Demeaning. Utterly unconvincing. We need to have a debate about separation of powers. We have more questions than answers. A constitutional struggle over war powers and impeachment all playing out in the first weeks of an election year. The stakes high, the consequences unknown. The politics perilous. This morning, House Speaker pelosi joins us live for an exclusive interview. Plus, Trump National security adviser Robert Obrien and insight and analysis from our powerhouse roundtable. From abc news, its this week. Here now, chief anchor george stephanopoulos. Good morning. Welcome to this week. Its been packed with big news. Lets get to our exclusive head liner, the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi. Welcome. Good morning. I want to begin with impeachment. You told your colleagues on friday to be prepared to send the impeachment articles to senate this week. Will it be this week . Have you settled on house managers . What i did say ill be consulting with my members this week on Tuesday Morning at our regular caucus meeting that we would vote to send them over and well determine in our meeting when we send them over. But we ive always said i would send them over. There shouldnt be any mystery to that. What we did want, though, is we wanted the public to see the need for witnesses, witnesses with firsthand knowledge of what happened. Documentation, which the president has prevented from coming out to the congress as we reviewed this. As you know, leader mcconnell didnt budge on witnesses. Hes not promising i think hell be a accountable to the American People for that. Over 70 of the American People think that the president should have those witnesses testify. So, again, it is its about a fair trial. They take an oath to have a fair trial and we think that would be with witnesses and documentation. So that dynamic has now the ball is in their court. Either do that or pay the price for not doing. Mcconnell said hes going to follow the clinton model. A couple weeks of presentations by each side. It was 1000 for that procedure back then. It isnt the same thing. At least six reasons. I could take the whole Program Going on how its different. Whats the biggest one . The biggest one is that, the witnesses were all depose. The witnesses havent allowed them to be depose for the house. The evidence was there. It was bringing it to a forefront. Thats a very major difference. You can depose a witness or cant. The fact is, one of the things that i think is really important, and i think people should be very aware of, very unusual the leader of the Senate Mitch Mcconnell has signed on to a resolution to dismiss the case. To dismiss the case. In his view may be hes committed to having the presentations first now im telling you, he signed on thursday to a resolution to dismiss the case. The dismissing is a coverup. Dismissing is a coverup. If they want to go that route, again the senators who are thinking now about voting for witnesses or not, they will have to be accountable for not having a fair trial. You made the point that the president has blocked the witnesses, and thats true, but some of your critics the house could have done a lot more to go through the entire process in courts to see if they would rule on witnesses. One of those critics is a very important figure in the senate, senator susan collins. The house chose not to go to court to enforce its subpoenas, so there are gaps in what the house has sent us. I dont understand the houses decision on that. Thats not even true. We are in court on the witnesses. It could take a very long time. Pulled back the subpoena on john bolton but on the other witnesses we have been in court and we haven havent eliminated the possibility of ever having subpoena and Going Forward with bolton. But he has said in this two weeks period, another piece of progress that we made that he would he would respond to a subpoena from the United States senate. But the fact is is that the president of the United States, again, quite different from president clinton. President clinton allowed witnesses to come forward. President trump has prevented that from happening. Why not wait for the courts to rule . Because, how long do the courts take . We had we have confidence in our case that its impeachable and this president is impeached for life. Rartdless of any gamemanship on the part of mcconnell. However, that could stay come to bear. Were confident in the impeachment and we think theres enough testimony to remove him from office. However, we want the American People to see the truth and why are they afraid of the truth . So if the senate does not subpoena john bolton and other witnesses will the house move to subpoena its not excluded. Its not excluded. Well see what they do. But we do think that theres enough evidence to remove the president from office. But weve done our job. We have defended the constitution of the United States. We would hope that the senate would do that as well. This is about in your introduction you talked about the war powers act and its a constitutional challenge. Were proud of the courage of our members to vote to impeach the president. Theres nothing that the senate can do that can ever erase it. Any second thoughts for holding on to three weeks . No. We feel that it achieved a positive result in terms of additional emails and unredacted information that has come forward that bolton has said that he would testify if subpoenaed by the senate. Other information has come forward. And more importantly, raising the profile of the fact that we need to have witnesses and documentation and if we dont that is a coverup. You know, just before we came on the air President Trump literally 30 seconds before, President Trump sent out a tweet to me asking me to ask you a question. Im not going to read the whole thing. He calls you crazy nancy again. Wants you to justify adam schiffs comments during the house hearings. He said, your hearings were unfair and biased. This built on what he did on friday night. I want to show him on friday night on fox news. Shes obsessed with impeachment. Shes done nothing. Shes going down as one of the worst speakers in the history of our country. Let me just say, its sunday morning. Id like to talk about some more pleasant subjects than the erratic nature of the president of the United States. But he has to know that every knock from him is a boost. Hes the president who said i should have impeached george bush because of the war in iraq. And now hes saying im obsessed. I held off on this, frankly, i said donald trump is not worth impeachment. You did say that. Hes not worth it. When he crossed that line on ukraine he violated the constitution in such a way that could not be ignored. So, again, i dont like to spend too much time on his crazy tweets. Because everything he says is a projection. When he calls someone crazy he knows that he is. Everything he says you can just translate it back to who he is. Again, its sunday morning. Lets be optimistic about the future, a future that wont have donald trump in the white house one way or another, ten months well have an election if we dont have him removed sooner. But, again, hell be impeached forever. I want to talk about iran. Its not unpleasant to talk about the constitution of the United States. This is what we take an oath to protect and defend. This is what this president has violated again and again. This is the president who said article 2 says i can do whatever i want. It does not. This is a constitution that Benjamin Franklin said this is a republic if we can keep it, not a monarchy. This is this is defiance of the valor of our founders and what they established loyal to his oath of office. And so as i say, every knock from him is a boost. Everything he says about somebody else is a projection. You said hes violating the constitution again and again. Do you think its possible that the house may have to file new articles of impeachment . Lets see what the senate does. The ball will be in their court soon. As i say, we think that the American People have been very fair about saying, yes, we do want to see witnesses. That wasnt part of the discussion three weeks ago. Lets move on to iran right now. Several of your colleagues have taken issues with the administrations justification for taking out general soleimani. President trump said that soleimani was planning attacks on four u. S. Embassies. I know you cant talk speckly about the intelligence you received. Do you think the administration has been straight with the American People about the reasons for taking out general soleimani . I dont think the administration has been straight with the congress of the United States. When i was informed with the confirmation that the United States had taken out soleimani, whos a terrible person, lets not be confused, and the motivations of iran are bad. So theres no question about that. Again, with my intelligence background im fully aware of the danger of soleimani. However, what we want to do is not escalate a war. When they called and told me the secretary of defense and the chairman of joint chiefs confirmed that we were involved in this action, i said, well, you should have informed the gang of 8 in advance of this. If leadership and the chairs of the Intelligence Committee and ranking members of house and senate. We had to keep it close. You had to keep it close. We had to keep it close because we didnt want it to get out. What youre saying is you dont trust the congress of the United States with sources, methods and timing. We had to keep it close. Thats wrong. Thats wrong. If you have seen, even republicans have complained about the nature of their presentation of the classified briefing. They have to understand congress has the power to declare war. This is a war powers act. We passed legislation further defining that this week. This is an important discussion. Forget donald i dont want to say forget donald trump this is all about president s and congresses and the support of the American People theres no appetite in the public for war. The publics being told consistent with what youre being told privately . Im not absolutely sure what the public is being told because it changes every time you see something. But this is nothing i want to say this, because its sunday morning. I just took a group, a Bipartisan Group in december to the 75th anniversary of the battle of the bulge. A very bloody battle. Thousands and thousands of americans killed in that war. It was a decisive war in world war ii. And it was remarkable. An allied effort to defeat the germans there. This glorious ceremony over a few days. But the closing ceremony, the king of belgium, the president of germany, saying when you freed belgium and luxembourg you freed germans too. Why i bring it up now, in relationship to this, at the end one of our veterans and we there to see our veterans. One of the veterans spoke for the group, 90some years old. Beautiful, lovely. Spoke beautifully about the sacrifice and the struggle, spoke about the band of brothers. The allies. The effort, the challenges. At the end he said i dont know if this is appropriate to say but im going to say it anyway, i urge all of you to pray for peace. For our veterans, for our men and women in uniform. For our children. For our future. We have to move toward peace not escalation of war. The question is how we get there. Were seeing now demonstrations in the streets in iran against the regime. Do you support those protesters . Would it be a good thing if they brought the regime down . The regime the protesters are protesting as i understand it, this brand of protesters about the fact that plane went down. And many students were on that plane. And these are largely students. In the streets. I think the iranians shouldnt have had commercial flights. But the fact is this, there were protesters in the streets before against the regime. After the taking out of soleimani, there were protesters in the street joined together as you know against us. That wasnt good. Taking down this plane is a terrible, terrible tragedy. And they should be held accountable for letting commercial flights go at a time that was so, so dangerous. But there are Different Reasons why people are in the street, of course, wed love to see the aspirations of the people of iran realized for the better situation there. But escalating the situation unless weve exhausted every other remedy which we havent . Well, we dont know that. We dont know that. And if the first action to be taken on the threat of there are a lot of bad actors who are doing bad things and threatening bad things to us. We know that. Iran being one of them. And it being a its proxies doing bad things to our interests throughout the world. But how do we deal with that in a way that calms rather escalates . I want to ask you a question about the 2020 election and Foreign Policy. Bloomberg is reporting this friday the possibility that theres an investigation now on whether or not the russians are trying to help President Trump and hurt joe biden. U. S. Probes if russia is targeting biden in 2020 election meddling. The probe comes as senior u. S. Officials are warning russias election interference in 2020 could be more brazen than in 2016 or 2018 midterm election. How worried are you about russian interference. The president of the United States is in complete denial about russias role, as i have said in this terms of the president , all roads lead to putin. He said hes not going to accept the assessment of our own intelligence agencies that they were very much involved in 2016 election. That 24 7 theyre still engaged. Hes still trying to blame on ukraine and this silliness that has been debunked again and again. But he and his folks still keep advancing it. Everything that hes done whether its in syria, vis a vis the turks, whether its in ukraine in terms of withholding assistance as they try to fight the russians, his denial about their role in our election then and now, all roads lead to putin. Sometimes i wonder about Mitch Mcconnell, too, why is he an accomplice to all of that . Hes resisted resources going in a manner commencement with the threat for state agencies whichever they are, to protect our infrastructure, our Critical Infrastructure of elections. He says you shouldnt even call that Critical Infrastructure. Its all of a piece with them. Thats why its really important for the facts to come forward, the witnesses to be heard, the documentation to be reviewed, so that the American People can see so that no other president in the future could ever think that its okay to engage in a way that this president has, to undermine the constitution. Undermine our National Security and doing so, as well as jeopardizing the integrity of our elections. Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you. Lots more coming up. The president s top National Security adviser Robert Obrien. So nice to meet you june, jay, ji, kay, raj, and. Ray good job, brain say hello to neuriva, a brain supplement with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance. Neuriva. Most people think as a reliable phone company. But to businesses, were a reliable partner. 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Nothing lasts longer for powerful cough relief. He will do everything he can possibly to bait me and, by the way, if im not your nominee, if i were to drop dead tomorrow, guess what . You think hes not going to go after and lie about and misrepresent and deal in the dirt with whomever the candidate is. Hell come up with something in their life. The difference with me i have taken it now for eight months and im still winning. Theres joe biden, he leads the National Polls and the new primary model by fivethirtyeight. But a brandnew poll from the Des Moines Register puts Bernie Sanders on top for the first time. So, is joe biden really the favorite for the nomination . We asked nate silver, do you buy that . So we just came out with the forecast of the primaries at fivethirtyeight and were pretty darn excited about it. Our model literally simulates the entire process from iowa in february to the Virgin Islands in june. The question is, can some candidate hit the magic number of delegates . Our forecast tells joe biden the most likely person to win the majority of delegates. Lets break that down. Say, biden wins iowa for example, if he does hes off to the races. If Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren might fight back in New Hampshire, it could start to look a lot like Hillary Clinton versus bernie in 2016. But bidens polling in iowa isnt that great. Hes basically in a fourway tie there. Which means there are three other people who could win. What happens if biden loses iowa . Then his chances fall to 20 . He could fight back in more diverse states like nevada and south carolina. So sorting through all these scenarios our model gives biden about a 40 chance of winning a majority of delegates. A favorite means over 50 and biden is winning less half the time in our models. If he doesnt win, who else might . Bernie sanders has the next best chance in 22 of majority. He has plenty of strength in iowa and New Hampshire. Warren comes next with a 12 chance of winning the majority. Then theres pete buttigieg, his chances are at 10 . Theres still one big if. What if no one wins a majority because the early states produce three or four different winners. Thats a real possibility, too. In fact, our model has about a 15 chance of doing no majority at all. If thats the case were looking at a contested convention. Sure it sounds a little crazy. But until people actually start voting our advice is not to rule anything out. Good advice. Roundtable is coming up. Plus, president s National Security adviser Robert Obrien. Plus. President s National Security adviser Robert Obrien. Fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. Some only call when they have something to sell. Fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. And while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. 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With esri location technology, you can see what others cant. [coughs] kim is now demonstrating her congestion. Save it, slimeball. Ive upgraded to mucinex. We still have 12 hours to australia. Mucinex lasts 12 hours, so im good. Now move kim nooooo mucinex has a patented tablet that lasts 3x longer, for 12 hours. There you see demonstrations in iran overnight. Taking on the regime after the downing of that ukrainian jet liner with so many on board. Angry protests in the streets of tehran. I want to talk about that now with National Security adviser Robert Obrien. Thank you for joining us this morning. The president has sent out mess sangs to protesters. And warning to the regime not to mess with him. Is the regime in trouble right now. I think the regimes having a very bad week. They shot down an Ukrainian National airline. The iranians denied shooting the aircraft down and then gave a different story about the aircraft coming close to sensitive military installations. Changed it again and said it was because of the United States. This regime is reeling from maximum pressure and theyre reeling from incompetence in this situation and the people of iran are just fed up with it. Moreover, they lost their top female athlete Kimia Alizadeh has just defected to the west. What more can and will the United States do to support those protesters and does the United States now basically support a policy of regime change . The people of iran will have the ability at some point to elect their own government and be governed by the leaders they choose. We hope that around the world. But thats not our policy. Were going to support human rights. The best thing we can do for the iranian people and for the world is to continue our maximum Pressure Campaign to ensure the Iranian Regime never obtains a nuclear weapon. Top the terrorist activities in the region. Well work with our allies. Well see some additional assistance on that front coming out of europe thats not been forthcoming in the past. Youll see the europeans getting onboard in the coming weeks. We got a new poll out this morning showing a majority of americans are concerned about the administrations iran policy. Not convinced that its going to make americans safe and the world safer. We just spoke with nancy pelosi and other members of congress about the quality of the intelligence leading up to that strike on general soleimani. What the president has said about four embassies being targeted seems to be at odds with what a lot of democrats and others heard in those briefings. Does the administration has an obligation to come out with better intelligence, better explanation of what happened so American People get behind the policy . I think the American People are behind this president. Hes shown hes modest in his deals with other countries. But when you threaten to kill or to maim americans thats something this president wont put up. We had very good intelligence. Id love to release the intelligence. This is kind of a washington story i believe. Id love to release the intelligence. The reason we dont, george, that same intelligence, those same channels is what allows us to protect americans Going Forward. Release the intelligence and tell you told you so, we want to keep American People safe Going Forward. Well be circumspect. What the president has said is consistent with the intelligence which showed that soleimani was plotting to kill americans and our diplomats. So, we feel very good about it. We feel good about the explanation given to congress. But if general soleimani was targeting four embassies, why werent those embassies alerted or evacuated . Listen, were not going to cut and run every time someone threatens us. I think you saw what happened in baghdad. Which was very different in benghazi. When the Baghdad Embassy was attacked we moved a company of marines in on ospreys, a platoon of Army Infantry in. Were going to draw a line here. Were not going to have another benghazi. Were not going to have another embassy takeover. So the president was decisive. I can tell you with respect to other embassies in the region, we have taken very reasonable security precautions there. Something that we monitor all the time. Look, these are dangerous places and our diplomats and forces are representing us well. You mentioned baghdad. As you know, the Iraqi Parliament has voted to have u. S. Troops leave iraq. President trump said hes okay with that. But secretary of state mike pompeo said he wont discuss. What is the u. S. Policy regarding american troops in iraq right now. We think all agree, secretary pompeo, the president , the Vice President , the whole National Security team, wed love to have u. S. Soldiers come back to the United States. It has been to defeat isis. When the president took over, isis had a caliphate as big as great britain. That caliphate, physical caliphate has been defeated. Thats why our folks were there. Were looking to bring in our european allies to help the iraqi people defend themselves against isis. In the long run wed like the iraqi soldiers and their military to defend their country and allow our men and women to come home. Its fully consistent. The secretarys comments, the president s comments are consistent. Lets get the iraqi up so we can bring our folks home. I showed Speaker Pelosi that bloomberg article suggesting that u. S. Officials are concerned that the russians are at it again. You heard the speaker say she believes the president is in some ways complicit with it, repeating these conspiracy theories, has the president told Vladimir Putin to cut out this election interference in 2016, will he continue to do that even if it appears that russians are trying to hurt joe biden . Hes told putin to make sure that doesnt happen. The idea that the president of the United States would collude with the russians, i mean, this is a partisan fantasy thats been, the flames have been fanned for three years now. Theres zero truth to it. There are a bunch of countries who would like to interfere with our elections. Trust me, most of them would like to see President Trump leave and have a more malleable leader come in. Were concerned about it. I dont want russians, chinese, interfering with the trump campaign, with the biden campaign, with any campaign. I think the president feels the same way. And to suggest otherwise is unfair and frankly a bit dangerous. We need to stand together and put that sort of language aside. Setting aside the word the use of the word collusion if the president is repeating conspiracy theories that are consistent with russian propaganda, isnt that helping . I dont see that. Weve been very clear on our position with russians to stay out. Weve been very clear with the chinese and the iranians. Look, i think all of our leaders in both parties should have that same approach. But trying to use these things for some sort of partisan advantage is really disappointing. Mr. Obrien, thank you for your time. Thanks for having me. Roundtable is up next. Well be right back. I see it every day. The Mental Health safety net is in crisis. People undiagnosed, untreated, and nowhere to turn for help. Many end up here. Our patients are in jails, prisons, psychiatric hospitals and treatment centers. I work for wellpath. Along with over 8,000 professionals, we provide medical and Mental Healthcare services with a Single Mission to be there for those who need us most. Mr. President and members of the senate, i announce the presence of the managers on the part of the house of representatives to conduct proceedings on behalf of the house concerning the impeachment of William Jefferson clinton, the president of the United States. Flashback a little over 20 years, the impeachment articles delivered on president bill clinton back in 1999. Likely to happen to President Trump this week in the house. Well talk about that with our roundtable. Chris christie. Former governor of new jersey. Patrick gaspard. Political director and ambassador to south africa for president obama. Washington post congressional reporter rachael bade. And Times National correspondent, molly. We just heard from the speaker as well. Rachael, i want to begin with you, you heard the speaker say she actually did gain a lot by holding up these articles of impeachment for three weeks. Lot of skepticism on capitol hill. Yeah, definitely. Clearly putting a positive spin on what a lot of democrats have privately said a failed strategy. She and Chuck Schumer set out to number one, try to get a commitment from mcconnell on witnesses. Firsthand witnesses to testify in a senate trial. She also said she wanted to see a resolution about, you know, how the whole proceedings would be governed. She got neither of those. And i know her team has sort of said, look, she was able to hold out a bunch of new revelations that happened over the holiday break. Bolton came out and said hes willing to testify. She was holding the articles the whole time. Those things would have happen regardless if she was holding them. In fact, there might have been more news focused on those things if everyone wasnt asking, what is nancy doing with the articles. So i do think there are a lot of democrats while not going on the record saying it a lot of them had concern about it. Molly, off the record theyre saying, one of the reasons she had to do this, they couldnt trust Mitch Mcconnell given his history. That he move quickly to dismiss. That was a possibility they talked about. And the whole standoff between nancy pelosi and Mitch Mcconnell was very sort of unstoppable. The two of them very strong and very clever tacticians. I think that was probably never a strong possibility just because of President Trump. Its been clear from the start that he always wanted to have the exoneration of a senate trial, not a mere dismissal. Hes been putting pressure on mcconnell behind the scenes the whole time. That, if there was any leverage on the democrats thats where the leverage sat. Chris christie, it seems the president has brought on to mcconnells strategy of no witnesses. Yeah, and i think that was inevitable. Because in the end, nobody does this better than Mitch Mcconnell. Thats what nancy pelosi learned over the last three weeks. What Chuck Schumer has learned time and time again. Mcconnell is the new hes the new master of the senate. He knows how to count votes and he knows how to keep people in line and he knows how to get this done. The president has learned over time, all the way hes done things to make the president s legacy even better probably smart to listen to mcconnell on this. This has been a really good three weeks for the president and its largely because the speaker made a serious error and politically judgment by holding back. You know in the end its a oneweek difference in start of the trial i understand. During this period of time its allowed people not to focus on the beginning of a trial and the discussion, we didnt have special reports on the beginning of a trial. We werent on tv in the middle of the day covering all this stuff. He was allowed to talk about other things. He was allowed to do other things. Patrick, its true that mcconnell has held his caucus together. The pressure on those senators up for election on the issue of witnesses is going to be met immediately by votes by democrats. Thats right, and im not entirely sure its been a great three weeks for the president. I really do think were having a process argument, were arguing balls and strikes after the game has already been decided. The president of the United States has been impeached by congress. Its n ees now moving to the s. Youre right that nobodys better than mcconnell than obstructing governance. Now the pressure is on him and his caucus. Senators in states that were won by Hillary Clinton last time, whose names are on the ballot now they have to defend the game is over. The game is over. Hes not going to be removed. Are you confident there arent going to be witnesses . Im pretty confident. Youre up there every single day. We heard mitt romney say he wants to hear from witnesses. Susan collins gave an interview to her hometown newspaper at the end of the week suggesting that she was ready to vote for witnesses. Can that reach Critical Mass . Keep in mind, they need four senate republicans, democrats will have to convince four and thats going to be an uphill battle. Mcconnell knows his conference very well. He knows how to stay in touch with his moderate members and keep them on the team. I think going back to mcconnell trump relationship, a dynamic im watching. Its really interesting, two totally different politicians. Throughout this whole past few weeks, trump has been deferring to mcconnell over and over again regarding witnesses. Mcconnell privately convinced him not to call in hunter biden, joe biden. Lets do no witnesses, if they bring in someone like john bolton its mutual destruction. Thats a really tough balance. Hell have to strike. And lots depend on how this plays out over the next few weeks. The trump mcconnell relationship. Molly, i was struck about pelosis final words. Suggesting that mcconnell is in the league. That relationship has deteriorated. Theres mutual respect. They both see each other as masters of their respective domains. But its not theyre not friends. Should not surprise anyone. I think you see her, you know, sort of needling him the same way that she needles trump. Trying to get under his skin. I dont think that works with mcconnell the same way it does with trump. Shes been going after him on this issue of Election Security and making these insinuations about the relationship with russia and so shes willing to go there. Shes willing to go there. Patrick gaspard, according to that bloomberg report, it seems the russians arent going to back off at all heading into this election. Why should they when they got an administration in washington, d. C. , right now that refuses to put up any guardrail in this process . And you have the president of the United States giving the American People assurances that Vladimir Putin had nothing do with it. The russians have been given every encouragement and its incumbent on republicans and democrats in house and senate to push back against this president and this administration on election integrity. To their credit they did in 2017 and 2018. They need to doubledown on this pressure. Listen, in the end Law Enforcement will do what Law Enforcement does. Im confident in the fbi director and the attorney general. I think theyll protect the integrity of the election. I think theyll have a lot of allies on capitol hill to do that. I dont think that will be an issue. Theres no doubt in mind that foreign entities like russia will try again. Im confident in the new leadership at the fbi and the Justice Department. Lets be clear, governor, its not just a question of them trying again, theyre trying right now in real time. Right, and the fbi and the Justice Department to stop them. Theyre a little slow. I have conversations with civil rights who are astounded by the way social media are being used about participation this year. We have big issues about what the Justice Department can and cant do. On platforms like facebook. And social media. Facebook said theyre not going to take down ads they know arent true. Theres a real free Speech Discussion here that needs to be had. That doesnt implicate Law Enforcement. I dont know who will or wont. In the end, Law Enforcement, when they step over the line, im confident in the fbi director, hell make sure his folks are investigating. In the end bill barr will make sure the integrity is protected. The first votes of 2020 are three weeks away in iowa. Small movement by Bernie Sanders, now, a small lead. Ahead of Elizabeth Warren, pete buttigieg, joe biden. Amy klobuchar and andrew yang further back. Molly ball, this is anyones ball game right now in iowa. Complicated by this Upcoming Senate trial. Which is going to pin down sanders, pin down warren, pin down klobuchar. As buttigieg and biden have free rein in iowa. You know thats on all of the minds of those candidates. The nominal leader in that very tight poll Bernie Sanders wont be able to be out there on the stump. Its a potentially big problem to do these things simultaneously. Senators are required to be at the trial and not talk. Theyre sitting on their hands watching the clock wind down. I think the coming debate this week is going to be very important. Before the articles are sent over. At least theyll be able to make the debate. But after that, who knows, and this is really anybodys game. I think also because the delegates thresholds work, theres a possibility that we have essentially a fourway tie going into iowa, and a fourway tie coming out of iowa and going into New Hampshire. It will depend a lot on those results. This year for the first time ever, there are going to be two vote counts in iowa. Count of every delegate who walks in. After, a second vote inside the caucuses, any candidate who doesnt get 15 their support can go to someone else. Could have two different winners on the caucus night. Rachael, on this issue of the impact on the trial of the ca caucus as well, this sue, it could bleed into New Hampshire and beyond. If they decide to call witnesses at the trial. Democrats have been wanting to hear from john bolton for literally months. I mean, the Top Republican talking point has been, oh, your witnesses are secondhand information. No one has been talking to the president. Well, democrats want to hear from those people who have been talking to the president , bolton, mick mulvaney. But if they decide at the end, its going to take at least two weeks for their opening arguments, do some questions. If they decide they get that fourth republican to call in, you know, bolton or some of these firsthand witnesses that could mean another two to four weeks of impeachment trial all throughout the various caucuses in the states. Patrick, as this is all happening you have the iran events of the last week. Opening up on the democratic side a much more fierce debate between Bernie Sanders and je biden over National Security and Foreign Policy. Thats actually a great Playing Field for joe biden and i actually think for bernie as well. I think its problematic for Elizabeth Warren and mayor buttigieg that the conversation has moved from domestic priorities to foreign affairs. Bernie sanders has done an excellent job of linking the challenge in iran and foreign intervention with his basic case that he makes about privilege in this country and who suffers the consequences of these kind of interventions. Joe biden of course has played to his natural strength of his experience on Foreign Relations committee. Vice president. Somebody whos been in the box making tough calls. I think theyve been able to burnish their strengths and regrettably box out the conversation warren and buttigieg at a critical moment in iowa. The president was declaring victory after that retaliation by iranians. Designed not to take out american casualties. But his instinct still seems to by dont want any part of this mess. He doesnt. Listen, this has been his Foreign Policy approach right from the beginning. I think the president showed a great deal of patience on the attack on the saudi refineries, on the drone attack where he did not respond. I think finally he had to do something and he took a very, very direct and aggressive way to respond and now hes saying, okay, weve read that there were backchannel messages sent soon after, like, dont escalate. Dont put us in that position. This president doesnt want that. He doesnt want the endless wars. He also cant stand for the idea that american embassies can be at risk as well. Thats why i think in the end it was a very good couple of weeks for the president. Those who want aggressive action were very happy about the attack. Those who do not want expansion saw the president wasnt doing as well. One last thing, sanders, warren, booker, theyre real fans of the pelosi strategy. Three weeks theyve waited now and that extends them further into the season. Nancy pelosi isnt going to be any cards or letters from those four thanking her for her strategy. Governor, i want to say, in the polling that was cited by george in the previous segment were seeing this president doesnt have a tremendous amount of credibility even amongst republicans and independents on this issue. Theres a sense this attack in iran have made troops in iran less safe not more safe. You talk about a response of the president. Whats the response . Thank you all for sharing part of your sunday with us. Have a good day. Sharing part of your sunday with us. Have a good day. Up next, 49ers fever is heating up and so are the prices for tickets to next sundays championship game. Well tell you how much the cheapest tickets are going for. And a live look outside from our camera. 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