Ignatius: Knives Could Be Out Now For Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson | Morning Joe

>> LOOK, WE HAVE A TRAGEDY. WE'RE GOING TO DO -- AND WHAT
HAPPENED IN LAS VEGAS, IN MANY WAYS, IS A MIRACLE.
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS DONE SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB.
AND WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT GUN LAWS AS TIME GOES BY.
>> YEAH. >> FROM LAS VEGAS, NBC NEWS
WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT KRISTEN WELKER.
THE PRESIDENT WILL BE THERE LATER THIS MORNING.
WHAT IN THE HELL SHOULD WE EXPECT AFTER YESTERDAY?
>> Reporter: WELL, LOOK, HE IS GOING TO BE ON THE GROUND HERE
FOR ABOUT FOUR HOURS. HE WILL BE MEETING WITH VICTIMS
RECOVERING IN THE HOSPITAL AND ALSO WITH FIRST RESPONDERS.
YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. EVERY WORD AND ACTION IS GOING
TO BE UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY, PARTICULARLY IN THE WAKE OF WHAT
WE SAW YESTERDAY IN PUERTO RICO. THE PRESIDENT IN PUERTO RICO DID
HAVE MOMENTS WHERE HE WAS REACHINGACHING OUT TO THOSE WHO
DEALING WITH THE AFTERMATH OF THIS STORM.
HE ALSO RAISED SOME EYEBROWS WHEN HE WAS TOSSING OUT
SUPPLIES, FOR EXAMPLE, HE STARTED TOSSING PAPER TOWELS AS
IF THEY WERE BASKETBALLS. HE PRAISED THE FEDERAL RESPONSE.
OF COURSE, HE HAD THIS BACK AND FORTH WITH THE MAYOR LEADING UP
TO THE MAYOR YESTERDAY ABOUT THE FEDERAL RESPONSE.
SHE HAD BEEN QUITE POLITICAL. THERE WAS A MOMENT OF TRUCE, IT
SEEMED. THE TWO SHOOK HANDS.
IN HIS COMMENTS HE ONLY TALKED ABOUT THE GOVERNOR.
IN THE WAKE OF HIS TRIP SHE SAID EFFECTIVELY HE HAD NOT DONE A
GOOD ENOUGH JOB OF COMMUNICATING, REACHING OUT TO
PEOPLE ON THE GROUND. THE FACT THAT HE COMPARED THE
DEATH TOLL TO KATRINA AND THEN JOKED ABOUT HOW MUCH IT WAS
COSTING THE GOVERNMENT. SO THERE IS GOING TO BE A HIGH
BAR TODAY, I THINK, FOR THE PRESIDENT, OF COURSE.
THIS IS GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT VISIT.
I ANTICIPATE IT WILL BE MORE SOMBER.
BUT, AGAIN, EVERY WORD, EVERY ACTION WILL BE HEAVILY
SCRUTINIZED, MIKA AND JOE. >> YEAH.
KRISTEN, YOU ALSO SHARE THE BYLINE FOR THE NEW NBC NEWS
EXCLUSIVE REPORT ABOUT REX TILLERSON NEARLY QUITTING THE
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. WHAT'S THE WHITE HOUSE SAYING
ABOUT THAT? AND SPECIFICALLY ABOUT TILLERSON
CALLING HIM A MORON? >> Reporter: THE WHITE HOUSE
ISN'T COMMENTING PUBLICLY ON THIS.
I CAN TELL YOU I'VE BEEN SPEAKING TO OFFICIALS BEHIND THE
SCENES WHO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE WERE SOME REAL TENSIONS THERE.
LET ME SET THE STAGE FOR YOU. IN OUR REPORTING WE SAY THAT
BACK IN JULY THE SECRETARY OF STATE CAME VERY CLOSE TO
EFFECTIVELY QUITTING. HE WAS FRUSTRATED OVER A NUMBER
OF POLICY DISPUTES WITH THIS PRESIDENT AND FRUSTRATED OVER
SOME OF THE LANGUAGE THE PRESIDENT USED IN PUBLIC
COMMENTS, DURING THAT SPEECH THAT WAS SEEN AS WIDELY
POLITICAL THAT HE GAVE TO THE BOY SCOUTS.
HE WAS ASKED TO STAY BY DEFENSE SECRETARY JAMES MATTIS AND VICE
PRESIDENT PENCE SMOOTHED THINGS OVER.
IT'S NOT CLEAR THAT THAT STORY EVER MADE ITS WAY TO THE
PRESIDENT WHEN HE CALLED HIM A MORON.
IT DID ANGER THOSE WHO WERE CLOSE TO THE PRESIDENT AND
REALLY, I THINK, HIGHLIGHTED THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SOME REAL
TENSIONS HERE AND THOSE TENSIONS WERE ON DISPLAY OVER THE WEEKEND
WHEN THE PRESIDENT TWEETED ABOUT SECRETARY TILLERSON EFFECTIVELY
UNDER CUT THE WAY HE'S HANDLING THE CRISIS IN NORTH KOREA,
SAYING DIPLOMACY ISN'T WORKING. HAVE THESE TENSIONS BK BEEN
COMPLETELY WORKED OUT? IT DOESN'T APPEAR AS THOUGH THEY
HAVE. ALTHOUGH ONE OFFICIAL DOES
STRESS THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE.
>> KRISTEN, THANK YOU. >> GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.
>> I HAD A DIFFERENT THOUGHT ABOUT THAT.
>> DAVID IGNATIUS IS WITH US. LET'S BRING IN HOST OF "ANDREA
MITCHELL REPORTS," ANDREA MITCHELL.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS RELATIONSHIP?
>> YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN REPORTING -- IT'S SUCH A
DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP. TILLERSON CAME INTO GOVERNMENT,
AS YOU KNOW -- YOU BROKE THE STORY THAT HE WAS COMING IN AS
THE NEW SECRETARY OF STATE, NOT KNOWING THE PRESIDENT.
WAS RECOMMENDED BY CONDOLEEZZA RICE AND OTHERS.
HE CAME IN, SAID HE WAS GOING TO TRY TO CUT WASTE.
30%. HE ACCEPTED THE BUDGET
RECOMMENDATIONS OF OMB. AND NO PREVIOUS SECRETARY HAD
EVER DONE THAT. >> WHAT'S SO STRANGE ABOUT
THIS -- >> LOST SUPPORT OF THE FOREIGN
SERVICE. >> HE HAD HIS FIRST DAY AT THE
STATE DEPARTMENT AND HE WAS WIDELY PRAISED.
>> I DID A STORY FOR "NIGHTLY NEWS" SAYING THIS WAS A HUGE
SUCCESS. >> THEY WERE SO EXCITED.
>> EXACTLY. >> HE IS GOOD FRIENDS WITH JAMES
BAKER. HE WAS, AS YOU SAID, RECOMMENDED
BY CONDI RICE AND BOB GATES IN A MEETING WITH DONALD TRUMP.
>> IT WAS MOSTLY BOB GATES AND CONDI WHO KNEW HIM FROM
EXXONMOBIL AND THE WORK THEY HAD DONE WITH THE COMPANY.
WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRACKING IS OVER IRAN, THERE'S REAL TENSION OVER
IRAN. TILLERSON KEPT PUSHING BACK.
WHEN HE DID FIRST RECERTIFY AS THE STATE DEPARTMENT
RECOMMENDED, AS THE U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR SAID IRAN WAS
COMPLYING WITH THE NARROW TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT, IT WAS DONE AT
QUARTER TO MIDNIGHT THAT LETTER WENT OUT.
THAT SHOWED RIGHT AWAY THAT THERE WAS HUGE PUSHBACK FROM
MIKE FLYNN AND OTHERS IN THE NSC.
AND THEN STILL WITH McMASTER, THAT RELATIONSHIP FRAUGHT
BECAUSE OF TENSION WITH THE PRESIDENT'S VIEW ON IRAN AND
QATAR/SAUDI ARABIA DISPUTE, WHICH KUSHNER AND OTHERS HAD
PUSHED AND THE PRESIDENT EMBRACED, JUST UNDERCUTTING.
THIS WEEKEND WHAT HAPPENED WITH CHINA, HERE, TILLERSON WAS ON A
QUICK TRIP TO CHINA, TRYING TO PLACATE THE CHINESE IN ADVANCE
OF THE PRESIDENT'S BIG TRIP TO CHIENA TELLING THEM WE'RE
WORKING ON DIPLOMACY. AND THE WHITE HOUSE WAS FURIOUS
THAT HE SAID THERE WAS A BACK CHANNEL.
>> THE REPORTING OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THIS.
WHEN THE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL KELLY BECKONED HIM TO
STAY, WAS THAT ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT?
DID THE PRESIDENT SEND THEM TO HIM OR DID THEY DO THAT
THEMSELVES? >> THEY DID THAT ON THEIR OWN.
THE SO-CALLED GROWN-UPS IN THE ROOM TRYING TO PERSUADE
TILLERSON THAT, FIRST OF ALL, THEY NEEDED AN ALLY.
HE WORKED CLOSELY, I SHOULD SAY, WITH JOHN KELLY, WHEN HE WAS AT
HOMELAND SECURITY, ON THE IMMIGRATION IN MEXICO, DISPUTES
AND TRYING TO WORK WITH THE MEXICANS AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S
INSULTING PHONE CALL. MATTIS AND TILLERSON WERE
WORKING CLOSELY ON ALL THESE ISSUES.
IT WAS ON THEIR OWN BEHEST TO TRY TO KEEP THINGS SQUARE.
CAN HE AFFORD ANOTHER MAJOR DEPARTURE?
THIS WOULD BE THE MOST HIGH-PROFILE ONE OF ALL.
>> IT WOULD. DAVID IGNATIUS YOU REPORTED
ABOUT THE FACT THAT REX TILLERSON DOESN'T CARE WHAT
OFFICIAL WASHINGTON THINKS ABOUT HIM.
HE CERTAINLY HASN'T COURTED THE PRESS.
JUST ASK ANDREA MITCHELL. AND YET ONE HISTORY FOR ME IS
THAT REX TILLERSON IS GOOD FRIENDS WITH JAMES BAKER.
JUST ABOUT AS GOOD AS ANY OF US HAVE EVER SEEN IN WORKING
WASHINGTON, D.C. CONDI RICE AND BOB GATES
RECOMMENDING HIM FOR THIS POSITION.
I'VE BEEN WONDERING ALL THESE MONTHS, HOW DOES HE STAY IN THIS
POSITION? HOW DOES HE KEEP HIS HEAD DOWN
WHEN YOU KNOW HE'S HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THESE FRIENDS
AND ASSOCIATES? AND I GUESS WE LEARNED IN THIS
STORY THAT PERHAPS IT'S NOT BEEN AS EASY FOR HIM.
>> MAYBE THE PRESIDENT WANTS HIM TO LEAVE.
>> AS WE BELIEVED. >> I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK WITH A
STORY LIKE THIS, PEOPLE AROUND THE PRESIDENT WHO REALLY WANT TO
SEND A MESSAGE TO TILLERSON. HE IS A VERY DEFINITE PERSON.
COMES OUT OF RUNNING THIS CORPORATION, EXXONMOBIL.
HE REALLY DOESN'T CARE WHAT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THINK ABOUT
HIM. HE HAS NOT WORKED CONGRESS WELL.
HE CERTAINLY DOESN'T CARE WHAT JOURNALISTS THINK ABOUT HIM.
AS ANDREA AND I KNOW, CAN'T REMEMBER A SECRETARY OF STATE
THAT WAS HARDER TO GET TO THAN THIS GUY.
>> JOHN KERRY WAS REALLY VERY SHY WHEN IT CAME TO CAMERAS.
>> OH, WAIT. >> JOKING, MR. SECRETARY.
JUST JOKING. >> YOU COULD NEVER GET JOHN
KERRY TO SAY ANYTHING. >> NO.
>> EXCEPT EVERY OTHER HALF HOUR. THE RELATION BETWEEN TILLERSON
AND MATTIS WAS SO CLOSE, BEFORE EVERY MEETING THE TWO OF THEM
FIGURE OUT A COMMON POSITION, THAT WOULD CARRY TILLERSON
THROUGH. THE PRESIDENT UNDERSTOOD THIS
WAS HIS TEAM. HE WAS PROUD OF HIS TEAM.
I ASSUMED INITIALLY HIS COMMENTS IN BEIJING WHERE WE HAD THESE
BACK CHANNELS, I THINK THINK HE THOUGHT HE WAS DOING WHAT THE
WHITE HOUSE WANTED AND HE GOT IT WRONG.
THE WHITE HOUSE WAS FURIOUS. WHY DIDN'T HE TALK TO US BEFORE
HE MADE THIS STATEMENT? THAT'S THE KIND OF THING YOU'RE
HEARING. IN A PERIOD WHERE IF HE IS GOING
TO STAY HE WILL HAVE TO FEKS THIS DISCONNECT BETWEEN HIMSELF
AND THE WHITE HOUSE, HIMSELF AND CONGRESS AND WORK AT THAT VERY,
VERY AGGRESSIVELY. THAT'S REALLY NOT THE WAY HE'S
PUT TOGETHER. >> WE HAVE TO GET TO MIKE
BARNICLE. FIRST LET'S GO TO OUR DONALD
TRUMP TWEET DESK. WILLIE GEIST IN HONG KONG,
MONITORING THAT. REMOTE TO WILLIE RIGHT NOW.
>> WILLIE? >> AS THE PRESIDENT WATCHES THE
TV, WOW, SO MANY FAKE NEWS STORIES NO MATTER WHAT I DO OR
SO THEY WILL NOT WRITE OR SPEAK TRUTH.
THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS OUT OF CONTROL.
ONE ASSUMES THAT THIS STORY FROM NBC IS AMONG THOSE THAT HE'S
CRITICIZING TODAY. >> IT REMINDS ME OF WHEN THEY
REFURBISHED -- OH, WAIT. >> THAT'S WHAT PUERTO RICO
NEEDS, THAT KIND OF WORK. >> I'M SORRY.
GO AHEAD. >> THE CEO ASPECT OF REX
TILLERSON IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS TO A LOT OF
PEOPLE. ANDREA AND DAVID, AFTER -- I'VE
BEEN TOLD REPEATEDLY BY SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT THE REAL SPLIT NINE
MONTHS INTO THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY, AT THE TOP OF THE PR
F TRUMP PRESIDENCY ARE THOSE WHO SERVE THE COUNTRY, DEDICATED TO
MOVING THE COUNTRY FORWARD AS OPPOSED TO PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE
SERVING DONALD TRUMP AND HIS EGO AND LACK OF IDEOLOGY.
THAT'S THE SPLIT AT THE TOP OF THE HOUSE.
>> I THINK IT'S ALL ABOUT LOYALTY AND WHAT REALLY UPSET
THE PRESIDENT SO DEEPLY WAS THAT INTERVIEW ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY.
HE WAS ASKED BY CHRIS WALLACE, WHAT ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S
COMMENTS ON CHARLOTTESVILLE? AND REX TILLERSON SAID THE
PRESIDENT SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF. >> STONE FACED.
>> RATHER THAN FALLING ALL OVER HIMSELF FOR TRYING TO MAKE
EXCUSES FOR WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID.
REX TILLERSON IS A MAN OF VALUES.
AND NO ONE HAS HAD A MORE DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP IN THE
PRESS CORPS BUT YOU HAVE TO RESPECT THE FACT THAT THIS MAN
LEAD A GLOBAL COMPANY. HE CAME TO WASHINGTON TO SERVE.
AND IF HE DIDN'T GET IT RIGHT BECAUSE HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND THE NATURE OF THE PRESS CORPS AND ALSO THE
NEED TO STAFF UP AND GET PEOPLE CONFIRMED AND CREATE A TEAM
RATHER THAN THE SMALL UNIT HE USED TO FLY AROUND THE WORLD
WITH DOING DEALS FOR EXXONMOBIL, IF HE DIDN'T GET THAT RIGHT IT
WASN'T FOR LACK OF PATRIOTISM. YOU REALLY HAVE TO WONDER HOW HE
COULD BE TREATED SO SHABBILY BY THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF.
>> DAVID IGNATIUS, BIT OF BREAKING NEWS FOR THE "MORNING
JOE" FAMILY. RICHARD HAAS, PRESIDENT ON
COUNCIL OF FOREIGN AFFILIATIONS, TWEETED THIS AT 7:33 A.M.
REX TILLERSON HAS BEEN DEALT A BAD HAND BY THE PRESIDENT AND
HAS PLAYED IT BADLY. FOR BOTH REASONS HE CANNOT BE
EFFECTIVE AS SECRETARY OF STATE AND SHOULD RESIGN.
I WONDER IF MORE PEOPLE WILL BE SAYING WHAT RICHARD HAAS SAID
EARLIER THIS MORNING. >> WELL, I -- YEAH.
WORRYINGLY, MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE MAY BE IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
I THINK THE POINT I WOULD MAKE IS SIMILAR TO WHAT ANDREA JUST
SAID. TILLERSON HAS REALLY NOT BEEN A
SUCCESS IN ANY SENSE, IN SOME PARTS OF HIS JOB AS SECRETARY OF
STATE. HE JUST IS NOT A COMMUNICATOR.
HE IS A SMART, STEADY PERSON IN DEALING WITH LEADERS AROUND THE
WORLD. DEALING WITH THE PUTINS AND XI
JINPING'S OF CHINA IN TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO RESOLVE THIS
DISPUTE WITH KIM JONG-UN IN NORTH KOREA.
THE GOVERNMENT, WITHOUT TILLERSON'S EXPERIENCE, WILL
HAVE A DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY WITH SO MANY CRISES
GOING ON. THAT CONCERNS ME.
I HOPE IT CONCERNS THE PRESIDENT.
>> I SECOND THAT. I CERTAINLY HOPE SO.
IF ANYBODY THINKS THIS IS A PROBLEM, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE
REPLACEMENT IS. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S COMING
NEXT. >> I THINK MY INSTINCT IS THAT
THE PRESIDENT WANTS HIM TO LEAVE.
>>> DAVID IGNATIUS, THANK YOU. >> MIKA, IF YOU COULD THAT THE
PRESIDENT FIRE HIM, YOU COULD ASSURE ALL OF US THAT REX
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Ignatius: Knives Could Be Out Now For Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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