James Clapper: “I think that is probably a fair assessment.”

this is the standard Russian -- Soviet Russian way of war. Surround a city if they can and they are having trouble doing that, put it under siege, strangle it, prevent supplies, medicines, food, water, et cetera and then bombard the city…

I think, though, that what has been in the past considered an annoyance or an irritation, has now risen to the level of a genuine national security threat.

I think it's very probable he'll use chemical weapons at some point.

This is quite different. And, you know, shocking, stunning, but not surprising, a phrase that we often find ourselves using about revelations of abuse of power by the Trump administration.