political opponent, well, president trump said this -- >> you know, we would have to look -- >> we would have to look. the president said. george orwell wrote in 1984, party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears, it was their final most essential command, unquote. a philosophy that is the apparent white house strategy for this scandal or as president trump once put it -- >> just remember what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what is happening. >> actually, it is. and today the first crack in the republican veneer of solidarity with president trump, republican senator mitt romney of utah saying, quote, the president's brazen and unprecedented appeal to china and to ukraine to investigate joe biden is wrong and appalling, unquote. cnn's kaitlan collins is at the white house. and kaitlan, there is now a