Amanpour and Company

>> AM I CORRECT THIS, IN YOUR VIEW, AND YOU'VE CALLED IT, YOU KNOW, AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS IN THE PAST. SHOULD THIS BE A PRESIDENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE? >> IT'S CERTAINLY THE WORST LABELING YOU CAN GET. I DON'T THINK THIS PRESIDENT LIKES TO BE REMEMBERED AS AN IMPEACHED PRESIDENT. HE'S ALSO FACING THE MOST PARTISAN CONGRESS, PROBABLY THE MOST POLARIZED POLITICAL SCENE ANY PRESIDENT HAS SEEN. I THINK THAT THE FACT THAT NOT ONE REPUBLICAN IS SUPPORTING THIS IMPEACHMENT IS VERY TELLING. AND THAT ONE DEMOCRAT, CONGRESSMAN VAN DREW OF NEW JERSEY, IS ACTUALLY LEAVING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. I THINK THE SYMBOLISM OF THAT IS SO POWERFUL. I THINK THIS PRESIDENT, I JUST SAW HIM LAST WEEK AT THE WHITE HOUSE ON WEDNESDAY. >> WHICH WAS THE WHITE HOUSE HANUKKAH PARTY. >> YES. HE ASKED ME TO MEET HIM PRIVATELY BEFORE THE PARTY AND I DID CHAT WITH HIM BRIEFLY. I HAD SEEN HIM OVER THANKSGIVING. SO WE'VE GOT -- I'VE GOT A GOOD FEEL OF WHERE HE THINKS THIS IMPEACHMENT THING IS GOING. I DON'T THINK HE'S BOTHERED BY IT. SOME PEOPLE THINK HE'S BOTHERED, HE'S DISTURBED, HE'S ANGRY, HE'S WORRIED. DONALD TRUMP DEALS WITH THOUSANDS OF CRISES AS A BUSINESSMAN THROUGH HIS LIFE. I THINK HE'S USED TO WALKING ON FIRE AND NOT FEELING IT. >> SO I'M INTERESTED BY THAT. BECAUSE I STARTED BY SAYING, IS THIS -- IT'S A PRESIDENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE, WOULD IT BE FOR HIM? SO IN OTHER WORDS, DOES HE NOT MIND SO MUCH ABOUT THE BLACK MARK OF IMPEACHMENT? DOES HE CARE MORE ABOUT THE SORT OF GET FREE CARD OF THE SENATE PROCESS? WHAT IS HE LOOKING AT? IT'S GOING TO START COME TUMBLING DOWN SOON. >> I THINK LIKE ANY POLITICAL FIGURE HE'S LOOKING AT THE ELECTION COMING UP IN 2020. HE AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS. HE SEES IT AS A POLITICAL ACT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CANDIDATE TO RUN AGAINST HIM. HE HAS TREMENDOUS RECORD, AS YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMY IS PROBABLY ABOUT THE BEST IN 50 YEARS. CERTAINLY UNEMPLOYMENT, WHICH IS A KEY FACTOR IN ELECTIONS. IT'S BEST FOR EVERYONE, EVEN BLACKS AND HISPANICS. EVERYBODY IS ENJOYING THE RIDE NOW. PROFESSOR LICHTMAN, ALAN LICHTMAN WAS ON CNN SIX MONTHS AGO, HE'S VERY INFLUENTIAL IN DEMOCRATIC CIRCLES. HE TOLD CNN UNLESS THE DEMOCRATS IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE ANY CHANCE OF DEFEATING HIM. AND LICHTMAN HAD CALLED EVERY ELECTION SINCE 1984. I THINK HE WAS -- I WAS TOLD HE WAS VERY INFLUENTIAL IN DEMOCRATIC CIRCLES FOR MOVING --