tillerson was not firm on that. i had disagreements with secretary tillerson, but i think in how he handled information in order to make decisions is really a problem. >> let me get your quick thought on another breaking story we're following. i assume you've been briefed by what's going on in the united kingdom, the poisoning of this russian double agent. now other critic of president putin was found dead today in his london home. what can you tell us about that? >> this is part of putin's playbook. i authored in january what we talked about in previous shows about russia's engagement in the united states. our 2016 elections were just part of that. he has authorized killings of his opponents. we've seen it happen in russia, we've seen it happen in europe, so this is out of his playbook. i applaud prime minister may's ultimatum to mr. putin that she has to have satisfactory results by tomorrow in regards to what russia did in the u.k. it's a violation of sovereignty, it's a violation of international norms. >> senat

i wish rex tillerson well. gina who i've worked with very closely will be the first woman director of the cia. she's an outstanding person who also i have gotten to know very well. i've gotten to know a lot of people very well over the last year. and i'm really at a point where we're getting very close to having and other things that i want. but i think mike pompeo will be a truly great secretary of state. i have total confidence in him. as far as rex tillerson is concerned, i very much appreciate his commitment and his service and i wish him well. he's a good man. >> [ inaudible question ]. >> rex and i have been talking about this for a long time. we got along actually quite well but we disagreed on things. when you look at the iran deal. i thought it was terrible. he thought it was okay. i wanted to either break it or do something, he felt a little differently. so we were not really thinking the same. with mike pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. i think it's going to go very well. rex is a very

let's talk about rex tillerson. give us a sense of western europe and how they are likely to react to this series of events. he was abruptly fired and now, we have mike pompeo coming in. amb. emerson: i was just at the munich security conference a few weeks ago and had an opportunity to talk to senior germans and people from other countries in western europe. in terms of the abruptness, they are getting used to it. that's how this president conducts himself in a new world, the world of twitter. there's been enough press about the trump-tillerson relationship being somewhat rocky, i don't think this will come as a massive shock. when things like this happen, it is somewhat unsettling. people have begun to build a relationship with rex tillerson. i heard from some folks in munich that there's been so much press about how this secretary of state and the president were not of one mind on so many issues that they were beginning to wonder is it even worth h having a relationship there. having a secretary of state that is

i wish rex tillerson well. gina, by, who i know very well and work very closely will be the first woman director of the cia, she's an jut standing person who of gotten to know very well. so i've gotten to foe a lot of people over the last year. i'm at a point where we're getting close to having the cabinet and other things that i want. but, i think mike pompeo will be a truly great secretary of state, i have total confidence in him. and, as far as rex tillerson is concerned, i very much appreciate his commitment and his service and i wish him well. he's a good man. >> mr. president what did you say to rex tillerson? >> rex and i have been talking about this for a long time. we got along quite well but we disagreed on thing. when you look at the iran deal, i think it's terrible, i guess he think it have okay. i wanted to either break it or do something and he felt a little bit differently. so we were not really thinking the same. with mike pompeo we have a similar thought process. i think it's going to go very w

and how tillerson found out. we're also just learning just moments ago that one of tillerson's top aides who contradicted the white house's version of events, he's now gone as well. plus, why now? less than 24 hours after the house intelligence committee delivered trump a win on the russia investigation, he changes the narrative. so why did the president choose to do this today? >>> and too close to call. all of this drama playing out as a special election goes on today in pennsylvania. what's the mood on the ground? and what could the results mean for the midterms? we're there live. but

rex tillerson is out. we've just learned so too is a very vocal top aide who contradicts the white house's version of events. cia director mike pompeo, the president's pick to replace tillerson. a lot of reports of how and when the call came down to replace the secretary of state. a lot of versions about why as well. admittedly, a decision that appears to have been a long time coming. yet with the president touting the end of the house russian investigation in big bold capital letters today. not to mention that big photo op trip to california. why now is an equally big mystery laying in the rubble of tillerson's firing. let's start with our reporters. nbc's peter alexander is at the white house. msnbc's garrett haake is on capitol hill. let's start with you, mr mr. alexander. break down the why, the when and the how of it, if you can, as we understand, the facts to be, at 1:01 on the east coast. >> first, the why this happened now. certainly a stunning announcement. the fact it was announced on twitter per

tillerson is gone. on north korea, the secretary seemed to have a slightly different view than the president, the president agreed to meet with kim jong-un without consulting the secretary. this will represent a shift on important issues. >> no question it will. and in mike pompeo, one can assume that the president is getting a secretary of state more in line with his thinking. that's the president's right. he deserves to have cabinet officers who espouse his world view and his policy formulation process and go and articulate it. there is two ways of looking at this, john. to foreign leaders, this might be a good move. tillerson was never really seen as a reputable credible voice on behalf of president trump. they knew, everybody knew that there were differences of opinion on policy between the two men and that secretary tillerson didn't speak for donald trump. now you'll have a secretary of state who will probably have -- be much more credible on the world stage. that's a good thing, i think, for in te

it wasn't just that we didn't know anything about tillerson's views, tillerson and the president didn't know much about each other's views. they came into that relationship from a bad place, and pompeo is already coming at this at an advantage, which is that he knows how to have that fine balancing act with president trump that others have had to learn on the job, for example, like john kelly, figuring out what you can bend him on and what you have to execute his desires on. >> dan, you've been in town a bit with me. the question is what's the impact on the administration? a question from day one has been, who is donald trump? where does he plant this flag, where is he malleable? he served on the benghazi committee. didn't think the benghazi committee was tough enough on hillary clinton. harvard graduate. what is different with mike pompeo in the state department apart from rex tillerson? >> i think one thing mentioned is iran. the president will have to make a decision in the next couple months on whether to pull out of the iran agreement. one would think given what we heard from mike

rex tillerson is gone. the larger issue around here, and i think, you know, both my fellow panel members have touched on this, this white house is being managed like a clown rodeo. politics aside, partisan politics aside, you can't manage the federal government, the business campaign, your family life, when everyone around you is constantly getting axed. and it's also nosable that the two most notorious layoffs of the trump administration, jim comey and rex tillerson appeared when both of them were out of town. that's a lack of courage in leadership. if you're going to dismiss somebody, dismiss them to their face. >> i see it a little bit different. i think tillerson represented the traditional foreign policy point of view. the president doesn't share that. whether it's tar riches which really goes against, bob, you know, as a republican position most of the time. i think he spoke out on that. he went over to korea, right, or he was going to do something in korea. and the president said you're wasting your

in a way yes donald trump said himself that he shows rex tillerson. because he looked the part of secretary of state had a number of options he chose the formal or the c.e.o. because he doesn't trump it he would cut a good figure in this job but then he undercuts rex tillerson time and again when so many issues don't trump himself mentions a few in his statement that we saw a few minutes ago. on iran on north korea they clearly had different opinions again now while he was in africa and rex tillerson condemned the russian role in the poisoning of performance by the u.k. in much stronger words on the trump himself on the white house so there were definitely disagreements rex tillerson reportedly called on the trump more on after discussion over afghanistan strategy and he never really didn't he said that so we can assume he probably did say that donald trump doesn't forget such things and so he was probably just waiting for a good time from his perspective to get rid of to listen now in contrast to that difficult relationship cost and donald trump spea

rex tillerson is out. the former exxon mobil chief ending as a diplomat and the cia director could take his job. welcome to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. the president has fired rex tillerson and the cia director, mike pompeo and here's the president on his latest cabinet shuffle 30 minutes ago from the white house. >> we disagreed on things when you look at the iran deal. i think it's terrible, he felt it was okay. i wanted to break it or do something and he felt a little bit differently. so we were not really thinking the same. with mike pompeo, we have a similar thought process and rex say -- is a very good man. i like rex a lot. i like his commitment and his service and i'll be speaking to rex over a long period of time. >> bill: first, rich goodstein is standing by. tell us what you know. >> the secretary is still unaware of the reason president trump has made a change at the department of state and rex tillerson wanted to stay and he's not spoke

officials say the tillerson departure could be one of several departures this week, not only tillerson's aide at the stateepartment, but you have the president tonight in california thinking about secretary shulkin at the department of veterans affairs. he's been struggling with different crises in the past few wet s. the presids looking at make changes. there you see people inside of the white house on edge about their own positions. the president is interviewing people to take ovr gary cohn's job. a lot of tumult, a lot of chnge the horizon. >> wdruff: and josh leaderman, as someone who cov the state department and certainly keeps his eye on the white house, how does all this look to people in the administration from the other agencies, from the state department, from the c.i.a., and so on? >> there's an interesting dynamic right now at the state department where they're breathing a sigh of relief broadly because many of the 75,000 people who work for the ate department were nog fans of tillerson, because he came in wanting to restructure the agency, wanting its budget cut,ng wanuch fe

so tillerson spoke those words. he made those remarks to reporters who were traveling with him on monday night. he then put out a written statement, the final written statement issued under his name as secretary of state. quote, we have full confidence in the u.k.'s assessment russia was responsible for the nerve agent attack. that took place in salisbury last week. there is never a justification for this type of attack. the attempted murder of a private citizen, we're outraged that russia again appears to have engaged in such behavior from ukraine to syria and now the u.k., russia continues to be an irresponsible force of instability in the world. acting with open disregard for the sovereignty of other states and the life of their citizens. we agree those responsible and those who committed the crime and those who ordered it, must face appropriately serious consequences. those who committed the crime and those who ordered it. that was the last written statement put out by secretary of state rex tillerson in the fol

rex tillerson himself was surprised. the method of doing it through tweet is also unorthodox. >> that's a nice way to put it. >> weather has been tensions all along. rex tillerson was the last man standing as a moderate in the cabinet. in net since we know that donald trump does not like to be contradicted, so maybe he was the only one who stated that. brent: what kind of reactions have we been getting here in germany? >> i was in parliament earlier today and a lot of people were scratching their heads. the mood was, just when you thought it could not get worse. we have the deputy foreign minister of the german government saying this is not improve things. the leader of the liberal free democrats said this is a fresh sign of volatility. there is certainly a lot of worry. most of the reactions are pretty muted, but i think there is a tone of worry simply because rex tillerson was seen by german politics as a moderating influence in the trump administration. one of the adults you could talk to. brent: that's exactly right.

bond yields did drop slightly on the tillerson's news and the cpi this morning as been in line tillerson out, pompeo is moving to stay. the trump administration block the biggest deal of all time broadcom is not going to be buying qualcomm. and the price target for ge goes lower, $11 over at jp morgan another shake up at the white house, the president tweeted mike pompeo, director of the cia will become our new secretary of state. he'll do a fantastic job thank you to rex tillerson for his service. gina haspel will become the first woman so chosen. congratulations to all >> what does this mean for investo investors? >> well, to me, tillerson again, he's got the steady hands and people who are respected in business community leaving but tillerson is probably may be one of the most respected executives, i never heard anybody saying anything that he represents business interests over seas. may i point out that if you are involved with china, the one thing you may not want is a secretary of state from intelligence because of what david is about to report on the broadcom deal with qualcomm. >

rex tillerson was a globalist. if there is such a thing. .ike pompeo is not you will find a much more supportive narrative coming out of mike pompeo in terms of tariffs and a hard-line against our european allies on the whole economic fairness issue that donald trump has been hitting so hard. vonnie: what happens in pennsylvania? >> it will be a close race. if there's a heavy turnout with a heavilyvonnie: motivated the c base -- with a motivated democratic base that there are more democrats registered in that district than republicans. it should be a safe district. i suspect it will be a close race. republicans have poured millions of dollars to support a rather weak candidate. democrats have a former rather conservative democrat, a military man, assistant attorney general -- he is a strong candidate. it is a local race. of course, if the democrats win, they will celebrate it. if republicans win, donald trump take credit for it. up, before today's white house shakeup, all eyes were on the u.s. inflation report. we

lobbyists and others to push rex tillerson out to lobby the president to push the president out and so this also explains the timing of why firing him now well it comes before a week before mohammed bin so man the crown prince of saudi arabia will show up in washington it comes to weeks before mohammed bin zayed the crown prince of the united arab emirates will show up in washington and a week after prime minister netanyahu has been in washington i think these three men alone with jeb bush nor did not like rex tillerson in the white house why because at the state department because rex tillerson did not eat their propaganda if you will they did not drink their kool-aid on the question of the gulf crisis on the question of qatar supports for terrorism on the question of the nuclear deal he simply did not accept much of this now and this is my last point on this night pushing the boundaries of political analysis to to to to guessing i think get it jetted and the president were not comfortable with the fact that the rex tillerson and secretary of defense matisse we're very close that the

to be in lock step. >> shepard: which tillerson was. >> tillerson was. he was very similar his comments to that of theresa may. if you look at leader to leader, the president vs. the prime minister. you do see a difference in the way the white house is talking about this, that's something that everybody is looking at very closely. >> shepard: how much concern is there about that matter at the state department? >> i think the state department is totally preoccupied with the fact that their secretary was just summarily fired today. they are not as focused on the russia thing as they are about who is this new guy that's going to be coming over from the cia? what just happened and what do we have to expect after a really tumultuous year under tillerson' leadership? >> shepard: you are in touch with a lot of rank and file around there. what do you think of this? trying to work at an organization where sudden bely the leader is out and new one in? is what are they saying? good or bad or mixed? >> mixed because relief because not fans of tillerson not committed

you need a bigger board. >> so tillerson's chief of staff and the deputy chief of staff to tillerson are out tonight with this announcement. >> exactly. >> let me ask you another question on this andrea, it may obviously be a coincidence, it was striking today else specially given that timeline they laid out that this firing poll lowed followed tillerson for the poisoning of the ex spy. is there any reason to think those events are related? >> i thought so initially. i was posting on that. when our colleagues called us from the refueling when they had w wi-fi and could give a statements that followed, a written statement from tillerson which exactly was what the brits were saying, what teresa may said as you pointed out and so different from what sarah sanders said from the briefing room, i thought that was quite unusual. i was on the phone with a state the president official around 10:00 last night and was confident well, tillerson was in trouble again but he's been in trouble before. and a wiser person said to me, he'll be out by tomorrow and i said no, that's not going to happen.

north korean leader kim jong moon tillerson is being replaced by the cia boss my pump a zero who's job goes to intelligence officer gina hospital president trump revealed all on twitter here it is mike pump a.o. director of the cia will become our new secretary of state he will do a fantastic job thank you threats to listen for his service gina hospital will become the new director of the cia and the first woman to be chosen congratulations to all he tweeted while he's since spoken to reporters on the white house lawn and admitted he didn't always see eye to eye with rex tillerson. i've worked with mike now for quite some time. tremendous energy for many years is the lack. always on the same wavelength. the relationship has been very good that's what i do as secretary of state. i wish rex tillerson well gina by the way who i know very well who i work very closely will be the first woman director of the cia she's an outstanding person who also i have gotten over well so i've gotten to know a lot of people very well over the last year and i'm really at a point where we're getting very cl

i think the presence of tillerson will be missed in the world of lives according to russian olive tillerson was a pretty reasonable rational fellow who ran exxon which is a major international organization we may not always agree with his idealist ideological positions but he was a russian rational reasonable person who played according to rules according to systems and that's why he didn't last for long and even during his stay in the state department he was often at odds with with the president so yes i think you will be very much missed we don't know how it was going to actually conduct themselves and as the head of the state department will have to wait and see we know that is gotten along well with trump in his capacity briefs trump of remodeling and they seem to get along well at a personal level so that's probably a good sign but we don't know in terms of policy setting what this is going to mean and as to how to proceed with regard to the gulf crisis we are expecting the saudi crown prince in the united states any day now we then to think that the crown prince of abu dhabi is to be

his reaction to the tillerson firing. and president trump is flying there right now to inspect the border wall prototypes and issa will be with the president. all that and more atop the hour on overtime. >> i've seen you. you can sprint. have a great show, harris. president trump on his way to california. his first visit as president to the state. he's expected to be met by protesters. the president will be in san diego to examine prototypes of barriers to separate the united states and mexico. ahead of the trip, the acting head of ice responding to house democratic leader nancy pelosi that denounced trump's immigration policies as cowardly. >> first of all, you're talking about law enforcement officers. these are men and women that put their lives on the line every day. they strap a gun on and defend this nation. how can you call them cowardly? to say we're terrorizing the immigrants? these people were terrorizing immigrant communities. ice removed the people from the community. that's far from terrorizing. we're protect

what could the tillerson/pompeo switch mean? joining us, undersecretary defense for intelligence during the george w. bush administration, an executive vice president of the family research counsel. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. i'm glad to be with you. >> melissa: what do you think this change means? >> well, i think that tillerson has been on the opposite side of a number of issues than the president. and i think that mike pompeo is a perfect choice. mike is in sync with the president, but mike is also a very experienced not only intelligence officer but also he's been a member of congress, been on the intel committees. i think that he has a much better understanding of the situation in the world today in general, but certainly among our allies as well as our enemies. >> melissa: what do you think that translates to directly? even talking about the topic of the iran nuclear deal. the president and rex tillerson were not on the same page with that at all. how do you think mike pompeo approaches that differentl

the relationship has been very good and that's what i did as secretary of state i wish rex tillerson well gina by the way who i know very well who i work very closely will be the first woman director of the cia she's an outstanding person who also i have gotten over well so i've gotten to know a lot of people very well over the last year and i'm really at a point where we're getting very close to having the capital and other things that i want but i think mike pump aoe will be a truly great secretary of state i have total confidence in him and as far as rex tillerson is concerned i very much appreciate his commitment that his service and i wish him well you could down. right. direction i've been talking about this for a long time we we've got a long actually quite well but we disagreed on thing when you look at the iran deal i think it's terrible i guess he said it was ok i wanted to see the brake it or do something and he felt a little bit differently so we were not really thinking the same with my my company a we have a very similar thought process i think it's going to go very wel

at first tillerson tried diplomacy and trump did this. >> sorveght state rex tillerson says the u.s. is in direct channels of communication is north korea and looking to whether the regime is open to talks. >> trump appeared top undermine a new diplomatic channel announced just yesterday by the secretary of state. i told rex tillerson he's wasting his time trying to negotiate with "little rocket man." >> trevor: all right, so that was trump's message, don't negotiate with north korea. and tillerson, the loyal soldier that he was, carried that message to the world. then last week, this happened. >> with respect to north korea, in terms of direct talks with the united states and negotiations, we are a long way from negotiations. >> breaking news, president trump agreeing to meet with north korea's kim jong un. >> plump blindsided his secretary of state agreeing to talks only hours after rex tillerson dismissed the idea. >> trevor: come on, man! these are serious mind games! it's like trump was trying to get tillerson to break up with him. let's go to the club. i hate the club. let's st

the president publicly chiding tillerson and in one instance this past summer, tillerson denying reports he was planning to quit. >> there's never been a consideration in my mind to leave. >> reporter: tillerson now becomes the latest in a long list of high-profile trump administration departures, with the president's inner circle becoming ever smaller. president trump made no mention of the staff shakeup here in san diego. instead, he spent the day viewing prototypes of his border wall and talking to u.s. troops. but tonight some white house officials are still reeling after they were caught off guard with the ouster of tillerson and the president hinting there could be more departures. >> kristen welker in california. so now what? in mike pompeo, he's a former tea party congressman who brings a hawkish approach to the business of diplomacy and something worth noting as the administration engages with north korea and revisits the iran nuclear deal. here's our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: an emotional rex tillerson thanked everyone but the president,

and i think he'll adapt to the state department in the seventh floor better than rex tillerson rex tillerson was famously aloof even on the seventh floor people across the hall in the ops center had no idea what he was doing even though they are the front office really for the secretary of the state you will not have that issue with my company oh he's going to be an everybody's office he'll be very able to work the bureaucracy a speculate about what a state department. might look like what might it what do you think its policy is likely to be and what changes will america's allies and enemies say. well i don't think there's any significant policy change coming at the moment so i think the president has set the policy it's now codified in a national security strategy and i don't think my compare changes the strategy and even it's hammer of the diplomacy that much and rex tillerson i think give him some credit he was often the moderating voice in reaching out to allies around the world in more measured tones he just didn't do enough of it didn't grab sort of the bull by the horns on the policy

the president publicly chiding tillerson, and in one instance this past summer, tillerson denying reports he was planning to quit. >> there has never been a consideration in my mind to leave. >> reporter: tillerson now becomes the latest in a long list of high profile trump administration departures with the president's inner circle becoming ever smaller. >> thanks to kristen welker for that report. and as she mentioned, president trump has nominated cia director mike pompeo to replace tillerson as secretary of state. he also nominated cia veteran gina haspel to head up the agency if pompeo is confirmed. but some lawmakers are raising concerns about both nominees. andrea mitchell has the latest. andrea, good morning. >> good morning, frances. it was an earthquake here at the state department. the sudden firing of rex tillerson, replaced by cia director mike pompeo, if he is confirmed. an emotional rex tillerson thanked everyone but the president, especially his state department aides. they have been extraordinarily dedicated to our mission, which includes promoting values that i view as b

while tillerson had little to say about his boss. watch. >> i wish rex tillerson well. rex and i have been talking about this for a long time. we got along actually quite well. but we disagreed on things. when you look at the iran deal, i think it is terrible. i guess he thought it was okay. i wanted to either break it or do something. and he felt a little bit differently. so we were not really thinking the same. i think rex will be much happier now. >> i received a call today from the president of the united states a little after noontime from air force one. and i've also spoken to white house chief of staff kelly. i will be meeting members my front office team to thank them for their service. they have been extraordinarily dedicated to our mission which includes promoting values that i view as being very important. >> and tillerson will remain in his post until midnight march 31, but is delegating all authorities until then. mike pompeo holds more hawkish views on iran and forged an easy bond with trump while delivering the daily brief. the 54-year-old joined the admi

jerry of state rex tillerson there was no phone call from the white house mr tillerson found out just like you and i did tonight terminations by tweet america's top diplomat sacked and blindsided europe in asia are their eyes open for what could come next i'm broke off in berlin this is the day. i really didn't discuss it very much with them honestly i made that decision by myself really it was a different mindset it was a different take but you look at the run deal i think it's terrible i guess it was ok. or like the time. prevented you from and this is the last always on the same wavelength. relate to this very day that secretary of state i think record will be much happier now. or we begin the day with this headline from the news magazine the atlantic from one week a good how did it rex tillerson manage to keep his job well the headlines today he did. if you were wondering what the letter of terminations from the oval office of u.s. president trump looks lie well this is it a tweet cia director mike on pay it will become the secretary of state and the third sentence there mentions

it was tillerson's biggest agenda item. and he wandered to africa when the most important thing on the north korea problem was in washington >> that seems like a poker tell of how distinctly he had been exiled from the policy making thing. i want to come at might be shem's question frshe michelle's question at a different angle. sure mr. tillerson wanted a smallerbe michelle's question at a different angle. sure mr. tillerson wanted a smaller staff, but i believe that there are multiple, multiple positions on the state department staff there is no ambassador to south korea right now as i understand it there is no assistant or deputy secretary for east asian affairs. the senior official who knew the most about the bilateral relationship between south korea and north korea recently quit. aren't those absences concerning or are they? >> they are very concerning. and look, it is symptomatic of the larger problem that the secretary had. his board so to speak is the white house. he did not have the confidence of the president or

laura: rex tillerson speaking earlier. the buildup up to his departure been aetary of state has long one. our north america editor jon pel explains. jon: rex tillerson was flying back overnight to washington from a long trip to africa when the normally buttoned upet sey of state cut loose with journalists. but unbeknown to him, the president had signed his death warrant, and it would be death by tweet. mike pompeo, director of the cia, will become our new secretary of state -- he will do a fantastic job. thank you to rex tillerson for his service." but tillerson isn't on twitter, so, excruciatingly, it fell to his chief of sff to ring him to inform him of his demise. only this after the event from the prestrent. presidenp: i wish rex a lot of good things. i think he is going to be very happy. i think rex will be muchappier now, but i really appreciate his service. jon: tillerson's hate was -- fate was probably sealed ang ime ago when he called to the president a moron, a claim s that tretary of state did not exactly deny.

i, rex wayne tillerson do solemnly swear... it was all so different when he was sworn in, then seen as one of the grown—ups of the administration. but his fate was probably sealed last october, when it was reported he called donald trump "a moron," an accusation he didn't exactly deny. i'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that. i mean, this is what i don't understand about washington. again, you know, i'm not from this place, but the places i come from, we don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense. and then there was the public undermining of the secretary of state by the president, sending family to do work that would normally be done by america's chief diplomat, and public shaming on twitter, like this. "i told rex tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he's wasting his time trying to negotiate with little rocket man." there's not much love lost between donald trump and rex tillerson, they disagreed on policy and didn't much like each other personally. mike pompeo will be much more to donald trump's tast

was firing tillerson by tweet payback that tillerson during the summer called the president a moron. two sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news that the president never could get passed the moron comment. joining me now is john mclaughlin former acting director of the cia, also nbc news national security analysts. welcome back to the show, sir. >> good to see you, chuck. >> let me start with this just the basic reaction to this shake-up. we could talk about how it was done. what's the -- how do you believe the world is reacting to this decision? >> well, i think they're puzzled, but fundamentally if you're a foreign government leader, you're going to say, well, this guy pompeo moving to the state department means that the secretary of state will probably now be someone who will reflect the president's views or at least speak for the president when he speaks. the cia change will probably leave them a little puzzled unless you know gina haspel and many people do and they will think that -- i think positively that, well, there's a professional in charge of the cia. that's probab

firing secretary of state rex tillerson. richard blumenthal sounded the alarm on the president's team this way. >> personnel decisions in this white house are a total mystery. the churn and turnover an constant reshuffling undo credibility and crust in american foreign policy as well as leadership of this nation. >> harris: joining us now, darrell issa. he sits on the house foreign affairs committee. so he would have something to say about a new secretary of state. did you hear what blumenthal's decisions are a total mystery. of course they are. they're his decisions to make. >> and a democratic senator would have never supported either of these candidates but he's missing the most important point. secretary of state tillerson has done a great job. but there's a pivot point going on. mike pompeo as director of the cia and former westpoint, number 1 graduate, obviously a former congressman i served with and served on the intelligence committee is perfectly suited as we go into deal with negotiate with north korea and make sur

rex tillerson was steady hand. he got along well obviously with jim mattis, think pompeo is cut from clothe to mattis and kelly than tillerson ever was. trish: robert, stay with me right now. i want to bring in the conversation with us, florida congressman matt gaetz for his reaction. congressman, robert and i have been talking about differences between mike pompeo and rex tillerson. how would you articulate them? >> i would say this is time when a change could be helpful given the current status of our negotiations and discussions with north korea. rex tillerson did a phenomenal job setting the stage using diplomacy as counterbalance to incredible force we've built up in the asia specific region. we have flashpoint to resolve something, that loomed over the korean peninsula, american people, and really global peace for a generation. i think fresh eyes coming in at this point, someone not wedded necessarily to set the table for this negotiation will serve president trump well and one thing we can say about presiden

tillerson. says he thinks mr. tillerson will be much happier now. it was a short but tumultuous tenure. kevin: to say the least. according to the public by the state out department, secretary tillerson was caught off guard by president trump's announcement that he would no longer be serving as the nations top foreign diplomat. cia director mike pompeo now takes over that role. this is someone who has a close personal relationship with president trump. there are experiences they bring to the table that are different. source told me that pompeo's experience in the intelligence committee will be leveraged into the findable medic world. in secretary tillerson's case, he brought experience from the corporate world with his business ties. a varied different path in a very different alignment when you talk about policy items like the iran agreement as well as the korean peninsula developments. president trump said that he wants a team in place, a new team in place for the new round of negotiations. we know morale is pretty low with the state department. do

president donald trump has replaced a rex tillerson u.s. secretary of state mike pompei o to be nominated as his successor how is that change being received here in berlin political culture on the ribbon feet of. welcome report what's the reaction you've seen while we've ground political believe we can sum it up with three words sums that this is a rather irritating decision of us is that this is rather bizarre what we are seeing and some even that well this shows how much chaos is in the united states but also sums it up quite well these one nearly official reaction from the deputy minister from the foreign office michel who he tweeted the dismissal of to listen doesn't mean or doesn't make anything but of course that he there says in the end that the german my relationships has been very bowed in the possum that he doesn't really think that things are going to get better yet and reading between the lines that it was because of donald trump the president all the secretary of state oh i do not matter in the end i think it's it's both in the

director mike pompei oh the move comes after tillerson broke with the white house to say russia was probably behind that nerve agent attack in britain a trump said on twitter that the cia deputy director gina hostile will succeed pump a zero at the cia becoming the first woman to run the spy agency. and let's go back to washington our correspondent there custom phenomena in washington carson we were just talking about this a poisoning attack in the u.k. is there any indication at this point if it really is true that this was the straw that broke the camel's back what led to rex tillerson being sacked today. it is possible as i said but that is only speculation or. and educated guess if you like but the official reason that the white house gave was that donald trump wanted to do this change now because he wants to assemble a new foreign policy and security team at the white house to prepare for a potential summit with north korea's dictator kim jong il. we don't know yet if that means that there will be more seconds or more replacements as i mentioned earlier in the show his national

idea of bringing tillerson in. and from that moment, that was it. i think the president was pretty much biding his time and to your first questions about his ability to fire people, he's never had to do that because it's all been scripted before. and now this is real life where to your point, the dignity of the office requires you approach those individuals with a certain amount of dignity and give them that. he still doesn't see that. he sees this as the end game. this is how i win. ultimately i trump your cards with this approach. >> let me go back to andrea. andrea, i'm wondering about foreign policy now. donald trump campaigned on kind of a mish mash of policies. but one of them was, i'm going to rebuild america and done infrastructure, something that appealed to me as a citizen. he also talked about stopping stupid wars which clearly was running against "w" and how he got involved with iraq especially. that was very attractive to working people, a lot of their kids have to fight these warses. now he's into the

president has fired secretary of state rex tillerson. my commission as secretary of state which terminated midnight thirty first president's nominee to cia director mike peo as his new secretary of state saying the two men are quote on the same wavelength. also coming out of the case of the poisoned spy in a quiet english city will russia respond to britain's midnight deadline. people or police are investigating the unexplained death of yet another russian. i'm good to have you with us even in the chaos of the trumpet ministration today's exit has shocked and stunned much of the world u.s. president donald trump fired his secretary of state rex tillerson the president broke the surprise news on twitter announcing cia director mike pump aoe will be his new choice to be america's top diplomat a short while ago tillerson made a statement in which he warned of the challenges that his successor will face especially from russia. and much work remains to respond to the troubling behavior and actions of on the part of the russian government russ

tillerson is out. pompeo is on

." >> we're following the firing of rex tillerson. mike pompeo is tillerson's replacement. let's begin with this shake-up. the word came as the president headed out to california. let's to go our chief correspondent jim acosta who is traveling with the president right now. so jim, take us through this truly extraordinary day. >> reporter: that's right. president trump is addressing u.s. marines here at this base in southern california right now. earlier today, he was defending his decision to fire secretary of state rex tillerson and he was hinting to reporter that more big staff changes could be on the way as one source close to the white house told me, the winds of change are blowing. president trump's reality tv style revolving door keeps on spinning will in this case, it was rex tillerson who was voted off the island. and mike pompeo slated to take his place. >> i've worked him for quite some time. tremendous energy, intellect. we're always on the same wave length. the relationship is very good and that's what i need as secretary of state. i wish rex tillerson well. >>

theory of state rex tillerson there was no phone call from the white house mr tillerson found out just like you and i did tonight terminations by tweet america's top diplomat sacked and blindsided europe in asia are their eyes open for what could come next i'm breaking off in berlin this is the day. in real. life really didn't discuss it very much honestly i made that decision by myself really it was a different mindset it was a different thing but you look at iran i think it's terrible i guess you don't. like something. like the. tremendous energy for this. this. relates to people's job well the headlines today he did it if you will wondering what letter of terminations from the oval office of u.s. president from books line well this is it a tweet cia director mike pompei will become the secretary of state and the third sentence there mentions i think you to rex tillerson for his service now tillerson have never been very tight last year the secretary of state was quoted calling his boss the president a moral tillerson never denied that report but rumors of tiller's ins imminent sacki

there was tension with rex tillerson from the very beginning. rex tillerson always said that he was not a creature of washington. he didn't understand it. he didn't really fit in there and he wore that as a badge of honor. on the policy standpoint, when it comes to the iran deal, there was, as i understand it, differences from what the president wanted to do and what rex tillerson is trying to do to thread the needle, to see if he can keep the europeans on board but meet with what the president wanted to do, which is to drastically change the deal that obama signed. is that at the heart of this? >> it's one of the issues that is a tension. the president mentioned it. the iran deal is on its last legs. if you look at the people in key positions here, you have nikki haley, who is advocated for the u.s. to pull out. mike pompeo has been the same since being on the intelligence committee. he has all along said there's no positives to the iran nuclear deal. it's only jim mattis of defense that has suggested that the u.s. stay in it. it's a big, big i

i think tillerson is top of the fold tomorrow. so sometimes i wonder whether trump, as you've been studying him over the year, does things just to knock out a bad story with a less than bad story. at least this one shows him in charge. he may want tillerson fired on the front pages tomorrow rather than democrat wins in trump country in pennsylvania for the headline tomorrow. >> i'm not sure that that's going to not be the headline tomorrow with the way this news cycle goes. tillerson might be old news by morning. >> well said. well said. >> chris matthews, thank you so much for joining us, coming in a little bit early to talk to us. we appreciate it. peter alexander, thank you very much, as well. carol lee, ashley parker, thanks for sticking around and playing with us for the top of this hour. we'll see you soon. >>> next up, we focus on trump's pick to replace part-tiompeo at ceo. gina haspel could be the first woman to lead the agency. but could her history with enhanced interrogation, some call it torture, hold up to her histor