Tillerson Chaos Shows Kelly's Struggles to Manage White House
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Defense Department has released the name of the fourth U.S. servicemember killed in a that deadly ambush in Niger. Twenty-five-year-old Army Sergeant David Johnson went missing after coming under enemy fire near the Niger-Mali border. As many as 50 fighters, likely affiliated with ISIS, carried out this attack. His body was recovered just yesterday in a remote area of the North African country. Five Nigerien soldiers also died in that attack. After another week of drama in the West Wing, sources tell CNN General Kelly is struggling to manage a rift between President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Reports surfaced this week that Tillerson called the president a, quote, "moron" at a meeting over the summer. And the White House is insisting the reports are false and says the president maintains confidence in Tillerson. But many diplomats and White House sources believe Tillerson's days are numbered in the Trump White House. Correspondent Ryan Nobles is joining us. Ryan, tell us about the latest chaos in the West Wing and the dynamics of this interesting triangle involving Trump, Tillerson and General Kelly.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, it's made General Kelly's job difficult. Part of the reason he became the White House chief of staff was to try and tamp down this tension between Donald Trump and some of the cabinet secretaries, and at least get it out of the public view. Our reporting tells us that John Kelly himself attempted to intervene and try and convince the president that it wasn't a good idea to admonish his secretary of state in the public square. Now the White House has flatly rejected that point of view. And they spent a better part of this week trying to convince everyone that there is no tension between the president and his secretary of state.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Total confidence in Rex.</s>NOBLES (voice-over): Despite the president's insistence that he is confident in the secretary of state and Rex Tillerson's denial he considered stepping down, top aides say the relationship is strained. And a growing number of top diplomats and White House officials believe the secretary of state's days are numbers.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Nothing has changed, despite what you may read in the media or watch on TV. I would certainly trust the president and my comments far above those of other reporters.</s>NOBLES: In the briefing room, press secretary, Sarah Sanders, continued to push back on the reports that Tillerson could be on the way out. And a White House official tells CNN there's no indication that Tillerson's job is in jeopardy. Primarily, because Chief of Staff John Kelly's concerned about the optics of another high-profile administration official stepping down. The uncertainty around Tillerson's future comes at a time when the administration is preparing to wade into one of its most authority foreign policy matters, decertifying the Iran nuclear deal hatched during the Obama administration.</s>TRUMP: You'll be hearing about Iran very shortly. Thank you.</s>NOBLES: Trump could recertify the deal as early as next week forcing the decision to be made by Congress, which would have 60 days to determine a path forward. While the president claims Iran has not lived up to the spirit of the deal, top administration officials, like Defense Secretary James Mattis, have warned pulling out completely is not in the best interest of U.S. national security.</s>GEN. JAMES MATTIS, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Absent indications to the contrary, it is something the president should consider staying with.</s>NOBLES: It's expected that the White House will announce a broader long-range strategy for the Middle East, which will include the Iran deal and beefed-up measures, such as inspections and plans for what happens when it expires. But pushing that deal through Congress is always risky and would involve winning over fickle Republican hawks in the U.S. Senate, a job that could be made more difficult while tensions with the administration's top diplomat continues.</s>NOBLES: The White House was very critical of press reports of the relationship between Tillerson and the president this week, suggesting those of us in the media are not doing enough time focusing on the positive aspects of this administration, like their work involving the stock market and cutting down on regulations. Of course, Ana, this comes at the same time as the president went on Twitter this week and suggested that the Senate Intelligence Committee should be investigating reporters and the media.</s>CABRERA: Ryan Nobles, at the White House. Thank you for that. Here we go again. At the peak of hurricane season, all eyes on Hurricane Nate. A dangerous category 1 storm taking aim at the gulf coast. It is picking up strength. We'll have the timing of when it will make landfall, next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.