chief among those is susan collins of maine. she is running in 2020 and famously gave her floor speech where she announced her support for kavanaugh, and then in the days right after that, there was about $4 million raised into an account that will go toward supporting her opponent. you saw a rally yesterday in portland, maine by local activists there, who are still upset one year later with her support for kavanaugh. that will be the issue in her race. likewise for people like cory gardner in colorado, and even mitch mcconnell in kentucky. he is in a pretty hospitable environment in kentucky. that is a pretty trumpy state. but you are seeing a lot of grassroots donations to his opponent, in large part because the country this fed up with his cynical approach to politics. host: how much money are you spending on television advertising the cycle? maine, we have a combined digital and television ad which features a resident, a former collins supporter, who says that post the vote for brett kavanaugh she cannot support susan collin

steve didn't list -- he did list susan collins but when we talk about susan collins she did not sign that resolution. what tightrope is susan collins walking? alex, i'm sorry. >> she's walking an incredible tightrope. maine is a state that really leans democratic. she has to be careful how she positions herself. on the one hand she doesn't want to antagonize or alienate the liberal base and not antagonize the president. one interesting note about the president's fund-raising. he sent out an appeal for three senators who signed on to that anti-impeachment resolution but he did not include susan collins. susan collins did not sign on to that anti-impeachment resolution so you see that is an example of how the president is trying a carrot and stick approach, reward those senators who are sticking with him but he's also by not including collins trying to send an implicit message he can help those who are with him. >> steve, when we look at kentucky, mitch mcconnell is down in approval ratings, negative 13 donald trump is plus 15. does that mean donald trump has complete control over mitc

three republicans, mitt romney, ben sasse and susan collins, have broken ranks with their party to criticise donald trump. the majority though have remained silent or supportive. one of those defending the president was republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin. in a heated interview on sunday, the chairman of the committee on homeland security stated that he had no trust in us intelligence agencies, such as the fbi and cia: ijust want the truth. the american people want the truth. so do you not trust the american...? do you not trust the fbi? you don't trust the cia? no — no, i don't. i'm just very confused here. absolutely not. you don't trust either of those agencies? after obstructing lisa page? 0k. joining us now from washington is former cia operative lindsey moran. good to have you with us. you had the chair of the homeland security committee, someone who is tasked with keeping america safe, does not

senator susan collins, senator susan collins said -- >> she needs to! >> she said the following.e is the one person has not attacked. why it is notable that the people he has attacked on twitter in the last 24 hours, she came out and said this. he has not gone after her. why? >> let me say it's a very, very low bar of expectation. i give absolutely no credit to tucker carlson. >> thank you. >> i give very little to no credit to susan collins. >> none. >> i find myself in this little category of thinking that mitt romney may have courage and i realize who mitt romney is. i think we are -- as people get dressed this morning and go to church, we have to say prayers that individuals who are serving this country have offices of public service actually get some testicular fortitude or get some courage. it's going to take more than i'm troubled and it's going to be take more than mitt romney accepteding a tweet out. we somebody to take the well of the united states senate and say president of the united statest stand for. i have a 14-year-old daughter who is more responsible on social m

the president spent much of saturday going after mitt romney and yesterday susan collins of maine put her toe in the water as well. we'll go to the white house and sift through a week of developments. then a dip ploe natick standoff between united states and great britain. striking and killing a motorcyclist there and then flying back to the u.s. claiming diplomatic immunity. the family of the british victim now asking president trump to step in. and later a sunday sit-down with an icon of professional wrestling and a growing force in hollywood, on growing up in a house of five boys. how dwayne the rock johnson blazed the trail for him and being a hooero to legions of yog fans. >> keep doing what you're doing because my kid loves you. >> plus perry smith and another life well lived all a bit later in the show. let's begin this morning with the latest on president trump and the congressional impeachment inquiry. the president spending some of the fall weekend tweeting angrily at senator mitt romney who criticized trump this week for asking two foreign countries to investigate joe biden

senator susan collins, ben sasse.ollins said the president made a big mistake and called it quote, completely inappropriate. sasse says americans don't look to chinese commies for the truth, that's a matter for american courts. senator mitt romney tweeted when the only american citizen president trump singles out for china's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the democratic nomination process it strains kra jillcredy to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated. compare that reaction to what we've been hearing from the president's defenders. let's start with republican senator marco rubio. >> do you think it's okay for president trump to ask china to launch an investigation of joe biden and hunter biden. >> i don't know if that's a real request or him just needling the press. he plays it arthriticlike a vio >> do you really think it was serious about thinking that china's going to investigate the biden family? >> why can't you answer yes or no? do you think it's appropriate? >>

susan collins, when she decided to vote for brett kavanaugh, she said she was confident he would uphold roe v. wade. now she has a lot riding on how brett kavanaugh rules in the upcoming case with this louisiana abortion law. host: is the supreme court a winning issue? he wanted to put it in the ballot and he wins in 2016 and now you're talking about the cavanaugh hearings, the said didn't flip after the brett kavanaugh hearings. guest: you did see a huge backlash between suburban, college-educated women. the constituency was not well represented in the states where they happen to have senate races in 2018 but in a lot of house districts, the backlash contribute into the gender gap in support for democrats for house. you will see the map in 2020 that the voting constituency will loom large in states like colorado where cory gardner is on the ballot and in maine. is no doubtre republicans had the upper hand when it came to motivating their voters based on the supreme court as an issue. exit polls who said that supreme court was an issue, donald trump won them by 15 points. that is what w

three gop senators, mitt romney, ben sasse and now susan collins criticized president trump for urging china to investigate joe biden and son hunter's business there. the bidens deny any wrongdoing collins is considered vulnerable for reelection in may. >> i thought the president made a big mistake by asking china to get involved in investigating a little opponent. that's completely inappropriate. >> reporter: responding to that criticism, the president had taken to twitter excoriating mitt romney with belittling tweets, but he has not done that with ben sasse and susan collins, at least so far in part that may be because both are up for reelection, and hitting them could help democrats. frances? >> all right, kelly o'donnell. thank you, kelly >>> the question this morning is what exactly does that second whistle-blower know. democrats are hoping the person can shed new light for their impeachment inquiry. >> reporter: if the whistle-blower does have a firsthand account, he or she could clarify open questions about the president's interaction with ukraine, including the call log of tru

nope word yet from the president on susan collins.e have no idea if he has even seen these reports yet. he has not yet tweeted today. so we will, obviously, be on the lookout for that and keep you posted. >> we will be refreshing our phones. thank you for that. >>> let's discuss further with cnn political analyst and congressional reporter for "the washington post." thank you for getting up early for us. the president spent the day basically trashing mitt romney on twitter. we were having this discussion before we went on air. how much of this is personal and how much is this president trump making an example of mitt romney warning other republicans to not criticize him? >> i think that much of it is -- has to do with -- mitt romney is a great person for him to pick on because of his stature in the party and he is the previous standard bearer of the republican nomination, though he was never president, and also because he has made a point that he is not really coward by president trump. it's not he owes president trump really anything

senator susan collins is now calling out mr. trump for suggesting china should investigate democratic rival joe biden. collins told a news in maine it was a, quote, big mistake and completely inappropriate for president trump to ask china to investigate former u.s. vice president joe biden. we're also learning that the ukraine scandal has been deeply frustrating to career professionals at the state department. cnn recently spoke with a dozen of professionals, both current and former. they fear u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo has politicized the agency by putting president trump's political needs above the nation's interests. and they are resentful that rudy giuliani, president trump's personal attorney, inserted himself into u.s. foreign policy. one veteran state department official said pompeo lacks the backbone to stand up to mr. trump. here he is speaking saturday in greece, defending the president's phone call as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. >> nations do this. nations work together and they say, boy, goodness

susan collins for one now the third republican senator to do so. collins told a newspaper in maine that it was, quote, a big mistake for the president to ask china to investigate joe biden. we have the latest now on the impeachment investigation from cnn's jeremy diamond. >> reporter: house democrats are independent ramping up their impeachment inquire into the president and this administration after already issuing subpoenas for the state department. at this point it's unclear how this administration is going to comply with this. what they are considering is issuing a letter to the house speaker nancy pelosi saying they are not compelled to provide the house committees with any documents until they go to the house floor to vote on opening a formal impeachment inquiry. now, that is something that has been done in the past. there is no constitutional requirement for there to be a vote. but what the white house clearly is doing here is daring democrats, especially those vulnerable democrats in trump districts, to put down their vote in favor of an im

susan collins, ben sasse met mitt romney expressing concerns. is that a sign? many republicans in the senate, but what about that? collinsf i were susan running for reelection in a hotly contested race, i would certainly be expressing concern. there are a few republicans voting -- running for reelection in tough states. colorado is at the top of the list. i would expect them to try to steer a middle course as long as they can. express concern, give the impression, i hope it is a valid impression of being fair-minded. and then hold their fire as long as they can. fromld expect republicans bright red states, republican senators, not to do anything of the sort. if even one of them shows signs of breaking ranks, that would be an important signal. host: we have calls lined up here at our first one is from steve. steve joins us from norfolk, virginia. republican line. good morning. calling -- myjust opinion on all of this is the has not done anything incorrectly or wrong. witchhunts of those that -- we are trying to protect obama and biden because the truth about ever

we'll see crucially if he says anything towards susan collins. she's up for re-election in 2020? >> she's in cycle and it makes it a precarious position for the president to attack collins. the president may also need that one electoral vote in maine. maine is one of two states where they split some electoral votes based on which congressional district you win. the advisers want to steal a congressional district and win maine's second district to make sure they have one more electoral college vote. >> where were we on the potential second whistle-blower that is related to the first whistle-blower potentially in some way? >> it's more corroborating evidence, right? in some ways when you talk to democrats on the hill, they're very clear that the call log gives them all the evidence they need, and then the president talking publicly about why he did this both in terms of iran and what he's also now prospectively calling on china to do is also cause for concern on capitol hill. you just heard from the senator from maine there also indicating that it's troublesome. so the interesting t

i think susan collins is the most interesting one. because she in the past has had strong support from democrats in maine and has put together a moderate coalition and has had real trouble with the very conservative maine republicans. post kavanaugh vote she is not going to get very many democratic votes. she needs those right wing trump main voters. and she still thinks she needs some -- she is stuck. i think she'll do what she normally does which is express concern and then vote with trump. but she is the most interesting. particularly because she is in cycle. she has to face the voters next year. mitt romney does not. >> right. do you see maybe a strategy developing here among republicans, which is call out the behavior but maybe not go so far as to say impeach. in fact, maybe say don't impeach. let the voters decide? >> i really think you've seen a hardening of strategies in the last few days on all sides. the democrats have, are now firmly in the we're moving forward because it is protecting the constitution. the president is say

susan collins, how is it working for her?ns >> guest: senator collins is one of two republican senators running in the state of hillary clinton won in 2016 and the other is colorado senator gardener, so facing speaker gideon who actually outraised senator collins in the most recent fund-raising quarter and democrats are happy to see that i think they are looking at that as a sign that they are endorsed and a senate. i think republicans will call your senator collins has a strong way up and has been around for a long time and has personal connections with a lot of the voters there so it's going to be a tough race i think for sure. one of those contested races but right now some deny there are some looking a little more vulnerable right now including gardener in north carolina just because collins has a groundbreaking state. >> host: remind the viewers how she's made her way to the senate. >> guest: she lost a senate race in 2018 and that was one of the democratic pickups that we saw in the senate but then appointed for the res

devastating for at least a few wavering republicans in the senate when things have -- mitt romney, susan collins, perhaps susan murkowski and ben sass who might be thinking about how they would vote in the event an impeachment takes zblas dean, how much i forget -- of a threat is john bolton? a person to the far right that many that like trump respect him. how big a threat is he if he comes forward? it appears he's in discussions. >> to your very point, it's because he has credibility among republicans. he says something, donald trump can't dismiss him as some liberal guy. the guy was on fox news for many years as a commentator. it brings me an inappropriate . a joy to watch donald trump freak out this week. it's a guilty pleasure. look what's going on, though. there's something important that i hope the media focuses on. bill taylor in his testimony he said more ukrainians would undoubtedly die, talking about the withholding of aid. this is far more than watergate. people could have died. >> life a death situation. >> 25 ukrainians died since july 18th in the fighting. we don't have direct caus

on the one hand, people like for example senator susan collins, who are concerned about the presidenting on china to investigate the former vp. on the other hand, you have people like senator ron johnson, jim jordan, for example, who are defending the president. are republicans cohesive enough in their messaging here? do you think that's going to help or hurt the president? >> well, i think it's the president's duty not to speak in high per bowly. i took his comment about china frivolous, i didn't see that as a serious request. >> i don't know many people who read it the same way, because the president seemed awfully serious when he made those remarks. >> i think the president speaks far too much. he wants you to come in to see the freak show. so i don't always agree with what he says and how he says it. i wish he would be more careful with the language he uses, the tweets he sends out. but i do think that an impeachment inquiry is warranted. clearly lines have been crossed. i don't know if that's an impeachable offense yet. we don't know yet, because most people in congress have alre

susan collins of maine, said she was not comfortable with the president's comments. >> the presidenttake by asking china to get involved in investigating. that's completely inappropriate. >> collins joining nebraska senator, ben sass, who slammed chinese commies. mitt romney who called trump's words wrong and appalling. some other republicans took a different approach on sunday shows, suggesting it was just trolling. >> i don't think it's a real -- i think he did it to gig you guys. >> i doubt if the china comment was serious, to tell you the truth. >> you think he is serious that china is going to investigate the biden family? >> cnn contacted the offices of 80 lawmakers in the house and senate, but few responded. ♪ >>> we told you of the homeless woman that was singing opera in the subway. >> i'm so glad about that. i could touch you with my voice. thank you so much for all that is happening right now. i really thank you. i'm so overwhelmed. >> since the video of her first wednesday viral, there it is, in the subway, a los angeles city council member has helped her getting a hotel

host: susan collins, does she have a strong primary opponent? guest: not to my knowledge. she has a democratic opponent who's raising a lot of money, sarah gideon. democrats are pouring millions of millions of dollars into that race. host: let's go to clarksburg, west virginia, independent line. i got caller: -- i got a couple things. no one is above the law. nobody is, ok? the lady from the federal election commission says the law has been broken. and then you have in the constitution, the emoluments clause and the other thing that goes to mitch mcconnell and the oligarchs factory. i am just wondering, have i lost my mind hear? -- lost my mind here? guest: the color brings up an interesting point here is there are some democrats who have said is aact that there campaign finance violation is the most important point. host: asking for help from ukraine? guest: which it is. are making mistake aspectsing on the legal rather than the political outrage the the president may have pressured the ukrainian president to dig up dirt on his political rival. it focus on the legalese of

now susan collins said, quote, the president made a big mistake.ou know, by asking china to investigate the bidens. so why is it that there are republicans who are willing to say this but perhaps there is a lot of reticence still? >> some of this depends on people's individual situation. will hurd is, of course, retiring, so he can kind of say what he wants. he's not running for reelection again. bill sasse at times has been critical of the president. mitt romney is not choosing to run if he chooses to for quite a while. where the cracks will happen are in states like susan collins, senators who are up for reelection, in states that are a little bit more purple, where they go on this. so colorado, north carolina. what do those senators do and do we start to see more from them? it's been really easy for a lot of these guys to stay silent because they haven't been in washington. it will be more public about this inquiry, which is moving very quickly, particularly for the pace of how things typically move in d.c. i think it will get harder, and i thin

susan collins is going to be -- one of the things going on here also is the trump campaign has a war chest of $300 million. republican senators and house members are going to want some of that money to get re-elected. conservative blogger named -- i don't know his actual name. he tweeted when weighing whether trump had due process or not, remember he enjoys a right no criminal defender in the u.s. has, the right to bribe his jurors. he's being cheeky there but you're susan collins, joni earnst, whoever else, you want that $3 billion and you need it. >> and you want him to show up for your primaries. you need him not to attack you during primary season. lindsey graham, he was dead man walking when he was taking on trump in the republican primary in south carolina. today, he is trump's bff, he is walking on water. in the republican party in south carolina. that is the difference trump can make for republicans and that's why there's much fewer republicans because some of them can't deal with it, can't stomach it. >> that's why i brought up aoc. adam schiff has been fund-raising on impea

mitt romney of louisiana, lisa mur couldkowski and susan collins. democrats are moving full speed ahead with their impeachment inquiry tomorrow and, yes, a rare saturday session acting assistant secretary of european and eurasian affairs phillip reeker will be depieced. this follows the most eventful testimony yet from ambassador bill taylor, a 50-year public servant who is the one guy who tied trump to the ukrainian pressure campaign. there is also some odd news today concerning this man, rudy giuliani. there is no elegant way to put this, but he butt-dialed an nbc news reporter last week inadvertently leaving a voicemail message that no one was supposed to hear where he was discussing the need for a large amount of cash. >> tomorrow i got to get you to get on bahrain. you've got to call -- >> hold on. >> you've got to call robert again tomorrow. is robert around? the problem is we need some money. we need a few hundred thousand. >> the context of the entire conversation is not clear. other portions of the call, giuliani can be heard criticizing th

susan collins. cory gardner has a tough reelection in colorado. they know that the voters are divided and they could face a political backlash of fixing to closing with president trump. >> harris: senator graham also not mincing words when introducing his resolution. he ripped the media apart for what he sees as a double standard. let's get to that. >> if we were doing this, you would be beating the [bleep] out of us. you'd be all over me. i think it says a lot about people in your business, with all due respect. i'm confident that if we had an intel committee inquiry involving a democratic president or we selectively leak stuff, you'd be calling us every kind of bad name and we would deserve it. >> harris: is he right? >> it's an effective argument and there's reason that the democrats in the house are eventually going to be holding public hearings. >> harris: one is not going to happen? you said november? >> i think they are probably going to get another half dozen or so witnesses behind closed doors. we know that the first member of the trump a

where is that courageous susan collins? where are the courageous members of the republican party who i grew up watching, standing firm for the constitution and the honor and dignity of the oval office? they are gone. lindsey graham was one of those people. and as charlie calls him shape shifting, i don't even know if shape shifting is the right word. i don't know who that person is anymore. i don't know who or what the republican party is anymore. >> and charlie, on foreign policy, lindsey graham of course is standing up for the syrian kurds, saying that he has as many as 85 votes in the senate to sanction turkey once the senate comes back next week. but we've heard similar rhetoric from him after the killing of khashoggi against mohammed bin salman and that has all shifted as well. >> and this is the hard of the faustian bargain that lindsey graham made, that he would kiss up to the president so that he could have the president's ear, so that he could be influential, so that he could keep the president from making dangerou

and remember, dear viewers, for susan collins, that's scathing.hen there is most of the republican party still defending the president. and on "meet the press" yesterday morning, chuck todd got into it with wisconsin senator ron johnson. >> chuck, i just want the truth. the american people want the truth. >> so do you not trust the fbi? you don't trust the cia? >> no, no, i don't. absolutely not. >> okay. >> after james comey. >> you believe the fbi and the cia -- >> the obama administration. i don't trust any of them. >> you don't trust them now? >> no. i didn't trust them back then. something pretty fishy happened during the 2016 campaign and in the transition, the early part of the trump presidency, and we still don't know. >> we do know the answer. >> never looked into any of that. >> you're choosing not -- you're just making a choice. you're making a choice. >> hopefully william barr will get to the bottom of this. >> you're making a choice not to believe the investigations that have taken place. >> no, i'm trying to get to the truth. >> here

and that depends on keeping people like cory gardener and susan collins and martha mcsally. and i think he's a savvy enough political operator to understand if he could make this go away, he would. >> it's funny because we talked about public opinion today in class and we talked about these very numbers. this is the bind republicans finds them in. they have cast their lot with donald trump, shown them time and time again they will support this particular president. and also on the wrong side of history. this is slightly different, though, because, a, all politics is local. b, if they lose their seat to democrats obviously they know the balance of the senate goes in a totally different direction, and there goes donald trump's presidency, let's just say he gets elected for a second-term and mitch mcconnell on the one hand is dealing with a very erratic leader, his leader is erratic so he's saying everything is fine so make sure we hold the tide. more and more republicans, we know donald trump's base is not going nowhere. it does not matter what he has said or done. but there a

susan collins spoke out over the weekend, soon the president will respond at some point when he sees her comment saying that the china discussion is bad, improper. so republicans increasingly uncomfortable with that. >> and to that point, especially republicans on the ballot, susan collins is up for reelection next year. listen to this answer, tell me do you find this directly responsive to the question? >> where is the line? when are you guys going to say enough? and stand up and say, you know, what, i'm not backing any of this? >> i can say yea, nay, whatever. the president is going to say what the president is going to do. it's up to us as members of congress to continue working with our allies, making sure that we remain strong in the face of adversity. >> you can say more than yea, nay, whatever. you can stand up to a president. you're a member of the united states senate, you can stand up for a president of any party if you choose to. that is choosing not to. mitt romney did decide to stand up. he called it appalling what the president said and this is why the other plans are r

vamos a ver lo que dijo la senadora susan collins sobre el desafÍo de trump en que abiertamente diceional de los estados unidos estÁ en ruinas mientras los republicanos estÁn aterrados de condenar a trump perder elecciones. es lo que tengo por el momento ahora regreso >>> gracias cristina los demÓcratas de la cÁmara representantes han hecho citaciÓn al secretario interino de la casa blanca como parte del juicio del presidente trump, la corte suprema de estados unidos empieza un nuevo perÍodo de sesiones divide el proceso lÍquido y corren en riesgo, por el derecho aportar armas, restricciÓn a la ley del aborto y el futuro del programa daca que el presidente trump estÁ empeÑado en eliminar. castro estÁ hoy en matamoros visitando este campamento.sdquÓn de carpas ha aumentado el nÚmero de niÑos enfermos edgardo. >>> asÍ quÉ tal felicidad estoy en el campamento de migrantes en matamoros tamaulipas al fondo pueden ver o no a juliÁn castro platicando con miles de los inmigrantes que estÁn en este lugar y aquÍ en el costado mucha gente el principal reclamo que le pongan atenciÓn no hay mÉdic

let me go back to the bill i had with susan collins. let me explain what that would do. invisible high risk pool. the state of maine was doing this before the aca. it was working. the aca outlawed it. what the state of maine was doing was something called an invisible high risk pool. , then you would have some folks like yourselves that would be in that individual -- invisible pool. you wouldn't even know it. you probably would if you had a pre-existing condition. you are paying the same as everybody else, regardless of condition. once you hit a certain limit that the insurance company that was covering you, it would be a predetermined amount. you would roll over into that risk pool and will be covered by the state. .ou wouldn't miss a beat you would still be covered by that insurer. once the insurer got to that preset limit with the state, the state picks up the rest of the tap. that way, your condition is covered. and no interruption to you. that's what we were working on. we didn't get enough support in the senate. aca.ill do have the we still are going through issues

susan collins. how was it working for her? >> pretty competitive.s one of two republican senators running in the state that hillary clinton won in 2016. the other being colorado senator cory gardner. she's facing state house speaker sarah gideon. she outraised senator collins in the most recent fundraising quarter. democrats were happy to see that. they are looking at that as a sign that they are getting a strong candidate. it's looking pretty tough. republicans will tell you that senator collins has a really strong brand in maine. she's been around for a long time. she has personal connections with a lot of voters. it will be a tough race, for sure. it's one of those very closely contested races. right now, some republicans of knowledge there are some other senators looking a little more vulnerable than her including gardner and tom tillis. just because collins has such a strong brand in her state. >> what about martha mcsally? remind our viewers about how she made her way to the senate. >> she actually lost her senate race in 2018 to kyrsten sinem

and we have to remember that susan collins is facing her own uphill re-election bid in 2020.king a very fine line. in terms of mitt romney, he has been very critical of the president in the past. so it really comes as no surprise. however, i think if you see more of these figures coming out, and questioning the phone call, and criticizing president trump's roll in it, we have seen some republicans behind closed doors do that. and you know, i don't think you're going to see a major split within the gop. the republican party has historically, and we saw it in 2016, very much fallen in line with whoever their nominee or whoever the president is. so i don't think there is going to be any big republican coup any time soon. however, never say never in this news cycle. and we don't know what could necessarily come out in the future. >> let's talk for a moment about the big news over the weekend, that a second whistle-blower has come forward, at least according to his representation, legal representation. could this second whistle-blower's account impact republicans who have been on

republican senators mitt romney, lisa murkowski, and susan collins have all declined to sign onto thee. during the past 24 hours, graham has only been able to muster enough republican support to pass it with the thinnest possible majority. joining us now the former florida republican congressman and current msnbc political analyst, david jolly. evan mcmullin is back with us as well. david, you're new, so i'll start with you. rudy giuliani, this was meant to be a cover blanket, a warm, soothing blanket for the president. don't worry about the republicans in the senate. >> sure. >> he had to water it down, it took him a while, and he's got three holdouts. what does that say to you about donald trump's firewall? >> first of all, it's a humiliating moment for lindsey graham and all republican senators that are going along with this, that they would feel pressed to give the president a warm blanket he needs. it's also against precedent. the house and the senate don't often opine on the work of the other, and lindsey graham knows that. lindsey graham would be the first one to be offended. i

susan collins, lisa murkowski, and mitt romney i believe. >> yeah, that's right. so what this means is republicans have the 50 votes they will need to get this passed. they can use mike pence to break the tie. so that resolution could be passed if indeed it's brought to the floor, you know, presumably they would try to do this as early as next week. the three republican holdouts should not be all that surprising. susan collins has been pretty resolute that she's just not going to talk about the impeachment inquiry until and unless it comes before the senate. lisa murkowski has really held the line as one of the more independent thinking among republican senators. she's regularly one of the last to jump on to these kind of things if she does at all. and then there's mitt romney who's been easily the most outspoken republican senator when it comes to the impeachment inquiry and what he sees as, you know, pretty obvious problems in behavior here by donald trump. but this does now have the votes to come to the floor. whether it has any practical effect on the actual i

susan collins is a senator in -- facing a really tough re-elect. and we may see a handful of house democrats -- or house republicans, sorry -- that see that -- see the math. they see the polling in their districts. they are polling right now. they're looking at how their constituents are seeing this inquiry and certainly as this inquiry moves into the public sphere and some of these testimonies are revealed or we see testimony in public, you could certainly see some more republicans think differently if things continue to go as we've seen them so far. >> those numbers were right. i was just looking too quickly in terms of the trending for overall support. again, you can see the don't support going down in numbers and then utah. looking at the independent trend. and of course, if you're thinking about running for president or you're thinking of winning in your state if you're a senator, you're going to watch the independent vote and that is full screen six. you can see that there's also a trend that is not in the way that you would want to see in te

. >> reporter: republican senator susan collins joining a small group of republicans publicly condemning the president, calling the president's request to china completely inappropriate. but not commenting on the ukraine phone call. >> i don't want to prejudge the evidence. >> reporter: the president lasen sent, whhad er d fosecu business dealings while his father helped carry out the obama administration's foreign policy as vice president. biden penning an op-ed in the "washington post" saying the president slanders anyone he sees as a threat. >> it's only a benefit for joe biden to stand up in a forthright, very energetic way and take the fight directly to donald trump day in and day out. >> reporter: there has been no finding of wrongdoing by either joe biden or his son. the white house press secretary telling abc news it doesn't myo call themselves whistle-blowers about a call the president has made public, they say it doesn't change the fact that the president did nothing wrong. rachel scott, abc news, washington. >> rachel, thank you. let's take a look at what happens next. two top

. >> the first signs of republican disent are emerging with mitt romney, ben sass and now susan collins criticizing president trump's public call for china to investigate the bidens in addition to ukraine. >>> they're going to the county for help but walking away empty handed. they say they're being turn away from food and medical coverage because of an ongoing strike by santa clara workers. they're beginning the second week of a strike. and you've had hundreds of picketers out there. >> reporter: that's right. as you will see, the picket line here was one of the biggest we've seen since it started last week. but there's no resolution in sight and that left those who needed services whoer in limbo. >> she came to the agency to apply for food stamps but got turned away. >> for my dad. we've been waiting 30 days already. so to delay him a little bit more is a little bit struggle. >> reporter: the rolling strikes hit the social service buildings in san jose. the union and county are in the midst of an ongoing weight dispute. plus, they want other issues such a staffing shortages addressed.

susan collins tells the daily news about the president made a mistake by asking china to get involved in investigating a political opponent. congress is still out this week. lawmakers do plan to hear more testimony from current and former u.s. diplomats this week. as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry.>>> a federal judge is clear the way for new york prosecutors to get their hands on president trump's tax returns. 75 page ruling monday federal judge dérer marrero rejected president trump's claim the president cannot be investigated while in office. hours after monday's decision a federal appeals court granted president trump a temporary stay. he will not have to turn over his tax returns immediately. >>> some republican leaders expressing alarm over the decision to suddenly withdraw troops from northern syria. it marks a major shift in u.s. foreign policy. it effectively gives turkey the green light to attack u.s. úkurdish forces. one kurdish leader called it a stab in the back. turkey considers the kurds terrorist. for years they have battled isis alongside american soldiers. >>

but party unity has a few splinters, three gop senators, mitt romney, ben sasse and now susan collins criticized president trump for urging china to investigate joe biden and son hunter's bid business there. the bidens deny any wrongdoing. collins is considered vulnerable for re-election in maine. >> i thought the president made a big mistake by asking china to get involved in investigating a political opponent. it's completely inappropriate. >> kelly o'donnell reporting from the white house. democrats are hoping the new whistle-blower will add new information to an impeachment inquiry. hans nichols now on what that information could hold. >> reporter: if the whistle-blower does have a firsthand account, he or she could clarify open questions about the president's interaction with ukraine, including at the call log of trump's television phone conversation, and if any officials concluded that the president i would like you to do us a favor, though, amounted to a quid pro quo. the president -- >> the so-called whistle-blower. >> used that first whistle-blower's lack of firsthand knowled