. >> jim acosta, thanks very much. back with jim axelrod, gloriaberger, david gergen. gloria, the idea of it all comes down to bolton, that's an incredible roll of the dice. i don't know that anybody really has any idea of his perspective. there was that story he said compared something that he was hearing from sunland and others as a drug deal. what he actually testifies to, it's kind of amazing that it could possibly come down to that. >> yeah, i think so. look, it's very clear from the testimony we've seen that bolton was completely unhappy with what was going on vis-a-vis ukraine. he referred to it as a drug deal. he thought that it was a rogue policy that was being directed by rudy giuliani, and he referred to giuliani and mick mulvaney when he was talking than drug deal. the question that i have is how are they going to get him up there and what venue. you know, his attorney is also the attorney representing somebody else who wants it to go

here's jim acosta. >> reporter: the president held a raucous rally, where he talked about the impeachment inquiry. at one point, he accused the whistleblower of disappearing. that's not the case. the lawyers have tried to keep that person's identity a secret. president trump also accused democrats of trying to overthrow him in a coup. here's more of what he had to say. >> democrats are becomingly increasingly totalitarian. suppressing dissent, defaming the innocent, eliminating due process, staging show trials and trying to overthrow american democracy to impose their socialist agenda. >> reporter: the president also laid into his potential democratic rivals in the 2020 election. he warned this crowd in louisiana that if the democrats take back the white house in 2020, there will be a great depression. the president's speech was more about fear than the facts. d dave and julia? >> the campaign of republican governor matt bevin has asked for a recanvas of tuesday night's vote. andy beshear had victory. but he had a victory of less than half a percentage point. bevin refused to concede. he

i want to quickly bring in jim's acosta at the white house with some late reporting on how they see the vote today and the testimony. jim, what's the reaction? >> anderson, i talked to a source at the meeting familiar with the president. you know, the president, white house aides, they've been reaching out to these republican senator, concerned about these news reports that perhaps the senate won't play out the same way that it played thought the house. and according to the source familiar with what happened in this meeting, the president was very pleased as your guests were just talking about a few moments ago that no republicans broke ranks with the president in the house. the president was very pleased by that and he was also continuing to hang his hat on the released transcript -- not the complete transcript, the summary transcript with his conversation with the leader of ukraine as if it's somehow exonerating for him. one other big takeaway from this meeting earlier today, there is a growing sense i guess among senate republicans that perhaps they will stay home, they will stay loy

chief political correspondent jim acosta is at the brandenburg gate and joins us now welcome because you are a whole what's the mood like that. well you're hearing that very dramatic music of beethoven's 5th symphony this into the face this exam for me and it's a celebration mood of course but also a very reflective mood here this evening we've heard from the german president we've heard from manny and 1st who led the 1st stars e-file organization here commemorating also the victims of division not just victims who died because they tried to even see the thank also those who spy over fees were cut short too stupid and studied because they had the wrong parents and also also. having the responsibility for the future that's what the mayor of then said miss him experiencing freedom means having responsibility for freedom so very point poignant moment right now so it's clearly night for celebration so what else is on for this evening. yes we'll hear from more people whose lives have really been determined by division but also by german reunification. we heard speeches is also though it's

i'm jim acosta, thank you very much for watching and happy thanksgiving, everybody. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. >>> out front next, breaking news. rudy giuliani reportedly tried to cash in to the tune of half a million dollars on ukraine while digging for dirt on joe biden. is trump about to turn on his personal attorney? plus new details tonight on a highly anticipated report about the russia investigation and it completely undermines what trump has been claiming for years. and the navy secretary who was fired tears into president trump in a new op-ed tonight saying he doesn't understand what it means to be a military man. let's go out front. >>> good evening, everyone. i'm bee

joining us is jim acosta. we're entering this historic week. talk about the white house strategy to deal with everything that will come out of the hearing. is there a strategy or just whatever president trump wants to tweet on any given moment? >> reporter: it's a little bit of both, anderson. we just obtained the trump campaign talking points heading into the hearings. it is a critical week in the impeachment inquiry. according to the talking points, one of them says the facts are on our side. democrats would beg to disagree. it says the whistle-blower has no first-hand knowledge of the call. this is sounding familiar and that other witnesses in the inquiry so far do not have firsthand knowledge of the call. anderson, we have heard much of that before repeated right at their house and they're repeating the same talking points over and over again in the hopes that it will stick. in terms of other points that they will be hammering home, the president will be holding a press conference with the president of turkey so we'll hear more about that t

joining us now from the white house, jim acosta. jim, so we're entering this historic week. talk about the white house strategy to deal with everything that will come out of the hearings. i mean is there a strategy, or is it just whatever president trump wants to tweet on any given moment? >> reporter: it's a little bit of both, anderson. i will tell you we just obtained the trump campaign talking points heading into these public hearings. as you mentioned, it is a critical week in the impeachment inquiry. and according to these talking points, one of them says the facts are on our side. democrats would beg to disagree. it also goes on to say that the whistle-blower has no firsthand knowledge of the call. this is all sounding very familiar. and that other witnesses in the inquiry so far do not have firsthand knowledge of the call. now, anderson, we have heard much of that already before repeated by this white house. so it seems to be at this point they are just repeating the same talking points over and over again in the hopes it will stick. now, in terms of other points tha

jim acosta at the white house for us. thank you very much. we have our own lawyers on hand to dig through this. chief analyst jeffrey toobin, also, jennifer rodgers who had don mcgahn's job. i want to read a little bit of this ruling. put it on the screen. joe jackson writes, with respect to senior level presidential aides, absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist. as the kids would say, absolute immunity is not a thing. how stark of a ruling is this? >> it is really such an extraordinary claim by the white house. that not only doesn't don mcgahn or any white house official have to protect individual conversations with the president, the white house argued they don't even have to show up. they are absolutely immune from congressional oversight. judge jackson could not be more explicit as that passage illustrates. there is no such thing as absolute immunity. however, the come mexico at this here is that what is covered by executive privilege remains somewhat ambiguous. but does don mcgahn if this ruling is u

jim acosta, thank you very much. >>> let's get more on this. joining us now democratic congressman ro khanna of california a member of oversight and armed services committee. congressman, thank you for joining us. and tomorrow kicks off a very busy week of public impeachment hearings. what are democrats hoping to accomplish as the house interviews the next round of nine witnesses tomorrow, wednesday and thursday? >> we hope to get further corroboration for a story that is very simple. this president has pressured zelensky to announce investigations into joe biden and he withheld aid if zelensky didn't do that and now we're seeing corroboration and even seeing that the president admitted this in a phone call with sondland. all of that evidence needs to come out. >> they've just told us, the committee, that david holmes, the counselor from ukraine who overheard the phone conversation with the president and ambassador sondland will testify before the cameras on thursday. what do you hope to achieve then? >> wolf, i think that is explosive. he's go

let's go to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta.ile ago and predictably dismissed it all as a hoax. >> that's right, wolf. the president retreated back to his talking points on the impeachment inquiry and tried to claim on this press conference with president erdogan, that he did not watch a single moment coming out of capitol hill. there was one big moment in the press conference when he was asked about bill taylor, the diplomat ines heard over the ph to ambassador gordon sondland he wanted to know what the status of the investigations is, and that was something very damaging, a lot of democrats thought, to the president today and the president talked about this at a press conference a short while ago. here's what he had to say. >> i hear it's a joke. i haven't watched. i haven't watched for one minute because i've been with the president much more important as far as i'm concerned. i know nothing about that, the first time i've heard it. the one thing i heard sondland said he did speak to me for a brief moment and i said no quid p

jim acosta. thank you. >>> let's discuss the news with gerry connelly on the house oversight and foreign affairs committee. congressman, thanks for joining us. let's get immediately to the lengthy letter that the house intelligence chairman adam schiff has now distributing saying that you are learning additional information in his words almost every day. if that is true, congressman, how you could hand off a report to the judiciary committee as soon as next week? >> well, the fact that we're continuing to learn information doesn't mean that we somehow stop or delay the process that we're undertaken. i think we have plenty of evidence in front of us without requiring additional information or evidence to proceed with the impeachment of this president. >> according to "the washington post," the white house made the decision to withhold money for ukraine and then later tried to find ways to justify the decision. why not try to obtain those documents or testimony once again from people like mick mulv

our correspondent jim acosta is joining us. you're in louisiana where the president will hold another political rally later tonight. >> reporter: that is right, wolf. president trump is on his way to louisiana to campaign for the republican candidate for governor. the white house is very concerned about these fast-moving developments in the impeachment inquiry. the president may be campaigning down here but that didn't go so well last night as there were big losses for the republican party in contests across the country but still the white house has focus on impeachment, hiring new officials to respond to the inquiry, still republicans are getting jittery about impeachment and 2020 with one source close to the white house telling me that last fight's elections and impeachment are sizing up to be a bad omen for the president. president trump is escaping to the campaign trail with a cloud of impeachment hanging over his every move. the white house is bracing for the upcoming public hearings and the inquiry and getting more nervou

jim acosta, cnn, the white house. >>> well, let's talk about developments with leslie vinjamuri. hi, leslie. good morning to you. >> good morning, thank you. >> all right. we just heard, yes, fake news, fake this -- that is the president's playbook. and he's been playing it hard. what do you make of president trump's daring democrats to put him on trial in the senate? he's given the impression he's got nothing to fear. he remained defiant, talking with fox news? >> well, remember, this is the president's approach. he also, if you go back a few weeks or a few months, he was bearing the democrats to begin impeachment hearings. i think there are a couple of things here. first, of course, he knows at this point he has the -- he has the republican voters on his side. and he has the republicans in senate. and he has a majority. so, he isn't worried that he's going to lose the vote. but i think more importantly, the president knows that a lot of what matters when we move to the senate is what the narrative looks like, how it plays out. how the story is told. and i think, frankly, that h

wolf. >> jim acosta, thank you. let's bring in jake tapper, the host of "the lead," our chief washington correspondent here with a preview of the documentary all of the president's lies and we'll get to that in a moment. what do you think of the impact of the president's lies has been on his presidency sa-- and the country? >> well the experts we talked to are very concerned about the impact. because, look, this country is still dealing with the lies told to the united states by lyndon johnson and nixon about vietnam and by nixon about watergate. we still feel it. the distrust of government is part of that. so the fact that this president said so many things that are just patently false, for whatever reason, is having an impact and a lot of experts are very concerned. what does it mean in terms of the word of the president to u.s. allies. what does it mean when the president makes up or conflates a phone call with china and the market goes up, perhaps as a result. what does it mean to people on wall street? what doe

jim acosta at the white house. more on all of this. joining us now, democratic congressman john garamendi of california, a member of the armed services committee. how significant is ambassador sond's revised testimony today confirming his role in a quid pro quo with ukraine? >> it is extremely important. it is one more confirmation that the whistle-blower was correct in the allegations that he brought forward. and that had been reviewed by the inspector general. this is getting deeper and much more difficult for the president. clk we keep using the word quid pro quo but the accurate word here is bribery and extortion. those are criminal charges. quid pro quo, okay, no bribery and extortion in exchange for money, $391 million of necessary medical and military equipment in exchange for dirt to be used in a campaign. two illegal actions put together. >> gordon sondland is a wealthy hotelier from oregon and gave a million dollars to the trump inaugural committee, very active supporting president trump during the campaign. he clearly can't

cnn's jim acosta has that. >> reporter: any response to jerry nadler? >> reporter: leaving the white house to spend thanksgiving in florida, president trump ignored questions about what's waiting for him after his holiday break. house judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler's plans for new hearings in the impeachment inquiry. while acknowledging in a tweet that he stalled military aid to ukraine as part of that alleged deal to get dirt on joe biden the president indicated he's not ready to allow top officials to testify in front of house democrats, tweeting that his former national security adviser john bolton is a patriot and may know that i held back the money from ukraine because it is considered a corrupt country. likewise i would love to have secretary of state mike pompeo, energy secretary rick perry, and acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and many others testify about the phony impeachment hoax. but the president said he doesn't want future presidents to be compromised. pompeo refused to be pinned down on whether he would testify. >> the presi

more now to jim acosta for that. so what are you learning? >> reporter: it is a picture of chaos as the president heads into this very different phase for him in the impeachment inquiry, very public phase with officials testifying in front of cameras up on capitol hill. anderson, my colleagues and i over here at the white house are hearing from our sources that when mick mulvaney the acting chief of staff started these legal maneuverings a few days ago first he would join this lawsuit in federal court that would determine whether or not he should respond to these congressional subpoenas up on capitol hill and testify, and then yesterday he decided he's going to pull out of that legal challenge and pose his own legal challenge, file his own lawsuit and then this morning we find out he's scrapping the whole thing altogether and going back to the original legal guidance from the administration that he's immune from testifying under this subpoena that has been issued for his testimony. and anderson, what we're hearing from our sources is that the

jim acosta is joining us now. what are you picking up there. >> reporter: president trump is expected to arrive at the white house at any moment after his trip up to new york. we'll see if he takes questions about the "new york times" report that said that the president did talk about with his aides the prospect of firing mike at atkinson, the inspector general for national intelligence and that is key because he green-lighted this whistle-blower complaint and found the whistle-blower complaint about the president's phone call with the leader of ukraine to be credible. in the meantime, president trump and his defenders are gearing up for war in week as the public hearings get underway in the impeachment inquiry. the trump campaign will be running a rapid response operation to react to the fast-moving developments up on capitol hill and the war room and chief is already preparing for battle but some trump advisers are telling us they are questioning how the president is handling this inquiry. one source close to th

. >>> jim acosta is covering the story for us. the president is clearly pushing back against all of this? >> reporter: that is right, wolf. president trump is responding to the evidence in the impeachment inquiry by attacking the whistle-blower. he just did that a few moments ago as he was leaving the white house for a rally in kentucky. he's also going after some of the key witnesses in the investigation including alexander vindman. the president is sending a clear warning to witnesses who testify against him in the inquiry threatening to disclose damaging information about vindman. with transcripts of damaging testimony being released in the meach, president trump is taking aim at the investigation's most crucial witnesses. the president took a swipe at former ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch who testified she felt threatened by mr. trump. >> if you look at the transcripts, the president of ukraine was not a fan of hers either. i mean, he did not exactly say glowing things. >> reporter: but the president is saving his tou

cnn's jim acosta is at the white house with that. jim? >> reporter: anderson, one thing we should point out before we get into that. we're just getting word from our capitol hill colleagues that the testimonies are expected to be released, the full testimony given by david holmes and david hale. david holmes being that diplomatic official in ukraine who overheard -- who says he overheard the president's phone call with eu ambassador gordon sondland. you were just talking about some of this a few moments ago. heard the president asking gordon sondland about investigations. that testimony from david holmes is expected to be released any moment and also testimony from david hale. he's a state department official. he has been notable in all of this because he apparently heard some of the concerns that were expressed by other officials about the role that rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney, was playing in all of this missiles for misinformation scheme that was going on and being conducted by members of the trump administration an

let's go to our chief white house correspondent right now, jim acosta. he's got more on the white house game plan for tomorrow. jim, what are you learning? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. and we should note that the president just left the white house a few moments ago for a rally down in louisiana and he could be seen inside the oval office, having a chat with the attorney general, bill barr. and pat cipollone, the white house counsel here at the white house. there's some video of that right now. the president did not talk to reporters as he was deporting the white house for that rally. now, the white house is sizing up the next round of witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. a white house official raised questions about the next witness to appear at a public hearing. that's the former ukraine ambassador, marie yovanovitch, noting, this white house official said that the diplomat was not on president trump's july 25th phone call with the leader of ukraine and this official arguing that she could not lend any validity to any allegations of a quid pro quo.

jim acosta is there for us. what are you learning about how the white house is preparing for tomorrow? >> anderson, they are sizing up some of these upcoming witnesses. for example, marie yovanovitch, who was the former ukraine ambassador. i'm told by a white house official that they're already sending out their talking points, already talking about whether or not she is going to be that great of a witness for the democrats. this white house official said essentially, what does marie yovanovitch know about the july 25th phone call that the president had with the leader of ukraine? she doesn't know anything about it because she wasn't on that phone call and she wasn't the ukrainian ambassador at that point. they're sort of looking at who is coming up and sizing up each of these witnesses. i will tell you that the official that i spoke with also talked about this overheard conversation that bill taylor testified to yesterday about how the president and the eu ambassador gordon sondland had this phone call that was

we begin with the court ruling and cnn's jim acosta live for us at the white house. what has the white house reaction been so far? >> john, this ruling applies to the former white house counsel don mcgahn, but it might as well apply to the acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. it might as well apply to the former national security adviser john bolton. but the white house is saying not so fast. stephanie grisham just put out a statement saying essentially this decision contradicts long-standing precedent established by administrations on both political parties. we will appeal and are confident that the important constitutional principle advanced by the administration will be vindicated. this constitutional principle that the administration is advancing is that essentially they can say no to anybody testifying up on capitol hill, and what the judge said in that ruling is, no, that's not the case. and the judge pointed to the case of harriet meyers during the george w. bush administration, essentially saying that don mcgahn could go up to capitol hill and say that execut

>>president's new line of defense comes as the white house prepares for the worst jim acosta reports. >>top aides in the west wing are now preparing for what may be inevitable. the president trump will be impeached in the house of representatives and i'm prepared for the president to be impeached prepared for the votes to not go that way depending on what the evidence the evidence says when it comes to his battle against impeachment the president may be going from live-tweeting to live reading defending his phone call with the leader of ukraine telling the washington examiner at some point i'm going to sit down perhaps as a fireside chat on live television and i will read the transcript of the call because people have to hear it when you read it it's a straight call. that's despite more damaging testimony in the inquiry. democrats say the latest administration official to testify, tim morrison confirmed the president was dangling dollars as he dial for dirt on joe biden so you're saying the goal was corroborated the charge that there was a quid pro quo, yes. >>so and in my mind that i

let's go to our chief white house correspondent jim acosta. president and his team saying? >> reporter: the president retreated back to his talking points with the press conference with erdogan and the claims at one point during the news conference he didn't watch a single minute of the testimony today from bill taylor and george kent. that, of course, is belied by the fact he was commenting on the appearance of one of the attorneys appearing at that hearing earlier today. but the president was also asked about what was undoubtedly the day's bombshell piece of testimony that bill taylor said one of his aides overheard the president asking about investigations, democratic investigations of his e.u. ambassador gordon sondland, that aide may be testifying in short order in the impeachment proceeding but the president was asked about both of those items and here is what he had to say. >> hear it is a joke. i haven't watched. i haven't watched for one minute because i've been with the president which is much more important as far as i'm concerned.

. >> to the white house right now, chief white house correspondent jim acosta is working his sourcesese public hearings, just wrapped up, so what are you hearing over there at the white house? what is the reaction? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, after a damaging week of testimony for the president over here at the white house, they still believe there is not enough evidence at this point that these witnesses have not done enough damage at this point for the president to be convicted and removed from office if a senate trial were to happen, given the likelihood that the president will be impeached in the house. i talked to officials earlier this afternoon who said yes they listened to fiona hill, to david holmes. but they do not seat witnesses as being very good closing witnesses for the democrats to close out this week. they were certainly concerned about gordon sondland, the eu ambassador, this official i talked with earlier today said there were concerns inside the white house about what the eu ambassador was saying yesterday about the administration knowing full well there was a quid pr

wolf. >> jim acosta at the white house. let's discuss the news with jamie raskin, a member of both the judiciary and the oversight committee. thanks so much for joining us. and as you just heard, we literally a few minutes ago got the transcripts of omb official mark sandy and philip regger. you were there when they were testifying under oath. now the testimony and depositions have been released in the transcript. what stood out to you from their testimony? >> well, mark sandy was a fascinating witness because he blew the whistle in his own way about the budget process because he knew that things were happening in an extremely unusual and indeed unique way. congress had appropriated this money. the president had signed into law the appropriation going to ukraine basically all of the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed and it was held up and he raised the question of whether or not this is a violation of the impalement control act of 1974 adopted in the wake of watergate precisely to crack down on executives deciding to

let's go to our white house constituent jim acosta and the impeachment inquiry and the witnesses clearly very much on the president's mind tonight. >> that is right. and there is a fee hearing going on in federal court, charles kupperman over here at the white house, he has filed a lawsuit against the trump administration essentially trying to figure out from a federal judge and get guidance from the federal judge as to whether or not he should be compelled to testify via subpoena in the house impeachment inquiry and what is very interesting about that proceeding is that the acting chief of staff mick mulvaney in a mind-bending twist has asked to join that lawsuit. essentially join a lawsuit against the trump administration and the president of the united states, against his boss to determine whether or not to have this federal judge say whether or not he should be compelled to testify in the house impeachment inquiry. wolf, you remember late last week mick mulvaney was served with a subpoena to testify in this impeachment. he did not show up on friday for the scheduled testimony. now i

i'm jim acosta and you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> breaking news, growing turmoil and trouble for president trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani. new reports that giuliani sought lucrative private business with top officials in ukraine even as he simultaneously pushed the ukrainian government to dig up dirt on the president's political rivals according to "the new york times" and "the washington post." also breaking, a highly anticipated report from the inspector general at the justice department is expected to dismantle president trump's baseless claim that the fbi spied on his campaign according to "the new york times." i'll speak with congressman harley rouda, a key democrat on the house oversight committee and our analysts have full coverage of the top stories. let's bring with evan perez. it looks like rudy giuliani was trying to use his access to the president to drum up some business for himself. >> reporter: that is right, jim. it looks like this is another case of rudy giuliani double dipping while at the same time he was represent

>>whington yesterday, an undercover gop strategy as jim acosta reports president trump supporters heruggling to come up with a consistent counter impeachment message. >>president trump is a scathing to the campaign trail with the cloud of impeachment hanging over his every move. white hois bracing for the upcoming public hearings in the inquiry and getting more nervous about the newly released testimony from senior officis like the top diplomat in ukraine bil taylor and european union ambassador gordon someone, the vised his recollections to say there was a quid pro quo with ukrainian president, but aides to theresident say they still don't see a quid pro quo that is the white house's position and i don't think that his the latest revisions changthat white house is bringing on new staffers to beef up th counter impeachment message human despite press secretary stephanie grisham has claimed last week that mister trump can handle all that. he is the war room, the differeece between clintoand nixon which is what people constantly compare us to is that those 2 d something wrong. the pres

cnn's jim acosta reporting for us right there. white house also suffered political damage from electoral losses in virginia and pennsylvania this weekend possible. a lot possibly a loss in kentucky's gubernatorial race. >>we've got mostly clear skies but patchy fog now making its way inside the bay, how that might affect your commute coming up next. >>as soon as he sing that song. it's like a time for exhale the in that moment, feed off each other's energy, and jt give the freedoms that how fun learning a with our day. >>when tchers using a popular song by lizzo to teachers students to be great. >>that's the best thing you'll see today i bet this is not if you're warriors fan, the young dubs china pull off another upset this time though in houston the beard. had other ideas step back. you know the deal. mark carpenter at at&t we believe in access. the opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world. connecting with the things that matter most. and because nothing keeps us more connected than the internet. we've created access

jim acosta is at the white house and he's getting news over there, as well. what are you learning?ial, i just got off the phone with a white house official a few moments ago about the testimony you've been talking about over the last hour and this aide that overheard gordon sondland talking about what was going on with the president zelensky of ukraine. according to the white house official, they're not very concerned about what this aide is talking about behind closed doors. according to this white house official, i don't know what this witness does besides reflect what the president talked about the day before in the phone call with the ukrainian president. what this official is saying that this aide is repeating behind closed doors to lawmakers essentially what he heard on a phone call between the president and sondland after the phone call between the president and zelensky. so this official is asking what's the big deal when it comes to that? but i will tell you, that the aides of the president are not happy that gordon sondland apparently held the phone up so other aides to h

we get the latest now on all of this from cnn's jim acosta. >> reporter: top aides in the west wing areow preparing for what may be inevitable, that president trump will be impeached in the house of representatives. >> but i'm prepared for the president to be impeached. i'm prepared for the votes to not go that way, depending on what the evidence says. >> reporter: when it comes to his battle against impeachment, the president may be going from live tweeting to live reading, defending his phone call with the leader of ukraine, telling "the washington examiner," "at some point, i'm going sit down, perhaps as a fireside chat on live television, and i will read the transcript of the call, because people have to hear it. when you read it, it's a straight call." >> you can't impeach a president who did nothing wrong. the gentleman that came in yesterday, morrison, he was terrific. he was supposed to be their primary witness. he was terrific. and he said he didn't see anything wrong with it. >> reporter: that's despite more damaging testimony in the inquiry. democrats say the latest administr

>>as jim acosta rerts he is questioning some of the main witnesses scheduled to testify.nto the impeachment inquiry, presint trump is demonizing is democratic accusers referring to house speaker nancy losi has nervous nancy democrats in washingtonith a rather pursue. outrage is hoaxes and delusional witch huntswhich is going absolutely nowhere don't worry about getting gop talking points that question the main wifnesses scheduled to testify in public hearings this week, the president tweeted why is such a focus put on second and 3rd hand witnesses, many of whom are never trumrs or his lawyers are never trpers when all you have to do is read the phone call transcript with ukrainian president and see firsthand even though mister trump has repeatedly described as july 25th phone ll with the lead of ukraine is perfect president is vowing to detail another nversation with his ukrainian counterpart tweeting will be releasing the transcript of the first and therefore more important phone call with ukrainian president before week's end in an early-morning tweetstorm the president

we start with our chief white house correspondent jim acosta with me. jim, what's the president's reaction to this judge's ruling? >> reporter: you know, so far, brooke, i think the president is trying to have it both ways. we are seeing the president's sweets from earlier this morning where he says he would like people like john bolton and mick mulvaney and mike pompeo to testify, but also trying to protect the rights of the presidency. and the constitution separation of powers. essentially what the white house is arguing and what the justice dpept department is arg guing with th ruling from judge jackson. here's what they had to say. >> the president tweeted ashort while ago he'd encourage you to testify in the impeachment investigation. is that something you're considering? >> when the time is right, all good things happen. >> reporter: we're waiting to hear if the white house has a response to chairman nadler's letter about this hearing, setting the date for december 4th for their hearings to begin in the judiciary committee and so seems like america

let's go to chief white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, the trump team is trying to discredit the investigation on multiple fronts. >> reporter: that's right, wolf, white house officials are saying sondland's testimony is all part of this process that they deem to be a sham. the president did stay away from the cameras today with more damaging testimony surfacing in the impeachment territory. the president's allies are hard at work trying to convince the public it's time to reveal the identity of the whistle-blower. the president may be worried about another witness called to testify, his acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. tonight president trump has more to worry about than just the newly released transcripts of administration officials describing a quid pro quo with ukraine. there are more top aides who may be descending on capitol hill to testify, from former national security adviser john bolton to jennifer williams, senior adviser to vice president mike pence, and acting chief of staff mick mulvaney who has now been called to ap

we turn to cnn's jim acosta. jim?anderson, the testimony this week certainly was damaging, even devastating at times. but the white house, according to officials i've spoken to this evening, they do not believe over here that enough evidence has been presented at this point that will lead to the president being convicted and removed from office over in the senate. yes, they believe the president will likely be impeached in the house and that this will go over to the senate for a trial. but anderson, get this. officials that we're talking to over at the white house, they actually believe a senate trial could work to the president's favor, because presumably, republicans could start bringing in their own witnesses. there is even talk over here at the white house of calling hunter biden the whistle-blower, adam schiff to testify. and so the republicans sound like they're looking to create a circus of their own over in the senate. >> the president weighed in this morning trying to cast doubt on holmes' testimony on twitte

i'm jim acosta. we're following breaking news. sources telling cnn authorities have identified a man who killed two people in a terror attack before being killed by police and previously jailed for terror offenses. we learned three young people have been stabbed in a busy shopping area of the hague. another historic week in the impeachment inquiry of president trump. the house set a next deadline for next friday for the president's attorneys to decide if he will take place in the hearing. telling cnn, don't expect the president to take part in that one. more on that in a moment. first to cnn's international security editor, nick walsh. new information coming out tonight about this terror attack. what can you tell us? >> absolutely, jim. what sources within the british government are telling me, this man responsible for the horrifying scenes in central london was in fact jailed on terror offenses and recently licensed in the united kingdom, parole with tough conditions. that will be sparking a large amount of soul sourcing in briti

jim acosta, is there any evidence the president is reconsidering his strategy of stonewalling? >> doesn't sound like it, wolf. he is considering that he will cooperate in the impeachment with written testimony. democratic aides say they're not taking this very seriously. the president is back to attacking witnesses in the inquiry official working under vice president mike pence coming under attack by the vice president, a tactic we've already seen anger some in the president's own party. >> reporter: tossing out a shiny new bright object, president trump is dangling the possibility he might provide written testimony in the impeachment testimony. even though i don't like the idea i will strongly consider it. >> if he wants to take the oath of office, he can do it in writing. he has every opportunity to present his case. >> reporter: here has the problem. the president has dangled this pssibility before during the russia investigation. >> i would love to speak, love to go. nothing i want to do more because we did nothing wrong. >> reporter: after months of haggling the president

cnn jim acosta saying white house official saying dog is noted a white house.steve herman went a step further writing i've requested details from the white house on this photo. there was no such nine event in today's schedule but there is a medal of honor ceremony set today for active duty green buret. god these people are stupid. these jokes go right over their head. they're fact checking jokes if now. i mean they're so gullible no wonder they fell for russia collusion thing. now dogs became an force in u.s. military during world war ii. train nine were sent into battle for beach front and used as messagers and scouts and even mind detecters. today there are over 2,000 active military dogs in america, and here to fill us in on the role military dogs play in the war on terror is former navy s.e.a.l. k-9 trainer mark and dog niro mike. explain how you train a a k-9 to enter these combat zones and what are they specifically trained to do? >> so the most important thing starting out is finding right dog which had is overwhelmingly genetic a lot of times people mak

. >> thank you jim acosta is on the scene as he always is. jim, you're getting new information from your sources. what are you learn iing? >> that's right, wolf. a senior administration official says chairman nadler's proposal to allow perhaps the president to participate in upcoming hearings is under consideration and likely to be talk ed about during the president's visit to florida. allowing top b officials to testify, tha another matter. the president is trying to have it both ways, insisting he would like to see some of his tops appearing before lawmakers. it means don't hold your breath. >> any response to jerry nadler? >> leaving the white house to spend thanksgiving in florida, president trump ignored questions about what's waiting for him after his break. jerry nadler's plans for new hearings in the impeachment inquiry. while acknowledge iing he stall the president indicates he's not ready to allow top officials to testify in front of house democrats tweeting his former national security adviser john bolton is a patriot and may know t

jim acosta got a hold of some yesterday. there are other ones that came out today. but the president is basically saying do not relent. don't say the call wasn't perfect. he did nothing wrong. but some republicans are arguing, congressman, that what the president did was wrong but doesn't rise to the level of impeachment. so explain how the evidence tomorrow adds up to impeachable offenses. >> sure. well, as you know, impeachable offenses are high crimes and misdemeanors among others. and, you know, abusing the office or engaging in what congressman -- chairman schiff mentioned today, potentially bribery or extortion would certainly amount to the types of offenses that the framers or founders of this country envisioned when they talked about impeachable offenses. you know, one of the biggest concerns that they had was that a foreign power would somehow influence the politics of our internal affairs in our democracy. you know, when we started out as a country, that was one of the biggest fears. and even today, after 2016 when we saw what the russians did, we should h

immediately to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. potentially significant reversal by the acting white house chief of staff, mick mulvaney. >> reporter: that's right. the president is heading into a priod of massive uncertainty this week as public hearings get under way. one thing we should point out his own acting chief of staff, mick mulvaney, he has been seeking guidance from a federal judge whether or not he is able to testify in the impeachment inquiry. earlier, mulvaney was trying to assert himself into a lawsuit by a separate white house national security person, who is no longer on the national security council and now mulvaney said he will no longer insert himself in the proceedings and now launch into his own lawsuit against the white house and administration, seeking guidance from a federal judge whether or not he can testify. the white house says he has immunity but democrats want him up on capitol hill. at this point, the white house is insisting there is nothing wrong with mick mulvaney, acting chief of staff going into

let's go to jim acosta joining us from louisiana right now where the president is holding another political rally. even as mr. trump hits the campaign trail he's clearly beefing up his so-called impeachment defense team. >> reporter: he certainly is, wolf. the president is on his way to campaign for the governor in this state. the white house is focused on impeachment right now bringing on new staffers today to counter-message the impeachment inquiry playing up on capitol hill. there are plenty of jitters inside the republicans not just in a couple of states. as one source said they're calling these elections playing out this week a bad omen for the president. president trump is escaping to the campaign trail with a cloud of impeachment hanging over his every move. the white house is bracing for the upcoming public hearins in the inquiry and getting more nervous about newly released testimony from senior officials like the top diplomat, bill taylor and gordon sondland, who revised his recollections to say there was a quid pro quo to the president but said they stayed on a different quid pro

let's go to jim acosta.to lash out. >> reporter: that's right. democrats say they would like to get away from language like quid pro quo and go to high crimes and misdemeanors. the trump campaign we're told will be running a rapid response operation to react to these fast moving developments up on capitol hill and the war room in chief, namely the president is already repairing for battle. some are questioning how the president is handling this inquiry. one source close to the white house says nobody believes the president with -- phone call with the president of ukraine was perfect. >> reporter: referring to nancy pelosi has nervous nancy. >> democrats in washington would rather pursue outrageous hoaxes and delusional witch hunts which are going nowhere. don't worry about it. >> reporter: hitting gop talking points that question the main witnesses scheduled to testify. the president tweeted why is such a focus put on second and third hand witnesses. many of whom are never trumpers when all you have to do is