hello everyone, i am kate baldwin, thank you so much for joining me this hour. it is becoming something of a holiday tradition. president trump speaks with troops overseas to thank them for their service. the president weighing in on the standoff between speaker pelosi and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell offering up this vote of confidence in the republican leaders. >> that decision is based on mcconnell. he has the right to do whatever he wants. he's the head of the nate. >> chuck schumer warns democrats, they will force a vote on every witness and document if he and mitch mcconnell can not reach a deal over the impeachment trial. over in the house, a top aid is raising a new court filing, the

prospect of impeaching the president a second time. the senate trial does not seem to be going anywhere any time soon so standby to standby. we'll all do that together and while we do. let's get to florida traveling with the president. kristin holmes, what else did the president say this morning? >> the president had quite a bit to say. he did stay on message when he was talking to the troops. he went off on impeachment. he said that nancy pelosi hated republicans and also hated anyone who voted for president trump. he went off on the process. no of this was shocking. he started talking about that threat from north korea, of course, we remember that north korea said they would send a christmas gift obviously to the

united states if they dpid not concede in negotiations. here is what president trump said about that. >> we'll find out what the surprises and we'll deal with it successfully. we'll see what happens. everybody got surprises for me. maybe it is a nice present. maybe it is a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as oppose to a missile test. you never know. >> reporter: i guess it could be a beautiful vase or a missile test. but, he also talks about his confidante. he said flynn and stone had been treated unfairly that they have been abused by the system. perhaps one of the most shocking things that he said today was he had not yet bought his wife a

christmas present. >> i will say, for all of us last minute shoppers, i do feel him on that. >> while we wait for more in terms of north korea, let's get back to the standoff over impeachment. joining me right now, former deputy assistant, it is great to see you harry. >> you, too, kate. >> what do you make of the new filing in court are putting out the possibility of another round of impeachment. what arguments are they really trying to make here? >> yeah, not a lot. this is more of a legal insider point. the court was asking is this still a live dispute. nothing really changed. we need them again testimony as much as we needed them three weeks ago for the same reason. we need it for another reason as

well. talk about a continuing course of conduct so all the stuff with mcgahn and obstruction from trump telling mcgahn to fire mueller and telling them tohem o lie about it. it could happen and that just makes it still lies. it is less of a bomb shell than it has been playing in the press. it is more an insider arguments for why the controversy still matters. >> what do you make of the fact that someone floated to me yesterday when it comes to mcgahn, and this argument, he's more of a stalk of john bolton, getting his testimony to come in. what do you think of what? >> i agree. they want certain testimonies and documents, bolton more than mcgahn and that's the whole fight that's being made right now and mcconnell is saying trust me, just bring off those little articles and i will take care of it and of course you know pelosi is not a fool and

knows very well from mayor garland and others that once mcconnell has the hold of the article, he'll act ruthlessly. that's where the impasse comes from. the majority of americans are back and pelosi will see if they'll stem the tie public opinion. >> yeah, public opinion in terms of how decided public opinion is, in terms of the impeachment. >> although whether to have witnesses of public opinion, in favor of more witnesses. >> senator schumer is now laying out not only witnesses they would like to have testify but laying out the breath of the documents and the budget office that they would like to turn over. the purposes of this trial, which do you think is more important? is it the documents or the

witnesses? >> as a prosecutor, i like the documents, they don't go south on you, who knows what mulvaney or bolton will say. the postscript don't tell anybody, you need both. when you go to trial, you want sort of a binder with 10 or 15 killer documents that nobody could rebut. i think those are really key even though of course the drama of a live witness is unsurpassed. >> standby to standby as we continue this twist and turn. >> happy holidays. >> thank you, harry. >> gipresident trump's personal attorney holding back when he sat down with new york magazine earlier this month.

in a piece that was published, rudy giuliani insists he did nothing wrong of pursuing dirt on the bidens. the southern democratic of new york calling prosecutors there idiots and worse for investigating his connections to ukraine and his finances, regarding his work in ukraine, he said he has no business interests in ukraine, only to add this. i have done two business deals in ukraine, i sought four or live others. way, there is more, rudy giuliani falsely claiming the former u.s. ambassador yovanovitch is controlled by the political activist who was a target of many red wing conspiracy theory. rudy giuliani is saying this, don't tell me i am anti-semitic if i oppose him.

soros is hardly a jew. i am more of a jew than he is. joining me now is dana bash. >> rudy giuliani keeps on free willing back and forth with reporters. can you tell what he's trying to do here? >> he's continuing to do what he has done increasingly, you know, for the past year but especially since he returned from ukraine. he went at this impeachment really started to heat up. that changed when he headed to ukraine and double, triple and quadruple down on what is the core of the impeachment process is all about which is the president of the united states, of course, asking a foreign leader to investigate a potential opponent, that was born at rudy giuliani having

conversations after conversations with the president and now it is to the point where he rudy giuliani says i want to vindicate my client, let's get real, he also wants to vindicate himself. he does not care about his legacy. he says these actions don't support that. he wants to try to prove all of these conspiracy theories are accurate and that's why he'll not let it go and he insists he has the support of the president because their faiths are intertwine on this. >> the gross attack on soros, he's a survival of the holocaust and attacking him over religion and perpetuating a longest standing anti-semitic post.

this used to be the mayor of the city. >> i know a lot of jews and i am welcomed in the jews community. he's trying to take on the attack that it had nothing to do with his religion. we had jonathan green blatt, here is what he says. opposing soros is not what's anti-semitic. saying that he controls ambassadors employs fbi agents is not jewish enough to be demonized is. it is not a one time deal. a lot of the attack on people like george soros, kind of seize

on discovtroves. that's where a lot of the attack is coming from. he's trying to separate himself and it is not that easy. >> you mentioned his commentary and in this article, he asked about his legacy. olivia says this is kind of where he gets emotional. >> you don't think he believes that. i think he has convinced himself that is what his attitude is and his actions is another story that he's trying to vindicate not just his client but himself as well. things changed for him dramatically when he side onto

donald trump's campaign and was kind of stuffed in his orbit and the persona, the large persona. it is hard to imagine a big permit, he met his match with donald trump. the two of them have gone back for decades and decades and rudy giuliani decided to join the campaign during that critical moment after the "access hollywood" tape comes out. that's when his legacy change. >> good to see you dean ana. >> who will blink first in the impeachment standoff? how long can speaker pelosi hold off those articles of impeachment and refused to send them into the senate. democratic members weighing in, next. stops shine. 97% of women found their fit. fit me! matte + poreless only from maybelline new york

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as senate leader being locked in the standoff and logistics of the rules and procedures. president trump is left in limbo and he does not seem to be happy about it. the president took a video call with u.s. troops overseas. listen. >> people remember they treated us unfairly. they did not give us due process or a lawyer, they did not give us anything. now they come to the nasenate a they want everything. democratic congressman from kentucky, thank you for coming in. >> good morning kate. >> good morning. the president is saying the house process was unfair and now implying why should democrats expect a fair process in the senate.

what do you say to that? >> well, first of all, he's totally lying of the process. he was invited to have lawyers present and call witnesses, he chose not to. he did not participate in the house. to say it was not fair because he decided not to make it fair is ridiculous. i think the argument is the same with whatever happens in the senate. there will be at some point, i would hope they are able to get 51 votes to do that. i think mcconnell is in a real bind regardless of what president trump says. i think mitch is facing severe criticism and as the polling has shown not just from democrats if he makes sure to strip of the whole proceeding.

if he calls witnesses then the president's case is going to be severely damaged. i think he really makes the calculation right now that at least he's safer to have a basically a non-trial trial. >> potentially. right now it remains a staring contest between speaker pelosi and schumer and mitch mcconnell. something we have to give if there is going to be a trial which there is going to be one at some point. i had him on yesterday. he acknowledged to me that in the end pelosi is going to have to send the articles over. let me play what he says. >> i guess speaker pelosi does not want this to go on for a long time. she will want to get around with that. at the same time, she's going to want some assurances of a fair trial. >> when you say mcconnell is in

a bind here. do you agree in the end what pelosi is going to have to give? >> i agree with steve. he's my best friend in congress. she's going to have to deliver the articles to the senate. she's demanding some natchknowl of what the process is going to look like. if they're witnesses, they want to call adam schiff, adam schiff is likely one of the managers of the democrats case in the senate. if he's going to be a witness, it would be hard for him to be the manager. so there are practical reasons why she is asking for this? >> would you support speaker pelosi in order to maintain leverage if you will since honestly let's be honest this is what it is about in holding the articles in definitely until you get a fair rule in the senate

trial. >> i think it was a practical matter and again steve is right. sometimes in mid january she's going to have to deliver those articles. we have all the leverage right now because we can continue to harp on the fact that the administration is withholding witnesses and asking the question what do they have to hide. if they had witnesses that would refute the case in the articles of impeachment, they would present them. the fact they are not is pretty much, they're accurate. i think we have several weeks to keep making that point. the american people are on our side at least according to polling of two-thirds of the american people think we ought to have witnesses. she's holding a strong hand here. >> one thing i found fascinating this morning knowing president trump as we watched him since taking office that he said today that mitch mcconnell has the final say on the ultimate format

of the senate trial. this is from the same president who have said more than once that the only opinion that matters is his own. >> does that surprise you and what do you think it means. >> i don't know. i stopped a long time ago trying to guess what's in president trump's head. i know he knows more about windmills now. i don't think he knows a lot about impeachment trials because there has only been two. as far as the constitution goes, the constitution is silent on the process. so i think there are senate rules about how it is supposed to be conducted, that's the 51 votes. that's not even an opinion. it is facts.

on that, i will give you one point for just that. congressman, thank you for coming in, i appreciate it. >> absolutely. >> happy holidays. >> you too, happy holidays. >> 2019 comes to a close with a booming economy. can president trump ride that next year and can democrats do anything to stop it? t-mobile 5g goes miles... beyond the big cities to the small towns... to the people. now, millions of americans can have access to 5g on t-mobile. and this is just the beginning. t-mobile, the first and only nationwide 5g network. (kickstart my heart by motley crue)) (truck honks) (wheels screeching) (clapping) (sound of can hitting bag and bowl) (clapping) always there in crunch time.

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the markets are about to close for the christmas holiday. it is look like 2019 will close out as a big year for the economy. s&p 500 is on track right now for the best rate of return. jobs entreprenemployment at its level and people feeling good about the economy. 76% of americans feel very or some what good of the economy. that's the highest shares since february of 2001. holiday shoppers spending more than $34 million. what does the economy of 2019 tell us about the economy of 2020? joining me now our cnn global analy analyst. thanks for being here. >> i left out just a few things that are happening to the

economy. the new nafta trade deal which has been closely watched. how do you sum up where things are ending for the economy? >> there are two stories. the first one is obviously a good story. we'll have record return this year again. after ten years of a recovery and several years of the market, you are seeing unemployment figure looking good. that was something we are looking for and consumers are spending, they feel confident. there are two stories here. stocks are way up but gold is up a lot, too. gold is what people hold. the sky is falling. there is a short term story, how short is short term? are we going to see this economy continue to be strong into november 2020 and is that going to propel trump to a victory? when do we start to see that correction that we know is coming? there are cycles that market rides does not fall.

>> something else we have talked about throughout the year. things that i lean on you because i did not understand the indicators. >> it is all the acronym. that's where i am completely loss. with it, you got the good news, a lot of folks are talking about it. >> what do you make of this? >> i have been thinking of the two big forces in the economy right now. the troubling one is the u.s./china relationship. this is something that's been on before trump. there has been a need for recess with the u.s. and china. what trump did was brought all this stuff that people have been talking about for years, it is interesting now that he's trying to make the markets feeling calmer about that. signing this trade deal which does not get to any of the under lining problem.

the u.s. and china are going to have a trade conflict and it is a long-term conflict. it is all about the fed. we had three rate cuts this year. >> what does it mean for the next year? >> i think it is going to stay pretty low. the one interesting question mark there, if you start to see wages continue to rise, start to see inflationary pressure, the fed may say maybe we do need -- >> and this multi faceted. how much credit does president trump deserve or what we are seeing. >> i think any president trump included very little. the markets are running on what the central banks do and business does.

>> you did have the trump tax cuts a couple of years. it did help company. that kept stocks high. it may be a false perception. you do tend to get more optimis optimists. great economy, okay, that should be great. well, does that push president trump to victory in 2020? >> well, that's exactly right. how do you run against some of the indicators and poll numbers that you see out there and that's something that democrats are up against. i can't believe we are rounding out 2019. >> thank you for coming here. >> happy holidays. all about iowa. five weeks from the caucuses. the democratic candidate battling it out for moderate voters. who has the upper hand, we'll be right back. fits skin tone and texture. blurs pores. stops shine. 97% of women found their fit.

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the nomination. joe biden had been in the top spot and elizabeth warren been in the top spot and new pete buttigieg had been in the top spot. we are just now getting started. she was the campaign manager more hillary clinton. >> it is great to see you patty. >> what's the state of the race there? are the candidates at the beginning or the middle or end of the fight, do you think? >> having lived through the iowa caucuses, i think i can say it is anybody's game at this point. there is still more than a month left for people to campaign and get a late surge. iowa is crucial for three things. first in the nation which makes it important. it has the ability to catapul the candidates and giving him or

her a lot of momentum. if they beat expectations in iowa to get an influx of cash. it is unique also and unique in its rules which makes it tricky, you have to caucus for a candidate which means you have to spend several hours in a public forum declaring your support for a candidate. if that candidate does not make the 15% threshold then you get to do it again. maybe it is someone you want to do better then your first choice's biggest competition. then third you know eiowa is no representatives of the entire country. >> even if you win iowa, it is not an indication of how you are going to do in places like texas and california because of the new cal dendar in 2020. if you are like pete buttigieg

who's been struggling with support of people of color, you can do well in iowa. if you are joe biden who's been faltering out of campaign trail and not beat expectations. so it is anybody's game and it is really not indicative of who'll win the nomination. you talked about it in 2016 in iowa. you take a candidate of enthusiasm of the organization any day in the week because of what it can mean. what do you think it means this time around? >> enthusiasm is extremely important. iowa has really like somebody who's fresh and new and likes the fact they can potentially bring somebody out of nowhere into the presidency, for instance, like they did with

prak barack obama in 2008. democrats' north star is really beating trump. as we get closer and closer to the election, that's what voters are thinking about. who's the best person that can beat donald trump. maybe that's not the fresh base. there is another wild card. we have five democratic candidates who's going to be pulled off the trail for weeks, for the senate trial. has this been 2008, what would you be saying kind of one month out when you know your candidates are off the trail sitting in washington? >> i would be saying oh man. this stinks. >> yeah, it is tough. we are five weeks out and these

candidates, the senators are going to be doing their jobs, they're basically sitting as a ja jury, they're not going to be able to speak or press their case for why they're the best potential president. pete buttigieg and biden is going to be on the trail 24 hours a day knocking on doors. >> one month out and so much can happen. >> absolutely right. i feel like the best line when it comes to eiowa right now. it is good to see you patty. >> thank you very much. >> merry christmas. >> you, too. >> from the most talked about new instagram user to the amazing soccer team win and their fight for equal pay to the teenager who became the face of the worldwide movement.

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there were a lot of trending moe mo moments this year. thank god i was not one of them. cnn captures the moment that captures your attention most. from the u.s. women soccer team demanding equal pay. social media remains a powerful weapon for advocacies for 2019.

there was the memes. here are our top nine trending stories of the year. number nine, a friend nearly broke the internet. her first pose managed to crash her page. it became one of instagram's most popular photos of the year with more than 15 million likes. >> number eight and now instagram royalty, the young son of the duke and duchess, archie, the family regularly posting pictures of their son on instagram page before they are seen anywhere else. the modern royals are shaping up the monarchy. >> winter came and fans were not happy. it was one of the final season

s and most tweeted about show in 2019. "game of thrones," soa coffee c left onset. the internet erupted memes they tweeted this response out, the latee th latte that appears in the episode was a mistake. daenerys ordered herbal tea. >> record number of climbers packed the summit. the traffic jam contributed to this year's death toll. climbers endured to two to four hours while in the death zone that's near the top of >> number 5, a scientific event of intergalactic latitude. the first photo of a black hole.

>> black holes are the most mysterious objects in the universe. they're cloaked by a ven horizon. >> located 600 light years away in a galaxy called m87. another galaxy went viral when the massive phenomenon was shown. people around the world bought telescopes to see this massive amazement. number 4, in paris, it shocked the world. >> the notable notre dame cathedral is on fire. >> millions watched as flames engulfed the notre dame, the city's most historic cathedral. >> people screamed. it was so sad. >> people poured onto the streets to pray.

♪ >> and on social media, so many paid tribute by posting photos of their visits to the holy site. #no #noha# #note #note #noteerdame became the most viewed hash tag. nancy pelosi regained the speaker speakerership and had some of the most valiant moments from the state of the union back. it made many #don'tmesswithme. >> don't mess with me.

i don't hate anybody. >> the president's caption, nervous nancy's unhinged meltdown instead went viral, showing washington's most powerful woman standing up to the president. number two, the u.s. women's soccer team proved once again they are the best in the world. congratulations poured in from all over social media. ellen degeneres said her world cup runneth over, while president obama thanked the women for being women and girls. they posted memes and many of the players took their pleas for pay equity right to their fans via their social media pages. and number one. she is the teenager on strike for the planet. "times" person of the year. >> change is coming whether you like it or not. >> greta thunberg is leading a generation of climate kids. >> people are suffering.

people are dying. entire ecosystems are collapsing. we are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. how dare you! >> her impassioned speech at the climate summit catapulted her, making her the face of climate activism. #climatestrike was the eighth most popular hash tag of the year, so for this 16-year-old and her army of climate kids, it's only the beginning. brooke, thank you so much for that. still ahead for us. we mentioned the fire in notre dame cathedral as one of the

biggest stories of the year, and for the first time in more than 200 years, notre dame will not be holding christmas services. we're going to take you to paris live. only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol®.

for the first time in more than 200 years, the notre dame cathedral in paris will not be holding christmas services. it's still recovering from that devastating fire back in april, and this is a church that during the nazi occupation in world war ii was open for the holiday. joining us, melissa bell. melissa, no mass at notre dame. what does it mean?

>> reporter: well, it means for a start, kate, an alternative mass is being organized just a couple blocks away in another church, no doubt fliplenty of prayers tonight for the reconstruction of that iconic cathedral because we're far off from seeing any kind of christmas celebration there any time soon, kate. you're right, this is a break from tradition. the last time the cathedral was quiet on christmas eve was when the temple was turned into a temple of reason. then napoleon arrived on the throne and it was since then the christmas eve service continued. reconstruction has yet to even begin, so fragile is the construction itself and all the care that has to be given in picking out the bits of it that were damaged before it can be rebuilt. it will be sometime longer and

no doubt anywhere near the five years that macron promised it would take to rebuild, kate. >> absolutely. such a long and arduous process ahead. melissa, thank you so much. thank you so much for being here. and "inside politics" with manu raju starts right now. welcome to a special holiday edition of "inside politics." i'm manu raju. thank you for sharing your day with us. president trump speaks from mar-a-lago and the topic of impeachment is unavoidable. mitch mcconnell, though, may like what he hears. plus rudy giuliani's work in ukraine and says he would love to go inside the impeachment trial. as much as the weight of the impeachment and russia are on his