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 youre about to be impeached . No. I dont take any. Zero, to put it mildly. Well, the president , with that stoneyfaced 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 thats 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. Heres how president obamas 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 theres 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 dont 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 Trumps 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, hasnt 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, its 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. Heres 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 didnt 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 youre seeing it all come together on white house letterhead the day before this vote is set to take place. Whats notable is the president says he doesnt think this will change the outcome of tomorrows vote and that vote is still going to happen and the white house has mentioned its a foregone conclusion and its 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 well 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. Whats your response to this letter that the president has released . Well, my response is very simple. Hes saying hes 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 whats 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 were 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. Thats 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 hes guilty. So obviously, as you point out, mulvaney and bolton, i know youve asked for two others and if exonerated they would have the ability to do so. It doesnt 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 selfreflection. 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, hes obviously under a great deal of duress, but if he thinks he can bully nancy pelosi into backing off hes 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 thats 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 dont know what theyre going to say. They may produce exculpatory evidence for the president. They may produce evidence thats 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. Hell do just what the president wants. Maybe hell 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 cant get the facts then no president can be impeached and this president and other president s 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 weve been asking for for a very long time, but i have Mitch Mcconnell, by going on sean hannity and by announcing that he doesnt want to have witnesses, he doesnt want to have documents and hes not risings to level that a senator should rise to. Hes being a pure partisan and he said today in response to the question that he said proudly, i dont 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 well have them and four republicans. Weve 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 youre 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 theyre 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 wont say who and it might come from people who might rise to the occasion and the impeachment process is awesome in the biblical sense. Aweinspiring, and i hope, i pray and i think that people will rise to the occasion, but ill tell you this, when those republican senators, all of them, when they go home people are going to ask them whats 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 its 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 hes not an impartial juror. I just wanted to play it so viewers could hear it. Here he is. Im an impartial jurors and this is a political process. Im 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 its 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 dont 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 wont 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. Trumps likelyi impeachment closer by the moment. Plus pelosi fighting back tonight after President Trump and his attack on her. I havent fully read it. Weve been working. Ive seen the essence of it, though and its 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, were in moscow tonight. Well, were in moscow tonight. Lets get the truth. Bld and aged again. Its the reason our whisky is so extraordinarily smooth. Dewars. Double aged for extra smoothness. Choose the longest lasting thiaa battery. Son music energizer ultimate lithium backed by science. Matched by no one. Everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. Expedia. For everyone you love. Only roomba i7 uses two multisurface rubber brushes. And picks up more pet hair than other robot vacuums. And the filter captures 99 of dog and cat allergens. If its not from irobot, its not a roomba™. 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I am for shortening my cold, with zicam zicam is completely different. Unlike most other cold medicines, zicam is clinically proven to shorten colds. I am a zifan for zicam oral or nasal. 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 tomorrows fullhouse vote on impeachment will go and what the rules will be around this. Its 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 tomorrows 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. Its 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