the president. a war of words erupted between rex tillerson, the former secretary of state and the president today at the m.d. anderson cancer institute last night at a forum. tillerson said to the president, so often the president would say here's what i want to do and i would say, mr. president, i understand what you want me to but you can't do it that way. it violates the law and the treaty. tillerson also said this. >> he acts on his instincts in some respects look like impulsiveness but it's undisciplined, doesn't like to read, doesn't read briefing reports, doesn't like to get into the details of a lot of things but rather says look, this is what the i believe. you can try to convince me otherwise, but most of the time you're not going to do that. >> the president has famously said that when he gets hit, he hits back twice as hard.