Va Backchannel News Today

It really questions whether this man should have security clearance and in my opinion hes not acting like a responsible adult and shouldnt have security clearance at this point. >> your problem is not necessarily having a backchannel but having one that would use the russian embassy and washington communications and not go through u.s. communications, it is that right? >> yes. the biggest problem here is the fact that youre trying to hide something. our domestic agencies are not going to be list...

Extending to general flynn, hesitate to the say this, the stupidity to believe that in this environment as the incoming president that youre going to v a backchannel, thats not secret. whoever made this decision had to know its going to go south. its remarkable arrogance. >> on top of all of this, the president has major decisions. hes got to make and presumably fairly soon, has to decide on a new fbi director. several people have taken their names out of consideration. >> so right before donald...

>> there really is no excuse, naivety or not. hes roughly my age. i know of young men and women have that security clearances that are much younger than him that serve in the military. they note consequences of their actions. you know, he needs to realize that this is the grown-up world now. if he cannot handle his job, he needs to turn in his security clearance and go back to doing real estate in new york city. this is serious work and peoples lives are at stake and theres no difference whether...

Me. son-in-law, national security adviser incoming within six weeks or otherwise until inauguration seven weeks. we have an issue thats prominent during the campaign, russian meddling during the campaign. we have the president who has repeatedly spoken, something thats controversial, about improving ties with a dictator thats vladimir putin and his team, people who are next to him every single day on a prominent national security issue are going and saying i want a special channel with the russi...

Defended the reputation of the fbi. >> for the men and women of the fbi, uncompromising integrity both personal and institutional is the core value. >> reporter: the administration isnt denying the kushner reports. >> any channel of communication, back or otherwise with a country like russia, is a good thing. >> reporter: instead, homeland security secretary john kelly spent sunday morning playing down the severity of the situation. >> theres a lot of different ways to communicate, backchannel, ...

Of stopping any time soon. >> phil mattingly at the white house, thanks very much. joining me now is democratic congressman reuben gallego of arizona, also an iraq war veteran. congressman, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> administration officials, con man, have been arguing that requesting a backchannel was standard practice. the former cia director michael hayden said i know of no other experience like this in hour history. where do you stand? >> i think if youre asking for a...