he is the director of national intelligence. he is supposed to know about this stuff. >> that is an honest hoosier right there. the problem is if he does not have directives, if christopher wray does not have directives we are only as safe as the congress is willing to be by standing up to the president. today on the house floor nice tweets i saw, republicans voted to completely zero out the election security grants that just last year were funded at $300 million. >> if the director of national intelligence is out of the loop on some of these so sensitive national security related issues where does that leave u.s. national security? >> we are not helpless so what we can do is start to require that the president turn over any conversations he has had with people like putin to the national security -- >> you need the republican majority in the house to get along with you on that. >> i hope they see that this is a five alarm fire right now. we need every hand on the hose to put it out. we are so vulnerable if the president is strik

with dan coats you have a the director of national intelligence, a former long time member of the senate intelligence committee. senators i've spoken with, republicans say he's the canary in the coal mine. are they even aware the director is in aspen and so many people in the administration appointed by president trump feel like he's now making foreign policy without their interaction, without their guidance? that is the real story inside the white house and this administration at this moment based on my reporting. >> coats, it should also not be overlooked has a fellow republican -- to jeremy bash we go and to our viewers who have seen days of these panel discussions and interviews, they're part of the aspen security forum which is kind of like burning man for national security types mean s some of the major hallucenogenics or so we home. jeremy, there you are in the audience today. i am guessing that his response to andrea's breaking news was a moment in the room among professionals in the field. >> yeah, there was an audible gasp. i was sitting about 25 feet in front of the director o

it is not every day you get to break national intelligence news to the director of national intelligence. that is what happened with andrea mitchell yesterday in aspen, colorado. watch. >> the white house announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> say that again? >> vladimir putin coming to the white house. >> i heard you. i heard you. >> yeah. >> okay. that's going to be special. >> that's going to be special. the director of national intelligence dan coats. some bad movies get sequels. "grown ups" from adam sandler. sara, should this helsinki get a part two? >> a big part of the trump's performance in helsinki was regarded was the disregarding of the intelligence community. that is why we had the demonstration yesterday of the margin marginalized that dan coats learned that from the reporter. obviously the timing of this coming in the fall will not make republicans happy. they have been treading water trying to position correctly around the controversy following the summit trying to criticize the president without drawing his ire. a lot of rep

not the least of which is greater insight into the collection forces and that national intelligence estimate and then to improve, that is the apex of the seniormost intelligence document right into the president and senior policymakers. one of the things i do is to each agency to certify the veracity. and there are other things so excursions and depending on the sensitivity depending on national intelligence estimates. and i like they have profited from that experience and learn from that. >> are you going to be okay? >> yes. and over the last three pages and a happy face standing and to emerge from. and the southeast asia and overtime so in this case also. >> it is a remarkable book so thank you for that. >> thanks for doing this. .. ..

intelligence officials say that russia is still trying to interfere in u.s. elections. but the nation's top spy chief, when he was told about this, he had two words to say. say what? the u.s. intelligence chief saying tonight he had to correct president trump's incorrect claim russia had no role in attacking american democracy. >> it was important to take that stand on behalf of the intelligence community and the american people. >> reporter: dan coats, the president's hand picked director of national intelligence, said american leaders must speak forcefully about russia's ongoing threat to u.s. elections. >> it's undeniable that the russians are taking the lead on this. basically they are the ones that are trying to undermine our basic values and divide us with our allies. they are trying to wreak havoc over our election process. we need to call them out on that. it's critical. >> reporter: coats also said it was a mistake for trump to meet privately with vladimir putin. >> if he had asked me how that ought to be conducted, i would have suggested a different way. but that's not my role

that news seemed to come as a bombshell this evening to the us director of national intelligence, asmerican security services still struggle to find out what was agreed earlier this week in the us president's closed—door meeting with president putin. the white house, still under fire for mr trump's bizarre performance at the press conference after the putin meeting, has now said it will not allow russia access to 11 americans it wanted to interrogate, including a former ambassador. mr trump had said earlier it was an interesting idea. but then came news of the invitation to mr putin. here's that news being broken, in public, to dan coats, mr trump's own appointee as us director of national intelligence. he was on stage at the aspen security forum with msnbc‘s andrea mitchell. we have some breaking news, the white house has announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. say that again. laughter. vladimir putin... did i hear you? yeah, yeah. 0k... that's gonna be special. laughter. live now to the bbc‘s chris buckler in washington dc. chris, helsinki

if the director of national intelligence certifies that a foreign power, russia or anyone else is trying to attack our electoral infrastructure, they'll pay a heavy price. so this is july 17, 2018. on friday, last week, i think it was july -- don't know the dates. just got back from traveling. so frill of last week, a few -- friday of last week, a few days ago, the director of national intelligence said the following. the warning lights are blinking red again. today the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack. how much more do we need as a body and as a nation to rally ourselves to act while there's still time? he indicated that our cyberspace strategies emphasize only defense, not offense as well invoking president reagan's cold war approach soviet union. mr. coats suggested if russia continued to try to take on the united states in the cyber arena, thenned administration should throw everything we have into that exercise. every member of congress, every member of the senate as well as the president has an obligation to defend the nation against all ene

national intelligence. gentlemen, good evening. josh, you're up. this is breaking tonight. i confirming now that three top officials who worked specifically in cyber and national security planning to leave the bureau. they say they're retiring after long careers with the bureau, but what do you make of the timing here? >> so i don't know if i would read too much into the timing at this point. i mean, there comes a point in one's career where looking back on a distinguished career, you're ready to move to the next chapter. i assume that's what's taking place here. i have to tell you, don, what a loss to the country. having known these three individuals, i didn't know scott smith very well. his reputation was stellar. carl ghattas, david resch, truly great leaders. quiet professionals. their departure is truly a loss for the country. >> shawn, let's turn now to director coats in aspen and the new reporting from the "washington post" and here's what they write. they say, "inside the white house trump advisers were in an uproar over coats' interview in aspen, colorado. noting th

the walk back from the director of national intelligence.hat is the response from democrats, we will see a chuck shumer statement? >> i think this whole thing will probably, the reaction of dan coats, i should focus on, will be put to bed over this. what the democrats will focus is, and i can understand, how is donald trump running his shop? that is a fair question. democrats, republicans respect dan coats, they don't want to see him get fired. that is the last thing this country needs. we will probably see the issue move on to putin and what the relationship that donald trump has with him. >> maybe, maybe not. i can see that video running over and over again. in democratic ads for the mid terms to show incompetent, takes russia seriously or not. with the mueller investigation, and collusion between the president and russia, all that comes alongside with that 30 people have been indicted, including russian officials, i think we will see that video again. not because of dan coats, because of the campaign, and donald trump, the democrats will

later this hour andrea mitchell will sit down for an exclusive interview with the director of national intelligence, dan coats. as we now all know, former senator from indiana, right here on msnbc. we will bring that to you in this hour. >>> there may be evidence to back up the intelligence community's assertion that russia may be interfering in the 2018 midterm election. microsoft revealed that today it discovered that a fake domain used to launch phishing attacks on three candidates running in this year's election has been uncovered. national political reporter mike memali joins us from aspen with more. mike? >> reporter: yeah, i have to say this landed as somewhat of a mini bombshell here during one of the panel sessions here. this was focused on election security issues. we heard from both corporate and government leaders. we had just heard from an assistant homeland security secretary who said that while there were efforts by foreign states to interfere in some of our key systems in the country, so far not yet in terms of our elections infrastructure. but then we heard from a corporate vice pr

i wanted to show everyone at home, and watch the director of national intelligence. watch his reaction. hite has announced on twitter that slad peer in the fall. >> say that again.er that's going to be special. >> so cecilia, the white house today that discussions are under way for putin's visit, but clearly the director of national intelligence there who just said the russians are still at this, that the warning light is blinking red. it was clear he had no idea this was coming. >> reporter: it certainly seems that way, david, and that was far from the only stunning moment during that interview. coats also said that putin may have recorded donald trump in their one-on-one meeting behind closed doors, and when coats was asked if he has ever considered resigning, he said, david, there are days when you think, what a speak the truth, he is on board. >> more to come on this story. cecilia vega tonight, and cecilia, thank you. >>> we are also following a plume shooting up several stories. nearly 50 buildings were evacuated today, and buildings, and paralyzing a major par

the director of national intelligence dan coats. watch his reaction when he was told yesterday about the second invitation. >> the white house announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> say that again? >> vladimir putin coming to the white house. >> i heard you. i heard you. >> yeah. >> okay. that's going to be special. >> reporter: he alsos was asked if -- he also was asked if he would resign. he said he will stay in his position as long as he speaks the truth. dave and christine. >>> thank you. white house aides are concerned that this will be a betrayal. one says coats has gone rouge. and donald trump is inn fire rafur rate -- infuriated. one says there is no invitation from congress. >> the senate took bipartisan action against russia voting 98-0 to oppose putin's proposal to interrogate u.s. officials. president trump said yesterday he opposes putin's suggestion after calling it an incredible offer earlier in the week. >> look at the sanction i put on. look at the diplomats i through o

the director of national intelligence for a president who at the very least is skeptical of intelligence is not an easy job. you see him walking a tight rope there. he is very firmly saying this is the intelligence. >> he is. and it is quite a contrast, obviously, from what we heard from donald trump over these last many months and even in this last week, doubting the intelligence, playing the sort of semantics game of would or wouldn't and then the latest is what is the definition of no. and you also saw some equivocation from the director of homeland security essentially suggesting that she hadn't read the intelligence report which does say russia interfered, vladimir putin with the intent to harm hillary clinton and to the benefit of donald trump. she pretended not to know clearly suggesting that her audience is donald trump. coates saying he needs to have kweblt credibility and also an audience of donald trump. maybe at some point donald trump will come along knowing that the intelligence community as well as the president need to be on the same page on this. >> michael allen, you wo

i am told this as well, wolf, the office of the director of national intelligence did not clear that statement with the white house prior, so that is the unvarnished view of the senior most intelligence official in the u.s., note his comment in there, not only are they standing by russia's interference in the last election, but, and this is something i hear from democrats and republicans briefed on the intelligence and multiple intelligence officials that russian interference in the u.s. democratic process continues to this day, as it was described by the dni, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and they're concerned about the same thing happening, perhaps even to a greater degree in 2018 and 2020. >> it was interesting that vladimir putin said he didn't even know that donald trump was in moscow during the miss universe pageant in 2015 when trump was there? >> i thought that was striking, not least because we know that not to be the case. i have spoken with people who spoke with trump at that miss universe contest in 2015, trump actually got a call from the president's aid.

>> well, i put my weighting on the director of national intelligence. have a situation where you have a large gap in understanding between your director of national intention and the president of the united states. i an remind people when president trump was learning about what the russians were doing, he was getting his education on vladimir putin, for most presidents when you find out what they're doing, for most presidents, the consideration is what do i do about it now? for president trump, unfortunately, people have said to me his consideration was do i believe it? and so, you know, when you look at, you know, how far we've come in this administration, we're two years in and the president is still looking at this intelligence community and saying i'm not sure i believe what they're telling me. i tell you, when we look at the president standing next to vladimir putin, across the intelligence community, people have to be wondering why is the president still equivocating and backing down when it comes to vladimir putin? you know, i would say when i wa

but dan coats, who you saw there, the director of national intelligence, he was at the security forumng interviewed on stage when the news broke, and he was specifically setting out what the intelligence agencies think. now, he was being diplomatic, but he was making very clear that their assessment is that russia interfered in the election with cyber attacks two years ago, and that they remain a threat to american diplomacy, and that that is a concern with the mid—term congressional elections coming up injust a few months‘ time. so, on one hand, we have these very harsh words from parts of president trump's administration, saying russia are a menacing government who are doing things that potentiallyjeopardise democracy. and, on the other hand, you have president trump opening the door and saying, come to the white house and see me. and yet, chris, with those mid—term elections in mind, you have to assume the president is being buoyed by these polls which suggest the american population as a whole might be unhappy with his russia policy, but actually his core supporters, they love it

as somebody that covered the intelligence community for a long time, the potential ramifications as far as national security are very significant because the current director consults with past directors. >> of course. >> what was it like meeting with a foreign intelligence chief, meeting with predecessors, director of the dia or nsa, they all like to speak with predecessors. potentially, how much of an impact could this have on national security? >> well, let's keep in mind that the trump administration is already pretty thin in the talent pool. there are a lot of positions they haven't filled. there's a lot of talent that frankly doesn't want to work for trump. so to actually now lose this kadri of former officials and often called in to consult with current officials in the trump administration i think is just a huge loss for america. and just a very unwise and foolish move by very petty and petulent president. >> doesn't appear that the white house did the homework before making the announcement. two of the six officials that were listed by sarah sanders at the white house briefing don't even h

dan coats was his pick for the director of national intelligence, which is a uniquely important centralizing role to ensure that the intelligence community is working together. this is a strange person for the president to even name and then to deny the advice of. >> reporter: in the time that i spent covering capitol hill, i saw and interact with dan coats a lot. straight shooter. at that time he had been the only senator who had also been a u.s. ambassador so he understands the world stage. he understands diplomacy. he has the purview of looking at all the product that is distributed by the u.s. intelligence agencies. you know, there are 16 agencies overseen by the department of national intelligence. and he is an expert that the president can lean on and someone who has a good reputation in republican politics, a conservative. not someone of the deep state, someone elected repeatedly by the people of indiana and working on behalf of the president now. i think it's clear in the coats' statement that he is trying to be very black and white about what he provides the president and it's left

the director of national intelligence is the nation's top spy and he speaks for the 16 intelligence agencies's why his statement earlier this week rebuffing the president over his comments in russia was so significant. he is also issued a series of warnings about russia and other nations. >> the warning lights are blinking red again. today, the digital infrastructure that served this country is literally under attack. every day, foreign actors, the worst offenders being russia, china, iran, and north korea. >> one of the things that we understand, all of these nations do is use cyber to try to gain the advantage. it is the gray zone. these groups use information warfare to try to level the playing field where they cannot have the military or economic advantage over the united state united states, jon. >> jon: we also heard from the fbi director? >> that is right. he was in aspen last night, and he took a number of point questions about helsinki and the president's comments about russia. the fbi director was very clear that the evidence has always been solid about russia's involvement. >> he

the creation of the directorate of national intelligence was supposed to stop that and contribute to broader document sharing some other parts of the intelligence community could perform analyses. without important that people in the defense intelligence agency get their hands on it because they were applying the information to people on the battlefield. dia was for a long time a blocked. there were not given access in the cia said, you do not get it. they did not have to give much of an explanation. there was a long, protracted bureaucratic turf battle and i will not for you with the details. the details in most cases are not boring, they are interesting. skipping forward, we pushed extensively to get these documents released. ahey were ultimately -- provision requiring them to be released was required in an intelligent authorization act, which required the director of national intelligence to start releasing these products. jamesi at the time, clapper, was reluctant to do this. they put out 40 documents here, 50 documents here. some of them included interesting material, some were s

remember the creation of the directorate of national intelligence was supposed to stop that. it was supposed to contribute to broader document sharing so other parts of the intelligence community could perform their own analyses of materials. we thought it particularly important people at centcom, defense intelligence agency get their hands on this since they were supplying information to the people on the battlefield, to the people actually fighting in these places but the dia was for a long time blocked. they were not given access to the documents. the cia said simply you don't get it. didn't have to give much of an explanation. there was a long, protracted bureaucratic turf battle. won't bore you with details. the details in most cases are anything but boring. they're really interesting but we don't have enough time to go through all the details. so skipping forward we pushed extensively to get these documents released. they were ultimately a provision requiring them to be released was included in the 2014 intelligence authorization act and that required the director of nat

even though his director of national intelligence said otherwise, just saying the warning lights are blinking red. tonight, the white house now saying that's not what the president meant this morning. >>> also tonight, new reporting. the young russian woman here in the u.s. now charged, accused of being an agent of the kremlin. what she said in court late today. prosecutors now saying she was offering sex for influence. and these images tonight from investigators. at the trump inauguration, and at this dinner. and what they say it shows. >>> the shark scare on the east coast. were two children attacked by sharks on two separate beaches? what authorities are now saying. those beaches closed. >>> the wildfires raging in the west. the new fire already exploding in size, from oregon to california. the worries and the fears tonight at yosemite. >>> the plane crash. the images from inside the cabin. investigators now studying the images. what caused the plane to go down? >>> the pictures coming in at this hour. the massive condominium fire. >>> and, the miracle rescue. those boys headed ho

he's stood up strong as director of national intelligence. and i am very concerned when the president of the united states does not listen to the honest and straightforward assessments of the intelligence community. >> but to be clear, senator, you're not willing yet to say high crimes, misdemeanors, treason? >> listen, we are going to finish our investigation and we'll reach our conclusions. i've not been willing to jump to the final conclusion until we finish our job. but the one thing i do know is it's the role of the intelligence community to speak truth to power. unfortunately with this -- with mr. trump, we've got someone who doesn't want to hear any truth other than his own. >> all right. thank you very much, senator warner. i appreciate your time and i know the country respects you and senator burr being willing to make -- wait until you make your final assessment. thank you. >> thank you. >>> next, vladimir putin confronted with mueller's indictment of 12 more russians. >> may i give this to you to look at, sir? >> he didn't reach out

the director of the national intelligence has said there is a flashing red dangerous signal, similar to the one that happened before 9/11. this amendment responds by providing for us to partner with our states to slam the door in the face of the russian bear or any other adversary who seeks to steal the integrity of our elections. the flashing red light calls us to action. surely we can rise above pandering to party and putin to act on behalf of our freedom and our security. we have sworn an oath to defend our constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. hoyer: you have the opportunity to do that today. do so. vote yes on this amendment for our country. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will come to order. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i withdraw my reservation. the speaker pro tempore: the reservation is withdrawn. >> mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will come to order. t

president trump's director of national intelligence with a stunning admission. dan coats says he has no idea what happened in that one-on-one meeting between trump and putin. here is dan coats. >> i don't know what happened in that meeting. i think as time goes by and president has already mentioned some things that happened in that meeti ing i think we will learn more. that is the president's prerogative. if he had asked me how that ought to be conducted i would have suggested a different way. but that is not my role. that is not my job. it is what it is. >> it is what it is. let's be clear, dan coats isn't just some intelligence officer. he is the president's top intelligence chief. not only was he in the dark about the two plus hours trump spent with putin in helsinki he also had no idea that the president had invited putin for a second summit. there is another one in the works. one that sarah huckabee sanders chose to announce on twitter. here is how the top intelligence aid to the president found out about it. >> we have some breaking news. the white house

so friday of last week, a few days ago, the director of national intelligence said the following. the warning lights are blinking red again. today the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack. how much more do we need as a body and as a nation to rally ourselves to act while there's still time. he indicated that our cyberspace strategies emphasized only defense, not offense as well, invoking president rowing reagan's with the cold war and the soviet union, and that the administration should throw everything we have into that exercise. every member of congress, every member of the senate, as well as the president, has an obligation to defend the nation against all enemies foreign and domestic. i am 1,000 percent convinced that the russians meddled in our election in 2016. they did not change the outcome, but they did disrupt our election. the bottom line is they're still up to it. if you don't believe me, just ask director of national intelligence, dan coates, who is a former member of this body. in august, 2001 the 9/11 commission found statements

today's answer comes after the director of national intelligence says that russia is still at it, and the warning lights are blinking red. cecilia vega leading us off. >> reporter: just 24 hours after president trump declared his full faith in america's intelligence agencies, and even with his own director of national intelligence warning russia is right now targeting the u.s., president trump today offered this stunning contradiction. is russia still targeting the u.s., mr. president? >> thank you very much, no. >> reporter: no? you don't believe that to be the case? >> no. >> reporter: we asked not once, but twice. and twice, the president replied, "no." it directly contradicts the director of national intelligence who said that russia is behind "ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy." and that's not all. >> i'm here to say the warning lights are blinking red again. today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack. >> reporter: from republicans today, near universal condemnation. >> if he really believes russia is not interfering i

neither did the director of national intelligence who got a live interview at the aspen security summit. >> the white house has announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> say that again. >> you -- vladimir putin coming to -- >> did i hear you? >> yeah, yeah. >> okay. that's going to be special. >> abby phillip at the white house. it was striking at the beginning. he's laughing and seemed like andrea mitchell didn't know if he didn't really know but he didn't know, the director of national intelligence did not know that the national security and the president invited vladimir putin to the white house. it is stunning. >> it was really a stunning moment. and this entire week, poppy, has been extraordinary. it seems nearly every day since the president meet with vladimir putin on monday in helsinki, the white house has been trying to clean things up from this summit and from the president's subsequent press conference. this is just the latest example, the white house moving quickly to announce a second potential meeting with vladimir putin even aft

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trump's own director of national intelligence and the daughter of his ambassador to russia. >>> and russian agent caught? a russian gun rights activist with links to the national rifle association is charged with being a spy for moscow and infiltrating groups with influence on american politics. i'm wolf blitzer in helsinki. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following breaking news. truly astounding remarks by president trump following his one on one meeting with the russian president vladimir putin. standing on foreign soil, here in helsinki, with putin at his side, the president refused to accept the u.s. intelligence community's assessment that russia attacked the 2016 presidential election. instead, he said that putin was, quote, extremely strong and powerful in his denial of election interference and tonight the unprecedented scene that unfolded here today is sending shock waves around the globe. we'll talk about all of that. the breaking nulls with senator rand paul of the foreign relations and homeland security committees. he's standing by live and jake sullivan, former forei

but then again, i am not in charge of national intelligence. there has been some reporting out of the white house that perhaps the president was watching and did that deliberately to dan coats. i have no way of knowing that of course. it is clear that this is a man who has been twice elected to the senate, has been an ambassador to germany, committed to public service and determined to defend the agencies that he leads from any political interference. and he remarkably did speak out after the president's news conference in helsinki. and i think frankly deserves a lot of credit for that. >> andrea, dan coats is well-liked, experienced and capable. the question is why the president puts these people around him and doesn't listen to him. in the beginning there was talk about the deep state and we know he didn't love the state department and what it did and didn't believe in the soft power. no beef about dan coats. what does the president get for not listening to the people around him? >> he gets into a lot of trouble. because these are the profess

the importance of the intelligence community's work and inherently since the nation of its mission, this bill will increase the intelligence community accountability to congress by requiring reports on numerous issues including investigations of leaks of classified information and security clearances processing time lines. it will bolster intelligence oversight by requiring the intelligence community and department of defense to develop a framework to assess the roles, missions and furningses of the defense intelligence agencies and require the f.b.i. to provide quarterly counterintelligence briefings to the intelligence committee. this will ensure that america will remain safe and american lits are protected in the process. i reserve the balance of my ime. mr. hastings: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i thank my friend from georgia for yielding me the customary 30 minutes for debate and i rise today to debate the rule for this measure, the matthew young pollard intelligence authorization act for

an incredible offer. >> and then you saw the statement there from dan coats the director of national intelligence who the president brought up today. the president's performance clearly making one of his key intelligence chiefs put out a statement to try to assure some americans, many americans i would assume on this day that the u.s. government knows exactly what happened in 2016. liz? liz: he's a former kgb chief. of course he's powerful. [laughter] oh, my goodness, and again, i go back to people who have in the past been supportive of the president, who are absolutely into this, blake what are people saying on the ground in helsinki because you're there and i can tell you that you're hearing a lot of people on the twitter from again former supporters of current supporters of the president saying what does russia have on him that he is disinclined to ever say anything negative or stand up to vladimir putin and even at the expense of our own national intelligence people whom president trump put into place. >> i'll tell you this much. being inside that room as it was happening and i was probably

it is the operations office who runs the whole national security council and runs intelligence through the national security process. it is hundreds of people. it is the kind of job where you work 30 hours a day. k.t. mcfarland always seemed like an odd fit for that job. nevertheless, they gave her that job. we now know in part on recommendation of maria bu tin that's boyfriend. >> she did not last long in that job. she left in the back wash after mike flynn was fired and then criminally charged in conjunction with the mueller investigation related to his contacts with the russian government. so this opened a whole new thing now. remember how the flynn disaster unfolded, right? just a few days after the trump inauguration. not even a week into the new administration, flynn was interviewed by the fbi at the white house about contacts had he had with the russian government. two days after that fbi interview, the acting attorney general of the united states, sally yates, called the white house counsel's office and expressed with some urgency that there was a matter of serious national sec

intelligence to stand up to the president of the united states. both chris wray and dan coats are putting their jobs on the line, frankly, making it clear they will not compromise national security or let intelligence be politicized despite politics. they agree that russia is a danger, as coats told me today, they are the ones, russia, who are trying to undermine our basic values. they are the ones trying to wreak havoc with our elections, and, he said, eigit's critical that we call them out on that with the elections coming up. >> andrea mitchell in aspen, thank you. >>> now to the immediate fallout, a day after the white house said trump was considering putin's proposal to have russia question americans. we get all of it from chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. >> reporter: brushing off backlash to his one on one, plans now for part two between donald trump and vladimir putin. >> were you aware of that? i just want to clarify. >> based on my reaction, i wasn't aware of that. >> reporter: the news surprising even the president's own director of national intelligence in aspen. >> would you recommend there not be a one-on-one without note-takers? >> if i were

director of the cyber threat intelligence integration center at the office of the director of national intelligence. they have been around since 2015 and tonya is a career fbi and intelligence analyst who is steeped in counterterrorism and cut her teeth in the days after 9/11 and so much so that she became in 2003 the first analyst to serve as the fbi director daily intelligence brief for she was mueller's daily intelligence brief or so you know she's incredibly smart and hurt background is still relevant to her current job because she heads an organization that was modeled after the national counterterrorism center which as you know address criticism that the intelligence community had missed connecting the intelligence dots that might have thwarted the al qaeda attack. see tick which fuses intelligence from across the government on cyber threat's provides assessments including the all-important attribution or who was behind the cyber attacks to our policymakers. next to tonya is jason matheny director of the intelligence advanced research project activity. i think of it as the art of the intellig

his own national intelligence found out in a live television interview. so after a summit that went so badly, you decide on a do over without telling your director of national intelligence? this comes a few days after cotes released a statement reaffirming that russia did in fact attack the 2016 election. he did that just after his boss, the president, called putin's denial a quote, extremely strong and powerful. russia teamed to interview with the last election and thats to engage in influence operations till this day. mike pompeo confirmed russia's hacking and warned it would continue. all three hand picked by guess who, president trump. all three. with desief assessments about russia's actions and intentions, and yet the president cast doubt on that while standing along side vladimir putin, of all people. got to ask yourself, why is that? i want to bring in now cnn political analyst, april ryan. and also bill, and republican strategist, rick wilson. good evening. good to have all of you on. bill, i want to play a stunning -- this is a stunning moment,

you decide a do-over without any telling your director of national intelligence? this comes just a few days after coats released a statement reaffirming that russia did, in fact, attack the 2016 election. he does that just after his boss, the president, called putin's denial a responsibility "extremely strong and powerful." the fbi director christopher ray said yesterday russia attempted to interfere with the last election, and that continues to engage and influence operations to this day. cia chief turned secretary of state mike pompeo confirmed russia's hacking and warned it would continue. all three hand picked by, guess who. president trump. all three with decisive assessments about russia's actions and intentions, and, yet, the president casts doubt on that while standing along side vladimir putin, of all people. got to ask yourself, why is that? i want to bring in now cnn political analyst april ryan. bill crystal, the editor at large of "the weekly standard" and rick wilson, republican strategist. good evening. good to have all of you on. >> good evening. >

the head of national intelligence, though, insists russia tried to sway the election. >>> new this morning, voters in san francisco will decide whether to tax businesses to help the homeless. a measure would add an average half percent tax on revenue above $50 million a year. it would raise about $300

joining us michael hayden, author of "the assault on national intelligence" and former director of national intelligence, james clapper, author of "facts and fears." hard truths from a life in intelligence. does an invitation to putin to the white house make sense in the fall based on how the last meeting seemed to have gone? >> as a matter of policy, no. actually, there is a rationale. we have a phrase out of langley, to live the cover story. the cover story for the president is that he was strong, that he was effective, that it was a successful meeting. i may be the only one in the national capitol area who is saying that. that's his story and sticking to it. he's messaging that's his story by saying, i will do it again. living his cover. fascinating. >> director clapper given the talk about ongoing attacks from russia, what does it say about inviting putin to the white house after that? >> this is something of a reward for bad behavior. >> i wasn't crazy about the first one. for that reason. what has putin done to help the united states? the typical pattern of the president is to double

. >> the president's nominee to be assistant secretary of state for intelligent and director of national counterterrorism center spoke about intelligence sharing with allies and federal spending on intelligence in their senate confirmation hearing. senator byrd of -- senator burr chairs the house intelligence committee. this is an hour and 10 minutes. call this hearing to order and i would like to welcome our witnesses today, vice admiral joseph mcguire for nominee for the counterterrorism center, and nominated for, the secretary of state for intelligence and research. i thank you for your years of honorable service to the united states. i would like to start by recognizing the family you have brought with you today. vice admiral mcguire, i understand you have your wife with you. soon to do some intervention this afternoon. >> yes mr. chairman. sen. burr: as well as your son and daughter. welcome to all of you. ms. mccarthy, i believe you have your husband gordon. he has been through similar of these before. he is here along with your children liam and eileen, and your mother-in-law. wel

itself with the white house. >> that's not the only choice facing dan coats the director of national intelligencelarry fire who ran the situation room under president george w. bush tweeted this afternoon quote with trump's reut pudiation of u.s. intelligence dan coats should resign in protest and disgust. unquote. do you agree, josh? >> there are two parts there, there is the principle and then the idea of can i be effective in this position? on one hand you have the president of the united states undercutting the intelligent community and the director by standing next to vladimir putin and telling the world i believe this former kgb agent over my own agencies. i think it would be difficult to stay in the job when the president is doing this. then we get to febtiveness, how can anyone who has stood behind these assessments basketball effective when the president is undercutting them? that seems to be the theme, that this is going to cascade beyond this one issue. it will uncut us on a host of issues. i don't know how someone stays in the job under those circumstances. >> speaking of criticism of

. >> and josh, you mentioned dni coats, director of national intelligence. you would imagine the first to be briefed on a meeting like this. do you, josh rogin, do you think this is all a martyr -- sorry. do -- matter of us being kept in the dark or is the pentagon, military and various agencies as well, are they also being kept in the dark? simply, they can't start working on these alleged oral agreements if they don't know what they are. >> that's right. now he we are five days after the helsinki summit and more and more details are coming out as people inside the administration get readouts, share information and brief colleagues. they know a lot more inside the administration than monday but it's still very incomplete and nobody really knows for sure what was said. i was able to report for the "washington post" details of the agreement on syria putin struck with netanyahu last week president trump endorsed publicly tuesday in his press conference at the white house following the summit. it's a fascinating deal that allows the assad ra sheemd ashi retake