they got 60. and i just wish i could have -- you know, so it definitely changes me. >> you can read more about kobe bryant, all the victims of the crash at cnn.com. we'll return at 11:00 p.m. for a special edition of "360." i am chris cuomo. welcome to "primetime." mcconnell is acknowledging he may not have enough votes to block witnesses. so what does this mean? are we going to see the president's former national security adviser testifying, you know, the guy who has direct testimony about what the president said and did with ukraine and why? the president's own former chief of staff, what about him? he told you to your face that this was a quid pro quo. what about what john kelly is saying now and why? we also have brand new video of kobe bryant's helicopter and the moments before it went down. they are still trying to figure

out why so much life, so many families were destroyed. did it have to happen? plus, we have new emotional sound from shaquille o'neal tonight. and we have the brother of this great coach that was lost in this tragedy all part of remembering who was lost. so, the majority leader reportedly doesn't currently have the votes to block witnesses from being called because some on his side remain uncommitted. one little step to the side for a moment. hold on. the idea that after you learn that the main prong of the president's case, which is what? nobody even says he did anything wrong. this is all on the side and the speculation. pretty compelling. now you have a guy who was in the room, hence the name of his book, saying the president told

me he was holding up the aid because he wanted to get the bidens. can you really, in good conscience, say that you came to a conclusion without hearing him, really? even if it's not going to change your vote, how do you sell that to the men and women back home? yeah, yeah, i came to a conclusion. they said that they didn't have anybody. ah, but then they did but i didn't think it was worth it then. come on. bolton is only accentuating what should already be obvious. okay? and what does it say now that the president's former chief of staff has bolton's back, general kelly says if he said it in the book, i believe him. some rare input from john kelly there that he believes bolton and thinks there are other people who ought to be heard from. you know why? because there are. this is a trial where you're trying to figure out what happened where you haven't talk to any of the people that made the decisions. doesn't make any sense. but let's talk to the better

people and let's see if they agree with at least some of it. it's great to have you with us. i've been arguing all along, and you have been instructive to the audience. there is no such thing as a trial without witnesses. >> i've never heard of one. nor has the senate ever had one in the history of the impeachment trial without any witnesses. >> you don't think he should be removed, great. you can sell that argument. how do you sell it to people back in your district or in your senate seat if you say, yeah, i didn't need to hear from the people who actually know what happened? >> i think you can't unless there's a sub group of people who are tried and true fans of the president of the united states. it doesn't matter what he does. these are the people thinks who won't bat an eye if he shoots someone on fifth avenue. but people who are not so beholden and cultish. the book is coming out almost certainly in like six weeks. he's going to go -- maybe he will be on your show. it will be fun to watch.

and he's going to be saying all these things that are directly relevant to the guilt or innocence of the president of the united states in these proceedings that are happening as we speak. and how is that going to look to everyone when every senator who voted against john bolton coming to testify has to explain why they didn't want to hear from this person who is now on every network in the world. >> rigt. >> talking about those very same things. >> and by the way, we want to talk about the popular response to this also. but just one side point legally to what preet's talking about. another argument is, by the way, if we call one of these witnesses, they are going to claim executive privilege. with bolton, not only is he no longer in the white house, but how did they not waive privilege by calling him a liar talking about the back and forth and saying he has it wrong? you're the professor. >> the president did waive executive privilege by contesting what bolton was saying. so game over. there's no real legitimate claim at all. but many of the claims that we're hearing from the white

house lawyers are not really legitimate based on the law. they are based on their hopes about the facts, hopeful restatements of what they had hoped had happened. the facts and the evidence really seems to be under the sign. >> they are taking a guess that people will believe them. now to this. over 70% in the most recent poll of people say i want to hear from more people. that's where the people are. i think it's like 75/20. how does that factor in? >> even if it means that they want to hear from the bidens. that doesn't necessarily mean that they think the president should be impeached. that being said, there's a lot of pressure on mcconnell. i got this, we'll make it short, we'll make it sweet, we're not going to have any witnesses. what happens? he is blindsided by the white house when they find out they have excerpts and copies of bolton's book. >> how do you figure that? so they sent the book over to the white house. is it that the president's not the only guy who doesn't like to read? >> the nsc had it.

don't know if his lawyers had it. but to either not tell mcconnell or to tell mcconnell and for mcconnell not to come forward, neither is a good option for him. right. but help me with this. i'm not trying to be sarcastic. so you know it's in house. you know they've sent this book over, you're preparing for this. and you don't want to get some sense of what's in there that you have to look for it? >> look, not to unduly plug my own book, but i wrote a book too about my time as a u.s. attorney. >> it's a good book. >> thank you. it's called "doing justice." it's out on paperback now. now my publisher's very happy. i didn't have any classified information in there, nothing sensitive. i submitted it to the department of justice for prepublication review. and in an abundance of caution i wrote a letter to the administration very similar to what john bolton's lawyer wrote to the white house saying we don't think there's anything classified here, but in abundance of caution, we're sending it to you. and i was assured during the process that it is looked at, the manuscript is looked at by career professionals who are

only trying to make sure that no secrets get out. and i'm sure he got that reassurance too. but he is in a much different position. >> sure. >> from an ordinary former government employee where the things that he is claiming in the book go right to the heart of the guilt or innocence of the president of the united states. other people had said jack goldsmith who is a prominent professor at the harvard law school says from time to time those manuscripts got out to other people. it would be weird to me had it not gone out. if it hasn't before, i'm guessing it is now because as soon as -- and not that you agree with me, professor, if in the next couple of days through that process, the white house says we are blessing this publication of this book, then they have doubly waived, i think, executive privilege. if they're saying it's fine to go out, this is their opportunity to say you can't publish this book. so that's a kind of interesting thing to see what's going to happen with that in the next couple of days. >> assuming they've reviewed it. i think you might've said this to me a few days ago.

but one of the problems with the spaghetti on the wall strategy is that you end up making yourself vulnerable to things end up not sticking. like, they don't have anybody who can pin the president to this directly. yes, we do. we actually know we have two, three, or four of them. the idea that when you're looking at this, you know, it's all going to be privileged anyway. now that's gone. and they have the idea of, you know, even if this happened, this wouldn't be impeachable even if it were all true. now they have a problem with that. all of those lead to witnesses, not that it'll change the vote count, ultimately, but do you want to get an acquittal for this president if people know the process was light? >> i would assume they don't care. >> take a win at any cost. they want a win any way they can get it. just to roll it back a little bit and use some common sense, we know the book was sent over to the administration. the only explanations for the white house counsel's arguments in the trial so far not

mentioning the book, not taking it into account. >> not telling mcconnell. >> has to be either incompetence or they're lying. there is no third alternative. the third alternative is maybe it falls under one subset a is they thought mcconnell had them covered. so we are going to kind of fudge over the fact that bolton may -- we don't think he's going to chirp the way he does, but he will still get the votes and now it may want look like he will. i don't think there's any chance if it's just four. if it's four it's got to be eight or nine. because as soon as the people get the advantage to avoid the preproblem of how do you sell at home, they will jump on the band wagon. >> and there is although an ethical question. they were asked today in a briefing where they had a source who was asked the question did you review the manuscript, and they said no, we didn't review the manuscript. they were then asked where you

briefed on the contents of the manuscript and they said that's all we're going to say. so they made arguments in the well of the senate floor that said there's no witness -- essentially there's no witness who can say or has said that the president of the united states told them that they were linking aid to these investigations of the bidens and that might be depending on your view technically true to the letter. but it's grossly misleading, and i think a violation of ethical duties. >> and it throws mcconnell under the bus. remember prior mcconnell said he is in lockstep with this administration and with the white house. so, either he's lying, which i don't think is the case, or he also was blindsided. and he had told the republican senators i've got this, it's fine, we don't need witnesses. now you've got many saying maybe we do. >> here's the good news for the senate majority leader. he is going to have plenty of company under the bus that just ran him over. because plenty had gone before and ended up exactly where he's about to be. so thank you very much to each and all. what now for the democrats?

because this is all about how one side counters the other. you're going to have this phase of 16 hours of questions that the senators ask through the chief justice to either side of the advocates. how do they play it? we have a trump juror here preview next. i am all about living joyfully. the united explorer card hooks me up. getting more for getting away. traveling lighter. getting settled.

rewarded. learn more at the explorer card dot com. it's an easy way to earn it's cashback on the stuff i'm already buying. when you have a child and they're constantly growing out of clothing, earning cashback from rakuten just makes everything easier. sometimes it's 3% sometimes it's 8% but you're always getting cashback. the way cashback works on rakuten is so they get a commission from the store and then they share that commission with me. and you have money, more money to spend because you got free money. go to rakuten.com and sign up today for a $10 bonus. my money should work as hard as i do. that's why i use my freedom unlimited card every time i get gas. give me a little slack! with freedom unlimited, you're always earning. i said i need some slack on pump three!

[happy ♪irthday music] ♪ don't get mad, put those years to work with e*trade. t-mobile 5g is here. and it's nationwide. while some 5g signals go only blocks, t-mobile 5g goes miles... beyond the big cities to the small towns... to the people. millions of americans can have access to 5g on t-mobile. this is just the beginning. t-mobile, the first and only nationwide 5g network. next phase is two days worth of questions from the senators

through the chief social security justice to the impeachment managers and trump co, his lawyers. the question's going to be written on a card like this. what will the democrats ask to bolter their argument for witnesses? let's get some insight from democratic senator richard blumenthal. thank you as always, sir. thank you. >> forget about mcconnell not knowing whether or not he has the votes. i don't know what that means. i don't care about it. do you think at this point that if they don't have witnesses, this is going to wind up being something that will haunt the gop? because you know you need them. you have their own cases laid out, senator, the need for witnesses. they just didn't expect bolton to speak up like this. >> they had no idea, presumably, that bolton was going to speak up, at least perhaps mitch mcconnell didn't, but the white houselars may well have. and one of the questions we are going to have the next few days is what did they know and when

did they know it, and why apparently did they hide it from the senate? but there's no question in response to your question that they will be haunted by history. they are facing 75% of the american people. and in many of the states that are involved in tough re-election races an even higher percentage that want witnesses and documents and other evidence. and they're also facing a vindicative president. but the most important point and you mentioned it a little bit earlier was that the truth eem is going to come out, and not in a matter of years but in days and weeks because the bolton manuscript is there. and more of it will come out, it'll be published in just a matter of weeks. >> it's like march 17th. right by the ides of march, no small coincidence. forgive me this nakedly political question for a second.

couldn't you make the argument, senator, that it is better for your party in the election for there to not be witnesses? don't beat me over the head with the constitution. i know, i know, but i'm just saying it will likely not change the ultimate vote count. maybe a couple. but the acquittal seems to be the path that this party, the gop is insisting on. if there are no witnesses, isn't that more helpful to the democratic cause of saying look how they perverted this process just to get their want here just like they did with kavanaugh where they rammed it through, they rammed this through too. and look at all these other things that have come out that they hid from. isn't politically that more beneficial and more the point of what the truth will show? >> there may be a good political argument, chris. i will grant you. but in the larger scheme, this trial really is such a serious matter in the history of this republic, we should be searching

for the truth. and i'll avoid beating you over the head with the constitutional argument. but the practical good government argument and the conscience of the senate ought to be to seek the truth. that's what we took the oath to do. i am still listening. the summation today was virtually fact-free filled with innuendo and insinuation from the president's lawyers. i was listening for some shred or scintilla of evidence. what they said in that closing argument, by the way, made the case for john bolton as a witness. >> i hear you on that. but now what happens. let's say you get the witnesses. and they say, fine, you can have bolton, we want joe biden. >> well, joe biden or hunter biden who is more likely to be requested, they're saying is part of a quid pro quo. i don't think that we can do a

quid pro quo trade on witnesses in an impeachment trial involving an alleged corrupt quid pro quo more to the point. >> but you don't have the votes, senator. >> well, they can call hunter biden or joe biden. >> that's right. >> at any point, they have the majority. and you know the reason that they haven't called them. they don't want them as witnesses because they don't want to prolong the trial and they don't want necessarily to turn it no a circus. what they have done in the course of this trial is try to continue the smear of the former vice president and his son. and that's what they are trying to put on the senate floor if they insist on this witness trade. but there's one other point here. >> please. >> that's really important. and that is that we need witnesses who have relevant first-hand knowledge like bolton. they refer to bolton's book as unsourced manuscript, leaks, hearsay. let's have a witness, you can't

cross-examine the manuscript, but we can cross-examine the witness. >> strong point. senator blumenthal, i appreciate it, especially on a big night. we got an update just a short while ago from the ntsb. they are investigating the crash that killed kobe bryant, his daughter, and seven others. we're going to go through what they have learned. up next, we are joined by one of kobe's friends, teammates, nba legend in his own right, derek fisher. he considered it a gift and a blessing to have played with kobe. why? next. my congestion's gone. i can breathe again! ahhhh! i can breathe again! ughh! vicks sinex. breathe on.

i need all the breaks, that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

apps except work.rywhere... why is that? is it because people love filling out forms? maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much vacation time they have. or sending corporate their expense reports. i'll let you in on a little secret. they don't. by empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. to learn more, visit paycom.com

all right. so the ntsb says it will have a preliminary report in about a week and a half, like ten days basketball great kobe bryant and eight others including his own daughter, a couple of other kids and just some great people who are now lost. investigators have offered some new information on the final

moments before the tragedy. we're going to have it for you shortly. but first i want to bring in someone who knew kobe and loved him dearly. bryant's former teammate, turned head coach for the l.a. sparks of the wnba, derek fisher. he's actually outside the staples center tonight. coach, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me, chris. >> i know this is very difficult. i'm sorry to have to have this conversation, but i do think it matters right now for people to understand who and what was lost. i keep hearing from his friends. it wasn't the basketball, it wasn't the points, it wasn't the athleticism. that's not why i came to respect him as much as i did. what was it for you? >> for me it was, you know, his entire being. i spent most of my professional career as a player, most of my formative years as a man, as a

father, as a husband, alongside of kobe, plane rides, bus rides, in the arena. and we grew up together in a lot of ways, even though i'm only a few years older. i don't think that any of us can achieve the best version of ourselves, you know, whatever our individual greatness is without inspiration from others. and for me personally he was a gift and a blessing because i got a chance to live with in the sense someone that on a daily basis was trying to access the greatest parts of who he is and who he was. i don't know if we'll ever have someone else like him. and that adds to the pain to not get a chance to see him continue on with his legacy. >> what did you see in him as a father especially with gigi and trying to help her be a

ballplayer? >> you know, being fully present is sometimes a hard thing to do in life for all of us regardless of what keeps us busy, what our professions are. it's really difficult to be fully present in life. and i think as men for our children sometimes we are working so hard to provide for them to create a life for them. we're not actually present in their lives in a way that's meaningful and impactful the way it should be. and to observe kobe and watch him and see him spread his love to try and impact his daughter's experience as a young athlete was moving. often times, like, when there is a movement happening that i think is happening in women's sports and for young girls, people are taken away too soon. dr. king was taken away from us too soon. brother malcolm x was taken away from us too soon. jfk was taken away from us too

soon. and it slows the process of movement down. and i don't know if we fully connect yet to possibly the process of movement in women's sports to support the dollars, the attention, the notoriety that these women deserve and young girls like gianna deserved. kobe being gone slows that process down unless we keep that moving and somehow pick it up. and that's arguably and honestly probably the only reason i'm talking as much as i am about what this is and what it means to me because i don't want that part of him and what he was trying to do to go away with him. >> you know, sometimes people rationalize premature loss of some of the men that you were talking about and other leaders of communities by saying that maybe the plan was that they got taken too soon so that people could recognize what they meant and carry on their work. maybe they become a catalyst. and maybe that's just wishful thinking. but we'll see. and having men like you step up and say now the time is to talk

about what mattered to him and how to continue it, maybe that's exactly what will happen. let me ask you something else, coach. i want to know if this is true for a superstar or pr pro ballplayer for you and kobe that when a parent sees their kid do something in sports, score a basket, make a good play, they appreciate it so much more than whatever greatness they achieved on the court. did you see any of that in kobe when he would watch his daughter play. it's tough to see from his face. but what did it mean for him to see his daughter do things well on the court? >> uh, it's a great question. i wish he was here to answer it. honestly, what i know about kobe and understand, i don't think it was much about the basketball aspect. i think more than anything, he wanted for his children, for his

teammates, people like myself to be passionate about what you want to do in life. and i think he would have been and was just as supportive of all of his children regardless of their passions or endeavors. for gianni it was basketball. for nathalia it was volleyball. i think he just loved the idea of seeing gianna really, really passionate about being great at what he wanted to be in life. >> whatever it is. >> whatever it is, and that's what parenting is about. it's not about forcing anything on our children. and i think he was there no matter what. >> what will you tell his youngest about her father when she's ready? >> anything she wants to know that i can offer. the tough part about this is how many, you know, people do have stories and moments that they

can share with his youngest daughters? the one thing that really pops to mind, honestly, chris, is a conversation he and i had about our children and life and navigating the decisions you sometimes have to make as a man, and the choice he made to look 20 years ahead in his life and think about where his daughters would be if his family unit was not together and how that helped to shift his mindset on being the father, being a husband, and the choice he made to do what he needed to do. and so that's what i would tell anybody that wants to hear is that kobe was intentional about being a great father and a great husband. and as men, that's what we all are striving to be. i don't know if any of us will be as good as it as he was. but that's what i will tell them when i get the chance. >> thank you so much for sharing your pain and your perspective

on a friend and a great player and a great man who was lost. thank you, sir. >> thank you. as i said, ntsb officials are still processing the crash site. they did give new details. actually, a fair amount. we're going to analyze what we now understand with investigators. could it have been, could it have been, all right, it's a question, a piece of equipment on board? was that a factor in what was happening here? i'll explain next. 0 on average when they bundle home and auto with progressive. wow, that's... and now the progressive commercial halftime show, featuring smash mouth. ♪ hey now, you're an all star ♪ get your game on, go play thank you! goodnight! [ cheers and applause ] now enjoy the second half of the commercial! even renters can bundle and save! where did that come from? the kitchen. it was halftime.

where did that come from? car vending machines and buying a car 100% online.vented now we've created a brand new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old, we want to buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our techno-wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way-- at carvana. rouge signature by l'oreal. finally a lasting lip stain. for a matte color impact, with a barely there feel. luxuriously intense matte shades. rouge signature by l'oreal paris. we're worth it. rouge signature by l'oreal paris. ♪ applebee's new irresist-a-bowls starting at $7.99 for a limited time.

i have moderate to severe pnow, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ a high-energy impact crash. that's how the ntsb describes the crash that killed kobe bryant and eight others including his young daughter. they say the helicopter hit the hillside here in calabasas at a speed of about 20 miles an hour. that has to be taken in context, and we'll do that with the experts. the issue is the chopper lacked a terrain awareness and warning system. the acronym is t.a.w.s.,

something the ntsb has been pushing for since 2004. the faa doesn't require it. we also have new video of the si korszi, about 15 minutes before the last radar contact. so let's bring in mary and tom. mary works for a law firm that represents victims and families after aviation disasters. it's good to have you both with us. first, high-energy impact crash. what does that mean to us, mary? >> well, it means that the plane was coming down with a great rate of speed. so speed turns into energy when it impacts with the ground. and you can see that from the crash and wreckage side. the harder the impact, the higher the energy, the greater dissipation. >> and now when we are talking, tom, just give us a general

sense of conditions and why this ship would've been flying this low. >> well, yes. i was here when the tragic news came out. any time you get news of an aircraft going down, you've got to look at weather right away. what's interesting is mountainbikers told authorities that they say this helicopter in distress. so right away you're thinking mechanical. but when it comes to the weather we had 100% humidity. this is fog. the winds were light. but if you look at the cloud deck we have also what's called a marine layer. big storms to the north are bringing in this soup from the pacific. that lowers the visibility, not to mention even though you can see at the surface it's two and a half, three miles. but we have a temperature inversion, cold air aloft is acting like a lid. so it's trapping everything. if you look at the cloud deck, the top of the cloud deck was about 3,100 feet. the base of the cloud deck was around a thousand. for most of this trek that they

made, they were about 800 to 900 feet. so it does vary. it's not just generally saying, okay, it's pea soup everywhere. from ridge top to ridge top, canyon to canyon, the visibility changes but he stayed below that most of the time. >> so he's obviously a highly trained pilot. the soup, we've heard it described as being inside of a glass of milk. so obviously even with the instruments he felt he had to go low. he goes so low that now they can't see him on radar. and there becomes a couple of interesting dynamics. so, the tower says this. the burbank tower, you can expect a few minutes. i've got a special vfr held copt. it's been holding 15 minutes. listen.

all right. first of all, what do we know there? he doesn't sound like he's in a panic at that particular time, the pilot. but i want you to understand that in this context, mary. so he doesn't sound like that. he's asking for special vfr rules, visual flight rules because he's low. and while you're describing it, i'm just going to play through the flight path so they can see how the helicopter, that 15 minutes probably is this circling around glendale where he was going. we see these loops on the route map here of it going round and round. what's your read on that, mary? >> well, he was holding because he had the problem of traffic, and then he also had the weather conditions. so he had to get the special vfr. what's really important to talk about the special vfr is that's not a way that you fly in just regular operations. some people say when should you get special vfr? never.

but if you're in a situation where you think you can get around the weather and around the traffic and you just need a little special, a little special exlurks if you wi exclusion, if you will, it's usually a thousand feet. but for helicopters it is lower. and so this is just a way to get you to another place, but you're still supposed to be able to see where you're going and fly what you see. >> am i wrong to say, tom, with all your experience and mary as well that when you look at the crash site and what we're told is basically it seems like this hill or this mountain came up on this pilot suddenly because of the conditions and he wound up misjudging it and that 20-mile-an-hour speed, that's speed over ground, and he was probably trying to go up and he didn't make it and wound up crashing into it at that angle. so do you think, mary, that what we're going to look at here is going to be a combination of factors that went to him not having the warning system, yes,

but him being in tough weather, having to hold, trying to find a way out of it, and having a lot of mountains around him and not a lot of visibility or time? >> right. and the decision to take off in the first place. was he qualified for it, did the plane have autopilot? you usually have to have two pilots or autopilot. and did he make a sharp turn trying to avoid the mountain and cause the helicopter to have a rotar blade stall? so many things the ntsb will address. >> for the most part you have to take into consideration he probably took this path dozens of times. when you look at the elevation, and this was the holding pattern when they had to clear the aircraft in burbank, he stayed low following interstate 5 to 101. he's following right along the highways so he obviously had a visual. when he got in contact with van nuys, they said do you want to

get in contact with socal? and he said sure. his elevation is still the same until he climbs all the way to 2,300 feet. this is where we calculated if he would have stayed there, he would have cleared all of these ri ridgetops. but why the sudden drop at the last moment? again, he would have cleared all of these. and there is that bank to the left that we're talking about in the press conference. so, again, he had a visual the entire way, but he does get into higher terrain toward the very end. but if he would have stayed above it, it looks like they would have cleared this. so again still a lot of questions. medical emergency or that part you were talking about, mechanical as well. >> as we find out more information, please, i am going to lean on you guys to help us understand this because there was just too much loss for us not to understand and hopefully learn something about it to avoid it the next time. mary, tom, as always, thank you.

all right, a lot of questions to answer. as we get the information we'll go on it in terms of understanding the loss. the questions that are looming large over this impeachment trial also need attention. now, what should each side be asked? i have three main questions that i believe i argue. we'll get to the heart of the matter, next. [happy birthday music]

♪ ♪ don't get mad, put those years to work with e*trade. coyou fifteen percentico or more on car insurance? do woodchucks chuck wood? hey you dang woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!

geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

time to debate is over. now we have 16 hours, over two days, of senators asking questions to both sides. here are my top three. first for counsel to the president. a major prong of your argument is that no one can tie the president to the plot in ukraine directly. and trump and you say that those in charge would prove he did nothing wrong, especially now with bolton directly contradicting you and mulvaney having contradicted your assertion in the past. aren't witnesses a must? now, before you answer that and say it's an absurd notion that

only helps democrats prolong this process, remember this. >> i would rather go the long way. i would rather interview bolton. i would rather interview a lot of people. >> the president said at that time, but i'm worried about privilege issues. you know how privilege works, senators? you do. he attacked bolton and questioned his voracity. his lawyers did the same. bolton is no longer in the white house. you take those two together. either the privilege does not extend to bolton because he's out, or the president arguably waived it by calling him a liar about exactly this subject matter. besides, executive privilege doesn't mean you can't ask an adviser about anything under any circumstances. it's selective, often by topic or even by question. and never covers questionable acts of abuse or criminality. now, i doubt we would get a satisfying answer, but here's a

runner-up question on this. why did they dare to argue that no one can tie this president to wrongdoing directly when they've had a draft of bolton's book? is trump not the only one in the white house who doesn't like to read? house managers everything you're alleging amounts to bribe. why didn't you charge trump with bribe? their answer is likely concerns about getting bogged down and crime law. case law. supreme court about what a prescribe is with a public official. did they over think it? the law is the bedrock. bribery is the bedrock of corruption charge. the founders included it for a reason. besides the president isn't charged with a crime since he can't be indicted. so forget about this precise element by element. he had the corrupt intent. the desire to influence an official act and yes, there was a quid pro quo. you give me this kwid, the probe

announcement. and i give you that. the aid. the love of the meeting and the being with me and the new ambassador. by not including that charge you allow trump to swing a big stick. they didn't everyone have enough to charng him with a crime. >> this is impeachment light. the lightest impeachment in the history of the country by far. there were no crimes whatsoever. no crimes. it says it. no crimes. >> question number 3 for counsel to the president. yo intentionally disported the facts during your argument. why abuse the record? proof of your premise. >> asking a foreign leader to get to the bottom of issues of corruption is not a violation of oath. >> no, it wouldn't be a violation. if that's what happened.

as trump likes to say look at the transcript. ukraine president talks about draining the swamp. trump is focussed on joe biden and crowd strike and favors. not widespread corruption in ukraine. he was focussed on his rival. and there's this. >> president zelensky and high ranking ukrainian officials did not even know the security assistance was paused until the end of august. >> it doesn't have to be tied to the call. pentagon official testified she saw two e-mails in late july about the time of the call indicating that ukrainian officials knew that aid had been frozen. that lines up with closed door testimony from a state department official. how about this. >> former vice president biden publicly details bha we know happened. his threat to with hold more than $1 billion in loan guarantees unless shulkin was

fired. thf the prosecutor investigating bris ma. >> she's insinuating biden made demands to save his son. investigation was inactive at the time. there was nothing to stop. that everyone in the world agreed shulkin was ineffective. including ukraine parliament. he was acting in line with u.s. policy. can they say the same about trump? how do they get answered. that's the argument. tonight we heard from a teammate of kobe bryant. dereck fisher. one of the interesting things about how people are processing this loss is how is is it making them feel about their own lives? i want you to hear from o neil

and other big shots about what this has done to them. t-mobile 5g is here. and it's nationwide. while some 5g signals go only blocks, t-mobile 5g goes miles... beyond the big cities to the small towns... to the people. millions of americans can have access to 5g on t-mobile. this is just the beginning. t-mobile, the first and only nationwide 5g network.

my money should work as hard as i do. that's why i use my freedom unlimited card every time i get gas. give me a little slack! with freedom unlimited, you're always earning. i said i need some slack on pump three! yeah. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. only pay for what you need with liberty mutual. con liberty mutual solo pagas lo que necesitas. only pay for what you need... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i was told to begin my aspirin regimen, blem. and i just didn't listen. until i almost lost my life. my doctors again ordered me to take aspirin, and i do. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. listen to the doctor. take it seriously.

it took plenty of work to get here. but it's still important to be prepared for what's next. at fidelity, we can help you build a clear plan for retirement without the unnecessary fees you might expect from so many financial firms. we'll make sure you can cover the essentials, as well as all the things you want to do. because when you have a retirement partner who gives you clarity at every step, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. ♪ here's wishing you the bluest sky ♪

a solemn bolo tonight. kobe bryants friend and former teammates as they reflebt on the loss but what it makes thep think about how to live their own lives. listen. >> it's okay to feel which ever way you're feeling right now. it's okay to be hurt. to cry. it's okay to show motion. to have laughter. it's okay to talk about get around people and talk about the moments that you shared with kobe bryant. because we all know when you talk about the mamba mentality. he wanted to out work you. right? i'm going to out work people and continue to work. and celebrate him.

i think that's when he would want. >> we take stuff for granted. i don't talk to you as much as i need to. the fact that we're not going to be able to joke at his hall of fame ceremony. we're not going to be able to say i got five you got four. the fact that we're not saying if we would stay together we could have got ten. those are the things you can't get back. >> it's hard. it's hard to lose someone you care about. it's hard to express it. a will the of men don't. that's proof that's one of the largest strongest men in the world and vulnerability is strength. the message is clear. there is no guarantee of tomorrow. the people you love and care about you need to do that now. you never know what happens next.

thank you very much for being with us. tonight i want to get to don lemon. "cnn tonight." this is something that me and him have been talking about. because we love each other very much and we cherish having time with each other. it's occasions like this the first thing he said when we were processing the kobe was gone. >> first text to chris cuomo. >> don't go anywhere. i love you. i said that. you said why do i have to be the one who's going to be gone. >> you said something -- you want me to share? you said stop it. you said i live hard. i attack every moment and i live hard because i know i'm not going to live long. >> that's not how i feel. i try to do it now. i try to make sure, you know this. i try to be the best i