in? cnn, province, syria. >> what a heartbreaking story that is. but the war there continues. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room". erin burnett outfront starts right now. outfront next the white house caught in a lie about who knew what and when in the rob porter scandal. fbi director setting the record straight. plus turnover at the trump white house, the highest in recent history. is john kelly the next to go? and breaking news democrats refusing to make revisions to their memo rebutting republican claims of fbi abuses. how will the president respond? let's go outfront. good evening i'm james sciutto in for erin burnett.

outfront breaking news, a new culprit and time line, white house is now blaming bureaucrats in own personal office to failing to act on domestic abuse against rob porter this as the white house is contradicting administration account on what they knew and when they knew it. let's go to the time line. today the fbi director christopher wray made clear the bureau informed white house against allegations bins porter months ago. >> the fbi submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in march. and then a completed background investigation in late july. soon thereafter we requested requests for follow-up inquiry and we did the follow up and provided that information in november. and then we administratively closed the file in january. >> so to be clear, the fbi first submitted a partial report to

the white house in march last year. they submitted the final report in late july. and in november the bureau submitted even more information to answer follow up requests. the fbi closed the file in january. let's be clear, that time line be lies the story we heard from the white house podium just yesterday. >> as i said, and i'm going to repeat what i said earlier, that we learned of the situation involving rob porter last tuesday evening, and within 24 hours his resignation had been accepted and announced. we announced a transition was going to happen. and within hours it d anid. and in terms of time line i don't have anything else to add. >> that time line wasn't true. confronted with this today, sanders found a new culprit to explain why no one in the administration took immediate action despite knowing about these allegations for nearly a year. >> white house personnel security office staffed by

career officials received information last year, and what they considered to be the final background investigation report in november. but they had not made a final recommendation for adjudication to the white house because the process was still ongoing when porter resigned. >> the process. so career officials, she said received the report not team trump. but john kelly is the chief of staff. a job that includes managing the staff among them the staff secretary rob porter and of course those career officials in the white house personnel security office. at least sanders was willing to make the rare admission today that perhaps this could have been handled better. not so chief of staff john kelly speaking to the wall street journal, kelly was asked if the white house could answer differently. kelly answer was, quote, no, it was done all right. was it? cnn looernd todearned last week same time these allegations were coming to light in public, rob porter was serious discussions to be promoted.

and senior white house officials were receptive promoting him. he was one of the few competent professionals on his staff and wanted to be sure that he was used to his full potential. consider that. jeff zeleny is outfront at the white house. is that tiny personnel office only people in the white house who were aware of these abuse allegations? >> jim, it's not. and this is why. the reality here is yes this personnel office does receive reports. i'm told it's akin to hr. think of it private company. but handles security clearances looic that. but i am told by u.s. government official tonight, they don't make decisions. they are clearinghouse. they get the information and pass it on here to the white house or whatever company or agency would be in the government. there are agencies officials like this throughout this government. but they do not make decisions. reality here is based on our reporting and other reporting,

over the last week or so, white house counsel don mcgahn in his office was made aware of at least some of this information. white house chief of staff john kelly made aware some of this information. important to point out john kelly arrived here at the white house at the very end of july. so he would have missed the time the fbi director said earlier today of march and july was when the first two phases of this process for rob porter were. but of course he was certainly here in november. so, jim, the reality here is i sat in the white house briefing today and heard sarah sanders talk about this personnel office, we wondered what it is. it's an obscure office here, small office that works not far from the white house, just across the street, actually, but they i'm told do not make these decisions. and one other thing technically the background checks are never closed permanently because that would mean if they are closed and denied, this government official would not be able to work in the government again if they are denied a clearance. so always sort of in limbo here,

but the reality, time frame going on too long. our colleague jim acosta also report that don mcgahn whout counsel office many here believe he has not provided enough information to other officials here. so we heard sarah sanders say at the briefing, i'm basing this on what i know, information that i know. again, jim, tonight as we enter day number eight, as many questions as there were when we started the day. >> seems to be new culprit every day as well. thanks very much at the white house. outfront tonight april ryan with us with the panel. april, i'm going to ask you straight up to you, did the white house lie? >> you know, the question is, what does sarah know. because like jeff, my sources are telling me a lot. apparently it's not just about

the fact that the fbi had the information. i'm hearing that personnel security office works with the national security council along with white house personnel. so three groups that have information about those who are working in the white house or potential people who, president or senior staff may want to bring in. now, what i'm understanding is is that the fbi does its due diligence once the white house says this is who we want. and then it goes into issue where they present their findings and then the white house personnel office, this is what my sources are telling me, white house personnel office as well as national security look over this person, and then it's given to the white house to make a decision. and typically, again, from sources, from various sources, when they give an interim security clearance, that's just

for a limited amount of time. and it's supposed to be narrow in scope. the person is not supposed to be able to touch top secret or classified materials. now, also, i also understand from my sources that when a president or top staff wants someone, they categorize whose priority. and if rob porter was priority, he could have had his security clearance by now if indeed he passed the muster. so there is a lot of holes here. >> sure. >> and the question with finding out this information, the question is now if you are limited in scope with what are you supposed to do with international rum security clearance, jared kushner has interim security clearance, but talking to bb netanyahu. we heard that. he is actually with interim clearance. >> i want to get to that, april,

but forgive me, but want to stay for a moment on the changing white house story here. because in the last 24 hours both time line of the white house knowledge of this changed, contradicted in fact by the fbi director under oath on capitol hill, but also the culprit who the white house is pointing the finger at, and of course convenient target here of a little known office across the street in the old executive office building. does this stand up to the facts as you know them? >> it doesn't, jim. i think we saw today sarah sanders simply change the direction over the last 24 hours of where she is pointing the finger. yesterday she said, you know, the clearance process, it's in the hands of law enforcement and we were simply letting it play out. the fbi contradicted that today and she said, well, it's in a small white house office, again, the political personnel in the white house, we don't have control over it. what i heard from many white house aides is they want to know

when exactly this smaller personnel office would have done concerns to don mcgahn and chief of staff john kelly presumably if the security office learned of concerning allegations against the senior aide. one would think they would convey their concerns immediately. and it's my understanding based on my reporting that white house counsel don mcgahn knew as far back as last january, more than a year ago, about some of these allegations. and that chief of staff john kelly who joined the white house in july was aware of them in november. and yet they did nothing. and one white house said said to me today, i have the really uncomfortable feeling the white house moved on this because they got caught. >> well, it wouldn't be ts first time. i want to ask you, tim, and i want to put up this time line again so our viewers can focus on this. fbi first came back with report which we know included accounts of these allegations and very serious allegations of spousal

abuse in march of last year, that's 11 months ago. july the final report. they came back with even more information in november. and then in january they closed the case. the american people would have to believe that this information coming from the federal bureau of investigation to the white house about a senior staffer, not a low level staffer, a senior staffer, that this information about serious allegations of spousal abuse did not make its way to senior officials in that white house. john kelly among them, the white house counsel don mcgahn. >> you covered white houses and studied white houses. is that possible? >> well, first thing i want to say is if you, in the federal government, if you are the supervisor of a unit that includes people with clearances, you know the status of their clearances. clearances are for five years. depends on the level fof the clearance. then they are reviewed.

you know that because you know when they are up for review. >> safe enough to hand dealing the most sensitive information? >> yeah, you are not allowed to share materials. so it's inconceivable that the chief of staff did not know he had people working in his staff whose clearances were under review. put it this way. were interim. that were not five year clearances. so first of all there sa probis problem there and he would know that. the white house personnel office doesn't sit on this information because it's necessary for the supervisor to know t next problem with this is somebody asked for additional information in the summer, which resulted in a new report in november. and this is what director wray mentioned today. who asked for that information? oh, it's not just the personnel office. >> because the fbi would not come back with new information unless they were asked for it. >> no, they were asked for t and personnel office will not initiate that. someone higher up must have said

what is taking so long, why isn't he getting it? it's in conceivable to me that the chief of staff didn't know about that. now, i think part of what's going on here is that this is a white house that doesn't trust the fbi. it doesn't trust the fbi with regard to the mueller investigation. it probably views the fact that these clearances are dragging on, that jared kushner, for example, only has interim one, apparently. this is evidence that the fbi is against the administration. don't forget, there are a number of people in that administration of a conspiracial of the law enforcement. >> they didn't multiple spousal abu abuse of rob porter. april, if i ask you this, president in instances like this looks for someone to blame. we heard sarah sanders not spirited defense of john kelly. who do you think is in the president's line of fire now? our own reporters don mcgahn

questions being asked about his role as well. >> depending on the day and the hour, everyone is in the line of fire. if it doesn't bode well for him, you know, the other day it was raj. right now we are hearing rumbling about general kelly. it could be anyone. but this is a big issue, particularly for someone, a president who during the campaign kept talking abohillar clinton emails being open to the public. you have a situation now where someone who really doesn't have a full security clearance, interim clearance, that supposed to have been narrow or limited in scope being able to touch top secret documents or classified information. he could have been blackmailed over. so depending upon the day, you know, it's up in the air who he is going to go after because of this. but ultimately falls on him.

he's the president. >> yeah, buck should stop with him. he's defending himself, white house telling the wall street journal, it was all done light. do you believe general kelly believes that? >> i don't think deep down he believes that, but i think like his boss, president trump, he has a real tendency to dig his heels in and reluctance to admit he's made mistakes. what's been so striking about the white house behavior in this scandal is really fits a pattern. we have seen something that could have been cleared up by more transparency in 48 hours that has become not just the rob porter but the john kelly kelly donald trump scandal don mcgahn scandal. mushroomed to touch every corner of the white house. >> could have been cleared up by our rule our parents told us. tell the truth. simple as that. thank you. up front, president trump

given a clans, what we heard is silence. >> plus officials say russia is already targeting 2020 midterm elections. and what is the president doing about it. and the president and the s word. >> how stupid are these politicians to allow this to happen. re for my son's winning shot. that was it for me. that's why i'm quitting with nicorette. only nicorette mini has a patented fast dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. every great why needs a great how.

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volumes. white house says the president takes domestic violence seriously. but the president has yet to say so himself. given not one but two opportunities at the white house again today, silence. >> thank you all very much. thank you. >> mr. president, do you believe rob porter's ex-wives. >> tlauhank you very much. >> thank you. >> no answer there twice. outfront now former white house communications former trump adviser, steve cortes. steve, if i could talk with you. we spoke last night and you said you would hear from the president being firmly behind the victims. did trump fail again today? >> i'm not going to say he fail failed. there is plenty of time, jim. but i with like to hear him be more explicit and hear him talk

that we respect and agree that these ex-wives have credibility, they are telling the truth. and zero tolerance going forward for people who commit these heinous acts of domestic violence. so, yes, i think there is work to do here. by the way, one of the reasons i want him to do that, number one right thing to do. but number two we have a great story to tell about the achievements of the trump presidency and what we have done in the last year. but instead we spent a week f fixated on this issue rather than telling american lives more prosperous and secure. and i would personally like to get back there. >> we heard sarah sanders say today that and yesterday rather that she was speaking for the president when it comes to this issue. you've spoken for the president before on a number of issues, previous president. is it enough for her to make that statement on domestic violence for mr. trump? >> no, it's not. and it wouldn't be enough for

any press secretary to make a statement about domestic violence on behalf the president they are speaking on behalf of. i think in this case, jim, you can say a lot of things about president trump, but the man knows how to have his voice and his point of view heard. he was tweeting at 5:30 this morning, multiple opportunities today to be heard from. and what that leads most people to believe is that he doesn't think the victims deserve a voice. that he doesn't believe their story. that he finds it hard to believe that someone with a strong pedigree and resume would be capable of this. and that would be entirely consistent with his record and background on these issues, that's where people lean hand believe at this point. >> what's your response to that? >> that's incredibly unfair. i'm conceding i think the president needs to be more forceful here, i do. needs to be more explicit. needs to be more deliberate in talking about this issue. okay. but i'm going to push back on the idea that it's consistent

with who he is as an individual or as a president or as a business man. quite the opposite is true. this is a man who has empowered women entire life. in his business career, certainly in white house, and making america more secure for everyone regardless of skin color or gender. what i'm saying is he's created in my mind, and my humble advice to him he's created unnecessary distraction here. let's acknowledge the very real pain of these women. acknowledge the reality that they were abused. and that, frankly, the white house was fooled by a polished road scholar who looked like a golden boy but in fact in private like was a monster, not the first time it happened or last. >> do you buy that? >> not making a part san point here. i'm making the point here that his record is one of defending people like bill o'reilly.

defending people like roy moore, who victims and add vo cats would not consider on the side of women. so that's the history people are looking at here. that's his record. so it would be much more shocking and surprising if he came out and, believe me, i would welcome this, if he came out as starting point and said, we were wrong, we were tricked, we handled this poorly. i'm going to make sure that nothing like this happens again. but even with that, people wouldn't necessarily believe he's credible on this issue given his past history. >> steve, i wonder how you respond to that. because folks have taken particular issue with the president's tweet this weekend about mere allegations destroying people's careers. he didn't make a specific reference to rob porter in this case but the timing was such that it seemed to tangential reference there. >> right. >> learning now from what the fbi director testified on the hill this morning, a lot to back up these allegations to the point the fbi looked at it and supplied that information to the

white house. i wonder if you take issue with that dismissing this in effect as a mere allegation? >> sure. jim, listen, as strongly as i believe in this president and love what he's doing for this country and will do, continue to do for this country and rebuilding our economic and national security, i'll concede that i think the saturday tweet was a mistake, i do, i think it was iladvised antoid tone deaf. he wasn't explicitly supporting rob porter but seemed like implicitly he was. that's unseepable. so my message to the white house is we have tax cuts and control of the border, addressing immigration, we have so much to celebrate for this country. things that matter to the lives of real voters in this country. let's message on that and let's message correctly on zero

tolerance for the perpetrators of domestic violence or harassment of women. by the way, too, i want to point this out also because i'm being harsh on my president whom i love. but let's be fair about this also. no d or r attached to this issue of sexual harassment or to domestic violence. and i think that if we are going to be fair and shine a light on this let's shine a light on steve winn, roger ailes, and bill clinton and harvey weinstein. let's be equal and fair talk about helm who use their position to abuse women, whether rob porter or bill clinton, it's wrong. >> do you agree with that? >> this shouldn't be partisan issue. about you talking about the president of the united states and what least done and his staff has done over the last week, they have validated miss con exceptions about domestic abuse and made people believe that victims should not be believed. that if you are a man who has a good pedigree, you are not

capable of this. so a lot of irresponsible actions, not just rob porter, obviously that is abysmal. but beyond that how they are handling has flown in the face and been offensive to advocates. >> i agree. the white house needs to message way better and the president. and i hope and believe that he will. and i hope that we'll get back to the great things that he's doing for this country and get beyond this issue. >> steve and jen thank you for speaking from the hafrmt it'sea. outfront democrats won't be making revisions to their memo in response to republican abuses. will the president block it again. and security clearance problems at the white house continuing. saying changes have to be made and soon. gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea

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that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you can get 5 lines of talk and text included at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. choose by the gig or unlimited. and now, get a $200 prepaid card when you buy an iphone. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit, or go to xfnitymobile.com. breaking news, and this just in to cnn top democrat on the house intelligence committee saying he will not make any changes to his memo. response to the nunes memo that alleged surveillance abuse by the fbi. >> we are not going to make any revisions to it. only question is what re-dac shuns will be made. and obviously we'd like to keep those to a minimum. the white house has different

interest. i think their interest is in redacting anything that doesn't reflect well in the white house. >> manu, you spoke to congressman schiff there. what does this mean for the memo being made public? >> schiff is still confident they can reach something with the white house. but he made it very clear he only agree to re-dac shuns and wants to keep the re-dac shuns quote to a minimum and would not agree to any changes to the memo. the ultimate question is whether the fbi agrees with that. and whether or not the white house also agrees to it. and if neither of them do, jim, then the decision will be left up to the house intelligence committee and republican of the house to override the white house. and no indication yet the republicans are willing to buck the president, so discussions are going to continue behind the scenes. >> that would be pretty remarkable step. i want to ask you about hearings

on chill, powerful force telling senators they fully back not only russia interfered in 2016 election but agreed that russia is likely to interfere in upcoming elections. let's have a listen. >> well, so no change in high view of the 2017 assessment and i support that. and i agree with director pompeo's assessment about the likelihood of the 2018 occurrence as well. >> and participated in that 2018 work, and i stand by it now, and i grew he with pompeo this will not change or stop. >> yes, it's not going to change or stop. >> throughout the entire community, we have not seen any evidence of any significant change from last year. >> i agree with director pompeo. >> as do i. >> one by one the senior most intelligence chiefs contradicting the president. you are speaking these folks on the had hill a lot.

do we know how exactly russian is interfering in the 2018, 2020 elections, how laying the ground work for interfering? >> they seem to be emulating the same tactics they took in the 2016 elections. trying to get political and social tension on some key issues using social media and other platforms. for example, in order to try to exacerbate these intentions ahead of the 2018 elections. we don't know yet, jim, whether or not this is effort to help one party or the other ahead of the midterm elections. but that's one thing that the investigators on capitol hill are still trying to learn more about and one reason why the senate intelligence committee plans to issue a report next month by security measures they can take ahead of the november elections, jim. >> manu raju on the hill, thanks very much. >> thank you. >> up front on ts foreign affairs oversight committees. thanks for joining us today. >> great for being here.

>> first schiff not make any revisio revisions to democratic memo. you've seen t are you concerned it will be so redacted that the essential point will not get across if and when it's made public? >> i think that's a real risk, especially regarding who does the redacting. i believe that the republicans said they were for full transparency. full transparency means you release both memos unrevised and largely unredacted. i think that way the american people and the media can decide for themselves what the real story was. >> we had an interesting counter contrast today in that you had all the six intelligence chiefs saying yeah russia interfered in 2016 and they'll do it again in 2018 and 2020. yet cnn report that the president still is not convinced that russia interfered at all in 2016. from where you are sitting now, is the u.s. doing enough to prevent future interference in

u.s. elections? >> no. let me first say i think the evidence is incontrovertible. not a matter of president trump's opinion. all 17 agencies including the primary 6 you talked about are in agreement about that. russians directed, very great campaign to influence the outcome of the presidential election. what we don't have any proof is they were able to break into a voting machine and switch votes. but that's next. and therefore we have no doubt they'll do it again. of course, having succeeded once, spectacularly in 2016, helping to determine the outcome of the presidential election, why would they stop and say, well, we are not going to touch midterms? so we have to be on the alert and we must certainly have not done enough to protect our electoral system from the ballot

box to ht kind of news that gets repeated as if it were fact when in fact it's propaganda from moscow. so long way to go. >> you said, congressman, interfering in actual voting systems is next. have you seen evidence or intelligence to show, in my own reporting i've learned there have been probing attacks on lexus temps. have you seen evidence of russia actually trying to get inside and make changes, disrupt, et cetera? >> i have not seen direct evidence of that. that's why i said i think that's next. we had no such evidence in 2016 although there was some evidence that they were probing, that they were making attempts and proving they could break into systems. and that's why i say i think the next thing is to break into those systems and actually try to effect the outcome of votes cast. >> the intelligence chiefs also asked today if president trump has ever explicitly directed them to take specific actions to

confront and stop russian interference. have a listen to their answers. >> we are taking a lot of specific efforts to blunt. >> directed by the president? >> not specifically directed by the president. >> director, pompeo have received a specific presidential direction to take steps to disrupt these activities? >> i'm not sure how specific. >> i can't say i've been explicitly directed to, quote, blunt or actively stop. >> none of them have been told by the president to stop these kinds of attacks. do you believe the president is taking the threat seriously enough? >> no, i certainly don't. and listening to that series of reports breaks one's heart as an american. what do you mean? why wouldn't the first thing the president of the united states do is jump out of his chair and say i want this stopped. i want you to use everything you've got to protect the american democratic electoral

system. that's the oath i took as president to protect the constitution of the united states. to to be lackadaisical about it and zero direction is unbelievable testimony. and deeply troubling about this president of the united states. >> jerly conley, thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >> outfront next, intelligence official says security clearance procedures must change. so why is the white house ball canning? and white house turnover off the charts. why one in three trump staffers headed for the exits. little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring.

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tonight the director of national intelligence dan coats saying white house staff still working on temporary security clearances should have access to intelligence restricted. this after cnn confirmed 30 to 40 white house officials and political appointees, a group that involves the president's son-in-law jared kushner are still operating without full security clearance. >> sometimes i think it's necessary to have some type of preliminary security clearance to fill a slot. but i have public ply stated if that's the case the access needs to be limited in terms of the kind of information they can be in possession to receive or not receive. >> outfront now former counsel to the u.s. assistants attorney

general carry cordero also the senior assistant general, and retired fbi mike rogers. i should note for the viewers both of you have been through the security clearance process yourself. but congressman rogers i'll start with you. do you agree with dan coats anyone working on security clearance should have some limitations on intelligence they are able to receive? >> i do, unless it is a very rare circumstance indeed. and by now people who have been at the white house some length of time should have a determination on their clearance. so i get a little concerned, and i'll tell you why, sends a really terrible message to the whole large of the federal government who goes through process of sf 86 which is horribly invasive and go through the background check and get checked up, and they hold you to the letter of the clearance law. that seems to be abandoned. and that sends a really bad message about the importance of

keeping classified information secret. and so i do worry about this. and i worry about some vulnerabilities that builds in to some pretty sensitive areas of the white house. and i think they'll have to start making sure that the people who are there can get clearances. i think it's really important. >> i want to get to the issue of vulnerabilities there. but first carry that group i wonder if you agree with mike rogers, but should note the president's includes jared kushner. he would then have to have, based 0en that rule, and coats investigation, his access to sensitive information restricted. >> you know, what's interesting jim, is what coats said today about temporary clearance should fb restricted in some way, that's actually consistent with long standing policy that's already in place. so there are, we forget sometimes, this is not a system that's just being created. there are executive orders and internal policies that have existed for across different administrations of both parties. and current executive order that

has been in place since 1995 provides temporary clearances could be limp theited in some w. so i think the dni was stating what current policy should be and situation he's finding himself in as someone with authority over classification matters for the entire intelligence community is it a white house that isn't really playing by the rules. >> congressman rogers, white house has been trying to sell a story, in effect, well, this is on the fbi's shoulders here. that was yesterday. now today it's on this tiny little personnel office in the white house no one has heard of. basically saying they weren't really truly aware of what these allegations were. do you buy that? do you buy that information didn't make its way to the senior officials including john kelly there that these serious allegations were affecting

someone such as rob porter? >> i would put it this way, somebody in the white house knew that was senior enough to be able to make the decision to continue his employment there despite derogatory information provided by the fbi. now, who that is in that structure, you know, is it a plausible that john kelly didn't know that? maybe. but somebody in the white house did. and this is where they get insomuch trouble. better off to say, hey, we screwed this up. this guy shouldn't have been here. the fbi found evidence that he was beating, not just one but two wives. i mean, this is pretty serious stuff. and we should have never made this mistake. this story would be over. but this constant changing narrative continues to get them in trouble on this. >> carry, i spoke with senator blumenthal last night on the issue of temporary security clearances he raised question of vulnerability. rob porter had blackmail risk. but he raised the concern that

perhaps some of these other 30 to 40 white house staffers who were operating under temporary security clearance might have a similar risk. do you think that is founded? >> i do. because this exists for a reason. it exists because it's supposed to vet individuals for a variety of factors, including their trut worthiness, loyal to the united states, even their strength of character. these are all things that are actually in the rules and policies that govern the security clearance process. and so if you have a large group, and 40 is a large group of individuals, working in the white house who have not successfully gone through that process, then it certainly raises a lot of concerns. >> carry and mike, thanks very much. >> thanks. >> outfront next, staffers running for the exits at the white house. does anyone actually want to work there? and the president's favorite insult, hint, it starts with the letter s. people would stare.

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more for your thing. yeah, that's our thing. tonight there are new calls for white house chief of staff john kelly to step down even from some republicans. his exit would mean another high profile exit from an administration that already has a high rate. >> i have the best people in the world. >> bragging on the campaign trail that jobs in his administration would go to top talent. as president trump is having problems keeping his staffers in place, more than one in three senior staff members have left the administration in its first year according to a brookings

institution study. >> there is not a pick that i don't love. >> reporter: chaotic -- greater than the previous six administrations. a large number of them leaving is the president's top senior staff. >> it is my judgment that i was fired because of the russian investigation. >> reporter: some were fired like fbi james comey, and director anthony scaramucci. some resigned like sean spicer. >> he intoed that the president wanted to bring in and add new people to the team. >> reporter: chief of staff answer --

>> i felt badly because secretary price is a good man. >> reporter: attorney general jeff sessions has weathered the storm so far. so is secretary of state rex tillerson. the staff turmoil shows no signs of slowing. reality star left the white house in december. >> omarosa was fired three times on the apprentice and this is the fourth time we let her go. >> we wish him well, he worked very hard. i found out about it recently and was surprised by it. >> reporter: porter's departure raising question about john kelly. trump privately expressed

frustration but publicly -- >> he is doing a great job. and he will be here in my opinion for the entire seven years. >> rapid turnover has been a part of life in this administration. but the big question is who is going to be next to go. jim, back to you. >> next, who is president trump calling stupid. >> how stupid is this. how stupid are they? of being there for my son's winning shot. that was it for me. that's why i'm quitting with nicorette. only nicorette mini has a patented fast dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. every great why needs a great how.

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president trump has claimed he has quote a very high iq.

is that why he thinks so many things are stupid? here is jeanne moos. >> president trump doesn't need a teleprompter to prompt this word. >> stupid people. >> how stupid are they? >> reporter: about how the president employs the word with which forest gump took issue. >> are you crazy or just plain stupid? >> reporter: what the president does is use stupid for the leaders that came before him. >> how stupid are our leaders. >> leaders are too start for our leaders because we have stupid leaders. >> reporter: sometimes president trump targets an individual like

former president obama. >> i think he is a stupid person. >> reporter: he once questioned whether people were stupid enough to vote for -- >> how stupid are the people of iowa to believe this crap? >> reporter: occasionally someone calls him stupid back. >> he is either so stupid -- no, it is possible. >> reporter: steven colbert compared him to a sprinter. >> they think they are stupid. i mean how stupid are we? >> reporter: whatever you do, don't blame it on the president's vocabulary. >> stupid is stronger. no better word than stupid. >> reporter: you know who isn't stupid? >> the mafia is not so stupid.

>> reporter: he is seeing a lot of stupidity if he turns on this piece. jeanne moos, cnn. >> stupid. >> stupid. >> reporter: new york. >> and there you have it. thanks for joining us tonight. ac 360 starts right now. >> we begin tonight keeping them honest with the white house continuing their effort to gaslight american people. if you haven't seen the movie "gaslight," gaslighting is when someone tries to make you question your reality or sanity. they do this by denying the reality you know to be true. that is how the white house is gas lighting the american people. today the white house is changing its story to