President Trump Replaces National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster with Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
COOPER: Another change tonight what seems like a never ending shake up in the White House. National security advisor, H.R. McMaster is out. John Bolton is in. Shortly after this was announced, Bolton acknowledged that he has written countless opinion pieces, given countless speeches and interviews. But he told Fox News that his past comments are behind him. Here just a few of those past comments.</s>JOHN BOLTON, NEW NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: There is no united nations. The Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If you lost 10 stories today, it wouldn't make a bit of difference. But our biggest national security crisis is Barack Obama. And we have to know facts here. And it's not at all clear to me just viewing this from the outside that this hacking into the DNC and the RNC computers was not a false flag operation. I think the only diplomatic option left is to end the regime in North Korea by effectively having the south take it over.</s>COOPER: Again, Bolton says those comments are behind him. What matters is what the President says and the advice he gives him. Back now with the panel. How big a change is this for the White House?</s>BASH: Well, it is a big change. Look, John Bolton is somebody who, I'm told, had very good meetings with the President. They -- after those meetings, kind of clicked personally, which as we know from the way the President has been operating lately is become more and more important to him.</s>COOPER: Right, which all the reporting was he didn't really do that with H.R. McMaster.</s>BASH: He didn't at all. He didn't like his style in every way but particularly I was told his briefing style. And with John Bolton it was different. Having said that, they could not have more different world views when it comes to the big things which are -- which is, let's just say Iraq.</s>COOPER: Bolton was a big supporter of --</s>BASH: And still is. He still to this day, does not say it was a mistake. He said, you know, basically that they would have done it again and the President campaigned aggressively on the idea that he thought it was a terrible idea. And he's much more of a hawk. He's much more of an internationalist. Having said that, he is not working for somebody who doesn't share those views and there's no question. Well, it's hard to believe that they didn't have those conversations about their differences and how that would work if he were talking about national security --</s>COOPER: Scott, you work for Bush 43 as did Bolton in the recess appointment, I'm wondering what you made of this.</s>JENNINGS: Well, I'm a John Bolton fan. I'm comfortable in more hawkish win in the Republican Party. I think and I've said many times on the step changes. I think the President deserves to have a staff that he get along with and that he trusts and that he can have actual exchanges with in the Oval Office that it might lead to the best possible outcomes. I heard Ambassador Bolton say tonight that it's his job to lay out multiple option and help the President make the best decision. They have different world views, but he was very clear about understanding his role as a staffer and not someone who is out there actually setting the policy. So if the President's more comfortable with this, I think that's good. It is interesting though the President's posture on North Korea right now is far different than what Ambassador Bolton posture has been as recently as February when he was advocating, you know, the possibility we might go ahead and attack them. So he's going to have to adjust his world view on North Korea as we head towards these meetings I think in May.</s>GERGEN: Scott is absolutely right. The President deserves to have the people around him, and he has the right to have the people around him that he wants. But to suggest this is not going to make a difference when they come right down and have a counsel and a meeting of the NFC with the President, I think these appointments had to stay and that the NFC have both moved the center of gravity towards a much harder line position on both North Korea and on Iran. I'll be really surprised now. It looked like the President was tilting toward getting out of the Iranian agreement. I think the chances are just gone up a lot, this going to get out of the Iranian agreement. And they're going to go in with lower expectations on the North Korea talk. Yes, we can put his -- John Bolton is a very smart man, and he's had a lot of interesting statements. He can put a statement by -- but his not going to put his believes behind. He's not going to be a neutral arbiter. He's got views that he will advance, he's done that all as like that's what he does, you know? And so he's going to be trying to advance his policies. And I think, it's really significant now that the President, a series of big personnel -- everything has moved towards a harder line, a more combative line whether it's trade or North Korea or Iran. You can go down -- just get down in the whole series and even his personal lawyers are more combative --</s>COOPER: But, I mean, there had been controversial people in this position. I mean, Henry Kissinger, you know, had very strong views --</s>GERGEN: Absolutely. He had a huge impact on policy. You know, it's the rare national security advisor. Brent Scowcroft is one of them, who saw himself as a, you know, you collect all the views, present them fairly to the President, he don't push your own agenda. John Bolton doesn't come from that. That's just not this person who he is.</s>COOPER: Right.</s>POWERS: But the also hasn't really even a serious foreign policy player for a long time. I mean, the last job that he had, I think, was in the Bush administration and he was Under Secretary of State. He is really -- this is the President, you know, sort of again looking to this conservative infotainment, you know, people that he thinks are policy people. And, you know, I just think that there's just that problem. And then also he does savor extreme things. I mean he wrote the forward to Pamela Geller's book. I mean she is a top of the line islamophobe. I mean there's no question.</s>COOPER: Right.</s>POWERS: So, I mean, I think he takes really extreme positions on things. I think he said a nuclear striking on North Korea. This is not somebody who's on the margin. I mean, he's a hard liner. And so, I think it says something that this is the kind of person the President wants to have around him in this position.</s>GRANHOLM: And to me, I mean, everything that he has written, this aggressive interventionist is totally opposite of what the President campaigned on. And so I give it 10 months.</s>SCHULTZ: I agree he's a hard liner. I agree he's a hard liner. He's hawkish. But I also heard on night tonight on the news channels folks talking about how the President keeps pointing yes man and people were going to yes. I don't -- I submit, Pompeo is not a yes man. Pompeo has his own strong thoughts. And everyone here, around this table agrees --</s>COOPER: -- he does seem to be a very much in line, Pompeo.</s>SCHULTZ: Philosophically they can be in line and they can get along. But that doesn't mean that they're not going to disagree in a civil way in the Oval Office. I think he's put in good people in place that he trusts.</s>COOPER: It is interesting the television aspect which you raised on this. I mean, you know, one goes back to where he talks about the generals, you know, that he learned from watching on television, and which was sort of an offhanded remark and some made fun of at the time, but I wondering how much that is actually playing into this. I mean, is his familiarity with John Bolton --</s>POWERS: I think hugely --</s>COOPER: -- in watching him on television.</s>POWERS: I don't think there's any question. You see a lot of other staffers there ending up there because they're on T.V. You know, whether it's Mercedes Schlapp or whether it's, you know, Larry Kudlow, you know, now getting a position there. So, I think that he, you know -- (</s>OFF-MIC) POWERS: Yes. And I mean, you know, Sam Stein from the "Huffington Post" made a joke, something like, you know, the Chyron operator at Fox & Friends has more power than anybody in the White House. Foreign policy, I mean, and that's, you know, we know he looks to Fox & Friends, you know, every morning just sort of get his ideas. So, I think him seeing John Bolton who's on Fox all the time has definitely played a huge role in this.</s>SCHULTZ: That just because you're good at messaging and a good messenger doesn't make it a bad policy. And I think the President is right. He's going into a 2018 year with midterm elections coming up and he's looking to folks who can carry that message.</s>COOPER: Right and that's what Maggie Haberman was saying in the last hour too, which is that he feels that there's not enough people talks -- saying what he wants on television, pushing his agenda.</s>JENNINGS: Yes, regardless of what advice he's getting from this people. He views the world through (inaudible) we can't communicate it publicly whenever going to get better. And so he clearly didn't like the way McMaster was communicating in the Oval Office. He wasn't a T.V. presence. He likes the way Kudlow talks. He likes the way Bolton talks. They can make an argument, engage in a debate. So I agree with you. They can be good on policy and they can be good arbiters of policy, but if the White House never finds a way to communicate all the good things they're doing, it will be hard for him to ever to get up closure to 50 percent, which where we want them to go.</s>GRANHOLM: So he makes his legal team in the same kind of way, I mean he's pushing out people who are more moderate or at least seem to be willing to work with Mueller and bringing in hard liners, not to change the subject and a bit it's the similar, you're going to have a bunch of bulldogs and there are a whole bunch of them. And while he wants people who are going to be aggressive and muscular, they also have ideas that may not be consistent with one another. So, it's going to be interesting to get the internal dynamic --</s>COOPER: We're going to take a quick break. Thanks, everybody. We'll be right back. More news ahead.