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. that's what's wonderful about this system of ours. we are a government of, by and for the people. always remember 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 back. [ applause ]

>> gentleman from california is recognized. house will be in order. gentleman from california. >> madam speaker, i recognize myself for the remainder of our time. >> gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, my 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 coerce an ally into cheating in a u.s. 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. >> it charges the president --

>> the gentleman shall suspend. the gentleman may resume. >> it charges the president of the united states with abusing his power by withholding official acts, by withholding a white house meeting that the president of ukraine desperately sought, to establish the support 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 charge in article one. what is the defense from my colleagues? i have listened carefully to my colleagues for the last eight hours. i have to say, it's been hard for me to follow. but it amounts, i think, when you cut through it all, when you cut through all the sound and

fury, sig pnifying nothing, wha it amounts to is, why should we care? why should we care about what the president did to ukraine? first of all, we should care about our allies. we should care about ukraine. we should care about a country struggling to be free and a democracy. we used to care about democracy. we used to care about our allies. we used to stand up to putin and russia. [ applause ] we used to. 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. it's about our national security. their fight is our fight. their defense is our defense. when russia remakes the map of europe for the first time since world war ii by military force

and ukraine fights back, it's our fight, too. and when the president sacrifices our interests, our national security for his election, he is sacrificing our country for his personal gain. that is the meaning of article one. article two charges the president of the united states with obstructing the congress, with denying the congress any witness, any document, by telling all of his administration people, you will not appear. you will ignore and co-equal branch of government. what is the defense to this? it is, why should we care? he is the president of our party. why should we care if he ignores this congress? well, i remind my friends that he will not be the last president. there will be another president. and you may be one day -- although you may not act like

it, you may one day be in the majority. you will want to hold a president accountable. what will you say when that president says, you were a paper tiger, you have no oversight, i can ignore your subpoenas, what will you say? what will you argue? no, no, that was different. then we were in the minority. then it was a republican president. will that be your argument? is that how little faith you have in our democracy and our constitution? is that how poorly you defend and uphold that constitution? finally, let me ask this question. that overrides it all. why should we care about any of this? and i will bring you to one conversation that came to light. because it's not the most important conversation, but in many ways it is the most revealing. it took place on september 14 in ukraine when ambassador volker

sat down with the top adviser to zelensky. he did what he should do. he supported the rule of law and he said, you, president -- you should not investigate the last president for political reasons. you should not engage in political investigations. you know what he said? oh, you mean like you want us to do with the bidens and clintons? in that abrupt, brutal retort we see why we should care. because what he was saying is, you, america, have forgotten what it means to uphold the rule of law. you have forgotten what it means to say that no one is above the law. we are a struggling democracy. but even we know better than that. [ applause ] what is at risk here -- 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 that believes in the rule of law. when we say we uphold the constitution, we are not talking about a piece of parchment. we are talking about a beautiful architecture in which ambition is set against ambition, 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 in an election because he is the president of our party, you do not uphold our constitution. you do not uphold your oath of office. well, i will tell you this. i will uphold mine. i will vote to impeach donald

trump. i yield back. [ applause ] >> our time for general debate has expired. pursuant to house -- pursuant to house resolution 767, the previous question is ordered on the resolution as amended. the question of adoption of the resolution is amended, shall be divided between the two articles. the question now occurs on the adoption of article one. all in favor say aye. >> aye. >> opposed, no. >> no. >> the ayes have it.

>> speaker, the ayes and nays on that vote. >> those favoring a vote will rise. a sufficient number have risen, they are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. >> so now the moment of reckoning has begun for the president of the united states. a moment of reckoning, the first article of impeachment against the president of the united states, abuse of power. they are voting on that right now. as you know, there are normally 435 members of the house of representatives. right now there are 431. four vacancies. as soon as that number gets up to 216, that's the magic number. a simple majority in the house of representatives. the president of the united states on article one abuse of

power will be impeached. >> it's a moment of immense gravity, solemnity and history. this is the third time in the history of the republic this happened, 1868 against andrew johnson. most americans if they know that about him, that's all they know is that he was impeached. the last time was in 1998, almost 21 years to the day as of tomorrow. and now donald john trump, the 45th president of the united states will join that group of presidents who have been impeached. presidents about whom the house of representatives is saying this person should not be president. we want to remove him from office. >> they have 15 minutes to vote. this should go relatively quickly. the democrats clearly have the majority. you can see 125 democrats have voted in favor of this first article of impeachment, abuse of power. it probably won't be very long

until they get to 216. >> they have known throughout the day that they had the votes, the democratic leadership. today has been about rules and procedures. it has been about democrats making the case. it has been about republicans attempting to rebut the case. it has been harsh. it has been partisan. the outcome has been pre preordained. that doesn't take away from the emotion of this moment. even though this is less suspensus suspenseful than the clinton impeachment because we knew what the outcome would be and times are more partisan than they were in 1998, believe it or not. you feel the weight of this moment right now. >> it certainly is a historic moment that we are all watching, have been watching for ten or 12 hours. >> as jake noted, almost two americas, two parties, two views. the democrats have the facts on

their side about what the president did, what the conduct was. the republicans didn't really try to rebut that. a few did try to make the case it wasn't impeachment. very few. most of it was just complaining about the process. this is -- this will go on to the senate. it will go to the voters, assuming the votes stay like we think. however this ends up to the point being, this is history. this is an indelible stain on the record, the legacy of donald trump. we covered the clinton white house when this happened. clinton was president at the time. this country had an operating surplus. the last time the united states government ran an operating surplus, a booming economy like we have a great economy now. what is the first sentence when people talk about clinton? he was impeached. that will be the case for donald trump no matter how this turns out. >> it will be a tremendous stain, irrespective how this turns out. >> that's why he has been so crazed about what is going on

and tweeting and writing that six-page letter yesterday. also, he knows as we all do that this is one act of congress that you can't undo with another president or take it back or i'm going to revise this piece of legislation. this is here for history now. this is part of history. it doesn't go away. not only by the way for donald trump but the republicans. you can see by the votes, for the republicans who are with him and the democrats who are against. they will be judged by the voters for their votes today. >> you can see, it's 153 yea, 98 nay. the magic number 216. >> in minutes, we will see what happens. as we said, we know what's going to happen. this was a long time coming for this president. you heard hoyer talk about the fact that in july, for instance, the majority of democrats

weren't here in terms thinking this president should be impeached. then you have the ukraine incident, obviously. these vulnerable democrats, get together and say, this was -- it rose to the level of an impeachment inquiry. we saw over the last many weeks of people who were in the president's administration, people he appointed come forward and say that his actions were inappropriate. legal scholars say this rose to the level of impeachment. this is what the constitution had in mind when they outlined high crimes and misdemeanors in the constitution. every single democrat, almost, said essentially, no president is above the law. you saw val demings. that will continue. >> dana bash is over in statuary

hall. 163 right now in favor. 108 opposed to this first article of impeachment abuse of power. >> yeah. as this is happening, early this morning when we were talking, i told you that there was a palpable sense that things felt different here. now as this vote is happening, i'm just maybe 10, 15 feet from the house floor. the air is heavy. it just feels different. the moment is -- has taken over despite the fact that everybody saw this coming for several weeks, despite the fact that the arguments we heard throughout the day, the debate on the floor were very, very familiar. now is the moment. we are watching it happen. we are watching history unfold. you can feel that not just as us observers of that history, but the people who are casting these votes know that this is going to

be not just donald trump's legacy but part of their legislative legacy as elected officials. >> dana, after this first vote, there will be a second vote on the second article of impeachment, obstruction of congress. >> that's right. we expect it to happen rather quickly. all of the debate happened before the vote started. because you see, there are a lot of people on the house floor, as you mentioned. the vote is happening rather quickly. once this first article abuse of power is done, then obstruction of congress will begin. again, that will probably happen rather quickly because they're all in there understanding how critical it is. it is interesting that you see them mill around. there have been times where in big, important votes people sit in seats. that's not happening right now. you can bet that throughout the day, i was in the chamber, there were people -- members -- not all members were there all day. but there were a good number of

members sitting and listening. you know who was there most of the day sitting on the floor? house speaker nancy pelosi in various seats, moving around, talking to members, listening to the speeches, talking to staff. it was note worthy to see that she barely left the floor. >> right now, 182 yea in favor, 125 nay. jake, should move quickly. >> one of the things that strikes me as i look at the board there with 183 yea votes is one, the independent is justin amosh. he was a republican until several months ago. essentially, because of donald trump as president, he felt like he no longer had a home in the republican party. president trump is right now in kellogg center in battle creek, michigan, having a rally. that is justin amosh's congressional district. i look at that and i look at the two democrats who voted nay.

one of them, congressman van drew of new jersey is likely about to become a republican. this reminds me that the effect of president trump on the republican party has been very, very strong both in terms of how much the republican party has become the trump party and how people like justin amosh have been chased out. impeachment politics are impossible to predict. you have congressman van drew from new jersey about to become a republican. you have justin amosh not because of impeachment but because of donald trump becoming an independent. we have no idea what's going to happen next. we have an idea what this vote is going to be. right now, it's 191 yea. they are not quite there yet. we have no idea what is going to happen. last time there was an impeachment, 21 years ago tomorrow, it ended up the house speaker, john made this point earlier, the house speaker newt gingrich ended up resigning because he was under fire. he was having an extramarital relationship at the same time he

was leading the impeachment against the president for lying about the same thing. the next speaker resigned. then hastert became speaker. >> let's look right now, 196 in favor, 135 opposed. 216 needed to impeach. there are only 20 votes away. what's impressive for the democrats is even those democrats in trump districts, they are going along as history unfolds. >> we will see two democrats vote no. that's not a surprise. they said so from the beginning. amosh, who the democrats will point to, the one member of the house who has no allegiance to either party is joining the democrats to impeach. what you are seeing -- this is why this will carry to 2020. two remarkable displays of party loyalty. the republicans are sticking with their president, many of them privately, if you have private conversations, even some of the republicans on the floor today saying what they were saying, more so in the senate, republicans who privately mutter

about this president. there are 31 democrats. there were 90 republicans from districts back when clinton was impeached. they voted for impeachment. few of them lost their seats. we don't know what's going to happen. to your point about the atrump affe trump affect. will the president be re-ele re-elected? >> a great number of house republicans retired. a number of more now, 20 plus now -- we were at 20 and counting, are retiring heading into the next election cycle there are people in the republican party who may vote with the president but they are leaving. >> there are seven votes away needed to impeach. >> i think looking at this this evening, we can say this is the moment when it became very clear that the house republicans are the party of trump. period. the debate we saw all day, they

said -- they gave him a free pass. there was nothing wrong with what he did. everything the democrats did was because it was political. they hated the president. they will be unanimous here. that is exactly what donald trump is going to talk about. his united republican party. they are now his party. >> 209 votes in favor of this first article of impeachment. 210 right now -- six votes away from 216. now only five. >> consequences for donald trump. he has been a president even in private business, somebody who hadn't faced consequences. we have seen people in and around his orbit face consequences. he has been teflon don. that ends today with this impeachment, with this stain on his legacy. someone described it as a tin can tied around his leg for the rest of his life and trail him. that is what's going to happen. he is in michigan tonight trying

to rally his supporters. telling his supporters that it doesn't feel like he is being impeached. he is going to be impeached. the question going forward for him is where do the majority of americans fall on this? do the majority see him as a victim, somebody who was a victim of a partisan process? do they see him as somebody who has gone too far, who actually isn't worthy of being re-elected president? >> these republicans have linked themselves and their political futures to donald trump. >> yes. >> one of the things that so interesting about what's going to happen now is, you talked about how president trump until now in a way has been consequence free. throughout his life, throughout his business and also -- >> two votes away. >> only two votes away. one of the things that has gone on in his white house is that people who were the ones who could tell him no have basically been exiled, whether it's former chief of staff john kelly, former defense secretary mattis.

the guardrails have gone. this is something of a guardrail. congress saying no. even though president trump right now in front of -- basking in a crowd in michigan, one -- that's probably wise. he can't be fuming on twitter if he is feeling all the love from his supporters in michigan. one of the things that i'm worried about and concerned about what's going to happen is, what's the effect on this going to be on president trump? when he realizes, when this starts -- >> one vote away. 215 right now. they need 216. they can still -- people can change their vote. that's almost certainly not going to happen. once it hits 216, that is the number needed to impeach the president of the united states. we are waiting to see when that number pops up on the screen. it should be popping up very, very soon. you can see 30 seconds or so remaining. they give members some extra

time to go ahead -- >> time can stop on the floor of the house of representatives. >> this is history unfolding as we speak right now. here we go. 216 for only the third time -- >> 217. >> we have seen the president of the united states impeached. it means president donald trump is impeached, once again, by the u.s. of house of representatives, the 45th president of the united states as we say becoming only the third leader since the founding of this nation to be formally charged by the full house of representatives. he now faces trial notice u.s. senate on the recommendation that he be removed from office. your take? >> i mean, like i said before, this is a moment of incredible gravity. the house of representatives, a representative body representing the american people has just formally said -- they are up to 221. they needed 216. has formally said, president

trump should be removed from office. it's an extraordinary rebuke. think about how much democrats hated george w. bush. think about how much republicans hated barack obama. it didn't happen for either one of those. it's only happened three times. there have been 45 presidencies. it's a shockingly stark reminder of how divisive president trump is and how polarized our times are. >> dana, for all practical purposes, the president of the united states has now been indicted by the house of representatives, setting the stage for a full trial in the u.s. senate. >> that's right. one count to keep your metaphor going and another one coming. as much as the president is, as we speak, talking about the politics of this and as much as his campaign argues that this is politically beneficial to him in the upcoming election, the reality is that this is a

president -- no president wants to have this as their legacy, especially somebody like donald trump. who spent his business career understanding and caring so much about his legacy that his name was emblazoned on every building he could put it on. that's the person we're talking about who now has gone into the history books for something that is as negative as it gets when it comes to the kind of stain that could be on a president's record. yes, he is going to say he is saying that it's just political and that might be the case. when our children and their children, they read about this, in the history books, they are not going to hear that. they will know that donald trump was just the third president in american history to be impeached by the house. >> john king, nancy pelosi the speaker is now in the seat there

in the chair. she will make the announcement momentarily. >> as we talk about it, gloria made the proof, exclamation point, the republican party is loyal to donald trump. this is a moment of personal accomplishment. she says it's a sad day. but this has been a hard one for speaker pelosi. she was against this. now she has seen her party cast about -- a tough vote but the democrats sticking together here. she has a big decision to make. after the second vote, we will hear from the democratic leaders. presumably, she's ready to tell us who the managers will be when we go forward with the senate trial. pelosi will hand this off after the second vote to the senate. she has big decisions to make beforehand about how and who the house democrats will send over to the next stage of the senate. >> to your point, there is a lot of political peril in this for moderate democrats. only two defections among democrats.

this is a question, not only could it cost some their seat but it could cost nancy pelosi control of the house. >> look at this. there's one yea vote among the republicans. that could be a mistake. somebody might change their mind. it's interesting that there is at least right now one republican who has voted in favor of this first article of impeachment. >> we don't know -- >> my guess is it's a mistake. that happens. >> i will be shocked if it holds. >> the only ones we thought were possible were herd and rooney. both of them have come out and said no. i suppose anything is possible. to pick up on the point you were making, gloria, about the 31 democrats who represent districts of president trump in 2016, it's remarkable, they had everything thrown at them. they had ads against them. the trump campaign was sending out polling talking about how much it would hurtmazing how mud with the democratic caucus even

though their jobs are on line. >> look. that republican vote has gone away. it was a mistake. we clearly anticipated it. >> donald trump and republicans were courting the voeks in the districts that they were able to flip. >> some went to the white house christmas party. >> they held with nancy pelosi. >> they know it's going to the senate where the president is likely not to get impeached. they are knowing they are going over the cliff here. >> they are voting understanding the politics of our time. there used to be a thing when reagan was president to a degree when clinton was president, when we had ticket splitting. people would vote one party for president but vote something else for senate or congress. that's almost non-existent. collins in maine tends to go blue. you used to see it in rhode island.

new england republican party or new york republican party, which is almost non-existent now. most of the democrats, they understand, these are tough votes. they need their base to win. they need their base to win. can they get independents, republicans? that's a big open question. had they voted no, they wouldn't get the democrats. >> dana is on the hill. what's what's impressive for the democrats, almost completely agreeing to support this first article of impeachment. what's impressive for the republicans, complete agreement to oppose this first article of impeachment. >> that's right. i want to mention that you were mentioning nancy pelosi. she is in the chair. my understanding is that there's one vote, if you look on the screen, voting present that that was speaker pelosi. it's actually tradition for speakers -- excuse me, it was tulsi gabbard. that makes more sense. let me talk about tulsi gabbard for one second. we have been waiting to find out

what she is going to do. she has been on the campaign trail making noises at the debate making noises about how upset she is about the way that this party, the democratic party has been going too far to the left. she's been talking about that time and time again. the fact that she voted present is telling. we move that aside. we want to talk about the big picture. i started to mention nancy pelosi. she's in the chair and she does that on big occasions. it doesn't get bigger than this. every step along the way she has made decisions, to the big decisions about moving forward on impeachment to the smaller decisions about who is on the witness list in these depositions and in these hearings. which members are going to speak when on the floor here. she has tried to navigate these very, very difficult impeachment

waters, understanding the caucus, especially those moderate democrats that all were talking about. we're seeing these votes now. tomorrow there's going to be a vote on a trade deal. those moderates can go home, a lot of them in trump districts where trade is a big deal, to talk about the fact that they gave the president a win and that is not a dirty thing to say. we should keep that in mind about how she has played this, especially somebody for whom -- the moderates, many of them ran on not voting for her as speaker. a lot of them are saying, they were wrong about that. >> it looks like one democrat voted present. >> tulsi gabbard. >> i was -- >> the hawaii democrat who is a democratic presidential candidate. she decided to vote present. >> a couple days ago talked about how she wanted a censure. >> anderson cooper is with us. this is history unfolding.

>> we are waiting for the -- for this vote to be announced by speaker pelosi. the results of this vote to be finally announced as she gavels it in. then to move to the second article of impeachment. we wait fwor that historic moment, what are your thoughts? >> the president was impeached for one reason. because he deserved it. because no president has ever done what he did. no president has betrayed his oath the way this president has by taking taxpayer dollars and using it as a bribe, as an extorti extortion, as a lure to get dirt on his political opponents. and no president has ever issued a complete blanket refusal to talk, to produce any documents or any witnesses to a legitimate congressional investigation. that's why he was impeached. >> you are a historian, tim. >> the founders were not sure

whether they wanted a strong executive. james madison wanted a weak executive. alexander hamilton and others convinced them to have a strong executive. they all knew they wanted george washington. they designed the position of president of the united states for one man. they also knew however that we're mere mortals. not everyone would be like washington. there might be a time when you would need -- >> on this vote, the yeas are 230. the nays are 197. present is one. article one is adopted. the question is on adoption of article two. the question is on the adoption of article two. those in favor say aye. >> aye. >> those opposed nay. >> nay. >> the ayes have it. for what purpose does the

gentleman from new york -- for what -- >> i ask for -- madam speaker, i ask for -- >> for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i ask for a roll call vote. >> a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. the house will be in order. a sufficient number have risen. a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. >> so now they are getting ready to vote on article two, the article two, obstruction of congress resolution. there's two articles of impeachment. the first one abuse of power, the president of the united states has been impeached on that. now they are voting on

obstruction of congress. i anticipate that there will be a similar vote. there could be some differences. some democrats might vote for article one but not necessarily for article two. i suspect all the republicans will oppose. >> it will be a very similar vote. we know a democratic congressman from maine who won a trump district has said he will vote against article two. this is the one obstruction of congress. the idea that the trump administration, white house did not share any documents and also blocked witnesses from testifying before congress, which is true. the counter argument has been, then you are supposed to go to court and have the judicial system figure out the remedy. the democrats have said that would take too much time and would result in nothing more than what's going on right now. they want to get this done. we do expect a very, very similar outcome. maybe one or two votes fewer in favor. let's take one moment to acknowledge the fact that president trump has now just

been formally impeached by the house of representatives for abuse of congress. the gavel has come down. we noted -- >> abuse of power. >> when they reached 216 votes, they reached the threshold. we now have this incredibly grave moment where the house of representatives is saying to the world -- yes, it was a partisan vote. but guess what? democrats control the house. that's how it is. just like republicans control the senate. they will have their say. this is a very grave moment where the house of representatives is saying, president trump needs to be removed from office. >> he was impeached for abuse of power. as we just saw. now they are voting on obstruction of congress. anderson, back to you. >> we will watch that. it's at 187 right now. 216 is the threshold that the vote needs to get to on the yea. tim, i'm going to continue with you. jeff, in terms of the article they are voting on, article two, obstruction of congress, you

believe that what has taken place is obstruction of congress and it's unprecedented? >> i do. every president has had a dispute with congress over producing some witnesses, over producing some documents. but no president in history has ever said, i will not cooperate at all. that's what this article is about. that's what happened in this impeachment investigation. and this vote is the result. >> 194 now is the yea. needing to reach 216. tim? >> the founders were nervous about putting too much power in the hands of one person. there was no elected commander in chief or head of state or head of government in the world in 1787. the united states would produce the first. so they decided that they would also give congress power to remove that president if that president should ever misuse power, commit a crime. in our history, 44 individuals

have been president. but it's 44 because of cleveland. three of them, today the third, have been impeached. only three out of 44 in 230 years. the founders didn't want us to do it all the time. let's hope it's not normalized. the founders did want it to happen when the constitutional order needed to be rebalanced. lest the president misuse his power. this has been decided today. it's a very important moment for the country. it's a very solemn moment. it's a reminder of how our system was supposed to work. you put power in the hands of one person, there has to be a counterbalancing available if that person misuses it. today, the house said, he misused it. >> we are nine votes away from this article two passing. charlie, you used to, until recently, be a republican on the floor in that party.

is that still the party that you belong to? >> no. it's hard at times to recognize this republican party, which used to be about ideals and certain values. now it's about loyalty to a man. that is what has changed so dramatically in recent years. it's amazing how the president has been able to take over the party in such a whole manner. i'm stunned. this is certainly a solemn and weighty moment. i also get a sense right now that this impeachment was almost necessary. the president was in the clear after the mueller investigation. there was never going to be an impeachment but for ukraine. because of the president's misconduct and his misuse and abuse of his office, that's why we are where we are today. >> these are remarkable -- to charlie's point about how quickly this has escalated from -- it seems like it was just several weeks ago, it was probably -- i have to look at

the date. it was not long ago that there was word there was a whistle-blower and then it just snowballed. >> the republicans today tried to convince the american public this is a political vendetta. an impeachment in search of a crime or in search of a high crime and misdemeanor. what you see today essentially is breaking down what it really means -- >> four votes away. >> to reject the notion you are above the law. what that means is no one is immune from the constitutional oversight that our founding fathers contemplated. they predicted you would need impeachment. that was a forgone conclusion to everyone, that you would have to have a check and balance. what today's vote has been about is whether or not the separation of power still stands, whether or not you can simply -- you can be co-equal branchs of government and whether you can certainly be -- if you can keep it. you see this vote right now. it's unfolding. you are a few away from capturing this. this is the essence of what democracy is. it's a sad day for america.

but it's a great day for constitutional democracy. >> two votes away now. two votes away from the article two passing. the resolution passing. that's obstruction of congress. they have already voted on article one. that has passed, the abuse of power resolution. this will be the final article of impeachment to be voted on. they are two votes away. they are one vote away from adopting this article two, obstruction of congress. of course, the question is, where does it go from here? it moves to the senate. we know what's going to happen in the senate, at least -- we don't know details or how it may play out. >> whatever happens in the senate, it doesn't take away from what has -- >> there it is. 216 yea votes. three democrats voting nay on that. 216, that's the threshold they need to meet. >> donald trump has joined a very exclusive club nobody wants

to belong to. presidents who have been impeached. it will forever part of his legacy. he will never be able to escape it. it is something that the republicans talked a lot about voters matter. they were criticizing the democrats saying voters matter, you are ignoring the voters. the voters mattered when they impeached clinton and they matter today. the founders did allow for this to happen. they did put this in the constitution so that in the case where the president had crossed a line like this president did, that there was a remedy for it. the remedy was impeachment. i think we have been watching this and knowing what was going to happen. people should take a moment and be aware of how grave this is and how historic it is. and how this really almost never happens in the history of this country. >> it's something that president trump himself, in that letter he wrote to nancy pelosi and was released yesterday, acknowledging -- he wrote that letter for history.

for future scholars and others to look back. this was his very vocal protest against this. but he is well aware and he had spoken about that this is an indelible mark. this is something that can never be taken away. >> one of the decisions he made was not to defend himself before congress. he let a six-page letter defend himself. i think that over time he and his supporters will see that as an error. he had an opportunity. he had prime time if he wanted it to defend himself. to make the case that this wasn't an impeachable offense. instead, he stonewalled in a way that jeffrey explained, an unprecedented way. he sends a rant to be his defense to history. that was a missed opportunity. it's going to hurt him because right now, his side hasn't been mentioned and explained. maybe in the senate we will see it. likely not.

>> until we hear from nancy pelosi, senator santorium? >> this is a tragic day. you are right, donald trump will be judged, his presidency will be judged by the fact he was impeached. the people who voted to impeach him will be judged, too. i don't think this is going to reflect well on them any more than it reflected on the radical republicans who tried to get rid of andrew johnson. that's not -- johnson is somewhat in history not thought well of. but neither were the people that tried to impeach him. i think that's really the case. it was a very mrpolitical case the case of those going after johnson. look, i was involved in the impeachment of bill clinton. bill clinton had done what he did today, there isn't one me too person that wouldn't want him out of office. there was a different time that he got away with just sex. today he wouldn't get away with.

it was a different standard. the idea that somehow another -- looking back on that, i think republicans look good as being woke at the time of this going on. today, i just don't see this anything but how the republicans have laid it out. that is that this has been a constant attempt by democrats to go after this president. you can see, well, bush wasn't impeached, they wanted to. but they had voted on impeachment of this president, multiple votes to try to get rid of this president. i think it's going to reflect badly. this next election will be that first element of how that is going to be judged. >> if you were to compare, say, the example of bill clinton compared to president trump's six-page letter, you have a difference between one president who was contrite and apologetic and one who doubled down and was defensive and actually went on the offensive on this notion. one thing about johnson, he is the president who has been impeached. but he was not an elected

president. this is a moment -- this is the first time you have a first term president of the united states being impeached. much has been made about the will of the people and trying to rewrite an election or looking ahead to 2020. the really important notion here is that for the very first time, there could actually be not a second term on an impeached president. clinton was in his second term. nixon resigned before he was having articles drafted against him. this is momentum in the fact that the phrase of the will of the people could mean more today than it ever has. >> we are moments away, perhaps seconds from house speaker nancy pelosi gaveling and announcing that this, the second article of impeachment, has actually been passed. >> i think that's why the judge innoce judgement on this is going to be quicker and more severe. unlike every other, there was an election where those who impeached as well as the

president impeached are going to be judged by the american public. if donald trump gets re-elected, if a bunch of these people who won trump's districts lose, this is going to go down as a -- it's going to be characterized by the winners. >> do you have a sense how this plays out in the election? >> i don't think any of us know. but i keep seeing these swing district democrats like in oklahoma and south carolina and in utah who just voted to impeach the president in very strong trump districts. they must see something in their polling. they are -- maybe they are voting on their principals. but they have a political calculation. they can survive this. >> with all due respect, every single one of these people have a primary they have to get through. anyone who crossed the democratic orthodoxy was being abandoned in their primary. they could not -- if they wanted

to survive the primary -- vote against this. >> you gave an eloquent statement about how the democrats don't like donald trump. but you left out one thing. you left out the same thing that republicans keep leaving out throughout this discussion, which is what donald trump did. you never defend what he did. did he go to a vulnerable country and say, you are only getting our taxpayer money if you give us dirt on joe biden? is that okay? >> every republican would say that he did not do that. i think every republican would say, there is no proof he did that. again, you don't see an accusation of bribery. >> i mean, he says read the transcript. that is the transcript. >> anderson, we have had this conversation. we will have it again. i'm telling you, look, i would just say reasonable people can

disagree and reading this transcript. here is the thing that bothers me is that everyone who reads that transcript reads it from the perspective that donald trump does not deserve any benefit of the doubt. >> it's not just the transcript. we had we had days of testimony. >> but the fact that he's not providing, he's not allowing those people to testify because -- >> you presume he's guilty. >> let her finish. >> you are putting your head in the sand because you are ignoring the fact that if those people would exonerate him, they would be testifying and you know that. there is no reason for him to break from precedent of what every other president has done and have them testify. just the idea -- >> again, that's the assumption you're making. i don't think you can do that. >> you can't say he didn't do anything wrong money.

>> mulvaney confessed to it on national television. >> i'm sorry, i just need to go to wolf and jake. >> anderson, as we await the speaker to announce the result of the second article of impeachment, obstruction of congress, jake, i want to show our viewers how she did it with the first article of impeachment. she gaveled it, said 230 in favor, 197 opposed, one present. watch this. >> article i is adopted. the question is on the adoption of article ii. >> you saw that look that she gave the democrats. she had warned them no cheering. >> and there was a smattering of applause. the speaker gave a look that any parent or former child would recognize. the look of don't do that. you know i told you not to do that, don't do that.

look, this has been something she's been trying to navigate the whole time she's been speaker. the times that members have not listened to her were cited today repeatedly. >> here's the second gaveling. >> 229, 198. article ii is adopted. >> and she just did it again. somebody else cheered again, sounded like one person and pelosi putting up a hand fweaga. most of the democrats have been in line. they have been solemn and serious. they have treated this day -- >> without objection the motion to reconsider article i is laid on the table. without objection, the motion to

reconsider article ii is laid on the table. >> in the summer of 2017, congresswoman talib after her inauguration said she was going to impeach the mf'er. those few incidents, democrats have voted against impeaching president trump three times before today, those incidents have been used to paint the entire democratic party who for the most part have followed the speaker's lead. >> she has been throughout all of this and john and i were talking about this before, she has been pitch perfect, almost pitch perfect, i would say. and she understands the solemnity of the moment. and this is her flock, these

democrats. some of them are young and she warned them, no applause. this is not a time for applause. and that look could kill. >> i want to go to dana. she's up on capitol hill. she's done a lot of reporting over the years on the speaker nancy pelosi. your thoughts? >> it was the look and it was also the flick and that's the word i'm hearing from people on the floor, including people who work for the speaker. the flick of the hand along with the look said it all and really did kind of -- it was kind of a capstone moment of how she tried to take her entire caucus through this process, that she didn't want to be leading them through. when she walked by here, i don't know, 12 hours ago on to the house floor, i asked how are you feeling and she said sad. that was the tone that she was trying to set. that was the atmosphere that she wanted around this -- this process that she reluctantly

allowed and guided the democrats through. and so that is why that moment is so significant because it really encapsulates the kind of leader that she is and as you and jake were saying, the kind of raucous caucus that she has, particularly the progressive side who have been pushing, pushing, pushing and doing so in a way that she understands in her core is not that beneficial politically. >> very important points indeed. john, you are wanted to weigh in as well. >> it's the same point. we're going to see this in the senate as well. yes, nancy pelosi would like to see a democrat elected next year. yes, mitch mcconnell said he's working hand in glove with the tr trump white house. nancy pelosi, everything she's done is to protect her majority, everything mitch mcconnell is doing is saying to protect his

majority. in nancy pelosi's case, she didn't want the cheers and republicans wanted to have the vote by you have to say your name. republicans wanted to have a full roll call vote the old fashioned way where they would say congresswoman slotkin and she would have to say aye. it's against house rules for the member to use the floor in a campaign ad but we've seen the floor show up in super pac ads. nancy pelosi did not want her members to have to on camera to say aye because the vulnerable ones it would be used against them in an ad. some republican super pac will use it against them, they would say not only did they impeach the president but they cheered. she didn't want it used against them. >> in some ways behind the scenes. if you think of newt gingrich, it was very much newt gingrich versus donald trump. here she was wielding her power behind the scenes, thinking

about those 30 democrats in vulnerable districts, going to have a tough time getting re-elected but she also understands power, right, grew up in baltimore, seeing her father there wield power and going over to california and working her way up there as a woman, which must have been very hard. so it's been interesting to see her in this process as a woman wielding this power. >> and beyond the politics of it, i do actually think that speaker pelosi and we had a town hall in this very spot a week or two ago, i think she actually does feel the gravity of this moment and now that both of these articles of impeachment been gavelled down, let's take a moment. this has only happened two other times in the united states history. president trump has now been impeached on two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of congress and this is a stain that will forever live on his presidency when we're all long gone. 300, 400, 500 years from now, that might be the only thing

know about donald trump is that he was impeached. >> and tulsi gabbert of hawaii, a democratic presidential candidate voted present and she just released a statement. let me read the statement. "i am standing in the center and have decided to vote present. i could not in good conscience vote against impeachment because i believe president trump is guilty of wrongdoing. i also in good conscience could not vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting president should not be the culmination of a partisan process fueled by trials and animosities that have so gravely divided our country. >> is she saying it should be ub a -- unanimous? >> she simply voted present. >> we have heard more moderate people from the republican party and others talk about how they did not have 100% support for the roprocess.

congressman golden from maine voted for article i and against article ii. tull sif gsi gabbert is a uniqu individual and she takes a lot of heat. >> anderson cooper, more reaction coming in. >> it's interesting because we were talking before about the poe ttential ramifications at t ballot box. democrats have been repeatedly making the argument if they did not pursue impeachment, did not vote this way, it would set a precedent that any president in the future could ask for foreign interference in an american election. >> and also there's the issue of their constitutional responsibility. there was a discussion in 1974 among some republicans who ultimately voted against nixon, should we go ahead and do this even if the senate doesn't vote to remove him? nobody has ever been removed by

the senate. still hasn't happened. we have a responsibility in the house do this because we've seen presidential conduct that crosses the line. so i think there are two issues here. one is did the house have a reason to say this was impeachable conduct for history? and the other is is this good politics? i'd like to focus on the first of the two. i'll leave other people to decide if it's good politics. the house decided that this kind of behavior was a threat to our constitutional order. and they, therefore, had as constitutional responsibility to do exactly what they did today, which is to say this shall not pass. it will be up to the senate to decide if president trump should be removed, but the house has basically put down a marker and said this is behavior that we cannot countenance because of our constitutional responsibilities. it's hard to understand that in this partisan time, but that's one important way of looking at this. the house has spoken. the house has decided to defend its institutional responsibilities