Apparently, and now poised to be a star witness in the russia probe. Among the Big Questions tonight, what is flynn telling Robert Muellers team and how damaging could all of this be for the president and those closest to him, including his soninlaw Jared Kushner . Sources tell cnn that kushner directed flynn to reach out to the Russian Ambassador last september in one of several conversations that flynn lied about. Court document also show that prosecutors are making a case that flynn and other trump advisers coordinated contacts with russian officials, contacts aimed at influencing International Policy before the president took office. Tonight a senior white house official tells cnn a president ial pardon for flynn is absolutely not under consideration. A source close to the administration is warning that the president and his aides are in denial about the severity of the russia probe and that the flynn deal should be a red alert for them. Were joined with our panel of reporters here
And while the president celebrates the tax cut, the New York Times calls the senate vote a tax heist and a looting of the public purse by corporations and the wealthy. How will it ultimately play in the heartland . Stay tuned for that. But we begin this hour with new reaction from President Trump to the guilty plea by his former National Security advisor tweeting in just the last hour, i had to fire general flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the fbi. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide. Now, the president s tweet came just hours after he spoke with reporters for the First Time Since yesterdays bombshell announcement, so lets go right to the white house and one of those reporters. Nbcs jeff bennett. Jeff, another good day to you. Youre the one who got the president to comment on this flynn plea deal this morning, so tell us about it and if that aligns with the rest of the administra
That moment, that remarkable moment, in which a representative of the president , the press secretary himselfyep ed demoememonstrably knew were. Knowing the truth about their government, it did not have its intended effect. The press did not cower and was invigora invigorated. Talking to a journalist who helped bring the most remarkable years in memory covering one of the most hostile administrations in history. Begin with michael schmidt, and francesca chambers, and francesca, lerm stat me start w you. I see you every day in the Briefing Room. First sean spicer, now Sarah Huckabee sanders. Whats it like in that room . A sharp shift weve seen in the Briefing Room behind the scenes in this white house is that previously you would always count on the Associated Press to be called in, in the Briefing Room first and count on a policy question and news of the day first. Something this administration has done away with. So thats why youll see them going to other outlets across the room and y
These interviews with this exchange that was put out after the trump tower meeting by the white house at the time, quote, the Washington Post has reported that your father was involved in drafting the july 8th statement. Is that correct . The response of donald trump jr. Was, i dont know. I never spoke to my father about it, but if you look at the Exchange Even further it notes he may have commented. His father was involved in the drafting of that statement. Lets bring in Shimon Prokupecz in washington with what you are seeing there, shimon. Thats right, john. Certainly in reading what don junior has testified to, you know, its pretty lengthy in terms of the sheer number of pages of transcripts here, and its clear that don junior was sort of tricked here by the russians in some way. This meeting, he thought, was going to be about perhaps some dirt on Hillary Clinton and then quickly evolved into something about adoptions and the magnitsky act, and it seems, at least hes trying to dista
But were going to start tonight on americas southeast coast, where evacuations are under way in advance of Hurricane Florence. There are mandatory evacuation orders in effect for coastal areas and islands in north carolina, South Carolina and virginia. Officials expect well over a Million People to be under mandatory evacuation orders and out of the way ahead of this storm. People who are not evacuating are trying to prepare, people stocking up on gas and food and water and sandbags and boarding whatever they can board up. The National Weather service has issued hurricane warnings and storm surge warnings for the carolinas. Florence is a category 4 hurricane, which is huge. Its got winds of 140 miles per hour. Forecasters say it could very well strengthen beyond that tonight and into tomorrow. It is ultimately expected to weaken at least somewhat before it hits the United States proper, but its state expected to be at least a cat 3 when it makes landfall some Time Thursday night. So fo