bill neely, nbc news, moscow. >>> well, whoever becomes the president's new national security adviser will be joining an administration that is taking a harder line against iran. today in munich on the sidelines of a security conference, chief foreign correspondent richard engel met with iran's foreign minister and asked him about that. >> reporter: the trump administration recently announced that it was putting iran on notice. what does that mean to you? >> iran is used to this type of anguish from the united states, we don't respond well to this type of anguish. >> reporter: iran recently carried out a ballistic missile test. the administration, the u.s. administration, called it provocative. was it really the right time for this test? >> we have to provide for our own defense. >> reporter: was it pre-planned or was this timed to send a message to -- >> no, it wasn't timed to send a message to anybody. >> reporter: but u.s. intelligence officials tell nbc news under president trump, there's an increased risk of an escalation or even a confrontation with iran. just over a week ago, t

nbc's bill neely has spoken with some insiders who know what's in it. kremlin, they're preparing vladimir putin for a first meeting with america's president. >> everything is under preparation. >> reporter: compiling a dossier on donald trump's mental strengths and weaknesses. >> pages describing psychological portrait of trump, especially based on the last two or three months. >> reporter: the kremlin believe trump can be naive. >> he doesn't understand putin. >> reporter: he picks risky fights, like with the media. >> he's dancing on thin ice. it's a risky game. >> reporter: and relies on his intuition more than his advisers. >> he should listen to the people, especially in areas where he's weak. >> reporter: the kremlin is also watching president trump's problems over russia, including losing his national security adviser with growing alarm. according to putin's former prime minister. kremlin at what's happening in washington? >> absolutely not. not laughing. it's very serious. and his team is nervous. >> reporter: in the kremlin, they want president

joining us now from moscow, chief global correspondent bill neely. you heard senator lindsey graham, one of the harsh comments directed toward russia. what have you learned in terms of russia's reaction to how this is playing out. >> reporter: well the kremlin is actually watching events in washington closely with growing alarm. they actually want president trump to succeed because he might lift u.s. sanctions on russia. but the kremlin is also trying to get inside his mind. behind the walls of the kremlin, they're preparing vladimir putin for a first meeting with america's president. >> everything is under preparation. >> reporter: compiling a dossier on donald trump's mental strengths and weaknesses. >> so describing the psychological part of trump, especially based on the last two or three months. >> reporter: the kremlin experts believe mr. trump can be naive. >> he doesn't understand fully who is mr. putin. he's a tough guy. >> reporter: he picks risky fighting they believe like with the media. >> he's dancing on thin ice. it's a risky game. >>

bill neely is in moscow with the story. bill, tell us about this dossier they're drafting on president trump. this will probe his mental strengths and weaknesses, being prepared by kremlin insiders and outside political consultants for president putin in advance of the first meeting between the two presidents the date of which hasn't been announced yet, and this goes way beyond the normal briefing document that any president would get in advance of important talks. news of this was broke on it me by a former russian deputy foreign minister who spoke to me exclusive exclusively. >> pages describing the psychology of president trump especially based on the last two or three months. >> reporter: the kremlin experts believe mr. trump can be naive. >> doesn't understand fully mr. putin. he's a tough guy. >> reporter: he picks risky fights they believe like with the media. >> he's dancing on thin ice. it's a risky game. >> reporter: and relies on his intuition more than his advisers. >> he should listen to the people especially i

>> bill neely in moscow, thanks so much. joining me is dr. evelyn farkas, former deputy assistant of defense for russia, ukraine and eurasia. now msnbc foreign policy contributor. you were in munich as well for the conference. >> i was. >> the question what europe is going to believe, are they going to believe mattis and tillerson and pbs patience or believe donald trump who is president of the united states? >> donald trump as the president. i think if i can make one comment about billy's story the information they're seeking on the personality and the psychology behind president trump that tells me buyers remorse. why is this public? why did bill get access to the officials and get this information? the russian media pulled back from covering president trump favorably. that's one aspect of this. the other aspect for our european allies wanted to hear from vice president pence and general mattis. they heard from them, heard reassuring words but all said listen to what we're hearing back in washington. we think the president might make a secr

i want to go live to moscow where our own bill neely is monitoring how both russian people and the russian government are reacting to the president today. bill, i want to get on a more substantive issue. since the inauguration there has been antagonism by the russians to the americans. the boat that got a little too close, the buzzing of the aircraft and then also the missile test. and the president seemed to shy away from punishing russia on any of that. >> yeah. i think he said three times, not good. he also said, maybe i won't get along with vladimir putin. even here, chuck, this extraordinary news conference looked unprecedented, extraordinary. but it wasn't covered live by any russian tv news channel. amazing since russia was virtually at the center of the news conference. and also because the kremlin had ordered state media to cut back on its coverage of trump. so tonight the official news agency just has one line from the whole news conference quoting president trump saying that the whole wave of actions against russia are fake news. and also -- >> wow. >> -- interestingly on that t

that is where we find nbc chief global correspondent bill neely in moscow. what is the reaction to donald trump's press conference yesterday? >> well, katy, the kremlin is being very cautious. not just about commenting about yesterday's news conference but about reacting to everything donald trump says or every tweet that's put out. for good reason. a week ago the kremlin was very embarrassed. here is how. the official kremlin spokesperson was talking about those contacts between former national security adviser mike flynn and the russian ambassador to washington he said that flynn did not discuss sanctions at all with the russian ambassador, only for mike flynn to come back two days later to say he actually did. paskov is very careful about what he says. he was very embarrassed about that. this morning he made a broad comment. he was asked by one reporter if he was disappointed about the kind of things president trump is saying. he said, we never wore rose-tinted glasses, we never had any illusions so there's nothing to be disappointed with. russia/u.s. tie

joining me now is nbc chief global correspondent bill neely who is in moscow. so much of that news conference yesterday was about russia. what is the reaction in russia? >> reporter: well surprisingly, katy that, news conference wasn't broadcast live on any russian state tv channel including the 24-hour news channels like rt. the official news agency only carried one line about the news conference even hours after it was over and that was just requoting donald trump talking about fake news. so it was difficult to get any reaction. this morning the kremlin's official spokesman dimitri peskov with regard to president trump's marks he wasn't sure he'd get on with president putin his comments earlier about crimea, that crimea was taken by russia and also his statement the u.s. military would be built upike you've never seen before, he was asked whether russia was disappointed in president trump after three weeks, and he said we never wore rose tinted glasses, we never had any illusions so there's nothing to be disappointed with. russia/u.s. ties he added are import

back to you, jacob. >> bill neely in moscow, thank you so much, bill. for more i want to bring in democratic congressman adam smith of washington. congressman, let's start with breaking news. i want to get your take on president trump's pick for national security adviser, lieutenant general h.r. mcmaster. >> well, he's, obviously, very well qualified. he's got great experience in the military. and i listened to what some of your guests said earlier. i can concur. he's certainly -- i mean, to say it's an improvement over mike flynn is an incredible understatement. now, you know, there's still the president, of course, and steve bannon and others in the white house to battle with, but it's good we have general mattis in charge of the defense department and now general mcmaster as national security adviser, because those are two very competent people who hopefully can rein in some of the more outlandish ideas of others in the trump circle. >> you mentioned steve bannon. are you worried as national security adviser, general mcmaster will not have the autono

with us now is nbc news global correspondent bill neely. bill, fascinating reporting. the russians are taking a close look at trump and figuring out his weaknesses and figuring out more. what are you learning? >> reporter: the kremlin is watching events in washington very closely and with growing alarm. of course, they actually want donald trump to succeed as president because they hope he will lift u.s. sanctions on russia. but as you say, they are also now looking inside his mind. behind the walls of the kremlin, they are preparing vladimir putin for a first meeting with america's president. >> everything is under preparation. >> reporter: compiling a dossier on donald trump's mental strengths and weaknesses. >> pages describing psychological of trump, especially based on the last two or three months. >> reporter: the kremlin experts believe mr. trump can be naive. >> he doesn't understand fully who is mr. putin. he's a tough guy. >> reporter: he picks risky fights, they believe, like with the media. >> he is dancing on thin ice. it's a risky game. >> reporter: and r

let's go to moscow where chief global correspondent bill neely is standing by. you've been gauging how the russians and the russian media is responding to all of this. >> reporter: yeah, kate, interesting in the last hour i've just been speaking to a former russian deputy foreign minister who says the kremlin is worried that donald trump is being damaged by all the controversy and that the kremlin doesn't want him damaged because they want a deal with him, they want better relations with the u.s. critically, they want u.s. sanctions lifted. the kremlin apparently, according to this insider, is worried that by taking on the mainstream media, especially, donald trump risks being a damaged president. also there's the worry here that the kremlin is somehow disappointed by what it's sn from donald trump, that he's not deliveng the better relations that he promised. the kremlin official spokesman was asked about that by reporters this morning, whether they are disappointed in donald trump. he said, we never had rose-tinted glasses, we never had any illusions so there'