to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." you can follow me on twitter and instagram @wolfblitzer and tweet @cnnsitroom. erin burnett out front. >> urgent complaint from a whistle-blower possibly involving the white house. lawmakers are about to get a briefing, but will they get the answers they're demanding. >> tensions on capitol hill after a disastrous hearing why corey lewandowski's testimony backfired. an iran attack on an american ally. are u.s. military strikes next? let's go "out front." and good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, the breaking news, the house intelligence committee about to get briefed about a quote, and credible and urgent complaint from a whistle-blower. the chairman of that committee

adam schiff just announcing that the intelligence community's independent inspector general will go meet with lawmakers tomorrow, but and this is a crucial but, we have no indication that the nation's top intelligence officials will budge on the refusal to comply with the subpoena from schiff's committee to turn over the actual complaint. he'll talk about the process, but unlikely to hand over the goods about what is so urgent and important. why? could it be at the direction of president trump himself? >> the director has said essentially that he's answering to a higher authority and refusing to turn over the whistle-blower complaint. this is deeply troubling. >> this is deeply troubling, so what is the threat and why is it urgent? it's a big deal that a whistle-blower is making a claim that is deemed credible and urgent to begin with, a possible threat to america's national security and from what we can tell the complaint may have come from someone close to the president.

>> they also suggested that there may be privilege issues here which means it would have to involve communications of the president or people around him. >> evan perez is out front tonight. evan, this has been developing through the day. chairman schiff was very quiet and now suddenly there's going to be this briefing and what's really going to happen at the briefing tomorrow? >> well, we don't know exactly what the inspector general is going to be able to tell the committee. this is now obviously going to be a briefing that they'll have tomorrow and next week on thursday the acting director of national intelligence joseph maguire will appear before the committee in open session to describe a little bit about the handling of this whistle-blower complaint and there are no promises being made that they'll learn exactly what the nature of this complaint is and why it is that the director of national intelligence and perhaps the white house is trying to assert what they say might be privilege

with regard to this information. so we know that this began in august 12th when someone came forward with this concern. we know that the inspector general looked at it and viewed it as credible, of concern and of urgent concern and the reason why they wanted to alert the committee. what we don't know is exactly what the nature of is and why the white house would need to assert privilege which is again what is suggested by the response from the director of national intelligence. we'll see whether or not we can get more from the inspector general and the director of national intelligence, but as long as the white house is drawing the line this will be a big fight between congress and the white house. by the way, erin, the backdrop is that the white house has been defying a lot of these requests from the members of congress and basically telling them to go to court to try to fight this. >> all right, thank you very much, evan. look, there's obviously a huge

mystery here. bob baer, and david gergen. when we talk about the mystery and the intrigue. the backdrop here is credible and urgent and they don't know the nature of what is credible and urgent and the white house fighting this so hard. it would seem just from that that it would be someone or something that matters to them that they -- that they don't want out there. >> that certainly appears to be the case, erin, that they may well be protecting someone on the white house staff or the president himself. we simply don't know enough. what we do know is this is a very, very complicated law, but the law itself is to protect whistle blowers. it was passed some 30 years ago, and the process is one that the initial investigation and the intelligence community followed very closely and that was to gather the complaint, look it over, determine whether it's something and urgent and credible and they determined

both and then you send it on to the top guy of the national intelligence and within seven days he's supposed to send it to you at congress. that's part of your oversight and by blocking this as it is with the administration is not only breaking again, yet another norm, but frankly, if you have -- if this stonewalling continues, it's going to, i think there is a real danger for the white house that the public will become more in favor of impeachment hearings because that's the only way to get at the documents to figure what really went on. >> ann's let's get to this, the person that ultimately handed over is his person, his acting chief says he won't hand it over in part because it, quote, concerned conduct by someone outside the intelligence community which sort of seemed like to say, ah, whatever. conduct by the president of the united states or anyone close to him would technically be outside of the intelligence community and yet we could all understand

incredibly vital to american national security. >> right. david just did a terrific job of explaining the process which is the first thing that happens is a whistle-blower, someone that has a concern about something happening in government goes to this independent inspector general for the intelligence community and says here's a problem. here, they then found that it was credible, that it was an urgent matter and then it goes to the dni. so for the dni to come back and say oh, this doesn't apply here, he doesn't get to do that. that's not his role or his job. the law is really clear and it's up to the inspector general to decide is it the inspector general that decides whether it goes to the congress. he doesn't get the ability to say well, it relates to somebody else. >> bob baer, we are told on august 12th about this credible and urgent thing and now here we are towards the end of september and this urgent thing is still not being dealt with. >> well, exactly, erin.

what happens normally in a situation like this is the cia, the national security agency catches somebody at the white house doing something illegal. at that point the intelligence community goes to congress. it has legal oversight and also,ialso, erin, don't forget that almost all leaks, recent leaks have involved whistle blowers who couldn't get to congress or congress wouldn't act so they went to newspapers. by closing down whistle blowers you will get leaks and this is sort of unheard of. i have been to the inspector general. i have gone to the senate and the system works, and it keeps secrets and to close this off and i think that's, frankly, why he pointed maguire in place of dan coats is to get a yes man in there who would close down investigations like this. you have to conclude that. >> as someone who has been through this process before and has served in the intelligence community, when you hear urgent,

credible threat that could possibly involve the president or someone close to him, what sort of things are we talking about? >> well, mainly, it's someone in the administration that will set up an illegal back channel to a foreign government or a group or making money, for instance. some sort of corruption. that's usually what happens and that's why the white house wants to keep the embarrassment out of congress because congress will run with it, but too bad, mr. trump. it doesn't work that way. >> you know, ann, tomorrow we have this inspector general briefing and we're using the operative word, briefing and how this has been handled and you heard evan saying that there's no indication that the briefing about this whole situation will include the underlying complaint and the whistle-blower complaint itself, right? this urgent and credible threat which seems crazy to a normal

person. is this report going to get handled? how much time is this going to take? >> the biggest issue is it is yet another effort by trump and the administration and i think also the department of justice to end congress and congress' legitimate authority and this is a public briefing and the complaint will be turned over secretly and it is also very possible that we see the acting dni read from something that says i've been instructed that this is privilege, for example, which we've seen countless times now in the last couple of months. >> right. right. i would be stunned if this has gotten to the point without the attorney general or the department of justice being deeply involved and counseling the dni on what he can and cannot do, so i would expect -- frankly the american public should have happen which is the complaint should go to congress and congress has the right to see it and they get to decide what happens next. >> david gergen, do all of these people, if this involves the

attorney general and the it involves the dni chief, do they know the underlying parts there or is it going to blindly cover for what trump or those close to him want without even knowing what they're covering for? >> well, we don't know anything for certain in that regard, but i think it would be extraordinarily unlikely that the white house and the justice department have not seen the complaint. i think it's extremely likely they've seen the complaint and they don't want it to air. what we're running into now is a question of what authority does the congress have under the constitution, and it has been forever. we've understood that the congress does have oversight responsibility, and oversee as part of the checks and balances of the constitutional system and when you start throwing them out the window and dismissing or ignoring them you really have a breakdown in the rule of law and the checks and balances themselves. it's pretty fundamental to the way we govern ourselves and that's what's so disturbing right now about what's going on.

>> bob baer, final word to you, the spy chief joseph maguire, trump's chief for acting dni spent a career in the navy and counter terror, but yet you have a fear that he was put there to be a yesm man and he would cove for trump. >> he's a military officer and answers to the commander in chief, comes out of jsoc and he is the type of guy and has a reputation of covering up for the president and that's why he got the job. >> thank you all very much. i appreciate your time. >> next, cnn learning frustrations growing after the impeachment hearing with corey lewandowski. >> it would have been better to have another witness first? >> i think that there are some others who should have come first. >> plus president trump blaming democrats for his failure to reach a deal on gun control. 2020 candidate cory booker responds and trump escalating his fight with california taking away its right to set fuel

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imagine what it can do for you. >> new tonight, growing tensions over the impeachment inquiry, just one day after the messy and heated hearing with the former trump campaign manager corey lewandowski, some democrats second guessing calling lewandowski as the first witness in the probe. congresswoman maxine waters and when you hear her, remember this, she has supported impeachment since 2017. >> would it have been better to have another witness first? >> think that there are some others who should have come first. i didn't think that he was necessarily the best one. >> okay. those comments come and the house speaker nancy pelosi told democrats that beating trump in 2020 not impeaching him should

be the top priority. keith boynkin and and host of "the van jones show," van. >> spooker pelosi has been saying this and she's been saying this until people are tired of her saying this. was this her i told you so moment. >> i have a very, very hard time trying to second-guess nancy pelosi, two-time speaker of the house politically. she's looking at the tea leaves. i'm sure shows not donald trump's biggest fan. she's saying the intensity against impeachment for republicans is 1,000% and democrats would leak to see him impeached, but you don't see the passion there and you don't see the numbers there and she's ourselves into a fight when the other side is armed and ready and our side is, like, yeah, he should be impeached. if nancy pelosi says something i take it very, very seriously and she's been consistent on this point and she hasn't been wrong

yet. >> that the democrats may not have the same passion as republicans do, but at the same time i don't think it's about passion and it's a question about the constitutional duty. if the president is violating the constitution then he should be held accountable. she said he belongs in prison and he's self-impeaching. what else do you need to do to get congress to act under those circumstances? there is a dangerous precedent that you establish if you don't hold someone accountable who has already done so much and has already had his lawyer convicted and his national security adviser convicted and he's had scandal after scandal after scandal and even today a new violation with the turnberry resort and all of that going on how can congress sit by and say we're not going to do anything. >> maybe, van, part of the reason is maxine waters has been

very passionately for impeachment and she was saying this is not a good foot forward and not how i would have done it because it was filled with moments like these. >> let me remind you, mr. lewandowski that this is not a republican primary campaign. you are not on the campaign trail yet. this is the house judiciary committee, act like you know the difference. are you the hitman, the bagman, the lookout or all of the above? >> i think i'm the good-looking man, actually. president swalwell, i'm very happy with what i've written, you you would like to read it. >> are you ashamed? >> i'm not ashamed of anything of you? >> have you taken dictation or shorthand? we have your qualifications. you were a secretary. >> a recent poll found six in ten americans oppose impeaching trump. help or hurt this number?

>> i think for the people that think that corey lewandowski is a bad guy who did bad things he came across as arrogant and obnoxious. for people who think corey lewandowski is a hero of the trump movement being lharassed e came across as plucky. >> which is sad. you could acknowledge that that was nasty and inappropriate by a whole lot of people. i'm not disputing what you're saying. i'm just saying it's a sad commentary. >> listen, i understand the passion and i understand the emotion. passion and emotion have their place, but nancy pelosi says the strategy. if you don't like what you see with donald trump the strategy is called november. if what we wind up doing will rile up the other side and there will not be an equal and opposite reaction on the other side and the impeachment process is a political process because the elected politicians are in charge of it and there are no charges involved and there is no magistrate involved and it's a political decision.

so i believe that nancy pelosi is correct. i've spent a lot of time in red states and a lot of time in purple states and she is correct. politically, it's not smart. >> so, keith, i have to say, you're on the show a lot. you look a little sad tonight. [ laughter ] >> i drafrnk a red bull to be energized! >> is it part of what happened yesterday. maxine waters was saying what a lot of people thought and democrats regardless of what a jerk corey lewandowski was? >> the democrats clearly bungled the hearing and i didn't know it was an impeachment hearing until i saw the lower third. >> oh, it was an impeachment hearing. i didn't realize it. nobody told me and i'm a member of the democratic party. >> they delayed this so long and that was bungling in itself and it could have gone on a long time, but having said all of that, i don't think that that's a reason not to continue with this. i'm not discouraged.

i agree with van that election is important, but i also think that you have to -- what is his expression, walk and chew gum at the same time? you have to be able to do both. yes, you have to fulfill the constitutional duty to hold the president accountable and you have to run for re-election. >> how scared, van is say, chairman nadler. they don't want to finish because if they do they have to put it to a vote and if they lose trump gets to say i was acquitted by a democratic house of representative which is if a vote were taken today what would happen? >> we're in this scenario where no matter what you do there is a downside because president trump is a particular kind of politician and people get riled up and i'm sure he fands this enjoyable and if he gets impeached he'll be okay because his base will come. we are forked and the way to get out of a fork is to change the

status quo which is to win an election. >> which is to what? pick up a spoon. >> i don't know about the silver wear analogy, but i do think that regardless of what democrats do, republicans are riled up to defend trump, and i don't think we should make our calculations based on what republicans will do and we should make our calculation based on what the right thing is do is not only for the party and the country. >> this conversation is at dinner tables across country. trump embracing this praise. trump, america's first black billionaire. >> african-american is going down. >> i give the president credit for doing positive things. >> so does trump deserve that credit? cory booker is next. he's filed nearly 60 lawsuits against the president and he's about to take on trump again? is this personal? the attorney general of california is out front tonight. ! and you know what goes great with that shrimp? steak and unlimited shrimp! and this year, with two freshly made sides,

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. tonight, the fight for 2020. president trump blaming democratic presidential candidate beto o'rourke for gun control. dummy beto made it much harder to make a deal and convinced many that dems just want to take your guns away. the president is referring to these comments o'rourke made last week at the democratic debate. >> hell yes, we will take your ar-15, your ak-47. we will not allow it to be used against fellow americans anymore. >> out front now democratic presidential candidate senator cory booker. senator, i know you support hand tear buyback on assault weapons

and there are democrats saying what o'rourke said and how he side is a problem. and senator chris coons saying that will be played at second amendment rallies and mayor pete buttigieg gave a simple answer, yes. what do you think? >> well, i think that we've allow said this debate to be framed by the fearmongering of people on the far right who try to whip up this fear that our second amendment rights will be taken away from us and that is simply not the case. we as a society have gotten weapons of war off of our streets in the past. in the 1980s it was machine guns. we collectively agreed that these guns do not belong on our streets and we got rid of them and the assault rifles are the tool of choice for mass murderers and most americans agree with that. i'm not going to play into the far-right fearmongering that's going on. common sense, sensible gun reform is something the overwhelming majority of

americans agree on and i'll keep the conversation focused on that. >> senator today, we are in day three of the united autoworkers strike against general motors. nearly 40,000 people or 50,000, i'm sorry, are on strike at this moment. they want better wages and want stronger health care benefits and they want more job security. you introduced your new plan today on jobs, labor and taxes and in it, senator, you say you want to, quote, ensure that all workers have opportunities for higher wages and meaningful benefits. when it comes to gm, gm workers pay 3% of their healthcare costs. the average american pays 28% and this is according to the center for automotive research. is general motors management wrong to say that that contribution by gm workers needs to go up? >> i think that when you look at the all end fight for autoworkers, remember, i'm here because of the uaw. they got my grandfather who migrated from the south as many african-americans did and got

jobs in detroit like my grandfather did on the assembly lines. i am here because the philosophy then was we're going to make sure that everyone that works has dignity at their job. we've seen an attack on unions and union rights and we've seen a stagnation of wages while the wealthy in this country have seen their wealth multiply. this is a period in american history that is astonishing when you see the cost of everything going up from healthcare, prescription drugs and affordable child care and cost of college and everything is going up and wages are remaining stagnant and so should these workers be able to fight for fair wages and dignity at work? yeah. and remember, membership has gone dramatically down and in the private sector it's up 6% now and most workers don't have the chance to collectively bargain and that's why i'm fighting to increase union membership to empower collective bargaining and to waraise wagesn

this country. >> and your plan to is to give it a shot at a day's work and the reason i raise the point about gm is the price tag. vox compared your jobs guarantee part of your plan to a proposal from three economists from duke and the new school's derek hamilton and they wrote their plan up for a left of center think tank and the center on budget and policy priorities and you may be aware of this, but their price tag to do what they say you're essentially going to do is $543 billion a year been is that what you're talking about and where would that money come from? >> no. i really hope that people will go to corybooker.com and look at my plan. yeah, i supported and wrote the bill for a pilot program on a jobs guarantee and i hope that people look at that limited program. >> this plan is -- yeah. yeah. this plan is actually the opposite of cost. it actually is going to add to our economy.

remember, the republicans sold their tax bill as something that would actually grow our economy. what we've seen right now is that it's had a $2 trillion price tag and in other words, it blew a $2 trillion hole in our budget and my plan would reverse the tack cuts and give 150 million americans a tax increase and actually redefine work as we know it because as a family member is home taking care of someone with alzheimer's or a child with special needs and we will declare that as work that is a tax credit and it does add to our economy, because when you give it to working people and tax breaks for working people they use that money to get a car or to pay a bill or to get their kid enrolled in child care so they can go to work, and so if you look at my plan it's actually additive to the economy and it empowers workers and

raises wages and makes it more fair to the economy and not one that compounds benefits and not for the average worker. >> so when you talk about trump's economy and i would be remiss if i didn't say, look, he has a record low unemployment for many groups including hispanics and african-americans as he often says, and i wanted to play for you today, he re-tweeted a clip of b.e.t. founder bob johnson, a prominent businessman who was the first black billionaire in this country and it is a video of bob johnson praising trump. here's some of what he said. >> there used to be an old saying when white america catches a cold african-americans get pneumonia. well, it's going thement is goi down, african-american employment is going down and that's a plus-plus that you can't argue with and as i said earlier i give the president credit for doing positive things. >> do you share that sentiment, senator? >> look, i feel pretty qualified

to speak on this because i'm the only person in the united states senate and the only person in this presidential campaign that lives in a majority black community and a majority black city and i hope you and i can one day do an interview walk around my neighborhood and just and we won't pre-script it and ask people if they're doing better under this president and i guarantee you it will be hard to find one thats are says they are. >> they catch extra shifts where they can and still need foot stamps to feed their family because we have a minimum wage means you're locked below the poverty line especially in communities like new jersey where you need to make twice the minimum wage. we have people that don't have affordable child care and don't have the ability to afford their prescription drugs and the cost of living is going up so much that the real wage e the real reality for so many people that have jobs is that they're struggling just to hold on with

high rents and just to hold on to meet their cost of their living. so most americans and i've seen you put up the polling data. most americans do not feel they're doing better under thissy economy. >> senator booker, i appreciate your time. thank you very much tonight, sir. >> erin, thank you. come to newark and walk my community with me. >> "out front" next, california preparing to battle trump again and this time over fair pollution standards. the attorney general is out front and the trump administration calling the attack on saudi arabia an act of war. so that's a u.s. secretary of state calling something by one country against another country an act of war. does that mean u.s. military action next? ♪

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right now, president trump is about to get on his way back to washington after touring a section of the border raising their 15 million in california fund raisers. just a couple of days, 15 million bucks, pretty easy this after trump took on the governor of california, revoking a major power. trump tweeting in part, quote, the trump administration is revoking california's federal waiver on emissions and that waiver is what allowed california to set higher fuel standards than the federal government and since californians buy so many cars, california's rules ended up trumping the federal standard. up next is the california

attorney general xavier becerra. he's revoking that power which you all had for so long. what do you say to the president? >> erin, thanks for having me. i say we've read a lot of tweets and many of them have never come true. don't believe what he tweeted because he still has to go through a process. no one is above the law including the president and we intend to prove what he's trying to do is against the law. >> so you're going to sue? >> we'll do whatever it takes if we can't convince him to change course, we'll do whatever it takes including go to court. >> the former governor of california, arnold schwarzenegger rolled an op ed, saying the trump administration for some reason is hell bent on reversing decades of history and progress, whether it is political pettiness, short sightedness or just plain jealousy, i couldn't tell you. it's wrong and un-american and

an affront to long-standing conservative principles. is it jealousy, sort sightedness and pettiness what do you think it is here? >> think governor schwarzenegger is bringing up good points and he also mentioned governor reagan who was one of the first to move us toward cleaning up our air and it was under ronald reagan that we stiffirst starte see these waivers over the last 100 of them over 50 years from congress and the federal government. >> you don't think it's petty or personal about him picking on your state? >> i don't try to describe what donald trump does. i just get ready to respond to what he does. he just did something right now and i don't know if you heard because it literally just happened and he was wrapping up his tour of the border and he's getting ready to head back to washington. he's doing these fund raisers in your state, $15 million bucks is what he raised and he slammed

your state on his way there, and while he was there and the homeless in california. he said this, and i quote him. if democrats don't get it together the federal government is going to have to step in. talking about the homelessness crisis in california. so it sounds like a pretty big threat. he'll step in and try to take that over? how do you interpret that? >> so this is my cue to yawn. what do i do? we've heard a lot of things from donald trump. we don't worry about what donald trump says. we watch what he does and we just continue to do what we do. that's how we became the fifth largest economy in the world and that's how we've become the economic engine for the united states and we create more jobs than any other state and that's why donald trump and his federal government still rely on california to keep this economy going so we're not going to worry about what he tries to do and we'll just make sure that what he tries is legal and if

it's not we'll try it. >> is any of that about him personally? >> no. the reason we're winning is it's not about him. it's about the law. >> i want to ask you about something else important and i know you see this, you're a member of the hispanic caution us and congress. earlier this week he said about why hispanics should vote for him and then he said this about steve cortez who is on cnn all of the time and other locations as a surrogate for the president and here's when he said. >> he happens to be hispanic, but i've never quite figured it out because he looks more like a wasp than i do. so i haven't figured that one out, but i'll tell you what, there is nobody that loves this country more or hispanic more than steve cortes. steve? [ cheers and applause ] thank you, steve. nobody loves the hispanics more.

who do you like more? the country or the hispanics? >> so what do you make of that? hispanics or the country? what's your reaction to that choice? that he gave? >> erin, it just seems that the president doesn't know how to talk to people that don't look like him that he didn't grow up with and he just gets very awkward and unfortunately, he says things that sound more than awkward sometimes, they sound even racist. i don't know how to, plain it, but that's who we have as a president and we can change things and i hope he recognizes that everyone from my parents to the folks who will come to this country at some point in the future, we come here and we live here and we try to do the best we can because we believe that this is still a place for dreams and so, if donald trump can't sort of understand that and he can't speak about someone's heritage and what they've done for the country whether it's mr.

cortes or anyone else without having to refer to them in the awkward ways that he does, that's his problem, not mine. >> attorney general becerra, i appreciate your time. thanks so much. >> thank you. next, president trump revealing he will soon announce his response to the attack on saudi arabia. so is he actually going to do something and what? and the president lashing out at his fed chief, his own fed chief, a person he picked for doing what he lashed out at him for not doing. america's most . hot and fresh, and right to your door. every day at marco's, get two medium, one-topping pizzas for just $6.99 each. hello to the italian way. hello primo.

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tonight, act of war. that is how secretary of state mike pompeo is classifying the attack on saudi oil facilities that he claims came from iran. >> blessed that there were no americans killed in this attack, but anytime you have an act of war of this nature, there's always risk that that could happen. >> "outfront" now, lieutenant general mark hertling, our military analyst. so, general, the secretary of state of the united states

calling an attack on saudi arabia act of war, what do you make of that? it's a pretty significant thing to say, right? the implications of that word, you know, obviously could mean military action. >> certainly could, erin. and what i would say is, just as we've been saying for several days now, it would be good to produce the information that it came from iran. and not only are we jumping to conclusions without any facts being presented to either of the american people or the congress of the united states, which can contribute to the determination of what is truly an act of war and how you fund it, but today we saw saudi arabia on al jazeera present what they considered what they know as the facts. and what it really was, was an uncompelling, not very compelling argument that they were making with a lot of pieces of equipment, pieces of rockets and uavs in front of them claiming they knew this was a determinant of where this

missile came from and it came from iran. that's yet to be stated. it certainly hasn't been proven yet. and before you accuse someone of conducting an act of war, you probably need to have a little bit more information. now, that's not saying that iran did not support this. in my view, they -- >> right, i understand. the distinction of where it came from as opposed to did they support it coming from technically outside their territory. >> correct. >> so i just want to play this for you, because it just came in, general. the president just was talking about iran and war with iran and he said this. i want to give you a chance to hear it. >> in the middle east, we'll see what happens. very fluid. a lot of things can happen. rough things and not-such-rough things. and by the way, very, very easy to go in. one phone call, we go in. that's a very easy thing. >> what do you make of that? emphasizing how easy it is with one phone call to go into iran and go to war? >> and he's exactly right on that. and i agree with president trump saying that it is easy to go to war. and any military historian or

any historian for that matter will tell you it's always easy to go to war. it's a whole lot harder to end it. so you should have an end state before you go in, you should avoid miscalculations, you should try to present facts and you should have an overarching strategy that says, here's what we're trying to accomplish and here are the ways and means we're going to do it. and here are some things, oh, by the way, that might occur that we better be prepared for. so, yeah, it is easy to make that phone call, but there's a whole lot of other things that any kind of leader has to do before going into combat. >> general, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you. and next, the president's fed chairman sounding the alarm about the president's trade war. h steak and shrimp? more shrimp! and you know what goes great with that shrimp? steak and unlimited shrimp! and this year, with two freshly made sides, you'll get more than you imagined. hurry into outback now for our steak and unlimited shrimp. offer ends soon at outback. wit looks like jill heading offe on an adventure.

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a terrible communicator." this despite the fact that the fed is cutting interest rates today, which is what trump had been demanding that the chairman do. even though the chairman should never be doing what the president tells him to do, anyway, that part is a mess. "outfront" now, markmp slamming chief again, what effect does that have as i emphasize that oncerting. supposed to be it is an assault on the fed's independence. and as you know, erin, the independence of the fed is a key strength of the american economy. you know, investors believe that the fed is going to do what's in the best interests of the economy, not is what is in the best interests or political interests of anybody else. and that's really important to keeping interest rates low, keeping stock markets high, keeping the financial markets operating well and making sure that we can go out and get mortgages to buy homes and businesses can get the loans they need to hire people. so this is, you know, a very disappointing -- fortunately, i don't think anyone believes this is going to go very far, but

something clearly we need to watch. >> so i want to play for you, mark, what powell said about the trade war today, with china. you know, the war that -- trump's war, so here he is. >> our business contacts around the country have been telling us that uncertainty about trade policy has discouraged them from investori in investing in their businesses. >> okay, that's deeply concerning, but powell then added that the fed is not forecasting a recession. the american people, of course, seem quite concerned about one. what do you think? >> well, i think it depends on the trade war and the president's decisions around that. if he continues to pursue the war, the next salvo in the war comes -- is in december, when he's threatening to raise tariffs again on china. if he follows through on that, then i think the federal reserve is going to be forced to cut interest rates more. and at some point, it is going to lead to a recession. so a lot depends on what the president decides to do over the next few months, between now and the end of the year. >> all right. and of course i'm sure his own

political re-election will be front and center on his mind as he makes those choices. thank you, mark. >> sure thing. and thanks to all of you for joining us. you can watch the show anytime. just go to cnn go. "anderson cooper 360" starts now. good evening. we begin tonight keeping 'em honest with a top official in the trump administration defying congress. he may also be violating the law. the question is why? there's breaking news on that tonight. and there could be even more in the hours and days to come, but first, i just want to get you quickly caught up on the background. joseph maguire is the acting director of national intelligence, or dni. according to congressman adam schiff, who's the chairman of the house intelligence committee, the dni, the acting dni, is refusing to turn over a whistleblower complaint to his committee. now, the law requires that the intelligence community's inspector general report all credible complaints involving urgent concerns to the director of national intelligence, the acting