EXCLUSIVE: Sam Nunberg on controversial 2016 Trump Tower meeting: “Under normal circumstances… I would think the president was told about it”
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “Up to the Judiciary Committee” to call on Trump lawyer Michael Cohen
JULY 29, 2018 – “I would believe Don Jr. and the president in light of learning that Michael [Cohen] was taping conversations, the way Michael was conducting himself behind the scenes, and in front of all of us,” former Donald Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg tells “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd in an exclusive interview.
Nunberg says he’s more inclined to believe President Trump and Donald Trump Jr. over any assertions from Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen about the June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower. NBC News reported earlier this week that Cohen is prepared to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Trump himself knew in advance about the controversial Trump Tower meeting involving Trump Jr. and other top campaign officials.
“Under normal circumstances… I would think the president was told about it,” admits Nunberg, despite both the president and his son’s adamant denials that Trump was aware of the meeting at the time. “Specifically now, and in light of learning, one that Michael was taping the president, two, that he doesn’t have a tape of this, I would believe the president.” Watch the full interview.
Asked in an exclusive interview this morning if Cohen should be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) replies, “The Mueller investigation is probably the place it should be cleared up, but you know, that’s up to the Judiciary Committee.”
On the upcoming confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Portman shares: “People want to see him confirmed. So, I think, in the end he will do very well.” He adds: “To go on a fishing expedition into millions of documents that he had nothing substantive to say about, I think, would be a mistake,” in reference to calls for the release of papers of the nominee’s time in the Bush administration. Watch the full interview.
Michael Isikoff, author of “Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America & the Election of Donald Trump,” dives into his reporting on 29-year-old Maria Butina, an alleged foreign agent: “The way to do it was through the N.R.A. Who has more influence with Republican members of Congress especially than the N.R.A.? They spend more money, they’re the most powerful special interest group. So the idea was Butina sets up this Russian gun rights organization to forge this alliance with N.R.A. members, as a way of influencing the Republican Party.” Watch the full interview.
Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon, Eddie Glaude, Jr. of Princeton University, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, and Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal join the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis this morning, as the show marks the upcoming 40th anniversary of Mitchell at the network this Tuesday. “You were asking questions about the culture before anybody else was doing it,” notes Todd.
Read the full transcript of “Meet the Press” this morning, and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.
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NBC NEWS’ “MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD”
“Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show across the board for the 2016-2017 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. “Meet the Press” brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with “MTP Daily” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast”. It’s the longest-running show in television history, expanding its brand to include a political documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of “Meet the Press“; John Reiss is the executive producer.
