Transcripts For CNNW CNN Tonight With Don Lemon 20170214

Im told that no, its not petraeus, i dont know if general kellogg is in. At this point i dont know. I want to give you more information, though. I just heard from another source in the administration that potus hung in there but he resigned. And that it was due to this flood of information that i was just talking about. Donald trump aside from on the apprentice, does really not like to fire people. And this message from a source in the administration to me that potus hung in there but he resigned leads me to believe that the president did not want to kind of abandon general flynn who was also so loyal to him during the campaign. I mean, youll recall flynn spoke at the convention which a lot of people in the agency were kind of agast at, and he was at trumps side throughout the campaign. And so i think the president felt a certain degree of loyalty to him and but in the end i think the information and this source just called it a flood of information to me, you know, finally was what kind of broke the dam. I also just, as were talking, just got a text from another source gloria, can you stand by, i just need to reset, its the top of the hour. Ill get right back to you. Hold on, one second. Top of the hour, Michael Flynn has resigned tonight. This is cnn tonight im don lemon, thank you so much for joining us this evening. The Justice Department had also warned that flynn was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the russians, we have i want to get right to our senior Diplomatic Correspondent Michelle Kosinski is here. I believe we have Alice Stewart who is standing by, who is also getting information from our sources within the administration. Gloria borger is helping to break this news for us. General flynn resigned tonight. There was a flood of information coming in, and the president i was told by one source is very loyal to the people who have been loyal to him, and youll recall that flynn was very loyal to him. And that i was told it was this flood of information that was coming in, that in the end the dam burst, and the president had no choice. Gloria i hate to interrupt you, you know how much i love you, i have to get to jim acosta, he has some breaking news on this. Stand by gloria. Jim, what do you have for us . Yeah, don, i wanted to read you, we just obtained the Resignation Letter from the retired general Michael Flynn, the former National Security adviser to President Trump. We dont have time to put this on screen. Ill read it to you. In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security adviser i held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the president , his advisers and foreign leaders. Such calls are standards practice, because of the fast pace of events, i inadvertently briefed the Vice President elect and others with incomplete information. I sincerely apologize to the president and Vice President , they have accepted my apology. Throughout my over 30 years of Honorable Military Service and my tenure as a National Security adviser, i have performed with the utmost integrity and honesty to serve the United States. I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served my nation in a distinguished way. Ive extremely honored to have served President Trump who in just three weeks has restructured i wish to thank President Trump for his personal loyalty, the friendship of those who i worked without throughout the hard fought campaign, and during the early days of his presidency, i know what the strong leadership of donald j. Trump and mike pence and the team they are assembling, this team will go down as one of the greatest president s in american history. They will make America Great again. That is a pretty stunning development, were in week four of this new administration. And right now the president of the United States does not have a permanent National Security adviser, he has an acting National Security adviser, from what we understand, its general kellogg, according to sources that we are talking to tonight. Hes someone who worked with the trump transition team, was a National Security adviser during the trump transition process, and so this is a stunning development. We were hearing just yesterday that mike flynn had no intention to resign, and was not expecting to be fired today, but obviously the days events have caught up with him, the weight of this scandal was enough to force him out of this very important position in the Trump Administration. What were hearing from sources at this point, there are some names coming up as a potential replacement for Michael Flynn, one of them is the retired general David Petraeus, that is a name youre going to be hearing about a lot in the coming days, don. Im glad you answered the question, because i asked gloria, and she mentioned it might be general kellogg, she was not sure. The acting National Security adviser now as far as you know is general kellogg . Thats right. From what we understand, the acting National Security adviser is going to be retired general Keith Kellogg. From what we know, from covering this campaign was an adviser to then candidate trump and served in that capacity during the transition hes also well respected, one of those officials who had been talked about for National Security adviser. It did not receive that position. However, at this point he probably is very well positioned to take on that position permanently. There are going to be questions raised about David Petraeus donald trump talks a very positively about David Petraeus during the campaign, and said he received a raw deal and so forth, and punished too much, you will recall he had given classified secrets to his girlfriend several years back, he plead guilty to that. And the question is going to be raised obviously if his name is thrown into the mix, how could he go after Hillary Clinton for her email activity and handling of classified information. How can you go after Hillary Clinton on that, if youre going to bring in David Petraeus . That is going to be a part of this conversation in the coming days, at this point they havent settled on a permanent National Security adviser, they have an acting one, and my suspicion is, youre going to see candidates circling through the white house in the coming days as they try to sort this out, don. Stand by, dont go anywhere. Michael flynn has resigned, that was according to two sources, now according to him as well, jim acosta just read his Resignation Letter live on cnn. Gloria borger has also been following this. This makes him the shortest Senior Adviser in history. He was on the job for less than a month. Yes, i think he had multiple problems that just were burgeoning. And when it was discovered that he had not told the Vice President the truth about what he had talked to the russians about, i think that became a huge problem internally for him. There was not a lot of good will for him in the white house, there was a sense that over the last couple weeks that his office was not run well. And that there were numerous problems over there. And i think that in the end, the source said to me, the president hung in there, but in the end, there was too much information coming in. What i can tell you, and just to echo what jim said is that temporarily at least, retired Army Lieutenant general Keith Kellogg who is now chief of staff and executive secretary of the nfc is in charge. But the question is, does he have the job or will there be other people coming in . Petraeus is coming in tomorrow. I had one source say to me that petraeus may be making a run for it, but this source also said he does have a lot of baggage, and thats the baggage that jim acosta was just talking about, about his own history of sharing classified information, which could be a real problem for donald trump since he used that repeatedly in the campaign against Hillary Clinton in regard to her emails. I think kellogg is someone regarded as solid. Apparently he has a Good Relationship with k. T. Mcfarlane who is the number two over there. I do think this is the white house that now needs to decide who the National Security adviser is going to be. National security adviser Michael Flynn, general Michael Flynn has resigned. Jim acosta reading the Resignation Letter on television. Gloria borger breaking the news for us. Three possible replacements for Michael Flynn, Keith Kellogg will be the interim National Security adviser. Hes now the nsc chief of staff currently. And a Senior Administration official also telling jim acosta our sarah murray and Gloria Borger that kellogg it says that kellogg, retired general David Petraeus and bob harwood, the folks who are under consideration. Gloria, do i have that correct . Yes, i you know, i look, we dont know who the next National Security adviser is going to be, we know who it is acting now, we know petraeus is coming in tomorrow, there have been other names, and i think the white house needs to conduct a search thats complete here, given whats transpired over the last three weeks, and so as long as they can keep it running, they need to come up with they need to come up with somebody that the president has confidence in. They may not be looking for controversy with petraeus, petraeus is very well regarded except for that problem. And i think there are other names that have come up, so i think were going to have to wait and see on that. Okay, gloria, stand by. Jim acosta stand by. I want to get to David Axelrod now, for to get his reaction to this breaking news. David axelrod, whats your reaction to flynns resignation . Well, he was in an untenable position, don, and the administration was in an untenable position, anyone who saw the interview with Steven Miller, the white house aid yesterday on the sunday shows in which he was asked about this and refused to answer. You could hear the sound of a branch being sawed off, and the fact that the president who always seems willing to comment on almost anything has been so receip reticent to comment on this. And the story that broke tonight, the administration had been advised that he had had these conversations, and had been advised that he had misled the Vice President made it absolutely impossible for him to continue, and we should point out that flynns always been a controversial figure within the trump orbit, theres been a lot of talk in washington that general mattis and others had misgivings that there were establishment figures who had questions about him, and there were stories that surfaced apart from all of this as to the disarray within the National Security council under his leadership that harkined back to his tenure during the obama administration. In which he got bad marks for management and was asked to leave. There were many many reasons for him to reach this point today. The question is, in the reporting that was done tonight, that was released tonight by several news organizations. It wasnt just these conversations that were noted, but the fact that u. S. Intelligence reports during the president ial campaign showed that the Russian Ambassador was in touch with flynn, and when you twin that up with the conclusion of the intelligence agency, that the russians were working to undermine Hillary Clinton and help donald trump, you can see where this is not necessarily going to die with general flynns resignation, im sure that democrats on capitol hill are going to be wanting to drill down on this issue, and theyre going to ask the question that was made famous many years ago, by our colleague in the period when our colleague Carl Bernstein and bob woodward were doing their great reporting, what did the president know and when did he know it . Did he know that general flynn had made these calls . And if he did if he did, david, what stand by, before you do that i want to say, weve gotten the official word from the white house that the president is going to name Joseph Kellogg as the acting National Security adviser until he picks a Permanent National squurt adviser. What if the president what the president knew and when he knew it, that is a big question, what if he did know, david . Well, obviously thats a whole different problem for the administration because the implications of that would be very grave. And im not suggesting that he did. Its just a question. But that would be that would raise this to a level of crisis. This is something that i think they hope will be tamped down this whole controversy by the resignation of general flynn, this question is going its going to be raised. Part of the reason its going to be raised is that when those sanctions were imposed by the obama administration, the russians took a very unusual position which was not to react. Completely out of character with Vladimir Putin, and there was a a great deal of discussion as to why they would take such a position. And so the question become did general flynn inform the president of his or the president elect of his discussions with kisliak about the sanctions . Can i ask you something, david. Not an allegation, but its a question that will be asked. There was concern during the transition about this one administration, one president at a time. And this certainly is evidence of why that should happen. Why we usually abide by that. There was a great deal of discussion then and president elect was very eager to get off and running, and was active on a number of fronts. But on the issue on issues of National Security and Foreign Policy this has always been the tradition, and for good reason, you dont want to send mixed signals to other countries, particularly in adversarial positions. If one president imposes sanctions while another president is signaling that, just hang on, relief is coming. It obviates the ability of the president who is in office to do what he thinks is right and what he was elected to do. And in this case, it was particularly sensitive, because the thing for which the russians were being sanctioned was for interfering in the american election, and interfering in a way that advantaged the president elect. That made this a particularly sensitive issue. And again, i think its there are elements of this that will continue to be explored and continue to be controversial moving forward, notwithstanding the resignation of general flynn. David axelrod, our cnn senior political commentator joining us now with the breaking news. I want you to stand by. As you see on your screen, Michael Flynn has resigned, tendered his resignation to the president of the United States just a little bit earlier. Cnn reporting the breaking news. Moments ago. Also want to discuss now with our mark preston. And also Michelle Kosinski and nia mallika Henderson Joining me now as well. So much has changed since we last spoke, when we were trying to figure out what was going on. If Michael Flynn still had the confidence of the president , and now this, it appears that he may have had the confidence of the president , but he didnt think he could carry on himself, mark preston. No doubt. And look, he did the honorable thing in many ways by falling on the sword and resigning, and not being fired. This is going to be a terrible story for the Trump Administration. It really depends on how quickly they can get someone else into the role. You do not need senate confirmation, the president can pick the person, and the person goes in. Thats why flynn who has been very controversial was able to move into that position easily. As Gloria Borger is reporting, David Petraeus is going to be at the white house tomorrow. Hes no stranger to donald trump. Remember, he actually interviewed to be the secretary of state. Ultimately that didnt happen, and he bowed out gracefully, it was just a few weeks ago, David Petraeus was on capitol hill, he was not necessarily enamored with how donald trump put in the muslim ban or the travel ban, however you scan want to call it. He thought that better implementation and better planning would have made things go a lot smoother in that. It will be interesting to see how the conversation between President Trump and David Petraeus happens tomorrow, as gloria did note, for all his controversy, David Petraeus is well liked by am dids and republicans, it will be interesting to see if he gets that if he gets the offer. Nia, question for you. Im sure theres someone in the white house who may be looking at this as a Glass Half Full opportunity. Does this offer any opportunity to the white house . Some people may be looking at this as a reset, to get this story off the radar, off the front pages of the papers like the Washington Post and the new york times, and others might be looking at it as the press having scored some points against this white house. I mean, we know this is a white house that has an ongoing feud with many different outlets. And so in that way, i imagine theyre going to be a lot of different views in this white house, as we know, there are all sorts of feuding camps, one of the problems that this three week period opposes for this white house, is that what weve seen over these last three weeks is an advertisement of how things operate in this white house, this is a white house and administration that has still yet to fill the Communications Director post, theyve been interviewing for that, unable to fill it. Lots of deputy cabinet positions as well over the administration. Here over three weeks, you think about people wanting to join this administration, given what weve seen over these last three weeks or so from this white house, a lot of controversy, a lot of chaos, a lot of leaks, a lot of feuding, its not exactly a portrait of a very easy place to work. Typically, white houses are very hard to work in, its a 24hour job, but my goodness that stress on top of the chaos that seems to be to Donald Trumps liking and part of his style and now embedded into the white house, i dont think thats necessarily going to offer a lot of people who might be looking for jobs or want a job in the white house, im not sure attractive that will be to folks who are thinking about joining this administration. Michelle kosinski, youre free to weighin on that. But i have to ask you, big picture, how folks are looking at this, you can call it a fledgling white house, how this may be viewed around the world with our allies and enemies . I think you could write a book on that even at this point. The onus was on this new administration. An administration unlike any other weve seen in a very long time, still trying to put the pieces together. To prove all the naysayers wrong, including the former president of the United States, who had plenty to say about preparedness and appropriateness. So for these things to start to fall apart this way. And the details surrounding them, i mean, involving inappropriate conversations that may in fact be illegal conversations with the russians. The damage here, i mean, i think its unknown how far this will spread in the time line of this administration, and the multiple layers here. You know, changing the position. For flynn to resign, thats immediate damage control. But this goes well beyond. Just reading his statement tonight that he inadvertently gave incomplete information to the Vice President and others. When the white house we know now was warned weeks ago about this. So that that information didnt go out further. And that mike pence wasnt knowing about this, as the Vice President. It only lends itself to so many more questions. And, of course, this Administration Answering questions weve seen that to be a real problem. This isnt going to stop any time soon. I think the reverb race of just this one incident will spread pretty far. The reaction from other countries as you asked, right now youre not seeing it on the front pages of websites, even the times of london or lemonde right now. This may be too fresh. Also too in the weeds at this moment, but i think by tomorrow morning, youre going to see the analysis and the reaction. And from talking to people here the reaction has been oh, my gosh, i cant believe this is happening so soon. I cant believe this is happening in america. Theyre fascinated by it. I did hear from one russian official tonight anonymously, his reaction was, its painful to see the guy, meaning Michael Flynn raked over the coals like that, but didnt want to add any more. The kremlin has denied that this conversation took place, and was about denied that the conversation about sanctions took place. But theyre saying this now, theyre saying the reporting out there, and i think it will be interesting to see that reaction from around the world starting in probably just a few hours. Whats interesting mark preston, weve been talking about the its only been three weeks, and a tumultuous three weeks, you look at the controversy with the travel ban, now this, very shortly into this administration, the unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, the comment by Steven Miller on television yesterday, that the president will not be questioned. This white house this administration has some resetting to do, to nia mallikas point, should they be looking at this as a reset . This is a lot in three weeks. I think a couple things, yeah, its amazing its only been three weeks, on top of all the executive orders hes issued to turn back legislation or to change how we do business here in the u. S. There is a time for reset, and i think the surprise, although i dont know why we are surprised about anything any more, with donald trump, is that you got to do it, and you might as well do it now. Also, with Michael Flynn, general flynn stepping down, you have to wonder if the flood gates will eventually open where donald trump has made the first firing, basically, and could that lead to other dismissals of folks that he doesnt think are pulling their weight, theres been a lot of talk about intrigue within the white house. And intrigue among senior staff, but once you see one go, you tend to see more go. I dont think were going to see anything imminently, but it is something worthwhile to keep an eye on, because clearly they need to get the train back on the track because at some point you cant govern by executive order. You have to govern by legislating, and thats when you have to work with congress. This side show were talking about has got to go away. Youre right, the correct term, side show weve been watching in many ways for the past three weeks. Stand by, everyone, our breaking news tonight. Michael flynn has resigned. That comes in the wake that the Justice Department warned the Trump Administration last month that flynn misled officials regarding his communications with the russian amd bass door and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the russians. Joining me now folks here nia mallika henderson, michelle co destine can i. Do we have Rick Santorum on the line now . Rick, whats your response . Well, i think it was appropriate. I mean, they the fact of the situation where he misled the Vice President and obviously that to me when i read that, that seemed to me just a matter of time before that hammer came down, thats just something you dont do. I know mike flynn, hes a good man, he obviously made a mistake, and he owned up to it, but thats not enough. This is a serious position, the Vice President s a very key person to this administration, and you on such serious matters again, on the Justice Department, where you can compromised by saying one thing to the Vice President and another thing being true. The russians know thats true, thats not a good position to be in. And so this had had to be done, its unfortunate, again, mike flynn is a great soldier, a great patriot, made a mistake, and is it in offices like this, you pay for it. To mark prestons point, rick. Is this a wakeup call and maybe a reset for this white house, that they need to change some of the way that theyre doing things . Maybe with transparency and so forth. Mark also said that maybe there are theres more to come when it comes to resignations or rejiggering of staff. One thing ive seen with donald trump, hes not afraid to fire people that arent carrying their weight. And hes not afraid to make these decisions and to rearrange things. So im not surprised that this firing took place. This is pretty quick. And there could be others, i mean, i dont i think all these rumors are just rumors at this point. The reason i ask you, is because we started the day, flynn was a rumor, at least thats what people were saying. There was also some talk about reince priebus, kellyanne conway, if at the end of the day, you start with as you say a rumor or there is talk about these three people, and then at the end of the day you have one of them who has a major job, the National Security adviser who has now resigned, whos gone. I think there was a serious issue. This was a major problem, the others are to varying degrees, quality of performance, nothing thats a firable offense, if you will. I i think everyones going to get a chance in this administration to get their sea legs and do their job and obviously, theyre going to when you role out as much as trump has rolled out, there are going to be bumps in the roads, youre shaking things up dramatically, i do think that donald trump is someone who will assess and will change course. If he doesnt think the course is the right one with the people he has. Thats the reason i asked you, you said if they dont perform, if people are not performing, he will get rid of them, we saw that in the campaign and as a businessman, thats the reason i asked you that question. I think three weeks is too soon to make that call. I will not be surprised if things continue if the rocky road continues that youll see some other people be moved around or moved out. All right, thank you, Rick Santorum, thank you the rest of the guests. Well be back with our breaking news. Our breaking news tonight, National Security adviser, Michael Flynn has resigned, that comes in the wake of news that the Justice Department warned the Trump Administration flynn misled the administration about his communications with russians and he was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the russians. Otezla is not an injection, or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. 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Were going to try to figure out who the next National Security adviser is going to be, and a number of faces are going to pop up, Keith Kellogg is an interim solution, is he the permanent solution, probably not. This town and a bunch of places have immense talent that could step into that role and provide some great leadership, the challenge, however, is what are the priorities for this administration, what how are we going to engage with russia . Are we going to cooperate or compete. Can we get our arms around type of cyber proto coals as a way to narrowly define how were going to engage with russia, are we going to engage with china to help us with north korea. What are we going to do with isis, weve all described that as an he can step shall threat, does it remain so . There are a host of issues out there, and rather than boil the ocean, i think what we can do is very commonly breathe through our nose and say, here are the top three priorities, this is the area were going to focus in on where were going to put some resources and time. Lets get about the business of getting this ship with the rudder in the water. We can do that, but that has to take place right now. What are we going to do next, all the faces and the yelling and screaming and the personality stuff. Jill dougherty, theres always been questions about why this president took the stance he has, when it comes to Vladimir Putin. And now you have his National Security adviser resigning over issues that have to deal with russia. This is certainly more than palace intrigue, this goes beyond that. Oh, yeah, and you know, just a couple minutes ago, i was checking how the Russian Media are handling this, because its very early in russia in the morning, tuesday morning, theyre now waking up to that news, you can bet that the kremlin has been watching it, one of the reports i saw is quoting cnn in fact on this breaking news. How are they interpreting this . Up to this point there was hope, tempered with some realism, i have to say, that this administration would be good for russia. But there was always that idea behind the scenes a very realistic idea that perhaps donald trump would not be able to fulfill all of the things that we heard during the campaign. Its quite a sober analysis, and in recent days. I have to say days, youve seen a more skeptical tone toward the add ming station. A little more criticism, a little more mocking in fact talking about some of the satirical shows in the United States about donald trump. And then also i think a concern about what kind of policy the president , the american president was going to follow. Give you an example of that conversation, between donald trump and Vladimir Putin. And the reports that in which apparently they were talking about the new start arms control agreement, the president President Trump didnt seem quite clear on exactly what that was, and Vladimir Putin was saying, lets extend that agreement. Lets extend it for another five years, thats a proposal thats out there, among experts. And its a very rational proposal. But donald trump answered it by saying, no, thats a bad deal. This is all from press reports. That is a bad day for the United States. Its in russias favor. That must have been shocking for president putin to hear Something Like that, you know, the country that the administration that was going to be cooperating now is saying, hey, we have a bad deal with you and were going to do something about it, this is not what moscow was expecting, i think theres probably a lot of concern about where theyre going, and also i think as spider was talking about, i think theres grave concern here in the United States about where the nsc, the National Security council is going, that is a crucial crucial body for the president. The National Security adviser is a key person. Hes supposed to be the honest broker who can present information to the president to make matters of life and death about security and american Foreign Policy. And if that now is in tumult, if its falling apart, if it does not seem to be functioning properly, thats a major problem for the United States. Matt, given what jills just reported, who would calm those jitters, who can do it . Well, so look speaking of calming, i dont know about National Security issues per say, but i think the undersold part of this story is the calming force of mike pence, when mike pence goes on tv shows and says this did or did not happen, he has to have credibility. I think its one of the important things that happened today with mike flynns resignation, the Trump Administration has preserved the credibility and the integrity of the Vice President. Mike pence was a calming force when he was selected as the runging mate for donald trump, and made the Mainstream Media feel a little more comfortable, this is a guy we can work with, hes a governor, hes been in congress. It made Movement Conservatives more comfortable, hes retained his integrity and credibility. If mike flynn had stayed on, why would you believe anything that mike pence said on tv. I have to ask you this, cnn broke this story through sources, the Washington Post started reporting some of it, cnn broke the story. You heard jill mentioning earlier, theyre watching at the kremlin, theyre quoting cnn, i asked one of my earlier guests, might this be a reset at the white house for at least their dealings, how they are dealing with issues, and also, matt, i have to ask you, this is being viewed in russia, this is being viewed around the world, cnn is watching, considering the relationship they had, and according to my source right now, theyre all watching cnn at the white house. They may want to rethink their relationship with the media after this. This could be a reset for them. Heres hoping, i mean, look theres a long history of republican politicians especially. But all politicians, having animosity toward the media, theres somewhat of a rivalry, that happened, and thats normal. But to go to war with the press is not smart. And i think that this could be a Movement Forward for the donald Trump Administration there are adults like mike pence and tillerson, and general mattis that i think are conservative, but theyre respected by policy intellectuals and the media, and then there are other people who i think general flynn has been included in this group, who were not the adults, and maybe this is a chance for donald trump to make a step in the right direction. I want to ask you general the other folks we have here, let me see the people theyre putting up, saying who the next could possibly be. According to Senior Administration, Keith Kellogg will be the interim. Then David Petraeus coming in, and admiral bob harwood. I know all of them. David petraeus, certainly, we all know david, and we all frankly believe in redemption, David Petraeus is an immensely gifted guy, we would be lucky to have him in this administration, he gets alongwell hes incredibly talented and prepared, and i think communicates well in this town, and internationally, hes a very measured force. Bob harwood i know, special operator, number two guy in Central Command if im not mistake, he was a s. E. A. L. , immensely gifted guy, Naval Academy graduate, i know him quite well from our early days of the war. We crossed paths on a number of mission requirements. Hes level headed, he is a very energetic and very competent guy, and has some great roots in the mideast in terms of his credibility and his face. And what he can accomplish, so those relationships become critical as we move forward. Those are two great candidates, then you also look at jim stavridis. Im not shelling for jim, but he would be a fantastic candy date. And were getting ahead of ourselves now, the breaking news now is Michael Flynn resigning. Thank you all very much, stand by, im going to need you throughout our coverage here, this is our breaking news on cnn. Michael flynn has resigned. The National Security adviser Michael Flynn has resigned. This is coming 2349 wake of news that the Justice Department warned the donald Trump Administration last month that flynn had misled Administration Officials regarding his communications with the Russian Ambassador to the United States, and that was vulnerable to blackmail, he was by the russians. Were going to discuss all of that as we come back with our breaking news, well take a quick break, more news on the other side of this. burke at farmers, weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a truckcicle. [second man] how you doing . [ice cracking] [second man] ah,ah, ah. Oh no [first man] saves us some drilling. 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Our breaking news tonight on cnn, National Security adviser Michael Flynn has resigned. That comes in the wake of news that the Justice Department warned the Trump Administration last month that flynn misled Administration Officials regarding his communications with the Russian Ambassador to the United States, and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the russians. Want to get back to cnns mark preston, Michelle Kosinski and nia malika henderson. I have new information i want you to listen to and then discuss. This is from dana bash, and were working on getting her up to add to this. It says an Administration Source says this resolution was in motion heading this way for about three days, meaning this as it relates to flynn. The source said it was more than the conversation about sanctions. The key issue internally was whether he told the truth to the Vice President , which all of you have been reporting here this evening. Thats what it came down to. The source said the white house concluded at the very least that flynn didnt need to mislead pence, but he may have because he couldnt remember what he said to the russians. Not remembering is not a quality that we can have for the National Security adviser. While kellogg is acting, its mostly going to be between petraeus and harwood for the job. Mark preston . It seems like with general flynns decision to resign or basically being told to resign, the white house has now come out and is trying to let him down fairly easy. Because theyre trying, you know, to make him out as though hes not a willful liar. But it goes back to what we talked about earlier, don. Where did the loyalty lie for President Trump . Did it lie with Michael Flynn, or did it lie with Vice President pence . And according to danas reporting right there, i think it just codifies what we were saying earlier, that it lies with Vice President pence. I think one of the big Unanswered Questions will be, what did the fbi think, what information anyway, do they think that was said between the general and russian authorities, where he could, in fact, be blackmailed. Because thats going to be the big unanswered question throughout all of this. Also, new information, and this is from cnns jim acosta, saying, a Senior Administration official says President Trump hung in there and did not demand that flynn step down. He said, outside the apprentice, trump does not relish firing people, the official said. I think thats right and we saw that in the campaign. Rick santorum said he fires people and shakes things up. We just havent seen that. Even if you look at the timeline that theyre presenting, theyre saying this was in the works for three days. Well, if you think about the Washington Post story, seems like they have much of the information late last month. So they had possibly someone who was working in the white house who they say now had a faulty memory, possibly lied to the Vice President but didnt really act on it. So its the sort of threeday timeline, i think, raises more questions about how long the president knew about this and how he may have thought, or the Administration May have thought they could just sit on this. Weve had so much whats fascinating about this too, weve had in this white house, this adversarial relationship with the press, and here is the press, the Washington Post, cnn, the new york times, breaking all sorts of stories on this white house, even though i think weve seen the white house trying to shield the president and have favorable questions in a press conference. But this isnt going away. Weve had all these conversations. It doesnt work that way. Right. And also, we had all these conversations about donald trump, is this going to be a reset . During the course of the campaign, same sort of thing. The whole idea of pivoting. It seems unlikely that thats going to happen. Because all of this, i think, flows from the top. The president likely knew some of this earlier, and i think went back to the behavior from before, which is to not immediately fire mike flynn, and let this play out in the press. Yeah, i would have to say, though, michelle, because if youre the president and youre watching this, im sure the president is paying close attention, there would be some concern, because everyone not everyone, but a number of people much insinuating, what did he know and when did he know it. Of course. And if he did know, he would be upset by it. But wouldnt you think he would call the white house attorneys, his Senior Advisers and say, am i out of the woods . What do i need to say . Do we need to respond as it relates to this . Thats what they should be doing. Thats what he should have been doing before Michael Flynn had this conversation thats been reported. To get that kind of input would be valuable pretty much every step of the way on this. Looking at the reporting, of course the president and probably others in the white house wanted to let this ride for as long as it was possible, for as long as it didnt do more damage, for him to still be National Security adviser. Think about that. His position was National Security adviser. So for him to resign or to be forced to resign, however you want to frame this, you know, thats an admission that there was a very deep and serious problem here. And that in itself then causes damage beyond that. Michelle . When you look at what did happen, this had to be so untenable and such a deep problem for this to have to happen the way it did. Yeah, thats gotta be the last word just for the moment, because i have to get to the break. Our breaking news here on cnn, National Security adviser general Michael Flynn has resigned, and that comes in the wake of news that the Justice Department warned the Trump Administration last month that flynn misled the administration, officials, regarding his communications with the Russian Ambassador to the United States. Well be right back right after this. Isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection, or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. This is cnn breaking news. Our breaking news on cnn, the National Security adviser, Michael Flynn, has resigned. This is cnn tonight, im don lemon. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Flynns resignation coming in the wake of news that the Justice Department warned the Trump Administration last month that flynn