>>> WE HAVE BREAKING NEWS FOR YOU.
YOU. THIS CAME OUT IN THE PAST COUPLE
MINUTES.
MINUTES. BIG PICTURE AS I MENTIONED AT
THE TOP OF THE SHOW, CNN WAS
FIRST TO BREAK THIS REMARKABLE
STORY TODAY THAT THEY U.S.
GOVERNMENT HAD GONE IN 2017 AND
EX-FILL TRADED A HIGH-LEVEL SPY
FROM INSIDE RUSSIA.
A COVERT OPERATIVE WHO WAS
OPERATING WITHIN THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT BUT REPORTING TO U.S.
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES.
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES. IT WAS BASICALLY AN EXCELLENT
INTELLIGENCE ASSET FOR THE U.S.
INSIDE THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
CNN REPORTING THAT THIS COVERT
OPERATIVE HAD ACCESS TO VLADIMIR
PUTIN, AND THAT PART OF THE
REASON FOR THE EXTRACTION WAS
CONCERN IN THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP
WAS REPEATEDLY MISHANDLING
CLASSIFIED INFORMATION,
CLASSIFIED INFORMATION, INCLUDING DURING A MEETING WITH
HIGH-LEVEL RUSSIAN OFFICIALS IN
THE OVAL OFFICE IN MAY OF THAT
YEAR.
YEAR. THE EX-FILTRATION REPORTEDLY
HAPPENED THEREAFTER AS AN EFFORT
TO SAVE THE SOURCE, TO KEEP THAT
SOURCE ALIVE IN CASE IT WAS --
THE SOURCE WAS BURNED BY THE
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. AS I MENTIONED, "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" AND NBC NEWS HAVE
CONFIRMED THE CORE OF THIS
STORY, BUT NBC HAS ADDED A
REMARKABLE BIT OF REPORTING.
I’LL TELL YOU THEIR HEADLINE
HERE.
HERE. POSSIBLE RUSSIAN SPY FOR CIA,
NOW LIVING IN WASHINGTON AREA.
QUOTE, A FORMER SENIOR RUSSIAN
OFFICIAL IS LIVING UNDER U.S.
GOVERNMENT PROTECTION.
GOVERNMENT PROTECTION. SNBSZ
SNBSZ NBC NEWS IS WITHHOLDING THE
MAN’S NAME, YET THE FORMER
OFFICIAL WHO HAD A JOB WITH
ACCESS TO SECRETS WAS LIVING
OPENLY UNDER HIS CREW, TRUE
NAME.
NAME. A CORRESPONDENT RANG HIS
DOORBELL.
DOORBELL. FIVE MINUTES LATER A CAR PARKED
NEXT TO THE CORRESPONDENT’S CAR.
THE MEN WHO IDENTIFIED
THEMSELVES AS ONLY FRIENDS OF
THE RUSSIAN ASKED WHAT HE WAS
DOING THERE.
DOING THERE. NBC NEWS HAS NOT CONFIRMED THAT
THE RUSSIAN LIVING IN VIRGINIA
FED THE CIA INFORMATION ABOUT
RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE,
BUT HE FITS THE PROFILE OF
SOMEONE WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN
RECRUITABLE BY AMERICAN
INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS.
INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS. THE RUSSIAN WILL LIKELY BE MOVED
FROM THE PLACE HE IS CURRENTLY
LIVING IN THE INTEREST OF
KEEPING HIM SAFE SAY CURRENT AND
FORMER OFFICIALS.
FORMER OFFICIALS. JOINING US KEN DILANIAN.
KEN, THANKS FOR JOINING US ON
VERY, VERY SHORT NOICHLT
APPRECIATE YOU MAKING TIME.
>> YOU BET, RACHEL, THANKS.
>> IS THE CORRESPONDENT IN THIS
STORY YOU?
STORY YOU? >> IT IS, RACHEL, IT IS.
IT’S ME.
IT’S ME. >> SO THIS IS A FORMER RUSSIAN
OFFICIAL LIVING IN VIRGINIA.
YOU FIGURED OUT WHO HE IS.
BASICALLY YOU’RE ABLE TO
DESCRIBE HIM AS SOMEBODY WHO
MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN POSITION IN
THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO
PROVIDE THE CIA THE KIND OF
INFORMATION THAT’S BEING
REPORTED HERE, EVEN THOUGH YOU
CAN’T DIRECTLY VERIFY THAT HE
WAS THE CONDUIT?
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
IT’S A BIT FRUSTRATING BECAUSE I
CAN’T EVEN EXPLAIN WHY WE
STARTED LOOKING AT THIS PERSON
IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE
OFFICIALS ARE TELLING US THOSE
DETAILS WOULD QUICKLY LEAD TO
HIS EXPOSURE.
HIS EXPOSURE. BUT THIS WAS A FORMER SENIOR
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL WHO HAD ACCESS
TO VLADIMIR PUTIN WHO WAS
WORKING FOR THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT AND WHO, AS OF
YESTERDAY WAS LIVING IN A HOUSE
IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C.,
SUBURBS.
SUBURBS. I WENT TO THAT HOUSE, I KNOCKED
ON THE DOOR.
HE WASN’T HOME, BUT AS YOU READ
THERE, FIVE MINUTES LATER I WAS
SORT OF ACCOSTED BY A COUPLE
PEOPLE THAT APPEARED TO BE
AGENTS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
CAREFULLY MONITORING THAT HOUSE.
AND, OF COURSE, WE’VE NOW BEEN
ASKED BY U.S. OFFICIALS TO
WITHHOLD A LOT OF THE DETAILS,
INCLUDING THE NAME OF THIS
PERSON.
PERSON. WE CAN’T REPORT TO OUR STANDARD
THAT THIS IS THE SAME CIA ASSET
THAT "THE NEW YORK TIMES" AND
CNN ARE TALKING ABOUT, BUT WHEN
YOU USE A BIT OF LOGIC, THERE
AREN’T MANY OFFICIALS THE CIA AS
CULTIVATED AS SOURCES.
IN FACT, THERE MAY HAVE BEEN
ONLY ONE DURING THIS PERIOD.
SO WE CAN ALL USE OUR OWN
JUDGMENT ABOUT THAT.
BUT WHAT’S CLEAR AND SURPRISING,
ACTUALLY, IS THAT THIS MAN IS
LIVING IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C.,
AREA IN THE OPEN IN HIS TRUE
NAME.
NAME. >> I MEAN, YOU TALK ABOUT THE
DRAMA OF YOU KNOCKING ON HIS
DOOR, HE’S NOT THERE, YOU GET
BACK IN YOUR VEHICLE AND THEN
THESE YOUNG MEN WHO YOU BELIEVE
MAY HAVE BEEN U.S. GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES KEEPING AN EYE ON HIM
PULL UP RIGHT NEXT TO TO YOU
START ASKING YOU WHAT YOU’RE
DOING.
DOING. AND IT’S CLEAR THEY WERE JOHNNY
ON THE SPOT IN TERMS OF WATCHING
HIS HOUSE, BUT YOU DID MAKE IT
UP TO THE DOOR.
SO WHEN I THINK ABOUT WHAT
HAPPENED TO PEOPLE WHO ARE
PERCEIVED BY THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT TO BE TRAITORS,
PEOPLE WHO ARE PERCEIVED TO BE
SPIES, YOU LOOK AT THE
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS WE’VE
SEEN AROUND THE GLOBE, THE FACT
THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO GET UP TO
THE DOOR SUGGESTS THEY’RE NOT
WATCHING HIM ALL THAT CLOSE.
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
WHEN I ASKED BOTH U.S.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND FORMER
OFFICIALS WHO WORKED ON THESE
PROBLEMS ABOUT THAT WHAT WORKS
THEY SAY IS, LOOK, IT’S PROBABLY
NOT A SECRET TO THE RUSSIANS
THAT THIS PERSON IS HERE.
WHEN HE LEFT RUSSIA, YOU KNOW,
IT BECAME CLEAR TO THEM THAT HE
HAD BEEN WORKING FOR THE U.S.
BUT WHAT THEY DON’T WANT AND
WHAT THEY THINK HAPPENED IN
SKRIPAL IS TO TAUNT PUTIN WITH
THE IDEA THAT HERE’S THIS
TURNCOAT, HERE’S THIS FORMER
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL WHO SPIED FOR
THE CIA LIVING IN THE UNITED
STATES.
STATES. SO THEY SORT OF FEEL THERE’S A
MEASURE OF SAFETY.
THEY DON’T EXPECT THE RUSSIANS
TO COME OVER AND ASSASSINATE HIM
UNTIL UNFORTUNATELY HE’S
DISCOVERED BY THE MEDIA IN THE
WORLD AND WE START WRITING ABOUT
HIM.
HIM. THAT ESSENTIALLY POKES THE BEAR.
THAT’S WHY THEY’RE NOW MORE
WORRIED ABOUT HIS SAFETY THAN
THEY WERE 48 HOURS AGO, RACHEL.
>> AND THAT REPORTING,
OBVIOUSLY, YOU’RE ABLE TO
DESCRIBE HIM LIVING IN VIRGINIA
UNDER HIS REAL NAME AND ALL
THESE OTHER DETAILS.
BUT ESSENTIALLY THAT POKING THE
BEAR STARTED WITH CNN AND NBC
REPORTING OUT HIS EXISTENCE, THE
EX-FILTRATION.
EX-FILTRATION. AS THE MEDIA WAS GOING TO FIGURE
HIM OUT AND IT WAS GOING TO
BECOME A STORY, THING WERE GOING
TO GET DANGEROUS FOR HIM.
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
AND I FEAR EVEN THOUGH WE ARE
WITHHOLDING DETAILS AND ACCEDING
TO THE WISHES OF U.S. OFFICIALS
WHO SAY THEY BELIEVE HIS LIFE
COULD BE AT RISK, IT ISN’T THAT
HARD TO FIND HIM AND OTHERS ARE
GOING TO WORK TO DO THAT.
IN THE CLIMATE WE LIVE IN
EVENTUALLY IT WILL COME OUT.
BUT THERE’S NOW TIME FOR THE
U.S. GOVERNMENT TO MOVE HIM AND
HIS FAMILY TO A IS DIFFERENT
LOCATION.
LOCATION. >> KEN DILANIAN, NBC NEWS
CORRESPONDENT AND INTREPID
KNOCKER-ON OF DOORS.
THANKS FOR JOINING US ON SHORT
NOTICE.
NOTICE. >>> THE VICE CHAIR OF THE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WILL BE WITH
US TONIGHT.
US TONIGHT. INTERESTING NEWS ON A STORY
WE’VE BEEN COVERING ON AND OFF
FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS NOW THAT