‘He’s getting his troops in place’: MSNBC’s Mika thinks Kelly is preparing 25th Amendment challenge

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said the president's behavior is growing increasingly "erratic" -- and co-host Mika Brzezinski suggested his Cabinet may be preparing a constitutional challenge.

The "Morning Joe" host and his panelists reacted to the alarming Vanity Fair report that described the crisis within the White House, where aides say the president is "unraveling" in a job he's not suited to hold.

"He's isolated," Brzezinski said. "He's probably going crazy."

Scarborough and Brzezinski, who have known the president for years, said Trump spent most of his career greeting associates and well-wishers in his office, fielding phone calls and gossiping with reporters -- but all that has changed in the White House.

"When he wasn't isolated, he had people like Omarosa (Manigault) giving him things that got him spinned up and made him act erratically," Scarborough said. "What we have found through this analysis is, when the president is isolated from people, he's erratic. When the president is surrounded by people, he's erratic."

Chief of staff John Kelly hasn't been able to stop the chaos since taking the job, and even Trump's longtime friend Tom Barrack is expressing concern about the president's temperament and fitness.

"You have to step back as you read this piece," said co-host Willie Geist. "The president of the United States being contained, being bubble wrapped by people around him so he's not a harm to himself and others."

Brzezinski pointed to the appointment of Kirstjen Nielsen, Kelly’s longtime aide, to replace the now-chief of staff as Homeland Security secretary as evidence that the Cabinet may be readying a 25th Amendment challenge.

"That's Cabinet-level, right?" Brzezinski said. "I don't think Kelly's leaving -- I think he's getting his troops in place to act."

Geist said the Trump presidency is not even 10 months old, but he said these recent reports echoed previous ones showing an angry and erratic president mistrustful of his closest advisers.

"This is not normal, this is crazy that we're talking about putting the right people in place to contain the man sitting in the Oval Office right now," Geist said. "I would just add, the 25th Amendment -- still a lot of people tweet about it, shout about the 25th Amendment -- remains a long shot. It's the clause that would have to be invoked by the vice president and the Cabinet. That's a long way to go to ask the vice president and the president's own Cabinet to remove the president of the United States."

Scarborough agreed, saying the president's threats against NBC News showed he didn't understand his oath to preserve and defend the Constitution.

"He is not well, in the traditional sense of what you want your presidents to be," Scarborough said. "More and more people in Washington, D.C., are coming to that realization."