he told reporters he wants between 2,000 and 4,000 national guard troops along the border with mexico. we'll continue to follow that story as well. barbara, thanks very. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts now. >> the president not only sticking by his epa chief but floating replaces attorney general jeff sessions with pruitt. this as more shocking accusations pile up against scott pruitt and the president just throwing out another bomb on china, talking about another $100 billion in tariffs. and trump breaking his silence tonight on stormy daniels. it's a busy night. let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, cnn has learned president trump talked

this week about promoting the embattled epa chief scott pruitt to replace jeff sessions as attorney general of the united states of america. late today aboard air force i, the president said pruitt is fantastic. >> i think that scott has done a fantastic job. i think he's a fantastic person. i just left,nd i just left coal and energy country and they love scott pruitt. >> at least five epa officials have been sidelined after raising serious concerns with pruitt about his spending and management according to the "new york times." that includes one of the first employees of the trump campaign itself. according the "times," he objected to a proposal for a

$100,000 a month private plane charter membership for pruitt. he also objected to a proposal to spend $70,000 for two desks in pruitt's priority office suite, yes, two desks for $70,000 u.s. dollars. he raised concerns about spending with pruitt directly and taking some of his concerns to the white house personnel office itself. what was the price for that? he's currently on administrative leave without pay. to be clear, the list of inappropriate spending is getting longer and the price tags bigger and the president is talking about promoting pruitt to replace sessions. president trump is standing by his man, even after this performance. >> president trump said he would drain the swamp. is draining the swamp renting an apartment from the wife of a washington lobbyist? >> i don't think that that's even remotely fair to ask that question. >> why did you go around the

president and white house to give pay raises to two staffers. >> i did not. my staff did and i found out about that yesterday and i did it. >> who did it? a career person or political person? >> i don't know. >> you run the agency. you don't know who did it? >> i found out about this yesterday. >> pruitt's answers speak for themselves, as do these reports of his egregious behavior, requesting a 24-hour security detail, security that extended to a family vacation to disn disneyland and the rose bowl, rocking in ing up $130,000 in and a $50 a night rate for a room and bypassing the white house to give large pay raises to two aides and it doesn't stop there. we're learning tonight about a request that lights and sirens be used to get pruitt around

town because he's often running late. and yet, let listen to president trump again. >> we're going to drain the swamp of corruption in washington, d.c. >> we're going to drain the swamp of corruption in washington, d.c. and stop government officials from trading favors at your expense. >> it is time to drain the swamp and that's what we're doing in washington dncht c. >> we'll see if he keeps his word when it comes to scott pruitt, the man tonight he said was fantastic. fantastic, apparently, to talk about promoting this week to replace jeff sessions as tor attorney general, who has accused himself from the russia investigation. jeff, the president is forced to address this report of promoting pruitt to attorney general. >> reporter: erin, he was. he quickly pushed back saying he has no plans to do that.

he believes scott pruitt is doing just fine where he is. but interesting we have seen the president say similar things for other cabinet secretaries, that there's no change planned and we know of course there's a long list of cabinet secretaries, senior advisers who are no longer here. i can tell you tonight based on a day's worth of reporting, erin, that the president was not pleased at all by that fox news interview. he called it an interesting interview. we know he was watching it just off the oval office. that was supposed to clean things up. it did not clean things up. but this is what is different about scott pruitt, erin. there are a variety of conservative supporters and forces who are urging the white house and the president to leave scott pruitt in place. not because of the ethics scandals, they don't care about that nearly as much as the policies that he is putting in place. he's rolling back the obama era administration regulations bit by bit here. it's one reason ted cruz, rand paul and other senators have come out in support of him.

they like la hewhat he's doing substantive matter. that's different than others who have been shoved aside because of overspending. the president has to decide if he doesn't like the bad headlines more than he likes the conservative support for him. that's why tonight we do believe he is on probably more solid ground than he was earlier in the week, but again, this is the president's choice day by day. he'll decide this on a wlhim. and it's difficult to confirm a new epa administrator. they think this will take months to do. some want to leave scott pruitt just where he is. >> and now everyone knows the president when it comes to this, he'll get perhaps a lot more pushback than he did the first time around. coming up, the vice ranking member of the house judiciary committee, congressman, thank you for your time tonight. you're one of the first to call for pruitt's resignation.

that is not happening at this moment and, in fact, the president is not pressuring him to resign. he is calling him fantastic person, fantastic job tonight on air force i and we're reporting talked about promoting him to attorney general this week, as all of this avalanche of ethical questions was being raised. your reaction. >> donald trump has a staff infection and scott pruitt is the poster boy for the most ethically corrupt and compromised administration of our lifetimes. it's remarkable that he's still in office, even with what we know just now and that the president is standing by him. the guy has the real estate deal of the century in d.c. paying $50 a night to the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist, whose firm has multiple clients with millions of dollars worth of business before the epa,

including exxon mobil and cheniere energy and stanley black & decker. he appointed to take over the super fund program a guy who had loaned him hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a house and to buy an interest in a baseball team. the guy has absolutely no history at all in environmental protection and he's head of the country's super fund program clean-up all because of this personal relationship and he's making i think $160,000 or $170,000 a year and he's been banned from doing banking in america by the fdic because of various transgressions. so this is just an ethical sewer. the only swamp in the country or wetland the epa chief has been protecting is the ethical swamp in washington. it's just amazing to us that this guy is still in office. dozens of members of congress, including several republicans, have calledresignation.

>> others, including rand paul, have come strenuously to his defense. we're learning several epa officials have been sidelined and suspended for raising concerns about pruitt's spending. the "new york times" is reporting a proposal for $70,000 for two desks in his office suite. the "new york times" says some of these concerns were brought directly to the white house personnel office. so all of this has happened in the past. we've seen people demoted, suspended without pay, reassigned to less prestigious roles and this has been happening over months. before any of this broke in the media. your reaction? >> this is the pattern. they're appointing foxes to supervise the hen houses and predictably there are conscientious public services but certainly the civil servants

who are blowing the whistle and then they retaliate against the government employees who complain about stuff, like pruitt spending more than $180,000 on travel, foreign travel, first class air tickets all over the country. he's the first epa chief in memory who travels with a complete security detail, which is just absolutely unprecedented what's going on here. >> so, you know, the top democrat on the oversight committee, of which you're also a member, is calling for a hearing with pruitt and his top aides next week. do you think pruitt will still be there next week or will the president fire him? >> here's what we're hearing are that they understand that he's at the center of this corruption scandal now and it's engulfing him and the rest of the cabinet and the president himself who is the emoluments king.

but he's doing precisely what he's been sent to do, which is to turn over epa regulation basically to the polluters. and they're dismantling the regulation to protect clean water and clean air in the country. if you're willing to give the store away, they'll stand by you no matter how much you're spending on foreign travel or fancy furniture or how much you're bringing in all of your buddies and business partners to hold high public offices. >> congressman, thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> and now patrick healy. this report from you tonight is pretty stunning. i hope everybody reads it. even as all of this was breaking, talking about promoting pruitt to take over sessions, whom he always criticizes to recusing from the russia investigation. he said when he's doing a fantastic job, he said "just came from coal and oil company

and they love him." is it worth it for him to stand by his man? >> he needs he is fox base and the fox base was going hard at pruitt and the base hits waste, fraud and abuse. $70,000 for two desks? >> it's a stunning number. >> this is what they're up again. you're going to think sort of the republican base getting uncomfortable with this guy, but here's the thing, scott pruitt has been from the republicans' point of view one of the most effective members of donald trump's cabinet for big business, for energy, for coal in a lot of those red states he cares about and including places look west virginia where they got a competitive senate seat held by a democrat now, they really like scott pruitt. they like what he's done with deregulation on the epa. so it's an interesting one because normally it's friday and tomorrow's friday, the weekend, the president is going to be in

d.c. usually you'd see the big shake-up come but this is a tough one. >> if $79,000 for a desk is a problem and $31,000 for a table and $100,000 for a door. so as goes pruitt and zinke and carson. and john kelly is saying get rid of him and the president is completely disregarding his chief of staff. >> that relationship changed at least a few weeks ago where donald trump has wanted for a long time to be free to make the decisions, especially on administration, that he wants to make. he knows that the narrative and the media that john kelly was brought in to bring the president to heel. you've seen the succession of people that donald trump has moved out. he moved out mcmaster, he moved out rex tillerson at the state department. scott pruitt has a constituency,

he's popular with republicans. mcmaster was never like a base guy. this is going to be trickier for trump. but john kelly, you know, he's sticking to the same message but if the president wants him to stay, pruitt may be hanging on. >> thank you very much. and next, donald trump unhinged today talking about conspiracy theories and mexican rapists. >> women are raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before. >> plus the president breaking his silence today on stormy daniels. for the first time opening his mouth directly about the payment. daniels' attorney says their case just got a whole lot better. and trump's plan to send troops to the border. why is the administration still stumped on the most basic question about the plan?

you're still here? we're voya! we stay with you to and through retirement. i get that voya is with me through retirement, i'm just surprised it means in my kitchen. so, that means no breakfast? voya. helping you to and through retirement. thisreally passionate about- i really want to help. i was on my way out of this life. there are patients out there that don't have a lot of time. finally, it was like the sun rose again and i was going to start fighting back now. when those patients come to me and say, "you saved my life...." my life was saved by a two week old targeted therapy drug. that's what really drives me to- to save lives.

you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase.

so if you have heart failure, your heart doesn't only belong to you. ask your doctor about entresto. it helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. entresto, for heart failure. tripadvisor compares prices from over 200 booking sites to time to bask... in low prices! find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. refreshing, isn't it?. tripadvisor.

break being news tonight, president trump deciding to go unhinged today literally throwing out his prepared remarks like that and instead saying things like this -- >> this was going to be my remarks. it would have taken about two minutes. that would have been a little boring. little boring.

in many places like california, the same person votes many times. you probably heard about that. they like to say that's a conspiracy theory. not a conspiracy theory, folks. millions and millions of people. >> it is false. let's just be clear. identity o"outfront" now, rob, e had a speech. he was ready to talk about something substantive and important, tax reform and his view of that was -- >> which was more exciting. >> it was definitely more exciting but now here we are talking about millions of people voting many times, which i just want to make sure everyone understands. republican after republican secretary of state in this country has said it is false, that the voter fraud commission set up by this president was disbanded because this is false and yet here we were today. >> you know what i think what he does, i'm not making excuses and i'm no psychologist but i think there's a kernel of truth or

it's a couple of steps ahead meaning i don't think there were two million people who voted illegally. but i do think because i was in the system, i was a county executive, i was involved in elections, i could see how easy it is to commit fraud. all you have to do in new york especially, fill out a form, you send it in, you don't show i.d. and it could happen. >> he brings up california. california had 948 cases of inspected fraud. 89 of them were seinvestigated. of those 89, 56 were alleged double votes. say 60% of the total, i'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. i'm going to say about 500. >> and that's giving him the benefit of the doubt. >> he said millions and millions. >> and that's wrong. >> i think it was a giant

gesture and one of respect to john kelly and his staff. i've got this piece of paper, here's what i think about it, this is boring. >> he's going to the crowd. >> he's playing to the crowd but it's also a gesture to his staff, you can't control me. week after week we talk to our republicans friends and they say i want to talk about tax reform, i want to talk about the economy. it's not erin or i who keep republicans from talking about that is correct it's donald trump himself. >> here's the thing. we have steven warren and robert reich coming on. the president decide he wants another hundred billion in china tariffs. >> that's a game of choker. he puts 50 billion in and china goes 50 and he goes up to 100. >> congressional republican

secretaries of state have said it is false, regardless if there are individual cases of fraud. he went to remind people that some of the people coming into the country are good people but a lot of them are rapists from mexico. he brought that up today instead of reading the prepared remarks. let me play it. >> remember my opening remarks at trump tower. i used the word rape. and yesterday it came out where this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before. >> okay. very off topic for today but they are defending this. sarah sanders is saying it's a well established fact that women and children are brutally victimized on the journey north. and they think it's not accurately reported and it could be worse. even though this is off topic today and he did not to create a

word echo -- is he right about raising this issue? >> he's right to raise this issue, erin, if he raised it in order to do something about it. this is sad because it is an issue where republicans and democrats do often get together. the issue of sex trafficking generally is horrible and specifically crossing the border, it is a real issue but what is he proposing to do about it? what did he say beside exciting the crowd and getting to call mexicans rapists again. >> he's been saying it for the whole campaign and since he's been in. the border wall to him is important for security reasons but the whole immigration process -- >> to keep out rapists? >> to keep out bad people coming in. if you see a whole bunch of people walking down your block and they come to your door, are you going to answer it or look through the peephole or ask who it is? that's what's happening in our country. we're kind of just letting them walk on our property and walk

in. >> new york it's not what's happening in our country. we've upped border security, president obama upped border security. >> you can't have 12 million -- >> we've got more people leaving than coming in across that border now. >> since he came in because he's talking about immigration. >> it started under president obama. >> not with these kind of numbers. >> it started under president obama. >> if you can control immigration, people coming in the way they're supposed to and not have to rent a coyote who is going to do bad things to people, that's unequivocal. we know that's happening. >> if you want to control immigration, you need to do it at the airports. that's how people come into this country -- >> they overstay their visas. >> exponentially that's how people come over the border. >> it's just demagoguery.

rape, rape, rape, rape. it just demagoguery. it's not how we stop it, how we find the coyotes -- >> but the topic is a meaningful one. >> we're talking about a debunked conspiracy theory with hundreds of people voting illegally and mexican rapists. next trump speaking out for the first time about stormy daniels. here he is. >> did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? >> the answer is next. and plus president trump deploying national guard troops to the border. will they make a difference? ed lavandera on the border talking to agents tonight. r 200 allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones. feel the clarity and live claritin clear.

digital transformation actually what does ithappen?o make do you just flip a switch... and presto your business is magically transformed? not quite. it takes a ground-breaking company like dell technologies. a family of seven technology leaders working behind the scenes to make the impossible... reality. for instance, we're helping to give cars the power to read your mind from anywhere. ♪ we're helping up to 40% of the nation's donated blood supply... to be redirected to the areas and people that need it most. and we're even developing technology to create a whole new vision for the blind. so while you might not see what we're doing... what we're doing is changing the way we all see the world.

magic can't make digital transformation happen... but we can. let's make it real. i'm all-business when i, travel... even when i travel... for leisure. so i go national, where i can choose any available upgrade in the aisle - without starting any conversations- -or paying any upcharges. what can i say? control suits me. go national. go like a pro.

if you'd have told me three years ago... that we'd be downloading in seconds, what used to take... minutes. that guests would compliment our wifi. that we could video conference... and do it like that. (snaps) if you'd have told me that i could afford... a gig-speed. a gig-speed network. it's like 20 times faster than what most people have. i'd of said... i'd of said you're dreaming. dreaming! definitely dreaming. then again, dreaming is how i got this far. now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network.

breaking news. tonight president trump breaking his silence on stormy daniels. you know, look, it's been months since the story broke and about two weeks since her interview aired on "60 minutes," literally about three months since "the wall street journal" broke the story that michael cohen paid the adult film star $130,000 in hush money days before the election. so tonight for the first time the president opens his own mouth on this and here's what he said. >> reporter: did you know about the $130,000 payment to stormy daniels? then why did michael cohen say this? >> you'll have to ask michael. >> reporter: do you know where he got the money? >> i don't know.

>> here with us, john dean. paul, michael avenatti responding saying our case just got that much better, we very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of mr. trump's famed lack of knowledge of the $130,000 knowledge. it's one thing to deceive the press and quiter er ianother to under oath. your reaction? >> there's nothing new in the avenatti statement, he's been saying that for a while. he has a federal judge who has warned him not to bring the emotion of an expedited motion to depose the president into court. >> what do you think about this fundamental point, that was the crucial point tonight was that the krezpresident answered the

question. now he has come out and said something. do you think he's telling the truth? >> it's very suspect that he's telling the truth. i think he didn't want to respond to a question, he got forced into answering, saying something, so he had little choice. but you know, erin, he's handled this whole thing differently than most of his perceived enemies, where he goes after them and he's on the offense. here he's been solely on the defense and i keep wondering what else is larger for him in this issue? does he have some sort of prenuptial at risk, some sort of postup ini inuptial at risk? there's something else going on here. >> stormy daniels had said this was con sensual. the crucial question here, though, paul is that the reason that this whole situation matters, there's multiple reason, putting aside the ethics and character of the president of the united states, was there

a violation of federal election commission law, and there's the risk with the precedent of bill clinton of whether the president of the united states could be called under oath and caught for lying on this. does it matter that now he's actually come out and spoken? now he has said something. now, it was to the pregs bss bu has said something. >> yes, he has. i think what we're seeing is the defense was laid out by michael cohen at the beginning. this was my money, i paid the money, it wasn't the president who paid the money. i think what he's setting up here is the defense that michael cohen was kind of given general authority to settle cases and deal with women who may have these sorts of allegations against him. i'm betting cohen knows where a lot of skeletons are buried and all of that may come out if the president has to testify under oath about this. so he will do everything

possible to avoid testifying under oath. >> john, michael cohen's spokesman david schwartz put out a statement in response to the president's comments. he said this is an accurate assessment of the facts, michael cohen made the payment to protect reputation, family and business, it had nothing to do with the election. now, of course lo, look, we all know full well michael cohen would have expected to be paid back but the president may not have known to your point, right? may have been a general authority and the president did never know about this specific payment and schwartz's argument is consistent, you know, here's the news he broke on this with us last week on this show. >> can you say unequivocally that the president was never in any way aware of the $130,000 or the agreement itself? >> the president was not aware of the agreement. at least michael cohen never told him about the agreement. i can tell you that. and you asked a whole bunch of questions so let me cover that.

you asked about 12 days before -- >> not aware about the agreement. what about the money? >> he was not aware about any of it. he was not aware. >> now, of course this caused a brouhaha because that would mean the nda is indeed invalid. does anything the president said tonight change this? >> i don't think anything changes. paul is correct in pointing out it going to take a while for this to proceed. the federal judge is not going to expedite it. it has to play out in its own time. the question is whether it will go to arbitration first and test the arbitration before it happens. so we're just inching a little bit along with this latest statement that could cause later jeopardy or the president. >> john dean will reb this but what trump needs here is what nixon had when he was accused of having a slush fund used and that was a dog named checkers. that got nixon off the hook but

trump doesn't have a dog. >> and of course with the clinton precedent we shall see. if he does get questioned by bob mueller, does this come up? is this a perjury issue that could cause a problem? and next, president trump wants to send thousands of troops to the border to bolster security, giving us a number tonight. >> i don't think sending troops is going to solve anything. >> we are live on the border divided by the president's decision. and breaking news literally moments ago trump throwing a major bombshell, considering another $100 billion in tariffs and markets after the close are plunging on the news. [burke] vengeful vermin.

seen it. covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ he's playno, with us. he's trying to tell us something. let's see what forensics thinks. sorry i'm late. what did i miss? wanna get away? now you can with southwest fares as low as 49 dollars one-way. yes to low fares with nothing to hide. that's transfarency. welcome to holiday inn! thank you! ♪ ♪ wait, i have something for you!

every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. save up to 15% when you book early at hollidayinn.com we have one to two fires a day and when you respond together and you put your lives on the line, you do have to surround yourself with experts. and for us the expert in gas and electric is pg&e. we run about 2,500/2,800 fire calls a year and on almost every one of those calls pg&e is responding to that call as well. and so when we show up to a fire and pg&e shows up with us it makes a tremendous team during a moment of crisis. i rely on them, the firefighters in this department rely on them, and so we have to practice safety everyday. utilizing pg&e's talent and expertise in that area

trains our firefighters on the gas or electric aspect of a fire and when we have an emergency situation we are going to be much more skilled and prepared to mitigate that emergency for all concerned. the things we do every single day that puts ourselves in harm's way, and to have a partner that is so skilled at what they do is indispensable, and i couldn't ask for a better partner. tonight president trump says he's looking at sending 2,000 to 4,000 national guard troops to the mexican border. the first number we've got i don't know. one of the first and only details that the administration has provided on trump's plan. earlier today trump's secretary of home land securiland securit have the answer to that basic question. >> any words on how many troops and when they'll be going? >> we'll be sending as many as we need -- >> no numbers?

>> no numbers. >> she didn't have them but he apparently did. are thousands of national guards needed? ed lavandera is on the border tonight. >> reporter: when night falls in laredo, texas, priscilla takes to the streets, under the name of "the crazy fat lady." she's irreverent, outspoken and rarely startled by anything she sees in this border town. >> we have our border patrol agents, at the corner of louisiana. >> reporter: like this high-speed chase that ended in a dramatic crash in the middle of a neighborhood. >> several were transported to the hospital. it's said they were ul all

undocumented. >> reporter: when president trump says he has to send troops because it a lawless place, what do you think? >> i think he's wrong. i think we have enough authority to cover our town. >> reporter: consistent of what is consistently ranked as having the lowest crime rates in the country so the idea of bringing in the national guard isn't popular among most residents. president trump says 2,000 to 4,000 national guard will be brought in until the wall is built. hector garza says the border patrol force is 2,000 agents short of being fully staffed. the national guard soldiers can fill the void. >> this is about saving american lives, saving our border patrol agent lives so they don't get assaulted, don't get killed and injured. >> we can see up to five miles?

>> reporter: webb county sheriff says a better way to boost border security is through technology. his department currently only has one camera, today capturing the movement of a rancher in new mexico. he's lobbying for more drones, sensors and cameras. >> this is only the camera sensor. we're missing the drones, the sensors and technology that could, you know, be deployed and better secure the border. >> reporter: so you'd much rather have this federal money for your technology instead of troops? >> absolutely. absolutely without a doubt. >> can't they do the job themselves? >> reporter: priscilla says border towns are now used to the intense presence of law enforcement, border patrol, stay tro -- state troopers can all descend on a crime scene. it's the way of life at the

border. >> you get used to everything that happens in this city. it's just normal for us. it's normal. >> reporter: erin, pentagon officials say the national guard soldiers will be working in roles that include aviation, engineering, surveillance, communication, vehicle maintenance and logistic support. that is probably not all, especially president trump alluding to the fact that he envisions military forces also being used at some point to build parts of the new border wall, even though he has long said it would be mexico that would be paying for it. erin? >> thank you very much, ed lavandera. showing you what they actually think on the ground. and next, breaking news, trump moments ago upping the trade war with china in a massive way. remember there were $50 billion and china said $50 billion back? the president of the united states said he wants to add another $100 billion against china. markets are plunging on that news already.

and jeanie moos on what trump and kim jong un have in common. but for cyber criminals it's plenty of time to launch thousands of attacks. luckily security analysts and watson are on his side. spotting threats faster and protecting his data with the most securely encrypted main frame in the world. it's a smart way to eat lunch in peace. sweet, oblivious peace.

it's a smart way to eat lunch in peace. you're trying to lower your very hwith a healthy diet... and exercise. and maybe even, unproven fish oil supplements. not all omega-3s are clinically proven or the same. discover prescription omega-3 vascepa. the one that's this pure... and fda approved. look. vascepa looks different... because it is different. it's pure epa. vascepa, along with diet, is clinically proven to lower very high triglycerides by 33% in adults, without raising bad cholesterol. that's pure power. proven to work. vascepa is not right for everyone. do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish,

have liver problems... or other medical conditions and about any medications you take, especially those that may affect blood clotting. 2.3% of patients reported joint pain. it's clear. there's only one vascepa. ask your doctor about pure epa prescription vascepa. ♪ an expectation to surpass. burden. but that's the point. ♪ bring us doubt,

and we'll bring you the first car with true hands free driving for the freeway. bring us a challenge, and we'll reinvent what it means to own a car. ♪ bring us all your expectations, and we'll defy them. again, and again, and again. he gets the best deal on the perfect hotel by using. tripadvisor! that's because tripadvisor lets you start your trip on the right foot... by comparing prices from over 200 booking sites to find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. saving you up to 30%! you'll be bathing in savings! tripadvisor. check the latest reviews and lowest prices. breaking news, dow futures down more than 400 points after

president trump said he wanted another $100 billion in tariffs against china. it's a pretty stunning thing compared with where we are. right now, stocks in the u.s. are down about 400 points. they were up 240 at the close in the belief that this was all a bunch of barking and no biting. now down 400. we'll see how asian markets open in the next hour. out front, steven moore, and bob reich and the author of the new book "the common good". steve, what the heck is going on here? >> you know, this is a significant new development, if it is true, and i don't have verification of that, yet. but if trump is talking about the potential of another $100 million of tariffs on chinese goods, because what's happened in the last couple days, erin, as you know is larry kudlow, the new chief economist for donald trump basically calmed the

markets significantly by saying there's not going to be a trade war with china. and then the market went way up, as you know. now there is a new worry about a trade war. i have to say, i find myself in general agreement with where trump is on this. you can't have trade with a country that cheats and steals. they asab saber rattling, facilitating the north korea situation with respect to the nuclear weapons. can you really have free trade with a country that's cheating and stealing and is an adversary of the united states? >> so let me just be clear. there's a statement out from the president. and in it, he said, in light of china's unfair retaliation, i have instructed the trade representative to consider whether $100 billion in new tariffs would be appropriate. just to make sure everyone understands, that's why the markets are dropping so sharply. >> i'm not entirely surprised

about this. trump is a counter puncher, and what instigated this is when china said a few days ago that they were going to start imposing additional tariffs on americans. >> you can go back to how it started, and that's a fair conversation. but in the beginning when he said $50 billion. and china said $50 billion. we are all aware of what's happening here. so what should happen here, bob reich? >> well, here's the danger. the markets are responding to the danger. the danger very clearly is a trade war. the danger was not that great initially when the, well, the bluff was about aluminum and steel, then it not more serious when it went up to $50 billion, $60 billion on trump's side and the chinese, remember, responded by the same amount. >> yes. >> of tariffs. they're going to respond the exact same way now.

they're going to say, okay, you want to play that way, counter puncher, we're going to counter punch with $100 billion tariffs on american goods, american companies and workers will be hurt. the big global companies won't be hurt, they can get into the china market from anywhere around the world. the real people who are going to be hurt are the american workers and small business. when steve talks about counter puchbl punching. this is fine for a schoolyard, but where there's no adult supervision, this becomes dangerous. >> the president, the reason the market went up is because people believed larry kudlow and wilber ross when they said this is a negotiation, and basically, don't worry, we're going to use this as a fwoeshtsing tool and it's not going to happen. then the president came out and

said $100 billion. he's undermining what his own team just said and raising a question. the more you keep throwing numbers ots the numbers out there and you don't do any of it, do you lose any credibility? >> erin, without any negotiation going on. >> here's the point. are we going to continue to allow china's bad behavior? and fine, i mean, i've talked to a lot of people in the last week, erin. liberals and conservatives say it's about time a president got tough with china. this should have happened -- >> what about this issue of wilbur ross coming out and saying something different? it does look like he's undermining him. he's out there trying to sell this $50 billion, and now tonight, boom! let's throw $100 billion more. >> steve moore, can i just say something? there are smart ways of negotiating and stupid ways of negotiating. you don't want to put yourself in a position of basically

having to lose your credibility if you have to back down. you never want to be in this position. >> that's thing, bob. he's not -- >> steve, he really is. he already is in that position. >> so you think, steve, we're getting $150 billion in tariffs? not backing down? >> we have an example of a success of trade's policy with respect to the threat of north korea. >> the markets are not being stupid, steve. >> we shall see what happens. this is just the beginning. obviously, the salvo, we'll see what happens with actual markets. thank you both. and next, when presidents meet the fashion police. jeanne moos has the story. over the years, paul and i have met regularly with our ameriprise advisor. we plan for everything from retirement to college savings. giving us the ability to add on for an important member of our family.

welcome home mom. with the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. if you have moderate to severe or psoriatic arthritis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, 75% clearer skin is achievable with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment.

other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ♪ otezla. show more of you.

internet providers promise business owners a lot. let's see who delivers more. comcast business offers fast gig-speeds across our network. at&t doesn't. we offer more complete reliability with up to 8 hours of 4g wireless network backup. at&t, no way. we offer 35 voice features and solutions

that grow with your business. at&t, not so much. we give you 75 mbps for $59.95. that's more speed than at&t's comparable bundle, for less. call today.

tonight, what's going on with president trump's pants? here's jeanne moos. >> take it in about two minutes. >> reporter: he's got a big personality, big hair, and now he's got big pants? vanity fair asked the pressing question, what is going on with trump's pant legs. on a couple of recent occasions, the president has been photographed with what the magazine calls enormous pant legs, the circumference of a healthy doddler healthy toddler's head. is something happening? is the president gaining weight, losing height or just in need of a tailor? he wrote, i wear brioni suits which i buy off the rack. remember the last flap over presidential pants? >> the mom jeans?

>> but if you're not a mom you're -- >> dad jeans. >> reporter: whatever you call them, they're not president trump's problem. >> he has incredibly good genes. >> reporter: but there's one guy with a leg up on president trump. forget nuclear button size. look at these babies. one twitter user launched the dear leader with the caption, final inflation test for the new kim jong blooalloon. #kim jong un trouser watch. another likened his limbs to inflatable wind dancers. forget the arms race, we're talking a legs race. one president trump would probably rather lose. at least when the politifact pants on fire meter lights up over the president's latest untruth. he'll have more pants to burn,

and if it's money you want to burn, these jogging pants will set you back $50. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> ooh, thank you for joining us. anderson starts now. good evening. we begin tonight with breaking news on the ground and aboard air force one. the president breaking his silence about stormy daniels, speaking about the $130,000 payment his lawyer made to daniels. we also have new reporting on scott pruitt. the president has been considering pruitt to replace jeff sessions. the president denies it. the president also returned to key campaign themes today. immigration, alleged voter fraud and more, uttering as you'll see, a whole string