senate democrats want witnesses called in an impeachment trial, setting up a battle with the gop. the house judiciary committee impeachment report does accuse the president of crimes. fallout from the army/navy

football game. both academies investigating afriter cadets and midshipmen we seen making a hand gesture. that kiss caused a lot of commotion for the hall mark channel, said the decision to pull that ad was wrong. backlash and backlash and backlash. this is "early start." i'm christine romans. >> backlash of 2019. i'm dave briggs. monday, december 16th. it's 4:00 a.m. 49 days from the iowa caucuses and smack-dab in the middle of the impeachment week. it is certain that the house will vote to impeach president trump this week. before it goes to the senate, chuck schumer laying out his vision for the senate trial. he wants witness testimony and new documents. that's a far cry from the plan

top republicans are putting forward. one reason that schumer is taking action early, republican tactics are sparking claims from democrats, that the impeachment process will be rigged from the start. >> i am giving a clear signal i have made up my mind. i'm not trying to be a juror here. i want to end it. i don't want to legitimize it. i hate what i'm doing. >> everything i do i'm coordinator with the white house counsel. >> when they sit for a trial, they have to pledge to do impartial justice. and you have the majority leader of the senate, the foreman of the jury, saying he's going to work hand in glove with the defense attorney. that's a violation of the oath they're about to take and a complete subversion of the constitutional scheme. >> the house released its impeachment report, declaring president trump has realized the

framers' worst nightmare. the report argues the president committed crimes including bribery. that was not referenced in the impeachment articles. part of the defense of the president was that no actual crimes were committed. new polls over the weekend, show little to no movement in public opinion following the house proceedings. jeremy diamond is at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine. this is the week that the house of representatives will vote to impeach president donald trump. that will be certain this week, as the house takes up the articles of impeachment that passed the house judiciary committee last week, on abuse of power and obstruction of okay. but here, it has shifted to the senate, where the president will face a trial if he is impeached by the house. senate republicans and the white house have been coalescing around this nation otion of a s impeachment trial and would have no witnesses coming forward. as that conversation is

happening, we're hearing from the top democrat in the senate, the senate minority leader, chuck schumer, and he is making his own pitch for how a senate trial would go forward. he would like to see witnesses come forward. he would like to see documents be subpoenaed. the four witnesses he says senate democrats want to see come forward in what he is describing as a fair trial, would be the white house chief of staff, mick mulvaney, his senior adviser, robert blare, john bolton and michael duffy, a associate director for security programs at the national security council. duffy is one of the officials who signed off on several of the documents on that aid freeze of $400 million in security aid to ukrai ukraine. this is the opening offer we're hearing from chuck schumer. schumer and mitch mcconnell are expected to sit down to discuss these requests from senate democrats and discuss how to move forward with a trial. but again, unless schumer can

somehow get four senate republicans to join him in backing these rules for impeachment trial, mitch mcconnell will be the one who decides how this impeachment trial goes forward. mcconnell has made clear that any decisions he's coordinating with the white house. the white house counsel, pat cipollone in particular. there's no indication that the white house would allow any of the witnesses to actually come forward. dave? christine? >> jeremy diamond, thank you. a freshman democratic lawmaker announcing plans to switch parties and becoming republican. now, six members of jeff van drew's staff have quit. he opposed the impeachment of president trump. internal polling shows he is losing support among democrats in his district. switching parties would allow him to avoid a democratic party challenge. the democratic campaign

committee is planning to hire van drew's former staffers. president trump is suggesting jail time for the former fbi director, james comey. comey said there was sloppiness in the obtaining of fisa warrants, the justice department internal watchdog determined the fbi was justified opening the investigation and found there was no bias. but the inspector-general found serious errors in the way the probe was conducted. >> significant errors in the fisa process. and you say that it was handled in a thoughtful and appropriate way. >> yeah. he's right, i was wrong. i was overconfident in the procedures that the fbi and justice had built over 20 years. i thought they were robust enough. it's incredibly hard to get a fisa. i was overconfident in those. >> didn't take long for the president to pounce.

mr. trump tweeting what are the consequences for unlawful conduct? could it be years in jail? he blamed his predecessor saying that horowitz was appointed by obama. mr. trump had no proof to back up that claim. china has slapped tariffs on american goods. it has spread uncertainty among businesses around the world. on friday, beijing announced the framework of a first phase of a trade deal. the businesses want to see the fine print on that. robert lighthizer touting this as a major trump victory. >> friday was probably the most momentous day in trade history ever. that day, we submitted the usmca, the u.s./mexico agreement. and in addition to this, which

is about 6$600 billion. that's about half of total trade were announced on the same day. it was extremely momentous. the most important trade day ever. the north american deal may have hit a snag. mexico is angry over a clause that will see u.s. inspectors head south of the border. a house vote to approve the deal is expected on thursday. the usmca, the new nafta, and the china deal. we're seeing a skew index, the black swan index. that's an indicator that investors are looking for protection in case the recent rally goes awry. internal investigations are under way at the u.s. military and naval academies after midshipmen and cadets were caught on espn's army/navy pregame show, making a controversial hand gesture.

some are interpreting that gesture as a cymbsimilaymbol of nationalism. the anti-defamation league does consider the okay gesture a hate symbol in some cases. the hallmark channel abruptly reversing its decision to pull ads featuring same-sex couples and apologizing for removing them in the first place. >> we do. >> i do. >> we helped a million couples plan their weddings. >> and i -- >> hallmark's decision to pull this ad for the online wedding planning company zola pulled for advertisers to boycott hallmark. the company made the wrong decision. we are trying to help people connect, celebrate traditions and anything that detracts is

not who we are. >> glaad had been pushing for the advertiser boycott. now, they are applauding the change of heart. >> it was off-brand. we were surprised by it when it came out of nowhere. they want to do the right thing. the quick reversal is the right thing. and now, we have to watch and make sure what they do on the future. >> they removed the commercials after one million moms launched backlash against the ads. a police officer in north carolina could face charges for this. disturbing video shows him slamming a child to the ground. not once. but twice.

a direct plea overnight from

the u.s. special envoy to north korea. >> it is time for us to do our jobs. let's get this done. we are hear. and you know how to reach us. >> steve beiiegun. paula hancocks joins us with the latest from seoul. >> biegun said that the u.s. doesn't have a deadline. saying they only have a goal. that's in direct response that north korea has a self-imposed deadline. they have given the u.s. until the end of the year to change their attitude or north korea will choose a new path. now, we also heard from steve biegun, saying it doesn't have to be this way. we're aware in the next several days we could see provocation

from north korea. but they're ready to talk. we know he is here in the region today, and tomorrow potentially, as well, before he heads to japan. there is some time to maybe have talks with north korea and certainly, we know, that biegun has made it clear to his koun counterparts, they know how to reach him. we have had tests from north korea, that we believe to be rocket engine tests. and the head of the military has been speaking through state-run media, saying they have learned priceless information from those tests, talking about they can use it for developing another strategic weapon to fight against the nuclear threat of the united states. at the same time you have steve biegun saying they are ready to talk, and a lot of rhetoric on

the other side. christine? >> thank you. one of the president's big priorities, you know, getting some kind of a deal with north korea has been trouble. ahead here, the new miss world is crowned. and her victory makes history. ♪

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two illegal streaming sites broken up by the fbi. one of them had more subscribers and content than netflix, amazon prime and hulu. two have pleaded guilty for

operating istreamitall. for 11,000 movies and 18,000 tv shows. they urged all members to cancel their services in favor of pirated content. this video is tough to watch. this is disturbing video showing a school resource officer picking up a child and slamming him to the ground twice. after the 11-year-old is thrown down a second time, the officer picks him up and continues to walk. it really hit home for the vance county sheriff. >> i was stunned and i was shocked. seeing a child that small reminded me of one of my grandchildren. >> that sheriff saying the child was not hospitalized but he has a bump on his head. the officer has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation. the officer used inappropriate force. a decision on charges could come

this week. through the fog, euphoria on the gridiron. a welcome distraction on the seventh anniversary of the sandy hook massacre. the high school football team rallying in the closing seconds to win the state championship. jack street connecting on a touchdown pass with no time left to defeat derian 13-7. new town last won in 1992. they were honored last night during halftime of nbc's "sunday night football." 2019 is jamaica. >> jamaica's toni-ann singh

plans to go to med school. her win means for the first time ever, the titles for the top five beauty pageants in 2019, miss world, miss america, miss universe, miss usa, and miss teen usa, were all won by women of color. for one night, "grease" was the word again. >> sandy? >> tell me about it, stud. >> john travolta and olivia newton-john re-creating their iconic characters in costume for the first time in 40 years. they were in west palm beach. newton-john in her good girl outfit. newton-john later changed into her black leather jacket. that's the jacket that an unidentified fan bought to

benefit her cancer charity. newton-john, battling cancer for the third time. what a great moment. ? a couple of big catches down the stretch. and a run to the end zone. it is caught. >> giants fans may have seen the last of eli manning in person. their two-time super bowl mvp, for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions, what might have been his final home start. he was pulled in the final moments of a 36-22 win over miami, for a standing ovation from the crowd. his wife and children waiting for him in the tunnel. he got the game ball in the locker room. and manning said he has not said publicly if he plans to retire. what a great moment, there it is, for dad. one can assume that's probably his last game, though, at giants stadium. congratulations. senate republicans want a short impeachment trial. but minority leader chuck schumer is outlining what witnesses he wants to call.

how a report from the house judiciary could change the whole equation.

♪ senate democrats want witnesses called in an impeachment trial, setting up a battle with the gop. the house judiciary impeachment report does accuse the president of crimes. fallout from the army/navy football game. both academies investigating after cadets and midshipmen were captured making a possible white power hand gesture. we do. >> i do. >> we helped a million couples plan their wedding. >> that kiss caused a lot of commotion for the hallmark channel. now, the ceo says the decision to pull the ad was wrong. good morning, i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. >> it is all but certain that the house will vote this week to

impeach president trump. before it goes to the senate, chuck schumer laying out his vision for the senate trial. he wants witness testimony and new documents. that's a far cry from the plan top republicans are putting forward. one reason that schumer is taking action early, republican tactics are sparking claims from democrats, that the impeachment process will be rigged from the start. >> i am giving a clear signal i have made up my mind. i'm not trying to be a juror here. i want to end it. i don't want to legitimize it. i hate what i'm doing. >> everything i do i'm coordinator with the white house counsel. >> when they sit for a trial, they have to pledge to do impartial justice. and you have the majority leader of the senate, the foreman of the jury, saying he's going to work hand in glove with the defense attorney. that's a violation of the oath they're about to take and a

complete subversion of the constitutional scheme. >> the house released its impeachment report, declaring president trump has realized the framers' worst nightmare. the report argues the president committed crimes including bribery. that was not referenced in the impeachment articles. part of the defense of the president was that no actual crimes were committed. new polls over the weekend, show little to no movement in public opinion following the house proceedings. jeremy diamond is at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, dave and christine. this is the week that the house of representatives will vote to impeach president donald trump. that will be certain this week, as the house takes up the articles of impeachment that passed the house judiciary committee last week, on abuse of power and obstruction of okay. but here, it has shifted to the senate, where the president will face a trial if he is impeached by the house. senate republicans and the white

house have been coalescing around this notion of a short impeachment trial and would have no witnesses coming forward. as that conversation is happening, we're hearing from the top democrat in the senate, the senate minority leader, chuck schumer, and he is making his own pitch for how a senate trial would go forward. he would like to see witnesses come forward. he would like to see documents be subpoenaed. the four witnesses he says senate democrats want to see come forward in what he is describing as a fair trial, would be the white house chief of staff, mick mulvaney, his senior adviser, robert blare, john bolton and michael duffey, a associate director for security programs at the national security council. duffey is one of the officials who signed off on several of the documents on that aid freeze of $400 million in security aid to ukraine. this is the opening offer we're

hearing from chuck schumer. schumer and mitch mcconnell are expected to sit down to discuss these requests from senate democrats and discuss how to move forward with a trial. but again, unless schumer can somehow get four senate republicans to join him in backing these rules for impeachment trial, mitch mcconnell will be the one who decides how this impeachment trial goes forward. mcconnell has made clear that any decisions he's coordinating with the white house. the white house counsel, pat cipollone in particular. there's no indication that the white house would allow any of the witnesses to actually come forward. dave? christine? >> jeremy diamond, thank you. a freshman democratic lawmaker announcing plans to switch parties and becoming republican. now, six members of jeff van drew's staff have quit. in a letter, the staffers say they can no longer in good conscious continue their service. he opposed the impeachment of president trump. internal polling shows he is

losing support among democrats in his district. switching parties would allow him to avoid a democratic primary challenge. the democratic campaign committee is planning to hire van drew's former staffers. the final debate of 2019 set for thursday. but candidates are looking to diversify the stage in 2020. nine of the democrats are asking the democratic party to ease the standards for qualifying for the debates. cory booker is leading the charge. he failed to qualify for the event on thursday. he pointed out that those that did were all-white. >> he wants to use polling or fund-raising thresholds. tom perez has said that the january debate will continue to require both. he tells "the new york times," that everything the committee has done has been fair and transparent. all those that qualified for this week's debate, are threatening to boycott, if an

ongoing union dispute at the venue is not resolved. china has scrapped a new round of tariffs on u.s. goods. the two countries are pulling back from a trade war that's rocked markets for a year. on friday, washington and beijing announced the first phase of a trade deal. businesses will want to see the fine print on that. robert lighthizer saying this is another major trump victory. >> friday was probably the most momentous day in trade history ever. that day, we submitted the usmca, the mexico/canada agreement. and in addition to this, which is about $600 billion. that's about half of total trade were announced on the same day. it was extremely momentous. >> speaking of the north american trade deal, a little snag after it was signed.

mexico is angry over a clause that will see u.s. inspectors head south of the border. a house vote to approve the deal is expected on thursday. the usmca and the china trade deals helped lift markets. there's an index known as the black swan. it jumped to its highest level in over a year. that indicates investors are looking for protection if the recent rally goes awry. internal investigations are under way at the u.s. military and naval academies after midshipmen and cadets were found on the army/navy pregame show making a controversial hand gesture. some interpret that as a symbol of white nationalism. officials at west point are looking at the cadets in question. the anti-defamation league considers the okay gesture a hate symbol in some cases.

cnn has decided not to show the gesture in question. bruised feelings and little progress after the global summit in madrid. the goal was to hammer out the rules for the paris climate accord. instead, it dragged on for two extra days. the friction demonstrates a disconnect from the biggest polluters to the pleas of young people of the world. >> i am the voice of displaced women and people displaced because of climate problems. >> most observers, scientists and climate activists, called the resulting agreement a monumental failure with watereddown language, delaying action on urgent items until next year. the hallmark channel abruptly reversing its decision to pull ads with same-sex

couples and apologizing for removing them in the first place. >> we do. >> i do. >> we helped a million couples plan their weddings. >> and i -- >> hallmark's decision to pull this ad for the online wedding planning company zola pulled for advertisers to boycott hallmark. the ceo said the company made, quote, the wrong decision. we are trying to help people connect, celebrate traditions and be inspired to capture meaningful moments in their lives. and anything that detracts is not who we are. >> the lgbt media watchdog, glaad had been pushing for the advertiser boycott. now, they are applauding the change of heart. >> i'm thrilled. it was off-brand for hallmark channel to begin with. we were surprised by it when it came out of nowhere. they want to do the right thing. the quick reversal is the right thing. and now, we have to watch and make sure what they do on the future. >> they removed the commercials

after the conservative group one million moms launched a campaign against those ads. no comment yet from one million moms on hallmark's reversal. harvey weinstein is speaking out publicly weeks before his sex crimes trial. the disgraced hollywood producer telling "the new york post," he is a, quote, forgotten man. he claims he has been a pioneer for women in the film industry. he tells "the post" quote, he made more movies about women and by women than any filmmaker. 30 years ago. 23 women who came forward to report weinstein's sexual misconduct had this response. he says in a new interview, he doesn't want to be forgotten. he won't be. he will be remembered as a sexual predator and abuser who took everything and deserves nothing. >> to grab that copy of "the new york post," they call it

whine-stein. >> no one is feeling sympathy. two officials from china expelled from the u.s. for entering a secret military base. cnn is live in beijing.

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two chinese embassy officials have been secretly expelled by the united states. "the new york times" reports the officials entered a sensitive military base in norfolk, virginia, without permission. let's bring in david culver, live in beijing. david, what are we learning? >> hi, dave. good morning to you. we heard from china's foreign ministry on this. they have formally lodged complaints with u.s. representatives. they ask the u.s. to revoke its decisions and protect the chinese legitimate rights. all this is stemming from "the

new york times" report that the u.s. secretly expelled the two diplomats, accusing them of trespassing in a military base. "the times" said this happened in september at a base near norfolk, virginia. the officials and their spouses reportedly drove their car up to the front gate, were told they didn't have permission to enter, to continue through and turn around and leave. that's standard at military bases. but the paper says the officials drove further on to the base and were eventually stopped when fire trucks blocked the roadway. the chinese officials said at the time they didn't understand the guards' instructions and got lost. "the times" said that u.s. officials believe that one of the officials was an intelligence officer, operating under diplomatic cover. so, the following month in october, the u.s. state department rolled out new procedures for diplomats living in or traveling to the u.s. they're now required to notify the state department if they plan to meet with local or state

officials or if they visit educational or research institutions. the state department changed the wording to level the playing field with china. the diplomats face multiple restrictions. the state department says diplomats here need to be granted permission to meet with chinese officials here, which they say is often deniedenied. dave? christine? >> dave culver for us. the trump administration getting set to announce a long-anticipated drawdown of about 4,000 troops from afghanistan. between 12,000 and 13,000 troops are currently there, serving in the 18-year war. 2,300 have died. there's a diplomatic push to renew peace talks with the taliban. the u.s. has spent $133 billion on the rebuilding of afghanistan, a fraction of the estimated $2 trillion the u.s. military operations have cost.

the chinese state broadcaster pulled a predicted arsenal match after an arsenal player criticized china's treatment of the minority. he said, in part, that china, quote, korans were burned, mosques were closed and religious scholars were killed one by one. they were outraged saying he has no right to interfere in china's affa affairs. he said they were his personal opinion and club policy is to stay out of politics. if i had a dollar for every time i heard of meddling in internal affairs. >> the nba knows a thing or two about that. >> topping the box office, "" m "jumanji" tops the box office,

next.

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missouri and kansas. near greenwood, nebraska, three people died, four injured in a weather-related crash on i-80. there's severe weather for 10 million people in the southeast. here's meteorologist pedram javaheri. >> good morning, guys. a lot of weather to be had across the country today and across the gulf coast. some severe weather along a frontal boundary where enhanced risk is in place, on one to five is a three. cities from jackson and into western areas of alabama. enough of the risk in place, for not long strong winds and large hail but a few possibilities of tornadoes across that region. the active weather moves across the east. a quick mover here. expecting some winter weather across illinois and the ohio valley. parts of new england, as well. much of this is generally 2 to 4 inches. isolated pockets where we could see 4 to 6 inches. eastern new mexico and colorado,

all the way to areas of new england, where winter weather advisories and alerts have been prompted. and of course, unfortunately here for new york city, temps too warm to support much in the way of snowshowers. it climbs to about 40 degrees. it hovers and drops off sharply with colder air coming in as we approach this weekend. still, though, a warming trend, into the weekend, across the northeast. guys? >> pedram, thank you for that. the man known for his inspiring relationship with a south carolina football program has died. james kennedy earned the nick anymo name when he showed up with a transistor radio. he was intellectually disabled. he was a fixture at practices. coaches and players embraced and cared for him. the relationship was immortalized in a 2003 film. he died surrounded by his family. he was 73. a bank employee from

charlotte arrested by the fbi, for stealing $88,000 from the bank's vault. the suspected in-house crook might have gotten away with it, if he didn't post the evidence on facebook. the 29-year-old was so impressed with his newfound wealth and lifestyle, he shared photos of himself holding stacks of cash and with a new mercedes he bought by falsifying bank documents. he has two counts of fraud and 19 counts of theft and embezzlement. shares of boeing under pressure in premarket trade. it's thinking of pulling back production of the 737 max. boeing could make that call as early as today. cnn is hearing that from a source that's familiar with the decisionmaking process. boeing could suspend production altogether or further reduce it. boeing left a meeting with the faa with the impression that its 737 max jet would not be cleared

to fly by the end of the month. a gigantic opening for "juman "jumanji." >> why does everybody keep dropping from the sky? t >> the latest installment raked in 60 million bucks in north america. speaking of sequels, "frozen 2," was there any doubt? it broke the billion-dollar mark at the global box office. the latest disney film this year to make $1 billion. "avengers," "the lion king," "captain marvel," good year for bob iger and his team. and another one around the corner. the finale of the latest "star wars" trilogy opens friday. >> we have a lot of movies to catch up on. >> we have to make reservations for them. some of them are selling out. in case you missed it,

"saturday night live" tackled dinner politics and greta thunberg's clash with president trump in its cold open. >> i'm happy everyone flew here for the holidays. they're impeaching trump. >> they did it. they're impeaching trump. >> dad, stop. >> it's a disgrace. what crime did he commit? >> an alpha male that gets things done. >> you don't think "bad boys 3" is going to be good or not? >> can we talk about politics instead? >> oh, you mean how trump is definitely getting impeached and then getting re-elected? i'm good. >> just don't understand who on earth could vote for trump after this. >> how could anyone not vote for trump after this? >> what do you think is going to get voted off of the singer next week? >> my name is greta thunberg and i also have a christmas message.

in ten years, this snowman won't exist. he will be a puddle. it may be our last christmas to all, and donald trump, stepped to me. and i'll come at you like a plastic straw comes for a turtle. i can't believe i am saying this to a 70-year-old man, but grow up. >> plastic straw for the turtle. >> politics-free dinner table for me. you? >> oh, yeah. keep your elbows and your politics off the table. >> thanks to our international viewers for joining us. have a great rest of your monday. for the rest of our viewers, "early start," continues right now. senate democrats want witnesses called in an impeachment trial, setting up a battle with the gop. the house judiciary impeachment report does accuse the president of crimes. fallout from the army/navy football game. both academies investigating after cadets and midshipmen were captured making a possible white power hand gesture. we do.

>> i do. >> we helped a million couples plan their wedding. >> that kiss caused a lot of commotion for the hallmark channel. now, the ceo says the decision to pull the ad was wrong. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. seven weeks until the iowa caucuses. it's all-but certain that the house will vote this week to impeach and remove president trump. before it goes to the senate, chuck schumer laying out his vision for the senate trial. he wants witness testimony and new documents. that's a far cry from the plan top republicans are putting forward. one reason that schumer is taking action early, republican tactics are sparking claims from democrats, that the impeachment process will be rigged from the start. >> i am giving a clear signal i have made up my mind.