Collusion with the Trump Campaign. Nbc news has just learned that trumps personal attorney Michael Cohen, has received requests for information from the house and Senate Intelligence committees, this comes as the controversy surrounding Jared Kushner, the president s Senior Adviser and soninlaw is keeping the white house in crisis mode today. Kushner under scrutiny by the fbi as part of its russia investigation. The Washington Post reports kushner talked about setting up a secret Communications Channel with the kremlin using russian facilities during the president ial transition period. Lots to get to. Nbcs Hallie Jackson at the white house, and kasie hunt is on capitol hill. Hallie, start with you, what do we know about this request being made. We know and also what we dont know aut this. Heres what we know, according to cohen who in a brief interview with nbc news confirmed that he did, in fact, receive these requests for information from the house and Senate Intelligence committees. A congressional source also tells nbc that these are the same letters, the same requests that had been sent to other people close to donald trump, people in the president s orbit, like carter page, roger stone, paul manafort, mike flynn as well. That letter looks for information about russian contacts, asks for the person, whether its manafort or stone or in this case cohen, to turn over any communications with the Trump Campaign related to russia. So that is what we know here. What we dont know is the special counsel question, whether the special counsel that has been appointed now has also reached out to Michael Cohen, but it is certainly fairly significant moment here. It shows the sort of investigations on the hill that are continuing to sort of deepen and intensify in scope, although, obviously, its still not clear what timeline for these investigations will be. Hallie, to be clear, this is not an attorney who is on the payroll there at the white house. This is the president s personal attorney, right . Lets talk about the relationship there. Because youre right, this is somebody who is outside of the official white house parameters. Michael cohen, you may remember was a surrogate to some degree on the campaign trail for donald trump back when he was running in 2016 and known the president for a while. Still, according to our reporting, has interactions, obviously, with members of the former campaign, of the administration, so he is somebody who is in the president s orbit, although as you rightly point out, not currently on the payroll of the administration at the moment. Ast cohen, i dont know we know this to be true yet, reportedly he was he caught the interest of the fbi a few months ago. What do we know about that . I think you might be referring to this socalled dossier, the document that had come out at the time that Michael Cohen had adamantly denied what had been reported about him to us here at nbc news, about his, for example, travels where he had been, said it was patently untrue, patently false, strong pushback from cohen then, which is probably the most recent time he had been in the headlines to this degree. Hallie jackson at the white house with the breaking news on trumps personal attorney, stick around if you can and if you get new information, ping us and let us know we will get you back on the air. Lets pivot and talk about Jared Kushner for a moment. What are you hearing there on capitol hill as it relates to the kushner controversy, what are we hearing from lawmakers about that . Well, craig, at this point, lawmakers are not here on capitol hill. You can tell the hallways are empty except for some tourists, but, obviously, the probes are continuing behind the scenes. Youve seen just with this news about Michael Cohen, Additional Information about how they are unfolding. They have, according to everybody that we have he talv reached a new phase of the investigation where they are fwathsering new evidence and materials from all of these people of interest to the investigation. But, kushner himself, he is somebody who clearly, you know, hes interacted with the folks on capitol hill, he and paul ryan have had some behind the scenes interaction. Paul ryan not on one of the key committees but he is a member of the allimpogang of 8 that reived the top Intelligence Briefings and he has been included in everything thats been going on as far as these investigations into russia but one person, im not sure youll be surprised by this, hes very much a hawk on russia, but john mccain, very critical of Jared Kushner over the weekend. Take a look. I know that some Administration Officials are saying well, thats standard procedure. I dont think its standard procedure, prior to the inauguration of a president of the United States by someone who is not in an appointed position. Now, if you talk to mccain here in the hallways hes had some very sharp words for Jared Kushner, taking jabs at how his age, how old he was, how broad his portfolio is, considering his experience. Were likely to get more reaction from members of Congress Kind of over the next few hours, but again, theyre not all here in the capitol for us to chase down right at this moment, craig . All right. Kasie hunt for us on the hill, Hallie Jackson at the white house, big thanks to both of you. Lets bring in matt miller, former chief spokesman for the justice department, now an msnbc justice and security analyst and jeremy bash, former chief of staff, at both the cia and the defense department, under president obama, also an msnbc security analyst, gentlemen, thanks to both of you. Matt, jeremy, lets start with this news on Michael Cohen, any surprise there and what to we think, matt, ill start with you, what do we think investigators hope to lrn specifically . I think one thing theyre going to look at is the are the claims from the das see yeah and whether Michael Cohen did have meetings overseas with russian intelligence which hes denied. Another thing we can expect him to look at are financial dealings he might have had with russians, with people close to russia, but the big question im looking for is the fbi also going to be asking him for documents. Are they going to be sending his subpoenas. One thing for the Senate Committee to be asking for documents, as part of their investigation, it will be another if the fbi moves from scrutinizing Michael Cohens dealings as its been reported theyre doing, to outright investigating them by asking him for documents, either voluntarily or through a subpoena. Jeremy, reportedly a congressional aide said this request letter that was sent to cohen was the same that was sent to carter page, roger stone, paul manafort, general flynn, as general flynn as well. What do we make of this at this point . I think this is significant for a couple reasons. First Michael Cohen is the most senior official within the Trump Organization who did not join the administration but actually remained in new york with the Trump Organization. Hes the most senior individual to receive this letter request from federal investigators. Second is he was leading the Trump Organizations negotiations not so much with the russian government, but with russian businessmen to build the skyscraper in moscow in 2015. He was part of the negotiating team. He along with another individual named felix satter, a russian born real estate executive, convicted of assault and then convicted of securities fraud, served some time in prison, became an informant and he also was an individual who was working with Michael Cohen to facilitate business deals between the Trump Organization and the russian federation. Michael cohen knows a lot about the long history of financial ties between the trump world and russia. Matt, does he enjoy a different kind of privilege since he is not officially working for the administration or is that not something that necessarily exists in a situation like this . No, not officially. Politically somewhat he does. One of the rights that every american has is the fifth amendment right not to testify if it might incriminate themselves. As a practical matter that doesnt usually extend to people inside the government while they have that right if you work in the white house and assert the fifth amendment to not testify thats seen as not tenable and you have to leave the administration. I think that would be tough for Michael Cohen to do as well since he does remain as Donald Trumps personal attorney. I think what were seeing with the investigations, with the expansion into looking at kushner last week, now seeing Michael Cohen is under scrutiny these investigations have moved as closes to donald trump as you can you get without talking to his children. These are people not that joined his organization in the last six months, in the last year, but people who have been with him for years and years and years and who will know a great deal about his financial dealings. Again craig. Can i add one thing real quick which is Michael Cohen also played a role in trying to facilitate a back channel between russian officials and then National Security adviser mike flynn. If you recall the New York Times report head delivered a sealed envelope from some russian officials who wanted to propose a peace plan on ukraine and was trying to play in that diplomatic world. I think federal investigators want to understand that back channel specifically. Bottom of the screen for folks who might be joining us, a live look at the White House Briefing room. Sean spicer set to hold his first briefing in some time, top of the hour, 2 00, undoubtedly he will be getting a number of questions about the this, also getting a number of questions about the president s soninlaw and Senior AdviserJared Kushner. Jemy, the Washington Post reporting kushner attempting to set uphis back channel for secure communications with the kremlin during the transition. This is what former acting cia director John Mclaughlin had to say here on morning joe on the excuse me a few hours with stephanie ruhle. Back channels are not unusual. Its how you do it. And in a normal transition, if someone wanted a back channel to a Foreign Government they would go to the state department or an Intelligence Agency and ask for that to be set up through normal procedures. And that apparently didnt happen. Jeremy, why not go through the normal procedures . Yeah. I think three things are strange about this, craig. The technology, the timing and the topic. The technology to go use russian telephones or russian Electronic Communications devices shows they were trying to conceal it from u. S. Intelligence and the u. S. State department. The timing was also strange because it happened during the transition even before the administration came into power. And the topic also is concerning because if the topic was, indeed, syria as discussed, thats an issue that involves troops on the ground, lives are on the line, you want our military involved in those discussions and consultations to have a back channel, a front channel, any channel without the u. S. Military concerning the fate of American Service members on the ground is very dangerous. Matt, one of the things that struck a lot of folks especially odd is this idea of using russian diplomatic facilities for this. Why would that be done . I think the only explanation you can come up with is to try to conceal it from the United States government. I think this back channel is concerning for all the reasons jeremy bash just laid out. But the one but you can actually come up with a very charitable explanation, i think it defies logic, but that he was the and Jared Kushner was being naive what you cant come up with a charitable explanation why he didnt disclose that communication with the Russian Ambassador in his security form, his sf 86 he filed weeks after that meeting took place. It boggles the mind when you see the when you see what it was they discussed this that meeting, they proposed this unprecedented use of Russian Technology for kushner, for flynn, to communicate with the russian government, that Jared Kushner then one, two, three weeks later forget about the meeting when he filled out his security form. Its a federal crime to intentionally withhold information on that security form. Its hard to believe that it was merely an oversight. Matt miller, jeremy bash, thanks to both of you for your insight and perspective on this breaking news this afternoon. Thank you. Live pictures from the White House Briefing room. Sean spicer set to give his first press Briefing Since the week of the president s overseas trip. Were going to bring that to you live and hear what he has to say about the investigation into Michael Cohen now. Also, staff shakeup. Reports of some major changes coming to the west wing. Whos in and whos out and what that could mean for the direction of the white house. Tigers troubles, tiger woods says it was prescription drugs, not booze, that led to that dui arrest monday morning. What does the Police Report say . Well go live to florida. vo pro plan bright mind adult 7 promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. ray the difference has been incredible. She is much more aware. She wants to learn things. vo purina pro plan bright mind. Nutrition that performs. Everything your family touches sticks with them. Make sure the germs they bring home dont stick around. Use clorox disinfecting products. Cause no one kills germs better than clorox. Turning now to the shakeup in the white house west wing. One highranking staffer out. Communications director mike dubke. More could follow as a new legal team is taking shape and a war room takes hold at the white house. Trumps overseas trip apparently could do nothing to dampen the headlines hes returned to surrounding the russian investigation. In fact, multiple officials tell nbc news that Jared Kushner, the man helping to lead that socalled war room is being looked at as part of the russian investigation. Again, a word just a few moments ago trumps personal attorney, Michael Cohen, also now the latest to be trapped in that web that is the russia investigation. Or the russia investigations. Joining me now to talk about it jonathan swan, National Political reporter for axios, charlie sikes, msnbc contributor, and stephanie ruhle, msnbc anchor and business correspondent. Jonathan, let me start with you. S Michael Dubke resigning. Whats w. H. Whose owess on the bubble and whos on the move. The macro view of it is that theres been a recognition at the top theyre not prepared with to deal with the new normal, daily stories about fbi investigation, russia, comey, they dont have the tools to deal with that. For whos ascended, in one way you could say steve bannon, somewhat ascended because the people that are being discussed now to potentially come into the white house or support from the outside are folks like david bossie, corey lewandowski, former Campaign Hands like david urban, people that are friendly to steve bannon. So stephanie, one of the folks that may be headed to the white house, bossie, Deputy Campaign manager, what he said this morning when asked about whether there was even an opening. Theyve talked to, you know, many people including me. David, is that a yes, have you been asked . No. Im not going to say that theres something sitting on the table for me to pick. That would be a little i think thats theres its an ongoing conversation and think that thats a fair way to put it. So clearly, theyre talking to him. Clearly bossie may be going back. Yeah. Bossie is totally theyre talking to bossie. I think its likely based on what i heard from people inside that bossie is probably going to go inside. Theres basically little chanko lewandowski. Reince despises him. The feeling is mutual. Jared kushner and ivanka trump dont trust him. No one likes Cory Lewandowski except for the president and steve bannon. He will be involved but from the outside. Stephanie, why are folks in the white house concerned about the prospect of bossie and lewandowski coming back . I heard that about Cory Lewandowski. There are people around the president not part of the campaign that said we came here for policy and the c