that this is serious. he knows the seriousness that -- he has to choose his words very, very carefully. there is a context with the russian involvement in the election campaign and the questions being asked why wasn't he ready for this question. >> whether he was ready or not, first of all, the question came from senator franken on a breaking news report from buzz feed which has broouchb to be false. as al franken is reading it he's saying it's just coming out and i don't know the details. >> you're saying -- >> the premise -- how could he be prepared for a false story that was going to be released by a webpage. he was prepared for a russian question. the question was does the campaign have any contact with the lugs? he said no. that's a direct answer to the question. the reason why you'll never get to mergery or close is because you'll never prove any intent. you don't prove it based on the guy being a lawyer or not.