Interview with Senator Mark Warner of Virginia.
BURNETT: And back to our breaking news tonight: a surprise shakeup at the White House. Anthony Scaramucci out as White House communications director after only ten days on the job. His short foul-mouth tenure wreaking havoc and leading to two high profile resignations or firings. OUTFRONT now, Democratic Senator Mark Warner from Virginia, who is ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. And, Senator, I very much appreciate your time. Scaramucci, of course, now holds the record for the shortest tenure in American history, as communications director. Reince Priebus, the record for shortest serving chief of staff. Michael Flynn, the record for the shortest national security adviser. How do you explain what's going on at the White House?</s>SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA), VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: There does seem to be a pattern here. Well, I don't -- you know, I keep saying I didn't think the president could surprise me anymore and he continues to surprise. I hope this is a sign that his new chief of staff, General Kelly, is going to try to bring a little more order to the White House and try to maybe restore a little bit of a respect that the office of the presidency deserves. Clearly, Mr. Scaramucci made quite a bit of news in his short tenure, but news that frankly couldn't be broadcast on family networks for the most part. So, it's probably a good sign for the president, frankly, for his White House that you're seeing General Kelly step in and hopefully try to bring a little order out of chaos. But at the end of the day, you know, it's not going to be the chief of staff. It has to be whether this president himself is going to change his behavior and so far, we have not seen those changes.</s>BURNETT: So, when you say could there be order out of chaos, obviously, the president is saying that the White House is not in chaos today. But it raises a crucial question, Senator. Is Anthony Scaramucci's spectacular failure, which I think it's fair to say it was, given how much coverage he got and how brief he served, is that a reflection on him or is it a reflection on the man, the president of the United States, who had hired him?</s>WARNER: Well, I think at the end of the day, the buck stops in the old Harry Truman line at the office of the president, and I would think the president would have known the character of Mr. Scaramucci and, clearly, it appears some of his language and techniques were not unexpected. And what bothers me is that this is not so much Democrat versus Republican, it really is, as sitting on vice chair of the intelligence committee, the words and actions of the president of the United States matters domestically, but they also matter abroad in terms of how our country is viewed. And what we've seen over the last week or so from Mr. Scaramucci's comments to the president's outrageous and inappropriate comments at the Boy Scout Jamboree, to their lack of focus on health care, it does not paint a pretty picture.</s>BURNETT: So, the Russian sanctions bill, I want to ask another question here on an important topic on the president's desk. You supported it. It's on his desk. He hasn't signed it yet. Yet is the operative word. Russia is retaliating though, slashing the diplomatic staff that America is allowed to have in Russia, warning of more retaliation to come. What should President Trump do?</s>WARNER: What President Trump should do is sign that legislation that passed overwhelmingly in both the House and the Senate. In the House, it was 98-2, and the Senate I think was north of 400 votes. Do what the Congress has set here. And what's remarkable, Erin, is that in many ways, this legislation would not have been necessary with President Bush or President Obama. In many ways, this legislation reflects the fear that we in Congress have that the president might arbitrarily roll back these sanctions on Russia, the sanctions were put in place because Russia attacked our democracy and everybody on the Hill and I think the vast majority of Americans understand and agree with that. Maybe the only person that doesn't and still does not completely acknowledge that attack is the president himself, which raises a whole host of other questions.</s>BURNETT: I want to ask you about some other major news today and that is, of course, North Korea, for the second time launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. It's a significant thing. It happened incredibly quickly after the last one. And experts are saying had this been in a more standard trajectory, it could have hit, with the ability to hit Los Angeles, Denver, even Chicago. The president spoke about it today, Senator, and said he would solve this, no problem. Here he is.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll handle North Korea. We're going to be able to handle them, right? It will be -- it will be handled. We handle everything.</s>BURNETT: Is it that simple?</s>WARNER: No (ph), I wish it was that simple. And candidly, North Korea has been an emerging threat through now three administrations, back to Bush 43, the Obama administration, and now, during the Trump administration. We can't lay all the blame, by any means, at the feet of the Trump administration. There are options we have but one of the options is to portray an era of strength and to have China be a partner in reining in North Korea and so far, we've seen the president has not been able to portray that. And, frankly, instead, we've seen the Chinese government, in effect, offer a series of trademarks to the Trump family in an era that is, again, a question that seems a bit inappropriate and I think restricts the president's ability to really force China to be a partner against North Korea that we need. But this is -- this has been a problem that's been developing for more than a decade but the idea that it can be handled this simply, as the president said, shows enormous naivety.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Senator Warner. Appreciate your time.</s>WARNER: Thank you, Erin.</s>BURNETT: And next, staff shakeup, a stalled agenda, growing frustration in Trump country on the president's performance.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The jury is out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The jury is out.</s>BURNETT: And Jeanne Moos on Anthony Scaramucci's 10-day legacy and the Internet sensation he has become.