{"id":2255,"date":"2018-02-11T13:39:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T18:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=2255"},"modified":"2018-02-11T13:39:22","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T18:39:22","slug":"mtp-exclusive-marc-short-there-was-some-lack-of-communication-in-the-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2018\/02\/11\/mtp-exclusive-marc-short-there-was-some-lack-of-communication-in-the-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP EXCLUSIVE: MARC SHORT: THERE WAS ‘SOME LACK OF COMMUNICATION’ IN THE WHITE HOUSE"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: Short: \u201cI don’t know who knew what when at this point\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Short: Kelly \u201chas not offered his resignation\u201d and Trump \u201chas absolute confidence\u201d in Kelly<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Flake: it is an \u201cunderstatement\u201d that the White House mishandled Rob Porter situation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Watts: \u201c\u2018Release the memo\u2019 is a homerun for the Russians\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

FEBRUARY 11, 2018 \u2013 In an exclusive interview this morning on \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short <\/strong>told moderator Chuck Todd: \u201cI think there was probably some — in the process some lack of communication between different elements in the White House,\u201d and added, \u201cI don’t know who knew what when at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

About White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Short told Todd: \u201cJohn Kelly has not offered his resignation. John Kelly is doing an outstanding job.\u201d Short reiterated that President Trump has \u201cabsolute confidence in General Kelly,\u201d and said that \u201cJohn Kelly knows that he serves at the pleasure of the president and he will step aside anytime the president doesn\u2019t want him to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if the President believes that former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter is innocent, Short told Todd: \u201cI think the President is shaped by a lot of false accusations against him in the past Chuck. But in talking with President, I think he\u2019s saddened about what happened with Rob, I think he\u2019s very disturbed by it and he\u2019s um very disappointed in it. I think that he believes that the resignation was appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Democratic memo, Short said that the White House \u201cwill be releasing\u201d it after revisions. Short added: \u201cWhat the President said is that we believe that Congressman Schiff intentionally put in there methods and sources that he knew would need to be redacted. And if we redacted it, then there would be an outcry that said the White House is trying to edit it. So we said take it back, work with the FBI, clean it up, and we’ll release it.\u201d Watch the full interview with White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)<\/strong> also exclusively joined the program and reacted to President Trump suggesting that Democrats were \u201ctreasonous\u201d for not standing and applauding during his State of the Union address, telling Todd: \u201cI don’t think that it’s a joking matter to say that somebody is treasonous and he [Trump] ought to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he had confidence in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Flake said: \u201cI think the way the White House said, that they could’ve handled the situation better, that’s a bit of an understatement. Yes, they could’ve done a lot better. Particularly with the Rob Porter situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the upcoming immigration debate, Flake said he thinks \u201cwe can get something done this week\u201d and added \u201cwe’re going to have something in the Senate that we haven’t had in a while. It’s a real debate on an issue where we really don’t know what the outcome is going to be.” Watch the full interview with Sen. Jeff Flake.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

NBC News National Security Analyst Clint Watts<\/strong> also joined the program this morning telling Todd: \u201c\u2018Release the memo\u2019 is a homerun for the Russians. They don’t need to make a false narrative. Americans are making false narratives against each other. And they just repeat them.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if anything has been done to protect future elections, Watts responded \u201cno\u201d and added \u201cthey’ve worked on the critical infrastructure designation. But the number-one thing we’ve got to do is ensure the integrity of the vote.\u201d Watch the interview with Clint Watts<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Eddie Glaude Jr<\/strong>. of Princeton University, The Wall Street Journal\u2019s Peggy Noonan<\/strong>, NBC News\u2019 Kristen Welker<\/strong> and The Resurgent\u2019s Erick Erickson<\/strong> joined this morning\u2019s roundtable<\/a> for insight and analysis. Noonan noted: \u201cThis administration started out in chaos and disorder. It evolved to chaos and disorder. It is in now chaos and disorder. The president brings chaos and disorder. I think he thinks he flourishes well in it. I think no one else really does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full transcript of this morning\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on MeetThePress.com.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more from moderator Chuck Todd throughout the week, sign up for the \u201cFirst Read\u201d newsletter<\/a>, and subscribe to \u201c1947: The Meet The Press Podcast\u201d<\/a> for on-demand interviews.<\/p>\n

MANDATORY CREDIT: NBC NEWS\u2019 \u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n