saved russian lives. as i mentioned, there is an appropriate manner and procedure for doing that. they need to be followed scrupulously so there's not going to be an undermining of those collection capabilities and systems. >> director, you warn there would be consequences if they meddled in our elections. when you look at that picture and the manner in which allegedly classified information was conveyed to the russians, do you see consequences for their actions? mr. brennan: again, i don't know the totality of the actions that have been taken against the russians. i know the obama administration in january took actions against them. so, i believe that depending on how this investigation proceeds, by the fbi and special counsel as well as the work of the committees, and i agree the appointment of special counsel should not stop these committees -- you are supposed to be looking at what we need to do to strengthen our system so we are better prepared. i believe the consequences need to be levied on the rus

the russians want sanctions lifted. it wouldn't be the whole kit and caboodle because they want a free hand over eastern europe, but they want the sanctions lifted. >> evelyn, thank you very much for joining us, really appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> coming up, if the russians didn't know that u.s. spies were listening to their ambassador, they do now. of course, they have always known that. but, maybe jared kushner didn't know it. former director of the cia, john mclaughlin will join us next. the future isn't silver suits and houses on mars, it's right now. think about it. we can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. find love anywhere. he's cute. and buy things from, well, everywhere. how? because our phones have evolved. so isn't it time our networks did too? introducing america's largest, most reliable 4g lte combined with the most wifi hotspots. it's a new kind of network. xfinity mobile. >>> i know what the russians try to do. they try to suborn individuals, and they try to get individuals, including

the united states keeps the russian ambassador and the russian embassy under close watch. and it seems to ha paid off in this case. the "washington post" reports ambassador sergey kislyak reported to his superiors in moscow that kushner, then president-elect trump's son-in-law and confidante made the proposal during a meeting on december 1st or 2nd at trump tower, according to intercepts of russian communications that were reviewed by u.s. officials. kislyak said kushner suggested using russian diplomatic facilities in the united states for the communications. the meeting also was attended by michael flynn, trump's first national security adviser. and so tonight we have just moved a little closer to an explanation of why president trump seemed so protective of michael flynn, why president trump appointed michael flynn national security adviser even though he knew michael flynn was under fbi investigation, and why after firing michael flynn, president trump continues to say that michael flynn is a good man, and why some reports indicate that president trump hopes that micha

here is a report that has gotten from a communication source, ie, the russians talking to the russians that say that jared kushner wants to communicate with us, over what? a different one from the one kislyak was use sng i seriously doubt it. in other words he was saying he has every reason to believe is going to be intercepted that jared kushner wants to communicate with the russians over a communication channel that may very well also be intercepted. i don't know whether this is true but it sounds a little bit surprising. >> it sounds very surprising. there's a lot that's very, very surprising as you and i know. there are u.s. officils that want to have back channel conversations with other governments including some governments not necessarily all that friendly to the united states but if you do it through thir embassy that's pretty surprising. why wouldn't jared kushner's attorney or the white house flatly deny this story if there's nothing there. >> i have no idea. it may very well be that they prefer to talk in context about the entire issue of what the fbi wants to fautalk to th

the fact that comey felt he had to act a based on russian disinformation is a stark example of how russian interference impact t decisions making at the highest levels of the u.s. government during the 2016 campaign. the russian information at issue claims to show that then doerge lynch has been compromised because of e-mails by then dnc debbie wasserman shultz would make the clinton probe go away. comey said he was afraid the information would "drop" and undermine the investigation. comey did not say he doubted the accuracy of the information, even in a classified setting. according to sources close comey, the fbi director felt that the validity of the information didn't matter because if it became public, they have no way to discredit it without burning sources and methods. pamela. >> and the reason for break protocol and holding the press conference was bill clinton boarded loretta lynch's plane and talked to her. >> he said so publicly when he testified last time in may but in the last sessions he didn't even mention the plane incident, i'm told. he said the russian information was the

the united states keeps the russian ambassador and the russian embassy under close watch. and it seems to have paid off in this case. "the washington post" reports ambassador sergey kislyak reported to his superiors in moscow that kushner, then president-elect trump's son-in-law and confidante, made the proposal during a meeting on december 1st or 2nd at trump tower, according to intercepts of russian communications that were reviewed by u.s. officials. kislyak said kushner suggested using russian diplomatic facilities in the united states for the communications. the meeting also was attended by michael flynn, trump's first national security adviser. and so tonight we have just moved a little closer to an explanation of why president trump seemed so protective of michael flynn, why president trump appointed michael flynn national security adviser even though he knew michael flynn was under fbi investigation, and why after firing michael flynn, president trump continues to say that michael flynn is a good man, and why some reports indicate that president trump hopes that mi

businesses, russian government officials and others as well as russian intelligence services in order to cover their tracks and be able to carry out their el legal, illicit, even immoral actions. >> avoiding taxes, sanctions? >> i'm sorry? >> avoiding taxes, sanctions? >> avoiding any number of problems for them, and they become very adept over the years at money laundering. >> are you familiar with which particular country or countries that they're principally involved with money laundering? >> i'm aware of some, but again, i would defer to the agency at this time to identify the priority ones. >> cypress? >> they use banking institutions in a number of countries. a lot of times what they're doing with some of the financial elements in countries is unbeknownst to the governments, and so, there are a number of financial centers around the world that the russians have become quite active in. >> and i agree that the home country may not be aware and probably isn't aware of all that's taking place, but you would certainly be aware and concerned if there were u.s. persons involved with th

he graduated from a russian academy that trains people to work in russian security forces.s how the white house explained the nature of kushner's meeting with the banker. jared did a job wiin the campai, he want gts to be very clear about who he talked to. >> in a statement, the bank said, it's executives met with kushner, not as a representative of the white house, but as head of kushner companies. the ban said it's leaders met with numerous financial executives as it developed a new strategy for the bank. >> it's interesting that the russians seemed to contradict what jared kushner said when he said that he was acting as a liaison between the campaign and foreign governments, so i'm sure that that will be an issue, that we'll try to clarify. >> reporter: what exactly was discussed between kushner and the banker remains a mystery. though jared kushner is going to answer the senate intelligence committee's questions about another meeting that he had with russian ambassador sergey kislayak. it was kislayak that suggested kushner meet with the russian banker. the in fact that

it is one of the few remaining independent news sources in the russian limits the day -- russian language today. unfortunately, the environment in russia today is not one that allows for freedom of expression. we are delighted that we were able to host -- in berlin about on the rise of this information -- disinformation. i would like to hand the floor over to our established and a unified moderator, melinda herring. she's the editor of our flagship newsletter, ukraine alert. with as pria fellow fpri, the foreign policy research institute. and we have the chief executive of the medusa project. i will leave it up to them to tell you more about their story. atase remember to follow us #russiafactor. >> good afternoon. thank you all so much for coming out. we have the pleasure of having to of russia's top journalists with us today. -- two russia's top journalists with us today. we have 30 minutes for q&a with our audience. i hope you can prepared. can you tell us more about your article and the response? >> thank you for having me here. in 2014, march 12, as far as i remember, i was fired for

he cannot attack did russians. you want to attack the russians. he's attacking americans. how can you sit here as a patriot and say he's doing anything right at all? >> it was against -- he was so in with the russians why would would he drop the bombs in syria. >> rrnt you a parent? have you ever had a kid get in trouble and point to the other kid? that's what you're doing. don't talk about the other kid. >> what i'm saying -- >> let's talk about the other kid. >> the kid right now dropped bombs on the syrian forces that russia is backing. how is that in with the russians? question. question to the panel. how's that? >> i'll tell you right now. he is not doing anything that is remotely causing problems for the russian agenda all he wants. he can bomb all the concrete he wants. you have not said anything about the elections. you have a president who defends elections. why b don't you care more about this country than -- >> reply to that, jack. when mueller continues the investigation and with people like sue rice and unmasking, and if he follows where the senator said let's

persons and the russians. and as we came upon that, we would share it with the bure. >> i appreciate that you don't do evidence, director brennan. unfortunately, that's what i do. that's the word we use. you used the word assessment, you used the word trade craft. i use the word evidence. and the good news for me is lots of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle use the word evidence, too. one of my colleagues said there is more than circumstantial evidence of collusion between the russians and the trump campaign. now, there are only two types of evidence. there's circumstantial and direct. so, if it's more than circumstantial, by necessity, it has to be direct. those aren't my words. those are the words of one of my colleagues on the other side of this very committee. another democrat colleague on the other side of this committee also used the word evidence, that he has seen evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and the russians. and yet, a third california democrat said she had seen no evide

russian state actors? >> as i said, mr. gowdy, i don't do evidence. and we were uncovering information and intelligence about interactions and contacts between u.s. persons and the russians, and as we came upon that, we would share it with the bureau. >> i appreciate that you don't do evidence, director brennan. unfortunately, that's what i do. that's the word we use. you use the word assessment, you use the word trade craft. i use the word evidence, and the good news for me, lots of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle use the word evidence, too. one of my colleagues said there's more than circumstantial evidence of collusion between the russians and the trump campaign. now, there are only two types of evidence, there's circumstantial and direct, so if it's more than circumstantial, by necessity, it has to be direct. those aren't my words, those are the words of one of my colleagues on the other side of this very committee. another democrat colleague on the other side of this committee also used t

the russians know it exists.leaked it was so disturbed by the conduct that they were willing to allow that interception ability to go away, ari. >> you're saying something different than what some of our guests have focused on thus fare, that number one, intelligence sources are telling you the nature of the allegations in the "post" report is a game changer regarding kushner. number two, the actual sources and methods which we hear about i think from administrations in both parties, what is at risk with too much leaking, that the sources and methods here showing that line back to the kremlin, which is part of what makes this such a hot, interesting story, you're saying is now really endangered by the decision to write the letter. so can you shed any light on who would have done it and why? >> well, you know, we've seen a pattern of incredible and unusual leaks in this administration that we haven't seen before. when you talk about transcripts of conversations or notes of conversations in the oval office, about c

the russians know it exists.so disturbed by the conduct that they were willing to allow that interception ability to go away, ari. >> you're saying something different than what some of our guests have focused on thus guests have focused on thus far, that number one, intelligence sources are telling you the nature of the allegations in "the post" report is a game changer regarding kushner. number two, the actual sources and methods which we hear about i think from administrations in both parties, what is at risk with too much leaking, that the sources and methods here showing that line back to the kremlin, which is part of what makes this such a hot, interesting story, you're saying is now really endangered by the decision to write the letter. so can you shed any light on who would have done it and why? >> well, you know, we've seen a pattern of incredible and unusual leaks in this administration that we haven't seen before. when you talk about transcripts of conversations or notes of conversations in the oval of

they won't identify themselves as russians or members of the russian government. they'll try to develop that personal relationship. then over time they will try to get individuals to do things on their behalf. and that's why again having been involved in a lot of counterintelligence cases over the years, and seeing this pattern over and over again, my radar goes up when i see that the russians are actively involved in a particular intelligence operation or campaign, and that u.s. persons are being contacted by russian officials. >> so is it fair to assume the phrase you used previously was that you were worried by contacts that there might have been efforts to suborn. is it fair to say that those contacts might have been consistent with that e-old russian recruitment methodology? >> sure. and these are contacts that might have been totally innoc t insignificant and benign. >> let me shift focus from americans to russians. we hear a lot about russian oligarchs. not asking about specific russian oligarchs. we may do that in closed session. but can you tell us a litt

. >> on monday, two russian journalists talked about the state of russian media, their own expulsions from previous media jobs, and the role of dissident media in russia. this is an hour and 25 minutes. alina: good afternoon, everyone. my name is alina polyakova, i'm the director of research for europe and eurasia here at the atlantic council. it's my pleasure to host all of you and our listing which guests for this panel and conversation today. we pride ourselves on relationships that we have built with russia's independent voices and civil society. we believe that it is our role as a nonpartisan organization to work in a bipartisan way in washington and elsewhere, and is rooted in transatlantic values and principles, that it is our duty to serve as a platform for freedom fighters from around the world, including our russian friends and colleagues. last year, we host many events that brought together washington analysts, thinkers, researchers and , policymakers together with russia's independent voices. here.ted on author woman whoar from a spoke about her father's assassination and

we saw that with the russian reset. we saw that with president obama early on in his tenure saying he'd have more flexibility with medvedev after the election. that's what was happening here. they were trying to have back channel communications to do it differently, be more discreet, have it work better than the current situation. what is your concern about back channel communications? >> well, back channel communications, that is a long-standing practice of sitting administrations. i think the concern that i have and others had was whether or not the time honored principle of one president at a time in this country was being adhered to. i think that was the principle concern. >> why should people care beauty that? if it's just done to, hey, we're getting in there, this is fait accompli, we're next, obama is on his way out. let's get an early start. what is the concern? >> i think it's legitimate to establish contacts, to meet and greet people and all that. but i think if it steps over the line of undermining the polici

they won present themselves as russians or members of the russian government. and then over time they will try to get individuals to do things on their behalf and that's why, again, having been involved in a lot of counterintelligence cases over the years and seeing this pattern over and over again, my radar goes up when i see that the russians are actively involved in a particular intelligence, operation or campaign and that u.s. persons are being contacted by russian officials. >> see, in some ways, all of us who are watching this unfold every day, this remarkable news, we are all stumped by the trump/russia story because as americans we all know american politics. we know that the range of things that can happen in american politics, or at least we thought we did. but things like this trump/russia thing, they don't happen in american politics and so they are foreign to us and everything about it is unexpected. but things like this do happen in russian espionage efforts. this is foreign to us as politics. this is not foreign to john brennan as a lifelong obse

photographer supposedly from the russian foreign ministry really from task we're told, official russian news agency allowed in and took the pictures. you see a smiling president, smiling russian ambassador to the united states. we only got a photograph from the white house official photographer the next day. no pictures with kysliak. you wanted to make a point, senator. >> of course there is no pictures with kysliak because general flynn was fired because of his involvement with him. attorney general sessions today come back and explain with the senate judiciary committee. you would think that nobody would want to be seen with him. we know kysliak's involvement with russia and with the united states. he is not here as a friend. and i think the russians are making a point to say, hey, there could be this guy who we rely on and it disturbed a lot of members of senate both republicans and democrats. >> senator of the report in the washington post, says and i'm quoting now, trump revealed the city and islamic states territory where the u.s. intelligence partner detected this latest threat.

russian thing.ped the meetings and phone calls with comey to use it against him. it's all this me against comey, it's coming after the russian thing. then he meets with the russians himself and they're chuckling away, he tells them about top secret stuff in the middle east whar what's going on here. what's he up to. >> this is the same guy that jeff sessions got into so much trouble. these are people -- and it's smoke and fire. >> you can back him out. this is up next, tell me something i don't know, this is hard ball with the action news. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ and we're partnering with cigna to help save lives. we are the tv doctors of ameri

government of the russian intelligent services. so you might get in that relationship, a business relationship or other relationship unwhitingly and find yourseattacked within the n well. these contacts were going on and the context of the interference with the election and another that you could have other contacts where the person may be even unwhiting of who they're dealing with. >> do you think that happened in this particular case between trump associations and russian agents? >> well, that's really what we need to investigate. and i think the director was absolutely right, we've had access to a lot of the information that the director provided to the fbi, i think he was right to do so, i think the fbi was right to embark on its investigation. so, i think those are exactly the steps we would want our intelligence of long -- to take, they took those steps. now in congress, we need to make sure we follow the evidence we're also obtaining to its logical conclusion. >> congressman adam shift thanks for joining us. >>> just ahead w

kislyak and other russian officials. when they made the decision to fire director comey, was the white house aware he had reportedly chastised the justice department for more resources t for adequate investigation and perhaps the most important question of all, when willo republicans in congress agreed to support a special prosecutor and an independent commission to get to the bottom of collusion in our last presidential d election. september 8, 2016 as the date to live in fiber and for me. is that election that the russian set out to change the results. the first time we've seen an offer to do this and many on the other side of the aisle take a whole lot of attitude just another example of kids being kids.s i don't excel. one of our major adversaries in the world decides to impact thea choice of leader of the free b world coming night they should stand up and fight back. this is all happening less than one week after a hacking attack another democratic election in france and all signs point akin to rush as perpetrators.

>> on the part of the russians? they would certainly use that as they have in places like georgia and the baltics where they will turn evidence or what they have gathered and use that as can use -- or if they compromising material. there are all kinds of nefarious things they can do if they gather information like that. >> one way that we talked about this issue in the present almost in d.c. is it is always retrospective about our election in 2016. it devolves into a shirts and skins exercise about what candidate you support it. director comey said he expects the russians to be back in 2018 and back with a vengeance in 2020. it would be helpful for the american people to understand what russia does with its near neighbors now. could you unpack how that on works -- works. >> those countries in the former still orbit in which they feel paternal about, moldova, the baltics, georgia, they are very aggressive in using all the multitude of tools that were on the senators checklist wherever they can however they can. they

you're listening to the russians.o you believe them, especially if you think they might believe that that chain -- that avenue of communications is already compromised? remember, chain of acquisition. they are talking to somebody who is talking to somebody. when we did this in fourth grade we -- we referred to this as a game of telephone. once you get three or four steps removed and it's the same in the intelligence business, seriously, you're saying i don't know who they acquired it from and who the subsource, is so when you're three or four steps out, you don't even know if the russians are accurate or honest in their portrayal of this conversation, and then you take two or three steps out. you've got to investigate, it wolf, but i'm suspicious of this on the surface. >> well, let's say it's true, how would they leverage it if in fact they did have derogatory financial information about then candidate donald trump? what would they do with that. >> >> this is what i find curious about this conversation. when we go in

so his orbit includes a lot of russians, all of those russians having a connection of course to the president of the country. >> jeremy bash, before i come to you, i want to share with all of you a moment that transpired on air at this network tonight during the 8:00 p.m. hour with chris hayes. for all those who would like to know how the people in our intelligence and counter-intelligence community viewed this story tonight, listen to our own intelligence expert, a veteran of many years in the field, malcolm nance. >> some of these contacts are so suspicious that they would have warranted their own counter-intelligence investigation. this nation is in a counter-intelligence investigation. they are in a spy hunt over at the fbi. and now we have this story. should it prove true, of an american citizen who is the senior adviser to the president of the united states attempting to establish what we call in the intelligence community covert communications with a hostile nation's potential intelligence agency or senior leadership? that brings you -- that crosses the line to the espionage act of 191

but they noticed that now only 56% of russians, of russian population, name television as a main source of news. three years ago it was 83. it's declining impact. it seems to me ivan missed one great point. nowadays, video and youtube channels are extremely popular among russian population. and even local politicians is there trying to be youtube stars. >> maybe you could tell us how novolny used youtube during the march protest. >> a youtube star. novolny realized there's an alternative television in russia, it's video bloggers, they're stars among the youngsters. they have millions of viewers. and so i think a couple of years ago, novolny decided to invest all free money, all free resources and all free time, into creating their own content for youtube. so it started from i think zero. and he looks like robot, in his first videos. it was pathetic. it was stupid. >> and now -- >> but now he's a very popular video blogger. >> he was broadcasting during this horrific situation with his eye, when somebody thrown liquid acid into his face and he was almost blind in the right eye. he broadc

by the russians. flynn paid by the russians. all coming at trump to try to influence him. at the same time trump's got his son-in-law going to relate to the top russian bank guy to talk about sanctions. it looks like ape ki kissing bo. both sides seem to want to get together. what is this? it's not like one side is coming after them and he doesn't want to meet them. he said, why don't you meet my beloved son-in-law? he's going to come and talk to you about this. >> let's take a step back and remind you -- >> i don't want to take a step back. why are they talking to each other? why are there so many russian type as round trump? why does he have them all over the place? >> so you had this campaign. the russians are trying to interfere in the election. they're hacking. they're leaking information to hurt democrats and to help donald trump. then the intelligence community sees these unexplained contacts between trump associates and the russians. that's not normal. the russians are an intelligence adversar

it was a russian airplane that was blown up over the sinai.he russians are sensitive to laptops that explode in airplanes. i can see this is kind of a scenario that you imagine from "the washington post" story. you see the president saying our sources in tel aviv are telling us, or somewhere else, that they are working on this new explosive. it could be something as simple and offhanded is that that would explain the entire story. is it a hanging offense? no. is it a mistake? yes. it could be a problem dealing with our allies. i can't see it as being a permanent breach since it wasn't deliberate. >> is a political matter, i think this feeds not into some russia corrupt relationship story but into a story that has to do with donald trump and his ability to pull things off, the competence question. that was raised last week by the ham-handed handling of the comey fire which was something he had every right to do and many people in both parties thought he should do or at least thought should be done. but the handling of it was slipshod, careless,

and, you know, when you see a president who allows the russians, the russian foreign minister, the russian ambassador, and he's telling them in the white house confidential and secret information and then goes on a trip, and he talks to individuals who are our allies in nato and says things that are insulting to them, that only helps russia. and then you see the individuals of whether it's flynn, whether it's the attorney general sessions, whether his son-in-law all with the surroundings of trying to deal with russia. he's not running from that. then there's something that is there, and that's why i am glad we have a special prosecutor who will take his time and uncover and look at every piece of evidence and make a judgment as to what is or is not there. this doesn't surprise me, though, just by looking at all of the individuals that have surrounded trump and just what took place in the white house just a week ago. >> again, the headline here, russian ambassador told moscow that kushner wanted secret communications channel with the kremlin. and, ken vogel, also to read further in this art

and the russian ambassador. to kind of compare this to hillary clinton's email, which was never publicized, it's like look here, the emails, this comes up time and time again. and the fact that we are talking about president trump, and the issue here, which you're sharing foreign intelligence, incredibly sensitive intelligence, by a foreign ally, who has all right told you if you share this information, they're going to cut you off. >> i'm worried about your show at 9:00 tonight. i'm very worried that nancy pelosi is just the kind of person to politicize this issue. it should not be politicized. we should put aside all the stuff about comey, we should put aside the stuff about whether the campaign had any connections, as americans, republicans and democrats focus on how serious this is in a nonpolitical way, damage control must occur first. we must now react to it on the assumption that this information has been dissem natured, the worst case scenario is that the information flow may have stopped. we need to sto

the issue is that jared kushner wanted this done with russian equipment at a russian embassy. the only reason he would want to do that is hide those communications from u.s. intelligence and makes you wonder who's side is he on and what is he hiding. >> this communication happens between kislyak and russian ambassador and moscow. >> kislyak reported to moscow that it was jared kushner suggested this line of communication. is it possible or have you considered the fact that it is possible that russia may have been lying about this communication all together and in attempt to mislead u.s. officials if they believe this u.s. officials were listening to their conversations. >> this whole incident again shows that russia is not america's ally. they tried to under mind our elections last year and they're trying to under mind our democracy this year. for a jared kushner to not have disclose this meeting on his security clearance form, that's simply a violation of federal law. i have filled out security clearance form and right on the form, it says if you make a false statement, you a

the russians have always talked about it.is a win, win, win situation for the russians. the more we talk about impeachment, the russians view that as essentially maybe there's something they can do to help that version of regime change, which is something that they accuse us of all the time. if the president never gets as far as impeachment because the investigation doesn't bear it out, that's perhaps a win for them. then we can get back to the trump they knew during the campaign who was talking about the lifting sanctions and who was talking about -- it doesn't matter about cry mere imea. this is the last big win for them. how our allies and nato and western allies see this. they see us talking about impeachment. they see us wrapped around the axle about leaks which frankly had been around in this town for god knows how long. the russians see this as a wedge. they're all about dividing and concurring. there's very few scenarios that the russians don't get something out of this, whether it's talking about leaks, impeachment o

information to the russians. among our guests, a former watergate prosecutor, a former u.s. ambassador to russia, and a former kgb spy, along with the journalists working on this still-developing story, as "the 11th hour" gets under way. >>> well, good evening once again from our headquarters here in new york. put it this way, "the washington post" story that came out late today broke their previous record for internet traffic, set on the day the "access hollywood" outtakes were published. today's explosive stories says president trump revealed highly classified information to the russian foreign minister, and the russian ambassador during an oval office meeting last week. u.s. officials tell "the post" the information jeopardized a critical source of intelligence in the fight against isis and that the intelligence was not ours to share. the report says "the information the president relayed had been provided by a u.s. partner through an intelligence sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have b

they want not only the russians to pay a price, they want anybody who colluded with the russians or aided and abetted them to pay a price as well, and there are criminal statutes that prohibit that kind of collusion and impose serious criminal fines and imprisonment for people who might have done that. and we know that the fbi is now investigating the potential collusion of terrorism associates and trump campaign and administration officials with the russians as director comey has told us and made public, so there's no classified information there. the meeting that the fbi conducted on january 24th preceded by one day approximately your first meeting with donnell mcgann. isn't it a fact that michael nine flied to the fbi? >> i can't reveal the internal fbi investigation, senator, even though that part would not be technically classified, it's an ongoing investigation and i can't reveal that. >> did you tell donald mcgiann then national security advisers michael flynn told the truth. >> >> he asked me how he had done in the investigation and i declined to answer that. >> because it was par

the president speaking that openly to the russian foreign minister and the russian ambassador. u.s. ambassador kislyak who is at the center of a lot of these allegations of improper contacts. >> contacts with michael flynn, jared kushner and jeff sessions is and because of that conversation and having to recuse himself. clearly at the center, why that photo right thereto is astounding, just dominating the airwaves for the last week and confounding people. to the add to caitlin's point, also, yes, they heard the real explanation first and yet yesterday the president is back torment explaining it as it was the rosenstein memo and comey's investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails so sequentially when this happened we're learning again that he has gone back and forth now about what the rationale was for firing jim comey. he tells lester holt and one thing and his aides and yesterday in the press conference he's all on something else. no consistency in that story is going to be part of that thing. >> bob mueller, the new special counsel will have his hands full over the next mont

russian economic relations. that would be the purposes of these conversations that we know that happened between flynn, kushner and the russian ambassador according to this new report. does this reach the point of discussing those economic relation, i'm sure that's the question the fbi wants to know of easing sanctions and if there was a quid pro quo. >> in 1968 there were communications between the nixon team and russians to create a back channel. so part of these discussions could have been about syria and some kind of new strategy to develop that. the economic sanctions is trickier. this is a subject, not just a legal discussion but a political discussion. the question is, were trump officials working and communicating with the russians making promises, potentially, about easing the economic sanctions that are very troublesome to the russians, jared kushner met with the helped of a bank that was subject to the sanctions, and that, i think, would bring the discussions into a different realm, particularly at a

that the russians also knew about what general flynn had done and the russians also knew that general flynn had mislead the vice president and others. in the media accounts, it was cheer from the vice president and others that they were repeated what general flynn had told them. this was a problem. because not only did we believe the russians knew this, but they likely had proof of this information. that created a compromise situation, a situation where the nation national security adviser could be blackmailed by the russians. finally, we told them that we were giving them all of this information so they could take action. the action that they deemed appropriate. i remember mr. mcgann asked me if general flynn should be fired. i told them that wasn't our call. that was up to them. we were giving them this information so that they could take action. that was the first meeting. >> thank you. very quick question. either one of you aware of incidental collections by intelligence community of any presidential candidate, staff or campaign during the 2016 election cycle? >> say again. i'm so

let's remember, it is russian covert communications, very specifically kushner goes to the russians andt i can use. this is not something set up by the united states through the united states to make sure we get to somebody else. this is literally our adversary setting up a communication system so you can excde the state department, you can exclude the bureau, exclude cia, exclude nsa, and think about what that means. you think about the number of men and women around the world who are americans that risk their lives on a daily basis. think of the number of assets recruited by the cia as well as assets recruited by allies and realize they're all at risk. we can talk about the big picture all day long if we want to. the problem is imagine what happens when we have to sit down after the fact with relatives of that dead asset and explain well, you understand, the president likes to be a big boy. he wants to act like a big boy, wants to do this behind the scenes. you think we're not outraged? you think all of us shouldn't be outraged? this is not a left or right question. this is not about

that's also what he said to the russians. the white house did not dispute the account today, saying by grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into russia's actions, james comey created necessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with russia. a very different reaction from democrats. senator casey from pennsylvania tweeted, if there was any question as to why comey was really fired, donald trump just answered it. as i said, nixonian. meanwhile, the "washington post" stated that the state of the investigation, quote, the law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between russia and the trump campaign has identified a current white house official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest leveled of government now, according to people familiar with the matter. the senior white house adviser under scrutiny right now by investigators is someone said to be, quote, close to the president. according to these people who have not further identified the

we don't need russian hackers. trump is just giving his secrets to us by himself. >> do you have any relatives in russia? do you have any friends to tell what they think of it over there? do you get any of that kind of ing put? >> yeah, i am. they think we've lost our gosh darn minds. they think that, you know, that really this is us trying to blame -- and even people who don't like putin, they think russia is simply not capable of doing something like this just because they live in a country where nothing works. so they don't see a reason why this would work with exception to everything else, with few exceptions. >> okay. thank you. >> and they think that we're just trying to look for excuses when really we created trump, and they have a point. >> well, let me ask you eli, you know the government here. i have confidence in two forces -- straight front page media. i think it's better than it's ever been in years. i think the trade craft of the top metropolitan papers is unbelievable right now, the people we have on

evidence given to anyone regarding russian intervention.t's it. >> shepard: the russian foreign minister released this photo on twitter. president trump said firing comey did not affect the meeting today. that photo taken by the tas news agency of the soviet union. american journalists were not allowed access. the ministry released this photo as well. the white house read-out of the meeting did not mention this ambassador at all. president trump fired michael flynn after he lied to the vice president, mike pence about conversations with ambassador kislyak before the inauguration. rich edson is at the state department this afternoon. rich? >> good afternoon, shep. this is normally a common occurrence where an ambassador heats with the head of state. except when it's not given all that's going on behind this. this is also what played out a month ago in moscow except the country's reversed. rex tillerson had gone to moscow, was invited to the kremlin and met with vladimir putin. so that's not an odd occurrence at all. they're also laying the g

from the russian point of view nato is an existential threat?upporting the growth of democracy throughout the growth of democracy throughout the european region. we do not need to be opposed to russia or a threat to be opposed to russia or a threat to russia, we certainly should try to russia, we certainly should try to make peace with russia, have economic relations with russia, but we cannot tolerate russian interference in the elections and western democracies and i would agree that the us and the uk and other countries should not seek to interfere in russian politics either. the russian people have the right to choose their own government, so do the people of the us and the uk and other countries as well. professor, thank you very much indeed. thank you. two years of war in yemen have created what the un has described as the world's largest humanitarian crisis. as well as impending famine, the country is also facing an unprecedented outbreak of cholera. 0ur correspondent nawal al—maghafi has this special report. frail, weak, and fighting for

which the russians are monitoring and the u.s. cannot. it is bizarre, malcolm, it is what does it say to you? >> well, first off, it's bizarre. i think to a certain extent a lot of people certainly in the news media i've heard of in the last 24 hours are pulling their punches on this thing. this is not bizarre, this is incredibly suspicious. there is no reason that any of these communications should have happened, much less 18 of them. no other administration in transition has ever had communications with a foreign adversary at all. certainly not like this one. now, with regards to jared kushner's recommendation, people are saying that maybe he was just naive. this isn't naive. this is a man who came from a billion dollar industry. he knows what the meaning of going into another corporation's headquarters and then using their secure communications would mean and how that would look certainly to the united states. there is a lot more than why here, which is always the question we in the intelligence community ask. another question