legislatures, they need some action and need it quickly. you can see the democrat leadership debate right here on cnn, 10:00 p.m. eastern later tonight. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett out front starts right now. >> up next lawmakers booed, heckled, chased out by fed up voters. we're live at one town hall where protesters have been lining up for hours tonight plus the trump administration weeding out critics. par for the course or a president too thin skinned? and more parents choogz not to vac sa nate their children. why? let's go out front. >> good evening i'm erin burnett out front the breaking news town hall outrage. angry voters scaring off in town

halls across this country. these explosive meetings have put republicans on the defensive some lawmakers concerned about their safety. they've been warned about this. moments ago angry voters in arkansas heck willing senator tom cotton. >> now, mr. senator cotton, listen to this. we just did a photo shoot here in springdale. we're going medicare my way, not your way. >> this is a familiar scene now across the country, at least a dozen town hall showdowns and each of them a familiar swipt script, voters asking questions like the ones you just heard, many very angry, booing, shouting down and battling lawmakers. and if you are looking right now you're seeing live pictures from branchburg new jersey they have

been gathering for hours they are going to confront congressman leonard langs moments from now. he was first elected in 2008. democrats want to flip his seat and we're going to take there in a few minutes you can see that one going very inthens evening. the white house has taken notice of all of this too and we want to begin there first. jeff is there. these town halls and protests, president trump is now paying extremely close attention. >> they are of course monitoring all of these as they are happening just as we are and it's one thing we know that this president likes to watcha what is happening in the country, he likes public approval polls. and the white house is dismissing some of this as simply democrats who are unhappy at the outcome of the election returns. but there are also republicans wondering if they're members of congress are also going to be doing some of the things he promised. white house press secretary sean spicer had this to say earlier today. >> it is a loud group -- small group of people disrupting something in many cases for

media attention. no offense. it's just i think that's -- that necessarily just because they're loud doesn't necessarily mean that there are many. and i think in a lot of cases that's what you're seeing. >> now, that's easy for the white house to say because of course this president is not standing for re-election for four more years, not true of several members of congress of course. so they are watching this very -- very carefully. and really what they're looking at, most of the outrage is about immigration, about healthcare, it's about things that this president is just getting started on hire. so the white house believes this is probably the beginning of this, not the end of this. that's why he is expected to do morallies like we saw last weekend to show that he has supporters on had side as well in this will very, very divided country. >> thank you very much. you can see how many there in branchburg as our cameras are going up and down the line, tes that's about an hour from new york city and that's a town hall about to begin with congressman

lance. key yong is out front. obviously passion there are a lot of signs there and there are a lot of people. >> reporter: and this town hall has actually just begun. he the congressman has just been welcomed in his town hall. he is just going to the mike. he has not been booed yet. this entire area, i want to give you i sense of what it looks like. this entire area is full here. there's a balcony that's full. there's an overflow room where this is being live streamed. there's intense interest outside. you can see that people there are still protesting. those are people who cannot get tickets to get inside. these are constituents who say they want to go face-to-face with their congressman. >> the growing grass-roots tie to growing outrage against

congress visceral in town halls across the country. >> everybody stand and place your hand on your heart. >> do your job. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag, of the united states of america and republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> white house press secretary sean spicer plang what the administration believes is behind this. >> some people are clearly upset were but there's a bit of professional protester base in there. >> are you a political operative? >> absolutely not. i'm a nurse, i'm a mom. i've never contacted my congress person for this. >> we met courtney in utah, professional nurse but not a professional protester. after the election she founded a local group called utah

indivisible. that did this at utah congressman jason chafe fets' town hall. it was so packed they told us people couldn't get inside and about those crowds the white house calling them loud and small. but from utah to louisiana, we saw large passionate crowds with pointed questions. >> with or without this in place. >> and so. >> will you vote to repeal obamacare with or without this in place. >> if i can finish. >> answer the question. answer the question. >> yes or no? yes or no. >> now -- >> it's your. >> now -- >> everybody here, 2020 you're going. >> these constituents maintain they do represent their district and va wearing stickers showing off their zip codes. grandmother and tucker formed indivisible 7 by 7. i.

>> i think it's a interstate attempt to delegitimize what they must definitely perceive to be a powerful grass-roots movement. >> how did it begin? the local rules are following this the indivisible guide written by these aids used by tea party tactics used against their democrat bosses. >> are you making any money on this? >> no, this is not a money making venture. >> he's the only full-time employee he just left his real job and he's yet to be paid. they wrote the guide shortly after the election, post today online and it became a viral sensation. they say viewed 15 million times. he says republicans called their constituents professional protesters at their own peril. >> it's sad this they kwo make that claim without any evidence at all. bottom line, these are their constituents, the members of congress. these are folks who feel really strongly about the direction of the country. >> and a lot of people are talking about the spicer

comment. they're actually having the zip codes here also stickers that they're wearing and with the words not paid that are written also on their stickers. so far, just a few minutes and it has been pretty respectful so far here. >> all right. thank you very much. we'll go back as it develops. out front now, though, you just saw them two of the founders of the indivisible movement, angel padyya who helped write that guide and greenburg and i appreciate both of you being here tonight. the white house secretary sean spicer just today said these protests are being organized for media attention. media attention in and of itself is a good thing. what's your response to him? >> all that we're telling people to do, and this is civics 101, is contact your representative, tell them your concerns and try to get them on the record and talk about where they're standing and do it in public

because that's what a member of congress should be doing. >> angel, some republicans say that these protests are not about changing policy. obviously we've heard some of the questions, they've been about obamacare, policy, but some of them say that's not what this is about. here are what two of them said in their own words. >> of the vast majority of the people attempting to attend this meeting were peaceful, decent law abiding folks who insearly owe posed donald trump. but there was a well organize the element that came to disrupt, and disrupt they did. >> they're welcome to come, yell, and scream. i thought it was a bit over the top, it was intended to bully and intimidate. >> angel, are they right that some people there are to disrupt, bully and i tim date? >> no. i mean, by and law the folks that are at these meetings just was answers from these representatives. unfortunately a lot of these representatives have been less than forthcoming about what they plan and a lot of times they don't have a plan and they're

hoping that people won't pay attention. so these are their constituents. all they want is time with their congress. >> so they're not there yelling and shouting anyone down, that's not true. >> what we've always been advocating for is we want these to be respectful and polite they're there for a single reason and that's to communicate their concerns to the member of congress. and we always recommend that you stay polite and respectful. again, this is a progressive movement, this is what we're about. we're about inclusiveness, being respectful. but we also want to protect those that are under threat under this new administration and under this congress that seems to be ready to rubber stamp trump's agenda. >> so i want to ask you about that actually and your guide, but firstly i want to ask you about something very important. this is the issue of whether people are paid. the white house, as you know, has been adamant that they believe some of the protesters are being paid specifically to go to these town halls and cause chaos. here's what they said.

>> i think we need to call it what it is. it's not these organic uprisings that we've seen. the tea party was a very organic movement. this has become a very paid astroturf type movement. >> so you heard sean spicer paid, astroturf type movement. you can say that no one not you, not any outside organization has paid anyone to protest at the town halls. >> i cannot say that nobody in a country that hundreds of mlsz of people has paid anyone at any point in the past, but what i can say that is this administration's presented zero proof of those allegations and we've seen this playbook before. when the tea party first started popping up in 2009, democrats said, oh, they're astro turf. they said these are being had thers being funned by the koch brothers, we don't have to listen to them and take their concerns skeerls because they're not representative. and that does not work out well for them. so if i were a republican member of congress and i was seeing

massive concern for my own constituents, i would recommend that they take that seriously. >> that's an interesting point. it's an almost -- i'm paraphrasing but it's almost who cares. you've got listen to what people are saying because it will matter. the practical guide for resisting the trump agenda, i wanted to ask you about another group that's founded by bernie sanders campaign and on their website it says this, democrats must know there say price for collaborating with trump. any democrats that give support to trump do not represent us and must be replaced. it's what people hated about the tea party, my way or the highway. there's absolutely nothing you can do to work with donald trump or we hate you. do you agree with that attitude? >> i think what's very different about this movement and you know some of the tea party movement that started back when we were on the hill was that they were so focused on being anti obama that that's all they cared about. we have a different perspective. we're about protecting those communities that are at risk.

so we do think that we should stop the trump agenda. we do think the democrats should stick up for progressive values. we do think that they should oppose all of these propose alds that are coming out but we're doing so because we think we need to protect those vulnerable communities and we're talking about immigrants, refugees, all these people that are under attack right now. >> is it just saying no to absolutely everything? is that in your view, the right thing for the country? because it didn't work so well for the past eight years, right, just saying no by republicans and democrats. do we really want to see the same thing again? >> saying no did do one thing and that sloid down the obama momentum. it slowed down the obama agenda. and so if what that means is slowing down trump and republicans and that means protecting, again, immigrants and refugees and all the people that are under attack, then i'm o okay with that. it's about protecting people and that's what i think a lot of these people in these town halls

are focused on. they want to keep their health insurance. they don't want 32 million people to lose their insurance. they don't want these unskons institutional muslim and refugee bans. that's what we're talking about. >> thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> and next the breaking news secretary of state rex tirl son and jon kelley seconds ago arriving in mexico city. plus, is the white house weeding out trump critics from federal agencies? and by the way, are they completely justified in doing so? and meatloaf on trump's menus at the white house. trump tour and mar-a-lago. the president's obsession with meat loaf. >> so he knows now how to do it, codo it alone. to those who know

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breaking news. moments ago secretary of state rex tillerson and homeland security secretary jon kelley meeting in mexico. they're going to be discussing immigration and border security, the wall. also the house speaker paul ryan meeting with border patrol agents and mayors in a texas border town. all of this as many immigrants are afraid as to what is going to happen, whether they will be deported under president trump. >> jonathan ramirez is an undocumented immigrant. at 7 years old he swam across the rio grand with his parents to come to the united states. now 22 he works at a produce store and lives in lent wiatlan with his wife and daughter. but ever since donald trump became president he's living in fear worried his family won't be together for much longer. >> it feels kind of uncertain because of the situation. i don't know if i may come home tonight or i might not come home

tomorrow. >> fora -- raids and hundreds of arrests by immigration agents. they say these so-called collateral arrests are a new development under president trump. >> you already know people that have been deported. >> right. that's how real the situation is. and i just -- i come to think, you know, right now is them but tomorrow is might be me. my daily fear is that when obama was in place, you know, i didn't voo to worry about as you mitch as going to work, you know. i didn't have to worry about walking the streets. i didn't have to worry about driving and getting a simple ticket. now with trump being in place, i have to worry because i got pulled over twice for driving with no license. and they told me at the courts if we pull you over again we're going to transfer you over to immigration. so, i mean, it can't get no more real than that. >> i think the reality is that we may be looking into an era of expanded enforcement.

>> the organization says there's an estimated 393,000 undocumented immigrants in georgia, the majority of them are latino. shafer says while president obama deported more people than any other president, more than 2.5 million it's the rhetoric of the current president that has people worried. >> they want to know how to govern themselves, how to think about reality, how to think about their families, and so a lot of them have questions about how do i prepare if something comes along? how do i get my family ready for that kind of event? >> they're packed parking lot tells the story of just how many people are worried about being deported. people like jonathan ramirez. >> jonathan is a dreamer that means at any day he could be deported he took a risk at being on camera with cnn.

but he says it's important to standing up to donald trump. he says it's that he's uniting undocumented immigrants across the country to stand up for a bigger cause. >> out front now the democrat former mayor of los angeles, and republican former congressman, former presidential candidate, thanks to both of you. mayor, let me start with you you heard ramirez eligible to be a dreamer not registered yet, going through that process which means is he not protected by the fact that trump isn't deporting dreamers right now. should he be afraid? >> absolutely given what we've seen over the last few weeks, what we've heard over the last year and a half, almost two from the rhetoric of the president during the campaign. i think we have to ask our -- ourselves a question. why are we doing this? the fact is and according to the national academy of sciences, immigrants commit crimes to a

lesser degree than the native born, five times less by the way, including mexico an immigrants i may add. we though they contribute to the economy. i was mayor of los angeles, this was not my number one issue. public safety, education, transportation. but it's the epicenter of the important born and undocumented. they're starting businesses in los angeles, in colorado, in georgia, all across the nation. this is creating a terror in these communities. people who have been -- women who have been assaulted as we saw recently a woman who was deported after she went to testify about an assault occurring in her home against her, she was deported. so women across the country now if they're undocumented know they can't come foord to report those kinds of crimes. >> so when you hear this and you think about the story that we just saw and i know, you know, it may seem hard to put this question to you like this but i think it's fair because it does

come down to individuals, you look at mr. ramirez's story twhaent on television with his face so that could open up to deportation tomorrow, i mean, should he be deported? >> well, i'll tell you i don't know his particular circumstance, but from everything you've said he's probably not in danger of that because he is in that dreamer category. >> but he's not a dreamer. but that's the thing aries not actually a dreamer. so he could be, right? >> in fact, yes, he could be. now, look. if you -- i don't care what crime it is that you commit, there are penalties associated, whether it is a small misdemeanor or if ita i very serious one. there are, in fact, ramifications. >> so driving without a license in thinks case twice, does that count that he should be deported. >> kwle, coming into this country illegally starts the process, i mean starts that problem. he has to live with this for. >> but he was 7.

>> forever until he gets it straightened out. >> okay. so, you know, now he's got how many -- he's been there 26 years old. >> 22. >> so he's -- 22. so he's had however many years to try to get this straightened out. apparently hasn't done it and so, yeah, there are ramifications to this. you're asking me to think about some situation in which you can do these things, you can come into the country illegally but never worry about it. well, that's not going to happen. at least not until you do something crazy like a massive a.m. necessity, which i think say horrible idea. but the way we have totally different figures -- i have totally different figures for the number of crimes committed by illegal aliens in this country right here in colorado i'll tell you it's much higher for that particular community than the nonimmigrant community.

>> when you're an ice agent and going in and doing a raid, it does come cown to these stories. we've been covering the story of a woman in colorado hiding out in a church she has three kids in the u.s. she doesn't want to be separated from them. but we've also covered a woman and a baby being separated from her husband. she missed the first few years of his child's life because they played by the rules. that meant being separated. is this fair? >> well, look, we need to fix -- >> i'm sorry. okay. >> -- immigration system for sure. i think both democrats and republicans agree that we need to fix this broken immigration system. deporting 11 million people is not the answer. no country's ever done that. the notion of mass deportations of building walls, it just doesn't work. it doesn't work for them, it doesn't work for any of us. the cost to our economy, the cost of increasing the ice by

another 10,000 officers, it's already the largest law enforcement agency in the united states. we spend more on border enforcement than we do for the dea, the atf, and the fbi combined. we've got to be smart with respect to this issue. nobody is saying that they haven't broken the law, they have broken the law. let's fix this broken immigration system, secure our borders, give them a pathway to citizenship, put them at the end of the line and go on from there. >> so mayor you had the first one i'll give you the last word congressman. could you respond to the mayor's point about the largest law enforcement in the nation. is this really the way we want to spend extra money on deporting people like mr. ramirez. >> the immigrant community in this country, primarily because they are, you know, low wage workers, the fact is that massive immigration of low-scale, low-wage workers into

this country does not benefit us economically. it costs us. the amount it costs all of the taxpayers in this country for healthcare, for immigrants both legal and illegal for the most part, for incarceration. >> okay. >> for education, it's far more expensive, wait a minute, mayor, i didn't interrupt you. it is far more spebs expense sich for the taxpayers of this country to sustain that illegal immigration than it is to try to stop it. and what is it that is so hard to understand about a country trying to actually establish it's rule of law? and if a president comes out and says we are going to enforce the law, why is everybody so amazed at that? the fact is it should have been enforced a long time before now and in terms of wanting to fix this system, oh, buddy, i am absolutely with you 100%. >> all right. >> it is certainly broken and i'm all for fixing it, it's just you and i have a different approach. >> i'll merely say between law and humanity there is a line.

>> 20, 40, 60, 80 years ago. >> thank you both. >> and that's a fact according to national academy of sciences. >> thank you very much. >> and next breaking news the trump administration announcing it is undoing a major reversal from president obama's policy and wait until you hear the split on the trump administration on this. it's stunning. and do you have to agree with trump in order to work for him? >> they're called political appoint tease for a reason. the idea is that people who come into this government should want to support and enact the president's agenda. >> and we continue to watch the protesters across the country right now. multiple town halls with republican lawmakers. we'll be right back. ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts.

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breaking news. a major announcement from the trump administration moments ago, now rolling back federal protections for transgender students in public schools, a significant reversal of president obama's policy. jeff ezekiel elliottany is outside in front of the white house. a very big move from a president who obviously had spoken very differently during the campaign. >> erin, it is a move tonight

from the department of justice and the department of education which both agencies just released separate letters within the last few moments or so. and what this is doing, is essentially issuing a directive to schools to disregard the order that president obama issued a year ago last year about student restrooms and transgendered students. this is something that has been hanging over the government here and the trump administration with the supreme court case pending in a virginia case decided to issue this directive saying that they will not stand by the order that the president signed last year, president obama signed last year. so it is certainly something that is controversial in this context, but we are still waiting for a statement from the white house tonight. but we just got one from justice and the department of education which of course have the purview over this and they are rolling back that guidance that was issued last year in the obama administration. >> so the thing that's interesting here on a secondary level, and could be very, very

important, secretary of education bets did i devos is a hugely controversial figure, but on this she was not fully supportive of what her boss wanted to do. >> she wasn't erin. we are finding out some fascinating details there was a meeting in the oval office yesterday and she was at odds with the attorney general jeff sessions and she was saying that there needs to be protections for students. she said that's what she is sworn do here and she is very concertive, yes, but if her home state she has also been supportive of guy rights and she made a strong argument for student protection. so there is actually a piece of information in the letter tonight that says students still should be pro protected. and this is giving the directive back to the states, back to local schools, what they should do to protect students. but i am told she was arguing strongly for there to be student protections here. but a fascinating disagreement

here in the early days with jeff sessions and betsy devos. >> thank you very much. and it certainly is because she's imbattled on social media an incredibly controversial figure. interesting that she went against the president on this by the way in a direction a lot of those who support her would support. paul call lin our legal analyst. paul, let me start with you. by sending this back to the states, that means that in certain states those protection dollars will be gone, right. >> it is the bottom line because this is a very important letter, the letter that was sent by the obama administration saying that certain protections had to be extended to transgender children in the letter says forget about that, rescind it, we're not taking that position. now, the federal courts can still get involved in this and i think they will down the line, but at least from the standpoint of the department of education and justice, they're saying we're leaving this to the states. >> all right. john, but there is on this issue bettsy devos.

this is hunlly significant. she went against the attorney general, they went against the president and she lost. >> she did. >> she said she would listen to his cabinet secretaries but not now. >> and donald trump has made a big show saying he's a different kind of republican whether it comes to lgbt rights. devos came on early to back this, she apparently refused to do so, kicked it up to the president, very contentious oval office meet wrg she tried to stand her ground on the issue of guy rights, she apparently lost that power struggle to attorney general from alabama who successfully argued for states rights when it comes to these civil rights. >> and here's the thing, this actually goes against what the president said during the campaign. i mean, let's just be clear. there was the whole discussion about the north carolina bathroom bill, donald trump talked about transgender bathrooms and here's what he said. >> there have been very few complaints the way it is. people go, they use the bathroom

that they feel is appropriate. there has been so little trouble, i would say that's probably the best. i don't know. i really don't know. i probably do. i. >> so if caitlin jenner were to walk into trump tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses? >> that is correct. >> that was the president then. this is the president tonight. >> yeah, and this is him really trying to play to that social conservative part of his party, the ted cruz wing of the party. because even if that primary ted cruz on a very different side of this issue along with a lot of e van gel lickals as well. fascinating that it's coming down this with devos and people around here clearly wanting to get this story out here leaking her position on this. if you look at what the attorney general said, he also mentioned congress. he mentioned sort of state and local officials but also

congress. the idea being that congress might have a role to play in this in terms of reinterpreting oar rewriting that section of title 9 and talking about transgender issues and somehow including that in this. so we'll see what happens. i mean, inevitably it seems like this will be something that will be resolved by the courts. at least if you talk to progress sives it's a civil rights issue and obviously. >> that's how they see it, yes. >> they see it as a civil rights issue and obviously betsy de e devos seems 0 see it tomb. but social conservatives are saying this is about states rights. but this is going to be i think like we saw with guy rights as well and guy same sex marriage how that bubbled up and went to the supreme court and had to be decided there. >> this is amazing, though, that the president is going against what he himself said, right. >> yes. >> we all know that he believes he will be a hero if he keeps the promises he made. this wasn't one of them. >> this was core, it is

something that he had said and he was apparently overruled by the social conservative wing of his own administration. >> he's caving. let's just be clear donald trump is caving to part of his party. this isn't him tryium fant here if you listen to his own words. >> giving the supreme court confirmation hearings we're going to hear, there's an upcoming supreme court case that's going to deal with this issue about a young child, and this will cast a shadow over these confirmation hearings and the focus is going to be where does judge gorsuch stand on these type of issues. >> is this a new litmus test then? it's is not going to be rowe v. wade. >> this is going to be the new test of the supreme court. but i think we have to make it also clear that the trump administration's going to say we're not taking a position on how ultimately this should be handled, whether a transgender boy or girl should be able to choose which restroom to use, we're leaving that to the states, to the municipalities to make the decision, so they're

not making a decision one way or the other they're saying we think it should be decided on a local level. >> a lot of these states don't believe children know if they're transgender and that's where you get back to the fundamental issue, they know plenty of states will not give these rights. >> there will be a split. some states will handle it one way and some will handle it another way. and i have to add back in desegregation days in the aftermath of the board of education case that thing took about ten or 12 years before it applied to all the states. it's very hard to get social changes of this magnitude. >> thank you you all. next, thousands of political appointee jobs still unfilled. is trump vetoing anyone who disagrees with him and should he. and meatloaf it's what's for diner apparently it's at the white house, mar-a-lago, trump tower, he loves it. coming up. ze ] doctors recommend taking non-drowsy claritin every day of your allergy season for continuous relief.

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tonight the white house denying there's a problem with staffing amid reports of officials being fired or reassigned after criticizing the president. press secretary sean spicer today saying that cabinet secretaries can hire who they want, but. >> at the end of the day, no

matter what position you have, whether it's you have the lowest or the highest in the white house, in a department or agency, we should be making sure that people who are coming in as appoi appointees of the president support the president's agenda. >> we're out front. >> the ceo and chief out to a running start when it comes to getting rid of those who don't agree with his views. >> i wrote an article in october that criticized the candidate who's now president and so i was let go. >> michael singleton on the job less than a month when this opinion story he authored critical of then candidate trump resurfaced. he says his immediate boss, the chief of staff at housing and urban development read him a statement specifically referring to the article when he was fired. >> i was angry but you know you learn quickly in politics. >> then there was elliot abrams

who served in the reagan and george w. bush administrations. when this critical piece he wrote last may was brought to trump's attention. he says white house staff new about the piece but they believe it was steve bannon who skut will his job offer. >> the only person on the white house staff that i know was opposed to me being hired was steve bannon, so that's my guess. >> finally there's craig deare after reportedly knocking the latin white house policy. emfap sis on political. >> obviously we are going ensure that people who are political appointees share the vision and agenda that the president campaigned on and is implementing. >> you're fired. >> apprentice showman trump. >> you're fired. >> campaign mode trump. >> you're fired. >> president-elect and now president trump true to his nature hiring and firinga the

will. but does he have the luxury of hiring only those who agree with him. >> if you're not going to hire who might disagree with you on any of the issues that are important, you wind up narrowing the field to much. >> this administration is running like a fine-tuned machine. >> he has filled there are 4,100 political appointee jobs to fill. the vast majority still don't have candidates named or under consideration. >> it's worth only a couple of things here, other administrations have gotten rid of employees that doesn't agree with the president's policy and trump has hired those who have aired differences of opinions with him, namely the secretaries tillerson and mad madison, state and defense both raised differences of opinion with him during their confirmation

hearings, but it is clear that president trump will demand loyalty at every level of his administration. >> thank you very much. and out front now the senior congressional correspondent, david, let me put this to you a lot all the gop hated trump during the campaign. at one point maybe there was one branded person, i don't think so. here's part of a letter signed by 50 republican national security officials. here's what it said about trump and i quote he lacks the character, values and experience to be president. it goes on to say he would put at risk our country's national security and well-being. would anyone hire someone who said those things about them? >> probably not. and i think president trump that's the right and duty to hire people that are committed to his agenda and he can trust to be loyal to him. i think the question is when you're getting into subcabinet positions, you need competent people. and in politics you always come, egs specially when there's a contentious primary come out

where there's people who had disagreed with you, spoken out against you so if you're going to exclude everybody who had ever been critical of you it's going to be hard to fill these positions. >> that's the issue. loyalty is good, yes man is bad. and somewhere in between the 2 is the balance. you know, spicer said that anyone in the trump administration should be committed to a trump agenda, but when i spoke to elliot a bramz and you saw a clip there he thought steve bannon hadtor pedowed his becoming number two. he went on to say you have literally hundreds of qualified, experienced republicans ready, willing and able to serve and he's saying stay out. doesn't he have a point about that? >> well, he definitely has a point. look, it's interesting because on the one hand donald trump hired governor rick perry to be he once said that he was a kanszer on conservatism. and he's brought in other people that were very critical of him during the campaign.

but there are some people which he just simply wouldn't go there. >> i think the way he should look at this is that if somebody who was critical of him in the past is willing to join his administration, is willing to be committed to his agenda, then he should take a look at them. wouldn't you want lower down as somebody who could say, mr. president, i disagree with you, this is my best advice. then when president says thanks but no thanks, you go along with it. president trump would benefit from hiring that type of person. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. next, jeannie moos on donald trump force-feeding -- well, not just chris christie. >> he says there's a menu. you guys order whatever you want. then he says chris, you and i are going to have the meat loaf. ...so you can take and share pictures any time of day. with a network that helps you save the day...

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a lady only dines in private. try the name your price tool from progressive. it gives you options based on your budget. uh-oh. discussing finances is a big no-no. what, i'm helping her save money! shh! men are talking. that's it, i'm out. taking the meatballs.

tonight meat loaf is what's for dinner in trump's white house. here's jeannie moos. >> for matter how you mash it, no matter how you shape it, seems president trump has yet to meet a meat loaf he doesn't love. his meat loaf arm-twisting has recurred. >> his favorite dish was meat loaf. >> this time the president invited his friend, real estate

investor tom barrick to dine at the white house. >> the lunch was terrific. >> he made you eat the meat loaf? >> the meat loaf is unbelievable. >> previously the designated meat loaf eater was new jersey governor chris christie. >> he says there's the menu. you guys order whatever you want. he says, chris, and you i are going to have the meat loaf. >> it's immask lating. >> no, it's not where. >> the meat loaf was a second course for christie after he made him swallow his pride. >> neither is chris. you're not eating oreos anymore. >> oreos, no. meat loaf, yes. >> i touch a meat loaf like i judge most men. if they look good, smell good, and they're easy, i'm good. >> meat loaf may not be for foodies, but it is the meat of the people. and the president loves populist foot. kfc chicken, mcdonald's, taco

bowls where. >> everyone says i should run for president. let me ask you a question. meat loaf, should i run for president? >> mar-a-lago has the best meat loaf in america. based on his mother's recipe. he and melania even made meat loaf sandwiches with martha stewart. famous germo phobe that he is, he let martha touch his meat loaf. >> my hands are clean. >> what am i going to catch sf. >> nothing. >> we can just imagine president trump pulling a will ferrell. >> you hungry? can we get? meat loaf? jeanniemoos, cnn, new york. >> it was a sister, actually. the federal judge, she made meat loaf for him once on his birthday. it's abbn addiction. ♪ is

. >> thanks so much for joining us. ac 360 with anderson starts right now. before. thanks for joining us. we begin with breaking news. the trump administration withdrawing a pledge of support that president obama made to transgender students withdrawing guidance that the obama administration had sent to public schoolings on the use of bathrooms by transgender students. cnn jeff zellany joins us with the latest. first of all, explain what this is and what this isn't. it's not an executive order. it's essential withdrawing guidance in a letter put out from the obama administration. >> exactly. it essentially is just sort of directing schools across the country to rescind and take back what president obama said last year to provide special protections for transgender students in rest rooms and other