tours along sycophant street. she'll always certainly be polling well on the ridiculisri. >> i am chris cuomo. welcome to "primeti time." did the president want to fire the inspector general just for following the law with the whistle-blower? we are on the precipice, my friends, of the most telling period of this presidency. it's only one option, let's get after it. here we are. this day was all but inevitable for months, the eve of the first public impeachment hearings of president donald j. trump. "the new york times" reports on this night trump considered canning michael atkinson, the intelligence community inspector

general but the story is why. here's the full screen from their source. he has said he believes mr. atkinson has been disloyal. how? for finding the whistle-blower credible and doing what his job is, to move that complaint to people who can read it and assess it and act on it. this is the backdrop as we again the most defendant weeks for this president. you will hear for the first time from people who knew what was going on, describe what happened and why. an impeachment hangs in the balance, a permanent asteri asterisk disgrace next to the name trump if it goes that way. this is heavy. so let's look at how those loyal to this president will shape what comes next, what do they want you to weigh in his favor? matt schlapp, head of a major

lobbying firm called cove strategies, welcome back to "prime time." >> good to be with you, chris. >> why would it be okay for the president to go after the inspector general for dealing with the whistle-blower? >> because he serves at the pleasure of the president. the president can get rid of them at any time. at the state department during obama's presidency, during the whole time hillary it was at the state department, he didn't bother to pick an i.g. >> does the reason why you get rid of somebody, if it's because he's seen as disloyal for finding the whistle-blower credible, does that color your determination? >> no, the president has the right to remove you for whatever reason you want. it's the reason the president may public the transcript so every american can read what went down in that conversation.

he's going to release the first kf conversation he had with the president of ukraine later this week. >> but you don't believe that mr. atkinson mishandled the whistle-blower situation, do you? >> i think he did what rod ro rosenstein. he took the easy path. >> what would have been the hard path? >> for those who have read the transcript with a fair mind, it is not as some people made it out to be, including the whistle-blower. >> to be clear and fair to mr. atkinson, that's not his job. his job is to assess the credible, see if he can corroborate it and if so give it to the d.o.j. it is their job and they passed on this. imagine this, my brother. imagine if they hadn't and they had investigated this claim, we

may not be here right now. >> well, if rod rosenstein was over at the d.o.j., lord only knows what can happen. >> rosenstein was put there by republicans, by the way. >> he was, he was. big mistake. this is one of the problems that the republicans is when they win the presidency. i'm a veteran of the bush administration, is that, you know, those folks who make up the career ranks of these big white buildings in washington, d.c. are 80% for the democrats. >> you think rosenstein was for the democrats after what he did at the end of the mule are situati -- mueller situation? >> i think he was incredibly compromised and had great animus to the president. >> did he have animus when he tried to can comey? >> rod rosenstein --

>> jeff sessions is a complete loyalist and the whistle-blower by all accounts of what we've been able to put together has all been corroborated already. that's why i don't understand this push about making the whistle-blower a boogie man and making the person who assessed his credibility a boogie man. i don't get the tactic. >> maybe i'll have the temerity to agree with you. >> they'll throw you out of the club. >> that's right. >> the american people can read it and determine whether they think the president committed any crimes with that transcript. the problem with this impeachment process is they just announced something like eight more witnesses next week and republicans haven't got i don't know any of their witnesses. so this is not how we ran when i was a staffer on the republican

side in the house during clinton's impeachment, this is not how we ran it. >> how is it different? >> the president's counsel had the right to have a role in all of the impeachment process and republicans -- >> not all of it. henry hyde had depositions in private, the first round of hearings -- >> can i finish my answer. >> just to clarify the record. >> he already had his private part. he had all this private depositions and he had -- >> just like henry hyde. >> i'm not arguing that. i'm saying from this point forward as the cameras are there, i think it would accrued to the benefit of the democrats if it looked like they were being more even handed -- >> it's the same rules that the republicans had in clinton. >> no, it's not. the republicans gave the democrats co-equal subpoena ability -- >> subject to the vote of the committee, matt, you know that. >> in fact, the republicans have been denied every single witness they put food. >> let's flesh this out. under clinton it worked the same way. you can say who you want and if

i disagree with you, if i'm the head on the right and you're the head on the left, just bear with me for a second and you save you want something but you're in the minority and i say you know what, i don't want that. now we go to the committee for a vote. that's what you did in clinton. that's what they're doing here. you'll just never win the vote because you don't have the numbers. that's the same thing that will happen here. i can argue you are don't like the process but it's the same process. >> the difference is the democrats had the ability to call witnesses and so far the republicans -- >> if the republicans didn't disagree. >> not one single witness that the republicans want to put forward has been called. >> first of all, we haven't had a witness yet. we're starting tomorrow. and i got to tell you, matt, i don't get -- >> i talked to jim jordan -- >> ask him to come on the show. >> he's a tiger. >> ask him to come on the show. i'd love to have him on. >> i don't know many shows he says no to. >> this is one. >> i think it's a mistake. i think if the impeachment process looks like it's not even

handed and the republicans don't get a chance -- >> you're saying that. i don't know that that's the reality. we'll see how it goes forward. >> it is the reality. >> chris, let me just make one point. no witness the republicans have asked be a part of this process will be on people's television sets tomorrow. >> but you can't expect to have adam schiff or the bidens put on trial in an impeachment process for this president. >> so it's not just the question of hunter biden's potential illegality, it's also this question about the people that schiff talked to and that republicans did get a chance to cross-examine. >> this is what private did. you do that in a different proceeding. >> there are witnesses that have exculpatory information. they're not being allowed to testify. >> i want my viewers to understand that's now how the rules are set up and the wave you get that right, it a full

process. we're starting tomorrow. by the way, you're going to get a bagel if you're asking as witnesses, the person who is bringing the proceeding, or this phantom of the bidens of having done things that you'll acknowledge in the bidens but not in the president. >> even if you take joe biden's and hunter biden's potential wrong doing out of the equation, just people in the nsc bureaucracy in that state who had positive evidence to put forward in their depositions, they are not being allowed to testify tomorrow. >> we have not had anybody come forward to was part of this process who has countered the obvious notion that this was wrong and the president made it that way. >> what made it that way? >> this entire ask of ukraine that rudy giuliani was inserted into the diplomatic process to ensure much to the horror and fright of career professionals who are not disloyal to this president. >> i don't agree with you but if it was wrong for the president of the united states to talk to the president of the ukraine --

>> it was not wrong to talk to the president of ukraine. >> to have him find dirt on a political enemy -- >> yes. >> was it wrong for obama and biden to talk to the head of the ukraine government in a way to try to harm trump in 2016? >> if you had proof of that, the wave we have proof of this, then the anns would be equal. >> how do you have proof without having witnesss? >> like you guys all say, you don't investigate in search of a crime. you have proof of a crime and then you investigate. >> and that's what adam schiff is doing. he has a crime, i'd love for somebody to tell me what that crime is. >> attempted bribery is certainly a crime. >> we'll talk about that next time. you're always welcome. >> thank you, chris. quick tutor for the rest of you. read federalist paper 65, it will take you six questions and you'll know once and for all that alexander hamilton said it was this type of behavior by a

toll tigs, not big crimes, big corruption. breaking news that, "washington post," two of rudy giuliani's associates arrested at the airport spoke to mr. trump about the u.s. ambassador to ukraine way back in april of 2018. i thought he didn't know these guys. new details next. [sneeze and sniffles] are you ok? yah, it's just a cold. it's not just a cold if you have high blood pressure. most cold medicines may raise blood pressure. coricidin hbp is the... ...#1 brand that gives... powerful cold relief without raising your blood pressure. (alarm beeping) welcome to our busy world. where we all want more energy. 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.

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e. he knew, the president, the president knows him. now i get what the play is and i'll take you through it. they are going to try and make this man an agent of the president and say he wasn't some dirty freelancer, he's working with that power of the president so give him that respect. i don't know how it he is in terms of the indictment for the cam bain contributi campaign contributions but just listen. so april 2018 parnas and his fellow indicted associate igor fruman, both working with giuliani, are at this big donor dinner, ally of president trump. they promise to make a big donation so they got to go. we don't know that they gave big money to him. it's been reported but not part of this story. the mean part is parnas says that they get up to the president, okay, and they say that they tell him that they

think the u.s. ambassador to ukraine was unfriendly to the president and his interests. this is the president of the united states. the president reacts strongly to the news and suggests that yuf vich should, fired. oh, it's anonymous sourcing. it's about the strength of the sourcing and, by the way, parnas can confirm this story and that's what his lawyer has been teeing up. what is very possible to believe and let's bring in asha and jim, is that the president said he

didn't know who this guy is, jimmy. yeah, he takes pictures with everybody. he took multiple pictures with this guy. and if this conversation happened, how with the president say he doesn't know the man and what is the impact of that? >> chris, i've been in politics a long time and been to a lot of political evenfund-raisers and t of them don't remember me, as good looking as i am. >> certainly. >> i think it's a far cry to say the president has a relationship with this person just because he met him at a fund-raiser. maybe the president already had some preconceived notion about this person and said she needs to be fired. the president has the right to hire and fire. in this instance the bureaucracy -- the president doesn't work for the bureaucracy, the bureaucracy works for the president and the president works for the people.

>> 100%. but why you get rid of somebody matters in the context of the situation. >> this reminds me of comey. >> it does. >> all of a sudden comey had a right to be in a deposition. he had no right to be in a deposition. >> you can get rid of somebody but why you get rid of somebody matters. >> that was confirmed by the process we just went through. >> don't filibuster me, jimmy, i get the point. >> more than one photo so all of a sudden they're buddies? >> you're missing the context. asha, the point is this. parnas was part of this process of getting the president's value as he saw it out of ukraine. they worked with giuliani. juliangiuliani was constantly g the president and he said he did everything he did for his client and they wanted to get the bidens and people who wouldn't

help them to do that out of the way. what is the relevance of a lev parnas saying he doesn't know me? i went up to him at this dinner and told him about yovanovitch and he was really upset about it. wouldn't that be something you remember? >> the relevance is that giuliani was acting in the president's private interests, not in the interest of the united states. when you bring furman and parnas into the situation, who are only twice removed from the president, that puts the nail in the coffin that this was all being done for his private benefit, not through official channels or for the country's benefit of any kind. it was parnas who floated the idea that the unikrainians make the announcement about looking into the bidens. this is twice removed.

this is some rando off to the side who has no connection to the u.s. government and i this i this co -- i this i this conk this com undercuts that it was fulfilling the president's duty to advance the interests of the united states -- >> these concerns about biden were raised along before -- >> jimmy, jimmy, i'm going to come to you in a second. >> all of a sudden lev parnas says it is -- >> i'm saying forget about parnas. i'm saying it was rudy's idea or someone and the president because that would get the stink on biden. if you really cared about corruption, you are don't want some announcement in a place you think is corrupt. my question to ash ashe, which -- asha, i'm not giving them

the aide until they give me the announcement on the investigation. can't they argue in good faith and people who want to defend him argue in good faith he didn't mean it that way, that was the other people, he had no corrupt intent and that could save him? >> ralph waldo emerson once said your actions speak so loudly, i can't hear a world you're saying. what we have to look at are the actions that were taking place in the context of this phone call. we know by the time this phone call had taken place, the aide had already been withheld. the people at the omb say it came at the order of the president and the ukrainians understood that this aide was being withheld. they were on the brink of making this announcement under duress presumably. bill taylor's openly statement when he testified states that he had to actually confirm and call them and make sure they weren't going to make this announcement

he was so confirmed about it. you don't have to have the words right out of his mouth. the president does confess to crimes but in this case we don't need him to because there's a lot of context taking place -- >> but if you're going to want to make it an attempted bribe, you're going to want to tie it as close to the president as you can. >> for you, jimmy, starting tomorrow do you think you're going to arrive at a point where you guys will have to accept what happened and why it happened and then make the argument of consequence that, yeah, we get what these people say, they're all saying the same thing, this is it what happened, this is why it happened but it is not worthy of removal and here is why. do you think you're going to get to that point? >> i think you get to that point only to the extent that, one, you made the point succinctly, chris, there's no ties to words coming out of the president's mouth. and there's no indication that the president gave that specific

order relative to a quid pro quo. and in the transcript itself, what the republicans are going to try and do is bring this back to the transcript itself, which there is no quid pro quo. and there's also no -- what he asked for was an investigation. pee didn he didn't ask for them to find him guilty without a trial without due process. he didn't ask them to dig dirt. >> that is the dirt. as soon as i hear jimmy schultz is under investigation, he's got stink on him. >> a lot of people have a lot of problems with what hunter biden was engaged in. >> that's fine. you should have gone to the d.o.j., not had your lawyer do a shadow situation. i don't think giuliani should be the fall guy for what this president wanted him to do. this wasn't about foreign policy, this was about personal policy but i got to jump. i appreciate the argument. >> we'll see what the american people think. >> 100%. people have to do their duty and

do it on principle. >> and they got to live with those votes. >> boy, you got to get the last word, jimmy and i'll give it to y you. >> i rely on you both. i'll see you both. >> crucial movement in the race for president. polls are snapshot are where you are in a moment of time. we're also getting a first look at what bloomberg faces if he jumps in. the wizard of odds deep diving into the numbers and the hurdles. what did he come up with? anybody knows, next. to our military service members at home and abroad for all their hard work and sacrifice. we all sleep easier knowing you're out there keeping us safe. and on a personal note... sfx: jet engines ... i just needed to get that off my chest. thank you. geico: proudly supporting the military for over 75 years.

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hey, look, the democratic

race is no longer about one or two people. it's about a group of four and mayor pete just busted in that, specifically in iowa. he's up 14 points sense august. the same names all at the top in new hampshire as well. but with buttigieg, the question becomes why? why is he making this move? let's bring in the wiz himself. what do you see, brother, and how's it going? >> i think this is rather key in terms of understanding why certain things are happening and these are the net favoritability ratings. what do we see now? we see the most popular guy in iowa is pete buttigieg with a plus 63 point net favorability rating. look at the warren line here. she was the most popular candidate back in september in our own poll. she's dropped from plus 58% down to plus 46. so it pretty clear here as i look underneath the numbers that

warren is losing popularity while buttigieg is gaining. >> sanders also takes a bump and that's interesting because help me understand this. you're getting a bump for senator sanders, up 10 -- >> in popularity. >> but she's going down but they're making the same message. why does she go down and he goes up? >> she has been attacked much more recently. this is a good indication. she's basically has is what's going on is they're carrying that attack on medicare for all and it's seeming to have some real emphasis and you see biden going on the elitist message. >> whose lunch is buttigieg eating? >> look here. this is very interesting. we know that elizabeth warren has been doing the best among those with a college degree or more. now buttigieg in the iowa poll is slightly ahead with the margin of error. biden's been doing best among moderates and conservatives. now we see a tie -- >> so he's taking from both. >> from both. we see that in the new hampshire poll.

those who say buttigieg is their first choice, who is their second choice? a dead even split between biden and warren. >> that's it, warren's in decline and biden's done. it going to be wind up being thisly as anybody. you say maybe not? >> there are still those people outside of the states -- >> and this is within the margin of error. >> i would say a three-way race between buttigieg, warren and biden. this is an average of the top choices for president. we see that biden is still up nationally and warren's at second. look at buttigieg all the way down here in fourth place behind even sanders but there's also something else interesting here and that is warren has fallen back over the last month or so. she was at 27%, tied with biden from september 20th to october 14th but over the last month,

biden is holding while warren is falling back. >> skip the next one. the headline is the same as it's always been, mr. mayor pete has a problem with african-americans. we were worried because it was spelled wrong. but it's right. hello! >> we got it right. >> bloomberg, we finally got a taste of what he's looking at. the tea is bitter. >> the tea is very, very bitter. in iowa, top choice for nominee, he's getting less than 1%. i guess that's better than zero but it's very, very bad. and that net favorability ratings minus 31 percentage points. this is in a democratic primary. this is an awful number. i rarely see this. the last time i might have seen a number similar to that was anthony weiner in the new york city primary back in 2013. >> do you think he gets in or not? about? i think at this point i would

lean towards yes but maybe i'd tell him no. >> wiz, thank you. >> shalom. be well. >> why are these other names popping up less than 90 days away? and what impeachment means to the democrats, to dnc chair tom perez next. at bayer, we're more than a healthcare company.

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the public impeachment hearings, an historic moment for americans and the world, but what will they mean for democrats as we approach 2020? some perspective from dnc chair tom perez. mr. perez, thank you so much for joining us as always. >> always a pleasure to be with you, chris. >> it is a big start to a big week tomorrow. success is what, failure is what for the democrats? >> well, success is exposing the truth. this president engaged in an abuse of power. i think we're going to see three things tomorrow. number one, we'll see the professionalism of adam schiff and others who are doing i think a bang-up job. number two, the witnesses, ambassador taylor, i think this whole case came down to something he said long ago and i

quote, i think it's crazy to withhold security for help with a political campaign." it's not only crazy, it's illegal, it potentially impeachable and what you will see with ambassador taylor and other witnesses is that they are straight shooters. and i think the american people will see that for themselves. and then, thirdly, and this is what i don't know the answer to is will republicans put country before party or party before country? >> well, with the combination of different factors going on politically, there's a good chance, we don't know what we don't know, but there's a good chance republicans will say putting country first here means protecting this president. if at the end of the day there is no removal because of numbers in the senate assuming articles of impeachment happen and the country stays where it is, we're about 50/50 on this, if it

doesn't move the needle with the american people, are you worried it becomes seen as a waste of time and it hurts? >> well, chris, for me and i know for speaker pelosi and every democrat involved, it's not about polling, it's not about politics, it's about the principle. the principle of the matter is when you have a president of the united states who is threatening to withhold foreign aid so that he can get help in a political election, interference in the 2020 campaign, that's a principle that transcends anything else. so i think that the principle is first. >> let's put your very apt and adept legal mind to work. it's not a republican president, it's a democrat as president. it's hillary clinton as president and they have this against her. you went to ukraine, you tried to get dirt on this person who was going to come from you and you think that they were dirt ear but the way you did it was dirty and you inserted your lawyer in there and you've been

ducking us every turn there is. you think the democrats would be lined up to take her down right now? >> i think the democrats understand that the truth matters and that's why i think -- i think that's a really interesting question you are raise. i think a variant of that question is if this were hillary clinton who had that done, which she never would have done that because she's a person of integrity, these republicans, look at how many hearings we had on benghazi, chris? geez, we'd have 58 hearings here. i get the tenor of your questions but the american people can walk and chew gum. they understand that the members of the congress and the senate have an obligation to uphold the constitution and laws of the united states and they've seen with speaker pelosi and democrats in the house they need to make sure we take care of health care, that we pass a bill to stabilize affordable care. >> we're not passing any laws

and the question becomes does that help or hurt that process? i hear you are on it. i appreciate you taking that question, tricky as it is. let's go back to the meat and potatoes of the election. why are these people saying they want to get in all of a sudden? bloomberg, deval patrick, maybe a third. how do you read this? >> that's up to them and if ne get in, chris, one thing is clear, we will welcome them in. another thing is clear, if they don't get in, we have a great field. >> why do you think they need to get in, a deval patrick, a bloomberg. he said two months ago he couldn't win. what do you think they're picking up on? >> i think you'll have to ask them that question. we have a great deep bench now. at least three or four of the candidates are already beating donald trump in the polling. if we have additional candidates i welcome them. if we don't, i am absolutely confident about the candidates we have right now. they're taking it to donald trump, we're leading with our values and talking about the issues that people care about.

so i'm not part of the hand wringing. i'm very excited about our candidat candidates. >> so i remember that clinton situation back there in '92. there was some italian that nominano nominated him tech convention, funny guy, big nose, weird smile, i think he was from new york money. >> great speech giver, too, by the way. >> he could. he read them and really owned them. god rest his soul. this idea of a new bunching up in iowa, it was all about biden, then biden and warren and then biden, warren and sanders, now it's about four at the top. margin of error makes this pretty well dead even. the buttigieg has every right to bang their chest and say look how far we've come, but look at the jump with buttigieg. but you basically have a four-way tie in iowa. what does that mean to you? >> well, it means that we're at mile nine of a 26. mile marathon. i used to run marathons and i have no idea who was ahead at

mile nine of all the marathons that i ran and watched. we have a deep field. when you have a deep field of really talented people, you're going to see these ups and downs. i mean, this time in 2003 i think john kerry was 4%, 5% and governor dean was ahead and things changed. there's a lot of energy out there. the polling i read says that a lot of the folks, not just in iowa but elsewhere are still kicking the tires. the reason i think there's so many people dine sided is because every time they go to an event with a candidate, they're super impressed. so they're trying to make a judgment about who among a field of really qualified folks, who is the best qualified? who is the person whose values match mine and can win. i think those are the basic questions people are asking. >> i really believe more and more for your party, this is becoming a criterion, not criteria.

it's one thing, will will he or she stand up to the heat in the crucible of an election with this president and will they come out of it on top. tom perez, i really do appreciate you taking us along different moments in this process. we are on the precipice of a big moment tonight. be well. >> thank you. >> so here's the good news, tomorrow this impeachment deal finally becomes about you. testimony in realtime for the first time. the argument is actually a set of tips for your testing next. (burke) at farmers insurance, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. even a- (ernie) lost rubber duckie? (burke) you mean this one? (ernie) rubber duckie! (cookie) what about a broken cookie jar? (burke) again, cookie? (cookie) yeah. me bad. (grover) yoooooow! oh! what about monsters having accidents? i am okay by the way! (burke) depends. did you cause the accident, grover? (grover) cause an accident? maybe... (bert) how do you know all this stuff? (burke) just comes with experience.

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i can breathe again! ughh! vicks sinex. breathe on. impeachment begins tomorrow. you will finally get to judge for yourself. both sides are going to say they're acting out of the highest principle but this is politics, both are pursuing

advantage. the democrats have to show you a wrong that the president is directly responsible for that is such an obvious abuse of office that it warrants considering the ultimate political penalty. here is chairman schiff on >> but on the basis of what the witnesses have had to say so far, there are any number of potentially impeachable offenses, including bribery, including high crimes and misdemeanors. >> let's see if you agree starting tomorrow. now, an attempted bribe, corrupting soliciting a thing of value in exchange for official action. it's right there in the constitution. it's about time they stopped speaking latin. the defense -- the president didn't have corrupt intent, meaning he didn't do anything of this for his sake. it was an act of lawful duty. tomorrow, first up, the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine and another official. the first is going to talk to you about how sneaky this all was, how troubling it was, that

it seemed to be about getting biden for the election. the second, mr. kent, will say he was on a call when it was announced that the aid to ukraine was frozen at the direction of the president by way of chief of staff mick mulvaney. now, how do you assess? do you find them believable? do they remember clearly? have they been consistent? have they changed? and what did they say then? do they have a dog in this fight? is what they are describing troubling to you and, if so, how troubling? that is worth dedicated listening unlike distractions that are going to come when each side has a block of 45 minutes at their disposal. exhibit a, the gop just placed jim jordan on the intel committee. i ask him on the show all the time -- don't say i freeze him out. ask him. he is fiercely loyal to the president, and he is an attacker of this process. but the process is a done deal. it takes us to exhibit b, their

witness list wish list. they want joe biden's son on there. they want the whistle-blower on there. it's absurd in an impeachment of this president, especially when they ignore in the president exactly what they accuse biden of. but heed their biggest weapon, and it is definitely worthy of attention. the way they come at witnesses. exhibit c, their treatment of bill taylor. he's a career diplomat. he was the senior diplomat in ukraine. he was brought on by secretary of state mike pompeo to do this job. regardless, the president says he's a never trumper. that's probably because in his closed-door testimony, he confirmed this pressure campaign on ukraine to announce the bidens were dirty essentially before they could get the aid from congress or a meeting with this president. this wasn't one conversation. it's not just about this

transcript. it's about months of an ongoing theme with a lot of different people and parts. a source tells cnn republicans are going to argue taylor didn't have a clear understanding of what trump wanted because everything he knew about trump and ukraine is based on a game of telephone. dismiss any noise from right and left on this score. focus on the real contest. can you get a sense of the truth? remember the moments that matter, not the lawmakers, except in big moments like this one in 1973. >> what did the president know, and when did he know it? >> remember that from baker? republican by the way, a nixon ally. he said at first he thought the whole watergate thing was a ploy by the democrats. but as the weeks wore on, he realized there was more to this scandal than he thought at first. now, on that score, there are a lot of players here. but the story is actually pretty simple. as i've argued before, what

happened and why it happened is pretty evident from the people you're going to hear from this week and next. here's the hard part. what is the right consequence? lawmakers are going to decide that. but those who can still see clear of party enough to glimpse the power of principle, they may well look to you for what resonated, how bad you thing it was, how intentional. what do you think of why this seemed to happen? and what will happen if a message is not sent that it won't be tolerated? will it happen again? that's a mind-set for you starting tomorrow, and we'll be with you every step of the way, okay? that's the argument. i've got a lobolo for you. you've got to be on the lookout of what we just learned in terms of who's been added to the witness list. some big names including one who is going to have to explain a big reversal, next. but with less carbon footprint.

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bolo, be on the lookout. you know the three impeachment witnesses for this week. we'll put them up here for you. thank you. but now we know next week. eight more major players, lieutenant colonel vindman, kurt volker. by next thursday, you will have heard from 11 key players. now, we also have a bolo in a bolo. be on the lookout for this. special attention to gordon sondland. remember him? the u.s. ambassador to the eu. why? well, the dems are going to jump on his revisions. he told one story. then last week he confirmed what we've heard from other witnesses, an arguable attempted bribe, linking aid to ukraine to an investigation into the bidens. sources tell us the white house and republican lawmakers are in frequent talks ahead of the hearings. how will their defenses hold up against what may seem to be

obvious? be on the lookout. it all begins tomorrow. thank you very much for watching. and remember we'll be with you every step of the way at night to make sense of the day that has passed. right now "cnn tonight" with d. lemon. >> i had to change my tie because we would have been twins again today. i had on a dark tie, and i said i can't do it because i look like chris. listen, i sit in my office, and i watch you, and i feel like sometimes i need to be your angry translator. you know how obama had keegan key was -- >> why? >> matt schlapp got me tonight. when matt schlapp was talking, he was like, listen, no republican witnesses -- he did not mention that so far, john bolton, who is a republican, is a no-show. so far, mick mulvaney is a no-show as a witness. so far, john eisenberg is a no-show. so far, michael ellis. these are all people who work at

the white house. these are all republican witnesses.