New questions tonight about what the u. S. Troops who died were doing in niger to begin with, why they were ambushed and what happened after. Senator john mccain says the administration isnt being up front and he may issue subpoenas. More than two weeks after the ambush, why is defense secretary james mattis telling reporters he still does not have all of the Accurate Information . Selfcongratulations. President trump calls reporters into the oval office for an update on the hurricane response, only to pat himself on the back and to ask the puerto rico governor, did we do a great job . So what was the governors answer . And on the cusp, the currency ia director says the u. S. Should behave as if north koreas on the cusp of having the ability to attack with Nuclear Weapons. And the former cia director puts the chances of a conflict at one in four, can anything dial back the attention . Im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Tonight were following multiple Fast Breaking stories during a surprise appearance in the White House Briefing room today. The chief of staff john kelly said he was brokenhearted and stunned that a u. S. Congresswoman criticized President Trumps call to the grieving widow of the u. S. Soldier. Kelly got very emotional as he defended the president s decision to make condolence calls, calling them the most difficult thing you can imagine and revealing he advised the president not to do it. Kelly whos a retired u. S. Marine corps general and lost his own son in combat confirmed that former president obama did not call him at the time but said he did not mean that as a criticism when he shared the story with President Trump. Were also following serious new questions about the ambush earlier this month that left those four u. S. Soldiers in the center of the controversy dead in the african country of niger. James mattis tells reporters an investigation sundaysway and he does not have all the Accurate Information about what happened and why one soldiers body wasnt found until several days after the ambush. Tonight, senator john mccain is accusing the Trump Administration of not being up front about the ambush and threatening to issue subpoenas to get information. And back in the white house, President Trump says on a scale of one to ten, he would give the administrations response to the hurricane in puerto rico a ten. In an impromptu news conference, the president asking puerto ricos visiting governor pointblank, did we do a great job . President trumps director of legislative affairs mark short, hes with us here in the situation room. And our correspondents analysts and specialists, they will have full coverage of the days top stories. Lets begin over at the white house and chief of staff john kelly surprise appearance at todays press briefing. Our senior White House Correspondent jeff zelny was in the room, jeff, kelly was strongly defending the president and attempting to end the entire controversy. Did he . Reporter wolf, the controversy changed today when john kelly walked in the Briefing Room. You could feel the emotion in the room, see it on his face and hear it in his voice. He was speaking not only as the white house chief of staff, but as a four star marine general and a gold star father himself whose son died in afghanistan seven years ago. Wolf, he blasted the florida congresswoman at the center of all of this. He did not though address the president s role in how this all got started. White house chief of staff john kelly forcefully defending President Trumps call to the widow of an american soldier killed in niger. He called four people the other day and expressed his condolences in the best way that he could. And he said to me, what do i say . I said to him, sir, theres nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families. Reporter trying to diffuse a fire the president himself sparked this week, he guided through condolence calls to those killed two weeks ago in an ambush. Let me tell you what i tell him, what my best friend, joe dunford told me because he was my casualty officer. He said, kell, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 . Reporter the president s call tuesday to Miesha Johnson the pregnant widow of la David Johnson stirred controversy after they said mr. Trump disrespected mr. Johnson. Didnt say what that congresswoman said. Didnt say it all. Reporter kelly blasted the congresswoman for exploiting the conversation, he sought to explain them, not retract them. I was stunned when i came to work yesterday morning and brokenhearted at what i saw a member of congress doing. Member of congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife. And in in his way tried to express that opinion that hes a brave man, fallen hero, he knew what he was getting himself into because he enlisted. Theres no reason to enlist, he enlisted. And he was where he wanted to be, exactly where he wanted to be with exactly the people he wanted to be with when his life was taken. Reporter kelly spoke as a retired four star marine general and a gold star father whose son robert was killed in afghanistan seven years ago. His sons death was injected into the controversy after he told mr. Trump that president obama never called him after his son died. It was mr. Trump who made that private conversation public. He asked me about previous president s and i said i can tell you that president obama, who was my commander in chief when i was on active duty did not call my family. That was not a criticism. That was just to simply say, i dont believe president obama called. Thats not a negative thing. Reporter what kelly did not say during todays extraordinary White House Briefing was that President Trump first injected politics in the rose garden on monday. If you look at president obama and other president s, most of them didnt make calls. Reporter kellys voice cracked as he spoke about the week long controversy, but would not answer questions about the president s role in it. And when i listen to this woman and what she was saying, and what she was doing on tv, the only thing i could do to collect my thoughts was to go and walk among the finest men and women on this earth. And you can always find them. Theyre in Arlington National cemetery. Went over there for an hour and a half. Walked among the stones, some of whom i put there because they were doing what i told them to do what they were killed. Reporter his appearance was to turn the page from what has become an unseemly debate. It came after the president met with puerto rico and gave himself a perfect grade on the governments response to the hurricaneravaged item. I would say it was a ten. Reporter he went well beyond defending the administration and three times gave the government top marks. Theres never been anything like that. I give ourselves a ten. Reporter but that conflicts with the reality on the ground where only one quarter of the island has power and onethird of people have no drinking water. One month after Hurricane Maria hit. Wolf, john kellys appearance was an attempt to take control of the story and to put it aside, put it to a rest. The chief of staff was asked specific questions about the niger ambush, what were the troops doing there, he said they were helping the local forces, but he did confirm there was an investigation under way by the pentagon of course, he said that does not mean that there was anything wrong necessarily, he said but they must find out what happened and why. Try to make sure it doesnt happen again. Jeff zelny reporting for us at the white house, thank you. This controversy over the president s calls to families of fallen troops began with the deaths of these four u. S. Servicemen in niger two weeks ago. Today the defense secretary james mattis told reporters an investigation of their deaths in the ambush is now under way. He still doesnt have all the Accurate Information about what happened. Lets go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr, barbara, serious questions continuing to swirl about how these men died. Absolutely, wolf, and pentagon officials, you know, said today that for the first time, that there has been an around the clock search for one of those four, the missing soldier la David Johnson after a fire fight that no one expected. Green berets were leading the 12man team on a visit to village elders. They had done 29 routine patrols in the area over the last six months. This time, it was all out combat. Theres a reason we have u. S. Army soldiers there and not the peace corps because we carry guns. And so its a reality, its part of the danger that our troops face in these counterterrorist campaigns. Reporter according to initial reports, the soldiers just left the meeting and were back near their trucks to meet up with those who had stayed behind. They walked right into an ambush. A fire fight is unlike any other human endeavor. Its confusing, its loud, its terrifying, theres blood, screams, danger all around. Reporter a military investigation is under way. Have we anticipated this sort of attack we would have absolutely devoted more resources to it, to reduce the risk. And thats something were looking at right now. Reporter but what is known is disturbing, the troops had been told it was unlikely there would be opposition in the area, now, the u. S. Believes it was 50 isis fighters who attacked them. Isis was armed with machine guns and rocketpropelled grenades. The americans had their rifles. The u. S. Troops fought back running for cover, calling for help. 30 minutes later, french jets flew over the battlefield, trying to scare off the isis fighters, they had no authority to fire on them. It was close to an hour before French Military helicopters and a u. S. Contractor aircraft came in to evacuate the dead and wounded u. S. Officials say. Did they know what was going on in the area . Were they sharing it with the right people . Did the african countries know something that the u. S. Advisors did not know and they didnt share . Thats another area. Third area might be how do you evacuate if you have potential casualties . Reporter tough questions now face the pentagon and the president. What happened during the fire fight . How did sergeant la David Johnson get left behind . Was he killed instantly . What does the white house know . All important questions do of to understand what went wrong. Especially how did Sergeant Johnson get separated from his fellow soldiers when the evacuation aircraft took off, they were one man short. No one can yet say why johnson wasnt picked up. The u. S. Military does not leave its troops behind, and i would just ask that you not question the actions of the troops who were caught in the fire fight and question whether or not they did everything they could in order to bring everyone out at once. Reporter because nobody knew if he might be alive still, plans for a secret navy seal rescue mission were made. Sergeant johnsons body was found nearly 48 hours later, nobody can say why and how he was left behind. Wolf, i have to tell you several top officials have told me today the reason we are indeed seeing all of these people come out in public, secretary mattis, john kelly, they want to change the narrative. The narrative has gotten away from them and they want to get it back and they want to make sure that people understand that they did look for Sergeant Johnson. Wolf. Barbara, i want you to stay with us, i want to bring in our other specialists and get everyones analysis on what is happening right now, john kirby, cnn military and diplomatic analyst, retired career admiral, were you surprised that general kelly came out and spoke as he did today . Yeah, i was, wolf. I know generally kelly well. This was the last thing im sure he wanted to do so was go out there he doesnt like the spotlight to begin with and to go out there and talk about his own personal experience. I can only imagine and you could see it on his face how painful that was. Look wolf, couple things i hope comes out of this, one, that we all take a moment and breathe and recognize that a message of hey, this is what your loved one volunteered to do, may fall differently on the ears of a serving marine corps general when he has to hear those terrible words. Then it does in the ears of a 24yearold woman with two small kids and one on the way, just starting her life. I mean, we have allowed for that. Number two, i hope that this really helps elevate a discussion about gold star families in this country and what the troops are doing and some pretty dangerous places, and that we remind ourselves of the sacrifices that these people are making every day. Yeah, enormous sacrifices. You know, barbara, general kelly criticized the congresswoman democratic representative wilson who politicized the phone call in effect. It seems that sergeant la David Johnsons family let her listen in on the call, it was on a speakerphone, they were driving in a car, and theyve told the news media and themselves that the congresswomans account was accurate. General kelly emphasized that President Trump offered his condolences in the best way he knew how. So, what should have happened . Well, you know, i think that kelly and everybodys making the point, these condolence calls are very difficult. And what can you possibly say as john kirby said to a woman who is sudden lay young widow at age of 24 . Families hear Different Things when they get these calls. They ab sosht information differently, we know that, this young woman, however she felt, lets forget the congresswoman for a minute, however she felt about it, that is valid. That is how this woman going through this terrible experience feels. And she should be embraced. What i can tell you is, and i know the other Panel Members have done it as well. I have sat with many gold star families and they all pretty much say the same thing, what their biggest concern is over time, always, is their loved ones be remembered. That the sacrifice be remembered. Their biggest anxiety about the big picture is the people just wont remember their loved ones and wont remember the sacrifices that so many have made. Yeah, good point. You know, jim sciutto, lets go back to where it started on monday in the rose garden, the president was answering questions, sarah murray asked the. About the four soldiers killed in that october 4th ambush in niger. The president explained that he hadnt yet called the families and then he said this the toughest calls i have to make are the calls where this happens. Soldiers are killed. Its very difficult thing, now it goats a point where gets to a point where you make four or five in one day, its a very, very tough day. For me, thats by far the toughest. The traditional way, if you look at president obama and other president s, most of them didnt make calls, a lot of them didnt make calls. All the president s did make calls, not necessarily to all the families, but they did make calls and the president got a lot of criticism for that and as a result, he defended himself a day later by bringing in general kelly into the conversation. You could ask general kelly, did he get a call from obama . You could ask other people, i dont know what obamas policy was. So would kelly have been brought into this very painful conversation right now had it not been what the president said . Listen, the president took what appeared to be private advise from his chief of staff, the ultimate private issue for him because this is a chief of staff whos received that call himself. Hes a gold star father, general john kelly. Took that private advice and knead public, it seemed to score political points or to bat back what he perceived to be hypocricriticism of how he hand. The president tweeted about it. And then remember, perhaps inadvertently, but some of kellys comments today actually knock down the president s account of this. Youll remember that just yesterday morning President Trump tweeted, democratic congresswoman totally fabricated what i said to the wife of a soldier who died in action and i have proof, sad. Since then, of course, the white house said there is no tape of that conversation, but you may criticize what representative wilson said about this and so on, but she didnt fabricate it because general kelly seemed to confirm today that the president related some form of the, this is what they signed up for. Not meant to be in the president s defense, he was not meaning to be dismissive and say, he knew what he had coming to him, reflecting what general kelly might have communicated to him, which is that parents in that situation, they know that their sons and daughters signed up for something that they knew they might pay the ultimate price for, thats a reasonable message, but the president yesterday claimed that everything the representative said was false when in fact it appears general kelly today confirmed that was part of the president s message. John kirby as you point out, its different to hear that if youre a four star general as opposed to a 24yearold widow with two little kids and one on the way, and did, you know, the chief of staff, the white house chief of staff general kelly, he criticized all the plitization of this, but in effect, at least in part what he did today will contribute to that political debate. I think so. I mean, he used hes a bona fide hero, personal hero of mine, but when he took that job as chief of staff, he became a political figure. And when he went out there today, while there was the gold star father, we saw there was also the politico. And he dove right into it by laying that gauntlet down at koj woman wilson calling her that woman. That didnt do anything to not stoke these fires. Hes truly an amazing man, and our heart goes out to him and his family, all of the gold star families right now were watching and going through the pain and im sure the pain is enormous. Were going to have a lot more coming up. There are other important developments unfolding right now, including up on capitol hill. Democratic and republican senators say they have a deal to stabilize obamacare and lower out of pocket expenses for millions of americans, but can it pass . And will President Trump support it . Well speak with a president s point man with congress, the legislative director over at the white house, mark short, hes here with me in the situation room. Endless shrimp is here with incredible flavors, like new Nashville Hot shrimp crispy, spicy, and drizzled with sweet amber honey. Plus the delicious classics you love, like garlic shrimp scampi. Try all the shrimp you want, however you want em. But hurry, it ends soon. Tech dont wait for a chip like this to crack your whole windshield. With safelites exclusive resin, you get a strong repair that you can trust. Plus, with most insurance a safelite repair is no cost to you. Customer really . singers safelite repair, safelite replace. A very important story up capitol hill right now, democratic and republican senators this afternoon revealed their long awaited plan to reduce out of pocket costs for people on obamacare, the Affordable Care act. They say they can do it without bailing out the Big Insurance Companies which President Trump also opposes. Lets go to our congressional correspondent, give us an update, term us about the deal. Reporter well senators today trying to breathe new life back into this deal after it abruptly reached a point where it seems like it had completely stalled out just yesterday. That was after President Trump backtracked and came out against the deal. Now today, the sponsors of this deal, senator alexander and senator patty murray saying that they now have 24 cosponsors, 12 republican senators, 12 democratic senators, signing their name to this deal. And a real fullthroated defense of this bill on the Senate Floor Today by both deal makers speaking specifically to the main reason that President Trump now says hes against it. This notion as President Trump puts it that extending these costsharing reduction payments for two years would amount to an enrichment of insurers. In my conversations with President Trump, hes made it clear and several of my colleagues have made it clear on the republican side that they dont to want bail out Insurance Companies. And what i responded is that i 100 agree, these payments are designed to help low income americans pay their copays and deductibles, we have in our agreement about a page and a half that requires every state to come up with a way to make sure that the benefits of those payments go to the consumers in 2018, and not to the Insurance Companies. So where does all of this go from here . Republican leaders over here in the senate have not indicated any path forward for it over here and certainly there is considerable concern among house republicans, there is some talk though that they could eventually later on down the line potentially later this year attach it to Something Else like the government funding bill, so that they specifically would not have to vote on this as a stand alone bill nap said, senators alexander and patty murray say theyre working behind the scenes, theyre trying to make potentially some tweaks, trying to educate their members on what would happen if these payments are not extended and they say, wolf, the message theyre getting loud and clear from sprump to keep moving forward on this. Thats behind the scenes, its not go anywhere until he makes that point publicly, wolf. Up on capitol hill, thanks very much. Were joined now by the white house director of legislative affairs, mark short. Thanks very much for coming back. So the president is confusing me, im sure hes confusing a lot of people out there two days ago, he seemed to indicate he supports this bipartisan compromise, yesterday, he moved away from it, today he confused the matter even further by saying this, listen. He was asked do you support it . No, i like people working on plans at all times. I think ultimately block grants is the way to go where we block out the money to the states, you get Better Health care, you get it for less money, therell be a transition period. So anything theyre working on will be short term, itll be absolutely short term because ultimately, it will be its going to be repeal and replace. So, i have Great Respect as you know for both of the senators, as you mentioned, and a short Term Solution. What i said is i dont want the Insurance Companies making anymore money. Again, i respect very much the two senators youre talking about, i love that theyre working on it. I want them to be careful with respect to the Insurance Companies. Insurance companies are extremely good at making money. Extremely talented at making money. And i want them to be careful with that, we will probably like a very short Term Solution until we hit the block grants, until that all kicks in. In other words, it doesnt just kick in the following day. Theres a transition period. And if they can do Something Like that, im open to it. All right. So ive totally confused because hes given these conflicting signals, muddying the water, where does he stand right now on this legislation that you heard Lamar Alexander say, its not going to go, the money is not going to go to the Insurance Companies. Sure, i can help clarify for that, wolf, the president has consistently appreciated the efforts of lamar and patti. He appreciates the two sides coming together unlike the first nine months in trying to find a solution, but hes also been clear that he does not support a bailout to the Insurance Companies with tax payer companies. Lamar says this is not a bailout, it helps lower income americans get the insurance, the Insurance Companies will be able to provide them the insurance because of these subsidies. So these subsidies, wolf, are called costsharing reductions. That is an absolute oxymoron. Has anybodys costs decreased ever since obamacare passed . Most plans increased 100 , up to 200 . Weve been giving 10 billion a year to Insurance Companies who are now required by law every american individual and employers to provide and buy insurance. So Government Forces you to buy it, then the subsidies go to the Insurance Companies. Look at the profits ever since obamacare passed, sigg in a, 480 stock increase, aeta i understand what youre saying, will the president sign this compromise this bill 12 republicans senator, 12 democratic senators, all sorts of people say is a good compromise in the short term over the next two years . We need a lot more than whats in the bills. Despite the promises opposes it right now. This is not sufficient enough. Lindsey graham, senator cassidy, when the president supported their legislation, theyre cosponsors now. The Graham Cassidy bill is entirely different, wolf, thats what the president is talking about. Sometimes you cant get everything you want, youve got to accept whats realistic. Wolf, theres a lot more than we want. I think what the American People deserve to really lower cost is to eliminate and get rid of the mandates that obamacare has to eliminate the taxes. That will lowing the prices. Were not even talking about that yet. If these subsidies dont continue over the next year or two in that short term as the president likes to call it, short term effort, premiums are going to go up for a lot of poor people. The president has been advertising for nine months, he was going to get rid of these subsidies. If the prices have already been priced in. Insurance companies have already priced that into the plans for next year. Im sure theres a lot of people who will be shouting this is what we need to do because they are they get contributions from their Insurance Companies on capitol hill and so they want to continue to provide this. But its not but the president keeps saying, and im looking at transcript, we just heard him say, if they can come up with a short Term Solution, they have come up with a short Term Solution. Maybe its not perfect from your standpoint, but there is a short Term Solution that potentially could be passed in the senate and moved to the house. Its far from perfect. In essence, what were doing under this bill is continuing two years of these tax payer bailouts to Insurance Companies for waivers that we believe we already have. In fact, already extending them to many states. Sop if we really want to reduce prices, then we need to begin repealing the mandates and repealing the taxes and then we could have a deal. In other words, what youre saying is the president told Lamar Alexander, i dont support this, go back to work. The president appreciates and continues to encourage him and says keep working, were not there yet. What did Lamar Alexander say . I think that the senator is sincere in his efforts to continue to work at this. Is the white house going to come up with proposed legislation, language that you could endorse . I think the white house will put forward principles forward. When . I believe its communicated today. Communicated to Lamar Alexander and to patty murray, the cosponsors of this current legislation. Were not going to accept yours, but weve got other ideas and were going have you already presented them with your ideas or youre about to . If they havent received it yet, they will by tomorrow for sure. Will you make those public . Probably. And give us the gist then. The gist is we believe that the individual mandate should repeal, employer mandate repeal and allow employers to contribute to the Health Savings accounts. Provides freedom and it provides do with your tax payer repeal and replace, is that what youre saying. Reduce costs and right now, the plan as its constructed does not do the that. But if you eliminate these subsidies and you roll back that mandate, youre going to lose a lot of support, and you could wind up with less than 50 which is what happened the last time. What evidence is there that after several years of paying these subsidies does it reduce costs . Premiums have gone up between 100 and 200 . Continuing to pay costsharing reductions, its an oxymoron. Its like saying jumbo shrimp, its an absurd oxymoron. We take tax payer dollars and give it to the Insurance Companies. Basically what the president is saying to these senators, republican senators, democratic senators, go back to work, i understand what youre saying, but youre running a risk its going to fail again. Youre going to wind up with nothing and obamacare will simply continue as is. The president is sincere in wanting to find a solution. He is grateful to Lamar Alexander for his efforts and reaching out to patty murray and both of them talking. Its just not there yet. Its a serious issue. Lets get to some other issues. The president often, often says he wants to work with democrats, come up with compromises. Whether on health care, tax reform, he says he wants to work with democrats, daca, the dreamers he wants to work with democrats. What happens every time he says that, every time he moves in that direction, some conservatives, some opponents come up with resistance, and he starts walking away from that. Youve seen that pattern. No, wolf. What i would say is just a couple months ago there was plenty of people who were in hysterics when the president struck a deal with Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi on a short term continuation of government funding as well as extending the debt ceiling. The president s sincere about wanting to work across the aisle and wanting solutions. And i think hes very sincere about wanting a Bipartisan Health care solution and just yesterday, we had at the white house many democrat senators to talk about tax reform and get their ideas of how we can continue to work on the bill together. But a lot of people are going to conclude based on this experience with on health care that, you know, they really cant trust the president to come up with a reasonable solution, hes not going to get everything, but you have to compromise in washington. Wolf, wing the president s willing to compromise. Tell me where it is where youre continuing to extend the bailouts for something we have in 332 waivers. Thats not a compromise. Were willing to worken to but we have to reduce health care costs. Are you willing to work with the democrats on the dreamers, daca . The president has expressed to work with the democrats on daca. We provided what we think are important immigration principles, and were continuing to have those conversations. Will those 700,000 or 800,000 dreamers will allowed to have legal status and stay in the United States and eventually, eveningly way down the road apply for citizenship . The president is anxious to provide them with legal status and he has made that offer and were anxious to see what Congress Comes back with. And eventually, eventually be able to apply for citizenship and not remain, quote, second class citizens we dont strew as second class citizens. Were not looking to negotiate on citizenship, but the president does to want have a deal and thats why weve engaged in the conversation that provide principles of how to get there. Citizenship is on the table or off the table . At this point, wolf, were not interesting in entertaining that right now. Thats sort of caveat. Lets talk about another sensitive issue, the House Oversight committee asked you to explain why some white house officials use their government email, but they also have private email accounts. And the white house and employees you wrote back to them, endeavor to comply with all relevant laws. Is that the best you can do in the explanation . I think that thats a fair explanation. You didnt satisfy a lot of these members. Democratic members are and republican members, and remember all the controversy about Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. So what is the rule right now for white house officials like you and others about using private email . Were not supposed to be doing government business on private email. I think theres a public records act that makes that clear and i think the white house is cooperating. It was appropriate as a result of what im hearing from you, for some white house officials, jared kushner, ivanka trump, steve bannon, reince priebus, Steven Miller to use private emails for government information for government purposes . Government, government purposes are supposed to be on government emails so it was inappropriate. I dont have access to each of their emails, i have not looked at the emails this is what the House Oversight committee is investigating. And thats why the counsels office is continuing to talk with hem and share information. Basically, the rule though is if you work for the white house public records act, thats correct. You should not be using for government purposes yeah and if they are, they should stop. That is correct, but i dont think, i think youre jumping to conclusions based upon private emails we havent seen. A lot of people think its critical and now this, on a much lower level, not with servers, but with private email accounts, there are officials who seem to be doing the same thing. And the office knead clear what the law is and what we need to be confirmed with and thats why theyre cooperating with each investigation. One final question, there has been some reporting youre thinking of leaving the white house and joining the Heritage Foundation as president , explain. Wolf, im very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to work in the Trump White House and im happy with i am. Im not going to negotiate on the networks about whab im doing. Youre not going to take it or you are i am loving my job right now. Ill leave it on that note. Mark short, off tough job. Thanks for joining us. Still to come, much more on the white house chief of staff. General john kellys emotional defense about the call to the families. When i was a kid growing up, a lot of things were sacred in if our country. Women were sacred. Looked upon with great honor. Thats obviously not the case anymore as we see from recent cases. Life, the dignity of life is sacred. Thats gone. Religion. That seems to be gone as well. Gold star families, i think that left in the convention over the summer. But just start the selfless devotion that brings a man or woman to die on the battlefield, i just thought that that might be sacred. [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her new mobile wedding business. At first, getting paid was tough. Until she got quickbooks. 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Breaking news amid all the fallout over President Trumps recent handling of calls to gold star families, the white house chief of staff general john kelly makes a surprise appearance in the Briefing Room to defend the president and to share a very personal and emotional account of losing his own son in battle. Lets discuss with our experts and phil mud, a lot of us were moved by what we heard from general kelly, but were you surprised to see that appearance in the Briefing Room . No, i would say more saddened, wolf. I mean, this is a difficult moment for america. I think its a sad moment for american politics and for some simple reasons. General kelly i thought was moving and i thought he was right. Life is sacred. A wife thought she was going to grow up in an entire life with a man she loved and she lost him. A child doesnt get to learn to fish with his dad. And we have the president of the United States deciding to use this moment to compare himself favorably to his predecessor, congresswoman from florida who will decides to use this moment to take a shot at a president im sure she despises, we have two politicians who used the death of a young man to see who can piss higher on a fire hydrant, and thats american politics. This is a sad moment. I think its the president and the congresswoman who put general kelly in a horrible position. I thought he made a great statement today, but he should never, ever have had to make that statement, and we should never have politicians say more than we grieve your loss and we love what your child did for america. This is just a rough day, wolf. Who do you blame for forcing general kelly to go out there and make that statement . Whos responsible for that . Well the president started this. Why is he getting out in the wake of the death of people who represent america and saying this is a chance to say i call more people than president obama . How about saying im sorry that a kid doesnt learn to fish with his dad. Hows that . How about a congresswoman who says this is a moment to go after a man i despise in the oval office and i dont care what happened in terms of the actual phone call and whether general kelly actually did advise the president to say that. I think politicians have a simple responsibility, if you cant shut up, get out of the room. Chris, how did you see it . I dont disagree with phil. I think that general kelly was put in an extremely difficult position, in no small part by his boss, remember, donald trump is the one who said go ask general kelly regarding phone calls and whether barack obama called after his son was killed in afghanistan. So, some of this is the president s own creation, which is not general kellys fault, but he knew the man that he was working for. I thought the first part of its not really a press conference, but his remarks talking about how bodies are transported, what that is like, powerful enough even if you didnt know the back story that this is someone who has lived this. This is not just a general, this is not someone whos just the white house chief of staff, its a father whose lost his son. The end of it in which he sort of moves into more a lecture of what is sacred and what should be sacred, im with him on all of that, the problem again is, this is not president john kelly, this is white house chief of staff john kelly to President Donald Trump. And President Donald Trump as it relates to gold star families, his willingness to go back and forth with the khan family after the convention in 2016, comments head made about john mccain, i luck my heroes not captured in 2015, comments hes made about women, general kelly said women used to be considered sacred, thats not the case anymore. I think he was referring to harvey weinstein, but President Trumps words in that regard have to be considered as well. So if general kelly was the president that was, i think, a stirring, important moment. I think it was anyway, but i also dont think you can separate it out from the fact that hes not president , donald trump is president. Donald trump set some of these things in motion, both in the near term with his back and forth with congresswoman wilson, but also in things he has said and done throughout his relatively brief life in politics. She is the u. S. Congresswoman from florida who got into this exchange indirectly with the president of the United States. How do you see it, rebecca. Well i think chris is exactly right. This was an unfortunate situation for john kelly to have to be in to be the cleanup man for President Trump, but thats really the role that weve seen a number of people in this administration play. Cabinet secretaries like Rex Tillerson or jim mattis, john kelly before him, reince priebus, you know, this is the role of someone who works in the Trump Administration. Is the president goes out, says what hes going to say, makes a mistake or a misstep, and its left to those who work for him and with him in the government to clean and the truth is, what general kelly essentially said today was, heres what donald trump meant to say and we know what Fredrica Wilson heard and, yes, it is possible that in a moment like that, what you in a difficult moment lets remember, the president hasnt done this a whole heck of a lot. He was never in politics before. This is hard if youve done it a million times before. What he meant to say and what they heard, its possible that both ends were not acting in a way that was sort of manevolent. Whats difficult to phil mudds point, both ceasing on this moment as a way to prove on her side, donald trump is this air table, evil person who doesnt think of the widow and on his end, well, i did everything better than everyone who has well have a lot more on this development. A very painful and emotional development. I want all of you to stand by. Another moment were following, President Trumps National Security team is raising the alarm about north koreas rapidly advancing nuclear capability. Cnns brian todd is joining us with this very disturbing development. What can you tell us . Just a short time ago, general mcmaster said were in a race to solve this short of military action. They are out tonight with stark warnings of where this crisis is headed and how close kim jongun is to being able to deliver the ultimate threat to the United States. Stern warnings tonight to north Koreas Kim Jongun and about his regime from two of President Trumps closest aides, from his National Security adviser, a veiled threat. Hes not going to except this regime. He wont accept it. And from his cia director, a sober assessment that kim is undeterred in developing his deadliest weapon, a nucleartipped longrange missile that could strike america. We ought to behave as though we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective. We are closer than they were five years ago and i expect that they would be closer five months than they are today. What would north korea have to do in the next five months to move closer to that capability . If they are aiming to get that last piece of the puzzle, which is a Nuclear Weapon that can enter the atmosphere from a missile and not burn up, they have to test, presumably, including the test of putting something on a missile and having it reenter the atmosphere, not necessarily a Nuclear Weapon but a shell and casing. Tonights warnings come after the last cia chief delivered a disturbing set of odds, saying theres a 20 to 25 chance of a confrontation between the u. S. And its allies and kims forces. The prospects for military prospects are greater than they have been in several decades. I dont think its likely or probable, but, you know, if its a one in four, one in five chance, thats too high. Reporter john brennan says President Trumps recent personal attacks on kim only add to the tension. Reference to the rocket man, i think its irresponsible. Reporter while the rhetoric heats up in washington, its just as ominous on the korean peninsula. Kim jonguns propaganda arm says the naval drills going on now are designed to cause a war with a preemptive strike and that north Korean Forces are prepared to strike in a single stroke and calling for a deemployment of american weapons in south korea that havent been there since the early owe90s. Only by deploying tactical weapons. Reporter those weapons would be aimed at the sprawling capital of north korea. This footage shows a city bigger and developed more than you can see from the ground. It shows surprisingly few people in pyongyang and buildings that may be occupied or may be fa facade. There are huge empty trophy buildings and huge statues and broad boulevards, lots of tunnels underground for the leadership to hide. Reporter thats the problem that they will have with taking out Nuclear Weapons. Most of the weapons, they say, are stored bunkers. Brian todd, thank you. Good report. Very serious developments. Coming up, more on this afternoons breaking news over at the white house. President trumps chief of staff, retired marine corps general john kelly strongly defends the condolence calls and strongly criticizes the florida congresswoman who criticized his call to a grieving widow. It stuns me that a member of congress would listen in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me. And i thought at least that was sacred. Imers. I decided to make shirts for the walk with custom ink. The shirts were so easy to design on a site. The custom ink team was super helpful. And they just came out perfect. Seeing my family wearing my shirts was such an amazing reminder of all the love and support that everyone has for my dad. [narrator] check out our huge selection of custom tshirts and more, for teams, businesses, and every occasion. Save 10 now on your first order. Get started at customink. Com. Happening now, breaking news. Stunned. A remarkable statement by the president s chief of staff over the condolence call raises. John kelly says hes stunned by criticism of the president s call to a widow of a fallen u. S. Soldier. But will his remarks only fuel the up roar . Perfect score. President trump meets with puerto ricos governor and scores washingtons response to the hurricane disaster as a 10 out of 10. The president says he believes Puerto Ricans are seeing the effort. Well get a reality check from cnns bill weir who is on the ground and will join us live from puerto rico. Yes and no. President trump further muddies the water