So upset about this. Especially reportedly saying, giving him advice not to resign, saying that he could weather this. Again, this is an accused Domestic Abuser. Right. You have to question kellys judgment. And, you know, people inside the white house say, look, many of them like kelly, some of them dont like kelly because He Silos Everything and keeps them away from the president. But one thing most people seem to agree on is that he doesnt have any political sense. And, you know, he doesnt understand political . Gloria, listen. No, in terms of i dont want to be insulting. No, but im not saying on the abuse stuff, but im just saying, a priori, this is such a terrible thing, get rid of him. Why is he even still there after all of this time . Thats a good question. I want to get to jim. Chief of staff, john kelly, were talking about him. Forward was pretty glowing. And its sort of odd, a senior white house official told us this evening, don, one of the reasons they were putting out these glowing statements not only from john kelly but from White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders is that those statements were drafted and written in response to the initial daily mail story that broke all of this, and that they did not respond quickly enough when these other reports were coming out including from cnn that featured a photograph of one of porters exwives with a black eye. And that essentially, im told, the photograph of the black eye changed everything. There are many things wrong with that on multiple levels. First of all, it should not take a photograph of somebody with a black eye to prompt the white house to take action. The white house should be a shining example of whats tolerated in the workplace, not having to spin itself out of control the way its doing tonight. The other thing, don, and this gets to what gloria was saying, on the face of it, obviously Domestic Violence should not be tolerated and that should be grounds enough for dismissal. But there is sort of a political
tone deafness, a political malpractice going on with john kelly, to think that he could keep rob porter on despite all of this is kind of mindboggling. It leaves me with the impression that there are two trumps at the white house, the president himself and the Chief Of Staff, and both of them sometimes dont listen to reason. I have to say this, because theres all this consternation about the memo, the memo, the fbi, the fisa warrants and all this stuff, Classified Information. Rob portman was seeing Classified Information and didnt have a permanent Security Clearance. So did jared kushner. So did jared kushner. This is in part because of the allegations of Domestic Abuse that john kelly knew about. Walter shaub tweets tonight, the former head of the office of government ethics, he said john kelly, often touted as the white houses adult, falsely smeared a congresswoman, tells us a
you know, where he tries to walk back and clarify, and then he has to why do you have to say but i stand by my argument that he was a great guy . Its very politically tone deaf. I think when you juxtapose it with that picture, the black eye, you know, look, its reprehensible, its horrible, but, you know, gloria was talking about the optics and the politics of that, yeah, i think its a lack of character, its a lack of decency. Its also political malpractice. I also think that kelly may be having a difficult problem understanding that the person he knows, whom he says is integrity and honorable and all the rest and did a great job, could also be an abuser. I mean, those two things happen a lot, right . People who do their jobs and go about it every day and seem to be just perfectly fine can then go home and hit their wives. And so, you know, maybe kelly is trying to get his head around that. I dont want to make excuses for him. Hold on. It makes me wonder how disconnected from the reality of the moment, especially when you have the me too moment, you have women standing up for their rights, women who have been abused, not only sexual abuse, but this is Domestic Violence, you see a bruise on a womans face, he is not only tone deaf but ignorant of where the culture is now, he is ignorant of society. Remember david johnston, the gold star widow, she lost her husband and the president had this Tone Deaf Conversation and kelly defended the president and talked about i remember when women were respected, lets play the sound bite. I was a kid growing up, a lot of things were sacred in our country. Women were sacred. Looked upon with great honor. Thats obviously not the case anymore, as we see from recent cases. But when were at home, i hate to say this, barefoot, pregnant, cooking dinner for their husband, women not too long ago got the right to vote. What is wrong with him to think that women were respected in that time . Its just not true, hes living in an alternative reality. What hes saying is just not happening. Can he survive this, gloria . Should he survive this . Look, i think this isnt the only knock against him, to be honest. And if i i wouldnt be surprised if he is gone pretty quickly. I mean, i dont know. But i think that, you know, there have been stories, and weve done some of them over the past month, that donald trump has had some problems with the general. And i think that our reporting shows, and i know jim knows this as well, that the president was very upset when he heard about this. And so im assuming theyre going to have a very tough
conversation. I mean, jim, wouldnt you assume that . Absolutely, yeah. And again, there are people inside the white house who dont have kellys back. And some of the president s closest friends have been kept from talking to the president by general kelly, so they dont like him very much. Well have to see where this you know, where this takes us. The bigger point im trying to make is women are fighting for equality, i know theyve had the right to vote for a hundred years, but fighting for equality, especially in this day and age, when it comes to abuses of all sorts. Jim, when did john kelly find out about this, do we know for sure . You know, don, from what we understand, this was not known in the initial months of the administration. I heard that from a senior white house official earlier today, but that this was becoming known, this was becoming Common Knowledge as john kelly was taking command of the staff inside the west wing. Was he keeping it from other
people . And he was aware of these problems well, he was aware of these problems with the security Background Check and others were aware of the problems with the Background Check. And to not take action on that also raises questions about kellys judgment that i think hes going to have to answer eventually. Whether he knew about all of these allegations, i dont think that has been shown at this point. He does say in this statement tonight something about these new allegations, he was shocked by these new allegations. But again, when they put out that statement, when the White House Press secretary came into the Briefing Room earlier today, they put out a statement, from john kelly, from sarah sanders, from orrin hatch, all praising rob porter. And the question is, how could they possibly think thats a good idea when this person was already saying, porter was already saying im stepping down, im resigning, and oh, bouy wby the way, i know about these pictures because i took them. It would seem to me everybody in the white house would have to do
a gut check, hit the pause button, and come up with some new statements. And they just didnt do that. And it raises major questions about their competence, i think, in terms of handling a crisis of this magnitude. Youve got a pained look on your face, matt, why is that . Look, this is just you know, this is a really, really bad story on so many levels. You know, youve got a guy here, youve got not one exwife, but two. Two. And then a third hold on. Anyone who says this is some conspiracy by the media, you would have to go back in time, predict that donald trump would become president , and then come up with this story in order to get him out of office. So none of that makes sense. But go on. I believe the women. And then youve got that picture. And youve got a third woman who is coming forward, a girlfriend. And look, john kelly is entrusted to, you know, protect
america in terms of the Sensitive Information that staffers are exposed to. You know, it just boggles the mind. This is a huge, huge problem. And they just compounded it by their statements. I just i dont see how anybody could possibly defend this. And i dont know let me ask, what is the new information that has come out . It seems to me that is the new information the picture . Because there was a Restraining Order against him. So does the picture make that much of a difference . Up know jim made this point earlier this evening. I dont see how a picture should make that much of a difference when you have the fbi report that says this mans exwife had to get a Restraining Order against him and he was accused of punching in a glass door. I agree, gloria, but the
picture is powerful. It is, but if there is a Domestic Abuse report against somebody in the white house, i dont think you need a picture. Thats my point. The other thing about john kellys judgment here, this is a guy, hes not a young sort of naive quixotic person. It is a huge flaw. This is somebody who has seen a lot of the word. For him not to see that, thats problematic. I was just going to say very quickly, if its possible, to bounce off what he was just saying, i talked to a general who had served with general kelly, Chief Of Staff kelly, in iraq, who said to me this evening, i dont recognize this john kelly. That was my question. Who is this john kelly . Is this the person we thought he was . Exactly. And that is what i think a lot of people are saying right now. They thought john kelly was going to be the adult in the room over here in the white house and they didnt expect this. Just yesterday he was in hot water for saying that some dreamers were too ladizy to get off their asses so sign up for protections under the daca order. I do have to say, gloria, just talking about, yes, you shouldnt have to have a picture. But the picture i think made all the difference when it came to al franken, right . It was right there in our faces. Yes. Yes. And now were looking at this rob porter story, its right there in our faces for us to see. I think that makes a huge opinion, especially in the court of public opinion. Thank you all, i appreciate it. Ahead, our sources telling cnn a white house official, even Chief Of Staff john kelly knew about Domestic Abuse allegations
against top aide rob porter for months. What happened to white house hiring . Only the best people, remember that . Smothered in mozzarella. But it wasnt mega. So we topped it with protein packed chunks of buffalostyle chicken. Now thats mega. Do not take victoza® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. Stop taking victoza® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing, or swallowing. Serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. So stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. Tell your doctor your medical history. Gallbladder problems have happened in some people. Tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. Taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. Side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. Change the course of your treatment. Ask your doctor about victoza®. Dont we need that cable box to watch tv . Nope. Dont we need to run . Nope. It just explodes in a high pitched yeahhh. yeahhh try directv now for 10 a month for 3 months. No satellite needed. Breaking news tonight, sources tell cnn that top aides to the president including the Chief Of Staff john kelly found out Top White House staffer rob porter was Hitting Roadblocks with his Background Check months ago, the reason being allegations of Domestic Abuse. Why did no one tell the president , and how did he get
hired in spite of that . Remember, only the best people . Porter resigned today. Scott generjennings and alice st join me. He denies the allegations, he says these allegations are simply false, i took the photos 15 years ago. The reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described. I will not engage with a Smear Campaign. So hes calling it a Smear Campaign. Scott, respond to that, do you think its a Smear Campaign . Frankly i dont understand the strategy of defending someone whos already decided to resign. Rob porter has a version of the story, the exwives have a version of the story. The fbi investigated it and brought it to the attention of Top White House officials. Heres the deal. No matter what the story is, you have to ask yourself, whats
best for the president . Number one, whats best for the president is to not have people with this Background Working in the white house. Number two, how can you have a staff secretary who cant get a Security Clearance when they handle the most sensitive documents, all the documents . Number three, at the end of the day youre there to serve the country and the president. If this is going to hurt the president and his agenda, you have to act on it at that point. So right now, theres no defense of this. You cant defend it. You have to let it go and move on. Frankly theyre going to have to admit a mistake, which is they should have fired him when they found out about it months ago. But youre not making an excuse in his defense, saying that this is a Smear Campaign . I just want to get to him it probably sounds like a Smear Campaign. Hes got a version that doesnt match the version his exwives are telling. But he had a Restraining Order against him, he knew they were going to make these allegations. Clearly he knew they were going to tell the fbi. Anybody who gets a background
check in this kind of a job knows theyre going to interview people like this. Do they need to admit that they made a mistake . You have to disclose on your forms and frankly to your superiors. This is in my background. Do they need to admit they made mistakes, scott . If so, does kelly need to own it and should he keep his job . Yeah, look, i think at the end of the day, theyre not going to be able to skirt around the timeline. The timeline is going to have to come out. Theyll have to be transparent about this. You can make mistakes in judgment. It does happen. This is a pretty big one, frankly. The job is big. The white house staff secretary handles all the paper flow in and out of the oval office. This isnt somebody in some farflung agency. Theyre near the president all the time. I just dont think theyre going to be able to not answer questions about the timeline here. I didnt think the second statement, frankly, cleared it up. I understand Chief Of Staff kelly feels personally loyal to mr. Porter. But at the end of the day, hes got to decide whats best for
the president right here and whats best is not to defend this. All right. So alice, this photograph is really damning, we talked about this last segment. There it is. Porter is saying i took the photograph or whatever, but there you go. His exwould i haife told the n post, i thought by sharing my story with the fbi, he wouldnt be put in that post. Im telling the fbi this is what hes done. And Jenny Willoughby is telling them. And the white house says, sure, this is okay . I was let down by that. What do you say about this, what do you think about what the white house has done . I think they clearly dropped the ball here. Look, rob says that this didnt happen. He says hes innocent. He says its a Smear Campaign. But the fact that he cant
categoca categorically deny this leaves questions. Look, i dont care if this guy has the ivy league parchment on the wall and has great character at work. If hes facing mounting allegations of spousal abuse, that raises a question. To scotts point, whats in the best interests for the president . Obviously to get rid of him. But whats in the best interests of the American People if we allow someone like this to be in such a high level of importance in the white house . And look, i think everyone can agree that, look, there is a special place in hell for people who abuse their spouse. If we dont take this as an opportunity to stand up against Domestic Violence, i think this is a tremendous statement on where we are as a country. And look, i think its really important for the white house to push back even further. The fact that they let him go without shoving him out the door is unfortunate. And i hope that we hear much more about this from the white house as to why he was allowed
to stay as long as he was. Alice, wasnt this a concern with, pardon my language, the grab them by the pussy tape, people who would make an excuse for