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wbur Representatives Mike Pence, R-Ind. and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. speak with reporters outside the White House after meeting with President Bush, Wednesday, April 27, 2005, in Washington. (Lawrence Jackson/AP)

On this week's Freak Out and Carry On, co-host Ron Suskind asked Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) what a possible Mike Pence presidency would look like. Flake responded "I just think the world of Mike and his family and I think that he would be a good president." Read the excerpt below and listen to the full episode:

Suskind: Going back to those days when you arrive in 2001, of course your kindred and colleague was [Vice President] Mike Pence. There is actually a conservative in the White House right now, Mike Pence. Tell us what a Pence presidency would look like because you know as well as I do there are people thinking about that right now. How could they not.

Flake: Well I am let me just say I admire Mike Pence a lot. I've known him since the '90s when we both ran conservative think tanks. And I just think the world of Mike and his family and I think that he would be a good president. One, Mike is, as you've seen, just kind and generous to a fault. And I can never see him using the kind of language that's been used. So I think that in terms of demeanor and comportment, then he would be quite a different president.

Suskind: And and if he offer you the vice presidency would you take it?

Flake: (laughs) I'm not going there! I think the world of Mike Pence.

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Sen. Flake On Pence: 'I Think That He Would Be A Good President' - WBUR

BBC News

Mike Pence reassures Baltic states over Russia 'threat' BBC News US Vice-President Mike Pence has reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the security of the Baltic states if they face any aggression from Russia. Speaking in Estonia, he called Russia their biggest security threat, telling the Nato allies: "An attack ... Vice President Mike Pence: Russian 'Aggression' Makes NATO NecessaryNBCNews.com Mike Pence Wants Sanctions to Change Russia's 'Behavior' As Putin Orders Expulsion Of Hundreds of US Diplomatic ...Newsweek Pence vows US resistance to Russia during Estonia visitWashington Times Washington Examiner -Aljazeera.com all 233 news articles »

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Mike Pence reassures Baltic states over Russia 'threat' - BBC News

When Vice President Mike Pence addressed a joint U.S.-Georgian force in Russia's front yard Tuesday, he presented a united front. "The president and Congress are unified in our message to Russia," Pence told the allied troops.

It was an authoritative, bold, even presidential message. And it lasted less than 48 hours.

Any of those soldiers on Twitter this morning watched that united front crumble in less than 140 characters. "Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," Trump tweeted, "You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!"

Coming the day after the president signed a veto-proof bill from Congress instituting new sanctions against Russia, this is the very definition of off-message.

More than most, this presidential tweet should be especially embarrassing in context. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described Trump as an "incompetent player" yesterday and this morning the American proved the Russian right. After all, who else would sign a major piece of legislation into law, send their vice president across the Atlantic to talk tough, and then undercut the entire operation with a single tweet?

But by now, diplomatic discomfiture should be the least concern. What's more significant is this administration's dangerous and increasingly frequent habit of talking out of two sides of its mouth. For instance, asking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders about North Korea will result in three very different answers.

Of course, as some will protest, there is no reason to reveal American strategy ahead of time. After rightly knocking his predecessor for telegraphing his diplomatic and military plans, Trump promises to keep his geopolitical foes in the dark. And that's fine, but his administration is also keeping its own allies guessing.

Whether or not the president has a case, regardless of whether Congress is to blame for deteriorating Russian relations, the common sense move would be to keep quiet. The longer Trump does otherwise, the more likely he is to humiliate his staff, prove himself incompetent, and endanger national security.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

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Trump just contradicted Vice President Mike Pence on the world stage - Washington Examiner

US vice president Mike Pence and his Republican colleagues in Congress seem to be working in tandem to constrain president Donald Trump over Russia.

Last week, only five out of 535 members of Congress voted against a bill designed to nix any chance of Trump cozying up to the Kremlin, by taking away his power to relieve sanctions on Russia without Congresss say-so. The majority was so enormous that, despite a few days hesitation, Trump had no choice but to sign it into law on Aug. 1.

At the same time, his number two has been touring Eastern European allies who are terrified by Trumps attempts to make nice with Russias Vladimir Putin, and by his initial refusal to back the cornerstone of the NATO alliance. By contrast, Pences trip almost seemed one long anti-Russia diatribe.

In Estonia, he declared: To our allies here in Eastern Europe, we are with you, we stand with you on behalf of freedoms. He added, presumably to raised Baltic eyebrows, that, the president has made it very clear that Russias destabilizing activities, its support for rogue regimes, its activities in Ukraine, are unacceptable.

In Tbilisi, Pence stood next to Georgias president and said, the United States of America strongly condemns Russias occupation on Georgias soil. He even reiterated Americas support for Georgia becoming a NATO member, something that has long raised Russian hackles.

In Montenegro, he told a conference of Western Balkan leaders, Russia has worked to destabilize the region, undermine your democracies, and divide you from each other and from the rest of Europe. He insisted, The Western Balkans have the right to decide your own future.

The trip seemed to align with a major effort by the Republicans to hamstring Trump over Russia, says Spencer Boyer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and former senior state department and intelligence official. The aim, he says, is two-fold: to reassure allies that they are supported and to protect the Republican partys own image. They need to maintain the GOPs brand as strong on security and they feel that Trump is undermining thatthat the investigation into him and his potential ties with Russia during the campaign really hurts their storyline, Boyer says.

Senator John McCain has been playing a similar role, but it doesnt seem allies are actually feeling very reassured, says Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School. In some ways its a Potemkin village because the president is still there, but the message is appreciatedhow much its actually believed is a different question, she said.

The main thing this should do, Boyer says, is send the message that somebodys home in Washington who understands what these issues are, and provide hope that Trump might be pressured to change his mind over time by the likes of Pence and new chief of staff John Kelly. The chances of that actually happening, however, arent great, Boyer says: Being willing to admit he was wrong about Russia means letting go of some of his ego and Im not sure he can do that.

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Mike Pence spent his Eastern Europe tour undermining Trump's Russia policy at every stop - Quartz

Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday the recently-signed sanctions bill sends a clear message that "Russia's destabilizing activities" will not be tolerated.

"By signing this legislation, we're sending a very clear message that Russia's destabilizing activities, its support for rogue regimes are no longer going to be tolerated. But, our hope is that it will lay a foundation for better relations with Russia," Pence said in an interview with Fox News during a trip to eastern Europe.

The bill, signed by President Trump on Wednesday morning, places sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The bill passed in the Senate and House with an overwhelming majority, but the President had voiced concerns about signing it.

"President Trump believes whatever frustration that we feel for Congress limiting his authority on foreign affairs, that, on balance, this legislation reaffirms the president's strong commitment to ongoing sanctions with Russia, to make it clear their destabilizing behaviors are not acceptable to the United States, and that ongoing provocations from North Korea and Iran will no longer be accepted," Pence said.

The bill would limit Trump's ability to relax sanctions without congressional approval. Some members of Congress have previously expressed unease over Trump's language praising Putin and his criticising of traditional allies.

"The president sent me here, sent me to the Baltic states, sent me to Georgia with a very clear message that America is going to stand with our allies, that America First does not mean America alone," Pence said.

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Mike Pence: Sanctions bill sends a 'very clear message' to Russia - Washington Examiner