officials, russia's ambassador to the u.s., sergey kislyak who is considered by u.s. o not only be a diplomat, but to be a spy and spy recruiter himself, the kislyak and intercepts that were picked up by u.s. intelligence said he discussed with then senator now attorney general jeff sessions substantive campaign related matters during the 2016 presidential race. i guess one of the big questions, congressman, is how credible it is that sergey kislyak would say something like that, thinking he was saying it privately? and that he wasn't telling the truth? because this come down to attorney general sessions saying, well, sergey kislyak is lying and kislyak wouldn't say anything. it credible that maybe kislyak was just boasting but it doesn't really based on anything? >> let me answer those questions and unpack that statement by putting on my former cia hat. >> please. >> we have -- i was calling for kislyak to be kicked out of the country back last summer. i think and it's clear the russians attempted to try to influence our elections. and the russians are our adversaries

don't forget, there was a trump campaign event at this hotel, sergei kislyak the russian ambassador was there. there was a vip session. jeff sessions was there jared kushner was there. sessions said he had no meaningful encounter with kislyak during this event. that's where it stood. then we began hearing rumblings there was some everyday there was a meeting between session and kislyak. we and others reported that congress and the fbi were investigating that. now the post is saying based on this single intelligence, kislyak reported back to his bosses in moscow, he had a meeting, an encounter with sessions that they talked about substantive campaign issues, which is important, trump's position on moscow and other things that would be of great importance to the russian government. sessions is adamantly denying this as the post reported. just because kislyak reported it back to his superiors doesn't prove it happened. u.s. officials are trying to weigh this evidence and determine what exactly happened and whether it's true. >> let me make this clear, sexes adamantly denied, if he was deny

sarah huckabee sanders will be back in the white house. >> sergey kislyak is joining us. thank you for being here. >> yep. >> jared kushner confirmed all the meetings. he confirmed that on april 7 he did meet with russian kislyak. on june 9 he met with natalia veselnitskaya, december 13 with gorkov who has very close ties with trump. do you think he would have self-inflicting wounds? >> i always said from the beginning, we're going to let the investigation bear out what the matters are. he would be the best case for these facts. when all is said and done, when you try to hold back any information you have, get it out there. get it out there because it's going to come out. whether or not this would have come out fully, it just doesn't seem like it. >> the 11-page statement for a couple mistakes he made, miscommunication with his assistant, that's why there is a security clearance questionnaire to begin with. do you expect that? is it appropriate to blame his assistant? >> it might not be appropriate, but i can tell you when you immediate with officials what happened if ju--

spy agencies intercepted conversations in which russia's former ambassador to washington, sergei kislyak in moscow that did he in fact discuss campaign related matters with sessions including policy issues important to moscow when the two men during a presidential campaign. and that's according to what kislyak told

tonight a new story just out in "the washington post" as russian ambassador sergey kislyak told his kremlin bosses that he did in fact talk about campaign matters with then senator jeff sessions. current and former u.s. officials telling "the washington post" they know from american intelligence intercepts. if true, it's also possible that the russian ambassador was boasting to his bosses. but if it wasn't a boast and the information bears out, it casts serious doubt on the credibility of jeff sessions, the highest law enforcement official in the land, who denied having any contacts with russians during the campaign about the campaign. this is what attorney general sessions said during his confirmation hearing back in january. >> if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i did not have communications with the

as for sergey kislyak, they are not saying where he is going next. te department official who we spoke to in this piece says kislyak may be in for a letdown, that he'll be hard-pressed to find a job with as much buzz and influence as the one he's leaving right now. jim? >> brian, he's like a character out of a novel. spy novel, absolutely. sur getting a sense that sergey kislyak was directed by the kremlin to stir things up to provoke the trump team into getting into some trouble? is there any evidence of that? >> reporter: jim, we are getting different takes on that from veteran diplomats and analysts in washington. some believe kislyak was doing what russian ambassadors have to do. when trump became a front runner he simply had to get more information on them. he had to meet with trump's people. others believe everything putin has done was to distract the new administration, and guess what's happening right now? >> my guess is plenty of people in washington are happy to see him head back. >> reporter: absolutely. >> brian todd, thank you. >>> presid

that's sergey kislyak. he's the former russian ambassador to the united states, and i'm going to on be telling you about had i am in a minute because he's the guy that kushner was meeting with. but after jared kushner's meeting he went to the white house with a message, and here is that. >> my name is jared kushner. i am senior advisor to.donald j. trump. when my father-in-law decided to run for president, i served his campaign the best i could becauseible in him and his ability to improve the looils of all americans. and now serving the president and the people of the united states has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. i am so grateful for the opportunity to work on important matters such as middle east peace and reinvig rating america's innovative spirit. every day i come to work with enthusiasm and excitement for what can be. i have not sought the spotlight. first in business and now in public service, i have always focused on setting and achieving goals and have left it to others to work on me

and if that's true, that's not inconsistent with what sergey kislyak is saying happened. he's saying we discussed relations between the trump administration and russia and what that would mean for the future. and so that's not interference with the campaign, which is not inconsistent. but the problem is that sessions has had a few other pieces of testimony here, most specifically back in march, during his -- or back even in january during his senate confirmation hearing where he was much broader in his rebuke and told senator franken that he hadn't had any communications with the russians at all. now, the way senator franken framed that question could allow some wiggle room there, but that's the real room. >> then according to "the washington post" reporting that according to u.s. officials they've spoken with, sergey kislyak has real credibility, that he has a reputation for accurately relaying details about his interactions with officials in washington. so, rebeccrebecca, with that be said earlier this week, the president of the united states expressing his disappointme

job well done, sergey kislyak.ial russian ambassador to the united states since 2008. he has worked at that job incredibly hard, all the years since. you know, he's had a lot to do, keeping up with the crazy alleged requests from the incoming administration for secret back-channel communications to moscow, run on russian government equipment. trudging up to capitol hill for undisclosed meetings with u.s. senator who is happen to be top advisers to be the republican presidential candidate. whatever the chore wheel held for him today, sergey kislyak has been there. he has held up and done stuff others have never been called to do. if that man taking an unprecedented meeting with the american president in the oval office, listening to the american president blurt out highly sensitive code word information during that visit, or also his personal explanation for why he fired the fbi director, sergey has been there. he has done it. the russian foreign ministry will take a great photo while it's happening. and you know, t

the sessions matter, the issue with the intercepts and sergey kislyak, you know, these intercepts have been part of the investigation for some time now. the u.s. government has had these intercepts, this isn't necessarily anything new that has just come to light, but it is part of the mueller investigation, the russia investigation into how they meddled. and certainly this has been a hot topic here at the aspen security forum and almost every panel someone is asked about russia. and, you know, just yesterday two former leaders of the intelligence community, that's james clapper and the former cia director john brennan, addressed the other revelation that was revealed last week where a meeting that donald trump jr. had and manafort and some other folks with a russian lawyer and sort of their reaction to it was quite fiery. take a listen. >> a lot of this to me had kind of the standard textbook trade craft along employed by the russians -- or the soviets, and now into the russians. >> it raises a lot of questions, i think that's what the administration now is having to deal with. questio

stunning report on attorney general jeff sessions' pre-election meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyaktold his moscow bosses that he and sessions did in fact talk about campaign relate

sessions did discuss the trump campaign and its intentions with moscow with russian ambassador sergey kislyak of course despite the attorney general's apparent denials. the post cites intercepted communications between mr. kislyak and his bosses in moscow. apparently boasting about his talks with mr. sessions. president trump this morning blasted that claim. he tweeted that in his view, it is another illegal intelligence leak. ellison barber has more on all of this from washington. >> the russian ambassador to washington told his bosses he talked about campaign related matters with the now attorney general of the united states. that according to a new washington post report. the conversations allegedly took place during the 2016 campaign. sources reportedly told the post ambassador sergey kislyak conversations with his bosses were intercepted by u.s. spy agencies. if true, it seemingly contradicts a number of statements sessions made. >> i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediary about the trump campaign. >> to the best of your memory, you had no conversation with am

passing small talk. —— in april 2016, kushner meet russian ambassador, sergey kislyak, apparently noke and passing small talk. kushner denies two for phone calls took place after this. 0njune ninth, 2016, kushner joins donald trump junior and campaign manager to hear from a russian attorney who has alleged links to the intel services in moscow. subject matter: "getting dirt on hillary clinton." after the election he meets the russian ambassador again on december the 1st and two weeks later he meets a russian banker, sergei gorkov, said to have direct links to vladimir putin. but of one thing he was insistent. these meetings made zero difference to the outcome of the election. donald trump had a better message and ran a smarter campaign, and that is why he won. suggesting otherwise ridicules those who voted for him. but today, as donald trump was framed by over 100 white house interns, he was doing some ridiculing of his own, as reporters sought to ask disobliging questions. mr president, is it true jeff sessions resigned? first by saying nothing... ..and then by letting rip. she's br

spy agencies picked up on recordings of russian ambassador sergey kislyak, telling his superiors in moscowthat he discussed with sessions trump's position on russia-related issues and prospects for u.s./russia negotiations. back in the race last year. this, of course, completely contrary to the attorney general's version of events and he has denied it. in a statement to cnn, justice department spokesperson sarah fluoresoores says obviously i c comment on the reliability of what anonymous sources describe in a uncorroborated intelligence intercept. but goes on to say that the senate intelligence committee when he specifically addressed this and said, that, quote, never met with or had any conversations with any russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election." nonetheless, this comes on the healings after a very rocky week for the president. saying from "the new york times" if he knew sessions was going to recuse himself from the entire russia investigation, he wouldn't have hired him in the first place, take a listen. >> sessions should n

now we learn that jeff sessions conversations with sergey kislyak maven more substantial. may be the campaign, but there was an intercept, and then you have the pushback from the white house about questioning robert mueller and whether or not he is the right person for the job. >> this is all related. just a pushback in what john roberts had, i read the story and it doesn't seem like the intelligence community was spying on sessions, they were spying on sergey kislyak. they're listening for his conversations, and sounds like what he was talking about was russia policy. the way that they are spending it is that they were talking about campaign related matters. if you're to indication chap, you need to know these facts, get the facts out, pushback against narratives and how they are set. there is a difference between talking about russian policy with an investor and campaign strategy, which is what sessions actually said he never discussed with sergey kislyak. >> martha: that would be consistent with the story we've heard with mike flynn. you get people in russia talking abo

according to the "washington post," russian ambassador sergei kislyak told his kremlin bosses that he did in fact talk about campaign matters, with then-senator jeff sessions, during the 2016 election. current and former u.s. officials tell the "post" they learned of the conversations from intercepts of russian discussions. attorney general jeff sessions has repeatedly said that he did not speak to russians about campaign-related issues. cnn's justice reporter, laura jarrett, joining me to go over what was discussed and what this means for the administration, laura? >> sessions has been dogged by news since march that he failed to disclose his contacts with russia officials, but this report from the "washington post" goes a step further and says these recordings with russian ambassador sergei kislyak and sessions specifically discussed trump's positions and prospects for u.s./russia relations back in 2016. which if true, runs completely contrary to the attorney general's version of events. he has completely denied this. in a statement to cnn, justice department spokesperson says obvio

in april 2016th krishna meet russian ambassador sergey kislyak, a p pa re ntly ambassador sergey kislyak took place after this. on june denies two for phone calls took place after this. 0njune nine 20 16th krishna joins donald trump junior and 16th krishna joins donald trump juniorand campaign 16th krishna joins donald trump junior and campaign manager to hear from a russian attorney who has alleged links to the intel services in moscow. the subject matter getting dirt on hillary clinton. after the election he meets the russian ambassador again on december the ist and two weeks later he meets a russian banker, sergei gorkov, said to have direct links to vladimir putin. but one thing he was insistent. these meetings made zero difference to the outcome of the election. donald trump at a better message and ran a smarter campaign. and that is why he won. suggesting otherwise ridicules those who voted for him. but today as donald trump was framed by over 100 white house interns, he was doing some ridiculing of his own, as reporters sought to ask disobliging questions. is it true jeff sessions

third meeting, a third undisclosed meeting between sessions and russia's ambassador to the u.s., sergei kislyakh: the information about the third meeting comes from communications between kislyak and the russians, according to the "new york times." the intelligence appears to be based on intercepts of kislyak 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

it is a look at sergey kislyak. in the headline is "russian envoy powerful in the united states." >> sandra: we are talking about the closed-door questioning of jared kushner, but something that was sent out by the new communications director with anthony scaramucci, tweeted out a few moments ago, tv cameras are back on. he does not specify what he means by that, by the cameras have been off at the crossbreeding ends. so this is leading us to believe that perhaps those are going to go back on camera with him in charge of communications out of the white house. updates from the white house will obviously be big news, and could go back on camera. a significant development? >> steve: i don't know how significant it is, but it is a nice gesture. at the white house core will appreciate it. there is a balance between doing with the trump administration has done and taking on the washington press corps. in many cases not justified, but overdue. and then antagonizing the washington press corps. they have aired on the side of

two of those conversations where the russian ambassador sergey kislyak.han a minute. after undergoing questioning at the senate intelligence committee, kushner came back to the white house and defended himself against all accusation the first of the kind of public statement. >> i did not collude with russia who did so. they had no improper contacts. i have not relied on russian funds for many businesses. i have been fully transparent and requested information. >> kushner suggested to russia's storyline belittles those who voted for the president. >> donald trump had a better message and ran a starter campaign and that is why he won. suggesting otherwise ridiculous those who voted for him. train a kushner will return home for more private questioning, this time from the house intelligence committee. that to you in new york. >> blake burman, thank you. traded the administration has very scummy federal judge refusing to block the alleged election prize friend information which would include names and birthdays from states. privacy information challenging the

. >> clare, i want to ask about the new reporting coming in about sergei kislyak and the u.s.orney general. remind our viewers about the many meetings that happened and how they came to light and now what's happening with kislyak next? >> reporter: absolutely. sergei kislyak, the russian ambassador to washington, has been at the center of the controversy surrounding allegations of potential collusion with the trump team and russia. you know, he not just meeting with jeff sessions, the attorney general, but also jared kushner. there was a report by the washington post back in may that jared kushner asked to set up a secret line of communication through the russian embassy in washington. of course, most explosively is the conversations with kislyak and mike flynn. this over alleged meddling. it was later disclosed that the sanctions were discussed in that conversations. of course, that precipitated the early firing of michael flynn. russia defended the ambassador. saying it is normal work to meet with officials in washington and called this an echoing of the trump administration

he also managed to omit meetings with russian ambassador sergey kislyak in secret at trump tower andng with the head of a sanctioned russian state bank. now, false declarations or omissions on that form can be punishable by fines or imprisonment. joining me now, betsy woodruff. sam, there's this interesting theory floating around that the sources behind this story, putting things on donald, jr., are actually people around jared kushner. the reason for that is this appears to come from someone showing or reading off the new fs 86. the biggest problem is that kushner now has a third meeting left off a form that says at the top if you omit things you are committing a felony. >> yeah. there's a distinct someone's getting thrown under the bus quality to this, because this isn't, you know, unlike the leaks that we supposedly received from the national security apparatus, this comes from the white house. and it's very difficult i think looking from the outside in to get a real sense of the various con tet wen -- constituencies and what they gain. clearly somebody is trying to protect somebo

spy agencies intercepted conversations in which russia's then am bassor to the united states, sergei kislyak allegedly told his superiors in moscow that he "discussed campaign related matters, including policy issues important to moscow, with jeff sessions during the 2016 presidential race." now if accurate that would directly contradict public assertions made by sessions like this one. >> let me be clear. i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign, and the idea that i was part of a "continuing exchange of information" during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government is totally false. >> in a statement sessions spokesperson said the attorney general stands by his testimony last month that he never had any conversations with russians "concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election." now this latest scoop by "the washington post" has some really interesting timing, breaking just three days after trump said this to the "new york times." >> sessions should have never recused himself,

-russian relations with sergey kislyak.his is clearly an effort by somebody t's classified information to destroy the attorney general. how was the white house going to respond to this? >> first of all, this is allegedly. i would love to see the transcripts and i would love to actually know what is going on. especially since the russians are experts at this information. this is a continuing story. i shared this with the president, listen, the deep state and the democrats, this is a cage fight between you and them. i hope that the president of the nest that is going to win this. they are not going to stop. they're going to weapon eyes this information. they will use their allies in the mainstream media to go and try to undermine president trump. i hope he continues to push back. i've encouraged him to go on the offense, again on the variety of things. i want to go back and reopen the hillary clinton private email server case. really go after these leakers, make examples of a few of them, and hopefully stop these leaks. this

a former official said the intelligence indicates that sessions and the russian ambassador sergei kislyak substantive discussions on matters including trump's positions on russia related issues and prospect for u.s. russia relations in, say, a trump administration. the article and several national security experts tonight do caution russian and other diplomats have been known to share false or misleading information to brag or try to confuse our intelligence community. but "the post" adds that kislyak, for one, has had a reputation for accuracy for the most part in these matters. it's impossible to ignore the timing of this story. it comes days after trump told "the new york times" that he does not think sessions should have recused himself from the russia investigation. trump said, if he is -- if he had known that he wouldn't have picked sessions for the job. as for sessions, here is what he has said about talking to the russians about the campaign. >> i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign. and i did not have communications with the russians. >> let me be clear

after that, at kislyak's request, he mate with sergei gorokhov. kushner says that meeting lasted about 20 minutes. he said it was only about relationship building as part of his role in the transition and no personal business was discussed. that contradicts a statement from veb that said this meeting was about kushner's business. clearly in this 11-page statement, jared kushner is painting the picture that the contacts with russians during the campaign and the transition were meaningless and insignificant in his view. back to you, alisyn. >> pamela, so much to parse in this 11-page statement. thank you for diving in and analyzing all that for us. there are mixed messages from the white house on whether the president supports another big story, event that will be happening this week, the bipartisan bill in congress that would punish russia for interfering in the election. cnn's joe johns is live at the white house with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. you know it was recently, not long ago that the white house was lobbying against tha

sources reportedly told the post ambassador sergey kislyak conversations with his bosses were interceptedy u.s. spy agencies. if true, it seemingly contradicts a number of statements sessions made. >> i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign. >> to the best of your memory, you had no conversation with ambassador kislyak at that meeting? >> i don't recall it, senator. >> a spokesperson with the department of justice told fox news she could not comment on the reliability of what anonymous sources describe in the post article, but, quote, the attorney general stands by his testimony from just last month. this morning president trump criticized the leak, tweeting a new intelligence leak from the washington post, this time against ag jeff sessions, these illegal leaks, like comey's, must stop. it's the second time the president has publicly mentioned sessions in almost as many days. in an interview with the new york times president trump spoke about the attorney general and his decision to recuse himself from the investigations related to

sessions in fact did discuss matters related to the trump campaign with the russian ambassador, sergei kislyak. and this was all before sean spicer resigned. this was a chaotic week for donald trump and one that overshadowed a bright spot, in my opinion. given the current events and the fragile relationship and the united states and russia, the american ambassador to russia is arguably the most important posting in our diplomatic corps. it would have been objectionable had the president appointed a flunkie. someone lacking credentials to this important post. but instead he selected jon huntsman, who not only distinguished himself as a two-term governor of utah, but also as president obama's ambassador to china and president george h.w. bush's ambassador to singapore. he has cleared confirmation without a single vote in opposition. in appointing governor hundredsman, the president has selected a credible, qualified public servant who is no trump yes man. it was huntsman who called the 2016 gop primary process a race to the bottom. and even called for trump's withdrawal from the race after the "

between then senator and now attorney general jeff sessions and the russian ambassador to the u.s., sergey kislyak. intelligence agencies intercepted communications between kislyak and his bosses back in moscow in which kislyak claimed that he and sessions were talking politics and policy during the presidential campaign during his congressional confirmation hearings back in january, sessions denied discussing such matters with the russian ambassador. >>> also right now, massive fire. flames engulf a warehouse in granite falls, north carolina, this morning, firefighters from all neighboring counties are battling this blaze trying to keep it from spreading and contain it. nearby homes evacuated because of that intense heat. >>> and lottery lawsuit, a long beach, california, man is suing the state lottery commission after being denied a $5 million jackpot because, get this, his 16-year-old son purchased the winning scratch-off ticket and legally, everybody, you got to be 18 years of age to buy lottery tickets. the man says it's not his fault that no one asked the teen for i.d. >> wow. >> or his age.

the special counsel in his word, depoliticizes the russia investigation >> a prominent figure, sergey kislyak ended his assignment in washington and is heading home. russian embassy announced kislyak's tenure was over. president trump's first national security advisor michael flynn resigned after lying about contacts with kislyak. the russian embassy departure had been planned for some time part of a rotation. >>> we met the new guy over the weekend and he's ready to make changes we're talking about new communications director anthony scaramucci. his nickname is mooch. he tweeted the tv cameras are back on. there wasn't a white house briefing because sarah hackabee-sanders was traveling with the president but scaramucci's tweet has everyone expecting cameras to be rolling. there's also a report out that may explain why the briefings went off camera in the first place. sean spicer didn't want president trump to criticize him about he was doing his job, that tlush made the -- in fact, most of it it was spicer not wanting to be on camera so that president trump would not yell at him. he resigned

intelligence intercepts that captured ambassador sergei kislyak's accounts of those conversations. sessions has repeatedly denied discussing any campaign issues with kislyak and said he only met with him in his capacity as a u.s. to surrogate for the trump campaign. also tonight we have learned that former trump campaign manager paul manafort and donald trump jr. will not attend a senate judiciary committee hearing next week. instead they've agreed to turn over documents requested by that committee and consider interviews. >> back to sean spicer. we're hearing to him tonight for the first time since announcing his resignation. he spoke to sean hannity on fox news. >> he wanted to bring some new folks in to help rev up the communication. i recommended to the president to give anthony and sarah a clean slate to start from. >> the white house announced and introduced anthony scaramucci as communication director and announced that sarah huckabee sanders would be spicer's a local day care is facing charges of abusing a 3-year-old girl there. raul tuga is free on bond tonight. we have re

attorney general jeff sessions in march but the "washington post" reports tonight that ambassador sergey kislyak's accounts of conversations with jeff sessions one in april and one in july were intercepted by spy agencies. the post says that the intelligence indicates that sessions and kislyak in fact has substantive discussions on matters including trump's position on russian related issues and prospects of russian relations in a trump administration. now it is entirely possible that the russian ambassador was lying to his bosses at the kremlin was really he and jech sessiff sesse talking about candy crush and gardening and other stuff it's so weird that they both love. but with jeff sessions all but being pushed out of the administration right now, senior adds telling the "the new york times" they were stunned when jeff sessions didn't quit as attorney general yesterday morning after the president threw him under the bus on wednesday night. this being the new front page story in the washington post tonight, newly raising the question of session' own contacts with the russian, whether he further

> reporter: sessions withdrew from the russia investigation after it was revealed he met with sergey kislyak and there were no meetings with any russians, he said. undisclosed meetings will be the focus of attention when jared kushner, the president son-in-law and senior white house advisor testifies in front of congress on monday. >> we have now three examples of meetings that took place between mr. kushner and the disclosed. >> reporter: the latest meeting kushner attended with russians was set up by his brother-in- law, donald trump jr. and involved a russian lawyer that was supposed to present damaging information on hillary clinton, which reportedly came directly from the russian government to. trump jr. and paul manafort, also in attendance, had been invited to testify before the senate judiciary committee next wednesday. seth lemon for cbs news at the white house. >> kushner's testimony will be at a closed-door meeting of the senate intelligence committee. paul manafort and donald trump jr. will testify in an open session if they accept the invitation from congress. >>> before taking

spy agencies intercepted these conversations of russia's former ambassador to washington, sergey kislyak. a source saying, kislyak told his superiors in moscow that he did discuss campaign-related matters, including specifically policy issues that are important to moscow with, yes, jeff sessions, smack dab in the middle of the ongoing 2016 campaign. the post cites a u.s. official that says this means jeff sessions was misleading the public. >> i never had meetings with russian operatives or russian intermediaries about the trump campaign. and the idea that i was part of a, quote, continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump surrogates and intermediaries for the russian government is totally false. >> and, quote, a former official said the intelligence indicates sessions and kislyak had substantive discussions on matters including trump's positions on russia-related issues and prospects for u.s./russia relations in a trump administration. now, the post makes an important point that we all obviously have to keep in mind here. the officials acknowledge that the russi

the washington post reports tonight that ambassador sergei kislyak's accounts of two kwfrgs with jeff sessions, one in april and one if july, were intercepted by u.s. spy agencies. the post says the intelligence indicates that sessions and kislyak, in fact, had substantive discussions on matters, including trump's positions on russia related issues and prospects for u.s. russia relations in a trump administration. now, it is entirely possible that the russian ambassador was lying to his bosses at the kremlin and really he and jeff sessions were only talking about candy crush and gardening and the other stuff. it's so weird that they both love. right? but with jeff sessions all but being pushed out of the administrati administration. >> it was about whether he further lied. that is either the best timing for sessions or the worst timing for sessions because what the president is publicly complaining about when it comes to jeff sessions is that sessions recused himself from overseeing the russia investigation, which he shouldn't have done. the president didn't want him to do that. but t

1, kushner and national security advisor- designate michael flynn met with russian ambassador sergei kislyakcording to kushner, the envoy said he wanted to talk about syria and "convey information from his 'generals'". kislyak "asked if there was a secure line in the transition office." told that there wasn't, kushner asked if the russians "had an existing communications channel at his embassy we could use... the ambassador said that would not be possible." on decmeber 13, kushner met with sergey gorkov, the head of a russian bank that is under u.s. sanctions, at kislyak's insistence. he said gorkov told him "he was friendly with president putin" and expressed "hopes for a better relationship in the future." kushner said he has not been in contact with gorkov since. as for the matter of kushner's original security clearance application, not including any of his foreign contacts, the president's son-in-law said it was an accident: it was submitted "prematurely" due to a miscommunication with an assistant. it's been updated at least three times. limit merchandise's abilities to lift the penalt

spy agencies intercepted conversations of russia's former ambassador to washington, sergey kislyak, in which he told his bosses at the kremlin that he discussed trump campaign matters with then-senator jeff sessions during the 2016 campaign. joining me from the white house is nbc's kelly o'donnell. kelly, i know the president tweeted about this earlier today. how is he and the white house responding to this latest "washington post" report? >> reporter: well, no official response from the white house except for the president's tweet, and you see the president using a strategic turn to always talk about the leaks. this, of course, was the product of an intercept of a phone call, presumably, or communications that the outgoing russian ambassador had back to his bosses in moscow and that's something that u.s. intelligence surveils and based on that, the reporting according to the "washington post" is that in contacts with jeff sessions, there were conversations about the campaign, whereas sessions had told his fellow senators at the time during his confirmation hearing that he had only tal

highest law enforcement official in the land and his pre-election meeting with russian ambassador sergey kislyak "the washington post" kislyak told his moscow bosses that he and sessions did talk about

his meeting with sergei kislyak. kushner says the encounter was so brief he had to ask what is the name of the russian ambassador, but those answers raising even nor question -- more questions. >> he surely will be prepared to testify publicly, and i think congress will want him to do that. >> reporter: he said his father-in-law won fair and square. >> donald trump had a better message and ran a smarter campaign, and that is why he won. suggesting otherwise ridicules those who voted for him. >> reporter: president trump offering up a distraction to all of it, tweeting, so why aren't the committees and investigators and of corps ourse our beleaguered a.g. looking into hillary clinton's crimes. he rolled his eye when is asked whether sessions should resign today. as for kushner, he'll be back in front of the house committee under oath. it comes after he said he had no knowledge that anyone on his campaign met with any russians. >> kristen welker, thank you. let's turn to the health care cliff-hanger. the senate is head