now we stayed about flat and now we are going up. >> congress on health care. line onek there is a should not cross where governmental power issues are exclusively for benefit. we will standp: proud and tall. >> during the conversation every if you missed any of our coverage. you can watch on c-span.org or this and on the go with the free c-span radio app. >> during wednesday's white pressthing, this -- the

the white house press secretary also criticized new york times and anonymous sources on the story. >> hello, everyone. the front page of the new york the venue for discussing classified information. the white house podium is not the venue. we are here today, having this discussion because of this irresponsible, anonymous leak to the new york times. there is no good scenario as a result of this report. who is going to want to be a

source or an asset if they know their identity could be disclosed? which allies will want to share information with us, if they know that some rogue intelligence officer can flash that information on the front page of a major newspaper, specifically, there are two bad scenarios that emerge from this report. it makes it more difficult to come to a consensus on this matter to verify intelligence and this level of controversy and discord lays directly into the hands of russia. since before president trump assumed office, damaging and often times erroneous leaks seeking to undermine the duly elected president have been published. according to the doj, classified leaks surged during this administration. under obama, there were 39 on

average. in this administration, we have seen or than 100. and 104 on average, per year. we have seen targeted leaks of classified information against this president, and it is irresponsible. phone calls with foreign leaders, meetings with government officials. make no mistake. this damage is our ability as a nation to collect intelligence. as the national security -- to those government officials to be -- that betray the trust of the actions endanger our national security. the selective leaking of any classified information disrupts collect, work to assess and mitigate threats. it is also a crime.

said leaks compromise and disrupt the work to collect and ascribe culpability. to anonymous sources, you should know this. he might seek to undermine our president, but you undermine our country's safety and security. >> when did white house officials first learn this intelligence? >> the president was never briefed on this. intelligence has still not been verified. >> does the president wish that he had been briefed sooner? joe biden called it a dereliction of duty. >> this was information that has not been verified and to this day, it has not been verified. there are several agencies noting that they have no

corroborating evidence to validate recent allegations. they have not been verified or substantiated. we are investigating the intelligence referenced, but that did not stop the new york times from putting it on the front page of their newspaper and stopping us. >> if this intelligence does turn out to be true, is the president prepared to take serious action against russia? takee president has always -- taken tough action against russia. the president closed the consulate. he sanctioned hundreds of

targets and withdrew from the ins treaty. to impose visa sanctions and other actions. this president is prepared to act and will always act in protecting americans. we saw syria and dozens of russian mercenaries were killed. he will always act to protect american troops. >> there is a briefing schedule today. will this matter be part of the roofing this afternoon? >> the president has been briefed on the public domain because of the new york times and the responsible leak. that does not change the fact that there is no consensus on the intelligence that has yet to be verified. allies have said it would be great if the

president could wear it mask in public sometimes, to set an example. how much weight do words from mccarthy mean? >> the president said he has no problem with wearing a mask. cdc guidelines are still recommended but not required. is his decision whether or not to wear a mask. >> there is some dispute of including this intelligence information. was he given access to this information? >> it is a top-secret document. i will never sit here and confirm or deny. i believe it at that.

is -- i waswill say speaking to some people about this earlier. some other people around the white house. unverified, we can be deemed credible or not credible. wayhat information, in any and pended upon the safety of our troops, that goes to our troops on the ground and to our allies to take the appropriate measures. there was no consensus. in this case, if there was a strategic decision to be made vis-a-vis russia. case, it was not briefed to the president. it was not credible. this president will always

protect american troops. say they haved disclosed in the past, but secondly, this is a relevant issue. the president might not know that there are policy decisions be made -- to be made. could change his posture towards russia. determine whether or not this is true. i guess, more broadly, i would ask the question. .erhaps you can explain >> the president does read and consumes intelligence verbally.

this president is the most informed person on planet earth. ambassador o'brien sees him in person twice a day taking upwards of half a dozen calls with this president, constantly onng informed and briefed intelligence matters. i will not allow them to dictate when or when we do not give top-secret information. >> can you comment -- >> i would say more generally what the obama era government has to answer for is quite essential. a dossier full of lies. the creation of that dossier was funded by the democratic committee in coordination with

the hillary clinton campaign to spy on the trump campaign to launch a two-year investigation into russia collusion. it was an immense waste of taxpayer dollars. he has a lot to answer for. >> why was it not televised, given the public interest? >> that would be a question for congress, but i think the public deserves to know the answers on those matters. lawmakers are calling for a briefing from intelligence officials. , given? a concern >> i think democrats should come forward in good faith. the new york times acting irresponsibly and the democratic party politicizing this

information, which i think is absolutely disgraceful. saidnator mitch mcconnell russia should absolutely not be allowed back into the g7. >> the president believes that we should have diplomatic elation ships with the top economies of the world, but nobody has been tougher on russia than this president. i would note that when it comes to acting on viable, actionable and credible intelligence, there has been no one who has acted more forcefully then this president. he has made protecting our troops his strongest priority. responsible for the .eaths of thousands other improvised explosive devices, improvised rocket

munitions, rocket propelled grenades, small arms snipers and other attacks is what he did to our american troops. president bush declined to strike solemani, who was in the crosshairs. you had obama and biden who never made an effort. when he had actionable intelligence, he took that option. the strike.ndemned democrats demanded answers on solemani killing top immigrants. why kill solemani now? we remove him from the battlefield. onsident trump did based edible intelligence. 300 public for

beheadings, who killed thousands of prisoners of war. he took action, but that he acts in defense of our american troops. >> who is doing the targeting, and why are they doing it? will not be -- they will not likely be able to get a consensus on this intelligence because of what was leaked to the new york times and you have noting what and nsc damage this does, not just to the safety of our troops but to the ability of the united states to aggregate information from our allies and have assets and get this valuable information. is going after trump, is that what you are saying?

>> it very much could be. is the trump administration taking any action like an auto set -- an audit of the -- >> make no mistake, the doj has ,one several criminal referrals 104 on average per year under president trump. so we do take those steps. and we do have a president who ultimately, when it comes down to the safety of our troops, he doesn't take impulsive action, he takes deliberate action. we saw that in the protecting of our troops, and at the same time, when you had a rat, who shot down a drone, he chose not to strike back in that instance. it was a measured, proportionate response. the ultimate way to protect american troops is to not get into useless foreign wars.

this president is on record for decades and decades of opposing foreign wars, and iraq is a great example. a nearly two decade war, you have a president who when washington was unanimous in saying we are going into a wreck, this president said no, that's not the right decision. he has wound down our troop presence in afghanistan, protected american troops in cap the country safe. an incrediblyhas strong foreign policy record to be proud of. >> c-span's washington journal, every day we are taking your phone calls live on the air on the news of the day and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. morning, wednesday

congresswoman debbie dingell will talk -- will join us to talk about the latest u.s. response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the conversation continues with a medical doctor on his legislation to increase testing. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning. be sure to join the discussion with their phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. >> c-span has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events. you can watch all of c-span's public affairs programming on television, online, or listen on the free radio app and be part of the conversation through c-span's daily washington c-span, created by america's cable television companies as a public