let's bring informer ambassador to russia michael mcfaul and evan mcmullen. mr. mcfaul, let me start with you. two agents of russia's federal security service here, any chance they were freelancing or is it reasonable to assume that they were working on government orders? >> oh, i think it's highly unlikely that they were freelancing. that's not the way that the system works and in a way everybody is tied to the government in this kind of world, including the criminal actions, the independent people that were also indicted. but i think it's a real reminder that russia is an adversary of the united states of america. and yahoo accounts are i interacting with the government. as thinking about it coming over here, i remember interacting with people, all unclassified. and in terms of prosperity, we need to constantly remind ourselves of that. >> so it would sound as if this was a state-on-state cyberattack. >> yes. absolutely. >> what, then, should our response be? >> it sounds like this is a state-on-state attack. what would the response be normally? >> well, first o

. >> michael mcfaul, you served admittedly the last democratic president as ambassador to russia. having heard, taken in our conversation tonight and sampled the news breaking on this front, how would you recommend with your knowledge of washington as it is, how would you recommend this get pulled apart and looked at and investigated? what's the vehicle to your mind? >> i believe it has to be a bipartisan independent commission, not unlike what we had after september 11th. i think it's good news that the house intelligence committee has decide move forward. and i saw the parameters they put out. that's a good sign. but at the end of the day, having it outside of partisan circles, that it can be investigated and really dig down. you know, as i read all these stories, it's fantastic stories that really people are doing incredible work to get more and more news to us all. but it's also unnamed sources. it's all people deep in the intelligence services. and we need those people to go from being leakers to witnesses. we need to know the truth. well need to know the names, for instance,

. >> michael mcfaul, you served a mittedly the last democratic president as ambassador to russia. having heard, taken in our conversation tonight and sampled the news breaking on this front, how would you recommend with your knowledge of washington as it is, how would you recommend this get pulled apart and looked at and investigated? what's the vehicle to your mind? >> i believe it has to be a bipartisan independent commission, not unlike what we had after september 11th. i think it's good news that the house intelligence committee has decide move forward. and i saw the parameters they put out. that's a good sign. but at the end of the day, having it outside of partisan circles, that it can be investigated and really dig down. you know, as i read all these stories, it's fantastic stories that really people are doing incredible work to get more and more news to us all. but it's also unnamed sources. it's all people deep in the intelligence services. and we need those people to go from being leakers to witnesses. we need to know the truth. well need to know the name for instance, o

ambassador michael mcfaul. he discusses how the relationship involved in the past years and where it stands now under the trump administration. from george washington university, this is two hours. ♪ council. i am the director of the institute for policy and global communications this annual >> good morning everyone. welcome to the annual walter roberts lecture: cosponsored by the institute for public policy and atlantic council. i am the director of the institute for policy and global communications this annual lecture is paid for by the walter roberts endowment. are sr support. ambassador mcfaul is a very busy noon. -- busy man. we i've been trying to get into the car speaker for 2 years. this effort began with my predecessor when he was the director of ifgc. in the spirit of never knowing when you have good luck, we are thankful that we can't him here today. -- got him in here today. interestingly, i hear it on good authority from bruce gregory, another huge name in public diplomacy that walter roberts himse

with us to talk about this tonight, michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia. he's with us from california. mr. ambassador, i know you're a diplomat by trade and training and yet you have -- you have shared with us your kind of coiled anger on what you see as an ongoing slow-motion attack on the united states from this country you know very well, from a leader you got to know well. were you made to be a little bit more satisfied by what you saw and heard? did it take on a little more urgency for you today? >> thanks, brian, for remembering our previous conversations because you're right, i believe we were attacked, our sovereignty was violated. we were not allowed to choose our leaders without foreign interference. and today i think we had some clarity to that. i do think that was important. most importantly, we learned, as you just said, that there's an ongoing investigation about alleged, purported, perhaps contacts between the russians and members of the trump campaign. what we didn't hear much about was more about the attack, itself. we moved quickly to the

michael mcfaul was the u.s. ambassador to russia from 2012 to 2014. >> of course, ambassador kislyak is meeting with senator sessions not to talk about what his committee is doing. he could care less about that. he's talking to them to find out about what the candidate trump is thinking and planning about foreign policy. >> reporter: in november, mr. trump's spokeswoman told the associated press, "there was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity." the president has also denied any contact. >> i have nothing to do with russia. >> reporter: the russian embassy declined comment on kislyak's meetings, but he has boasted about his deep contacts in the u.s. >> i personally have been working in the united states so long that i know almost everybody. >> reporter: kislyak has also met with top democrats, like chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. that's something president trump pointed out on twitter today. and, scott, while hillary clinton's campaign says no one there met with the ambassador, kislyak vi

ambassador to russia michael mcfaul discussed u.s.-russia relations at george washington university's institute of public diplomacy and global communication. this is 2 hours. ♪ >> good morning, everyone. welcome to the annual walter lecture, cosponsored by the institute for public diplomacy and the atlantic council. janet steele, the director of the institute for public policy and global communication. this annual lecture is paid for by the walter r. roberts endowment for walter roberts is a pioneer in the field of public diplomacy and was also a faculty member at george washington. we're not to have several of the board members of the endowment with us today. we have the board chair and walter roberts's daughter-in-law, patricia. we are so grateful for your support. ambassador mcfaul is a very busy man. in fact, we had been trying to get him to come and be our speaker for two years. this effort began with my .redecessor in the spirit of you never know when you are having good luck, we are really thankful we got in here today because

mcmullen and msnbc terrorism analyst michael malcolm nance, mike mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia who joins us via remote in stanford. evan, i'm going to ask you the if, question. earlier today former cia director michael hayden was on "morning joe" basically saying it wasn't plausible president obama ordered a wiretap because presidents can't order wiretaps. explain. >> there's a whole process for this to happen. when there's a need to collect intelligence on a foreign agent, on an agent of a foreign power, or on a foreign power operating inside the united states, that request comes from the nsa usually or the fbi, goes to a fisa court that's a classified intelligence court that evaluates that request. there's some back and forth between the court and the agency that submits the request, and then ultimately there's a final request submitted and that's either approved or not. the point is there's a whole process involved with lots of people, and you can't, the president doesn't just make the

ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul. and much more. welcome back to "morning joe." hat morning off. but along with willie and me, we have political analyst and co-author of "game change," john heilemann and nbc news correspondent katy tur. former nato sprem commander and now the dean of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts universities former admiral james stavridis. political reporter for "the washington post" robert costa and also of "the washington post" eugene robinson. willie, so i guess the question is how believable is jeff sessions? we are talking, of course, some people are talking about perjury, it's certainly a very high bar. but the question really, the basic question is how can this man be trusted moving forward if it high point of the controversy with rusch hacking in to the dnc and trying to change the results of our election, he didn't tell the truth in frovent of his own coment? >> senator blumenthal of connecticut not saying that jeff sessions perjured himself but democratic leads including chum schumer and nancy pelosi still pushing f

inirst met michael mcfaul the early 90's when he and another russian colleague set up the moscow carnegie center and we were all watching the traumatic events as boris yeltsin killed off, the first chechnya and war was waged, and many other events were pretty fascinating for a reporter and any observer from the west. he was already one of the most astute observers of the moscow scene and we journalists found him approachable and quotable, as i'm sure you will today. as another american journalist also there earlier in the rough days, david of the new yorker says moscow was a pageant, irresistible to anyone with a trace of democratic idealism. the sense of historical drama was unmistakable. there was a human tragedy to be seen but reasons for hope. , could russia finally throw off auto credit government? was there a real change? ambassador mcfaul worked overtime to encourage reforms. we knew it wouldn't be easy or quick that we thought it might be possible. by the time ambassador mcfaul went to moscow, his best efforts were doomed to fail. in the second term of vladimir putin as president

i first met michael mcfaul in moscow in the early 1990's when he and a russian colleague set up at theoscow carnegie center. we were watching the dramatic events as boris yeltsin killed off coming as an, the first -- off communism, the first chechen war. important events from any observer from the midwest. he was one of the most astute observers of the moscow seen. we found him approachable and quotable, as i am sure you will today. as an american journalist "moscowhose rough days, at that time was a pageant, irresistible to anyone with a trace of democratic idealism for the russians. the sense of historical drama was unmistakable. there was human tragedy, but reasons for hope too." we all activated, could russia finally throw off autocratic thuggish government? it seemed that might happen. mike mcfual work for reforms. we did not think it would be great, but it would be possible. it was not to be. by the time ambassador mcfaul went to moscow in 2012, his efforts wered doomed to fail. in the second term of vladimir putin, he invaded crimea and sent little green men into eastern ukraine

i first met michael mcfaul in the early 90's when he and a russian colleagues set of the moscow carnegieenter. we watched in the dramatic events as boris yelton killed off communism, the first chechen ed, and the events were fascinating for an observer from the west. he was one of the most observers of the moscow seen and we journalists always found him approachable. as another american journalist who was also there is little earlier but in those rough days, dave renick of the new yorker who says moscow at that time was a pageant, here is visible to anyone with a trace of democratic idealism and feeling for the russians. the sense of historical drama was amazing. there was much human tragedy to be seen but reason for hope too. we debated could russia are often autocratic government, wasn't there a real change -- was there a real change? as a friend of russia and russians, ambassador make all worked overtime to try to encourage reforms. we didn't think it would be easy or quick, but we thought it might be possible. it was not to be. by the time ambassador mcfaul went to moscow in 2012, hi

. >> we're going to widen our conversation by two people first of whom is michael mcfaul, former ambassadoro russia, now at stamford university. ambassador, i'm guessing you have read the "new yorker" article we've been discussing with david and i'm guessing you have something to add to this portrait we've painted of vladimir putin and where this relationship stands right now. >> well, the relationship feels like the cold war. that's most certainly true. the level of confrontation has increased over the last two years. there was enthusiasm in moscow for president-elect donald trump. he said a lot of things during the campaign that was music to vladimir putin's ears. he said he might look into recognizing crimea. he said we might lift the sanctions and talk about spheres of influence. but having just spoken to several senior officials in munich just last week, they see the opportunity for that breakthrough is fading fast. they blame it on the cia and the fbi, what they call the deep state. this is the revenge of those people, because they run american foreign policy. that's putin's theory of

. >> michael mcfaul, president obama's ambassador to russia, pointed out that if the russians wanted to meet with jeff sessions it had nothing to do with alabama. it had to do with his knowledge of donald trump world and maybe somebody who would turn out to be an official. as peter was mentioning you add up the different stories out there and it's not uncommon to have an incoming national security adviser mting with an ambassador to russia it's not uncommon for a top aide jared kushner to do that. what's raising the red flags is that, not getting all the information and people being up front with it. michael flynn for example, not up front with his conversations about the sanctions. jeff sessions not being entirely forthcoming in his senate confirmation hearing. you can quibble over whether he was talking about the campaign or his personal activity, but you add up all the different stories and there seems to be either, as nicole wallace put it very well an administration that is either the most forgetful in political history or one where there is a there there story. >> not revealing

. >> we're going to widen our conversation by two people first of whom is michael mcfaul, former ambassadoro russia, now at stamford university. ambassador, i'm guessing you have read the "new yorker" article we've been discussing with david and i'm guessing you have something to add to this portrait we've painted of vladimir putin and where this relationship stands right now. >> well, the relationship feels like the cold war. that's most certainly true. the level of confrontation has increased over the last two yea years. there was enthusiasm in moscow for president-elect donald trump. he said a lot of things during the campaign that was music to vladimir putin's ears. he said he might look into recognizing crimea. he said we might lift the sanctions and talk about spheres of influence. but having just spoken to several senior officials in munich just last week, they see the opportunity for that breakthrough is fading fast. they blame it on the cia and the fbi, what they call the deep state. this is the revenge of those people, because they run american foreign policy. that's putin's theor

ambassador to russia and msnbc contributor michael mcfaul. also david corn, washington bureau chief for mother jones, msnbc political analyst. david has been reporting on the manafort-trump connection and wrote an article today titled "paul manafort tried to help russian oligarch suspected of mob ties get a u.s. visa." david, you've got some real detail there to add for us. i want to start with the ambassador to talk about the significance of this, of the ways in which russian influence works. that paul manafort is standing on the point today that i didn't work for the russian government. based on the story as it stands tonight, what do you make of that point in the totality of what we know? >> well, i know oleg deripaska. i dealt with him when i was in the u.s. government and as a u.s. ambassador. i think what people should understand is this distinction between the state and the private sector in russia is a lot more blurred there than it is here in the united states or in any liberal democracy. mr. deripaska coordinates very closely with t

ambassador to that country, michael mcfaul. we're live from the george washington university institute for public diplomacy and global communication. at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >>> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning newsmax media incorporated ceo christopher ruddy discusses donald trump's presidency so far and the white house's relationship with the media. and aaron durkit national health care correspondent discusses the divisions within republicans on how best to repeal and replace the affordable care act. then anti-defamation league ceo and national director jonathan greenblatt discusses the ongoing threats made against jewish community centers and schools. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" beginning live at 7:00 a.m. eastern friday morning. join the discussion. >>> this weekend the c-span cities tour along with our comcast cable partners will explore the literary life and history of san jose, california. saturday at noon easter

joining us by phone is ambassador michael mcfaul former ambassador to russia and michael porter, harvardchool professor. he's looked at the economics of the shifting landscape. first to you, ambassador mcfaul. your reaction to president putin, read my lips, watch my lips, no on the answer as to whether there would be any evidence found on russia hacking the election. >> i thought it was a bad historic analogy. number one he garbled out. as you pointed out it wasn't reagan, it was george w. bush. after he dsaid that he did rais taxes. you know, i think it's clear as day that the russians did intervene in our elections. our entire intelligence community has documented that fact. they stole data from the dny and mr. podesta and then published it through wikileaks in a way to influence our election. moreover there's other evidence that you can just read. we don't have to -- we don't have to have cyber security specialists to help us. so when sputnik the russian government news agency tweets #crooked military, that's a clear statement about what the russians are thinking during our elections.

i first met michael mcfaul in moscow in the early '90s when he and i russian colleagues set up in moscow carnegie center and we were all watching the dramatic events as boris yeltsin killed off communism of the soviet union broke up, the first chechen war was waged, and many other events that were pretty fascinating for a reporter and for any observer from the west. he was already one of the most astute observers of the moscow scene, an, and we journalists as sounded approachable and quotable, as i'm sure you will today. as another american journal since also there earlier in those rough days, david remnick of "the new yorker" says moscow at that time was a pageant, irresistible to anyone with even a trace of democratic idealism and fellow feeling for the russians the essence of historical drama was unmistakable. there was a much human tragedies to be seen but reasons for hope, and we all debated. i'm sure you did with your colleagues, could russia finally throw off autocratic sluggish government? wasn't there a real change in the offing? it seemed that might happen. because a friend of

for more on this we're joined this morning by michael mcfaul, igor volovic, good to have you both withalls it a nothing burger, we have had the white house put this in a partisan frame. what are you listening for first and foremost? >> well, first of all, i want to comment on the nothing burger tweet. because i think president trump is making a big mistake in going back to say that the russians did not interfere in our elections. and everybody agrees that they did. the entire -- all the intelligence agency do. mr. clapper, who he cites to say there was no collusion is the same mr. clapper that says there was russian meddling. so i think it's just a strategic mistake. and from somebody who focuses on national security, i find it really alarming that the president of the united states will not acknowledge that our sovereignty was violated. >> would you expect comey to back him up today? >> mr. comey's already backed him up on that. so if they should ask him on the record just to clarify it so that the american people can see him testify, but remember the fbi signed up to that statement,

ambassador to that country, michael mcfaul. we're live from the george washington university institute for public diplomacy and global communication. at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >>> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning newsmax media incorporated ceo christopher ruddy discusses donald trump's presidency so far and the white house's relationship with the media. and aaron durkit national health care correspondent discusses the divisions within republicans on how best to repeal and replace the affordable care act. then anti-defamation league ceo and national director jonathan greenblatt discusses the ongoing threats made against jewish community centers and schools. be sure to watch c-span's "washington journal" beginning live at 7:00 a.m. eastern friday morning. join the discussion. >>> this weekend the c-span cities tour along with our comcast cable partners will explore the literary life and history of san jose, california. saturday at noon easter

ambassador michael mcfaul. he discusses how the relationship involved in the past years and where it stands now under the trump administration. from george washington university, this is two hours. ♪ council. i am the director of the institute