{"id":2505,"date":"2018-07-29T12:45:34","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T16:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=2505"},"modified":"2018-07-29T12:45:34","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T16:45:34","slug":"mtp-exclusive-former-trump-campaign-aide-says-cohen-has-lost-credibility-with-secret-taping-i-would-believe-don-jr-and-the-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2018\/07\/29\/mtp-exclusive-former-trump-campaign-aide-says-cohen-has-lost-credibility-with-secret-taping-i-would-believe-don-jr-and-the-president\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP EXCLUSIVE: FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN AIDE SAYS COHEN HAS LOST CREDIBILITY WITH SECRET TAPING, \u2018I WOULD BELIEVE DON JR. AND THE PRESIDENT\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: Sam Nunberg on controversial 2016 Trump Tower meeting: \u201cUnder normal circumstances\u2026 I would think the president was told about it\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio): \u201cUp to the Judiciary Committee\u201d to call on Trump lawyer Michael Cohen<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

JULY 29, 2018 \u2013 \u201cI 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,\u201d former Donald Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg <\/strong>tells \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Chuck Todd in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n

Nunberg says he\u2019s more inclined to believe President Trump and Donald Trump Jr. over any assertions from Trump\u2019s former lawyer Michael Cohen about the June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower. NBC News reported earlier this week<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder normal circumstances\u2026 I would think the president was told about it,\u201d admits Nunberg, despite both the president and his son\u2019s adamant denials that Trump was aware of the meeting at the time. \u201cSpecifically 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.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked in an exclusive interview this morning if Cohen should be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Rob Portman<\/strong> (R-Ohio) replies, \u201cThe Mueller investigation is probably the place it should be cleared up, but you know, that’s up to the Judiciary Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the upcoming confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Portman shares: \u201cPeople want to see him confirmed. So, I think, in the end he will do very well.\u201d He adds: \u201cTo go on a fishing expedition into millions of documents that he had nothing substantive to say about, I think, would be a mistake,\u201d in reference to calls for the release of papers of the nominee\u2019s time in the Bush administration. Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Isikoff,<\/strong> author of \u201cRussian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin\u2019s War on America & the Election of Donald Trump,\u201d dives into his reporting on 29-year-old Maria Butina, an alleged foreign agent: \u201cThe 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.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew Continetti<\/strong> of the Washington Free Beacon, Eddie Glaude, Jr.<\/strong> of Princeton University, NBC News\u2019 Andrea Mitchell,<\/strong> and Peggy Noonan<\/strong> of The Wall Street Journal join the broadcast\u2019s roundtable for insight and analysis this morning, as the show marks the upcoming 40th anniversary of Mitchell at the network this Tuesday.<\/a> \u201cYou were asking questions about the culture before anybody else was doing it,\u201d notes Todd.<\/p>\n

Read the full transcript<\/a> of \u201cMeet the Press\u201d this morning, and follow the show on Twitter<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a> for the latest.<\/p>\n

PLEASE CREDIT: NBC NEWS\u2019 \u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n