>> sell lest tino martino. he goes by dj and cj, he said call me either one. so we'll call you cj. >> reporter: for phi necessarying that, we award the president an apple. >> jeane cnn. >> anderson starts now. good evening. there's breaking news on the question of impeaching president trump. nans be si pelosi is opposed to it because in her words the president just isn't worth it. first, something the president said that he isn't sticking to. a blanket statement and an inflammatory one. the democratic party is antijewish. as you know, some in the party have been accused of precisely that. today the white house said the

first press conference in a month and a half defended the line the president took on friday after a house vote condemning many forms of bigotry. here's what the president said on friday. >> democrats have become an antiisrael party, they've become an anti jewish party and i thought that vote was a disgrace and so does everybody else if you get an honest answer. if you get an honest answer from politicians, they thought it was a disgrace. the democrats have become an anti-israel party, they've become an anti-jewish party and that's too bad. >> well, this, of course, began with remarks from a muslim congresswoman widely viewed to be trafficking anti-semitic troves.

omar replied with a tweet of her own, it's all about the benjamins, baby. the house with all the democrats passed antijewish and anti-muslim bigotry. it came under fire. it amounted to no condemnation at all. the president then reacted as you heard him reportedly restated the accusation at a republican fund-raiser friday night, which as you might imagine, became a major topic when press secretary sarah sanders went before the cameras today. >> does the president really believe democrats hate jews? >> look, the president's been an unwavering and committed ally to israel and the jewish people and frankly the remarks that have been made by a number of democrats and failed to be called out by democratic leadership is frankly abhorrent and it's sad and it's something that should be called by name. it shouldn't be put in a watered down resolution.

>> well, keeping him honest. neither sarah sanders or the president are alone in criticizing the house resolution. some statements from the democrats have been the full throated condemnation of congresswoman's omar's remarks that some in both parties would prefer. however, listen to the very next thing we heard in today's press conference because it's here that the president's spokesperson leaves the world of the factual or even to be generous the arguable behind. >> it should be done the way the republicans did it when steve king made terrible comments. we called it out by name, we stripped him of his committee memberships and we'd like to see democrats follow suit. >> steve king, the republican congressman from iowa, is the defender of white nationalism. when sarah sanders uses the pronoun we in conjunction with condemning the congressman, she is quite simply not telling the truth as was pointed out to her today. >> steve king, the president, correct me if i'm wrong, has not condemned steve king.

>> i -- >> he was praising white supremacy. has the president publicly come out and said anything to criticize -- >> i've talked about that a number of times and i'd refer you back to those comments where i used words like abhorrent and unacceptable. >> now to be fair on the 16th of january she herself did indeed say steve king's comments were ab bornlt and the republican leadership, unlike democrats, have taken action when their members have said outrageous and inappropriate things. however, the president himself has never said a word on that. though it is true the press spekt is supposed to speak for the president, it's amazing how often she doesn't speak to the president. >> on the last one i would refer to the president's outside counsel. >> that's a question you have to ask the trump organization. the president isn't involved in that. that's something i would refer you to them. again, i'm not aware of the back and forth and i would refer you to the president's outside counsel. >> i would refer you to michael

cohen's attorney. i would refer you to the u.s. secret service. >> i would refer you to rudy giuliani. >> i would refer you to the fbi for any specifics. >> well, again, if the really truly wanted to weigh in on steve king, he could. he found time to weigh in on these guys. >> he certainly weighed in on this weekend of anti-semitism. if he intended to make it a full throated condemnation, it didn't really come out that way. >> you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. you had people in that group -- excuse me. excuse me. i saw the same pictures as you did. >> he said he had some very bad people there but you also had some fine people on both sides. as you see, the president can be

remarkably selective in his criticism. seeing good people even when there are none in the particular can -- tiki torch march, however, he paints with a far broader brush when it comes to the democrats. is this because he sees an opening in trying to persuade jewish american voters to switch parties? however, after all in the 2018 mid terms jewish americans made up 2% of the electorate but gave 79% of their votes to the democrats. at least as of a few months ago they were not seeing it. the president clearly ri sees this as an opportunity. his spokesperson is clearly having a hard time explaining why this exchange was seen as a shift. >> just to get back to john and his question about the president's comments about democrats and jewish people, isn't that kind of rhetoric just sort of beneath everybody? do you think that the president

has thought at all going into this 2020 campaign that the rhetoric just needs to be lowered, whether it's talking about democrats, the media, immigrants or should we just plan on hearing the president use the same kind of language that we heard in 2016 and all through the first couple of years of this administration? >> look, i think that the real shame in all of this is that democrats are perfectly capable of coming together and agreeing on the fact that they're comfortable ripping baby's straight from a mother's womb or killing a baby after birth but they have a hard time condemning the type of comments from congresswoman omar. i think that is a great shame. the president has been clear on what his position is. certainly what his support is for the people in the community of israel and beyond that i don't have anything further -- >> i think i just heard the rhetoric of the debate when you're saying that something is just patently untrue. >> stating their policy positions is not patently untrue. >> democrats don't hate jewish

people. that's silly. that's not true. >> i think they should call out their members by name. i don't have anything further to say. >> after charlottesville they were saying they were very fine people on both sides in charlottesville essentially suggesting there are very fine people in the nazis. >> that's not at all what the president was stating. not then, not at any point. the president has been incredibly clear and consistently and repeatedly condemned hatred, bigotry, racism in all of its forms whether it's in america or anywhere else and to say otherwise is simply untrue. >> cnn's jim acosta joins us now from the white house. jim, the white house certainly is not backing down from the statements by the president even though sarah sanders wouldn't kind of go there. >> reporter: yeah, she wouldn't confirm it and she wouldn't share the president's sentiments, i suppose, word for word but, listen, they view these anti-sem mitt particular comments from elan omar as a

gift and a gift that keeps on giving whether or not it's justified to keep running with it, they're going to keep running with it. they're going to run with it as long as they can. obviously what you saw during the briefing today was a tacit sort of, you know, support for what the president was saying. there were three of us who tried to challenge sarah sanders on this issue and she wasn't really backing down. as i tried to point out to her, obviously democrats don't hate jewish people, that's simply untrue. she wouldn't concede the point. we've been through this exercise so many times before her response wasn't really surprising so i did check in with a trump advisor and asked, you know, where is this coming from? this just sounds silly and untrue. this advisor said, no, we believe that the democrats do hate jewish people and that, you know, listen, the president is allowed to attack them just in the same way that we're attacked. i think it sends a very disturbing message as to where we're heading with this campaign

heating up, anderson. >> this kind of -- your question was about is there going to be any change in the rhetoric or level of rhetoric heading towards 2020. if anything, it's going to ramp up. >> that's right. the way they're going after elan omar is a way to inoculate themselves on the issue of charlottesville, which is going to be a lasting stain on the president's, i think, legacy. he'll have to defend that during the campaign. he has ways of hiding from us over here at the white house. they like to say he's very accessible and is open to, you know, taking questions all the time. we rarely have those news conferences where we get to stand up and ask him a question. we don't have the opportunity to pin him down on this, but that is going to come back to haunt him during the campaign. just in the same way they're running with this elan omar controversy, they're going to try to go after democrats as socialists because of the green new deal and ideas by people like bernie sanders and al

alexandria ocasio cortez and saying democrats hate jews, i think it really sums up, anderson, what we're facing in the upcoming 2020 election. that is probably the ugliest campaign of our lifetime. >> jim acosta, thank you very much. joining us is congressman ted deutsch from florida. he's jewish. you've spoken out against both president trump and congresswoman omar's comments. saying this isn't political, it's life and death. that's how serious this is in your opinion? >> sure, anderson. this is -- this isn't just politics, although sadly this is just another attempt of the president to divide. this is what he does. it's the most divisive administration that anyone can remember, and i would just ask, who he's talking about when he makes that comment? is he talking about the three dozen members -- jewish members of congress, all but two of whom

are democrats? we work every day to fight anti-semitism and support the relationship. you know what really gets him, anderson? it's the fact that it's the jewish community that has formed alliances that has been out in front every time the president tries to tear us apart. on the muslim ban it was the jewish community and muslim community working together to protest that terrible policy. when the president decided to tear kids away from their mothers, it was the jewish community and the hispanic community and right-minded people who stood up and said, you can't do this. and, finally, you've been talking a lot about charlottesville. well, when neonazis are marching in the streets carrying tiki torches, it's the jewish community and african-american community who know what's at stake and for the president to say he sees very fine people on both sides, he ought to cut this out. it is not political. he's wrong. it's outrageous and it needs to stop.

>> one of the issues that makes this so difficult is it is an outrageous statement, just blanket statement saying, you know, democrats and jews. it's so outrageous that one has to address it but by addressing it as we are tonight and have on friday, by addressing it one is playing into exactly the president's hands in terms of sending -- saying something so insend air ri that it has to be challenged on a factual basis at the very least, if not a moral one, and yet in challenging it and discussing it you do give -- one gives it life in a way that allows it to kind of stick in people's minds. the problem is the president -- you're dealing with somebody who has absolutely no shame and is willing to say anything, and that's a real problem for democrats and for anybody. >> well, it's a problem -- it's not a problem for democrats, it's a problem for our nation,

anderson. when we continue to focus on the president's efforts to tear us apart from one another, we're actually emboldening him. and you're right about what he does. i saw that press conference today. the fact that sarah sanders couldn't bring herself to say no, the president does not believe that democrats hate jews is outrageous, but that's what he does. remember, this is the same person whose campaign featured a commercial talking about globalist threats that featured three prominent jews. it's the same president whose campaign tweeted pictures of hillary clinton with jewish stars and piles of money. what he says and what he does aren't always the same thing, and he needs to be held accountable. anderson, i would just make a plea to my republican colleagues. i went down to the house floor and i criticized anyone who uses anti-semitic language. whether they're democrats or republicans. i only hope that there is one republican serving in the united

states congress who's willing to stand up and tell the president to knock it off. it's beneath him, it's beneath the office of presidency and it is damaging to our country and puts people at risk. >> have democrats played a role in kind of handing this issue to the president? your fellow democrats won't officially condemn congresswoman omar's comments. he said democrats are blowing their chances to seize the moral high ground. >> well, no, i don't think there's -- this isn't a battle -- this isn't a battle for the moral high ground. the president has decided to get down in the gutter again. that's what's happening here. i was clear last week about how i feel. other people spoke up. ultimately we passed a resolution that strongly condemned anti--semitism and i was clear about how i felt about that. no, it doesn't play to the president's hand. to the contrary, the president looks at this situation and says, how do i use this to further divide people? how do i use this to make more

people hate other people? that's what the president is doing here. there's -- there's no claim -- this administration, this president has no claim at any point to the moral high ground. he's only too happy to get down in the gutter and to do things and to say things that put people at risk. words, as i said last week, anderson, words matter. there are real consequences when people talk like this. the president needs to be held accountable and the republicans need to tell him to knock it off and to be accountable for his language. >> yeah. i mean, look, you know, it's the same sort of theme as the, you know, press is the enemy of the people. he makes these kind of statements and it becomes almost normalized and yet it should not be normalized. >> it can't be. >> this is not normal language for the president of the united states. >> it really can't be. >> i want to switch topics and ask you about what speaker pelosi did today that she's not in favor of impeaching president trump arguing that it will

divide the country saying, quote, he's not worth it. do you agree with him? >> we're going to keep doing our job, anderson. i think everyone is going to clear that. at this point after two years of the republican failure to conduct any oversight to hold this administration accountable, the judiciary committee that i serve on takes that job seriously. that's why we sent out document requests to over 80 individuals and entities. we want to get to the truth. we want everyone to understand that as we do this oversight we have to uphold the rule of law and that no one is above the law. i am saying throughout it's premature to have any conversations about that. we have a job to do and we're going to continue to do that job on behalf of the american people. >> congressman deutsch, i appreciate your time. >> thanks, anderson. more on the bombshell announcement on impeachment. i'll talk to gavin newsome. the governor's not so subtle

direct response coming up. allergies with sinus congestion and pressure? you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray only relieves 6 symptoms, claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. guys go through a lot to deal with shave irritation. so, we built the new gillette skinguard with a specialized guard designed to reduce it. because we believe all men deserve a razor just for them. the best a man can get. gillette. ♪ pardon the interruption but this is big! now with t-mobile get the samsung galaxy s10e included with unlimited data for just $40 a month.

mimini was born extraordinary, with more power for more fun. mini was born to do the only thing we ever wanted to do. drive. to hit start and just go. fast and far. around town and around hairpins.

to leave everyone in the dust, and leave rubber on the road. because mini was born to drive. drive for yourself at the mini born to drive sales event. special offers at your local mini dealer. was a success for lastchoicehotels.comign badda book. badda boom. this year, we're taking it up a notch. so in this commercial we see two travelers at a comfort inn with a glow around them, so people watching will be like, "wow, maybe i'll glow too if i book direct at choicehotels.com". >> thanks, anderson. just say, badda book. badda boom. nobody glows. he gets it. always the lowest price, guaranteed. book now at choicehotels.com more now on breaking news. house speaker nancy pelosi says she does not think impeachment proceedings against president trump are worth it. she said the impeachment process

is so divisive that absent anything compelling, overwhelming, bipartisan, those are her words, she doesn't think the house should go down that path. that belies in the face of the views of the democratic members of the house. kirsten powers and democratic strategist angela rye. kirsten, for months it seems like we've been hearing from republicans that the democrats are going to impeach president trump. >> right. >> every show that i have been on that you have been on that that has been said, you have always responded by saying, you're just saying that. that's a talking point. democrats are not saying that. speaker pelosi seems to be confirming that. >> yeah. >> certainly in a more definitive way than maybe anything we've heard certainly from her. >> yeah. she really seemed to go out of her way to make this very clear. it was interesting. she said, i'm going to make some news and say this, but really this has been the position of the democratic leadership. they saw what happened when the republicans went after bill clinton and they were able to

impeach him in the house and not convict him in the senate, because it was, you know, basically not a bipartisan effort and they're not interested in going down that road. and so, you know, they're not stupid. i mean, that's really what it comes down to. i think that they're doing these investigations because this is the job of the congress to do oversight on the president and it hasn't been done to date when the republicans were in control and the information that they gather i think will be information that will be useful to voters. i think republicans keep saying oh, this is just to impeach the president, but unless they could get some sort of bipartisan support, and particularly in the senate, then i think that's not what this is really about. >> angela, i wonder what you make of this. >> no, i don't think it's wise for several reasons. one, the democrats are just into

their first quarter of really taking over the house. they're just now exercising leadership. they are spending a number of staff and financial resources on investigating donald trump, not to mention the fact that the mueller investigation report is nowhere near done. maybe they say it's near done, but they've been saying that for several months. i think it's unfortunate that in the middle of all of the fact finding that's going on, right in the middle of republicans saying it's a witch hunt, why would you confirm any of that by saying it's not worth it to impeach him? it would be too divisive. if this president, if this commander in chief isn't divisive enough and that alone warrants his particular -- or his potential impeachment or at least his resignation, i don't know what is. i don't think that it further divides the country by any stretch to expect that someone who has broken the law at every turn and has lied about it and has guilty, guilty, guilty all

around him, just the people around him, i don't know what warrants impeachment. i guess i just don't understand. >> kirsten? >> well, you know, i don't -- i don't think -- look, i guess in the way i heard her talking, i don't think she was ruling out impeachment ever happening. i think she was sort of saying based on what we have in front of us right now obviously there's not enough information to do that and there's not enough possibility of getting some bipartisan consensus. i do think one of the problems with bipartisan consensus is it's hard to imagine really anything that republicans would ever impeach donald trump over. so i think -- but i do think it's important for democrats to be aware of this sort of broader, you know, political situation, which is that you don't want to hand donald trump something that he's going to be able to portray himself as this unfair victim. i think it's better to go along with the process. look, if it gets to the point

when they have that information, cross that bridge when you get to it. >> angela, do you think this takes away some enthusiasm from democrats about what may go on or supporting, you know, the process? >> well, i think -- i think there are a number of things. one is i think the real challenge we have is you basically said, you know, and kirsten you just acknowledged, right, it's hard to get anything done in a bipartisan fashion by the mere -- just by the fact of gerrymandering alone. it's very hard in the house. the senate maybe not so much. our reality is if you foreclose on a process before it's even done, that's the problem. i think she's undermined a number of committee chairs, right? when you think about congressman cummings, michael cohen testimony was not that -- it wasn't be that long ago. so i'm just saying, what is the purpose of all of that if it's not to determine if there was any real breaking of the law?

and if there was breaking of the law, the only way to punish the president is to impeach him. so i don't understand why she would foreclose on that. the other challenge i have, anderson, frankly, is to me it seems difficult to go after blue collar white workers who she thinks is coming back to the tent that she's calling socialism. they're not coming back, nancy. they're not coming back. coming up next, the governor who says he's, well, trying to -- well, he's facing up to the trump administration. the president's counter atom on him and what it says about the state of play with these two forces. california governor gavin newsom is next. worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist.

you can barely feel. wmust have cost a lot. a fancy hotel. actually, i got a great deal. priceline saves you up to 60% on hotels, but that's something the hotels don't really want other guests to know. i saved about 120 dollars a night! did you say you saved 120 dollars a night on a room? 120 a night on a hotel room... that's a lot of savings! i saved even more on my flight. save up to 60% on hotels with priceline.

means they won't hike your rates over one mistake. see, liberty mutual doesn't hold grudges. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their 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. ♪

president trump delivered a budget to the democratic controlled house today. not surprisingly democrats declared it dead on arrival, in part because it calls for $8.6 billion for the wall, the one that mexico was going to pay for and the one that the president declared an emergency for. he did that over the objection of both parties. one of his biggest critics is california governor gavin newsom. he spoke with gary tucker just the other day. >> do you think he's xenophobic? >> i think a lot of the actions that we've seen over the last few years by definition are textbook. native vice textbook xenophobic. textbook racist. >> are you at war with the trump administration? >> it's not just the trump administration. trumpism. i think more broadly a lot of the rhetoric we're hearing on the streets and sidewalks.

you know, there's something going on. there's a lot of toxicity in our body poll particular right now and it's been for purely partisan political purposes. >> that report first aired on the program friday night and it aired again on saturday. the president must have seen that airing because moments later he tweeted i hope the grandstanding governor of california is able to spend his very highly taxed citizens money on asylum holds than it has been spent on fast train which is billions over budget and in total disarray. time to reduce taxes in california. saturday we spoke with governor newsom. >> i want to start by reading something back that you said to gary tuchman last week. you said a lot of the actions over the last few years are by definition are textbook nativist, textbook xenophobic, textbook racist in many respects. do you then think the president is a racist and zoxenophobe?

>> he's certainly acting like it. he's advancing policies that are set to divide. these are the policies that are being advanced by not a president at the time in the '80s and '90s. 1994 when pete wilson was governor of california running for re-election and he advanced initiative prop 187. we had three strikes. politics of fear and anger. it was on the ballot and it won. it was situational but long term it was devastating to the republican party. i think the same will happen across the nation. >> you think that's what is at the core of president trump's kind of strategy, getting people against each other? >> of course. i mean, it's textbook. none of this is novel. none of this is new. it's very familiar, not just to people in california, all across the country. politics, again, fear and anger, and it works situationally. it doesn't work long term, but

it works short term. it's all about the base. all about the base. you hear that over and over. publicly, privately. it's sad and tragic. it's incumbent on people like myself that feel that we can elevate ourselves and rise and stand up and have the backs of our diverse populations, particularly in a state like california that practices pluralism, a word you never heard uttered by the white house. we are a universal state. we want to celebrate our differences but we also believe in uniting around the things that bind us together and our common humanity is at stake when you have politicians and politics that want to divide us. i'm not going to stand for that. >> in the interview you talk about the services california is providing for asylum seekers, services which you say should be the federal government's responsibility. you actually entered up a center for asylum seekers. the president responded to you over the weekend tweeting, and i

quote, i hope the grabbed standing governor of california is able to spend his very highly taxed citizens on money holds than money has been spent on the so-called fast train which is billions over budget and in total disarray. time to reduce taxes in california. to that you say what? >> well, we're going to need two segments to unpack all of that and the conflation of issues. the bottom line is, it is the federal government's responsibility. it is the federal government's role. these are human beings. these are parents. these are children. forgive the vernacular. otherwise dumped -- i'm being a little pejorative. i'm being a little obtuse in my language. they're thrown in bus stops to fend for themselves that came through here legally, legal asylum seekers. not here illegally, here legally. they have ankle bracelets on their legs. they're out at 2 or 3:00 in the

morning at a bus station. the federal government turns a blind eye to them. california will not. they will not do their job, we'll do their job. to the extent the taxpayers is one of the strongest economies in the world, i whether enthusiastically advance that. $25,000 seems like a little journey for whatever legally they are going towards. >> it seems like part of the president's strategy and the administration strategy is to make legal asylum seeking as difficult as possible. i mean, it seems like it has slowed. slow it down to a trickle so it's only a few people a day. you have thousands of people waiting on be the other side of the border for a process which is a legal process. >> yeah. it's a legal process they try to make as difficult as possible. look at their results. forgive me, anderson.

i get a little intense about this. i've got four young kids. myungest just turned 3, my oldest is 9. we find out again that thousands of children were separated than the administration has publicly at least, well, acknowledged, and yet all of these efforts by the administration are a complete failure. everything they've tried to do is making things worse not better. there's no accountability for just simple governance, humanity, decency. i think it's incumbent on all of us, not just democrats, human beings. stop the tweets and let's come to some conclusion of the consequences of our failure in this country to advance comprehension sieve immigration reform. deal with the root causes, the root causes particularly as it relates to asylum speakers.

that's what's happening in el salvador, nicaragua. get to the core of this. >> the president sent his budget proposal to congress. he's asking for $8.6 billion for the border wall, which is almost 3 billion more than the government was shut down over. maybe it's an opening gambit. in a further negotiation that he's now asking the american taxpayers for funding for his funding. >> he's going to pay for the wall. this is nothing more than what it obviously is. it's pure political theater. it's a perpetuation. it's a conversation like you and i are having that we're going to have every single day. it's exactly what the president wants. he wants this conversation because he can't have a real conversation about solving some of the deep and structural challenges in this country because he's not interested enough in creating political

conditions where he can engage the other party and actually produce real results. so he creates these side shows, this political theater, this political grandstanding. of course it's absurd. $5.7 billion led to a shutdown. now he asked for 8.6, doubling down on it. he knows exactly what he's doing. he knows how we'll react, how i will react, others, how we'll consume the nightly news. meanwhile he will be less impacted of his failure to address all of these other issues because we are here, exactly where he knew he would send us, down the vortex of this political theater on something he knows he can't deliver but will continue to perpetuate to satiate his base. >> there were 76,000 unauthorized border crossing. 11-year high. they have said the system is

well beyond capacity and remains at the breaking point. whatever one labels it, a crisis or an emergency, do you acknowledge there is a problem at the border? if so, what is the solution to that problem? >> prob problem of our own making. complete incapacity for democrats and republicans to come together to deal with this not situationally but susta sustainab sustainably. to deal with it at its root cause. it's no longer mexicans jumping over the border. decade low number of undocumented residents in the state. the challenge has changed and now it's about central america. if you want to get serious about it, let's get serious about economic investment, opportunities in central america. let's secure a consequence of our zero tolerance policies and make sure we have more judges and make sure we have more staffing. let's make sure we're

communicating more effectively. decency, honor, humility, humanity when people cross into our country. when they cross our values are dumped on the streets and sidewalks. that's how you begin to substantively address this issue. creating the conditions and having the decency to move past the politics and the situational politics that is being advanced here in a more sustainable way. forgive me, anderson, for belaboring this. just start being human beings again, decent, honorable human beings again, not politicians. put down the swords and the anger and deivy divisiveness. >> you were down at the border saying there was no crisis, no emergency. you got criticized because at that crossing there is a wall. do walls work? >> yeah, i do think they work in urban settings. i think they do work on the southern border here in

california, particularly between tijuana and san diego, but here's one of the reasons they work, is the cross border engagement. 100,000 people going back and forth legally every single day. people that live in san diego and work in tijuana. people that work in tijuana and come into san diego for exchange, for economic exchange, jobs, opportunity. you talk to people down there, they talk about it in a regional construct. we had a century program that gets people to move across the border. it's a completely different narrative. it's one people have lived with for decades. there's a vibrance that's a part of that narrative. not just security, but in terms of security, absolutely. we believe in appropriate security measures, but 2,000 mile wall is a monument to stupidity, not just vanity. it doesn't solve the problem.

there are ways of isolating structures. there are ways of providing barriers and security that can solve the problem. this president is not creating the conditions where we can have that thoughtful debate. instead he's advancing purely a political point. >> well, speaking of not a thoughtful debate, my last question. you told us last week that you don't want to spar with the president, that you want to work with him. i just want to play something he said last week about a phone call allegedly with you. >> but he called me up the other day, recent bely, let's say four weeks ago or so, i just want to tell you, you're a great president and you're one of the smartest people i've ever met. that's what he said. that's what he said. will he admit it? no, i doubt it, but that's what he said. you're doing a great job. >> is that your recollection? >> you can't make this up,

anderson. i called the president because i wanted to extend my appreciation. i said this publicly, not just privately. we had the wildfires. i wanted to express the fact that the people in those communities were grateful to him. i was grateful to him. the people in the communities appreciated not only his time and attention but appreciated his attention. somehow that got conflated. we hear what we want to hear. i can't admit, quote, unquote, to what i said because that's not what i said. that said, i do want to work with him on emergency preparedness, emergency planning. i do want to rise above this politics and i think that's important. i think people expect that and to the extent we can continue to have an open hand, not a clenched fist, i'm all for it. if you're going to attack the people in the state, attack our values, attack our diversity i'm going to head back to those folks and stand up tall against anyone who tries to advance a

contrary narrative. >> ghofr newsom, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thanks for having me. in other news, the lawyer for "empire" star jussie smollett say they have a great case against the two brothers involved as smollett faces 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct. i'll talk to the lawyer for the two brothers to see what she has to say next. and struggle. we actually... seek it out. other species do difficult things because they have to. we do difficult things. because we like to. we think it's... fun. introducing the all-new 2019 ford ranger built for the strangest of all creatures. and back pain made it hard to sleep and get up on time. then i found aleve pm.

the only one to combine a safe sleep aid, plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. most can tell the continent or country i did a lot of research into dna tests. that your ancestors are from, but ancestrydna showed me the specific places they called home. 20 million members have connected to a deeper family story. order your kit at ancestry.com. my dream car. it turns out, they want me to start next month. she can stay with you to finish her senior year.

things will be tight but, we can make this work. ♪ now... grandpa, what about your dream car? this is my dream now. principal we can help you plan for that . 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. when it comes to reducing the evsugar in your family's diet,m. coke, dr pepper and pepsi hear you. we're working together to do just that. bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all. smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels and reminders to think balance. because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org

the attorney for "empire" star jussie smollett said he's innocent. they casted suspicion on his supposed attackers. prosecutors say they received $3500 to stage the whole thing. isn't it just weird that you get attacked, allegedly attacked by two people you actually know, who have actually been on "empire" who you've actually worked out with and you don't recognize them? >> yes. yes. guess what? i don't know whether he made that statement or -- but what i do know is that when he was told that they had evidence against these two he refused to sign the complaint because he could not believe it. if he thought they were in on it, would he have signed the complaint? wouldn't he have signed the complaint? he didn't believe it. now if you're asking me what their motivation is, i suppose i can speculate, but motivation of

jussie is not an element of the crime. their motivation, i've got my theories on it, but i haven't seen one piece of evidence and they have don't have one piece of evidence that they've turned over that links jussie to this. what they do have is a whale of a case if you believe what the police chief is saying, they've got a great case against the two brothers. >> as you might expect, the lawyer for the brothers has quite a different take. her name is gloria schmidt. we spoke earlier today. gloria, can you just explain exactly what your clients are acknowledging they did and didn't do in connection with the attack? >> sure, anderson. you know, their biggest point right now is the tremendous regret that they feel over their involvement, and i know everyone wants to know, well, what is the exact detail? where are the borders of their involvement? and at this point i'm not at liberty to say that, but what i can tell you is that their

participation has been a complete learning experience for them. and they've really had a realization through all of this. >> how did you come to believe your client's story? >> number one, i wanted to just put it out there that >> obviously that starts with cooperating with your attorney and we walked through the actual time line and pieced everything together and that took me a lot of time ourselves. my own law firm doing our own private investigation, we were able to fish it out, if you will and tell the commander, there's something that doesn't match with the narrative that was put out by mr. smollett. >> do you believe your clients were betrayed by mr. smollett? >> i believe my clients were

atta abetrayed. he's a celebrity. this is somebody in a position of power over my client. we see a lot of stories in the news where celebrities think they might be above the law. it's just not the case. >> do you know how your clients met jussie smollett and how long they have known him for? >> i do. the older brother had known mr. smollett longer than -- oh, i'm sorry, the younger brother had known mr. smollett longer than the older brother. they met through a working relationship. they were trainers. they were training him. >> was the younger brother the trainer of jussie smollett or were they both training him? >> they were both training him. >> i'm sorry. you said -- how did the younger brother initially meet smollett? >> so those details will be better said from able but i do know that they met at least a couple of years prior to this

incident. >> oh, so they have known each other for a couple of years. >> yes. >> could you say if they met in chicago or elsewhere? >> i'm not able to answer that at this time. >> there is a check for $3,500 written by smollett to one of your clients. was it the younger brother or do you know? >> so the training, that was something prediscussed prior to january 29th. it was cashed. it was deposited. >> since the check was for training did it have anything to do with agreeing to take part in this attack or what they say is a hoax? >> you know, the check is not such a clear cut answer because you have to look at they were

friends and the money did include services for training. but you have to look at it through the context of i'm this star and i'm someone that you can help and have to pay you for something and oh can you do me this favor? was it for training and was it not for training, i think it's a little bit of both. >> can you say just full stop that this was a hoax perpetratored by jussie smollett? >> what i can say is that my clients are extremely, tremendously remorseful for their role in this. they hope that, you know, this opens the dialogue to people that are being affected, that people who are in minority populations, people that have suffered the hate crimes and they really hope that people learn from this.

don't get taken advantage of by a celebrity or a stronger relationship than you. >> they feel they were taken advantage of by jussie smollett. >> they feel regretful that they put their trust in the wrong person. >> i appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for having me anderson. >> let's check in with chris and see what he is working on at the top of the hour. >> interesting. that's why people have a problem with lawyers. just say it's a hoax then. everything you said equates with it being a hoax but you always ask the right questions. that's the best that we can do and sometimes the lawyer just matters. in that situation, the lawyer knows what her clients are really about and what they're afraid of now. so tonight i have been chasing an interview with keith davidson for a long time. he was stormy daniels, he was karen mcdougal and others lawyers in these hush money payments. we keep asking what did the president know or not know?

how involved was he? is cohen telling the truth or not? this is the guy on the other side of the transactions. he's finally willing to speak. we're giving him time to test what he thinks happened. what he says was known or not known. the time line. the lawyer knows the answers. >> fascinating. five minutes from now. thank you very much. appreciate it. we'll see you at the top of the hour. up next, growing questions at the wake of the second deadly crash. the world's best selling airliner in just months. what authorities are saying about the 737 max when we continue. gear... matters. introducing the all-new 2019 ford ranger, it's the right gear. with a terrain management system for... this. a bash plate for... that. an electronic locking rear differential for... yeah... this. heading to the supermarket? get any truck. heading out here? get the ford ranger. the only adventure gear built ford tough.

aww. yaaaayyy!!! aww. yaaaayyy!!! aww. yaaaayyy!!! we hide hotel names, so you can find four star hotels at two star prices. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪hotwire.com this is the avery's trying the hottest new bistro.ery's. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e wait...and the hottest taqueria? and the hottest...what are those? oh, pierogis? and this is the avery's wondering if eating out is eating into saving for their first home. this is jc... (team member) welcome to wells fargo, how may i help? (vo) who's here to help with a free financial health conversation, no strings attached. this is the avery's with the support they needed to get back on track. well done guys. (team member) this is wells fargo. guys go through a lot to deal with shave irritation. so, we built the new gillette skinguard with a specialized guard designed to reduce it. because we believe all men deserve a razor just for them. the best a man can get.

gillette.

itreat them all as if, they are hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911 and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe.

pg&e wants you to plan ahead by mapping out escape routes and preparing a go kit, in case you need to get out quickly. for more information on how to be prepared and keep your family safe, visit pge.com/safety. the federal aviation administration is not grounding 737 max 8 jets. instead they'll order design changes to the jets but only due to the crash last october when

189 people died. this comes after another jet operated by ethiopian airlines crashed killing all 157 people on board including 8 americans. that's two deadly crashing in five months. today several airlines around the world grounded the plane. that does it for us. i'll hand it over to chris for cuomo primetime. >> thank you. i am chris cuomo and welcome to primetime. we have the man on the other side of the infamous hush money payments. attorney keith davidson. represented stormy daniels, karen mcdougal and others. he cut those deals to help bury the news of president trump's alleged affairs. he is here and he has new information this evening. the time line, the intentions, the president's awareness, he knows and he is willing to be tested. >> also tonight, speaker pelosi just said something that's