the u.s. official tells cnn michael flynn discussed sanctions with russia with the kremlin s ambassador. the alleged conversation happened in december before president trump took office while former president barack obama was in office. mr. trump appears oblivious to the allegations on friday. let s listen. i don t know about it. i haven t seen it. what report is that? i haven t reporting that they talked to the ambassador of russia before you were inaugurated about i ll look at that. the vice president of the united states, mike pence, has said in the past that flynn didn t discuss sanctions, but three administration officials say he only knew what flynn told him. a source now tells cnn the only reason flynn hasn t been fired is that the white house doesn t want to look bad. president trump is hosting
cnn s elise labatt reporting. we ll stay in touch with her as we continue to follow the story. a source with knowledge of the situation tells cnn the only reason flynn hasn t been fired is because the white house does not want it to look bad. let s get some context on our political news of the day with eugene scott live via skype in washington, d.c. eugene, pleasure to have you with us. let s talk, first of all, about the information we re learning regarding michael flynn allegedly talking about these sanctions with russia, something he s denied before but it s information that apparently has caught the president off guard and has put vice president mike pence in a tricky spot. reporter: it certainly has. yesterday when reporters were speaking to the president on air force one about it the president said he needed to look into it and implied that perhaps he had not had the latest information on the situation. but all eyes right now are on mike pence. the vice president historically