Parnas that shed a lot more detail on the Pressure Campaign inside ukraine, including the potentially illegal surveillance of former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Now the Ukrainian Government says this morning theyre opening a criminal investigation into her potential surveillance. The state department, the own u. S. State department, has not replied to multiple inquiries about whether it plans to cooperate with that investigation or open its own investigation. Youd imagine the u. S. State department would want to would want to. Would be the mostbassador. All this fueling the fight over whether they should allow impeachment witnesses. Lauren fox is back with us on capitol hill this morning. So do you know if lev parnas and all of this changes the equation on witnesses . And walk us through what happens today. Well, this is a huge ceremonial day in the senate. This is really the moment where youre going to see the torch passed from House Speaker nancy pelosi to Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell in the senate. If you saw that scene yesterday where the house managers walked over to the senate with the impeachment articles, youll see that again. And theres a reason for it. Today is the day the house managers around noon will walk over to the senate and be invited to read the articles of impeachment in the well of the u. S. Senate. That will be a dramatic moment. Then at 2 00 this afternoon, you will see the swearing in of chief Justice John Roberts. Then he will swear in all 100 senators who will take an oath to do, quote, impartial justice. Then theyll all walk up, one by one, and sign a book saying they all took that oath. After that, that will be sort of the ending of this ceremonial piece of the senate trial today. Now dont expect to see any kind of arguments in the well of the senate. That will likely start again next week. So that lays out exactly whats going to be happening today on capitol hill. And i will tell you there is a question about how much of this drip, drip coming from the House Intelligence Committee from lev parnas, the fact hes doing all these huge media interviews, how much of that weighs on members like susan collins, about whether or not she wants to hear from witnesses. Thats a big question. And a key one today. But likely, we wont know the answer to it until a couple of days or weeks into the senate trial. Well ask a republican senator later in the broadcast. Lauren fox on the hill. Rudy giulianis indicted associate lev parnas says he wants to be a witness in the senate trial. Here he is with anderson last night. You loved President Trump. Loved him, i mean he when the fbi came to my house, my wife felt embarrassed because they said i had a shrine to him. I had pictures all over. I idolized him. I thought he was the savior. Do you think you were friends . Absolutely. Again, i went from being a top donor, from being at all the events where we would just socialize to becoming a close friend of Rudy Giulianis, to eventually becoming his ally and his asset on the ground in ukraine. The president has said when you were arrested, the president of the United States said he didnt know you. I dont know those gentlemen. It was possible i have a picture with them because i have a picture with everybody. I dont know them. The truth is out now, thank god. Yesterday was a big day for us. I thank god every day. I was worried that day is not going to come. I thought they were going to shut me out and make me look like the scapegoat and try to blame me for stuff that i wasnt doing, but with gods help and the great legal team i have beside me, we were able to get the information out, and now its out there. So, i welcome him to say that even more. Every time he says that, ill show them another picture. Hes lying . Hes lying. Your attorney in a tweet said there were two times in which you gave the message of a quid pro quo to ukrainian officials. What were those two times . I think there were probably a little more than two times, but there were the first quid pro quo was when we met with president poroshenko. The former president. Former president poroshenko. What was your message to poroshenko . Poroshenko, if he would make the announcement that he would get trump would either invite him to the white house or make a statement for him, but basically start supporting him for, you know, president. So that was the first quid pro quo. Poroshenko can come to the white house or get a meeting with trump if he announces an investigation. Right. What was the next one . You have to understand because this was a transition time. Zelensky just won. He was president elect. And he the most number one thing on their agenda was not even the transition. It was to get the inauguration because it was a big thing. To show the american backing of the new administration . Of course. He had no strength. Giuliani cancels his visit because theres a lot of bad publicity about it in the United States. He cancels his visit. You go have the meeting with a highlevel official in zelenskys circle. And whats the message you deliver . I basically told him very strict and very stern several things. A, that he needed to make that zelensky needed to immediately make an announcement literally that night or tomorrow that within the next 24 hours, that they were opening up an investigation on biden. Within 24 hours . I dont remember 24 hours that same night, but literally because rudy was really pissed off that this was going to be that this hasnt happened . He said some very strong words. On tv also, i mean, everybody in uk giuliani come out and say that president zelensky, that all of a sudden he is surrounded by enemies and he named the names of the people. That can be that can destroy the new regime. Well, it was very it was some crazy times in ukraine at that time because it became a power struggle. So rudy is pissed off, in your words. You go in. Your message is, announce the biden investigation. Announce the biden investigation. Get rid of certain individuals that are enemies of the president in his administration. At that point was there any mention of withholding of aid . Yeah, it was well, if they didnt make the announcement, basically, there would be no relationship, not just no specific military aid, there was no aid that was going to be assisted. There was going to be no inauguration. Pence wouldnt be at the inauguration. And there would be no visit to the white house. There would be basically, they would have no communication. So how you told the top official in the zelensky inner circle that if they did not announce an investigation of the bidens immediately and get rid of some folks around zelensky who they believed were opposed to President Trump, that there wouldnt be any aid and Vice President pence would not even come to the inauguration. Correct. And what happened . What did they say . I called rudy. Told him that i dont think theres going to be an announcement. He said, okay, theyll see. Theyll see . Theyll see. And what happened the next day . I got called and said that they got a call from them. Basically they found out that pence is not going to be there. He got canceled. They said there was a scheduling problem or something. The day after you delivered that message . Correct. Monday the 13th. And then after that, i think on the 16th or the 15th. I dont remember the exact dates, they had because they were flipping out what to do. They didnt want to be embarrassed. They didnt know if anybody at all was going to show up, but they knew pence wasnt coming, trump wasnt coming. How did you have the authority to say the Vice President of the United States will not attend the inauguration if you dont do what i say . Thats what i was told to do. Who told you to do that . Rudy giuliani. A lot there. Were going to unpack it. Just so you can understand how central lev parnas is to all of this. Heres who he is. Born in ukraine. Hes an american citizen who was living in florida. Last year, he and his Business Associates were indicted on several counts of Campaign Finance violation. In 2018, parnas introduced Rudy Giuliani to former and current ukrainian officials. Giuliani told cnn those officials provided damaging information on some of trumps political enemies. Note this. Parnas company, which is named interestingly, fraud guarantee, paid giuliani half a Million Dollars in the fall of 2018 for consulting. So giuliani was working with parnas. Yeah, and working for the president. And as you heard in that interview, President Trump says he doesnt know parnas. But on at least seven occasions, he posed for photos. Not just one photo. On at least seven occasion hes posed for photos with parnas and his Business Partner. Cnn has learned that both those men had a private meeting with the president and with Rudy Giuliani. This happened at a White House Party in december of 2018, and parnas says during that meeting the president talked about tasking him and his Business Partner with what he describes as a secret mission. A mission in order to pressure the Ukrainian Government to investigate, who . Joe biden. Listen. There are a lot of questions about this. We should note lev parnas has been indicted. Questions about credibility here. A big question is how his story matches up with other sworn testimony weve heard from others. And there are things that match. Lets discuss with our legal panel. Cnn legal analyst Michael Gerhardt and elie honig. Theres a lot to unpack here. In terms of the impeachment trial, which is about to begin, Michael Gerhardt. You have a good amount of experience with this. This is at least new evidence, right . And a new potential witness, right, if theres a majority of senators willing to call them. Should parnas be a witness now in the senate trial or Rudy Giuliani . After all, Rudy Giuliani is the president s attorney and working for the president and parnas, as it happens. Yes to everything youve just said. Yes, its new evidence but its permissible to consider. Theres nothing that prevents that in the senate and he, parnas, seems to be quite a relevant witness. Somebody should talk to him. Maybe somebody in the house. They may try and interview him or depose him. The same can be true in the senate. Theres no good reason not to talk with him and hes got lots of documents that support everything hes just said. But michael, if the house were to depose him, what does that mean for a Senate Impeachment trial. Would they have to use that to introduce another article of impeachment, that the senate use that . What would that help . Its a fair question. In the house, if it if the house were to interview parnas, then that could be done in support of another article of impeachment. It could be done as part of an oversight of the president. It could also send over that deposition to the senate. That could become evidence in the senate. In any event, if the house does it, it puts some pressure on the senate to do something similar and take that information into account. Okay. Elie, lets analyze this and take advantage of you being a prosecutor. You know how to analyze evidence. One thing that struck me is if parnas is correct here, the demand for a quid pro quo from ukraine goes back to the previous president before zelensky, petro poroshenko, which then undermines the gop defense that all President Trump was doing is ensuring that the new ukrainian president was into fighting corruption. The demand it seems goes back to the prior administration. Thats a remarkable revelation and one that rings true to me. If any of our viewers wonder what its like to be a prosecutor daytoday, this is it. A guy like lev parnas. Hes under indictment. Hes facing likely jailtime. Hes trying to help himself here. Hes not doing this out of some great spirit of patriotism. So what you have to do is look at his testimony and ask, does it ring true . Does it make sense . Is it backed up by other evidence weve seen . And i think what you just pointed out is a good example of something that is heavily backed up. The real goal here had nothing to do with corruption and everything to do with 2020. There are other pieces of his testimony where i think hes a little more out there, where we need to see more backup, more corroboration. Fiona hill testified under oath that this was about a political errand, right . Not about the other interesting corruption. Lev parnas who admitted he had a shrine to the president in his house. So, michael, the New York Times has an important nugget of reporting here. Theyre saying the president and Rudy Giuliani tried to conceal the ukraine efforts in a few ways. First that parnas smg esuggeste parnas designate he and his partner as special allies and mr. Parnas said mr. Giuliani walked away to call mr. Trump, returned with a new plan. He would represent mr. Parnas and mr. Fruman as well as the president. Why . A move that might afford their shared mission, the confidential of Attorney Client privilege. Mr. Giuliani has denied that account. If thats true, is it legal . Its not legal at all. Its actually part of a conspiracy. A conspiracy essentially to obstruct, to obstruct any investigation, as well as to hide from congress and others the information about what giuliani and his associates are doing. Keep in mind that giuliani also wrote a document saying he represented the president personally. Not as president , but personally. So what that tells us is everything giuliani is doing, and everything parnas and others are doing is to help the president personally. And that reinforces and supports the claim made by the house that the president was trying to get a favor personally for himself that would benefit him in the next election. He was not acting on behalf of the United States government. He was acting to do something that would help himself personally. And last, but not least, the effort to hide all of this is part of the coverup that congress is trying to really dig into or pierce. And the president has tried to hide from congress and others. Theres a lot here, guys. Stick around. Michael gerhardt, elie honig, thank you. A lot more of this interview, too. Lev parnas claims mike pence knew what was going on in ukrai ukraine. This morning the Vice President is responding to those allegations. Thats next. Also this i think you called me a liar on national tv . The Tense Exchange between senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren right after the cnn debate. Now we can hear it. Well play it for you. Plus, the senate set to pass a major priority for this administration, one that has agreement with democrats. A new trade deal between the u. S. , mexico and canada. Well speak to the president s top trade adviser Peter Navarro, ahead. Whether tomorrow will be light or dark. All we see in you, is a spark. We see your kindness and humanity. The strength of each community. The more we look the more we find the sparks that make america shine. 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Of course he knew. Everybody that was close to trump knew that this was a thorn in the side and this was a serious situation. Bolton, mulvaney. Bolton, mulvaney. Bolton, i dont think, agreed with it. There are certain people that agreed with it, didnt agree. He called it a drug deal, according to fiona hill. I think bolton is a very important witness. Between me and bolton, we could fill in all the dots. I was on the ground there, and he was over here. And youd be willing to testify . Id be very willing to testify. Will the senate take him up on his offer . Mike pence is denying claims made by the indicted Rudy Giuliani associate lev parnas. He just released a statement saying, this is very simple. Lev parnas is under a multicount indictment and will say anything to anybody who will listen in hopes of staying out of prison. Not a direct denial. Lets talk about that with laura jarrett. Its similar to the response to michael cohen. Thats a good point. The president s personal attorney. Hes under indictment. Dont believe what anybody says. Laura jarrett is here and errol louis. If mark short, the chief of staff to the Vice President , wanted to say, this is blatantly false, like barrs team is saying this morning, he would have. Hes a very smart guy. He didnt say that. The silence is deafening. And the reality is, prosecutors know, journalists know. The public knows. Everything that he said could be true and he could still be in a lot of trouble meaning, yes, lev parnas is not an upstanding citizen. Hes under indictment. Hes trying to save his neck. Doesnt mean what he said isnt true. If what he said is not true, the Vice President could and should have said so. My guess is throughout pences staff, theyre all checking their emails, checking their records, they might be calling up lawyers. They are going theres going to be some close questioning day by day about who knew what and whether or not this very explosive charge by lev parnas is true or could be true. And again, we all want to know, did mike pence himself personally know . Yes. Thats an interesting question. Its got a lot of staff members. A lot of people in touch with a lot of other people including parnas. When he says theres no way pence couldnt have known, i interpret that as him meaning in a broad sense that the Vice President s staff, the Vice President s political advisers, perhaps the Vice President himself personally were all connected to what they were doing. Laura jarrett, theres another possibility that some of what hes saying is accurate and some isnt. Youve been listening closely. Some lines up with other statements before. For instance, the quid pro quo line is something that several former Trump Administration officials testified under oath. That that was their belief. What have you noticed does not line up even with his own past dealings . I think this is where it becomes risky for democrats to engage this person as a witness, right . Hes making some really provocative claims that are worth investigating but the question is, does he have the receipts to back them up . On the pence issue, in one interview, he says he must have known and then he says in another interview, he definitely was in the loop. He knew everything. And thats different. And thats a nuanced difference in this case that makes a huge difference. And he says he has a meeting with the president. Weve seen the calendar records to back that up. He tells the New York Times, i never had a direct conversation with the president about these efforts. While at the same time, implicating the president , clearly, in multiple tv interviews. And so i think it becomes a question for democrats. Is this a gamble that you would want to take . Is this a reliable . I brought up attorney general bill barr and the Justice Department responding to all of this this morning. They denied the claim from lev parnas that barr was, quote, basically on the team in terms of trying to pressure ukraine. Apparently poroshenko and zelensky administrations, if you believe parnas, to investigate the bidens. Spokeswoman at doj 100 false. Your reporting in terms of politically what does this do to those republican senators who we know are on the fence but calling witnesses. Is this enough to tip the balance in terms of them saying, fine, weve got to hear from folks or not. My guess is almost nothing will take them off whatever stance theyve arrived at. Mistakes that many of them have arrived at, including those up for reelection who seem to be making statements enraging the white house and being seen as disloyal to President Trumps defense and the real election needs they have back home to be seen as evenhanded, curious at least about what actually happened. Willing to press a little bit. But i dont necessarily want to go out there and throw in with the democrats or start calling on witnesses or try to up end the strategy that Mitch Mcconnell has clearly outlined for his conference. So i think what were going to see is theyre going to try to waffle a little bit. We have to keep in mind, a lot of this process happens behind closed doors. Theyll slam the doors and have a lot of their debate without any cameras, no electronics, hard to get any leaks. Were all going to be outside waiting and wondering but the reality is how they play this out is going to be in this very measured kind of a way saying, well, gee, we want to get all of the facts and well take care of this behind closed doors. Trust us. The other news this morning is that ukraine is launching a formal investigation of surveillance of a u. S. Ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch here. Notable, cnn asked the state department whether they are investigating this and havent gotten an answer either way. And no statement from mike pompeo in her support. Could he be putting himself in legal jeopardy by speaking out now on that question . Both parnas is saying it wasnt me. We were just having these loose conversations. Robert hyde, this congressional candidate, says its all just a joke. Nothing to see here. For parnas to speak out while under indictment is always risky. The Southern District of new york prosecutors are paying attention to every word that comes out of his mouth. He needs to be careful here whether it bears on the current indictment. Thank you both very much. Coming up just hours from now, senators will be sworn in for the impeachment trial of President Trump. Will the latest revelations from lev parnas be included and other witness testimony . Well ask a senate democrat. Were also moments from the opening bell. We had the record high close yesterday for the dow. Over 29,000 for the first time ever. Thats remarkable. It was due to the signing of the phase one trade agreement, sort of truce between the u. S. And china. Well see what reaction is from investors today because they dont love uncertainty. And theres a lot of it right now as the senate heads in to vote on final approval for the new trade agreement, the usmca. Peter navarro is with us on that. Dont get mad. Get e trade, dawg. My hands are everything to me. But i was diagnosed with dupuytrens contracture. And it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. Thought surgery was my only option. Turns out i was wrong. So when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. Like you, my hands have a lot more to do. Learn more at factsonhand. Com today. Like you, my hands have a lot more to do. Im max, i was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and if i didnt find a donor, i probably wouldnt be here right now. 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All it says is the chief justice shall preside over a Senate Impeachment trial of a sitting president. Its not totally specific what he can and cant do. And i think this trial will test that. What do you believe the chief justice should do in terms of potentially compelling witnesses and documents . I think he should act in a manner in which he would act if he was actually presiding over a trial in any other process which is, obviously, listening to motions, making decisions on those motions, and guiding the trial in a fair and transparent manner. In the last impeachment, the former chief justice said i did very little and i did it well. Its going to be a question of what the chief justice chooses to do. And even if he chooses to actively engage in presiding in a way that we would expect from any judge, he can be overruled by a majority vote of the senate. So Mitch Mcconnell and republicans could overrule any decision he does make. With just a simple majority. But the question, as you rightly bring up, will he follow the rehnquist model or not, right . Lets move on to the stunning interview that we all heard. Im sure you saw or read it, of lev parnas with Anderson Cooper last night. I know youve been speaking with your republican colleagues in the senate and you told anderson a few days ago that some republican senators are telling you they are leaning towards at least voting yes on witnesses in the senate trial. Do you believe that what we heard from lev parnas makes that more likely . Well, i think it adds to the growing chorus of issues that really cries out for witnesses. First of all, every american who has ever been a juror at a trial, a participant in a trial, a witness or a seen it on tv knows that a trial involves witnesses and documents, plain and simple. Thats the american way. Secondly, i would hope that even before lev parnas that the comments made by some of my colleagues of their desire to see witnesses, they can make their desires real by casting a vote to do that. And parnas, we dont know the veracity of it, but nonetheless, its the same story line. That President Trump wanted one thing from ukraine and that was an investigation of the bidens. What parnas brings to this equation is it was, according to parnas, if you believe him, and he has some major credibility issues, clearly, is it could have gone back to the Poroshenko Administration which totally undermines this administrations argument of, hey, we wanted to make sure zelensky and his team were focused on rooting out corruption. Well see how this plays out. On the ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and these documents that shows there was a real effort to track her in a disturbing way. Youve asked for the state department for an immediate briefing on this. We know ukraine is investigating it. Weve not heard from state if they are investigating it. Have they agreed to brief you . I think this morning just before i came on, i got a message from my staff director that they are talking about briefing us. And i hope they do. And at the highest levels. It woubld ironic that ukraine is more interested in pursuing the security of what happened to a u. S. Ambassador than the United States and the state department would. So im looking for a vigorous investigation of what went on here because ambassador yovanovitch at the House Intelligence Committee testified that she was felt intimidated. Let us know what you hear if that briefing is confirmed. Finally on the iran ongoing situation with the United States, the Trump Administration, the white house abruptly canceled four scheduled classified congressional briefings on the situation with iran. One of which you yourself had requested. Im just wondering because theres been no indication to us of why they canceled. Do you know why, and has it been rescheduled . Othey had scheduling conflics but this was on the books for a while now. Its required. Number three, we are in the midst of possibly casting votes on a war powers resolution and continuing challenge with iran. We need to have this information. I think the reason the administration doesnt want to send up the key people involved in the iran issues is they dont want to answer the simple question, at what point do you believe that you need to come to congress and ask for authorities if you are going to continue to engage iran in any way militarily. Again, that briefing, let us know if that gets rescheduled. Senator menendez, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. Another juror in the trial of the president. All these senators. Coming up were hearing now exactly what Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders said in a dramatic, very tense moment right after the cnn debate. 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Cnn Political Correspondent mj lee joins us now. The tom steyer moment, i was just hes standing there not knowing what to say. But to the substance of it, it is so important and those few words are so telling. Thats right. You really saw raw emotions between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. This is the kind of thing both senators did not want to show o. Youll recall that prior to the cnn debate, both campaigns not f linger on the topic and thats exactly what we saw on the never stage. Said this. Then moved on to talk about women in general and how he does believe that women can win the presidency. Elizabeth warren said he and i disagreed. I said that a woman could win. He disagreed with me and she, too, talked about the gender and electability issue. Democrats clearly concerned about this and the Washington Post democratic congressman jamie raskin who himself is preparing to endorse warren said the following. Its hard to project an image of unity before the iowa caucus and New Hampshire primaries. Ive spoken to a number of members of congress who want to be sure the rivalry is robust and uninhibited but doesnt lead to the kinds of bruised feelings and burned bridges that took place in 2016. Clear concern its not a good look within the party. But arguably for either candidate. Theres no question theres real concern about any kind of fighting or disagreements between he democratic candidates. Its one thing for the candidates to have robust policy disagreements and to not agree on issues Like Health Care or what have you. When it gets to the personal territory like it has with this exchange, i think that has Party Leaders increasingly worried. This is a sentiment we hear from voters when were out there on the campaign trail talking to voters. You never really hear voters saying, yeah, what i would like to see more of is Bernie Sanders taking on Elizabeth Warren or Elizabeth Warren going after joe biden. That is a very rare sentiment. And i think the reason for that is because democratic voters for the most part are very much focused on beating donald trump and think anything that isnt focused on that is time wasted. Mj, thanks. Your reporting broke owl of this. We appreciate it. On the same week impeachment heads to the senate, not one but two major trade agreements. The president s trade adviser Peter Navarro is here next. Like quitting every monday hard. Quitting feels so big. So, try making it smaller. And youll be surprised at how easily starting small. Can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette its either the assucertification process. Or it isnt. Its either testing an array of advanced safety systems. Or it isnt. Its either the peace of mind of a standard unlimited mileage warranty. Or it isnt. 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Thank you for taking the time this morning. Good morning in america, right here at the white house. In two days, were going to pass two of the biggest trade deals in history, donald j. Trump did it. I want to ask you about this. Lets start with usmca. I dont want to diminish it. It was priority for the president. Two, a rare case of bipartisan cooperation on this. Democrats passing it with republicans. There are questions, though. Im quoting from the wall street journal here, higher production costs, protection for politically influential industries. It calls it worse than nafta. I know thats the editorial pages opinion of this. That was a wsj editorial . It was. There are legitimate questions because the cbo, the cbo, nonpartisan, put out its own story saying some automakers will pay the tariffs because the costs of moving production are so high. For folks at home who want to know is this going to be more jobs for me and my family and my neighbor what are the guarantees given those real questions that usmca works for americans . 100 guarantee. I should note that the cbo projected, i think, 1. 9 Economic Growth and a 4. 5 Unemployment Rate if the Trump Administration got in there. And they got that way wrong. The International Trade commission forecasts 75,000 jobs in the Auto Industry alone. Close to 200,000 jobs overall, appointed growth over time. And this is a great deal. Usmca, it is a unique because it helps farmers and ranchers as well as manufacturers and workers. Dairy farmers, places like wisconsin and pennsylvania, have been hammered by the great walls of protection in canada. Those are coming down. So we love this deal, it is remember that trade with canada and mexico is twice the volume of that with china and five times the amount of exports. So we love this deal. Wall street journal never met a job it didnt want offshore, so i can take them with a grain of salt. Lets talk about the china trade deal. Okay. The phase one is the president calls it here. Heres what china has agreed to buy in terms of agriculture products and it is a major priority for this president. For the farmers involved. The first year, well put this up on the screen, 12. 5 billion. In the second year, 19. 5 billion. But lets go back to 2017. If you compare the sales prior to the trade war, in 2017, china bought 19. 5 billion in agricultural goods. It appears this china trade deal is just reinstituting the sales that existed prior to the trade war. No, youre burying the lead here, jim. The way the deal is struck is that those numbers are above, over and above and beyond the 2017 benchmarks. So theyll buy that they bought in 2017, plus 200 billion. Youre saying theyre committed to 39 billion in sales . Yes. Thats written, thats in writing, it is a commitment from china. In the 86 page agreement in english, and i think the chinese version came in at about the same. Although they use more characters for stuff. But, yes. It is look, the purchases are great. It is 200 billion over a twoyear period, over the 2017 benchmarks in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, services, but i think it does a great injustice to this agreement to focus on the purchases. The purchases are the icing on the cake. What really drives this deal, jim, are the structural issues that are being addressed. In this phase, were dealing with the intellectual property theft and the counterfeiting issue, which is a big deal to this white house. I do want to listen, you and i had a lot of conversations, as you know, i spent a lot of years covering chinas malign activities on trade, including cybertheft. Wrote a whole chapter and book about that. You also have been a forward lean on an agreement. You have been seen as a voice for the strongest deal possible. What were seeing here is a lot of the big issues that have been long time issues, including cybersecurity, but also chinas enormous state subsidies to industries, which is a which gives them an enormous advantage are not dealt with here. Youve argued for stronger trade deals in the past. Dont concede, dont go for, you know, half measures, why do you support this one since it leaves so many of those things on the table . So my concern has been what ive called the seven deadly structural sins. The economic aggression china commits against america. In phase one, what boxes can we check . We can check three boxes, basically. We got the intellectual property theft, the force technology transfer, the currency manipulation. Over and above those three boxes structurally we got the purchases in Financial Market access. Now, the other things youre mentioning are big. The unfair subsidies, the state owned enterprises, the hacking of our computers, and something that matters dearly to this president , the killing of americans with fentanyl. What do we have in place now . Remember, we have tariffs in place now on 370 billion of chinese goods. Those did not come off. The tariffs are working beautifully to drive the trade deficit down with china. Has gone down the last four months. The best insurance policy also for china continue to negotiate on phase two. So were trying to do this reasonably. We will be watching compliance as it goes forward. I know youll be watching. Peter navarro, i know youre june bug is the phrase. I know you are directly involved in this. Thank you for taking the time this morning. Thank you. As we speak, this is the senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell on the floor, attacking democrats demands for witnesses. Have a listen. Ratified our constitution knew that our nation might sometimes fall prey to the kind of dangerous partisanship that consumed, literally consumed the house of representatives. The framers set up the senate specifically to act as a check against a shorttermism and runaway passions to which the house of representatives might fall victim. Alexander hamilton worried, quote, the demon of faction would extend his septembcepter the house majorities at certain seasons, said alexander hamilton. And he feared for the viability of the government established by the constitution if blind ed he feared for the viability of the government established by the constitution if blinded by factualism, the house of representatives would abuse the power of impeachment to serve nakedly partisan goals rather than longterm interests of the American People and their republic. But were going to monitor Mitch Mcconnell, were going to get a quick break. Were back in a moment. Very good morning to you. Important day in the history of our country. Im jim sciutto. Im poppy harlow. Breaking news as the senate prepares to begin the impeachment trial. Rudy giulianis indicted associate lev parnas says the president , quote, knew everything about the ukraine Pressure Campaign. Parnas spoke with anderson coop, he detailed the effort to get president zelensky to announce investigations into President Trumps rivals. Parnas claimed it was all about making sure this term was not the president s last. That was the most important thing, is for him to stay on for another four years and keep the fight going. There was no other reason for doing it. No other reason for doing it,