>> 2:00 o'clock eastern nowspecs channel as we are learning that john kelly is out. the president announcing he is going to leave the white house by the what and of the year. this had been one of the longest rumor departures of a member of the executive senior staff. >> not a huge surprise. >> kristin: is a big deal when someone as big as the chief of staff is out. allison is live right now at the white house. i know president trump just made this big announcement as he was

leaving for the army and navy game to pennsylvania. what are you hearing? how are folks reacting in the west wing? >> this has been a rumor for a long time. such a persistent rumor that in july of this year, president trump had a discussion with his chief of staff and asked him to stay on through 2020. to which john kelly agreed and then went back to tell his staff he would stay until then. that made the rumor stop but then they picked back up again. we been hearing this rumor for quite a while. john roberts reported that president trump was considering three different potential shakeups and that chief of staff john kelly was one of those potentially being discussed. and perhaps whispering back and forth president trump saying it will happen at the end of the year.

>> john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year. we will be announcing who will be taking his place. might be on an interim basis. i'll announce that over the next day or two. >> nick ayers has long been rumored as the most likely are top contender for replacing john kelly. fox's john roberts reported in november that when these potential changes to the cabinet were being discussed that his name came up. he is someone respected at the white house. he's a strong manager and good political operative. we heard from president trump who said the next person appointed could be on a temporary basis. remember this past month, fox news sunday chris wallace sat down with president trump. he asked him about the plan made in the summer to keep john kelly

until 2020. president trump seemed to throw doubt when he spoke with chris wallace. he said there were some things that john kelly does really well and he liked, there are some things he didn't necessarily like. chris wallace pressed him to say is 2020 not set in stone and president trump said we would see. fast-forward to that interview and we now know john kelly will be leaving at the end of this year. >> kristin: thank you. with president trump's personal relationships and loyalty are everything. you have to think that whoever he will replace john kelly with will be someone he really likes. >> there are few closer relationships in washington than between the president and the chief of staff. there has been reporting about how he got to know nick heirs.

he got to know nick by having lunch with him as the vice president and president would have lunch and occasionally the chief of staff's would join them. he spent some time with him in the midterm election night. with that we bring in brett bear on the phone. brett, what you make of the president saying kelly is out without naming a replacement missing work in a name someone but maybe on an interim basis? >> i think that's how this president operates. it is likely going to be nick heirs. the vice president chief of staff who we have seen travel with president trump without vice president pence. he has developed this relationship outside of the vice president being present there. >> he could be the choice because he is a political

operative and heading into a new dynamic with house democrats taking control in january and setting up for another run in 2020. one believes that that would be something to tap into. the big moment is not that this happened. it's more a look at john kelly student. when he came in he was a very controlling force that calm down and undisciplined white house. he made the trains run on time. he controlled access to the oval office. he was seen to get the white house in a more operational sense better organize. made some people mad including the president at times and has been reported in about stuff they had over recent months. >> leland: talk about nick heirs

and the relationship with the president. in october 2017, then, nick heirs chief of staff to vice president pence was meeting with wealthy gop donors. he reportedly said he wanted to purge gop lawmakers that didn't quickly rally around the president's agenda. is this bringing in a much harder line? more savvy political operator to try to whip capitol hill as republicans go to the minority? >> definitely. his whole being before this current job was political operatives. knowing where the skeletons are buried in washington. an operator in republican circles and someone who knows capitol hill well. obviously you talk about that reporting and that something president trump echoed from a news conference. talking about republicans who

lost saying they should've rallied around the trump administration and the president himself. >> kristin: bretz, if john kelly was able to bring in the order and discipline that the trump white house so desperately needed, what was somebody like nick heirs be able to bring in with his background heading into 2020 in this moment where democrats are about to take control of the house? you also have the dealer investigation hitting a fever pitch. >> i think it's maneuvering and finding cracks. there's probably going to be a lot of subpoenas issued for administration officials. investigations going forward. in that, there will still be legislation that house democrats will want to get through. that all requires a deft political touch, and perhaps the president will choose nick heirs to do that.

we are speculating that he is the leading front runner because the president has teased he will make this announcement. if you look at the exit of kelly it means that in the white house itself, since his election there have been three communication directors, national security advisor switch in a press secretary. let alone, outside of the white house proper and the shifts that have happened. there has been a lots of turnover. after a midterm election there are often jobs that shift. this administration has seen more than most. >> leland: you said an interesting word. we are speculating on nick heirs. you say a depth political hand. is he that are a political hammer? >> i think he can be both. it's cracking the whip and keeping people in line and also knowing how some congressman or some chairman of the committee,

what issues he or she is interested in and can be negotiated with dealing with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. specifically pelosi who will take the speakership and deal with the gavel there on the house side. it is much more political looking job as you have another party taking over and you get ready for reelection. john kelly was well-positioned to structure access to try to get pieces of the puzzle put on the table for the president. not as accomplished when it came to the political ins and outs of washington, d.c. had a successful students with homeland security. and was largely seen as getting a white house. when i say getting organized and untracked, from where he was. obviously there are stories

about different elements of the white house not working effectively. kelly tried to get everything on the train track. >> we have been focusing so much on nick heirs. there's a good probability that he will be the next chief of staff. you know better than anyone nothing is final until president trump says it is final. are you hearing any other names as a possible replacement? >> for a long time mick mulvaney was talked about as a possibility. his name was still surfacing. i think that has fallen off. again, you don't know what you don't know. i do think it is probably going to be nick heirs. i think there will be a lot of different efforts. the white house counsel also switch just recently.

the legal staff in the white house is going to be looking for a battle not just with house democrats but also the fallout with the mueller investigation and one othe whatever comes outf the southern district of new york. >> leland: as the president was leaving the white house he said he was john kelly was a great guy and he appreciated his service. you had some of the more fascinating information and rankled the president in the way kelly reacted. any thoughts on where the relationship between president and chief of staff broke down? were you went from john kelly being here through 2022 he is out after the midterms? >> there are a lot of elements to it. i'm not sure the family ever enjoyed kelly style of controlling access to the president. that was a sling an arrow towards him.

i think the president got frustrated that he was trying to be controlled in one way or another. in that interview that i did with general kelly, he was very honest. that is often the issue in washington that gets you in trouble. he may have gotten on the wrong side of the president on the way he described the wall, on the way he described it being paid for by mexico in different elements of that interview that perhaps the president didn't like. if you look back on john kelly service to the country as a marine general, his long service and believe that is homeland security secretar secretary ande house chief of staff he was continuing to serve the country. in the same vein as he did as a military man in uniform. obviously he lost a son in the war in afghanistan.

he has served the country tremendously for a long time. he has said that job was the toughest he had ever had. he used some different words which i think people will look back and say this guy really put it out there for the country. >> it would be impossible to say anything else. brett, we can say it every weekend, you have a lot to talk about. >> leland: thank you, enjoy your saturday. when we come back, the president lands of philadelphia more in his announcement that john kelly will be leaving the white house, what that means for the trump administration and immigration policy. we also look at possible congressional investigation. will have more when we come

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>> leland: a fox news alert.a le of philadelphia, and sylvania. the president is arriving for the army navy game. a little breakup on the signal. as president trump was leaving the white house he announced that chief of staff, john kelly is going to move on from his job out of chief of staff. replacement to be determined. the president tweeting about ten minutes ago. whether he was in the air saying a great honor to be headed to the army navy game today. will be there shortly. landing now. >> kristin: president trump confirming what many had been speculating about for weeks, even months. announcing john kelly will be leaving the white house by the end of the year. joining us over the phone is

brad blakeman. brad, he spent a lot of time in the west wing. walk us through what it's like and what is happening when an announcement is because this takes place. >> they will wind up general kelly service and they'll be looking for the replacement. it will be a bit of a learning curve for someone coming in. he or she will need the full support of the staff. generally the chief of staff is the gatekeeper to the president. he's the referee between differing opinions. in the white house we had a saying that if you need to see the president you always will. if you want to see the president you never will. it's a balancing act between needs and wants. kelly is the first person in the west wing in the morning and the last person to leave. it's 247. you have to manage a lot of

moving parts. most importantly, you have to have the trust, and confidence of the president and you have to be able to serve him in all levels. all capacity. >> kristin: there is president trump leaving air force one as he lands in philadelphia to attend the army and navy game. we are with brad blakeman. now back to giant kelly. you're talking about the role of chief of staff as being the role of the gatekeeper to the president. how would you grade john kelly during his time as chief of staff? >> i think he has done an outstanding job. it is much different coming from a military background not having a political background. it must've been a steep learning curve because you have to be a politician, you have to be a manager, there are a lot of things you have to do. i think you did outstanding.

>> kristin: i want to interrupt you, the president is walking the rope line here in philadelphia. we have any audio to listening? [inaudible] >> leland: the president is working the rope line. occasionally someone will ask him a question. also the press pool that is with him sometimes shout some questions. we'll see if they have anything to say. i think the president just held up a copy of a book he is signing for a while wisher. in pictures of that. brad blakeman on the phone. former deputy chief of staff to president george w. bush. brad, how much of this job that

is now open is managing up and how much is managing down? >> you have to be able to do both. you have to be a leader in the white house. who is not afraid to say no. most of the things that come to general kelly are basically dead on arrival. they are not things that require the president's time. the most precious commodity is the president's time. knowing who needs to see the president who must see the president. there are competing interests on policy. he also needs to make sure he hears every side of an issue before decision is made by the president. there are a lot of moving parts. now, we have to make sure to make sure the president has somebody who is as politically adept as they are managing the president. were heading into a campaign

season. as soon as january rolls along not only does it have to deal with a divided congress, you have to gear up for a campaign, reelects. >> kristin: explained to us has the role of chief of staff is complicated further by the fact that you have democrats poised to take control of the house. they will be issuing subpoenas come january. how does that complicate things further? >> you have to make sure it does not overtake your government. you have to make sure that outside competing interests don't sidetrack or derail the agenda of the president. that is something that will be important in the next coming months. to see where the congress is going. more importantly, we have to get the president reelected and make sure there's a true tech track system. he's dealing with his agenda and also the politics.

we need to make sure the politics doesn't take over the president's time. it's a balancing act between politics and government. >> anything to read into on the timing? making the announcement as he is leaving for the army and navy game on a saturday. you've already had the mueller document dump on friday and then the staff shakeup and announcements on friday morning. the mueller document dump friday afternoon. then saturday he says this. >> i think this is the timing cannot be better. i hearken back to my time at the white house. i was told that those people who want to stay need to give us a commitment now. once past january we gear up for the reelected in urine for the long haul or not. service to the president and the executive capacity like kelly is an opportunity, not a career.

the average tenure is one year to 24 months. kelly is right in that sweet spot. the timing couldn't be better for him to leave and have breathing room for someone else to come in and hit the ground running. >> kristin: no doubt it's an exhausting job. the front runner for his replacement widely to believe to be nick ayres, vice president chief of staff. >> i think you would be fantastic. he's already in a roll of chief of staff. i think it would be a seamless transition. he knows the players. he knows the expectations and how it runs under that administration. i would think he would be a good choice. >> kristin: thank you for sharing your expertise. >> leland: as noteworthy as our coverage of white house chief of staff john kelly leaving, as

brett talked about, it's more than just a chief of staff. someone who has dedicated his life to the service of his country. now is white house chief of staff. john kelly out, what that means for the political agenda specifically immigration. and just like you, the further into winter we go, the heavier i get. and while your pants struggle to support the heavier you, . .

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threatened by violent riots over increased gas prices. hundreds of protestors have been detained, historical sites throughout paris closed because of the chaos in the streets. president trump chiming in today about the situation, very sad day and night in paris, maybe it's time to end ridiculous and extremely paris agreement and return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes. the u.s. was way ahead of the curve on that and major country where missions went down last year, greg joining frus -- us from the french capital, peace on the streets yet or still pretty violent? >> well, i think peace right now because we've been hit by very heavy rainstorm and we saw another day of very heavy violence in the streets between antigovernment protestors and the police over 50 people were injured this time around, over 700 were arrested, we were out for a whole lot of it, here a

bit of what we saw. the fight is on on the streets of paris champs-elysee, the police are clashing, we are seeing bombs going off, fireworks, rocks being thrown, it's been quiet for the last couple of hours here but appears fourth saturday this will be a war zone. now, this is the fourth weekend the so-called yellow vest protestors have been out in the streets, they were angry initially about a gas tax hike and then the protests has broaden just about all taxes and government thought to be out of touch with the people. the violence today was a bit less than we saw last saturday, maybe only because there was a massive show of force by police and as you noted, a lot of stuff was shut down here, landmarks,

restaurants, shops, still, there was damage done, cars were burnt, windows were smashed while the government of president emmanuel macron has given on some of the issues including gas tax these people are upset about, he still hasn't spoken to his people. prime minister do the talking and there's talk that he will soon get the ax. macron will address the nation maybe early next week, maybe too late, a lot of damage has been done, back to you. leland: greg, while we have you, the arc de triomphe, the identical tower behind you as we watch the protestors, you lived in paris, you know the city well, you know country well and the rest of the city wishes they would leave them alone and enjoy a december saturday in paris?

>> yeah, i'm sure, they would have enjoyed saturday during christmas season, there's strong support for the idea that these protestors are going out with, that is dealing with a lot of the taxes, it's the heaviest tax country in the world, i think the latest poll, leland, 75% support of them, however, i don't think a majority really like the violence. it is thought that extremists both on the left and the right have attached themselves to this protest but the violence is a thing that's really gotten the attention and maybe changed some minds as ugly as it is, leland. leland: greg palcock, one of the worst days he's experienced, thoughts to you and your crew, greg and thanks as well. the president is using on his own agenda, though, president macron for all of the fanfare when she was elected as now

modern obamanow has unfavorable rating that would make congress happy. i mean, he's in really rough shape. >> right, the relationship between president trump and the french president emmanuel macron, it's such a fascinating relationship because they're closed, they've had a good relationship but it's definitely frayed a bit and taken shots at each other frequently. leland: president trump is not rush to go macron's defense right now. >> we are talking about frayed relationships here in washington. president trump and his chief of staff john kelly, he is out although president trump today called him a great guy, there has been talk about friction between the two of them for weeks, maybe months so now guessing game really begins as to who his replacement is going to be and we will continue that guessing game right after this.

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>> president trump putting end to months of speculation about john kelly confirming that the white house chief of staff will be leaving the white house by the end of the year, here is president trump making the announcement earlier today as he was leaving the white house. [inaudible] >> hi, everybody. so i'm going now to the army-navy game. i think we are going to flip a coin and i know both teams are going to do great. general mark milly as you know was just appointed the head of the joint chiefs of staff to be determined date, little bit later in the year, they usually give quite a bit of notice for a lot of listens, mark, great gentleman, great patriot, great soldier and i look forward to that. on the mueller situation, we are very happy with what we are

reading because there was no collusion whatsoever. there never has been, the last thing i want is help from russia on a campaign. you should ask hillary clinton about russia because reports that we see according to everybody i have spoken to, i have not read it, there's absolutely no collusion which is very important. [inaudible] >> no, no. say it john kelly will be

leaving, i don't know if i can say retiring. he's a great guy. john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year, we will be announcing who will be taking john's place. it might be on interim basis. i would be announcing that over in the day or two but john will be leaving at the end to have year, he has been with me almost 2 years as you know between two positions so we are probably going to see him in a little while but john kelly -- ready, are you ready? so john kelly will be leaving toward the end to have year at the end of the year and i appreciate his service very much. thank you, thank you all. leland: all right, the president heading out to marine one about an hour and a half ago now headed out to marine one and made his way to philadelphia, pennsylvania for the army-navy game. the news john kelly chief of staff is now officially out and

the long rumored replacement is vice president pence's chief of staff, the name of nick, 36 year's old from the state of georgia, some considered political to rise to that level at 36 year's old. although now reporting from our colleagues jeff mason at reuters, one of the best source white house reporters and other colleagues in the white house press pool that nick is not a lock and still negotiations going on between the president and whether he will take the job. the president alluded, i will be announcing replacement, possibly on an interim basis. and typically the president doesn't say something like that unless he -- at least might have to come back to those words. >> right, 36 year's old from georgia, young family, several

young children, a wife, that certainly could play a parton whether or not you want to take the full-time job of white house chief of staff. it is an exhausting job, especially in 2018 in the trump administration so let's go to ellison barber who is live at the white house, ellison, you know, president trump has left but i'm sure quite a few of staffers are there, what are you hearing right now? >> who is it the stop contender, is ill still tom, potentially interim pick in the coming days, vice president mike pence chief of staff has been sought of as the top contender if and when john kelly decided to leave. there was an article a few weeks ago that said that president trump innormally -- informally offered the job and white house

staff was nearby and they overheard the informal officer but the problem that john kelly still had job as chief of staff, nick is a name that has been tossed around quite a lot but obviously things change around here, a long-standing rumored that chief of staff john kelly would depart but we had heard just a few months ago in the summer that president trump had asked chief of staff john kelly to stay on through 2020 and john kelly told staff that he agreed to stay that long. at some point something changed with president trump telling chris wallace earlier this month that he would wait and see what happened, he needed flexibility when it came to positions. now we hear the chief of staff john kelly will leave and according to president trump it's not what he would call retirement, simply he is leaving. the big question moving on from here is who the pick be and guess but ultimately that's a decision that lies with the president and president trump makes his own choices when it

comes to a lot of these things, we know sometimes we will hear something from staff and president trump will turn around and do something differently or tweet something different but nick as far as we know considered to be a top contender for this position, we understand that he's very well liked by president trump but, of course, as leland alluded to, when it comes to jobs, it's something that both sides want to want it. we don't necessarily know what nick feels, job with a lot of responsibility. leland: ellison barber, soon to have a different chief of staff is chief of staff called there. ellison barber, thank you very much. you think about all that has changed in the white house in the last couple of days. kristin: i know. leland: now john kelly out as well and as we've heard this time between the midterms and january the when the staff shake-ups occur. with that, we will take a break, back with more on the president's cabinet shake-ups and also his new choice for

chairman of the joint chiefs, he attends the army-navy game.

kristin: another blow to president trump's immigration agenda, federal appeals court refusing to allow the trump administration to enforce ban on asylum from méxico. on the ground in tijuana with more, hi, steve. >> kristin, another blue to trump administration rejection by the courts once again at another trump administration effort to try and bring some control to the southern border, ninth circuit court of appeals saying no on trump effort that would prevent people who have crossed into the u.s. illegally to apply from asylum in the u.s., they will have to right to do that. that happens during -- after

month of november which saw record arrests of family members crossing over illegally into the u.s. border, more than 25,000 individual family members detained by customs and border patrol, they can still apply for asylum after the court ruling they can also refuse to be deported if they fear violence at home. as far as the numbers here go in that shelter of the caravan from central america the numbers are down from 6,000 to just about 2,500, several of the people deciding to go home, not wanting to wait out the 3-month asylum process, smaller groups deciding to cross over illegally into the u.s. kristin, back to you. kristin: thank you very much, live on the ground on tijuana, of course, big breaking news that we have been following for last hour and a half or so, john kelly, president trump's chief of staff is out and, of course, the two have butted head a little bit on that signature issue immigration and a lot about what steve was talking

about, asylum and what not at southern border, we will have much more about that as president trump arrives at the army-navy football game in philadelphia. we will be right back. see a little blood when you brush or floss?

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leland: fox news alert, president trump is at the army-navy game in philadelphia, pennsylvania, these are old pictures from 2016, check out that, mike flynn in the picture, i believe, no, actually it's not mike flynn, looked like mike flynn, then president-elect president trump at army-navy game in baltimore, maryland, now commander in chief for the 119th army-navy game and i was there in stadium back in 2016, december 2016 when he showed up

and it was absolutely electric in terms of having a stadium of people who are uniquely patriotic in their views and then to see what would be the incoming commander in chief show up, they were ecstatic, it was really cool. kristin: now the commander in chief, he's landed on his way there and the big news, of course, kind of overshadows all of this at least in washington is the news that john kelly, president trump's chief of staff is out and, you know, leland, what a week of staff changes this has been for the white house. we learned that heather nauert u.s. ambassador, replacement for nikki haley, we learned that jeff sessions replacement william barr, attorney general and john kelly, he's out and now in just a few moments president trump is going to be talking a little bit more about

replacement for the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, so, you know, we knew that this was going to happen, we knew there was a lot of staff changes after the midterms and now we are really getting into the thick of it. leland: mark milley now of the united states army will be the chairman of the joint chiefs and this is as the president pointed out in his statement as he made it tout marine one, this is coming a little bit early in the sense that chairman dunford's term still has a long way to go because of senate confirmation process and other things in terms of logistics they tend to make announcements early, the president noting that of mark milley for the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. so it is now 2:55 about, the president in philadelphia, it's interesting to note, though, the timing here. president trump made this announcement about john kelly as

he walked out to marine one and there's a group of reporters standing on the south lawn, he didn't come over to talk about john kelly, he said he came to talk about the mueller investigation and the big document dump from yesterday of the filings as it related to paul manafort and michael cohen. kristin: but to throw a bomb like that you have to think that he knew what he was doing when he -- leland: you think? maybe. kristin: it's been rumored about in washington for a long time. we knew that this was coming, it's not a surprise but still surprising when somebody as important in the west wing as the chief of staff actually steps down and we know that he's going to be staying on according to president trump at least until the end of the year but we believe that a replacement is going to be named perhaps an interim replacement within the next two or three days and speculation right now is ramped that chief of staff is going to

move to become president trump's chief of staff, but there's also a lot of talk that and reuters is reporting that they have been trying to come to terms president trump and nick ayers on agreement. he's from georgia, he has family, his kids go to school i believe in georgia and being chief of staff is an exhausting full-time job. leland: that is a picture obviously of the white house, the chief of staff and the president and the oval office which is just to the right in that picture where the west wing is and it's easy when you hear the term chief of staff, what does that really mean? this is the president gatekeeper, determines who sees the president, when they see the president, often the first person the president sees in the morning when he comes downstairs and last person he sees when he leaves, it's the referee between different factions and different viewpoints as bret baier pointed out, having someone political

operative coming up as the president will be dealing with a divided congress and the democrats' investigations is something to think about, it often times in these discussions about whether someone is going to be hired, the most senior levels, we are talking about chief of staff, we are talking about top cabinet level positions, there is a negotiation back and forth about how long you'll guaranty the president, you serve at the pleasure of the president but how long do you promise you'll stick around, how -- what kind of access do you require, what are you willing to do, what are you not willing to do, what policies you will support or won't support in terms of red line, that all going on behind the scenes, we don't know. kristin: a you look at images of john kelly, you look back and think about the job that he's done as chief of staff, bottles before that, marine general, a gold-star father, he was brought into this white house to provide some order, discipline, remember at the beginning so much talk

about him being the person that would finally be able to rein, in the president on twitter, that did not happen but able to restore discipline to the white house and that rubbed some people within the west wing the wrong way, it'll be interesting to see as he departs what happens in terms of order, discipline and that all important controlling of information and access to the president himself. leland: yeah, one of the groups that john kelly particularly butted heads with was jared kushner and ivanka trump. he in his early days of chief of staff tried to force them into the role of being members of the staff not members of the family. you have a choice, you can either be a member of the presidential staff, member to have family, you can't be both, you can't use your access to the president as family member to go around me as chief of staff, whether or not that plays out with nick ayers to be seen.

36 years old. kristin: taking over at such critical important time for somebody with sharp political instincts that he does heading into 2020 and as democrats take control of the house in january, you're going to have so many more subpoenas, the mueller investigation, really hitting a fever pitch as we have these new manafort and cohen filings in court yesterday, the next chief of staff is going to have so much to deal with. leland: next chief of staff will have a lot to deal with and we often see this in white houses after midterms coming to january, before the new congress comes, you have the staff shake-ups as you pointed out, new attorney named new ambassador, we now have a new chairman of the joint of chiefs for his term to pick up in a little while and then hanging over all of this is what was the big news 24 hours ago which was

everything we had learned in the mueller investigation. kristin: what a day this has been. >> it's not over yet. >> continue the breaking news of the top of this hour, more of major shake-up at the white house, chief of staff john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year, president trump making that announcement just a short time ago saying he will name kelly's replacement in the coming days, hello, everyone, welcome to america's news headquarters, i'm eric sean. arthel: and i'm arthel neville, john kelly will leave one of the most powerful jobs in washington the decision after months of reported tension with president trump. eric: ellison barber live with the latest and the speculation of who could potentially replace the departing general, hi, ellison. >> there's a whole lot of speculation and there has been a lot of speculation ever since the rumors of johnly