At long last, a legacy network newscast mentioned the post-2016 intelligence assessment on Russian election interference that is the subject of the explosive declassified document publication by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Unfortunately, the mention was not in reference to these revelations, but in continued service of the now amply debunked Russian Collusion Hoax.
Watch as NBC Senior White House Correspondent Garrett Haake pauses his Trump-Putin summit preview in order to hearken back to the halcyon days of 2018, when collusion chatter was the order of the day:
GARRETT HAAKE: Presidents Trump and Putin have spoken several times by phone this year but haven't met in person since 2019. At a 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland, the two met for more than two hours behind closed doors. President Trump, pressed about U.S. Intelligence agencies’ assessment of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, criticized later for seeming to accept Putin's denials.
DONALD TRUMP: They said they think it's Russia. I have- President Putin- he just said it's not Russia. I will say this. I don't see any reason why it would be.
This makes the ongoing omission of the document drop all the more galling. They KNOW that Gabbard published those documents detailing the ways in which the intelligence was cooked ahead of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. They know it and choose not to address or acknowledge it in any way, as if to maintain the old Russia Hoax alive.
For crying out loud, the latest drop showed Jim Clapper pressuring the head of the NSA into signing off on the cooked intel, saying “this is our story and we’re stickin’ to it”. NONE of that was of interest to the (Obama) Regime Media.
But six years later, the media pounce on the first opportunity to relitigate the collusion hoax. To do so without so much as acknowledging the new information on the underlying intelligence assessment- information that crumbles the whole collusion narrative- is a gross insult to the public’s intelligence.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the NBC Nightly News on Thursday, August 14th, 2025:
TOM LLAMAS: We have full team coverage from Kharkiv, Ukraine to Anchorage, which is where we start tonight with Garrett Haake.
GARRETT HAAKE: Tonight, President Trump in the final countdown to Friday's high stakes summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
DONALD TRUMP: I have a big meeting. It's going to be, I think, very important for Russia, and it’s going to be very important for us.
HAAKE: The president lowering expectations for Ukraine ceasefire breakthrough during the talks tomorrow, but suggesting broader negotiations for peace could begin soon after.
TRUMP: All I want to do is set the table for the next meeting which should happen shortly. (VIDEO SWIPE) I’d like to see it actually happen. Maybe in Alaska where we just stayed because it's so much easier.
HAAKE: The Friday summit will be held on a U.S. military base just outside of Anchorage, marking Putin’s first steps on U.S. soil since attending the UN General Assembly in 2015. The White House says the afternoon will include a private meeting between the two presidents, then a lunch with their larger teams followed by a press conference. It's not yet clear if both presidents will take questions. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy will not attend, but President Trump affirming today he hopes to involve him quickly afterwards.
TRUMP: I'm gonna have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelenskyy, myself, and maybe we’ll bring some of the European leaders on, maybe not. (VIDEO SWIPE) I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. Zelenskyy returning to Ukraine today from London after a series of meetings with European leaders including the British prime minister. Putin meeting with his advisers in Moscow today, praising what he called the, quote, “quite energetic and sincere American efforts to end the war.” Presidents Trump and Putin have spoken several times by phone this year but haven't met in person since 2019. At a 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland, the two met for more than two hours behind closed doors. President Trump, pressed about U.S. Intelligence agencies’ assessment of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, criticized later for seeming to accept Putin's denials.
TRUMP: They said they think it's Russia. I have- President Putin- he just said it's not Russia. I will say this. I don't see any reason why it would be.
HAAKE: Alaskans we met say they're paying close attention to this summit. After all for them, Russia is no far-off threat. At its closest point, just 55 miles across the Bering Strait, far closer than the rest of the United States.
LOCAL ALASKAN: Honestly, seems like he has a pretty decent expectation of the relationship that they- they have, leader to leader.
LOCAL ALASKAN: I'm not a Trump voter. But that doesn't mean that I'm not rooting to see (unint). You gotta root for him.
LLAMAS: And Garrett joins us now live here in Anchorage. Garrett, Ukraine and its European allies on the outside looking in and tonight there are real worries. Yeah, that's right, Tom. They've long been concerned that the president would make concessions to Russia that they couldn't stomach. But five sources say the president has told European leaders he at least won’t discuss possible divisions of territory in this meeting tomorrow.
LLAMAS: All right. Garrett Haake, great to have you here in Anchorage.