>> our democracy itself is in the crosshairs. >> >> reporter: though the officials note it is not as robust as in 2016, but the response under president trump will be stronger. >> the president has specifically directed us to make the matter of election meddling and securing our election process a top priority. >> reporter: but noticeably absent, the commander in chief who would weeks ago was still casting doubt on russian meddling. >> is russia still targeting the u.s. >> thank you very much, no. >> reporter: standing with vladimir putin, seeming to resquekt tr reject the intelligence community's opinion that russia interfered. the head of the fbi asked how america should square the intel warning with a president who repeatedly attacked his agency. >> i can assure the american people that the men and women of the fbi starting from the director all the way town will follow our oaths and do our