david ignatius, you look. the news breaking last week of just -- i know it's a bit different than this case, but what happened in brussels, all of the missed warning signs that they had. it was just a collection of errors that ended up leading to the killings in paris and brussels. >> it's just so hard for law enforcement, whether it's in europe or in the u.s., to walk that line between protecting people and respecting their privacy. none of us want to live in a police state where people get held under lock and key if there is any suspicion. but in each of these failures to connect the dots, one way the dots could have been more firmly connected was if law enforcement had been tougher, more aggressively surveying people and put them under more control. i just would note. i was talking over the weekend to europeans about their security issues ahead, their worries about russians, their worries about isis terrorists coming out of syria and iraq. as upset as they were they sounded even more so. >> when we return t

david ignatius and katty kay, thank you both forring being on the showed this morning.bama holds his final white house news conference today but he stel managed to crash his press secretary's final briefing yesterday. josh earnest joins us live from the white house as his boss prepares to leave office. just as popular as when he came in. >>> mike allen will join us with his revealing interview with donald trump. back in a moment. why pause a spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. it's my decision ito

>> i really need to get this question to david ignatius right now. >> please. >> david, please, takehigher level here, if at all possible. would go to meacham but he has been stripped of his pulitzer prize. for americans who are fortunately just tuning in at this precise moment and want to know what to look for today, i think this is a pretty darn important day for the american intelligence community. what are you looking for today and what should we all be looking for? >> i'm looking for the tone that the president-elect takes after a crucial meeting in which our director of national intelligence will present him with, hard intelligence information that our principal adversaries, these days, russia, tried to hack our presidential election to benefit donald trump. if he responds in a way that accepts, tries to understand, tries to encourage further investigation of this and leads the country, i think it will help his presidency and get him off to, you know, a strong start. if he fights it tooth and nail the way he has been doing the last few weeks, i think we are going to have a real

joining me is michael sheer to have the "new york times" and david ignatius of "the washington post." michael, you met some "times" people, i think by telephone, talked to trump. what was his demeanor, attitude, sense of talking about this meeting that was going to take place today and the ongoing controversy between him, his advisors, and the intelligence community in washington? >> well, i had a brief conversation with him. it was on the phone. it was about 10 minutes. i initially talked to him about some comments that had been made on his behalf about building the ball on the border with mexico, but i quickly asked him about whether or not he was eying around looked forward to the meeting with the intelligence officials that was happening later in the day, and, really, like, once i asked that first question, it just sort of all spilled out. he was very eager to talk about it, very eager to say repeatedly how much he felt like the motivation behind all of this discussion and focus on russian hacking was really what he called several times during the conversation a political witch hu

columnist david ignatius has been compiling unanswered questions about each of the players.is at "the washington post." what's the question on your mind about trump? >> well, we had a week in which trump not surprisingly pushed back unsubstantiated allegations that were made. what we need to know and the russian hacking effort is was there any connection, what's true and what isn't. trump is right to say we shouldn't listen to fake news or rumor. we need an investigation in congress and i think also by the f.b.i. to establish what is true and not. >> inskeep: about what connections between staff and contacts with russia? >> i read something saying trump's choice for national security advisor general michael flynn had been in contact with the russian ambassador around the time, said on the day of but i think it was the day before -- the announcement of sanctions against russia, expulsion of 35 diplomats. the trump campaign today confirmed that, yes, indeed, there had been a conversation between flynn and the ambassador, the day sanctions were on the way. the question is was i

david ignatius, thank you as well. >> thank you, david.think you'll have anything to write about this next week? >> no. so little to cover in washington these days. >> maybe you should take up stamp collecting or something? >> golf, maybe? i don't know. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," a lot of unease that president trump would go nuclear and last night he said he wasn't afraid to go it but thankfully he wasn't talking about weapons. we will explain that ahead. >>> a look at tom brokaw as we head to break back in 1989. the only american network anchor to report from berlin the night the wall came down. >> "nbc nightly news" with tom brokaw. tonight from west berlin. >> reporter: good evening. live from berlin in the most historic night of this wall's history. what you see behind sme a celebration of this new policy announced today by the east german government that now, for the first time since the wall was erected in 1961, people will be able to move through freely. and the wolf huffed and puffed... like you do sometimes, grandpa? well,

joining me now is "washington post" columnist and associate editor david ignatius. the first to report these contracts with general flynn and the russian ambassador to the u.s. thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you, jim. >> so, tell me, david, how significant is this kind of contact, particularly knowing it was on the very same day that the obama administration was imposing new penalties on russia for meddling in the election. >> well, i think your previous guest, congress missa made clea what the concern was. as he put it, this evil regime in russia headed by vladimir putin, which assaulted the u.s. election process and was about to be sanctioned by the obama administration. was it appropriate to have conversations with the russian ambassador on that day. trump says december 28th. about the sort of future of the u.s./russian relationship. the future meeting between trump and vladimir putin and also we are just learning that the future attendance by the united states at a conference sponsored by russia about syria, something that russia had sought to exclude

david ignatius, we got david here.of had a split decision on rex tillerson but he was impressed with him. some of us around the table didn't think he performed up to the level that we expected. what was your take? >> well, marco rubio did have some fun with him at his expense. but, no, this guy did his homework and he has views -- i mean, the thing that was striking. so much yesterday to worry about and think about. but the thing that was striking about me to the tillerson hearing was that he was taking much more traditional views than the guy who just hired him to be secretary of state on a whole range of issues. and i don't understand -- this is one of the many questions that looms. i don't understand how it's going to work, how these relationships within the white house are going to work. he is setting himself up to be a sidelined secretary of state if trump and mike flynn and these people have this set of views and he has those sets of views. that is a general observation about the weirdness of the moment. >> a pro

this is david ignatius. i want to get your reaction. a columnist who said he first reported on these contacts between flynn and the russian ambassador to the u.s. here it is. >> we have a piece of legislation. it's never been enforced, never been a prosecution called the logan act. it basically says that u.s. private citizen somebody not representing the government should not be involved with a country with which the united states has a dispute. we had a real dispute with russia about their hacking. these expulsions of diplomats were imminent. was it appropriate to have that contact as you put it that we can only have one president at a time. soon that president will be donald trump. that president was not donald trump on the day that this conversation happened. >> so ambassador, do you think flynn could be in violation here? >> i suppose it's possible. the logan act point that david made is right on. it's a confusing and complex situation. i don't blame anybody for getting mixed up in it because it reminds me of the old abbott and cost

david ignatius is in washington. jeff, we will start with the first question. mr. ignatius? have personally been concerned by any of what you've read or heard about the president-elect and russia and his positions on russia. what are the questions you're going to want to push with rex tillerson to make sure that u.s./russia policy stays on a steady appropriate course? >> i think anyone would be concerned if the documents turn out to be verified but they are unverified. in fact, seem to contain some falsehoods that have been pointed out already. obviously, in the hearing, these questions are going to come up. i suppose by the time it gets to me, they will have been asked many times but if there are other things to explore about the russian relationship, i'll certainly bring it up. but i've met with mr. tillerson and i've been impressed with the answers he has given me and i assume he'll give the same answers to the committee that he'll put his past aside in terms of arguing for shareholders and for the best interest of the company, and put his experience and knowledge to good

. >> dickerson: reported by david ignatius michael flynn was in touch with the russian ambassador on thday the united states government announced sanctions for russian interference with the election. did that contact help with that russian, kind of moderate response 0 to it that there was no counter reaction from russia, did the flynn conversation help pave the way for that more mortm pratt response? >> i talked to general flynn about that conversation and it was actually initiated on christmas day, he sent a text to the russian ambassador to express not only christmas wishes but sympathy for the loss of life in the airplane crash that took place. it was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation. they did not discuss anything having to do with the united states decision to expel diplomats or se against russia. >> dickerson: did they ever have a conversation about sanctions on that day or any day. >> they did not have a discussion contemporaneous with u.s. action. >> dickerson: what about after? >> with general flynn. >> look, general flynn has been in touch with diplomatic l

we'll be watching along with you what david ignatius appropriately refers to as a contactort. hallie jacksas in the room as well. hallie, i'm just looking at the quotes here. all over the map. lot of car companies are going to be moving in. our drug industry has been disastrous, they are getting away with murder. he said he will be the greatest jobs producer that god ever created. he has promised an elegant day on the day of the inauguration. he said that the hacking was probably russia, but "there was much hacking going on." he did the deflection and the pivot, adding in other countries and the possibility that china was involved as well. and he said about conflict of interest as president, "i'd be the only one who'd be able to do that." that was before fake news and that was before russia. so have at it. what stood out to you? >> reporter: when you lay it out like that, brian, it's really unclear where we should begin. i will say this broadly as somebody who covered donald trump on the campaign trail along with his other republican primary opponents. this was similar to what

charlie: david ignatius, thank you. michael, thank you. we will be right back.with us. ♪ ♪ jeffrey goldberg is here. in october, he became the atlantic's 14th top editor since it was founded. a few weeks after his appointment, donald trump was elected president, or as goldberg says, the world's biggest story just dropped in our lab. the magazine features an in-depth investigation of president obama's legacy. he received wide acclaim on a series heated with president obama. welcome. aboutve spoken a lot president obama's legacy. tell me about the moment you think we are in, as we shift from an obama presidency, to a trump presidency. wholly: is it a cop out original moment? not only on foreign policy, obviously. i don't want to reduce this to isches right away, but it the uncharted territory sort of thing i have been feeling lately, especially with the news of this week, the notion that the intelligence community, to a person, seems to be behind the idea that russia tried to sway our election here. we are in a zone of unreality. we are in a zone of novel experien

joining me is david ignatius of "the washington post." that advice clearly not heeded because donald trump called the "new york times" and blasted this russian hacking investigation and the focus of it. the stories that are being written. >> we'll have to see how the end of the day plays out but it does seem clear that on a day when donald trump could reach out to the intelligence community, could turn course, try to mend fences and what james clapper called yesterday the disparagement of the intelligence community. donald trump has doubled down once again. something that he does when he feels cornered. we've seen so often, and by referring in this interview with the "new york times" to the investigation, by our intelligence community as a witch hunt he has put this really on a new level i think of tension and confrontation. >> on a day when he tweets about "celebrity apprentice" ratings were not as good with arnold schwarzenegger as trump's. if he's disparaging his show it's money out of his pocket. >> at the end he said arnold schwarzen

charlie: david ignatius, thank you. michael, thank you. >> sure. happy to do it.ie: we will be right back. stay with us. ♪ ♪ charlie: jeffrey goldberg is here. in october, he became "the atlantic's" 14th top editor since its founding nearly 160 years ago. a few weeks after his appointment, donald trump was elected president, or as goldberg says, the world's biggest story just dropped in our lap. this month, the magazine features an in-depth investigation of president obama's legacy. earlier this year, goldberg received wide acclaim on a series he did with president obama about his foreign-policy. jeffrey goldberg joins me from washington. welcome. jeffrey: thank you, charlie. charlie: you have spoken a lot about president obama's legacy. tell me about the moment you think we are in, as we shift from an obama presidency to a trump presidency. jeffrey: is it a copout to say wholly are in a original moment? not only on foreign policy, obviously. i don't want to reduce this to clichÉs right away, but it is the uncharted territory sort of thing i have been feeling late

david ignatius of "the washington post" broke this first in his column today and joins me now. david, take us through it, what would be inappropriate about calls between the russian ambassador and the national security adviser? is it the timing and what was the timing? >> well, what i reported in my column was that, on the day that the sanctions, the expulsion of russian diplomats in response to russian hacking were announced december 29, there had been calls between the russian ambassador, sergei kisliak, and general michael flynn, who is trump's designated national security adviser. i was told this by a senior u.s. government official. the trump transition team did not respond to my request for comment last night, but they did respond today, and they offered their own time line, which is contemporaneous but not identical, according to sean spicer, the campaign spokesman, the call was made on december 28th, the day before sanctions were announced, and discussed as your introductory clip said arrangements for a trump-putin conversation after the inauguration. i was told addition

that's the transition side by a pretty explosive story by david ignatius, a story he had in a columnay saying there was that contact on that day. the transition is saying this had to do with planning and logistics. >> let me bring in hillary clinton's former presidential campaign manager. robbie, thank you so much for your itime. >> my pleasure. >> you've been quoted as saying, it's a troubling pattern that the fbi seems to have chosen a horse in this election and you've welcomed this investigation. also hearing what maxine water said regarding mr. comey in her words having no credibility, what do you see playing out here? >> well, i'm glad that finally someone's blowing the whistle and that we're going to get all the facts on what happened here. it was troubling that director comey held that press conference back in july. it is a well understood protocol at the justice department that you don't comment on an investigation. you simply refer something to prosecutors or you don't. that was unprecedented and it was a breach of protocol. and as you outlined, those two letters that he sen

intelligence official told david ignatius, very respected columnist around town. here's what's the most interesting thing to me about that. this could appear to the trump team that the u.s. intelligence organization, the community is somehow suggesting that mr. trump was doing something or mr. flynn was doing something untoward. the extent to which there's pushback from the trump campaign that's what we'll be looking for. >> the bottom line the question being raised is the potential this would violate the logan act, dates back more than two centuries which says no u.s. citizen can interfere effectively with a foreign government when there's an issue that's contested regarding this country's government and that one as well. hans nichols son the hill for us, thank you very much. >>> i want to get to steve king, who is a republican congressman from iowa, he's joining us now. congressman king, thanks for being here. >> you bet, thanks for having me on. >> walk me through this. you were in the briefing, director clapper, director comey there as well. give us the takeaw

this morning team trump told the "post's" david ignatius the only happened on the 25th and 28th the latter to off condolences for a plane crash. but then in afternoon nbc news producer vaughan hilliard caught up with spicer and he admitted there was a phone call on the 29th. >> reporter: on the 29th, the same day the u.s. expelled russian democrats and then a day later vladimir putin said he wouldn't push out american diplomats in russia. did general flynn have any conversations to indicate to the russian ambassador that the u.s. trump administration would either ease or roll back sanctions? >> the only conversation general flynn had was, one, to wish him merry christmas, two, to express his sympathies for the loss of life during the plane crash and to commit to establishing a call after the inauguration between the two leaders. >> obviously that choir plane crash was tragic and we know the trump team loves to say merry christmas but how many times can you call and text the same russian ambassador? joining me now msnbc terrorism analyst malcolm nantz and matt taibbi author of the book "ins

political analyst, robert costa and columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatiuse associated press, julie pace. and law professor at george washington, john turley. >> who the largest inbox of all of us this morning? >> and jon meechaacham and back new york, mark halpern. everybody on deck at the top of the show this monday morning. >> second weekend just extraordinary. i don't think we have seen back-to-back weekends with the women's march last week then what happened this week. i just don't think we have seen that in a very, very long time. >> we had quite a weekend here trying to bring it altogether and fully get the scope of what is happening, talking to people on both sides of the aisle. why don't you tell us a little bit about that and then i'll get to the news. >> we met with the president yesterday, but the night before, met with members of barack obama's foreign policy team. democratic senators who i'm surprised by the democratic senators' reaction to this, as well as speaking to members of the president's foreign policy team that has gained, i think, alm

i think david ignatius is right. there is a decency in all of this. he has told people who are clo to him that the presidency has taken a physical and psychological toll on him that he did not anticipate. >> that's why he's saying he needs a little quiet. >> peggy knew than wrote a book saying, regardless of your political affiliation, barack obama has shown extraordinary character over the past years and should be an example to every president that follows. >> not just over the last eight years but specifically over the last two months where you have this transition taking place and the outgoing president has been incredibly gracious to the point where trump has actually said, maybe this guy's not so bad. to think how far apart trump and president obama were is an extraordinary thing. >> so button up this conversation, the president has tweeted, not the president-elect. trump has not tweeted, but president obama has. he says this. he's tweeting his new website. as we look forward, i want our first steps to reflect what matters most to you. share your

joining me are michael sher of the "new york times" and david ignatius of the "washington post."begin with michael. michael you met some-- some "times" people i think by telephone talked to trump. what was his demeanor, attitude, sense of talking about this meeting that was going to plac place today and the ongoing controversy between him, his advisers, and the intelligence community in washington? >> well, i had a brief conversation with him. it was on the phone. it was about 10 minutes. i-- i initially talked to him about some comments that had been made about-- on his behalf about the wall, building the wall on the border with mexico. but i quickly asked him about whether or not he was eager and looked forward to the meeting with the intelligence officials that was happening later in the day. and, really, like, once i asked that first question, he-- it just sort of all spilled powpt he was very eager to talk about it, very eager to talk about-- to say repeatedly how much he felt like the motivation behind all of this discussion and focus on russian hacking was really what he c

. >> david ignatius said he reported on the contacts between flynn and russian ambassador to the u.s.e a piece of legislation never enforced, never been a prosecution but called logan act. says that u.s. private citizen, somebody not representing the government should not be involved in country that the u.s. has a dispute. had a dispute with russia about hacking and skpumgs of the diplomats eminent. that president was not donald trump on the day this conversation happened. >> so ambassador, could flynn be in violation here? >> it's possible. logan act point they've made it right on. it's confusing and complex situation. i don't blame anybody for getting mixed up in it. reminds me of the old abbott and costello routine "who's on first," we know who the president is, barack obama, and know who it will be after the swearing in but strange situation with policies advocated, adopted and announced and three players in it. it's confusing. someone could have placed a phone call before he was supposed to or taken a step that was innocuous to set up a phone call but done at the wrong time. it's

this morning a new calling in "the washington post" from david ignatius about michael flynn and russiading to a senior u.s. government official, flynn phoned russian ambassador sergey kislyak several times on december 29 the day the obama administration announced the expulsion of 25 russian officials as well as the other measures in retaliation for the hacking. what did flynn say, and did it undercut the u.s. sanctions? the low began act bars u.s. citizens from correspondence intending to influence a foreign government about disputes with the united states. was its spirit violated? the trump campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. the kremlin is pushing back. >> donald trump said, i think it was russia. was it? >> no, it wasn't. >> president putin didn't order any hacking. >> no, definitely not. >> did he know about any hacking? >> no. >> president-elect trump is wrong when he said russia did it. >> definitely wrong. >> as to whether or not the russians did it? i've come to conclude after this briefing that a person of reasonable intelligence who does not conclude

we know tonight will be taken up and investigated by the senate spell jns committee but when david ignatius was asking those questions earlier today there was no indication of who might get the answers to those questions. what's your reaction to the intelligence community's announcement of this investigation? >> well, i think it's great news. i've got a thousand questions of my own including of the obama administration, by the way. there are so many unknowns in terms of something so grave in terms of our national security and sovereignty. i welcome that news. i'm worried it may not be enough. i appreciated what senator warner addeds a caveat. it may take a bipartisan, independent commission to get all of the facts, but this is a good first step. >> what would be the advantage of the other version? >> because i'm not an expert on this particular intelligence committee and i want to say that precisely. any intelligence committee. any committee of the u.s. senate will have a partisan flavor to it. this is not going to be seen in an independent way. i like the 9/11 version where you had people

nick, how do we sort through all of this, especially in light of david ignatius' column this morning that general flynn was in contact with the russians on the very day that russian diplomats were being expelled from the united states? >> that is pretty stunning. it's not clear if these calls were in violation of those rules. it's a serious deal. i would just say that mike flynn is going to be in the west wing. gary -- is going to be in the west wing. cabinet secretaries, in general, historically the last 10, 20 years, have had less power than the west wing staffers and sitting policy. james mattis is not going to be president and either is pompeo. trump is going to be president. i'm wondering at the table i have wondered there who really sets policy in this administration? if trump, president, or the cabinet secretaries? >> what is going to be interesting, nick, is what approach is taken by this president because as you said, the last president made most participants in the foreign policy apparatus irrelevant. the secretary of state was basically out on his own. even susan rice was

and especially as we have this news story just this hour, david ignatius in "the washington post" wasing anonymous sources on this issue of michael flynn speaking with the russian ambassador, now on the record sean spicer confirming at least part of it. this is the process of journalism, not always pretty, but anonymous sources sometimes are necessary, and we get the on the record sources later. >> also, facts are facts, period. >> exactly. >> full stop. john avlon, donald trump has written about this today. he says, totally made up facts by sleaze bag political operatives, both democrats and republicans, fake news. russia says nothing exists probably released by intelligence in quotation marks even knowing there is no proof and never will be. my people will have a full report on hacking within 90 days. what do we think that means? my people will have a full report within 90 days. does this mean he's going to present his own facts on this? >> i hope it means that once he takes the office of president, the people on his team will release a detailed report on russian hacking. what i'm c

. >> we're so grateful, thank you so much for being with us, david ignatius, jeremy peters. and we want to thank everybody who came out to the governor, for coming out and i've got to say, the tab, the bill for the guiness that they have drunk, it's going to be quite -- >> it's on us. >> this 58th inauguration of the president of the united states, a transfer, peaceful model is the envy of the world. our coverage continues right now with brian williams. >> good morning. thanks to the morning team for the last four hours. we will take you the rest of the way. brian williams here of course with rachel maddow. our other colleagues are here as well, chris robinson. we could not be witnessing a greater contrast between departing and arriving presidents. both couples now are inside the white house. we've been, as they say, living ins they pictures. this was the arrival a few minutes ago, donald trump, a melania trump many with a notab notab notab notable tiffany's box. >> a part of the tradition has become so firm, so solid, that you can essentially see in these pictures all of th

. >> i think what david ignatius said before is that the hostility really between the intelligence agencies and donald trump didn't get much help from this exchange. there's an opportunity with this call that donald trump has made for the first 90 days he'll get a report from the dni, the director of national intelligence, and the cia that strengthens our hand in the hacking arena, but broadly when you look at it, donald trump thus far goes to extraordinary lengths not to put russia on the spot, and that has put him at odds with a lot, not just the intelligence community, but a lot of national, republican national security stalwarts, and if there was going to be a break between the legislative department and the executive over something big, it's over these issue, and his dedication to kind of continuing really this crisis, not between democrats and republicans, but between republicans and republicans is i don't know what to call it. it's impressive, donald trump's willingness to continue to kind of run on that edge where his own credibility is going to be held in doubt by many of the top i

. >> we spoke with david ignatius about this a couple of weeks ago. the opening to china in '71 and before sin ski -- the idea was balance the soviet union. we have over the past decade, nick, we certainly have been paying a lot more attention to china than we have russia. now, obviously, donald trump and his efforts, his determination to actually have a positive relationship with vladimir putin and russia, really changes that equation. >> it does. i think trump's thinking is observe two-way. i think he thinks of his relationship with him and kind of a second party or second country. i think thinking about it in terms of a four-way or five-way move is new for him and he'll find out there is a thing or not. i do think it's a huge shift in american foreign policy to go from seeking allies in the fight against terrorism as the overriding goal. >> right. >> toward kind of american -- around the world which has been our goal the last 50 years. >> what's interesting and, elise, so interesting about how we look towards russia and towards china. and i guess i

i don't think -- and david ignatius agrees on this point -- pushing china back a little bit is not a, please, i don't want anybody to get confused what i'm saying here. i don't think you make foreign policy through tweets. that is dangerous. i agree. >> you should push china back on certain issues including the south china sea and not doing enough on north korea. you don't choose the single no loaded issue in china which they say as representing the future of their country which is taiwan. that is the one issue you do not derive leverage on. >> richard haass and karen, thank you both to both of you. steve and rammish stay with us. >> karen, by the way -- >> good-bye, richard. >> is karen leaving? >> karen is leaving. >> karen brought up the best point this morning. she is going to leave with. >> a gold? >> a departing gift. rice a roni, the san francisco treat. >> thank you. >> if we could underline one comment, it was yours. that is in his mind, at least for good or ill, it's negotiation. >> yes. a language we have to all learn. >>> the outstanding secretary of homeland security has

and new this morning, david ignatius, a widely respected columnist for "the washington post," reports that the incoming security adviser, michael flynn, called the russian ambassador to the u.s., on the same day that president obama, his administration, expelled russian diplomats over election hacking. the allegations important because it raises questions whether flynn violated law that bans u.s. citizens from any communication meant to influence a foreign government in disputes with the u.s. it's worth noting that nbc news has not independently confirmed ignatius' report. matt and meredith? >> peter alexander. let's get more on that review of the clinton e-mail investigation. pete williams, is nbc's justice correspondent. good morning to you. james comey said he will corporate with this investigation. he has confidence in it. he wants transparency. remind us what is being investigated and what isn't being investigated. >> what is being looked at is public statements made about the progress of the clinton investigation, especially two actions by mr. comey. his unusual news conference

and, yet, david ignatius called and surveyed a lot of the intel community there, and as david said, thep. cia officers give mixed reviews of trump's strange visit. president trump's visit to the cia on his first day in office shocked some agency veterans because of its combative political tone. but several said that they were glad that trump seemed to have stopped demonizing the intelligence community and was presenting himself as its best friend. cia veterans said his private tour of cia headquarters went better than his recorded public comments. the visit was well received by the worker saying the videotaped part was not reflective of the visit and many were pleasantry surprised how he is in person. that is quite frankly a story we have heard a lot about donald trump. >> we also saw that, nick confessore, after that speech where he set the entire podium in washington, d.c. on fire, you then had the signing ceremony where donald trump actually became the donald trump that people that know him. >> charmin nancy pelosi. >> ks everywhere. >> joking with cck schumer. >> he was good. >> as

i remember david ignatius talking about barack obama speaking at langley, it was as if car bomb wen offot there. panetta went in and that was the message, i've got your back. pompeo has made his life a living hell sincest appointed, so it's going to be about the same, isn't it? >> it is. he's going to have to come up with the persona. not that he's betraying the administration but within the administration i'm covering you guys because you're doing things the president needs to be done. >> especially because, richard, you've got a national security adviser who is deeply skeptical of the intel community. some say for good reon. whether for good reason or not for good reason, depending where you fall in the divide you need somebody like pompeo, i've got your back. what happened in the past is not going to happen again. >> going to balance i've got your back and speaking to folks up the river with your necessity of staying close to your constituents, the white house and cabinet. you've got to maintain access. you've got to speak truth to power close up. you've got to be close enough to the