i want to point something out about john brennan. i know john brennan. i have met him several times. john brennan is the man that killed osama bin laden at the order of president barack obama by integrating cia assets, producing the intelligence, passing that intelligence on to our special mission war fighters and executing that mission. he has unique intelligence knowledge, which must be shared with his successors and his opinion which should be brought forth whenever this nation needs to defend itself. donald trump does not concern himself with the protection of this nation. he concerns himself with the protection of donald trump. and so he allows people -- as steve said, people like jared kushner who made contact with the cushions and asked for secure krip toe graphic communications to hide his back channel from the cia and the nsa, he should not be cleared. john brennan should be cleared. at this point donald trump has given more top secret information to the russians just through inadvertent disclosure than the clearance that john brennan has had. s

former cia director john brennan says americans should be, quote, gravely worried about president trump'snprecedented move to punish him for speaking out against the administration calling it abuse of power. brennan and others in the intel aren't buying that he did it to protect classified information. sources say the president didn't bother to consult the director of national intelligence. i am told the cia caught off guard as well, suggesting national security was not foremost on the kmancommander i chief's mind. we have correspondents and analysts standing by. first, the cnn white house correspondent indicakaitlin col. >> reporter: it is hard to ignore as the white house is trying and struggling to maintain the fallout from omarosa's tell all book, adding to the mystery is a date on the statement announcing he is revoking john brennan's security clearance, and the date is july 26th, three weeks ago. the white house just announced today that they're revoking this clearance, leaving many to wonder if this is a coincidence or just a distraction. the white house tonight changing the subjec

hasn't had the immediate impact perhaps that the president was hoping for which was silenting john brennan because he wrote this blistering op-ed in the "new york times" where he says the president's claims of no collusion are hogwash. let me read you a bit of that. brennan writes "the only questions that remain are whether the collusion that took place constitutes criminally liable conspiracy, whether obstruction of justice occurred to cover up collusion or conspiracy and how many members of trump incorporated attempted to defraud the government by laundering and concealing the movement of money into their pockets. that's what brennan wrote this morning. couple questions. number one, do you think he's right? >> look, i think what john did this morning in the "new york times" was the same type of blunt, unvarnished assessment i heard him give in this situation time and time again. he's not concerned then or now about whose agenda is disturbed by his blunt assessment and i think he has a right to give his view. what that op-ed does as i read it was lay out from john's decades of experience

after years of serious misconduct, former cia chief and obama sycophant john brennan can kiss his securitylearance bye-bye. today president trump stripped brennan the special government access. sarah sanders announced this decision earlier today. take a look. >> i decided to revoke the security clearance of john brennan, former director of the civilian intelligence agency. at this point in my administration, any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with mr. brennan are not outweighed by the risks posed by his erratic conduct and behavior. second, that conduct and behavior tested and far exceedec the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due to him. history has called into question his objectivity and credibilitys i'm evaluating action with respect to the following individuals: james clapper, james comey, michael hayden, m sally yates, susan rice, anja mckay, peter strzok, lisa page, and bruce ohr. security clearances for those who still have the may be revoked and those who have reduced their security clearance may not have it reinstated. >> sean:

command of the navy seal raid that killed osama bin laden wrote a letter to the president saying john brennan is one of the finest public servants i have ever known. few americans have done more to protect this country than john. he is a man of unparalleled integrity whose honesty and character have never been in question except by those who don't know him. therefore, i would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well so i can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency. joining us now, former staff director for the house intelligence committee and vice president of the national security program at the third way. also with us former chief of staff to vice presidents joe biden and al gore and former senior aid to president obama. and chief strategist for mitt romney's 2012 presidential campaign. i am so struck by what is now turning into an honor roll. here we have the first step forward saying please revoke my security clearance, too. >> what you are seeing is the national security community up in arms about what's happening

admiral issues a scathing public take down of president trump for revoking the security clearance of john brennan. admiral mcraven tells the president to take his security clearance saying you have embarrassed us and divided us as a nation. that comes as the president admits he moved against brennan because of the russia probe. if the president is hoping to distract against former aid omarosa he will have to do better. she released another secret recording saying there is more where that came from. specialists are standing by with full coverage. let's go to kaitlan collins. you have breaking news tonight. you have learned the president's campaign lawyer sent a threat letter to omarosa's publisher. what can you tell us about the latest attempt to silence omarosa? >> reporter: the lawyer for president trump's reelection campaign did send a letter to the publisher of omarosa manigault newman's tell all book. they are writing a letter back to him saying that they cannot be intimidated. they are going to proceed with this book being published as they had planned and they will not be silenced by a lett

during his time as obama cia director, john brennan was responsible for the proliferation of christopher steele's dirty dossier in an effort to take down then candidate donald trump and legitimized salacious, unverified claims, russian lies found in that dossier. brennan leaked its contents to then senator harry reid which subsequently alerted the public with a open letter to james comey. he pushed hillary clinton's russian lies to purposefully deceive and lie to you, the american people. why? so he could's way and election. through all of this, brennan told congress, the cia did not make use of the dirty dossier. that, my friends, is a gross abuse of power. brennan literally tried to use your federal government to weaponized the clinton campaign's phony russian opposition research against donald trump. it's beyond disgusting. by the way, he is a representaty the american people do not have faith and trust in their government. by the way, speaking of talking, after stepping down as cia director, john brennan, he's done a lot of it. he donald trump from the highest levels of power, to his

and john brennan -- remember, john brennan who he is calling a partisan hack has reached republican and democratic presidents. he was really central to a lot of modernizing of the cia's intelligence gathering and integrati integration. this is a guy who knows everyone in washington and around the world. and so threatening john brennan or pulling john brennan's clearances is way of signaling that this president will go hard against people who criticize him. >> and hard enough, beth, to do what i was talking with kelly o. about, to potentially strip the security clearance of robert mueller? what are we hearing about that, is that plausible, could that happen? >> well, he has made a lot of very negative comments about mueller throughout the last several months. i mean really the criticism mass gone from fairly mild to quite stepped up recently. i mean calling it the rigged witch hunt, talking about how compromised he is, talking about how this is a hoax and phony. but let's face it, he has complained a lot on twitter, but he doesn't actually -- we haven't seen him take any steps to curtail

to that, john brennan responded. as mr. trump's desperation to protect himself grows, he could turn words to actions. congress must warn trump of dire consequences. and then donald trump said lebron james was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. he made lemon look smart, which is no easy to do -- which is not easy to do. i like mike. and john brennan responded to that on august 4. he said what responsible and right-thinking adult can point to donald trump as a role model for our youth? when he spews lies and polarizing hate speech against fellow americans, think of it as harmful impact on the young people and the way they talk and act to each other. a couple more examples. i want you to understand this feud. donald trump said while i know it's not presidential to take on omarosa and while i would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication, twitter, and i know the fake news media will make omarosa look legitimate. sorry. since then, tapes have come out. two days ago, john bren

if they're revoked as john brennan's has been that can't happen if there's another 9/11, for instance. >> to lose the wisdom and insight of a clapper, hayden, brennan. those that were there when we captured bin laden. both bushes and reagan and obama. this is an incredible amount of really important insight into how the world works. we instead got donald trump with very little insight leading this. >> is this an enemy's list on par with nixon's? >> sure looks like nixon's. out there. i mean, nixon's hidden until the tapes, i think. you have the press secretary reading the list on national television. >> yes, exactly. it's funny how often in these situations not something that's whispered in a corridor but something that's writ large in the public. of course, this comes as this white house is facing troubles. it has a former aide now accusing the president of using horrible racial epitaphs, claiming a tape. it may not be true but still it's a controversy that this white house clearly does not like. do you see through this as a transparent attempt just to find, turn the page? >> i think

and john brennan doesn't respect the president.e nation is, can we draw on the experience of these predecessors who have these clearances to provide advice? i would argue john brennan has a voice in doing that. i think he ought to retain his clearance. >> by that explanation, and definition, does that mean that the president's actions are imposing a threat to national security ji n security? not being annal to give big picture perspective sump as the ones you reached out to your predecessors for and articulated earlier? is that a national security throat without having those voices? >> i believe it is. i'll add another thought. think how this entire controversy plays out and is observed from abroad, from beyond our shores where our allies, partners and friends and our opponents are looking at this kind of division and polarization and this extreme name-calling back and forth. that does us an extreme disservice internationally. i add that, alex in a national security concern to the one i voiced previously about the lack of access to

take away the clearance, it's just punishment, and he's doing it not -- it's not going to hurt john brennan. he's doing it to help himself to look like a bigger man than brennan. which he will never do. >> and the president escalating his attacks in this tweet this morning hours after the former cia director spoke with rachel maddow. >>> the other people on the so-called enemy's list now, i think this is just another example of mr. trump trying to frighten and intimidate others. but i can tell you having worked in the national security and intelligence community for many, many years, these are not the type of people who are going to be bullied or intimidated by someone by the likes of mr. trump. >>> starting at this hour, jeff bennett and laura basset and john harwood. we'll begin with jeff. let's get to what the president is saying about this with a good day. >> president trump is lashing out again at former cia director john brennan. it's the president's latest effort to counter criticism he's faced since deciding to strip brennan of his security clearance. the president is hitting back p

john brennan was just in responding to nicolle wallace. i know some of that blendinged into this hour, but let's go back and listen to part of it one more time. >> is this an effort to try to kow individuals both inside and outside of the government to make sure that they don't say anything that either is critical of mr. trump or with which he disagrees? i've seen this type of behavior and actions on the part of foreign tyrants and decembspots autocrats many, many years during my cia and national security career. i never, ever thought i would see it here in the united states. >> and here is what he tweeted. this action is part of a broader effort by mr. trump to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics. it should gravely worry all americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. my principles are worth far more than clearances. i will not relent. he's talking about intelligence, ned, he's talking about freedom of speech. we should also note that the president has tried to threaten to revoke the tv licen

which they played out that the president could have just done it, let it happen and not given john brennan bigger megaphone. the president said he's elevated him. what do you say?e' >> first off, i don't think john gotten ahould have security clearance in the first place. fast forward to currently, he's seeking to monetize his position as former cia director. as i mentioned earlier, he's become unhinged. for the president of the united states to make an example of him, he's sending a strong message to others there are rules, you do have a right to your first amendment freedom of speech. you do not have a right to a security clearanceou. you also need to follow the rules of the united states government. you can't set your own rules on what is right and what is wrong, because one of the biggest threats, if not the biggest threat we've seen historically as far as access to classified information isss when you have n individual gone rogue who is setting their own rules and deciding their own moral compass is one that supersedes and overcomes any type of guidance the government puts out on john

john brennan and his commentary again, there is a line there. he still has access to classified information as he has done in the past. he has exposed cia operatives on the ground and importantly there is a case to be made that you should not have access whether he is using it or not to prevent that from coming out. >> harris: one of the questions are we to generous with their terms inadvertent and accidentally, should there be a bright line on cutting people off when administrations change? >> sean: look, as someone who has had one for 20 years, i think that to maria's for bright want to call people back into government and what the cost tht their funds for people to get them, you want them to maintain. >> harris: can you reinstate? >> sean: it is active, secret clearance is active for a ten, top secret is active for five. if they do not get renewed, they go away. but the idea that you want to maintain them allows people who come in and out, or maybe they are contractors that gets pulled onto a classified project. you cannot wait. >> harris: we

let's be clear about what john brennan's role was in the spygate debacle.his guy should be under federal investigation if he isn't already. he briefed harry reid and the gang of 8. he briefed harry reid at the end of august. harry reid goes and writes a letter to the fbi. information in that letter was only in the dossier. was john brennan the cia director not supposed to be spying on innocent citizens? was he the purveyor of this fake dossier? judge jeanine: what about the fact brennan lied before senate intel. if only for that he should be charged with perjury. >> then there is a process to get rid of his security clearance whiched president did not employ. he chose to do it for spite. judge jeanine: how do you know that? >> john brennan is a man who oversaw the mission that killed bin laden. and he served for 50 years. the president who has five deferments from vietnam should not be pulling his security clearance. judge jeanine: you can read about this in terms of the swamp, this guy is pond scum. i describe him in the book if you want to know about him.

he tweeted, john brennan, president trump granted our request to handle your case after threatening if you don't it would be just like obama's rid lines. the former director of national intelligence, james clapper. >> john is like a freight train and he's going to say what's on his mind. john and his rhetoric have become i think an issue in and of itself. kennedy: will brennan sue the president over his security clearance? and if so, then what happens? joining me now from fox news at night, shannon green. shannon -- shannon bream. remind me to ask you a question about something on twitter later. first up, what would the basis be for john brennan's lawsuit? >> once you lost clapper, are you a little bit worried about it? once that happens i don't know on that side of the team. there is nothing that ever happened presidentially in the course that would exactly what we think would happen here. but i am not sure how it would work. i talked to a number of attorneys who work in national security and say it sounds like it would be something the justice department would handle. it wouldn't be

that includes the intelligence officials like john brennan. when you see this, how does robert mueller use this? what argument does he make with it? does he make an argument with it? >> seems to me that the argument is unmistakable. it doesn't require a very high powered office. even as high powered as robert mueller's in order to see it. it's there in plain view. the president is targeting individuals who have done nothing wrong. they have violated no conditions of their security. as two decades of past cia directors and republicans along with democrats have said in their extraordinary letter, this is an abuse of the president's power. it's an abuse of his power, the power he ordinarily would have because of improper motive, as chuck says. it's not that we have to psychoanalyze him. the motive is one that is there in plain view. just as he said right after firing comey, that he had russia on the mind, russia is what it's all about. when he says that mueller is conflicted, there is no collusion. the guy who is conflicted is trump. he is not in

but john brennan, let's talk about john brennan. this is a guy who has had erratic behavior.but more than that in 2014 he lied to congress about investigating congressional staffers. it's been proven that he was wrong. that's enough cause. if, again, if the president continues to do it, that's an issue. on john brennan there's enough justification on this one that it's really tough. kristin: but it's not just john brennan, right? it's -- president trump has put out a list of -- >> but that's the only one he has currently, the only one he's currently revoked. kristin: right. but "the washington post" is now reporting that the white house has draft canned documents for the revoking of security clearances for all of the other people on that list and that they're just waiting for the right time, the right unfortunate news cycle to get that out. fox news has not confirmed that. but, amanda, what do you make of that washington post report that they have these drafts all lined up ready to go? >> that's the president's m.o., when there's a news cycle he doesn't like, he tries to chan

the only erratic behavior we've seen from john brennan and i wouldn't call it erratic, that's objectionable to this white house, is the incredibly strong statements he's made that have been critical of the president. admittedly, brennan has used some very harsh rhetoric, and it's not normal. we haven't seen this before where a cia director has come out so soon after leaving office and gotten into the plolitical fray, but he's done so because he's troubled by how this president is conducting himself. this decision is going to have far-reaching impact throughout the intelligence community. while danny is absolutely right, the president is the king when it comes to classified information and he can do this, he has the power to do it without any process. and i've talked to lawyers who specialize in this area and they say there's really no federal court recourse for this. there are administrative hearings about clearances, but once the government decides to deny ou a clearance or revoke a clearance, that's it. you have no real option to sue to reverse that decision, so he can absolutely do it. b

this really isn't at the end of the day about john brennan. this is actually about an abuse of power. the president wanted to show that he had power against a political opponent or a dissent and he used political power against that person and it's not really about john brennan and that's why so many of them came together. >> another way to look at it, though, and eli, i read your piece, to the point that listening to the president earlier saying this is getting a tremendous response. doesn't this -- isn't this what the president wants? does this fuel him? you know, he wants to have enemies? >> well, i think the president would not like it if his -- the face of his -- the resistance against him was someone like admiral mccraven, but someone like john brennan is an ideal foil for president trump. not only does john brennan have a long history and he's divisive among democrats particularly with progressives because of the black side program and the drone strikes, you know, john brennan has been probably the shrillest voice of all the officials. h

somehow john t brennan has a rit to the classified information.ld you make that argument without turning redth with sham? >> if you read his column in "the new york times" ," it's faintly creepy. at one point, he actually says i thisto make sure i get right that a variety of politicians, political parties, media outlets, think tanks and influencers -- that means you, your an influencer you are readily manipulated by russian intelligence. you don't even know you are being manipulated by russian intelligence but the fact that you are ejecting to john brennan telling you you are being manipulated by russian intelligence is the clearest proof that you are being manipulated by russian intelligence. this is all this guy has got. this is why, if he wants to be this idiotic in public, if he wants to be just another obscure msnbc pundit, he should do it without a security clearance. one other thing, when they say this is the action of dictatorships, you can say a lot of things about dictatorships but one of the things you can sayng with certainty is when t

john brennan was that guy. john brennan, tucker, tweeting today about his principle -- i i thought it was a joke. i have to check for the blue check mark. john brennan has no principles. this is a disgraceful human being who nearly destroyed the reputation of the intelligence community. tucker, on august 25th and 2016, john brennan himself -- this is a fact, public record. he briefed harry reid up on the hill about elements in the dossier that then made it into a letter from harry reid to the fbi that was used as a predicate to spy on the trump team. we are supposed to trust this guy? this guy should get off twitter and hire a lawyer. >> tucker: i thought we were supposed to be impressed by him. i thought the heads of our intel agencies are so visited and intelligent. o everything i've read by -- it's banal, cliche, pompous, stupid. doesn't seem like an impressive person. how did he run the most powerful intel agency in the world? >> i'm not sure. when i worked in the white house, i remember crossing paths with

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we are talking about john brennan.s america benefit by john brennan having a security clearance? i am completely confused. >> if the sitting cia director wants to confer with him: what led you to investigate the russians going to trump tower? what was behind your thinking and the information that led you to him. >> tucker: whoa, whoa. you don't need a security clearance? >> yes, he did. >> tucker: that's not true. he doesn't need a security clearance to answer questions before the government. people speak all the time to government without security clearances. i don't understand. john brennan can answer any question he chooses to answer. he doesn't need a clearance. the truth is: this is insane! there is no scenario that you could create where we need to give john brennan a security clearance. that's a privilege. it's a tradition we have. it may or may not be justifiable but it's not his right. he works as a contributor on a cable news channel like you and me. we don't deserve security clearances, do we? >> no. there a

john brennan is a patriots. and we have the president in the oval office who is being investigated for potentially conspiring with russia. that is the real story here. and what trump wants is it to be he said, she said. no, there is one person and one group of people who are under investigation for potentially undermining our democracy and it is not john brennan. >> thanks for joining me twice today. still ahead, the news the white house would want everyone not to talk about. omarosa reeking havoc. right after this. this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. >>> i get so upset when i hear mr. trump denigrate the work of national security and intelligence professionals when i know they have a very, very challenging job and juggl

here, no one changes john brennanor openly discussing classified information, do you believe the op-ed goes as far as he can? is he giving people a road map without announcing what he knows publicly? >> i done thi't think so. i'm pretty certain that he knows about russia's involvement in the election. that is something he would have spoke with the president about before he took office, but johnson has been out a year and a half. to think he knows more about the investigation and him showing a little leg that he knows more about the investigation, that would be appropriate. if you know something, that's as no go you can't hit at it. >> after we spoke with michael ben nant bennett. when the president talked about the relationship to the russia investigation with john brennan, there has been a question that has been asked consistently since it was announced about the evidence that leads to issues involving national security. touch on that again quickly for us. anything that stands out that makes you yquestion what he sai

i've never respected him. >> chris: president trump saying he's given john brennan a bigger platform brennan using that platform to go after republicans for failing to stand up to this review, mo elleitheegeorgetown s institute of politics and supped on my public service. former democratic congresswoman jane harman, director of the woodrow wilson center, and the cohost of "benson and harf" on fox news radio, guy benson. if congresswoman let me start with you, some of those other former top intelligence officials are saying this is an effort to shut them up, but doesn't the president make a good point there? he has a bigger platform than ever. he was in "the new york times," who was being shut off? >> i'm no shrink but the speculation is that trump -- these setting trump up to be the spoiled. frankly, i think as he calls ite is not as effective as if if yu talk more quietly. but be that as to free speech, t was discussed by 14 former cia folks, plus the really compelling op-ed by bill mcraven who was in charge of the takedown of osama bin laden. i don't know what political party he is

director john brennan fighting back after president trump revoked his security clearance. ys he is considering taking legal action. >> if my clearances and my reputation as i'm being pulled through the mud now, if that's the price for going to pay to prevent donald trump from doing this against other people, to me it's a small price to pay. i am going to do whatever i can personally to try to prevent these abuses in the future. if it means going to court, i will do that. >> sandra: but the trump team is also suggesting brennan misused classified information. let's bring in tom dupree, a former deputy assistant attorney general under president george w. bush. good morning to you. what legal action can john brennan take against the president? >> i think john brennan has a very, very steep hill to climb here. the fact is i think a federal court presented with a lawsuit from john brennan would say it's not something i would get into. security clearances are issued and revoked at the pleasure of the president. and what business do i have to second guess the decision of the presi

ohr and john brennan.aulted for anything, i don't think it is engendering a conspiracy against trump but failing to advocate a tough, firm, active policy against russian measures to sbhir fear why our elections. the obama administration depended on stern words from president obama to vladimir putin to keep this from happening and it didn't work. and brennan is part of the leadership that should have been saying mr. president, we need to take active measures and need to highlight this and talk about it and need to make the russians pay a price for this now and not later. >> bill: one more point. rand paul insists that if you are running the c.i.a. and you are john brennan and you don't know who paid for the dossier what's the answer? are you lying? why would you not have that answer? if that's a critical part of this investigation at the outset. >> at minimum it's sloppy work. i suspect that's where it is. he gets the dossier fed to him by the f.b.i. he doesn't ask how did you get this, who paid for this, h

more fallout emerging right now over the president's decision to revoke the former cia director john brennan's security clearance. 175 former u.s. officials spanning several agencies, administrations going back to the reagan administration have added their names to a list of intelligence officials denouncing the president's decision. brennan is considering now, what, going to court to fight all this. what's the latest you're hearing from the president? >> reporter: well, wolf, we can point out the president, in addition to going after robert mueller, has been escalating his attacks on the former cia director john brennan. he put out a tweet earlier this morning saying that he hopes john brennan will sue in this case. it's interesting. here's the tweet. i hope john brennan, the worst cia director in our country's history, brings a lawsuit. it will then be easy to get all of his records, texts, e-mails, and documents to show not only the poor job he did but how he was involved with the mueller rigged witch hunt. he won't sue. interesting to note about that tweet, wolf, that's exactly what's been

yesterday, the president strippeder top-secret access frm conrad john brennan and for good reason. st night as we demonstrated how brennan clearly violated caa policy, "in the case of former cia directors, the agency holds that their security clearance and renews it every five years for the rest of their life, however, that requires former cia directors to behave like current cia employees. that is not brennan. he also used his security clearance to validate conspiracy theories that he's regularly pushing and getting paid for on msnbc, and leaking sensitive information to the general public as it relates to the dossier, through harry reid, and to a public letter that is made public to comey. some are now claiming john brennan's first amendment rights are infringed. he is on tv 24/7. what are they talking about? take a look. >> this is a dictatorial exercise of power that should frighten and call on all republicans to say, mr. president, you cannot do this, you are trying to inhibit the free speech of people who may be in opposition to you. >> to you, this kind of punishment is a vio

john brennan.t's right. he removed his security clearance and, let me tell you, he is very angry about what bruce ohr has been doing with his wife and. ed: nellie ohr over at fusion gps. rachel: which of course we know started the dirty dossier and the way they decided to spy on trump. here's what donald trump had to say about that. >> i think bruce ohr is a disgrace. i suspect i will be taking it away very quickly. i think bruce ohr is a disgrace with his wife nellie for him to be in the justice department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace. when you look at accurately and you look at problems, take a look at what they did, including colluding with the russians, the other side u. todd: it's not just bruce ohr security clearance on the chopping block. a whole lot of other individuals who, let's face it, have been extremely critical of president trump are on the list u let's put up the list for you now some of the names you have been hearing for months, comey, mccabe. have you heard oth

john brennan is a patriots. and we have the president in the oval office who is being investigated for potentially conspiring with russia. that is the real story here. and what trump wants is it to be he said, she said. no, there is one person and one group of people who are under investigation for potentially undermining our democracy and it is not john brennan. >> thanks for joining me twice today. still ahead, the news the white house would want everyone not to talk about. omarosa reeking havoc. right after this. >> tech: at safelite autoglass, we really pride ourselves on making it easy for you to get your windshield fixed. >> teacher: let's turn in your science papers. >> tech vo: this teacher always puts her students first. >> student: i did mine on volcanoes. >> teacher: you did?! oh, i can't wait to read it. >> tech vo: so when she had auto glass damage... she chose safelite. with safelite, she could see exactly when we'd be there. >> teacher: you must be pascal. >> tech: yes ma'am. >> tech vo: saving he

considering stripping more clearances in the coming days despite the furor over the retaliation against john brennanl colleagues are rallying behind him now. several issued a new statement. among them, six former cia chiefs. including all five from 1997 until brennan came in. >> they write, quote, the president's actions regarding john brennan and threats of similar action against other former officials has nothing to do with who should and should not hold security clearances and everything to do with the attempt to stifle free speech. this is a signal to other former and current officials and that signal is inappropriate and deeply regrettable. >> the statement came hours after the architect of the osama bin laden raid retired admiral william mcraven published a stunning rebuke. he wrote, brennan is one of the finest public certify vent serv ever known. i would like you to revoke any security clearance as well. >> despite the criticism. most republicans don't seem to think revoking brennan's clea clearance is that big of a deal. >> i don't know former employee continue to carry their clearance anyw

this is going to do nothing to silence john brennan. i don't think the president intends it to. i think this will elevate brennan. it will give him a larger megaphone. i think the president's been pretty clear that he wants to go toe to toe with brennan. he does best when he has an adversary and when he's punching somebody he disagrees with. he did it with lying ted cruz, with little marco rubio. now it's with john brennan. >> it's a great point you make. to that point, i want you to listen to general michael hayden, one of the officials who signed on to this letter, former cia director, also director of the national security agency at one point. i may have that title wrong. he says, the risk here is the president will actually hurt himself because he needs to get honest advice from members of the intelligence community. general hayden says if the president singles you out like this, strips your security clearance, he's worried people won't be honest. >> the danger there is what the president has messaged to these 100,000 americans who do this on behalf of the republic is that if

john brennan turned into a tv commentator giving his own opinion.e is trying to persuade the people of the country of his opinions. it's not right. security clearance is a privilege and now, you've lost it. president trump should have tipped him upside down and spanked him to give him something to cry about. carolina,bash, north democratic line. caller: good morning. i have only one thing to say about all this. i think it's time to invoke four oftwo, section the constitution, disqualification of the entire administration. that's all i have to say. i want people to learn about the disqualification, there is such a thing in the constitution. the only way to drain the swamp is to use article two, section four of the constitution. host: literally calling from orlando, florida on the callingent line -- lily from orlando, florida on the independent line. caller: former cia director brennan should have remained .ith his security clearance these men and women served their country. in the case of brennan, he served it for 30 years plus, they deserve to have

do i think john brennan is a security risk? no, i do not.ld prefer to have seen him be much more careful and do other directors have done. this is something the president told "the wall street journal." bring in a cia chief is one who presented an evidence of russia's interference in the election. do you think this move was petty by the president? >> i think you can make an argument that it was in reaction to the things that john brennan has said. the interpretation could be that it was a long time coming and he gave them enough. that's all speculation. they get lost in these back-and-forth about these two have been fading. it's definitely bizarre. it diminishes both the position of the director of the agency in the position of the president. i prefer it not be played out like this in the public. at the same time as john brennan he doesn't have a right to a security clearance. that's a bigger picture rather than this particular individual. it's the process of the clearances. and the administration over the years as a courtesy has allowed the

trying to silence john brennan with outrageous accusations of lying. accusations of trump. >> mr. brennen has leveraged his

former cia director john brennan is not backing down after being stripped of his security clearance byresident trump. first he said the president is drunk on power. now brennan is again insisting collusion is in plain sight when it comes to the russia probe. >> you have gone farther than most on collusion. you've gone farther than most on conspiracy. >> i did not say conspiracy, i said collusion is certainly in plain sight. the things that have come out, the individuals who already have admitted to wrong doing, with the russians and this is what speaks to collusion. >> so joining me now to discuss, rav rachel brevard and emmy susman, thank you both for being here. rachel, is it acceptable for the president to pull security clees clearances simply because of criticism? because brennan did nothing to compromise national security. >> first of all, a security clearance is not a right it's a privilege, and in the case of john brennan, he should have lost his security clearance long ago when he lied to congress and only fesed up when he was caught. i think this is an appropriate action, ther

jeff, i know you know john brennan. you worked with him. the fact is he is not on a board and a lot of these people signing this letter. i'll go through some of it, some of the new additional names, have nothing to do with boards. nothing to do with making money off of maintaining their clearances. and everything to do with public service. >> i think that's true. it's certainly true that countless number of former government officials do retain their clearances because they are working in private industry. they are helping design weapons systems. helping develop encryption. all kinds of things that support the government's national security efforts. and that's vital to continue, but the bigger issue is the one of using -- abusing the president's power to silence his critics. and i think that's why we're all signing on. we love this country. we signed up to serve. i've got 25 years of government service. this is not something that we served -- we agreed to serve. it's not why so many people died on battlefields around the world. we have a de

i would have waited for a different hill than john brennan's security clearance in which to die. pecially when brennan comes on this morning, and he is a colleague of ours at nbc news. when he walks back treason, you don't get to walk back treason. >> that makes brennan probably a rough spoke person for the intel community. >> it is. it's that one word. the reason, of course, he was a former director of the cia. you naturally hold him to a somewhat higher standard. >> no offense to a member of congress when they say it. when a member of congress says it, i assume it's political -- >> exactly. he is making the difference between collusion and conspiracy. i agree with him. collusion is there in plain sight. does it amount to conspiracy, a legal term. so we'll see. that's for mueller to decide. the mcraven letter made me think of how this is perceived, all of this is perceived by the intelligence community, by, you know, a 30-year veteran of the cia, john brennan, who knows everybody, who has been there, been in the trenches with everybody. this is a huge deal for the thousands of in

the president is responding after john brennan went after him over the weekend, over the security clearance issue. mr. brennan saying the move is meant to scare other critics of the president into silence. now brennan says he is considering legal action. >> i think it was a clear signal to others who still have security clearances both in the government as well as outside that if you cross him, if you speak out against him, he is going to use whatever tools he might have at his disposal to punish you. >> i have been contacted by a number of lawyers. they have already given me their thoughts about the basis for a complaint, injunction. to try to prevent him to do this in the future. >> harris: a short time ago, president trump tweeted this. "i hope john brennan, the worst c.i.a. director in the country's history brings a lawsuit. i will then be very easy to get all of his records, texts, e-mails and documents to show not only the poor job he did but how he was involved with the mueller rigged witch hunt. he won't sue." yesterday, two former obama administration officials weighed in on all of