president asked michael flynn for his resignation for not being completely forthcoming with vice president mike pence about his communications with russia's ambassador to the united states. joining us now to talk about this is retired four-star general and nbc news military analyst barry mccaffrey, thank you for joining us. how do you read harward's refusal to accept the job. seems unusual circumstance, publicly here the reason is persal but a lot of people in washington reading this as somebody qualified, competent, widely expect widely respected looking at the chaos saying i don't want to be a part of that. >> well, that may well be true. i think the only thing i'm positive about is we need good people in government, that certainly includes national security advisor job. there are plenty of candidates out there, there's going to be some difficulty because the intellectual heavyweights in the republican establishment
michael known for being able to compromise with democrats. his retirement in 1994 marked a major turning point in american politics. his successor, newt gingrich, credited with moving republicans into a far more aggressive and partisan posture. and pittsburgh steelers -- pittsburgh penguins superstar sidney crosby celebrating a major milestone, 1,000th nhl point scoring the goal in last night's game. he did it in just 757 games. and now another big story this week in washington. donald trump and his search for a new national security advisor. the white house saying the president offered the job to retired vice admiral and navy s.e.a.l. robert harward, he then turned it down telling associated press it was for personal reasons. that comes just days after the
18 feet longer than the last iteration, and they have not found one yet so they are looking forward to seeing it left off from the airstrip just outside the hangar where we are. interesting to note that just on wednesday, some 3,000 eligible voters, employees rather here at boeing voted 74% in favor of not joining a union, even though their union members in washington can make the same plane according to them, they make 34% less, they are in a right-to-work state and want to keep their status. president trump trying to fill out another position in his administration, national security advisor after the vice admiral robert harward said he did not want the job here president trump tweeted this morning: "general keith kellogg, who i have known for a long time, is very much in play for nsa -- as are three others." keith kellogg is currently acting national security advisor. david petraeus, former general we all know so well is also in
the campaign raise your hand if you think jeff sessions is going to prosecute mike flynn for lying to the fbi. no, raise your hand. i can't -- the day after the michael flynn resignation, the trump administration had to pull its labor secretary nominee andy puzder. and now tonight we've learned the man who the white house wanted to replace michael flynn as national security advisor he has told the white house no he won't take the job. the "financial times" quotes a person with firsthand knowledge of the discussions between president trump and admiral robert harward saying he is conflicted between the call of duty and the of course dysfunctionalty. tonight, senate democrats are planning to hold the floor all night long in opposition to the vote of scott pruitt to head up the epa. not because of just their
the fbi also interviewed general flynn, and if you lie to them, that would be a crime. however, that is a big "if." it is not a crime for mr. flynn to informally talk with the russian ambassador before donald trump took office. but it is highly inappropriate if policy was discussed. so, at this point, flynn is out, and it looks like retired vice admiral robert harward will take his place. he is 60 years old, extensive military experience, served in afghanistan. i it looks like a solid choice but you never know. by the way, the fbi is still investigating the whole russian situation, but that is all we know at this point. however, lack of facts doesn't stop the anti-trump press from whipping up hysteria. there are two things in play. first, the trump haters are fervently hoping they can link the trump campaign to the russian hackers who disrupted campaign.n that is the ultimate goal for the haters.
time in the world. you have a saber rattling, not just from russia, but north korea, the civil war in syria that continues. also, concerns about enron's nuclear ambitions as president trump is going to meet with benjamin netanyahu in the next couple of days. that is why both sean spicer and kellyanne conway said a decision by the end of the week. >> we need to move on as a country and get that right in the next phase very quickly. indeed, the president well. he has already discussed options, he has general catalog acting as security advisor, will be meeting with his team today to move very swiftly. >> three leading candidates, the top one, we are told, robert harward, a navy seal who served as deputy commander under general james mattis. the defense secretary, went to the tehran american high school in iran, speaks farsi. general david pretorius, retired general. some of his issues with mishandling classified information could be a problem.
you have a saber rattling, not just from russia, but north korea, the civil war in syria that continues. also, concerns about enron's nuclear ambitions as president trump is going to meet with benjamin netanyahu in the next couple of days. that is why both sean spicer and kellyanne conway said a decision by the end of the week. >> we need to move on as a country and get that right in the next phase very quickly. indeed, the president well. he has already discussed options, he has general catalog acting as security advisor, will be meeting with his team today to move very swiftly. >> three leading candidates, the top one, we are told, robert harward, a navy seal who served as deputy commander under general james mattis. the defense secretary, went to the tehran american high school in iran, speaks farsi. general david pretorius, retired general. some of his issues with mishandling classified information could be a problem.
incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the russian ambassador. i have sincerely apologized to the president and vice president and they have accepted my apology. i perform my duties with the utmost integrity and honesty to those i've served to include the president of the united states. i am tendering my resignation. that's michael flynn michael flynn. with that in the follow, let's bring in the panel. charles lane, opinion writer for "the washington post," editor-in-chief laura ingle him -- laura ingraham. and charles krauthammer. your thoughts on the fallout. >> i understand there will be a replacement for flynn soon and by all accounts it looks like the former navy seal, harward is a leading candidate. people have gotten way ahead on the story as to how this happened, why he was ultimately asked to resign. there have been confusing signals out of the white house
michael flynn is out at national security adviser. who is in? there are three leading candidates to become the next national security adviser. >> the man in the middle, general david petraeus. he's heading to the white house today. barbara starr is at the pentagon with all her reporting on who it is likely to be. petraeus not leading the pack because he comes with a lot of baggage. needless to say, who is at the front of the pack right now? >> good morning. three senior retired military officers. it looks like right now vice admiral robert harward may be the leading contender. a former navy simp.e.a.l. very close to mattis. he worked for mattis a couple of times. he's already serveod the national security council. i've interviewed him.
commanded troops in afghanistan. he has baggage given the fact he is on probation for disclosing information. also robert harward was secretary of defense mattis's deputy at central command. his name is in contention. we are watching. we know we believe petraeus is visiting the white house today. we will see who gets this top post. >> a fascinating turn of events. ryan, thank you. >> petraeus going to the white house. chris christie having lunch with the president. at 10:30, the president -- >> a listen for a parent/teacher conferen conference. >> it is open. you bet reporters will try to ask questions. >> you get the sense they didn't