that would have been a red line. every diplomat in washington wanted to know at that point what the new trump administration would do. they tell them some things, they don't tell them other things. paul: right. now looking historically, who do you think was the best national security adviser to a modern president? >> well, the most prominent was henry kissinger, but in terms of running the process, in my own experience, i would say brent scowcroft under bush 41. paul awl why? >> because during the preeminent crises of the bush 41 administration, the iraqi invasion of kuwait and the collapse of the soviet union -- [laughter] paul: just a few things happened this that four years. >> there was a lot going on, and what scowcroft did, i thought superbly, was manage a complex interagency process for a president who knew these issues intimately but wanted to know what the facts were, what the arguments were, what his options were. and i sat on the end of tv screens, i sat in meetings for