democrats made a mistake in forging ahead with impeachment without key testimony from bolton and mulvaney. democrats are pushing for those witnesses at the senate trial, but they need four republicans to agree to it. >> and it remains unclear whether house speaker nancy pelosi will formally send the impeachment articles to the senate. president trump is spending this holiday week airing his grievances about the process complaining that democrats have treated him unfairly. the president's re-election campaign even launching a campaign with talking points for his supporters this holiday season. we begin with kristen holmes live in palm beach, florida. >> reporter: good morning. president trump is not a man who takes any sort of dissent well. particularly when it comes from a member of his own party. you'll remember two months ago when mitt romney criticized the president and then president trump spent days on twitter slamming romney and calling him names. and this is a critical point here. president trump has been spending days touting party unity within republicans. he even talked about the impeachment house vote members at rallies. so any sort of crack in that gop wall is likely to not go over well. when it comes to president trump's impeachment trial, one senator giving the first seen that all republicans may not be ready to fall in line. senator lisa murkowski who could be a potential swing vote expressing her discomfort with mitch mcconnell's decision. >> there will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this. >> in fairness, when i heard that, i was disturbed. i happen to think that that has further confused the process. >> reporter: murkowski's comments coming as mcconnell expects unity in his party to control rules in the upcoming trial. mcconnell is open to going straight to the senate floor without support from democratic leadership. as minority leader chuck schumer pushes for more witnesses and documents. >> how we will deal with witnesses i think remains to be seen. >> reporter: the moderate lawmaker was also critical of house democrats for not going to the courts to compel testimony from key administration officials like john bolton and mick mulvaney. >> i think they tripped over themselves to get to shot cuts to get this to the senate before the end of the year. and now they're realizing that maybe they didn't get everything that they needed. so they put it in the senate's lap. >> reporter: democrats hopeful more republican senators are willing to enter trump's trial impartially. >> i hope we're all going to find a way as we go into this impeachment trial, we're going to look at the facts and all protect the democracy that we love. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi still has not sent over the articles of impeachment to the senate as she wants to know how the gop-led senate will conduct the trial. >> she is doing the right thing and she has proven herself to be an incredible leader. >> reporter: meanwhile, president trump confident mcconnell will produce another no vote on impeachment and acquit him. >> we're in a very good decision. ultimately that decision is going to be made by mitch mcconnell and he has the right to do whatever he wants. he's the head of the senate. >> reporter: trump lashing out at the process in tweets late last night. once again complaining about pelosi's oversight on what he calls a, quote, scam impeachment. >> she hates the republican party. she hates all of the people who voted for me. she's going a tremendous disservice to the country. she's not going a great job. >> reporter: and any sort of back tracking or criticism is a problem for mcconnell for several reasons. you talked about that house vote -- excuse me. that senate vote on the floor setting the procedure, setting the rules. he needs a majority there. he can only lose about two republican senators. very important he keeps everyone in line. i do want to note if you're thinking there might be an impasse before january in this standoff over this trial news, don't hold your breath. congress is not back into session until early january. >> it does seem there's still an impasse. thank you for that reporting. so could any republicans be convinced to allow witnesses at the senate trial? we will discuss that next. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. climate is the number 1 priority. i would declare a state of emergency on day 1. congress has never passed an important climate bill, ever. this is a problem that continues to get worse. i've spent a decade fighting and beating oil companies... stopping pipelines... stopping fossil fuel plants, ensuring clean energy across the country. how are we going to pull this country together? we take on the biggest challenge in history, we save the world and do it together. rowithout the commission fees and account minimums. so, you can start investing wherever you are - even on the bus. download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. male anchor: ...an update on the cat who captured our hearts. female anchor: how often should you clean your fridge? stay tuned to find out. male anchor: beats the odds at the box office to become a rare non-franchise hit. you can give help and hope to those in need. key republican senator lisa murkowski said she was, quote, disturbed, to hear mitch mcconnell say he was working in, quote, total coordination with the white house for the senate trial. so what does her disturbance mean? joining us now, our political analyst sun min kim and michael sheir for "the new york times." great to have both of you here with us. sun min, what does it mean? what do you take away from lisa murkowski saying that out loud in an $view? >> it underscores how mitch mcconnell has handled part of president trump's impeachment process. and we heard a little bit of criticism when the focus shifted to the senate. also sort of distanced herself from how mcconnell said he was in total coordination with the white house. but certainly by far lisa murkowski is the plomost explic of the criticism. she was candid about how she saw or how concerning she found president trump's phone call with the ukrainian leader. she's been a wild card for us to watch for some time now. just a little bit about her history, she has a fiercely independent streak. she's not someone prone to arm twisting by senate party leadership. she is someone who lost her republican primary in 2010, was kind of ditched by her own party leadership. but won re-election by the strength of her own campaign. she does have a lot of loyalty to leadership. >> yeah, that was a fascinating race. she won re-election as an independent on a write in. michael, my question to you is when you look at the list of senators who could be persuadable, the real game and there's, you know, three democrats and i think we've got around eight republicans listed there. the real question is whether they'll vote for witnesses. in the two impeachment trials, no president has been removed from office. what do you think the levers are that we could see here that would say we should see more witnesses like in the past? >> first i would inject a bit of skepticism here. the kind of procedural votes we're talking about whether or not to have witnesses, what the procedures will look like are generally the kind of votes that party members stick with their leadership on. on the procedural steps, they tend to stick together. that in the end they may stick with mcconnell at least on the procedural moves. but i think the one wild card here is president trump. look, president trump has been all over the map. but there have been times where he himself has been pressing on twitter and in comments for witnesses, for a robust trial that would somehow, you know, sort of lead to an effort, a public effort to defend him. that's what he wants to see in a trial. so there is the possibility at least that if that expression of interest puts that pressure on mcconnell, you could see some movement on that front. but i guess i'd put myself in a skeptical camp at this moment. >> another i think key senator to watch is mitt romney. as we know, he hasn't been in lock step with the administration. cory gardner also in a tough district. so let's listen to what they had to say about this and you guys speak washingtonese. so you'll help us parse this. listen. >> would you be okay with it if it was a democrat asking a foreign government for help to investigate? >> jumped to a very partisan serious use of a tool in the constitution. >> ultimately we may well become a jury. and if that's the case, i think people want to make their own decision and not jump to any conclusions at this early stage. >> okay. do they want witnesses or not? >> it's unclear right now. i would say from those comments gardner might be more likely to stay and toe the -- and stay with the rest of the party than perhaps mitt romney here. it is going to be a question that these republican senators are going to have to answer for -- or going to have to address in the next couple of weeks. i think mcconnell will be able to persuade enough of his members by saying, look, we are doing what the senate did in 1999 which is basically agree on the easy stuff first. figure out the number of hours for the opening arguments and punt that question of witnesses further down the line. and recall that while mcconnell clearly doesn't think witnesses are necessary, he hasn't ruled out that option. and perhaps that would be enough for, you know, the folks like romney and collins to side with mcconnell on the procedural steps at least at the outset. but obviously we'll have to wait and see how much the pressure builds on them in public for bringing some of these witnesses on board. >> michael, taking into account your skepticism about the possibility of any republicans peeling off, do you think there's any new information that could cause republicans to move? is there any bright line that would cause them to question this president and the need for witnesses? >> well, i mean, i suppose so. you know, there's not -- the house has said that they're continuing to keep the investigation open to the extent that new information comes in. but i think, you know, they're in a quandary at the moment because the new information is likely to come from the very people who they want to call who the administration is blocking at the moment. and look. part of what gardner and romney and others that are in these kind of more moderate -- facing these more moderate electorates, what they need to prove is they are engaged in a fair process. because their electorate doesn't want them to be participating in something they think is sort of a sham trial. and so i think that's their interest. that's -- when they give those equivocal answers with the message they're trying to send especially to their sort of independent minded voters is, look, i'm going to be pushing for something that is seen as fair and even handed. and senator mcconnell's comments about being in lock step obviously don't support that. so they're trying to walk that fine line. so that they're seen as fair minded by those independent voters. >> thank you for that translation, both of you. very helpful. stick around. we have more questions for you. >> all right. now, if you've watched any tv the past few weeks, you're bound to have seen an ad for one of these two democratic candidates. we're going to discuss the massive and i mean massive amount of money the billionaires are spending on campaign advertising. that's next. sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough to take care of yourself. but nature's bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and well-rested. because hey, tomorrow's coming up fast. nature's bounty. because you're better off healthy. hi, it's real milk, just00% farmwithout the lactose, id. nature's bounty. so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. delicious. now, i've heard people say lactaid isn't real milk. ok, well, if it isn't real then, i guess those things over there can't actually be cows. must be some kind of really big dogs, then. sit! bad dog. you may have gingivitis. when you brush, and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums, and possibly... tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. in connemara. right! connemara it is! there's one gift the whole family can share this holiday season, their story. give the gift of discovery, with an ancestrydna kit. give the gift of discovery, we're proving the new keurig k-duo brewer makes any occasion the perfect coffee occasion. breakfast in bed! just add ground coffee for a carafe, or pop in a pod for a freshly brewed cup. exactly how i like my coffee. you've got your carafe. i've got my light roast. we're brewing the love. quitting smoking is freaking hard.st, like quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so, try making it smaller. and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small... ...can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette [ drathis holiday... ahhhhh!!! -ahhhhh!!! a distant friend returns... elliott. you came back! and while lots of things have changed... wooooah! -woah! it's called the internet. some things haven't. get ready for a reunion 3 million light years in the making. woohoo! -yeah! all right. the iowa caucuses are a little more than one month away. and the ad wars, well, they are heating up. politico reporting that billionaire candidates tom steyer and michael bloomberg have already spent, get this. a whopping $200 million on tv and digital advertising. that is more than all of the other candidates combined. back with us to discuss this seung min kim and michael sheir. this is an unprecedented amount of money. they are dwarfing the field. they haven't broken out. what is or could be the impact of this mammoth spending? >> well, that's yet to be seen, clearly. but it is certainly a major amount of money. you see kind of the strategy that particularly the former new york mayor michael bloomberg is trying to take here because he's trying to use his mammoth wealth and fortune to boost his standing and really focus on those super tuesday states. while it is yet to be seen, there is a scenario where the first four nominating contest could have four separate winners because of the volatile nature of the race so far. michael bloomberg could sweep in on that super tuesday where he's focusing so much of his ad spenting. the thing is what's happened -- what's helped bloomberg here a little bit is that by spending so much of his own money, he's helped kind of set his own narrative and be able to tell his own story about his experiences in, for example, combatting climate change and working on issues to -- or working on ending gun violence. but it is a question how far spending can actually go. in the politico story, there's a person quoted there saying, you know, same -- after you see the same ad ten times, what kind of impact could it have at the end of the day? and remember jeb bush spent $55 million as well and he clearly languished until he eventually dropped out early in the race in 2016. >> i mean, here's one possible metric. here's one of the latest national polls, michael. you see here that bloomberg, okay. he's only at 4%, however, this is an nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. he has leapfrogged all of these people. castro, gabbard, booker, yang, that have been doing a lot more of the, you know, old fashioned just shoe leather retail politics than he has. >> absolutely. money can buy you name recognition. that is, you know, if that weren't true, people wouldn't be spending hundreds of millions of dollars in presidential campaigns ultimately on advertising. there are two things that it generally can't buy you. having spent a lot of time in iowa and new hampshire and the early states, the people who vote in the iowa caucuses and the new hampshire primary reward the people who have been on the ground, who have been in the house parties. and, you know, who have been at the small rallies talking to voters. at least our historical experience suggest that people who come in at the last minute or people who only, you know, spend ad dollars generally aren't rewarded. and the second thing the early states generally do is provide momentum. you know, in past contests and every contest is new and this could be, you know, a different scenario as seung min says. if there is no momentum coming out of the early states because everybody has won one and nobody has gathered that kind of momentum, it could play to mayor bloomberg's strength. generally that hasn't been the case. generally there has been somebody who emerges having a lot of momentum from winning one or two or maybe three states. and in that case, it's hard to see how even all of this ad spending could sort of rocket you to the top if by the time it gets to the super tuesday, you haven't been part of the action. >> that's all looking forward. let's talk about what's happening right now. brand new article, "washington post," fascinating about the downstream effect of the crisis on morale in the state department. i want to read the opening paragraph because it's a stunner. the new russia adviser in the white house, it says, the third in just six months, has no meaningful background on the subject. the only expert on ukraine has never spoken with president trump. only been mocked by him publicly. the u.s. embassy in kiev will soon be without its highest ranking diplomat for the second time in a year, as another ambassador is undermined by the u.s. president and his personal staff. what are you hearing about morale in the state department and how the president may be affecting perceptions of the u.s. overseas? >> well, i mean, this has been such a -- this has been such an issue for this administration. not just in the state department, but in so many other key agencies. we have seen the issue of acting officials, the turnover at major agencies particularly at the department of homeland security. you've seen this distrust and this concern and morale issue really deepen as the impeachment inquiry began. and i think that -- and that's causing -- and that's been causing clearly a lot of concern within the agencies. and the problem here, too, is that once the president sets the conversation, sets the tone, sets that narrative, you have so many of his allies both on capitol hill and off capitol hill not coming to the defense very often of the career officials who are doing the hard work, the diplomatic work abroad. you have a lot of defense coming from democrats which you saw often during the impeachment hearings. but not too much from republicans. i keep thinking about when alexander vindman, when the president's allies started, you know, casting him as somehow disloyal to the country. and there was some republican pushback from capitol hill saying that kind of rhetoric wasn't appropriate, but a lot of republican lawmakers even jumped on that and kind of continued to feed that notion. so i think the environment has been an incredibly difficult one. >> i think so too. we're out of time. we can talk about it more later in the program, but when there's been three russia advisers in just six months and the current one has no meaningful background on the subject, that's beyond morale. that's degrading the entire mission statement of it. thank you, both, very much. now to this. there's a new study. it says a specific diet practice could be key to helping people live longer. this is one that will be impossible for me to do. but we are going to report on it. >> i'm excited. >> next. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! a president who abuses power. and obstructs justice. the impeachment of donald j. trump. he was supposed to protect our constitution. not trample on it by asking foreign countries to undermine our democracy for his personal political gain. trump broke his oath to america. members of the house and senate must now do their constitutional duty. if you agree, sign our petition at need to impeach.com need to impeach is responsible for the content of this advertising. for powerful relief from cold and flu symptoms without a prescription, try theraflu multi-symptom. theraflu dissolves in seconds, so it's ready to work before your first sip, and absorbs quickly to target and attack 8 cold and flu symptoms fast. try theraflu. [fa♪mers bell] (burke) a "rock and wreck." seen it. covered it. at farmers insurance, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ if you are traveling back today from the holidays, mother nature may have some headaches in store. cnn meteorologist jennifer grey is watching a krcross-country storm. what are you seeing? >> we are. this is originating in the west. it's going to bring a lot of snow and rain to the country. look at los angeles right now. we're seeing incredible amounts of rain. even seeing snow for the higher elevations. this is brought to you by farmers insurance. get a quote at farmers.com. this is going to push to the east bringing a lot of the winter weather so we do have winter storm watches and warnings already in place. and let's watch this go forward in time. you can see all of the snow for the rockies and then the rain piling up for the south. and then the snow continues for the upper midwest by the time we get into sunday. a lot of rain for the east by the time we get into sunday into monday. the if you're traveling home, this is going to be a huge headache for you across the country especially if you're traveling through the weekend. so here is that rain. we could see 2 inches or more across places in the ohio valley. the midwest could see snow amounts up to a foot or more. across the dakotas. so if you're traveling in the upper midwest, be aware of that. even the east and the northeast will get some snow from this. here are your high temperatures over the next couple of days. we'll be a bit above normal still across much of the east. in the 60s in atlanta. reaching 60 almost in d.c. on saturday. temperatures should be around 44 this time of year. an intense search is underway in southeast texas for a man police say showed up at his ex-girlfriend's birthday party on christmas eve and shot and killed her. authorities say 46-year-old kara lee taylor died at the scene. the suspect is benjamin simon. police say he should be considered armed and dangerous. now to this worrisome story. emergency teams in the galapagos islands are working to contain a 600 gallon oil spill after a cargo vessel overturned. video shows the moment this crane -- oh, my gosh. this crane lost control of a container and it collapsed onto the cargo vessel. conservation crews are scramble to contain this area. this is heart breaking. >> come on. there's only one. >> they expend so much energy trying to protect that. obviously accidents happen. >> accidents happen, but we got to get it cleaned up too. in more positive news, we have another adorable royal christmas photo. kensington palace say william's wife kate took the picture earlier this year. the reveal coming after harry and meghan markle released theirs featuring archie front and center. >> i feel like the royals are trying to out-cute each other. >> there's a cuteness arms race there? >> yes. there's a lot of cute tension there. >> trademark that immediately. all right. if you ate too much on christmas and i'm speaking to myself here, here's a little advice for getting back on track in the new year. turns out abstaining from food -- well, i'm out -- for 16 to 18 hours a day could be the key to living longer. a review of past studies in the new england journal of medicine suggested intermittent fasting. when you limit your eating to six or eight a day, supposedly that can reduce blood pressure, help with weight loss, and the obvious catch for most americans. here's the catch. we usually eat three meals a day. that's how we are trained. that's what we grew up with. >> but maybe that's a problem. maybe that's a mistake. >> maybe it is. >> but can you eat whatever you want in those hours? >> yes. just load up the bacon. load up the big macs. no, i don't know. but you're supposed to fast 16 to 18 hours. that would be difficult. anyway, it has supposedly all sorts of health benefits. >> that sounds awesome. the health benefits. if there's one thing president trump despises more than anything else, it's -- wait for it -- windmills. jeanne moos explains. >> reporter: when it comes to windmills, president trump loves to imitate them. >> i've never heard a windmill before, but i'm pretty sure it doesn't sound like a cat in a dryer. >> reporter: president trump insists on tilting his windmills. but attacking without the scientific facts -- >> and they say the noise causes cancer. tell me that one. >> reporter: and this is a president who claims -- >> i know windmills very much. i studied it more than anybody. nobody knows more about technology than me. i'm a professional at technology. >> reporter: a professional who prefers sharpie on his printed pages. whose desk seems to be a no computer zone. a guy who's struggled to get the speakerphone to speak. >> enrique? you can hook him up. a lot of people waiting. hello? do you want to put that on this phone, please? hello? >> reporter: you know, you'd think the president would be a fan of wind power. it's one of those tried and true technologies rooted in the past like some of his other favorites. >> they say it's medieval a wall. it is medieval. so is a wheel. wheels work and walls work. >> reporter: yet he keeps beating up on windmills. >> i've seen the most beautiful fields, farms. most gorgeous things you've ever seen. then you have these ugly things going up. >> reporter: maybe the president has just had it with wind. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> oh, man. >> well, i mean, we're in good hands. nobody knows more about technology than trump. >> i love the enrique? hello? well done, jeanne moos. chryst massachusetistmas ha. what happened to the north korean threat of a christmas gift to the u.s.? we take that up next. but when your team is always dealing with device setups, app updates, and support calls... you can never seem to get anywhere. that's why dell technologies created unified workspace, powered by vmware. ♪ a revolutionary solution that lets you deploy, manage, support and secure all your devices from the cloud. so you can stop going in circles, and start moving forward. laso you can enjoy it even ifst you're sensitive. se. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! i got this mountain bike for only $11. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. an ipad worth $505, was sold for less than $24; a playstation 4 for less than $16; and a schultz 4k television for less than $2. i won these bluetooth headphones for $20. i got these three suitcases for less than $40. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save. u u u u u u u . christmas day has come and gone. so far no sign of north korea's, quote, christmas gift to the united states. china is now speaking out about the failure of the june 2018 summit between president trump and kim jong-un. joining us now to talk about this and more, we have cnn political and national security analyst david sanger. he's the national correspondent for "the new york times." happy holidays. >> happy holidays. >> okay. so china is speaking out. and here is what they said about that june 2018 summit. they say the singapore summit joint statement reached by north korea and the u.s. has not been effectively implemented and the legitimate concerns of the north koreans have not been taken seriously or addressed. so when they say it has not been effectively implemented, who do they blame for nothing coming out of the joint summit? >> well, they're clearly blaming the united states and president trump. and i think that's only partly fair. the initial agreement reached in singapore, alisyn, was poorly constructed from the start. and badly implemented. poorly constructed because it talked about the denuclearization of the korean peninsula which are code words for the north koreans build down and the u.s. takes simultaneous steps. code words to the north koreans to pull back its troops. to pull back our own nuclear capable forces. when you heard president trump talk about it, he only discussed the north korean side of this. now, meanwhile, what did the north koreans do? they may not have launched at christmas and they may after new years, we're waiting for president kim's or chairman kim's annual new year's speech that melee out his strategy, but we do know they never stopped building. they kept producing nuclear material. they kept producing missiles. and that's the bigger concern. >> do we know why president trump has tolerated that? >> president trump at this point is so invested, alisyn, in the success of a signature initiative. you know, when we talked about it at the time and when he went to singapore, i thought and still do think that it was a very good idea for kim to start the talks. because we had tried 35 years of talking to lower level north koreans and it never worked. but the problem was he had to go into the meeting well prepared and had to have a plan that would coax them along. and he didn't. instead he sort of did the photo op part of this. they've since met twice after the singapore summit. the fact of the matter is we're at a stalemate. and the chinese are sort of calling it out. and of course the u.s. has got some complaints about the chinese and the russians because they're both violating the sanctions right now and beginning to let up the pressure on the north koreans. so there's very little incentive for north korea to actually give in at this point. >> and so is it fair to say that north korea has a more robust nuclear program than it did before president trump met with kim jong-un? >> absolutely. for a story we had, used to run the national lab for the u.s., and his estimate is they now have enough fuel for 38 nuclear weapons. well, that's up from somewhere between 20 and 30 before the singapore summit. so it's been a pretty significant increase. and the president failed to get a nuclear freeze in return nar meeting. and i think that turns out to have been a big mistake. >> when president trump says they fell in love over these beautiful letters that they've exchanged, what has he gotten out of it? >> he's gotten the freeze on missile and nuclear test. they have not tested since november of 2017. that's not a small thing. because the missile tests in particular are important if you're going to keep your program moving forward. and they haven't yet proven that a warhead could re-enter the atmosphere and hit its target and put up with all of the heat and vibration that comes with re-entry. but that's all these right lane g -- he's really gotten out of pit. i think kim has played him brilliantly. >> all right. next topic. thap is what iran is up to. so iran, russia, and china are set to hold these four-day joint military exercises starting i believe tomorrow in the indian ocean. should we be worried about this? >> well, what we should be worried about is this combination of what you're seeing. the russians and the chinese lifting the pressure on north korea and then lining up even if tentatively with the iranians who are also under sanction. so what's this all about? partly this is about building a new axis that shows that powers that can't get along with the u.s. might find some refuge with the other two superpowers. and if you believe that, in fact, we are slipping back into a new form of superpower competition, this sure looks like the bad old days, doesn't it? where you had a world that was aligned with russia and now with china which is obviously the greater concern in the rising power. and a world aligned with us. and if the russians and the chinese see a moment to frustrate american ambitions and american initiatives by lining up with american adversaries, well, all so much the better. and the iranians feel a little bit less alone and a little bit less isolated. every time you hear the united states say the iranians are only isolating themselves more, think about this kind of action in the indian ocean and you say, well, they're not quite as isolated as the u.s. likes to say. >> david sanger, thank you very much for all of the expertise. >> great to be with you. the words heartwarming and the dallas cowboys don't go together a lot. we've got the story next. let's be honest, quitting smoking is freaking hard. like quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so, try making it smaller. and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small... ...can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette laso you can enjoy it even ifst you're sensitive. se. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! you may have gingivitis. when you brush, and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums, and possibly... tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. the battle for los angeles once again going the clippers' way. they beat the lakers in that much-anticipated christmas day showdown. andy scholes has more in the bleacher report. andy? >> good morning, john. the nba always a great slate of games on christmas day. no question the main event this year was the lakers taking on the clippers. this rivalry really the premier one in the league right now. we had a funny moment. anthony davis gets a steal. his shot no good but he goes crashing into kevin hart's lap. lebron also ran over to jump in kevin hart's lap. they had a nice laugh. they built a 15-point lead. but kawhi leonard leading the clippers back. here he's going to knock down a three to tie. kawhi had a high 35 points. patrick beverley making the play of the game. beverley knocks the ball out of lebron's hands. it's ruled off of lebron. the clippers go on to win. the battle for l.a. 111-106. lebron did aggravate a groin injury during this game. he could end up missing some time to allow that injury to heal. all right. dallas cowboys offensive lineman collins pulling out all the stops for his mom this christmas surprising her with her dream house. >> and i am truly blessed. and i'm grateful to god that he allowed this to happen. not your will but your will to be done in this situation. and he made a way. >> this was always a dream. and to be able to make that happen, man, i don't think nothing even compares. nothing compares. >> collins got a five-year $15 million extension from the cowboys. the house in their hometown of bataon rouge, guys. awesome surprise, great christmas gift. only problem is now the bar is now set rather high for future christmases. >> what do you do after a house? >> that was great. >> such a great point. andy, thank you very much. now to this really upsetting story. espn college football reporter edward ashoff tied tuesday on his 34th birthday. the sports network has not revealed the exact cause of his death. but earlier this month he twaeted out some potential clues. joining us now is health reporter jacqueline howard. what do we know about this? >> reporter: first, this is such a tragedy. my heart goes out to edward's family. he was also engaged. sop my heart goes out to his fiance as well. what we do know. earlier this month so just days and weeks before his death, he was active on social media and he tweeted about being diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. so he had pneumonia in both lungs. based on that tweet, he said, quote, anyone ever by bilateral pneumonia in their early 30s. as someone who gets sick and a very good immune system? based on knowing this happened days or weeks before, he wls know that he tweeted having a viral infection two weeks prior to pneumonia. again, he was battling one infection, then battling pneumonia. and being active on social media, he also posted on instagram that he was thankful to his fiance in helping for care for him just days before his death. he posted that she made tea and soup. and again, this is just so sad. you could tell he was grateful for the support he had from his fiance while battling this illness. >> such a heart breaker. 34 years old. what else do we know about his illness before he passed away? any other factors possibly at play? >> based on tweets and instagram posts, based on his social nem a media, we can put together a timeline to make sense of how this could happen in a 34-year-old. based on his social media activity, we know he flew the weekend of sunday, december st. he went to the e.r. he was prescribed two ab antibiotics and he tweeted about taking those. he had a viral illness two weeks prior to being diagnosed with pneumonia. he tweeted about having classive symptoms of pneumonia. fever, cough, night sweats. he also mentioned being very, very fatigued and feeling really tired all the time. again, these are just classic symptoms that we know often can come with pneumonia. and he was mentioning all of this on social media just days before his death. >> pneumonia doesn't normally kill a healthy 34-year-old man. and so if he was on antibiotics, if he'd gone to the hospital, if he was getting treated, why would he die from this? >> what we know -- like you said, it's rare to see this death in a 34-year-old. people are most at risk of pneumonia are older adults 65 or older or young children 5 or younger. having a weakened immune system or being a smoker. now, edward's family told us again his death was only related to a brief illness. that's what his family is telling us. so there's still, you know, much that is kind of being left unanswered here. but based on his social made ya activity, we do know that pneumonia could have played a role. >> one other detail jumped out at me. he said he was on a plane the weekend before going to the hospital. that raises the question, is there risk to other folks. and what can people do to stay safe when traveling? >> that's right. that's right. you know, there's so much we can do to stay safe while traveling. especially during this time of year where we often see these types of illnesses occur. first and foremost, protect yourself by getting your flu shot. just staying up to date on your vaccinations. wash your hands frequently if you are ill and you cough and sneeze. do that in a tissue or in your elbow or sleeve so you don't spread germs. an illness like the measles, the measles virus can linger in the air up to two hours after an infected person coughs or sneezes. and if you are feeling ill and you can cancel any travel, definitely do that so you can get well and recover quickly. >> wow. >> oh, my gosh. what a scary story. jacqueline, thank you so much for the information that we have on this and obviously we'll continue to cover it and bring viewers more information. i see you giving me side eye because i've been sneezing and coughing all over the set. i'm going to hose this down. >> the hazmat suit. >> i just have a cold. meanwhile, is prime minister benjamin netanyahu facting to hang onto power in his third campaign. we're live in jerusalem with more. >> reporter: it's a campaign we've seen before from benjamin netanyahu. before he gets to the march election and tries to win again, first he has to get through the leadership race for his own likud party. that is the vote he faces today where he's using those same sort of tactics. this is becoming a familiar image among friends. a black and white picture of benjamin netanyahu pointing at the camera. saying, they're not only after me they're after us. it's copied from donald trump who used a similar image with a similar message days before. featuring heavily in election campaigns. on christmas eve -- >> merry christmas to all our christian friends. >> reporter: -- netanyahu promising another political gift from the trump administration. >> translator: we are going to bring american recognition of israeli sovereignty in the jordan valley and pay attention in all of the settlements. those in the blocks and those that are not. that's the next step. it's in our hands. and only i will bring this. >> reporter: netanyahu and trump share much more than style as trump faces impeachment, netanyahu faces criminal indictment. charges of bribery and fraud and breach of trust in three corruption investigations. netanyahu has insisted he's innocent calling the charges an attempted coup and a media driven witch hunt. >> the rigged witch hunt. >> reporter: language we've heard from trump as well. in messages like this, netanyahu has painted himself as the victim while leaning once again on his relationship with trump to boost his standing. but trump borrowed this one. >> i want to especially thank a great man and a great leader, the leader of india prime minister modi, my friend. >> reporter: it was with another populist leader indian prime minister modi that we first saw the message. >> a great american president mr. donald trump. >> reporter: modi's supporters created and spread a meme, a picture of the leader with the words, in reality they're not after me, they're after you. i'm just in the way. with his india first style of politics, modi has celebrated trump's america first brand. >> i admire him for something more. a sense of liberty, a passion for america, a concern for every american, a belief in american future and a strong resolve to make america great again. >> reporter: modi has also shown his love for netanyahu. 2017 becoming the first sitting indian prime minister to visit jerusalem. while modi isn't facing any personal corruption scandals, his government has been facing massive protests after the passing of an immigration law that they say discriminates against muslims. that's three national leaders united by a love of brash tactics and strong man strategies. for modi and trump, this style of campaigning worked. it's less clear with netanyahu who faces a third straight election within 12 months having failed to form a government twice. focusing on today's race, netanyahu's challenger is a hard-lined right wing former minister of education. netanyahu is expected to win but he wants to win big which would signal he's still in charge of his likud party and right wing. if this is a close race, it could signal the base is beginning to move in a different direction. and alisyn, if the unlikely and improbable happens. if netanyahu loses this race, it's the end of netanyahu's time as prime minister. >> really interesting piece. thank you very much for bringing it to us. so a republican senator is rebuking mcconnell's impeachment trial strategy. what does it mean? "new day" continues right now. >> i heard what leader mcconnell had said. i was disturbed. >> miss murkowski has problems with what mitch mcconnell said. >> drarts hoping four republicans will break ranks. >> ultimately that decision is going to be made by mitch mcconnell. >> this is the concern for mcconnell. i think it will have an effect on how they move forward. >> they treated us very unfairly. they didn't give us anything. now they want everything. >> we want to welcome our view ners the united states and all around the world. this is "new day." john berman is off. john avalon is here. merry day after christmas. >> happy boxing day. >> it is boxing day. thank you for reminding me of that. how was your

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