isn't even confirming it. what we know is what we're hearing from his family. >> let's hope for the best. thanks very much to our viewers for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in ""the situation room."" "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. out front next, a credibility crisis. president trump about to address the nation making his case for the wall. can he convince the public he's telling the truth? plus the congresswoman who called trump a mother fer is out front. any regrets? paul manafort sharing information with a russian tied to intelligence, let's go "out front." good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, trump's crisis. you're looking at a live shot of the white house where tonight president trump will address the nation using the gravity of the oval office to make his case for building a wall on the border with mexico and for shutting down the government for 18 days

and counting to do it. according to sources the president will use individual family stories to make a claim for a crisis along the 2,000 mile border with mexico. the word crisis is what this is all about for team trump. he has to prove that there is one. >> our nation is also in the midst of a crisis on our southern border, crisis at our southern border. crisis at our southern border. crisis at our southern border. >> crisis at our southern border. >> undeniable crisis at our southern border. >> crisis at our southern border. >> we have a national crisis. >> we also have a humanitarian crisis at our border. >> humanitarian crisis at the border. >> humanitarian crisis at the border. >> we have a crisis at the border. it's a national emergency. >> if you say it enough will it be so? in a conversation with reporters vice president mike pence and several other members of the administration used the word

crisis 37 times. but as of right now, the only real crisis that the administration is facing is a credibility crisis, convincing skeptical lawmakers and a public that there is a crisis and that the current standoff is actually worth it. >> i know you're covering it, but he also needs to cut out the middleman because there's a lot of misstatement and lies told about him routinely every day. just look at around. so he needs to make sure that he can get his message directly to the american people. >> lies and misstatements about him? all right. let's be clear because right now it's the president and his administration who have been misleading the american public. today vice president mike pence again citing this statistic when talking about the need for a wall along the southern border only. here he is. >> nearly 4,000 known or suspected terrorists were apprehended attempting to come into the united states through various means in the last year. >> okay. that's highly misleading at best because pence is talking about a wall on the southern border.

that's the whole crisis, right? we need the wall on the southern border. according to a senior trump administration official, only 12 of those were stopped at the southern border. that means 3,988 of them were not trying to come in via the southern border. okay. so maybe those other places are something to talk about? no, not to this administration. let's talk about the southern border. one suspected terrorist is one too many so why imply the number is 4,000? maybe because a $25 billion wall, which is what this will cost at the least when he's done building it, is not the best way to stop 12 people. and then there's this claim about trump's wall. >> it's about stopping drugs so we have to have it. got to have it. >> got to have it to stop drugs. only in an out front investigation our ed lavandera went to the front lines in the border war of drugs. he went to the southwest corner of california where san diego hits california. that is one of the heavily

fortified walls. the border wall in fact is even doubled up there in some places yet that has not stopped the flow of drugs. this is what we found, underground tunnels some as deep as 70 feet used to smuggle massive loads of drugs in the united states. in fact, san diego sector's tunnel task force has found 60 134 smuggling tunnels according to "usa today." let me just be clear again, those are tunnels that go under walls. so this claim that a longer wall which will, again, cost taxpayers at least $25 billion or more once it is built will stop the flow of drugs is misleading at best. abby phillip is out front live outside the white house as we are getting ready for the president's address. abby, what do you expect to hear from him? >> reporter: hey, erin. we are not expected to get excerpts from the president's remarks. while democrats are expected to focus on the effects of the shutdown, president trump will be focused on the effects of

illegal immigration on american families. that's part of the argument he's been making for weeks about his border wall but what we'll be looking for is what statistics do the president use to justify the wall, the statistics you've been talking about earlier today that have been debunked widely. will he repeat them again tonight? one thing we have been told the president will not do is declare national emergency. this has been an idea bandied around by the president and aides for days, but our sources tell us that it's not expected to happen tonight in his speech. that being said, the president remains willing to use that as a tool in his arsenal, particularly according to the sources if he feels like negotiations are going nowhere. this is for president trump his big opportunity to make the case for his wall which is not particularly popular at the moment. the question is can he change minds on that critical issue for his administration right now, erin? >> abbey, thank you very much. i want to go to the chairman of the house armed services

committee. you heard 37 times, right, you know, from kellyanne conway to sarah sanders to the vice president over and over this is a crisis. you know, we laid out the numbers. if you go with their 4,000, 12 of which of whom they say were apprehended along the southern border, that leaves you with 3,988 of whom were not. we're going with a crisis. that's not where you would pick it. do you see one on the southern border? >> no, there is not a crisis of border security. that's what's troubling about the president's approach. he has this vague notion that we need to do more on border security, but what does that mean? we have done a ton on border security in the last 15 years, including, by the way, built a rather substantial wall over i forget how many miles, but quite a few miles of border. >> 702 says customs and border protection. >> and increased border patrol agents. we've added drones and sensors and sent military personnel, both active duty, guard and reserve, and by and large it's worked.

the number of unauthorized crossings is at historic lows. so, yeah, border security is always going to be a challenge. we have many challenges in government, but there is no evidence whatsoever that border security has become a larger problem in the last year or two. there has been an increase in asylum seekers but understand the asylum seekers are not a border security issue. they turn themselves in. they're not trying to sneak across. the question is how do we process them? but in terms of border security, the president hasn't made the case. he hasn't said, here's where they're coming in. here's where we need to stop them. it's a vague notion that he'd like to have a wall. >> when we talk about drugs, you look at some of the most heavily fortified, you have tunnels with massive amounts of drugs going under them. a wall obviously when you look at there, the crucial san diego area, not solving the entire problem. sources tell cnn that the president thinks this is a pr

battle. he can turn up the heat on you guys, the democrats, by convincing more people that a wall is necessary. what do you say? do you think you could lose this on the pr? >> i think that's sad to begin with, that we have 800,000 federal employees not getting paid. our security, a lot of them, they work for homeland security. he's jeopardizing our security to try to win a political argument? i can't predict for sure how the american public is going to break on this, but there's no reason why the president can't reopen the government, pay those workers, enhance our security now and then come to congress and make his case. explain to us why he needs extra money. in fact, this 5.6 billion, he hasn't even said what he's going to do with it. he would like to have it. >> i want to be clear 5rks.6 billion as you know, that is not all he's asking for. that's what he's asking for right now. it's in a sense a downpayment. we all know, he has admitted, the price tag for the wall is triple, quadruple, quintuple the

amount. >> in short, i'm opposed to using defense dollars for non-defense purposes. obviously referring to this emergency, right? this national crisis. if the president declares it he would be able to take defense department money instead of having congress approve it to build the wall. have you discussed this with him, with congressman -- >> yes, i have. >> how did that go? >> it's gone well. this goes back, gosh, months that the president has talked about it. there is bipartisan agreement on the armed services committee that we have too many actual needs at the department of defense and within the national security budget to afford to take money away from it for something that, again, does not in any way enhance u.s. security. so this bipartisan opposition to taking money out of d.o.d. for this wall. >> here's someone like lindsey graham who sometimes seems to criticize the president. now he supports the whole idea of a crisis. obviously that's on the senate

side. do you think republicans will get behind the president or will they say this is a step too far? this threatens the institutions of our country to do this? where do you think your republican colleagues will fall? >> it's hard to say. they've followed this president in ways that i would not have expected several years ago. you know, they're still kind of afraid of him, and mark sanford, congressman from south carolina who did stand up to the president and lost a primary is one of the biggest reasons why. they're afraid of the president coming in and challenging them in a primary even if they disagree with him on policy. so it is hard to say which way they would break. i just hope we can skip past all the political analysis and who's going to win the political war and focus on getting the government back open. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> thanks for the chance. next, another top republican, this time splitting with trump saying end the shutdown first then deal with any conversation about a wall. is trump losing his own party or not? plus, she shocked her party

when she said this. >> we're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the mother [ bleep ]. >> congresswoman rasheida talib. that's this hour. paul manafort's lawyers accidentally revealing an unbelievable link between the trump campaign and russian operative. ♪ when cravings hit, hit back. choose glucerna, with slow release carbs to help manage blood sugar, and start making everyday progress.

glucerna. with expedia, i saved when i added a hotel to our flight. so even when she grows up, she'll never outgrow the memory of our adventure. unlock savings when you add select hotels to your existing trip. only with expedia. select hotels to your existing trip. [sneezing] ♪ you don't want to cancel your plans. [sneezing] cancel your cold. the 1-pill power of new advil multi-symptom cold & flu knocks out your worst symptoms.

cancel your cold, not your plans. new advil multi-symptom cold & flu.

but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. coaching means making tough choices. jim! you're in! but when you have high blood pressure and need cold medicine that works fast, the choice is simple. coricidin hbp is the #1 brand that gives powerful cold symptom relief

without raising your blood pressure. coricidin hbp. . breaking news. signs of cracking in trump's own party. lisa murkowski moments ago speaking out talking to man manu raju saying that the government should be open. i think we can walk and chew gum. this is obviously turning against the president. the white house knows it has a problem. vice president pence late today on capitol hill meeting with house republicans. will herd of texas represents more of the southern border than any other member of congress and says a wall is a bad idea. he said it incredibly directly. he tells cnn he is not convinced by pence's argument. patrick, look. a president can't afford to lose

support here. >> no, reopen it? then discuss it later which is what democrats have been saying. this is the problem that he's going to face, whether someone like a jonie ernst of iowa or shelly kaputo and other republicans who are even closer to his base than certainly like a murkowski will start saying let's separate this. let's focus on getting the government open. we need homeland security open, tsa workers need to get their paychecks. everybody who works for the government is putting in work deserves to be paid and then we'll get to border security. that is the crack that is -- that's threatening him and why he's going to the senate, you know, tomorrow, going to the hill tomorrow to talk to senate republicans. the worry that no matter what he says tonight pretty quickly nancy pelosi and democrats are going to be able to box in republicans and you may start seeing more defect shuns. >> those dpeekt shuns happen,

steve. what does he do if he loses the fight that he has picked, right? getting my 5.6 and then? if it is reopened and then we'll debate it. how does he try to spin that? >> well, i think he has to convince those squish republicans, and that's really what i would call them, to get a backbone. you can't negotiate from that kind of weakness. you'll have no leverage then once the government is reopened. more importantly what he's doing is speaking to the people. most of those senators, not murkowski, will respond to their constituents on the republican side are still kwarlly behind the president on this issue. i'm not surprised, honestly, that there are some vulnerabilities among the republican caucuses in both houses. republicans have been every bit as complicit for decades in creating this system where we tolerate illegal immigration on a mass scale in this country as the democrats have been. it has been unfortunately a very bipartisan failure in this country. donald trump ran as much in the republican party on this issue in 2016 as he did against the

democrats. >> i'll give you that, that he did run against both of them on this. joan, what about here? now not only do they have issues on the republican side. now you have pence, jared kushner calling joe manchin who obviously is a democrat who can often, you know, go on the republican side, go with the president to try to get him to switch over. so they're trying to pull over some democrats. >> i think that's crazy. i don't see joe manchin switching. he just won re-election. he has five years before he has to beat craven again so i don't see -- >> i like the word choice. >> i just don't see democrats losing senators. i think there's real fear. politico is reporting up to 25 house republicans could dissent. someone like will herd is really a leader and has made a common sense case for why the wall makes no sense. i mean, you already referred to this, but the notion that we have tunnels under walls, you know, where we have double walls, that's the way the drugs are coming in.

i mean, this -- the more this gets debated i feel the more the american people understand, this is kind of a cockamamy idea. >> can i address that tunnel issue? >> let me finish. it's getting less and less popular. the idea of the wall is losing popularity and the idea of the shutdown is really popular. >> if i can address the tunnel. this is an important point. we're not talking about a medieval wall. cameras, sensors, yes, anti-tunnelling -- >> no, there's not anti-tunnelling technology which exists which the israelis have used incredibly effectively. it can be the same for smugglers of any type. this is going to be, if we do it right, is going to be an incredibly high tech wall. walls do work. we're not talking about the great wall of china. >> that's not what the president is talking about. he's not talking about anti-tunnelling technology. he's so focused on. that's what he ran on, steve, in

2016. we're going to build a wall and mexico is going to pay for it. those are words and he knew and his advisors knew he was going to have to deliver on for the base at some point. >> right. steve, of course we don't want to -- old technologies work, right? he talks about a wheel and a wall. he's not talking about anti-tunnelling technology when he talks like that. >> no. that's not true. >> spend money on that. don't spend money on a wall that's not needed. >> he's saying it's both and it's all technology. walls do work obviously? we wouldn't construct walls if they didn't. but it's walls plus. i think it's disingenuous -- >> steve, this whole misleading thing they're saying, 4,000 people, right? 3,988 of whom according to customs and border protection are not coming in, are trying to come in on the southern border. so on what planet if you think that's a crisis would you pick the 12 rather than the 3,988? >> the white house thankfully corrected itself and it needed

to because that was a silly statement. >> pence is still saying it. >> hold on. there's a massive crisis outside of terrorists. it's not only known terrorists coming into the country. what we have are thousands, tens of thousands of people coming into the country. >> why are they then continually saying the 4,000 and that 12 people is a crisis? >> they're not saying that. they corrected it today. kellyanne conway went on television and corrected it. >> why is mike pence saying it? >> i don't know why he is and he shouldn't. here's the important point. it's not just about terrorists. that is an issue. it's a much smaller one than they promoted but it's more about the masses of non-terrorists but still illegals who are breaking and entering into our country. we shouldn't feel good about that just because most of them aren't terrorists. they are still doing enormous harm to the united states costing us a ton of money and creating a humanitarian crisis at the border and the thing about it is, to some degree who cares what trump wants and what

i want. let's listen to the cops on the front lines. the law enforcement officers of customs and border protection, they tell us overwhelmingly that they want a border wall and they want more border security. >> patrick, is the president tonight going to change the tune? are we going to hear about the 4,000? are we going to hear about the terrorists? of course we're going to hear about these things. >> we're going to hear about all of these things. i mean, we've heard kellyanne conway, mike pence, steve, others, there's a lot of different messages. it's terrorists, it's coming over the southern border, port of entry, it's the opioid crisis. i'm not sure what he can put together in the 8 minutes that will so compellingly change mind in terms of independents. even more, the gamble. he's making a real gamble tonight. he needs to basically make his best case argument. maybe -- >> in less than eight minutes. >> in less than eight minutes and then you're going to see the 20 republicans, others in the senate and the house who are going to say, that's the best he

could do. he just did it on primetime on every network, you know, in america and if that's the best that he can do, we're not buying that we need to keep the government shut down for weeks and weeks. you know, he's going to -- this could be like a man without a country pretty quickly. >> thank you all very much. next congresswoman rashida tlaib who called the president a profanity and called for his impeachment is speaking out. breaking news, paul manafort he shared polling data, internal polling data with a russian operative. did you know that that -- we found that out today? i mean, this is the closest link yet between the russians and the trump campaign and it's only one little tiny part of what is a lot of redactions. our dad was in the hospital.

because of smoking. but we still had to have a cigarette. had to. but then, we were like. what are we doing? the nicodermcq patch helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. nicodermcq. you know why, we know how. each day justin at work... walk. and after work. he does it all with dr. scholl's. only dr. scholl's has massaging gel insoles that provide all-day comfort. to keep him feeling more energized. dr. scholl's. born to move. hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief... what?! i'm here to steal your car because, well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?!

[crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪ [[clap, clap]] ♪ hey, jen, which tie says, "trustworthy but also fun"? gold down, oil up. oil down, gold up. this is too busy. we need to make sure people can actually use this stuff. which one says, "hours of free live streaming coverage without cable or subscription fees"? aluminum, aluminum? you ready, zack? oh, we're ready. welcome to the show. let's make finance make sense. ♪

new tonight, democratic senator and rumored 2020 candidate kamala harris defending freshman congresswoman rashida tlaib for using an expletive to describe president trump while vowing to impeach him. here's senator harris. >> honestly, the -- my candid response is that she is not the first nor will she be the last elected person to curse in public. i mean -- now, you know -- and so that's -- that's my response. >> to applause. here's exactly what congresswoman tlaib said hours after being sworn in. >> and when your son looks at you and says, mama, look, you won. bullies don't win. i said, baby, they don't. we're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the mother [ bleep ]. >> out front for the first national primetime interview.

rashida tlaib. coming woman, thank you for being with me. i know you have votes. it's been nearly a week since you made those remarks. are you surprised it is still being talked about so much? >> very much so. i can tell you, you know, i'm very unapologetically me. i know people back home that i've represented for six years in the state legislature in michigan are kind of used to my realness, used to this passion and -- that i have. i know for many people it did -- it did get the best of me at that moment and for many people it might have been very much a distraction. that's what i'm really wanting to get this hump over it is to start talking about the trump shutdown and how critically important it is for us to get our government back up and running because of the huge human impact and the toll that it's taken on our residents back home. >> so when -- you know, when other democrats have come out they've obviously -- you know, they've criticized you for this. it's not just been republicans. it certainly hasn't been men. here's a few of them.

alyssa slotkin, fellow new congresswoman from your state spoke out yesterday. here's a few. >> i just can't support that kind of language. i think we're trying to set an example for our kids. >> to act like that, to speak like that is even more deplorable. >> i don't really like that kind of language. >> i think that the office of the presidency should be treated with respect. >> it's not something i would say. >> you know, brad sherman there at the end, congresswoman, obviously he's introduced articles of impeachment, right, so he agrees completely with your sentiment. i guess what i'm trying to understand, i know it has to be hard because you were saying you were caught up in the moment. >> absolutely. >> do you feel the right word to say is i'm sorry, i wish i hadn't said it. i don't like the guy. i'm sorry. is it fair to say you don't feel comfortable going that far? >> i mean, what i want to do is not allow women like myself that have every right to be angry and upset and mad and -- to curse.

that somehow they're not allowed to do it in some sort of public forum. i can tell you this, what i completely very much don't like is that it did become a distraction. for me it might have been, you know, a heat of the moment, but i've got to tell you, right now we're in the middle of a shutdown and i'm getting interviewed to talk about cursing instead of the veterans i just left home. and to continue on to know that we passed to open up government and it's sitting in the senate right now. we don't need the president of the united states to sign these bills. you know why? because within ten days they become effective and then we can get our government back up and functioning. i don't understand why we're not able to do that and then go back to the negotiation table if you really do care about the american people, then let's get our government back up and running. our focus is so much on this versus the fact that right now i have residents that have nowhere to turn to. food assistance.

i mean, think about snap and the food assistance. people are literally waiting for it to be put on their card so that they can go and get milk and eggs for their kids. >> i do want to talk to you about the shutdown, but i do think people -- it's an important question when you talk about what's happened with discourse in this country. >> that's right. >> and what we think about our offices that represent the american citizens. the president came out. he's talked babout you specifically. i wanted to give you a chance to respond. here is president trump. >> i thought her comments were disgraceful. i think she dishonored herself and i think she dishonored her family. using language like that, i thought it was highly disrespectful to the united states of america. >> separate from the person, do you agree? do you think that there's a point there about the office? not the person. >> the only person disgracing the office of the president is the president of the united states currently and that's donald trump. i'm not going to, you know, continue to discuss the fact

that -- continue on to -- for him to say what he said and continue to do the exact same thing that he's criticizing me for. he has to be putting the american people first. he has to understand that the culture and this kind of dissent that he has for me is something that is felt across this country. i am not the only one that is this angry and this upset and as a person, again a woman of color, as a person that is newly elected here, the first thing i have to vote on and i did was to get the government back up and running and now he continues to delay that and continues to hurt our families. >> he's going to be talking about that tonight. he's going to be addressing the nation in a couple of hours, congresswoman, on why he says there's a crisis on the border, why the government shutdown should not end until he gets the funding for his wall. obviously you're opposed to that wall. your democratic colleague john sarbanes came on the show. he's opposed to a wall.

he's okay with fencing. word choice here. >> i and other democrats and a lot of republicans will vote for smart border security. now you can have border security that's a combination of physical barriers, whatever they may be. >> so a fence is on the table for you? some kind of fencing? you would pay for that? >> well, there's fencing -- there's fencing now. >> yes. >> at the border. there's always been fencing at the border so some kind of fencing is always part of the equation. >> does the word matter to you? would you vote for a fence but not a wall, congresswoman? >> look, actions matter more than words. i can tell you, we have to be a humane country. this is not about a wall, erin, and we all know it. we have to stop talking about the fact that this is a wall. he could have done it when they had the majority in both the senate and the house. we passed -- what we passed out of the house of representatives is exactly what mcconnell and all of his colleagues voted for before the new members came into the house of representatives, before the democrats got back

into the majority. what is he waiting for? we didn't even put anything in there that many of us campaigned on. we basically sent back exactly what they passed literally weeks before we got into office until we got sworn in and so i'm really frustrated with the fact that we keep trying to move this about a wall when we all know it's not about a wall. >> there's obviously talk out in your party with the big change that's happened in the house about taxation. congresswoman alexandria ocasio cortez has talked about taxing the wealthiest up to 70%. what she referred to as, quote, the tippy tops. would you support that? >> i have the third poorest congressional district in the country and we need to get to a point where we all pay our fair share. too many families are hungry. too many families are suffering because inequality in education funding. all of that from public education to a number of issues

that i think are really important to our country, but we can take care of that later. we need to focus on the shutdown. >> i appreciate your time. congresswoman tlaib, thank you so much. >> thank you so much. next, manafort's legal team accidentally revealing what the president's former campaign chairman shared info with an accused russian operative. so this is one thing that he shared. they didn't mean for us to find out about this but we now do. is it evidence of collusion and conspiracy? plus, the supreme court refusing tonight to protect a mysterious company from robert mueller. i'm [ding] [boxing bell ding] [applause] turn up your swagger game with one a day gummies. one serving... ...once a day... ...with nutrients that support 6 vital functions... ...and one healthy you. that's the power of one a day.

(danny)'s voice) of course you don'te because you didn't!? your job isn't doing hard work... ...it's making them do hard work... ...and getting paid for it. (vo) snap and sort your expenses to save over $4,600 at tax time. quickbooks. backing you. [indistinct conversation] [friend] i've never seen that before. ♪ ♪ i have... ♪

breaking news. a new court filing has revealed what could be the first major link between the trump campaign and russia when you're talking about possible collusion or the legal term, of course, conspiracy. paul manafort's lawyers in an improperly redacted court filing said they blew it. they revealed that manafort shared campaign polling da tampt internal information about polls with a man they say is tied to russian intelligence. this is while manafort was serving as the trump campaign chairman. mueller says that he's sharing information with this person that than for the said is an operative. accusations that he had lied to the special counsel even after he said he would cooperate. evan perez is out front. how important is this shocking

error? >> reporter: it was a surprising mistake that was made. i think the importance of this filing and the revelations really is that it tells us, erin, that the mueller investigation is still very much focused on this idea of collusion of the conspiracy and this gives us a little bit of a window into some of the things that they appear to have found so far in this investigation. we have so precious little of their findings so far. as you mentioned, first of all, the idea that paul man na foafo during the time that he is chair of the campaign, he is having interactions with constant and kalimnick who say is a russian intelligence operative for the gru. the gru is one of the intelligence agencies that hacked into the dnc. the question then becomes is what kind of information was being exchanged. one of the things they say in this filing was shared was inside polling data, internal polling data from the campaign. they also say that there was

discussions of ukraine policy for the campaign and i guess for the future administration. again, this is something that is being shared by someone who is running the campaign and someone who's a russian intelligence agent. there's also a mention in the documents about a meeting in madrid that we had never known about between con stand teen kalimnick and paul manafort. what does this add up to? we still have a lot of questions obviously that are not answered by this document or from other filings in this investigation. what it tells us, erin, is this idea of the conspiracy is still very much being pursued by the mueller investigation. >> thank you very much, evan. harry sandick is here with me along with laura coates. harry, let's talk for a second as evan is. evan used the word conspiracy, right. >> yes. >> that is the legal term. collusion. rudy giuliani can say it until

he's blue in the face. let's use conspiracy. he was sharing internal polling data and other things. subsequently there was a change in policy on ukraine and the republican policy on the platform with the accused russian operative. >> yeah, i mean, look. two things come to mind. number one, what possible explanation could there be that is innocent, at least for manafort's perspective, for why he's sharing internal polling data with somebody believed to be connected to russian intelligence. it's an extremely unusual thing to do. you don't hear of campaign managers for other presidential candidates in the past having these kinds of connections and then secondly if there was an innocent explanation, why wasn't it offered to mueller and his investigators? why did manafort lie about it, which the lies, they color our view about whether this was innocence or not and make it seem like it was probably not some innocent, harmless interaction. >> laura? >> i mean, what could possibly give anyone the impression that

there was collusion, erin, between somebody that was high ranking in a campaign and member of a russian intelligence organization? you have the idea that the russians have been already indicted in terms of an internet troll farm. there's already been indication that vladimir putin supported the nomination and presidential campaign of the president of the united states, donald trump, and that there was a tactic used to try to infuse further division among the american electorate. you have somebody providing polling data that could possibly give people a roadmap on just how to do that precisely. you have this error that really in many ways has inerred to the benefit of the american people. it's not that uncommon, erin, to have a redacting error in pleadings and in court. what is uncommon is that he's saying in his pleadings, i inadvertently lied perhaps to special counsel mueller. what he's not saying is i inadvertently provided polling information or a ukrainian peace

plan to people who were not a part of america and in many ways may have impacted or influenced an american election. >> that's just -- just to call it out here. there's no inadvertent lying by paul manafort. he's run these for decades. he's had incredible experience. he knew exactly what he was doing. but, harry, what about also that we're finding out this guy kalimnick, ties to russian intelligence mueller says definitively according to mueller. he's met with him in the united states. we find out about a meeting after trump won in madrid that manafort had not disclosed. >> it shows the continuation of this relationship. we've seen reporting before that manafort when he left the campaign didn't totally disappear from the ambit of trump and his team and now we know that he's continuing to meet with kalimnick. i think manafort referred to kalimnick as my russian brain. they were very close. their dealings together were many, many years.

>> pretty incredible, laura. you also have today the southern district of new york, right? charging natalia, the russian lawyer, who said she is an agent of the russian government who attended the trump tower meeting, right, with donald trump jr., paul manafort, jared kushner and others. now she's been charged as of today by the southern district of new york for obstruction of justice. this isn't bob mueller charging her, this is the southern district. what do you make of it sf? >> well, it's an unrelated case to mueller. she's being charged with obstruction in a money laundering case. you mentioned the trump tower meeting. remember what actually got kushner and manafort and donald trump jr. there was the promise for information that was damaging to hillary clinton coming from the crown prosecutor of russia. in this particular filing in the sdny you have her having a charge of obstruction why? because she provided false

documentation and false statements in a case where she is presumed and evidenced to have actually coordinated with a prosecutor in russia, a chief prosecutor, a head senior prosecutor in russia. she says i have no relations yet there is evidentiary proof in manhattan that she does. >> harry, the bottom line, you talk about this coming from the southern district and not mueller. >> i think mueller can use this information to the extent he wants to explain to people that the trump tower meeting was definitely a meeting with someone who was very connected to the russian government, those are the allegations here. that she misled people in the course of the southern district's investigation. it was in part because she obstructed a southern district investigation. thank you both. the supreme court handing, i'm sorry, robert mueller a victory in this massive fight going on with the mysterious company. plus, vice president mike

pence is doing his best to stand by his man. >> well, you -- you -- you -- with expedia, i saved when i added a hotel to our flight. so even when she grows up, she'll never outgrow the memory of our adventure. unlock savings when you add select hotels to your existing trip. only with expedia. when cravings hit, hit back. existing trip. choose glucerna, with slow release carbs

to help manage blood sugar, and start making everyday progress. glucerna.

whooo! want to take your next vacation to new heights? tripadvisor now lets you book over a hundred thousand tours, attractions, and experiences in destinations around the world! like new york! from bus tours, to breathtaking adventures, tripadvisor makes it easy to find and book amazing things to do. and you can cancel most bookings up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. so you can make your next trip... monumental! read reviews check hotel prices book things to do tripadvisor what does help for heart fait looks like this. entresto is a heart failure pill that 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. ask your doctor about entresto. yeah! (burke) parking splat. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ tonight, a mystery company fighting a subpoena in the special counsel probe, asked the

supreme court to take up its case. this is what the heavily redacted filing looks like. talk about heavily redacted. the only words you can really see are, you know, mentioning basically the names of the court. all we know about this company, it's a foreign government-owned corporation and it is fighting this through the courts legitimately. supreme court ordered the company to continue paying a $50,000 a day fine until it complies with the subpoena. the mueller probe has been a thorn in the president's side for months but it's just one of many investigations the president is facing and all of this is front and center, now democrats control the house. jessica dean is "outfront." >> reporter: trump calls it a witch hunt and maintains special counsel robert mueller won't find anything that proves collusion with russia. >> i have nothing to do with russia. >> reporter: trump does have obvious and undeniable connections to the trump organization, the trump presidential campaign, the presidential transition, and the inaugural committee. all of which face active criminal investigations or have been implicated in criminal wrongdoing.

>> what we shorthand as the mueller probe actually is a whole constellation of different investigations by state, local, and federal prosecutors and tax officials. >> reporter: the "washington post" reports federal and state investigators are probing the hiring practices of trump national golf club in bedminster, new jersey, following accusations by former employees. their lawyers told the "post" they were knowingly hired as undocumented workers by managers there and even provided with fraudulent documents. a spokeswoman for the trump organization said in a statement, "if any employee submitted false documentation, they will be terminated immediately." trump held many of his cabinet interviews at the resort during the presidential transition in 2016. >> how were your meetings, mr. trump. >> really good. >> reporter: the president's former personal attorney and mix fixer michael cohen implicated trump in campaign finance violations involving illegal hush payments before the 2016 election. cohen says trump directed him to

make the payments to two women who claimed to have had affairs with trump. >> mr. cohen -- >> reporter: cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and making false statements to a bank. the president says cohen is lying. >> he's a weak person and what he's trying to do is get a reduced sentence. >> reporter: federal prosecutors in new york are investigating how the trump inaugural committee spent the over $100 million raised, and whether some donors including foreign nationals contributed in exchange for access to the incoming trump administration. >> that doesn't have anything to do with the president or the first lady. >> reporter: then there are the new investigations house democrats may choose to undertake, now that they're in the majority. >> there's all sorts of behavior that may not rise to the level of criminal charges, but are things that in our political system should be punished and things that would be personally

embarrassing to the president if they came out. >> reporter: a notion the president dismissed by threatening to use the republican-controlled senate to launch counterinvestigations. >> they can play that game, but we can flay bplay it better bece have a thing called the united states senate. >> reporter: and president trump has called that democratic congressional oversight presidential harassment, but, erin, we also know that the white house counsel's office is gearing up for whatever democrats are going to bring to them in the coming months and weeks ahead. the new white house counsel starting in december. he was slated to hire around two dozen new lawyers to kind of fill out that office as they prepare for more investigations from the hill. >> all right, jessica, thank you. and next, jeanne moos on vice president mike pence doing all he can. i hear it in the bacd she's watching too, saying [indistinct conversation] [friend] i've never seen that before.

♪ ♪ i have... ♪ walking a dog can add thouswalking this many?our day. that can be rough on pam's feet, knees, and lower back. that's why she wears dr. scholl's orthotics. they relieve pain and give her the comfort to move more so she can keep up with all of her best friends. dr. scholl's. born to move. the question isn't whether he should be impeached any more. he's the most corrupt president in american history. and we all know it. the question now is, how fast can we move past this president so we can build a more just and prosperous future? please, join the more than 6.5 million americans who are demanding action now. because there's nothing more powerful than the unified voice of the american people. together, we will make this happen.

need to impeach is responsible for the content of this ad.

tap one little bumper and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

tonight, vice president pence twists into a pretzel to make trump's alternate reality reality. here's jeanne. >> reporter: the vice president has taken flak for his adoring gaze at president trump, for his silent head swivel during that oval office confrontation. and now for his sighing. >> well, you -- you -- [ sigh ] >> reporter: and those pained eyebrows. >> that was his impression. >> reporter: during interviews that had anchors calling him out. >> so mike pence just tried to pull a fast one on us. >> mike pence knows that he's lying. >> he knows. >> reporter: lick spittle boot licker tweeted one critic, with more than just his pants on fire. the vice president is known for his professed rectitude,

prompting someone to tweet, "i'm calling jesus because pence just broke a commandment." the v.p. rattled off misleading border stats and was asked about his boss' statement that past presidents had told trump that they should have built a wall. >> some of them have told me that we should have done it. >> reporter: except representatives for the four living presidents said, never happened. >> well, you -- you -- [ sigh ] i know the president has said that that was his impression from previous administrations. >> reporter: almost hard to watch. it's bad enough getting caught in your own lies, but to have to explain someone else's? ♪ stand by your man >> reporter: pence's performance inspired a one-word tweet that sent us to the dictionary for guidance. >> oleaginous. >> reporter: meaning oily or ingracioi ingratia ingratiating. watch out if you stand too close to your man. his habits may rub off on you.

jeanne moos, cnn. ♪ stand by your man >> reporter: new york. >> thanks so much for watching us. don't forget, watch "outfront" any time, anywhere, on cnngo. "a.c. 360" starts now. good evening, an hour from now president trump will speak from the oval office about the border. this will be his first time in that setting and the setting is significant. it's where john f. kennedy told americans about soviet missiles in cuba, where george w. bush spoke after the 9/11 attacks. when a president speaks in primetime from behind the resolute desk, it's always serious, and frequently it's worse. it's often when a president wants to calm the nation or at least provide them with facts. the mere act of asking networks to make time for it telegraphed the gravity of it, at least it has until now. in the past, with only rare exceptions, you might disagree with what a president said from the oval office without wondering if you were straight-up being misled. or lied to. keeping them honest, sadly, that's not the case tonight.