i'm jake tapper. we start with the lead and brand-new cnn reporting that is undermining president trump's justification for killing the general qassem soleimani, because two state officials say that they were not told that there were imminent threats to u.s. embassies despite the president's claim. today on twitter, the president said that the fake news media and the partners are working hard to determine if the future attack by soleimani was imminent or not, and to my team and i, the answer is a strong yes. but does it not matter, because of his horrible past. so, yes, soleimani was a vicious leader of an organization that the u.s. government considers terrorists, and he had the blood of innocents on his hands, but whether or not these attacks, the strike against him and whether or not the attacks that we were told that he is planning is imminent, and whether these alleged plots are backed up by intelligence, it matter, because that is the reason that the american people were told that he is killed a

. >> welcome them to the stage, the christmas tree tappers.rs and applause] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] >> merry christmas! [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] >> i beg you, open your eyes. [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [cheers and applause] >> wow. wasn't that phenomenal? let's give it another round of applause for the christmas tree tappers. >> they can really dance. >> before we keep going tonight, we would like to give a big special thank you to tonight's sponsor. redwood credit. they have a beautiful new branch a few blocks away from here. >> and we have a number of redwood folks here tonight, as well as the bank's mascot. thank you for sponsoring tonight 's festivities, especially santa's maker village >> and our next acts are the poet athletes of america scores. >> these students usually come to civic centre in their soccer jerseys to play in their weekly soccer game, but not today. today they are wearing their finest holiday sweaters. they made them themselves. our young poets come from america's scores program. the civic centre plaza is there home-fiel

i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of the union is wondering if four republicans are going to vote for more evidence. tomorrow, the president's lawyers will hammer away at the roughly 20 hours of opening arguments of the democrats. and in the first hour, they said that he did nothing wrong and the democrats were simply trying to overturn the will of the american people. >> they are asking you to remove president trump from the ballot in an lek shun that election thg in approximately nine months. they are here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in american history. >> the president's lawyers have promised that the arguments will be brief which means that the senate could vote whether to compel new testimony and documents in days. if 51 senators vote now, the president could be theoretically be acquitted by the end of the week. perhaps complicating the situation for the senators is the tape released by the lawyer of indicted businessman and rudy giuliani ally lev parnas. and this morning, president trump is weighing in on twitter suggesting that the le

i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of our union is busy. the u.s. senate is looking to move forward with the president impeachment trial, and the democrats are gearing up for the last debate before the voters vote in iowa. and also, there is still more fallout of the strike against one of the top generals in iraq. here in u.s., the rationale of the strike on general qassem soleimani are growing. the president says that he had been planning to target four u.s. embassies including the one in baghdad and this is one that several lawmakers said they were not made aware of in a briefing from the president's administration, and how imminent the threat was from soleimani. and also another fallout, as protesters took their very lives to taking to the street for the regime lying to them about shooting down a passenger plane and much more. stunningly, they are chanting "death to the supreme leader" there. the president tweeted in farsi so the long suffering people of iran and this morning warning the iran leader, do not kill your protesters. to talk about thi

i'm jake tapper, and we begin with breaking news in the world lead. and members of congress and the head of the intelligence committee the so-called gang of eight are said to be briefed by trump officials on the intelligence of what is behind president trump calls an imminent threat to american, and the evidence that led to the president to make the decision to kill iranian general qassem soleimani, and several democrats have expressed deep skepticism already presented evidence on how specific the imminent threat was. this afternoon the president defended the position, but he failed to provide any actual evidence. >> we followed his path for those three days, and they were not good stops. we did not like where he was stopping, and they were not good stops. we saved a lot of lives. we did ourselves and lot of countries a big favor. >> the call for the trump administration to produce clear evidence of the pending attacks coming in an important context. the american public has been fed falsehoods by the government many times when it comes to war includin

i'm jake tapper.senator bernie sanders has a new ally this week in the senate, republican senator mike league. this comes after lee's sharp criticism of top officials giving what mike lee said is the worst military briefing he has experienced in his nine years in congress. he is joining us now and author of a new book called "our loss declaration, america's fight against tyranny." thank you for joining us. after the briefing, you seemed very offended by the lack of information given to you, and was the administration just basically saying, hey, come on, trust us? >> jake, in the briefing we did not receive information that was not already available through public media sources. congress needs to know about it in part so we can evaluate the scope of our authority and act or choose not to act. we didn't get that. that was disappointing. >> in the briefing did they say anything about four u.s. embassies would be targeted by soleimani and his forces as president trump said he believed on friday? >> i didn

i'm wolf blitzer in washington. >> i'm jake tapper. an urgent decision this morning about the hold that the trump white house put on aid to ukraine, democrats reading out the impeachment articles on the floor of the u.s. senate, articles dealing with the ukraine scandal. we learned this morning that the nonpartisan government accountability office concluded the trump administration broke the law when it withheld military assistance that congress had authorized for ukraine. house speaker nancy pelosi reacting to that announcement from gao just minutes ago. >> when i was in grade school, there was a sign on the wall, under the carters, it said what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive. you see this more and more and more in all of this, this tappi tangled web to deceive that the administration is engaged in. >> the trump administration calls the decision overreach and accuses the got ao s the gao t themselves into the impeachment narrative. in just moments, the articles will be read aloud and later the u.s. supreme co

there oh i don't know what tapper i'm a good good good topic and we'll pick that one up we're going to have a later date but i want to thank my panel jesse ventura the watkins rachel rachel blevins and steve christakis thank you so much everyone for coming on always a pleasure that is our show for you today remember when in this world we are not told but we are loved enough so i tell you all i love i am tyrrel them too and keep on watching all those hawks out there a great day and night everybody. this footage is unique because the zoe tribal lands are normally off limits to the public eric's allowed in because he's this is personal dog. people here know him simply as dog to eric he's rich and famous some always on the move sailing yachts and flying aircraft that it's. now. known. he's considered one of the best neurosurgeons in brazil. and while that's happening amazon. hours is so slow. going out of the busy doing that nothing is going to do the population much remote is going to people from momma's on. the u.s. and other western powers accuse iran of accidentally shooting down uk

i don't let tapper and it goes on there that good topic and we'll pick that one up again in a later date but i want to thank my panel jesse ventura the watkins rachel rachel blevins and steve thank you so much everyone for coming on always a pleasure that is our show for you today remember when in this world we have not told the beloved enough so i tell you all the love i am tyrone been through and keep on watching all those hawks out there a great day and night. the world is driven by a dream shaped by one person. thinks . we dare to ask. the united states assassinate top military commander in an early morning our strike in iraq provoking thread separate allegation from tehran. militias. police in the french capital shoot day and a knife wielding. person to death and wouldn't to the world. turkish parliament's the citizenship deployed troops to libya comes in for a strong criticism of israel grace chris fear it will lead to a further escalation in the region.

i'm jake tapper. our world lead, two of

i want to get back down to washington, d.c., and brianna keilar is in for jake tapper.>>> the white house says that impeachment is one word, two syllables that rhymes with parade. "the lead" starts right now. breaking now the cnn poll coming out on "the lead" taking the pulse of the nation, and do the voters want the senate to remove president trump? today, the trump legal team is laying tout defense and slamming the democrat's case as charade and making claims that may clash with the constitution. >>> plus, barnstorming with exactly two weeks until iowa, the candidates are flooding the zone while one major newspaper is slammed for the endorsement that says ooeither will do. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to "the lead" i'm brianna keilar in for jake tapper and we begin with breaking news. new polls out on the eve of the president's senate impeachment trial and this is as the battle of witnesses

my colleague, jake tapper, shared his thoughts today on "state of the union." >> iranian general qassemded up a group considered to be terrorists, he was ruthlessly effective. he had the blood of americans on his hands. whether it was rise to kill him and risk response friar an or not is debatable. the threat that the general presented was greater than the threat of iran's response if he was killed. this is what the debate is about. this, and the intelligence, what the alleged imminent threat to the u.s. was, whether that intelligence is being accurately represented or twisted and shaded to justify a desired strike, as has happened before in the u.s. and also we're discussing the role of congress in all of this. that's a debate that's been raging for decades. but if you listen to the president and his defenders, you don't hear much discussion about these serious matters. the two main arguments we've heard this week are, one, trust us, such as senator lindsey graham tweeting do you believe the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and cia director are incompete incompetent, lying? i'm be

i'm jake tapper. our world lead, two of america's most dangerous adversaries, leaders of iran and north korea testing president trump. iran today, declaring it is prepared for war if necessary, vowing its military is strong enough to break the united states. the escalating tensions heating up during a dramatic 48-hour siege at the u.s. embassy in baghdad by an iranian-backed militia. showing the extent of damage inflicted on the u.s. embassy as more u.s. military members are on their way. the world will witness, quote, a new strategic weapon, one feared to be a nuclear weapon. the regime also dismissing any talk of denuclearization. here is how richard haas explained it to "the new york times." quote, after three years of no international crises, mr. trump is, quote, facing one with iran because he has rejected diplomacy and another with north korea, because he has asked too much of diplomacy. as cnn kaitlan collins reports, despite these threats, president trump seems preoccupied with impeachment. >>

i'm brooke baldwin and "the lead" with jake tapper starts lead" with jake tapper starts right now. --.vitac.com >>> so it turns out that it is kind of important for the public to believe that the president is telling them the truth. "the lead" starts right now. >>> president trump couching the claim that he believes four u.s. embassies were about to be attacked imminently and thus he took out iran's top general, but no one can say that the intelligence supports this, and that it is a belief. and everybody is crazy while nancy pelosi's silence is causing a stir among the democrats as she is ready to hand over the impeachment articles to the senate. >>> and now, at her own dinner, what bernie sanders said to elizabeth warren of why she cannot win, and she, sanders strongly denying it. >>> this is cnn b

"the lead with jake tapper" starts right now. >>> is iran backing down, or are they just taking the fight underground?" the lead" starts right now. breaking now, iran tells the u.s. via back channels that their response is over as president trump is claiming that the regime is standing down following last night's attack, and so why is the fbi warning us about another kind of attack? >>> the president also vowing that iran will never have a nuke, and he is going to strangle the country with tough new sanctions, and is this the way to handle decades of aggression from the country. and also the senate majority leader telling speaker pelosi to butt out as pressure is mounting from members of her own party to deliver the articles of impeachment to the senate. >>> welcome to "the lead", and i'm jake tapper. we lead with the conflict of iran and the united states looks to be on hold for now. and president trump said that iran appears to be standing down after firing more than a dozen missiles on sites where u.s. troops are stationed. cnn has just learned that iran sent multiple messages through

and i'm brooke baldwin and we go to jake tapper with "the lead" starting right now. >>> at first they said they did not know what soleimani was targeting and they said it is one embassy and now they say it is four. "the lead" starts right now. breaking news moments ago, that president trump is saying that four embassies were going to be targeted when this is happening as the administration is trying to back up his story. >>> and hitting send. nancy pelosi is planning to hand the impeachment articles to the senate next week, and she wanted the guarantee of the trial in the senate, and now they are learning that the senate has a fast-track to acquit president trump. >> and dangerously close. a warship nearly collapsing with a u.s. navy destroyer and why the game of chicken at sea? >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper and we are beginning with breaking news in the politics lead, and the claims are ratcheting up with the claims of iran and needed to justify the strike on iranian general soleimani, and now the president trump is suggesting that not one but four embassies were to be t

i'm jake tapper. multiple usual officials and the prime ministers of khcanada and the uk are all now saying intelligence indicates the passenger plane that crashed in iran wednesday morning killing all 176 people on board was shot down by iran. possibly accidentally. the british prime minister saying minutes ago there was a, quote, body of information showing an iranian air missile brought down that passenger plane. brand new video sent to cnn report s s to show a missile fi into the sky and striking an object right around the the time that ukraine airlines flight crashed. cnn has not independently verified the authenticity of the video. another new video showing the fiery moment the flight hit the ground just minutes after taking off from the tehran airport. our correspondents are covering the story from every angle including on the ground in iran. we'll start with alex with new reporting about how the plane full of civilians may have been the shot down by accident. >> reporter: in the wake of the tr

you can follow me on instagram, facebook, twitter at jake tapper.erage continues right now. >>> happening now, dismiss the charges. cnn has learned the white house is pressing for an impeachment trial rule that could let senate republicans end the case against president trump almost as soon as it begins. we'll look at key impeachment developments that begin tomorrow. >>> imminent insistence as the trump team struggles to justify the killing of iran's top general, the president himself just said the intelligence has been consistent even though defense secretary mark esper says he hasn't seen evidence of any threat to u.s. embassies. sources say state department security officials were never told about any imminent

"the lead" with jake tapper "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com, but perhaps the most important walk of the year is about to take place. "the lead" starts right now. in minutes house impeachment managers are going to deliver the articles of impeachment to the u.s. senate and the president's trial for abusing his office and obstructing congress will commence. they were allegedly tracking her movements and possibly even discussing her demise. the house releasing new damning evidence against rudy giuliani and one of his henchman as they plotted against the former ukrainian ambassador in many way, and plus, a handshake snub after a heated exchange, and new information today on why the senators elizabeth warren and bernie sanders and the pact

sad moment for fake news when jake tapper actually had to call out the democrats.got to give fake jake some drit here and his fake news ceilings for taking et word of lev parnas the new avenatti. >> under indictment for campaign finance charges. the foreign minister of ukraine told cnn christiane nikpour he doesn't trust. democrats acting as if this guy is the second coming of theodore roosevelt. >> sean: good line. by the way you did forget that he also is now being looked into, taking a million dollars and not reporting it to russia. then you have lawrence o'donnell. i met lawrence o'donnell at the conspiracy channel msdnc. he reviewed how the fake news media truly and in many ways believes all of this nonsense. take a look. >> cnn, which is sort of -- we're recall playing it down the middle, except we hate trump. >> no, they don't. 1/3 of the people on their payroll love trump. you are guaranteed on any hour of cnn to minimum one third of the programming will be supportive of trump. someone on their payroll saying here's why trump's right. >> yeah, well, they br

>>> i'm wolf blitzer live in washington alongside jake tapper, chris cuomo and dana bash, she's up on capitol hill. this is cnn's special coverage of the impeachment trial of president donald j. trump. we're also following the latest on the investigation into the tragic death of nba legend kobe bryant. his 13-year-old daughter gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in southern california. >> first coming up in a few hours, the senate will gavel back in session after a one-day recess, the president's defense team will go on the offensive today, we're told, for the second day of opening arguments. today's arguments, however, come in the wake of a report describing damning new information from president trump's former national security adviser john bolton. "the new york times" reporting a draft manuscript of bolton's upcoming book details a conversation in august where president trump explicitly told bolton that he wanted to continue withholding nearly $400 million in critical security aid to ukraine until ukraine agreed to help with two investigations, including an investigation

i'm jake tapper. we begin with the politics of the impeachment trial,

"the lead" with jake tapper "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> it is a few yards, but perhaps the most important walk of the year is about to take place. "the lead" starts right now. in minutes house impeachment managers are going to deliver the articles of impeachment to the u.s. senate and the president's trial for abusing his office and obstructing congress will commence. they were allegedly tracking her movements and possibly even discussing her demise. the house releasing new damning evidence against rudy giuliani and one of his henchman as they plotted against the former ukrainian ambassador in many way, and plus, a handshake snub after a heated exchange, and new information today on why the senators elizabeth warren and bernie sanders and the pact seems broken. >>> welcome to "the lead." we begin with a whole new impeachment phase of donald j. trump to begin. we will see a historic walk, and the house managers who will prosecute the case against president trump to walk across the capitol to notify the senate they are ready to deliver i

here this morning from secretary of state mike pompeo on the sunday morning programs, he told jake tapper on cnn that the trump administration is advising congress iran could respond in his words "within weeks" in some fashion. >> i think it is likely there will be a response. respond,ans have to but i don't think it will be unitsly iran's military attacking u.s. units or personnel. it will be proxies, militias, iranian-supported terrorist groups. they might go after u.s. bases. we have seen some rocket fire at u.s. bases in iraq. i don't think it will be something drastic that will raise the potential for a direct confrontation. state oncretary of meet the press and state of the union. as well as fox news sunday, abc's this week and face the nation, all rearing beginning new in time on c-span radio, and on the c-span radio app. bob, in livionia, michigan. >> thanks for taking my call. as far as escalation, iran's has never needed an excuse to cut off somebody's head with a rusty sword, number one. number two, we have been partners with russia for 20 years on the international space base

i'm jake tapper.th chambers of congress will be back in town this week, and there is no progress on the house's stalled impeachment, and there is new fallout on the strike of iran's top general. and joining me is the chairman of house congressional committee adam schiff. you said that you were a member of the gang of eight and you would be briefed on such a thing, and you have yet to get an adequate answer as to why the strike is necessary right now. and you have heard senator warren suggest that it is a "wag the dog" type thing, and so that is a striking suggestion from the senator, and is she right? >> well, i don't know what the president president's decision was, but when secretary pompeo says that this decision to take out soleimani is to save american lives and other lives, that is a opinion, and not a congressional opinion. and much like reneging on the deal led to security, the evidence was to the contrary and i believe it is going to be the same here sadly. i believe it is going into crease t

. >> congresswoman, it's jake tapper. just wondering, you have been very somber throughout this entire process. house speaker nancy pelosi has tried to keep all house democrats on the tpage of being somber and serious recognizing the gravity of this all. yesterday, however, many republicans and even some independents i saw on social media took a lot of issue with the fact that speaker pelosi and top democrats of the house had a signing ceremony for the articles of impeachment in which they were handing out pens that were used, and that's often done with legislation, but this wasn't a legislative accomplishment. this is an impeachment of a president, moreover, people were smiling for the cameras, taking pictures together. did you have any concerns about the tone that was being set there? >> i think for the speaker it was a solemn moment. you are correct that it is a traditional procedure that she has the people that worked on it the hardest who have helped get it there and what she did yesterday is part of a ritual that sh

. >>> i'm wolf blitzer alongside jake tapper in washington, d.c. for cnn's special live coverage of the impeachment trial of president donald j. trump. anderson cooper is also here in the nation's capitol and dana bash is leading our coverage up from capitol hill. >> today, of course, day one of the historic trial that will see democratic members of the house of representatives trying to make their case for the removal of the president of the united states, something that has never happened. this is, of course, just the third time the senate has ever been seated for a trial of this magnitude. we have it covered from every angle. the process, the powerful players, the arguments on either side, before the gavel falls in a few hours. >> so here's where we stand right now. president trump is just the third president in american history to be impeached by the house of representatives. it passed two articles. the first for abuse of power over his withholding of military aid to ukraine, a u.s. ally, whom he actively pressured to announce an investigation

it's jake tapper here. today is the day of questioning, tomorrow too u.s.ustice of the united states, john roberts, will read them and either the house impeachment managers or the president's defense team will respond. are there any questions that you have submitted or are going to submit? if so, can you tell us what one or two of them are? >> well, i have submitted my questions. they're largely focused on national security, the state of illinois, my state, is in a partnership for peace relationship with the country of poland so for the last 30 years, the illinois national guard has been training the polish military and should the russians surge across ukraine, our first ally that we are in a mutual defense treaty with is poland. it would be illinois troops that could be sent to help rappel any type of a russian aggression. so my questions are all related to what happens in terms of national security in terms of implications if we continue to not provide ukraine with the support that they need. remember that the president still has not granted a white house

people are judges raising similar questions telling cnn's jake tapper on sunday that his national security judgment would be shaped by his own military service in afghanistan. my judgments also informed by belonging to that generation that has lived through conflicts that we were told would be over in days weeks and are continuing to this day. >>as a confrontation with the rand boils all democratic candidates are facing a commander-in-chief test i can tell you that i'm someone that has a heart that you have to really decide before you send soldiers into battle exactly what you're doing people are reasonably asking about the timing. >>and why it is that the administration seems to have all kinds of different answers. >>a year long campaign focus largely on domestic issues is suddenly taking a global turn as candidates ask voters to weigh experience versus judgment. long ago biden conceded his vote to authorize the iraq war was a mistake. now he's brushing aside the criticism not given a fire burning. after seeing sanders at a campaign stop in muscatine iowa. lawrence clawson said he is lean

anchor jake tapper retreat and analysis by former national security advisor to the top administration john bolton in which he declared the demonstrations as a sign of iranian control over militia groups not a sign of a rocky anti americanism and this is all of course despite the crowd outside the embassy shouting down down usa. well that is your update for now i'll be back here with the rest of the team at the top of the out to bring you more news from around the world happy new year. i'm going to fulfill the repeated purposes ok probably to the people and come on you know we've all pots. beautifully written pretty. much. now you want to 1st. know. all the. big. good politicians to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. some want. to go right to cross the sea like the full story in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the winds in the. first city. on this edition of crossfire we answer questions sent to us by you the viewers we received quite a few questions here we do our best to answer some of them. this is broadcast

anchor jake tapper retreat and analysis by former national security advisor to the top administration john bolton in which he declared the demonstrations as a sign of iranian control over militia groups not a sign of a rocky anti americanism and this is all of course despite the crowd outside the embassy shouting down down usa. but we also expect a song to be who's a member of the backed out security committee he says the u.s. is creating a war on iraq you saw that will affect the country's relations. what's iran got to do with this this iraqi soldiers iraqi personnel were killed the iraqi people. to be. with. for the loss of their brothers. their soldiers so i don't know why the americans assisting to move the battlefield from iran into iraq. creating a proxy war in iraq. which has no. need for it if there is a problem between the united states of america between the iran might as well take between themselves why involving iraq why attack iraq soldiers in retaliation to iranian policy this is something. for it it will definitely lead to deterioration of diplomatic relationship betwee

jake tapper cnn tweets out white house has issued formal threat to john bolton to keep them from publishing the book. the headlines this morning, this afternoon "new york post" rudy giuliani unloads on john bolton, causing and backstabbing and then you have the "new york times" this afternoon with evelyn trump's defense team discounts bolton as republicans work to hold off on witnesses. democratic leader chuck schumer of new york talk to reporters ahead of today's proceedings. here's what he had to say on questions and witnesses. >> okay. i want to thank my colleagues for being here. yesterday as you know the president's counsel ended their defense of the president. up until the very end, mr. sekulow kept making the argument that the case against the president lacked eyewitnesses, knowing full well that his client the president was blocking the very eyewitnesses he said the trial lacked. knowing full well, he knew full well that one of the eyewitnesses, john bolton, wrote that the president told the he wanted to continue to late in military assistance to ukraine until it announced a politic

see one with regard to 4 embassies when later asked for seemingly changing his story to cnn's jake tapper us of what the president said with regard to the 4 embassies is what i believe as well and he said he believed that they probably that they could have been targeting the embassies in the region national security adviser robert o'brien saying there was a threat without being too specific everything the president says that is that is consistent with interpretation. >>it's very consistent with the intelligence was show that saw him i was plotting to kill americans. soldiers sailors airmen, and marines and our diplomats and so. >>we we we feel we feel very good about it. >>that was athena jones reporting regarding the killing of soleimani the mixed messages from the trump administration are alarming both democrats and republicans politicians on both sides of the aisle are saying officials did not cite any imminent danger to us embassies in last week's briefing on iran. >>the snow could be on the way to the sierra the national weather service issued a series of winter weather advisories up

>>> i'm wolf blitzer live in washin washington alongside jake tapper and anderson cooper and dana bash on capitol hill. this is cnn's special coverage of the impeachment trial of president donald j. trump. today could mark the end of the historic trial and the acquittal of president trump on abuse of power and obstruction of congress. just the third time in american history the u.s. senate has held a trial and vote on removing a sitting president from office. but before we get to a final vote on the two articles of impeachment, we will hear four hours defend bait on whether to call additional witnesses in the trial. there has never been a senate impeachment trial without new witnesses. >> after that debate, the senators will vote with democrats needing least four republicans to break ranks to allow new witnesses such as former national security adviser john bolton. some thought that tennessee republican senator lamar alexander could be a critical yes vote on allowing witnesses. alexander ended speculation last night by declaring he would vote no. but not before alexander admitted what

. >>> i'm wolf blitzer live in washington alongside jake tapper, anderson cooper and dana bash on capitol hill. this is cnn's special coverage of the impeachment trial of president donald j. trump. today, the president's defense team wraps up their presentation. they spent some time defending the actions of president trump's personal attorney, rudy giuliani. >> but the crux of the argument seemed to focus on impeachment itself, and the criteria set out in the u.s. constitution. treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeaners. the trump team argued the president's actions in this case simply does not meet that standard and took on for the very first time on the senate floor claims made in a draft manuscript of former national security adviser john bolton's book as reported by the new york times and the washington post. >> nothing in the bolton revelations even if true would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense. that is clear from the history, that is clear from the language of the constitution. you cannot turn conduct that is not impeachable into impeach

. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer liv here in washington, alongside jake tapper, anderson cooper and dana bash, she's up on capitol hill. this is cnn's special coverage of the impeachment trial of president donald j. trump. today is round two of questions from the jury. the chief justice of the united states john roberts read out 93 questions from the senators yesterday, but there was one that he refused to read, we'll get to that later. >> the trump defense team introduced a stunning new argument. alan dershowitz put forth a robust argument about presidential powers that when it comes to asking a foreign country to interfere with the election in any way, dershowitz suggested that would be perfectly okay, as long as the president truly believes that action is in the nation's best interest. the action that he be re-elected. that monumental claim of quite expansive presidential powers sparked a fierce back and forth between trump's legal team and the democratic house managers. take a listen to this quick excerpt. >> the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, i

so are you an accomplished tapper? do you know how to tap? you're not. >> no. tell my feet to do this and they would actually do that. >> jimmy: right. you don't ever do it anymore? >> no, i don't. i don't. my first class, though, i walked into the studio. it's all these like 6-year-olds, 7-year-olds. >> jimmy: really? >> straight up, man. studio in santa monica. and these kids are looking at me like what? no way. [ laughter ] what's this grown-ass man doing in here learning tap dance? >> jimmy: wow. this is -- tap dancing. you never -- you want to do a little tap dance? can you show us a little? [ cheers and applause ] >> if i could i would. >> jimmy: we'll take a break. go get coached -- guillermo, go get a giant pair of tap shoes. [ crowd chanting "kobe" ] we'll be right back. i'climate is the number 1ove priority.sage. i would declare a state of emergency on day 1. congress has never passed an important climate bill, ever. this is a problem that continues to get worse. i've spent a decade fighting and beating oil companies... stopping pipelines... stopping

fact they're going to let antonio brown maybe the play again but they won't let cap oh i don't let tapper good to do that good topic and we'll pick that one up again in a later date but i want to thank my panel jesse ventura the watkins rachel rachel blevins and steve christakis thank you so much everyone for coming on always a pleasure that is our show for you today remember when in this world we are not told but we are loved enough so i tell you all the love i am tyrone been through and keep on watching all those hawks out there a great day and night. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race on the dramatic developments only and. i don't see how that strategy will be successful betty to kill time to sit. leeks laws leave. when you're. in the present pick with the biggest and most of the book movie subpart. it's going to show us that it's a bit soon. there's. just a little. thousands of american men and women she was just sort of in the country's military decision little sheltered lives every thing came to a complete. the day that i

. >> this is mike pompeo, this is for you phillip on jake tapper discussing the credibility gap. >> in addition this nation has heard leaders whether it is blaming a youtube video for the attack of benghazi or wmd in iraq. people have heard this government, the government of the united states say things to them that were not true when it comes to the war. do you understand there may be a special responsibility to provide proof and evidence to the american people of the imminent of these attacks, of the need to carry out the mission. >> jake, i do understand the power that we have and the need that we have to try to share with the american people everything we possibly can what about why we take the action that we take. we'll continue to do what we can, consistently and protecting our sources and methods. >> do you think they take the public's trust seriously? >> i think they take a certain portion of public's trust seriously. that's donald trump's base, the republicans broadly. they have establish the media. the three of us sitting here arguing this paper is not trust worthy. mike pomp

so that is a difficult discussion as well. >> senator, jake tapper.iser made it clear he's ready and willing to testify all he needs is a subpoena. he's also made it clear through his attorney he has relevant information. why would you not want to hear from him? >> well, i think at this point you got to put it in the context of how long the whole process is taking to get here, stumbled in a way when the mueller report didn't work out. john bolton, who knows which way he would testify. bolster maybe the president's point of view. that will call into the larger framework, i guarantee you, if bolton comes in, there would have to be something worked out to what witness they would agree to, in a real quid pro quo. if they get a witness, we're going to get a witness. i do know the process if we get there, that is the way it will work, once we cross the threshold of whether we need more information. i can tell you this, any senator here, i think i paid as much attention, because i heard comments, i learned something new, i watched all three versions of the h

going to let antonio brown maybe play golf with a ball but they won't let cap or neck at all let tapperin it because they're that good topic and we'll pick that one up again in a later date but i want to thank my panel jesse ventura the watkins rachel rachel blevins and steve christakis thank you so much everyone for coming on always a pleasure that is our show for you today remember when in this world we are not told the beloved enough so i tell you all i love i am tyrrel them through and keep on watching all those hawks out there have a great day and night everybody. this footage is unique because the zoe tribal lands are normally off limits to the public eric's allowed in because he's the personal doctor. people here know him simply as dr eric he's rich famous some always on the move. some flying aircraft that. he's considered one of the best neurosurgeons in brazil. that's happened. hours so says. the busy. nothing's going to do the population because he's going to people. in the united states presidential candidates debate the future of the u.s. and the world. max kaiser and stacy

howie: on that point jnn jake tapper was pretty stuff on president trump, parnas has a credibility andcrats are characterizing as theodore. gillian: comes back to he should have just had lawyers put the evidence out there, i think he undercuts his own credibility when he goes on television and tries to up sell the story, the evidence -- >> there's no real trial in the senate, this is all we are going to have. the trial. howie: trial by media which you can't go to jail for that but ruin your reputation. times reporting that the justice department is investigating jim comey, former fbi chief for 2017 leak to the press by classified information related to russian intelligence that says this could raise questions about whether it was motivated at least in part by politics, washington post headlines says raising fears, trump is using the justice department for political gain, fair observation? >> two pieces that had spin right there up front, i mean, there wasn't throat clearing, they weren't hiding any of it, look, i think that this is always been something that's been a question for peopl

. >> let's listen to something that senator warren told jake tapper about the timing of the iran striket killed general soleimani. >> i think people are reasonably asking about the timing and why it is that the administration seems to have all kinds of different answers. when the administration doesn't seem to have a coherent answer for taking a step like that, and they have taken a step that moovds us closer to war. >> do you believe that? do you think trump may have done this to distract from impeachment? >> i served on the house foreign committee for three years now, and i have not seen a coherent strategy from the trump administration when it comes to iran. they can't even answer basic questions, such as, what are our goals with iran. they haven't really been able to articulate to american people why they conducted this strike. we'll have a classified briefing sometime this week. i look forward to hearing from administration what the justification was. they talk about this method twhef dealing with soleimaniment do you agree that? >> soleimani was a general as well as a top politica

question an administration's decision to question the intelligence that's behind it just like jake tapperate pompeo, it's not fair for the media to say we are not going to accept the justification, we will accuse you of lying unless you produce the classified intelligence right now. that is not an appropriate standard or dangerous standard to set with presidents. howie: jeopardizes the people who gathers the intelligence. >> not in the position to even consider that, consider how fluid the situation is on the ground inside iraq right now. howie: right. >> probably a whole string of attacks that are inning -- in planning stages. howie: widely reported killing soleimani, changes provocations and not what critics might believe? gillian: the media in this case is underestimating the situation when it comes to the escalating tensions because u.s. and iran by which i mean look -- it's not -- soleimani wasn't just killed because he's planning future terrorist attacks, he wasn't just killed because he targeted americans two weeks ago and, you know, actually killed one american military contractor