconnected, as well, in terms of, you know, what cases they pursue and things like that. that kind of credibility has to come straight from the attorney general himself, and i think that his credibility has bee

these meetings with the russian ambassador, sergey kislyak, were not disclosed. they were instructed that his meetings with russian ambassadors and any ambassadors as senator went out to be included. of course, in this context, everything factors in. the challenge is, answer all the questions faithfully, legally, and truthfully. to not step in it when it comes to being the age of this administration. that's under fire. >> bill: i circled for dates in the calendar, valentine's day, does all the oval office meeting. february 16th, jeff sessions sits down with the president at the white house. mark second, he accuses himself of all matters russian. move that the president did not like. on the ninth of may, you have the termination of james comey. with that as a two and a half calendar, where we had today, chris? >> we deftly might hear about whether he concurs with comey's account with him leaving the oval office so he could have a word with the former fbi, then fbi director. as one moment that jeff sessions will have to choose. does he say, i am rick cruised and th

james comey to any undisclosed contacts that sessions might have had with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. while sessions recused himself from the broader fbi probe into russian interference in the 2016 election, members of the intel committee say they still want to hear from sessions and have him respond to some of comey's riffle lations from last week. >> the key things we've got to get obviously his side of the story related to jim comey, some of the conversations that jim commie had with the president, where jeff sessions was or was around to be able to get the rest of the story, comey's statement to him of getting time alone with the president, that interaction as well as accusations about conversations that he might or might not have had with russians prior to the election. so we want to be able to get his side of it, get all the facts out there. >> now the chairman of the committee hasn't said yet whether the hearing will actually go forward tomorrow. but democratic senator ron wyden urged in a letter to his colleagues yesterday that if it does go forward, it should be open to the

how many meetings did attorney general jeff sessions actually have with russian ambassador sergey kislyak, and why did he leave the room on february 14th, an valentine's day, leaving the fbi director comey alone with the president? do you think we'll get answers to those questions? >> well, we'll see whether we get answers, whether he just wants to claim executive privilege. and let's hope he gives truthful answers. because we had problems with his testimony the last time around in his confirmation hearing when he said he hadn't had meetings with the russians and he had had meetings with the russians. i hope he can sort out that under-oath business a little better this time around. i've got to say, these attacks on robert mueller are ridiculous. he was a bush appointee in the fbi. i was in the bush white house when he was at the fbi. he was an excellent fbi director. and the idea that he is a partisan liberal is ridiculous. some of the people he's hiring may have given money to democrats, but we have a lot of people appointed, united states attorneys who have given money to the president'

wait, does that mean dennis rodman met sergey kislyak for a secret game of one-on-one. i like kislyak dunching on rodman? so what secret funding back channel did dennis rodman use to get to north korea? he told us on twitter. "i'm back! thanks to my sponsor potcoin.com." yes, pot coin, which according to its website "is an ultra-secure digital cryptocurrency for the marijuana industry." ( coughs ) "dude, what if there was an imaginary money we could use to buy weed? ( laughter ) also, what if we sent dennis rodman to north korea? ( applause ). ( cheers ) , of course,-- don't touch that now. of course, this is not the first time a diplomatic mission had a private sponsorship. who can forget world war ii's yalta conference, brought to you by little zippy's cocaine buzz tonic! little zippy's: it's a blitzkrieg on your brain! so why does pot coin care about north korea? well, marijuana enthusiasts have been touting the country as a stoner's paradise where cannabis is legal. a stoners paradise? really? you might be able to get high there, but good luck when you get the munchi

meeting was arranged after he met with serg sergei kislyak in trump tower.resident putin defended the talks. >> our ambassador met someone. that's what the ambassador must do. that's his work. he's getting paid for that. he must meet. he must discuss current affairs. he must make agreements. >> reporter: kushner's meeting with russian officials came as russia was feeling pressure from the u.s. sanctions imposed of russia's action in ukraine t. retired coordinator dan freed is now speaking out about its e his efforts to stop the trump administration from lifting russian sanctions earlier this year. he retired from the state department in february and says he contacted many ebs to codify sanctions. something that never happened. >> lifting sanctions as a free gift struck me, strikes me notice as a bad, bad idea. my colleagues were concerned about this and so was i at the time. >> reporter: the white house press secretary sean spicer would not comment on reports the administration is considering returning seized russian compounds here in the u.s. he says that j

then senator sessions and the russian ambassador, sergey kislyak, attended a small vip reception. among other things, the fbi wants to know if there was an additional private meeting between sessions and the ambassador. >> sources say if there was such a meeting, it may have been just incidental. sessions has previously failed to disclose meetings with russian officials. he testified to congress he hadn't had communications with the russians, when, in fact, he had met with kislyak twice during the campaign. that gaffe forced sessions to recuse himself from the russia investigation. >> responding to the latest questions, the department of justice says sessions did not have any private or side conversations with any russian official at the mayflower hotel. the doj adds in part, "the department of justice appointed special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter. we will allow him to do his job." >> the justice department not alone in fending off inquiries about russia. press secretary sean spicer saying in an audio-only briefing that the white house will no longer take ques

firing of james comey and perhaps his conversations and meetings with the russian ambassador sergei kislyak. a lot born out of the explosive testimony last week from fbi director james comey when he said this about the attorney general. >> our judgment as i recall is that he was very close to and inevitably going to recuse himself for a variety of reasons. we also were aware of facts i can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a russia related investigation problematic. >> and could it be that what james comey was talking about was that potential third undisclosed meeting with the russian ambassador sergei kislyak and jeff sessions. the justice department repeatedly said it never happened but the attorney general himself never answered a question. he will be forced to do so today under oath. a big question is just how forthcoming will the attorney general be? he could invoke executive privilege or suggest that the information is classified and that he cannot answer these questions in an open session. it could be combative here later this afternoon. >> he'l

with the russians in his capacity with the trump campaign and emerged he did meet twice with sergey kislyak. that's for tomorrow. >> thank you. another big question for the president he is not answering, does he have tapes with former director fbi comey or not? why not tell us instead of this weird cat and mouse game with the public? the secret service says it does not have any recordings made in the trump white house. could someone else, even the president or someone at his direction have made tapes? sean spicer dodging that question today. >> does president trump have audio recordings of his conversation with director james comey? >> the president said in the rose garden he will have an announcement shortly. >> do you have a timeline? >> when he is ready to make. i if the president does have evidence the fbi director lied under oath, what is he waiting for? >> he made it clear he would get back and his position on the conversation. >> so what is he waiting nor? what's the delay? >> he's not waiting for anything. when he's ready to discuss it he will. >> the white house ducking the issue w

me is arguably a bigger story and always has been than the meeting that jared kushner had with sergey kislyak. >> because there's a reason plausibly to meet with the ambassador. >> exactly. it could have been in his capacity as a transition official. but sergey gorkov was appointed by putin. he's the ceo of a sanctioned russian bank. there was really no legitimate reason kushner would have been meeting with him. >> thanks for your time tonight. >>> still to come, exclusive new reporting from yahoo! investigative reporter mike isikoff on the trump administration's secret efforts to lift russian sanctions as soon as they took office. this is a really important report. >>> and does leaving the paris climate accord really put america first? ♪ pressure. i feel it everyday. but at night, it's the last thing on my mind. for 10 years my tempur-pedic has adapted to my weight and shape, relieving pressure points from head to toe. so i sleep deeply and wake up ready to perform. ♪ now through june 11th, save $600 when you buy select tempur-pedic adjustable mattress sets. find your exclusive retailer at t

perhaps most pressing, did jeff sessions have a third undisclosed meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyak, something comey told senators in a closed-door session last week that investigators are looking into. all of these questions swirl, all as the white house is weighing whether to exert executive privilege. press secretary sean spicer would only say that it would depend on the scope of the questions, but a senior administration official is telling our sara murray that the white house actually might hold back and hope that jeff sessions actually restrained on his own. so, there is a lot of anticipation for what will likely be another largely watched round of public testimony. it all begins this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. and senators, meanwhile, they're still deciding whether attorney general jeff sessions will be asked to testify in a classified briefing after that public hearing. dave and christine? >> jessica, thank you. >>> the white house pushing back hard this morning against a claim by a longtime friend of the president that mr. trump is considering firing special counsel robert muel

. >> reporter: that's russian ambassador sergey kislyak in the front row, and there's jeff sessions. investigators want to know if the two men had any interaction at this event. sessions has already come under fire for initially failing to report two other meetings with the ambassador during the campaign. now in a letter to lawmakers, sessions says in light of comey's testimony, it is important that i have an opportunity to address these matters. now, lawmakers are also likely to press sessions about the parameters of his recusal and ask how he responded to comey's request that sessions not leave him alone with the president after those awkward encounters. dan and paula. >> all right, mary bruce reporting from bedminster, new jersey, this morning, mary, thank you. we want to bring in our chief "this week" a little later this morning. >> good morning. >> good morning to you, george. so let's talk about jeff sessions, he will be testifying before the senate intelligence committee on tuesday. why would he want to do this? >> mary just laid out the questions he has to answer. i mean, the

contacts, which included a one-on-one meeting in his congressional sa congressional office with sergey kislyakr up this issue whether there was a third encounter with the russian ambassador and whether the president is considering firing bob mueller, the special counsel in this office. this has been suggested that this could be in the works. we'll find out if jeff sessions is asked to weigh in on that. >> brianna, thank you. we'll get back to you. senators could soon question their former colleague in this russia investigation but some will likely push the attorney general on the issue harder than others. let's bring in chris cillizza, our cnn politics editor and reporter at large. you've done research and you've sort of ranked the senators. who is going to be most aggressive, the top three starting with number three. >> so, three, dianne feinstein, who is on the intelligence committee but also ranking judiciary. she has her hand in the pot and knows a lot. kamala harris, given that she's new to the senate but someone who's been very aggressive about sessions. she was the attorney general of c

foreign policy address, prior to the speech, then senator suggestions and russian ambassador sergei kislyak attended a session with organizers, diplomats and others as well. in addition, the fbi is seeking to determine the extent of interactions with the trump campaign team may have had with russia's investigator. this is part of its broader counter intelligence investigation neither hill or investigators have proven a meeting took place. >> has attorney general sessions said anything about this? >> we reached out to the attorney general and a short time ago we got a statement, the department of justice appointed special council to assume responsibility for this matter, we will allow him to do his job. it's unfortunate that they are continuously trying to hinder that process by head elling stories to the mainstream media. the then senator did not have any private or side conversations with any officials at the mayflower hotel. >> if it's true, and we don't know, this would not be the first time they didn't disclose. he said he did it as a senator, that's why he didn't disclose it, right? >>

and you see the ambassador, sergey kislyak, making his way to the front and then senator sessions come across the front row, walk past the ambassador, saying nothing and sitting behind him. so that's the video. back with the panel. i know -- the long tradition of peopleal saying they don't recall certain things. it does seem like the russian ambassador was very forgettable. >> and to nancy pelosi too who said she'd never met them and then a picture shows up of the two of them at a meeting with other folks. seeing that video right before i came on the air i talked to someone in the room who, long with frank buckley, had helped write that speech and so they were there, sitting behind jeff sessions and mr. buckley has a piece in which he says if i saw this, i'd say so. i saw no indication he had any conversation with the russian ambassador and left it alone. so in other words, i mean this is -- mr. buckley points out that bob woodward were there. this is a very public place. so to have some sort of private conversation in a conspiracy, that would hardly be the place to do it. it makes no

what about sergey kislyak. he's leaving. something they've been working on for a few months but only recently did it come to light. >> that's right. he's become radioactive in a way that doesn't work for a diplomat, let alone somebody who is recruiting spies. there have been reports that he was being looked at for a u.n. position. but that plug has been pulled. he's going back home. he's become a lightning rod in american politics. to the point of kushner's lawyering up, he was caught in an intercept saying that kushner approached a back channel. that's a sign of not only how serious the charges are but how they all intersect with kislyak. >> chris, in terms of the president himself, he's come out and he's tweeting today and he's saying that there was collusion in the air but it wasn't by him. a senior obama administration official says the obama administration choked in its response to the russian efforts to interfere in the election. this is something that the president is seizing on. democrats are coming out and agreeing.

said in private session with senators following his testimony he may have met a third time with sergey kislyak. remember, did not disclose the first two meetings with kislyak during his confirmation hearing. then the comey interaction. the first one being the february 14th meeting in which sessions as well as everybody else is asked to leave the room so trump can have a one-on-one with comey. comey says sessions lippingered, knew he shouldn't do it. the other one was when comey asked sessions, you need to stop the president from calling me and asking me these direct questions, to comey's recollection sessions says nothing and sort of shrugs his shoulders, what can i do, it's this guy. he'll have a different recollection. this is under oath comey recollection and counter-narrative under oath jeff sessions narrative that will run directly into one another. >> we are expecting, jeffreys saying it didn't go this way. i didn't sit there passively. you'll have he said, he said. but he's in the pox on what did you know questions when it comes to trump. because if he says, well, yeah, i knew he was go

meetings, one of them a private audience in his congressional office with russian ambassador sergey kislyak and perhaps a third encounter at a washington hotel. the justice department has denied the hotel meeting, but will sessions who today met with the president? trump has been seething that the attorney general recused himself from the russia investigation three months ago. >> it's an honor to be able to serve of you. >> reporter: meanwhile -- >> we were vindicated. >> reporter: president's son seeming to back comey's account of trump's controversial conversation with the former fbi chief where comey alleged trump directed him to stop investigating and now ousted national security adviser michael flynn saying i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go. >> when he tells you to do something. >> yes. >> guess what. there's no ambiguity in it. there's no hey, i'm hoping. you and i are friends. hey, i hope this happens but you've got to the do your job. that's what he told comb de, and for this guy as a politician to

general jeff sessions might have had a third undisclosed meeting with russian ambassador about sergey kislyakepted communications reveal a discussion among russians. the fbi has not made any conclusions. raising the spector though of possible perjury by sessions. the department of justice today says attorney general sessions has no plans to resign and denies the meeting with kislyak. sessions will publicly face questions from senators on tuesday. trump's son-in-law and key adviser jared kushner will meet with staffers soon and michael flynn has now turned over hundreds of pages of documents to congressional investigators. >> i want to bring in michael zeld zeldin, former federal prosecutor and also robert mueller's special assistant at the department of justice. good to see you. so in the event that mueller does end up deposing the president and james comey, if they reiterate their conflicting views of events, what is it going to take to make one more believable than the other? >> principally acomey's memos. if you have two people saying two diametrically opposite things, but one has con temp

it since emerged that kushner had multiple undisclosed contact with russian ambassador sergei kislyak. they said one meeting was a courtesy visit, and they were discussing possible collaboration in syria. former state department official dan freed tells cnn he and former colleagues were worried when the trump administration post inauguration started working on a plan to potentially lift sanctions against russia that were imposed for taking over crimea and hacking the u.s. election which disturbed him enough to reach out to lawmakers to try to stop him. >> lifting sanctions is a free gift, struck me, strikes me now as a bad, bad idea. my colleagues were concerned about this and so was i. >> reporter: putin himself denied any secret agreements with the trump team. >> no, there were no agreements, they didn't even get near it, didn't even manage to start any kind of talks. >> that was michelle kosinski. russian president vladimir putin is once again denying russia interfered with the u.s. election. at a wide ranging news conference, putin spoke highly of the u.s. president. >> and answer

. >> reporter: sessions has acknowledged what he says were two brief routine meetings with sergei kislyakhe does not recall a reported third encounter at d.c.'s mayflower hotel after a trump campaign speech. >> certainly, i can assure you, nothing improper, if i had a conversation with him, and it's conceivable that that occurred. i just don't remember it. >> reporter: his former senate colleagues asked sessions about a meet being in february. comey says that the president dismissed everyone but him. florida senator marco rubio. >> do you remember feeling like you needed to stay? >> i do recall being one of the last ones to leave. he expressed concern to me about and i agreed with him, essentially, that there are rules on private conversations with the president. >> reporter: several senators pressed sessions to explain why he got involved in comey's firing, even after he had recused himself from the fbi's investigation into russian election meddling. >> it is absurd, frankly, to suggest that a recusal from a single, specific investigation would render the attorney general unable to manag

sessions amended his testimony in march saying he did, in fact, meet with sergey kislyak twice. this all be construed as perjury? i want to bring in our legal guys to discuss this. avery friedman, civil rights attorney and law professor in cleveland and richard herman a criminal defense attorney and law professor from las vegas. good to see you, gentlemen. >> good to see you, fredricka. >> avery, let me begin with you, what is the likelihood that this, indeed, could be considered perjury if yet again, there is another meeting that sessions had, didn't disclose it, and it's being discovered now? >> well, it depends on the third meeting. number one, you need someone under oath, you have jeff sessions under oath in january in front of the senate for confirmation purposes and we saw the questions by senator franken, there were also questions by senator lee hey, so bottom line is, what was in that third communication, if it happened at all? you do have two inconsistent statements. you have his testimony and then you have the so-called clarification or amendment. it's kind of a euphem

[ light laughter ] and now with sergey kislyak, now i -- i only met him two times. [ light laughter ]s. but the third, the third time was in a men's restroom. and we was just talking about what a trial it is to get soap out of the -- electric soap dispensers. [ light laughter ] and, um, as for jim comey, he asked me to keep trump out of his way, right. and they're sayin' i didn't respond. but the truth is, i didn't hear him. [ laughter ] now, this guy's about six foot eight and i had heard a sound above my head. i thought it was a cicada, i went -- you know? [ laughter ] recuse me. [ laughter and applause ] thank you! >> seth: well done. [ cheers and applause ] well done. >> thank you for indulging me in that. >> seth: one last thing. because obviously you are someone who you -- you are great, you're a great sketch performer, you get sketches on every week. but there are still -- even kate mckinnon has a sketch that she has not been able to get on "snl." >> oh, i have my white whales. >> seth: you have your white whales. >> yes. >> seth: then give me -- what's a white whale? 'cause i

sergei kislyak in april of last year.new development comes after sessions failed to disclose two prior meetings with the ambassador during the campaign. joining me now is democratic senator patrick leahy of vermont. he serves on the senate judiciary committee. senator, thanks so much for joining us as always. >> good to be with you, jake. >> i want to start with this letter that you and your colleague senator al franken sent, several letters really, to the fbi to get more information on whether attorney general sessions perjured himself when during his hearings to become attorney general he claimed he had not met with any russian officials. he later clarified he hadn't met with any russians as part of the trump campaign. what are you trying find out with these leters? >> well, then, later we saw a picture of him at a trump campaign event with -- with russians. we just want to get the facts. you know, it's -- this seems to be such a moving target. i think of the years that i served with jeff sessions on the judiciary commi

her piece today, why did jeff sessions really meet with sergei kislyak. and jeremy bash former chief of staff at the cia and pentagon, also former chief counsel to the house intelligence committee. welcome to you all. resident costa, it was understood by people who watch this white house there were two audiences for that today, number one the millions of people watching at home. even include in that members of the senate questioning the attorney general in front of the committee. number two, and perhaps the most important audience an audience of one, the president of the united states. how are they saying he did? >> based on my reporting, brian, the president remains frustrated at the so-called cloud which he refers to behind the scenes remains that these russians questions are not going away. and attorney general sessions' testimony has in no way stopped the investigations or the mounting political problems facing had and the republican party but they don't have a strategy yet how the deal with it. there is talk how to deal with the special counsel bob m

general's recollection of his various meetings with the russian ambassador to the united states, sergey kislyak? >> yeah, you know, i share adam's thoughts on this. it does really depend on what the nature of that meeting was. if it was a passing conversation, then maybe it stands to reason he doesn't remember it, but i'll tell you, i'm a member of the foreign relations committee. i've met with the russian ambassador a few times over the years. i remember every single one of those interactions. that's not, you know, just a minor thing when a member of the senate meets with the russian ambassador. listen, wolf, i'm -- i'm not sure that if there was collusion between the trump campaign and russia that the principals in that collusion were the senator from alabama and the russian ambassador to the united states, but i don't necessarily know that every member of that committee is going to believe that he didn't remember that meeting. those are pretty memorable meetings when we have them with high level russian officials like the ambassador. >> well, if there was collusion, who would be involved? >>

prior to the speech, then-senator sessions and russian ambassador sergey kislyak attended a small vip reception with organizers, diplomats and others in addition to congressional investigators, the fbi is seeking to determine the extent of interactions the trump campaign team may have had with russia's ambassador during the event. this as part of a broader counterintelligence investigation of russian interference in the election. i should note that neither hill nor fbi investigators have yet concluded whether a private meeting took place. they acknowledged that it is possible that any additional meeting, don, could have been incidental. >> so, has sessions responded? >> he has. we got this response from the justice department a short time ago this evening and i'll read it in full. "the department of justice appointed a special counsel to assume responsibility for this matter. we will allow him to do his job. it is unfortunate that anonymous sources whose credibility will never face public scrutiny are continuously trying to hinder that process by pedalling false stories to the mainstr

me is arguably a bigger story and always has been than the meeting that jared kushner had with sergey kislyak. >> because there's a reason plausibly to meet with the ambassador. >> exactly. it could have been in his capacity as a transition official. but sergey gorkov was appointed by putin. he's the ceo of a sanctioned russian bank. there was really no legitimate reason kushner would have been meeting with him. >> thanks for your time tonight. >>> still to come, exclusive new reporting from yahoo! investigative reporter mike isikoff on the trump administration's secret efforts to lift russian sanctions as soon as they took office. this is a really important report. >>> and does leaving the paris climate akwoccord really put america first? in two minutes. ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected.

among the attendants was sergey kislyak, russian ambassador to the u.s. eff sessions and the justice department have said repeatedly there was no meeting between kislyak and jeff sessions during that speech at the mayflower hotel here in washington, d.c., but as you know, kate, yesterday, in the classified setting, after the public hearing, jim comey told senators, according to sources, that they had raw intelligence of intercepts, of russian officials speaking to one another where sergey kislyak stated that he did, in fact, have a one-on-one meeting with jeff sessions. now, it's important to note a couple things. first and foremost, officials caution that sometimes russian officials might be overstating what these meetings entail. and it's also worth noting, the justice department has made clear, they don't believe, or jeff sessions has said repeatedly that third meeting did not exist, did not happen. but why this matter's going forward, obviously, jeff sessions going to be in a public session testifying in front of the senate appropriations committee nex

hopefully we'll learn more about sergey kislyak. he had met with the ambassador twice even though mr. sessions during his confirmation said he did not have meetings with the russian. what happened with comey, the former fbi chief. last week they told senators that he was fired over the russia investigation. now given that sessions had recused himself from the investigation but still recommended that comey be fired, expect it to come up when sessions would participate in comey's dismissal and why would he. and finally, is there bad blood between sessions and the president. mr. trump has criticized sessions for recusing himself from the russia investigation, which he believes led to the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel to oversee the probe. make sure you stay tuned to wusa9 today for a cbs special report live at 2:30. that is when attorney general sessions will testify that senate intelligence committee. >>> well, as we've heard all day today, a friend of donald trump's says that the president is considering terminatin