in the rapidly changing. 20 years of me continues with good morning go on now to 0. the. president trying to put his own personal interests above the national interests above our national security and if not stopped he will do it again the u.s. house of representatives votes to send articles of impeachment against donald trump to the republican controlled senate and house speaker nancy pelosi will sign them any minute now. on our intake of says al jazeera live from london also coming up all change in russia the entire government resigns and a new prime minister is named as president putin advances his reform agenda. on the

verge of a major eruption and some residents living the near the town of volcano in the philippines are reluctant to leave. and the new climate data which changes the decade was the hottest on record. and it will begin on capitol hill where house speaker nancy pelosi is about to sign the articles of impeachment against president donald trump after the u.s. house of representatives voted to send them to the senate it also passed a resolution authorizing the appointment of 7 manages for the trial earlier house speaker nancy pelosi announced the prosecution team name the house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff as the need to trump is accused of threatening to withhold military aid to ukraine in exchange for an investigation into his political rival joe biden impeachment trial is expected to begin properly next week

the task before us is a grave one but one demanded by our oath the impeachment inquiry undertaken by the house of representatives found that president donald j. trump abused his power and sought to cover it up with an unprecedented campaign of obstruction president trump put his own personal interests above the national interests above our national security and if not stopped he will do it again for that reason he was impeached and for that reason the house managers will take the case to the senate and to the american people because the appropriate remedy indeed the only remedy is the conviction and removal from office of president donald trump . how does your customers live from capitol hill in washington d.c. so we're about to see this kind of moment of pageantry is also very significant doesn't do in the process. well it certainly is because

a moment's time we will see house speaker nancy pelosi conduct what's called the engrossment ceremony of these articles of impeachment she will officially sign before television cameras these 2 articles which accuse the president of abusing his power and of obstructing congress then we will see a parade of sorts of serve a procession of these documents in printed form held within a blue on the lobes and carried across the u.s. capitol building it's a pretty large complex on one side is the chamber of the u.s. house of representatives the other side is the u.s. senate and to mark this crossing from the the house which by the constitution is invested with the power of impeaching the president of of accusing him of these crimes that could result in his removal from office moving from that in crossing the middle threshold underneath the rotunda of the u.s.

capitol building and moving those articles to the senate chambers well there is significance in that beyond just the pictures that we will soon be seeing but that also marks the crossing of this threshold in american history because trump will be only the 3rd u.s. president to be facing an impeachment trial and once these articles are officially transmitted he will be trailed by those 7 pietschmann manager or so will be those who are arguing the case on behalf of prosecutors of the democrats who presented these charges against trump and that that point those $100.00 u.s. senators in the upper chamber they will be sworn in and then. really most likely next week if not as early as tomorrow they'll be sworn in to be the impartial the supposed an impartial jurors to decide the president's fate now going into this

we've already heard from the top republican in that chamber mitch mcconnell who started off by saying he would be in lock step with the president with the defendant in this case that in fact he as a jurist was not going to be impartial he said that point blank well there was plenty of baffle ash following those comments and in the meantime mitch mcconnell has walked back that statement a bit saying that he would try to that he that the that there could be more evidence heard that republicans are still possibly open to the following additional witnesses to testify but not willing to commit to that as of now democrats have wanted the senate to go on record already saying these are the parameters of the trial that they would be willing to hear from new witnesses republicans have refused to do that thus far but still leaving open the possibility of calling witnesses at a later date and in the meantime some new evidence has emerged talk us through why that's important what it might mean. well democrats are using that as

a direct and immediate example of why senators as part of this impeachment trial should be allowed to consider new evidence that has emerged and just less than 24 hours ago in fact house investigators released a trove of not never before seen evidence related to the the argument that president trump was pressuring the government of ukraine to investigate his political rivals and that he was using u.s. security aides as leverage to get those investigations what is this evidence they are text messages and handwritten notes from an associate working closely with the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani this is so c. it was dispatched to ukraine with the mission of trying to dig up dirt on joe biden who could be the opponent for trump in the upcoming presidential elections and part

of this evidence includes a handwritten note saying that on his to do list was to convince the president of ukraine to announce an investigation into bided also included in these documents is a letter from drew giuliani the president's attorney written to the president of ukraine saying that giuliani was acting on behalf of the president with trump's full knowledge and consent that being key on this accusation that the president is facing the democrats saying that he was motivated by corrupt intentions in using the power of his office to benefit politically trump up to this point has said that is not the case that he was simply fulfilling the duties of his office that he was trying to fight corruption in ukraine not saying that the security aide was at all tied to his demand for an investigation into joe biden

well how can you connect those 2 things. ups with new evidence and that's why democrats hope that this news you have against will have a role in the trial of president trouble ultimately the american people in polling have said the majority of them have said they too want senators to have. their trial considering new hammer new evidence as it emerges. heidi what we've been told you we keeping an eye on that live feed from the capitol to see where the pillows emerges in the meantime let's bring in no we may need to interrupt you obviously when nancy pelosi comes out alan barrett is a former special impeachment counsel to the u.s. house of representatives he joins us live from washington d.c. so you have the advantage of having actually done that walk across doors through the kind of the pageantry but also why it is seen as so significant this particular moment in the impeachment process. well it's very symbolic the walk from one end of the capitol to the other holding the documents that have just been

passed by the house and then walking under the great rotunda of the capitol there are usually a fairly large crowd of tourists who are not really prepared for this and they all of a sudden see this for a sentient procession going by and then you arrive at the doors to the senate chamber and there is a sort of ceremonial opening of the door. the managers march in they go down into the well of the senate and given power given permission to read the articles of impeachment to the entire senate now at that point all 100 senators are in the chamber which is that's not typical usually the chamber is mostly empty but this is you know it's a very big moment and the articles are received at some point the senators are sworn to do just this and then the. managers for the house leave the chamber and go

back to where they started and it's going to strange make changes because obviously it's political theater and you know everyone has pointed out that it's highly partisan and has been from the start this whole this whole process but but it is also kind of a quasi judicial moment explain to us how it works in terms of the practicalities of of the trial. well that's exactly right and if you go back into english history the high crimes the trial of high crimes and misdemeanors which is also in the us constitution it originally was in england a criminal process it truly was a trial and you could lose your head what's lesser job now once we got across the atlantic ocean it changed dramatically and even as it was dying out as an institution in england it was being adopted in the us constitution but here the only penalties are one you can lose your federal position whether it's president vice president federal judge and you can be by in

a separate vote you can be barred from holding future federal office no more beheadings. and it's a it's but it is. quite a ceremonial aspect go ahead please it wasn't drawn to but i mean you mentioned losing your job in this case it's often been pointed out that because the senate is dominated by the republicans is very unlikely that it would be voted out of office with at the end of this trial so perhaps explain to us what the point is that if carrying out this this whole other element in the senate. well you're putting your finger on a very central aspect of this entire process and that is it is extremely political it has a veneer of a judicial proceeding a legal proceeding and it and that probably is because of what its roots where its roots are in english process were really was a trial this sort of is like a trial but ultimately it is political and that is why depending on the who has the

political power may well control how it comes out regardless of the merits now what's what are the implications why go through a trial are we wasting a lot of time since it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that president trump will be acquitted by a republican senate but still remember that an election is coming up in november and there is a large number of people who may be in the middle who might be persuaded one way or the other depending on what emerges at this trial and that's why the whole issue of who may be called as witnesses is very important because the whole country will be watching and i supposed everyone else will be watching this moment as i was sitting at the screens that most of the news channels are on it and we're waiting they seem to put the the articles on the desk there so waiting for nancy pelosi to come in that have us the case up now. tell us to mention to the potential witnesses that

might be cooled. who would we be looking for i mean john bolton is a potentially one would he be the most significant thing. well so far he seems to have emerged as the most significant and nicole veiny who it one point said get over it if you recall you know the famous quote when he was he was told that you know people are saying that this was a political deal in the ukraine and he says well get over it and then he backtracked and retracted what he had said so he might be an important witness bolton might be an important witness but he tomorrow mind is something of a wildcard we don't know what he's going to say we know that he was very disgruntled with the process but we don't know really what he's going to say and putting him on i can say from the perspective of the new trial lawyer if you're not sure what the witness is going to say it's a very dangerous business to put them on because once they're up there you can't really control what's going to come out. aside from having use of having done that

that will cross a new one wasn't in the mean time but it was in a separate scenario you also have what with adam schiff who's the. it was one of the it sorry i was going to say was an impeachment trial but it was just the judge not the president yes sorry said that but the managers in this case led by adam schiff and you will see what without them shift tell us why the this group of prosecutors is perhaps another way of putting it why they're so important and why the choice of those particular people masses. well schiff in particular it's very significant that he's there 1st of all because he headed up one of the committees that investigated most of the the activity that's a good question he also happens to be a very good trial lawyer a very smart guy and he will do a 1st class job you know somebody just because somebody is a lawyer and is elected to the house doesn't mean they're very good trial lawyers

schiff is a very good trial lawyer so i think he will play a leading role i think i don't know all of them but law for him for example is someone who has a lot of experience with impeachment going all the way back to richard nixon and bill clinton and so she brings a lot of experience to the table their roles will be apportioned i assume that mostly it'll be up to shift to decide who's going to do what but again the nature of extent of their role will be determined by how much of a trial they are permitted to put on. are going to be witnesses if no witnesses but certainly reduces the opportunities for people to. appear as trial lawyers and it seems as though the gathered holds of news people as a kind of tragedy good to sit down when taken about a 7000 pictures of that document there on the table so we do expect to come in and

a minute now and officially sign those doctors can you explain just what the why she has to sign them again to me feels as though they've kind of had the bit in the current congress it feels like everything is quite repetitive is that my impression or is it. tell us about this is the significance of the signing pomp and circumstance some pomp and circumstance of the signing significance i mean i think that. the british people certainly know more about that than we do pomp and circumstance is important to the people at home i mean once they get beyond that kind of the pageantry which is always it is always in true isn't it in these situations will people then be due to the kind of hours of testimony you think if it ends up being that sort of a format. well i think glued for hours is probably. i don't know it's probably not going to be that effective but there will be highlights there will be reviews i think

a lot of people are very interested in this how much time they can afford and are willing to commit to watching. both sides argue their positions remains to be seen but i think there is a sense that this is historic it's only the 3rd time in american history that a president has been impeached and so. people will pay attention not every minute not all day but they will pay attention to tell us about the process though they want to come to the senate and the trial starts itself what kind of timelines are we talking that well each side has been given i think they've they've already decided this. a certain number of hours that they will be permitted to argue and present their side of the case. again we're not talking about live witnesses at this point what i understand the. the senate has decided because they control this is that both sides will get

a chance to present their positions with regard to the impeachment and then the decision will be made whether live witnesses will be summoned to the chamber and called upon to testify that's still an open question now it only takes a majority of the senate to vote to call witnesses so whether it only means that if the democrats stick together they only need 4 senators to cross over and say we need to want to hear when live witnesses and the rumor is that there are enough senators who are willing to support the democrats to get have live witnesses actually testify that remains to be seen though tell us about the judge who see this. well you know he is the chief justice. the highest judge in the land. john roberts is a republican but he is not a log he is very well regarded there have been times when he has voted with the

more liberal wing of the democratic wing if you will of the supreme court in some 5 to 4 decisions. is a very smart guy. alan then we see nancy pelosi coming in now flying to us with i was adam schiff is with her and she's also about to speak so let's have a listen in to nancy pelosi. as you know on december 18th the house of representatives. of health it's constitutional duty and voted articles of impeachment against the president of the united states donald trump. said in the course of the debate that he did not uphold his oath of office protect his or than defend the

constitution of the united states the president takes a special is a little different from the congressional thank you takes an oath that was taken by president george washington the patriarch of our country and from france picture we stand here. so sad so tragic for a country. that the actions taken by the president. undermined our national security to violate is of office and to jeopardize the security of our elections the integrity of our elections has taken us to this place so today we will make history when we walk down that when the managers want down the hall across a threshold in history delivering articles of impeachment against the president of the united states produce a hammer and suction of the house. i say make the history we would making

progress for the american people progress and support of our constitution progress in honor of the sacrifice and division of our founders progress and honor of the sacrifice of a minimum in uniform and progress for the future of our children. make it be very clear that this president will be held accountable that no one is above the wall and or that no future president should ever entertain the idea that article one i mean she's the article 2 says that he can do whatever he wants. and so with that. i will sign. the letter of the resolution. transmitting the articles of impeachment to the senate which will be delivered by our our managers from ontario proud. when they bring this over

that will set in motion a process on the senate side probably tomorrow i don't know their schedule but it may be a soon as tomorrow the senators will take an oath of office they will take a special oh suboffice to do em partial judges and do impartial justice according to the constitution and bill wallace let's hope that they uphold. that that they take to you. and so on earth that to be here with there are 6 chairmen who work so hard to help us uphold the constitution with their legislating they're investigating their dedicating you know they chairman of the judiciary committee is part of the managers now there mr see if the distinguished chairman of the intelligence committee the house select committee on intelligence

congresswoman maxine waters the chairs financial services committee congresswoman carolyn maloney madam chair of the oversight committee men mr chairman elliot angle of the foreign affairs committee and rich in new york chairman of the ways and means committee chairman of ways and means committee thank them for all of their difficult work and we honor our darling ally should cummings who said when one day we were dancing with the angels. what would we say about what we did. at this difficult time in our country's history. and then i'm very proud that mr natter and mr. mr shift are part of our managers but i want to acknowledge other managers who are that's a freshman member but a students a freshman this. was they've been here one year. there's great things

is congressman jason crow of colorado. a week congresswoman out deming's a fluke the state of florida congresswoman. garcia of texas that was what we all here were talking how came isn't it. distinguished chair of our caucus how team jeffries of new york and everybody. until lofgren this is those 3rd when she was a few for the next pietschmann she was a staffer for a judiciary committee member down edwards of california she was member just harry committee earning clinton impeachment and in her own right a member of the judiciary committee and now numbers just cheri clear of. house administration with overseas elections appointments all of this and a manager with that i thank them all for their leadership and their service and i'm

now going to proceed to sign on. so we really want to learn not to play as the announcing the moment there she is now signing the resolution which will transmit the articles of impeachment to the senate that will send a process in motion in the senate where the trial will then begin and she said that the articles were abuse of power and obstruction of the house. 100. watching this with this live from capitol hill so it's quite a moment isn't it heidi after this so long process. absolutely everything we're watching unfold and coming procession across the capitol building these are all history making moments because this will only be the 3rd time in u.s.

history that a president is in peace and will in fact face an impeachment trial as nancy pelosi signs those articles of impeachment now she's preparing her 7 impeachment managers who you just heard her reintroduce they will then followed the clerk of the house of representatives and the sergeant of arms who will hold these articles of impeachment inaudible opes and make that walk it's not a very long walk about 2 minutes at normal walking pace and they're expected to filed through the hallways of the capitol building underneath the story. which marks the halfway point to their destination which of course will be the u.s. senate and it's not just about the image that matters what they're doing carries legal weight as well the u.s. constitution splits the powers of the pietschmann equally between the 2 houses

of the legislative branch and what we're seeing now is the official completion of the work of the house of representatives this is where we have seen up to this point those hearings unfold with the witnesses who have come to testify against the president laying out the claims that he had abused the power of this office that he had withheld u.s. security aid from ukraine to pressure its president to announce an investigation into trump's political rival of course this is something that. trump himself denies as well as his republican defenders now that the case has been the accusations have been made by the house of representatives the us constitution says that the 2nd half of this process now lies within the u.s. senate which has the sole duty to try the president and as you were hearing from

our guest earlier this trial although it's called that it's really not so much a judicial exercise rather a political one and it was designed that way by the framers of the constitution and it's interesting because one of the 100 senators take their oaths to become the jurors of this trial the oath itself sounds very much judicial and says that they will be impartial jurors to determine the guilt or innocence of the president however this is all happening under the political umbrella here in washington and we've heard members of those would be jurors including mitch mcconnell who is the top republican in the senate who really is controlling the parameters of the trial and will be among those voting on the president's guilt or innocence he has said that he has every plan to help exonerate the president he says he said at the

beginning that he does not plan to be impartial he said that out right there was outrage that ensued from democrats and from some members of the public and polling has shown that the u.s. public does expect a fair trial to play out in the senate and so since those making those statements mcconnell has walked it back quite a bit and where we stand now is that once the connell and the members of the senate which he controls receive these articles we will see the ceremonial swearing in of those senators we will see the u.s. supreme court chief justice cross the. street from where the u.s. supreme court house is he will come to the hill to become the judge overseeing this impeachment trial and then we will hear opening arguments from both sides about these charges against president trump after that what's going to happen

we're not clear we know what democrats want they don't want. to have more witnesses be called people that have not been heard from yet because they were silenced up until this point by the white house president trump's closest advisers including national security adviser the former national security advisor john bolton who appear to be a disgruntled when he was when he stumbled upon what he told an aide was a drug deal that the president was trying to pressure ukraine for this investigation to joe biden what does he have to say we don't know but he said he has said through his attorney that he has pertinent information he wants to share republicans in the senate have so far most republicans have said they don't want to hear from bolton they don't want to hear from anyone in addition to those who have already testified in the inquiry phase that is not an opinion that is being well received by the u.s. public that once again wants to see the full of it ends of what exactly the

president is facing and for this trial that will determine whether or not he stays in office to be a fair trial just as we're told do it we're going to waiting for the so the next stage of this off to the signing of the resolution which transmits the articles of impeachment to now they're going to do so ceremonial walk they lined up behind the house sergeant at arms for that in the in these documents will be in folders so presumably it because this happens so rarely is there to a degree of kind of confusion about how this works does anybody know what they're doing or will they all kind of sort of trying to find out from somebody who was there a long time ago what exactly they're supposed to be doing. that's right and you know i think not many of them were here for those previous impeachments and the other thing is there really is no set rule for what they're supposed to be doing because the u.s. constitution leaves the question of impeachment so open for interpretation and in

fact with the last impeachment we saw president bill clinton 21 years ago in fact that's what senators did they kind of made it up as they went along ultimately they were also faced with those same questions of whether or not to allow witnesses to testify as part of the trial and ultimately that was a question that was put off until after opening statements and then later voted upon and that's exactly what republicans who now control the senate are saying they want that same process to unfold now for trump although there are there are many differences too of course when you look at these 2 impeachment processes namely the fact that this is this this impeachment of president trump has been so partisan the rules that govern the trial of president clinton in fact were passed by by a bipartisan majority of the senate it's remains to be seen whether it will come

anywhere close to that in the senate on the struggle rules for president trump. for the moment to thank you very much as bring back in former special impeachment counsel to the u.s. house of representatives to these 7 house manages what do they need 7 of them for this process and and there's no idea of the scale of of a trial in the senate well 7 actually sold the small side on other occasions they've been as high as 10 or 12 with cetera and they partially out among themselves. they're different roles but usually it's one in the context of having to parcel out which ballenger is going to question which witness and of course at this point. it's not even clear that they're going to be any witnesses so this could be a lot of sitting and standing around not really doing very much but i think they wanted to be i guess a part of history and just for that i don't know they would want to be much in

charge again and just while we're talking general show if you can see these pictures that is the rule not happening through tennis so.