Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 12192019 20240713

Coming up on washington journal your reactionimpeachme. [video clip] aren this vote, the yeas 230, the nays r 197. Resent is 1 article 1 is adopted. On this vote, the yeas are 229, the nays are 198. Present is 1. Article 2 is adopted. Thosewith that, with votes, President Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached in the house of represented ofs on his 062nd day. On his 1 publicans, 2027488001. Emocrats, 2027488000 and independents, 2027488002. Join us on twitter as well at cspanwj or facebook. Com cspan and you can text us at 2027488003. Name, city,r first and state. Lets show you the reaction President Trump had when he learned that last nights rally in battle creek, michigan, the house voted to impeach him. [video clip] vote cominge have a in, every single republican voted for us. Almost 200. We had 198. We did not lose one republican democrats voted for us. Hailey. Thank you, haley, great job. The Republican Party has never been has never been so affronted, but they have never been so united as they are right there. Host the Washington Post reports there were 10,000 supporters at last nights rally. Here is nancy pelosi after last nights votes. [video clip] day forber 18, a great the constitution of the United States. A sad one for america that the activities reckless necessitated our having to introduce articles of impeachment. Afterthat was the speaker the vote. John mcardle with us with more to break down last nights vote. Host 2 wanted to break down the two historic votes, hope two articles of impeachment on the floor of the house. Starting with abuse, 230 yes votes to 197 no votes. The 230 yes votes, 229 were democrats, the one independent in the house joined them, congressman justin amash. That former republican from michigan left the Republican Party in july and is now an independent, joint democrats on both votes. Abuse, 190 five republicans, two democrats joining in voting no, those two , therats, Jeff Van Drew Democrat Freshman from new jersey expected to change parties soon and become a republican, he was one of the no votes along with Collin Peterson, democrat from minnesota. Collin peterson one of the most conservative democrats in the house. He is in a district President Trump won by 31 points, he was one of the democrats who voted against the Affordable Care act during the Obama Administration. He announced he would be voting no, voted no on both articles of impeachment, that second article, obstruction of justice, the vote total, 229 yeses to 198 knows. It was 228 democrats and one independent. Republicans were joined by 3 democrats in voting no on the second article of impeachment, Collin Peterson, Jeff Van Drew, and jared golden of maine in a district President Trump the bom by 10 points. Voting yes on that first article, but no on the second. There was one present vote on the floor of the house, that was Kelsey Gabbard who is running in ulsi toll see Gabbard Tulsi gabbard. Removal of a sitting president must not be fueled by tribal animosities that divided our country. She called for the president s s censure. There were three members who did not vote last night, not on the floor for the historic votes. They include congressman jose serrano, one of the most liberal members of the house. He has been recovering from parkinson parkinsons related fall. Duncan hunter, republican from california did not vote after his guilty plea on campaignfinance charges earlier this year, he has been asked not to vote by the Ethics Committee and he is set to resign soon into the new year and then congressman john shimkus of illinois. He was out of the country visiting his son in tanzania. Tweetcaplan with a quoting his bateman he put out saying my wife, karen, and i made arrangements to visit my son in tanzania where he is serving at the peace corps. I informed President Trump i would not be present for the votes although he did express his disappointment he was missing the votes, but said he is not embarrassed, i am embarrassed they are even happening, that was the breakdown on the floor. At some news today about one of the reliable republican no votes, that is congressman mark meadows, politicos playbook with this story about mark meadows future in congress, it may not be much longer. Mark meadows is not seeking reelection, he could leave the house in the middle of this term to begin a new yet presently undefined role helping President Trump. Mark meadows one of the most vocal supporters of the president throughout this impeachment process, here is his quote. I have looked at this job as a temporary job, he said i endorse term limits, but never ran on a term limit pledge. Every year it is a decision whether you are going to run again. The hardest thing was the timing because the president accomplished so much. I will continue to be an ally and we have had discussions on how we can work work closely together in the future and i felt filing and potentially resigning would not serve my constituents in north carolina. The filing deadline is friday in north carolina. Congressman mark meadows expected to leave congress to take a job with the trump administration. Ohio, democratic caller, you are up first. Do you know how your congressman voted . I just wanted to say to the republican. Steve chavez voted no on the articles of impeachment. Today is a new day in america. The house has done the constitutional duty of this country with impeachment. I was so appalled he was saying ,bout Debbie Dingells husband mccain,s attacked john this president , we will not stand for your attack on making ukraine do a favor for your personal gain. Host you mentioned Steve Schappert is your congressman. We will be talking to him at 8 30 a. M. Eastern time. He served as a house manager during the 1998 clinton impeachment. We will talkhat, with brenda lawrence, democrat of michigan, she is oversight and Reform Committee member, we will talk to her at 8 15 a. M. Eastern time. A democrat and republican joining us one day after the house voted to impeach President Trump. On the comments made by the president on john dingell, the late congressman, fred upton, who is a republican of michigan tweeted saying i have always looked up to john dingell, my good friend and a great michigan legend, there was no need to crass, political way. Most unfortunate and an apology is due. Christopher in california, republican. Caller hello. Do you hear me ok . Host we can. Your reaction to the vote yesterday. Caller i have been trying to impeachment for quite i really should be a little more solid about this, but i am glad the impeachment is going through. About President Trumps position on so many different matters. You should probably cut me out on this host if it is appropriate, you can say it. We will move on. Philip in florida, independent. Caller good morning. The impeachment decision yesterday, i agree with wholeheartedly. Cannot understand how citizens of the United States, whether they are whatever party, i am independent, obviously, cannot look at the gravity of this personality that has taken over the political process of republicans. Thisast history of gentleman, if you want to call him that, if you just want to be in terms of general english language, i call him a gentleman, it has been so not filtert if did this person before he became their president or party represented, just looking at the school where he took advantage the lying and cheating on his wives is wild behavior in new york and his bankruptcy. The democrats were in every right to be suspicious of this person coming into the white house. He is in the white house, he has had all of these associations with russians. All the men around him have gone to some level of prison and yet this isople act as if not important enough to consider his status as president. He knows too much as it is now. He can converse with foreign leaders if he decides to protect himself or advance himself with the knowledge he has in this position and not one republican, the hardaid we must do work, even if it is our representative, to weed out the possibility that there could be a problem with this person as president , there is too much in his past, too much in the present to not be concerned and i dont know for the life of me, people keep talking about the economy, this is a shortterm economy occurring with President Trump. Graham,re is lindsey the chair of the Judiciary Committee, republican of South Carolina yesterday talking about what comes next in the senate trial. [video clip] what happened in the house impeachment driven by partisans, this is the this is unique, it is the first impeachment in modern times driven by people. Ear and was no outside counsel ken starr spent several years looking at allegations and made a report to congress detailing abuse by president clinton, the Watergate Prosecution was done outside of the political system and that has been missing. I think this exercise in the house is beginning to weaponize impeachment, the Intel Committee Committee Conducted the factfinding elements of it, which is unusual. The process is dangerous to the presidency as an institution. My goal is to have as short a trial as possible. The most likely outcome is to record. Trial i am not going to support witnesses being called for by the president. I will not support witnesses being called for by senator schumer. We are going to vote on the same product the house used and i side most senators on my are ready to move forward at an appropriate time. We will listen to the house case by the president and make comments to his legal team and then we will vote and the sooner the better for me. Host it has been reported the leader of the senate for the republicans, Mitch Mcconnell, the majority leader will meet weekChuck Schumer this before the Congress Adjourns for the holiday break to try to hash out the parameters for the senate trial. There has also been reports nancy pelosi will hold up naming house managers, which triggers the senate trial until she has a better idea of what the senate trial will look like. She was pressed on this by a reporter after last nights vote. [video clip] guarantee the impeachment articles will be at some point sent to the senate. Would you guarantee that . That would have been our intention, but we will see what happens over there. You are asking if we are all going to go out and play in the snow, that has not been part of our conversation. That has not been part of our conversation. We need verification since you raised the prospect of not sending the articles. I never raised the prospect, you asked the question. I said we are not sending it tonight because it is difficult to determine who the managers would be until we see the arena and in which we will be participating, that is all i said. I never raised the prospect. We will see when they come to say what their rules will be. To sayeagues dont want anything about this because this is a serious matter even though the majority leader and United States senate says it is ok for the foreman of the jury to be in cahoots with the lawyers of the accused. That doesnt sound right to us, but lets see when they understand, we have acted, now they will understand what their responsibilities are and we will see what that is. I never raised that possibility, no. Yesterdayker pelosi waiting on a decision by the senate before she announces who the house managers will be. More of your reaction coming up to the house about last night. John mcardle with reaction to the vote in the newspapers across the country and world reaction. To start by showing headlines from both sides of the political spectrum from conservative websites, this is breitbarts headline. House democrats pass partisan articles of agreement, a picture of the United States capital upside down in their headline, their photo on their front page. A bipartisan Impeachment Vote is their headline, making reference to the democrats who cross the aisle and supported republicans against impeachment in that losing effort to oppose impeachment yesterday and from the liberal side of the aisle, huffington post, history and the house, abusive office, obstruction impeached is the words written across President Donald Trump space. From slate, their headline this morning, impeachment is a permanent stain on trumps presidency. A few headlines from around the globe starting with the globe, the impeachment of President Trump is the lead headline in that newspaper out of canada. U. S. President donald trump impeached for obstruction and abuse of power, the Jerusalem Post their headline referencing the investigation into benjamin netanyahu, new normal is the headline, impeachment in u. S. Criminal impeachment in the u. S. , criminal investigations in israel. And the english language newspaper out of russia, divided u. S. House impeaches trump. That is the headline. Speaking of russia, Vladimir Putin was asked about u. S. Russian relations after this Impeachment Vote and how it might affect the relationship between putin and President Trump at his annual end of Year Press Conference and this is what he had to say. Trump used the language as if he will be voted out of office. Whereve the senate, republicans have the majority, so i dont think they will vote him out of power, this is just the political infighting and the Democratic Party lost the previous election and they wanted to achieve their goals with other means. First they said there russia intervention, then collusion with russia, no collusion, now pressure of quid pro quo with ukraine. It is up to your congressman anyway. At hisladimir putin annual News Conference taking place today. Votesyour reaction to the last night on abuse of power of congress. Want to say three different things. While i am glad he was impeached by the house of representatives, win a gets to the senate, i am ,fraid he will be acquitted which my fears will be realized. Do idlyto sit and nothing when he is acquitted because i wish we were living in when we cane 9 11 do what the italians did to their dictator in world war ii because we no longer live in a democracy anymore if he is acquitted in the senate. Host omaha, nebraska, republican. Caller good morning. I wanted to note how almost like the clinton impeachment hearings and the impeachment of bill clinton in the 1990s, this one seemed to be very partisan in nature where all the republicans sided with trump and basically all the democrats, except the very brave ones who sided with trump, it is basically like a political move on the democrats part they have been planning on for a very long time, even before he took office, they were trying to impeach donald trump. They are throwing darts at a board and seeing what sticks, the reasons for impeachment have changed several times, they are trying to get him out of office and this is a political move on their end to secure the 2020 hesidency because otherwise, has less than a year left on his muchand this is very unlike bill clinton. Get a foreignto government to investigate someone who had corruption. Hisbiden never answered why son had relations in ukraine to begin with. They were trying to divert attention from that. Trump is a very honest man. Like himit seem sleeping with president zelensky or anything, he makes this very he is putting to the American People what is honest, what e what he is sure is truth and the democrats are deciding to go forward with the. Artisan process once nancy pelosi stops her party from plotting on this sad claim sendhey over the articles to the senate for them to review, that is when donald trump stays in office and when they realize the move was completely pointless and if anything, it made donald trump look better. Host bobby in maryland, independent. Merry christmas, america. We have watched for three years the United States government do everything in their power to undermine the will of the voter. If the United States government decides they dont like who the people voted for, they want to strip us that right to let us vote for who we feel freedom allows us to vote for. Yesterday, 233 democrats decided the American People have no right to vote for donald trump. They impeach to man over nothing. You had no charge, no violation at all. If your case is so strong, send it over, dont hold onto it. You guys are not going to do that. It is a crying shame when you rightto steal americas to vote, that is a pretty serious issue, but you continue doing what you are doing because all you have done is guaranteed Donald Trumps reelection. He will be the first impeached president to be reelected. Good luck, nancy. Host how this compares to the vote, the Impeachment Vote against President Trump, this is from the Baltimore Sun after the house voted in 1998. To 206 tovoted 228 impeach clinton for perjury before a grand jury investigating his relationship with monica linsky. 221 to 200 12, charging clinton with obstruction of justice. Two articles were defeated. On no article did republicans arguing the impeachment was purely an exercise in republican partisan partisanship. Pam, democratic caller. Caller hi. Impeachment. Th the i guess the one thing that really has bothered me throughout this whole thing is that i keep hearing democrats or some democrats have wanted to impeach trump since the beginning and i dont understand himsome people who support dont get why. If they just could look back at the very beginning of the horrible things he said about john mccain i am not a republican, i did not vote for john mccain, but john mccain was a hero, he had integrity. I just dont get why some of these people dont understand and why they would not want a character, good character, of integrity, and honest person, a person that does not put people down, does not call people names daily. I just dont understand that. Host robbie in georgia, your reaction to the vote. Caller the bottom line is at the end of the day, nothing has changed, donald trump was president a month ago, he will be a president next month, he will be president next year making the same decisions he has been making the entire time, a positive move for america, everything is positive, nothing changes, the ball is still rolling down the hill to the greater good of america and all that happened yesterday was democrats recertified the fact donald trump will win the election next year, it emboldened all republicans, all independents to vote for a republican and the people that really win are the jobseekers and the taxpayers of this country. Those are the winners from the impeachment process yesterday. Thank you. Host there was one independent that joined democrats in voting for both articles of impeachment against President Trump and that was justin amash from michigan who was a republican recently and switched his party affiliation. Here is the argument he made as to why he was going to support the charges. [video clip] i rise in support of these articles of impeachment. I come to this floor not as a democrat, not as a republican, but as an american who cares deeply about the constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of the people. Under our system of government, impeachment is not about policy disagreements or ineffective governance, nor is it about criminality based on statutes that did not exist at the time our constitution was written. Impeachment is about maintaining the integrity of the office of the presidency and ensuring executive power is directed toward proper ends in accordance with the law. The constitution grants the house the sole power of impeachment and the senate the sole power to try all impeachments. We in the house are empowered to charge impeachable conducts. The constitution describes this conduct as high crimes and misdemeanors because it pertains to high office and relates to the misuse of that office. We need not rely on any other branch or body to endorse our determinations. We have the sole power of impeachment. Highnder hamilton wrote crimes and misdemeanors are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse or violation of public trust. They are the nature which may, with peculiar propriety, be nominated political as they relate to injuries done immediately to society itself. President donald j. Trump has abused and violates the public trust by using his high office to solicit the aid of a foreign the benefit of the United States of america, but instead for his personal and political gain. His actions reflect precisely the type of conduct the framers of the constitution intended to remedy through the power of impeachment and it is our duty to impeach him. Host justin amash from last night. Your calls, your reaction up until 9 00 a. M. When the house will gavel in for their legislative session and on the usmca today is voting on trade deal. That vote happening today before congress breaks for their holiday recess. More of your reaction in a minute. First, john mcardle. Callersa couple of our have brought up nancy pelosi and her actions leading this effort on the floor of the house from the speakers chair and the rostrum when she was making her arguments for impeachment and one of our callers talked about that moment right after the first articles of impeachment was voted on, the abuse of power article when he talked about shearing from the democratic side of the aisle. I want to show that moment to our viewers, the announcement from nancy pelosi the vote count. [video clip] the yeas are 230, the nays are 197, the president present is 1. Article 1 is adopted. The question is the adoption of article 2. Host 2 you saw the reaction from nancy pelosi as some of the clapping started and the reaction from republican members to that clapping. Nancy pelosi clearly signaling to her members not to have any reaction, her effort to keep this impeachment effort as a somber affair when it comes to democrats and how they approach impeachment. A focus on that from a story today in the New York Times and Nancy Pelosis efforts throughout the impeachment process. The headline from the story by Cheryl Stowell berg. With a steady hand, the speaker forwards a legacy she never wanted. Pelosi decided she could not hold off any longer on impeachment and involve herself in every aspect of the inquiry. She met nearly every day, sometimes twice a day with the leaders of the 6 committees investigating the president on an array of matters. Committee leaders normally insistent on autonomy did not make a single move without consulting pelosi. When debate dragged late into the night, Jerrold Nadler checked with pelosi before delaying the vote until the next morning and yesterday and tuesday on the eve of the historic vote in the house floor , the speaker was in her Capital Office late into the night coordinating with lawmakers on who would get to speak and for how long. Pelosi reserved the first spot to her. A carefully chosen accessory, a that symbolizes the power of the house of representatives and that even that brooch got its own story in the New York Times today. Vanessa friedman in her column on the runway takes up that fashion accessory worn by the speaker. That story noting the brooch was made by a designer in washington, d. C. Who specializes in patriotic jewelry and the wife of the chief protocol officer under lyndon johnson, the pin is brass with gold overlay and has a pearl or faux pearl. It is 125 and on back order. Set offr has apparently. Omething of a trend host did you watch any of the . Ebate yesterday all of it forhed the past 4 weeks. Yesterday was not a sad or solemn day, but a sick day for america when we can impeach our president with no fax, no opinions. If democrats really want to uphold the law so much as they dod so all through this, why we have 30 million illegals in the country they support . I hope there is no trial and it goes to a fast vote and he is acquitted. Sick five very, very weeks we have had to go through in this country and it was all unnecessary. In el dorado hills, democratic caller. Early good morning to you. Were you able to watch yesterday . Caller yes. St. Paul, minnesota, democratic caller. Apologies if you heard any profanity. Michael, go ahead. Caller good morning, greta, thank you for cspan. My represented is Betty Mccollum and i think our president has no one to blame but himself. Aidesld have had his testify, produced documents, and the fact he did not move heaven and earth to clear his name tells me he is guilty. Thank you. In georgia, republican cardi republican caller. Caller good morning. I think it is important people watch jonathan clints latest video. It is very interesting. That article that had the white house upside down, people need to see it. Host we are going to be hearing from the Democratic Leaders of the house today. Nancy pelosi holding her News Conference at 10 45 eastern time and you can watch that on cspan 3 or our website and you can listen if you download the free radio app and then the republican leader, Kevin Mccarthy of the california also getting a News Conference at 12 12 00 eastern time on cspan 3 on our website or listen with the radio app. We are also expecting that we could hear from leader mcconnell as well today, so we will keep you updated on that if we get a remarks a place for his ahead of the negotiations between his office and minority leader Chuck Schumer if they are able to come to some sort of before they leave for holiday break. At denise in north carolina, independent, good morning. Caller good morning, america. I was born here in america and i would like to preface my remarks that i was very involved with the Democratic Party through the 1960s, part of the 1970s and i have switched to be independent now, sothey are slant far to the left. I would like to say this, i am against this impeachment and part of the reason part of the problem is this because our President Trump is not politically correct and we have lived under a politically long. T system for so i am against this impeachment. In a way, i am glad it happened because it can show the American People as well as myself exactly where the Democratic Party is at this time and they seem to be at a place, if you dont agree with me and you dont vote for me, then i am going to destroy anything you do after that. I want to say this to the intocan people, dig deep our constitution. I am very happy we are a Constitutional Republic and that says we, the people. I think many of our politicians have forgotten this and remember this, if President Trump has accomplished as much as he has accomplished under all of these attacks, think of what he and the congress and the senate could have done for us americans and the United States of america if they had worked together for these 3. 5 years. Thank you very much. I love you all and i love america. Thank you. In jacksonville, florida, independent. America,ood morning, first of all. I amt everybody to know, independent, but i have no party affiliation. President trump has done a lot of good things. Lets get that out of the way. He has done a lot of good things and i applaud him for that. The bottom line cannot be denied, lets face the facts and lets face the truth, no one is above the law. Even though he has done a lot of good, he has done a lot of bad. If you break the law even once, the law is the law. It is the only law we have and we have to respect it. I understand a lot of people it doesnt matter if a persons party is whatever party it is. I respect that. You are republican, i respect that. If you are democrat, i respect that. Lets not be ignorant, we are not children, we are adults and when a person does something wrong, we have to call them out on it. You did something wrong, you broke the law, you have got to be held accountable. Forget about what party you are, lets call it for what it is. If a person does something wrong and got caught, that is a sad thing, he got caught. Things in america caught him on it. He hurt himself. It democrats did not hurt him, i have to the republicans defend him because they are his party and i know a lot of them feel embarrassed about it. Bottom line, you have to defend your party tooth and nail. I respect them for that. Voting yesterday on two articles of impeachment, abuse of power being approved on a vote of 230 to 100 97, obstruction of Congress Approved 229 to 298 198. Now a senate trial awaits the president on two articles of impeachment. Adam schiff, democrat of slifornia after last night vote, talks about what the senate trial should look like. [video clip] the president of the United States has been impeached for now only the third time in history, the president of the United States should be tried and the question now is whether senator mcconnell will allow a fair trial in the senate. Whether the majority leader will allow a trial that involves witnesses and testimony and documents. A trial that should be fair to the president , yes, but fair to the American People. The American People want to hear from people like john bolton, mick mulvaney. The American People want to see what is in the documents the president has been hiding at the state department in the office of management and budget and the white house itself. We have done our duty in the house, we have upheld the constitution, we have done as the framers would have us do when a president abuses his office and obstructs a coequal branch of government, the question is will the senate uphold its duty . Will the senators uphold their of. Do the senators want to hear from witnesses . Do they want a real trial . We have to hope they do. The reason we undertook this step is because the president not only abused his office, but threatens to abuse it again, invite for an interference into our election, the remedy is incomplete as long as the president is free to continue to invite foreign interference in our affairs. Host adam schiff saying the house upheld its duty and calling on the senate to do the same. ,teve scalise on the floor democrats had other motivations. [video clip] this isnt just about donald trump, they do not just hate donald trump, they hate the 63 million americans who voted for these this president , the men and women of this country who , madamen left behind speaker. The house will be in order, the gentleman may proceed. It is those forgotten men and women washington has left behind and what is this president doing . He is delivering for them, 600 jobs in pennsylvania, 1000 jobs, workers in ohio. Want 750 Million Investment for 600 new jobs across this country, detroit news, chrysler, 6500 new jobs, that is what this president is doing to deliver for those men and women of this country who have been left behind. It is about time somebody stands up for them. Vendetta. Litical if they are going to go through with this, impeachment will not just be a stain on this democrat majority, impeachment will be there legacy. Scalise on scully the floor last night. Abuse of power, obstruction of congress, and it is your term to let your turn to let washington know. Pat in texas, good morning to you. Caller good morning, greta. It seems like it is such a sham. A strict party line vote, not one republican voted for nadler and and jerry pelosi said they would not do that, unless they had bipartisan input, they would not put the country through it. It looks like impeachment is i believe it has only been 41 years since clinton was impeached. We have only had two president s since then. I believe it was bush and obama and now we have trump and he is impeached. It appears it could get down to party isthe opposite in congress, they dont like the president , they will impeached him. I dont see that he did anything wrong. Turley, ijonathan dont think that it rose to the level of impeachment and i have watched it all. I watched every bit of it and it bang am the way shift together. Ught it it irritates me to know no end. President , ias a like what he has done. Better and he is a good president and he did not do anything wrong. I appreciate you for letting me speak, thank you. Have a good day. Illinois, ain democratic caller, your turn. Thank you for taking my call. The Republican Party use to stand for something, law and order, decency, and this president has none of those qualities. He should have been impeached when he stood with Vladimir Putin and sided with him over our intelligence agencies. He disparages goldstar families and i dont understand how the Republican Party can stick with him when he does not stand for anybody but himself. Host brenda in virginia, independent. Did you watch any of the debate . Were you able to watch the votes as well . Caller i watched most of it. I think the whole thing is a sham. They have not allowed him to function as a president. Amazing what he has accomplished against all that adversity. Since ink its ever if you think ever since clinton it is becoming a tool being. Sed i dont approve of that at all. Are completely out of control. How can you serve two masters . The progressive caucus host apologies, i have to let you go because you are breaking up a little bit. Don mcardle, what do you have . Host 2 the president up and tweeting this morning. This is the president talking about Impeachment Votes last night, 100 republican vote is what the president tweeted, that is what people are talking about, republicans are united like never before. One of the members of congress who neither voted yea ornate, the only one on the floor and did not do either, but voted gabbard,as tulsi looking to run against the president in 2020, put out a Statement Last night about her vote on the house floor and she put out a twitter video in which she explained that vote, here is a little bit of that video. [video clip] throughout my life whether serving in the military and congress, i always worked to do what is in the best interest of our country, not is what not what is best for me politically, not what is best for my political party, i have always put our country first. One may not always agree with my decisions, but i will always do what i believe to be right for the country i love. After doing my Due Diligence reviewing the 658 impeachment 658 page impeachment report, i came to the conclusion i could not vote either yes or no. I am standing in the center and decided to vote present. I could not in good conscience vote against impeachment because i believe President Trump is guilty of wrongdoing. I also could not vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting president must not be the culmination of a partisan process fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country. When i cast my vote in support of the impeachment inquiry nearly three months ago, i said in order to maintain the integrity of this solemn undertaking, it must not be a partisan endeavor. Tragically, that is what it has been. That statement goes on for another three or four minutes and she goes on to note she has introduced a censure resolution for President Trump and that is what she would support and it comes to the president s actions with regard to ukraine. One more story, one more interesting note from last night during those votes was the brief hubbub in twitter over the one republican who voted for one of the articles of impeachment, it turned out to be a mistaken vote by a republican member from texas. Dallas morning news with the story about that vote, paul cobbler is the reporter, the texas congressman who made that mistaken vote, michael cloud. He spoke briefly during wednesdays vote about what happened, calling it a clerical error that was quickly fixed. Obviously it was a mistake, a freshman member, i did not see it because i was busy making sure it got corrected. His vote was entered wrong, but the a pair the error appeared in vote tallies across the country showing a single republican voted to impeach President Trump, the phrase one republican trended on twitter. Theid not catch fire with populace, downplaying the incident. The impeachment marks a sad day for impeachment for the president. Marks a sad day for the United States. We started with a verdict to find evidence we never found of a crime. This whole process has been backward. Host following up on john mcardles earlier mention, mentioning mark he has beent mentioned as a chief of staff or a possible senior strategist for the president in the past. We are learning this morning from the Leaders Office in the Senate Senator mcconnell will deliver remarks at 9 30 a. M. This morning on the senate floor. He will speak about the precedent breaking impeachment of the president of the United States. You can watch the remarks on cspan 2. 9 00 a. M. Span at eastern time, the house will gavel in for their legislative session and topping their to do list is the trade agreement with mexico and canada. Before we get to the house, john in pennsylvania, republican, your reaction to the house votes on impeachment. Listening to the votes, to call onse the second vote, it was clearly clearly. It host elizabeth in san diego, democratic caller. Caller i just wanted to make an observation about republicans being nonpartisan. How one republican had some backbone and stood up for what clearly was visible to everybody, that trump did violate the constitution by attempting to smear joe biden for his own personal gain. Instead, the republicans were comparing him to jesus christ, which was really ridiculous and sacrilegious in this time of year. Trump and his rally last night cap saying we were impeached, our vote, he does not take responsibility for his actions. Also the gop in talking about the articles, no one mentioned the character of trump. Not one gop speaker said he was a good man, he had good character, he was honest, upstanding. No one mentioned his character because it cannot be said. He is the most pitiful role model as a man and as a president and for that alone, they are not impeachable offenses, but it is a shame for the country. I wanted to say another thing that kept being said by the gop, 63 million voters had voted. 66 million voters voted against him and since the beginning of presidency, he has never embraced the entire country, he has driven a wedge. He began his campaign three weeks after he was inaugurated, he opened his campaign and took did rabid rabid he has called people names, really not embraced the entire country as a whole. Our viewers show the moment you referenced when compared toback the impeachment trial to the trial of jesus. [video clip] the constitution guarantees the accused can call witnesses to testify on their behalf, but republicans were denied that right throughout this process, the sixth amendment guarantees the right of the defendant to face their accuser, not only have democrats prohibited the president from questioning the whistleblower, his identity has been kept secret. Before you take this vote today one week before christmas, keep this jesus was accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to jesus then democrats have afforded this president in this process. Gentleman from new york. The president was given the opportunity to come and testify before the Judiciary Committee to send this council to question witnesses, he declined to do so. Host a little bit of the debate from last night, it went on for 6 hours on the two articles of impeachment, divided between the two sides and following that debate around 8 30 p. M. Eastern time, they took a vote. The house of representatives toing along party lines, 230 190 seven to impeach the president on abuse of power and then voted 229 to 198 to impeach him on obstruction of congress. Trial ishe senate slated to begin in the new year, negotiations of how that trial will look are still underway in the senate. As we said, Mitch Mcconnell will be on the floor this morning 9 30 a. M. Eastern time. Watch our coverage on cspan two talking about the impeachment and presumably what comes next. Until the house comes in at 9 00 a. M. Eastern time we are getting your reaction to the votes, the debate and the vote yesterday in the house. Only the third time the house has voted to impeach a president of the United States. The last time, 21 years ago onost to the day went december 19, 1998, the house voted to impeach former president clinton. Kentucky, independent, your turn. I just wanted to say donald trump is it better david in alabama, republican. David. Caller good morning, thanks for taking my call. In my opinion, donald trump, he is not a seasoned politician, i think the democrats want somebody that has always been up there and always has some kind of political arena to do their bidding. They dont think the American People are educated. Aat it comes down to is president to president call i thought in this country was something that needs to be between the president and president , it should not be out there in the public eye. But since he was given out there from the president s office to be scrutinized i guess, there , he didnt mention the 2020 elections. He was looking for corruption that may have been there, whether people want to presume that or not. And he has a right to withhold money, it doesnt matter what that wasess said already appropriated, he has a right to withhold that money until he sees that this new government of another country are actually going to help fight corruption in that country. The way everybody knew this would end up with this. It was preordained, i do believe that democrats have been trying to do this since the day the man walked into office. Because they didnt like the outcome of the votes. And they believe that President Trump was working with russia to undermine his Hillary Clinton. I dont know what people think about the way things are out there today where others can go through the air and find things. I just dont know what the democrats are trying to hide so much from the public of what they are going to try to find of whats going on with our tax dollars being given to other countries. Host david in alabama. John mcardle. You and if you other callers have brought this up, that moment at President Trumps rally last night in michigan where he criticized the late former congressman, the former dean of the house died earlier this year. I want to play viewers that moment at the rally last night and show some of the reaction on twitter to it. Here is a president. [video clip] dingell from michigan . [booing] thats a real beauty. So she calls me up like eight months ago, her husband was here a long time. But i didnt give him the big treatment or the b the c, i given the a treatment. Why are you taking them down . For a cash for excons been dingell. Do this, do that. Idont want anything for it, dont need anything for anything. She calls me up, she says thank you so much, joe would be so thrilled. He is looking down, thank you so much syrup. I said that so much sir. I said dont worry about it, maybe he is looking up, i dont know. [laughter] [cheering] trump maybe. Lets assume hes looking down. I gave him a plus. Ihe called and said wont go into the conversation because its not fair to do that. But all i will say is lets put it this way, it was the most profuse thank you you could ever get on a scale of zero to 10. It was a 10. Now they talk about this phony impeachment and she is out there , we have to look seriously at our president because he may have violated the constitution of the United States. [booing] trump i cant be happy without because i love our country. She loves everything. Look at her and she is so sincere and what happens . I vote to impeach trump. That was President Trump last night in michigan, congressman Debbie Dingell tweeting not long after just about 10 00 p. M. Eastern last night to the president saying lets set politics aside, my husband earned all his accolades after a lifetime of service, im preparing for the first Holiday Season without the man i love, you brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words made my healing much harder. A tweet from a longterm or public in commerce and from michigan, this was his tweet late last night ive always looked up to john dingell, there was no need to diss him in a crass political way. Most unfortunate and an apology is due. This tweet from michigan senator gary peters. For him to come here and insult them is reprehensible. He was a true statement statement. He and debbie reppos in whats best about michigan represent what is best about michigan. This is from California Democratic congresswoman jacky spear from about an hour ago saying the president is nothing short of despicable in criticizing congresswoman dingell. She will get the last laugh and the president will lose michigan. Weve got your back congresswoman dingell. Host robert in woodbridge, virginia. Good morning to you. Your reaction to the debate and vote. Clipr after watching that from that rally, that just proves the in moral depravity of l depravitye immora of trump and the people at that rally. For impeachment, i watched a lot of it. I heard so much republican showboating and repeating the same constant talking points that you hear every conservative radio host say. Republicansn to just do not care. They know he is guilty, they dont care about it. They have placed trump above the constitution, above the country. Some of them view him as a king, some view him as a messiah. That is the problem. They will not listen to facts. Theyve been bred to believing that facts are fake news. That is my comment. Host milwaukee, wisconsin, independent. What are your comments this morning . Caller thank you. I wanted to say i think we need to not look at this so much as a partisan issue, but rather an issue protecting the greater good of american citizens and we should see this as a demonstration of affective powers of the checks and balances of our government to keep the American People safe. Impeachment act of impeachment is not to punish but to protect the American People. I think it is important that republicans understand this, trump is not a traditional republican. He cannot be respectively labeled as republican. Lets not forget he actually threatened to sue the Republican Party over an issue about louisiana delegates. Heis very ironic in june criticized bill clinton for his impeachment in bad times but now look at where he is. The biggest danger with trump and this impeachment is he is going to use it as a win and i say that because i dont believe it will pass through the senate and he will be removed from office. What is going to happen is he is going to use this as propaganda for another election because it will be able to portray as invincible seeing as he wasnt effectively moved from removed from office. I think its going to make him more extreme in the long run. He has already tested the waters so to speak. Ostentatious, psychopathic liar with criminal ties to the russian mob, a man who craves praises dictators ake kim jongun, a man who is threat to the common person. I highly suggest for cspan viewers to read a book that was recommended on cspan, there is an Chief Mountain of evidence to corroborate these claims that trump is just not fit to be our president. Danger and its very scary you have people who are utterly loyal to him, comparing him to jesus christ. When jesus christ did not embody any of the traits, personas, or acts trump is displaying. Am a proud christian, i take great offense to that one. Host the caller mentioned the predicted acquittal in the senate. In the senate trial that is coming next for this impeachment process. Senators, to take 67 two thirds of the senate to impeach the president. Members. Have 47 republicans have 53. We will go to threat frank nexen delaware, a republican. Caller good morning. First thing i have to say is that guy from wisconsin is an idiot. , day afters all day day have been watching. I watch the impeachment and everything. Theit only takes me back to 1800s that when people back then run into Something Like this, they were they threw a narrative that was wrong they were hanged. When you run into Something Like this, youre in trouble because no matter how you are, they will twist it and make it wrong. And when people give up their guns, i dont think so. I wont give up my guns knowing someone like this is in charge. Indianapolis, democratic caller. What do you think . Caller thank you so much for taking my call. Sham. K this is not a i think the republics of been shouting over and over again, this is not is fact of the matter anybody could testify. He ignored all the subpoenas with and request for information. He was a nonparticipant and then said on camera ive given everything theyve asked for. Its not true. He goes and says something and does the opposite of what he says. The house passed hundreds of bills. Mitch mcconnell hasnt brought them to the floor. It now. Doing me, i look at things for im afraid of for this country. Im afraid not because President Trump is the president. The democrats are doing their job. Host ok, renee, we will get back to more phone calls and a little bit. As we continue here throughout this our up until 9 00 eastern time when the house will gavel in for again taking votes on the United States mexico canada trade deal. Negotiated between the speaker and the white house and it will get its vote today, sent to the senate and the president s expect to sign that into law as well. More from last night. Yesterdays debate. This moment when Louie Gohmert demanded an investigation into ukraines corruption and involvement in the 2016 u. S. Election prompting house judiciary chairman adler to assert his request was russian propaganda. [video clip] in 1998, senator schumer said and i and i quote that this impeachment will be used as a routine tool to fight political battles. Prediction. T was a it was a promise and now its playing out. Its exactly whats being done here. For those that say we dont address the defenses of fact, here you go. The impeachment served two purposes, number one, stop the investigation by the u. S. Department of justice and ukraine into the corruption of ukraines interference into u. S. Election in 2016. You said this was about this terrible russia collusion, than that fell through. Its about emoluments, its about bribery, its about extortion. One thing hasnt changed and that is the intent to impeach this president. Its always been there. Lets be honest. The president turning his back on ukraine, that happened in 2009 because in 2008, ukraine invaded georgia, what happened, protections on russia. What happened after that . In march of 2009, Hillary Clinton was sent over with russia with the reset button to say we are ok that you invaded georgia, it was a green light to russia to invade ukraine and what do you do, you send blankets and mr eez that you need to be warm while the russians are killing them. That is what the Obama Administration did. This is a travesty and we are in big trouble. Because schumer was right. Now its lowered even farther, the bar, it will be used for and this battles countries and is now in sight. I hope i dont live to see it. This is an outrage. I yield back. The judgment from new york. Gentlemen from new york. I am deeply concerned that any member of the house would spout russian propaganda on the floor of the house and i yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. Higgins. The gentleman from new york is recognized. The house will come to order. The judgment from new york is recognized. The house will come to order. The house will come to order. The gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. Host more from yesterdays debate. If you missed any of it or want to follow along you can go to our website because on our video player, you will see key moments from the debate including that one where you dont have to sit and watch the entire six hours, you can go to those key moments and find where your congressman spoke on the floor. If you go to our website, cspan. Org, you can listen to different parts of the debate. You dont have to listen to the whole thing. I want to followup on one story we talked about on this program yesterday, very busy news couple of days so trying to follow up and stay on top of the stories as they develop. This was the story about acting u. S. To the ukraine, bill taylor, stepping down from his post some followup reporting from the wall street journal. Ial taylor was instructed top aides to secretary of state mike pompeo to hand over responsibilities for his post days before mr. Pompeo planned to visit the ukraine capital according to a person familiar with the situation. The timing countered earlier suggestions that mr. Taylors precise departure date was predetermined and would allow mr. Pompeo to avoid meetings are being photographed within an basilar who is drawn resident from sire for test the ire. Dents iyer afghan ire. The visit to take place january 3 to january the fourth. Developments on all aspects of this story. We will keep on top of all of them. Host independent. What did you think of the debate and vote . I think Corporate America needs an idiot in the white house. My grandmother was an enthusiastic member of the dar and into thousand one i opted to serve in the army in 2001 i opted to serve in the army. Under a underqualified republican president. Youre starting see the pattern here. I dont think President Trump is qualified to take the trash out in the white house. In, a viewer also texting earl from madison, wisconsin using the democrats are impeachment as if it were a parliamentary vote of noconfidence. Sorry, thats not our system. Joining us from capitol hill is representative, democrat from michigan. Congresswoman, there was a about your the paper position on impeachment where it said you had favored censure over impeachment. What is your position . Pres. Trump my position guest the president s behavior, this is not a desire or wish of ourDemocratic Party, it is responsibility to follow the constitution and to provide oversight. Are three we independent branches of government and we are required to provide oversight to ensure that the offices of president are going according to the policies and rules of the office. Favor ofen in impeachment based on the president s behavior. I had made a statement that i think it would be totally a miscarrying of justice if the senate just absolving the president of this behavior. Clearly they can see what he did was wrong. Inviting a Foreign Government into investigating an american citizen where we have a cia and fbi if the president felt there was corruption, that was within his reign. To inviting Foreign Government, the whole thing was an impeachable act. The senate at minimum should consider censorship for what the president has done. But my position host is never changed. Host what was it like on the hot but my position has never changed. Host what was the what was it like on the floor of the house . Guest my stomach was in knots to even compare when they compared the president to jesus and other historic times in our history and to blatantly say Nothing Happened and to blatantly not use factual information like the republicans were excluded from the process. When i sit on government oversight and during the hearings with the Intel Committee, i was sitting in the room and sitting in the room with republicans every step of the day. That they did not have access to the information we did is totally incorrect and to say we didnt have certain information on the president of the United States instructed his administration not to appear before the committee, instructed them not to provide document and information, come on. A good debate is good for the American People, they need to hear this issue but you have to have one set of facts. Throughout the day yesterday we were its as if we were talking about two different realities. Host why didnt the democrats include the articles of impeachment the underlying crimes that the president committed . Congress,obstructed he denied i dont understand why that keeps getting asked became because we have outlined them. Fromstructed congress doing their constitutional duty of oversight and he abused his power by stepping outside of the United States of america to call in a Foreign Government to investigate an american citizen. That is very clear, i dont know why that keeps being asked. Those of his office that he has performed. Host the questions are being asked because people. 2 previous impeachments where there was an underlying violation of law by the president and bill clintons case was perjury. It was also an argument that congress did not wait for the third branch of government, the judiciary to decide whether or not the president was obstructing like they did in the nixon impeachment. Everyonewill say to who wants to entertain that, that is a deflection. Theyve had everything against the wall to see will stick. , noactions are undeniable one is denying the actions. They say i cant deny the action so i will bring up why didnt you go to the courts, why didnt she do this. No one is saying that the president is innocent. Host what is your committee continuing to investigate when it comes to President Trump . Guest we still have lawsuits and subpoenas out on the abuse of top clearance issuing top clearance to his family, that is the president s family did not take an oath of office, they are not part of government. We have numerous emoluments violations. This president has personally been enhanced by being in office with the trump hotels and his resorts. Every time he has a meeting he wants to go to one of his own facilities, which carries this ability to fill up his hotels and give people access. Those are things that are still going on but i dont want to leave this camera without calling out the shame of this president , what he said about my colleague in my state colleague, Debbie Dingell and john dingell who is a legend not only in michigan, but in this country. Thats sick of hearing just the president , he is not like other president s. To bes it acceptable insensitive, rude and to just make hurtful comments . This woman has her first holiday without her husband. Compassionense of and he gets a pass on that. Anybody else wouldve been called to task. Host brenda lawrence, democrat of michigan we thank you for your time this morning. Back to our phone calls with all of you. Show in waterford, michigan, democratic caller. Good morning. Caller good morning. I just wanted to say yesterday i watched all of it and he definitely should be impeached. He is impeached so thats the way it is and he says he is so transparent, he is because we know exactly what he is doing. Host manteno, illinois, independent. Call toi wanted to unite the country, first of all i want you to know i went to the same university as president and it was founded by Benjamin Franklin and many of the graduates there. This is the country at its best. And we should not hate each other, we should understand this is what Benjamin Franklin designed this in our constitution that we have to have debate and what we are doing is right, we should not make an argument about which one is right, which one is wrong. Except this is not what you get in other countries. They arecountries terrible, i came for those countries. They dont have rights, they dont have any of these political arguments. We have freedom, we should cherish this freedom instead of hating each other. This is the greatest country and we should accept whatever is happening its happening for the good of this country. Host john mcardle. With about a half hour before the house gavels in for its work today, want to remind viewers where we are in this process of impeachment. Here is how roll call fit in our lead story their lead story. The house not transmitting the articles of impeachment to the senate until senators determine a process for a trial according to Speaker Pelosi. California democrat said she cannot name impeachment managers to present the house case to the senate until she knows what that process will look like in the impeachment managers once named other ones who will transmit the articles of impeachment to the senate. Obviously Mitch Mcconnell, the majority leader, likely to have plenty to say about that and we are expected to hear from him just about an hour from now. This was his tweet last night that he will be on the senate floor 9 30 eastern today. You can watch them on cspan2. He says i will speak about House Democrats president breaking impeachment of the president of the United States. More on holding the articles of impeachment, this from senator Lindsey Graham today. His tweet about that process. He said it House Democrats refused to send articles of impeachment to the senate for trial, it would be a breathtaking violation of the constitution, and active political cowardice and fundamentally unfair to the president. The rebel the rebel contender from South Carolina goes on to say not allowing the senate to act on approved articles of impeachment becomes constitutional extortion and creates chaos for the presidency. It also sets in motion a tremendous threat to our constitutional system of checks and balances. One more tweet for you from a few minutes ago. The president is up and tweeting today, this is his latest saying i got impeached last night without one republican vote being cast. The donothing democrats on their constant on the continuation of the greatest witchhunt in American History, now the donothing party wants to do nothing with the articles and not deliver them to the senate but it is the senates call. Host joining us from capitol hill, republican of ohio and member of the Judiciary Committee and a house manager in 1998 during the clinton impeachment. Twonow you voted to oppose articles of impeachment yesterday, but do you believe the president did anything improper on the ukraine front . Guest i certainly wouldnt necessarily have said some of the things the president said, but the bottom line is what we are dealing with in the house is impeachable or not and i dont think it comes anywhere close to a high crime and misdemeanor. The president had every right to make sure american tax dollars before they go to a country, especially the third most corrupt on earth, those tax dollars arent going for corruption and we know that the bidens were involved in just that, corruption. Should that be looked into . Absolutely. Host would that have not helped him politically though . That investigation into the bidens . Guest its not clear. Biden is one of about 21 candidates at that time, the president has the right to do its not impeachable. The democrats, who of wanted to impeach this president since he was inaugurated went through with it yesterday. I think its bad for the country and what im really afraid of is that we are going to see this now into the future, the democrats have lowered the bar for impeachment rather than high crimes and misdemeanors, now you dont even need a crime. We had one impeachment in about 200 years of American History and now weve had three of them in less than 50 years and that may be the Party One Party has the presidency and the other party as the house. Im afraid you will see the house impeaching president s routinely, its very divisive enough good for the country. Host at last nights rally in michigan, the president implied the late congressman john dingell was in hell looking up. Do you agree with republican fred upton from michigan that the president should apologize . Guest i dont think its something you should say, but this president pretty much puts it out there and the American People half the public love it and half the people dont like it, but thats the way it is. You cant live in a roughandtumble Business Environment in new york in the Real Estate Industry and now hes president. A lot of americans really liked the way he puts things, he shoots straight, other people find it offensive and we are divided on that. Host so he does not need to apologize . So what do you think, should he apologize . Guest i havent heard him apologize yet i dont think, he is not one that routinely or really ever does that. When you are dealing with the likes of putin and other tough individuals around the globe, maybe thats a good thing. In general thats up to the president , he is present, im not. Explain your role in 1998 and how you prepared for it, how long you had to prepare for it and what you actually did as a house manager or in the 1998 impeachment of bill clinton. Guest house managers are basically the prosecutors of the case over in the senate trial, there were 13 of us. We are under henry hyde who was our leader. And how you prepare for, you do your homework, like a student would furnish, you do everything you can to make sure you are knowledgeable, you are well explain, my role is to to the Senate Impeachment in the history of it perjury on impeachment and perjury of course was what bill clinton was ultimately impeached for in the house, putting his hand on a bible and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then he lied and that perjury and thats a crime. Pelosi recommend nancy ever sends this over to the senate, and thats questionable apparently at this point, they are playing politics and scheming. But if it ever gets over there i would recommend that the democrat house managers just prepare. Use common sense, do your best, try not to screw it up. Host how many hours a drafter prepare, do you remember . Guest its hard to remember but it was a lot of hours, we have about a month is my recollection between the impeachment in the house and the senate trial and you spend a lot of time and you know the eyes of the nation are on you. The eyes the world around you and im sure the democrats will do their best. Up theow did you dv work . He talked about your role to explain perjury, but how is that decided in how was the work divided . Leader andy was our he was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and he and the staff worked with our staff and asked us what areas were we interested in, i had practiced law for about two decades before i got to congress so i got to congress was pretty familiar with the law and perjury, i found to be important because it was the principal ground upon which president clinton was impeached. I said i would be willing to do that and they assigned me with that. The walk over from the house side, the house managers when they walk over, why do you do that . What does it symbolize . Host it is tradition that when the present has been impeached by the house and so would it spit by the house the prosecutors are managers a case walk overthrew the Capital Building to the senate to present the articles of impeachment there. Which is kind of like an indictment to some degree and the senate of course acts as the jerry and the chief justice of the the jury. The chief justice of the supreme court, they act essentially as a judge would in a courtroom to call any faults or strikes if there any disagreements. Host what do you remember about being in the well of the senate and having that role. What stands out in your memory . Guest you know it is important, you know basically what you say is going to be remembered at least by some folks. You just try to do your best and i try to do with them. Im sure those folks will as well. Host what do you think about the possibility of justin amash, republican turned independent, possibly who voted for both articles impeachment, possibly being named a house manager . Guest nancy pelosi gets to make that call and so it is up to her. We dont have much of a role in this. I would recommend they pick folks who know what they are doing and know the house. Even though they are in front of the senate, we want basically to do a presentable job and let them know the house is serious. I rimer henry hyde saying we werent going i remember henry hyde saying we wont be to welcome around the senate. The facts around the clinton impeachment were pretty sordid and the senators didnt necessarily wanted to be tainted by all that. They didnt allow us for example to bring live witnesses there. We had i think three witnesses and it was by videotape, im not sure yet at this point how we are going to handle this. The one thing we do know is nancy pelosi hasnt pelosi has made it clear whether she will send the articles of impeachment. I think she is trying to extort the senate, i dont think she will get very far with that. Itsis unfortunate because already somewhat tainted process and this makes it even more so. Because it looks even more political now by doing what the speaker is doing. Host given your experience as a house manager and your experience in a courtroom and that the circumstance of this impeachment, the details are not as you say sordid as they were in the clinton impeachment, wouldnt the trial benefit from live witnesses in the senate . Host thats up to Mitch Mcconnell and to some degree Chuck Schumer. Back then we are talking 20 years ago in the clinton impeachment, they came to an agreement where all the senators, 100 of them agreed on what the rules would be. We didnt necessarily like those rules, but we had to live by them. Its really not clear what they will do over there relative to setting the rules and how many witnesses and all that and lets face it, to some degree, many would argue theres a lot more partisanship nowadays than there was back then. If you look at this vote for example. The vote was pretty bipartisan on the clinton impeachment. We had 31 democrats who voted with republicans to open up the impeachment inquiry, there werent any republicans this time because we felt this wasnt reason to open impeachment. And then there were five democrats who voted actually to impeach will clinton back then, there were no republicans this time. So its probably a more partisan institution then it was 20 years ago. Host we appreciate your time this morning. Guest great to be with you. Host lets get back to calls. Barry, republican, thanks for waiting. Caller thank you. The democrats were going to find some reason to impeach the president. I think they just settled once that phone call was made. Make such a weak argument for impeachment aced on these andarticles of impeachment the congresswoman verified it for me again. Very weak argument. Transcript,read the you can look at the context of the president s right to assert about corruption. Joe biden was what, two sentences the context of the whole conversation . How would that stand up in a court of law . In las vegas, independent, what you think this morning. Caller i personally believe the trumps impeachment has been a Long Time Coming and its only a matter of time and now with this happening, the impeachment, its finally time. House democrats republicans and conservatives talk about the radical left using their buzzwords, however there is a slight problem here. Senate controls most republicans are mostly in the senate. So while we are over here trying to get things done and if you look at the constitution you clearly see this is wrong. Youve to look at its history and the constitution itself. But the senate has the most are publicans in there and its going to be fit of a down to the wire thing on how we are going to get trump impeached in the first place when republicans are in there anyway. Its going to be a pretty big mess. For me personally im all for the impeachment in forgetting trump out of the office. Host john mcardle. John more about what happens from here when it comes to the articles of impeachment and when they actually get to the senate for the trial. Fox news o producer says nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer will meet about possibilities for impeachment trial. He goes on to tweet that nancy pelosi might see some political advantage in not sending the articles impeachment directly to the senate. A senate trial is bad for democrats, he writes, the gop tries to call the bidens and adam schiff as witnesses. So pelosi pulls a hand break there. He says two, refusing to send articles of impeachment to the Senate Leaves trump with the status quo, and impeached president. Trump can claim victory and say he was exonerated in the senate trial. Plenty of speculation about planning on the democratic side. Also a lot going on the republican side. Washington post in their story about what happens in the senate today looked a little bit into that including the operation to trying get republican senators in line focusing on Senate Majority whip john thune who they write will play a central role in ensuring there would be a majority of republican senators for a swift impeachment trial and they will stick with the president as soon prepares for january, they write he met privately on wednesday with former senator from mississippi trent lawton who was the majority leader who helped in clintons trial. As we know from earlier reporting yesterday, john food met in his office on tuesday during the Senate Luncheon with some key republican senators that are being watched during the impeachment. Cory gardner from the swing state of colorado and with mitt romney as well meeting in his office. Speaking of the clinton impeachment, one more thing to show you, this from jamie dupree showing two Washington Post headlines the day after the house Impeachment Votes. Trump impeached, clinton impeached. Two headlines 21 years apart. Democratic caller, did you watch the debates . Caller yes i did. Host what did you think . Caller oh my goodness. Something about your guest and what he said earlier, steve. Guys like him just making the case for impeachment. You hear it you heard him say clearly its ok to investigate biden. They are all saying that. Thats why hes being impeached. So when they suppose it the other thing is we live in a country thats a democracy. Republicans who are afraid to ,tand up and support democracy they should be really thinking about what they are doing because we dont have a dictator. Thats the difference. President trump cannot do anything he wants to do. This is democracy. If you dont like democracy, then you want a king or a dictator. Host joe, toronto, ohio, republican. Caller hello. When someoneunny talks about democracy whenever its 11 months out from an but thats here nor there. I want to touch on the articles of impeachment. Abuse of power is pretty vague and nobody understands what he did wrong. And the second one is just laughable. They didnt even go to court to try to get anything from him. He has a right for selfdefense and preservation. He cant just lie down and say here you go. If that was the case, obama would have been impeached. He didnt turn over anything when it comes to fast and furious. What got me. Ive been a democrat for 30 years till trump came along. What got me was when nancy pelosi was asked why go so fast during this process . Weve been trying to get them for 2. 5 years. It doesnt matter what he did, they were going after him. Host the Washington Post has a breakdown of the vote for and against impeachment. 230 members voted for at least one article of impeachment. That is the blue dots. And it shows most of those people that voted for articles of impeachment were in districts where Hillary Clinton one in digits ngle districts. Hose conversely look at those 197 who voted against oath articles of impeachment and you can see they hail from districts that President Trump won again by Single Digits up to 20, 40 and a few in that 60 point range. And along with it, representative van drew, a democrat from new jersey where President Trump won district by Single Digits, he switched his party to republican and Collin Peterson from a district one by more than 30 percentage points. In thein the know no area of those who voted against the two articles of impeachment. Bruce in palm harbor, florida, independent. Thank you for having me this morning. I would just like to say i dont understand the statement was president has no other way of smearing the bidens other than asking for a favor from a Foreign Government. He had no proof that the bidens had done anything wrong, it was supposed to be according to the president a perfect phone call, yet he is asking them to do something that is not supposed to be done. At what point do you say this person will do anything to get reelected, step on anybody to get reelected and if he is going after the bidens, why does he care about his electorate . All he is trying to do is get reelected and the republicans that are looking at this saying oh its just a small thing, i just want to little favor, while the favor has been asked, how bad has this person disappeared, that would be a favor. Thank you very much. Host mary in orangeburg, South Carolina, democratic caller. Im a just wanted former new yorker so it had a lot of troubles with donald trump when i lived in new york. What i wanted to say, what i dont understand, what people dont understand either is that no president should be able to have a foreign country invited them to investigate any american, thats number one mistake that he made. We had people to do that here, we had our own security to investigate americans. Funny. Ond thing, its so to dooe biden went there the speech in ukraine about the corruption, it was worse then than it is now and they want to say he did the same thing. Thats not true. The prosecutor there was corrupt, very corrupt. They were missing thousands of dollars there. Joe biden went down and told them they had to get rid of that prosecutor not because his son was working for the company there, but because he was so crooked. That was the reason. Is a is my burisma whole lot better now than it was at the time of the administration of president obama. So as far as hunter biden, they keep saying you have to have experience to be on the board. Thats not true. You can be on boards and not have experience because what Board Members do, they are fixers. Going to try to solve the problem. Either they are losing money or making money, whatever the case is and thats for any company. So its all about donald trump doing what he wants to do. He never told the truth about anything and i believe when the Mueller Report came out there were five crimes on here that donald trump had done but being that he is a sitting president , you cannot indict a sitting president. If donald trump loses next year the election, i believe when he walks out that door, he will be indicted because of the crimes he has done. The last thing i will say, can you please check on every time donald trump takes the security with him on his property that we 600,000ay an extra that go directly into his pockets. Host we are going to hear from leadership in the house and the senate today. Nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house will speak to reporters taking their questions this morning at 10 45 a. M. Eastern time. Tune into cspan3, go to our website, cspan. Org, or listen along with the free cspan radio app. You just have to download it to your mobile device. Then Kevin Mccarthy, the leadership republicans will speak at 11 30 a. M. Eastern time , talking to reporters on cspan3. On our website you can watch this or the radio app. And then as we told you, in little lessutes, a than that, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell will be coming to the senate floor over on cspan two talking about impeachment and making and we might get some insights into the senate trial and what it might look like. John mcardle, what else do you have. John some more insight on that 9 30 eastern time speech by the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell. The money raju looking at some raja, looking at excerpts, he said Mitch Mcconnell said will suggest that Speaker Pelosi was too afraid to even transmit their shoddy work product of the senate. Memberseets from other of the senate about this process and what happens here with the articles of impeachment. This from kevin cramer, the republican from south dakota from north dakota saying that you cant make it up, pelosi suggested she may wait to send impeachment articles to the senate, will make a decision as we go along. History will be made by the president being impeached and reelected within an 11 month. Period. His fellow republican saying the House Democrats focused on impeachment has delayed important spots abilities like passing the u. S. Mexico canada agreement, addressing our nations and for structure needs and finding ways to Work Together to reduce Prescription Drug costs. For the democratic side of the aisle here is senator Chris Van Hollen of maryland. The democrats saying Speaker Pelosis absolute right to consider withholding articles of impeachment until the American Public is guaranteed a fair trial in the senate. If republicans are going to call it a trial that it has to be open and fair, not a rigged from the start. One more from senater Richard Blumenthal from last night. The democrat from connecticut saying i hope we in the senate will approach our upcoming task, a full fair trial with witnesses and documents with the same kind of steadfast commitment to the facts and to our constitution. Colorado, in cortez, republican, good morning to you. Caller good morning, thank you for allowing me to talk. I dont do well on the phone. President trump, they have been calling for his impeachment the day after he was elected. Personally didnt care for the man, dont care for the man, he is egotistical, he might border on narcissism. But i did not want Hillary Clinton and so i voted for trump and i have not been sorry. The big picture here is that america is missing is that we are about to engage in a civil war while the rest of the world is watching us. There is namecalling on both sides from people who havent researched any of the information in the past few months. Trumps had some positive accomplishments. He has said some things that werent right, i will agree with that. I kind of wonder why after zelensky made his comments at , that o quid pro quo nothings been done with that. But i have read on both sides the response to that by the democrats and republicans. I have spent hours, literally hours studying everything thats been said trying to get on both sides get a good picture. Sondland lied i think, he did not tell the truth when he talked about the conversation. And im going to go right out on a limb here saying if there is a whistleblower, its gordon sondland. The transcript was not really a transcript, it says so right on the document that it is not as accurate transcript, its more of a memorandum and i dont think people are looking at that. And a couple more things. Im just afraid a lot of people are voting Party Without voting looking at the facts. Host ok gail. You can find this kind of document to be good or our website, cspan. Org. We have all things related to impeachment on our website including the News Conferences, the hearings, the documents, the reports put out, etc. Pat in florida, independent. Caller thank you for having me. One big thing is that the democrats wanted Hillary Clinton in at all costs whether they had to pay for false information no matter what they had to do, they wanted Hillary Clinton in. Would you want Hillary Clinton . Look at her judgment in benghazi . Would you want your serviceman not being protected . When donald trump came, i didnt really like the way he spoke. Im from new york, im from the bronx and i actually thought he was a little too rough the way he spoke. I worked around construction believe that he does get his point across and he is not definitely not somebody who worked in government for a long time because he doesnt talk that way. But also adam clayton powell, who i have respected very much, when he resigned, they got an email that he had sent to somebody and they were asking why he didnt speak up about something, i dont remember it at the moment. Host i apologize, i hate to cut you off but the houses is gaveling in this morning at 9 00 a. M. Eastern time. Here in a few seconds so we need to bring you up to the floor, a live gavel to gavel coverage. More of your phone calls tomorrow morning starting at 7 00 a. M. 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