Ago. Crowds have been lining up outside the hall since early this morning. Some were no doubt in grant park not here from the president elects victory rally eight years ago. Tonight will be the book end to that big moment and a big night with Significant Developments involving his successor, donald trump. Well bring that to you. Michelle kosinski joins us to start things off. What do we expect from president obama tonight . I dont think hes going to take a page or several from his early a speeches in chicago. Hes going to try to impart optimism, try to inspire people. Even coming off of this bruising election with america still reeling from it, with divisions laid pretty bare. This was the defeat for him too. I mean, his legacy is already under fierce attack. So he wants to leave on an optimistic note. From the few excerpts that the white house has released he wants to focus on american values. He wants to look at where he came from. How he got the to where he is, what he Still Believes in. As hell put it tonight, the only way change happens is when ordinary americans get together, work together, and demand it. Do we know if hell be touching on issues of race which hes been talking about more in these last few years of his presidency . Campaigning for Hillary Clinton he tried to say america is not as divided as some would say. As the race was razor close he backed away from that, talking act trying to heal divisions. It sounds like he wants to talk about moving forward, healing those divisions, and to when he talks about american values, he wants to hit upon diversity. The audience as they wait for the president listening to eddie vetter perform on stage. Our panel. David axelrod, dana bash, gloria borger, ben le bolt. Angela rise with us. Jodie cantor, author of the obamas. John, lets start with you. This is not a Campaign Event or a goodbye to the country. Hes 55 and has a long career ahead of him. What dukto you expect . One of the most fascinating questions. Three successive twoterm president s in the case of clinton and george w. Bush and barack obama, three relatively young men when they took the job and when they leave. What will they do next . David and ben can fill in more. He is not someone who relishes daytoday political combat and hes indicated he wants to step back and step forward when its necessary. People in the hall are in a bad mood. They dont like whats about to happen in the inauguration of donald trump. Most people want to celebrate the last eight years, not focus on november 8 president. Im not sure he knows as to when he steps forward. David, how do you feel . It struck me when i picked up my credential that said farewell address of the president. I have a drawer full of credentials that go back to the 2004 convention when he was the keynote speaker in iowa and new hampshire, two campaigns the years in between on the presidency. And to realize that this is the end of that particular part of the story is very moving to me and im sure to a lot of people here. Its also sort of a sad picture on the credential. I dont know if you can see this, but its the obamas from behind kind of looking out from i dont want to oversell this because i do not anticipate a sad speech. I anticipate a speech that talks about the richness of our democracy and what we have to do to keep it vibrant in the future. These addresses historically getting back to George Washington have been in part a review of where weve been but very much a focus on where we need to go and the advice the outgoing president has for the country. This is the opportunity hell seize tonight. On the way here i was relistening to the podcast you did, the interview david did with the outgoing president. It was fascinating to listen to. Like being a fly on the wall with these two friends reminiscing 25 years. You talked about hope and change. And you said that hope and change thing, how is that going for you . Obviously he was sort of kid bug not in that he did come in with the hope and change thing as sarah palin called it and had reality smack him in the face over and over again. The last reality of which is having somebody who disagrees with him on just about everything he pushed for for eight years coming in as successor. The fact he decided in summer he wanted to this speech here and not in washington says about how he wants people to look at his presidency. I was talking about somebody else involved in the speech, not you, and this person said there is one thing i can tell you. It is not a policy speech. This is not a state of the union. This is not, okay, look at what we did. Here are the ten great things ive achieved. This is in a way about hope and change for the future because i think he wants to leave on the same note that he came in on. Thats not easy to do. Particularly with these people who dont very optimistic about the next president. You know this president better than most. I dont think it will be a Farewell Speech because the Obama Presidency wasnt just about one person. It was about getting americans from different backgrounds involved in their democracy. I think well see it as a call to action from my generation and the generation younger. We have to stay engaged. In some ways thats the answer to the trump presidency. This isnt just about one person. It will take all of us organizing in our communities, organizing at a National Level to fight for what we believe in in core american values. I think the president has a choice to make in the next few months and years and we may see the beginning of the answer tonight. The expresident ial tradition is sort of to get in the helicopter on Inauguration Day and fly away and really be very hands off and almost do like a quick retirement from american political life. However, this is an unusual moment in american history, confusing for a lot of people to think about what happened in the last election. The Democratic Party is sort of in meltdown with the election results, wants very badly to hear from both of the obamas, two of the only unifying figures left. The president has begun to indicate in interviews he wants to do some of the work of rebuilding the party so hell have that choice to make whether to remove himself more or engage more. I think its important to as we interpret the meaning of this location, to recognize that he not only became the president elect in grant park but his career began on the south side a few miles south of here as a Community Organizer with the belief that people can organize at the grassroots and make a difference in their lives. He wants people to walk that same path. He understands his journey is done in politics but he wants to encourage others to take up the work of bettering their communities and country. I think theres where his foundation is going to go. Democrats know what it feels like to lose hope. An interesting choice because he talks about this is where he found himself, came into his own. This is an opportunity to come into our own. Not to lose hope. Hell continue to be a hope and change ambassador but first to lean into what america is supposed to be about. He has a great opportunity to do that tonight. He didnt have to be here in chicago to want. He could have made the speech anywhere but wanted to be in chicago. People are looking for a path forward, they dont know how to respond to donald trump. This is not what they were envisioning. They have to understand how to move forward with hope. This question of what he does next, organizing or trying to invest the future of the party, the challenge is so enormous. When he burst onto the scene, he generationally leapfrogged democrats. At the convention in 2004, john kerry was the nominee, Hillary Clinton in waiting, john edwards, joe biden in waiting. We could talk about the number of democrats who thought they were the next National Star of the party and they were an impressive group. Now who is it . As the president himself has noted one of the problems for the party is in middle america, illinois, ohio, iowa. Whos the next generation . Is that barack obama who will come onto the scene or the Young Democratic governor whos come onto the scene . The party has been wiped out in the obama years. Its a problem for the Democratic Party. I remind people 4 1 2 years before he was elected president almost no one knew who barack obama was. On the issue of where to go and the path forward, George Washington made the first farewell address and his message was our greatest enemy is division, disunity. We need to come together. If we get into rivalries were going to be weakened. Part of this message is going to be we can be political opponents but at the end of day were all americans and we ought to value what we have and honor that democracy. In one sense its easier to say goodbye and gave speech like this than it will be for the former president to navigate that role. Bush stayed out of things and didnt go on the campaign trail and second guess him all the trail. For example, if theres a muslim ban and health care. How does he navigate that role in the future . When does he speak out without getting in the way . We have to take a quick break. A lot of news to get to in this hour. More on president obamas Farewell Speech about 45 minutes from now and his legacy. When we come back, allegations that russians have compromising material on the next president of the United States, donald trump. A story you wont find anywhere else. 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Cnn has learned the nations top intelligence officials presented information to president elect donald trump on friday and president barack obama on thursday about claims of russian efforts to compromise president elect trump. The information was provided as part of last weeks classified briefings, Intelligence Briefings regarding the russian efforts to undermine and interfere in the 2016 president ial elections. I worked on this story with jim sciutto, evan perez, and carl bernstein. They join me now. Jim sciutto, what have we learned . This was a team reporting effort at cnn and multiple officials with direct knowledge of those briefings tell cnn that classified documents on russian interference in the 2016 u. S. Election that were presented last week to president obama and to president elect trump included allegations that russian operatives claimed to have compromising personal and Financial Information about mr. Trump. They were part of a twopaged nop sis compiled by a former british operative considered credible. The fbi is investigatiing the correct and accuracy of allegations based on primarily information from russian sources but the fbi has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about mr. Trump. The classified briefings last week were presented by four of the senior most u. S. Intelligence chiefs, director of National Intelligence james clapper, james comey, john brennan and admiral mike rogers. The synopsis also included these allegations, that there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between trump sur gaths and intermediaries for the russian government. This according to two National Security officials. The synopsis was included in the documents presented to mr. Trump. We cannot confirm if it was discussed in his meetings with the intelligence chiefs as well. The Trump Transition Team has not commented nor has the the director of the National Intelligence or the fbi. For several hours we told the Trump Transition Team about the story and they said they would have a statement for us, yet to provide it. When they do, we will provide it to you. Just to underline, thisaddendum annex to the report on russian hacking, not part of the report in itself. Thats right. The focus of the briefings was the intelligence and analysis behind the intelligence assessment it was the russian hack of the election and russias intent was to help mr. Trump. This synopsis, though, included in this briefing which shows its important was not part of that overall assessment. What we have are allegations being made by russians that they have potentially compromising personal and Financial Information about donald trump and information, allegations that there were exchanges of information between the Trump Campaign and the russian government. So far the Intelligence Community has yet to corroborate these allegations so why even bring it up to president elect trump and president obama . Jake, theres a couple of reasons why were told they decided to do this. The Senior Intelligence officials included the synopsis in part to make the president elect trump aware these allegations involving him are circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of congress, and other government officials in washington. The officials said that they also included it in part to demonstrate that russia had compiled information potentially harmful to both Political Parties but only released information damaging to Hillary Clinton and the democrats. This synopsis but not part of an official Intelligence Community report about the russian shacks. But it augments the evidence moscow intended to harm clintons candidacy and to help donald trump. Several officials acknowledged in these briefings to cnn. Fascinating story. Let me bring in carl bernstein. Carl, when were all working together in the story, you brought this to us, this information the underlying memos that was included as an annex to the Intelligence Community report, the underlying memos did not start with u. S. Intelligence or with the fbi or u. S. Law enforcement. Where dwid they come from . The underlying memos were produced by a former british mi6 intelligence operator in the former soviet union. He had been hired by a Research Firm that does Opposition Research and this firm had been doing Opposition Research on the Trump Campaign, on donald trump, for both republicans and democrats opposed to the trump presidency. As this firm in washington started to look at trumps visits to russia, his business ties to russians and those of others in his family, they then took their information to this mi6 person in london, former mi6 person with whom theyd worked before, to see if he could further develop information. Over the course of months he began producing reports and by august of 2016 he was sufficiently concerned by the substance of the reports to go to rome, turn them over to an fbi colleague, counterintelligence colleague in rome from the fbi, and it was forwarded to the fbi in washington, these reports. Subsequent to that, a former British Ambassador to russia contacted john mccain and said there is this information floating around produced by this mi6 guy and a meeting was arranged between mccain and the mi6 a meeting was arranged between the former ambassador and mccain. At that point, mccain got the information shortly afterwards, the underlying memos. He then turned them over, the memos subsequent to the ones that had been turned over the fbi in august, mccain turned those over to fbi director comey personally in december on december 9th. Now people are awaiting to see what the fbi and other investigators produce now that they have this underlying information. We reached out to the Trump Transition Team to get a response to the fact that these intelligence officials provided this information in a briefing to president elect trump and to president obama as well as some senior congressional leaders suggesting that russians were making these claims. We have been trying to get a response from the Trump Transition Team for several hours now. I