We begin with breaking news on a story about Michael Flynn. The Trump White House was told last month that flynn had misled senior authorities about his conversation with the Russian Ambassador. On joining me on the phone, one of the reporters who broke the story. Explain what you have learned. According to your reporting, tell me what the white house knew and when they knew it regarding Michael Flynn and his contact with russia, prior to trump taking office. Caller yeah, so this came to head at the end of the Obama Administration. Literally on the last full day that obama was in office on the 19th of january. And there was a debate within the Intelligence Community and the Justice Department and the fbi. And basically, you had the intel chiefs, brannon and clapper and yates who wanted to go to the Trump White House, after the inauguration and let them know that the way pence, the Vice President elect and other Administration Officials in the Incoming Administration mischaracterized based on a conversation they had with flynn, his conversation with the Russian Ambassador. And so comey, the fbi director, initially, on the 19th of january opposed going to the Trump White House to let them know this information. After, you know, trump comes to office, sally yates, whos then acting attorney general makes the case again and convinces comey, sometime after the 23rd of january but before the 31st that this information needed to be passed on, so they shared it with the white house. So they, in terms of the intercepts of the conversations of flynn with the Russian Ambassador, those were looked at once, according to your article, after intelligence officials were surprised that russia didnt retaliate for u. S. Actions against russia, is that correct . Caller correct. The fbi has a wire tap on the Russian Ambassador and other diplomats, and they collect that all the time. And so after putin didnt respond as many officials had expected, intell analysts were scratching their heads, trying to figure out what happened, why didnt putin do what was expected. When they looked through the intelligence, they saw these communications between flynn and the ambassador. When sally yates who was at that point, the Deputy Attorney general, when she saw them, she was really alarmed. She felt like flynn had crossed the line, in particular, the logan act, which is an obscure statute, which would bar a u. S. Person like flynn before that person becomes part of the government, from trying to lobby or influence the policies in another government. She knew that the logan act was something that was not going to be pursued and that the fbi had an Ongoing Investigation looking at basically Trump Associates and their ties to russia. So it wasnt an issue, really, until you started to have the mischaracterizations publicly. And so the idea is, is that the russians knew what flynn and the ambassador had spoken about. And they could tell from the way pence, sean spicer and the chief of staff were talking that they were mischaracterizing, based on what flynn was telling them, what was discussed in those calls. Which is fascinating, because you had the Vice President , Vice President pence going out on television saying mike flynn never talked about sanctions with russias ambassador, sean spicer and others as well. And because the russians knew that wasnt true, there was concern by sally yates and others in the Intelligence Community that flynn was potentially vulnerable to blackmail. Caller exactly, that he put himself and the administration in a position that could be compromised because, you know, basically what could happen down the road is the russians could say to flynn, knowing that he had mischaracterized or potentially mischaracterized his conversation with the ambassador and use that and hold that over him. And so by sally yates going to the white house and letting them know, the goal there was to kind of remove that leverage that the russians might have. Didnt mike flynn actually, in an interview with the Washington Post, with your paper say that sanctions were not discussed, and then the following day call you back, call the paper back and say well, actually, i cant say for certain what was discussed . Caller thats right. So last wednesday in an interview, he said no, no, no. There was no discussion of this. You know, and i said flynn, not pence, obviously. Caller yes, flynn says no, no, no. And the next day we hear back from his spokesperson just to clarify, who revised the statement to say that flynn no longer recalls but that it might have come up in that communication. Now as we also are reporting in the story, according to officials who had been briefed on the wire tap and the transcript of that wire tap, it was, sanctions was the main topic of conversation. So theyre skeptical that flynn doesnt recall this. Wow, so that bears repeating. Sanctions were a main topic of conversation. It wasnt as if it was an offhanded remark of, you know, it wasnt just an offhanded onenote remark. Caller thats right, according to two officials that we spoke to who have been briefed on this. It was, as they described it, a main topic of the discussion. It wasnt something that kiss lee ak maybe threw out at the end or Something Like that. And according to your sources, i dont know if you have sources on this or not, were others in the Trump Administration aware what flynn was doing at the time . Was he asked to have this conversation with the Russian Ambassador . Or were others aware of this conversation before or even during or immediately after it happened . Caller yeah, i mean, i dont know the answer to that. I mean, basically, you know, what the officials told us is that they believed that pence had been misled, along with spicer and along with the chief of staff. But they do not know if maybe some other officials, you know, were aware of what flynn was saying and doing with regard to kissly ak. And for those who are watching and remember the name sally yates. The odd, i dont know if its coincidence or the odd part of this, sally yates was the acting attorney general who has since been fired by the Trump Administration because of her public or ostensibly because of her Public Statement telling doj lawyers not to defend trumps executive order on immigration. Caller correct, yes. And obviously, sally, when she provided this information to the white house counsel, she was accompanied by another National Security official, a professional, a nonpartisan person, a person whos not, you know, a Person Associated with the democrats, lets say, because she really wanted it to be seen as a nonpartisan presentation that they were genuinely concerned that this stuff was being mischaracterized and they want the to basically ensure that the Trump White House was aware. Wow, this is fascinating. Adam entis. I appreciate you coming on. This story was just posted on the Washington Post. Fareed zakaria joins us as well as david gergen. David, it doesnt stop. It doesnt stop. Again, we dont have reporting on this. This is from the Washington Post. Whats missing from the story so far is the president of the United States. When did he know . And when did he know it . If they had a report to the legal counsel, the general counsel would have reported presumably to the president. Why then is flynn still there. And in the Washington Post reporting we should point out, theyre not sure what the white house general counsel did with that information. They dont have reporting on who he told or did not tell. Its unimaginable that the white house general counsel would sit on it and not tell anybody else. At the minimum, he would tell the chief of staff. In every white house ive ever known, it would go to the president like that. This is very serious stuff. And youve, if youre told that your National Security advisers potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the rush and wersi is extremely serious. The question is, did flynn call the russians at the request of the president. Did the president actually ask Michael Flynn to call, or did Michael Flynn take this upon himself, which again, i dont know if if he took it upon himself, why isnt he gone . President trump was asked about flynn just a short time ago at the swearing in of Steve Mnuchin whos now been sworn in as treasury secretary. [ inaudible questions ] thank you. Well, thats the first time im seeing it. Clearly i should have said what the president didnt say, because he refused to answer the question whether he has confidence in mike flynn. Theres conflicting reports that Kellyanne Conway came out saying that flynn had the full confidence of the president. And sean spicer said its being evaluated, his role. Stunning. Its pretty stunning, and to go back to the point that you and david were discussing. Just imagine a circumstance where essentially the incoming National Security adviser, Michael Flynn is confronting this issue of russian sanctions, the Obama Administration put sanctions on. What is the chance that he would freelance on that and reach out to a foreign above the agovernme contact and promises about sanctions without checking with the president elect . It seems hard to imagine. It is hard to imagine that that would be a circumstance. So the crucial question has to be, did donald trump tell mike flynn to make contact with the russians and tell putin, dont overreact to these sanctions, were going to water them down when i come in. We dont know, but it also fits into a larger pattern here, which has been puzzling. Donald trumps world view, as we know it, is the rest of the world has always been trying to screw the United States. Our allies try to screw us. The chinese, his words are raping us. The japanese, you know, dont pay for their own defenses. We know what he thinks of all these muslim countries. The one exception has always been russia. He has never said anything nasty about russia or putin. Always been conciliatory, always been nice. And then you begin to see these, you know, series of actions and events, and so you do have to ask yourself, what is going on. If memory serves me correct, he tweeted, praising Vladimir Putin for not responding to the u. S. So, again, it raises the question, did he ask flynn or approve in advance him calling up the Russian Ambassador and having a conversation, which according to the Washington Post recording didnt just mention sanctions, it was the main topic. It was right there at the center. His latest story is, flynns, is he forgot, he couldnt remember whether he talked about it or not. And he clearly was on a mission. We have to be very careful here, because were playing with serious, serious issues. But i do think the country deserves some answers. The president , the white house, need to square up on this and tell us what is going on. Why, you know, when did the president know, the famous question, what did the president know and when did he know it . The howard baker question some years ago. You dont want to go that far in this analysis, but i do think its murky enough, its suspicious enough, and particularly the fact that they have been sitting on this now for three weeks. They didnt, you know, they clearly wanted to ride it out. You know. Were hoping that this would never become public this story is breaking tonight because the Washington Post through sources has just learned about it, but we should point out that the white house has known about it since they were informed by sally yates. Before they fired her. Before they fired her. Which, again. And heres the question that i think one has to wonder about. What did flynn tell the Russian Ambassador with regard to President Trump . Its quite possible that he said something to the effect, i have a message from the president elect. Heres in other words. And those recordings so fbi, u. S. Intelligence officials have heard recordings that either confirm that President Trump knew about this or perhaps leave it ambiguous. So were in the situation where youre right. We have to be very careful. But there is actual hard evidence here out there somewhere. The other question is, how did flynn, who, you know, ran the Defense Intelligence agency whos had a career in intelligence not think or know that the phone calls of the Russian Ambassador would be intercepted and recorded. There are a lot of veterans in washington today asking that question. That seemed very odd. Because anyone with that kind of experience would know that theres a lot of phone, you know, wire tapping going on for diplomats in washington, especially the russians. Fareed, david gergen, thank you so much. Sources call it a toxic environment in the white house. Plus a new sign tonight that Donald Trumps pick for labor secretary may be in jeopardy. And the white house continuing to push false claims of voter fraud. The latest in that is coming up. And one snack box. Can i keep the walnuts . Yes. But i get to pick your movie. Can i pick the genre . Nope. With the blue cash everyday card you get cash back on purchases with no annual fee. Backed by the service and security of american express. You get cash back on purchases with no annual fee. What ever happened to theo say, handling . Ing and handling . I do all the handling. Can you handle this laptop before we ship it, nick . Theres free shipping, and handling on everything at dell. Com. Z282uz zwtz y282uy ywty wion your certified preowned mercedesbenz, you can drive as far as you want for up to three years and be covered. So no matter where you go, your peace of mind and confidence will be as unlimited. As your mileage. Visit the certified preowned sales event, now through february 28th. And learn more about our unlimited mileage warranty, only at your authorized dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. A short time ago, the senate voted to confirm Steve Mnuchin as treasury secretary. President trump had this to say a short time ago. America should know that steven, our nations Financial System is truly in great hands. With him, were going to have no problem, believe me. Once again, with this appointment i am following through on my promise to appoint only the very best and the brightest. He is a legend with a track record of success. Ive watched this over the years. Hes been my friend for many, many years. Everything he touches turns to gold. Meanwhile, President Trumps labor secretary nomination may be in question. The nomination has been mired in controversy, including the admission that he hired an undocumented housekeeper. Some are saying they are still not on board, and if they do not get behind him, it could be a steep climb for confirmation. So four gop senators withholding support. How difficult would that make confirmation if they continue to . If they did vote no, then mr. Puzder will not get that job as labor secretary. Now those four senators, ive talked to all four of them. Susan collins, Lisa Murkowski of alaska, tim scott and donnie isaacson. Each of them are saying that they want to review his record, they want to hear what he has to say. And some of them have Different Levels of concerns, based on his views, his record running a fastfood empire, as well as the controversies in his past. As you mentioned, hiring an undocumented imgrant as a household employee. There was an emergency meeting last week in senator mcconnells office where they discussed these issues at length with these senators and others who sit on that key committee. And the Republican Leadership and business groups, anderson, i am told are putting in a very tough sell, a hard sell. They want to get him confirmed, because they believe he would be helpful for big business. Theres still some confidence among Republican Leaders that they can get him confirmed but it will be a fight. One of the nominees involves Oprah Winfrey. This involves a messy divorce between Andrew Puzder and his wife in the 1980s. At that time, his wife leveled Domestic Abuse allegations against him during their divorce proceedings. She has since withdrawn those allegations and has actually apologized for making them and is vouching for his character in these confirmation hearings. But she appeared in disguise at the