this in helsinki. >> i have great confidence in my intelligence people but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial. >> reporter: it has been the most sweeping rebuke of the president from his own party. on capitol hill, senate majority leader addressed moscow directly. >> i think the russians need to know there are a lot of us who fully understand what happened in 2016 and it really better not happen again in 2018. >> reporter: the white house shaken by the blow back, as the president awoke to headlines declaring treason. "the wall street journal editorial page declaring that helsinki performance a personal and national embarrassment, asserting the president had projected weakness. anthony scaramucci is not mincing words. >> loyalty requires you to tell the truth, sit with him, explain to him the optics of the situation, why the optics are bad, the strategy in terms of