White House Says President Trump Was Joking About Encouraging Police Brutality; Interview With Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed; Anthony Scaramucci Resigns
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news: out already. After only 10 days as White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci is forced to step down, as a new chief of staff takes charge of a chaotic White House. This hour, new details on Scaramucci's implosion after his profane rant and nasty feuds. Angry and hurt. As the president lavishes praise on his new chief of staff, we are learning retired General John Kelly said he considered quitting the Cabinet job he held until last week. We are going to tell you what Mr. Trump did that left Kelly fuming. It will be handled. After North Korea's most threatening missile launch yet, President Trump tests U.S. defenses and promises action. Kim Jong-un now claiming all 50 states are potential nuclear targets. And Russia retaliates. Vladimir Putin orders the U.S. to slash its diplomatic staff on his turf, hitting back at new sanctions. We will take a closer look at the impact of an aggressive move with echoes of the Cold War. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BLITZER: Breaking tonight, Anthony Scaramucci forced out as communications director only 10 days after he was hired. Sources tell CNN the president soured on Scaramucci, and the new White House chief of staff, John Kelly, wanted him removed after he unleashed a vulgar tirade against two White House officials. Also tonight, the White House says Scaramucci has no role in the administration. We are told he was escorted off the White House grounds. Retired General Kelly clearly is trying to take charge of the turbulent Trump White House, but tonight we have exclusive new reporting suggesting that Kelly recently had his own doubts about his future in the administration. Sources telling CNN that Kelly was angry about the way the president fired James Comey as FBI director, so angry that he called Comey afterward to tell him he was thinking of resigning as homeland security secretary. Also breaking, the White House says Mr. Trump is reviewing his options after Vladimir Putin ordered the U.S. to dramatically cut its diplomatic staff in Russia. The Kremlin leader hitting back at new U.S. sanctions that the president is expected to sign, but still hasn't. The president declining to speak publicly about the new slap by Putin, while Vice President Pence had tough words for Russia during a trip to Eastern Europe. This hour, I will talk about those stories and more with the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed. And our correspondents and specialists are also standing by. First, let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Jim, another abrupt exit from the Trump White House today.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. As it turns out, the Mooch was a bit too much. Just hours after President Trump insisted there was no White House chaos in his West Wing, his staff once again descended into turmoil with his new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, stepping down, a shakeup apparently orchestrated by the new chief of staff here, John Kelly.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just swore in General Kelly. He will do a spectacular job. I have no doubt.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Another wave of White House chaos swept through the West Wing. Just hours after President Trump welcomed his new chief of staff, retired General John Kelly to the White House, his recently hired and embattled communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, suddenly stepped down.</s>SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: General Kelly has the full authority to operate within the White House and all staff will report to him.</s>ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I love the president.</s>ACOSTA: It was just 10 days ago when the man nicknamed the Mooch pledged to improve White House messaging and praised outgoing Press Secretary Sean Spicer and then Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.</s>SCARAMUCCI: As it relates to Sean, it speaks volumes to who he is as a human being, who he is as a team player, because his attitude is Anthony is coming in, let me clear the slate for Anthony. And I do appreciate that about Sean and I love him for it. But I don't have any friction with Sean. I don't have any friction with Reince.</s>ACOSTA: The following week, he went to war with Priebus, savaging the then chief of staff in a profanity-laced rant to "The New Yorker," suggesting he might be the source of White House leaks.</s>SCARAMUCCI: As you know from the Italian expression, the fish stinks from the head down. But I can tell you two fish that don't stink, OK? And that's me and the president.</s>ACOSTA: The White House said in a statement: "Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team." But sources told CNN new Chief of Staff John Kelly had lost confidence in Scaramucci. It was an immediate sign that Kelly is aiming to bring order to a White House that's been rocked by near constant staff turmoil. The president had praised Kelly as a miracle worker in his previous job as secretary of homeland security.</s>TRUMP: You look at the border, you look at the tremendous results we have had. And you look at the spirit. And with a very controversial situation, there's been very little controversy, which is pretty amazing by itself. So, I want to congratulate you on having done a fantastic job, General. And we look forward to, if it's possible, an even better job as chief of staff.</s>ACOSTA: But earlier in the day, the president took to Twitter to insist all is well, touting the nation's stock market and unemployment rate before insisting, no White House chaos, a message echoed by Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.</s>HUCKABEE SANDERS: If you want to see chaos, come to my house with three preschoolers. This doesn't hold a candle to that.</s>ACOSTA: The new chief of staff will find rival factions still in place. Even with Scaramucci gone, there are still sharp elbows being thrown by strategist Steve Bannon, counselor Kellyanne Conway, even the president's family all competing for the president's attention. Daughter Ivanka Trump hailed Kelly in a tweet as a true American hero. In the president's Cabinet turned board room, Kelly was able to observe another source of White House tension, the damaged relationship with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has gone from being trashed publicly by Mr. Trump last week to sitting across the room from him silently today.</s>ACOSTA: And sources close to the White House say not only was John Kelly unhappy with Anthony Scaramucci's performance. The president had also soured on his new communications director. As for that article in "The New Yorker," according to White House officials here, the president did not approve of Scaramucci's language in that article when talking about Reince Priebus, the former chief of staff, and other staffers here at the White House. According to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president viewed that language as inappropriate. That's despite the fact the president has used lots of inappropriate language himself in the past -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Jim, thank you, Jim Acosta at the White House. And while we heard the president lavish praise on his new White House chief of staff, John Kelly apparently has had a serious disagreement with the president. We have some exclusive new CNN reporting on that. Let's go to our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown. What are you learning, Pamela?</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, my colleague Shimon Prokupecz and I have learned that incoming White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was so upset with the way President Donald Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that he called Comey shortly after he was terminated to tell him how upset and angry he was. This is according to two sources familiar with the conversation between Kelly and Comey. And at the time, Kelly was secretary of homeland security. Apparently, he was so angry that he even told Comey that he was contemplating resigning from his position as secretary of homeland security in a showing of solidarity. Comey apparently responded in this phone conversation by telling him not to resign. Now, both sources caution that it was unclear how serious Kelly was about resigning and, of course, that never happened. And fast-forward a few months later, now he's chief of staff at the White House. But the sources say he was particularly upset by the way Comey was treated, how it all went down, by the fact Comey learned he had been fired on the news, rather than by the president. And the call took place while Comey was traveling back from Los Angeles to Washington on May 9. For context here, Wolf, the sources said Comey and Kelly are not particularly close friends, but that they had a professional relationship and a deep mutual respect for each other. Comey declined to comment to us about this story. The White House and DHS did not comment, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Pamela Brown reporting for us, thanks very much. Let's get some more on all of these developments. Senator Jack Reed is joining us. He's the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator, thanks for joining us.</s>SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: Thanks, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: First to the breaking news. What does the White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci's dismissal after only, what, 10 days or so on the job say about the influence of the president's new White House chief of staff, General John Kelly?</s>REED: Well, I think it says a great deal about General Kelly's influence. He is someone that I have known and respected for many, many years. We have known each other for more than a decade. He's a patriot who sacrificed for his country. I think he went in and he wanted to not only organize the White House, but reorient it, get a strategy in place. And I think it was his influence probably more than anyone else that was decisive.</s>BLITZER: So, does this give you a little bit more confidence in the president of the United States? Can General Kelly really bring order to the White House? I know you like him.</s>REED: I think General Kelly will establish more stricter guidelines. He will try to control the access to the president, not exclude people, but make sure it is an orderly process. But, ultimately, it's the president and his attitude and his approach to these issues. And that's the key factor. I think you can bring in new staff, but you have to have the president willing to listen to the staff, willing to change some of his behaviors. Some of the tweets that he puts out are not helpful strategically, and I think that's going to be the test.</s>BLITZER: I want you to react, Senator, to the latest CNN reporting that the White House chief of staff, General Kelly, was so upset with how President Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that Kelly actually called Comey afterward and said he was considering resigning, this according to two sources familiar with the conversation between Kelly and Comey. What does that tell you?</s>REED: A, it wouldn't surprise me at all. John Kelly has dedicated his life to the country and the Constitution, and he is somebody who believes very firmly in fair play, for want of a better term, that people should be treated fairly, decently, the expectations should be made clear to them, and they should be allowed to do their jobs. And I think, again, that's not inconsistent with my knowledge and my experience with General Kelly.</s>BLITZER: As a reaction to the Russian sanctions bill that was overwhelmingly passed in the House and the Senate, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, says he will make the U.S. reduce its embassy and consulate staff by 755 people by September 1, including diplomats. How much of a blow is this to the United States?</s>REED: Well, it's a significant loss of diplomatic presence, obviously, but, ironically, it's going to be a loss also to Russia. Many of those individuals are involved with organizing and approving visas both going to the United States and people entering Russia, tour groups, tourism, so, economic collaboration to the extent we have it. It's not just a penalty to us. I think in the long run it will be a penalty to the Russians. And, again, the one thing we have to do is not allow Putin to see this as a moral equivalence. We imposed these sanctions because of Russians' activities in Crimea. They seized territory of another country. They are encouraging a separatist movement in the Donbass in Ukraine, supporting it militarily. They have interfered in our election. They have interfered with other elections. And I think the president should be speaking out very strongly about how this underscores not what we have done inappropriately, but what the Russians consistently do inappropriately.</s>BLITZER: The White House says the president is now reviewing his options. He hasn't responded yet to what Putin has ordered, 755 people to leave U.S. embassies and consulates in Russia. What do you think about that? What's the delay all about?</s>REED: Again, it's been a delay not only responding to this, but a delay in signing the sanctions bill. In fact, there was a moment where it was unclear whether the president would sign the bill. So, I think we have to take a much more explicit tone towards the Russians. There are issues where we are significantly in disagreement, the Crimea, their activity in Ukraine, their threats to the Baltic, their actions in interfering in elections. And then there are areas where we have tenuous cooperation in Syria and elsewhere. It's not a black-and-white picture, but I think we should seize quickly the high ground and talk about what they're doing so wrong in the world and that this is another aspect of their attempts to upset diplomatic relations.</s>BLITZER: The president said today he will -- quote -- "handle" North Korea. Respond to that comment. Is he handling that crisis?</s>REED: I think there is much more he has to do and has to do it quickly. This is an existential threat to the United States as they develop their nuclear capacity and their long-range missile technology. I think there has to be a much more coherent structure. He should consider appointing a special envoy. He should use sanctions against companies, including Chinese companies, that are doing business with the North Koreans. He should do it on a very a -- scale where he increases the pressure, but the pressure keeps ratcheting it up until we get some cooperation. We all understand any that type of military operation on the Korean Peninsula will be horrendous, so we have to exhaust every diplomatic option. We have to do it coherently, too.</s>BLITZER: How serious is the North Korean threat to the U.S. mainland?</s>REED: Well, it's serious, in the sense that our intelligence agencies are suggesting that within a year they will have the technology to reach targets within the United States. And that in itself is very disturbing. So, we have to start now with what time we have to use diplomacy. The Chinese initially indicated they might be supportive. They have not been supportive. But we have to use whatever tools we can. And we have to also, I think, understand one of the concerns the Chinese have. That is the regime in Pyongyang collapses and they are confronted with literally millions of people trying to flee into China. We have to work on that dimension, too, that that would be treated as an internationally humanitarian disaster, and the world would assist. So, there's several dimensions. But I just don't get the sense that there is a regular coherent process in which the president is intimately involved. It seems to be more or less, you know, a tweet here, a tweet there, and not the consistent thorough details of policy-making and diplomatic activity.</s>BLITZER: Senator Jack Reed, thanks for joining us.</s>REED: Thanks, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Just ahead, we will have more reaction to the breaking news, Anthony Scaramucci now the shortest-serving White House communications chief in modern history. So, how will this ouster impact the president's inner circle? And why is Mr. Trump staying quiet about Vladimir Putin's aggressive new move, demanding a drastic cut in the U.S. diplomatic presence in Russia?