you and worked to bring the best economy this country has ever seen, and one that once again will work with the president to get things done for you and your family, then join with us in rejecting this baseless impeachment. no know that is what is wonderful this system of hours. we are a government of, by and for the people. we work for you, not the other way around. now, people. we work for you, not the otherway around. now, i people. we work for you, not the other way around. now, i will say this stronger and with more conviction than i have ever said it before. in this time of great trial and tribulation, may god bless

america. i yield and tribulation, may god bless america. iyield back. and tribulation, may god bless america. i yield back. that was the republican house minority leader kevin mccarthy giving his speech about ten minutes long, so we've heard from the majority and minority leaders and now we expect to hear from the chairman of the intelligence committee under schiff, walking up to the podium and he will wrap up this debate on impeachment and we will get into the voting process. madam speaker, my colleagues, after eight hours, let us colleagues, after eight hours, let us return to where we began with the articles themselves. article one charges the president of the united states with abusing the power of his office by coercing an ally into cheating in a us election on his behalf. it charges the president of the united states, it charges... the

house will be in order. the gentleman has a right to be heard. the gentleman shall suspend. the gentleman may resume. it charges the president of the united states with abusing his power by withholding official acts, withholding a white house meeting that the president of ukraine desperately sought, to establish the sport of his most important benefactor, the united states, by withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to a nation at war in order to get that nation to intervene in our election by smearing his opponent. that is the grave and of the article one and what is the defence of our colleagues? i've listened carefully andi colleagues? i've listened carefully and i have to say, it's been hard

for me to follow but it amounts i think when you cut through it all i knew cut through all the sound and fury signifying nothing, what it really amounts to is this. why should we care? why should we care about what the president did to ukraine? well, first of all we should care about our allies, we should care about our allies, we should care about ukraine, we should ca re should care about ukraine, we should care about a country struggling to be free and a democracy. we used to ca re be free and a democracy. we used to care about democracy. we used to ca re care about democracy. we used to care about democracy. we used to care about our allies. we used to stand up to putin and russia. i know the party of ronald reagan used to. why should we care about ukraine? of course, it's about more than ukraine, it's about us and our national security. their fighters oui’ national security. their fighters ourfight. their defence

national security. their fighters our fight. their defence is national security. their fighters ourfight. their defence is our defence. when russia remakes the map of europe the first time since world by —— world war ii by dint of military force and ukraine fights back, it is our fighters well and when the president sacrifices our interests in national security for his election, he is sacrificing our country for his personal gain, that is the grubber men of article one. —— government. article two, obstructing common groups, any document, by telling all of his administration people, you will not appearand administration people, you will not appear and ignore a coequal range of government and what is my defence? it is, why should we care. he is the president of our party, why should we ca re if president of our party, why should we care if he ignores this congress. iremind our we care if he ignores this congress. i remind ourfriends that he

we care if he ignores this congress. i remind our friends that he will not be the last resident. there will be another president and you may be, though you do not act like it, you may one day be in the majority and you will want to hold a president accountable and what we say when the president says you are a paper tiger, you have no oversight, i can ignore your subpoenas. what will you argue? well, no... that was adam schiff on capitol hill. on michigan, you can see the president, you can see him on the stage. we have been told the president wa nted we have been told the president wanted to wait until the house started voting because he wanted to see that strong unified republican vote on the floor of the house so there is the president, he is there on the side of the rally, hasn't started speaking yet. adam schiff on

the other side of the screen, wrapping up impeachment proceedings. it's going to be fascinating tonight to listen to president trump speaking to supporters in michigan moments after the houseboats on his impeachment on capitol hill. he said you should not investigate the last president, poroschchenko. and he said, you know, like what you want us said, you know, like what you want us to do with the bidens and the cli nto ns us to do with the bidens and the clintons and with that abrupt brutal retort, he was saying, you, america have forgotten what it means to uphold the rule of law. we are

struggling democracy but even we know better than that, he said. what is at risk here is the very idea of america. that idea holds that we are a nation of laws, not of men. we are a nation of laws, not of men. we are a nation of laws, not of men. we are a nation that leaves on the rule of law. when we say we uphold the constitution, not talking about a piece of parchment, we're talking about a beautiful architecture in which ambition is set against ambition and in which no branch of government can dominate another. that is what it means to uphold the constitution. if you ignore it, if you say the president may refuse to comply, may refuse lawful process, may coerce an ally, may cheat an election because he's the of our party. you do not uphold our

constitution. you do not uphold your oath of office. i will tell you this, i will uphold oath of office. i will tell you this, iwill uphold mine, iwill vote to impeach donald trump. i yield back. an extraordinary image, one which will go down in the history books. adam schiff, wrapping up his comments as donald trump in michigan ata campaign comments as donald trump in michigan at a campaign rally started his comments before supporters. we have not seen a scene like this i am sure, the events unfolding on both sides of the country, a critical moment in american politics, the sobriety of capitol hill, the raucous notes of donald trump in michigan, both sides wanting to make their voices heard, both sides, very important moments. all in favour,

say aye. oppose, no. speaker, madam speaker. ayes and nays have been voted. are requested. a sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15— minute vote. 0k, ok, so there we have got the start of voting on the first article of impeachment agreeing to article one of the resolution, the article, the abuse of power, the members of congress are voting, and as president trump is speaking, as we said, in michigan, is already referenced, as i was listening to

the two streams of audio coming in, i heard resident trump referencing what is happening on the house floor, that is the vote that is taking place right now, 435 members of congress, the magic number is 218, if democrats get to 218, enough votes will have been passed for the president to face impeachment. we will wait until we hear the gavel because they are doing it electronically which means sometimes they can press the wrong button of they can press the wrong button of the right. up on capitol hill we have gary o'donoghue, two this through this, we will keep the tally up. it will be a 15- minute process and they will go through this and check the votes. we are looking at probably 216 votes number because

there are four vacancies in the house at the moment. 216 is probably going to be your magic number and we think the democrats will exceed that the company be, frankly, as things stand, they have 233 members in the house, there are 197 republicans and one independent. it's possible we will see one, two democrats break ranks. we know one from michigan is planning to vote against impeachment, colin peterson from the minnesota seventh, he said that publicly. there are 30, 31 democrats in districts that resident trump carried into thousand 16 and they will be considering their position. most of them had said they will vote to support impeachment, still a small number who are perhaps on defence a little bit more but nancy pelosi has done a pretty good job,

hasn't she, of getting her caucus on side, persuading as vulnerable democrats that this is the right thing to do and that's not an easy thing to do and that's not an easy thing for them in that district expect those districts because it could spend the end —— spell the end of their political careers. back to the count, so far we have democrats saying yes on the first article, abuse of power, 144 we are it. we have one democrat saying no, we knew that was going to happen. a democrat from newjersey —— newjersey whose cross to the republican side and we have 85 saying no, one independent saying yes. the tally, at the moment, i said 218, gary is right, there are a few members so it's 216 will be the magic number, we fully expect they will get to that. we will call the president has been impeached only when the gavel goes

because as i said, it's a pushbutton vote like one of those game shows and you may make the wrong vote so they have that time to go back and collected. jonathan turley, law professor, you may have heard him and jon sopel, the bbc‘s editor. this is one the most solemn moments which occurs the house of representatives, it's only happened, three times, richard nixon resigned after the supreme court ruled against him and forced him to turn over the critical tapes. it's an ignoble moment for any president and that's one of the reasons you see the anger coming out of the president and the letter he sent to nancy pelosi. but there is also a couple of differences with this impeachment. this is still a very divided country, about 50—50 in terms of the merits of this impeachment. it's one of the fastest

impeachments of the fastest of a president in history and it has the thinnest record. that is going to be a recipe forfailure in thinnest record. that is going to be a recipe for failure in the senate, not simply because the senate is under the control of the republicans. part of the problem facing the house managers is that they decided that they would not try to compel the testimony of a number of people that have direct knowledge of people that have direct knowledge of the president's position with ukraine. the democrats are arguing, we didn't want to get tied up in court but in the nixon case, it took only three months ago from the trial court to final decision in the supreme court under an expedited ruling on the democrats burned for months without doing that. the reason it will prove important is it gives mitch mcconnell, the majority leader in the senate, and easy response to the house, and he can cite two things. one, that the house

skipped minority protection rules, that the republicans were not given a minority during which is allowed under the rules, they were not given the same type of deference and access they had in the clinton case and the second is that mitch mcconnell can say, look, you didn't believe these witnesses were essential, you didn't seek to have them compelled, so i willjust give you a trial on the record you created and that record is conflicted and it's incomplete. jon sopel, what are you making of this? as a political geeki am fascinated by the process unfolding and gripped by it as well. i wonder whether the american people are similarly gripped when we seem to know almost in advance what the result is going to be, that the democrats are going to win now, that donald trump will become the third president to be impeached in the history of the united states, but

then when it goes to the senate we also know, as jonathan then when it goes to the senate we also know, asjonathan wasjust saying, roughly what is going to u nfold saying, roughly what is going to unfold there. and it is going to be a stalemate which will bake in even more deeply the divisions and the fissures that you see in american society, whether you think that donald trump can do no wrong and has been got at by unfair democrats, they will feel even more that is the case, and democrats who think that this is a president who is illegitimate will feel that even more deeply as well. where it goes from there is kind of a fascinating question, because i think it is hard to see how this kind of... donald trump will be impeached, and he will hate that, and we saw from the nancy pelosi letter that he wrote last night the clear unhappiness that he feels about what has unfolded. but what the political consequences are on this, narrowly, for 2020 and more widely about the institution of impeachment and constitutional

arrangements and the norms of behaviour during an impeachment process, i think that is much harder to assess. the greatest similarity in this case is actually with the first impeachment, of andrew johnston. the two presidents are very, very similar. they were both viewed as divisive figures, both we re viewed as divisive figures, both were actually viewed as fuelling racial divisions and andrewjohnston actually made the same type of statement right before the vote. he famously said impeached me and be damned. it was the same visceral response. and it went to the senate, it ultimately failed because the seven senators it ultimately failed because the seven senators from it ultimately failed because the seven senators from the opposing party crossed the aisle and said that they did not feel that this was an impeachable offence. but the reason i thinkjohnson is so interesting is that we are living in the same type of divisional times. but that was right after the civil war. that shows just but that was right after the civil war. that showsjust how divided but that was right after the civil war. that shows just how divided we are. the comparison we could make is

to 1868. they didn't have social media, they didn't have networks that could be politicised, and it was a very different political environment, which is some of this, right? it is very sad, when you look at that floor, there is something missing. with clinton, and we were involved with clinton on one side or the other, there were members who switched sides. not a lot, it still remained fairly partisan, but you certainly didn't have, as you say, this baked in quality. certainly didn't have, as you say, this baked in qualitylj certainly didn't have, as you say, this baked in quality. ijust want to interrupt you for a second, there are two democrats who voted no. one isjeff andrew are two democrats who voted no. one is jeff andrew from newjersey, are two democrats who voted no. one isjeff andrew from newjersey, the other is collin peterson from minnesota. the democrats have lost two, the republicans have lost one. the white house has been talking about how proud they are that they

will have a unified caucus, and not many have defected, but there have been two emigrants, jeff van drew and collin peterson. the democrat leadership has been adamant that they will not limit the vote, they can they will not limit the vote, they ca n vote they will not limit the vote, they can vote with their own political base in mind. and there are two. we still have five minutes to go on this particular vote on the first article of impeachment, and the bbc‘s laura is at the white house. i am sure, laura, that donald trump is watching very carefully. watching very am sure, laura, that donald trump is watching very carefully. someone will be speaking in his ear about what is happening here. absolutely, and there he is in the midwest, in that state of michigan, a state that he won by less than 11,000 votes, much to the surprise of hillary clinton's campaign, and the state which is crucial to his re—election

earlier on here today at the white house his close adviser kellyanne conway was talking about the importance of him being seen out there in the midwest, touting what he sees as the achievements of the administration, the strong economy, thejob administration, the strong economy, the job numbers. meanwhile, administration, the strong economy, thejob numbers. meanwhile, back here in washington, he has got the party in an iron grip. republicans who started out by saying they didn't like what the president did on ukraine but it wasn't impeachable soon got the back of the president's hand. he didn't like that kind of defence, and now they are all saying that he did nothing wrong and this is just that he did nothing wrong and this isjust an that he did nothing wrong and this is just an attempt to undermine the election. i will interrupt you for just a second because we are reaching a crucial moment on the house floor where the democrats have 207 votes in favour of impeaching donald trump on article one of the resolution, that is the abuse of power. once they get to 216 they will have crossed the threshold. we will have crossed the threshold. we will wait until we have the gavel and the final tally. it is worth

remembering that if donald trump is impeached onjust remembering that if donald trump is impeached on just one article, he will have been impeached. he will be the third american president ever to be impeached. he doesn't need to be impeached on both articles of this resolution of the obstruction of justice of congress article. 208, and we understand it will be 216, but we will be careful about when we call that moment. i wasjust going to compare it to the whipping system you have at westminster in the house of commons, where i spent many years in the press gallery, and the historical association is that the whipping system is much stronger at westminster. the parties are much more powerful. yet having watched today i have been really struck by every republican, they have almost had a prescription. they said you can make your own speech but they have been hitting the same talking points again and again. the speeches

will play out on local radio stations and affiliate tv stations, but there has been real discipline by the republican party, that they are all sticking to one line.|j think that is a fascinating thing. for all of us who were here for ronald reagan, who was iconic among republicans, reagan never put up the type of numbers that trump is putting up. republicans support trump toa putting up. republicans support trump to a level that we have never seen trump to a level that we have never seen before, despite all the controversies, despite all of the criticism, and of course, despite an impeachment investigation, and the needle has not significantly moved in terms of how people feel about it. you know, the phrase that we used in 2016 was that this was a hostile takeover of the republican party by donald trump. actually, how hostile? this looks like a merger. it does not look like this is people who are kind of like, well, if i have to do. these are people who are in there and they are making trump

happen. we now have 214 votes in favour of the first article of the resolution, that is the article regarding abuse of power for president trump. there are 1.5 minutes left. one independent has also voted to impeach. at the moment we had 216 we crossed the threshold. then we wait for the gavel, and at that point president trump will have been impeached. i am still surprised that so many haven't voted. is there some drama they are trying to create by not voting? i understand quite a lot of the members have decided they wa nt to lot of the members have decided they want to vote with cards because they feel that is a more effective way of actually being recorded for history, so they can choose a card and vote that way as well. i think it is more dramatic. 215 is the number we are at at the moment. there are little

machines behind the chairs in each row which have the buttons you can push, for non—voting and for yes or no, andl push, for non—voting and for yes or no, and i was a page on the house floor as a young teenager, and we would often see members push the wrong buttons, and then they would look up at the screen and panic. 216, there we go. 216 votes have been passed. we have now reached the threshold where enough votes have been passed for president trump to have been impeached. let's assume we have been impeached. let's assume we have to wait a few more minutes, seconds, actually, until the gavel is passed. once this is all gavelled m, is passed. once this is all gavelled in, we will be able to say that the president has been impeached. but 216 was the number they needed, they are now at 219 in favour of impeaching donald j trump are now at 219 in favour of impeaching donaldj trump on the charge of abuse of power. 166 votes against, with two democrats and the rest of them republicans. as soon as

we get that gavel we will bring that to you. jonathan turley, i interrupted you. you were a page on the house floor, when i interrupted you. some of the members actually don't trust the machines, and in a historic act like this, many of them might prefer the cards. that will create a problem with the time running out and they may have to get a bit of leeway here. everyone wants to be recorded. this is going to be one of the most faithful votes for many of these members —— fateful votes for many of these members. it does take an element of courage for those members to go against what is likely the will of their districts. and we have had members in the last few days who have said if i vote to impeach the president i may end up thrown out of office in november. and who knows, the house could end up and who knows, the house could end up lost four democrats, potentially, and this vote may play a part in

that. it is a very consequential vote for all members of congress, but particularly for those members are congress who are in swing districts, and whose own constituents may be pushing for them to vote one way or another or to vote against their own conscience. but most of the democrats, even those in swing districts, are saying we are thinking about our own oath of office and the constitution, we are not thinking so much about the politics. it is astonishing when you talk to people on both sides, if you go to chicago and talk to them about the impeachment, you will hear people who are absolutely feverish to impeach donald trump. if you go down to saint louis and paul wright and head to the west, you will not find a single person... untilyou reach california —— pull right. it is like an audience watching the same movie and coming out with two com pletely same movie and coming out with two completely different messages. slot can's district yesterday —— i was in

slotkin's district yesterday and exactly that. you speak to the republican supporters of donald trump and they have a completely different version of the truth. they have paid no heed to the bits that kind of confused the argument. people want things in pretty black and white terms, binary choices that they feel very clear about. and elissa slotkin, you know, she may struggle in 2020, and she knows it. but she felt if not this, then when? so she was pretty articulate in her town hall meeting, although it was pretty raucous in there. and this is interesting, because if you have been watching the nv column, the non— vote column, it has gone from 28 to 25. two of them have gone into the no column for the republicans, but one of those is a republican who has actually voted yes. we have now

won republican who has voted yes, to impeach donald trump. we are going to try and find out who that is right now. but that vote was switched just in the very last few seconds. it sounds like perhaps a republican who change their mind, which seems odd given that you would think you have all this lead up. you have had a whole day of debates, hours and hours, and you would think you would know. and there is another boat which has just switched, but thatis boat which has just switched, but that is still a republican in the no column. but that republican who has voted to impeach the president, that is an interesting one to watch.|j think the most fascinating thing about watching this debate was look at the faces of these members. these are people who are margin players. they put their political careers on the line on bets as to what is the right political move. i think what is interesting about this impeachment is no—one on that floor knows how this is going to play out in 2020. it is a rare place for many of these members to be. they have

made their careers predicting how things will play out, and the fact that they are on the floor means that they are on the floor means that they are on the floor means that they have been correct more often than not. but you are looking at 435 people who don't have a clue. they don't know if this is going to be torpedo in the water that hits their ship or the other one. isn't their ship or the other one. isn't the remarkable thing about this presidency, jonathan, that we have talked about the turbulence, the turmoil, the kind of everyday dramas of extraordinary highs and extraordinary lows, and you kind of think it is an amazing thing that you are watching, and you look at donald trump's approval ratings over three years and they have barely budged. i need to interrupt you, because we were talking about the republican who might have voted yes to impeach. actually, that vote has now disappeared from the yes column, and it looks like there may have been a mistake, either in that tallying or in the buttons or whatever happened, but they have been taken off that column. so it

was significant because the president has been saying that he wa nts to president has been saying that he wants to watch this strong unified republican vote. obviously if one had voted yes, he wouldn't be able to say that. but now he does have the republican caucus still unified behind him, 185 republicans at the moment voting against impeaching donald trump. 227 democrats. this goes to what i was saying when i was a house leadership page, we spent a great deal of time running around the hole to tell members that they pushed the wrong button, and they would look at you with complete terror and say no, and you would say oh yes, and you would have these poor middle—aged... oh yes, and you would have these poor middle-aged... how oh yes, and you would have these poor middle-aged. .. how democracy is made. and just one other thing, sorry, before you start, ijust want people to look up on the podium behind at the back there, and you can see nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, of course, she is going to preside over this, she will be the person, i imagine, jonathan, who

will be gambling this