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Russians are accused of murdering a man in the u.k. and attempting to kill another. the trump phone call prompted this sharply worded statement from senate armed services chairman john mccain of arizona. and we quote, an american president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. and by doing so with vladimir putin, president trump insulted every russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country's future, including the countless russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist putin's...

White house at this point about this leak? >> reporter: i think the sense here is it's not a surprise, but there's a lot of frustration. some people here angry about the fact that this was leaked out. let me read this from a white house official. if this story is accurate, they leaked the briefing papers leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal. now we know that leaking information is something that's gotten under the president's skin in the past. something that really infuriates him. but it does come against the backdrop, the fact that he's facing bipartisan criticism...

Issue of spies in the u.k. who were poisoned, allegedly, by the russians. so a lot at stake here. john mccain lashed out overnight. an american president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. another republican senator marco rubio weighed in earlier today. take a listen. >> reporter: the president congratulated vladimir putin but didn't call him out. >> do you know what i like less? somebody leaking out the information. if you don't like the guy, quit. >> reporter: broad frustration about both sides of the aisle. sarah huckabee sanders was asked ab...

And white house press secretary. when sarah huckabee sanders says we don't get to dictate how other countries run their elections, we do get to express our outrage when dictators run sham elections. this is on donald trump, it's also on john kelly, his chief of staff who is failing to tell him hard truth. >> they were asked about this response we got from john mccain in response to what the president said earlier today and john mccain's response was this. an american president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. that was the first part of his sta...

Congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. by doing so with vladimir putin, every russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election including countless russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist the regime. how do you respond? >> the president once again has maintained that it's important for us to have a dialogue with russia so that we can focus on some areas of shared interests. at the same time, we're going to continue to be tough on them. the president joined other countries in these calls, both germany and france reached out as well ...