was trump in cahoots with flynn? or was flynn out there with these good relations with vladimir putin all by myself? explaining why flynn was fired, spicer told the white house about his conversations with the ambassador. he also said he did nothing to break the constitution. >> flynn informed the white house counsel that they wanted to give, quote, some heads up to us about some comments that may have seemed in conflict that he had sent the vice president in particular. the white house counsel informed the president immediately, the president asked him to conduct a review of whether there was a legal situation there. that was immediately determined that there wasn't. that is what the president believed at the time from what he had been told, and he was proved to be correct. the issue, pure and simple, came down to a matter of trust. >> that is not a problem that general flynn discussed sanctions with russia? >> no. i can't state it clearly enough. there was nothing in what general flynn did in terms of conducting hi

flynn. now it's in and out. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> does change that whole in like flynn thing, doesn't it. thanks for join us. "ac 360" stars right now. >>> official answers to the question of what president trump knew about his national security adviser's vulnerability to russian black maim and when he knew it. also breaking news on how long he kept vice president pence in the dark about it. that and new questions about michael flynn's relationship with moscow and what the president knew about or whether he condoned it or why, knowing general flynn had lied about his phone call to the russian ambassador, the president waited three weeks before cutting him loose. questions about whether the republican-controlled congress will fully investigate and what all this says about the trump administration after less than one month in office. the only reaction the president has had so far saying the real story isn't all of that, it's the leaks. the leaks about all that. first cnn's sara murray

flynn was not yet in office. law enforcement officials say flynn made no promises about lifting sanctions and appeared to be trying to be vague. alarmed on january 26, the justice department attempted to warn the white house. acting attorney general sally yates told white house counsel don mcgahn that flynn misled the administration about his communications with the russians and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail. this afternoon press secretary sean spicer revealed the president himself was told the same day, january 26. >> immediately after the department of justice notified the white house counsel of the situation, the white house counsel briefed the president and a small group of senior advisors. when the president heard the information as present bid white house counsel, he instinctively thought the general flynn did not do anything wrong and the white house counsel's review corroborated that. >> reporter: last friday, after the washington post first revealed to the public what those transcripts containe

did he just do this as a rogue general flynn? did he just decide to call the russians up one day and say, you know, we're going to have a different, you know, sanctions don't worry about it or did it come from somebody else in the white house. if general flynn was directed by somebody to contact the russians, don't overreact here, we may change policy, that's not a crime. i think that's bad form. it's probably inappropriate, violates the president tradition but there's no use lying about it. i mean, what will get you in trouble when you begin to mislead people about what you actually did. >> so lindsey graham was hard to hear but he said it wouldn't be a crime to be in touch with the russians and to signal a policy shift on sanctions. what would get you in trouble is lying about it afterwards, misleading people afterwards. >> yes, i think in this case the coverup is the crime, it's worse than the crime. there's questions whether this was a violation of the logan act, never enforced before, i can point to other violations in the p

flynn, general flynn, also serves at the pleasure of the president, mr. trump should have said, i'm relieving you of your duty, that's unacceptable, end of conversation. you know and the time line has been up on the screen, this went on for days and days. what due process are we talking about? this is a whole lot of nonsense, and flynn would probably still be serving in his position but for the press and "the washington post" story, which caused that erosion. this is a lot of nonsense here. you know, we talk about abraham lincoln and the team of rivals. this is mr. trump and a group of enemie enemies. they are at each other's throats. it is a mess down there in that white house. and probably more to come. >> thank you all very much. >>> next, the immigration raids going on across this country. tonight, some immigrants holed up inside churches. our special report on the ground tonight. and kim jong-un's brother dieing a mysterious sudden death. this is absolutely bizarre. cloak and dagger. with my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, the possibility of a

he was in no rush to get rid of flynn. the main reason is because it looked bad getting rid of security advise r three weeks in the game. >> the big question, you write front page story, the is the big story here that flynn blew it. is the big story there's are going to be nice or something we can figure out. this possibility that trump people were in ka hoots with putin. if there's a -- there was collusion at some level because between the trump people and the guy helping them to w in m moscow is the big story. >> to have this remarkable deference to russia. i think the cause and affect is the reverse. i think the president wasn't going to act. as that's going to be a signature of his presidency. this is way that washington can push back -- >> i mean the people that can talk to the press. >> right. >> when you trump what trump means if you saying to you i zn do anything, if you know what the leak is, you not creating a leak -- they are blowing the whistle on somebody and somebody blew the whistle on trump and the team. i

was false because flynn lied about it. 18 days later that flynn gets his resignation accepted. this is critical because there's no new data point other than a public report from the "washington post." i know sean spicer says there's an exhaustive investigation, i would urge them to put them into the public record but there is no public data point since learned that flynn lied on the 26th that changed anything other than the "washington post" went public with it. so i understand that the white house wants to separate out a legal process about whether or not he violated the logan act from the trust issue, but they just are put so much weight into the trust issue and who had lost the president's trust, but why hadn't he lost the trust on the 26th? that's what's pressing in between. >> right. ivan watson is getting reaction from the kremlin and the breaking news involving the now ex-national security adviser micha michael flynn. what are you learning in moscow? >> reporter: i think seeing a number of top russian lawmakers come out and basically interpret the resignation of mike fly

michael flynn under siege. kellyanne conway says flynn has the full confidence of the president. one official claims the knives are out. and according to sean spicer, president trump is evaluating the situation. the president says chief of staff reince priebus is doing a great job. that's after a member of trump's inner circle chris ruddy questions whether priebus is up to the job. chris ruddy is here tonight, we'll talk to him about that, plus, what's wrong with this picture? president trump confers with aids right in the middle of saturday night dinner on the patio at mar-a-lago. the white house says it was all about logistics for a press conference. but was there more going on? there's a whole lot to discuss tonight, and the plot is thickening. as the president left the oval office tonight, he was asked about flynn. >> do you have confidence in flynn. >> what will you be evaluating -- >> you can see the president smile but didn't answer as he walked out. let's discuss this and much much more. cnn's jim acosta and david gergen. we have new reporting about what the white house k

it was michael flynn. the truth is the problem wasn't michael flynn. there's a lot going on that michael flynn is not responsible for. he is the fall guy. he is taking the blame. when they say they are moving on, they are saying all of those stories that were bad about what's going on in national security and the trump administration, that's solved. let's move on. >> ellis, you are nodding. >> moving on is please don't ask me questions about it. let's take one step back. this is the first real stumble. the first -- >> the first? >> the first one you can't interpret a way. no way to say i appointed this guy to my advisorme. i made him the guy i listen to more than anyone else. he had to leave two weeks in. there is no way to spin that in a way that makes it good. i don't know. to me, it's the one that even folks in the administration have to say, you know, that general flynn thing didn't work out so well. >> we have a lot more questions about this. good thing you are coming back to talk about it more. >>> one of the president's top money men sworn in to

why didn't he fire flynn sooner? and more breaking news, the government ethics office telling the white house tonight to investigate kellyanne conway. is conway becoming too much of a distraction? and undocumented immigrants now going to churches for refuge, living in fear. let's go "out front."

but when flynn was asked about r.t. he equate it had to msnbc and cnn. >> yeah. >> just a lot of questions about his judgment. >> absolutely. and, you know, we do have reporting out tonight that donald trump talked with shinzo abe, the prime minister of japan about improving relation with russia. so, he himself has made those kind of comments as well. do you get the sense from your reporting that the national security establishment where a lot of these leaks seem to be coming from is finished here with these kinds of revelations, or do you see this as an ongoing effort to root out what they see as a dangerous element that they simply cannot trust within the administration? >> well, nbc news and other organizations have reported that there is an ongoing counter intelligence inquiry and there certainly is senate and house intelligence committee investigations into the russian hacking and influence operation, also looking at whether members of the trump campaign had improper contacts with russia. so, this is certainly a su

dear mike flynn and mike flynn jr., what goes around comets around followed by a link to the domino's job page. 12:41. philippe has his own way of saying things but he has a point about the real consequence of fake news. she responded to the judges, the appeal that was not overturned on the ban on the travel ban. i mean, she wants to be part of this conversation it seems. >> she does, but she also i think wants to engage in a series of i told you sos because the reference there is to something michael flynn's son did during the campaign. we won't re-talk about it here, but this is one of the many instances in which the clintons have already said, we told everybody that this is what it was going to be like. i think she feels a certain sense of vindication and frustration and concern as a lot of people in both parties have of the ways the president has set things up. this is an opportunity for a fresh start. >> doesn't make you feel good. >> mixed feelings. >> mixed feelings. >> there's a lot of it like this is not good for the country. >> see you in just a bit on "morning joe." >> than

over flynn's misleading accounts of his dealings. but it didn't fully explain why now, weeks after the president was warned that flynn, who was privy to the nation's top secrets, might be vulnerable to blackmail by the russians. our team is working several angles to this story. kristen welker leads us off with late details. >> reporter: tonight mounting questions at the white house after national security advisor mike flynn was forced to resign late last night after misleading the president, the vice president and others about discussing sanctions with russia's ambassador before the inauguration. >> this was an act of trust. whether or not he actually misled the vice president was the issue. that was ultimately what led to the president asking for and accepting be resignation of general flynn. >> reporter: the key questions tonight, what did the president know, when did he know it and why did the president keep flynn on board for nearly three weeks after the president found out he had been mislead? nbc news learned vice president pen

who will replace michael flynn? ryan brown is live in washington with more. >> reporter: well, alysin we're learning that three names have emerged from a senior administration officials. one of those names retired lieutenant general keith kellogg. he was the chief of staff to the national security council. he's been exposed to this administration. a long-term mb of the military, 36 years. a decorated army veteran. now, some of the more high eer profile names in contention, david petraeus. he's due to meet this week in the white house to discuss about possible positions. he resigned as director of the cia after it was found out that he had disclosed classified and sensitive information. he's currently under probation. that probation is due to expire in a few months. finally, another name we're hearing is retired vice admiral ryan howard, a former navy s.e.a.l. he served as current secretary of defense mattis' deputy commander. hopefully, they're trying to fill this position as quickly as possible. given the national

but when flynn was asked about r.t. he equate it had to msnbc and cnn. >> yeah. >> just a lot of questions about his judgment. >> absolutely. and, you know, we do have reporting out tonight that donald trump talked with shinzo abe, the prime minister of japan about improving relation with russia. so, he himself has made those kind of comments as well. do you get the sense from your reporting that the national security establishment where a lot of these leaks seem to be coming from is finished here with these kinds of revelations, or do you see this as an ongoing effort to root out what they see as a dangerous element that they simply cannot trust within the administration? >> well, nbc news and other organizations have reported that there is an ongoing counter intelligence inquiry and there certainly is senate and house intelligence committee investigations into the russian hacking and influence operation, also looking at whether members of the trump campaign had improper contacts with russia. so, this is certainly a su

so whether he asked flynn to resign, whether flynn offered up that resignation, i think it was clear they were not on comfortable footing at the start of this week. >> and the last time that we heard from the president was on friday about this. and at that point, he didn't know about the story, he said. >> that is what he said. listen to how he responded to reporters who were asking about this story as it was really blowing up on friday. >>. >> what do you make of reports that general flynn had conversations with the russians about sanctions before you were sworn in? >> i don't know about it. i haven't seen it. what report is that? >> reporting that he talked to the ambassador to russia before you were inaugurated about sanctions. >> i haven't seen that. i'll look at that. >> now you may have been seeing a little bit of deflection on the part of the president as they were still deciding what to do with general flynn. they wrestled about this over the weekend and even yesterday when we ran into president trump in the hallway. he did not want to talk about general flynn. he made a stat

flynn did on his own. and i think, you know, the transcripts will shed light on that, but i really think that's why you want to get this out there in the open as much as possible. look, this whole russia piece has been an albatross around the administration's neck from the beginning. it's gaining more feathers. it's starting to take flight. and i really think that they need to get in front of this. the double speak is not a way that's going to solve or calm the waters here. and it's not just about republican, democrats being exercised about this, it's also about republicans who are exercised about this. although more politely, but still, you can tell that there's is certain level of tension about where this leads and what it means. >> david again, the explanation you get from sean spicer today at that press briefing, he said look, this was -- first of all, it was a resignation demanded by president trump, he says trump lost confidence, lost tru in his national security advisor, but he said, he tried to tak

the fbi interview with flynn. our team standing by. >>> the tornadoes touching down outside houston. severe storms. damaging winds. >>> on highly alert tonight at america's tallest dam. a rain storm set to hit as they helicopter in massive boulders and bags of rocks. >>> and the close call. actor harrison ford piloting his own plane, coming dangerously close to a 737. mistaking the taxiway for the runway? >>> good evening, and it's great to have you with us here on a tuesday night, and we begin with a major shakeup inside the trump white house. national security adviser michael flynn forced to resign after what the administration is calling an erosion of trust. that issue, flynn's call with the russian ambassador on the same day president obama was improposing new sanctions on russia because of their meddling in the u.s. election. at first, flynn denied talking about sanctions, and mike pence went on national tv to back him up, but fbi agents listened to the calls and heard differently, and the u.s. justice depart

this is from michael flynn. he said, in the course of my duties as the incoming national security adviser, i held numerous phone calls from foreign counterparts. he said he did this with the russian ambassador to ensure a smooth transition. he said, unfortunately because of the fast pace of events, i briefed the vice president elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the russian ambassador. i sincerely apologize to the president and vice president, and they have accepted my apology. that's where the rubber met the road, giving vice president pence information that was not accurate. >> yeah, don, i think that's the straw that broke the camel's back, if folks will pardon the late-night cliches. essentially what happened here, the incoming national security adviser before this administration came into office, the incoming national security adviser gave bad information to the vice president elect, who went on national television and vouched for the national security adviser about th

but he is somebody who is also quite close to general flynn. he worked with flynn in the nsa. he was the chief of staff for the council up until late last night when he got a phone call from somebody in the administration saying basically we need you to take over this role because general flynn has resigned. he's not well known in washington. he served for more than three decades in the army. he's a vietnam vet. he was also charged with helping lead the reconstruction of iraq. he's not someone who is well known and washington. and for all of general flynn's bluster, keith kellogg was quite quiet on the campaign. he was often on donald trump's campaign plane. he introduced him at a rally but his demeanor was markedly different. let's play that now. >> the white house is the people's house. it belongs to the people of washington, kansas, or grand junction, colorado or those of gettysburg, pennsylvania and not the special of money, elitism, of arrogance or corruption found at the highest levels. >> you can tell, much calmer, a much more stayed presence, if you will. so he is goin

flynn mislead the fbi? and if he, in fact, did, then that ought to be something that the justice department looks at in terms of whether there ought to be criminal prosecution. >> do you find it at all suspicious that the white house was informed of the fact that he misled the vice president of the united states, that they were informed of this three and a half weeks ago and are only acting now after it was reported and became public? >> you know, it seems pretty strange. this is clearly -- this whole incident is an embarrassment to this administration. there's no question about that. but let me just say, i am relieved at the decision is by michael flynn to resign. merely on the fact that at the end of the day he mislead the american people. let alone the administration. but the fact he first said he did not have a conversation concerning the sanctions then only after he was -- he became aware of the transcript that, in fact, his conversation was in fact tapped into. then he said, "well, maybe i didn't." th

evaluating michael flynn's future. i heard later in the evening, just a few hours ago, that really, his status was a, quote, gray area. michael, as you know, from observing what happens in washington, once a top administration official gets to that point, when the president cannot express he has full confidence in that individual, it's pretty difficult to walk in a back. and for that person to once again have the confidence of the president. and so, it did become an untenable situation. they're starting to talk about the possible replacement for michael flynn, keith kellogg, the retired general. he had been working in the national security council office. he will be the acting national security adviser. but david petraeus, the retired general, is the front-runner for the job. he was involved in the obama administration. was a top official in the obama administration but resigned from that position because he shared classified secrets with his mistress. and another retired admiral, bob harward is under consideration for

they hated flynn. they want to see if they can canoe to hurt the ability -- continue to hurt the credibility of the trump administration. it means the trump team has to be careful with how they present their case on other issues, how they were allowed future initiatives, executive orders, pursue legislation. the democrats are going to keep coming back to this as long as they can and they have some willing partners in the republican party. roy blunt's comment saying we're going to look at this exhaustively. they will try to tar trump with this. they better have their messaging correct and they better have the facts correct. why was the fbi interviewing flynn in his office about this at the end of january? why did it take them so long to tell vice president pence about this. i bet pence is really unhappy took that long. >> bret: standby if you would. the administration springs a few leaks and the president is not happy about >> i think there is a real story here, the idea not just in this administration

the vice president went on television and said, per his discussions with michael flynn that flynn did not discuss anything having to do with the dip phr diplomats or imposed sanctions, and then fast-forward to about two weeks ago, the justice department, then the acting attorney general, sally yates, warned the white house that flynn could be blackmailed by russia based on the conversation that they had, and then in february 8th, flynn denied discussing sanctions with the russian ambassador in a "washington post" interview, and then if you fast-forward even more, a flynn aide told cnn he could not rule out if sanctions were discussed and he started to backtrack on his discussions. then the issue was starting this past weekend, guys. the president of the united states being asked about a "washington post" report, which blew this whole thing open, saying flynn did discuss sanctions and he probably did, knowing or not, mislead the president, and that's when we ended with the very late at night resignation last night by michael flynn. >> we are looking at a timeline, though, and it's like

the white house insists flynn broke no laws. last friday flynn admitted he could not recall if sanctions had come up with the russian ambassador. the president was asked about that on air force one. >> i don't know about it. i haven't seen i >> reporter: was he being truthful? >> no, what he asked specifically is was he aware of a "washington post" story. he hadn't seen that at the time. of course he was involved. i just said he was aware of the situation right after the white house counsel informed him back in january. >> reporter: did the president instruct him to talk about sanctions? >> no, absolutely not. no, no, no. no. that's never --. >> reporter: you prefer he not comment? >> i think the president had no problem with the fact he acted in accord with what his job was supposed to be doing. >> reporter: in an interview with "the daily caller" hours before he resigned, flynn said, "there were no lines crossed. it wasn't about sanctions. it was about the 35 guys who were thrown out. it was basically, look, i know this happen

michael flynn has resigned. flynn, under fire for his contacts with russia's u.s. ambassador before president trump took office. a number of sources said flynn inappropriatelyties

mike flynn is out. president trump's national security adviser resigning, following a new report that the white use was warned general flynn could be blackmailed over those russia calls. just hours after this -- >> yes, general flynn does enjoy the full confidence of the president. >>> at the same time, a breach of protocol. these images sparking controversy. did president trump deal with the emergency in full view of guests at mar-a-lago. >> plus, the oprah effect. i'm not talking free cars. how an episode of her old tv show is making the rounds in the senate. it may derail a cabinet nominee. >>> you know who we have to start with today, the trump white house reeling the the resignation of general mike flynn. president trump's closest confidant 24 days after being sworn in. he's on the hunt for a successor. a move on congress to open an official investigation. we have the best team in the business to break this down. i want to go to kristen welker, live at the white house. kristen, how did this go on?

flynn's place in the nsa for now. he is a name being considered r the permanent replacement. petraeus and harwood are also in the running. what can you the me about these three men? >> it's telling that they dipped down and skipped over the deputy. we are going the see a potential firing of both the national security adviser and the deputy national security adviser. petraeus, convicted for lying to the fbi under oath. seams to be going to be impossible to replace one convicted of lying for another. harwood is absolutely terrific. i think he would be a good choice. >> they said they might be making their decision by the end of the week. how important is it for them to do this in a quick manner? >> it's vital. i thought tara did a nice job pointing out the effect domestically on the american public. there is a huge international audience that is watching this, judging it. looking at that in conjunction with that dinner with prime minister abe where they are going over intelligence. kind of eyan roic that the administrat

michael flynn lasted 24 days. and there are a number of things about the nicer's sudden departure last night which make no sense. we've got adam schiff, the top democrat on the intelligence committee to help us sort this out. we have time weiner, the foremost modern historian of the fbi and the cia. time weiner will be here to help us sort this out. but there are just some baseline fundamental questions we don't have an answer for. or that we have answers for that make no sense. first there's the direct simple question of mike flynn and how he got to be national security advisor. how he lasted 24 days at that job. it's wudly reported general flynn was under investigation by counterintelligence community at the fbi and by counterintelligence investigators at the cia. he's also reportedly under investigation by the u.s. army for having taken allegedly undisclosed payments from the russian government during the presidential campaign at the end of 2015. those investigations didn't just start now. how did he get named

who knew what flynn was doing with russia? the roots could go very deep. >> and then late last month flynn may have been compromised last month andil blackma blackmail. the major shake-up on day 26 of the trump administration. joe johns is live at the white house. what you have learned? >> good morning, kellyanne -- sorry, alisyn, good morning, alisyn. kellyanne conway said this morning that michael flynn flatly misled the vice president on this issue and he resigned, she says, because he determined that staying on was unsustainable, but there's still a lot of questions ahead. president trump's embattled national security adviser, michael flynn, stepping down after misleading mike pence and others about his conversations with the russian ambassador to the united states. an official telling cnn the justice department warned the white house last month that flynn discussed sanctions with the russian ambassador in december before trump was sworn in despite repeated denials, a move that could have broken the law. acting attorney ge

ryan, flynn is out. now questions about what the president knew and when. >> reporter: that is right, john. this developed in the waning days of the obama administration. then acting attorney general sally yates. discovered the conversations that they had not adhered to what flynn and vice president-elect mike pence had been saying about the russian ambassador kislyak. they had transcripts and sanctions were discussed among other issues. there was a discussion within the obama administration. then director with john brennan and james clapper. we believe they were informed these conversations took place and they differed from the public accounts that mike pence and mike flynn had been talking about. this is when it came to the actual resignation letter that michael flynn submitted last night, he mentions this difference what he told the vice president-elect mike pence. he said i briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the russian ambassador. i

michael flynn has resigned. flynn, under fire for his contacts with russia's u.s. ambassador before president trump took office. a number of sources said flynn inappropriatelyties cussed sanctions imposed by the obama administration. and the justice department had warned the white house in january, that flynn might be vulnerable to blackmail by russia. >> let's head straight out to washington. cnn's senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, joins us. jim, i suppose his position had been untenable or growing that way. wasn't this sort of accusation of potential blackmail that was the turning point? or was it that he misled mike pence, the vice president? >> i think that revelation that the justice department had warned the trump administration a month ago, michael. that was certainly a turning point in all of this. i think also, this feeling inside the white house, that it just was unacceptable after the national security adviser, michael flynn, the former national security adviser, had misled intentionally or unintentionally, the vice president, mike pence, abo

in a conversation between michael flynn and his would-be rawtion count per part -- >> flynn and donald trump had a certain view about russia. russia. a lot of the cabinet members have a different view. you haven't seen the administration do anything yet to benefit russia. a lot of donald trump's advisors will be advising him to take a stronger stand against putin. bust media is spinning this as if somehow there was something nefarious going on. let's release th -- the transcrt and see what happens. you had an administration getting ready to take office in 30 days. they are talking with all kind of ambassadors. charles: i want to bring in our panel. roy murdoch and chris bedford. chris, a little bit of a dust-up in that prior segment. a lot of people are saying the f.b.i. is in hot water over this as well. >> absolutely. f.b.i. didn't figure this out -- f.b.i. has been behind on all of this and it's been a problem since the beginning. the "new york times" are leaking targeted information that is classified to establish that a member of the u.s. government or incoming member is a problem

that name is general flynn. over the period people should have known that there was a conversation and that conversation included presumably talk about sanctions. the timing here to me is key here. lastly, chris, i can't understand how if you're general flynn with the history of national security you can go to the vice president and say, i don't remember having that conversation. it's written down in the transcript. what happened here? >> david, help us understand that. to chris' point, unless mike flynn went rogue and decided to do this on his own that means that the vice president didn't know what he was doing and the president didn't know what he was doing? or he was acting with the permission of somebody else? >> well, it's a serious question. let's reremember the broader context, pence is so mad about this. he goes out and vouches for flynn in national interviews. he said, they didn't talk about sanctions based on a conversation he had with flynn. so, he was lied to. you don't do that to your vice president

, flynn had to go. flynn's job is to choreograph, as you know, the three main elements of the president, his stability, his intelligence. he gets up in the morning, from hearing from his national security adviser to tell him what everybody is telling him and distilling it from him. when those three people didn't trust him to distill from him to bring information to trump, he's dead. i'm still astounded by it tonight. when i talked to phil rutger at the post today, and the times and the post are in tremendous competition right now with all their resources. this is really a heavy-duty operation to get the story out every hour between those two great papers. the journal is also involved in it, the wall street journal. the help they're getting is incredible. it's not just the professional people on the nfc, it's the

flynn. >> have you actually seen, read the transcript of what flynn told the russian ambassador in washington on that day when the obama administration launched those sanctions against russia and expelled 35 russian diplomats? >> we have not seen the transcripts yet. i know we will see them and frankly we should have seen them by now in terms of normal reporting of counterintelligence. one of the reasons we've not seen them is something i need to get to the bottom of as well. >> were there also, as far as you know, encrypted communications between flynn and the russian ambassador in addition to the phone conversations? >> i'm not going to comment on the type of intelligence we may have, but i would say this, anybody with even a basic security clearance should understand that if they're talking to somebody at the russian embassy, chances are that conversation is monitored. >> explain what you know about the potential for the russians supposedly to be able to blackmail michael flynn because that was the warning the justice department gave the white house when they brought that information to th

the white house insists flynn broke no laws. last friday flynn admitted he could not recall if sanctions had come up with the russian ambassador. the president was asked about that on air force one. >> i don't know about it. i haven't seen it. what report is that? >> reporter: was he being truthful? >> no, what he was asked specifically is was he aware of a "washington post" story. he hadn't seen that at the time. of course he was involved. i just said he was aware of the situation right after the white house counsel informed him back in january. >> reporter: did the president instruct him to talk about sanctions? >> no, absolutely no. that's never-- >> reporter: you prefer he not comment? >> i think the president had no problem with the fact he acted in accord with what his job was supposed to be doing. >> reporter: in an interview with "the daily caller" hours before he resigned, flynn said, "there were no lines crossed. it wasn't about sanctions. it was about the 35 guys who were thrown out. i was basically, look, i know this

flynn contacted the russian ambassador. he says the call involved christmas wishes and condolences over a plane crash. on the 29th the obama administration announced sanctions against russia over election interference. that same day flynn reportedly spoke with the russian ambassador multiple times. on january 1st, then vice president-elect pence denied flynn and russian ambassador discussed sanctions. on february 8th, flynn denied discussing sanctions with the ambassador. a day later a spokesman for flynn said he had no recollection of discussing sanctions but could not be certain. yesterday just after 4 p.m. eastern, white house counselor kellyanne conway said flynn enjoyed, quote, the full confidence of the president. then about an hour later sean spicer said president trump was, quote, evaluating the situation. general flynn resigning a few hours later. joining us from capitol hill independent senator angus king from maine. you sit on the senate committee of intelligence. thank you for joining us. i want to talk about th

after the revelation that flynn had been caught by intelligence, flynn said he had no recollection of the discussions but can't be sure they came up. yesterday a top white house aide said trump refused to say if he trusted flynn. >> the white house did not give you anything to say -- >> they did not give me anything to say. >> so you cannot say -- >> asked and answered. it's not for me to tell you what is in the president's mind. that's a question for the chief of stuff. >> shepard: the president has not been asked or commented. here's the accusation. president obama levied sanctions on russia for meddling in the u.s. election. the same day that happened, private citizen michael flynn called the russian ambassador or spoke with him on the phone. he said they did not discuss the sanctions. then it now appears they did because it's recorded. the question is did flynn tell the russians that the future trump administration would lift the sanctions once in power? after all the russians just helped him get elected president. is that the reason the russians didn't react as american intellige

but michael flynn lied? the logan act has been in play, they have been threatened under the logan act, even if they have not been prosecuted, over the last 20 years. but michael flynn might have been told by somebody else to have these conversations with the russian ambassador on the date president 0bama put new sanctions on russia. so if anybody in the white house knew of michael flynn discussing this, it goes wider. it is notjust democrats calling for an investigation, there are three republican senators who have said we wa nt republican senators who have said we want investigations into this matter. it not only raises what michael flynn said, but what trump officials have ties to russia. one wonders now how deep those ties actually go? there are two enquiries that were already in play. 0ne about the russian hacking into the us presidential election last year, which appears to have benefited donald trump and his campaign and hurt hillary clinton. but secondly, there is now an investigation over there is no

that michael flynn lied to the vice president. that he lied to spicer, and those are the two people who went out and made incorrect statements about flynn's contacts with the russian ambassador. and i think they want to avoid asking adam's very excellent questions. who else knew, right? you know, if flynn was talking to the russian ambassador the day after barack obama instituted these sanctions, was he doing so at the direction of the president-elect, and did he report back on those conversations? i think that is an absolutely crucial question and one that i think that the white house would like to put behind them and would like to argue that, well, this was just a sort of rogue operation by flynn. he forgot that he talked about it and we've cleared this up by accepting his resignation. and i don't think that's going to wash until we get a much clearer picture of who knew what wh when. >> right. alice stewart, two important points. one is the fact that flynn would know given all the service that he has served to this country. he'

. >> megan: flynn is out. president trump will have to find a new national security adviser following last night's stunning resignation of michael flynn. the retired lieutenant general stepping down after reports that he misled white house officials about his contacts with russia. this is "outnumbered. i'm sandra smith." here today harris faulkner, megan mccain is here and former deputy press secretary for the state department, marie hart is here. >> jumped the gun on me. happy valentine's day. >> host is outnumbered. good to have you. >> glad to be here. lot of news. >> you brought some sparkle pink for valentine's day. girl after my own heart. i love them. so much going on, let's get right to it. president trump's national security adviser michael flynn resigning after apologizing to president trump and vice president pence for misleading them and other white house officials on his calls with russia's ambassador to the u.s. the vice president after being briefed by flynn had said in television interviews tha

flynn kept his job. friday morning or thursday evening, "the washington post" broke this story and then president trump says, i don't know anything about it when he's asked about it? >> yeah, a full day later we know donald trump watches television. he reads -- he's on twitter. he sees what everyone's talking about and that friday everyone was talking about general flynn. so, to feign -- there are two scenarios here. he's feigning ignorance over this or lying, and two, he actually isn't being briefed on the developing -- developments of a scandal. that's almost even more terrifying that he doesn't have an organization around him saying, this is the latest on this issue and you should probably be read in when you're asked about it on air force one tonight. >> jen psaki, as the former director of communications, if you had learned -- that's right, they don't have one, sean spicer is doing both jobs. are you volunteering? i'm assuming you're not. >> no. >> on january 26, the white house counsel found out ab