getting longer and drier and the winters shorter here. >> good point. thanks very much. to our viewers thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. threatened trump's former ambassador to ukraine says she felt threatened by the president and there were ominous warnings to her about her security. plus a top state department official testimony contradicts mike pompeo. was the secretary of state caught in a lie? plus we go to a swing district in a swing state trump won. is he about to win it again? let's go outfront. good evening. i'm erin burnett outfront tonight. threatened, trump's former ambassador to ukraine testifying behind closed doors that she felt threatened by the president of the united states. it's all in a trove of documents released by the house intelligence committee today. according to the transcript of the former ambassador marie yovanovitch's testimony she was asked about what president trump

meant when he told the president of ukraine that she was, quote, going t go through some things. i don't know what it meant she told congressional investigators. i was very concerned. i still am. did you feel threatened she was asked. yes. she responds. this is just part of what we're learning tonight from the just released transcripts of testimony in the house intelligence committee. ambassador yovanovitch telling lawmakers rudy guiliani's plan to dig up dirt on trump's potential rivals dates back to almost a year ago when yovanovitch claims she was told by a ukrainian that guiliani had, quote, plans, and they were going to, you know, do things, including to me. do things? was the united states ambassador to ukraine threatened by trump's personal attorney rudy guiliani? the transcript continues, quote, question to yovanovitch, did you ever have any conversations after november or december, 2018, with ukrainian officials about mr. guiliani up until the

time that you left in may? yovanovitch replies. i think perhaps in the february time period i did where one of the senior ukrainian officials was very concerned and told me i really needed to watch my back. watch my back? well, the president today was asked if he was targeting his then ambassador. >> was marie yovanovitch the target of a smear campaign by -- >> i really don't know her but if you look at the transcripts, the president of ukraine was not a fan of hers. >> trump says he didn't know her but that gives a completely false impression of his involvement. that is the bottom line. there is no other way to say it. he knew plenty about her and he didn't like her. at the same time when she was told to watch her back trump's closest allies the people talking to him all the time were launching an all out public assault on yovanovitch. from fox news. >> marie yovanovitch has bad mouthed the president of the

united states to ukrainian officials and has told them not to listen or worry about trump policy because he's going to be impeached. >> yovanovitch saying it got so bad that she approached trump's major donor and hand picked ambassador of the eu gordon sondland for advice and he told her, again, her words, this is straight from the transcript, he said, you know, you need to go big or go home. you need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president. in other words, do what trump says and tell the world that he's great. now, yovanovitch would not do that and trump did get rid of her. pamela brown is traveling with the president tonight outfront live in lexington, kentucky. pam, how is the white house responding to the release of the transcripts, the ones we have thus far? >> reporter: so far, erin, the white house is downplaying it, dismissing it, saying what has come out a lot of it is already known. no big deal. but we did learn a lot through this transcript released today

as you pointed out where the former ukrainian ambassador felt threatened by what the president said on the call with zelensky that she was bad news. the president today repeating talking points he said previously, that it was president zelensky of ukraine who expressed concerns about her, the president trying to distance himself, saying he didn't really know her. of course during that call it was the president who brought her up, saying she was bad news prompting zelensky to agree with her. but the white house expected the transcript release today and is bracing for more to come potentially more damning testimony to come that would only corroborate the whistle-blower's testimony and the effort by rudy guiliani in that shadow foreign policy campaign that was going on. this transcript released today, erin, also comes when four white house officials stonewalled and did not show up for their testimony despite subpoenas. that is a theme you'll see played out this week because we do expect two omb officials, two

top officials, intricately involved in holding up the ukraine aid, to not show up for their testimony tomorrow, either. of course, for the president, for the white house, this is welcomed because previously there has been damning testimony from former and current administration officials so you're now seeing white house officials stonewalling is something as part of the white house strategy to not cooperate. the big sticking point they keep pointing to is administration officials can't be in during this testimony. now, all of this is happening, erin, as the president appears to be changing his tune on quid pro quo saying it is no big deal if that did happen. we'll have to wait to see what he says during the rally in kentucky. >> thank you very much. pam, out front now democratic congressman denny hack who sits on the house intelligence committee. i appreciate your time. yovanovitch said when she was recalled, you know, removed from her job, she was told, quote, this is about your security. you need to come home

immediately. get on a plane. she was asked, does that mean her physical security? she was told, i don't get that impression but you need to come home immediately. what sort of security do you think they meant? >> well, one is only left to conjecture to determine that, erin. i think it was carol perez that told her that and obviously ambassador yovanovitch felt threatened and physically unsafe and who wouldn't especially when you read what the president said in the phone call later that she would be going through some things. that is obviously as it were a pale form of witness intimidation. it's not surprising however this is the same guy who's probably engaged in the parallel of jury tampering by upping very considerably his financial support of key republican u.s. senators running for re-election, trying to taint the jury pool as it were in the event that articles of impeachment are voted out of

committee and out of the house. >> so now that the transcript is out there for the public to read, do you want yovanovitch to testify publicly as well now that we've seen -- it was many hours, right, she was behind closed doors with you and your republican colleagues. we've all been able to read it. do you want her publicly, too? >> personally i would, but frankly i don't think that is a decision that should be made until we've had an opportunity to see just what exactly is the entire pool of people that have been able to be deposed is determined. we don't know that yet. i think she would be a prime candidate. there will be others as well. that decision will be made again after we've had an opportunity to look over all of those that have come forward thus far. and see who it is that actually has the most materially significant content to offer. >> right. in some of these cases obviously we know a lot. we know it was in the opening statements. we don't know the full back and forth questioning. i know house intelligence committee chairman schiff says the transcript of the ukraine

former special envoy kurt volker and u.s. ambassador to the eu gordon son had lond gordon sondland that those will be released tomorrow. with volker it was eight, nine hours if i recall correctly. but do you think that releasing those transcripts will change anyone's mind? >> well, i hope so, because the fact is that in almost every material instance every person who has come forward has corroborated what the others have said. there is a pretty high definition picture brought into focus by all of these. i've been sitting here thinking it must be completely exhausting to be president trump, to stand up and have to answer the questions about the content of this witness testimony and basically to mislead the american public so clearly in each and every regard. i look ahead at all of the other witness testimony that will be revealed. dr. hill. ambassador taylor. i could go on and on. this guy is going to be

completely exhausted when this is over with. it would be so much simpler for him if he were just to acknowledge the clear truth of the fact. >> so look. you said you need to know your witness pool before you know who could testify publicly. obviously one key witness could be john bolten. and we don't know whether he'll testify or not. nbc news says bolten will be willing to testify if the court orders his long-time deputy charles kupperman to testify and of course kupperman is fighting it, right, filing a lawsuit to determine whether he has to testify. it's possible. looks like now we may not get an answer from the courts until january. will you move forward with a full vote on articles of impeachment without testimony from people like john bolten who was obviously at the core of every other testimony we've gotten thus far? >> that remains to be seen. we're not going to play rope-a-dope with the administration and their continuing effort to withhold all the documentation that we have subpoenaed and to instruct administration employees not to

come before us. that's obstruction of congress. that, to me, is a tacit acknowledgment of guilt and will be included in any deliberation about whatever report we may submit to the judiciary committee when they get to the point of drafting articles of impeachment. but just again as we've reminded the american public so many times, obstruction of congress and abuse of power were articles of impeachment in the last, in the time before last we went through this with president nixon. >> so obviously the judiciary committee as you point out would draft those formal articles but the initial public hearings would be conducted by the intelligence committee. cbs is reporting tonight republicans are thinking about moving. an outspoken defender of the president, close ally congressman jim jordon temporarily to your committee so he would be there to question. what do you make of that? >> of them transferring jim jordan to the intelligence committee temporarily? sounds like a great big fat

of -- >> so he can ask questions. >> -- right. sounds like a big fat vote of no confidence in devin nunez to me. that is the only way to interpret that since he has been the ranking member this last year and was chairman previous to that. the truth is and we don't like to reveal too much about who comes and who goes in those closed sessions but i'll say this for jim jordan at least he's been present. >> thank you very much. are you contrasting that to devin nunez specifically? >> i'll leave that to you and the viewers to interpret, erin. >> all right. i appreciate your time as always. thank you. next, mike pompeo's former adviser says he pushed the secretary of state to issue a statement in support of ambassador yovanovitch. why did pompeo suggest something different? plus trump and his allies want to out the whistle-blower and are saying something untrue about that person in the process. plus top democratic

congressman jim clyburn says pete buttigieg's sexuality is an issue for some african-american voters. why? life isn't a straight line. things happen. and sometimes you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. i am the twisting thundercloud. power... in its most raw form. speed in its most natural. i am royalty of racing,

...defender of the checkered throne. i am alfa romeo. i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and 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. i get it all the time. "have you lost weight?" of course i have- ever since i started renting from national. because national lets me lose the wait at the counter... ...and choose any car in the aisle. and i don't wait when i return, thanks to drop & go.

at national, i can lose the wait...and keep it off. looking good, patrick. i know. (vo) go national. go like a pro. mmacramé! obviously. wanna go to the gym? uh, it's too expensive. actually, our unitedhealthcare medicare plans come with renew active, a gym membership and more, at no extra cost. i'm not a workout kinda guy. you get a personalized fitness plan. i'm exercising my brain. and an online brain health program. i need workout clothes? they have tvs here too. renew active, only from unitedhealthcare medicare including the only plans with the aarp name. i was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums.

and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. breaking news. secretary of state mike pompeo's former senior adviser tried and failed on multiple occasions to get him to show support for then u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch. as team trump was trying to undermine her. michael mckinley testifying during his impeachment deposition that he told pompeo, quote, wouldn't it be good to put out a statement on yovanovitch? since my impression is the department, you know, at least tried to keep her in ukraine. when asked, what was his response about pompeo, mckinley responded, he listened. that was it. sort of thank you. that was the limit of the conversation. well, the issue according to mckinley came up two other times including when mckinley went and spoke to pompeo to resign from

his post. mckinley testified that he again brought up the state department publicly backing yovanovitch, quote, i was pretty direct. i said, you know, the situation isn't acceptable. so those are very direct, right? this is what he is testifying under oath to. this is why what pompeo said when he asked about whether mckinley approached him about publicly backing yovanovitch sounds so strange. >> from the time that ambassador yovanovitch departed ukraine until the time that he came to tell me he was departing i never heard him say a single thing about his concerns with respect to the decisions made. >> you were never asked -- >> not once, george, did ambassador mckinley say something to me during the entire time period. >> you were never asked to put out a statement in support of ambassador yovanovitch? >> george, again, i am not going to talk about private conversations that i had with my most trusted advisers. >> outfront now the chief investigative correspondent for yahoo news, the gop counsel for

the house oversight committee during the clinton impeachment and former assistant director for the fbi greg brower and former republican state senator in nevada. michael, okay. you see mckinley's testimony. and then pompeo is specifying a certain date, certain period during which he says this conversation did not occur. and then when george stephanopolus says did it ever occur he says i don't want to talk about may conversations. was pompeo less than forthcoming in that interview? >> you can't get a sharper contradiction between what ambassador mckinley testified under oath and what secretary pompeo was saying on tv to george stephanopolus. i think this is going to make it pretty difficult for pompeo to avoid saying more, including if not testifying before the house committee, it's pretty clear that no administration, senior administration officials are

going to do that. but it is also pretty clear president trump is going to be impeached and there will be a trial in the senate. what happens if secretary pompeo is called to testify as a witness in that trial after ambassador mckinley gives his testimony about three times going to the secretary, telling him what the situation was unacceptable, the treatment of ambassador yovanovitch was out of bounds and pompeo saying nothing? i think that's going to make it really interesting and particularly, you know, it is going to be -- there is going to be some tough decisions that pompeo and the chief justice roberts who will preside over the trial are going to be making. >> so look. this is far from the first time that pompeo has dodged questions on ukraine or given these answers that are very specific but nondirect, right, completely avoid the point. here he is being asked what he did with the cable that bill

taylor, the top american diplomat to ukraine, testified that he sent to pompeo, right? bill taylor said, i was in -- john bolten said send a cable to pompeo with all of your concerns about the aid to ukraine being held up. taylor testified he did it and he gives it to pompeo and then pompeo is asked about it and here is what he says. >> what did you do -- >> i'm not going to talk about the inquiry this morning. >> did you relay his concerns to the president? >> look, i came here today to talk about workforce development. i came here today to talk about the great things going on here in kansas. >> greg, why do you think pompeo is acting like this and not sharing what he knows? >> well, erin, i think either the secretary was not in the loop on this, what you might call unholy effort to shake down the ukrainians. or he was in the loop and obviously can't disclose that

because either scenario is a bad one for him. it is hard to tell exactly what he knows. he may have been out of the loop on this. either way it is not a good look for the secretary. >> now we're starting to get these transcripts. we got a couple today, we'll get more tomorrow, and you have more stonewalling from the administration so we may never hear from john bolten before an impeachment vote or this will get pushed well into next year. does it lessen the impact if the witnesses are called back for these public hearings when we've already seen the transcripts, the opening statements, and all of this information is out there? >> not at all. i think it actually heightens the awareness of the public. think about what happened, erin in the leadup to the mueller report. we knew what it said. we had the summaries. but when bob mueller finally testified we all were riveted and looking at our television sets and we didn't want to move. i think that you have a similar effect here. i think yovanovitch would be an interesting and compelling witness to hear from as would be mckinley. but i agree with michael and your other guests that this is a

really difficult situation for the administration and the secretary of state in particular. they keep digging in deeper and deeper. somebody lying here. lt's just put that on the table. somebody is lying. and i'd like to believe the guy that's under oath under penalty of perjury who left of his own free volition and left the state department probably isn't the one lying. so i think that creates a problem and i think that what congress is trying to do, erin, the three committees are working together to release this information in the interim where as you know the witnesses that they're trying to call and compel will not come up to the hill, which is to me obstruction of congress and ought to be dealt with immediately. they ought to send somebody after the folks that are not coming and testifying. >> when you look at the perspective of what was going on with all of this, michael, when yovanovitch was asked about her conversations with ukrainian officials about guiliani, you know, she recalls a conversation with one official who was very concerned about guiliani's efforts along with his

associates. he was working right with these guys who have now been arrested and she testifies, quote, he basically said and went into some detail that there were two individuals from florida, mr. parnas and mr. fruman who were working with mayor guiliani and that they had set up the meetings for mr. guiliani and were interested in having a different ambassador at post i guess because they wanted to have business dealings in ukraine or additional business dealings. it does open up the question of whether -- what is your take on this? this is rudy guiliani all trying to make a lot of money and dangles the joe biden investigation in front of trump who gets fully onboard but this is rudy guiliani's deal. >> yeah. i mean, look. here you have the ambassador, career diplomat, trying to do her job, you know, serving american national security interests in ukraine, and learning that she is being undercut by the president's personal lawyer dealing with

these business guys who are working for a business deal and essentially undercutting everything she is doing as ambassador. it was an untenable situation that she was in. she's also, you know, hears from one of the senior ukrainian officials telling her she has to watch her back because guiliani was going to that senior ukrainian official, bad mouthing the ambassador. i mean, this is -- ambassador mckinley said in his testimony that he had never seen anything like this in 37 years of service. i think that's a pretty striking point. >> all of you stay with me because the other thing going on right now and unprecedented is trump's push to out the whistle-blower. >> i think that the whistle-blower gave a lot of false information and you have to see who the whistle-blower is. >> plus you're screwing around with the wrong guy. that's a quote from a

billionaire investor in a battle with elizabeth warren. why? ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪ ♪'cause no matter how far away you roam.♪ ♪when you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze.♪ ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ the united states postal service goes the extra mile

to bring your holidays home. some farms grow food. this one grows fuel. ♪ exxonmobil is growing algae for biofuels. that could one day power planes, propel ships, and fuel trucks... and cut their greenhouse gas emissions in half. algae. its potential just keeps growing. ♪ can match the power of energizer. because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer.

backed by science. matched by no one.

breaking news. president trump ignoring a top republican by continuing to demand the identity of the ukraine whistle-blower. >> i think that the whistle-blower gave a lot of false information and you have to see who the whistle-blower is and the whistle-blower seems to have disappeared. >> he keeps saying this and then his comments coming just hours after senator chuck grassley the chairman of the senate whistle-blower protection caucus, a very influential, long-time republican obviously in the senate, told cnn, quote,

the law protects the whistle-blower. i want maximum protection for whistle-blowers. greg, look. trump is not letting up with his demand to out the whistle-blower, reveal the person's identity. do you think he is going to end up getting what he wants? >> i'm not sure if he will or not. i would submit he is completely wrong about all of this. there is no evidence whatsoever that the whistle-blower has given any kind of false evidence or has been wrong about what has been reported. in fact, the evidence suggests that virtually everything the whistle-blower initially reported has been corroborated. at this point the identity of the whistle-blower is entirely irrelevant. and so getting testimony from the whistle-blower just will add nothing to this investigation. it's just, again, the president's way of attacking those who are on the other side of him whether fbi agents,

prosecutors, special counsels, and now the whistle-blower. >> so i want to get to the facts of the whistle-blower in a moment because you raise a really important point. what does it say? i mean talking about chuck grassley, right, a very senior, decades long member of the senate. senior republican making it clear that what trump is doing is not acceptable and not okay. and finally speaking out today. what is that? what does that mean? >> chuck grassley was chair of the senate judiciary committee for a very long time. of course he'll uphold the whistle-blower act of 1989. this is inappropriate. it is intimidation. the only reason the president wants this person's name leaked and their identity outed is so he can intimidate and harass them on twitter with a name attached. more importantly, congress dating back to 1777, the continental congress passed whistle-blower protections dealing with the navy case where a commander had done something wrong. someone told it. and the attorney's fees were

paid. congress honored this dating back to our founding. that is how important whistle-blower protections are. no this person should not be outed ever, ever, ever, and the president is out of control and out of order. this is illegal. he is harassing this person. >> michael, on that front, the president saying, look. the identity needs to be out there of this person. this person does not deserve to be protected. he has done it again and again. i referenced it but i want everyone to understand why i am saying that. >> the whistle-blower should be revealed. because the whistle-blower gave false information. do we have to protect somebody that gave a totally false account of my conversation? i don't know. you tell me. the whistle-blower got it all wrong. who's the whistle-blower? who's the whistle-blower? who is the whistle-blower? we have to know. >> and then he said is the whistle-blower a spy? in a nomoment i'll tackle the

facts. do you think this could be part of impeachment articles against president trump? what do you read into senator grassley, senior republican, standing up to the president on this issue? >> well, look. it is significant to have any senate republican standing up to the president, so, you know, i think that's something worth watching. whether that's going to tell us anything more about where grassley comes down i don't know. you know, there is a clear flavor of witness intimidation there in the way the president is talking about it. and his arguments would be a lot stronger if, in fact, the whistle-blower had gotten something wrong. but from all we can see, he hadn't. that said, i will not be surprised if during the public hearings or during the trial one of the president's defenders just drops the name of the whistle-blower. that seems almost inevitable to

me. and i think at the end of the day when this is over i think we probably will know the whistle-blower's name when this history gets written, he did play an important role and people will want to know who that person is. >> when the whistle-blower got it all wrong obviously the whistle-blower didn't. trump asked ukraine's president to investigate the bidens true. work with guiliani to do so. true. and of course trump's own hand picked inspector general thought this was urgent and credible. so none of this whistle-blower is false adds up but the whistle-blower's attorneys have said they'll answer written questions. greg, the president of the united states says this is just unacceptable. written answers not acceptable he tweeted. he must be brought forward to testify. that is trump's tweet today. yet in the mueller report, we see the president, what, say 15 to 20 times he doesn't recall all in written responses. so it is fine for him but not fine for the whistle-blower.

>> yeah. there he goes again. but i would submit that the whistle-blower at this point is entirely irrelevant. this would be like if i could draw an analogy if i had a neighbor who i knew to be a convicted felon and yet i witnessed that this neighbor had stored in his garage a stockpile of firearms and i called the police and gave an anonymous tip about that fact, and then the police came out and investigated and found that this convicted felon did in fact have a stockpile of firearms, the fact that i was the initial tipster would be completely irrelevant because the police upon their investigation did find this convicted felon in possession of the firearms. it's no different here. because what the whistle-blower reported has essentially been corroborated in every meaningful way, who he is and what he said initially and how he said it is irrelevant. >> as you are all nodding. very well said, greg. thank you all very much.

i appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. next, half of americans want the president to be impeached. the other half don't. what do voters in this swing district say? >> it's horrible. just horrible what they're doing. >> the president is doing a great job. >> what they think matters. plus elizabeth warren takes on wall street. now wall street is fighting back in a big way. ♪ (dramatic orchestra) performance comes in lots of flavors. there's the amped-up, over-tuned, feeding-frenzy-of sheet-metal-kind. and then there's performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. that's the kind lincoln's about.

♪ woman: what gives me confidence about investment decisions? rigorous fundamental research. with portfolio managers focused on the long term. who look beyond the spreadsheets to understand companies, from breakroom to boardroom. who know the only way to get a 360 view is to go around the world to get it. can i rely on deep research to help make quality investment decisions? with capital group, i can.

talk to your advisor or consultant for investment risks and information. woi felt completely helpless.hed advisoronline.sultant my entire career and business were in jeopardy. i called reputation defender. vo: take control of your online reputation. get your free reputation report card at reputationdefender.com. find out your online reputation today and let the experts help you repair it. woman: they were able to restore my good name. vo: visit reputationdefender.com or call 1-877-866-8555.

the amount of student loan debt i have, i'm embarrassed to even say. we just decided we didn't want debt any longer. ♪ i didn't realize how easy investing could be. i'm picking companies that i believe in. ♪ i think sofi money is amazing. ♪ thank you sofi. sofi thank you, we love you. ♪

tonight president trump railing against the impeachment process tweeting all-time high for stock market and all the fake news wants to talk about is the impeachment hoax. the big question is whether that message will work. with swing voters. >> reporter: picturesque small towns, affluent suburbs, and overwhelmingly white. michigan's 11th is a congressional district carved out of an area just northwest of detroit. >> who won the state of michigan after decades? >> reporter: it's also a district that voted for trump in 2016. then flipped and elected a democratic congresswoman haley stevens in last year's midterms. it is a swing district in a swing state so no surprise voters split on the impeachment inquiry. >> i think it's a sham. okay? i think the president -- >> it's horrible. just horrible what they're doing. the president is doing a great job. >> reporter: in plymouth,

michigan rita dunning a former auto worker proudly shows her support for trump on her ford pickup truck. >> women in michigan love president trump end of story. >> reporter: i saw your truck. >> yeah. women keep -- quit saying women are not for trump. >> reporter: tell that to amy neal a marketing director who says the inquiry is long overdue.>> i think it's heading right direction finally, the impeachment. i think we're getting the evidence we need and i, you know, i hope he gets what's coming to him. >> reporter: u.p.s. worker steven play says it's the democrats who deserve to have what is coming to them. he says for undermining a president who has done so well on the economy. >> look at the real estate. the house goes on the market it's gone in a week. the economy is booming. >> reporter: since trump's election the state's unemployment rate has dropped nearly one point. it should be noted he narrowly won michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes. after obama won it twice. >> he needs to face consequences

for his actions. >> reporter: christine williams is a small business owner who supports the inquiry. she says it is about more than just the bottom line. >> i think it's important that the inquiry be going on. i also think it is important that we not be distracted by it and that there's actually governance going on as well, too. >> reporter: about 30 miles northeast of plymouth in the upscale suburb of birmingham, former marine paul kane also supports the inquiry. >> i am more middle of the road. >> reporter: he says he is upset over how the president and his allies have criticized decorated war veteran and white house official lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. >> that was just totally uncalled for. >> reporter: this financial adviser could not disagree more. >> i think the democrats are really just trying to overturn the results from 2016 and i think it is going to fail miserably. >> reporter: he also says his newly elected democratic congresswoman haley stevens will

pay a political price for supporting the inquiry. so much division. but that doesn't mean those who may disagree cannot be friends. you've been friends some of you since grade school. all of you 50. you can all talk politics. >> yes. absolutely. even after we have a couple drinks. >> reporter: this group celebrating their life long friendship and their differences. >> i think as a country we've forgotten that we're all the same on some level. political divisiveness isn't what is going to further this country. we have to act on a common ground. >> reporter: so the people that we found, erin, pretty much evenly split. here is one area where both sides can agree and that's everyone that we talked to seems to have a difficult time understanding how the whole impeachment process works. how long it will take. and then at the end of the day whatever the result is, if the country will end up being even more divided. erin? >> thank you very much. obviously with all that

confusion shared by many even in washington on the timing. and a programming note i'll be hosting a cnn presidential town hall with joe biden next monday at 9:00 eastern. i hope you'll join us then. next congressman jim clyburn spaeks to cnn about pete buttigieg's sexuality. >> are you saying for older african-americans it is an issue? >> yes, it is. no question about that. >> reporter: plus jeanne moos. how it turned out to be quite the money maker. nergy. but with less carbon footprint. can we have both? at bp, we're working every day to make energy that's cleaner and better. and we see possibilities everywhere. to make energy that's cleaner and better. the magic moment... congress really democratized wall street... i wanted to have a firm that wanted to get everybody in. because people couldn't access wall street.

we wanted to be agents of change. for the better. ♪

only roomba i7+ uses two multi-surface rubber brushes. ♪ and picks up more pet hair than other robot vacuums. and the filter captures 99% of dog and cat allergens. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba™.

was a more secure diaper closure. there were babies involved... and they weren't saying much. that's what we do at 3m, we listen to people, even those who don't have a voice. we are people helping people. welcome to fowler, indiana. home to three of bp's wind farms. which, every day, generate enough electricity to power over 150,000 homes. and of course, fowler. at bp, we see possibilities everywhere. tonight, screwing around with the wrong guy. that is a quote billionaire investor cooperman's message to elizabeth warren. here is cooperman's latest shot at warren. >> the idea of vilifying wealthy people is so bogus. you know? they're appealing to the masses. every billionaire i know made

their billions by providing a productive, useful service or product. then they take that money and they give it back to society. warren and sanders are basically trying to make boogiemen out of wealthy people. i just -- it is counterproductive. it's wrong. out front now the 2020 presidential candidate senator cory booker. you represent new jersey. a lot of tax revenue in that state obviously comes from people who work on wall street like leon cooperman. are warren and sanders making boogie men vilifying the wealthy as he describes it and is that wrong? >> i ran a city during the recession. it was in a massive crisis and we had to figure out a way to solve our budget woes but also grow out of the problem. so we had to do things very business minded. how do i start more entrepreneurs here? how do i attract businesses to my city? also how do i meet urgent needs? it was finding that balance. >> and you've worked with people like mark zuckerberg, oprah winfrey, both billionaires.

>> leon cooperman. this is my point. we are in a nation that has a tax system that does not reflect our values. things like carried interest are just wrong. and i have different ways of going about it than elizabeth warren which we have just taxes. this is something i also believe. if you and i were in my neighborhood doing this interview and i walked you around and took you to black entrepreneurs, women we started in business, they'll tell you, i want to be a millionaire. so we need to be the party that has just taxation, but also grows the pie and has a vision for people who want to be entrepreneurs because this is the scary thing. new business starts in our country are going down. we're seeing these massive corporations create environments where we can't start entrepreneurialism. i want the democratic party. if i'm the leader we're going to be the leader of entrepreneurialism, small business growth. we're going to give pathways especially to the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs,

lack and latino women. >> when joe biden said at one point just because you're rich you're not patriotic. you're not a bad person. leon cooper man, it's not about your money. >> i will never vilify entire categories of people. that's wrong. i'm not going to do it. will i look you in the face and say your carried interest, the top tax rate, the fact that your capital gaines is taxed at a lower rate than people who go out and sweat for your work every day, those things are wrong. social security tax is regressive. there are things we have to do to create a fair taxation system to begin to invest in infrastructure, education, research, all the things that grow the economy for everybody. i also want more millionaires in america. >> your message, right, is obviously very different than warren or sanders and what we hear. we look at iowa right now. warren, sanders and biden, different political world view, are polling at the top, double digits. you're at 2%. but a recent poll shows two-thirds of people who say they're going to vote in the

wh iowa caucuses say they can switch. what are you doing to get them? >> i lead three or four of us at the top in terms of most liked candidates. i'm in that category. me and elizabeth warren are the most endorsed candidates from local leaders. every local media there say the best on the ground are me and elizabeth warren. you and i know the polls are wrong. keri was 4% in iowa. barack obama on this day was 21 points behind hillary clinton. this is still a wide open race. my team, we're determined to win on the ground. we have to hire more organizers. elizabeth is hiring up fast thaern we are. we're pleading with people. if you believe in me, go to corybooker.com. help us qualify for the december debates and hire more organizers. this is a wide open race, and now is the time. i hear people saying all the time, this is the most important election of our lifetime. well, act on it, act like it,

invest in the candidate you believe in. >> so, you know, obviously there is this immense focus on the african-american vote, right, and there is this belief that the last time around, if you had had better turnout and a few important places in this country, this election, that election would have turned out very differently than it did. one offer your rivals is south bend mayor pete buttiegieg. they talked about whether his orientation is hurting black voters. i want to play the full exchange for you, senator. >> i've not heard t. >> that's a generational issue. i know of a will the of people my age who feel that way. >> are you saying for older african americans it is an issue? >> yes, it is. it's no question about that. i'm not going to sit here and tell you otherwise because i think everybody knows that's an issue. >> what's your response? >> well, my parents told me when i was young, i'm here because of james baldwin. i'm here because of rust tin.

these are black men, gay leaders, and they fought for my rights. and i just believe very strongly that i celebrate the fact that we have an openly gay man in this race and it's something that's exciting to me. but i will tell you this. i don't care if it's pete or other people in this race. we all have to understand that we lost wisconsin by 7,000 votes, 70,000 less african americans came out to vote in wisconsin in '16 that voted in '12. all of people whose record is best, when chris christie put my election, remember for senate he put it on a wednesday in october as opposed to on the same day, black vote was 13 plus percent. on the normal new jersey elections when there's campaigns up and down the ticket, around 9%. my ability to motivate and excite and ignite the outpouring of african-american voters, which is critical for us winning, i know i can do that the best in this field. >> and, look, i knew in a sense that's how you'd answer the

question because it's about you. i am curious. do you think that older african-american voters have the issue that mr. clyburn said they have that they're not comfortable voting for someone who is gay? >> my mom is turning 80 this year. and she's already told me that she celebrates the fact that there is a gay person in this race, openly who he is, confident and strong. so, again, this broad brush as we paint with any demographic in our country is just wrong. pete is an extraordinary leader. i'm thrilled that he's in this race. when it comes to black voters and other constituencies, i think i'm going to be the better person to get folks out, but god bless america. it's wonderful we have so many wonderful people in this race. >> senator booker, thank you so much. i appreciate your time. good to see you. >> thank you. >> next, jeanne moos on how covfefe turned into someone's million dollar lucky charm.

♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ that could allow hackers devices into your home.ys and like all doors, they're safer when locked. that's why you need xfinity xfi. with the xfi gateway,

devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords, credit cards and cameras. and people inside from accidentally visiting sites that aren't secure. and if someone trys we'll let you know. xfi advanced security. if it's connected, it's protected. call, click, or visit a store today.

here's jeannie. >> reporter: she's a 3-year-old philly who thundered down the back stretch, taking us all back in time. >> i hear covfefe. >> reporter: the race horse's name covfefe after president trump's most famous missed tweet, and though there was no confetti for covfefe, her win at the breeders cup had her owners over the moon. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: there's the glory and the $1 million prize. jaime rothe said they named her covfefe because we thought she was special and we thought the name was kind of funny. >> covfefe! >> i love her so much. >> reporter: even if jaime's co-owner mom pronounces it differently. >> covfefe. >> reporter: president trump himself tweeted that the horse's victory was great, but how do you know it was a mistweet?

maybe something with deep meaning? and they're off. not the horses, the tweets. pro and anti-trump, it was a horse with the name covfefe that won the breeders cup. but it was the horses ass that tweeted it. trump supporters, on the other hand, were reminded of his pledge. >> you are going to get so sick and tired of winning. >> reporter: even his typos turn into winners. >> we're going to win, win, win. >> reporter: covfefe has won six of her eight races. >> covfefe sails by the pole. >> reporter: you'd think it was an actual word rather than a bunch of letters typed in an after midnight presidential tweet the way it rolls off the tongue. >> and covfefe has trumped the competition. she ran huge. >> reporter: covfefe's owners said she didn't vote for president trump, telling usa today, he just doesn't stand for the things that i believe in. but i believe in covfefe. what we all want to see is

covfefe horse invited to the white house. kudos to covfefe. maybe she's the one who is a stable genius. >> i'm a very stable genius. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thanks for joining us. anderson starts now. >> good evening. tonight for the first time two key witnesses in the impeachment inquiry told lawmakers what they told lawmakers we now have the transcripts of. their depositions before the three house impeachment committees. these are two long-standing state department professionals with seven decades of experience between them. michael mckinley, former senior advisor to secretary of state pompeo, and marie i can't vyova former ambassador to ukraine. he resigned and gave two reasons. because what they said was so significant and mysterious, we're going to do something different tonight and read some of the most important passages