Ominous news out of north korea as there is a demand from kim jongun. Why . Welcome to the lead, im jake tapper. Our politics lead. President trump is under pressure both from the pending democraticcontrolled house and from potential moves by special counsel, Robert Mueller. So as the president does, when feeling the heat from situations that are often largely of his own doing, hes now seeking to blame others in his orbit as top officials at the white house and the Trump Administration prepare for a purge. Asserting this afternoon, the president is happy with, quote, almost all of his cabinet officials. The president has in recent days been talking to aides and advisers about possibly getting rid of chief of staff, john kelly. And department of Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen. But would that solve anything . As one Senior Administration official put it to me, quote, in this administration, there are arsonists and there are firefighters. The president is looking to get rid of the firefighters. The more he does, the faster his administration is going to burn down. But its not just shuffling staff. Even the president s policies are problematic, according to some of those who work for him. This same Senior Administration official told me about the troops before the midterm election. Quote, its a paper tiger. A total joke of limited Operational Utility and a waste of our troops time. Secretary nielsen knows it, chief of staff kelly knows it. But that battle was lost with the president. He was hellbent on troops, unquote. Now, one of the president s more prominent conservative critics is a man named George Conway, the husband of white house counselor, Kellyanne Conway. And speaking about his own decision not to join the Trump Administration, he was once under consideration to be solicitor general, conway has had harsh things to say about the president. Conway told yahoo news this. Im watching this thing, and, you know, its like the administration is like a [ bleep ] show in a dumpster fire. And just to underline this point, conway, the husband of a top trump aide, this week formed an organization of former Top RepublicanJustice Department and National Security lawyers to try to protect the rule of law and constitutional principles that they see President Trump as continually undermining. Cnn White House CorrespondentKaitlan Collins is here with me. And President Trump railing against the Mueller Probe saying the former fbi director is trying to set perjury traps for him. Thats right, jake. He said he found these questions easy to answer, but he questioned why Robert Mueller needs to know this information in the first place, and implied that hes trying to set him up for perjury by asking him some of these questions. But jake, make no mistake, the fact that the president has completed the answers to these written questions and is prepared to submit them, he says, does seem to take us one step closer in what has been nearly a year of negotiations between the special counsel and President Trump. After 24 hours of twitter silence about the russia investigation, President Trump addressing it out loud today from the oval office. There should have never been any mueller investigation. Reporter announcing hes finished the written answers to questions from special counsel, Robert Mueller. And even penned them himself. I write the answers. My lawyers dont write answers, i write answers. Reporter trump met with his legal team nearly every day this week and despite his lawyer, Rudy Guiliani, raising concerns about some of the questions no collusion. Reporter trump said he hasnt submitted them yet, but doesnt have any problems. But theyre not very difficult questions. Reporter the president insisting hes not bothered by the russia investigation, despite writing in all caps the day before that it is a witch hunt like no other in american history. And has gone absolutely nuts. I like to take everything personally, because you do better that way. Reporter trump suggesting investigators from the special counsels office were setting him up to perjure himself. Was the weather sunny or rainy . He said it may have been a good day. It was rainy. Therefore, he told a lie. He perjured himself. Reporter the back and forth with his special counsel coming as the president is weighing shaking up his own staff. Today when department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen standing over his shoulder, he said hes not done making changes yet. Im extremely happy. Im very happy with almost all of my cabinet. And, you know, changes are made because theyre always made, especially after mid terms. Reporter sources say trump has decided to remove nielsen from her post, but hasnt picked a replacement yet and there are questions in washington about who wants to work in a white house engulfed in chaos. In a rare interview today, Kellyanne Conways husband explained why he turned down a top job at the Justice Department. I realize, this guy is going to be at war with the Justice Department. Reporter George Conway referring to the administration as a shit show in a dumpster fire. Reporter now, there are all these questions about who is going to work in this white house, but its stunning that someone who already works in this white house, a Senior Administration official, is describing the president as firing all the firefighters and giving you this, quote, the more he does, the faster his administration is going to burn down. Kaitlan collins joins our team of experts. This just in, President Trump is planning to meet with Florida Attorney general, pam bondi, next week at maralago, according to a source. Bondi is under consideration for a few cabinet posts, including department of Homeland Security. Sunlen, your reaction. That seems like probably a pretty good fit. There are a lot of names in the mix. We talk so much about staff departures and we cant forget the headache this causes for the other end of pennsylvania avenue, meaning Senate Republicans who have to confirm these posts. A lot of these really contentious, controversial fights. Youre talking about Homeland Security, all these debates erupting about immigration, attorney general issues that go on in the Justice Department. And youre having Senate Republicans when it comes to that attorney general post anyone from lamar alexander, who can speak candidly and sometimes goes away from the party line and to john cornyn, close trump ally, saying we cant emergency a new attorney general getting confirmed who doesnt commit publicly to not interfering with the Mueller Probe. So whenever these confirmation fights are going on, its going to be any indicated for Senate Republicans. Fortunately, they should have a little bigger majority next your, pending the results in florida. Although you hear that from cornyn, that whoever the attorney general is going to have to publicly say im not going to interfere in the probe, but thats probably whether its secret or not, what the president wants the new attorney general to do, interfere in the russia probe, you know, rein it in, if not end it. Sunlen is so concerned about those poor Senate Republicans. Shes a compassionate person. She is. Im not. For me, that would be crocodile tears. Maybe they could actually protect mueller, maybe they could hold the existing cabinet secretaries to account. We have an acting attorney general of the United States who is manifestly i would say unqualified for the job. Wages 1 million questions, including the fact he was appointed without having been confirmed. They were in session today, come back after thanksgiving. There is the thing called the Senate Judiciary committee. They have hearings. They could call him before them and get him to assure them he wont interfere. Hes acting attorney general. There wont be anyone confirmed until after, do you think, in the lame duck. But god forbid they actucall up acting attorney general and make sure we have the rule of law. So this Senior Administration official compared him and maybe its unfortunate given whats going on in california right now. But he said the administration is made up firefighters and arsonists and the president in seeking to get rid of nielsen and kelly potentially and seeking to get rid of sessions is getting rid of all of the firefighters, and is getting rid of all of the people who stop the chaos as opposed to the arsonists who will remain. Again, its an unfortunate metaphor, given whats going on in california. But do you agree with that basic idea . If he is, he hasnt yet gotten rid of enough people. Because it does seem like there are people in the administration who are, according to reports, trying to slow him down. Maybe he is going to give it to some of them. But remember this, this is a president who sent troops to the border in the middle of a political campaign, but seems like for purely political benefit. And general mattis, who was supposed to be one of the babysitters, did not stop him from doing that. So what we have seen is a president jump over a line of demarcation that we thought maybe he wont go that far. Hes gone that far. Now hes fired the attorney general, which we were told by Lindsey Graham there would be hell to pay if he did that. And there is none. I just dont know if there really are any guard rails when it comes to republicans. The only chance we may is the 20 or 21 republicans up for election in 2020 after seeing what happened this midterm say, huh, maybe my own self interest doesnt lie in supporting this president. And the same city Administration Official gave that other quote, saying that sending troops to the border was a paper tiger and total joke. Mattis knows it, nielsen knows it, but the president is still doing it. A damning thing to say. It is. I would love to know if this person thinks theyre a firefighter or arsonist. Im going to assume they think theyre in the firefighter camp. I assure you, the person thinks he or she is a firefighter. Who this person is a heck of a quote. That was something that really bothers the president is there are people giving quotes like this in the white house who think they are there to save the country from the president. That also stems back to when that person who works in this administration wrote that oped for the New York Times anonymous. And still has not come forward who it is that wrote that. Thats what bothers President Trump. He thinks there are people trying to actively work against him. And hes gone back in recent days to talking the way he did in the beginning of the administration when there were so many leaks coming out, and it walls such a period of chaos. And not that it has really eased up since then, but it was really so stunning in the first few weeks of the white house. President trump seems to have returned to that, to where hes retreating back, seems more isolated. People who work with him every day are saying that. And then sunlen, today Kellyanne Conway was asked if the president was frustrated by all the speculation surrounding the staff shifts that could be coming. Frustrated, you know all this talk, by the way, is because hes running around asking people what they think. But take a listen to Kellyanne Conway. The president was frustrated by this question about house hes frustrated about Congress Failing to act on immigration. If hes frustrated about anything, its that this town just doesnt keep pace with his way to change. If hes frustrated with anything, its that this town doesnt keep pace with his rate of change. Hes also frustrated with the people surrounding him. Lets be clear. And i think particularly when Kellyanne Conway mentioned the issue of immigration, hes not satisfied with the way things havent changed at the border much to his liking. Thats his way of venting his federations at the dhs secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen who is essentially on her way out. She wants to try to make it to her oneyear anniversary on december 6th, but President Trump has made it clear she is going to be exiting. But for her, the difficulty is that under a law, there is not she can go as far as she can, but there is not a lot she can do that would make President Trump happy in terms of sealing the border. And closing off the border. But the president hasnt seen that, and hes adjuvanted the frustration. It was remarkable earlier this morning how he said im happy with almost all of my cabinet. And she was standing right behind him. And the idea that kellyanne is saying this town cant keep up with the rate of change in the white house. Thats a problem for the white house, because they cant find anyone to hire. The president doesnt have candidates who he immediately wants to replace him with. Thats why we saw Reince Priebus leave so quickly, because President Trump had john kelly in mind. So when he can picture someone to take a job, he gets rid of them quickly. Thats why we saw Jeff Sessions remain in his post for so long, along with the pressure to not fire him. President trump approached being a president like a big city mayor. Expects everyone to do what he says when he feels like it. You call the police chief. The Justice Department, they do and investigate what it is you want and stop when you want. Thats just not the way things are done at the federal government level and he has yet to transition to that reality. Im going to give you a tip. Hes not going to. No, he wants them done that way. Its not that he doesnt get understand. But i flipped the quote before you reported from there. I think youre right. General mattis has been able to check trump on a lot of things, some reported, some ive heard with b, as well. And this one he managed to check the way in which they were deployed and engagement. So he did have some effect he felt and general kelly felt they couldnt stop. In the middle of an Election Campaign sending troops to sit arou around. Stick around. President trump telling the world hes written answers to questions from mueller. The special counsel is actually acting. And does nancy pelosi really have the votes to be the next speaker of the house . Were going to talk to one incoming congresswoman who says she is not going to vote for pelosi. Stay with us. Plaque psoriasis derate to e is not always easy. Its a longdistance journey, and you have the determination to keep going. Humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for over 10 years. Humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. Most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear and many saw 75 and even 90 clearance in just 4 months. And the kind of clearance that can last. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. 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