knocked john kelly for trying to control the president too much. these two men are still back at it, going after it on the same topics. but we also know independently of whatever each of them say that there has been a difference under the mulvaney era and whether president trump at least feels like he can do whatever he wants in the white house. either way, whoever is right here, trump orac kelly, i was listening to people in the white house who visibly winced at the press secretary s statement that john kelly, a four-star retired marine general, was unequipped to handle president trump. and his genius. up next, joe biden trying to convince his supporters money will not get in the way of his campaign plans. but first, cory booker offering supporters to treat, if you call it remember what week we re in here for completing his fundraising goal.
gave a week and a half ago he did admit to a quid pro quo with ukraine months after president trump saying there was no quid pro quo. the white house pushing back hard here. president trump, himself, saying kelly never said anything like that to him and if he had he would have been kicked off. i want to read this to you from the press secretary stephanie grisham. this is a pretty outstanding remark to make about a four-star retired marine general who is widely respected with intelligence agencies, with the military. but it also sounds a lot like something president trump would say. not clear exactly what she is implying about general kelly s intelligence here, but, clearly, hitting back and hitting back hard. and hitting back against a general on the day before a military operation he knew was
it s sort of become this nay sayer in the president s eyes. he does not want that again. and while i don t think it s going to be shanahan elevated to the position permanently, the senate armed services committee that would have to confirm the next secretary doesn t seem interested in that. it is not likely to be somebody of mattis s stature, a four-star retired marine general who was among the first people from the beginning who could tell the president he was making bad choices. you mentioned the nay sayers. speaking of nay sayers, this bomb shell exit interview with the los angeles times that john kelly gave he details the president s desire to get out of afghanistan back in the summer of 2016 and now we re expecting a major drawdown there as well. how is that being received in washington today? well, it s being received a couple different ways. one is that it s confirming the kelly interview confirms several things that the white house had
stop bashar assad every time hoe uses chemical gas. you are right to make that distinction based on everything we have seen so far and a decidedly mixed message. richard, thanks. rick stengle is with us in our studios in new york. he s a veteran of the obama administration and a veteran at msnbc. welcome i have to delve right into politics. i don t need to remind you that since the advent of the national security adviser in the white house, there s been almost built in tensions, mostly with secretaries of state but sometimes with other cabinet departments like the pentagon. there were reports floating out there today that there was a disagreement between mr. bolton on his first week of work as national security advisor and secretary mattis, four-star retired marine general.
white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders introducing this notion that generals, retired generals, even retired generals working in a political capacity, as a civil servant, as chief of staff in the trump white house, shouldn t be questioned, that that would somehow be inappropriate, or, as eli stokeles of the wall street journal put it, white house just implied that kelly s rank and military service should deter the media from questioning the chief of staff. let s ask a retired four-star general, shall we? barry mccaffrey. you want credentials? two distinguished service crosses. u.s. army ranger hall of fame. numerous purple hearts, silver stars and four gold ones on his lapel when he retired from the army. he is also an msnbc military analyst. also with us, political analyst steve schmidt, a veteran of the bush white house and the mccain campaign. general, you are always a good sport about this, i don t mean to put you on the spot, i know