michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia. thank you for being he, appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >>> much more ahead tonight, busy night. stay with us. >>> two months ago a u.s. nay sea hawk helicopter was escorting an aircraft carrier out of the persian gulf when the navy had what was described as an unsafe and unprofessional encounter with an iranian patrol boat. we're told that iranian patrol boat trained a weapon on the u.s. helicopter. a few months before that, iranian patrol boats raced full speed right at an american navy vessel. they got so close the american ship fired three warning shots at the'reian boats. and, of course, 2016 started off with these harrowing images of 10 american sailors being taken into iranian custody. they were held in iran for 15 hours before finally being released but not before iran got plenty of propaganda value out of parading these u.s. sailors before the cameras. and those were just the major incidents. in all, the u.s. navy says it counts 23 provocative incidents by iran in 201

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policy would be, and it has worked. >> michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia, in terms of what jeremy just said and in terms of your own assessment from your time spent in moscow, what is the russian aim? why would they want donald trump to win the election? what would they want from him if they had something they could lord over him to control him as president? what do you see from their perspective? what's their end game here? >> so rachel, i'm going to answer your question. but i have to underscore what you started with, because i think a lot of americans are forgetting. russia intervened in our presidential election. they stole data to influence the outcome of that election. and i'm worried that we're just moving on, that we just forgot about that. that's a violation of our sovereignty. and the thing that bothers me, nobody seems to be that concerned about it. i'm still concerned. so i want to say that first. second, to your question, it was clear as day that they had a choice that they preferred in that election. they preferred donald

earlier, i spoke to michael mcfaul a professor at stanford university.t to president 0bama. i pointed out that he was from the previous administration, but this would be a big hit for trump and could he recover? yes, i mean, this is a bad start for the administration. whether you are a democrat or a republican, there is wide consensus that if you have to fire one of the most important people to you in terms of formulating foreign policyjust three weeks in, that is a blow to president trump. having said that, they can recover and certainly i think senior administration officials from other agencies are hopeful that president trump will replace general flynn with somebody that they trust and can work with. we're in the beginning of what i predict will be a long slog about trying to figure out exactly what more will happen during the election period. the new york times has posted a major article where they can confirm, their sources confirm, anonymous sources, that senior people in the donald trump campaign had contacts with russian intelligence officers du

michael mcfaul is a professor at stanford university and was us ambassador to russia and special assistant he'sjoins me now from stanford. your political outlook is no doubt very much opposed to the trump administration? looking at politics, this is a big hit for an administration to take early on? losing a national security adviser? can it be recovered from, unless it goes further into the administration? further up the administration? further up the administration? yes, i mean, this is administration? yes, i mean, this is a bad start for the administration. whether you are a democrat or a republican, there is wide consensus that if you have to fire one of the most important people to you in terms of formulating foreign policy just three weeks in, that is a blow to president trump. having said that, they can recover and certainly i think senior administration officials from other agencies are hopeful that president trump will replace general flynn with somebody that they trust and can work with. in the beginning of what i predict will be a long slog about trying to figure out exactly what

president obama's guy, michael mcfaul, said he did think as well. it wouldn't have been normally abnormal to mention something like the sanctions that the russians were considering imposing, and because it's in america's interests to say, hey, think twice before you do that to hurt us. what is at play here is, under the extraordinary circumstances of russia's involvement in the american election, obviously anything related to russia was radioactive. if that conversation took place there should have been somebody monitoring the conversation taking verbatim notes and releasing the notes nap didn't happen. then all of this confusion about what flynn knew, what he said, contradictory, and it appears the vice president was misinformed on this thing and went out in the public. this is a public relations disaster, and it's exactly what we have a national security adviser there to coordinate and ensure it doesn't happen anywhere in the bureaucracy, starting with him. that's the problem. how he's doing his job. >> ambassador to that point fshs it is actually

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. >> michael mcfaul, former ambassador to russia for this country. these days safely back in the confines, friendly confines of stanford on the west coast. thanks for calling in, ambassador. kristen welker among those working the story for us in washington tonight. kristen, as you saw all day long into the night in the white house, this was taking on currency, finally pushed over the line tonight by some journalism on the part of the "washington post," "new york times," politico, it took on the air late in the evening of something inevitable. >> it certainly did, brian. and the administration has been to some extent circling the wagons on national security adviser michael flynn for days but it really reached a peak today. and, of course, this all comes amid revelations that flynn misled the vice president, other top staffers, about speaking to russia's ambassador about sanctions prior to the president getting sworn in. then, of course, tonight, this bombshell report -- >> we have lost kristen welker. okay. we have lost kristen. >> blackmail. >> krist

. >> michael mcfaul, always good to see you, ambassador. thank you. >>> let me bring in democratic senator amy klobuchar. she is the ranking member of the rules committee as well. good to see you, senator. wow. so much happened so quickly, and you, i'm sure, heard everything that's been going on over the last several hours. the denials by people close to the president, what we heard from your leader chuck schumer, who talked about the legislative responsibility here. you're about to head into that caucus meeting at 11:30 to talk about all of this. what are you hoping to hear from leaders and what do you feel needs to get done here? >> first of all, we clearly have to get to the bottom of this. what happened, who did they talk to? and why did they do it? why was the trump administration and the campaign before it so focused on trying to placate the russians? you have the intelligence committee doing a major investigation. that's important. but i was an early sponsor and was with a group of senators that introduced the bill way back in januar

general barry mccaffrey, back with me colin call, rick stengel from public diplomacy and joining us michael mcfaul former ambassador to russia, now at the institute for international studies at stanford. mike mcfaul what went wrong with the way mike flynn handled his interactions with russia? >> well, a lot of things. it depends on the story we're talking about, the specifics of course with the conversation with ambassador kislyak. the if, thing he should have known was that conversation was being recorded and he shouldn't contradict whatever he told the vice president or the american people about that. secondly, he was undercutting the president or so it seems. we should have one president at a time. i don't want to get -- i think we're getting a little too wrapped around the axle with this logan act. americans every day are talking to foreign diplomats, and expressing opinions about policies they don't like, but to do so on the day that the obama administration put in place sanctions for a very serious offense, that is what i think needs attention. that is to say the russians interfered in the m

ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, bristled at the comparison. >> when he applies equivalency to what the united states does, our military forces abroad to putin, that's really objectionable to me. >> reporter: and president trump in that interview with bill o'reilly was talking again as he has in the past about the possible partnership with russia to try to fight isis. but as we've seen over many months, his comments about russia raise questions. and perhaps, again, it's that digging in where the president doesn't want to cede any ground on how he's approached something that perhaps fueled the new comments about russia that are certainly playing into the wider foreign policy. now, russia and the u.s. was part of the president's conversation with the leader of ukraine yesterday. today he talks with the secretary-general of nato. we know there's a lot of concern in europe about aggression from russia, and so, that call will be important, too. thomas? >> kelly o'donnell reporting in west palm beach, florida, great to see you. thank you very much. >>> we have more now on the new legal de

ambassador to r micha michael mcfaul.e tweets as flynn steps down i have even more questions about the russian role in our elections. we need to investigate. this is not going to end right now, the top democrat on the house intelligence committee is also saying that investigations need to continue. not surprisingly perhaps, george, the group quiet, republicans on capitol hill. they're not really getting into this mess yet. >> matthew dowd, only 3 1/2 weeks in to this administration, not even coming up on the month-long mark. how do they reboot? >> i think they're in total disarray in the moment of this and will have to replace a national security adviser and the taff as we've always talked about, the taff at the white house is actually more important than cabinet officials and spent more time on cabinet officials and less time at staff and, george, i remember we talked within days of the election and about one of the main things that might dog president trump was his -- the connections with russia and we've learned, one,

representative maxine waters and adam schiff and former ambassador to russia michael mcfaul that the is morally equivalent to putin's russia. we will be right back. ♪ it keeps on rolling e economy, with the help of the lowest taxes in decades, a talented workforce, and world-class innovations. like in plattsburgh, where the most advanced transportation is already en route. and in corning, where the future is materializing. let us help grow your company's tomorrow - today at esd.ny.gov 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