Rachel Maddow takes a look at the days top political news stories. So that was the answer. Thats the tension on the intelligence. Then there is a separate tension about how do you investigate, indict and punish the people identified by that very intelligence for Attacking American Democracy . We all know, there is a busy Special Counsel that trump has denigrated and at sometimes lied about. So a question on that was posed to the fbi director who of course, lets not forget has this job because his predecessor was fired because of the same russia probe and that firing is now part of the obstruction inquiry. I have a question for director wray. Thank you. The special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicted more than 20 russian officials based on work by the fbi for med ding in the 2016 election. The president has tweeted that that investigation by the Special Counsel is a hoax and should be shut down. I know youve said you dont believe it is a hoax. Why would the American Peoplebelieve what youre saying about the fbi when the president says that the investigation by the Special Counsel is a hoax and when the Press Secretary yesterday said that there was a lot of corruption within the fbi . Do you have any response to those things coming from the white house . I can assure the American People that the men and women of the fbi starting from the director all the way on down are going to follow our oaths and do our jobs. A strong question. The answer is up in the air. That is a statement that could mean something. That oath that he referenced is to the constitution. Not the president. In our history, there are certainly officials who took their oaths to mean they had to stand up to criminal conduct when discovered by their peers or superiors. But lets be clear. Director wrays statement could mean nothing because its leaning on a cliche rather than stating unequivocally today the fbi director still has muellers back and isnt going to change his actions or his words just because the president down the hall keeps running down the probe. Theres one more insight we can probably glean from todays events and it came from intel chief dan coats, the one who chose to tel everyone before that trump was hiding the putin meetings contents from him which is something he doesnt have to put on black in front of the nation. But he did it again today. Putting on the record this was not arab of timing or delay or sitting down with his boss. Its been three weeks and your nations top intelligence officials still doesnt know what happened in helsinki. In the runup to the helsinki summit, the u. S. Officials, the nato ambassadors to russia said the president would raise the issue of Ma Line Activity with president putin. He didnt discuss it, at least at the press conference. Youre saying the president has directed you to make the issue of election meddling a priority. How do you explain the disconnect between what you are saying, his advisers, and what the president has said about this issue . Im not in a position to either understand fully or talk
mixture of truth and fiction of cynicism and ernestness. The fiction and the cynicism was john bolton trying to suggest from the moment donald trump took office, he has had a strong and forceful policy to counter foreign election intervention and russian meddling. Thats just false. Weve reported that its false. Anyone who has a twitter feed knows thats not true. What hes done is undermine at every turn the conclusion of the Intelligence Community that russia interfered. Even tonight hours after this event, donald trump gave a speech in wilkesbarre and again referred to the russia how much. He said his relationship with putin could be good but hindered by the russian hoax. That part of it was ridiculous. But chris wray, paul nakasone, and dan coats, i believe do have an interest in trying to do something and did want to communicate to the American People that the government does
recognize this is a problem. Theyre trying on flag that the russians still throughout intervening and there are some things that they are doing about it. The most interesting thing that i heard was Paul Na Casone who commands cyber command, The Nations Cyber War Force said that he was prepared to go after foreign medlers in our election and he seemed to suggest that he had president ial authorization to do that. I think it is up in the air. We need to pin it down of he cant use the vast cyber arsenal at his disposal unless donald trump allows him to do that. But that was the biggest news. That cape out of what many of those people said. Other things they said we already knew. Yes, the russians continue to meddle in our politics. Yes, dhs is reaching out to the states to try to shore up Cyber Security. Yes, the fbi has a foreign task force and no, there is no president ial leadership. The president wasnt there. Theres no central Unifying Force that knits this together. Lets dig into that point you raised. It is common to say this is better than nothing. You hear that a lot in washington where a lot of times nothing is whats going on. It is a low bar for the administration. So while better than nothing, as you say, without the president there, doesnt it still look like the Cyber Security plan is sort of a headless body where these various agency folks do what they can but we all know and see that the head of the government is undercutting them before and after . Yes. And the biggest evidence of that is that theyre having this News Conference 100 days before the midterms. Its about a year and a half too late because none of this behavior by the russians stopped at all after the 2016 election, particularly the intervention on facebook and twitter, the attempt to divide americans by creating false personas and stirring up trouble. Thats been going on. And dan coats gave a speech where he said the system is blinking red. So yes. Youre right. We can shore up our cyber defenses and we can do a lot of Different Things to try to defend. But the russian intelligence hackers are always going to get
in in some fashion. The way that you stop them is to deter them. To make them pay a price. And the only person who can do that is donald trump. And just briefly, to that final point. Youve reported on this. One of the issues with the Obama Administration and the perils that are posed even if someone tries to take it seriously was obamas approach, the Washington Post noted seemed to be dont make things worse. Obamas advisers concern any pre election response could provoke an escalation from putin. Putting aside the trump piece of this, what is the problem for the pus as you put it, lives in a glass house when it comes to escalating a Cyber Global War . That was a reasonable concern by barack obama. We are the most vulnerable of any society. We are the most internet connected. And we are extremely vulnerable to russian cyber attack. And they are in our networks, including the critical infrastructure. Most intelligence officials and experts that i talked to feel
like, what else can we do . There has to be a response to this. We are wide open to an attack on our democracy. And the russians have not been deterred in the least and there has to be something we can do to deter them. Nbcs ken dilanian, all over the story. Thank you so much. As we turn to our next guest, i want to look at March Of Next year. Just after the 2016 election. The Senate Intel Committee was looking at these issues and they heard testimony from a former fbi special agent. Clint watts. And he said something thats echoed in peoples heads ever since. This is not new for the russians. Theyve done this for a long time across europe. But he was much more engaging this time in our election. Why now . Mr. Watts . I think this answer is very simple and is what no one is really saying in this room which is part of the room active measures have worked in this u. S. Election is because the commander in chief has used russian active measures at times
against his opponents. On 11 october, President Trump stood on a stage and cited what appeared to be a fake news story from sputnik news that disappeared from the internet. He denies the intel from the United States about russia. He claimed that the election could be rigged. That was the number one theme pushed by Rt Sputnik News All The Way up till the election. As we look at another election, i want to bring in clint watts, heses an author of messing with the enemy. I imagine that as a person involved in law enforcement, you dont get great personal pleasure, ego from being early and right about that is such a massive problem. But the way you put it there in a serious setting to congress that early on was was far ahead from where people were comfortable stating it the problem that you said these russian measures were put in place basically more effectively
because of the way donald trump behaved. How does that context apply . It is a happy, sad moment. That is a briefing that should have happened in february 2017. President trump was briefed about this before the inauguration, we know now. And yet there was no response. And the person that should have been leading that press Conference Today is the commander in chief of this country. It is his job to defend all americans against enemies, foreign and domestic. And particularly when they come together. He should be trying to ensure the integrity of our electoral process or democratic institutions. So what was fascinating today was essentially, the leaders of these institutions, many of whom have been battered essentially by their boss are now moving around them to serve the American People. I thought director wrays comments were right on target. He said i am in charge of our organization and this is what were going to do. The same with the nsa director. He said im willing to strike back against russia and i might do it. It is almost independent. It is shocking that were talking about this. This should be led by a task force, headed by the commander in chief. It should come from the National Security staff and it should be an integrated strategy. What if we launch that offense stib cyber attack but then we receive a Counter Attack in cyber space that turns off the lights in one of our cities . This requires coordination. So while im happy to see these advances being made and im sure this is just a reaction to that hel cink can i summit and the fear that Many Americans have legitimately about the interference in our election, i still worry that we really dont know what the right happened and the left hand are doing and who is in charge of this. And this is now. This is not litigating 2016. Helsinki is now. Whatever was secretly discussed is operative now. The midterm meddling is now. Do you have a view, given the great expertise, beyond what most of us Have Access To, what
dan coats is doing there and repeatedly saying hes Out Of The Loop . Yeah. I think he is trying to make sure that he is honest with the congress which is oversight over him, and with the public. I find value in that. While im disappointed what his answer is what it is, at least he is telling the truth saying this is my position, this is what my job is and this is what i know. What makes me nervous, as we saw on that stage in aspen, he didnt even know that the white house would extend an invitation to Vladimir Putin to come to the United States. This is stunning for the head of our intelligence to be that Out Of The Loop. So while i like how a lot of these leaders, these institutions are moving around the president , im alarmed where our country is. A year and a half later, were just now saying well do something about the attack two years ago. You make such an important point. Its something rachel has obviously been all over in her reporting which is if the head of intel doesnt know the
decisions being made to give putin that benefit, that honor, then obviously theyre not making a pretense of having consulted him which means and that is decision is being based on whatever. Some other thing and given the investigation questions about whether theres anything nefarious there. Clint watts, we really appreciate your time tonight. Thanks, ari. We have a lot more coming including day three of Paul Manaforts trial. Stay with us. Hundred roads named park in the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But Allstate Agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local Allstate Agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . Moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis was intense. My moms pain from i wondered if she could do the stuff she does for us which is kinda, a lot. And if that pain could mean something worse. Joint pain could mean joint damage. Enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop further damage enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma other cancers, Nervous System and Blood Disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common. Or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for Heart Failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Since enbrel, my moms back to being my mom. Visit enbrel. Com. And use the joint Damage Simulator to see how joint damage could progress. Ask about enbrel. Enbrel. Fda approved for over 18 years. Gacan start in the colon, n, and diarrhea and may be signs of an imbalance of good bacteria. Only Phillips Colon Health has this unique combination of probiotics. It helps replenish good bacteria. Get fourinone symptom defense. Let your perfect drive come together at the Lincoln Summer Invitation sales event. Get 0 apr on select 2018 lincoln models plus 1,000 bonus cash. Gates will take the stand we learned today. They have every intention of doing it. To be clear, the testimony could reverberate well beyond this trial. For all the talk of people flipping and the intrigue about what mike anybody or George Papadopoulos may have told mueller, when gates speaks under oath in public in this trial, it will it be the first time we actually hear a Trump Campaign aide legally turn on another Trump Campaign aide. And the other Development Might be a little more melodramatic. It is one that a lot of people are talking about. We return, of course, to the ostrich jacket. Muellers team file Agovernight Motion challenging the judges decision to keep from the jury photos of manaforts sartorial tastes the fancy suits and 15,000 ostrich jacket. Prosecution arguing evidence that through wire transfers, that he controlled to u. S. Vendors is directly relevant to the elements of the defenses. That is very lawyerly. Judge ellis responded im well aware the evidence is relevant and thats why i permitted the government to introduce the amounts of money that he spent. The relevance being, okay, do the receipts. The judge goes on to say, what i have not permitted is to gild the lily. If he spent a lot of money on fancy clothes or watches, or cars i guess you would call them designer clothes, theyre not Mens Wearhouse clothes but it wouldnt matter if he had spent money on Mens Wearhouse clothes. You want to the introduce pictures of these suits, that meaning the picture aspect itself the judge argues isnt relevant at this point and kind of besmirches the defendant and engenders some resentment against rich people generally. Thats how the lawyers get into the Little Details because they have a reason, muellers team
toe want to have the jury see with their own eyes the fancy spending. Some of this sounds like an episode of the rich and famous. You almost dont need the pictures. Theyre talking about a 10,000 system put in the house with red and White Flowers shaped like an m off the driveway and a manmade pond in all of the hamptons that was complete with a water fall feature. Then the receipts are from the bookkeeper we mentioned. She dealt with manaforts Income Expenses and this super rich consultant was living a lie. He was on his way to being broke. He lied to financeable institutions to get loans. He couldnt pay his own familys health bills. The prosecution asked, did there come a time when manafort had t