Its something that really i think we all must take seriously, because donald trump is the president of the united states. This threat of political retribution is unprecedented. Boris sanchez is in kansas city awaiting the president s arrival minutes from now. What is the white house saying about the president s thinking here, whats going on behind the scenes on this strategy . Reporter yeah, one source indicates that President Trump is more than comfortable with how this discussion about security clearances is playing out. Sarah sanders made clear the president is displeased about how these six National Security officials have publically talked about relations with russia and the russia investigation. We should point out that sanders has said this is something the president is still mulling over. They are exploring how to go about this process of revoking security clearances, not a decision thats already been made. However, as was noted by Speaker Paul Ryan in the sound bite, two of the individuals that the white house is singling out, comey and mccabe, have had their security clearances revoked for some time. Its unclear if the white house was aware of that when the announcement was made. Sanders made the argument that the six officials are monitizing their public service. Critics say there are Trump Officials who have done the same thing. The president is its uncertain if the president is going to bring it up during his speech to some 4,000 veterans here at the vfw National Convention in kansas city. We have seen the president go the unexpected route before. Once he is done here, he will take part in a discussion with supporters, then a fundraising lunch before heading back to washington, d. C. Boris, thank you so much for that report. Lets get to one of the former intel chiefs that the president and his spokeswoman singles out, joining us by phone is James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence and now cnn National Security analyst. Director clapper, thank you for joining me. First about what Sarah Sanders said yesterday. She said they, meaning you and others, have politicized and monetized their public service. Have you made money since leaving office using your security clearance . Not directly. The security clearance i guess i have benefitted from the 50 years of service in the military and in civilian capacity in the Intelligence Community. I wrote a book about it. I appear on this network. Its by virtue of that experience. A part of that, of course, is the eligibility or access to classified information. In a sense, yes, i have benefitted from that experience. Currently are you . If you didnt have your intelligence your security clearance right now, would you be saying the same things, writing the same book, making the same arguments . Absolutely. What this involves is my eligibility for access which i have had continuously since september of 1963. It has no whether or not i have actual exposure to classified information on a daily basis or get briefings or anything like that, absolutely not. This revocation, if that is what it turns out to be, would have no baearing on what im doing, saying or writing about. Mike hayden is in the same situation. You said that you have had security clearance since 1963. Since john f. Kennedy was president . Exactly. For people not in the intelligence world, people not familiar with the way the government works, can you just explain why you and others maintain that clearance, even though you retired from the government . Well, the rationale this is a longstanding practice that goes back decades that senior formers from these positions are granted continued eligibility for access to classified information. This is to facilitate consultation with those who are occupying or who are the current incumbents. I have had occasion to engage with senior members of this administration who for obvious reasons will remain nameless, drawing on my 50 years of experience and my corporate memory and my background on certain issues. You help them out . You help out members of the current president s operation, the current president s government . Yeah. Yes. I have. At their behest, their request. Will the republic collapse if i no longer have that eligibility . Absolutely not. To me, though, this is a side issue. The bigger issue to me is the jeopardy to First Amendment rights. That to me is the much bigger issue here. Were being suppressed or oppressed because of our outspoken political views or criticism of the current president. Im grateful you are still coming on and speaking your mind. I want to talk about general Michael Flynn. He ran the Defense Intelligence agency. I maintained his security clearance after retiring and got really political on behalf of now President Trump back in 2016. Remember this . Lets watch. Lock her up. Thats right. Thats right. Lock her up. Im going to tell you. Its unbelievable. So that was him getting blatantly political. Not just that, general flynn made 33,750 in the private sector from russias state tv station speaking in moscow in 2015. He made 11,250 from russian charter cargo airline, 11,250 from a russianbased Cyber Security firm. He clearly monetized from and by the russians. He had security clearance. You were director of National Security excuse me, director of National Intelligence at the time director clapper. Was there any discussion when listening to that, when seeing the money he made from russia, of revoking his security clearance . No, there wasnt. Mike, he took advantage of his long experience in the intelligence and military by forming a company, the flynn intelligence group, the platform, the vehicle for profiting from his past experience. The obvious ironies here and the obvious double standard, i think, kind of speaks for itself. When he became very overtly and publically political, antiobama, antiObama Administration, there was never a thought about ending his eligibility or classified information because he became politically active. Absolutely not. What we are looking at are pictures of Michael Flynn at a dinner with Vladimir Putin back when he was in the private sector making money. Its been eight days since the president met with Vladimir Putin. The only readout we have gotten to our one on one meeting is from the russians. What do you make of that as somebody who has been in the intelligence world, the National Security forum for 50 years . Its worrisome against the backdrop of the president s continued ambiguity about recognizing and calling out unambiguously and clearly the extensive russian meddling in our election and in our political processes. Juxtapose against that and then the mystery about just what it is he discussed with putin in private and what he may have or not conceded, you know, as an american citizen, i find that very bothersome, very worrisome. James clampper, thanks for joining me. Thanks. Lets continue to discuss this with cnn politics reporter and editor at large chris lizza and cnn political analyst jackie kazinich. You didnt get the member me for the floral dress. I had a i would call you a skunk at the garden party. Never on that email list. In all seriousness, what did you make of what you heard from James Clapper . The most important thing he said is that the republic in his words isnt going to collapse if James Clapper isnt doesnt have the security clearance. He went on to say the most important thing, which is this isnt about clapper or hayden or comey. This is about free speech and your ability as a citizen forget as a former intelligence official. As a citizen to speak your mind. The thing to remember, theres no allegation of wrongdoing as far as i can tell by the Trump Administration directed at these six people. They are not saying they leaked classified information, theyre using their access to classified information to get that out in the public. Theyre saying they are critical of the president and they are saying that theres ties to russia and donald trump doesnt like that, therefore, theyre going to revoke the security clearance. Doesnt mean they cant speak publically. Why . I think its meant to chill free speech. That, i think, director clapper nailed. Thats the most important thing. Whether its a distraction from russia or not, chilling free speech is something we need to take seriously. No question. Its a very, very dangerous road to go down. I will say i think theres a little irony in the fact that donald trump is saying that they monetized the situation and they already have books out and by raising the profile of James Clapper and james comey, you are probably helping them monetize it more. They arent unique in the fact that they left the administration and wrote a book. That is sort of what exofficials do. Im having a hard time thinking of a high ranking official that hasnt left and written some manner of book. That sort of falls flat. I think this is twofold. This is a way to change the headlines. The president doesnt want to talk about his relationship with putin. Several of the individuals that he named, susan rice, james comey, mccabe, these are villains on the right already. These are people that he can set himself up with and he can go to a rally today and his supporters know who it is. Raw mateat. Easy to put up as adversaries. He is not doing that with Vladimir Putin. Thats also something we should talk about. Thats someone who has been an adversary on the u. S. Stage. People arent buying that. On that point, i want you all to listen to what congressman mike coffman said about this issue. He is an incumbent republican, who is one of the most if not the most endangered when it comes to novembers election. Listen to what he said. I think the first summit was a terrible mistake. The second summit would be equally bad. The fact is that the president went to europe and i think he was strong when it came to talking to our allies and weak when it came to putin. Weakness invites aggression. Im also very concerned about him meeting alone with putin. You think he got played . Absolutely. You know, you certainly have a number of republicans the majority of republicans reluctant to say that. The fact that this is a republican who is going to rely on not just the Republican Base but independent voters to win reelection and he is being that tough, that could tell you something. Yeah. Look, i think there are a lot of signs as it relates to the election in 105 days that democrats are as well positioned as they have been since the start of this election. A lot of that has to do with independents and donald trump. I think what you saw do i think people follow Foreign Policy super closely . No. Everything we know about politics suggest they dont. They follow Something Like the summit. Where donald trump was his whole mo is. O. Is i will be tou. He does it in iran and north korea, but when next to Vladimir Putin, he said, were to blame and russia is to blame. You walk the halls of congress. When you hear that, what do you think . It remains to be seen how this affects donald trump. A lot of republicans have latched on to when President Trump has wrangled by his handlers and gone back and said, no, there absolutely the russians did meddle in the election. They latch on to that, not his backtracking. They do have people dont follow this the tweets day to day. The midterms will be either a reckoning or all systems go for Donald Trumps current strategy. We will have to see what voters say at that time. We are still 100 days out. I think it remains to be seen if there are consequences. 100 days is an eternity in politics. Coming up, the war of words between President Trump and iran gets even hotter. Irans military now promising a crushing response to any new threats. Is north korea taking new steps to dismantle its Nuclear Program . These Satellite Photos could have the answer. Details after the break. Hi, im joan lunden with a place for mom every day we hear from families who partnered with a Senior Living advisor from a place for mom to help find the Perfect Place for their mom or dad thank you so much for your assistance in helping us find a place. Mom feels safe and comfortable and has met many wonderful residence and staffers. Thank you for helping our family find our father a new home. We especially appreciate the information about the va aid and attendance program. I feel i found the right place. A perfect fit. You were my angel and helped guide me every step of the way thank you. The Senior Living advisors at a place for mom partner with thousands of families every month, listening and offering local knowledge and advice to help find the best Senior Living communities across the country and it wont cost you a cent. This is a free service. Call today. A place for mom. You know your family. We know Senior Living. Together well make the right choice. Slonly remfresh useseep one in ionpowered melatonin ht. To deliver up to 7 hours of sleep support. Number one sleep doctor recommended remfresh your nightly sleep companion. President trumps all caps threat to iran is eliciting more reaction from tear rhran. The Iranian Foreign minister tweeted, color us unimpressed. Be cautious. A military official said any threat to iran would result in crushing response. Joining me to talk about this are tony blinken and former member of the bush National SecurityCouncil Michael allen. Thank you both. Your big brains and bringing them here today. Tony, lets talk about iran. How dangerous is this . Its dangerous on a couple levels. Lets start with why the president s doing this. In all likelihood, its to distract from his very unfortunate performance with putin, to change the subject. In changing the subject, what does this mean . He said if iran ever again threatens us, very bad things are going to happen. What happens today or tomorrow when iran issues another threat of some kind . Is the president going to tweet, i really mean it this time in all caps . This doesnt go anywhere. What it does say is that unfortunately, the president pulled us out of an agreement working with iran, reducing and eliminating the vast bulk of its Nuclear Stockpile and has created a crisis of his own making. This is heading at some point to a bad place. If iran starts to put its program back in place, at some point we will be back where we were before the agreement, which is this terrible choice between either a lawing iallowing them Nuclear Weapon or going to war to prevent it. Its the agreement the president tore up. Can you imagine if the guy you work for, president bush, tweeted Something Like this in all cops . Private citizen trump would have gone crazy about the fact he is a warmonger. Bush did say the axis of evil. Here i think President Trump is trying to send a message to the europeans that, listen, join us again in the maximum pressure campaign. I understand tonys point that the Obama Administration got us to a certain level. Trump wants to get more concessions out of iran. I think he is saying to the europeans, cooperate with us on additional sanctions because im willing to go farther than that. I dont know that this is calculated very well to get iran to cave at this moment. I think there is a little bit of method to the madness. Michael allen, trump whisperer. That was impressive. Lets look at north korea. There are images showing north korea has begun to dismantle some test sites. This is if you can look on the screen. Thats the satellite imaging. These have been important for the North Koreans in terms of getting its Nuclear Program up and running. Put it in context, tony. Good if north korea is actually taking steps to dismantle parts of its program. The bottom line is this. Unless and until they actually get rid of their Nuclear Weapons, the missiles and means to make them, we are not really getting anywhere. It has to start with something they havent done. That is a full disclosure and declaration of their entire Nuclear Missile program. Then we can begin to see if what theyre doing is really meaningful. Even as they have apparently started to dismantle one site, there have been reports they are expanding others. We havent seen any net gain si since sing more. The north koreas are masters at stringing out talks, ring out commitments. The president prematurely declared success. North korea is getting a lessening of pressure. It does a few things like taking apart something it may have decided it doesnt need anymore. The bulk of the program is not moving in any forward direction. The jury is way out on this. At the best, were at the beginning of a process, not anywhere near the end. Speaking of dictator getting what he wants, Vladimir Putin seems to have done that in bigly as the president would say. Listen to the president s ambassador to the u. N. Sounding quite differen