Complaint. Im talking about a whistleblower and why are they refusing to pass that complaint on to congress. That is at the heart of the whig post. It could be the plot of a spy novel. As we speak they are briefing the house Intelligence Community. Were watching to see if any new information comes out of that. According to nbc news. The whistleblowers complaint stems from a phone call that the president made this our. The conversation was with a foreign leader. According to foreign officials include some sort of promise. We know the Inspector General deemed the complaint credible and troubling enough to be a matter of urgent concern and he passed that on to joseph mcguire. That is where things went off track. Democrats say the law iraqs the dni to forward that complaint to the congressional intelligence committees. That has not happened. Instead they are refusing to share the details with lawmakers prompting several days of harsh criticism. Schiff is suggesting the orders came straight from the white house. According to the director of National Intelligence the reason she not acting to provide it, even though the statute mandates that he do so, is because she being instructed not to. That this involved a higher authority, someone above the dni. There are only a few people above the dni. That, i have questions. I want to bring in two men with exclusive reporting on this story. Ken delanian, and shane harris, part of the team that first broke the story for the washington post. Shane, lets start with you. We dont know who the whistleblower is. We dont know what the president said, and we do not know who he was talking to. What we know right there is that it is important to emphasize how extraordinary this really is. Im not air ware of an Intelligence Community official filing a whistleblower complai complaint. It is something they do row t n routinely, of course. It is our understanding that this individual worked for a period of time at the National Security council. Intelligence officers get those jobs generally an they know the ropes and they are certainly familiar now with this president , his exsentricities. They may have felt it was significant and it fell out of the unusual behavior that we have seen already which includes disclosing classified information. Ken, i want to read part of a letter sent on tuesday from the dni General Council to adam schiff explaining why they have not turned the complaint over. It concerned conduct by someone outside of the Intelligence Community and did not relate to any intelligencetivi activity u the dni. The hau did not require that the dni forward the complaint. Now, you saw that clip, adam schiff suggested the president or someone else ordered the dni not to hand the complaint over. Does this later suggest that the dni made the decision . It seems to suggest that, but thats how the dni would handle it if he was caught in the middle between a president ial order and the overseers. We need to ask if joe mcguire, well regarded in both parties, is actually the person behind this decision. I think there is a reason to believe there is not including adam schiff and what he is saying. If the white house and the Justice Department is telling him hey, this is privileged, you cant hand this over, he has no choice. This may cost him his job in the end. I want to underscore what shane said, and hats off to their colle colleagues. This is a huge, huge deal. We think there are many critics in the government blowing the whistle on it, intelligence officials do not normally criticize policy decisions or strange actions by the president. For an Intelligence Officer to have filed this complaint, it had to have been so online the pale they felt they had to rite it down and send it up the channels. Shane, what do you think it could be and where is joe mcguire now . Were purely speculating here and it gets risky to do so. I have one thing i feel it is likely not. It does not seem like a disclosure of classified information. Again we know the president is allowed to do that even when many people feel it is poorly advised or counter to u. S. National interests. There was a promise made which suggests give than it is donald trump that it is some kind of negotiation. So was there a trade in a quid pro quo . Was there a promise about a policy being changed or the way we do things being changed . And as far as joe mcguire, they nailed it, i think he is stuck in a situation, dont think he probably wanted to be acting dni. He is prepared to go to congress a week from today to give testimony in open session. He finds himself in the middle of a political battle and a very peculiar situation that nothing would have prepared him for. Last point to you. Clearly youre stressing how out of the ordinary this is, what else do we need to know . The person endorsing this complaint, the Inspector General, is a career Justice Department official. He is on the hill testified in closed session. And from what i understand, he is kept from briefing them. Will we ever get to know what this complaint says. And thank god we have a free press. This is a safety vafl, we are going to work to find out what it was, stephanie. No doubt you are, thank you both very much. Great reporting. Im going to dig a little deeper. We know what happened lets go deeper, chris lou served as deputy labor secretary. Clint watts, and elise jordan who worked in the state house. People are going to say this is purely political. This is all about the deep state out to get the president , in your mind, what kind of information, what kind of conversation, would have been had that would prompt this kind of whistle blowing . I cant imagine anything that wasnt bad. We have seen how the fallout from it is. I cant believe that an intelligence official, it has to be someone at a very high level, they have to have been concerned to such a level to want to bring this complaint, and im sure they knew this was would create an extraordinary Ripple Effect in government. I think what is also essential is an untested system. Once again in the Trump Administration we have seen rule thats have been put in place, that have never really been challenged, used, why was this nut there . This week we see who has a book out, edward snowden. He said there was not a whistleblower path way to bring issues forward in the government. It is falling again, right . We have an acting official that is just brought in. She trying to figure out does he have any authority for people outside of his per view. Is this an intelligencetivi activity, if it is coming from the white house, does it fall into his activity . So what is the oversight in congress, and were seeing the executive branch and the legislati legislative branch, and there is no clear path way forward. We dont know this official raised a red flag over information that was shared. Or, was it a promise . A quid pro quo . Is that distinction important and why . I think it is important because it changes how the Intelligence Community categorizes what President Trump has done and it is Uncharted Waters when the president is acting not in concert with the National Security apparatus that she char he is charged overse. And when he is forging his own path that might be contrary to the United States, that is why this is just such a jaw dropping accusation. Is it in the president s rights to tell the dni to not happened the complaint over if it includes classified or privileged information that we would not want out there. I served in the Obama White House for the first four years and i sat in a lot of classified meetings. And when an urgent concern is raised, an abuse or violation of the law that goes beyond an ordinary policy difference. That is why what is happening here is so extraordinary. We need to look at it skeptically. The way they but they stretched the bounds, and on top of that add that this is a president that doesnt seem to want to follow Foreign Policy con venss or norms. He wants to cut his own deals. Its not out of the ordinary that he might vie to do something on a call that other people express serious concerns about. A flagrant abuse. How high up would the intelligence official have to be to know this kind of information . We know in the past that calls between President Trump and vladimir putin, we have calls from the russian side. It has to be someone at the highest levels of government to do this. It has to be through an intercepted call, or someone that has seen those kind of what kind of person, if it is a flagrant abuse, that would be a seen your senior person. And what makes me lean that direction as well is the ig for the dni right, atkinson, he said his assessment was that this was of urgent concern. They he needs to elevate this and go through the process of a whistleblower complaint. The issue has toe be very important and the person delivering the message has to be highly confirmed about the context of what is going on. It went through some evaluation to be brought up to that level initially. Here is the thing, the white house had extraordinary success in keeping potentially explosive information out of the public eye. Whether it is withholding documents, we have seen it for days, weeks, and months, do you think this will be different, please . I feel like this is different just because this whistleblower is truly raising held about it. This is putting your reputation, your career, youre going up against literally the most powerful person in the world accusing the president of practice ical practicically traeson. This is not a low hanging accusation. And it is important, the whistleblowers decision in this, this is not a 2016 or 2017 where people were being taken down. The administration challenging people in their government, knocking people out, whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing when they raised the concern. That is true, but i ask you, chris, last question, is there a chance that democrats are over playing their we know the general could be sill determined this was not an educator matter. The Inspector General said it does raise an urgent concern. You have an acting dni. When youre dealing with National Security matters, dock needs to be worried about overplaying this but i think it take its to a completely different realm than something they have been conducted ing ine last two years. Thank you so much. Got us smarter on a very important story and more breaking news this morning. A dire and dangerous situation unfolding in the state of texas where the remnants of a Tropical Storm are pounding the state. The city of winnie has been left completely under water. It could get worse with five to ten inches. Gabe gutierrez is there, how bad is this situation . Hi, stephanie, good morning, the amount of rain that has f l fallen in this last hour is astounding. We were driving here and we had to pull off the side of the road. Where we are and other drives pulled is into this gas station to get away from the heavy lightning and rain. The story here is the severe flooding and emergency Officials Say it is just incredible. In Chambers County they say they got about 1,000 calls for help in the overnight hours. Just think about that. 1,000 calls for help. The city of beaumont had more than 200 water rescues. We know miranda warning water rescues are still under way. We know the Houston Fire Department is also bringing resources to help people as well. A local opt in winnie, texas had to be evacuated. Several patients taken to a nearby nursing home because of the rushing waters. It is still unfolding, several more inches in the forecast throughout the morning, we may get a break this afternoon but parts of texas could see more of the remnants of the Tropical Storm into the evening and into tomorrow. Gabe, stay safe where you are. Coming up, home depot founder says recessions are like diets. You may not like it, but we need it every once in awhile. A potential fall out war. A lot to cover, stick around. Wr a lot to cover, stick arndou big dreams start with small steps. But dedication can get you there. Easily set, track and control your goals right from the chase mobile® app. Chase. Make more of whats yours®. But were also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. From the day hey. Re born you must be stevens phone. Now you can know whos on your network and control who shouldnt be, only with xfinity xfi. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Lets talk iran. Are we inching closer to a new military conflict in the middle east. Less than 24 hours after secretary of state mic pke pomp described the attack, they issue thirddegree chilling warning. What would be the consequence of an American Strike on iran now. An allout war. You make a very serious statement. I make a very serious statement about defending our country. I want to sddig into this. We have brian bennet here, brian, we should naengs ryan has officially denied any involvement in the attack. That said, what do you make of them talking about the possibility of a war . Is this just talk and bluster . It should be taken seriously. And right now, the president is looking at his options. He decided to go with putting more sanctions on iran which is pushing off the possibility of a military strike afterwards while saudi arabia gathers more information about who was socially behind the strike. Early indications is that these were iranian made cruise missiles and drones. And this has really alarmed saudi arabia that another attack like this would be possible, and theyre slow walking and encouraging the white house to not respond quickly militarilmi. President trump has not taken off the table meeting with president rouhani of iran. Before the strikes preparations had been in place for the possibility of a meeting between trump and the president of iran in new york at the u. N. General assembly that starts this weekend. They industried to set up a piece of stage craft where they wanted president macron talking to rouhani, and then have trump come over into the exchange. That was scuttled when iran signalled they wanted concessions on sanctions and trump balked and the pattern of moving towards talks stalled. And trump has not taken off the table meeting with him. They are not looking at sanctions and the white house is expected to put more on. What else can they sanction . Even Lindsey Graham said the sanctions have crippled their economy but not changed their behavior. What would now ones do . Not much, thats the point, this is a middle road symbolic response. I think people in capitals around the world are starting to understand this president s rhetoric is meant to mask his reluctance deep down to actually engage in Armed Conflict a especially as the election gets closer. You heard the president breuisz bristling to Lindsey Graham. Now theyre not pressing that argument to trump directly. I think the president is caught here and is proceeding with caution. Yesterday as he spoke to reporters he would not rule out fuelly meeting with rouhani. He is still going to be figuring this out kind of moment to moment, going with his gut, and that has been one of the more consistent pieces of this foreign false is that this is a president you never really know what he is going to do. One of the things as brian talks abo talked about that he and the president sparred over. Bo bolton was not for it, but we just dont know what will happen going into the u. N. General assembly next week. Bolton was opposed to how we were handling things with iran and the taliban, and while he no longer has a chance to spar with the president , he is talking, yesterday at a private luncheon, he never mentioned the president s name specifically but he was highly critical of this administration and how theyre moving in these arenas, do we expect to hear more . We know guys like jim mattis have said nothing. Bolton is a creature of washington. I think she probably going to play this hand so that he can have maximum impact on u. S. Foreign policy going forward. So yes, we are going to hear from bolton more in the coming months and he has been very consistent in the last 30 years that he believes that robust military force by the u. S. Is the best way to exert american power, and i think he was very frustrated at the inconsistency and the unwillingness of the Trump Administration and President Trump to align with a plan and stick to it. Well, there is an infinite number of Media Outlets where he can express said frustrations. Thank you, gentlemen. Back to the president , he is back at the white house and his pockets fatter after a fund raising strip ing trip to calife he raked it more than 15 million. With so much money flowing around a little bit found its way to an unusual spot. As the president bordered air force one, there seems to be a Little Something poking outs of his back pocket. 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