thought he died. seven weeks later, rangers found him. >> you never knew it would happen. if they didn't contact us, i don't think we would have found him. >> thomas is thinner. thanks for joining us. here's shep. >> shepard: it's noon on the west coast. 3:00 at the white house. we're monitoring a potential shakeup in the trump administration. the white house is pushing back on reports that the president may replace secretary of state rex tillerson. it would be a big move as washington deals with north korea. president trump declining to knock down the news. the white house briefing is set to start at any moment. we expect reporters to ask about the investigation into russia's election meddling after we learned that jared kushner met with robert mueller's team. the attorney general jeff sessions testifying before house lawmakers today. while donald trump jr. is scheduled to talk with them next

week. encouraging sign for republicans as a key senator gets on board with the tax plan. arizona's john mccain now says he supports it. we could see the final vote by tomorrow. plus, capitol hill controversies. the democratic congressman john conyers is hospitalized after former staffer as cues him of sexual harassment. >> i play for congressman conyers and his family. however, he should resign. >> the democratic senator al franken now accused of groping another woman. an army veteran. let's get to it. we begin with the breaking news on what has turned out to be an especially turbulent day in washington. the white house briefing is set to start at any minute. a bulk of it will be on secretary of state rex tillerson and whether or not he's getting

kicked to the curb. the white house chief of staff john kelly has told the "wall street journal" newspaper with which this network shares common ownership that administration officials have not put together a plan to remove tillerson. the chief of staff responding to a report that the white house was working to replace him with mike pompeo. in turn, they would honor to the cotton the cia job. cotton says the senator is focused on his current role and officials at the cia are not commenting at all. sources tell john roberts that we should all expect tillerson to leave sometime in the month of january. we'll get more from john in just a moment. so far no word from the secretary himself. he was originally scheduled to give a keynote address at a world aids day event a short time from now. instead, the deputy secretary state is going to handle it. officials say they made that

change yesterday because of a scheduling conflict. as for president trump, this is what he had to say when asked about secretary of state. listen. >> rex is here. >> shepard: "rex is here." the president said he was referring to rex tillerson in the west wing. we reported on tensions between president trump and secretary tillerson. they're not new. early last month rex tillerson referred to the president as a moron and mike pence had to convince him not to quit. tillerson did not deny calling the president a moron. >> the vice president has never had to persuade me to remain secretary of state because i have never considered leaving this post. i'm new to washington. i have learned that there are some that try to sow dissension to advance their own agenda by tearing others apart in an

effort to undermine the president's own agenda. i do not and i will not operate that way. >> shepard: again, no mention of the moron comment. the state department spokes woman after ward said secretary of state tillerson did not use that language with president trump. though she wasn't there. and then there's north korea. president trump seemed to undercut the secretary of state when he tweeted. i told rex tillerson our wonderful secretary of state that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with little rocketman. save your energy, rex. we'll do what has to be done. so either tillerson is wonderful or he's out. as we wait for the briefing, we have team fox coverage. rich edson is at the state department. john roberts is live in the briefing room. john? >> shep, good afternoon. sarah huckabee sanders will take the podium in the next ten minutes or so.

she arrives 10, 15 minutes after the scheduled time. the president not giving rex tillerson arousing endorsement saying he's here because the water fountain is also here. we don't know what the future of the water fountain will be. this is something that's been talked about for a long time here, including the idea that mike pompeo would replace him at the state department and tom cotton with whom the president has a terrific relationship would replace pompeo. to for some reason the pompeo switch doesn't work, i'm being told there's a secondary plan that's being talked about here at the white house. not necessarily officially endorsed the president likes nikki haley. it's possible she could go to the state department that would leave a vacancy at the united nations that could be filled by dena powell, that is a power player here. we will point out that the wall

street is reporting there's no plan to remove rex tillerson. he didn't say there's no plan to replace him. shep, eventually everybody leaves the white house. at some point they have to. i'm being told we could expect rex tillerson if he does decide to leave to go after january next year, maybe before february 1, which you'll remember this year is when he was confirmed. he's told people he wants to stay here a year. now again, none of this is set in stone -- >> shepard: excuse me. they're speaking about this now. let's listen to heather nauert. >> we've asked for additional commitments in afghanistan, something we view as being important to addressing the solid relationships with the european partners. he has a big agenda. that agenda has not changed. he remains secretary of state.

as long as he serves at the pleasure of the president, he will continue to do that job. >> so you're saying that the rumors are false and groundless? >> here's what i know. i don't work at the white house. what i can tell you is that chief of staff kelly called our department this morning and said that the rumors are not true. those reports are not true. that's what i've been told. that's what we've been told. you heard from the white house today that they have no personnel changes to announce. >> wouldn't it be the right thing to do is for the white house to issue a statement saying that the rumors are groundless if that's the case? >> i'm not going to tell the white house how to conduct their business. the chief of staff spoke to reporters. he said that this report is not true. sarah sanders has spoken to reporters as well. i believe she has a briefing

later today. i'd have to let the white house speak for itself from our standpoint here at the state department. we remain committed to our job. we've talked about the successes of global aid program and we're continuing business as usual. >> can you tell my why the chemistry about john kelly and rex tillerson? >> the chief of staff. >> i was told i was not at the white house today. i was here. i was told it was normal. the statement as usual, the secretary was treated the same as he always is. that's what i was told. >> did john kelly speak this morning? you said not to your knowledge there's not a discussion between the president and the secretary. so there's no personal assurance during his time at the white house today --

>> again, i was not there. i hesitate to say too much. i was not there to see it myself. that would be a private discussion. i don't believe that conversation took place. >> and the call to the department today -- >> the call to the department came to the chief of staff this morning. there may have been subsequent calls that have taken place. if so, if something has happened since we've been in the briefing room, i'm not aware of it. >> does the secretary want to keep this job? does he feel that he's doing a good job? he's come under incredible pressure from outsiders from congress. does he want to keep the job? >> the secretary is somebody that is unflappable. you've seen him here before. he's committed to his job. he's someone that is very passionate about speaking with world leaders and advancing u.s. foreign policy goals. he continues with his schedule and the schedule we put out and it's not changed.

so i believe that that is something that he's committed to doing. >> will he fight to keep the job should they decide they're going to go on with someone else? >> that would be speculation. hypothetical. >> does he feel pressure from the white house? given this leak and we've done this now for a couple months of people at the white house leaking unflattering stories about him and the president. does he feel pressure to resign from the white house? >> i think what he feels is that washington can be a tough game of politics. you've heard him reference that before. he's not from washington. he's not a person of washington. he doesn't always understand and accept exactly how washington works with anonymous sources, things of that nature. that's not who he is. that's not the world he comes from. >> how would you characterize his relationship with the president? some reports are that it soured over the last couple months.

>> they will have areas of disagreement when it comes to policy. no doubt. that's very clear. the secretary has spoken to that himself and has said that's part of the reason the president hired him. so he could have different opinions being given to the president and the president could ultimately make his decision on various policy issues. they have had areas of disagreement when it's come to policy. i know that the president certainly respects secretary tillerson. i know they've had a cordial relationship. where that relationship is today, i can't speak to that. i have not personally been in the room with the secretary and the president at the same time. there's not much that i can say about that. other than the secretary serves at the pleasure of the president and the secretary had two meetings with the president today. >> secretary tillerson and president have some areas of disagreement -- >> they have in the past,

certainly, on things like climate change and all that. >> shepard: there's been a distinct different -- heather nauert. this isn't a state department decision. it's a white house decision. heather works at the state department. it's important to have this context. two former diplomats, senior diplomats with the agency have said that the president is undermining the state department. nicholas burns is one of them, a frequent guest on this program and ryan crocker wrote to "the new york times" on monday said that this isn't about belt tightening, the cuts in funding at the state department. it's a deliberate effort to deconstruct the state department and the foreign service. president trumps draconian cuts. a lot of positions have not been filled. many senior service representatives have said in the past they believe the state department is being dismantled.

john roberts, it's a matter of concern. >> theres no question about that, shep. one of the most important aspects of the federal government is the state department. because we have to have relations with so many nations around the world. the president is also dealing with a harsh reality that he has to make cuts. whether you make cuts at the state department or other departments, it's a matter for debate. the way the president sees it, he has to cut spending and he will cut it at the state department. rex tillerson said last week with the 70,000 people in the state department, is there some measure of redundancy? almost certainly there is. they're trying to as best they can trim out the fat without getting to the bone or cutting into the marrow. so it's a tough job that the secretary of state has, no question, which may be one of the reasons why, shep, in the end, we may see his departure. >> shepard: we think we're about

90 seconds away from the briefing. let's go to rich edson that is live with us at the state department. interesting from heather nauert there. not a lot. >> we waited five hours for that. this story broke at 10:00 a.m. the secretary of state just met with the german foreign minister. we heard no responses about this news that came out. we talked to a couple of former trump administration officials. they say they know there's discussions about replacing the secretary of state in the same news that we heard this morning. folks have said that we have been hearing that since july and the secretary of state remains here. talk about what you talked about with john roberts there. the state department acknowledged they're looking for an 8% cut, an 8% reduction in staff here. there's senior positions that are not here. moral is low. that's something that the state department spokesperson has acknowledged. there's issues within the building. then you heard the president give his very short statement this morning on the secretary of

state. going to other way, heather nauert was asked what their relationship is like. she said it's cordial but i can't speak to where it is now. they've had differences in staffing, iran, qatar. but he's still here. >> shepard: it's long been discussed that tillerson is a january and out. this isn't a new idea for people paying attention. >> exactly. it's not a new idea that mike pompeo might replace him. these are important elements. the most important thing we heard this morning, john kelly is the one that devises this plan. it was reported that he convinced secretary of state rex tillerson to stay at the state department. that would be the most important element we learned this morning. the secretary of state according to -- the state department said that john kelly said the rumors are not true. >> shepard: rich, thanks. we're about to get this briefing now. we were given a two-minute

warning two minutes ago. so we're expecting sarah sanders to come walking out. there's a lot on the plate today. there's developments with north korea. there's this matter going on with the state department and there's brand new developments in the russian investigation. we learned about previous meetings regarding the russia investigation. we're expecting sarah sanders to at least speak on some level on all of those matters. in addition the rex tillerson matter is clear over time the two have not had good relations. heather nauert mentioned those times here and there along the way. they have policy differences. this is a file video of rex tillerson now. the question is what is their relati relationship like today and what do they want to have happen at the state department? these senior diplomats from the past have come forward to say it's dangerous for the nation what is happening at the state department. diplomacy is the first line of

defense. diplomats are out, tamping out fires, smoothing over relationships. such that it's not necessary to go ahead with any sort of military exercises. john roberts is at the white house. the two-minute warning was not a real thing, john. >> it's one of those things that it's on your own time. she should be coming out any second now. to speak to the relationship between tillerson and the president at the beginning of the administration looked terrific. the president said he's any guy. he's the one i want. we saw the scene in february when he was sworn in as the secretary of state. the two of them were very much on the same page. i've heard from people inside the state department that tillerson has got a way of running the state department that doesn't jive with how the state department has been run in the past or think it should be run. he does tomorrow things himself. he doesn't understand the idea of public diplomacy and that you have to talk about it. we've seen him in the briefing room and brief on some of if

overseas trips. the relationship between the two men have -- i don't want to say soured. they're coming behind us. but it has changed the last few months. now to the point where tillerson may take himself out at some point. >> good afternoon. we'll let john roberts finish his live shot. good afternoon. as you all know, the constitution states that the president shall from time to time give to the congress information of the state of the union and recommend their considerations as he shall judge necessary. with that in mind, we're pleased to announce the president has accented the speaker's invitation to deliver the state of the union on january 30th. the holiday season is in full swing here at the white house with thanksgiving having just passed and christmas on the horizon. we just survive black friday and cyber monday, the biggest shopping days of the year. in the middle of this is another important day that deserves

attention. earlier this week was the sixth annual giving tuesday. giving tuesday was created in 2012 to celebrate and support philanthropy. a great reminder each year that we have the opportunity and the duty to give back to the people, the institutions, to the country that has given us all so much. as the gospel of luke says from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." americans understand this. year after year the united states ranked at our near the top of the world giving index which ranks countries according to how charitable their people are. the president encouraged people all over the country to open their hearts and pocket books to support worthy causes. this giving tuesday he said i thank those that contribute to organizations including our houses of worship and ask that we continue to come together to give and help those in need especially to communities devastated by the recent natural disasters.

together we can ensure the blessings of the holiday saved are shared around the world. the president is leading on this example. he donated his first quarter salary fund to the national battlefield and the second quarter he donated his salary to the department of education so they could host science technology, engineering and math camps for children. today i have -- acting secretary hargan from hhs announcing what the president will be doing with his third quarter salary. with that, i'd like to bring up with the acting secretary. before i wrap up, i'd like to so how much i look forward to hosting tomorrow and i will be back up after the secretary makes his remarks to take questions on other topics. after that, i'll turn it over. >> thank you, sarah. >> so thank you for that, sarah.

good afternoon. as sarah said, i'm the acting secretary at the department of health and human services known as hhs. hhs is home to programs not just medicare and medicaid but the national institutes of health, cdc, food and drug administration, fda and the federal government's substance abuse and mental health agency known as samsa. that's a lot of acronyms. sorry about that. i want you to know what hhs does because i'm here to talk about the check that i was just given written by president trump to hhs using his third quarter salary. his decision to donate his salary is a tribute to his compassion, his sense of duty to the american people. it's his compassion above all that drives his interests in the issue to which hhs will devote his donation. america's devastating opioid crisis. since day one of this administration, president trump's leadership on this issue has driven action on it across the federal government. speaking for hhs in particular,

earlier this year we unveiled a comprehensive strategy that attacks the opioid epidemic on five fronts. the five points are better data on the epidemic, better research in pain and addiction, better pain management, better targeting of overdose reversing drugs and better prevention treatment and recovery services. we are devoted to empowering heros on the front line of this crisis. it's our local partners in community clinics, churches, law enforcement, state and local and tribal governments that ultimately will turn the tide on this epidemic. they are fighting each day face to face with the drug crisis that is calling more than 175 americans every day. just think about that for a second. that means that we'll lose seven of our fellow americans to drug overdoses during this press briefing along. that kind of urgency is why the

president delivered a speech in october calling for hhs to declare an unprecedented nationwide public health emergency regarding the crisis. after we did so, we've continued to take aggressive action at our department including a proving state waivers to expand addiction treatment and clarifying that doctors and hospitals can share information with the patient's loved ones in dangerous situations like drug overdoses. i got to meet some local heros that we were working to empower when i traveled to kentucky the day after the president's speech. we visited a clinic in lexington that treats young mothers and their babies that are born dependents on opioids themselves. the stories we heard in lexington hit close to home for me personally because i'm from a small town in southern illinois, the kind of rural community that's been hit hard by this epidemic. it's also the kind of community that president trump has spend a lot of time in the past couple years where he's heard about how americans are suffering.

part of the way we aim to stop this crisis is by raising awareness of how devastating and deadly drug addiction can be. that's why we're so pleased that president trump has chosen to donate his salary this quarter to the planning and design of a large scale public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction. hhs is proud to be working with the white house on this effort. our team of public health expects brings a great deal of experience and expertise to the table regarding how to make these campaigns effective. at hhs our goal is to create healthier lives, stronger communities and a safer country. we're glad to have a president that recognizes that the opioid crisis is a huge threat to all three of these goals. the president is personally dedicated to defeating this crisis because addictions hits home for so many of us. you heard him share the story in his opioid speech about how he lost his own brother to alcoholism. speaking personally, opioid addiction has been a presence in

my hometown and my family for years. it was years ago in fact that i lost a close relative that constantly struggled with opioids. so this christmas and holiday season, all of us should consider following the president's example and think about what we can do in our private lives to help on a crisis that is tearing american families apart. thanks again for having me here today and thanks once again to president trump for his generous donation. thank you. >> thank you, acting secretary hargan. appreciate you being here today. >> do you have a cold, sarah? >> i have strep throat. if you can bear with me. i may sip water here. thanks for your concern. i may not stay as long as normal. we'll start with you on questions, steve. >> with all of these reports

about secretary tillerson today, could you talk about the relationship between the president and the secretary? does the president have confidence in him and does the president agree with most of -- all of the positions that the secretary has taken regarding north korea, the gulf crisis, et cetera? >> as we said many times before, as many of you love to write these type of stories, when the president loses confidence in someone, they will no longer serve in the capacity that they're in. the president was here today with the secretary of state. they engaged in a foreign leader visit and are continuing to work together to close out what we've seen to be an incredible year. cecilia. >> can we deduce from that that the president has confidence in the secretary of state? >> i think i just addressed that. when it comes to questions like this, senior staff and cabinet secretaries, when the president loses confidence, they'll no

longer be here. as the president said on the record and several of you were in the room in the oval today, the secretary of state is here and we're working hard to get big things accomplished and close out what has already been a very strong and positive year. >> what is his future in the administration? >> i think his future right now is to continue working hard as the secretary of state, continue working with the president, to carry out his agenda. matthew? >> a question on taxes. the joint committee on taxation says that by 2027, people making between 40,000 and $50,000 a year will pay a combined 5.3 billion more in taxes under the current bill while those earning a million dollars or more will pay $5.8 billion less. coupled with that, the university of chicago surveyed 38 economists. only one said that the bill will lead to growth and all 38 said that the cut will increase the debt.

is it the white house's position that these analyses are wrong? >> i can't speak to that report. i haven't had a chance to look at it and talk to the economic team here. what i can tell you is what i've said every day we've been part of this process, the president laid out his priorities. we feel like the plans as of right now from the house and senate meet those priorities. cutting taxes for the middle class, simplifying the tax code, bringing businesses back home. those are the focus of the administration and the things we'll fight for as we go through the tax policy. >> the jct nonpart son, they are saying middle classes would go -- do you have information to contradict that? >> there's several studies that say this is a good thing for the middle class. we'll send it to you after the briefing concludes. again, we're going to continue fighting for this and making sure that the middle class does receive tax cuts that they deserve and frankly that they need and we think that we're

making a lot of progress on this front and we think we're going to get it done by the end of the year. steve? >> based on ambassador haley's speech yesterday at the u.n. and the president's tweets this morning, does this administration now advocate regime change in north korea? if not, why not? >> this administration is focused on one big thing when it comes to north korea. that is denuclearization of the korean peninsula. that is our number 1 priority. that's what we're focused on. anything beyond that is not the priority at this point. >> the president tweeted today -- firstly, does the president feel he has an obligation to ensure that what he shares through twitter is accurate. >> the president feels that bringing up violence and terrorism are importance things to do. that is what he did in that process and he will continue to do that in a number of venues,

whether it's through speeches or twitter or other social media platforms. john? >> does he know that sharing those videos might incite violence against muslims? >> what he's done is elevate the conversation to talk about a real issue and real threat. that's extreme violence and extreme terrorism. something we know to be real and something the president feels strongly about talking about and bringing up as an issue every day. we're looking the best ways to protect americans. >> on that point, sarah, do the president when he re-tweeted jada franzen know who she was? >> no. but he knew what the issues were. that is that we have a real threat of extreme violence and terrorism, not just in this country but across the globe, particularly in europe. that was the point he was making. i don't have much to add beyond that. >> yesterday the president said that nbc should terminate joe

scarborough because of an unsolved mystery that took place in florida years ago. why did president trump think it was appropriate to reference the death in 2001 and does he think that scarborough is responsible for the death of his former aide? >> i don't have anything to add on that. april? >> a couple things. what was the tipping point between president trump and rex tillerson? >> like i said, i don't believe there was a tipping point considering they were sitting here in a meeting today working hard to carry out the president's agenda. i think the tipping point is trying to do the best they can to make sure that near making our world a better place, making america safer and they're working together to get that done. >> is the president listening to his advice on north korea as the event is escalating? >> the president is listening to the secretary of state as well as the secretary of defense, the national security adviser, the chief of staff and a number of other individuals including

world leaders that he's spoken to several times this week, specifically about north korea and he will continue to do that and continue to talk to all of the relevant stakeholders. john? sorry, april. >> what about john conyers. he's in the hospital and a call for him to resign. what does the president say? >> that's a decision for john conyers to make. >> where does the administration think the stories are coming from? is it critical for mr. rex tillerson to carry out his job of secretary of state surrounding the questions if he will be in the administration through january of next year? >> i don't know where those stories are coming from. i don't spend most of my day figuring that out. i'd rather focus on the points that i know and the points we're driving through the administration. the secretary of state is a pretty tough guy. he will be fine carrying this job out. blake? >> we hear the president or see the president talk about the

stock market. we haven't yet heard from him on a separate but similar issue, which is crypto currency. has the president followed this at all? bitcoin and the run up in it. does he have an opinion on it or does he or the administration feel this is now something that needs to be regulated by the government? >> i know this is something that is being monitored by our team here in terms of specific briefings. i don't have anything i can share right now but i will follow back up with you. >> what kind of monitoring? >> this is an issue that tom bossert with the homeland security team and adviser to the president has brought this up in a meeting earlier this week. i know it's something that he's keeping an eye on. we'll keep you posted when we have anything further on it. >> i hope you feel better. i have a question about the president's health. mr. trump's predecessors go back

as far as ronald reagan to go to bethesda and get a report. does the president intend to get a physical at walter reed? >> i have to ask. i'll be happy to check on that. >> do you know if the president plans to detail his health the way -- >> i'd be happy to check. i spent 12 days on the road with him in asia. despite the fact that he's a little bit older than me, he had twice the energy that i do and i'm the one sick now and he's still going. i think he's in good health. i'll be happy to share any information. >> you read a verse from luke earlier about those giving and much is expected. linking that to the tax policy. the president said this tax bill will cost him a fortune. independent analysis says that that's not true. that he will save a lot of money. can you tell us specifically

what's in the bill that will cause the president to pay more in taxes? >> yeah. i think some of the provisions in the bill, which may or may not be there, we'll see what the final piece of legislation looks like, but the deductions that he would probably normally receive will not be part of the package that would affect his actual what he pays in taxes. until there's a final piece of legislation, i can't go into much more detail. i know some versions of it take out a lot of deductions that currently benefit the president and his family. one last question here. >> the president was pretty definitive when he said he would pay more, his wealthy friends would pay more. what was he referring to? >> like i said, his reference was to the deductions that may no longer exist that are in the current policy right now. again, we'll have to see what the final piece of legislation looks like. our focus as an administration has been to focus on middle class tax cuts.

that's why i think the president doesn't care whether or not he gets a tax cut or not. his focus is on making sure that the middle class and middle class families get those tax cuts, that we simplify the process and bring companies back home so that they can invest here. margaret. one more question. >> you repeatedly said that it was important to close out a successful year. are you saying he will close out the year? does the president normally watch these kind of anti-muslim videos that have been posted -- >> i'm not sure every single video the president has viewed. in terms of the secretary of state, i have answered that. >> were you -- >> we're all closing out the year. you guys are closing out the year in your news network. we continue set the calendar. that's something that happened a few centuries ago. the year will end whether we like it or not. we'll close it out and do the

very best job we can for the american people. i don't mean anything by it. i'm closing out the year. you guys are. most of you guys are doing end of the year stories because that's how the year ends. we're going to end the strong note and i'm going to go get some water and some cough drops. our team will be around the rest of the afternoon to answer any other questions you guys have. look forward to seeing you tomorrow. >> shepard: sarah sanders wrapping up the briefing about 20 minutes on the clock today. john roberts' question was about these videos, the unverified anti-muslim hate videos that the president retweeted. he retweeted them from a woman in great britain that has been convicted of inciting violence or something to that level. a far right extremist group that had not been elevated until the president just elevated them. john roberts asked does he even

know who this woman was when he tweeted those videos. john roberts, the answer was telling. >> it was, shep. it was something that i had sort of been led to believe yesterday but wanted confirmation on the record. when the president retweet jada franzen, he had no clue who she was. it doesn't take much to just do a quick google search to find out what kind of group they are. a group that theresa may called a "hateful organization." my follow up to sarah sanders when she kept it moving was going to be about theresa may to say that the president has seem dismissive of her concerns and he said that what she should do is instead of focusing on me, she should focus on the problem she's got in britain with radical islam. theresa may when she spoke about this, she said she believed the president was wrong for retweeting those three tweets and she wasn't afraid to say despite her cooperation that

we'll call the united states out as being wrong. she really believes that that is a group that has fostered division and hatred in the u.k. and it's something that they're trying to come to terms with there. so for the president to retweet ja jada franzen was offering a measure of support. she went on twitter saying thank you very much, mr. president, for retweeting the videos and going on to say, you brought attention to my plight because she faces jail time for this conviction that she had. the end of it all, she said god bless you, donald trump. so he's gotten himself into a position here that he could have easily avoided by doing a quick google search of who jada franzen was before he tweeted her. >> shepard: i wonder where he got ahold of the videos in the first place? how he found them and how? >> i don't know how he found them. he gets up early and strolls through twitter. people tweet him a lot of

things. when you have as many followers as he does, every day you have an avalanche of material. he might have seen these three videos when he woke up in the morning and said oh, my goodness. look at this. without doing a lick of investigation or research into what the videos were and where they came from, he just fired them out there to 12 million people. >> shepard: what did you think of the answers on the secretary of state, rex tillerson? >> i mean, uncommital. looks, he's going to go. there's no question. it's a question of when. colon powell lasted four years here at the white house. condoleezza rice about the same period of time. you know, it's pretty clear. people say here is it any surprise that rex tillerson is thinking about leaving? no, no surprise at all. so he's said, he's told people he wants to stay a year. so i would expect, shep, we'll probably have to watch for his departure sometime after the beginning of the year and more

toward the end of january, the beginning of february what we heard here from the white house in terms of no personnel announcements and he's here, that's not saying we want him to stay. >> shepard: not a ringing endorsement. >> not at all. >> shepard: thanks, john. and jacqueline is here. a national security reporter from politco. nice to see you. thank you, jacqueline. >> thanks for having me. >> shepard: rex tillerson, know anything? >> we're in a wait and see mode. >> shepard: what is the rift? explain to us what it's like between state and white house. >> right now it seems like there's not a lot of communication. we're hearing the white house say that he's staying. we're hearing state department stay. this is what the the white house is saying but we're not the white house. this white house has had a pattern in the past of saying they have full confidence in someone until when they don't and stories have said that person might be leaving. we saw the same thing with mike flynn. the white house said he was leaving and eventually he left.

so it's right that when you look at the icy relationship between tillerson and the president, seems like he's poised to exit at some point. it's when. >> shepard: there's members of congress that have demanded briefings and an explanation why so many senior diplomats that try to smooth the waters around the world so that the united states work can be done, why so many are fleeing in record numbers. >> yeah, it will be interesting to see if the reports are true that mike pompeo would go to the state department. it's interesting to see how that would change. there's bipartisan concerns on capitol hill. people questioning why 100 senior diplomats have left since january. rex tillerson is also spear headed this reform effort at the state department. so it's interesting to see how some of those changes tillerson has tried to make would progress under a different secretary. >> shepard: okay. thanks very much. we're short on time because of the president. thanks for coming.

>> thank you. >> shepard: thanks, jacqueline. now, earlier i mentioned big players in the mix on the russia meddling investigation. the attorney general jeff sessions and the president's own son, don jr. and son-in-law, jared kushner. we'll look at the legal issues with judge andrew napolitano. that's coming up from the fox news deck on this thursday afternoon.

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more questions on similar issues next week when they hear from the president's son, donald trump jr. also a source tells fox news that the president's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner that used to be in charge of everything and is now over middle east peace met with robert mueller's team earlier this month and he apparently answered questions about the president's former national security adviser, michael flynn. that's the important one. the special counsel, mueller, with the house intelligence and senate intelligence committees looking into russia's meddling in the 2016 election and whether they colluded with the president's campaign. the white house and vladimir putin has said there's no collusion. let's turn to judge andrew napolitano. mike flynn appears to be there about the crux of things. >> a couple of months ago, the president's lawyers and general flynn's lawyers entered into an agreement that they would share evidence with each other. they would share -- >> shepard: there's a term for that. >> it's called a joint defense

agreement. they would share all communications that each side received from the special prosecutor and they wouldn't point fingers at each other. on thanksgiving eve after the president trump left the white house, a letter arrived and it was from general flynn's laws to the chief white house lawyer. we're out of the joint defense agreement. on monday -- >> shepard: we were cooperating and we're not anymore. >> right. >> shepard: we're on different sides now. >> on monday, general flynn's lawyers met with the robert mueller's team. that shows that they know the charges against the general and the incredible length of prison time that the general is faces that he's convicted on or pleads guilty to and it's time to negotiate. so the question is, what are they negotiating over? what does general flynn have or know that would be of interest to special counsel mueller.

>> shepard: we know he has a story to tell. his lawyer said that he has a story to tell. he just needs to tell it. >> he would be able to need to tell a story that would involve president trump. >> shepard: why? >> because bob mueller is interested in what the president knew and when he knew it about contacts with the russians. there were 30 contacts between campaign people and the russians -- >> shepard: by the way, those were previously undisclosed. asked and answered. no, we didn't do it. now we know of 30. >> so what did general flynn know, what did he know it and what did attorney general sessions know. sessions is a problematic issue for the administration because he testified under oath several times he didn't know about these things. >> shepard: and then we learned that he did. >> then we learned that he was in a room where they were discussed. he said he didn't remember it. hard to believe that he didn't know about it. so general flynn probably is the

lynchpin here. why is jared kushner being asked about general flynn? one way to assure his cooperation to indict him is to keep his feet to the fire. i think the special counsel believes that jared kushner is aware of who, what, when and where of general flynn's communications with his father-in-law, the president. >> shepard: for the president, has the seriousness changed? >> radically. if i could modify your questions to thanksgiving eve. radically. because according to jim comey, the former fbi director, the president's primary focus, primary focus was on not -- the of the go not prosecuting mike flynn. now mike flynn's lawyers want him to be a witness for the government. >> shepard: that's a change. >> yes. >> shepard: judge, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> shepard: after sexual misconduct accusations,

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>> i talked a little while against with emanuel clever who says that he thinks the calls by pelosi and south carolina congressman sam clyburn for conyers to resign are just signs the democratic leaders are caving to outside pressure. >> i think leader pelosi and assistant leader clyburn have no alternative. it's not like there's a lot of options to deal with it. i don't think they should be condemned by anyone. >> shepard: it's not just pelosi the number 1 democrat in the house. the number 20 democrat, steny hoyer said the allegations are credible. as we hear more, it's appropriate for him to resign. now even members of the michigan democratic delegation are calling for conyers to stay in michigan, not to come back to congress. the first, democratic congressman dan kilde that

represents flint. >> this is painful. i've known john conyers for a long time. it doesn't matter where you work. it's your seniority or your partisanship, this kind of behavior can't be tolerated. he has to resign. >> and kildee says he thinks the other democrats will come forward and say the same thing, that conyers should quit. >> shepard: and then there's al franken, another accuser there. what is the latest from his office? >> they're basically saying if he acted inappropriately, it was an accident. they're saying as senator franken made clear this week, he takes thousands of photos and met tens of thousands of people and never intentionally engaged in this kind of conduct. he remains committed to help the ethics investigation. >> shepard: thanks, peter, a quick look at the dow which has

soared throughout the day and soaring on the close, the final bell will ring in three minutes. in three minutes, neil cavuto will begin "your world." the best in business on fox news channel.

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>> neil: 24,000 for the market. i'm neil cavuto. you're watching some euphoria as another major mine stone falls. 24,000 a little over a month after 23,000 fell. this is the fifth time this year we've had a milestone like this broken. if you want to go back to the election, the sixth time it's happened with this president. a lot of this has to do with optimism that we're going to see tax cuts or at least it's looking better. i'm neil cavuto. you're watching "your world." what in the world is going on with the likes of john mccain? telegraphing something that surprised a lot of