>>>
ahead.
>>>
but let's begin about those e-mails between a virginia couple and a pentagon official that led up to last week's
state dinner
at the
white house
.
nbc
's
savannah guthrie
has the latest on this. good morning to you.
>>
reporter: good morning, matt. those e-mails show a
defense department
official did correspond with the couple trying to help them get into the
state dinner
, but this official later called them and said she couldn't get them tickets, a message the couple says they didn't receive until after they had already shown up at the dinner. one week after making their now famous entrance onto the national stage, tareq and michaele salahi arrived
before dawn
for their appearance on "today," telling matt this is all a big misunderstanding.
>>
we were invited, not crashers. and there isn't anyone that would have the audacity or the poor behavior to do that.
>>
reporter: the salahis say they can prove why they thought they were invited guests to the
white house
on the night of the
state dinner
for the
indian prime minister
.
>>
i think the american public is actually going to be extremely surprised --
>>
that's what i was going to say.
>>
-- with all of the details.
>>
reporter: the salahis' lawyer supplied
nbc
news with e-mails between the couple and a
white house
liaison to the
department of defense
.
michele
jones
, an obama appointee who spoke at the
2008
democratic convention
, was acquainted with the salahis. the e-mails indicate
jones
initially tried to help the couple, telling them the
state dinner
was closed but suggesting she may be able to get them into the arrival ceremony, even asking the couple for their
social security numbers
and birth dates for the
secret service
background check
. the salahis' lawyer say the couple thought the arrival ceremony
jones
mentioned referred to the arrivals or receiving line for the dinner, but the only arrival ceremony was scheduled for that morning. the salahis also claim
michele
jones
called them the night before the dinner to say they were clear for the receiving line, which they thought was at the
white house
that night. the morning of the dinner,
jones
e-mailed, "the arrival ceremony was scheduled to be outdoors was canceled due to inclement weather. they are having a very small one inside the
white house
, very limited space. i am still working on tickets for tonight's dinner." later on tuesday, however,
jones
left a
voice mail
for the salahis, saying she couldn't get them tickets to the dinner. but spending the day at a georgetown salon, the salahis claim they never got the message. they showed up at the
white house
and got inside, they say after showing their passports three times. they mixed and mingled, even shaking the president's hand, and at the end of the night, mr. salahi e-mailed
michele
jones
, a message suggesting the couple showed up unsure of whether they were really invited. "hi,
michele
, you are an angel! my cell phone battery died early this evening, so i just got your message now, but obviously, it worked out at the end. we ended up going to the gate to just check, in case it got approved, since we didn't know, and our name was indeed on the list. we can't wait to see you and catch up and share memories of a true lifetime."
michele
jones
responded the next afternoon saying, "tareq, you are most welcome! i hear the smile in your e-mail and am delighted that you and michaele had a wonderful time." well, the
white house
says
michele
jones
responded that way to be polite and because she simply assumed that they must have gotten tickets some other way, knowing that she hadn't been able to
secure state
dinner tickets.
michele
jones
on monday morning released a statement. "i specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that i did not have the authority to authorize attendance, ad missance or access to any part of the evening's activities. even though i informed them of this, they still decided to come." and
white house
officials say the
bottom line
doesn't change here --
jones
never said they had tickets, but there's no question, those e-mails show she did try to help.
>>
all right,
savannah guthrie
at the
white house
this morning, thank you. "
washington post
" reporter
roxanne roberts
broke the salahis' story. jack abrams is
nbc
's legal analyst. good morning.
>>
good morning.
>>
roxanne, you said i know these people from the
reality tv
world, what are they doing here? so, as you hear this story evolve and read some of these e-mails, do you have a clear picture of what might have happened?
>>
well, yeah, i think it's pretty clear that this still was a
reality tv
stunt. during the day when they were in the salon, everyone said, oh, aren't you excited about being invited? can i see the invitation? and michaele said, oh, it's in the car. you know, there's a clear pattern here that would appear that they knew that from the e-mails that there was very little chance that they were going to get in and they kind of bluffed their way through the day with everybody involved.
>>
i want to go to
michele
jones
' statement from yesterday, where she says, "i did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening's activities." and yet, she says in an e-mail to the salahis, "i am still working on tickets for tonight's dinner." so, that's not what she's telling the salahis, is it?
>>
the whole thing is weird. first of all, you don't have tickets for a
state dinner
. you get an engraved invitation about a week in advance. you supply
social security numbers
and birth dates so they can clear you through background. and then you show up, and there are no tickets that you pass on. these people showed up, you know, sort of hoping that maybe they could figure out a way to get in, as if it were some sort of normal party that you could crash. that's not the
white house
. that's not a
state dinner
.
>>
dan, so, let's say the salahis believed that, in fact,
michele
jones
was getting them into, or perhaps getting them into the arrival ceremony, and if they believed that meant the part where you walk through the
white house
and your name gets announced and you're arriving at the
state dinner
, even if they didn't think they could stay for the dinner, the fact that they showed up not sure, is it a crime?
>>
absolutely not. the real question's going to be, did they lie? when they were standing on line, when they were then asked questions, when they gave their passport,
et cetera
, did they say anything that wasn't true? if they didn't, i don't think they're going to be charged with any sort of crime. this may be a social crime, meaning, showing up to an event where you're not clearly invited at the
white house
, sure, may be social, but not criminal.
>>
roxanne, i want your reaction to this. they go to the party, they mingle, they get past the three security checks, they mingle with the president, the vice president, all these dignitaries, and then they write
michele
jones
that e-mail at about 1:00 in the morning, saying, hey, we had the time of our lives. you're an angel, all that sort of thing. our name was indeed on the list.
god bless
you. and then at 1:30 or so in the afternoon the next day she responds to them with this e-mail, "you are most welcome. i hear the smile in your e-mail. i am delighted that you and michaele had a wonderful time." "you are most welcome" says she's accepting their thanks and in some ways accepting credit. why didn't she say, "how did you get in?"
>>
well, that was my question, but i think that this is a case of a whole bunch of people sort of trying to finesse their way around an awkward situation. she didn't say, you know, don't go, don't show up, you can't be there, you can't get in, and they're not prepared to say, oh, guess what, we somehow managed to bluff our way in. everybody's being excessively polite and sort of covering their back sides, i think.
>>
is it a
perfect storm
, dan? we've got some people who clearly are interested in fame, like to hobnob. we've got perhaps some subtly inaccurate e-mails going back and forth, and we've got a complete collapse of three security checkpoints at the
white house
.
>>
well, that's the question is how did they make it past? meaning, how were their names on this list? and if they weren't, how did they get in? and that's going to be the fundamental question that we have to answer moving forward. again, did they lie? and if they didn't, how the heck did they get in?
>>
but at the moment, you don't think it's a crime.
>>
as long as they didn't lie, i don't think there's going to be any
criminal charges
.
>>
dan abrams
,
roxanne roberts
, thanks to both of you. i appreciate it.
>>
all right, matt.
>>
by the way, you can read the e-mail exchange at the center of this story at our website, todayshow.com.
>>>
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