In a Morning Joe conversation about Trump's signing of the Russia sanctions, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) dropped an interesting tidbit.

"What's your take on the president, Russia, the signing statement and the fact that he did it in private?" Scarborough asked.

"I think that the biggest news on Russia, probably, is the call that has been reported on from the new chief of staff General Kelly to Attorney General Sessions, saying, 'Don't worry, you're fine, nobody's going to remove you."

It's a sign of dialing back any potential attack on Bob Mueller. And I think between that and Lindsey Graham's bill, signaling from Congress that there's going to be no tolerance for that, that there's been at least some significant pushback, including from within the White House, with any attempts to interfere or impede further the Russia investigation."

The signing payment was "just kind of odd," he said.

"It separated out Iran and North Korea as malignant rogue states, and then spoke rather nicely about Russia, just so we can have a better relationship with them. I think that Russia qualifies as a rogue state, it's basically a criminal organization and the president's refusal to engage with it in that way continues to be a matter of mystery."