about the president giving back russia those diplomatic compounds inside the u.s. that obama administration said were used for russian intel. obama kicking the russians out in late december. that was part of the formal punishment for the meddling in the u.s. election. that washington post report cited several people with knowledge of the exchanges. that is a loose reporting term. it means people close to the activity who know about it and don t want to speak under their own names. that is how of course a lot of russia reporting has been trickling out. reporters with solid sources vouch for those sources. they verify the information that s coming out. and we all learn a little bit more as we go. at least for those of who aren t moving on. but tonight we have a report that is different. long time investigative reporter michael isikoff, who is now at yahoo news just published a blow-by-blow account with named sources detailing how after the campaign and after the transition the new trum
difficult fight. but one they are not ready to give in by any stretch. we heard from democrat adam schiff. we heard from the department of of homeland security secretary. but how are republicans there on the hill reacting to the kushner controversy? lindsey graham, the senator from south carolina, was on state of the union this morning with dana bash. it is important to point out that graham is not necessarily someone who s complimentary of the president very often. but he has a different take on this whole controversy surrounding jared kushner and this secret back channel. take a listen to what he said this morning. i don t know who leaked this supposed conversation, but just think about it this way. you got the ambassador of russia reporting back to moscow on an open channel. hey, jared kushner s going to move into the embassy. i don t trust this story as far as i can throw it. i think it makes no sense that the russian ambassador would report back to moscow on a channel that
the trump administration but in this case he s skeptical about the report. listen to what he said this morning on state of the union . i don t know who leaked this suppose conversation but think about this. you have the ambassador of russia reporting back to moscow on an open channel. hey, jared kushner is going to move into the embassy. i don t trust this story as far as i can throw it. i think it makes no sense that the russian ambassador would report back to moscow on a channel that he most likely knows we re monitoring. the whole story line is suspicious. i ve never been more concerned or suspicious of all things russia than i am right now. it s important to point out that the south carolina senator is suspicious of the report and, of course, we do only have those reports from the media because the white house won t tell us one way or another if this is actually true. but it points to this broader issue that the white house has with these investigations into russia. we have a
to russia. he s colonelly representing a russian back in a u.s. trial and throughout the course of his career he s also represented various russian interests so it s not a surprise that this is the lawyer that donald trump is turning to at this particular time. he was getting in that vehicle with ivanka trump, jared kushner s wife. this news dropped about him as this weekend got underway. some republicans are now speaking about today on this. what are you hearing? reporter: the one republican we re hearing from is south carolina senator lindsey graham. this is someone that isn t necessarily the first person to step up and defend the trump white house but he has concerns about this report regarding jared kushner in this back channel communication with the kremlin. this is what graham had to say this morning on state of the union. i don t know who leaked this supposed conversation, but just think about it this way. you got the ambassador of russia reporting back to moscow on an ope
republican staffer who had a brief run for president, he tweeted that the report is quote treasonous activity, whether born of malice, naivety or both. we re chasing our tails as a nation when it comes to the ruggens. i don t know who leaked this conversation. you ve got to ambassador to russia reporting back to moscow on an open channel, hey, jared kushner is going to move into the embassy. i don t trust this story as far as i can throw it. in what way? it makes no sense that the russian ambassador would report back to moscow on a channel that he most likely knows we re monitoring. the whole story line is suspicious. i ve never been more concerned and suspicious about all things russia than i am right now, so i m not going to jump to the conclusion that mr. mcmullan jumped so. so, you think that it is b possible that with the