daniels problem days before the election. also are house republicans working hand in glove with the white house to undermine the russia probe. the new and harder white house line on firing james comey, the president didn't needs a reason. we begin with what giuliani said and what the rest of the white house and the president's legal team knew about it. it's safe to say is the word blindsided a correct word to apply here for how the rest of the legal team is viewing this in the white house? >> surprised, caught flat footed. that is how they felt, members of the president's legal team, not only white house officials, that's how they felt as they watched rudy giuliani make those comments on fox news last night, this is according to multiple sources, speaking to our team. and really, you know, i think members of the legal team in talking to sources who are close to them, they were really taken aback, because they had no idea as they watched giuliani, they feared he was winging it, he

wasn't fully prepared. when he appeared on fox news. and if he had devised a plan with the president, he had not consulted with other members of the legal team. and they believe that it only made matters worse for the president, as you know, he veered off course from the president's previous comments involving the stormy daniels payment by michael cohen. it's as if the players are executing the plays on their own, referring to trump and giuliani. another source i spoke with today called it a side show, and the concern here with the legal team, this could be the new normal as rudy giuliani continues to talk to the media and do these type willings of interviews. >> has giuliani said anything else on that front? >> he said it was coordinated carefully. you won't see daylight between me and the president. pointing to trump's tweets in support of what he had said.

giuliani was brought on board the legal team to publicize trump's message that he had not been treated fairly. hillary clinton had received better treatment from investigators. and james comey should not be believed. he was also tasked with negotiating with the special council's team over a possible interview with the president. giuliani up ended the strategy last night according to sources. his comments poured fuel on the stormy daniels case, which is a focus in the new york based investigation of cohen, not a case giuliani is a part of, anderson. >> want to bring in the panel. from a legal standpoint, you think the most significant thing that giuliani said is about the importance of the timing of michael cohen making this deal. he said it this morning, i believe it was on fox and friends. saying this did have a lot to do with the election which is something michael cohen and his

supporters said had nothing to do with the selection. >> if you paid money to help donald trump elected president, those are campaign expenditures, there are requirements for how much you can spend if you're an outsider or if you're the candidate yourself, how and whether you report it. if the president didn't report it, and it was a campaign expenditure. i don't know if it's criminal or civil. most sec laws are handled civilly. >> do you see it the same way? >> no, i think what giuliani was saying, it had the impact that it may have had some impact on the election. i believe there's not an sec violation here, just because someone does something and it has an impact on the campaign if that's not a coordinated effort,

it's not a campaign activity. it's not as easy as you say. >> nothing is easy about this whole situation. >> wouldn't this be a coordinated effort? there was coordination in getting the payments made, sending things to the trump organization for michael cohen. >> that's an important question, one of the things we didn't get. we still don't have clarity on what the president knew and when the president knew it. >> michael cohen missed two deadlines to pay stormy daniels because he couldn't get ahold of trump in the home stretch of that campaign. the fact that the payment was ultimately made raises questions on whether or not he got ahold of trump. >> michael cohen had complained that president trump hadn't paid him back yet. >> that too. you're still supposed to file a

campaign finance disclosure. >> today sarah huckabee sanders was put in an odd spot she was asked if president trump filed a fraudulent filing, she said, i don't know. >> the idea that michael cohen has this portfolio of this kind of situation that he has free reign to deal with, and access to i guess in this case, he did have access to cash. a retainer from the president, to deal with the stuff, he doesn't have to tell his client what he's dealing with or if it's been resolved. >> if that's true, think about how terrible it is. i am such a bad person, i have a big bucket of cash and someone to hand it out to get me out of trouble. i think that's normal. it's probably illegal. but if it's not it's still terrible. i remember when rudy giuliani was a force to be reckoned with, this guy was bad i mean, he was

the prosecutor, he put the mob away. he's wandering all over the stage stepping on rakes and doesn't even know it. and so if this is the guy that's going to save donald trump, i think donald trump is in trouble. >> has he been doing harm for his client? >> i am not a lawyer. the pr strategy, i think is questionable. i'm not sure i would send him out there like this, particularly before the best lawyer starts work. and that's emmett flood. they've hired emmett flood this week. my advice would be, let emmett get to the office, and let him take over. let him start to dictate the strategy. this is the guy that ought to be calling the shots. some of this is not legal. whether the president ever gets indicted is questionable. if the democrats take the house, he's probably going to face

impeachment. there's a public opinion component, and i think that's what they're trying to manage. >> keep sending rudy giuliani out as often as possible? >> keep him on 24/7. people started wondering if he was okay, because he was so unhinged and saying things that were so bizarre. last night was that rudy giuliani as opposed to the rudy giuliani who was the subject of the book, emperor in the city. he seems to be the trump of the legal team which is very dangerous for the legal team. who knows if emmett is going to handle this. i wants to make a comment about sarah huckabee sanders, i almost feel her pain.

she knew what she was getting into when she took this job. i will say if i were her i would quit. >> why? >> what trump did last night. let's put aside his disdain for the american people every time he lies to them. the disdain and the disrespect that he showed not just his legal team, but the communications team, the person that goes out every day to represent him, and the government of the united states at that podium and then put her in a situation where she had to say, after she has already been seen as someone who lies to the press, now she's seen as someone who's completely out of the loop. her credibility has been irrecably ruined, i believe. >> i think there needed to be from the beginning a legal spokesman to handle these issues. they shouldn't have been handled from the podium to begin with.

>> early on they said, we're going to refer all this legal stuff to the outside. and that never happened. >> i think that's part of the strategy with rudy giuliani. i'm not sure it's happening as effectively as they wanted it to. >> emmett flood knows what he's doing, and he's going to be able to coordinate this effort in a systematic and methodical way to get it to a conclusion. >> march 10th, when maggie haber man reported that the president was talking to emmett flood about hiring him for the legal team. the president went after her saying this is absolutely fake news, this is not true, i'm satisfied with john dowd and ty cobb. two of them are gone. >> that's a problem for the white house. the more he says fake news, into

stormy affair, no collusion, the more you get -- he's proven wrong, there are parallels to the russian investigation. >> i want to 34r5i what he said on hannity last night, this was on hannity last night. listen to what he said. >> that money was not campaign money. sorry, i'm giving you a fact now that you don't know. it's not campaign money. no campaign finance violation. >> they funneled it through the law firm? >> funneled through a law firm and the president repaid it. >> oh, i didn't know that he did? >> yeah. >> there's no campaign finance law? >> zero. >> just like every -- sean, everybody was nervous about this notice very beginning. i wasn't. i knew how much money donald trump put into that campaign. i said, $130,000 he's going to do a couple checks for $130,000.

when i heard cohen's retainer of 35,000 when he was doing noll work for the president. i said, that's how he's repaying it, with a little profit and a little margin for paying taxes for michael. >> do you know the president didn't know about this? >> i believe that's -- he didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as i know. he knew about the general arrangement that michael would take care of things like this. >> who are these people? >> he said, you see, he's not doing any work, but he's giving him $35,000 a month? who does that. i'm not in private practice, i know something about lawyers, that's not what people do. >> isn't that a sly way of reimbursing someone for a payoff without actually -- >> yeah, if you're in the mafia. >> he was doing a lot more than just paying off folks. he must have -- >> the president --

>> right. >> in addition to that. i wouldn't sing sarah's demise all that soon. and i wouldn't. the reason for that is, we don't know what the president knew, when the president knew it, as it related to the payments and when the payments were made. we don't know any of those facts. >> giuliani said he only knew about it ten days ago. >> we know he watches television about when this whole story broke and the president watched it, he never picked up the phone when this lawsuit was filed against him. to at least say, hey, what are we doing? >> did i knee about this? should i pay her he waited until 10 days ago? >> does that -- does anyone believe that. >> we haven't heard from the white house or the president on that i think we -- >> yes, we have. he lied. he said on air force one, i don't know anything about it. that's a lie. >> the way that rudy giuliani

laid this out, looks to me as if they went back and said, okay, what story can we make up with the facts that are here, the facts that we're paying cohen $35,000 a month for a retainer, he's not doing much, let's figure out -- what we can say to fit this square peg into this round hole. >> the key event was the search of michael cohen's office, that was the signal that the fbi was going to find out how the money moved around. he undoubtedly has -- i don't know if it was electronic or checks, that's what prompted them to come up with this explanation of how the money changed hands. >> we're going to have more after a quick break. including what giuliani said regarding nazi troops. u more for your thing.

your letting go thing. your sorry not sorry thing. your out with the old in with the new, onto bigger and better thing. get the live tv you love. no bulky hardware. no satellite. no annual contract. try directv now for $10/mo for 3 months. more for your thing. that's our thing. visit directvnow dot com you won't find relief here. congestion and pressure? go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray relieves 6 symptoms... claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. ordinary stains say they 2 can do the job, s. but behr premium stain can weather any weather.

behr premium semi-transparent stain and sealer, overall #1 rated, weathers it all. find our most advanced formula exclusively at the home depot. with dell small businessout your technology advisors you get the one-on-one partnership you need to grow your business. the dell vostro 15 laptop. contact a dell advisor today.

jbut hey, it's a fun challenge.s a challenge. and our tempur-pedic helps us make it all work. it gives us the best nights sleep ever. i recommend my tempur-pedic to everybody. tempur-pedic is the most highly recommended bed in america. now ranked highest in customer satisfaction with mattresses by jd power. and number one in comfort, support and value. experience the superior sleep of tempur-pedic for yourself. visit tempurpedic.com to find your exclusive retailer today. when it comes to travel, i sweat the details.

late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. the money things that rudy giuliani has said in the last 24 hours or so, one item is the search of michael cohen's search of the offices. that is not how mayor giuliani described it. >> the only possible violation there would be, is it a campaign

finance violation, which would result in a fine, not storm troopers coming in and breaking down his apartment and office. >> back now with the panel. when did republicans start to call american law enforcement storm troopers. had this been said by a democrat in the obama administration, understandably, people would have been offended. >> this does point to a deeper set of problems, which is systematically you're having a huge section of the american people cleved off and we don't talk about america's government any more, which we're all supposed to respect. we talk about the deep state. it's the same thing, it's a public servant's trying to make america work. sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad, they're human, the idea that you now have tens of millions of people who are buying into this rhetor rhetoric. it did not raise eyebrows on the station it was aired on, because daze a constant refrain that

america's government is the enemy of the american people. that treasonous language being normalized is as dangerous as anything we're seeing. >> there are a landful of people in the fbi who have done things that they shouldn't have done. mccabe, it is not -- it is not -- comey has had a rough ride the last couple weeks, in my opinion, in terms of his own image. to call all the agents storm troopers is out of bounds. rerespect law enforcement, state troopers, that's the party i've been a part of for a long time, i don't like that kind of language, frankly, and i wish they wouldn't use it, i think it's perfectly appropriate to point out when fbi people or any other government people have done bad things, no one's above a criticism or the law, to heed that language, i don't -- it's not right. >> can i say something now, i agree with you 100%, when african-americans raise the point about law enforcement, you

got good ones and bad ones. if you say as an african-american i have a problem with how law enforcement is operated. donald trump will come after you. the same people who will go after african-americans, who are burying children, will turn around and say fbi agents executing a lawful warrant are nazis. >> and anything to that -- i'm glad you're saying, you don't agree with that, where are the other republicans? where is the republican leadership that is coming out to say that is not appropriate. where is mitch mcconnell, where is paul ryan saying, this is dangerous to our democracy, in order for this country to continue to be a successful american experiment, we need to have a democracy that works. we need to have law enforcement and democratic institutions that people actually have faith in, and what the president of the united states is doing is trying

to den great and peel off to your point, peel off faith in those institutions because he believes those institutions are going after him. >> i would add that what he said was just wrong. michael cohen himself said the raid was fine. everyone was respectful. this actually shows how rudy giuliani's role is more on the pr side as we talked about, than the legal side. the same thing about paul manafort. they broke down his doors. i used to deal with the mafia, i don't know if he's been reading court filings, but paul manafort's raid was not a predawn no knock warrant. the special council made that clear in the last few weeks, it seems like he's not even familiar with his own clients case, he also made this statement that the president can't be subpoenaed because the president can't be distracted. i thought that was an interesting political argument. >> is this just, he's being paid to lie, to gin things up?

>> i think he believes every word. i think giuliani -- >> he used to be the law and order guy. >> he used to be the law and order guy, he used to be a moderate republican. he's changed completely. he -- when he was mayor of new york city -- i mean, this is a diver diverse, pretty liberal city. and he won two terms, was it two or three? two terms, i think. he lost his first race and won two terms. he's a very successful mayor, ever since 9/11, he's turned into a super authoritarian, his speeches during the campaign, he was incredibly irresponsible talking about hillary clinton, and this is who he is. >> even for an authoritarian, odd that he's calling the arms of the state, the storm troopers. >> it's part of our tribal politics now, if you're republican now and respectfully, there is a package of views that

includes disrespect for the fbi, or at least the part of the fbi that's investigating donald trump. >> i don't think that's true. there are bad apples in law inforcement at all levels of law enforcement. >> and in this case, there's no way you should be characterizing fbi agents that go in there and do a job every day like that. >> and how many elected republicans. >>? you have two republicans sitting on this panel. >> elected republicans that have to run, denounce giuliani for calling the fbi storm troopers. >> zero. there's a new report about information being shared with the white house 37 teria, yet it's very gentle on the denture itself. polident consists of 4 powerful ingredients that work together to deep clean your denture in hard to reach places.

that work together i have no idea how we're going to get through this. follow me. unitedhealthcare has the people and tools to help guide you through the confusion. well that wasn't so bad at all. that's how we like it. unitedhealthcare.

does your business internet provider promise a lot? let's see who delivers more. comcast business gives you gig-speed in more places. the others don't. we offer up to 6 hours of 4g wireless network backup. everyone else, no way. we let calls from any of your devices come from your business number. them, not so much. we let you keep an eye on your business from anywhere. the others? nope! get internet on our gig-speed network and add voice and tv for $34.90 more per month. call or go on line today. . the president has been complaining on twitter about a rig rigged legal system. a new report suggests that house republicans may have an ulterior motive for getting the documents, so they can hand emthem over to the white house.

the times sources say rosen stein and top fbi officials were using their positions to gain oversight on information so it could be shared with the white house. >> it depends on what we're talking about. there is no doubt a number of republicans have been devoting themselves to the defense of the president, we've seen that in any number of instances, they've been making what i would characterize as earn appropriate asks to the justice department. for better or worse, the justice department has said yes. they demanded and i had an opportunity to review an ec. which was how the original investigation was established and they demanded to see the fisa, the full fisa applications for the wiretaps that became so controversial. ordinarily the department of justice would say, no, we're not

going to show that to you. it's part of an ongoing investigation. and i can't get inside the deputy attorney general's head, but in this case, the deputy attorney general said fine, come take a look, i'm not sure that's a good precedent for the justice department, that's what happened. these guys have gotten access to a remarkable amount of information about an ongoing investigation, and they're asking for more and more and more and more so they can do what they've been doing for a year now, which is try to cast aspirgss on this investigation. you. >> don't know of any specific incidence of them sharing it with the white house? >> the quick answer to your question is no. remember how this craziness started over a year ago, when devin nunes announced he had evidence and he was going to brief the president on the evidence that the president had been wiretapped by barack obama. you remember that over a year ago. it turned out he got that information from the white house. so again, this is sort of

reminiscent of how this whole thing got kicked off. >> a rigged system, they don't want to turn over documents to congress, what are they afraid of, why so much redacting. why so much equal justice, i will have no choice but to grant the powers of the presidency. rosen stein is under increasing pressure to hand over documents to the president. >> it's not just to rosen stein, it's to your rank and file member of the department of justice, like the rest of us, are conscious of their careers, and conscious of the fact that their bosses boss has a dark interest in the outcome of the work that they are doing. so the pressure being placed on the department of justice now is outrageous. i'm a member of congress, i understand the importance of oversight. i understand the importance -- and let me harkin back to something else, steve bannon and cory luan dow ski to tell their stories, which by the way they are fuse to do, with ridiculous

claims of executive privilege. we're talking about an ongoing investigation here, and they're demanding information about an ongoing investigation, harking back to, you know, what many consider jim comey's mistake, discussing prior to the election, the investigation of hillary clinton. >> you know, on the stormy daniels issue, all along, michael cohen and his supporters said there was nothing political about a payment to her opinion according to rudy giuliani's comments to fox news, that may not be the case. do you have any doubt that this was linked to the election, that -- because the nondisclosure agreement was signed 11 days before the election? >> well, you know, i think it certainly looks that way, and i'm sort of very intrigued for two reasons about rudy giuliani. the first reason is, for a law and order republican to be calling the fbi storm troopers, to be joining this effort to throw mud on this storied institution, really breaks my

heart. but look, here's i think what rudy giuliani was doing, if a third party did something and spent money to assist the trump campaign, and that wasn't reported, that would be a crime. if the candidate himself -- if i for example -- i can make -- i'm the only person who can make unlimited contributions to my own campaign. if the candidate himself is doing it, it's a slightly different legal situation, than somebody who is subject to limits is doing it, i think this was a move -- i don't know how it's playing in the white house. this was a move to reduce the legal jeopardy that michael cohen and donald trump are in. >> appreciate your time. >> coming up, something the congressman brought up, the giant wheel of changing explanations for why the president cut him loose, landed on another one from the white house. the newest explanation plus a look back at some of the other ones as well next. delivery should look like this. crisp leaves of lettuce, freshly-made dressing. clean food that looks this good,

eaten at your desk. panera. food as it should be. now delivered. when it comes to travel, i sweat the details. late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. the commute is worth it.me, the more you know you and that john deere tractor... you can keep dreaming up projects all the way home. it's a longer drive. but just like a john deere, it's worth it. dray, when he was younger, he loved to smile; and we knew he would need braces because his teeth were coming in funny. this is the picture that was on the

front page of the newspaper. all you can notice is the braces! then, once he got to michigan state, he broke the retainer! my bottom teeth, they were really crooked, and i just wasn't getting braces again. then i discovered smiledirectclub. it's easy to just grab it and go and i can change it on the road. i did photoshoots with my aligners in and you can't see them. a smile is a first impression, that's why i think having a great smile is so important. i recommend my tempur-pedic to nigheverybody.ver. the most highly recommended bed in america. now ranked highest in customer satisfaction with mattresses by jd power. visit tempurpedic.com to find your exclusive retailer today.

today's white house breaching was another step in the ever changing explanations of why president trump fired james comey. today's explanation is just because he could. >> why did you fire james comey? >> he wasn't doing a good job many regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. i said to myself, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story. >> he fired comey because comey would not among other things say that he wasn't a target of the vision.

>> was comey fired because he wouldn't tell others that he wasn't a target of the investigation. >> once again, i am not going to comment on ongoing litigation. >> he was fired for lying, leaking and politicize the fbi. there are a number of reasons james comey was fired. the bottom line is, he doesn't have to justify his decision. >> back now with the panel. you're saying that he doesn't have to justify? >> he does not. the best answer to this question has always been a three-word answer, because i can. it's been the law in this country since 1968 that the president can hire and fire the fbi director, just like he can most other executive branch employees. when you say, we did it for this reason and that reason. you take away the best answer, which is because i can. sarah had it right, and that's where we need to stay. >> you think he can fire him if someone gives him a suitcase full of cash to fire him, that would be okay? >> of course not and it's a ridiculous assertion. but the president of the united states can fire the fbi director

or any other executive branch employee. my point is, when you try to start adding layers of reasoning behind it, you muddle the clear legal issue, which is the president has the authority to do this. >> no, you don't. >> no, you don't. because the president is not allowed to act out of a corrupt motive, in firing someone who is investigating him. i mean this is the key issue here, and that's why what giuliani said yesterday was not an explanation, it was a confession. it was giuliani saying, the reason he fired him is that he wouldn't ex-cull pate the man who fired him. >> you believe that the 1968 law about hiring and firing the fbi director can be interrupted by certain issues? i mean, to me -- >> absolutely. >> corruption. >> do you know for a fact that there was corruption happening here? >> that's what this investigation is about? >> you know, it's interesting,

because i have done employment law. and bosses can fire people. often -- and that employee, a boss can fire someone for any reason or no reason at all. but not an illegal reason. so you can't fire someone just because they're a woman, you can't fire someone -- there are limits even on that, literally, any boss can fire anybody for any reason. not an illegal reason, and i think that's what we're dealing with here, if you have a corrupt motive, you're firing someone to conceal a crime, you can still get in trouble. >> and anderson, when you can do a relate electrospective, which is what you just did on all of the various reasons as to why this president and this administration have given in terms of why they fired comey, there is clearly not an innocent reason why he did that. because you wouldn't have to be making up different reasons as to why you did something. if you did it on the up and up. >> let's remember that the reason why he fired him and he went on nbc and said, i fired

him because of the russia investigation. and that's what prompted the mueller investigation. >> i understand scott's point, jim. why does the reasoning keep changing, though. if they've gone down the road and given reasons. >> it sounds like there's a p panaply of reasons. in the beginning, it was because he treated hillary clinton badly, and the next day was russia. leaking is one that's come up of late. >> all of those things are reasons to relieve the fbi director of his duties. >> because he's investigating you, is that a reason? >> that's not it. >> he said that was the reason. >> he said i was going to fire him anyway. that's what he said. he didn't say that's the reason i fired him, i was going to fire him anyway. he was given a reason by rod rosen stein. given a reason by rod rosen steen and acted on that reason. he could say he was going to fire him anyway, but he was given a reason, and it was

justifiable. >> one of the reasons that wasn't played on that clip but is very interesting. the treatment of hillary clinton. one of the things that president trump's campaign continues to talk about is that hillary clinton's investigation ended before she was interviewed. this is the same argument in the reverse that they're trying to make with the president now that he shouldn't be interviewed. you should conclude an investigation before the president -- the person involved is interviewed. i don't know if that will come back to bite them politically, but legally it could. >> who's making the argument he shouldn't be interviewed? >> all of them? >> all of them. >> last night, rudy giuliani said, the president has to focus on north korea. >> he's talking about scope and timing. and a number of different things as it relates to a negotiation. >> those things are fine. you may have missed it, he said something that i thought was quite remarkable. he said the president of the united states can't be subpoenaed because he can't be distracted.

well, the supreme court has never said that, i tell you what, you got a president of the united states that is distracted by everything. he's distracted by fox news, golfing. the -- he's the least best president too try to put before the supreme court and say, this guy can't be distracted. he can't be not distracted. >> there's an open question as to whether a grand jury subpoena can be served on the president. that's an open legal question. >> it's pretty close to a closed issue. i think. >> not in materials, but in 1997, the supreme court said in the paula jones case, bill clinton made all these same arguments, i'm too busy, i have national security concerns, the supreme court said, too bad, you have to give a deposition. now, the courts always say the grand jury investigations are more important than civil cases, the idea that they would say oh, you don't have to submit to a grand jury subpoena seems extremely unlikely. >> we have to take a break there, thanks, everybody, to be sure, join van for the van jones

show, at a special day and time tomorrow night. he'll talk to actress and activist tracey ellis ross, tomorrow night 10:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. a story we really want you to see, a child slapped on camera as officials try to hield child workers from cnn cameras. where it's happening. get your groove on with one a day 50+. ♪ get ready for the wild life ♪ complete multivitamins with key nutrients that address 6 concerns of aging, including heart health, supported by b-vitamins. your one a day is showing. with expedia, you can book a flight, hotel, car, and activity... ...all in one place. everything you need to go. expedia -i think it'll look really good without the stripes. behr marquee presents: it's got potential.

margo and sam had a vision, brought to life in one coat. whatever your home may hand you, behr through it, in one coat. behr marquee, #1 rated interior paint. guaranteed in 1,000 plus colors. find it exclusively at the home depot. non-drowsy claritin 24 hour relief when allergies occur. day after day, after day. because life should have more wishes and less worries. feel the clarity and live claritin clear.

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. tonight a cnn investigation has uncovered a dirty secret. at the heart of the electric vehicles many people like to drive. children are working where cobalt is mind and later used as a key component for the car's batteries. over a quarter of the mineral is

mine ed by hand. what they found was disturbing. >> christian and his friends are digging 20 meters down, taking turns at 24 hour shifts. there's no light and little oxygen, what they bring up is precious. this is the start of a supply chain leading all the way from the mine to your luxury battery powered car. there's growing evidence that the cobalt supply chain uses child labor. companies say they are working hard to verify the source of all the hand mine ed ar tuesdayenal

coba cobalt, but it's a difficult task. >> we're here to follow the supply klain and see if we can do it for them. we arrive at the mine where co bolt ore is washed to grind it down. we've been giving permission to film here. as soon as they see us, officials began to scare the children away. not all of them are fast enough. one young boy staggers under his load. his friend sees the camera and drops his sack. they clearly have been warned. a mining ministry official spots this boy carrying cobalt has been captured by our cameras. his response is, brutal. later we ask him why he struck the child. he refused to answer. >> we have now witnessed for ourselves that children are

working here, they are involved with the production of the cobalt. we've seen that product unloaded on to a variety of different vehicles many i'm headed to this car one of the main cobalt selling markets. >> this is where the co balgts is bought by brokers, it's where it first entered the supply chain. tesla says its cobalt sources are audited and issued with certificates of origin. they wouldn't say from where or how. but there's no sign of certification here. >> none of the brokers ask where the cobalt is from or how it was mined. ar tuesdayenal output tripled last year. cobalt is skyrocketing in price.

supplying your green electric car comes at a cost. we have permission to film here, but local mining officials once more try to stop us. >> the producer captures the scene on a hidden camera. the government says it's working to combat child labor, but the same officials tasked wi eed investigating the supply change are the ones trying to stop our investigation. a police officer arrives and we're told we need to leave for our own safety. we do. but not before we spot a red truckloaded up and leaving the very same market. it matches the distinctive red of the trucks used by one of the main international cobalt supply firms. cbm. we decide to follow it.

we can't afford to lose him. where he delivers the cobalt load, that's the link between the children and the global markets. as the truck pulls into its final destination, guards rush out to block our cameras. >> stop. >> we later receive a warning phone call. this facility is under the protection of the presidential guard. we're told to stay away. what's going on? that appeared to be a cdm truck, but this isn't a cdm facility. tax records show it was declared nonoperational three years ago. rising smoke and export records show cobalt is still produced here. cdm's parent company tells cnn they did have a relationship with the facility, which ended only last year. they're disturbed enough to launch an investigation into our findings. although they state other companies also use red trucks.

cnn visited three sites to show how widespread the use of child labor is. at this mine, in spite of our permissions, we event you'lly had to resort to filming under cover to capture the children. we couldn't prove where exactly the dirty cobalt enters the international supply chain, but we witnessed that it does. mercedes-benz, tesla, fiat chrysler among others say they have a zero tolerance policy for the use of child labor, but they acknowledge they are unable to fully map their supply chain due to its complex nature. carmakers simply cannot promise consumers their products are 100% child labor free.

this is t this is run by cdm. raw rows and rows of red trucks like the one we follows await pickup here. access is controlled. this is what the big brand names who source their cobalt from congo believe governs their supply. but this is the exception, not the norm. the cobalt from here is just a fraction. here they have to toucountersit so the very same entity whose officials found complicit in hiding the presence of child labor at the mines we visited is responsible for certifying the cobalt here is child labor free. after ten days in congo, our contacts advise us to leave for our own safety. from what we've witnessed, it's

clear no manufacturer can fully assure you that your electric car is truly ethical. and as demand for essential cobalt soars, it's children like this little boy who are paying the real price. >> the local governor you spoke to warn you to expect to see kids at work. what did you say after you told them what you were able to film? >> well, we told us that we should expect that local people would be upset by what they saw as foreign interference, at what they saw as a foreign attempt to bring down the government of the president. he also said that they knew they had a problem, that they were work on the problem, but we had to take into account the poverty levels. and that they had actually, in fact been more children, if you can believe that, working in the mines. >> to ses tesla says their coba

sources are audited, but did they say from where or how? >> this was the really disappointing one. when you go out and buy a tesla, this is very much a value-laiden purchase, right? you're buying a tesla because you believe it reflects your values. to then have this back and forth with them and only going through actually some of their financial filings, their sec filings did we find that they themselves had legally and publicly acknowledged that they couldn't trace their supply chain and that, in fact, while they were telling us that they believe they could and they could categorically tell consumers their product doesn't contain the product of child labor, they were separately telling the federal government something else. it's a tough one. because, of course, it's very difficult to go through a supply chain. but as you saw in the piece, we tried it, we failed and we don't have the resources of a tesla or a microsoft or a renault or a bmw. >> yeah. it's a fascinating story. thanks so much. >> thank you.

>> there's one more development to share with you tonight. after the report aired on cnn international, daimler announced a new effort. it's now pledging to investigate its cobalt supply chain all the way to the mines to ensure child labor is not being used. daimler said it will work with 100 mines worldwide.

don't make a first impression... or a lasting impression without it. ♪ ♪ don't turn your house into a home without it. ♪ ♪ don't go live... or even share a moment without it. and don't watch her dance like nobody's watching without it. whatever you do, don't forget that the more you live forward, the more you need someone at your back.

♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, 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 psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, ... with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. 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. >> that's it for us. i'm hand things over to don lemon see you tomorrow. this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. so much for the trump legal team sticking to the script rudy jewel jan giuliani has thrown the trump legal team into an uproar. giuliani tells cnn he coordinated carefully with trump himself, saying, quote, you won't see daylight between me and the president. so let's recap some of the bombshells giuliani dropped. he confirmed that michael reimbursed his fixer