>>that was kristen holmes reporting the us senate is back in session on january 6. >>all right weather time now on this christmas eve. hey a lot of folks men traveling sfo has some problems today. well things are clearing up just a little bit anyway. so that's some good news at sfo cloudy skies, some showers actually just off the coastline. no delays reported at sfo oakland or san jose if you're catching a late flight somewhere to be somebody on that holiday but we are talking about the rain now on the rain has been moving in and it's been light so far really does just some lighter showers that are beginning to move in especially along the peninsula now you see some raindrops begin to push on shore and a half moon bay in the pacific about to move into parts of san francisco as well. and this is going to be the trend the showers going to be picking up throughout the evening tonight and continuing get a little heavy in the early morning hours tomorrow, christmas day not going to be a washout although be prepared for some showers especially in the morning hours decreas

kristen holmes is at the white house.resident trump has been, i guess, sounding a bit more optimistic, despite these latest developments? >> reporter: absolutely. we haven't heard back from the white house yet on this very important test but we did hear from the president yesterday on this increased tension. as will just described it, we have really seen this rhetoric heating up the last couple of days. remember earlier this week that north korea said that the talks with the u.s. were just foolish games involving u.s. politics, really hinting at president trump's election in 2020 there. so we asked president trump about what exactly was going on particularly given that yesterday the north korean ambassador to the united states said that denuclearization was off the table. here is what trump had to say. >> yeah. i have a very good relationship with kim jong-un. i think we both want to keep it that way. he knows i have an election coming up and i don't think he wants to interfere with that but we have have to see. the relat

in west palm beach, florida, kristen holmes, cnn. >>> iowa caucuses are fast approaching.ernie sanders' team is hoping an army of political new comers will lead him to victory. ryan nobles has this story. >> reporter: bernie sanders remains confident about his chances here in iowa. his campaign is convincing hundreds, maybe thousands of iowans that never caucused before to come out and support him. it's a strategy that even his campaign admits is risky. but if they pull it off, they believe they can win here. if the bernie sanders team is right. >> we believe in grassroots organizing. >> reporter: this is where the iowa caucus will be won. . >> hello. i'm volunteering with the bernie sanders campaign. >> reporter: on sidewalks, in the cold. with dedicated volunteers like denver foot, one of the many foot soldiers of the sanders revolution. >> he's for the people, by the people. >> reporter: a revamped strategy on full display. while still drawing big crowds at raucous rallies. >> we have a number of challenges. >> reporter: his campaign has a new, more targeted focus highl

kristen holmes live traveling with the president in south florida, we appreciate it. let's talk more now with josh rogan. let's first talk about this trip to ukraine from mike pompepompe. this comes as the president's personal lawyer. we should point out, that's not done yet. that could benefit trump politically. it comes days before congress convenes to hammer out details it seems at the very least, the timing of this trip is awkward, right? what message is the white house sending here? >> i think what you see is this bifurcated two track ukraine policy that got us into this whole mess in the first place is still very much alive and well. we have rudy giuliani traveling to kiev, trying to dig up dirt on joe biden and hunter biden. and mike pompeo trying to do the work of diplomacy. the president's lawyer, the secretary of state. who are the ukrainians supposed to listen to. who are they supposed to believe speaks to the president. if we don't know, they don't know. >> if we had to guess, the reason pompeo was going, to reaffirm the core of the u.s./ukraine relationsh

kristen holmes, cnn. >>> we continue covering the breaking news this hour out of new york state. a stabbing inside a rabbi's home. reaction is coming in from around the world. israeli lawmakers saying they are devastated by what happened and ask how authorities in the u.s. plan to get a grip on what looks to be a disturbing trend. cnn is live in jerusalem as the news continues after this break. breaking news out of new york city. a stabbing attack inside a rabbi's home. welcome back to viewers here in the u.s. and around the world. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. here's what we know at this point. police in monsey, new york, are on the scene of a mass stabbing during a hanukkah celebration. at least five were wounded during the attack, two critically wounded. a suspect is in custody at this hour. according to witnesses, 100 people came together inside the home of an orthodox jewish rabbi to celebrate the seventh night of hanukkah. the rabbi had just lit a candle when the attacker burst into the home. new york's governor ordered the state's hate crime task force to

kristen holmes reports. >> reporter: republican georgia governor squaring off president trump.appoint businesswoman kelly lesler to the state's open u.s. senate seat. sources tell cnn, defying the president, who behind closed doors, pushed him to choose another candidate, congressman doug collins. >> he's a special man whose name is congressman doug collins. >> reporter: an ardent trump supporter and defender. the republicani on the house judiciary committee has reepo repeatedly slammed the impeachment proceedings. >> it's like planko. they just drop something in and see where it fits in. >> reporter: kemp's decision, seen now as an act of betrayal, especially after trump's endorsement last year. >> i said bryan, congratulations. you're go tooli you're going to win and he won by 2.5 points. >> reporter: and being slammed by congressman gates who says if you substitute your judgment for the president's, maybe you need a primary in 2022. let's see if you get one without trump. the ceo of a financial services firm, lesler has been criticized, siting past political ties. >> kristen

kristen holmes from west palm beach. thank you. >>> and ke discuss with ar national security correspondent and a former security prosecutor. thank you to you all for being here. and president trump rantsed about the entire impeachment process. saying he wasn't afforded a lawyer or witnesses. you were there for all of it. fact check for us. >> the fact of the matter, he was offered opportunity for his lawyers to come in and question witnesses. not during the house intelligence committees part of the investigation but during the house judiciary committee's part of the investigation and then after he was offered that, to come in and question the witnesses, first constitutional lawyers then the actual attorneys who are involve ared in the house intelligence committee's investigation who testified before the judiciary committee. the white house turned that down so they would not participate in that. also criticized the basement proceedings that occurred in the house intelligence committee investigation behind closed doors. re

. >> cnn's kristen holmes joins me live from west palm beach. kristen, what has the president's schedule been like this week and what are you gleaning about his mindset going into christmas? >> reporter: manu, the president has been largely surrounded by close allies and supporters this entire trip. he's been golfing, he had lunch with rush limbaugh, he's been seen lingering with members at mar-a-lago, including rudy giuliani, whogs is a friend of his, his personal attorney, as well as hosting ed gallagher, the man who got him to reinstate his status here. the only actual public event was him speaking at a student summit, and just to give you some ideas of the other speakers there, it was sean hannity, his son don jr., so a very receptive crowd. a picture of him surrounded by his biggest fans, full of positivity. despite all of that, it's clear his mind has been on impeachment. we haven't seen him, but we've heard from him endlessly on twitter. he's gone after nancy pelosi and he's called this remarkably unfair. this really hasn't stopped. he bro

i want to begin with cnn national correspondent kristen holmes. she is in west palm beach, she seemed to take issue, kristen with this causing confusion. she could have been tougher on what mcconnell did. but it's pretty remarkable she said anything really dinging him for this. >> reporter: really, it is remarkable. here's why. she is a swing vote. she's a republican senator. but everyone was watching her very carefully along with susan collins among others to see where they might go, if there was any dissent within the ranks of republicans. up until now, sense the house impeachment vote, there hasn't been, it seems as though the republican party is completely unified and this kind of stepped away from that. i want to read to what she said in full here. it says and in fairness, when i heard that i was disturbed. to me it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in philosophy with the defense and so i heard what leader mcconnell had said. i happened to think that that has further confossed the process. so, essentially what she is sa

. >> cnn's kristen holmes is in west palm beach near the president's mar-a-lago resort where he is spending the holidays. kristen, how are democrats and the white house reacting to reports of these new emails? >> reporter: when it comes to the white house, the budget office essentially is just dismissing any sort of link between holding on to that aid and the phone call. but this is really giving democrats a lot of ammunition in this ongoing stalemate of what this senate trial would look like. remember this, fred, at the end of the day all of this, the reason nancy pelosi is holding on to these articles of impeachment, the reason why we are at an impasse is because democrats believe the only way to have a fair trial is to have documents provided by the white house as well as witnesses. we know that republicans are on the other side of that. they believe less witnesses and a shorter trial is a better strategy for them. no one seems to be breaking. take a listen to chuck schumer earlier today. >> so far senator mcconnell and president trump have come up with no good reason why there shouldn't

cnn's kristen holmes is in west palm beach, florida, for us this morning.he president says he can't participate wednesday because what do you know. he is out of town in a summit in london. he doesn't have to go. he could have sent his attorneys, correct? >> exactly right. he can absolutely send white house council in his place and what the i was extended says so that president trump has representation. two big deadlines, the one today you mentioned. this is just for wednesday's hearing. wednesday's hearing is a breakdown, a look, historical look at presidential impeachment and is really just going to be legal scholars there. a setting of the scene. unlikely the white house counsel will participate in that and that unsurprising. second deadline is friday and that is for the entire impeachment proceedings within the house in front of the judiciary committee. that is a request or an invitation for white house counsel to participate in any of the hearings that it lists exactly what they can do which is call witnesses and cross-examine witnesses and potentially

krist kristen holmes is there. what else are we learning about the president's state of mind on this saturday? >> yesca, the president might ficically be here in florida but it is clear his mind is on impeachment. in addition to golfing, he has been tweeting every single day, slamming democrats, impeachment, nancy pelosi. he has spent most evenings at mar-a-lago, mixing with mingling with gets, president trump asking allies on the resort who exactly should be part of his defense team when it comes to impeachment and what his defense strategy should be. i want to know, we have had a lot of rumors as to who exactly would play a role here. members of the house of representatives, some of president trump's staunchest defendanters are all in the mix, but the only thing is certain it's going to be led, the white house defense team is going to be led by pat cipollone. at one point he was expected to come down herehe president. as of now that seems to be up in the air. it's clear the president cannot put this out of his mi

let's bring in kristen holmes for reaction in washington.hat is the president's team saying this weekend? >> reporter: good morning, victor. we are not heard yet from the white house on this very important test. we did talk to the president yesterday as he was heading to florida asking about the increased tensions we have seen over the last week. you just heard will say that north korea said that the talks were just foolish tricks and all about u.s. politics hinting at president trump's re-election campaign in 2020. here is what president had to say about that. i have a very good relationship with kim jong-un. i think we both want to keep it that way. he knows i have an election coming up and i don't think he wants to interfere with that but we have to see. the relationship is very good but there is certain hostility, no question about it. >> reporter: the relationship is very good but there is a certain hostility. i did not know of a better way to describe of a relationship of the two leaders over the last three years. will talking about th

. >> go now to cnn national correspondent kristen holmes in washington.at do we know about his release?mara, a little breaking news. gotten fascinating details how exactly this played out. a 38-year-old graduate student from princeton doing research on history in tehran was arrested back in 2016. today they announced he would be released. so essentially what we learned is that a state department official met him in zurich. flown from iran to zurich in a swiss government plane. he is not yet on american soil. right now he is en route to a u.s. military base in europe. they would not tell us which military base and not tell us why, but generally in cases like this, there is a waiting period, a medical evaluation, stop at an american facility for a workup essentially before bringing them hope. it's a fascinating development to see the inner workings, behind the scenes how this happen, but he has been arrested, in iran, for three years. his wife today speaking out about him coming home. what she had to say. our family is complete once again. our son and i hav

kristen holmes. appreciate the update. thank you. >>> with us now to discuss all this -- gentlemen, welcome back and good morning to you. >> good morning. >> so let's start here. rudy giuliani. "the wall street journal" reporting the president called as he landed back in the u.s. after the trip to ukraine and asked what did he get. he told according to the report the president, more than you can imagine. he's come pieipiling a 20-page . does i got to trump, twitter, doj, fox news, or does it end upton senate floor in this trial? >> it seems like president trump is the only person who wants to hear from rudy giuliani. even republicans in the senate, members have been keeping him at arm's length because he has been livewire in this entire process. he pursued this scheme to try to dig up dirt on the bidens, try to pressure ukrainians to investigate the bidens. he's been hinting at this bombshell he's had for several months now and we haven't seen any evidence and some of the people he's dealing with in the ukraine are known w

let's go to cnn correspondent kristen holmes. she is traveling with the president in west palm beach. what is the president talking about this morning? >> good morning, ryan. i want to note it's just a mere hours after president trump released his christmas message in which he called on americans to foster a culture of deeper understanding and respect that he was back on twitter. he was bashing nancy pelosi. he called her crazy, and he really lit into the process which he has continued doing today. he says there was no due process that pelosi shouldn't be able to impeach the president, that there were no witnesses. why should the senate now give the house what exactly they didn't have. republicans didn't have during the impeachment. a lot of this is not true. witnesses were blocked by the white house from testifying. and the president was offered for the judiciary committee to have counsel and they rejected it. while the president fumes on twitter, behind the scenes we know white house aides are preparing for that impending trial

kristen holmes is live in west palm beach, florida. what else did the president have to say? >> reporter: good morning. well, he had quite a bit to say. this wasn't really surprising. while he has spent most of his holiday behind closed doors. he's been hobnobbing guests at mar-a-lago. we have heard quite a bit from the president particularly on twitter. he has slammed impeachment, democrats, nancy pelosi, and he continued that when talking to reporters yesterday. he said that pelosi hated republicans. thap she hated anyone who voted for president trump. and that she was doing a disservice to the country. but with all of the slamming of impeachment, he did have praise for one person. that was senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. when asked about the impasse that's currently happening right now between democrats and republica republicans on what exactly the trial would look like. >> that will be made by mitch mcconnell. he has the right to do whatever he wants. he's the head of the senate. >> reporter: and we have learned that mcconnell is now open to the idea of setting th

>>and that was kristen holmes reporting for us this morning house speaker nancy pelosi has yet.o argue the impeachment case before the senate. for your money this morning the ceo of boeing is out of a job, the company announced this morning that dennis as berg areas right there has stepped down a new person will take the job beginning next month. the company has been under scrutiny public scrutiny for 2 deadly crashes all because of the 7.37 max airplanes back in march that might be a glitch on the 7 37 max, the aircraft has not been cleared to fly since then costing boeing billions of dollars. he became the ceo marlon byrd became the ceo back in 2015. he also previously served as chairman, but then gave up that seat in october. as we head to break, here's a live look outside at sfo speaking of airplanes they should be taking off and landing at this time, no problems as we can clearly see fog and rain not a problem at >>my 85 year-old father who committed suicide. you hear rian johnson's knives out dropped from 3rd place down to 5th on ticket sales of million. >>bringing it just

>>and that was kristen holmes reporting for us the us senate is back in session january 6 congresswoman is he's the speaker nancy pelosi she still trying to withhold the articles as she tries to work out a deal with mitch mcconnell. >>well coming up next on the kron 4 morning news and abc hp stepping up patrols for the christmas holiday. we rode along with an officer to find out exactly what the agency will be looking for steyer: i'm about to say two words that will make washington insiders very uncomfortable: term limits. you and i both know we need term limits, that congress shouldn't be a lifetime appointment. but members of congress, and the corporations who've bought our democracy hate term limits. too bad. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message because the only way we get universal healthcare, address climate change and make our economy more fair is to change business as usual in washington. >>welcome back 7.44 on this tuesday morning christmas eve and off to a pretty clear start across the bay area you do have some sunshine making its way down to the golden gate bridge that's

cnn's kristen holmes is in west palm beach near the president's mar-a-lago resort. how emboldened are democrats. >> reporter: it's giving a lot of ammunition on what the senate trial would actually look like, and here's why, the author of that e-mail is a man by the name of michael duffy, he is a trump appointee at the office of management and budget and also happens to be one of the four witnesses that democrats have said they want to hear from in an impeachment trial. of course they're saying this is why we want to hear from them. we have to remember at the heart of this stalemate, it's all about the process of the senate trial. republicans have indicated that they don't really want witnesses whereas democrats say they believe the only way to have a fair trial is with those documents and witnesses and today we heard from chuck schumer on this. take a listen. >> so far senator mcconnell and president trump have come up with no good reason why there shouldn't be witnesses, why there shouldn't be documents. we don't know what the witnesses will say. we don't know wha

. >> cnn's kristen holmes is in west palm beach near the president's mar-a-lago resort where he is spending the holidays. how emboldened might democrats be with this new information about time lines. >> reporter: fred, this gives democrats a lot of ammunition when it comes to the stalemate between democrats and republicans over what exactly the senate trial would look like, and here is why, the person who penned this e-mail is a man by the name of michael duffey, he is a trump political appointee who works in the office of management and budget and he is also one of the four witnesses democrats say they want to hear from during a senate impeachment trial. remember this, fred, at the end of the day, all of this is about what exactly the process of a senate trial would look like. democrats think a fair trial is one that is longer, that has evidence, that has documents, witnesses. and republicans they have indicated they don't want a lot of witnesses or really any. so they seem to be at this impasse here, and chuck schumer today doubling down on his position. >> so far senator mcconnell and pr

>>and that was kristen holmes reporting for us this morning.back in session on january 6th. we will obviously be monitoring the impeachment process, john. >>during the radar because rainfall is arriving for christmas eve tonight you can see all that cloud cover offshore we're going to notice that cloud cover through the day when does the rain arrived your details in your forecast i'm tracking your commute it's not much. but commute this morning pretty much holiday light check out the drive on highway 4. this is what it's looking like rolling railroad avenue in pittsburgh wide open if you need to use it kerrygold has a taste so rich it can take you to ireland's lush, green pastures. where grass-fed cows produce rich, creamy milk for a truly delicious taste. kerrygold. the taste that takes you there. >>and welcome back a big story that we're following this morning alameda county is getting out of the sports business as they sold their half of the oakland coliseum so the a's for $85 million so the a's christmas shopping for themselves. the a's the

cnn's kristen holmes is traveling with the president and live in west palm beach. good morning. noticed on the old twitter feed the president already awake, tweeting merry christmas about a half hour ago. >> reporter: good morning, allison. that's true and clearly seems ike the president is in a good mood or starting the day with a good mood saying merry christmas and seen on twitter for a couple of days not quite so cheery. a lot of talk of impeachment, slamming of nancy pelosi and democrats. he really lit into the speaker of the house yesterday talking to reporters, as well, saying that she hates republicans, anyone who voted for president trump and that she was doing a disservice to the country. but he did have some nice words, as well. those words reserved for leader mitch mcconnell essentially asked about the senate impasse, democrats an republicans not able to agree on what exactly an impeachment trial to look like, president trump said he stands behind mcconnell 100%. >> we're in a very good position. ultimately, that decision's going to be made by mitch mcconnell and he

kristen holmes is at the white house for us. kristen, explain what is the strategy here?n saying this process is not fair. their people haven't been a part of it. and now an invitation to do so but then turning down that invite. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, fred. taking a look at this as a whole here, it appears that their strategy is not to engage, at least while these impeachment proceedings are still in the house of representatives. and this really isn't that much of a surprise. as you said, the president and his allies continually said that the process was unfair, that they didn't have representation. they also stonewalled the investigation at every turn. they did not allow white house aides to testify. they did not turn over white house documents. and now they are refusing to participate. now, they did send out a letter late last night to the judiciary committee and it was a scathing letter. it read in part, house democrats have wasted enough of america's time with this charade. you should end this inquiry now and not waste even more time with additional hearings

. >> cnn's kristen holmes is at this white house. we know the president is already tweeting about impeachment today. what's he saying? and good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christi. yes, it's no surprise. on thursday we saw president trump have one of the most if not the most prolific day on twitter that he's had yet. that was the day that the judiciary committee was supposed to vote, so he is back on twitter this morning. here's what he had to say. he said after watching the disgraceful way that a wonderful man, brett kavanaugh, was treated by the democrats and now seeing firsthand how these same radical left, do nothing dems are treating the whole impeachment hoax, i understand why so many dems are voting republican. again, it's no surprise that president trump is taking to twitter. expect this to be a large part of his offensive over the next couple of weeks. he believes this is the best way to get his message across to his supporters. and i want to talk a little bit about that trial that you mentioned. we know president tr

let's go to cnn national correspondent kristen holmes at the white house. why stop in germany before coming back to the u.s.? >> reporter: good morning. this is fairly routine in situations like this. in fact this army base that's run by the u.s. army is a place that's frequently stopped at by prisoners or americans who have been released and heading back to america because they need to get a medical evaluation. in fact that is what we are hearing is happening right now with him. he was a princeton university ph.d. student who was in tehran studying history when he was arrested on suspicion of espionage. he has been there for three years now. of course you showed that picture. one thing i want to note here, it wasn't just him. he was released. also america seems to have had a prison swap. we have not -- prisoner swap. we have not been able to confirm this with the state department, with the white house, but here in zurich we see pictures of both he being hugged by the u.s. ambassador to bern, which is in switzerland, as well as the foreign minister of iran

cnn national correspondent kristen holmes live in west palm beach. normally this teleconference call between the president, members of the military, not very newsy. very just kind of a normal part of the presidential activity during the christmas holiday. but sometimes with president trump, that can veer in a direction we're not expecting. what yoare you expecting today? >> good morning, ryan. that's absolutely right. in the pedestriast we've seen pt trump make these calls political. he starts to slam judges. he has before bashed migrants heading to the southern border, essentially going off script from this holiday message and really talking to whatever is on his mind. and, ryan, this holiday season, it is very clear that impeachment is what is on president trump's mind. we haven't seen much of him, but we have heard quite a bit, especially on twitter. even this morning, bashing democrats, hitting nancy pelosi, the impeachment process. so that's what we're going to be watching very closely here to see if he really goes down this political rabbit hol

cnn's kristen holmes is also in west palm beach. if there was any doubt how much the events of this week were weighing on the president's mind it became very clear today. >> reporter: that's right, ana. we talked about this. i told you, he is this man who when he is in front of his base, in front of the people who support him the most he is the most honest. he almost immediately dove into impeachment and slammed the process. he slammed the leaders. he continued the theme really throughout his speech. at one point he was even talking about republican unity and he brought up texas representative dan crenshaw and they had a big showman moment in which crenshaw handed over the actual ticket he wrote to vote no on the articles of impeachment. there is one thing president trump said that i want to point out here. take a listen. >> crazy nancy. she's crazy. no, no. so now she says you know she has no case. she has no case. so let's not submit it. that's good, right? that's good. but you know what? so unfair. it is so unfair. she has no cas

i want to go to kristen holmes in washington. kristen, how is it, preparing for the vote? good morning. >> good morning. we have seen president trump continue to be on the offensive, and if anything looks like last week, think a whole lot of tweeting and a whole lot of outreach. on thursday when we thought they were going to vote. president trump had one of his most prolific days on twitter. he was attacking democrats and retweeting reporters and finally this is what president trump had to say. >> so, look. we're dealing with a lot of corrupt people. there was nothing done wrong. to use the power of impeachment on this nonsense is an embarrassment to this country. the president just said it. it's an embarrassment to our country. >> as you said, christi, this is a president not backing down from a political fight. and one thing to make very clear, president trump already has a built-in time to respond to this vote should it happen on wednesday. he has a rally in michigan. it's called a merry christmas rally where he will be in front of his base, his biggest supporters there

let's begin with kristen holmes live in west palm beach, what are we hearing from the president this morning? >> good morning, we are hearing quite a bit. i do want to know president trump did stay on message with the troops are up into the q&a session there. it is hard for the force when it comes to president trump. he was asked about impeachment. that's when he went off. he lit into democrats, he says nancy pelosi hated all republicans but anyone who voted for president trump. he said no one ever treated unfairly as he had been treated. when he was asked about the impasse between democrats and republicans on what exactly his impeachment trial lookins like,e says it all rests in the hands of mitch mcconnell. >> that decision is going to be made by mitch mcconnell. he has the right to do whatever he wants. people remember they treated ugs us unfairly. now they come to the senate, they want everything. >> reporter: these are arguments we heard from him before. it was about that threat from north korea of a christmas gift in the united states if the united states does not make certain

in west palm beach, florida, kristen holmes, cnn. >>> the latest on australia's bush fires, now that continue to rage around that country. volunteer firefighters will now be compensated for battling the fires in new south waillewales, australia. they will get $200 a day to replace lost income. they faced mounting criticism for side stepping questions about paying them. >>> here in the u.s., nearly 20 million people are under some form of winter warning or advisory, as a winter storm dumps rain, wind, snow and ice, as it moves across the central u.s. our meteorologist derek van dam is here to tell us more about it. seems we have not gotten a break this holiday travel season at all. >> no. it will be very difficult for people across the plains and in the upper midwest today. i want to show you just how tricky it is on the roadways. let me take you to a suburb of minneapolis. this happened on friday. incredible to see what actually took place here. you are watching freezing ice and the dangers of that particular weather phenomenon. look at this bus sliding directly through the middle of

trump is saying about his impeachment is kristen holmes. >> reporter: well, if there was any doubt that president trump had impeachment on the mind there is no longer. when he was speaking to this turning point student action summit, he launched almost immediately into impeachment. he slammed democrats. he slammed the process. at one point he even brought up dan crenshaw who voted no on the articles of impeachment. he handed over the ticket that he used to vote against the articles of impeachment. i want to know one thing president trump said. take a look at this. >> crazy nancy. she's crazy. no, no. so now she says she has no case. she has no case. so let's not submit it. that's good, right? that's good. but you know what, so unfair. it's so unfair. she has no case. did they look back? they are violating the constitution. totally. they are violating the constitution. >> now i want to know that is not true. would you know she is holding onto the articles of impeachment. this is not about the fact that she doesn't believe there is a case. it is over a stalemate over what the senate trial

let's begin with cnn national correspondent kristen holmes in west palm beach this morning following the president. tell us this morning what is on tap for the president today. >> reporter: good morning, brianna. merry christmas. the president is spending today like he's spent most of the holiday behind closed doors with no public events and on top of that today as you can see is turning into the most beautiful day we have had since he came down here for his holiday and he will not be going golfing. as of now, they have dismissed the press pool and won't be leaving the resort to head anywhere else, to the international golf club or anything else like that. i do want to note just because we don't see president trump doesn't mean we won't hear from him. he is tweeting saying merry christmas. this is a pattern we have seen even though we are not laying eyes on the president and at r mar-a-lago and impeachment is on the top of his mind. >> tell us about this message that the speaker sent to the democratic caucus. what else did she say? >> reporter: so, it was really an end of the year le

our kristen holmes reports. >> reporter: republican georgia governor brian kemp squaring off with presidentomorrow to appoint businesswoman kelly loeffler to the state's open u.s. senate seat. sources tell cnn define the president, who behind closed doors pushed kemp could choose another candidate, congressman doug collins. >> and he's also a special man. his name is congressman doug collins. >> reporter: an ardent trump supporter and defender. >> they are so bent on getting at this president. >> reporter: the ranking republican on the house judiciary committee who is about to take center stage this week has repeatedly slammed the impeachment proceedings. >> they're more like plinko. this is the way they're treating impeachment. they just drop the thing in and see which way it bounces. >> reporter: proving himself a reliable ally. >> i appreciate the support i've received from the president and many others. >> reporter: kemp's decision seen now by some conservatives as an act of betrayal, especially after trump's endorsement last year. >> two days before the election, i said, brian, congrat

. >> kristen holmes for us in west palm beach, florida. keep us posted. >>> i want to bring in joe lockhart and se cupp. joe, you've been there, done that, in terms of being a part of a white house after an impeachment. >> right. >> what do you think is going on with this administration right now? >> i've been struck by cnn's reporting of kristen and caitlyn collins last night of how involved the president is involved in the strategy. i would throw this in 1998, 1999, president clinton was not very involved. he was not in the meetings where strategy was discussed. he didn't sequence the lawyers who were going to speak. he serchcertainly looked at it. as a point of reference, charles rough, the white house counsel wrote the opening statement and did not show it to the president, he refused. he said i'm your lawyer i'm going to do this, i don't want input from you. i know what i'm doing here. it doesn't sound like that kind of white house right now. >> no, and you talked about how president clinton kept on doing what he was doing, running th

cnn kristen holmes is following the president. she is in west palm beach, florida now. senator lisa murkowski has been one of the republicans to watch. what else is she saying here? >> reporter: well, she sat down for this interview. she said she wanted a fair and full process. she criticized mcconnell saying she was working at the white house for the same reason democrats have criticized those comments, essentially being that senators, both democrats and republicans are to be sworn in as fair, unbiased, impartial jurors for the senate impeachment trial. here's what she said, she said in fairness when i heard i was that, i was disturbed. to me it means we have to take that stem step back from being hand in philosophy with the defense. so i heard that i heard what leader mcconnell had said. i happened to think that would further confuse the process. this is important for two big reasons, one as you said, lisa murkowski is a pruvenlt she is a vote to watch, she is a swing vote. she does not always go with the republican party, in fact, she voted against justice brett kava

>>psident trump and there seems be no signs on when she will do that kristen holmes reports. >>lawmakers in deadlock, the senate impeachment trial at a standstill as decrats demand to know the ground rules bere speaker nancy pelosi over the ticles of impeachment passed by the house la week it's hard to undstand are determined >>what kind of 4 managers you want to send into this impeachmentrial. if you don't know what the ground rul are president trump venting his frustration over the delay tweeting the radical left do nothing democrats said they wanted to rush everything through to the senate. but now anymore. they want to go very slowly. liars. republicans mostly standinwith senate majority leader mitch mcconnell whwants a quick trial and acquittal for president trump like they've got impeachment fever and there's no cure how about we turn over the calendar in 2020 mcconnell could strt the votes on the rules for the trial next moth without a deal with senate minority leader chuck schumer who wants sometop trump administration officials to testify something the president has

. >> we want to go to kristen holmes in washington. we he no the top republicans welcoming van drew to the party but we understand he that met with president trump on wednesday. what do we know about that meeting? >> reporter: good morning. it appears president trump and the white house is welcoming van drew with open arms and unsurprising this would be a welcome distraction for republicans and for the white house. as you said, they did meet van drew and the president and it appears there is an ongoing conversation about when exactly this announcement would happen and whether or not the white house wants van drew to wait to vote against impeachment as a democrat and then announce that he would be a republican. so something we will be watching closely there now. president trump has been on twitter praising van drew, retweeting stories about him. one he said thank you for your honesty, jeff, all of the democrats know you are right but unlike you don't have the guts to say so. another tweet about a meeting with trump says, wow, that would

kristen holmes for us there in washington.ank you so much for being with us. >>> also, hearing from princeton university. they just put out this statement. we can confirm the announcement of the white house this morning. and we are working with the family and government officials to facilitate his return to the united states. >>> well, the white house will not participate in the impeachment hearing process. that's happening right now in the house. they rejected an offer from democrats to present any type of defense for president trump during those hearings. in a strongly-worded letter, the white house counsel called the proceedings baseless, reckless, and a charade. joining me now is michael moore, former u.s. attorney for a middle district of georgia and lynn sweet, the washington bureau chief for the "washington sun times." the judiciary committee can vote next week. that can include robert mueller's findings of obstruction of justice. we're hearing how frustrated some of the moderate democrats are getting about that. what a

cnn's kristen holmes has more on what the president expects from the process. >> reporter: ultimately it's not going to be up to the president even if he would like it to be. it's going to be up to the senators. what exactly this trial looks like. when we really break it down, it's going to be up to those republican senators. we have heard mitch mcconnell say time and time again that he's working in lockstep with the white house, but we also know that mitch mcconnell has a different idea of what he woo like this trial to look like than the president. president trump had expressed behind closed doors that he wanted to have a big trial. he believed that this would exonerate him. he wanted to have a lot of witnesses, and mitch mcconnell and other republican senators have really tried to steer the president in a different direction, essentially saying that the more witnesses there are, the more likelihood there could be problems for president trump. now, we did hear from the vice president's chief of staff, marc short, who said that the president is actually looking forward to a senate tr

. >> we want to go to kristen holmes. this is a big week for the white house. how are they preparing for wednesday's vote? >> reporter: president trump behind closed doors is grilling aides and wants to know what they are doing to remain on the offensive and the white house already has a laid-out plan to respond on wednesday to this vote. president trump has a rally in michigan, a merry christmas rally. when none of this was going on last year president trump emerged from chimney to fake santa claus and you can expect a bigger reaction during that rally at that time. we have to remember something. there is no indication that the house is not going to approve these articles of impeachment. moderate dbleemocrats have not announced how they will vote but we don't have any idea from democrats they are concerned about this at all. really the focus is now on that trial in the senate. we know mitch mcconnell is working with white house counsel to craft how that is going to look. on the other side of that in the house, even with this vote looming, you really are seeing

>> kristen holmes, thank you very much. >>> earlier today i spoke with democratic congressman john garamendi of california about the impasse. i started by asking him if he was concerned about house speaker nancy pelosi possibly dragging that impeachment trial into january or later while she pushes for it to include witnesses? >> i think i'm with the american public. they want a real trial. they want to have witnesses. they want to have documents. a lot of open questions coming out of the hearings and the house of representatives. more than 30 witnesses, all of them testifying, that yeah, indeed, there was a problem here in the ukraine situation. now let's get the witnesses from the white house. american people want it. certainly i do. and i think the senate must have those documents, must hear from the key witnesses that were part of the telephone call and part of the withholding of the aid to ukraine. >> i get wanting those kind of assurances. but of course february is awkward in timing, it's when the democratic presidential caucuses and primaries get underway. i'm wondering should that be

kristen ho cri kristen holmes, thank you. >>> police pass a car without realizing there's a teenager trapped in the trunk. chilling new information tonight about the jayme closs abduction and the suspect's guilt. fast sp. almost 2 gigs here in minneapolis. that's 25 times faster than today's network in new york city. so people from midtown manhattan-- --to downtown denver-- --can experience what our 5g can deliver. (woman) and if verizon 5g can deliver performance like this in these places... it's pretty crazy. ...just imagine what it can do for you. ♪ ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ finally a little oh my goodness.? ♪ i love you, yes it's true ♪ there's no one else i'd choose ♪ ♪this may not completely rhyme but i'd be totally lost without you. save on a gift that says it all. ♪ jared cdc guidance recommends topical pain relievers f

let's begin with kristen holmes live in west palm beach, florida, where the president is vacationing. >> reporter: these emails are certainly shedding new light on the timeline around this july 25th phone call. but they're also giving democrats what they believe is new ammunition on the ongoing stalemate over what exactly this senate impeachment trial would look like. democrats renewing calls for witnesses in president trump's senate impeachment trial following the release of emails that showed the order to hold aid to ukraine came about 25 minutes after the phone call with the ukraine president. the pages were obtained by the center for republic integrity. one email between white house budget officials and the pent kbon says, based on what i've received, plan to view assistance to ukraine, please hold off on any additional d.o.d. obligations of these funds. duffey adding, i appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction. >> if there was ever an argument that we need mr. duffey to come testify, this is that information. s this emai

kristen holmes is with us. he says he can't participate in the hearings because he is go to the nato hearings in lopped. his attorney could be there. so is there any indication they will be? >> reporter: good morning. you're absolutely right. his attorneys could be there. as of now, we are hearing from sources at the white house who say it's unlikely these attorneys are going to show up, that they are going to participate in the proceedings at all. there are two separate deadlines. one today you mentioned. this is just about that wednesday hearing. that hearing is essentially four legal scholars and we don't know who they are going to be who are setting up the historical context of impeachment looking at other presidential impech impeachments. then a second deadline next friday. that is for all of the impeachment proceedings as a whole, the deadline for the white house to decide whether or not they will be participants in this impeachment hearing. of course, those hearings are not, while the president is still

we begin with kristen holmes live in palm beach, florida. >> reporter: good morning. president trump is not a man who takes any sort of dissent well. particularly when it comes from a member of his own party. you'll remember two months ago when mitt romney criticized the president and then president trump spent days on twitter slamming romney and calling him names. and this is a critical point here. president trump has been spending days touting party unity within republicans. he even talked about the impeachment house vote members at rallies. so any sort of crack in that gop wall is likely to not go over well. when it comes to president trump's impeachment trial, one senator giving the first seen that all republicans may not be ready to fall in line. senator lisa murkowski who could be a potential swing vote expressing her discomfort with mitch mcconnell's decision. >> there will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this. >> in fairness, when i heard that, i was disturbed. i happen to think that that has further confu

news, the deadlock over president trump's senate impeachment trial is showing no signs of ending kristen holmesreports. >>lawmakers in deadlock, the senate impeachment trial at a standstill as democrats demand to know the ground rules before speaker nancy pelosi over the articles of impeachment passed by the house last week it's hard to understand are determined. >>what kind of 4 managers you want to send into this impeachment trial. if you don't know what the ground rules are president trump venting his frustration over the delay tweeting the radical left to do nothing democrats said they wanted to rush everything through to the senate. but now they don't want to go fast anymore. they want to go very slowly. liars. republicans mostly standing with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell who wants a quick trial and acquittal for president trump like they've got impeachment fever and there's no cure how about we turn over the calendar in 2020 mcconnell could start the votes on the rules for the trial next month without a deal with senate minority leader chuck schumer who wants some top trump admi

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