i want to bring in msnbc terrorism analyst malcolm nance and clint watts, msnbc national security analyst and former fbi special agent. clint, i want to start with you because i heard you on "morning joe" a bit earlier speaking, even though at this point it's hearsay, about potentially the weapon used. rand paul said when he first heart it he wasn't entirely surprised. him being a man from the south, he's used to hearing maybe one shot fired. but when he heard 50, 60 shots it sounded as though it was a semiautomatic weapon, possibly an ar-15. what does that mean, especially if you consider the capitol police were on hand who don't have much more than handguns, pistols? >> one of the challenges right now, and we should use some caution. it sounds like the shooter definitely had a rifle. we don't know that it's an ar-15. what we should look at is oftentimes now perpetrators outmatch the law enforcement officers, meaning that we have high-powered rifles that are out there or ar-15s, which are much more advanced than the handguns that you would typically see or possibly a shotgun that might b

we're back with clint watts, philip rucker and jill winebanks.i promised to come to you and i have a two-part question for you. >> number one, what is mueller likely saying or sharing on capitol hill? is it a progress report? what are the chances he is sharing anything that's classified? and number two, we've seen the president lawyer up, the veep, his son-in-law, the attorney general. does this keep going on through the ranks of white house staff? >> i think in terms of what mueller would have shared it would not be a progress report. i would expect that he was trying to negotiate with the members of congress a way to proceed concurrently without stepping on each other's toes. it's very important that immunity not be given to prime targets for prosecution. and that's one of the things they would talk about. they might talk about who would be able to testify in public, so that the american people can know what's going on. not just the prosecutors. i think that's more likely what they talked about. in terms of your second question, i think that th

joining us onset, veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle, former fbi special agent clint watts, nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt and columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius who got an interesting book plug by jeff sessions himself in yesterday's hearing -- it was tom cotton -- interaction with tom cotton. >> whatever else you say about jeff sessions, he's a discriminating reader. >> he did mention your book as well. one of the big questions looming over the hearing, how many times did jeff sessions meet with the russian ambassador and why did they meet? . over the first hour of testimony, the attorney genuine ched towards acknowledging he may have met with the kremlin official at the washington hotel in april of 2016, an encounter he had not previously disclosed. >> i did not have any private meetings nor do i recall any conversations with any russian officials at the mayflower hotel. i recall several conversations during the pre speech reception. i don't have any recollection of meeting or talking with the russian ambassador or any

joining us now to talk about this is former fbi special agent clint watts and nick ackerman, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, also one of the watergate prosecutors. so, clint, a lot of questions about what jim comey can or cannot say, what he will or will not say. what are you going to be keeping your eye out for? >> it will be interesting to see which way the committee takes it. remember, the senate intel committee, the one that i testified to, was initially on to the russia meddling investigation. that's what they were looking at. now it's also spun into is it going to be about the obstruction of that investigation? so which way will the committee take it? i think the other part that everyone is going to want to know on the obstruction is, one, what was said during that meeting at the white house between president trump and director comey, what was document in those memos, and sort of the underlying thing we've forgotten about or moved on from, remember president trump when he fired him said, you told me several times i was not under investigation. that

. >> as i mentioned, clint watts is part of our coverage, veteran at the fbi. clint, what is likely happening. all the spinning machinations that we don't see beneath the surface. we heard from the special agent in charge of the capitol d.c. district of the fbi. where are agents moving? how fast? >> the big part right now will be crime scene. they're going to focus on that, making sure they get all the evidence gathered up. >> rounds, shells. rounds that are embedded in trees, grass, all that? >> the next part, all eyewitnesss will be interviewed. the third part, that i'm sure is going on with a different team, is you have the suspect interview. sounds like he has lived. i'm sure they're trying to look into his motivations. the other thing you're wanting to look at, especially in these acute situations, is was there another plot? we often focus on these incidents that come up, but these individuals oftentimes layer multiple schemes together. you want to make sure that everything is cleared. there's no other threats to human life that are out there. i think those

it is something we hadn't seen in the united states, i think we were caught flat footed. >> clint wattsu very much. and coming up, flip-flop. democrats try and fail yet again to turn a red seat blue, even with president trump's approval rating below 40. the fallout next. oh, hello! lucky for me, there's some great golf here in the carolinas. whether you golf or not, geico could help score you some great savings on car insurance. maybe even hundreds of dollars. whoa! (chuckles) hole in one! and that's a par five, mind you. see how much you could save on car insurance. go to geico.com today. ready or not, here i come.ek.) ♪ anyone can dream. making it a reality is the hard part. northrop grumman command and control systems always let you see the complete picture. and we're looking for a few dreamers to join us. for her compassion and care. he spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. but to help others, they first had to protect themselves. i have afib. even for a nurse, it's complicated... and it puts me at higher risk of stroke. that would be devastating. i had to learn a

>> i'm telling you, that is what clint watts said. i'm not going to get into anything beyonds it. but when you ask a veteran fbi man if you he thinks you are on the right trail with respect to following the money and expands it that way, that certainly wakes up the hearing room. >> it does wake it up. and i assume he is most likely referring to the number of russian citizens who have shown up dead in some what mysterious circumstances. >> well, let's put it this way. your press colleagues have had a lot to say about these matters in connection with the dossier. >> let's turn to the attorney general for a minute. are you a united states senator. the body in which you serve is famous for its college yality. and yet you and now attorney general sessions were colleagues for years but you engaged in a pretty heated exchange during his testimony. you seemed most concerned that although he had officially recused himself from overseeing the russia investigation, that really he has effectively gone back on that. is that a fair description in. >> i have certainly been concerned that he has

also, nbc news national security analyst clint watts. clint is here with me in new york. let me start with you, clint. the fact that the fbi has taken over this investigation so quickly, they are running the show, what can that tell you? >> this is an airport and depending on jurisdictions, the fbi oftentimes has jurisdictions. the other part could signify, and we have to be careful with this, that this was a lone wolf. somebody who they had been looking into or researching. we have to see why the fbi wanted to get involved so quickly in the stabbing. if it's an international terrorism link, that would bring them to the scene much quicker. >> what do they look at to figure out the motivations of the attacker, to know if the assailant is operating as an individual or if he was somehow inspired by international terror group. >> sure. one of the first things to see is if there have been any claims of responsibility. there's been no claims of responsibility. there's very, very little chatter going on online about this. most people don't seem to be aware of it that are central

clint watts was with us earlier in the show. msnbc national security analyst, former fbi special agent, senior fellow at george washington university center for cyber and homeland security. clint, interesting comment from jeh johnson, addressing a question from jay gowdy. if so many people knew so much about the russians trying to meddle in the election last year, was it not our right, as americans, without giving us the whole story, to tell us something about it? listen to jeh johnson. >> so what more could we have done, should we have done before the election? >> in retrospect, it would have been easy for me to say i should have bought a sleeping bag and camped in and out front of the dnc in late summer, with the benefit of hindsight. i can tell you for certain that in the late summer/fall i was very concerned about what i was seeing. this was on my front burner all throughout the pre-election period in august, september, october and early november to encourage the states to come in and seek our assistance. >> so, clint, as a f

. >> joining me now, former fbi special agent clint watts who also testified to the senate intel committeerussia investigation. clint, what do you make of comey's version there, and is that to the president's credit or discredit because of knowing that there was a problem with sessions having to recuse himself, there was an open investigation of flynn? could he even ask those questions without looking suspicious? >> the president could have at least said, hey, i want to make sure our elections are not being messed with by russia. it's odd he's never said that. i believe a romanian journalist yesterday asked the president what about what's going on in eastern europe? this is continuing right now. the german election is a big target for the russians. why wouldn't the u.s. want to get into a more proactive posture on this? this is even going to happen in the 2018. >> the midterms coming up. >> if you're a senator or congressman speaking out against russia, whether republican or democrat, you're going to have a russian to essentially counter you. >> when we think about things that comey did sa

ken delaney joins me, the reporter for bloomberg news, and clint watts, fbi special agent and nbc nationalcurity analyst. do we have any sense here from the white house? donald trump puts this out on twitter. before james comey has that much anticipated testimony. was this a strategic calculation on donald trump's part? was he trying to deliver some kind of message to comey to affect his testimony or was this just trump popping off? >> i think almost every tweet is just trump being trump. one of my colleagues, till o'brian, had been are threatened by trump before saying there were tapes. when it got to the time and the case was in court, there were no tapes. one of my colleagues talked on someone familiar with the situation who said that it was trump trying to send a message directly to comey to be honest before you start leaking things. be careful what you say. so whether it was a threat or intimidation, i don't know. but it was certainly a way to send a message to comey, rattle him a little bit. >> do you have a sense talking to folks at the white house, do they think it achieved that go

. >> former fbi agent clint watts was called to testify before the committee. >> follow the trail of the past three months tied to this involveigation who have assets in banks all over the world. they are dropping dead even in western countries. >> so much of this intrigue and violence may seem very far away. but when nbc news consultant paul joyle was shot just a few miles from the capital, he and his wife immediately thought it was a hit. a big reason? the timing. >> it's four days after we choose the president of being responsible for the horrible murder of litvinenko on your network. >> in early 2007, he appeared in a "dateline "report on the litvinenko case. >> did putin order it? did he know it? we can't say that. i would find it hard to believe that this information, whatever it may be, has not filtered its way up to the top. >> just four days later, he was almost murdered himself. >> you think they are related? >> i don't think there's any doubt. >> people out in the general public say, oh, that's in russia. it's never going to happen here. but i know that it can happen here,

i want to bring in clint watts who used to work with the fbi and i want your reaction of what we're learning here, the new fbi pick and some of the political implications as well. >> i think it's curious the timing. obviously that was to distract from the hearings that were coming up today. i also find it very interesting that ray is part of a group that has worked together, mueller, comey, rosenstein, they've all worked together during the same time period, 2000 to 2005 time period and they're known to each other. what you're seeing in terms of government the way it's shaking out in this trump era, we've got two groups of people that are going to lead this country in terms of law enforcement, crime and the military. mcmaster, and kelly. now in terms of law enforcement and the judiciary, we've got four individuals that all worked together and that's going to be very different from what trump really proposed. he proposed that he was going to come in and shake things up and bring in outsiders. these are old hands that have worked together and really know how to do this governance and the rule

clint watts is with us.orm he fbi agent and more importantly, former member of the joint terrorism task force. welcome to you. the question to you is, we heard the former director say that he didn't get a chance to say goodbye. we've heard various employees of the fbi say that he enjoyed great support of loyalty from the staff. how do you think today was viewed by your former colleagues at the fbi in. >> even the fbi or the military, you say i'm under siege. and i think that's what comey was trying to say. i think the fbi is trying to restore faith in the public and stay strong and continue to do your job. what i find interesting when i talk to former fbi colleagues or even former military folks who just watched a very big crisis in qatar where we had trumans stationed, does the president realize the position he's putting us in? i think what you saw from director comey, he went into these meetings and he wasn't sure what was happening and he wasn't sure how to protect himself or the country. when he talks ab

i'm joined by the reporter who broke this story, also clint watts former fbi special agent. mike, thank you for joining us. give us a sense of what you were able to report today in common sense language. >> sure. i think the important point to note is the obama administration and the national security establishment, when this stuff was going on, didn't think that the russians were trying to tinker with the actual vote tallies on election day. but they were looking at the systems the russians were hitting voter databases, the kinds of systems that poll workers use on election day. and what they saw was an attempt at what they figured was going to happen was an attempted attack that would disrupt the election day. so you show up at the poll. your address is different. your name has been changed. you know, the data that allows you to vote is different, and you're not allowed to vote. you're going to start thinking that the whole thing has been fixed. and i think that that's really the thing that obsessed the obama administration as they were going into it. what we know now, tho

with us in the studio as we prepare to talk to a member of congress when he's ready, clint watts a member of the fbi and darren, a 20-year veteran of the nypd. and darren, you first. you've been listening to our coverage for a while. what are your thoughts given what you know? >> it amazes me that you had ten-plus, a number that competed ten-plus v.i.p.s in that area and you didn't have fortifications. just back to my experience in the nypd when we had a large number of v.i.p.s that were meeting in a certain area, we generally had proper fortifications. we take into consideration, we had a few capitol police, but that was primarily based on the whip being present. let's take into consideration, senator rand paul was there. there should have been greater fortifications in place. granted this capitol police were heroes but there should have been more fortifications. and we have to take into consideration the entrance and exit strategies in the case of an emergency. and i don't think that was drawn out in this situation. >> and this is the end of innocence. this is the last time it will be l

. >> robert deets is the former senior counsel with the cia and former counsel of nsa, and clint wattsrmer fbi special agent. okay, bob, is there any authority for those two men not to talk about what we understand to be nonclassified information? >> well, i spent the afternoon pondering that and i can't think of one. >> and you're a lawyer over there. >> i mentioned earlier -- in fact, there was a reference that mr. coats said -- >> confidential. >> in this open hearing. so, it' possible th he's saying, making some sort of vaguely classified informaon argument. >> except then he says there's no legal basis. >> exactly. >> then he says that. and you also have rogers, he just says it's basically a private conversation. >> right. and i don't see the legal basis for either of those claims. >> to set this straight, executive privilege doesn't belong to these two men. it belongs to the president. and the president asserts that. they went rogue and decided even though we taxpayers pay their salaries and even though senate has oversitght, they just aren' talking. >> greta, do you think i'm go

i'm joined by ken dilanian, tension reporter for nbc news and clint watts, a former fbi agent and seniorfellow at the foreign policy research institute. gentlemen, what did you make of that testimony? i thought he was powerful in defending the fbi, which he served his whole life. your thoughts. >> i agree, chris. i thought you heard the most emotion in his voice during that portion of his testimony. and, you know, it's because the things thathe white house said about comey and the fbi just weren't true, demonstrably. clint will speak to this, but i have friends who work there, and they said, look, nobody agreed with everything comey did. a lot of people had a problem with the way he handled the e-mail matter, but he was a good director. i have one friend who said he e-mailed him about a personnel matter and he got a response 12 hours later. i mean comey had his flaws but he was generally a well regarded fbi director, and he was considered a good manager. so the idea that the fbi was in disarray as a reason for him to be fired was just demonstrably false, chris. >> clint, he called the pr

we'll bring in clint watts with his take on the choice. >>> plus this morning some of the top law enforcemente dan coats will get some pointed questions over whether the president muscled him to get james comey to back off his michael flynn investigation. keep it on "morning joe." what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. and it's also a story mail aabout people and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you mom what's for din...ner? water. just water. lots and lots of water. you wouldn't feed your kids just water, so why starve your plants? feed them miracle gro and go from doom to bloom. so why starve your plants? be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psorias

joining me now is our security analyst, clint watts and malcolm naans and former donald trump's securityest regret of donald trump be that he threaten and went after james comey on twitter and say there better not be tapes and he fired him >> he made public disclosure opened the door for comey to response. both on twitter and on the firing letter. >> you told me in numerous meetings. that opens the doors to comey talking about the meetings. everything is made a disaster for president trump. he comes out and make these statements and challenges and assert them. he thinks that these other people don't have agency to combat them. they call it deep state and it is called defending yourself of these accusations. >> the ties of comey's world and mueller's world is pretty strong. this is a small circle of people working together from 2000s to the 20005 period. you can look at comey and mueller, and at the same time, mueller is now running the special counsel investigation, at the same time in the fbi, you have his former deputy's deputies. these are all people working the mueller five years ago

i want to go back to, in our march public hearing, one of our witnesses, clint watts, testified that then-candidate trump, quote, used russian active measures at times against his opponents. end of quote. cited then-candidates trump coordination -- then candidate's trump coordination in calling candidate ks, we saw trump continue to use terms like the election is being rigged, the same types of terms that were used by the kremlin in their propaganda efforts. do you agree with what -- do you agree with the conclusion that at least inadvertently candidate trump was actually advancing the goals of the russian propaganda efforts? i'd like to hear any of your comments on that, starting with you, ambassador burns. mr. burns: first, i don't have any independent knowledge about the trump campaign, working with -- senator warner: i'm not asking that. i'm asking whether his comments about elections being rigged, calling on wikileaks, it appeared, and mr. watts drew the conclusion that at least inadvertently, then-candidate trump was actually aligned with some of what russia plop began da effor

. >> let's bring in former fbi clint watts. other agencies, they are practically by themselves. he's not sending in under-secretaries and the people needed to make sure they are able to function effectively. at this point who wants to go in and work for him anyway? >> if you go into dod, any of these positions now, it's the last stop of your career. you're going to become a trump administration appointee. which means if things continue to go down for the rest of this term as negatively as they are now, you're not going to go spoke another administration in the future. if you want to be deputy assistant secretary of defense, you're not going to become an assistant secretary later. you're going to be tainted by this. >> if you're arguing the administration's case in the supreme court as stephen breyer says to you, the acting solicitor general, so is this a travel ban or not, what do you say? >> they are doing to say, no, it's not a travel ban. the president was using political whatever. they are going to say on this day he said i

clint watts as well.me" magazine with bob mueller on the cover. >>> the paris agreement it's amazing how the people of this country get it because the press covers it so unfairly. the paris agreement would have cost americans millions of lost jobs and billions and billions of lost dollars and put us as a permanent economic disadvantage. china doesn't kick in until 2030. >> president trump says the climate deal doesn't kick in for common until the year 2030. >> that is not true, like some of the claims he made last night in iowa. we got a fact check ahead on "morning joe." david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ rumor confirmed. they're playing. -what? -we gotta go.

joining me now is clinton watts, malcolm nance and former member of donald trump's national security counsel transition team. thank you for being here. i'm going to start with you, clint. will the biggest threat be that he threatened and went after jim comey on twitter and said there better not be tapes and that he fired him? >> yeah. he's made public disclosures, which have opened the door for comey to respond. so both on twitter and in the firing letter. remember, he said you told me on numerous occasions and meetings and that opens the door for comey to talk about those meetings, which is what we saw with this testimony. everything is a self-made disaster for president trump. he goes out and makes these statements and these challenges and asserts them and thinks that these other people don't have agency to combat them and that's what we've seen with the intel committee. they call it deep state. it's also called defending yourself. >> you got rid of comey and now you have mueller which. >> you could look at comey, mueller, the new nominee, all with the department of justice and rosenstein and at the same point running the special counsel investigation at the same ti