House. Were looking at the president s party as well, how republicans are trying to defend their leader with what our First Read Team calls a weak hand. As one of their former colleagues says its time to put their principles over their careers. Also, what does all of this mean for joe biden . The president s allies are trying to transfer the heat onto the former vice president. So is his Campaign Ready to handle that pressure . Well dig into that in just a bit. But we start at the center of this storm, the tension between the Trump Administration and lawmakers. Nbcs hans nichols is at the white house. Nbcs Geoff Bennett is on capitol hill. Mr. Nichols, ill start with you, sir, the president has been tweeting almost nonstop on this issue, nearly 30 tweets, or retweets on this topic in just the last 24 hours. Nbcs got some new reporting on how the white house plans to try and handle all of this. What are you hearing . Well, its just a plan, at this point, craig, and we dont know if its been adopted. But the plan was to have the president s top aides present something to him to have a Rapid Response team to respond to all these charges, in realtime. In there theres an acknowledgment that the white house hasnt done a great job in the last five, six days responding to the impeachment inquiry. Now, you can say what you want about the president s twitter feed, but it is responsive, and its pretty rapid. So theres always a question on this if President Donald Trump thinks hes going to be his best advocate, and decide to do it himself. That seems to be the pattern, at least over the weekend. You see all those tweets. Just a couple, the real line that they seem to be settling on is that the president has a right to face his accuser. You really saw Lindsey Graham float this initially after he played golf with the president on saturday. That seems to be the idea to be able to crossexamine. Theyre also going back and trying to explain why the president withheld that aid, that 250 million from pentagon money over 450 million in overall funds to the ukraine. And the president is tweeting that it had to do with corruption inside of ukraine. Take a look at this tweet real quickly, very simple i was looking for corruption and also why germany, france and others in the European Union dont do more for ukraine. Why is it always the usa that does so much and puts up so much money . One of the emerging lines well see from the president is that this had to do with burden sharing and theyll continue to harp this idea that the president has a right to crossexamine his accuser, the whistleblower, who as we know theyve also attacked. Craig . Geoff, meanwhile most of congress is on recess but we hear the Intelligence Community is hard at work, indication that public support of an impeachment inquiry public support appears to be growing, at least according to one new poll, what can you tell us about that and do we know how that will impact the proceedings . Look, and first some key context and some new reporting surrounding this polling question because we understand, based on sources familiar, craig, that President Trump is closely following National Polling on this question and two sources with direct knowledge tell my colleague Kristen Welker and i that President Trump days ago told some allies that if public support hit above 50 proimpeachment he would start to be concerned about losing republican support. So that is key context for this latest cbs online poll which shows just that, americans were asked the question do you support the impeachment inquiry into President Trump . Theres a 55 approval. Now, this process, this impeachment process is kicking into high gear this week. As you mentioned, the house is on recess. But the House Intelligence Committee, which is spearheading the ukraine investigation, you have staff staying behind to do work and you have Committee Members themselves, likely returning at the end of the week. So on wednesday the committee expects to depose mariaia von vich. Kurt volker, he abruptly resigned on friday and sources familiar tell us he believes his resignation, the fact hes no longer a part of the Trump Administration, allows him more freedom in terms of what he can tell members of congress. And then on friday you have a private hearing between the House Intelligence Committee and the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community, craig. Did volker resign because he wanted more freedom to testify . Were not entirely sure of the causality there, but we know his abrupt resignation followed the public release of the whistleblower complaint. Ive talked to people who know him well, familiar with his background. They speak highly of his character. And they do say that, one, they expect him to show up. That had been an open question. Were not entirely sure if the white house is going to assert executive privilege over the other acting members of the state department, Trump Administration officials. But on that point, though, you do have adam schiff making clear that if the white house continues to stonewall, if those officials do not show up for their scheduled testimony schiff and House Democrats will add to that, they will view that as obstruction of congress and could use that as new grounds to draft a separate article of impeachment, craig. Meanwhile, really quickly, we know democrats had a Conference Call sunday on this impeachment inquiry. Do we know what they talked about on the call . We do. An aide that was on the call told us what the House Speaker nancy pelosi said to members of her caucus. Ill quote her directly. She said this. She says we have to be prayerful, somber and nonpartisan, its not about politics or partisanship. Its about patriotism. Hakeem jeffries said its about betrayal, abuse of power and National Security. Thats the frame that democrats are using as they try to build the public case against President Trump, craig. Geoff, thank you, sir, Geoff Bennett on the hill and hans nichols at the white house, thanks to both of you. Lets bring in the president and ceo of the National Constitution center, republican strategist rick tyler is also with me, rick is an msnbc political analyst, former National Spokesman for senator ted cruzs 2016 president ial campaign, and Jonathan Lemire, also an msnbc political analyst. Thank you all, gentlemen. Mr. Lemire, start with you, the white house seems as if they are ready for a prolonged fight over this impeachment inquiry. What are you learning from your reporting and what do you expect well see coming out of the white house . Last week they were caught off guard by the pure speed of this moment, of this story. Unlike the Robert Mueller or russia investigation which took more than two years and was seemingly opaque at times and hard to follow. In various polls, the public went up and down what they taught about it. This one, its a matter of days. Weve learned a lot of information and this finally moved the House Democrats to act towards impeachment. Theyve started the inquiry. The white house was scrambling, relying on the president s twitter feed and Public Comments as a means to rebut whats coming. There are now efforts to formalize that, as hans said. Our reporting also indicates that theyre looking to establish some sort of battle plan, whether its a Rapid Response or some sort of war room. But its in its early stages. No decisions have been made. Some staff members, including mick mulvaney, are to present options to the president in the coming days. But i dont think well see a formal war room like bill clinton used in the 1990s. While the white house staff remains low in terms of numbers and experience, this is a president who is going to do what he wants to do. Hes always fashioned himself his best spokesman. Hes going to lead the charge here, whether it is whether hes surrounded by staffers or not. At the end of the day the decision is his, and its 280 characters at a time through his twitter feed. Rick, through these comments and tweets the president still has yet to address this particular portion of the phone conversation with the president of ukraine, well put it on the screen for our viewers at home ill read it. President zelensky, we are almost ready to buy more javelins from the United States for defense purposes. President trump, i would like you to do us a favor though. Have you heard a decent defense from the white house on that specific line . No, there isnt one. And although im still laughing at the idea were days into the story and were now developing a Rapid Response which Jonathan Lemire points out this is a mess for them. Its basically right there, what you put on the screen, craig, its a very simple thing to understand. When people can focus on a simple thing thats why you get polling numbers that are now 55 . Let me just say about 55 , thats more than half the country supports an impeachment inquiry. Those are huge numbers. Those have got to be troubling to the president and they begin to shift republicans, hopefully, in the house and the senate, who will look at those numbers and remember politicians dont form parades, they jump in front of them and have claimed to have led them. Theres a parade forming about an impeachment inquiry. And this is the way it works when the American People decide they want to go in a certain direction, politicians will follow. And thats very dangerous for this president right now and to your point they have no response to this. They are throwing everything they can at it. But people are wise to these tactics now. Theyre talking about the whistleblower, right . And theyre impugning the whistleblower. Remember, the whistleblower pulled a fire alarm. Thats all they did. It doesnt matter if you pull a fire alarm to save the school thats on fire, people dont care if youre a saint or a criminal, or a republican, or a democrat, or a conservative, or a liberal, you pulled the fire alarm. If theres no fire then the whistleblower becomes subject of an inquiry. But there was a fire because the i. G. Has now gotten firsthand accounts of what happened on the call and now the Fire Department has showed up to put out the fire that the president set and thats where they are. You know, its jeffrey, the president , again, just going back to his response to all of this, youve got House Intelligence Committee chairman adam schiff, he said the inquirys focus is going to be on what he called the fundamental breach of the president s oath of office. We just heard from geoff saying there according to congressman hakeem jeffries, the democrats message is betrayal, abuse of power, National Security. Whats the best approach here for this administration . Well, they can try to fight it out politically but they cannot control the impeachment process itself. The house could choose to hear lots of witnesses but they dont have to give the president the chance to confront his accuser. Basically, all of the six committees that were investigating the president are going to send evidence to the judiciary committee. The house, by majority vote, can vote out articles of impeachment any time it likes. It can happen quickly as weve been talking about and the senate can hold a trial pretty fast too with president clinton there was barely a month or so between the articles of impeachment by the house and trial by the senate. As much as the white house may want to control this politically once the constitutional process goes the house really is in the drivers seat and theres nothing the president can do to stop it. In other administrations, jeffrey, as you know, the administration has stonewalled the house, refusing to turn over certain key documents, discouraging witnesses from testifying. What stops them from doing that this time around . And if so whats the recourse . Thats a great question. They can do that. The president can assert executive privilege when congress is demanding that Congress Hear from a witness and that one might go up to a court and that could try to slow things down and take some time. But congress can proceed on its own if the witness doesnt appear, if the whistleblower has executive privilege asserted or any administration official, the House Judiciary Committee can just say hey, weve heard enough, we think the evidence is sufficient and therefore were going to vote articles of impeachment regardless of what the courts say. There may be legal skirmishes ahead, but in the end the house is able to make its own determination without intervention by the president or the courts. Rick, you shared the latest cover from the new yorker on your twitter feed, showing President Trump and Rudy Giuliani shoving uncle sam off a bridge. Why do you think that illustration captures the moment that were in so well . Well, because it appears that Rudy Giuliani and the president are willing to sell out america, and its interests, for political gain. I mean, this whole thing this whole thing about the bidens is just its unbelievable. Theres been a lot of people whove made money off of their last name, right . Thats not new. You can look in the Current White House and it holds. But the idea that america would not support an ally and that ukraine is an ally whos in a hot war with russianbacked separatists in ukraine, to start a phony investigation about joe biden and hunter biden, its this is a compromise of american security. And i think betrayal is the right word. While were having this conversation a live look right now at President Trump there. This is joint base Meyer Henderson hall in virginia, the president there for this is a formal ceremony that welcomes the new chairman of the join chiefs of staff, general mark milly. He was confirmed, of course, back in july. Of course, chairman of the joint chiefs, the highest military ranking officer of the country. We are watching this 21gun salute, i believe, is what were going to get here. John th Jonathan Lemire, what do we know, if anything, about who has the ear of this president right now as he is navigating unchartered territory for his administration so far . Well, most of the socalled have left. There arent many checks and balances left in that west wing, very few guardrails remain. Certainly, you know, there are figures of this administration, secretary of state pompeo still carries an outsized voice. But in terms of being in the building who can help him gird for the incoming impeachment fight, there arent many. According to our reporting hes grown frustrated with actsing chief of staff mick mulvaney, growing frustrated with the new press secretary stephanie grishom. Hes frustrated that it completely dominated the coverage of the United NationsGeneral Assembly last week which at this point feels like an afterthought. That address to the General Assembly is usually a marking point of the year. Theres a sense around him that he is to the frustration of the wing aides he listens to people outside the building more than inside. Hes taking calls from Rudy Giuliani with some frequency. As much as people in the building were soured on giuliani and blame him for getting him into this mess. Hes still listening to him. And hes still listening to other informal advisers. And its only in the last couple days, according to people weve talked to that the recognition has sunk in how dire the situation is and that we were seeing those out there to defend him with a limited roster it is. Some of his stalwarts in the senate remain, like Lindsey Graham. Kevin mccarthy on 60 minutes didnt help out either. Jonathan lemire, jonathan tyler, big thanks to you. And thank you jeffrey rosen. Joe bidens dual threat, President Trumps attacks and a tightening primary race. Its reportedly raising a key question among mr. Bidens supporters, is he up to the challenge . Plus, defending the president. Thats what some republicans tried to do this weekend as jonathan just mentioned there. But are they having trouble with their message . How do you expect the president s defense to roll out Going Forward . The defense of what . Well, theres an impeachment inquiry. Yeah. Where an American Icon uses the latest hr tools to stay true to the family recipe. Where a music studio spends less time on hr and payroll, and more time crafting that perfect sound. Where the nations Biggest Party store can staff up quickly as soon as its time fo