captioning sponsored by cbs today on "face the nation", new reports about russia influencing the presidential election create a political firestorm. and sour relations between the president-elect and the intelligence community. president-elect donald trump took a break saturday afternoon to take in an all-american classic, the army navy game, but the news about russia took some of the attention off the field. >> >> but does he really? and will mr. trump join a bipartisan call for a larger investigation of russian efforts, we will talk to the senator leading the charge, john mccain and get his thoughts on the leading contender for secretary of state, rex tillerson, kellyanne conway will be here and vermont senator bernie sanders also joins us. then we will hear about efforts to improve relations between the

police and the community from south carolina senator tim scott. plus plenty of political analysis and some thoughts about an american hero who died last week. it is all ahead on "face the nation". good morning and welcome to "face the nation", i am john dickerson. new developments this morning, a bipartisan group of senators led by senator john mccain have called for an investigation into russian interference in the u.s. election. this after the "washington post" reported the cia had come to a new conclusion, that the russians were actively working to elect donald trump. mr. trump responded to the "washington post" report in an interview that aired on fox news sunday. >> it is ridiculous, i think it is another excuse. i don't believe it. i don't know why and i think it is just -- they talked about all sorts of things, every week it is another excuse. we had a massive landslide victory as you know in the

electoral college, i guess final numbers are now at 306 and she is down to a very low number. no. i don't believe that at all. >> dickerson: and we begin this morning with senator john mccain. >> senator mccain, you want an investigation, a bipartisan investigation, the president-elect says that this notion of russia trying to be involved in the election is ridiculous. >> what do you make of this disconnect? >> i don't know what to make of it, because it is clear the russians interfered. now, whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, i think that is subject to investigation. but the facts are stubborn things, they did hack into this campaign and they did it, i think, with some -- with at least what seemed to be effective, sort of every week or so there was new information, and were they hacking the republicans the same way? the republican national committee? and if so, why didn't they --

there is a whole lot of issues out there. it requires an investigation. the president is ordering an investigation, you are not going to find this all out in the next month between the administrations, it is fine with me if he starts an investigation, but it is going to require congressional involvement, it is going to require in-depth and -- by the way, the russians have interfered in a lot of other elections, the russians have hacked into some of our most secret military information. the russians have been active using as a tool as part of vladimir putin's am goings regain russian prominence and dominance in some parts of the world. >> so your point is there are specific evidence that points you to this conclusion and then there is a broader pattern of the behavior the russians have been a part of. >> and they have hacked, they have, in case of the country called estonia they tried to shut down their economy for a while. they have intervened -- here is

a fundamental fact that when they get, will get to this later on, vladimir putin is a thug and murderer and a killer and the kgb agent, he had -- murdered in the shadow of the kremlin. he is dismembered the ukraine, he has now precision strikes by russian aircraft on hospitals in a, aleppo let's call vladimir putin for what he is, does that mean you don't talk to him? of course you talk a too him but you do it the same way ronald reagan did and that's from a position of strength and by the way the congress of the united states is not acting very responsibly on that issue, which is the subject of another encounter with us. >> dickerson: based on what you heard president-elect say about russia, he doesn't seem to share your view of russia and speaking about it plainly, if speaking about it plainly is the starting position in your case then what do you say to the president-elect about his view of russia?

>> i say i hope that he will listen to people like general mad discuss, for example, there is a point he too the secretary of defense, the i hope that he would call people that he respects and who the american people respect and get the facts .. the facts are there about russian behavior, and russian -- not just hacking into the united states in the 2016 election campaign but throughout the world. vladimir putin and the chinese, by the way, and other world states view cyber as a form of war fare and by the way, according to testimony of our chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and others, that's the area, cyber, that we are not ahead, do not have an advantage over our adversaries, nor by the way buzz the obama administration have a policy or a strategy in this whole issue of cyber war fare. >> dickerson: in terms of this investigation into russian efforts with the election, do

you want, just a regular old through the senate investigation? do you want a special commission? a committee? >> i would like in an ideal world to have a select committee. >> dickerson: why is that important? slain it to people. >> i -- that would be either a senate -- the leaders of intelligence committee, foreign relations, and armed services, obviously, but that takes a long time, it takes a lot of negotiating, et cetera, so armed services committee, we work very closely with richard burr, with senator cardin and senator corker, we work closely together. but what we are going to do in the meantime is going to have a subcommittee on the armed services committee, we are going to ask senator lindsay gram who is as smart as anybody on this issue to be the the chair along with a really smart democrat .. and whether he go to work on it. we will go to work immediately, because the issue of sign search not a static issue. >> dickerson: but on this question of the election you are trying to -- you say you want it

to be bipartisan. this is basically cooked up by the democrats. how do you squeeze the politics out of this? >> because i am confident, chuck schumer and the statement we made this morning, chuck schumer said we would be working in a bipartisan basis. you can't make this issue partisan. it is just -- it is too important. a fundamental of a democracy is a free and fair election. and again i am saying, they are doing this in other countries, not just this one, so i am confident that we can address this in a bipartisan fashion. >> dickerson: you are headed to the balkans with senator lindsey graham to do what? >> the message is that we will not abandon them, we understand the challenges that they face. we understand the cyber attacks. we understand the threats and the bullying of vladimir putin, and we are a government that has a role to play for the congress of the united states as well as the president and so -- >> dickerson: are they more worried about it because of

their, the president's a president elect's position on putin. >> they are very worried. >> dickerson: the nominee for secretary of state, rex tillerson, what is your view? >> i don't know him. i believe that we should give every nominee of the president of the united states a fair hearing because that is the result of elections and elections have consequences. but i just -- described my view of had lad and i think it is correct. >> dickerson: and he has ties to him. >> maybe those ties are strictly commercial and have got to do with his business in the oil business, fine. but we will give him a fair hearing, but is ate matter of concern? certainly it should be a matter of concern, but i am sure, in a bipartisan way he will get a fair hearing. >> dickerson: but if it is a fair concern play it out for people. >> it is a matter of concern that he he has such a close personal relationship with vladimir putin, and obviously they have done enormous deals together, that that would color

his approach to vladimir putin and the russian threat. but that is a matter of concern. we will give him his chance. that's what the confirmation process, that is what advise, advice and concept is all about. >> dickerson: senator john mccain, thanks so much for coming with us. we turn to kellyanne conway, sr. advisor to president-elect trump,? he is in philadelphia this morning, good morning, kellyanne conway. will. >> good morning, john. >> will they support a congressional investigation into russia being involved in the election? >> the president-elect will not interfere in the legislative branch in that way. but he has made it very clear in an interview with a different network, john, that he feels, a, there is a great deal of confusion, no on source -- no on the record sources coming to a very bright line conclusion about what happened here. and that he thinks that people are trying to religate the election, people like senator mccain say he has an interest in making sure that a foreign government hasn't tried to

interfere with our electoral process and i respect him enormously for saying that but there are others who aren't so high-minded about cyber security, there is the latest attempt, first jim connolly's fault and then we are going to have a recount and then now it is russia, russian interference and i will tell you there does seem to be a lack of certainty among some of these agencies, no on the source person, maybe that's why congressional investigations are at hand. >> dickerson: right. so i guess that is the question. since there is confusion, you said mr. trump won't get in the way of the executive branch. will he cooperate to the extent it is ever required with these investigations, bipartisan now that have been called for, to look into whether russia was involved? >> and how are you characterizing his cooperation? >> dickerson: well, i don't know where the investigation will lead but in terms of people engaging how seriously the president-elect takes this notion, leaving politics out of it because you now have senators on the republican and the democratic side saying this is worth looking into if for no other reason than to clear up

the confusion, does mr. trump in the spirit of that want to cooperate with stump an investigation? >> john, he has made very clear how he views this. i mean we don't want anybody, any foreign -- >> dickerson: he said it is ridiculous. that seems to be pretty critical of the idea it is worth looking into. >> but let's be fair to him. what president-elect trump said is ridiculous is this idea that it was meant to help him become president of the united states. so there is no evidence of that. and if you go back and you listen to clinton campaign spokespeople on your program and others if you listen to the private briefings to media and others, they said very little about this. they were talking about -- they were talking about how they were going to win the election before election day because of the early voting. they were going to have record turnout, if that were true they would have won, and the president-elect's point is that the conclusion all are making, some are making here that the interference went to affecting the relation, election results to defeat election is what he is calling ridiculous and let me

point out because it got muddied here a little bit, the rnc has a great source in its chairman reince priebus who is the incoming chief of staff, he has denied again and again and again that the rnc was hacked. they obviously -- got with the fbi -- >> dickerson: on that track -- can i just keep us on the rails here for adjust second because we are not really talking about the rnc at the moment. on this question of intelligence here, not talking about the election but what bipartisan senators have now called for is what i am trying to figure out here. mr. trump has had several briefings as a candidate and now as president-elect, what is his feeling about the intelligence community? >> he answered that question i think you are going to show a clip later, i saw it in the beginning of your program, john, where he was asked, do you have faith in the intelligence community and he said i do. so there is your answer from him. he appreciate it is briefings so let me make very clear, even me as a close advisor and many others with whom he will be speaking about this, do not have access to those top secret

briefings, we don't have that type of clearance nor should we, so he needs to not -- he is not divulging the information that he has nor should he. >> dickerson: sure. the reason i ask -- >> i want to make that clear. i feel compelled to back up a second. in light of what is being concluded and not evidence and proved by individuals, pundits and otherwise, john, it does center on the -- it does center on the fact is false that the rnc and dnc were both hacked. >> dickerson: but i am just trying to get a sense of the new president-elect's views about the intelligence community which doesn't have to do with that at the moment. the reason i ask he has had a lot of intelligence briefings and when asked about this question, which is coming from the intelligence community he said that -- he said it was a laughing point, in other words, the notion that the russians were involved, and the action was laughable, i am wondering how he can respect the intelligence community and something they are telling him is laughable, that seems to be a disconnect. >> it is completely compatible.

he absolutely respect it is intelligence community, he made very clear he will put his own people in there as well. what he has said is laughable and ridiculous is this entire notion which people are just using as a foregone conclusion that somehow this was meant to defeat hillary clinton and elevate him to the presidency. it is not -- it is not -- it is untrue and unfair, it is untrue so far and unfair because of what he also fold a different network, john, which is, look, this was -- this was a significant victory. he got 306 electoral votes and the people, people are trying to undercut the election votes is false, the recount, vilifying jim comey and everybody's false but pk hillary clinton. >> dickerson: what i am hearing you say is he is really questioning this specific claim, but if that is the case then why does the transition team put out this same that said these are the same people that said saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction. referring to the intelligence community. that's not a criticism of this specific finding, that is taking their worst moment in the last

15 years and defining the entire intelligence community by that. why would he take a swing like that at these people he now has to work with? >> the question is why are people taking this specific allegation, which still has confusion among the agencies, no on the source record, unnamed -- in the "washington post", that is not -- you can't take that -- >> dickerson:. >> conclusion about it. >> dickerson: it is a totally valid point then why respond to it by saying let's go back 15 years and talk about the worst part of your record in the intelligence community and remind everybody about that? it seems disproportionate, he everything you say is right, i believe, why believe rumors but why in response to these allegations in the paper take a swing like that at the entire intelligence community? >> it is proportionate, john, the criticism, the naysayers, the election defires/flyers, that's what, that is what is disproportionate that a is not you and your colleagues here but that is many people right now and i tell you, it is very unfortunate, it is very unfair. this is a democracy that

deserves a peaceful transition, the election was five weeks ago, practically, and you have people trying to relitigate it now through this instance with allegations, frankly. and, you know, if your, if you are team trump you are accustomed to in but i say take the clues from president obama himself, who has not just congratulated donald trump as the new president but conceded to him and he and his advisors made clear to all of us including the president-elect and vice president elect they are there to support this peaceful transition in the democracy and i just believe unfounded allegations like this really undercut that. >> dickerson: kellyanne conway question appreciate you being with us, thank you so much. >> thank you, john. >> and now joining us from birmingham, vermont is senator bernie sanders, senator sanders i want to start with you on this question of russian interference in the election, what do you make of it? >> well, everything in the intelligence agencies are saying that happened, when you have john mccain, when you have democrats, when you have a bipartisan effort saying we need

an investigation, because this is very serious stuff, i think we go forward. but i don't want to go backwards, i think we have to go forward and we have to take a hard look at the role the russians played in this election process. we will see where the investigation goes, but for donald trump, to dismiss all of this makes no sense to me at all. but, john, i will tell you what my major concern is right now, what i am hearing from people all over vermont and all over this country is during the campaign, mr. trump made some promises. and what people want to know is if he is going to keep the campaign promises he made. he said, i donald trump am not going to cut social security and not going to cut medicare i am a not going to cut medicaid and yet we are seeing republicans in the congress coming forward with devastating plans to cut social security, to cut medicare and i challenge mr. trump today, tell the american people you going to keep your campaign promises, tell the republicans to back off, no cuts for social security, medicare, medicaid and

go forward with your campaign promise to lower the cost of prescription drugs. >> dickerson: these promises, or these ideas that are being floated by republicans as you point out are not being -- are not coming from donald trump himself. you still give him the benefit of the doubt on that? >> well, but i think it is important when you are, appointment somebody like congressman price to be head of health & human services agency, who has spent his career in trying to cut or privatize medicare, that is not a good signal to send. so i think all that mr. trump has got to do today is tell his republican colleagues in the house and the senate, back off, it ain't going to go anywhere, i will veto any legislation that will cut social security because i promised the american people that i would not do that. look, we are people watching in program right now and have disabled veterans watching this program right now, they are trying to get by on 12, $13,000 a year in social security. and they are frightened about cuts to social security.

my view is, we have got to expand social security benefits by lifting the cap on taxable income, if we do that we can extend social security for 50 years, only the top one and a half percent of people in this country will pay more in taxes. that's the right thing to do. but at the very least, president-elect trump has got to reassure the american people he is going to keep his promises. >> dickerson: all right, senator we are just going to take a quick break and be right back in a minute with more from senator bernie sanders. don't go away. mmy go "grumbily, grumbily, grumbily"? why is it all (mimics a stomach grumble) no more questions for you! ooph, that milk in your cereal was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, happens to more people than you think... try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good, right? mmm, yeah. i got your back. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you.

>> dickerson: and we are back with senator bernie sanders. senator, just going back on this russian question quickly before we move on, i just want to get a sense from you, do you think the congressional investigation is sufficient or is that -- do you have any other thoughts about how these reports should be responded to? >> well, i think first of all, you need to get the facts and i think that is what a bipartisan investigation should do, and once we get the facts i think we two forward but the word has to go out to russia, any other

country on earth we are going to protect our democracy, the cyber security is very, very dangerous stuff and whether he not tolerate other countries interfering with in the democratic process in this country. >> dickerson: you have some issues, although we just talked about this on social security where you disagree with the republican, some issues where you could work with donald trump, we talked about this before. have they ever reached out to you? they reached out to some democrats, the president-elect, al gore, the president. >> well, they reached out to al gore, because obviously the former vice president has played an enormously important role in educating the american people about the planetary crisis of climate change but i will tell you, to answer your question, though they have not reached out to me. i am glad they reached out to gore but apparently they are not hearing what gore had to say. on the debate on climate change is over, climate change is real, it is caused by human activity and already causing devastating problems. it is beyond my comprehension it really is when the entire planet

is struggling to cut carbon emissions that mr. trump would appoint somebody to be head of the epa who is a denier. it is too late for that and the american people in have to take matters into their own hands and demand and in their own ways state by state transform their energy system away from fossil fuel. >> dickerson: let me ask you about that, those selections that donald trump has made to his, they go through, those that go through the senate you supported the so-called nuclear option which means those nomination accounts not be blocked by a filibuster, do you regret having supported the nuclear option? >> no, i don't. but we did that because we, the republicans were denying, obstructing president obama in every way, making it impossible to appoint federal judges, district judges, and really paralyzing the judiciary branch, many, many people there were not just getting the hearings they needed. we had to move forward. but right now, what concerns me very much is it looks like we

have a cabinet of billionaires, i guess they have a few poor millionaires on it but mostly it is billionaires, and this is coming from a candidate for president, mr. trump who told us he was going to take on the establishment, well, maybe i am not seeing something here but if you don't appoint the head of exxon mobil to be secretary of state, that is not quite taking on the establishment. you don't appoint a cabinet of billionaires to take on the establishment. so we will see how the hearings proceed, but i think there are a lot of very important questions that will have to be asked of these companies. >> dickerson: without the filibuster there is not much democrats can do in the senate. >> we can expose, if somebody comes forward who tells us that climate change is not real, and wants to be head of the epa, we can bring in all of the scientific evidence all over this world to contradict that person and what the american people make, and let the

american people make a decision and if you have somebody who thinks we should cut medicare, cut social security for disabled veterans, trust me, there will be a lot of sharp questions there. >> dickerson: all right, senator sanders we have to end there. thank you so much and we will be right back with a lot more "face the nation". sponsored by charles schwab. sti? well, i've been doing some research. let me introduce you to our broker. how much does he charge? i don't know. okay. uh, do you get your fees back if you're not happy? (dad laughs) wow, you're laughing. that's not the way the world works. well, the world's changing. are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed? wealth management, at charles schwab. new aveeno®... don't just eat yogurt... wear it. daily moisturizing body yogurt. enriched with the nutrients found in greek yogurt, intensely nourishes skin for 48 hours. aveeno®.

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