that's dangerous to any democracy, particularly this one. and i think he was chastising people who either acquiesce or defend this assault on truth. >> in terms of an assault, there's a russian attack on the 2016 election which we learned today has continued after the 2016 election. these two new reports including one tonight which is saying that some of these attacks are on special counsel robert mueller and his investigation. again, you were in the middle of it all through the inauguration. are you surprised that the russian efforts have continued until now? >> no, absolutely not, and john, i have to say it's very gratifying for me to read about these reports because they simply reinforce or buttress what we said in our intelligence community assessment in january of 2017. and remember, the first objective of the russians was to sew doubt, discord and discontent in this company, and they have succeeded fairly well