Closed doors. We still dont know what happened behind closed doors. Keep that in mind as we begin today with a rattled president and a twitter tail spin unleashing on everyone, everyone but Vladimir Putin or the 12 additional russians accused of attacking the u. S. Let me get you up to speed. The president s threat of war on iran tweeting suffer the consequences, the likes of which few throughout history have ever seen. Does that sound familiar . North korea best not make anymore threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. The president is frustrated with Nuclear Talks with north korea. Kim jonguns regime sharpens the tone and makes demands. He is also walking back his walk back of admitting the russians hacked the campaign by calling it a hoax. Paul manaforts trial begins this week. Carter page admits contact with the kremlin and the president cannot believe Michael Cohen would tape their conversations. Kaitlyn collins is standing by for the White House Briefing. Talk to me about what the heck happened that led to this tweet in all caps on this morning to iran. Well, that was really the question on everyones mind. It was a weekend of all caps tweeting from President Trump who tweeted dozens of times in just the last 24 hours alone. Especially over the weekend while he was at his golf club. That remark from the president in all caps directed at iran came after the iranian president issued a statement in remarks saying essentially that any war any conflict between the United States and iran would be the war to end all wars, essentially. Very Strong Language coming from him. And, of course, brook, this all comes, you cant ignore the backdrop. In may the United States withdrew from the iran deal. That meant the sanctions were reimposed. We are weeks away from strict banking sanctions and in november there will be tougher sanctions as well. That is all the backdrop. The president s tweet specifically came after pompmik pompeo delivered a harsh statement at iran saying this. The level of corruption shows iran is run by something that resembled the mafia more than a government. Its like an iranian unicorn. Sometimes it seems the world has become desensitized to the worlds authoritarianism around the world. The United States under President Trump will not stay silent. So, brook, between that language from pompeo, a statement from the National Security adviser john bolton essentially saying what the president said on twitter and the president s all caps tweet, you can get when entarnsarah hu sanders comes out, shell be asked about that and what the president was saying one year ago last year about north korea with reference to the fire and fury remark. Shes going to be asked about that as well as the president s other tweets this weekend seeming to call into question essentially what the white house had him say last week was he agreed with the Intelligence Communitys assessment that russia interfeerd in tred in th election. He backtracked over the weekend. Certainly nothing short to ask Sarah Huckabee sanders about today when she walks out here. Well see you momentarily. Thank you for that. While the president had no while the president had no problem lashing out against iran, he refuses to keep his word on russia. The president is once again contradicting his closer advisers, his very own prepared remarks. Calling the investigation into election interference, quote, a big hoax. Are we back at square one . Its important not to lose track of all of this. Let me take you back seven days ago. Helsinki, finland. Dan coats came to me and some others. They said they think its russia. I have president putin. He just said its not russia. I will say this. I dont see any reason why it would be. Following those comments backlash erupts and after 24 hours of strategizing a cleanup, the white house enters full on damage control mode and comes up with this. The sentence should have been i dont see any reason why it wouldnt be russia. Sort of a double negative. Okay. Unusual strategy, but he says he agrees with u. S. Intel chiefs. He says russia attacked u. S. Elections. Got it. But then in the very same breath he said this. Let me be totally clear in saying and ive said this many times, i accept our Intelligence Communitys conclusion that russia is meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there. Dan coats, trumps director of National Intelligence clashes with the president , says no, it is russia and russia only, and by wednesday the president is seemingly convinced. You havent condemned putin specifically. Do you hold him personally responsible . Well, i would, because hes in charge of the country. Just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. So certainly as the leader of a country you would have to hold him responsible, yes. What did you say to him . A very strong on the fact that we cant have meddling. I let him know we cant have this. Were not going to have it and thats the way its going to be. Well, he didnt confront the russian president in front of the cameras. We wraps up the week with this proposal. Mr. Putin, come to washington this fall. Is this Unfinished Business . The white house wont say. That brings me to today, the president s tweets. A big hoax, a witch hunt. The take away, these appear to be the president s true thoughts. No not the forced statements typed out for him or whatever his administration claims he believes. Its like the fire storms, the backlash the walk backs from last week, its as if it never happened. Lets open up the conversation. With me gloria borger, Aaron David Miller and Jeffrey Lewis. Gloria, to you first. After as we just rolled through it, the week that was, how does Sarah Huckabee sanders explain this . To do you think this all caps iran tweet is supposed to be a distraction . Well, you never know with donald trump. Hes very good at doing that. I personally believe that the truest donald trump you ever get is the one on twitter. Because its his thumbs doing the typing, and in this case all caps, and we know that donald trump doesnt like to be threatened, and he felt threatened by rouhani who said any conflict between iran and the United States would be the mother of all wars. So the president sprung into action. But, you know, hes springing into action everywhere against mueller, against iran. But not against russia, except when his back is to the wall, and he had to read that hostage video. Appeared in the hostage video last week when he had to read that statement about the difference between would and wouldnt. And so i think what youre seeing here is kind of unvarnished stream of consciousness going back to the mueller witch hunt. Hes upset clearly about Michael Cohen. Shes upset. The manafort trial is probably going to starting today, hes got iran. Hes got north korea hes frustrated by. I think it just all comes out. Jeffrey, we wanted to talk to you. You wrote either this book of fiction about one of trumps tweets starting with a war with north korea. And you say trumps iran tweet is worse. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, you know, look. On a day today basis this is probably just a distraction. Its just something he says and it goes away. But the scenario i worried about in north korea, and in my novel the 2020 commission, but also that i would worry about in iran is what happens if were in a real crisis . You know, not just any old random day where it seems to come out of the blue but in a situation where a world leader thinks the United States might attack . Then i think a tweet like this could pour gasoline on the fire. Sue, does iran not take him seriously . Is this not a real world Case Scenario . The president s truest thoughts coming from twitter . I think they have to be sitting there scratching their heads. Weve already seen a little bit of anecdotal reporting that north koreans in meetings often are trying to figure out what does one make of the twitter feed. I think that sometimes there is probably a discount, and thats the good news. But, again, the scenario that i worry about is where people are looking for evidence that were going to attack and then they see the tweet. A discount. Thats one way to put it. Aaron david miller, its almost like its a tale of two responses. Response number one, trump threatening iran with war after rhetoric, and then response number two, trump invites Vladimir Putin to the white house after russia attacks the United States. How do you square the two . I mean, id square it by with the following observation. This is the first president probably in the history of the republic who lacks the capacity to define an American National interest on whatever the subject is, iran, the eu, china, or russia. Somehow untethered from his own personal fears . His political interests . His likes and his dislikes. All of these things have i think something in common. And what you see in the tweets is that frustration, is that resentment. I think thats what explains and thats the connective tissue on all of this. One of my former bosses George Schultz once said when you dwoent have a policy, the temptation grows to give speech. Or in this case to tweet. We dont have a strategy toward north korea. We do not have a strategy toward russia. I suspect we he careens from lamp post to lamp post as if he doesnt have a direction except the one powered and fuelled by his own personal resentments and his politics, and i think thats a sad testament to the future Foreign Policy of the republic. Stand by, everyone. The white house will have to answer for all of this. The last briefing got heated over that putin trump summit. Now its become even more confusing. Youre watching cnn. Well be right back. Thank you wait, i have something for you every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. Save up to 15 when you book early at hollidayinn. Com who would have guessed . An Energy Company helping cars emit less. Making cars lighter, its a good place to start, advanced oils for those hardworking parts. Fuels that go further so drivers pump less. Improving efficiency is what we do best. Energy lives here. Were in a small room. What . welcome. [ gasps ] a bigger room . how many of you use Car Insurance . Oh. Well, what if i showed you this . 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Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. Learn all you can. To help protect yourself from another dvt or pe. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Gloria borger, Aaron David Miller and Jeffrey Lewis are with me. I pulled a couple of different statements we read the congressman will hurd, his piece a couple of days ago in the paper. He wrote as an undercover officer in the cia, i saw russian intelligence manipulate many people. I never thought i would see the day when an american president would be one of them. Add to that congressman Brian Fitzpatrick also a republican who is former fbi saying the president was manipulated by Vladimir Putin, and then finally you have the top democrat on the House Intel Committee who said this. I certainly think hes acting light someone who is compromised. It may well be he is compromised or that he believes that hes compromised, that the russians have information on him. We were not permitted to look into one of the allegations that was most serious to me, and that is were the russians laundering money through the Trump Organization . Republicans wouldnt allow us to go near it. If thats the leverage is russians are using, it would explain the president s behavior and help protect the country by knowing our president was compromised. Compromised,manipulated. This is a democrat but also republicans, thinking about the week that was over the weekend, it feels like a shift. It does, because i think after the infamous helsinki presser, people were kind of stunned that the president seemed to basically cave to anything Vladimir Putin said or did. Sin we dont have a direct readout of the meeting and perhaps Sarah Huckabee sanders will help us with that a little bit, were getting bits and pieces of what was discussed not from our side but from the russians. And so were its confusing. Its questionable. And things that people were thinking privately, could the president possibly be compromised . Whats the reason . People are now saying that publicly. And these are republicans. And thats one of the reasons you have the president lashing out saying its collusion, a witch hunt. That comes after a week ago this past friday you had 12 indictments of russians who were trying to impact the election. So, you know, its very hard to come up with a rational, reasonable explanation that does not involve the president himself. To have the president inviting Vladimir Putin who did attack and is still attacking the midterms around the fall, somebody said to me on friday, its like you own the home and youre opening the door to the burglar yet again. Aaron david miller on the notion of potentially him being compromised, do you find it more and more credible that the president of the United States could be compromised . This is really serious stuff, and i take it seriously. I worked for republicans and democrats. I voted for them as well. This is not a partisan comment. Im desperately trying to identify a plausible explanation for the reality that with almost no exceptions, this president has turned on or has been ambivalent about every single foreign leader with whom he has interacted. Except putin. Either he has a natural affection for authoritarians over allies. Putin is not cranky. He basically deals with the president. Doesnt have a whole lot to say. The president admires and respects his toughness, or you conclude that mr. Putin has some form of leverage either financial transgressions, personal transgressions. Im desperately seeking and searching for the empirical evidence that explains why this president look, this is the Foreign Policy analog to charlottesville. In charlottesville he acquiesc acquiesced. Here he willfully compromised American Values and interests. I cant explain it. Im increasingly drawn to glorias explanation. Yes. Although, we dont know. Maybe bob mueller knows. But we certainly cannot draw that direct line at this point. But people are shaking their heads and saying well, give me some better explanations. Yep. No, its a serious question, and i dont ask it lightly at all. Stand by, everyone. We need another quick break. Were waiting for the briefing. The White House Press corps is ready to roll. Well also fact check the president s false claims about the warrants targeting his former campaign adviser. 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Lets go to cnn politics reporter and editor at large kris for the fact check. Where do you want to start . This could take a while. Marco rubio is right. Donald trump is trying to link the steele dossier with the start of the fbi probe which became the mueller investigation. Not accurate. We know from under oath testimony from intelligence officials it was a meeting between George Papadopoulos and a professor who had tied to russia that initially piqued the fbis interest. That point one. Point two, this is related to devin nunez, the chairman of the house intelligence Committee Said the fbi never let the court know some of this information was gleaned from a document, dossier that was being paid for by someone who might be supportive of one of the candidates. Not accurate. The fbi speculates the identified u. S. Person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit candidate ones campaign. Thats pretty direct that suggests that this was not sort of a benign nonpartisan effort. This might have been a search for information on donaldtrump. Theres a lot here. Now, again, donald trump saying this all began with the steele dossier. No. This is from the fisa warrant. This a lot of this is redacted. Page lived in russia. During this time page he began a relationship with someone. There was concerns about carter page prior to this steele dossier. Lets go to the next slide. Again, okay, remember, this was authorized once. The fisa warrant was thorsed once and reauthorized three more times, brook, by federally appointed judges. Who were they appointed by . George w. Bush. And ronald reagan. In case you didnt notice the similarity, these people are all republicans. All republicans picked these judges. And the last one here, this is important. Donald trump said i didnt know anything about this. Why wasnt i briefed about all of this information regarding russia . He was. August 17, 2016. Okay . Hes the republican nominee at this point. Donald trump briefed foreign adversaries including russia would try to infail trailtrate campaign. Obama goes public. October 9th, trump says the reason they blame russia is because theyre trying to tarnish me. Then hes the president elect. Two weeks before hes sworn in. The Intelligence Community chief showed him the efforts for russia to try to compromise him. Whether its that or what donald trump says more broadly on twitter and elsewhere, hes just not presenting facts when it relates to the fisa warrant, carter page, the fbi investigation, the special counsel. Hes making a lot of connections that facts dont bear out that they exist. Back to you. The fact that you werent able to show the fisa Court Documents were redacted, yes, but they have never been released before. Unprecedented that theyre released. Thank you so much for walking us through all of that. Thank you. As the backlash grows more toxic over the president s dismissal of attacks on u. S. , any moment the white house will answer for all of this. Also in two days the criminal trial of former Trump Campaign chairman Paul Manafort is set to start. But now that is in jeopardy. Hear why and what just happened with five witnesses in that case. Liberty mutual saved us almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. With liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey oh, thats my robe. Is it . When you switch to liberty mutual, you could save 782 on auto and home insurance. And still get great coverage for you and your family. Call for a free quote today. You could save 782. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Sometimes a day at the ballpark is more than just a day at the ballpark. Stadium pa all military members stand and be recognized. Sometimes fans cheer for those who wear a different uniform. 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Were waiting for the judge to decide whether or not hes going to delay this trial for perhaps another two weeks or a week. Its not entirely clear. Manaforts attorneys came into court today asking for this delay saying they had just received new documents and they needed some time to review the new documents. It seemed at least that the judge was giving some indications he was inclined to do that. Were waiting for him to make that decision. Hes listening to other matters right now were told. Thats the delay. Manafort and his attorneys were ordered back to court at 2 00. Were waiting for that. The other news here today, brooke, is that the judge has granted immunity to five witnesses for the prosecution. The special counsels office made a request of the judge last week for immunity for the five mystery witnesses. Its not entirely clear to us yet who they are. That may happen today. We may get a list of the witnesses that are going to testify against Paul Manafort. The judge and the prosecutors here have indicated they have about 30 witnesses that they intend to call and that list could be made public later this afternoon. All right. Well wait for the news and the request for that delay. Thank you. For now and staying in washington, live pictures inside that Briefing Room waiting to see Sarah Huckabee sanders stand behind the podium. The last White House Briefing got pretty heated as the president walked back his comments after hed stood alongside Vladimir Putin and now that he has walked them back again, how will Sarah Huckabee sanders respond . Were about the find out. Thank you wait, i have something for you every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. Save up to 15 when you book early at hollidayinn. Com save up to 15 when you book early dear foremothers, your society was led by a woman, who governed thousands. Commanded armies. Yielded to no one. When i found you in my dna, i learned where my strength comes from. 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Senator schumer should stop the political games and meet with judge kavanaugh. We Welcome Senate democrats who take their constitutional duty seriously. Judge kavanaugh stands ready to meet with members of both parties. In a few minutes the president will be participating in an event and were excited to hold the 2018 made in america products showcase at the white house. The president is committed to policies that ensure more products are made in america. Today well see snow boards made in colorado. Campers made in indiana a truck made by the Ford Motor Company in michigan and bats made by bwp bats this pennsylvania. A personal favorite, ranger boats from arkansas is also here. The president celebrates every states effort and commitment to American Made products and he his honored to have these companies here today. We look forward to having you all join us for that event made. Well jump into questions. Reporter is the president considering the request to declassify key sections of the records with respect to the fisa document release . And will he do it before the house goes into recess . The president wants has purposefully remained uninvolved in this process. He said repeatedly he wants the department of justice to be fully transparent with the requests from congress. And hes going to continue at this point to remain uninvolved. However, he sees more and more every single day that this is proving further and further to be a total witch hunt. Particularly because it was based on a false and unverified and discredited dossier. Reporter we saw the president tweet on iran last night. What prompted him to use such stock language . The president s been, i think, pretty strong since day one in his language toward iran. He was responding to comments made from them, and hes going to continue to focus on the safety and security of american people. What would it take to have direct negotiation between the president and president rouhani . Im not going to get into specifics and negotiate with the press. That would be a determination the president would make. The ultimate goal and focus of the president is making sure we keep Nuclear Weapons out of their hands and that we focus on the protection of americans. The president tweeted yesterday that russias election interference was all a big hoax. Those are the words he used. Last week he said he had full faith in the u. S. Intelligence agencies. Does he believe it was a hoax or does he have faith in the intelligence agencies that have concluded definitively the other way that russia did meddle . The president has stated over and over again as have i and other administration officials, we maintain that russia interfered in the elections. The president , however, very much so and has repeatededly as again have the rest of us, that his campaign colluding in that process is a total hoax. We still hold true to that. The president is referencing the collusion component once again. The president has faith in the intelligence that suggests and maintain that russia was involved in the elections. However, its also important that that same information concludes that it had no impact on the election. And that the president , again, would like to repeat there was no collusion. Reporter the president forcefully has spoken out against iran and forcibly against north korea. He said hell forcefully speak against any threat to the United States. The president has been incredibly tough on russia. Hes brought it up directly to him in person every single time they have met. He has put unprecedented sanctions and been extremely tough on russia across a number of fronts which weve addressed here many times before. Frankly, im not sure why that is so hard for the media to write about. Weve repeated it time and time again. The policy that the president has been since day one in office has been extremely tough on russia. Probably more so than with any other country. Reporter thank you, sarah. Senator rand paul today made a strong attempt to talk about the credibility of former cia director john brennan saying that hes, and i quote, monetizing his security clearance and that it should be removed from him. Will the president consider senator pauls suggestion and call for the removal of former director brennans security clearance . Not only is the president looking to take away brennans security clearance. Hes also looking into the clearances of comey, clapper, hayden, rice, and mccabe. The president is exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearances because theyve politicized and in some cases monetized their clearances. Making accusations of improper contact with russia. Its extremely inappropriate, and the fact that people with security clearances are making baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence. When the president called out jcpoa he did not reveal an alternate plan to address the nuclear am bigs. Ambitions. He seemed to bank on them coming back to the table. The president s number one goal is to make sure iran doesnt get a nuclear weapon. We have similar and shared interests with our european allies. Were continuing to have discussions with them. And when we have specifics on that front well let you know. Reporter my question was a follow up. My question about russia is President Trump continues to air his grievances about the coverage of his meeting with Vladimir Putin. Since you guys continue to obsessively cover it. Reporter we cant. Its been seven days. We have not received a readout or any specific details about agreements that were reached whether formally or verbally. When can we specific that . The only specific agreement made was the two National Security teams from both the United States and russia would continue at a working level. These discussions, can i tell you ambassador bolton plans to have a meeting, a followup with his counterpart from russia next month in addition to meetings with other european allies to further those discussions, and well keep you posted when we have specific details on what that meeting looks like. Sarah, so does President Trump plan on ordering to move any carriers or additional military resources to the region should iran continue to pose the threat he alluded to . I dont have specific announcements on this. Secretary of state pompeo yesterday talked a lot about corruption and human rights abuses in iran. Why is he zeroing in on iran when a number of other states are guilty of the same transgressions including russia which we are warming up to . Again, weve been tough on russia with our policy. Weve had tough discussions. We can be tough on more than one country at the time. Thats what were doing. Reporter could you explain a little bit of the threshold that the president has for taking away former official security clearance . Is it his position that any former obama official that holds clearance and makes political statements about him should have their clearance revoked or is it limited to the names you read . As of now were exploring the mechanism on those specific names. Reporter the language the president used in the tweet that he sent out last night was very similar to the language he used last august in new jersey when he spoke of fire and fury being rained down on north korea. And that led to a one on one meeting the president ultimately had with kim jongun. Is the president open to diplomacy with iran, meeting perhaps one on one with president rouhani . Im not going to negotiate the specifics the president or the administration would be looking at. Our goal is to stop iran from Nuclear Weapons. Well keep you posted on that. Reporter your statement regarding judge kavanaugh at the top. Theres one republican is that right who says hes undecided. Theres a few that say theyre undecided. Rand paul says im honestly undecided. Im very concerned about his position on privacy. Are you concerned about losing rand paul once this vote for judge kavanaugh ultimately gets through . Were hopeful senator paul will do the right thing and vote for this highly qualified nominee. Reporter sarah, flipping around johns question about iran, considering the comments that weve heard in the past day from the president s tweet, ambassador boltons statement which you put out and secretary pompeos speech last night, what is stopping this administration from just openly advocating regime change in iran . Again, our focus is on stopping iran from having Nuclear Weapons regardless of who is there. Thats what our priority is, and if we have any further announcements on that front, ill let you know. But the president , his administration are going to continue pushing and advocating for that. Reporter regarding one of the stories that broke on friday, how did the president feel when he found out his long time lawyer and fixer had recorded him . While the president maintains that hes done nothing wrong on the specific topic, id refer you to the president s outside counsel. Reporter does the president still deny he had a relationship with a woman named Karen Mcdougal . The president maintains hes done wrong. I would refer you to Rudy Giuliani for all questions on that matter. Reporter i want to follow up about brennan and his security clearance. Are you considering any additional actions against brennan and the other names you read off in addition to revoking their security clearance, is is there any other action under review . Not that im aware of. Reporter to go back to the russia information. The carter page states that he is a russian agent involved in clan december tine activities. Given that the president continues to say there was no collusion between his campaign and russia, is he concerned or does he not believe the Intelligence Communitys assessment that carter page was a russian agent . Again, i think weve spoken extensively what our position is on this, and we have no changes to that. Reporter the president is threatening to punish brennan and comey and clapper for saying things about him that he doesnt like. Is that president ial . The president is exploring these mechanisms to remove security clearance because theyve politicized and in some cases monetized their Public Service and their security clearances. And making baseless accusations of improper relationship with russia is inappropriate. The president contends that the fact that people with security cleerns are making the baseless charges provides ill legitimate when we have further updates on the front, ill let you know. Theres a speech he doesnt like, and he wants to punish them for it. I think youre creating your own story. The president doesnt like the fact that people are politicizing agencies and departments that are specifically meant to not be political and not meant to be monetized off of security clearances. Reporter the followup on that, isnt the president doing exactly what you just said the president doesnt want all these people doing . Politicizing matters of National Security by going after his political enemys . The president is not not making baseless accusations of contact with a Foreign Government and accusing the president of treasonous activity when you have the highest level of security clearance, when youre the person that holds the nations deepest most sacred secrets at your hands and you make false accusations against the president , he says thats something to be concerned with, and were exploring what those options are and what that looks like. Reporter the message sorry, i got to keep moving. Were running out of time. About two more questions left. Kaitlyn, go ahead. Reporter the president s message to Paul Manafort, does he have one . Not in a im aware of. Reporter when is the president going to make the decision on the security clearances . When we have an update, well let you know. My question has the president since you didnt answer if hes briefed since they havent briefed reporters on what went down reporter we had a press conference. The president has done interviewed. Reporter has the president briefed his National Security adviser, his secretary of state, the director of National Defense on what was said between him and Vladimir Putin . The president has met and spoken with all of these individuals since he is he relying solely on his own memory to tell them what happened during the meeting . The president has met and consultanted with his National Security team. We feel confident. Its on what he remembers . Im not going to go into the specific details on how the president interacts with his National Security team. This is a sitdown with the russian team. This is a normal practice for two World Leaders to have a conversation with one another. Reporter what about president obama and Vice President biden and their security clearances . Are they on the list as well . Im not aware of any plans on that at this point. Thank you. Okay. So Sarah Huckabee sanders there. Lets just call it what it was. She threw a grenade in there when it comes to the news that shes now saying the white house is now considering not only revoking the security clearance of the former cia chief john brennan but also that of comey, clapper, mccabe, and rice. In case you missed it, lets reroll the found and then well have a big discussion. Not only is the president looking to take away brennans security clearance. Hes also looking into the clearances of comey, clapper, hayden, rice, and mccabe. The president is exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearance because they politicized and in some cases monetized their Public Service and security clearances making baseless accusations of improper contact with russia or being influenced by russia against the president is extremely inappropriate and the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence. Dana bash, starting with you first. We know that senator rand paul was supposedly meeting with the president to revoke the security clearance of mr. Brennan. That whole list . What are you thinking . Its political. I impleernmean, its political. We need to call things for what they are. This is political. Theres no question that James Clapper and others, i mean, size susan rice was always a political appointee when she was working for the president of the United States. The others are in different categories. Clapper and brennan and others, particularly clapper have been in the United States military. They have served democrats. They have served republicans. It is only in recent months that they have been extraordinarily political, because they say its what they see is needed with the president who is not respecting institutions, especially the Intelligence Community where they all worked. By way of context when i say its political, Michael Flynn was in the Intelligence Community. He headed one of the intelligence agencies, the Defense Intelligence agency. And after that he was making money. He still had his security clearance. He was on the campaign trail saying that Hillary Clinton should be locked up. He didnt get his security clearance pulled by barack obama, the then president. If youre looking for something that is as is the closest to compare it to would probably be that. And, again, we have not seen any of the individuals that Sarah Sanders put out now on the campaign trail actively campaigning for or against a candidate. Not yet. So if this is politically motivated, this would be retaliation, gloria borger. Is this even doable . You know, i think the president could do what he wants. Youd have to double check me on that. Maybe david would know, but i agree with dana. Its punishing your critics. Its telling people whom he sees on television or reads in tweets who are criticizing him, im going to get you, and i dont think it will stop them from criticizing him. It may stop them from getting the intelligence that a lot of people think you need to keep getting to continue through the years. So these people can consultant with the current people who were in office. As dana points out, flynn was marching around stage saying lock her up. Nobody did anything about that. And its petty and small. Rand paul had an idea, gave it to the president. He probably thought it was just great. All these people who have devoted their lives to Public Service, whether you like them or not, suddenly donald trump says well, i dont like what youre saying, so you have no clearance. Mark and Aaron David Miller, hang tight with me for a second. We have James Clapper on the line. Hes a National Security analyst and former director of National Intelligence. Mr. Clapper, you are apparently now on a list according to the white house. They would like to revoke your security clearance. How do you feel about that . Well, its interesting news. Im reading it and learning about it just as you are. I think its off the top of my head a sad commentary. For political reasons this is a petty way of retribution, i suppose for speaking out against the president which i think on the part of all of