she said she did not warn anybody about an investigation into mike flynn. what's said here today is significant, and that's what a lot of folks are looking to see. will her alarm bell match up to what sean spicer said her alarm bell actually was? >> nicolle wallace, it has been written and i have read that michael flynn is the one person that trump aides are pretty unified on wanting some distance. >> yeah, that's true. and there were some stories that broke about him late friday night when jeremy and i held that meeting late night. the white house seemed to respond this morning and late yesterday making it clear that president trump still wants people to defend michael flynn and to say he was a good man that was the victim of a witch hunt. what's fascinating to me, we're 20 minutes in and nobody accepts the white house rationale that sally yates was fired because of the briefing. the best reason for why she no longer works in a government that no one said she didn't serve faithfully was not obeying the unconstitutional travel ban. so this whole thing hinge

mike flynn reportedly spoke to about sanctions before trump's inauguration. both of those guys into the oval office. again, we have only these images of the meeting, because the russian government released them from the news agency tass. u.s. reporters and photographers not allowed in. and about how the meeting came together? political plit coolitico said t about his decision to meet with lavrov. he chose to meet him because putin asked him to. he asked specifically on the call when they last talked. let's bring in former u.s. ambassador to russia during the obama militia. i don't mean to might. mike mcfaul. and from the atlantic, russian born journalist. doubting the wisdom of allowing russian photographers into the oval office on top of the face of it. no american journalists allowed in for the russian meeting for what they might have brought with them. perhaps this is a good opportunity, as i always ask you, to repeat to the american people. we have been attacked and are under attack by russia? >> well, we were attacked by russia. they influenced one of th

flynn well in advance of the time that the president pushed mike flynn out of his job. and that won't look good for the president and it won't look good for the white house. i think the question will be to some degree what detail she gives on exactly what she said and exactly what she knew. but this is going to be a big moment. >> and jonathan, real quick, i want to get your reaction to hillary clinton starting a political action group which could launch as early as the coming week. what do you know about it and how much does this buy her with resistance against president trump? >> she certainly, it looks like, wants to be part of that resistance, as she said. she wants to get back into the political game and be part of the upcoming campaigns in 2018. but it's interesting she decided to form a political action committee after a cycle in which, you know, i think she was seen as more political, obviously, because she was campaigning and her trust numbers and her approval rating went down. >> jonathan allen, kevin robilar, thanks so much for your time this morning. >> than

there are other folks in the investigation who you mentioned, mike flynn and paul manmanafort who maybe are more obvious on that front, although kushner has been involved in some interactions that maybe would get your feelers up a little bit. but you're right, we're not yet connecting the financial crimes piece of this to kushner. >> you said you've been able to do more reporting so that you can name him. the justice department is not commenting on this at all. obviously everybody has been chafing this story as hard as they can. once you guys said person of interest in the white house, everybody has been trying to figure out who it is. do you suspect this is the sort of thing where either the fbi or the justice department would ever make a public statement about this, if he does become a target of the investigation which i know you're not saying he is now, if he did become a target, would we expect him or his lawyers to be notified of that fact? is that how this works? >> in some investigations they will send what's called aarget letter to people and say, hey, you are the target of this

i actually think there are two mike flynns. i think that this public and the one that you hear about and the one -- the people who knew mike flynn before when i was government, the head of the dia, he was a person that had worked the ranks, was considered thoughtful. he had some management challenges at dia which ultimately let to him being fired by the obama administration, but there was nothing that would have told you in his biography then that he would be in this position now, that that -- that that justifies anything he may have done more recently, we don't know. that's why there's an investigation and mike flynn is interesting. he's an enigma. he may be a criminal. we don't know that part yet but that he's complicated is certainly true, and his complications, taking money from the russians are, doing those speeches, his clients in urge itty, that complication is actually what got him into -- into so much trouble. >> and michael thorks that point, all of the reporting that -- that's getting the president into trouble comes

mike flynn was right about it. whatever you think about what he did hear her or his explanation since he was right about that. he was sounding the alarmtime ws saying al qaeda was on the run. they weren't. and mike flynn was right about that. the idea that sean spicer would say you know, the obama administration should've pulled mike flynn's clearance, can you imagine how the trump campaign would have responded? as he is campaigning? 's to go the trump campaign should have worried about vetting michael flynn, so they would have avoided this headache that they have. one of the questions that's been raised during the testimony, and i think it's worth pursuing, why did the trump administration keep flynn on from that january january 28, the 18 days? they have this information and flynn was still attending classified briefings. >> bret: senator franken posited that perhaps he was concerned about other people and other communications and he just threw that out there in the hearing, saying maybe it's one of the reasons.

she answered, of course, it's a problem because mike flynn could be blackmailed. so she doesn't know what happened inside the white house. we just know from our reporting that mike flynn did his job for 18 days until the story leaked to "the washington post." and that's when the trump administration moved to fire mike flynn. >> ken delaney live for us. thank you. >>> senator ted cruz had pointed questions for sally yates as well. cruz had questioned yates about refusing to implement the controversial travel ban, a move that led to her firing. >> are you familiar with -- >> not off the top of my head, no. >> whenever the president find that the entry of any alien or class of aliens into the united states would be detrimental to the interest of the united states he may, by proclamation and for any period he deems necessary suspend the entry of aliens or class of aliens or impose on the aliens any restrictions he may deem appropriate. would you agree that that is broad statutory obligation? >> i am and i'm familiar with that and an additional provision that says no p

of mike flynn and carter page flame. it was closed to the press. the still photos we are able to show you came from the russian government news agency. today also saw the white house on defense trying to explain the reasoning and the timing for comey's firing. >> the president took the advice of the deputy attorney general who over sees the director of the fbi and they made a decisioning to remove him. >> the president's decision to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and attorney general to remove director comey as head of the fbi was based solely and exclusively on his commitment to the best interested of the american people and insuring that the fbi has the trust and confidence of the people of this nation. >> very much for being here. appreciate it. >> why did you fire director comey? >> because he was not doing a good job. very simply. >> yes or no. did the president direct rod rosenstein to write this memo? >> he'd lost confidence and he'd been considering letting comey go the day he was elected but he had a conversation

documents related to mike flynn and his business transistor being subpoenaed by u.s. attorneys office in virginia. reports that the u.s. attorneys's office in manhattan was pursuing trump russian money laundering inquiries before the administration reversed course and fired all the u.s. attorneys even though they said they would not do that. paul manafort banking records being requested by the fbi. that story being broken by "the wall street journal" friday night. the senate intelligence community moving tarred financial questions in their investigation. financial records obtainedty "b"ty trishry financial crimes unit. it seems clear the investigations moving toward the money. what is it about this financial turn this works turn towards the money that might be freaking them out so much? i have exactly the guy to answer that here next. i'm worried i can't find a safe used car. you could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax? now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used minivans with no reported a

>> it's not a question of defending mike flynn or not. hold on. i think mike flynn is somebody who hopb raably served our country in uniform for over 30 years. i think as he's noted, lieutenant general flynn was asked for his resignation because he misled the vice president. but beyond that, i think he did have an honorable career. shefrbed with distinction in uniform for over 30 years and the president does not want to smear a good man. >> what happened with the white house in those 18 days? was he still fulfilling his national security adviser dutys? >> i will not get back into it. >> do you think it's worrisome that he was doing that if he was the potential target of russian blackmail? >> the important thing to know, let's look at how this came down. someone who is not exactly a supporter of the president's agenda, who a couple days after this first conversation took place, refused to uphold a lawful order of the president, who is not exactly someone that was excited about president trump taking office or his agenda. hold on. caitlin. caitlin.

earlier this week, nbc news was first to report that mike flynn and paul manafort, the former national security adviser, former campaign chairman, were official subjects of criminal investigations in which federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued. and the "washington post" tonight reaffirmed they were keenly interested in them. both of them subjects of criminal investigations, both in the cross hairs but weapon now -- we now know it's not only them because neither of them can be this new person of interest because neither is a current white house official. so the president flies off on his first foreign trip tonight in the face of confirmed reporting now that his former campaign chairman and national security adviser and somebody working for him now as a senior adviser on the white house are the subject of active law enforcement investigations specifically into whether his campaign colluded with russia on the election last year. these are not normal times. "the washington post" also reports tonight that the fbi is investigating whether any financial crimes were committed by people

mike flynn -- >> both sides. >> both sides are on the call. >> by the party line. >> by him lying on the white house, you know, accepting his descriptions of what was going on, he could be blackmailed by moscow. now, that's what she was most concerned with. but there are other factors in here which make it even more compromising. we don't know whether he was turned asset of russia. there's a lot -- >> that's quite a thing to say. >> why would you pick up a phone five times on the same day we're kicking out russian spies. was he directed by the president, apparently not. >> and the president later would say, well, i didn't know -- i didn't tell him to do it, had i known he was doing, i would have told him to do it. by the way, that's the official. >> but the worst part about all of this is this is a hair on fire intelligence breach, no matter how you look because, you know, i've been in situation when i was nsa, the person on the same floor as my entire operation, you know, everyone got repolygraphed, everyone was considered an accomplice in this. the white house should be going throu

>> i think it's very bad for mike flynn. as far as the ongoing oig governing of the country is concerned, it would be all-kimting for the administration. i think the benefit of mueller being appointed special down is we experienced in the bush administration when the special counsel is appointed, while it can wreak havoc on the executive branch, it actually allows the legislative branch to continue to function because the legislative branch -- >> talk about this more because this is what is supposed to handle, but the trurm temp teams in-capable before. >> yes, the trump team also over last three or four months have made a lot of enemies inside the permanent bureaucracy, dare i say the deep state. >> but the "washington post" story today is about him asking his own heads of intel committees to rapidly respond. >> right. and so a lot of the contents of the supposedly confidential conversations are being leaked out, a lot from bureaucracy. and i'm not passing judgment, but stuff is coming out because i think pooem tthe preside

documents related to mike flynn and his business transistor being subpoenaed by u.s. attorneys office in virginia. reports that the u.s. attorneys's office in manhattan was pursuing trump-russian money laundering inquiries before the administration reversed course and fired all the u.s. attorneys even though previously weeks before they said they would not do that. paul manafort banking records being requested by the fbi. that story being broken by "the wall street journal" friday night. the senate intelligence community moving tarred tarred financial questions in their investigation. requesting financial records that have been obtained by the treasury's financial crimes unit. it seems clear the investigations are moving toward the money. what is it about this financial turn towards the money that might be freaking them out so much? i have exactly the guy to answer that here next. -where? -san francisco. -when? -friday. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time. go where you want, when you want with no blackout dates. [ muffled music coming from

mike flynn was with him early on the campaign trail. he was one of his initial supporters and a strong supporter and they really, according to some reports, developed a close bond. so president trump decided that he was going to proceed with mike flynn. but the mike flynn issue is not going away simply because there's just been so much shadiness that is coming out. you know, the reports of these companies and his ties with the turkish government that he did not report himself as a foreign agent. and so this is just going to be, you know, death by a thousand cuts and going to continue to plague the trump administration at a time when they really should be more focused on policy making instead of this drama. >> the trump official who questioned flynn's connections actually went as far to request the cia profile from obama's national security staff. shouldn't that have flagged something or did the obama camp do enough to question russia's role while they still had the power to do it? >> the official who requested the profile was doing that

i keep saying ray flynn, former congressman. mike flynn. and yet, president obama actually warned him about him. that says all you need to know about how donald trump is acting about -- >> well, it doesn't, hilary, it doesn't. i'm sorry. if he was that concerned about him, he should have never let him keep his clearance. i mean, we all -- if you've got an employee -- >> okay, i don't think -- j. >> i don't know why you keep saying he kept his clearance. >> he was not working in the obama administration. >> that's right. >> just point of fact, he was not working in the obama administration when this all went down. he was fired from being the top intelligence officer in the department of defense. so he was fired for whatever reason. this was not obama pushing mike flynn at all towards president trump. he was warning president trump to not hire one of the men that he brought on as his top adviser. these two things do not go together. stand by. i've got to ask jeffrey toobin one thing as we look forward to today and sally yates and her testimon

he did nothing to get to the truth, to get answers about who leaked information about general mike flynn, a felony other unde espionage act. he did nothing to stop this fall's lie that been advanced for so many months. that russia was colluding with trump. he should've laid it to rest once and for all. in his letter firing comey, the president revealed comey told him on three separate occasions that he is not being investigated. why didn't the fbi director come forward and tell that to you, the american people? especially since he was so quick

flynn's attorneys said famously now that he has a story to tell in asking for immunity for mike flynn. anything more on that or mike flynn's teams response to the subpoena? >> so far his attorneys have decided not to say anything about the papers. the fact that he's being subpoenaed, forced to hand over documents absent any immunity deal suggested that those discussions were not going very well or at least that senate investigators and the u.s. attorney's office was not willing to say yeah, we'll give you a free pass. they're looking for more. >> shepard: and these documents would give further incase of flynn's ties to russia during the campaign period and before? >> that's right. there's two periods of scrutiny existing right now. one is the period before election day, before inauguration, the time when trump was a candidate and then president-elect and then of course there's that short by very important three-week period when flynn was the national security adviser. from all indications, investigators are looking at both periods to try to find out what kind of contacts flynn had wit

earlier this week, nbc news was first to report that mike flynn and paul manafort, the froshl national security adviser, former campaign chairman, were official subjects of criminal investigations in which federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued. and the "washington post" tonight reaffirmed they were keenly interested in them. both of them subjects of criminal investigations, both in the cross hairs but weapon now know it's not only them because neither of them can be this new person of interest because neither is a current white house official. so the president flies off on his first foreign trip tonight in the face of confirmed reporting now that his former campaign chairman and national security adviser and somebody working for him now as a senior adviser on the white house are the subject of active law enforcement investigations specifically into whether his campaign colluded with russia on the election last year. these are not normal times. "the washington post" also reports tonight that the fbi is investigating whether any financial crimes were committed by people close to

the guy that they want the focus to be on is mike flynn. because mike flynn is the guy who is clearly the most under the gun at this point. and the fact that the obama administration and now even chris christie, maybe he's trying to twist the knife with donald trump, chris christie is saying hey, i didn't want mike flynn either. to me, it looks like they're trying to set up a big narrative of how nobody really wanted mike flynn. so what was mike flynn really doing there and that's where the special prosecutor is going to head. >> of courseproblyveryone is saying that michael flynn wasn't his choice either. everyone is trying to pass the buck. >>exactly. >> we're hearing, ken, that there are for -- the president is considering ted olson, reed weingarten, mark kes wits. why does -- why is the president looking for outside counsel at this point? >> well, greta is seems like a prudent step. this story has been dominating donald trump's presidency and responding to inquiries about it must be taking incredible amounts of staff time. you know, it

then the president turns to the discussion towards mike flynn and he says to director comey, mike flynn is a good man, he didn't do anything wrong, you really need to look past this investigation. comey obviously stunned just simply says, mike flynn is a good man, and mr. comey leaves the oval office, gets in his car, goes back to fbi headquarters, and immediately writes a memo memorializing the meeting because he knew how significant it was. >> i wanted to tell our viewers, memorializing is being memorialized tonight for the first time in the coming weeks and months. we're going to hear a lot about that because, michael, correct me, this was the habit james comey had picked up when his days in washington got more serious. lawyers call them memoranda to file. they either dictate or convert their notes just so there will be a record, there believed to be no recording of that conversation, at least, back then. >> well, actually, in terms of the recording on this, what some of mr. comey's associates will say that now that mr. trump has raised the prospect there may be tapes, they'd be inte

then the president turns to the discussion towards mike flynn and he says to director comey, mike flynn is a good man, he didn't do anything wrong, you really need to look past this investigation. comey obviously stunned just simply says, mike flynn is a good man, and mr. comey leaves the oval office, gets in his car, goes back to fbi headquarters, and immediately writes a memo memorializing the meeting because he knew how significant it was. >> i want today tell our viewers, memorializing is being memorialized tonight for the first time in the coming weeks and months. we're going to hear a lot about that because, michael, correct me, this was the habit james comey had picked up when his days in washington got more serious. lawyers call them memoranda to file. they either dictate or convert their notes just so there will be a record, there believed to be no recording of that conversation, at least, back then. >> well, actually, in terms of the recording on this, what some of mr. comey's associates will say now that mr. trump has raised the prospect there may be tapes, they'd be interest

is general mike flynn going to be a linchpin to providing testimony? >> i think you're right about that and that is a fair question. it is not unheard of for governments to report falsely and that's why this matter has to be investigated. it's telling you haven't had an absolute denial immediately from kushner which you would think would be the case if this was a completely bogus report. and the other question here is how did the u.s. intelligence community learn about this information? the "post" says it was from monitoring kislyak's communications back to moscow. that is a dramatic revelation because whoever leaked that, did so knowing that that intelligence channel is going go away the russians will change how they communicate. but the leaker decided it was in the public's interest to learn this information that outweighed the loss of the intelligence. >> also, from that reuters report, it gives the suggestion about money, the fact that the reason for setting this up, the motive, was to enhance the issue of sanctions and certain banks in russia bein

of mike flynn and carter page flame. it was closed to the press. the still photos we are able to show you came from the russian

but if cnn's reporting bears out here that would mean we have their national security adviser mike flynn on his security clearance application not disclosing his multiple meetings with russian officials. it would mean we've also got senior presidential adviser and favored son-in-law jared kushner also on his security clearance application, also not disclosing his multiple meetings with russian officials. and now in addition to that we have the sitting attorney general of the united states on his security clearance application not disclosing his multiple meetings with russian officials. why this pattern? >>> also, "the new york times" reports u.s. intelligence agencies last summer received information about, quote, senior russian intelligence and political officials discussing top trump aides mike flynn and paul manafort. these top russian officials essentially bragging about their links to flynn and manafort in talking about exerting influence over then presidential candidate donald trump. now this report on the front page of "the new york times" follows cnn reporting from a few days ago

on the 28th, saturday, mike flynn sat in on that oval office phone call with president putin. is that the right call? >> again, i think what you have is somebody who was an obama pointee coming in saying -- i get it -- no, no -- at that moment, sure, you have someone who you have to wonder why they are telling you something to the point where they had to come back a second time because what they were saying was unclear. >> reporter: before the second topic you said it was widely rumored she wanted to be part of the clinton white house potentially. so that makes you negate her coming to -- >> no. again, i guess my point is somebody who is not -- who clearly showed by the fact that career doj attorneys told her the president's lawful order -- that she should sign the president's lawful order and then chose not to do it -- >> reporter: that was after. >> i get it. that vindicates the president's point. this was not somebody looking out for -- my point is we were correct in the assumptions we made at the time. >> reporter: my next topic is just on health care. is the white house a

flynn, mr. trump's former national security adviser who was forced out after weeks on the job. trump apparently asked comb tee ease off the investigation in to flynn according to a memo the former fbi chief wrote himself shortly after speaking with the president. a source close to comey confirms the existence and contents of the memo with trump telling comey, quote, i hope you can see your way to letting this go, to letting flynn go, according to the memo. the source confirmed that comey wrote a memo about nearly ever interaction with trump. the white house denies the report releasing a statement that reads quote the president has never asked mr. comey or any one else to end any investigation including any investigation involving general flynn. this is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and mr. comey. but members of congress are up in arms over the ordeal. >> if true this is yet another disturbing allegation that the president may have engaged in some

if he's asking me to drop an inquiry into mike flynn, mike flynn was being questioned about his conversations with the russians. i mean, what -- >> okay. then that's separate from the russian investigation. nothing to do with russian collusion or the 2016 campaign. i think the way it's being presented is this is all one ball of wax. two separate issues. that has to be made clear. if you look at it in the perspective of his conversation with the russian ambassador which i think was entirely legal, this question whether or not how to the extent he did discuss any involvement as far as sanctions with the russian ambassador, and, again, that could have been what he and the president were discussing and as to whether or not they should go ahead with that since there is this ambiguity. again, i haven't seen the full me memo, haven't seen the whole thing. i wish if this meant so much to director comey, that he would have at least told the senate or the house intelligence committees or told his own deputy director. >> well, i think it meant so much to the president. i'm not sure how much it meant to

he has not sought immunity as, for example, mike flynn has. and so, and his lawyer, as peter said, is saying we're willing to answer any question on this. so there's a -- you know, there's just a lot we don't know, what conduct or what in particular has drawn this fbi interest in mr. kushner. we're just going to keep reporting it out, stephanie. >> ken vogel, talk to us a bit -- and i realize you have to, you know, leap ahead a little bit here about palace intrigue. there had been a rift between steve bannon and jared kushner weeks ago. the president had said work it out. some people had reported, well, steve bannon was still inside the white house though a little bit homeless, had much fewer responsibilities than he once had, but maybe the white house had decided he was safer being inside the white house than if he were outside, possibly fueling something like breitbart news. the white house, in their mind, had a very big win on this international trip, even if there was some chaos today in brussels. now that they are coming home, are we remi

we are looking at the unmasking of mike flynn. a lot of those questions still have yet to be answered. >> bret: do you think that played a part? lack of progress on the unmasking and the leak investigation quickly >> i can't speak to that. i can speak to the fact of the president saw an fbi director people have lost confidence in, including high senior officials at the justice department. >> bret: okay, let's turn. you've got a heavy agenda. you just passed your version of health care repeal and replace. you've got four months, three months congress is in session. not here in august for you've got the budget that is supposed to come over the 22nd. you need that. 12 appropriations bills, debt limit increase, conference of tax reform, obamacare repeal and replace from the senate and infrastructure. how do you get that done? >> throw some border patrol in there and infra- structure. >> bret: dodd-frank. you have 45 days. >> we walk and chew gum at the same time. rolling back 13 job killing obama era regulations. we have the health ca

i think what's remarkable is that mike flynn, who's gone through multiple national security clearances, who's been the head of a national intelligence agency, all along was skirting the law in some irrational belief that he was not only above the law but that he was beyond the intelligence gathering capability of the united states and he was a very, very close partner with now president trump in the campaign, in the transition, and with jared kushner. >> well, you know -- go ahead. >> the fact that -- well, just the fact that they relied on this gentleman who obviously somehow believed that he knew the intelligence agencies of the u.s. better than they did themselves has led jared now into what may be, as elise pointed out, could be a court of law rather than just the court of public opinion. and by the way, a president can wave security clearances. he can give them and he can also take them away. so the president ultimately has a lot of power here and it's in his interest to keep the circle very small and probably just to family. >> elise, 30 seconds to you on this. in addition to wha

he's loyal to flynn. >> why? >> what does mike flynn have on him? >> because flynn was -- i don't know, maybe there's something in the backstory. there was something about flynn getting out in front early and being with him the way he was. >> no one was more out front than newt gingrich. >> my theory why trump is to loyal to flynn, the way trump sees it, if flynn goes down, flynn takes any hit, flynn is the kind of person that trump's po poent opponents and critics say they undermines trump's legitimacy as president. not a personal bond of loyalty, it's hey, that sense of -- you know, he's so aggrieved at any claim he didn't really win the election, oh, clinton won the popular vote, oh, russians, oh, wikileaks, that gets him so defensive. i wonder if that same instinct is attached to the status and fate of flynn, if he sees mike flynn going oun, he sees that's something his opponents will seize on to say, there is something brig to this stuff we've been talking about that delegitimizes -- >> trump by proxy? >> if flynn survives. that might be how he

there are regrets of him and his staff behind the scenes what happened with mike flynn. i think more than anything, he's blaming, you know, the number of folks on the campaign who he says i didn't have anything to do with, carter page, you know, paul manafort. you've seen the white house try to distance themselves from him. the associates of trump over the years had alleged connections. he's saying i had nothing to do with it. we'll see. >> what about anyone's head on the block potentially? >> that's a good question. i think so far no. archipela >> besides comey. >> besides comey. >> what about inside the white house? >> no, but, you know, we've had so far fired national security advisor in mike flynn, he fired sally yates, acting attorney general. >> a.g. >> now you have comey firing. three pretty high profile dismissals in 110 days. kind of unusual for a new white house. >> does the staff seem very much on edge? >> yes. >> different than before? >> in the building today, i talked to several people who work in the west wing. it seemed like it was just, let's try to get

it will come up with the's own with regard with asking james comey about the mike flynn investigation. whether that was obstruction of justice, a will the will hinge on was the president merely trying to be a character witness for mike flynn or was he actually saying hey, i'm your boss, you better not do this anymore. the latter is more clearly obstruction. the former, you know, is a murky area and might be an area that they could argue that he didn't do anything wrong. attempt to delegitimize his election lens. with ou become obsessed these investigations, sometimes do things that may not be long-term benefit. we have no idea whether richard ordered watergate breakin or had prior knowledge, it down his presidency. sometimes what you do in response to the scandal is you had involvement at the time they took place. host: one more call, john in kingsport, tennessee, republican, go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. have a little problem, my statement about the media with the obama president ion and trump. i remember when obama first came of people , a lot alked a

former deputy attorney general sally yates prepares to go before congress, opening up o mike flynn and russia. >>> speaking out, president obama is honored in boston and makes an all-out plea on health care. >>> another u.s. citizen detained, a fourth american is held by north korea. and now one celebrity is teaching students it pays to get good grades. >> bunny yoga? that's right. "early today" gets hopping right now. >>> good to have you with me on this monday morning. i'm frances rivera. this morning the trump administration is playing defense. sally yates the former deputy attorney general and one time acting a.g. is set to give her bombshell testimony before congress rebuking the white house on the secretive details that led to then national security admizer michael flynn's resignation. there are continuing questions on what if any coordination the trump team may have had with russian operatives. for more we're join by tracie potts. what revelations are we expecting from yates this morning? >> sally yates said she warned the white house, the white house said she gave them a head's

in terms of the actual seek wrnss, look, mike flynn is gone. he was fired. he does not need to be a headache for the trump administration moving forward, because they fired him. so i think the less they can talk about flynn, the more they can look to it future. >> that was my question. why do they keep defending him? wouldn't they want to just sort of move on somehow the. >> they didn't not encourage the house to have the hearing today. they want want to turn the page and move on asap. i don't think we'll be remembering this for very long. >> alex said two things. he said we didn't the think we learned anything that was hanging on the edges out there. and two things, why do you think it took so long for them to let flynn go, 18 days? >> it seemed like trump really liked him, trump had actually considered him to be vp. new reporting today there sems be less of rapport with his successor hr mcmaster which many think him to be a more capable guy. he punches back no matter what, whether it makes strategic sense or not. he'll punch back anyway. he just punches ba

that is because he had this feeling that mike flynn was on his side. that is because he had this feeling that mike flynn was on his sidelj think you were asking about similarities with the watergate. there are echoes of watergate in a sense that we were talking about allegations of immense corruption at the heart of the american government. i suppose it is worth remembering that nixon resigned by his own accord and was not impeached and that will give confident that confidence to donald trump. there has been so much hyperbole about the donald trump 's surgery —— story that he has been one of those stories that people expect will end ina stories that people expect will end in a cataclysmic way almost all the time. he seems to be able to ride the most scandalous of allegations and accusations and he keeps on going. it has to be said that the witchhunt tom analogy that he uses reflects his own typical language. the question is whether his opponents and those investigating him will be able to sustain the assault on him to get him out. i would contend t

i think what this shows is just the depths of the concerns about mike flynn. you had people working for the trump transition team after the election who were concerned that mike flynn, who was going to be having a conversation with the russian ambassador that was not unusual, as national security advisor you would be talking to a foreign counterpart, but mike flynn tid not actually understand the motivation of the russian envoy, that he might not understand what ties he had to russian intelligence, to they're seeking a classified c.i.a. biography on the russian ambassador that would give the u.s. intelligence assessments about the envoivment for the obama administration, this raised red flags because it oashowed been trump's own team there were concerns about flynn's ability to handle what's an incredibly sensitive and high pressure job which involves enormous contact with foreign initials, both friendly and adversaries. >> woodruff: julie, you've learned how r what the obama team was thinking during the transition around grew concerned about what they were le

that's a judgment about whether mike flynn could be blackmailed, not a fact. then we have a president being so confidence in his judgment that he steps in it all the time. if you look at these characteristi characteristics, 18 days doesn't seem like that. i'm betting the president is saying, don't worry about it. i just him. he's okay. >> we don't know if president obama knew what kind of investigation was going on of michael flynn when he talked to him. we don't know if don mcgann communicated to the president. sources around the president suggest that they were all figuring out what to do about mike flynn. do you think part of the answer could be that every time they hear about russia, earmuff is go on and they don't pay it any mind? >> i think they certainly believe that every time russia comes up it is a political salvo. there is obviously a defensive crouch that the trump administration has been in from the beginning. but let me add one point here, that we, as compelling as sally yates testimony was yesterday, there is still a hole at the center of it, wh

mike flynn does. and mike flynn has a very well developed sort of theory of the cia and of the u.s. intelligence community. and he is deeply distrustful of it. and my intelligence sources tell me that they feared that this distrust for the cia and for other parts of the u.s. intelligence apparatus that flynn harbored was seeping into the broader campaign and the trump -- donald trump himself but also the trump brain trust you. could potentially see it playing out here, if kushner believes like flynn does that the cia is not to be trusted, maybe that would be one possible explanation for what otherwise i agree with mieke is sort of an inexplicable request from kushner. >> go ahead, max. go ahead. >> i was struck, lawrence, by one of the lines in the reuters story which you quoted earlier where it said that fbi investigators are examining whether the russians suggested to kushner or other trump aides that relaxing economic sanctions would allow russian banks to offer financing to people with ties to trump. now that's pretty significant, because that offers a possible motive for why ku

in terms of mike flynns, they get better when mike flynn's attorney says he volunteered in exchange for immunity claiming he has a real story to tell. here's some questions tonight. now that we know a special counsel has been named by the acting attorney general has named someone for special investigations. and the guest that can answer these question we have coming in tonight. i think they're all answerable questions and important as far as i'm concerned. as i see this. first of all, how will the appointment of fbi director robert mueller affect the other investigations ongoing in congress? we really don't know how much the various congressional investigations have gotten done already. we do know they've been falling all over themselves in the past 24 hours to get congressional testimony from james comey at least, documents from the fbi and white house. whatever you think about the protect of those investigations does the appointment of special counsel change the pro-secretary of them get -- prospects of them getting those documents and continuing their work, question number one. also,

i wouldn't have hired mike flynn for that job. the fact that he took money from turkey is appalling. not only took money from turkey secretly but he also advocated for, against military policy that turkey was against. >> tucker: i am against that policy too. here's the point. there is a difference between behavior and calling it criminal. are you saying it's a crime to hire someone who is under fbi investigation? >> when you take these things together, there's no question there's enough there to impeach this president. >> tucker: what is the crime? democratically elected president. >> he throughout sensitive classified information to the russians seemingly carelessly and he has the nuclear codes. >> tucker: so you don't like him. >> you talk about the seriousness of impeaching a president. i am talking about the seriousness of the office of the presidency. >> tucker: i get you don't like the guy. you are looking at the people who voted for him and saying i don't care that you voted for him. i don't like this guy, i don't thinks a

we've learned that mike flynn and paul manafort, mike flynn the and paul manafort are subjects of the investigation. that is a term of art which means an investigator suspects them of crimes. to be clear, paul manafort and mike flynn, and to be clear, their lawyers have denied any wrongdoing on their part. and no evidence has surfaced publicly linking them to this russian effort to interfere in the election, but there have been some -- there are financial transactions have been examined. in mike flynn's case he registered as a foreign lobbyist for turkey not having done so during the campaign. and paul manafort, there had been some questionable real estate transactions that have been the subject of grand jury subpoenas. in both cases we have grand jury subpoenas relating to records for these men. we have also been reporting on the fact this is an fbi investigation that spans multiple field offices, and we're talking to people involved in it who say that despite, you know, the recent news about donald trump's request to former fbi director comey regarding mike flynn, they have experien

hi met mike flynn i think the same year he announced for president and for some bizarre reason, back to your question about russia, russia, russia, he stands by him and only him. >> we're looking at members of the colombian delegation come in. there's the vice president. through the doorway. we're within -- jared kushner. we're within the two-minute warning here. peter alexander is in the east room. peter, we're starting to see those first two rows of reserved seats fill up. >> reporter: yeah, brian, that's exactly right. jared kushner, reince priebus, h.r. mcmaster. their names are on those seats in the front rows. they'll be arriving here momentarily. what's striking about this moment, for a white house that's been lurching from one crisis to the other over the course of the last ten days in may as we've been reporting, this is the first opportunity for the president to be forced to answer questions about some of them, if not all of them. of course, he'd like the focus to be on some other things like the foreign trip that he departs on tomorrow, but still, so many outstanding quest

i think what this shows is just the depths of the concerns about mike flynn. you had people working for the trump transition team after the election who were concerned that mike flynn, who was going to be having a conversation with the russian ambassador that was not unusual, as national security advisor you would be talking to a foreign counterpart, but mike flynn tid not actually understand the motivation of the russian envoy, that he might not understand what ties he had to russian intelligence, to they're seeking a classified c.i.a. biography on the russian ambassador that would give the u.s. intelligence assessments about the envoivment for the obama administration, this raised red flags because it thoad showed been trump's own team there were concerns about flynn's ability to handle what's an incredibly sensitive and high pressure job which involves enormous contact with foreign initials, both friendly and adversaries. >> woodruff: julie, you've learned how r what the obama team was thinking during the transition around grew concerned about what they wer