situations where he had recalled ambassadors for cause. cnn s sunlen surfougerfaty is o capitol hill. the second time the trump administration tried to block from speaking to congress. also gordon sondland. this is pretty stunning. reporter: certainly is, brooke. certainly significant of a development. so much speculation leading into this morning whether marie yovanovitch would show up, allowed to show up or not essentially leadi ining into th moment we re seeing arriving on capitol hill and she centered the room here where she s meeting with lawmakers. the dramatic back story learning what went on behind the scenes is stunning. according to the three house committees here speaking with her, those chairs saying it came to their attention that the state department at the direction, they say, of the white house directed lett eed h
decline to answer a question like that. if the president did not instruct him to take an action that would hinder the investigation, he would say so. if the president did instruct him to hinder the investigation in any way, in my view, that would be a potentially criminal act and certainly not covered by any privilege. so sessions has used the excuse of privileged conversations before when testifying about russia, but is that something hays even allowed to do? i don t think so. and one of the reasons is because they, when they did the comey thing, which is what this is about, they released letters, so in other words, whatever conversation they were having was leadi ining toward a disclo of something. on top of it, what the congressman was talking about is that if you re trying to use a privilege to conceal a crime, which obstruction would be, then the privilege takes flight, because the privilege is supposed to protect the confidential recognized confidential exchange of informat
jeb bush and chris christie are trying to cajole and jewish guilt, irish guilt their way backs into the poll numbers is not going to work. it underscores the terrible campaign jeb bush has run and chris christie s appeal is limited. i think the new hampshire voters savvy. if they decided they want to be inspired and awed by the disgusting and embarrassing debacle that is donald trump s campaign, then go ahead. a lot of people like trump. he s leadi ining by a long shot. the recent poll also showing a lot of people are undecided. we ll see how that flushes out in february. merry christmas. today is christmas eve. i know at my house that means church where the highlight is lighting candles and singing silent night at the end of the service. we ll eat a lot of food including some staples, a thin potato pancake you slather with butter and sugar and roll it up.
bat. but that s never the case in the trial of major nidal hasan. the accused ft. hood shooter is representing himself. today lawyers designed to assist him in his defense told the judge they want out. arguing they think it is morally repugnant to help a man commit suicide by death penalty. the judge has now ruled, the judge says these lawyers are staying. hasan had not entered a not guilty plea. only because he had to. pleadi ining guilty is not an on in a military capital trial. major hasan, an army psychiatrist, is facing execution for the massacre at the military post that left 13 people dead, 32 injured in 2009, before civilian officers took him down. that left him paralyzed. they are accused of trying to dispose of evidence to help their friend. the surviving boston bombing suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev. now two of his college buddies have been indicted for conspiracy to obstruct justice. a federal grand jury handed up
the banks that were too big to fail are bigger than ever and still making multimillion dollar bets. i m wore blitzer, you re in the situation room of . the latest skirmishes are being fought on college campuses with both president obama and mitt romney but neither candidate is saying much not saying much at all about same-sex marriage. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is joining us from new york so. jessica, what exactly did the president say when he addressed the graduates today? reporter: the president had a real message of empowerment and a little bit of politics. from president obama a message to female graduates that equality can be theirs. it is simple math, today women are not just half this country, it s half its workforce. reporter: if they work for it. don t just get involved, fight for your seat at the table. better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table. reporter: wonder if this is part of the campaign s apile to women voter