Including the chinese. Theyve been asking about conversations with those investors. Plus were going to cover the Parkland School shooting for you. Five days. Thats how long its been since the shooter opened fire at Marjory StonehamDouglas High School, a gun he never shufd ou have had in the first place. Teachers and students were shot in cold blood in a school where they should have been safe. Parents a parents, teachers and students are demanding something needs to be done. Innocent americans will keep dying until we have the courage to put their lives ahead of politics. If you want to see what courage looks like, i want you to see the students from Stoneham Douglas high school and list ton their message for the president. If donald trump wants to listen to us, he should have taken the first invitation. We are not going to come to him, he needs to come to us. More on that in a few minutes as well, but i want to begin with our cnn exclusive in the Mueller Investigation. Jeff zeleny is live for us at the white house. Also joining us is Shimon Procupecz with who broke the story. We know special Counsel Robert Mueller has been asking the last few months about Jared Kushners business dealings prior to the investigation. Mueller is asking about discussions kushner had with potential chinese and qatari investors. This is the first time the special counsel is asking about relationships he had with russia. There are questions about 666 fifth avenue, which the Kushner Company owns, and there are financial issues. The building is in debt by 5 million. Were told that the special counsel hasnt asked Kushner Companies for information. He also has not asked for any interviews with any of the executives from the Kushner Company, and a special counsel spokesperson declined to comment for the story, but we did get a statement from Jared Kushners attorney earlier this evening in response to our story, and he basically said, quote this is from abby lowell, the attorney the story was based on another anonymous source with questionable motives now contradicts the facts. In all of mr. Kushners extensive cooperation with all inquiries, there has not been a single question asked nor document sought on the 666 building on Kushner Company deals. Nor would there be any reason to question those regular business transactions. We have questions despite what the attorneys think, and there will be no other reason to ask these questions. Do you know what the details are of these meetings . From what we know, basically, is this has to do with some finances and a meeting kushner had with chinese investigators chinese investors, i should say, just a week after the election. And also according to the new york times, kushner met with this Insurance Company out of china that also plans to own the waldorfastoria in new york. They were close to getting the company to invest in the 666 fifth avenue company. There was also a potential deal with qataris also invest ing in the company and that also fell through. Some of this happened during transition, so mueller would likely want to know what the hell was going on here, what kind of conversations were they having here. Lets talk more about mueller, what is he seeking to figure out by asking these questions . What we believe is we dont think that kushner is a target of this investigation or perhaps, you know, is the target or is someone who is centered around. This could be more of mueller trying to explore what was happening here and what was happening during the transition. Investigators could be looking into whether kushner was mixing his personal business with his work. He was coming into an administration, and officials could be questioning that, could be questioning whether or not there was any kind of quid pro quo, were there any promises made. Its really not clear to us and certainly the people weve talked to why they would be asking these questions. To jeff zeleny. Jeff, youre at the white house. Is the white house saying anything about muellers growing interest in kushner . Don, the white house has not said anything specifically about this story tonight. There was of course the statement that shimon was reading from Jared Kushners lawyer, but the white house is sort of looefeaving it at that. Which is sort of Standard Practice when there is a Family Member involved. Yes, hes the Senior Adviser to the president but hes also a soninlaw to the president. Its uneasy, its, i guess, awkward to say the least here, but every new chapter of this Mueller Investigation that involves a Family Member, it does make some people here apprehensive in terms of what the next shoe is. But officially, don, the white house not saying anything about this story. So, jeff, the president back in washington after throwing a late night twitter tantrum on saturday in maralago. He even linked the russia investigation to the shooting in florida and told the tweets are still coming. He tweeted, obama was president up to and beyond the 2016 election, so why didnt he do something is about the russian meddling . Whats this latest outburst all about . Don, you saw the tweets there on the screen. They barely fit on the screen. 21 tweets in all from palm beach. He has just returned here in the last few hours or so here. The reality is the president was stewing over the weekend. He was sitting at his maralago resort unable to play golf because of the optics of that. Of course, the shooting in park dgs lan land, florida just 40 minutes south of maralago. So he was watching a lot of Cable Television and was tweeting a lot saturday evening into sunday. White house advisers did not know these were coming. They see these in realtime the way everyone else sees them, but its clear despite the fact there are two major challenges going on, one, the tampering of a u. S. Election, and two, another school shooting, the president again managed to turn this back to himself, asking questions about himself through all of these. But don, its interesting that he is blaming president obama for not doing anything, but in the course of these tweets he has acknowledged more than he ever has before over the last yearplus that there was russian meddling. Whats striking is the commander in chief is not saying what the u. S. Should do to prevent this Going Forward. Thats been absent from all of these. Its interesting. As you said, if we could put the tweets back up. As you so aptly pointed out, who does this . Barely put that up on the screen, jeff, you said that. But right on, nothing about what are we going to do about any of it to make it better. Thank you so much. Appreciate both of you. Thank you, shimon, thank you, jeff. Now toii want to bring in senio white house counsel. Put the tweets back up again. He tweeted about all of this stuff, right, just blaming everybody except for Vladimir Putin and the russians. John, when you look at that, what in the world is going on . Its unlike any president weve ever had. First of all, no one has ever had a twitter account before, but just in general, his reaction where he tends to personalize everything into his own point of view and world view that relates only to donald trump and how it affects him. Its really quite surprising where all of the intelligence agencies have alerted that this is ongoing activity, and yet the president is silent. Its quite stunning, don. It is, and in history its going to be interesting to watch all of this, because this is going to be archived and i wonder how people will look back in history at all these tweets. Do you want to say something, jack . I see you nodding. Im just agreeing with john. Its beyond belief how the president remains silent. We talk about what russia did here, but there is too little attention given to the fact that this attack on our very democracy not only happened but is ongoing. And yet the president is not standing up. America has been spanked by Vladimir Putin, and nothing is happening. There is nothing done in retaliation. There is no warning that it needs to stop. Its a very sad and embarrassing moment for our country. Its all about him. Everything is about him. He always brings it back to him. John, when you were when you hear, i should say, that muellers team is asking questions about Jared Kushners conversations during the transition about securing financing for his properties from chinese and qatari investors, what stands out to you . Does this raise quid pro quo concerns to you . Certainly the whole operation of the trump family running the government has raised serious conflict of interest questions. The president , from his point of view, hes not subject to any of this. He doesnt accept any of the prior norms that past president s imposed on themselves in many instances. And, for example, nixon was a realistic l realist stickler on impact. Its just out there, you cannot ignore it at this point. Jack, there is a lot we dont know, but is there any distinction i have to ask, is there any distinction if Jared Kushner did this as part of the transition versus after the inauguration . I think, as a practical matter, theres not. The law may not precisely apply to the transition. However, and let me emphasize this, the trump transition operated pursuant to an agreement with the Obama Administration that included detailed conflict of interest rules. Although i have not researched this, its entirely conceivable that a prosecutor could look at that agreement and deem the commitments made by the trump transition to have essentially bound it to the conflict of interest rules that would apply to a Government Employee which, of course, make it abundantly clear that no one should seek to profit from business with somebody doing business with the government. Mr. Kushner is in an unusual position. He not only holds a Senior Office in the government, but he has access to virtually all of the government secrets by virtue of his being the president s soninlaw. John, you know, what this also shows, i would say, is that this investigation goes far beyond questions of collusion. Mueller is also looking at financial ties, obstruction of justice. His investigation is wide ranging. Its very wide ranging, and thats in his charter. When he was granted authority, it not only included the russia issue but anything that came up in the course of his investigation. And i think these are the things that are coming up just in the natural course of an investigation, and he has every right to follow them. He is within his charter when looking at these issues. President trump said the Mueller Investigation, if it turns, theyll be looking at that. I want to know precisely what theyre looking at in terms of Jared Kushners dealings. It may implicate kushners precise dealings. Mr. Muellers charter was told to investigate any possible connection between the russia government and the Trump Campaign and any wrongdoing he discovered that might investigation. Lastly, he has the power to pursue any obstructions of justice. John, its interesting, we were talking about what happened to Jared Kushner. Remember the big story that happened last week was the rob porter story. You know, the white house chief of staff john kelly sent a memo announcing a change to the security clearance process in the wake of that story, of that scandal. As the washington works this out, Jared Kushner has interim clearance now. Should Jared Kushner be interacting with classified material, including the daily president ial brief . Well, thats really an option of the president himself. He can waive the restrictions. The power of classification emanates right from the president himself. Its not a congressional grant of power, but rather an inherent president ial power. He could theoretically waive a waiver, he could declassify. There is a little ex. Interesting. Cnn reported last week. And now the l. A. Times is reporting that hes planning to plead guilty against his former boss how much pressure does this put on him . Manafort may be the oyster that holds the precious gem of truth the pearl there. Yeah, the pearl there. That anybody else we dont know for sure. This has got to be bad news for the floor. When we come back, he was talking to Foreign Investors from this company. Plus, youve seen this picture. It may be the worst picture of what happened as a result of the shooting. Hilarious. With claimfree rewards. Switching to allstate is worth it. If yor crohns symptoms are holding you back, and your Current Treatment hasnt worked well enough, it may be time for a change. Ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohns. Entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. Infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. Entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. Pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. This condition has not been reported with entyvio. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flulike symptoms or sores. Liver problems can occur with entyvio. If your uc or crohns treatment isnt working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. Entyvio. Relief and remission within reach. Cnn has lenders tharned thal Counsel Robert Mueller is asking questions about Jared Kushners business dealings during the transition. The president of the Senate Conservative fund joins us, also the officer who ran for president as an independent in 2016. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Lets get started. Evan, you first. As a former cia agent, what is your take on whats happening . Robert mueller is investigating foreign contacts, including china. Thats an ethical question, so thats of interest, thats important. Whats more important is whether Foreign Countries could have been using that opportunity to help Jared Kushner in his business dealings in a way that could be used as leverage over him down the road. Thats the more significant issue even than the ethics, although their both ethical questions because the latter becomes a National Security issue. So i imagine thaet pats part ot the special counsel might be interested in. Lets talk about the indictment on friday. Why do you say it exonerates the president and his campaign . Because mueller would not have come out and said they have what are called unwitting officials with the Trump Campaign. If they did that, which theyve done now, and came back later with a future indictment suggesting that there was something along the lines of collusion, it would be the most extraordinary head fake were getting close to march madness so i use basketball terms it would be the most extraordinary head fake in the history of special counsels. And look, the confidence that america has in Robert Mueller comes from the professionalism in which he carries forward his very difficult role. And that would shake the confidence of the American People in his conclusions and his results. He doesnt want that, it isnt good for america. I think that what we saw there friday is effectively not an admission, because thats not an appropriate word, but a concession on the part of the special counsel that there was no intentional working with the russian bs by the trump team. He said in that particular indictment that involved the 13 russians, he didnt say in the entire investigation. Thats why i said that looking ahead to any future indictments that putting this indictment out now and there was no time pressure on him to do this. He did it now for his own reasons, but if it was going to point in one direction and then ef he was going to go in another direction, because they have a lot of information. It just wouldnt happen. Evan, you disagree. Explain why you think fridays indictment means the president doesnt want to stop the interference of russian nz os i elections. The indictment was on 13 russians and its important because it describes that a crime was committed. It also describes those 13 russians were involved with the americans unwittingly, but says nothing about what other issues may be out there. The public knows other things about the president s campaign, about their contact with russian officials, but this indictment doesnt address any of that. We know that our Intelligence Services collected other information about senior russian government officials talking about helping trump. And this indictment doesnt address any of that. It was a very narrow, although very detailed, indictment, but its very narrow in scope. Don, that reinforces my point. I dont disagree that it was a targeted indictment. Of course, it was pretty broad in the sense there were 16 entiti entities, 13 people, three businesses and a lot of detail that we learned in that indictment. But my point is a special counsel in the position of Robert Mueller and every special counsel is in rather touchy political sort of oversight. Theyre under a microscope type circumstances just like special counsel mueller is, and yet with all the information