defense secretary mark esper says he's flabbergasted by the ambassador who allegedly effort to break the navy's disciplinary process. correspondent ellison barber joins us. new twists and turns. >> yet, this interview with the navy secretary was extraordinary, not only becaused but also because it took place at the pentagon as a fire navy secretary was leaving for good. >> honorable reinsert the rents rents are, secretary b. >> former secretary richard dispenser was forced out of his job over the weekend. and a resignation letter to president trump, he suggested his departure was tied to a controversial case involving a navy seal. spencer wrote, "i know longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief. i cannot in good conscious obey an order that i believe violates the sacred oath i took." today, secretary of defense mark esper says that spencer lost his job because of a secret deal. >> secretary spencer proposed a deal whereby if the president

put the president of the united states at odds with his pentagon chief, the secretary of defense mark esperow evolving further and leading to the firing of the secretary of the navy, richard spencer, because spencer essentially went around esper, according to the defense department, to try and nullify the president's concerns. that senior defense official also said that esper only learned on friday of those efforts by spencer to essentially go around him and go directly to the white house with this proposal. ana. >> jeremy diamond at the white house, thank you. >>> it's official, michael bloomberg is running for president and democratic rival, senator bernie sanders, has something to say about his late entry into the race. we'll bring it to you next, live in the cnn newsroom. that's what happens in golf nothiand in life.ily. i'm very fortunate i can lean on people, and that for me is what teamwork is all about. you can't do everything yourself. you need someone to guide you and help you make those tough decisions, that's morgan stanley. they're industry leaders, but the most important thing

defense secretary mark esper calling for his resignation because of his clash with president trump over a navy s.e.a.l. accused of a war crime. >>> he's in. michael bloomberg, the richest man in modern history to run for president, officially chasing the democratic nomination. launching his campaign with $37 million worth of tv ads. some democratic contenders accusing him of trying to buy the nomination. >>> also tonight, impeachment and president trump's personal attorney, rudy giuliani. repeatedly asked what happens if the president throws him under the bus. giuliani saying he has, quote, "insurance." tonight, his explanation. >>> the new health scare for supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg. the 86-year-old four-time cancer survivor hospitalized with chills and fever. news tonight on her condition. >>> overseas, venice under water. the historic city crippled by a new round of devastating flooding. less than two weeks after it rose to its highest level in decades. >>> the deadly consequence of the catastrophic brush fires in australia. are koalas on the brink of extinction? >>> a

mark esp mark esper has demanded the resignation of richard spencer. says he's lost confidence of spencer's handling of a case involving a navy s.e.a.l. accused of war crimes. nbc news white house correspondent kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: the navy secretary is out, asked to resign by defense secretary mark esper over his handling of disgraced navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher. richard spencer was already under pressure when he disputed reports about the controversy saturday. >> i did not threaten to resign, but let us just say that we're here to talk about external threats and eddie gallagher is not one of them. >> the pentagon chief called spencer's actions deeply troubling. the navy secretary privately proposed to the white house that if officials did not interfere with the navy review, spencer would make certain gallagher could retire with his s.e.a.l. membership and the coveted trident pin. secretary esper said unfortunately as a result i have determined that secretary spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position. i wish r

there may be cost overruns but that is not the reason that mark esper said that the navy chief had to mark esper speaking to reporters today said he simply lost trust and confidence in spencer and was flabbergasted when he found out last friday that spencer was talking to the white house behind his back about a secret channel to try and get a fix in if you will on eddie gallagher being able to keep his navy status upon retirement. listen to a little bit of what mark esper had to say about this. >> secretary spencer broke the rules and thus lost my trust and confidence. contrary to the narrative that someone could put forward in the media, this dismissal is not about eddie gallagher. it is about secretary spencer and the chain of command. >> soes per feels that pencer went behind his back and violated his chain of command and didn't tell anybody what he was doing and that is the reason mark esper wanted him terminated but we have spencer's view of this and he wrote a letter where he said he was standing on principle and could no longer serve the president of the united states because o

we are delighted to have with us the secretary of defense, mark esper. thank you, mark. great job to you and to everybody and general milley for the incredible act you performed seven days ago with al-baghdadi. he was hit hard, the way he should've been. and i just want to say, for all of our military: we're very proud of you. that was something very special. the whole world is proud of you, frankly. so thank you very much. thank you, mark. great job. [applause] also with us is deputy secretary of veterans affairs jim byrne. thank you. secretary of the army ryan mccarthy. thank you. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. thank you, general. army chief of staff james mcconville and sergeant major of the army michael grinston. thank you very much. thank you very much for being here. also thank you to some very special warriors, in a little different kind of war, maybe, but they are warriors, senators john cornyn, ted cruz, and thom tillis. thank you very much, fellas. thank you. along with representative richard hudson for being here. we have a few oth

. >> reporter: a major shakeup at the pentagon the navy secretary is out, asked to resign by mark esper over his handling of disgraced navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher >> i did not threaten to resign. but let us just say we're here to talk about external threats and eddie gallagher is not one of them. >> reporter: the pentagon chief called spencer's actions deeply troubling. the navy secretary privately proposed to the white house that if officials did not interfere with the navy review, spencer would make certain gallagher could retire with his s.e.a.l. membership and the covetedt pen. secreta secretary es sper said unfortunately as a result i have determined he no longer has my confidence the convicted s.e.a.l. cleared of more serious war crimes had already ignited controversy. >> i just want to retire peacefully with all the honors i've earned, get back to my family. >> reporter: president trump's twitter bravdo was not seen as an order but caused tension when he wrote this thursday the navy will not be taking away warfighter and navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher's trident pin. the presiden

a major shakeup at the pentagon the navy secretary is out, asked to resign by defense secretary mark esper over his handling. e gallagher. richard spencer was already under pressure when he disputed reports about the controversy saturday >> i did not threate to talk aboud ede gallagher is e of them. >> reporter: the pentagon chief caller actions deeply troubling. the navy secretary privately proposed to the white house that if officials did not interfere with the navy review, spencer would make certain gallagher could retire with his s.e.a.l. membership and the coveted trident pin. esper said, unfortunately, as a result, i have determined secretary spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position i wish richard well. the case of the navy s.e.a.l. convicted of posing with a dead militant but cleared of more serious war crimes had already ignited controversy. >> i just want to retire peacefully with all the honors that i've earned, get back to my family. >> reporter: president trump's twitter bravado was not seen as an order but caused tension when he wrote this thursday the n

minority leader chuck schumer, former secretary of state henry kissinger, and defense secretary mark esper. this day-long event was hosted by the national security commission on artificial intelligence. conversations] >> thank you for putting up with me one more time. can i have your attention prick what is my great privilege to introduce the senator from new york, senator schumer. [applause] my thank you to those who are working on these issues which is so important of national security and to the future economy as well to combine. so thank you for the commission and the good work it has done thank you for getting me to speak here. when congress set up the commission i cannot think of two bitter people to lead that. it is the most important issue facing us looking at the ratio of how much attention this issue gets of what government should be doing with its importance with one of the lowest ratios there is. and that is not good for the future of the country. we know that artificial intelligence is changing everything how we communicate and conduct commerce and protect ourselves. it will h

asked to resign by defense secretary mark esper over his handling of disgraced navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher spencer was already under pressure when he disputed reports about the controversy saturday. >> i did not threaten to resign, but let us just say that we're here to talk about external threats and eddie gallagher is not one of them. >> reporter: the pentagon chief called spencer's actions deepley proposed to the white house that if officials did not interfere with the navy re, spencer would make certain gallagher could retire with his s.e.a.l. membership and the coveted pin esper said in a statement, unfortunately, as a result, i determined secretary spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position i wish richard well. the case of the navy s.e.a.l. convicted of posing with a dead militant but cleared of more serious war crimes already ignited controversy. >> i want to retire peacefully with the honors i earned and get back to my family. >> reporter: president trump's twitter bravado caused tension on thursday. the navy will not be taking away war fighter

therefore secretary of innavy richard's services i have terminated by secretary mark esper. hen goes onto thank richard esper for his service and he says he plans to nominate the ambassador to norway who is a retired admiral of the navy. the president calls him a man of great achievement and success. now, what's also notable in to president's tweets here is that he says that eddy gallagher will indeed retain his trident pin, which signals his membership as a navy seal. that is notable because that is what defense officials had been raising concerns about. in fact, the defense department says that richard spencer was fired because he tried to work out an arrangement with the white house going around mark esper to allow exactly this to happen. to allow eddy gallagher to retire while maintaining his membership in the navy s.e.a.l.s. so this is really quite remarkable circumstance that we're seeing particularly because the president is ultimately getting the exact outcome that he wanted despite all those concerns and even in the wake of the firing of in th navy secretary. >> i wa

in a a statement on sunday, mark esper said he w was "dedeeply troubled by this conduct."would understate -- still with us in berkeley, california, dan ellsberg, one of the world's most famous whistleblowers. in 1971, he was a high level defense analyst when he leaked a top secret report on u.s. involvement in vietnam to "the new york times" and other publications that came to be known as the pentagon papers and played a key role in ending the vietnam war. can you make sense of what took place? what is very clear is president trump wanted -- that president trump pardoned those that were accused of or convicted of war thees and wanted to restore in thef eddie gallagher navy seals. the navy seals wanted to oust him. dan ellsberg, what is going on here? this, amy, not from my y last 40 years as an antiwar activist or antinuclear activist, but in 15 years before that, which included three years in the marine corps when i was a company commander, very proud of that, rifle company commander, first lieutenant before that, training officerer of the third battalion secocond marines

. >>> in our national lead today, top pentagon officials including the secretary of defense mark espery be coming soon from president trump. according to cnn sources, he wants to stop president trump from dismissing the criminal sentences or charges against three service members accused of various war crimes. as barbara starr reports, the announcement from the president could come on veterans day. >> i do have full confidence in the military justice system. >> reporter: defense secretary mark esper making the first public remarks about stopping president trump from dismissing criminal cases against service members accused of potential war crimes. >> i had the chance to have a robust discussion with the president yesterday and i offered as i do in all matters the facts, the options, my advice, the recommendations and we'll see how things play out sflnchs an administration official confirming to cnn the president is still considering the idea. an idea first reported on fox news which cnn has learned that had mark esper and army and navy leaders scrambling, assembling the case files to ur

the secretary of defense mark esper came out today and said the u.s.itary leadership hat agret they would allow the process over his trident's pen to proceed, andt he learned two days ago that secretary spencer had tried to come up with a back channel deal in which the chief gallagher would be allowed to keep his pen regardless to have the finelngs of the p and secretary esper says that he lost confidence in secretary spencer because he w usurping te existing process. >> reporter: and in the middle ofll this, of course, eddie which has been his champion all along and championed h case back when he was in the brig through his court martial, and gallagher is remarkably very critical of some of his superiors. >> this is all about ego and retaliation. it has nothing to do with good order and discipline. they could havtaken my trident at anytime they wanted. now they're trying to te it after the president restored my ranchts. eporter: late lather he went on to specifically by name criticize his superr officer l ar admiral green. how unus it for a sailor to

a profession of arms has standards. >> mark esper forced him out for going around the chain of command. here's what espn told reporters. >> we had no knowledge whatsoever. we were flabbergasted by it and surprised and caught completely off guard. >> esper says he wanted the navy review board to look at the case, but as president trump told him not the pursuit that route, he did as he was told. he did not say if he agreed or disagreed with the president. >>> forecasters are calling it a historic storm. it may disrupt your travel plans. 500 flights have been canceled for today. and most of the flights are in and out of denver. our meteorologist karen mcginness has the latest. >> good morning, christine and kaitlan. we have problems on the roadways. aaa says 55 million people, about 90% of the 55 million people going to head out on the highways. going to make good time. no. we have back-to-back storm systems. one out of the rockies. another one out of the west coast, going to be lowering snow levels. this report brought by ninja foodi. big problems, interstate 70 across colorado. that wil

defense secretary mark esper has asked for the resignation of the naval secretary.cer has been fired over his handling of the eddie gag gere case. esper says he lost confidence in spencer due to his lack of candor in conversations with the white house. michael bloomberg is in. the former new york city mayor made it official that he's jumping into the crowd of presidential wannabes. i'm jon scott. i will see you at the top of the hour for "the fox report." gutfd show". >> the grade got cultural presents, they thought they were soaring but the nation was snoring. much like having to sit on my tail. this week debate was long and are comfortable. joe biden who chased with a butterfly net. >> the only black american woman who is ever elected, a whole range of people. [laughter] no man has a right to raise a hand to a woman and keep punching out and punching out it and punching out it, i really mean it. >> there is kamala harris a month too late. >> it's unfortunate that we have someone on stage who is attempting to be the democratic nominee for president of the united st

defense secretary mark esper has fired the navy's top official esper acted against richard spencer over allegations that spencer proposed a deal with the white house behind his back the matter has to do with a navy seal accused of war crimes whose case has been championed by president donald trump. president evo. recently elected mayors and governors to hammer out a deal on reforms he called for a national dialogue after days of nationwide anti-government protests at least a dozen people have been killed across iraq in the last 24 hours in basra security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters killing at people they were. the main port. across more than 70 other people were injured the hospital says. those are the headlines are we back with the al-jazeera news hour in under half an hour's time. b.l.o. fleet was a convoy of merchant ship stranded in the su is cannot but the 967 arab israeli war to survive their crews lived in the cargo of food this ships were carrying. dead and up bundles of things that way of edible stuff that we heard us cargoes on the ships remember the ships

latest headline, i want to talk to you about the breaking news reported by the "new york times," mark esper confirming that president trump ordered the pentagon not to remove eddie gallagher from the navy s.e.a.l. unit. clearly he has the right do it, but was it the right move? >> usual two stems ahead of me on that particular bit of news. i've not read about that. but it is consistent with the way that the president has behaved, which is completely imbet uhe i impetuously and oftentimes he seems to be at war with his own professional staff and it seems like just another case of of that. >> just so you know, news breaks every few minutes. so not your fault that you weren't able to look at your phone before you came on with us. i want to turn back to this is story from the "washington post." and that is the inner agency emails exposing what really appears to be a lot of justification from omb and mulvaney to withhold military aid for ukraine. given what the "post" is reporting, what questions does this raise for you? >> it raises profound constitutional questions. remember, the framers set i

. >>> navy secretary richard spencer is out of a job today, fired by defense secretary mark esper after president trump's support for navy seal eddie gallagher. gallagher had been acquitted in a military trial of shooting iraqi civilians and killing an enemy fighter. but he was convicted for posing in photos with a dead isis soldier. the jury in this case recommended a reduction in rank. earlier this month the president issued a pardon restoring gallagher's original rank. joining me now courtney kube who just spoke with secretary esper about all of this. this is extraordinary. we have not seen the president of the united states stepping in to a military justice case. >> especially one like this where the president has not only stepped in on the military justice part of this, but now he's stepping in, intervening in the administrative review process, which is essentially what this was for eddie gallagher. it's called a trident review board. a jury of his peers would look at the case laid out, in this case, that he was accused and found guilty of posing with the body of a dead isis fighte

spencer fired by mark esper, stemming from the case of navy s.e.a.l.gallagher, who was convicted by a military court for posing with a corpse of an isis fighter. president trump later reversed that decision. on his way out, spencer took a parting shot at the president, accusing him of undermining military discipline. also, in effect, forcing him to violate his oath. joining me now, barbara starr. i understand you've been speaking with the defense secretary, other reporters. what's the latest you're hearing? >> defense secretary mark es pechesper has just met with a small group of reporters to explain why the navy secretary was fired by him over the weekend. according to mark esper, the defense secretary, the navy secretary was engaged in back channel communications with the white house to try to basically assure while there might be a review of gallagher, he would get to keep, at the end of the day, his s.e.a.l. status, which was very important to him. and that's not what esper had been pushing for with the white house. esper had been pushing for letti

defense secretary mark esper was asked if this was a concession to north korean leader kim jong un. >don't see this as concession. i see this as a good faith effort by the united states and the republic of korea to enable peace, to shape the terrain, if you will, to facilitate a political agreement, a deal, if you will, that leads to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. and that's part of what we do, as i said previously. my job is not only to bolster diplomacy, but my job is to enable and empower. in this case, i think creating some more space for our diplomats to strike an agreement on the denuclearization of the peninsula is very important. >> both washington and seoul are urging north korea to return to the nuclear negotiating table. >>> venice is on edge, as another round of flooding is expected to further sub merge the city. we are live from the city of canals. that's next. >>> crippling floods are expected to hit venice once again. in the coming hours, high tide is forecast to reach 1.6 meters or more than five feet. the italian city has seen historic flooding damaging

talks about not being able to follow the president's orders, but he had gone around his own boss, mark esper, the defense secretary to get a deal for eddie gallagher. so, you know, that is one touch point on all of this. es per meeting with pentagon reporters a short time ago, and esper says a couple of interesting things. let me read you some quotes. he says i spoke to the president on sunday, he gave me an order that eddie gallagher will retain his trident. that means there will be no review. gallagher will keep his status as a navy seal and retire at the end of the month as planned. esper went on to say he had spoken to spencer and spencer told him the following. he told me that he would likely probably, i don't want to put exact words in his mouth but certainly indicated he was probably going to resign if he had to do this, this was as of thursday or so. still not clear, john, why the navy secretary was standing on this point of resignation and still believing he could work a back channel deal with the white house that would have essentially meant what was supposed to be an impartial rev

vice president pence will be speaking along with defense secretary mark esper and defense -- and secretary --

and if that's true, then you could certainly understand why the secretary of defense mark esper would lose his trust and confidence in the secretary of the navy. again, all this is just happening. we don't know much more than what we've seen in these accounts by spokes people. but if it is as reported that's a very significant event in this entire process and it's a very significant event just in terms of civilian and military control. >> as you point out, according to the senior official, spencer again went around his chain of command, namely mark esper, in order to have that direct line to the white house. why would he do that? >> i don't know. i mean, that seems so unorthodox. frankly, based on -- i don't know mr. spencer personally, but i know people around him. it doesn't comport with the reputation i have heard he had in terms of being a guy that can follow processes and trying to do things by the book. if this allegation is true, then it certainly would warrant mr. esper's deep concern and loss of his trust and confidence. the only thing i can guess is that he was trying to get

defense secretary mark esper says he lost case over the case of eddie gallagher, the navy s.e.a.l. who posed with the corpse of an ie ssis fire. he was acquitted of the charges. in a statement about spencer, the pentagon spokesman says defense secretary esper lost trust and confidence in hum for not disclosing information about a white house conversation. appeared to be seeking an outcome over gallagher's case. president trump was told not to intervene in the case but he pardoned two other service members and restored gallagher's rank anyway. >> the president of the united states is the commander in chief. he's involved in every aspect of government and he can make decisions and do things and give orders as he deems appropriate. >> has the president explained to you his rationale behind restoring chief gallagher's rank? >> no. he doesn't have to. >> reporter: a defense official tells cnn he proposed a meeting with a secret guarantee that gallagher would still keep his navy s.e.a.l. status. but he never alerted the pentagon to these back channel negotiations. spencer highlighting hi

. >> reporter: tonight, defense secretary mark esper says the order came from the president, do not remove embattled navy s.e.a.l. edward gallagher from the unit a clear directive from the commander in chief who became entangled in the review>n i said no. you're not going to take it away he was a great fighter one of the ultimate fighters. >> reporter: with gallagher keeping the try trident pin, signifying being a s.e.a.l., the navy secretary was forced to resign richard spencer who publicly disagreed with the decision resignation letter reading, i no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. i cannot in good conscience obey an order i believe violates the sacred oath i took earlier this year, gallagher was acquitted of shooting iraqi civilians and killing a captive enemy fighter with a knife but he was convicted of posing with a dead isis soldier gallagher on fox sunday. >> this is all about ego and retaliation. this has nothing to do with good order and discipline. >> reporter: with spenc

secretary mark esper the pentagon chief wants everybody to move on but it remains to be seen how long the very bad feelings will linger. erica. >> barbara starr with the latest from the pentagon. thank you. >>> joining me now gary peters of michigan, a former lieutenant commander in the u.s. navy reserve and now on the senate armed services committee. as you just heard barbara say, the defense secretary it is time to move on and focus on the mission but you believe this undermines the commanders. what is your main concern? >> well, it does. the president's actions undermine the commander's good order and discipline is absolutely critical in the military. particularly with the navy s.e.a.l.s. i'm ranking member of the sub-committee that oversees the special operations forces, these are incredible individuals that do incredible work but it is incumbent that we follow rule of law and the military code of justice and folks need to be held accountable if they are not within that code. and we need to have that standard and that standard is important for the rest of the world to understand t

defense secretary mark esper faces a number of issues and south korea as he begins a trip to asia. president trump has demanded pay five times more to host american troops. meantime, and intelligence sharing agreement between the u.s. and japan expires in two weeks. the u.s. saw that as a breakthrough between the frequent adversaries. brazil's capital city is playing host to this year's bricks summit. convened to discuss trade initiatives, the paris climate accord, and security. the nations issued a joint shorn of committed to multilateralism and boosting emerging markets. thelso vowed to protect united nations role in international conflicts. global news 24 hours a day, on-air, and @tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. shery: live from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i'm shery on. amanda: live in toronto, i'm amanda lang. welcome to bloomberg markets. here are the top stories we are following from around the world. trade talks are hitting a snag. sources tell bloomberg china is

now with mark esper, it seems he's more willing to do trump's bidding. and i fear that will do long-term damage to the professionalism and the apolitical ethos of the military. >> kwquickly, i want to get to your op-ed in which you skewered the republican party for its undying loyalty to the president. he keeps handing them one poisoned chalice after another. they get judicial appointments but trump's law breaking undermines any conservative claim to be defenders of the constitution. they get tax cuts but the resulting deficits undermine any conservative claims to be budget hawks. by backing israel's annexation of the palestinian territories, trump is undermining its future as a democracy. they get to keep power for the time being but his unethical and unhinged conduct undermines any claim that they deserve to hold it. yet, what about republican voters? you know the most recent polling shows 90% of republicans think the president is doing a good job. >> there's no question that president trump is a very skilled demagogue and he's has won over the republi

. >> reporter: defense secretary mark esper says president trump gave him a direct order to allow a navy seal accused of war crimes to re tire without losing his elite status and the pin that symbolizes it. that news comes the day after esper fired navy secretary richard spencer for going behind his back to the white house to resolve the case. >> i asked for secretary spencer's resignation because of a loss of trust and confidence. >> reporter: president trump had come to gallagher's defense after he was demoted for posing with the corpse of an isis fighter, and at the white house monday he reaffirmed that support. >> he was a great fighter. one of the ultimate fighters. tough guy. these are not weak people, these are tough people, and we'll protect our war fighters. >> reporter: the navy secretary had publicly called for gallagher to face disciplinary hearings. he said he'd follow the president's order, but his resignation letter implied disagreement on principle saying i cannot in good conscious obey an order that i believe violates the sacred honor i took. the firing capped a day wher

according to a statement from the defense department, secretary mark esper lost his trust and confidencen spencer over the handling of the case of chief petty officer eddie gallagher. gallagher had been accused of committing war crimes while deployed back in 2017. he was acquitted of murder but convicted in july of posing with a corpse of an isis prisoner for which he was demoted. president donald trump reversed that demotion and on thursday tweeted that gallagher would keep his trident pen, signifying his status as a member of the elite navy seals. a day later spencer told reporters that he believed the review process over gallagher's status should go forward, but contrary to those public statements, the defense department says spencer privately proposed to the white house that he be retired as a navy seal. in the resignation later last night, spencer acknowledged the termination and stated, quote, unfortunately it has become apparently that in this respect i no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me in regards to the key principle of good order

today, defense secretary mark esper says trump ordered him to allow the petty officer to retire without losing his elite s.e.a.l. status. joining me now with the latest is nbc's courtney cuby who covers national security and the pentagon for us. courtney, in a bizarre twist, the pentagon says the navy secretary was fired for trying to broker a secret deal with the white house on how to handle the s.e.a.l.'s punishment. >> that's right. to make the story extra confusing, we reported secretary spencer had told colleagues, including secretary esper, that he was planning to resign if the president was going to intervene in this review process for the navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher who you just mentioned. he told many people that on thursday. a bunch of his colleagues tried to intervene to try to tamp down the situation but then in a bizarre twist, we found out on sunday that secretary of defense mark esper asked for spencer's resignation because he said he was trying to broker a deal to do exactly what he told his colleagues on thursday he would resign for, which is to meddle in the process,

. >>> mark esper says president trump gave him a direct order to allow a navy seal accused of war crimes to retire without losing his elite status. >> i spoke to the president on sunday and he gave the warning that eddie gallagher will retain. >>> this comes the day after esper fired richard spencer for going behind his back to the white house to resolve the case of edward gallagher. >> i asked for the resignation because of the lot loss of confidence after what transpired. >>> president trump have come and it is this picture that put them at odds with the public call to face disciplinary hearings. >> if the president requested to stop the process it stops. >> reporter: the letter employed a disagreement on principle writing i cannot in good conscience obey an order that i believe violates the oath i took. president trump says thank you to spencer for service but said in a to eat that he was not pleased with the way the navy handled the case. he had appeared on fox news and criticized superior officers. >> this is all about ego and retaliation. >> reporter: gallagher will be allowed to r

defense secretary mark esper calling for his resignation because of his clash with president trump over navy s.e.a.l. accused of a war crime. >>> he's in. michael bloomberg, the richest man in modern history to run for president, officially chasing the democratic nomination. launching his campaign with $37 million worth of tv ads. some democratic contenders accusing him of trying to buy the nomination.

president trump pardoned two army officers accused of war crimes in afghanistan, defense secretary mark esper said he has great faith in the military justice system. his remarks come days after mr. trump pardoned two service members including one convicted of murder for ordering his soldiers to shoot three afghan civilians. two were killed. mr. trump restored the rank of a navy s.e.a.l. who posed with a dead isis fighter in iraq. critics say the pardons would undermine military justice. >>> prince andrew is facing backlash following an interview where he talked about his relationship with convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. in a rare interview with bbc news night, andrew rebutts that he had sex with a woman who had sex with a woman who said she was trafficked as a teenager by epstein. she's accused andrew of having sex with her on three occasions including one time after drinking at a nightclub. he denied the allegations. >> i have no recollection of ever meeting her. i'm almost -- in fact, i'm convinced that i was never in with her. there were a number of things that are wrong with that

spencer's dismissal came at the request yesterday of defense secretary mark esper.ow esper cited an alleged private proposal by spencer to the white house to resolve the war crimes case of s.e.a.l. edward gallagher. earlier this month, president trump restored gallagher's rank. last week, spencer pushed for a disciplinary hearing for gallagher which would have ultimately forced gallagher out of the s.e.a.l.s. >>> the house impeachment inquiry into president trump is approaching its next phase. lawmakers now are writing a report that could lead to articles of impeachment. the action comes as a white house review reportedly found emails from top officials trying to justify president trump's decision to block military aid to ukraine. the "washington post" reported yesterday acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and white house budget officials are searching for legal backing for mr. trump to hold a nearly $400 million military aid for ukraine. president trump insisted there was no quid pro quo for the aid. >>> the pro-democracy opposition in hong kong is celebrating a re

defense secretary mark esper says navy secretary richard spencer secrety proposed a deal with the white house to let a member of the navy seals retire with his trident pin that navy s.e.a.l. was acquitted of killing an isis captive. as a result of this secret deal, pe esper says he lost trust and confidence in the secretary. >>> ruth bader ginsburg has been released from the hospital. her spokesperson says she is doing well. she 1is 86 years old. she had a number of health complications, including surgery for lung cancer last december. >>> family and friends are remembering ramon sanders. he was a defensive lineman. sanders was supposed to attend the concert but it was turned into a tribute for him. doctors discovered he had bone cancer last move while treating him for a broken leg. eventually the cancer spread to his lungs. he received an outpouring of love from classmates, teachers and family members. >>> sacred heart community service in san jose still needs more than 6,000 turkeys to meet its november and december goal. about 4400 food boxes will be delivered to families this week.

. >>> defense secretary mark esper fired navyec ricrd spencer for the handling of the war crimes case involving eddie gallagher. >> it's about retaliation. >>> former mayor and billionaire businessman michael bloomberg has officially announced he's running for president. >>> the white house reportedly tried to justify why the president withheld military aid from ukraine after he did it. >> everyone was in the loop on this. there was a clear quid pro quo. >> reporter: a record number of people turn out for elections in hong kong. >> reporter: the pro-democracy opposition has won a resounding victory. >>> supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg out of the hospital. she was admitted with a fever and chills. >>> all that -- >> the 49ers destroy the packers. >> wide open! oh, baby! >>> and all that matters -- >> i'm very proud of the fact that i was the first heart attack patient to show up to the emergency room in a city bus. >> "saturday night live" host their own democratic debate this weekend. >> mayor bloomberg, how did you get in here? >> well, i tipped the doorman $30 ll >>> on "c

the navy's secretary is out, asked to resign by defense secretary mark esper over his handling of disgraced navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher. richard spencer was under pressure when he disputed reports about the controversy yesterday. >> i did not threaten to resign but let us just say that we're here to talk about external threats and eddie gallagher is not one of them. >> reporter: tonight the pentagon chief called spencer's actions deeply troubling. he privately apologized to the white house, that if the white house didn't make that gallagher could retire with navy s.e.a.l. pension and pin. esper said he no longunfortunat as a result i have determined that secretary spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position. i wish richard well. >> i want to retire peacefully with all the honors i've earned. >> reporter: president trump's twitter bravado was not seen as an order but caused tension when he wrote this. the navy will not be taking away war fighter and navy s.e.a.l. eddie gallagher's trident pin. kelly, at this hour, we're hearing from spencer. what is he saying about the

and south korea announced sunday they will postpone upcoming military drills secretary of defense mark esperrts to bolster a stalled peace push for north korea calling it, quote, an act of goodwill. the drills would have simulated air combat scenarios president trump has called the exercises a waste of money >>> michigan state police had a run-in with a drunk driver it was all caught on video they were setting up a roadblock to investigate a crash when a trooper had to move out of the way as a driver sped by and lost control. the woman then tries to turn around right in front of the trooper and drive away he then follows her and uses what's called a pit maneuver to cause the car to spin and stop the police say the woman was arrested and registered a blood alcohol content of 0.27%. >>> we work is planning to lay off 4,000 people it's over a third of their global workforce "the new york times" reports the mass firings could begin on tuesday. it comes as the company struggles to avoid bankruptcy. at many as 6,000 employees could lose their jobs. the layoffs are part of a five-year plan to overh

defense secretary mark esper has fired the secretary of the navy over his handling of the case over naval seal accused of war crimes not in a statement, as brett said he lost trust and confidence in navy secretary richard spencer because spencer's a bit statements about the case were inconsistent with his statements to the public. the washington post reported secretary spencer heavily advocated to the white house that eddie gallagher's rank be restored and he be allowed to retire as a navy seal. that contradicted his public position. traumatic restored gallagher's rank last week following his demotion and conviction for taking a picture with it that pow. >>> after a dozen witnesses, house intelligence chair adam schiff lawmakers are preparing a report to the house committee . it is that committee that will decide whether to draft articles of impeachment. mark meredith has more from washington. >> reporter: the house intelligence committee has not scheduled anymore and she regions inquiry hearings that the committee chairman said it is possible more witnesses could be asked to testify afte

good morning from the pentagon. >> we just heard from defense secretary mark esper who spoke to us one first time about why he fired navy secretary richard spencer. since last night there have been competing narratives about spencer's abrupt termination. according to esper he went behind the back of the chiefs with the white house saying he would fix the result of the trident review board to remain gallagher remained a seal and kept his rank if the white house didn't interfere in the process. esper and milley felt blind-sided and flabbergasted. it was counter to spencer's public statements. he was not honest with them or the public so esper asked for his resignation. in the end spencer was not fired for standing up for military justice but for dishonesty and undermining the military justice system according to a senior u.s. defense official. he was fired for lack of candor. spencer's letter following the termination sunday suggested otherwise. i no longer share the same understanding with the commander-in-chief who appointed me. in the regards to the key principle of good order and di

speaking off camera, defense secretary mark esper said he fired spencer for going behind his back to try to work out a deal with the president. >> secretary spencer had proposed a deal whereby if the president allowed the navy to handle the case he would guarantee that eddie gallagher would be restored to rank, allowed to retain his trident and permitted to retire. >> reporter: spencer says that was because esper was traveling overseas. >> i will take the bad on me for not letting him know i did that but he was informed because his chief of staff was briefed on it. >> reporter: spencer said he was trying to head off an order from president trump, which as he put it in his resignation letter, "i cannot in good conscience obey." what did you mean? >> well, what do i stand for as secretary of navy? good order and discipline of the united states navy. that's a prime tenet. this, in fact, erodes that. >> reporter: what's wrong with following a lawful order from the commander-in-chief? >> nothing. everyone should follow a lawful order. that's good order and dicould not in my conscience do