effect. it doesn't seem that far-fetched. >> let's return to the issue of russian hacking. the president defended the reaction which some critics argue was not firm enough. he seemed to acknowledge that trump had a big impact on his approach. >> part of the goal here was to make sure that we did not do the work of the leakers for them by raising more and more questions about the integrity of the election before the election was taking place at a time when the president-elect himself was raising questions about the integrity of the election. >> so was the obama administration cowed by that? he was finishing his term in the defensive posture. >> the adviser for moveon.org and "the washington post" fix box and michael steele who is an analyst and former rnc chairman.