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First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.

Here are 10 questions for Trump

Today is set to be the busiest day in American politics since last November's presidential election -- with three Senate confirmation hearings and President-elect Donald Trump's news conference. It's also one of the most uncertain moments we can remember in politics -- with last night's revelations about Trump and Russia. But we start with that newser, which is Trump's first formal one since July 27, 2016 (when he said, "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing"). Here are 10 questions that we'd ask Trump:

RUSSIA

1. After the intelligence briefing you received on Friday, you and your team released statements, fired off tweets, and conducted interviews -- but never once condemned Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Why give Russia and Vladimir Putin a pass? And why more outrage directed at the victim (the DNC, John Podesta) than the perpetrator (Russia).

2. In the year and a half that you've either been running for office or been president-elect, you've criticized numerous Republicans, Democrats, and members of the media. But you've never once criticized Putin. Why not?

3. You've said that Russia's interference didn't impact the result of the election. But you eagerly cited WikiLeaks revelations against Hillary Clinton and her team in the final weeks of the campaign, saying things like, "Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks" and "This WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove." If they didn't impact the election, why were you citing them on the campaign trail?

TRUMP'S BUSINESS/CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

4. How can you ensure Americans that you're not violating the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which states that no person holding federal office can receive a fee or profit from a foreign government or entity -- especially when foreign governments are already booking rooms and space in the DC hotel you and your family own?

HEALTH CARE

5. Do you side with Republican lawmakers who believe that any effort to repeal President Obama's health-care law must immediately have replacement language in place? Or do you side with those who believe that you can delay or postpone the replacement?

ON WALL STREET

6. On the campaign trail, you railed against Hillary Clinton for her ties to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs. But your pick to head the Treasury Department worked at Goldman. So did your White House strategist, Steve Bannon. Gary Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs, is set to be your top economic-policy adviser. Why shouldn't Americans, especially those who hail from working-class America, believe your administration is in the pocket of Wall Street?

CABINET

7. You lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, and your Electoral College victory was one of the narrowest in U.S. history. Given that, why haven't you put a Democratic politician in your cabinet to help unify the country? Also, your cabinet has less diversity than Bill Clinton's in 1993, George W. Bush's in 2001, and Barack Obama's in 2009. Why not have a cabinet that looks more like America?

MUSLIM BAN

8. Once and for all, do you support a ban against Muslims entering the United States to combat terrorism? And if so, how would you administer that?

PLANNED PARENTHOOD

9. Do you support efforts to repeal funding for Planned Parenthood?

APOLOGY TO OBAMA?

10. Since winning the election, you have had kinder words for President Obama. Given that, do you once and for all apologize for being one of the leading voices in the effort doubting that he was born in the United States?

These now go to 11

We have one more question for Trump: Of course, there's one more question to ask after last night's news about Trump and Russia: Isn't it in your best interest to have a full investigation to get to the bottom of whatever Russia may or may not have about you? NBC's Ken Dilanian: "Two U.S. officials with direct knowledge told NBC News on Tuesday that briefing materials prepared for President-elect Donald Trump included information that initially circulated among Trump opponents and was passed to U.S. intelligence agencies making damaging allegations about his dealings with Russians. Neither of the officials said the FBI was actively investigating the information, which has not been verified by U.S. agencies. The sources would not comment on the nature of the allegations. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Trump himself did tweet at 8:19 p.m. ET Tuesday, in all caps, 'FAKE NEWS A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!'" And this morning, Trump issued four more tweets. One: "Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is 'A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.' Very unfair!" Two: "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!" (But that raises another question: Why not release your taxes to prove you have no deal or business with Russia or Russian interests? ) Three: "I win an election easily, a great "movement" is verified, and crooked opponents try to belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state!" And four: "Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to "leak" into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?"

Obama: "Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted"

Folks, with nine days before Trump takes office on January 20, we are in what has to be the most uncertain moment in American politics. And that sets up our take on Obama's farewell speech from last night. A part of it was a laundry list of his accomplishments ("If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history"). A part of it was his effort to buck up Democrats after November's loss ("For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion"). But the biggest part was his argument that the state of American democracy right now isn't so strong. "Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted," he said. "All of us, regardless of party, should be throwing ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions." Think about that: The outgoing president of the United States is so concerned about the state of the country's democracy that he had to defend it. If Obama's farewell speech becomes memorable (outside of his touching comments about his wife, daughters, and Joe Biden), it is only bad news.

Today's three confirmation hearings

So there's Trump's news conference. There was last night's Obama speech. And then there's the three Senate confirmation hearings on Trump's cabinet picks -- Jeff Sessions for attorney general (Day 2), Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, and Elaine Chao for Transportation secretary. The full hearing schedule, per NBC's Frank Thorp:

Tillerson's opening statement

"Russia must be held to account for its actions." So why hasn't Trump said that? In his opening statement, per NBC's Peter Alexander, Tillerson will say that Russia "must be held to account for his actions." He will say, "Where cooperation with Russia based on common interests is possible, such as reducing the global threat of terrorism, we ought to explore these options. Where important differences remain, we should be steadfast in defending the interests of America and her allies. Russia must know that we will be accountable to our commitments and those of our allies, and that Russia must be held to account for its actions." Our question: Why hasn't Trump said that, especially after Friday's intel briefing?

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Ten Questions for Donald Trump - NBC News

Donald Trump arranged for a group of prostitutes to urinate on the Moscow hotel bed where the Obamas had slept, according to sensational reports in the US.

The President-elect engaged in 'perverted conduct' because he 'hates' Barack and Michelle Obama, it is claimed.

The lurid detail is contained in a dossier allegedly written by a retired British MI6 spy for Trump's political opponents.

None of the claims have been independently verified.

In response to the reports, Donald Trump tweeted: "FAKE NEWS - A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!"

The memo, published in full by Buzzfeed, claims: "According to Source D, where s/he had been present, Trumps (perverted) conduct in Moscow included hiring the Presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where he knew President and Mrs Obama (whom he hated) had stayed on one of their official trips to Russia, and defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a [redacted] show in front of him.

The FSB - Russia's spy agency - had the hotel room bugged at the time with "microphones and concealed cameras", it is claimed.

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The report goes on: "Speaking separately in June 2016, Source B (the former top level Russian intelligence officer) asserted that Trumps unorthodox behaviour in Russia over the years had provided the authorities there with enough embarrassing material on the now Republican presidential candidate to be able to blackmail him if they so wished."

Another allegation says that Trump had participated in sex parties in St Petersburg, but that witnesses were bribed or coerced to disappear.

It is also claimed that Russia tried to further compromise Donald Trump through "lucrative" business deals, including ones involving the 2018 World Cup.

The report claims: "The Kremlin's cultivation operation on Trump also had a compromised offering him various lucrative real estate development business deals in Russia, especially in relation to the ongoing 2018 World Cup soccer tournament.

"However so far, for reasons unknown, Trump had not taken up any of these."

Possession of compromising information about Trump has led to Russian intelligence agencies "cultivating, supporting and assisting" the Republican for five years, the report claims.

The billionaire businessman is understood to have found out about the claims during a during a meeting with intelligence chiefs, who last week presented him with evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A two-page synopsis of the dossier has been submitted to Trump and President Obama, it is believed.

The FBI is now said to be probing the credibility and accuracy of the allegations.

One high level administration official told CNN: I have a sense the outgoing administration and intelligence community is setting down the pieces so this must be investigated seriously and run down.

"I think [the] concern was to be sure that whatever information was out there is put into the system so it is evaluated as it should be and acted upon as necessary.

The classified briefings were presented by four of the senior-most US intelligence chiefs -- Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers.

Sources claim intelligence chiefs took the extraordinary step of including the synopsis in the briefing documents to make Trump aware allegations involving him are circulating in Washington.

It is understood they also wanted to demonstrate how Russia had potentially harmful information on both political parties, but only released information damaging to Hillary Clinton and Democrats.

CNN has reviewed a 35-page compilation of the memos, from which the two-page synopsis was drawn, but said it is not reporting their details as it has not independently corroborated the specific allegations.

It is claimed some of the memos were circulating last summer but US intelligence agencies have now checked out the former British intelligence operative and find him and his sources to be credible enough to present the information.

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They were prepared by the former MI6 agent, who was posted in Russia in the 1990s and now runs a private intelligence gathering firm.

CNN claim his investigations on Trump were initially funded by groups and donors supporting Republican opponents during the GOP primaries and further investigation was funded by groups and donors supporting Hillary Clinton when he became a nominee.

Spokespeople for the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence have declined to comment.

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Donald Trump 'hired group of prostitutes to defile Moscow ...

From left to right: Eric, Ivanka, and Donald Trump Jr. with Mike Pence and Donald Trump at this morning's press conference.

By Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

Flanked by a dozen American flags and gripping a lectern, Donald Trump began his first press conference in 168 days, one meant to address the myriad conflicts of interest that he could face as president, by bragging about how he had recently turned down an opportunity to make billions of dollars in the Middle East. Over the weekend, I was offered $2 billion to do a deal in Dubai with a very, very amazing guy, the president-elect told reporters, who had assembled at Trump Tower to hear how the president-elect plans to resolve his sprawling financial interests in the Trump Organization, and to ask him questions after he unexpectedly cancelled a previous press conference on the subject last month.

President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built.

What they received instead, however, was a largely defensive and digressive explanation of Trumps profound disinterest in the topic. Trump discussed the pharmaceutical industry and the auto business, but he mainly focused on various obfuscations. Two-billion dollars to do a number of deals, he continued. I turned it down. I didnt have to turn it down. . . . I have no conflict-of-interest provision as president. I could actually run my business and run government at the same time. I can run the Trump Organizationa great, great companyand run the country. Id do a great job.

That is not, in fact, what Trump plans to do. His solution, instead, involves handing the management of his business over to his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who were standing to his right onstage, along with their sister Ivanka, who will step down from the Trump Organization to move her family to Washington. Her husband, Jared Kushner, will serve in the West Wing as senior adviser to the president, flouting federal anti-nepotism laws that Kushners lawyers argue do not apply to the White House.

Trump himself will not divest his financial interest in his company, claiming that he will pay it no mind as president. [My two sons] are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They are not going to discuss it with me, he said. Later in the presser, he said that when his time in office is over, he hopes to discover that his sons did a good job. And if they dont, he will give them his signature reality-television line: Youre fired. He pointed to a stack of manila folders set up on a table just to his sidesix sloppily arranged files and papers that allegedly contained hundreds of documents he had signed in order to turn over control of his company and avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.

After only about 20 minutes behind the microphone and only several questions from the press, Trump brought up Sheri Dillon, a tax attorney who has helped the president-elect determine how to comply with ethics standards, to read a statement. He directed me to design a structure for his business empire that would completely isolate him from the management of the company, said Dillon, who also helped build protections that would assure the American people that Trump is not exploiting the office of the presidency.

That structure includes Trump stepping away from all management roles within the Trump Organization. Dillon stated that the Trump Organization will not make any foreign deals for the duration of his administration, but his sons will be able to make deals domestically. An appointed ethics adviser, who was not named, will be required to sign off on all new deals that his sons choose to make before they go forward. She also stated that Trump has canceled all pending dealsabout 30 or soand gotten rid of his stock holdings. In addition, she explained that Trump will not talk to his sons about the business, and the only information he will receive on the health of the business will be generalized reports on profits and losses and what he reads in newspapers and sees on television. The Trump Organizations social-media accounts will also be completely separate from Trump himself and the office of the president.

Trump will still hold on to illiquid business assets, including his golf clubs, resorts, hotels, and deals that bear his name, presumably including Trump Water, Trump wine, and Trump Tower. President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built, Dillon said. As for the possibility of setting up a blind trusta suggestion ethics experts have hailed as critical for removing the appearance of conflictsshe said that is not feasible. President Trump cant un-know that he own Trump Tower.

As for the Emoluments Clause, a portion of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits a president from accepting gifts, presents, and financial backing from foreign governments or entities, Trumps lawyer argued that it has never been interpreted to apply to fair-value exchanges. In her reading of the law, this means that foreign-government officials staying at a Trump-owned hotel in order to curry the favor of the president or his children would not violate the Constitution because paying your hotel bill would be . . . a value-to-value exchange. Still, she said, Trump will donate foreign-government payments made to his hotels to the U.S. Treasury so that the American people will benefit.

The plan, as is, does little to substantively tame the ethical violations that could set fire to the office of the presidency once Trump takes office. He still stands to financially benefit from his businesses. His sons and daughter will also still stand to benefit. To suggest that his children, whose opinions he valued enough to place on his White House transition team, will not discuss his business with him at all is tenuous at best, and also requires the American people to take the family at their word that, in private, they will not discuss the family business. As for the ethics adviser, it is unclear who this individual would be, what their qualifications are, and how the public will know that this person remains independent.

While the Trump Organization will not be making foreign deals under the new structure outlined Wednesday, the domestic deals it will continue to pursue remain problematic. It is not hard to see how developers could make deals with the Trump family in order to gain access, court, or get in the good graces of the president. The incentive to patronize and conduct favorable dealings with Trump properties will remain as strong and, on its face, as ethically problematic as ever.

If anything, it appears that Trumps plan to have his businesses donate their profits from representatives of foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury makes the Emoluments issue more complicated and troublesome. This interpretation of the law is a narrow one, certainly. And because one Trump lawyer reads it as such does not mean that the rest of the U.S. government and courts will interpret it the same way. (Dillon did not say whether the plan had been presented to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, or whether the agency had given its approval.)

The plan does little to address most of the more worrying conflicts of interest that threaten to undermine the incoming Trump administration. It remains unclear how Trump will handle the lease for his newly built Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., which is leased from the Government Services Administration. The lease states that it cant be held by an elected official. But this decision is to be determined by the head of the G.S.A., an individual whom Trump will appoint once in office. Other Trump appointees, too, will be asked to make critical decisions affecting Trump businesses. The attorney general put forth by Trump will be in charge of investigations into Deutsche Bank, an institution to which Trump is $300 million in debt. The head of the I.R.S., also a Trump appointee, will be in charge of an ongoing audit into his tax returns, which he has still not released.

The tax returns, Trump said in the press conference on Wednesday, dont matter to the American public. I dont think they care, he said. I won. I became president. As of now, it hasnt yet mattered to the American electorateat least the 46.1 percent who voted for himnor have his supporters called on him to account for the web of opaque business ties that will continue to line his pockets in office. If it did, perhaps he would have actually taken steps to address them.

Is this an endearing moment of Donald squeezing Erics cheeks, or Donald checking to see if his thoroughbred sons teeth are healthy?

Tiffany, Donald, and Donald junior at Donalds 50th birthday party.

Young Eric attends the U.S. Open in 1991, making one of the few public appearances without shellacked hair.

A 10-year-old Eric is not as camera-ready as his mother Ivana. Hell get there one day.

Don Jr., 38, and Barron, 10, share an inter-generational fist-bump at the Republican National Convention.

Eric and Don Jr., for once not wearing slicked-back hair, pay their respects to their dear father.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. at the Old Post Office, now a Trump hotel, Washington, D.C., July 2014.

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Is this an endearing moment of Donald squeezing Erics cheeks, or Donald checking to see if his thoroughbred sons teeth are healthy?

by Ron Galella/WireImage.

Tiffany, Donald, and Donald junior at Donalds 50th birthday party.

BY RON GALELLA/WIREIMAGE.

Young Eric attends the U.S. Open in 1991, making one of the few public appearances without shellacked hair.

by Ron Galella/WireImage.

A 10-year-old Eric is not as camera-ready as his mother Ivana. Hell get there one day.

by Ron Galella/WireImage.

As Ivanka practices looking gorgeous at her fathers 50th birthday, a 12-year-old Eric appears displeased at his choice of tie.

by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images.

Eric and Donald at a basketball game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 2007.

BY JAMES DEVANEY/WIREIMAGE.

Don junior in Briarcliff Manor, New York, 2014.

BY BOBBY BANK/WIREIMAGE.

A 23-year-old Eric attempts to smile. Hell get there one day.

by M. Von Holden/WireImage.

Donald disapproved of Don Jr. proposing to model Vanessa Haydon using an engagement ring provided by a New Jersey jeweler who wanted publicity. You have a name thats hot as a pistol, said Trump, a man who put said name on everything from steaks to playing cards.

by Dave Allocca/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock.

It is unknown whether Eric Trump eventually killed this animal for sport.

by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images.

Don Jr., and baby Barron at the unveiling of their fathers star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Barron is either throwing his fists in the air in celebration of his fathers accomplishments, or is waving for help.

by Hubert Boesl/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images.

We presume that this is Don Jr. impersonating his sister Ivanka at the Eric Trump Golf Tournament in 2014.

by Bobby Bank/WireImage.

A 9-year-old Barron already has his fathers eyes and princely smirk.

by Debra L Rothenberg/FilmMagic.

At a campaign event in Las Vegas, December 2015.

FROM VISIONS OF AMERICA/UIG/GETTY IMAGES.

Don Jr., 38, and Barron, 10, share an inter-generational fist-bump at the Republican National Convention.

By Carlo Allegri/REUTERS.

Eric and Don Jr., for once not wearing slicked-back hair, pay their respects to their dear father.

by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. at the Old Post Office, now a Trump hotel, Washington, D.C., July 2014.

BY PAUL MORIGI/WIREIMAGE.

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