Focusing on their patients diet to prevent diseases on the rise. If i teach you how to cook, youre going to improve the types of food you eat and ultimately that is what is going to prevent chronic disease for you. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff in the senate, the attention today was on the investigation into the Trump Administrations relationship with russia, as senators heard from a man who has been in the spotlight for years, and a woman few had heard of before last fall. Lisa desjardins reports. Desjardins at the capitol, a swarm of attention at a russia hearing with two high profile witnesses. One was former director of National Intelligence james clapper. But attention focused on the other former acting attorney general sally yates who first warned the white house that then National Security advisor Michael Flynn had lied about his talks with russian officials. The concern first about the underlying conduct itself, that he had lied to the Vice President and others, the American Public had been misled and then importantly, that every time this lie was repeated and the misrepresentations were getting more and more specific as they were coming out, every time that happened, it increased the compromise and to state the obvious, you dont want your National Security advisor compromised with the russians. Desjardins yates said she made no recommendations, just relayed information that created a compromise situation a situation where the National Security advisor could essentially be blackmailed by the russians. Finally, we told them that we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action, the action that they deemed appropriate. Desjardins 18 days after that private warning, the white house forced out flynn. That was just four days after the news became public. White House Press Secretary sean spicer said this at the time. So just to be clear, the acting attorney general informed the white House Counsel that they wanted to give, a heads up to us on some comments that may have seemed in conflict with what he had said to the Vice President in particular. Desjardins today democrats pressed the witnesses on whether the white house did enough, fast enough. If you had the warning from the white house pardon me from the department of justice to the white house about general flynn possibly being compromised here and then these important National Security decisions that followed would you have concerns about that . Well i would hypothetically. Yes. I mean again i was gone from the government as well when this happened. Desjardins President Trump added his thoughts this morning electronically, tweeting, ask sally yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to white House Counsel. Iowa republican senator Chuck Grassley asked. Have either of you ever been an anonymous source in any news report relating to mr. Trump, his associates or russians attempt to meddle in the election . No. Absolutely not. All this comes as news reports surfaced today president obama warned mr. Trump against hiring flynn just days after the election. For his part, spicer said today those comments were expected. Its true that the president president obama made it known that he was not exactly a fan of general flynns. Which frankly should not come as a surprise to anyone given that general flynn had worked for president obama, was an outspoken critic of president obamas shortcomings, woodruff lisa is here with me now to dig deeper into what we learned today. Were also joined by julie pace, White House Correspondent for the associate press. Welcome, of course, to both of you. Lisa, quickly off of your report, a lot of accusations flying back and forth between the Trump White House and the former obama team. We know one of the things this President Trump has said is that president Obamas White House had given a security clearance originally to general flynn, who they fired as the head of the Defense Intelligence a few years ago. Where does the driewt in all that delay lye . This security clearance is something retired generals have access to. They can ask for it by fact they are retired general. Flynn asked for it in 2016. He was given it by the Defense Department. The Defense Department is looking into whether he lied to them during the clearance security review. A security clearance does not take the onus off an Incoming Administration to do their own vetting and a very important difference about the National Security advisor, judy, its not a Senate Approved position, it doesnt go through all the ethics checks unnecessarily unless the president forces it to. To. Woodruff one other thing you have been looking into today is the question of president obama, after President Trump was elected last november, warning him. What did you find out about that . Right. This is why we have a source telling us from the Obama White House that, in fact, president obama said it was not just about Michael Flynn being a critic of his, but they saw him as erratic, a bad manager and should not continue in government. Woodruff lets pick up with julie pace. You did reporting going into the weekend about the Trump Transition Team coming to the obama team during the transition last november with questions, and what was the significance of all that . Right. I think what this shows is just the depths of the concerns about mike flynn. You had people working for the Trump Transition Team after the election who were concerned that mike flynn, who was going to be having a conversation with the Russian Ambassador that was not unusual, as National Security advisor you would be talking to a foreign counterpart, but mike flynn tid not actually understand the motivation of the russian envoy, that he might not understand what ties he had to russian intelligence, to theyre seeking a classified c. I. A. Biography on the Russian Ambassador that would give the u. S. Intelligence assessments about the envoivment for the Obama Administration, this raised red flags because it thoad showed been trumps own team there were concerns about flynns ability to handle whats an incredibly sensitive and High Pressure job which involves enormous contact with foreign initials, both friendly and adversaries. Woodruff julie, youve learned how r what the obama team was thinking during the transition around grew concerned about what they were learning. The growing concern within the Obama Administration on a number of fronts. You had mike flynn who was going in for his meetings with the counterparts in the Obama Administration and theyd talk about russia and he would essentially dismiss russia as a threat to the United States. That raids concerns. You had worries about handling sensitive administration, documents the Obama Administration was turning over to the trump team, there was concern those were being cop idea and removed from secure rooms, you saw the obama team limiting the information going outside the white house. It also comes at a time when u. S. Intelligence is starting to gather more information that some officials believe shows more ties between the Trump Campaign and Trump Associates and russias meddling in the elections. So taken together from the perspective of obama officials, this created a troubling picture of the trump teams ties to russia. Woodruff the ending of the Obama Administration and a pretty fraught frame of mind over all this . Absolutely. And youve seen that almost continue particularly when it comes to mike flynn. The revelations today i dont think are coincidental that the obama team felt the need to get out there, that the outgoing president was delivering a personal warning to his successor about his likely choice for National Security advisor. When you think about that, thats quite extraordinary. You would expect president s to be giving their successors advice perhaps on policy but to give a specific warning about a potential personnel pick really is extraordinary. Woodruff remarkable regarding. Julie pace of the a. P. And our lisa desjardins, we thank you both. Woodruff well discuss russias meddling with a former Justice Department official, right after our news summary. In the days other news, a federal Appeals Court in richmond, virginia heard arguments over President Trumps revised travel ban. Its the first time its been scrutinized at the appellate level since the ban was reworked in march. The judges are examining a ruling that blocks the administration from suspending new visas for people from six muslimmajority countries. Meanwhile at todays Senate Hearing in washington, former acting attorney general sally yates took heat for refusing to enforce the president s executive order. The move ultimately led to her firing. I find it enormously disappointing that you somehow and decided instead you would countermand the executive order of the president because you happened to disagree with it as a policy matter. I looked at this. I made a determination that i believed it was unlawful. I also thought it was inconsistent with the principles of the department of justice, and i said no. And thats what i promised you i would do. And thats what i did. Woodruff well have excerpts from todays hearing in richmond later in the program. President trump is now working to put his own stamp on the nations federal court system. Today he released a slate of 10 conservative judicial nominees. More will be announced in the months to come, since over 120 vacancies still need to be filled. All of his judicial nominees will require senate confirmation. In france, president elect Emmanuel Macron appeared alongside the outgoing president a day after his resounding victory over rival Marine Le Pen. Macron and Francois Hollande presented a united front at a ceremony marking the end of world war ii, at the tomb of the unknown soldier in paris. Well take a closer look at the election, and what a macron presidency may mean for europe, later in the program. Pentagon officials have confirmed that a military raid last month killed the leader of the islamic states affiliate in afghanistan. The joint afghan and u. S. Operation targeted the Eastern Province of nangarhar. Two u. S. Army rangers also died. The pentagon said Abdul Haseeb Logari ordered a march attack on a Military Hospital in kabul, that killed or wounded more than 100 people. Former president obama is urging members of congress to look beyond party lines when it comes to the future of health care. Mr. Obama weighed in on the issue last night, after receiving the john f. Kennedy profile in courage award in boston. Its the first time hes spoken out since the republicanled house voted thursday to repeal his Affordable Care act. It actually doesnt take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential. But it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick. Woodruff the g. O. P. s obamacare replacement faces a more uncertain fate in the senate, where its expected to undergo major revisions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a law banning socalled sanctuary city policies in his state. The measure allows Texas Police Officers to question the legal status of anyone they stop. Sheriffs who dont comply with federal immigration agents could face jail time. Abbott gave no advance notice before signing the bill on Facebook Live last night. It goes into effect september 1. Elected officials and Law Enforcement agencies dont get to pick and choose which laws they will obey. There are consequences deadly consequences to not enforcing the law. Woodruff the Trump Administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. Sinclair broadcast group, the countrys largest local tv station operator, has agreed to buy rival tribune media. The deal is valued at 3. 9 billion, but is still subject to regulatory approval. If approved, sinclair would own over 200 stations nationwide. And trading was light on wall street today. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained five points to close at 21,012. The nasdaq rose nearly two points and the s p 500 added a fraction of a point. Still to come on the newshour a former Justice Department official weighs in on the russia investigation hearing. A tough road ahead for frances newly elected president. Arguments for and against President Trumps travel ban in court, and much more. Woodruff with us tonight to discuss todays congressional testimonies and the Ongoing Investigation into russias interference in novembers president ial election is john carlin. He served as assistant attorney general for National Security from 2014 until october of last year. Hes now an attorney in private practice, specializing in cybersecurity and National Security matters. Is john carlin, welcome to the newshour. Thank you. Woodruff so you listened to much of todays hearing, the senators questioning the former acting attorney general sally yates, the former head of National Intelligence, director of National Intelligence mr. Clapper. What did you mainly take away from today . Well, this one thing i heard was a career Department Official describing handling a situation exactly the way it was handled numerous other counterintelligence investigations. That said, highly unusual the individual having secret with russians and intentionally not telling his bosses is the act actual National Security advisor, and you can see why we take that type of situation very secialtion even when its a much lowerranking official that possesses access to our nations secrets, but for the National Security advisor to be secretly having conversations with russian officials, not telling the Vice President of the United States, i cant imagine the situation which would cause more alarm for the career counterintelligence officials. Woodruff its just a natural question, how unusual is a situation like this . Well, in some ways, its usual insofar as the russians are constantly trying to compromise officials, even businessmen, in order to gain access and be able to gain secrets. They think years in advance. Think about one of the cases we prosecuted, the russian illegal case, these are people here under nonofficial cover, growing families inside the United States to maybe be used at some later date. But whats incredibly unusual here is its one of the most important if not the most important National Security figure in ou the National Security advisor. Woodruff i know former attorney general yates and director clapper couldnt answer some of these questions in a public setting but how much can be said about how much actual proof there is that there was collusion between the Trump Campaign and what the russians were up to . Thats not something i can talk about here. I think its important its being investigated by those trained and sworn to do those investigations without fear or favor in a nonpartisan ways. I have trusted the f. B. I. Agents for years. Wo