Sex for access. I felt like President Trump was lying to the American People. When all in starts now. Good evening, from new york. I am in for chris hayes. This time, aimed at the midterm election. And yet again the white house is trying to tell the American People that the president did not say what we all saw and heard him say. At a cabinet meeting, the president told reporters that russia is not trying to disrupt this years election. Is russia still targeting the u. S. Press, lets go. Make your way out. That directly contradicts the president s hand picked dan coats. Coats compared this moment right now to the summer before 9 11. According to this cia director, the system was blinking red. And here we are two decades, nearly two decades later, and i am here to say the warning lights are blinking red. The warning lights are blinking red. The president s dismissal of that threat comes two days after he stood on a stage and took putins side against the u. S. Government on 2016 election interference. He tried to undo the damage yesterday. With these comments today, the president appears to have walked back his walk back. And so at her first briefing in more than two weeks, the White House Press secretary informed reporters that the president in fact meant Something Different than what he said. The president said thank you very much and was saying no to answering questions. The president and his administration are working very hard to make sure that russia is unable to meddle in our elections. So despite the video that shows the president looking at cecilia and answers no. And despite multiple people in the room that the president was responding to the question. You are saying it is reverse. I talked to the president he was not answering the question and he was saying no, he wasnt answering the questions. That account doesnt pass the smell test. After he said no to more questions, the president kept taking more questions. No one is tougher on russia end quote. And it is not clear that the president or his allies actually care to stop russia from putting a finger on the scale. Just today, House Republicans blocked a push by democrats to pass new funding for cybersecurity and other measures. Members of the president s twitter army and the pro trump media are dropping all pretenses of actually objecting to russian interference. If russia assists magga candidates on the internet in this years midterm, thats not the end of the world. Joining me now is congressman swalwell. Let me repeat that tweet to you. If russia assists magga candidates on the internet in this years midterm, thats not the reend of the world. What is your response to that sentiment. It certainly would be the end of our democracy. It is going to take unity to make sure this democracy continues to thrive. We offered as democrats a no use truce. Essentially saying if there is a hacking that occurs against you, you will not use any proceeds against you and we will expect the same for us. They have not yet signed that. That type of unity will show that we will not tolerate it. We will not give any oxygen to anything you put out there. You can see how some people including people running in congressional races could say maybe if they help donald trump, help some members of congress, why not take the help. The cynic in me, when you look at 44 members that were recently outfruund outfundraise. The more that they distaont stp and unite with us, when are we going to stand up for our country. We standing up depends on everybody including the president of the United States being on the same page. The president has now given another interview to cbs news. Lets listen to what he told us about russian interference in the election. Do you agree with u. S. Intelligence that russia meddled. Yeah, and i have said that before. And i would say that is true. You havent condemned putin personally. Do you hold him personally responsible. I would because he is in charge of the country. Just like i consider myself being responsible for things that happen in this country. As a leader of the country, you would have to hold him responsible yes. What did you say to him . Very strong to the fact that we cant have meddling. We are living in a grownup world. What they did here is the statement he made to putins close friend. And that statement was not acceptable. Didnt get much play, but that statement was not acceptable. But i let him know we cant have this. We are not going to have it and that is the way it is going to be. Congressman, a reluctant worrier at best. More qualifications as it relates to putin and the 2016 elections and quite possibly in the 2018 midterms. What do you make of this . He didnt say that to Vladimir Putin when he was face to face. I cannot believe with a straight face well i can, that he said barack obama, we cant trust what he said in private. That is what he did with Vladimir Putin. He wants us to accept what he said. And when i say we need to unite, this is not just some symbolism. There is a to do list. We could have an independent commission to take this out of congress. We can protect the mueller investigation. There is a lot we can do to show the American People and our enemies that we are not going to tolerate this. Congressman Eric Swalwell from california. For more on the fallout and its potential impact. I am joined by Jill Winebanks and new York Magazine magazine jonathan shay. Let me start with you. I reach back to a column you wrote last week in which you wrote, what is missing from our imagination is the unlikely but possible outcome on the other end that this is much worse than we suspect. You look back at the events of the last week, brussels, and nato, london and helsinki, does this make the horrible prospect that donald trump is in the pocket of Vladimir Putin more and not less likely . I was expecting some dark things to chance py things to transpire. And it is worse. Nobody thought he was going to stand up. And certainly nobody thought he was going to endorse this crazy offer by Vladimir Putin. Sort of combine our intelligence efforts with his. That was really beyond our worst fear. I do think we dont know how far the scandal goes and how far the collusion. The worst scenario seems more likely now than a week ago. We heard president putin speaking to the world about bill broward. If the u. S. Maybe lets us talk to bill broward. He talked about Michael Mcfall who is a frequent guest here. This is serious. The russian president is naming americans and targeting them. We have got indictments that have a legal basis for charging russians and Vladimir Putin is putting names out there. Exactly and it is a big difference between having probable cause that leads to an indictment and just grabbing names of people you know they are after. This goes back to the meeting in trump tower when we were talking about the act. This has been a sore point for the russians ever since it passed. We now how well that ended for him and we need to have a president who is willing to stand up and say to the face of the president of russia, we know that you hacked our election. We know you interfered and tried to disrupt our democracy but we would not allow that. It will not happen. We are taking actions to stop it. He did not say that. He said i cant see why it would be russia. And trying to say that he meant wouldnt be russia is just absurd. People dont speak in double negatives, it didnt happen. He clearly said it. It took more than 24 hours for them to correct it. And that was the best they could come up with. Just like they are trying to say, no, i am not taking any more questions after he did take more questions. That is a spin. The president says these things. We all hear him together and he says he didnt. And there are clearly some people in america who continue to believe this or as i pointed out before i talked to congressman swalwell, dont care. Thats right. And trump interestingly is apart from his administration in the entire lead of the Republican Party in his affection for Vladimir Putin and for russia and this is played itself out in interesting ways. Trump himself wants to form an alliance with russia and has been stymied and blocked. And at every opportunity he tries to break loose from these advisers. And when he got in a room by himself with putin, this is an opportunity for him to do who knows what, but to the horror of his entire administration. Jill, maybe it is hard for the president to stand next to Vladimir Putin and tell him, i dont think it is that hard, but he could say look, we dont go to this thing. You cant come to america and pick people up and decide you are going after them. That would have been an easy one for him. What more does anyone need to see to understand something is r rotten. This is collusion in plain sight. It would have been easy to say, no, an ambassador cannot be questioned. You cant pick names out of a hat to start asking questions. Why dont you turn over the people who have probable cause . Why would he even support the department of justice in its efforts. Why wouldnt he admit that the allegations in that indictment which are laid out so clearly are true. When i heard jonathans piece on july 9, a week before this terrible episode of the helsinki summit, i thought he is pushing it a little far and now i have to say, no, he is exactly correct and since then, we have Maria Buttina. And doesnt constitute espionage. She is clearly an agent of the government. And doing things to influence the outcome of elections. And we need to protect ourselves and not doing that. We are following that well. Jill winebanks and jonathan chait. Thank you. I want to play this for you. This is what he told lester. Did you watch and what your reactions were to Vladimir Putin denials. Well i didnt watch it live. I was in a meeting actually with some of my foreign counterparts, some of our closest foreign parters in the Intelligence Community. But i certainly saw it afterwards. Hes got his view. Hes expressed his view and i can tell you what my view is. The Intelligence Community assessment has not changed. My view has not changed. Which is that russia attempted to interfere with the last election and continues to engage in operations to this day. Aimed at our political system . Aimed at sewing discourse and divisiveness. Certainly other efforts what i would call malign influence operations are active and we could be a moment away going to the next level. To me, it is a threat that we need to take extremely seriously. This suggestion has been that it is russia, but there may be others. Are there others . Well, there are certainly other countries that are designed on a Going Forward basis have their own ways of influencing our public opinion, our politicians, our business community. But no question that russia has been by far the most aggressive actor in the space that we are talking about right now. And you are seeing it in real time right now that they continue . Absolutely. Efforts to what they do is identify a divisive issue and through a variety of means, some overt, some covert, some through fake news, some propaganda. They will spin people up on both sides of the issue and watch us go at each other. Christopher wray about the evaluation of russia interfered in the 2016 elections. Lester asked him how much more of this he can take. Stories that you threatened to resign. Have you hit a point on that issue of sources or methods where you have said this is the line. I am a low key under stated guy, but that should not be mistaken for what my spine is made out of. Well bring more to you as we get that. As the Trump White House continues to do damage control after the president s continued statements are his supporters buying the stories . Im going to ask a republican congressman just that after the break. Today. Back pain cant win. Now introducing aleve back and muscle pain. Only aleve targets tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve back muscle. All day strong. All day long. You always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed . M lets get someone to say it with a really low voice. Carl . Lowest price guaranteed. What about the worlds lowest limbo stick . How low can you go . Nice one, carl. Hey ive got an idea. Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Badda book. Badda boom. Nice. Always the lowest price, guaranteed. Book now at choicehotels. Com im all about my bed. This mattress is dangerously comfortable. When i get in, i literally say ahh. Introducing the leesa mattress. A better place to sleep. This bed hugs my body. Im now a morning person. The leesa mattress is designed to provide strong support, relieve pressure and optimize air flow to keep you cool. Hello bed of my dreams. Order online well build it, box it and ship it to your door for you to enjoy. Sleep on it for up to one hundred nights and love it or youll get a full refund. Returns are free and easy. I love my leesa. Today is gonna be great. Read our reviews then try the leesa mattress in your own home. Order now and get 150 off, and free shipping, too. Go to buyleesa. Com today. You need this bed. Are you ready to take your wifi to the next level . Then you need xfinity xfi. A more powerful way to stay connected. It gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most wifi coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. Its the ultimate wifi experience. Xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome. The Intelligence Community assessment has not changed. My view has not changed which is that russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day. Pretty unequivocal. That is fbi director Christopher Wray talking to lester holt. On monday donald trump took the side of an adversary over his own, our own, really, intelligence committee. Walked it back. Today he again under cut. Requiring another tortured explanation that the president meant no more questions. Not no to whether he believes that russia is interfering. Some republicans are saying these explanations suffice. Joining me now. You are a popular guy in a safely republican state. Why do you think that was a sufficient explanation. It is not going to hurt you say what you thought. You heard the president say it and most people didnt believe it. I think he made a mistake when he was speaking the first time and he corrected that. And i am happy with his explanation. You dont really believe that he made a mistake, right congressman . I got to know, because it is not really plausible the way he said it. There was a whole press conference where he reiterated the same sentence over and over again. Where i come from, a mans word is his bond. Consistently he said he understood that russia has tried to interfere with the election. I am going to take the man at his word. This man has been tough on russia than any administration in history. I accept his explanation. Your congress has been tough on russia. The administration hasnt lived up to the requirements that congress voted on and imposed. He also did say he has faith in Vladimir Putin. I have to ask you is that going to go over well with youri constituents. So the president s goals and my goals they line up together. I want world piece. I want the Nuclear Weapons out of north korea. And if the president can use triangular diplomacy, then i am okay with it. We can argue about it, but did that feel like good dialogue to you. Would your constituents support you. Certainly i have faith in our investigative forces, our Law Enforcement people and i believe that russia has and is continuing to try to hack into our, lots of our systems. But i also believe that the president , i am going to give him room and rope. I am not sure what was said behind closed doors, but i think this president has a strategy and his actions have been great. He has sent missiles over there in the face of russia. Sent over 50 diplomats. Ultimate goal for a National Security and peace. The apology tour is over with. This president means business when it comes to National Security. You know, were also not sure what happened behind closed doors. Eric swalwell was on a little while ago saying look, you can discount, but congress has a role to play and can do lots of things to close these loopholes and make sure that america does punish and prevent russia from interfering in the 2018 elections. What are you doing that you are taking a hard line on this. The department of Homeland Security is busy with thousands of eelectric torral agency. Your congress defeated a bill that was going to increase funding for cybersecurity today. I think we have a lot of cybersecurity money out there already. The 380 million is enough to work on the election process. And certainly, you know, engaging with our friends at the military in doing more cybersecurity acts as well. I think we are putting a lot of money in the right directions. We are going to be talking to somebody who says that congress should call upon the interpreter who was in that meeting to testify. Would you support that . I dont think that is necessary. I think that President Trump has a job to do and some things do need to be said behind closed door. I support the president and think he has a plan in mind. Think about a year ago. Nato is stronger, and we are coming close to peace with north korea. You think nato is stronger than it was a week ago. When the president called our europe european allies foes . Just talking to our military folks here in d. C. At the pentagon, i hear them say that nato is indeed stronger. Thank you for joining me, congressman Roger Marshal of kansas. There are only four people on the planet who know what happened in the meeting between President Trump a, and Vladimir Putin. And members of congress are planning to depose one of them. We will talk about whether that is possible after this. When it comes to strong bones, are you on the right path . We have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture, so with our doctors we chose prolia® to help make our bones stronger. Only prolia® helps strengthen bones by stopping cells that damage them with 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Serious allergic reactions, like low blood pressure; trouble breathing; throat tightness; face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Speak to your doctor before stopping prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium; serious infections, which could need hospitalization; skin problems; and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. If your bones arent getting stronger isnt it time for a new direction . Why wait . Ask your doctor about prolia. Anncr as you grow older, your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. Learning from him is great. When i can keep up anncr thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. Dads got all the answers. Anncr prevagen is now the numberoneselling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. She outsmarts me every single time. Checkmate you wanna play again . Anncr prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. To keep our community safe. Before you do any project big or small, pg e will come out and mark your gas and electric lines so you dont hit them when you dig. Call 811 before you dig, and make sure that you and your neighbors are safe. I believe the Senate ForeignAgent Committee should hold a hearing with the translator. To determine what was specifically discussed and agreed to on the United States behalf. Only two americans know what donald trump and Vladimir Putin talked about behind closed door for two hours. One is President Trump and the other is state translator. When trump and putin talked to a group of reporters, one can only imagine what was discussed privately. By the way, that is according to a u. S. Intelligence report released last yore. Unless you dont actually belief tho those things. One way to find out is to have the translator to answer questions before congress. Tell congress what happens in that meeting. Welcome. I appreciate it. What is the grounds, i know what you want to get out of it. We are curious. But i guess in congress, one has to have grounds for asking for this sort of things. What is the grounds for asking for this translator to testify. One is basic common sense. Lets start with that. There was a twohour meeting between the president of the United States and Vladimir Putin and heads of state will meet privately for private privately from time to time. I have to problem with that. There was no set agenda. We have learned from russia government officials saying they are willing to deal with the United States governments on the issues that came before the two president s in the meeting which again, we know nothing. And three, there are reports coming out in exchange for Additional Information or potential cooperation from Vladimir Putin with the 12 people that have been indicted by the special counsel before meddling and interfering directly in our elections that the white house, the president of the United States is considering allowing a former u. S. Ambassador to be interrogated by russian officials. This is stunning. What he is doing is equating the russian interference in that investigation along with the Conspiracy Theory put forth by putin and compromising the bases of foreign policy. So your point, the unusual request. Fbi chris wray is right now talking to lester holt and they discussed this. The offer was made by mr. Putin himself to allow u. S. Agents to travel to russia and observe the questioning of suspects. First of all, do you think it is a false promise or something that you or the Justice Department would consider. I think i will leave that one to special counsel mueller. In general, would you ever envision a world in which you would allow suspects to be interviewed by russia and observed . I never want to say never about anything, but not high on our list of investigative techniques. Congressman, the russian president named bill browder and has asked for mike mcfall an esteemed ambassador to russia. And this is unheard of. Unheard of, unprecedented. A number of questions on whether this was discussed inside the meeting. Questions about whether President Trump references in another interview on fox news. The strength, the backbone of nato in article five. That forms the foundation of that treaty. The bottom line, the American Public needs to know and has a right to know what the president of the United States discussed in a twohour long meeting with one of the great adversaries that we have today when it comes to geo politics. Would you be satisfied with a readout . What topics were brought up and what promises were made by the president of the United States. We deserve access to this information and lets be clear, i take no joy in pushing on this. I wish i didnt have tong to do this. This president in engaging with russia, which all of us would like a better relationship, but that does not mean that you cede all of our National Security to Vladimir Putin and instead of standing strong and standing up to him, he kowtowed to an authoritarian and as a member of congress, i cant believe i have to say this, he shouldnt have done that. We need to understand why he did it and what the details are. Congressman, on the right of the screen that i am showing right now, we have a live protest in time square. We are showing you pictures of a protest that is underway in d. C. We just saw senator blumenthal addressing a crowd. These protests are going on around the country. Have you had a chance to research what the legality is, policy makers, they are not official note takers. Not like mcfall going into the meeting with president obama. Can they be compelled to testify . What are the legal hurdles. It is largely unprecedented. But lets be clear on. This i would hope that we wouldnt have to get there. I would hope that the white house would recognize that the United States and our people have a compelling interest in this information. One, is that they could give us that readout and absolve the need for any of this and if they are not going to do that, then i do think that congress should subpoena the interpreter. And if they refuse, and exert executive privilege, then force them to make that. I have been as a role of the member of congress, met with a number of heads of state, been in meetings with translators, and they take notes to have a word for word translation so they can go back and forth between parties. And you can be sure that the russians recorded that. And i have no doubt that our translators was just as good. I suspect she has a readout of what transpired. We shouldnt have to subpoena her. And if the white house is going to act this way and hide behind closed doors and refuse to divulge what transpired. Then we have a right to fight for the American Public to understand what happened too. This should not be a fight or a debate. We should be moving on from these meetings. Stand strong on russian aggression. And we should find those, continue to find those. This is not the way you do it. And it is stunning to me that this request was not outright rejected by the president of the United States. It is telling me that the press secretary even entertained me. I am at a loss for words. I hear you. That is not a common place for you to be. Congressman joe kennedy. Thanks for making the time. Here are the pictures. New details about this woman, what we are learning about her ties to the kremlin, after this. [music playing] across the country, we walk. Carrying flowers that signify why we want to end alzheimers disease. But what if, one day, there was a white flower for alzheimers first survivor . What if there were millions of them . Join us for the Alzheimers Association walk to end alzheimers. Register today at alz. Org walk. A federal judge today denied bail to the woman prosecutors say was a secret russian agent to infiltrate the nra. The judge ruling that maria b t buttina remain in jail. She pled not guilty today to charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent. Court details are what you would find in a spy novel. On the night donald trump was elected she messaged her then boss putin associate i am going to sleep, its 3 00 a. M. Im ready for further orders. Joining me now is david corn, also with me is malcolm nance. Welcome tonight. David lets start with you. This indictment, this action against this woman is not actually part of the mueller investigation, but sure is spicy, what do you make of it . It shows this was another way the kremlin that russian intelligence might have been trying to penetrate american politics. They are very savvy. They got this woman, Maria Buttina and her boss to burrow their way into the nra and other conservative groups where they would meet republican officials and politicians and try to use those connections to broker a meeti meeting putin. As a strong indication of how the russians have a pretty good idea of how to gain influence in american politics and all to further their advancement and to make putin look good. The nra is an interesting choice because no one would question the fact that the nra would be an organization that would have contact with politicians, what do you make of this. If you view russias objective as part of a strategic campaign, not just to get to the trump campaign, but to start the cooperation of the movement. You can understand why they used this methodology to get into the Republican Party and establish an american beachhead for their influence campaign. You know, ive seen these nra propaganda pieces and i have seen Maria Buttina activities in the posters. They target the nra specifically because they saw the ak47 had stopped being imported by barack obama and saw it in a way to bring every gun toting conservative. What is this connection between the nra over the course of this investigation, what is the connection between the nra and russia . To begin with, the nra spent tens of millions of dollars electing donald trump. It is a big player in republican conservative politics. If you want to have influence in this country, you are going to go where the money is, no pun intended, go where the big guns are. Leaders throughout the conservative movement, people like david keen who was president of the nra and head of the conservative Political Action conference. Bringing him to moscow, courting him, wining and dining him. All over this shared affection for guns. How these people are lifetime members of the nra . They created a phony one in russia to make friends, alliances with the u. S. Nra. So sophisticated, and well thought out. It has gone on for years and goes for this guy torshin and today we learned that Mariia Butina has been funded. This is someone separate. This is beyond torshin. This came out this afternoon. They said a russian oligarch, and one of putins closest advisers was funding her. That puts this 29yearold in the middle of putins inner circle. Malcolm, this is interesting in that it is not part of the mueller investigation. It is separate. And this business about being a foreign agent. She is a representative working in the Foreign Government without disclosing that information. That is a light indictment that they start out with before working into the esponnage charges. David is absolutely right. This is a plan that goes to the highest level of the kremlins and they didnt just go after the nra. They went torshin they went after the extreme christian conservatives, now who have every year a conference in moscow on quoteunquote the protection of christians around the world. Thats a code word. Theres the extreme Gun Rights Group and no gun rights in russia. They have to be registered, only hunting. And steve bannon, these extremist groups all driving the support for donald trump. Russia has completely coopted many of them if not all of them. Now, were finding out theyre agent and money and an american fifth column so to speak. Much more about this story and where it went and ultimately ended up. Thanks for your time, guys. Dont go anywhere, my interview with a former wowhite house stenographer who says she left because of the president s lies. She joins me head. Head. And now for the rings. Im a fouryearold ring bearer with a bad habit of swallowing stuff. Still wont eat my broccoli, though. And if you dont have the right overage, you could be paying for that pricey love band yourself. So get an allstate agent, and be better protected from mayhem. Like me. Can a ring bearer get a snack around here . Which is why i use armor tall ultra shine wash wipes. Y. They effectively remove dirt, dust and grime with no water. That car is in tip top shape we are both in tip top shape armor all, its easy to look good. You always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed . Lets say it in a really low voice. Carl . Lowest price, guaranteed. Just stick with badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com you know how painful heartburn can be. For fastacting, longlasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. It quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. Relieve heartburn with fast acting, longlasting gaviscon. Indiana i have to say, i came back and i said, what is going on . Whats the big deal . I got a transcript and reviewed it. I actually went out and reviewed a clip and answer that i gave. A key sentence in my remarks, said the word would instead of wouldnt. The sentence should have been, i dont see any reason why it wouldnt be russia. That is never going to get old. President trump keeps contradicting himself what he thinks russia would or wouldnt do. You saw him there yesterday referring to the transcript to lessen the damage he did in helsinki. The woman whose job it was to produce it, the white house stenographer quit because she said he lies to the American People. She said it is clear he does not serve the American People but his adversary. She joins me now. Lets start with first of all, we never see the white house stenographer, right . No. An army of people who do things we dont know about. What does the white house stenographer do . There are only five and our role is to blend in and record everything the president says to the press. We put a recorder on the coffee table and go across the room and listen to make sure a reporter didnt accidentally misquote the president in this interview. Are you taking notes . Were not taking notes. Two recorders are there and were taking notes sometimes. The recorders are recording the truth. You refer to the stenographer being the first line of defense. The president said, i went back and looked over the transcript. Thats what somebody would do if somebody accuses you have something he didnt say you would look over the transcript. Indeed. The reason i left because President Trump wasnt using the stenographers, no respect for my role. Why are we here if he is not using us. Meaning he didnt want the conversations recorded . It seems like it, didnt want us. And on air force one when i flew down to maralago, he had a press conference and wasnt using us for that and he wasnt using us where every president since reagan was using the white house stenographer. Joe kennedy, one of the persons in the meeting, two other people other than donald trump and vladamir putin in the meeting. Translators, not the same as stenographers, the official note takers or ambassadors who sometimes go over these things. Other humans who know what went on. This has become a hot discussion, saying we would like to subpoena her, the americans. That is interesting. What do you think about that . Its sad to this point were asking a translator to do what we have a stenographer to do. And im sure there was a stenographer at the ready and say, who knows, sometimes he doesnt use the recordings we have. What about the argument sometimes the president of the United States has business so important its not for the public to see or hear or for there to be a record of . What do you mean . What if were not supposed to find out what was going on in that meeting between donald trump and vladamir putin because it was really important stuff because the president was saying to vladamir putin, im on to you, man, dont try this stuff. I dont think so. I think if that were the case we would certainly have a transcript because that would make all the republicans in Congress Much happier and make their jobs easier. Its a bad day when im cheering for Mitch Mcconnell when hes saying, no, russia is not our ally. Is it based on what the stenographer has or somebody to say, sometimes we dont get transcripts but a sense of this was discussed. Usually there are senior advisors and other people in the room. Saying russia is not our ally and somebody like vladamir putin who has created all sorts of problems for us. Your first line of defense, if you had a stenographer, you can say, heres our notes, where are yours . Heres our transcripts and recordings and we need to protect it. What is the difference between the work you did while barack obama was in Office Versus donald trump . It could not have been more different. Everyday we knew exactly what we were covering. If there was a change in his schedule we were the first to know about it. We would go to the oval if there was breaking news. We were on the same team as the administration, we valued we need to stay transparent with the American People and we need a transcript of this for the archives. We were hired to be impartial. The same with george w. Bush. They loved the stenographers. George w. Bush used to say, i love the stenos walking out of a room because were there to misquote them. Thanks for joining us. The Rachel Maddow show starts now. Thank you. Good evening. Today, the white house said it was considering a request made by the russian government to hand over to russia for questioning americas former ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul. The white house and this president have done a lot to shock people over the last 72 hours. This is kind of at another level. The great National Security reporter, Spencer Ackerman rounded up a response tonight from some u. S. Officials. Current and former u. S. Diplomats are discussing disgust and horror over the white