Trump Denies Report Of John Kelly's Diminished W.H. Influence
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're following new developments out of Syria and the aftermath of a reported chemical attack that left dozens dead. We just learned that National Security Council Principals are meeting tomorrow on Syria. The meeting will be led by newly appointed National Security Adviser John Bolton and will likely tackle what options the President has meeting at the White House. And we're also learning that the United Nations Security Council will also meet tomorrow in an emergency session. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley released a statement saying this, "Yet, again, there are reports of what appears to be a chemical weapons attack in Syria. Unfortunately, chemical weapons used to injure and kill -- use to injure and kill innocent Syrian civilians has become an all too common occurrence. The Security Council has come together and demand immediate access for first responders, support an independent investigation into what happened, and hold accountable those responsible for this atrocious act." And of course, we'll continue to follow these breaking news developments. Meantime, new reporting suggesting that President Trump's White House chief of staff recently threatened to quit. The "Washington Post" quoted John Kelly as saying, "I'm out of here," in a fit of anger last month. A few aides saw those words as a threat to resign. Another said Kelly was just venting his frustration. It's the latest sign of tension between the two men. CNN has previously reported on Kelly airing his frustrations and threatening to quit as he sees his influence in the west-wing diminishing. Well, this morning, Trump bashed the "Washington Post" in a tweet, calling it just another hit job. Close aides say Kelly isn't going anywhere.</s>LARRY KUDLOW, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: John Kelly has been great to me. He is in charge. He's operating a much improved process, and every time the President and I talk and that subject comes up, the President has nothing but good things to say about General Kelly. That's what I'll say. I don't personally think this is a real story that President Trump about it -- the President, sorry, the president tweeted about it --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're using Trump as a synonym for tweet now.</s>KUDLOW: Indeed. Trump tweeted on it and didn't sound like he is pushing Kelly out.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, joining right now is one of the journalists behind the "Washington Post" story, CNN Political Analyst and White House Reporter for the "Washington Post" Josh Dawsey. All right, so Josh, no surprised. You're not getting, you know, great reviews coming from the White House there on your reporting. But talk to me about how you're able to obtain this kind of information, the sourcing, of course, without revealing a lot of your sources, but why do you stand behind this reporting?</s>JOSH DAWSEY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Of course we do. We worked on this for several weeks. We had 16 interviews with various senior officials in the White House, people close to the President inside and outside the White House. We reviewed our reporting extensively with the White House before publication. We asked for comment from the General Kelly and the President, neither of them wanted to comment. And none of me nor my colleagues today have gotten any complaints from the White House asking for correction or clarification or anything wrong other than the President's tweet. So it seems to me the President obviously has the right to make his opinion on Twitter and express it, but we stand by our reporting 100 percent.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. So, Josh, when General Kelly arrived to the White House, was that eight months ago or so, you know, many said that he was the one to bring some order back into the west-wing. Has that order been brought, and is that what his expectation was?</s>DAWSEY: Maybe to some degree. He certainly cut down on the size of meetings, close the door to the Oval Office, put new rules in that kind of ban people from walking into the Oval Office talking on their cell phones, has instill some policy time for the President so he's looking more deeply at issues. And really, has kind of kept some of the erroneous materials that were getting to the President, articles from what's unreputable sites that would influence his decisions from his desk. But the President has become chafing at that after a couple of months. Number of Trump allies said to me when John Kelly was in</s>WHITFIELD: So then, Josh, your reporting with the "Washington Post" together with some CNN reporting that there have been, you know, heated discussions, if not debates or arguments between, you know, John Kelly and even the President. Are those indicators that the chief of staff has influenced or that there is diminishing influence because of that friction?</s>DAWSEY: Well, it depends what you asked. Some officials in the west- wing say that those heated fights, screaming and squaring at times, show that the chief of staff is willing to give his opinion to the President, he's going to stand up, he's willing to give good advice. Others say that the President is not listening to him and that shows his diminished influence increasingly so. What we do know is there has been a ramped-up number of fights between the chief of staff and the President, including as recently as almost, you know, 11 days ago, 12 days ago now, where John Kelly left colleagues thinking he may be leaving, he may be quitting. So, it's a tense relationship. But a point of that was always to be expected to some degree. You have a president who is a mercurial businessman who says he's proud but he goes on his impulses, his gut. You have a chief of staff who, you know, as a military man believes in rigor and discipline and want things run through a chain of command and order. And those two personalities were always going to clash to some degree.</s>WHTFIELD: And so, Josh, is this gossip or is this meaningful?</s>DAWSEY: Well, I would argue that the relationship between the President of the United States and the chief of staff, of course it's meaningful. It's how he runs the country, it's how policy is made, it's how the west-wing operates. I think there is no more meaningful relationship probably in American politics than the President and his chief of staff.</s>WHITFIELD: Josh Dawsey, of the "Washington Post," CNN Analyst as well, thanks so much.</s>DAWSEY: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, President Trump threatens more tariffs on China and the market is taken nose dive. Coming up, are the U.S. and China on the verge of a trade war? And what would that mean for the American economy?