I do believe McCain and Graham have issued the first direct challenge to Donald Trump over the future conduct of his presidency and his policies starting with Putin.

I think the cabinet is going to have a larger voice than what you have seen in the Obama administration and the Bush administration in making policy.

It's a much bigger deal than anybody would have expected, Jim.

I think Peter was right on a lot of things he said, by the way.

I think this is going to complicate those -- the pursuit of those priorities and there is a danger, I must say, that I think the Trump forces will overreact in order to prove how pro-Israeli they are.

We ought to give Donald Trump more the benefit of the doubt. But that would be a lot easier to do if he spoke clearly and without ambiguity.

Absolutely. And John, please understand. It didn't start with Nixon. It goes back a long way.

You do want to make sure your friends know that you're a reliable ally. That you're not erratic.

I would think that Donald Trump would not only want to do that as the new incoming president, but also, if he's confident about that, the investigations will help to clear the cloud around his incoming administration.

What kind of world are we living in when the president of the United States, you know, the Russians are hacking him, we know that and everybody -- that's a given. But he seems to be trying to undercut our democracy.

The first job of the president, the responsibility of the president, is to keep us out of war. And those briefings are an essential part of being prepared by a president, in preparation by a president to make the tough calls.