we've seen a lot of top washington lawyers, ted olsen among them reportedly considered asked to come on to the white house team and say no. is it significant in your view that flood is considering doing this or seems to be signing on? >> reporter: yes. and my reporting is, and i'm sure others have as well, that he has met with the president in the oval office going back a few months. i was told he might have been considered for a different kind of role inside the white house, and so it is -- that was, of course, at a time when the cobb spot was filled. so this notion of flood being on the president's radar has certainly existed. why flood would choose to leave the firm, one would assume he would take a leave of absence, break ties with the firm. big firms do that with frequency when partners go from government service back to the private sector and so forth. you could argue from a legal point of view it's rich in opportunities for a loyal to test some of their skills, also fraught with a lot of problems, perhaps, but this is very significant, if the president has, in fact, been able