but when nick ayers and john kelly came in, they also began attending the lunch, giving nick ayers thisey face time every week with the president. and it's during that time that our sources have told us that the president came to know and like nick ayers and come to the point now where he's considering him to replace his chief of staff. as you point out, nick ayers has earned his fair share of enemies as a 36-year-old political operative to now being considered chief of staff. and indeed kellyanne conway is one of those antagonists. she has urged the president against appointing nick ayers as chief of staff, according to our sources. kellyanne conway denied this, telling us she has zero beef with nick ayers and thek on thi. but many of the president's allies, including his daughter, ivanka trump, son-in-law, jared kushner, have been loyal allies of nick ayers and encouraging him to name nick ayers as the president's chief of staff. the political acumen, the strategery he has, they say could make him a key chief of staff heading into the 2020 re-election. jim? >> jeremy diamond, thanks v

i want to ask you more about nick ayers. i read this huge piece that vicky ward wrote in she writes is known to be exhaustingly charming. he has a panache you don't normally encounter in d.c., floppy blond hair, wide smile, swift stride, expensive sput. his greatest weapon is a southern drawl that makes you feel as if everything is happening in slow motion. . what is he like? >> it's a fantastic feature. it gives you a sense of who nick ayers is and how he's perceived in washington right now. he does have a lot of enemies. in a lot of ways it's surprising the president does seem to like him. he's the kind of operator, the type of striver, who you would think based on everything the president has said before he would not like. but apparently he has managed to get close to the president and get close to his daughter and son-in-law and to really make some allies that are very important in this west wing. >> you said it. the word is white house aides, they don't want him there. "the washington post" reporting there that during t

but nick ayers has drawn a top detractor in the presidential wing and that is kellyanne conway.will me and my colleague, elizabeth landers, who i worked on this story with, that nick ayers sought to fire kellyanne conway from that gubernatorial reelection campaign and that's where the bad blood stems from. when nick ayers was being considered to come in as the president's chief of staff last year, sources tell us that kellyanne conway tried to thwart to support that. the vice president's press secretary also disputed that, saying that nick ayers and kellyanne conway are close friends. brooke? >> jeremy diamond, thanks for the reporting. >>> coming up next, breaking news. roger stone has just responded to the news one of his associates is in talks with robert mueller about a plea deal. we'll have that for you. >>> also, the trump administration releasing a major report on climate change today, warning of these dire consequences. hear the specific consequences. but first, we just want to take a moment on this friday afternoon to honor one of the sears top ten cnn heroes, a compute

this morning, cnn has learned a top contender for the spot is nick ayers pictured there. ident's chief of staff but is well liked by trump as well. joining me with the latest, jeremy diamond. nick aiers. i know some in the white house he makes uncomfortable, if that's the right word. there was some opposition there. how did he earn the president's trust? >> yeah, that's right. nick ayers is the vice president's chief of staff currently but he's also a 36-year-old ambitious political operative who has really had this meteoric rise in republican politics. it began at age 19 when he started on sonny perdue's campaign. and he quickly rose to become the head of the republican governors association. ran a 2012 republican presidential campaign, but his real rise in the trump world began when he started working for now vice president mike pence. it really started when he became pence's chief of staff last year, and that's when he earned the president's trust. the vice president and the president used to have these weekly lunches. it used to be a time for both of them to get to kno

it's an interesting report and you talk about nick ayers's finances. t going to be a complicating factor? >> this came up with people that we spoke with that there may be scrutiny around ayers's finances. he is worth between 12 and $54 million according to the financial disclosure forms that we reviewed to write the story. he's a self made man. a lot comes from financial investments over the years that have done quite well. it also comes from a political arrangement where he was both advising the political candidate politically on strategy during the campaign and also doing the ad buying for the advertisements and the media for that campaign as well. that raised some eyebrows with republicans here in d.c. >> that's very lucrative. liz landers, thank you so much for that report. cindy mccain since her husband's funeral gets very candid about why she can't forgive the president. a new month ly deal being held y the u.s. government. i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on

>> and does nick ayers want this job? he would be the third white house chief of staff in less than two years. >> he's known in the west wing as ambitious. one thing that's interesting about him as a choice is if you look at john kelly and where the president is heading into a re-election, john kelly has no political skills and nick ayers has significant political skills. john kelly doesn't really have relationships with democrats on the hill, and someone like nick ayers could maybe go some of the discussions or negotiating or whatever the president is going to need. so he has a different skill set that typically when you see presidents shift into this second half of their first term and looking at a re-election that they -- >> nick ayers is said to have the support of jared kushner and ivanka trump who clashed with john kelly throughout. >> said he wants to run for office -- >> this sounds more and more like comey's assessment, sounds like a mob family. thank quyou. any predictions? we heard varying reports as we were co

and several of the sources are telling us that nick ayers who is the vice president's chief of staff could be one of the folks to whom the white house has reached out. we know that based on the reporting that the white house has actively reached out to others for that job. and the white house is not commenting for this story. and they are also not pushing back to us at least of today and the first lady's office has a statement, and they are saying that they are, there is a good relationship and a very positive working relationship and the east wing is focused on the east wing when they need to work with the west wing, they ey can. and so the first lady's office stay thing out of the way. >> and is isn't there a deal that john kelly had announced a deal -- >> yes sh, he announced it. the president has asked me to stay the on until 2020 and that something that we will do, and we are learning that is increasingly untenable position, and given the role of kelly and the tensions coming up now between the key figures, and melania trump in a lot of ways, she does her own thing, and we have

whether nick ayers was offered a job there or not, it doesn't matter. he was trying to see, is somebody going to leak this. is somebody going to, you know, think that maybe nick ayers has the job that john kelly wants. and the president revels in that kind of uncertain too and frankly backbiting. >> and this is a moment he's been looking forward to for some time now. he's been waiting until the midterm elections were over in order to make some of these big moves, because he had been told by his advisers and by republicans on the hill, please do not do anything else to create more problems for us going into this election. that's over with. and so now he's taking this moment to let his staff know that he wants a change. but as with always with president trump, he's seeing problems all around him. he's seeing people giving him bad advice, he's seeing things not going well for him politically. and he's blaming everyone but himself. everyone around him is being blamed for all the problems that he believes he's experiencing. that's not necessarily new, but th

the name that keeps coming up, this nick ayers as a replacement for general kelly, nick ayers, vice president, pence's chief of staff. you've got a history with both men here. what's your sense about what's going on in the white house right now? >> i think that nick has been gunning for the chief of staff job for a long time, but you have to also realize there's another name that's mick mulvaney. he also is still in the running. everyone's saying nick because nick is putting that out probably through his camp. don't forget that mick mulvaney also was a name thrown around often for this position. so yes, nick wants it because he's incredibly ambitious and has always cozied up to the president. i remember being in some meetings with him, and he would always try to say the right thing to kind of impress the president. doesn't forget about mick mulvaney. >> is he a sycophant? >> yes and no. he plays two different roles depending on who he's serving. he pushes back to kind of show that maybe he would be a good leader in situations where a good decision has to be made. >> you previously said that y

but it is my understanding that jared kushner and ivanka do support nick ayers. >> and nick ayers has worked if he could differencely with vice president pence. he was involved in sort of crafting pence's midterm campaigning schedule. you know, you ask people in the white house what is going on and i know you and i were both doing that yesterday, and we got a whole bunch of what i would call like shrug emoji. >> an eyeball eknmoji maybe we n add. >> yeah, you talk to people and they say it isn't happening and then other people say it is happening. it is one of those things where i guess we just have to wait for the tweets. >> here is the deal. people who watch this show and follow our coverage here, here is the bottom line on this. up the national security adviser who may have his number two fired while he is overseas with the vice president whose right hand man is among the people that will replace the people's chief of staff, john kelly. that is a tangled web. i know we have a graphic to show you there. >> and i will say in previous white houses, the chief of staff has been someone

i think there is an active effort to prevent nick ayers from becoming chief of staff. >> why?iple staffers who do not want him to become chief of staff. people who are loyal to general kelly and believe he should still be the one running the white house or they believe a lot of the criticism is that he is an operator. but so many people who work in a white house, work in washington -- >> i don't understand that criticism at all. >> that is an unusual criticism. and a lot of the people who were saying that, maybe they picture themselves as chief of staff one day. but there definitely is an effort under way to convince president trump not to select nick ayers as his chief of staff. >> i've been around for a my presidencies. i've never seen the vice president's chief of staff become the president's -- >> me either. i know a little about that. >> there are other things that have happened. >> the vice president's communications director -- or press secretary, biden and obama with jay carney. thank you so much, everyone. >>> inside the gut-wrenching and frantic search for the missin

. >> it seems the president is keeping a close eye on his vice president's chief of staff, nick ayershas become envious over the smooth operations in mike pence's office. aiers is a top contendcontendere replace johnicle fe the job should open up. that's the question, how long john kelly has in this job. smooth operations in the vice president's office. could he translate that to the president's office? >> obviously the job is totally differently. the leaders and the men are totally different. vice president pence served in congress and has been a governor and more used to a rigorous traditional system of running things, if you will. very different from donald trump over in the oval office. entirely different job. nick ayers, we do believe the president is considering him among another small list of others, potentially to be the white house chief of staff. we do not believe the president made the decision yet to move on beyond john kelly. he said he plans to keep him on board through 2020 and unclear if that will be the case or not. we do believe the president has made the decision he

one name that is a contender is nick ayers.colleague and i spoke with almost two dozen people to understand who is this relatively young man who got his start in politics when he was 19 years old with sunny purdue in a georgia governor's race and had a meteoric rise in american politics ever since. supporters praised his loyalty and pointed to his successes on various campaigns. he also has detractor who is do not want him to be chief of staff. pointing to his ambition and that rubs people the wrong way. he has become close with jared curb near and ivanka trump. he gained the trust of the president as well. one way he maneuvered himself, he joined weekly lunches mostly held on mondays. after the president invited him and generalicle tow join in on the meetings. there is a lot of chit-chat and tv watching, too. two sources told us that's when president trump got to know and like ayers quite a lot. ayers may face questions about how he has been able to make a lot of money over his short career in politics. as he has been pence's

in fact, the vice president's chief of staff, nick ayers, has told two friends he is in the running for the position. ayers has grown close to the president and key members of the administration including the president's daughter and son-in-law. >>> to california. breaking news. 50 lives lost to the california wildfires, and the threat widens that hour. 48 of those fatalities have occurred in northern california where six more victims of the camp fire were found on tuesday. officials are compiling a list of the missing. they're reluctant to say how many people that might be. a new wildfire is burning east of los angeles county in san bernardino county. it's being called the sierra fire. it's approximately 20 acres in size right now, but the high, dry winds are fanning the flames. no evacuations ordered yet at this time. >>> in southern california, as well, the death toll from the woolsey fire stands at two with more than 400 structures destroyed, another 57,000 considered to be in danger. the department of health and human services declaring a public health emergency in california. cnn'

what we are hearing now is that the president has spoken to nick ayers.is vice president mike pence's chief of staff. and they have formed a relationship going back to when nick ayers invited the president to the georgia/alabama game. and there's a lot of talk he could be the next chief of staff. >> all right. we'll see what happens on that front. everybody stand by. there's more news we're following. we're going live to california where the latest outbreak of wildfires now ranks as the deadliest and most destructive in the state history. . . . there lots of people who are confused about which medicare plan is right for them. hey, that's me. i barely know where to start. well, start here with me, karen. i'm a licensed humana sales agent. well, it's nice to meet you, karen. i'm john smith. hi, john. at humana, we know you're unique. so you have different needs from other john smiths. yah, i've always thought so. and together, we can find a plan that's right for you. great! i go to the doctor a couple of times a year. and i have some prescriptions. but i'm

. >> to that point, mike pence's chief of staff, nick ayers, who a lot of people are pushing to take over for john kelly, aides said told trump that appointing ayers would lower staff morale and trigger an exodus. but some say he has great political instincts and that would serve the president well going into 2020. how much of the job, ideally, is about politics and political instincts and how much of it is about management, managing staff, managing policy? >> it's all of the above and so many more things, as well. there's no question about the fact that from what i've heard, nick ayers may have better political instincts than john kelly. the bar is pretty low there, by the way. but having said that, this is a job that requires, in my opinion, someone with real gravitas, experience, knowledge, and -- knowledge of capitol hill, relationships on capitol hill. but fundamentally, the most important thing is, you have to be confidant enough to walk into the oval office, close the door, and tell donald trump what he does not want to hear. now, there are very few people who walk this earth

nick ayers is a political animal. i mean that in the positive sense. the president wants to make a change so what happened to some of the congressional republicans doesn't happen to him in two years -- >> does he accept any of the blame, the president? the suburbs its a rebuke in the suburbs. we can have a conversationot clobbered. >> if you look at the candidates who ran with the president in a number of races. they did better. if you look in missouri, north dakota -- >> but they didn't have a lot of suburbs to win, in fairness. >> historically speaking, the republicans were supposed to lose the house. that's what happens. they lost about 34 seats, 35 seats right now, maybe it goes to 40. we don't know. but if you look back at where barack obama was, where bill clinton was, i believe that the marriagin was as small as it was because the president went on the campaign and guys like andy baur in a competitive district embraced the president won a tough seat because ofit. >> nonsuburban seat. >> true. >> i am curious, you know, a lot of these midterm reb

in someone with more political experience in preparation for the 2020 re-election campaign like nick ayers, chief of staff to vice president mike pence. kellyanne conway attempted to cast doubt on the anouns non mussily reports about the shake-up. first lady melania trump made her own personal recommendations saying she was unhappy with the deputy national security adviser who traveled with her to africa last month. mrs. trump said she was seen this afternoon standing behind the president was involved in greemes over seating on the plane and other logistics. >> reporter: in a rare public rebuke, the first lady's office said about her, quote, she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this white house. and mrs. trump shared those views directly with her husband. but she is still in her job here at the white house. chip reid, cbs news, the white house. >>> well, the deadline to finish the mandated vote recount in florida is tomorrow. today, lawyers for democrats will ask a judge to set aside a state law that mandates votes be thrown out if signatures on mail ballot envelopes don't match

someone with more political experience in preparation for the 2020 re- election campaign, like nick ayers, chief of staff to vice president mike pence. senior white house adviser kelly ann conway today attempted to cast doubt on the anonymously sourced reports about a staff shake-up. >> but why are they remaining anonymous? could it be that it's not completely verified and true? >> reporter: first lady melania trump made her own personnel recommendation today saying she was unhappy with the deputy rdtional security advisor mira ricardel, who traveled with her mrs. trump said ricardel, seen this afternoon standing behind ove president, was involved in disagreements over seating on the plane and other logistics. in a rare public rebuke, the first lady's office in a statement tonight said, "ricardel no longer deserves the honor of serving in this white mpuse." and mrs. trump shared those views directly with her husband. even so, tonight, ricardel still has her job here at the white house. jeff. >> glor: pretty amazing to see that statement. chip, thank you. the state of maryland today sued e

in fact, the vice president's chief of staff, nick ayers, has told two friends he is in the running forhe position. ayers has grown close to the president and key members of the administration including the president's daughter and son-in-law. >>> cnn learning president trump's legal team could submit answers to questions posed by special counsel robert mueller any day now. a source says the president met again with his lawyers monday, and they're nearing completion of written answers to mueller's questions. those questions said to focus on russia collusion and not obstruction of justice. still unresolved is the question of whether mr. trump will sit down with an interview with the special counsel. mueller's team has begun writing its final report. >>> later this morning, matthew whitaker will speak publicly for the first time since president trump appointed him acting attorney general. he'll appear at a justice department summit in his home state of iowa at the same time the state of maryland is arguing in court that the president bypassed the constitution and illegally appointed him.

stems from a cflict with melania trump after kelly did not promote some of her aides.ce so say that nick ayers, the vice president chief oftaff is being considered for the job s know whae other candidates. this follows the news. >>> congress is back in washingt washington. new members are on their way for orientation. the new year will bring a whole lot of changes. >> reporter: that's certainly whathe new members are hoping. it is no secret that we've seen a lot of bitter partisan divid and som members say they're really hook forward to changing the tone in washington. some.to work for for the dozen of newly house members, it is freshman orientation. tement popping up on social media but it is already down to business. new membe bring a new ssage -- >> n it'sot about -- >> reporter: and a tas of what's to come from a democratic controlled congress. >> part of our role is investigations. part of our role is oversight. olot ofur role is to try to get some legislation pass that d will help improve this country. >> reporter: as for the races still would it a oner, both candidates are invited. rick

a lot of focus is narrowing on nick ayers. the president has a very good relationship with nick.a former consultant/lobbyist. some people are saying that he's a member of the swamp that the president is trying to drain. what nick tells his friends when asked about this is who knows. jonathan swan my friend and colleague says don't trust any of these rumors until you see it in writing. in almost all of these, the day a person is appointed, the first story is when is he out. >> who is definitely not in consideration for this job? >> mick mulvaney, the budget director. he's not interested in it. he's happening doing his budget office work. what he may be interested in, if there's additional cabinet shake-ups, moving into one of those additional cabinet positions. >> what happened with this dust up with melania trump? what is going on here? do we know why this happened, if she is on her had way out? >> we know as you reported there was some tension on that trip with his foreign counsel. this is very much sort of striking a very strong tone also in the white house. i think she clashed

i know the name nick ayers who is the vice president's chief of staff, his name gets batted around andguy. he puts in an 80-hour workweek and i'm not saying general kelly hasn't, but he earned that right after such a long distinguished career. >> a week after veterans day and the president skipping a visit to arlington when he came back from paris, he actually made a very rare expression of regret in that interview on fox news. listen. >> i should have done that. i was extremely busy on calls for the country. we did a lot of calling, as you know. >> but this is veterans day. >> i probably in retrospect, i should have. i did last year and i will virtually every year. we had come in very late at night. i had just left literally the american cemetery in paris and i really probably assumed that was fine. i was extremely busy because of affairs of state. doing other things. >> kevin, how would that explanation sit with vets? >> i think it's amazing that the congressman put the words maturity and white house in regards to this white house in the same sentence. on the veterans thing, you play

the way this is going down with people like john kelly as president trump is weighing people like nick ayers, people are trying to convince the president not to pick him. they say they will likely leave the administration if he does. it's an entire swarm of issue that is the west wing is facing. >> kaitlan collins, thank you very much for that report. she will not back down. nancy pelosi said she intends to win the speakership. her commends after 17 members of her party pledged to vote against her. up up on capitol hill, tell us what we are looking towards. >> reporter: certainly i remarkable moment earlier today with nancy pelosi very clear this rebellion in the rank so to speak, is getting under her skin. she had a remarkable moment where she walked into the press conference, clearly intending to project confidence about becoming the next speaker. they then had to bat down question after question about the rebellion that is brewing. she has not been able to quiet down yet. here's more from the press conference. >> you have expressed confidence. >> i have. next question. >> if the election

among those being considered to take the job, nick ayers, the chief of staff. >> okay.oming up next, we're going to florida. governor and senate races are still in a recount. now republicans are trying to discredit the process. we're going to dive into their strategy and fact check it. you're watching "velshi & ruhle" on msnbc. ing "velshi & ruhle" on msnbc your insurance rates skyrocket after a scratch so small 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. ♪ mauntil i held her.diabetes wasn't my top priority. i found my tresiba® reason. now i'm doing more to lower my a1c. once daily tresiba® controls blood sugar for 24 hours for powerful a1c reduction. tresiba® is a long-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. don't use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients.

it has been widely seen by west wing staff that jared kushner and ivanka trump are supported of nick ayers, and melania trump is doing something similar and it's less about maneuvering than she felt this person was a problem. to your point, she has not shied away when she has had an issue, she has not done it that often. >> what is the relationship between melania trump, the first lady, and the first daughter, ivanka trump? from the outside, it looks as though there is tension? >> we had a story last week about ivanka trump planning her own trip to africa after the first lady did, and she moved hers out of deference to the first lady, and you have an unusual dynamic of somebody who is a west wing adviser who embraced the title, first daughter, and there has been overlap and sometimes uncomfortably so between the two women in terms of what they are working on in the west wing, and this is a criticism that gets made certainly privately but frequently within the white house is that when it's convenient for her to say she's a staffer, she emphasizes that, and when it is convenient to say she's

. >> what about nick ayers? capable individual, and i know nick well and i have worked with him. nick is a very competent individual who understands politics and policy. he is wise beyond his years, and if he is chosen, and that is the president's decision, i would absolutely support anybody that the president chooses including john kelly if the president choo chooses to keep him. >> thank you, corey lewandowski and your book is "trump's enemies" and co-written with john bossie. and now, bringing in tom who has a update on julian assange. >> and this is an update, no such meetings happened and total denial. and wikileaks also said that these meetings of manafort and julian aus saung and the london embassy did not happen. and they adamantly deny that there is any communication of wikileaks and roger stone before that emerged for the public to see. to the denial is not 100% credible, and that being said, nbc news has not independently confirmed the story, and if it is true, it is a potential game-changer and impor

that the president might be eyeing replacements for chief of staff john kelly, one of those big nick ayers comes against the backdrop of a larger shakeup. and of course these allegations of hidden opponents among the president's staff are significant because, ana, we know this is president who really values loyalty. >> that's right. sarah, thank you. joining us now jane newton small and the washington chief lynn sweet. what's unique about this book the authors name several trump administration officials as having hamstronged this president. what is between the lines here? >> these were coming up to 2020, they want to be players, they want to remain relevant. their views there are nontrump loyalists in the white house is hardly new, and it's been known. the backgrounds of people who are there, and what's interesting they're talking about people who are not in the white house. look what's making the news rather than saying here are the people in the white house who are making the point you're making. so i don't read a lot into it except that everybody who has an inside tale to tell is entitl

angered, made furious lots of other people in this white house and when you say, well, you know, nick ayers has the support of jared and ivanka, not the first lady. it underscores how everybody in this white house is divided. >> mira ricardo does offend a lot of people. people say she is trying to get her job done. it's a very important job. you run the day-to-day business of recording the national security apparatus. >> people say she has actual policy jobs and served in important senior positions under national sanctions on nato, on missile defense. she was in the defense department in a senior job under george w. bush. i think you are right, first ladies have basically two levers, they can't introduce legislation. they can't control agencies. they can't call a cabinet official and demand anything. they have access to their spouse and they have this public image. right. so we are seeing a tension between the private access of the spouse didn't get the job done. so now the public messaging is on display. you are right, i'm tempted to think back to nancy reagan, ultimately pushing out donal

president is already talking to a handful of potential replacements for kelly, including elevating nick ayerso the post. even before he is named, cnn has learned there's been aggressive pushback against him with senior aides threatening to resign if he is tapped for the job. we will see what happens with the white house chief of staff position, if there is even an opening. of course, the president said earlier this year he wants john kelly to stay through the rest of his time in office, through the rest of his first term in office. but, of course, wolf, things can change here in a hurry. but there is a sense, talking to so many of the president's friends and advisers, that he's making the adjustment from going from all of those rallies, all of that applause that he heard during the midterm election campaign, now to a more routine setting here, and he is feeling some -- a sense of isolation, wolf. the question is what is the staff shakeup going to look like coming forward. we believe by the end of this year, beginning of next year the staff could look a lot different. wolf. >> that's widely ex

from the opposite sides of the west wing, behind the people who would like that job, whether it's nick ayersmick mulvaney. there's so much of this going on, problem with the interior secretary facing ethics proebes considerations about replacing him at some point. there's a lot of problems inside the west wing right now. >> but my question is, why the leaks all of a sudden? the three of us all talk to the white house. we know when operation chaos is underway, they're often looking to distract us. could this be that there are coming indictments in the next few days? the president would get the heads up. it seems odd that every which window in the white house is leaking information right now. >> i think it's probably two things. one, i think the midterm election didn't go as well as the president had hoped it would. yes, he was able to get some victory in the senate, but really in the house, obviously, we are learning more and more about this pblue wave as the races come in. and certainly, there's a lot of rumblings that robert mueller is going to be handing down indictments. that that kind of

amid whispers he could be replaced by the vice president's chief of staff, nick ayers. though some white house officials have threatened to quit if trump does. and one day after first lady melania trump issued a scathing statement, calling for the firing of john bolton's number two on the national security council, mira ricardel returned today. on a work trip with the vice president in singapore, and he's scrambling to save her. and the episode setting the stage for a showdown between the national security adviser and the first lady who says she has always been candid with the president. >> i give him my honest advice and honest opinions. >> reporter: but trump was said to be blindsided by the first lady's statement tuesday, feeling backed into a corner and complaining he looks like a boss around husband. whether ricardel stays or goes will be a test on the limits of melania's influence and the extent of bolton's. so jake, the president's frayed relationships are essentially being laid bare for everyone to see. not just with john kelly and kirstjen nielsen, but apparent

this year, that trump may be looking to a new chief of staff and he has his eyes on someone named nick ayers who's the v.p.'s chief of staff who's also a close ally of jared and ivanka >> can we dig into this national security point a little bit more yes, we don't know what, if anything, sensitive was in any e-mail that she sent but there's a reason that you have rules like this at the white house. it's not just for fun. it's for national security it's important and we are seeing this administration, whether it's president trump's refusal to give up his own phone, the use of this private e-mail address, which was set up after the election, the use of e-mails by ivanka who was sending e-mails to government officials, even before she had a defined role within the white house it's just a complete disregard to rules that are in place to protect national security at a time where we have adversaries who most likely have, you know, bugged everything they can possibly bug to find out this is really important it's not just, oh, well, hillary did it, too. you can't forget the reason why these rules ex

wilbur ross, the commerce secretary, nick ayers, rod rosenstein, ryan zinke, he's ry >> interior. >> investigation. >> but i guess what's remarkable is yes he's little, but he also had babies being put in cages after being separated from their parents and he also talked about good people. the 58% -- >> it's the 42% that -- >> like who are the rest, right? >> it's amazing. and the other thing is that how does he choose these people? he fills these posts -- >> we know. when they're on "fox & friends." >> we know. >> next week asking a former fox anchor to be the u.n. ambassador. >> right, asking to replace nikki haley because she's pretty, i don't know. >> you have to look the part. >> and on the team i think he prizes loyalty above anyone else. if you're going to be on his team, not going to push back, i think that's going to be enough for him. >> this was adam schiff last night on whether they're going to get donald trump's taxes. >> any candidate for president should release their tax returns. one way to enforce that norm is to use the statutory power of congress to return a tax ret

he's obviously looking at replacing john kelly with nick ayers.ly on the flight back from paris to washington, on air force one, a number of the president's private aides went into the president's cabin lobbying against nick ayers. it's so much turmoil in the president's office and i think trump is trying to get control of his own operation because in part he's losing control of others aspects of the government. he is no longer going to be able to control the congress because the house of representatives will be in democratic hands coming after him. >> and you bring up a great point, joe. we were talking last night. i don't think the president completely understood what losing the house meant. >> no. >> i think he thought, well, the senate is bigger and i don't think he -- or more higher level. i don't think he understood that he actually has to hand over his tax returns if compelled, that he has to answer. he has nowhere else to go. i don't think he fully understood that. it's happening now. he's getting it. >> and that's one of the biggest probl

he looked at vice president pence's chief of staff, nick ayers, as someone who is much more of a politicalout an entire strategy for the vice president. hitting the stops on the campaign trail as a surrogate for president trump. he's just been unhappy with kelly for awhile. they have -- their personalities crash. when the president's wrath has been directed at kirstjen nielsen, kelly has stepped in to defend her and specifically said if she goes, i go. you now the president has someone to replace kelly, so that threat doesn't work as well. >> tara told me, hey, election day is over. president trump wants to get more aggressive now that democrats are going to be running the house. expect more hardliners, not less, on his staff. we have more on forthcomsen ta . listen on apple podcasts or your favorite podcasting app. kendis? lynda? >> brad, thanks. >>> the trump the network is suing the president demanding the return of white house correspondent jim acosta's press pass. it was stripped after across take refused to hand over the microphone. the case could test whether government officials ca

the leading candidate right now appears to be nick ayers, he's the chief of staff to vice president pence's 36 years old but he has extensive experience in the political realm, but there will be a fight over this position just as there is a fight over every position in this white house. one other name i have heard mentioned is treasury secretary steven mnuchin. >> that would be a big move. jon karl, thanks very much. robin. >>> now to the trial of notorious mexican drug lord joaquin "el chapo" guzman. day one, already bringing courtroom drama. opening arguments delayed because two of the anonymous jurors had to be replaced. whit johnson is there at the courthouse in brooklyn where there is, as you can imagine, heavy security. good morning, whit. >> reporter: robin, good morning to you. this courthouse is operating like a fortress right now. joaquin "el chapo" guzman is facing 17 counts including drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder. those two jurors already dismissed highlighting the heavy burden on a jury in a trial expected to last four months. this morning, the intensely guarded tri

multiple sources familiar with the t discussionsell nbc newsen vice pres mike pence's chief of staff nick ayerse first lady's spokesperso calling the relationship very positive. last week president trump downplayed. >> there is no secret a lot of administrations make chatees after ms. i will say that for the most happy with y, very this cabinet. >> as we await the results of the florida recnt due today and as the president is claiming voter fra without evidence, another democratic -- andy kim will be the first korean will be the fst to serve. democrats have gained at least 34 house sea wit sen still undecided. the most democratic house wins since watergate. hoda, savannah, craig, back to you. >> thank you. >>> time to turn back to mr. ker. already snowing in washington, d.c. >> that's right. it's likegame of thrones." winter's coming! we have got freeze warnings in the south. look at that. snow is coming down. here.now is developing looking at another front that will bring in more cold air. we will look at that in the next half hounn and pleasant out west. as you heard from miguel eemaguer we m

sources familiar with the discussions tell nbc news vice president mike pence's chief of staff, nick ayersbly absent during the vice president's foreign trip this week. the first lady's spokesperson calling the relationship with kelly's staff very positive. last week, president trump downplayed new staff shake-ups in an administration that's already seen historic turnover. >> i mean, there's no great secret, a lot of administrations make changes after midterms. i will say that for the most part, i'm very, very happy with this cabinet. >> reporter: and as we await the results of the florida recount, due today, and as the president is again claiming voter fraud without evidence, another democratic congressional candidate just made some history. andy kim of new jersey will be the first korean american to serve in congress in 20 years, the apparent winner in his race. democrats picking up another seat in california overnight that means the democrats have now gained at least 34 house seats with seven still undecided, the most democratic house wins since watergate. hoda, savannah, and craig, bac