-- did you speak to madelaine. >> no, i didn't. >> madelaine is the key.e secret. >> she had a particularly powerful position there. does it surprise you that she would speak this way to reporters but also the content of the conversations would lead to her being fired. >> well, jim, i can't speak to the conversations as you know. they're off the record. and as a white house reporter, you know, abade by those -- by the stipulations. but you're right, madelaine was one of the lesser known figures in the white house. but one that wielded quite a bit of power. she sat outside right outside the oval office. has been a fixture with trump through the campaign. through the transition, and the first few years at the white house when you think about it it's really something when you think about the turnover we have seen at the white house. historic turnover at the white house. madelaine has been a main stay with the president. >> daniel, president trump willing to let her go over the remarks. and it appears it was a very swift and decisive decision here. does that s

but going back to john bolton it reflects parallels to madelaine's situation. john bolton with president trump not walking in lock step on north korea, iran or afghanistan. it's not a pris to people in the white house and in washington. that bolton is hawkish on trade policy, war policy. what you are seeing now is a public break up. look at rex tillerson that breakup was all over television. they were calling each other morans i think you will see that here. >> often if the freeze happens in this white house, the door comes soon after. what do you think john bolton is thinking here? >> i think john bolton is thinking this is what the president does in lieu of actually firing people. >> because there is precedent. when you join the white house, i mean, and john bolton has been there under a year now, he kind of knew what preceded in terms of the dealing with. >> true. but we also know the president is notoriously averse when it comes to confronting people when he disagrees with them. this is the games they play in the administration. isolate people. >> make them

in a new tweet the president writes while madelaine westerhout has a fully enforceable confidentiality agreement she is a good person and there wouldn't be reason to use it. she apologized. i understood and forgave her. i love tiffany. doing great. he adds this on nd a's yes i'm currently suing various people for violating confidentiality agreements. disgusting and foul mouth omarosa is one. i gave her every break despite the fact that she was despised by anyone and everyone. and she went for some cheap money from a book. numerous others also. i should note that according to the legal experts, the nd a's the president had white house officials sign are unenforceable since they are government employees. i want to bring in "new york times" white house correspondent michael sheerer. and patrick healy. did you read the president's tweets there as maybe a veiled threat. >> yeah, i think that's pretty clear. while the president had a very close relationship with westerhout he mass a tendency likes to send signals to basically anyone working for him, even though they are government employees,

. >> but the president certainly said that the reason was, that he spoke that madelaine spoke gossipis family. that is saris certainly a red lr this president, just ask steve bannon for the consequences about that sort of thing. madeleine has been a person true the transition, and the campaign, and we know a pretty significant feat, given the historic turnover in this wet wing. and her desk was right outside the oval office. she was a gate keeper of sorts for people coming in and out which really made her one of the most powerful and frankly, least known members of this west wing. i just want to add one other thing here. we're talking off the record. and the viewers may wonder what is the point of going offer the record if it can't be shared with readers or viewers. i think there's a good question there and a fair debate. i think this happens a lat in the campaign trail or in foreign trips with the president or in small town, new jersey when he's in bedminster. and off the record, back and forth, with staff, gives you an opportunity to kind of understand these people deemer. and unde

. >> what do you think, abbey what the president said about his longtime personal city madelaine westerhouted effectively because of words she said about the president's family in the off the record dinner conversation with a few reporters. >> well this is classic trump where he says on the one hand that he feels badly for her, she is a great person. but on the other hand that she is essentially fired. he said it was automatic that she had to be fired because she was in a setting where she was tringing with reporters. and she said something the president seemed to confirm that she did say disparjing things about what we believe according to our sources to be his own family. and he defended his daughter tiffany trump there. but it's typical of president trump to sort of not take ownership of a decision to dismiss her, even as he tries to defend her to the media. but clearly this crossed a major major line for him that someone who has been around this presidency from the very beginning is suddenly on their way out the door while she is on vacation this week. she is not even at work. she was d