donald trump, jr., jared kushner, and former trump campaign chairman paul manafort who all attended that controversial meeting must appear before the senate intelligence committee. meanwhile, the white house says a legal review process is delaying the president from signing a sanctions bill punishing russia for its meddling in the u.s. election. the president has now had the bill for five days. >>> and there's more breaking news. secretary of state rex tillerson says the u.s. is willing to sit down for talks with north korea, adding and i'm quoting him now, we are not your enemy. his remarks are a sharp contrast to comments by senator lindsey graham today who says, military action is inevitable if north korea continues its aggressive drive for a nuclear missile. we are covering all of that, much more this hour with our guests, including senator james rish of the intelligence and foreign relations committees and our correspondents and specialists are also standing by. let's begin with the contradiction

and donald trump jr.'s attorneys who had been the ones craft thing statement, that the president had nothing to do with it, and they denied "the new york times" story which said that on air force one this had been discussed with advisers and the president signed off on it. so the idea that the president was even more involved in that runs counter to what the president's own attorneys have said. are there any -- did you get any responses from the president's attorneys about the discrepancy with your reporting and past statements? >> we did. we sent quite a long list of questions to jay sekulow, who is one of the president's attorneys and is perhaps the most outspoken. he didn't answer our specific questions, but did issue one statement to us, which reads, apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misen formed, inaccurate and not pertinent. we went back and asked again for specifics, but didn't receive anything, any guidance beyond that statement. >> the other question is, when did the pr

and donald trump jr.'s attorneys who had been the ones crafting this statement that the president had nothing to do with it and that they denied the initial "new york times" story which said on air force one, this had been discussed among his advisers and the president had signed off on it. the idea that the president was more involved than that, that's something that runs counter to what the president's own attorneys have said. are there any -- did you get any responses from the president's attorneys about the discrepancy between your reporting and their past statements? >> we did. we sent quite a lengthy list of long list of questions to jay sekulow who is one of the president's attorneys and is perhaps the most outspoken. he didn't answer our specific questions but did issue one statement sentence to us which reads, anderson, the president's attorney said apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate and not pertinent. we went back and asked again for specifics bu

and donald trump jr.'s attorneys who had been the one crafting this statement and that the president had nothing to do with it and they denied the "new york times" story that it was discussed among the president's advisors and that the president signed off on it. that's something that runs counter to what the president's own attorneys had said. did you get any responses from the president's attorney about the discrepancy between your reporting and what your past statements were? >> we sent a long list of questions to jay seculow who is one of the president's attorneys and is perhaps the most outspoken and he did answer our specific questions but did answer one statement sentenced to us, which reads, anderson, the president's attorney said apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate and not pertinent. we went back and asked again for specifics but it didn't receive anything, any guidance beyond that statement that i just read. >> we're going to have -- back now with

donald trump jr., or attorneys for donald trump jr. told our pamela brown that, in fact, they were ready and wanted to put out a more fullsome statement, i believe was their terminology, if memory serves me correct but that's not what end upped happening. i want to play what two people close to the president said at the time. jay sekulow and sarah huckabee sanders at one of the audio only briefings. let's play this. >> so he didn't have anything to do with the statement don junior put out that was being worked on with his team? >> the statement that don junior put out -- you talking about yesterday's? >> the one over the weekend that the president -- >> that was written -- no, that was written by donald trump jr. and i'm sure in consultation with his lawyer. >> because "the new york times" has reporting that the president okayed the statement. >> they're incorrect. >> "the new york times" is wrong. >> is that shocking that sometimes they make a mistake? >> has president trump had any communication with his son donald trump jr. over the

getting back to donald trump jr.'s statement, for all the talk about the new chief of staff here bringing order and discipline to the white house, there is another thing in short supply here, and that's honesty. jake? >> let's turn it over to senator flake of arizona whose new book is rattling more than a few cages today. it is entitled "conscience of a conservative, a rejection of destructive politics and a return to principle." senator, thank you for being here. i have a different conscience book at home by barry goldwater, it looks a lot like this one. obviously the content different. congratulations. >> thank you. >> let's get to the news of the "washington post" reporting and the white house confirming that president trump played a role in drafting this initial misleading statement about donald trump jr.'s meeting with the russians. what's your reaction? >> i was surprised to hear that, but i know that the committees of jurisdiction, the senate intelligence committee on a bipartisan basis is looking at this, as t

donald trump, jr. released on july 8 when "the new york times" was about to reteal that trump junior met with a russian attorney. this is the statement that donald trump, jr. put out that the post says his father dictated -- now, the president's attorney, jay sekulow, has been saying the president had nothing to do with that statement. he said the statement was worked on by donald trump, jr. and his lawyers and we know he said this because he said this on the tv, a lot. >> so he didn't have anything to do with the statement that don junior put out? >> no. the president was not -- did not draft the response. the president was not involved in the drafting of the statement. i wasn't involved in the statement drafting at all, nor was the president. the president didn't sign off on anything. the president wasn't involved in that. >> so if "the washington post" was right, the president's attorney was misinformed or not being accurate. the white house made the claim that nothing was inaccurate in donald trump

donald trump jr. had with several russian nationals, inside trump tower during the campaign, in june of 2016. that meeting included campaign manager paul manafort and trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, and we now know multiple russians with ties to the kremlin. that story broke in "the new york times" on july 8th, the report included a written statement from donald trump jr., describing the meeting like this. quote, it was a short introductory meeting. i asked jared and paul to stop by. we primarily discussed a program about the adoption of russian children that was active and popular with american families years ago and was since ended by the russian government. but it was not a campaign issue at the time, and there was no follow up. well, we soon learned that the meeting was much more than a short introduction and that trump's inner circle did not go to that meeting, expecting to hear more about adoption. donald trump jr. released the e-mail chain, showing the back and forth that he had with the per

donald trump jr. we discuss a program about the adoption of russian children that was ended by the russian government but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up. we learned the meeting was more than an introduction and that trump's inner circle did not go to the meeting expecting to hear more about adoption. donald trump jr. showed the back and forth he had with the person who appears to have set the meetling up. rob goldstone wrote that the russian prosecutor offered to provide official documents and information that would incriminate hillary in her dealings with russia and would be useful to your father. this is high level and sensitive information but it's part of russia and its government support for mr. trump and don junior responded in part if it's what you say, i love it. obviously that is very different from what donald trump jr.'s first pass explaining the meeting. when he issued that statement saying it was a short are introductory meeting. we have breaking news a

donald trump jr.'s only e-mails, we know this. his own e-mails show trump jr. was promised, just in case you have forgotten, documents that would incriminate hillary and be useful to your father. it was part of russia's government support for trump. the meeting was set up with the promise of dirt coming from the russian government, the russian government which supported trump's support for presidency. they say it is accurate that the meeting was just about russian adoption. it is simply not the whole truth and it is not even close. another thing the white house is saying today that doesn't add up is this. >> the president weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information that he had. >> he weighed in the way any father would on a statement. >> all right. so they clearly picked those words, practiced them and have given them out as talking points, as any father would. the truth is it is not as any father would because this father is the president of the united states and the question abou

they included a statement from donald trump jr. who explained, quote, it was a short introductory meeting. i asked jared and paul to stop by. we primarily discussed a program about the adoption of russian children that were active and popular with american families years ago and since ended with the russian government. it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow-up. i was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance but was not told the name of the person i would be meeting with beforehand. it's been revealed that statement was not accurate. the meeting in question was much longer than a short introductory and we know that later from the e-mails donald junior published himself that the original stated purpose of the meeting was to pass along dirt on hillary clinton from the russian government to help the trump campaign. that offer caused trump junior to write back, i love it. so we know that what the president's son went to that appointment, what he was expecting was not, as his statement later said, a short i

it puts new light on donald trump jr hillary clinton. it puts new light on donald trumer is mad behaviour that week, perhaps. this enquiry about alleged russian meddling seems likely to run through donald trump jr is my presidency. i think the biggest takeaway from this, we do not know what robert muller was looking for. we don't know what documents he found. paul manafort‘s people said that they were the same documents that would have been willingly provided. this is evidence of mueller‘s muscle in this investigation. this is something clearly that is going to be going on for quite some time. donald trump jr says this is a witchhunt. is there a lot of sympathy for that view? trump supporters certainly believe that this is which front. they say that this is which front. they say that this is which front. they say that this is an excuse for democratic opponents to find some reason why hillary clinton lost. outside, even conservatives are taking this investigation very seriously and are special counsel with these wide—ranging powers

and then donald trump jr. had to issue two more statements each day the "new york times" advanced the story. >> yeah. no question that first statement was an complete description of this event. saying the meeting was primarily about adoption policy and what it does not say is that it had been advertised a as an opportunity to get incriminating information about hillary clinton provided by the russian government. that's a very different understanding of that meeting. so the first statement was certainly not complete. certainly misleading. we reported very shortly afterwards that president himself signed off on this statement. and then jay, one of his lawyers, went on television, went on this network and other networks to say, no, that's not true. that's an incorrect statement. the president had no involvement in it. that is obviously not true according to the white house itself. the white house itself today said he was using the words weigh in or dictate or whatever else. the white house confirmed what was repo

presidential election, and donald trump jr.'s response is, "i love it"? this is a big blow to the president and his administration, because the question has changed now. it's no longer, "was there collusion? it's now, "how much collusion was there?" and all because of his own son. donald jr. is now the first thing trump regrets putting his name on. [laughter] i bet you now he's going to have the name removed. sorry, jr., your new name is 60 riverside drive. ♪ [man coughs] [spooky music] - master. you'll be pleased to know i've done your bidding. so much bidding. the best bidding. - spasibo, donald. - ♪ i'm going down to south park ♪ ♪ gonna have myself a time ♪ both: ♪ friendly faces everywhere ♪ ♪ humble folks without temptation ♪ - ♪ i'm going down to south park ♪ ♪ gonna leave my woes behind ♪ - ♪ ample parking day or night ♪ ♪ people spouting "howdy neighbor" ♪ - ♪ headin' on up to south park ♪ ♪ gonna see if i can't unwind ♪ - ♪ [muffled] - ♪ come on down to south park ♪ ♪ a

presidential election, and donald trump jr.'s response is, "i love it"? this is a big blow to the president and his administration, because the question has changed now. it's no longer, "was there collusion? it's now, "how much collusion was there?" and all because of his own son. donald jr. is now the first thing trump regrets putting his name on. [laughter] i bet you now he's going to have the name removed. sorry, jr., your new name is 60 riverside drive. ♪ [man coughs] [spooky music] - master. you'll be pleased to know i've done your bidding. so much bidding. the best bidding. - spasibo, donald. comedy central from comedy central's world news headquarters in new york, this is "the daily show" with trevor noah! (cheers and applause). >> trevor: welcome to the daily show, thank you so much, everybody, thank you for tuning in, i'm trevor noah. my guest tonight coming out with her new movie atomic blonde, charlize theron is here, everyone. (applause) kicking ass in her new film. and speaking of white women who kick ass, beyonce

and other white house advisors, donald trump jr.'s advisors and other white house advisors wanted to do what you are supposed to do in a situation, get out all the information on your own terms, assuming that the "new york times" has it or it's going to come out anyway and don't hide anything, be fully transparent even if late and president trump was the one who overruled them. >> that's what the lawyers wanted to do. a lot of these attorneys have a lot of experience in washington. and they know they're going to come out anyway. and so the only conclusion you could reach is that there was -- i was told there was a plan that was semidone in place, and that somehow it got upset, and nobody quite knew why. so the only conclusion you could reach is because of the president. >> i want to talk about something that pamela and evan and simone broke which is we knew that intercepted had picked up manafort or russians talking about manafort before. they advanced the story today saying that these russian operatives were discussing how manafort

trump had anything to do with it. >> this was donald trump jr. and his lawyers, the president was not involved in that. >> reporter: the statement from trump jr. was drafted on july 8th. aboard air force one as the president returned from g 20 summit in germany and sent to "the new york times" reporting on the 2016 meeting. it said the meeting was abut the adoption of russian children. but trump jr. later released e-mails which showed he thought the russian lawyer had dirt on hillary clinton to which he replied, i love it. >> it was such a nothing. literally wouldn't have remembered the meeting. >> the president's son-in-law, jared kushner and then campaign chairman, paul manafort also attended the meeting. >> it doesn't look good. >> bill matea, former federal prosecutor says the president's involvement in crafting the statement may raise a red flag for special counsel robert mueller. >> wel, as the a prosecutor, if somebody comes to you and tells you x. in fact that's not true, and then you learn that somebody -- counseled them to do that, then

organization or the white house or donald trump jr. yeah? >> i'm going to let the public decide that. they know the information that is out there. i will say this, the only way that e-mail that "the new york times" broke, you know good reporters at "the new york times" was because the campaign did a review of the e-mails and disclosed this is information the campaign had seen. they gathered through extensive research. it's not like "the new york times" discovered the e-mail. it was given to them by someone from the trump organization. don got asked a follow up question. it didn't appear out of anywhere that "the new york times" found it. >> why the misleading statement then? >> i look at the statement and it's a revolving disclosure. i wouldn't have done it from that standpoint. they are entitled to their strategy. the strategy isn't inaccurate. there was a component of the meeting how to deal with russian adoptions. others took place. >> can we just say sanctions? that's the most accurate way. >> if it makes it sexy for you, we'll use

it became clear when donald trump jr. showed e-mails that said it was about russian government support for mr. trump. he replied, if it's what you say, i love it. tonight it's a waiting case of conflicting schedules as the white house tries to move beyond the cloud of the russian investigation. but president trump is put back on defense. >> the statement was true and there were no inaccuracies in the statement. i think what the biggest question is, everybody wants to try to make this story about misleading. the only thing i see misleading is a year's worth of stories that fuels off this russian collusion and based on phony scandal and anonymous sources. if we're going to talk about misleading, that's the only thing misleading i see about this entire process. >> reporter: two investigations are under way on capitol hill into potential collusion between the trump campaign and russia. >> i don't know what role the president played, if any. here's what i would suggest. that when you put out a misleading statement, it's going

tower between donald trump jr. and others. the man who led the intelligence community assessment on russian interference in the election, the former director of national intelligence under president obama, james clapper. and i appreciate your time, general. and we're very eager to have your input here. so let me start with the grand jury. we know it's a required step if there are to be indictments, but it doesn't obviously necessarily indicate there will be. but you can't have an indictment without a grand jury. you say that means there is a there there? >> well, it looks that way. and i don't find surprising this development given this long period which the special counsel has been at work and i also read into it when bob mueller hired more staff that there is there there, but i can't -- i can't say anything more than that. but it is not a surprising development. >> so you see a there there. you just pointed out robert mueller increasing the size of his staff. we're now looking at three dozen people. is there anyt

donald trump jr., between don junior and his lawyer. i'm sure his lawyer was involved that's how you do it. you know that. to put this on the president i think is absolutely incorrect. >> absolutely incorrect. the president's private attorney says, well, the "washington post" i noted reports today that in fact the president himself personally dictated his son's misleading statement. the newspaper says as air force one flew back from the g-20 summit in germany the president dictated a statement to white house aide hope pix and served as a go between, between the president and his son to discuss russian adoptions is not true and the account later had to be corrected. what do we make of this? which is a big deal. number one, proves you can't listen to the president's private attorney who goes on television. apparently what mr. secula was not true and whatever your views on the story you pay for it watching at home using hope pix and other white house employees to help him, puts them in legal jeopardy as well or gets them a conversation wit

. >> another talk about donald trump jr. linked to a russian attorney last year has changed. >> the attorney said donald trump had nothing to do with the meeting but now something different. >> reporter: new reports tonight from the white house over president trump's hands on role, crafting an explanations of his son's meeting with runner over the 2016 election. >> the president weighed in on my information he could. >> reporter: the white house acknowledging for the first time the president helped write a statement his son donald trump jr., son-in-law jared kushner and paul manafort has with the russians and others in the trump tower. the president dictated that busy leading statement. >> he certainly didn't dictate but he weighed in and offered suggestion like any father would do. >> reporter: his own lawyer assisted mr. trump didn't write the statement saying the meeting about russian adoption. >> i wasn't involved in the statement drafting at all nor was the president, i'm assuming that was between mr. donald trump jr.,

donald trump jr. has admitted to holding a undisclosed meeting, before the election, with a russian lawyer and a russian lobbyist who reportedly once worked for the kgb. and the hardest part to believe is there was a donald trump dumb enough to do that and it wasn't this one. [ laughter and applause ] china reportedly scrubbed the images of winnie the pooh from social media over the weekend, after users compared the character to their president. though it seems like it would be easier to just get their president to put some pants on. [ laughter ] president trump attended the u.s. women's open golf tournament this weekend. so just to be safe, the golfers got changed in their cars. [ laughter ] senate republicans are trying to add a provision to their healthcare bill that would allow companies to offer low cost reduced coverage plans, which critics are calling junk insurance. "i'll take some junk insurance," said dudes who wear really tight biking shorts. [ laughter and applause ] can never -- can never

your expertise on jared kushner donald trump jr a e-mails having meetings is anything illegal about all of that well the question is whether he failed to disclose that's one set of separate issues and could it affect his security clearance what we know so far about the for example the meeting that donald trump jr was involved with doesn't establish a crime by itself but what prosecutors are legitimately considering in examining a meeting like that is whether that provides some linkage that they can put together with other elements to show in effect that there was some kind of illicit conspiracy between somebody and the activities of the russian government collusion itself larry we know that's not a crime when you have to show is an intention to conspire criminally was somebody who is committing a crime such as hacking into a computer so the fact that there was at least briefly we don't know whether it was a long term willingness to consider getting der. on hillary clinton and that that willingness to consider getting dirt on hilly clinton was was manifested a pretty high level of th

reuters reporting the grand jury just issued subpoenas related to that june 2016 donald trump jr. meeting with that russian lawyer and others. so what does that mean? >> well, of course, bob mueller, special council, will use the grand jury to obtain evidence. he'll use the grand jury subpoenas to get documentary evidence and use the subpoenas to produce witnesses who would be otherwise unwilling to attend. >> jeff, how serious is all of this? these new developments involving grand juries? >> grand juries can issue indictments. and that's -- that's the ultimate sanction that a prosecutor has. that he can bring criminal cases. it's important to point out that just because a prosecutor impanels a grand jury, that doesn't mean any indictments will issue, but the one thing we know for sure is there can't be any indictments without a grand jury. so the fact that he has a grand jury means the case is moving forward, there will be testimony, there will be sworn testimony from witnesses, there will be grand jury subpoenas issued, presumably to banks, telephone companies, to individuals to

donald trump jr., released about his meeting with a russian lawyer. then, i sit down with republican senator jeff flake to talk about his new book criticizing his own party's abandonment of conservative principles, and its response to the president. >> i think we have a responsibility to stand up and say, "no, this is not right," and i hope we do so more in the future. >> woodruff: and, two years after the flint, michigan, water crisis, how schools there are seeing and dealing with the consequences of children exposed to lead. >> we have been focusing on hiring support staff for our students, additional social workers, school psychologists, speech pathologists, behavior specialists. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: secretary of state

trump jr. and a russian lawyer. hena doba is here in new york. good morning, hena. >> good morning, anne-marie. the white house says after the questions were crafted promising damaging info on hillary clinton, it appears they want any and all relevant documentation of that meeting from everyone involved. cbs news learns they want the phone records and everything related to the meaning with donald trump jr. that includes president trump's son-in-law jared kushner and paul manafort. even longtime supporters james risch says it's time to know anything and everything with that encounter. >> i guarantee there were phone calls along with those e-mails and i want to hear all of it. >> on wednesday president trump signed a new set of sanctions against russia but not before calling them, quote, seriously fraud. then he turned to immigration. >> this competitive application process will favor app can'ts who can speak english, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that

trump jr.'s famous russia meeting last year. mr. secretary, we will talk more about that in just a moment. i want to go to our senior white house correspondent over at the white house. the president's lawyer is now responding to these breaking stories. >> that's right. they would like this wrapped up quickly. i'm not sure they will get their wish. the president was asked about the grand jury being empanelled as he was leaving the white house for a political rally in west virginia. the president's special counsel ty cobb did release a statement to reporters saying they were caught off guard. talking about special council. jim comey said three times that the president is not under investigation and we have no reason to believe that that has changed. so that is essentially all that they are saying at this point although we should add that the president has called the probe a witch hunt so we can't rule out the possibility that he may comment on this. >> all of this is playing out hours after the wa

details. >>> plus, from the lawsuit to donald trump jr.'s misleading statement on his meeting with a russian lawyer. the press secretary sarah huckabee sanders getting ready to answer reporters questions. lots to discuss in today's white house briefing, which begins supposedly right at the top of the hour. live coverage. using artificial tears often and still have dry eye symptoms? ready for some relief? xiidra is the first and only eye drop approved for both the signs and symptoms of dry eye. one drop in each eye, twice a day. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. remove contacts before using xiidra and wait at least 15 minutes before reinserting. chat with your eye doctor about xiidra. her long day as anne. hair stylist starts with shoulder pain when... hey joanne, want to trade the all day relief of 2 aleve with 6 tylenol? give up my 2 aleve for 6 tylenol? no thanks. for me... it's aleve. ♪ hey,

scandal over my meeting with donald trump jr has been carefully orchestrated and blown out this story has proven to be gold for so many. fellow beckons you live from moscow you watching our internationals could have a company this sound our top story french counterterrorism prosecutors are now investigating an attack on soldiers near their barracks in a north paris suburb this morning six troops were injured three of them seriously charlotte dubinsky reports while

we're in negotiations with donald trump jr. i anticipate he'll be coming before the staff very soon. paul manafort has been more resistant and that is unacceptable. we'll have to use subpoenas for a number of the witnesses. >> thank you for your time. joining me, the author of the plot to hack america. a trump dossier expert. >> this transcript, nine answers of questions is a lot. do you think from an investigative standpoint, it is good to make that public? >> well, there are two different things. it is a great question because it is important for the public's right to know what is going on

three weeks ago today donald trump jr. said he wanted to be, quote, totally transparent when it came to his election season meeting with a russian banker. since then the story has repeatedly evolved. who was there? what did they talk about? today the story is evolving again and it could be a game changer. this is what we were told on

whole scandal over my meeting with donald trump jr has been carefully orchestrated and. this story has proven to be gold for so many. in the afternoon here in moscow you with the international start with that nice from france where french counterterrorism prosecutors are now investigating an attack on soldiers near their barracks in the north paris suburbs this morning six

in connection with the june 2016 meeting donald trump, jr. had with natalia veselnitskaya and

one who drafted that memo released by his son donald trump jr. about that meeting with the russian lawyer

trump, jr., and russian lawyers and others. joining us now on the phone judge andrew napolitano, fox news senior judicial analyst. let me ask you about that piece of news first, the idea subpoenas were issued related to the june meeting with donald trump, jr. what do you make of that? >> remember an fbi investigation without a grand jury is essentially toothless. this was the essence of the complaint a lot of us raised about the investigation of mrs. clinton. so without a grand jury the fbi can request documents and request interviews but it can't compel them. only a grand jury can issue subpoenas which can compel issues to testify before it or compel custodians of records to price them. the fact a grand jury is impaneled that means we're at beginning, not at the end of this, but also means there is a there there, there is something that some investigators have acquired via voluntary cooperation of some witnesses, investigators being fbi agents, who have recounted to the grand jury what they hav

trump had anything to do with it last month. >> this was donald trump, jr. and his lawyer. the president was not involved. >> reporter: the statement from trump, jr. was drafted last month aboard air force one as the president returned from the g20 summit in germany. it was sent to the "new york times" which was reporting on the 2016 meeting. it said the meeting was about the adoption of russian children but trump, jr. later released emails which shows he thought the russian lawyer had dirt on hillary clinton to which he replied, i love it! >> it was such a nothing. i literally wouldn't have remembered the meeting. >> reporter: the president's son-in-law jared kushner and then campaign chairman paul manafort also attended the meeting. >> it doesn't look good. >> reporter: this former federal prosecutor says the president's intervention in writing the statement may get him into potential legal trouble with special counsel robert mueller. >> well, as a prosecutor, if somebody comes to you and tells you x and, in fact, that's not true and then you learn that somebody counseled

donald trump jr. -- between don junior and his lawyer. i'm sure his lawyer was involved. that's how you do it. you know that. to put this on the president, i think, is absolutely incorrect. >> all right, well, not so according to your reporting. and carol, is it a safe assumption that the president knew details about that trump tower meeting, which then leads to bigger questions about why he wouldn't be forthright from the beginning in that statement. >> so, the president definitely knew that this meeting was about more than adoptions, and the reason that we found it misleading and very interesting that the president dictated it was because it emphasized, as you may remember, i think, at the top, you were describing the exact quote. it stressed we primarily talk about adoptions, which is true, and the second part emphasizing this was not a campaign issue. you know, detaching it from the campaign is something that is, you know, you can parse it, you can get legalese about it but what's what's misleadin

subpoenas related to donald trump jr.'s meeting with the russian lawyer at the trump tower during the campaign. what have you learned about the grand jury? >> the special counsel has issued grand jury subpoenas related to the donald trump jr. meeting at trump tower last june. this is according to a person i spoke with familiar with the matter. the subpoenas seek both documents and testimony from people involved in this meeting. though it's not clear exactly who involved in the meeting has been asked to testify. but given the wide ranging investigation, it is expected that special counsel subpoenas have been issued or will be issued beyond the trump tower meeting. this development does tell us that robert mueller, special counsel mueller takes the trump tower meeting seriously and he's doing things by the book making sure that if the grand jury signs off on any testimony. >> do we know when the grand jury was impaneled? >> the special counsel was appointed just last may. so obviously sometime after that. the subpoenas were

trump jr. and a russian lawyer link to the kremlin. the "washington post" is reporting president trump personally dictated a misleading statement claiming the meeting was only about adoptions. trump jr. later released e-mails showing the meeting was set up to provide dirt on hillary clinton, which was provided from the russian government. >> well, the post says, quote, the strategy that advisers agreed should be for donald trump jr. to release a statement to get ahead of the story. they wanted to be truthful so their account couldn't be repudiated later in the full details emerged. but within hours at the president's direction, the plan changed. >> joining us now here in los angeles, cnn's senior reporter for media and former l.a. councilwoman wendy crewel and trump supporter john phillips. welcome to you all. back to the original statement that came out in response to "the new york times." this son july 9th. they're having exactly what that meeting was about. this is a statement that came from

trump had anything to do with it. >> this was donald trump jr., and his lawyers. the president was not involved in that. >> reporter: the statement from trump jr. was drafted on july 8, aboard "air force one," as the president returned from the g-20 summit in germany. it was sent to "the new york times," which was reporting on the 2016 meeting. it said the meeting was "about the adoption of russian children." but trump jr. later released emails which showed he thought the russian lawyer had dirt on hillary clinton, to which he replied, "i love it." >> it was such a nothing. i literally wouldn't have remembered the meeting. >> reporter: the president's son-in-law, jared kushner, and then-campaign chairman, paul manafort, also attended the meeting. >> it doesn't look good. >> reporter: bill mateja, who is a former federal prosecutor, says the president's involvement in crafting the statement may raise a red flag for special counsel robert mueller. >> well as a prosecutor, if somebody comes to you and tells you "x," and in fact, that's not true, and then you learn th

was donald trump jr.'s initial misleading response to his meeting with the russians actually trump sr.'s response? >>> plus -- a lead exclusive. white house officials pumped by an e-mail prankster. do the silly e-mails expose a much bigger security risk that could potentially impact you? good evening, everyone. welcome to this special edition of "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin tonight with breaking news in the politics lead. and just like that, poof, he was gone. anthony scaramucci doing his best kaiser sose impression before he could begin. a weekend change after walking into the west wing. scaramucci was asked today moments after general john kelly was sworn in as white house chief of staff. officially scaramucci offered to resign. but sources tell cnn that general kelly wanted him out and scaramucci was escorted out of the white house. the retired marine general thought scaramucci undisciplined and without credibility after his profanity-laced tirade about since fired chief of staff reince priebus