the right direction and it is up to us to get it back on the right track. >> thanks for doing this news series. we appreciate it. to our viewers, the new season of "united shades of america" starts on sunday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. thanks for watching, erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, trump digs himself into a hole again defending his comments about charlottesville all because of joe biden. plus friendly fire. biden splashy entry into the presidential race now has democrats attacking each other. and the man who oversaw the mueller probe reportedly alegislatured president trump he was on his side, right in the middle of the investigation. let's go "outfront." >> good evening. i'm jim chuto in for erin burnett and trump takes biden's bait. the president relitigating his

disastrous response to the deadly white supremacist rally in charlottesville. why now? who words, joe biden, resurrecting the president's very fine people remark in a campaign video and the message clearly getting under trump's skin. >> there were very fine people on both sides in charlottesville. >> i answered that question. and if you look at what i said, you will see that question was answered perfectly and i was talking about people that went because they felt very strongly about the monument to robert e. lee, a great general. >> he answered the question perfectly. let's play for you the original answer. >> excuse me. excuse me. you had some very bad people in that group. but you also had people that were very fine people. on both sides.

>> other than white nationalists, no one thought he answered that question perfectly. ceo's dropped out of his business council thanks to those remarks and republicans condemned him and the top economic adviser gary cohn considered quitting but the president now trying to re-write his own history. suggesting his comments were also somehow taken out of context. >> people were there protesting the taking down of the monument of robert e. lee. everybody knows that. >> what we do know, those protests were organized by white nationalists. many in attendance wore swastikas and it is hard to make the case that very fine people were marching alongside people who were chanting this -- [ crowd chanting ] >> jews will not replace us! >> biden using the images to trap the president and trump

couldn't help but take the bait. abby is live outside of the white house. do people in the white house think this is a good battle for the president to fight again? >> reporter: no, they do not, jim. and president trump really delving back into one of the most difficult and tumultuous times in his presidency is clearly not something a lot of white house aides would like to be talking about today of all days, especially when this friday started with some really good economic news. 3.2% gdp that the president wanted to tout but instead he talked about this. and i really have to take people back to that time in this presidency. there is not really much of another time in trump's time here in the white house that has been so difficult for white house aides. gary cohn almost resigned over this issue and many people close to the president really were torn by this. some of them speaking out publicly about their displeasure with how he framed this conversation. but the president is not one to back down. and he's not backing down here.

especially since this attack is really coming from joe biden. someone that the president is known to be very much concerned about when it comes to 2020. the president thinks joe biden is the guy who will give him the biggest run for his money, if biden is able to get out of the democratic primary so he did, in fact, take this bait. he's not backing down. he's not really one to do so. but he might be walking into a trap, relitigating an issue that caused him to lose a lot of support in the polls at the time that it happened. even if it didn't cause him to lose support among his base. the question is can president trump move on from this and will he at some point really grapple with the fact that this was actually something that the country thought was handled poorly and maybe in the future will he change the way that he talks about this issue? it seems based on his answers today he doesn't have any retrospective view of this issue and sticking to his answer this was all about history and not at all about the hate that everyone saw on display in

charlottesville that day. >> you would think it would be easy to condemn that hate. in simple terms. abby phillip at the white house. "outfront" tonight, van jones former special adviser to president obama and host of the redemption and correspondent for urban radio networks and ben jennings, good to have you all on. van jones, charlottesville, this is not a shiny moment for the president even within his own party. does it make any sense politically for trump to try to relitigate this and try to fight this battle again and to fight biden specifically? >> it doesn't. and i think part of it is the picking of this particular scab. we have to remember there is a terrorist movement in this country. so white supremacists, terrorist movement is a violent movement. it killed heather heyer that week. using isis tactics of driving a car into a crowd of people.

so the reason that it is a high standard for the president here is because when you are dealing with a violent terrorist movement in your own country, you have to get every word exactly right. you don't want to be freelancing. and so whether -- some people question his heart, i just say mentally you have to question his judgment. you do not want to give aid and comfort to a terrorist movement in your country that is just killed an american citizen in any way. and i understand that in his mind he saw it as this thing about the statue. unfortunately, that interpretation doesn't go along with the facts that the march that we're talking about and the murder that we're talking about didn't come out of the fight around the statue, it was a white supremacist thing from the very beginning and that level of detail matters when you are the head of state in a country with a terrorist movement. >> there was no second-guessing

the message of those chanting protesters there. april, tell me who the president is trying to speak to here? who is he trying to convince by fighting this battle again and attempted to rewrite the facts of who planned that protest and who was in that protest. >> the president is trying to reach that base, jim, that feels they've been left out, left behind. those people who actually to some extent supported what the tiki torch-carrying marchers, if you will, the anti-semite and white supremacists who were marching out there and not only that, those who the president feels -- who feel like they haven't had enough or been touched by government. so there is a certain group of people in this nation that still feels that there needs to be a divide and they need to propel. that is who the president is trying to touch. but also i want to go back to something that van said.

he said it was a scab. i beg to differ. i love van so much. but i think you would agree, i think this is a wound that has yet to heal. and the president just goes for it because he's -- it is very sensitive. and when someone like a joe biden brings it up, it causes it to ooze. the president tried about five or six times to fix this. he went over and over it. if he was on a teleprompter and said the words that was prepared, everyone was like, oh, my god, the nation is fine. but when the president spoke extemporaneously and we thought what in the world and again with the robert e. lee statement, we're back to where we were in 2017. >> scott jennings, to your credit, you have criticized the president for these comments in the past. i just want to ask you this, because it would seem a simple thing to do for a president to unequivocally condemn the

supremacists and all they stand for and i wonder politically is the president trying to avoid here intentionally turning off some of his supporters? is there a political reason why he won't take that simple step? >> well, a couple of things. number one, i want to go back to something van said and i agree, when you are dealing with situations like this, precision is required. and when you look back at the transcript of what the president said, he actually did say in the middle of a lot of words that he condemned the neo-nazis and the white nationalists in the middle of a long statement and ambiguity and hard to follow and understand. so even though i think in the middle of it the president got it right there for a moment, you just have to have more precision. you have to have more clarity in a moment like that. and by the way, there are people in this world, the polling clearly shows, most people think the statues should not be taken down but if you are a person that showed up to talk about a statue when they bring out the nazi flags and the torches, you

probably got in your car and went home because you're there for some other reason. so the good people left when the flauts -- when the nazi flags came out. i think the president is responding to joe biden. he made this moment the animating piece of his candidacy so far and the president clearly sees biden as a formidable opponent and he's responding to the attack. the president never lets attacks go unanswered and that is what we're seeing tonight. look, republicans do not cater to these people. we do not cater to these people. they have no quarter in the republican party. i promise you. >> april, your response? >> well let me -- yes, please. i remember that time as we all do. and i remember specifically david duke was writing messages on twitter to the president about this. and people were wondering, do you disavow this? there was a lot of ambiguity going on and it was upsetting to a lot of people who are republican who believe in humanity. and this was totally against what we had seen. and what we had -- what we were

striving for as a nation to come together. there is a divide. and that incident, that deadly incident in august and the president's vacillating on words helped create a divide in august of 2017 with charlottesville. we didn't know where he stood for a long time. and then it perpetuated with other things that the president said. and we're not going down that line. but we need to know for sure where this president stands on robert e. lee, where he stands on the confederacy and things of that nature because robert e. lee if you look at it, he believes that slaves were better off in this country even though they were going through the horrific torture that they did, versus africa. if you look at the totality -- the totality of robert e. lee, that is not something that all americans can hug a statue for. >> it is a good point. i'm glad you brought it up because the president had another opportunity to condemn the white supremacists and he

went off how robert e. lee was and he fought against his own nation to preserve slavery. so again -- >> that is right. >> so at best a lost opportunity. van, i wonder on the race here, because the president is responding in large part here because joe biden made this an issue and his announcement void d vid -- in the video, and references charlottesville is the president's response in part because he sees biden as a threatening opponent for 2020. >> i don't know. the republican that i auck toed especially those who helped trump win in the industrial midwest frankly are not concerned and don't care about any of our candidates except for biden. they always say, well biden could give us trouble. so that may be in his head or may not be in his head. but honestly i think the president more to the earlier point is it is a sensitive topic and it is probably the one thing that he has said that has come back more than anything else.

that was a moment for him that he did not handle properly because if he handled it properly we'd be having a different conversation. so i think he reflect -- when you throw that at him i think he tried to defend and explain. i tell you what, joe biden, if anybody thought he's yesterday's man, joe biden has sucked donald trump into the conversation that he wants to have just by posting a youtube video. joe biden apparently knows how to deal with donald trump. i don't think donald trump knows how to deal with joe biden. >> fair observation, scott. >> if i might, yeah. i think van is raised a very good political strategic point here. if this conversation about 2020 is about the economy, about are your lives improving, is your paycheck getting bigger, thatset of issues, donald trump is in a good place. if the conversation is about other things, then that advantages the democrats. i heard some people yesterday questioning why joe biden's

video didn't mention jobs and opportunities and so on and so forth. this is why. because this morning gdp report showed the president is going to be able to run on the economy if that is how he can frame the conversation. biden wants to have a different one. -- that is how his video was set up and the president went for it today. and i would submit if i were advising the president, we have to get on topic which is number one issue for you is the economy. don't take the bait on these things like you did today. >> if you could keep it on topic, that otto warmbier -- that would be great. and great to have you on and have a good weekend. catch we should know van jones this weekend on cnn. his new series "the redemption project" on sunday at 9:00 p.m. it is a hopeful story and this is one of them. "outfront" next, day two of the biden campaign and already fellow democrats are on the attack. >> and joe biden is on the side of the credit card companies. and rod rosenstein's promise

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tonight cashing in, joe biden announced he raised $6.3 million in the first 24 hours of the official run for president. it is the most of any democratic candidate so far. surpassing even the prolific fundraising halls of beto o'rourke and bernie sanders on the first days of their campaigns. he's only been in the race for a day but some of the very same democrats are already going after him as well as president trump who is trying to fund raise off his entrance as well. "outfront" now, grant woods, a long time fred of vice president biden. thank you for taking the time tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> so you look at the numbers here. you look at the fundraising. but you also look at the direct attack from the president and some of his competitors. he's clearly the front-runner here. is joe biden ready for this on day one? >> yeah, he's more than ready. i think this is the -- an

interesting time. i think maybe this is the time when the perfect guy is now ready to step up and take the stage at the perfect time. in other words, this is -- this is not normal times. we have never had a presidency like this. we've never had an attack on our basic institutions like this. the freedom of the press, the courts, the congress. we've never had this sort of crisis. and we need somebody, when the ship of state is listing, we need somebody to straighten it up and get us back on track. and i think this is the guy. i think maybe there is a reason why it took so long for joe biden to be in the right place at the right time. but i think this is his time. i think the country needs him right now to get us back where we should be. >> okay. i get that is his argument and

that is very sort of central to his announcement video there about the fight for soul of the nation. but the fact is decades in government gives him a long record which gives his opponents a lot of stuff to take aim app. bernie sanders sent out a fundraising email to take a shot at biden for attending a private event with donors last night and elizabeth warren took this swipe at biden. have a listen. >> at a time when the biggest financial institutions in this country tried to put the squeeze on millions of hard-working families who were in bankruptcy, there was nobody to stand up for them, i got in that fight because they just didn't have anybody and joe biden was on the side of the credit card companies. >> he's going to have a lot of fights like this and this is inside of the democratic party. he's got a primary to win here first. it is not going to be easy. >> yeah. no, it is not going to be easy and that is okay. i think he's up for the

competition. but i have a real basic message to democrats, you would think with this disaster of a trump presidency that there is no way he could be re-elected and it is just not true. it is sad but not true. he can be re-elected and he's going to be re-elected if we don't nominate somebody who could actually win. so you could have the bernie sanders of the world or elizabeth warren, all i could tell you is i will guarantee you they cannot win the presidency. when you go to michigan, and wisconsin and pennsylvania, i'm from arizona, and let me tell you, i've been doing this my whole life, i've been intimately involved in elections, every election cycle in arizona my whole life, okay. joe biden beats donald trump in arizona. write it down. bernie sanders has zero chance. elizabeth warren has zero chance. so i understand that at some point in time you want to say, well, what about this issue or what about that issue. we wish he was more to the left,

we want to stake out new ground and more progressive ground. that is all fine if this is just another year. it is not another year. the future of our country is at stake. our basic institutions are at stake. you think the last two and a half years have been bad. try eight years of donald trump. so i -- my message to democrats is, look, we could have a nice primary, that is fine. but why don't we nominate somebody who could actually win. that is joe biden. >> and to your point, when democratic voters are polled often times they put at the time of the list the quality and the candidate they want a -- is someone to beat donald trump among democratic voters. >> go ahead -- >> and some of the people remind me of the comments we just heard in the bernie crowd, like people who didn't like hillary and they voted for jill stein because she wasn't pure enough or progressive enough. how did that work out for you? how did that work out? you got donald trump. don't do it again, please.

let's talk about how both you and biden -- you were very close to the john mccain family and john mccain's long-time chief of staff. you were a eulogist at the fu--t the funeral as did biden. i want to play an exchange between joe biden and meghan mccain today. >> you understand grief and pain in a way that i've never met anybody else in life like it. does death ever get easier? >> yes. look, there is going to come as we've had our private conversations. there is going to come a time when you think your dad will walk by that closet and smell that fragrance or pass something that -- a feel that he loved or when you sit there out on -- in arizona in that beautiful looking over the creek, you're going to get a smile before you get a tear. >> listen, his career and his personal life shaped sadly so much by tragedy going back to

the car accident where he lost his wife and daughter and through losing his son, you know this better than anybody, he connected with people. is that something -- >> he does. >> -- that will make the difference for him on the campaign trail? >> i think it is going to be a -- i think it will be a huge difference. he's a people person. it is not a bunch of bologna. you could tell this guy, he relates to people and he respects people and respects the average working guy, the average mom and dad. he tries to put himself in their shoes. there was nobody who was a better or bigger friend to the mccain family in this time of grief than joe biden. he flew out there several times just to -- on a long flight out to arizona and made the drive up to sedona to spend time with john. no fanfare, nobody knew about it and he drove back and got back on the plane and went home. he was that sort of friend and been there for the family since then. i know cindy talked with him regularly. as he said there he's talked with meghan. this is a good guy. i also say, in the attorney

general world since i was an attorney general beau biden was a very, very special leader. and such a tragedy we lost him so young. he was a great, great guy. and to -- after what happened to his young family and then to go through that with his son with such great potential, boy, that should never happen to anybody. but look at how he's dealt with it and it is -- it is a measure of the man. jim, i think we've had great people and real human beings, good human beings, most of the time in the presidency. certainly barack obama or george w. bush and you could tell they were good people. it is would be nice to have a good person, a good human being back in the white house like joe biden. >> grant woods, thanks very much for joining us tonight. >> okay. thanks, jim. "outfront" next, the man who oversaw the russia investigation making a promise to the president in order to keep his job. and a serious warning from the director of the fbi.

>> i do think that russia poses a very significant counterintelligence threat. >> what does the trump administration do about that, particularly as 2020 gets closer. james clapper is my guest. a little sweeter. ♪ to give every idea the perfect soundtrack. ♪ to make each journey more elegant. at adp we're designing a better way to work, so you can achieve what you're working for. stand up to chronic migraine with botox®. what if you had fewer headaches and migraines a month? botox® prevents headaches and migraines before they even start. botox® is for adults with chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® injections take about 15 minutes in your doctor's office and are covered by most insurance. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking,

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it's a now there's one store that connects your life like never before store. the xfinity store is here. and it's simple, easy, awesome. new tonight, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein assured president trump that he was on his team in a bid apparently to save his job. according to the washington post. this reportedly happened during a phone call last september after there were reports that rosenstein considered wearing a wire to record his conversations with the president.

according to money administration official rosenstein told trump, quote, i give the investigation credibility, i can land the plane. "outfront" now, one of the reporters who broke the story, matt zepatoski. tell us about the phone call between trump and rosenstein and what it appears that rosenstein was trying to accomplish here. >> so it is in the context of the "new york times" breaking this huge story that rosenstein, according to the account of deputy director andrew mccabe broached the idea of wearing a wire to monitor the president or to use the 25th amendment to oust him from office so rosenstein goes over to the white house to explain what happened. and first he has this meeting with the white house chief of staff, he won't get into a lot of details and then he gets on a call with the president. and essentially he's trying to diffuse the situation in some measure he's probably trying to protect his job and he ends up offering the president some

vague assurances about the mueller investigation. he said that he's on the president's team, he said that he's going to land the plane, according to one person that we've talked to sort of familiar with this call. it is hard to know exactly what that means. what he was trying to convey. but that is what he said. his mission seems to be two-fold which is save his job and calm the president down, make sure the president doesn't do anything drastic. >> did he convince the president? what was the president's thinking on rosenstein because the president has -- had repeatedly attacked him prior. >> yeah, the president left the call thinking, gosh, maybe this guy is on my team. and that was a little bit of a change. .president had not been a fan of rosenstein. rosenstein after all appointed bob mueller to lead this probe that so irked the president. the president derided rod rosenstein as a democrat from baltimore even though rod rosenstein is a republican from a different part of maryland who the president appointed.

but this call did give the president some kind of assurance that rosenstein was going to be loyal to him. even though rosenstein used somewhat vague language, it wasn't like he was promising to end the mueller probe, that is what he said, so that was the president's reaction. he was convinced. >> and that assurance coming while that investigation is still underway. he was overseeing it. matt, thank you very much. "outfront" now, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, kerry sandic and nia malika henderson. so harry, what does this mean for rosenstein? does that make you question his impartiality as he was still overseeing this investigation? >> it does to some extent. it is not advisable for the deputy attorney general supervising an investigation into the president to meet with the president and give him any assurances or give him anyin siep -- any insight into the investigation. going back months people said

rosenstein should be praised and he's protecting the investigation and people are saying this is at odds with that. maybe he was subverting the investigation. and the truth is that rosenstein is just a person who has done some things that probably deserve praise and some things like this that it is hard to say how to praise them. he described sometimes as a survivor and obviously someone who is a bureaucratic survivor makes compromises sometimes. this looks like a compromise and not something if he said it, it is not something he should have said. >> a creature of washington you might say. >> exactly. >> and nia, democrats and republicans pointed at rosenstein throughout the investigation as the protector of mueller so long as he was there, everything would be okay. does this change the view of the role he actually played? >> you know, it certainly complicates his legacy and you see rod rosenstein going out ab by bit of a legacy tour and he

was talking i believe yesterday in light of some of the thing that's have come out recently, you did have a situation where both rm republicans and democrats did think he was the protector of mueller but with this report from "the washington post," you do see that he had other duties there too. protecting his job was one of them. and then passifying trump and those all went together. the idea of landing the plane, i think a lot of republicans are happy with the way this plane was landed and you have democrats wondering maybe what that loyalty had to do with the way this plane was landed. rod rosenstein obviously signing on to bill barr's framing of the mueller report, standing behind him in that press conference. some people said well maybe rod rosenstein isn't on board with barr, but clearly he was very much on board in terms of basically exonerating the president of collusion and also saying there was no prosecutorial evidence toward

obstruction. >> harry, nia makes a great point because it was barr and rosenstein who decided not to indict, in effect, for obstruction of justice despite the long list of instances of obstruction of justice that mueller compiled and corroborated for the report and he talked about landing the plane, is that a reasonable connection to make between that ultimate judgment and what he was promising the president there? >> it does sound like a reasonable connection. and this sort of asking for loyalty, we saw this before with jim comey when he was the fbi director. and he was asked for loyalty. and he kind of hedged it and said i think something like -- i give you honest loyalty. but wouldn't go along with just the loyalty oath. and later he wondered, maybe i shouldn't have said that or maybe i should have said absolutely not and forced the confrontation then. it is hard to know whether rosenstein should have done something like that in his meeting. but it is hard not to draw the

connection now between that statement, which seems to suggest some loyalty, i'm on your team, and then kind of standing quietly behind the attorney general as he gave this sort of really inaccurate summary of the mueller report. >> nia, i wonder big picture before we go, how does the justice department look in this -- you have the end of the long investigation, justice department appointed by the president but has a larger role as the senior most lawyers in the country here, they're role in interpreting the mueller report and making the final decision on the outcome. >> i mean, democrats criticized bill barr saying he was acting like the president's attorney not like the country's attorney and top law enforcement official. and i think all of this really leads to democrats really pressing for more answers. it sort of gives them fuel, they want to have congressional

hearings and the president stonewalling saying his administration officials aren't going to respond to any subpoenas but my goodness, reports like this raise further questions. and you imagine that democrats are going to want to have some answers. we'll see what the president does in response. >> they want to test those on the hill, will they get that opportunity? >> exactly. >> thanks very much. "outfront" next, the blame game. the trump administration pointing the finger at president obama for not doing enough to stop russia. >> the previous administration chose not to publicize the full story about russian computer hackers and social media trolls. plus the road to the white house running through the rust belt. is 2020 all about trump onomics. >> he's not a guy that i really would say, hey, that is my guy. >> but you'll vote for him. >> but i'll vote for him. omar, check this out. uh, yeah, i was calling to see if you do laser hair removal. for men. notice that my hips are off the ground.

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tonight very significant. that is how the fbi director christopher wray describes the threat that russia poses to the united states today. >> i do think that russia poses a very significant counter intelligence threat. certainly in the cyber arena. certainly what we call the malign foreign influence territory. certainly in their presence of intelligence officers in this country. so in a lot of ways, yeah. >> this comes of course after we

learn that security officials have struggled to get the white house to pay attention to the dangers that russia poses to the u.s. outfront now former national director of intelligence under president obama, james clapper. so you have the fbi director talking about this and your replacement, dan coats, talking about the seriousness of the threat with 2020 coming. the president did not talk about a lot and we reported just recently that a senior officials have been told not to bring it up because he considered it about his 2016 election ind mining his victory and can the u.s. respond without presidential leadership. >> first of all i'm gratified to see director wray speak publicly and the fact it is continuing and we'll be faced with the s e same -- the same kind of problem in 2020 so that is a good thing. i think president trump from the get-go, from when we briefed him in january of 2017 about this does not want to deal with it

because acknowledging russian interference, despite the document that -- the exhaustive documentation of the mueller report, causes doubts about the legitimacy of his election. he just can't get his head around that. meantime we have a profound threat and while all kinds of things have been done on -- agency by agency or department by department basis, what is missing is the galvanizing impact of the president speaking forth rightly and directly to the american people about this threat. -- and from the bully pulpit only he occupies and it is great that director wray is speaking about it but the absence of leadership, think, not so much for the government maybe but for impact on the american public. >> beyond the impact of the american public, does russia listen to the president's silence on this and take that to some degree as an invitation to

interfere again. >> oh, absolutely. and with all of this controversy that goes on in this country, the big winner is vladimir putin. and so the russians are -- have been reinforced based on the success of -- i think exceeded their wildest expectations and the doubt and discord and disconsent they were able to sow in this country. >> and rod rosenstein in a parting shot taking a shot at the obama administration for its response to the election interference in 2016. have a quick listen and i want to get your reaction. >> some critical decisions about that russia investigation were made before i got there. the previous administration chose not to publicize the full story about russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to russia's broader strategy to undermine america. >> to some degree, you agree

with him because you advocates for exactly that. >> yes. but i have to say -- i guess i'm guilty of this, too, we all have our selective memories of what occurred. so suggested as some do that the obama administration didn't do anything is not true. for one, president obama directly and pointedly didn't ask and confronted putin about the interference i think in september of '16 -- >> for -- >> or whatever. and we made a public announcement, i say we, then jeh johnson and i put out a joint statement on october 7th warning of the russian interference and where it was being directed from. unfortunately our statement got immass you'll ated by the "access hollywood" tapes the same day and the dumping of the john podesta states. and when the obama administration took the toughest action against the russians,

december 29th when the imposed sanctions kick out 35 russian operatives and closed two places russia used for intelligence collection and the national security adviser negated or undermined that action. and in the meantime, what did the trump campaign do? had many, many contacts with russians which we were watching and were concerned about, none of which were reported to the fbi. they aided and abetted russian meddling then by candidate trump on july 2016 when he extorted the russians to go find a missing emails. there by asking an enemy of ours to help him in opposition to his -- to help defeat his opponent. so i think the big factor, though in the president's mind  was not wanting to be seen as tipping the scales in favor of one candidate to the disfavor of the other against the back drop

of president trump then already alleging a rigged election. >> the system was fixed. understood. a bit rich to point out that criticism. >> disingenuous as best. >> director clapper, thank you. out next, the trump economy powering on and how much will this help trump in 2020. and age is just a number for president trump. >> i just feel like a young man. i'm so young. i can't believe it. i'm the youngest person -- ne el. so why accept it from your allergy pills? most pills don't finish the job because they don't relieve nasal congestion. flonase allergy relief is different. flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. and 6 is greater than 1. start your day with flonase for more complete allergy relief. flonase. this changes everything.

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saying they're going to stick with trump in 2020. >> reporter: 28-year-old business owner chris trot twice an obama voter flipped to trump in 2016. >> he's not a guy i'd want to go have a beer with or go golfing with but i'll vote for him because what he's doing seems to be working. >> reporter: saddled with college loan debt he took he started his own vehicle modification business. it's growing. he might soon higher his first full time employee. the strong economy gets his vote as does the president. >> i'm going to have to hold out and say it's probably going to be trump but i'm still open to seeing different thingsmer. >> a common refrain. democrats here hold a sizable advantage here over republicans but many voters cross over. until 2016 no republican had won eerie county since 1984 when ronald reagan did on his way to

winning re-election. trump campaigned in erie and returned hereafter his election. he carried the county by fewer than 2,000 vets. clinton won the city, trump the suburbs in rural areas. one of those places the borough of gerard in the erie suburbs. business owner carla goodin, a democrat who voted for trump has soured on his presidency. >> i don't even admit that i voted for him. >> reporter: why? >> because his personality is nasty. like, i don't feel like he's a good role model. >> reporter: so you won't vote for him 2020? >> no, i don't think i will. >> reporter: down the street the owner credits the president for a strong economy. he sees trump as unbeatable in 2020. >> you can go to almost every business around here and you'll see a sign in the window for

help wanted. they can't find people to work, so that tells you that something's going good. >> reporter: his sister a die hard democrat voted for clinton in 2016 but says she'd have a hard time pulling a lever for a candidate that's too progressive. >> i don't know what the country's ready for. i don't know if they're ready for a woman president or a gay president or any of that stuff either. >> reporter: the economy here paramount. all 1,700 members of erie's largest union went on strike earlier in the year. trump won many rank and file union votes in 2016. both parties vowed to fight for those same voters in 2020. >> going into 2020 we're looking very strong. i think 2018 built a lot of momentum. >> reporter: do you think you can count on union votes in 2020? >> well, we've got to work for them, and i can count on them thinking and believing in this

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welcome back. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: the last time donald trump looked neomirror and saw a truly younger man is when jimmy fallon played his mirror image. but when the 72-year-old president was asked how old is too old to be president. >> i just feel like a young man. i'm so young. i am a young, vibrant man. i look at joe, i don't know about him. i don't know. >> reporter: those comments left 76-year-old joe biden momentarily speechless when he was asked about them on "the view." >> if he looks young and vibrant compared to me i should probably go home. >> reporter: mirror, mirror on the wall -- the battle of the elders spilled onto twitter in side by side comparison and challenges. show me trump doing this, i'll

wait. the president's description of himself as a young vibrant man inspired blow back of vibrant imagination and so young practically infantile. i'm the youngest person in the history of people. as for president trump's nickname for biden. >> i sort of refer to him as sleepy joe. >> reporter: joe said that's the opposite of what he usually hears. these two are hyperactive even before biden officially announced. >> he said i'd like to take him behind the gym. i dream of that. >> reporter: fighting like two grumpy old men. maybe these two should take a page from ronald reagan vowing not to make age an issue. >> i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> reporter: even young -- cracked up. the issue of age never gets old.

>> i am a young vibrant man. >> reporter: a young vibrant ham, there someone fixed it. jeanne moos, cnn. >> you need tremendous stamina. >> reporter: new york. >> thanks for joining us. ac 360 starts right now. good evening. we learned today it doesn't take much to bait president trump even to doing something self-destructive which is revizzing 1 of the the all-time low points of his presidency. and he continues to believe there were very fine people on both sides of the alt right nenazi unite the right rally that took place in charlottesville two summers ago. the president claims it was a rally about confederate statues. it was billed as a unite the right rally. and on the first night white