donald trump jr. who moments ago responded on twitter again, with this, media and dems are extremely invested in the russia story. if this nonsense meeting it all they have after a year, i understand the desperation. >> everybody lied. on the disclosure forms, everybody lied in the trump administration about this meeting. >> if there is a conspiracy to obtain foreign assistance, that's a crime. >> there was no other connection, no phone calls or no further meetings, this is a massive nothing burger. >> it is not standard political practice to seek information from a foreign government. >> we don't know all the details. i know it's serious and i said a long time ago it's serious and this is a serious situation and one that is a long way from over. >> we're now beyond obstruction of justice in terms of what's being investigated. this is moving into perjury, false statements and even into potentially treason. >> lots to talk about here, including the conversation with sebastian go rca. >> qutsz new york

go beyond brushing with act®. >>> donald trump, jr. ed his e-mails on twitter and there's been a lot of response including from the british politician who tweeted this -- also this from eric trump. -- joining us now two men who wrote books on donald trump. michael d'antoni and tim brian. the president's initial statements today said my son is a high quality person and i applaud his transparency. were you surprised by that. >> i was surprised it was such a mild endorsement of his son. he ed the same kind of things about michael flynn before he was out. and i think just saying he's a high-quality person is almost throwing him under the bus. i would have defended my own son far more vigorously the idea that he's transparent to me that was an atta boy like you did the right thing, i think this was something he was directed to do. >> the white house has said now the president knew nothing with this until recently. in this e-mail chain donald trump, jr. is being told that the russian government is g backing his father there was no reaction to

donald trump jr. should be called before congress to testify. >> it's also a continuing pattern that we've seen since the election of trump campaign and trump administration officials who have conveniently forgotten meetings with russians, only when they are then presented with evidence they have to recant and acknowledge those kind of meetings. it is why we've got to continue this investigation. >> reporter: tonight donald trump jr. has retained a lawyer on the matter. on twitter, he said he's happy to work with a committee to pass on what i know. now, he's likely to get that chance, anderson. senator warner and other senators say they do want to hear from him so he could be talking to members of congress as well as to the special counsel at the justice department. now, all of this is coming as the white house is trying to downplay any of this. they said the president did not know that any of this happened until this weekend. but sarah huckabee sanders at that briefing today, anderson, also could not

donald trump jr.ald trump jr said nothing came of the meeting because the russian woman he met with wanted to talk about adoption instead of destroying hillary clinton's campaign. that story will probably work for donald trump jr. as the investigation proceeds because this is not a donald trump jr story. meaning he is not the person in the most trouble in this story. donald trump jr is now serving as a very convenient heat shield for his brother-in-law, jared cu kushner, who was also in that meeting, and was included on the e-mails entitled russia, clinton, private and confidential. the e-mails that set up that meeting. >> donald jr might face some legal liability for soliciting something of value to a federal campaign from a foreign citizen. that is against the law. but it is not clear that law could be applied to this kind of meeting. jared kushner is facing a much more serious criminal liability as a result of simply having received that e-mail. that alien. the e-mail. that is a serious criminal is

and donald trump jr.'s role in organizing it to congressional investigators who had questions about his foreign contacts. according to people familiar with the events. and so, ron, it seems to me that the trump administration knew this was coming out. manafort's disclosed it. the house investigators know it. now it's on jared kushner's disclosure form finally, and it represents a possible crime in jared kushner's case because he did not put it on his original disclosure forms. so at some point, the trump administration has the decision, do we want to see this thing come out in the middle of a house hearing that jared kushner is the witness at, where it lands as a bombshell on jared kushner, or do we want it to come out before that and maybe come out with donald trump jr. being the star of the article because donald trump jr. doesn't face the same criminal liability as jared kushner does. >> yeah. you know, they're shaping up for a very interesting thanksgiving dinner in the trump household. i mean it does

donald trump, jr. pre-empted it. i think there's been some frustration on the part of donald trump, jr. and people close to him about how the last couple of days have gone in terms of the disclosures and the slow roll, drip, drip. in terms of kushner, i'm not entirely sure what you're asking me. >> our understanding is that for a second time he has amended the information that he gave in order to get a security clearance. he gave that once earlier and more recently he did that to include this meeting that he hadn't previously disclosed. my question is, was he aware that you were investigating and that's why he amended this or was this just a coincidence? >> more broadly, without getting into specifics about our reporting and the nature of it, jared kushner did amend his security clearance form, his foreign contact disclosures. i believe it was for a second time, included some reference to this meeting. around the same time paul manafort provided some more specifics to one of the congressional committees that is inves

and whether donald trump jr. was played or whether the intermediary was played or whatever, the russians were trying to get an in. and see how far they could get into this trump campaign and, lo and behold, this woman ends up with a meet with three of the top people closest to the president, to the candidate. and i think that we're going to continue to peel the onion on this and see exactly how the russians operated to try and help donald trump. >> and, obviously, we're hearing a lot in "the washington post" and elsewhere about there being turmoil in the white house right now. manu raju, on capitol hill, how much does this story hurt the president's and the republican party's ability to get their agenda done? >> significantly because of the fact it just is overshadowing everything. right now they are trying to pass a major health care bill in the senate. they are having a very difficult time in doing that. they're getting no support from the white house. no messaging operation coming out of the white house. not a

and that's what donald trump jr. in an interview today about a meeting he arranged with the russian lawyer who he believed was a russian government official who was eager to help donald trump become president by delivering russian government dirt on hillary clinton. today donald trump jr. released the e-mails arranging that meeting. having been told that new york times was about to publish those same e-mails in their entirety. and in that interview today, donald trump jr. said the reason he handled the meeting the way he did was that quote things are going a million miles an hour. you know what it's like to be on a campaign? we just won indiana but we're talking about a contested convention. things are going a million miles an hour. every other presidential campaign that has managed to not get investigated by the fbi for collusion with russia, which is to say every other presidential campaign in american history has by summer become a very fast-moving operation. no one has ever been detached from reality enough to de

let's just start back in march when "the new york times" asked donald trump jr. if he had ever had any campaign-related meetings with russians. he said no. then on saturday, the "new york times" reported a previously undisclosed meeting last year at trump tower between the president's son, son-in-law, campaign chairman, and a russian attorney. the times lead that day, quote, two weeks after donald j. trump clinched the republican presidential nomination last year, his eldest son arranged a meeting at trump tower in manhattan with a russian lawyer that has connections to the kremlin. how did donald trump describe that meeting and the reason for to it the times on saturday? well, from the same article, he said we primarily discussed a program about the adoption of russian children. nothing about thinking about who was meeting with a russian attorney, nothing about dirt on clinton, nothing about ending sanctions against russian human rights abusers. then on sunday, we learned this meeting was indeed campaign related and clinton related. by tuesday, the times gearing

as much legal hot water and donald trump jr. ow, it's impossible to believe the president himself was unaware of this apparent effort by the russian government that was known to others in the trump campaign, it's impossible to believe that the president himself did not know about this, and now you assume donald trump jr. has to answer questions under oath, not just before congress but also in front of a grand jury or in an interview with bob mueller's investigative team and asked about conversations he may have had with his father in the months after this meeting. even if the president didn't know about this meeting itself. it's impossible to think for all the months during the campaign as the e-mails were being leaked out by russians there wasn't at some point a conversation where the son revealed to the fall he knew of a russian government plot to help the trump campaign. >> i want to show you part of donald trump jr.'s political defense. this is something he tweeted on monday. everybody is forgetting that clinton allies did th

tom, donald trump jr.'s lawyer says this -- much ado about nothing. >> not surprising he'd say that. the fact of the matter is i think this incident shows something incredibly profound about the trump administration and the trump family, which is there are no rules. if you think about it, they went to meet with a russian to try and conspire against the clinton campaign. they then lied about it. they then denied it. they then ultimately said it's absolutely unimportant and hired a mafia lawyer. what we see is two things -- a culture of deceit at every level, consistently, and secondly, a truly family oriented culture where you see not just his son but donald trump jr., his son-in-law, who's purported to be his main adviser in his campaign organizer. so when you see that, don't forget, this is the family where his daughter sat in for him at the g-20. >> i actually learned from someone within the trump administration it was president trump himself who was insistent upon having his daughter sit in for him at th

i wasn't even suggesting that donald trump jr. had met with russians with opposition on hillary clinton. i was just saying that the russians were getting involved in this election to help donald trump and hurt hillary clinton, which obviously turned out to be true. he called me a liar for saying that. i think now what's been revealed for the first time is potential real coordination between the kremlin and associates of the kremlin and the trump campaign. an i think we need to prepare at this point to see more of this. and to potentially see more direct evidence. >> jason, i want you to be able to respond to that. that interview in which donald trump jr. went after robby for raising red flags about russia, that was after trump jr. met with the russian lawyer who claimed to have information on hillary clinton. how do you square that? >> well, anderson, let's go back to the beginning when this meeting happened with don jr. so this was before any of this russia news had popped up or there was any sort of narrative or any conversation

she denies giving damaging information to trump jr. she denies even saying that she had damaging information to gain access to the trump campaign team. but you know, she -- she is somebody clearly who's at the center of this. take a listen to what she said when i approached her yesterday. >> translator: when it was suggested that i meet with donald trump jr. i met him in a private situation. it was not related at all to the fact that he was the son of the candidate. >> well, she was there primarily to lobby for the repeal of the u.s. act of law which aims to punish suspected human rights abusers in russia. that's what she says she was there to talk about and clearly she said that donald trump jr. wasn't interested in discussing that. so it doesn't seem any problematic or damaging information was passed on during this, but again, as we've said time and again, the fact that the trump campaign or donald trump jr. was apparently willing to take this meeting on the basis it could offer potentially damaging information about the opponent is

trump jr. met with a russian lawyer after a middleman told him that she was a russian government official who had information that was part of russia's effort to help donald trump win the u.s. presidential election. that's according to an e-mail chain that donald trump jr. himself released today on twitter. he tweeted it just minutes before he knew that "the new york times" was posting a story with all of the details from those same e-mails. in the message, a british publicist claims to be working on behalf of a russian pop star and the pop star's father who is a russian billionaire with close ties to the kremlin. the publicist claims the pop star and the pop star's father met with the russian lawyer and that she had dirt on hillary clinton. the publicist later arrange as meeting between the russian lawyer and donald trump jr. at trump tower in new york city. "the new york times" wrote news over the weekend. the newspaper reported that the president's son met with the lawyer in june of last year

trump jr. replied, quote, i love it. the russian lawyer who met with trump and his colleagues said they want the information badly. president trump has been uncharacteristically silent on the russia meeting and his son's involvement but issued a simple statement today saying, and i'm quoting, my son is a high quality person and i applaud his transparency. lawmakers are not staying silent. there are bipartisan calls for the president's son to appear before congress while hillary clinton's former running mate, senator tim kaine, said trump jr. may have even committed treason. i'll talk with senator richard blumenthal. the white house is clearly on the defensive right now over this truly stunning revelation by donald trump jr. let's begin with our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, take us through the e-mails and the president's rather subdued reaction. >> they are not loving it over here at the white house, wolf. the president defended his son today not in a tweet but in a sober statement read by the white ho

the president's son, donald trump jr. trying to defend himself and explain what is arguably the most incriminating piece of public information into russian interference in the election squl there was any cuclusion between the trump team and the kremlin. emails pre-emptively released by trump jr. just before they were about to be published by the new york times, he was offered damaging information about hillary clinton. it quote is part of russia and its government's support for mr. trump unquote. in a new interview tonight trump jr. siz he did not tell his father about a meeting with a russian lawyer. he claimed there was nothing to tell but the new york times is reporting that president trump was involved in the damage control about this story in recent days. signing off on his son's initial and incomplete account of his meeting with that russian lawyer. tonight cnn has learned that special counsel bob mueller is planning to investigate that meeting and that donald trump jr.'s email exchanges will be part of that as well.

i take donald trump jr. and you're recapping what he says he sat there for that purpose. that is why he went to the meeting. but i'm just pointing out that the rest of the pieces here of the story, of saying that this is evidence of the trump campaign colluding with the russian government, where if they were involved, packed into john podesta's e-mail to obtain information. the additional pieces would be at that meeting, this russian lawyer would be providing that to help the campaign. this whole story line is missing important points. i don't want to take anything away from, you know, taking donald trump jr. at his word as to why he sat down at that table. >> the story line is not collusion, it's the facts. we have the facts from the source, donald trump jr. we appreciate you sticking around for our additional questions. >>> president trump has a question for lawmakers who say health care reform is dead. he says he can't imagine being in d.c. without a plan for repeal and replace in place, next. [music play

emails between trump, jr. and rod goldstone shown in part gold stone appearing to offer incriminating information about hillary clinton as "part of russia and its government support for mr. trump." trump, jr. replying "seems we have some time and if it's what you say, i love it. especially later in the summer." white house responded today and with a written statement. >> i have a quick statement i will read from the president. "my son is a high-quality person and i applaud his transparency. beyond that, going to have to refer everything on this matter to counsel and outside counsel and won't have anything else to add." >> bret: earlier in an interview with nbc news, the russian lawyer at the center of it denied working with the russian government or having any links to it at all. >> they have the impression they were going to be told some information you had about the dnc. how did they get that impression? >> it's possible maybe they were looking for such information. they wanted so badly. >> have you ever work

we've also heard in tpast how c donald trump jr. are, they talk twice times a day. do you believe donald trump new -- >> i think it sieve seems unkeefbl con receivable. it doesn't comport with what we have seen trump do. this notion of it raisedier is that donald trump jr. is some knife he's like gomer pile -- >> no. >> let me finish. when the e-mail says the russian governor has information damaging to hillary clinton where is that coming from? espionage. the only play putin and the russian government is going to get anything from our government upstate is espionage. >> they could have said their on server. >> we know trump junior, the campaign was eager to he or she still foreign powers to under mind the united states. >> it's also interesting that jared kushner for a second time had to remained the statement he gave for a clearance. initial le he had to amend it because he didn't -- once paul manafort apparently gave some information about this meeting to congressional investigators that's when jared kushner seem to remember this

trump jr. then replies, thanks, rob, i appreciate it. if it's what you say, i love it, especially later in the summer. and it appears former campaign manager paul manafort and president trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, knew tbt a e-mail prior to meeting with the attorney because trump jr. forwarded it to them. there's a lot to break down to this afternoon. evan perez joins me now. the lawyer is referred as russian government attorney, something she denies. whether or not she denies it, that's how she was presented by this intermediary to donald trump jr. >> right, anderson, and i think this helps crumble further the different explanations of varying and changing explanations that we've heard from donald trump jr. from the white house, from people associated with the trump administration who sort of trying to say that there was nothing here, that they didn't know that this person was a russian, that they didn't know who this person was, which sort of strange because the person was able to get into trump tower, the idea that they didn't k

on june 3rd 2016, goldstone emailed donald trump jr. saying good morning, just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting. the crown prosecutor of russia met with his father this morning and offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and will be very useful to your father. this is very high-level and sensitive information. but it's part of russia and government support for mr. trump. what do you think is the best way to handle this information and would you be able to speak to her about it directly? i can also send this information to your father but it is ultrasensitive. it wanted to to you first. best, bob goldstone. donald trump jr. replied 20 minutes later. in following emails, the two go back and forth about setting up that phone call. they eventually work out a time for a sitdown meeting with this russian lawyer. donald trump jr. also released a statement explaining that he was releasing the emails, to be tran

when goldstone says to donald trump jr. is a meeting and part of the russian's government support to mr. trump, he -- that implies -- he presents it as if donald trump jr. already knows that the russian government is supporting mr. trump. so i think there's more about the context here we need to know. yes, it is possible she was unwitting and this was a dangle, or it is possible that there's a bigger picture here, more support. you know, today we have the mcclatchy story come out about the possibility that some of the data work that jared kushner had paid for made its way to the russians so that the russians then were able to target the fake news that they were pumping out through their bots on the internet through facebook and twitter, to states like michigan which basically hillary clinton lost by about 5,000 votes. so, you know, there might be a bigger picture here. i would like to know the context and why that was sort of obvious to donald trump that russia is supporting his father. >> you know, one of the things that -

i mean, you know, donald trump jr. said this is before everybody knew about russia's alleged involvement in the campaign. it's right there until the e-mail that they support donald trump. like i said, i think this is something that would normally send off alarm bells to somebody. it seems to be something that didn't with them because he is -- when all this news came out, he was dismissive of it. what's the big deal. i'm sure i'm not the only one that has done this. the idea that they were suggesting that maybe he sounded to the fbi, he made light of it. itis not something that seems concerning to them and they were happy to work with the russians. this is like if john podesta, bill clinton and chelsea clinton had a meeting with russia saying they supported hillary clinton and they were bringing information to harm donald trump. >> if it came -- in that meeting, they said nothing came of the meeting. ken, i was guess there would likely be another benghazi style hearing on capitol hill, no? >> i fully expect to see donald

. >> little later on tonight. 360 special report on donald trump jr. who became the first in two reveal what he his father, trump administration campaign denying more than a year. contact with russians by members of the campaign, and, resear researching hillary clinton. in june of last year, meeting a russian lawyer who they believe was from the russian government. seeking what they were told was kremlin information, damaging to secretary clinton. recall when the story broke saturday, donald trump jr. failed to mention that saying instead, the meeting was abut americans being barred from adopting russian orphans. then he did disclose the political angle. disclosed e-mail he's believed he would be getting dirt straight from the russian government. that was when he, when he also said there was, there were no more shoes waiting to drop. well, today another one did. cnn has learned there were more people in that meting than previously known or that donald trump jr. admitted including russian-american lobbyist with alleged ties to russian intelligence. he de

trump jr. then replies, "thanks, rob, i appreciate that. if it's what you says, i love it, especially later in the summer." it appears former presidential campaign paul manafort and donald trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, knew about the e-mail prior to meeting with the attorney because trump jr. forwarded them the e-mail. joining me now is cnn political director david. it's interesting to hear sarah huckabee sanders refer all questions to the attorney. >> we know that's nothing to applaud because "the new york times" was going to release these e-mails, but yes, the other thing i thought was interesting that sarah huckabee sanders did in the brief, anderson, was this commitment to saying that there's no distance between the vice president and the president. she was asked about that, because the vice president has issued a statement saying, you know -- >> yeah, i have the statement here. let me read it out. this is from mark lotter, vice president pence's spokesman and says, "the vice president is working every day to advance the president's

trump jr.'s response in part, thanks, rob. i appreciate that. if it's what you say, i love it, especially later in the summer. now, just a brief note on that. "later in the summer." trump jr. seems to be suggesting there that it would be best to have damaging information about hillary clinton come out later in the campaign, later in the summer. the e-mail chain goes on to show them, coordinating the best times to talk or meet. on june 7, goldstone notes that aman, agalara, a pop star, and whose video he once appeared, quote, asked that i schedule a meeting with you and a russian attorney who is flying over from moscow. the russian government attorney is apparently a reference to this woman, natalia veselnitskaya. donald trump jr. was quite reseptemberir receptive to that idea. great, he writes. it will most likely be paul mana port, the campaign boss, my brother-in-law and me. this is clear evidence that the highest level members of the trump campaign were willing to sit with individuals who ha

and donald trump jr. experienced enough to take the meeting. >> thank you very much for providing that insight. e we do appreciate it. thank you for being with us. >>> just moments ago, president trump weighed in teaming up with vladimir putin tweeting this. the fact that president putin ask i discussed a a cyber security unit doesn't mean i think it can happen. it can't, but a cease-fire can and did. the latest words from the president regarding russia and the idea of teaming up with russians on cyber security. once again a big night ofbreaking news. stay with cnn. thank you for being with me. brooke baldwin take its you to "the nineties for a a cnn original premier live to the preparty, next. at whole foods market, we believe in food that's naturally beautiful and fresh. delicious and powerful, and full of nutrients. so there are no artificial colors... no artificial flavors... no artificial preservatives... and no artificial sweeteners... ...in any of the food we sell. we believe that the food we eat co

donald trump jr. was put in charge of the project. flew over to moscow in 2014 to scout sites for the trump tower with eminute agalarof and there is a picture confirming what goldstone told me. but most significantly, goldstone said why the tower project collapsed, and it happened in 2015 when the russian economy took a downturn because of the imposition of sanctions by the u.s. and the eu over russia's intervention in ukraine. and i think when you see that, you begin to understand, number one, trump's hostility or interest in lifting sanctions. it was those sanctions that screwed up his business deal in russia. and number two, when you see these e-mails and you see how close the agilarovs were to the kremlin -- they were being used to pass along this information from the russian government -- it shows just how close these relationships were, and you know, i think helps shed light on what was going on here. >> so, hey, april, cnn spoke with the russian lawyer, advicil anytime skia, about the meeting. >> translator: when it was suggeste

and again, donald trump jr. has said the same thing, that it was in fact from him and i believe it was his lawyer -- i'm sure his lawyer was in consultation. >> you keep saying you don't represent donald trump jr., but can you explain -- >> right. >> -- why it took -- why it's taken six days to continue to find out more people who were in this meeting, more discussions about those e-mails? why was all this trickled out like this? it looks like a pattern of trying to at least if not total cover it up, at least mislead or deceive. >> well, look, you start with -- you use the phrase cover up. let's be realistic here. you've had lawyers on your broadcast and nbc has had lawyers on their network and everybody is coming to the same conclusion about the legality. there's nothing illegal about that meeting. covering up is a big word to use but there was nothing illegal to cover up. with regard to how the information came out, as i said, that was information that was controlled not by my client, not by the president, it

donald trump jr. was put in charge of the project. ka trump flew over in moscow in 2013 to site spots for the trumps. and a photo was scouted of ivanka trump confirming what goldstone told to me. significantly, gold ston said why the tower project collapsed. it happened in 2015 when the russian committeconomy took a d because of the the -- in eu. i think when you see that you begin to understand, number one, trump's hostility or interest in lifting sanctions. this were those sapgs that screwed up his business deals in russia. number two, when you see these e-mails and you see how close they were to the krim len and they're being used to pass along this information from the russian government, it shows just how close these relationships were and i think helps shed light on what was going on here. >> april, cnn spoke with the russian lawyer on natalia about this meeting, take a look and then i want your response. >> translator: when it was suggested that i meet with donald trump jr. i met him in a provide situation. it was a private meet

president's son after donald trump, jr. admits he met with a russian lawyer expecting to get damaging information on hillary clinton. >>> tonight, new questions about collusion, and what the president may have known. weakening sanctions, did the trump administration secretly try to water down legislation that would slap new sanctions on russia and the putin regime? we're going to tell you what we're learning this hour. >>> widening split, as more senate republicans refuse to support the republican health care bill, the president is daring lawmakers to skip their august recess while staying largely absent from the nitty-gritty up on capitol hill. is there any real hope for progress in the days ahead? >>> and taking back mosul as iraq declares a crucial victory against isis, cnn goes inside the climatic battle with exclusive video of a war-torn city emerging from the terrorist's brutal grip. we want to we will p come our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." breaki

donald trump jr. was told in advance that this attorney was with or representing the russian government. as for that attorney, he met with my colleague, keir simmons, who tracked her down in moscow, in an exclusive interview she denied any connection with the kremlin but in an apparent contradiction to what donald trump jr. has said, the attorney says the premise for the meeting was to discuss sanctions. >> reporter: what was the purpose of that meeting? >> translator: i never knew who else would be attending the meeting. all i knew that mr. donald trump jr. was willing to meet with me. i could recognize the young gentleman who was only present in the meeting for probably the first seven to ten minutes and then he stood up and left the room. it was mr. jared kushner and he never came back, by the way. and the other individual who was at the same meeting was always looking at his phone. he was reading something. he never took any active part in the conversation. that was mr. manafort. >> reporter: they

and the lawyer who, met -- with -- with donald trump jr. trump tower that day as well as with jared kushner and paul manafort. met there. look at all the faces on the screen there. you have a connection going back to, that miss universe pageant there. where goldstone was familiar with donald trump jr. goldstone saying he could introduce donald trump jr. to the lawyer connected to the kremlin. the lawyer of course, offering information provided by, chaika, the prosecutor general in russia. who is, again, close to vladamir putin. offering this important information which he says is damaging to hillary clinton. and, goldstone saying that e-mail part of a larger -- effort by the russian government to influence the campaign to the advantage of donald trump. it is admittedly, a complicated web. putting all the faces on the screen there. but again none of the people involved in the e-mail came out of nowhere. the lawyer connected back to this prosecutor. goldstone, this, little known, publicist. miss universe, providing the connection between dona

donald trump jr. facing an expose has released what he says that e-mail exchange with the trump family business associate last year during the campaign. the e-mails make it clear that the trump associate, publicist rob goldstone, specifically offered what he described as information from the kremlin. russian officials quoted in the e-mail saying that goldstone said offered to provide the trump campaign with some official document sent information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and would be very useful to your father. this is obviously very high level and sensitive information, said the e-mail, but is part of russia and its government support for mr. trump, closed quote. donald jr.'s response, 15 minutes later, thanks, rob, i appreciate that. he went on to say, if it is what you say, i love it. especially later in the summer. peter alexander is at white house. peter, an extraordinary e-mail chain. he says it is legitimate and the new york times said now from its managing ed

donald trump jr. reportedly told in an e-mail that the russian government was trying to help the trump campaign. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. thanks so much for joining us. this is all according to "the new york times," which reports the e-mail was sent to trump jr. by the man who set up his meeting more than a year ago at trump tower with a russian lawyer. we're going to get straight to maggie haberman with "the new york times." she broke the story. joins us now via phone. maggie, just holding ahold of your reporting, reading some of it. so you have new reporting tonight about an e-mail donald trump received ahead of his june 2016 meeting with a russian lawyer. what can you tell us about that? >> so, look, there's a lot that we -- there's stuff we know and there are many things we don't know. what we do know right now, this i was a very much a group effort at the "times" by a lot of reporters, that don jr. in the course of being approached about a meeting on the woman, the lawyer, the russian

trump jr. that one of donald trump's former business partners had been contacted by a senior russian government official, and was offering the trump campaign information that would incriminate hillary clinton and her dealings with russia, and would be very useful to your father. adding, this is obviously very high level and sensitive information. but is part of russia and its government support for mr. trump. minutes later, trump jr.'s reply, if it's what you say, i love it. june 7th, after trading several e-mails, the associate suggests a meeting at trump tower with the russian government attorney who's flying over from moscow for this. trump jr. agrees, adding it's likely he'll bring paul manafort and my brother-in-law, jared kushner. mr. trump promises more dirt on clinton. >> i think you'll find it very informative. >> reporter: the next day kushner and manafort are added to the e-mail chain. they met at trump tower with natalia. where are your 33,000 e-mails that you deleted? within a week,

we'll bring you donald trump jr.'s explanation. ar what lawmakers are saying now and look at what this means for investigators looking into trump team ties to russia. the president has just issued a statement on his son. we'll play that for you.

donald trump jr. he made this request along with the republican chairman of the committee. he wants more information from kushner raising concerns that kushner did not disclose some key meetings in warner's words three meetings with russian officials left off some initial forms as well as information he is looking for from donald trump jr., presumably information related to this newly revealed meeting from last year with this russian lawyer. now, the question is when those two men will come before the committee. warner would not say when that would happen. either richard burr who i talked to about as well. but clearly these two men of interest to the committee as they are demanding more records. >> and i know you also had a chance to speak with the top republican in the senate judiciary committee, and he had something important to say. >> yeah, he did. he actually wants to hear from donald trump jr. in his own committee. this is the first time we've heard a republican chairman making this formal reque

donald trump jr. promises the whole story is now out. >> i am more than happy to be transparent about it and cooperate with everyone. >> as far as you know of this zepis everything? >> this is everything. >> it is not everything. over the next three days the number of participants in this meeting multiples. nbc learns in addition to the kremlin lawyer a former intelligent officer was also there and there was a translator present and some republicans in capitol hill are losing patie e patience. >> this is a serious situation and one that's long way over. joining me now is one of president's trump lawyer, welcome back to "meet the press." >> lets start with this. do you know for sure everyone who's at the meeting at donald trump jr. ? >> i don't represent donald trump jr. and i do not know everyone for sure was at the meeting. the president was not aware of the meeting and he did not attend it. >> when did the president become aware of the meeting? >> the president said, he became aware of it recently a

reporting right now that donald trump jr. met with a russian lawyer after being promised damaging information on hillary clinton. this is the first public indication that at least some in the trump campaign were willing to accept russian help. donald trump jr. provided cnn with the following statement. i quote, i was asked to have a meeting by an acquaintance i knew from the 2013 miss universe pageant. i was not told her name prior to the meeting. i asked jared, and jared and paul to attend, but told them nothing of the substance. we had a meeting in june 2016, after pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated she had information that individuals connected to russia were funding the democratic national committee and supporting miss clinton. her statements were vague. and ambiguous, made no sense. no details or supporting information was provided or even ordinary. it quickly became clear she had no meaningful information. she then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of russian children, and mentioned it. it bec

during the campaign, donald trump, jr. was a top adviser. we've heard time and time again how donald trump's children are the ones he talks to several times a day. those are the people he's closest to. it was also paul manafort, his campaign manager, and jared kushner, who is now a top adviser. so three significant people in the campaign in on this meeting. >> reporter: there are no three people who are closer to president trump than these three, with the exception of ivanka trump. these are the closest people around him, working in the small confines of trump tower there. so donald trump, jr. was one of the biggest surrogates, one of the most active advisers there. so that was the moment there on june 9, 2016, two days after that california primary, hillary clinton had just accepted the democratic nomination, as well. that's when the race was fully joined. so if you go back to that period, difficult to believe they wouldn't have discussed it. we'll find that out in the days ahead. >> jeff, thank you very much. joining me now, david chalian,

also trump jr.'s lawyer has previously insisted his client has done nothing wrong, and the president's legal team, his personal legal team, has said then candidate trump knew nothing of the meeting. here is just a selection of what was released. bear with me here. according to the e-mails on june 9th of 2016, rob goldstone writes to donald trump. goldstone, again, an acquaintance who manages a pop singer whose father has ties to the russian government and to president trump. goldstone writes, "the crown prosecutor of russia met with his the singer's father this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and would be very useful to your father." in that same e-mail, goldstone writes, "this is very obviously high level and sensitive information but is part of russia and its government support for mr. trump. 17 minutes later, trump jr. responds. "if it's what you say, i love i

the meeting took place in june on june 9th according to trump, jr., 2016. the white house is also told us that president trump did not know about this meeting yesterday during an off-camera press gaggle, sarah huckabee sanders maintains that there was no collusion between the campaign and russia. >> julie: thank you. >> eric: meanwhile, that russian lawyer natalia veselnitskaya says she has no information on hillary clinton and she was not sent by the kremlin. she spoke to nbc news. >> i never knew who else would be attending the meeting. all i knew was that mr. donald trump, jr., was willing to meet with me. i spoke with a young gentleman for probably the first 7-10 minutes, and then he stood up and left the room. it was mr. jared kushner and he never came back. the other individual who was at the meeting was always looking at his phone. he never took any active part in the conversation. that was mr. paul manafort. >> have you ever worked for the russian government? do you have connections to the russian government? >> no. >> eric: the emails that led to th

donald trump jr. would be somebody we would want to talk to. >> top democrat on the senate intelligence committee will be here live. >> and health care hustle? republicans taking another crack at repealing obamacare. >> i am sitting in the oval office with a pen in hand, waiting for our senators to give it to me. >> breaking news on the latest development that threatens to derail him. a key senator reveals how she'll vote next. >>> plus, the biggest political minds with insights on what happens next. >>> hello, i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of our union is disapproving. a brand new poll out this morning shows president trump has hit a new low with american voters. just 36% say they approve of the way he's doing his job with 58% of americans saying they disapprove. remarkably almost half of the american people saying they strongly disapprove of the job he's doing. 55% say the president is not making progress on his agenda. overnight the number one item on president trump's agenda, healt

donald trump jr. was told before the meeting he'd be given compromising information about hillary clinton that was part of a russian government effort to helps his father's campaign. russian government effort. those three crucial words, they are new, and very important, especially given the word that is missing. denial. no one in the white house or donald trump's orbit is denying this happened. >> that e-mail reportedly came from this man, rob goldstone, a publicist who helped coordinate the meeting. earlier this morning, the russian lawyer in that meet with trump jr. told nbc news this. >> translator: it's quite possible they were looking for such information because they wanted it so badly. >> they wanted it so badly. donald trump jr. has hired a lawyer. he says this is much ado about nothing. all of this is happening at the senate intelligence committee gets ready to begin interviews with trump campaign officials. first, our team of reporters on the ground covering all of the angles. let's begin at

donald trump jr. just releasing a chain of e-mails leading up to his meeting with a russian lawyer. a meeting where he hoped to get information damaging to hillary clinton. he released those e-mails, by the way, on twitter just after being notified by the "new york times" that it was about to publish those e-mails. this is from one of the e-mails donald trump jr. just posted. it's from the british publicist rob goldstone who helped around the meeting with a russian lawyer. "good morning, emin just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting." emin is a pop star whose businessman father has ties to president putin and did businessry president trump. the e-mail says, "the crown mince met with emin and offered information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and would be very useful to your father." continuing -- "this is obviously very high level and sensitive information but it part of the russia and its government's support for mr. trump helped along by em

it involved trump, jr., brother-in-law jared kushner, and campaign chairman paul manafort. we have extensive coverage tonight, including major garrett on team trump's changing stories, nancy cordes with the political fallout, and julianna goldman on the legal implications. but we begin with jeff pegues, who is following the e-mail trail. >> reporter: the first e-mail on june 3rd was blunt. music publicist robert goldstone wrote donald trump, jr., that a russian official had offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia. goldstone said it was very high level and sensitive information and part of russia and its government's support for mr. trump. the president's son replied, "if it's what you say, i love it." the information goldstone wrote was comeing from emin agalorov, a russian pop star whose father is a wealthy oligarch with ties to vladimir putin. mr. trump had worked with both men to bring the miss universe pageant to moscow in 2013. >> moscow is going to get hotter. >> repo

and donald trump jr., you know, not only was he amenable. brought senior members of the trump campaign. that may have sent a message in fact it was a dangle that that i'd be open to future meetings. >> as someone who's covered russia for a long time n the interview with keir simmons yesterday on nbc, the attorney said i'm not working with the russian government, i have no connection to the russian government. so that would put that at a random meeting between a woman who wanted to be put in touch with donald trump and an attorney from russia. does that fly with you? >> obviously vladimir putin remember has denied having any involvement with the 2016 hacking. people who have followed this closely whose opinion i trust on this believe that not only is the lawyer somebody who's very connected to the kremlin and has been used at their behest in a number of very politically sensitive cases before. but also, you know, in the same way that russia didn't actually go out of its way to hide the role. what i found living there for four years is that th

on june 3rd 2016, goldstone emailed donald trump jr. saying good morning, just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting. the crown prosecutor of russia met with his father this morning and offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia and will be very useful to your father. this is very high-level and sensitive information. but it's part of russia and government support for mr. trump. what do you think is the best way to handle this information and would you be able to speak to her about it directly? i can also send this information to your father but it is ultrasensitive. it wanted to to you first. best, bob goldstone. donald trump jr. replied 20 minutes later. in following emails, the two go back and forth about setting up that phone call. they eventually work out a time for a sitdown meeting with this russian lawyer. donald trump jr. also released a statement explaining that he was releasing the emails, to be tran