now back to giant kelly.'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 geor

so kelly tried to bring order. kelly tried to bring some sort of structure.ks thought of kelly as an adult trying to supervise. but we started the year with the book fire and fury. that was the first week of january. all about the chaos in the white house. and here we are now in december at the end of the year once again seeing a period of turmoil. >> playing it out now in real time. okay, brian, boris, daniel, thank you. air force one takes off. the president will be doing the coin toss. more straight ahead. in america, the zip code you're born in can determine your future. but no matter what neighborhood you grow up in, the y creates opportunities for all. for a better us, donate to your local y today. -morning. -morning. -what do we got? -keep an eye on that branch. might get windy. have a good shift. fire pit. last use -- 0600. i'd stay close. morning. ♪ get ready to switch. protected by flo. should say, "protected by alan and jamie." -right? -should it? when you bundle home and auto... run, alan! ...you get more than just savings. you get 'round-the-cloc

general kelly crisis may have ended john kelly's time in the west wing down with the four star marine general was brought to the white house to restore order as president probably years president donald trump took him from his post just homeland security secretary in july of two thousand and seventeen he replaced the first chief of staff writes priebus thanksgiving kelly's first order of business was firing communications director anthony scare mucci it on the job for just ten days for disparaging white house officials in a profanity laced interview for a time kelly was described as the adult in the white house reportedly imposing military like discipline on staff and limiting access to the president very well but in october of that same year a botched military mission in new share that left four american soldiers dead cause some to question kelly's judgment kelly attacked a congresswoman who criticized the president's mishandling of a condolence call to one of the widows it stuns me that a member of congress with a listen to a conversation. absolutely stuns me but the controversy sur

if kelly was a witness to a conversation, only kelly could answer questions about being a witness. >> the counsel's office determining yes, this is. >> they objected to it and they had to negotiate a solution. i will ask these limited sets of questions and john kelly is the only one who can provide that information that we need as part of the obstruction of justice investigation and john kelly is the only one who can provide the situation. >> a fascinating report. we have legal minds, both of them former follow prosecutors and legal analysts. when you hear this reporting, what is your reaction as we know the narrow set of questions have to do with obstruction of justice? >> who has not spoken to mueller's team? >> roger stone? >> and why? who has not talked to him. perhaps michael cohen initially. the first thing that strikes me as the most curious is there is corroboration for them to want to speak to this person already. nobody asked a question as a prosecutor and mueller's team proved time and again they have corroboration or hard statements and documents before they ask these ques

kelly can talk. gift of gab isn't lost on her fellow "voice" coaches as you'll see in this behind the scenes exclusive. apparently the other coaches are cool with her nonstop chatter. >> you know, kelly is a big talker. >> i'm just sayin'. i'm just sayin'. okay, well, i'm just sayin'. just sayin'. >> and within her long speeches is very little content. >> he legit could play a vampire in a movie. i don't know if you know this, but i'm amazing. i would never kick someone on purpose. oh no, i've got the church giggles. >> she just talks, talks, talks. i thought i could talk. i thought i knew what talking was until kelly came along. >> it's all about me right now y'all. >> kelly's no filter style is just one of the reasons we love her. >> i'm so excited. and i'm not drunk -- yet. >> but what you may not know is that kelly's chattiness with the contestants actually part of her strategy. >> i try and talk them to death, like out talk the other coaches 'cause it's one of my things that i do. i talk a lot.

we just soiree general kelly crisis may have ended john kelly's time in the west way but the four star marine general was brought to the white house to restore order his brothers rather be president donald trump took him from his post just homeland security secretary in july of two thousand and seventeen he replaced the first chief of staff writes priebus thanksgiving kelly's first order of business was firing communications director anthony scare mucci who'd been on the job for just ten days for disparaging white house officials in a profanity laced interview for a time kelley was described as the adult in the white house reportedly imposing military like discipline on staff and limiting access to the president very well but in october of that same year a botched military mission in new share that left four american soldiers dead cause some to question kelly's judgment kelly attacked a congresswoman who criticized the president's mishandling of a condolence call to one of the widows it stuns me that a member of congress with a listen to that conversation. absolutely stunning. but the

other john kelly is resigning or being fired stories?uestion. we have been here before, where donald trump has actively been asking people who should be my next chief of staff, and the difference is john kelly and president trump are not speaking. maybe it seems to be a petty disagreement, and right now president trump and other aides inside the west wing fully realize they have a difficult two years ahead of them especially when democrats take over the house in january and they know they need to have everything together running that west wing that is why people feel it is different this time and this could be when john kelly is actually going to leave the west wing because president trump feels ready to make a change and he needs someone to shape the last two years of his first time. >> do we know specifically over what? what is it that led to this point that all of a sudden they are not speaking? >> it's not like that's new. it's not like they had this falling out. things have been very back and forth, up and down with the president an

john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year.nnounce who will be taking john's place, it might be on an interim basis. john will be leaving at the end of the year. he's been with me almost two years now, as you know, between the two positions. we'll probably see him in a little while, but john kelly -- are you ready? -- john kelly will be leaves at the end of the year. i appreciate his service very much. thank you. thank you all. >>> okay. reaction once again? we're going to go straight to kelly o'donnell for the reaction, but as we were saying, it's been a challenging relationship between the president and his chief of staff throughout. so no surprise. the point is, and michael brought up who the replacement will be. >> a couple things are surprising. we have talked about the turbulent relationship, the different tenure for many, many many months. that's not the surprise. what is a surprise is the president would choose to announce it himself in the way he did. we had not yet been able to proempt him with a question. he wanted t

the way kelly answered that question is once kelly got into the white house, donald trump has been givenible. even if he came to a decision people didn't necessarily like, he was given that information. he described a chaotic situation in the white house when he first arrives. he maintains that donald trump was given all the best information. i thought that was a very interesting perspective on that key question. >> did you get a sense at all from john kelly what the personal relationship between him and the president was? was this one that was fraught with any kind of negativity or was this someone who the president relied on and respected and listened to his counsel? >> he did describe a very personal relationship, that they spent a lot of time together. i think that's natural for a chief of staff, of course. with john kelly it makes a lot of sense. he's a military man. he served in the marine corps before he retired in january 2016 for more than 45 years. he emphasized it was less about personality, more also policy and not about whether or not they liked each other or whether or not

general john kelly is out. he will depart by year's end. let's go over to msnbc white house reporter geoff bennett who is traveling with the president. how are you? >> hey, philip, good to see you. the long resignation watch is over. here's the thing that people should know, the job of the chief of staff is certainly to represent the president's thinking and to push his agenda. it became harder and harder if not impossible for john kelly to do that given that the relationship between him and president trump had devolved to a point where i'm told the two weren't really even on speaking terms. their personal chemistry dissipated. because john kelly is seen as having moral authority within the white house, given he is a retired military general, part of a gold star family and because he devoted his life to public service, president trump when he talked to reporters was careful to make clear he was not firing john kelly. take a look at what the president had to say speaking to kelly o'donnell and other reporters in the last hour or so. >> so jo

john kelly served as chief of white house since 2017. ellison barber live at the white house, so ellison, tell us who the president will pick to replace general kelly. >> the president didn't announc

now also john kelly.ving parts but that is to be expected heading into the third year of the trump presidency. >> as the camera was panning off it's interesting to note about the parlor game as you talked about, while nick ayres is at this point of parents and -- was the front runner for un ambassador, bill barr was a former attorney general everyone forgot about from the george w. bush administration. within 24 hours his name was rumored to be on the short list and then he was a nominated. be careful as we go through the next 48 hours of this game of the rumors you hear of who exactly is and is not in or out of the short list for chief of staff. at least the only name we have heard consistently mentioned is that of nick ayres. >> kristin: water tough job the chief of staff is. john kelly has received both a lot of praise and criticism for the job he has done after replacing the first chief of staff, reince priebus. not only do you have to manage all the people who work in the west wing, you also have to

john kelly will be leaving rita but i don't know if i can say retiring but he's a great guy john kelly will be leaving at the end of the here will be announcing who will be taking john's place it might be on an interim basis i'll be announcing that over the next day or two but john will be leaving at the end of the year he's been with me almost two years now as you know between the two positions so. we're probably going to see him in a little while the white house correspondent complete house takes a look back at john kerry's time as chief of staff. we just suarez general kelly crisis may have ended john kelly's time in the west wing but the four star marine general was brought to the white house to restore order as president robert b. here's president donald trump took him from his post as homeland security secretary in july of two thousand and seventeen he replaced the first chief of staff writes priebus thanksgiving kelly his first order of business was firing communications director anthony scare mucci who'd been on the job for just ten days for disparaging white house officials in

as for kelly's hosting style, our source says she's not oprah. she's more like a kelly ripa.'s husband was on set the entire time. he brought out their adorable kids, river and remy during the few commercial breaks to say hello. kelly's close friend and mother-in-law reba mcintyre told "e.t." why she's perfect for this gig. >> she likes to talk. >> i asked reba why you would be such a great host. >> did she say because i never shut up? we'll be playing games and she needs to say kelly, you need to take a breath. >> i love kelly clarkson. there's another musical mama we also love, pink. she's getting off her tour in march, but as always her number one priority is her family. ♪ >> i want my kids to see what it looks like to have a mom that's a boss. i want to be the best mom in the world. i put way too much pressure on myself. that's how we mom now. it's never good enough. >> pink is thankful her schedule allows her kids, willow and jamison, to travel the world with her. ♪ >> how proud of your mommy are you? >> very. >> is she a big sister? >> finally. she likes him. now that h

john kelly is a patriotic american. john kelly is a responsible person. i have known him for many years. there is things he has done as chief of staff that i have criticized and disagreed with. but at the end of the day, the man is a responsible human being and i think anybody can get tired of baby-sitting president loco. look at his twitter feed today. this is somebody who is off his medications. >> paul? >> oh, no. everything is fine. all is well on the good ship titanic. the problem is not general kelly. donald trump is only three staffers away from a well run white house: the father, the son and the holy spirit. whoever he picks next, should general kelly go, and i do trust our reporting, is going to see the same thing. anybody who goes to work for him is going to wind up like this. john kelly, a man who has given his entire life in service to our country will believe diminished because of his association with donald trump. >> oh, god. i hope he writes a tell-all book. >> if in fact today is the day, what final lly pushed him to th point where he deci

to be honest, it's not a wall, kelly said. later in the piece he's quoted as saying, the president still says wall, often he'll say barrier or fencing. now he's headed toward steel slats. but we loved selling concrete wall early on in the administration. going to writer for the l.a. times who interviewed john kelly exclusive. you have information to share with us in this article. let's start here with that wall quote. immediately generating headlines, it really stood out to me upon reading it. in what spirit did he say that? >> well, we were having sort of a larger conversation about some of the areas in which it seemed that there were distinctions between the positions of john kelly and the president. and sort of before he joined particularly the white house as chief of staff, as you know, he was secretary of homeland security, and he had expressed some views on some of the key immigration and border security issues that the president had run and won on, had expressed some differences. one of those was about the wall. you'll

john kelly will be leaving but i don't know if i can say retiring but he's a great guy john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year we'll be announcing who will be taking john place it might be ordered a debate to obviate downsizing that over the next day or two but john will be leaving at the end of the year he's been with me almost two years now as you know between the two positions so. we're probably going to see a bit a little while will trump is current in talks with a as an aide to vice president might pence to replace kelly in that role they are said to be working on the terms of a possible agreement but as a said he is unable to commit to doing the job for two years because of family commitments in our all the headlines the french interior minister says the yellow vesper protests are now under control but police levels could remain as they are until sunday thousands of protesters rallied across the country and a fourth weekend of demonstrations which began as a movement against a fuel tax that became a challenge to president and i know my home's authority. yemen's who see

same thing with john kelly. it is not really a trump guy i think trump is past that, he is past feeling like i need to have people who have this impression. now what trump wants are people who are basically loyal to him and maybe actually just logistics. i think nick ayers certainly is not going to challenge the president as somebody -- he's not like a general or something like that. but he will probably implement the president's agenda in a pretty efficient manner and that is what the president wants. >> all right. we shall see. matt lewis, maria cardona, good to see you. >>> next, a new report about the relationship between jared kushner and the crown prince of saudi arabia. and the contacts they had following the murder of jamal khashoggi. it was here. i couldn't catch my breath. it was the last song of the night. it felt like my heart was skipping beats. they said i had afib. what's afib? i knew that meant i was at a greater risk of stroke. i needed answers. my doctor and i chose xarelto® to help keep me pro

john kelly will be leaving recess but i don't know if i can say retiring but he's a great guy john kelly will be leaving at the end of the here will be announcing who will be taking john's place it might be on an interim basis i'll be announcing that over the next day or two but john will be leaving at the end of the year he's been with me almost two years now as you know between the two positions so. we're probably going to see him in a little while our white house correspondent can be how takes a look back at john kerry's time as chief of stuff. we just soiree general kelly crisis may have ended john kelly's time in the west wing down with the four star marine general was brought to the white house to restore order as president probably years president donald trump took him from his post just homeland security secretary in july of two thousand and seventeen he replaced the first chief of staff writes priebus thanksgiving kelly's first order of business was firing communications director anthony scare mucci who'd been on the job for just ten days for disparaging white house officials in

john kelly will be able to with the west wing into shape.ot been able to do that, because the president likes the nature of having people coming freely into his office, he likes to call leaders at will. it will be interesting to see if that changes. how much will his to —— departure change the dynamics in the white house, populated by strong characters? from what sources have told me, they think that with the next chief of staff, if it is mick —— nick ayers, the president is thinking of reorganising a lot of staff. democrats, taking back the house, having the power to really hammer down on the investigations. we have the cinema robert mueller investigation, the russia investigation, the russia investigation, that we have 2020. he wa nts to investigation, that we have 2020. he wants to put new people in place and fire people he has not been totally happy with. so it would clear the path for him, for his re—election. thank you forjoining us. police in new zealand are preparing to charge a 26—year—old man with the murder of the british backpack

ryan nobles looks back at kelly's embattled tenure. >> reporter: john kelly, the former marine corpspected to bring a military style sense of order to the white house. >> as chief of staff. >> that's right, sir. >> reporter: kelly quickly reined in access to the president, tried to control who could call trump directly and played a big role in staffing. as evidence of his quick disposal of former communications director anthony scaramucci. something scaramucci is still sore over as evidence from this interview on nbc's "meet the press". >> he hurt the president. he has hissy fits. >> reporter: within weeks, kelly had to confront a series of controversial moves by president trump that left the white house reeling. in the wake of the racially charged riots in charlottesville, kelly was photographed in the background of trump tower looking dower as trump spoke. >> i think there is blame on both sides and i have no doubt about it and you don't have any doubt about it either. >> reporter: kelly had urged the president to offer a more forceful condemnation of the white supremacists involve

but john kelly -- are you ready? so john kelly will be leaving toward the end of the year, at the end of the year, and i appreciate his service very much. >> kelly's departure comes amid cnn's reporting that he and the president have not been on speaking terms in recent days. and that the chief of staff recently sat down with the special counsel in the russia investigation. cnn white house reporter sara westwood joins us now from philadelphia, that's where the army/navy game is going to be taking place as soon as the president who is on his way there will be doing the coin toss. so this major announcement before he arrives, sara. >> that's right, fred. president trump ended months of speculation about whether white house chief of staff john kelly was eyeing the exits when he announced his embattled chief of staff will in fact, be leaving in the weeks ahead. their relationship had deteriorated in recent months. the president had begun circumventing some of the policies that kelly had put in place to have order in the

but john kelly -- ready, are you ready?elly will be leaving toward the end of the year, at the end of the year. and i appreciate his service very much. >> now, the announcement comes one day after cnn reported that kelly sat down with investigators from special counsel robert mueller's office and answered questions about alleged obstruction of justice. kelly's departure will come as the white house tries to navigate this new and potentially final phase of the russia investigation, and as the white house attempts to navigate a string of new personnel changes to the base of, the makeup of the administration, that including the attorney general, the u.n. ambassador and even the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. ana? >> the revolving day continues. sara westwood, thank you. >>> i want to get my national security analyst samantha in here because she has worked in other administrations. the announcement of the john kelly departure, how consequential is it? >> i actually don't know that john kelly's departure is that conseque

john kelly here. the relationship between the president and defense secretary james mattis supposedly reportedly not as close as it has been. who remains in this white house and is telling the president things he doesn't want to hear, trying to control some of his worst instincts? who remains? >> that's the key question because that access of adults you referred to. they were there to give him accurate information and then execute his orders. that's what john kelly has tried to do. it really leaves mattis at the pentagon, and it really is a question of who takes that role, who fills kelly's shoes? is it someone who is a real strong trump person who is never going to contest? >> just on that point, what does it mean if it is nick ayers. >> he's really an establishment figure, a political operator, someone well known on capitol hill, not without enemies. that would be not of washington. but a georgia political operative that could make sense on paper, at least, in terms of unifying the vice president's

before you get to john kelly, you have more breaking details on paul manafort. hit me. >> right, brooke. this comes from rudy giuliani, the president's lawyer, who as we've been reporting over the past week or so is in touch with paul manafort's attorney general. what giuliani is told by manafort's team is they believe that mueller's team, in fact mueller's team has told manafort that he doesn't believe what manafort is saying to the special counsel's investigators about president trump. that is a big deal in any case, but particularly as we are potentially just hours away from this really important filing that the mueller team is going to put forward in a court to explain why this plea deal that they had fell apart. generally what we've seen in these filings is evidence and explanations of what they believe and don't believe that these witnesses or these accused individuals are saying. in the case of manafort, what giuliani says is that the mueller team is making clear to his attorneys is they don't believe what manafort a saying, that the president did not kno

least under kelly's watch.was getting a lot of information from kelly but also others that kelly brought in as part of this sort of interagency process that he instituted to give him information that led him to hold off on those decisions. and then we see about a week after the confirmation that kelly would be leaving the white house, we see the president announce that he was going to be pulling troops out of syria and that he was going to be withdrawing about half the troops from afghanistan. so i think that's a really key example, but then on other issues, it is notable that where people thought kelly would differ from the president, perhaps pull him back from the brink, he clearly didn't. >> yeah. but that is kind of an odd place for a chief of staff to be, right? preventing things as opposed to accomplishing things with the president. do you think that might be in part why the kelly tenure as chief of staff was so rocky? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, i think there can be arguments certainly made, obviously, it

john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year.aking john's place. it might be on an interim basis. i'll be flounsing that over the in exday auto or two, but john will be leaving at the end of the year. he has been with me almost two years now, as you know, between the two positions. we'll probably see him in a little while, but john kelly -- ready? are you ready? so john kelly will be leaving before the end of the year, at the end of the year, and i appreciate his service very much. >> okay. it's official. after reports of tension and that they weren't even on speaking terms, president trump announcing today white house chief of staff john kelly will be leaving his post by the end of the year. whoever trump picks next will be his third chief of staff. noteworthy because back in 2012 trump tweeted in. three chief of staffs in less than three years of being president. part of the reason why barack obama can't manage to pass his agenda. all this comes as sources at the time cnn kelly sat for an interview with mueller's team in recent

but the controversy surrounding rob porter a top trump aide may have been kelly's biggest fumble kellydefended porter when his ex-wives accused him of physical and emotional abuse so did the president as you probably know he says he's innocent and i think you have to remember that he said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent but the administration was forced to back away when photos of one ex-wife's blackeye surfaced bolstering her claims the case led to questions about how porter given his police record had received security clearances and led to others in the administration including the president's own son in law jarrett cushion or seeing their top secret clearance revoked other trump reports surfaced that kelley had referred to trump as an idiot something both men denied other top officials like former secretary of state rex tillerson and former national security advisor h.r. mcmaster were let go after allegedly making similar insults in recent months kelli's tenure has been marked with reports of fights including reported shouting match with national security adviser john bo

john kelly is due to leave the job on wednesday.children. they must leave the girl's brother with his maternal grandparents in china. now on bbc news it's time to take a front row seat as mark kermode gives his view on the big releases of the year —

i mean, it seems to me that kelly had a 17-month kidney stone, right?as this painful process that was going on. but i think what's happening now with nick ayers going inb, and kelly coming out, i think trump's realizing he's got to stick with the family. so the fact nick ayers with a big jared kushner, ivanka trump, sticking to him, john kelly wasn't family. i think you're seeing people who are now coming around the president, the proverbial circling of the wagons because i do think there's a palpable sense of some kind of urgency and danger to what's happening with donald trump right now. >> this was seen as a coup because kelly really tried to limit their power. but i think it's important to note ayers is temporary. >> a few month from now we could be talking about somebody else, it's the real strategy for 2020 and the names that have been floated is mnuchin, nick mulvaney, richard lighthizer and who knows who will come up next. >> who would want this job? it's a circus and silly and for what? other then to take a check and say oh, i was the chief of

this is about john kelly. this is the impossible job. kelly. "johnite the following -- kelly -- host: explain. after the first chief of staff was fired, who were close a lot of people advisers to the president, like a ivanka trump, jared kushner, felt like they needed someone would bedvise, and he able to instill a sense of order, get rid of the chaos, stop the leak in, giving way to the sense of chaos and paranoia. look backhink you can a couple months from now and say he has been successful. there are too many people for their to be powerful entries about. think a couple of the chaotic news cycles, a couple of the stories circle around him, and you have to wonder about mick mulvaney. why would anyone take this job? host: he appeared on nbc this morning, telling jonathan karl chief of staff daley white house staff, he is not going to change the president. guest: right. there is an old saying from the campaign folks "let trump be tru mp," that is the way to manage keep him is the way to happy. people who abide by vacuu that survived longer. at

this news breaking on a day where john kelly's hours might be numbered. >> john kelly is expected to resign in the coming days and leave the west wing after a tumultuous 17 months. he is only further out in the news today, not a place that the chief of staff likes to be. we are told that even though the president and john kelly had this up, down, back and forth relationship for sometime now and john kelly has been on the verge of being fired or resigning multiple times before, we are told this time is different because his relationship with the president has deteriorated so greatly that the two men are not on speaking terms. yes, they have been in the same room for some meetings and in the oval office, but not been speaking one on one and that's a sign of how bad things are and president trump realizes that and he is looking ahead to the next two year and it is democrats taking over the house in january and he wants to have someone in that position to help him shape the last two years of his first term and he doesn't feel that john kelly is the person for the job. the chief of staff

john kelly will be leaving rita but i don't know if i can say retiring but he's a great guy john kellyill be leaving at the end of the here will be announcing who will be taking john's place it might be on an interim basis i'll be announcing that over the next day or two but john will be leaving at the end of the year he's been with me almost two years now as you know between the two positions so. we're probably going to see him in a little while ok emily howell brings us more now on john kelly's time at the white house. we just soiree general kelly crisis may have ended john kelly's time in the west wing down with the four star marine general was brought to the white house to restore order as president rather be here president donald trump took him from his post just homeland security secretary in july of two thousand and seventeen he replaced the first chief of staff writes priebus thank you think kelly's first order of business was firing communications director anthony scare mucci it on the job for just ten days for disparaging white house officials in a profanity laced interview f

president donald trump says his chief of staff john kelly is to leave within weeks following reports of a disagreement to be the second man to leave the job on the truck. and aggro on the streets of the french capital as the fools we can to get their best protests across the country i will one hundred thirty people have been injured and yes thousands of protesters have been to tate police and using tear gas and water cannons to control the crowd. the only man. i'm humphrey glad you could join me off to a close leadership battle on a plate come combo has taken over from german chancellor angela merkel as leader of the c.d.u. now on her first day in charge of the policy is getting behind its new leader electing her proposed nominee to an important post on it kate has self is now a potential successor to replace merkel us chancellor. and the from buy it to me. the new boss. worked hard to get elected to lead the c.d.u. now she plans to broaden the conservatives appeal to win back voters from the right wing populist and the greens if possible before the european elections in may she merk

so which is john kelly?turn john kelly bad or did donald trump simply reveal how bad john kelly always has been? james fellows will take on that question after this break. this is how it made me feel. it was like that feeling when you're mowing the lawn on a sunny day... ...and without even trying, you end up with one last strip that's exactly the width of your mower. when you're done, it looks so good you post a picture on social media. and it gets 127 likes. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. i'm ray and i quit csmoking with chantix. smoking. it dictates your day. i didn't like something having control over me. i wanted to stop. the thing is i didn't know how. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke to the point that i could quit. 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, depresse

that is why many people respected john kelly and many on the other side feared who may followjohn kelly. whether it will be somebody who can stand up to the president. at the moment we have an interim chief of staff and we are still awaiting a permanent replacement. polls are officially closing in the democratic republic of congo, where people have been voting for a successor to president joseph kabila, who's been in power 17 years. the election has been hit by a series of delays and marred by violence. the bbc‘s salim kikeke is in the capital with the latest. many of the 39 million voters registered in the democratic republic of congo would have voted by now. for those who haven't, some of the polling stations are still open for those who haven't had a chance to vote. it has been quite a challenge for the electoral commission. it has been quite a challenge for the electoral commission, they're using voting machines for the first time, but for the voters themselves, some have had an easy ride, walking to the polling station, cast their votes and go home. but for some, in a polling stati

but the controversy surrounding rob porter a top trump aide may have been kelly's biggest fumble kelly defended porter when his ex-wives accused him of physical and emotional abuse so did the president as you probably know he says he's innocent and i think you have to remember that he said first wrongly yesterday that he's innocent but the administration was forced to back away when photos of one ex-wife's blackeye surfaced bolstering her claims the case led to questions about how porter given his police record had received security clearances and led to others in the administration including the president's own sudden larger cushion or seeing their top secret clearance revoked other tromp reports surfaced that kelley had referred to trump as an idiot something both men denied other top officials like former secretary of state rex tillerson and former national security advisor h.r. mcmaster were let go after allegedly making similar insults in recent months kelli's tenure has been marked with reports of fights including reported shouting match with national security adviser john bolton

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trump said that kelly did a good job, is a great guy and thanked him for his service. >> john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year. we'll be announcing who will be taking john's place. it may be on an interim basis. i'll be announcing that over the next day or two, but john will be leaving at the end of the year. he's been with me almost two years now between the two positions. so we're probably going to see him in a little while. >> but even with the special counsel probe focused specifically on the west wing, the president now faces an even bigger challenge, trying to change the story. those court filings allege mr. trump directed cohen to break laws before the election. he denied that and once again claimed there was no collusion with russia. >> on the mueller situation, we're very happy with what we're 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 she financed the fake dossier which i understand they tried to get some information and help fro

>> well, craig, as you mentioned, we've been playing this sort of is kelly in, is kelly out game forhat the chief of staff had clashed with the first lady and the national security adviser and others, you know, our sources were telling us that, look, he's probably not going to stay beyond the end of the year, and so this is not necessarily . because we are getting close to the end of the year, and kelly is probably looking to announce the resignation and move on to other things, but this is all kind of coming at an inflection point in the administration. after the midterm elections, kelly, and it is natural for a president to change chiefs of staff, and however, this, kelly has been a different type of chief of staff in that he has largely been mired with controversy and officials in the west wing since he took the job in the last summer, and so now, our sources are saying that the president has, you know, his eyes on a leading contender for the job, nick ayers who is the vice president chief of staff and kelly is likely to leave in the coming days. >> what do we know about nick ayer

general kelly described his 18-month tenure as a "bone crushing hard job." once saying this in jest -- >> i did something wrong and god punished me, i guess. >> reporter: kelly recalled that trump would press advisers on the limits of presidential authority under the law. but added trump never ordered him to do anything illegal, "because we wouldn't have," kelly said. that check on the president, something fired secretary of state rex tillerson recently spoke about. >> i'd have to say to him, well, mr. president, i understand what you want to do but you can't do it that way. it violates the law. >> reporter: kelly saying his time at the white house "is best measured by what the president did not do," claiming last year he talked the president out of withdrawing troops from afghanistan. >> john kelly will be leaving at the end of the year. >> reporter: shortly after trump confirmed kelly's departure he announced half the 14,000 soldiers in afghanistan, and all of those in syria, would be leaving the battlefield. >> they're all coming back, and they're coming

. >>> john kelly gets candid. the outgoing chief of staff opens up about a bone-crushing job. >>> punching their ticket to the playoffs. highlights from a wild day in the nfl, including another record-breaking game from chiefs quarterback patrick mahomes. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm milissa rehberger. >> and i'm marlie hall. thanks for joining us on this new year's eve. just a short while ago, auckland, new zealand, was one of the first major cities to ring in 2019 with a massive fireworks display from its sky tower. here at home, tonight's famous ball drop in new york's times square is expected to be seen by up to a million spectators. and of course, added security measures are in place. safety is a top concern with the nypd on heightened alert. nbc's chris pollone is live for us in times square. good morning, chris. looks like it's pretty mild out there right now. >> reporter: yeah, good morning to you and happy new year. it certainly is. what a difference a year makes. a year ago at this t

kelly is giving lie to that myth that the president wanted a concrete wall. >> kelly is being honest about what's happening. the president is going on twitter and claiming no, he wants this cement wall. who do folks believe, rick? the president or his two adults in the room. >> that's such a tough call. they will believe because what ma mattis and kelly are saying is all the reporting we have been hearing the last two years in the whus. k -- white house. kelly keeping donald trump from executing on the worst impulses he has. it's very telling that kelly says that judge me by what the president didn't do. just think of the lost potential. a good chief of staff is supposed to execute the president's agenda, his vision for the country and everything else is kept out of the office or out of president's attention but this president has no vision for the country. make america great again turns tou out to be an empty slogan. it's an empty vessel. if kelly as chief of staff had president, really presidential vision of what the president wanted to do then he would have organized his time acco

>> i think kelly was pretty clear.said from early on in the tenure at homeland security he sort of convened the people who are really on the front lines from customs and border protection and patrol and asked them what do you need and where do you need it? >> they said a barrier but not a 100-foot concrete wall against thousands of miles from sea to shining sea sort to speak but more fencing, more personnel, more technology at the board i and not the quote/unquote wall that the president is adamant about that he wants, that he needs, that he wants $5 billion for and what the government is currently shut down over. i think the gap between the sort of people on the ground on the border and then the rhetoric coming out of the president's twitter feed frankly, that gap is going to persist moving forward and i think that's what kelly was really getting at. >> i want do go back to the notion of a gap between the reality and the rhetoric because in that interview kelly said, quote, it's never been the president just wants to

last couple days there were media reports that kelly was was about to leave his post in the next few days and that has happened now and the reason is that the chemistry between the president and kelly had deteriorated for a long time and they had that initially a good relationship but it has gone sour in s. as time moved on and so this this exit is just basically the last straw that broke the camel's back so to speak and when kelly started his his his tenure he was kind of deemed as one of the adults in the room so to speak to kind of try to curtail trump and try to bring order to the white house and as it turns out and people quickly learned trump doesn't really want to be controlled by kill you or by no one else and so this was just a matter of time until a trump and kelly parted ways but it's not actually so unusual for a president to reshuffle his cabinet often italian actions and it seems that business king see one insider to take on the chief of staff job so is this a case of business as usual. frankly and it kind of feels strange to say that it is normal it is almost normal it

john kelly will be leaving rita but i don't know if i can say retiring but he's a great guy john kelly will be leaving at the end of the here will be announcing who will be taking john's place it might be on an interim basis i'll be announcing that over the next day or two but john will be leaving at the end of the year he's been with me almost two years now as you know between the two positions so. we're probably going to see him in a little while. from our white house correspondent kimberly halkett. we just suarez general kelly crisis may have ended john kelly's time in the west wing but the four star marine general was brought to the white house to restore order as president probably years president donald trump took him from his post just homeland security secretary in july of two thousand and seventeen he replaced the first chief of staff writes priebus thanksgiving kelly's first order of business was firing communications director anthony scare mucci who'd been on the job for just ten days for disparaging white house officials in a profanity laced interview for a time kelley was

that is something that john kelly did and is perhaps why john kelly did and is perhaps why john kellynd is perhaps why john kelly is now on his way. people are john kelly is now on his way. people a re interested john kelly is now on his way. people are interested in who will replace john kelly, someone with that independent voice who will be prepared to stand up to the president or someone who will be appointed more for their loyalty to donald trump? as that revolving door continues, who is likely to replace in? there have been some rumours, reported by the reuters news agency that mike pence's chief of staff could move over to the oval office. that is a man called nick ayres, he has apparently been very effective and very loyal working for the vice president mike pence. the president will seek a commitment that this chief of staff will stay until the election in 2020. we're not sure if nick ayres has been able to give that sort of commitment. it may be that sort of commitment. it may be that he takes over in the interim until a longer term replacement can be found. but donald trump

>>> yeah. >> it's not just with john kelly. it's also with william barr, heather nauert, the new jouint chief of staffs. i don't always ascribe to the shiny object that he's doing this all intentionally but if there was a weekend to ascribe to that it would be this one. >> lots of shiny objects. thank you. that's right. >>> a short time ago president trump responded to those bomb shell court filings we were just talking about that were against his former personal attorney michael cohen. we've got all those developments next. absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover. after a scratch so small rocket you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ unstopand it