up next, richard burr gives an update on his committee's investigation into russia and the 2016 elections. he also talked about his concerns with boating infrastructure, security infrastructure for the upcoming midterm elections. from the council on foreign relations, this is an hour. >> senator, thanks for joining us. to all of those of you w david sanger: senator, thanks for joining us. to all of those of you who are well fed and back in the room, i'm david sanger from the new york times, and i would like to welcome senator richard burr to the keynote of this fascinating morning of discussion of russia, the election interference, and also broader issues. delighted to be here. the meal part. it didn't look like it was substantial enough, but hopefully, it will keep you from sleeping through this part of it. mr. sanger: we are on a tight budget. -- senator burr is in his third term. i haven't sorted out whether you are in the duke-routing -- tuke-rooting side of the state or university of north carolina side of the state. mr. burr: whichever one wins. mr. sanger: probably a good sign for

here's what mark warner said about the reports that president trump himself called richard burr and asked to ends the russia probe. >> did senator burr previously tell you about the conversation he had with trump? >> the focus is are we going to be able to do the investigation we will have access to you will a the witnesses. we are going to do that. i was proud of what the chairman said "new york times" in the story, that he acknowledged that he need today stay away from the white house. but what's the real issue here is you have this repeated pattern of the president of the united states trying to stop this investigation. cost jim comey the job because he wouldn't stop the investigation. he intervened with senators. intervened with other senior intelligence officials. i think the american people and a lot of us ask why is he so desperate to have this investigation stopped particularly as we see more people either plead guilty or come forward under indictment. >> and, brooke, mark warner also said he wants to bring back to the senate intelligence committee jared kushner, the president son

what message does that send about where richard burr is? d why are the two of them not standing side by side? we may hear from richard burr within hours or within a day that he's with mark warner. but if he's not and if the senate committee is headed in the direction of where the house committee is, we're entering a dangerous period because if this becomes partisan and donald trump is given the encouragement of not just republicans in the house who he's kind of orchestrating but republicans in the senate that he can go ahead and fire any of the people you mentioned, that he can fire rod rosenstein, get to firing bob mueller. if he seems like he has a permission slip from republicans on both sides of capitol hill, the likelihood he'll do it which is already high will become much, much higher if he thinks that he has that kind of backing from other members of his party. >> it's or understanding, nbc news' understanding that richard burr was not at the white house today. obviously, if you are watching, senator, give us a call. we'd love to kno

because we know we heard from richard burr don't take to the media and make public comments. >> he knows more. >> i'm just saying, i'm reporting what we know. so at what point what will happen when republicans will say, all right, something stinks here or distances themselves from the white house. when will republicans do that? >> look, i think you are seeing it already. >> are we? >> i think you are seeing it already. >> other than flake and corker, who else are we seeing? >> i mean the fact that more and more are not commenting and sort of staying away from the story, not rallying to the defense. >> you think that speaks volumes? >> absolutely. and they are waiting to see what other shoe is going to drop. and how high up it does go. and so the fact that flynn pled guilty and implicates others, then we are going to wait and see how that happens. no i don't think you'll see republicans rush to support the president. and keep coming back. and this has always been the odd part of the story, is that republicans have been generally very hostile to russia and democrats have been the ones who

and really from the beginning, much more of a bipartisan effort, with richard burr, the chair of the senate committee, and that doesn't seem to be wrapping up any time soon. they want to make sure they leaf no stone unturned. i think feeling some of the pressure of those perceived as the more partisan, more credible investigative effort at capitol hill at this point. >> i want to wrap up by asking what this means for 2018. i want to read a quotation that gabe sherman wrote for "vanity fair," talking about jared kushner's role in all of this, he's taking meetings with russians to get additional stuff. this tells you everything about jared. they were looking for the picture of hillary clinton taking the bag of money from vladimir putin. so what degree is this, these investigations into russia going to weigh on the campaigning, on voters minds as we head to the midterms in 2018? >> no doubt about it, look, i think it's going to be a democratic wave, if in fact something does not change. which is ironic, because the stock market as we just heard ali talk about is going through the roof.

and senate intelligence committee chair richard burr gives an update on the investigation of russian investigation -- russian interference in the 2016 election. at the white house, president trump announced the u.s. would recognize jerusalem as the israeli capital. palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas said the decision means the u.s. can no longer act as a mediator in peace talks. trump: thank you. when i came into office, i promised to look at the world's challenges with open eyes and very fresh thinking. we cannot solve our problems by making the same failed assumptions and repeating the same failed strategies of the past. all challenges demand new approaches. my announcement today marks the beginning of a new approach to conflict between israel and the palestinians. in 1995, congress adopted the jerusalem embassy act urging the federal government to relocate the american embassy to jerusalem and to recognize that that city, and so importantly is israel's capital this. act passed congress by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and was reaffirmed by unanimous vote of the se

a lot of pats on the shoulder for you in that video as richard burr tried to get in the elevator as fastpossible. we'll get back to you, manu, more to come from capitol hill for sure. more breaking news coming in. straight back over to the courthouse where michael flynn has been inside pleading guilty -- we're learning he is pleading guilty. justice correspondent evan perez is there with much more detail coming out of the courtroom. what are you picking up? >> that's right, kate. we had one of our writers inside the courtroom who tells us that he has now officially pleaded guilty. he really only answered yes, and no questions to the judge, to essentially describe that he was not being coerced to plead guilty or promised anything in particular, but we learned from the hearing that prosecutors in court and the fbi essentially described that flynn had conversations with senior trump officials during the transition and also with the russian ambassador, according to the fbi, which was -- which spoke inside the hearing. flynn communicated with kislyak after asked by a senior trump transition o

i've got a great working relationship with richard burr. our committee's maintained bipartisan approach. we've had some bumps, but we are still kind of, you know, proceeding ahead. we've got a number of witnesses scheduled for january. and i would say we've really, you know, not shyly, but say we've really put some points on board already. one with, there is complete conclusion from everyone in government with potentially the exception of the president that russians massively interfered in our elections in a coordinated way that was unprecedented. and that conclusion has, frankly, helped now as we've seen french who are much more atubed to some of this than we were -- attuned. brits who have gone back and re-examined brexit. i think from a national and international standpoint, that acknowledgment is important from a national security standpoint. secondly, the russians attempted to tap into -- not change votes, but tap into 21 states' electoralin systems. at first, dhs was very slow at acknowledging that or telling the state election offici

this part includes a conversation with senate intelligence committee chair richard burr, with an update on his committee's investigation involving russia and the 2016 elections. from the council on foreign relations, this is an hour.

the serious investigations in the senate with richard burr and mark warner. mark warner told me they will conclude their investigation this calendar year. i don't know when that will be. he said that he thinks bob mueller will conclude his investigation in this calendar year. >> it will be fascinating. >> finally, your thought on where this goes. if you've seen inception, it is up to you. >> i have not seen it but your description gives me everything i need to know. will not. i think no matter what we say no, matter what donald trump says, there is bob mueller grind go away. he has his indictments, witnesses who have flipped. he will find whatever he is going to find and he will issue more indictments for more senior people. he may issue a recommendation for the house to proceed. and i think most of 2018 and in fact election of 2018 is what should the american people do about that? congress won't be ang to take any real action. the voters will get to decide. >> a shoutout to the voters. thank you for being part of our coverage. we have a very big show. we are

i know richard burr.ipartisan way with mark warner. he's been i think over the past year one of the best of the republicans actually keeping their head down and doing their work. but when he says -- it reminds me of somebody who had not been in government before, that's the same way as saying, you know what, he's just ignorant. he doesn't know what he's doing. >> that was the same thing when the intel chiefs as well came before congress, right? well, i didn't feel pressured, but these things happened. what we're seeing here is a portrait of multiple pressure points now, because it wasn't even just the head of the intel committees. he got multiple members of that committee, other members of congress to then try and pressure burr, and there was a pattern here. the words that were used, time to move on. you see a pattern where he's also cornering people on the plane. blunt was cornered on the plane. to me one of the most telling parts of that article was that in mitch mcconnell's words, you could see through

back in the room, i'm david sanger from the new york times, and i would like to welcome senator richard burr to fascinatingof this morning of discussion of russia, the election interference, and also broader issues. we are

according to half a dozen lawmakers and aides, the president told richard burr he was eager to see anhas overshadowed much of his first year in office. burr tells the times he informed the president when it committee has spoken to everyone they will finish. >> the chairman stated he did not feel pressured by president trump. white house spokesman telling cnn at no point has the president attempted to apply undue influence on committee members. >>> ahead, one of the more bizarre twitter fights, roy moore challenging jimmy kimmel to face him man to man. >> if it's me -- maybe if he went to man to man instead of this situation.u wouldn't be in- allegedly. >> wow. what led to the dust-up. next. uble miles when you buy stuff from that airline. is this where you typically shop? is this where anyone typically shops? it's time to switch to the capital one venture card. with venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day... not just airline purchases. seriously... double miles... everywhere! what's in your wallet? oh, look... another anti-wrinkle cream in no

but second, do you think richard burr -- do you agree with his take, oh, this is just inexperience inoesn't realize he's violating some protocol here. >> well, even if it's inexperience, that doesn't make it right. the president should have no comment whatsoever on either of these investigations and the only thing he should be doing is directing all of his staff and associates to fully cooperate. >> all right. let me move to the tax bill. i want to move to the debt part first. let me play a little mash-up of what you've said about the debt in the past. take a listen. >> and senator collins, you supported president obama on the stimulus package. can you support his budget? >> no. >> why not? >> because it brings our debt levels to an unprecedented level. >> our current debt is unsustainable. it's $14.3 trillion. and it is a threat to the future prosperity of this nation. >> all right. if the debt is unsustainable at $14 trillion, how do you -- how did you make yourself comfortable voting for something that is going to increase the deficit, this tax bill? we're at $20.6 trillion now and

i also want to remind you that richard that richard burr of kaiser will be signing his books.we have washington. youseveral others there for to take a look at. thank you again and join richard burr kaiser in our museum store. thank you. [applause] host: u.s. gis in vietnam, how are they treated 45 years after their departure. >> join the conversation on facebook. and on twitter. c-span, where history unfolds daily. c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. saratogastory of springs cannot be told without including horse racing. join us as we talk with ellen carter, historian and author about the history of horse racing and this racecourse.

look at richard burr, the republican chairman of the senate intelligence committee.d repeatedly these are open questions about involvement not just with jared kushner but there could be evidence of collusion, cooperation, et cetera. this has the added personal tone because it was chris christie who happened to put jared kushner's father in prison for crimes. so we know they have some -- they certainly have bad blood the there. it does show that when we think they're all deep state democrats who have it in for the president, republican, that's not true, there are substantive republicans, folks like christy who supported the president, richard burr who campaigned for the president. mike conway, the schachairman oe house intelligence committee who do not dismiss these servants. >> and the reason we have a special counsel is because rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general in the justice department, decided we needed one. mueller was appointed fbi director by george w. bush. the idea that nancy pelosi and chuck schumer are behind the scenes orchestrating this is not b

back in the room, i'm david sanger from the new york times, and i would like to welcome senator richard burr to fascinatingof this morning of discussion of russia, the election interference, and also broader issues. we are glad you have come to talk to us. mr. burr: delighted to be here. the meal part. it didn't look like it was substantial enough, but hopefully, it will keep you from sleeping through this part of it. mr. sanger: we are on a tight budget. -- senator burr is in his third term. i haven't sorted out whether you are in the duke-routing -- tuke-rooting side of the state or university of north carolina side of the state. mr. burr: whichever one wins. mr. sanger: probably a good sign for what we're going to be discussing for the rest of the day. he is of course chairman of the senate intelligence committee and for his sins, is becoming the chairman, he is no managing the most complex, the most politically charged, and i would say probably the most important senate investigation in at least a generation, maybe two. and it's not every day that a senator gets to run an investigation w

sanger: i'd like to welcome senator richard burr to the keynote of this, it's been a fascinating morning of discussion of russia, the election interference but also broader cyberissues. e're glad to see you here. mr. burr: i question the meal part, it didn't look big enough. keep you it's to from sleeping. i haven't sorted out if you're in the tuke-rooting side of the state or university of north carolina side of the state. mr. burr: whichever one wins. mr. sanger: probably a good sign for what we're going to be discussing the rest of the kay. he is of course chairman of the senate intelligence committee and for his sins becoming the chairman he is now managing the most complex, the most politically charged, and i would say probably the most important senate investigation in at least a generation, maybe two. a it's not every day that senator gets to run an investigation where there are disclosures happening every day on the front pages of the newspapers. there's a parallel criminal investigation under way, and when a president from his own party gets to declare on twitter every few days

. >> we're just getting word that the republican chairman of the senate intelligence committee richard burroes that agree with this theory that the president of the united states cannot be indicted for obstruction of justice. so, you know, he's from north carolina, but he's the chairman of the powerful senate intelligence committee. >> right. so, look, there atwo constituent parts to the question. one is whether or not the president can violate the statute. that's sort of -- john dowd is essentially arguing he cannot violate the law. the separate question is whether or not he can be held criminally accountable for violating the statute. those are two separate questions. dowd on any read, dowd is sort of vastly overstating the president's case here and statements like that from richard burr is an indication, you know, if they overplay their hand or feel the special prosecutor isn't able to hold the president criminally accountable when they believe there has been criminal conduct that congress is -- >> phil, does it look to you like robert mueller, the special counsel, is building an obstruc

richard burr has not made that same commitment when we've asked him about it.said, we'll bring back people if we need to bring back people. >> so you're also learning about another high-level trump nominee that might be in jeopardy. >> reporter: yeah, that's coukt mcfarland. i'm told that her nomination will be sent back to the white house as soon as this week when the session for the year wraps up. that's because her testimony from earlier this year to the senate foreign relations committee appears to be at odds with the special counsel robert mueller's plea agreement that he reached with michael flynn, the former national security adviser. now, k.t. mcfarland was a deputy under michael flynn, and according to the documents that were unsealed earlier this month, the michael flee plea agreement, there was an unnamed senior transition official who had a conversation with michael flynn about sanctions on russia. a conversation that would occur between flynn and sergey kislyak. now, when k.t. mcfarland was asked about whether or not she had any conversations with

. >> reporter: now yesterday when i talked to the senate intelligence committee, chairman richard burrg into looking into two other campaigns, not trump related, and i asked him about which campaigns. one question came up about jill stein's campaign and he wants to know whether or not there was any collusion with the russians with stein's campaign. stein's campaign did put out a statement overnight saying the meeting they had overseas sponsored by rt, the television network, was an effort to go and talk about some of the shared values that they had, denying that there was any collusion whatsoever, but interestingly, even though richard burr seemed to suggest they're looking into some other campaigns, mark warner said there are more questions for trump officials and wants members of the committee to interview some of the trump associates who have only been interviewed by staff of the committee and he also said that there are still some questions about the june 2016 trump tower meeting. he said there's still one individual that the committee has not yet met with. he doesn't see this inve

this portion includes a conversation with senate intelligence committee chair richard burr. he provides an update on his committee's investigation involving russia and the 2016 elections. >> i'd like to welcome senator richard burr to the key note of this -- it's been a fascinating morning. a discussion of russia, the election interference but also broader cyber issues and we're glad you've come to the council to talk to us. senator burr: glad to be here, david. i question the meal part. it didn't look like it was ubstantial enough. hopefully it will keep you from sleeping. >> it's a council. we are on tight budgets. for those that don't know senator burr, in his third term. senator from north carolina. i haven't sorted out whether you're in the duke rooting side of the state or the university of north carolina rooting side of the state. senator burr: whichever one ins. he is of course part of the senate intelligence committee and for his sins becoming chairman,ess messagering the most complex, the most complitly changed charged and i would say the most important senate inve

, including senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, the chairman of the intelligence committee richard burr, to end their russia investigation. is this appropriate? >> so i was struck by the piece and in particular the fact that richard burr, who is a very sort of establishment republican, not someone who's been hypercritical of the president, was willing to go on the record with "the new york times" and say yes, we had these conversations, he said he would like things wrapped up. that's important. because burr has a lot of options and one of which, that he most likely usually takes, is not to talk at all. so that's meaningful. and i think it's important, because burr is trying to send a signal there. now, that said, what the republican response here will be is this is a president who's never done this before. no, it is not super appropriate for him to involve himself in this, but it is not is illegal for him to do so. burr has said in that "new york times," no, i was not influenced unduly, i didn't feel pressured. again, donald trump operates in a lot of gray area, politically speaking. yo

our story and "the times" story, the white house, according to the "washington post," enlisted richard burr and the house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes and mike pompeo to speak to reporters to push back against what is now established fact, that russians known to u.s. intelligence had reached out to the trump campaign. so in addition to the question why did flynn lie about his conversations with the russian ambassador, we also have to look at whole year's worth of actions and ask why has the white house told you so many lies about this story? and why has president trump been exerting so much time and energy behind the scenes and in front of the cameras to try to get those investigating this matter to stop doing so? why did he want comey to drop the case to the point that he took the drastic step of firing the fbi director? now comey had no comment today, though he did post this image on instagram with the quote, but let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing treatment from the book of amoss. my panel is with me. bill, take a listen to the vice chai

you have senator richard burr, the head of the senate intelligence committee., roy blunt, the director of national intelligence, dan coates, james comey who the president fired, the cia director, mike pompeo, this is just a partial list. do you think the president doesn't know any better or is there something more sinister going on? >> jake, it certainly is part of a long pattern in which the president has engaged in really disturbing behavior, whether it was many months ago now, calling the fbi director into his office to try to extract a pledge of personal loyalty or by these recent actions, reaching out to republican senators like richard burr, who i think by the way, has ably let the senate intelligence committee in this regard. but to try and inappropriately pressure him to wrap up the investigation. i think you might have been able to say months and months ago that the president new to this role, someone who hasn't served before might not understand the contras of the job, but after lots of public krit criticism and pushback for his inappropriate behavior

up next, richard burr gives an update on his committee's investigation into russia and the 2016 elections. he also talked about his concerns with boating infrastructure, security infrastructure for the upcoming midterm elections. from the council on foreign relations, this is an hour. >> senator, thanks for joining us. to all of those of you w david sanger: senator, thanks for joining us. to all of those of you who are well fed and back in the room, i'm david sanger from the new york times, and i would like to welcome senator richard burr to the keynote of this fascinating morning of discussion of russia, the election interference, and also broader issues. delighted to be here. the meal part. it didn't look like it was substantial enough, but hopefully, it will keep you from sleeping through this part of it. mr. sanger: we are on a tight budget. -- senator burr is in his third term. i haven't sorted out whether you are in the duke-routing -- tuke-rooting side of the state or university of north carolina side of the state. mr. burr: whichever one wins. mr. sanger: probably a good sign for

the president told richard burr the chairman of the senate intelligence committee that he hoped the investigation will be wrapped up quickly. the president reportedly made the same request of other senate republicans. republicans who were interviewed by the new york times downplay the president's request. they say he is a political newcomer and did not realize that was inappropriate. california senator dianne feinstein, the former chair of the intelligence committee, told the new york times the president's request represents a breach of the separation of powers. >>> 4:17. later today, the senate is expected to vote in the republican tax bill. the vote yesterday was delayed after the bill hit two major roadblocks. according to senate rules, a so- called trigger mechanism in the bill would not be allowed. some republican senators proposed that trigger could raise taxes if the deficit goes up, because of the planned cuts. now, the second roadblock is a new forecast that says the bill would not pay for itself as is suggested by the white house, and that it would actually add more than $1 trillion to

>> again i would rather work through that with richard burr. >> is donald trump, jr. also in that category? >> absolutely. >> you mentioned the social platforms blow you off, and since then you have learned a lot from them. have you learned more from the social platforms since that public hearing? >> take this in the kind of two or three stages. from our initial concerns raised november, december of 2016 through about may we basically got the brushoff. from facebook and twitter. starting in may i think, so with facebook, where a lot of the focus has been, i think they recognize there was an issue. i don't think they put appropriate assets behind foldey investigating. i still don't believe that they've exposed all of the russian activity. they expose activity from one troll farm in st. petersburg. i think there are more activities than one entity in russia. that activity picked up and they proactively made a lot of steps. they, twitter, google, youtube, in advance of the hearing. we've held the hearing and there are then a few announcements after that. there will be mo

and senate intelligence committee chair richard burr gives an update on the investigation of russian investigation -- russian interference in the 2016 election. at the white house, president trump annnc

senator richard burr should be given a special place of dishonor for what he is doing and has done to the american national interests. thanks for being with us. be sure to vote in our poll tonight. do you believe there are protected groups and identities within our society who have protected rights that are far superior to those of mere american citizens. cast your vote on lou dobbs. follow me on instagram on "lou dobbs tonight." the dow finishing the day down 41 points. it plunged 350 points as word spread general flynn had pled guilty to lying to the fbi. the market then shrugged it off and the result, a 41-point loss on the dow. volume on the big board, still heavy trading. despite today's losses, the dow up 3% on the week. largest weekly gain of this year. ed the s & p up 1.5%. up next, top democrats calling on congressman john conyers, the icon, to respine because of the sexual harassment allegations against him. conyers' attorney says not so fast. stay with us. we'll be right back. lou: joining me, ed rollins, let me start with michael flynn pleading guilty to thrieght fbi. we -

this monday republican senator richard burr of north carolina told reporters that the senate intelligence committee has requested documents from the jill's presidential campaign she has agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation which is as her campaign former campaign communications director janice trainer jr told buzz feed is regarding collusion with the russians this includes not only possible communications with russian officials but her communication with producers and journalists with r.t. . the russian collusion narrative against jill stein hinges almost exclusively on two things her appearances on r.t. and her attendance at the channel's tenth anniversary party and conference in moscow in an official statement guarding the investigation stein stated that quote our communications with russian individuals regarding an invitation to speak on international relations at the tenth anniversary media conference will confirm what we stated publicly at the time and since that we did not accept any payment or even reimbursement for the trip and quote the conference which was described

my favorite person of all of this is richard burr of north carolina. he and the ranking democrat called the press together, mark warner. telling the press, we have got a big announcement which ended up they are going to expand the investigation after having found nothing. we would like to share with you preliminary findings of their 6-month long investigation. they didn't find anything. and it gets worse and worse. in the campaign, did you ever expect that you would see this kind of a frontal assault on the president of the united states from the dems, from the gop establishment, from the deep state, the intelligence community. one and the same. >> when the president launched the campaign they said it wasn't a real campaign and wouldn't be successful. dianne feinstein, the ranking democrat in the senate judiciary committee says there is no evidence she has seen that there has been cooperation. but the democrats say don't quory, we'll keep going forward. the ranging member of the senate intelligence committee hasn't found any evidence of russian collusi

richard burr, senator of north carolina, the head of the senate intelligence committee tells -- acknowledges, a scintilla of evidence, so we're going to skip that part where we're going to show you early findings because we have none, we'll just expand the investigation. we have a congress and a senate that are being lead by some of the most duplicitous and weak-minded people i've ever seen in my life. >> that's a pretty harsh -- lou: i am -- it is harsh and i can support it, i think with considerable evidence. >> to quote a famous legal philosopher and former new york yankees catcher named yogi berra, it ain't over till its over. lou: he also said by the way, judge, the future ain't what it once was, and it ain't what it once was because of weak-minded, unprincipled people leading in washington, d.c. on capitol hill. >> i agree that we've got -- lou: no one thought we would be using yogi berra as our philosophical foundation, but go ahead. >> look, i agree we got a lot of people there who are not portraits and courage. i hope we have some people who are reasonably tough-minded enough to see

according to a half a dozen lawmakers, aides, the president told intel richard burr he was eager toeee an end to the probe that has overshadowed much of his first year in office. burr himself says he informed the president when the committee has spoke to be everyone it needs to it will finish. >> the president also urged to end the russian investigation swiftly a white house spokesman tilli telling at no point has the president attempted undue influence. >> ahead, there's bipartisan agreement on one uncomfortable topic. >> yes, i think he should resign, immediately. >> congress man conyers should resign. >> against mounting pressure, can congress man john conyers hold on to his seat? [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her new mobile wedding business. at first, getting paid was tough... until she got quickbooks. now she sends invoices, sees when they've been viewed and-ta-dah-paid twice as fast for free. visit quickbooks-dot-com. >>> michigan democratic congressman being treated for stress this morning as calls for his resignation mount. the 88-year-old law maker facing allegatio

. >>> senate intel chairman, richard burr, says his committee is challenging other campaigns in 2016at of jill stein's. joining us now is 2016 green party candidate, jill stein. thank you very much for being here. >> great to be with you, alisyn. >> what is the story behind that photo taken at that state dinner? >> the story is pretty straightforward. as you mentioned, i was there for a conference basically on international international relations and the role of media by the state tv networks for india, china, and many other countries around the world. it was a very interesting conference and it's all up on the web. you can see exactly what went on. the dinner was really a formality. i was seated at the table with other diplomats, basically, from china -- not china, but from germany and from the czech republic. when vladimir putin came in very late in the dinner, he was accompanied by three or four men who i assumed were his bodyguards. i later learned they were not his bodyguards, they were his inner circle, but nobody knew that because nobody was introduced, and i was only able to

. >> senator richard burr said in an interview that mr. trump told him he was eager to see an investigation that has over shadowed much of the first year of his presidency come to an end. it was something along the lines of i hope you can conclude this as quickly as possible mr. pbur said. he replied to mr. trump that when we have exhausted everybody we need to talk to, we'll finish. senator roy blount, a member of the intel committee to end the investigation swiftly. >> mr. trump called other lawmakers over the summer with requests that they push mr. burr, the inquiry, the senator who was alarmed of hearing words on the president's plead, they should urge mr. burr to bring the russia investigation to a close. the senator declined to reveal which colleagues mr. trump had contact with the request. the comment from the administration tonight is this. quote, "at no point had attempted to apply undo influence on committee members, there is no evidence of collusion and these investigations must come to a fair and appropriate completion." severa

interference in the 2016 election, according to the new york times, the president told senator richard burr that he hoped that the investigation would be wrapped up quickly, the president made that same request of other senate republicans, republicans who were interviewed by the new york times downplayed the president's requests, they said he is a political new comer and did not realize that was unproposed. but diane feinstein, a former chairperson of the intelligence committee said that represents a breach of the separation of powers. >>> senate republicans are back at it later today after failing to pass a tax reform last night. the democrats are trying to block it but the bigger challenge for republicans is keeping their own ranks in line. >>> the national christmas tree is now lit, it's a symbol of the season but a reminder, just outside of the president's window that time is running out. he wants tax reform done by the end of the year. on the senate floor, moments of drama as democrats tried to block republican efforts. >> they wept to the majority leaders office with their wall street

senate's russia probe, this as the president pressured the senate intelligence committee chairman, richard burr to bring the investigation to a swift conclusion. the reported claims that president donald trump also complained that mitch mcconnell was not doing enough to end the investigation, he also asked roy brunt to wrap up the investigation, in the in the meantime, questions are being asked about secretary of state rex tillerson's future. >> he is committed to doing the job. >> the president was here today with the secretary of state. they engaged in a foreign leader visit and are continuing to work together. >> at this point, the white house press secretary is not denying reports that president donald trump is considering replacing secretary of state rex tillerson with mike pompeo. >> when the president loses confidence with someone, they will no longer serve. >> the department said that the rumors are not true. >>> there are many reports that plans are being made for a possible departure of secretary of state rex tillerson, that could happen in late january. >> there is a new statewide po