Transcript for WH chief of staff denies he called Trump an 'idiot'

Now to more reports of turmoil in the white house. Chief of staff John Kelly is firing back over claims he called president trump a, quote, idiot on multiple occasions. Our white house correspondent Cecilia Vega has more on this. Good morning, Cecilia. Reporter: Robin, good morning to you. You know, we don't often hear publicly from John Kelly but these reports have him so angry he is pushing back calling them another pathetic attempt to smear people close to the president and distract from the administration's many successes. Amid reports that his own chief of staff had been bad-mouthing him president trump took to Twitter to blast the media writing, the fake news is going crazy making up false stories and using only unnamed sources who don't exist. They are totally unhinged. According to one report, that is the same word John Kelly used to describe his boss, CNN citing an anonymous source says Kelly called the president unhinged after he made an off-the-cuff report about wanting to pull troops out of Syria and that's not all. NBC also citing anonymous sources reported that Kelly repeatedly called the president an idiot one saying he doesn't even understand what DACA is. He's an idiot. We've got to save him from himself. Kelly so furious he instantly fired off a rare public rebuttal saying in a statement, I spend more time with the president than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship. He and I both know this story is total B.S. One aide who was also in that immigration meeting tells ABC news he never said that. Despite the president's recent praise -- And he's doing a great job in Washington. Reporter: -- They have had their differences. Sources tell ABC news the president was furious over the handles of domestic abuse allegations involving former staff secretary rob porter. At the time Kelly made it clear he would be willing to step down and former FBI director James Comey told George, Kelly also threatened to resign after he was fired. He said he had seen the news and that he intended to resign because he wouldn't work for people who would treat someone like me in such a dishonorable way. Reporter: Now sources tell me that the president has at times been trust waited with John Kelly on cracking down on who has access to the administration. You can be in the president's good graces one day and out the next. Kelly and president trump are in good standing for now anyway, we are told. Thank you.

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