A look at the days top news and headlines. The nation outline the Trump Interference in upcoming mid terms voicing concerns about threats and saying our democracy is in the crosshairs. Election infrastructure is not a destination. It requires aggressive and ongoing vigilance. Everyone must play their role to ensure that every vote is counted. Dana unprecedented briefing from all of those intelligence officials at the highest level coming to the briefing room, making a show of United Support and coordination at the highest levels of our government with Sarah Sanders explaining that the goal of this is to protect the 2018 elections, the 2020 elections and those in the future. They have their work cut out for them. We are less than 100 days away from the 2018 election. And joining me now is chief White House Correspondent john roberts live with more. Im just going to turn it over to you, john there was a lot there. I have a couple of questions that i want to talk about aside from the election
meddling. Lets start there. When did you find out that this Press Conference was going to be held . Do you have any ideas of what prompted them to do it today . We found out when they walked out. And i think it is probably an attempt by this white house to try to give the press more access to the people who were involved in this. And with the Mueller Investigation ongoing, with a lot of charges about russian meddling in the election, with the fallout from the Helsinki Summit still out there, i think the white house wanted to get out the principles and it was a real High Powered Group of people here. Director of National Intelligence. Director of the fbi. Homeland security and director of the National Security agency. I think it was an attempt to explain to the American People what the white house is doing to ensure the integrity of the 2018 election. What i found interesting, this was an extraordinary Press Briefing today from a number of different points. But what i thought was very interesting were statements by the director of national
intelligence, dan coats, and the director of the fbi chris wray that russia continues to be a maligned actor in terms of trying to influence voting in this country, to try to sow division in this country. I specifically asked Director Coats if this was rogue russian actors or if it was connected to the kremlin and he said both. Which means that he believes that the russian government is involved. And we held the Helsinki Summit a couple weeks ago in which the president talked to Vladimir Putin about interference in the u. S. Elections. We were led to believe that the russian government had no involvement in the 2016 meddling and likely wouldnt in the 2018 election. But, Director Coats put the lie to that statement saying that yes, in fact, the kremlin is involved here. So it leads us to wonder what came of that summit in terms of the president talking to Vladimir Putin about staying the hell out of american elections. Dana . Dana john, you asked Director Coats, i believe, about helsinki. White house believes that russia is trying to meddle in the election . I mean it certainly didnt leave me with any doubts when you had the director of National Intelligence and the director of the fbi both saying that russia is heavily involved there are other maligned actors out there as well and Sarah Huckabee sanders talked about that as well though she would not say who those other actors were. I think we have pretty definitive statements two of the lords of the biggest Intelligence Agencies in this country that russia is heavily involved. So i dont think that leaves much wiggle room for anybody to say well, maybe not. Dana one more question of course hit privilege of being there at the podium as a Press Secretary. I have a lookout of empathy. I also respected the reporters in the room and the job you have to do every day. I watch them still try to do to this day. The tension in the room between the Press Secretary and the press, in particular jim acosta at cnn asking this question about does the president believe the pressElection Meddling, maryland senator ben cardin, the Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations committee is here. Is he part of a Bipartisan Group of senators that today proposed new sanctions against russia. Senator, thanks for being with us today. Let me just open it up to you and tell me your thoughts about the briefing that the federal government just gave to the American People. Well, dana, first, its good to be with you. As you just heard, it was very clear about russias meddling in the 2016 elections and their continued activities in the 2018 elections. That its being directed by the kremlin. The language is very clear. Its different language than we hear from the president of the United States. So, that is, i think a little disheartening. There is no question about it. What i was very pleased to see though were the steps being taken. Its very consistent with recommendations that was in a report i authored six months ago on behalf of the senate Foreign RelationsCommittee Dems that spelled out what russia was doing and steps we needed to take, including our cyber defenses
and dealing with the social media and dealing with an allagency approach. So, what i heard today was very much encouraging from what we recommended six months ago. Dana yeah it, Unpress Dentinged to have that kind of fire power in the room whether you have principles at that level. Are you satisfied then with the level of coordination and do you think that they have done enough, given that we are only, i think, 96 days away from the Midterm Election . I was encouraged by what i heard today from the agency heads. What they were saying they were doing, what the fbi is doing with investigations, what the director of National Intelligence is doing with the intelligence making sure its available to all the different agencies, what i heard from Homeland Security they are working with our state and local governments to make sure the integrity of the Election Systems are being done, by the National Security agencies, working all hands on deck, that was very encouraging to hear
that all government hands on deck working together in unified way. That was encouraging sign. What i just heard is that the president of the United States would reinforce it what we have yet to hear from the president is what happened in 2016 yes, the president says he is protecting our country in 2018. But he certainly has today from his team the tweets that he sends out. Dana let me ask you though. Given that we have concerns about the elections going forward, what benefit would there be to the president coming out there and talking about the 2016 election in that way . Well, it would be encouraging if the president s acknowledge what happened in 2016. We are told that, yes, it came up Helsinki Summit, but when they were in public with mr. Putin, there was no challenge toll mr. Putin said that he had nothing to do with the 2016 that gives him a pass in the International Community. What we want the president to make clear to everyone that he is challenging mr. Putin on what happened in 2016 and protecting us
registration databases if a voter shows up and tries to cast a vote they are not on the voter roles. Basically not eligible to vote or meddle with the machines and the tallies and at the end of the day, if There Wasnt A paper ballot or some sort of verification in place. Then you dont know what the vote was. People dont feel like their votes mattered. Underline mining the election. The stakes in the election is the key goal of russia and all of those steps are being taken to address that so that people feel confident as Kirsten Nielsen said that their vote mattered. Dana two questions one on the hacking and the other on the influence. The fbi director Christopher Wray said unequivocally no votes were changed in the to 2016 election. Are they positive about that. 100 percent . They sound positive. We heard that not just from director wray but various people in the Intelligence Agencies and intelligence community. They continue to say that so, we take them at their word at this point. But, we havent seen any evidence that would point otherwise. We do know they hacked into
companies and also our elections. How important is it that Companies Like facebook, which made a big step this week in confronting russia participates with our government . Its absolutely necessary. Its also very tricky and delicate issue. This day and age given all the threats we are seeing we are seeing calls from both sides from the private and Public Sector saying we do want to Work Together. We want to be able to share information about threats. The earlier it happens the better. If the fbi goes to twitter and says we are seeing this. Yes there are problems. Issues with working together and barriers in terms of Security Clearances that is a key piece. We are seeing my colleagues and i wrote a piece about. So fbi officials leaving the fbi to go to the private sector. Thats one of the key things they will be working on is how to bring these two sides together. This day and age given the Cyber Threats this country is facing thats absolutely necessary. Dana what do you hear about the coordination
amongst the federal government . John bolton, the National Security advisor kicked off the Press Conference. He is in charge of the coordination amongst all of these agencies. Do we have a sense that they are actually working as well together as they try present today . Thats a very good question. And i think, you know, put your money where your mouth is, john bolton is out there saying this is a very important issue. Yet, there have been some changes in the white house that suggest Cyber Security might not be as important as everyone else thinks. I do think it was an important show of force. And them standing side by side all condemning russia and all saying this is a priority, thats important for the American People to hear. You know, how they Work Together and how things play out could be a different story. Dana well, shelby holiday we always appreciate it you coming. In thanks for having me. Thanks for listening to that Press Conference with me. It was fascinating. Dana director of National Intelligence dan coats talked about the steps the government is taking on Election Meddling. Relative to what we have seen for the Midterm Elections, it is not the kind of Robust Campaign that
we assessed in 2016 election. We know that through decades russia has tried to use its propaganda and methods to sow discord in america. Looking for every opportunity, regardless of party, regardless of whether or not it applies to the election, to continue their pervasive efforts to undermine our fundamental values. Dana now lets go to guy benson, is he a Fox News Contributor and cohost of harp. Staff secretary to president clinton. Guy, the fact that the white house got all of these folks together in a room, took them away from their day jobs for a moment to show unity, what does that say to you from a Communications Effort at the white house on this issue . Do they realize that the American People are antsy about the integrity of this upcoming election. Yeah. I think this was absolutely the right term. Show of force has been used a number of times and its
i look forward voting for him using a nice paper ballot in the fall. I do think he is right that we for once and i do mean for once have seen a loud and clear unified signal from the Trump Administration that they are taking this kind of Election Meddling seriously. I would poingted out this is making news today and talking about it today precisely because it is such a contrast to past behavior. I was on fox news two years ago with bill hemmer and got into an argument with him when i said all 17 of the federal agencies responsible for this say there was russian meddling. He was saying no, we dont know that that really has been the party line. Im gratified and relieved to see that the senior officials in the Trump Administration are at least acknowledging that, in fact, there has been and will continue to be efforts by russia. Thats important. We need National Unity right now. If there is one thing that will scare Vladimir Putin is to have people like me and my colleagues who is on with me here agreeing with each other that we actually have to stand up to the russians. Dana of course i didnt see that interview when you were on two years ago with bill hemmer i will defend
him as i am loyal to him as you are to the senator to maryland that at the time, guy, there were questions. Now, some people might have had some utter certainty when the 17 Intelligence Agencies came out together and say we know it was russia. We know what russia doing and trying to help. That was definitive. So moving forward, can the American People have some confidence in these 2018 elections or, i just feel like its a little difficult. The federal government is not going to be able to check the hardware and the software of these machines all these different states and all these different counties because our system is vulnerable. Right. This is largely a state issue. But the resources coming from the federal government. And efforts to beat back russian interference have to stem from the federal level. So a couple points. First of all, bill hemmer does not toe any party line. I think there was some dispute about exactly how
many Intelligence Agencies and which ones came together with this unified assessment about russian interference. The fact is the russians did it. There is no question about that. Dana, thats the other side of what we just saw today at the white house. This is not just about domestic political messaging. Sure, thats part of it. You know, the electorates as you said a little bit antsy about this question. They wanted to address some concerns about the administrations seriousness on the issue. But there was another audience here which was the International Community and the russians specifically. If Vladimir Putin thinks that a few sentences from ivanka trump in helsinki might indicate that the u. S. Government isnt going to take this seriously, i think today was a very clear indication to moscow and the kremlin you bet we do. Look at these people. The dni and fbi director and dhs secretary and National Security advisor, they dont mess around. Dana john roberts asked dni coats about russia continuing influence in the election. Im going to play the sound bite and, dave, have you
react. You and director wray said russia continues to try to meddle in our elections. They do. And influence voters. Are we talking about rogue russian individuals . Are we talking about the kremlin . Both and even add to that. Russia has used numerous ways in which they want to influence through media, social media, through bots, through actors that they hire. Through proxies all of the above and potentially more. I cant go into any deep details other than what is classified. It is pervasive, it is ongoing with the intent to achieve their intent and that is drive a wedge and undermine our democratic values. Dana dan, dni khat was confirmed with bipartisan support. So a lot of credibility there at the podium today. And the russians, what do you think they are thinking today . Is it worth it to keep trying to interfere in our elections . Well, if you take a look at the pattern of behavior
of Vladimir Putin and russia, it seems as though they are always testing boundaries. I mean, physically invading and taking the cry mean crimeaen peninsula. Backing ou