that is not going to be what they want to hear, karen. but thank you so much for keeping an eye on that and bringing us that updated forecast. we really appreciate it. i'm brianna keeler. happy holidays and thank you so much for watching. erin burnett out front starts now with kate bolduan. out front next. trump's impeachment fixation. for a man downplaying the process, he sure talks about it a lot. plus, a new sec re staretar state. the white house looking at a potential list of replacements for mike pompeo. the navy s.e.a.l. described by his own men at, quote, a psychopath. let's go up front. good evening, everyone. i'm kate bolduan in for erin burnett. out front tonight, trump's increasingly frustrated on impeachment. taking it out on twitter again today. attacking the house speaker as she continues to withhold the articles of impeachment from the senate. this tweet, just hours after pelosi herself tweeted, quote, the facts are clear and every

witness told the same story. despite the president's attempts to cover it up. it's just the second time this week that pelosi has taken to twitter to call president trump out by name. trump, on the other hand, well, he can't seem to stop tweeting or retweeting attacks on speaker pelosi every day this week. 21 times so far. i know. you've been counting. he clearly isn't convincing pelosi to engage. and you know he's definitely not going to then take the pelosi family advice. >> we're probably one of the few families in america who did not talk about impeachment at the christmas dinner table. she said you have to put politics on the shelf. you can't obsess about things 24/7. >> panel of round is out front at the white house. pamela, what are you hearing there tonight? >> well, kate, president trump is growing increasingly agitated with the state of limbo over the senate trial. but he's been looking forward to for vindication i'm told. he has settled into something of a routine during this first week of his holiday in florida. firing off tweeted attacks against speaker pelosi for

withholding those articles of impeachment from the senate. and between rounds of golf and mingling with family and friends, he's also vented about his impeachment. as he expressed holiday grievance to u.s. troops on christmas eve and spoke to conservative students last saturday. of course, this all comes as senate majority leader mitch mcconnell continues to signal ambivalence about starting the trial. he says he's not anxious to move forward on the task. despite the president's clear eagerness. meanwhile, kate, we've learned white house officials have been coming and going from mar-a-lago. presidential senior advisor and son-in-law jared kushner arrived on thursday. one source i spoke with said th that signals where this holiday vacation where the president's really been stewing looks to be more into a working trip now that christmas is over with. we've also learned acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney joined trump last weekend. he will join him again this weekend. the white house legislative director, legislative affairs director, was in florida earlier this week.

he has departed. interesting to note here, i'm told by a source that pat cipollone, white house counsel, does not have concrete plans at this point to visit the president in mar-a-lago. of course, that could change as the end of the holiday congressional recess and the revival of the impeachment drama draws closer. kate. >> good to see you, pam, thanks so much. out front with me now, democratic congressman from michigan. he is a member of the democratic leadership. congressman, thanks for coming in. >> thank you, kate. >> so there is more than 20 tweets coming from the president attacking the speaker. just two tweets from her, though, about him. what do you make about this back and forth? that is very clearly, obviously, been much more forthcoming from trump than back i guess. >> well, i guess a couple of things. one, if anybody's obsessed about impeachment, it's the president himself. i mean, even during this whole process, we've continued to legislate passing, you know, legislation on prescription drugs, on violence against women. those are sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk.

we are doing the work that the american people want us to do. he seems to be singularly focused on either his golf score or on impeachment. and nothing else. i also think that he has a real problem dealing with nancy pelosi. he knows that she's smarter than he is. he knows that she's far tougher than he is. and i don't think he knows how to deal with her. >> do you think pelosi is paying attention to what president trump's saying about her this week? >> no. i mean, i know speaker pelosi pretty well. she's really not moved so much by what people think of her. she wants to get her work done. she stays focused on that. so i don't think she is moved by any of his criticism. and, in fact, i don't think she's generally moved by the commentary about her in the first place. her focus has been pretty singular and, that is, to get the work done that we need to get done. whether it's impeachment or these other very important issues we've been able to move on in the house of

representatives but that sit stalled in the senate because mitch mcconnell decided that he wasn't going to do anything for the american people because he wants to punish democrats in the house somehow. i don't know how that equates to punishing us. the fact that he's holding the american people away from being able to get affordable prescription drugs. but that's his calculation i guess. >> i will say there are definitely bills waiting in the senate. but there was bipartisan agreement on some very major things right before you all left for recess. so there was -- there was some movement on some very must-do items that i know was applauded by a lot of folks as you guys were heading out. you talk about she's not moved. >> we kept the government open. >> you know what? and at its most basic, that is your job. so everyone thanks you for that. >> right. >> but you talk about pelosi not being moved. you have defended the speaker in her decision to withhold the articles of impeachment. and you have said, though, also, that the trial was never -- never going to happen before january. but you've also said that the party can't wait forever. so i am wondering what moves the speaker in the end?

i'm -- no one has really defined a line. the definition of fair trial has definitely not been laid out for anybody. how long is too long to wait here? >> i think we have to wait until we have some assurance that the trial is not going to be some sort of sham. or a joke. >> i mean, i'm talking extremes here. like, into february? >> well, i mean, that's certainly possible. but i'm not going to get ahead of the speaker. we've been in the holiday season. we were, you know, really focused on keeping the government open. passing usmca before we broke for the holidays. we don't go back into session until january 7th. so i think there is some time before we get into a period where people really need to be concerned about it. but i will say this. the house is not some bystander to the senate trial. i mean, the -- the sense that many have is that the house has completed its work. and now, it's all in the senate. and so why would we have

anything to say about what the senate does? we have a lot to say about what the senate does because it's -- it's the house that brings the case. that manages the case that goes before the senate. that essentially prosecutes this case. and so we have to have an understanding of what the rules will be before we can even appoint the impeachment managers. so that we can put the right team on the field in order to deal with the sort of trial that -- that ultimately the senate's going to hold. so we have a lot to say about -- about what the trial should look like because we're going to be an important part of it. >> do you expect to get any guidance about what happens next? or when? during the rest of this recess. or are you, congressman, just expecting to return to capitol hill january 6th, 7th, and say, hey, guys, what's next? >> no. i think there's obviously, you know, a bit of down time for everybody here as we're home with our families and our constituents. but there is still a lot of work

going on. and i don't think there's anything that prevents the senate from sort of getting its act together. and -- and being more clear about how this trial's going to move forward. we are beginning to hear that senators on the republican side are uncomfortable. some of them. uncomfortable with the way that leader mcconnell is handling this. i'm sure they're communicating that to them. to him. and hopefully, that'll have some effect on him. >> i've been asking every -- every democratic congressman and woman that i've had on, do you want to be one of the house managers? >> you know, i don't -- i really don't think that's a role that i be ideally suited to play. we have a lot of members who have a lot of experience as prosecutors. we have one, you know, very well-educated constitutional professor as a member of the house. >> jamie raskin? >> i have a lot of faith in the people. yeah. i think jamie raskin. and i'm not -- you know, advocating for anybody in particular. but when you look at the way chairman schiff has handled himself and people like jamie

raskin and others who obviously have made big contributions to the total conversation. i think we have an incredibly talented group that can prosecute our case. but the specific group of members that would be assigned to that will, in part, have to do with the shape of the trial itself. if it's more about interrogating potential witnesses, then that would have an effect on who we put up as managers. if it is more of a philosophical or theoretical question of the constitutionality of this impeachment, obviously it's a different set of players. >> that's an interesting point. congressman, thanks for coming in. >> thank you, kate. >> appreciate it. out front next, joe biden says he will not testify at trump's impeachment trial. even if he's subpoenaed. plus, the navy s.e.a.l. who president trump called one of our ultimate fighters, described by his own men as toxic and evil in video we're seeing for the first time. >> the guy got crazier and crazier. >> and the white house working

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testify. the former vice president telling the des moines register editorial board today that when it comes to the senate impeachment trial, he would even defy a subpoena if it came his way. >> the reason i wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with trump doing what he's done his whole life. trying to take the focus off him. this is all about a diversion. and we play his game all the time. he's done it his whole career. >> lauren fox is out front. lauren, how's this likely to go

over with republicans on the hill? >> well, majority leader mitch mcconnell hasn't wanted witnesses from the beginning, kate. now, remember, there was a little bit of a division between the president and mcconnell when it came to this question of whether individuals like joe biden, like hunter biden, like the whistle-blower should come and be live witnesses in the well of the senate. many lawmakers were arguing, like john cornen, that that would lead to a circus-like atmosphere on the senate floor. but i will say the fact that joe biden is being so defiant here might lead some republicans, like rand paul, who have really wanted witnesses to try to dig in. we should note it takes 51 votes for any witnesses to be approved. mcconnell has 53 republicans. considering the fact that someone would have to introduce this as a motion and actually vote on it, it's unlikely the votes would actually be there to call joe biden. but i will tell you that was a bit of contention between mcconnell and president trump. i'll also note that a couple democrats that i talked to said, you know, joe biden would do

great as a witness in the well of the senate. so a little surprising that he's really digging in here and saying he'd even defy a senate subpoena. kate. >> it is fascinating. good to see you, lauren. thank you. out front with me now, "washington post" congressional report error and patrick heely, "new york times" politics editor. good to see you guys again. biden has taken this position before. he's said this but i think this is the first time he's kind of made this declaration once again since the president was impeached by the house. is this going to stop republicans for asking for his testimony? what does this -- what does this add to where this debate land -- stands right now? >> it adds some drama to where the debate stands right now. but remember, we still had the top senate -- top republican senator saying he didn't want to get into the wading pool of all the witnesses to begin with. so we have a little bit of tension within the gop as to whether you get into the witness fight at all. and if so, then, yes, the president wants to see hunter biden and the whistle-blower potentially that brings in joe biden, too. but remember, fundamentally speaking, you've got the leaders

of the gop in the senate not wanting to get into the witness pool at all. the fact that biden has said this now brings this debate back into the fore. gives them something to point at and say wait a second. it potentially creates a little bit of a problem for biden himself when answering questions about how he would conduct himself if he were president in a similar -- similarly partisan time. and what his relationship would be like with congress, especially when congress, potentially, would subpoena biden administration for people to testify and for documents and witnesses. but as for right now, how that changes the debate about witnesses, i think probably it doesn't actually take -- take away from what mitch mcconnell wanted to do that much because he wanted to avoid this altogether in the first place. and this is just all the more reason not to get into a long, drawn out fight where you're going to have witnesses defying subpoenas in the senate as well. >> you know, biden said also today, patrick, that he doesn't think the senate is really going to move this direction and send him a subpoena anyway. but -- but this -- when you're talking -- when you campaign on

the rule of law and you campaign -- that's something you say on the trail. if push comes to shove, do you really think that biden would defy a subpoena in the middle of his campaign? >> if there's an actual subpoena, they're going to have to answer that question, kate. in a lot of ways, the exchange with the "des moines register" editorial board is a back and forthright now. but if there is an actual subpoena, i think joe biden's probably hearing from democrats on the hill is that it's not going to get that far. so he can focus his message now. you know, five weeks before the iowa caucuses. he can focus this on how it looks like a big diversion. partisan diversion from republicans. >> deal with it when i have to deal with it. >> the articles of impeachment are against president trump. he is the one whose conduct has to be answered for. maybe there will be fact witnesses who are called before the senate. but, arguably, those fact witnesses about the president's conduct are more like mick mulvaney and john bolton than they are about joe biden.

and sort of hoping that the audience that he needs to be grappling and convincing on this, which are basically iowa democrats and independents, to beat elizabeth warren, to beat pete buttigieg, will care about that as opposed to, you know, the finer points. >> yeah. let me play a little bit more of what biden said today. listen to this. >> i'm very proud of the job i did. i never, never, never moved off of dealing with corruption there. every single person thought that prosecutor general should be fired from the imf to all our european partners and the people in the administration. but this is a technique he uses all the time. >> he is a chronic liar and he had a lot to say about the lying and diversions of the president in -- in -- in this editorial board. and he spoke to a little bit of what you were hitting on because -- because he says that

if he would go in, if he would go in voluntarily and kind of played it out. he basically spells out that it would be a circus. he is not wrong there. but does this, again, i do wonder if this, in the argument where congressional democrats and republicans are in this moment with witnesses being kind of at the center of this conversation. does this help or hurt democrats in terms of the case they are trying to make on why witnesses are important to testify? >> it's -- look. there is a greater case here about whether the president obstructed congress or not with the witnesses that were close to him. that -- that is one of the two articles of impeachment. that they are making the case that, look, people when they are called, they ever to obey a congressional subpoena. but i think the democrats would probably be happy to not have that question include joe biden right now. and keep that focused on trump the same way biden is saying let's focus on trump. because they want to talk about trump's obstruction of congress right now since that's what the article of impeachment has to do with. and not get messed up in the

whole world of biden in which there is a lot of nuance. he has people who have pointed a finger and raised eyebrows at what was hunter biden doing serving on that board? but i think people don't question joe biden made decisions to benefit his son or that company. in fact, the decisions he was making when he was vice president would have done the opposite as far as disadvantaging that company and not necessarily helping out his son at all. but that's -- that is both the substance of the -- the -- the -- the fact pattern about ukraine that democrats have accused trump of making a distraction. accused the gop of trying to basically countermessage with kremlin talking points. and they would love to talk about that but they would love to keep the whole subpoena fight and obstruction fight focused so biden is right in a way, and making the statement that he would disregard the subpoena has stepped on the fray a little bit and given the gop more -- a wider, i guess, platform -- >> but when asked directly you have to answer the question

directly and that's exactly what happened today. >> also tonight, patrick, we learned that the white house is pulling together a list for possible replacements for mike pompeo after he speculated that he would leave the cabinet to run for cabinet in kansas, mnuchin and deputy secretary of state steve biegun. what do you think is driving this? >> the party and president trump's political needs in terms of keeping the senate. the reality is unlike in 2018 where the house was really in contention, 2020, it's all about the senate and kansas has typically been a republican state until 2018 when they flipped the governor's office. they flipped a -- they flipped congressional seats and the reality is is that they need to hold that republican senate seat because the democrats have very competitive contests, they could

pick off republicans in places like colorado and arizona. so they need to keep the seat. pompeo, arguably would probably be the strongest republican they can put up for this seat and while the secretary of state is a very big and very important job the reality is is that there is a clock ticking on the president's first term. we don't know if there will be a second term so mike pompeo may be more valuable to the party overall in kansas. >> and looking for his own personal longevity. >> what? >> never! >> good to see you, patrick. >> out front next, video seen for the first time shows navy s.e.a.l.s calling their chief officer a, quote, psychopath, the same chief officer who president trump personally intervened to help. >> we can't let this continue. >> the guy got crazier and crazier. >> and there's no clear front-runner in iowa yet. will any democrat break out from the pack? and filters by cabin class,

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tonight, toxic and evil, that's how navy s.e.a.l.s describe their controversial platoon chief who president trump protected and praised. you can hear the men in their own words in video statements made in 2018 portions of which were just published by "the new york times" today. >> we can't let this continue. >> it's [ bleep ] up. >> the guy got crazier and crazier. >> retired special operations chief eddie gallagher was recently acquitted of murdering an isis prisoner, but he was demoted and rank for a separate charge of posing in a picture with the corpse. president trump intervened to

restore gallagher's rant and went even further, publicly praising him. >> he was a great fighter. he was one of the ultimate fighters. >> again, a far cry from what gallagher's own men said. gallagher responding to the videos in a statement reading in part, i'll read it for you, quote, my first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me, but i quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment. out front for me now democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. thank you for coming in. >> thank you. >> you oversee the military on the house arms services committee. were you surprised by what you saw in these videos? >> as a member of the senate arms services committee, i was deeply disturbed and frankly, these reports are absolutely repugnant, likely to be regarded as so by the military itself

because in no way do they reflect the integrity, discipline, values of our military, not to mention our special operators and they also reflect, quite frankly, the courage and concern of these s.e.a.l.s who came forward. remember, the s.e.a.l. community and our special operators are intensely tightly knit and loyal, so it took tremendous bravery for them to come forward. >> we have heard, of course, president trump champion eddie gallagher time and time again. do you think that he was aware of these vitd yos before he intervened? >> whether or not he was aware, his outrageous and reprehensible interference erodes trust in the command structure and in the rule of law. he demonstrated a disregard for the uniformed code of military justice, and for the geneva convention which protects against war crimes and clearly,

was there sufficient evidence for him to avoid restoring edward gallagher's rank as well as allowing him to retire with full honors in effect, and so what president trump did was essentially demonstrate disrespect for the command structure and the rule of law, and signal to the world that the military, the american professionals who really deserve our respect should be permitted to operate outside the rule of law. >> well, then, senator, eddie gallagher's case is closed. he was acquitted on the most serious charge, as we know. is there anything at this point that you can or want to do about it? >> what i want to do very strongly, and i hope my colleagues in the united states senate will join me is reaffirm our respect for our military professionals who are all too often disregarded by the president. he did so in the withdrawal in

northern syria in the politization of our military at the border on the immigration issues and to reaffirm our respect, as well, for the rule of law and the code of military justice as it applies to our special operators. they are literally the tip of the spear. every day exposed to potential harm in the corners of the world whose names we can barely pronounce and they deserve our thanks as do the s.e.a.l.s who came forward because their bravery is also remarkable. >> and had more and more expected of them and more pressure put on them and more responsibilities put on them as the military leans on them more and the country does to do what is needed. i also want to ask you about impeachment. your republican colleague, senator lisa murkowski, she spoke out this week criticizing mitch mcconnell for coordinating with the white house. have you heard similar from other republicans? >> i have spoken to a number of my republican colleagues, and a number of my democratic

colleagues who are also in touch with republicans, and clearly, lisa murkowski's statements reflect cracks in the mcconnell wall as to whether or not our republican colleagues act on misgivings that they've expressed privately and letta, loan expressed them privately and remains to be seen, but what is striking and indisputable right now is that this idea is breaking through that republicans are hiding that donald trump is covering up that mitch mcconnell is complicit in that cover-up. more than 70% of americans want a full, fair proceeding including documents and witnesses. more than 60% of republicans, and so that message is breaking through and ultimately there is a court of appeals here. it's not a court of law. it's the court of public opinion and my republican colleagues will have to face it, if not

right away, eventually in november and they'll have to face history, as well. >> first thing's first, folks need to find out what the trial's going to look like and when the trial will start and we'll be following your every word and move as you'll be sitting on the senate floor this historic moment. senator, thank you for coming in. >> thank you. out front next, democrats on the campaign trail and in an all-out sprint to iowa. >> i think we are the campaign that can be in the best position to defeat donald trump. and the power of persuasion and prayer at the polls. >> i love that you're ready to get souls to the polls, amen! there in time,

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tonight, the top democrats back on the campaign trail after a holiday break, making a big push with just 38 days until the first contest in the 2020 election. joe biden, burdeny sanders and elizabeth warren all talking to voters in the key early states today and sanders taking on his rivals directly. >> so when you have candidates out there without naming them, you know who they are, who have voted for terrible trade things, you don't think trump will be talking about that? i think we are the campaign that

are in the best position to beat donald trump. >> out front now, joe lockhart, and former democratic candidate for governor. he says that his campaign says today is in the best position to beat donald trump. do you see that? >> well, he is certainly -- i think joe biden, if you look at the polls has him by a couple of point, but this is all within the margin of error. i think we've had a year of campaigning and not much has changed. i think if a year ago you'd said joe biden and bernie sanders were at the top of the polls everyone would nod their heads and there's been a lot of surprises. i -- my concern with sanders is and it's the same with warren is that i don't believe that medicare for all is a popular position without the private

health insurance that biden, buttigieg and it is poorly even among democrats and both biden and sanders because they've been in politics as long as they have offer a wealth of where to attack. i think they're both grown ups and can push back and can both credibly take on the president. >> if you look at the head to heads and i'm a skeptic of head to heads, but i'll use them at this moment to make a point. >> sanders and biden, they both beat trump, and i also say we should also and it's note worth they trump has been closing the gap since october. do you really think biden can't beat the president? look, i think any democrat right now has a great shot at beating this president who has shown himself to be a fraud, a phony and a liar, but the question right now is do we want to go back to the ledge that we fell down in 2016 or do we want to

rethink why it is that we lost that election so poorly? >> hshg was, in theory, most electable democrat ever to run for office and people are making the same argument about joe biden. that didn't work out so well for us and the other point i would make is polls don't lead, people do. >> one of the things about bernie sanders that is so crisp and so important is he's polling well among the electorate and the people who stayed home, who looked like they could pull these people out, and so it's really important to be focusing on the fundamentals that will pull out those young people from across this country pulling out the win that we know we deserve and the mandate to cover that we want soed aboutly. >> we heard sanders there in the intro saying i'm not going to name them. you know who they are.

he also did call out biden by name when he sat down with "the l.a. times." he said my god, if you are donald trump and you've got biden having voted for the war in iraq and biden having voted for these terrible, in my view, trade agreements, biden having voted for the bankruptcy bill, trump will eat his lunch. this is clearly a strategy. how effectively do you think sanders can cut intoed bient's electability argument? >> i don't think it's his strongest argument and his argument about the green new deal, those are all reasonable arguments and i think people take on in the democratic party, take on biden at their own peril. we've seen a number of candidates take them on directly and some of them are not in the race anymore and some of them have dropped back. >> some of our friends called it the biden boomerang. >> yeah. i think in this race biden is the most dependable kabdz at as

far as support and he has the broadest based support and i look at sanders as the most passionate support and it's more limited than what biden has, but this is why we have the primary. i'm not going to -- you know, this idea that sort of has been going around in the last 24, 48 hours that sanders had a resurgence is kind of silly. he never left. and he's been in a solid second place or at times first place in some of the important states. he is, you know, one of the top two candidates, and that's an enviable position to be in this close to the iowa caucuses. >> joe, i'll agree with you that he has never left, but we are seeing a steady momentum that really is about the kind ever ground game that he's been able to build emerging in 2016 and emerging into 2020 and the idea that it is somehow dependable, i don't agree and when you talk to the kind of voters that the

democrats have held on for so long, only to fiend yourself about people who agree with you on medicare for all, issues on regulation of banks and when i talk about, it's and one has stood solid on the issues that he believes in and the other has been a bit flakey and he's solloid mass incarceration and he's realizing that he's -- that's affecting the kind of voters that democrats have been missing in the past two elections. we've got to stand right now for something. donald trump is going to be the republican that we're up against. we know where he stands and we need a democrat who stood up for his values his entire career. >> go ahead. >> i'm in the uncomfortable position of trying to be an analyst because i don't have a candidate and i appreciate strong advocacy like we just

had, and i'm just not going to say anything about bernie sanders. i will say looking at the field, you know, donald trump will have an easier time going after someone who is a self-professed democratic socialist than he will going after joe biden. he will have an easier time going after a 20 or $30 trillion health care plan that isn't popular, and that isn't going to happen. politics should be aspirational. you should say, here's what we should do, and i think he'll have an easier time, but we'll see, and we'll all get out, and i hope support whoever the democrats nominate. >> and i will say, what i take away from this is there's still a very interesting and important conversation to be had with 38 days to go to iowa. tune in. thank you very much, out front next. the voters that could determine the outcome of the 2020 election, that's coming up. with, but since they bought their new house... which menu am i looking at here? start with "ta-paz."

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>> tonight, the fight for a crucial battleground state. will democrats miss the mark again? kyung lau is out front. >> that's what we're fighting for, you hear me? together in numbers we're strong. >> a time-tested organizing

tool. >> block by block. >> what's your name? >> is the head of the household home. >> with an eye to recent history in milwaukee, wisconsin. >> i'm from black leaders organizer for communities. >> sean kendricks are canvassers. >> out here working on a cold day. >> walking through a majority black neighborhood neglected for decades economically and politically. >> only way to fix the problem is to talk about the problem. >> we need change, you hear me? and all you got to do is get onboard and be a part of the change. >> the group block hopes to increase black voter turnout in ignored districts in the critical swing state of wisconsin. >> the only time i see people is jehovah's witnesses. i don't want to just hear what you've got to say. i want you to come show me. >> in 2016, hillary clinton didn't campaign in the the

state, and 43,000 fewer democrats voted for her than barack obama. lower democratic turnout here helped donald trump statewide. he flipped wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes. >> the surprise of the 2016 election is you actually have to campaign black people as well. >> wisconsin congresswoman glen moore warns democrats cannot forget that lesson. >> we have to focus on the people who did not vote and to educate them. >> and i love that you're ready to get souls to the polls. amen? [ laughter ] >> that's the mission of souls to the polls, in this first 2020 organizing meeting. >> want people to know and understand what kind of power we really have. >> pastors in milwaukee using prayer. >> blessings are coming our way. >> to find the votes that could sway a nation's election. >> if you have the kind of power that you have in numbers and you

don't use it, i just think that's a sin. >> how many voters are we talking about potentially? >> well, i would say like, 30,000, 40,000 . >> block said what is different now, loke am lawmakers and unions are funding programs like theirs. from the community, affect the community. >> are you there? >> this is the change. this is what change looks like. >> now i'm just out here trying to change and help my people now because i've known the pain they're going through. >> and you're organizing locally here to get the power up there? >> correct. to get our voice heard up there where everybody else is sitting around that big round table. >> in order for things to change, we need to get out and vote and let them know the importance of voting. >> so take a look at your calendar. we're still many, many months

out from november 2020 but block is out there every day trying to reach people and talk to people. the reason why is they believe that you can't wait until your just a few weeks out from the election in order to get that excitement up. it is something you have to start now. kate. >> great stuff. thank you very much. "outfront" now, brittany porter. it is great to see you. there is a lot of lack of outreach or lack thereof and are democrats paying attention to the lessons of 2016. >> many of the battleground communities say probably not. there is a conventional thinking that democrats in every part of the voter electorate will vote for whoever because they don't want trump in the white house. and i think that is a bit of flawed logic because many black communities not just this one in milwaukee but across the country felt in 2016 there was a bit of they didn't show up so we're not going to show out.

it is part of the why they didn't go to the high polls as in 2012 and 2008 so there is a bit of disenfranchisement but feeling left out of the narrative completely. >> and biden, there is a long standing relationship with biden in the black community and voters and have you made any other candidate making end roads to cut into that. >> it is early. and not all black voters them hemo logically and folks like folks like bernie sanders is doing a good job of getting in front of people with color so i think he might have a potential there. >> so interesting. great to see you. thank you for coming in. >> thank you for having me. >> "outfront" next, the singer that broke the mold. >> she came to los angeles. >> i was 18 years old. >> and we formed a band and called ourselves the "stone

ponies". >> the whole damn thing broke loose. >> it was about music. comingling. >> how do we define what this is going to be. >> linda was the queen. she was like what beyonce is now. >> she was the only female artist to have five platinum albums in a row. ♪ >> i can't help that i'm still in love with you was a hit on the country and the pop and r&b chart. >> i became the first artist to have a hit on all three charts. ♪ >> she was the first female rock and roll star. >> linda ronstadt: the sound of my voice, new year's day on cnn.

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sure, why not? how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your local xfinity store today. it is hard to overstate the influence linda ronstad had on music. she was rock's first female superstar and he was a little bit country and a lot more. bill weir premieres linda ronstadt, the sound of my voice. >> when it comes to risk -- she's one of a kind. ♪

>> and the winner is linda ronstadt. >> linda was the queen. she was like what beyonce is now. ♪ >> but how many mega stars risk opera on broadway. how many rock stars manage a smash hit album of mexican folk songs or can hold their own with country goddesses like emmy lou harris and dolly parton, but for linda ronstadt those risks worked because they came from a heart, a heart full of childhood sing alongs on the mexican border. >> when i was growing up, i thought people sang in spanish and spoke in english. she left tucson for l.a. at 18. and it only took a couple of open mic nights at the troubadour to launch.

but she yet she managed to stay grounded. >> you're increasing your alienation and anxiety and they wonder why it is miserable. >> and then that amazing voice went away. >> i just lost a lot of different colors in my voice. it turns out i had parkinson's. i still sing in my mind but i can't do it physically. >> i don't think she misses going on the road. i think she misses singing with her friends and in the living room with her family. there is just no one on the planet that ever had or ever will have a voice like linda's. >> thank goodness for the recordings. thank goodness for the range, risk, and reward of linda

ronstadt. bill weir, cnn, new york. >> thanks, bill. and be sure to watch lin"linda ronstadt: the sound of my voice" on new year's day right here on cnn. and thanks for joining me. ac 360 starts now. good evening, i'm erica hill. anderson is on tonight. president trump is said to be growing frustrated with the uncertainty surrounding the shape of his senate impeachment trial, limbo it seems is not to his liking and we have new reporting on that. and joe biden has just weighed in on what a trial might look like, noting it will look a whole lot better without him as a witness. in fact, here is what he told the des moines register this afternoon about refusing to testify if called by senate republicans. >> look, the grounds for them to call me would be overwhelmingly