[Cabrera:] No apology from the Trump White House as backlash erupts over what was said to be a joke when a White House aide mocked Senator John McCain's battle with brain cancer. Breaking this afternoon, sources tell CNN Sarah Sanders told staff behind closed doors the comment was inappropriate. But the sources also tell us Sanders was more concerned with the fact that the comment was leaked than with the comment itself. CNN's Tom Foreman examines the comment and the outcry.
[Tom Foreman, Cnn National Correspondent:] Ana, this is the sort of thing you would expect any White House to address, but this White House is saying virtually nothing, even as others say a lot. [voice-over]: "Reprehensible, inexcusable, shame on you, resign." Outrage swirling around White House aide, Kelly Sadler, on Twitter after she dismissed Senator John McCain's opposition to President Trump's CIA nominee by mocking his grave illness, "He's dying anyway." His wife, Cindy? "May I remind you my husband has a family, seven children and five grandchildren." His daughter, Meghan?
[Meghan Mccain, Daughter Of Senator John Mccain:] I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that's acceptable and you can come to work the next day and have a job. That's all I have to say.
[Foreman:] The White House hasn't said there's anything wrong with this although the said apologized and said, in a statement, said, "We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation. And he and his family are in our prayers." But not a word from the president, who has never hesitated to go after McCain and never apologized for taunting the decorated veteran and former prisoner of war during the campaign.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you.
[Foreman:] Complicating the issue, on "FOX Business," a former Air Force lieutenant general, who endorsed Trump, repeating a debunked claim that McCain gave information to his North Vietnamese captors when they tortured him.
[Lt. Gen. Thomas Mcinerney, Trump Supporter:] The fact is, on John McCain it worked on John. That's why they call him Songbird John.
[Foreman:] FOX says they won't have that general on again, but the bipartisan uproar is raging. Former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden says the Trump administration has "hit rock bottom." Republican speaker of the House, Paul Ryan?
[Rep. Paul Ryan, , Speaker Of The House:] Look, John McCain is a hero, no two ways about it.
[Foreman:] McCain has criticized Trump's leadership, policies and cast the deciding vote to stop the appeal of Obamacare, among his many maverick moves, his family and friends will far outlast his critics.
[Mccain:] My father's legacy is going to be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years. These people, nothing burgers.
[Unidentified Female:] Nothing.
[Foreman:] All of that said, there's still no word on whether this staffer will face any real consequences for her comments or even what President Trump thinks about what she said Ana?
[Cabrera:] Tom Foreman, thank you. While Meghan McCain wonders how the White House staffer who joked about her father's brain cancer still has a job, let's look at the unprecedented number of officials who have left this administration. So far, a year and a half in, more than two dozen people have come and gone. That's roughly one person leaving every two and a half weeks. Now people have departed for different reasons. Some were pushed out like Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus, only to have the person who pushed them out, Anthony Scaramucci, pushed out himself. Scaramucci last just 11 days. Others weren't really pushed out. It was more like they were dropped, like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. President Trump fired him with a tweet. Others, like former communications director, Hope Hicks, managed to leave on good terms. Hicks claims to have simply grown tired of Washington. She got a handshake from the president and a kiss on the cheek on the way out. But regardless of why or how they left, this pace of comings and goings is record setting. According to NPR, 43 percent, nearly half of top level positions in the Trump White House, have seen turnover. You can see how that stacks up to the predecessors in their first two years in office. When you narrow it down to cabinet levels, President Trump has had more turnover than any other president in the past 100 years. And still, more change may be to come. At least these seven officials have threatened to resign. Chief of Staff John Kelly has reportedly done so more than once. And Kirstjen Nielsen threatened to leave as recently as this week after Trump berated her during a cabinet meeting. Despite this unprecedented retention problem, the president denies there's any chaos: "The new fake news narrative is that there's chaos in the White House. Wrong. People will always come and go. And I want strong dialogue before making a final decision. I still have some people that I want to change. Always seeking perfection. There's no chaos. Only great energy." We're back in a moment.