in the end there were leaks about his impending departure. he got calls over the weekend that this might be coming. you heard his comments over the weekend that perhaps he felt like he could still save his job. he was saying i think i m the person to advise the president as these north korea negotiations progress. i think i m the right person to do that. i think, in effect, he was in a last-ditch effort to save his job and when he woke up this morning, he did not know he was going to lose his job. certainly nobody told him you re out, pack your bags. elise, stay with me as we wait to hear from rex tillerson himself. jamie ruben, let me start with you, former assistant secretary of state, contributing editor at politico. jamie ruben, the fact that the secretary of state found out that he was no longer to be in that job via twitter, what do
areas. what struck you the most was how emotional he seemed. his voice was wavering and he was shaking up there the entire time. i don t know if that was noticeable on camera but we could all see that. and all the rumors when this reached a head a few months ago that there was at least some factions within the white house that wanted him out and out immediately, he felt he had gotten past this. there was a statement from the state department that wasn t dictated by tillerson himself. that information came directly from tillerson and it said he had every intention of sticking around and that he did not know the reason why he was being fired. he didn t go into any detail
speaking for the president. all we have to do to know that that was not the case is look what happened last week. the north korean dictator sent a message for the south korean diplomat directly to the president. and you know, our understanding was that was in part because they didn t even think to talk to the secretary of state because they didn t trust that he actually was in lockstep with the president of the united states. who at the time, was multiple zones away in africa asleep. that s the other thing, too. having people with military backgrounds around the table, it s a really important point. based on what i have heard from people who have been in and around those national security meetings is that rex tillerson was described to me as the most prepared in the room but the least effective. he might not have a military background. obviously he has a business background, which has some
how he stood there, how he spoke. going back to deplora borgeer and dana bash, i know you wanted to jump in with a thought on tillerson. please, go ahead. i ve been eager because what struck me, brooke, was that he did not mention donald trump. the secretary of state did not say, first of all, i want to thank the president for allowing me to serve my country in this role, et cetera, et cetera. he was so seething and so angry at the way he has been handled and perhaps his whole tenure that he thanked everyone in the state department, thanked 300 million americans but forgot to mention one of them. do you blame him? i don t think he forgot. i don t think he forgot. this was a real window, an open window, i would say, into the relationship between these two
heard from, tom countryman. we have to take a quick commercial break. reminding all of you watching, what a day in washington. we re about to hear from the man who found out he was fired from his job as secretary of state from a tweet this morning from the president of the united states. rex tillerson. tom countryman, i m coming to you next. i received a call today from the president of the united states a little after noontime from air force one and i ve spoken to chief of staff kelly. clarity in the days ahead what is most important is to ensure an order ly and smooth transition during the time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges. as such, effective at the end of the day, i m delegating all responsibilities of the office