tonight, 10:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. outfront next, president trump lashing out at critics questioning his fitness for office, including the country's former top spy. i talked to james clapper about trump's angry response. i'll give you his revealing side of the story. plus, is the president trying to pressure republicans to shield him from the russia investigation? new details about a phone call with a leading senator. and more fall out from trump's charlottesville comments. a top rabbi will not even get on the phone with the president. let's get outfront. i'm jim sciutto in again to want for erin burnett. the white house shutting down

any questions about the president's fitness for office. doubts that have been raised not only by democrats but a senior republican and the nation's former top spy, a visibly angry white house press secretary, sarah huckabee sanders today dismissed a republican senator who questioning trump's stability and competence to be president. listen to her answer. >> i think that's a ridiculous and outrageous claim and doesn't dignify a response from this podium. >> this is what the chairman of the foreign relations committee said the white house considers is ridiculous and outrageous. >> the president has not yet -- has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. he also recently has not demonstrated that he understands the character of this nation.

>> understands the character of this nation. outside of those comments, corker has been generally supportive of president trump, voting along with the president nearly 90% of the time. this according to statistical analysis website. he w he is not alone in publically questioning the president's stability. the former director of national intelligence, james clapper, who has served under ten presidents, democrats and republicans, expressed blunt doubts about the president's fit ps for office right here on cnn. >> i don't know when i have listened and watched something like this from a president that i found more disturbing. i really question his ability to -- his fitness to be in this office. he'll make a scripted teleprompter speech which is good and then turn around and negate it by sort of the

unbridled, unleashed, unchaperoned trump. and that to me is -- that pattern is very disturbing. >> clapper served under every u.s. president going back to and including jfk. today trump went after clapper tweeting james clapper who got caught lying to congress is now an authority on donald trump. will he show you his beautiful letter to me? well, i reached out to general clapper today about that, quote, beautiful letter. and clapper composed notes to both candidates, trump and clinton, to be included along with the winner's first intelligence breaching. he congratulated the president-elect and vowed the intelligence community would serve with the sbes intelligence he would deliver. i hand wrote identical short notes to the candidates to accompany the first brief as president-elect. only one got deployed, the one to him. i went on to say i hoped he would abide by the long-standing

principal of the intelligence community always telling truth to power. clapper noted to us only a few weeks later president-elect trump went on to compare the united states intelligence community to nazi germany. the white house and trump clearly very sensitive when it comes to questions about mr. trump's fitness for office. >> well, that's right, jim. look, this is a president who already was facing a barrage of criticism. that was before you had people out there questioning whether he is fit to hold the office of the presidency. you saw sarah huckabee sanders, the press secretary call any notion of this ridiculous and outrageous. i can tell you that privately white house staffers are an plek tick about the notion that people are questioning the president's fitness for office. a number of people said they feel like members of the media are playing psychiatrist, even though you have prominent officials out there questioning whether the president can really serve in this role.

now, from the president's point of view, he likes to be seen as unpredictable and he also tweeted today he has the capability to change his tone on the drop of a dime. so in many ways the people that are looking at this, like james clapper and saying this is an indication this is someone who's unfit for office from the president's view, he sees that as a strength. >> well, it is coming from more than one party as well. outfront tonight, john avalon, shannon, the white house reporter for bloomberg news and shawn turner, a long time intelligence officer who served as jim clapper's spokesperson. shannon, senator corker, of course, is a respected republican. president trump even considered him as vice president and then secretary of state. general clapper, a respected intelligence official, as i noted, served ten presidents going back to jfk. he's been around a long time. maybe easy for the white house to dismiss questions like this

when they come from democrats. but when it comes from a corker or clapper, does it not deserve a response from the white house? >> it's not just about fighting with democrats. they're fighting with the own republican establishment. i'll tell you the way the trump base hears these comments about questions about the fitness, they just see this as another attack by the establishment. first they went after russia. now they're trying to attack his fitness and stability in office, all sort of an effort to try and impeach the president or get the president out of office. that's how the trump base hears these things and that's what the outside advisors are telling the president about this. while there is some people saying to take this seriously, there is another side of this trump ecosystem telling hill fight back. this is deep state. this is the establishment. and don't listen to it. >> well, the base and the presidency seem to be very much together on that thought, that

it's just a tact to take him out. >> the president has not yet -- has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. >> i think our president needs to take stock of the role that he plays in our nation and -- and move beyond himself, move way beyond himself and move to a place where daily he's waking up thinking about what is best for our nation. >> again, as you hear it, remarkable. accusing the president in effect there of being self-absorbed, right, in the office. can you or the president possibly take this as advice rather than a brutal criticism? >> look, in a perfect world,

presidents would take a note. bill clinton had a rough start to his administration and he took a note and reshuffled his senior team. ultimately brought in leon panetta and steadies that ship. this president doesn't take a note. i don't know if constructive criticism is in his vocabulary. what's tough is that he is so broadly respected and he was speaking with a broader perspective about american history, as well as fitness for office. and the trump crew might only hear a dog whistle about the 25th amend nlt. no, i think he was trying to say you have to step up and think about something beyond yourself. that's something donald trump is bad at. but he would be wise to take the advice of republicans like corker. >> shawn turner, i want to talk to you. you of course long experience not just in the intelligence community but working very closely with director clapper. can you explain better to our viewers what the intention was

of the letter that director clapper sent to trump with that first intelligence briefing and of course that he composed to hillary clinton as well to whoever would win. what message was he trying to send? >> yeah, sure, jim. i should point out this is the kind of thing that jim clapper is known for. i worked for him for many years and it was not unusual for him to sit down and write a letter to an employee or to someone in a position of leadership when he thought as though he needed to say something that needed to come from him personally. first of all, the insinuation and the president's tweet that director clapper had sent some praising and admiring letter is not exactly true. you know, prior to the election night, we had seen a lot of attacks on the intelligence community, and we were dealing with this environment in which people were really questioning the motives of senior intelligence officials. i think that part of director clapper was doing with that

letter was he was trying to send a clear and unambiguous message to whatever became the president of the united states that the intelligence community existed to serve the president, to protect this country against foreign enemies. i think that he just wanted to state that very clearly. he had stated publically, but he wanted to say it directly to the president-elect. >> you said before the campaign there were charges, criticisms levelled at the intelligence community as we know those were coming from one place. they were coming from the donald trump, not hillary clinton. are you saying in effect this note was indicated that director clapper saw some early warning signs here that concerned him? >> look, i think that he clearly saw that there was an environment in which the motives of the hard working men and women in the intelligence community were being questioned. while i think he would tell you that because he worked with

former secretary clinton, he would probably tell you that while he didn't think that she was involved and questioning intelligence community, clearly there were others who were. so i think that by crafting these letters he was first of all being fair and impartial and defending the intelligence community and stating very clearly that, you know, that the ic exists to serve the president. i also think that if you look at what director clapper said, the note about speaking truth to power, you know, he implored the new president to accept and support that the intelligence community has a long standing tradition of telling truth to power. that means whether the news is good or bad we're going to lay it on the table, and he wanted to tell the new president that it is important they accept that and they support that as opposed to questioning that and perhaps suggesting there is some all tier your motive of intelligence

officials. >> john and shannon, that is of course the white house's striking back personally at clapper as well. we heard that from kellyanne conway today. when you hear the level of concern, that is a remarkable thing to hear from the nation's former top intelligence official, as well as republicans. is this a sign that more people, shannon, are thinking this, including among republicans that are willing to say this publically? >> because people say it to me nonpubically there is a concern out there being expressed now. >> from both parties? >> yeah, absolutely from republicans and people within the administration. there's a sense that there is great concern. it's sort of when does it reach the breaking point. it was interesting after charlottesville, you saw a lot of people expressing concern privately, ceos, people in the business community. all of a sudden that was their breaking point.

that was when they started coming out. >> and we have a rabbi on who turned down a traditional phone call from the president. john, significant? >> it's enormously significant when you have a career intelligence official like james clapper, who rose to the top of the ranks and served president of both parties saying it needs to be taken as more than personal criticism because it has the weight of criticism behind it. people are deeply concerned about this president, is eradic behavior, his lack of attention to detail and historic perspective. if he plays chicken with a government shut down, it is going to be an interesting test of wheels and he may believe his base will turn on mcconnell and ryan and they will run rough shot over everybody, but who has got more credibility with senators. and that's one of the show downs i think to look towards as we look to the fall because these institutionalists that are deeply patriotic and deeply concerned about this president.

that's the reality. >> one person's deep state is another person's civil service. thanks very much. and next a long-time trump associate warning anyone who votes to impeach trump would be endangering their own life. plus the white house won't rule out shutting down the government if congress does not fund the border wall. what happened to mexico paying for it? and president trump endorses this as the best eclipse ever, he even retweeted it. we shed some light on the situation. the lincoln summer invitation is on. now get our best offers of the season. on the agile mkc. and the versatile midsize lincoln mkx. or go where summer takes you in the exhilarating mkz. hurry in it's the final days of the lincoln summer invitation sales event. ending september 5th. right now, get zero percent apr plus 1,000 dollars summer savings on the lincoln mkx, mkc and mkz.

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new tonight president trump leaning on his fellow republicans when it comes to the russia investigation. cnn learning that the president calls north carolina's republican senator tom till lis questioning him about his bill to prevent robert mueller from being fired by the president. that follows news that the president went after majority leader mitch mcconnell for failing to protect him from the russia investigation and "politico" reporting he expressed frustration when talking to senator bob corker. outfront, a member of both the house intelligence and judiciary committees at the center of the russia investigations. congressman, thanks for taking time from your brief holiday to join us tonight. >> of course, jim. thanks for having me back. >> congressman, when you look at these really repeated attempts to pressure, not only gop

lawmakers, but the now fired fbi director james comey, his attorney general, all it seems seeking some protection from the russia probe, in your view, does that amount to obstruction of justice? >> well, innocent people, jim, cooperate with investigations and try and work with the prosecutors and the fbi agents. they don't obstruct or bully or don't constantly check in with witnesses and try and make investigations go away. we saw this with the way he treated former director comey. we have heard about it with director mike rogers and dan coats and now we're hearing about it with the senate investigations. it's clear these investigations are getting too close to the president and his family and he's trying to do everything he can to influence their direction. that is not how an innocent person conducts himself. >> is it untoward or perhaps unethical? does it break the law to even

fluns -- influence in that way? >> if he is trying to obstruct or if he is trying to impede the investigations, he is creeping into an area that could be unlawful. i'll leave that bob mueller. i miss the courtroom a lot, jim. but we want bob mueller and his team to have all the latitude possibly, thankfully a bipartisan effort in the senate is underway to make sure if the president were to get rid of bob mueller he would still be on the job in one way or another, so that was encouraging to see. >> you will return from recess in a little more from a week. as these investigations pick up again, in effect, what will be your first order of business when you're back from recess? in particular, which witnesses are you looking to question the priorities? >> it is going to be -- it will be a busy september with a lot of relevant witnesses. we interviewed a number of people right before the break. witnesses are being interviewed

right now through the recess and we also want to hear from every person implicated on the june 9th clinton-russia private and confidential e-mail. we're seeking to bring them in as well. and, jim, look, this investigation will go as far and as deep as the republicans are willing to find courage and pay treati -- pay treatise m to join us. their job is not to protect the president or look the other way. we want them to be partners in this because that is the only way to find out what happened. >> you mentioned the june 9th meeting in trump tower. russians promising that damaging information on hillary clinton. we are also reporting the congressional investigators are looking at an e-mail from a top trump aid during the campaign that passed on information about a person trying to arrange a meeting between campaign officials and russian president vladimir putin and the e-mails sent from the president's deputy chief of staff, but timing-wise

sent around the same time as that trump tower meeting. how significant is this in your view at this point? >> well, jim, when we take a step back, what is baffling about all of these efforts by the russians and the trump campaign to either meet or connect with each other, they took place during the course of the presidential campaign and every presidential campaign, the people who ran those campaigns will tell you you live day-to-day. you are trying to make it to the next day and help your candidate win. you only win votes in the united states. it is baffling as to why you would be working and trying to talk to a foreign adversary, especially one like russia. so it does come into, i guess, context when you look at all the other number of attempts that were being made. and if you weren't, you know, trying to get your candidate elected, you have to wonder why so many contacts with the russians unless you were trying

to set up a working relationship as that june 9th e-mail suggested. >> long time donald trump associate had an alarming morning today for politicians that called for impeachment. he told tmz any politicians that votes for it would be endangering their own life. this of course is a person who has spoken to the president and that your committee wants to question. how concerning are these comments in your view? >> it's just more of the intimidation of witnesses that we've seen from the trump campaign. and this central witness, somebody who had tweeted out that john podesta is going to spend his time in the barrel, he never talked about john podesta before in his tweets or public commentary, but sends this ominous tweets months before john podesta's e-mails are hacked and learned he was in contact with the russian hackers. so we certainly want to hear from him. but i don't think people are

going to be intimidated by that. we have a job to do and a country to protect and we're going to do that. >> thanks very much. >> my pleasure, jim. >> next the white house ducking questions about the border wall and the president's threat of a government shut down if congress doesn't fund it. and yet another group distancing itself from trump tonight. prominent rabbi ditching a long tradition with the president. ♪ adults are just kids with much, much better toys. the c-class sedan, coupe and cabriolet. the thrills keep getting better. lease the c300 sedan for $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. s'cuse me. mind if i sit here? not if you want your phone to work. let me guess, you can't livestream your lobster roll.

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tonight the white house will not rule out a government shut down if congress will not pay for the border wall. press secretary sarah huckabee

sanders also knowledging questi -- dodging questions. >> who's going to pay for the wall? >> mexico! >> 100%. >> but now that's a problem even trump doesn't talk about that much anymore. listen to sanders today. >> he campaigned on the wall. he won on talking about building the wall, and he's going to make sure that that gets done and he'll continue to fight for that funding and ensure that it takes place. >> he's not saying that mexico is going to pay for it. >> he hasn't said they're not either. >> outfront now, rick santorum, former senator from pennsylvania. senator, if i could begin with you, president trump promised over and over again that mexico would pay for this wall. now, though, he's willing to shut down the u.s. government if the u.s. congress doesn't pay

for it. how do you explain that? >> well, look, i think what donald trump said during the campaign was they were going to build a wall and of course the rhetoric of mexico is going to pay for it was certainly a great tag line. but i think most folks who voted for donald trump want the wall built. i think the fact is that i don't think many people believe mexico was going to pay for that wall, but they believe it is going to be built. this is something donald trump has to stick with. i don't think he can back down on this and i don't think he should. you know, the president hasn't asked for very much specifically from the congress. he's really delegated a lot of the legislating to the congress and there is not a whole lot to show for it. this is one where the president has to draw a line in the sand. >> a poll shows only 36% of americans are actually in favor of building a wall. 61% as you see there.

but when you look at republicans, 72% of republicans support building a wall or only 26% of democrats. as far as his base is concerned, trump's base, is this smart politics? >> it is a home run for his base. he did run on building a wall, so it is something that people who were strong supporters of him, probably from the beginning want him to see through. seeing this through is not without consequence because there are still moderate republicans who are holding on by a thread. there are conservative fiscal republicans who i'm certain don't want to pay for the wall. so moving forward with this had some risks, i would say even within the republican party. but certainly it is about politics. he ran on this. he's nervous about his base of support and this is consistent with the crazy speech he gave in arizona the other night. >> i want to play this.

>> any time you threaten a government shut down it is dumb. this is a terrible way to do government and we should never threaten anything like this. >> do you agree with that? he's talking about shutting down the u.s. government with great economic consequences for not just, you know, for his supporters and really all americans, if that were to happen. >> donald trump is doing something unconventional, how about that? >> unconventional and damaging to his own voters, perhaps, if it were to happen. >> i don't know about damaging to his own voters if it were to happen. this is all about how you get the art of the deal. he's speaking to members of congress. he's not really talking to the american public. he's trying to lay this line in the sand with a group of people he hasn't been able to effectively work so far and this i think he feels like that threat will get people to take him seriously. because i think the word i have

been hearing up on the hill is, oh, he'll back down and he really isn't going to get this and no one is taking this seriously and i think he's trying to tell him, look, he's serious about this and no more than that. >> the government shuts down, fair to say it is congress that american people tend to blame. but is that different when congress and the president belong to the same party? this is gop controls senate, house and the white house. >> that's true. but donald trump will blame it on congress and he'll certainly lead up to any shut down by blaming it on congress and paul ryan and mitch mcconnell coming out opposed to this sends a clear message they know it is bad politics for them because it would ultimately be blamed on congress. >> senator, washington post reported that in a call with the mexican president when donald

trump first took office, that president trump aware of the sensitivity here tried to strong arm the mexican president saying i have to have mexico pay for the wall. i have to. i have been talking about it for a two-year period. then when the mexican president resisted, trump begged him not to tell the press. the president knows what this really is about is undermining his own credibility here. >> well, again, i think if you look at what the president has done with respect to mexico, look, i mean, he's been i think pretty tough with trade. obviously they're going through negotiations right now, renegotiating nafta. he is trying to follow through. border crossings are down. there is a lot of what trump said he was going to do that's actually happening without the wall being built i might add and a lot of things he said about getting tough with mexico and

getting tough on trade and his base. i don't mean the republican base because a lot of those folks were not republicans who voted for donald trump. i think they're very happy with what he's doing and the fact he's continuing to fight for this is all to his credit. >> thanks very much. outfront next, more charlottesville fall-out for trump. this time it is a group of rabbis who don't even want to get on the telephone with him. and a star from duck dynasty voted for trump, but is she having second thoughts? and clean energy resources because there are limits to the amount of fossil fuels that we can burn. since 1925, we have depended on diesel generators, burning approximately a million gallons of diesel fuel a year. we're going through an energy revolution. our mission is to make off-shore wind one of the principle new sources of energy. not every bank is willing to get involved in a "first of its kind" project.

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tonight more fall-out from president trump's charlottesville comments. a group of rab b's has canceled a traditional call with the president saying his words in the wake of the violence were lacking in moral leadership. this is just the latest in a string of groups cutting their ties to the white house. two of the ceo councils disbanded. the entire arts council quit. several members of the national infrastructure advisory council sit. his comments also appear to be taking business away from his mar-a-lago golf club. two more charities canceled events at the club, bringing the total to 18 organizations that scrapped events at the club and to be clear following trump's

charlott charlottesville response. one of the rabbis who made the call. thank you for joining us. >> why are you taking such a strong stand against a phone call? >> i think it is important for all of our viewers to understand the context here. we need to see the scene in charlottesville, virginia with 40 jews on the sab both morning trying to pray and outside were three white supremacists armed and dangerous and threatened the congregati congregation. when the night before they had seen people marching through the streets with torches chanting the words jews will not replace us and nazi slogans. so it was a horrifying scene.

and for the president of the united states to draw a false equivalency between those anti-semimites and the very people who were peacefully protesting against bigotry was reprehensible and we couldn't hold the call. >> i want to make clear to our viewers it is disturbing and part of an interview with one of the white nationalists at the charlottesville rally. have a listen. >> i'm here to spread ideas, talk in the hopes that somebody more capable will come along and do that, somebody like donald trump who does not give his doubt tore daughter woubaughter to a jew. i don't think you can feel about whites like i do and watch kushner walk around with that beautiful girl. >> when you heard trump say both sides were to blame, in light of

the hatred you see there and what you described with a group of having to run away from the threat of violence, what went through your mind? >> it send a child through my mind and a shutter through the entire american-jewish community, including our rabbis to say that this kind of hate is not acceptable and that this president, who has given comfort and sanction to the kind of neo-nazi and white supremacist who we just heard from is unconscionable. all americans need to be outraged. this is not just about the jews. it is about race. in many forms. we need to come together and hold our president accountable to be the commander in chief of the forces that will beat back bigotry. >> i will share with you i'm sorry you had to face that and i did not recognize my country in

those comments and those demonstrations. i want to ask you what is a difficult question. trump has several advisors who are jewish. steve ma knew shin. do you believe that they need to be more outspoken, take more of a public stand, if not against the president personally, against the comments that the president made in the wake of charlottesville. >> i don't think it is the responsibility of the jewish members of the administration to beat back bigotry, hate and anti-semitism in all forms. i think it is the responsible of all americans. and most important, the buck stops with the president of the united states. and we need to see persistently and consistently a clear message from this president and then actions that follow that message that and george washington famously said to the jewish

community hundreds of years ago, this is a country that will give bigotry no sanction. >> that's the country i recognize as well. thank you for taking the time tonight on this difficult subject. >> thank you. >> next, a star of the hit show "duck dynasty" comes forward tonight that trump's failure to call out neo-nazis is shocking and scary. and special glasses are not required for the president's favorite eclipse. we have that story. buried just , the answer to it all. ♪ we want to need each other. ♪

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tonight one of the stars of the popular tv show "duck dynasty" says that president trump needs to change. she says trump needs to do more to unify the country. many in the robertson clan did support trump's run for the white house. corey's husband even opened the first night for the republican national convention.

cnn's special correspondent sat down with corey robertson for an exclusive interview and asked her why she retweeted this, president obama's message about the violence in charlottesville. >> so say something was positive and that was such truth, it just felt like light was winning and i'm going to retweet that as well. >> your husband was one of the early supports of donald trump and you have publically said there were a lot of family discussions during the campaign. what were you concerned about? >> it was a stressful time. i think our whole country felt that, you know. and there is a lot of husbands and wives, you know, arguing around the dinner table and we certainly had plenty. and willy was outspoken about trump from the beginning, and i was not. >> in the end, can i ask you, did you vote for donald trump? >> you can ask me that.

i will say i did not make that decision until the day of the election. i really, really struggled with it. it was a very hard decision for me. and in the end i did. i chose to mainly because of hillary clinton's views on abortion. so i think that, you know, in the end a lot of people made the choice because they felt like the other wasn't the right candidate, rather than we had a really great choice. >> you didn't think donald trump was a really great choice? >> no. >> because? >> because i don't think he's leading our country to a place of like unity. i think he's in fight mode and he still is in fight mode and i'm like, you know, you won. like you won the election, so you need to get out of fight mode and let's get into like peace and unifying people.

>> talk to me about charlottesville. when you watched it, how >> i get emotional about it, because it was so sad to see that amount of hate being spewed out at people. and it was like, you know, you see these people, and these are just men that look like your neighbors, standing up there and just spewing this hate for other people, because of their skin color, or their nationality, or any of that. it's so counter to jesus' teachings and the way we're supposed to be. >> so then president trump comes out and it's not hard to say the right thing, but he doesn't do it. what does that say about donald trump that he seems to be so reluctant? >> yeah.

i don't know, you know? it was shocking. and scary. the fact that it didn't feel like he was willing to call them out. >> you don't think there's a moral equivalency between the two? >> no, absolutely not. i really can't defend him in any way on that. >> if you could send a message to donald trump right now, what would it be, about the way he's handled this? >> you know, say you were wrong, and stop fighting. i just feel like it's exhausting, like, why are you still fighting? what are you trying to prove at this point? let's just come together, and be a leader that unifies, that brings people together. and that's, i think, what we need right now. >> would you vote for him again? >> well, i think we'll just wait and see if that becomes an

issue. i don't know. i can't answer that right now. >> leaving it open there. you also asked cory about the removal of confederate statues. how did she respond? >> this may surprise some people, because she's from louisiana. but she absolutely thinks that the statues should come down. and she said, it's important to remember our history, so that we don't repeat it. but we don't need to revere it. and also, some people think they see the flag that her husband wears, that's an american flag, not a confederate flag. she has no interest in that. >> a lot of judgments now, and everybody's caricatured. but the family is very diverse, their children. >> true. these are their values to begin with. but also, they have six children, three adopted, one is biracial, half african-american. one is from taiwan. this is personal for them. >> that is a very american family.

jamie, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> great interview. jeanne moos with an eclipse tweeted by president trump that you will not find in any astronomy book. the watch me let if fly. this i gotta try weekenders. then we've got the bendy... ... spendy weekenders. the tranquility awaits. hanging with our mates weekenders and the it's been quite a day... ...so glad we got away weekenders. whatever kind of weekender you are, there's a hilton for you. book your weekend break direct at hilton.com and join the weekenders. (hard exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever,

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tonight on cnn, the dramatic story of elian gonzalez, the 5-year-old caught in an international custody battle nearly 20 years ago after his mother died at sea trying to get him to america. he is now 23 years old, and telling his story.

>> don't miss the cnn film elian, tonight at 10:00 right here on cnn. also tonight, a total eclipse of -- obama? here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: just when you thought it was safe to put away your eclipse glasses, prepare for the presidential reenactments. we've seen reenactments anywhere from cookies to cats. that's pepper the black cat obscuring toast. >> this is a joke, guys. >> reporter: even a pair of longs dodgers got into the act. right fielder covering a third baseman. and just like the real eclipse -- >> it's something to behold, anderson. >> reporter: white house staffers didn't create this, the

president just retweeted images, jerry said he found it on social media. he immediately started taking flack for an anti-semitic comment he made about jewish drivers. a journalist for "the atlantic" tweeted it was pretty generous for trump to compare obama to the sun. so he's the smaller thing that temporarily blocks the much bigger and brighter thing. please, my god, teach this man how analogies work. tweeted a host at "the daily beast." okay, it doesn't quite match the actual eclipse -- >> oh, my gosh! it's really exciting. >> reporter: that's what democratic senator bob kasey said about trump eclipsing obama. >> it's like third grade. >> reporter: when it comes to reenacting eclipses, stick with pugs over politics. don't stare straight at 24e78. you'll be blinded. by cuteness.

jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> what can't you find on twitter. i'm jim sciutto. "ac 360" starts right now. good evening. the white house showed itself unwilling or unable to admit the president is unable to reverse himself. the promise was about that wall. that big beautiful border wall which wouldn't cost taxpayers a thing because the president insisted mexico would pay for it. >> we will build the wall 100%. i promise, we will build the wall. and who's going to pay for the wall? who's going to pay for the wall? who?