Page 9 - Staff Level News Today

Side with president trump and yet hes getting much more criticism than they ever did. howie: the communication screw-up with nikki haley going on sunday saying there will be more sanctions on moscow, no sanctions announce, does that remind you of the kind of problems that you or any secretary faced in terms of getting everyone on the same page with the presidents message? >> well, sure, when you have a big decision coming down theres a lot of parties involved in this case you have probably ambas...

That north korea has halted its nuclear program for these talks to happen? >> well well be able to know whether they have not tested. of course there is still working on calculations and all kind of things they may have learned in the previous six tests. but the point is there is different ways to go at these things. we could have had long detailed negotiations at staff level. or question start like this with the president meeting. as everybody said this is high risk. but the most likely outcome...

Be unraveling, a waund source is saying that, quote, something is very wrong. and here to discuss is ryan cillizza, and so does this chaos feelle any different than the rest to you? >> well, it feels like the second major cycle of the white house upheaval. there are is always a low level upheaval in the white house, but this is feeling like last july when anthony scaramucci famously self-destructed which led to reince priebus leaving and steve bannon leaving and the top echelon of the white hous...

Well in the military dont always translate in the same way politically, barbara. >> reporter: well, they dont. you know, and we all know that president trump likes to have generals around him. he talks about it. so hes got kelly, hes got mattis, two former four star marines, very similar in many respects. they speak bluntly in the marine corps as a four star, that is celebrated, not maybe the best route in a political environment. four star generals are very used to having everybody salute smart...

Supporting one candidate or another. this is not a crime. they committed an act of politics. thats all this is. that the role of the political parties is simply to put forward the best most electable candidate. thats their job. its okay to weigh in and endorse or not. the job is not to be switzerland. thats been my view. that said, again, as republican this is kind of fun to watch. i dont think it amounts to a whole lot. the democrats will have to sort it out on their own. well see what they do....

Reporting, a news story about sort of inside this response. can you talk about whether there were any discussions, whether the staff knew he was going to go after schumer last night on this morning went after schumer but last night started politicizing a terror attack, something hed done many times before. i think after san bernardino, after orlando. he was on twitter almost immediately. but obviously, hes the countrys commander in chief now. are you aware of any conversations at a staff level w...

Tell them that sooner? >> i assume they did. >> thats my issue now. and jeff, i understand what youre saying about how this goes to the heart of how did the white house not understand this when you have the president himself tweeting saying its going to come out tomorrow. was there some disconnect there? they should have dialed it back from a strategic -- >> this is the most awkward, i think, for the cia, maybe the fbi that it was only today in a desperate move they came to the white house and s...

Elise labott and kaitlan collins thank you both. lets bring in national security analyst john kirby retired rear admiral and pentagon and state spokesman. i would like to get your reaction that tillerson is widely seen as on his way out? >> yeah. very, very interesting. and if its true boy, you can see that ball must have rolled really fast this week in light of the moron comments because before that, while it was widely known that tillerson had had some frustrations work with the white house it...

Assistant, but he was nonetheless a lightning rod. he is out tonight, again on this friday night of a category 4 hurricane making landfall in the lower 48. fair to say that he could not have worked in any other white house but this one? >> oh, more than fair to say. you know, i dont know that he could have been associated with any other moment in politics than this one. i think this is -- i think that john kellys tenure as white house chief of staff, why it has coincided with really some of the ...

Republicans on the hill. >> does he fully understand that mitch mcconnell is the one who really controls washington and not the president of the united states? mitch mcconnell is the one who can either stop his agenda or help him promote his agenda? >> his staff are trying to impress that upon him, and at the staff level, they are working together, the white house and the leadership teams on congress, but, look, the president wants to make this personal. we saw all through the campaign that he t...