porter. the allegations made against rob porter, as we understand them, involve incidents long before he joined the white house. therefore they are best evaluated through the background check process. it's important to remember that rob porter has repeatedly denied these allegations and done so publicly. that doesn't change how serious and disturbing these allegations are. they're upsetting. and the background check investigates both the allegations and the denials. the investigation does not stop when allegations come to light. it continues to determine the truth. we should not short circuit an investigation just because allegations are made, unless they could compromise national security or interfere with operations at the white house. the truth must be determined. and that was what was going on with rob porter. his background investigation was ongoing. he was operating on an interim security clearance. his clearance was never denied and he resigned. to summarize, the allegations against ro

porter's clearance. if he knew there were problems, then because he's a smart man, he would have looked into them. >> as i said we have reported that he did know they were domestic abuse. >> he has right to look at the fbi file which means he didn't believe the women. >> and fbi file by the way would have had all these details, interviews were done, pictures had been produced. i'm just saying the files would have had details. >> and what's really sad about this is that given all the me too movement involved, to think that in the fall of last year general kelly didn't sit back in his chair and think, oh, wait a second, i may have this problem right here. now, we'll learn more. but i think that the fbi did, sounds like they did their job. but you know in the end the decision about classification is made by the president and the chief of staff. >> right. >> if they want these people to keep their clearances. >> they can do that. >> regardless what the fbi finds. >> you can't do it for this reason. >> i thin

porter would be perceived. ruth, i knew how they would be perceived when i was in elementary school in boston at the same time john kelly was. >> i'm wondering if you're allowed to hit the palm of your head against your head on television. that's unbelievable. this is not a matter of political judgment i'm thinking about when we couldn't quite -- nobody was quite sure how to think about zoe baird's failure to pay her nanny taxes when she was bill clinton's nominee to be attorney general. come on. any child knows, any grown up knows, anybody with a speck of moral principle knows that domestic abuse is to be taken seriously. let me point out, general kelly is the one who told us that he really felt nostalgic for the days when women were held sacred. sacred, you know, don't hit them. i need to keep going for a second here. the times reports that the photo was sent to the fbi agent or given to the fbi agent on january 27, 2017. the fbi, i would be very surprised if the fbi just somehow kept that information from th

porter. they didn't know fully the allegations. the president seems to take a different approach to that. he has been talking a lot about the rights of the accused and nothing about the accusers. he's said not a word about two ex-wives. that's pretty consistent with how president trump has dealt with accusations like this in the past including those against 4i him by several women. the white house to this day still insists to this day are lying. when roy moore was accused of sexual abuse against minor s th president said that moore denied the allegations. with the me too movement swirling around the president keeps coming back to the issue of men being wrongly accused and not saying anything at all about the women and what they might have endured, fred. >> abby, thank you so much. >>> let's talk more about this and the republican perspective, joining me right now is charlie dant of pennsylvania. thank you for being with us. your reaction to what the president has to say this morning in refere

rob porter. there's no place for domestic violence in our society. if he didn't know, that's also a problem. >> we don't know exactly how much he knew. apparently he was supposedly told in november. again, here is the trouble. kelly defined his job as managing an information flow to the president. he said, i'm not here to manage the president. i'm just here to do this limited thing. well, by his own limited definition, he has failed clearly. this is the latest example of it. it's not enough just to make the trains run on time in the west wing, to be a good chief of staff, you also have to be able to walk into the oval office, close the door and tell the president what he doesn't want to hear. he should have had that conversation with donald trump about rob porter. >> chris, good to see you. the book is the gatekeepers, how the white house chiefs of staff define every presidency. always an important book. probably more important than you read it now. >>> tomorrow marks the deadline for donald trum

porter worked for him. they said he doesn't know these two ex-wives, so why would he be tweeting about them? the women also said that it's not the president's place to play judge and jury in an investigation and in a situation like this. and, anderson, i also asked these women about the fact that the president has supported other men who have been accused of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault such as roger ailes, bill o'reilly of fox news, and also roy moore of the alabama senate race. and they said to me the only reason they believe the president supported roy moore was for the good of the party, so he could hold on to that republican senate seat despite these disgusting allegations against him. they said that was only for the good of the party, anderson. >> randi kaye, thanks very much. >>> up next, the conflicting white house stances on accused domestic abuser rob porter and the questions about a possible cover-up. patrick woke up with back pain. but he has work to do. so he took aleve. if h

, that he wanted porter to stay. because he had become so invaluable to kelly in terms of the regular job of staff secretary which means moving around very important paper all day long, interagency classified information and so forth. but also he began acting almost as a deputy chief of staff, really integral to the kelly -- kelly chief of staff -- >> and he was promoted. he became more important in the white house over the last several months and not less important and matt lewis when kelly learned more by reading the press and he knew a bunch of it already, not only did he not fire rob porter, he asked him to stay. and he put out a glowing endorsement of him. you call this extremely disappointing and political malpractice. these are two separate issues but explain our feelings on this. >> even after john kelly saw this photo of this poor woman and i think these are two highly credible women who are making very credible charges in this instance. even after john kelly saw that photo of his -- of porter's ex-wife, he

he saw far more classified information as obama's rob porter, same job as rob porter, than did he at the nsa. so this is a job, this man couldn't get full clearance. leave aside the women which is horrible. this is the donald trump white house so no one cares about women. look at the national security implications. look what he's now done to the president. i mean, it's really kind of stunning. >> and you got -- you've got -- jarrod kucher jared kushner doe have a permanent clearance right now and a reality tv star that shows up at meetings where sensitive information would be discussed and it's a small place. you overhear things when you're in the white house. you have omarosa who is now on a reality show whispering secrets. >> yeah, scaring people. >> you have porter and jared kushner who doesn't have a permanent one either. this is reporting tonight. it's from "the new york times." president trump called reince priebus to express dissatisfaction with john kelly. the idea that president would confide grievances over mr. kelly with the person he pushed out to hire mr. kelly is yet an

. >> he did not say that. >> he said he pointed to rob porter saying he is porter saying he is innocent. i want to talk to kirsten gillebrand. it's not surprising he doesn't believe survivors or understand the conversation. if he wants due process for the dozen allegations against him let's have congressional hearings tomorrow. >> george, let me say something. those accusers have had their day on your network and elsewhere for a long time. they were trotted out again last year. i don't need a lecture from kirsten gillibrand who harbored a sitting president who had sexual relations in the oval office and was impeached for lying. i don't need a lecture from her or anyone else. she since of course has said that president clinton had resigned. let's call this what it is. that's a democrat party bereft of any ideas and accomplishments. everybody that's happened has happened without them. in the course of month her democratic party voted to shut down the government, sat on their hands when patriotic things were being said including a 12-year-old boy who put flags on veterans' graves. not a si

porter. the presidential aide accused of abusing not one but two former wives. a picture of the abuse. he denied it. the testimonials are detailed and we're hearing he could be gone today. we should learn more in the white house briefing which is now scheduled to begin in 14 minutes from now. lawmakers in the last hour with an effort to avoid another show down have come up with a deal. the government runs out of money at midnight and no guarantee congress will get the deal done. there's another wild day on the markets. we're off 2.5% on the day. as we learned yesterday, the last hour could have breaking news changing everything. what is happening here? turns out there could be one very simple reason. let's get to it. good thursday afternoon from the fox news deck. a live look inside the white house. the brief willing start in 14 minutes. first, there's word some trump administration officials did know and knew for many months about accusations that a senior white house aide had physically and

now she's front and center with the rob porter mess. she's been ro mamantically invod with porter. sarah, tell us a little about hope hicks because she has a very important job. >> she does have an important job. she was working with the trump organization before donald trump decided to run for president. he hand-selected her to be his spokeswoman and then go to the transition and obviousal pointed h -- obviously appointed her to this role of communications direct director. her office is right outside of his, and she's dealing with the president on all confrontations that come his way. she probably has the closest relationship in the white house than anyone not related to him. >> he trusts her. clearly he elevated her. talk a little bit about her role now in this whole scandal that has emerged. >> it's not that she is trust bid the president, she's trusted by the family. she is the closest you can get without being a trump family member in trump's orbit. now she's in a difficult position because she was ro manhattan -- ro mamantically involved with porter. you don't want her to be

senator hatch, very close to porter -- porter was his chief of staff -- included in his statement, his second statement, his real one from him, that domestic abuse is abhorrent, and it always is. in general kelly's statement, you get the sense he's a little more concerned about mr. porter. everyone has a right to defend their reputation. no one is saying that. if he has been maligned, he has a perfect right to sue these women now if he has been maligned. but those women didn't have any ability to defend themselves if in fact they were beaten. these allegations are really serious, and it seems to me that general kelly doesn't get it. >> we'll turn to another washington controversy next over the parade the president wants. add questions about his marching orders as well. 123450i789d come with netflix in. spectacular! so, you can watch all your netflix favorites on your new samsung phones. whoa! join the un-carrier and get a samsung galaxy s8 free. all on america's best unlimited network. peopbut they're different.nd. it's nice to remove artificial ingredients. kind never had to. we choos

secretary rob porter. how did such an abuser rise so much in the white house, and how did the chief of staff look the other way until photos surfaced. director hope hicks, kaitlyn, has also now emerge ld d at the center of this storm. what are you hearing about her and the president? >> i would like to note that the white house just brought reporters into the oval office because the president was meeting with one of his supporters, and he actually spoke about this rob porter scandal. this is the first time we're hearing from the president directly on this. he said that he wished porter well. he found out about the allegations against him recently. he remarked that it was sad but added that porter has denied these allegations, and that is something that people should keep in mind. we are seeing this is very much something that's on the president's mind here, wolf, but yes, we are learning that the fallout from this scandal relating to rob porter is affecting one of the president's relationships with his clo

let me talk about rob porter. the allegations made against rob porter, as we understand them, involve incidents long before he joined the white house. therefore, they are best evaluated through the background check process. it's important to remember that rob porter has repeatedly denied these allegations and done so publicly. that doesn't change how serious and disturbing these allegations are. they are upsetting. and the background check investigates both the allegations and the denials. the investigation does not stop when allegations come to light. it continues to determine the truth. we should not short circuit an investigation just because allegations are made unless they can compromise national security or interfere with operations at the white house. the truth must be determined. and that was what was going on with rob porter. his background investigation was ongoing. he was operating on an interim security clearance. his clearance was never denied, and he resigned. to summarize the allegations against rob

clearly rob porter was. the question is, who else within this administration, and you know, there are dozens of members of this administration who have been unable at this point to get permanent security clearances. who else within this administration has skeletons in their closet that are waiting to come out to the public because the white house either is unwilling to investigate or just doesn't care and is hoping that it won't leak out? >> hugh, phil, i have a question for you. we heard something from this white house yesterday. i was in the front row. i don't think i've heard it in the course of the last year-plus covering the trump administration, this white house. raj shah, the deputy press secretary, said, i think we would agree that we could have done things better in the last few days, last few hours. >> well, that's good. and i hope that admitting mistakes, admitting dropped balls does not in any way -- >> does the president agree with admitting mistakes or was this a riff the president will not be

he made a comment on rob porter. he also can have sympathy, r respect, and compassion for the millions of victims of victims of child abuse and drug abuse. if cnn or anyone else wants a serious kergs about them and use our platforms to really take a bite out of these scourges, give me a call, i work first and fore most on the opioid crisis. the budget being released tomorrow is bringing in $6 billion. >> is that enough? >> it is more than we have ever seen it it will bring treatment, law enforcement, education, and prevention. we need to tackle all three at once. we need to get those drugs and keep them out of our country and communities, but we also have to help the people already addicted and in need of medicated assisted treatment, and we have to educate everyone that the tric tri trickiness, that what is in mom and dad's medicine cabinet is l harm you. >> porter's second wife said she is worried about hope hicks, take a listen. >> it worries me for a lot of reasons. first, if i'm being frank with you. if he has n

john kelly fought for rob porter's job. reports indicate that john kelly was actively fighting to save rob porter's job after all of these accusations became public, including the one punch black eye. because for john kelly, apparently, one punch isn't enough. one black eye photograph of one former wife of a white house official, was not enough for john kelly. that's why he fought today to save rob porter's job. wasn't enough. yesterday rob porter said -- he said this in response to the daily mail's first story, i will not comment about these matters beyond stating that many of these allegations are sand rous and simply false. that was yesterday. today, in announcing that he will give up that job and as the "new york times" is reporting, give up that job tomorrow, at the white house, after maybe a full day at the white house. rob porter issued this new statement saying this, these outrageous allegations are simply false. i took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago, and the reality behind them is nowhere close t

say enough good things about rob porter. john kelly is lying about being shocked by the second day of accusations against rob porter because multiple news organizations have reported that the fbi told john kelly in november what they had discovered about rob porter in their background investigation. some saying he learned in september. and john kelly chose to ignore what the fbi told him. "the washington post" is reporting late tonight that the fbi told white house counsel don mcgahn one full year ago in january of 2017 about the domestic violence accusations against rob porter and that mcgahn did nothing about it. colby holderness show odd her photographs of her black eye to the fbi a ear ago. don mcgahn knew there were photographs. john kelly knew there were photos. the fbi would have no reason not to tell john kelly what they knew. don mcgahn had no reason to tell john kelli what he knew about rob porter. so john kelly decided not to believe what the two women told the fbi. does that mean that john kelly decided that thos

>> the president privately has condemned porter. all the report ing is consisten on that, that he called porter bad garbage and that he's a sick person. but publicly he cannot bring himself to say that and i think that's the source of the problem. wouldn't it have been wise for people at the white house to reach out to the ex-wives? i think it probably would have stopped some of the bleeding for somebody at the white house to explain what the president has said privately and has difficulty expressing these things publicly. i think people by now know the president sometimes gives inconsistent messages and it does seem like it would be difficult for that to cause too much harm. >> their voices have been fascinating, and i think they deserve to be followed more than other witnesses, if you will, more than other testimony in this conversation. the two ex-wives of rob porter who make this case, and jenni willoughby, one of the ex-wives, says she worries about hope hicks who was, at least last week, in a relationship with rob porter. i do

porter. this is on general kelly. he knew about it, according to dana's reporting and he did nothing. he either didn't believe the charges, or he didn't care. either one, i think, is problematic, because they're certainly credible. the women have photographs, multiple women, a restraining order. maybe he just didn't care, which is shocking, it's just outrageous. it's -- so, this -- i think this is where the story goes this terms of white house management. the staff secretary, just so people know, is one of the most sensitive jobs in the government. the staff secretary is the point of entree for all information to the president. he receives information from the justice department, the pentagon, the most sensitive material, and then circulates to make sure it gets feedback from each of these agencies. it's really critically that person be trustworthy. to think that person has been accused of domestic violence, that means he can't get a security clearance, you have to get him out of the building. >> why the fbi brought h

there was a period that porter's future -- it was not certain that porter was on his way out. so there were efforts made to communicate their position. so this has been an evolving story for the white house and frustrating for reporters to try to lock down their position. >> shepard: and that's the reason that this continues even today. where does kelly stand at this moment? he said the white house handled this just fine and he wouldn't do anything different. >> that's what he told my colleague, michael bander. he said it's been handled fine. that's not what raj shah said last week. there were mistakes made and things could have been done better. again, we're hearing different stories. we have chris wray that laid out a timeline that varied with the white house. seems like the fbi gave information to the personnel security office and the white house in march, months before the white house said they had the information. >> shepard: so we're believe this was completed in july, they got information that a man this far from the president who sees every piece of paperwork that come

porter's second wife, jennifer willoughby tells "the washington post" newspaper that porter once dragged her from the shower after an argument. >> he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. immediately on seeing the terror in my face, retracted and apologized and changed composure immediately. >> the allegation is years and years of abuse. both women say they told fbi agents about the abuse during porter's security clearance

that's why porter couldn't get a security clearance. a former girlfriend alerted the white house counsel. but porter was kept on as staff despite allegations like this. last night one of his ex-wives shared her story with anderson cooper. >> it was a low-grade, constant terror of not knowing what i might do to set something off, what mood he would have. the reality is he's not a monster. he is an intelligent, kind, chivalrous, caring, professional man, and he is deeply troubled and angry and violent. i don't think those things are mutually exclusive. >> and the people he works with may not have seen that side of him at all. >> of course not. of course not. it's reserved for the most intimate and most vulnerable moments in his life. >> again, we'll get to the president's anger about all this in a moment. it includes, we are told, unhappiness with his chief of staff john kelly, unhappiness with his long-time aide hope hicks. why was porter allowed to stay on the job for months when his behavior was released to officials? the judgment of t

possib porter's ex-wives claim of abuse. one of the ex-wives told "the washington post" more. >> i'm not surprised they see him as a model of discretion and integrity and character. i believe he is and professionally he is intelligent and he is measured and he is certainly someone that i would trust in that professional position and in his personal life he is also abusive and angry. >> an official said porter misled west wing staff and kelly by accusing his ex-wives trying to smear him. kelly was shocked by the new allegatio allegations. he also believes every individual deserves the right to defend their reputation. >> politico reports an ex-girlfriend of porter's contacted the white house counsel. she was concerned about a romantic relationship between porter and the white house communications director hope hicks. she helped draft an initial statement from john kelly declaring support for porter. we have the latest from jim acosta. >> reporter: the white house is scrambling to deal with the top aide scandal. rob porter ste

in recent weeks cnn has learned one of porter's ex-girlfriends told mcgahn she had concerns about porter's relationship with communications director hope hicks. one of porter's ex-wives told her story to anderson cooper. >> the reality is, he's not a monster. he is an intelligent kind chivalrous caring professional man and he's deeply troubled and angry and violent. i don't think those things are mutually exclusive. >> reporter: democrats are seizing on the porter saga to argue the president and his team just don't get it. >> just before i walked on stage a statement from the president saying he wishes him luck, he has so much talent. that's like saying "that ax murderer out there, he's a great painter." translate this into everyday terms. is there any other crime -- and it's a crime -- would there be an explanation the reason why we shouldn't pay attention to the transgression is because they're good at something? >> reporter: in these discussions about the fate of the chief of staff john kelly, we should note that one name that keeps popping is up budget director mick mulvaney as possibl

her own concerns about porter and what she knew about porter's ex wives. we should note he denies the allegations and calls them simply not true. but this is not just a dark story about the departure of yet another high-level trump white house employee. this is also a security story that matters to all of us because this is a security story how donald trump is running this government. they don't get handed security clearances as perks. the fbi has to clear you for one after this rigorous background check process and there are all sorts of ways to fail that process. doesn't mean you're a criminal. some are dramatic. you can fail the fbi background check process for a security clearance because you have undisclosed foreign contacts you've been lying about. those would screw up your chance for a clearance because it should show you could be in cahoots with a foreign government and they could use to the blackmail you. that's what we worry about with jared curb mkushner. you could be in a lot of debt. being debtly indebted isn't a crime but it might prevent you

they don't think rob porter should be there. even in the last week and a half, since people publicly knew that rob porter was dating hope hicks, wouldn't you think don mcgahn, john kelly, would care about her safety? >> one would think. i mean, i think that there's the personal prong of it but also the prong of the president has had dust-ups with how he feels john kelly has been running the west wing over the course of the past few months. i think john kelly's job security comes when you think about, there's not many people lining up to take that position, right? >> you know, we always say that. >> of course. >> there are a lot of people who would be happy to be chief of staff to the president of the united states. i think we overstate that, like john kelly has the job because nobody else wants to do it. we're not talking about cleaning the bathroom in times square on new year's eve. >> i don't know. john, stephanie. maybe cleaning the bathroom in times square on new year's eve is better. >> there are republicans who speak on fo

this situation can't die with rob porter. one, you've got 34% of your staff that have been bled off, often under a cloud of suspicion. you have an ongoing clearance issue with intelligence matters. they made classified information on how it's handled a big deal. they did it with clinton. they're continuing it now with this bs about the fisa courts, even though they're congressionally created as an oversight mechanism. the biggest reason, mark preston, do you believe that today is the day that the president of the united states says, listen, i support the victims of domestic abuse? that has to be said by the moral leader of this country. >> the reason it has to be said and will be said, it's 180 degrees. >> won't go away. too big a deal. >> of course it's going to keep going. the bottom line is what's going to change today that hasn't changed every other day in president trump's life? the fact is he's going to stick by his own guns, allows others to give support for these women. but we're in the going to hear it from him. if h

porter himself. and for reporters. in which porter on background relayed his version of events and fielded questions from the crew. politico also reports the three communication staffers present at that meeting including sarah huckabee sanders did not dispute that white house chief of staff john kelly urged porter to stay after all this has come out, urged porter to stay accord to a person familiar with the exchange. kelly was asked last night if the white house should have handled the porter situation differently. his response and i quote, no, it was all done right. jonathan lemire is from the "associated press" and political analyst. asawin suebsaeng. >> is that the view in the white house, this was all done right. >> that's the view that kelly is trying to put forth. there are many others in the west wing who don't feel that way. this is a moment where john kelly grip on his position is most tenuous since he took the job. president trump has been calling to inform allies, those folks he calls every night sort of ask

porter's second ex-wife, jennifer willoughby, told the "daily mail" porter dragged her wet and naked out of the shower and was verbally abusive, an account she confirms to nbc news. nbc news has also obtained a 2010 protective order where willoughby told police during their separation porter ignored her multiple requests to leave her home and at one point punched in the glass on the door. "i called the police, afraid that he would break in," she said. mounting questions about how porter was given such close access to the president and the documents that crossed his desk. a former white house official says chief of staff john kelly was aware of the allegations of abuse before the story broke. two sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news it is believed porter was never given full security clearance, although it's not clear why. the administration now on defense. >> i think that was a personal decision that rob made and one that he was not pressured to do but one that he made on his own. >> reporter: the white house is not commenting on porter's security clearance. one other layer

porter. but the media coverage this week proved too much and he resigned, over the objections of many in the white house, including kelly, we were told. the way the white house has dwelt this scandal has made even some of the strongest supporters, even white house aides. this was president trump's response of the. >> we wish him well. he worked very hard. found out about it recently and i was surprised by it but we certainly wish him well. obviously a tough time for him. did he a very good job when he was in the white house. and we hope he has a wonderful career and hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. >> it's a tough time for rob porter, the president said. we home he has a great career ahead of him. so the president expressed sympathy for port he, wished him well, said it was a tough time for him and reminded everyone that porter denies the charges. that's what the president said. that's what we all heard. here's what we didn't hear. any expression for porter's ex-wife, colbi

porter? kelly clearly knew this was going to be revealed and this white house is failing in the most fundamental level which is its internal staffing. >> to be continued, unfortunately. thank you so much, rick tyler. >>> coming you have, all about that base. how the bipartisan budget bill might play with midterm voters. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. >>> after signing the budget compromise approved by an all-republican congress, president trump is suggesting on twitter he would not have had to accept the compromise if there were more republicans elected to the house and senate and they didn't need so many democratic voters to pass it. without more republicans in congress, we were forced to increase spending on things we do not like or want in order to finally, after many years of depletion, take care of our military. sadly, we need someday demvotes for passage. must elect more republicans in 2018 election. that's a twisted theory of politics. let's get the inside scoop fr

. >> do you believe rob porter's ex-wives? >> reporter: and the allegations of domestic abuse has raised critical questions about the security clearance process for west wing staffers. at a hearing, christopher wray disclosed what he knew about the background check and said they completed their investigation last summer. >> the fbi submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in march. and then a completed background investigation in late july. soon there after, we received requests for follow-up inquiry and we did the follow-up and provided that information in november and then we administratively closed the file in january. >> that appeared to qulakt top white house officials have said for days, that the background investigation was not finished. >> it was ongoing. he was operating on an interim security clearance. the clearance was never denialed and he resigned. >> today, the aides to the president tried a new message. >> they had not made the final adjudication because the process was still ongoing when he

any thoughts on rob porter? >> no questions. >>> happening now, vice president mike pence is on capitol hill as the senate is currently beginning open-ended debate on immigration. the white house has been pushing these four pillars. they want a path to citizenship, a $25 billion trust for a wall and other improvements, an end to the diversity visa lottery and limiting chain migration. my next guest has been fighting for daca recipients. joining me now is congressman curbelo, he represents the south florida area. good to see you. we are getting the debate as promised in the senate. it is a little open-ended. but mitch mcconnell had promised democrats that they will get a debate and they are having a debate. what do you think emerges from this? because we don't have a debate scheduled for the houts rigse r now. >> first thing i want to do is thank leader mcconnell for keeping his word and i want to encourage senate democrats to allow the debate to begin. they have not yielded back what they call possess-cloture ti

say enough good things about rob porter. john kelly is lying about being shocked by the second day of accusations against rob porter because multiple news organizations have reported that the fbi told john kelly in november what they had discovered about rob porter in their background investigation. some saying he learned in september. and john kelly chose to ignore what the fbi told him. "the washington post" is reporting late tonight that the fbi told white house counsel don mcgahn one full year ago in january of 2017 about the domestic violence accusations against rob porter and that mcgahn did nothing about it. colby holderness show odd her photographs of her black eye to the fbi a ear ago. don mcgahn knew there were photographs. john kelly knew there were photos. the fbi would have no reason not to tell john kelly what they knew. don mcgahn had no reason to tell john kelli what he knew about rob porter. so john kelly decided not to believe what the two women told the fbi. does that mean that john kelly decided that thos

president, do you believe rob porter's ex-wives? do you believe rob porter's ex-wives, mr. president? does the president believe the women? >> again, the president takes all of these accusations very seriously. he believes in due process. above everything else, he supports the victims of any type of violence, and certainly would condemn any violence against anyone. >> reporter: but we still haven't heard him say that himself. the cameras were in front of him today, and he didn't say it. >> again, the president dictated to me specifically that comment yesterday, which i read out to you guys. >> so, let's get to cecilia vega, live at the white house again tonight. and cecilia, as we've been reporting since late last week here, rob porter was working with a temporary security clearance. you've been asking why there are so many in the white house, more than a year into this administration, working with temporary clearance, jared kushner among them. and today, the president's own director of national intelligence sounding the alarm about this very issue. >> the access has to be

porter denies all of the abuse allegations against him. so, let's start this hour with a woman who has been breaking news on this one, left and right, mj lee, our cnn national politics reporter. talking about the timeline, mj, the chief of staff knew about some of this as early as last fall i understand you have a new timeline that dates even farther back than that. >> i have to say my colleagues at the white house have been doing some terrific reporting on sort of who knew what and when, because that's really important. what we're learning is that the white house aides, multiple white house aides knew about some of these allegations of domestic abuse from porter's two ex-wives going back months. and president trump only knew about it for the first time last week. but, again, multiple aides knew about these allegations going back months and one of the reasons -- this is really important to talk about why this may have become a bigger issue at the white house and gotten people's attention, is the issue of the security clearance. i know base

politico reports that an ex-girlfriend of porter contacted the white house of porter. she said she was concerned of the romantic relationship with porter and hope hicks. >> it was hicks who helped draft an initial statement from chief of staff kelly declaring support for porter. the latest now from jim acosta at the white house. >> reporter: christine and dave, white house is scrambling to deal with the scandal of rob porter. porter stepped down after his two ex-wives accused him of abuse. he said the allegations were false. i took the photos given to the media 15 years ago. now despite the allegations, the white house released glowing statements of porter from the chief of staff john kelly and others. an official told cnn the statements were written to the first story that broke in "the daily mail." other reports that included one of the ex-wives of porter featuring a black eye. white house press secretary sarah sanders said the president had confidence in porter. >> i can tell you that rob has been an effective person in his role as staff secretary. we have full conf

porter. we, quote, mr. porter told mr. mcgahn in january 2017 that there could be what he described as false allegations against him. in june, the fbi told mr. mcgahn that allegations of schwab had surfaced. in november the bureau informed mr. mcgahn that mr. porter was not likely to get a clearance. but mr. mcgahn requested that the fbi complete its investigation and come back to the white house with a final determination about the allegations. here to talk with us jeremy bash, also happens to be an msnbc national security analyst. in the annals of red flags in the pursuit of security clearance, how bad is this issue as a red flag? and talk a little bit -- we've tried to get into this -- about the clearance required normally in this job, about what the person with the title staff secretary sees and handles and hears. >> let's start there, brian. the staff secretary handles all of the most sensitive correspondence and memoranda that go to the president of the united states. including everything pertaining to national secur

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porter. a white house spokesperson said today we all could have done better. keeping them honest, keep that phrase in mind. we all could have done better. as you'll soon see, it conceals as much as it revealings. in a minute, i'll talk to jenny will bee. emotional abuse, frighting physical confrontation and even filed a temporary order of protection. porter's first wife also divorced him after years, she says of consistent abuse, including incidents of physical violence. holderness has even released pictures of a black eye she says she got when porter hit her. she also says he shoved and choked her. porter calls all the allegations against him, quote, outrageous and simply false. he says the reality behind the pictures is, quote, nowhere close to what is being described and says, quote, i've been transparent and truthful about these vile claims. holderness provided the photos and told her story as did jenny to a british newspaper, and both women previously told their stories to the fbi, which

president, any comment on the resignation of rob porter? >> reporter: the president today refusing to answer questions. >> mr. president, when did you learn about the allegations against rob porter? >> reporter: but from his aides, a rare admission of fault. >> i think a 0 lot of individuals were involved with the white house response to this, myself included. i think a lot of us could have done better. >> president not taking quells on this, as we saw there a moment ago. let's go live to cecilia say fwa. you reported senior white house officials did know about the allegations for months, but do we have any idea when president trump found out? >> reporter: no, david. we still do not know for sure. what the white house said today is that the president only learned about these questions over rob porter's security clearance as these domestic violence allegations surfaced this week in the press. the white house says that the president was saddened and surprised. as for these questions about john kelly, the white house still says the president h

and then yesterday, sarah huckabee sanders said that porter was gone within 24 hours and that porter was gone as soon as we found out about this. fbi director christopher wray just said, no, no, no, no, no. they passed all of that information along to the white house in november, including the updates earlier this month. meanwhile, "the washington post" says that kelly pushed porter to stay on the job after the story broke. and according to politico, sarah huckabee sanders arranged an off-the-record meeting in the west wing with porter and four reporters. are you confused? because we are. nbc's kristin welker is at the white house. phil rucker is the white house bureau chief for "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. guys, it's really difficult to keep this straight, because the white house's explanation about porter and what they did when and what they knew when has changed so many times in the last seven days. but what we do know is what christopher wray, kristin, just said in front of the senate, contradicts what the white house has said. the white house has said th

porter's first wife, colbie holderness, a photo of her black and blue eye, saying porter punched her in the face more than a decade ago. press secretary sarah sanders today reading a statement from porter. >> i will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign. >> reporter: porter writing, "these outrageous allegations are simply false. i took the photos and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described. i have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims." porter is romantically involved with white house communications director hope hicks. the pair spotted out on the town recently in this dailymail.com photo. and today the white house messaging, crystal clear. porter was a valued part of the team, and he was not forced out. >> i think that was a personal decision that rob made and one that he was not pressured to do >> reporter: porter's first wife tells the intercept, "he would lay on top of me, shaking me, or rubbing an elbow or knee into me. he graduated to choking me, not ever hard enough to make me pass out or frankly, to leave ma