From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Day.

Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from any investigation into Russia's

interference in the presidential campaign. What was Sessions doing meeting with the Russian

Ambassador two months before election? And who is this mysterious Russian Ambassador who is causing

so much trouble for not one but two senior officials in the Trump White House?

It's Friday, March 3rd.

I'm just to clear up any confusion over this. Could you just explain a little bit about the

September 8 meeting who, on your staff, was there and what was discussed with the Russian Ambassador?

The Russian Ambassador apparently sent a staffer to my office. I did not see him

and asked for a meeting as so many of the ambassadors were doing and we set up a time as we did,

as we normally did and what we met with him.

That's the account that Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave on Thursday of how it was he came to

meet with the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kassiliyak on September 8th, 2016. But the reason for that

meeting between Sessions, who was then a senator from Alabama and Kassiliyak, is now the subject

of intense scrutiny since the fact of it was revealed earlier this week.

And over the years I've developed a lot of friendships and some people are good and some people

are okay and some people are loud-seed, right? So at this point Sessions has very, very publicly

become my colleague Matthew Rosenberg has been reporting on the story. One of Donald Trump's

most prominent surrogates on the campaign trail. I have a man who is respected by everybody here,

greatly respected. Trump did not have a lot of prominent Republicans early to his cause,

Sessions was one of the earliest. Senator Jeff Sessions. So he's endorsed him. He's endorsed him,

he's out speaking for him. He's been advising Trump on foreign policy since March.

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