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tv   Erin Burnett Out Front  CNN  August 7, 2017 4:00pm-5:00pm PDT

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friction going on right now. so it's -- you know, there is a message there, absolutely. >> guys, thanks very much. later tonight on this day 200 of the presidency, cnn's special report will air "why trump won," cnn's fareed zakaria. join him for an investigation on the president's victory. 9:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, addicted to twitter, the president just can't stop attacking the media and a sitting u.s. senator. twitter helped get him in the office. will it also do him in? plus, president trump frustrated with what is going on in afghanistan and calling on eric prince of blackwater for advice. and an uproar over a google engineer saying that women are not suitable to be engineers. good evening. addicted. the president cannot control
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himself, spending his day on a twitter tirade. it started at 6:38 a.m. he spent the next 38 minutes lashing out. the president called the mainstream media fake, failing, phony and inept. all of his words. and then he attacked richard blumenthal of connecticut. he tweeted about his past, misrepresentations about serving in vietnam. words the president used to talk about blumenthal on twitter, lied, defrauded, con artist, child and baby. and the tweets kept coming. this afternoon, trump tweeted about north korea. i'll read this one in full. "the fake news media will not talk about the importance of the united nation's security council 15-0 vote in favor of sanctions on north korea." . now, ironically, he tweeted this just as cnn was talking about this very topic at the time of the tweet. >> it means north korea would
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attack an attack. the president says he would not allow to happen. >> talking about north korea, right? well, anyway, this network has covered the u.n. for days and those facts don't seem to matter to this president because he moved on deciding to go after blum m blumenthal. a short time later, blumenthal, who was already booked to come on cnn, booked his appearance. >> i will not be distracted by this. >> well, today's tweet storm, it's fair to say, disappointment for many who hopes the chief of staff, general kelly, would police trump's tweets. kelly would look to moderate trump's tweets but didn't say it's not really among his highest priorities. and maybe there's a reason for
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general kelly's seeming hesitancy to stop the president's tweeting. look at other trump backers who suggested publicly that the president tone down the tweets. >> we're going to defend him very, very aggressively when there's nonsensical stuff being said about him and he'll probably dial back some of those tweets. it's just the way it works. >> i'll try to encourage him not to tweet. >> chris christie, one of trump's earlier supporters, never even got a full-time job with the administration. maybe it's the fact that they took on the twitter. in all seriously, trump has called twitter his honest and unfiltered message. but now even trump loyal voters are saying enough. >> he overreacts and doesn't have all of the facts before he tweets. >> i don't like those tweets. i really don't. >> even if he felt that way, i don't think he should have tweeted it. >> sara murray begins our
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coverage "outfront" tonight near trump's new jersey vacation. there was speculation that john kelly would be able to rein in trump's twitter problem. certainly so far that does not seem to be the case. >> reporter: well, erin, absolutely. some people had hoped that john kelly would be able to rein this in and he was here in bedminister this morning as trump began his first twitter tantrum of the day but sources have taken sort of a more realistic view of this saying that kelly's goal was to maybe moderate some of trump's tweets around the edges but not to make his highest initiative policing the president's social media theme. instead, what we've seen is kelly has been more concerned about trying to unify trump's team, trying to oust a couple of people that he views as problematic. we certainly saw that with anthony scaramucci but also saw him go out of the way and make this effort to speak to the entire staff at the executive office building. that was the kind of thing that was a very positive message to
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some people who felt like they hadn't heard from staffers. that was an indication to them at least that kelly wanted to get a pulse of what the organization was before he made wholesale changes. as for whether he'll ever be able to stop president trump from tweeting, it's highly unlikely. you quoted the president's own words. he does believe this is his way to speak directly to the people. >> thank you very much, sara murray. "outfront" now, mark preston, april ryan and senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. thanks to all. april, 13 tweets. perhaps he perceives that to be his lucky number from this president in one day. almost all of them were attacks, and i used some of the words. a person familiar with john kelly's thinking tells cnn that he's not going to try to -- it's not a high priority to change the president's relationship with twitter. should it be?
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>> you know r, the question is,s the president able to listen to someone when it comes to his impulses and going on twitter. he's on vacation and 13 tweets today. he's president of the united states. the former white house press secretary and the question is, is the president going to allow someone, will he allow someone to curb his twitter habit and words matter even if it's in 140 characters. >> they do matter and they matter when they overshadow other words that he may wish or many in his administration may wish are getting more focus. sara murray is saying there's a new norm in the west wing. people work on an agenda. they are trying to do these infrastructure week and dream week and see how long it takes for the president to blow it up by tweeting. infrastructure week was june 5th. the day before the president went after london's mayor on
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twitter. remember that? took his words out of context, continued going after the mayor the next day as well and that became the story. then it was energy week and energy week, you could all be forgiven for having for getting it because he posted about joe scarborough and mika and her face. >> he doesn't want to hear that. he wants to shift the blame to his staff to capitol hill to say why are we not getting things done. as i've said a couple times throughout the day today, he has 35 million twitter followers. some people have pointed out that half of those are fake. let's assume he only had 17 million twitter followers. could you imagine if he was able to marshall that behind a health care vote or an infrastructure bill or if he was able to say we need tax reform and if he wanted to go outride now and say i'm going to hold a primetime news conference, all of the networks
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are going to take it. he hasn't done that to marshall the agenda forward and it appears to me, and perhaps others would disagree, to attack his own critics. >> and in very personal and derogatory ways. blumenthal is a democratic senator. so what. goes with the territory. >> i have a different view of this. i think the tweeting is great. i think this is who donald trump %-p lot of times complaining reporting about how everything is so scripted in politics and people give canned statements. these are anything but canned. the american people want to know what kind of president they have? they know exactly because donald trump tells them in his own words 13 time tuesday day and frequently on other days. i think this is exactly how he should run this presidency and i think the american people should decide if this is the kind of president that they want. >> wow. oh, jeffrey --
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>> april, tell me i'm wrong. >> you're wrong. i'm sorry. >> okay. >> jeffrey, words matter. words may. markets are shaken by words. wor wars are started by words. when you have a president of the united states, the last 40 some odd presidents, 44 presidents that we've had, we've looked at the fact that they are supposed to be leaders, more leaders that our children can look up to. also, leaders of the free world. and now the script has changed. this president says that he is a modern president. he's modern day presidential. does that mean that modern day presidential can attack people at will and if you attack him, he attacks back. where is being above the fray? where is that? and what is the precedent that it sets for our children? what is the precedent that it sets for just the nation? that's my question. >> april, this is exactly what
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we spent months saying during the campaign. he's not presidential, he's attacking john mccain, he's attacking megyn kelly. this is who he is. he's not going to change. he's 71 years old. he got elected president of the united states against all odds and certainly against our predictions and certainly mine. this is how he operates and what has worked for him and the united states deserves to see who they elected and this is who they elected. >> that's true. that's true. that's true. >> part of the issue here is the north korea tweet. he was getting tons of attention and given his blumenthal and when you look at that, one could see russia and china on board and today is the 200th day of his presidency.
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when it comes to his legislative agenda, yay, he got neil gorsuch. here's the other things he said he was going to get done well before where we are now. >> i will build a great, great wall on our southern border and i will have mexico pay for that wall. mark my words. i'm lowering your taxes big league. this will be the biggest tack cuts since ronald reagan. we will also repeal and replace the total disaster known as obamacare. we're going to stop it day one. >> 0-3 there, mark. those were big promises and the legislative agenda that his base elected him to fulfill. that's what they wanted. not the tweets. >> right. and i would go so far to say that mitch mcconnell changed the rules that allowed neil gorsuch to pass with the bare majority
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through the united states. so i would give that to mitch mcconnell. looking when you look at what the president has been saying in his promises, they are not that much different than we've seen from other presidents who have made promises. however, his promises are so definitive and he's so sure of himself until they don't happen. when they don't happen, the blame doesn't rest with him, erin. it rests with others. that's the biggest problem right now or certainly one of the biggest problems facing donald trump as we head into september and he needs allies on capitol hill to get anything done. >> by the way, miguel marquez just went to michigan, wisconsin, and it was the exact same thing that people were saying about twitter. and their frustration with the lack of success on the legislative side. gallup poll, 62% is where he started with white voters who don't have a college degree. in may, that went down to 56. we're now down to 53. it's eroding bit by bit but you're looking at a nine-point
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drop. >> absolutely. this is the problem. he's not getting done what he says he's getting done. the twitter thing is a side show. >> it's not a side show because it's part of the reason that he's not getting the other things done. >> he didn't get health care through because it was only 15% of the population that supported it. it was not a popular or i think it's safe to say a very good plan. that's the problem. not twitter. >> we thank you all very much. next, mike pence ripping a report that he's running for president. did his unusual reaction make things worse? well, the vice president spokesperson is going to come out next. plus, is a mercenary force the way to end america's war. blackwater founder eric prince is "outfront." and all the president's men accused of the impersonators. >> did you know a mutant known as wolverine scaled the statue of liberty in a climatic showdown with sandra tooth?
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because only verizon has the best network and the best unlimited. tonight we're learning that the vice president mike pence will travel to bedminister this week to meet with his boss, president trump. this comes as the vice president and his team are shooting down a report in the "new york times" that pence is gearing up for a run if trump does not run in
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2020. "outfront" is mark blatter. thank you for joining me. the vice president has called it disgraceful and offensive. you tweeted that it's wishful thinking. why a full-court press and an ov over-the-top response? >> because the vice president obama has one agenda and that's to focus on the president's re-election. >> so you're not worried about he who doth protest against this? there was a statement from the vice president that was pretty unprecedented. >> well, when you see speculation, conjecture, half truths masquerading as news on the new york ims t"the new york to push back.
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the president feels firmly about this. you see this with president trump and vice president pence, they're going to tell the american people what is on their minds and when they hear stories that have anything to do with facts and reality, they're going to let the people know about that. >> okay. so let's talk about these facts and reality. let's not have it come from what i know you all would refer to as the mainstream news organization. i want to quote roger stone who is the first to aggressively come out in his defense. he tweeted talking about the vice president's pact to raise money. no vice president in modern history had their own pac in the first term. >> prior to being vice president, mike pence was governor of indiana so he needed a federal regulated political organization to be able to take care of the political needs that
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he would have as he's out campaigning for and reporting for republican candidates for the house and senate, something that the previous vice president had already established once these new laws went into effect. >> so you think it's off base, the president's own inner circle off base, too? >> the one thing i would point out is when the vice president had a fund-raiser, ivanka trump introduced him. that's an important piece of context. this is not something that is dividing this administration. what you see is that the president, vice president are firmly committed to supporting republican candidates in the house and in the senate and you see ivanka trump out there supporting the vice president's efforts and one other thing i would point out, the very first check that was cut from the vice president's leadership pa krchl was pac was maximizing the donations for this entire cycle. >> according to the federal elections commission, it's
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raised $540,000. a super pac aligned with the president has raised less than half that. 204,000. what i'm trying to understand, if this is really all about being for the president or to help republican governors or to help republicans in the house and senate, there are pacs for all of those things, right? you could raise money for the president's pac or for the rnc or for the republican governor's association, right? >> what you'll see is the vice president will be very busy supporting republican candidates at all levels. he's spoken at state party dinners and to senate and house candidates and has worked to support them. he's also going to be working to support the broader efforts and the re-election efforts of the president and vice president. >> can you explain why have your own pac when he's going to take the time in to raise money. everyone understanding your argument on that. why not raise it for his own people? >> because just as much as the vice president needs to be able
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to travel and support those candidates, he needs to be able to do that. you have to remember, the vice president was a state-represented official and he has the partnership and support of the president of the united states. this goes back into the transition with the president-elect in full support of setting up this apparatus because the vice president, the president are firmly rooted in making sure that we elect republicans at all levels of government in the coming years. that's what this is an apparatus to do. one thing i would also point out is that this pac cannot even support the election of the president and vice president any further. they've already maxed out all of the donations. >> so what's it for if not -- >> supporting senate and house republican candidates who are moving forward and we're going to support the president's agenda to make america great again. >> let me ask you, mark, the president's poll numbers, deaf one with a 33% approval rating.
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there may be others that don't look as bad as that one. the numbers have come down. you can't dispute that. he's going to be 74 in 2020. have you not have a conversation with anyone about him running in 2020? >> there's only one election that the vice president is focused on in 2020 and that's his re-election as vice president alongside president donald trump. >> thank you very much, marc lotter, i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> and now i want to go to alex burns. i should point out this included others and other than mike pence and i'll get to that in a moment. but you heard marc lotter, categorically false, false, false. and the statement about your article he says that they are categorically false and it's the media trying to divide this
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administration. you stand by it, right? >> of course. i think allegations is a strong word to use for what was in that story. no one is accusing the vice president of doing anything illegal or scandalous. we're describing events that are largely happening in full view of the kinds of fundraising that he's doing with the pac activity that i asked mark aboc about. you put it in a pointed and categorical way. can you rule out the possibility that anyone has had a conversation with the vice president or anyone on his behalf about 2020. he didn't respond to that. the story that got the clear seft rise is two advisers out of the vice president have not gone around drumming and challenging him in the republican primaries but basically indicated to republican donors we want to be ready no matter what happens just in case. >> so when he comes out the way he did so strongly, one would think that if they really are
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saying what he wrote is false, they would ask for retraction. that's what you would do because you say, i know it's false. retract it. they have or have not asked you for one of those? >> as far as i'm aware, they have not asked for any formal correction. they've obviously attacked the story. >> right. they're coming after you publicly but not going on the factual basis. >> which is their prerogative. they told us they were going to push back very hard on the story. we published it because we were entirely confident on the vice president's activities and the activities of the people around him. >> your article was about the republican shadow, right? and it wasn't just about mike pence, although they have successfully made it about mike pence by their incredibly strenuous response and you also wrote about kasich and senator cotton and ben sasse. none of them have commented. >> no, they haven't. this story was describing this larger mood in the republican party of uncertainty about the
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president's strength and his intentions for 2020 and the kinds of precautions that a number of people in the party are taking. some of them -- like john kasich, are lookin at 2020 and campaigning in 2020 even if president trump does run again, which is a good deal more brazen than anything we reported about the vice president. but we are talking about mike pence now. >> and the bottom line is, it seems, looking at this, that that statement that mike pence put out is for the eyes of one person, that he didn't need a statement for. he wanted the president to see him slam that down because we know what happens when that happens. >> nobody knows better than mike pence what happens. and the president values more than loyalty maybe not even winning. >> thank you very much, alex burns. >> thanks. next, the president said to be frustrated with how things are going in afghanistan and the complete lack of a plan right now. blackwater founder eric prince is my guest tonight. and a google software
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months amid sharp disagreements in the white house between the president's top advisers. >> we've had now three sessions within the national security council exploring a full range of options and when i say a full range of options, i mean the entire landscape. >> reporter: the president's chief strategist steve bannon is reportedly seeking the advice of eric prince, the controversial former head of the now disbanded contractor firm blackwater. prince's plan, use military contractors instead of u.s. troops for a variety of unspecified missions in afghanistan. while leading blackwater, prince's mercenary force was criticized for how it dealt with civilians in iraq. several former employees were convicted in the 2007 incident in baghdad in which 17 iraqi civilians were shot and killed. one of those contractor convictions was overturned just last week.
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the trump administration defending prince and his proposal. >> if you look at eric prince's track record, it's not about milking the government. it's about the opposite. it's about saving the u.s. taxpayer money. so this is a cost-cutting venture. we open the door here at the white house to outside ideas. >> reporter: still, defense officials have long noted that in some operations contractors are not less expensive than active duty military members who are paid considerably less. the man leading the fight in afghanistan, general john nicholson, is arguing for a few thousand more troops to train afghan forces mainly, in addition to the additional 8400 troops already there. >> we have a shortfall of a few thousand and this is in the nato train and advise assist mission.
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this could come from the u.s. and its allies. >> reporter: still, nicholson may not have the full backing of the president who is thought to be frustrated with the command of the afghanistan war. something that mcmaster denied in an interview with msnbc. >> i can't imagine a more capable commander on any mission. >> a major unanswered question, would afghan president aghani even accept eric prince's contractors. >> a big question. thank you very much, barbara. former navy s.e.a.l. eric prince, the former ceo of the private military company called blackwater. good to see you again. you pointed out that the united states has had 17 commanders in afghanistan in 15 years. when you see that number in black and white, it's stunning. >> absolutely. there's been no unity of command. that's not counting the amount of ambassadors and chief of
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station from the cia that we've gone through. who is in charge of afghanistan? nobody. it's been extremely fragmented. we've had up to 140,000 troops in the country and the pentagon consumes more than the entire defense budget of the uk just in afghanistan and we're losing. >> so you are proposing a solution and this solution, you know, you've written about it in the op-ed, a private military force. i know you don't like the word mercenary. why don't you like that word? >> because i'm recommending a rationali rationali rationalized -- rotate every six to nine months. when those troopers leave, all of the experience and local knowledge that they have leaves with them. there's another 26,000 contractors in the country. this plan takes it from that overspend to a much smaller number. the afghan forces need help at
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the battalion forces. that's where the rubber meets the road and afghans are losing dozens per month. embedding at the battalion level does not meet the threshold of the u.n. definition of mercenary. they would be attached as long-term trainer advisers. >> are they military employees of the united states or people that -- they are contractors? >> military employees of the afghan government. imagine them as a skeletal structure to all of those afghan battalions so it works reliably. they need air power. the maintenance and training has been a failure. they need government support and mentor support and air power all attaching to the afghan government you guys like to throw the mercenary word around. >> what are they if they are
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being paid by the u.s. government and don't work for the pentagon. >> under the u.n. -- no, they don't need to. if we want to afghanize this -- >> are they americans? >> they could be americans, foreign nationals, nato allies, from the global community of professionals most of whom have served in that country already that have a lot of experience that want to go back. i've been in contact with, you know -- remember, in the months after 9/11, a hundred cia officers and a couple hundred forces guys backed by air power crashed the taliban. the more we've gone to a conventional war with a conventional army, we've gone backwards. every year since then. they've turn turgeed up to 140,000 troops and it fails again. the reason i talked in that op-ed, you have to put someone in charge. there has to be a lead federal official and in this case a bankruptcy trustee that rationalizes the u.s. presence that's in charge of all policies. second, they have to stay there
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for a while so you have that continuity of decision making. >> so the word you used for that person was an american vice -- >> that's a colonial term. >> sure. but the colonial term came from -- they had very little communications and you had to put someone in charge absent a ship going back and forth. this is someone that can rationalize the mess that the u.s. policy has been, whether in afghanistan or pakistan, we have gone backwards. >> the definition is a ruler exercising authority in a colony on behalf of a sovereign. it's a loaded word. >> i say that -- i've talked to plenty of afghans about that. when they understand that we're not there to colonize but rather viceroy is someone that will
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rationalize so we don't go through an ambassador every two years. >> so i know that you said you wrote an op-ed, reince priebus, h.r. mcmaster, steve bannon reached out to you and wanted to hear more. >> they wanted to hear more and weeks later they said, okay, figure out what that actually of the costs. give us a comparison. going down to a true mentor program that represents the entire afghan army -- remember, there are about 17,000 of them because they've been mentored by u.s. special forces in the way that i'm recommending. they used to do village-to-ville la village operations. in the same proven model, it works. second, give them some air, some government support so when they order resupply, they get their food, fuel, ammunition, parts on time, that's what you need to keep the afghan forces afloat.
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all the rest, that goes from a $45 billion spend this year. next year, the pentagon needs over $50 billion. all of that takes you down to less than 10. >> less than 10. >> 40 billion back to the pentagon. a lot of people say just pull out of afghanistan. i disagree with that because i think the taliban or isis would raise their battle flag over the u.s. embassy in six months over a year. that's bad. but continuing the same insanity that we've been doing for the past ten years has to change. i think the president is uncomfortable with continuing on this course. >> have you talked to him about that? >> nope. >> so when you talk about mcmaster and steve bannon, are you talking to him about these ideas? >> general mcmaster does not like this idea because he's a three-star general. i think for the president he's got to say after 16 years when do we try something different
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and this is not doing anything below the core level. this is the highest movement of the afghan army. this can operate there, operate effectively and create the off ramp for the rest of the u.s. forces to leave. let's be done. we're still losing americans. there were two american kids killed last week in the first 30 days of their deployment. enough. >> so steve bannon was more receptive to this? >> i think steve bannon and other folks at nsc and quite a few in congress. >> and general nicholson himself, have you spoken to him? >> no. >> and this viceroy, this person would be an american? >> again, viceroy was a term only to describe the u.s. owe, not a colonial official. >> but it would be an american? >> yes. a u.s. government employee. call them a special envoy but they have to control dod policy and spending and rules of engagement and state department
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authorities and cia authorities. you have to combine so you don't have the inner agency process doing nothing with a big committee group think that accomplishes nothing. 16 years is a long time to be doing anything and we're failing. >> just to be clear, you're talking about an american here that would be at the top administering all of this. >> over in kabul. >> in kabul. >> not time zones away. >> but it would be paid for by american taxpayers but the people they are paying could be any nationality at all, right? just to be clear so i understand? >> 3.5 million already, the pentagon has slated for the afghan forces. that pays for their vehicle parts, fuel, all of that. that continues. there would be a continued rule for u.s. special operations forces, the 2,000 or so there. they continue on. this program can school up under need what the dchlod is doing. it costs a fraction of what we're spending now and the pentagon can spend that money on reset. let's figure out how to cauterize this endless bleeding
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that we have in afghanistan. >> you know, obviously you have connections to trump's inner circle. you're talking about that you were reached out to by steve bannon, among others. your sister is -- >> i did not. i wrote that op-ed because between my wife and i, we have a lot of kids. some who will serve in the military soon. the idea of them going to afghanistan and getting killed, i couldn't tolerate that. i wrote that op-ed with one audience in mind, the president read it and that triggered this discussion. >> the president read it? >> i'm told he read it at his desk, circled it and said learn more about this. >> so he knows who you are and obviously, as i said, it's not just that you know steve bannon and others. your sister is betsy devos. >> my big sister, yep. >> so let's talk about another thing that you're central to here. a lot has been made of a meeting that you've had with a russian during the trump transition, this meeting that everyone knows what happened now. who from the trump team asked you to take the meeting? >> no one. zero. i was there on business. okay? i was there meeting with emirati
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officials. i met a guy and clearly the u.s. intelligence community felt necessary to unmask me and leak it to the media but if the media and the obsession on the trump/russia collusion, they are kind of jumping the shark if they think i had something to do with that. this occurred in january long after the election. there's either this trump grand collusion plan or not. they asked me to go meet with russian -- which no one did. i happened to be there and met a russian. >> who did you meet? >> some fund manager. i can't even remember his name. >> a fund manager but you don't remember his name? >> i don't remember his name. we didn't exchange cards. >> how long was it? the meeting, do you remember? >> as long as one beer. >> so it was a casual setting? >> absolutely. >> over beers. okay. let me just say why this meeting
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is getting so much attention, because i know you're minimizing it. >> but it's really not. >> it's been reported on extensively. let me lay out the timeline because you know this but not everybody else does. before this meeting happened between you and somebody who is a putin confidant and i know that from talking to people who know a lot about this meeting. this person isn't just a random russian. in december, "the washington post" reports that you met with officials at trump tower, because you know people there. that same month, i'm aware there was a meeting at trump tower between jared kushner, steve bannon, michael flynn and the crown prince of abu dhabi. in december, the washington reports that you had a private meeting with the emirati crown prince. the question is so important whether you were working on behalf of the trump team or even if they didn't ask you, was anyone on the trump team aware that you were at this meeting?
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>> no one was aware from the trump team that i was even there. it was private business. nothing to do with the u.s. government or the trump team or the transition team or anything else. >> what was the meeting about, then? >> future business. it was someone that the emiratis had done business with and said it would be useful for you to know. >> and that was it? >> that was it. >> and when people talk about whether there was a possible back channel or anybody -- all of that, you're saying, no, off the table? >> complete hogwash. >> i appreciate that and appreciate you answering my questions about it. >> i'm amazed about the continued obsession with this when you have people dying in afghanistan, americans dying, let's figure out a way to cauterize the losses. >> all right. appreciate it. thank you. >> you bet. and next, outrage tonight after a google employee claims in a ten-page memo that women workers are neurotic and have a lower tolerant for stress. well, should he be working there?
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and jeanne moos rounds up the best impersonators. . even a swing set standoff. and we covered it, july first, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's, and your symptoms have left you with the same view, it may be time for a different perspective. if other treatments haven't worked well enough, ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works by focusing right in the gi-tract to help control damaging inflammation and is clinically proven to begin helping many patients achieve both symptom relief as well as remission.
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tonight, outrage over a fwoogle engineer's manifesto. the engineer who has not been identified by cnn argues that women are not suited for tech jobs because of biological reasons and men have a "higher drive for status." and the higher rates of anxiety disorders among women. that's what he said. may explain why there are lower numbers of women in low stress jobs. outfront now, erica baker, who left google in 2015 after she compiled a spread sheet of unequal pay of men and women in the company. i know you have read this manifesto. your reaction? >> umm, it's ridiculous, it's
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full of myths that have been disproven and debunked a long time ago. and sit amazing to me that someone who is as smart as a google engineer could continue to believe in those myths. >> so let me just read another part of it. i quote here from the manifesto. feminism has made great progress, but men are still very much tied to the male gender role. if we as a society allowed men to be more tell anymore, the gender gap will shrink. you know, certainly, it seems that there's a point here in terms of the gender stereotypes that exist clearly in the tech world. >> i don't believe those gender stereotypes exist in the tech world, specifically at google where people are permitted to be whoever they want, however they want. i recall very many people at google who didn't adhere to any specific gender roles. so that might be that perpson's
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own experience. but especially in the bay area, your gender role is whatever you define it as. >> let me ask you, the vp of diversity at google released a statement when this got out. thus tar they have successfully withheld the name of the person who wrote it. the manifesto itself. in the response, google says part of building an open and inclusive environment means fosteri fosteri fostering views so people can share their experience. would it be right to say, you're going the still work here at google and let's have a conversation about whether men have a higher drive for status and women have higher rates of anxiety disorders and everything else he writes about? >> there are multiple points what you said. first, i don't think it is worthy -- or the things that person wrote are worthy of being
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debated. just like i wouldn't debate the earth is flat, i wouldn't debate all the stuff that's in that manifesto. there's no need to debate those things. second, i am a little pit disappointed in google's response thus far. i think if they are working to foster an open and inclusive environment, then they would make it so that 30% of their workforce, which is the number of women engineers, wouldn't feel excluded by this one person. i hope to see google do the right thing here, and remove that person from the workforce, especially because google is a very peer review driven culture, to get promoted at google, you have to ask your peers for reviews. peers sit on your hiring committees and your promotion committees. if that person has access to the careers of women, who he thinks are subpar by nature, that person is going to have a negative effect on the careers of women. >> air kashgs thank you very
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much for your time. by the way, 25% of google leadership positions are held by women. so really long way to go. up next, the trump administration keeping impersonators in business. i've got another letter from a real little boy, who loves our president. this one's from a real little boy named cucumber. psoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur.
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keeping it alive. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: they came. they were seen. they were impersonated. from spicy -- >> this is soapy water and i'm watching that filthy, lying mouth. >> reporter: to scaramucci. >> i love you. i frigging love you. >> reporter: and we hate to see you go. faces are changing so fast in the trump administration from fresh emperse thimpersonators a. comedian pauley shore said he needed to watch the exchange between trump's senior adviser only three times to mimic it. >> i don't know, i felt what he was feeling, konld sending and mr. know it all. >> look at me directly in my forehead and tell me i'm not lying. >> reporter: anna navaro tweeted, peewee herman has got
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to be steven miller. the point isn't to just create a mirror image, but to distort it for comedic purposes. >> wrong, wrong, wrong. >> reporter: comedian fortune themesters seems right to portray sarah huckabee sanders reading letters at the white house briefing. >> my name is dilan harbin, but everybody calls me pickle. >> this is from a real little boy named cucumber. >> do you feel like you're lying all the time? >> yes. >> reporter: even old impersonators are new again. bill maher used reggie brown. >> i'm speaking with myself. number one, because i have a very good brain. >> reporter: these days, imitation is the sincerest form of mockery.
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jeanne moos, cnn -- >> i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody, and i wouldn't lose voters. >> reporter: new york. >> and thanks for joining us. you can watch "outfront" any time, anywhere. "ac 360" starts now. good evening. 200 days since the trump administration naugization. so far, we've seen one solo press conference from the president, and one pick to the supreme court confirmed, but otherwise zero signature legislative accomplishments. all of that is reflected in new polling just out just now. the top line number from cnn ssrs just 38% now approve of the job the president is doing. that is a new low in our survey, and cause for concern in a time when his predecessors were still by and large enjoying a honeymoon with voters. one other newly elected president held hn approval rating below 50% at