peter baker, lanhee chen, carol lee. take away saudi arabia and say russia. >> the same thing. >> congress is united, the president is isolated. >> mds is a lot like early putin. there are moments when people found him to be a reformer, modernizer, hoping he could be a friend with the west. at home he was cracking down hard. the difference is when russia poisons a former russian agent on british soil we can unite against russia because russia is not an ally. saudi arabia is an ally. we're stuck between vary who has been a friend since the 1940s, it puts any president in a tough position. >> we shouldn't lose sight of the fact there's regional dynamics that are very complicated. we certainly have an important alliance with the saudis. let's not forget who benefits if we have a fracture of our rbis. the turks are ready to step in, qataris. if we believe the saudis did this, huge problem. we obviously have to do something about it. let's not forget there are other players in the region with interests as well. let's not be q

. >> and joining us is the moderator the of "washington week" on pbs, and also carol lee, and also jason lee. bob costa, what is your reading of the tea leaves of jim mat tis, because a lot of people in the national security world and americans could be very concern concerned if he were not in the cabinet. >> private simmering becomes public information and for many months it is clear talking to the top sources inside of the white house that secretary mattis is going to to be leaving after the elections in november, but he is not dying to leave. he is not asking to resign in any way so you have a tense moment, and not as much as you v have with the attorney general and the president. but you have this gap, that didn't exist a year ago when the president was close nor the secretary the. >> and carol lee, you have covered the president for so long, and the importance of jim mat tis, and why he might be suspect inside and with john bolten replacing mcmaster who is the subordinate in terms of the four star, and so a respectful in fellow marine, and now you john boltten in there who has a lot

nbc news national political reporter carol lee joins us on set. wow. just another day in paradiparad. >> just another argument in the west wing. >> i worked in the west wing and i am a big fan of the f word when appropriate but i never used it in and around the oval office. >> well, if john kelly has become known for this, he has a reputation for being a bit of a hot head and has a temper. and you know, he -- >> not ideal in a chief of staff. >> no. and he and john bolton, you know, their relationship has been fraught from the start because if you remember, john kelly did not want john bolton to become national security adviser. that's not lost on john bolton. and the dynamic is set up so that bolton reports directly to the president and circumvents kelly's authority which kelly finds frustrating. there's all of that simmering underneath and then the closest person to john kelly has consistently been kirstjen nielsen. he has help her. >> he brought her into the white house. >> brought her into the white house. helped install her at the -- >> his old jo

peter alexander, and carol lee and sam stein and gadi schwartz out there in arizona. thank you, all. >>> and awe whisper c-- and a whisper campaign to discredit jamal khashoggi. that is ahead on "andrea mitchell reports." it on my own. not until i tried chantix. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. it reduced my urge to smoke to the point that i could stop. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. my favorite role so

nbc news national political reporter carol lee joins us on set. just another day in paradise. >> just another argument in the west wing. >> i worked in the west wing, and you know, i'm a big fan of the f-word when appropriate, but i never used it around the oval office. >> john kelly has become kind of known for this. he has a reputation for being a bit of a hot head and has a temper, and you know, he -- >> not ideal in a chief of staff. >> no. and he and john bolton, their relationship has kind of been fraught from the start. if you remember, john kelly did not want john bolton to become national security adviser, and the dynamic is set up so bolton reports directly to the president and circumvents kelly's authority, which kelly finds very frustrating. there's all of that simmering underneath, and there's the closest person to john kelly has consistently been kirstjen nielsen. he helped install her over at the -- >> his old job at homeland security, and he's very protective of her. she's been under fire from the president, from within her own age

carol lee joins us on set., just another day in paradise. >> just another argument in the west wing. >> i worked in the west wing, and you know, i'm a big fan of the f-word when appropriate, but i never used it around the oval office. >> john kelly has become kind of known for this. he has a reputation for being a bit of a hot head and has a temper, and you know, he -- >> not ideal in a chief of staff? >> no. >> and he and john bolton, their relationship has been fraught from the start. if you remember, john kelly did not want john bolton to become national security adviser. it's not lost on john bolton, and the dynamic is set up so bo bolton reports directly to the president, which kelly finds frustrating. there's all of that simmering underneath, and the closest person to john kelly has been kirstjen nielsen. he's helped her. she was his deputy. >> he brought her into the white house. >> he brought her into the white house. he helped install her over at -- >> his old job. >> his old job at homeland security.

carol, the told fox news fox news that during the kavanaugh confirmation hearings, stark followed and harassed senator lee in the basement of the senate building. carol also tweeted, i've known mike stark for literally over a decade. this is who he is. american bridge hired him accordingly. told fox news when he was arrested for assault in vegas, he told police this is his job and he does this for a living. that prompted kentucky senator rand paul to question whether american bridge was propagating this quoting, "soros paid protester, are democrats paying to incite violence?" starks' resume highlights a violent past. convicted for disorderly conduct after aggressively approaching virginia g.o.p. governor nortel candidate ed gillespie and earle was arrested for assaulting a female staffer for ryan zinke. american bridge has not responded to whether or not they knew about stark's criminal past. >> laura: california congressman devin nunes was also harassed by this man just a few months earlier. congressman nunes joins us now. how long was this stark guy harassing you? this was an attack of the democrats, ge