mitch mcconnell talk about how he was basically working with the white house on setting up this whole trial. so that caused great concern for not only the speaker and the congress, but a lot of people. so she s going to take some time to work with mitch mcconnell and try to make sure that it is a fair process. do you want her, the speaker, to transfer the articles as soon as the house reconvenes, i think january 7th? or do you support her waiting longer. well, number one, as she said, she s definitely going to send over the articles of impeachment to the senate. and i trust her on the timing. but its also rn important, wolf, that we take pause because i think it is important for the american people to realize what s going on that you have in mitch mcconnell the person who is supposed to be presiding over this trial or at least arranging the rules of evidence and so forth who is saying that he is neither impartial that he is working with the person who is on trial, with donald trump
his fellow republicans in the senate now distressed by the looming delay. a dedemocratic of the judiciary committee and our correspondents and analysts will have full coverage of today s top stories. let s begin with manu raju. he is up on capitol hill. manu, what is the speaker now waiting for. reporter: the house actually just closed doors for the year meaning there will not be a vote that could lead to the articles being transmitted to the senate until the week starting january 6th. there is not going to be a vote until january 7th. when the trial starts in the senate is still an open question. the speaker herself is saying she wants to understand exactly the process under way for that trial so she can determine who she can name as managers from the house, people who would actually prosecute the case in the senate. and in order for her to make that decision she needs to hear that from what the senate is going do. that will lead to all the steps going forward. but the house needs t
them. reporter: the president has stressed how the trial could be delayed peppering colleagues how the trial is taking shape. he called me at 7:30 and said what is going on. i i really don t know. reporter: democrats are demanding top administration officials testify about mr. trump s dirt for dollars deal with ukraine. i have little doubt that if we tell the president that he can he is escape scrutiny in this instance he will do it again and again and again. reporter: in a sharp contrast with his impeachment there is bipartisan outrage over the president s mean-spirited comments aimed at michigan democrat debbie dingell. debbie dingell that s a real beauty. reporter: at his rally the president mocked dingell suggesting her late president was possibly looking up from hell. maybe he is looking up. i don t know. do you regret your comments
less than a day after their historic passage, the articles of impeachment against president trump appear stalled right now. the speaker nancy pelosi is refusing to send the articles over to the senate. and house members are leaving for the holidays without voting to name impeachment managers for a senate trial. joining us now, the house intelligence committee member joaquin castro. thank you for joining us. the house is leaving for the holiday recess. you will be bolting, getting out of town without sending the articles of impeachment over to the senate. could this decision by the house speaker backfire on democrats if there is a long delay or maybe even no trial in the senate? i don t think so. because speaker pelosi is doing it for a very good reason, which is to figure out what the rules of the road are going to be in the senate, whether there is actually going to be a fair trial, an impartial trial there. the nation i think was very shocked about a week ago to hear
this. americans expect a lot better than that. is there any serious talk among the democrats about maybe never sending the senate these articles of impeachment? is that seriously under consideration? no. he have never heard that discussion. at least within the talk news what if mcdonnell doesn t blink and he says there is not going to be any witnesses? i guess we will have to figure that out if we get to that point. but we believe that the speaker, in meeting with mitch mcconnell and all of the different parties that are involved in setting up this trial that we can come to an agreement where mitch mcconnell is not just going to be in the pocket of the president throughout this process. the senate majority leader, mcconnell, says he isn t even anxious to hold a trial. so far it doesn t look like he is facing any serious pressure from moderate republicans in the senate to call witnesses. does the speaker really have much leverage here. i think it is not just about the politics