the participants at the meeting were screened and vetted, and many praised the president and his leadership on cue when called upon. while some, like our guest earlier this evening, spoke counter to the narrative pushed at the meeting. for us, that's our broadcast for wednesday night. thank you so very much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. we're following a lot of developing news stories. very happy to have you with us. one of the things that's going on in the conservative media right now is that the fox news channel and conservative media online, they've started agitating today for something you would not expect. they've started agitating today, advocating today that trump national security adviser mike

flynn should withdraw his guilty plea. in the robert mueller special counsel investigation. now, mike flynn of course pled guilty in december, signed a cooperation agreement with mueller's prosecutors at that time. conservative media have decided that as he pled guilty, that was a mistake or miscarriage of justice. it is a strange argument. it is so far not making that many waves in mainstream media or legal circles. but as you know, when it comes to the scandal and this white house, things have a way of moving very quickly out of the fringes to become the big idea in washington. you should know that is happening out there on the fringe, and we'll have more this hour including some expert advice that i think will help make some sense out of that strange story. that is percolating out there.

we're watching it. we also just tonight got the transcript from the court hearing that happened yesterday involving alex van der swan. the latest person to plead guilty in the special counsel investigation. from that transcript and the court filings in his case which have been unsealed, we've now got confirmation that unlike mike flynn and unlike trump foreign policy adviser george papadopoulos, he did not sign a cooperation agreement with the prosecution. he did plead guilty but did not agree to cooperate with prosecutors. why is that important? he is a dutch citizen, english lawyer, russian speaking. it has been of interest. this question of whether he might be cooperating in the mueller investigation, particularly because of the family that he just married into. his father-in-law, the father of

his new wife, is a multi-billionaire russian oligarch close to vladimir putin and is of the founders of alpha bank. over the course of this scandal involving russian interference in our election and whether the trump campaign was involved in that interference, there have been intriguing questions raised. the way that putin's russia works these days, there is a private sector component many times. there is evidence behind that hypothesis when they indicted those russians last friday. in the case of alpha bank, a private enterprise, there have been intriguing questions raised

as to whether or not any part of alpha bank might have played some role in the russian interference in our election. there have been specific questions raised as to whether alpha bank might have been involved in surreptitious contacts between the trump campaign and russia while the attack was under way. you might remember that baffling reporting about unexplained communications during the election between computer servers in russia linked to alpha bank and a computer server in trump tower linked to the trump organization. very interesting reporting. ultimately, it's open-ended. we don't have any idea what that server communication was about, but it raised questions. alpha bank and its founders are also mentioned prominently in the christopher steele dossier which outlines allegations of a conspiracy to carry out this attack. alpha bank is suing fusion gps and buzzfeed because they

disagree with those allegations. but when alex van der swan was arrested and indicted, surprise, and that was unsealed yesterday. when he pled guilty in federal court yesterday, that did raise the prospect, oftentimes when people plead guilty, it's because they're cooperating, it raised the prospect that he might be an inside source, a very interesting inside source of information for mueller's prosecutors about alpha bank. one of the three founders of alpha bank is his dad now, his father-in-law. so, interesting prospects raised yesterday by his guilty plea, given his family connections. now with the release tonight of the transcript of his case we can see that whatever alex van der swan told prosecutors leading up to his court

appearance yesterday, whatever he told mueller's prosecutors about the mueller investigation of russia attacking our election, we now know for sure and on the record that there was no explicit, written, cooperation agreement between him and the prosecutors entered in court filings to go along with his guilty plea. now, i raise that right now in part because there's been a lot of misreporting on that point since we first learned that van der swan was being indicted. a lot of people have said that he pled guilty and afrgreed to cooperate. it is now clear from mueller's prosecutors in the transcript that there was no cooperation agreement, just a guilty plea. we're raising that as a point of order. people who have misreported, that should clear it up. and we're going to have expert advice later on in the importance of that distinction. also, there was a new sealed filing in the government case against paul manafort.

the way this filing was made and what led up to this filing in manafort's case today makes it appear that these might be new charges against paul manafort, maybe even a whole new superseding indictment in the manafort case. that's just a guess. as of now, it's a sealed document, basically a mystery and a very intriguing one at that. we'll have more on that tonight as well. so, watching all of those stories tonight, we'll have more on that over the course of this hour. but if you saw any news today, undoubtedly, what you saw was this. "miami herald" reporting tonight, that this was the largest demonstration in tallahassee, the largest demonstration at the state capital in florida in 20 years. we knew there would be protests today at the state capital in tallahassee. we did not know it would be thousands of people, and mostly teenagers. this was described by a lot of

reporters as a boisterous protest, a boisterous rally at the state capital. i don't know if boisterous is the right word. but it was big. it was loud, and it was emotional. >> i'm not here for a fight. i'm not here to argue with you. i just want to speak. i just want to see your face and know why. >> have a heart, have a heart! >> never again! >> we lose confidence in our government, because we are told that nothing can be done, time and time again. and we are tired of hearing that. because we know there can be change in this country. never again should a tragedy of this caliber happen in this country, never again. and, as always, be positive, be passionate and be proud to be an eagle.

>> the eagles, the mascot of the high school where the massacre happened last week in south florida. so, that was the teenager-led rally at the state capital today in tallahassee, but there were student walkouts and protests today all over the place. this was minneapolis, minnesota, look at this turnout. students took their cues from the teenagers in florida. they converged on city hall. in the washington, d.c., area, students came from all over. look at this, union station in downtown d.c. if you have ever taken the train into d.c., you know union station is walking distance from the white house and the capitol. so these kids all flooded into d.c. today, including all of these kids streaming out of union station to go protest. for at least the second time in the past week, teenagers held these dramatic protests on the street right outside the white house, between the white house and lafayette park. kids protested in gilbert,

arizona, parker, colorado, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and stafford township, new jersey, and bellingham, washington. they protested all over florida. florida's a very, very big state, population-wise and geographically. and when the kids from parkland, florida, arrived in tallahassee today, they had had to travel seven hours across the state to get there, and they did. in florida, state politics are republican-dominated now and pro-gun republican-dominated now. the state has been among the most extreme, even experimental policy environments for the nra. but these kids already have succeeded in getting florida's republican legislators to talk about something they otherwise wouldn't talk about. rick scott says he will propose

a package of reforms by friday. we don't know what's in the package of reforms, but it's suspected that it might include some minor legal changes that would restrict long guns to the same as handguns, you'd have to be 21 years old to buy a long gun. right now, you have to be 21 to buy a handgun in florida. they're talking about subjecting rifles to the same waiting period that applies to handguns. that waiting period is a whopping three days in florida. so, when i say these are modest changes to state law that they are considering, i'm not even doing justice to the word modest there, but for florida republicans, for florida republicans, given what they have been doing in recent years, even these teeny, tiny, little changes might be considered radical reform. veteran political reporter mark caputo says until last week's shooting, any of these proposals from republican leadership would have been unthinkable in the

florida legislature. he called florida a laboratory for the national rifle association, saying for years, the nra has scored win after win in this gun-shaped state. but these kids, the kids from the school that just got shot up, the proud eagles, and these kids from all over south florida and the rest of the state, they have flooded out of their schools. these kids who are better at arguing on this subject than most adults i have ever heard in my life, they seem to believe, they seem to be determined that they are going to turn this around. they're going to win something. it is heartbreaking to even think about betting against them given what they have been through, but we'll see. and the pressure is on in a big way. the clock is ticking, at least in florida, that promised package of reforms from the pro-gun republican governor is supposedly going to come the day after tomorrow. so the proof will be in the pudding very quickly in florida.

at the federal level for the country, as a longtime observer of these types of fights, i feel like for now it is hard to know what to believe what is really happening. it's hard to know what to believe, and i can tell you why in just a second, but i can also tell you that something very real and very emotional happened right in the middle of the white house today. and it was unavoidable. it was show-stopping. and that's next. . i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i don't eat the way i should. so, i drink boost to get the nutrition i'm missing. boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. all with a great taste. boost gives me everything i need... to be up for doing what i love. boost high protein be up for it

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after a year or so of covering this new president and this new administration, i have found, in general, that it is always a safer bet to report on what they're doing rather than what they're saying. on this show, we sort of have a staff mantra about this, a silent movie. that's the rule, treat them as a silent movie. just watch what they do, not what they say. all good rules have their exceptions. but i think what we're seeing right now in the wake of what happened in parkland, florida, is an example of why that rule has some weight. after the massacre in parkland, you may have seen that this is part of what the president said should be done in response.

the president said online, we must now focus on strengthening background checks, background checks for people who want to buy guns. that is what he has said. the "l.a. times" has done a good job of rounding up what the president has actually done on that subject since he's been in office. again, saying versus doing. since president trump took office, his administration has moved aggressively on multiple fronts to weaken the background check system for guns. narrowing the definitions means more people are eligible to buy guns. one way to be disqualified from buying a gun is if you are a fugitive from justice. that makes sense. if you are wanted by the law, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun under those circumstances. but the fbi used to consider people fugitives if they had a warrant for their arrest. now, a fugitive from justice will only be disqualified from

buying a gun if he or she has also fled across state lines to intentionally avoid prosecution. if you haven't done that, they don't consider you a fugitive from justice anymore for the purposes of the background check. they have thrown out tens of thousands of records that used to be included. certain forms and aspects of mental illness used to disqualify you. the trump administration has narrowed those definitions. and somewhat famously, in the first substantive standalone legislation passed by the new republican congress and signed by new president trump, they overtly went out of their way in standalone legislation to change the law so people who have been adjudicated seriously mentally ill by the social security administration are no longer included in the background check system at all. they proposed slashing millions

of dollars from the budget from the background check system. so that's what they are doing. those are their actions, which is important to know, when you see that same president saying what he really wants to do is strengthen the background check system. those actions by him and that narrative tell one story, the story of what he's doing while he wants to convince you otherwise. now, the president also made headlines last night when he said he would ask the justice department to consider regulations regarding bump stocks, one of these aftermarket modifications you can strap onto your semi-automatic rifle to make it fire like a machine gun. the president's remarks on that subject made headlines. you should know that in terms of what he actually asked to happen, he requested the justice department to come up with regulations around these, the justice department has already considered regulating those kinds of devices. dianne feinstein, the author of the clinton-era assault rifle

ban which was allowed to expire, she released this letter from five years ago. reminding everyone that democrats have been asking for years for doj to stop these add-ons and accessories. the justice department is already on record explicitly saying that they are not allowed legally to promulgate those regulations. congress has to do it. so, there's definitely a way to do it. it's clear. almost assuredly, the only way to do it is to ask the congress, which is controlled by his party, to pass a law that would ban those things. but despite the headlines from last night, that the president has directed action against those accessories, there's no signs of any legislation request coming from the white house and no sign that the republican-led congress plans to do that. it's always a good rule, that at times like this, more than ever,

watch what they're doing, not what they're saying. that said, maybe none of us really knows what's going to happen down the road here. because maybe all these kids protesting after the parkland massacre are going to change everything. look at all these kids. look at the funerals of all these kids. look at florida lawmakers visiting the school in parkland, florida, where this massacre happened. these florida kids bringing themselves to the legislature today where they were an unavoidable force, the "miami herald" calling it the biggest demonstration at the state capital in florida in decades. and also at the white house, yes, watch what they do and not what they say, but also look at what is being said to this president. there was this awkward photo today from the associated press showing the notes the president brought with him to talk to these kids and their families whose have been through massacres.

number five there is telling the president to say "i hear you." but even with notes to help him to know what to say, even with the best of intentions and even with the softest heart, i think it is hard to predict what happens to people and how it changes people when they have to face this kind of grief in person. when you're in the presence of this human emotional power. i want to show you a little bit of tape. you're going to see two different people talk to the president today. this isn't footage of the president talking. this is two people talking to him. first one is a young man who is absolutely in the raw aftermath of what he has just been through, and he makes this incredible statement, this incredible plea from this raw place, and he is followed in his remarks by a mother who walked through her own version of this hell five years ago with her 6-year-old son. and in the five years since, she has been fighting and learning and fighting and learning and fighting and learning.

so the spectrum of what you see from him and what you see from her, watch this. watch him and then watch her. watch this. >> my name is sam zeiff. i'm a student from parkland. and i just want to take a second, first, to thank you for having me, mr. president, mr. vice president, mr. secretary. i was on the second floor in that building. texting my mom. texting my dad. texting three of my brothers. that i was never going to see them again. and then it occurred to me that my 14-year-old brother was directly above me in that classroom where scott beagle was murdered.

scott beagle got my brother in the class. he was the last kid to get back into that class. that's why i'm here. i lost a best friend who was practically a brother. and i'm here to use my voice, because i know he can't. and i know he's with me, cheering me on. to be strong, but it's hard. and to feel like this, it doesn't even feel like a week. time has stood still. to feel like this, ever, i can't, i can't feel comfortable in my country knowing that people have, will have, ever going to feel like this. i want to feel safe at school, you know. senior year and junior year are

big years for me, when i turned my academics around, started connecting with teachers, and i started actually enjoying school. and now, i don't know how i'm ever going to step foot on that place again. i turned 18 the day after. woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. and i don't understand why i can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war. an a.r. i was reading today that a person, 20 years old, walked into a store and bought an ar-15, in five minutes with an expired i.d. how is it that easy to buy this type of weapon? how will we not stop this after columbine. i'm sitting with a mother who lost her son. still happening. in australia, there was a

shooting at a school in 1999. you know, after that, they took a lot of ideas, they put a lot of legislation together. and they stopped it. can anyone here guess how many shootings there have been in a school since then in australia? zero. we need to do something. and that's why we're here. so let's be strong. for the fallen who don't have a voice to speak anymore. and let's never let this happen again. please. please. >> mr. president, mr. vice president, madam secretary. my story is far too well-known.

i have two sons who were at sandy hook school. my eldest, who was 8 at the time, survived. and my 6-year-old son dylan did not. and i have been working tirelessly on this issue for over five years now. the organization that i help lead, sandy hook promise, is very focused on keeping kids safe at school, because no parent should go through this. every parent who sends their kid to school should know, without any question in their mind, that they're going to be coming home that day. this is not a difficult issue. you're absolutely right. there are solutions. and this administration has the ability to put them in place. and after sandy hook, they said this, we wouldn't let this happen again, and yet it has continued to happen for five years.

how many more deaths can we take as a country? how many more teenagers and 6 and 7-year-olds can we allow to die? don't let that happen anymore on your watch. there are things that you can do right now, mental health, you mentioned earlier. funding for that would be very much appreciated. stop school violence act, enabling prevention programs and reporting systems in schools across america, it's already passed through the house. it's in the senate right now. urge swift passage of that, that can get a lot of help to schools. there's legislation available to you right now. there are free training programs, such as our "know the signs" programs available across the state. you could mandate these sorts of programs. this is not difficult. these deaths are preventable. and i implore you, consider your own children. you don't want to be me. no parent does. and you have the ability to make

a difference and save lives today. please don't waste this. thank you. >> that was this afternoon at the white house. joining us now is nicole hockley, the managing director of sandy hook promise, the mother of dylan hockley. who was killed at the sandy hook shooting five years ago. thank you for being here. i'm sorry about these difficult circumstances. >> thank you, rachel. >> what did you think of this event today at the white house? you were so articulate, that young man sitting next to you, was so articulate, we could hardly stand it. >> it's hard to listen to victims and survivors share their stories. i was incredibly encouraged by today's listening session that the president opened the doors to the white house to victims of different tragedies and said come and talk to me, share your stories, share your experience and come to me with your ideas

for solutions. that is not something i had anticipated. so i am encouraged if they are truly listening and open to hearing the variety of solutions that are out there, maybe this is the time that we will see some change truly happen. >> you are incredibly good at talking about your own impossible story and about talking about this issue, and i was struck today, in the midst of so many people's raw testimony and so much emotion and so much feeling that you were being really, really concrete. you kept saying these enabling phrases. kept saying there are things you can do right now, this is in your power, this is not difficult, you can do this. i wonder, do you feel like people are stuck thinking it's harder than it actually is to

make substantive changes that would make a difference? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. i think people across our country think this is a hopeless issue and they're helpless to do anything about it. they think these shootings are part of life in america and other than calling their senator or congressman there's nothing they can do. and it's just not true. there are so many things we can do in our schools and communities and so many things we can do at a state and federal level. we need to focus on common sense solutions that are not about taking away guns and aren't about giving everyone more guns. we have over 300 million guns in this country. they're not going away. so let's deal with that. keep that on the table, say, how are we going to ensure appropriate access, therefore? how are we going to recognize the signs of someone who's at risk and make sure they can't get their hands on a weapon. no one is pro gun violence. no one is pro school violence. so let's focus on, what do we

need to do to keep our kids safe if we can't do anything about taking away guns. >> on that point about access, people having access to the hundreds of millions of guns that already exist in our country, i think that's a, i mean, "a," you're spot-on, obviously, in terms of the way you're describing the reality. and then, when we get to talking about how people have access to weapons, that's when we get very quickly into things like the national background check system. i just a moment ago highlighted the contrast between the president saying he wants to strengthen background check systems and things that have happened in the last year to weaken it and put more holes in . do you feel like it's possible that there is a common sense, increasing background checks solution that could avoid some of the super contrary second amendment politics that tend to stymie those things?

specifically on the background checks? >> the president today was talking about comprehensive background checks. that goes a little bit further than what is on the table, which is the fix nics legislation. that goes part of the way, but doesn't solve the issue as it stands at the moment. i do think this moment is different than has been for a couple years. lawmakers, gop in particular, are feeling pressure from their younger constituents. we can look to extreme risk protection orders. we can look to other forms of gun safety regulation and reform to ensure appropriate access and look at what we can do to help people before they ever get to that point that they want to hurt themselves or someone else. >> nicole hockley. it's practical and constructive as well as being pretty inspiring.

mother of dylan hockley, killed in the sandy hook shooting five years ago. really appreciate your time tonight. appreciate your advocacy. >> thank you, rachel. >> okay, we'll be right back. stay with us. at the marine mammal center, the environment is everything.

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that binder is routinely updated with new criminal charges related to any number of different cases heard in that courthouse. so because of which binder it turned up in, we think that sealed filing is something to do with new criminal charges, but we can't tell for sure. the other hint is the number that's right at the top of the page there. you see it in the upper right, 17-cr-201. that is the case number for u.s. versus paul j. manafort and richard w. gates. with the sudden appearance of that sealed document, marked with their case number, in the new charges binder in the courthouse today, everybody wanted to know what that was about. we got a big burst of new speculation today about what that means. that sealed filing could, obviously, mean new charges have been filed against paul manafort and/or rick gates.

it could mean charges have been filed against new defendants in their case, meaning new people could have been added to the case that is already pending against manafort and gates. it could also be what they call a criminal information, which is the document that usually precedes a guilty plea in a case. lots of speculation that gates is going to change to a guilty plea. maybe that's what this is, we don't know. could be any number of things. but now everybody is watching that case and that binder like hawks watch mice, because something is clearly happening there that may be a big turn in that case. but oh, wait, there's more. that story's next.

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like i said, two mysteries. the first is this sealed, single-page document which showed up in federal court today suggesting new charges, maybe, or maybe a plea agreement in special counsel mueller's case against paul manafort and rick gates. lots of speculation in the press

today, naturally. i'm wondering when federal prosecutors see a filing like that, do they know what something like that is likely to mean even when the rest of us don't? we'll get to that in a second. here's the other mystery, though. another development that i think we need some professional help with. if you had your ear to the ground on the political right today you would have heard new rumblings coming out of the conservative media saying that mike flynn should un-plead. he should withdraw his guilty plea in the robert mueller case against him. mike flynn pled guilty in december to lying to the fbi and simultaneously agreed to cooperate with the russia investigation. the new calls from the right that he should withdraw that plea stem from something the judge just did in flynn's case. the judge just issued an order,

this order, that doesn't say anything specific about the case against flynn but reasserts to mueller's prosecutors that they have the responsibility to hand over anything that turns out to be favorable to mike flynn, the judge made the order, reminder, you have to hand over any exculpatory evidence to the defense. and i think it's the second time a judge has made that reminder. is it important that the judge has made that kind of an order? is it a red flag that the prosecution's done something wrong? does it mean that mike flynn should withdraw his guilty plea, which is the new rumbling on the right. if he did want to withdraw his guilty plea, would that even be an option for him? joining us is chuck rosenberg who has worked with james comey

and robert mueller in the past. thank you for being here. >> my pleasure, rachel. >> first, let me ask you about this sealed document filed under the case number that applies to the manafort and gates case. we're told that this is filed in such a way, like, almost geographically in such a way that should make us believe that these are new charges or that there's something related to the charges in the case. how should we see that? what do you make of that? >> i think that's probably right, rachel, assuming it's not a clerical error and they got the number at the top wrong. it's probably either another defendant, new charges or both. hard to say for sure. i'm confident we'll see it soon. >> and what do you mean by soon? i know there's complicated arguments and lots of reasons why they get filed under seal and then get unsealed. do you have any estimation as to the time frame?

>> if reporting is accurate that they are close to a plea agreement, he would plead to one of the counts in the existing indictment. if they added new charges against mr. manafort, what we may be seeing soon are those new, additional charges. hard to know for sure. >> on this matter of mike flynn. this is something that i'm reacting to, both in terms of this order that i've seen from the judge, the judge appears to have filed this order or issued this order on his, on his own say-so. it doesn't appear to have been a response from anything else going on in the case, at least as much as we can tell from the public record. it has been responded to, on the political right, by a lot of people saying this means there's a real problem in the flynn prosecution. he should withdraw his guilty plea. there's something wrong in the

flynn case, how do you see this matter? >> much ado about nothing. many judges around the country have a standard discovery order that they enter in every single case. and my understanding, that judge sullivan has a similar discovery order. in other words, in every case, regardless of its posture, he will file an order telling the government to make sure that it abides by its discovery obligations, that it provides exculpatory or impeachment information to the defense. my understanding is that he updated that order, that he does that from time to time. so i don't think there's anything to it, frankly, and i'm sure the government will abide by it. >> and there's no indication in him doing this that the government has proven itself to be, to need this kind of reminder because there's been some sort of misbehavior. >> oh, prosecutors know their stuff. there's no indication there's been misbehavior, or that they've failed in any way to meet their obligations.

by the way, there's no indication that mr. flynn wants to withdraw his guilty plea. and even if he did, that is an awfully difficult thing to do. >> one last quick question for you, chuck. on the matter of alex van der swan, who pled guilty yesterday, it was said in the hearing, we have the transcript of it today. one of the prosecutors, andrew weissman, said there was no cooperation agreement. he's just pleading guilty. should that tell us anything about the case? >> the fact that he doesn't want to cooperate doesn't mean he won't be compelled to give information. an important distinction between cooperating and being compelled. it seems he doesn't want to be helpful. that happens in all sorts of cases all around country all the time. but once he is sentenced and his conviction is final, what prosecutors can do is immunize

him from any other prosecution from any other crime he may have committed and then compel him to testify. so whether he wants to cooperate or not, they can still get information from him. >> very important point. chuck rosenberg, former senior fbi official and clear thinker and speaker, thank you very much, chuck. nice to have you here. >> thank you, rachel. >> we'll be right back. stay with usment -- u.s. is list. download audible to start listening.

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you know when you're a kid and you have a difficult

question, one that your parents don't want to answer or talk to you about and you ask your mom and your mom says ask your dad and you ask your dad and your dad says ask your mom. that happened to us yesterday. last night we asked one part of the u.s. government for information about something our government did. their response was that we should go ask russia. seriously, we asked about something our government should know, something that is our government's business, our government's decision, and the u.s. government told us yesterday, you need to go ask the government of russia. today, that story got much, much weirder than that. the update is next. it's so weird. remember our special night? abdominal pain... ...and diarrhea. but it's my anniversary. aw. sorry. we've got other plans. your recurring, unpredictable abdominal pain and diarrhea... ...may be irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, or ibs-d. you've tried over-the-counter treatments and lifestyle changes, but ibs-d can be really frustrating.

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this story is getting so weird. it was nuts last night, now today it's more than nuts. three weeks before the trump inauguration, in one of his final acts, president obama hit

russia for interfering in our elections. sanctions against 35 russian spies, and agencies, including the intelligence agencies. that's the agency that some of our intelligence agencies says was behind some of the attacks on our election. they say it ordered the attacks on the democratic party. in addition to the gru as an organization president obama named four officials as having been involved in that attack. that list included this guy who heads up the gru. in the "new york times" writeup on the day of sanctions, they pointed out maybe that was symbolic. despite the international fallout surrounding the announcement, it's not clear how much effect the sanctions will have after all gru officials rarely travel to the u.s. rarely come here. so that's when this started getting weird because at the end of last month, russia started publically bragging that the head of one of its intelligence agencies, the svr, had just travelled to the u.s. we didn't hear from our government.

we learned that he did, and wasn't alone. they met with dan coats and mike pompeo, we learned about it first from the kremlin. then there was this other reporting that the head of the gru, the agency behind the specific part of the attack on our election had also came. quote, current and former u.s. intelligence officials said they couldn't recall so many heads of russia's espionage and security apparatus coming to washington all at once. so, we've been following this and trying to make sense of it ever since. one, it's weird they all came at once and our government didn't say anything about it, we had to learn about it from the kremlin bragging about it. and there's this practical and legal matter here. of these three intelligence chiefs two of them are sanctioned and come to the u.s. on their own steam. the guy from the svr, he's sanctioned and the guy from the gru, also sanctioned. we know how the svr guy got in, he was here to meet with pompeo

and coats, so they got him a waiver. but the gru guy, he's sanctioned and no one admits to him coming here. so, if he really did come to the u.s. as a sanctioned person, somebody would have had to make the case it was in our national interest to let him into the country. let's issue him a waiver. who did that? we reached out to the state department yesterday, was this guy here? nobody admits to meeting with him. "the washington post" stands by their reporting, he was here. was he here? and we asked state if he was here, how did he get in? he was sanctioned. did they give him a waiver? so for the second part of our question, they can't discuss issuing visas. as to the first question, was he here, the state department told us to call russia. they literally referred us to the russian government on this matter.

this is rachel, can i talk to -- the head of the gru is sanctioned. he can't just book a flight to the u.s. and wander around d.c. on his own. today we try to get more information and a senior u.s. >> good evening. i know you know the president's big idea in his meeting today with some of the survivors and some of the families of victims of school shootings was that teachers should have guns, we need more guns in the school, teachers should have them. i'll be joined by a teacher at stoneman douglas high school and a teacher from columbine,