civilian group that s helped rescue many, many syrians from bombings in syria. the state department spokeswoman says that the russians and the syrians are trying to block access in order to prop up this storyline of theirs saying that the chemical attack was fake and the russians are working with the syrians in order to remove evidence. of course the syrians and russians have both denied that. hallie, we should note, just an update, actually we do have a sound bite from heather. let s hear that now. we believe it is an effort to conduct their own staged investigations. russian officials have worked with the syrian regime, we believe, to sanitize the locations of the suspected attacks and remove incriminating evidence of chemical weapons use. so back and noorth pins
sandra: joining me now are josh holmes former chief of staff to mitch mcconnell and marie harf, former state department spokeswoman. as we go to our panel the witnesses are walking into the room of that senate hearing that is about to get underway. we ll continue watching this four and any developments there. meanwhile i want to bring you in first, josh, on this email that has been discovered, written by susan rice on the president s inauguration day. what stands out here to you? i think if we knew nothing about susan rice the email in and of itself wouldn t that be concerning. the incoming national security advisor michael flynn they knew he had been in contact with the russians during the transition period and deceived his own administration about those contacts. not surprising they would be concerned. the problem here is that susan rice has had a long and troubled history and relationship with the truth.
a letter to senate minority leader chuck schumer. he said he and others met with russians to keep america safe. schumer told cnn yesterday if this administration is ignoring sanctions, that s very serious. a state department spokeswoman says sanctions can be waived in cases of national security. last year, russians revealed an oval office meeting with sergei kislyak. it is fair to note that past administrations have also met with russian intelligence officials. nikki haley slamming russia at the republican retreat in west virginia. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. telling lawmakers moscow is not and will not be our friend. she defended the administration handling of russia although it failed to impose new sanctions as mandated by congress. here is michelle kosinski at the state department. reporter: rene and ryan, look
russian embassy. a u.s. official says it is no accident that russia announced the meeting and the target was to sow discord in the united states. on thursday, pompeo defended in a letter to senate minority leader chuck schumer. he said he and others met with russians to keep america safe. schumer told cnn yesterday if this administration is ignoring sanctions, that s very serious. a state department spokeswoman says sanctions can be waived in cases of national security. last year, russians revealed an oval office meeting with sergei kislyak. it is fair to note that past administrations have also met with russian intelligence officials. nikki haley slamming russia an the republican retreat in west virginia. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. telling lawmakers moscow is not and will not be our friend.
they expected to get something out of the iran nuclear deal. the leaders there of that country promised that that money would benefit all the citizens but yet we have seen iran take that money and funnel it into the rebels in yemen, we ve seen them spend money in syria and outfit hezbollah. they aren t spending their money on their own people. that s a concern of ours. melissa: joining me now is the director of foreign policy research at the brookings institute. you know, on top of what heather nauert just said lifting the sanctions are supposed to win the hearts and minds of people in iran with iphones and coca-cola. instead the price of eggs are up 50% in the last year. what happened? iran s economy has been poor for a long time partly because, as you said or as the state department spokeswoman said