even aware that the military aid reporting tonight on turmoil at had been frozen. the white house in advance of this is an oldie but a goody. tomorrow's testimony, as well as testimony throughout the closed president trump weighing the door hearings, including from possibility of firing the intelligence community inspector general, who decided the witness catherine croft released whistle-blower's complaint had merit in the first place. just yesterday suggest the we begin though, tonight, ukrainians knew very early in the affair that the aid had been keeping 'em honest, with a look at how president trump and his frozen by the office of supporters may plan to battle management and budget. back. the plan is outlined in a memo finally there's talking point drafted by republican staffers four. you can call it no harm, no on the hill and circulated to foul. no investigations were done and gop members on key committees, and it's important to look the aid eventually flowed. closely at this memo because whatever you may think of the nikki ha president or the case that he nikki haley has been making this tried to extort ukraine's argument, kellyanne conway and president for political gain, others. there is a lot in these talking the aid only began flowing a year after it was approved by points which are just not true. congress, shortly after the so let's look at talking point whistle-blower complaint became known to the administration. number one for republicans to so there's no telling how this use when discussing the ukraine holdup impacted the fight in affair. the rough summary of the july ukraine. did people die because of the 25th phone call shows no holdup? again, according to the "times," ukraine officials were close to conditionality or evidence of pressure. giving in to the extortion, but now, this is not quite as far as what the president of course has been saying. then came the whistle-blower. >> that call was a great call. furthermore as many legal minds it was a perfect call, a perfect have also appointed out, attempted bribery and attempted call. extortion are still considered >> so republicans will be crimes. saying, yeah, maybe not perfect, we're now on those new signs of but there was no pressure in the infighting at the white house.

call. let's go to jim acosta for that. now, take a look. here's the key sentence from the what are you learning? rough call transcript >> reporter: anderson, it's a immediately after ukraine's picture of chaos as the president zelensky asked about president heads into this very different phase for him in the the military assistance his impeachment inquiry, very public country has yet to see, the phase with officials testifying in front of the cameras up on president says right away "i capitol hill. anderson, my colleagues and i would like you to do us a favor, are over here at the white house are hearing from our sources that when mick mulvaney the though" clearly connecting the acting chief of staff started favor to the aid. these legal maneuverings a few he then asked about the bidens, days ago, first he was going to investigating them. join this lawsuit in federal court that would determine whether or not he should respond to these congressional subpoenas no talk of corruption innen gener up on capitol hill and testify. and then yesterday he decided general. it's the bidens and 2016. he's going to pull out of that of course many of the impeachment witnesses have legal challenge and pose his own already substantiated this legal challenge, file his own behind closed doors. in any event, the best evidence lawsuit. and then this morning we found out he's scrapping the whole of what the president want the thing altogether and he's going comes from the president back to the original legal guidance from the himself. >> mr. president, what exactly administration, that he's immune did you hope zelensky would do from testifying under the subpoena that has been issued about the bidens after your phone call? for his testimony. >> well, i would think that if anderson, what we're hearing from our sources is that the they were honest about it, white house counsel's office is they'd start a major very upset about this. investigation into the bidens. the president is very upset about this. they are aggravated with mick

it's a very simple we are. mulvaney for opening up this >> which brings us to republican pandora's box right before these talking point number two, namely that neither side saw anything public hearings get started. in the words of one official improper about the call. that has been a familiar refrain inside the administration, what from the president's defenders in the hell was he thinking? all along, including today. and, anderson, what it shows to >> well, the bottom line is the us heading into these hearings only two people that are at the is that, you know, there is a heart of this are president lot of infighting and chaos trump and president zelensky, and we've already seen the going on behind the scenes in this administration at a very transcripts. critical moment for the so what other people think about president. >> is there -- i mean how are they gearing up for the a conversation is really secondary to the fact that the televised hearings? >> reporter: we understand that the white house is trying to put two men that were participating up this rapid response team. in the conversation both said it they've been talking about this was a good call. for weeks. i just talked to a source just >> or put another way, in the last couple of hours who congressman scalise is saying that the alleged extortionist said that not all of those team and his alleged victim agree members are in place, that the paperwork is still being put that nothing happened. others were on the call. through for some key members of some have already testified to that rapid response team. what they heard. the trump campaign is going to be doing its own war room, its alexander vindman saying, quote, there was no ambiguity and no own rapid response in terms of doubt about what the president what is coming out of these was doing. that makes them 0 for 2 so far. hearings. but you do get the sense, anderson, from the white house furthermore, "the new york and the trump campaign, the times" has reported about concern among ukrainian republicans up on capitol hill officials about the pressure to that they're all sort of working investigate by trump and off different and somewhat dated

giuliani, pressureot talking points. they're all trying to say the same thing, that the president did nothing wrong. but now the public is going to get a chance to decide for themselves watching this in living color. >> of course the question, you know, i assume the president will be watching the proceedings. the white house usually says, oh, no, he's not. he's very busy. but we know he watches even in normal times. >> reporter: he watches everything, that's right. he watches us all the time, and he watches fox to make himself feel better. anderson, my understanding is that, yes, the president will be watching these proceedings. he's going to be glued to his tv as always with smartphone in hand, ready to respond. the question is just how he responds to all of this. and i talked to a source close to the white house earlier who said the president has pushed out of this administration, pushed out of this west wing all of the people who pushed back on him. and so the message coming from this one source is an alarming one, and that is that the president is likely to be pretty unrestrained when it comes to all of his responses to what we're about to hear later on this week. >> more now on what to expect tomorrow. proceedings begin at 10:00 a.m.

eastern time, scheduled to testify, bill taylor, top u.s. diplomat in ukraine and george kent, deputy assistant secretary of state. both have already spoken in closed session. opening statements will be heard at about 10:05. the chairman, congressman adam schiff and the ranking republican will have 45 minutes to ask questions or have designated staffers to do the questioning. following that, the members will alternate by party each having five minutes of q&a time. the day is expected to end no later than 4:30. i want to talk about it with now with california democratic congressman ted lieu, member of the house foreign affairs and judiciary committees. thanks for being with us. in terms of the approach tomorrow by democrats, can you give a sense of how planned it is? is there a coordinated effort from the top down where every democrat has a certain part they

are focusing on? what can you say? >> thank you, anderson, for your question. we're going to let the witnesses speak for themselves. in this case, ambassador bill taylor was handpicked by the trump administration to go to ukraine to fix things up. and the american people are going to hear him talk about the president's abuse of power and how the president did this whole pressure campaign to try to bribe the ukrainians to launch two bogus investigations into the dnc server as well as biden. and we're going to have 45 minutes of uninterrupted time for one side, and then it will flip to the other side. that gives a lot more time for the american people to get the story in big chunks. >> so that 45-minute chunk, do you know? is it adam schiff going to be doing the questioning, or is he going to make a statement and then hand off to an attorney who's going to be quest we'll h statements and under the rules that the house passed, either adam schiff or one of the staff attorneys can ask questions of ambassador bill taylor as well as of mr. kent.

i was at the witness deposition for ambassador bill taylor, and in that deposition, both congressman schiff and staff attorneys asked questions as well as the republicans. so you're going to have alternating 45-minute blocks. then when that is done, then the members on the committee will get to ask five-minute questions. >> and you said there will be opening statements. is that opening statements by both the ranking republican and ranking democrat or by the witness themselves also? >> it's my understanding both will happen. >> okay. both from the witness and the two -- >> that is correct? >> okay. the republicans central message tomorrow is essentially president trump may have done this but his intentions were pure, and there really wasn't conditionality in the phone call. when you hear that, what do you think? >> the american people should watch the witnesses and decide for themselves because the witnesses are going to contradict every single republican talking point. it's really clear that this phone call donald trump had with the ukrainian leader wasn't just

a one-off phone call. it was an entire pressure campaign to get ukrainians to launch two bogus investigations to influence our election, and the president used the withholding of critical security aid as well as dangling an important meeting with the white house in order to bribe ukrainians to engage in this election interference. that's what all these witnesses are going to say not only this week but next week. >> how likely is it republicans are going to, you know, push to debunk conspiracy theories, float unsupported claims about the bidens? is it basically going to be kind of a tale of two different committee meetings happening at the same time? democrats are going to ask questions, and then republicans will focus on their theories? >> the difference is you're going to have career diplomat. you're going to have trump's own people testifying against him. the american people are going to see that these are witnesses

that cannot have their credibility questioned. bill taylor is a west point graduate. he served in vietnam with the 101st airborne. you have amazing witnesses that are going to be able to push back on all the republican talking points. and by the way, it was just announced today that the justice department is looking at expanding its case against the 13 russians that interfered in our elections. those are russians. they're not ukrainians, and our entire intelligence community understands and has said it's the russians that hacked us in 2016, not the ukrainians. >> and this new reporting from "the new york times" that president trump has considered firing the intelligence community inspector general, who he actually appointed, if the president were to actually do that, is that something that could become part of an overall impeachment inquiry? >> absolutely. inspector general's job is to root out fraud, waste, and abuse of power. it's not to be loyal to the president. again, this is trump's own handpicked person that is now trying to tell the truth to the american people, and tomorrow

the american people are going to see a story come out, a narrative that is basically unchallenged, which the president solicited foreign interference in our campaigns and he used outer levels of governmental power as well as private attorney rudy giuliani to extract these bogus investigations in exchange for giving hundreds of millions of dollars to the ukrainians and an important white house meeting. >> congressman lieu, i appreciate your time. coming up next, more breaking news. that new reporting from "the new york times" maggie haberman on action the president has reportedly been waiting against the intelligence community inspector general. also tonight, tony schwartz, who wrote the book "the art of the deal" on what's in the president's head, and how he may view the hearings starting tomorrow. managing lipids

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byline, quote, president trump has discussed dismissing the intelligence community's inspector general, michael at kinson, because mr. atkinson reported a whistle-blower's complaint to congress after concluding it was incredible. in fact, the report goes on to say the president has continued to talk about firing the inspector general. maggie haberman joins us now by phone. what more can you tell bus this reporting, maggie? >> sure. thanks for having me. so this is something we've seen of a pattern with president trump over time where he talks about getting rid of people who are investigating him or who have done something connected to an investigation when he's appointed them and he believes they owe him their job. this is another one of those instances whereas the whistle-blower complaint was blowing up and as it had been deemed credible by the inspector general's office, the president started telling advisers that he wanted to see atkinson, the inspector general, dismissed. and he has continued talking

about this since. now, it's not clear that this went anywhere. we have two officials telling us in pretty strong terms that this was never under serious consideration. some people close to the president saw this as another form of venting, which we know that he does, and we've all been told over time that, you know, aides don't take these ventilations from him seriously underless he makes repeated demands and seems to be moving toward doing something. but it is indicative of a mind-set. >> this motion that the president believed atkinson has been disloyal, it obviously is worth mentioning it is not an inspector general's job to be loyal to the president of the united states. >> right. the president tends to view, you know, number one that he's got sweeping power as the head of the executive branch to dismiss people, and he believes that people who he put in these jobs should be loyal to him. but to your point, inspectors general are supposed to be devoid of politics and freed from politics, and that's part of what made this so striking in

the first place with the whistle-blower's complaint, was that the inspector general had deemed it credible. >> so is this now off the -- has he raised this again recently, do you know? >> our understanding is that he has continued it at times talking about it. i do not expect that it's going to go anywhere. i don't expect that anyone is going to move to get rid of atkinson. but, again, i think it is worth documenting that this is something that the president has said about people who are investigating him, and this has been a recurring theme. we saw it throughout mueller, and here it is again. >> ask comey. maggie haberman, thanks. joining us, cnn legal analyst, ross garber, he teaches law at tulane university, his specialty impeachment law. also with us, kirsten powers and jeffrey toobin. jeff, the president based on this reporting seems to think that the intelligent community inspector general works for and

should be loyal to him. not surprising, i guess, that he has that opinion given what we have seen in the past. >> absolutely. i mean just remember jeff sessions, who was the attorney general who did the right thing in recusing himself from the russia investigation. and the president spent months fuming about that. and then ultimately humiliated sessions by firing him on the day of the midterm elections. you know, it's always possible that one reason people come forward with stories like this is that they know it's so outrageous that once it sees the light of day in a story like maggie's, that the story will be -- you know, the idea will be killed. but still, the principle remains that, as i think you pointed out, donald trump thinks everybody in the executive branch works for him, not for the rule of law or the taxpayers. >> kirsten, just in terms of what you're kind of expecting

tomorrow with these hearings, obviously, you know, we've seen testimony given behind closed doors. we've seen transcripts of testimony that have been released. but often, you know, there's a lot of hype in front of whether it's, you know, robert mueller testifying about what that's going to be, what the impact is going to be. and then it's different than what certainly democrats expect. >> yeah. i mean the democrats are going to need to deliver, and i think that, you know, what they're going to do is trying to bring along people who aren't already onboard. the base is already convinced of this, right? the democratic base. what you need to do is you need to lay this out in a very nonpa way, a very sober way, and make it very clear what happened and why this rises to the level of impeachment. and so i don't know that it necessarily needs to have any fireworks or anything like that. in fact, it would probably be better if there wasn't. but what it does need to be is

it needs to be very clear, and they need to be ready for the republicans, who are going to be working overtime to muddy the waters, to poke holes into, you know, any claims made by the witnesses to impugn the credibility of the witnesses and to muddy the waters. so i think it's going to be a challenge for them. but, you know, i think they also at the same time are very aware of this challenge and are trying to structure this in a way that's the most are not going to look like other impeachment hearings that we've seen before. can you just talk about how youu make of it given your experience? >> yes. i mean there's no one size fits all for impeachment. i mean we say it all the time, but it's worth kind of repeating. i mean this is an incredibly unusual occurrence in american history. i mean we've never removed a president through the

impeachment process. this will be the fourth time that we've actually gone through an investigation. so there's no kind of routine way to do it, but it will be interesting. you know, it seems like the chairman and the ranking member are going to ask questions, but then what will be interesting here unlike other congressional hearings is that staff members will probably carry the performance tomorrow. the - and that's going to be interesting to watch. the two lawyers, one for the democrats, one for the republicans, these are lawyers but this isn't a typical court case. they're going to have to make some pretty significant arguments in a way that captures the public attention. and for the democrats, sort of meets that very high burden of treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanors. for the republicans, kind of poking holes in the democrats' case and kind of making a narrative of the republicans'

own. >> can i just make a point about we're talking about the republicans as if they're, you know, just sort of poking holes and making things up. i mean one point that is certainly going to be made -- and it's a fair point -- is that both of the witnesses tomorrow had no direct contact with president trump. and that doesn't mean they can't give incriminating testimony, but i think the democrats had better be prepared for the argument of, like, well, why are we hearing from them if they didn't have contact with the president? now, i know there are responses to that, but i think unlike arguments -- some arguments the republicans will make, that's a real argument. and i think it will be interesting to see how the democrats respond to it. >> kirsten, that also points to the importance of someone like john bolton or even mick mulvaney, though that doesn't -- that sort of runs afoul of the time line the democrats have set. >> yeah. it's unfortunate because i do think having somebody like john bolton in particular testifying would be extremely powerful

because it's somebody who is -- you know, he's obviously had a falling out with the president, but he is somebody who is in good standing in the conservative movement for the most part and certainly isn't considered part of the deep state or anything like that. and i think would have some information to share that would be very interesting to people. so the democrats have decided that they want to keep this on this time line, and i'm not sure that that's necessarily exactly the right answer -- i mean the right decision. but i do think having staff asking the questions is very helpful because what happens too often in these hearings is you just get a lot of grandstanding and you get members of congress -- now, they are still going to be able to ask questions. they're just not going to have as much time. it turns it into a bit of a circus and a much more partisan event. i think it's important for this to look the least partisan possible as it can. >> ross, cnn is reporting that republicans don't plan to be overly aggressive with these two witnesses tomorrow but plan to press them in ways that sows

doubt about their understanding of what was happening in the white house. the 45 minutes, initially i had thought that was, you know, the two attorneys would be asking questions for 45 minutes. but it seems like opening statements also from adam schiff and the ranking republican are going to be included in that 45 minutes according to congressman lieu we just had on. >> yeah, or questions from both leaders. yeah, i mean it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. and in terms of sort of the aggressiveness, one question i have is will each side be playing to its base, or will they reach out and sort of -- >> right. >> whose definition of aggressive are we going to use? >> appreciate it. thanks very much. coming up next, more on what happens tomorrow when the impeachment hearing gets under way. how will the president react? up next, my conversation with someone who knows him well. he wrote mr. trump's memoir, "the art of the deal."

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>> i think that he is in two places right now. i'm sorry to say this because one of them seems fine to me, which is i suspect he is in -- his nervous system is in a very high state of activation, and god save you to be around him right now because this is the ultimate humiliation to have his election called into question. you know, he -- >> the thing he's been -- i mean which has motivated his refusal to believe russia was involved or to acknowledge it, fear of his election being not legitimate. >> yeah. i mean he has imposter syndrome at a level probably previously unknown to man. he doesn't even know he has it. but what it shows up as is rage and attacking and all of the ways in which he tries to prop

himself up. but i think the other piece -- so he's going to be feeling that worry. the other thing is there's a sport in this to him, and i get the sense, the eerie sense that there's a part of it when he's not in the rage that enjoys it because he actually believes right now, like every other time in his teflon trump life, he's going to get away with it. >> mm-hmm. >> and he may well. >> i mean it is remarkable this phone call that he had with ukraine's president was right after the mueller testimony. i mean before that -- >> you mean that he would set himself up once again for a fall. he needs the action. he has a very strong self-destructive impulse, so i don't think it's a coincidence that he immediately started it up again the next day. what's amazing is that only, you know, what, five or six weeks or somewhere around there since it happened, and it's murky even to

remember the call. now, of course it will come up in the testimony -- i mean in the -- yeah, in all of the testimony tomorrow, but he is so relentless about attacking anything. >> it is interesting, though, just from a marketing standpoint, his relentlessness in pushing the same message over and over and over again, even when it's just demonstrably not true. the it was a perfect call. there's no republicans really arguing it was a perfect call, and yet he continues to -- i don't know if he believes it. >> no. it isn't about believing. it's about kind of locking into an automatic reaction. no collusion, no collusion, no collusion. perfect call, perfect call, perfect call. you keep saying it and saying it, and it has eventually a somewhat hypnotic effect. and i think, you know, not for the people who are most clearly

opposed to trump -- but that's not who he's worried about, and not for the people who love trump because they're ignoring this. but that little group in the middle, you know, he wants to pull them over to his side. >> i mean nothing is really going to happen on this unless republicans in the senate peel away in some numbers. >> they won't. it's almost inconceivable to me that they will. you know, what he's done is he has progressive pushed people backwards, devolving. it's very unusual to move from one state of moral development back down to a lower state, but i would say that if you look at what the republicans are saying to defend this man, it's evidence that he has them completely in his thrall. not only voting, but literally morally in his thrall. >> tony schwartz, appreciate it. thank you. up next, adam schiff speaking out tonight saying the

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house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff says tonight he's made no decisions about where the impeachment investigation will ultimately lead. he added the house will have to evaluate whether the facts, quote, show bribery, treason, high crimes and misdemeanors, end quote. the cal congressman will be in the driver's seat as the hearings get under way. i want to take a closer look at his background and mind-set going into tomorrow. here's our chief political analyst, gloria borger. >> well it feels at times like being in the eye of the hurricane. you can never tell when you're going to step out of the eye into gale-force winds. >> reporter: it's a sure bet that this week, house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff will be at the center of the storm, leading a historic public inquiry on impeachment. >> it's more intense now than ever before. >> shifty schiff. >> reporter: anyone not living on a rock knows that schiff is one of president trump's favorite targets. >> little pencil neck.

>> reporter: and he's not subtle about it. >> he should resign from office in disgrace. frankly they should look at him for treason. >> reporter: just months ago, schiff was in the camp that believed impeachment was not a good idea. >> we've talked in depth about this. >> reporter: steve israel is a close schiff fan and former democratic colleague. >> impeachment might have some consequences that would be harmful to the country, to the democratic party, to members of congress. but when the president engaged in this phone call with president zelensky, that was a bridge too far for him. >> what made this a necessity for me and so many of my colleagues is that if the president believes that he can abuse his office, the power of that office, he can fail to defend our national security and there is no accountability, even if the accountability is only in the house, that's too dangerous a prospect to persist. >> reporter: schiff came to congress from his los angeles county district almost 20 years

ago. >> ready to win an election? >> reporter: a moderate democrat who beat the republican incumbent, a leader of the impeachment fight against bill clinton. how is that for irony? >> mr. roggin's priority has been engaging in these ideological crusades and ignoring the business at home in the district. i don't think people value that. >> reporter: schiff served in the state senate, but his greatest impact came as an assistant u.s. attorney when he prosecuted an fbi agent for selling secrets to the russians. >> well, it does feel at times like my life has come full circle. >> reporter: from a major role in the republican-led 2014 benghazi investigation to becoming chairman of the intelligence committee this year. >> what people don't understand about adam is that he wanted to go on the intelligence committee for two principal reasons. number one, it was bieppartisan. number two, it was quiet.

i often say to him, how did that work out for you, buddy? >>. >> reporter: not as expected. just weeks ago, house republicans tried to censure him. >> how did that feel? you have republican friends. >> well, you know -- >> or you used to. >> well, i think my republican colleagues finding they lacked the courage to stand up to this unethical president, have consoled themselves by attacking those who do. that's a sad reality, but it's where the house gop is. kevin mccarthy will do whatever donald trump asks him to do. he'll merely ask how high he wants mccarthy to jump, and then mccarthy will jump. >> behind closed doors with a chairman who has lied three times to the american public looking them in the eye. and somehow we're supposed to trust what comes out of that? >> reporter: it's ugly and very personal. illegitimate hearings, republicans say, run by a partisan. >> it is a soviet stalin impeachment process. >> chairman schiff is unfit to chair the intelligence committee. >> reporter: the chairman is having none of it. >> with this president, they're going to destroy what america

stands for in the world. they're going to countenance holding up aid or meetings or whatever to get help in the next election campaign. they're going to normalize that, rationalize that. they're going to hunker down and put their heads in the sand about it. where is people's sense of duty? >> reporter: if that sounds like a line out of a screenplay, it could be. schiff has written a few of his home and took some dramatic and controversial liberties in describing the president's phone call with the ukrainian president. >> and i'm going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. i want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? lots of it. >> reporter: the performance turned into a political opening for republicans. one in particular. >> shifty schiff is a double corrupt politician. he took my words on the phone call, and they were so good, he totally changed them. >> reporter: do you regret doing it that way? >> no, i made it clear i was mocking the president, and just as clearly the president doesn't like being mocked.

but it was a mafia kind of an organized crime shakedown. but i'm not surprised if the president wasn't attacking me about this, he'd be attacking me about something else. >> what's his mood like these days? how would you describe it? >> he's got some overwhelming responsibilities, and they are on his shoulders. but he is excellent at relieving that burden with his humor. look, he's got a goofy sense of humor that people don't -- >> goofy is not a word people would use about -- >> well, he loves funny movies. everybody knows that he can take you from the first word of the big lebowski to the final sacen of the big lebowski. >> i'm the dude. that's what you dacall me. >> are there any words from the dude that would apply to your life? >> i've been asked in the past. what line from the big lebowski comes up most in political life? and i have to say, it's the line, no, you're not wrong. you're just an [ bleep ] hole. >> there's gloria borger

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busy night on the eve of the first public hearing. >> this is it, brother. these are the weeks of the most consequence for this president in his presidency thus far. i know some people will say wasn't that said during mueller. yeah, that was a big deal. this is a bigger deal. why? we've never had people speak about direct communications and direct action that they viewed as wrong or suspicious or of worthy of this kind of scrutiny. it's very big for both parties. we'll have tips tonight for what people should look for and what they should look away from if they can. we have left and right here to talk about what the impact is and what matters from their

perspective. and we will take you through the latest polls as well on the democratic side and what impeachment may mean to them. >> busy night. busy day tomorrow. starts in about 8 minutes. coming up, what's the one thing most people can't honestly say about president trump. nikki haley has gone ahead and said it. ridiculist is next. ilding the most powerful 5g experience for america. that's why the nfl chose verizon. because they need the massive capacity of 5g with ultra wideband, so more screaming, streaming, posting fans... can experience 5g all at once. this is happening in 13 stadiums all across the country. now if verizon 5g can do this for the nfl... imagine what it can do for you.

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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. ♪ time now for the ridiculist. this involves nikki haley turned u.n. ambassador whose most remarkable achievement may have been escaping the trump administration without being whacked by the president or wearing a wire for the feds. it's usually blood in blood out for the trump surveillance visors. she appeared to promote her b k

book. to her credit ambassador hailey is not trying to have it both ways. when you say trump, she says train. doesn't matter what the question is. >> did you think he was a truthful person? >> yes. he was truthful, he listened and he was great to work with. >> wow, trump? truthful? huh? great to work with? a listener? who is this man she speaks of? i'd swipe right on him. before we even address the president's inability to lie -- i mean, if i was on tinder, which i'm not. before we address the president's inability to lie, a super power that apparently only nikki haley can see, let's address the good listener part. have you ever seen him at a cabinet meeting sitting there with his arms crossed? he looks like a guy who wished he had some meat loaf in front of him, the food or the singer. just about everyone who has fled

this white house has commented on the president's short attention span and lack of interest in reading or listening to long, detailed briefings. as to nikki haley's claim that trump is a truthful person, bless her heart. i'm not sure how she qualified it will get her any kudos from the president if he was listening, she gave herself wiggle room saying in every instance i dealt with him he was truthful. it was like when pence or anybody else says all i can tell you what i saw. actually, no. y'all can speak to what you know to be true. for instance, i haven't been to the moon but i know it isn't made out of cheese. i'm sure nikki haley worked very hard as the u.n. ambassador but she as eyes and ears and a tv like the rest of us and trump makes stuff up all the time. >> in many plays, people vote many times, millions and millions of people. they vote many times, not just twice, not just three times. they vote -- it's like a circle. they come back. they put a new hat on.

they come back, they put a new shirt on. president obama wanted to meet and chairman kim would not meet him. the obama administration was begging for a meeting. if you go out and you want to buy a groceries, you need a picture on a card. you need id. you go out and you want to buy anything, you need id. >> i bought groceries this weekend and nobody carded me. apparently he makes stuff up to all of us but speaks truth to nikki haley. bless her heart. as for speaking truth to power, ambassador hailee knows which way the wind is blowing in republican politics and she was willing to throw some people under the bus, just the ones that don't matter anymore, the ones no longer in the power of daddy dearest. when she stopped by the novelty store at fox & friend, she continued to slam secretary of state rex tillerson. >> he's saying you're not telling the truth. >> that's so rex.

>> so rexme. it's the long-awaited sequel to "that's so raven." he uses disguises to get himself involved in age-inappropriate teenage high jinx. streaming on disney next fall. she may have survived the administration but it's not sure his reputation can survive book tours along sycophant street. whether pence gets the push and she makes it on to the ticket or not, she'll be polling well on the ridiculist. that does it for us. the news continues. i want to hand it over to chris for cuomo "prime time." i am chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." we have a new report that is a new window into how badly this president wants to silence any perceived opposition. did he want to fire the inspector general just for following the law with the whistleblower? 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. he is 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 whistleblower credible and doing what his job is, to move that complaint to people who can read it and assess it and act on it.