[Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, and welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We're beginning today with breaking news in our money lead, because you're about to look at live pictures of the New York Stock Exchange as we await the closing bell today, the Dow up more than 240 points in anticipation of President Trump releasing elements of his tax plan either this evening or tomorrow. Over the last two days, the Dow has surged more than 400 points. CNN money correspondent Cristina Alesci joins me now live. And, Cristina, what does Wall Street see here, and what does it like?
[Cristina Alesci, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, listen, you hit the nail on the head. There's several reasons for the rally, but the first one is investors are applauding a possible reduction in corporate taxes. Investors are excited to see the details of the plan tomorrow. I'm hearing they will come probably in the afternoon. Look, Jake, slashing corporate taxes from 35 percent to 15 percent would be an immediate boost of the bottom line for many companies on the Dow and other indexes. Also, solid corporate earnings are boosting prices, and finally investors feel more confident that the French will elect more moderate pro-business Emmanuel Macron over the populist Marine Le Pen. Now, we have seen the Dow, as you mentioned, rally 400-plus points over the past two days. It's up about 14 percent since the election alone. A lot of excitement is also showing up in the tech-heavy Nasdaq. It crossed 6000 for the first time ever just today. Bigger picture here, Jake, with markets hitting record after record, there is a big risk for investors. Some are concerned that there's too much optimism out there, and, for example, if tax cuts take longer, markets can reverse course. You can bet Wall Street will be watching tomorrow's announcement on taxes very carefully. If there's any disappointment that we could see it take longer for actually to get this tax reform done, this big two-day rally could be reversed Jake.
[Tapper:] All right, Cristina Alesci, thank you so much. Now let's turn to the politics lead and more clouds over the head of the man who was briefly President Trump's national security adviser. A top House Republican suggesting today that former Lieutenant General Michael Flynn broke the law when accepting payments from Russia and Turkey and not disclosing them. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah saying today he's seen no evidence that Flynn complied with disclosure requirements regarding engagements and appearances in Russia, as well as lobbying Flynn's consulting group did for company to the Turkish government. Let start with CNN's Pamela Brown. Pamela, the White House sent a letter to the committee in which basically there was no information provided. The White House seems to be making two arguments. One, if Flynn signed any documents, they don't have them and that might be, of course, because they don't exist, and, two, the White House just refusing to provide any information about contacts that Flynn had with foreign officials when he was in the National Security Agency and when he was in the transition.
[Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right. And we saw this play out during the White House briefing today where White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, look, the White House doesn't have these documents. The Department of Defense does, and he also argued that the administration should not be expected to know what Flynn did before President Trump assumed office on January 20 and before he became the national security adviser. Now this comes as a top House Republican says Michael Flynn likely broke the law after failing to disclose payments he received from foreign governments.
[Brown:] Tonight, President Trump's former national security adviser under fire as questions swirl about whether he broke the law over payments he received from Russia and Turkey.
[Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Do you believe that Michael Flynn broke the law?
[Rep. Jason Chaffetz , Utah:] I see no information or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law.
[Brown:] The revelation comes after leaders of the House Oversight Committee reviewed classified documents in a private briefing. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill today, they revealed they have seen no proof showing Flynn, a former top military intelligence official, received permission from the Pentagon or the State Department for the foreign government payments he received.
[Rep. Elijah Cummings , Maryland:] He was supposed to get permission and he was supposed to report it, and he didn't, period.
[Brown:] And they say he didn't fully disclose the more than half- million dollars his firm was given for lobbying activities on behalf of Turkey when he applied to reinstate his security clearance, or the $45,000 he received from Russia for an R.T. TV speaking engagement, money Chaffetz says Flynn might have to pay back.
[Chaffetz:] As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else. And it appears as if he did take that money, it was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for a violation of law.
[Brown:] Flynn's attorney general said in a statement he did comply with the law, saying quote "General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DOD, extensively regarding the R.T. speaking event trip both before and after the trip." At the same time, the White House is refusing to turn over necessary paperwork on Flynn, saying it doesn't have the relevant documents.
[Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] Right now, to ask the White House to produce documents that were not in the possession of the White House is ridiculous.
[Brown:] The embattled former national security adviser left amid controversy in February after he lied about discussing sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak Now the former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who alerted the White House about Flynn's conversation with Kislyak, will soon testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Russia's interference in the election.
[Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina:] We will ask her all questions about Russia, what she knew about Trump ties. Was there any administration effort to unmask people for political purposes? We are going to get to all things Russia in terms of what the administration did and what Russia did.
[Brown:] And the Judiciary Committee's hearing adds to this crowded field of investigations into Russia's meddling in the election and any ties to the Trump campaign associates, including the FBI, the Intelligence Committees and the House Oversight Committee. Meantime, tonight, the Senate is poised to confirm the new DOJ head of the Russia probe, so a lot going on, on this front.
[Tapper:] It's an odd argument that the White House has no bearing and no relationship with the transition team. It was headed by the vice president.
[Brown:] Right. Exactly. And you heard many reporters during the briefing continuing to press Sean Spicer on that point.
[Tapper:] Very good. Pamela Brown, thank you so much. Let's bring in my guest, former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta, who served under President Obama. Secretary Panetta, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
[Leon Panetta, Former U.s. Secretary Of Defense:] Nice to be with you.
[Tapper:] As a former head of the CIA, do you find it surprising that a fellow former intelligence professional like Mike Flynn took money from Putin's government and lobbied for a company with ties to Erdogan and then did not disclose those payments?
[Panetta:] Well, Jake, it certainly seems as if the rules were not adhered to here. And, obviously, it will be investigated by both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, but, more importantly, it's probably being investigated by the FBI. And I think the FBI clearly have a lot more leverage here, because they can actually prosecute for any crimes that have been committed. So, I suspect that one of these investigations is going to turn up just exactly what took place here.
[Tapper:] Chairman Chaffetz said today that the White House refused to provide any material related to Flynn's vetting or when he was fired. The White House deferred to the Pentagon for some of that material. You were a White House chief of staff. If you were advising President Trump, what would you suggest he do when it comes to sharing information about General Flynn?
[Panetta:] I think the best policy is for the White House to fully cooperate in these investigations. When the White House decides that it's going to stonewall on one issue or another, then the White House becomes the target for concern as to what they're trying to hide. So, I think, in this instance, it makes a great deal of sense for the White House to fully cooperate with all of the investigations that are going on, on this matter.
[Tapper:] We learned today that several Obama administration officials are going to be testifying before Congress about this investigation into how much Russia interfered in the U.S. election and also how much Trump advisers may have cooperated and coordinated with members of the Russian government or officials known to U.S. intelligence. Based on what you know, based on what's out there publicly, how concerned are you about possible collusion?
[Panetta:] Well, that's the that's the key issue here, because there's no question that the Russians clearly tried to influence our election. Eighteen intelligence agencies came to that conclusion, and I think everybody pretty much sees that Russia deliberately tried to do that. So the fundamental issue here is, was there any collusion between the Russians and members of the Trump campaign? And, obviously, there's there's been a lot of meetings, as we have seen with Mr. Flynn. There's been a lot of money exchanged. Ultimately, that all has to be investigated in order to determine whether there was any kind of deliberate collusion or whether these were a bunch of people operating on their own. We don't know the answer to that. It's up to the investigation.
[Tapper:] Secretary Leon Panetta, we have much more to talk to you about, including fake news being peddled to influence the French presidential election and questions about whether Russia is behind that. Please stick around. We will be right back.