White House adviser calls Donald Trump Jr. situation a "Category Five hurricane"
A close adviser to the Trump White House described the revelations surrounding Mr. Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr. and his meetings with a Russian lawyer as a "Category Five hurricane", CBS News' Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett reports.
The adviser called it "very bad" as the fallout over Trump Jr.'s meeting continues after revealing details into the arrangement of the meeting were released in a series of emails.
Garrett reports that another outside adviser to the White House echoed those sentiments, conceding that the optics of the meeting were "terrible" and create "big atmospheric problems" for the administration as they attempt to distance themselves from the Russian meddling narrative.
Mr. Trump has since defended his son's actions, telling Reuters "I think many people would have held that meeting." Mr. Trump has also repeatedly tweeted his support of Trump Jr., calling him "transparent" and "open."
My son Donald did a good job last night. He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2017
Meanwhile, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the June 9th meeting at Trump Tower, CBS News has confirmed. Manafort was included in the meeting with Trump Jr., as was Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
According to a source close to the Senate intel's investigation, Manafort's team only notified the committee about the meeting about a week and a half ago as the New York Times prepared to publish its first initial reporting on the meeting.
While the issue of Russian interference and the administration's connections to Russian government officials shows few signs of slowing down, the White house appears to be shifting focus to other immediate issues -- including a push for the Senate's health care plan passage and the recent success of helping to bring an all-girl team of young Afghani robotics engineers into the U.S. after their visa's were denied.
Mr. Trump will discuss agenda-setting matters as he delivers remarks in Paris on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron. The two are expected to talk about the ongoing crisis in Syria as well as counter-terrorism efforts.
CBS News' Major Garrett and Nancy Cordes contributed to this report