 (CNN) Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen's attorney and spokesman, Lanny Davis, said this week that he was one of CNN's sources for the July 27 story and that he was recanting the claim that Cohen would testify about whether Trump knew of the Trump Tower meeting in advance. Davis' claim that he was one of CNN's sources contradicts CNN's reporting, which said Davis had been reached by CNN but declined to comment. The June 2016 meeting was arranged after a publicist who knew Trump Jr. told him in emails -- in no uncertain terms -- that a senior Russian official "offered to provide the Trump campaign" with damaging information about Clinton, and that the outreach was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Cohen also did not mention whether Trump had prior knowledge of the 2016 meeting when he sat for interviews with US lawmakers as part of the Russia investigation. Trump's camp has denied that Trump knew about the meeting beforehand.
– President Trump's general lambasting of the media got more specific Wednesday night when he called out journalist Carl Bernstein. The president declared that Bernstein, "a man who lives in the past and thinks like a degenerate fool, making up story after story, is being laughed at all over the country!" Bernstein then responded, writing that he has "spent my life as a journalist bringing the truth to light, through administrations of both parties" and that "no taunt will diminish my commitment to that mission." He ended by standing by a story he co-authored at CNN last month that is at the heart of the dispute. That piece, based on unnamed sources, reported that Michael Cohen says Trump knew in advance of the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russians. It's a damning allegation if true, but one of the sources is now recanting. Over the weekend, Cohen attorney Lanny Davis acknowledged that he was one of CNN sources in July, but he said he "made a mistake" and had no information that Trump knew of the meeting ahead of time, per Business Insider. However, CNN—and now Bernstein, specifically—is standing by the story, saying that other sources backed it up. "CNN is being torn apart from within based on their being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit the mistake," wrote Trump Wednesday night, and he continued the theme on Thursday morning. "I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the Media is," he wrote, returning to his "Enemy of the People!" slogan. "What’s going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks - with @NBCNews being the worst," he added.