thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." you can follow me on twitter and instagram @wolfblitzer and tweet the show @cnnsitroom. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. "out front" next. breaking news. trump's tantrum, a jaw-dropping six-page rant from the president of the united states just hours before his near-certain impeachment. chuck schumer is out front to respond. still digging. rudy giuliani says trump supports his dirt digging on a political rival in ukraine. so who is giuliani meeting with to get this information? plus unseating lindsay graham. the senator's challenger who is raising big money is my guest tonight. does he have a chance? let's go out front. good evening. i'mier u. i'm erin burnett. a six-page rant from the president of the united states. president trump sending this letter to house speaker nancy

pelosi just hour ahead of his all, but certain impeachment and trump knows it is all but certain. tonight he remains defiant. >> do you take any responsibility for the fact that you're about to be impeached? >> no. i don't take any. zero, to put it mildly. >> well, the president, with that stoney-faced glare speaking right before sending this letter to pelosi, and this is at times unhinged, he calls impeachment ugly and he rants that the mostly -- the people at the salem witch trial accused of being witches in the 1600s had more due process than he does. trump accusing pelosi of being spiteful and having unfettered contempt and egregious content and even worse than offending the founding fathers by continuing to say i pray for the president when you know the statement is not true unless it is meant in a negativeness is

sense. the problem with the letter and is not just what it is, a troubling, and he includes in this letter things that he presents as facts which are factually untrue. for example, he writes you know full well that vice president biden used his office and $1 million of u.s. aid money paying his sons millions of dollars. you know this because biden bragged about it on video. okay. biden did brag about firing the prosecutor on video, but that's because he did nothing wrong. he was carrying out the policy of the obama administration in coordination with the european union and the international monetary fund, using american leverage to remove a prosecutor, universally regarded as corrupt by the united states and western europe. here's how president obama's secretary of state at the time remembers it. >> the obama administration, as

a whole administration was working overtime to try to end corruption in ukraine. it was professionals in the state department and an ambassador who requested that we be involved to try to get a prosecutor out of the way who was not able to move. that was an administration policy. >> it was. biden was implementing u.s. administration policy in the bright light of day, and as for trump saying that prosecutor was investigating the company paying hunter biden. that is false. that investigation was dormant. it was dormant. there was no digging going on, and then there's this part of the president's letter. he writes, worse still, i have been deprived of basic constitutional due process from the beginning of this impeachment scam right up until the present. i have been denied the most fundamental right afforded by the constitution including the right to present evidence, to have my own counsel present, to

confront accusers and to call and cross examine witnesses. again, this is false. the president was given the chance to present his side. >> the president could come right before the committee and talk -- speak all the truth that he wants. >> you don't expect him to do that. >> if he wants to take the oath of office. he can do it in writing. he has every opportunity to present his case. >> and the judiciary chairman jerry nadler sent two letters inviting president trump's counsel to defend him to the judiciary committee, to the hearings. trump refused. he refused to send his counsel. he refused to present his evidence and refused to cross examine witnesses. what he did do was block 12 witnesses including his acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and his former national security adviser john bolton from testifying. two people who could exonerate the president if he had nothing to hide. and the actual trial, of course,

hasn't started. when it does in the senate the president will again have the opportunity to do all of this, have his lawyer present and cross examine witnesses assuming, of course, if he allows mitch mcconnell to have any witnesses there. there are more false claims in here, and i want to say this, it's a tough decision for us on what to mention or not mention when the president says things which have been repeatedly proven to be untrue because repeating things that are untrue could serve to give them air and life even when the point of saying them is to pruf that they are false, but the president is right. this letter will be part of what he says is, quote, the permanent and indelible record. so it is worth coming back to those salem witch trials. here's exactly what trump writes. more due process is afforded to those in the salem witch trials. for anyone unfamiliar with the samel witch trial, 20 people were, cuted accused of practicing witchcraft, 20 people put to death, 19 of them hanged and one of them crushed to death

and he says they had it worse than him. kaitlan collins is out front tonight. what more are you learning about this letter? >> erin, a lot of people in the white house didn't know this letter was coming and we are being told by sources that was at the instruction of president trump. he wanted it to be kept pretty close in a very small group of advisers and aides and they started drafting it some time last week and they were debating which day they should publish it, and we are being told that the reason the president uponed this letter is because he wanted to be able to send this direct message to speaker pelosi ahead of that vote tomorrow. if you read through all of these six page e a lot of what you just went over or most of it is essentially a summary of what the president's objections and frustrations have been ever since this impeachment inquiry was first announced in september and you're seeing it all come together on white house letterhead the day before this vote is set to take place. what's notable is the president says he doesn't think this will change the outcome of tomorrow's

vote and that vote is still going to happen and the white house has mentioned it's a foregone conclusion and it's notable and worth repeating that despite all of that the reason he sent this letter is because he, quote, wanted to put his thoughts on a permanent and indelible record. pretty notable after what the president has been saying the last several days and it will be interesting to see if we'll hear from him again as the vote is going on. >> i want to go to senate minority leader chuck schumer. senator, i appreciate your time tonight. this is an incredible letter from the president of the united states. six pages saying that he has it worse than people accused in the salem witch trials. what's your response to this letter that the president has released? >> well, my response is very simple. he's saying he's not getting due process. we are yearning for him to take advantage of due process. we in the senate have invited him to allow four witnesses who

are extremely close, had eyewitness accounts of what trump did that created the impeachment document. mick mulvaney and john bolton and two other officials who were heavily involved and if he wants due process he wants the right to be heard. donald trump is refusing the right to be heard, and i would ask him and frankly, mitch mcconnell and my republican colleagues what is so horrible about asking people to come testify who have eyewitness accounts of what's happening here? the president is really just covering up. he has no rebuttal. he has had no -- he has issued no exculpatory evidence of the charges against him and we're giving him the opportunity to bring people to the trial. you know, a trial without witnesses is not a trial at all, and so we believe very strongly that the president -- that these witnesses should come, that documents should be forthcoming.

that's what the due process cause is all about, right? the right to be heard. the president refuses the right to be heard and it seems quite likely because he knows he's guilty. >> so obviously, as you point out, mulvaney and bolton, i know you've asked for two others and if exonerated they would have the ability to do so. it doesn't make sense as to why not allow them. i want to read two sentences of the letter. trump writes of pelosi, this is directed at her. you did not recant. you showed no remorse no capacity for self-reflection. instead, you pursued next liablist and vicious crusade. you engineered an attempt to defame an innocent person. this has all caps at one point and many exclamation points and it refers to the salem witch trials. you have known president trump long before he was president. where do you think his head is right now? >> well, he's obviously under a great deal of duress, but if he

thinks he can bully nancy pelosi into backing off he's with the wrong customer. the amazing thing about president trump as president and before, the very things he does he accuses others of doing, bully, this is the most bullying president we have ever had. accusing people of things, this president accuses people of things all the time, every day. so he ought to look into the mirror. he has -- these are serious charges. impeachment is a very, very serious process, and we in the senate want to keep it that way. we want a trial that's not focusing on conspiracy theories or rants and raves from those who are known liars who put out conspiracy theories on the right. we want the truth. we want as joe friday and dragnet used to say, just the facts, and that these witnesses that we are asking for that leader mcconnell is resisting are people who can produce the

facts and i don't know what they're going to say. they may produce exculpatory evidence for the president. they may produce evidence that's condemning of the president, but they should be heard as should documents be brought and i would ask my republican colleagues, mitch mcconnell seems he said it publicly. he'll do just what the president wants. maybe he'll rethink that after looking at this letter which is filled with rants and raves. >> but i would ask my republican colleagues the other 52, to look at our letter and to realize impeachment is a solemn, serious and very, very important proceeding. if we can't get the facts then no president can be impeached and this president and other presidents will have almost no check on overreaching actions that defy the constitution. >> so obviously, you know, you asked mitch mcconnell for your witnesses and today he rejected that. what is the state of your

relationship with mitch mcconnell at this point? are you all still talking? will you be able to work things out? >> when we have to work things out for the good of the county roo i try to let my personal disappointment in mitch mcconnell not get in the way of doing that. we just produced a big budget document which has a lot of things that we've been asking for for a very long time, but i have mitch mcconnell, by going on sean hannity and by announcing that he doesn't want to have witnesses, he doesn't want to have documents and he's not risings to level that a senator should rise to. he's being a pure partisan and he said today in response to the question that he said proudly, i don't want to be impartial. my hope and my expectation is that there will be enough republican senators who will not follow that path, a path leading to trouble, a path leading to

real problems for this country, and the rule of law. all we need is four republicans to produce the documents and i expect that some will. i expect that some will. >> let me ask you about those. you will need all of the democrats and we'll have them and four republicans. we've identified seven of them that are the ones that you could be targeting. susan collins of maine, and lamar alexander and tennessee, lisa murkowski, alaska, and pat roberts of kansas. are those the people you're thinking about? >> i am not going to get into specifics. i think that every single republican, every single one should look into their conscience and say how are we going to be remembered here and if they're going to put together just a sham show trial where there are no new witnesses and no new facts and each recites what they know already and there

is a quick vote, history will not look at them kindly and their consciences will not look on them kindly and i am hopeful we can get a whole bunch and i won't say who and it might come from people who might rise to the occasion and the impeachment process is awesome in the biblical sense. awe-inspiring, and i hope, i pray and i think that people will rise to the occasion, but i'll tell you this, when those republican senators, all of them, when they go home people are going to ask them what's wrong with having witnesses? a poll from abc/washington post today said not only do 72% of these beenes believe should be called, and 64% believe they should and it's rare to get republican rank and file to disagree with what president trump is doing and they are here in an overwhelming number. >> before we go, senator. you mentioned that mcconnell said that he's not an impartial juror. i just wanted to play it so viewers could hear it.

here he is. >> i'm an impartial jurors and this is a political process. i'm not impartial about this at all. >> that george washington, james madison, the creators of the constitution would be rolling their eyes if you read hamilton in the federalist papers and it's paper 59. he wanted the senate to have the trial because they would be impartial, and they would render fair judgment. mcconnell is defying what the constitution is urging and calling upon us to do as senators. >> are you impartial when you refer earlier you mentioned the president as seeming guilty because he would not allow the witnesses. >> our quest here is for the facts, and we -- these are not witnesses we know that are preordained. we don't know what they will say, and so yes, we are trying to get to the bottom of this to get all of the facts out. show us the truth. show us the facts and then we can each make a decision and

hopefully an impartial decision. mcconnell won't do that, but i hope our senators would not. i would ask every one of my republican senators, are you proud to be partial and to be partisan in this august proceeding? i hope not. >> senator schumer, thank you very much for your time tonight, sir. >> nice to talk to you, erin. happy holiday to you and your family. >> and you, too. >> next, more on the breaking news. trump's likelyi impeachment closer by the moment. plus pelosi fighting back tonight after president trump and his attack on her. >> i haven't fully read it. we've been working. i've seen the essence of it, though and it's really sick. and rudy giuliani says he and president trump are on the same page when it comes to ukraine right now. so what exactly does that mean? well, we're in moscow tonight. well, we're in moscow tonight. let's get the truth.

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breaking news. these are live pictures. this is new york. people are gathering right now, hundreds there all marching. these are impeachment marches in support of impeachment. this is happening in various cities and it comes as the house rules committee is still meeting to determine how tomorrow's full-house vote on impeachment will go and what the rules will be around this. it's incredible to realize that it is still soy unsettled. manu raju is here hours from the history making day, what exactly, do you know about tomorrow's historic vote. we do expect it to pass along party lines and we do expect the art articles of impeachment and to get most of democrats to fall in line despite the president's letter attacking the house speaker and going after him with very, very sharp words.

it's not convincing anyone on capitol hill to change their minds. in fact, the democrats who are in the districts that the president carried in 2016 are overwhelmingly coming out in support of these artic elles of impeachment. you are getting the sense that two democrats will vote against both articles of impeachment and one who will return to jeff van drew and also calling peterson that he will likely oppose the articles of impeachment and he refused to say if he would be against those articles and he plans to vote for the article on impeachment on abuse of power and he said he would vote against the article forror strukz of congress and overall, erin, expect this to come down along party lines and republicans expect to be in total unity aligning with the president saying he did nothing wrong and in voting against

those two articles. >> thank you very much, manu raju. >> tim, you heard manu reference the letter that the president sent to speaker pelosi. upon he writes this impeachment represents an unprecedented and constitutional abuse of power. you have cheapened the importance of the very ugly word impeachment. you know, senator schumer he's known the president for decades that he's clearly under incredible duress. what does it is a to you about his mindset? he's been working on this, with aides for weeks and he fires this off today. >> the letter is somewhere between a rant and a pol emic. it's not a serious piece of defense on his part and in fact, it might actually backfire. if the president wants people in the center, in the middle, the

independents, let's say to have a feeling of compassion for him, and some sense of sympathy, this letter is so over the top, so mean-spirited and so patently untrue that it can only appeal to his base and at this time in history, if he really wants something that's indelible he should be making a play for those a bit confused by the impeachment process and wondering if something that drastic is necessary. this is not the way to do it. >> and yet, look, the president also urged pelosi to end the effort to impeachment which is obviously not going to happen. he says he knows she won't and i write this letter to you for the purpose of history and to put my thoughts on a permanent indelible record. 100 years from now when people look back at this affair i want them to understand it and learn from it. so he thinks that this will stand the test of time, and i point out, nia, as we did at the top of our program we showed how several things in it were false and there are several more which are patently false and one would hope that on anything this is

reprinted would point that out and he still believes that this will speak well for him. >> listen, why the president thinks he needs to put essentially to put his tweets in written form on white house letterhead for the sake of history is beyond me. everything he's been saying and doing will be recorded for history and likely, tim is the historian there, but i think he is now, if this impeachment happens tomorrow as we expect, he's going to be in a very unique club of presidents who has been impeached. this issing something that the president likes to say, has been good for him and has rallied his base and the campaign likes to say this, and i think from this letter you can tell this is something that is really bothering him and eating away at what he knows will be a kind of blight on his legacy, right? he has talked about the fact that clinton was impeached and what that meant for his legacy and this is a real difficult process for this president who puts this all down in this

letter here. it's clear that he also cannot stand nancy pelosi, right? he questions her faith in this letter. you say you're praying for me. i doubt you're praying for me and if you are it's in a negative way. i don't know in a negative prayer would be. >> it sounds like he's saying he prayers for negative. >> it looks like wray's days are numbered. >> what do you make to the point that nia just made that when he was asked in a deposition about -- he was then a canndidae president clinton. his response was the scandals were devastating and he was impeached and at one point he was talking about bill clinton's economy which was very strong under bill clinton and he said wasn't that a good thing and here's what trump said. >> a lot of people said oh, we had pretty good economic times with clinton and we didn't have

good times, if you remember. first of all, he was impeached. there was a big impeachment mess. >> he's got a whole paragraph in here, a really long one with starts off with how amazing the economy is, and the stock market and everything which his aides put in of all of his, accomplish ams and now he's pointing to the economy to save him and yet it's clear that impeachment mattered the most to him when he looked at clinton. >> of course impeachment mattered the most to him and if you think at the way this president has acted, he thinks he's gotten around the rules and he's changed all of the norms and he's finally met around the rule he can't get around. he can't get around being impeached and that must annoy him and every other rule that was there for his predecessors he's managed to get around and this one he can't because he thinks of everything in win/loss. i can't imagine he can see this as anything, but a loss. >> it's hard to see this as a win. he's anticipating his exoneration in the senate, but yet, there you are, in history

as impeached. thank you both and out front next, pelosi slaps back at trump's angry letter and she is now responding and rudy giuliani says when it comes to ukraine there is no daylight between himself and president trump. so what is he admitting? so we went to moscow this hour to get the facts. a special report this hour. 25%e concentrated power. nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. oh, what a relief it is! so fast!

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breaking news, really sick. that's a quote from the house speaker nancy pelosi she has just responded to the president's letter to her which, of course, caminomes just hours before the house is certain to impeach him. here is what pelosi just told

our manu raju. >> reaction to the president's letter? >> no reaction. it's ridiculous. >> you have no reaction? why not? >> i haven't fully read it. we've been working. i've seen the essence of it, though, and it's really sick. >> out front now, democratic congresswoman carolyn maloney. this is her first television interview of the new chairwoman of the powerful house oversight committee and chairman, i appreciate your time. what is your reaction to this letter. you heard what the speaker says. i'm sure you've seen this letter from the president, what do you say to him? >> oh, he's trying to divert attention away from his own crimes, and she has conducted this inquiry with great respect and intelligence and attention to detail. there is no question the evidence is overwhelming that the president abused the power of his office to -- for his own personal and political gain at

the expense of our national security. that is clearly an impeachable offense, and he tried to pressure a foreign government to interfere in our elections in return for releasing hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid. >> so chairwoman, i want to read part of the president's letter in which he tells speaker pelosi, and i quote from him, perhaps most insulting of all is your false display of solemnity. you apparently have so little respect for the american people that you expect them to believe that you are approaching this impeachment somberly, reservedly and reluctantly. no intelligence person believes what you are saying. since the moment i won the election the democrat party has been possessed by impeachment fever. what do you say that you are putting all of you are putting forth a false display of solemnity. >> his letter does not even deserve comment. we have a responsibility. we all took an oath of office to

uphold the constitution, and to preserve our democracy and we are moving forward to do just that. we will be voting outo two articles of impeachment and abuse of power and obstruction of congress. his obstruction of congress is absolutely unprecedented. he has not cooperated in any way, shape or form to any subpoena. he has not -- he's told all of the people who work in the executive branch not to cooperate, not to answer subpoenas. he has not produced or cooperated with one single document. he is covering up what he is -- even nixon was more responsive than president trump. nixon's staff testified and documents were produced, but president trump has obstructed congress' duty to practice oversight. the constitution clearly says there will be checks and

balances, a balance of power and the power of congress, the people's house to initiate impeachment and to impeach is in the house of representatives. >> so you are now hour away from formally casting your vote, chairwoman. how does this feel? >> well, we will be moving forward. it's the next step. it will then go to the senate for their deliberations, but the work of our committees are continuing. other investigations that we've started whether it's prescription drugs or obstruction of congressor going to continue. >> all right. i appreciate your time. chairwoman, thank you very much tonight. >> thank you. and "out front" next, rudy giuliani says trump supports his dirt digging on the bidens. that's happening right now. so who is giuliani getting his information from? it's going to matter a whole lot when he tries to throw it in the water. we go to moscow.

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tonight, we're on the same page. that's rudy giuliani telling cnn that president trump still supports his current efforts to

dig up dirt on democratic rivals in ukraine. so where is giuliani getting his dirt? when he comes out and says he has something the source will matter a whole lot. fred pleitgen is out front in moscow. >> reporter: seemingly unfazed by president trump's possible imminent impeachment, rudy giuliani is continuing his push to dig up dirt on the bidens. >> he has a lot of good information. i hear he's found plenty. >> but in ukraine, giuliani is relying on some dubious and controversial figures. giuliani is meeting with two lawmakers, alexander dubin ski and andrei dercot who have been spreading unsubstantiated information on joe biden. it was president trump who pushed zelensky to investigate biden and son hunter who was on the board of ukrainian gas company burisma on a phone call that's now at the heart of the impeachment proceedings. >> i believe there was tremendous corruption with

biden. >> that's where two more of rudy giuliani's proclaimed witnesses come in. former ukrainian prosecutors general victor shokin and uri lutsenko. >> in an interview with the right-wing pro-trump channel aonshokin claims he was fired at biden's behest for investigating burisma even though there was international consensus that shokin was ineffective at fighting corruption. his successor butted heads with marie yovanovitch who was recalled after a smear campaign against her spearheaded by giuliani and in a stunning twist, giuliani is now acknowledging he wanted yovanovitch out. yovanovitch needed to be removed for many reasons, most critical, she was denying visas to ukrainians who wanted to come to u.s. any explain dem corruption

in ukraine giuliani tweeted today. diplomat george kent in a closed-door testimony in the state department due to his ineffectiveness at fighting corruption. yovanovitch later corroborated that. >> did giuliani overturn a decision that you tried to deny shokin a visa? >> yes, that is whattis told. >> that denial was based on mr. shokin's corruption? >> yes, that's true. >> and you know, erin, some of the groups that are absolutely irate about the people that rudy giuliani are speaking to are groups who are fighting corruption inside ukraine. they say that the folks rudy is talking to are actually undermining their own efforts to fight corruption in ukraine and at the same time giving the u.s. which was the beacon of transparency for those countries a bad name as well, erin. >> thank you very much, fred, and really important to lay all of that out when giuliani comes and says he has something and now you understand the problem

with that claim. out front next, the democrat running against lindsay graham hopes to end the senator's grip on his seat. does he have a chance? well, he's my guest and we'll ask him. and an award about a lie goes to -- president bustrump and ths the truth. too shabby! too much! i can rent this? for that price? absolutely. it's just right! book your just right rental at thrifty.com. ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. expedia. for everyone you love. up here at the dewar's distillery, all our whiskies are aged, blended and aged again. it's the reason our whisky is so extraordinarily smooth. dewar's. double aged for extra smoothness.

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trump ally lindsay graham not holding back when it comes to defending president trump. senator graham tweeting, quote, the best thing i can do for the constitution is to treat the house impeachment process with constitutional disdain, legitimizing this house impeachment effort weaponizes impeachment and demeans the constitution. graham is up for reelection next year and he's being hammered by a democratic challenger who is raising record cash. out front now, jamie harrison who is running for graham's seat in south carolina, and i appreciate your time, jamie. let me just ask you the main question here especially given what i have just quoted.

the house will vote to impeach president trump tomorrow so the senate trial, we anticipate starts in january. given what you know if you were in the senate now would you vote to convict and remove president trump? >> listen, erin, first of all, thank you so much for having me on tonight. listen, i grew up here in orangeberg, south carolina, the son of a single mom reared by my grandparents and taught me to be a man of character and value and they told me when you make a promise and take an oath you stick to it. lindsay took an oath of office to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. lindsay's about to take another oath to be an impartial juror and he's going to fail on both cases. this lindsay graham we can't recognize here in south carolina because he speaks out of both sides of his mouth and he's not fighting for the people of south carolina. so if i were in the united states right now i would be that impartial juror because that is

the oath of okay. look, it's an important thing to say because as you are well aware, many are not saying that they would be impartial. obviously he among them, mitch mcconnell among them and democrats among them. lindsey graham, though, was one of the house managers in clinton's impeachment. and i wanted to play what he said then and what he is saying now. here he is. >> in every trial that there has ever been in the senate regarding impeachment, witnesses were called. >> i don't need any witnesses. >> don't decide the case before the case is in. i have made up my mind. you don't even have to be convicted of a crime. to lose your job in this constitutional republic. show me something that is a crime. >> he's well aware that what he is saying now is 100% the opposite of what he said before when he spoke with such moral

authority. do voters that you're speaking to, though, jamie, do they care about impeachment enough that these flip-flops matter? >> i think the flip-flops do matter. you know, lindsey graham epitomizes what people hate in politics. they hate the double-speak from politicians. they want somebody with a moral compass who will focus on the things they're dealing with on a day-to-day basis. that's what we're doing with on this campaign. that's why a poll that came out recently that had me down two points. we are building a movement here in south carolina focused on the people in south carolina, not on all the political games in d.c., not about being relevant in washington, d.c., but focusing on the people in this state. and that's why -- that's why we have so much momentum right now and i want folks to go to jamie harrison.com and we are going to send lindsey graham home. people are tired of that type of politics. our hospitals are closing here right now, erin. we've had four rural hospitals

that have closed. lindsey hasn't done a town hall in well over two years but is on news every other day. people understand that all politics is local. this guy is all about washington, d.c., and he's not about the people in south carolina. that's why we're going to send him home. >> so his view of the president has changed dramatically from a few years ago and i want to show that juxtaposition to our viewers. here he is again, jaime. >> he's a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot. he doesn't represent my party. the american people didn't say that he was a bigot. i don't think they would have elected one. >> okay, there you have it again. look, president trump did win your state by 14 points. he's popular there today. so do people like that graham flipped on that? >> people want somebody with some integrity, not -- someone who will stand up. you can't trust lindsey graham,

that's bottom line, because he's saying one thing today and will say something else tomorrow. i'm getting republicans coming to my events, erin, and they're saying we want somebody who has some integrity. we want somebody who has a backbone and a spine. lindsey graham is somebody that we thought he actually had that, but it's come to show us all that he doesn't. he just wants to be relevant. he just wants to be important and he only wants to be relevant and important in d.c., but we need somebody relevant and important in the lives of people in south carolina. that's why i'm going to be the next united states senator from this great state. >> all right. i appreciate your time, jaime, thank you very much. >> happy holidays to you. >> all right, and you too, sir. i want to be clear so everyone knows, we did ask for an interview with senator graham but he declined. he is welcome on our program at any time. outfront next, president trump takes top honors for an annual award, but will he be bragging about this one? this holiday season choose the longest lasting aa battery...

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here's jeanne. >> reporter: are you ready for -- >> our 2019 politifact lie of the year. >> reporter: drum roll, please. actually, forget the drum roll. we know who the winner is. the real question is for which lie does president trump get the title. >> the whistle-blower gave a false account. the whistle-blower came out with a horrible statement. the whistle-blower is very inaccurate. defrauded our country because the whistle-blower wrote something that was totally untrue. >> reporter: or at least almost completely wrong, or even the whistle-blower got it so wrong with so many os. politifact says they found over

70 instances of president trump repeating what they consider to be a whopper because the whistle-blower's report did correspond to the president's call with ukraine's president. >> everything he wrote in that report almost was a lie. >> reporter: many marvelled at how politifact picked just one. really they had a target-rich environment. even some who have supported the president say -- >> he's a congenital liar. >> this man is a pathological liar. >> at times he's a bs artist. >> reporter: some are going after politifact for blowing the whistle on the whistle-blower blower. obviously the word "fact" is a lie also. the not-so-coveted lie of the year is ha ha, i can lie faster than you can fact check, and taunts. well, at real donald trump you didn't win "time's" person of the year, but at least you have this. >> the whistle-blower gave a lot of very incorrect information.

>> reporter: this is actually the third time that president trump has won lie of the year, which means at least he wasn't lying when he said this. >> it's too much winning. we can't take it anymore. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn. >> i consider it to be a fake whistle-blower. >> that's not a whistle. that's an air horn. >> reporter: new york. >> too much winning. anderson starts now. thanks for joining us. we are on the cusp of history. tomorrow the president of the united states is likely to be impeached. the house rules committee is arguing to decide the terms and debate before a final vote. the senate also arguing about whether to allow witnesses. today president trump released a letter on white house stationery written to nancy pelosi. the president says he's writing it for history to express his, quote, strongest and most powerful protest against the impeachment effort in the house. it's certainly not the kind of