>> they don't have the background knowledge to understand the impact in the first place is not that they can't make a difference they make differences all the time. they can make that inference but that's not the problem as the lack of knowledge and vocabulary to understand the passage and that could be a big problem that's overlooked. >> at her table this morning national security correspondent u.s. news & world report withhi us intelligence community we will begin with the director of nationalig intelligence to explain what this is and one this office was created and why. >> in the aftermath of september 11th. the idea was a various

branches of government responsible for gathering intelligence were not working in concert with one another which allowed this mistake to happen. it bothioigned to serveve to the president and somebody who can manage the inter- workings of all the agent 16 other agencies to make sure they're working closely together in the president gets the best information possible. >> are they in charge of you n look at the hierarchy? are they in charge of all other agencies? >> technically yes dni is at the top of the food chain. but that's not always the way it has worked. i often have heard the example how the first dni john

negroponte went from serving o from dni to the deputy secretary of state but at the time that was considered more prestigious looking at the way it serves in practice look at jim clapper with the benghazi attack operate independent of the intelligence agencies and then to get blowback and to do that follow one for the work fromn that. >>host: you say the principle is what does that mean on a basis only those others that have held that position full-time it is up

for the president to decide how involved dni is with day-to-day operations the president gets the intelligence briefing and where they go for advice and what people are looking for and to what extent they will be involved in the day to day life as a former navy seal career service member with a series of seal teams six and that was the bulk of his career after he retired as the vice admiral he went on to work in the position most recently national counterterrorism it will be interesting to see how that experience waivers in his background we haven't had a military man since jim clapper

we did have in the community to assume the position so those that have been on the receiving end of intelligence to see how they go about managing these. >>host: what is he looking for? >> he hasn't really telegraphed what he wants in his new position he has telegraphed what he did not want that was dan coats and the deputies. they were known for being honest brokers about the realities of the intelligence that they produced but it seems that brand of relationship did not work in the president's mind. so we saw in the early stages the president looking to members of the republican party on capitol hill as

potential follow-up in that got heated increasingly fast. >> he told the president now he has chosen someone also explain what is the process now for the nominee? >> politically he nominated ratcliff somebodymi you want to work with that's only through the approval of congress. democrats came out against ratcliff and many people of the gop did not support that position which is a telling indicator he would not make it to the nomination process so the president will be looking for somebody like dan coatsts has a relationship that can win the support of the intelligence community and overall congress to get to the

nomination. so the acting dni i'm not clear if the president will nominate him to be permanent position but with other those potential candidates we've seen former senator from georgia who has extensive experience on capitol hill. >> who are the republicans on capitol hill who have to approve the nominee looking for? what would you say they want to hear? wh>> according to the law with hae deep national security experience that isn't spelled out with their own qualifications it will be critically important how they understand the way the intelligence agencies work and how bestho to manage those

without micromanaging and then most importantly to make sure the president is getting the clearest picture possible with what's happening on the ground not what he would like to do which was one of the principal concerns that he's only asked for information that aligns world.s view of the >>host: remind the viewers were dan coats differed. >> he spoke out about russian interference in the 2016 election. that isis still poses a threat in the middle east iran compliance with the nuclear deal and all these things were statements said they did not align with the waypp president asserted on the ground in the way he took action to establish a new executive committee to penalize russian

threats to the upcoming electionon that seems. >> why did sue gordon resign? r mic a career cia officer the reason why the a reason the alignment works so well because dan coats had a lot of management experiencets with ties on capitol hill but not personalti intelligence experience but sue gordon did and understood the way the agencies worked especially the cia and they were working in tandem together as well. it seems clear she was asked to resign we saw the note she ttsent the president that her resignation was out of patriotism and respect not her preference. just yesterday sent a note to all dna i - - dni office that was congratulatory but framed

in a sense that there should be a cause for concern and saying why they should not be concerned. >> the sources i'm hearing people are concerned the president does not want to hear about the work they are doing and it matters right now there arere issues as they come in including russian interference chinese crackdown on the protesters in hong kong or the threats that isis pose really matters when the president says if it is viewed a certain way then that shapes the way everyone below him can do their jobs that that's out of line with the way the intelligence services it could be a problem like china and the military to crack down on hong kong protesters that makes a difference for those who carry out the work for the us government. >>host: is the president

getting two different stories from his advisers in the intelligence community? >> that supposed to be the work of dni if they do their job well your past that contradictory information and know how to handle that. to determine one of the most important voices come forward or here are two professional opinions of what's happening that's why i'm in the room so we can talk this through. >> what is the state of the intelligence community right now? >> i have heard a lot of frustration to the extent the difficult hard work they are doing and thehe long hours are not having effect on the man who ultimately makes decisions about the information they are putting forward. so to lookrd at sue gordon's note yesterday said you are

doing good work we need to continue apace but there is some frustration and concern about what the futurece holds. >>host: what is the pace? what are they working on and how do they go about working on it and what about concerns? you talk about those a little bit but on a daily basis what do youou hear? >> there is no shortage of problems around the globe isis, iran, resurgence threa threat, what china is doing whright now or what russia could be doing as we go into the next election, serious issues that need to be addressed now not partisan and political infighting which is a lot of the opposition. >>host: on a yearly basis? mimic is not entirely know

their budget it is partly classified but tens of dollars is a healthy significant element of the us governmenter. >> what about the personnel? >> i don't have those off the top of my head but i would imagine they are not as broken down as the military for example all the people working for the different service branches those intelligence communities tend to be more quiet with that information and the oversight? how does that work? >> that comes from capitolcoco hill the senate select committee are very active in this process and it's very difficult with the work the nsa was doing it's a difficult balance of agencies working to protect those in the interest of the us governmentnt and

people and not being able to do that out loud and then that some problems publiclyly emerge with the values of the us government to figure out how we maintain the security we created to make sure they are accountable. >>host: what are you working on right now with the intelligence community? >> this is a fairly significant story of what happens next with the dni this will be a fairly big story but also he picks for the deputy is very unusual not to have a deputy in place that hasn't been formally named but the chain of command right now there is a woman who seems poised to take over as the oxt deputy also with a lot of cia experience.

that could bee a big one but in terms i of what priorities from the president and what priorities they direct to the president. >> follow his report on us news. thank you very much for the conversation. we appreciate it. . .