evan mcmullin is a former cia operative, he also launched a third-party run against candidate trump in 2016. good to see you. did u.s. intelligence handle this the right way or did they get played? >> i think they did handle it the right way. this is the reality any time you're dealing with russians and the intelligence or the counterintelligence world. there's always a concern that there could be a disinformation campaign being directed at you instead of somebody coming with you with their true intention to provide information of value that's credible. and so what you see here is u.s. intelligence, according to matt's story, according to "the new york times," and according to the intercept, you see that u.s. intelligence engaged with this interlocuter, this russian, but did so in a very cautious way. you see, according to "the new york times" story, that the russian started to offer information about derogatory information about president trump, and u.s. intelligence was clear that they didn't want that. they weren't -- they weren't in the market for that, so to speak, but the russian

thank you, evan mcmullin. these gun laws are ridiculous.se ugly attacks from the fringe right, students across the country are mobilizing all over town here in washington taking the fight to law maeshs. will they be able to bring about legislative action when so many others have failed? these kids are something. this is "hardball" where the action is. gathered here are the world's finest insurance experts. rodney -- mastermind of discounts like safe driver, paperless. the list goes on. how about a discount for long lists? gold. mara, you save our customers hundreds for switching almost effortlessly. it's a gift. and jamie. -present. -together we are unstoppable. so, what are we gonna do? ♪ insurance. that's kind of what we do here. ♪ patients that i see about dry mouth. they feel that they have to drink a lot of water. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. i like to recommend biotene. it replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. [heartbeat] wemost familiar companies,'s but we make more than our n

my guest yesterday evan mcmullin had this to say on twitter. trump appears to be working in concert with russia on this a daniel up to set up u.s. intel, which assessed and rejected it. trump echos moscow's narrative. wonder when you make of this reporting and the significance of it here. >> evan mcmullin is exactly right. as a matter of fact, i put out a tweet which was almost identical where i believed as well that this was a russian operation intended to trap the cia. a lot of materials were stolen from the cia and the national security agency subcontractors that were cyber weapons. good operational security and cybersecurity would be to try to get those weapons back and determine whether those systems were actually stolen by subcontractors or individual hackers. or to determine whether it was done by a for sueign intelligen agency. $100,000 is not a lot of money when determining who has these weapons because we can build countermeasures if we know it's the russian military intelligence. the very fact when they made contact, the first thing

i want to bring in our ee evan mcmullin a cia officer and a form fbi agent. if i could begin you you ran for president as a republican. the charge you will hear from the president and others is, you know, democratic bias inside the fbi. they have it in for me. in fact, this is an fbi run by a republican appointee. the doj run by a republican appointee. from your clair what is the motivation behind the attacks on the fbi. >> first of all i want to say it's disingenuous for a president going around asking senior leader for pledges of loyalty and who they voted for to accused people trying to maintain independence of bias. right. it's the irony there. but why is he doing that? he is trying to create a dynamic by which there is in honor, no one is doing their duty. no one is following regulations. it's just people are doing what they're doing for bias, for political -- political leanings only. there is no honor, no rules, no up or down. he wants us to believe that everyone is like that. and that excuses a whole range of behavior that he takes too. but it's a very

evan mcmullin and jim thank you so much. the state of the union this season my guesting will be on this sunday 9:00 a.m. a special edition of lead. jim sciutto next with the special edition of the report the russia investigation. thanks for watching. ♪ that you'll ever need ♪ staying ahead isn't about waiting for a chance. it's about the one bold choice you make, that moves you forward. ( ♪ ) the one and only cadillac escalade. come in now for this exceptional offer on the cadillac escalade. get this low-mileage lease on this 2018 cadillac escalade from around $879 per month. visit your local cadillac dealer. from around $879 per month. it's ok that everyone ignores it's fine. drive. because i get a safe driving bonus check every six months i'm accident free. and i don't share it with mom! right, mom? righttt. safe driving bonus checks. only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it. and lose weight with contrave. it's fda-approved to help adults who are overweight or struggle with obesity lose weight and keep it off.

evan mcmullin and jim within be sure to tune in the state of the union this season my guesting will behis sunday 9:00 a.m. a special edition of lead. jim sciutto next with the special edition of the report the russia investigation. thanks for watching. with a no-fee refund advance. go to jackson hewitt today. ♪ with a no-fee refund advance. cleaning floors with a mop and bucket is a hassle, meaning you probably don't clean as often as you'd like. for a quick and convenient clean, try swiffer wetjet. there's no heavy bucket, or mop to wring out, because the absorb and lock technology traps dirt and liquid inside the pad. it's safe to use on all finished surfaces tile, laminate and hardwood. and it prevents streaks and hazing better than a micro fiber strip mop, giving you a thorough clean the first time. for a convenient clean, try swiffer wetjet with a money back guarantee. brand power. helping you buy better. >>> this is a cnn special report, the russia investigation," breaking news ton.

the new book "out today" you can acquire as of now, the common good and evan mcmullin, independent presidential. mitt romney is one you would tend to look to with respect, admiration, your reaction to this? >> yeah, listen, i understand we're all looking for more republican lawmakers and aspiring lawmakers to stand up to donald trump. so i understand the intention to this, but i do think we're misreading what mitt said and what he's doing here. i mean, if mitt is anything, he's polite, and if you look at that tweet, to me it reads like a polite response but then he quickly pivots to telling the president that what really matters is whether he can earn the support of utahens and he's smart enough to know that's where his focus needs to be. mitt is motivated to do what he's doing because he's concerned about the direction of the party and country and president's leadership. he's going to continue to speak his mind. he said that recently. he confirmed that a couple days ago he would do that and i hope he does. he'll have the opportunity to do that as a likely senator and i hope that's the case. >>

. >> i want to give props to evan mcmullin who came on my podcast when it first came out, you just announced were running for president and said something then that shocked me, which was that donald trump was behaving like an asset of vladimir putin. when he said it at the time it made my hair go on fire because we didn't have all the evidence that we have now and that he saw it then is something that we should -- we should -- i just want to remark. >> canary in the mind. when we come back, donald trump's plan to arm teachers gets some pushback and the governor of florida proposes raising the age to 21 for all gun purchases. we'll go inside the quickly changing gun debate in america. a lot of water. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier. [heartbeat] looking for a hotel that fits... whoooo. ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over.