very disturbing weather information. i'm wolf blitzer thanks very much for watching. you can follow me on twitter and instagram @wolf blitzer. and sit room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. outfront next, breaking news attorney general bill barr spin machine tell his version of the story purning back on bob mueller. plus did president trump accidentally admit the truth today when it comes to russia. and elizabeth warren rising in the poles as she takes on joe biden. let's go outfront. >> and good evening i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, the breaking news bars turns on the spin. attorney general going on camera to try to regain control of the narrative surrounding the mueller report. barr trying to cleanup the fallout from mueller who declined to clear trump of crimes. >> i personally felt he could have reached the decision. >> in your vow he could have

reached a conclusion. >> he should have reached a conclusion. the opinion says you cannot indict a president while in office. but he could have reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity. but he had his reasons for not doing it. >> by saying mueller could have reached a decision on criminal activity barr is misleading. he is leading people to believe that if mueller had found criminal activity he would have said so. but there's explicitly not the case. we no he why mueller didn't directly accused trump of criminal activity. >> it would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge. >> mueller didn't lay out crimes because he couldn't charge trump as a sitting president with crimes. right? that's the whole olc opinion. what mueller did say though was damning enough. >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a cranium, we would have said so. >> mueller wanted the world to

know that if he could have exonerated trump he would have done it. bottom line. of course barr took it upon himself to exonerate trump, less than 48 hours after receiving the 448-page report and without reviewing the backup data which objectively is not enough time to read, digest evaluate the information and make a decision as important as whether to indict a sitting president of the united states. and it's the opposite decision that more than 1,000 former doj prosecutors of both political persuasions say they would have reached. today barr was asked about why he made that decision. instead of letting the decision on whether or not to charge a president go to congress. here is barr today. >> you seem to suggest yesterday that there was another venue for this and that was congress. >> well i'm not sure what he was suggesting. >> he is not sure what mueller was suggesting. here is what mueller said yesterday. >> the constitution requires a process other than the criminal

justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrong doing. >> of course, that process is congress. and it is impeachment. mueller was clear. and by the way, you just look at volume 2, page 8 of the mueller report you didn't have to get to page 44le. volume 2 page eight. the conclusion that congress may apply the obstruction laws to the president's corrupt exercise of the powers of office aaccordings with our constitutional system of checks and balances. and the principle that no person is above the law. the attorney general barr knows exactly what mueller said. he is a two-time attorney general. he knows what was said. and he know that is right now he is spinning his which around this. and the big question is why? barr says he is all about the law and the facts. >> the department of justice is all about the law and the facts and the substance. and i'm going to make the decisions based on the law and the facts. and i realize that's a in tension with the political climate we live in because people are more interested in

getting their way politically. >> well, the thing is is that barr is so far giving trump everything that trump wants politically. cover to undermine the mueller investigation, and its origins. just listen to trump and barr. >> what i'm most interested in is getting started -- getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started. >> the first step is find out exactly what happened. >> they spied on me. they spied on our campaign. >> i think there is spying that did occur, yes i think spying did occur. >> it's not just a word echo. let's be clear. trump's own fbi director says spy something not the accurate word. evan perez is outfront. evan, you know, mueller holds this news conference when barr is out of town and when i say out of town, i mean any say he is meeting with tribal leaders in alaska not in the continental united states. a day later barr sits down for an interview. is this a battle of who gets the

last word? it seems like that at this point. for a lot of people at the justice department, you know, who are excited when will bill barr became attorney general. they anticipated he was turning to page, bring down the heat that the department has been feeling for the last couple of years from the white house, from the political attacks that they have been getting. and the opposite is happening. simply because of the boarwords attorney general is choosing to use. you just go to the last part of what you were talking about, the fact that the attorney general is doing this review of the origins of the investigation, i think one of the most important parts of what robert mueller said in his address yesterday, the 10-minute press conference he did yesterday, erin, is to remind us of why in all began. this began with a concerted attack from the russian military against our political system. and then he ended his remarks by reminding everyone that this central part of in is that the russians were interfering in favor of one candidate and

against the other. and he wanted to remind americans of all of that. that's where in all began. the attorney general i think is still doing in review. and look, by the way, even inside the justice department everyone would agree that if someone did something wrong then the -- the department should correct that and look at that. but it's the words that the attorney general is using that i think has drawn concerns even from inside the department about exactly how this is going, erin. >> all right. so evan please stay with me. because evan has a lot more to break on news. i want to bring in our chief political analyst groeria borger with flilen allen lack vara the counsel to the watergate special prosecutor and argued united states versus nixon before the supreme court. also former federal prosecutor laura coates. phillip let me start with you. is attorney general barr trying to set the record straight here or just spinning? >> i think it's absolutely a

spin using the same terms, the motivate accuser to terms that president trump used makes it clear he is on trump's campaign platform. and i don't think you can can take seriously his argument he is trag to set the record straight. in fact he is confab lating in ways displaying to a lot of people who know him and respect him over the years. as jim comey said, proximity to trump tends to eat away at your soul. and i'm afraid that's happening here. >> i mean, laura let me play for of the exchange where barr said this is about the facts. he denied trying to protect or enable president trump. here he is. >> the department of justice is all about the law and the facts and the substance. and i'm going to make the decisions based on the law and the facts. and i realize that's in tension with the political climate we live in because people are more more interested in getting their way politically. so i think it just goes with the

territory of being attorney general and the hyperpartisan period of time. >> speaks calmly, has the fire going behind him. does that change at all the reality of what he is saying, lara? is he above the political fray here. >> i mean it was soothing, the environment but not persuasive for me what so far because a lot of criticism he faces has been the product of self-inflicted wound. we are in partisan world. people have a partisan lens. but the ren they criticize him in particular is the way in which he has on the one hand promised transparency and the other hand how he rolled out the mueller report, including the conference he game are gave hours before he actually released the redacted version of the report where it sounded much like he was in line as the personal attorney of the president as opposed to to somebody who was the attorney general of the united states. and having said that he also talked about the idea of the president of the united states -- listen, of course we ecouldn't be involved in obstruction he was simply angry that's why he lashed out in a

way. that would have perhaps had more of a non-partisan tone, erin. had not already written an 18-page memorandum before he even got the job that created the self-fulfilling prophecy that he never was finding obstruction. >> gloria, to the point here on obstruction, barr again you know is defending why he said he believed spying took place on the trump campaign. i just want to emphasize as we play this bill barr has attorney general of the united states twice backup. o. he has been a lawyer at the cia. he knows the implications of the world spying as negative and extra judicial. he knows it's not the accurate word for everything that we understand to have happened. and so let me just play his explanation. >> i guess it's become a dirty word somehow. it has never been for me. i think there is nothing wrong with spying. the question is always whether it's thorsoned by law and properly predicated. if it is, then it's an important tool of the united states has to protect the country.

>> i mean, gloria it sort of dpois belief. yes spying occur. it never had a negative meaning for me? he would yes i do understand counterintelligence activity is approved by a court did occur. i'd like to know exactly why. that's a totally different thing than spying. and he just keeps keeps using the word the president uses. >> exactly. this is a -- this was a counterintelligence investigation. what would he have liked people to do? you know? and he used the word spying on purpose. he knows that it's a loaded word. of course he does. and so hear him sit there and say, well, you know, we're in a hyperpartisan environment, et cetera be westbound et cetera. i would argue that he is contributing to it. by using that kind of language. language matters in these kinds of situations. and of course now he is heading up an investigation of the investigators. in which the president has given him incredible authority. >> right.

>> and so we'll have to see how that proceeds. but it doesn't seem as if he is ununbiased going into it. >> and phillip just to be clear here when you look at the outcome of the mueller investigation which mueller as evan points out, reminds us was about an attack on america by a foreign government, right, a concerted attack in which there have been dozens of indictments, hundreds of criminal charges, right, against russians, for attacking the united states. and yet the president has accused fbi officials who launched the probe of treason. treason for launching a preb into a foreign government's attack on the united states. it's a stunning thing to even think about. when barr was asked about it again tonight, still wouldn't criticize the president. here he is. >> you don't think that they committed treason. >> not as a legal matter, right. >> but you have concerns about how they conducted the investigation. >> yes, but you know sometimes people can convince themselves what they're doing is in the higher interest, the better

good. they don't realize what they're doing is reidel antithet cal to the democratic system we have. >> again, phillip, the tone and the background do a lot. but what about what he says. >> i think -- i think -- i think that's an astonishing statement for the attorney general to make. he is smart enough to know the impact of a statement like that on the people in the counterintelligence agencies when he says kind of dismissively well, they didn't technically commit treason. maybe they are just convincing themselves they are doing the right thing when they're investigating the documented and undeniable efforts by the russian government to decide who would be our president. i just can't believe that the attorney general doesn't realize that he is deliberately insulting and denigrating the professionals in the law enforcement and intelligence community in order to try to pull president trump's bacon out

of the fire. >> i mean, laura, to be clear there is no way that barr doesn't know exactly what he is doing. i keep emphasizing the respect that he has when he took this office, right? what evan reported people at the doj, the way with which they embraced his appointment his background at the cia. he has been attorney general before. and yet he says these things. and it is astonishing. >> it is astonish irk. >> he is an old washington hand. >> sure. well one thing i thought of what he said it was i'm advised based on the conduct we have seen that attorney jerp bar barr was would say that someone else was acting in the hire good and consequence convinced of that i was surprised by that. because it seems hypocritical. but the other issue for me here is while people talking about spying when he meant in the per jortive way and the way he conveyed the information and the genesis of the n conveyed he did in a per jortive way.

number two there has been oversight. it's not left to the intelligence community or even somebody filing a fisa winter. say saying i feel like like doing something. there is checks checks and balances in place to ensure it's not just a matter of somebody's gut instinct. it has to be supported by the evidence. to say it was just an attitude of well they have convinced themselves they are doing the right thing doesn't speak yol volumes to his knowledge what the intelligence kmount does. >> yeah. >> the trump appointed head of the fbi disagrees. >> kristopher wray. you know eve van with all the drichl that some may be warranted mueller is getting why wouldn't you challenge the olc decision. the fact the guy got in a box and never tried to get out. it's calming. okay there are people with such respects for the law and rules they don't do anything to veer outside the lines. to that effect evan you have new reporting what mueller was doing during the investigation. >> right. exactly. and it's all about the

constitution. i'll get to it our new reporting in a second. but let me add one thing. the word trees isn't defined in the constitution. and the answer -- the one word answer the attorney general should have given to the question was, no it's not treason. because if you just look it up it's not treason. >> right zpl but yes we have new reporting that really shines a lit on exactly what was happening behind the scenes over the last couple years. it turns out that robert mueller was a bit an enig matter figure even to people close to the investigation. there were some people who barely saw him. some witnesses who came in he never sat down and watched any of their interviews. paul manafort, the chairman of the campaign, for instance, came in for days and days. mueller was never there. but don mcgahn came in for his 30 hours of interviews. and mueller sat through most of it. he apologized for having to step out to do run an errened for a little while. we also have a really interesting anecdote of where

the president's lawyers called up the justice department very angry when they discover that the special counsel's office is naming the president in ha document, a plea document and they think that it's -- it's a shoddy thing to do. they cull for in crisis meeting. and they demand a meeting. mueller doesn't show up. it really goes to show you that even people close to this investigation had different experiences about robert mueller. i think it previews a little bit of what congress might get from him if they demand that he show up for testimony. he is not going to veer away from the principles here that has guided him, what you saw yesterday, right, that he sticks to the report that he wrote. and you know, think they have to figure out whether that's enough to get from robert mueller. >> well certainly for about 1,000 former doj prosecutors it was enough. maybe they need to deal with political problems first. thank you all very much.

next president trump goes on a tirade filled with falsehoods. >> i believe russia would rather have hillary clinton as president of the united states than donald trump. >> check the facts plus the president bleefrpg he will be saved by the courts if the president's try to impeachment. and the "uss john mccain" new details about why trump's staff wanted it out of sight.

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raid in the mural maurl report. the president in a 17-minute rant said thing after thing that is untrue. like this. >> there is no obstruction. there is no collusion. there is no nothing. >> here is bob mueller. >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. >> and then there was trump's personal attack on bob mueller. >> i think he is a total conflicted person. >> of course the justice department cleared mueller of any conflicts of interest when he was appointed special counsel. trump also said this about mo russia preferred to be president of the united states. >> i believe that russia would rather have hillary clinton as president of the united states than donald trump. >> here is vladimir putin. >> president putin did you want president trump to win the election? and did you directs any of your

officials to help him do that? >> translator: thank you. yes, i did. >> and then there was trump's interpretation of what mueller said yesterday. >> so he said essentially you're innocent. i'm innocent of all charges. >> that is not what mueller said. again, mueller said that he could not say trump did not commit a crime. outfront now ghost writer for trump's book surviving at the top charlie leerz and van jones who hosts the van jones show on cnn. the president stood on the white house lawn 17 minutes plus a few seconds, extensive comments on mueller. and he just -- he just ranted and arrived. and he said a lot of things that aren't true. >> yeah. well, first of all, just personally, i was in the gym trying to get my workout in, trying to lose these ten pounds. and then he comes on. and i just stopped and stared.

messed up my whole day. this is terrible. he didn't say one true thing in 17 minutes. i just gave up and went back to work. because it's a lot to process. unbeliefable. we are under attack from a foreign power. the most important thing that can happen right now is for in country to come together and make sure we have a credible election in about 18 months. we need the president of the united states to be focused on that. instead he is making up stuff. and, i mean, you literally wind up speechless. you have to fact check -- one thing to fact check sentences. you have to fact check words and coma. >> and phrases, right. >> dangling part siples. >> it messed up my day. i'm never losing this weight. >> all right. charlie, you -- in the 17 minutes there was a lot that happened. another line that stood out in particular to you was when the president was yelled a question about impeachment. and here is his answer.

>> to me 80s dirty word. the word impeach. it's a dirty fillny disgusting word. and it had nothing to do with me. >> why did that stand out to you. >> it stood out because it showed that he is more fieed about impeachment whatever you want to say about the politics of it. >> they say he is goading or wants you but you spent a lot of time with the guy. >> a lot of time. >> not what you hear. >> locked up with him. that's the crazy like a fox opinion of trump that he is crazy like a fox. but i think that in her is an insult to small fur bearing animals. he is simply not like the rest of us. i think the fact that we -- van and the rest of us can get up in the morning and be shocked or appalled after all this time by his lies shows most people overnight we come back to our state of being basically good people. trump is not a basically good person. he is not a basically moral person. >> but you think the concept and idea of impeachment from what

you heard there today mortifies pan upsets him. that's not just get my name right no matter what you say. he doesn't get that. >> one of the things he understands about the presidency and see it's bad to be impeached and embarrassing. that flies in the face of his regal royal presidency. where if you are impeached you have to show up when they tell you answer questions that's not what a king does. and he wants to be king. >> van, you know, in addition to that which i just thought it was interesting because he couldn't stop. he was reaching for adjectives dirty filthy disgusting, dripping with disgust and disdain. he also slammed bob mueller. this was personal about mueller. here is what he said today. >> i think he is a total conflicted person. i think mueller is a true never trumper. he is somebody that dislikes donald trump. >> always love the third person

when not necessary, van. okay. but here is the thing. the reason i highlight that is that that was trump today. here is trump since the mueller report came out talking about bob mueller. not today but many other days. >> mr. president, do you think robert mueller -- >> yes. >> the mueller report was great. it could not have been better. >> bob mueller i guess you could say he wasn't a friend of mine. but he did something that was the right thing to do. >> yeah, i mean. >> go ahead, van. >> well, it's the thing that's most confuseding in the whole confusing thing. bob mueller did not say anything any different than he wrote. i mean, he literally -- some of the stuff we have been showing him saying is literalliward for word what was written. and so the president says after it's written -- maybe he didn't read read it. he says the report is great i'm innocent it's wonderful. then bob mueller literally says

the same thing he says on television. and now he is conflicted, terrible person, out to get me. doesn't like me. hold on a second -- if according to you the mueller report totally exonerates why are you mad? why are you mad? you shouldn't be mad. you said that the report let's you off the hook that you are totally -- you've been exonerated. so this is the thing that doesn't make any sense. when you just try to -- i try to take this stuff and look at it fresh every day. i try to give everybody a fair shake. but this is making no sense at all. if the mueller report is great on paper why is it different when somebody reads it on television? if you love it on paper why do you hate it when it's read? this thing he has about being embarrassed on television. >> let me play charlie to you more about the president on russia, and how russia did not help him even though of course that is the conclusion of u.s. intelligence and the mueller report and anybody who knows anything about in on intelligence side here he is.

>> russia did not help him get elected you know who got me elected. i got me elected. russia didn't help me at all. russia if anything i think helped the other side. >> okay. well this is a kind of a person that we grew up, you know, knowing was ridiculous, the kind of person who praises himself, puts down everyone else, thinks he is smarter than everyone else. the kind of person your mother told you to be suspicious of. here he is doing in spades every day in front of us. yet he has supporters stilp. that's more amazing than trump himself acting that way. >> thank you very much charlie, yeah, van. >> i mean, honestly, to say i got me elected there are 60 million people voted this is a democracy. the voters got you elected and the voters deserve to have the election protected next time. and that's we can't lose sight all the ups and downs impeachment whatever. the voters got you elected and

we deserve to have the vote protected. get back on that focus on that and move forward. >> thank you both. and don't miss van's new series redemption project see what happens when photographeders and victims of violent crime meet face-to-face sunday night with van. the next the word that trump calls filthy and dirty and disgusting. plus president trump slamming a report that the white house requested the uss mccain be out of sight while he was in japan. >> somebody did it because they thought i didn't like him. okay. and they were well meaning. i will say. >> the reporter who broke the story is outfront. pnc bank has technology to help make banking easier, like... a business borrowing solution to help get a little more space with a lot less mom.

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kbech. it's a dirty filthy disgusting word and nothing to do with me. >> katlyn collins is outfront at the white house. katlyn what is the president talking about when he says he can't imagine the courts allowing it. >> well erin it's not clear what the president would seek from the courts as far as it comes to impeachment because of course that's a process the the the constitution delegates to congress. starts with congress and goes on with congress and ends with congress. it's not clear how the courts would get involved in in situation or what the president is talking about and the white house hasn't gotten back to us on this. buts in an idea the president floated out there before. saying if any tried to impeachment, if the democrats tried to impeach him he would take it to the supreme court but it's not clear how that would happen and seems to be a misunderstanding actually of how the impeachment process would play out. we know this comes as the president has become increasing license active to the idea of impeachment. as you were seeing the calls ramp up, especially just now in the last 24 hours after robert mueller made his statement that rare appearance on camera that

we have not seen very much. but also as the house speaker nancy pelosi is trying to keep a lid on impeachment talk. and right now it doesn't seem clear that the republican senate would at all be onboard with some idea like impeachment. for right now erin, white house officials are not concerned. but this idea about the president ploet bag the courts does not seem feasible. >> thank you very much katlyn. and now democratic congresswoman in favor of impeaching the president. i appreciate your time. you heard the president say the courts would not allow you congress to impeach him. do you have any idea what he is referring to, what's your response to that? >> no, i don't backup and it is a -- as a social studies teacher i think he needs to go become and retake civics because the house kernel has the ability to launch investigations. and if they feel they have enough evidence kbechment. >> right. there is no -- there is no court

involved. all right. so i want to play again for you congresswoman part of what the president said about the word impeachment. he brought this part up on his own. this is from the gut. here he is. >> to me it's a dirty word. the word impeach. it's a dirty, filthy disgusting word. and it had nothing to do with me. >> your reaction? >> well, i think the fact that we're talking about moving forward with high level investigations that could lead to impeachment does have to do exactly with the president. we know that this president has committed covering up his actions. he lies to the american public all the time. it's well documented. 10,000 lies in the "washington post". and so we have every right to get to the truth because the president is not above the law. so we need to be able to do ourwork. and that's why many of us are saying we have to look at

impeachment because he snubbed his knows as congress doing its jo job through the subpoena power. >> you've been clear obviously you support impeachment and now a few additional democrats joined the calls after mueller made a statement yesterday. but it hasn't been this sudden stampede, congresswoman. let's be fair. it hasn't been a stampede. do you think there are more democrats supporting it but are afraid to come out publicly at this point? >> well, many of my colleagues were taking in break to read the mueller report and of course look at it again. and then mr. mueller spoke. i think people are going to be very shocked at the way what the president does really can't shock anybody anymore. but this morning, the tirade we saw on the white house lawn, his misinformation, the tweet earlier in the morning about the russians helping and saying he won the election on his own, which is totally back and forth, you know, what side is he

speaking from? but i would say in, i mean, democrats are taking this very seriously. there is a broad diversity of opinion. and that's good. when we come together and form unity it will be a thoughtful one. whereas many of my colleagues on the republican side of the aisle, what they say in the elevator and then i hear on shows such as yours are very different, you know, exact opposite. so we're having thoughtful discussions and we need that sfla when you hear uft judgen amash and he is for it you say basically other republicans are telling you the same in private what's holding them back. >> the president's use of emergency powers is outrageous. >> yes. >> they -- you know, some of the things he has done in the budget with zeroing things out, what he has done with the border wall and then saying you know, he can spend money however he chooses to.

the congress -- i'm on the appropriations committee we have the power of the purse. they are outraged but i dent hear them say it publicly. i appreciaty are tim congresswoman. >> thank you. >> and next the president denying any involvement in trying to move the "uss john mccain" while in japan. basically so it would be out of his sight line and wouldn't have to see it. who made the request to move it and why. the reporter who broke the story next. elizabeth warren in rising in the police is it because she is not afraid to go after the front runner. >> joe biden is on the side of the credit card companies. orlando isn't just the theme park capital of the world, it also has the highest growth in manufacturing jobs in the us. it's a competition for the talent. employees need more than just a paycheck.

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breaking news, president trump slamming reports that the u.s. military tried to keep the "uss john mccain" out of sight during his trip to japan. this despite his defense of anyone who was involved. >> i don't know what happened. i wasn't involved. now, somebody did it, because they thought i didn't like him, okay. and they were well meaning. i will say. >> alex marquardt is outfront.

>> even in depth the late arizona senator john mccain has been attacked repeatedly by president trump. >> i was not a big fan of john mccain in any way shape or form. >> but he denies going so far as demand the uss john s. mcmahon be moved so he couldn't see it during the trip to japen. >> but i would never do a thing likeause they thought i didn't like him, okay. and they were well meaning, i will say. >> well meaning, appearing to want to please the boss. officials from the navy say that the white house military office emailed back and forth with some navy officials planning for the president's trip including one email obtained by cnbc stipulating "uss john mccain" needs to be out of sight. naval officials confirmed to cnn that the white house asked the ship be moved or obscured upon hearing about one official said navy leadership told them to yoet knock it off. instead of moving it for the

president, the "wall street journal" which broke the story reported a tarp was hung to cover the name but officials say it was there for repairs. and taken down before the president arrived. the journal also reporting that the acting secretary of defense approved measures so that the ship didn't interfere with the visit. which he flatly denies. >> i never authorized, never prufd any action around the movement or activity regarding that ship. furthermore, i would never dishonor the memory of a great american patriot like senator mccain. >> the president has never shared that feeling. candidate trump denied that the former navy pilot who was shot down in vietnam, impricedened for fiveias a hero. >> he was a where hero because he was captured i like people who weren't captured. >> in speeches as president even as mcmahon was dying and well after the president has gone offer mccain for blocking him from repealing obamacare.

>> and as the president refuses to let go, mccain's grieving daughter says that trump is making the process unbearable. >> it's impossible to go through the grief process when my father who has been dead ten months is constantly in the news cycle because the president is so obsessed with the fact that he is never going to be a great man like he was. >> and erin, the president was also asked today whether he owed the crew of the uss mccain whose name sake john mccain is reveered in the navy. and whether he owed them apology. he said no. now, the question becomes which staffer or staffers at the white house is behind those emails, telling the navy to move the ship from view? it should be easy of course for them to figure that out if they haven't already. but given the president as we just heard is out there praising that person's intentions, it doesn't seem likely there will be much punishment. erin. >> thank you very much, alex. i guess the president thinks whoever it was had his back. outfront now one of the "wall

street journal" journal gordon lubold. gordon you have new details how it went down. tell me. >> i thinkway we know is that based on the reporting yesterday about the email that what happened was you know a seniorish level person from the white house, white house military office directed advance people on the ground to do something about the optics that were presented -- the optics challenge posed by the chip being there. and i think part of the problem is and see any directive from the white house would be taken very seriously by even any officers. but i mean lower level officers who wouldn't necessarily know to kind of push back on it then began to kind of execute efforts to obscure the name of the ship. >> well, you talked about the tarp being there. i mean, but also gordon i think

what is chore from this and perhaps most disturbing and important to take away, is that people at the white house thought the president would want this. he is defending whoever did it. it seems he was happy that they would have asked for it. almost doesn't matter whether it happened or not. the point is they thought he would want it try tide to do it to accommodate him. >> right. i think where some of this -- the thread of this story got lost was in the end it's not clear that the ship's name was obscured or anything. a barge was moved but the navy says it wasn't moved to obscure the name. the tarp was put on there -- some officials say it was for the maintenance of the ship which as you know was involved in a big accident in 2017. but we know that from our own reporting that the sailors were told to look for a tarp or something to obscure the name of the ship. whether it was down by the time of the event or not is like as

you say kind of immaterial. >> it's kind of immaterial. shanahan saying i didn't sign off on it. the president saying fake news. what do you say to them? >> well, secretary -- acting secretary patrick shanahan denied that he knew or did a directive of any kind. i think what we know is he was aware of the optics challenge again of this ship being where the president was going to be visiting. and was aware of the- that it would be a problem and they had to do something to either move the ship which was impractical because it was being repaired, or otherwise kind of deal with it. >> all right. thank you very much. >> yes. >> that's one of the stories people might say it seems frivolous. it's not it's incredibly disturbing. thank you. and next the fight for 2020 elizabeth warren climbing in the polls, a serious contender. why? jeanne moos on trump's

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tonight the fight for 2020. elizabeth warren saying trump belongs in handcuffs. warren rising in the polls as

she takes on trump and the front-runner joe biden. jeff zeleny is "outfront." >> reporter: elizabeth warren is getting results by grinding it out. more often than not these days, she is driving the conversation in the democratic presidential race. >> if he were anyone other than president of the united states, he would be in handcuffs. >> reporter: she has been out front on impeachment. >> it's not politics. there are some issues that are bigger than political convenience, and this is one of them. my view is make everybody vote. >> reporter: and a host of policy ideas, like a new child care cost calculator. >> put in how many kids you have or even how many you're planning to have, and you can see how much money you will save under this plan. >> reporter: the massachusetts senator's stock is rising. from single digits in march to double-digits now in some national polls. and she's been one of the few rivals willing to take on front-runner joe biden, even

re-igniting an old feud with the former vice president over bankruptcy laws. >> i got in that fight because they just didn't have anyone. and joe biden is on the side of the credit card companies. >> reporter: since her formal announcement in february, where she took the stage to dolly parton's working class anthem working 9 to 5, warren has been working longer than that, and and she is putting on the miles, already visiting 18 states and puerto rico. her campaign stops are often policy addresses from the opioid scourge to utah. she is headed to indiana and michigan next week to deliver an economic message, which will put 20 states on warren's map. those six words have become a soundtrack of her candidacy, from proposing to break up big technology companies to forgiving most student loan debt. the campaign trail has become warren's classroom. explaining ideas like the professor she once was,

promising to pay for all of these plans with a wealth tax. >> do we think that the two cents should stay with the top 1/10 of 1%? they can't pitch in two cents on the 50 millionth and first dollar? >> reporter: in iowa where warren has visited seven times she has more people on the ground than any other democratic rival. she is banking on building an organization this summer that will help her break through the crowded crop of candidates. now warren's advisers have been tight-lipped on one thing. can she raise the money to catch up with the rest of the candidates? of course she has sworn off the high dollar fundraisers, and she is attracting some of bernie sanders's supporters. but erin, the question tonight, will she get some of his donors as well. >> all right, jeff, thank you. and next, jeanne on trump and the i word. epped on the dr. scholl's kiosk. it recommends our best custom fit orthotic to relieve foot, knee, or lower back pain. so you can move more.

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with an i word. here's jeanne. >> reporter: it used to be just another word in president trump's vocabulary. >> the impeach word, maxine waters, we will impeach him. has he done anything wrong? no. but let's impeach him anyway. >> what a job he has done. by the way, we're impeaching him. >> reporter: the president's preferred word got shorter. >> to talk about the i word. the i word. >> reporter: and finely, he blew up. >> to me it's a dirty word, the word impeach. it's a dirty, filthy disgusting word. >> reporter: apparently it wasn't quite so dirty, filthy and disgusting five years ago when citizen trump tweeted about president obama. are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence? now it's impeachment that he is calling gross. legal scholar laurence tribe responded tongue-in-cheek. those obscene founding fathers, a bunch of dirty old men apparently, and someone else

used trump's old excuse. >> this was locker room talk. >> reporter: to explain how filthy impeachment got into the locker room constitution. but many consider impeachment to be a peach of a word, and they rush to defend it. it is second in beauty only to the word resignation. comedians were already eyeing the president's use of the i-word. >> the big i-word. ♪ what is a word that begins with the word i, temper and morale and ignorant. >> reporter: from colbert's late show. ♪ appropriate insufficientable and imminently impeachy ♪ >> to talk about the i word. >> the what? >> the i word. >> impotent? >> irrational? >> reporter: considering how president trump now considers impeach to be -- >> the dirty filthy disgusting word. >> reporter: he sure used to enjoy employing it with gusto. >> but he didn't do anything

wrong. it doesn't matter. we will impeach him. >> reporter: is that an impeachable offense? jeanne moos, cnn. >> we will impeach him! >> reporter: new york. >> but he is doing a great job. >> filthy. thanks for joining us. anderson starts now. good evening. on a they began with the presidential tirade aimed at robert mueller, we begin with attorney general barr speaking out tonight on the job robert mueller did and some of president trump's most controversial statements about the investigation. we spoke with cbs today and they just released some of the interview. here's what he said when asked about one of the most incendiary things the president said, that senior officials in the investigation committed treason. >> you don't think that they committed treason? >> not as a legal matter, but. >> but you have concerns about how they conducted the investigation? >> yes, but, you know, sometimes people can convince themselves that what they're doing is in the higher interests, the better good. they don't realize that wha