this is what happened right after mike flynn got fired. that was so screwed up in so many ways, so many days in this new administration, wow, that's a mess, i can't believe that happened. this thing was so screwed up. at every level. the guys making a supposedly independent investigation making phone calls to reporters. and talking on the sidelines with the white house about what is and isn't going on in their investatanion ving the white house about pr advice about bad press they're getting related to that investigation. what was the actual quote from the deputy director of the fbi there? "i want you to know that the "new york times" story is bs." the biggest way this was messed up, what happened back there in mid-february, the biggest screw-up of all of this was that the "new york times" story wasn't bs at all. "the times" published this report on february 14th. later that night, cnn reported their own version of the story. trump aides were in constant touch with senior russian officials during the campaign. then the "washington post" go

flynn and the guy who paid mike flynn more than half a million dollars which mike flynn did not disclose on which his security clearance application in washington. this is the money that was paid to flynn that caused him to retroactively register as an agent of a foreign power after he was fired from the white house. the guy that paid flynn that money has his own business history in russia as reported by "politico," reporting at least one financing deal personally approved by vladamir putin. this is an interesting thing about the flynn story, right? that link from the guy who paid flynn to his russian business dealings that personally involve putin, does that mean the money used to pay national security advisor mike flynn might have its origins in russia while russia at that very time was attacking the u.s. election to help trump win? that's the question, people trying to figure out the trump russia story by following the money that's what makes this whole question red hot. that's why this is so important. the prospect when flynn was being paid during the campaign this possibility has be

by congress that mike flynn had taken foreign payments. foreign payments were also the subject of multiple press reports. nbc news reports that the trump transition had direct knowledge of mike flynn's payments from foreign sources, but nevertheless, vice president mike pence, head of the transition, he proclaims he was perfectly ignorant of that fact until weeks after mike flynn was fired. >> let me say hearing that story today was the first i heard of it. >> that is not credible. whether or not you care about what the vice president knew abt mike flynn, whether you care about that subject itself or not, the bigger question is why are eyelling this lie about it? why are they lying about this stuff? they are telling stories about mike flynn that make no sense given we now know about the facts. it is not good for the white house that they cannot come up with a story about mike flynn that has the benefit of being true. and that was a problem for them before today, it became a much bigger problem for them after today. before today, we knew th

this is what happened right after mike flynn got fired. that was so screwed up in so many ways, so many days in this new administrationwow, that's a mess, i can't belve that happened. this thing was so screwed up. at every level. the guys making a supposedly independent investigation making phone calls to reporters. and talking on the sidelines with the white house about what is and isn't going on in their investigation and giving the white house about pr advice about bad press they're getting related to that investigation. what was the actual quote from the deputy director of the fbi there? "i want you to know that the "new york times" story is bs." the biggest way this was messed up, what happened back there in mid-february, the biggest screw-up of all of this was that the "new york times" story wasn't bs at all. "the times" published this report on february 14th. later that night, cnn reported their own version of the story. trump aides were in constant touch with senior russian officials during the campaign. then the "washington post"

by congress that mike flynn had taken foreign payments. foreign payments were also the subject of multiple press reports. nbc news reports that the trump transition had direct knowledge of mike flynn's payments from foreign sources, but nevertheless, vice president mike pence, head of the transition, he pro-claims he was perfectly ignorant of that fact until weeks after mike flynn was fired. >> let me say hearing that story today was the first i heard of it. >> that is not credible. whether or not you care about what the vice president new about mike flynn, whether you care about that subject itself or not, the bigger question is why are they telling this lie about it? why are they lielg about this stuff? they are telling stories about mike flynn that make no sense a given we now know about the facts. and that was a problem for them before today, it became a much bigger problem for them after today. before today, we knew they had inexplicably waited 18 days after being warned about mike flynn before they fired him. today that delay became

mike flynn had worked in the obama administration. president obama presumably was speaking from experience. president trump ignored that warning. it was just one of many warnings. some public, some private from obama. and later from an acting attorney general sally yates and it raises grave questions about their judgment. >> and the white house, according to officials speaking to kristen welker, is that they said they believed this was -- donald trump believed that this was said sort of in jest, don't hire mike flynn. but also if president obama was so concerned about it, why did he not revoke his security clearance? and he candidn't revoke his security clearance. so explain that, why did mike flynn still hold his security clearance even after he left the obama administration? >> security clearances are not granted nor are they revoked by the president of the united states. that's kind of ridiculous. they are adjudicated by career professionals. these are routine matters. more than 1.5 million people in our country hold a top secret s

clearance for mike flynn's son. they had, actually applied for a security clearance for his son. after the president fired the fbi director, mike pence bluntly asserted the decision to fire james comey was based on a recommendation from the deputy attorney general. the president himself and reportedly the deputy attorney general himself now today have both made clear that that was not the reason james comey was fired. mike pence has also bluntly asserted that james comey was not fired for anything having anything to do with the trump-russia investigation, the president himself now admits that what he was thinking when he made the decision to fire james comey he was thinking about how much he hated that trump-russia investigation. mike pence had bluntly asserted there were no trump campaign contacts with the russian government. that is not true. he has bluntly asserted he had no idea that mike flynn had a paid relationship with any foreign countries' government. that would seem to be impossible given his role in the

flynn more than half a million dollars mike flynn did not disclose on his security clearance application in washington. this is the money that was paid to flynn that caused him to retroactively register as an agent of a foreign power after he was fired from the white house. the guy that paid flynn that money has his own business history in russia as reported by "politico," reporting at least one financing deal personally approved by vladamir putin. this is an interesting thing about the flynn story, right? that link from the guy who paid flynn to his russian business dealings that personally involve putin, does that mean the money used to pay national security advisor mike flynn might have its origins in russia while russia at that very time was attacking the u.s. election to help trump win? that's the question, people trying to figure out the trump russia story by following the money that's what makes this whole question red hot. that's why this is so important. the prospect when flynn was being paid during the campaign this possibility has been raised maybe who was paying flynn maybe t

clearance for mike flynn's son. they had, actually applied for a security clearance for his son. after the president fired the fbi director, mike pence bluntly asserted the decision to fire james comey was based on a recommendation from the deputy attorney general. the president himself and reportedly the deputy attorney general himself now today have both made clear that that was not the reason james comey was fired. mike pence has also bluntly asserted that james comey was not fired for anything having anything to do with the trump-russia investigation, the president himself now admits that what he was thinking when he made the decision to fire james comey he was thinking about how much he hated that trump-russia investigation. mike pence had bluntly asserted there were no trump campaign contacts with the russian government. that is not true. he has bluntly asserted he had no idea that mike flynn had a pa relationship with any foreign countrs' government. that would seem to be impossible given his role in the tran

the explanation that mike flynn had no idea that -- excuse me, that mike pence had no idea mike flynn had any of these government ties. none of those things factually makes any sense. and sally yates is absolutely key to us all starting to get the real story and starting to make sense of it. so she's due to testify on monday. testimony from comey tomorrow. testimony from comey and rogers on thursday. sally yates will testify on monday. we're already getting reporting about what to expect from that. we've got nunes bailing. chaffetz bailing, jeff sessions bailing. everybody who gets near the flynn investigation is bailing. so this story is about to get big enot smaller. clearly mike flynn is at the center of some bull's-eye here. but, you know what? one last point here. we're also starting to see something else that's interesting. and that is how republicans in congress may be trying to bobble this up. the head of the senate judiciary committee is senator chuck grassley. he's now sent a shot across the bow at the fbi. ahead of james comey's testimony tomorrow before grasley's committee

one, about mike flynn's judgment as well as his temperament. and that former president -- well, president-elect trump, i should say, at the time, listened. he was also apparently warned about north korea. that's something that has been reported on more broadly. now, i asked the trump white house about this. i spoke to a number of officials here. they're downplaying this conversation, but they're not denying the fact that this conversation occurred. one official made the point that president-elect trump wasn't particularly surprised that then-president obama was warning him about mike flynn given that flynn had been out on the campaign trail making the case against hillary clinton and frankly against the obama white house. another official made the case that the comments about mike flynn seemed to be light-hearted at the time. they didn't seem to, at least from the perspective of president-elect trump, to be based in substance. then yet another official made this point, andrea. if former president obama was so concerned about mike flynn, why did

the explanation that mike flynn had no idea that -- excuse me, that mike pence had no idea mike flynn had any of these government ties. none of those things factually makes any sense. and sally yates is absolutely key to us all starting to get the real story and starting to make sense of it. so she's due to testify on monday. testimony from comey tomorrow. testimony from comey and rogers on thursday. sally yates will testify on monday. we're already getting reporting about what to expect from that. we've got nunes bailing. chaffetz bailing, jeff sessions bailing. everybody who gets near the flynn investigation is bailing. so this story is about to get bigger, not smaller. clearly mike flynn is at the center of some bull's-eye here. but, you know what? one last point here. we're also starting to see something else that's interesting. and that is how republicans in congress may be trying to bobble this up. the head of the senate judiciary committee is senator chuck grassley. he's now sent a shot across the bow at the fbi. ahead of james comey's testimony tomorrow before grassley's commi

and mike flynn was a huge part of his campaign. he traveled with him a lot. so, yeah he -- now sean spicer today tried to defend the hiring saying flynn worked for obama and it's their uld fault. they approved him first. but i think that his predecessor telling him don't hire this guy made him double down and say yeah, i will. >> take me to the briefing room tomorrow. how do they counter-spin against what we watched this afternoon. do they try to paint sally yates as a wild bought and mid-paid for partisan? do they try to do the same thing with the former director of intelligence. >> they are going to say these are obama officials that had an ax to grind against president trump and they were part of an apparatus that wanted to surveil the trump transition team and make donald trump look bad and feed into this narrative that the obama administration is pushing that there was collusion between -- potentially collusion between russia and the trump campaign to get trump elected. and that's what they are going to go after. and we are going to have to ask some toug

and mike flynn was a huge part of his campaign. he traveled with him a lot. so, yeah he -- now sean spicer today tried to defend the hiring saying flynn worked for obama and it's their fault. they approved him first. but i think that his predecessor telling him don't hire this guy probably made him double down d say yeah, i will. >> so brian, take me to the briefing room tomorrow. how do they counter-spin against what we watched this afternoon. do they try to paint sally yates as a kind of wild bought and paid for partisan? do they try to do the same thing with the former director of intelligence perhaps? >> yeah, tlir going to say these are obama administration officials that had an ax to grind against president trump, and that they were part of an apparatus that wanted to surveil the trump transition team and make donald trump look bad and feed into this narrative that the obama administration is pushing that there was collusion between -- potentially collusion between russia and the trump campaign to get trump elected. and that's what they are going to go

and mike flynn was a huge part of his campaign. he traveled with him a lot. so, yeah he -- now sean spicer today tried to defend the hiring saying flynn worked for obama and it's their fault. they approved him first. but i think that his predecessor telling him don't hire this guy made him double down and say yeah, i will. >> take me to the briefing room tomorrow. how do they counter-spin against what we watched this afternoon. do they try to paint sally yates as a wild bought and mid-paid for partisan? do they try to do the same thing with the former director of intelligence. >> they are going to say these are obama officials that had an ax to grind against president trump and they were part of an apparatus that wanted to surveil the trump transition team and make donald trump look bad and feed into this narrative that the obama administration is pushing that there was collusion between -- potentially collusion between russia and the trump campaign to get trump elected. and that's what they are going to go after. and we are going to haveo ask some tough ques

ivanka, mike flynn. who's the third in zblals told by his mentor, cohn, to never apologize or -- >> even if he admitted a crime? >> i don't think he's going to throw mike flynn under the bus. it would be admitting a mistake and admitting i think something governor kay ssich made a point about. we need to get to the bottom of this. if russia is meddling in our elections -- >> they are. we know they meddled, right? is that an unknown -- >> no, i believe it's known. trey gowdy apparently has suspicions about it. >> straight out of the gate after president trump won the election, he could have said let's do a full-scale election -- excuse me, let's do a full-scale investigation into what russia did. he didn't. lawmakers are asking deutsche bank, the one known global lender to the trump organization, to see those loan documents. meaning has deutsche bank reassigned those loans, maybe to banks in cypress, maybe to banks in rush sla? if that's the case, it's like, hey, president trump, don't be so cute here, ju

the first about mike flynn. the second one about paul manafort. nbc reached out to paul manafort's spokesman for comment on this reporting. he released this statement. quote, mr. manafort has not been contacted by any authorities other than the u.s. congress and officials responsible for fara guidance which is the foreign agent registration act. and he is cooperate with those inquiries. now since they bring it up, since paul manafort's spokesman is bringing up the foreign agent registration act, when he says that they've heard from officials responsible for fara guidance, that means presumably they've heard from justice department officials about the foreign agent registration act and paul manafort potentially having to register under that act. i should tell you that we have reported on this show that even though it has been widely reported and it is widely believed that paul manafort retroactively registered as a foreign agent after he left the campaign, in fact he has not done so. we've also rorted this odd news out of the justice department whi

breaking overnight again, putting mike flynn, remember him, general mike flynn, at the center of this administration's controversy. "the new york times" reporting that the president's transition team led by mike pence knew mike flynn was under investigation weeks, weeks before he was sworn in as national security adviser, and another report says flynn had many more contacts with russian officials than previously known. i want to get back to peter alexander at the white house. peter, it seemed like just yesterday, we were being told that one phone call between mike flynn and russia was nearly a happy new -- merely a happy new year greeting. i guess that changed. >> that's right. this reporting from "the new york times" reports that flynn himself told president trump's transition team when he was only president-elect trump at the time this was weeks before the inauguration he was under federal investigation for having secretly worked as a paid lobbyist for turkey during the course of the campaign. the first disclosure, the times reports, would have happened on january 4th, several weeks

so when mike flynn had his lawyer come out and say mike flynn has a story to tell and he would like to tell it, remember that? certainly general flynn has story to tell and he would very much like to tell it. remember that statement from flynn's lawyer? that was couched with a request for immunity from prosecution for mike flynn. today in the atlantic magazine, you could see the white house spilkus about that. saying he is worried about mike flynn said one source close to the white house. trump has questioned whether or not they should have fired flynn. they don't know what he is going to say. when he did retroactively register as a foreign power after he was fired, that was a sign that oh, it slipped his mind that he had been an agent of a foreign power before. no. that was a sign that he was talking to the department of justice. the department of justice has jurisdiction over the foreign agents registration act. that was a sign he was talking to the department of justice with attention to his own legal misbehavior in terms of representing foreign governments without previously regist

we knew what mike flynn was doing with russia was wrong and risky. i don't know where any of these investigations are going with mike flynn, but the way that other people in republican politics are treating him, is like they're grease and he's a drop of dish soap. so new mike flynn tonight in the "the washington post" and the associated press but that also brings us to tonight's news dump from the administration, and that story is next. stay with us. nitrites or artificial preservatives. now it's good for us all. like those who like... sweet. those who prefer heat. (blows a breath of air) and those who just love meat. for those in school. out of school. and old school. those who like their sandwich with pop. and those who like it with soda. for the star of the scene. cut! and the guys behind it. all the taste you want, nothing you don't. oscar mayer deli fresh. sweet! we can'twhy?y here! terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean! way ahead of you. (avo) charmin ultra strong. it cleans better. it's four times stronger and you can use less. enjoy the

we knew what mike flynn was doing with russia was wrong and risky. i don't know where any of these investigations are going with mike flynn, but the way that other people in republican politics are treating him is like they're grease and he's a drop of dish soap. so new mike flynn news tonight in the "the washington post" and "the associated press," but that also brings us to tonight's news dump from the administration and that story is next. stay with us. mom, i have to tell you something. dad, one second i was driving and then the next... they just didn't stop and then... i'm really sorry. i wrecked the subaru. i wrecked it. you're ok. that's all that matters. (vo) a lifetime commitment to getting them home safely. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. you totanobody's hurt, new car. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your

the first about mike flynn. the second one about paul manafort. nbc reached out to paul manafort's spokesman for comment on this reporting. he released this statement. quote, mr. manafort has not been contacted by any authorities other than the u.s. congress and officials responsible for fara guidance which is the foreign agent registration act. and he is cooperate with those inquiries. now since they bring it up, since paul manafort's spokesman is bringing up the foreign agent registration act, when he says that they've heard from officials responsible for fara guidance, that means presumably they've heard from justice department officials about the foreign agent registration act and paul manafort potentially having to register under that act. i should tell you that we have reported on this show that even though it has been widely reported and it is widely believed that paul manafort retroactively registered as a foreign agent after he left the campaign, in fact he has not done so. we've also reported this odd news out of the justice department w

we knew what mike flynn was doing with russia was wrong and risky. i don't know where any of these investigations are going with mike flynn but the way that other people in republican politics are treating him, is like they're grease and he's a drop of dish soap. so new mike flynn news tonight in the "the washington post" and the associated press but that brings us to tonight's news dump from the administration and that story is next. stay with us. . ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and. ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. also in kids chewables. i mwell, what are youe to take care odoing tomorr

they'd look specifically into mike flynn's payments from foreign sources. and despite their very narrow focus on just that piece of it, the house oversight committee appears to have stumbled on to something unexpectedly rich. their inquiries turned up the theory that mike flynn had not disclosed his foreign payments from russia, even though he'd been told explicitly and in writing that he needed to do that. the inspector general's office announced they started an independent investigation of mike flynn. the white house remarkably -- remarkably refused to hand over any documents to the house oversight committee about mike flynn. they would not hand over a single document, a single piece of paper about mike flynn. and that's a -- an important stonewall there. and the democrats on that committee reacted the way you'd expect. they were not happy with that refusal. democrats on that committee said their chairman, jason chaffetz, should demand to get those flynn documents from the white house. he should subpoena those documents from the white house if necessary t

caller: when the guy called in about mike flynn's security clearance, does the president give or take away security clearance? , you allquestion is have not come on and say what donald trump's regulations that he has pulled how they affect the public. gm mentioned the consumer intention best protection agency. -- gmg pesticides mentioned the consumer protection agency. letting pesticides be used in certain construction materials good can you -- materials. can you talk about the regulations he has taken away and the harm it could do to public -- the public in general? certainly topics we can cover, and i would point you back to tuesday of last week where we had an entire show on the coal industry. an environmentalists came on and spoke about the swing rule that the trump administration rolled back. it was an extreme protection rule that was moved at the end of the obama administration. thank you for bringing up other topics we can discuss.

we know that mike flynn serve in the obama administration. he was fired, but he continued to have his security clearance. so the administration not denying that conversation took place, chris, which i think is the bottom line here, but they are trying to downplay it to say from the perspective of president-elect trump, he didn't think at the time that it was a substantive warning. having said all of that, we did speak with a number of top officials from the obama administration who say just the opposite, that it was, in fact, a substantive warning that took place during that first 90-minute conversation they had here in the oval office. chris, it lets you know just how heated the backdrop is as sally yates prepares to testify this afternoon. >> without a doubt, her much-anticipated testimony. kristen welker reporting the breaking news. thank you so much for that. >>> meantime, jury selection beginning today in the trial of a tulsa police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man, terrence crutcher, has he held up his hands next to his broken

we knew what mike flynn was doing with russia was wrong and risky. i don't know where any of these investigations are going with mike flynn but the way that other people in republican politics are treating him, is like they're grease and he's a drop of dish soap. so new mike flynn news tonight in the "the washington post" and "the associated press" but that brings us to tonight's news dump from the administration and that story is next. stay with us. obviously, ohhh... but with added touches you can't get everywhere else, like claim free rewards... or safe driving bonus checks. oh yes.... even a claim satisfaction guaranteeeeeeeeeee! in means protection plus unique extras only from an expert allstate agent. it's good to be in, good hands. adult 7+ promotes alertness and mental sharpness in dogs 7 and older. (ray) the difference has been incredible. she is much more aware. she wants to learn things. (vo) purina pro plan bright mind. nutrition that performs. start your day with the number one choice of dentists. philips sonicare removes significantly m

so when mike flynn had his lawyer come out and say mike flynn has a story to tell and he would like to tell it, remember that? certainly general flynn has story to tell and he would very much like to tell it. that was couched with a request for immunity from prosecution for mike flynn. today in the atlantic magazine, you can see the white house spilkus saying he is worried about mike flynn said one source close to the white house. trump has questioned whether or not they should have fired flynn. whermgs retro actively registered as a foreign power after he was fired, that was a sign that he was talking to the department of justice. the department of justice has jurisdiction. and mike flynn registered and everybody thinks paul manafort registering but manafort did not. in a statement, paul manafort said he consulted with federal authorities and had received formal guidance from those authorities. the authorities would be the of justice. paul manafort never registered apparently thanks to the guidance he got from federal authorities. federal authorities told him not to register? you're f

, mike flynn doesn't work for the administration right now, okay, and it's not a mike flynn -- >> and obama fired him! >> fired him and mike flynn around washington was known as a weirdo. i mean, like he was -- >> technically speaking. >> this is a classification as you well know, national security. and so, the question always was, why was he even in the trump transition team and in the national security ap rat fups trump is both trying to kind of defend him and separate himself from him at the same time. i'm sure people around donald trump, including the people who run his foreign policy and national security right now, are asking the same question that you are. they don't understand probably what donald trump is doing in terms of his approach with michael flynn. >> a larger issue which is what leverage does the russian federation have over u.s. foreign policy? it appears in the early days they did have some leverage dealing with flynn. what flynn was saying hey those sanctions being imposed today, don't worry about it. >> those sanctions are crippling. remember, vladimir putin may b

this targets mike flynn and specifically his businesses. now, we know that mike flynn is currently fighting the committee's subpoena to testify and to happened over the documents. the committee is hashing it out with flynn's lawyers in terms of what he's able to take the fifth on. but meanwhile, as of late this afternoon, they are sending subpoenas to his businesses and businesses that senator warner said they can't take the fifth. businesses are not people, my friend. d ifou needed any further assurance that the trump/russia investigation is all about following the money, it's very much about businesses and business ties and banking records and finances. also consider the late-breaking news today reported first by fox business and now confirmed by nbc news that the president has now chosen his private counsel who he will use to try to save his presidency, to the extent that his presidency has to be saved by legal maneuvering. in 2005, a "new york times" reporter named timothy o'brien went on to be the business section editor at "the new yo

flynn's companies, because they want to get documents that mike flynn himself wouldn't provide. can they get them in spite of the fact that he's pleading the fifth? >> oh, absolutely. the fifth amendment affords no protection to business documents or records, especially those that were generated before the subpoena was issued. the fifth amendment protects individuals from being compelled to testify going forward. so, for example, even if flynn had confessed to crimes to someone else in the past or signed statements or something, those are still admissible, those are still subpoena-able but business records will be produced and the committees will get them. >> why would he plead the fifth? >> i think it's ultimately going to come down to his lobbying. it may not be so much about the russian connection but with turkey and the fact that he took significant lobbying fees from it. this is also, i think, a classic challenge for those coming out of the military. you've got to remember general flynn was in for 30 years or so, then moving into the business sector and not really understan

did the white house put any security restrictions on mike flynn at all during that time? was he limited to access to classified information, national secrets or decision making in any way? >> i'm not aware. the decision that we made was the right one. the president made a decision. he stands by it. jenna. >> he'd like to go over the timeline again. you have yates coming to the white house on january 26th and the 27th. you then have mcgann going to the doj on february 2nd to see those documents. but it is not until february 13th that flynn actually resigns. tell us what happened between -- you know, you go the this warning, you then saw documents that backed up that warning, and then you have 11 days that pass. what was happening in those 11 days? >> i think if you go back in time and look at what we talked about at the time, there were several conversations that occurred with general flynn between the chief of staff, general counsel, vice president. that all occurred then. look, when you think about the scope of time that actually occurred, those 11 days, to make sure tha

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 alarm at a time when president obama was 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 may

this targets mike flynn and specifically his businesses. now, we know that mike flynn is currently fighting the committee's subpoena to testify and to happened over the documents. the committee is hashing it out with flynn's lawyers in terms of what he's able to take the fifth on. but meanwhile, as of late this afternoon, they are sending subpoenas to his businesses and businesses that senator warner said they can't take the fifth. businesses are not people, my friend. and if you needed any further assurance that the trump/russia investigation is all about following the money, it's very much about businesses and business ties and banking records and finances. also consider the late-breaking news today reported first by fox business and now confirmed by nbc news that the president has now chosen his private counsel who he will use to try to save his presidency, to the extent that his presidency has to be saved by legal maneuvering. in 2005, a "new york times" reporter named timothy o'brien went on to be the business section editor at the kne

th trump familyad a "blind ot" when it came to mike flynn. this is important because it raises new questions, as you know, about the vetting of flynn. the "new york times" reporting that flynn, himself, communicated in the transition time to the transition team, specifically to the head transition lawyer, that he was under federal investigation for his ties, having received money effectively from turkey. that didn't affect the president's decision making, he still brought mike flynn in and brought him by his side with access to the most classified documents and secrets that the u.s. holds. >> i'm told they vetted him, but it was to find out all of the stuff that would discakadisqualm a june yore press aide's position in any other white house. it is just extraordinary. we will be drilling down on that throughout the hour. and to capitol hill and kristen welker. today is a big day. they're going to hear from rod ro ro rosenstein. >> he initially said he did it at the direction of the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. and then president tr

how is mike flynn looking to you these days? >> you know, i did see him in afghanistan and other places. he and stan mccrystal are a major reason why america didn't have multiple 9/11s. having said that, i actually brian, and this is strong words. i actually think there was a mental health problem there. when he was up there leading this chant of lock her up. when he retweeted a story about pedophiles in a pizza place -- >> generals don't do that. >> oh my god. actually, at the time i characterized it as commented talk. so i think there was, you know, he chased the white whale for years as jihadist. he got fired by the obama team. and i think there is something wrong with the way he is conducting himself. >> why the contacts? why the fascination with russia? and did he keep it from -- was he a fire wall between that and the boss? >> first of all, i would be astonished having worked in three white houses for the national security counsel if he wasn't back briefing the president-elect, back briefing the president of the united sta

to be finding out about mike flynn. it appears the fbi has an enormous quantity of information, the intelligence community has information, and they're going to, obviously, they see him as a linchpin that could probably break. >> is that why president trump in your opinion, matt, doesn't break with mike flynn? mike flynn knows so much information. time and again people are saying, mike flynn, let's try to isolate it, bad hire, and the president not making that statement. he is not someone afraid to turn on a friend. >> this is true. i think part of it is mike flynn is not just a silo within the entire trump organization, he brought in a lot of -- >> carter page. >> people like sebastian ghorka, people who have been part of the foreign policy, steve bannon, they know each other and come from the same universe of policy an thinking out there, so maybe, if you try to go after him you will see a domino effect of people in the administration. >> that policy and thinking is not traditional conservative thinking. it's destabil

>> let's be clear on mike flynn. mike flynn only was fired because it was leaked about his -- what his conversations really were. >> true that. >> and that is what is also truly troubling about this, is that absent that leak, they would have probably kept him on. in terms of russia, it's exactly as clint says. it is a fact that they tried to hack our election. it is a fact accepted by 17 intelligence agencies by every foreign government. that is a fact. the president -- we are six months on from this now and still talking about this as if it is some sort of fact in dispute. it is not. look, is there evidence that his administration colluded with russia that is what is under investigation. him saying there is nothing there is as you say, is interfering with an ongoing pending investigation, his level of frustration boiled over with james comey. when he keep saying we have to, and the media has to say, this is wrong, these are the facts, this is what happened. >> it appears to be putting more pressure on calling for a

mike flynn to take this job and flynn was reluctant to do so. the whole thing is a little bit odd but donald trump does want to keep a circle around him who he trusts. now that he is finding he doesn't trust those around him he is starting to bring in people from the old campaign circle. we are seeing names like corey lewandowski showing up at the white house again. donald trump is work working hard to surround himself with people who he thinks are loyal to him. and flynn was one of those guys. >> that story mentioned him and a couple others who re-entered the circle. >> it's almost like a security blanket in some ways bringing back the old characters from earlier in the campaign. but it's not a good idea, many around trump, will say, to bring someone like corey lewandowski who was so much trouble during the campaign back into the picture. but we know donald trump likes to be in touch with these old hands, you know, according to reports he still talks on the phone with roger stone. so there are these characters who are a little unseemly who mayb

mike flynn's conduct has really caused such a serious problem with the white house. and you look at president trump's response to it and his inability to cut ties with mike flynn, and his ongoing support of mike flynn, despite these allegations that are quite incredible. he was accepting money from the turkish government and called off an operation, centcom wanted an operation to go forward. and because mike flynn was on the pay roll of the turkish government, he stopped it. >> this is a fiercely important point. donald trump cuts people loose without a thought. he even cut roy cullen loose when he had aids. the only people that he doesn't have a nasty word for in the last two words are vladimir putin and now mike flynn. so what do they have on him? that's t questwe have to ask. >> that's a good point. flank donald trump has let a number of people go that have been loyal up tol point, useful to a point, and then not so useful any longer. nicole wallace made this point. she said three of the most loyal surrogates and advisers, chris christie, rudolph giuliani, and one

earlier this week, nbc news was first to report that mike flynn and paul manafort, the former national security adviser, former campaign chairman, were officially subjects of criminal investigations in which federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued. and "the washington post" tonight reaffirmed they were keenly interested in mike flynn and paul manafort. flynn and manafort are both subjects of criminal investigations, both in the cross hairs, but we now know it's not either of them because neither mike flynn more paul manafort 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 in the white house are the subject of active law enforcement investigations specifically into whether his campaign colluded in the russian attack 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 commi

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

why don't the president disavow mike flynn? >> i've been asking that question as well. it goes back to the fact that the president has shown us he has immense respect for generals. how many times has he been differential to generals. flynn came out of almost nowhere and embraced the president when no one in republican life would give him any credit and i think that forged a relationship. >> remember he also comes from a democratic back grouped. he's never publicly admitted to it but he was also one of these people who is seen as being someone reaching out across the aisle and embracing donald trump so there was a little bit of that and flynn showing his loyalty because he was burned a little bit by the obama administration so he really just devoted himself to the trump administration and was a very outspoken critic of clinton clinton and others, so that about at this self was perfect combination. >> bill, and tim, corey li lewandowski talked about loyalty. >> they should be loyal, they should be appropriately respectful of their boss, but they take an oath to the consti

katie, this business about the house subpoenaing mike flynn. gout that from house chair adam schiff. tell us how that's different from the senate who subpoenaed him and he didn't want to respond to that subpoena. >> it is honestly not terribly different. just because we didn't know the house side was planning to take similar steps. the overall change is that there were initially subpoenas for documents. they asked mike flynn and his lawyers to produce meetings that happened and send them to the committee and there had not been an official request for flynn himself to testify. then his lawyers said, if we give you these documents, that will amount to self-incriminating testimony and we will not do it. so attorneys said we need to do this differently. they'll send subpoenas to his businesses, a business can't invoke the fifth amendment to protect itself in a case like this and they said we'll subpoena mike flynn himself directly. so that's essentially the next step. from there, the question is, what happens next? in theory, congress could hold fl

>> i think mike flynn knows something about frenzy. didn't he lead the chant locker up at one point? this is the guy who claimed no one would ever ask for immunity who did not commit a crime and now he's asking for immunity. i think it speaks for itself. katy, we've been living under the wisdom of william shakespeare for 500 years, and i think it's as relevant today as it was then, when he had the character lancelot in the play say, at the length, truth allowed. the truth will allow, general flynn, the truth will allow. >> do you believe this in any way impedes your ability to investigate in the house or the senate's ability to investigate this russia matter? >> we're going to get there. we're absolutely going to get the there. the ranking member adam schiff and conroy have agreed to releasing documents. i hope the committee is more involved. they have requested memos from former director comey, but i think the ways and means committee ought to be asking for tax returns and i think the judiciary committee ought to be asking for memos a

then, donald trump is tweeting how mike flynn is a great guy and he didn't do anything wrong and this was all essentially, i'm paraphrasing a witch-hunt by the media. in those 18 day, was there an assessment from the white house whether mike flynn was fit to continue serving or would he have continued to serve if those news reports did not shed light on the conversation between the former acting attorney general, samly yates and don mcgann. also at question, sean spicer, as sally noted, calling the question betweeniates and mcgann nothing more than a heads-up. we now know as was shown us to in that testimony that sally yates had three separate meetings, two of them in person and one over the phone. the second one she said she laid out four different topics with don mcgann. they discussed, number one, why it mattered to the doj, don mcgann asked, why one white house official was lying to another white house official. sally yates said that's essentially because he became a security risk, he could have been compromised, subject to blackmail by the russians. ultimately, that is a concern

michael flynn, we spent a lot of time talking about mike flynn, the former national security adviser. he, of course, had a request from the senate intel committee to testify and for documents. we learn oved overnight he is agreeing to testify -- or submit some documents and information, according to sources close to mike flynn. that is certainly a significant development there. then president trump's attorney. michael cohen telling nbc news if he is asked to testify, if issued a subpoena, he will testify. i have nothing to hide, he says. i'll make myself available, and i'm more than happy and willing to testify, but they have to be specific. there's the word, specific again. steph, the broader point here is that this is an investigation that is expanding. this is a controversy that is deepening. it continues to overshadow the business here at the white house. the president's ee's domestic . he wants to move forward with health care and tax reform, yet this administration mired in difficult questions about the russia probe. that's why they're setting up the war room, to try to outsourc

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