James Clapper: “I would certainly agree, though, that I think undermining his secretary of state, undercutting him particularly with…”

I think it has more to do with the psychology of Putin, and Russia. And he needs to assure his own people, Parliamentarians, he was talking to, and for that matter, himself, that Russia is still a great power.

I think the reason they were taken off the list was to provide an inducement or motivation for them to agree to some sort of ceasefire.

I think right now, they're assessing the administration -- that's the National Security Council specifically, is assessing the impacts of this first round of strikes.

No, I don't. The Chinese setup is that there is a Polit bureau member who is the overseer -- the senior overseer on behalf of the Polit bureau for the entirety of the Intelligence and Security apparatus of China.