do you think the obama administration did enough? ller: i think obama should have clamped down on the people hadworked for him, that unsecured servers, to kill a hillary clinton. .he should have known better that was a hack. you never hear the media talk about the contact -- content of the attack. with debbie wasserman schultz, with podesta, all this did a lot of damage to the democratic party and to bernie sanders. but you never hear about it. that is amazing. that happened after the election and there were more sour grapes. they contributed to the last election. i still don't know why -- let's -- it is going to put more bad light on the democratic national committee. host: some reaction to this washington post report, some democrats are frustrated by it, the obama administration is under fresh scrutiny to respond to russia meddling in the election after new details how it weighed its actions against the political environment. strategists say it was an adequate and i think they could have done a better job about the extent of the att

book, really, about the russian attack on our presidential election last year and how the obama administration came to recognize that that was happening, what they understood about it, and, importantly, how they reacted to it once they realized what it was. in just a moment, we are going to be joined live by one of the reporters who broke that story, and there's a lot to talk to her about. this story today at the "washington post," it's like 10 front pageworthy scoops all in one big story. among the scoops the "washington post" got for this report is that u.s. intelligence agencies somehow have access or had access to a source of intelligence that was very, very, very close to vladimir putin. and that is intriguing just on surt fas the surface, just for the pure spy novel, lurid thrill of it. we have something close to putin? the post, to its credit, makes clear how extraordinary that is beyond just the wow factor, how unexpected it is to learn that. ultimately, how important it is to u.s. interests. the post today notes that putin is, quote, a former kgb officer who takes extreme cautions to

with that fascinating framing in terms of how the obama administration has responded. we'll speak with ellen nakashima in a moment. i do want to do something else. i want to share with you something that's a little bit of a scoop that we just got tonight. at the start of this week, you might remember the "new york times" ran a story about the cia director mike pompeio. not every cia director is involved directly in things like the president's daily brief. not every cia director is at the white house every single day. "the times" was able to report at the beginning of the week that that warning from sally yates, that wasn't something that the upper echelons of the department of justice concluded and worked on in isolation. what "the times" reported at the beginning of this week is that the cia -- the cia officers were also involved in forming that assessment about mike flynn in reviewing the evidence that led to that warning. cia officers had apparently reviewed the intercepted communications between mike flynn and the russians. they've seen those intercepts directly. e

i don't understand exactly what that means and how much of a handle the obama administration and now presumably the trump administration had on who those russians are or were. again, there's a ton in this story from "the washington post." i'll very much looking forward to talking about that in just a moment. it's not just just a collection of granular little scoops like these ones that i've been talking about, though. there is an overarching framework to what "the washington post" has reported today. and basically the big question around which they frame all this new reporting, and it's a very that i think we all have to admit will loom large in history about this time in our country, which is how did russia get away with this? not just what did russia try to do, but how did they get away with it? especially now since parts of the u.s. government were able to conclude confidently not only that the attack was under way while it was under way, but they knew who was doing it. how did they get away with it? how have they continued to get away with it? i should tell you that nbc news has

and the post stories shows that the obama administration, quote, failed to deter russian aggression. mccain went on to say the current administration has not done enough either and to push for legislation that would sanction russia. almost two weeks ago, the senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to strengthen current sanctions against moscow and add new ones on individual engaging in corruption. the trump administration is lobbying against parts of the bill arguing it could preempt parts of the bill, that includes sanctions for iran and russia. elizabeth: thank you, alison, appreciate it. leland: the saber rattling continues as north korea remains defiant. if anything, they're doubling down, saying they are the biggest victim in the death of otto warmbier and testing a new rocket engine. let's bring in the senior research fellow for east asia studies at heritage foundation. nice to see you, sir. despite the tough words from the president, from the secretary of state, from the secretary of defense, north korea's yet to pay any real price since the trump administration has come into

>> kristen with these new revelations, how are former obama administration officials responding? >> well, some are saying it is simply not fair to look at their actions in 2016 and judge them based on what we now know in 2017. but others, like president obama's former deputy national security advisor ben rose, are placing the blame back on president trump. he posted on twitter quote what did president trump say when the obama administration issued statements in early october on russia meddling? he spent weeks calling the election rigged. but keep in mind, another former senior obama administration official was quoted in that washington post report as saying that i feel like we sort of choked in our response to russia. kelly? pretty stunning admission. >> it is indeed. kristen fisher reporting live from the white house. kristen, thank you. you can hear more from that exclusive interview with president trump tomorrow on fox and friends. pete explores a wide range of issues with him, including his support of veterans. >> when you rode down that escalator in trump tower it was the fir

to do. >> now, in terms of the response what to do, this report has drawn criticism of the obama administration not doing enough to expose the intelligence and then to punish russia. as president trump points out in his tweets. but this current administration hasn't been bold in its response to russia. is there reason for trump's team to hold back? >> that's another area of concern. there was, among the intelligence officials i have spoken to, some worry that this administration, like others before it in the last 20 years, would think that they could get it right this time with moscow and warm relations and perhaps that's why they were holding fire on any sort of response, even as their intelligence community is telling them, as they told the last administration that russia is trying on all different fronts to undermine the u.s., undermine the u.s. policy. so the concern is that when they get further evidence that this white house won't react to it. their concern is also that this white house won't take some of the punitive measures to push back and that russia, month after month, year after ye

but keep in mind another former senior obama administration official told the washington post that het like his administration, the obama administration, had choked in its response to russia. james? jamie: all right, kristin fisher, live on the north lawn. thank you. arthel: president trump attacks his predecessor, the white house has also been lobbying against a bipartisan senate bill placing a new round of sanctions on russia. the senate just passed that bill even though mr. trump argues part of it steps on his power as president. allison barber has more now from washington. allison? >> reporter: congress is considering imposing sanctions on russia in response to alleged meddling in the 2016 election, and as they do that, lawmakers are talking about a report from "the washington post" claiming the obama administration knew about the meddling months before americans headed to the polls. representative eric swalwell, a democrat from california, told the publication "the hill" the obama administration's response to russian meddling was inadequate in the months leading up to the electio

a obama administration attempt to combat russia interference, reporting that the administration knew as early as last august that vladimir putin had ordered the effort specifically to help defeat hillary clinton. the obama team included a number of package, including cyber bomb strikes, that ultimately they left behind for the trump administration. yesterday president trump launched several tweets criticizing the obama administration for inaction. he spoke about it in a fox news interview. >> well, i just heard today for the first time that obama knew about russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it. if you had the information, why didn't he do something about it? he should have done something about it. >> dickerson: there's a lot to process. so we turn to cbs news senior national security contributor and former number two at the c.i.a. michael morrell, plus "washington post" columnist david ignatius, as well as his colleague adam entous, who was on the team that broke the "washington post" story. adam, let's start with you. lay out this story for us. >> well,

. >> that is important, because that is political decision made by the obama administration. security administration. if the russians are engaged in a massive effort to undermine the u.s. election, to destroy the integrity of one of our most important democratic institutions, what it looks like for one candidate or another candidate can not be a relevant part of decision-making process. and it was. trish: talk about how the obama administration is such a politicized machine, that brings me, we're going there, to loretta lynch. and what is going to happen to her because, buck, it seems as though calling something a matter rather than an investigation is very political. >> it was politicization of a criminal investigation with an actual crime unlike the russia collusion investigation where they have not identified a single federal crime they're looking into. i think james comey, actually when he spoke in front of congress alluded to, there is more stuff that will come out here. i think it will be very tough when people look into this for loretta lynch to explain her actions wit

looks a bit in response to the obama administration and what it had on russia. tegy was don't do stupid stuff. the lack of a clear strategy led to a lackadaisical response to russia's cyber attacks. i understand why tim kaine is upset. >> don't we all. >> in hindsight, i think it's fair criticism. in the moment do you understand why the obama administration was nervous about how to handle this? >> what you see from the response today, you have donald trump attacking the intelligence agencies now. republicans falling in line. i think their concern was that republicans would use it as an attack against the administration and nothing would have happened differently. i think that's a mistake. i think they still should have done it. the french government came together when they said russia was trying to attack. i think the obama administration should have done more. today in issue after issue, we still have this problem with russian hacking. he's trying to undermine russian sanctions and expressed no interest, not any interest in this issue. in fact, the intelligence

just out -- the obama administration knew far in advance of november 8th about election meddling by russiadid nothing about it, why? the cia first told obama last august about moscow's interference and it detailed vladimir putin's specific instructions -- defeat hillary clinton, but it was another two months before the public would learn about moscow's role. let's get more on what president trump is saying about all of this. as well as how russia is reacting. cnn white house correspondent athena jones has more. president trump called it a hoax and a stand, but it sounds like he's now saying he believes it happened. >> reporter: it does sound like that. this latest tweet. but the president could be just citing this "washington post" report. you'll remember a couple of weeks ago in the last couple of weeks there was a lot of confusion created by the president tweeting he was under investigation. later the administration and his lawyers tried to clean that up by saying no no, he was just citing "the post." this could be another example of that. but the bottom line here is that president trump

really rewrite history as to how the obama administration is viewed. charles: real quick, matthew, i want to get your thoughts of a report i saw in "the new york post" that journalists are now being surveilled to help find out where these leaks are possibly coming from. first, your thoughts on the legality of that, and do you would be a lot of concern trying to figure out where these leaks are coming from. charles: matthew whitaker, thank

argue that the paris pact is a "bad deal for american workers and was poorly negotiated by the obama administration." is associated press says that the white house insisted on anonymity. it could be longer. ,here has been an explosion possibly an attack in manila, in the philippines. thisspicer treating afternoon that the president is aware of the situation in manila and being provided of dates by his national security team. but no word on whether those updates are delaying it this afternoon. we will have it live here on c-span and c-span radio and look forward to your comments after the president's remarks this afternoon. we will take your calls and tweets. you are watching live coverage here on c-span. ♪ business leaders and other government leaders, the associate press saying that leaders of five nordic countries had written the president the , urging himletter to make "the right decision" on climate change and keep america signed on to the pat quinn accord. but reports -- on the paris climate accord. news organizations have been briefed on the president's plans. we will stay live in the rose ga

>>> white house press secretary sean spicer says the story on russian meddling proves the obama administration knew all along there was no collusion between trump and russia. the president slammed his predecessor in a new series of scathing tweets. the real story, he writing is that president obama did nothing after being informed in august about russian meddling with four months looking at russia under a magnifying glass. they have zero tapes. there is no collusion and no obstruction. i should be given apology. the president went even fur, and therefore, quote, did not want to rock the boat. he didn't choke or colluded or obstructed. pete hoekstra, former chairman of the and former u.n. and state department official, do you think this i want is owed an apology? >> well, i think let's look at the facts. we know that since the election, the obama administration and others have brutally gone after president trump and his campaign, accusing collusion. with "the washington post" story on friday showed that number one, the obama administration knew about potential russian involvement for more than

a report on russia's meddling in the election and hugh the obama administration handled it. >> the healthcare debate is still hot on the hill. democrats don't like it and neither do at least five gop senators, that's what we're talking about on 5at630. let's get to it. >>> when president trump wants to get something done, it will get done and i think no one knows the senate better than senator mcconnell. with that combination, i think we're going to get this done, and hopefully by the august recess, really have obamacare repeal and replaced and be on the path to affordable and successful healthcare as the president promised >> while discussions will continue, let me be clear. the president and i are supportive of the senate bill. as the president reminded the nation yesterday, obamacare is dead. obamacare is collapsing and obamacare must >> the white house is standing firm in its support of the healthcare plan today. we heard one more republican senator announce he cannot support the plan in its current form >> that makes five who are not on board. republican can say only afford to lose two v

to say the dnc sat back and did nothing, to assert the obama administration did nothing is not true. e should be concerned about is with the trump administration. >> ben, this is in the new. the president didn't just learn that the obama administration knew about this, and if he did, that's the most frightening thing i've heard in quite some time. this was reported at the time, even jay johnson, the thing that -- shame on all of us statement during his testimony, it was the same time the access hollywood tape came out and wound up not getting any attention. it was out there. certainly the president has been getting briefings for months where he knows exactly what happened here. it's not new. he is playing a little bit in this situation. >> certainly you have to talk about the context of this. but jay johnson, i think the scariest part about his comment was he basically said the u.s. government didn't do enough to stop russia because there was a headline that was in the newspaper -- >> but the president has known about it, he decided to pretend it didn't happen and he still hasn't done

isn't that always the knock on the obama administration, that they had options but spend too much timeing and not enough time doing and that is why our enemies are not scared of us? >> president obama liked to government and lead by consensus, he certainly took his time with any decisions, whether it was military operations, intelligence, covert operations. i can see the way this may have been strung out. one thing in the article that the obama administration official says is that part of the reason that efforts were stunted is because the president was worried about being perceived as having a political hand in the general election. he wanted to stay out of this. i'm not defending, but saying you can see the quandary that this puts the obama administration in. the trunk campaign for its part was also in the same exact position. no easy options here. >> leland: that's why they say it's the hardest job in the world to be president and make those decisions. the current president may not agree with you in terms of it not being a partisan issue. he tweeted out yesterday, the timing could h

the attempt the trump administration and obama administration before that, is to expand apprenticeship in america which is very difficult to ask employers to drop that kind of money. host: some of the calls from the administration takes a look at 4.5 million new apprenticeships over the next five years, up from 500,000. the budget for 2017 slated to provide $95 million for apprenticeship, more than the obama administration. president's request draws down money from current youth training programs. there is a bit of a problem there. ,pprenticeship are preferable they are a better alternative for young people. in the end in america, only about 1% of our workers are in apprenticeship programs. the economy out a whole, only 3.5 to 4 million peoples have ever been through a apprenticeship program after 153 million workers. is an unusualis opportunity, a very good one. something that has never taken hold the way it has in european nations. host: you are here to talk about these proposals when it comes to apprenticeships. we divided the lines differently today, college graduates want to get y

late last year the obama administration shut those two properties down part of the formal punishment to the russian government for interfering in our election and along with individuals, president obama shut down those compounds saying they believed the russians were also using them for intelligence purposes. that all happened on december 29th. the compounds have been closed ever since. tonight, it appears the trump administration may give those compounds here in the united states back to the russis. the "washington post" reporting at this hour the white house is quote moving towards handing back to russia those two diplomatic compounds. quote, any concessions to moscow could prove controversial while the administration and former campaign officials are under congressional and special council investigation for alleged ties to russia. this explosive story breaking late this evening, what we will do here, a little later in the show, we will talk to one of the reporters who literally just broke this story. that should be interesting to say the least. we begin tonight with a different cor

well, the "washington post" tried to answer the question in a stunning particle lays out the obama administration's manage had it. according to the post in august of last year, john brennan alerted president obama and three senior aides that american intelligence had captured putin's specific instructions on the operations of audacious objectives to defeat or at least damage the democratic nominee, hillary clinton, and help elect her point, donald trump. it was kept out of the president's daily brief to guard against leaks. they followed same protocols as planning sessions for the osama bin laden raid. for months the president struggled to find an appropriate response only to settle on a modest set of sanctions in late december, well after the election. thank you both for joining me. it is your paper that reported this today. it is a fascinating read. let me ask you this. the bottom line question i took away from this, how much of the agonizing that the obama administration went through last fall and how much of the fact the sanctions didn't come down until well after the election. how many of it i

the obama administration officials were saying that the simple reason behind that the damage had alreadyeen done. and that president obama was very concerned about the political ramifications. that it would look as though he was helping hillary clinton in the election. now, it's also important to point out that president trump himself were very skeptical of the reports that russia was involved in the election. he pushed back on it a number of times as a candidate. and even after he was elected, he suggested that perhaps china may be partially responsible. he even said that the hack could have been accomplished by a 400-pound man in his bedroom. so, the idea now that the white house is finally acknowledging the fact that russia is involved in this, is something to keep in mind as you kick back and look at all of the criticism president trump has for president obama at this particular point. victor. >> ryan nobles at the white house. >> and now the white house correspondent, lynn sweet. and chicago sun-times, and page pate, thank you all for being with us. page, i want to ask you first and

the obama administration gave them only 24 hours to pack their things and get out.ically blocked anyone from russia from entering those houses, how serious this was at the time. tonight, i can report at the top of the show, the russians may be getting another chance getting those houses in the united states back. the trump administration quote moving towards handing back to russia those two compounds. for that, the u.s. wants something in return. quote, early last month the trump administration told the russians it would consider turning the properties back over to them if moscow would lift its freeze on construction of a new u.s. consulate on a certain parcel of land in st. petersburg. these compounds the obama administration seized from russia last year, they took them off the table and said at the time there was no intention as a matter of u.s. policy of giving them back to russia, that's what made it a real punishment for messing with the election. now, not long after all that went down the trump administration appears as a negotiating tactic at the very least t

story came out in the "washington post" last week on friday was absolutely devastateing to the obama administrationiders. they said the administration knew about this for at least three months lead be up to the election. but they suspected it a year before the election. they did nothing. one of the obama insiders said, you know, they choked. they also said, administration believed there was no material impact on voters. nothing melted down on election day. after a year of focusing in on this, they used the term, this was like the bin laden raid. with intelligence community and law enforcement all watching this election so closely, watching the russians, they found no evidence of collusion between the russians and trump campaign. it is amazing, how five days the whole story has totally -- david: flipped 180 degrees. i want to focus for a moment on syria. there are some indications syria may prepare for another chemical attack even though the last time they committed a chemical attack they were hit very hard by our tomahawk missiles. what is going on there? >> well, i think the intelligence community

a lot of programs are not reauthorized, people in the obama administration, and obama holown hold oversthey really cause i think a lot of damage even beyond immediate political cur of i fluffel. >> two questions, right now it looks like most abused program of that which we know, which is in public view, but -- what happened to american citizens, what has been done politically talk about weaponize intelligence that is an example. >> congress will not reauthorize this right now until we get answers about how this information was used. if we get answers we get prosecutions so people know you can't just use this mompl information, then maybe you will be able to reauthorize, right now, i believe you will see resistance on both sides of the aisle. lou: th is up opennas produce -- subpoenas producing documents is that sufficient? >> i think this is a hopeful sign, when comey testified in march, he talked about russian investigation, he would not acknowledge they were looking into the leaks, this is really first time we know that there is concrete steps taken to get ought the unmasking and at l

the obama administration took a hit.'re much better off politically if this fails and they move on to tax reform and does something that might boost the xi a bit. it feels like the house side, there is this balloon of health care, if you press one side, you lose more moderates leak heller, you press the other sides, you lose rand pauls, i think pence has the tie breaking vote they pass it. that's my feeling on it. >> the point was, i we heard this argument put out there, republicans would be better off politically if they go through the motions, tell tear base and try to do it t. republican base has spent the last seven years saying you got to get rid of obamacare, can they go back to back to their base and try. i think they're going to try, and it gets cover for the white house. this was a good week for trump. there weren't any gaffs. there was a lot of attention on the congress. it gave his staff time to lawyer up and interview lawyers for the coming investigation. i think they are -- they're going to run it through, a

in the end, there wasn't much that the obama administration could do in terms of sanctions that wouldn't have blowback effects to affect u.s. businesses or european allies. >> the current president, president trump wonders if, if the russians hacked the elections. this "washington post" story goes into the intelligence that they did, and the fact that vladimir putin, the president of russia, he directed it and directed it to help donald trump and hurt hillary clinton. listen to how president obama learned about this intelligence. >> the cia sent this very sensitive document by courier to the white house. it was clearly instructed to be given only to a select group of the president and his top advisers for their eyes only. after they read the document, they were instructed to put it back in the envelope, back via cur yor, as soon as they finished reading it. it was so sensitive, in fact, the initial meetings excluded very senior top officials, including the secretary of state and the secretary of defense. that's how sensitive this was and how restricted this information was held within th

the obama administration, were they responding on all the candidates running against hillary? bout two weeks before he left office, president obama sign in order that had the effect of pushing out to widespread 17 or more agencies. raw intelligence will share the data. what that means is you decrease the number of people who could be data and you also make it correspond when it is difficult to detect. would you marry that to the fact you have people asking for names of americans to be on task. that is to be disclosed, what you have is the unmasked names pushed out to people who can leak the information. there are three people whose names are under subpoena. john brennan, former dreck of the cia, susan rice, former national security adviser and samantha power. first of all obviously run and could as part of the intelligence community could unmasked names. that was part of his remix. susan rice is somewhat stranger because usually the national security advisor doesn't get involved at that level. the samantha power, totally unheard of. although she may be considered in some formal

the obama administration ordered russia to abandon these estates. for the first time today, russian president vladimir putin acknowledge that russian hackers putin described as "patriots" may have tried to influence the u.s. election in donald trump's favor. he insisted there was no official government involvement. >> translator: they are patriots. they contribute their opinions in order to fight against those who speak ill of russia. we don't engage on that honesty level. >> president trump seemed to integrate a a base that had gron weary. the president made no apology, saying he was elected to represent people in places like pittsburgh, not paris. >> bret: john roberts live on the north lawn. thank you. let's get reaction from the president's point man on the environment, epa administrator scott pruitt. thanks for being here. i heard you in the rose garden, obviously supporting this move, talking about the benefits of it. for people who are skeptical about it and have problems with it, what do tell them? >> that america has been leading on this is

obama stop blaming president bush. at what point does the trump administration stop blaming president obama? [ all speaking at once ] >> in general terms, we're flying over the real problem here. a political committee was hacked. we think election administrators, e-mail accounts were hacked. the list of voters could be hacked. at some point we need to come down from tens of thousands of feet and go into the places that -- >> i have yet to hear anyone from the dnc to take responsibility not even believing the fbi agent who called them to tell them about the hacks. >>> up next, president trump believes robert mueller is very good friends with james comey. we'll look at their history and how much of a problem it may pose. we'll be right back. z282sz zwtz y282sy ywty why give it headlightsver on a like jewels? filled with them? a body that feels sculpted? why give it an interior where even the dash is cut and sewn by hand? it's simple: you can build a car. or you can build a cadillac. speak now. (coughs) so sorry. oh no... it's just that your friend daryl here is supposed to be live streaming the

now after this report in the "washington post" that details the obama administration's response to theommunity's assessment, he seems willing to admit russia's efforts as long as he can blame president obama for not doing enough. one former administration official concedes in the report that they could have and perhaps should have done more. on "state of the union," adam schiff, a democrat and ranking member on the intelligence committee, agreed. >> the american people needed to know, and i didn't think it was enough to tell them after the election, but rather given the seriousness of this, i think the administration needed to call out russia earlier, needed to act to deter and punish russia earlier. i think that was a serious mistake. >> reporter: he went on to say that even though president obama could have and maybe should have done more, that doesn't change the fact that candidate trump was part of the problem. egging wikileaks and even russia on, telling them in speeches to reveal more hacked emails and emails from hillary clinton's private server. it now appears that trump is usi

they are asking people from the obama administration to come speak. why not ask people from multiple administrations. if you're looking at tension that suggests that somebody outside government is interfering in the president's ability to set foreign policy it is not only the right or the authority it is the responsibility of the national security adviser in this case susan rice to say what's going on here. i hope to current national security adviser would do the same thing. you have to do natural you're the national security adviser, who is interfering in conversations with the russians, who is having side conversations maybe jared kushner but subverting american sanctions. perfectly appropriate. >> james comey, we understand, will be testifying in an open session at the senate intelligence committee and cnn has learned that he does plan to say that he was pressed by president trump to back off the michael flynn investigation. if that proves true, if he really does testify and isn't stopped by somebody, if he really does say that about the michael fl

in your view did the obama administration blow it?i'm troubled by the matter of what has been alleged with respect to the obama administration not doing more. it seems to me that these matters should not be part of politics. they should be about protecting american institutions. so yes, i am troubled by the allegations. >> let me ask you this. if today you and other democrats say that the trump administration is not moving quickly enough on measures to counter the next attack or to call out the russians publicly, why isn't it fair to criticize the obama administration for not moving quickly enough to, for instance, issue punitive sanctions against russia or take other actions in response to the interference? >> i just said that i am troubled learning this new information, that the obama administration didn't do more. and i think the standard has got to transcend one particular administration, democratic or republican. it has got to be to protect our institutions first and politics to the wind. >> senator wyden, there is still so much

now obama facing some tough questioning, even from members of his own administration. let's dig deeper with our experts. what's your reaction? clearly the president, president obama, struggled for appropriate reaction, but some people now, especially with hindsight, saying he could have done more. >> what's he supposed to do? when they first go down to the hill to talk to mitch mcconnell, he's skeptical. why? the intel guys didn't speak publicly until middle october. when they spoke publicly they didn't even name vladimir putin. if the president had been more prominent, we're talking six weeks before the american election, if the president had been more prominent in october or november last year, i can guarantee what people would have said. i'm skeptical of the intel because this suggests to me that the president of the united states is trying to make this campaign more about hillary clinton as the victim of russian attacks and favor donald trump. the white house had a difficult choice. talk about it and look like they're favoring hillary, or not talk about it and you s

again, at the end of the obama administration, it probably would not have done the un security councilolution but i was no longer the administration and, again, i think it was out of a sense of frustration and wanting, in my view, probably not appropriately -- to set the table for the next administration. what concerns me now about president trump is not that he went to saudi arabia and met with leaders. i think that was a very good thing to do. i think even an arms deal with saudi arabia is something worth considering if quite frankly, it has fallen through on plans -- it is falling -- it is following through with plans obama made. but what is the strategy? a strike in syria is a good thing and i have thought the president for that strike. but what comes next? what is the strategy? it is not clear to me there is a strategy in israel. quite frankly, if president obama had said what president trump did settlements, you all would've been protesting outside of the white house. i see no protests by the community against president trump's comments about settlements. nothing. zero. zip. so i

do you think the obama administration choked? >> look, i think we have to be fair here and the former administration. they didn't have all the answers, all the information, and like you reported it was too late. i think part of this whole thing, we have to be careful. it can undermine our democracy. we have to be to get to the bottom of the investigation. it's taking over washington and the country, scandal after scandal. the president of the united states, donald trump, is on sesed with this investigation, which is why you see him tweeting day after day auking about it. my question to the president is simple. did the russians interfere? yes or no. first he blamed it on the democrats, it was a witch-hunt-now he's blaming it on the former president. which is it? i have the utmost respect for the special counsel. they have an outstanding team. we need to get to the bottom of this so we can continue looking for solutions that the american people are demanding, creating jobs, driving our economy upwards and so forth. >> to be fair, jo

that was part of the obama administration and their operation.ot anything to do with russia or any of these bogus claims of collusion between the campaign and russia. which there has been now seven months people looking at this. seven months of investigations and there has been no evidence. not one shred. not one piece of evidence. but we have evidence here and that's why i applaud the chairman in taking the first step to say enough is enough. let's get to some facts about what happened and what makes this dangerous for the american intelligence community. >> shannon: there have been denials by former ambassador rice. she said as recently as april 4th accusations regarding her and unmassing were absolutely false. she sounds pretty confident. >> and she may be. but others may not be. i think that these subpoenas will get to the bottom of whether any illegal activity or any political shenanigans went on with sharing classified information. this is what makes it dangerous for ongoing american intelligence and counter intelligence operations. people

do you think that was a blunder on the part of the obama administration?s always 20/20, but we should never govern from the rearview mirror. they should learn from the possible mistakes. they had a tough judgment call to make because they wanted to avoid possibly influencing the election outcome by simply raising the issue. and i think what needs to be learned is much more important from this unprecedented audacious, absolutely unknown previously act of war on the united states that we need to make the russians pay a price going forward. and whether it was right or not, we need to learn from it. >> your committee, the senate judiciary committee as you know, has now requested information from former attorney general loretta lynch looking for answers on whether she attempted to influence the fbi investigation into hillary clinton's e-mail server. what are your concerns about her behavior? >> the chairman of the committee has focused primarily on that issue and wants to know of any possible political interference in any investigation. and, so, the concerns of