look, john mccain is very serious about this. as you and i both know, when john mccain is serious about something, he does not stop. he is serious about the hack into our election and set aside the fact that it was in favor of donald trump, if it was in favor of anybody, it's uning a is septemb unacceptable to john mccain. john mccain has never accepted russia's annexation of crimea, invasion of georgia. these are aggressive things that putin has been doing and mccain wants a more traditional sort of frontal u.s. foreign policy to say no. to counter this. and to -- he just called for stronger sanctions against russia. so that's going to be a real fight in congress. >> so he's going to air all that out. >> he's going to air it out. >> thursday. >> and donald trump is goix ng have to explain something. he's going to have to explain what he knows that nobody else knows, whatever that might be. >> exactly. robert costa, what do you understand to be team trump's strategy for dealing with friendly fire as president? it's one thing when

john mccain's best friend. john mccain made his points without mentioning president-elect trump by name. lindsey graham, he wasn't afraid to go there. >> you agree with me that the foundation of democracy is political parties, and when one political party is compromised, all of us are compromised? >> yes, sir. >> all right. now as to what to do. you say you think this was approved at the highest level of government in russia, generally speaking. is that right? >> that's what we said. >> okay. who is the highest level of government? >> well, the highest is president putin. >> do you think a lot happens in russia that he doesn't know about? >> not very many. >> yeah, i don't think so. >> certainly none that are politically sensitive in another country. >> okay. now as we go forward and try to deter this behavior, we're going to need your support now and in the future. so i want to let the president-elect know that it's okay to challenge the intel. you are absolutely right to want to do so. but what i don't want y

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed five minutes prior to the vote if the time of the vote is set and the senator from rhode island be given five minutes prior to that in case of the time of the vote being set. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. reed: mr. president, i believe i still retain the floor. i appreciate very much the senator from arizona allowing me five minutes, but i would -- i would yield that five minutes so that at the end, the senator from arizona would have five minutes and then i would -- i would suggest we recognize senator merkley so that we can conduct the vote at 2:45. mr. mccain: i have a unanimous consent request that i be allowed five minutes prior to the vote, but before i do that, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the time between -- until 2:45 be equally divided between the managers or their designees and that following the use or yielding back of that t

mccain just melts on the spot. >> narrator: mccain was in a bind. republicans were at war with themselves over the bailout. >> obama took charge, had authority. john mccain had no plan, no strategy. i don't think he understood what was happening, or didn't have a plan for what he wanted to accomplish. >> president bush whispered to nancy pelosi, who was sitting next to him, when mccain was talking, he said, "you guys are going to miss me." and she kind of laughed. >> the meeting ends up breaking up into a... into a cacophony of shouting and, and, and scream back and forth. and bush stands up and says, "well, i've clearly lost control of this meeting," and he walks out. >> and another republican at the table joked to the person sitting next to him, "after this, even we're going to vote for obama." that was the level of obama's dominance in this meeting. >> narrator: for republicans in congress about to vote on the bailout, the meeting had changed little. >> i was in the cloakroom of the senate watching that vote, and... and i didn't have a good feeli

mulvaney: senator mccain? senator mccain" mr. mulvaney, in 2011, did you vote the immediate withdraw of u.s. troops from afghanistan? rep. mulvaney: you and i talked about that. i believe i did. sen. mccain: please, i have a short period of time. did you vote to withdraw two combat teams from europe? rep. mulvaney: that one, i don't remember. sen. mccain: i think i would remember if i wanted to withdraw troops from europe bp in 2013 did you vote for the calvary in europe? rep. mulvaney: i don't river the specifics. sen. mccain: in 2011, to do offered it cut the defense supplement $27 billion? rep. mulvaney: i don't think it was top line defense. sen. mccain: so you getting -- voted against oco? we are talking semantics here. did you vote to cut $17 billion from our defense? rep. mulvaney: from the oversees contingency budget. yes. sen. mccain: did you offer to cut up by $3.5 billion? rep. mulvaney: i don't believe. sen. mccain: i tell you be i would remember if i voted to cut our defense the way you did. maybe you don't take it w

>> i'm just saying she doesn't have the credibility that a john mccain has and john mccain has questionedhis move. i think his criticism will probably be heard by the white house and i think as it goes by, they're talking about including people by invitation but probably a permanent slot. i think the white house could reexamine that. but they have their right to assemble their team as they see fit and ultimate goal here is, of course, to protect the american people and yesterday's executive order about come up with a 90-day plan on fighting terrorism is part of this. this fits into that as well. criticism is valid. it comes with the turf. >> okay. since you do respect thoughts and opinions of senator mccain on this and you do feel like he has a place in which to inject his opinion, he also says he's very concerned that it appears as though this white house avoided consulting with homeland security or even state department about this executive order before putting into place and that this order was not thoroughly vetted. do you agree or disagree with that? >> well, i think that sometimes a

mccain: thank you. general mattis, there are standard questions that we require to ask, and i would go through those very quickly and point out in order to exercise legislative and oversight responsibility it is important this committee and other appropriate committees receive testimony and briefings and other communications of -- have you adhere to regulations governing conflicts of interest? james mattis: i have. sen. mccain: will you make sure your staff complies with deadlines established for requesting communications including record and hearings? james mattis: i will. sen. mccain: will you be cooperative with witnesses for response to congressional request? james mattis: yes. sen. mccain: will they be protected from reprisal further testimony or briefings? james mattis: yes. sen. mccain: would you testify upon request before this committee? would you agree to writing -- providing copies of communications in a timely manner or when questioned by a duly constituted committee or consulted regarding a

senator mccain. mccain: i welcome the witnesses and we'll begin with you for any opening statements or comments you might have. >> thank you chairman. ranking member reid. i appreciate the opportunity to be here today. i will shortly turn the microphone over to director clapper for some comments followed by admiral rodgers. as this is my last appearance before this committee before stepping down after eight years of pentagon service in a few weeks -- senator mccain i'm sure you'll : regret not having that opportunity again. >> it will be nice to be skiing a little bit in february, that's for sure. but having said that, since i am just a few weeks from stepping down i do want to thank its this committee for it's partnership and thank director clapper and admiral rodgers for the privilege of being able to serve together with them in the leadership of the u.s. intelligence community. and to the men and women of the u.s. intelligence community, civilian and military, thousands of whom are deployed today

, mccain the chairman and reed the top democrat have recessed this hearing -- they are going to have closed sessions later today, also intelligence briefings for some of the members behind closed doors on some of what could not be disclosed publicly. john mccain raised that question about the tweet yesterday from donald trump about julian assange which was a real waving the red cape in front of the bull in terms of any expesuppor of the spy agency. take a look at this. >> i believe that he is one who is responsible for publishing names of individuals that work for us that put their lives in direct danger. is that correct? >> yes, he has. >> and do you think that there is any credibility we should attach to this individual, given his record of -- >> not in my view. >> not in your view. >> that about julian assange, the founder of wikileaks. john mccain at the stake out camera right outside the hearing. >> down play the role of russia in the elections when -- does it concern you that he continues to down play the role of russia in the elections we will? we'll see how he accepts the rep

but if you have john mccain and lindsey graham saying that the effect is the complete opposite, whathave done is handed the democrats an unimpeachable source and an unimpeachable charge against someone in their own party and now all of the confirmation hearings, not just senator sessions, i think every appointee, every sort of nominee is going to have to answer questions about whether they see this as john mccain and lindsey graham see it or whether they see it as the white house sees it. and i add, we have talked night after night about the important role john mccain and lindsey graham will have. this is what it looks like in motion when a republican white house goes to war over national security policies with john mccain and lindsey graham. it doesn't end well for the rookie white house. >> ed, you will agree this is historic. we're eight days in. the president has already had a de facto run-in with a federal judge on a saturday night who vacated a large portion of this, and now with the departing interim attorney general, say nothing of the fact that the folks that gallop remind u

if he loses that, i think john mccain and lindsey graham are always going to be a couple gadflies, one is the nominee who ran and got clobbered, the other -- when we have 5 senator s you have to make sure they don't defect.3 senator s you have to make sure they don't defect. >> we had john mccain as a serious detractor of our then-secretary of defenses don rumsfeld. he was far more than a gadfly. national conversation about what was going wrong in -- i would have to say, i don't think it's an overstatement to suggest john mccain's critique of the war led to a policy process that led to the surge that turned the war around. he is a very influential voice on foreign policy the world over and even more importantly, i think jeremy mentioned that russia's neighbors are under increasing threat. this is going to be a flashpoint time and time again because donald trump has set a tone the world over that he's going to tolerate more monkey business from vladimir putin than past american presidents of both parties and john mccain will be able to draw the world's attention to what putin is up to a

that's what he meant about mccain can't get out of town. because that meeting and so badly that the republican treasury secretary hank paulson got down on one knee knee, heldy pelosi sent and said please, don't give up up, don't give up. she replied, are you proposing to me? >> host: let me ask you about chuck schumer is relationship with, you talked about paul ryan and the meeting in nancy pelosi is office. how were his relationships with republicans on the house side? >> guest: back then, they just need in as a person pitbull. i think the only saw him -- they yet start to do any real work with him. that would come in later years. i think back then the house just look at him like he just wants to win senate seats. >> particularly in the context he was essentially delegitimizing john mccain as an important player in something that was so crucial for the nation. .. do something that can help politically. john main sort of look the lead on working with schumer the two of them put together bipartisan group of eight, four republicans, four demo

mccain: thank you.eneral mattis there are , standard questions that we require to ask, and i would go through those very quickly and point out in order to exercise responsibility. this in adhered to put governing conflicts of interest? james mattis: i have. sen. mccain: will you make sure your staff complies with deadlines including record and hearings? james mattis: i will. sen. mccain: will you be cooperative with witnesses for written request? james mattis: yes. sen. mccain: will they be protected from briefings? james mattis: yes. sen. mccain: would you testify upon request? would you agree to writing copies of communications in a timely and or by a duly constituted committee or something regarding basis for such documents? james mattis: yes, sir. sen. mccain: be undertaken any actions which would a prison -- appear to affect the outcome process? james mattis: no. sen. mccain: welcome before the committee general mattis. james mattis: thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member read. it is an honor t

nobody listens to john mccain. a lot of pundits do and some democrats do, but the real fire in that committee came from thom tillis and joni ernst and deb fisher and tom cotton to an extent who are the future and they were not quite -- i mean lindsey graham was incredibly amped up today, it was interesting to see. but those were the people trying to make the serious argument that, among other things, the current president hasn't kept our cyber security the way he should have. that having been set, i think the republican party is donald trump's right now. >> charlie pierce, last word. >> i don't think he's isolated at all. >> charlie sykes, last word to you. >> well, i think do not underestimate the fact that donald trump only has a two-vote margin in the united states so it's not true to say john mccain and lindsey graham don't have a lot of power, i do think once you no longer have barack obama to kick around anymore, he's going to own this. he's very off message. a guy says i'm going to fight for america, i want

if he loses that, i think john mccain and lindsey graham are always going to be a couple gadflies, ones the nominee who ran and got clobbered, the other -- when we have 5 senator s you have to make sure they don't defect.3 senator s you have to make sure they don't defect. >> we had john mccain as a serious detractor of our th then-secretary of defenses don rumsfeld. he was far more than a gadfly. he was able to drive the national conversation about what was going wrong in -- i would have to say, i don't think it's an overstatement to suggest john mccain's critique of the war led to a policy process that led to the surge that turned the war around. he is a very influential voice on foreign policy the world over and even more importantly, i think jeremy mentioned that russia's neighbors are under increasing threat. this is going to be a flashpoint time and time again because donald trump has set a tone the world over that he's going to tolerate more monkey business from vladimir putin than past american presidents of both parties and john mccain will be able to draw the world's attentio

fender's john mccain and lindsay graham, joint statement yesterday. ultimately we fear the executive order will become self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism. most important allies in the muslims who reject the ideology of hade red, executive sends signal intended or not america does not want muslims coming into the country, we fear this order may do more to help terrorist recruitment security.ve yesterday president trump putting out his own statement travel ban, the executive order amid the discussion and headlines and the happening at were airports around the country. he said, my policy is similar to obama did in tent11, he banned visas for months. seven countries are the countries identified by the bama administration as sources of terror. this is not a muslim ban as the is falsely reporting, this is not about religion, this is about terror and keeping the country safe. visas to all countries once we're sure we have the most secure policies 90 days.next we're asking where you stand on this, do you think this unitedve order makes the st

it is that carl berstein reporting tonight that john mccain was given this diplomat and handed over to the fbi. >> chris matthew, you are a journalist and not a spy. you are the opposite of malcolm nance, what do you make of this story? >> well, here it is tuesday night breaking twelve days before inauguration of very much the same time frame that we saw the comey's story breaking right before the election. this is coming at a critical moment. the american people have to honor a peaceful of transfer of power. if this story blows up tomorrow morning, the russians, vladimir putin, holds information now that is personally embarrassing and some grievous manner to the president-elect trump. did he allowed himself to be nominated and knowing they had something on him and use him and extort him? >> this is been a romance by the american people with a man, it is been a world wind romance with a guy that we did not know. it is hard to say when you don't think he's capable of. many people don't know what donald trump. they know what he stood for. i am challenging the establishment that you have

we're going to hear a lot from mccain this morning. i think one thing to watch is for what donald trump says, if anything, about casting doubt on this intelligence assessment. we're not going to learn anything new from this obama administration report at this hearing today, simply because the president and president-elect donald trump are in the process of being briefed on it. but if trump casts doubts on what that says, on this information, i think you can expect a remarkably strong reaction from both democrats, but also some republicans up here on capitol hill, who have very real concerns about it. one perso who could suffer from that is rex llerson, the secretary of state nominee. he's been making the rounds up here, i'm told that he has been making a good impression. he's had strong answers on russia in the view of the people that i have talked to. but at the same time, if this issue blows up, he could become somebody who takes a fall for it. >> do you agree with that? >> i think the tillerson is going to have some difficulty. i be

john mccain said that assange is not someone anyone here should trust. >> mr.ssange's name has been raised as some kind of a credible source of information. and the fact is that he is one of the worst individuals because he put the lives of men and women who were serving this nation in jeopardy because -- by revealing their identities and where they were. this is really a person who has put the lives of americans in danger. he cannot be trusted for anything. >> as you can see, really coming to a head between republicans on capitol hill and donald trump over the issue of russia and how to approach vladimir putin. something that mccain hopes that trump watched this hearing and will listen to the intelligence briefers tomorrow when they do talk to him about these hacks. but one piece of potentially good news for donald trump, i asked john mccain, what do you think about rex tillerson and his relationship with putin, which mccain has been critical of. mccain sounded more optimistic. he said they had a conversation yesterday, a positive conversation. he swayed some

mccain: mr. president? mr. merkley: mr. president, i agreed -- the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: has time expired according to the previous u.c.? mr. merkley: mr. president, i believe i have the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, i believe i have the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader has the floor. mr. mcconnell: just to let everybody know, all i am doing is setting up a vote for tuesday afternoon at 4:15. that's what i was asking consent on. mr. merkley: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. merkley: i reserve the right to object, mr. president. i was very gracious in agreeing to a unanimous consent request that would grant me ten minutes. that was cut short by the filibuster of my colleague who repeatedly brought me into the conversation, refused to yield to my question, so i ask unanimous consent to have two minutes to close. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there objection to the majority leader's request? mr. merkley: i ob

mccain: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed five minutes prior to the vote if the time of the vote is set and the senator from rhode island be given five minutes prior to that in case of the time of the vote being set. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. reed: mr. president, i believe i still retain the floor. i appreciate very much the senator from arizona allowing me five minutes, but i would -- i would yield that five minutes so that at the end, the senator from arizona would have five minutes and then i would -- i would suggest we recognize senator merkley so that we can conduct the vote at 2:45. mr. mccain: i have a unanimous consent request that i be allowed five minutes prior to the vote, but before i do that, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the time between -- until 2:45 be equally divided between the managers or their designees and that following the use or yielding back of that t

senator mccain brought that forward. it goes back 180 years, we have no internal allies or perpetual -- i would say the one thing setting off the alarm bill is including iraq on the list. i agree with senator mccain on that. too much is at stake. he didn't target muslims. he didn't send out the dreamers. there is a moderation under the actions. i think it's admirable and political. it will be reinforced this week with the supreme court. >> he's not trying to sell moderations or sell collisions behind it. he's not saying my actions are reasonable. i'm reaching out to chuck schumer and the congress. the reason he may of slowed down russian sanctions is senator mccain and senator mcconnell said we're not for. that we have legislation that would clearly pass with a bipartisan majority legislating the sanctions. that made things look differently. he's noting about collisions behind anything looking or selling moderate. >> i would@, yet. nixon goes to china in 72 not 69. you're tough at the start you get soft eras you go on. >

it is now much love lost between john mccain and donald trump. we remember things like very early and donald trump's campaign and one of the things people thought would be fatal to his election that did not turn out to betrayal, if you recall in 2015 he questions and criticizing john mccain's record as a war hero. i do not the mccain has a great reason to shield donald trump on this issue. host: one of your areas of expertise is energy. we will have a confirmation hearing for governor perry and all of president-elect trump's nominations. why did he want the job and white except the job? been: rick perry has interested in energy for a long time which makes a lot of this. he was a longtime governor of the state of texas. that is a dominant oil and natural gas producing state. there's a lot of wind power in texas. he may several successful efforts as governor to expand wind power there as well. running the energy department is a really, sort of, fascinating job. sure, it is involved with research and development programs on specific energy technolog

john mccain is going to be having a conversation with the defense secretary that john mccain had with that department during the iraq war. he knows what he's talking about. if donald trump doesn't get behind his secretary of defense, when his secretary of defense differs from him, it's going to be rough sailing. >> ely, there's the trump base, and they're in the mood to break some furniture, and there's the clinton base that is concerned with some of the things they're hearing from donald trump. but this is mollifying them to a more traditional line. >> i think there are these different worlds. democrats might be, you know, a little relieved to hear some of the things that mattis said today. but the trump voters and the main stream republicans, there's a lot of friction there. i think one of the things that you think about the things that trump says on the stump, what he's saying because he thinks it will be what will get him the right reaction in that moment. beyond that moment, it's all very fluid. it all changes. you have trump's own top advisers saying don't take him literally. do

john mccain did that. but john mccain was without denial speaking to the incoming president because the incoming president hasn't approached him. he called a hearing and spoke to the president-elect. the only way he has access, through the television cameras. that's exactly what happened tod today. director clapper said it was multifaceted. there was much more. lots of ways the russians tried to sway our vote. he testified that russia used cyber attacks to target officials. he said they used propaganda and disinformation, including fake news, fake news that the kremlin commissioned and generated. in other words, a pack of lies, packaged up as news of the day, newsy reports of inaccuracy in an effort to sway the minds of the american electorate. in an effort to get what the russians wanted to happen in the united states. he stopped short of saying vladimir putin was personally involved. >> you say that's what's approved at the highest level of government in russia generally speaking. is that right? >> that'

here is what i am going to do with senator mccain. we are going to enter sanctions that are bi bipartisan. and we are going to give president trump an opportunity to make russia pay a price for interfering in our election so it will deter others in the future. i hope he will take advantage of it. >> let me play devil's advocate here. what about senator mccain, hey, we spy on russia. russia spies on us. we have done some democracy -- we have supported democracy movements in russia actively so. isn't that a form of getting involved in their politics? how is this not a same thing? >> it isn't just elections that they are hacking into. it is across the board, including military secrets that we have, including the ability to shut down satellites, including the ability to shut down power plants. i mean, they can do grave danger to the united states of america. we never tried to do anything like that. >> you guys just returned from a trip to eastern europe, spending some time in the baltic countries. what would you say to donald trump? he se

i'm tired of -- >> lindsey graham and mccain might do that.act is, to our allies in the baltics, this is very serious. i want to just have you listen to what some senior brass from the u.s. military said. let me read it to you from general raymond thomas, head of special operations command. he says, quote, they, meaning the baltic states, are scared to death of russia. they're very open about that. they're desperate for our leadership. so, this business, hogan, of donald trump not taking it seriously, interesting and political for us, very serious to our nato allies in the baltics. >> right. but i don't think he's not taking it seriously. look, this is a pattern under president obama. we've seen red lines crossed, nothing done about it. jimmy mentioned the hacking in this russian incident. it was a weak response. >> i hear you, but i don't dispute what you're saying, but i think this is donald trump sounding like he's not taking it seriously. saying it could be someone else, talking about 400-pound guys on their beds. to us, it's funny. to our

mccain: you are a distinguished student of history. and as we're all aware, following world war ii, a world order was established which has held for basically the last 70 years. do you believe that that world order is now under more strain than it's ever been? james mattis: i think it's under the biggest attack since world war ii, sir, and that's from russia, from terrorist groups, and with what china is doing in the south china sea. sen. mccain: and that would argue for us making sure we're adequately prepared to meet these challenges. to defend ourselves where we must. sen. mccain: you are a distinguished student of history. and as we're all aware, following world war ii, a world order was established which has held for basically the last 70 years. do you believe that that world order is now under more strain than it's ever been? james mattis: i think it's under the biggest attack since world war ii, sir, and that's from russia, from terrorist groups, and with what china is doing in the south china sea. sen. mccain: and that would ar

what can you tell us about john mccain's comments? >> i agree with the assessment that he was noncommittal. we do know that there have been rumors swirling around washington about the possible lifting of sanctions over this weekend when he has this big phone call scheduled with vladimir putin. on a technical side of things, there are some sanctions that he could left by executive order. he couldn't lift all of them. some need congressional approval. john mccain hit back almost immediately when it became public that this was being considered be a twitter. he said i will be standing against the lifting of sanctions and i will work with my colleagues to make them law. to make the sex is permanent. john mccain, we have to remember is one of the most senior members of the republican party. he is been a senator for decades. he is a war hero and a former presidential candidate himself. a lot of people on both sides of the aisle really respect him and his policies. if he is already hitting back at trial, it doesn't look good for trump on that

senator john mccain speaking with us earlier. -- that was u.s. senator john mccain speaking with us earlier. i want to bring in my guest, he was a member of the external advisory board at the cia. mr. o'hanlon thank you for taking the time to talk with us. i want to ask about what you think is happening right now between the future president and the cia. come inauguration day after what happened yesterday will be future president see the cia as his ally or as his enemy? >> i don't know. i am getting worried it is going to be tougher road to recovery that i would have previously expected. this recent set of events is especially foreboding. if you have the kind of attitude he does, you would feel that these initial reports of russian hacking were an attempt to take away the legitimacy of your electoral victory. trump should not have reacted that way but it was entirely predictable that he would partly because the message that came out of the intelligence was what was not clearly stated. it seemed like the people on capitol hill rel

john mccain calls russia's meddling in the election an act of war.relligence chiefs testifying in congress today as donald trump continues to ridicule the conclusions from the fbi and cia. britain's former envoy to moscow taking a job as british ambassador to the eu in brussels. urging colleagues to continue giving advice even if it is wanted. too many jobs and not enough workers. why employers in the german region of bavaria are having difficulty filling vacant positions. the population in paris is dropping but is airbnb really to blame? why local officials six -- think so. first our top story live from paris. a man who has been described as a and and tough negotiator will leave the uk's efforts to's lit from the european union. the process was thrown into disarray after the former british ambassador to the eu quit leaving a big hole in the brexit team. -- resigning investors ambassador criticize the process. has often sat behind europe's major players. now he has been invited to the front row. he is his country's new ambassador to the european unio

mccain is chairman of the armed services committee. and he told us that he has not decided whether he can support mr. trump's nominee for secretary of state. former exxon mobil c.e.o. rex tillerson. >> i am very concerned about someone who took a friendship award from vladimir putin, who is a butcher. and actually what vladimir putin is, he's a k.g.b. agent. that's all. he wants to restore the russian empire. >> pelley: you cannot support tillerson's nomination? >> i have concerns and i've had several conversations with him, and he has made a strong case that his job as the-- one of the world's largest corporations is very different from that of our secretary of state. and, frankly, i have a tendency to believe him. hviously, he's been a great success in business. but i really would like to see more of this issue of what america stands for. >> pelley: your mind's not made up then. >> no. >> pelley: what are your concerns for the trump administration going forward? >> primarily russia right now. he continues to say things about how we c

i would have bet 24 hours ago that he would have tweeted at john mccain and that hearing.ure he's watching. >> intelligence in quotes again. >> putting intelligence in quotes. maybe kellyanne conway got to him. advisors got to him. he's been relatively quiet. maybe we'll see it later tonight or tomorrow. tomorrow he gets the briefing, he sits down with intelligence officials and he will hear it. i think tomorrow will be the real test, what he comes out and how he reacts tomorrow after this formal briefing when these intelligence officials tell him what they basically he told the senate in public testimony today. and if he disavows that, that could cause a real fault line in the republican party and could make it more troubling for his cabinet picks next week. remember, john mccain is the head of the committee that is going to steer rex tillerson's nomination and has already raised doubts. if they lose three republicans, tillerson could go down. i'm not saying it's likely, but he's playing with fire. >> how does this play out, i wonder, heidi? for instance on assange, we sa

john mccain and senator graham worry about that.e say his stance with putin would prompt him to hold back on at least russia. what do you think? >> as any new president, donald trump certain willing his available tools, what are the instruments of power to influence a situation in the world that will positively impact u.s. national security interests there. so i think as he becomes more familiar with those in the next couple weeks and especially since he takes the reins of power of the united states, we'll see a very measured respond to any of these provocations that you're going to see, whether it's by north korea, whether it's by the iranians or it is eventually going to be the russians as well. >> neil: thanks, commander and for your service. >> thank you, neil. >> neil: i don't know what you were doing this past weekend, trying to stay warm from the cold or watching the packers-giants game or a host of other events. in the middle of that, we got more hillary clinton e-mails. i bet you didn't know that. wait till you find out wha

one other thing mccain said. he still has concerns with rex till a tillerson as the secretary of state nominee. he's going to meet with him this week because he's concerned with his position on russia. >> good stuff, manu. on this issue of russia, doug. so john mccain is -- regardless if it's a select committee or not, john mccain is holding hearings. he's going to investigate this. pushing for more sanctions, more everything when it comes to fighting russia. what does this fight look like if donald trump doesn't change his position where he's doubted the intelligence connecting russia to the election hack. where is this fight headed between this new congress and donald trump? >> it's an interparty fight. similar to struggles in 2009 between house and senate democrats in the white house. these things are natural. whether it's an independence committee, select committee which ultimately has a lot of titles and so forth but doesn't have much more authority than an actual committee, john mccain is going to investiga

that is from senator john mccain. we wish her you today's washington journal as we wait -- we will show you today's washington journal as we wait. visiting fellow at the heritage foundation joins us to talk about the recent report from the "hill" newspaper that the trump team is thinking of cutting the federal budget over

graham and mccain mystify all with their gop choices.they went to cairo to push president obama's plan to include the muslim brotherhood in el-sisi's new government. but it answers one lingering what if. had the election gone the other way in 2008, we clearly would have had a third bush term. regrettably for the star, he's not president. and fortunately for the country. donald trump is. our quotation on the president's response to the judgmental senators. this one from will rogers. a remark generally hurts in or portion to its truth. making their remarks generally harmless and i'm sure the president's return recourt painful indeed. and that's the truth. we are coming right back. the trump white house pushing back against criticism of the president's executive order on refugees and immigration. >> i think the president's goal is the pro particulars and safety of the united states and its people. lou: ambassador john bolton joins me next. this thrill seeker taking his incredible stunts high above beautiful thailand. we'll show you his dari