Good evening, im joy reid in new york in for chris matthews. There isnt much disagreement when it comes to russias role in interfering with the u. S. Election this year. 17 intelligence agencies said they were confident it was russia, many republicans in congress agree. The white house has publicly named the kremlin. But there is one notable exception and it comes from a man whos being given Intelligence Briefings when he chooses to take them, president elect donald trump. He continues to question the findings about russias involvement. Before the election he said for all he knows it could be some 400 pound guy in his bedroom in new jersey. According to a new report from nbc news, not only was russia involved in the plot, it reached up to the highest level of the kremlin. Nbc news reports u. S. Intelligence officials believe with a high level of confidence that russian president Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian Campaign to interfere with the u. S. President ial election. A spokesman for putin told the Associated Press the report was laughable nonsense. And donald trump tweeted this morning if russia or some other entity was hacking, why did the white house wait so long to act . Why did they only complain after hillary lost . That isnt true. On october 12 White House Press secretary josh earnest publicly blamed russia for the hacking and said there would be a response. The president will consider a range of options in terms of determining what is appropriate or proportional. The intelligence assessment earnest was citing was made public via a paper statement from the Obama Administration five days earlier on october 7 which happens to be the same day the lurid access Hollywood Tape of trump bragging to billy bush about assaulting women came out. According to nbc news, 11 days later at an october press conference, obama was not asked a single question about the russian hacks. Today senator Lindsey Graham called russias role in the hack indisputable. Im 100 certain that the russians hacked into podestas emails, the dnc, and other political organizations. Most of the information that was released was unfavorable to clinton not trump. I dont know what their motives were other than create discontent and discord and to undermine democracy. Earlier today, i spoke to senator Dianne Feinstein of california, shes the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee. I want to start with getting your reaction to the reporting by our own Cynthia Mcfadden and others that Vladimir Putin not only sanctioned the hacking of democrats, both Hillary Clinton and democrats down the ticket but that he actually participated or that he was the driving force behind it. What do you make of that reporting . Well, i cant really go there. I cant really say where he was or wasnt a driving force. As a matter of fact i dont know whether he was or wasnt a driving force so let me make that clear. The thing is, with both cozy bear and fancy bear and the evidence that leads that the intelligence bureaus use them and the damage that was done, what we know now was at least four house campaigns and the president ial campaigns and both Political Parties with material being put out in large amounts to embarrass the democratic side but not the republican side. And that is pretty conclusive and i think the intelligence agencies when we were briefed, briefed us with high confidence. And we dont often have that. I mean and it was obvious by their body language, by their emphasis, by the passion that they had in the briefing. Its usually pretty cut and dry that this was really fairly unique and therefore would a country do this, which is actually foreign espionage, on another country without the assent or direct order or the head of the government . Particularly when you know the head of that government runs everything in that very large and very powerful country. And what do you make of it . You talk about the high confidence that you have in the assessment and definitiveness of the briefings you receive from the Intelligence Community. What do you make of the fact that the soon to be next president of the United States, donald trump, does not believe the assessment of the Intelligence Community as it is in fact ridiculing those findings . Well, i have just learned that mr. Trump, president elect, is taking more Intelligence Briefings. If they are the pdbs, we dont see that. Thats the one thing on the intelligence side of our Committee Work that we do not see. Only the president sees that so if he has a similar briefing that we have had from director clapper, from others at the highest levels and with the information and i think theres more out that he would be given than we have been given i think he will take a different view. Now what his reaction will be i certainly dont know. But i think he will see the seriousness of this regardless of political party, regardless of which side has benefitted and which side is hurt. I think he will see that this is not good for the future of the American Democratic system and therefore we need to do something. Now what we do is another story. Having said that, president oba obama, its my understanding, before he leaves office will put out a report with the facts and hopefully declassify this so the American People can actually see what happened. Thats a good measurement because this is, in my view a real attack at our system of election, democratic election and i dont think our country can just stand by and let this happen because once it happens its open sesame. But senator, what if he doesnt change his view . What if after receiving even substantially more top secret briefings, he still doesnt believe it, can the American People have confidence in the congress to be the Investigative Authority in that case when senator Mitch Mcconnell the leader of the senate, his wife is about to soon be working for donald trump and be in his cabinet and he is said to have blocked putting this information out in a partisan manner during the campaign. So if trump doesnt change his view and Mitch Mcconnell already seems to have blocked this information getting out and will have a family tie to the white house, who would the American People be able to turn to to do a real investigation . Let me make a comment on that. I know senator mcconnell, hes a republican, hes the majority leader of the senate, he wants our elections to function fairly and without influence from Foreign Countries and strike me dead if that isnt true. It is true and i think this would be completely irrelevant. His wife elaine is wonderful, shell be a Good Transportation secretary and i dont think that would be relevant at all in his mind. I really dont. I think what would be relevant to him is who did who would do an investigation and if i understand it up to this point he would leave it up to the intelligence committees. This is why i think its so important that what president obama is reportedly doing in the preparation of a report gets done. After all, this broke in the summer. Weve known about this for six months. And i think the facts need to be put before the American People so because this is major and what people are telling me today is, oh, americans dont really care, well, mr. And mrs. America, wake up, you better care, this is our whole system. This is everything the constitution has put forward for us to be a nation under law, to be able to conduct free and fair elections. And if we cant do that and if other nations are going to come in and essentially manipulate elections by releasing data to one side which they may think is unfavorable to that side, weve got a big problem. Senator Dianne Feinstein, i think everyone can agree on that. Thank you so much for your time. Youre welcome, joy, nice to talk to you. Same here. At the white house today, josh earnest reacted to trumps tweet casting doubt on who was responsible for the hacking of democrats emails. Another one came in today, this wikileaks is like a treasure trove. Did you see where on wikileaks it was announced that they were paying protesters to be violent . 1,500. Donna brazile did it again. Wikileaks today. She gave the questions to a debate to Hillary Clinton. Wikileaks just came out with a new one. Just a little while ago. Her campaign in wikileaks has spoken horribly about catholics and evangelicals. They got it all down, folks. Wikileaks. Hillary should fire podesta. How do you have people working that say these horrible things about you . I love reading those wikileaks. Well, based on that tape reel, theres no question donald trump made information from the wikileaks hack a major focus during the final weeks of the campaign. Now lets listen to josh earnest today. It was obvious to everyone who was paying attention, including the gentleman whose thumbs authored that tweet that the impact of that malicious activity benefited the Trump Campaign and hurt the clinton campaign. Thats why the republican nominee was hoping they would do more of it. That is why in the days leading up to election day the republican nominee himself was encouraging people to check out wikileaks. Meanwhile, today the New York Times reports the Russian Campaign to disrupt the u. S. Election wasnt limited to the race for the white house. Dozens of Democratic House candidates were also targeted. The hackers linked to russian intelligence went by the name gucher if 2. 0. According to the New York Times, the seats guccifer 2. 0 documented were hardly random. Coming up, new concerns over the president elects conflict of interest. Trump has promised hell separate personal business from the presidency but has yet to explain how he plans to do it. This is hardball, the place for politics. You got the amazing new iphone 7 on the house by switching to at t. What . . Aand you got unlimited data because you have directv . . laughs to self in disbelief okay, just a few more steps. Door its cool get the iphone 7 on us and unlimited data when you switch to at t and have directv. Has been a struggle. I considered all my options with my doctor, who recommended oncedaily toujeo®. Now im on the path to better blood sugar control. Toujeo® is a longacting insulin from the makers of lantus®. It releases slowly, providing consistent insulin levels for a full 24 hours, proven full 24hour blood sugar control, and significant a1c reduction. And along with toujeo®, im eating better and moving more. Toujeo® is a longacting, manmade insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. It contains 3 times as much insulin in 1 milliliter as standard insulin. Dont use toujeo® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if youre allergic to insulin. Allergic reaction may occur and may be life threatening. Dont reuse needles or share insulin pens, even if the needle has been changed. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which can be serious and life threatening. It may cause shaking, sweating, fast heartbeat, and blurred vision. Check your blood sugar levels daily while using toujeo®. Injection site reactions may occur. Dont change your dose or type of insulin without talking to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you take other medicines and about all your medical conditions. Insulins, including toujeo®, in combination with tzds thiazolidinediones may cause serious side effects like Heart Failure that can lead to death, even if youve never had Heart Failure before. Dont dilute or mix toujeo® with other insulins or solutions as it may not work as intended and you may lose blood sugar control, which could be serious. Toujeo® helps me stay on track with my blood sugar. Ask your doctor about toujeo®. Welcome back to hardball. There is new alarm today over Donald Trumps potential conflicts of interest as president after trumps president , eric donald jr. , ivanka trump and her husband Jared Kushner attended a meeting with the top executives of multiple Silicon Valley companies. Trump promised hell take steps to separate his presidency from his personal business interests but he has yet to clarify how he intends to do that. On monday trump tweeted he will leave his company to his two adult sons and that under their management no new deals will be done during his time in office but eric and donald jr. Are also playing a role on their fathers Transition Team and their involvement in yesterdays tech summit suggests theyll continue to have a seat at the table. Addressing the issue in separate interviews today Kellyanne Conway and rnc Communications Director sean spicer emphasized trump was being transparent. I find all this hand wringing over who was in that meeting yesterday to be really over the top. The meeting was so transparent. Youve seen clip after clip, excerpt after excerpt, its all been reported. It was quite transparent and open, there was nothing secretive about it and these are adults who have a great deal to offer to the conversation. We brought the suppress in to show who was at the meeting so its not like theres anything nefarious going on or sneak owe. Weve been clear about the role of his family, the importance they play and the advice they give them. Im joined by Karine Jean Pierre and michael steel. Karine, the trump team understands the media. They love the worth transparency, its said everyday on tv. What in the world is transparency saying well have the kids be in the business and the white house. How does that solve the conflict of interest . Its not transparency at all. Bringing in the media for a couple of minutes just to show what you want people to see is a photo photoop, not transparency. If he wanted to truly be transparent he would have a press conference and allow press to ask questions, b, actually release his personal taxes that weve been asking for that he said he was going to release once he ran for president , never did, and three actually tell us how are you going to divest your companies, your business from the conflict of interest that is right before you and instead what he does is uses twitter, does 140 characters or less to explain his plan, which is not the way to do it. And you know and michael steele, in addition to that he invites cameras in to watch his children both be in his cabinet and do business with him as members of his company. Hes literally saying im going to let you watch us do kleptocracy, that makes it better. How can they work . There you go with another 5 i ha word i have to look up. Ill lend you the 5. Thank you, babe. I hear what youre saying but theres nothing that stops him from doing this, theres no law on the books, the president of the United States is allowed to have at the table advising him whomever he wants and whatever capacity they wants them to advise him, whether its a Family Member or a partisan or someone else. Theyre not getting paid, theyre not on the government payroll, they will not be on the government payroll, so that is the reality of it and when you flesh the rest of this out, joy, the new reality were all having to come to grips with is that donald trump is in the drivers seat here donald trump understood the law did not require him because there is no law that requires him to release his tax returns and he didnt. Donald trump understands there is no law that sets him in the same box as other federal officials when it comes to conflicts of interest so hi does not see any and therefore will not respond accordingly. Except heres the problem, michael steele. There is the law against bribery and the emoluments part of the constitution. Hold on joy i havent finished my question. You cant set up a straw argument like that. Ask richard painter who is a former ethics adviser to george w. Bush if its a straw man. How did you get to bribery . He has been on this air over and over and over that if foreign leaders can check into Donald Trumps hotel thats not bribery. And pay the president of the United States and get policy favorable to them, that is akin to essential bribery. Called him an inn keeper yesterday. Thats richard painter but not me. You can say its a 5 me but people who are constitutional lawyers which neither you and i are have said very differently. Ask laurence tribe. Excuse me, as a corporate lawyer i have worked in this area and so you need to establish bribery, you cant just say it or project it. Would you consider a foreign leader swiping their card at a trump he tell and then get policy favorable then, you dont consider that to be a prescribe . And then gets policies. Has that happened . Lets go to karine on this. No, joy stop. Hes not in office yet, michael steele. Then how can you make the case. The point is he has to correct the conflicts of interest before he gets into office. Thats what every expert has said including george w. Bushs ethics lawyer. Not me george w. Bush it doesnt exist for him. The constitution applies to him. It does. That talks about benefits. Your party went after barack obama for using a Nobel Peace Prize and used the el mo. The Founding Fathers did not believe that anybody was above the law, including the president , thats the thing to remember. When they were putting together the constitution theres the Trump International hotel. So hes the landlord and the tenant. Hes the landlord and tenant so on day one he will be violating that lease because as an elected official he can not partake. There was a federal government that had a holidaloliday party hotel. When we return, let me finish with a big question facing my profession the media. This is hardball, the place for politics. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. This is humira helping me go further. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening Heart Failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, oeoe. Let me finish tonight with the big question facing my profession, the media, and not just democrats and whats left of never trump republicans in the coming years. What are you going to do about it . Thats basically what trump is asking when he and his team openly brag his Adult Children will defy convention and worth both as white house advisers and run trumps businesses, businesses trump clearly wont or maybe cant part with as president. Its what hes asking when he insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, including the Intelligence Community, that hes about to inherent that, no, russia didnt play a role in getting him elected by hacking democrats. Its what he asked when he refused and still refuses to release his tax returns. Trump is almost daring to meet it, to try, try and do or report chicago that might stop him. Hes waving around the threat of cutting off press briefings and he and his campaign with considerable help from Vladimir Putin and russia have spent a year or more undermining confidence in the Traditional Press and selling his supporters on the idea that the only voice they can trust is his, whether that voice is heard at a series of televised pep rallies or on twitter its a putinlike approach that is working among Trump Supporters and elected members of his party. The big question will we let it work on us . Thats hardball for now, thanks for being with us, well be back tomorrow at 7 00 p. M. Eastern. See you then. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing Otezla Apremilast . Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. And the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. chuckle come on, dad. they tell me im wrong to want to stand alongside my, my love whoa, talkin bout my love talkin bout my, my love you ready, dad . Whoaooh oohoohoohoohooh, oohooh the itsy bitsy spider went up the waterspout. Whoaooh down came the rain and clogged the gutter system creating a leak in the roof. 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All right. Heres a story. Do you remember 1999 new years eve . When the 1900s turned into the 2000s and we went from december 99 to january 00, there was a big freakout in this country and a lot of countries around the world about the y2k problem. Remember that . Computers and all sort of electronics kept dates in this format and we were all very worried in the format of, you know, two digits for the day, two digits for the month, two digits for the year and were all very worried that when those electronics of all kinds over the world flipped over from 99 being the last two digits to that next number and that looked like 00, we thought how are the electronics, how are the