when trump jr. initially was promis promised dirt on the clinton campaign that never materialized. >> on capitol hill, the republican who ran the house russia investigation acknowledging she was unaware she was an informant of the russian government. >> that is new information. >> reporter: this is on the same day the house intelligence committee released its report from the russia probe. the republicans conclusion -- they found in evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. >> is it troubling to you that she was a russian informant with a meeting senior level trump campaign officials in 2016. >> no. because she presented her evidence there is no evidence she acted on that. >> the periodic praise and communications with wikileaks is said as highly objectionable and demonstrating poor judgment and the trump and clinton campaigns took ill considered actions including to meet with veselnitskaya in trump tower. in one interaction in the report, trump's former national security adviser m

, and trump jr. was promised would include damaging russian intelligence on hillary clinton, the intelligence committee merely called their eager attendance an apparent willingness to collect russian information from america's chief nuclear adversary "an act of poor judgment." this is the meeting, just to remind you, that donald trump jr. was so hyped about beforehand, he wrote to the guy pitching it about the promised dirt, "if it's what you say, i love it, especially later in the summer, i love it," after being promised "high-level and sensitive information, part of russia and its government support for mr. trump." "i love it," he said, about a meeting we now know ultimately included a russian informant. this was the meeting that donald trump jr. and later the white house made misleading statements about saying it was primarily about adoption. don junior and the others at the meeting say the promised dirt never materialized. the fact is, though, no one except the participants knows what was said or

a communication between donald trump jr. and candidate trump, his father about the june 2016 meeting but the republicans deny their efforts to subpoena for the records. questions still linger despite this report. >> new details come in. new questions arise. president trump said he is honored by the report and encouraged by historic peace talks between north and south korea. the president is taking some of the credit for progress on the korean peninsula while criticizing his predecessors for not making it happen sooner. let's go to jeff. the president is setting the stage for his own talks. setting the bar high for his talks with kim jong-un. is he over promising in terms of what he can deliver? >> reporter: that's a central question. no doubt the white house has been watching what's happening at the dmz. watching those historic meetings. the president wants to be part of the meetings as well. he said a historic meeting between him and kim jong-un is likely to happen. the u.s. narrowed it down a couple different sites mep said

you look at donald trump's jr.'s reaction to the e-mail. >> yeah. >> where he's offered dirt on hillary clinton by someone who claims to be linked to the russian prosecutor and he says, yeah, bring it on, i love it. it seems pretty witting to me. it always seemed witting to me. this information ties her, as jeremy said, if there's a criminal case brought, it's possible this will aid bob mueller into actually indicting natalia veselnitskaya -- >> veselnitskaya. >> it's possible that they will have -- this will have importance implications in courts of law or at least in legal proceedings. but in terms of what the trump people knew i feel as though we have known effectively whether they were trying to do russia -- advance russia's interest is still a little obscure. whether they were willing to work with russians in order to try to advance their own interests, i.e., in defeating hillary clinton, i think that's been clear now for a little almost a year. >> jeremy, i saw your face. react to that for me. >> yeah, and let

and donald trump jr. called trump -- or called a russian oligarch that they had contact with and then got off that call, called a blocked number, and then went back and called this russian oligarch. and adam schiff and others have earlier today pointed out that they wanted to know who the blocked number was because donald trump had a blocked number, and did they call him? was he connected to this? and in fact, it seems like that would have been something a real investigation would go look at, but the republicans said, we're not interested. >> we're not going to look at that. >> we're not interested in who he called in the middle of this. but clearly there's a number of things afoot now that suggest that not only did this meeting with this spy take place and did they know what they were doing, but that the president of the united states may have actually been involved. >> right. and we can't go quite that far because a lot of people have blocked numbers to be honest. >> no, it's absolutely true. >> but you'

believe that it's quite possible or i believe i'll speak for myself it's quite possible that donald trump jr. spoke to his father, donald trump, in setting up the meeting. so it's possible that donald trump actually had knowledge ahead of time that this meeting was going to happen. we just found out the today that that meeting included a woman who was an informant for the russian government, natalia veselnitskaya. and that's a serious thing when the committee turns a blind eye and doesn't try to figure out exactly what happened. >> there was no follow up on who the blocked number might be. >> there was not only no follow up on the blocked number. there was no follow up on anything that was told to us. how does a committee not issue a single subpoena? this was basically a kindergarten exercise where any brought in witnesses, let them say what they were going to say took them at their word and said okay we're all done here, no collusion. >> the flip side of that, you don't have any evidence yourself that that blocked number was from now president trump, do you. >> not at all. and the reason we

there have been so many from donald trump jr., from others in the trump orbit. the president himself. and we are, you know, looking for answers to that right now. >> let's turn to iran. a major topic of this week. macron came from france to try to, among other things, convince the president to certify the iran deal. and it runs compliance when it comes up on may 12th. and then angela merkel of germany was here just yesterday. i want you to listen to the new secretary of state, mike pompeo. >> no decision made. so the team is working, and i'm sure we'll have lots of conversations to deliver what the president has made clear. absent a substantial fix, absent overcoming the shortcomings, the flaws of the deal. he is unlikely to stay in that deal past this may. >> rebecca, republicans unanimously opposed the deal in 2015 when it was proposed. at this point, are they likely to impose snapback sanctions if iran doesn't comply? where are we, is there a significant pert -- percentage of republicans on the hill in agreement with the president? >> politically this has rem

we're talking real collusion here, as an intermediate wrote to donald trump jr. in early june of 2016, the crown prosecutor of russia offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary. trump jr. famously applied, if that's what you say, i love it. that's donald jr. speaking for his father. the reported subject of the meeting, which took place six days after that exchange was about u.s. sanctions relief to russia. however, the participants have downplayed the significance of the meeting ever since. of course, they have. joining me right now are four msnbc contributors, david corn, the author of a great new book, "russian roulette," jane wine banks, paul butler as well as ken dilanian right here. dave, you just got into chicago. glad you could make the show tonight. this is hot stuff. this pretense that she was an intermediary, you know, i'm a cupid, turns out she's working for the kremlin in delivering promised dirt on hillary in exchange for us easing the economic sanctions. your thought? how does thi

the russian lawyer who met with donald trump jr. t on hillary clinton now revealing she has klocloser ties to the creme than than she previously admitted. listen to what she tells nbc. [ speaking a foreign language ] natalia veselnitskaya disclosing that

trump jr.'s only e-mails that was set up because the russians had dirt that they wanted to share with mr. trump's political opponent hillary clinton. this included his campaign manager and other trump officials, including his son. this is an individual who -- let's remember they first lied about the purpose of the meeting, issued a statement they discussed adoptions. we know that wasn't true. this is one more example of a meeting between trump campaign officials and the russians that folks have lied about or attempted to conceal and now we learn that this woman lied about her own role there. that she wasn't just a private attorney, but she, in fact, had ties to the kehm ly-- kremlin a worked for the government as an informant. so this is very disturbing. this is, i think, just one more piece of evidence about this relationship and this ongoing relationship between the trump campaign and russia officials that continue to be the subject of meetings and secret conversation and concealment. so i th

the new revelations this weekend about the now infamous 2016 trump tower meeting, the one donald trump jr. hosted after being promised dirt on his dad's opponent, hillary clinton. you'll recall the trump campaign claims this meeting amounted to nothing. there was no dirt, they say. instead, they say the russians were there to lobby against the magnitsky act, a law that sanctions russians accused of human rights abuses. however, we're learning that the russians followed up after the election. here's congressman adam schiff, the ranking member on the house intelligence committee. >> yes, veselnitskaya reaches back to the trump family right after the election, saying we want to follow up now on this request we have on the magnitsky act. so clearly, there's an expectation there on the russian side that they may now have success with the magnitsky act given that the prior meeting in communications dealt with the offer of help and the request on the russian part for appeal of magnitsky. it seems like the russians wier ready for payback. >> adam, we know donald trump jr. sent an e-mail about the

you know, donald trump jr. and donald trump, his father, did go to the nra convention where two russians also attended in kentucky in may 2016. >> all right. congressman, thanks for laying that out for us. >> my pleasure. >>> still ahead, a major legal setback for trump's former campaign manager. the new gaping hole in paul manafort's defense strategy and what it means for his upcoming criminal trials, next. that's why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. everything. and that 2% cash back adds up to thousands of dollars each year... so i can keep growing my business in big leaps! what's in your wallet? in the 2018 lexusxus saes and es hybrid.standard lease the 2018 es 350 for $399/month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. oone part ribs. two parts incredible. new steak & ribs at outback. $15.99 for a limited time. get a 6oz sirloin and make it your own with a choice of honey sriracha, barbecue, or dry rub ribs. so hurr

as an intermediate road to donald trump jr. in early june of 2016, the crown prosecutor of russia offered to provide the trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate hillary. trump junior famously replied, if that's what you say, i love it. that's donald junior speaking for his father. the reported subject of the meeting which took place six days after that exchange, was about u.s. sanctions relief to russia. however, the participants have downplayed the significance of the meeting ever since. joining me now are david corn, washington bureau chief for mother jones. jim wine banks, a former watergate prosecutor. paul butler, former u.s. attorney. ken ken dilanian. this is hot stuff. i mean this pretending she was an intermediary, sort of i bring you guys together, i'm a kuchcu. it turns out she's working for the kremlin and delivering promised dirt on hillary in exchange for us easing the economic sanctions. how does this fit into the context of collusion between trump and the russians? >> it

trump jr. to my understanding, yes. so trump jr.iming this was just about providing information on hillary clinton and adoption. is there any problem now for donald trump jr. in your view if it turns out that the person he was having these discussions about derogatory information about turns out to be a criminal informant. >> yes, there should be a important. there should have been a problem from the beginning when he published his e-mails drourn jr. on twitter nearly a year ago we saw this laid out, we saw the illicit ties documented and now that we know that, you know, she was working for, you know, chyka, working for the lawyer that's even worse for donald trump jr. what's important is to look at this in the broader scope of illicit connections between the trump campaign and trump administration and the kremlin and oligarchs. trump jr. is only one part of this puzzle. they are trying to say there is no collusion, but i think what we're seeing here is the cover up. we have two layers of this problem, one is what they did in his el

they will use who ever they want to get whatever they want. >> we know that when donald trump jr. was told he was going to get dirt on hillary clinton said i love it. we know there was a russian informant in this meeting at trump tower. does it seem it you more than just the poor judgment? >> we know she lied to the senate intelligence committee. that comes into play. so we don't know what angle she has to play by saying she was an informant. maybe it is to get the media worked up or get the democrats worked up. but you can't put a lot of weight on somebody who lied to the senate intelligence committee and sewing all this e descent. if she is making that claim, she lied to the senate intelligence committee which is a crime. and it goes to her credibility. >> she was trying to give dirt to a candidate of the united states. >> the fact this meeting, it has always been an -- now we know there was a russian inform mantn the room to deliver that. >> why are pushes being pushed to end when this seems like the kind of thing you want to dig into and find out is she lying? what is her relat

but, you know, donald trump jr. and donald trump, his father, did go to the nra convention where alexander torshin and maria boutina, two russians, also attended in may of 2016. >> congressman eric swalwell, thanks for laying that out for us. >> my pleasure. >>> still ahead, a legal setback for trump's former campaign manager. the new gaping hole in paul manafort's defense strategy and what it means for both his upcoming criminal trials, next. from paying too much on their car insurance. hey, there's cake in the breakroom... what are you doing? um...nothing? marvel studios' avengers: infinity war, in theaters april 27th. now...where were we? searching for answers may feel overwhelming. so start your search with our teams of specialists at cancer treatment centers of america. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea can start in the colon and may be signs of an imbalance of good bacteria. only phillips' colon health has this unique combinatio

donald trump jr., yes. almost as if somebody said was involved in that -- >> meeting. >> the trump tower meeting. there is no corey lewandowski either. they put the manager when it was manafort for that two month period. >> they specifically picked out people that we know have had contacts with the russians so they can depose them and get the discovery and have the documents and all that stuff and the alternate documents from mutualer. >> couldn't kellyanne conway get it thrown out if she were named it's probably harder for others to throw it out. >> i'm just saying it is curious her name hasn't come up. >> i'm starting to think our whole politics is being consumed by this and frankly nothing is going to break through. >> i think that may be true. when i hear jonathan say this is not going wiaway, it's going toe with us next year and forever. there is a real dilemma. hugely important to the base. i'm sure there are people listening to me say they shouldn't make this the centerpiece who are raging against th

but, you know, donald trump jr. and donald trump, his father, did go to the nra convention where alexander torshin and maria bu tina, two russians, also attended in may of 2016. >> congressman eric swal level, thanks for laying that out for us. >> my pleasure. >>> still ahead, a legal setback for trump's former campaign manager. the new gaping hole in paul manafort's defense strategy and what means for both his upcoming criminal trials, next. but i'm not standing still... and with godaddy, i've made my ideas real. ♪ i made my own way, now it's time to make yours. ♪ everything is working, just like it should ♪ you know what's not awesome? gig-speed internet. when only certain people can get it. let's fix that. let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids, and these guys, him, ah. oh hello. that lady, these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. >>> former donald trump campaig

but, you know, donald trump jr. and donald trump, his father, did go to the nra convention where alexander torshin and maria bu tina, two russians, also attended in may of 2016. >> congressman eric swal level, thanks for laying that out for us. >> my pleasure. >>> still ahead, a legal setback for trump's former campaign manager. the new gaping hole in paul manafort's defense strategy and what means for both his upcoming criminal trials, next. or psoriatic arthritis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is as

that trump tower meeting was where paul man afort, donald trump jr., jared kushner met with a whole bunch of russians, ostensibly to receive delivery of russian government dirt on hillary clinton which the russians said they were providing to the trump campaign to help them win the election. now, that meeting of course has remained a real focus in the russia investigation but it's also still kind of a black box. i mean, after concealing for almost a year that that meeting had ever happened in the first place, once it came out everybody involved in that meeting has said yeah, nothing to see here, it was no big deal, it was all one big nothing, we kept it secret, sure, but not for any reason, nothing happened. well, tonight nbc news chief -- tonight nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has a scoop about one of the participants in that meeting. it is a scoop that may get us a step closer to understanding why that whole thing happened and why that exact cast of characters turned up that day for that meeting. tonight we are going to tallinn, estonia, where our own richard engel i

in messages exchanged with donald trump jr. before the trump tower meeting, the alleged dirt that was promised to the trump campaign was said to come from the kremlin's top prosecutor. those explosive new details of natalia veselnitskaya's kremlin ties broke just as house intelligence committee republicans released a redacted version of their final report from a year-long probe into russia's interference and influence operation. the report accuses the intelligence community of significant intelligence trade craft failings it said investigators found no evidence that the trump campaign colluded coordinated or conspired with the russians, end quote. even as the report details communication between the trump campaign and the russians like natalia veselnitskaya. >> we're honored it was a great report. no collusion, which i knew anyway, no coordination, nothing. it's a witch hunt. there was no collusion with russia. i was very honored by the report. it was totally conclusive, strong powerful. >> not so clear that it was all that conc

trump, the other one. no, not ivanka, either. she had a thing. it's don jrs wet for some reason." ( laughter ) ( cheers and applause ) a lot of fans here tonight. the trumps have a lot of fans. these invites do not come cheap. the trump organization offered home buyers the opportunity to pay about $38,000 to "join mr. donald trump jr. for a conversation and dinner." yes, it's a big opportunity. usually, usually, to meet trump jr., you have to be russian... ( laughter ) and-- ( cheers and applause ) i don't know what that was. and these people are going to get their money's worth. check out this interview he gave to indian television yesterday. >> i think there is something about the spirit of the indian people that's unique here to other parts of the emerging world. i can-- you know, you go through a town, and you, you know, and i don't mean to be glib about it, but you can see the poorest of the poor, and there's a, there's still a smile on a face. >> stephen: yes. i mean, there's nothing worse than a depressing poor. i mean, i've said it before and i'll sa

donald trump jr. and the others in that meeting expected to go in there getting dirt on hillary clinton. instead, naskayof focused on the magnitsky act and these sanctions. there was follow up where he reached out, as we heard from congressman schiff yesterday. also, the oligarch who took part in that meeting, he also separately reached out after. so what that suggests is there was hope from the russians once trump was elected they could get movement on this. it's worth knowing the sanctions didn't go away but it's still a suspicious action. >> two of these people in this meeting now attempted -- we're finding out attempted to contact the trump team after the election. do you view this as criminality as a part of those meetings? >> it's possible. what's important is whether there was an understanding between the russians who were at that meeting and the representatives of the trump campaign. if there was some expectation of a follow-up, that could be evidence of an agreement. an agreement could be ill

how about we try to score a meeting with guys like kushner and donald trump jr. in trump tower? what do you think? there is no way that the kremlin would have allowed that to happen. there is also no way they would have done that knowing the consequences like that freela e freelancing like that would have brought when they got back to moscow. it just doesn't happen that way in russia. >> patrick, very quickly, if you will, we have the midterms coming up. more drip, drip, drip from the russia investigation. what do you see as the impact? >> it's a real concern. we have a story in "the new york times" up today about how president trump is privately rejecting republican warnings that they are likely to lose the house and maybe even the senate. that he really believes that this is not a problem. that everything is going to work out. that just like people underestimated him in 2016, they'll do so again in 2018. and he keeps sort of rejecting it over and over again. but the problem is, a, he's not on the ballot. and b, the russian investigation, the drip, drip, drip aspect of it and h

ran for president is out there. >> what you're saying is, you don't like the message that donald trump jrtrump sr. -- >> that's not what i'm saying. please don't put words in my mouth. >> that's what you're saying -- >> that's not what i'm basically saying. >> i got to go. let me say this. >> tell me about the problems you think i have. >> i'm over time. i am over time. i am over time. so, look. she's an american, you may not like it, she has every right to be out there if she wants to be. if it's a good idea for the democratic party, that is another story. you can't say she should hide somewhere. she has every wright to right t she wants to do. she is an american citizen. that's going to do it for us tonight. i'll see you back here tomorrow. thou hast the patchy beard of a pre-pubescent squire! thy armor was forged by a feeble-fingered peasant woman... your mom! as long as hecklers love to heckle, you can count on geico saving folks money. boring! fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. introducing walit's a great days. for a great deal! tender, center-cu

ran for president is out there. >> what you're saying is, you don't like the message that donald trump jr. or donald trump sr. -- >> that's not what i'm saying. please don't put words in my mouth. >> that's what you're saying -- >> that's not what i'm basically saying. >> i got to go. let me say this. >> tell me about the problems you think i have. >> i'm over time. i am over time. i am over time. so, look. she's an american, you may not like it, she has every right to be out there if she wants to be. if it's a good idea for the democratic party, that is another story. you can't say she should hide somewhere. she has every right to do what she wants to do. she is an american citizen. that's going to do it for us tonight. i'll see you back here tomorrow. . . . "i have antivirus, but my computer's still slow..." "that's not right..." "maybe if i reboot..." "what's with all the popups?" "why does it keep on crashing?" "this is taking forever." "i think it's time for the fixmestick." fixmestick is a plug-in virus removal device. it's the smart, simple, safe way to clean your computer yourself

donald trump jr. talked three days before the trump tower meeting who had set it up. they did everything they could to protect the president. there was very little. you can see it in the public transcripts. very little attendance on their part. when they did show up the questions they asked were essentially hey, did you no. okay. great. next. >> you and other democrats would come on and be visibly frustrated by what you thought was lack of interest. i'm sure some were saying you are just saying that because you're democrats. if you look at that should this be a revelation after the investigation is closed? >> we all knew she was a spy when she offered dirt on hillary clinton through the trump family. it was during the summer of 2016. it was an unannounced meeting. other parts of the globe she would pop up and meet with congressman. she is a spy. she is competing as employee of the year for the russian government. how hard she was working. it should have been obvious. i have written legislation that is called a duty to report which says if you were contacted as a candi

then later trump jr.ays, well, what she really wanted was to get rid of these sanctions from 2012. now we learn she has closer ties to the kremlin than we thought. >> the statement she gave to the judiciary committee she was acting in her private capacity no, ties to the russian government. and we know team trump also said they went to that meeting with that understanding. and they were going to get basically information on hillary, dirt on hillary. opposition research. i mean we have to wait and see who's telling the truth, who knew what. but i guarantee mueller knew about this. this meeting is part of his investigation into russian collision. lugs. -- collusion. this is probably the first time we're hearing about it. >> trace: she lied to congress, i'm acting on my own. but she could have been forthright. >> absolutely. the issue is did the trump team know that when necessity took the meeting, was this evidence of collusion by team trump and the russian government. we can't make that leap yet based on t

kremlin linked to political party in ukraine but it was the american media that hypothesize that trump jr is meeting with a russian lawyer proved moscow was supporting trump donald trump son think he was about to get help from a russian lawyer with ties to the kremlin this is looking more and more like treason all these strange behavior from the president it's all explains now a stream of leagues. the intelligence community condemned by the report as damaging national security wasn't orchestrated by the kremlin who are also learning from your sources that intelligence officials they denied n.b.c. news is learning from intelligence sources u.s. intelligence sources tell c.b.s. news or even taken bastard house of team trump was accused of meeting with him and that threaten their jobs but the report says there was nothing sinister there also there the controversial russian ambassador sergey look of course of the pictures of course a shameful picture where the united states press corps was kept out by the russians were there is an open question whether there was collusion cooperation between

reporter: it highlighted the june 6 meeting donald trump, jr. had. today a new revelation.he was a government informant. democrats lept on that one. >> what we have seen of her contacts within the russian government as well as her persistence in terms of one of putin's top priorities would indicate, she is work on behalf of the kremlin. reporter: uncomfortable moments like the aborted hand shaisk their last visit were avoided. merkel indicated germany is open to reducing its trade surplus with the u.s. and more cooperation is needed. >> this agreement is anything but perfect. it will not solve all the problems with iran. it's one piece of the building block picture. >> did you leak other things to mr. richmond? >> yes. i don't consider what i did with mr. richmond a leak. i'd told him about an unclassified conversation i had with the president. >> you said you don't leak or do weasley moves. but that's a leak, isn't it? >> it is not. reporter: trump says he illegally leaked classified information but doesn't understand what he did or how serious it is. he lied all over the

used poor judgment in reaching out and having contacts with wikileaks on two occasions can donald trump jr. and separate meetings that occurred between russian officials and trump associates during the campaign season, in addition to that june 2016 meeting, it does lay out a number of meetings that did occur with michael flynn, the former national security adviser, who had traveled to mass could you duri -- moscow for a conference by r. it. >> -- r.t., the russian ambassador. and it said he met with sergei kislyak. it also discusses michael cohen, trump's personal attorney in his efforts to try to get a proposed trump tower moscow built, certainly that was later abandoned. it showed e-mail exchanges about discussions about trump appearing on stage with putin and it never materialized in the campaign. democrats have their own view and say that was not the point, it was not investigated fully to come to that conclusion that they believe showed signs, at least attempted, between the trump campaign and russia. >> and the russian lawyer at the center of that meeting in trump tower is now a, quo

the russian lawyer who met with donald trump jr. and other members of the trump campaign who claim to have dirt on hillary clinton now revealing she has klocloser ties to the creme than than she previously admitted. listen to what she tells nbc. [ speaking a foreign language ] natalia veselnitskaya disclosing that she is an informant for the russian government. that comes as house republicans release their version of the report on the intel committee's year-long russia investigation, 253 pages worth. oddly enough, all of this was news to the republican who led the investigation. >> one of the things that also we have learned today is that now natalia veselnitskaya, that russian lawyer says that she was actually a russian informant during the campaign. did you know she was a russian spy? as part of your investigation did that come up at all? that she was a russian spy? >> not that i recall. that's new information. >> and do you think that's relevant to what happened in the 2016 campaign that she was a russian informant? >> there are l

members of trump's campaign team inviting congressional scrutiny into advisers including donald trump jread kushner and jeff sessions. >> i've been a member for a long time and my boys are members so to get the endorsement is a fantastic honor. >> $30 million in trump's candidacy. according to the center for responsive politics, behind the scene scenes. adding, putin is deadly serious about building a good relationship with mr. president trump. >> here you have in black and white, evidence that there was an effort by the russians to use the nra as their channel, one of their channels to the trump campaign. >> reporter: torshin didn't meet trump at there by they wondered if it was a setup. trump junior told investigators he doesn't ro recall discussing the upcoming election with torshin. in 2015, keen took nra backers to moscow. a country known for its strict firearms laws. nra group went sight-seeing and toured a gun manufacturer. by 2016 they had become fixtures. nra said torshin hasn't made any donations aside from membership dues and hasn't found any foreign donations related to the u

you saw donald trump, jr., retweeting it as well. kim kardashian tweeted and donald trump, jr., like to that. strange confluence of politics and culture again. jane: dragon ergy. a bit like you and me. anthony: exactly. jane: quick look at the day's other news. chinese scientists say that they believe north korea's test sites have beeso badly damaged by an atomic explosion that it is no longer usable. scientists say the mountain has become so fragile that radioactive dust is coming through the cracks. if true,ul that cod explain pyongyang's decision last week to close down the site. there has been a series of demonstrations across germanyag nst anti-semitism in solidarity with 2 jewish men who were attacked for wearing jewish skullcaps. many non-jews joined the protests wearing the cap's. i gathering in brussels has raised nearly $4 billion to fund aid efforts in syria. the group says the money pleed is half needed, but called it a good start. 59 people in syria -- 15 million people in super neat humanitarian help. police in southern

ultimately they decided it wasn't worth it because at the time donald trump jr. kind of a fading reality star, so they didn't want to have any litigation so they just speiked the story. >> how does it affect anything, if at all, that stormy daniels is about to enter that courthou courthouse? michael cohen is inside, new attorneys inside also. how does all of this fit into this? because the fbi has been investigating cohen now, we're told, for months. >> what we understand is one of the things they're looking at is was there a conspiracy to cover up issues before the election? in general, michael cohen certainly was the fixer for donald trump, so was there any conspiracy, were there any laws broken in terms of trying to conceal information from the public? >> important information, indeed. michael rockfeld of the "wall street journal," thanks very much. >>> we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, we'll go back to that federal courthouse in new york city. it could be pretty lively. stormy daniels is about to show up with her attorney, michael avenatti

this goes back to the 2016 meeting at trump tower which was attended by donald trump jr., jared kushner and paul manafort which at first was a discussion according to the trump campaign about adoption of some type of offer about whether or not they had information on hillary clinton campaign. so that lawyer at the center of this which is also the mueller probe on going admitting she was working with the russian prosecutor's office since 2013. >> katie: thank you so much. kennedy, natalia turned out to be an informant and the other thing we can call her is a spy. >> kennedy: absolutely. if i don't think anyone is foolish enough to say we should trust the russian government or a people who claim to not be agents especially when they are peddling information to disrupt normal elections in our political system and that is where it seems everyone was getting dirt for the 2016 presidential campaign, everyone. and it's a sad state of affairs. what a surprise, of course. who else has been operating as a russian spy? >> katie: i want to ask you a question because donald trump jr. took this meeti

and this is why donald trump jr. had said bring it, you know, excitedly saying yes, we -- >> we'd love it. e-mails show that. >> exactly. so we've seen those communications which indicate that members of the trump team were excited about having this meeting and wanted to see what possibly dirt she had on clinton to share. >> and christopher wray, director of the fbi, was asked what a campaign should do when a foreign entity comes to them and says hey, listen, i got some dirt on your opponent. and he said very clearly, well, report to the fbi. it would seem natural. >> and i think it is not just chris wray. lindsey graham and others say the right thing to do in that instance is to call the fbi, to call the authorities because this is not something that any campaign should want to participate in. look, again, this is the reason, this is the center of why there is so much suspicion about what exactly was happening in the trump campaign in that period and why we have so many unanswered yeses. questions. >> and the timing