mulvaney: no. if you're having the house do what they're going to do, they're going to simply make sense for us to try to find out what happened. this is one of the questions i don't understand from you folks that we get all the time which is some of you criticized us for having a war room. which we don't by the way. you don't have a war room when you haven't done anything wrong. clinton had a war room. xon may have, but they did something wrong. but when we say we don't you say you're not taking it seriously. when you're part of the trump administration you're used to this. we d this, we're preparing for it. we're having lawyers look at it, our p.r. people looking at it. if we weren't doing that we would be committing malpractice. i don't think there's anything extraordinary we're doing. we've been dealing withover sight if the democrats since they took office. it's all we've been dealing with the democrats since they took office because we haven't been doing much legislating since they've been he

mulvaney: no. any last g-7 questions? >> why has no other g-7 ever been held there before? mr. mulvaney: they didn't go look at it. why do they have it at camp david? for those of you who have been there, those of you familiar with it, i said didn't you have, i think it was a g-8 back then, 2004, they said it was a complete disaster. ok. wonder how that happened. how did that decision get made? reporter: you were talking about the president -- the video, that showed the president shooting members of the media. broadly, the president has tweeted 45,000 times. how come the president hasn't used that twitter account to more than 60 million followers to condemn it? mr. mulvaney: the white house put out a statement about it. it's not like the man hides from you folks. i think he's done almost 100 face-to-face interviews with you. anybody else for g-7? >> is there any precedent in your studying of the g-7 of the g-7 summit being held at a property owned by the president or a president? and my second ques

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 sur

you heard what mick mulvaney said today. admitted that part of the reason they froze funding to ukraine was the desire to -- he said what does that mean for your in? >> let me first recognize the passing of elijah cummings. my prayers are with the family. regarding your question. what he said was stunning and that the defense was crumbling. it is illegal for the american president to solicit a foreign power to target an american political party. it's way worse to tie that to taxpayer fund and military aid that donald trump. this quid pro quo was something that trump said didn't happen and now mulvaney admits in fact it did happen. >> the acting chief of staff mulvaney also admitted that president got rudy giuliani involved in this ukraine policy, but argued the president has every right to do so. how do you respond to that? >> it's okay if the president wants to use a random person, but the difference is that rudy giuliani was publicly advocating to investigate the bidens and to investigate the democratic national committee

did mick mulvaney destroy mr. trump's no quid pro quo defense? >>> from bad to worse, democrats are seizing on the mulvaney bombshell, suggesting it amounts to a presidential confession in the impeachment investigation. but the white house is telling critics to, quote, get over it! >>> ordered to see giuliani. a u.s. ambassador breaks to the president, testifying that mr. trump effectively forced diplomats to work with his personal lawyer on ukraine. tonight, powerful new evidence of rudy giuliani's central role in the ukraine scandal. >>> and not a cease-fire. that's what turkey is saying about its new deal with the u.s., insisting it only agreed to pause its assault in syria. as president trump touts an amazing outcome, is he giving turkey exactly what it wants? >>> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> we're following breaking news that cuts to the heart of the ukraine scandal and the trump impeachment inquiry. the acting white house chief of staff, mick

mulvaney somehow got in there. but do you think mulvaney, john, is willing to sort of put himself on the line for a president that he himself said was a terrible human being? >> we are about to find out. if the president at this point was forgiving or at least willing to overlook those comments, mulvaney has had multiple jobs. he's had three i think at this point including perhaps the most prominent one beyond the president himself as acting chief of staff. mulvaney has also taken a very different approach than his predecessor. john kelly came in with trying to impose some discipline and processes. it worked for a time before the president stopped listening to him. mulvaney said trump can be trump and i am going to sort of work elsewhere in the government and try to push through conservative ideals and i am not interested in trying to control what he tweets or who he talks to. with some misentertainments without talking to the president's attorneys without running this by doj, all of that. and now he has deptly inc

even with this walk back, even if you were to take mulvaney at value, you basically have mick mulvaney and the president in their own words doing most of the democrats work for them by pretty openly acknowledging that there was a conditional transaction here that democrats have been trying to prove. >> we were also talking about this, gordon sondland said that trump asked him and others to work with rudy giuliani when it came to matters related to ukraine. he described that as the president's explicit direction which sondland said he agreed to follow. sondland says that trump withheld a presidential phone call or white house meeting until ukraine issued a public statement committing to the investigations he was seeking. when it came to that statement sondland said that giuliani, quote, specifically mentioned the 2016 election including the dnc server in burisma, the company linked to hunter biden. through all of this sondland said he understood giuliani spoke for the president. and he said at the time he did not know what was afoot. quote, i did not understand giuliani's agenda might h

today, mick mulvaney admitted yeah, there was. no quid pro quo, but what he described was a get over it quid pro quo. he tried to suggest there was nothing wrong, admitting it because it just happens all the time. keeping them honest, it's hard to see that as anything but bs, because tonight, as we said, he is now furiously backpedaling away from what he said earlier, a recognition that speaking what appears to be the truth is terrible for the president. so having made those disastrous remarks, he is now trying to unsay what he said. he released a statement, reading in part, "let me be clear. there was absolutely no quid pro quo because ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election." the latest word from mick mulvaney in hopes perhaps of erasing the previous latest word, which we'll play again for you now. >> just 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 -- we do that all the time with f

and mick mulvaney, it was staggering, mick mulvaney basically says, yes, there was a quid pro quo, move on. get over it. that's really the position of this administration. they are saying it's okay to dig up dirt on their rival from a foreign leader. let's move on as a country. and if you believe that it's not a slap in the face of the constitution, then i guess you could take the president's side. but this is really not a factual dispute, lawrence. >> thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thank you very having me. >> in tonight's last word, we will show you the very first words that newly elected congressman elijah cummings spoke on the house floor in 1996, freshman congressman elijah cummings is next. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424. but family can only tell you sot much... about your history. i found some incredible records about samuel silberman... passenger manifests, census information, even wwi draft registration cards. the records

mulvaney. i'm not sure what we're watching is someone playing three-dimensional chess, just someone who went out and said there was a quid pro quo bribe which in this context looks impeachable and is now walking it back. take a listen to him talking about political influence and foreign policy and what people should think about that. >> kenny said yesterday that he was really upset with the political influence in foreign policy. that was one of the reasons he was so upset about this. i have news for everybody. get over it. >> francesca, what did you think of that, and what was it like in that room? >> so i was just reading this new statement from the white house that they rushed to us right before they knew that we'd all be going on television for primetime to try and clean up his remarks. he goes on to say that there was never any condition on the flow of aid related to the matter of the dnc server. as we heard, you played those clips, that is not what he said when we were sitting in the room

today mick mulvaney admitted yeah, there was. no quid pro quo, but what he described was a get over it quid pro quo. he tried to suggest there was nothing wrong, admitting it because it just happens all the time. keeping them honest, it's hard to see anything but bs because tonight he is furiously backpedaling away from what he said earlier, a recognition that speaking what appears to be the truth is terrible for this president. so having made those disastrous remarks, he is now trying to unsay what he said. he released a statement reading in part, "let me be clear. there was absolutely no quid pro quo because ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election." the latest word from mick mulvaney in hopes perhaps of erasing the previous latest word, which we'll play again for you now. >> just to be clear, what you just described is a quid pro quo. is funding will not flow floe unless the investigation into the democratic server happened as well. >> we do that all the time with foreign policy. >> and, again, he sa

and mick mulvaney, it was staggering, mick mulvaney basically says, yes, there was a quid pro quo, move on. get over it. that's really the position of this administration. they are saying it's okay to dig up dirt on their rival from a foreign leader. let's move on as a country. and if you believe that it's not a slap in the face of the constitution, then i guess you could take the president's side. but this is really not a factual dispute, lawrence. >> thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. >> thank you very having me. >> in tonight's last word, we will show you the very first words that newly elected congressman elijah cummings spoke on the house floor in 1996, freshman congressman elijah cummings is next. ♪ limu emu & doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. libe

mulvaney all weekend. mulvaney is trying to convince the public that he never

a justice department official said mulvaney's claims that the d.o.j. was involved, that's news to us. and seems like the president was left out of the loop, as well. >> are you aware he suggested a quid pro quo. >> somebody said he did a very nice job. i look at all of this and turkey and the great thing that happened in syria. mick is a good man. i have not heard anything about it. i have a lot of confidence. >> a source close to the president tells cnn, mulvaney's acknowledgment to a quid pro quo angered mr. trump later in the day. bun white house official says much of the president's anger is focused on the media. he believes the press is misrepresenting, misinterpreting, mulvaney's comments. but lisa murkowski doesn't see it that way. absolutely that's a concern. you don't hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative. period. adam schiff agrees. >> mr. mulvaney's acknowledgment means things have gone from bad to much, much worse. >>> more bad news for the president. a key ally at the center of the ukraine scand

. >>> mulvaney mess. president trump insisted his acting chief of staff clarified his quid pro quo bombshell. the democrats aren't buying the walk-back as they argue the white house confessed to wrongdoing. >>> mattis fires back. the former defense secretary has a stinging response to being mocked by mr. trump after holding back for months. should general mattis have chosen a more serious forum to finally speak out. >>> and kim's high-rise cover-up. a bizarre sight in north korea where the windows of many skyscrapers have been covered up. is it new evidence of kim jong-un's paranoia and his pen chant for secrecy. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> we're following breaking news. on a staunch gop ally of the president speaking out against him tonight. in a new op-ed the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is calling the decision to withdraw troops from sear, and i'm quoting now, a grave strategic mistake. the president is facing new fallout o

mulvaney answered yes. within hours after that shock was rippling threw the white house and the legal team mulvaney released the statement attempting to clean up what he said but of course the damage was done. the white house in cleanup mode trying to clean up what nflny said but you can't take back the explicit admission of questioned bro quo. >> tooth pace out of tube. end of story on that one i think sarah. let's take a step back for a moment and just look at what we learned this week in the house impeachment inquiry two weeks of interviews so far. testimony suggests president trump played a key role in the effort to push ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son. democrats now say they're zeroing in on why u.s. aid to ukraine had been frozen and whether conditioned on the investigation into the bidens, that they wanted to happen, in other words a quid pro quo. >> you might say they were listening when the chief of staff said what he said yesterday. dems have interviewed now six current and former tru

. >>> happening now, no mention of mulvaney. president trump ignores questions about his embattled chief of staff mick mulvaney whose white house future is in question over his flip-flop on a quid pro quo with ukraine. is the president planning to replace him? >>> get tougher. mr. trump rails against the impeachment inquiry calling democrats vicious but united. and he calls on congressional republicans to, quote, get tougher and fight. >>> u.s. troops pelted. furious kurds hurl rotten vegetables at u.s. troops leaving north syria as the president defends his decision to leave the middle east and in the fight against isis. >>> and doral deal dead. the president makes a rare reversal amid republican criticism of his plan to host the g-7 summit at one of his florida resorts but he uses a cabinet meeting to promote the property and call part of the constitution phony. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." president trump speaking out in a cabinet meeting about multiple controversies dogging the white house. but he's n

unsustainable and does president trump need mick mulvaney now more than mulvaney needs him? >> i think it's unsustainable to have him there on that point. on balance, i think it's a tough call what the president does and there's certainly a strong case for letting him go. clearly, this was his first press conference with the press as elaine has reported and it certainly should be his last and the president -- if the president doesn't have confidence in him it is hard to keep him. i would think, on balance i would say keep him and there are a couple of reasons and one is, this is a white house that is a dysfunctional place already to replace the chief of staff in the midst of this crisis to have someone come out as fresh is inviting more chaos in the white house and you would want to keep the second point and very briefly is the person who is the principal cause of trump's troubles is not mull vavaney. it's the president himself. >> that is a point, john. every single person who has testified so far has made it clear that all roads made it to rudy giuliani and also ultimately

so i'm not saying that is what happened with mick mulvaney. in terms of what happened, i spoke to an it was something that the president knew was going to happen and gave his blessing to. so in terms of what came out of his mouth versus what the plan was, this is what we have to keep asking. >> let's go back in time. the reason that the president held up the money was because of that thing in 2016. that thing is a conspiracy theory that links ukraine to hillary clinton's e-mails and i want to share what the first homeland security advisory said about that in september. >> it is completely debunked. it sticks in his mind, and for clarity here, george, let me just again repeat that it has non nova ln no validity. it's not just that the president was holding up the money, it was why he was holding it up. >> that's right. ? it is being done to undermind an opponent. how stupid do they think the american people are? at a super poiou certain point, looking after false targets, trying to underline our diplomacy in the world. having the chief of staff

a justice department official said of mulvaney's claims that the d.o.j. was involved, that's news to us. and seems like the president was left out of the loop, as well. >> are you aware he suggested a quid pro quo? >> somebody said he did a very nice job. you know what i've been focused on today? i look at all of this and turkey and the great thing that happened in syria. mick is a good man. i have not heard anything about it. i have a lot of confidence. >> a source close to the president tells cnn, mulvaney's acknowledgment to a quid pro quo angered mr. trump later in the day. one white house official says much of the president's anger is focused on the media. he believes the press is intentionally misinterpreting mulvaney's comments. but lisa murkowski doesn't see it that way. she says this -- absolutely that's a concern. you don't hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative. period. house intel chairman adam schiff agrees. >> mr. mulvaney's acknowledgment means things have gone from bad to much, much worse. >>> mo

acting chief of staff mick mulvaney acknowledging to our jon karl u.s. military aid was withheld from ukraine in part to pressure them to investigate the democrats. mulvaney saying, "get over it. this kind of thing happens all the time." and just before we came on the air tonight, mulvaney this evening trying to walk back the comments. and late today, the other headline, the cabinet member now resigning. >>> also breaking tonight, president trump celebrating what the u.s. is calling a cease-fire involving turkey. a week and a half after president trump talked with turkey's president, announcing he was pulling u.s. troops out and that turkey would be moving in, the president now calling this is "great day for civilization." and tonight, turkey is not calling this a cease-fire. >>> the deadly nor'easter. a half million without power tonight. winds gusting up to 90 miles per hour. and the new system we're now watching. >>> the massive teacher strike in chicago tonight. >>> the white house revealing the g7 summit will be held at the president's own golf reso

what was mick mulvaney doing do you imagine? i mean, he wasently even on't ee to talk about ukraine. >> i'm a big mick mulvaney fan but i did pain for him because i felt as if he had gone beyond that which he should have said. and i'm sure that after he did it, he had to eat a meal of crow with the president and other people. and unfortunately, that's kind of a reality for lots of chiefs of staff. i had several meals of crow because -- >> yeah, but you didn't have a meals of crow that implicated your president in a potentially impeachab impeachable offense that i recall. >> thank you. i don't think i did. and i don't think -- >> i'm quite sure you didn't. >> no. but first of all, the impeachment process, i'm in favor of it going forward to understand what are the facts? i am troubled that there has not been kind of a process that has been simple and explainable to all parties. the republicans are shut out. this is a democrat push. they're calling it like a grand jury. and a grand jury, you can't talk about what's said at a grand

mulvaney took some moderate republicans to camp david. he called in in the room because he heard so much criticism about doral including a lot on fox news from usually supportive hosts and surrogates. and a number of the representatives at camp david expressed their misgivings and said it was a hard thing to defend on top of all the other things they have to defend right now, including the syrian decision and the impeachment inquiry. and that that for the president was the final straw, he's decided to move on. they'll announce another site in the coming days and i think we should all brace ourselves he'll cancel from doral and maybe give it to bedminster. >> yes, exactly, bedminster of course we could see rudy walking out before 6:00 p.m. so, you know, that reminds me, we really should talk about republicans who really made a difference here. >> they did. >> they had the retreat, they were talking to the president, they spoke up. that was so important. >> yeah. >> for their country that they did that. i saw a tom cole quote, peter king, a

this as president trump is refusing to talk about the mulvaney mess. let's talk about the ukraine scandal, the impeachment probe and more. joining us the former top lawyer at the fbi jim baker now a cnn legal analyst. jim, thanks very much for coming in. do you think that mulvaney's attempt to do some clean-up changes potentially the president's vulnerability in all of this? >> i think the key word that you just said a second ago was "mess." this is a big mess that mulvaney pead last week and i think the efforts over the weekend to try to clean it up didn't work and people are responding to that and the president didn't seem to be supportive of him today at the cabinet meeting, we're left to guess what that means. but this is stressing because the chief of staff is such a critical role and for that person not to have the complete trust and confidence of the president and the rest of the country and congress is really significant for all of us. >> and for the president not to say anything is -- >> it is shocking really. >> when asked by reporters today

none of this is helping mick mulvaney. the president is increasingly frustrated with his chief of staff. and mulvaney is on increasingly shaky ground. the president frequently gets frustrated with aides, including his top advisers. that doesn't necessarily mean they are out the door or headed for it anytime soon. dave? christine? >> at the white house, thank you for that. the president lashing out at a key rival as the impeachment pressure builds. he is demanding that adam schiff be deposed in front of his own committee. and calls for republicans to, quote, finally fight back. more republicans are starting to show signs of discomfort trying to defend the president. one of them, francis rooney, suggesting he is open to impeachment and says he will not be seeking another term. >> i think it's very bad, that the system we have right now, would disappoint our founders, is so geared towards raising money and creates a bias of taking action. everybody is quaking in fear of being criticized by the president or something. >>> week

the white house said mulvaney clarified his comments. that's what the president said when he wassed asked. that wasn't a clarification. he denied what he said on camera. >> what do you think? >> in the substance of what he said and the idea of get over it, mick mulvaney very deliberately or perhaps by -- inadvertently afaced a very bright line. the u.s. does in its foreign policy and its distribution of foreign aid sometimes try to condition that on the advance of national goals. our goals in the world, in foreign policy and security. it's a very different thing to condition foreign aid on contributing to the president's political, personal goals. that's a very clear bright line that he ignored in the substance of what he said. i do think however mistaken it was for him to do this, it's unabu understandable he felt this is what the administration does. one thing donald trump does is say out loud in the past things you wouldn't mutter in private. that's probably what he thought he was doing here and what the campaign is picking up on. thi

mulvaney has retracted what you just saw him say, everything is cleaned up. >> mick mulvaney clarified his statement. he said let me be clear, there was absolutely no quid pro quo. i think what mick clarified in his statement was very clear. i think mick mulvaney clarified his statement to be very clear. i think mick was very clear in cleaning up his statement that there was no quid pro quo. >> the assertion there was no quid pro quo, according to mick mulvaney, is false because he admitted it yesterday. we've shown that to you. but this defense isn't holding up even at the same time as the donald trump campaign is out there doing their argument for re-election. because look at this tonight. the trump campaign is selling new shirts today emblazoned with mulvaney admitting quid pro quo when his line when he said we do it all the time, get over it, with a little trump hair there over the "o." so which is it, we do bribery all the time and get over it? or he cleaned it up because we don't do bribery all the time. everybody from objective reporters to anchors to donald trump's most famous

mulvaney's statement, this isn't an ex-sketch. you cannot revise you what say in front of the cameras and say, actually i meant the opposite. how account president have confidence in mulvaney if he's going to say one thing in front of the cameras but then reverse it completely later? mr. mccarthy: i think what mick -- he clarified in his statement, was very clear. i watched in all of those transcripts of what people have been saying inside the investigation, volcker and others, there was no quid pro quo. reporter: following occupy on that. mick mulvaney said one thing and the exact opposite in his statement. so which one do you believe? mr. mccarthy: i think he clarified his statement to be very clear. i take mick mulvaney at his word for clarification. but more importantly, those individuals who come before the committee, that have been investigated, from volcker and others, that were in the place of knowledge, have said there was no quid pro quo. you have the transcript of the phone call as well. you see there's no quid pro quo.

i think there are strong grounds for letting nick mulvaney go. he's got two hats on, and he's director of omb, office of management and budget and plus the acting chief of staff. i think the president would probably want to keep him because he's going to be very hard to replace, and he has a lot of knowledge about how the place can work and he knows where the weak spots are, and it's a moment of peril for the white house to find somebody and move him in the middle and have somebody work well. >> jared kushner was among one of those looking for mulvaney's replacement even before the house launched their inquiry. is he already the defact yo chief of staff? >> that's been the problem for every chief of staff, he's the shadow chief of staff. you know, people can go to the chief of staff and then to kushner or kraoevice versa and s not a way to run a white house, and i think if the president has lost confidence in him then that's a different matter, what once you lose confidence and you have a chaotic white house and you are amidst peril you need to f

bert: why did mick mulvaney do this? >> thent presi wanted him to go out and do a briefing and originallye wanted mick lvaney to explain why, which hasn't gotten as much attention as it would in anyewther cycle, any other admintration, that the administration had decided that the site the g7 should be the president's resort in doral.te he wmick mulvaney to explain that and mick mulvaney did try t to explain that. he saidane under it looks horrible but doral was just the best se. robert: you also wrote thi week, ashley, about how mulvaney's comments and so many other things -- you summarized all these points -- are bringing the president's fingerprints on to the impeachment probe in a .significant and new w what the did you find as you sketched it out? ashley: between mulvaney's public cllments and the private comments, what is clear is that at the center of this probe is the president himself and tt he is personally orchestratinnd directing his government and marshaling the fullce ff the federal bureaucracy behind it to

is mulvaney a dead man walking, and if not mulvaney to lead the cal vary, who? >> if he's not a dead man walking, he certainly doesn't feel well today. the president, as you were saying, has grown increasingly frustrated with him. when mulvaney first went out there, he thought it was fine. then he was watching all the press. he may have watched the chris wallace interview, who knows. he has grown to believe that mulvaney did not do a good job. that's a problem. he's hearing it from republicans on capitol hill, who are pretty outspoken, that mulvaney did not do a good job. these things will build and mulvaney will probably leave. i've been told that they were looking to replace him before this even occurred. >> here is the thing. when you talk about who is leading this, john cornyn, senior republican, said, quote, i wish the chief of staff wasn't holding press conferences, maybe have your past secretary do that. have you heard of that before? secondly that is a slam and a level of sarcasm or snark coming from a very senior republican senator. >> yeah. and this is

mulvaney all weekend. mulvaney is trying to convince the public that he never admitted that there was a quid pro quo when, of course, the videotape tells a very different story. >> mick mulvaney dissected himself mean wlooil there has been this reversal from the president. he caved. he changed his mind about holding the g7 at his house. the president back tracked after phone calls revealed that impeachment weary republicans, they were tired of trying to defend him. frustration is also growing within the gop over president trump's decision to withdraw. >> u.s. troops withdrawing and being pelted by rotten potatoes. they were going to iraq. >> now we have rachael bade. correspondent for "the washington post" and jeffrey toobin. jeffrey, it's harder to say you didn't say something when you said it in front of hundreds of people and millions of people watching on tv. and so mick mulvaney is -- you know, the reports are that he didn't anticipate the blowback after he came off the podium. >> how did he do? not s

acts chief of staff mick mulvaney acknowledging to our jon karl u.s. military aid was withheld from ukraine in part to pressure them to investigate the democrats. mulvaney saying, "get over it. this kind of thing happens all the time." and just before we came on the air tonight, mulvaney this evening trying to walk back the comments. and late today, the other headline, the cabinet member now resigning. >>> also breaking tonight, president trump celebrating what the u.s. is calling a cease-fire involving turkey. a week and a half after president trump talked with turkey's president, announcing he was pulling u.s. troops out and turkey would be moving in, the president now calling this a great day for civilization. and tonight, turkey is not calling this a cease-fire. >>> the deadly nor'easter. a half million without power tonight. winds gusting up to 90 miles per hour. and the new system we're now watching. >>> the massive teacher strike in chicago tonight. >>> the white house revealing the 2k3w7 summit will be held at the president's own golf resort. >

none of this is helping mick mulvaney. the president is increasingly frustrated with his chief of staff. and mulvaney is on increasingly shaky ground. now, that being said, the president frequently gets frustrated with aides, including his top advisers. that doesn't necessarily mean they are out the door or headed for it anytime soon. dave? christine? >> jeremy, thank you. >>> the president lashing out at a key rival as the impeachment pressure builds. he is demanding that adam schiff be deposed in front of his own committee. and calls for republicans to, quote, finally fight back. the president seems to be anticipating trouble ahead. more republicans are starting to show signs of discomfort trying to defend the president. one of them, francis rooney, suggesting he is open to impeachment and says he will not be seeking another term. >> i think it's very bad, that the system we have right now, would disappoint our founders, is so oriented towards re-election, raising money, and creates a bias against action. everybody is qu

and also distancing themselves from what mulvaney said. so there is going to be an effort to discredit that, to say he was speaking off the cuff, that he didn't necessarily mean what he was trying to imply there but this is certainly going to play into the investigation on capitol hill. and i expect that mick mulvaney himself to be called to testify because he played a role not only as the acting head of the office and budget management, responsible for that ukrainian aid but also as the acting chief of staff and orchestrating some of meetings that ended up facilitating this kind of parallel foreign policy led by rudy giuliani. the president's personal attorney. >> any word on the scramble at the white house, after that press conference yesterday? >> we've seen before, aids kind of, you know, walk, get ahead of their skis a little bit. in how they have to make amends with the president, with some of his staff, so it will be interesting to see how mulvaney kind of tries to navigate this within the white house. rick perry announced yesterday

mulvaney later tried to walk back his comments, denying that there was a quid pro quo. laura podesta is here in new york. how are democrats responding to this news? >> reporter: anne-marie, with sharp criticism. they say mulvaney's words yesterday are an admission of bad behavior by the president, that he bribed a foreign nation. and cbs news has learned even mulvaney's comments have left the president's lawyers mystified and blind sided. >> get over it. there's going to be political influence in foreign policy. >> reporter: democrats quickly pounced on that admission from president trump's acting chief of staff. >> mick mulvaney co-signed president trump's confession to extortion. >> things have just gone from very, very bad to much, much >> rter: aftks e house deniabout a quid pol igation. >> theruptlarvsote question about that. but that's it. that's why we held up the money. >> reporter: mulvaney said president trump wanted ukraine to investigate a debunked theory about hillary clinton's emails though he stood firm that there was no demand to investigate the 2020 ele

but let's start with the brazen admission by mick mulvaney, mick mulvaney's the acting white house chief of staff. so, his admission was that there was a quid pro quo with ukraine. $400 million in military aid in return for digging up dirt on joe biden. listen. >> let's be clear, what we 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 -- we do that all the time with foreign policy. we were holding up money at the same time for what was it, the northern triangle countries. we were holding up aid at the northern triangle countries so that they would change their policies on immigration. >> did you hear that? he admitted it. okay. local influence is one thing. getting a foreign power involved in trying to tarnish a domestic political opponent is quite another. listen, this is -- this is really stunning. today was really stunning. it -- folks at the white house were freaking out as he was doing this, but i digress. we'll talk more about that. despite what mulvaney is admitting here, this is what pres

>> on the mulvaney thing. he's very focused on impeachment. but on the mulvaney piece, aides are much mover concerned about it. jay sekulow put out a pretty remarkable statement yesterday making clear he didn't know about it. they are trying to mop this up. but to your point, it's not like members who were on the house who were on the fence possibly about voting for impeachment are going to be swayed by, actually i didn't mean to say that much it's right out there. >> jeff, in terms of giuliani and the latest reporting by cnn that he tried to get a visa for this, you know, allegedly corrupt former prosecutor who he wanted to come to the united states, is there anything illegal about that? >> well, there's a lot we still don't know, and the most important thing we don't know is where the money was coming from for all of this. it's certainly not illegal. >> you mean -- >> who was paying giuliani. it's not illegal for him to talk to lots of different people. it remains mysterious what his ultimate responsibility was. was he working just as the pr

mulvaney, look -- the statements mulvaney made yesterday could be used against donald trump. there's not to get too wonkish here but there's something called statement of an agent. someone authorized to speak as an agent of somebody can be used back against the principal. >> so the president was reportedly not happy with what happened there. he's been saying no quid pro quo. and mulvaney said of course we do it all the time. now there's reporting on what led up to that. apparently he was briefed before going out there. but he was briefed about doral. because there's this possible violation of the emoluments clause. that's what he was most briefed on. didn't think reporters were going to ask that much about impeachment. >> shame on them for not thinking these questions would come up. but it does seem like mick mulvaney may be on his own without corroborating or touching base with the lawyers. but he had a perfectly fine answer to that. and it seems their strategy given that impeachment is a political process and not a legal one, that if they can win over the american public by

how is trump reacting to what mulvaney said yesterday? >> well, president trump publicly when he was asked about this he said that he felt like mulvaney clarified this topic or clarified his statement. but it seems the fact that mulvaney had to issue that clarification amid something went wrong at that press conference because basically he was walking back what he explicitly said and that he had multiple opportunities to clarify. and hours later he comes back and said basically he didn't say what he actually said. so that can't be a good sign for him. and he's standing in a white house where he's still the acting chief of staff and has never even i guess been promoted to full chief of staff. >> well, frank, you were mentioning this a minute ago. mulvaney's defense of that quid pro quo with ukraine appears to have potentially had an impact on some republican lawmakers that are taking him at his word. here's republican congressman francis rooney of florida today. >> what might have been gray and unclear before is certainly quite clear right

mick mulvaney does not have any standing to talk to anybody about u.s. interests. >> well, switching to someone that's heroic and standing up for all of our interests, the moral heart of the house. your colleague in maryland, elijah cummings, your thoughts about elijah when we all knew so well and you knew better than most >> he was a dear friend. he was a champion for our state and for the country. i have known elijah for 30 years. we served together in the maryland general assembly. he was always the first one on his feet to fight for social justice and equality and his city. he took that fight to washington where in my view he was a hero of our times in the way he prosecuted the case with dignity but always and you see this in the fact that you have bipartisan tributes. always respectful of the other person's point of view and people knew he had integrity and dignity and at this time polarization and chaos. oh my god, we are going to miss elijah cummings and his principles stand. >> he signs his subpoenas from the hospice bed. >> he says he's going to

asked about mulvaney, trump pivoting sharply. >> mr. president do you want to clarify what mick mulvaney said yesterday -- >> i think he clarified it. and i do have to say this, we, yesterday, had a tremendous day in texas. >> delving into a rant and refusing to take any more questions about mick mulvaney's controversial confession. >> to be clear 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 -- we do that all of the time with foreign policy. >> reporter: mulvaney since walked that back but that is not stopping the concern on capitol hill from both sides of the aisle. >> was he talked about just general corruption or specifically about the biden issue. the biden issue is what is very concerning because it would be using, if it is true, using taxpayer-funded aid and policy for a political reason which is totally wrong. >> this is an administration that obviously is off the rails and mchad a moment of truth and then realized that is not g

robert: why did mick mulvaney do this? >> the president wanted him to go out and do a briefin and originally he wanted mick mulvaney to explain why, which hasn't gotten as much attention as it would in any other news cycle, any other admintration, that the administration had decided that the site of the g7 should be the president's resort in doral. hey wanted mick mulva to explain that and mick mulvaney did try t to explain that. he said we understand it looks horrible butor was just the best site. robert: you also wrotehi week, ashley, about how mulvaney's comments and so many other things -- you summarized all these points -- are bringing the president's fingerprints on to the impeachment probe in a new way.nt and what the did you find as you sketched itut? ashley: between mulvaney's public comments and all the private comments, what is clear is that at the center of this probe is tresident himself and tt he is personally orchestrating and directing hisd government marshaling the tull force of the federal bureaucracy beh

shortly after that mulvaney -- shortly after mulvaney said that he tried to say he did not and he blamed the media for misconstruing remarks. my only question is how is it misconstruing to just turn the cameras on honestly? it's not the only idea with the statement. the idea it was based on routing out corruption writ large has been undermined by the president himself. >> have you ever -- have you asked foreign lasered for any corruption investigation that don't involve political opponents. >> you know, we would have to look. >> we would have to look. we have no idea. and then there is this. the dnc server conspiracy theory. not only has there been no truth behind it, it's been did he bunked by the president's own former homeland security adviser. >> the dnc server and that conspiracy theory has got to go. it's not only a conspiracy theory it's completely debunked. >> where does the white house go from here? let's find out. cnn sarah westwood. manu raju on capitol hill. sarah first to you what are you hearing today. >> well, kate, lots of folks unhappy after mulvaney's performance yester

. >>> still ahead, white house chief of staff mick mulvaney still playing cleanup over his admission that there was indeed a quid pro quo on the call between trump and ukraine. this as cnn learned of an inside effort to push him out. we're live from the white house, next. >>> plus, elizabeth warren is just moments away from speaking at a town hall after getting slammed again by her democratic rivals for her medicare for all plan. can she pinpoint exactly how she plans to pay for it? >>> and an oregon coach hailed a hero for disarming a student with a loaded gun. we have a newly released video right here on cnn. mom you've got to get yourself a new car. i wish i could save faster. you're making good choices. you'll get there. ♪ were you going to tell me about this? i know i can't afford to go. i still have this car so you can afford to go. i am so proud of you. thanks. principal. we can help you plan for that. start today at principal.com. ♪ applebee's new pasta and grill combos. choose from up to 12 combinations starting at $9.99. [ soft piano music playing ] mm, uh, what do you

what was mick mulvaney doing? what was he doing? >> yeah, look, it's clear he was testing out a new strategy as you said in your opening there. this whole notion of admitting it and saying get over it. we do this in foreign policy all the time. i mean, clearly he was going out on a limb and very quickly was walked back by the president himself who was not happy with the strategy. the president has said there was no quidquo. this is the line he's taken even as we've seen this growing body of evidence that substantiates this whistle-blower claim that started this whole thing. we've had the whistle-blower complaint. the transcript that substantiated that complaint and an increasing number of diplomats have come out and said they had concerns about what we were seeing in terms of trump sidelining experts on ukraine, putting his allies in charge of ukraine policies to pressure them into investigating political allies. then you have mulvaney admitting it, but once you sort of squirt the toothpaste out of the tube, you can't put it in even

this seems to be the sentiment of both president trump and mulvaney here. >> mulvaney said there have been a dozen locations and it was doral that seemed to rise above the rest. now, of course, everybody wants to see the list. don't you want to see what the list of the other contenders are to see who is now next in line to potentially host the g7? will we have those answers this week? >> i think there is a list. >> but we may not be privy to that list. daniel strauss, renato mariotti, thank you. >>> the largest u.s. troop withdrawal from syria. they say there is little fighting, but is that true? >>> a family pleading to find a missing three-year-old in alabama. details coming up. and i...was...shocked. right away, called my mom, called my sisters. i'm from cameroon, congo, and...the bantu people. i had ivory coast, and ghana...togo. i was grateful... i just felt more connected... to who i am. greater details. richer stories. and now with health insights. get your dna kit at ancestry.com. introducing a razor that works differently. the gillette skinguard has a guard between the blades

we have talked about mick mulvaney. but i trangly think we should also be asking of john kelly and reince priebus because clearly a long time now we've been talking about bad behaviors coming from the administration and coming from the desk of the president of the united states. >> are there specific laws you believe giuliani has broken or may have broken? >> well, i don't know we're going to find out. but i don't -- i think the range includes not only abuse of power and perhaps misstatement and mischaracterization of his role and responsibilities, but i also really do wonder just instinctively whether there's been bribry associatewood jowlny's conduct. i think there are a number of questions to be asked. once the facts are transparent and have been available for congress at the very beginning to see i think we'll know the laws that have been broke sfwloon what's interesting about giuliani's involvement it seems with every day passing theres another example of giuliani kind of running and being licensed by the president

then hours later, mulvaney tried to walk that back. after confirming there was a quid pro quo, he denied it. all this when ambassador gordon sondland was testifying to members of congress in this impeachment inquiry. i want to bring in congresswoman jackie spear. she was in that testimony. congresswoman, thanks for being with us. broadly speaking, what did you learn from ambassador sondland? >> i think what we learned from the ambassador is that he was like the enabler. it was like the drunk who tells you that you should go out and buy him another bottle of bourbon, and you do it. he testified to the fact that he knew these things were wrong, but he went ahead and did them anyway. so he was one of those many people within this administration that knows that something is wrong but does it anyway. >> enable what exactly? >> well, certainly what we are finding out now is that the whole effort to try and get a phone call with president trump and president zelensky, that took months and months and so many hundreds of hours of back and forth