Im natalie allen. And im George Howell. Cnn newsroom starts right now. Streets ea it is Early Morning here and we are just hours away now from the caucuses set to take place in nevada. It comes on the heels of u. S. Intelligence officials sounding the alarm that russia is already meddling in the 2020 election and its efforts are crossing party lines. Intel Officials Say the kremlin is working to ensure President Donald Trump gets another four years in office and it is also looking to help senator Bernie Sanders secure the democratic nomination. What is not clear yet is how russia is looking to help sanders in his campaign but the senator was quick to condemn the efforts. Ryan nobles has more from las vegas. Senator Bernie Sanders confirming a report from the Washington Post on friday that he received an intelligence briefing that russian actors were trying to intervene in the election on his behalf. But sanders made it clear he is not interested in any help from Vladimir Putin. He may be a friend of donald trumps, he is not a friend of mine. Let me tell mr. Putin, the American People are sick and tired of seeing russia and other countries interfering in our elections. The Intelligence Community has been very clear about it, whether trump recognizes it or not or acknowledges it or not, they did interfere in 2016 and the Intelligence Community is telling us that they are interfering in this campaign right now in goin 2020. And what iputin, if elected president , trust me, you will not be interfering in elections. Reporter this is not the first time that intelligence officials is have deduced that mr. Sanders might be getting help. In 2016, russian bots were attempting to help sanders as we would. But the sanders team makes it clear this that this is not necessarily about helping the senator, but sowing discord in the democratic primary and programs the leak of this information was designed to hurt his chances in the upcoming nevada caucuses and into the democratic primary and beyond. Still sanders making it clear that he believes this Intelligence Report and also that if he were to be elected president , he would take great steps to prevent russia from intervening in elections in the future. Ryan nobles, cnn, las vegas, nevada. And there is a stark difference in how President Trump is imagining the news compared to Bernie Sanders. Thats right. We get that from jim acosta at the white house. Reporter at a rally in las vegas, the president seized on what he views as the latest threat to his reelection, the u. S. Intelligence communities warning that russia is already interfering in the 2020 race to benefit mr. Trump. Disinformation, that is the only thing they are good at. That putin wants to make sure i get elected. Listen to this. So doesnt he want to see who the democrat is going to be, wouldnt he rather have, lets say, bernie . Earlier in the day the president tweeted another Misinformation Campaign is being launched by democrats in congress saying that russia prefers me to any of the do n g nothing candidates who still cant count their votes in iowa. And he berated Joseph Maguire last week, one day after House Intelligence Committee chairman adam schiff and other democrats clashed with republicans in a meeting. Days after the heated meeting with maguire, he tapped ric grenell to be the new acting held at dni. Devin nunes told the president what happened at the briefing. Vladimir putin is not running some operation with donald trump. There is no evidence of that. And so all this is, they dont have anything to run on, and so they have got to make up russia again. Reporter sources tell cnn Committee Republicans including congressman will hurt pressed for more proof that moscow was meddling once again. I cant comment on the specifics of the briefing, but what i can say is that unfortunately i think folks on the other side still have not internalized some of the conclusions from 2016, namely that the russians interfered in that election on the president s behalf. Reporter mr. Trumps foe Michael Cohen went on the attack saying putins puppet is at it again, he knows he cant win without it and we cant let it happen. The president has repeatedly questioned the Intelligence Committee s conclusion that russia interfered in 2016. His xhicomments at the helsinki summit i have great confidence in my intelligence people, but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. Reporter this just days after dan coats warned u. S. Elections are at risk. Here we are nearly two decades later, and im here to say that the warning lights are blinking red again. All right with the ru. Reporter with the russians eyeing the 2020 election, the president appears to be struggling to find a new permanent dni. Doug collins says he doesnt want the position. To mention my name and among others to be this position, but let me tell you, i know the problems in our Intelligence Community, but this is not a job that interests me at this time. It is not one that i would accept. Reporter former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker touched on the russia threat in the uk, he told the crowd im never going to deny that russia tried to interfere in 2016, in 2018 and trying to interfere this 2020. Jim acosta, cnn, the white house. So that is the reporting of how things stack up state side. How come things stack up there in russia . Lets bring in nathan hodge there with the story. Nathan, the u. S. President here saying again this we go again. Bernie sanders quite blainely s plainly saying he is no friend of Vladimir Putin. How is this playing there through russian officials and media . Reporter yeah, were also seeing kind of a repeat of what weve seen in the past, which is blanket russian denials. Yesterday we were told warnings of russian meddling in the 2020 election were, quote, paranoid messages. And this squares very much with the messages that weve heard in the past from the kremlin, basically Vladimir Putin has said that russia does not, mass not and will not meddle in the elections of other countries. But it is also important to point out sort of the glee with which russian officialdom has greeted news. Take for instance the hdnc hack in 2016, putin said that the important thing wasnt who did it but the information was out there. So if we learned anything, it is that these kinds of campaigns not necessarily meant to well, work in favor of one candidate or another, certainly the conclusion was that it was in favor of trump, but also against Hillary Clinton. And one of the ideas here is just to sow disunity in the United States within the electorate and create mistrust in the political system itself. And just driving forward on that point, the net effect of a u. S. That is divided among itself for russia is reporter well, george, again, i mean, russia is in a confrontational mode with the United States. It is under sanctions following the annexation of crimea in 2014. It is at odds with the United States on a lot of matters of Foreign Policy crises around the globe, whether it be syria or venezuela, middle east policy. So, you know, russia does in general treat the United States as a Foreign Policy adversary. But more importantly, i think that they are trying to see what the most favorable outcome might be in the 2020 election. There has been no reboot of relations between moscow and washington after the election of trump, but Russian Politicians did pin hopes that at least putin could build a good personal relationship with donald trump. Live for us in moscow, bureau chief that i thnathan hodge for. Thank you. Lets talk more about it and what it could mean in the u. S. President ial election. Richard johnson is joining us now in london for us. Thanks for being with us. The information is alarming about this story regarding russia, but the president of the United States isnt alarmed, it seemed that he fired the director of National Intelligence simply because the director gave a report that he is supposed to do that this president didnt seem to care for. Do you think that his administration will take this threat seriously from russia . I think what were seeing is continued politicization of institutions in the United States that were once thought to be somewhat beyond the kind of partisan back and forth. And i think that the actions of the president this week just go to show us how deep this partisanship, the polarization of the american system, has gone. And it really raises serious questions about the ongoing credibility of the Intelligence Community which has been upheld for so long in the United States as beyond the partisan back and forth. But really since the time that President Trump took office with the way that he spoke about james comey. He has shown a disregard for that norm in american politics and it is just another example of the way in which President Trump feels comfortable breaking long establishment norms. And he called it a Misinformation Campaign, this report about russia, a Misinformation Campaign by democrats and Republican Leaders are claiming that the democrats made this up. Can that claim fly . Well, it is a classified report. And so we dont have access to it. We cant sort of go through, you know, line by line and see. But i think it is clear, you know, there is a litany of evidence to show that russia was involved in the 2016 election in efforts to try to demobilize certain communities, to put out confusing information. It is not the case that russia is able to sort of seize control of the american electoral system in a kind of centralized fashion partly because the american electoral machinery is so decentralized, every state and county has all sorts of different ways of conducting their elections. It is hard to seize control of the means of an election. But certainly what russia can do and i think that it is beyond dispute did do in 2016 was to send messages that were misleading, incorrect, in ways that were designed to run down peoples confidence in Hillary Clinton and also confidence in the electoral process at large. Yes, and yet again, you know, President Trump has not come out and said something about this report, he hasnt come out and said russia stop interfering in our elections. So where does this go from here with this being the election year, this hanging over the election, richard . Well, i think in some ways it is actually rather difficult to prevent some of the misinformation that comes out. I think if you if i was to give some advice and counsel to officials in the United States, it is about better informing the public to be aware of potential misinformation that is being put out there on the internet by sources that they are not familiar with. And the president ought to be doing that as well, that he ought to be encouraging americans to look at the information that they receive about this election with scrutiny and a careful eye. But again, this issue which in some ways should go beyond the partisan back and forth has become another part of the partisan football and it has just been tossed back and forth between the two sides unfortunately. Very unfortunately, yes. Please stay with us because there is more to discuss as we look toward the next race on the election calendar, and that is never neff. Well talk with you more about that in a moment. Thats right, democratic president ial candidates are ready for the next contest. You will hear their final pitches to voters. Also ahead here, we break down how the process is sgenkexo work. . Yes. With the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. So, you can really promise better sleep . 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In case you didnt know, it is never nevadas turn to weigh in on the caucuses. The president ial hopefuls are looking to break out of the pack with many eyeing the current frontrunner Bernie Sanders. They spent the eve of this contest making their final pitches. Listen. We cannot continue having a president who is a bully, who cant even get along with people that he appointed in his administration. Every other day he is firing some guy. Let us go forward together, let us defeat trump, let us transform this country. Thank you all very much. This is the moment in history that weve been called to, the moment to choose courage over fear, the moment to dream big, fight hard and win. Thank you, nevada. I dont know if youve noticed how on the news they took the word hopeful and they turned it into a noun and they use it as another word for candidate. Have you noticed this . Im a 2020 hopeful. Thats what im doing here. How fitting. Because running for office is an act of hope. And so is volunteering. And so is caucuses. And so is voting itself. You are here because some measure of hope animates you. Ky look to you to spread that hope to even you know. I refuse to keep this guy in the white house. We have to change this. We are the wealthiest nation in the world. Were the most productive workingers in t erersers in the. Weve led bring the example of our power. We are better than any country in the world and it is time that we stood up and took back america. This is the United States of america. So take it back. Here are the circumstances that i would cut Social Security over my dead body. That is ridiculous. No, really. Think about that. You are going to give a cut, tax cut, to rich people and big corporations who dont need it, who have too low a rate anyway, and you are going to take it away from seniors who are suffering and take away health care from americans especially low income americans . Are you kidding me . That is where we are. We are in a situation of cruelty. This is not about the biggest bank account. It is about the best ideas. And if you can put those ideas into action. Courage is whether or not you are willing to stand nex