White House aides want Trump to stop saying his Ukraine phone call was 'perfect': CNN's Jim Acosta

On Monday's edition of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said President Donald Trump's aides were frustrated with the president's defense of his phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he apparently tried to use military aid to extort political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

Furthermore, there is fear in the White House that some Republicans may defect and vote to impeach the president — which would wreck their narrative.

"I just spoke with a source close to the White House a short while ago who objected to the president continuing to say that his phone call with the leader of the Ukraine was 'perfect,'" said Acosta. "Nobody really is echoing that message on behalf of the president. It doesn't seem that anybody here in Washington, except for the most partisan of partisans feels, that the president's phone call with the leader of Ukraine was perfect."

"The other thing to point out, there is some nervousness inside Trump world, inside Trump's camp," continued Acosta. "I talked to another source close to the campaign who said, listen, if any Republicans defect in this upcoming process, it damages a key message for the White House. They believe this is a partisan White House and it was just Democrats voting in the house impeachment inquiry that Nancy Pelosi held. If any Republicans defect, that is big news in this inquiry and very bad news for the White House."

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