[Berman:] It's time for "CNN Business Now." Chinese President Xi Jinping says China wants to work out phase the phase-one trade deal with the United States but it is not afraid to fight a trade war. Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans here with that Romans.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent, Anchor, "early Start":] Hi, John. It's the same will they get a trade deal with China debate that has gripped markets for months now. The "South China Morning Post" and "Reuters" report the Chinese president told reporters in Beijing, "When necessary we will fight back, but we have been working actively to try not to have a trade war." Time is running out. Tariffs on $156 billion in Chinese-made consumer goods are slated for December 15th. Now, in Washington, a source familiar with the state of play says the White House is considering two options. The first, the president puts more tariffs on Chinese goods next month and lets the current tariffs stand, the source says, to defend American workers from Chinese aggression. The second option is a mini-deal the source called not skinny, but anorexic. Soybean purchases from China and more access to Chinese financial markets, that's something Wall Street wants in exchange for what the Chinese want rolling back September tariffs and canceling new tariffs scheduled for December. Now, none of this is the course correction the president sought at the outset. And this week, he blamed the Chinese and seemed to favor option one, more tariffs.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] China would much rather make a trade deal than I would.
[Unidentified Female:] Then why haven't they?
[Trump:] Because I haven't wanted to do it yet.
[Unidentified Female:] And why haven't you wanted to do it yet?
[Trump:] Because I don't think they're stepping up to the level that I want.
[Romans:] And the president is said to believe there is room to stand tough on China, partly because stocks have been resilient since the trade war started. Since Trump announced the first tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the Dow is up almost 13 percent, the S&P 500 up almost 16 percent, and the Nasdaq up more than 18 percent. The mood this morning, hopes for a deal. Looking at futures now, they had been leaning higher here guys.
[Camerota:] Thank you very much, Christine, for all of that. So, after two weeks of impeachment hearings, how do voters in battleground states feel? CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke with the all- important suburban voters outside of Philadelphia.
[Doug Stirling, Radio Host, Wche:] And good morning, everybody. Talking a little politics. We want to know what you think about the impeachment hearings.
[Vanessa Yurkevich, Cnn Business And Politics Correspondent:] The morning rush to Philadelphia with impeachment on the mind.
[Stephen Dibonaventura, Pennsylvania Republican:] It's a big show and I think they're just wasting taxpayers' money.
[Yurkevich:] No matter their political party, voters here in the suburbs are paying attention from the airwaves
[Unidentified Male:] It would be thrown out in any courtroom, put it that way.
[Stirling:] Nothing there, there, huh?
[Unidentified Male:] No.
[Yurkevich:] to the railways.
[Unidentified Male:] I'm totally convinced that he's committed a crime.
[Yurkevich:] A narrow victory in Pennsylvania helped deliver the White House to Donald Trump in 2016. Democrats here now on offense with strong voter turnout in local elections earlier this month, helping them score victories in three suburban Philadelphia counties.
[Stirling:] Now that we are a thoroughly blue county for the first time 150 years, that may portend trouble for the president next year.
[Unidentified Female:] Oh, there we go.
[Yurkevich:] Jane Young and her friends have been glued to the hearings for the past two weeks.
[Unidentified Female:] For the opening statements, we're not talking. Oh, that's not going to happen. You invited the wrong person. OK, shh, shh.
[Yurkevich:] At her watch party in Delaware County, four Democrats and one Independent all believe the president has committed a crime.
[Adrian Miller, Pennsylvania Independent:] And we're talking about what acceptance of law and we're determining what our laws are now.
[Unidentified Female:] Wait.
[Miller:] So are we going to accept that this is practice now or are we not going to accept this is practice now?
[Unidentified Female:] And that's I think that we're ahead of the congressional hearings. We believed it before they walked in the room and produced the witnesses.
[Alexo Bell, Pennsylvania Republican:] Thank you.
[Yurkevich:] Across town, Alexo and Valerie Bell.
[Valerie Morgan Bell, Pennsylvania Independent:] It's not supposed to be a few people picking your leaders of the country.
[A. Bell:] Right.
[Yurkevich:] Alexo, a staunch Trump supporter. His wife, Valerie, an Independent who is not a fan of the president. Have you discussed the impeachment inquiry?
[A. Bell:] I know where she stands, you know what I mean? She would like to see him get the boot, you know, and I wouldn't. So it's kind of a moot point to even talk about it.
[Yurkevich:] While respecting each other's opinions is key to their marriage, there's no love lost on their distinct views on impeachment.
[A. Bell:] I think the Democrats are grasping at straws wherever they can.
[V. Bell:] I just think you have to hold the president to a higher standard and I think it doesn't look good. It doesn't have good optics.
[Yurkevich:] Now, the vast majority of voters we spoke to in Pennsylvania say they do not believe the president will be removed from office. They say the 2020 election will ultimately decide his fate. And, John and Alisyn, we spent a lot of time talking to voters there. We only found one who knows who they'll be voting for that will be President Trump. And the others we spoke to still very much undecided and do not know yet, even on the Democratic side, who they'll be voting for in 2020.
[Berman:] Those might be some of the most decisive and important voters in the country. Vanessa, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.
[Camerota:] Thank you.
[Berman:] So, to say the president's impeachment defenses have been shifting is an understatement. Our reality check team is counting down the dozen we have time for, starting with this.
[Gordon Sondland, U.s. Ambassador To The European Union:] Was there a quid pro quo? The answer is yes.
[John Avlon, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] And with that damning bit of testimony, Ambassador Gordon Sondland killed off one of team Trump's biggest talking points. His very presence undercut another defense because this million-dollar Trump donor could never credibly be called a never-Trumper. But let's go back to the beginning because it all started with denial. The president tweeting, "Is anybody dumb enough to believe I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader?" Well, yes, and Trump's own release of the transcript knocked that one off. So the next move, just clam up.
[Reporter:] Did you discuss Joe Biden, his son or his family with the leader of Ukraine?
[Trump:] It doesn't matter what I discussed. I don't even know exactly who you're talking about.
[Avlon:] But that couldn't be sustained forever, so it became the perfect call.
[Trump:] It was a perfect call. An absolutely perfect phone conversation. It was perfect.
[Avlon:] And if that's the case, then the whistleblower had to be wrong, right?
[Trump:] Well, the whistleblower was very inaccurate.
[Avlon:] Well, when Trump released the transcript voluntarily, it basically backed up the whistleblower's account. So then there was this. Get over it, snowflakes.
[Mick Mulvaney, Acting White House Chief Of Staff:] I have news for everybody, get over it. There's going to be political influence in foreign policy.
[Avlon:] And then there was America's crash course in Latin.
[Trump:] No quid pro quo. There's no quid pro quo. No quid pro quo.
[Avlon:] When it appeared that Ukraine didn't know military aid was being withheld well, there goes the quote, right?
[Unidentified Male:] You can't have a quid pro quo with no quo.
[Avlon:] Well, it turns out Ukraine did know, so scratch that. Then came the testimonies and GOP complaints that they were being held behind closed doors.
[Rep. Matt Gaetz:] What we see in this impeachment is a kangaroo court and Chairman Schiff is acting like a malicious Captain Kangaroo.
[Avlon:] OK, Captain Kangaroo's got nothing to do with kangaroo courts. But once we entered public hearings that one went away, right?
[Sen. Ron Johnson:] This would have been far better off if we would have just taken care of this behind the scenes.
[Avlon:] OK, so much for that. But it's all secondhand information, right?
[Rep. Jim Jordan:] I've seen church prayer chains that are easier to understand than this.
[Avlon:] Well then, witnesses with firsthand information testified the same way. And the White House is blocking the testimony of more senior officials with firsthand knowledge, so kiss that one goodbye. As long as we're on Jim Jordan, by the way, call this one the Brick Tamland.
[Jordan:] I'm asking you a simple question. When did that happen?
[Sondland:] Never did.
[Jordan:] Never did.
[Steve Carrel, Actor:] I don't know what we're yelling about.
[Avlon:] When all the testimonies basically said he did it, it was time for this defense.
[Laura Ingraham, Fox News Host, "the Ingraham Angle":] Attempted bribery isn't in the constitution.
[Matthew Whitaker, Former Acting Attorney General:] Abuse of power is not a crime.
[Avlon:] OK, that man briefly ran our Justice Department and solicitation of bribery is literally part of the statute. So then, they tried to let Trump off the hook because he got caught before he could pull it off. There was also plenty of project and deflect, fixation on Hunter Biden, and the idea that it was Democrats who were colluding with Ukraine, to which Fiona Hill said
[Dr. Fiona Hill, Former National Security Council Official Specializing In Soviet, Russian, And European Affairs:] This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.
[Avlon:] So here we are back to denial as the official position of the White House and Fox News, at least judging by this giant banner "Sondland Testimony Confirms No Quid Pro Quo." As this heads to the Senate it looks like there's one defense left. OK, he did it. It's bad but it's not impeachable. And whoever signs on to that defense is going to be given the green light to all future presidents to use foreign powers to investigate their domestic political rivals. And that's your reality check.
[Camerota:] John
[Berman:] I'm going to say it.
[Camerota:] You say it.
[Berman:] That was great and it was more than just loud noises, you know, as Brick Tamland would say. That was fantastic.
[Camerota:] So, no Captain Kangaroo, but Mr. Green Jeans, very suspicious.
[Berman:] Always very suspicious.
[Avlon:] Always.
[Camerota:] Thank you.
[Berman:] No one wears green jeans just saying. Thanks, John.
[Avlon:] Thanks, guys.
[Berman:] All right, thank you to our international viewers for watching. For you, "CNN NEWSROOM" with Max Foster is next. For our U.S. viewers, the Democrats moving closer to an impeachment vote. NEW DAY continues right now.
[Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman. END