we're joined now by thomas rick, contributing editor at foreign policy magazine and author of the new book "churchill & orwell: the fight for freedom." you are also the author of a piece toward the end of last year asking did i help create a monster, and you were with that monster on the day that he was fired in the white house. tell us about your history with michael flynn and how you helped bring m thkif attention at actually pushed him up the ladder. >> let me be clear. i don't think general flynn is actually a monster. i think he is a rather naive guy, not really educated in the ways of washington, and not what we think of as an intelligence operative. he was in military intelligence. and that tends to be things like how many tanks does the other side have, what is the weather going to be tomorrow.