>> sally yates says she never asked for unmasking of trump or his associates and she never leaked and that she tried to warn that general michael flynn could quote be essential ly black mailed by the russians. catherine herridge live in washington with the report. >> lou, it was an intense three-hour hearing that wrapped up about an hour ago, with testimony about flynn and the potential for blackmail. >> it's critical that we get to information to the white house. >> testifying before the committee, former obama white house, sally yates. the former acting attorney general testified she met twice in person and met with don mcgann because mike flynn did not discuss sanctions with russia, when the transcripts show the opposite. >> not only that the russians knew this, but they likely had prf of this information and that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security advisors could essentially be black mailed by the russians. >> yates who would later lose her job for failing to back the trump travel ban felt the situation was serious. >> we told them we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action. >> and pressed on whether president obama warned president-elect trump not to hire flynn. >> president obama made known he wasn't a fan of general flynn which shouldn't come as a surprise and general flynn worked for president obama and was an outspoken critic of president obama. >> and flynn had the highest security clearance. if anybody, what should they do, why not if they were concerned. >> another tweet how classified information got into the media. >> and the senate should ask the questions. >> have either of you ever been an anonymous source in a news report about matters relating to mr. trump, his associations. >> no, absolutely not. >> and both confirmed members of the trump team were unmasked in intelligence reports. >> did either of you ever review classified documents in which mr. trump, his associates or members of congress had been unmasked? >> yes. >> you have? can you give us details here in this-- >> no, i can't. >> miss yates, have you? >> yes, i have. and no, i can't give you details. the former director of national intelligence was pressed on his conclusion there was no collusion between the administration and russia. >> i was not aware of the investigations. resigned and in neither witness could explain why the white house blocked access to information or barred him from national security discussions, lou. lou: catherine, thank you. what are we missing here? there is this long hearing. >> right. >> the testimony and moments of tension and great interest, but overall, very little was produced today and certainly, i think, most taxpayers would say they're disappointed at the productivity of the senate hearings? >> i think this is one of the big take aways, that this russian campaign to meddle in the democratic process in the u.s. election has been highly successful because here we are six months later still arguing over what exactly happened on the kind of influence and the bottom line, the only reason that russia engages in this unconventional warfare and information campaigns because they cannot compete with the united states militarily or economically on a level playing field and that has been lost in the entire discussion, lou. lou: i think that's a terrific point. and i'm curious about your thoughts on this. i normally wouldn't ask you to step into the realm of opinion with, but would you project there will be a similar hearing about why the dnc was allowed to bar the fbi from investigating russian intrusion and the fbi accepted their willful rejection? >> i think on that particular issue, at least in terms of congressional testimony, that window is probably passed. i think for the time being. we had the oversight hearing on the senate side last week. we still have that due on the house side. but i think the focus will be primarily on the unmasking, whether it was done appropriately and at what level, whether it was done by the nsa or by the fbi as part of this counter intelligence investigation which was so secret they never shared it with the director of national intelligence last year, which is pretty remarkable given that's what they were investigating. lou: extraordinary. catherine, as always, thank you for your terrific reporting. >> you're welcome. catherine herridge from washington d.c. and joining me to discuss clapper's admission and how the information got to the media. and the veteran of ten presidential campaigns, and republican strategist, ed rollins, pulitzer prize contributor, and michael goodwin. let me start, michael, what did we learn and what the point? >> well, look, i think the most important thing in all of this, lou, is this question of unmasking and leaking. it seemed to be a side line. the democrats don't want to know anything about that and don't want to ask questions about it, they simply want to try to focus on russia and trump. there's nothing there, there anywhere so far. lou: how many times will a federal foreclosure or a former federal foreclosure have to say there is no evidence of anything between the trump organization and the russian government? >> right and to yates' beg thing that she told the white house that michael flynn could have been blackmailed. we know that because of leaks. lou: right. >> somebody leaked that of the the only thing we learned today is clapper asked for unmasking, but he wouldn't say who was involved, because that's classified. so, this is a replay of the comey. they canay whatevethey want, but as soon as they get into a thick question, it's classified. these hearings, i think, are frustrating. lou: frustrating and also, sort of puts to the lie the idea that we have oversight through congress and the senate over our intelligence agencies. they're being told to go stick it in the nicest and most pompous of ways, of course. >> if this continues in the process, it's a total waste of time and i think the reality there's eight or ten people who have that kind of influence or have the influence to see the classified documents. someone leaked it. i think if i was the judge that basically issued the fisa agreement i would ask for those individuals to come in, raise their right hand and basically tell me who said what, where, when and how under oath. i don't know if they legally could do that, but i would if they were acting on the power of the fisa judge and he ought to know who released. lou: what do you make of trump being told by obama not to hire flynn. >> yeah. >> well, and again, i thought the timing was interesting. of course this story leaked to the new york times on the day of the hearing seems to me to be an obvious attempt to steer the conversation toward russia and trump. and away from the leaks. away from the unmasking. it's very much about continuing the pro-obamatory line. >> the reality is flynn made some judgments after he was out of the military, and he took some clients he shouldn't have taken, he made some contacts. that's all out there today and i think the reality, it's not-- it doesn't prove anything other than the fact he made bad judgments and he's been resigned over it. but i think to say that, you know, all of this back and forth, he was cleared by one white house and not cleared by another or the president basically said don't -- he was dismissed as head of the intelligence of the military because he wasn't a good manager. that had nothing to do with whether he was a source of bad information, so, i think to a certain extent, i'm not defending the bad judgment, just defending you cant trash his pa past. lou: well, bloomberg reporting that washington loves and apologize for the coughing fit that just captured me. >> is it something we said? >> it was something that you said. >> it's classified? >> which of you the said what and got the reaction. that market loves mcmaster, but trump doesn't. this was like more fake news or does it look like inside into a potential problem? i will say at the outset, mcmaster has never been a man who looked to me, even in the presence of the president, like he was being ordered. it was always, it looked like he was be beseeched the way he sort of received the president. your thought, ed? >> my thought is mcmasters who has an extraordinary military record and well-regarded wrote a book called dereletion of duty", the defense, the state, the cia, make sure that the president is getting all of the annals. i think he fixed the system what, but he may have personality conflicts? >> i think that's right. and the article on bloomberg, lays out some examples of where the president thought mcmaster was pushing him into a corner, not giving him options and not letting him ask questions about the briefing. lou: personnel decisions and choices and mcmaster being a little hauty at least in the reporting of blake, who is a terrific reporter, being hauty ashat thought as his permissions of the president? >> the president always reserves the right to ject the ideas and to demand other ideas to come forward instead. it seemed according to the reporting mcmasters tried to put trump into the corner and that he only had one option. he said something on chris wallace's show, he said the president asked me. i thought, no, the president, the commander-in-chief ordered you. he needs to acknowledge that. he needs to get back in his head that he's an advisor and he has a very important job. lou: if you're sitting in the white house. >> he's an advisor. lou: and you don't have the sense to understand where you are and who you're working for, get him the hell out. >> i think at this point, hopefully he can stay for a while and hopefully he can get his profile down and do what he needs to do. lou: yeah, i was just sending the logic a bit. thank you both as always, great to see you, my friends. we're coming right back, much more straight ahead. stay with us. >> dozens of conservative groups urging president trump to ditch the paris agreement. >> we're going to cancel the paris climate agreement and stop all payments of the united states tax dollars to u.n. global warming programs. >> but his daughter ivanka may have a lot to say about whether the president is running hot or cold on the paris agreement. we take it up with governor mike huckabee next here. and president obama making an almost pathetic desperate plea to lawmakers to help save his failing, dying, obamacare program. we'll take up obama's post presidentialalalalal think again. this is the new new york. we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. and new university partnershs to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov we rbut we are not victims.ack. we are survivors. we are survivors. we are survivors. and now we take brilinta. for people who've been hospitalized for a heart attack. we take brilinta with a baby aspirin. no more than one hundred milligrams... ...as it affects how well brilinta works. brilinta helps keep platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. in a clinical study brilinta worked better than plavix®. brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. or dying from one. don't stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor,... ...since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent,... ...heart attack, stroke, and even death. brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily,... ...or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. don't take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers,... ...a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. slow heart rhythm has been reported. tell your doctor about bleeding,... ...new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. if you recently had a heart attack, ask your doctor about brilinta. my heart is worth brilinta. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca... ...may be able to help. >> first daughter, ivanka trump is set to meet with epa administrator scott pruett at the white house tomorrow morning toalk about whether the trump administration should withdraw the united states from the paris agreement on climate change. the president's daughter, a leading backer of the paris deal, even brought climate activist al gore, say it isn't so, to trump towers during the presidential transition. joining me now to discuss the trump agenda, the latest on repeal and replacement of obamacare and much more, former presidential candidate himself, governor of arkansas, mike huckabee. great to have you here. >> thank you, lou, great being here. lou: i want to start with, if we may, this hearing today. it just keeps producing nothing. and yet, this thing goes ones trump-russian allegations and there's only one point of contact as best i can tell and that's between the dnc and its servers and the russians. >> the most important thing, back off at look at 30,000 feet. we know that russia is a bad actor, we know they're not acting in the best interest of the united states. so we don't have to have a hearing for that. here is what we need a hearing, who the heck in the u.s. government broke the law by leaking this information and why. now, that worries me because our people have sworn an allegiance that they're going to obey the law. somebody didn't, lou, and that's the biggest question we need to get the answer to. lou: and some other questions, who in the obama administration who gave the order to surveil the trump transition team and it turns out, his campaign team, and who knows what else and how long in the white house itself? these are questions that are live and obviously important, and the left wing national media can't bring itself quite to look seriously and study and research and investigate. >> well, these are grenades that the pins have been pulled out of. it's simply at this point, it's a matter of whether or not somebody is going to get to the bottom of it and find out who the heck is behind this. lou: let me ask a question, should not the trump presidency, the administration be finding this out? i know it may to some seem, well, unseemly, but it's a national security issue amongst other things, and a matter of law. shouldn't they be holding the hearings and carrying out the investigations to find out who did this to them >> absolutely, they shld and at some point, let's hope that we find out who is behind it and that there is a full accountability held. i don't think the hearings today produced a lot, other than some posturing and everybody got to posture and got tv time, but as far as providing significant answers, that's not going to come until they go into a closed session and they can do the classified stuff, although, i have to be honest, i heard ed and mike, michael goodwin both say and i agree with them, that that's a convenient excuse when you don't want to answer a question, i can't talk about that, it's classified. well, you know, cry me a river because at some point you better answer some questions. >> clapper, comey and sally yates never looked so comfortable before congress as when they were saying, that's classified and the citizens like you and me, we have to wait our turn, i guess. i want to turn to the trump agenda, this president moving forward now. he's gotten apparently the cooperation of the house leadership. now, what happens with the senate leadership? >> it's going to be a totally different ball game. in the legislative process it's always been said by the house membe members, the democrats are our opponents, but the senate is our enemy and that's pretty accurate in every legislative body. you have the opposition party and they're the opponents, but that other body of people, they're the enemy and that's the way it works. so there's going to be an incredible clash of ideas, but that's what this process is supposed to be. for those who are frustrated by it, i would say, just go back and remember, the founders put it in this way so that things didn't happen as quickly as obamacare did, that was a total collapse, and failure. lou: governor, as always, great to see you. >> thanks, lou, great to be with you. lou: thanks for being here. be sure to vote in our poll tonight. would you like to hear a little less from president obama? just a little? cast your vote on twitter@loudobbs. follow me on twitter, like me on facebook, follow me on instagram @lou dobbs. the dow up 5, the nasdaq and both closing at new all-time highs. who is responsible tore that? it's an interesting point, go back to november 8th and you see this line. i'm not going to mention any names tonight. volume on the big board 3.4 billion shares, apple's market cap topping 800 billion for the first time ever. shares of apple up nearly 3% today. sinclair broadcast group announcing it will buy tribune media, that's an almost $4 billion deal giving sinclair control of 215 local television situations. a reminder to listen to my report throw times a day coast to coast on the salem radio network. up next, president obama pleads with congress to protect, to resurrect obamacare. . >> i hope that current members of congress recall that it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm. lou: have you noticed rested up and vacay as he is, the president doesn't seem to be speaking any faster than h did. his determined meddling is the subject of my commentary and i promise to be gentle. the prime real estate in the swamp that desperately needs draining. we'll have that stunning story next. stay with us. okay, i picked out my dream car. now's the really fun part. choosing the color, the wheels, the interior, everything exactly how i want it. here's the thing: just because i configured this car online doesn't mean it really exists at a dealership, but with truecar, i get real pricing on actual cars in my area. i see what others paid for them, and they show me the ones that match the car i want, so i know i can go to a truecar-certified dealer and it'll be right there waiting for me... today, right now. this is truecar. ostriches don't really stick their heads in the sand. a peanut is not a nut. and a real john deere... is actually real affordable. you learn something new every day. the surprisingly affordable john deere e series tractors. now you can own america's tractor for just 99 dollars a month. learn more at your john deere dealer.