may he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing. thanks for watching. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. out front next, breaking news, quid pro quo. trump's chief of staff admits there was one. the white house tonight in massive clean-up mode. plus the president's hand-picked ambassador turns. what did he tell lawmakers behind closed doors and we have details this morning and president trump admitting he resolved a crisis or claiming he resolved a crisis he created and his own party is calling him out tonight. let's go out front. good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, the breaking news. president trump's acting chief of staff today blowing the lid off trump's claim there was no quid pro quo with ukraine and tonight mick mulvaney is trying to undo the damage.

the key lines of the statement mick mulvaney put out. he says once again the media has decided to misconstrue my comments. let me be clear there was no quid pro quo between ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election. unfortunately, for mr. mull vain the tape speaks for himself. it was a stunning moment when the acting chief of staff exposed his boss in an admission. he said aid money was held up to ukraine in exchange for investigations and reporters were stunned. in fact, they were so stunned that they asked him again and again and again, and he stuck to his answer. >> so the demand for an investigation into the democrats was part of the reason that he -- he wanted to withhold funding to ukraine. >> the look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about --? to be clear, what you describe side a quid pro quo. funding will not flow unless the investigation into the

democratic server happened, as well. >> we do that all of the time with foreign policy. >> okay. it is no surprise that mulvaney is trying to say he didn't say what he said. mulvaney's words left the justice department and trump's own legal team stunned. that is their words and you will hear more about that in a moment. everyone heard what they heard. it was stunning because trump has point-blank denied a quid pro quo. >> no quid pro quo! >> no quid pro quo. >> no quid pro quo. no quid pro quo. >> no quid pro quo. >> so mulvaney's admission today was so baffling. as you clearly heard, when mulvaney took reporter questions he said, okay, this is what happened. sure. we wanted this investigation in exchange for the aid, but he said it was about the election and not about joe biden and his son. the homeland security adviser said ukraine in the 2016 election is a debunked

conspiracy theory, if looking into that was a quid pro quo that is deeply disturbing on its own, but the quid pro quo was much more about the election and the dnc server and remember when trump was asked about what he wanted to do about joe biden after the fateful phone call when president trump asked for a favor when president zelensky brought up military aid? >> what exactly did you hope zellen ske would do with the bidens after your phone call exactly? >> if they were honest about it they would start a major investigation into the bidens. >> mulvaney has admitted to a quid pro quo and no matter what backtracking, the problem is the tapes. what trump's chosen ambassador to the european union testified under oath today is also damming. gordon sondland delivering a devastating blow saying rudy giuliani toad him the ukraine needed to investigate joe biden before the newly elected

ukrainian president would get a visit to the white house. boris sanchez is traveling with the president tonight. meantime, out front live in dallas, and boris, a stunning about face from mulvaney today. >> reporter: yeah. that's right,ier en. mulvaney's attempt to get his side of the story backfiring in spectacular fashion. mulvaney apparently getting the sense that what he did today didn't help the president's case and so he rushed out this statement suggesting that we all did not see him say what we all saw him say. that, apparently, did not sit well with the white house legal team or the president's legal team. sources telling us that mulvaney today, his performance was baffling. one source telling our colleague jim acosta that he was, quote, not helpful. separately, one of the president's personal attorneys jay sekulow telling cnn that the president's legal team did not consult with mulvaney before his appearance. we should point out that president trump is on his way to a rally in dallas and he was asked about mulvaney's

performance just a short time ago. he said he didn't actually get to see it first hand and someone told him mulvaney did a good job and the president saying that he has confidence in his acting chief of staff. the president is set to take the stage at any moment and we'll keep you updated with what he says if he does mention his acting chief of staff. >> it will be very interesting to see if he does. it is mulvaney's desperate attempt to say he didn't say what he said is at the behest of a very specific person about to speak where you are. >> evan, your sources are telling you, i was using the word stunned and people on the president's legal team were using that word and the department was justice was blindsided by mulvaney. it spent down pennsylvania avenue through the justice department headquarters where officials did a very rare thing. they basically put out a public statement distancing themselves from what mulvaney was saying at the podium, in part what the

statement says is quote, if the white house was withholding aid with regard to the cooperation of the department of justice, that is news to us. the problem is, erin, during the comments that mulvaney was making there, he linked the withholding of aid to an ongoing investigation that the justice department is doing. john durham is the prosecutor in connecticut is doing a lookback at 2016 and looking to see whether or not there was any improper interference including from ukraine and one of the things that the justice department is trying to do is to make sure that that remains clear and separate from any political issue at the white house. clearly, mick mulvaney made a mess of that situation today. thank you very much. i want to go out front now with the democratic chairwoman of the house financial services committee meeting, maxine waters. the present chief of staff is the desperate attempt to change what he said.

he is now saying what he clearly did say about the quid pro quo on ukraine. what do you think is going on here? >> well, that's typical of trump and all of his minions around him. they say what is on their mind asks then when they discover they've messed up they try to so-called walk it back. so mulvaney said exactly what was going on. there was a quid pro quo. absolutely. he can try and walk it back all he wants, but just think about this. the president is talking about the reason he's into this altogether is simply he's trying to get the president of the ukraine to investigate corruption. he's the most corrupt man in america, the president of the united states who has cheated, you know, contractor, subcontractors, won't show his own tax returns to americans, who has cheated students who in the fake university so-called up in new york, the trump university and he's talking

about, he's going all of the way to ukraine so that he can get the president to investigate corruption. give me a break. they're liars. they're cheaters. these are con men. so mulvaney said exactly what was on his mind and he discovered he messed up. so you messed up, but you told the truth and guess what? you're all going to get caught. >> so i want to play again, what he said, mull vaughny, that is, ms. chairwoman, what he said in his original admission that the u.s. held up the aid to push into the investigation. here's some of his explan eighth for it. >> we do that all the time with foreign policy. >> i have news for everybody, get over it. there's going to be political influence in foreign policy. that is going to happen. elections have consequences. >> does he have a point in any of that? >> it doesn't get clearer than that. we do that all of the time. get over it. this is what happens in

politics. he knew exactly what he was saying. he didn't just make a mistake. he was very clear and very deliberate. so mulvaney, you just outed the president of the united states and all that's going on around him with you and giuliani and all of you involved, and so we get it, and it's on record now and you can't take it back. >> mulvaney also defended the president's deployment of rudy giuliani, right? trump's personal lawyer on ukraine and all ukraine issues, right? the point person as the president said in his transcript of that call with president zelensky. here is what mulvaney said about giuliani. >> you may not like the fact that giuliani was involved. that's great. that's fine. it's not illegal. it's not impeachable. the president gets to use who he wants to use. the president wants to fire me today and hire someone else, he can. the president gets to set foreign policy and he gets to choose who to do so. >> is ittel legal or impeachable, chairman waters for

the president to involve ji giuliani. >> the president of the united states has basically said in so many ways that he can do anything that he wants to do. remember when he started up on the campaign saying he can stand up on fifth avenue and shoot somebody and nothing would happen to him? essentially nothing could be done for him, but the constitution of the united states says you're wrong. you can be impeached. when the members of congress believe that you are not in the best interest of the country, that you have undermined your nation in some way, that you've disregarded the constitution, that you have lied and you've put us all at risk that you are not a good person that should be in that office leading this country. when we decide on any and all of those things and move with the constitution, despite the fact that he thinks he can do anything that he wants to do, the congress says the u.s. has a

responsibility to stop him. mull vainy is wrong. what they did was undermine the whole state department and confused, the ukrainians didn't upon who he should have been listening to and giuliani had no business representing us in another foreign country and no, it is not the right thing to do. don't tell me about it's not illegal. there's nothing you can do about it. oh, yes, it is not only illegal, it's immoral and it should not have happened. >> congresswoman, before you go, i want to just say i am so sorry about the loss of your dear friend, elijah cummings. the house oversight committee and he was so committed to holding this administration accountable and i don't know if our viewers were aware, he signed two subpoenas before he passed away early this morning and you considered him a brother and a cherished friend.

what does his great loss mean to you, chairwoman waters? >> we are in mourning over here in the congress of the united states on both sides of the ais aisle. his wife said, maya said he worked until the last breath. we had members who had been talking to him the day before. not only is he going to be missed. he is a shiny example of what a good public policymaker is all about, how to conduct yourself and how to be adamant about that which you care about and at the same time, be respectful and so, yes, he's going to be missed and the example that he set, you know, you have people know saying that they'll try to follow that example, try to be better person, and i hope we can all live up to it. i loved him. he was my brother. he was my friend and he told everybody i was his mentor. he appreciated the years that he had worked with me getting to

the place that he had become as chairman of oversight and investigations. >> thank you very much, and again, i am so sorry for your loss. >> thank you. thank you very much. next, the white house defending the work rudy giuliani was doing in ukraine. >> you may not like the fact that giuliani was involved. that's great. that's fine. it's not illegal. it's not impeachable. >> is that really so? the lawyers are next. even republicans say they're bafrled by the chief of staff's words. is the president defending its decision to hold it at trump's struggling resort in florida. because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer. backed by science. matched by no one.

aleve it. with aleve pm. pain happens. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid. and the 12-hour pain relieving strength of aleve. so...magic mornings happen. there's a better choice. aleve pm.

they give us excellent customer otservice, every time.e. our 18 year old was in an accident. usaa took care of her car rental, and getting her car towed. all i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. if i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i would tell them, you need to join usaa because they have better rates, and better service. we're the gomez family... we're the rivera family... we're the kirby family, and we are usaa members for life. get your auto insurance quote today. be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms

of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. anyoonly marco's can deliver america's most loved pizza. hot and fresh, and right to your door. dough made from scratch, every day. sauce from our original recipe. and authentic toppings like crispy, old world pepperoni™. because the italian way is worth celebrating.

every day at marco's, get two medium, one-topping pizzas for just $6.99 each. hello to america's most loved pizza. hello marco's. no matter what life throws down ♪ roomba is up for the challenge. only roomba uses 2 multi-surface rubber brushes that powerfully clean up debris on all your floors. and only the roomba i7+ system empties its bin into allergenlock™ bags that trap 99% of allergens. forget about vacuuming for months. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba™ breaking news. after ten hours behind closed doors president trump's hand-picked ambassador to the european union gordon sondland emerging from testifying under oath in the impeachment inquiry. the testimony was damning. manu raju is out front.

manu, what have you learned about what sondland told lawmakers in those nine hours today? >> reporter: well, he said he was disappointed by president trump's direction telling senior u.s. officials including himself to go through rudy giuliani, his personal attorney, before any efforts were made to strengthen the key strategic alliance between the united states and the ukrainian government. he said that soon after the ukrainian president zelensky was inaugurated in earlier this year that he went to go brief the president along with others and the president said talk to rudy giuliani first, and rudy giuliani, according to sondland's testimony, unbeknownst to him was pursuing invest gainvestigations into jo biden and joe biden's son. after he speak with rudy giuliani, he wanted the ukrainian government to issue a public statement saying there was an investigation ongoing into a company that had employed

joe biden's son, hunter biden as well as the democratic national committee and there were questions all along about whether military aid that had been you approved by congress in exchange for this rest investigation into the bidens. he was not aware by what happened and it was raised by a top u.s. diplomat and ambassador sondland went directly to the president and he asked the president in which the president was in a bad mood and denied multiple times that there was no quid pro quo and soppedlandland the diplomat that there was no quid pro quo basing it off of the very brief phone call. this testimony today revealing questions that democrats want to pursue and finding more ammunition that a top trump appointee breaking with the president saying he was disappointed by the president's actions, directing him to talk to rudy giuliani in dealing with this key partnership.

>> manu, thank you very much. i want to go now to our senior political reporter nia malika henderson and joe lockhart who served as press secretary to president clinton during his impeachment investigation, ann millgrin and ed lacavarra, former prosecutor. >> let's start with gordon sondland. ed mahe's a million dollar dono to trump in a major way. he's under oath. >> right. >> last week they didn't let him testify. he's under oath and it sounds like a lot of things that go completely against the president's version of things. >> there are two takeaways from sondland and the president directed me to work with rudy giuliani and giuliani took charge of ukraine policy, so that is incredibly damning for the president and it's incredibly problematic and you

have one of the top-level state department officials saying i was instructed to work with julian owe this. the second part, he is admitting what he can't deny. i heard the word, but i didn't know it was related to theed bience and i expect it during the nine or 10 hours and they wanted to know what exactly did you think when the text messages were sent to you, you were in the room with john bolton, remember, john bolton told him about the drug deal wane he and milk mull vaughny. >> that he points the finger at the president. >> if sondland was his hand picked ambassador and yet he is testifying and sharing damaging information about the president. being look, i'm making a point thshgs is und

this is under oath and people aren't going to be willing to lie and go to prison for things. they are major allies of the president who are now not backi backing his version of things. >> i think it is very significant because it is a good indication that the blue wall around president trump or in this case the wall that he thinks he's got around him may be cracking and people are looking to see whether or not their own jeopardy is going to cause them to break ranks with him, and i think you've seen this week a number of executive branch officials who were at least theoretically instructed by the president and the secretary of state not to cooperate. nevertheless, adhering to subpoenas and coming in to testify about what they saw being bungled for political purposes in our relationship with ukraine. >> joe, "the wall street journal" right now is actually reporting that the president wanted, agreed that mick mull

vaugh mulvaney wanted to walk back his comments and the quid pro quo with ukraine and it was tied to military aid. that is the reporting with the wall street journal. the one that mick mull vaughny says hoo didn't say what he said and blames it on the media. how big of an issue is it that mick mulvaney said what he said and now the president's personal lawyer is pretending that nothing happened? >> it is a stunning development, as you said at the top of the show. he admitted what the president has already admitted in the transcript. it's just an acknowledgement. i know there were some people who were thinking that the white house was just trying to get ahead of this issue and coordinated, and i think that gives them too much credit. i think they just went out to throw out the d'orral thing today and bury it in other news because they know it would be difficult. i think the key thing that i noticed today is you have the three key people, rick perry, sondland and mick mulvaney all

saying essentially the same thing which is i was just following the president's orders and that is a significant thing. that is what makes this impeachable and the underlying behavior. >> because there's no question it goes to the top. >> normally white house staff tried to insulate the president. you can i have now people running to say the president told me to do this on camera, on the record, before congress, under oath. that is stunning. >> so, nia, the mulvaney statement, right? let me be clear, was there no quid pro quo between any military aid and the investigation into the 2016 election. the president never told me to withhold any money until the ukrainians did anything related to the server. let me remind you of what he said before the statement. >> the corruption to the dnc server? absolutely. no question about that, but

that's it. that's why we held up the money. >> so the demand for an investigation into the democrats was part of the reason why he wanted to withhold funding to ukraine. >> the look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about. we do that all of the time with foreign policy. >> yeah. it's pretty painful that they think that a statement saying that those things weren't said or that those things are lies. i don't know, what is the strategy here? i'm trying to fix this. >> you know, it's unclear because it's really unfixable,et there or at some point this was a statement that was going to be made, and it seemed like what they were trying to do was sort of separate the biden investigation or the biden favor from the dnc favor, and essentially say, sure, get over it. this happens in foreign policy all of the time. politics are involved and he

likened it to some of the engagement with countries in central america and immigration policy which is completely different, of course, from what was said here, this favor for a favor which mick mulvaney admitted to. it is -- it does seem like the white house is trying to throw things up here to see what sticks. this, of course, will stick and they're trying to take it off the wall and take it off the record even though mick mulvaney was glib and smug and sure this happened when he was before the white house. >> it was -- it was said the way that one would think truth is said which is without plot because you don't have to check your story. philip, mulvaney also shrugged off giuliani's role in foreign policy altogether, the president's lawyer and the person running policy for the united states. here's what he said. >> you may not like the fact that giuliani was involved. that's great. that's fine. it's not illegal. it's not impeachable. the president gets to use who he

wants to use. >> after richard nixon resigned as president he had an interview with david frost when he said when the president does it that means it's not illegal. do you hear an echo? >> oh, it's a very loud echo. it's the same theory that president trump has been uttering since he was a candidate and now during his presidency when he says if he does it it's okay. the key here is motive. sure, a president can use a private emsear, if he thindurin cuban missile crisis. the key is why is he doing it? and he was using rudy giuliani in here partly because of rudy's own economic interests, but primarily because the president knew that the regular foreign service officers including the u.s. ambassador to the ukraine when was a career foreign service officer wouldn't play ball and wouldn't try to extract

political dirt on a political opponent of the president's by withholding u.s. security aid. so it was the reason why president trump used rudy giuliani that makes this offensive and in the view of many of us part of his impeachable misconduct. that's what mulvaney is trying to overlook when he says oh, the presidents can use private citizen, but that's not the point at all. >> that's what they often try to do, right? sort of point in one direction. stay with me because republicans are slamming mick mulvaney for saying there was a quid pro quo and they're calling it troubling and a concern. could the white house be losing key allies? plus trump taking credit for ending the crisis he started. >> this is an amazing outcome. this was such a smart thing to get it done so fast.

(alarm beeping) welcome to our busy world. where we all want more energy. but with less carbon footprint. that's why, at bp, we're working to make energy that's cleaner and better. we're producing cleaner-burning natural gas. and solar and wind power. and wherever your day takes you... we have advanced fuels for a better commute. and we're developing ultra-fast-charging technology for evs.. at bp, we see possibilities everywhere. so we can all keep advancing. thand find inspiration who win new places.ct... leading them to discover: we're woven together by the moments we share. everything you need, all in one place. expedia.

...they work together doing important stuff. the hitch? like you, your cells get hungry. feed them... ...with centrum® micronutrients. restoring your awesome...daily. centrum® feed your cells. till he signed up for unitedhealthcare medicare advantage. (bold music) now, it's like he has his own health entourage. he gets medicare's largest healthcare network, a free gym membership, vision, dental and more. there's so much to take advantage of. can't wait till i'm 65. a few more chairs, please. unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans, including the only plans with the aarp name. free dental care and eye exams, and free designer eyewear.

go ahead, take advantage.

to the wait did frowe just win-ners. prouders everyone uses their phone differently. that's why xfinity mobile let's you design your own data. now you can share it between lines. mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. it's a different kind of wireless network designed to save you money. save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. plus get $250 back when you buy an eligible phone. call, click, or visit a store today.

slamming president trump's acting chief of staff mick mulvaney for admitting the u.s. aid to ukraine was held up as part of a quid pro quo for investigation into the democrats. misa murkowski saying y that is a concern. you do not hold up foreign aid that we appropriated for a political initiative. period. everyone is back with me. nia, how significant is it to hear these comments today from more republican lawmakers? >> you know, it is significant ask you think about someone like lisa murkowski, she's a bit of an independent in the republican senate and it's not surprising to hear it from her. mostly you hear silence from most of the republicans and this has been a par for the course

and they were, of course, on recess last week and they're back now, but you imagine that the white house may have actually heard from some of these republicans and that's why you saw the walkback from mick mulvaney, but the problem is a, it's on camera and the transcript that the president had with the lead aer of ukrain there is a quid pro quo and a favor for a favor and mick mulvaney was in some ways underscoring and reinforcing what was clear in that transcript and even what's clear from the text messages that we've been getting and volker releases some of the things from sondeland, as well. we will see. i expect the red wall or blue wall and whatever you want to call it from republicans remain pretty intact with folks like murkowski and romney who has been pretty critical of this president has come out and by and large, they'll be in lockstep with this president. >> it comes a day after 129

republicans voted to rebuke the president on what he did in syria, right? the decision to withdraw u.s. troops. are these cracks something that should concern the president or no? do these issues remain separate? >> i think if it was just the quid pro quo, because this was an action taken against democrats, republicans would find a way to convince themselves that it's not a problem and say that it's just not impeachable and it is troubling but not impeachable. i think the republicans are spooked by what's going on in syria and the way the president handled this and the way he retreated from our allies and left them to die and the way he embraced erdogan today as his friend and a strong man, and i think it's hard to disconnect those things. i think if they are scared about where the country is going and what he's doing they might begin to crack, you know, on the impeachment issue, but on balance if the vote was taken tonight, nia's right, the

republicans would stay with him. >> congressman rooney and i mentioned francis rooney a moment ago, called it troubling and continued, quote, i remember too many people saying this is a witch hunt against richard nixon and come out it wasn't a witch hunt. who knows? i just want to get all of the facts. i just think it was significant, you can call it a witch hunt until you realize it isn't and you wrote an editorial urging republicans to put principle over party. when you see what congressman rooney says, do you think that that is the beginning? >> i think it is. i think you will have more and more responsible republicans, and i am still faithful enough in the republican party to think there are honorable republicans. you will see more and more of them recognizing that they simply can't close their eyes too much longer to what the

facts are obvious. what joe said with the republicans on the house on the syria issue is going to be an entering wedge because i think more and more republicans are recognizing that sooner or later they'll have to show that they love their country more than they fear donald trump and they recognize that he is a dangerously incompetent president, and i think that ultimately, as the facts become undeniable, more and more of them will say we simply have to do our duty as the constitution requires. >> and i want to play for you what house intelligence committee adam schiff said today. here he is. >> i think mr. mulvaney's acknowledgement means that things have gone very, very bad to much, much worse. >> obviously, that's a partisan point of view, right? that's the democratic view, but when you look at the facts and what you see, does he have a point? >> i think he does have a point particularly because it's just -- it's a drumbeat of evidence every single day that

is corroborating the whistle-blower's complaint. >> it's not just mulvaney saying yes, we did it. it's fiona hill walking in the other day. it's just witness after witness is basically corroborating that the president abused his authority to try to basically politically benefit, and so i think mulvaney, you just have to put that in the context that there's a lot. >> nia, the house speaker pelosi today refused to lay out a time line for the impeachment process and the reason i say that is because the senate majority leader told the gop and senators that he expects this to move quickly, the senate could have its trial, go ahead and decide whether to remove the president of the united states from office or not by christmas. that's really fast. go ahead. ? in many ways, you talk about democrats and the democrats i talked to early on before the whole process began that was what they were thinking and

something that could essentially be wrapped up bee the end of the year and you hear mitch mcconnell there talking to his caucus there saying that's the time line he wants to follow, as well, but pelosi also saying there's not really a time line. it's more like they want to follow the facts and where the truth goes in this. it would be remarkable if they were able to wrap this up that quickly. i think they want to have enough distance between these impeachment hearings and whatever happens with the filing of the articles of impeachment to the house and any trial and have distance between that and what happens in 2020. >> there are some that say get it done faster than that and there are others, philip, you included, that this time line would be too fast, why? >> way too fast. >> i do agree it is the right action. on both legs of this it's the wrong timetable. as speaker pelosi and chairman schiff have made clear, they do contemplate some public hearings

after these executive session and depositions are completed so they can lay out for other members of congress and the american public what the facts are that congress has found. i think it's not likely that will happen before thanksgiving. certainly, drafting articles of impeachment and having them voted on by the house is not likely to happen before thanksgiving, and it would be irresponsible in the extreme for the leader of the senate to try to shoehorn a trial of the president's tenure of office between thanksgiving and christmas. that's simply not going to happen. >> joe, what do you say? >> is it better to go longer and you have testimony after testimony to back it up and you don't want to lose the momentum. >> yeah. i think it's better politically and it's more important than politics and more important to move rather quickly. the committee is never going to get the cooperation fast enough from the white house that they'll need.

that would be important. i think not settled until next year. so i think they'll move before the end of the year, and i think mcconnell will move very quickly, and i think he wants to get this overwith. i think the interesting thing is if four or five republicans split from mcconnell, then the democrats will have a say in what the rules are for that trial. so that's something to watch. >> oh, and that does explain why, perhaps it is significant to get those few votes, right? you don't need a lot, only a few to influence that. >> thank you all very much. trump declares victory in syria today, total victory, but even republicans don't seem to buy what he's selling. >> the announcement today is being portrayed as a victory. it is far from a victory. >> and jeannie moos on -- oh, the picture. the picture that says how many words? the lexus es...

♪ ...every curve, every innovation, every feeling... a product of mastery. lease the 2019 es 350 for $379/month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for hiv in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights hiv with three different medicines to help you get to undetectable. that means the amount of virus is so low it can't be measured in lab tests. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a build-up of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take,

if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're hiv-positive, keep loving who you are, inside and out. ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. don't get mad. get e*trade, dawg. asbut when your team is always dealing with device setups, app updates, and support calls...

you can never seem to get anywhere. that's why dell technologies created unified workspace, powered by vmware. ♪ a revolutionary solution that lets you deploy, manage, support and secure all your devices from the cloud. so you can stop going in circles, and start moving forward.

tonight, president trump taking a victory lap on what he is calling a cease-fire with turkey. smart thing to

get it done so fast. it's a great thing for civilization. >> some members of trump's party strongly disagree. here's republican senator mitt romney. >> the announcement today is being portrayed as a victory. it is far from a victory. the cease-fire does not change the fact that america has abandoned an ally. >> romney is not the only republican who has been critical of the president's actions in syria. 129 house republicans voted to condemn the troop withdrawal. one of them is with us, and i appreciate your time with coming on the show tonight. you heard the president and you heard senator romney. who do you think has the more accurate description of the cease-fire? >> well, i think that the cease-fire question will continue to bear out in the next few days. it happened really fast. so no disrespect to either one of them, but the desire to categorize it at this point in time when we haven't seen things

fully play out, although we've seen quite a bit is something that quite frankly, everyone is kind of jockeying for what they think is their best foot forward on it. >> let me ask you in what we saw happen before the cease-fire. tens of thousands of children displaced and isis fighters released from jail and a lot happened in a little amount of time and marco rubio, i'm sure you saw this earlier, took issue with the president today and his actions with the cease-fire. he tweeted it doesn't appear that the cease-fire would change in erdogan's goal. he still plans to rid area of kurds and create security zone, but giving kurds an ultimatum they can leave voluntarily or leave dead. >> do you think they're all jumping the gun? >> let me put it to you this way, they're jumping the gun to some extent and it's not a great start, that's for certain. the stuff that we do know are

objective facts and are not things which lead you to think that this is kind of what everybody had in mind in terms of a troop withdrawal and everything would be fine and the kurds will be fine. we know that is not all the case so far. so let's see where it ends up in another 72 hours because i think 72 hours will get you a lot of the way through this what's going on over there. >> what do you say to the president who obviously, by pulling out u.s. troops created this situation we're in. you obviously voted to condemn his decision yesterday. >> and listen, i guess the thing is if your standard is perfection in this business which everybody, kind of adopts. that's good, but guess what? we very seldom get perfection and this wasn't a perfect action as far as what's going on with the kurds over there and what the tushrks are doing. >> the acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney is walking back a comment he made earlier today and i wanted to play the exchange that he had with jonathan karl, the

reporter, when he was at the white house podium so you can hear the full exchange. here it is, sir. >> so the demand for an investigation into the democrats was part of the reason that he wanted to withhold funding to ukraine? >> the look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about -- >> to be clear, what you just described is a quid pro quo. it is funding will not flow unless the investigation into the democratic server happened as well. >> we do that all of the time with foreign policy. >> congressman mulvaney has put out a statement that the president personally approved where he said there was absolutely no quid pro quo. i know you were a former federal prosecutor and you support congressional oversight of the house democrats impeachment inquiry, when you hear what mick mulvaney said today does it bolster democrats' case against the president? >> i think it certainly makes

you think. the challenge is to get at the truth. so mick has said some stuff there that when you add some context to it, it's like we'll see where it goes. but it's certainly fair game in terms of saying, hey, how does this fit into the overall thing with the folks in ukraine. >> how much more do you think you need to hear to make a decision on -- >> well, you know, erin, fair question there, and i appreciate that. i think the difference between finding fact and deciding what to do as a result of what you find before that process is complete. and i know there are different missions in terms of versus the media, versus i as a member of the congress and what i have to do to vote. but i can tell you that people should expect open-mindedness, and they should expect fairness, and they should expect transparency. and so while that's not in abundant supply on either side right now, ultimately that's

what it's going to come down to. your job are what are the facts and what are the rules, and apply one to the other and see where we end up. >> thank you very much, congressman, i appreciate your time. >> yes, ma'am. >> and as we were talking about the ceasefire in syria, i want to bring in retired air force colonel cedric layton. a senior official told cnn they got exactly what they wanted. you heard congressman amaday there. look, he voted against the president yesterday. he is trying to give him a little bit more time. marco rubio and mitt romney obviously came out much stronger, very critical of the president's actions and making it clear that his declaring victory is not at all what this is. how would you describe it? >> well, i'd be more in line with what senator romney was saying because this is definitely not something one can declare victory on. when the turkish official tells you that he's gotten everything that he wanted and you're negotiating with somebody like that, then you know you've made a mistake as a negotiator. if they get everything they wanted, that means we've lost a

lot of things because our positions are definitely not the same. the turks are going to stay in northern syria as long as they possibly can, and that's going to be a big issue for us. >> and as marco rubio was saying, they're going to get what they want, right? he is going to get rid of the kurds. so the kurds are either going to leaf where turkey wants them to not be, which turkey considers to be theirs, or they're going to kill them all. >> right. >> and the president says that is a victory? >> that wouldn't be a victory at all. it brings out memories telephone 1915 genocide against the armenians that the turks committed during the ottoman empire in world war i. that's the kind of stuff that you can't have happen anywhere in the world, and especially that part of the world. so we have to be really careful about all these statements because i think we're bordering on the edge of quite frankly being irresponsible on the part of some of our officials. they're not thinking this through, and they need to start thinking what the consequences are. do. >> you think the president is thinking of that at all? obviously, he did what he did and he got slammed by his own party. you heard congressman amaday

there. he is trying to give the president every single possible and trump does this today to get him to kind of be quiet for a little while, you know. >> what do you make of it? so, so, quick, okay, here we go, we're done, says mike pence. >> everybody should know that anybody who has worked with military operations, it doesn't go that quickly. diplomacy, military operations, these kinds of things take time. they take a lot of reflection, and it's not going to be a quick flight to ankara that is going to take. this. >> all right. thank you very much. i appreciate the perspective. >> you bet. and next, it was meant to be an insult, but nancy pelosi is trying to own this photo that the president tweeted of her. >> that moment i was probably saying all roads lead to putin. pain happens.

aleve it. with aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid. and the 12-hour pain relieving strength of aleve. so...magic mornings happen. there's a better choice. aleve pm. i'm working to treat every car like i treat mine. adp helps airtech automotive streamline payroll and hr, so welby torres can achieve what he's working for.

they give us excellent customer otservice, every time.e. our 18 year old was in an accident. usaa took care of her car rental, and getting her car towed. all i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. if i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i would tell them, you need to join usaa because they have better rates, and better service. we're the gomez family... we're the rivera family... we're the kirby family, and we are usaa members for life. get your auto insurance quote today.

it's got all my favorite shows turn oright there.boom, i wish my trading platform worked like that. well have you tried thinkorswim? this is totally customizable, so you focus only on what you want. okay, it's got screeners and watchlists. and you can even see how your predictions might affect the value of the stocks you're interested in. now this is what i'm talking about. yeah, it'll free up more time for your... uh, true crime shows? british baking competitions. hm. didn't peg you for a crumpet guy. focus on what matters to you with thinkorswim. ♪ a picture of power. here is jeanne.

>> reporter: instead of just rolling her eyes, nancy pelosi is trying to turn the tables on president trump using his own photo. he tweeted it with the caption "nervous nancy's unhinged meltdown." at a white house meeting, democratic leaders walked out on, and when they walked out, she said he was the one who had -- >> the meltdown. sad to say. >> reporter: well, now the internet is melting down after the speaker decided to use president trump's photo as the cover on her twitter account on what was national boss' day, fans said speaker pelosi was owning trump like a boss, pointing her finger, she was depicted shooting rays that ignited the president. the photo was annotated. pelosi wearing a crown, president trump a jester's hat. the image now joins other classic pelosi moments, like the time she clapped at the president and put on shades,

exiting another testy white house meeting. her legend is looming large. pelosi had a couple of guesses when asked what was happening at the moment the photo was snapped. >> i think i was excusing myself from the room. i was probably saying "all roads lead to putin." >> reporter: she argued with the president saying his decision to withdraw from syria leaves a void the russians could fill. but people aren't just analyzing the images of speaker pelosi and president trump. they were struck by the body language of the chairman of the joint chiefs, a state department official and republican congressman steve scalise. >> hanging their heads in shame. >> reporter: chagrin and bear it read one caption. president trump may call her nervous nancy, but on thursday she called him -- >> whatchamacallit. >> reporter: that's president

whatchamacallit, madam speaker. >> reporter: cnn. >> it was a meltdown, sad to say. >> reporter: new york. >> all right. thank you so much to all of you for joining us. don't forget you can watch "outfront" any time, anywhere. just go to cnn go. "ac 360" with anderson starts now. good evening on a night of major developments on many fronts in the impeachment inquiry. we begin with the one that eclipses them all and could fundamentally change the course of this entire affair. today one of the president's top advisers openly admitted what he, the president and all the president's people have been denying for weeks now, and now he is trying to back away what he said, what he said in great detail several times and not by accident. right now acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney is furiously backpedaling from it all, which only underscores the gravity of what he said. today presumably with the president's approval, he told the public, told lawmakers pursuing impeachment, told the world that, yes, the administration withheld military aid from an ally under rsi